The Search for the Berserker Armor (Serio Katsuya)

[Hei]

He said it would be around here somewhere... Bartimaeus scoured the sea bottom by himself and noticed that there was no life within two miles of where the artifact was supposed to be. He found a suit of armor which seemed to absorb the light around it. Curious, he took a gauntlet and tried it on, but was surprised to feel something drilling through his arm. He tried frantically to get it off, but as he focused on his arm the suit of armor stood and broke apart, the separate pieces swarming him. He lay at the bottom of the ocean for three days, unable to cry out in pain from the armor fusing itself to him. When it was over, he realized that it was now part of him... but did nothing to alleviate his lycanthropy. He was worried about what the effects of such an artifact would be, but once he came out of the ocean to find that his contact had set up an ambush for him (since they wanted to get the armor but couldn't scour the bottom of the sea as easily as he could) he quickly learned about the power of his armor. As he was overwhelmed by numerous enemies, the armor's helmet began to change. It was retracted, but as he was backed into a corner, he screamed and threw his head back. A vicious fury that was not his own coursing through his body. A spiked plate extended past his lower jaw and the skull helm elongated as it morphed into a wolf's head, looking as if it was engulfing him within it. His broken bones righted themselves. His blood stopped running. He could feel no pain, no fear, nothing but the raging inferno of fury. His mind was enveloped in the power of the armor and he lost consciousness for a few seconds; when he realized that he had lost control, it was already over. The men who had ambushed him lay completely massacred before him. To the peaceful Bartimaeus, the sight was horrific- but something within him enjoyed the sight of the slaughter... He fell to the ground, exhausted, and closed his eyes.

[Serio Katsuya]

The sounds of dying people dragged Serio to the ocean side in which she had just recently been watching. She couldn't resist it. She wanted to watch someone die, so since the opportunity came about, she figured she'd find out. Curiously, Serio slowly came about Bartimaeus as he had massacred all of the people that had been trying to kill him. She was quite impressed. Not frightened by any of this, Serio walked up to his, motionless body, and looked at him. She walked around his body, and wondered if he was in any sort of pain, or how much adreniline what going through his body. She was more of the curious type, but she wasn't exactly sure what to ask him. New people weren't intimidating to Serio. But, she kept words out for now. She continued pacing around him until something caught her eye. It wasn't strange to her, especially with the things she has seen. Normally though, humans wore armor, or at least that's what she thought. A wolf head wasn't exactly out of the norm. She bent down near him. Serio listened for any sounds of life. Heart beat, breathing. He's most likely conscious then. Should I say something? What happens if he doesn't like the way I look at him, or if I spook him? He could kill him like he did to those other guys. Serio took in a silent breath, and let it out. She realized what would it matter? It's not like he even knows her. So she figured, Why not? She placed a hand on his chest to see if he would respond. And if he did and it wasn't a violent reaction, she would strike up a conversation. Or if it was violent, she would kill him right there, or she'd let him live. Depended on what his reaction was. She couldn't wait to see how cool he looked. Lycans were always interesting to Serio, so she wanted to see if they were as interesting as they had seemed when she was doing her research about them.


((Sorry about the length... Couldn't think of much, but next time it'll be longer.))

[Hei]

(It's no prob, it's more than I'm used to writing anyway )

The living rage inside of Bartimaeus jumped at being touched and his hand came up and grabbed Serio's wrist suddenly. He gasped as the seething fury subsided and unclouded his mind. The wolf-helm opened wide and retracted, revealing his face which was covered in blood, some of which was his own. His right eye was closed, the other only opened a crack. His vibrant orange eye locked on to hers. "Get..." His voice was weak and raspy. "Get away from me." He released her wrist and sat up, the pain from the fight returning to him. While the berserker armor alleviated his pain DURING battles, he would feel the full effects of it afterwards... "Before I kill you too." A single tear fell from the eye that was open, running a trail through the drying blood on his face. When it dropped from his chin, it seemed as if he had cried blood. He muttered something incomprehensible but Serio could catch something that sounded like 'losing control'. "I... I'm so tired." He fell back to the ground, this time completely unconscious.

