Kataroe's Return to Hell

[Agony>Misery]

Warheight could be seen walking away, as the dazzling light finally faded, leaving them in a dank, freezing place. They were not just in Hell...they were deep. Just as soon as Warheight's white wall had vanished, and the last orbs played themselves out and flickered out of existence, a black wall opened up with more of a vacuum effect than his own. There was a roaring, a loud uncomfortable monotone to his portal. It sucked anything small nearby into it, Oblivion, after all, was nothing but vacuous expanse and chilling nothingness. Not unlike the deeper depths of Hell, for that matter. Warheight seemed to not want to see what was coming out of the other end of the portal, and yet, he waited patiently for it's traveler. His renewed vigor from Kataroe's excitement faded, and his eyes shown grey, his face looking as old and beaten as ever. Warheight would get the first glimpse of Sobiadin, Sage Solaris' Gartel, he had ever gotten.

The usually bright and righteous Solaris of Olde, was gone. In his place stood a corrupted thing, a twisted figure covered in armor and belts that criss-crossed his form, and covered loosely in an open black robe. Everything about him was pitch black, including the aura he exuded. Sobiadin was downright unpleasant to be around, for mortals...and his presence overwhelmed Warheight's calming effects, leaving witnesses to his presence with nothing but fear and agony. Not physical pain, nor logical fear, but a sense of foreboding that something was about to explode somewhere very near by every time he made the subtlest gesture. When compared to the admittedly impressive Warheight, Sobiadin seemed completely intimidating, and his expression very nearly mirrored wrath, until his eyes met Warheight's. " Sage Master...what...how could you possibly be here? How can you summon me now, knowing what I am? What I have lost, and what I have done? "

Warheight simply smiled, and embraced him as he would a brother, catching him just before he fell to his knees in awe. As Warheight and Sobiadin reunited, a hissing a scratching could be heard, somewhere behind them all. There was a body on the ground, missing large pieces, and with a most vacant expression. There were tiny scavenger demons crawling over every portion of the remaining corpse. No, not a corpse, it moaned and swatted weakly at the things devouring it, but it was a hollow shell...no life could be sensed from this thing, not real life. Warheight, while acting elated to see Sobiadin, even in this forsaken form, was betrayed by his features. He looked miserable, and as he stared from the half-eaten corpse, to Kataroe, he sighed heavily. Paying special attention to the metaphysical thing that dangled from Kataroe's neck, and oddly enough, the corpses' as well, he spoke to Sobiadin. " I will consider forgiving what happened then, but not what you are doing now. However...you must first agree to do me a favor, as this young man has, without hesitation. "

" Anything, Master Sage Warheight, you know no matter what I become, I will always be loyal to you. I know what you're thinking, and it is possible, but...they will be angry to have lost them, as I, to have lost... " Sobiadin's voice trailed off, after catching a glimpse of the necklace, and he turned away, apparently ashamed of himself for some misdeed.

Warheight turned on Sobiadin, with an unrelenting fury about him. " YOU angry? Sobiadin, we had rules. We had statutes and limitations on this kind of thing, and you broke it more than once already. Turning our Descendants into those....MONSTROSITIES...it is unnatural! "

Sobiadin spoke with much less vigor, and none of the anger that Warheight wielded, but he was defensive, nonetheless. " Their purposes were unfulfilled, I never would have imagined recruiting them selfishly, and have I done wrong by them, in my employ? I have even given Talis gifts of his pas- "

" Gifts! Of his past, are they? And how dare you give him the name of your soldiers, if you have supposedly not recruited him!? That boy's name is Alistair Baptiste, Descendant of Brother Sage Baptiste! You DEFILE his memory with this act, and you will not be forgiven if Alistair cannot reclaim his mortality, not by me, and never by Baptiste, you know this! But to destroy Gottheit's legacy, after all that he has suffered at our hands, brother, I should kill you for the very thought! " Warheight's wrath turned to the tiny demons nonchalantly devouring the corporeal form of Kataroe Jet, and with a wave of his hand, they were vaporized, becoming golden dust that gently floated down onto Kataroe, which initiated the sluggish regeneration of his limbs. " In their honor, I will make Kataroe one of us, and after I restore him, YOU will send him back to his world. Unfortunately I cannot help him once he is whole, but you seem to have no issue distorting and manipulating the mortal form. " With a final stab in Kataroe's direction, the sinewy threads which had connected them before, to bring him here, disconnected from Warheight and flew to the regenerating body, and began to multiply, connecting and disappearing to every part of his soul. And Warheight was gone, in a somewhat dull display of golden light. This time, however, there was noise, like the low rumbling of thunder as his portal closed.

