Part I - The blood-dimmed tide

[St. Boethius]

Emiyn Devereaux



"Hey, wait!" Emiyn exclaimed when seeing the young man running around the corner. He seemed extremely agitated and afraid, like those small animals that Emi and Eri didn't even have a heart to hunt after. With his shorter height, Haruko managed to run ahead of him to catch up to the young man. "Can you hear us?" Emiyn spoke again, this time louder, wondering what would have made this man so scared. "My friends and I are lost. We don't mean any harm." He started, his glances turning towards Haruko and Draena every once in a while, as though trying to get some moral support. Thankfully Haruko had asked the similar questions that was on his mind. 


At a time like this, it's more convenient for his disguise, huh... the young prince thought to himself. Perhaps a man would be more open towards a woman. Or... in this case, assume Haruko to be a woman with his current attire. 


@Mitchs98 @Aukanai @Robertaka123


Gin



"Interesting," was all Gin said about his self-evaluation, which may be enough to say that she didn't really agree with his judgement. Howeer, she had no need nor desire to talk to the human about what he was. At the end of the day, it would be whether he would be worth her time. Whether he was evil or virtuous. There was no meaning to use reason any further. 


She turned a little when there was a voice in the distance, and Gin turned to see that a monk walking towards them. It was the same one that she had met with Cider and Peach before she had ran off. Given the way that the old man had ignored him, she could only assume that this didn't seem to be one of the travelers he spoke of. A shame. "Oh my, By darkness you mean, what you humans refer to as the "cloud of darkness"?" she asked in a rhetorical manner to point up in the sky. Though it was currently hidden, she could only be referring to the one in Lexaria. "Ahahahahahaha! AHAHAHAHAHA!" her giggle got louder before her face changed back to the soft smile. She decided she'll leave up to the human to think about whether she would agree it was a good idea or not. It wouldn't be nice for her to spoil of what it could possibly be, right? "Alright, show me what you can do." she said. "Meanwhile I'll propose something to you. Since this is the first time I've seen someone so hard-working in magic, though... the results are somewhat little." she said, letting shards of ice to form around her hands, without the use of gems again. "I'll take you in as a disciple, or I can give you advice on magic. Alternatively, you can ask for other types of help in magic, I'm the best magic user in Roselea." she said, "However, you should show me your resolve. Kill four of those you were travelling with. Bring their hearts or heads. And by the way, illusions and dummies will not work with me." 


@Solemn Jester @SleepyBuddha

Benton could plainly sense the divine energy drawing closer to the two of them and quickly thinking of a cover because he wasn't sure how much if anything was heard by the holy man so he dropped down in a squatting position and said, " Come here little one I'll protect you until we find your parents." He said standing up and holding Gin, the little demon, like he once held his own child so many years ago. Whispering ever so slightly Benton said, " Need....Time...." Then began walking towards the holy energy that was drawing near.


As Benton walked towards the holy energy he could almost feel his soul trembling just from being near the magic. Truly if there was one thing he could fix about his current predicament it would be his weakness to holy or divine abilities.


As he carried the girl he thought about the proposal. He truly considered slaughtering four of the people he had been traveling with in exchange for that interesting power that was just displayed to him. However four was a bit much in his mind. Sure he could use the city as his hunting ground, but he would need to figure out the lay out of the city, set traps, isolate his victims, and even more headaches he didn't want to deal with. This was all assuming he could pull this all off without getting caught. He wasn't about  to enter into the group vs. just himself. 

 

[Quark]

Gin



Her voice went much more quiet when Gin turned to see the monk was asking her a question. I suppose my face is uncommon in Roselea at these tmies, Gin spoke to herself in her mind. 


When Gin the monk had been swallowed by "the pit", Gin the demon had ran away. Given how there was no magic presence from the pit at all, the 'little girl' did not even notice as she had raced out of the town market. "What had happened to you?" she asked, wondering why there seem to be a half-desperate look on his face. "What are you referring to mister?" 


Before she was able to respond, the old man had squatted down, wanting her to play along with the facade of the lost girl again. Being picked up, she shifted her head towards the monk again to give a half challenging look. "Sorry, mister, I'm really not sure what you mean." she mouthed, then tilted her head slightly towards the old man's direction. Perhaps he could help. As though she was implying that. But very soon the two seem to already be walking around the corner of the street. Gin glanced at the light in his eyes. The patient was already considering about her proposal. "You agreed to it rather easily," she commented casually.


