Great, I’m lost in this forest and now I’ll never find my way out, Caranrendis thought as she stomped through the Misty Forest. She had thought she would just cut through the forest, sure she had been there once before and been lost but that had been at night. She was ina hurry, was already behind schedule, and now she was lost. “Stupid forest,” she grumbled to herself as she tripped over a tree root, “Youch! I hate this stupid forest. I should light it on fire, burn it to the ground. Can’t get lost in the open!”

The mist was enveloping, and even though daylight attempted to filter through the trees, the whole place was still very dark. Even with infravision, her eyesight did little to cut through the thick mist. She couldn’t see where she was going and had gotten hopelessly turned around so that she didn’t know from which direction she had entered, nor from which direction she wanted to exit. Such a stupid mistake, to walk through the Misty Forest as a short cut. The shortest path to anywhere may be a straight line, but that does not always mean the fastest path.

“Great, now I’ll look like I was a coward, or just too stupid to find the place. Stupid boy, distracting me and keeping me from getting on my way when I should have. I’m glad I broke the little brat’s nose, stupid kid just wouldn’t get out of my face. Not my fault that dumb oaf broke through the table when I kicked him, he’s the one who wanted to fight.” She paused and a smirk rose to hr lips, “Well, maybe I wanted to fight as well, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to pay for the table. Besides, are they stupid? Send a kid out to tell me how I can’t leave, I have to pay for the table? Idiots, I am surrounded by incompetent fools, and because of them I am late!”

Suddenly, Caranrendis noticed the mist getting even thicker. She was having a hard time seeing even two inches in front of her face and actually being able to see the ground, now that was a joke. As such, she missed the hole that was in front of her and surged to the ground. Her ankle got caught, so though she tried to turn during the fall in order not to land on her face, she not only still fell face first, but severely twisted her right ankle. Sharp pained ripped up from her leg and the attempt to straighten her foot out increased the pain ten-fold. She thought it was only a sprain, a bad sprain, but a sprain, but knew that it could be broken. Her hands were scuffed and bleeding slightly, and dirt was shoved deep into the wounds, but she had no water with which to clean them.

With a great deal of effort, Caranrendis managed to pull her foot from the hole and lean herself against a tree. She tried to put just the smallest amount of weight on her already swelling ankle, but it would not hold. “Isn’t this just my day, such a wonderful day I am having,” she growled to herself. She couldn’t think of a way things could get worse, but that thought most likely sealed her fate. It isn’t smart to think you have it as bad as is possible, that is only asking the fates to bring more horror your way.

Caranrendis had not realized what part of the forest she had entered, she did not know that she had wandered into the realm of dreams, a place were reality may not be so real. She could hear creatures moving through the mist and grabbed her shadow dagger, ready to kill anything that came near her. She would just rest for a short time, then she would find a way to bind her leg, and she would get out of the hated forest.

Then her mind began to play tricks on her, there was another voice in her head, a voice she didn’t know. The voice was kind, telling her there was nothing to hate about the forest. The forest was a wonderful place, one just needed to appreciate it for the beauty it held within. Caranrendis growled, “Someone must be out there, and whoever you are, you better get out of my head. Foolish people, who could love a despicable place such as this!”

Whoosh, whoosh! Black leathery wings gripped the cool air the blew in over the Erred Anon Mountains. They lifted their master’s body high into the sky, soaring about a hundred feet over the treacherous forest of mist. Seraph was their master. He had summoned them by holding onto the hilt of his sword. It was a little awkward gripping it as he flew, but he knew from experience, that if he released it, he would crash into the ground.

As the night grew closer to day Seraph grew weary of his flight, and his black wings grew tired from pushing against the wind. He knew he needed rest, but he did not want to descend upon the cursed forest below him. Although, he also knew he did not have much time before the sun would erupt into the sky scorching the land for another day. Eventually he gave in to his fatigue by telling himself he did not need to wander through the forest. Once he got his strength back he could simply fly up above the trees again.

Seraph’s landing was hard and rough because he had a hard time seeing the tree’s branches as he pervaded on them. “Oof,” the vampire gasped and he thudded into the ground. He released his sword having reached safety and his wings recoiled into his back leaving the skin around where they had just been sore and red.

