Corruptions of nature (Woof)

The creature lumbered with massive, monstrous arms which lashed out at him. Slamming into the side of the brick building as Rowan ducked under the massive limbs. Large bubbles roe and popped on its sludgy form, the only eyes visible on the large snouted form were red slits which glared at him with unrestrained malice. A hatred that was deep, vast like the depths of the ocean and was felt for everything that existed within the world. It wasn’t even fully made of physical matter, more a compilation of hatred that took the form of thick oil. He knew not to let it touch him.

Already they had been fighting for a few minutes, but he could feel his body starting to strain from the concerted effort. Muscles burning, and lungs as well though that didn’t keep him from wielding his bow. Launching a few solidified air arrows which zipped through the air and sunk into the things shoulder and thick arms, gouging out large sections which quickly sealed themselves up. Because if one could defeat a corrupted spirit so easily, well they wouldn’t be such a big threat, now would they? ”Damn this thing,” he spat under his breath, ducking behind a nearby thick tree to duck out of the way of something thinking wetly against it.

He had two arrows left and casting the spell again would have taken time he didn’t have in such a fast paced fight. Dark brown leaves fell around him, revealing that the tree he had been using as cover was turning a pitch black and shriveling into nothing. There had to be some weakness to this creature, though that weakness was not something that was too obvious. Likely hidden within the tar-like body beyond any real mundane weapon or senses. Even his own could not see anything.

He took a deep breath, pressing the two wind arrows together and willing them fuse into one. Air magic was something that managed to make this possible. If these things worked like any living creature, then their core would be somewhere around the center. Putting all the power he could into his legs, Rowan pushed himself into a roll to the right as the tree finished fading to nothing and the massive clawed hand missed him by a few inches. Turning and spinning he aimed at the creatures chest, letting loose the much larger wind arrow which ripped through the center of its chest and left a large gaping wound.

The glint of something red was within that hole, and he knew he managed to hit the creature. What should have been a kill shot even, enough to let out a small sigh of relief until it began to scream. A blood curdling roar which cut deeply through his very being as the physical form began to fall apart and lashing tendrils formed from its body. That usually did not happen. It was always more of a collapse than anything else, granted he had only fought two or three of these things within his life so far. That was when the blackness stretched and engulfed him, leaving Rowan stunned as his senses dimmed and faded. He felt like he were falling through water and then the sight of semi-lit night sky came.

That was when he realized he was falling.

The world around him was falling and he realized he was hurtling towards the ground, leather armor and attached pelts flapping in the wind. His mind raced for a fix, knowing that within seconds he would likely hit the ground with a sickening splat. Not enough feathers to take a birds form and anything else he had wouldn’t be able to fly him out of this, especially when he was pretty sure he was hitting what one of the rangers called terminal velocity. So he did the next best thing, flailing his arms around and trying to gather as much air as he could around him to slow his descent and maybe even stick some kind of landing that wouldn’t kill him. His bangs were flying into his eyes and threatening to blind him but that didn’t matter.

”Shit shit shit shit shit!” he cursed realizing his air magic wasn’t advanced enough to fly him, just offer offense and within a few moments he would die but that was when it hit him. Well, felt like someone caught him anyway.

It had been a while. Since he had felt in his own skin. Jake was staring at the sky, his eyes squinting against the sun. "Hmm. Man. What am I doing?" He asked the warmth on his skin. The air that flowed around him. The void of nothingness he felt lost in.

It was a question he had asked himself a lot, and more and more lately, he found himself asking it when he knew he had no answer. In truth, he wasn't sure. He felt like a wanderer, just acting on the whims of the currents. He felt anti social. Not really keeping in touch with anyone, even when he really should have. Samael coming to mind. How was the cambion doing? Jake could only hope he was alright. Or at the very least, was a lot better then when he last saw him.

