Meeting in the Long Dead Forest (Open)

[alena]

Alena stood at the edge of the Black Forest, her aquamarine eyes locked on the mysterious, sinister looking forest and were filled to the brim with excitement. Before now, she had never entered the place...mostly from the lack of knowing anyone in or on the other side of it. 'I finally get to enter here! Sure, this is so I can get to the Wind Swept Hills faster...but, who knows, I might find something to keep me entertained in here. Then again, if the rumors are true, then I'll be sure to have fun.' She thought, barely holding back the urge to just race into the forest from anticipation as she heard a faint scream echo from the trees.

Head held high, she strode into the eerie trees in front of her. At first, she kept a happy, lazy pace through the forest. Despite the dark feeling of the forest, her eyes took in everything with newfound wonder and excitement, as a child might. Soon enough, however, the forest began to take its toll on her mind, and she quickly found herself jumpy from paranoia and bored out of her mind.

As she heard a sound close to her, she stiffened, hand flying in reflex toward her dagger. Grasping the hilt, she immediately felt calmed, the memories of Varoen teaching her with it entering her mind. A swift, floaty feeling entered her mind as she remembered him, then a pang of longing. Realizing what she was doing, she let go of the blade and hid it once more, forcing herself out of her previous thoughts. 'No, BAD Alena! Concentrate on what you're doing now, not some waterbender!' She shouted to herself in her mind.

After a few minutes of arguing with herself, she stopped and blinked, looking at her surroundings, then realized she'd been standing in the same spot. Feeling foolish, she began to walk once more. 'I'm suddenly really happy this place has no one in it...otherwise that would've been embarrassing.' She laughed aloud at the thought, but the sound was fleeting and she was quickly quiet once more. 'Now...I wonder how to get out of this place.' She paused in mid-step, the sudden thought making her freeze. 'I should've thought of this before I came here.' She sighed, mentally hitting herself for being unprepared. 'Well...since I don't know my way around this place, there's only one way to find out.' She thought, and began to head in a random direction. "Please, let this be the right way..."

[Zek]

It was another slow day in the forest as Zek relaxed in a tree. It was mid-morning when Zek heard the not so familiar sound of movement. He quickly grabbed his things, sword, bow, and arrows, and darted off towards the crackling sound of the dead underbrush. When he arrived to the source he found a couple frolicking in his woods. " Such foolish notions they must have, coming here into my place of peace " He smiled " only to give me entertainment..." He had seen this many times before and knew not why anyone came here anymore. This couple was no different from the one before and he would make sure they knew they were nothing special.

He followed them; making sounds and noises, knowing they would echo from all directions. As time passed, Zek could tell what would happen next, the only unique thing about these two was they young man was a waterbender, though not dressed as one. Zek remembered the waterbender from the squad and fighting with him multiple times because the water bender didn’t agree with his methods. Later on though they became a little friendlier with one another and grew to accept the way each other did things. " Tell me waterbender, is this one of yours? Is he weak? Does he have the desire to live? Does he deserve my mercy? Few truly do. This waterbender better be ready for me Varoen, otherwise his lover will suffer for it. "

After both of them being paranoid out of their minds, half due to Zek, the other half the sheer presence of the forest. He drew his bow and notch an arrow and drew back slowly, taking careful aim as he smiled more and released his arrow, letting it fly swiftly, catching the young man's ear, tearing it off as the water bender began shouting in pain, Zek dropping from his hiding place, his accelerated speed closing the gap within moments as he slammed the young man into a nearby tree and ripping his water pouch from him and leaping back and drawing his ninjato. " you have entered my woods. How do you plead? Guilty of course! I am the judge here and I've caught you red handed! i am also the jury to determine you punishment! " A wicked smile spreading over his lips as he punctured the pouch and drank the water inside of it as he eyes stayed on the water bender. The water bender began shaking his head to focus as what just happened, the pain still ringing over his missing ear. He looked over at Zek as he finished drinking the water, the young girl with him wide eyed and panicking " P-please! w-we didn’t know! We will leave and never bother you again good sir! " The girls voice quivering as she pleaded. Zek chuckled as his gaze drifted to her " you know the stories of these woods then you know of me. You know how many I've killed and how much easier it gets every time. This fool-hearted man promising you everything will be okay and that they are just stories. That death really doesn’t live here and he is right, only his arrow remains here. " Zek quickly dashed for the man and ran his blade through the man’s thigh and quickly yanked it out, spinning around, the girl trying to run as a blood curling scream escapes her lips but only for a moment as they are cut short by Zek's blade. He turned back to the man as he sighed " I hope you have learned something here. " Zek grabbed the man by the back of his head and slammed the hilt of his blade into his forehead, knocking him out. Zek dragged him to a remote location of the woods along with the head of his lover and left them there for a test of will to begin. If the young man lived, he would never forget this day, Zek made sure of that. " Life isn’t a fantasy, it’s a nightmare for those who don’t expect death. It’s a paradise for those who embrace it "