Seraph stood and tried to examine his surroundings, but he could not make anything out through the fog. After about a minute of staring into the fog, he decided to sit down and rest. Trying to explore the forest would only get him lost. He sheathed his black blade as he sat down. It was not long before the vampire dozed off.

After a few hours when the night had turned to day, Seraph was woken by a crashing noise that echoed through the forest. Luckily for the vampire, the sun was blocked from him by the fog. He jolted upward reaching for his blade, but he did not withdraw it. “Is anyone there,” he spoke too hastily for anyone to understand. After gathering himself from the first shock, he stood a tried to peer through the mist again. He called out more clearly this time, “Is anyone there?”

After a few seconds when he had still not heard a response, Seraph decided to walk through the fog. It would not make much difference if he got lost in the forest, once he was in the sky again.

The Misty Forest was not adequately named. Dark and foreboding, it liked to whisper whenever you turned your back, snatch at your ankles whenever you didn't pay attention to your step. The trees seemed impossibly tall and wide, and the twisted light here gave illusions of faces in the bark and sunken eyes between branches. There were animals here, but all of them seemed set for this terrain; either tall and bulky enough to cleave an enemy in half, or lanky with expert vision to feed upon the corpses of fools. It was almost impossible to discern the time of day, for the blanket of smoke green leaves blotted out most of the sky. It was like traversing limbo, with only the briefest of respites here and there.

There was a fresh spring lurking somewhere around here, and the warm steam that rolled off of it met with the mist and helped in dissipating it. Some withered or brutalized trees shrunk away like rotting squash, letting the sky be seen so that time might be ascertained. Nathaniel had done as much with Quess not so very long ago, when they had been out hunting malboroes of all things. The point was, 'Misty' wasn't the right word to use. The cold gas was more like fog as it clung to anything and everything, and Misty was more a pleasant female's name than a cautionary title. What happened to the simplicity of, 'The Dark Woods', or 'The Forest of No Return'? Sure he'd have scoffed at them, but they wouldn't be as bad as 'The Misty Forest'.

Then again, perhaps the name was there to lull one into a false sense of security. If that were the case, it matched perfectly. It was easy to initially walk in with set shoulders and a wide chest, completely confident in ones ability to walk throughout it. The pleasant noise of birds, and occasionally what sounded like the sweetest of lullabies from nymphs would carry on the wind; a wind the was heavily laden in scent, as if every flower and every blossom it'd passed by it had entrapped in its embrace, to lay at the feet of whoever faced the wind. Usually it was a pleasant smell; this forest bred strong plants. Other times, though, it could hold the foul smell of rot. At this moment, there was no wind.

There was a reason for that too, though. Right now Nathaniel was in one of the more terrifying aspects of the Misty Forest; the Realm of Shadows. The Realm of Shadows was much like a breach in the fabric of space and time. Dreams and reality sat on two sides of the fence, pressed close and more or less following the same path, but never touching. Perfectly parallel lines. The Realm of Shadows was like someone who had slashed a hole between the two separate lines; a dog that had dug under the fence to escape. This was a place of unholy breeding, where both reality and illusion had been permitted to merge. The result was grotesque in its beauty, seductive in its putrid horror.

The tales whispered that in the land where light would never shine, a twisted realm of shadows clawed at ones feet. Dark figures darting past too quickly to be truly analyzed, twisting and writhing branches on the ground. The trees here were bent and crooked, occasionally bowled oer and then twisted upright as if they were nothing more than wire. Some trees hung heavily to one side, their branch longer than the full body and coiling along the ground. There was no light here, and yet it was illuminated at the same time. The fog here was at its thickest, shrouding all the horrors of the place in a blanket of white. Even white shadows were still shadows though, and no matter how darkly charming the place was, it wasn't somewhere he intended to stay long.

Yes, Nathaniel Rystoff had found himself wandering in the woods once more. Besides a stronger heal he attended the place with nothing more than he had last time. The two-handed blade he so cherished was sheathed at his side, his dark waist coat open and revealing the plate armour he wore beneath it. Under that was a green vest and thena loose white shirt, but both of those were out of visual range for the time being. Again he neglected a compass or even boots, and again muck and grime clung all the way to the upper portion of his calves. Foolishly he had believed he could shrug the mist off as if it were water, but that was not so. Either this place was its own pocket in continuity and thus did not link with the forces of magic, or the 'protection' didn't include safety from getting turned around or lost.