"That... Reminds me. I let a vampire loose... Maybe I should deal with that? If it hasn't already been dealt with... Hmh. I have a few things to deal with... And I still say I don't know what I am doing." The boy laughed at himself. Sam. The vampire. That... Man. The being inside him, or whatever that was. He didn't even want to think about his situation with Anne. That was a door he didn't know how to maneuver at all. Arcadian's were a real bother.

That led his train of thought to his... Peculiar abilities of shape shifting. That didn't feel magical. Or angelic. He had a lot of questions that needed answering, and the more he thought about it, the more he really didn't know how to find the answers. And that is ignoring the half sister in the room. "Jeez. Why can't I just lie back and let everything solve itself... Because then I'd really have nothing left... I wonder how the dragon family is doing too." Leaning back, he let out a long sigh...

"Hmm?" Squinting again, only not in relation to the sun, Jake saw what looked like a black void up in the sky. That's weird... What was more weird was when he saw a shape fall from it... And then that shape became more human the closer it got, and it wasn't stopping. "Oh no. No no no." Jumping to a stand, the boy ran to the edge of the building. He couldn't fly, and even if he did, the... Damn it, he didn't have time to think.

Focusing the red energy in his body, and spreading it everywhere, the boy  braced himself on the roof and lunged forwards, shattering the roof behind him as he flung himself forwards at high speeds into the air, his arms reaching out, he felt the weight of the boy catch in them as he started to fall at fast speeds, his feet hitting the ground with a heavy crunch as they skidded across the gravel to a stop, his lightly reddened skin and eyes fading to his normal skin as he looked at the... What looked like a rather young kid in his arms.

"Hey! Didn't anyone ever tell you to not fall at terminal velocity or whatever?" He asked quite bluntly, breathing heavily. As he looked back to the sky to see if anything was following. Kids didn't just fall out of the sky for no reason. Seems his existential crisis would have to wait. Not when something bad was afoot.

Well, that was something he knew. He wasn't going to just sit here and let bad do whatever it wanted. Whatever it was.

Rowan felt the pull of gravity that drug him downwards towards the cruel ground below. Flying was impossible, if only because he didn’t have enough feathers attached to his cloak to take on any flying form. Maybe he would need to find some dead ravens or crows, if he managed to not die in this instance. He waited for death to come but instead found himself in strong feeling arms, the kind that kept one from hitting the ground and splatting like a squished bug. ”No one had to. That’s just common sense,” He snapped despite this human looking male saving him. It came without him  even having to think about snapping back at someone.

Normally he would have pushed anyone human looking away from him but he was hundreds of feet off the ground, so for now he would allow himself to be held like this. One hand pressed against his chest and bunching up the males shirt as if to keep a grip on him. The guy was easily way taller than him, but then again he wasn’t known for his own height among humans. Some of those around the conclave with ages similar to his own tended to be shorter, but humans tended to be taller than the fae he knew. Next thing he knew they were on the ground or maybe they had always been once he got picked out of the sky. That was when he realized that he was practically fondling the guys chest and tried to squirm from his grip with a small amount of color rising on his cheeks and neck.

”Put me down you….whatever you are!” He leapt from the guys arms and onto the floor in a small crouch and realizing that he had no glamour. He didn’t need a glamour considering that  He pressed palms against his knife tipped ears, allowing the glamour to mold over them until they rounded out to a more common looking human shape. With a low pleased sigh he looked back up to the strange winded boy, green eyes narrowed suspiciously before calming down somewhat. ”Thank you,” He finally admitted, rising to his full height which was still around nine inches shorter than him. ”without your help I would have been a stain on the ground.” Even saying that felt like death but he knew he couldn’t be rude like that.

”See anything strange around here? I was fighting something but ended up getting sucked through. I damaged it a little but that just means it’ll be rampaging now,” Rowan explained as much as he could, looking around and taking in all the sensory data that he had available as he could. ””I…uh…know you have no reason to help any further. Rowan added, knowing that anyone with a tie to humanity was not given to altruism often, especially dangerous altruism.

