Spirit Staccato {OPEN}

[Tep'lin My'trith]

Broken and malformed, the keeper of lost souls Tep'lin slowly floats through one of the few remaining forests of Germany. Although he does travel into the cities to lead the occasional soul, he typically spends most of his time out with nature. Beneath his two-sided cloak (black on the outside, red on the inside,) dozens of lost souls travel with him. These souls are not typically cursed, or in any way damaged, but instead they simply desire to stay in the current world rather than moving on. With no other place to go, these misfits seem to seek out Tep'lin to stay with him. Tep'lin, with no real way of forcing them to move on, instead watches over them, ensuring that they are not abused by those who seek to cheat death.

There is one thing that he does with these souls, however. Something to break the monotony of their pre-purgatory. He teaches them to "sing." This singing isn't exactly what most people would consider singing, an sounds more like a bell or chime, but it no less gives them something to do. Once they reach a particularly dense part of the forest, his cloak flashes open, a result o his arms flying out to ether side to open it. The small orbs of light that reside within slowly float out and take position, much like a normal orchestra. With all of the "players" in place, Tep'lin raises a single, once-gangrenous finger to call their attention. Moments pass by before he begins. Despite what is used to create the music normally, Tep'lin is surprisingly a fan of orchestral music, and has learned how to conduct a wide variety of symphonies. Today's piece is Tchaikovsy's 6th Symphony. Tep'lin sets to work, leading the souls in how and when they should "play," their chime-like sounds replacing that of woodwind and stringed instruments. The result is a haunting melody, one that sounds as if it's being played with small bells.

[Shadow]

What had brought Shadow to Germany? A wrong turn perhaps, or possibly boredom as was the normal case. It was more unusual for him to wander in forests away from the hustle of cities. However, the reasoning for it was that he had caught wind of something. An old something that he knew was the call of a spirit.

Always the one for games he had been trailing the other soul guider through the mist covered woods, became lost a few times, and ended up solely following the humming of spirits. A fox-like smile appeared on his face as his feet carried him over fallen branches and the like. Shockingly white irises searched the area in front of himself with little success of seeing, but at least the ominous echoing of the song had become louder. A few paces more and he began to spot the outline of the orchestra that had formed. While he was just to the side of the group, halfway hiding behind a tree, the other etherial could spot him rather easily if he paid attention. Shadow wasn't hiding on purpose but merely staying out o the way for the moment.

[Crimson Tilsverd]

Death waited for none and would eventually strike down all. A dealer in death was the old profession of assassin. One man had been in this role for many, many years and he met some horrifying characters. His latest mission was the location of a trio of deformed murderous brothers who lived in the forests of Germany kidnapping those from nearby towns. Because of their survival know-how it was best to hire someone to kill them, or maybe to quell their hunger. The plucky redhead hired now though, was not merely a living sacrifice. He had skill, experience, and a little luck on his side.

He was now just strolling through the woods humming and pulling white hairs off his arms. He was always jovial after a successful job. "Head exploded like a melon. I hate when they make it get messy.." he murmured in mild annoyance. Then he picked up scents and stopped in his tracks. A cursory scan picked up Shadow. He flashed a grin and seemed to vanish, going invisible to scope out what was making noise. When you made noise, you were either stupid or too powerful to care who heard. He found tep'lin there surrounded by the orbs of light who sang, and he stopped to listen..

[Tep'lin My'trith]

When the song picked up, some of the souls switched to making short, sharp sounds to simulate drums. Once they finally noticed Shadow, most of them stopped, despite instruction to the contrary. Some of them glowed brighter, ready to flash when given the command. "Wros sra..."* He turns around quickly while keeping his arms to his sides, minimizing the movement made by him turning around. "Wru emqodak sra kurakm vaoca uk srek kuraks?"** The harsh language had a forceful tone to it, its urgency magnified by the raspy voice that said it.




* What the...

