RuneScape Forum Archive | ||...Agony...||

Infinity A8

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"Please Veronica. I left because I thought I could find something and I did. Please let me show you." pleaded Jaden.
Veronica stared down at her feet, her arm still clinging to Jaden's.
"It's not dangerous," Jaden pressed. "There are only a few skeletons and I saw a bear or two, but nothing that dangerous. I have runes with me so we can escape easily."
Veronica still said nothing. This time Jaden stubbornly did the tugging and while she refused his pull, Veronica wasn't nearly as strong as he was and was towed along effortlessly, succumbing to Jaden's will with reluctance. Tristan followed Jaden without question, eager to venture beyond the border. Natalie trailed the three like a puppy would follow it's owner, faithfully and obediently.
The group travelled directly north, passing by the denizens of the wild unnoticed, leaving the beasts be as the beasts did them. Tristan tempestuously asked Jaden where they were going and what he'd done for the past several hours.
"Not much really. I wandered around, found what I was looking for then took a nap. I didn't expect to be asleep for so long and probably could have made it back by midnight if I didn't fall asleep. I'm sorry, I should have come back sooner."
Once again, he addressed his last sentence to Veronica, well aware of how upset she was.
"Your parents are in a worse state than I am," she stated in response. "You better have an apology speech ready by the time we get back."
Jaden grinned at the joke. He didn't smile often, not since the monster had started attacking at least. Even when it wasn't around Jaden still kept a regularly straight face. That he was smiling now meant he was happy.
"It's just there," he pointed at a rather out of place green hill before them. "Up on top."
He led the group up the mound, jogging his way up with anticipation.

29-Nov-2008 08:55:43 - Last edited on 27-Oct-2009 06:43:40 by Infinity A8

Infinity A8

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"Oh wow," breathed Tristan as they reached the summit. "How did you find this Jaden?"
"Chance I guess. I..." he paused. "I guess I ran off in a huff. I really had no idea what it was I was doing. I just wanted to take some action and The Wilderness seemed a good place to do it."
Atop the hill was a cemetary of sorts. Several tombstones adorned the grassy patch, a moderately large statue of a warrior prominently displayed in the centre. As Veronica went to do a headstone count, she noticed a few had fallen off the hill, possibly due to erosion. Including the fallen tombstones and the statue, there were nine monuments.
"Okay, so there's a bunch of graves here. What does it mean?" she asked Jaden. He beckoned them towards the statue of the warrior and pointed to a pair of graves on either side of it. All three immediately saw what Jaden was talking about.
"This, is the source of our problems."
The grave to the left of the monument had been unearthed. Remaining was but a deep hole, no coffin nor corpse.
"So you think whoever lived in this grave has come back as a ghost and is haunting us?" inquired Tristan.
"Definitely," declared Jaden. "Look at the name on the headstone."
Their curiosity peaking, the three bent forward to read the ancient text, making out the worn writing on the stone as best they could.
"Van Vil?" Tristan incorrectly read the name, missing several of the letters.
"No, it says Evan Edgevil," said Veronica. "You think this is the guy who founded Edgeville?"
"No, because the grave over there-" Jaden motioned his hand towards the opposite grave beside the statue. "That grave has Eve Edgevil on it and the statue has Ivan Edgevil. I'd be right to think that the statue is of guy who founded Edgeville and the other two are his family members."
"Right, so you think Evan's ghost is the one haunting us?"
"It makes sense. Someone came along and unearthed his remains, angering him into haunting the town his relative founded."

