A tall thin demon woman stood outside Nash's dome. Her pale boney fingers across the sides of the trees as she walked along the outside edge of the dome. The parts of the trees her fingers touched began to turn yellow. Withering away at an alarming rate. She walked halfway around the dome when she pulled a shiny lighter from her pocket. She flicked it once. Twice. Thrice a small flame shot out. Her jagged toothed sadistic grin now more visible. She let out a sadistic laugh before looking at the dry withered tree branches.
Meanwhile Ren was sitting there. If one looked close, they might notice the trees were ever so slowly moving. Almost as if they were breathing. Ren saw the subtle plant movements. He had half a mind to leave the place, but figured he could at least talk to Nash about it. Where was Nash? Ren hadn't spoken to him since he arrived at Nash's dome. Ren tried to calm his nerves but something definitely felt odd, and it wasn't the trees.
When Ren went to leave the room, some vines had grown over the Entrance way. Ren walked right through the vines as if they were a mere spider web. He brushed the vines off him before noticing the hallway looked different. The hallway was shorter and narrower. He began walking around when he nearly tripped over a shrub that ensnared around his foot. He looked down and Ren coulda swore there wasn't a shrub there earlier. Parts of the shrub wrapped around Ren's foot. He ripped his foot free.
Ren was now running. The weird feeling he felt earlier was definitely a demon, and it was starting to get warmer. A couple more shrubs snared around his feet every so often but his movements weren't hindered much. Eventually Ren heard Nash's voice echoing. "Sorry lil man... This is the end of the line. Hopefully this will be over quickly" Nash's voice said.
It began heating up pretty quickly, and soon enough fire engulfed one of the walls near Ren. Ren recoiled and leaped away from the fire. The burning was Intense but fairly controlled. The walls bent and contorted to allow the fire to spread throughout the hut with minimal damage to the hut itself.
"A friend, huh? AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!! Where's that loser, Nash at? Spill it!!" The demon woman laughed in a high pitched voice. The plants across the ground quickly began dying. The flames engulfed the grass and was moving towards Ren. Ren did the only thing he could think of. He clenched his fist digging his claws in the palm of his hand. Blood began to form crimson mist which slowly but surely filled the air. The mist didn't affect them as it did the young human hunter. The moisture in the air did significantly slow the progression of the fire.
"The hell, what a cute little trick... Nash you bastard, too scared to fight your own battles!?" The lady yelled
"Get out here Nash! We can fight her together!" Ren snapped.
"Life's not fair, kid, I can't help you" Nash's voice echoed.
"Get out here you coward! The boss said I can take you back alive ooor dead!" The demon woman yelled.
"When I'm done with this freak, your next!" Ren yelled.
"I don't know you loser, the boss sent me after Nash, but I'll kill you all the same!" The woman yelled.
She leaped over the flame and lunged towards Ren with her claws aimed at his throat. He caught her hand, but her other claws cut Ren's hand off. Ren yelled before grabbing her by the hair and pulling her head into his knee strike. The mist began to thicken due to Ren's missing hand. Crimson mist filled the hut and slowly put out the fires. His hand was also slowly regenerating itself.
The enraged demon woman lunged again slashing horizontally and at angles. Ren managed to dodge most hits but was scratched a few times. He managed to land a clean uppercut to the jaw and pushed her hard enough to fall onto her own fire. At this point, large portions of the fire were gone but a few areas still had large fires. Before the demon woman could get up, something surprising happened. The trees quickly began to reshape themselves around the demon woman like a cocoon. The wood burned and decayed but more trees began to create a thicker cocoon around her. The poor demon was burned up by her own fire. A few moments later, some of the trees that had formed a wall were now twisting and contorting into the shape of a door, then Nash walked in.
"I'll make sure she sizzles in the su-" Nash was interrupted with a punch to the jaw. Ren smacked him with his mostly regenerated hand.
"Ow! Okay fine, I deserved that... That woman over there... That's Matilda. Mean demon. Long story short... We used to run together. Small group of trained killers. One day, we screwed up... I screwed up. So I left... Boss must not have liked that since he sent Matilda to hunt me down..."
"Your just telling me this now?!" Ren
"Yeah... Tough luck kid... " Nash said.
"What did Twitchy have to do with this?" Ren said.
"Him? That useless corpse looter is good for nothing... Fast, sure... Had two run-ins with him. Wasn't too impressed. Still surprised you took him out though..." Nash responded.
"And who's the boss?" Ren asked.
"He'll kill me if he fi- Nobody! Nobody you need to meet" Nash said.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean" Ren yelled.
"Kid... There's scary things out there... Scarier than Matilda... Much scarier" Nash responded.
"And now what?" Ren asked.
"Honestly... Leave... Make sure there is no evidence of us here... By morning... All these trees will be gone, Matilda? Gone. Me, and hopefully you, gone our separate ways. It probably is best this way" Nash said.
The two sat there silently. The night was still early, but they had no time to rest.
