~The world was so cold..

Nothing made sense anymore, the world seemed to be dying...or, perhaps already dead.  Everything moved oh so slowly and every sound seemed muted as a stranger wandered around the dark streets of a some town.  He moved as if he was nothing more then a phantom, drifting from one street to another, moving past people as if he didn't exist.  Nobody really paid much attention to this unknown person..nothing really stood out about this man...the only thing that once lead people to stare was gone.  The two companions that travled by his side were no longer there to walk beside and shield him from the painfull stings of this world.  He was alone again...

~The mocking chirping of humans filled the man's ears as he walking straight through their tightly knitted crowd, pushing through and shoving another aside.  Mumbling an apology as he delt with a sudden elbow to his face from the, apparently pissed off human.  A pale hand clentched tightly at an insult shouted at him be the group of humans, yet decided to ignore and continued on...there were more important things to take care of...hence the dried, black rose he was gripping so tightly that blood trickled down his hand from the thorns lining the flower.  

~The rose had one purpose and one purpose only...to be placed at a dear friends grave.  One of those friends that stood by him all of those years..one of his "companions" had passed on not to long ago.  The man knew that it was going to happen one day, after all..his friend was old..but that still didn't help heal that pain he still felt.

~Large, black boots touched the dirt path at the edge of the town, a path that twisted and turned it's way to the man's home were the grave of his friend sat at the entrance, next to a large, cherryblossom tree.  He stopped only for a moment to reach up with his free hand to realse his jet black hair from a faded red ribbon that held it in a loose poneytail.  His hair was long, reaching to the middle of his back and had a silver tint at the ends.  It moved freely behind him, swaying back and forth as he walked on, his boots making slurping noises as he treked through the fresh mud.

~Wind began to pick up, scattering dead leaves everywhere.  It howled as it moved through the large trees causing them to moan and shudder at the force.  Dark clouds soon covered the skies, hiding the stars and moon, casting the area into darkness.  Loud and opposing booms echoed throughout the place, followed by flashes of lighting and, ironically, rain..the storm had started.

~Rain poured down upon this man as he climbed the hill leading to the large tree.  Slipping a few times, he growled as his knees hit the soft mud and sank in.  Gold eyes flashed as he angerly crawled to the top of the hill and faced the smooth gravestone sitting infront of the giant.  The mans eyes became soft and sorrowfull as he stared at the three names carved into the stone..Shadow, Drake and in bold letters..DUSK. Dusk...the name of that companion who rested there..They had found this place when they just had started off traviling together and had carved each others name into this stone.  Drake was his..and Shadow was his second companion.  

~Drake's golden globes soon grew foggy as he rested the rose ontop of the stone, laying another rock on the stem to keep it from blowing away.  Slender fingers brushed against the smooth surface of the grave stone and for a second..you couldn't tell if it was the rain water running down his face or if he was truley crying.

((crappy))

Confound it all, he'd fallen asleep.

How long had slumber lasted?  How long had his face been drilled into the mud, rain pouring down on his decaying carcass?  His body quaked with exhaustion, unmoving in the sharp, demanding winds that lashed at his black form.  The cloak that coveted his body now whipped around freely, careless as it slashed against his raw skin.  

He commanded his mind to awaken and shake off the sand, his bright jade eye's piercing through the darkness of his sopping black mane, which was now clinging fruitlessly to his face.  His left hand wandered up carefully, an air of anxiety stirring up inside of him as he avoided movement of his right side, which lay pointlessly underneath him.  

The figure brushed away his tangle mess of hair, revealing a hopelessly battered, young face twisted with the test of time.  Age was there, even if only in the bright glow of his gorgeous emerald eyes.  Mustering up as much effort as he possibly could, he began to drag himself upwards, his cloak falling over his back and his thick hair sliding down against gravity as it dripped feverishly with the oncoming rain.  

He cursed loudly, his body far from impervious to the pain that flooded up from his throbbing right side.  The black mane fell over to the left side of his head as it bobbed pathetically to the side, his moan opening to groan against the thrashing life form coming to consciousness inside of him.  His face contorted as the cancerous formation of his face became visible.  It was soft and tender, but infested on the right side by a very faint outcropping of what appeared to be thin veins popping out of the flesh.  If you looked hard enough, however, you'd know they were roots constantly writhing, constantly moving and conquering his insides.  

A loud groan worked its way from his tired esophagus as he began to work his way out of the mud with the support of the tree he had so obviously collapsed upon.  Where he was was a mystery to him, he'd forgotten how tiresome he'd been and just began to walk...walk pointlessly.  Figures.  He never had any key destination these days because most of the people he knew were either at war, or dead.

"Oh, come on."  He swore loudly for a second time as he got to a full vertical basis, looking down at his sopping rag of a trench coat.  Small trails of his blood were left on the roots of the tree, but they'd be gone within the hour, so he didn't let it bother him.

He looked around, alone, surrounded by trees.  The rain cloaked all scents and his continued exhaustion did nothing to help him.  And again, he began to walk, practically dragging his limp right side along with him.  