"Don't have to be so rude." The boy mumbled as the kid kicked and struggled out of his grip, easily doing so, but Jake didn't look bothered too much by it. He was more curious then anything. Mostly because the kid had ears... Sharp ones, which were soon changed into smaller, human like ones.

He had a moment of surprise at seeing someone else who could... Shift, but the young man soon realized that it wasn't the same. More like a glamor. Magic then? Elven ears. "Hmm. Maybe. Could have stopped yourself from becoming a red pancake on the road, I don't know." The boy commented, before the young kid asked if the boy had seen anything.

In fact, he was still looking. There didn't seem to be any yelling, so the rampaging was perhaps a little wrong. But perhaps it was a silent killer. He looked up to see if that portal remained, but the sun was in his eyes, so he couldn't be sure. "Huh?"

The boy looked back at the kid, who seemed a little... Less distant. And he wasn't directly asking for help... But. "Heh. I have every reason to help further. Fighting something that could be rampaging. I'd find my way into helping even if you had become a pancake. I guess I'll have to lose the shirt then." The boy tisked, grabbing his shirt and carefully pulling it off, revealing an oversized undershirt with two large slits in the back, both long and wide, flapping in the wind almost until with a grunt, two large, dirty grey wings exploded from his back and through the slits.

"I don't know if you're some kind of demon or something, but assuming that portal means you fell from another plane of existence, I can fly us back to the portal if it's still there. Otherwise, I can see from the sky. What are we looking for?" Jake asked the strange child, raising an eyebrow as he waited for an answer.

After Lucas, and any other child like being the boy had met, he had learned to not take a physical appearance at base value, certainly that of a child. This kid, or thing, might be dangerous, but Jake smiled easily enough. He didn't think the kid would be dangerous. After all. Something dangerous wouldn't have been a pancake if he had been a moment late to catching the boy.

”If I could have done that I would have,” Rowan responded, not quite enjoying having his near death experience being pointed out. Might have been the fact that this human looking person was also sassing him, though he had more important things to worry about than his own fragile pride. He didn’t want attention to his ear being drawn, though something told him that forming the glamour was enough to do just that with this person. Whatever he was.  For the moment he knew there weren’t too many eyes on them, mostly him though considering the fact they were in what looked like one of the large human cities. Not like he took the time to learn their names.

The black tear that was once within the sky was missing, leaving him wondering where the creature had gone or if it even came through. All he knew was that it would be incensed about being injured and someone would pay for doing so. He frowned, imagining the plant, animal and perhaps human lives which could be lost through that. Destroying it was another thing entirely. The boy spoke, mentioning something about losing his shirt and bringing about the return of color along his cheeks. ”Wait, what?” He questioned, looking strangely at him before seeing why he was removing his shirt.

Two slits cut through an undershirt was two grey looking wings which made his own instinctual reaction even more awkward. He coughed, considering the sights and sounds around them. His ears were sensitive, enough to catch the sound of car horns honking a couple blocks away but nothing that suggested the spirit. ”I’m nothing close to a demon. I…suppose humans would know what I am as an elf, though that comes with so many false assumptions.” He explained, wondering what the guy would assume when he heard the term elf. There was some fiction his elders had looked over, though they were more amused by it than anything else.

”We’re looking for an evil spirit, looks like its made of tar and oil with a bad habit of attacking anything living.” He explained, thinking back on the thing and the prolonged fight that came with encountering the thing. Anything brimming with natural energy tended to be the first target of the thing, which could mean even those with fae ancestry were in danger. ”it might not be rampaging right now but could start any second. ” He felt over one of the small furs attached to his green dappled leathers, considering shifting but going against it for a moment.

”Well, so long as you can handle yourself I wouldn’t mind having a little help. It’s not often I have the help of a winged…individual,” He could have been an angel but they usually had more divine looking wings. This guy had more dusky gray, even corrupt looking wings. ”there might be some friendly spirits close by willing to help. Follow me,” He considered the mans clothes, waving a hand over himself and replicating a similar appearance through tactile glamour. Similar clothes anyhow, though considering he liked how he looked. ”it could appear anytime though I imagine it would appear anywhere with enough nature. Know any places like that in this….city?”

