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Heyou points up the slopes to the right. “Hey, meatsacks, Heyou sees something up there. Something that does not want to be seen.” He slips off his mount, grips his staff, and clicks at the back of his throat, telling Cat to slink into the nearby shadows, so it is ready to take someone by surprise if they try to attack. “Heyou thinks that somebody living in these ruins now knows we’re coming.”
Gingerly, Heyou moves over to the dead creature. Once he is sure it will no longer rip his face off, he puts a hand on its hide, and begins to stroke it. “So ferocious. So beautiful. Cat – why can’t you be more like this wonderful thing?” Remembering that he has company, Heyou takes one more glance at the bear, doing all he can to remember every detail of it. Somewhat more dejected than before, he addresses the group. “If you do not mind, Heyou is feeling tired now. He would like to… sleep. Yes, sleep would be good.”
As the group punishes the bear, Heyou is surprised to find himself crying, an act he has observed many times, but has never actually done himself, before now. "It will be over soon," he whispers, even as he brings his staff down over the creature's head. "Heyou promises, it will be over soon."
"What... what is that beautiful thing?" Heyou gasps, upon seeing the bear. He grips his staff, grits his teeth, and makes the hair on the back of Cat's neck stand on end, as that seems the right kind of reaction for a situation like this.
"Cat is scared," Heyou growls, sounding uncharacteristically tense. "Cat is very scared." Trying to not draw attention to himself, Heyou stamps his foot on the ground. Thin, black tendrils break off from him, burrowing through the earth below, looking for life to grab onto.
At the sound of the beast in the darkness, Heyou briefly stiffens, then clicks his tongue once, the signal for Cat to animate. Heyou points into the darkness, and Cat takes off into the night, following its master's command to track the enemy. Meanwhile, Heyou quickly runs to each of the tents, heading for Finder, Father Vajan, and finally Joanna. "Something has come to eat us," he says in an ill-practised whisper, after kicking each of their bedrolls. "Come," he says, before heading back to the campfire, staff drawn.
Heyou slides off his mount, peering at the lightning in the distance. Eyes still fixed on the lightning, he speaks. "Oh, Heyou is certain the female meatsack who hired us was lying about something. Perhaps it is simply that she does not seem too concerned about the fate of her son - from what Heyou has seen, that is not a normal reaction when an offspring is threatened. He has a strong suspicion that our patron has other motives in hiring us. The sooner we get to our destination, the sooner we can discover what they are. Heyou will be disappointed, however, if there are no dragonspawn involved at all." He then turns to look at the group, his hood further back on his head, his smiling face more exposed than normal. He had learned to trust these people. "Is it time to eat yet? Heyou always enjoys eating. Also, Heyou is happy to take first watch."
Heyou narrows his eyes as Vajan, and moves over to Cat, to whisper to his ummoving companion. "How strange these meatsacks are, Cat, to not want to be told what they are. Do you not want to be called Cat? Should Heyou call you Dog instead? No, you are not that silly. Also, you have no mind to be silly with." After listening to the priest's tale, Heyou steps forward, growing impatient. "Hello, lovely human people. Heyou is having a lot of fun listening to your story, and it was fun to kill something, but now he thinks we should be heading elsewhere. Heyou would very much love to see a Hell Queen, but it sounds like she is dead, and we have dragon-people to see to."
Eyes wide, Heyou stares at the thing as it dies, getting as close as possible to the coffin to watch the light of life leave the spasming form. Once it is still, as the crowd begins to murmer, Heyou turns to his companions, genuine joy in his voice. “Heyou has never seen anything so beautiful.” Finally composing himself, Heyou walks over to Finder, patting him on the back. ”You have a gift for opening meatsacks. Heyou is honoured to be travelling with you. Heyou would like to keep moving, to find more life to extinguish, but perhaps someone more… appealing to strangers should ask if these meatsacks know anything about our destination? Heyou still thinks we have not been told the entire story regarding our task.”
On seeing Father Vajan's insides come out, Heyou's eyes widen in wonder. However, not letting himself get distracted, he gives a quick 'click', and Cat lunges at the attacker.
Heyou follows behind, his staff raised over his head, a gutteral braying betraying his excitement.
Still feeling he is missing something vital that will help him understand what is going on here, Heyou apes Father Vajan's movements, peering at the bound man, reaching out with his otherworldly senses to gleen something about this character.
