Tithe

[[TITHE->Hunter]] (colour: grey)[Sarah Maenner]

(font: "Courier New")[(colour: yellow + black)[You are called many names by many people, such as: [[A king]] [[A god]] [[A wolf]] [[A fool]] [[A mother]] [[The Devil]]]]

(font: "Courier New")[(colour: yellow + black)[Your knights and your hounds are on the way to Isle of Apples. You have been promised Heaven. Where is it? Maybe the howling and yelling will alert God.] [[But maybe another name suits you better->You]] [['Tis I]] ]

(font: "Courier New")[(colour: yellow + black)[You lead your warriors first passed the well that doomed you. The [[tree]] looms over you, reminding of the price you paid for this. Was it worth it? You could see but were blind, And now you are blind but you see. These hunts are the only thing that take your mind off your terrible knowledge. [[But maybe another name suits you better->You]] [['Tis I]]]]

(font: "Courier New")[(colour: yellow + black)[You are a great, black Mother Wolf leading her grown cubs through the thick thicket. You stalk two young deer, fresh and full of blood. Or maybe they're just fools with little red caps.] [[But maybe another name suits you better->You]] [['Tis I]]]

(font: "Courier New")[(colour: yellow + black)[You were a king in a past life, but your foolishness has driven you into bondage. When the //vecchi// let you out you take your friends to go torment those less fortunate than you. Oh look! There's two now.] [[But maybe another name suits you better->You]] [['Tis I]]]

(font: "Courier New")[(colour: yellow + black)[Those who have broken the rules, like naughty children, must be punished. It will not do to have evil-doers about. Your followers keep up, terribly beautiful and beautifully terrible, ready to enact justice.] [[But maybe another name suits you better->You]] [['Tis I]]]

(font: "Courier New")[(colour: yellow + black)[You lead your fellows through the trees, **thick** and] (colour: grey + black)[black]. (colour: yellow + black)[Your dogs have caught the scent of [[sinners]].] ]

You are a **sinner**. You've gotten yourself lost in the woods, you idiot. That's the one thing you've been told not to do. But you've decided not to pay attention, that you know better, so now it's dark and you're tired and you're cold and you're hungry and you don't know where you've been, and all you've got is this tiny lantern and your sibling won't stop crying and oh yeah your little [[sister]] is here you've gotten her lost out here too. [[Sinner.]]

The sun is dying over the horizon, and it's starting to rain. You cough. Your sister [[chatters]] on, a [[droning noise]] in the background. You've learned to tune her out when you need to. You squint your eyes and wish you brought a flashlight.

(font: "Courier New")[ [[You]] (colour: yellow + black)[are on the hunt.]]

You were supposed to be watching her, but your defiance got the better of you. She's too small to be out here. Her coat sleeves dangle //way// past her little fingertips, and her hat is perched on her brow, but its weight sags onto her eyes so she can barely see. She's been upbeat and chattering mindlessly for quite some time now. I don't think she understands what's happening, do you? She's being rather [[loud->sinners]]

"...so he went to the wedding, and it was really neat, but then they wanted to go home, and- OH! the guy gave him a puppy! Yeah, so they weren't allowed to get off their horses till the dog did... something, or they would all die, so then they went home, and then they came across a person, and that person said it had been, like, TWO HUNDRED years since they left, because they were with fairies, and now since the dog hasn't done whatever it was supposed to, they're still riding //to this day//. (font: "Courier New")[ [[Or something like that.->spooky story]] ]"

I don't know, something about a(font: "Courier New")[ [[spooky story]]] Gran must have told her.

(font: "Courier New")[(colour: yellow + black)[You're so close now you can hear one of them [[chattering->danger]] on the road ahead of you, even above the rain. You signal for your fellows to wait, and begin to stalk forward to get a better look.]]

The rain has gotten worse, and you get the feeling something (font: "Courier New")[(colour: yellow + black)[evil]] is watching you. [[Press on]] [[Stop and look around]]

The faster you go, the faster you'll get out of here. These woods have to end eventually, right? Your sister asks why you're not stopping. She's noticed an old, ruined house down the road you two might be able to shelter in for the night. [[You don't answer.]]

