Peccatum Pack

It was cold. So unbearbly cold. A Kumba Saliko suddenly jumped awake and looked around in confusion.

The chills froze the lone female down to the bone but she did not shiver at all. It only took her a moment to realize where she was and she sighed.

«Ugh. I think I will have to get used to THIS for a while.»

Her voice was weak still, but she knew she'd regain her strength sooner or later. This was just a little unfamiliar to her for now. She tried to raise her head from the ground she was lying on, but it took her lots of effort. A couple times she had to give up and rest again, until she finally managed to lift her head up and look around a bit. It was dark and everything around her seemed dipped in blue light, like on a full moons night. She saw something glittering in the distance but could not focus her eyes for long enough on it yet. The jill put all her effort into rolling onto her belly and suddenly realized there was someone else lying besides her. As she turned to look at the motionless body besides her, she noticed it was a Saliko too. It was dark brown, probably with a stone coat and black shadow markings on head and legs, as well as a large merle patch covering most of the body, expect the neck and back. The merle was smooth and moved along the spine evenly, and the mask was simple and boring looking to her, but it still seemed somehow familiar to her. But as she focused on studying the pelt of the body, the female completely overlooked the most prominent feature about it. The legs and parts of the face were completely rotten, with pale bones showing through the flesh and seeming almost too bright compared to the dark mess of fur and flesh they'd been contained in. The empty eyesockets stared right at the jill, but she remained calm. A sight like that was not unusual to her and she was not scared of death. After all, it was her passion.

She fought hard to get on her paws, to finally stand up and explore the strange environment, but her legs were still weak and unable to carry her body, so the jill had to lie back down and rest for longer. Time moved past her, she knew. It was a feeling like when she used to take a nap on a peaceful afternoon, and while she'd have slept for hours, it would've felt like only a short moment passed when she awoke again.

The jill knew she must've been lying there in the cold for a long, long time, but still the light did not change. It remained dark, blue and so eerily quiet. Only a glance at the stars showed her how long she was lying there, but it was a strange sight to see. The starry canopy above her moved faster than she'd ever seen before. It was like with every blink of her eyes, days passed by.

What she couldn't see from her position was the glowing red eyes, staring at the jill from a distance. She was not alone there, wherever that was.

When she finally managed to get to her feet, her muscles felt as if she hadn't used them in moons. They screamed in pain, but the female ignored it. She just wanted to move on from this spot. As the female tried her first wonky steps forward, she had to completely focus on her paws. But as she did, the Kumba noticed something was wrong, yet she couldn't quite tell what it was. A strange light seemed to eminate from her body but for some reason, she was not unsettled by this. The ground below her was covered in grass, yet her paws seemed to be unable to press the plants down as she stepped on them. Raising her head again to properly look around this time, the Saliko didn't have to ponder about her location any longer. She knew this place, the female had been here before, but it seemed like a long time ago. Standing in the middle of a lush oasis, with varied vegetation all around her. The thing she saw glittering before was the surface of a freshwater lake in the center and all around this beautiful place, steep cliffs were rising up into the sky. The oasis was right inside a large crater, with a way out not being evident at first glance. But from her own experience she knew: there was none. She was trapped inside this crater, but for the moment she didn't mind. She had to take care of other things first before she could even think about getting out of there. Slowly the Kumba tried to walk to the water. She felt no thirst, but felt the urge to touch the water nonetheless. Leaning over the glittering surface, she expected to see her reflection in the water, but someone else seemed to stare back. The face she saw looked pale and lifeless, almost like a...

«Ghost.»

Her own voice was shaky and quiet. Could this really be true?

Then, out of the corner of her eyes, the female noticed movement and looked up. She turned her head and saw a weird creature move towards her. At first it seemed like it was completely engulfed in flames, blinding her but she kept staring. Her eyes widened and tears ran down her face, not from sadness, but the heat coming off the flames was so intense that here eyes could not handle it, yet she still didn't look away. Her gaze was locked on the creature getting closer and closer.

Suddenly she felt a burning sensation on her skin, her whole pelt itching and hurting, feeling as if it would melt off! The Kumba finally managed to rip her eyes away from the stranger and she turned towards her torso with fear of what she'd see there. But strangely enough, her body was fine. The intense feeling of being burned alive didn't seem to hurt her physically. Yet as she keept looking on her own body, her head twisted as far back as possible to see, she thought that...the markings on her fur, which looked similar to the ones she'd seen on the Saliko before, melt! The color seemed to drip down, like it was made of paint.

Confused she remembered the creature and whirled around. Right in front of her, only a whiskerslength away from her own face was that of the strange creature, staring down at her. Surprised by this the jill flinched, but she did not step back.

I cannot show fear or weakness. This is a test.

The flames on the creature had died and it's body was now exposed, yet it was nothing but bones. A dark grey skeleton with the head of some kind of large animal stood in front of her, a light shiining out of its ribcage and illuminating the area with an orange glow, contrasting the blue all around them.

Now the cold was settling in again and the jill was unsure what was worse – the heat or the cold, both unbearable in their own way.

Feeling like the creature wanted something from her, she cleared her throat and spoke.

«I...am a Saliko, who seems to be lost in your world. Please, allow me to stay here in peace. I will not remain for long.»

Suddenly a deep laughter arose from the bones in front of her, yet the voice sounded terrifying. It was as if multiple voices spoke at the same time and despite the open air, it echoed loudly like calling from out of a deep cave.

«Foolish spectre, you will never leave this place.»

Spectre...so her ghastly reflection had been true after all. Memories of her past tried to claw their way into the pale Salikos mind, but she was not ready to accept them, and pushed them far away.

«If I am a ghost, then what are you?»

Suddenly the creature seemed to morph, flesh creeping and covering its bones like a squid crawling over rocks. It took on the shape of its opposite, the body of a Saliko now standing in front of the Kumba. Only its skull and ribs were still exposed, with tongues of flame occasionally erupting from the latter.

«I am what I want to be. Any gestalt that aids me in my work. You may call me a demon, summoned to torture the souls of sinners. But alas, you are not ready yet, lonely spectre. Your soul is very much alive. But time has no meaning here, and I can wait. Sooner or later even your soul will be mine. And trust me, I see you have caused a lot of pain you need to answer for.»

«Oh I'm not done here yet, I will not give in easily, demon.»

As she stared at the beast in front of her, so similar to a Saliko and yet still so horrifyingly different, she remembered a tale she had heard as a whelp, many many seasons ago.

«I know who you truly are, reaper, but I'm not afraid. You are the Mari Lwyd.»