The Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition review by a Fan

Allow me to begin by expressing how honored I am to have been selected amongst the 1000 lucky participants to be given a copy of the Xbox Enhanced Edition, in exchange for our review of the game. I want to give it a great review, because I know it deserves one, but I also know that I need to reflect properly everything about it, from the pros and cons, to what makes this game what it is. I want to do this game justice and be able to convince those reading this review why I feel this game is worth their time and money, as well as their support to the crew behind the making of The Witcher.

For those not familiar with The Witcher, it is a masterfully crafted game, developed by ‘CD Projekt RED’ and released in October 2007. Based on a book series by the same name by a Polish author, Andrzej Sapkowski, it follows the story of a monster hunter by the name of Geralt of Rivia, a mutated version of a human, known in this world as Witchers. They are immune to all sorts of diseases and trained specifically for the mercenary work of hunting creatures. Their mutations gives them a strong advantage over  common humans, such as the abilities to master a series of five Signs, each with their own abilities, strength and weakness, and to drink potions in order to grant speed, night vision, combat boosts and even health regeneration.

The Witcher 2 continues the epic Saga of Geralt, following near where the first left off, with the attempt on King Foltest’s life during the final cutscene.

‘CD Projekt Red’ promised us that the Witcher 2 would not follow the similar linear patterns of its predecessor, and they have followed through with their promise. Old fans will also be glad to know that you can import your saved games from the original game and thus allow a few extra items and gold, and perhaps things I have yet to notice. The Witcher 2 was released in May 2011 for PC, followed by a series of patches and updates to tweak and enhance the experience based on the reviews and comments of its fanbase. Now, nearly a year after its release, the Xbox finally gets a release  and the PC version got patched to its enhanced Edition, thus adding new content, different equipment and new challenges, including but not limited to the fun and exhilarating Arena Mode. The game also offers a Dark Mode, an extremely challenging difficulty setting. Not for everyone, but certainly an added bonus for all those game masters.

Those familiar with the first game will be glad to see some returning characters, such as the sorceress Triss Merigold, Zoltan the dwarf and Dandelion the bard. Two new characters are introduced in the Witcher 2, but in order to avoid spoilers, their names will be kept secret.

It is important to note, the game being not as linear as promised, you will be given a choice between which of those two characters you wish to follow. This will change several quests, interactions, stories and perhaps even the ending of the game! There’s no bad decision, really, just difference in play style. It is highly recommended that you play the game once following one character, and then try following the other once you have completed your first playthrough.

The addition of a few timed events, from different conversations or even a ‘Push not to die’ function can make things fun and different at times. Being able to use your signs during negotiation to force an attack, intimidate, persuade and even gamble responses, makes for interesting different opportunities. I often found myself saving the game at a specific conversation, just to see the different responses and see how the character acts.

What surprised me in this, is that I’ve noticed that those conversation,s and how you deal with a situation, will greatly impact the game, and may also give you surprising little bonuses. I hate to spoil the fun for anyone, but save often and try different things. You are given a maximum of save slots on the Xbox, but still plenty to keep track of moments you may wish to return to if you are not satisfied with a previous choice. You may notice special abilities appear on your character sheet, which will surprise you, and make it interesting during game play. Other times, you may not notice the change until way later in the game, as a character you chose to spare may come around to meet Geralt in the future in order to bestow one of these special abilities.

The Witcher 2 isn’t without its flaws. There are the occasional graphical glitches on the walls and floors, and I even saw the weapon of one of the foes I had defeated fly into the air, land and start bouncing. These glitches kind of break the immersion, and give you a quick laugh, but it does not break the game or cause issues collecting loot. The Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition on Xbox is a great import from its PC version. I will admit that a computer does allow you to tweak the settings more, and allow for a much smoother gameplay, better graphics and customization. However, for those without a powerful enough system, the Xbox does it great justice nonetheless. The graphics have undergone drastic changes with the Enhanced edition.

There are a few more differences between the PC version and the Xbox, but there are a couple I took note; for example, the meditation animation. On the PC version, you will see Geralt sitting and enter a meditative state, orwhen you drink a potion, you see him gulping it down, even wiping his sweat from his brow. I felt that really added something to the game, and unfortunately, I was shocked and sad when the Xbox version did not incorporate that feature.

Another difference I’ve noticed was with some areas and their loading screen, or lack of. In the prologue, you wake in a large Red Tent. That same tent was relatively larger on the PC version, and had a direct access to the outdoors. While on the Xbox version, the area felt smaller, more cramped, and the tent flaps were not only closed but also caused a loading screen, rather than offering a steady flow. While not being immersion breaking, these differences were noticeable; especially the Meditation screen.  The voice acting did not flow as easily as on the computer, and felt a little off.

The implementation of different difficulty settings does allow a wide variety of players to give this story a chance to win them over. I will not go around saying I am an expert at the game; in fact, I’ve never particularly excelled and certainly would not attempt to play at a really hard difficulty. I died often on normal mode, and had my share of frustrations. Bad controls and glitches were not the issues, though,for I just tend to slash and hack my way at things, expose my backside to the enemy, and believe I should be a god with a sword. If you have a similar playstyle, easy difficulty will be perfect for you! Nevertheless, I do not regret playing on normal either; it gave me a chance to experience with all the game mechanics. Using potions just before a tough fight, avoid being hit in the back, parry and riposte at appropriate times and use the signs! It really does add to the game when you start seeing yourself as a professional monster hunter that has the odds against him, but possessing the tools to make it through. You just need to use them properly.

If you are not certain which difficulty setting is best for you, a Tutorial was added that gives you a good explanation of the basics of battle, and even introduces your character to the Arena Battle in an epic storytelling fashion. I personally felt it was an added touch, since most games tend to give you new functions and features without really explaining how or why. The team nicely filled out this gap.

The music and sounds behind the Witcher have always been great. With an accurate feel for medieval times, where poverty is swallowing the population in the streets as kings and nobles play their game of chess. It comes out appropriately during combat, and even adds to an atmosphere in the middle of a tavern. I have had to bring down the volume a bit, mostly because the music blared over what the characters were saying. Luckily, the option to have narration is available and made conversations easy to follow. The voice acting is fairly good, I’d even say great, but there are still moments where I feel it doesn’t really fit, or could have been better. The perfect example happens as you play the tutorial, at the very end when you reach the gate. It just did not flow as well as I expected.

If you are like me and enjoyed the soundtrack, there is great news waiting for you! When you buy the game, you do not just buy a game, but you are also promoting the hard work and effort, including the extra content and updates. In addition, as an added bonus you receive access to the official game soundtrack!

When Projeck Red announced the upcoming release patch of the Enhanced Edition my heart leapt for joy. I put the game down and decided to stop playing until I could update it. I wanted to experience it all anew. I had the chance to upgrade the game for free, but when I heard of a chance to get the game on Xbox, for the little price of a nice review on it, I figured I’d give it a shot.

