Lunchtime...

“Faith! Yeh again!?” Trav uttered, upon seeing Raison. He made to dash away, but stopped when he heard D’etre call out to him. Trav looked again, and saw her sitting on Raison’s shoulder. He saw her look at something and blanch. She said something to Raison, and the naga grudgingly extended his hand toward Trav.

“Er, I beg yeh pardon, but I’d rather…by the guardians…” Trav said, seeing the tree being broken down. Trav gasped when he saw the dridder, looking like it had been possessed by some demon. He looked at the offered hand, then back at the dridder.

“I seemed destined fer the gullet today,” Trav said, climbing onto the offered hand and wondering exactly how long D’etre’s plea would stay Raison’s hunger.

Seeing the dridder crash through the woods and thrash around frantically, Baras growled as he said, "Can't get a moment's peace without something life threatening happening." Brent then teleported thirty feet to the side of the dridder, put his finger and thumb to his mouth and whistled loudly to get the dridder's attention. "Look, missy, do you need a time-out?!" he asked the dridder as he materialized a red orb.

The dridder looked at Baras, then at the others, then back at Baras. She opened her mouth, thick black liquid falling out from it as she screamed some strange noise, attempting to release herself from the confines of the branches.

"Oi, you! Get away from her! There's nothing left!" Raison called as he began to back away from the dridder, holding Trav securely in his hand. "She won't listen, she's gone!" Of course, Raison couldn't really care if Baras died or not, but D'etre would have been upset with him and he didn't really want that.

"Don't worry!" D'etre called down to Trav. "We're safer now!" She smiled again, seemingly blissfully unaware that a possessed dridder wanted to eat her.

“That be a- oof, a relative thing, ma’am. Not quite so tight, beggin’ yer pardon,” Trav commented, once again in the grip of the naga. That possessed dridder definitely would eat him, Raison only probably would eat him. Trav held onto the giant fingers with one arm and his hat with the other, as he watched Baras and the dridder. Trav shuddered as the dridder screamed in an unearthly manner and began frothing poison at the mouth.

“There be only madness behind those eyes,” Trav murmured, “What manner o’ malady ‘as possessed that beast?”

Hearing what Raison said, Baras dematerialized the red orb and materialized two blades attached to his arm. "Well, if it's mind is gone, then that means that this sucker's going DOWN!!!" He then teleported in a swift motion and amputated the dridder's left arm. He then threw a sphere which then seperated into circular blade which began to slice into the dridder's skin and teleported away from it. "You guys go on ahead and get out of here!! I'll handle this monstrosity!!" he yelled to the others.

The dridder thrashed again, the arm quickly reforming. Every time a wound appeared on it, more black poison came out from it, dripping onto the land and turning it dark. With an awful 'CRACK', the branches constricting it were broken down, and it moved away from it's holding place, straight towards Raison and the others.

Raison pushed his hand against a tree, working his magic in quickly to make it produce another branch, which smacked into the dridder's face, stunning it for a second. "I hate using my magic." He muttered, slithered away as fast as he could possibly go, which was very fast. He lifted his hand that held Trav up to his shoulder. "Get on my shoulder, I need both arms." He instructed.

Trav did as he was bidden, and quickly clambered up to sit beside D’etre. He grasped a handful of Raison’s hair to steady himself during the naga’s hasty flight. He looked back at Baras, hoping that the man’s heroics wouldn’t get him killed. But then again, couldn’t he just teleport out of harm’s reach? Either way, Trav shuddered again upon seeing the dridder grow itself a new arm. “Its blood…its blood be…” was all Trav could mumble.

He glanced over at D’etre, surprised to see her smiling and cheerful. Was she courageous, or simply naive? Trav didn’t know, but couldn’t help but take heart at her pleasant demeanor. “It occurred to me, ma’am, that I didn’ properly introduce meself last time we met,” Trav said. “I be Trav at yeh service.” Trav didn’t bow, doing all he can to stay on the naga’s shoulder. However, he did free up one hand to quickly tip his hat.

Baras growled loudly as the dridder rushed for the group. "THAT'S IT!!!" He teleported in front of the dridder and started to materialize and throw sphere bombs with an added ingrediant of sulfuric acid, all the while yelling, "DIE, DIE, DIE, DIE..." He didn't think it would actually kill the dridder, but if anything it would stall for time while Baras thought of a plan.