"Jake. Name's Jake. To clear that up. And if you're an elf, I'm a bird." Jake quickly stated to clear things up, his wings spanning quite far as he stretched them out. They were muscles he wasn't using a lot of lately, and when he did, often he was abusing them more then not. And elf. It was possible. But the boy said himself that elf was 'wrong.' So maybe it went deeper then just an elf...

"Evil spirit made out of tar and oil and everything unhappy under the sun... Hmm. Anywhere with nature you say?" The boy asked, knowing a few answers. But one more plainly then any other. It was a location he was familiar with. It was one he was starting to really dislike. Too open. Too public. Too happy when a literal time bomb that was central park was right under their feet. Sure, Bryant or Garvey park were a thing. But did it matter?

"We don't need any friendly spirits. Besides. My perverted nature might scare them off more then anything else and I know where to go. Problem is getting there. Gonna be honest. I really don't want to carry you. It's almost become my thing, and my thing sucks. However, considering how you're unable to stop your own luckily saved from splatter..." The boy sighed. He was really getting tired of the whole carry every second person with powers he met. Sure, it was cool at first, but now it just felt weird... Sometimes.

"Anyway. Central park is where we need to go. I can get us there, but if you have your own way, then I'll go now... Whoever makes it first can survey the scene. Or whatever." Jake told the smaller and perhaps younger, but almost probably older boy, his wings flapping a few times and hitting the ground with hard, heavy thuds, wind from the impacts blowing away dust and gravel. It was an easy choice, one he could deal with one way or the other and despite the rudeness of the thought. He hoped the kid who couldn't fly had a way for themselves.

He doubted it.

Rowan took in the mans wings and nodded, believing that he was some manner of man shaped bird immediately. ”Well it’s a pleasure to meet a human shaped bird. I’ve never met one before,” He stated with absolute seriousness, allowing the guy to think over what information he had been given while Rowan was continuing to overthink the conundrum he was posed with. Even humans might get harmed if they didn’t do anything about it. Not that he cared too much about the potential loss of human life. Them mentioning something about having a perverted nature did bring his curiosity, though he didn’t say anything in regards to that. Could be true though he didn’t sense anything along those lines from him, not yet anyway.

”You don’t need to worry about carrying me. I’m sure I can think of something for getting around,” His eyes scanned the horizon and took sight of what looked to be a bird, which gave him an idea. He whipped his bow from his back and closed one eye, taking aim and shooting it down with a quick shot. The guy didn’t sound too keen on having to carry him around, though that made him wonder what he had against the concept. Not that he let the thought obsess him. He knelt over the pigeon, frowning notably before seeming to remove its skin and a good collection of feathers with practiced ease. With that done he took a few seconds to fix it to his glamoured leathers, which disappeared as soon as it went under the illusion.

Looking around he didn’t see too many humans looking at them, though their hiding position was optimal. ”Unfortunately I’m limited by the form, so I might not be as fast as you.” he added, letting the form take over and feeling the sensation of his whole body becoming lesser. Smaller even as different instincts took over, and he had to keep his own intellect in check. The pigeon cooed and fluttered around Jake before settling onto his shoulder as if to prove he could fly, though he would hop off and flay after him when Jake took flight to lead him.

Jake narrowed his eyes at the boy. Human shaped bird? Was he dull? Almost everyone else he had met of a magical nature would assume angel of some kind... Hell, almost everyone he met of magical nature was far smarter then himself when it came to magic and the things surrounding it. Maybe this kid wasn't actually older then him. Maybe appearances sometimes weren't all that much a lie.