@Solemn Jester @SleepyBuddha


Cider



In the split second when the white-haired woman had twisted the scythe in her hands, the neck of one of the hellhounds that had pounced on her had its neck colliding with the pole of scythe. Being suddenly brought to the ground, there was a yelp when the heels of the woman slammed into the ribs. The yelp turned into a growl. A momentary burst of strength erupted and the hellhound that was held down twisted its body along the ground. Its jaws opened wide to clamp its teeth deep into Refara's ankle. 


The problem with observing from the hellhounds was that Cider could only do so from one hellhound at a time. His eyes saw the white-haired woman again. And this time, she was... smiling? Was she singing? 


He hadn't seen someone like this for a while now. A psychopath or a sociopath. 


Seeing the movement from the woman and the other hellhound, the one that had been merely watching finally dashed forward. Instead to head-to-head, it kept itself low on the ground to not waste any time. Just about a meter away, it suddenly shot up from the ground, its mouth aiming right for the woman's neck. One hellhound was trying to clamp onto her ankle, to keep her anchored whilst the other was going to rip off flesh off her neck. 


@Zuka

 

[Solemn Jester]

 Mister Monk wasn't sure what was going on anymore, and was growing rather frustrated."Oh divine help me, tis truely a tasking time." He prayed, unintentionally letting off a bit more holy energy. He leaned on his staff and frowned, looking over to the man who was with the girl. He seemed to want to talk in private, so Gin didn't follow at first. But not wanting them to slip away he kept focused on their auras. That was when he noticed something strange about the mans aura. It was dark, and had a strange uncertainty to it. Gin sighed, picking up his staff, and began heading towards the corner where the man had taken the girl. He smacked his staff against the ground, and raised his voice. Pointing a accusing finger at the man," hey, what exactly are you? I've sensed alot of evil, but I can't quite place you. So are you a demon, vampire, yeti? Tell me so things don't have to get messy, and if you know what's going on around here that would be nice aswell." Gin asked/ordered in a slightly exhausted slacker tone. He wasn't in the mood for a battle, and he just hoped  whatever the guy was, that he wasn't stupid enough to start a fight.


@SleepyBuddha @Quark

 

[Zooks]

Spoiler

Cider



In the split second when the white-haired woman had twisted the scythe in her hands, the neck of one of the hellhounds that had pounced on her had its neck colliding with the pole of scythe. Being suddenly brought to the ground, there was a yelp when the heels of the woman slammed into the ribs. The yelp turned into a growl. A momentary burst of strength erupted and the hellhound that was held down twisted its body along the ground. Its jaws opened wide to clamp its teeth deep into Refara's ankle. 


The problem with observing from the hellhounds was that Cider could only do so from one hellhound at a time. His eyes saw the white-haired woman again. And this time, she was... smiling? Was she singing? 


He hadn't seen someone like this for a while now. A psychopath or a sociopath. 


Seeing the movement from the woman and the other hellhound, the one that had been merely watching finally dashed forward. Instead to head-to-head, it kept itself low on the ground to not waste any time. Just about a meter away, it suddenly shot up from the ground, its mouth aiming right for the woman's neck. One hellhound was trying to clamp onto her ankle, to keep her anchored whilst the other was going to rip off flesh off her neck. 


@Zuka

​

Refara figured that having one of the Hell hounds pinned down to the ground with the pole of her metal Scythe would see him for the most part disabled, what she wasn't expecting was the same hound to suddenly show a surprising amount of flexibility as it writhed and twisted against the ground in a position to see it squirm out from her under hold. How was she supposed to know it was capable of that? Well do or die, most animals were capable of strange things so it shouldn't have been all surprising. Regardless the girl let out a high pitched, painful scream as it's sharp teeth dug into her ankle and as she half twisted she spotted the other hell hound coming towards her to lunge at her neck. As the creature closed the distance she spun the Scythe around her body for one rotation before slamming the point end of the blade right into it's shoulder and out through chest from the curvature of the blade, sending a spray of blood over her body in the process.

In this way she had the hound skewered on her Blade and threw him down to drive the blade further into his frame as she nailed him to the ground then just as quickly yanked the blade out of his body. Then she hooked the blade on the opposite end around the Hound holding her ankle, under it's neck and reefed up completely severing his head from his neck in one quick cut from the razor sharp blade. Now that the creature's head was removed from it's body, she stood up partially and kicked her leg out to send the head flying and only covering her frame even more in that blood. As it was sent flying, Refara glanced down to her ankle which had a not small tear on it and the bite almost seemed to burn gently? She put some weight on that leg to find she could, but no where near as much as normal. It was probably at about 50% weight capacity and for a girl who used agility and flexibility that was some pretty terrible odds for her. 


