Itzza Winterborn, the Darkened Son of Valkyria [OUTDATED]

[Itzzaboy]

Name: Itzza Winterborn

Nickname/Alias: Itzza
Age: 17
Gender: Male

Race: Werewolf
Height: 5"10 Human (6"5 Werewolf)
Weight: 8.5 Stone (13 Stone Werewolf)
Hair: Dirty Blonde hidden under snowcoat hood
Eyes: Green (Orange Werewolf)
Skin: Average White (Light Brown Fur Werewolf)
Identifying Marks: 4 bite marks on forearm.
Appearance: Not the largest nor the most Social of people, Itzza is not stupid by any means and usually uses his quick wits and slight frame to keep out of trouble, until the moon rises, where he changes and becomes aggressive to anything except other Werewolves, which is actually rather uncommon, since most Werewolves are more aggressive against other werewolves than any other life form. When human he appears as a shy yet logical person always wrapped in a blue snowcoat, and never leaves home without his Redstone Flintock Pistol, which he created himself. He also loves Melon and has an acute knack for farming.
Strengths:
Farming Knack
Surprising Agility
Weaknesses and fears: Itzza isn't the strongest and has a dangerous sense of trust. He fears the moon for obvious reasons and dislikes violence. When transformed he can be very aggressive to the point of recklessness.
Religion and cults: All Valkyrian people worship the god of the moon and snow, Lycanria.
Profession: None currently, but before he left town Itzza was Valkyria's melon farmer.

Backstory:

It is 500 years ago at the time of writing that the great god Lycanria had his first battle with the god Kilrox, and Itzza Winterborn is farming the town melons in Valkyria, he always had a knack for farming even in the most unforgiving conditions. Valkyria was like a tiny lantern amongst the tundra, a veritable wasteland of snow, ice and the occasional hardy tree. Valkyria was seen as a few log huts and a lodge built by a kindly passer-by.

It was late and Itzza had already missed dinner, he hadn't eaten since yesterday, since food is such a scarcity in Valkyria. "Why should I be out in the cold farming fruit while everyone else is in the lodge eating hot bread and drinking mead?", Itzza thought. This was just plain unfair in his mind, and decided that the town owed him, so he sat down and munched into a slice of Melon.

It was fantastic, the hard green fruit surrendered its juicy, sweet red innards with the flash of a knife, and Itzza munched into the melons fleshy sanctuary and had fun spitting seeds into the air.

Little did he notice a bedraggled old man a few metres away, a man who had not been seen in the village in weeks. His clothes were torn and his skin horribly pale, stumbling towards the unaware Itzza.

Itzza turned and noticed the man, this man was the exact same farmer who had gone missing a few weeks ago, his name was Carter.

"Carter! You're back! where did you go?"

Carter, however, was not himself, he was salivating at the mouth and had a strange orange glow in his usually grey, tired eyes, and fur, lots and lots of fur. Wolflike ears and a long brown tail. Itzza noticed the bite marks on his arm, and ran, he had heard the stories of the Werewolves, but he was too logical and busy with the melons to ever bother believing them. Terrified, he ran to his cabin on the outskirts of the village. A werewolf couldn't break through solid wood could it?

Itzza thought back to the Werewolf stories while the beast outside was snapping and crunching at the wood, the stories said that at first light, those infected with the Werewolf curse would return to a normal human being, and would be in control until the next night, or the full moon at latest. How long was morning? Itzza didn't know how long he has been in the melon patch, how long until the sun rose?

It didn't matter, Carter broke through the wooden door and howled in Itzza's face, the stench of slaughtered sheep and rotting corpses filling the cabin. He had no choice, Itzza drew his flintock and fired into the creatures chest. The beast recoiled slightly, then pounced forward and sank its teeth into Itzza's arm.

Itzza howled with pain, and once the beast released its grip it fled into the night. Itzza lifted his sleeve, hoping above all else that the bite hadn't pierced the skin, but the searing pain and the wet trickling down his arm made him think otherwise.

The bleeding wasn't that bad, but there plain as day was 4 teeth marks cut right through the flesh,

Itzza was now a werewolf.

As the sun rose, Itzza knew that he couldn't stay in Valkyria. If any of the men, friends, workers, even his own family, found out he had been infected, they would slaughter him on sight, and even if they didn't he couldn't bear the thought of him sinking his teeth into those he considered his friends.

Itzza packed a few supplies, his flintock, melon slices and some essentials among others, and crept out quietly through the gate just as he heard the first worker wake up and trudge to breakfast, unaware of the nights events.

There was a small stone pathway connecting Valkyria to the main cities, but he knew he couldn't go there. A big city would be too risky, they would ask questions. He decided that his only option was to go to a slightly more "morally challenged city", one that may not care much for law nor those with violent curses.

3 days travelling across barren snow and Itzza had not yet turned. Obviously the curse only affected him on certain nights, but the problem is finding out which.

He saw a lone figure in the distance he though familiar, a familiar face was not a good thing for Itzza, since he had already had to evade 2 search parties, where it was decided it was better he was not found. Since being bitten, he had more animalistic instincts, and dug into the snow, concealing most of his body.

Itzza heard the figure walking in this direction, and the air seemed to chill to a temperature even Itzza, growing up in a frozen town, felt unbearable. he managed to stay still, but the figure still seemed to be aware of his presence. "I know you are there, there is no use hiding, you are cold, alone and afraid, but I can help you..."

He knew the voice, but it was a warped and twisted version of the voice he knew, and the face of his former friend was just as twisted as his voice.

Kitzbuhel used to live in Valkyria a few years ago, but left as he deemed the rest of the villagers weren't "ambitious enough" to survive, let alone thrive as a populace, so he packed his bags and left to pursue his ambitions.

The fact that Kitz was still alive surprised Itzza, but then again, he wasn't even sure that this warped figure infront of him was even the friend he knew all those years ago. He brushed himself free of snow and stood up, face to face with the former Valkyrian.