( It was fine. )

~Nows not the time..
Wiping away rain water and tears from his eyes, he slowly stood, brushing off clumps of mud off his already worn cargos.  Now was not the time to be crying over past memories..he head others to feed.  Turning away from the gravestone, Drake walked down the marbled sidwalk and into his yard.  The place was rather big..Trees surrounded the place and in the middle, two large buildings stood.  One was a well made log cabin, only about two floors, that had a nice, warm feeling about it.  Next to it stood a large, wooden barn that had the imperial white bat symbol hanging above two large doors.  

~Making his way to the barn, he placed his hands into the pockets of his black trench coat, fingers toying with a sharp object. 'two more nights until full moon..'

~Removing a hand from his pocket, he slide open a barn door to be greeted with multiple sounds of neighing and whinning that caused a soft smile to appear across pale lips.  Horses..about five of them, poking their heads out of each one's stall, staring at him and greetinh drake in their own way.  All of them were jet black, except, for the last one, that was tossing it's head and shaking it's mane.  It was a wonderous buck skin mustang..a young stallion and its mane was a shining chocolate brown.  All looked well groomed and taken care of, none of them looked unhappy or upset.

~Drake moved to the other side of the barn, patting each horse's forehead as he walked by, taking out his pocket knife.  He cut the ropes of a barrel of hay that lay in a neat pile in an empty stall.  Seperating the hay, he began to toss in a square of hay into each stall, then moved on to feeding them oats and filling their buckets with fresh water.

~By the time Drake had finished with his work, the storm had picked up and was growing ever strong as the night hours passed by.  A sigh escaped him, brushing off loose hay from his coat and pants.  The soft clunking sound that his boots made against the concrete floor echoed throughout the silent barn, making his way back to the hay and throwing himself into the stacks.  He leaned his head against the wall and stared out at the mustang who was toying around with it's oats bucket.  Chuckling softly he sighed once more before closing his eyes, still feeling hollow and cold without his two friends beside him.  Sure, he had all of these little clowns, but still...

~Coughing slightly, he turned onto his side, curling up in the prickily hay as a flash of lightning struck right outside the barn and spooked several of the horses.  Drake ignored their whinning and thrashing about as he began to be lost in his thoughts once again...Honestly, he would'nt mind a few "surprises" tonight..he could use them..

Distant, noiseless movements made him constantly alert, constantly on the edge. The trees smothered him in darkness, lessening his senses even further than he could have thought possible. Of course, he should have expected such a drought in his own condition, seeing as he was feeding another life force with his own blood. There was nothing he could do about it, though, as his boots crunched against the gravel and emitted horrid suction noises as they fought against the slurping mud.

He drug his body through the forest, his skin quivering against the cold, the flesh seeming to ripple with discomfort. An ill thought of hatred spilled into his conscious, leaving him feeling a wave of guilt and shame. Being attacked by a group of humans was, to put it politely, not the most pleasant thing on the earth. Even worse for him – he had a very giant, very angry plant hugging to the bone of his right arm, and it would react instinctively with, or without, his permission.

A scowl crossed his exhausted face, his subconscious tearing his heart to shreds at the thought of what he’d done, and how he’d felt as he’d done it. Self defense, of course, but nonetheless a corrupt and untimely act. That was Kolos for you…beating himself up for the stupidest thing. But now…he could hardly even remember what he’d done to them, his memory so disdainfully distorted. How long ago? A day, a week, a month, even a year? No matter how hard he dug at the folds of his skull, he could no more find the answer than realize how hopeless his situation was. He was never good at finding that out, either.

“Bloody ‘ell…” Kolos snarled thickly in his British tone, twitching oddly as he was forced to thrash his wounded arm out to maintain his balance over a stray root. The wind seemed to take pleasure in making him suffer, howling wildly and whipping around him like a pack of hyenas. As he passed through thick undergrowth he was suddenly reminded of an old friend, a familiar scent swaying over his fatigued form. No…it couldn’t be him. The man he’d been fond of back in Transylvania? Well, in a friendly sense. But…he couldn’t possibly be in Transylvania, could he? Had he been so disoriented that he’d dropped his sorry ass in the familiar country? What a surprise that would be.

“Gah…” He murmured, raising his left hand to massage at his throbbing temples. Even after that long sleep, he was still quite exhausted, and it began to build up as the hours passed on and the darkness thickened. Kolos almost stopped where he was and collapsed again, but somehow managed to maintain a groggy consciousness. What he wouldn’t give for warmth right about now…

“Blundering gods…” Kolos said in awe at himself. After a rather ungraceful fall down a hill, the man found himself crumpled in front of a large building. There were two doors, as well as a sign hanging over them. He couldn’t make out what was on the sign…something…a bat? Before he realized it, his vision was splitting. His head seemed to sear in half with the pain of his headache, the feeling in his arm finally subsiding to a dull sting due to the immense cold. Good thing he had a high tolerance for pain. This was nothing…

Too bad he couldn’t reach the door, though…that would have been…nice.