Still took a shaking step forward before crouching down holding the wound gently as her blood seeped a fraction on her fingers, wishing for once in her life the girl wore more clothes so she could tear a sleeve off and strap it up to get herself back into the battle if Garrett needed it. She couldn't fall down now, not with that crazy vampire on the loose. She wouldn't forgive herself if Garrett got hurt and she wasn't there to duck into battle to take the foe out.


@Mykinkaiser

 

[St. Boethius]

Benton sighed, when the little demon commented on his willingness to attack his traveling companions. " Well truth be told I really don't care what happens to them. It's not like they mean anything to me. In fact they're little more than ingredients to me at this point." Benton explained as he set the child down. As he said the words bent on found himself wondering why it was he thought like that. Despite all appearances he was still in fact human so shouldn't he strive to protect humanity from beings such as demons? 


Benton would get his answer to the question directly after that thought when the holy man pointed his finger at Benton like a fool and began spouting off the names of monsters practically assuming he was one and that he had a hand in what was going on. Standing back up Benton turned back to the holy man, his scars now plainly visible to the man. As he looked the holy man over he debated whether or not to attack him based on his reaction alone. Why should he protect a being such as this who spoke in such a way to another living being. " I guess at this point you really couldn't call me a human anyway could you holy man? In your terms I suppose I'm a ghoul, and what is it that ghouls do to humans again?"

 

[Maki]

Senki Tazuya
​

Senki pouted a bit at her girlfriends' rather sour reaction to her teasing, though she couldn't help but agree. She sighed and nodded, "You're right, I'm sorry." She replied, continuing to pout even still. "Seriously though, it is a good thing we figured it out. At-least we know we aren't crazy." She pointed out. Or rather, that she herself wasn't considering it was she who had suggested they were going in circles. Even still she looked around like Yuki, seeing if she could actually see anything useful before they started walking, finding pretty much nothing. At her words she nodded, "Yeah, yeah I know. Jeez don't treat me like a little kid. I hunt in forests like this all the time, I know what I'm doing." She said, sighing heavily. "Okay maybe the forests don't have weird freaky ass fog clouds that trap you inside but that's not the point!" She added hastily, making sure Yuki didn't have much openings to poke holes in her little superiority complex.


When Yuki spotted the building she looked to it, nodding in agreement with her. "Yeah I bet they're there. We should head there even if they aren't and come up with some kind of plan." She agreed. "I bet the fog can't get in there either so it can't hear our secrets." She said, giggling slightly at her own jokes before grabbing her girlfriends' hand. "C'mon let's go!" She told her, already tugging her along towards the building.

 
​

Yuki Illinara 
​

 
​

Yuki couldn't help but feel a little bad about what she did. Senki had a point, she was used to living out in dangerous situations, or at least that's what she said. The white haired girl wasn't quite sure what she used to do, but it had to be dangerous. But either way she couldn't keep treating her like a kid. If the roles were reversed Yuki would feel very belittled, it wasn't fair to Senki. "Forgive me Senki, I just can't help it. I'm rather stressed out about everything and the lesser side of me took over. Please don't take anything I said personally, I truly didn't mean it and I really don't view you as a child..." she said while bowing her head respectfully. Much to her surprise Senki seemed that have forgiven her quickly and was quite eager to move on, literally. Her gaze jerked up from the ground as her hands were taken and pulled violently away in the direction of the tower. "S-Senki, slow down!" She barked, nearly tripping over her own feet. Luckily her good balance and quick reflexes allowed her to remain on her feet and catch up, "Senki, you nearly killed me! My sword was drawn and I couldn't stabbed myself. That was very unsafe of you. Didn't they ever teach you to not run around with sharp objects like scisso-" The guard cut herself off as she realized that she was scolding her girlfriend like a child once again. 


Yuki took the lead as they entered the town, sticking close to the sidewalk as they walked. The place was very different from how she remembered it. Obviously there was no one around, an eerie and scary atmosphere rather than a busy and joyous one. Despite letting go of Senki's hands only minutes ago her fingers were soon laced in between the others, squeezing it tightly. There was something wrong with the place, and she felt like danger could end up at any turn. "Keep your sword drawn Senki, I've got a bad feeling about this pla-Whoops!" As if on que Yuki was suddenly swooped up into the air, hanging by her ankle from a light post. A sudden cackling could be heard from an alley way only feet away from the light post, a group of sketchy men stumbling out from it. 


"Oi, we got ourselves a tasty one!" Said one of the men as he eyed the hanging girl. 


