“I'm just an old man wishing he was asleep right now,” he replied slowly, becoming comfortable against the Oak tree. Of which reacted by slowly wrapping its bark around his body and roots entwining around his legs.

“HEY!” Azazel cried out, and used her energies to rip the bark from his skin, and the roots from his legs, “That's not what I'm asking and you know it!” To which the other sighed a heavily exaggerated sigh as he pealed himself away from the tree, which appeared as though it were reluctant to release him from its binds.

“Ugh, so annoying,” came his comment whilst the girl puffed up her cheeks, but did nothing more. For she still wanted... No, needed him for her plans.

“Well?” came his voice, shattering the thoughts which were beginning to congeal into a plan, “What are you trying to ask? You did, technically, allow me to enjoy your world for a while, so you can ask me what you will.”

“Um... What exactly are you?” she wondered aloud, unsure of how to begin.

“Again, old and tired. Next question.” His body stretched up against the tree, which embraced his body with the bark just as a branch slowly came down and caressed his head as a lover would. Here, she heard him whisper, “Soon,” and watched as he pat the branch with a smile.

Azazel even swore, much later, that she heard a giggle from the gesture, but continued with a roll of her eyes, “I know you're old and tired, but what exactly are you? I mean, that form, the bloody lake, and everything. What was that?”

“Oh, that,” his throat released another sigh, which then led to him standing and brushing his orange Gi free of invisible dust which seemed to congregate more around his thighs and shins than anywhere else. Afterwards he stretched, leading to the girl to fume at the delay in answers, whereas the old man just ignored her small tantrum. For he knew well she could do nothing to him whilst he was here, and therefore took his time.

“Well,” he began once more after scratching the back of his neck, “you wanted to wake me up, right?” At her nod, which caused him to grin as she stomped her foot down upon an invisible floor, he continued with, “So I allowed you to wake all of me up.”

“Which means?” her voice stretched the words out, not enjoying the teasing.

“You woke up my Totem.”

“Uh....? What?” It was very clear that she did not understand his words, which led to the upper half of his body slumping down as though their strings had been cut.

“Ugh. You've never heard of a Totem?”

“Um... The disgusting things Goblins put together to worship?”

“Those are effigies and are very different,” his eyes drooped with disgust, turning her on the defensive with a slight blush upon her tanned cheeks. Whereupon he pointed his forefinger at her person and wiggled it as though scolding a child, “You need to learn Totems, but I guess I'll share what they are.

“A Totem, from what I've learned, are spirits who've gathered around a person in order to gift their chosen with knowledge or awaken something within them. For myself,” he slumped down against the tree just as his form took on an emerald-scaled snake, whereupon it slithered up the tree's trunk and coiled around one of the many branches that shivered against his touch, “the first to grace my mind was a Serpent I've come to call, 'Old Man'. The reason why was because I forgot the name he gave me.

“However,” the snake form dropped to the ground, where it became the old man that was Karastak. Whereupon he pushed himself to his feet immediately in order to hold up a single digit as though about to launch into a lecture, “However, he imparted unto my mind a great lesson.”

Azazel leaned forward, her eyes widened and eager, but what she felt was disappointment. For when he spoke, he spoke with pride and a smirk, even though she felt as though it was nothing more than common knowledge, “He told me, and hammered it into my mind, body, and essence, that everything we learn is not enough. That every word spoken is, but a drop in an endless sea of knowledge. As well as to always keep learning new things despite them being frightful to my traditionalist mind, but that's another matter that won't be spoken of.”

Her eyes drooped, and her expressions became one of boredom after hearing all of this. When she moved to express her thoughts, however, her body jolted from an adorable scene before her. For there was a pair of red foxes prancing around the base of the tree, but one had pink fur, whilst the other had a soft blue fur with white tips upon its tails, ears, and feet. “Wait... tails?” Looking a little closer, but still a ways away, she noticed the blue one had three tails swishing behind it, and gaped at the scene.

For a fox having two or more tails meant that they were special, and if those tails became nine... Her mind reeled at the possibilities, but soon broke apart as the soft whisper from the old man in her left ear resounded, “Kara and Cora. Sisters both, but I created the blue one, Cora, with the powers of my mind after gaining the wisdom of the next Totemic animal. For the time being, though, Kara taught my person how to hide in plain sight, and how to become vocal when necessary.

“The first one caused many a heart attack, as I can be as quiet as a soft breeze whenever I set my mind to it. Whereas the latter was just as amusing after sneaking up on someone,” his voice was full of amusement, and after she turned towards himself, found the man's features to contain a sly smirk at the images which danced within his ethereal mind.

“Regardless,” Azazel pouted as the adorable scene was replaced by the presence of another male. One that wore some sort of tribal garb full of leathers, beads, and feathers whilst holding an obsidian tipped spear with a leather strip containing larger beads and a single dark feather. Whereas the man himself was of a height that was a few centimetres short of two metres, long and flowing black hair that reached his waist, eyes full of mystery, and a highly tanned and burnt body of red-brown. The build of his body was lean and athletic in muscle with nary an ounce of fat upon him, whereas his facial features were sharp with high cheek bones, a pointed chin, and dark eyes which glowed a bright yellow and felt as though they could pierce through flesh, bone, and soul.

