Fated to Life

Chapter 1 Lara loved the first snow. She loved the crisp air and the glittering tree branches. She loved the small white clouds her every breath made. The soft crunch of fresh snow beneath her boots. Most of all, she loved the silence. The peace and the security it brought with it. In the arms of her frosty woods, Lara reigned as Queen. Nought to feel the terror of Man or God. Lara thought exile suited her just fine. In fact, she much preferred the company of solitude. At the very least, she needn't worry about the intentions of her companions if there were none to speak of. The sun beats down through the forest canopy in soft rays; slowly seeping into Lara's dark furs as she slowly makes her way through the frozen wood. Her feet are careful to skirt the blood trail that desecrates her sanctuary. Like a partchment set in the scrawl of runic ink; Lara reads the harrowing tale the tracks unfurrow. Smears and uprooted dirt show the tale of a struggle. Damp roots, cracked and broken, seem to suggest the prey fled and the hunter gave chase. The wild woman's brow inches closer and closer to union as she follows the frightful path. Bloodied handprints imprint themselves on the skin of trees. Crimson to ivory, setting a sharp contrast to the surrounding peace of the icy wonderland. Patiently... Quietly.... Following the path once frought with terror. Entering the skin of the man; if the tracks were accurate; that once was. Her foot slid akin to his. Her hands falling into the burrows his birthed. Her gait slowed and dragged with an apparent injury to the left leg. Based on the blood marred snow, Lara was willing to bet the hunter cut the man's Achilles tendon. "What were you running from...." but a whisper to the wind as Lara picks up her pace. The tracks are more scattered. Urget. AFRAID. Weaving through the dense trees as if attempting to put as many things between her and an unknown assailant as she could possibly manage. Only the feet of the man demolished the forest floor.... and yet the snow suggested a great disturbance just above its humble home. Curiosity drives Lara forward as she follows the tracks closer and closer to the edge of her woodland home. The hungry need to know the end of this unusual tale gnawing at Laraa like a wolf to the bone. An unquenchable thirst for answers plowing her forward. Quickly now. Ever quicker do Lara's feet fly through the tracks. An odd sense of urgency she isn't so certain to be simple curiosity gnashing at her heels. An almost desperate thing that begged her to hurry. "Where are you...." The trail ends at the edge of a rosen river; the scenery not one Lara is soon to forget. Bodies scattered the grounds from the land to the water. Three mounds of foul smelling meat husks lay in unmoving heeps; an oily black substance Lara could only think to be their life blood soaking into the white, white snow. What in the Luohan's Name..... Lara stiffly crouches beside one of the crumpled beasts. Her stomach twists as bile teases the back of her throat. Scales twist into fur; coating the peculiar beast from horn to tail in a rough, oiled tapestry that sends shivers down Lara's spine. The sight of buldging muscles and razor sharp fangs is enough to bestow pity on the prey these creatures hunted. Unable to look upon the creature a moment longer, she quickly retreats to the edge of the blood-stained waters. Unsettled and unnerved, Lara can't help but feel a trickle of fear skirt up her spine. It was hardly the fact that strange beasts had found their way into her land of exile. Many creatures, both brave and foul, found themselves lost within these dread woods. The stench alone was enough to curdle milk, to be sure... but even the most foul and vicious of creatures were nowhere near as unsettling as these. "They do not belong to the lands of Man nor God..." soft honey curls tickle her cheeks as she risks a glance back at the oddities. A cold sense of dread wrapped around her slender figure the longer her eyes lingered. She shakes her head; casting her gaze down the creek and it's rippling rosen waters. Except this water run has always had the clearest waters for miles... Her feet move before her eyes can begin to take hold of whatever scene is about to present itself. A single thought drove her forward. They might still live. The source of the rosy water is a thick, hairy boulder. Or at least that is how it would look if Lara didn't see the flash of ivory skin peaking through the soaked furs. The icy current draws a hiss from her lips as she vaults into the stream. Frigid water soaking through her trousers and hopelessly