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The First Age
Nox Durante - Printable Version

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Nox Durante - Nox - 09-06-2014

Birth date: Sept 23, 2024 @ 12:03am

Psychological description: Nox can be loud and obnoxious.  He is self-centered and has an aptitude for dispensing justice, as he sees it.  Nox can make friends where ever he goes.  He tends towards aggression over anything else. He's a shoot first-ask questions later type guy.

Physical description: Nox is 6'0"(1.82m) weighting approximately 180lbs(81.6kg).  His dark brown eyes and hair set him apart from his sister in a distinct way.  Nox likes to wear t-shirts with obnoxious sayings, he thinks they are funny and doesn't care if you are offended by them.

Current strength level: 30 (start 16)
Potential strength level: 30
Reborn God: Ged (Egyptian)


Origin: Wichita, Kansas, USA
Powers & supernatural powers: Channeler, Atharim
Channeler experience level: Master
Are you a reborn god? Yes

RP Summary: Threads and Posts

Notes: Nova - adopted puppy (zombie-afied, now dead)

Family

The Durante family has been a long line of American Atharim for as long as the family can remember.  At least 6 generations of Atharim in their family line.  Not all followed the path they grew up on.  But that was their choice.  

Bryan Durante married a girl he met on the job.  She was a tough little cookie who he had saved from a dranaika.  Bryan had become Cleo's knight in shining armor and they married quietly in some small town outside of Denver, Colorado.  

Two years later they had twins - Aurora and Nox, while hunting in Witchita, Kansas.  Aurora was first, born just before midnight, her brother Nox followed 8 minutes later the next morning.

Aurora and Nox spent their early childhood doing what kids do. Because their parents traveled, they traveled with them.  They went to school like normal children, except that their school was online.  

When they were ten years old Bryan started teaching them the ways of the Atharim.  Teaching them about monsters, how to hunt and track them.  

When they were 13 years old he started taking the twins out with him on hunts, armed with crossbows and knives.

Death Omen

The Durante family was out by Mount Saint Helens.  They'd just finished a taking down a nest of cherufe.  Aurora and Nox were now 15, they'd been hunting on many occasions with their father and mother and were learning the ways of the Atharim on the job.

Bryan and the twins were in their hotel room cleaning and tending to their arsenal of weapons.  Cleo went out to get food while they were busy.  She could have sworn she saw a large black dog with red eyes out of the corner of her eye.  But when she looked she saw nothing.  The smell of rotten eggs wafted to her nose and she quickly went on her way home take out food in hand.

When Cleo got back to the hotel she could have sworn she heard a low growl behind her.  She turned to look but saw nothing.  Her mind was playing tricks on her.  

Another few days went by and Cleo hadn't seen the dog, she was probably just tired.  It was time to hit the road again and Cleo was packing up the trunk of their car.  She heard the growl again.  This time Nox was around.  She asked, "Did you hear that?".  Nox shook his head.  "No, Ma.  I didn't."


Cleo looked around and saw the large black dog with red eyes staring back at her.  She pointed.  "Do you see that?"

Nox looked in the direction his mother was pointing and saw nothing.  Clearly she saw something.  Nox was trying hard to think what it could be.  He knew they had studied something like that, but try as he might he couldn't remember.  Aurora was the book one, she could tell him.  Nox turned his back to find his sister.

The moment he did, he heard his mother screaming.  Nox quickly turned around and saw his mother fighting with something, her body was being shredded by unseen claws.  He stood in stunned silence.  He couldn't move.  He couldn't speak or scream for help.  All he could do was stand there and watch.

Another scream broke Nox from his daze.  Aurora stood opposite him watching the scene unfold.  She drew her knife but she was hesitant to use it.  Nox followed her lead.  But what was it?  How do they kill it?

Her mother stopped screaming as she drew her final breathe.  The struggle was over, the stench of sulfur was everywhere, but there was no monster to be seen.  Their father ran over to them, he'd been at near full sprint from the looks of his panting when he dropped down to see to his wife.  He looked up at each of them in turn.  "What did this?"

Both, Aurora and Nox shook their heads.  Aurora being Aurora pulled out a book she'd been reading, or she had for study, or her notes, Nox didn't know for sure.  But it was a book.

She thumbed through it.  Her thoughts wandering through what she knew.  She looked up to Nox.  "Did Mom say anything to you before this started?"


Nox nodded.  "She heard something, and saw something.  But I didn't."


Bryan got up with a frown and took a deep breath.  He put a hand in Aurora's book.  "It was a Hellhound.  There is nothing you could have done about it."

Night and Day

Aurora and Nox had been close up until their mother died, the entire event had caused a rift between all family members.  Bryan had taken up drinking, they were rarely going after jobs as he wallowed in the hotel room.

When Nox and Aurora turned 16 a few months after their mother's death they started doing the jobs and returning to their father with the news.  They worked well as a team, but Nox was heading right into the fight without a plan.  They had barely made it out alive after attempting to take on a Rougarou nest by himself.  Aurora had gone in and picked off the mob from a distance while Nox tried to fight with sword and axe and whatever else he had strapped to his body on the hunt.

Close to their 18th birthday they return from dispelling a wefuke from a girl in a near by town.  Aurora and Nox disagreed on the method of dispelling.  Aurora wanted to try something new, something she'd found in some of her research.  Nox just wanted to kill the girl.  Nox didn't wait for the discussion to end before he launched a bolt from his crossbow at the girl's head.  The entire way home they argued about ethics and people and just about everything.

When they arrived home they found their father lying on the bed, sleeping.  They tried to wake him.  But upon closer inspection they found he was dead.  From the looks of it by a couple hours, but dead none-the-less.  Aurora and Nox were on their own.

Healing

Nox and Aurora burnt their father's body as per their family tradition - something about ghosts or something neither Aurora or Nox really understood or cared to.  It was tradition and it was what their father would want.

Their father had taught them how to look for the oddities, but they hadn't actually done it themselves.  Their first few tries ended up with nothing to show for it.  They either ended in a mundane reason, or they were ousted from the scenes and weren't allowed to take a look at all.

It wasn't until they found a case of a flying something attacking people out near the Mexico/California border.  They said it looked like a dinosaur.  Both Nox and Aurora knew what it could be.  Quetzalcoatlus were rare but Aurora had seen them in their father's books.  Their nick name was sin-eaters.  They supposedly preyed on those who sowed discord.  Aurora wondered what the witness had done.  Nox didn't care and pretty much ignored her attempt at conversation.

They drove the distance to the border in relative quiet, they only fought once and a while, but mostly it was silent as they reflected on things.  They fought alot since both of their parents had died, but they still worked well as a team, when Nox was playing on the team.

They found the cave where the witness had said he'd seen a dinosaur.  It was hardly anything to speak of.  They went in with headlamps and rifles.  

Nox went first, as usual.  At first the cave ceiling looked like rocks, and then not them.  Nox fell down and his momentum caused him to slide down the unseen slope of the cavern they were entering.  

Aurora noted that the creatures were indeed quetzalcoatlus.  But there wasn't much they could do with that swarm other than burn them.  But now they were in flight and heading into the daylight.  She wondered what that would look like to the common eye.

Nox lay limp at the base of the slope, Aurora panicked.  She couldn't lose her brother.  She looked at him, she checked everything, she didn't see anything wrong with him.  But he wouldn't wake up.  Her panic grew, the world grew clearer.  She thought she could almost feel what was wrong with Nox.  She could feel the bleeding inside, but she blinked and then that feeling was gone.  The world was dark and almost sad again.  But Nox, he blinked up at her with glossy tired eyes.  "What happened?"


Aurora told him he'd fallen.  They talked through their game plan, they both agreed burning was the only sure way.  

They would come back later when they were more prepared and torch the place.

Fire

Every once and a while weird things like that would happen with Aurora.  Things that shouldn't have happened did and there was no explanation to it at all.  Aurora would spend days on end being sick too, it was weird.  Aurora had tried to figure it out, she thought she remembered their father talking about it to their mother once when they'd been through a town with the sickness.  But she couldn't remember exactly what had happened.  The kid had ended up dead later.

