A Darker Purpose

Caen stared at Shrike, who had reached for that large weapon again, and pulled the trigger, sending a beam of god-know-what into the forest. "Shrike, maybe a teensy bit of self-control is needed here. You know, I wanna catch them off guard, it'll make things a hell of a lot easier."

Caen continued running along the trail of ink, ignoring whatever Shrike replied with, if Shrike even replied at all, he wasn't sure. He soon noticed the trail of ink growing thicker, he looked in the general direction of the trail. It was towards a village. No doubt this one would be decimated by the dark ones, as well. He shook his head "No. Now is not the time for grief, Caen." He muttered to himself, staring along the trail. Caen presumed that Voltraire would have set up some kind of camp there. Caen had the advantage of tree coverage. He snook up the trail, just ti the outskirts of the village, and climbed a tree, and kneeling on a thick branch, overlooking the village. If Voltraire was here, Caen would see any movements he made within the village.

Lillith watched as Voltraire quickly fell asleep. He seemed to have gotten close to Liela and cuddle with her. Of course, he wasn't aware he was doing this. Lillith was about to comment on how cute it looked but her ear twitched. She quickly left the room and went to the open area of the village. Her ink whip was ready. She knew all too well that terrible things tend to lurk around at night.

-Shrike didn't say any thing, he was enjoying the wide area of destruction he just caused, he had become a little violent over the years and this might of been a way for him to get some anger out, pretty horrific way but one none the less. After slowly calming down a bit he agrees that probably blowing up every thing in sight is not the best idea. Shrike tagged along as back up of course, letting Caen be the scout, Shrike was never good at, at remaining hidden or covert ops, he was more like shot it with every thing you got till it dies, kind of story.- 

" Hey Caen..you see any thing up there..to much clutter down here to see more then 5 meters...Ink trail is taking us some where but god knows where that is?" 

Caen noticed that it was getting dark, and it was getting dark fast. He looked down at Shrike, who he could barely see in the blackness of nightfall. "I think I can see a house, or a shack or somethin'. It's a bit difficult to see right now."

By Caen's estimation, it was about 8pm. He didn't think he could finish this by the end of the night. "It's getting late isn't it? Well, I doubt Voltraire'd be making any moves until dawn. I say it would be best to get some rest, now. We should take turns to keep watch, though. What do you reckon?"

Lillith wandered towards the noises. She ran into the bushes and out to the other side. She went in front of the unknown figure and let out a loud hiss. It took her moment to realize it was Shirke. When she saw the massive gun he had she backed away. "Heh umm... I was expecting the little pyromancer to come."

-With it being almost pitch black all that shrike felt was a clank against him, not really knowing what it was, he directed the weapon in her direction aiming it right at her...seemed like Shrike was unable to tell who it was and was thinking it may of been a dark one.- 

" I think I got a dark one here! I am gonna blast you right back to...wait a second..you are a little short to be a dark one aren't you...wait a moment..purple trail...oh I know who you are...your that...tiny ink.....creature...I think the name is Lilith...oh...well you better have some good information for us.....I will get him down if you don't wanna speak....HEY CAEN....Purple ball is here to see you...Ill take watch while you talk...might do something I regret later.- 

"Yeah. It's probably best for you to be on lookout. You seem a bit... Trigger happy." Caen said, jumping down from the branch, and landing with a surprising amount of grace. Caen summoned a small flame in his hand, throwing a meagre amount of light into the darkness "you really thought I wouldn't be here? I've started something, and now I have to see it through to the end, especially when a lot of people are in potential danger. So, I presume you know of Liela's location, yes? Really, thanks for the help. We... Probably wouldn't know where he went without your help. I am eternally grateful."

As Caen spoke, he kept looking over Lillth's shoulder, scanning the darkness for any potential threat, or any movements from Voltraire. However, this may have come across as Caen being distracted, or perhaps ignoring Lillith's existence, somewhat.

Lillith went closer to Caen. " You are welcome. And yes I know where they both are. " She turned and pointed at a certain abandoned house in the village." They're both cuddling each other in peaceful slumber. I'll take you both there but you have to promise to be quiet" She walked to the village.

-Shrike scanned the horizon, his visor detecting dead corpses of Dark ones, they gave up a distinct energy mark allowing for easy ID.-

" Hold on you two...I am picking up Dark ones...dead but still dark ones....this looks very similar, the debris..the bodies...this looks like the first time I encountered both you and here, looks like the exact place, hiding there ? You sure of it cause that is kinda a death trap there, if the dark ones know of that place..it won't be long till more come...and trust me more will come. But hey if you wanna walk knee deep into it, lets get going...perhaps while his sleeping I can finish him off." 

"cuddling? Ugh. I could turn green at the mere thought." Caen said, his tone turning quite cold. "I bet Liela'd agree, especially after what he's done to her. However, I will hold in my disgust. Lead the way."