[Jisenki]

OOC: Just curious. Are you guys near the prison or near some other country

Spoiler:

[Serio Katsuya]

Serio couldn't understand why he would kill her. She watched as his tears wet the dried blood again, and watched the tear fall. She smiled as if she knew that he was in pain. After he fell into unconsciousness, she began a technique that began to repair his body's wounds. Serio felt bad that he wanted to kill her, but she could live with it if that is how he felt. She figured that it could just have been the way he felt at the time. "I am not going to kill you, just heal you." She whispered in his ear. "I'm going to be as helpful as I can until you are completely healed." Serio said as she continued. She hummed a tune that her dad taught her when she was little. It helped soothe the body and help the healing process go faster. When she finished, she sat next to his body, and waited for him to come to. As she waited, Serio drew pictures in the dirt. It helped time move a little quicker. So she waited.

(Ok, and I'm not sure where we are, why?)

[Hei]

OOC: Off the shore of Tenmei.

IC: Bartimaeus dreampt as he slept. In his dreams, he saw a blazing inferno of white hot flames from which a black panther crept. The panther drew closer to Bartimaeus and growled at him, but he heard words forming in his head. Let me in. Bartimaeus backed away and shook his head. Let me in! The panther was creeping closer, its growling more insistent. "No..." LET ME IN! Bartimaeus shook his head violently. "NO!" The panther roared and lept at him-

And he jerked awake, coughing up the remnants of the blood that was still loose in his lungs. Then the scene of the massacre rushed back into his head and he rolled over and violently emptied his stomach on the ground. "Ugh..." He then noticed the girl from before drawing pictures in the dirt. "Who are you?" He felt stiff... but surprisingly pain-free. "What did you do to me?"

[Serio Katsuya]

Serio looked up from the dirt to him. "Hmm. Well, my name is Serio. Serio Katsuya. And I just healed any of your wounds that needed them. I felt that that could be the least I do, since sitting around watching you kill all those people, and do nothing to help." Serio smiled, and looked back at her drawings a finished them. She looked at the man. "Well, since I've introduced myself, what about you? Who are you?" She stood up. "Are you going to be alright though? I mean, after the injuries you sustained, and lived... Well, about that. You are lycanthian, no? So your body should've healed just as fast, if not, faster than what I healed you, right?" Serio asked, most curiously.

[Hei]

Serio. He would remember that. "Yes. I would have healed faster than what you could do for me. I'd suggest you maintain some distance from me, though. My will is not my own." He got up shakily, willing the armor to retract. The armor on his arms peeled back from his hands with a clack and moved up to his shoulder where it melded with his pauldrons. Serio could see strands of the armor that were pierced through and melded to his arms, like a puppet's strings. "I am Bartimaeus Winter. I am a lycanthrope, yes. And I am advising you to keep your distance. This... armor has a mind of its own." As if to emphasize his point, the skull helmet clamped around his face. His eyes glowed faintly, releasing a soft orange light. "I thank you for caring enough to heal me, but it is safer for you to leave me be." He walked over and sat against a tree, laying his head on the trunk behind him. "But I am curious. What made you decide to stay by my side?"

[Serio Katsuya]

Serio thougt momentarily, playing with her goggles, looking over a map of this area. "Nice to meet you. I sensed a kind soul in you that wouldn't mind if I stuck around. I will keep my distance, but I'm not going anywhere, unless that's really what you want." Serio said, as she stood, slightly wonderous of his motives, keeping her guard up. "Do you know anything of that armor? Anything at all?" Serio had asked. She looked at the glow from his eyes. "You might be able to over come the armor's 'mind of it's own'." Serio threw out there. "But I suppose I can leave now. Back to the woods with me." She said, with a giggle, as she began to walk off back into the woods where she was watching him. Watching the shadows change in the woods, she began to wonder what Bartimaeus was going to do now that he had that armor.

[Hei]

He sat there, unblinking, looking down at the ground. "I know that the armor is now part of me... other than that I have no idea what to expect from it." He only looked up when he saw her leaving into the woods. Bartimaeus stood, still somewhat stiff. "I wouldn't go through those woods unaccompanied. There are plenty of demons, spirits, and creatures that would relish getting their respective appendages on you or anyone else that wandered into their grasp." He sighed, the once raging fury inside of him diminished to a small flame that threatened to erupt at a moment's notice. "I... believe that I have the armor under control at the moment. Allow me to escort you." He strode ahead of Serio and grabbed a black wisp that screamed in fury. He then alighted his hand in a purifying flame which caused the wisp to dissipate in smoke.