A month after they had turned 19 something weird happened again.  But this time, Aurora saw it first hand.   They had been hunting an Oni.  Someone had reported a bear, but the witness claimed it was horned and green.  He had of course been drunk so the details were always skewed, but after closer investigation the pair had found the Oni's cave.  It was their first of this kind of creature.  They'd read their father's notes.  Strong, stupid but fast.

Their father had been wrong.  The thing was not stupid, it was intelligent.  It had separated the two from each other.  It focused on Aurora.  But Nox was not stupid either, he'd been learning strategy well.  He'd had a few teachers along the way, but it seemed some of those stupid games he played online were actually helping with his tactics.  He'd come up from behind, when Aurora had been cornered by the beast.

Aurora looked past the beast in fear.  It was about to grab her and smash her into the walls before eating her... tenderizing her as you might say.  But Aurora watched as Nox formed a ball of fire in his need to kill the beast quickly and it flew at the Oni and engulfed it in a fiery inferno.  The smell made Aurora gag and vomit.  But Nox had saved her.  He stared at her, they clearly understood the meaning of it.  

Nothing like that had happened with Aurora, nothing quite so visible.  Things fell, or objects moved with out her knowledge.  But Nox, he weilded power, visible fire.  They both stared at the burning corpse of a monster.  

Aurora had known exactly what to look for in the books now.  She remembered seeing something about magic and reborn gods.  It was what the Atharim were made to do.  But now they were the hunted.  But both Aurora and Nox agreed, it would be a useful tool if they could get a handle on it.

Learning Control

They had both come to the realization that they were special.  Aurora had gone into research mode.  But both had agreed that this was a secret that they did not intended to share.  It could mean their deaths if they did.  But they also had to learn how to control it.  Otherwise the sickness would take them.  They lived on the outskirts of society as it was as hunters, but now they had to be doubly careful.

It was a struggle at first, learning what it was they had done.  

Aurora struggled with her power in ways that Nox did not understand, and Nox couldn't understand Aurora's either.  They were opposites it seemed, unable to feel or touch what the other felt.  Yet they were the same.  It fit their life rather perfectly.  Everything had been meant to be different for them since the day they were born.  While they were twins, one was female, the other male.  One born on one day, the other the next.  A mere matter of minutes separated their birth, but a whole day difference none-the-less.  

Aurora eventually came to grips with her power.  She surrendered to it completely.  But Nox he struggled.  Aurora tried to help Nox but it didn't work for him that way.  Surrendering felt like a death sentence.  He had to force control over it.  

They spent months trying to connect with this new found power.   They stayed in the woods, a cabin that they'd stayed in often as children while they had waited for the next job, or while their dad was off hunting some creature that was too dangerous for them to even know about.

It was peaceful and quiet and no one bothered them.

Those months brought the two closer together, and yet set them so far apart.  The duality of their powers, and the opposites caused strife and anxiety.  Aurora wanted to help Nox.  Nox wanted to teach Aurora, but the powers were too different.  But neither one reach their power with out the other present.  Their gifts seemed to be tied to one another.  

They eventually found that it was easiest if they were in close physical contact.  Holding hands was awkward at first.  But they started to practice.  Once their gifts had been attained they could weild it with out contact.  But dropping the source of the power, and they would have to struggle to regain it, it was far easier just to use one another than to fight that constant battle.  

They accepted the fact they needed each other despite the fact their tempers were wearing thin and they got on each other's nerves.

For the next few months the pair worked on tactics.  How could they fight and hunt monsters with their new found gifts.  

Aurora and Nox spent an entire year in seclusion learning how to fight with their power.  They had to remain close to one another.   They worked well as a team before, but now, they worked better.  Nox had come to accept that he needed his sister, and Aurora had learned to let Nox lead, he'd take suggestions and listen if he felt in control.  It worked well.

Their bond as twins only strengthened, and their reliance on one another grew.

Moscow Bound

After a year and a few months of seclusion the twins got agnsty and wanted to return to the real world.  To the hunt.  

They searched the news for the perfect article, but the didn't find anything off hand until they saw the article about blood less corpses.  Rumors abound of vampires.  But they both knew vampires were a myth, a real myth, to cover the real culprits - dreyken or dranaika.  Perfect job.  Though it was the dranaika they both hoped for.  The power of foresight would be a very interesting test of their abilities.

But they weren't the only Atharim to find the information.  Another hunter, he had gotten their first.  Normally the twins would have backed off, first come first serve, but Nox was itching to get in a fight.

They found the lair of the dreyken after he'd fed first.  It was an easy dispatch, at least for them.  They wove fire and air effortlessly and the creature burst into flames.

The other hunter though, he came upon the burning corpse as the twins watched to make sure it really was the end of the creature.  It could have been a worse encounter.  They exchanged information but he said, they needed to be initiated.  That it was something their father should have done long ago.  But he hadn't for some reason. Probably hoping that they'd choose another life.

He gave them details, a name, a place, very specific instructions on who to contact.  He sent them to Moscow, to undergo initiation.  He said that it was their God given right to have the Regus preform their initiation.  They were born Atharim, from a long line of Atharim.  It was about time their line meet the leader of their ogranization.  At least that's what he told them.

They boarded the plane with information in hand.  But they had no idea how to send word they were coming, so they went.  Their instructions were specific.

But as brother and sister do, Nox and Aurora argued most of the way to Moscow.

Nox grabbed his sister's arm.  Everything else happened so fast.  He embraced his power, he only meant to amply his voice, to get his point across.  Instead, the weave pierced through the cabin's interior and to the outside world.  Nox fell out the new opening.  The plane went down.  The only saving grace was it was nearing landing anyway.  Aurora blacked out before the plane had ever landed

Airliner Down

Approximately 3:45PM the Lufthansa flight LH1446 from Frankfurt, Germany crashed into the runway of the Moscow airport.  It is unknown what cause the crash.  Survivors have been taken to Perinatal Medical Center and GMS Medical Clinic.  At last estimate there are 10 dead, identities of the victims have not yet been released.

Update:  The black box has been recovered from the wreckage.  Authorities are examining the information and will release information at a later time.

Update:  The information from the black box was inconclusive.  Authorities are still unsure of the exact cause of the crash.  The only definite piece of information to the crash that is of any use, is the cabin lost air pressure quickly, but there do not seem be any mechanical failure.  Investigators are looking into other leads.  

Update: Rumors leaving the hospitals where the survivors are being treated speak of a silent explosion - no one seems to know the source or the cause of this phenomenon.

Update: Authorities have investigated the wreckage.  It does look like the plan exploded from the inside out, causes are unknown.  There was no mechanical failure or explosives used.  Authorities are baffled by the data they've collected.


You would think falling to a runway would be memorable, but Nox found himself in a hospital with broken bones and in a near full body cast unaware of what happened and where he was.  He'd been in the thing for too long.  He knew the story, he's seen it on the tv many times.  It was such a mystery, and yet it seemed somehow familiar, like it was sitting at the edge of his memories just waiting to be found.  But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't reach it.

He couldn't reach any other memories except those he'd made while waking up in the hospital bed.

Today the doctor was going to take him out of the cast and reexamine him.  Nox yelled, "Nurse!"


A pretty redhead walked in with her sparkling white dress on and shaking her head.  "You know we can't keep running when you call Nox."  She grinned at him.

"When's he coming I want out of this thing.  I can feel my muscles dying."


"He'll be here when he's here." She looked out the door.  "Nevermind he's here now."

The whole thing was a big ordeal.  Nox was impatient.  He wanted out of the stupid cast, he wanted out of this god forsaken hospital but most of all he wanted to find out what the fuck was going on.  Who was he?  What was an American like him doing in the CCD, much less the capital of the so called tyrant.  For some reason Nox felt like someone was going to yell at him for his thoughts.  Someone who knew what he was thinking.  Maybe there was someone out there looking for him.  But it wasn't like he was hiding here, he couldn't move for months.  Now he was finally getting out and the nagging feeling that something, no someone was missing hit him.

Three weeks later Nox was discharged with his express promise he'd come back for more physical therapy.  He had no intentions of doing so but he made the promise anyway.  The only thing he had on him was a pair of cheap ass clothes some nurse picked up for him, his wallet and his ident card. No one was there waiting for him, and he had no idea where to go from there.

