Rogues

Episode 36 | Keep your enemies closer

Sprite flinched, hearing Wendigo roaring again as a few of the other ghouls continued trying to calm him down. He'd been restless and agitated since they'd arrived, clearly not taking well to the new company. Sprite didn't blame him, another ghoul being thrown in here with him meant another ghoul who's powers he had to worry about.

But Wendigo panicking and lashing out was more than just inconvenient, in was downright dangerous.

Wendigo's ability was that his body maintained the full physical effects of the earth ghouls' Hunger, their natural desire to feed on human flesh that, if intense enough, can cause physical changes to assist in their hunt.

Wendigo was over 9ft tall, his limbs much longer than they should have been. His skin was rough like sandpaper, nothing like the slightly furry skin all ghouls were supposed to have. And his whole body was thin, more than just malnourished. His bones were almoust taring out from beneath his stretched skin.

But it was his face that had been the reason for his name; It was so mutilated and deformed that his elongated skull was partially visible, muscle and skin torn out of the way in most places. His teeth were all unnaturally long, often cutting into himself when he tried to close his mouth. And his horns were bent and larger than they should have been, almoust resembling antlers now.

Wendigo screamed again, hitting at a tall water ghoulette named Vida who's skin was glowing with intricate blue patterns. She'd been trying to comfort and speak to him for half an hour now but nothing was working to calm him down. He continued to snarl and screech at anyone who came too close, completely overwhelmed and terrified.

Sprite shivered, the tips of their fingers stinging again as the glass began to creep back up them. They'd grown pretty used to keeping their ability under control now, but the slight fear from Wendigo's display was throwing off their focus.

Everyone, including Wendigo, abruptly paused when a sudden, desperate scream echoed out from a large metal cage in the corner of the room. It was similar in shape and design to a bird cage, an old wooden swing hanging down in the center with a small ghoulette sat on it. Or not actually on it, she was floating just above it.

Krapan moved slowly towards the cage, deciding it would be fine to leave Wendigo for a moment seeing as he'd also been distracted by the screaming ghoul. Paneman was in control of their shared body right now and she tapped on one of the bars of the cage gently, trying to let the ghoul inside know that she was there. "Secsli? Are you okay?"

She whimpered quietly, slowly settling down on the swing again and briefly meeting Krapan's gaze. "Too loud." She whispered, pointing to Wendigo. "Loud."

Krapan sighed. "I know, and I'm sorry. He's just a little overwhelmed right now." They hesitated. "Maybe you could help him calm down? He seems to like watching you."

Secsli paused, turning to look at Wendigo who had slowly crept towards her till he was now waiting patiently outside her cage.

A smile tugged at her lips briefly and she stood up on the swing, stepping off and hovering in the air for a moment before getting the hang of her ability again and floating over to him. She paused directly in front of him, only the bars of her cage separating them. Krapan had been right. That simply motion had completely captivated Wendigo's attention and he was already visibly relaxing.

Secsli was an air ghoul who had the ability to fly even without wings. She was the Zafer Rokur's first attempt at recreating an extinct sub-element to the air ghouls known as gravity ghouls. They'd been able to tamper with the gravity around them, allowing for temporary flight and the ability to walk on walls and ceilings as if it were nothing. The thing that made their powers over gravity so much more intense that that of the air infinity ghouls is that their gravitational powers were not limited to just themselves. Gravity ghouls had been known to flip the gravitation field of a whole room during fights, taking advantage of their experience with it to give them the upper hand.