Revelation

Yoko turned away from the town, having climbed up the hill and remounting Haldis. He knew that it would take awhile for the illness to spread, but when it did, it would spread across the entire western half of the country. He probably could've gotten a bit more creative, but what could Hel really expect out of him? She should be happy that he had done his job at all. Perhaps after Rabbit was gone, he could start slacking again. Actually, he would start slacking again. There was no probably or maybe to it.

Kamira didn't overly show her emotions as she slew any that approached too close to her, but a small smile settled in on her face. Those that had not seen her kill others approached her unknowingly, thinking that she was simply a blind, helpless woman. She knew that after this bloodbath she would definitely need a new change of clothes since she couldn't maneuver well enough to avoid bloodstains, but didn't mind that much.

While Krigon and Diadal continued their slaughter with the help of the third rider, Death wandered at a trot away from the sight, because poor Carl had had just about enough today. In the distance, she spotted Yoko on top of a hill.

'Poor guy. He didn't seem too into it either.' she thought to herself, debating on whether or not she should go over and offer company on the way back to Yggdrasil. Deciding against it, she turned tail and made her way up her own hill, thinking longingly of a dark, damp place that didn't have nearly this much noise and confusion.

((If Yoko feels like socializing, I finally came up with Death's origins...if he gets the crazy urge to come over and ask, of course. ^-^))

((Death would probably have to get wild and crazy enough to approach him first. XD Then I can weave it into the conversation.))

Yokos head tilted slightly as he spotted Death watching him. He had gone off to his own little town, thinking that he wouldn't be able to stand the kind of chaos and carnage that Krigon was sure to create. While he hadn't seen what Death had done, to him, she didn't really seem like the type who got off on killing other people. Unlike Krigon, who apparently couldn't get it up if the girl was breathing

((*inturrupts this post to sing, can't get it up if the girls breathing*))

He watched her turn away on that sickly, pale green horse. Not that he had a right to call anything sickly, looking down at his own, bone thin mount. He gave a small sigh and turned away from the raid that was taking place below him. If he wasn't going to get wild and creative, he would at least need to hit another town or two if he was going to get Hels approval.

((I always figured that he'd be more of a bondage guy, but necrophilia is way better.))

Death approached Yggdrasil after a harrowing journey through the now dead forest. Although it was her doing, all the black trees and fog were rather scary, and she jumped at every twig that snapped under the foot of animals trying desperately to get out. It reminded her of her home.

The area was empty, and she couldn't help but furrow her eyebrows in confusion at what she should do now. She picked at the hole in her cheek distractedly, and in turn felt her brain kick start.

((Since we're interrupting posts, I'd just like to mention that when I pick at my lips, I always start thinking better. So I figured I must not be the only one who has discovered this amazing quirk of the human body.))

Her brother had had his own weapon in which to channel his powers. The infamous scythe of the Grim Reaper himself. Their father had always favored him when it came to weapons, but he had loved Death just as much. So surely he would have left her something in which to prepare her for her post as a horseman of the apocalypse? A scythe would make the most sense, would it not?

She had no intention of returning to her birthplace, but if it was her last resort, she would. Besides, soon her mother would be there as well, and she could always use some cheering up when visiting in the land of her husband.

((Guess where I'm going with this yet?))

After infecting a second town, Yoko had had just about enough. He turned away on Haldis, nudging the horse into a slow trudge. He felt so…so… He couldn’t even think of a word to describe himself. Something filthy and disgusting perhaps? Whatever it was, it wasn’t anything positive.

“You did well Yoko.”

The fox flinched as he heard Hels voice. The goddess laid in a cat like manner across a low hanging tree branch, peering down at her rider with a satisfied smile. “Not quite as chaotic or creative as I would’ve liked. You can do so much more you know. But…I am pleased that you actually did something for once. Though I’m not entirely sure if it’s worthy of your request.”