**Who dares invade the solemn peace of this forest?

[Shadow]

The younger etherial, though it was hard to judge Tep'lin's age, stared at the floating orbs like starlight before the conductor's tone snapped him out of his trance at the spirits rhythmic motions. It took Shadow a moment to register that the other male was talking to him, the sound of the Druidic language not being one he had heard for a year at least; likewise it took his brain a little longer to readjust to replying in the same tongue,"Trek kuraks ek aeuirk? I kov mu kesm omd kamkad mu vord", he assumed and walked towards Tep'lin cautiously. His curious eyes darted to the closest soul orb and the urge to reach out and poke it as he neared the other soul guider was almost unbearable. "Du aeuir kreamdk reqa rara?" he inquired looking from the orchestra assembled and back to Tep'lin. Finally the well dressed male got to addressing himself as he was originally asked,"I ok Sroduv".

*This forest is yours? I saw no sign and sensed no ward

**Do your friends live here?

***I am Shadow

[Crimson Tilsverd]

Crimson watched as the spirits seemed to alert the robed man to the presence of Shadow. He finally resolved that he couldnt steal anything from the man so the only thing he would get out of his energy expenditure would be conversation, so he appeared, right fuck out of nowhere. "are you an aggressive robed darkness lurker?' he smirked. "Sorry that came off as a little rude but, i cant make heads or tails of your possible alignment or nature so i figured i would just bite the bullet and ask. Oh and hi fellow lurker." he waved to Shadow.

[Tep'lin My'trith]

One of Tep'lin's blackened, burnt looking hands extended out to gesture to the forest around them. "I reqa rara. Bae sra rovk uk Nosira, es barumsk su ka ok kicr ok es duak sra ard uk sra vurk sros orku reqa rara."* His hand then disappeared back under his cloak. When Shadow's eyes drifted to the orbs, they shifted slightly to stay behind Tep'lin. "I ok Tep'lin."** He turned to look at the orbs before looking back at his fellow spiritkin. "Yak. Traae reqa vesr ka, ok sraae du mus dakera su kuqa um, omd I du mus dakera sros sraae ora kurcad emsu baems ikad kur kukasrems sros sraae du mus voms su ba ikad kur."*** When Crimson appears, both of Tep'lin's arms fly out to protect the souls behind him. It's at this point that his full body is exposed. Well, what's left of it, that is. The bright red of the inside of his robe makes his blackened torso stand out even more starkly than it normally would have, having no lower body. "Trara ora kura em sra kuraks srom murkor..."**** He whispered to himself eyeing Crimson. Tep'lin could tell that Shadow was a fellow shepherd, but he couldn't be so confident about Crimson's intentions, especially not understanding English.




*I live here. By the laws of Nature, that makes it belong to me as much as it does to the elk or wolf that live here.

**I am Tep'lin.

***Yes. They live with me, as they do not desire to move on, and I do not desire that they are forced into being used for something that they do not want to be used for.

****There are more in the forest than normal...

[Shadow]

Shadow tilted his head a little at Tep'lin's view of ownership. "I maqar imdarksuud sra kuraks, bis sra ceseak...sros'k vrara sra kim ek os. Arr sra vauvra...", he paused,"orr sra kuirk". The male gave a friendly grin with his potentially sinister sounding statement as his focus made a jab to the spirits the other etherial was guarding so protectively. His eyes seemed to fake laugh quietly like he felt content but on the inside there was a hole somewhere in his intentions and heart, leaving a very gloomy person in its wake. The expression on Shadow's face gave a little frown when the other spiritkin mentioned the spirits not wanting to leave and chose to live with him instead. "Du sraae orvoaek vroae kikec kur aeui? Wros arka com sraae du?? Sruv ka Tav'rem", he urged childishly not realizing how much he was figuratively stepping into the other being's bubble.

That moment rather abruptly shattered when Crimson appeared, though it wasn't Shadow who reacted unfavorably but Tep'lin. The younger of the three flinched some at the sudden movement,even going as far as to phase for a few moments before realizing there wasn't a true threat. As the oracle brought his arms down away from protecting his own face, they were blackened and malformed like someone had covered them in charcoal and let them out to dry. Skin only covering bone was the end result; however, very quickly Shadow corrected this and his limbs once more were masked in his light peach skin tone. To the newcomer he acted like he hadn't just freaked out, just in the same nosy manner he had been with Tep'lin, "Yui cuird roqa--", Shadow started to say to Crimson but then caught himself and switched back to English,"There's no need to get us both killed if he doesn't like company. But while you're here, my name is Shadow...and I was hoping I could play".