Naturally the wizard who had been there when he trained had failed to mention such a thing. Blasted child, I should have rung his scrawny neck when I had the chance. Nathaniel had come hoping that he could find the body of the malboro he and Quess had slain, and possibly sell some of it for a little extra gold. The teeth alone had to be worth a fortune, and if not it'd be great to put on a necklace and wear around his neck. Unfotunately, in his arrogance he had failed to find the location of where the beast had fallen, and now he was utterly lost. Again. This time without a trusty cainine partner to lead the way. Of course this would happen though, what had he expected when he praised the Gods for being trapped with another person last time?

Pausing in his heavy steps, he lifted his hands to rake through his hair, brushing it back and away from his face. In the misty the humidity had rose, and slick beads of sweat had perspired upon his forehead and into his hair. The moisture was great for keeping the shape he wanted with his hair, though. WHHP! Nathaniel turned sharpl when the sound of someone speeding past sounded, though he caught only a dark shadow out of the corner of his eye, as it disappeared somewhere into the forestry. His scowl turned to a frown, and from there a simple line. This forest had really been getting to him; more than once he'd thought he'd seen men hovering as they moved past deeper in the woods, wood driven through their heads and not a single sign of hair. Other times there appeared to be soft blue orbs that whispered softly, attractive in their splendor. Nathaniel wasn't foolish enough to fall for such tricks, and made sure to walk in large circles around and away from them.

A few sobbing beings, other times children clinging to bushes. Right now his feet had led him to yet another peculiar sight. The tree was bent forwards, with the branches raised behind it as if it were taking a bow. Bodies hung from nooses, the ropes tied on the branches. But all of them were upside down, suspended with their feet dangling high in the air and their heads near the ground. All of clothing fell upwards too, and the rope was entirely taut as if gravity truly had reversed. "What trickery is this...?" Nathaniel whispered softly to himself, taking a half step forward. That motion seemed to trigger something though, and all of the bodies' eyes opened wide. Grins twisted their features, and they began to twist and knot as if they were cord. Crackling noises sounded as some bent their legs up to wrap around themself then through, other twisted their bodies, legs and arms through the sockets until they broke and hung backwards. Many other position were taken up as well, and all of them just as unpleasant to look at.

Nathaniel, for all his surprise, showed no fear. He merely scowled distastefully at the grinning, writhing beings, then strode past the bent tree entirely. There was shouting not far off, and though it was likely just as much a trick as this he had nothing better to do but investigate. It sounded like woman's voice, though it bore the markings of one who was thoroughly disgusted with the place they were at. She sounded as likely to be a real person as ever, and with a strong eye for any approaching visions he headed to the noise.

"Is anyone there?"

The voice made him stop entirely. Not because it was a man's voice or sounded any more real, but because it bore the inflections of one he knew. Where from he could not recall, the memory escaping like the rolling tide of a beach. Yet the more he tried to ignore it the more it would come racing back, only to playfully pull back. What distant shore had he met this man on? Nathaniel rubbed his hands together, then set the palm on his hilt. If they could coordinate and all come to one place, it would save him the trouble of choosing in between them.

"I am Nathaniel Rystoff, old captain of the City Guard! Show yourselves, or forever hold your peace in these dark lands." The bellow was authoritative and loud, as much of one as he might have used when he worked. There was a convincing edge to it (skill; diplomacy), as if he truly knew what he was doing and had full confidence in the actions he was taking. It wasn't thoroughly true, but taking such a stance usually allowed for a greater amount of control over any others who may be around.

In the self-stroking of his wise choice he failed to notice the hanging tree behind him twist itself upright, wobble, and then fold in on itself. The bodies continued writhing and knotting even as they were crunched and crushed into the folding tree, and within moments all that remained was a small stick jutting out of the ground, two small leaves sticking off the top of it in opposite directions.

