~*~ Okay, here’s Abbie’s part =D Not much to say, so on with the show~! (Remember, he’s still not himself, so the post will be in third person until that changes) ~*~
In This Post: Dark Aberius, Aberius, Tanner, Raine, Xio, Fresia
Aberius
[17 years ago, Mt. Moon Absol Village…]
“Alterius broke our traditions!” one of the village elders said.
“He was an outsider to begin with!” said another.
“And now because of his mistake, one of our young has been cursed! This ultimately brings danger upon us all!” chimed yet another voice.
The lead elder stood slowly and the rest of the council quieted, “I understand this means grave danger… But we cannot lose our heads.”
“But!”
“What we shall do…” said the lead elder, cutting the other off, “is keep the young one here. We have the ancient legends on our side. We cannot let him out into the world as they will not know what to do. However…” he sighed, rubbing his eyes, “because Alterius has broken the rules, we must banish him from the village. It is quite a sadness, though, as he is a fine Absol… one of the finest here since he first came. But the rules are the rules… I worry, however, for the safety of young Aberius… We shall have to keep an eye on him until he becomes of age…
Just then, a woman from the village stepped in. The council looked at her.
“What are you doing?! This is a private meeting!” one of the elders yelled.
“Please sirs!” the Absol woman said. “You cannot make him leave! Do you know what it is like for a child so young to lose their parents?! His mother has already…”
“But it was the child’s fault!”
“It doesn’t matter whose fault it is! Let part of Alterius’ punishment be atoning by raising Aberius to be a good boy! If he leaves now, you may just doom the village yourselves!”
“How dare you…!” one of the men stood, but the lead elder held up a hand to signal silence.
“Solaria has a point… Alright, we will not yet banish Alterius from the village. He will leave when Aberius turns 13. However, we will not allow Aberius to learn to fight. If he gets stronger now, he will only be that much stronger when he transforms. If that happens… Remnis may very well be resurrected in that young one. And if that is the case, no one will be safe…”
Aberius ran on all fours, his body still twisting and changing as he dashed. His bones cracked and snapped as they grew and his muscles surged. His fangs and the rest of his teeth grew over his lips and his face was beginning to look more dog-like. His eyes glowed red and darted back and forth as he weaved in and out of trees at top speed. The horn in his head and his bladed tail slowly enlarged from their settings. The pain would have been excruciating, but the man Aberius once was had been rendered unconscious and the pain receptors had been sealed shut from the massive amount of dark acid blood running through his veins.
He released another reverberating howl into the semi-frigid air. That was when he stopped, smelling another scent in the air. It was pungent, savory, and hearty. Lifting one heavy paw after another, Aberius ran in the direction of the scent. He suddenly approached a strange creature standing on two legs, grinning from ear to ear, its eyes black, deep, and shining. The scent was coming from the blood trickling down his shoulder. Aberius’ lips pulled back and curled as his tongue lolled out of his mouth.
“Looking for blood…?” the tangled creature said. Aberius let a rumble escape from his throat. The purple-haired thing smiled. “Excited are we? Well, come on!”
Without warning, Aberius had launched himself at the being. He sank his teeth into its shoulder, the muscles giving way as the thick, savory blood gushed over them. The opponent knocked Aberius off with an arm, but Aberius sprang back up just as quickly and another rumble echoed in his heaving chest and escaped his lips. The creature stared back at him, revealing his own teeth.
“Come on! Can’t you throw a punch?!” it said. Then it launched its fist into his abdomen, sending him flying backwards. Without much delay, Aberius launched himself upward using his tail as a spring, grasped a branch with his teeth, flew off behind his opponent, ricocheted off another tree, and slammed into its back with brute force. Its bones cracked, but it didn’t stumble long. Aberius landed on the ground, and as the opponent turned around, he launched himself at it. They tussled for a few moments until both of their necks were exposed. Aberius took full advantage as he crunched down into its neck, but it did the same to him. They both drank each others’ blood, Aberius feeling more power coursing through his body. The other creature had finished drinking and once again knocked Aberius off, he trying to get more blood before he was completely distanced.
