A Doomed Session

First Meeting

Aremus left his hive that night in a fit of anger. All the lowblood slaves were doing everything wrong. He had yelled at them as punishment and locked a few away, but that just seemed to make them even worse. Aremus couldn't stand it! They should be grateful that he let them work at hive and carry out his bidding! After a few minutes of angrily storming around the sparse forest around his castle hive, Aremus calmed down. And when he had calmed down enough, he remembered why he doesn't go for strolls most nights.

Monsters. And now that he wasn't busy muttering to him self, he could here them coming towards him. Aremus might be a blueblood, but he was admittedly weak and had little to no fighting skills. Fear racing through his veins, he began trying to run back to his hive, only to find himself lost.

Gripping her Scythe of Petals in both hands, Katzin grimaced at the sight of another two in her peripheral vision. Holding her scythe close to her chest, she swung around and directed the blade to the ground, sending two flying into a nearby tree. Stalking up to them with her weapon of choice held high, a smile broke as her scythe drew blood, splitting their necks open with a sickening crack. Tar oozing onto the forest floor, she heard rushing footsteps approaching her from behind as the monsters' bodies grew limp. Glancing behind her, a flash of grey. Placing her right foot on a monster's shoulder, she pulled out the scythe from its neck and swung it towards the oncoming threat, her target ducking just in time. They collapsed to the ground, on their hands and knees, and Katzin beamed a friendly smile.
"wh@t're you doing out so l@te, ch@mp?"

"woah!" Aremus cried out in confusion. He grabbed a candle out of his sylladex and attempted to throw it at his attacker, only to miss horribly. Once that was over he stared at his attacker. A troll. And look at her, all smiling. Puh.
"why woulD i tEll you?" He asked, defensive. He didn't get up from the ground however. He was too embarrassed.

Cocking her head to the side, Katzin retracted her scythe to her sylladex, curious. She crouched to gain eye-level with the troll, looking him up and down. The blue symbol on his darkened shirt stuck out like a sore thumb. She frowned. She didn't like highbloods. Pushing her prejudices aside, growls in the distance brought her back. Katzin blinked and remembered what was happening. She had a tendency to get lost in thought. Extending an arm forward, she offered a hand up.
"i know the w@y b@ck to your big c@stle by the w@y," she mentioned dryly, an extra incentive for him to play nice.

Aremus glared at the pesky girl but that quickly changed into one of horror when he heard the growls. Collecting himself he scowled back to the girl again but this time softer. He took her hand and stood up.
"Do you now? And why would that change anything?" Aremus bluffed. Her symbol's colour blended with her shirt, but the colour was still there. Lime. Aremus was quick to tugged his hand back. Limebloods were rare now and still quite low on the hemospectrum, but were known for being able to be persuasive when it came to highbloods. He would have to be careful.
"my namE is arEmus hEltEr. i demand to know yours!"

"my n@me's k@tzin @ur@ku, @nd let's just focus on getting out of here," she calmly stated, reaching out to take him by the wrist.
Leaning over his shoulder, she whispered, "it doesn't m@tter wh@t you think of me, but im @ll youve got right now. would i be correct in @ssuming so?"

Aremus looked down, bitter. He felt his shoulders relax. Dammit.
"whatEvEr. lEts just go alrEaDy." He glanced around, scared, then looked down again and pouted. Defeated, he sulked.

Leading him through the forest, Katzin yearned to make polite conversation, yet could not get the right words to form atop her tongue. Instead she walked ahead of him by two feet and kept her scythe unsheathed, eyes darting around for any lurking predators.

Aremus stumbled along behind her trying to not trip over tree roots or make any loud noises. The silence was strained between them and all it was doing was making Aremus nervous.
"so what wErE you hErE for?"

Without looking behind her, she replied simply and curtly.
"i like to hunt @ night, helps me to pr@ctise for the g@me. not that im ch@sticising you @s such, but wh@t business does @ highblood like you h@ve outside @ your hive this l@te?"
"EvEry thing was going wrong anD i coulDnt stanD to look at thosE usEslEss idiots trying to work. thEyrE going to hurt thEmsElvEs or somEthing." Aremus sighed. Dumbasses. "what gamE?"
"it's @ new g@me @ friend of mine won't shut up @bout. kind@ dorky, re@lly. she c@lled it scrub. they s@id online th@t it w@s this submersible fighting g@me, so i figured i might @s well tr@in!" she explained, swinging her scythe back and forth, pleased with how she had grown accustomed to the weight.
"my scythe is @n extension of my body, @n outlet for my power," Katzin recalled her lusus saying, running a hand over the blade, still coated in crimson.

Aremus tilted his head in thought. "a fighting gamE? im no good at fighting. always haD my minD control powErs" he admitted. "nEvEr nEEDED wEapons for that matter EithEr so i havE lantErnkinD."

Katzin turned around to face Aremus, her yellow eyes glaring into his.
"it's prob@bly not just for fighting, silly. i'm looking forw@rd to m@king new friends @s well!"

"friEnDs?"Aremus stopped walking for a second before continuing on. "i... i might bE intErEstED in playing." Aremus walked faster, interested in what Katzin was talking about now.

Snap. It echoed from behind her. With a flick of a wrist and the twist of her torso, she distributed her weight equally to her tiptoes and faced the monster. Swinging her scythe split down the middle, she twirled the handle around her lithe fingers and retracted her scythe to her sylladex.
"i c@n hook you up to our te@m if you like," she commented, brushing off the attempted ambush like it never happened.

Aremus stared at the dead monster before moving on. "i.." Aremus stuttered. "i woulD likE that." His voice soft. "thank you for offEring, EvEn if you nEvEr go through with it."

She waved her left hand up and down airily.
"i'm sure we need new te@m members! just give me your trolli@n t@g @nd i'll p@ss it on to her," Katzin remarked, carefully tiptoeing around the organiser's name.
"@nywho, we've @lmost re@ched your hive! if you turn @ left @ the cle@ring just @he@d, @nd keep w@lking for @bout h@lf a kilometre, you should be home in no time @ @ll!"
"skelterSun." Aremus informed her. "thank you. i guEss this is whErE wE part?"
"i suppose so," she spoke as she shrugged.
"if you get @ mess@ge from c@llistosCr@ters, th@t'll be me."
Outstretching her hand, she beamed him a smile.
"here's to the future!"

Staring at the hand, Aremus looked at her in disbelief. Seeing no trace of lying, Aremus smiled and took her hand. "hErEs to thE futurE."