Yoko growled in a fennec like manner, making the goddess wince from the annoying noise. “Now, now,” she said sweetly, jumping down from the tree. She gestured for Yoko to dismount, and reluctantly he obeyed. “Perhaps if you just do me ‘one’ more favor,” she cooed, pushing the fox up against the trees trunk. “And that would be?” Yoko asked, his voice strained. Hel leaned upward, pressing her mouth against his. She forced her tongue past his clenched teeth as she held his hands down at his sides. “Now how come you’ll do that to your werewolf friend, and not me?” she asked, pulling back. “Because I don't like you,” Yoko mumbled, licking the blood on his lower lip away.

Kamira soon grew bored with randomly slaying people. After stealing a bottle of some type of alcoholic beverage from a burning store, she hopped up onto one of the roofs to sense the growing chaos around her. For the first time she wondered why Krigon dragged the human around with him. She couldn't imagine the the woman would be of any use to the three gods that had ordered them on this attack. Hm, all of a sudden I have a craving for beef jerky, Kamira thought absentmindedly as she took another sip.

Hel sighed and shook her head, stepping back from Yoko. “I don’t really know if you’re committed enough that you can function without Rabbit.”

Yoko growled once more, angered at the idea that Hel would think such a thing. “I just don’t know if you’re loyal to me or not,” Hel said with a shrug. “And you think Rabbit is?” Yoko countered. “Rabbit is loyal to Rabbit. He’ll tell you that he’s loyal, but when the time comes to prove it, he’ll just slither back into the hole he came out of.”

“Well aren’t you just a ball full of sunshine,” Hel commented. “But I’m still not convinced. So I’ll set you on one more task. Do it, and I’ll reward you by ridding you of Rabbit. Do you accept?”

“Yes,” Yoko replied. He would do just about anything to rid himself of that nagging little voice inside his mind. Hel titled her head back in laughter. “Silly Yoko. You agreed without even knowing what I wanted you to do. I want you…to slaughter an infant.”

Yoko was shocked at the idea, though not entirely surprised. “And I don’t mean just kill and get it over with. I mean rip it apart. Limb. By. Limb.”

Kamira stopped drinking from the bottle when there was a little bit of it left. She peeled a long paper shngle off of the roof she was sitting on and stuffed it into the neck of the bottle. Then Kamira chucked it as hard as she could toward a building that she had noted as burning, grinning when she heard the big explosion that it made. It was no wonder that Demonwolf's former apprentice got off on making stuff blow up. It was pretty satisfying and definitely fun.

“An infant?” Yoko echoed. “Uhhhh..huuuuhhh,” Hel said slowly. “Any will do. I just want to watch you do it.” Yoko tried to swallow past the lump in his throat, though frankly, he was glad that she hadn’t asked him to kill Rukia or Aodan. “Come,” Hel said happily, grabbing Yokos hand and dragging him away, leaving Haldis ground tied once more. “Just rip its arms off, and then if it doesn’t die from blood loss the legs. And on the off chance that it’s still alive, then you can cut its tongue out so it chokes on its own blood.” Yoko blinked slowly in disbelief as he wrestled with the decision. The last thing he wanted to do was kill a child. But in doing so, he would get rid of Rabbit and help ensure the safety of Kitai and the baby she carried. If Hel was going to watch, then there would be no way out of it. No way that he could sneak the baby to new parents.

Kamira giggled as she felt more of the city burn and collapse. Her giddiness may have had something to do with the fact that she had abstained from alcohol during her two years of memory loss and the stuff she was drinking just then was something a lot stronger then you would find at your average pub. She giggled again and jumped off the roof to the street, her drunkenness causing her to miscalculate the distance and fall down. Kamira was still laughing when she got up and grabbed another human, sinking her teeth into its neck and relishing the warm, thick blood that ran from the wound.

“There it is Yoko,” Hel said as she stood before a cradle containing a wailing infant. One side of the house was already on fire, and Yoko wished that the goddess hadn’t taken him to the town Krigon and Kamira had worked in. “It’s parents are dead, and if you don’t kill it now, either someone else will, or it will burn to death.” Yoko approached the cradle and the baby’s crying ceased. It looked up at him with wide, frightened brown eyes. He let out a long breath and bent down into the cradle, softly kissing the infants forehead. The real reason behind the action though, was so that he could slip his hand in and give the baby a bit of carbon monoxide gas. Just enough so that it wouldn’t wake up. He would’ve broken its neck or spin, but Hel would’ve felt the babys life leave it. At least this way it was still alive. The fox bit down on his lower lip as he wrapped his hand around the babys arm. He couldn’t help but once more picture his own future child. He closed his eyes shut as his grip tightened and he tore the babys arm off its body.

