The Shadow of Time

OoC: This is not open, do not join unless I invite you. I would say who I am inviting, but I can't spell their name.
BiC:
The forest was peaceful at night. A stunning contrast to the day, when the inhabitants of the woods were awake. The wind would always force the trees to whisper their secrets. The smoke from the happenings in the forest would blow away, and contaminate a different land.

The calm and quiet of the forest was disturbed as a young boy dressed in black garb ran across the treetops, being chased by a dark smoke. The boy jumped into the forest, and the smoke followed. Inside the forest, the young boy was encountered by twelve robed people almost immediately. The formed a circle around him and bound him up with a spell of incredible force.

The boy was chained to the ground by invisible bonds, and the smoke proceeded unto him. A scream was heard, and the bonds were broken. The smoke dissipated and the boy fell to the ground. One of the robed walked into the middle of the circle and grabbed him.

"Live your life while you can." he whispered. Then he threw the boy on the ground and disappeared. The other eleven robed people also disappeared.

She lies so quiet, so femininely,
She lies asle-ep, way up in a tree.
She dreams of her daddy, who gives her a hug,
They share a small beverage, two straws in one bug.
He gives her a kiss, and then sends her to bed,
Says, “Please go to sleep now, please just rest your head.”
She says, “I love you so, I love mommy, too,
“I hope you’ll still be here when my day is new.”

Miss Spider’s Dream ends. Wasn’t that a sweet dream?

She wakes up in her web, just as she left it. It was still strung up between two trees, and it was still night. The difference: Perhaps it wasn’t night. Everything was smoky beyond a few feet. She was drowsy, all the same, and it was dark, so it was night to her. She yawns, and tries to stick her head back to one of her strands. It was probably to early for her to wake up.

A small arm or tentacle of smoke forms, and hovers in front of her half open eyes. “Not today,” she groans, “I’m not even in to that sort of thing.” She tries to close her eyes, but finds that they open wider. Twelve hands appear from out of the smoke. The tentacle pierces her left eyes, but she is too deep in paralysis to scream. All of the smoke drains into her, and the hands vanish.

“Live your life while you can,” a voice tells her. She leans forward, the paralysis gone, but hears nothing more. What could this strange experience entail?

OoC: Decided to go with present tense description. Sorry for the lateness.

OoC: You need to update the link in your sig to this one. The other is broken.
BiC:
Iro awoke liiing upon the ground. He got up, and looked around. Dirt smudged his t-shirt, so, naturally, he wiped it off. "What just happened?" was the only question he could think of. He had a massive headache, and didn't want to walk anywhere. He knew he had too, however, incase the events that transpired the night before were to repeat.

He walked through the trees, there were only a few, into the open. He ran into the field and dived up on the ground, loving every moment of his newfound sense of freedom. He loved it so much that, since he thought he was alone, he started singing. It wasn't much of a song, more of the words "Glorious day" being put next to some nearly random ad-lib.

"Hello." A voice from behind him spoke, he jumped up, grabbed his staff, and pointed one end at the owner of the voice.

"Hi." Iro was carefully eying this new person, if you could call it that. Four eyes, and white skin. This was something new.

"Are you wearing black for a reason?" the scary girl asked. Iro put the staff of bloodshed back into it's resting place.

"Of course: It's awesome." The girl chuckled, but it may have been simply courtesy. Iro noticed something strange going on. He couldn't quite see it all, though.

He brushed the hair out of his left eye. That's better. He could see a person, a regular one, walking from a distance of about two meters away, towards him. This person, also a girl, seemed to be an adult. He looked upon the scarier of the two females again, and she appeared to be quite young.

"That your mom?" He pointed towards the woman in the distance.

"No." she said all-to-quickly. Iro saw something else. Rising up behind the girl, hidden in her shadows, was a man. A tall, yet perhaps young, man. He seemed to be in his late teens, similar to the scary girl. The man raised his fist and threw a punch at the girl. Iro grabbed her head and threw her down while grabbing his staff. He swung it at the man, who disappeared.

Iro heard a hiss. He looked at the scary girl. It came from her...

OoC: Dun dun dunnnnn. Haha. Your character's pretty cool.

OoC: Like I said, present tense. If you wouldn’t mind bearing with me for a while, I’d like to see how I fare with this new format. Oh, and your character's pretty cool, too.