'What can I do?! Everytime I try and injure it, it just regenerates itself! Hmmm...maybe...yes! If I play my cards right, this just might work!' He then ran to the amputed arm and absorbed some of it and materialized a sphere from the DNA of the dridder, giving it an unholy black aura, and pressed a button on the gauntlet, which caused the sphere to begin to glow gray.

"Yo, naga whose name I have not aquired yet!! I know you REALLY hate my guts at this point, but could you cover for me for a couple of minutes?! I think I have something that can kill that creature, but I need a little bit of time for it to be prepared!!!" he called out to the naga.

The dridder seemed to ignore the pain, still chasing after the running group. Then, it stopped, turning it's attention to Baras. It stayed still for a moment, the sulfiric acid eating through the flesh and revealing the darkness benath the flesh.

Raison stopped upon hearing Baras, turning to look in his direction. He gently lifted D'etre and Trav off his shoulder, putting them on a high branch and slithering over towards Baras. "Whatever idea you have." He put his hands on another tree, the flesh seeming to fuse with it as the treee began to sprout more and more branches. "Better work." He snarled.

D'etre curtsied the best she could to Trav. "It's nice to meet you Trav, I'm D'etre." She said with a smile, before looking back at the dridder. "...It's wearing her skin." She realized suddenly. "It's not a dridder at all, it's just a creature wearing it's skin like a costume!"

Hearing what D'etre said, Baras thought to himself, 'Just as I suspected. That also means that the creature has infected the original dridder's DNA with it's own. In that case, this plan of mine's going MUCH better than I thought.' He then turned towards the naga and yelled out. "I'm pretty dang sure it will!" Baras then noticed that the grey hue was becoming a little more white. "Come on, come on, hurry up...almost there..." he said to no one in particular, hoping that the inverse bomb would be finished soon.

“Likewise, D’etre,” Trav said, after Raison left himself and D’etre on the branch. He felt more comfortable standing on the solid branch, where he didn’t need to worry about the naga’s movements throwing him off. However, when D’etre mentioned the beast wearing the skin of the dridder, Trav watched the battle as well. He couldn’t help but gasp and pale at the sight of what the simulacrum of the dridder was becoming.

At the distance, Trav saw Baras and Raison planning something. Trav wondered what he could do, he had no such abilities at battle, and he never took the time to learn magic. Combat wise, his best skill had always been running away, and that didn’t always work. He disliked being helpless before such threats and depending on others to protect him. He was trying to learn how to use the sword he had, but that was slow going.

Trav decided the least he could do was make sure that D’etre was safe, so the others could fight without distraction.

"And...it's...DONE!!!" Baras said as he held the inverse bomb, which was glowing with a white flame. "Alright, you evil monstrosity...do everyone here a favor AND DIE!!!" He then threw the bomb at the dark creature underneath the dridder's skin, which then absorbed itself within the creature and exploded, the holy aura of the bomb overwhelming the dark aura of the creature as the aura ate away the flesh of the evil being, causing it to deteriorate from the inside out.

Black ooze splurted from the dridder as one of Raison's tree branches stabbed into it's chest, just as thr orb hit the monster. It seemed to be deterioting for a moment, but then it just simply enveloped the light, consuming it. It then began leaving the dridder's body, literally pouring from every orifice on the dridder. The black ooze began to form a ball, and for a moment began floating towards Baras, but instead a maniacal laugh came from it, as a small portal opened up behind it, sucking it inside. The portal itself seemed to sustain itself on the life around it briefly, being strong enough to turn the three foot space of dirt and debris beneath it gray and dead. The portal then sealed itself up.

Raison slithered away, not bothering to check if his tail hit Baras or not. "That place was not hell... it was darkness." He whispered to himself, lifting himself back onto the branches near Trav and D'etre. His tongue shot from his mouth and wrapped around D'etre, dragging her within the confines of his mouth. He held her in there for awhile, and it didn't look like he was trying to swallow her, instead, he was just simply sucking on her body. He then opened his mouth, and an exaspherated looking D'etre crawled slowly from the confines.

D'etre landed on the branch, looking at Trav. "Raison, please don't eat Mister Trav, okay?" She instructed.

"Certainly." Raison said, and since D'etre wasn't looking at him, he allowed himself to stare at her with the eyes of a lovesick person who only wanted to admit their feelings. For obvious reasons, he couldn't.

