Difference between revisions of "Log:I'll Make a Man Out of You"

27 June, 2018

Olivia travels through The Borrower's realm, doing whatever she needs to do to survive. Part of Olivia's Crucible

The Borrower's Realm

The following morning finds Olivia still within the forest. Things have shifted further away from the lava pits. She hasn't gone further, and there doesn't look to be any markings on the ground. She wasn't dragged either. However, she finds herself in the middle of the forest, massive trees in every direction. The majority of the light nearest to her comes directly from her own fiery flesh. Much, much further away she can see two shapes moving about in the deep, dark woods. In the opposite direction can hear the faint thunder of something in the distance.

Olivia awakens and looks up towards the dark canopy above, lifting one hand to rub at her head before slowly pushing herself upright. She looks at her hand briefly, still not entirely used to that, before just shaking her head and sighing. The fact that she is glowing does stand out somewhat, but there's not much she can do about it. The shapes in the woods are eyed cautiously, thoughtfully. Well, it's something. So she begins to move, walking through the trees, her fingers reaching out to trace along the tree trunks as she walks by to leave a small trail in her wake. Walking in circles won't help anyone.

Each tracing of her fingers over barks signals her path. The burnt markings don't heal, and instead smell of sulfur when burned away. The sight of movement comes from two warring figures. One cast in the shape of a rather large wolf, if not the size of a horse. The other more man than beast with a rack of horns on his head and just as many spiky protrusions on his back. The two are at a standstill as fist meets claw until the wolf's jaws find the spiky man's midsection.

Olivia's nose twitches slightly at the scent. It isn't entirely unfamiliar, but it isn't entirely pleasant yet. She looks at the pair as they fight, squinting curiously. She steps to one side as they clash against each other, half-hiding behind one of the large trees. Her eyes follow their movements, assessing. She doesn't want to get caught in the middle of that. She wouldn't stand a chance.

The wolf's jaws snatch the other man's torso clean out of his body. The man falls back, but doesn't hit the ground. Those spikes dig into the earth, and serve up the rest of his body like a buffet to the massive beast. Within the next beat it smells something else in the air, slowly turning in Olivia's direction. Growling, it asks, "Who goes there!?"

Well. Shit. Olivia can't really hide, so she pokes her head out from behind the tree, looking at the large wolf carefully. "My name is Olivia. I'm just trying to get home. I'm not sure where I am. I'm not here to pick a fight." She shakes her head a bit, pulling her hands back from the tree. She's also trying NOT to purposefully light things on fire. "This isn't where I fell asleep."

"That isn't how this place works," he growls. "You either survive or you die. Full stop, heat and fire." It bristles less as it stares down the fiery woman. "I've been here for..." The wolf stops, thinking briefly. "I remember the plane going down. Mountains." It shakes its head furiously, and continues on. "Do you want to die?" the wolf asks with blood still dripping from its mouth.

"It COULD work that way if people just stopped fighting with each other," Olivia says, shaking her head. She glances up towards the tree above, considering whether she could climb it. Probably not. Even if she did, she probably would just light it on fire. Her gaze returns to the wolf, watching him. "I don't know anything about a plane. But there has to be a way out of here. We could work together. You know this area better than I do."

The wolf barks a laugh. Literally. "I'm not trying to escape. I am what I am, and I prefer that way. It doesn't work any other way. If you die here, The Borrower won't care. If you survive, you might earn something of a life here." Nearer does the wolf come, sniffing at Olivia. "Fresh meat, you are. I will only ask once. Do you want to surviva, or do you want to die?"

Olivia looks down at her hand again before wriggling her fingers at him. "I'm more fire than flesh these days, by the looks of it," she says, shaking her head. "But I have no desire to die, no. If I did, I'd have already rolled over and died. Or just come running out in the open so you could bite me in half."

Her answer had reasoning behind it. Sound reasoning at that. It doesn't matter to the beast as it lunges at her. "First mistake," it growls. Those massive jaws could easily reach around all of the burning woman, and they do just that. However, the drag of teeth over flesh isn't as painful as it could or should be.

Olivia jumps as the wolf lunges at her, stumbling back a bit, though not quite fast enough. She inhales sharply as she feels the teeth drag against her flesh, anticipating a great deal of pain. But it doesn't come. She's vaguely confused for a moment before she blinks and scowls at the wolf. "What was that for?" One hand rises, fire coming to her fingertips as she lashes out with the flames to fight back, trying to ignite the wolf's fur.

"For this!" Its teeth were its primary weapons. That much is rather obvious. Very obvious when looking past the wolf at its last conquest. However, it was a feigned attack that seemed to have worked. As it catches fire it swipes at Olivia's midsection, causing fire to burst forth as its claws tear through flesh.

That one hurt. Olivia yelps in pain as she feels the tear in flesh. Or what resembles her flesh these days. The fire bursts free in response, that in itself somewhat alarming, but a problem for another day. "Back OFF," she says, fingers curling slightly as she takes a half step back, trying to give herself a bit of space before slashing back at the wolf to rake her fingernails across his face.