RP Summary and threads

- Nox - 09-22-2014

Discoveries

Their primary goal was to use this new found power and apply it to their jobs. It was less risk and far more fun to do it this way. Once Nox and Aurora had figure out the best way to grasp this power they started focusing on specifics. As they watched the patterns form, they gave off hints of individualistic characteristics. Much like that silly carton back in the day, The Last Airbender or something. It wasn't exactly like that, but Nox watched the silly cartoon none-the-less. It gave him thoughts and ideas and he pursued his own avenues. Aurora was all about making their life easier, but Nox just wanted to fight with them.

The simple things like making something catch fire or blow away were easy, they required only one of the characteristics. But in an area full of woods, fallen leaves, both dried and fresh Nox had to be careful with fire. Aurora quickly learned how to put out his fires. It was fun to watch her panic and dose the flames with buckets of water and eventually she would just channel a river of water from the lake to the fire. She was adept in the fire putting outing. Nox was grateful, it allowed him to play with it to a much greater extent. He didn't care to put them out himself, and they'd probably had been dead if it hadn't been for his sisters quick thinking.

The more Nox understood that each thread was special, he started playing with multiple threads. Air woven around fire, would maintain a ball of fire. If he let the weave go it would sadly wink out of existence. But Nox quickly found that if he gave the fire something to burn on, it would stay until the fuel source was depleted. But the key was to find something small and light enough to carry but would burn long enough to be of use to him. He could only hold one weave at a time. It was highly frustrating.

In the woods a pine cone would do, he could wrap his fireball around the pine cone and send it hurdling across the space and not have to keep the weave open, it would burn quickly. Kinda like the make shift bombs they use in the gangster movies, the flaming bottles of alcohol. But that was such a waste of good liquor. It'd be a shame, if he had those bottles to waste it on some dumb ass and definitely not worthy of wasting on a monsters ass.

But really it all came down to location, location, location. Why set a bush on fire from afar? Why throw it at all when you could just create the weave all around them and wham, on fire. Distance didn't matter in the weaving, if he could see it, he could weave something there.

Nox liked fire, it was far more devastating upon first glance. Fire was just one of those things that every kid loved to play with. It was exciting. And Nox was no different.

But Nox quickly realized that there was other things that would make his job easier. Being able to stun a monster when times got rough, that was useful. The only problem was, learning direction. The first few times Nox tried to make a large stunning sound, he couldn't hear well for days. It was like a gun going off next to his ears. Aurora laughed at him when it happened the first time. The third and fourth time it happened she just rolled her eyes. It would have been funny if it had been her, but Nox wasn't laughing.

It took Nox weeks of doing nothing but trying directional weaves. Ones that would only affect things in the direction he intended it. Moving the air and the fire and other elements was easy, but sound, that was hard. He figured once he could wrap his head around directional sound, he could do directional light. A flash bang grenade without the grenade would be so awesome.

Sound not something Nox knew a lot about. It was a wave, he got that. He told his sister what he had wanted to do. She actually took out her wallet and started searching for things that would help. There were actually quite a bit about sound dampening and such. Aurora was smart like that, she drew Nox a picture of what the weave should look like to get direction and sound in one weave. It wasn't very complex, the cone and the sound could be used for dual purposes. She was a genius. Now all Nox had to do was create the weave himself.

The directional sound was fun. He even figured out to how to amply his voice with it. That was probably the only weave he learned that did nothing for what he wanted his power to do. It had been a natural side effect of the directional sound.

Making the flash bang grenade was easy, adding the light had been a no-brainer. But no matter what he tried Nox never got it to work with in a specific direction. He didn't ask for help this time, he tried to figure it out, but it came down to physics and Nox wasn't about to learn more than what he already understood. It would happen when it happened was his philosophy.

Fire, air, earth, and water were easy, he wasn't sure what to call that fifth characteristic of the patterns. It was just there, it helped some, but he pretty much just left it alone unless Aurora instructed him to use it, he didn't bother. Fire was the most destructive and he focused on it. But with out air, it never preformed exactly as necessary. And once Nox figured out how to combine those two with earth, he had a pretty deadly weapon.

Fire, air and earth together could be shaped into various forms, from bullets to Nox's favorite, an arrow or bolt. Armor piercing, perfect for an Oni. He couldn't wait to watch one of those little fire arrows pierce through the Oni's thick skin and burn it from the inside out. He could just envelope it in fire, but the smell. He'd tried that on a squirrel outside their cabin in the woods. He had to throw the burning hair ball into the lake to ride the place of burning hair. That was probably the worse smell he'd ever smelt.

Most of the other things that Nox picked up with his experimenting were all pretty mundane things. Hot air, hot water, making earth erupt from the ground. In a pinch he could erect a rock wall of fire hardened earth. Was rather nice trick, but you couldn't see through it, but in a fire fight it might come in handy. Not that monsters had guns, but some, some could have fire breath. What it would to actually kill a dragon or something. Such fantasies of a child, yet still lived even though Nox knew better. There were monsters that go bump in the night. The Atharim where what bumped back. He was proud to be what he was, and there was no shortage of girls who needed rescuing.



Edited by Nox, Sep 23 2014, 10:31 AM.

Nox Durante - Nox - 08-27-2016

Misdirection

Philadelphia, PA 2037

Nox was avoiding his studies.  They were learning all about Oni - big hulking creatures with tough leathery skin that acted like armor.  Where the tales of Ogres and stuff came from but got all wrong.  The monster part was fun, but the learning every little detail about them was not - like what colors they could range from or how thick their skin actually was.  That's what Aurora was for - she was the walking, talking textbook.

They sat in a diner across from each other, Aurora was twirling her blonde hair around her finger smacking gum as she stared at her computer screen reading something their father was making them study.  Or maybe it was her math homework or science.  It didn't really matter, she was intent on the screen before her so she hadn't noticed that Nox slipped his headphones into his ears and pulled up the hood of his hoodie from around his shoulders and sank back into the cushion on the chair and started playing a free album that was all the rage.

It was by a guy called Methos.  He was dressed in spangled shirt that hung off his shoulders over a black tank top and wearing tight, tight jeans.  His hair was dyed multiple colors and he worse an extravagant amount of make up.  The music was very electronic, the bass was heavy and the lyrics few and far between.  The title song, 'Eternal Sensationalism' already had a video released and Nox sat staring at the man as clips from history played across the screen in the background while in the foreground the man sang the few lyrics and the rest of the time played a small tiny box with colored lights that made the rest of the sounds throughout the song.  

It was the type of music that played in the clubs and raves that he was told to avoid but didn't.  He was only 13, but he wasn't the typical 13 year old either - he'd already shot his first gun, learned how to fight with his hands and feet.  He could wield a whip and a cross bow with ease as well as a knife.  Those were all things he and Aurora learned with their father.  Their mother had chosen another route.  With Aurora they sat and read - a book club of two.  They read old school books, the ones you actually had to physically hold and flip through physical pages.  They always smelled musty but the two would giggle and laugh over things the read for hours.  

With Nox she'd spent hours upon hours teaching him how to dance.  It was part of what made the hand to hand combat easy for Nox.  He enjoyed both.  The only part of dancing he didn't like was the outfits.  He was always this thin short kid  - nothing but skin and bones until he turned 11 and then he hit his first growth spurt.  He was finally taller than Aurora and that made him happy.

So sneaking out of the hotel they were staying in became partly game with his father and part rebellion.  Methos was playing in Philly that weekend.  Nox stood outside the concert hall and tried to listen but there really wasn't much to hear and he couldn't afford to buy the tickets the guys were selling outside.

Resigned to the fact he wasn't going to get to see this new sensation hit the stage he found the nearest club that would let him in.  Thanks to a faked ID and the growth spurt he could get in easily.  He wasn't there to drink.  He just wanted to dance.

The club was like most he'd gotten into in every other city.  The bar was packed with men and women looking to hook up.  There were half naked girls slinging themselves around poles - a few guys as well.  The music was loud and Nox found himself immersed in the thrum of the music dancing for hours.

The music died with the lights.  A familiar beat set the stage, fire erupted from the corners of the dj booth and in front of it a shadow stood, the glint of glitter and sequins were the only thing breaking up the dark shadows until the lights strobed through several colors as the music picked up and the scene materialized.  The crowd on the dance floor moved into the new music with ease, there were screams all around him.  