At first, Trav cried out in alarm, and made to grab D’etre as Raison snagged her with his tongue. However, he quieted when Raison didn’t swallow her, but released her instead. Trav curiously watched Raison, pondering this strange mercy. When D’etre returned to his side, Trav offered her a handkerchief to help clean off the saliva. Still, when D’etre’s eyes were averted from him, Trav saw the look of longing in Raison’s eye, and Trav began to understand D’etre’s blind trust in this naga.

“Faith, that be twice I owe yeh me life Baras,” Trav said, “Whatever that demon was, I be glad it be gone now. And fer good I hopes.”

"Same here, Trav. Same here." said Baras as he leaned against a tree, having evaded the tail swipe as Raison slithered towards the tree. 'Yep. It's official. He hates my guts. Sure doesn't seem like he wants to let that whole thing from earlier go. I just wish I be on good terms with the naga. Doesn't look like that'll happen at all, but that's not the main thing I'm worried about. Whatever that black orb was, it's become attracted to me. If that's the case, it'll come for me again, and if they're around when that happens...' he shuddered at that thought. '...no. I can't let that happen. I WON'T let that happen.'

He stood up and faced the others. "I must be going. Farewell." He then began to walk away from the group. 'I'm pretty sure the naga'll be happy about this. Don't think I'll have to worry about Trav's safety. After all, the naga's not going to eat 'em now that his friend asked him not to. Well, he BETTER not, anyway.' he thought to himself.

"Good riddance." Raison snarled at Baras, his hostile feelings written all over his face. "Making me skip out on my meal." He glared at Trav, then went back to staring at D'etre, occasionally licking her.

"Bye bye, Mister! Good luck wherever-" Lick. "-you go!" D'etre said cheerfully to Baras, before wiping some of the saliva from her face with the handkerchief Trav had handed her. "Thank you, Mister Trav. Would you like to come to my home?" Raison stared at D'etre, wondering what she was planning.

Trav winced at Raison’s statement, referring to him as his meal. He glanced up at the naga’s face, wondering exactly how far his affection for D’etre would protect him. He cringed again at seeing Raison’s hostile glare, and quickly looked away rather shaken. Trav had the feeling that it wouldn’t last too long. At the most, the naga would probably wait until they were out of earshot of D’etre.

As Trav worriedly wondered which of the trees’ roots would offer the best shelter, he heard D’etre invite him to her home. This was unexpected, and put Trav in a difficult position. Should he accept, and risk increasing Raison’s already dangerous ire and appetite? Or should he decline, and possibly offend the one person standing between Raison’s hunger and himself? He knew he needed to answer quickly, lest he offend D’etre by delaying too long.

“Twould be a pleasure, ma’am,” Trav said, doing his best to stifle his nerviousness. He glanced up at Raison again. “Er, that is if yeh master doesn’ object.” He added, rather hastily.

Baras turned around and smiled and waved to the girl and yelled out, "Thank you very much!" As he turned back around, he kept walking farther until they could no longer see him, and teleported back to his home, which was a couple thousand feet northwest of where he encountered that naga with the attitude. His home was a shack with a wooden bed, a table, and two chairs. As Baras would put it, it wasn't much, but it was home.

'Well, don't think I'll be running into them again. Or will I? I dunno. One thing's for sure, though. For now, as long as that black orb's still out there, the farther I am from them, the better. Well, guess I better write down today's events in my journal.' he thought to himself as he sat down at the table. He then grabbed the journal that was sitting on it, opened it up, and began to write down what had happened to him that day.

D'etre laughed cheerfully, standing up. "Okay, to my home then! You'll like it, it's very nice. Raison is a good person, he makes me stuff." D'etre didn't notice the redness on Raison's cheeks. Raison picked her up and put her on his shoulder. "Hey, he comes too!" She said, pointing at Trav.

"He can use those bipedal legs of his and walk." Raison grumbled. "He doesn't smell good either. Like vomit." D'etre leaned into his ear and screeched a loud noise, making the naga wince. "Okay, fine. But if he does anything... distasteful... I will eat him and I will take the time to chew. Slowly." He picked Trav up and dropped him on the same shoulder as D'etre before moving once more.

"Isn't this fun?" D'etre asked. "Now that we don't have to worry about the big icky monster, we can just enjoy the ride!"

