Crowley teleported in front of her. He was obviously enjoying this little game.

'Hey, I'm only /helping/ you... Now that you're allowed to defend yourself, you need to learn how. Or you'll be pulverised by someone nastier than me.'

{Pythia skids to a halt, then shifts and takes to the skies.}

Pythia: "I don't want your help, leave me alone!"

Crowley looked up in surprise, then spread his wings and pursued her. He was very small compared to her, but that didn't put him off. He darted in close and swiped her tail, trying to provoke her into attacking him. 'Hey, stop running away from me!'

(I forgot the size of her dragon form, but I'm sure she's bigger than him. XD)

(Huh. I never said. Thought I did. Let's just call it, oh, 18 feet long. She's a big, fluffy noodle. XD)

Pythia: "No! Go away!"

{She starts to fly down towards the buildings, swiftly zig zagging through the alleys, trying to lose him.}

Crowley darted after her. He was small, quick, and extremely agile in the air. He kept up with Pythia's every move, making it impossible for her to lose him entirely.

'Coward! Wimp! Stupid fuzzy noodle!' he yelled childish insults after her.

Pythia: "Shut up, you oily little man!"

{Frustrated that she couldn't lose him, she makes a ward right in his path, hoping he collides with it and stops.}

'Woah!'

Crowley was too focused on chasing Pythia, and crashed into the ward in mid-air. For a moment, it seemed like she had succeeded in dropping him. All was quiet. Then Crowley reappeared flying alongside her, having teleported to keep up. He was breathing hard and looked frustrated.

'Stop with the stupid ward thing! Don't you know any /attacks?'/

Pythia: "No! Stop following me!"

{Seeing that her last attempt nearly succeeded, She tries it again, forming a ward right in his path.}

Pythia: "Why won't you leave me alone?!"

There was a thump as Crowley flew into the ward again, this time with enough force to knock himself out. He dropped senseless to the ground, landing in a feathery heap in an alleyway below.

{Seeing that Crowley was knocked unconscious, Pythia stops in mid air. After some contemplation, and against her better judgement, she flies down to him and begins to cautiously assess his condition. She just wanted him to stop following her, not for him to get hurt.}

Crowley lay in a crumpled heap, wings askew and tongue hanging out. Several of his feathers were sticking out the wrong way, but he didn't seem to have any broken bones or other serious injuries. As Pythia leaned over him, he began to stir groggily.

Pythia: "Eep!"

{As soon as Crowley started moving, Pythia bolted, flying away as fast as she could.}

Crowley started to get up, swaying a little. He could see the blurry shape of Pythia speeding away, and tried to follow her, but fell on his face instead.

'Urgh... Next time I see that giant worm... I won't be so nice to her...'

{Pythia kept going and didn't look back. She didn't stop until she made it back to Fred's house, frantically running inside, past Ryder.}

Pythia: "Fred! Fred!"

Fred was in the living room, sitting on the couch with a cup of tea. After having the place thoroughly cleaned, he was enjoying some time to himself while Pythia's patients were barred from the house.

'Pythia?' He stared at her as she entered. 'What's going on?'

Pythia: "Crowley attacked me! He-he wouldn't stop chasing me!"

{Pythia looked on the verge of tears. Her dress was a little torn from when Crowley jumped on her and she was shaking from the whole experience.}

Fred's brow furrowed. 'Crowley? I was under the impression that he was no longer permitted in the city...' he said, almost to himself. 'I'll have the relay keep an eye out for him.'

He then looked at Pythia properly. 'You don't seem to be significantly injured. Are you sure he was attacking you?'

Pythia: "He jumped on me and he wouldn't stop chasing me! I don't know what else to call it! He kept trying to make me attack him!"
{She didn't seem all too happy about it, despite the fact that Crowley didn't seem to do much.}

'Hmm.' Fred took a sip of his tea. He didn't seem hugely concerned about this, since Pythia wasn't injured. 'Crowley is an overgrown vulture looking for scraps. He only picks on you this much because he thinks you won't fight back. It's a game to him.'

Pythia: "Well, I don't want to be his play thing! I can't find a house under these conditions!"

