The Forest Lacks Morals

Rockman · Jul 16, 2018

It was within the forest that you can stop caring about what is right and wrong, survival becames most important and it is neccessary to protect both your life and your way of life. The residents of the forest don't care if you are a good person or a bad person, what matters most is if you are strong enough to survive or a weakling that gets picked off; this was true for most of the vicious monsters of the Forbidden Forest. This place was not for the faint of heart, and to be honest is just a place for the worst of the worst that can't live on the main island because of tendencies of more aggressive races, this led them to make their home in the most darkness corner of a supposive peaceful island.

Ain was not a vicious monster, but he wasn't the type to care about the lives of others too deeply; that being said he had found it quite comfortable in the darkest and most dangerous part of Manta Carlos Island. The more intelligent of the races within the forest were always looking for an edge against more dangerous predators, but still understood that they need not kill everything they see because that would wreck the delicate balance. Over the fifty years that he lived there, he helped them and they helped him in return with food and supplies that looking back on it now were probably from people who wandered into the forest despite the dangers.

***

It had been a little while seen he had left the Forbidden Forest, but before he knew it he was back; This was his home. As he walked on through he past a big wolf-like creature eating another creature, its head peeked up at him and stared for a few seconds before finally ignoring him and going back to his meal. There was just something about him that made many but not all of the races here leave him be, but to him that was just normal now. He continued to move past, and finally reached his home which was an old house he had fixed up. Why this house was even here to begin with was a bit dubious but it served his needs just fine.

Ain checked his garden out front of his house to see if any of the monsters had stolen his crops again, but they seemed to have left it alone for now; possibly to wait until it gets more ripe. He head inside and took his red dragonscale helmet off and placed it on a small table by the door, his blonde hair was let free for a while as he started cleaning the house up of dust over the course of an hour or so. After that he grabbed a piece of preserved dried meat he had in his stock, and took a small bite out of it as he headed out his front door without his helmet.

It was quiet for now, which usually didn't last.

He sat on his porch in a old creaky rocking chair, another remnant on the old house and relaxed for a bit, unknown to him there was someone nearby watching him.

@Demonicmuffin

Demonicmuffin · Jul 16, 2018

Sitting on a branch, or rather the bottom of it, Coriander watched the elf from a distance, her unblinking eyes watching him carefully. She had known about this inhabitant for some time, however, he didn’t seem like he was so bad. Something about him just seemed so kind, so familiar, like her. He seemed to ooze off charisma, drawing the insectoid girl to watch him, making sure to never be spotted, carefully moving insects around him when he drew near, creating a distraction to fall back. He could see well, and from what she had watched, was incredibly proficient with that weapon of his.

“Strong. Provide fine sequences. New strains.” She thought to herself, understanding that the other beings abilities were above and beyond the ordinary, and had DNA which could be used to upgrade her swarm. “Assimilation good. Wasteful however. More useful alive. Forest dweller. Not like from out there. Understands the rules of survival. Beneficial ally.” She reasoned, dropping from her perch to the forest floor, a baseball sized, green egg slowly expanding in her hand until it popped, revealing an ironclad beetle, the size of a large dog, which promptly attached itself to her arm, [/i]“Simple Strain. Natural. Modification minimal. Effective. However, must evolve further. Future developments required.”[/i] She noted, reminding herself to expand her repertoire of modifications, specialized strands of modified DNA to grant adaptations to the swarm. Despite its lack of modification, the simple increase in size of an already durable insect rendering its armor as tough as most armored cars, easily capable of blocking most attacks if they hit it.

Moving onto the matter at hand, Coriander walked into the clearing, slowly as to not startle the man into attacking. That was the same reason she had not chosen to use a larger, more effective insect instead, as it could be considered a threatening movement. Stepping closer, the insect girl moved until she was standing well within the open area, although remaining far enough away in an attempt to maintain peace.

“Greetings.” Coriander began, revealing part of her face from behind the bug she was using as a shield, but still keeping it close enough that an attack would be able to be blocked, “I have watched. Observed. Monitored you. Long time. Since first arrived.” She continued, leaving little chance to speak before starting again, “Different. Not like others. Others from out there. You understand. Understand rules of survival. Understand like me. Good. Very good. I approve.” She nodded, complimenting him. “Have proposal. Offer for fellow forest dweller.” She stopped, giving the man time to respond before continuing.