"It's been too long my friend, your stealth skills have deteriorated since we last met, as have those markings on your arm since last night." (how did he know?) "if you continue to travel the way you are now, you will die, if you come with me however, to my great city, you will be well fed and looked after, I promise".

Whether to trust his friend was another matter but Itzza was desperate, he was cold, hungry and was running low on supplies, his friend was right, if he carried on he would surely perish in the wasteland. Itzza slowly nodded, and beckoned for his friend to lead on, travelling towards a large skull-shaped structure in the distance...

If you like this, I'd love to make more, if this is the case, please comment below!

 

[Itzzaboy]

Part 2: The Skull Kingdom

Itzza was never a social person, but after so many years in the dark he felt inclined to ask Kitz what he had been doing since he left Valkyria. "I've mostly kept myself to myself", stated Kitz, while continuing towards the large rocky structure, "I settled down on that rock formation over there, and slowly, lost travellers and rogues alike gathered. Lets just say that they all settled and that's how the Skull Kingdom was born."

"Skull Kingdom?!", Itzza yelled.

"Do not worry yourself, it is merely a name to match the rock formation" (Poor fool, if only you knew...)

Itzza wasn't sure, but Kitz was his friend, he trusted him past his warped figure and raspy voice, so continued to follow. "You said that rogues had joined your village, isn't that dangerous for the inhabitants?"

"These rogues are all common theives and pickpockets, they would be fools to disobey me." spat Kitz, a somewhat insane glint in his eye. He seemed to come to realization "sorry, i'm very... passionate about what I do. I make a huge effort to keep everything in order and I instantly dislike anyone who opposes it, but i'm sure you'll be happy in the Skull Kingdom.

During this conversation, Itzza hadn't realised the sun going down, suddenly, there was a sharp pain shooting down his spine and he fell to the floor, writhing in extreme pain and screaming from the agony, the scream slowly turning to a howl.

Now most people who experience this would run for the hills, but Kitz did no such thing. He stood and observed Itzza's transformation, watching his former friend suffer.

Itzza, now fully transformed, noticed Kitz was still here. Most werewolves will attack on sight but Itzza seemingly still had a little control, and let out a warning howl at his former friend, basically saying "Go away!"

Kitz, however, was unfazed by this. He merely examined Itzza's behaviour, what he did and how he reacted once he did certain things...

Itzza had now lost full control and the beast had had enough. He leapt at Kitz and tried to sink his teeth into kitz's face. With just as much fear as when Itzza was transforming, which was not much, Kitz sidesteps the attack, a simple move to disable a young werewolf. Kitz then pulls out his sword and thrusts it into Itzza's stomach. howling with pain Itzza collapses to the floor. Now werewolves cannot be killed by simple mortal wounds, yet there is no surefire way of yet killing one. Kitz knew this, he didn't want Itzza dead.

The wound left by Kitz's sword was enough to disable Itzza and he fell to the floor, whimpering there for several hours until the sun once again rose. Itzza howled again as he shifted, slowly turning to a simple yet harsh scream. Once Itzza came to, he stood up, only to fall back down from the pain caused by the stab wound.

"I see you've noticed that injury, we were attacked by bandits overnight, they fled once i drew my sword but they managed to strike you before i noticed, you fell asleep rather quickly."

"I simply fell asleep? I didn't transform?" Itzza enquired.

"No, you may not be in danger of death, but that wound must be painful, the Skull Kingdom is not far, I will bandage it for now but we'll sort it out properly when we get there." Kitz said, a slight hint of remorse in his voice.

Itzza was sure he had transformed, he remember the fur sprouting out of his body bofore he blacked out, and sure that he had to restrain SOMETHING from attacking Kitz, not that he could stop it long. But in this condition he couldn't afford to second guess his friend, and gladly accepted his friends arm as they carried on towards the Skull Kingdom.

Part 3 soon!

 

[Itzzaboy]

Part 3: Lies, Shadows and Lava

As Itzza and Kitz crossed the border into the Skull Kingdom, Itzza noticed an instant rise in temperature, the icy still replaced by a wave of heat. Not a nice heat but a sweaty, smokey heat. a horrid, clogging dust clung to the air and wrecked havoc in Itzza's already weakened respiratory systems. He coughed and spluttered and doubled over.

"Many newcomers feel... breatheless... when they first arrive here, you get used to it", said Kitz, no real sympathy or compassion in his voice. "We must hurry, the sun is setting again and you might turn tonight."

"Thanks Kitz, that's all I wanted to hear, the fact that I may turn into a ravenous psycho by first moonlight and attack anyone I ever knew and loved with no regret, yeah thats really cheered me up" Itzza thought to himself, he wanted to speak these words but this foreign, dusty invader was winning and looting his mouth of moisture.

"Kitz, I haven't seen a single water source for the last 50 miles, where can I get a drink?", Itzza breathed.

Kitz shrugged, "if you really want water, there is some under the big skull, but it may not exactly be to your taste..."

The Big Skull in sight, and Itzza practically drained of anything liquid, except the blood seeping out of his wound, Itzza couldn't help staggering to the bridge, crouching under and taking a sip of the lukewarm, slightly green water.

"Bleuurgh! That's not water, not in a hundred years!" The water tasted of death, and not a lot else, maybe some soulsand and zombie rot in there aswell but mostly death. Had Itzza not already become a werewolf, he would be dead now, or undead, depending on the amount he gulped down. Instead, he just had a nasty, groan-worthy pain in his stomach that made him, not for the first time that week, fall to the floor in agony.

"Are you injured?" Kitz inquired, more curious than concerned.

"No no! I feel just grand..." mumbled Itzza, a sarcastic taste that did not come from the water present in his mouth. He slowly lifted himself off the floor, still a pain in his stomach that felt like a zombies headache, numb.

"I think we need to get you to your new quarters before anything contaminates that wound", Kitz offered a shoulder to his friend, beckoning him to hold on.