Zek was strolling through his woods a few hours later and heard another intruder roaming his woods. He took to the trees and began tracking the noise. " My test begins again."

[alena]

Alena let out a sigh as she continued to walk through the forest. Her aquamarine eyes were filled with fathomless boredom and exhaustion from walking for so long. 'It has to be close to noon by now.' She thought, then looked up at the sky. 'Not that I can tell, though, 'cause the clouds cover everything here!' She thought crossly. "I should've never come to this damned place!" She shouted out loud in annoyance, not caring that her voice echoed through the trees and alerted all of her presence. The frusteration and anger of being alone in such a place with no means of entertainment began to sink into her thoughts, and she began to walk faster until she was sprinting.

After a few minutes, her pace began to slow once more as her anger began to dissapate. Panting slightly, she looked randomly to her right and stopped as her eyes latched onto a tall tree. 'I swear I've seen that tree before...' She thought, then widened her eyes in panic. 'Dammit! I forgot to set up markers! I might've been walking in circles for hours!' Fear and panic shooted through her brain as the thought of being actually lost in the forest became a possibility.

Pressing her lips tightly together, she took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down. 'Get it together, Alena. Right now isn't the time to freak out...there's still a chance you can get out of here.' She thought to herself, and reached to her side. Grabbing one of her knives, she walked to the tree and sliced the bark, making a deep gash in the trunk. Satisfied, she nodded once, grinning, and turned, returning to walking once more and leaving the same gash in a tree when she felt it nessisary. 'I'll get out of here soon enough!' She told herself cheerfully, though even she didn't believe the thought.

[Zek]

As Zek moved through his woods, carefully avoiding the places he knew would snap, crackle or give himself away, He heard a shout, which took him by surprised and made him fall out of stride, loosing his step as he fell and hit a branch on the way down. He lay on the on the ground as he pondered for a moment " What made this person cry out? Is there something else in My woods? " Zek hastily got up and got back up into the trees and began his course again.

When he came to the place where the sounds had originated from, he took a moment to check his surroundings, quickly noticing the mark in the tree trunk, making him slightly agitated " Who does this person think they are!?! Making markers in My trees!?! What the hell!?! " He leaped up into the trees, drawing his bow and an arrow, and took pursuit again. He found his target after a few minutes, A young woman with blond hair. Stopping his pursuit as quietly as he could, some bark crackling under his feet, as he drew his arrow back quickly and released it. " This is your only warning girl! " He thought as the arrow took its course, aimed to skim the side of this girls face as a warning shoot.

[alena]

Making yet another marking on a tree, Alena returned to the path ahead of her, yawning slightly. 'Well, I haven't come across a mark of mine yet...so that means I'm not going in a circle so far.' She thought to herself. 'Then again, I DID just start marking the trees...'

As a wave of hopelessness threatened to crash over her, she shook her head, clearing the feeling from her brain for the most part. "That won't help me get out of here...gotta stay focused and just find an exit out of this place as soon as possible." She murmured softly to herself, and, feeling her spirits lift slightly, she continued along.

