Information

Kaskit has a minion!

Xhaiden the Domestic Minilot

Kaskit
Legacy Name: Kaskit

The

Custom Graveyard Kumos
Owner: Alkuna

Age: 10 years, 2 months, 3 weeks

Born: December 25th, 2015

Adopted: 8 years, 3 months, 3 days ago

Adopted: December 14th, 2017

Statistics

Level: 12
Strength: 30
Defense: 31
Speed: 31
Health: 30
HP: 30/30
Intelligence: 33
Books Read: 33
Food Eaten: 0
Job: Unemployed

Overlay by dalice (page coding soon)

The Vale of Hungry Shadows is a valley that borders the town of Mornesse; the vale is a dangerous place where the sun never penetrates the canopy and townsfolk rarely stray beyond the very edge of the trees. It is a place where the trees twist into macabre silhouettes and the wind murmurs and whispers like a chorus of restless spirits.

Within Vale, the villagers whispered of a supernatural dog; a creature that may have once been alive, but blood no longer flowed through its veins. Its body was a patchwork of gray and black fur, as though Frankenstein himself had cobbled together various Kumos.

This is Kaskit, the name a corruption of the word for the box where the dead were placed for burial. The villagers knew her best by her lantern; a skull with blue flames for eyes that pierced the darkness like beacons of desperate hope.

Rumors spread of the Kumos' ability to navigate the treacherous paths of the forest, its lantern lighting the way for lost travelers.

II.

Elena darted into the woods, her heart racing as a bolt of lightning illuminated the sky, urging her to escape the impending torrential rain.

Flash.

One thousand one.

One thousand two.

One thousand three.

BOOM!

The clouds opened, unleashing a heavy downpour. The foliage beyond the trees bent under the onslaught and a deafening roar, like a waterfall filled Elena's ears. It felt as if a shimmering curtain had descended from the heavens, obscuring everything else and leaving her with barely a glimpse of her surroundings. The wind whipped the rain at an angle, forcing her to step back even further as it groaned and shrieked, its cold tendrils still reaching for her despite her attempts to stay out of its worst fury.

Flash.

One thousand one.

One thousand two.

BOOM!

The torrent beneath the trees had shrunk to mere trickles and drips of icy water, sending a chill through the young traveler. Pulling her raincoat tighter, she moved deeper into the darkening forest. As she followed a narrow path, the trees appeared to part before her and then close in behind her.

The adults had long warned that the forest was perilous, insisting that nobody should venture inside. But Elena had been caught by a sudden storm, and the icy, pounding rain wasn't something she wanted to toy with either.... especially with all that lightning. However, Elena found herself trapped by an unexpected storm, and the freezing, relentless rain was definitely not something she wanted to mess around with, especially with the crackle of lightning overhead.

Elena absentmindedly fingered the talisman around her neck. Crafted from an unusual white material, the solid piece was etched with protective symbols. According to the legends, it would conceal her from sight and shield her from the forest's most dangerous threats. A strange, unnatural chill enveloped the fourteen-year-old, causing her to shudder as she huddled beneath the tree branches. Apparently, the talisman's powers did not extend to warding off the cold.

Flash.

One thousand o--

BOOM!

As the lightning drew closer, Elena prayed that the rain would spare the trees from a different kind of storm. Shivering in the bitter cold, she faced a choice - stay and endure the chill, or push forward down the path ahead. The biting cold on her skin made the decision for her. She continued into the woods, watching as the lightning flashes faded behind her. Before long, she found herself surrounded by a darkness that seemed to shift and dart at the edges of her vision.

The shadows started small - dashing, slithering, or crawling, but always keeping their distance. As she moved further from the forest's edge, they grew larger and started to creep closer. No longer small, furtive, or avoiding detection, they now slunk, stalked, and rustled the bushes more deliberately. If she kept her face aimed straight ahead and only shifted her eyes, she could see lights, always in pairs – something swift and stealthy lurking just beyond the bushes or peering from the shrubs. When she reached those spots, there was nothing there, and the lights would scatter like startled fireflies. Gradually, however, the shadows became more solid, and fewer insects flew away, leaving the glowing lights nestled in the deepest darkness.

As the fierce wind died down, and the noise of the branches whipping above her slowly faded, the air now rustled through the forest with a hushed, ominous whisper. Somehow, this eerie calm felt even more unsettling.

Lost...

Alone...

Never found...

The forest is hungry...

They weren't words, at least not spoken ones. It felt more like abstract concepts and ideas swirling around in her mind as her ears strained to make sense of the faint, indistinct movements of air. Suddenly, something quick and dark darted by her; she figured it was just a Jollin. The fact that she could actually identify it made her uneasy, especially after encountering so many mysterious shapes that remained nameless. It was a clear sign that those lurking shadows were creeping in way too close for comfort.

Elena was keeny aware of her mortality weighing heavily on her. She imagined her own funeral, with family members gathered around a casket, their faces a mix of sorrow and remembrance. The image of a dark, cold grave crossed her mind, one that remained empty, marked only by a headstone inscribed with the words, "Elena. Lost and never found. Always missed."

She envisioned her lifeless body, forgotten in a remote location, slowly being consumed by the creeping, slithering entities of the forest until only a skeleton remained. And then, even that would vanish, leaving her soul trapped in eternal darkness, unable to find its way to the afterlife, no matter how brighttly the sun shone above.

Clutching her talisman, she squeezed the cool object with chilled fingers. People whispered that these talismans would warm up when danger was nearby, but hers remained cool against her skin, providing her with a small sense of comfort. With a determined swallow, she continued onward along the narrow path ahead of her. It was a glimmer of hope, a faint belief that as long as she stayed calm and focused, she might just make it through unscathed.