Hel clapped and giggled, clearly pleased, though Yoko was anything but. She figured that the thing was already dead, and that was why it wasn’t crying. She heard the pleasant sound of a second rip, followed by a third, and then a fourth. “That should be good,” Hel said, clearly enjoying herself. “I promise you now, you will not go unrewarded for your efforts.”

At this rate, he better not.

"Turn that fucking alarm clock terminator off," Kamira mumbled distractedly as she staggered up into a standing position. Most of her victim's neck was gone and they had little blood left, surprisingly still alive. She decided to leave it and see if the were change would win out or if the person would either burn or bleed to death first. Drunk on alcohol and blood, Kamira left to go seek out another victim to feed off of.

Krigon was almost panting as he stopped the slaughter for a moment, surveying the damage. He'd killed quite a few tonight, but nearly half of them were dead of arrow wounds, and a bit percentage of them straight through the throat. Diadal had proven herself, that was for sure. Now if only he could find another member to add that could keep her under control, he would be happy.

He saw that she was particularly vicious with the women, which was good because he never felt all that comfortable with killing those who wouldn't even pretend to fight back. While there were some women who were perfectly capable of fighting him, for the most part village women were akin to slaughtering children in their helplessness. Diadal had no such reservations, and seemed to find particular pleasure in aiming in the face of the prettier females. Obviously she had some pent-up aggression, but he'd be damned if he didn't use it to his advantage.

As the last of the screams died away, Krigon declared his mission done, and began heading back to the tree, Diadal following closely behind him, humming a cheerful tune.

In the meantime, Death was circling the area around the giant tree, contemplating her position. The more she thought about it, the more a scythe made sense. It was already a symbol of death, it fit...so why didn't she have one? Would she have to steal it from her brother?

'Oh, that'll go over well.' she thought to herself, imagining her brothers reaction. 'Probably loose a couple of fingers. Or a leg.'

She heard the distant thunder of Krigon's hooves, unmistakable in the quiet night. Perhaps it was time to make an exit...she made her way through the woods, she was a bit spooked again by her uncanny habit of killing the plants she passed. But then a voice interrupted her troubled thoughts.

“And I don’t mean just kill and get it over with. I mean rip it apart. Limb. By. Limb.”

Death raised an eyebrow, barely recognizing the voice of the goddess from before. She peeked through the trees, and saw Yoko and Hel speaking, the latter laying luxuriously in a tree.

What was Hel asking him to kill so horribly?

She followed them to the sight of the village that Krigon had just decimated, and Death noticed the blackened garden in the yard of a house that had been destroyed....there was distant wailing of an infant. She watched as the two disappeared into the house, and the crying stopped...and didn't start.

Her eyes widened in horror, and she backed away, wishing there was something in her stomach to come out as she started painfully dry heaving.

Luckily, it was a short spell, and she wiped the sweat off of her forehead. She knew it was hypocritical, because she too had inadvertently caused the end of hundreds tonight, but she was always detached from them. To kill a person, with your bare hands...an infant, no less...This Hel woman was evil. There was no other word for it. Krigon was violent and insane, but he didn't seem to compare to the sadistic goddess Death had just met...she should have guessed when she took too much pleasure from sending them all on a killing spree.

'Yoko is obviously a target...poor guy...' she thought to herself, holding onto her horse as she gathered her wits and composure.

Yoko emerged from the house with Hel. The fire started to swarm around it, almost consuming it within a matter of minutes. He felt like nine different kinds of awful, wrapping his arms around himself as if he was cold. “Oh come now precious,” Hel cooed, patting Yoko on the head like a dog. “Surely the rewards far outweigh the death of one tiny little baby who was simply going to die anyways.” Yoko turned his head away, his expression an uncharacteristic sneer of disgust and disappointment, mostly in himself.