BiC: Miss Spider awakens suddenly. She is not sleepy, fully awake. The girl quickly rises to her feet, and climbs higher into her web. She had been lying in a very dangerous position. As high up as she was, one idle turn in her sleep would have meant falling to her doom. She breathes more evenly as she reaches the top. As she sits, she tosses through the memories that had rapidly been coming back to her.

Her web seems suddenly a dangerous place to be. She flees, using her hands and feet to hop from tree trunk to tree branch. She moves faster than perhaps the situation calls for. To her, the entire forest is dangerous. She keeps herself aware of her surroundings. Whoever the hands that she encountered the previous night belonged to had caught her at her most vulnerable. She would not let that happen again.

After moving for a distance, she reaches an unwooded area. The area itself is not the focus of her attention, though. A stranger stands not a few meters away from the bottom of the tree she perched herself in. At first glace, he seemed distraught, but that quickly changed. The stranger sings a hearty tune as he makes gestures toward the sky. “How charming,” she says, untensing her muscles.

Suddenly, another stranger appears. This is a different kind of stranger. The new stranger is a thin, bedraggled woman, perhaps lost, perhaps starving. She carries a sizable rock in her hand, and appears to have intentions to use it. Miss Spider quickly descends on the female stranger as she sneaks up on the male one. She does not make it, though.

As the Spider Wraith pounces on her, the stranger vanishes instantly in a swirl of colored smoke. Naturally, this puzzles her. She would have investigated, had an impulse not come over her. She had effectively snuck up on the remaining stranger as he continued to sing gallantly. It would not have been proper for her to linger in his shadow.

“Hello,” she says, obviously startling the stranger. He instantly stops singing. In one smooth motion, he whips around, brandishing his weapon at her. “Hi,” he replies after eyeing her for a moment. He calmly harnesses his weapon. No other immediately sociable thought enters her mind besides, “Are you wearing black for a reason.” Smiling, he replies, “Of course, it’s awesome.”

Miss Spider giggles a might at his comment. Such a bold thing to say. It tickled her. “That your mom?” he asks, motioning toward the forest. “No,” she answers hastily. The answer to that question is not hard for her to conjure up. Why in the world did he ask such a thing, though? She is not on the road with another living soul. She begins to turn her head to see if anyone is behind her.

Very abruptly, the stranger grabs her, forcing her to the ground. Needless to say, such a sudden action was more than the least bit shocking. She hisses in protest, looking up into the stranger’s face. Miss Spider does not like to be manhandled.

OoC: Oh. So sorry. I didn't notice the style.
Oh, and I'm sorry for being so impatient.

BiC:
Why does this have to happen to me?? Iro asks himself as the scary girl moves toward him, hissing every few moments. He steps back, and she hisses louder than ever. This causes a knee-jerk reaction for him to quickly grab his staff and summon some dark magic. He does so.

A soft explosion is heard as the girl is blown back a meter and half, give or take a few feet. She hisses once more, and then grows four extra arms, two out of each side. Iro steps back a few feet, scared at this process. Grasping his staff, he tries to find a sense of bravery.

He can't. Still scared, Iro lunges at the scary girl, who promptly avoids his attack and jumps at him. Iro quickly conjured a mirror in mid-air. A second scary girl lept out of the mirror, tackling the original. Woah... This isn't going good. Iro quickly thinks as he conjures some more dark magic and applies it to his staff of bloodshed, without physical contact, of course.

Suddenly, the original scary girl pushes the mirror to the ground, jumps up and breaks the mirror, therefore dispelling the copy of herself, and sends shards of glass down at Iro. He runs and jumps onto the ground, receiving only minimal cuts. The scary girl jumps at him, and he points his weapon at the scary girl, who cleverly pushes herself off of the sides of his weapon onto the ground. He jumps up and runs at the girl. He slices at her, she avoids, he repeats, and she repeats.

Iro does this once more, the scary girl jumps to the left, and he twists his staff around so that the other side comes swinging at her. It cuts her across the forehead. It wasn't a deep cut, about half an inch, however, it was deep enough for the poision to travel into her body before the effects faded away.

Iro smiled, for he knew, that with that poision, went the dark magic placed in it...