In my honest opinion, I feel like The Witcher 2 is definitely a game worth buying. I do not feel like my purchase of the PC version was a waste. As much as I appreciated the free Xbox copy and chance at this review, I am glad to have been able to show my support to the team. If there is ever a Witcher 3 release, you can bet you will have my entire support and that I will look forward for a chance to give it a review and explain how it managed to win me over yet again.

Keep up the great work, Team CD Projekt Red, and thank you for allowing fans, such as myself, the opportunity to participate in this wonderful storytelling experience.

Presentation:

The inventory system can be a bit tricky, more so for the PC version, but the characters really feel alive and keep you immersed inside their tale.

Graphics:

The graphics are still some of the best I’ve seen for its genre. The PC version does allow users to really have at her, if their system can handle it.

Sound:

The voice acting is really great, although lacking a bit on Xbox, but the music really adds to the feel and mood of such a dark, violent and intriguing story.

Gameplay:

The combat really keeps you on your toes. It’s all fast pace, interactive and exhilarating. Different difficulty settings will really make the difference between knowing your tools, and using them properly.

Lasting Appeal:

The different character path options, dialog choices and quest resolution can have an impact on not only your game play but also its ending, giving plenty of opportunity at multiple play-through.

Reptle

Discontinued

The forums have also been discontinued.

Too much time consuming, and my own players, in general, did not wish to follow through with it.
Life keeps us all busy.

We still continue the games, and there's so much that has happened. Perhaps we'll continue one day if there interest is there, but for now, do not expect any updates.

Thanks

Chronicles

Sorry everyone, but this project has been discontinued due to lack of appreciation.
We still largly use the forums for those interested in the roleplay involved or whatever story might occur, but unless i get comments of people actually interested in knowing what's going on, i have no interest in writting any more of what happens at our bi-weekly games.

Sorry for those that showed interest, hopefully you can see us on the forums.
Thanks.

Reptle

Survival 101 - (Finding Mike)

Survival 101 - Finding Mike
Game 2
Blog Entry 16

Damien, Ryan, Alice, Amaru and Leaf scurried the area for a moment, still finding no one while night was beginning to settle in. Amaru was first to speak, his voice weak and strangled with disgust while he pointed behind thick folliage where he found two rotting bodies. Damien and Ryan took a look at what the mage had found: two dead men whose corpses had already bloated with decomposition. They were still intact enough to show heavy marks and bruises caused by fighting.

Alice kept looking, until, behind the curtains of one of the tents, she found another body with its face in the dirt. She called out to the men who were still investigating their find, and turned the body over on its back. It felt heavy and stiff, as if it had been filled with sand. Mike stared up at her with wide, but expressionless eyes. Life had gone out of them a while back. His throat was lacerated into a deep cut, from left to right like a second, red, toothless grin. Dirt had filled it, bugs as well. The blood from the deep gash had coagulated. Mike's clothes were ripped, from his pants to his shirt. It had gone into a dark pink shade as it had absorbed the blood coming from more gaping wounds on the chest and below.

The smell of rot had already begun filling the air as soon as she had moved the corpse over. She had to cover her mouth and nose with her hand, standing up to let the others glance down at what remained of Mike Ironside.

This had happened a while back, but not nearly late enough for the body to start decomposing to an unrecognizable shape.

"That's him alright...", Damien whispered, "What the heck were you doing to get into so much trouble?"

The corpse only looked with gaping eyes back, the red gash in his throat grinning further in response. Ryan sighed and closed his eyes, shaking his head softly. Mike had been the kind to head off on his own, getting into a lot of trouble, but no trouble was so great his packmates would not have been able to help. Guilt momentarily filled the leader, and now, he had no idea what to do. Burying him seemed like the right answer, the right, human way of thinking answer, but at the same time, he felt it was not quite right.

Not quite right until a little evening fog settled in above his feet and covered Mike like a soft sheet. And still he remained stuck there, watching and watching, while the sheet covered Mike some more and some more and eventually, it was impossible to see him at all, and it was impossible to see ten feet before you, then five feet, then two feet.

Alice rubbed at her arms and shuddered violently, her breath shaping the fog at her lips.

And they knew then that something was wrong.

They knew something was coming.

But they saw nothing.

To be continued...

Survival 101 - (Awakened Sight)

Survival 101 - Awakened Sight
Game 2
Blog Entry 15

The table was about ten meters long, with leather chairs for what looked like what could have been company meetings and such. The man who stared with a glare and fire in his eyes and his hands on the table kept his gaze on the group as they sat down with some discomfort. He looked at them all, one by one, one after the other, studying their faces, their shapes, their intention in such dreaded and deadly silence it would have put a black hole to shame.

Eventually, he rested deeper into his chair in a more relaxed pose and crossed his arms. His voice came heavy and demanding, "Why are you here? What do you seek from us?"

The pack's gaze moved to Ryan, the leader and the one who should speak, who stood in a similar matter as the leader in his large black leather chair, his arms crossed and his eyes closed for a moment until he finally glanced back with rock hard determination for truth, "We're looking for one of our comrades who disapeared recently: Mike Ironside. Apparently, your 'friends' have something to do with his disapearance."

The man rose an eyebrow, startled at first, then relaxed his shoulders with a soft sigh of what seemed like relief, "His disapearance is accidental, I can assure you that much. Your friend is a fiesty one, and managed to kill off one of my men in the process..."

Ryan's eyes turned deadly along with the rest of his pack, "You assaulted him, he defended himself, that's what happens when you mess with--"

"Assaulted him!?", the man nearly cried, "what are you talking about?"

Now it was a question look that went through Mike's packmates.

The man went on, adjusting his collar as if it had been too warm to keep up, "No one assaulted your friend, Mister Cohen, let me assure you. We were merely trying to help him, but he would not listen to reason and acted as if we were there to harm him. Things turned sour though... More then we had expected."

"That's Mike for you", Damien sighed to himself and shook his head, rolling his eyes.

"If it was no assault, then what was it", Ryan asked, clearly not convinced, "what were you trying to do?"

The man brushed a heavy hand through his grey hair, thinking thoroughly before speaking once more as if it would have been a crime to do so, "Have you heard of a young boy named Killy Mathiews?"

Now the pack's attention was all on the man who had broke into a sweat from both the heat of the room and probably the built up stress. Only Alice rose an eyebrow with little interest, though she listened on.

"Yes", was all Ryan eventually said, "Yes we have. What about him?"

He nodded at Luna's Avatars leader almost casually, "The boy's a reknown artist, as you may know, well known and now needed in the media and artistic area. Also, you may be aware of the tragedy that took place a year ago when criminals invaded his home and held him and a family member hostage for a period of five hours until all hell broke lose and his sister was killed in the commotion."

Ryan and Damien nodded. Alice hid a small grin on the corners of her lips.

"The matter of death was rather mysterious, and there were no witnesses but the traumatized boy whose mind closed off the event to prevent him from going mad. He spent a week in intensive care in a hospital in Canada, and let's say that some good souls have been looking into him and his family since then, despite the mysterious events that unfolded during the hostage situation."

Another nod from the crowd.