Itzza missed Valkyria, it may have been cold and there may not have been enough food to go around, but at least there was some form of cheer and good spirit. This place just radiated despair and death, the most lively thing in the place was the occasional Jack-o-Lantern, and even they were rotting and dim.

And that was nothing compared to the inhabitants, each one they passed by did a half-hearted salute towards kitz, but did not say hello to Itzza, each citizen just seem absorbed in his own despair and problems. Upon closer inspection, there were more than lost travellers and petty theives. He spotted some of the most wanted criminals and fiercest beings in all of Altera, murderers, vampires, warlocks, swamp witches, even rogue lightning creepers kicked out of creeper clans for being too evil (imagine that?).

Itzza knew, that even though he was a werewolf, that he didn't belong here. True he had aggressive tendencies, but all the other inhabitants had done something truly nasty and on purpose, well, except Kitz that is...

Like? Leave a like or a comment and I could continue it!

 

[Itzzaboy]

Part 4: Wolves and Wind.

As Itzza lay in his scratchy sack bed, made of bits of burlap sack and spider hairs, he had to wonder, what now? The only real reason he had gone to the Skull Kingdom was because he was desperate. But now he was okay, what should he do?

He looked around his room, if you could call a small cave underground a room. he looked at his toilet, if you could call a small vertical tunnel into the town prison a toilet. He looked at his lunch, if you could call a few dying weeds and some mouldy bread lunch. He hated it here, as much as he was grateful for Kitz assistance, he hated the Skull Kingdom. He hated the smell, he hated the look, he even hated the taste! (quite literally).

He couldn't ask one of the residents for help, they'd either try to steal all his wordly possesions and try to eat him, or just groan at him like some toothless zombie. Nor could he return to Valkyria, on the nights that he did not turn Itzza still had nightmares about what would happen should he transform at his old home.

Itzza didn't want to sleep because of the nightmare, but he didn't want to stay awake because of a nightmare...

He finally fell asleep, fatigue and hunger slaying worry and problems, and he drifted off into a state of contentment before his nightmare started...

...Itzza look around... he was hungry, oh so hungry...

Itzza tossed and turned in his bed, periodically moaning.

...There was an odour in the air so tasty he was almost dragged towards it... the smell of flesh... the smell of food...

Itzza was now scared, he was waving around in his sleep trying to stop it.

...Itzza ran, he could see a light, a great light in the distance, but before he could move, he smelt something new, something that wasn't there before...

He turned, and saw a figure of darkness, the figure wasted no time in declaring himself...

"I am Ryan, also know as Shadowsmalls..." the figure spat. "I have a task for you..."

Itzza wanted to bite this thing, this demon, but he couldn't do it, all he could do was growl at him...

"Do not even try to resist, it will not end well for you should you continue..."

"There is a great city beyond these hills... a great many people live there... you are hungry no? I want you to slaughter every single one, especially the one they call Billy, I want you to make sure you rip every piece of flesh off of his puny bones!" Shadow screamed, almost an insane tone to his harsh, demonic voice.

Itzza turned and ran over the hill, as fast as his feet and hunger would allow, he would kill.. oh yes.. every single on...

As Itzza went over the hill, he saw a the great light, but even closer, the were many houses on a mountainside, each one accompanying the huge archway which looked as though it was carved into the moutain many years ago, ivy and vines streaming off of the mountain like snakes...

...Oh yes they will die... every single one of them... so hungry...

Itzza awoke with a start. He took a minute to think about what he had seen.

...And hoped against all hope it was only a dream....

 

[Itzzaboy]

Part 5: Working Wolves, Digging Dwarves

Kitz put Itzza to work the next morning, he said "now that your wounds have healed, you should contribute to the town that took you in. I hear you are a good farmer, you shall work with the crops."

Itzza was in mixed minds about this, he wasn't really that pleased that his friend was forcing him to work, but at the same time it would be something to do rather than just sit in his house and just battle his thoughts, and the memory of that horrid dream.

Itzza had turned twice in the last four weeks he had been in the Skull_Kingdom, he knew this from the small bits of fur and general smell he found around the house, although kitz swore he never ventured outside. "I must be such a lonely werewolf, almost hurting myself to get out." he explained to his brain, which just cruelly laughed at him at turned away to the darkness that was the back of his mind.

When Itzza arrived at the fields, he was greeted, well grunted at really, by two figures. One was a short stumpy human known as Harek. He was known for driving the Skull_Kingdoms slaves with whips rather than words, someone even said that every Saturday he chooses a slave which has done the least work an sends the into the Great Skull, never to be seen again.

The other figure was huge, a great green lump of a sentient who went by the name of Url'g. The villagers said he had this name because everytime someone smelt his odor, they threw up and made a sound similar to "Urrrllllggg....". Thats where the name comes from.

Itzza was thrown a hoe (pretty dangerous really) by Harek and thrown a sack of seeds by Url'g. He caught the hoe but was barrelled backwards by the sack smashing into his face. This apparently caused great humour to the two, who bellowed and wheezed with sickening laughter.

"Wha'? Jus' cos eur old pals with the bawss doesnn mean you getta lay aroun' all day!" snarled Harek, a somewhat evil replacement to a smile spreading across his ugly face like a nasty plague. "Getta work! Valkyrian Swine!"

Itzza swiped his hoe through the earth, carving channels into it, and pouring the dirty water from the bucket supplied into the little valleys. He had done this many times before, but the joy was gone from it, he didnt feel like he was creating life, more like he was fuelling evil.

"Ya know, it helps when ya put the seeds into the ground ya know!" A slightly raspy, northern accent spoke into his ear.

Itzza nearly jumped out of his Snow coat, he turned, expecting to see Url'g raising his podgy fist ready to bury him into the dirt he just worked on, but didn't see anything...

"I'm down here ya daft sheep!" An angry voice bellowed up at him. Itzza slowly looked down and saw a dwarf, small and muscular, with brown, slightly ginger hair that had dirt clinging to it. The hair was slightly squashed, like it lived under a helmet, and the beard was slightly matted. He had scars and cuts all over his body.

