CHPT 418: Picturesque In Undeath

VWOOOooOOMP!

As always, crossing over from one world to another of sorts was nothing short of chaotic. The blending of smells, feelings, sensations. One moment he was leaping through the air, tugging the weight of a boat along with him, the next he was crashing back first into warm and pungent smelling waters. The sloshing and splash of his collision only made worse by the boat flying in after him to smash into the body of water.

For a moment he panicked, caught in the idea that they'd entered an Ocean Tangent. A Tangent entirely comprised of water and muddled with the deadliest of natural predators. Low chance for such a low ranked Tangent. But not impossible. He was ready to go to war in those moments as he kicked and paddled and searched the muddy waters for his brother, Frosty. Then his feet hit the floor. And he looked around to find himself standing in a rather shallow river. Frosty's barking in the distance suddenly became clearer as the water in his ears cleared.

Thud!

"UGh!" Claude grunted as two thick hands grabbed his arms and pulled him out of the water. Once he was on land, he looked up to find Ursula's freckled face staring down at him.

"Yea same...." She casually announced as her wet hair and skin dripped onto his face. With the backdrop of the warm sun outlining her frame in gold and making her hair look almost lit ablaze, she looked magical for a moment in ways he hadn't seen before.

"You ok....?" She added in the brief second of extra silence.

"Yep." Claude said before she pulled him to his feet.

Once he was up, he surveyed the area and unsheathed his spear. Cassidy and Ursula were drying off what important things they had on them. Ma and Frosty were surveying the area casually, clearly discontent with the hideous smell and quality of nature.

It didn't take a genius to know they were in an Undead Tangent. Tree's leafless and patchy, the brown bark surrounding them left in a pale and withered state. Even the ground was stiff, dead-- teeming with bugs. The river running below the Tangent seemed to snake through the area endlessly with their boat flowing along calmly. The water was black and littered with bubbles that reminded him of how oil settled over water... if oil was also mixed with glowing blue bile, strands of hair and dismembered body parts.

"We.... were just...in..." Claude started, feeling the urge to vomit once again.

"Yep. Hell of a welcome present, huh?" Cassidy said from beside Ursula.

Claude was so wrapped up in the idea that he might've eaten an undead finger that he almost forgot something even more important. Cassidy.

His sudden movement drew the attention of everyone as he approached Cassidy and began studying him, checking his skin, his eyes, any cuts or bruises left open.

"What?"

"Undead Infections and Diseases are a serious problem-- all they need is an entryway. Open wounds, mouth, ears, eyes.... my father said there was a time when M-Pathogens almost wiped humans out after the first Goblin Horde.... simply because of how easy it is to spread." Claude explained.

Cassidy smiled faintly, "I'm aware...."

"Do you feel any different? Are you ok?"

Cassidy chuckled, "How flattering, I'm fine though. My father's gift is one that keeps on giving."

"Wolfborn..... right." Claude remembered before backing away from Cassidy to moving to pull their boat to land so it didn't continue down the river.

As he did so, Ursula yelled out to him, "Hello?? Are we ok?"

The group followed to catch up with him as he threw out his Malevolence Tether and yanked the boat to land, "Yes. We should be fine. Lupines don't really have an infection problem... probably due to everything we've already been exposed to." He kept the last portion to himself.

Ursula sat on that for a moment as Claude removed his boots. The second his bare feet hit the ground, the earth beneath started to brighten-- grown softer, as blades of grass pushed towards the surface and reached out to bring life to the nearby trees. Even the air felt like it was being revived in his sensory focused state.

New smells hung on, spilling from distinct directions with the remnants of distinct sounds that were still too far to actively locate. Even so, it wouldn't stay that way.

"Let's split from the river." Claude said suddenly.

"You catch a scent?" Ursula asked.

"No, but since the Undead don't need to breathe, the water is their strong suit. More so than ours, if we get deeper into the forest, our killing efficiency increases." Claude replied.

The group nodded in understanding before taking off. Ursula took the front with Ma at her back. Cassidy followed close behind with Claude at the rear. His steps were silent with Frosty at his side, the only distinct sound being the seeds he continued to drop from his hands along the way. Each one swallowed up by the continued growth of grass and roots below....

They ventured deeper into the forest as planned. The placements of small bodies of water was as common as usual in Undead Tangents. Maybe a bit more so with a few extra twisting rivers and even a lake. The sight gave him flashbacks of his time with the first team of Night Runners he ever knew. Back when the Ghouls below gave them a real run for their money. What a time....

History didn't seem interested in repeating himself. And he made sure it wouldn't, every body of water left in their wake was frozen solid. It seems this batch of Undead had a different approach. If it was a horde it would be a mindless one for sure.

Claude's grip on his spear only tightened as they traveled further--

AHHHHHCKCKCKC!

A mannish roar shook the dead forest with an electric jolt. Hard, fast. Twigs fell in the distance like rainfall. Malnourished Griffon's glowing from the consumed Undead Magics took to the skies, the flap of their black wings sending off tufts of glowing blue smoke like dyed pollen.

The group halted. Frosty's nose was to the sky scenting for anything out of the norm. For a moment the young VanaWarg stayed that way along with his Lupine packmates. But the need for scent didn't last. Sound was enough.