"In the past few weeks however, he's gone missing, and your friend, Mister Ironside, has been the main suspect of a kidnapping theory for quite some time now. When we found him the first time, he was in very bad shape, laying naked and badly injured on the side of a road outside Boulder. We brought him back to one of our facility and restrained him mostly for security mesures, but he managed to escape before we could interrogate him. Let me make this clear, we're aware he's probably not the kidnapper, and all we wanted was for him to help us in our investgation since he had been seen with Killy Mathiews before his disapearance. Considering he was in a bad situation when we found him, we were also providing him protection and clearance of his name."

"So... you were trying to help?"

"It's like I said, we weren't looking for a fight. When we found him in his home, he considered us a threat and immediatly attacked my men. They did their best to defend themselves, and he escaped. We have since lost track of him."

There was a long moment of silence as the information was being registered, slowly, but surely. Alice escaped a soft sigh of boredom and annoyance. Mike meant nothing to her compared to what he meant to his packmates for various reasons, and frankly, neither did the boy. Her encounter with the red head had been brief and amusing to say the least, but he was nothing to make a fuss over.

"He's still alive...", Ryan muttered under his breathe.

"What?", the man asked with a frown, "are you sure?"

"Yes, he's still very much alive. We've known Killy personaly, and he was not kidnapped, he left. He betrayed us and left with a man we had captured weeks ago."

Damien growled in his throat at the mention of a betrayal: he did not take kindly to being associated to traitors, and until Killy came home with blood on his hands or proof of having intentionally hurt a packmate, Killy was still on his good side. Better yet, Damien was proud the boy had finaly decided to show to guts and had finally made some decisions of his own, regardless of what they were.

"Explain, I don't quite understand."

Ryan took a deep breath, uncrossing his arms and setting his sweating palms on his lap as if ashamed of his story, "Were you aware Killy Mathiews was Uratha?"

"No. I was not."

"Well, he is. He was part of this pack with us, and left with someone who had been causing trouble in our neighborhood. He's still alive and walking the mile with that man, in fact. Mike did nothing to him, and neither did any of us. He left on his own free will."

The man lowered his head and stroke his chin, his eyes wide, nodding, understanding, "Well, it does explain a lot of things, now that we have that information...", there was another moment of quiet, and then, "Do you wish for us to continue our search then? I'm sure at least his parents would like some insight on the investigation, even if it means hiding some parts of the truth to them."

Ryan waited a moment, pinching his lips with uncertainty, then nodded, "Might as well, I don't see why not."

The meeting ended better then it had begun, and hands were shaken, even if hesitant and misstrustful. Damien eventually asked in which direction Mike had been found the first time the mages had brought him to their facility, which indicated further out North West. He remembered Mike saying something about his tribal packmates establishing camp and how he had found them dead there. Mike was the type to want to go back in time of crisis even if he were the only one left alive and pures still roamed the area. So Leaf spent no time requesting Elation to scout in that direction in hopes to find more clues. In the meantime, Amaru was asked by his higher up to stick with Luna's Avatars a while longer for both research reasons and report anything unusual as well.

Elation did not come back, but after about forty-five minutes, Leaf showed concern for the bird as it had found something, but dared not approach it at all. Something had scared her and she was not going down. Again, it could have had nothing to do with Mike's disapearance, but last they had thought so, they had somewhat been lucky. And so they left the compound and went on their way, following Leaf into the woods until a small shadow passed them from above as Elation herself led them to destination.

What they found beyond the woods and bushes was indeed a camp that could have looked like the stone age military. A stench of death and decay filled the air. No one, no living being, was in sight either. Birds had stopped chirping and even bugs made no more sounds despite the heat as the light of day dimmed on them. Further ahead, a series of lined up stones had been set like graves... which they apparently were.

"I think we found Mike's hiding place", Damien mused, more then happy with how Karma had led them thus far.

"Maybe, but it doesn't seem like even a living soul is around. The old man isn't here", Alice said.

But it was far from the truth.

To be continued....

Survival 101 - (Silver Tauntings)

Survival 101 - Silver Tauntings
Game 2
Blog Entry 14


"She'll get it! I swear she will!", the man cried, "you!", he pointed at the large red wolf with its teeth set against one of the mages' throat, "get away from him, now!"

The man heard a click from where he had forgotten to look, and now found Ryan pointing the barel of a gun at his head. He gulped but did not back down, keeping the silver blade by Alice.

"You get away from her now", Ryan hissed.

You touch one hair from her head, and you die, Damien thought, but remained in position.

"Let's make a deal then, you let us go unharmed, and I release her."

Ryan remained quiet, staring coldly into the assailant's eyes.

"Ryan...", Alice muttered, "do what he says, for fuck's sake, do what he says!"

The leader's glance went from the man, to the unnusually frightened woman who was trembling like a leaf and sobbing silently but in sheer panic, hugging at her arms so tightly her red nails dug into her skin, then passed her at Damien who still held onto the mage by the throat, "you release her first."

"No deal, nothing tells me you won't rip us to shreds as soon as I do."

Ryan looked down on the woman again, her eyes were closed, warm tears running down her red cheeks. At least she looked more lively then in the car when they had rode up to Boulder, but now it was a different type of crisis, "and nothing tells me you won't shoot us down the moment I lower my weapon and Bonecrusher releases his hostage."

"RYAN!", Alice cried now with panic and anger, "JUST DO WHAT HE FUCKIN' SAYS! PLEASE!"

He might have told her to shut up, had times been different. Whatever was wrong with her was only making him that more nervous. He liked his lips nervously, glaring back at the man some more.

"Then take me instead", the man said at last, "let him go and take me hostage."

Time seemed to keep still for a while, where even Alice's sudden pleading were shut off. After a few seconds that seemed like hours, Ryan motionned for Damien to let go of his prey. The large wolf did as he was asked, stepping away reluctantly, then returning to his massive, human form, his fists ready to strike whenever more trouble would spurr.

Ryan, on the other hand, did not lower his weapon just yet, "Your end of the bargain."

The man nodded, looking back at his comrades, "Go! You'll hear from me soon enough."

Though they hesitated, they ran into a retreat faster then they ever had. Only when he was sure they were out of range did he lower the silver weapon, which was snatched away from his hand as soon as it would not be harmful to Alice and threw it far and out of range. Alice let out what seemed like a soft whimper which turned into heavy sobs as soon as the metal was away from her skin, first crawling away, then getting up, punching a nearby tree in her rage, then collapsing with her back at it. Her sobs came louder, her fingers gripping at her black hair, her eyes wide and leaking tears.

Ryan slowly lowered the gun, the barrel soon pointing down at the ground, "What's your name?"

"Amaru", he said softly, contrary to the bitter response Ryan had expected, "What are you doing around these parts? Don't you know it's dangerous?"

Damien sniffed with impatience, "apparently it is!"

Amaru nodded his head, "We were simply trying to scare you away... Had we known..."

"We're looking for the Awakened Sight hideout", Damien cut him off, "and I have a feeling you know something about it."