"The names Hrothgar, and who might you be?" The little man said, some power in his voice.

"Itzza, can I help you?" Itzza replied, still slightly stunned by the little dwarfs big voice.

"Oi! Stop talkin over there! Getta work ya lazy sods!" Harek snarled from a distance, cracking his whip in annoyance.

Both Hrothgar and Itzza continued their work, but conveniently close to each other.

"So Itzza, when did ya arrive, I've not seen ya around." Hrothgar whispered, but still with some volume.

"I got here 4 weeks ago, my friend Kitzbuhel let me in, I had to leave my old town and stay here due to... circumstances..." Itzza replied, not wanting to reveal too much to this complete stranger, but this was the first real conversation he'd had in months.

"Kitzbuhel? That bastard? Don't listen to him, he's the reason we're all here, he forces everyone to work. He invades cities, kills most of the population and enslaves the rest! Please don't trust him!" He was somewhat amazed at what this dwarf was saying, but somehow he knew it was true...

"So... talking ill of the Great Lord I see? Maybe a couple of nights in the dungeons will sort that bad-mouthing out!" Harek has been listening from a distance, and upon hearing Hrothgar cursing has decided to intervene.

"Like hell I am!" Hrothgar spat back, and with so impressive strength, swung the hoe around and caught the Harek right in the jaw, causing the nasty man to stagger backwards and trip over the sack of seeds. He then leapfrogged over Url'g (an impressive feat considering how large he was and how small Hrothgar was) and ran off into the night, only pausing to turn around and shout "Don't trust him Itzza! Go home!" he then turned around and sprinted away, the moon giving him an impressive shining quality.

The moon...

Itzza doubled over in severe pain... he knew what was happening... he couldn't hold it back...

Harek started to stir, gingerly nursing his jaw in his grimy hands. A look of both pain and disgust in his eye, he'd get revenge on that dwarf for this... he'd grind the midget down, even throw his remains into the great skull...

Harek stopped still, like a rabbit caught in headlights. He noticed an inhuman howling sound behind him, the new recruit was on the floor, supposedly in pain.

"So... hurtin' are ya? Not nearly as much as when i'm through with ya! You'll regret ever knowing that tiny insect of a dwarf!" He drew back his whip, then stopped immediatly, something was wrong... the slave writhing on the floor was now twisting around in impossible and nasty ways... the boss had said to make sure that this particular slave was back in his house and locked away before the moon rose, yet he had never said why...

Itzza tried to contain it, he really did, but it was just too much, a full moon is a lot harder to resist than a regular night. He felt himself shifting, shifting into something unreal, unhuman...

The last thing anyone heard that night was Harek's screams as he was disembowled by this beast, all the while being watched by Kitzbuhel, staring sagely from the window of the great skull...

 

[Itzzaboy]

okay, football was a complete disaster...

but as promised, here it is!

Part 6: Vermella's Inferno

The Skull Kingdom may be a nasty place, but even the darkest of havens can't hold back a beautiful sunrise. The sun was peaking over the western shore with its rays pierceing every nook and cranny in the place. Everything, for a few content seconds, looked at peace.

Itzza started to stir, face in the dirt, he coughed and spluttered into conciousness, his memory a like a broken TV set, all grey and black buzzes making no sense at all. He picked himself up off the floor and brushed himself down turning around as he did so.

And turned right into a corpse.

Every bone had been cleaned, not even clothes remained. The jaw hanging off the rest of the skull in an almost comical yet sickening way, this was the corpse of Harek.

He'd done it now, he'd killed someone. He tried, so very hard, to keep his violence to a minimum but he just couldn't manage it, he had taken someones life and he couldn't take it. He hit the floor, beating at it with his fists, screaming at the world to swallow him into a big black void, just out of existence.

"Well now, have we woken up after our little scuffle last night?"

Itzza spun around, and there was Kitzbuhel, Lord of the Skull Kingdom, staring at him with a slight curiosity. "You should pick yourself up before one of the bandits comes around and steals whatever you have left."

Confusion engulfed Itzza's mind, wasn't Kitz angry at him for killing on of the slave drivers?

Kitz studied the corpse with great interest, even balancing the loosely attatched jaw so that the Skull almost looked normal, then letting it drop again, it snapped off and fell to the ground with a sickening, dusty landing. "You are a fascinating creature Itzza, all this power and yet you try to restrain it? Is that not a waste? You should use it for those who need it, like me."

"Wasted? Shouldn't restrain it? If you hadn't just noticed, this guy is dead!" Itzza exploded, he had enough of Kitz's apparent disregard for human life, and this joining him? Never. This thing standing in front of him was not the friend he once knew, just a maniac hell bent on power and destruction.

"But didn't he deserve it? All those people he forced to work? Didn't you WANT him to suffer?" Kitz replied, almost egging his thoughts on.

"You mean all the people YOU forced to work? I've had it, i'm leaving." Itzza spat in Kitz's direction, and went to walk off.

The sound of an unsheathing sword made him stop and turn, Kitz was now holding a beautiful sword, looked to be made of pure diamond, but its beauty was overshadowed by the darkness of the holder. "I can't let you go anywhere, I can't risk anywhere else having that sort of destructive power. If I can't have it, i'll just run you through until you submit. You won't die, you'll just suffer until you beg to help me!" A maniacal spark had now turned into a well-fed flame which burned at anything inside, like a wildfire of pure evil and insanity.

This battle was unavoidable, Itzza never liked to fight, but running wasn't an option either. He looked at his surroundings, a few mangled crops, a sack of seeds, a hoe, the corpse of Harek...

Kitz lunged at Itzza with such speed that even Itzza's agility could only just prevent him from being run right through, and even so being knocked off balance in the process, falling into the corpse of Harek and scattering bones and organs everywhere. Kitz leapt at Itzza again, but this time he was ready, he grabbed the hoe and swung it round, just as he did yesterday, and caught Kitz right in the face.