However, a few minutes later, she heard a familiar sound to her; the sound of an arrow rushing through the wind. It was luck that the forest was as eeriely quiet as it was, otherwise she probably wouldn't have heard it. Reacting on instinct, she turned then sidestepped fast, the arrow narrowly missing the side of her face. At the same time, she grabbed the hilt of her katana and unsheathed it, holding it poised as she waited for another attack. Her aquamarine eyes scanned the trees, where the arrow had most likely come from. "I know you're here, so show yourself!" She yelled out in the direction she felt the arrow had been released from, her voice sounded confident as it rang through the forest. 'I hate feeling vunerable...' She thought in annoyance when she realized she wasn't able to pinpoint the shooter. 'I'm not in the mood for a fight...hopefully, he/she will just show his/her self without one.'

[Zek]

Zek chuckled quietly to himself as he quickly realized "This girl knows what she is doing." His twisted thoughts began filling his mind " Stop it!?! Just...kill her quickly! don't make it a game Zek! your only suppose to do that to people that are causing problems to make examples of them!" His cravings for a good kill flood his mind as he remembers the others he has made suffer in these woods and outside of them. Some fresh in his mind, others from back before the Burning Legion was formed. He remembers being told by Aiden and Sanosuke to control the killing of those not needed to be killed.

Zek moved slowly to the side, into another tree as he kept his eye on his target through the trees. He slides his bow onto his back and draws his ninjato, sliding down out of the tree, to the right of where he had shot his arrow, smiling as he did, his blade hidden along his side, as if his arm was just hanging there. His smile quickly fades as he moves slowly, and cautiously towards her " What are you doing in My woods, Girl? And why do you insist on cutting up My trees? Zek's points to a plainly dead tree that bears her marking. " Have you not heard the cries of the dead echoing from this place? Are you uneducated or just a half wit? these woods hold the corpses of everyone stupid enough to enter them, this is my place of tranquility! and you disturb it like the rest...the only difference is you are armed." Zek's eyes glance at her katana. He smiles a little " Pick your words carefully Girl or I will kill you...or let the woods drive you mad on their own." He said the last part with a bit of muse as he let out a glimpse of his twisted smile.

[alena]

Alena watched as a man dropped from the tree she had been staring at, near where she thought the arrow had been shot from, but more to the right. She tensed slightly, but didn't move or make a sound as he landed, aquamarine eyes watching him carefully. She looked over his appearance; slightly short for a male, brown hair, and, though it had been expertly hid against his side, her years of experience allowed her to spot the faint glint of what looked to be a type of sword. 'I can't take him lightly.' She decided, and stood silently, waiting for the man to make the first move.

Her hand clenched the hilt of her katana as he began to move toward her. Her eyes never left him as he began to speak, and she smiled slightly at his words, though never relaxing. "I am not stupid. This is the only direct way to my destination. Also, these woods belong to the Burning Legion and their govenor, Zek Horoki, not yourself." She said after he had finished talking, watching him with an amused expression. "Because I am one of the Execution Squad, you will let me do as I want. Even if that means marking these trees so I don't loose my way." She spoke confidentally, but she still watched him carefully, not taking any chances of letting her guard down in fear her would strike.

A stike would most likely lead to a fight...the thought entered a mind. 'A fight would be nice and entertaining, expecially cause he looks like a good opponent. But my main focus is to get out of this damned place as fast as possible.' She thought, though she longed to fight; it was just the sort of entertainment she needed...Realizing she had let her guard down to think, she shook her head and forced the thought back. 'Stop getting caught up in your thoughts!' She mentally shouted to herself, then turned her attention back to him. 'I really hope I didn't miss anything important...'

[Zek]

He stopped his approach ten feet away from the intruder. Her words spoke truth, and Zek held back his twisted grin as she spoke to hold the illusion. As she finished speaking of the Execution Squad and of himself, he let his evil twisted grin spread " Dear girl, there is only one soul in this forest that is not your own. Who do you think I am? I am Death's Arrow, My arrows are what cause so much pain to the souls who dare cross my path." He began chuckling slightly as he took one step closer to her, " Yet, you claim to be apart of the Execution Squad and I have never met you. I know Aiden, Varoen, Ryumo, and of course Firesfury, but not you...do you know what happens when people lie to me? So you better have some proof of your claims Miss, otherwise I gladly make you suffer."