The crowd chanted "Methos" and Nox stared at the sight in front of him.  The one thing he'd wanted to see that night stood before him.  The music took over and Nox danced with the crowd completely oblivous to anyone and everything other than the beat.

The night was over too fast and Nox found himself sneaking back into the window he escaped from only to find his father sitting on his bed holding his laptop and glaring at him.  They shared no words.  He said nothing as he took Nox by the arm gently.  He wasn't mad.  At least this was an anger Nox had never seen from his father.  

They weren't spanked as children, but his father's anger was not calm - it was more like a raging bull.  Throwing things, hitting anything but his children.  He'd go to shooting ranges.  No this time it was white hot - cold and calculated. He dragged his son behind him to another room.  "It's time you understand the way of men."

"The way of men" turned out to be a hooker in a room well away from his mother and sister.  Nox was left alone with the woman for three hours before his father pulled him away.  It was time to leave.  Nox's education had been thorough.

- Nox - 09-19-2016

Nova

[Image: dabdde4a03ca71a03be6c693649c5f7d.jpg]
a grown Nova pictured.

Originally found by Aurora. When she left with Diego on her final trip she left the puppy alone in the house where Nox found him. After surviving the destruction of the warehouse Nox decided to keep the puppy and named him Nova.

(He has been staying at a vet's in Moscow while Nox was in the States where he has grown and recovered nicely and eagerly awaiting Nox's return)

- Nox - 10-20-2016

Father/Son Bonding

Spring 2039

Hunting had become life his life. For the past year Nox had been out in the field more times than he could count, and more times that his mother liked. Aurora preferred to do the research and grudgingly went along on the hunt itself. Her nose was always in a book, much like their mother. But their mother also made sure to spend time with Nox.

It was time well spent. It wasn't fighting. But it yielded the same results - perfection of the body. While some people might consider it girlie - his father was one of the people - dancing made Nox aware of what his body was capable of. It wasn't easy to pirouette on the forest floor and actually attempting it could break an ankle. Which was why ballet was for inside only, he could do other things on the forest floor and he did. It ended up more gymnastics than dancing using the trees as bars and vaults and the like. It was good exercise.

But this particular forest adventure had been only him and his dad, in which he was forbidden to 'prance' around the trees like a fool. He'd said, "You look ridiculous." Nox only shrugged and followed his father's instructions.

Failure to comply could mean going home without actually finding their quarry. And Nox really wanted to hunt. They were stalking their prey through the forest, his crossbow as at ready. He wasn't allowed to use firearms in real world situations. He wasn't exactly sure why, but his father said something about a 15 year old shouldn't have such a dangerous weapon. Learn to hit things with the bolt and then you can have a firearm.

Nox had done that but he was still regulated to just a crossbow and a knife at his waist - just in case his father said. Throwing it was a fun endeavor, but it was rarely a good weapon of choice when faced with a hulking beast of whatever variety they hunted.

Aurora and their mother were home safely at the motel they had been holed up in when they got word of a wolfkin in the area. His father had taken them to the sighting of the wolfman and asked around. It had been a diner. The food smelled good - better than anything they had been eating on the road. But his father wouldn't let him eat - he was always hungry and just the smell of food made his stomach rumble. But no food. Not until they hit camp. Food was a distraction. So was a craving. His father must have forgotten what it was like to be a 15 year old boy who was constantly out growing his clothes. Not that he cared anyway.

Sometimes Nox thought he and his sister were unplanned. But their mother reassured them that they were loved. Still didn't mitigate that fact that they were an inconvenience until they could hunt. They were of age now, but still treated like the same inconvenience.

There were several couples in booths and his father told him to sit on the bar with a glass of water and listen. Nox watched while his father went to the nearest table and asked about the place in general. If they were regulars. When they weren't he went on to the next table. Asking the same questions.

Four of the five tables turned up nothing and his father came back to him without hitting that fifth table. "Why didn't you talk to those two men?"
They were sitting holding hands and whispering closely across the table but the look that his father gave them and then him when he turned back to Nox wasn't friendly - it was almost a snarl.

"They won't know anything."

"They could."
Nox said flatly then sipped from his water. His father took the glass from his hand and almost smashed it into the counter.

"Are you questioning me?"

"No sir."
Nox quickly spat out before his father turned back to them. They had stopped whispering and were staring at them now. Nox looked away from them with a sense that he'd violated some sort of privacy, but it wasn't because they were looking at the couple that Nox felt ashamed - his father was making a scene over nothing. "Let's ask the staff so we can go."


His father order a piece of pie and pushed it in front of Nox. Nox ate quickly while his father asked the waitress about the wolfman. He listened to the questions and the answers she gave.

The two men walked past them. His father muttered under his breath as he watched them holding hands. "That is so wrong." He picked up the last bite of pie on Nox's plate and popped into his mouth and dropped the cash and tip on the table. The tip only amounting to a few coins after tax. Nox wanted to say something but knew better.

The waitress information lead them around the corner and down the path they were currently traveling in the middle of a forested area of the town they were in. The forest was much more pleasant that the city streets. Tracking was easier when you could look at the dirt for foot prints and see snapped twigs. It was so much more difficult in the city to track.

Nox's fathered waved him off to the side so they could flank the beast they were hunting. Nox could see the man hunched over and gnawing at something. Nox was not paying attention and a twig snapped under his feet and the wolfkin's golden eyes fell upon him.

It was moments before the beast was upon him. The crossbow was steady in front of him. But the wolfman looked almost human, except for the golden eyes and the blood covering his mouth he could have been like one of the guys at the diner. Except Nox knew better. The small moment of hesitation as the beast collided with Nox was too much and the crossbow flew to the side.

Gasping for air, Nox reached for the knife at his belt while the creature clawed at him and tried to bite him. Nox was barely able to keep the large and stronger man from the tender flesh of his neck. The sting in his arms as his nail dug into his skin was starting to make his arms ache.

The knife from his belt sank into the tender flesh of the wolfman's midsection and it howled in pain just as another knife came crashing down into the beasts skull and collapsing on top of Nox.

Nox lay there in stunned silence as his father pushed the beast off of him. He could feel the blood oozing through his clothes. And he knew he was in for a berating, but he was alive - that was all that mattered to him in that moment. He was alive.


Edited by Nox, Oct 20 2016, 01:23 PM.

- Nox - 10-20-2016

One Shot

(age 5)

Books were never Nox's thing. But he loved sitting in his father's lap and looking at the pictures in them. The book was full of handwritten words, and old pictures, some of the books the pictures had faded so bad that they looked yellow, the pages were crumpled with use, but his father still liked to flip through them.

Pointing at one the pictures of the men in the book Nox asked, "Who's this?" He knew the answer. But he liked to hear the story anyway. The way his father sounded when he told the story.

Nox smiled when his father started speaking. "That is your grandfather, Noel Durante. And the little boy is me when I was only a few years older than you." The picture was of the results of a hunt. In the picture a big monster hung by his feet from the tops of a tree you couldn't see. The monster was bigger than his grandfather. "And this," his father continued, "is an Oni. Grandpa Noel killed it with just one crossbow bolt." He pointed to the bolt that was still sticking out of the eye of the creature. "That was my first hunt. My father took me out. It was the best day of my life. I was so scared, but I didn't let it stop me. It roared and I wanted to run, but I stood by my dad's side and I held the next bolt waiting for Dad to need it. But he hit it on the first try. Best shot ever."

A smile split his face as he stared off into the memories. In a quieter voice, he said, "Your Grandfather taught me everything he knew. He said I was his right hand." He looked at Nox with a smile. "Like you, Nox. You're my right hand now."

Nox beamed up at his father. "I want to do that one day."

****

(age 7)

Nox wasn't allowed to touch real weapons yet. When Nox showed an interest earlier that year in learning his father gave him a sling. "Learn to hit things with this, then you can learn the crossbow."

Everyday after he finished dancing with his mother - his only time alone with his mother which was always an overheard fight between his parents - Nox made a point of taking the sling and handful of rocks to whatever parking lot or clearing he could find and practicing his aim. Nox made sure his father saw what he had been carrying. On a far building or a nearby tree Nox always carved a small hole the size of a eye in it. He would make that once in a life time shot if it killed him. He wanted to make his father proud. He wanted to have a picture just like the one he remembered in the journals his father made him look through.

