By Bryghtblade

SCENE 1

We join the world of Ancient Anguish on one of its rare sunny days, about 5 years ago. See the pretty trees, see the lovely flowers, the birds singing in the trees, notice the cute little bunny rabbits nibbling on the grass amongst the deer. Notice the rustling in the bushes...no it is not squirrels, but a ranger, yes, a human being. Quietly drawing her 3-foot long sword and...suddenly she leaps from the bushes screaming and bellowing challenges to her foe. The deer flee, the bunny rabbits are frozen in terror. The mother desperately tries to hide her young from the human. The human weaves back and forth...quietly whispering..."come on bunny wabbit, make my day...try run...come on...it makes the hunt more fun."

The mother rabbit looks to the east, to the west...the bushes are too thick to move north. She sees a possible opening to the south, she whispers to her young to run into the thick bushes, the human won’t be able to follow them there. She fakes left and starts to dash off south, but NO! What huge beast is this that awaits her...a wolf, nay, a creature of such dread that the bunny rabbit freezes in its tracks. She looks back at the human, only to see the human pointing at her. She looks back at the beast and sees it slowly move towards her...

See the blood-splattered trees, see the crushed flowers, the birds no longer singing in the trees, notice the cute little bunny rabbits hiding in the bushes, quivering with fear as they peer out and see the human skin their mother, carve her flesh and gut the corpse. See how the ranger gives the meat to the wolf, to encourage it to kill more. Notice also how the ranger cuts the ear off the bunny rabbit and holds it aloft as a trophy. Wait...she speaks. "I am Suze! Hunter of Rabbits and Killer of Fish! Fear me all creatures!"

So, how did this lovely lady of the forest come to be this heartless slayer of innocent wabbits? We shall investigate further, but now we travel to another place at around the same time in history.

SCENE 2

See the quiet waves, gently lapping against the docks. See the boats gently rocking in the calm waters. See the seagulls quietly preening themselves as they prepare to gather food for their young. See the ferry gently docking and the passengers disembark. See them slowly make their way up the road into town. Notice how they scatter as a blur moves through them. What is this mystical being that seems so intent of reaching the docks, so intent on wreaking havoc. Wait, even now it stops...alas, this is no beast of the nether realms, no mystical creature unleashed upon the world, tis merely a beautiful lady of the wild, accompanied by her cute, her cuddly, her loveable...WOLF? But, look closer, look into her eyes if you dare...see the look, the glare...her brain is like a well tuned machine, a single purpose, a single goal, a single focus. What is this focus, this purpose?

Let us follow this being of the wild as she makes her way to the harbour master. See the old man of the sea, he has seen more than most would wish never to see. He is scarred, scars he proudly bares after defending his village against invading pirates, orcs, elves and other unspeakable monstrosities. He hears the commotion outside and yet makes no move to investigate. The sound draws nearer, he listens intently. From the sound of the creaking planks he can tell it’s a woman, the way she walks...she’s not a town person, by the sound...she’s human...she brings with her a pet...perhaps a pup on a leash. He smiles to himself, another visitor from the wild...wonder what this one wants. He awaits the quiet knock, but is surprised to have his door shattered inwards. Still, he does not flinch, he simply continues to write in his journal. Without looking up he quietly says, "How may I help you lass?" Silence. He waits a few seconds and the slowly raises his head. Suddenly he stops. Less than an inch away from his face are the teeth and jaws of a beast, calling it a wolf would be an insult, when wolves were thrown into the gene pool, this one ate the others and had to be pulled from it by the gods, and even then they wore steel gauntlets.

The old man sees his future in the eyes of this beast, and the end’s not far off. Vaguely, back in reality, he hears a single word "Heel". The wolf backs away. He tries to gather himself and in an almost panicked state glances towards the origin of the word. As fearful and vicious as the pet was, so inversely beautiful was the handler. The master of the wharf could not believe his eyes, how could one so beautiful have such a beast as a pet. He manages to stammer out the words again "um uh...how may I help you ma’am?". "I want a boat." Is the only reply. Ahh, drawn back into reality by the mention of business. "Well, we have many different types of boats, but if you wish to go on a leisurely trip, may I recommend the ferry..." before his hand was halfway to his cutlass she had him lifted off his feet and pinned against the wall. He managed to look down and see a foot-long blade gently pressed against his throat. He didn’t even want to know where the wolf is.

"I want, a boat."
"S-s-sure." Is all he manages to get out. Those eyes, no, don’t look into them. He reaches behind him to the rack, which holds the keys to the boathouse. He holds them out...closing his eyes. He feels them taken from his hand and he begs for his life. The old man is dumped on the ground and while huddle on the ground hears her walk away laughing. The last thing her hears her say is "Be thankful you’re not a fish.".

We jump forward a week in time. The harbour master has still not had his boat returned, and he silently thanks the gods and wishes that it sank at sea. While slowly pouring himself a beer, his heart almost stops dead as he hears a blood-curdling howl from the harbour. Frozen in his thoughts and tracks he fails to notice the beer spilling on the floor. Quickly he moves his desk in front of the door and peers out of the window. He rubs his eyes to make sure he is not dreaming. His once beautiful boat has been damaged beyond repairs. It seems like a horde of orcs invaded the boat and tried to burn it to the ground. Slowly he watches as the woman of the wild unloads the boat of her haul. He counts 10 packs in all. Filled to the brim with fish. The beast, where is the beast. There! What?!? As she heads off into town she is followed by her pet which drags not one, but four giant squids.

So, once more we are asked, how came this beautiful being to be the tormentor of souls, the killer of creatures, the mistress of monstrosities?

As yet, our investigative reporter has not yet returned from interviewing witnesses. We are starting to fear the worst. Please join us again next week when we bring you the second episode in our documentary entitled: "Suze: The Beast Within".