Amaru jammed, bitting at his lip and looking at the distressed woman for a moment before his attention went back on Damien's mass. Though he seemed reluctant to speak at first, Ryan quickly explained their situation, that of wanting to find a missing comrade which seemed linked to the mage's in the region. Amaru came to realise the trespassers had meant nothing bad or hurtful, and agreed to lead them on, as they would never be able to find the desired location without him. It was a relief that he wanted to cooperate, and hopefully, no more blood would be spilled.

Under the men's eyes, Amaru carefully approached the distressed woman, lowering himself and offering his hand. Damien watched him carefully, ready to put a stop to this charade as soon as it might look to turn bad. Alice recoiled like a child, crying for him to get away, crawling out of reach and hoping to even lose sight of him.

"Please... let me help you...", he said gently, his hand still extended toward her invitingly, "I'm sorry about what I did, I really am. I would have never hurt you. Just.. let me help and redeem myself."

Alice's large, frightened eyes stayed on him a while, then she seemed to plead Ryan for an answer. Mascara had ran down her cheeks in black lines with the tears and her lips quivered uneasilly. She looked like nothing but a child caught in a closing box. Ryan nodded at her, approving of her next action when she reached out a trembling hand and Amaru took it. At once she felt an overwhelming warth around and within her something seemed to soothe her panic and fear. Although it worked, for a long while after, Alice would remain quiet and keep her distance from everyone. Even as Damien attempted to speak to her in order to understand his reaction, she refused to speak of it.

Amaru held his end of the deal and led Luna's Avatars to the destination they seeked, to the Awakened Sight's hideout. With a spell, he cast away the protective barrier that held and concealed the establishment, opening to what could have looked like a military compound. Considering Amaru was being held hostage by the pack, it took little convincing to let them inside to meet up with the leader for some well deserved details.

Soon, they were led into a room in waiting. When a man entered, with grey hair and a clean black suit, he was immediatly recognized as one of the men who had been struck in the earlier fight, and his deadly glare held nothing but hatred for the group. There was a long moment of silence when he sat down... one that seemed too long for comfort, but one that, fortunatly, would not last....

To be ccontinued...

Survival 101 - (The Trap)

Survival 101 - The Trap
Game 2
Blog Entry 13

It was so sudden that none of them saw it coming, nor even heard it coming at all. They might have seen the nets had they paid more attention to their surrounding, and they might have seen the people standing behind trees, watching them go by. They may have even heard them speak to each other, giving information on the urathas' wereabouts, but none of them expected an ambush when it happened.

Electricity surveiyed through their bodies, unable to speak nor scream while it rushed in and out of them. Their eyes rolled back in their heads and theior muscles tensed into painful cramps. Damien cried with fury and anger, ripping the net with bare, large teeth and escaping the hold it had on him. The people near drew in their breathes, not expecting anyone to be able to get out of their electrical net.

The net itself, which had been large enough to handle the group, stopped it's shocking when Damien broke the link, sending the others to draw in a deep and painful breathe back into their aching lungs. Ryan attempted to get up, but was met with guns pointing straight at him while Alice remained on the ground. Ryan hissed as if in pain and lowered himself with his hands at his side, arms crossing over his belly in order to hide the weapons he was aiming for. The woman remained on the ground and waited for Ryan to attract the attention with his attack to strike.

Damien, on the other hand, found himself with an agenda of his own, breaking bones and sending the rest uncountious with each strike of his fist. With the men unbalanced and not expecting an escape route for the pack, they were out of options and desperatly fought to stay on their feet and not die or get hurt.
One of them, what seemed like the leader, found himself knocked down completely by Damien before he pounced at another mage, ripping at his arm and soon aiming for the throat.

From above, a dark shadow set himself with arrows and a handmade bow, shooting at the mages, once in a while nearly hitting his own packmates but at the very least, help out.

Leaf attempted to speak, reason with them, but it was to no avail.

But what could have turned in Luna's Avatars favors turned sour when one of the men, an asian looking man transformed a dagger into a silver sword and moved it close to Alice's neck. "Don't move!", he cried, "Don't you move or she gets it! I swear, she gets it!"

Feeling the coolness of the silver steel by her cheek, the woman whimpered...

.... then tears ran down her cheeks in heavy flows.

".... Ryan.... help me....", was all she managed to whisper.

To be continued...

Survival 101 - (North West to Awakened Sight)

Survival 101 - North West to Awakened Sight
Game 2
Blog Entry 12

It took a while, driving North West to the nearest wooden area. Leaf felt most at ease in his environment, and it showed. He seemed less tensed, and made less mistakes, less slips of the tongue that could have angered the Urathas he was following furthermore. Damien did not care much for the location. He had travelled a lot, be it in the city or in the woods. Besides, new experiences were always fun. Miguel expressed little care, and neither did Ryan. Alice did not seem bothered either, but she did prefer the streets of the city to the woods.

The walk was long, however, and humidity stuck to their clothes and skin as they walked. Eventually, taking a rest seemed to be the best option as fatigue took them over one after the other. They found a spot by an abandonned cave deep within the woods, dirty, old but fairly enough for the short time they would spend there anyway.

Sorrik wasted no time in setting himself by a small pool of water no larger then the palm of his hand, chanting and casually gesturing mysteriously around it until a soft glow escaped from the water: essence. Perhaps it was to make amends with those he had angered earlier that he had done such, but he offered them the essence with a contented and gentle smile. Alice refused it, Damien inquired he needed none of it, but Miguel and Ryan, who had recently been into a fight with each other, dug in hungrily to restore their lost energy. It was refreshing and welcomed at this point.

Later on, Alice and Damien left to gather some food; fresh meat from the woods: a young deer that had nearly escaped them had Damien not managed to cut it off and rip its throat to shreds. Bringing it back, most ate their share hungrilly, for the exception of Alice, who only nibbled at a piece and left the rest to the beast. Her skin was turning grey again, and she seemed troubled, looking out at the distance. Leaf seemed to want to cheer her worries, whatever they were, by making shapes with the fire used to keep them warm, but Alice seemed to care very little, glaring at him and leaving him baffled and wondering.

In the end, the night was quiet and relaxing. One may have believed any type of enemies would have attacked then, but if they had planned anything, it was not at night. When the sun began to rise and small dropplets of water slid down leafs of the trees, the wolves and the mage set foot to find the hideout again. Miguel kept his distance, watching from the shadows and out of sight while the group looked for clues that seemed nearly impossible to gather... until Alice found shapes within the earth and grass resembling footsteps. It could have been anything, a lead into nothing, but it was better then having no lead at all, and so the group followed suit, trying to find if they belonged to lost sheeps or to those they seeked. Damien transformed into his beast form, his wolf form, in order to follow a sent on these tracks.

What they found in the end, when they felt as if their body was being ripped apart and their eyes rolled in the back of their head, was more then they had expected or had bargained for...

To be continued...

Survival 101 - (The Newspaper Part 3 (Sid) )

Survival 101 - The Newspaper - Part 3 (Sid)
March 18th 2006
Blog Entry 11

"All in!", a man in a casino five minutes north of Bolder said as he pushed the chips on the green carpet.