He was curious as to how the boy planned to follow without the older boy to carry them, and so he remained to watch as the smaller boy struck down a pigeon with ease. "Good eye." The boy muttered, watching as the smaller boy plucked feathers, tucking them... Somewhere. They vanished, leaving the boy a little more confused then anything else.

But then the boy became what he killed. A small pigeon. Jake stared dumbly at the changed kid. An elf huh? He might need to ask for a more concrete answer. Elf... Elf... Were Fey elves? Questions for later. Instead the older looking boy cracked a smile and laughed as the pigeon flew off his shoulder. "If Anne was here she would have made a good joke about a pigeon flying with a pigeon. In this case. It's a half angel flying with a elf turned pigeon." Letting the words out easily, the boy broke into a run and jumped high off the roof, before allowing his wings to catch whatever it was that allowed them to fly him. He didn't move at his mediocre top speed, in case it was too fast for the elf, but he suspected that birds moved faster then him, so he went at his best speed after a while, leading them towards central park.

It wasn't a long journey, but if lives could be on the line, it felt too long. Still, the boy arrived and landed quickly near the lake of the park. A oil and tar creature felt like it would be near water. Still, perhaps it would hate people with magic. Punching his fist into a hand a few times, a red glow would soon begin to glow around the boys hands, until like flames, magic laced itself from his finger tips to his elbow. His arms felt like a fire was licking his skin. Toasty but bearable. "Don't know if you're with me not a elf, but I'm Jake. Got a name for yourself? Or am I just talking to the water... This is nice actually. Better then a rooftop."

Rowan wasn’t one to care much for what people thought of him, especially humans though he was working with an inhuman. The wings alone were enough of a show that he wasn’t human, despite the human face that looked back at the young half-fey. Nothing was explained as he killed a random pigeon, silently apologizing for the fact before crafting the pelt that would allow him to shift. Soon enough his humanoid limbs were nothing more than wings and even thinner legs, a low coo working from his form as he fluttered about. He liked birds, the way they ate and how they acted. Even if they ended up becoming nothing more than pests likely towards humanity in their large concrete cities.

Soon enough the angel boy around his age broke off into a run and then a fly, leaving him to fly after him. Wings beating against the air and propelling him through it at a speed fast enough to let him keep up with the larger, more well-muscled form. Not an elf He thought to himself, knowing that his current form lacked the ability to speak in any human languages. He also knew he couldn’t communicate with angel hybrids, at least knew well enough not to try.  It wasn’t a long journey but he didn’t have to waste his endurance. As the boy landed, so did he, picking out a branch and scanning the are around him to see if there was anything off. The plants spoke their near inaudible, keening song but that was it.

The boy spoke, naming himself and speaking in a fashion he imagined was sarcasm. In a shift of motion he was once again his bipedal form, leaping to the ground into a crouch. ”Rowan,” he said when the question of his own name came up, scanning the park around him and scenting the air. When the corruptions rose, the scent of burnt rubber and something foul always accompanied them. He did smell something, warm and somewhat spicy though that could have been the strange energy dancing along the teens arms. ”if you smell anything off, tell me,” he then added, snapping to the scent of something in the distance. Without thinking he drew his bow and shot an arrow, whipping through the air and catching a bird.

Or rather a black bird, feathers of wriggling tar and eyes a deep glowing red.

Jake glanced towards the boy, a little surprised. Rowan. "Cool name." The young boy said without thought, before glancing around for what it was they were looking for. He doubted it would be easy. In fact, he suspected it'd be rather annoying to find this thing. Slime and evilness. A weird combination that made sense. Slime was never really a good thing. Always weird and disgusting. Or tar in this regard. Now he was hoping it was the kind of tar that didn't leave a mark. He didn't wear this singlet just to have it be dirtied by a substance he can't remove.

