Project: TheirWorld - Chapter 021 - Part 2

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That Which Haunts

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TheirWorld

Then, in her left ear, a now familiar - though, now rather disgusted sounding - voice muttered, “Foolish rodent. I say, girl, I offer you a… proposal. I will give you an extra chance to guess who I am. You can guess who I am once you finish the quests of all three fools - or, you can name me now and I shall give you the answer to the final...erm… Poor excuse of a riddle. If you are wrong now, there shall be no punishment - I am starting to find this game of theirs dull. Call out what I am, and I shall appear before you.”

Guin snorted, watching the animals chase each other. It sounded reasonable to her. Aside from the fact that it liked to terrify her, she was starting to rather like this ghost of hers. “Conquest. War. Famine,” she muttered. “I know you not, but name you the Harbinger of Death.”

The voice chuckled, the two who had been running around came to a halt and Jeek popped her head out. First, there came silence. Then - there was a sound of purring as something nuzzled against her cheek. Even though part of her expected something like this to happen, it took her a moment to accept it. She lifted her hand up to what appeared to be a large, pale blue-grey cat with silvery eyes. After nuzzling her a bit, it jumped down off her shoulder, landing gracefully on the grass in front of them.

“Indeed,” it said, flicking it’s tail and looking at her with dignity. “I am Liorax Sith, the Jester of Death. I am that which follows all - but not all acknowledge. That you can see our forms and hear our voice; ‘tis a rare thing.”

Ororos bared his teeth, and sneered, “Where have you been?”

“Why do you care?” the pale cat asked with a bored voice as it put it’s rear end in the wolf’s face. “By the way, on behalf of the girl, your tree is this one, stupid squirrel.” Liorax went over and peed on one of the trees.

“Get away from my tree!” Lili shouted, going to chase the cat away. Liorax adopted a pouncing pose. It’s butt gave an adorable wiggle as it lunged at the squirrel. Squeaking furiously, Lili ran up into his tree.

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Choice? Guin looked at the spirits. Liorax jumped back up onto her shoulders. It rubbed its tail against her face.

“You have found me out, and now you have come to my reward for doing so,” it said. Guin tiled her head so that she could see its face, as least a little. “Before you, you now have all four Jesters of the Court of Harbingers. Now, the one whom you choose to lead you to Wise shall be the one to haunt you as you continue your journey in Uldarin. Choose which of us whose blessings you would prefer to have on your journey.”

Blinking, Guin looked between the four, all of whom were looking at her with rather expectant eyes. She had a choice in this?

Conquest. War. Famine. Death. But what did that even mean?

“H-How should I think to choose?” She asked them.

Ororos stepped forward first. “Let us introduce ourselves properly. I am Ororos Fenris, Jester of Conquest. My eyes are as sharp as my teeth, and my paws are silent as shadow. I am a patron of the rouge arts; a leader of assassins, archers, thieves, and criminals abound. Choose me to follow you on your path, and I shall teach you my ways.”

Jeek hopped forward. “I am Jeek Jack, Jester of War. I may look cute and fluffy, but my nature is that of power. I am fast and strong, and a master of tactics. I am a patron of combat and honor; a warrior among warriors; a soldier, a knight. Choose me to follow you on your path, and I shall share with you all my wisdom in the coming days.”

Lili crossed his arms and stared down from his tree. “I am Lili Breaker, Jester of Famine. My weapon is my mind, my words, and my motions. I am a patron of the mage arts; a magician of unusual talents; a healer and leader among all those who would commune with both the natural and arcane worlds. Choose me to follow you on your path, and I shall share with you my brilliance and power.”

Liorax jumped down from her shoulder and sat on the ground. “And I am Liorax Sith, Jester of Death. My weapon of choice is unpredictability, and mastery of the universe. I am as much a patron of life as I am of death - though my talents are better put to use in the slaying of enemies than the curing of wounds. I can do all, yet I need master none of it to accomplish my aims. Choose me as your companion, and nothing for you shall change.”

Crossing her arms, Guin considered the four before her. This was some kind of class path choice, she realized. If that was so then, did she need to choose? She didn’t want to be a rogue, she knew that much, but she hadn’t gotten a chance to try other means of combat yet.

“Then,” she began. Why change now? She had actually become quite fond of the voice that had helped her get this far, anyway. “Then I should keep you, Liorax, as that which haunts me. You have been with me since the start - why squander that?”

Liorax grinned - very much like the Cheshire Cat indeed. “Are you certain?” it asked. “Once you make this choice, than I, Death, shall follow you to the grave and beyond.”

“I’m sure,” Guin nodded. “You’ve helped me thus far - I feel that I owe you in more than one way. Will you continue with me, friend, and lead me to see Wise?”

“Very well,” said the cat, hopping into the air, stopping to float in front of her. It’s green eyes glowed brightly, and behind it flashed a bright green, eight pointed star. “I am now eternally bound to your person. As I am the Harbinger of Death, so now are you.”

This quest is optional. It can be skipped.>

>

Not sure how that actually affected anything, Guin smiled as Liorax landed on her shoulder and started nuzzling her face again.

The other three nodded at them.

“Good luck then, candidate!” Lili said. “Call on us again if you need to!” The squirrel then proceeded to disappear into his tree.

“We shall meet again, I am certain!” Jeek said, going back down into her hole.

“Don’t fear the future, child,” Oroso said. “Call on us if need be.” The wolf then shot into the woods.

“What a weird quest this is…” Guin said out loud.

“Where did they go?” Tik-Tak asked, walking up to her and Liorax.

Shrugging, Guin answered, “Home?”

Liorax laughed. “Shall I take you to Wise?”

Guin nodded. Liorax took to hopping on the air, bouncing on nothing and occasionally just flying. The cat was certainly the first spirit she had seen to really act like a ghost might - though she guessed that they weren’t really the same thing. Tik-Tak bounded after the cat, asking silly questions about who they were, and if they knew about foxes and hunters.

First, they would find Wise, and then, she would see about helping poor Tik-Tak and his mother. Then what? Only time would tell. Smiling, Guin re-cast her spells, and went bounding off after them.