Hunted into Memories

[Jakobi Velenti]

Waiting before the portal to the Twilight Isle, Jake couldn't help but feel uneasy. A few minutes had gone by of him waiting for a sign of anyone coming or going, but it looked like no one would be passing through to guarantee a little safety on his journey. He would have been content to just wait there as long as it took to try and avoid any magical mishaps that the portal seemed so fond of putting him through whenever he traveled alone if it weren't for the fact that he could practically feel the stone's impatience. It had refused to respond to anything he said all morning, and he knew now would be no different, not until he finally stepped through so they could have the walk and talk he'd agreed to. And so with a reluctant sigh, the pirate pushed himself from the wall he'd been leaning against to do just that.

He barely had a boot through before he felt the sensation of innumerable invisible hands gripping his body, pulling the rest of him in before he could change his mind. The world around him warped and bent, the view reminiscent of how space seemed to stretch just before his ship's hyperdrive took him beyond the speed of light. It was almost a comforting thought, if he could have ignored the part where his body felt like it was going to be ripped in half by whatever had a hold of him.

Just as quickly as it came, the force pulling at him was gone. A blink later and the endlessly stretched lights of the Inn were gone from his view, replaced by a dark forest. Jake blinked again twice more, trying to adjust to the difference in lighting before realizing there practically was none. Glowing mushrooms could be seen what felt like at least a hundred or more feet away with a cloud of little motes of light dancing over them and through the trees, but none surrounded him. A quick glance around revealed that the bright flora and fauna were much closer in any other direction.

“Don't speak.”

Jake's mouth had barely begun opening when MoonBeryl's gentle command whispered through his mind. Brow furrowing, a rush of irritation flooded through him as he turned to start walking towards the closest patch of glowing mushrooms. It had been reminding him day in and day out that he had agreed to this, more insistent each time he pushed it off for the next day. Now that he was finally going through with his end of the bargain, it had the audacity to start out by telling him to shut up? As if. "The hell you mean, I thought we was here to chat? Ain't about to be no one sided bullshit."

The lack of lungs didn't seem to matter as it sighed, sounding exasperated already. "I meant aloud, dear. But now someone else has already heard you." He was about to ask again just what that was supposed to mean before he froze, eyes on the foliage he had begun moving towards as it seemed to shift. Muscles tensed, lowering slightly in ready crouch for whoever this 'someone' was to make the mistake of revealing themselves as his hand crept towards the inside of his coat where a lump of cold metal was waiting on his hip. Then he noticed something about the shifting foliage that made the hairs on his neck raise.

It wasn't just shifting, it was going dark. The speed of it picked up as the realization set in, mushrooms losing their light and fireflies disappearing from view as the darkness crept forwards. Another glance around showed him that the lights to either side through the trees weren't moving as much, and the ones behind him seemed to even be coming a little closer. It was a circle of moving darkness, meaning that if he turned just a little more he should be able to spot the center or the source and hopefully avoid-

She was already looking right at him when he finally made out her massive outline in the trees. He nearly mistook her for one of the shadows he'd fought nights ago under the full moon, until a stray bit of starlight pierced the veil she was casting to briefly shed light on the horned helm looming at well over double his height atop her steed. It's hooved feet were completely silent as it took another step towards him, the lights in the distance shifting once again with it. 'Maybe she just wanna talk?'

"We both know you should be running, dear."

The response to his unspoken thought quickly found to be quite fair, sending the pirate into a sprint just as the Dark Hunter began to reach behind her back, pulling an arrow that dripped with the same shadows it was made of from a quiver he either couldn't see, or didn't even exist. Weaving between trees he could barely even see, the lights ahead continued to snuff out of view at almost the same rate he rushed towards them. It was only due to the sheer density of the woods that he was gaining on the edge of whatever effect she had surrounding the area, her large steed needing to take just a little more time to maneuver in the pursuit. The corner of his lips began to pull up, wondering just what the hell everyone was so afraid of from some slow creep on a spooky horse?

Until the first arrow tore through a tree just off to the left of where he was sprinting like it was nothing, a burst of splinters and raining out while the remaining wood cracked loudly under the weight of the tree and shattered his little burst of confidence. His eyes went wide as the thing began to fall across his path, the undergrowth thick enough to prevent him from diving below it but the angle high enough that he wasn't sure he'd be able to go over it. "Turn right." Forcibly rerouted by the obstacle in his path, Jake skims a shoulder along the bark that was crashing down in front of him while pivoting the way he was told, more than happy to move away from where her first shot had went. A lucky choice, as he could barely make out the beach through the trees in the new direction she had him going. Not quite foolish enough to let that get him cocky, he did let it put a little extra pep in his steps as he finally fished his gun out. One more solid look ahead to make sure he was on a mostly clear path towards the sand, and the portal that was barely visible, then he turned his gaze back to take aim.

His arm barely made it up before her next arrow pierced through his shoulder and passed right through it entirely. The physical pain of it was barely even a candle to the inferno it stirred in his head, a range of emotions flickering into place before only the worst of them began to find any purchase. His strange pistol's muted shots crack out, body pulling the trigger on it's own out of pure instinct. Bullets flew, most peppering the trees around her or outright missing entirely. One plinked loudly off the Dark Hunter's helm, a burst of satisfaction at the sound being drained from him to be replaced by cold terror at how she didn't even flinch, still barreling towards him atop her steed as he burst from the tree line.

He focused ahead once more, spotting a few goblins at the ever familiar bar just before they made themselves scarce while adjusting his course to be one aimed straight for the portal. He couldn't spare the breath to speak, urging the stone around his neck to hear the words on his mind. 'Sorry, Moony, we gon have to postpone our lil talk.' There was no response, just the sudden sound of hooves that he couldn't hear before stoking the fear in him even higher as the Dark Hunter got out onto the sand as well. Firing the rest of what was left in his magazine blindly behind him, a horrific whinny followed one of those muted shots as it tagged the beast of shadows she rode atop, surprising him enough to look back as he neared the safety of the portal. It was rearing up in some kind of pain, sending her bow arm too high to aim at him properly. The sight brought a pang of relief, at least until the arrow in her other hand melted into a ball of darkness that shot his way all the same.

There was no better way to describe the feeling it put in him as it crashed into his back than emptiness. His entire body felt limp with how the drive to even run was ripped from him, but the force of her attack carried him off his feet and through the portal all the same. He didn't even feel the fear as intensely as he had moments prior, overwhelmed by a cold and familiar hollowness that was so all consuming that he didn't notice his surroundings shifting once more as he fell dully to the ground on the other side of the portal. The only thing that even brought him out of the rising memory of the facility was a single word echoed softly across his mind while the world around him rocked slightly from one side to the other.

Keemela'och