As Caen began to walk, Shrike stopped the two. Apparently, this was a village that he and Liela had met at before. The corpses of several dark ones confirmed this fact. Caen shuddered "of all places to rest for the night, a freakin' graveyard of demons."

Lillith continued to walk. She really didn't want to add to the conversation. Listening was enough for her. When she finally made it to the room she stopped. Voltraire and liela were still in the same position as before. the only difference was that Voltraire was murmuring. "Why are you looking at me like that? Aren't you both proud of me?" Lillith sighed, "Oh great,  he's having that dream again"

-Shrike scanned over the zone, nothing in any direction for now, seems like the dark ones had not picked up their location, Shrike of course not being a tree person, breaks the branch on, making a spectacular, face plant upon impact, acting like nothing happened he rose to his feet dusting himself off.-

" Well then that was fun, and no for your information purple I was no seeing shit again, I was just making sure that what I killed was dead, they some times have the habbit of pretending, so I like to make sure they are indeed....dead. Any way let's get moving before my itchy trigger finger gets the better of me shall we ? " 

Caen struggled to hold back a laugh after seeing Shrike faceplant the dirt. He always had a childish mind for that sort of thing. When Lillith and Caen got to the small house that Liela and Voltraire were staying in, he yawned, leaning against the side of the house, with one leg up "I think it'd probably be best for us to stay out here, tonight. I don't think I could quite manage with this fatigue. Fighting's hard, y'know?" Caen spoke in a pretty hushed tone, to avoid waking Voltraire and potentially causing avoidable conflict. "I really hate sleeping in the wilderness, though. But, I guess, I've made my bed, so I have to sleep in it, for lack of a better term."

Lillith gave Caen a look. "Fine by me. Rest if it is truly  needed. Voltraire usually wakes up at 7:30 in the morning. so just wake up before that. " She walked over to Shrike. His figure was really big for her. She looked up" Are you going to sleep or would you rather stay up. If that's the case I can keep you company. I can't sleep. Never had that privilege. " She was giving him the most innocent and eager face ever.

-Shrike looked down at Lilith tilting his head to the left. He was not really sure how to answer her back, he was more wanting to kill Voltraire while he was sleeping, but now he probably couldn't with her being awake all the time, Shrike suffered from insomnia, related to his PTSD, sleep was something he rarely ever got, so whether he liked it or not sleep was not something he could come by.-

" That is your choice, if I had my way I would of ripped his throat out of his neck by now...so if you excuse me I have dark ones that I need to make sure are actually dead around here.-

-Shrike went to go inspect each and every corpse of the dark ones to make sure they were dead and didn't spring back to life.-

" Wish I didn't have this god damn job, 4 long years I'v been doing this shit 4 years of loosing my shit time and time again...one day I may just be as bad as one of these things, then some one has to kill me...lovely." 

"Four years? Damn. That must be real heavy on a guy." Caen said, sitting down on a rock next to the house, leaning his back against the wall "Trust me, if you've been doing this for four years, you wont be broken that easily. I know I wouldn't. And, really, if it comes down to it, and you do need to die. I'll make sure that whatever death you get is nice and quick, and dignified." He crossed his arms, and closed his eyes "though, I dint want it to get to that."

He lowered his head down into his chest, beginning to fall asleep "don't worry, I'm a light sleeper, so if there's anything, I'll know. Although, 7:30 seems really early for someone of his... Alignment."

Before long, Caen was asleep, and snoring softly.

" Well then I got a lot to look forward to in life don't I ? Killing killing killing and and finally being killed myself. I remember the days I had a life...but that seems so far and gone now..not even with in reach. It's not a matter of being broken Caen, its a matter of how long I can withstand the horrors they bring, no mortal being was ever meant to be exposed to what I saw on that day...fighting them was one thing...going to their world was another..that is what damaged me the most..what I saw..what I had to do....and you know what was the worst part...that was the same day I was being rotated out of duty...I was going to go home and live my life....then this all came...and crushed every! 

-Out of sheer rage Shrike tore a dead dark one's arm off from its shoulder socket and threw it down to the ground.-

" Now my life is this..run..kill these assholes, avoid law enforcement, because if I am not killed by these things they will kill me. And repeat the cycle almost every day..it's not a life...its a curse.

-Shrike over heard the talk from Lilith, that alone pissed him off more.-

" You think I enjoy doing this..you think I want to do this..and you believe this is all sunshine and roses...well it's not..I will never become one of them, I'd rather shoot myself point blank with my own gun then let that happen. To hell with the demons and to hell with it self....You know what I think of demons!"

-Shrike raised his foot and brought it down caving in a dead dark ones skull-

" When I just wanted to be like every one else....guess not then."

-At that moment Shrike left to the two so he could finish checking the dead beings life signs.-

Caen seemed to mutter something as he slept, something along the lines of "no... I'm... I'm sorry... Please... Please, no... It's not my fault..."
A troubled look was strewn across his face. Was it a nightmare, or a premonition?