In fact, it was the fifth time in a row that he bet all his fortune at the table, and people were gathering. The clerk behind the table and the roulette was beginning to show impatience, his left brow twitching uneasily. But the man putting his life savings at stake seemed to take no notice, smiling broadly up at the clerk and the ladies around him. Because this man, who called himself Sid, liked the attention he was getting, probably just as much as the feeling of putting all he had at risk... and winning it right back.

The problem was not that he lost. The problem was the he never lost. When he did, it was because he had asked Lady Fate to take it easy at the beginning of the night so not to arise suspicions on himself. Half way through the night though, he would usually lose himself to the winning sensation, and by then, security would have their eye on him, until they got tired of seeing him take the casino's money. They never had any proof of him cheating, but it was best not to take any chances.

And it was about to happen again. Two men in black walked into the crowd and put a hand on each of Sid's shoulders, asking him to follow them to the exits. Sometimes he argued he wanted to finish his betting, sometimes he didn't. This time he did, but it did not last very long as he was escorted back to the parking lot.

He walked back to his car with his head still up high as if nothing had happened. Then again, he was used to it by now. It was almost like a game. He was about to unlock the door of his car when he saw some unwanted scratch on the paint above the driver's door. He thought them to be made by a key at first. People sometimes got offended when they lost their bets, even more to someone who never lost. But these marks looked like they could have been made by a whole set of keys at this point. He looked up when he heard a high pitched squeal, and soon, noticed a shadow circling above him and his vehicle. He did not have to look twice to know who the hawk belonged to, though not too amused with the marks it had made on his car in order to get noticed. The crying of the bird alone would have been enough. Perhaps its owner had thought it to be funny to break the paint right off the metal... In the end, Sid somewhat shrugged it off. He could fix it, or pay to get it fixed. He was not short of money.

And if he were, he could always win the lottery.

-----------

Back in Boulder, the group of Urathas and the Mage stood by the side of the road in front of Mike's home.

Leaf smiled with triumph at the pack and the woman, "She's found him. He's on his way right now."

"How long?", Ryan repeated himself. Time was wasting away, and the more it went, the more he feared for the very worst.

"Thirty minutes... Maybe forty-five at most, depending on the traffic."

Ryan nodded silently, contented but not happy with more minutes wasted away at staring at an empty house and the grey sky.

Somewhere within the pack of Urathas, the question was risen as to how Elation, the hawk they had seen, could be of any possible help. Animals were not stupid, but they had little time to waste with humans, mages, or Urathas, unless extremely well trained. And if she was, well, here came the fantasy story again. The story of the Hermit and its highly intelligent bird who only answered to its master. So Leaf explained it was a spirit host who answered to him, and with which he could communicate telepathically. Better yet, if need be, he could see through the animal's eyes, which he had done to find his friend.

Damien and Miguel seemed to send a glare toward the mage, before showing a cornered smile. It was like looking at two brothers who looked completely like the opposite of each other, only their mannerism was so similar it was comical. A Uratha's primary job was to keep the balance between the Spirit World and this very world. Elation was an exception that would need to be sent back, apparently.

Leaf stood surprised by the ignorance showing on the pack of wolves in human skins. Were they not aware spirits could possess living beings? Well, they probably did, but not like Elation. Ah! What inferior beasts Urathas were! Could they not see such things at all? And when they did, they wanted to destroy it. It only proved his point furthermore. When Damien's voice rose dangerously, his words were cut right off by a spell sealing his lips tightly together. His eyes gleamed with such ferocious rage that even Alice and Ryan stood back. Not that the comments being made did not affect them, but it was clear, from the smile on Leaf's face that the Mage was only playing games.

Where Urathas were not aware of everything Mages could see, this one was unaware of the dangerous situation he was into. Only when Miguel joined in with Damien that his smile, as well as the humor in his eyes, vanished completely into worry and understanding.

Leaf had lived in the woods most of his life. Humans, Urathas, Mages... it mattered little. A little teasing had never hurt, but this one had pushed the wrong buttons, and now he came to realize it. With Damien and Miguel's eyes blaring and their bodies in a stance of fighting, he found himself stepping back and raising his hands defensively, soon glancing past them at the woman and the pack's alpha for help. It never came. Maybe Ryan shrugged him off as he usually would - let the smart mouth get out of this one on his own, he sure deserved it. Alice showed little care for what happened to the native american. She didn't care, or was too busy concealing the pain below her left breast that had struck again...

Leaf made a quick motion in the air as if trying to catch the wind, letting Damien's lips go free for him to speak, then hurried to sit down cross legged, chanting something in another language while he made quick circles in the grass with a bone. Meanwhile, Damien and Miguel raged for him to stand and care to repeat what he had said, dare challenge their class again. But before they could do anything at all, a soft light surrounded Leaf. It circled him, then shaped his body into that of a canine, until it looked like an identical replica of a wolf. The beast stood on four legs, walked up to Miguel, then licked his right hand in a friendly way.

Miguel's glare turned deadly for a moment, the pupils of his eyes dilating dangerously... then back to a smaller, more natural black circle. He rose his left hand where the newspaper had been rolled up, and struck it down on the wolf's head, "Don't you dare do anything like that again!", he spat, but his features had already relaxed and seemed a little more friendly.

The wolf yelped, but not in pain as much as surprise, then the body shaped itself back into that of a human. Leaf bowed his head before both Damien and Miguel especially, as they had been the one who had seemed to be the most affected by his comments, "I apologize. I meant nothing of it, really. It won't happen again."

"It better not", Damien replied dryly, but his features had also relaxed.

More words could have been exchanged, but a flapping sound startled them before it could be done. Elation landed on Leaf's shoulder, perching herself comfortably. Then there was the roar of a warm engine coming from the north. A car pulled over into the driveway slowly, coming to a complete halt about three feet from Ryan and Alice. It looked expensive, scarlet red, and would have probably glistened nicely had the sun been out on that day.

A man stood out, closed the door, and smiled at the group, or more precisely, at the friend who had called him to this place. Leaf returned the grin, gripping his good old friend's hand into a long time no see shake. When he glanced back at the small crowd pending introduction, he smiled once more, and introduced himself as Sid. That smile could have made the hearts melt, it was clear. He wore a white, long sleeved shirt that showed little to no ruffles on it, but was not tucked into his black pants. His brown hair was not quite neatly combed, standing up, but it was in no way close to Miguel's messy hairstyle. That smile, the cockiness of his posture, showed he knew he looked good, and he knew he could get away with a lot because of those looks. Alice returned a similar, lust filled smile, while the men seemed to either snort in jealousy or seemed to care little.

Leaf briefly explained the situation to his friend, handing him the cursed newspaper. Sid looked through it quickly, stopping at the obituaries, just as the Urathas had. Only his gaze did not go blank, nor did his eyeballs go white under the eyelids. Instead, he nodded his understanding, pointing at the paper, "It's a hidden mark for a Cabal", he explained more to Leaf then to the others.

"A Cabal?", one of the Urathas repeated.

"A group of mages", Sid let them know, which, it seemed was like a pack of Urathas.