Caranrendis heard a voice coming from a distance, though she could not make out what the voice had said. At least this isn’t the voice of another talking from within my own head she thought to herself. At that moment the voice spoke up again from in her mind, “This is my head, I know this is my head. These are my hands, this is my body. I don’t know who you are, or how you have taken control of my body, but it is not yours.”

The second voice, that of Caranrendis’ good side, was feeling trapped. She had no understanding of what was going on, no clue as to where she was or how she had gotten there. There seemed to be a wall that was keeping her from pushing through, from regaining control of her own body. She knew nothing of this second voice, could only believe that some sorcerer had gained access to her mind. Her thoughts flew to Tim the Enchanter, a man she had heard a fair amount about in her travels. The stories went that he would break a person from within their mind, make them lose their sanity, then they would go to him, pay him all their money just to have their mind put back how it was meant to be. She had heard rumors that he was the one behind the dream, the nightmares of the Misty Forest, that he was the one who made critters go bump in the night.

Sure, she had heard these stories when she was just a young child. They had been told by the older kids who had heard them when they were little. She had always believed them to be nothing more then tall tales used to scare the young, the un-expecting, but now she was not so sure. She may not have been able to take control of her body, but she had gotten a glimpse out of her eyes, had seen the pervading mist. She had concluded that she was in fact in the Misty Forest, a place that a part of her thought amazing, mystical, but another part was deathly afraid of. It was a beautiful place, she had been speaking true when she said that, but it was also dark, torturous, evil.

Now, someone had taken control of her mind. The only possibility she could think of was that Tim the Enchanter was real, that he was out there somewhere laughing at the predicament he had placed her in. She didn’t know how many times she had found herself in such awkward situations, but she knew it had been too many times. “Why me?” She asked herself, “Why does everyone want to confuse me, to hurt me, to cause me so much pain?”[b]

Jerking her head to the side, Caranrendis’ evil side realized she had blanked out for a short time. Whoever was cursing her, was placing another inside her mind, must have gave a more solid push. She hated the voice, how it claimed her body as its own. She hated the forest, she hated the people around her, whoever they were. They wanted her to pay for things that were not her fault. They wanted her to be late to her meetings. They want to drive her completely insane. [b]Everyone wanted to hurt her in some way, but she would find a way to hurt them, that she would.

Another voice rang out through the forest, only this time she could hear the words. Growling to herself, she thought of how arrogant the man must be. Sure, I’ll show myself, she thought, Over my dead body, or better yet, over yours. She was not stupid, though some like to believe she was. If there was a guard walking through the forest, he had probably come after her. He must have come to bring her back, make her pay for the damages or work of the debt if she didn’t have the money, which she didn’t. She was not going to be drug back to that stupid pub, everyone may have decided it was the day to go after the dark haired human, but she did not plan to work with them, not for a second.

Hoping that her leg would have healed enough to be walked upon, Caranrendis tried to rise to her feet. The moment she set a small amount of weight on her bad ankle, it collapsed out from under her. Her body tumbled forward causing her to crash land on her face. She had not moved fast enough to catch herself again with her hands, so her face took the full force of the fall. Her eyes filled with dirt, grit poked through her skin, her ankle throbbed. All she could do was roll over, though even that took nearly all of her energy.

She was stuck, trapped in the forest with some other effusive voice speaking from within her own head. It seemed the forest had become her own dark, dank, black hole. It was filled with all sorts of beings, just waiting to take a bite out of her. Worse, her fall had been quite loud, she had given up her position. There was no need to be quiet, to try to hide herself. They would find her, so she wanted to at least get a little of her anger out while she waited. With that, her voice rang out through the trees, “Show myself? Show myself you say? Why don’t you show yourself if you are truly the captain of the City Guard? Or do you not have the guts to show yourself to a poor, injured woman?” It may not have been the best of ideas to taunt him, but she could no longer help herself. She was furious, not only at him but at herself as well. She was enraged by having everyone seemingly wishing to hurt her. I know I have done some evil things in my time, hell, many evil things, but this is ridiculous. Everyone, everyone, after one single girl.

Seraph should have stuck to his gut feeling and not wandered through the cursed forest. He quickly became confused as the fog thickened around him. All of his bearings were thrown away. The devious mist was beginning to play tricks with the vampire’s mind. He was about to lay back down and wait for night when he could fly, but something stopped him.