To kill an Oni with one shot. He had no idea what it was other than a big ugly creature that gave him nightmares, but he wanted to kill it just like his grandfather had.

****
(age 10)

Nox was supposed to be sleeping but he'd snuck out of his shared room with Aurora to practice with the sling by the moon light. Tomorrow they were supposed to start training with real weapons - a crossbow. To say he was nervous was an understatement. Nox wanted this to go well so he made sure he could hit the mark with the sling. He was still missing the eye by a wide margin. But he knew he'd get better with practice. He'd done so much since his father had taught him how to use it that one time when he was 7.

Getting back into the room was usually easy except tonight his parents had left their door open and as he was sneaking back to his door he heard them fighting.

"Bryan, they are just 10. You can't start training them to kill things now. They are still kids."

"I started younger than they did. I turned out fine. We've waited long enough. And he has to stop prancing around the street and stop putting him in those ...whatever you call them." Leotards Nox thought to himself. He didn't like them, they didn't quite fit well and they weren't very comfortable.

"He likes dancing Bryan, you can't take their childhood away. I won't let you."

"Cleo, we are Atharim. This is what we do. They were born to do this. I have to teach them. Who else is going to do it? You?"

"They are just children. Let them be children. Aurora doesn't even want to do this."

"She shows the most promise. She is willing to listen, to learn. He just cares about that stupid sling and your dancing." Stupid sling... Nox frowned as he looked down at the sling in his hand. The rest of the conversation was lost on Nox as he slipped into his room.

He heard a hiss of air and then the light turned on. "Oooooh. I'm telling."

Nox frowned. "Go back to bed, Aurora. They are fighting again."

She frowned as she strained to listen to the fight next door. "I'm gonna tell Momma and Dad in the morning." She turned off the light and slipped under the covers.

Nox dropped the sling into the garbage near the door and slipped into his own bed. Tomorrow was crossbow day.

-- three weeks later --

Aurora had been true to her word and their father had grounded him for three weeks. Nox had been doing nothing but staring at his school books for three weeks. He wasn't allowed in on weapons training, or anything new their father was starting to show them. He got stuck doing Math and English and all the boring things he hated.

Today was the first day that he was allowed to do anything fun and his mother had grabbed him first thing. "Come Nox, let's practice."

Nox crossed his arms remembering his father calling it stupid. "I don't want to."

"Baby, you like dancing."

"I don't want to." Nox tried to walk away.

"Nox. Stop." He complied. "I have you for the next hour. Your father isn't expecting you until then do you want him to be angry you aren't spending time with me?"

Nox shook his head. "No."

His mother knelt down in front of him like she did when he was a child. "Please, I'll show you a new dance."

"Dancing is stupid."

"You love it." His mother pulled him into a waltz and let him lead. "It's good practice. The more you know how your body works, the better a fighter you can be. Why do you think so many football players take ballet?"

"Because it gives them the grace to get out of the way when someone tries to tackle them."

"Exactly." She smiled down fondly at him. "And you don't want a big Oni to crush you do you?"

Nox shook his head. "No, Momma I don't. I will shoot it in the eye. Soon as I learn how to anyway."

His mother patted him on the head. "You will get there."

****

(age 13)

Today was a big day for Nox. He and Aurora were about to take a test that their father said would determine whether or not they were both ready to go out in the field with them on a real hunt - with real monsters. Nox hadn't slept all night.

He was tired. He yawned into his hand and his sister laughed at him. "You are so going to fail."

Nox rolled his eyes. He wasn't going to fall for the bait. They would get in more trouble if they were caught squabbling than if he just let her pick at him. He'd still get in trouble for not standing up for himself. But one scolding was worse than the other.

Their father sauntered up carrying two crossbows. They'd used them before, but if they passed the test, these were theirs to keep and take care of. If they broke - too bad. No more hunting. But first they had to earn them.

Aurora went first. Nox watched as she pulled the crossbow back and aimed at the target. His hands were shaking. He wasn't sure if it was nerves or lack of sleep or maybe too much coffee. But all they had to do was hit it. They got as many tries as they could take in 30 seconds. The amount of time before they were slashed to pieces by a dreyken. Their father had shown them visuals of a man gutted by one of the vampire like creatures. It wasn't a pretty picture - and it was very motivating. The time included knocking the first bolt in place.

Aurora unleashed the first bolt and it stuck the outer rim of the target. Their father clicked the timer with a smile. "Perfect."

Aurora turned around and gloated with a big grin. "Let's see you do better - little brother."

If he'd been with their mother he'd have stuck his tongue out at his sister, but Nox knew his father disliked childish behavior so he just stepped up to the line and held the crossbow at his side like he was told. "Go." The timer started.

Nox pulled up the crossbow and the first bolt fell to the ground as he fumbled for the release on his weapon. A second fell as well. He could do this. He knew he could. The third bolt was knocked and he released it just as his father clicked the timer. "Time."

Twack! The bolt hit dead center and Nox smiled. But his father was shaking his head. He did't even look to see where he'd hit. "Doesn't matter you are dead."

Nox didn't complain. He just nodded and handed his father the crossbow. There was no point in arguing. Aurora giggled behind her hand. "Told you."

The next day he went with his father despite not passing his father's test. His mother had intervened citing he almost got it and they aren't hunting dreyken.

****

(age 16)

They'd spent three days in mourning. Three fucking days - that was it. Their father dragged them half asleep into the Jeep and out on the road - three days after losing their mother. The Jeep still smelled like sulfur, Nox almost wanted to puke from the stench. But he didn't say anything.

Nox still remembered the screams his mother made. He could hear them in his sleep - what little he got of it anyway. He was living on coffee and chocolate for the past three days trying to stay awake.

They were on their way to a wild bear sighting - in hopes it wasn't a bear. It likely was a bear, but at least their father had stopped drinking long enough to drive sober. Though whenever they stopped he was holding a beer in his hand. To numb the pain he kept saying. Nox didn't understand why he just didn't hit something to make himself feel better. It always seemed to work in the past.

But his father seemed dead set on drinking away the pain. But right now they were stalking an Oni. Wild and free in the forest of the Rocky Mountains. It was fall, the weather was cold and there was snow on the ground. It sucked! But he, nor Aurora complained as they hiked into the forest with only the things they could carry. It was just the three of them.

Aurora had tracked the beast to a cave. They were inside. It was dark. It was just him and his father. It felt good to be hunting again. But it wasn't the same without their mom. Nothing was the same. Everyone was mad at everyone else.

The crossbow was knocked waiting. Unlike the stupid test his father made him take - which he failed spectacularly at and his father and Aurora never let him live it down - Nox was not an idiot - he was ready. Their father was off to his left. The Oni rushed at him - Nox was meant to be the distraction, but his father had gauged the sound wrong and it was closer to him. Nox had to take the shot.

Aim. Fire! The bolt bounced just left of the Oni's left eye. The Oni swung and his father sailed through the air and crashed into a wall. In those few moments Nox hadn't seen where his father had landed nor the direction he was too busy knocking the next bolt into place and aiming. The Oni coming towards him and he let the bolt go.

It was beautiful. It sailed in the quiet of the echoing cave right into the left Oni's eye. Perfect shot. The Oni collapsed to the ground with a wet thud and Nox hurried over to his father. He was just dazed, might have a concussion and a few broken ribs but he was breathing.

Nox burned the Oni's body and helped his father out of the cave where Aurora could tend his wounds. His father's only comment as they walked out of the cave was, "You missed. Again."

****

(age 18)

Two years to the day since their mother had been mauled by a hellhound and they were alone. It was just Nox and Aurora remembering the day their mother died as they drove in silence through the mountains. Their father was only gone a few months. He and Aurora were at each others throats almost constantly now.

Their last hunt hadn't gone as planned. The whole situation was one royal fuck up. The reports said it was a rogue wolf - large, hairy creature attacking women and children and ripping their throats out. They were just kids - they couldn't fake their way into a crime scene. They had to go with what they could ferret out of the locals. That had been the wrong move.

Turned out their rogue wolf was a hulking oni living in their nearby caves for pretty near the last decade from the amount of bones that had littered its cave. He'd gone in alone expecting a kin to be an easy kill.