Now all he could do is stare wearily at the chipping paint on the wooden surface, unable to do anything more than bat his eye lashes at it. His jade eyes began to loose their glow as his eye lids gradually lost their strength, fading to nothing more than slits.

“Anyone…’ome…?” He said in a weak voice.  

--Last edited by Ruulion on 2007-08-27 15:33:20 --

The storm showed no sign of slowing, the winds howling as it slammed against the trees, bending the moaning and creaking giants. Infact, the storm appeared to grow ever stronger as the loud booming noises of the thunder grew ever louder as the lightning grew ever closer. The noises outside were enough to spook all of the horses that sat safely inside the barn. They began to hrash about, kicking and squealing as their instinct to flee kicked in. Drake, still curled up in the hay, was completly lost in his thoughts, revisting past memories and planning out the next move he would make against his father's war.

With his eyes closed, he ran through what had happend in the past few days. Everything went by so fast that seemed to be a blur, almost like he was never even there, just...floating in some unknown space watching as everything took place infront of him..and not be able to do a thing about it. There he goes, back into his depressing stages again..but thats just how he was..he thinks about things too much while the rest just passes him by. Honestly, he's just becomming bitter...

Drake dug his face into the hay as he desperatly tried to get some rest as the horses continued their thrashing about. He grunted, once again ignoring his horses as he turned about, trying to get the sleep he needed.

About to slip off into a deep sleep, Drake suddenly heard the noise of his mustang pawing at it's metal gate, gruting and neighing as if he was trying to get Drake's attention. Drake let out a soft snarl as he got up and dragged himself over to the nervous stallion. A hand lifted up to pat it's forehead in an apology and went on his rounds to calm down the rest of the "herd".

Taking care of the last horse, his eyebrow raised slightly to the fimilar scent filling the air. He regonizied it instantly and the sound that came after it almost made him jump. He had heard him..someone he had met awhile ago and split paths after the large battle all the way in the united states.."..Kolos?"

Patting the horse's neck before he stepped out, he slide open one of the large doors and stepped outside to see Kolos laying there infront of the barn. Instantly he ran over to his side and knelt down. He checked over him quickly before, gently, picking him up and placing Kolos onto his shoulder,'He needs to get warm..'

Returning back into the barn, Drake quickly walked over to where he was before and set Kolos down on the make-shift bed of hay. Taking his jcket off, he gave one good look at it, then dropped it to the floor,'Damned thing is soaked, that won't work..'Looking around quickly, Drake spotted two, unused horse blankets hanging on a stand across from them. He quickly grabbed them and returned to Kolos's side, placing the thick blankets on him so that they covered up most of his body. "..sorry, 'vut thats 'vall I have"Drake mumbled in his thick, romanian acscent.

((crappeh! ))

Kolos released a muffled grunt, his vision blurred by the dark, thick atmosphere.  For a while he lay there, silent, wondering whether or not to give in to the urge to go to sleep and, perhaps, never wake up again.  Water oozed down his exhausted body, all feeling far from gone.  Not even the cold could pierce the stone defense of paralysis.  

His thoughts began to wander to that very man he’d parted with years ago.  He was young, and Kolos had been fond of him, if only for a while.  Him and his horses…Kolos and his…well, he’d tried to forget about those memories.  There was no possible way that who he smelled was Drake – no way.  Unless he’d managed to forget how he’d gotten from the United States to Transylvania.  Then again…who knows?  Kolos was had just enough absentmindedness that it could be possible.

Right when his eyes were to the closing point, when his heart had become close to motionless and his thoughts frozen, he sensed movement.  His jade eyes shot open, clouded but certain that they saw the soles of boots sloshing in the mud towards him.  First instinct was to defend himself, his body tightening in a drunken, fruitless alarm.  Then, gentle hands gathered up his pathetic lump and dropped him over a warm body.

“Blundering…idiot…”  Kolos muttered inaudibly to the stranger, unawares of who had picked him out of the storm.  Before he knew it, however, he was slumped over a large bed of hay, smelling immensely of Drake.  Just a coincidence.  Just a coincidence…

Warmth almost smothered him, his jade eyes opening to the half-way point to stare at his savior.  His vision danced in and out of focus, making him unsure of even what he was staring at.  Then, when he thought all of his efforts would be pointless, one second of pure, sharp clarity came to his throbbing, aching dome.

“Well, I’ll be…damned…I really am…lost…”  His lips kept moving after he was done speaking, forming the words ‘good to see you’ before he broke into a complete fit of shuddering, the cold piercing him like a million daggers, tangling the mass of blankets into his quaking fingers and pulling it as tightly against himself as he could manage.

After a while, not knowing what Drake was doing around him, Kolos’ body began to calm, his purple lips shaking as his teeth chattered together.  He sat up slowly, bright jade eyes glowing as he attempted a smile.

“T-t-t-t-thank y-y-you.”
 

--Last edited by Ruulion on 2007-08-27 15:35:31 --

IS NOW DEAD

Rp was contiued on paper in school because of computer trouble. the one on here is now DEAD.