Remnant of the Past

Jaden Ohanzee · 10-01-2012, 02:39 AM

[html]

Date: October 8th, 2012

Setting: Damp Woods

Time: After Dark

Character Form: Lupus ---> Optime

Dress: Traveling Satchel, bow, quiver, and gauntlets

[/html]

[html]

Sorry for the length. I was inspired :>

Words - 1000+ :0

Traveling in the Damp Woods was never a pleasant experience for those who had disdain for the many small rivers which needed to be crossed. Jaden was no exception. This would be his third straight day of travel since leaving the lands of Sangi’lak. His home. It certainly felt much different to leave than it had before. The last time he’d done it there was sadness in his heart for something he thought unfairly lost. Something he had never realized to be considered a mistake through and through by the other. But now he understood. Was it pleasure he gained from leaving? No, that wasn’t it. Pleasure accompanied happiness and that was lost to him. He felt… determined. Determined to keep pushing forward for what he still had. Rio was his friend and she also the reason he traveled. He thought she still lived in the deserted city to the south and needed to speak with her about promised combat instruction. She was one of the things he still had and seemed worth keeping.

But even a conditioned body grew weary of travel. Somewhere along his trip through the Damp Woods after the sun had fallen Jaden came upon a lone human dwelling. He stopped and looked on it with dull and tired curiosity. The home was crumbling as most human structures did. The wooden walls had long since shed their paint and now stood grey and naked against the dark sky and punishment of whether and time. The windows were surprisingly intact, perhaps in part because the trees around it were not yet big enough to throw their limbs through them. Musty and clouded, they gave away nothing of the home’s dark innards.

The nomad turned his head to the south and warily decided he had done enough traveling for today. Human places often held interesting trinkets or even usable supplies. He could scavenge from the house before moving to set up camp not far from here. Looking upon the angular roof and warped wood before him, he would reevaluate how far away camp needed to be. He was suddenly reminded of stories from his puppy-hood, ones that depicted human’s as monstrous demons who’s only desire was to consume all the good from the world. This house would have been a set for one of those spooky stories. These walls would have been something puppy Jaden would have never come within five miles of. But his belief in such things had been broken long ago. They were foolish lies… but there was no need to approach it unarmed. So Jaden shifted to his optime form and donned his packed metal gauntlets, bow, and quiver before approaching the wooden ruin.

The porch steps creaked almost angrily as they were disturbed by the heavy male. The porch itself squeaked and detested him, adding an eerie symphony to his every step. He reached for the door and turned the nob which scrapped but did not unlock the door. He pushed again with more force but still nothing. With an annoyed sigh, Jaden took a few steps back and rolled his shoulders. Then he set his sights on the door handle where he thought the thing to be stuck. He quickly charged forward and threw all his weight into a kick at that area. With a crunch and a slam it swung open and the nob embedded into decaying drywall. The explorer then waited for a moment as dust and sound settled again. If there were inhabitants of this place no doubt that would draw them out.

Nothing came roaring from the broken down door and Jaden proceeded in followed again by only the symphony of shifting wood. He proceeded to check every room he found on the first floor. A stuck door might have meant no one had been in hear to take any supplies but it seemed the exact opposite case. Everything had been taken. Open cabinets held only air and cob webs. Closets swirled with free dust when opened and not a thing more. Even the sofa was gutted down to it wooden skeleton, scraps of fabric and fluff clinging to it like the last bits of meat to a kill.

Determined to find something worth entering the damned place Jaden then ventured to the top of a noisy stair case. The upper floor was slightly less telling than the one below and he was able to hide his footsteps with some effort once his climbing was finished. He opened the first door he encountered which was on the left of a long hallway and, to his surprise, was met with more than nothing. The room looked aged but practically untouched. The curtains still remained on the window along with a covered bed, a wooden dresser with some semi-melted candles on top, and a closed closet that no doubt held clothing that could be used as rags. Jaden grinned and stepped in.

He didn’t move far before coming to an abrupt stop. The floor was soft farther toward the middle and slopped down like sagging cloth. He did not need to know how rotted it actually was to understand it hadn’t the ability to support him. He more carefully moved around the edge of the room and did his best to shimmy along as close to the wall as he could. First he checked the closet and found it to be empty. That was disheartening but he knew the candles on the dresser which stood on the opposite side of the room were valuable so he kept moving. Next were the bed and its coverings. These could be more easily converted into useful cloth than clothing anyway. But before he could take them he was forced to stop yet again. The man who had been relatively calm in his hallow fear and discomfort until now felt his heart speed up as his eyes recognized the large lumps of something that smelled off dust and death. Slowly, he reached forward with one armored claw and brought the other up defensively, unsure of what he would find in the dark remains of this desolate place.

Jaden does. Jaden speaks. Jaden thinks.

Login




Remember me Lost Password?