“Proven self. Proven part of forest, of ecosystem. But alone. No pack. Offer change this. Join hands. Help Swarm. Help evolve. Help protect forest.” She explained, slowly moving towards the man, lowering her shield. Even if he were to shoot her now, the insect on her arm was a memory bug, which would return to the hive, reviving the insectoid girl. “Assist swarm, swarm assist. Beneficial to both. Good plan.” She finished, standing just a few feet from the porch.

Rockman · Jul 17, 2018

The dried piece of meat broke in half between his teeth making a loud snap, the sound breaking the silence as he remained still in his seat, it wasn't very flavorful but it served his needs. It was then that his eyes noticed something, it was a strange sight indeed, an insectoid-like girl; clearly one of the various residents of the forest. This girl looked a bit creepy, a bit odd but it didn't bother him too much as he was used to rather odd shapes and statures of the races that dwelled all around him. This one was new however, but he had caught glimpses of someone just like her out of the corner of his eye for many years now.

Ain allowed the girl to approach without taking immediate hostile action, but placed his hand on his short sword in his belt. The main thing he took away from it was that she was incredibly cautious about walking up to him as she held a shield of some sort in front of her as she moved he calmly stared at her through violet eyes. The greeting however took him by surprise, but he was more impressed by her ability to speak, many others in the forest lacked the ability to talk including himself; even if her speech was disjointed he felt that she was more intelligent based on her actions.

He didn't respond at all, but it wasn't like he even could so he kept listening. In short, she said that she had watched him seen he first arrived, and seemed to approve of his actions thus far. What exactly this insectoid saw in him, he wasn't really sure as he was just living the way he wished to.

He twirled is fingertips to gesture to the girl to continue.

When she said to help protect the forest, he unconsciously smiled lightly, it was true that he did protect the forest out of his own will but it was the save the monsters that he saw as his people as the ones in the right and anyone else was just invaders that deserved what they got. A single thing did bother him though, she mentioned assisting the swarm, he had no idea what she meant by that.

If any decision was going to be made, he would need more information and of course he would need to trust the girl in front of him; it would be hard going forward. However, when she lowered her shield he also moved his hand away from his short sword as a sign of good faith, but hoped that she would not step further as she then would be effected by his black aura for getting close to him. With his aura involved, it made it difficult to work with anybody, though he wondered if the effect of fear would even have a full effect on an insectoid.

He remained seated and looked her over slowly, she was quite odd in that she presented herself like a normal person, she even wore clothing, how exactly did a creature like this even come to be. Ain hoped that she didn't expect him to talk or confirm immediately, if things turned out badly he was concerned that he might need to kill her but there was no need as of yet.

Demonicmuffin · Jul 17, 2018

“Remains cautious. Good. Instincts strong. Complete forest dweller. Outsider influence minimal.” Coriander nodded, outwardly showing her approval. There had been some concerns she had about how much he was tainted, a large reason being his abode was like those the outsiders lived in. This was part of the reason she had taken so long to contact him. “You are strong. Move fast. See good. Hit far. Approve.” She stated, displaying that she knew a fair bit about his abilities. “Swarms benefits clear. Must display. Display former outsider’s benefits.” She said, moving back from the house, the insect on her arm detaching and moving a small bit aways, “Do not fear. No attacks. Swarm under my command. Stay peaceful, Swarm peaceful.” She said before starting, remembering previous reactions to her abilities.

A green, gooey egg formed in her hand, growing to the size of a basketball before she tossed it to the ground, the orb rapidly expanding until it was the size of a car. A quick moving blade shot out from the egg, cleaving open the bubble like surface, revealing the occupant and spilling green goop everywhere, which rapidly soaked into the ground. A massive praying mantis, around the size of a giraffe emerged from the, shaking a few times to remove what goop still stuck to it before standing stationary, its eyes trained on the man on the porch.