29-Nov-2008 08:55:50 - Last edited on 27-Oct-2009 06:46:42 by Infinity A8

Infinity A8

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"So that means-"
"If we find the skeleton and bring it back we can stop Evan from haunting us!" Tristan exclaimed delightedly. "Great work Jaden!"
Jaden just shrugged modestly and questioned the ever quiet Natalie.
"What do you think?"
She flicked her head up in attention and looked straight at Jaden.
"I think it could work." was all she said before turning to look at the eternally dark sky of The Wilderness with interest.
"Then we should head back. I'm sure everyone will be most pleased to hear this news!" Veronica beamed, taking Jaden in one hand and Tristan in the other. Natalie followed suit, behind Veronica as she skipped down the mountain.
"Tomorrow we'll find Evan's remains and put him back. Then he'll be happy and leave us alone!"
She was ecstatic, much happier than she was six minutes ago. They'd done it, they'd finally found a way to rid Edgeville of it's monster. The children would tell everyone of their discovery and make everything right.
"Jaden," Natalie unexpectedly asked as they were halfway down the hill. The three stopped and turned, almost stunned that Natalie was saying something outside of responding to a question or statement.
"Yes Natalie?"
Behind her frames the girl's eyes were dead serious.
"The Edgeville guard said he saw you go east and the brass key was then found missing. According to what you have said you have been here in the north for the several hours you were missing. That doesn't add up."'
Jaden looked at her confused.
"East? I never went east. And I don't know anything about the brass key."
For a moment, the group just silently looked at each other, communicating with their looks alone.
Then they sprinted south with speed that would challenge a black demon's.

29-Nov-2008 08:55:52 - Last edited on 07-Mar-2009 12:20:27 by Infinity A8

Infinity A8

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~Chapter VIII~
Georgia hadn't said a word since they'd escaped the dungeon. She wandered around the empty shed they were in, randomly picking up objects she'd find or tapping things.
Robert was on the ground, panting with pain and tiredness, his left shoulder lacerated by the demon's strike. Edward, who had a nurse for a mother, was clumsily attempting to treat the wound with a first aid kit he kept on hand. Robert grunted sorely every time Edward would touch the spot, but his young and delicate hands did a flawless job and before long the adept child medic had bandaged Robert's shoulder with skill that his mother would praise him for.
"Wow Ed, you've been practicing huh?" Robert complimented, rubbing his wound tenderly. Edward just smiled in response, his features expressing himself without words.
"Georgia," Robert called for her attention.
"What?" she replied rudely, not even turning to face him.
"Can I see that key?"
She spun sharply and hurled the key at Robert. He managed to catch it before it would have broken a rib. For a few moments, he held it close to his face, studying it carefully and going over all the details of the key before declaring it's nature.
"This is the brass key, the same key we use to open the door in Edgeville. What's it doing lying down at the bottom of a dungeon?"
Robert rose to his feet and studied his surroundings. The shed was shabby and rather cramped; it clearly hadn't been accessed for some time. Georgia came away from the shelves with naught but a few rusted tools and rotten food products.
"Gah, I'm so annoyed!" cried Georgia. "The only thing in Edgeville dungeon that's remotely interesting was that demon and it will kill me if I get too close! Ohh this was a waste of time."
Edward and Robert suppressed their murderous intentions towards Georgia and decided they would return to Edgeville empty handed. Robert approached the door and twisted the k(no)b, only to find it locked.

29-Nov-2008 08:56:00 - Last edited on 24-Apr-2009 14:12:42 by Infinity A8

Infinity A8

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"Try the key." suggested Edward. Robert did so and the door opened normally.
"Curious..." Robert muttered, pocketing the key. "We should see how the others went. I hope they did better than we did."
A quick scan of their surroundings and it became apparent that they were slightly east of the Barbarian Village as indicated by the River Lum. A short stroll south would put them outside the village and then home would be north.
The barbarians weren't particularly friendly but they wouldn't harm the children, despite Georgia's provocations. They could pass with ease.
"Man..." sighed Georgia as they ventured through the cluster of huts. "Looks like I'll never find anything really exciting."
"Don't fret. I'm sure one day you'll find something spectacular!" Robert assured.
"Like what?" she grunted gloomily.
"Well, I guess you could discover a new species of creature. Maybe a whole new land! This world is so vast, the-"
He stopped short. They'd reached the entrance of Edgeville.
Georgia and Edward hadn't managed to see it yet but the sight made Robert's blood freeze.
"Oh...dear gods..."