"You're gonna have to be more clear then something off. Bird poo smells off. So do dead birds. Unless you mean on a more... Deep level. Sorry to disappoint, but I'm a punching creature, not a spiritual one." The boy sarcastically remarked, before taking a quiet sniff anyway. He couldn't smell anything besides the water and the air. Even then, it wasn't anything worth noting. "Yea I'm not smelling anything." Speaking aloud, he closed his eyes and thought about using his red sight. It could see the living... But this thing sounded more magic then living. Living tar... Maybe it had something alive inside it... Maybe he should ask the boy about it.

His concentration was broken when the younger looking boy suddenly fired another arrow, catching what looked like another bird. Jake was about to sigh, expecting the boy to pluck this one too, but when he looked closer, he noticed  the bird wasn't... Normal. Not at all. Shaking his hand, a red, fire like magic covered the tip of his fingers all the way towards his elbow. Not exactly fire, but it seemed to have the same appearance as, faint, transparent red energy like flames licked at his skin and the air. Walking up to the downed bird, he went to grab it and hold it tight in his magic laced grip. "Is this it? It's tar like. I'll give you that. But it doesn't seem that dangerous."

”It’s a unique scent, far different than any rotting or living thing,” Rowan responded, expecting someone who hadn’t fought the blights before to not know what they were like. The threats they posed were far beyond a little mud or even the tar that came from human mining. There was something malevolent within their existence, warping and burning anything, they touched. Even thinking about it made him feel uncomfortable, especially hearing the pained cries of the plants touched by this blight.  The fact humans didn’t hear what he did made nothing better; not truly.

Pinning the fell bird through what he assumed was the heart of its form was just the beginning of the purge. He gave a subdued glare to the one that said it didn’t look that dangerous, wondering what he thought it could do. ”it’s a symptom, not the problem. That was once a bird, now it’s something else. Should enough of the blight touch a person they’ll become much like that. You and I will suffer the same fate if it happens to us,” Nothing natural was protected from this corruption, not even the powerful beings such as dragons or phoenixes. The bird squirmed on the end of his arrow, tarry feathers melting as they disappeared in a sputtering black cloud of smoke.

”It spreads through plants, water and even animals. We need to find the source and smash it before it can do any lasting damage.” He rose from his crouch, letting the bow slip back into the veil of his glamour. Forest green eyes turned back to the strange male, considering his wings and impressive figure. Even with that in mind, something about the strange energy flickering along his clenched hands was interesting. Impressive compared to the magics he had seen within his life. ”it does appear that whatever you can do might help us some,” With the sparest of motions, he walked off, moving along the bank of an artificial lake with ducks quaking and waddling along.

Some considered him and walked up, waiting until he produced a few waivers of golden bread and fed them. ”Have you seen any blight around?” His voice seemed to grow friendlier to the ducks, which all quaked among each other before makng sounds at him. He nodded along as if that meant something, before rising from his crouch and turned back to Jake.

”They say something was happening to a near bye tree. Might be what we’re looking for,”

"Oh... Oh! Ew." Dropping the dead tar covered bird, or blighted bird, the boy quickly shook his hand, the flame like energy vanishing like wisps to the wind as he stopped focusing on them, in part because he didn't need them yet, and they'd be a waste of energy, secondly in part because of the boys comment on them as helpful. He glanced down to his hand with a wistful sigh. Helpful. Sure.

Instead of thinking about anything unnecessary, Jake turned his attention back to the boy. Rowan. He needed to stop thinking of them as just a boy. As far as he was gathering, they were anything but a boy. "Are you speaking to the ducks?" He called out, confused. He would have laughed it off if not for the fact that they seemed to be... Well, speaking didn't seem right. Quacking back at Rowan, who was nodding along as if it was a completely normal look. "You're really weird." Jake commented. Dude has killed birds and talked to birds. Already a strange day and they hadn't even found the source of this so called blight.

If it wasn't for the messed up bird, perhaps Jake would have bounced by now, and while he was never going to allow Rowen to realize he was being taken seriously by the older looking boy, Jake was indeed keeping an eye, and oddly enough, a nose out for this blight. "The ducks can't be more specific can they? Or nearby tree all they can do." He retorted with a lack of luster in his voice, shrugging along towards the trees that resided nearby.