“I spawn. Broodmother. Create. Command. Swarm family, but mere tools. Replaceable.” She started off, explaining the basis of her ability to spawn insect, holding her pointer finger up, a small drop of goop dripping off the tip. In one sleek movement, Coriander had taken her sharp claw and pierced the mantis’ exoskeleton, a small patch of green visible around the wound. The mantis shook, its arms shifting as it sprouted another pair, and then another. It continued until it possessed 4 pairs of bladed arms, arranged far enough apart to each move without interrupting the others movement.

“All things change. Adapt. Insects, faster. Swarm, fastest.” She continued, explaining the second half of her ability, “Evolution rapid. But limited. Modifications require essence. Essence of beasts, of insects, of outsiders. Flesh conceals potential. Strands, sequences, twisting, separating, joining. See how it could be better. Weave it. Spin it. Improve it.” She said, revealing her primary meaning of what helping the swarm would entail. “Assist Swarm in gathering essence. Develop new strains. Portion of prey. Portion for deconstruction. In return, protection. Swarm will assist protecting. Assist hunts. Very helpful. Swarm distract, take blows. Former outsider strikes. Fell stronger enemies. Collect stronger sequences. Evolve. Cycle continues.” She explained her plan, attempting to show the benefits to the man, although if only focussing on her words rather than thinking themselves, one might think this plan would still only benefit her.

Rockman · Jul 19, 2018

The idea of a strange creature like this insectoid girl approaching him was enough to be a little concerned, but the talk of the swarm and even the ability to control and create insects from very little showed a much bigger danger than he was expecting. In his old world his job was not subjugation of dangerous monsters, but he was aware of creatures that bore the name broodmother, they were dangerous creatures that were capable of producing numerous spawn and he remembered being told once by his master that if he encountered such a creature they were to be taken out immediately before they could produce enough spawn to be a threat. There was no need to follow that order since he had already killed his master, the dead can make no demands.

It was noted as Ain pondered the insectoid girls motives that her insects seemed to follow her directive down to the letter, though he wondered if they could disobey or operate without her if she were to die. As she formed the preying mantis with several murderous blades he confirmed in his own mind that she was dangerous, but not yet a true threat which may be why the island had not seen fit to kill her or capture her yet.

The whole concept of her ability seemed to resemble in part--Alchemy, the use of materials and liquids to create other things; the Alchemists that practiced Alchemy were known to try to create life through Golems and other such constructs by using what they had on hand. It seemed though that the process was much more fast and amazing than Alchemy, near instantly producing results that would take an Alchemist a life time to do the same with a golem.

Ain understood all too well that he had little to gain from an alliance with this insectoid, but did not dismiss it completely as he was alone without any true allies. This weird girl was not the most ideal of allies but she was willing to work with him, but he could tell from all the words and her actions thus far that she lacked the capacity for morals and operated from a logical standpoint of survival above all else; he was okay with that but was concerned that if she were to continue doing as she pleased it would lead the island police to the forest and cause him trouble.

There was no other way but ally with her and keep her from drawing too much attention or kill her, there was no other choice since she forced this encounter. If it was the old him he would have chosen the easier option of killing her but had grown to like the residents of the Forbidden Forest.

He stood up from the rocking chair with confidence, almost completely ignoring the preying mantis as he stepped forward and made his way down the steps of his porch. It was clear that if he were to work with this insectoid, the prerequisite was for her to be able to stand next to him at all times, if she was not able to do so then the partnership would fail before it even began. As his feet reached the ground, the dark aura around him pushed forward, his small steps leading the aura closer and closer, until the dark aura had swathed over her.

Still he did not stop as he walked right in front of her and stared down at her small bodied form, and bent downward towards her--his purple eyes locked on her strange tred-circled eyes. "HtregrbdRwBDCBRDGRDGRfDHL?," he spoke for the first time, though he tried to say something to the effect of, "How do you feel?," nothing but utter nonsense came out just words that resembled that of demon tongue.

His left hand held his bow to his side nonthreatingly, as his right hand was placed on her chitin-like cheek. All this just to gauge how she would respond when he acted more aggressively towards her.

@Demonicmuffin

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The Forest Lacks Morals

Rockman

Plan your actions for luck does not exist.

Demonicmuffin

Well-Known Member

Rockman

Plan your actions for luck does not exist.

Demonicmuffin

Well-Known Member

Rockman

Plan your actions for luck does not exist.