And what Itzza saw next would never leave his memory, Kitz's face looked as though it had been torn off, a skull with tatters of flesh dotted around. The face then started fusing back onto the bone. Kitz then jumped forward, sword forward, in a hell-bent and destructive rage.

Itzza knew this was it, he drew his Flintock and blasted Kitzbuhel straight to the chest, the shot was enough to make him stagger backwards and allowed Itzza enough time to get to his feet and flee. He turned back just for a second to see a large wound in Kitz's chest start knitting itself, Itzza kept moving.

15 minutes later, Itzza had to slow down, before his lungs carried out their threats to tear themselves out of his chest. He looked back, no one appeared to be following, so he continued onwards, while checking what he had on his possesion.

His coat, flintock, a small ceremonial dagger, some seeds, a snow globe (a present from his parents), about a quarter of a loaf of bread and half a melon. He knew that the food he had left would only last a couple of days. He considered his options, go back to the Skull Kingdom and beg for mercy, go back to Valkyria and risk being chased out, or look for another town to take him in.

He decided to eat something before making his decision, he placed his bread on the ground, then turned to look for a pool of water, he needed a drink. Nothing, he turned back to eat his bread.

It was gone, not a crumb left.

Itzza looked around desperatly, he was sure he had put his bread down there, he frantically run around hoping he'd just misplaced it, and saw something behind the trees.

A small, bushy tail poking out from behind the trunk and a few crumbs falling to the ground. He ran to get the culprit, but before he could grab the tail the creature fled, into a south westerly direction.

Itzza pursued, that was almost all of his food, if he lost that he would collapse from pure incapacitation from what a mortal would call starvation. He knew he couldnt die normally but still didnt fancy being in agony for the foreseeable future.

The creature had fast, almost inhuman speed, that Itzza was actually snowskidding in his boots (on dirt) just to keep up. He hadn't had to snowskid since his pet dog had run away.

Suddenly, the creature took a sudden left. Itzza followed.

And found himself facing a town.

The town was mostly made of wood and a little stone, vines and moss clung to many of the houses, almost as though nature had taken a hold of them, embracing them in its green hug. A nearby sign said "Welcome to Aspendale!"

Itzza's target was too fast, he lost it about 1 minute after entering the town, he had passed a few inhabitants but none seemed to bothered about it. Just another citizen, chasing the creature, they thought.

Itzza paused to catch his breath. He had already been exhausted from his escape from the Skull Kingdom, but chasing this theif was something else. He leant on a large stone building and munched into his only remaining food, his half a watermelon slice. As he bit into the juciy insides, he ate the seeds. Itzza never used to eat the seeds, he used to save them for growing more melons, but he had no farmland and his dad always told him if he was low on food, to eat the seeds, which would keep him alive for an extra 2 days than without.

Itzza decided to explore a little. He walked a few steps then suddenly stopped. He turned towards the large stone building he had leaned on and read the doors sign: "Church of Vermella".

Itzza knew little about Vermella, except she was the goddess of red. He decided that since his own god, Lycanria, seemed to be ignoring him, he may as well ask for help off this one, he needed it.

He opened the great wooden doors, wandering inside, the doors slammingbehind him, causing the loud thunderous crash to echo around the room. He felt like he was trespassing, like he didn't belong here, but carried on regardless. He moved towards the large red altar.

"I really expected you to keep up, especially since I had taken your food." Itzza turned round, alarmed, he thought he was the only one in here.

And there was the theif.

Standing before him stood some sort of Wolfgirl. She had black hair and black eyes, and sported a green dress and blue cowl, but what astonished him was the ears, brown fur and bushy tail that stood out from the other features. Apart from that she appeared to be bleeding, rather badly too.

"Are you okay? You look hurt..." She may be a theif but the wounds looked bad, Itzza felt he should help.

"There's nothing you can do, don't worry im in no immediate danger. I led you here to ask you, would you like to be cured? To be rid of the werewolf sickness?"

Rid of it? This would mean he could go home, back to his family and friends. He happily accepted.

"Good now repeat after me" She stated, she appeared rather serious about this, so Itzza listened carefully.

The wolfgirl, whos name was Gaby, told him to repeat a number of requests to the God Vermella, who apparently in return would cure his sickness, this disease which had infected his life and harmed everyone around him, he would finally be rid of it.

Itzza was nervous, he didn't want to screw this up.

Gaby completed the speech, and upon signal Itzza copied. As soon as Itzza completed the last word, however, something went wrong, an incomparable agony filled his head. He felt like he was turning, but it was a thousand times worse than usual, also it was in complete daylight, not even a few minutes after midday.

The turn was over in a few seconds, but instead of losing control and taking a back seat, he felt like he had some control. The other half, the wolfish side, went berserk. He smashed through the great oak doors and sped off towards the centre of Aspendale...

 

[Itzzaboy]

Part 7: Rage's Chill

John was once again chopping wood.

John Loughwits was a young man, 17 years of his life past and the son of a lumberjack. He grew up listening to stories, told by his father, about brave adventurers and fierce monsters. He heard of dungeons, battles and the great kings of Altera. As he grew up, he wished he would have an exciting and adventurous life just like the people he heard of in his stories.

It never happened, and now after 17 years of his life here he was, in a small farm in Aspendale, chopping up small wooden logs to sell at market tomorrow.

Life was never exciting...

Meanwhile, as John is chopping wood, the enraged Itzza crashes through the streets of Aspendale, scattering the contents of market stalls, people ran for their lives, hoping above all else that this creature would not follow them.

"Ha, another Werewolf begging to Vermella to solve his problems. I grant you supreme power and you waste it trying to get some second rate deity to banish it? You will be punished for this!"

Itzza could not only hear this voice in his head, but the agony in his mind felt like someone had taken his pickaxe and was now drilling the spike into his cranium. Whatever was causing him this pain was angry, and it would not stop...

"Had enough? Will you now stop resisting your power and embrace it! Kill them all! I am the great god Lycanria!"