"I preferred it when I could just run in and punch the problem, not this... Ugh. What is that?" The boy pinched his nose and glanced towards the direction of the smell. This smell. It was weird. Oddly enough it was like a fungi smell, but at the same time, like death. Fungus and death? He stepped closer to the offending smell. Annoyingly, it was a tree, and it didn't take much for the boy to notice the tree had the same traces of infection the bird had, growing around the base of the tree, as if it had come up through the roots.

"Rowan? Is this it... Oh shit. How far spread do roots go?" The boy asked, as if the conversation should have been causal, but the worry finally seemed to have reached him, anyone could tell from the look on his face, his blue eyes staring hard down at the ground, trying to trace where roots would travel, trying to guess how deep they went... And if the thing they were looking for wasn't easily seen, because it wasn't on the same ground as them.

The young halfling watched the male touch the infected entity, eyes narrowed cautiously and licking his lips which felt far too dry. ”Don’t touch that. I don’t know what it’ll do to your body,” He stated off handedly, a small portion of him feeling some manner of concern for the person touching something so saturated by The Blight. He wasn’t human but that didn’t mean he wasn’t above having his own natural form turned into something horrendous. The mental image alone was enough to make his stomach turn, though that garnered no purchase upon his expression.

Besides, his attention was more on the ducks that waddled along save for turning towards him. Their very souls speaking to him in the same language he used to talk to others. Offering their own advice once they realized who and what he was. The sound of the male reached his ears, though he finished his conversation and turned to the male with the same calm expression. Lips turned into a smooth line. ”Am I? Nothing strange about what I do? ”” He replied, arcing a brow as if the person looking down at him were the strange one. Mankind were so obsessed with the concepts of science that they forgot what existed around them.

The male continued to speak, questioning if the ducks could be more specific but the animals had already begun flying away. Honking hurriedly about leaving before they were touched to. Nature knew to escape from dangerous things before their lives were extinguished. His attention turned to what looked to be black rising from the ground, once root but now something else. Twisting and writhing as if the cells themselves were already becoming something else. The corruption was not always so active, which meant something was going on. His eyes widened in surprise, the first possible flash of emotion on his face.

Pressing a splayed palm against the ground, he let his connection to the earth spread out and all of the sudden a dark cool washed through him. As if a black hand had gripped his stomach and forced him to rip the hand back from the dirt. ”Far and deep. Further than roots normally go. Either this is a tree with deep roots or something else entirely,”” He noted, rising to his feet and that expression of shock briefly shifting to horror. ”something is going on here and I don’t know what. Whatever it is, this tree cannot be in the ground for much longer,”” His words were tinged with a tone that suggested it would be impossible.

No one could rip a tree from the ground like that could they?

The boy was quick to agree with Jake about what he feared. This darkness was deep rooted. If he did nothing, it would spread. If he hadn't caught Rowan, hadn't been lazing on a rooftop to see the boy fall. He would never have known. "I think I should start connecting to my more magical side of life. Clearly I'm missing out on a lot of things." Jake was quick to speak as he stepped up to the tree. The smell was stronger, death, fungus. A rot to this park that had seen too much.

At first, the older looking boy had expected Rowan to do something about this tree, but the young looking boy seemed horrified by the mere existence of the tree. Jake needed to do something. He needed to do it now. "Alright then. Out of the ground it is." The boy spoke confidently as he stepped up to the tree. It was a good sized tree. And he suspected it was rooted deeply into the ground. Still, he wanted to try.

Holding his breathe as to not breathe in the scent of the rot, the boy wrapped his arms around the trunk of the tree and heaved. Seconds passed, and all he managed to do was crack the wood around the trunk, revealing a leaking black mass. The tree was bleeding corruption. "Don't let it touch me for too long right?" He called back to Rowan, giving a easy smile to the magic boy as he turned back to the tree and  bit his lip. "FBR one." He growled out, focusing the red energy throughout his body, his skin taking on a red hue, red energy crackling around him.