"And lookie over there! She's brought herself a friend! That's two meals with one stone!" 


"And since there are more of us than there is them, this should be a piece of cake! Easier than the other lot we've had to deal with..." Said a third, eagerly drawing a knife from his waist. The others did the same, many carrying similar knifes of swords of different sorts. Fortunately for Yuki she hadn't dropped her sword which would make escaping much easier. All Senki had to do was fend off about 8 cannibal looters! 


"I call dibs on her sword..."

 

[Quark]

@Mykinkaiser @Mitchs98 @Zuka @Maki @SleepyBuddha @Solemn Jester @Aukanai @TheHappyPikachu @Nano @Celephais @Sparkstorm1000 @Jefferson


In Roselea and in the outskirts of the frozen city... 


The newly formed couple, Neil and Jessica had not emerged from the fog. Cider's hellhounds had not found them. What had happened no one knows. However, if Cider had paid attention at that time, the pair of red eyes from a few of the pack would have noticed shadows flickering and disappearing beneath the grass. 


...


...


In the very street that Vodka and Garrett were currently exchanging blows and fights, while Refara was fending and fighting against the two hellhounds after her. As Cider was heading towards there, even he did not notice the subtle movements at first... of Marth's shadow. The small five-year-old boy was hidden to avoid the danger of the fight. Little did anyone at the scene know that he would suddenly be pulled into a dark pit that appeared right beneath his feet. 


...


...


The very same fate had happened to Peach. Just as she was on her own in the street. Unfortunately if she had yelled or not, now one would have heard. 


...


...


As Chizuru, Donovan, Ikari, Erika and Kurio had made their way down the 16 steps to the underground tunnel, The shadows casted by the lights on the side of the walls flickered. There was no sound, but suddenly Erika would have felt Kurio's wrist yanked out of her grip. The girl turned, only to be sent back against the wall, as though some thick, black rope had lashed into her upper body with great force. The four would have seen Kurio unable to talk as the black ropes, emerging from beneath his feet coiling around him like snakes and dragging him down. He sank into his own shadow as though it was a dark swamp. As though it was a pit. 


... 


... 


Draena was not very far from Emiyn and Haruko, as they sought after the troubled Napoleon. Emiyn felt no magic, nor any sense of sudden struggles, but heard a sound of alarm, when he turned his head. On reflex he would have taken a step back, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. The bottom half of Draena's body could not be seen. The man from the military was the strongest of all the other travelers he had seen, if not Garrett. And yet, here he was powerless as the mysterious black ropes. 


...


...


When all of the people mentioned had their bodies completely immersed and sunk below the surface of their shadows, it looked nothing more than like the opening of a dark pit. There seemed to be no end. The black circle on the ground, or the remains of the shadow would have gotten smaller and smaller until it was no longer seen. There had been no presences of magic, almost as if it was a natural phenomenon. 


Erika LeBlanc



 Erika didn't yelp, nor scream as her eyes opened. The pain on her back and her head was there when she had been flung back against the wall, but her eyes couldn't pry away from what had happened. It defied the very laws of physics. When Kurio had suddenly... disappeared from right in front of her eyes, she didn't move for two whole seconds. The light from around the underground continued to glow brightly. With one hand's fingers digging into her palm till it hurt, she knelt down where he was last standing, and placed her other hand onto the ground. "...Kurio?" she finally spoke, in an abnormally soft voice. 


@Celephais @Nano @TheHappyPikachu


Emiyn Devereaux



Like his half-sister, Erika, Emiyn didn't say anything. He wasn't focused on whether Haruko or Napoleon had seen, but he was completely dumbfounded, and a fear was worming its way into his mind. It felt like something that he couldn't get rid of, even though he desperately wanted to. That very memory of the conversation he had with Draena that afternoon. 

Spoiler

"Speaking of people disappearing," Emiyn suddenly spoke up, his knife stopping for a moment before he turned to Haruko, then Draena. "Katherine Brygold Verheim, Irene Ricci Acker, Liam Kahn. Do these names mean anything to you?" The three women were of the four that had encountered the peculiar fate on the night the Tower was invaded, around the same time Garrett had noticed about everyone's shadows "acting strange". He wasn't sure whether the two adults had looked it up themselves, as there had been a few gossip among the guards though most of this strange case has been kept hidden. When he had first heard it when sneaking around the castle, he was puzzled about the common traits these women had.


"They were the ones who "fell into the pit." You know, what I told you about the other day...All female, who know some form of healing magic. "


"What is this "pit". I'm assuming it is not an actual pit otherwise they could simply be pulled out." Draena spoke, giving a sincerely curious look to Emiyn.