Lillith took Shrike crushing the dark one's skull as a threat to her existence. She went after Shrike. "Well this is what I think of humans" She produced a great amount of ink and threw it a Shrike. The force of this was enough to hurl anything.

 "Humans are by far the worst. The only thing they're good for is pawns. So easy to manipulate and feed them enough lies and they'll do anything. Even if it is against what they believe. Look at you, taking orders from no one but yourself and what has that done for you? Nothing but make you miserable and alone. You actually think what you are doing now will change anything? Ha, pathetic." She was giving him a grin." You know what, I don't even want to hear your response. It will probably go on the lines of "Oh my feelings" or " It's for the greater good" Pffft Ha." She happily skipped away.  

 When she made it to Caen, he was murmuring. She gave a smile. She sat next to him. Paying close attention to what he was saying.

- The Ink hit him splattering over his armor, yet was not enough to knock him over, he simple used his hand to clear his helmets visor. Shrike didn't even bother responding, he best spent his energy making sure any potential threat was no longer deemed a "threat" moving from corpse to corpse he repeated the process again and again and again, till every last one had been checked.- 

" Never seems to be any end to these things, more and more just come, like they have no limit to their number, would of thought after 4 years they would of given up by now, guess they really do not know when to quit. But I guess I shouldn't of expected any thing more from her, she has just given me  similar response just like every one else has...guess not every one can think beyond their own nose and figure out the bigger picture in the end. Ungrateful little shit didn't even think to reason that I put myself on the line for her so called "master"


Some times I wonder why, why do I even bother if these are the responses I get from those I try to help, they don't actually care in the end, they just want to get something out of it.

-Shrike knelt down next to a dead Dark one Stalker and began to speak to it if so it could hear him.- 

" What do you think ? Oh wait...can't ask you that cause you are the bloody reason I am in this hell hole..that and you probably just want to remove my head from my shoulders..well guess what...not happening....I think once I take Voltraire out...it's probably best I leave them be...they couldn't care less if I stayed or left, if I live or die or any other shit in between.....right well before I think to myself that I crazy I just need to check that you are dead.- 

-Shrike checked its pulse and then proceeded to take its head and smash it against his knee armor.-

" Yep you are dead...next!" 

Inside Caen's head was a swirling storm of thoughts, each one getting progressively darker. Why was Caen here? Why has he put his life on the line for some girl he doesn't know? Why did he get involved? Why did he cause more pain? Why was he so weak? Why is he alive when countless deaths were his doing?

He continued murmuring, moving his head occasionally "you bastard... You're... You're... I'm... I'm weak... Kill me now... You don't deserve... I don't... No... Excuse..."

Lillith looked at Caen. She couldn't help but wonder. Was Caen broken as well? Had someone already done her job? Had he given up already and was only holding up a façade this whole time? "No, he still so determined." Caen murmured again. "Maybe I can work with this" She leaned in closer to Caen and whispered in his ear. Trying her best to make her voice sound soft and innocent. " You want to die? Then why haven't you taking actions to cause it? What is it that is keeping you here precious thing? What prevents you from given in to the urges of death?" Then she waited for a response.

-Shrike now and then would turn his head back seeing them two together, thought nothing of it, he had his suspensions about her, not really knowing what her real intention was after all, after completing his round, Shrike cranked up the audio amplifier in his helmet allowing him to eaves drop on them while remaining a fair distance, Shrike checked , double checked and triple checked his weapons, it was night and in the midst of Dark one territory, not to mention that class 8 entity Dark one was still at large, he was hyper vigilant, constantly checking left from right and right to left.

Calm was one thing he was not use to and when there was no sound at all that is when he had a feeling things were not going well, however he had to bottle up the urge to take Voltraire out in his sleep, he could easily put a end to all of this by one move. Sure it may turn some people against him, but at this point almost every one and thing was his enemy, plus doing this would at least free her from his grasp, with no one to talk to Shrike often at times would speak to his weapon or armor making seem so it was alive- 

" So what do you think ? Kill him now an solve the issue ? Or bottle it up and just wait for another day to do it ? Yes I know you want to go to work but I don't think they would be happy if I just let you kill him. Yea of course I trust you, you probably one of the only things that has not tried to kill me or stab me in the back...don't worry...you will get your chance." 

Caen turned his head away from Lillith, almost as if he could subconsciously tell that it was Lillith putting these thoughts into his mind "keeping me here... Nothing is keeping me... Keeping me alive... I... I... I'm sorry... Too weak... Can't even die... Why can't I... No... No, no... Stop..."
Caen seemed to be getting more stressed within his sleep, as it seemed like he was trying to battle the increasingly dark thoughts within his mind, and losing. He seemed to have started shaking.

"Scared... Too scared... Fear... Weakness... I'm... I should burn... Too weak..."
Caen's hand that was rested in his lap seemed to begin to catch fire "burn... Away... Forever... Ash..."