OoC: I did my best with the present tense style. Sorry if it isn't that great.

OoC: Oh, no. I’m sorry that I misled you, but I was not implying that you had to write in present tense, as well. That was more to warn you that I was trying out a new style, and that I might not be at my personal best. I tend to use Miss Spider to test out new ways of writing.

BiC: It hurt her. It hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt, it hurt. The cut she received hurt her badly. Everything fades away around her. The only thing she can focus on is the pain. She clutches her forehead, unable to make the hurt disappear. And it is getting worse. And worse and worse and worse and worse and worse. She screams loudly, but soon she hurts too much to make noise. As naturally as any human being would, she very quickly passes out from the pain. She collapses against the ground.

The poison introduced to her system runs its course, and, long afterwards, she awakens. Her body feels stiff, like she is one solid object. Close. All six of her feet, and all two of her hands, are bound together in one mass. She is restrained by a very dark band that fit tightly over her wrists and ankles. For a moment, fear grasps her, and her breath hastens. What is happening? What had happened whilst she was asleep? What was binding her?

After a moment, her senses level. Her breath returns to a normal pace as she observes her surroundings. She is still in the same place, and had moved no farther than to the tree she was leaned against. Nearby, the person who had attacked her without provocation still remains. He, very fortunately for Miss Spider, is looking away, perhaps trying to see if there is any others of her kind. Whether he knew it or not, by looking away, he gives her a chance to escape.

She tries to force her limbs from the band, but it does not waver. Very luckily for her, it matters very little. Her additional limbs become more limber as they retract into her body. She reverts back to her mostly human form, letting her limbs slide down and back into her. With only four limbs remaining, the band proves unable to tighten around her, and she slips easily out. Discarded, the band disappears, appearing to be the work of some magic by the person who was trying to keep her.

Free, she thinks of fleeing. The opportunity she holds, though, is too good for her to pass by. She knows that she was poisoned, and that feeding would help her flush any remaining poison from her system. Not concerning himself with her at the moment, she is able to sneak upon him. Returning her extra legs, she turns away from the villainous person. With a heave, she jumps backwards, pinning the person on his belly. He cries out in surprise, but that does not stop her from binding first his legs, and then his arms.

She strings him to a tree, saying, “Guess what, commodore. I’m hungry.”

OoC: Meh. Whatever. This new style seems fun!
BiC:
Strung to a tree by the scary girl, Iro is helpless. Seemingly.
The girl opens her mouth and draws closer to Iro. Iro chuckles at his thoughts, but quickly dispelles them in light of what is happening. Fortunatley, the scary girl left his head free to move around.

Iro bends his head, aiming at the scary girl. He winks at her, left eye closed. This creates a mirror that materializes in front of the scary girl. Once more, a second scary girl jumps out of the mirror. She wears pure white, and Iro now knows his spell worked.

The scary girl clad in white runs around the mirror and promptly grasps the webs around him, and pulls. She repeats until Iro can free himself, and then she turns to her twin. Unfortunatly, no one knows where the twin is...

Miss Spider stares in wonder. She saw what was happening earlier, but had been too involved to take stock. Another her looks back and forth below her. Another her. A Miss Spider in white came out of that person’s mirror. Such a talent is strange and impressive, to say the least. The black one daydreams about what her copy must be thinking about. It must be so strange to be her.

She thinks this for a moment or two before she readies her legs. The copy has yet to look up, and she is lucky for this. Time remains to take advantage. The black pounces upon the white, catching the latter off guard. She is pinned to the ground; all six legs, all two arms. She squirms, but can not break free. “I like your talent, Mr. Copycat,” the higher one comments, “but I don’t like how you are using it.”

Mr. Copycat retaliates, throwing a mass of shadow at her with a wave of his hand. Miss Spider makes a swift hop, avoiding the dark surge. Her copy, though, is not so lucky. She rises in time for the attack to obliterate her. The sound of glass breaking is heard nearby, as the mirror used to create her falls to pieces. It is a sad day for those wearing white.

The original spider wraith lands, ready to flee the scene with all haste. If she was not certain that Mr. Copycat would pursue her, she would have. This person, in her eyes, is a person out to get her. Very regrettably, she readies to defend herself. If there is no other reason other than her uncertainty about getting away, then, at least, she will get a fine meal if she triumphs.