“This is Vash,” Karastak appeared between both of them as though introducing one another, “my Totemic Raven, and the one who allowed myself to transcend my flesh and dance amongst the planes of existences within my world. Such as the Astral Plane, the Ethereal Plane, and yes, even the Abyss.

“The first being one where I was able to do as I please, and met quite a few characters. The second being a place where I stepped into, and had to fight my way back due to its desire to turn me into nothingness. Whilst the third... I had fun there, and was able to entertain myself with its many mysteries.” Again, he smirked with his eyes dancing with merriment from the images of the past. After which, the little girl watched as the man called Vash transformed into a large Black Widow spider. One which stared at herself as though it was watching prey.

However, a spear of shadows and scorn rained down from high above, and pierced its body. Whereupon it screeched in pain just as nine more fell upon it and caused the arachnid to perish immediately after the tenth. Here, Karastak's features became one of contempt for the creature, as he drifted towards the dead spider.

“This one was Anna, the Totemic Spider who failed her job,” he leaned over the body, patting the space behind the creature's eight eyes before leaning back and turning towards her person, “In the beginning, she helped me with my creativity, and launched me down my path as a Wordsmith, but after that? She fell away and had to be removed by Vash.”

The body of the spider fell away into an endarkened mist, which quickly swirled into a maelstrom that encompassed the little hill and tree. All around, the air became thick with enough energy to cause lightning to sparkle into existence from every direction. As Azazel tightened her defenses to keep the energy at bay, she noticed that the old man who was Karastak was no longer visible. For the position he had taken had been swallowed up by the maelstrom, leading her to fear the worst despite knowing that this pocket of space was his to command.

After growing worried, the raging energies fell away, as did the storm, and revealed a great, scaled serpent with the head of the same Dragon from earlier. Of which was currently glaring down upon her person with eyes the colour of burning coal. Here, she could see many rows of teeth as its hot breath seeped through her energy shields which were quickly being repaired by her stores of magick. When it spoke, its voice thundered with great force, enough to cause her to fall to her knees where she floated, and disorient her mind enough to create cracks in the shields themselves.

“Th'Drago, son of the Nidhogg which chews on the roots of the World Tree. He is my final Totemic animal, and has helped me to awaken my essence in their entirety. Here, I was able to fully grasp the understanding of my world, and deem it wanting. Which then led me to realise that once my end came to me, I would rest beneath an Oak tree until an age had past. After which, I would begin anew upon another world.”

The Dragon then melted away into mist, and deposited Karastak's elderly self in front of the same tree upon a hill that seemingly popped into existence. Whereupon he yawned greatly, leaning up against the trunk whilst humming a tune from another world. One that caused the girl's body to shiver, despite not knowing the lyrics and assumed melody.

“A-a-and the Chimera?” her voice came out forced and unsure.

“Hmm?” He turned towards her position, still floating, but with trails of congealed and crusted blood around her ears, eyes, nose, and mouth. Of which didn't bother him, as his eyes turned to stare into the whites that were her own, “It's something Th'Drago helped me to achieve. After which I became a force to reckon with within the Abyss, and found a few minions which I wish I still had.”

His sigh snapped Azazel out of her stupor, and caused her features to become one that was calculating, full of schemes, “And what were they?” she asked slowly.

Within his ethereal mind, Karastak smirked, and with a soft whisper, spoke, 'I win.'

“They're a race of Demons,” he said aloud, and quickly held up a finger in order to postpone the groan that leaked out of her lips, “They're called Devourer Demons, and are considered to be the weakest race around. For all they did was eat anything they could stuff inside their little mouths.

“Nothing more, nothing less; all they did was eat. However, nothing was left afterwards, but died rather quickly when going up against the living. Therefore, they all became scavengers, and I had a chance encounter with them after a pest decided to bother me.”

“What happened?”

Shrugging his shoulders slowly, his eyes flaring with a soft crimson, “The pest wanted me to be its minion and pet, I refused, it attacked, and I ripped its body into two pieces. After which I tossed the them to the side, heard a lot of crunching, and found the little creatures eating the body.

“They are rather adorable, by the way. What with their forms being of small bats with furred torsos and leathered wings. Though their heads were nothing more than giant mouths full of teeth, they were still adorable,” a soft chuckle exuded from his throat, “They even have this little squeak that would make anyone go 'aw'.”

“So,” her voice stretched the word, “if I were to get you one, would you come back to Terra with me?”

To which his ethereal mind grinned a Cheshire cat's grin, one that was not reciprocated by his more physical self, but it did smirk. “Sure?” his shoulders shrugged whilst his hands and arms moved with the gesture, “Well, if you get me a Mother, then I definitely will.”

“A what?” Azazel's mind short circuited over the word 'Mother', not knowing what he meant by that.

“Devourer Demons all come from a single source, a female called 'Mother'. Her entire body is twice their size when mature, though it can grow to three or four times, but what I wish for is an immature one. They're rather easy to spot, to be honest. What with their entire bodies being the colour of virgin snow, and their heads are more bat-like with little red eyes, a small nose, and less teeth than their children.

“If you can get me one of those, then I'll be happy to come back with you. If not, then I'll just go back to sleep.” In so saying, he leaned up against the tree and shut his eyes whilst his ears gave a slight twitch at her next words.