Outter Darkness: Book 1

Outter Darkness
Book 1: Predator and Prey
Chapter 1: Arrival

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< > -another language translated

Outter Darkness and all characters associated with said title are copyrighted and belong to Eric Harmon and Wendy Harmon(that's me!) If you wish to use these characters, please ask permission first! If you want to do fanart of said characters, please, let me see it!

A/N: The world in which Outter Darkness takes place is called Epicen. It's twice the size of Earth and has two moons (one red and one blue). The days are 48 hours long instead of 24, and there are 14 months instead of 12, with their being 40 days in a month instead of 30/31.


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Chapter 1: Arrival

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"In a world over shadowed by an unknown evil. Where the people of these lands feel safe and secure; in blind ignorance. An unforeseen fiend will unbalance their delicate world." -Red Leaf, The Great Elder

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The pre-dawn hours on this early day in spring was calm and reassuring. The low orange and blue haze of dawns early light; stretched far and wide across the hillside, casting deep shadows among the trees. The rabbits and dear were now settling in, after long nights of travel and play. Miles away from any town, they had not yet experienced any form of terror or fear -- Not until now.

The morning silence was shattered as a dimensional explosion ripped the forest in half. A whirlwind of color and fire burst forth from the epicenter of the earth, twisting trees and bushes in unnatural ways. Heavy smoke poured forth from the large crater and uneven earth, as limbs and leaves burned from blue and green fire. Slowly and unsteadily a figure forced it's way up and out of the burning pit. The smoke and haze masking its form, except it's glowing blue eyes. The creatures of the forest fled in fear; they sensed and smelled many things upon this stranger. Anger, fear, and death, clung to it like a second skin. Staggering; the creature walked on the balls of its feet, a living metal blade; twisting and melding, was gripped in its hand. Slowly and carefully it made it's way to one of the trees that was still whole. Looking up, it ponders for a moment; sizing up it's distance, and then leaps gracefully from a dead stand still up the tree to a secure branch. With the speed and agility of a great feline it bounds from tree to tree, claws digging in ever so often for traction. The sun is now over the horizon, and her un-prejudice light gleaming down reveals the fleeing creature. A large and naked bi-pedal white tiger leaps from limb to limb, its tail flying out behind him as he hastens his retreat. The panicked and freighted look in his blazing blue eyes tell the tale of a life uncertain.

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'Distance. I need more distance between here and there, or they'll be upon me like maggots on rotting flesh!'

His speed increases even more, and his grip tightens on the now formed sword. Relief washes over his face as he notices the forest thinning out ahead of him and giving way to a grassy knoll and what appears to be a slowly moving river.

'A clearing. Maybe I can gather my bearings and thoughts once I break free.'

Leaping out of the final tree, he lands firmly on his overly large paws. Nervously looking around he heads for the river, looking over his shoulder back toward the forest multiple times.

'Perhaps for the moment I have gained the advantage, but for how long?'

Breathing heavily he kicks at a few loose river rocks before kneeling down to look at his reflection in the water.

'How long will it be before the mavericks of the lich queen come for my pelt?'

Splashing angrily at the water he let loose a low growl, 'Oh gods, what have I done? I was only wanting to help 'mother' and now I have put her in more peril.'

Sitting back on his haunches he stares back at his reflection. His unkept and matted fur make him look rather unruly. Heavy and saddened eyes look back within his soul and he hangs his head down in shame.

'Sygmund, what hell did you unleash? Surely they will come for me, even to this simple plane of existence for what I have done. Somehow, I need to get to safety.'

Still sulking and pondering his next course of action, a gleam of colored glass catches his attention. Floating down the river; bobbing too-and-fro a wine bottle drifts toward the bank of the river.

'What's this now?', Quickly snatching it from the grasp of the cold water, Sygmund studies the bottle for a moment and looks up toward the direction it came drifting down from.

