Silver Rain – The Cohort
Digital Devil Saga
Digital Devil Saga, the scenario minus any original characters, and any canon characters, are © to Atlus
Yulia/Garuda is © to myself
Kaamos/Pandemonium is © Drcheerio of Deviantart
Shiv/Morrigan is © Dimitrininjasan of Deviantart
Jed/Vakirauta is © to his player
All original characters not of my creation are used with express permission
Chapter Five – Karma
The feel of armour buckling, the flesh beneath tearing, blood rushing forth to stain claws bright crimson, the screams of terror as wind shrieked over wings that brought death and ruin. This was her true state of being, what she was always meant to be. Her life before her flight seemed to have been lived behind bars of a cage made of her own puny form. No longer, though. Now she commanded the skies, and all beneath her shadow quailed in terror. But now this train of thought had laid bare memories that for a time the wind had chased into hiding. Memories of whom and what she was before, and those she considered comrades. Slowly, a clawed hand loosened its grip on the bloody remains of one once human, dropping it to the roof upon whence the winged killer rested. The feel of hot blood coursing down her throat both completed and appalled her; on the one hand, she knew, somehow, like instinct, she had to feed upon the fallen, her prey, to retain any sense of control, and on the other…She knew that she had killed and devoured her own tribe-mates, and yes, she had revelled in the hunt. And she was supposed to be their leader, not their slaughterer! Spanning wide, white wings flecked with blood that even now was being washed away by the rain, she screamed, terror, horror, rage, fury, grief, all notes in that one wordless, wailing song.
Then, as her cry faded away, she heard answering howls, and without looking, she dropped from the roof, fanning her wings, and dropped to the ground. Before her stood blood-drenched figures surrounded by a backdrop of ruined bodies. Crimson dripped from jaws, and three eyeless faces turned to regard her as she furled her wings. Readying her claws, she opened her jaws and hissed; her recently discovered island of sanity swamped by a new wave of bloodlust, the need to tear into the flesh of the foe. One of the figures, a lithe, black winged form, dropped its hostile stance and retracted it claws. And then, red jaws opened, and words issued forth.
"Boss…?! What the…Is that you?"
She backed up a couple of steps, also dropping her wary pose. When she felt able to speak past the shock of revelation and recognition, as well as a faint queasiness, she did so, her voice sounding the same even though she spoke with a different form.
"Shiv? I don't think it would be too much to ask if you know what the bloody hell is going on now, would it?"
Shiv, or at least what Shiv had become, shrugged black armoured shoulders and jerked his head at the two…things flanking him.
"No hope there, boss. But guess what? I found our old buds; seems like ol' Jed got a mark, too, and now lookit 'im! Big as a tree and twice as ugly!"
A large figure, covered in rough, thick skin and with massive arms spoke up. It sounded like Jed; not many would even want to imitate the stealther's lazy pattern of speech, protesting that speaking thus would put them to sleep.
"Hey, you don't look much better, skinny." He paused, and then turned to Yulia. "What is a tree, anyway?"
The third, a towering figure clad in dull, matt silver plates piped up. This one was Kaamos.
"I dunno. They sound mighty ugly if they look anything like Jed though, poor things." He evidently felt secure in prodding Jed, seeing as how the two were now similar sizes.
Yulia spread a taloned hand in a gesture of impatience.
"Children! Quit yer bickering and tell me what in the name of Nirvana happened!"
All three of her underlings managed to look abashed even with the lack of eyes or recognisable features. Shiv spoke up, being the second in command and more used to dealing with the most-times unpredictable Yulia.
"Well, y'know that light I told you about earlier? The one that hit the Oranges and the Greens? I think the same kinda thing happened here. Before you say 'think? What in blazes do you mean 'think'?' I can only guess. We were knocked out cold, and then woke up like this. And then, uh…" He gestured at the blood and gore about him. "Shit happened."
Yulia sighed, the familiar motion feeling alien due to the extra muscles this form had developed to facilitate flight.
"'Shit' indeed…When I came too, I was in such a rage, I was all ready to knock your heads off soon as I saw you…Whatever those marks were, and whatever devilry this is, I don't think I much like it…" She looked at the carnage wrought by her own hands, the ones that had looked to her. "No, I don't really like it at all."
Kaamos shook his head, seeming to notice the carnage for the first time.
"I…Well, it wasn't your fault…Your hands, yea, but not your mind…I know how it felt…I felt it too…"
Jed remained silent, but with an air of unusually pensiveness. Shiv broke the ensuing silence.
"Gaaah, guess this means the blasted Temple will be hollerin' for us to attend a fancy-schmancy meetin'. Bugger."