The two went their separate ways that night. Ren managed to find a small farm just outside a small village, and took refuge in a small barn. Ren couldn't help but think Nash wasn't telling him the full story, but Ren had nobody else to talk to. Ren looked down at his ripped clothes from the fight. He angrily clenched his fist and continued to lie there in anger before falling asleep behind a stack of small hay bales.
Meanwhile Ren was sitting there. If one looked close, they might notice the trees were ever so slowly moving. Almost as if they were breathing. Ren saw the subtle plant movements. He had half a mind to leave the place, but figured he could at least talk to Nash about it. Where was Nash? Ren hadn't spoken to him since he arrived at Nash's dome. Ren tried to calm his nerves but something definitely felt odd, and it wasn't the trees.
When Ren went to leave the room, some vines had grown over the Entrance way. Ren walked right through the vines as if they were a mere spider web. He brushed the vines off him before noticing the hallway looked different. The hallway was shorter and narrower. He began walking around when he nearly tripped over a shrub that ensnared around his foot. He looked down and Ren coulda swore there wasn't a shrub there earlier. Parts of the shrub wrapped around Ren's foot. He ripped his foot free.
Ren was now running. The weird feeling he felt earlier was definitely a demon, and it was starting to get warmer. A couple more shrubs snared around his feet every so often but his movements weren't hindered much. Eventually Ren heard Nash's voice echoing. "Sorry lil man... This is the end of the line. Hopefully this will be over quickly" Nash's voice said.
It began heating up pretty quickly, and soon enough fire engulfed one of the walls near Ren. Ren recoiled and leaped away from the fire. The burning was Intense but fairly controlled. The walls bent and contorted to allow the fire to spread throughout the hut with minimal damage to the hut itself.
"A friend, huh? AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAAA!!! Where's that loser, Nash at? Spill it!!" The demon woman laughed in a high pitched voice. The plants across the ground quickly began dying. The flames engulfed the grass and was moving towards Ren. Ren did the only thing he could think of. He clenched his fist digging his claws in the palm of his hand. Blood began to form crimson mist which slowly but surely filled the air. The mist didn't affect them as it did the young human hunter. The moisture in the air did significantly slow the progression of the fire.
"The hell, what a cute little trick... Nash you bastard, too scared to fight your own battles!?" The lady yelled
"Get out here Nash! We can fight her together!" Ren snapped.
"Life's not fair, kid, I can't help you" Nash's voice echoed.
"Get out here you coward! The boss said I can take you back alive ooor dead!" The demon woman yelled.
"When I'm done with this freak, your next!" Ren yelled.
"I don't know you loser, the boss sent me after Nash, but I'll kill you all the same!" The woman yelled.
She leaped over the flame and lunged towards Ren with her claws aimed at his throat. He caught her hand, but her other claws cut Ren's hand off. Ren yelled before grabbing her by the hair and pulling her head into his knee strike. The mist began to thicken due to Ren's missing hand. Crimson mist filled the hut and slowly put out the fires. His hand was also slowly regenerating itself.
The enraged demon woman lunged again slashing horizontally and at angles. Ren managed to dodge most hits but was scratched a few times. He managed to land a clean uppercut to the jaw and pushed her hard enough to fall onto her own fire. At this point, large portions of the fire were gone but a few areas still had large fires. Before the demon woman could get up, something surprising happened. The trees quickly began to reshape themselves around the demon woman like a cocoon. The wood burned and decayed but more trees began to create a thicker cocoon around her. The poor demon was burned up by her own fire. A few moments later, some of the trees that had formed a wall were now twisting and contorting into the shape of a door, then Nash walked in.
"I'll make sure she sizzles in the su-" Nash was interrupted with a punch to the jaw. Ren smacked him with his mostly regenerated hand.
"Ow! Okay fine, I deserved that... That woman over there... That's Matilda. Mean demon. Long story short... We used to run together. Small group of trained killers. One day, we screwed up... I screwed up. So I left... Boss must not have liked that since he sent Matilda to hunt me down..."
"Your just telling me this now?!" Ren
"Yeah... Tough luck kid... " Nash said.
"What did Twitchy have to do with this?" Ren said.
"Him? That useless corpse looter is good for nothing... Fast, sure... Had two run-ins with him. Wasn't too impressed. Still surprised you took him out though..." Nash responded.
"And who's the boss?" Ren asked.
"He'll kill me if he fi- Nobody! Nobody you need to meet" Nash said.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean" Ren yelled.
"Kid... There's scary things out there... Scarier than Matilda... Much scarier" Nash responded.
"And now what?" Ren asked.
"Honestly... Leave... Make sure there is no evidence of us here... By morning... All these trees will be gone, Matilda? Gone. Me, and hopefully you, gone our separate ways. It probably is best this way" Nash said.
The two sat there silently. The night was still early, but they had no time to rest.
The two went their separate ways that night. Ren managed to find a small farm just outside a small village, and took refuge in a small barn. Ren couldn't help but think Nash wasn't telling him the full story, but Ren had nobody else to talk to. Ren looked down at his ripped clothes from the fight. He angrily clenched his fist and continued to lie there in anger before falling asleep behind a stack of small hay bales.