[Mkguild] MK Dust: VIII

[Jack Moore]

AN: Almost done. Those who are reading this I'd love an assessment.

MK Dust: VIII

There was a large cluster of wooden buildings just outside of the walls of
the city, creating a ramshackle mini-city. Beyond that their were a few
farms, but no real masses of people. The closer Emma and Sebastian got to
the mountains the more sporadic the people were, until civilization
vanished completely.

“We’ve got to move quickly.” Emma said to the caped man. “Rifters won’t
come out in large numbers until night. When they do, we don’t want to be
around.”

“The Keep will give us that protection.” Sebastian said. “You said you had
a bag of Temp Barrier crystals correct?”

“Right…” Emma muttered. It was still early morning but Emma could already
feel the sunlight burning away. She began moving faster. To her surprise
Sebastian was able to keep up with her.

“Anthros it seems can usually run faster for longer than humans.” Sebastian
said. “I envy that, it’s a wonderful gift.”

“Almost makes having a fur coat you can never take off worth it.” Emma
said. They moved through a grove of trees now, trying not to be slowed by
the overgrown wood. Briars and branches grabbed at Emma, cutting her
through her fur but she ignored it.
“You don’t seem very happy as an otter.” Sebastian said. He balanced on a
log just above Emma, taking a moment to run his hands against a rotten
cyprus trunk. The feel of the wood grain made him shudder. “Amazing.” Emma
stared at him.
“Why do you do that?” She asked.
“Do what?”
“The thing with your hands.” Emma said. “The touching things. You touch
everything you see, why do you have to do that?”
“I savor the sensation.” Sebastian said. He leapt off the log, landing in a
puddle and sending water flying. He held up his hands so Emma could see his
pams. While Sebastian’s clothing remained unscratched and his body almost
dirt free his hands were streaked black and brown.
“I feel every memory.” Sebastian said, “Every moment I’ve experienced has
come through my hands.” His voice was trembling, “I have a sensation for
every moment.” Emma didn’t respond. “I want to remember them all, even the
worst moments.” Now Emma began to laugh. “Did I say something funny?”
“You said something stupid.” Emma turned away, “Remember everything? Try
serving in the army. You’d want to forget then.” She jerked her head, “We
gotta go. Get your butt moving.”
“Yes madam.”
The trees eventually began to clear out until the two found themselves in a
clearing in the valley. The clearing was full of golden grass up to their
waists. Emma unsheathed her sword to cut a path.
“Once upon a time their might have been a path here,” Sebastian said. Emma
grunted in response. “Or maybe this was a farm. Or a guard outpost. Metamor
Keep controlled the entire valley.”
“Uh huh.”
“It was said you could-”
“Please stop talking.” Emma said. She raised her sword to cut the grass,
but froze mid-swing. Her whiskers trembled. “Something is wrong.” Her ears
twitched. Emma sniffed the air, trying to pick up on something. She shook
her head, “No no no.”
Now Sebastian looked around too. The valley was silent, except for the wind
blowing over the two.
A branch snapped behind them.
It emerged from between the trees. Human size and shape at a distance but
with something inherently wrong about it. It was a gray speck smear that
grew into focus the closer it got to the two. It stumbled to a stop,
studying the two as they studied it.
The creature had no hair anywhere on its body. Its flesh, if it could be
called that, was a putrid gray with splashes of burgundy red just below the
skin. These patches moved under the surface with lives of their own.
Where the eyes would be were two horns, about six inches in length, curling
up. Their were no visible ears either, in holes on the side of the head.
Despite this both Emma and Sebastian knew it could see them perfectly.
Across it’s skin was a webbing of bone, emerging and sinking in at
different places. On the face an X shaped crest of bone had been formed
between the horns. Under the X was the mouth of the creature. Not a perfect
circle or really anything that could be called a mouth.
What was there was a ragged hole, ill formed and perpetually open. It
revealed no teeth, the creature didn’t possess them. Instead a crimson tube
like tongue shot out of the mouth, extending to over a foot in length. The
tongue came to a point which wiggled in the air, tasting the two of them.
Its legs were hunched and noticeably shorter than the arms. Its arms were
lanky, long enough for its hands to rest against the ground. It possessed
two elbows on both arms, allowing it to bend its arms further.
It raised a single hand and pointed at the two. The hands were tipped with
long claws and small spikes on each knuckle. A larger spike of bone sat on
the top of each hand in the center. Slowly they both extended out of the
skin, growing to four inches in length each.
An inhuman bellow echoed out from its thin and ragged body. It was the
sound of breath being stolen from a gasping man, the very noise of human
death. Emma’s pulse raised. Fear and adrenaline driving her, she removed
her pistol with one hand and grabbed bullets from her coat pocket with the
other.
“Get behind me.” Emma said. Sebastian began to protest but she growled him
down. Her bullets clattered against the ground as she refilled the gun as
fast as she could with steel tipped rounds. “Stay behind me.”
“It’s a Rifter.” Sebastian whispered. “I’ve never seen one.”
“It’s a Rifter,” Emma confirmed, “Just a Rambler but they don’t usually
come out in the day.” She raised her gun, aiming at the Rifter’s forehead.
“Don’t move or run, stay with me. If you run it’ll go after you.” Sebastian
nodded.
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