Lycanria? Surely not... Itzza could see some sort of figure in his mind, the puppetmaster to his strings, it looked familiar but Itzza could not put his finger on it, aside from the fact that his fingers were now claws swiping at the nearest villager, the nearest object, the next victim.

Gaby stood a little back from the carnage that was unfolding in Aspendale. This was not how it was supposed to go, the ritual was supposed to make one at peace with the werewolf "curse" rather than to send them into a berserk frensy. Was it to do with that horrid weapon? That horrid flintock pistol that Itzza had at his waist? No, Vermella had granted sanctuary to those with weapons before. It had to be some sort of outside interference...

Gaby approached the violence, keeping to the shadows, and watched from afar.

Word had spread that some vicious creature was tearing up Aspendale, any residents who could had fled to the town hall. One of these villagers was John, axe still in hand from his woodcutting earlier. The noises around him made him feel awful. He could hear the wounded screaming as their gashes and broken limbs were tended to. He could hear children crying from being terrified of the monster and the noises outside. He could hear the warriors debating whether to retreat or to combat the beast.

One of the cheif warriors, Albert Cobblemight, ascended the podium within the hall and addressed the people, as Mayor Tantara was away on town duties.

"This beast will not stop destroying the town, and we are unclear of its motives, we suggest that we leave the town and return once the beast has either calmed down or left the town itself."

This wasn't right, John thought, he spoke out.

"But why must we flee? Why can we not fight this monster?"

"Because we have already lost many brave men and women to this cause and I will not see anymore lost while i'm in charge!" Albert roared, he was ticked off by this young man's speaking out of term.

John sunk back into his seat, dishearted by the response he got from both Albert and the villagers. The villagers were glaring at him like he had suggested some satonic ritual, and Albert continued to ignore him as he answered the villagers other questions.

John had an idea, why not slay this beast while everyone is distracted. He would not only save the town and become a hero but also prove to everyone what a great adventurer he would be.

John started to fantasise about what would happen when he did, crowds screaming his name, people wanting his autograph.

He was still in a slight daze as he left the room, axe in hand...

"You shall suffer until you submit! No one resists the power of Lycanria! No one!"

Itzza was trying to fight off this puppeteer and stop himself killing anyone at the same time, which proved difficult.

"So you wish to save the villagers lives? Submit yourself to me and I will spare them! Continue to struggle and they will all perish!"

Maybe this was the only option... maybe all he could do was give himself up...

The moon had risen as John approached the beast, still in a rage, with his axe at the ready. He had been led to it by the sound of howls and the smashing of wood. Almost everyone had left the area now and there were few people to get out of the way of. As he neared the monster, he saw it was almost of a wolfish quality, light white fur and yellowy orange eyes. The beast turned towards him, and the stare it gave him almost made him collapse.

He didn't want to fight anymore, he wanted to run and flee with the rest of the villagers. His legs disagreed with his brain and he fell to the floor. He tried crawling away but nothing in his body was cooperating with his mind anymore. The beast was soon over him, ready to bring its claws down upon him...

Itzza was watching this scene and pleaded with the voice in his head.

"Please stop! I submit, do what you will just stop with the killing!"

"Haha, no, you shall see what happens when you disobey me!" The voice spat.

Itzza couldn't take it anymore. From inside his prison known as his brain, he forced all of his strength towards this dark entity. He hit it with enormous force and the figure stumbled backwards and vanished.

John gasped as he watched events unfold before his eyes. The beast lost the vicious glint in his eye, and what appeared to be a man in dark robes appeared to his left, on the floor and apparently unconcious. The beast had stopped its initial attack on John and turned towards the stranger. John saw that the beast had switched targets and had to do something to protect this stranger. With a mighty swing of his axe he dug a deep gash into the beasts side.

Itzza felt a huge pain in his side. He realised that the man he had just saved had attacked him. Itzza had realised that the man on the floor was the man that had appeared in his dreams a few nights ago, Shadowsmalls, the one that commanded him to attack the great city. He wanted to demand answers from him, but the villager had probably thought that he was going to attack the dark mage, believing him to be a villager of some sort, and replied with a harrowing blow to his lower ribs. He didn't even notice Shadowsmalls fleeing behind him.

As Itzza lay cradling his wound, he also wondered why he has such control over his Werewolf form now. He knew that the being had been controlling him was gone but even so usually his werewolf side would be attacking everything in sight, yet here he was almost controlling himself like he was still human.

John stood over this creature, listening to it whimper, and almost felt sorry for it. he would put it out of its misery, he thought. John lifted his axe over his head, ready to sever the beasts own head from its neck.

Before he could do so, the sun rose over Aspendale, blinding John momentarily, and when he regained his vision and looked to the ground, what he saw would remain with him for the rest of his days.

The creature seemed to be squirming in pain, but he was twisting in some uncontrolled frenzy, the beasts limbs becoming smaller and thinner, the majority of its body turning blue, a furry blue, and the snout becoming shorter. In mere seconds a human lay before him, with a blue hooded snowcoat and a pained, breathless gasp being emitted from his mouth. Boots and gloves had replaced claw and paw and this person, who could have been no older than 17, lay still.

John picked up the limp, near lifeless body, of this person and started to carry him towards to town hall, blood still gushing from his wound...

 

[Itzzaboy]

We have beaten 100 views! So in commemoration, here is part 8!

Part 8: Revelation

Itzza woke up, for the first time in months, in a cosy bed. He felt drained at first but soon came to. He felt a dull pain in his side, and saw bandages wrapped around his chest. Itzza tried to get up, but whatever was under those bandages caused him severe pain and forced him to slump back down onto the pillow.

Itzza looked around the room in which he had woken up within. It was a large, mainly wooden hall with rows of benches and a podium, it looked like the place where someone of importance would declare speeches or something. There were books in the corner of the room, at a glance Itzza could see one was titled "Aspendale - Town Census".

So, Itzza thought, I'm still in Aspendale.