[Serio Katsuya]

Serio giggled a little to herself. Nothing had happened to her before while she was in the woods. A nice walk with someone would be a change of pace for her though, so she didn't mind at all. "Well, I am not really going any where in particular, but if you want, you can come with me." Serio followed him, not too worried about what could happen to her. "Do you have anywhere you need to go?" She had asked, since she now wondered what he would do now that he had the armor. Serio figured she would follow him, until he finally got tired of her. She hoped, though, that she wasn't being too much of a hastle for him. She thought that maybe he'd come to his senses, and realize that she wasn't like those men he killed back there. Oh well. She figured. If he was going to kill me, he would have done it by now, so no worries... She rolled her eyes a little. Well, not that I was worried to began with, but yeah. No worries.

[Hei]

Bartimaeus walked in silence, the armor clinking with every step. Every now and then, a wisp or a small woodland creature that wandered too close to him burst into flame. "I have nowhere that would welcome me, if that answers your question. So, in a way, no." He stopped and sniffed the air, nodding slightly, and began walking slightly westward. "The curse of lycanthropy forces me to never know a moment of rest and to never be accepted into a household. I am already a wild animal; the armor has but released my true nature." He sighed and stopped, sniffing the air again. He whipped around and brought his fist an inch away from Serio's face, catching another wisp in his palm. "They are beginning to grow in strength and numbers; they do not want us to leave." He incinerated the wisp and kept moving.

[Serio Katsuya]

Serio just watched him throw his fist into her face. She wondered what he had intended on doing. "I'll say this, I know what you are going through. Though I'm not a lycanthrope. I'm a shapeshifter. If I don't look like a human, I'm never excepted anywhere. I'd love for someone to love me the way I am, but eh. I'm used to being alone. And by love, I mean as a friend, and whatnot. Some people just take one look at me, and think they know everything about me. Who I am, where I'm from. All of that. But they don't." She said as she stopped where she was. She had to turn away before the thoughts caused tears. "Anyway," She looked back at him, and followed him again. "I'll except you into my home. I have a house not to far from where we are now. If you want." Serio said. She sighed, then decided to ask. "Who don't want us to leave?" Serio gave a curious look to him, though he wasn't even looking at her.

[Hei]

He nodded. "It's a curse. Though I am very honored to meet a shapeshifter. They are quite rare." He heard a scream echo throughout the woods. "The spirits. They are going to throw an offensive at us, so that we would be trapped here..." Bartimaeus turned his head and looked her in the eye, smiling ever so slightly. "I'll take you up on that offer, if we make it out alive." The metal wolf's head began to creep up his back and it clamped down on his head as he turned to face the gathering darkness. "I will pull no punches." Bartimaeus fell to his hands and knees, growling softly. His knees suddenly twisted violently around and the armor began to change shape as his body morphed into the form of a panther. He effectively looked like a panther covered in plate mail, the z-shaped eyeholes in his helmet glowing a red-orange. His voice sounded gravelly. "Get on my back, and hold tight. I will charge strait through them."

[Serio Katsuya]

"Quite rare, yes. But no worries, though be careful. The next small mammal you decide to turn into ash, could be me." She giggled at the though. Hehe, super squirrel poofage. Serio smiled when he agreed to her offered. She too agreed that they had to make it out alive first. She watched him trandform, and wondered if the changing caused him any pain. Serio hoped, if any, it wasn't too much. Though it looked like he handled it fine. She kind of didn't understand the panther part, but she went along with it. "Do you think charging straight through them is such a good idea?" She asked, and she climbed onto his back. Serio clasped her arms around his neck as tightly as she could. "Ah, well, oh well. Let's go for it!" She giggled as she said that. She couldn't believe how enthusistaic this was making her. But she kept her grip, and waited to charge through the spirits.