29-Nov-2008 08:56:03 - Last edited on 24-Apr-2009 14:13:37 by Infinity A8

Infinity A8

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~Chapter IX~
Veronica didn't just faint when they reached the ditch.
Upon sighting the town, her heart momentarily ceased to beat, the lack of flowing blood whitening her features. She coughed, gagged and then vomited and by then Natalie had rushed to assist her. She lost her sense of balance and collapsed into the timid girl's arms, her eyes fluttering rapidly. Finally, her expression softened and her eyes drooped to a close, indicating that she was out cold.
Natalie continued to cradle the girl as she knelt before the ditch, her attention focused on the spectacle before her. While it seemed impossible, she retained her blank expression, even in the presence of such horror.
But she was shaking as though in an extremely violent earthquake.
Tristan screamed and dove to the ground, covering his ears and squeezing his eyes shut as though it would make the sight disappear. Jaden recoiled and took a step back, unable to grasp what was occurring.
"What's going on...? When did this happen...? What-what in Saradomin's name...?" he fell to his knees, too shocked to continue.
It was the most blood any of them had ever seen in their lifetimes.
Buildings were shattered, chunks of walls torn off and scattered chaotically throughout the area. Entire homes had been demolished and ground to dust. Even the yew tree had been felled and lay pathetically on it's side, defeated after all it's years of standing tall. An eerily timed wind rustled the leaves of the fallen tree, voicing it's cries of despair.
Edgeville had been annihilated.
Splattered among it all was blood, smeared over walls and soaking the town's once green vegetation. There were even gruesome puddles in certain spots of depression, forming due to the liquid dripping down from rooftops.
Yet there were no corpses, not a single trace of any human beings. As Jaden recovered enough to survey the town, not the destroyed buildings nor the grisly splatters concerned him as much as the lack of remains did.

29-Nov-2008 08:58:19 - Last edited on 24-Apr-2009 14:14:04 by Infinity A8

Infinity A8

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"Natalie," Jaden's voice had a prominent quaver to it as he spoke. "Look after Veronica and Tristan. I'm going in to have a look."
Natalie again responded rather uncharacteristically, her voice laced with emotion. "Be careful and stay brave. I will if you will."
Jaden thanked her with a nod and a smile, his expression changing soon after he hopped over the ditch into the remnants of his town, starting towards the closest building to him.
The bank was completely obliterated, glass from the booths cracked and broke under Jaden's shoes as he trotted through the ruin. The floor was wet and sticky, coating Jaden's soles within an instant. Jaden held his head high and struggled to keep himself from making eye contact with anything but the grey skies above. This did however, cause him to trip over a destroyed wall and land before one of the numerous pools disgracing the ground.
He hastily brought himself to his feet again, his shirt now stained from the grass beneath him. He was now before what was once Edward's and Tristan's house, now a pile of bricks and blood. None of their possessions seemed intact, everything in at least two pieces.
Jaden cast his attention towards their old meetings grounds. Though once a destroyed church it was now a pile of dust and shards, completely eradicated. The yew tree had been split horizontally through the base of the trunk and snapped in twain once besieging the earth.
'It looks so pitiful...' thought Jaden, before deciding to cup his hands around his mouth and yell for attention.
"Hey! Anyone alive?" he called, hoping to the gods of Runescape that someone would respond.
However, he received only silence.
"Someone? Anyone! Please!" his voice raised agitatedly. "Anyone!? Mum, dad? Is anyone-Gah!"
He fell into a lying position, frustrated and upset. He gazed at the grey sky with contempt for the world and began speaking to himself.