The roar alone should have told the idiot towns people it wasn't a fucking wolf. Oni didn't scare Nox. There was little that he'd encountered since he started learning about monsters that scared him anymore. The only thing he had nightmares about now was hellhounds. Wasn't a damn fucking thing you could do about a creature you couldn't see or touch. He'd lived his mother's death over and over every night for the past few years. Sleep was precious when he could get it.

The Oni rushed Nox. Nox counted softly to himself as he knocked the bolt. One.... Two... He aimed.... Three... Four ... Five... He pulled the trigger. Six... Seven... Eight.. Thwap! Bulls-eye! The Oni fell seven feet away from Nox, one bolt to the eye. A memory flashed to his mind. Sitting in his father's lap - a picture of his father and his grandfather. It had been a happy memory ... once. He pushed it away with a bitter taste in his mouth. "Fuck you," he mumbled to himself. He wasn't going to honor the man who gave up - fucking drank himself to death - couldn't even die a hunter. Nox doused the body in an accelerant and tossed a match and left the cave with little more ceremony than he had entered.


Edited by Nox, Oct 20 2016, 05:30 PM.

- Nox - 01-13-2017

Last Concert

2040 (age 16 almost 17)

Nox and Aurora had been pretty much handling everyday things - there father was a drunkard who could barely stand upright on the best of days - today was not one of those days.

Aurora was working on their books - the whole money thing wasn't something Nox was any good at, she always bitched at him so he stopped trying to help in anything 'smart' related. Aurora looked up from the book she was balancing and smiled. "You can go to that stupid concert, but I'm staying here. You know if Dad finds out he'll beat you to within an inch of your life, right?"

Nox nodded. "It's Methos' last concert, we came all this way and I even bought tickets this time. He can beat me all he wants, it'll be worth it to see his farewell gig."

Aurora shook her head. "Suit yourself." She went back to her work.

They had found a club that was catering to all the Methos fans in town for the farewell tour. They had all been dressed much like Methos in all of his glory - the heavy eyeliner, the standout colored hair and the outrageous outfits, Aurora had felt uncomfortable, but Nox felt out of place. They had a good time dancing the night away, a guy had come up to them and joined in for several songs. He had been wearing a Methos '37 tour t-shirt and wore the same hair and makeup as nearly everyone else.

He introduced himself to Nox by yelling into his ear and wrapping his arm around Nox's waist. Aurora was on the other side of their new friend Jaden, but he seemed more interested in touching Nox - something Nox hadn't paid much attention to until Aurora was giggling afterwards on the ride home. She kept saying 'He was cute. Don't ya think?' She'd had one too many drinks too.

In an effort to look the part Nox had spent several hours shopping - and he hated shopping. By the time he got back to the hotel he had barely enough time to add the temporary dye to his hair. But the biggest challenge that day was asking his sister to apply eye liner.

He remembered asking, "Hey sis, mind doing me a big?"

Aurora rolled her eyes but she never looked up. "Depends, what is it?"

"Help me apply the eyeliner?"

Nox's question made Aurora's head snap up straight and she saw the black pencil held between his fingers and the bright multi colored hair and she burst into fits of laughter. Nox patiently waited for his sister to calm down. He was going to be late because his sister couldn't stop laughing. "You can stop now Aurora. I'd like to make the concert. You can laugh after you help me."

Aurora stood up and pushed him down on to the bed and helped him apply the eyeliner, but she couldn't stop laughing. The smile kept breaking out into laughter and Nox really couldn't help the infectious laugh and was grinning with his sister before she was done.

She leaned down and kissed his check. "You will so fit in now. Jaden won't recognize you."

Nox asked, "Who?"

Aurora laughed again. "Nevermind."

The basics done it was time for the outfit. A girl in the mall had helped him pick out the perfect thing to wear to a Methos concert. She just happened to be wearing her own Methos tour shirt and said she was in the front row. He had trusted her and tried on everything she said and purchased everything she'd approved.

The torn jeans weren't too out there for Nox - he'd worn worse - though he'd never purposefully bought a pair of jeans with holes in them before. Underneath was a pair of fish net leggings that Nox knew as going to be a bad move by the end of the night - the netting was cutting into his legs. But he hoped to have enough beer in him that it didn't matter later. The shirt was nearly see through with a rainbow effect to the mesh. It went well with the techno-colored hair and they off set each other well, the only downside to the shirt was the glitter - it was getting everywhere.

When Nox left the bathroom Aurora was sent into another fit of giggles as he walked out the door. He got a few stares from the people outside their room, and a cat call too. So much for fitting in.

The concert itself was awesome. The people next to Nox were all very friendly - some of them a little over friendly. Irony - Jaden had the seat next to him. Nox blamed Aurora - it was her seat and her ticket. But it was a good show and Nox had a good time. Jaden had been slightly high and had offered Nox a hit or two which he declined. The worst he'd ever allow himself was drunk - and that was a rarity - monsters were everywhere and you never knew who was one or what lurked in the shadows.

The after party was not something Nox really remembered. Jaden invited Nox alone with his friends to the same club they'd met at the night before. Nox had a few too many beers and remembered waking up the next morning lying in his clothes on Aurora's bed with his father staring down at him.

Nox rubbed his eyes and sat up. In that same moment his father grabbed his chin and wrenched it to the side and pressed his thumb into his neck. "What girl would like a boy dressed like this?" He nearly spat at Nox as he spoke harshly.

And then his whole demeanor went even darker. He grabbed Nox by the arm and shoved him into the bathroom and grabbed his straight razor. With little warning Bryan Durante was shaving his son's head. Nox stammered, "It would have washed out," before his father silenced him with a look.

Aurora walked into their shared bedroom and promptly turned around when she saw what was going on. She was going to leave Nox to his punishment, Nox didn't blame her.
Edited by Nox, Jan 13 2017, 02:21 PM.