[Hei]

The armor retracted where she placed her arms so that she wouldn't get cut on it. "Don't worry." He air around them electrified as he created a protective field of electricity. "I'm a professional. Just hang on." And they were off. Bartimaeus' powerful muscles coiled and explosively released their stored energy in a kick that sent them flying along the forest floor. Serio would feel as if they were flying because his paws touched the ground so lightly. The spirits rushed at them but were quickly incinerated upon contact with the energy field. However, they were fast approaching a gigantic wall of shadow, and Bartimaeus' lightning was beginning to dissipate. "Damn... Plan B." He leaped into the air, landing lightly on a tree branch and began to jump from tree to tree. They soon broke through the tree line and with one final graceful bound, Bartimaeus landed the two of them on the other side of the forest. His breathing was labored. Normally he would just travel through lightning or air, but Serio couldn't do it with him. Conventionality worked, though.

[Serio Katsuya]

Serio hopped off Bartimaeus' back, and onto the ground ever so elegently. "That was fun. We should do it again sometime." She joking giggled after saying that. "Thanks for helping me out. You could've left me behind though, but I'm glad you didn't. New experience for me. A lot of fun. Where to now?" Serio had asked. She thought that he would just leave, being as most people did. SHe wouldn't be surprised, but maybe a little hurt. Serio poundered the whole deal of the day so far. Walking through the woods, coming across a piece of killer armor that turns out to be a lycanthrope, walking into the woods again, spirits not wanting us to leave, flying through the forest. Wow, adventure! I hope he decides to hang out with me for a while longer. He's fun. She smiled with that thought. Blushed a little, and she was hoping he wouldn't see it. "Want to keep going, or want to see where you will be living?" She asked this time, tilting her head to the right slightly.

[Hei]

He stood on his hind legs, the armor retracting from his feline face. All of his scars were more pronounced now because there was fur missing where they were located. "It's what any gentleman would do. I'm not about to leave someone prey to vicious spirits." He winced and bent completely backwards, his back making an impossibly sharp bridge. Serio heard a few cracks. He stood and raised his arms to the sky, rolling his neck. More cracks. "Ahh that's better. I apologize if that is rather uncouth of me, but remaining as a human is very confining." His ear twitched as he took notice of her slight blush. "Hm. I would be honored if you would show me your home. I'm sure it's much nicer than mine, considering it's not much more than a shack in the middle of nowhere..." He chuckled, the fur sinking back into Bartimaeus' skin as his appearance became human once more. "Lead the way."

[Serio Katsuya]

"I suggest bracing yourself." Serio said. She mumbled a few inaudible words, and the ground began to crack and shake near the two of them. Suddenly, in a dust cloud, what seemed to be a cave formed, though the formation looked somewhat like a house. As the dust settled, a door came into view. "Sorry about the dust and noise." Serio said, and walked to the door, said a few more inaudible words, and pushed the door open. "Well, come on then." She said with a smile, as she turned and walked into her home. It smelled different from what a cave might smell like. Not moldly, or wet smelling. Her house smelled more like sweets and just had a warm sense to it. She waited near the door to give a tour of the house to Bartimaeus. She hoped that she wasn't too weird to hang around with. "Um... also, my house pretty much stays underground, so you'll have to get used to the shaking as it decides to go back underground, but it'll be a while before it does that, so please. Come in."

[Hei]

He raised an eyebrow, utterly unphased as the ground erupted around him. "Oh... wow. That's impressive." A myriad of different aroma's assaulted his nose, so many that he was having difficulty discerning between them. He was also rather unaccustomed to being near another person for so long. It was nice that he could be around her without having the urge to tear out her throat, though. "I- thank you for your hospitality. I'm sure you understand how much it means to me that you would go out of your way like this." He stepped through her doorway, the armor retracting as far as it could- it gathered at seven points on his body; his ankles, wrists, shoulders, and neck. Black streaks spiderwebbed down his body where the armor was attached. He winced slightly as he looked down at his marred skin.