This time, his efforts were rewarded, the ground rumbled as roots were ripped apart and forced out of place. Jake's wings fired out from his back, and he forced them to change, the ugly grey feathers began to molt into the skin of the wings, the wings themselves started to grow in size and mass, the skin growing taunt and pale as the once angelic looking wings became masses of muscle. Slamming them into the ground to start lifting himself up, the boy used the strength granted to him by his energy to rip the trunk from the earth, nearly splitting it in half with the grip he had on it, and as he rose into the air, the trunk impossibly in his grasp, the roots came with it. Some remained in the earth, but it was clear all he needed to do was keep pulling to remove them.

"There! It's out of the ground." The boy yelled towards Rowan, moving his head back from the black mass that seemed to leak from the tree where he had inadvertently damaged it while ripping it from the ground. Now what the hell was he going to do with this tree?

The strange winged boy muttered something to himself, drawing his attention just enough to give him a curious look. There was nothing they could do about the tree with roots that reached far too low for him to purify in the time he would need. All of the magic available to him at the current moment were not enough and ripping the plant from the ground was the only method that would work. Only when he spoke with such confidence that the tree would come out that his own shock turned to Jake with true, genuine uncertainty. As if the young man were insane and speaking the kind of nonsense only a madman would consider saying. ”You’re not serious are you?” He questioned, forest green eyes narrowing in further skepticism.

Then he grasped onto the tree and began pulling, wings shifting into things that no living flesh should be able to do. Twisting into massive arms with grasping fingers that also helped reach into the bark and flesh beneath. Whatever this person was, their strength was far beyond anything humans could hope to gain. One of those metahumans he heard about and saw through the broadcast boxes he occasionally saw. The red energy that crackled along his arms was even more reason to question, though he didn’t say anything and just watched as he began to wrench a massive tree from the ground, Roots deep enough that it could have been dozens of feet into the earth and even beyond. Yet they were ripped upwards, nearly uprooting the entire tree and drawing the attention of any humans that were close enough to see the sight.

This was something better attributed to a dragon, a few of those had moved through The Enclave though they rarely ever stayed too long. These days dragons had few places in the world of man where their supposed progress was pushing all except man out from the world. He wondered how long until all nature was turned into concrete jungles.

He drew in a breath and it felt like that breath were lasting forever. Watching the thick black roots that dangled from the uprooted tree, even dripping onto the ground. ”How did you…” His voice broke off, realizing he had without thinking walked back a couple dozen feet as if trying to avoid even being touched by The Blight and its effects on the tree. Whatever had been done to the tree, he couldn’t help feeling apprehensive about what this person could do as well. Was this the limit of his strength or could he do far more with a little effort? The awe of looking at something far more massive than he ever was. ”living things are much easier and take much less time to corrupt. So the earth might be fine for now, though I can’t see how far down this goes.”

Unbothered by the gaze of men he approached Jake and looked over the tree. ”Preferably we’d cleanse this tree, best by fire but something tells me the humans wouldn’t like such a large blaze in the midst of their territory,” He noted, imagining the fire that would consume the massive trunk nearly split in half. ”I’m not sure if we could move something like this before it begins to take effect, though I don’t understand the nature of that energy around you arms,” His eyes scanned over the teen now with a more curious glance, wondering if he could even be seen as close to human. Despite having a pleasing face, that rarely ever served as any indicator of what a person was.

”Do you know any places that might be good to burn a large tree?” He questioned, still taking in the acrid scent of corruption within the root, sap and even bark. Everything about the plan was beyond saving. All he could hear was the twisted words of the tree itself, wracked with pain, close to death and even a desire to spread corruption. It made his stomach turn. ”if not I have an idea but it might be…well something I would only do if there was no other choice,” he ran fingers through his hair, smoothing out the strands and eyeing the mutt still curious.