CRNCHCRNCHCRNCH...SHLSHLSH!!

Chewing...

A collective of hungry and foul mouths chomping some form of flesh to unrecognizable bits in the distance.

The sound was right ahead of them. Only there was no water for miles, and no caves at all that they'd seen. Just endless dead woodland ahead, and reborn forested wildlands behind.

Claude's eyes went to the only natural area they could be hidden. It seems the others did the same. Frosty began growling, his white tipped fur fluttered with the rising wavelengths of magic flowing off him. Cassidy aimed his AutoBow high.

"Just say the word...."

Ursula smacked her axes together, knocking off the built up ice and snow.

Ma didn't take up a combative stance. Instead, she hovered off the ground, beginning to hum calmly over the sounds of awakening Zombies. Zombies that littered the branches of the leafless trees like lounging leopards covered in torn skin, Griffon feathers and magical infections that would make even a Demon squirm.

The first wave fell from the tree tops once they set eyes.... and empty sockets, on the group. They fell from the sky scrapping tree's like dumped corpses, rising as if from the gift of necromancy on busted joints and jellied legs. Something was different about them. Some had beaks protruding from their faces where mouths should be. Others had a single human eye, and an oversized sickly blue one-- like that of a bird. Some had feline pelt stitched into their skin... was it stitched?

Claude shook off his prefight jitters as Frosty nudged him with a growl. "Focus." He didn't need to say it for Claude to understand.

He laid a hand on Frosty's head and borrowed his Wolven brother's traits, causing his muscles to bulk and his skin to be cloaked in fur. His jaw extended with the growth of sabered fangs and his skin warmed with the expression of PitWolven Intimidation Magics. It flowed from them both in bright cyan waves.

Claude flipped his spear and stabbed it into the ground.

"What are you thinking?" Cassidy questioned.

"Bait and switch." Claude replied. "Just watch us for the next wave."

Then, he took off with Frosty close beside him. As he ran, he dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out a handful of seeds. Their growth potential like glowing embers left in a campfire. Ready to be stoked to life. In those moments, he felt like he was holding lightning.

The wave of Zombies charged in a lumpy and lopsided group assault. Some died upon hitting the floor, others tripped over the corpses, but the size of the onslaught was still many. Not enough to be all though....

"UUUGGGGGAHHHHH!!" The Zombies let out a collective expression of mindless hunger.

Claude let out his Malevolence Tether. The flaming chain snaked through the air and latched on to a Zombie at the center of the charge. It's skin a greying shade of brown with portions of spotted fur stitched in and a mouth full of feathers that made it almost look like it was vomiting the night itself.

Claude yanked the creature ahead of the others and to himself, it's ankles breaking as it rippled across the dead grass. It didn't care-- with it's hungry uneven eyes, it reached out for Claude.

He ducked and punched into it's gut.

FWOOM!

His fist ripped through the weather leathers and dead skin like paper. The seeds in his hand still felt like lightning. The life within felt even stronger-- his urge to grow it even more so in the face of undeath. Frosty skidded to a halt beside him and forced them both to send of massive waves of his (Intimidation Skill).

The Zombies slowed. Claude took the advantage. He opened his palm inside the Zombie he held. Ma's song raised in intensity at the prospect of death. The oncoming slaughter was imminent and evident in her melancholic yet electric expression of what was to come.

The black feathers once filling it's mouth exploded outward as flaming green nature magic exited every orifice of the creature followed by its back exploding as hundreds of vines, flowers, wooden spikes and twisted roots grew with a vicious speed.

The stunned Zombies in the distance howled and roared as the natural blast snared and ripped them all the shreds, pinning them to trees, branches and even tying them down to the floor so tightly that their eyes popped like small fireworks.

[+4250 EXP]

DING!

[You have Leveled Up! You are now Level 41]

[4 Stat Points Available]

There was silence. An awe at the idea of slaying so many Zombies so quickly. But that only lasted for a moment as bodies began to fall in the distance. Too far to be a worry, but too close not to notice. Better safe than sorry.

"It's not a Horde, and there's nothing peculiar about these Undead so far. Let's follow the groups until we find the Boss." Claude called back to them.

His heart beat in his ears loudly. But not loud enough for him to miss Ma speaking to him. The Banshee hovered over him like a beautiful spirit of death. Her eyes bouncing from him to the madness beyond him.

"Sure.... there's nothing peculiar about them. But you, you did something I'd call... peculiar." Her elven blue ears twitched.

Claude turned to where she pointed. Back to the corpses overrun by Nature. The Zombie that stood in front of him was held up by the wood and vines growing from it's now nonexistent back. All that was left was it's spine. Damaged and intertwined with roots that mocked it's shape and function. Beyond that, something much more marvelous took place. The wave of dead. The Nature. It looked almost like art. Like a battle scene frozen in time. It wasn't just wooden spikes and serrated vine. The Nature around him-- the wood, the grass, the trees. It took on the shapes of Wolves, and Birds, and Sabered Felines, digging into the Zombies even in death....

"Weird..." Claude said aloud.

"What is it, wolfman?" Ma questioned, her black bindings and robes fluttered in the wind.

"It's just like when I awakened by Element...."