'This came from up-stream. So does that mean. . . ', carefully he stands up and takes a tentative step forward. Drifting up and over the horizon he can see smoke in the distance. 'Could there possibly be civilization, here?! If there really is a town or city up ahead. . . safety in numbers is always best.'

For a time he walks along the bank of the river, now and then his sword dipping into the cold water beside him. By now at least an hour has passed as he stops for a break. Concealed by some tangling and thorny shrubs he kneels down to lap up some of the clean flowing water. A noise across stream catches his attention and he presses himself against the ground even further. Looking up, Sygmund notices a young woman in rangers garb quickly making her way downstream. She pays no heed to him, only looking over her shoulder back towards the town ever so often.

'That is something I have not seen in many years. A human woman.', making sure she is well out of sight and scent range he eventually gets up. Fearing for his own protection he heads toward the tree line for coverage, but still in view of the river. Continuing his journey he travels for at least half an hour before the sights, sounds, and scents of children playing catch his attention. In a pool of water at the towns watermill five children are playing. Three young boys cheerily splash and tease the two girls on the bank, trying to get them wet. Piercing blue eyes watch from the cover of the trees, his mind forming a plan.

'First a human woman, and now human children. I think it's a safe bet to assume the settlers here are human.', a slow smirk plays on his feline face, 'So be it.'

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The town of Burnton was a quite and peaceful farming community, not much of anything happens to wake its peaceful resolve. A guard dressed in a worn-out uniform yawns deeply in front of the towns entrance. The tiger demon's eyes dart from the guard to the towns inhabitants. Forming an image in his mind, Sygmund concentrates as a liquid putty flesh forms over his fur. Skin, hair, and even clothes now form his body as he finishes shape-shifting. Even a sheath is formed to house his living sword.

'Surely, I will be able to fool such simple beings. . .', confidently he walks past the dozing guard and enters the town. Already it is busy with people going about their daily live. '. . . or at least I hope I can.'

Carefully he makes his way to one of the building and casually leans against it; watching the people, and hoping not to gain attention just yet.

'It has been a few years since I last interacted with humans, and even then it was deemed I play the part of the 'pet'.', his features darken for a moment, an unpleasant memory drifting forward before he forcibly pushes it back. A bemused look graces his eyes as he crosses his arms across his chest. 'How do humans view one another? What thoughts linger on the surface of their mind? To help myself survive, perhaps I should investigate.'

Focusing on the people that pass before him Sygmund begins to use his telepathy, their thoughts entering his mind for the briefest of moments. The first to cross his path was a woman who seemed to be in quite the hurry.

'So much to do today! Laundry on the line, buying fish at the market and bread at the bakers. . . ', her thoughts were only one the tasks of the day. The next person was a mother and her son, both looking quite disgruntled. 'It's not even lunch time yet and this boy has already been in a fight!' 'He started it! Really he did!'. The demon chuckled softly to himself at the pairing and nearly laughed out loud at the next lout that crossed his path. 'Damn the sun! Damn the noise! Damn me for being out of ale so I can feel pain again!', the drunkard staggered down the alleyway between the building Sygmund was standing against and another.

Shaking his head in silent amusement Sygmund decided to explore the town a bit more, feeling confident that there is no threat within its walls. Glancing from building to building he notices that on some of them, wooden signs hang forth, and pictures are carved into the them. On one he noticed a crossing spoon and fork, and on another he noticed a sword and shield. Some type of lettering system was on the signs as well, but Sygmund couldn't make out what they said. As he approached the building with the sword and shield, he noticed four people standing around talking eagerly amongst themselves. All were dressed in various garbs and each of them appeared to be not much older than 20. He slows his step as he walks by them, straining his hearing to catch their conversation.

"Mark, I won't say this again but I tell you, two loaves of bread and one bag of beef jerky is not going to be enough for all of us. The next town is a week away, and the last time I checked you are not the best of hunters!"

"Hey, I'm working with limited funds here! Thirty coppers will only stretch so far. So, unless you can pull a gold piece out from your ass, this will have to do!"

