One Who Plays With Death

A young man with grey hair and casual clothing was running through the forest as fast as he could and breathing heavily. His only equipment being a long wooden staff in his right hand and a very old book in the left hand which had a lock, the key around his neck. Behind him were several villagers chasing him with foul words and angered expressions. The boy muttered, "Why so fear what they don't even attempt to comprehend is beyond the grasp of my knowledge! I suppose I can't run forever." He stopped abruptly and twirled around to face the crowd. They called him by the name of "Rothar" and were speaking of him about the use of black magic, Rothar denied the charge and explained it was natural for he contacted spirits and not demons, he was a friend of the Earth and of no evil intent. Unfortunately, they still wouldn't listen. He swore to himself.

A young looking man walking along whearing a heavy hooded coat singing a merry tune. He had a very merry aura and acted as if he were out of his mind but the bottle of Sake was probably the reason. He saw the villagers and decided to help the one boy out. He hurried over, staggering along, he put one arm around the boy and roared "Why there you are, boy. No you don't know me but you are. You're there!" He let out a loud drunken laughter and pointed at the villagers. "This boy here. Let me tell you about him. " He stalled staring at them with a dull drunken expression. "He. " He paused again, burping. "He is here. and you are there. Leave it at that. And Leave him. " He now grew serious enough to scare even the most brave man. At this, he let out a loud, bewildering laugh that would have sounded almost half mad. "Now shall we go?"

The young man was a bit confused but as he knew that he may have just saved him from a serious confrontation. "You have my thanks, sir..." He looked back at the villagers and walked away with his new drunken friend. A few hours later Rothar had found his home which was a peculiar little hut with odd symbols and pentagrams. When he led his friend through the door way, lines of salt were covering every entrance and exit. He had books and odd little trinkets that looked as if they were used for rituals and other taboos to most humans. "My name is Rothar...forgive me if my home makes you uncomfortable..."

He examined the odd house and smiled, his drunken expression fading completely as if he had never drank a day in his life. "I am Gray Kun. And Nothing can make me uncomfortable. " He now swung his arm out, now having a long stick in his hand. Any normal human could not have stood a chance of blocking this attack but he figured his friend could. The attack was made out for the left arm. If the attack landed, it would leave a nasty bruise for weeks. He was testing the man's reflexes.

The man flinched as the object flew at him but a bright light exploded through the room and the object had been stopped short. A translucent figure that resembled an odd animal could beade out for a short period of time before fading back into it's own realm once more. Rothar blinker and rubbed the back of his head, "Well now..." His expression seemed confused as he was now lost in thought.

Gray rubbed his chin, suspicious of what had just happened. "Interesting. Very interesting. So Rother was it? How did you acquire such interesting friends?"

"It's pronounced Rothar and I come from a clan who delt with spirits and such...although we do not tangle ourselves with demons nor do we tether those who have died to us. It is natural...and these spirits protect me of their free will." He yawned a bit. "Most of my people were killed...people thought them to be evil..." He shook his head with solum and sighed. "I've made enough pacts with spirits to keep me safe through a battlefield..." He chuckled.

He smiled. "Interesting. So what are you people called then? Excuse me if I am asking too much information, friend. " He eyed all of the items in the room carefully.

"We are named Callers, since we call spirits and make pacts with them. Now worries by the way, it's a relief to speak to someone after such a long time." He yawned.

He held out his hand meant for Rothar to shake it. "Well glad to meet your acquaintance and sorry about mispronouncing your name." He let out a light chuckle.

He shook his hand with a smile. "So...where did you come from anyways? What made you decide to help me out?"

He grinned. "Who knows. I enjoy a good stroll while drinking sake and as for helping you, no one should be outcasted no matter how bad they are. If people hate them that much, then the only option is death. Either that or they should leave you alone plain and simple but not Out Casted. " He gave him the peace sign. "Truthfully, I am not even sure that I am even human. As I said before. Who knows. " He gave a jolly look again and started towards the door. "Well the sake bottles not finished so I am not done walking yet. See you another time friend."

He nodded in reply. "I hope I do see you again, not many visit." He went to his bed and sat, contemplating the unknown.

Gray nodded. "Aye. You will. I intend to see you soon as well. " With that, he turned into his merry drunken self again, enjoying displaying a false character to the ignorant alike.

He nodded and began to scrabble information in a note book with withered paper. "So much information..." He banged his head in the desk and groaned. A few odd sounds echoed through the room and he looked around. "Don't mock me, I'm doing my best.." He continued to talk with the invisible beings as he carried on through the night.