Aberius continued to grow bigger. Such rapid grow caused his skin to tear little by little at the seams. Some of his own blood was running down his side. His muscles enhancing, but straining to remain stable, he once again charged at the tangled evil creature, piercing its chest slightly with his reinforced horn. It slid through like a knife through butter spread. He did not get to drink the blood as the creature kicked him in the chest while simultaneously leaving two gashes on his face. Aberius licked the side of his face and growled angrily as they circled one another.
“Come on! COME ON!” the creature yelled at Aberius. Its eyes were wide and the corners of his mouth appeared to be reaching the extents of his face. It looked almost as much a demon as Aberius was now as it twitched with excitement.
The wind began to pick up. It appeared to be normal at first but then it began to swirl around Aberius. The opponent was looking back and forth, examining the phenomenon. When it looked back at Aberius, he was staring straight back, his eyes glowing brighter red. Aberius was using Leer, which the opponent hadn’t expected and was thrown off its guard for a moment. While its guard was off, Aberius launched at him with a Quick attack, followed up with him whipping his tail into the side of its face, smashing it into a tree. The tangled one folded backwards upon impact and fell down for a moment before standing up.
It wiped its mouth and shouted, “LEAF STORM!”
A surge of leaves rushed toward Aberius, but he in return used Razor Wind, which tangled and surged with the opponent’s attack and canceled out. When it cleared, the tangled one wasn’t in it original position. Aberius jerked his head and saw the other trying to distance himself, but Aberius used Pursuit and caught up, slamming into it twice as hard. The tangled one stumbled forward and whipped around, launching it tendrils toward Aberius. However, the vines went straight through him without any effect and Aberius disappeared. It looked around to see multiple Aberiuses surrounding him, as he’d used Double Team. It continued to launch its tendrils at each after image until they wrapped around the real Aberius. It grinned and started reel him in. Aberius dug his claws into the ground, resisting as more blood escaped from the wounds in his side and face.
Aberius finally sunk his teeth into the vine wrapped around him, causing his opponent to flinch. Aberius yanked on the vine, ripping it slightly, but also causing the tangled mass to come flying toward him. Once it was right in front of him, he used Slash, effectively gashing its abdomen viciously. It fell to the ground, lying there on its back. Aberius walked up to it, looking down. Even though it was still grinning widely and laughing, it looked as though its body was unable to move. Aberius knelt down to drink more blood, but he’d only gotten a couple gulps before the tendrils started coming for him again. Impatient and not in the mood to be disturbed, Aberius gathered a mass of dark energy around his left claw, shaped it into a sharp point, and drove it into the stomach of the creature before him. Blood came gushing out of its mouth and hit Aberius in the face, which he licked off. The thing’s life seemed to be dwindling so Aberius was about to deal one final blow when all of a sudden, another scent hit him.
It smelled exactly like his own energy, except it was female’s blood. Instinct took over as he abandoned the tangled one there. He could come back later for it. He bounded off for the mountain forest in search of the scent similar to his own.
It had not taken Aberius long to find the source of the smell. Indeed it was female, but it looked nothing like him. She also stood on two legs, but had horns and a large fluffy tail. Seeing as it was not another of his kind, he forewent the option to mate and instead decided to feed. She was bleeding and although she smelled just like him, the smell was fading away and the being became weaker… It smelled sweet. It would be an easy target and a small snack before returning to the meal. He lunged at her, though she managed to dodge. She screamed out anyway being cut from the force of wind that followed the lunge. She had lost her focus for a moment, and that was when Aberius pinned her to the ground, crushing the bones in her left elbow. She screeched in agony and looked up in fear as Aberius was about to slice her throat with his claws.