It's really hard to see, but down the road it looks like there's an [[old ruined building]] that kind of looks like it still has a roof. You grab your sister's hand and drag her towards it. She protests a bit, but you don't listen.

She snaps at you. She says she's tired, and you're tired, and that you should rest. Then, for once, she goes silent, waiting for you to respond. [[Go back to her]] [[Carry on]]

It's made of old red brick, faded by time and the twilight. Two full walls are standing, as well as half a third, with the rest reduced to rubble you have to climb over. Most of the roof has also caved in, but there's still a portion more-or-less where it's supposed to be, and it's keeping most of the rain out of that area. You both huddle underneath it. The space is claustophobic, so she cuddles up next to you. You think about home, your bed, your school, your friends, your parents, your homework, and everything else you left behind when you trespassed. It was all so boring, so you left, but it was (colour: orange)[//warm//] and familiar and you were safe. [[Hug your sister back]] [[Scoot away]]

You give in, and walk back to grasp her little hand. It's ice cold. So if yours. Teeth chattering, you begin to lead her to the [[old ruined building]].

She grabs you, and her fingers dig into your ribs. You hold each other for a second, then she talk again. It's more chatter, but she grabs your hand, and she tells you about frogs. She likes them, she says, and then plunges into a description of their life cycle. [[You can't help but laugh.]]

She is [[silent]].

(font: "Courier New")[(colour: yellow + black)[They've gone quiet. But you can still smell them. [[Continue->Dead silent.]]]]

(font: "Courier New")[(colour: yellow + black)[You would have found them even if they were dead silent, but the speaking isn't helping them. Not at all. You, on the other hand, //are// [[Dead silent.]]]]

Soon the only thing you can hear is the patter of rain and the crunching of your shoes against the dirt and gravel. [[Your sister has not followed you.]]

(font: "Courier New")[(colour: yellow + black)[You watch the taller one, the one with the stronger stench of Sin, simply walk away, leaving the little one behind. She's like a little bird fallen out of the nest, too young to know to not cry out for fear of predators. [[Go to her]] ]]

(font: "Courier New")[(colour: yellow + black)[She has sat down in despair and is crying. She will not notice you until you are right behind her. [[What will you do?]] ]]

(font: "Courier New")[ [[Take]] [[Feast]] ]

(font: "Courier New")[(colour: yellow + black)[You scoop her up tenderly and hold her close to your chest. She shivers, and you wrap your cloak around her. Then you turn around and take her back to your hunting partners. She will make a good addition to their numbers someday. You head off to find the [[other one]].]]

(font: "Courier New")[(colour: yellow + black)[Her blood is warm and fills your belly. It doesn't quite quench your thirst, though. You'll need the [[other one]] for that.]]

**(font: "Courier New")[(colour: grey + black)[Death]]** is staring at you from the rotting doorway. Its eyes are (colour: blue + white)[h](colour: green + white)[y](colour:purple + white)[p](colour: yellow + white)[n](colour: red + white)[o](colour: green + white)[t](colour: yellow + white)[i](colour: blue + white)[c]. [[Flee]] [[Fight]]

You don't remember starting to run. All of a sudden you're just back on the road, running harder than you ever have before. [[You sure hope your sister is ok]]

With what? It's **(font: "Courier New")[(colour: grey + black)[Death]]**. [[Fight->Fight2]] [[Flee]]

(font: "Courier New")[(colour: yellow + black)[The coward has run, and you are left with the little one. [[Take]] [[Feast]] ]]

(font: "Courier New")[(colour: yellow + black)[Why do you fight?]] [[For yourself]] [[For your sister]] [[You don't know->For yourself]]

(font: "Courier New")[(colour: yellow + black)[It is not hard to catch up to the other one. Even their fastest is not fast enough. They reek of Sin. Sin must be [[destroyed]].]]