[Major Tom]

Kataroe shivered as the last of the lights faded away leaving them in the familiar dark of hell. He had no idea if it was actually cold or not, shivering just seemed to be the appropriate thing to do. He stayed close to the man who was helping him. He had no real way to defend himself and he had no real idea where they were going. He turned toward the portal when he heard it opening. He looked to the hermit and then back to the portal and very nearly felt the urge to bolt when the traveler stepped though it. Anxiety and fear threatened to overwhelm him but he fought the urge knowing that straying to far from the man who brough him here would not be good. He shivered again.

Kataroe watched their exchange but he quickly lost interest when he noticed the hissing noises and turned his head. What he saw very nearly shattered his hopes and filled him with rage all at the same time. He knew it was his corpse, he hadn't even gotten a good enough look at it to find any distinguishing features on what was left of the body but he could feel it was his. He clenched his fist and was tempted to go over and start attempting to wail on the little scavengers when he noticed his body was moving. He was confused, shouldn't his corpse be a well...corpse? Yet it was smacking at the demons that were devouring it. He also noticed that the same necklace around his neck was also around the corpse's. He was about to turn to the hermit and reassure himself that his body was going to be fixed before he was it it. That was when the seemingly friendly exchanged turned unpleasant. The hermit man was yelling at the other and there was much said that Kataroe didn't follow.

Kataroe watched with joy as the demons were blown up and his body began to regenerate. He heard the man say that he was going to make him "one of us". Kataroe wasn't sure what that meant but before he could ask he found himself pawing at more of the sinewy chords that were now attatching to his body. "Hey wait!" He called after the man but he was already gone. He gulped as he looked toward...what had the man called him? Sobiadin? He had been left alone with the man the Sage had been so angry at and couldn't help but feeling a little lost now that he was gone. He shuffled his feet uncomfortably.

[Agony>Misery]

" So...Kataroe Jet. What exactly...do you feel you have done to deserve such respect from Master Sage Warheight? I assume you, at the very least, know who he is, what he has done for you and to himself by bringing you here. I cannot even begin to imagine the complications this will create. And not only, have I lost a recruit, but I am to enter you into our family! Do you understand what will become of you? What I am about to have to exact upon your body to restore your life? "

Sobiadin's tone was stern, but his expression remained unchanged from beneath his dark hood. Sobiadin began to encroach upon the space between Kataroe's body and soul, and he clenced at a handful of air, which instantly became thousands of tiny thread-tin wires. Sobiadin resigned to at least explain some of what Kataroe's new nature would be. " This...is your life. It connects body to soul, and when next you die, they will disappear. Your soul will be lost, and who knows where you will end up, after resurrection, such is lost...even to us. When you are reborn, these strands will become a system inside your body. It will collect, filter, and burn energy found in every living thing. Magic will flow through you, it will be your life force. An aura will be emitted from you, a bi-product of your very life. Once trained, you will be able to focus this excess energy into magic, and your aura itself will reflect what and who you really are. Meaning: It can change. Would you like to see? Get used to it, you'll be able to see other's auras from now on. "

Sobiadin twisted the strands this way and that, and the corpse's eyes blazes a brilliant white, shining as the brightest light for eternities here. Kataroe, even though he was not in possession of eyes, would be able to take in what Warheight had been so disappointed about before. Tiny white lines caressed Sobiadin's outline, but a massive wispy black nothing threatened to consume everything near him. His aura was black as night, and it fed on life around him, as though his aura was conscious, and wanted to devour Kataroe. Sobiadin's hands worked quicker than even he could possibly see, and so his eyes fell to the pendant around Soul Kataroe's neck. He looked as if he might be sick, and what nearly looked like emotion crossed his face; Anger.