Those aren't fingernails anymore, no. The wolf hops back, newly won scars searing shut on its face. It growls, lips seemingly curling into a smile. The wounds healy away quickly enough as it stares down Olivia. "Not enough," it howls. It headbutts her backwards, but that was nothing. A distraction as it launched itself mouth forward to rip at Olivia the way it did the fomerly living spiky man.

Olivia stumbles back as she gets headbutted, grunting as she hits the ground. Which makes it impossible to dodge the next assault as the wolf launches itself at her and rips into her flesh again. She screams in pain as she feels the sharp teeth dig into her body before rolling back and behind one of the trees. Climbing WASN'T on the list, but it is now; she has to get out of the way. She has very few weapons at her disposal, and she isn't used to her own body anymore. Olivia scrambles up the tree, reaching up for the branches above in an attempt to get out of range.

"I won't kill you," it howls while charging headlong at the tree. It hits the tree with thunderous blow, and its already starting to splinter. "Fear will." With that it doesn't hit the tree again. No, it opens that very big mouth full of oh so sharp teeth, and clamps down on the tree to start shaking it violently.

Olivia grabs onto the branch to stabilize herself and catch her breath, looking down at the wolf beneath her. She puffs out a small breath, looking down at her stomach that's been slashed and bitten, gingerly touching the wounds. What should be wounds, anyway. This is very confusing. "If you don't intend to kill me, stop fucking BITING me, asshole!" she yells down at him, gripping the branch tightly as the tree is shaken. She waits until the shaking stops, even for just a moment, before dropping herself down on top of the 'wolf' with firey claws aiming for the creature's head, intending to pierce through its skull. And if not that, at least make it hurt.

The wolf didn't look to stop for a moment. It was just about to snap the tree in half when Olivia launches herself into the air. It didn't hear nor see her come from above. The thing was big enough that the claws on both hands go through its cranium. It drops down near instantly from the weight of Olivia's fall, and the pain. No howling, nor any barking. Its life ends with a whimper as the smell of singed fur, flesh, and meat permeates the air around Olivia.

Olivia breathes heavily, holding still atop the wolf. She doesn't want to move. Not yet. It might not be dead. She just stays there for a time before slowly pulling her hands back, one at a time, and easing herself off the fallen corpse. She swallows drily, taking a few steps back to lean back against the tree she was just hiding in and looking around. "Not dead yet," she mutters, pressing one hand against her stomach.

She isn't dead yet, but the wolf definitely is. Now she finds herself alone again, left to the quiet of the wood. The faint thunder she heard from before is no more. Despite the natural appearance of the dark woods there isn't the sound of anything else nearby. No birds, no critters moving about. Not even a gust of wind to move the trees. Silence everlasting, and the darkness of night cutting off how far she can see at the moment.

Olivia rolls her jaw slightly, staring at the dead wolf. She's hungry. She hasn't eaten anything in days. She's going to have to eat something. And there's nothing else around. She's looked. Her eyes roam about briefly, watching as she listens to the silence. It's almost unnerving, but so is everything else. Sighing, Olivia just shakes her head and carefully lowers herself down onto the ground beside the dead wolf. It's more animal than person, at least. Right? That's what she'll tell herself, anyway, as she uses some of the sharpened flames to burn away fur and slice away flesh.

There isn't anyone around to see as far as she can tell. Her senses heighten enough that she can't smell anyone around either. No sounds beyond the beat of her own heart and her own breathing. The claws do cut the wolf up and open. It doesn't give her much in the way of meat, but it smells like heaven. She hasn't had anything to eat for three days. Three days? Without a sun or clock it's difficult to say. It may be shorter. Longer. No telling. That aroma of blood and meat is intoxicating. Lovely. The sweetest ambrosia.

It helps that the flames at her fingertips are cooking the flesh. She can manage with this. Olivia carves away some chunks carefully, gathering up SOMETHING to eat before sliding back to prop herself against one of the trees, groaning quietly with the exertion. She picks up one of the chunks of meat and inhales the scent. It smells far better than she expected. And the hesitation vanishes quickly as she brings it to her lips to begin eating.

It tastes even better than it smells. It goes down like the best cheeseburger she's ever had. Even better, really. She's allowed to eat her full until either the wolf is nothing but bone and a few bits of meat, or she departs. For now she's left to her own devices in the woods, alone and now full. It's impossible to tell the time, but fatigue is starting to set in. Much of her pain is gone, but the hurt still remains there. More a memory than what remains.

Olivia isn't going to linger around what's left of that corpse. She eats until she doesn't feel hungry anymore and then pushes herself back up onto her feet, rolling her shoulders a bit. A sideways look is cast towards the body and she just shakes her head. "I didn't want to kill you," she says, then turns and begins walking through the trees again, tracing her fingertips along the bark as before. When she gets some distance away, she pulls herself up into another tree to try and get something resembling sleep.