“Aye, it be enjoyable,” Trav said, somewhat less than truthfully. He shuddered again at Raison’s open threat. Trav would have to be sure to be the model gentleman. A rather difficult task, considering the rather poor state of his clothes (fortunately no holes had been burnt in any immodest areas). He would patch them up once he found a village that sold cloth. “But Raison be right. I should find some place to wash up, or I shan’t be fit fer company,” Trav added, discreetly omitting why he smelled foul. Now that his veins weren’t shot through with quite as much adrenaline, he was starting to notice it as well. Not only that, the burns caused by the acid were beginning to ache something fierce, and patches of his skin were red and raw.

D'etre looked at Trav's clothes, touching some of the burnt fibers. "I can fix those up for you, and I suppose you could use a bath... but a bath can wait!" Putting her hands together, she stood up on Raison's shoulder and climbed up his hair. Raison looked perfectly used to this, not putting a pause in his slithering. "Raison, are you still hungry?" She asked, looking down at him.

"Yes, of course I am, why wouldn't I be?" Raison grumbled.

"Then how about you hunt someone else, like those people down there?" D'etre said, pointing downwards to a group of three adventurers, all geared up and ready for anything. "Can you hold on for a bit, Mister Trav? Raison really needs to eat."

"D'etre... you are such a predator." Raison complimented, looking at the adventurers with hungry eyes. His senses told him there was another one ahead of them, probably a scout. "Hopefully, they'll taste better then you." Raison turned his head to look at Trav.

“Ah…Er…Mayhap there be some…be some duikers still in the…area,” Trav stammered, his face becoming pale as Raison looked at him. He was afraid of annoying Raison too much, but the thought of sitting on a naga’s shoulder as he ate other humans caused his stomach to turn. If he actually had to watch it, Trav wouldn’t be surprised if he lost his breakfast. If he were a braver man, Trav thought he might try to run ahead and warn his fellow men. But the thought of being eaten himself cowed him.

He also saw D’etre in a new and unsettling light. How could she so casually and cheerfully suggest Raison eat those men? Did she even know what she was doing? Trav doubted it. She did not seem cruel, only misguided and naive. But Trav knew what he was doing. The fact that he was doing nothing shamed him.

Raison took D'etre off his head and plopped her down on his shoulder beside Trav. Slithering downwards, with one long arm he easily reached down and swiftly grabbed the three in his long hands. Bringing them upwards, he sadistically smirked at the humans as he put one into his free hand. "D'etre, close your eyes." He ordered, and D'etre did so, covering her eyes with her arms.

"P-please don't eat me." The single one in his hand, a woman in mage's clothing, begged. "Please! You can have them, but not me, please!"

"Tch." Raison shook his head. "Someone like you would give me a stomach ache. Pathetic." Exerting pressure, the woman shrieked until her chest collapsed on itself, and the naga broke the bones into bits. Dropping the mage's split in half corpse, Raison unhinged his jaw and swallowed the other two, men who were shouting and crying. Satisfied, he rubbed his stomach which felt much more content with food inside it, running around and trying to free themselves. "Okay, you can uncover them." He said to D'etre, who did so dutifully.

"Were they yummy?" D'etre asked with a smile.

"Excellent." Raison said, before noticing his tree. He picked D'etre up and set her inside the hole in the tree. "You, consider yourself lucky." Raison said to Trav, his eyes narrowed.

“Aye,” was all Trav could mumble, avoiding the naga’s glare. He couldn’t bear to watch, and had pulled the brim of his hat down over his eyes and plugged his ears. It seemed like an age before the woman stopped screaming. Trav didn’t think that he would be able to forget he voice, or those of the frightened men. Numbly, he climbed off of Raison’s shoulder and up to the hole in the tree.

Something about Raison disturbed him deeply. Trav had seen men and women die before, but the predators who ate them were different. They didn’t consider humans to be people, no more than he did pigs or goats. But the predators ate to live. Raison, he treats D’etre as a person, (whether or not he saw Trav as one, Trav didn’t know) but still ate the two men. Trav could understand that as choosing between eating others or starving. However, what really bothered Trav is that he didn’t eat the woman, but simply killed her and left her. Why?

One thing was certain, as Trav climbed into the hole in the tree and into D’etre’s home. He needed to escape.

As Baras finished up the journal and closed it, he began to become bored. 'Well, I could materialize something to entertain me, but I don't want to spend all day in here. Guess I'll have another walk.' he thought to himself as he exited out the door and began to walk in a random direction, wondering what kind of wacky adventure he'd end up on this time. 'Hmmm...I wonder how Trav's doing.' he thought to himself.