“I am Nathaniel Rystoff, old captain of the City Guard! Show yourselves, or forever hold your peace in these dark lands,” a voice called out through the mist. Seraph thought the mist must be playing tricks on him. First he had heard something tumble in the wicked woods, and he was now hearing the ex-captain of the city guard speaking to him in a place like this.

“I cannot show myself, silly” Seraph chuckled back to the fog while trying to raise his awareness of his surroundings, “Tell me fog, why have you taken me prisoner? You can no easier hold a bird than me. I will escape you when the sun dies, and then who will you have to torment? You might as well give it up. I will not be made your toy. You have a better chance striking fear into a lion than scarring me.”

Seraph sat back down, but he kept his senses alert. He was not sure that the forest was done with him. It might strike out with magic next, he thought to himself. These were some very wicked woods indeed. If it does try to strike me down, I will breathe fire and burn these trees to ashes. There will be no more tricks from them when I am done. The vampire was indeed very brave in these woods. Illusions seemed to have no effect on him.

However, as he was getting comfortable, he began to see shadowy figures looming around the edge of the mist. Seraph prepared himself for combat but not for what was coming next. Out of the shroud walked the dead bodies of everyone he had ever killed. They surrounded him pleading for mercy. He could see his fangs’ markings buried deep into their necks. The vampire did not know where to turn. The undead victims had him surrounded as called to him. It was his worst nightmare revealed.

The sound of a crash startled him, and he felt every muscle tense as his nerves screamed of the danger. The urge to fight or flight washed over him, and his stomach tightened like a wet rag twisted a thousand times over. It was a painful sensation, and he didn't know what he would do if it was some demonic creature or violent beast. It hadn't even sounded that far away! A few long strides and he could spy whatever had moved, be it a tree unearthing itself or another malboro come to claim its revenge. Like moles a few heads poked out of the ground, flesh grayed and dark sacks under the pink eyes that seemed to bulge out. There was no hair on their heads, and they came no farther than their nose up, mouths hidden. From a distance it almost looked like a field of mushrooms. Nathaniel eyed them warily, not certain they weren't a distraction, when a female voice called out. "Show myself? Show myself you say? Why don’t you show yourself if you are truly the captain of the City Guard? Or do you not have the guts to show yourself to a poor, injured woman?”

The heads spun to look at him, as if they were some morbid audience. He frowned at them, before calling back out, "Very well. Though I warn you, I'm armed. If this is some scheme..." His voice died off, and he took a half step forward. That was all he could manage with all the heads, and so he glared at them. The wide eyes blinked owlishly up at him, before they all turned to look at one another. With a rumble they dissappeared back below ground, grass sprouting up where they'd been. Nathaniel quelled the urge to be sick, shaking his head and following the direction the voice had come from. "How are you injured?" He called out, hoping that her answering would be enough for him to follow. There was a brief consideration of this too being a trick, but he was willing to deal with it if it was.

"And... what's your name?" Then another voice, the one he'd heard before. "I cannot show myself, silly." It was the sound of that man who'd been injured all the way back in the Taurerousa Rainforest. But what was he doing all the way out here? And why wasn't there a dragon with him? Frowning, he paused to consider his questions. Perhaps... perhaps the man had died. Perhaps they were all dead, and this was limbo. But he didn't remember dying... In fact, he'd been perfectly fine entering here, if not a little lost. Perhaps he'd died in his sleep, killed by some thief? This... this could all have been a deluded mind trying to make up for the fact. But wasn't death supposed to be peaceful, the great Goddess embracing her creations upon their passing over?

Well, whatever the case, he'd rather spend eternity with company. "I will come for you shortly! Just don't... don't go anywhere. Please." The last word was so soft the wind swallowed it by the time it slipped past his lips. Hoping that the male would follow his recommendation he passed between twin trees, eventually coming upon the sight of the fallen Caranrendis. Covered in dirt and grime, she wasn't the most pleasant sight to find. Then again, any sight was better than laughing skeletons. "Are you..." He bit his lip, considering how to word it. "Are you the one who was calling?" Nathaniel asked at length. If this was just some random spirit who liked to roll around he'd be happy to leave her be, but he had an injured woman to find. Or at least one who believed herself injured.