29-Nov-2008 08:58:21 - Last edited on 24-Apr-2009 14:17:56 by Infinity A8

Infinity A8

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"Why-"
"JAAADDEEENN!"
Georgia barreled into the weary and helpless boy, sliding him across the ground and unfortunately into a puddle. Not allowing Jaden a second to retaliate, Georgia grasped him by his shirt and hauled him up and begun assaulting him with questions.
"Where ya been?! Did you find anything?! What's up with the town? Why is there blood in your hair? How come-"
Jaden roared with irritation and shoved Georgia off of him, ignoring the girl's interrogation and set about pulling her hair as hard as he could. The two rolled around the blemished ground, Jaden in infuriation and Georgia because she felt like it.
"Woah, what the-?" cried the inconsolable Robert, arriving on the scene.
"What? What's going on?" Edward moaned, his eyes covered by Robert since their arrival in Edgeville. "Robert let me see!"
"Jaden, where's everyone else?" Robert asked the feuding two, ignoring Edward's demands. "I'm going to leave Edward with them and when I get back you better have stopped fighting!"
As Georgia savagely chewed on his ear, Jaden managed to point northwards to which Robert headed, Edward still blind to the events around him. Robert dropped off Edward without so much as a hello to Natalie and Tristan, even ignoring the unconscious Veronica and returned to Georgia and Jaden posthaste. The two had now engaged themselves in a duel of verbal abuse, as well as continuing the physical fight.
"Get the hell off me-!"
"Why should I!? You started it-!"
"You did you bloody-!"
"What were you about to call me you-!"
Robert stood by and watched for a moment, contemplating very heavily on how he was to go about breaking the two apart. Jaden and Georgia had often fought, Jaden's intolerance clashing with Georgia's hyperactive and provocative nature.
"Guys, er, you're uh..." was what Robert ended up saying, coughing and then finishing with a meek "You're soaked..."

29-Nov-2008 08:58:21 - Last edited on 24-Apr-2009 14:18:56 by Infinity A8

Infinity A8

Posts: 10,192 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

The two paused, Jaden with a fistful of Georgia's hair and a foot in her abdomen and Georgia with her teeth clasped around his wrist. They slowly glanced up and down each other's body and realised that they had in fact, saturated themselves during their brawl.
"Can't you two just behave?" sighed Robert. "If you haven't noticed we have a bit of a situation here."
He eased forward and untangled the two from each other and helped them back to their feet. Without so much as a word, Jaden turned and scuffed off towards the rest of his friends in the north, leaving Robert and Georgia.
"Y'know," said Robert. "You could try being normal and quiet with your greetings..."
Georgia blew a raspberry at him in response and hurried after Jaden. Robert shook his head, sighed and followed, muttering random statements on his friend's manners the entire way.

29-Nov-2008 08:59:41 - Last edited on 03-Mar-2009 10:42:42 by Infinity A8

Infinity A8

Posts: 10,192 Opal Posts by user Forum Profile RuneMetrics Profile

~Chapter X~
Veronica didn't so much as stir for the entire night. Jaden and Robert graciously took it upon themselves to carry her into the demolished general store, the group's temporary residence.
The unanimous decision to move was made shortly after Robert and his cohorts had returned, The Wilderness being deemed unsafe for them to linger.
All that remained of the shop were three of the partially destroyed walls and the floor of the second storey. It made for a sort of roof now, slanting from the west of the building down onto the ground where the east wall once stood. The rest of the building lay scattered among among the rubble.
As they crawled in underneath the wreckage, Edward was permitted to view his surroundings and wailed when he did. Shortly after his weeping, he snuggled up against the corner of the room and didn't speak to anyone for some time. Veronica was propped up against a pile of sacks, the softest objects in the room located in the same corner of the room as Edward. Robert was pacing the room, shivering non-stop and deep in thought. Jaden was searching the room for food and other supplies, in case they were there for a while and Tristan, like his brother, was facing the south wall of the room, not saying a word and fiddling with crates and boxes that were strewn about.
Georgia was wandering around the outside of the store, curiously inspecting the sundered structures and splatters of blood for any sort of clue. Natalie accompanied Georgia, standing by her side but occasionally drifting off by herself to examine something of interest.
"What is going on?" Jaden mumbled as he tossed another crushed carton of milk aside. "We were only gone five minutes, maybe ten. How in the world could this have happened?"
"I'm curious Jaden," inquired Robert. "Where'd you go the other day? And where were you just now before my group returned?"
Jaden summed up his adventures of the past few days for Robert, closing with the discovery of the graveyard.

29-Nov-2008 08:59:44 - Last edited on 11-Mar-2009 10:19:17 by Infinity A8

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||...Agony...||