Sobiadin shook his head as he focused back on his work, and with every few motions, Corporeal Kataroe would jerk uncontrollably as another large chunk of him regrew. " Your body will not function correctly for a while, you will have to get used to it again, as you have been apart a substantial amount of time. On top of this, you will no longer be a normal human. What it does mean...is that you will become much of what he was... " Sobiadin nodded toward Kataroe himself, and as he did, the effigy of the fallen angel around his neck quivered slightly, as if it would like to strike at Lord Sobiadin.

[Major Tom]

Kataroe felt as though his throat should be dry and he went through the motions of swallowing roughly. He didn't have the answer to the questions the man was asking. He hadn't really done anything to deserve any sort of respect from the man, he really wasn't sure who the man was even. He had simply bumped into him on one of his random jaunts through heaven, it was luck, sheer luck. He happened to find a savior after having been there what seemed like an eternity already. "What do you mean to himself, and what exactly are you going to do to me?"

Kataroe felt as though he should flinch when Sobiadin's hand gripped the threads connecting him to his body and so he did a little. He accepted what was said as fact, not knowing what the man would gain by lying about such details. What was being said didn't sound to bad, he could see auras, use his own for magic.

The next part Kataroe wasn't quite ready for though and visibly flinched. He was seeing Sobiadin's aura. The fact that he seemed to be seeing things differently was enough to cause him some rather conflicted feelings but seeing that aura was another issue entirely. He was fairly certain that black was a bad thing, a very bad thing in this case. He was very uncomfortable with the fact that it seemed like the man's aura was trying to make lunch out of him.

Kataroe's eyes flicked back to his body as it began to twitch and regrow. He felt uncomfortable watching it, almost as if he wanted to jerk every time his corpse did. "Won't function properly?" Kataroe mumbled suddenly invisioning himself as a drooling idiot. The man's next statement pulled his attention away from that subject. He looked down at the quivering pendant and then back to Sobiadin. "Who was he, and what was he. What am I going to be? What did you mean I'm going to be entered into your family? Who was the man who brought me here?" He realized now that maybe he should have been asking questions earlier.

[Agony>Misery]

Sobiadin was content to continue his work...he listened to all Kataroe had to say, and upon his final syllable he seemed to lose his patience once more. He looked at the pendant once more, before ranting on. " You don't know what that is, who he is, what we are...well, funny you should ask. I suppose I should start from the beginning, as you don't appear to be as bright as Warheight might have taken you for. There are four key focal points to our world. There is Heaven, Hell, the world you know to be home...and then there is Oblivion. Before there were humans, there were demons...a prototype. A failed experiment, so to speak. Then, there was a more human experiment, and yet we, too were flawed. Yes, we twelve. In another life, I was Solaris, and he was Warheight, our leader. Ten of the twelve of us banded together, and unlocked many of the mysteries of the world that was created around us, and the other species that came into existence, like you. Above all the creations, however, were gods. Many of them were constantly warring, even after the First Great War. In the second, we lost Warheight. He sacrificed himself and saved us, as well as your entire species. After Warheight died, I left the others, and after roaming for years, I found a place. It was a great mirror that lead into a world that is the exact opposite of yours. I studied the creatures there, and somewhere along the lines...I got too close and lost my life. The creatures took to me, and kept my soul from passing. I am the animated thing left behind, just like the empty thing over there...nothing more than a shell for a failure of a creature. I'm less than nothing, and now that I have made contact with Warheight...he will spawn a being just like me. We are called Gartel. We can be created from the death of any powerful creature, given the intervention of me, personally.

A Gartel of Warheight would have unimaginable consequences if left unchecked. Now it is upon his conscience, whatever happens, and it is my responsibility to track down this thing. Normally...if we can collect our soul, and an energy source, we can make ourselves whole once more. But it's different for me, and impossible for him. He can never reunite with what he has lost today...for you, and him. " Sobiadin nodded once more, and in turn, the pendant reacted as it had before. " He has given you a precious gift, and also a curse. When you are rebuilt, you will be as what he once was. Xavier Gottheit, a Descendant of Sage Warheight, one of the Ten. Gottheit was an incredible master of Magicks, but many of his descendants cannot harvest their aura for magic, for whatever reason. You, however, will bear no such limitation. In fact, with time, you will become rather powerful a mortal. Nevertheless, what you have there is the soul of Xavier Gottheit, whom I had killed. And on your lazy friend's body, there, is his body. Who knows what happens when I rejoin you, and so, too, Xavier. Then sending you to your world, will he be whole again, feeding off the energy your resurrection will emit? " Sobiadin growled, apparently having made an error, and as he yanked at the strands of life that connected body to soul, both would lose their left arm, and it would slowly regrow, facing the right way this time.