{With that, she runs away to her room, wiping her eyes.}

Fred shot a frustrated look after her as she left. 'I wasn't done...' //Why does she always have to run away in the middle of conversations?//

Sighing, he sent a message to the relay. //Be on the alert for a dark-blue crowdragon. He has been known to target Pythia, and may attack others as well. If you see him causing problems, you may either intervene yourself, or alert me.//

(Lmao she's a tad sensitive. XD)

(She needs to learn to stand up for herself. XD

What now? Should we skip to sometime later?)

(I guess so. So, where should we skip to? Back to Dianne and Armin?

At some point, Pythia's going to lose it because someone's antagonizing her, and she's going to almost kill someone. XD)

(Yeah. Armin's going to the plains to hunt around nightfall. I was trying to think of something he could do, or something that could happen to him, while hunting. But I don't know if I'll come up with anything.

Oh no. She's going to go full dragon rage mode. XD)

(Actually, while he's alone, Death's Aspect wants to talk to him.

And by talk, I mean say something completely unintelligible while scaring the pants off of him. XD)

(Oh dear. He's probably going to have nightmares after that. XD

Shall I skip to evening, then?)

(Yeah, do it. XD)

----

It was evening, and just starting to get dark. Armin was relaxing on the couch, watching something on TV. It was almost dinnertime; he was intending to let Rex make something for Dianne and Esme, while Armin himself embarked on a hunting trip. //There's probably plenty of prey up on the north plains...//

{Dianne was tiredly watching the tv, drifting in and out of sleep. However, she was unwilling to go to bed without dinner.}

Dianne: "...Is it dinnertime yet?..."

{She asks while rubbing her eyes.}

'Yeah, it is,' said Armin, yawning. 'Rex said that he'll make something for you and Esme, since he's better at cooking than me... I won't be here for dinner, though. I'm going out to hunt.'

{Dianne gives him a sideways glance.}

Dianne: "...Ok...Barnabas, go with him and make sure he comes back ok."

Armin returned her sideways glance. 'Come on, I'm going /hunting./ I'm not going out to fight anyone. How could I not be OK? Are you suggesting I might get attacked by a deer or something?'

Dianne: "I don't know what's out there. Come on, don't fight me on this. Just do it for my peace of mind?"

'Alright... As long as it's not because you think I'm an idiot.'
Armin stood up and started to get ready to leave. In the kitchen, the sounds of clinking plates, sizzling, and various other cooking noises emanated softly. Esme wasn't visible; she seemed to be in the kitchen with Rex.

Dianne: "Of course I don't think you're an idiot....I just get worried about ambushes....for obvious reasons..."

'Yeah, I get that. You never know what's out there. And we seem to run into trouble a lot.'

With his shoes on, but no jacket, Armin went over to Dianne. 'Well, I'm gonna head off. I should be back in time to go up to bed with you.'

Dianne: "Ok...Don't be too long, you hear?..."

{She leans forward and kisses him, then leans back.}

Armin smiled slightly. 'Don't worry. I'll be as quick as I can.' He then headed out into the dusky darkness, shifting to hawk form and taking flight. He headed straight towards the northern plains, where he hoped to find deer, rabbits, birds, and other common prey.

Rex briefly emerged from the kitchen to watch him leave, then returned to continue making dinner.

Dianne: "Next time...I'm going with him..."

(Go ahead and settle the boi in the forest. The aspect will only appear once he's on the ground.)

Spotting a patch of woodland close to a small lake, Armin swooped down and shifted to his wolf form. The musky scent of deer was strong here. Moving with a predator's stalk, he slowly approached the lake, where three small deer had gathered to drink.

In an explosion of movement, he lunged. Two of the animals scattered; Armin targeted the third as it stumbled over itself, leaping high and driving his teeth into its neck. There was a short scuffle, before he managed to bring the deer down. In the suddenly quiet air, he bent over the animal's neck and started to ravenously feed on its blood.

{As Armin fed on the deer, he suddenly felt uneasy. Like something was wrong. Very wrong. From the thicket around him, animals start emerging, running into the clearing, past Armin, past the lake. It wasn't just a handful of deer, either. It was mice, wood rats, all mannner of invertebrates, rabbits, birds. If it had legs, it was running.}

Armin's head snapped up. The deer's blood glistened around his mouth. //What the...//

He stared at the animals rushing past him. In other circumstances, he might have thought about how strange it looked. But instead, he was just feeling a strong urge to run away with them.