"The name on it shows Awakened Sight. I heard of them before, but never found myself having to deal with them. I think they're supposed to be residing somewhere in the woods North West of Boulder. At least, that's what I heard."

So it had been a hidden sign. Well, they were not about to sit back and wait for another one. Already, as Sid departed after another warm smile and bidding farewell to them and Leaf, Ryan lead them to the woods where they would find Awakened Sight in hopes to get more answers.

To be continued....

Survival 101 - (Joseph Stanley and Leaf)

Survival 101 - Joseph Stanley and Leaf
March 18th 2006
Blog Entry 10

The funerals had just ended when the SUV parked by the cemetery. They were moving the coffin down into the earth at that very moment. A small crowd of people surrounded the hole, crying, whimpering, asking how and why poor Joseph Stanley had to leave them so soon.

Miguel zipped his trench coat up to his neck and hid his hands in his pockets. Ryan did the same, closing his green coat and tucking the jersey shirt into his blue jeans. Alice's tears came as she wished, sobbing while holding onto Damien's arm. It took a while, less then an hour at least, until anyone had departed from the hole. The machines used to lower the coffin were still there, but the operators had probably taken a break or were just waiting for the rest of them to leave before finishing their job, because they were nowhere in sight.

Only now that they had found Stanley, there was not much they could do, or any information they could gain. Re-opening the coffin could have been an option, but one they did not want to consider yet. So they stared down at the closed lid, with its flowers and the family pictures that had been thrown. The coffin did not look like it had been very expensive.

They were about to turn on their heals when a new figure appeared at the other end of the cemetery. Through the tombstones, a man in his late forties seemed to be coming straight out of the wooden area surrounding them. His skin was tanned as the native American he was, his clothes torn and ragged over his shoulders. His hair, white, had been put into a pony tail. His face was serious, with a few red and green marks on them. The more he approached, the more he seemed like an hermit character out of a fantasy story.

He looked at them gravely, then down at the hole sadly, pinching his lips together and sighing heavily. Lowering himself, he picked up a dry flower, and as he looked at it, unbelievingly, its petals gained a bright blue color, opening up and back to life, its small leaves going from grey to green again like opening arms. The pack and Alice looked at each other with both amazement and surprise, looking at the man tossing the flower down with the rest of them, before turning on his heals and heading back the way he came from.

Alice moved forward, kneeling by the hole and taking a hold of the flower. It felt humid, alive, between her fingers. She inspected it carefully, standing back up as she did so. The flower really was alive again. With a smile, she decided she really liked that flower too. It was special, definitely held something now - whatever it was.

"Put it back", the man said, his very first words to the Urathas, "it doesn't belong to you."

She rose an eyebrow, about to argue with him, but thought better of it, letting it fall back into the hole with a sour smile. Once the hermit was satisfied, he turned back toward the forest to walk away, but it was Miguel who interrupted him, asking him who he was, if he knew Stanley at all. He confirmed he did, indeed, know Stanley, and finally asked them what their business was with him. When Ryan let him know that Stanley may have had information about their missing friend, the hermit seemed interested.

"You're not normal humans", he said then.

The group confirmed being Urathas... and the man, in return, introduced himself a Leaf, a rogue mage.

Of course, the flower trick had confirmed that, as if Leaf had intentionally decided to show his abilities in order to see the reactions of the strangers, which had been fascination, yes, but there had been no fear, per say. Normal humans would have asked a thousand questions, would have wanted to follow him back into the forest, would have wanted to try and learn the trick. This group of people had not shown any of these signs. Instead, they had analyzed, and realized long before they found out his name that he was not a regular human.

Ryan explained the situation to Leaf, from Mike's disappearance to the newspaper ordeal, which seemed to accentuate his curiosity that much more.

"Stanley would be the last person to use violence as a means of attack", Leaf confirmed. With this, he requested to be taken back to Mike's house so he could see signs the Urathas may have missed. Ryan accepted, much to the silent protests of his pack against carrying a mage with them.

Once they arrived at Mike's home, it only took Leaf a moment to confirm that, indeed, it had been the work of Mages, yes. But there was little traces left of anything. If he could see the newspaper in order to see what could cause Urathas to lose their memories of reading the section of the obituary, it would have been of great help. Miguel let them know he could get a copy, but they would need to wait for a while. It took about fifteen minutes before the Irraka returned from a neighbor's home with the said paper.

Leaf opened it, looked it up, found the section, and confirmed, "There is a seal here, I'm guessing this is what's been fizzling at your memories. But I can't read it... even less disactivate it." There was a moment of silence, followed by defeated groans from the group of Urathas, which was interrupted by the hermit, "but I have a friend who might be able to help with that, if you'd just let me find him."

"How long?", Ryan asked.

"It'll depend on how long it'll take Elation to find him", he let the alpha know. Questions rose as to what the name was about, but when Leaf looked up at the sky and the bird going in circles there, it became obvious he was speaking about his pet. There were no physical words exchanged, but once the bird flew into a random direction, Leaf glanced back at the pack, "She'll find him for us."

To be continued...

Survival 101 - (The Newspaper Part 2 (The Librarian))

Survival 101 - The Newspaper Part 2 (The Librarian)
March 18th 2006
Blog Entry 9

The library was just as big as it looked from the outside, with three floors, all opened to see them from the entrance. There was a red, ruby carpet that started from the doors to stairs that snaked their way up to the second, then the third floor. There were probably other stairs elsewhere, and most likely an elevator or two, but Damien did not find them on his first look. As libraries went, it was not as quiet as one would imagine: there were plenty of whispers, college girls giggling in their corner, either talking about homework or the boy next door. Damien could also hear children laughing loudly from somewhere deep on the first, maybe second floor, most likely reading funny books like Charlie the Choo-Choo, or a Garfield comic book.

Damien stepped up to the round counter where a woman... or a man, frankly, he could not be sure, was deep in her/his paperwork. If it was a woman, she was dressed so heavily the lumps of her breasts did not show, and her hair was cut in a bowl like shape around her ears. Her features were between that of an unfortunate man... or an unfortunate woman. There was no make-up to prove it could have been a female at all, and the way he/she moved were not significant of either gender. Even when she - he decided it was a she for the moment, especially with that disturbing non gender voice that followed - raised her head to look at him and smiled, no features betrayed a side of the gender more then the other.

"Yes, yes, can I help you?", she said with the strangest accent Damien had ever heard. It sounded a mix of sophisticated rubbish, with a Indian/Muslim accent. Now, not only could he not tell the gender of the person, but finding out the origins was just as impossible.

He let her know he was looking for the newspaper archives. She nodded, pointing him in the right direction, but he insisted she followed him there, saying he was no good with these machines, that he had never used them before. In a sense, it was not all false. He had never needed to look at news archives before. So she followed him there, and sat by the projector for him, running her long, mishapped fingers along the keyboard. Damien let her know of the day, and the newspaper he needed, and she found it quickly for him. Once done, she was about to leave, raising from the seat again, but Damien stopped her.

"Wait! I'm not too sure still... How do I find the obituaries...?"