" Warheight does not fear me, and you should not fear my immediate wrath, thanks to him. However, no conditions were set for your handling. What say I drop your miserable carcass, along with Xavier, in the middle of the ocean? Or perhaps in the lakes of lava beneath Algeroth? Are you prepared to die a second time, to truly feel like what it means to be nothing, to be like me? No, less than me. I can think, I can feel, I can be, half way. You will simply be gone, lost forever, body and soul. Answer me truthfully, boy. In this instant, what do you fear most? Unfinished business, a miserable eternity, or Oblivion...true Oblivion? "

[Major Tom]

Kataroe listened intently to Sobiadin and his explanation of the focal points, the prototypes for humanity, and how he came to be. He also took in what exactly Warheight had done in doing this favor for him. He nearly cringed at the thought of it. He looked down at the pendant as it jerked again and then back to his body that was being rebuilt. Had warheight really intended for him to be a battery to reform the man on the pendant? No, had that been the case he would not have told him to keep it safe. He hadn't felt it when it happened but he saw his arm disappear from his body and looked to his left side to find it gone. Before given a chance to freak out in the least though it began regrowing. Maybe he should have kept his mouth shut and let him work lest some of his internal organs be put back together the wrong way.

"And what would Warheight have to say were your handling of the two of us to put us in harms way? I doubt it would go unnoticed by him and I'm sure that would put you on the receiving end of his wrath. I also rather doubt there would just voices raised in anger this time." He touched the space on his chest below the pendant. "I'm not dense enough to believe the loss of me would generate much anger but he seemed rather concerned with the man on the pendant, Gottheit right?"

Kataroe realized he had yet to answer the question and it was likely he had already angered the being before him. Considering he was putting his body back together and already threatening to misplace his body when sending him back to his world that was probably a bad idea. He had the utmost confidence in Warheight's decision though. "As for being ready to die again, I'd take becoming truly nothing over the other alternatives. Going back to a heaven where I don't belong or spending an eternity in this waste land. Atleast this way I can say I tried, and if I'm lost body and soul that means that there is no chance that I can become half a thing like you, clinging to a miserable existance." Wow, had he actually just said that? He had even had to fight back the urge to act like he was spitting. Where did that come from? Maybe he really was stupid, or maybe he just really didn't care if he died again...though that would be fairly unintelligent as well wouldn't it?

[Agony>Misery]

" Sobiadin's eyes glazed over, and he jerked forcefully on the bundle of connections in his hands, slamming the body and soul of Kataroe together. His rage was evident, as was his desire to be rid of the annoying mortal. Who was he to judge what he could not even understand? " I will tell you once more of Warheight before I drop you from a mile above the earth. Warheight is a master of all, especially his own emotions. The raising of his voice was in response to MURDERING two of our own family, and purging them of their afterlife so that they might become abominations, like me. How do you really think he'll react if I send the both of you back to whence you came? Do you presume to understand our relationship that well? And do you feel as though you know me? The lengths I will go to, to appease my simplest urges? I have been stripped of, among everything else, my conscience. As for that, no. That is not Gottheit. Gottheit was a great man, a Sage, like we once were. And after the death of both myself and Warheight, he became their leader. That is Xavier, a Descendant of his. A feeble, weak-minded, half-mortal piece of writhing scum.

He was as dense and uninspired to the workings of the Cosmos as you seem to be, and so I sought to make him something more, to harness the great brute for a nobler purpose than he saw fit to embrace himself. But instead, Warheight has seen fit to send him back, to go about his empty-headed douchebaggery. But you....how dare you commit to being me? To be nothing is something I have fought for centuries, and you could not possibly understand what it is like. To be nothing, or to be less than nothing...to exist and be empty. I should have great pleasure in turning such a fate on you, Kataroe Jet. "