Zek saw the laps in her focus but didn't take any action for he was curious to hear her reply. He slowly ran his index finger against his blade as he still kept it hidden, His mind having random flashes of what he could do to this girl " It would be such a shame to let this one go...but what if she isn't lying...more importantly though...what if she is?" He had to let out a chuckle as the thoughts coursed through his mind, as if tickling him " No! Your not suppose to think like that unless you know!" His words were aloud without him thinking, though his voice wasn't that loud but still where she might hear him " You don't want to rush into this kill Zek, she actually has a just cause for traveling though here...but still...nothing says she needs to make" " NO!" He shouted and then regained his composer almost instantly, taking a step back as he let out a slight sigh " Sorry Miss. I've been working on my manners." He smiles again, with his most sincere smile, which still didn't pass that well. In the back of her mind, he wished she was lying.

[alena]

"Dear girl, there is only one soul in this forest that is not your own. Who do you think I am? I am Death's Arrow, My arrows are what cause so much pain to the souls who dare cross my path." Alena blinked in surprise. 'Him...Zek? What are the odds of that? Then again, in these woods, there can't be too many people. But...now that I think about it, he does look familiar.' She thought, though her eyes flickered warily with distrust. 'If he is Zek, I can't trust him...not with the stories I've heard.' She decided, and didn't move as he took one step closer to her, not wanting to seem intimitated.

At his next words, she smiled. "Looks like we're both thinking the same thing. Don't worry, I'm not lieing; in my opinion, that'd just be pointless. In the Squad, I didn't meet you either, but I did know of you from Var and Aiden. I'm Alena Kokoro, but my Execution Squad name was Crimson Storm." She said, hoping he'd recognize her name, or at least heard of her. 'If he hasn't, then I'm in trouble...' She thought.

She opened her mouth to say more, but paused as she noticed his focus go to his thoughts. 'Huh. Guess I'm not the only one that does that.' She watched him silently, waiting for his attention to shift once again to her. "No! Your not suppose to think like that unless you know!" She stiffened at his words, and forced herself not to think about the meaning. She gripped her katana tighter, the black glove holding it crinkling from the pressure.

She let out a soft sigh of annoyance as she waited for him to snap out of his thoughts. "NO!" The sudden shout made her jump slightly, aquamarine eyes flashing with alarm for a second or two, then returning to their wary, cautious state. At his apology, she smiled and nodded. "It's fine, I go into my thoughts all the time. It's easy to get lost in your mind when you're thinking." She said brightly, though her eyes shown with mistrust.

[Zek]

" Alena Kokoro? That name sounds so very familiar...Why is that? " His mind searched for the answers as he placed his blade in front of him and stabbed it gently into the ground. " Well, I remember the name Crimson Storm...and your name carries a ring to my-" His facial expression quickly lite up as the sudden realization of who she was " Varoen's Airbender! " He began laughing out loud as he almost doubled over " Oh! Varoen would have been so very angry with me if I would have killed you! Ah...Damn it...it would have been fun though, don't you agree? " Zek smiled more as he took a deep breath. " You win some, you lose some. Oh well! " He thought. Zek laughed again as he quickly put on his "public" face, one that smiled too much and still seemed to give off that, I'm going to kill you for the sheer joy of your screams vibe.

" I wonder how good of a fighter she is? or how loud she screams, No! damn it! shut up!...Hope she's not too talkative...That might make things difficult for me..."

" So What are you doing in the neck of my woods, cutting my trees and such non-sense, giving people who enter false hope that there is a way out and all that such not? " He began walking past her,picking up his blade as he went and quickly sliding it into its sheath, seeming as if he didn't care, but truly had a place to be at the moment. " You should feel privileged. You are the only guest I've actually had. Past that, they are intruders. I really don't like trespassers. " He chuckled softly as images of some of the other guest he has had flashed through his mind. He came to the realization he was thirsty and looked back to make sure she was following him " Would you like something to drink? " He asked with a tone that seemed slightly less then comfortable. His relations with others still didn't come as easily to him as it did to others. In this area, even Varoen exceeded him. He still longed for a good chase, and a good kill, but today seemed that it might lack this. " I wonder how Varoen and Aiden are? I hope nothing has happened to my little brother! Hopefully Ryumo and Fires Fury have been doing their job well...I think it might be time I get out of these woods..." As he walked a thought crossed his mind " Oh! if you see anything shiny, don't touch it...I don't want to tell Varoen your dead because of one of my traps...they are very brutal...and make me happy." He smiled a twisted smile as he remember the stupid boy that played with the last trap of his.