Leaving the deer carcass, he started to uneasily edge backwards, gazing around alertly. He had only felt this kind of uneasiness once before... when had that been...?

{On the edge of the thicket, the plants were rapidly decaying, much like what he's seen from Dianne's decay magic. All at once, Armin's slain deer shrieked, jerked upright, anmd ran off woth the others. From the pile of decaying vegetation, a voice calls out. The same growling, raspy voice of Death's Aspect.}

Aspect: "Heh.....Heh......Goooodddddd......"

Armin froze, all the fur along his spine standing up. He wanted to keep backing away - or running - but he couldn't seem to make himself move. He couldn't even breathe. It was as though he were trapped in that nightmare again, the horrifying nightmare from the truck, even though he /knew/ this time it wasn't a dream.

{From under the pile of decayed plant matter, the aspect emerges, exactly as Armin saw it in his dream. Standing to full height, it walks forward towards him, wheezing and rasping.}

Aspect: "Gooooood.....gooooood.......I aCcePt.....yOur ofFerriNg..."

Armin was too petrified to dwell on how little the aspect's words made sense. Managing to make himself move, he took a couple of stiff, jerky steps backwards, not wanting the creature to get any closer to him.

{The aspect walks ever closer, chuckling lowly. As it did so, there was a scratching noise coming from its ribcage. Spiders and snakes leapt out of it, as it seemed something was emerging from within the aspect.}

Aspect: "Come.....Come....Bear witness....."

Armin backed up faster, before his back paws were met with slick mud. He had reached the edge of the lake and could back away no further. He could barely hear the aspect's voice over his own pulse pounding in his ears, and had no desire to see what might happen next, but couldn't seem to shift to fly away.

{The aspect stopped, leaning slightly back. From its rib cage, hands appeared, then arms, then the entire upper torso of a person. When their face hit the moonlight, it was revealed to be Janet, hanging upside down from the chest of this eldritch being. She was smiling at him, but I don't think anything would make this situation any less terrifying.}

Aspect: "Make your peace....make your peace.....and embrace my daughter....."

Armin seemed to have lost any ability to move or speak. He felt sick and lightheaded, staring at Janet's face with the strongest expression of horror a wolf could have. He didn't understand why the aspect was showing him this. He didn't know what was going on. //Janet... what... why does...//

{Closing her eyes, Janet turned to ash. The aspect then straightens out, laughing.}

Aspect: "Hahahahahahahahahahah! Rejoice! Fortunes favor.....you.....Love her.....love.....meeeeeee........"

{With a rasping breath, the aspect fades out of existence.}

Armin stood stock-still, trembling slightly as he watched the place where Janet had just been. Then, he slumped down to lie on his belly, his legs suddenly giving way. //What... the f**k... was THAT?//

He wanted nothing more than to shift and go home, but he was too shaky to fly. He decided to lie there just for a moment.

{Barnabas appears, sitting beside Armin. He pets his head gently, but says nothing.}

Armin lay stiffly for a few minutes, trying to calm his racing heart. He didn't object to Barnabas petting him.

Eventually, he stood up, swaying slightly. //We're going home,// he said, shifting to hawk form. //I don't want to be here.// Spreading his wings, he took off into the night.

{Barnabas simply fades out of existence. As Armin flies away, flowers start sprouting where the aspect stood. They were all the species that Janet grew when she gardened.}

(You mentioned that she gardened, right?)

(Probably, Janet did /all/ the hobbies.)

Armin didn't look back to see the flowers growing. He was too focused on getting home. When he arrived above his house, he glided down and shifted back to human form, letting himself in. He didn't look too good. He was pale, wide-eyed and looked slightly traumatised.

Inside, everyone had recently finished dinner. When Rex saw Armin, he immediately went up to him, grabbing his shoulder to hold him still.

'Armin? You look like death, what have you been doing?' he growled protectively.

{Dianne was dozing slightly, but woke up when Armin came in.}

Dianne: "Armin? Armin, what happened? What's wrong?"

Armin took a moment to respond. 'F**cking... Death's Aspect... in the woods... I saw it...' he said disjointedly, not quite looking at anyone.