"Both of you simmer down, I think I have about ten coppers left. I'll go back into the general store and see what other goods I can arrange for us. Thomas is right, we need supplies that's going to last."

Walking away from the bickering adventure party, Sygmund considered what they had said. 'So I need 'coppers' to buy supplies, and supplies that last a while cost more 'coppers' or 'gold'. Great. . . just how the hell am I going to make funds without rising suspicion?'

Unconsciously, he walks toward the general store that one of the adventures had pointed out. As Sygmund enters he notices many different and wondrous things. Coils of silk rope you could buy by the yard, pouches and bags in various sizes, and lamps and torches lined the wall. He even saw ladders and buckets and barrels filled with dried vegetables and fruit. He nearly ran over the short elderly man that ran the shop as his attention was else where.

"Whoa there boy! Pay attention to where you're going. You go adventuring like that and you sure won't last long.", the old man scoffed and whacked Sygmund in the shin with his cane.

A low warning growl sounded from him, his eyes narrowing. "Listen, I'm just needing some supplies old man."

"You got any money on you? 'Cause I don't see any coin pouch on you."

Sygmund's eyes lowered to the ground, a disgruntled look crossing his tanned face. "No, and I don't know how to come by 'funds' either."

The old codger looked at him in disbelief, his bushy white eyebrows cocked in surprise. "Bah! What have you been doing, living under a rock? Go to the bar; you daft boy, and ask for a job. People are always posting jobs there, and if nothings posted I'm sure the bar tender will have heard something from somebody. Now, get out of my store and don't come back until you have some coinage!", the shop owner menacingly raised his cane as to swat Sygmund out the door with it, but luckily the demon was two steps ahead of the pissy old fart and was already out the door.

Kicking at the dirt, Sygmund slowly trodded his way back to the building where he saw the crossing spoon and fork. Pushing the large wooden door in he was mildly surprised to see that the top portion of the establishment was an inn and the basement level was the bar. Heading downstairs he noticed the various shields that lined the wall. Some looked new while others looked like they had seen their share of action. Glancing over the banister, he noticed the bartender drying out some tankards and looking quite bored. The only other person in the room was a middle aged man dressed in old and beaten-down rangers clothes and who reeked of alcohol. As the demon turned 'human' approached the bar, the owner looked up and forced a tight liped smile.

"So, what's your poison so early in the day?"

After the incident with the general store owner Sygmund was not in a pleasant mood, either. "A job with high pay and low morals."

The bar tender looked taken a back and glanced nervously at the patron sitting at the bar. The drunken ranger smirked; his hat tipped low so it covered his eyes.

"Well now, that kind of poison don't come easy."

Sygmund grimaced, the smell of booze strong on this stranger that so boldly baited him. "And, who are you to say what is easy and what is not?"

Warily the bar tender backs up, unsure of this new strangers behavior. The elder ranger chuckles deeply, before tipping his hat back to show a ruddy face framed by straw colored hair.

"Who am I? Who am I?! Jack Jacobo's the name! Ranger of nobles and future guildmaster!", he says proudly and raises his nearly empty tankard up to the sky in a mock toast. Settling back down he grins assuredly at Sygmund, "And, soon to be yer employer if you'll take the offer."

Warily he studies the drunken buffoon, and attempts to read his thoughts, but do to his drunkenness, his thoughts are too jumbled to make much relevance. What few thoughts he gleamed was: girl, money stolen, and bounty. Against his better judgement Sygmund decides to play along.

"And, what is your proposal?" Jack grinned broadly and motioned for him to come closer so they could conduct 'proper' business. When he was sitting next to him Jack began his tale.

"Well ya see. . . there's this girl who took off with my money, and I need both of them back."

"Dead?"

Jack coughed to cover up his shock and startled expression, "Ummm....no. Alive, preferably. You bring me her and all of her possessions and I'll pay ya 250 gold."

He had to admit, it sounded liked a good deal, gold was better than coppers, and 250 of them, that had to be a lot!