[alena]

Alena's eyes narrowed fiercely, the blue orbs flashing as an angry look took over her face. "I am NOT Varoen's anything!" She snapped at Zek. Suddenly, she realized how angry she was. She took a deep breath and looked at him with a much calmer expression, though her eyes still flickered with held in annoyance and anger. "Sorry about that. But Var and I are just friends." She told him simply. "That's all we've ever been, and that's all we'll ever be." As she spoke the last sentence, a small voice entered her mind. 'Don't say things you don't mean.' She scowled in annoyance and shoved the voice away, trying to ignore the fact that it has probably been right. Realizing this wasn't working, she scowled again and stopped thinking about Varoen entirely.

Forcing herself out of her thoughts she discovered she still held her katana. Sheathing it, she focused on what he was saying. "I'm just traveling through." She said, forcing a small smile onto her face. "I'm heading to, eventually, the White Water Coast. But for now I'm going to the nearest Burning Legion general I can find...something's going on, and I want to find out what. I don't like being surprised. So this was the fastest way to get to the nearest base.." She explained.

She looked up, and, realizing he was walking now, she followed him, giving him a brief smile when he looked back. "Water would be nice...if it's not too much to ask, would you happen to have extra food? The more I can save for my trip, the better." She paused when he mentioned not touching anything shiny, and frowned when he explained why. "Uh...sure...wait, are you the reason for all of the screams I heard when I first entered the forest?" She inquired, watching him with careful suspicion. 'For now, I have no choice but to trust him...but that doesn't mean I shouldn't be careless and let my guard down.'

[Zek]

He laughed a little more from her reaction to what he had said about Varoen " You seem pretty protective over the topic. " Zek couldn't help but smile. " Such a stupid little girl, playing angry. " " Alana Or is it Alena?. It is a bad habit to lie to people. I never lie to others. Although, there aren't too many people that are ever around long enough for me to lie to them. Like this one time a man told me to just make it quick. I didn't lie to him when I told him no. I can actually show you his blood stain if you like. It tickles me so when I think about his screaming...I'm doing it again aren't I? Damn it!" Zek shook his head again and dispelled the thoughts as he walked along his path.

He smiled back, again with the fake-ness still present on his face. " Well. I don't think anyone considers me a general of any sort. More so a monster so I cant tell you whats going on. But with how many people have been coming into my forest lately I presumed something outside of them is happening and I have put much thought into Death's Arrow returning to the land of the living. If there is a plague so fierce to force people to travel through my woods. It must be bad " His eyes flickering with a sense of twisted humor as the image of what it could be paraded through his mind, " I will guide you out of my woods and point you in the right direction unless the land has changed shape while I have been away, you will be fine. "

He took her into a thick part of the woods where the brush and trees had slightly turned green but still seemed like a dull color of green " You should feel very privileged now. This is the place in my woods that grows any green, most of it is that dull brown or dead looking. Here is the only place for any clean water. Thats why I dont worry about people actually making it through my forest, considering they get lost all the time and then slowly suffer and die. I just like to help the progression. " He laughed and made his way into his small house that was made from the branches of the trees around it and other shrubs, ivory, and moss. Over where the water trickled into a pond there was a small rock wall that the water flowed through, on the other side was moss, sticks and leaves to catch and filter out the water as the rest was polluted from the ash and metal that had been dumped into the water in the years of the Fire Nation's rule. Zek pokes his head out of his hut " Bread, salad, the rare deer, or my special? " Zek thought of the special and laughed a little and shook his head. " Scratch the special, you don't want it. Its just the only meat that travels in here more then the lesser animals. " He laughed again, thinking of how everyone else in the world would only resort to eating that if absolutely necessary and even then was pushing it, only the mad might, but Zek never really considered himself truly mad, just very different.