Cultist and Unaligned Vagabond Open Faction Thread

"Not now, Pip." The golden hippocampus snorted impatiently at the tiny pixie flittering around his head. "I need to focus." He added, glancing down at the map firmly gripped within his teke. It had been a long couple months, and the Ranger had just been summoned for another mission. Once he reached the base he'd be given the details and be assigned a partner, but for now, he was savoring the time alone he had... Even if Pip continually insisted on interrupting it.

Sighing heavily, Miguel tucked the map into his saddlebag, glaring at the little blue familiar that all but demanded his attention. "What? What is so important that it couldn't just wait until we settled down for the evening? Hmmm?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. Pip chittered, sounding much like a small chiming bell as he frantically flew overhead in small circles. Miguel rolled his eyes, opening his mouth to speak once more when the world went black. 

It wasn't as if he'd lost consciousness, or as if the sun had hidden in the sky, or even as if night had fallen. No. It was an unnatural darkness unlike anything Miguel had ever experienced before. As his eyes darted around, there wasn't a glimpse of light to be seen. No gentle glow from his lantern, no bio-luminescence from the mushrooms in the forest,  just... nothing at all. He froze, standing absolutely still as his ears swiveled about, trying to hear something that might give him a clue as to what was going on. Still, the only thing he could make out was the gentle chiming of his very indignant pixie. 

"Pip." He said in a hushed, wary tone. "Stay close and keep quiet." The pixie seemed to acquiesce as Miguel felt him settle in place on his head, chittering ever so quietly. Sighing heavily, the ranger waited, listening for something that might tell him what in the world was going on. Whatever it was...It wasn't right.

"Who else is out there?"

A stranger's voice called from somewhere within the inky darkness surrounding the strange duo. Pip twinkled excitedly, flittering his wings wildly as he began tugging on a bit of Miguel's forelock. Doing his best to ignore the faerie's antics, Miguel looked around, trying to find the figure to no avail.  "I am." He called back to the stranger, trying to remain calm, though the sudden loss of vision was unnerving at best- and terrifying at worst. "I'm called Hawk, I'm a ranger." He added, for once in his life desperate for conversation and afraid of what might happen if he was left entirely alone in this dark world.

Taking a few tentative steps towards where he believed the voice came from he called out once more. "Who are you? Are you alone? Can you see anything out there?" He asked, hoping he wasn't the only one experiencing the absolutely strange phenomena. Pip tugged at his mane again harshly, as if sensing the hippocampus's fears, reminding the large horse that he was there too. 

"I am Sicilly, a headgewitch...I am alone. I can't see anything, everything is black... So black. Are you near?"  

Miguel sifted through his memory, trying to remember if he knew anyone by that name. Shaking his head slightly as no memory came to mind, he called out the the mare once more. 

"Judging by your voice, I don't think I'm too far away." He called back, slowly walking in the direction of the voice. "Stay still, I'm coming to you." Miguel said, an air of confidence in his voice, masking his concerns about what was happening. He felt Pip shift slightly on his head, sliding down to the hippocampus's nose. It was uncomfortable to say the least, but he wan't about to scold the little faerie yet. The poor creature seemed nervous enough as it was without the addition of Miguel shouting at him. 

Stumbling awkwardly through the dark, Miguel felt himself bump into...something, though he was unsure of what it was. "Sicilly, is that you?" He asked, hopeful that it was the strange mare instead of something more sinister. 

Only moments after crashing into whatever it was, Miguel was assaulted by a flurry of feathers. 

Feathers. The ranger's mind raced as he flinched back away from them. Was it the Flight? Had they finally found him, looking to kill him yet again? If they had, he couldn't truly blame them...they'd be justified in their actions. He'd made so many mistakes....had caused so much death and grief. He shuddered at the thought, mind still reeling in fear of retaliation,memories of his murder flashing through his mind. Still, they were chased away by a gentler memory. Tulio. Feathers that cared for him and wished him no harm. Feathers that had embraced him when he'd grieved a loss he couldn't even find the words to explain. Feathers that had become a reminder that he wasn't entirely alone. 

"Sorry. Are you alright?"

The stranger's voice brought his thoughts back to the present as Pip flitted angrily around his head. Exhaling sharply, he replied. "Yeah, just startled me a bit is all. I've heard of birds big enough to kill a horse showing up not far from here." He said with a small chuckle in an attempt to mask his growing concern. 

Swiveling his ears around, he began to hear other voices join in the confusion, most seeming quite a bit farther away than Sicilly had been. Miguel leaned closer to his companion, maintaining contact in order to keep track of the pegasus in the chaos surrounding them. "Do you have any idea what's going on?" He asked her, pawing at the ground in concerned frustration.