Itzza checked under the bandages around him. He saw a large gash, slightly healed, like he'd been chopped at with an axe or something.

Then it came back to him, what had happened the night before. Shadowsmalls and that villager with the axe. Gaby the wolfgirl and his prayers to Vermella, and the pain, that berserk, violent pain that overwhelmed his mind.

At that moment, the doors of the hall opened. In walked two people, one was the villager from the night before, the other was a warrior of somekind.

They approached the bed Itzza was in, the soldier spoke first.

"I am Albert Cobblestone, I'm here to enquire as to why you attacked the town last night" He said it politely but with an obvious disguist in his voice.

"Attack sir? I didn't do anything?" Itzza replied, confused.

But the warrior, Albert, wasn't having any of it, he grabbed Itzza by the throat, lifted him clean out of the bed and pinned him against the wall.

"I know your lying. Were I to have it my way I'd cut you down where you stand, but I have been told by my superiors to interrogate you first, so tell me, why did you attack our village last night!" At the last words he threw Itzza to the floor, hitting the stone hard.

The villager got in front of Albert.

"Sir please, surely we should be a little bit kinder to him? He said he didn't remember anything that night."

Albert glared at the villager. "If you can give me one good reason why I should believe he's innocent, John, now is the best time to speak of it."

The villager, John, looked at Itzza. "Does he look like the beast that slaughtered so many last night? He looks like one of those northern villagers that come down to trade during the summer seasons."

Itzza was shocked by what John had said, although he tried to keep it to himself as not to give anything away. "Slaughtered so many?" he thought, he had been responsible for the death of innocent civilians? This was not good. Ordinary people had lost their lives to this werewolf curse now and Itzza couldn't take it.

Itzza noticed that there was no lock on the door, he tried to make a run for it, to escape what had happened, but the soldier was quick, and rugby tackled Itzza to the ground, knocking the wind out of his system.

"See? A guilty concience, he tried to flee!" The soldier spat, and tossed Itzza back onto the bed. He then drew a sword, a gleaming iron sword, polished and well kept.

Itzza gave in, he had to do something or he would be in trouble.

"Okay okay! Wait... I am responsible, but not as you think." Itzza pleaded, and told his story to the men.

When Itzza had finished, the soldier sheathed his sword. "You are safe for today, werewolf, but if anything like this happens again, I will kill you, and don't think I don't know how. I want you out of town, pack your things and leave!"

Itzza grabbed his coat, flintock and some supplies and hurriedly left Aspendale, villagers throwing rotten fruit and stones as he ran...

 

[Itzzaboy]

Part 9: Decay

When Itzza left Aspendale, he went in the opposite direction to the Skull_Kingdom. He wished to avoid it as much as possible. With the few supplies he had, he carried on into the great unknown.

Gaby had been following Itzza for quite some time. She didn't want to leave her new friend so easily, especially since she felt partly at blame for his banishment from Aspendale. She didn't make her presence known though, and just carried on silently following...

Itzza noticed the forest he was walking through start to become darker, the air smelled of decay and dead shrubbery soon covered the floor. He had hit a swamp.

"Bugger, now that's not what I wanted to see." cursed Itzza. Swamps were nasty places, decay and death was everywhere, the place was literally a lingering, festering, wet forest smack bam in the middle of nowhere. You get hurt here it gets infected before you even notice it, food will expire quicker than you can say om-nom-nom and everything in the swamp is against you, the sludgy water, the poisonous mushrooms, the dense, decaying air and the rotting, evil trees.

Gaby watched as Itzza entered the swamp, reluctantly following him into the festering wasteland. There were less trees so it would be harder to follow without being found, but Gaby was good at hiding...

Apologies for the short part, just wanted to get something done.

 

[Itzzaboy]

Part 10: Sirens Cure

Itzza reached a clearing in the swamp, he had finally reached the end of that putrid place. What he hadn't realised however, was that the full moon was up.

As soon as the light hit Itzza, he started to transform, he screamed out, his cry changing from scream to howl slowly. Amongst all this, he heard a song. a song so pure it made even the cloudless night sky seem dirty and contaminated. It was the voice of hope, the voice of help. Somehow the song helped delay the transformation, or at least slow it. He staggered towards the song, hoping that whoever was singing it could help him.

He reached the sight of the song. He saw three of the most beautiful women he had ever seen in his life, two were singing while one was eating something. They were sitting on rocks and...

they had fins, they were Mermaids.

When Itzza was little, he had heard tales about Mermaids. His father had told him that they were some of the most beautiful creatures on the planet. They were also the best at creating concuctions of the sea that could cure any illness.

Any illness... Itzza thought... He took his chances. He moved towards the Mermaids and shouted pleas for help.

"Please help me! I want to be cured! Please, help me!" Itzza pleaded to the mermaids.

One of them seemed to acknowledge him, and communicated to the others.

"Mermaid" Itzza choked "My name is Itzza, I need your help"

"I understand, my sister is getting the cure for you."

Itzza couldn't believe it. Finally he would be cured! His happiness seemed to delay the transformation further.

The other mermaid returned, a bottle in her hand. A bottle of blue liquid. She handed it to the first who then handed it to me.

Itzza gulped it down, excited and nervous at the same time, felt the thick blue liquid crawl down my throat.

Itzza felt relieved for a second, and then a sharp pain hit him in the stomach. He squirmed around on the floor, only just noticing he was losing all feeling in his lower body.

The first mermaid seemed to be angry with the other two, who seemed apologetic, looking at Itzza and giving him a glum, half hearted smile.

He looked down, he noticed he no longer had legs.

He had fins. And what was more, the transformation started to accelerate.

 

[Itzzaboy]

Okay, 'tis the season of giving, so here is a gift, the next chapter!

Part 11: Homeward

Itzza was shaking uncontrollably, frothing at the mouth. The other sirens looked worried. The one called Bewpy swam off somewhere while the other 2 just froze with fright. Itzza's nose elongated into a snout and his screams became howls.