With that, Gray headed towards the town, morbid intentions in mind. Once there, he eyed everyone, looking poorly on him being the town drunk. They all shot him evil glares all thinking their own way to get rid of him. Gray then smiled, after finally arriving at the town center. A man approached him and started yelling about how he wasn't welcome here and that he should leave or drop dead. Gray took this as a perfect set off point. In a quick, wondering swoop, Gray shoved his fist through the man's heart. He grinned as blood shot all over him and his face. "Today is the day of the cleansing, and you all are going to die!" He then slowly pulled out his kitana from under his coat, and started slicing through villagers as if they were bread.

The Spirit Collar instantly felt the disturbance as the wild creatures of ancient times relaid the information back to him like a telepathic link. Grabbing his staff was all he had time to consider as he rushed out the door with little hesitation and pursued the translucent creatures that guided him through life. Trees passed by like blades flying through the wind and maneuvering through them was difficult enough at the speed of a normal human but due to his bonds with the spirits he could move as quick as a cheetah if needed. After a short run of sprinting, he skid to a halt with the dust rising behind him. His heels were dug into the ground now and he bent over, panting with his hands clasped on his knees. "What a run...." He gazed back upwards and straitened his poster, the length of the staff helping him with the physical task.

Gray had now started to resonate with a black and red evil that seemed as if a mist were streaming straight from his soul. a large number of guards ran towards him and with a slice of his blade, they were instantly cut in half. Gray, now having revealed his true colors, let out a loud evil roar of a laugh, stabbing children, husbands, and wives, killing anything that decided to become the unlucky soul and move in to his line of sight. He stepped into a house and aimed his sword at a wood shelf and spoke a few words under his breath. Flame erupted out onto it. In minutes the entire house was ablaze. He stepped out of the house and went to the next, killing everyone inside and burning the house down. He did this three or four times, killing anyone who moved in front of him. His eyes would glow red with fury and hatred for all of man kind. He very much enjoyed the slaughter of mankind. He now stopped at a child who knelt before him crying for the blood shed to stop. Gray grew sad almost or that was what he appeared to be then he knelt as well. He looked the child in his eyes and whispered "This is only the beginning child." With these words, he cut the child's throat, standing up and continuing his evil ways.

Rothar stared at the strange act of such morbid intent and yet felt no real sympathy for the people the man was slaughtering. One, he had been abused by most of them in the past and secondly, the man killing them seemed more like friend. The spirits around him disagreed with the actions although some were fairly irrelevant, they didn't like most humans for destroying their homes and shrines. "Look at him go...he's pretty good at killing people." He sat down and watched a little bored from his past he was now slightly entertained.

Gray let out a roar loudly as he lifted his hands high into the air and flame shot out of his body, burning the entire village to a crisp. All that would be left would be molten ash and scorched earth. He now set his attention on the boy from before. "Ah I see you have made my witness list. Congrats my friend. But I am sure you have questions of why. " He smiled, returning to normal, seeming as if he were just a man again. he walked towards the male slowly. "You see, I am a demon. A very powerful demon if I may 'toot my own horn' for a minute. I can mask the most demonic auras and the most heavenly auras with my own aura. That trick I have done there, the sake masks my own. "

He nodded a bit honestly thinking it was fairly cool. "Thus why the spirits were in a frenzy."

He nodded. "The spirits would know best now wouldn't they?" He chuckled and smiled. "I may be evil but at least I am pure. These people were the furthest away from pure I have ever seen. Disgusting in my taste. You however are not unpure. I can tell."

He shrugged a bit, "All I know is that my family were all Spirit Collars and I'm not going to forsake my family by avoiding what I was told to do as a child. Besides, these spirits are kinder to me than any human ever was, and I would much rather be un-pure with them and be pure with the rest of civilization." He smiled a bit, "But if I am pure doing what I love anyways, guess it doesn't matter." He yawned a bit. "Best of all, I'm not a hypocrite either."

He smiled. "You are a good person. That is good. You weren't born of evil. " He now slid the sword back into his cloak and clasped his hands together. "So keep doing as you are doing and I will continue my ways. So long as you don't hunt me, we should not have problems. "

"I really don't care to be honest...as I didn't wish to see these people dead, I didn't like them. I am one with the Spirits and the Humans are usually ones to try and hurt them. I was born human under the Human God but I am now with the Goddess of Spirits, Luna." He smiled at the name and recalled one occasion where he had the chance to lay his eyes upon the god. It was the only thing that was able to confirm his superstition and quench his thirst for the truth behind the races. "It is an amazing thing to see one of the gods, depending on which one that is."