"Wow... No labor day here." Iro chuckles.

He lets his gaurd down, but it doesn't matter. He could killed the girl in a matter of seconds. Or, that's what he thought a few minutes ago before he completely destroyed his secret weapon.

The scary-girl hisses. Iro has to act fast. He sheathes his weapon and creates two large, demonic beings out of shadow. "This should be useful." He says. He commands them to attack the scary girl.

The girl jumps onto a tree and hisses at them while they slowly advance toward her. She jumps onto one, attacking it. The other one bounds upon her, attacking her. Iro merges the two, encasing the spider in the shadows.

Iro has almost no energy left. He barely has enough energy to hold the scary girl in his casing. She is very strong, and could probably break the shadow cocoon if Iro wasn't there.

"C'mon energy!" he says as he uses his remaining energy to strengthen his shadows. He jumps behind a tree, grabs it's bark, and start's half-meditating, sort of. He has to get his energy back.

Wuhhsnap! Iro knew what that sound was. That was the sound of his spell being broken...

OoC: If I overstep my bounds, please inform me.

BiC: The sponginess of it feels strange against her feet. Able to stick to anything, the sudden loose feeling beneath her feet feels odd to her. As if drowning, she struggles against the walls of darkness that the nasty child sent at her. Her muscles strain, though the swirling purples and blacks around her give way easily to her thrusts and flails. Heat, dry and painful, surrounds her.

One of her feet becomes caught. Very quickly, a cool draft penetrates her boot, cooling her foot. She had kicked through part of the shadows. Her struggle intensifies. A foot, a hand, another foot pierces the darkness. A swell of fresh air surrounds her, and she breaks free of the enchantment. Lightly, she lands on all six feet. Harshly, she sags to the ground. Exhaustion takes its hold. She is tired.

Escape is no longer viable. Even at jumping speed, she could not get away from someone who could do something like what she had just went through. Her next move will have to trap him. She frantically surveys the area, trying to pick out the place where he waits for her. He shows himself. An arm, anyways. Trees do not consistently provide perfect cover.

Taking a thread, she approaches. Spinning more out, she whips her strand around the tree, catching it as it comes around. The boy is pinned against the tree. For good measure, she repeats, firmly securing his torso and arms to the towering mass of wood. Breathing heavily, she leans forward, resting her cheek against her silk. His last attack had truly exhausted her. Or perhaps it is his poison reemerging.

Either way, it is time to feed. Slumping as only a spider could slump, she circles around, and stares him in the face. He begins to say something, but she cuts him off. She bites into his neck, and begins sucking his blood. Immediately, she is met with the sweetest flavor she has ever savored. She thrusts herself against him, furiously taking him in.

At half remaining, she stops. The taste is beyond description, but it tells her something. “You would survive being drained of your life blood in this way,” she says, licking at her bloody teeth, “This essence you have would keep you alive, but it would hurt. I couldn’t do that to you, Mr. Copycat. But keep this as a lesson. Do not go around pulling at the necks of strangers.”

OoC: Sounds disgusting, haha.
BiC:
"But how did you..." Iro didn't waste his breath finishing his sentance. The scary girl knew what he was going to say.

"I'm sucking your blood. What do you think?" She says very slowly, very seductivley. Iro had another question.

"Why couldn't you hurt me? You were trying so hard just a minute ago." he begins to calm down, trying to formulate a plan. He couldn't think of one, though. He was becoming dizzy from his loss of blood.

She doesn't respond. She merely repeats herself. "Do not go around pulling at the necks of strangers." she licks her teeth, stilly bloody.

"I was trying to help you..." her face is now filled with questions, it is still very obvious, however, the she wanted to suck some more blood. She was restraining herself. "It was my damn eye... That essence, it allows me to see the dead... I can't tell them appart."

"The one that made that mirror?" she knew the answer, but was asking anyway.

"No, the other one." He started to struggle, feeling very uncomfortable being bound. The webbing was tight, yet very small. Small enough to cut one who struggles. That's exactly what it did.

Iro looked at his cut. He was bleeding. He was afraid that he might die today, despite what the scary girl told him. She was starting to say something, but he cut her off, leaving her one piece of information.