Heyou dismounts, still clutching his staff, Cat padding up to his side. He remains confused by the situation, but is in anticipation of either of the two outcomes he can foresee. Either Heyou will get to see a meatsack buried alive, or he will get the chance to see some meatsacks opened up. Heyou can't decide which sounds most interesting. He leaves Finder and Father Vajan to make the decision for their group, following their lead.
Heyou listens to the cries coming from inside the coffin. Heyou is so confused. He was so certain that meatsacks were supposed to stop moving before-" A moment of realisation hits him, and he signals for Cat - previously skulking just off the roadside - to come to him. Heyou turns to his companions, grinning in satisfaction at having eventually understood the situation, gripping the large wooden branch he uses as a staff. Something is wrong," he says, satisfied grin not disappearing. "Something is horribly wrong. Heyou thinks it might be time to open some meatsacks."
Heyou, about to ask the mourners if he could get a closer look at the body, hears Vajan's words and realises this is supposed to be a sorrowful event. Instead, Heyou wisely choses to remain silent.
Leaving the city for the first time in his short existence, Heyou’s eyes are wide with wonder. Lagging behind the others due to Bolthole’s stumbling, for the first time in a long while he completely pulls back his hood, so he can best take in the world around him. Anyone looking behind will see a perfectly spherical head, three times larger than it should be, the only features marring its jet-black smoothness are his circular, yellow eyes and his knife-wound slit of a mouth. Such… such vastness, he thinks, unable to focus his gaze for too long on the variety of life around him, afraid he might miss something new and wonderful. Heyou did not know the world was so big. He draws his hood over his head again as the female meatsack slows her mount, and arrives with the others in time to hear Finder speak. “Heyou agrees with meatsack Finder. Heyou’s horse is clumsy enough with legs as they are. If entering the woods stops them being in one piece, Heyou will never get to that important place we are heading to.” Heyou narrows his eyes, contemplating the crowd, reaching out with his otherworldly senses to try to spot anything out of the ordinary about the gathering ahead.
Heyou looks behind him, to get a glimpse of whoever the female meatsack is talking to. It takes him a few moments to realise she was addressing him, and then immediately begins hopping from foot to foot, agitated. ”Heyou? Heyou is just a regular human meatsack, same as everyone else. Heyou can look after himself in a fight though, yes. Heyou has had to do lots of the fighting. Cat, too. We have to fight a lot. Heyou is also good with life. That precious, breathing-in-and-out, blood-or-sap-pumping-through-fleshy-shell LIFE that Heyou had not been expecting to find so… interesting.”
On hearing Finder speak, Heyou turns to the masked man to give a thumbs up, letting his hood slip back slightly so he can grin at his companion. From within the dark recesses of the hood, Finder can see two circular yellow eyes, and a many-tooth grin that tears across the entirety of Heyou’s overlarge, jet-black face.
"Bolthole," Heyou whispers to the horse, his hand running along its flank, tiny tendrils of blackness breaking from him, trying to find purchase on the animal's hide. Do not resist Heyou. You will be happier when you belong to Heyou. Happier, and safer. Just ask Cat. Look how happy it is." Cat, for its part, stands rigid beside its master. Heyou is interested in these ice trolls," he tells his companions, "but he is interested in kobolds too. He will not mind taking a longer road that will get him to the kobolds safely. Who knows? Perhaps we will meet something interesting out in the wilds for Heyou to play with? Heyou likes to play, isn't that right, Cat?"
Heyou watches the others make their marks on Sorrowith’s document, before hastily grabbing the pen and doing his best to ape their actions. Humming with satisfaction at his own ingenuity, he gladly follows the party down to the stables. The new meatsack is interesting enough, but he has not tried interacting with horses yet. I wonder if they are as easy to influence as Cat? Assuming that the animals will react poorly to his presence – why is it that all living things tend to do that? – he approaches the scrubby charcoal one carefully. Aware that the others might be looking, Heyou cautiously pulls back his sleeve, revealing a jet black hand that does not seem as solid as the flesh of a person’s hand should. Just one touch should be enough. One touch, and the horse’s mind will be mine…
Heyou stares at the pieces of paper on the table in front of him, struggling to comprehend why they would be important enough to spend time looking at if the meatsack lady’s son is in danger. He has a brief glance at the squiggles on the page, is delighted to find he has the ability to read it – a skill that he had not previously attempted – but is currently too agitated to pay much attention to them. “Heyou is not good with these things either, but he agrees – Cat does not like the lady meatsack.” That was a lie, of course. Cat is unable to blink without Heyou’s permission, let alone think for itself. Heyou has realised, however, that the meatsacks seem to be more likely to trust Cat’s intuition than his own. “Cat is not sure of this new meatsack either.” Heyou screwed his eyes up, focussing on the barrister, trying to figure him out. Heyou knows this man is up to something, but what?