You chuck a brick right at **(font: "Courier New")[(colour: grey + black)[Death]]**'s face then try to bolt, but it grabs you by the throat. Its face splits open in a terrible grin and it pulls your head towards it. You hear someone screaming somewhere. [[SCREAM]]

(font: "Courier New")[(colour: yellow + black)[Oh ho, now look who's developed a sense of duty.]] [[Attack Death]]

You cannot continue any longer. When you turn around, **(font: "Courier New")[(colour: grey + black)[Death]]** is staring at you. Its eyes are (colour: blue + white)[h](colour: green + white)[y](colour:purple + white)[p](colour: yellow + white)[n](colour: red + white)[o](colour: green + white)[t](colour: yellow + white)[i](colour: blue + white)[c]. [[Flee->Flee2]] [[Fight->Fight3]]

You cannot flee; you are too tired. [[Try again->destroyed]]

You can't see any possible weapon, so in confusion and desperation you scream and run at **(font: "Courier New")[(colour: grey)[Death]]**. You don't have a plan, you just act, which is exactly what got you into this mess, because you don't //think//, you never have, and now it's the death of you, and so you're not especially surprised when **(font: "Courier New")[(colour: grey)[Death]]** grabs you and nonchalantly rips your soul from your body. [[What could you have done differently?]]

(text-style: "expand")[[[SCREAM->SCREAM2]]]

(text-style: "smear")[(text-style: "expand")[[[SCREAM->SCREAM4]]]]

(font: "Courier New")[[[Successful hunt.->Start]]] (font: "Times New Roman")[(colour: red + black)[The Devil gingerly places the still-screaming soul into his pocket. He walks back to the rest of the huntsmen and smiles. There's always more souls on the road to Hell. They make for some good sport.]]

(font: "Courier New")[(colour: yellow + black)[The Sinner picks up a brick and screams in a rage, and charges you. How cute. You sidestep easily and turn, and it comes rushing at you again. You both continue this dance for a while, but eventually it tires out. Despite this, it continues to try to fight you. You kind of pity it. [[Take mercy]] [[Do your job]] ]]

(font: "Courier New")[(colour: yellow + black)[Eventually the Sinner collapses at your feet. It seems wrong to kill now, especially as its sister sobs in the corner. So you throw the body over your shoulder and take the young child's hand, and head back to your troop. None there will dare challenge you, their king, god, Devil, whatever you are. The Wild Hunt will ride again, with two more among their number. [[Start the hunt again.->Start]]]]

(font: "Courier New")[(colour: yellow + black)[You reach down and rip the soul from the body. In its tired state, your prey cannot resist you, but it spends the last of its energy to give one last, unnatural [[shriek->SCREAM3]], and then goes limp.]]

(font: "Courier New")[(colour: yellow + black)[Nothing. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time, and I was bored.]] //(font: "Times New Roman")[(colour: red + black)[And pleasant is the fairy land, But, an eerie tale to tell, Ay at the end of seven years, We pay a ]]// //(font: "Times New Roman")[(colour: red + black)[ [[TITHE->Start]] ]]// //(font: "Times New Roman")[(colour: red + black)[to [[Hell]].]]//

(font: "Courier New")[(colour: yellow + black)[You hung here for a while. You were bored so you composed:]] (font: "Times New Roman")[(colour: blue + black)[What miracle is this? This giant tree. It stands ten thousand feet high But it doesn't reach the ground. Still it stands. Its roots must hold the sky.]] (font: "Courier New")[(colour: yellow + black)[You resent this tree and all it represents.] [[You feel you are caught in a labyrinth.]]]

(font: "Times New Roman")[(colour: blue + black)[Danielewski, Mark Z.]] (font: "Times New Roman")[(colour: blue)[House]] (font: "Times New Roman")[(colour: blue + black)[of Leaves. New York City, Pantheon Books, 2000. (pg. 709)]] [[Return->A god]]

(font: "Times New Roman")[(colour: blue + black)[Tam Lin, Child Ballad #39]] [[Return (Title Page)->Start]]

(font: "Courier New")[(colour: yellow + black)[Oh my friend. You need no help in your hunt. You are the most capable of them all.] [[But maybe another name suits you better->You]] [['Tis I]]]

(text-style: "shudder")[(text-style: "smear")[(text-style: "expand")[[[SCREAM->SCREAM3]]]]]