The End of the Moors Begins

Aisling had been simply wandering through the forest: she wasn't far away from her mother who she knew to be lurking nearby, keeping an ear on her and an eye from time to time when Aisling began to wander too far away, and she was sure her brother and father were likely nearby as well. The nature around her was beautiful, the leaves having begun to change to a wonderful array of browns, golds, reds, and yellows, all blending together like a wonderful picture in the crisp Fall air. The best part? She didn't have to worry about touching anything and seeing something that she otherwise wouldn't want to - the nature was, besides animals and those like her who wandered this way, untouched, so other than natural growth and change there was nothing to really see, causing her ability to remain dormant inside of her despite her fingertips trailing lightly along a nearby tree that she was passing.

She could hear the rush of water that indicated the stream she had wandered closer and closer to as she went, and she pulled her long brown sweater closed in the front against the chill that suddenly picked up as the wind began to blow; it brought with it the scents from the world around her, a deer lurking just out of eyesight who was likely busy nibbling on something, the clean smell of the water, the leaves and grass and trees.... and something else. Something that wasn't.... right. Something that didn't belong at all.

The sound of booted footsteps reached her young ears and she found herself momentarily torn between fear and curiosity: her mother would have told her before she started to wander off if something or someone was near or not (she knew first hand about her ability as did the rest of her family, and she wouldn't have risked it especially knowing that Aisling's gloves were shoved deep into her pockets leaving her hands free to touch things) and so that meant that whoever was here hadn't been before which in itself made them dangerous because she hadn't heard them arrive and they were simply here. And yet, she didn't turn and run as her curiosity held her where she was and caused her to pause in her walking: whoever could move so silently, or arrive suddenly, had to have a great deal of power, and that made her curious enough to at least want to glimpse who it was.

A whistling reached her ears, a tune she had never heard before, as the booted steps headed closer and closer to her. After a moment she heard a rustling and then saw the foliage in front of her move before revealing a young and slender man. He would have been handsome if he didn't look downright sickly: white pale and far too thin. He looked almost like he was wasting away, his body out of proportion. His hair was black and messy; hanging down around his ears and sunken eyes - eyes which were a bright red in color and which were somewhat entrancing. He was dressed in a beige short sleeved top, black leather pants, and well worn brown boots. His body was covered in all manner of piercings and tattoo like markings of symbols she had only seen before in her mothers book - the Shadow Death Lexicon which gave a lot of information about the Moors, when she had glanced at it once or twice. However, that wasn't the most striking or even frightening aspect of this man, no, that would have to be the utter lack of a heartbeat and the fact that he smelled... like death. It wasn't a smell that she was familiar with personally - but it was one she had got a whiff of a few times when she had bumped into someone who had taken a life - which had happened on several occasions, and had witnessed it through their memories.

She mentally scolded herself for not running before the man caught sight of her, and watched carefully as he moved closer to her. He didn't look surprised that she was there, despite the fact that she had been rather silent in her waiting, and that caused her to scold herself mentally and silently even more. This had been a bad idea, especially because she had no idea at all who this man possibly could be.

"Hello there, Aisling."

"....." Aisling stared at the male as he came within three feet of her and stopped. She took a small step backwards and then another, wanting to distance herself from him. "How do you know my name?", she asked softly, trying her hardest to keep her fear out of her voice.

The man chuckled, seeming amused by her reaction; and his eyes only turned colder, almost threatening. "I see your mother hasn't told you about me. I am her brother, half brother really. I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, I am the bastard of the family after all." He reached into his pocket as he spoke, and after withdrawing his hand he held something out to Aisling: a lollipop. "Here, a gift from your uncle..."

Aisling watched him carefully, and stared at the lollipop which was a very weird red color, like blood that had hardened and dried, and the smell matched. Her mismatched gaze darted between the lollipop that she was sure was blood and the man who had proclaimed himself as her uncle. She didn't want to seem rude, but she knew better than to take candy from strangers. However... if this really was her uncle she didn't want to risk insulting him somehow, and so, hesitantly and slowly she reached forward, and took the lollipop, trying carefully not to touch his flesh.

The man watched, a grin spreading across his face. Before the child could realize what he had been planning he touched her hand, and held it, not allowing her to remove the lollipop from his hand, or snatch her own hand back for that matter.

Aisling knew she should have known better, and as flesh on flesh contact was made as their hands touched her ability kicked in, flooding all five of her senses with his memories as if she were living them. The things that flooded her mind, pain, agony, horror, sin, caused her to instantly begin to scream: blood curdling and loud, her voice filling the air, her body trembling violently as the world around her disappeared and she sunk completely into the memories, unable to pull herself free...