"I... Am... Iro..." and with that, he fainted, still rapidly losing blood.
OoC: I coudln't think of anything for Miss. Spider to say, so I just made her repeat herself.
Oh, and, if I, also, am overstepping any bounds, please inform me.

OoC: Post=Saved.

BiC: After sputtering out one last sentence, the child imbued with death loses consciousness. It is no surprise. He had just lost half of his blood, and is still losing more after struggling in Miss Spider’s webs. She is concerned for him. Though she is sure he will not die because of her hunger, she is worried that half remaining will not be enough to sustain him with his wounds untended.

Sighing, she unbinds him from the tree. This boy leaves her in an awkward position. Her selfless side and her hungry side conflict. If he is doomed, should she feed and leave him? If he can be saved, should she save him? He would die now if she finishes his juices, although it would not be any less painful. She stands with a blank look. What should she do?

Gritting her teeth, she pushes back her instinct. Given all that tells her to drain him of his life essence, something strange tells her to save him. Something, she feels, does not add up. Letting the child live would clear the feeling boiling in her gut. Wrapping the boy’s feet with a thread, she takes him up into the trees. A quick web, and she has someplace to tend to him.

Using various pieces of the forest, as well as her own threads, she tends to his wounds. After performing all her limited knowledge would allow, she lets out a worried groan. She is unsure if her methods are even a bit close to working. This Iro could very well die under her watch. Returning to her four limbed form, she rests next to him in her web. Only time will tell.

Iro awakes. He looks around, it was morning. He hear the inhabinants of the forest chattering and talking, even though he is still so far away.

He smiles. He feels something warm on his side, he likes it. He looks to see what it is.

"GRAHH!" Iro jumps up and grabs onto a tree. The scary girl wakes.

"Ahh, you're awake." she smiles.

"You... Web... What?" She just chuckles. Iro is dumbfounded.

"How was your sleep?" She says, smiling.

"What's your name?" Iro stares at her. She knows his name, why not know hers?

"Miss Spider. How was your sleep?"

"Odd name."

"How was your sleep?"

"Uhh... Fine, I guess."

"Good." The scary girl seems cheerful. Now she is only scary in appearence. Iro drops down from the tree, and sits down, resting his back upon it. She sits up and crosses her legs.

"Miss Spider... Mind if I call you Spidey?"

"Yes." She stares at him.

"Spider-Man?"

"I mind."

"Spider-Gal? Spider-Girl? Spider-Women?"

"No, no, and no. Any further questions."

"No, Spidey-" She smacks him. "Oh, sorry, Miss Spidey..." Iro chuckles. She doesn't. "Okay, Miss Spider."

"Yay! You got it right!" She claps.

"You seem, alot more cheerful then before."

"Well, I had a good night's sleep tonight, our battle wore me out."

"I don't care what wore you out, the fact that you slept next to me is just plain creepy." She chuckles. Iro moves a little to the right, and doesn't like what he sees. "The... Smog..." He says. "Mind if I use your head?" He says this very quickly, not giving Miss Spider time to answer.

"Uh?" Iro jumps at her, kicks at her head, and she dodges.

"BEHIND YOU!" He yells, trying to give a motive for his actions.

"Why you little... Oh." Then she sees the black smoke that Iro had encountered before.

OoC: Did you even read her personality or bio sections? She has a penchant for nicknames. I’ll let it slide for now, but watch for such large oversights in the future. Funny, though.

BiC: Miss Spider is being reminded of how her troubles in the forest began. Although she is on the ground, and plus one person, the situation is the same. A dark gray mist surrounds them, thickening to form a wall and ceiling. The spider wraith feels very, very threatened.

As she and the boy look around, she begins, “Let us put the past behind us, Mr. Copycat. I believe it would benefit us as we stand now to become partners.” He looks to her, wearing an energetic expression. “That occurred to you, too?” Iro replies sarcastically.

Just as they confirm their new bond, the mist begins to recede. It is hardly comforting. The swirling gray falls back slowly, and without losing density. It is simply making their bubble larger.

OoC: Shorter than normal. Sry. T_T

"Wow... That was... Odd..." Iro says, not noticing the large mass of shadow surrounding him.

