Rob stumbled and skidded face-first across the ground as the world turned inside out for him. What was the point?  What was even the point of trying to crawl back up out of the mud?  It was where he cane from, after all. Where he came from, and where he’d end up in the end. Better to be killed, really. Even death at the nauseous talons of the beast would be better.<br/><br/>“no...” he said, voice weak as despair gnawed at him. He’d escaped that life. But he would be back there again. Just give up. Stop fighting. Death would be better. “no...”<br/><br/>Reaching out to dig his fingers into the soil was an act of will.  Dragging himself a foot further from the beast was a struggle he almost lost. Just give up. It all ends in despair.  It all ends in blackness.  He dragged himself another foot.<br/><br/><b>You are Chosen</b>.<br/><br/>“fuck... off...” Rob managed, spitting dirt at the hunting cat regarding him from atop an ancient monument.  A tiny spark of aggravation cut through the blackness that gripped his heart.<br/><br/><b>You are the Champion</b>.<br/><br/>That was the<i>other</i>cat, lounging in the crotch of a skeletal tree.  “piss... off...”<br/><br/>Behind him the beast bellowed. The sound of its irregular footsteps veered off, as it turned on another victim. As he gasped with relief, Umbra dropped from the tree and padded towards him, coming nose to nose with him.<b>You <i>are</i> the Champion, touched by Teldir the Four-Faced Moon</b>.<br/><br/>Halo slid from the monument with a boneless grace.<b>That which stalks the night is an abomination in the eyes of the Four-Faced Moon, Champion.</b><br/><br/>Strength flowed through his limbs as he felt himself accept the charge, reaching towards it like a drowning man groping for a line. “All right,” he sighed, rising to his feet. Silver blazed in his eyes, allowing him to see as clearly as if it were noon. “Last time, though. I’m<i>done</i>being Teldir’s butt boy after this.”<br/><br/>The cats sniggered. He ignored them, taking in the scene. There were magics in play, shadows gripping the undead beast’s liquefying flesh and necromancy seeking to undo it. Nodding grimly, he unsheathed his smallsword and stepped through the shadow of a gravestone to emerge beneath the monstrosity. It howled, multiple throats bubbling pain and fury as he hacked his sword through a joint and rolled to ignore the hush of black decayed blood.<br/><br/>“<b>Stop flirting, Xavier</b>,” he said, rolling to his feet and partying an intestine with a dagger before severing it. “<b>Plenty of time for the ladies when this thing’s dead!</b>”  Ducking, he launched forward and severed a hoof at the joint. “<b>Well, <i>more</i> dead. You know what I mean!”</b>