Rex, who had heard about Armin's first meeting with the Aspect, looked concerned by this, but wasn't sure what to say. He glanced worriedly at Dianne.

Dianne: "What?! Why would he....Armin, come here. Let me take a look at you."

Rex stepped back to let Armin go. With unsteady movements, Armin shuffled over to sit on the couch, not looking relaxed in the slightest. He felt sick.

From the corner, Esme watched curiously, oblivious to what he'd seen.

{Dianne shifted towards him, bringing him close. She starts to check him over for wounds, then puts her ear to his chest. After seeing that he was fine, she hugs him tightly.}

Dianne: "It's ok...I'm here, Rex is here, we're all ok..."

'...Why does it have to do this...' he muttered, still pale and shaky from the whole experience. 'I don't want it... I don't want its dam.n cryptic messages...'

He was grateful for Dianne's embrace, as well as Rex's quiet presence across the room, but he still felt terrible.

Dianne: "Shhhh....I know, I know...It rarely makes any sense....but it's over now..."

{She starts to stroke his hair, but, in her weakened state, she couldn't stay upright for long and started to lean back.}

Armin let himself lean back with her. He turned and buried his face in her shoulder, using her warmth and familiar scent to soothe himself. He was trying very, very hard not to think of the Janet he'd seen.

{Dianne lay there with him in her arms, continuing to stroke his hair.}

Dianne: "It's ok...it's not coming back...Breathe..."

Eventually, she would feel that Armin was slightly more relaxed. He was trying to focus on the present, and not think about the Aspect.

'Thanks... Could we go upstairs, if you're ready? I'd quite like to lie down...'

Dianne: "Yeah....let's go...."

{She lets go of him, but can't quite pick herself up with him on top of her.}

Armin got up, moving slowly, but less shakily than before. Without asking, he gently picked Dianne up and started to head up the stairs with her. Esme watched them go, but didn't immediately follow.

Once they got upstairs, Armin deposited her on the edge of the bed, using one arm to support her so she wouldn't topple over. '...You need a hand getting changed...?'

Dianne: "Yes, please...Same clothes as before."

{Swaying slightly, she slumps forward.}

Armin quietly helped her out of her dress and into her sleepwear, trying to keep his mind off the Aspect as he helped her. //Why is it always so dam.n cryptic? And... Janet...// He quickly shoved the thought away.

Once Dianne was changed, he started pulling off his own shirt and jeans, digging out another shirt to sleep in.

{Once dressed, Dianne lies back.}

Dianne: "It's still bothering you, I can tell...Let's just get some sleep, you'll feel better in the morning. And, at any time, if you want to talk about it...I'm here..."

'Yeah... maybe...'

Armin got into the bed beside her, curling up slightly and snuggling into her side.

{Dianne wraps an arm around him, settling in to sleep.}

Dianne: "I'm....really sorry you had to see it....it's never pleasant..."

Armin didn't say anything, but just lay there, drawing what comfort he could from her presence. He knew he would eventually tell her what he'd seen, but right now, he was too afraid to even think about it. He just wanted to sleep.

[I take it we skip to morning. You can go first, Dianne's sleeping in again.)

----

Armin slept deeply through the night, allowing both him and Dianne to get much-needed rest. However, later in the morning, around the time he would normally wake up, he started to stir uneasily, groaning and clutching Dianne's arm almost painfully in his sleep.

{Dianne winced at th disturbance, stirring slightly before waking entirely.}

Dianne: "Armin?....Armin, wake up...Armin!"

{She gently pats his shoulder in an attempt to wake him up.}

'...No, get back... Get away from me!'

Armin's mumbling cut off as he snapped awake, looking around wildly. Once he ascertained it was just a dream, he sunk back down, burying his face in the pillow with a shuddering breath.

{Dianne eyes him with concern.}

Dianne: "Armin, sweetheart, are you ok? Was it another dream?"

'Mhm... Sorry, I didn't mean to disturb you, when you need the sleep...' He shivered convulsively, looking ill. 'It was just a nightmare...'

Dianne: "Armin....you're shaking."

{Rolling onto her side, she wraps her arms around him.}

Dianne: "Right now, I'm more concerned about you than sleep."

(Have to post a new roOm)