"Oh! That's very simple, yes yes!", she said, sitting back down and flipping through the paper until she would get to the part. Damien did not look at the screen starting from then, fearing he would read the part by mistake and forget all about what he had to do. When she was showing signs of wanting to leave again, he brought his large hand down on the back of the chair, leaning down and pocking his finger at the screen.

"Wait up!", he told her, "I still need your help for a bit. Do you think you could print this for me?"

But she shook her head, saying there were no printers for these files for copyright issues. Damien nodded his understanding, but asked her if she minded writing down the information on the screen. Of course, it struck her as odd, and said that he could do it on his own. Damien shook his head, pointing at the screen again. He needed this information. Someone he knew passed away, and he needed the information to go to the funerals, which made sense. But when she asked him what the name of the person was, he stalled for a moment, then said that it was a long lost friend of a family member, and that he did not know his last name, so he needed to make some research. Of course, the librarian agreed, understood, but suggested he came back with said family member to look it up.

Now Damien was starting to lose his patience. How hard was it to write down a name and an address? There were about four pages of names, yes, but at least half of them were "in remembrance of the death of" that dated back to years ago. It was getting confusing and hard. That woman, if it was a woman at all, was starting to get on his nerves, asking too many questions.

Eventually, he shook his head with impatience, "I can't read. It's not something I want people to know, even less my family."

"Oh... oh I see, yes yes... Um... well... um...", she reached for a piece of paper and a pencil, "Well um.... okay, here, give me a moment..."

Damien nodded and thanked her. He had guessed it would have come down to this, but he had nearly messed up as well. After about ten minutes, the librarian handed him the piece of paper, smiling at him. She looked a little more like a woman now, but he still could not be sure. She escorted him back to the door, still smiling, and Damien had a hunch it meant he had just made a new friend. She had made her good deed of the day by helping someone they way she had after all. He owed her, that was for sure. When he reached back into his pocket and handed her a piece of paper with his cell phone number scribbled on it, she took it questioningly. He let her know that she had been of great help, and if she needed anything, to give him a call.

She even opened the door for him, waving at him when he left. If she had realized that Damien had just given her a written note, she may not have been this happy. Then again, there were illiterate people who understood numbers and how to write them, compared to writing words, and that's probably what she would tell herself in the end.

"Made a new friend?", Alice smirked, looking at the genderless being waving at Damien before going back inside the large building.

Damien made no reply to this, but handed over the list for Ryan to see. But all he could see was a bunch of names with funeral dates. It meant nothing, and did not give any clues as to what could have had Ryan, Alice and Miguel forget about reading the obituaries, nor did not give anything about Miguel going into Death Rage for no apparent reason. It seemed they were still at a dead end. They were about to give up when Miguel, who had remained quiet all this time, looked at the woman, "Hey Alice... if I say Stan... what do you think about?"

"Ley...", the word came casually, quickly, automatically.

Miguel snapped his fingers, "That's it! Stanley! Whenever I think about the paper... that's what comes to mind, Stan.. and Ley. Stanley!"

Ryan nodded, then looked over the list again with Damien, his finder tracing down the names.

"There is a Joseph Stanley in there...", Ryan said, confirming it was the only Stanley in the list, "... and according to this, the funerals are happening as we speak."

To be continued...

Survival 101 - (Return to Mike's Residence)

Survival 101 - Return to Mike's Residence
March 18th 2006
Blog Entry 8

When Alice voiced going back to Mike's place to see if anything had been missed, no one objected to it. They had nothing to lose after all, except maybe Mike, but going to his hometown was most likely one step closer to finding the old man.

Ryan drove the pack back to Boulder. The ride was quiet. The road was clear, the sky grey and threatening to rain at any given time. A few drops of water splashed over the windshield, but that was as far the the bad weather went all day. Ryan concentrated his gaze on the road with his lips tightly shut and thinking as silently as he usually did. Mike was gone. Their tribute to Muraco kept being delayed. Things sure weren't going his way. He was not the type of man to show his utter emotions, even speak of them, but it was obvious the events troubled him. Of course, would anyone ask him, he would shrug it off as he always did.

However, as he drove, he caught a glimpse of something rather unusual from the corner of his eye. Miguel, as usual, sat in the back of the SUV, while Damien's large bulk sat in the backseat with his head lowered and his body slightly crouched. Alice was sitting in the passenger's seat next to Ryan, rubbing at her temple with her eyes closed. Her skin had gone from its pretty tanned bronze to a grayish complexion. A glimmer of sweat had appeared above her brows as well. Ryan slowed the pace of the SUV, giving her a few more glances, until finally, he asked her if she needed him to stop by the side of the road for some fresh air. The woman shook her head faintly, inquiring it was not necessary... but it only took less then a minute until she asked him to stop the vehicle. She stepped out in a hurry, ran by the ditch about ten feet from the group, fell to her knees, and threw up. After long minutes with her head down to stare at her lap, she finally stood back up, going back to her seat and not looking at any of the passengers. Not looking at Damien's whose frown betrayed worry and wonder. He decided to keep it to himself for the time being.

"Will you be alright?", Ryan asked her.

And to this, she replied she was fine, that it was nothing to worry about, and that they should be on their way.

Miguel snorted from the back of the SUV, "Heh, can't bring women anywhere, they always get in the way."

"Fuck you, Miguel", she spat back at him, to which he made a shark like mocking grin back at her in the rear view mirror.

"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"

But she only rolled her eyes and set herself deep into the seat once more, looking outside as Ryan followed the road to Boulder again. By the time they got to the town, Alice had gained back her colors.

Upon finding Mike's house, it seemed to have been untouched since Damien's last investigation. Still, from the outside, the residence looked clean and undamaged, but as soon as the group entered by the door inside the garage door, they found themselves taking a deep breathe, finding the mess. Unfortunately, not only was the blood Damien had found gone, but there were no more clues to explain what could have happened to Mike. Obviously, had there been any, it would have been wiped out and away just like the blood.

And so they were at an impasse once again. There was nothing that could help them find clues about Mike's disappearance and obvious attackers. But they were not about to give up. The newspaper was brought up again, and although there was a lot of unease concerning the issue, it was obvious they would find the answers in the newspaper. It would be a good way to find out if, also, only the newspaper brought back to Denver had been cursed - if it was at all - or if all the newspapers to the date of the previous day were bugged. It was soon agreed that going to the local library would enable them to find previous newspapers archived, such as the Bolder News.

They found a large, old building, with bronze statues of random important people on each side of marble stairs. They were probably early Maire's, or the founders of Boulder, standing proudly with their chest puffed in their expensive clothes. On top of a large clock and tower was the American flag, flowing wildly with the wind. There were plenty of people going up and down the stairs, most of them university students, some children with graphic novels, others just plain people looking for a good novel of their choice.