((short post is short.))

Kamira giggled, just having realized that Hel had Yoko kill a baby. Babies weren't hard to kill at all, and they were especially fun to rip out of expectant mothers. The way that humans struggled so feebly and uselessly to protect their young amused her. Killing humans bothered her no more than a human shooting a deer or squashing an ant would bother a human. Kamira licked some blood off of her hand as she whistled for Hamlet; the horse came at a trot into the village to pick her up. She swung onto his back and took a bite out of the heart she was holding before directing him the way that Krigon and his psycho little human friend had gone.

“Well?” Yoko asked as he walked with Hel, leading Haldis back to Yggdrasil. The other three Riders were free to come back when they pleased. “Well what?” Hel asked in a coy fashion, though she clearly knew what. “I told you you’d be rewarded.” She flashed Haldis back into her stall, and the two of them into Yggdrasil. Yoko became curious when he found himself inside of a large room filled entirely with books. There were several plush armchairs, as well as a stone fireplace. Hel sauntered over to one of the chairs and sat down, crossing her legs. She gave Yoko a ‘come hither’ look and the fox obeyed reluctantly. If it meant that Rabbit would be gone though, then whatever.

“On your knees,” Hel commanded, pointing to the ground. “On. Your. Knees,” she repeated when Yoko hesitated. His confusion growing by the second, he obeyed. “I promised that I’d reward you didn’t I,” Hel said as she practically shoved her foot in Yokos face. “There you go.”

“What the hell is this?” Yoko asked, his anger and suspicion growing stronger.

“You’re reward,” Hel said like a teacher coaxing an answer out of a school student. “You did well, so I’ll let you play with my feet.”

“WHAT?!!”

Hel smiled as Yoko shot to his feet, a rare moment of anger apparent on his features. “I SLAUGHTED A FUCKING INFANT JUST SO I COULD PLAY WITH YOUR GODAMN FEET?!”

“Now, now Yoko,” Hel said calmly. “There’s no need for such language.”

Kamira arrived at the world tree and decided to go take a bath and change clothes since she was most likely covered in blood. A sense of uneasiness stole over her as she climbed into the water. After all, it was when she was in nonsolid surfaces that she truly was blind. The vibrations through water were limited to the body of water that she was in and was unable to sense anything outside that range. It was because of this that she hadn't realized that she had forgotten to close her door. Not that she cared if anyone saw her; the other riders held no interest for her and she doubted if the gods would care if they saw her either. After all, when did Fenris ever wear clothes?

Death was breathing normally by the time the pair emerge from the house. A baby's death...that meant that the Angel of Death would be coming around soon...and she knew who would be following her on close heels.

It had been a while since she'd visited the underworld, preferring to remain with her grandmother. The ability to see the fetchers of souls, as well as the souls themselves had faded. While Krigon had been chopping them down like brush in a forest, she hadn't noticed a single ghostly entity rise from the bodies. That meant that she wouldn't be able to see the Reaper, as well.

But the Angel of Death was always quick to the death of a baby, and that meant her brother wouldn't be far behind. Death snickered in glee. There was another secret about him that no one will know.

"Brother." she spoke out loud, assuming her brother was near. "If you're here, you need to let me know how to get a scythe for myself. Do I have to go see father?" she tried her hardest to keep her voice from shaking.

Silence.

"Fine, be like that. Asshole." Death noticed that plants farther and farther from her were beginning to die, and Hel and Yoko would be soon to notice as well. Deciding to give up her hiding place, she walked out and slowly followed them on their way back to Yggdrasil, where everyone seemed to be congregating. Perhaps Yoko would like a distraction.


Krigon, on the other hand, was celebrating in the roots of Yggdrasil, drinking out of a barrel of wine and watching Diadal dance drunkenly around the cooking fire they made. With one hand, he ripped the flanks off of a cow he'd scavenged and stuck it on the tip of his sword, roasting the bloody hunk on the fire.

Diadal was having far too much fun, and was now singing in a loud, raspy voice, although he had to admit he was impressed with her vocal range and tone.