Miss Spider turns around. "Watch out!" she yells. Iro turns around to face the large shadow. He immediately dispels it with a flick of his hand, and turns back to Miss Spider.

"So, Miss Spider," he says very arrogantly, "what is your real name?" He takes a step towards her.

"Miss Spider!" She says in a somewhat play-fullish way. Iro simply looks at her, knowing this is a lie, but does not press on.

"That mist was pretty weird." he says, "Do you know what would've brought it on?"

"Huh?"

"That mist had intelligence, you noticed that, didn't you?" He doesn't wait for an answer. "It's most probably some sort of demon."

"Yea?"

"So, this demon is too weak to have been summoned by any magician. Magicians don't waste their time summoning weak, worthless demons." He tugs on his glove a little, making sure it fit. "Which means that either, that demon's being held captive in something, or someone angered it." He stares at Miss Spider. Ready to accuse her of angering the demon and bringing it upon both of them, he can't. Not that he won't, just that he has to turn his attention to that very loud and obnoxious noise coming from the forest.

A rocky, twenty-foot beast with only one eye rose up from the middle of the forest and let out a loud cry. Around him are magical bonds, bright-blue, and very weak. The demon snaps them with a flinch of his arm, and jumps out of the forest, right in front of the two.

"That's not good." Iro says, and just barely, at that.

OoC: Did I do better this time?

Miss Spider sees this creature appear suddenly and ferociously. One of her first instincts as a predator kicks in. This thing is bigger than her, so, therefore, she must run from it. Staying on two legs, she turns 180 degrees, and begins running.

She does not run very far before she notices that her acquaintance is not running along with her. She stops and looks back. He is moving nimbly as the rock monster swats, pounds, and stomps at him. Before seeing that, her intent had been to run away, but that changed.

Abandoning him is not something she will do.

She hurries back in their general direction. Her inhuman talents are not capable of totally stopping such a creature, but are perfectly suited to trap it. If she can hang enough webbing around it, she can eventually restrict its movement to such a degree as to neutralize it.

Miss Spider runs up a nearby tree, and makes her way toward them again. As long as she lives, she will not let this person fight alone.

OoC: I just noticed something. I tagged this thread with 'Viratious', even though I'm using Iro.
BiC:
Iro looks up to see his companion running up a tree.
What the hell is she still doing here?! She should run! he turns his attention back to the giant rock. His staff in his right hand, his hope in another, he jumps at the monster. He stabs his weapon into it's leg and blasts the edge of it's nose off with a little of his energy. "Score." he whispers as he climbs up the leg inch by inch. He looks at Miss. Spider. She looks so nice... She shouldn't be her- WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?! FOCUS! his mind shouts at him, and he does as told. He jumps and grabs onto the tree that she is on.

"Hi. I'm still here. It'd be nice if you helped me." He smiled half-heartily, but he didn't know why.

OoC: Sorry for such a short post. Oh, and again, if I overstep any bounds, inform me and I'll edit a post.

“Try and keep him in one place, Mr. Copycat,” she says, squatting on a branch, “I would appreciate it.”

“Righto,” he replies, sliding down the side of the tree. With great agility, he skips to the ground, and dashes toward the creature. Not flinching for a second, he slides under the beast, letting loose one of his dark surges that she knows hurt so much. She sighs. “And at such a tender age, too.”

Miss Spider snaps to her feet, readying her spinnerets to work at their hardest. Her end is just as important as his. Summoning as much alacrity as she can muster, she anchors a thread, and jumps to the next tree. And the next, and the next, and the next, and the next. She makes a circle around the one sided melee that unfolds below her. The child possessed of death is doing just as she asked.

The Spider Wraith continues her circle, spiraling down and outwards, across and upwards. To hold such a creature, her web will have to be strong, adamant. It must withstand a strike, nay, a rage from the stone behemoth. She continues to circle around and around. Her walls become substantial quickly. Her ad-hoc partner is pulling his end better than expected.

Then, a thump resounds. One part of her wall is torn down. The beast’s hammer-like hand rests, floating, on the silk that remains. The silk that still hangs proves recalcitrant to it’s mighty strike. The thing backs off without realizing what it has done, and continues to press it’s attack against Iro. He draws it back to the center. She grins. After a minor repair, and a few more times around, the thing will be incapable of escape.

She continues to circle around and around.