RE: Nox Durante - Nox - 09-05-2018

Pre-Game Posts

RP Threads
~2046
  • Preparations - with Ayden, Yoshimura, Connor & Aria (unknowingly used multiple weaves at the same time)
  • Finding Aurora - with Connor, Ayden, Aria & Aurora(Deigo)
  • The Last Straw with Dorian, Ivan & Aria
  • Into The Fire - with Ivan (teaching Ivan)
  • US of A Reunion Tour - alone
  • The Pain of Loss - with Thalia in the Dreamworld (acceptance of his loss and shedding of most of the guilt)
  • Last Stop - with Enrique and Dane - Playing with the OP with Dane (beginning of intuitive nature of earth per his god reincarnation)
  • Text Message Missions - with Elyse (over text messages)
  • Which is More Dangerous - With Dane and Cain (lots of using of the OP)
  • It's a Date - with Elyse (more OP usage - upping strength 19)
  • Little Brother's Roommate - picked up after Sage and Cain talked to pick up Cain for the errands and hopefully a means of getting the software
  • Aurora wrote back.
  • Of Monsters and Magic - with Elias, Asha and Cain - changing Aria's locks so Dane doesn't have easy access - another fight with Elias
  • I've been sick - with Cruz (Dorian), Rachel (Emily), and Cain - stopped to see Ascendancy's spectacle and help out Cruz - helped break Cain's block and showed him and Cruz a few things
  • Broken - with Sage, Elyse and Dorian (Cruz) Nox develops trip wires and an early warning system with the OP
  • Miscellaneous Errands - with Elyse (and various NPCs)
  • Aria's friend - with Elyse and Manix - saw a healing weave for the first time
  • Miscellaneous Errands - with Elyse (and various NPCs) picked up Nova
  • Remembering a Friend - with Pyotr, Yuri and Roman (NPC) - showing off in the OP - Meets Kali
  • Nightmares? - with Elyse
  • Another Emergency - with Sage & Morven - started the earth wall around Dorian's estate
  • Consequences - channeling multiple weaves while playing dodgeball - beginnings of Nox's basement playground - with Sage & Elyse (and Aria)
  • Sold Out! - Methos concert - trudging up old memories, killed a monster 'in public' - with Jay (and Sage, Methos & Dorian)
  • You're a Wizard! telling Jay he can channel, a little playing with the OP and confusing the hell out of himself with his actions - with Jay, Sage,
  • Elyse and Dorian
  • The Right Thing to Do - to the CCDPD to turn himself in for Dorian
  • Hunting Atharim - registered for the magic registry helping ivan with his questions
  • Fortifications - the start of dealing with Atharim problem (+2 Strength for all the work on the fortifications) - with Dorian and Ivan - mastery of a complex weave (directional flash bang bomb he's been working on for a long time)
  • Spilled drinks - master skill level multiple different weaves used with aria and npcs (after dane/aria/marcus) - registered for Atharim registry and  found alone by the Atharim
  • Lost time aftermath of the Atharim attack on his life
  • Rerouted relocated to someplace unknown (with Marcus and Jay) after the explosion the Ascendancy decides upon mercy and lets Nox go with two orders one to take care of aria and the other to not make anymore trouble.
  • Deflating the Ruse - Getting Sage's help to find Aria and confront Sage.
  • Promises, Promises - Nox confronts Aria and meets Jaxen and they get attacked by a mob of homeless people
  • Dressed to the Nines - getting ready for the ball with Sage and Cruz
  • The Grand Ball - with lots of people.  Nox bumps into Ryker, sees Jay again, meets Jensen, dances with Vena, helps kill an Ijiraq, is almost killed by another Ijiraq, goes head to head with Ascendancy and lives (again, phew!) and goes home with some new failures.
  • New Players in the Pattern - comes home to find Sage with Aiden who is seeking help in the OP
  • Cabaret & Candy - Nox goes to a Cabaret at Jaxen's prompting and finds some a girl(thalia) with drawings of his worst nightmares - (Note: Does not recognize her from his dreams prior)
  • Walking a New Path - Nox helps Ivan understand the power (+1 power for teaching for the umteenth time - between Ivan, Aiden and Cruz)
  • Pass the Mic - a drink with Ivan, meets Sara, and sees a mechanic garden sage and cruz might light
  • Paranoia Abounds - Nox meets with Yun, finds out Dorian betrayed him and meets Liv
  • Et tu, Brute? - Nox begins the process of leaving Dorian's estate and finds his friends are on his side, but goes it alone to 'get better'.
  • Painted Dreams - Nox meets back up with Thal and realizes she's been in his dreams
  • Astral Dreams - Nox and Thalia go clubbing and meets Carmen
  • A New Life - Nox gets a home and a job and flirts with Raffe
  • A Little Head Clearing - Nox works on his routine, shows off with a little food prep and flirts with Raffe
  • Infidels - Meets with Ascendancy becomes and official consultant with Domovoi
  • The Deep End - Meets up with Dorian, Ivan and Lih to hunt monsters in the tunnels
  • Table for one - Nox puts on his first show
  • The Brutal Reality - Nox/Ivan/Lih go hunting and looking for Alistair Pavlo
  • What I Wouldn't Give - Nox wakes up in the hospital and chats with Sterling and Raffe visits him
  • Convergence - a convergence of threads - meeting Sterling, Kali greets Nox and all hell breaks lose when the Atharim attack, fleeing into the underworld.
  • Safe for Now - Nox/Raffe/Sterling flee into the underground and stumble upon Nova and some monsters, Nox sends them away with a new dark power.  Once top side they go to Kallisti to help Sterling and have *that* talk.
  • Before the Storm - minor 'house cleaning of threads' for Nox and interactions with Raffe before he goes off to see the Ascendancy and the Atharim.
  • A Mountain of Information - Nox goes to speak wth some one in Ascendancy's office and ends up talking to Ascendancy himself.  Leaves with the offer of a new arm, and hunting with the Ascendancy as a plan.
  • Getting Attention - Nox leaves a trail for the Atharim to find, Nox almost kills Jer as the remains of the parasites try to control him. Raffe channels and Nox panics.
  • Interlude II - Nox texts Thal back
  • A Solivagant Soul - Nox and Thal have a conversation to kill time.
  • From Ashes -  Nox meets Allan, and Morven heals him for his new arm application
  • Convincing Confessions? - Nox has a heart to heart with Raffe about his feelings (wow....I know)
  • This is Me - Nox and Raffe go to Li's Dojo and Nox relearns to use his arm and the power with the darkness
  • What Comes Before - Nox and Raffe talk...?
  • Into the Darkness - Nox, the Ascendancy, Jay, Marcus and Allan head into the tunnels to kill the hoard.  Jer, Zef and Grymm join them, the Atharim arrive just as a fight with the hoard starts.  Atharim flee with their lives -- barely.  Asecndancy et all head back up, Jay and Nox go one to finish the mission (upped strength)
  • Going Deeper - Nox and Jay finish the mission and complicate Nox's life even more with a harrowing escape (maxed out strength)
  • Falling - Afterman of a harrowing escape.
  • Reacclimating Conversation with Elyse. "break up" text sent to Jay and the fallout of his telling Raffe about what happened with Jay in the tunnels
  • Forward -- Nox deals with leaving after Raffe needs time
  • Don't Belong Here - Nox confronts his own darkness and fights in the cages of Almaz
  • Going through the Motions - Nox gets ready for the show -- new look
  • Calling Thalia, finally - conversation with thal
  • What Not to Do  - Nox puts on a Persephone/Hades skit that drew a viral crowd including Atharim and famous rockstars
  • Kitsugi - Nox deals with his actions over a week without Raffe and finally is able to talk (meets Morgan and Makenzie)
  • Nightmares Reimiagined - Nox meets the sandman and Mara in the dream but won't remember it
  • I'm so fucked up! - Nox calls Thal to catch up
  • Connections, Money and Secrets - Nox meets up with Oriena at the Almaz, fights a horded gorilla and leaves with Ori
  • Motel Nowhere - Nox and Oriena come to an agreement and have mutally beneficial sex.
  • Birthday Plans - Nox celebrates the first birthday without Aurora by killing an Atharim and making a deal with them before sitting on her grave for the night.
  • I'll be back - Nox leaves on an Atharim assassin of channelers trip but before he leaves a note with Raffe.
  • A London Reality - Nox meets Hayden and rectifies his own screw up when trying to kill a channeler, vows to learn how to hide weaves.
  • Runaway Train - Nox thwarts a robbery, assassinates the diplomat that he was sent to kill with an inverted weave he learned how to do before, vows to practice more
  • Chinese Warlord - Nox kills the warlord again with an inverted weave after much more practice
  • Taming the Beast - Nox practices more inverting, tends his plants and tries to control the beast inside.  Assassinates a chinese govermentment official for both the ascendancy and the atharim
  • Not This Time - The atharim send him after a girl, he refuses and takes a plane back to her with the intent of introducing her to either Ori or the Ascendancy he doesn't know yet
  • Home Sweet Home - Nox takes a tour of his new place Sage bought. Nox finds out a little about what Sage has been doing in his name.
  • Never Too Late - Nox is kidnapped by Ashton and tortured by the Blackthorns.  Destroying the Blackthorn mansion in a fiery inferno with the help of Oriena, Nox is in need of healing which Sage send in the guise of Jensen James.
  • Literal Nightmares - Nox follows a nightmare to a girl in the psych ward of the Guardian. Meets and 'frees' Mara with Sage and Ashton's help.
  • Feed the Horde - Nox drops off a 'boom-box-over-the-head' gesture at Raffe's door and then meets up with Oriena.
  • House Party - Nox and Oriean go to his place to find a party already started. Lily is born and the two pregnant mothers pass. Nox gets his next mission from Ascendancy's people
  • The Morning After - Nox meets his new house mates, falls in love with Lily, meets Liam Haart and finally gets to interat with Seven.
  • A Day Off - Anna texts Nox about Cade
  • They Found Me - While at the airport Nox receives a call from Connor (and Ayden)
  • I Hate Flying - Nox and Sage wait in the airport for their flight and for Ryker to show up.
  • Round and Round We Go - Nox, Ryker and Sage land in the US


RE: Nox Durante - Nox - 07-18-2023

The Fine Gentlemen

2035

(fine in Irish is Family and in this context was referring to the Atharim 'clan')

The meeting had been going on for hours.  His dad and Uncle Jake sat around the fire with the other fine gentlemen and talked shop.  Nox was finally learning about all the things they were talking about.  He and Aurora had snuck peeks at their dad's journal with all the monsters in it.  But they'd never actually been allowed to really look and read it.  Not that he wanted to read.  He hated that part.  But being officially able to train in fighting was fun. But he wasn't allowed to sit and listen, anytime he got close the adults would shoo him away.