Krigon watched as the Rider of the Black Horse disappeared into the tree.

"Diadal!" he called, and the woman stopped her dance. "Go assist the Third Rider. She is blind, from what I understand."

"I don't have to take orders from you!"

"If you wish to live past this night of merriment, you will do exactly as I say, wench!" he hissed. "Besides, did you see her slaughter the villagers? I think you two might have something in common."

Krigon opened the tree and shoved a grumbling Diadal in. She turned to glare in anger at being treated like a servant, but it was her price to pay in the new world order. She walked down the hall and saw the woman bathing with the door wide open.

"Goodness, woman, why don't you just shout 'rape me!' in the middle of soldier camp?" Diadal asked derisively as she walked in and closed the door behind her. After a moment of silence, she spoke again.

"You fight quite well, I can see why you were chosen as a rider." she complimented, almost a bit envious.

"If any person here attempted to rape me I would rip out their heart and feed it to them before they hit the ground dead." Kamira, feeling thoroughly washed, stood up from the bath and started to dry herself with a towel. "I don't particularly like humans in general, but you seem okay. You have quite the aim with the bow; long-distance attacks have never been my strength since I'm apt to miss. Why are you following War anyway when you could probably go conquer some village and install yourself as leader?"

Yoko fisted his hands in his hair, dropping to his knees several feet away from Hel. He bent over until his forehead touched the smoothed floor bark of the World Tree. He heard Hel sigh behind him, and rise from her seat. Knowing her, she was probably going to do something like kick him and then rip out his esophagus just because she could. “Is it really that important?” he heard her ask. “Does being rid of this…Rabbit really mean that much to you?”

Yoko straightened himself, looking back at the goddess over his shoulder, his expression still one of anger. “I thought I was slaughtering an infant for it. What do you think?”

Hel sighed as a memory surfaced to the front of her mind. It was one of the first things her father had told her when she had been sent down to rule over the Norse underworld.

‘Let them love, make them fear.’

She knelt down by Yoko and wrapped her arms around his head like a hug. Yoko was surprised at the amount of gentleness that was behind the act. Of course it had to be fake. Hel wasn’t capable of love or compassion. “This is gonna hurt,” she whispered almost erotically.

Diadal smiled. She liked this womans' style.

"Eh, I never thought much of ruling a town. I used to live in a forest with a whole village worth hidden away. It was really nice, I had a typical happy upbringing, but...then a group of nazi-wannabes attacked, and the elders just...surrendered. I managed to escape from the slavers, and after that I never really felt the need to live with a big group or even settle down. Never found any trust worthy enough anyway, you know? It kind of made me realize that I got to live life while I have it, and I live by drinking, killing, and enjoying men like they're supposed to be enjoyed. I'm just along for the ride with Krigon because when the end of the world comes, I want to be able to go out on top." she drawled smiling in her drunkenness.

"The last couple years of my life was spent in petty illusionment due to a nasty little artifact called the fogstone," Kamira said. "After I was blinded and kicked out of my house I served under Demonwolf and Lycaon until they both died in the war with the Rebellion. So basically, I'm in this now just to try to find some cause worth living for again. Becoming a rider has had its quirks though, my 'sight' has increased to the point where I can fall through open air now."

"Lady..." Diadal said, slurring a bit after drinking from her bottle a good bit more while Kamira was talking. "The only one you can live for is yersself. And I think it's damn good of you to be workin' your butt off, blind like you are. You don't let it get chu down, and that's great...I can't pretend to know what all 'The Rebellion' is or what not...." she stopped, blinking. "Wait...they aren't going to bring us any trouble, are they?"

"Being blind only got me until I learned how much more of a gift than a curse it was," Kamira said. "I can perceive everything as well if not better than someone with sight as long as I'm not in water. As for the Rebellion, the fools will probably be the only ones brainless enough to stand up to the end of the world. At least one goddess fights on their side, but I don't any more about their offensive strength other than that. One of their prize fighters was actually Demonwolf's apprentice that infiltrated them, so we won't have to worry about getting blown up while attacking them."