Ryan pulled the SUV by the side of the road and by the entrance, looking at the two sets of wooden and metal doors. Everyone stepped out of the car, and Ryan stepped forward, looking back once before disappearing in the library. When the doors closed behind him, a thought most likely occurred to the pack and the woman. What if, by any misfortune, it sent Ryan into Death Rage as it had Miguel? This time, there were plenty of innocents to slay, not just a few people who knew of Ryan's real identity. There were children, elders, men and women, innocent bystanders not even looking back at the man with the green coat and the jersey shirt hanging lose over his jeans. He looked no different then they, like this, looking for archives... looking for something that had nearly gotten him killed.

When he stepped out of the library again, he had not gone into Death Rage, nor had he lost his mind. But when he looked at them, his gaze looked empty for a moment. When Damien asked him if he had found the paper, all Ryan did was glance at him strangely, saying "Found what?"

Damien shook his head and sighed. So the other newspapers were bugged as well. Sending Ryan back inside was out of the question, as the risk of seeing him turn into a wild, dangerous beast had gone a notch higher. Was there no way to read the newspaper at all?

"Maybe normal humans can read it fine", Alice inquired, "for all we know, supernatural beings could be the only ones affected. Humans wouldn't give a shit for this type of thing. If they did and found out about it, imagine the uproar. Besides, if it affected humans, we would've known already. News and gossips go by fast. This place would be infested with reporters from all over the country."

Ryan and Damien agreed it was most likely the case. Humans were fast to go to conclusions, and if Luna's Avatars had noticed something was odd when you read a part of the newspapers, other people were bound to have noticed too. Not everyone read their newspapers alone at peace. So what they needed to find was a human to read the obituaries aloud. Simple enough... or was it?

Damien scratched his bald head, looking at the doors with a sigh, and stepped forward, saying he would be back; that he had an idea.

The pack and Alice blinked at him, and watched him disappear behind the large, heavy doors of the Boulder Library.

To be Continued...

Survival 101 - (Lost Game and Traitors)

Survival 101 - Lost Game and Traitors
March 18th 2006
Blog Entry 7

Alice seemed to take quite a while getting dressed downstairs, but as she came back to enter the conversation about what had just happened with Miguel, neither Ryan nor Damien commented on it. Either that or they truly had not noticed she had been gone for quite longer then she should have been. Nevertheless, despite the situation, she seemed nearly radiant, if not happy, with a soft smile crossing her lips.

It was not very long until Miguel himself showed up, passing the team and sitting on a random chair. Alice was not very surprised to see he had escaped his bounds, and neither did his two packmates, who knew him quite well. Miguel looked exhausted, but whatever injuries he had suffered seemed to have either disappeared or did not bother him at all. Only Alice was staring at him as if waiting for something, or was it just another lustful gaze she was throwing at him?

Little was said - although the mention of Miguel's death rage did steer him a bit - until Miguel sprung from his seat as if he had been stabbed from under. His hands roamed through his pockets in what seemed like sheer panic. Alice raised an eyebrow, looking at him questioningly, but also observing his movements. Damien and Ryan looked at him oddly, even came to ask what was wrong, but Miguel was already gone, running downstairs. The woman, with her hands behind her back, watched him run downstairs in a hurry. A look of mischief and amusement went through her, having a good idea why Miguel had become so suddenly agitated. Without a word, Miguel ran back upstairs and outside... then back inside and up into his room. Still, the woman followed his running with sheer interest, while the other men wondered what had gotten to Miguel like so. The fear of having him go into Death Rage once more came to mind as well.

"Who went into my room?!", Miguel's enraged voice echoed from up the stairs.

Alice walked forward, not intimidated by the man's anger at all, and even smiled as she told him nothing but the truth: she had gone into his room, yes. She had also gone into Ryan's room, and had also put Mike's room upside down to look for a decent weapon to save her life and probably those of that very pack. She made sure to remind him how he had gone into Death Rage, and as she did so, that damned grin, the same she had used on Killy a little while back, radiated on her pretty features. But that seemed to irritate Miguel that much more as he clearly believed she was lying and trying to look good in front of his packmates. He accused her of looking through his journal next. Oh, she had, that she had, but had found nothing of interest. She shrugged it off, saying she had had little interest in his boyish fantasies while her life had been at stake.

Perhaps it was Damien's intervention that changed Miguel's mind when he went up the stairs with heavy and angry steps.

He trailed the Irraka back to his room, finding him to be even more furious about the situation. Killy's family picture had vanished from his pockets! Alice had gone through his things! What if she had found a way to read his journal? He knew Killy had come back to the get his precious photograph, but who could have given its location away? Well, with Mike gone again, Miguel's rage came to such a point he believed he had been the one to let Killy know Miguel was holding onto the picture. And why the hell not? Why wouldn't he let the Cahalith know of it, if it were not just to sit back and enjoy seeing someone struggle again? Because Mike seemed to enjoy that so much that, in the end, it had cost Miguel and Killy near brotherhood to come to an abrupt end.

"He's dead! If I find him first, he's dead! I'll slash his chest and slit his throat myself", Miguel raged about how he would get to Mike, "I knew I shouldn't have trusted him! In fact... I don't think I can trust any of you anymore!"

Damien's own rageous, deep voice cut him in his tracks, stepping forward and hard on the wooden floor, "Why is it that whenever someone disapears they immediatly become traitors?!"

Miguel glared at him through half closed eyelids, opening his mouth to spat back at his packmate. Damien rose his large hands in front of Miguel to hush him before he would go on, then Damien pointed at Miguel's left side, asking him what it was. Though Miguel attempted to argue how ridiculous the Blood Talon was being, Damien still repeated himself, this time raising his voice a notch, pointing at Miguel's left side once again. When Miguel answered it was a sword he held in its shakle to the left, Damien pointed to Miguel's right, to his second sword. When Miguel agreed it was there, his voice lowered slightly.

"Well both of those were in ME!", Damien exclaimed, "I don't care if you don't remember it, because I sure do! Now, you wanna stop associating me with traitors? Because the list seems to be growing."

And to that, Miguel said nothing, lowering his head with shame and understanding, but still keeping his eyecontact with Damien nevertheless. There was still a bit of pride left to Miguel after all, and he was not about to be fully defeated yet. He would hold to his beliefs strongly, his hatred for what he believed Mike had done never leaving his eyes. Although he saw Damien's point clearly, doubts about his packmates were still present, and were not about to leave anytime soon.

Damien shook his head, sighing heavily. If that had not been enough to reason with Miguel, then nothing was going to work. Damien had probably had enough of Miguel's behaviour up to that point, and the fact that he had gone into Death Rage and attacked his own packmates had also ticked him off. It had not been Miguel's fault, obviously, but he could still feel the cold steel of the blades deep in his chest... and that, he enjoyed no more then bullets.

He then went back downstairs where Ryan and Alice were still patiently waiting.... Alice was still smiling with mischeaf, but since she seemed to do that often, there were no questions asked.

Eventually, Miguel followed back downstairs without so much of a word, his features cold as ice. He leaned against the wall, crossing his arms, and watched the rest of them talk about the trip to the forest, the newspaper, and eventually, how they could not leave without Mike.

And all the while, Alice looked at Miguel with that same, sinful, mischeavous and lust filled smile...


To be continued....