"To sweeten the deal, I'll even pay for yer supplies. Unless you have some of yer own?"

Oh this was getting even better, the drunk moron was going to pay for him to travel and get away even further from his point of entrance.

"Sorry, everything I own is on me."

"What are ya a refugee? Ah, nevermind. Fine, I'll get ya some armor and a bag....a sleeping roll....lantern....ummm....food.....yeah, that should be a good start."

Sygmund's mind was spinning in circles, he was getting what he needed and now even had a purpose; even if temporary, for being on this earthly prison.

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Several hours; and one hot meal later, Sygmund was fully supplied and armored. Not the best armor in the world; in fact part of it was patch worked leather, but he had armor none-the-less. Standing on the outskirts of town Sygmund and Jack stood looking down stream, but to the opposite side of the bank from which he had traveled earlier in the day.

"She was spotted leaving town early this morning and heading in this direction. She's a young girl; a child really, trying to pass off as a ranger. She goes by the name of Kyteria Legacy, or Ky for short. Normally, I'd go after her myself, but I have pressing matters with the local lord to deal with."

The now bounty-hunter shrugged his shoulders, not really caring what the man said now. He had a physical description to go by and he knew her crime, that was all he needed. Part of him wondered if it was the same woman he saw earlier as he was going into town. She was a woman he could tell by scent and flowing curves. . . Jack had described a girl -- a child. Perhaps they were related;however, he wasn't going to bother bringing it up to Jacobo.

"Ah, one other thing before ya head out. Those woods are dangerous. There have been stories of bandits and wizzmores and owlbears haunting those areas. Best stay alert and not let yer guard down. It's a week away from the next town if ya go by the road and marked trails. There's a more dangerous shortcut through there that'll get ya there in three days time, and I'm afraid that's the route she's going. The town there is called Camton; it's a trade city. If ya can get hold of her and keep her there until the end of the week, I'll be there to make the exchange."

Sygmund only half heard him, wanting to get this hunt started already. "Fine. Meet you in Camton with the girl. I got it."

Before Jack could waste anymore of his time, he was off in a full out sprint back into the woods.

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Two days of uneventful travel had passed for Sygmund. He had hunted when he had needed to and rested only for an hour or two at a time. Being the creature that he was he didn't need sleep. True, ocassionaly he would sleep if exhausted or if he was feeling exceptionably lazy.

The drunk was right about one thing, those wizzmores were a bit of a pain. The first time he had come across one he wasn't quite sure what he was looking at. There on the beaten path nibbling away at some shrubbery was a yellow rabbit as large as a medium sized dog. Not only did the color throw him off, but the fact that it's long ears were webbed together, giving it a 'glider' effect made him even more curious. As he cautiously approached it , the critter noticed him and panicked. The wizzmore had bounded up a fallen log giving it some leverage, before jumping high into the air. It's overly large ears caught a draft, letting the yellow bunny now glide toward him. At first Sygmund didn't perceive this as a threat; heck, he thought dinner was delivering itself. . . That was until the thing started to pee acid! As the hard stream of liquid made contact with the broken tree limbs and budding flowers, they were quickly disposed of. Luckily he was able to take it down easily enough, but he wasn't going to have THAT for dinner.

On the eve of his second day of travel the sun was beginning to set. He had been traveling for thirty-two hours out of a forty-eight hour day. Most humans would be wanting rest by now, trying to get in a good sixteen hours of rest, but not him. He wasn't human. Trudging forward and ever onward, Sygmund had yet to notice the beady eyes and sticky fingers of the being watching him from the treetops.

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Walking deeper into the woods even as the sun was setting and two moons were rising Sygmund had not slowed down his pace. Sure, Jack said you could get to Camton in three days time taking this shortcut....if you knew where you were going and knew how to track. He ran a hand wearily through his black hair and let out a frustrated sigh. Was he even still going in the right direction? With him traveling the full length of a day; besides necessary breaks, shouldn't he have reached the town by now?