*I never understood the forest, but the cities...that's where the fun is at. All the people...

**all the souls

***You could have--

[Crimson Tilsverd]

Merry Crimson simply laughed as if nothing from the mysterious Tep'lin phased him. then again the boy dealt in death so there was a strong possibility that he dealt in a lot of death in his day and saw some gruesome things. "So he doesnt understand a lick of what im saying then? " the redhead shrugged. "Just tell him i was in the area for business and I heard that odd bit of music and thought id listen ..and of course see who else was out here. you never go off in the woods without knowing who else had the same idea." he grinned. "Crimson Tilsverd by the way, Assamite vampire leader and prophet of Laima. Im not going to disrespect anyone I represent by being rude, so dont fret. and what kind of play?"

[Tep'lin My'trith]

Despite Shadow's odd demeanor, Tep'lin nodded in understanding. "I su uccokeumorrae, su raod uis kuirk. Is ek suu bikae usrarveka."* At Shadow's request for what else they could do, he could only oblige. After all, others of their race taught him, so it was only natural for him to teach others. "To corr ka a kravrard ek kukavros uk kekmukar, ok sraka kuirk com dakamd ka bae bremdem kae amakaek. Amos kruk sros, I kararae daav voscr uqar srak bakura sraer amarsae rimk uis, omd sraae ora kurcad su kuqa um."**

As for with dealing with Crimson, Tep'lin could only tilt his head inquisitively, having no knowledge of the English language. When Shadow spoke with words that sounded similar to that of the vampire, he simply asked, "Wros ok ra koaeems?"***



*I go occasionally, to lead souls. Otherwise, it is too busy.

**To call me a shepherd is somewhat of a misnomer, as these souls can protect me by blinding my foes. Otherwise, I simply watch over them until their energy runs out, and they are forced to move on.

***What is he saying?

[Shadow]

He is interesting..., he began to think as his opaque eyes scanned over the prophet. But then Tep'lin has all his friends. Their curiosity swiveled over to souls that dedicated their time to the wise etherial. In response to the Assamite's introduction, Shadow grinned and chuckled offering his right hand in a formal greeting. "Well I was hoping hide and seek. That's my favorite. Out here there would be a lot of places to hide". A body, he wanted to add but stopped himself from saying it and worked it off with another smirk.

Long fingers readjusted the collar of his slate gray shirt, dusting off his sleeve cuffs as he listened to Tep'lin explain his self-appointed duty. "Du aeui aqar sas burad uk es?Trek kuraks ek ku bes va cuird kemd kukasrems su du". Then finally he got around to giving his version of what Crimson was saying,"Ha koaek ra ek rara um sra barork uk rek suddakk omd sros kra dakomdk o soka kur rar amsarsoemkams". The translation could have been so much worse if the spectral being wasn't pining for some form of fun.

*Do you ever get bored of it?This forest is so big we could find something to do.

**He says he is here on behalf of his godess and that she demands a game for her entertainment

[Crimson Tilsverd]

Crimson smirked and took his hand to shake. "Pleasure then..um.." he glanced at the mysterious robed man. "well if you translated what i had to say, could you tell me all of what he is saying? Im genuinely curious, he speaks fluidly as if with great purpose and self assurance. you dont have to understand him to know he means business." crimson did not know what he was dealing with exactly but he still scrutinized it carefully.

[Tep'lin My'trith]

Tep'lin tilted his head slightly, confused at the concept of being bored while doing something that his species was made to do. "Burad? Mae diseak daav ka bikae amuisr sros I du mus roqa su edrae vokk kae seka."* When told about what the redhead's mission, his head hung somewhat. "I ok okroed I commus rarv rek em rek karqeca su rek Guddakk. I du mus roqa dmuvradsa uk kicr sremsk, ok kae crerdruud vok kvams aesrar bossrems errmakk ur daorems vesr sra errmakk sros koda ka ruud sra voae I du muv."*





*Bored? My duties keep me busy enough that I do not have to idly pass my time.

**I am afraid I cannot help him in his service to his Goddess. I do not have knowledge of such things, as my childhood was spent either battling illness or dealing with the illness that made me look the way I do now.