But they were busy arguing.  One of the younger men shouted. "But if the gods have returned we need to kill them fast 'afor they rise up and enslave us all."

Another man that Nox didn't know argued. "These are kids you wanna whack.  And their families.  What if one of them is yours."

Both Nox's father and Uncle Jake stood up, but it was Uncle Jake who spoke.  "Then I'll be the first damned one to put a knife in that kids ear and make sure he ain't ever fucking waking up.  And you all damned best do the same thing for me!"  He stuck his finger out at each of them and he saw Nox hiding behind the tree and Nox ran off into the darkness and shadows hoping his father hadn't seen him.

Uncle Jake could be cool.  But he could also be an asshole.  Nox hoped he was cool this go around.


Nox hadn't tried to listen again after getting caught eavesdropping on the fine gentleman.  He set to bed shortly afterwards hoping that if his dad did see him he didn't get an earful and extra work.  Aurora was too busy in her books to notice.

But when morning came Nox was up with the sun and practicing before anyone else.  He had more to prove than Aurora, their dad was always on his butt about something.

Thirty minutes into his warm up routine moving through the fighting stances his father had taught him except Nox had slowed them down, and turned them into a dance that his mother helped him perfect.  Whenever his father commented on his dancing he'd speed up and show his father exactly what he was doing.  And then his mother would explain that the slow precision helped build muscle memory and bettered his form.  He'd relent then.  But his quiet time was interrupted with a long grumble from behind a tree and his Uncle Jake watching.  "Your dad will see it one day kid.  Don't you worry."

Nox highly doubted it.

"He show you yet how to kill a man?"

Nox's eyes went wide and he shook his head. "No sir."

Uncle Jake with his gruff exterior proceeded for the next hour to show Nox the best places to hurt a man twice his size.  And then when his father was in ear shot Uncle Jake knelt down and handed Nox an hold survival knife from his belt. "You keep this real close, kid.  It could mean your survival one day."  He pulled the blade from the sheath and pointed it right at Nox's left ear. "You ever need to kill anything.  Anything at all you push this blade right through their left ear as hard as you fucking can, you hear me?  As hard as you can.  Nothing can live after a good ole twist.  Ain't found a thing.  No god.  No dog.  And ain't no fucking monsters.  Got that kid?"

Nox nodded his eyes round as saucers as Uncle Jake put the blade back in the sheath and handed it back to him.  "This will one day be your salvation."

Uncle Jake clapped Nox on the back of his shoulder and stood up in a soft groan and a pop of his knees.  His father was watching them intently, and Nox went back to practicing his forms at a much faster pace with the blade hooked to his waist like Uncle Jake.

RE: Nox Durante - Nox - 07-18-2023

Hellfire

2038

They'd been out in the woods for weeks.  Nox was tired of sleeping on the ground.  Their mother and father were busy fucking every night in the Jeep and Nox was pretty sure Uncle Jake was peeping on the show when he thought no one was looking.  Nox rolled over in his sleeping bag and growled to himself, if he tried doing that -- not with his mom, or even any fucking hunter they'd chew his ass out.  Even though his father would drag him out to find a girl every other week when it got too much sausage in the camp.  Look at one guy for more than a second and it's right back to fucking square one.

Even with the shitty sleep in the cool weather he was still the first one up.  Water was on and ready for coffee the moment he heard anyone stirring.  Coffee was the life blood of a hunter.  Never could have enough and if you didn't drink it black you were a pansy and every hunter this side of the Appalachians would fucking know it.  His mother said he was too young for coffee, that it's stunt his growth.  It hadn't, she'd lied cause he'd been drink it since he was 10.  Had to have a cup to stay on top of everything least his father rip him a new one.

Mornings consisted of forms then followed by cross bow practice and whatever weapon his father thought he needed more practice with.

As per the usual when Uncle Jake stayed in their camp, he was up second.  Strolling his old bones over to where Nox practiced with the cross bow holding a cup of coffee.  He watched Nox process a few bolts while leaning against the nearest tree.

When the rounds were spent Nox went to fetch the strays and push the target back deeper into the woods to master more distance and strength and speed and whatever the fuck his father thought he needed.

Uncle Jake chuckled as he watched me walk back disgruntled.  "Your dad teach you how to fire a gun yet?  You or that sweet sister of yours."

Nox looked at the older man with a deadly glare on his face.  Uncle Jake laughed and put his hands up in the air in surrender. "They said you were fierce when it came to your sister. She's family.  That ain't ever gonna happen, and if any of these blokes get near, you shank 'em."

Nox gave him a half smile and turned back to the target and aimed, loosed the next bolt and waited for it to hit the dead center of his target.  If only he could fucking do that when his dad was around.

"Nice shot kid.  So about the gun?"

"Guns are for the seasoned hunters.  Kill with the slow ass weapons first and then maybe I'll let you fire a pistol.  But you ain't ever fucking with a shot gun, blow your own damned foot off."  Nox turned to look at Uncle Jake, "And I'm pretty sure he muttered you fairy under his breath."

Uncle Jake laughed. "Sounds about right.  He's too hard you kids."

"No just me." Nox said and fired two more bolts in rapid succession.  Probably not fast enough for his father, but they at least hit the fucking target.  His dad miss 20% of the time, his eyes getting bad, and the beer goggles didn't help.  Old age sucks.  But Uncle Jake, he knew how to take care of himself.

"Come 'ere." He said and Nox followed orders.  He dropped the crossbows aim and held the center.  No accidental firing.  Nothing was loaded.  God forbid he accidentally shoot someone -- never happened but it could. 

Uncle Jake lead Nox to his truck and pulled out a trunk of gear.  He sorted through each piece and set aside two guns.  "These here are good for your smaller hands."  He pointed to the larger stocks, "Maybe when you grow into those feet these others will work better.  Right gun for the right person.  You got that kid?  Find what fits."

Nox nodded.  Sage wisdom from a hunter came with experience and Uncle Jake was pushing sixty.  He was the oldest hunter he knew.  And there wasn't a hunter in the whole of America that wouldn't recognize that.  Didn't matter if they knew him personally or not.  Soon as you see the gray hair you fucking know.  Most of us don't reach past our early twenties.  This is a dangerous job.  Unless of course you hit the ball late, but kids like Nox, they die early. Monsters didn't care how old you were, or how stupid you would be.  They didn't give a flying fuck about you, they lived on one thing, and one thing alone -- instinct.

Uncle Jake called out, "Aurora, girl, come here.  Let Uncle Jake teach you a thing or two."

A few of the other young male hunters laughed and Nox moved to toss them but Uncle Jake stayed him with the back of his hand. "Got a few things to say, boys?"  He asked loudly.

They shook their heads and walked really fast away from the truck.  Aurora smirked.  "I could have taken care of that myself."  She looked at me more than Uncle Jake.

"I didn't do shit.  They ain't running away from me at least not without a fist the face first."

"Yours or theirs?" Aurora teased.

"Both probably."  Uncle Jake said.  "Come, let me teach you how to use these things.  You gotta know.  Some creep pulls a gun, you gotta know how to take it away and use it if you gotta.  Don't matter kids.  Don't fucking matter how old you are."

He shook his head and spent the better part of the day teaching them proper care and firing techniques and dispensing his sage wisdom.  Some of which was bullshit and Aurora called him on it.  She was too smart for her own britches sometimes, and sometimes Uncle Jake hated that.  He hated a know it all.  But he also hated someone who sucked up non-stop.  So Nox did neither.  Nox was just himself and that seemed to be good enough.  Few times that actually mattered to him.

His parting words as he handed us each a box of ammo for the appropriate weapons of his choice for us.  "Your dad is right.  Guns are not our weapons.  Monsters got claws, they got teeth.  They move fast.  And you got your job to do and put them down fast.  But you gotta do it without putting lives at risk.  A gun, they gonna kill fast.  But in the wrong hands, they gonna  hurt the innocents more.  Rely on them, and it'll be your damnation."  He held his hands up high in the air, and sounded just like a preacher on his podium "Hell gonna rain down on you and scorch the earth you walk on."

Aurora giggled.  "Daddy don't sound like that."

Uncle Jack smirked, "Maybe not to your angel ears sweet heart, but your brother knows what I'm talking about."