[Serio Katsuya]

The house began to move under ground as he stepped inside. "Well, my house is quite strange. Mind of its own, I swear." She said. "Usually it takes at least an hour for it to go under. Weird." She said. Then, Serio nodded. "Well, that's what I do for people that are hostile at first, but still are able to help me out." She giggled a little. "No, but thank you for everything today. I wouldn't be, well most likely, without you." Serio bowed slightly to him. She watched the armor as it had retracted. Each motion of the armor caused Serio to follow it. After the armor disappeared into the spots where it finally decided to rest, Serio looked curiously at his skin. She tilted her head to the side as she noticed that black streaks. Each different from the next. She wanted to follow them, like a child would follow lines in a book. Knowing she shouldn't ask, she wanted to ask about them but decided not to intrude on it. Serio didn't want to make her new guest feel uncomfortable. Though, she wondered his past, and since he told her that no one really excepted him, she thought that may have been the cause.

[Hei]

Bartimaeus caught Serio's curious gaze. "These were caused by the armor when it fused with my bones... I've tried removing them but I simply cannot." He took hold of the base of a streak and began to pull on it. He ripped the entire thing strait out of his arm, wincing as he did so. He held the piece of armor up and watched it wriggle around as if it were some sort of parasite. It then slipped out of his fingers and burrowed itself back into his arm, connecting to his bone and the circlet around his shoulder. He hissed as his arm regenerated. He then looked up to meet Serio's eyes. "I'm not sure what's going to happen to me now. But I don't think I'll like it." He gave a small smile. "Listen to me prattling on and brooding about nothing... How about a short tour?"

[Serio Katsuya]

Serio watched he he tortured himself by pulling a piece from his body. She looked at him with an emotionless face, though she did feel kind of bad. Serio then realized he said something about a tour. "Oh, yeah sure. I will warn you. My house may be small, but I get lost once in a while. Though, that's not saying much. Anyway, this is I guess what most would call the foyer." Serio said, while removing her shoes. Then she walked through another thresh hold. "This is the living room... Well, sort of. I don't have that much in my home, but I will get more as we need it." She said. Then she pointed to the lest. "Kitchen." And straight foreward, Serio pointed down a hall way. "The bathroom and guest room. The guest room is the closest to this room, so the bathroom is the furthest down." She said. Then one more time, Serio pointed to two more hall ways to the fas right of the room. "The first hall way is to the library and the training room, and the second hall will take you to my room. And since we are underground, the pillars are placed where they are, so don't walked into one at night. I've done that once. A little painful." She said with a giggle. "Anyway, that concludes the short tour of your new home." She smiled, and then looked back to Bartimaeus.

[Hei]

A small smile lingered on Bartimaeus' lips as he was given a tour of Serio's home. "I can see in the dark, I doubt I'll have too much of a problem with that..." He raised an eyebrow as she turned to look at him. "How did you come upon such a domicile? Did you make it yourself, or did you come upon it by some happenstance?" He put his hand on a smooth earthen wall, whistling lightly. He was rather impressed, but then again he DID live in a hut in the middle of a forest. Bartimaeus was also extremely excited- this was the first time he was ever invited into another person's home. He got down on all fours and walked around in small circles before plopping down to the ground on his side, contentment on his face. It was second nature to him to do that, but it must have looked incredibly comical to Serio. The room was soon filled with a deep hum which seemed to be emanating from the man lying on the ground; impossibly enough, he was purring.

[Serio Katsuya]

"Sorry, I kind of forgot." Serio said with a pleading look on her face. She did watch him as she spoke. "I made it myself. Magic mostly." Times like these, Serio would be very shy, but she felt comfortable around Bartimaeus. She wondered why he whistled, but she didn't mind it. She smiled as she watched him lay on the ground. "I didn't know dogs purred." She giggled as she layed on the floor next to him. "I am guessing you've never really gone to anyone else's house, have you?" She asked because of the way that he seemed to act now, compared to the first time they met. Earlier that day. Then she wondered again. This time, about what she was going to say next. She giggled at her stupid thoughts. "Bartimaeus, what's it like to be a lycanthrope?" Serio could just transform into one, but she didn't know what he would say about it. For that matter, she could be anything she wanted to be. Serio watched him, oddly enough. She wasn't really phased by the fact that he was a lycanthrope. She didn't really mind it if he were to raise his voice, or make his presence be known. She was very strange, and hope he didn't mind that.

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