Out of nowhere, Aberius was thrown back with great force from his prey, crashing through several trees before hitting his head on a boulder. The blow dazed him and he was unable to rise for a while. When he was able to stand, he stumbled back and forth, dragging himself back towards the other creatures by smell alone. He made his way back into the clearing where he saw two blurry figures. He shook his head back and forth to right himself. And his vision was coming back. He saw what had attacked him earlier and it was a male feline. His territorial and canine instincts kicked in, his rage growing. The cat’s lips curled and the two launched into battle.
Blinded by rage, Aberius continued to crash his teeth together in attempts to rip the feline’s flesh from its bones. It managed to dodge until Aberius finally sunk his teeth into its thigh. The blood that escaped hit Aberius’ tongue, but it tasted terrible… like cold, sharp knives. However, it launched its fist into his head, causing him to release his grip, then kicked him into a tree. Aberius immediately stood and ran at the cat howling. He leaped, did a flip in midair and came crashing down trying to slice it with his tail. It jumped out of the way and Aberius’ impact caused dirt and rock to go flying everywhere. Flipping back onto his legs, Aberius looked up just in time to see another kick coming kick way and managed to duck. He clamped his teeth around the feline’s tail and whipped him into a boulder. It flipped in midair and ricocheted back toward him. It grabbed his fur at the shoulders and using the momentum, threw him toward the same rock. Aberius also flipped, but from the force of his speed, his tail blade sliced through the rock and hooked onto the inside. Aberius pulled and struggled to get free, but since his tail hook was on the top instead of the bottom, he couldn’t slice upwards to free himself.
The cat appeared in front of him and hit him with a flurry of punches, pushing him further into the rock as it cracked bit by bit. Finally, he finished it off with a knee to the abdomen, crushing the rock and sending Aberius tumbling over the side of the nearby cliff. Aberius freefell about 100 ft before digging his claws into the face of the rock wall: effectively slowing himself to a stop. The cat was at the top of the cliff looking down, grinning and Aberius charged forward, running straight up the cliff wall and lunging over the edge at the opponent. They both tumbled back away from the edge, fighting for dominance. Aberius wound up on the bottom and raised his hind legs to push the feline off, but it jumped up and stood on his hind paws. Aberius kicked his legs into the air which sent the cat flying straight up, but as Aberius righted himself, it landed on his back and dug its claws into his shoulders. Aberius raged and bucked, trying to remove it. He jumped up, flipped in midair and body-slammed the unwelcome rider into the gravelly surface.
They had been battling for quite some time and seemed evenly matched. Aberius had not lost any steam, being driven only by his primal instincts. Once again, he lunged forward to attack.
“Heh,” the cat said as he sidestepped the attack, “I can see why you said just beating the crap out of him wouldn’t work… He’s just a dumb animal now with nothing but a thirst for blood. But I supposed it’s time to stop playing around…”
Aberius doubled back and charged toward the cat, which was lifting one leg back. Before he could slam into it, his front left leg was broken by a powerful kick, causing him to go down with a yowl. Aberius growled as the cat said, “An arm for an arm, right beast?” Aberius clamped his teeth down on its calf and was punched in the head once again. It walked around and stomped down on his other leg, snapping it in half at the bone. Aberius yelped as the feline went toward the back legs.
“Please stop!” the female shouted. Aberius had lost awareness of her presence during the battle. “He’s weak enough to restrain! We need to change him back!”
The feline hesitated, looking at her then back down at Aberius who was flailing his back legs and head trying to rip the muscles on its legs. It finally lifted Aberius from behind, placing it in a headlock as best it could, as Aberius’ front legs were too large to wrap around fully. “Do what you have to,” it said.
The female walked up in front of Aberius and lifted a shiny rock, lunging it into Aberius’ heart. Aberius threw his head back, the rock feeling as if it were drawing out his insides as his power drained into it. He thrashed around in pain, trying to free himself. The female placed her hands on Aberius’ head and began using Calm Mind. Aberius stopped thrashing, but continued to twitch with his eyes wide as he was beginning to lose his focus…
~*~((((((((((<----|---->)))))))))))~*~
Everything felt hazy… my body ached… my head was pulsing. Suddenly, I felt something familiar from far away. I reached out trying to find what it was.