'This is just great! I can't complete my first job, because I get lost!'

Growling in frustration he begins hacking away at the dense tree limbs blocking his path. "At this rate, 'Alive, preferably' might not be possible! Stupid girl!"

Not too far off, large wondering brown eyes watched the rampaging man rant to himself. While he had that sword out and was swinging as wildly as he was, now would not be the time to attack. After a moment or two Sygmund settled down and flopped down on a fallen log to sit. He sheathed his sword and buried his face in his hands. He was starting to feel itchy, and was going to need to shed his pseudo-skin soon. As he thought about his current predicament, he barely felt the tug at his coin purse or heard the rustling of cloth. He 'barely' heard it, but he steal heard it. With lightning quick reflexes his hand shot out to grab and encase a much smaller hand. One about the size of a child. . . or halfling.

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Sticky McFingers looked up at the face of the man who held his hand in an iron like grip. It was the face of a man who had no humor and had no problem causing harm to others.

Sticky gave a nervous laugh and simply stated, "It's tax season?!"

The other man didn't look at all amused, and seemed to be focusing immensely on him. Thoughts of home and family and identity; all his own, quickly flashed through his mind. The only thing the halfling could decide assuredly on, was that he was going to die.

Suddenly, he was tossed like a rag doll several feet in front of Sygmund. The giant of a man simply stating, "Be gone with you rogue! I have no time for your antics or games."

Sticky looked up in surprise; still saying a quick prayer in thanks to the goddess Terra, that the brute had released him.

"Yeah...ummm....Sorry about the whole grabbing the coinage and stuff. I just can't help myself, ya see it's in me blood. I'm from a long line of esteemed and proud tax collectors. I'm from the McFingers family; in fact, Sticky McFingers is my name. We've been doing this for years....hundreds of years! Why in fact, I think that's what we were bred to do!"

Sygmund glared at the halfling, not at all amused by his ramblings of family or supposed history. He was starting to drown out the halfling and the story of his family tree when an idea struck him.

". . . and that's when my cousin Rosemary Thistlebottom; who's twice removed,"

"Sticky"

"Thought it would be the best idea to use her pantaloons as a kite for a distraction."

"Sticky"

"Now personally, I thought the idea was crazy, but my other cousin, Stumpwater Boggins, four times removed, thought it the best idea he'd ever heard!"

"STICKY!", Sygmund shouted at the top of lungs, now tired of trying to get the halflings attention.

The rogue nearly jumped out of his boots and looked up at the bounty-hunter in surprise, "What? I was just getting to the good part about how then they. . ."

"That's enough of the family story for right now. I'm wondering that since you 'work' these woods if you know how to get to Camton?"

"Camton? Sure, it's maybe eight or twelve hours from this very spot, as long as you keep heading west. Anyway, Boggins liked Rosemary's idea and ....Where are you going?"

"I'm getting out of these woods before I loose my mind."

"Loose your mind, but it's quite peaceful out here."

"It WAS!"

Sticky blinked in utter confusion, "Well why'd it change so suddenly?"

It took all of Sygmunds' discipline and iron will not to draw his sword and make the halfling a quarterling. Being as polite as he could muster, through gritted teeth Sygmund makes a promise.

"If you can lead me to Camton, I will pay you three gold for your services."

"Three gold!? Really?! Wow! That's like two weeks pay of REAL work. Sure, I'll help you out. I'll even give you a tour of the town, so you won't get lost their either."

Sygmund forced a very toothy grin and refrained from rolling his eyes. "Whatever you want, alright? Can we start traveling now, we've wasted enough time as is."

"But, it's dark now. Don't you want to rest?"

"No"

"But, you know travelling at night is not safe."

"We'll be fine."

"But I can't see in the dark."

"Here's a torch."

"You're mean."

"Deal with it!"

Finally, the two began their journey toward Camton, after much debate and whining on Sticky's part. Within the dawn of the next day, they would be welcoming the sight of the trade cities gate.