Heyou hops from side to side, unable to contain his anxiety as he considers Lady Parin. Something is wrong here. Yes, wrong. The meatsack is hiding something, and Heyou knows secrets mean danger, yes they do. In his agitation, his eyes fall upon the Lady’s cat, currently hissing at him. Specifically, upon the cat’s twitching tail, whipping from side to side in warning. Ah, yes, those tails. They are supposed to move. Heyou forgot. Immediately, Heyou’s own Cat, until now standing rigid, begins to ape the pet’s movements. Not losing his anxiety, Heyou continues to glance at Finder and Father Vajan, unable to figure out why they did not seem as concerned about this woman. It is a lot of money, though. I think. A lot could be done with that kind of money. And the horse will certainly be interesting. And the kobolds. And the dead kobolds. Maybe one of the meatsacks will die too. That would be very interesting indeed. “If these meatsacks are willing to go, Heyou will go with them. We will travel, and die, and breath together. What fun. Yes, what fun.”
Heyou’s eyes remain on the chair Lady Parin indicated, as if he is not quite certain what to do with it. His eyes move between Finder and Father Vajan, waiting to see what either of the men do. Seeing Vajan begin to approach the lady of the house, Heyou instead sidles up to the masked man, Finder. “Better that Heyou does not speak, now,” he gurgles, entirely failing to whisper. “Meatsacks get upset when Heyou speaks. Better to let new friends speak for Heyou.” He turns to grin at Finder, letting his hood pull back further than he has for a long while. Finder gets a brief glimpse of a pitch black face on a head that is far too large for Heyou’s body, and a wide, toothy grin that seems to slice all the way across Heyou’s face. Then, Heyou turns to look at Lady Parin, narrowing his eyes. What is this meatsack really up to, Heyou wonders? Sense Motive:
OOC: I'm assuming Sense Motive works the same way as Insight in DnD 5e.
At a distance, the figure travelling along the path towards the manor house does little to grab anyone’s attention. The figure – a man, presumably – is hunched, and covered in a worn leather cloak that appears to have been darkened due to lack of cleanliness than anything else. However, the disinterest on the guards’ faces disappears as the figure gets closer, and soon turn to looks of horror instead. There is something wrong with this… person? For starters, whoever is under that cloak - the cloak that suspiciously (fortunately?) covers all of its owner’s skin - has a head that is far too large for its body. It is difficult to make out exactly what shape the object is under the hood of the cloak, but that head is at least twice as large as it should be. More than that, however, is the way the figure moves. It seems somehow broken, juttering, as if a being unfamiliar with walking is doing its best to imitate a casual stroll. There is a cat – a wild-haired, filthy thing - travelling alongside the figure. Other than its filth, this appears to be just a common feline, the kind one would expect to find lurking in Diamond Lake’s back alleys, the kind rats have nightmares about. Nobody looking at this cat, however, will be able to recall ever seeing a cat this damned big before. Do cats normally even get this size? The figure it travels with appears to be hunched over, so maybe that is why the cat seems to come up to its owner’s waist. By the time the figure arrives at the manor entrance, the guards’ mouths are hanging open, and it smells as if one may even have soiled themselves. The figure raises an arm in salute, and briefly – oh, so briefly – raises its head, offering those nearby a quick glimpse at the face underneath. In the half light, all anyone can tell is that there are far too many teeth under that hood. “Heyou is keeping good time, yes?” The figure’s voice is guttural and strange, as if forced to do something it had never been designed for. Other than that, amazingly, this creature seems to be almost jovial. “Walking and breathing, and keeping good time. Always breathing, Heyou is, just like everyone else. Aren’t we all having such a good time here, breathing like good little meatsacks?”
Hello, meat-things. Heyyou is ready to go exploring. He also not too hungry. Not right now. |