Bewpy swam about her ocean cave, sifting through bottles of various concuctions doing the strangest and most wonderful things. Finally she picked out what she was looking for, a moon white liquid, she swam out of the cave and darted towards her sisters.

The two remaining siren sisters noticed something. While top half of Itzza's body changed into the usual white wolf, the lower half of fins remained the same, just flailing about as the upper half lost control. The transformation was almost complete...

Bewpy arrived at the beach. Without hesitation, she uncorked the bottle and thrust the bottle into Itzza's howling snout, almost drowning him in potion.

Bewpy removed the bottle and corked it, watching as Itzza shivered and fell limp.

Itzza awoke in a small cave. The first thing he noticed was that he was his usual self. The second thing he noticed was that really he wasn't, he still had bright orange fins replacing the bottom half of his body.

He got up as best he could, but soon stumbled over, unbalanced on these foreign appendages. He crawled across to the water, where he found himself balanced, almost like standing on a cloud.

Itzza noticed a small, smooth tablet lain on the floor. He picked it up and realised it was a note:

"We couldn't cure you nor could we reverse the transformation, you are now a Merman. We are all truly sorry but we all assure you that life under the sea isn't as bad as you may think.

We have left for the time being but will return later tonight with food. We hope you will stay with us while you recover."

A rage flew over Itzza, these sirens tried to help him, but just made it worse! He threw the tablet across the cave, cracking it in two. He then picked up his flintock lying on top of his coat and shot the pieces until they were dust.

That was it, Itzza decided. He couldn't take anymore of this, he had to return.

He had to go home.

Itzza packed his things, thinking that if he truly was a Merman, swimming underwater would be a lot quicker travel than trying to hop back home. He tried to mull over what he would tell his family and friends when he returned home, but couldn't come to a decision...

Itzza grabbed the last of his things, his flintock and his snowcoat, and swam out of the cavern.

He noticed he was mere feet from the beach where the events took place last night. He used that to estimate which direction to take home, which was, conveniently, across the ocean. He swam as fast as he could in the direction of the one true place he knew as home.

As he swam, Itzza started to feel the air chill slightly, though it was not nearly as cold as Valkyrian waters used to be. Maybe it had warmed up, or maybe he was more impervious to cold now he was a merman, Itzza wasn't sure.

Itzza saw the frozen beach he had seen and stood on so many times during his childhood. He darted towards it and lifted himself onto the snow. He managed to balance himself on his fins and hopped over the hill, where he knew his village would be.

He reached the top, but what he saw nearly made him fall and roll all the way back down.

Valkyria was in ruins. The houses were burnt and splintered. The melon farms was trashed and rotten. The fountain had crumbled and the smell of death and decay littered over the entire thing.

Itzza collapsed onto the snow and beat his fists into it, turning it into icy mush. After a good 30 minutes trying to overcome what he had just seen, he approached the wreck of his home searching for anyone who could explain what had happened.

One thing that helped Itzza a little was that he couldn't find any bodies, not a single one. He searched destroyed houses and examined ruined farms but nothing gave any clues.

Until, that was, he reached his old hut.

He found a single piece of paper on the desk. It wasn't written by him and it certainly wasn't there the night he was bitten. Another thing he noticed was that it was clear and clean, nothing like the landscape around it. He picked it up and noticed a sophisticated yet sinister handwriting. Itzza read it.

"I gave you the chance of friendship and co-operation and you refused, so this is the price you pay. I have destroyed your petty little home and either captured or killed the populace of it! Charming little workers they make too! Whip them and beat them a little and they can sow 100 seeds in under 3 minutes!

Enough of that however, as this is only the start. When I find you not only will you suffer, but before you die you will watch the rest of your townsfolk be tortured and murdered before your eyes!

This is the price of resistance. You will suffer!

Kitzbuhel, Dark Lord of Altera"

Itzza crumpled the note in his hands, shaking with rage. His former friend had done this to him...

Itzza made two vows that day. The first was that he would Valkyria would be reborn.

And when it did... Itzza would make Kitzbuhel and the whole Skull Kingdom pay...

 

[Itzzaboy]

Part 12: Rebuilding

For the next few days Itzza lived in the ruins of the huts of Valkyria, but not in an unproductive manner. He chopped trees and sewed seeds, ready for rebuilding, but as this was happening, he noticed something was wrong.

Whenever he brought a log within the boundaries of Valkyria, it started to shrivel and rot. Whenever he sewed a seed inside the borders, it wouldn't grow. Any crops he brought in from outside would die and rot in his hands.

The land was cursed, and Itzza knew that if he was to rebuild his former hometown he would need to move away from the cursed area. It made no sense to be nearby as the curse has ample chance of spreading. He needed to go far away.

Not as difficult as it sounds when you're part Merman...

Itzza swam the ocean for a few hours until he came to a set of islands. almost perfectly flat with trees nearby and rich soil.

Perfect for starting New Valkyria...

 

[Itzzaboy]

Part 13: Allies

Itzza got to work building a house, a boat and a bridge. He needed a house to store supplies, needed a boat to bring people to town and needed a bridge for future residents to cross the islands. While working he met two friends. Jakp, former head farmer of Darkwood, and Ultreya, a newcomer to Altera and keep to help out.

Its a good start... but not quite the army Valkyria needs...

 

[Itzzaboy]

In the process of making a new character profile for a few reasons.

1) I feel this particular character has turned slightly stale and i'm not sure where to go with him.
2) It will allow me to write tons more!
3) The OP is seriously outdated, so much so it would be silly to try and edit everything that has changed.

so, hoping all my stalkers fans followers people that read this thread will check out my new profile when it is finished.

I'm not sure whether to archive, lock or delete this thread, suggestions?

 

[Itzzaboy]

Okay, all the non story posts have been deleted. Now locking.

Keep an eye out for the new one!

 

[Itzzaboy]

http://hollowworld.co.uk/index.php?threads/itzzas-shiny-new-character-profile.8165/

New profile, please read! I plan to make it better than this one!