Suddenly, the trees seemed to tighten their grip around Elena, their branches like skeletal fingers reaching out to catch her clothes. A scream of terror escaped her as a thorny bush caught her arm. Just then, the talisman around her neck heated up, and the grip on her arm relaxed, allowing her to pull away. Almost instantly, the talisman returned to its cool state.

A chittering sound caught Elena's attention. She was certain it did not come from a squirrel, but from some other source... laughing at her fear. Peering down, Elena spotted a small pair of bright green eyes staring back at her - they belonged to a Domestic Minilot. The tiny creature chittered again, tilting its head as if amused, its shoulders shaking with what seemed like laughter. Then, the diminutive being turned and scurried away, disappearing into the gloom.

An eerie silence enveloped the forest. Off in the distance, Elena spotted a floating skull, bleached white with twin blue flames burning from its eye sockets, seemingly fixed on her. The presence of the Kumos was almost secondary, padding in complete silence behind the floating skull. If someone had a knack for dismembering multiple Kumos and stitching their remains together in various shades of gray and black fur, the result might resemble this nightmarish apparition.

As it approached, she noticed the stitching; thick black threads crisscrossed the lines between its mismatched fur, trying in vain to hold together the almost-but-not-quite sealed flesh. Some areas seemed to be losing their grip, causing gaps to form and exposing the raw, red muscle beneath. Surprisingly, no blood trickled from the wounds, and the Kumos' eyes were a dull, lifeless yellow,its pupils cloudy and gray. It was strange how... dead the Kumos seemed, even as it moved closer, step by step.

The skull lantern moved closer, illuminating the forest floor with a ghostly glow. The blue light from its eye sockets flickered strangely, reaching out much farther than she would have expected from such small flames. As she fled, the Kumos began to stalk her, its paws making no sound on the damp earth. At times, she felt like she was just managing to stay ahead of it, though the creature seemed in no particular rush. Other times, she would turn to find it blocking her path, its dead, expressionless eyes staring. She would quickly pivot and dash in another direction, with the silent beast trailing behind her without a sound.

She moved left, then right, then up and down, but it never made contact with her. It only served to obstruct her path in some directions, yet it was a constant presence. As she ran, a fresh realization broke through the haze of terror: she was being driven, not merely obstructed.

Kaskit. The name filtered through Elena's frantic thoughts, though she was sure she had never heard of this particular nightmare before. Still, a deep-seated instinct told her that this was indeed the name of this Kumos.

Elena was sprinting, her legs pumping and her lungs on fire. Every now and then, she would trip and brace herself for the sharp pain of yellowed teeth digging into her flesh, but somehow she always managed to regain her footing and push forward. Ironically, the eerie blue flames behind her lit up the uneven ground, revealing the dips, bumps, and tangled roots that could have easily sent her sprawling.

Elena wondered if she was caught in something much darker than just being followed. It felt like she was being drawn into a world of supernatural dread, where the living were nothing more than toys for the creatures that lurked in the shadows. What used to be a haunted forest now felt like a portal to eternal horror, with the Kumos as its gatekeeper.

Ahead, the ever-present gloom began to lift. As she stumbled closer, it dawned on her that she was nearing the forest's edge. The faint illumination of the tree line signaled the transition to an ordinary, cloudy, rainy night.

A sob of relief escaped the young teen's frozen lips as she dashed toward the open field beyond the trees. In her rush, a root snagged her foot, sending her tumbling to the ground. She braced herself for the undead Kumos' bite upon her flesh, but nothing happened. Glancing back she expected the worst, but to her surprise, the beast had paused, one paw lifted mid-step. It tilted its head, and one of its gray ears flopped down in a way that was surprisingly... cute.

The zombie Kumos waited.

Elena took a long, deep breath, and rose unsteadily to her feet. Despite the throbbing in her ankle, she managed to put weight on it. It felt like the pain had somehow cleared her mind of the exhaustion and fear that had been clouding her thoughts. The talisman hanging around her neck remained cool, just like it had been throughout this whole ordeal.

The zombie Kumos still waited.

Kaskit had been guiding the teen toward the safety of the town. Though the Kumos had blocked her path, its intent was not to herd her to her demise, but to steer her in the right direction.

Despite her trembling hands and legs, Elena resumed her trek. Instead of sprinting, she took slow, cautious steps toward the open road that would take her into town.

The unwavering blue light guided Elena's path as she pressed forward. Every time she glanced over her shoulder, the skull was right there, with Kaskit following closely, lighting the way ahead until she reached the boundary. There, the watery light of a rainy evening enveloped her. Just a few paces past the trees, Elena paused and turned to take a last look back.

Kaskit lingered right at the boundary of the shadows, with one paw casually placed on the skull that had come to rest on the ground.

Those lifeless eyes lingered on her for a moment before the paw lifted from the skull. It floated up again, and the eerie duo shifted away, silently retreating into the shadows.

A wave of relief and gratitude swept over her, she found herself breathlessly exclaiming a heartfelt, "Thank you!"

Elena could barely make out the sound over the rain, which had settled into a more typical rhythm, but she thought she caught a distant, raspy bark before she was entirely alone on the road back to town.

III.

Xhaiden - () American. "Cleansing Beam Of Light." Pronounced: Zay-den.

This mysterious little creature is the only living member of the trio of Kasket, her floating skull, and her minion. No one knows if Xhaiden enchanted Kaskit to rise and continue her strange routine of guiding the lost safely out of the forest, or if Xhaiden enchanted the skull (no one knows who that used to be either), or if the little Domestic Minilot just knew the Kumos in life and faithfully helps after death as well. In any case, Xhaiden tends to find lost people first, and then scamper off to bring the Graveyard Kumos straight to the people in need.

Xhaiden doesn't seem to speak, though a chittering noise similar to laughter can often be heard when the critter finds a human.