Sobiadin grinned as he held up his hand. While he had released many of the strands that connected Kataroe to his body, he kept three in his clutches. The strands had swung together and connected on their other end, and the end he held had become solid. With some great finality, he crushed the strands into his palm, and they disappeared, connecting Kataroe to Sobiadin in some unknown way. " When I choose, I will harvest my payment from you, Kataroe, and not before. " Sobiadin's eyes widened, however, as the pendant around Kataroe's neck began to swell and burst. Xavier flew forth from it in a great display of force, headed straight for Sobiadin. With a wave of Sobiadin's hand, however, Kataroe and Xavier were consumed by black. They would experience a sudden sensation of weightlessness, before realizing that they were, in fact, in the sky above Algeroth. Sobiadin's voice howled through the air, somehow deep in their minds, and then it was gone. " It seems, thanks to Xavier, you might survive after all. In that case, I will have left you some gifts. Enjoy them... "

[Major Tom]

Kataroe took the tongue lashing almost with a grin. It wasn't that he necessarily thought the situation was funny, but after being ballsy enough to talk like that in the first place meant he had to atleast act like he meant to say it. Despite this he was still listening mostly. Enough to discover that the man on the pendant was not the great and powerful Sage and that Sobiadin was a murderer. He did stop listening for a moment at some point until Sobiadin had connected three strands to himself and said that he was going to extract payment from him some day. That got his attention and wiped the little grin off of his face.

Before he had a chance to think of a witty retort, which all things considered would have been out of place in this particular situation, the pendant around his neck seemed to explode and out popped the man from the effigy. As though the day hadn't been strange enough, a necklace was about to go try and kick Sobiadin's ass. Before any contact could be made though, or before Kataroe could really react in anyway (despite his deep urge to muttered a confused "oh shit"), they were swallowed up by darkness. This was his second time today, hopefully the last for a while.

It didn't take Kataroe long to realize he was falling. "God damnit, I had to go an open my mouth. That bastard really did just drop me to my death. I get back just to watch the ground rush up to meet me. This has been one hell of a trip." He actually folded his arms across his chest and grumbled. Then the voice came into his head. "Oh what, is this Xavier guy supposed to be able to fly or something?" He was yelling, hoping that someone could hear him before he smashed against something, or perhaps someone to prove that he had indeed came back for a little bit.

Kataroe remembered that the Pendant had wings now. Maybe he could fly. "Hey, umm I could use some help! I don't fly, seeing as how I don't have wings! I'd preffer the last thing to go through my mind to not be my ass!" He was yelling again, this time really hoping Xavier was around and could here him. False hope was horrible and seemed like something that Sobiadin would certainly do.

[Agony>Misery]

From within the portal above, Xavier could still see the horrified expression of Sobiadin, which slowly turned into a wicked grin as the decision was made, and displayed on Xavier's own. Xavier growled fiercely, sending sharp, glinting metal objects after Sobiadin into the darkness as it closed around his form. Xavier tucked his wings, and slowly began to rotate, falling into an incredibly mercurial dive. He passed Kataroe at a ridiculous speed, leaving him only a very short distance left from the ground before snatching him up by the hood of the leathery cloak that now clung to his form. He came out of the dive a meager few feet before impact, and released Kataroe as he began to turn up and gain altitude once more. His great wings folded in, and disappeared in his back, causing him to plummet momentarily and land harshly on a great stone surface beneath him.

The ground cracked and exploded beneath him, sending up dust and fragments of rock. Xavier was enveloped in a cloud of debris, which expanded outward and covered Kataroe, disintegrating the calm, cool night into a chaotic atmosphere. There was the slight scraping of metal, as Xavier stood up and made his way over to the recently reborn young do-gooder. He was an impressive figure, eyes of pure liquid gold, and brown locks jutting downward in every direction. He wore the same things he had been wearing when he was murdered and dragged off in the Xexorian night. His armor was tinted blue, and he sported several well-crafted foreign weapons. Or, at least, foreign to most. Xavier himself was from Algeroth himself, and he recognized his homeland at once. He stared down at Kataroe briefly, before passing him, and coming to the edge of a seemingly bottomless cliff. At it's bottom was the faint noise of the ocean splashing against rock, and a small stream of tears flowed freely as he stood at what was once the Algeroth-Xexoria border. He spoke over his shoulder, hoping he had made the right decision in saving this stranger, though he was ready to strike him down if he hadn't, and hunt down Sobiadin.