R…R…R…Raine… the name escaped, hurting my throat as it did.
{Aberius-san…?!}
Raine… It hurts…
{I know… I’m so sorry, but you’ll be back to normal soon…}
I can’t… feel anything… Everything’s… fading… Where…?
Everything went dark again. I felt my life slipping away, but then I suddenly felt a glowing warmth coursing through my body. It caressing everything that ached and nursed it back to health. I could feel my blood coursing through my veins again without burning.
Slowly, my eyes opened and I saw the sky above. My body ached and I couldn’t move my arms. They felt like they were broken.
“What… happened…? How did…?” I muttered weakly.
“You’ve given us quite some trouble, that’s what,” came a voice. I slowly turned my head to see Xio standing next to me, looking down.
“Trouble…?”
“Yes, trouble. Honestly, did that transformation take a wedge of your brain with it?” he said. It didn’t take enough for me to remember that he really annoyed me. “This girl saved your life. I would say you should be grateful…”
I turned my head back toward my left to see Raine lying there, passed out and dirtied. Her arm was twisted at an odd angle…
“Raine!” I tried to move and pain shot through my body as I put my head back down.
“Ha… looks like she only had enough energy left to only bring you back from the brink of death… Your arms are still kinda useless. Looks like she healed me, too, although she shouldn’t have bothered. I’m not nearly as banged up as you are, Runt… Are you…?” he looked me up and down. “Well, it looks like that battle stretched you out a few inches! You’re still a runt, though.”
While under normal circumstances I would’ve been glad I grew a little, right now I just wanted to shove my foot up his a$$. My energy was draining as I heard a rustle in the nearby trees.
“I see we have a visitor…” Xio said.
I looked over to see the Froslass from earlier hiding behind a tree. My vision was getting blurrier and as she stepped out from behind the tree, I blacked out.
The next day… 11:55 am
I awoke to find myself in my room, my body still aching and feeling as though I’d been hit by a meteor. I looked down to see both my arms in casts and slings. I noticed I’d been propped up by some extra pillows to make it easier for me to sit up, since I couldn’t use my arms.
“Are you feeling alright?” a voice said. I turned to see Raine emerge from the bathroom.
“I…” my voice caught in my throat for a moment. “What about you?”
“I’m alright,” she said, her head drooping slightly, thought she smiled meekly. Her left arm was also in a cast and sling. She had cuts on her arms and neck. She came over and sat on the bed. “I wish I could help you more, but… well…” she lifted her hand to me and tried to use a move. I could see a small glow in her hand, but it flickered and faded away just as quickly. “I can’t use Healing Wave or Healing Pulse anymore… at least for a while. I think I exhausted it…” She said, still smiling, but she looked like she wanted to cry.
I sat up and wanted to embrace her, but all I could manage was putting my forehead on her shoulder. She seemed shocked for a moment.
“I’m sorry… I’m so… so very sorry…” I said as I grit my teeth and tears stung my eyes. “I got you involved when you had nothing to do with me. It’s my fault… I’m so sorry…”
Raine was silent, but I felt her right arm wrap around me and rub my back. The tears fell from my eyes as she held me closely, saying that it was alright. I don’t know how long I’d cried, but she stayed there, comforting me. I asked if I’d killed anyone and she told me that everyone was safe. I was so relieved. I didn’t understand how anyone was able to stop me, but all I could feel was relief as more tears continued to fall.
~*~ Done! X3 Yes, Aberius is now back to normal =;u;= I’m so glad! =;v;= During the third-person part, I referred to anyone who wasn’t Aberius as “it” and such because it was somewhat from Aberius’ mindset, not fully understanding what he was facing, but still third person. And yes, Aberius’ transformation caused him to grow. His new height will be reflected in his modified profile, since I haven’t yet made the switch. Sorry about the wait, as well. Lots of things to do… orz But, anywho… I hope it was okay with you guys =3 I leave it to y’all X3~*~