Unless... you couldn't be injured here, could you? That would be the worst torture imaginable. To escape with death, only to wake up screaming in this same place, trapped yet again. A few times he had started on unique tortures, serving as an interrogator when there was no such thing as rights. Some of them had involved pushing the body almost to the limit, then healing the wounds and starting over. Is this my punishment? If possible he looked a little more paler, a ghost of fear clutching his heart sadistically. It made one wonder just how pure their deeds had been...

Wiping his nose on the back of shirt (though it wasn't running -- ghosts couldn't have runny noses, could they?) he tried to settle the panic rising in him, giving a wavering smile to Caranrendis.

Once again Caranrendis heard another who also seemed to be responding to the man she had spoken to, but once again the words became lost in the wind that was whipping through the forest. She wasn’t all that comfortable knowing that there were at least two men around and that there had to be at least one who had a lot of magical skills. The voice in her head continued to try and break through, but she would fight whatever magic had been cast upon her for she would not let herself be seen to be weak. It was bad enough that she had become badly injured, that in itself could make her seem weak, but she would not seem weak in the mind as well.

“Armed,” she muttered, “armed he says, not a very believing guy is he. It seems he wants to think me evil before giving me a chance, and though that assessment may be correct it is not what I would expect of one who states he is a part of such an honored law enforcement community.” If he was going to be armed, she was going to be ready to defend herself should it come to that. She rested her right hand on the hilt of her katana, ready to pull it at a moments notice if the need should arrive. She would be highly disadvantaged in a fight considering she could not stand, but she would not just sit there and let someone attack without trying to fight back if that should be the man’s plan.

She chose not to respond to his questions, not until she was sure that it would be safe to do so, and as she waited for him t find her she began to tune the world out. The world before her began to swirl and images of a little girl who looked just like she had flowed into her mind. She would have believed it to be herself, but the events that unfolded in the images were not one that she could remember. She was trying to get a hold on what the images meant, where they might be coming from, when once again the other voice pushed through and took control.

The second side, the side that Caranrendis did not realize was actually herself, was the cause of the missing pieces of her life, began to try and call out to Nathaniel, to guide him to her, but as soon as she opened her mouth to speak, she was slammed back into the back recesses of the girls mind once again. Muttering to herself, Caranrendis said, “Oh no you don’t, you little wimp. Whoever put you in my head, they will never get control of me.”

It was then that Nathaniel stepped into view and Caranrendis glared up at him from her place on the ground. His questions were ridiculous to her, and so she did not plan to be kind in how she responded. “No, that wasn’t me,” she said in a sarcastic undertone, “I am greatly enjoying sitting on this disgusting earth.” She rolled her eyes at the man wondering how dense he could be. How dense could a person be and still be accepted into the guard, pretty dense it seemed.

As she prepared to snap at the man again, she felt a sharp pull on her mind and found herself trapped in a dark corner. She started trying to fight her way off, sure that the wizard must have trapped her mind so his own voice could come through as if she was some sweet lady. The darkness was overwhelming, and hard as she fought, Caranrendis could not seem to find her way back to the front of her own mind.

On the outside, Caranrendis had once again became her kind, caring second half and her face took on a much more respectful and scared look. She had heard some of what the other person had said, though she thought the other voice was someone who had been placed inside her head by a wizard, and she hoped the man would not be too angry with her. She was tired, she didn’t even remember how she had gotten into the forest, but she could feel her foot throbbing and knew that she needed help.

She swallowed deeply and tears seemed to begin to well up in her eyes. Looking up at the man she said, “I am sorry sir, I don’t know what came over me. There is something about this place, it is like someone else is trying to take over my mind.” She paused, her hand having fell off of her katana and her eyes coming across his blade. She blinked at it before looking up into his eyes and saying, “Something happened to my foot and I can not put any weight upon it. I can’t even seem to remember how I came to be here or what happened, but my foot is in intense pain and I doubt I could put any weight upon it. I would greatly appreciate any help you might be willing to give me.” Here eyes still held the glisten of her tears and they had become almost like that of a sad cat seeking help and safety.

((Sorry for the mass delay, life has been a little crazy recently.))