" So...what's your story, kid? "

[Major Tom]

Kataroe felt himself grabbed by some piece of clothing. He hadn't realized until now that he was actually wearing any sort of clothing. He was quite sure that he was going to reenter the world nude, which would have made things very awkward. He was also certain that this sort of flying was doing horrid things to his stomache. He was grateful to be on the ground, though his stomache wished it were currently outside of his body. The hood of the robe had mercifuly been thrown off of his head and he sat on his knees curled over as his stomache clenched. He wretched up acid and mucus. He tried to wipe his mouth on the robe only to discover his arm flailing a little uselessly. He instead rolled onto his back and looke up at the sky. He was back, the ground was solid, the pain in his stomache meant he was alive, and the air he was breathing in, he actually needed that to live.

Now came the startling realizations. His body wasn't functioning properly. He discovered this as he tried to push himself up. Admitedly with a little bit of focus he did manage to move his arms into the right position to push himself up, he just couldn't seem to muster the force. "Son of a bitch, I guess he didn't lie about that." Suprisingly his mouth seemed to have no trouble functioning. He instead decided to simply delight in looking up at the sky, smelling the air, and feeling the wind against him. His white hair blew about in the breeze, it was stick straight and currently in disarray. His silvery eyes now shifted to the man who had saved him, who was now approaching him. He put forth a bit of effort and managed to raise his hand toward him. "Little help."

Kataroe proceeded to tell the man about the events that had landed him here, starting with a plummet into hell, and continueing on to the boredom of heaven. "Then some one named Warheight gave me a second chance. He offered to send me back here. That meant going and retrieving my body first though, which was in hell." Then he told how Warheight brought Sobiadin forth and the events after. "I can't help but think that it may be my fault that we were dropped from way the hell up there." He said as he looked up, wondering how high they had really been. "I got kinda mouthy..." He said grinning a little. He certainly didn't look like one who had any room to be cocky and mouthy to others. He was short and built rather small, not only that but his skin was pale, making him look a little sickly.

[Agony>Misery]

Xavier was taken aback, to say the least. He came from a civilization of people whom idolized the Sages as gods. And while normally he had nothing but contempt for the fictions, make-believe, and lies of his people...in the last two years he had seen more reality regarding it all to possibly not believe what he was hearing. But Warheight and Solaris, they were supposed to have been the best of them. The purest, the most sacred and skilled. Then Solaris had become what Xavier knew him as. The Obsidian Man. Sobiadin. An absolute monarch of Oblivion, and a royal pain in the ass. Sobiadin had killed his best friend, and turned him into one of those...things. And from what he had just heard, Xavier had been saved from the same fate by none other than Warheight, and this random individual Warheight had seen fit to rescue from the boredom of heaven.

Xavier sighed, and shook his head. He turned back toward the pathetic-looking man, newly mortal, hunched in a puddle of sick, and holding his hand out for assistance. Whether he didn't care to be vomited on, or perhaps Kataroe didn't look ready for something as complicated as standing, Xavier couldn't decide, but what he knew was that he didn't want to go anywhere near just yet. However, he would save him the cruelty of drawing his weapon on him, and threatening any truth he might of forgotten in his tale. Instead, he stared at the stars glittering like jewels in the night sky, attempting to gain his bearings. The area was relatively familiar to him, and supposedly protected by a band of assassins that lived hidden away from the Algerothorian Royal Military, and the Metsuke both, of which Xavier had been a member. But then he had died, and he had no idea what he was now. He had always lived for Algeroth, and it's Royalty. He appreciated what they had done for him, but he had also done what he had done under threat of imprisonment. What harm could be done by prolonging his 'resurrection'? No one need know he was alive again, quite yet. Especially until he could retrieve the Fang of Adriel, which he had lost, just before he had died.

However, his strength was completely sapped from his body, being reborn had the nasty side effect of meaning no energy in the system, or food in the stomach. And with the plunge he had taken to save the pair of them, he was tired and hungry. Xavier stared down at the lapping waves, his eyes like that of a bird of prey, focusing in on a meal.

[Major Tom]

Kataroe was disappointed that the man didn't help him sit up, it gave him motivation to try it on his own though. He managed to position his hands again and he managed to push himself up and push his weight forward before his arms decided they were going to rebel. He sat there for a moment watching as the man stared over the edge of a cliff. "Eh, thanks for saving me by the way. Probably would have been much easier on you to just let me fall." He said looking down feeling a bit ashamed of his uselesness. He looked over at the puddle of sick and then placed a hand upon his stomach as it groaned audibly.