consuming her winter boots. But none of that mattered. Not to Lara. All that mattered was getting the male out of the stream. The man is clearly human. Clearly dead. And the water hardly makes his frozen corpse any easier for Lara to drag out of the stream. Quickly soaking her shirt and tugging at bits of her hair as she grunts and growls. With a final heave, she pulls him from the stream and onto the disturbed snow, releasing an oath as the body lands atop of her. What did this man eat?! Scrambling from beneath his visage, she rolls him to his back and scans for wounds she had no good feeling about. The worst of the damage rested in a deep, gnarled gash torn in his belly; long gone life blood setting in dropplets here and there. His intestines seep through the open wound. Several more lacerations decorate his form and shred his clothing. One particular one runs along his calf in the pattern of three distinct claw marks. The center laceration severed the mans Achille's Tendon. By the Louhan.... A familiar tingle deep within her marrow beckons. Long lashes fluttering shut over mossy irises as she enters a place between worlds. The place only she can see. The world between Life and Death. The World of the Ether. Darkness. An endless abyss surrounds her in a shroud of silence. The mortal realm fades into a memory as she tugs against a delicate thread. There was still time... still time and a great price. She didn't know whether she should even bother. Tapping into her lineage had never brought her anything but trouble. A life in Exile and a family that will never be. The blood that flowed through her veins was nothing but a curse. But there was something about his frozen expression. The lack of peace there. The terror forever frozen in time. It tugged at an irritatingly soft piece of her heart she desperately wished to be rid of. One cannot run from one's lineage. If anyone knew that, it was Lara. "Come now.... come back..." her whisper carries across the Ether like a ripple; her hands gently coaxing the fading string towards her. "Death will not take you this day..." The string begins to grow stronger, relief washing over the young woman as the string begins to wrap around her. Beginning at the base of her feet as it winds round and round. Lara had always liked this part. The soul's hopeful cry as it clung to her own. Wrapping around her so tight she could almost imagine she was truly being embraced. For a few precious moments, Lara didn't feel alone. It was only when she was thrust back into her own mortal shell that the true curse began. Pain. That is all Lara feels as she awakens in the real world. And she's running. She's running so fast. Her heart pounding and her breath hard as she flew through this cursed forest. No. Not hers. Aylyn's. His name was;is;Aylyn. She dare not look behind her. They would catch her if she didn't keep running. But by God's, what use was running doing? They were too fast! Too strong! The first cut. Right through the tendon on her leg sent her sprawling on the forest floor. Fallen sticks and jagged roots tearing at her face and clothes as a mangled cry flies from her lips. Tears are burning her eyes as panic sets in. No. She must keep going. She had to get back! She had to find them! If she could just make it into the water, she could make it. If she could just make it!!! She pushed forward; driven by a bone deep terror as her injured leg dragged behind her uselessly, hobbling towards the rushing sound of water. She is so close! The beasts clawed through her clothes and dug into her skin, but she couldn't stop. Wouldn't stop. Each new wound that ripped through her flesh burned like hellfire as her nerves screamed in agony. Tears streamed freely down her cheeks and the water was so close- But it wasn't close enough. Her cloak was snatched, ripping her backwards as the horrid beasts swarmed her. She flailed helplessly. An inhuman wail ripping through her throat as the beast tore into her belly; ripping her intestines to the snowy earth and digging their claws right towards her heart... The vision cuts off as it always does right as the light begins to fade from his eyes... blood bubbling in Lara's mouth as her hands shake across her belly. Her life blood soaking her clothes and the once perfect snow. "F-Fuck..."she couldn't hold on any longer. She collapses to the ground; her glowing irises gazing into the icy blue orbs of the man beside her. She felt Life leaving her... entering his body instead. And as her world faded, a broken smile twisted her lips as Death returned him and stole her hand. "W-welcome ba-back... Aylyn...."