[center "[i ... You shall live for all eternity buried in] dirt!"] There was an explosion - a firework of blinding colors as murky dirt choked Balan. He sank deeper, deeper, deeper into the bottomless pit of Earth. Time became irrelevant, his binding to never seeing a day of light again already multiverses away. He could feel nothing; not the thrusting of his arms, not the kicking of his legs, nor the raspy screams climbing out of his throat. Darkness consumed him, blanketed everything he once knew. There was no consciousnesses, only endless [i black]. He was chained, doomed to live a life of nothing in a curse of dirt-covered solitude. Until centuries later, a wandering spirit stumbled upon him. But no ordinary wanderer - no, not at all. A young witch in training, her cheeks soaked with tears and nose glowing red. They said she'd never amount to anything, her magic was just too weak! But as she stumbled through the woods, fleeing her coven in a fit of rage, she soon realized she was desperately lost. She stopped in her tracks, looked up to the full moon, and screamed in frustration. She kept screaming, her chest heaving and feet beginning to move haphazardly. That is when her delicate foot catches against a decaying root, causing her to crash face first on the rocky ground. A groaned rumbled deep in her throat, the accident only flaring the anger inside her.  As the anger increased, her magic bubbled. Iridescent light seeped into the ground, crawling and stretching, sizzling and vibrating. Underneath her anger, she felt her magic doing something... [i odd]. It was unlike any of her lessons, unlike anything she harnessed before. Little did the "insignificant" witch know, she was ripping Balan free of his chains. [center "[i GRRRRRRRRAAAAWGGGHHHHHHHH!]"] After a rumbling of Earth, the ground split open and spat out a roaring Balan. The witch was tossed aside, her body snapping against a nearby tree. Blinded by dizziness, the witch at first could see nothing, until she blinked away the vertigo and stared through the hissing smoke burning her lips. She was trembling, goosebumps cascading across her flesh as the outline of Balan's figure entered her sight. Though hunched, he was still frightening tall, unruly hair masking his scratched-up face. The witch's instinct kicked in, adrenaline pumping and blood freezing. [i Run away!] And so she did, fleeing the incident and planning to never speak of it again. Balan wasn't going to let her go that easily though. Naked and smeared in centuries old mud, he chased after the petrified witch, his legs unsteady after living suspended in darkness for so long. He didn't know the witch accidentally set him free; he was desperate for answers, desperate for... help? Desperate for anything besides that painful oblivion. "Come back," he grunted to the harsh wind, rain stabbing his bare skin. "Run all you want, but I'll get you one way or another." [size13 ooc: this will be the only time I take control of your character, just did so to get the roleplay moving at first, hope that's okay! :)]

[center [i Crap, crap, crap!] What had she done? What the hell had she [i done?!] Panic welled up inside Rowan as she ran as fast as she could, the rain stinging her cheeks and arms as she hurried past the endless trees. Everything hurt at that moment, her face, her legs, her chest, but she kept running, afraid of finding out what would happen if she stopped for even a second. Unfortunately, it seemed like fate had other plans for her, as she stumbled over a root sticking out of the ground [i again,] sending her straight to the ground.] [center She groaned before she got up on her hands and knees, wincing as a sharp pain shot through her arm. She didn't have time to worry about it, though. Seeing a fairly large tree, she scrambled over to it, hiding behind it as she placed a hand over her mouth. She was screwed for sure. She was convinced that when she got back to the coven, no matter how hush-hush she was about the situation, someone would find out and blame her for it. Not that they would be wrong but it would be just as awful then as it had been earlier in the night.] [center Fear choked her as tears threatened to spill over her cheeks. She couldn't hear the stranger that had erupted from the earth beneath her body, couldn't hear anything but the occasional bug screeching through the dark, but she dare not come out just yet, for fear that it was a trick and he was actually on the other side of the large tree. However, all she could think about was getting away. About [i how] she could get away.] [center She closed her eyes tightly for just a moment, a tear sliding down her face before she felt something crawling on her arm. She stole a glance, a decision she quickly came to regret. She couldn't contain the frightened scream that tore through her as she swatted the spider off of her, a wave of nausea washing over her before she stood, stumbling away from the tree. Her head was pounding now that she'd had a chance to sit down and her chest still burned as she tried to get more air into her lungs.] [center She knew she had to run again, but one frantic look around nearly made her dizzy. She had no idea which direction she needed to go in. It would be bad if she picked the wrong one and ran straight into the terrifying stranger, but if she didn't move soon, he'd surely find her just as easily. Taking a deep breath, she decided to just take the chance and took off in another direction, hoping, [i praying,] that she got away.] [i OOC: No worries at all! Totally understandable!]