Kataroe very nearly managed to stand up, he got his legs underneath him and was in a strange looking crouch when he tried to push himself up and onto his feet. This ended with him falling upon the ground and sighing loudly. "Okay that was fun." He rolled over onto his back again. Maybe the problem wasn't entirely his not knowing how to work his body, though by the odd things his fingers did when he tried to move them that had to be part of it. He had no food in his stomache, and his body probably didn't come with much energy.

"I don't suppose either of us got sent back with food, or a means to get food." Kataroe hadn't really taken the time to notice all of the weapons on the man until now. He attempted to place his face in his palm but missed and instead his head glanced off a corner of his palm. 'Pshh, yeah right, like he's going to take care of you. He's got better things to do than go around taking care of useless lumps of flesh.' The thought ran through Kataroe's mind as he shook his head.

[Agony>Misery]

Xavier's attention was split, trying to come up with some way not to starve. What first had seemed like a stupid question on Kataroe's part ended with Xavier searching himself. He had his weapons, his armor, and one bomb left with enough flint to light it, and that was it. His supply pouches were empty and his equipment stripped. Xavier growled slightly, which happened at precisely the time the man was thanking him, making him feel like a fine ass. Xavier gauged the distance to the ocean, and calculated the time and energy needed to capture fish, collect tender, and make a fire, then cook the fish. The conclusion was obvious, he'd pass out first. The situation was slightly desperate, and the distance to the nearest foliage which might yield berries of fruit was daunting.

The realization that he was probably going to eat Kataroe sank in grimly. He stared over at the man inches from soaking in his own vomit. " About how much do you weigh? " Xavier's eyes narrowed, as he stared at the man's muscles, again calculating energy versus sustenance. The scenario that Xavier would shut down from hunger before he could tear some protein from the stranger in his state was an acceptable enough risk, given the low probability. Whether the man was capable of fighting back in this state wouldn't matter if he engaged in a surprise attack on a non-vital portion of him, after which he would be crippled enough to consume.

Xavier began to fight the urge to be sick himself as he drew a long curved blade from the armor on the small of his back, where it's scabbard was built in to. Before he could take his first step, however, the sound of metal clanging startled him, and he drew back his hand as his knife was knocked from his hand by shining silver stilettos. Xavier, though knowing unnecessary combat was to be avoid, still drew his massive two-handed sword from it's home on his back, and whirled to his right. Perched high on a rock was a very dark-skinned woman, with whitest hair, blowing softly in the sea breeze. The effect was both menacing and provocative. The female was as deadly-looking as she was beautiful, and as well-endowed an assassin as Xavier had ever seen. Her eyes were black, irises white, and they seemed to puncture him straight through to his soul.

She spoke with about as much indifferent monotone as Xavier himself often mustered. " Lay down your arms, interlopers, you are now prisoners of the Grandmaster. " Xavier couldn't believe his luck, he'd realized they were in the wrong territory, but they had done nothing! ...well, not yet.

[Major Tom]

Kataroe blinked at the question, his brain clicked rather quickly into why the man may have been asking the question. Was he really planning on consuming him? Nice way to end, consumed by someone who had just saved you. He might have owed him his life, but did he really have to call on that debt right now? The whirring gears of Kataroe's brain apparently inspired movement as his legs managed to work in conjuction with his arms long enough to allow him onto his feet in a crouch and try to scuttle back.

"Hey now no need to get hasty-" It was at this point something else had clicked in Kataroe's head, that he might need to fight. Granted the likelihood of felling this man was slim to none and he had no weapon of his own. Or atleast he didn't have, as he found himself searching for a weapon a weapon seemed to find him. In his right hand a black bladed hand and a half sword materialized. This seemed to happen just as Xavier was pulling the knife from his belt and having it knocked from his hand.

Kataroe's head snapped around to the woman as well. He dropped the sword and as it clattered to the ground it disappeared. He blinked as he looked down where the blade should have been and decided rather quickly that he was going insane. He raised his hands as though to show he had nothing in them. "I'll go anywhere that doesn't involve him eating me please." Kataroe said motioning toward Xavier after having failed to point at him.