"Well, I suppose they call it "pit" because it's a softer and more hopeful alternative to "abyss", or "void", " he said, his eyes growing rather dull and a wry smile appeared on his face. "In stories, one isn't able to escape out of the the latter." His hand flinched a little before starting to describe what he had discovered to Draena. He had pondered about the recorded words of the witnesses, that he had secretly copied into his journal. Over the last few days, he tried to compare with any magic he learnt, or any supernatural phenomenon or even anything about monsters that can do that. He had no idea how it could materialised, but it was something completely different from his shadow ritual magic. The scale was out larger, and completely out of control. "I don't know what it was… but it doesn't sound like a mere coincidence." he said. He wasn't sure whether it was something caused intentionally, but he wasn't going to bring up something that might bring panic to the group. He didn't say anything for a while, allowing his words to sink in before speaking up again. "You're right about one thing though. These women weren't found even when we left Iafern. If they are back and alive they wouldn't be hiding."

The young prince felt cold, very cold with fear, and couldn't help but look around frantically. Was someone causing this? "Hey..." though his voice wasn't shaking his eyes couldn't shake off the wild, frantic look. "You both saw that... right?"


@Mitchs98 @Aukanai


Cider



The three-horned demon ignored the signals from the hellhounds from the outskirts of the city. He was just one street ahead away now, the tonic that he had consumed had long wore off. He had arrived, with the intentions to stop Vodka from hindering the plans, but what good would it do? It wouldn't further the plan more. 


The hellhound that was pinned to the ground had its teeth sinking into the flesh of her ankle. A painful scream pierced into the air. The bloodhound that had pounced onto her was not expecting her body to suddenly move, and there was a flash of silver. The scythe sliced into the neck of the hellhound, not even giving it a chance to make any sounds. IN the next second, the red eyes saw it's headless body a few feet away on the ground. The voice box was completely broken and it couldn't even growl. 


Vodka's staff glowed and his form shifted. His form now into a chimera. Three more horns sprouted from his head, as his hands and legs became the four limbs of a lion. His eyes were burning gold. With ease, he lept onto the roof, and from there he could see the current fight. Seeing the white-haired woman, and then the man that Vodka was fighting, he didn't move to hide his presence, but rather there was a thought had darted through his mind with the speed of an arrow. 


@Zuka @Mykinkaiser


Gin



Being let down onto the ground, Gin looked up at the old man curiously. She was more or less wondering why he wasn't questioning how valid a demon's words were. He didn't answer her question but she felt she had gotten to understand something else. There were people like those, that seeks after knowledge without little worries about moral dilemmas. She looked between the monk that was questioning, and then the old man that was being addressed. 


The tension rose in the air, but she seemed not bothered in the least. It was perhaps rather eerie how she could still have the faint smile on her face. There was no reason to dabble into reason for potential patients, the pressure of ordinariness was enough. "Mr Monk," she addressed him finally out loud. "You've heard of 'abstraction', haven't you? The old man can be a ghoul, can be an old-aged human, or... just a sack of flesh in clothing." she said in a natural tone. "It really depends on the characteristics you want to omit in your evaluation." 


She stretched a little, and in the corner of her eye, she saw the shape of a hellhound dashing past really quickly. Cider was moving again. She turned back to the two. "I need to go now." she proposed, giving a small wave." I have to look for my brother. And..." she turned back to him. "Come find me in the library when you need to. I'll be waiting. Rest assured, I have no intentions of breaking my word." She turned to walk around the corner.   


@SleepyBuddha @Solemn Jester

 

[Solemn Jester]

Gin smirked a amused grin at the old man. He casually brushed some of his hair out if his face before speaking," well the last ghoul who I got into a disagreement with tasted my holy energy. Why would you like a taste?" Gin ask narrowing his eyes, and his voice turning serious. He then turned his attention to the little girl." You know, you're far to intelligent to be just a little girl." He said back to his exhausted slacker tone. His face showing this was beginning to grow annoying. Then the little girl dashed off, and Gin decided that he'd have to find her later. If this ghoul attempted a challenge that was," so, you wanna try me?" Gin asked his staff now in hand, and prayer beads in the other. "If you'd like we can go out separate ways, you are of no interest to me. Not if you can't tell me the issue with this fog. But something tells me that girl may know more than she's telling." Gin turned his head slightly to the side, and readied himself incase of attack. Although personally he really hoped none would come.


@SleepyBuddha @Quark

 

[Nano]

​

 
​

The red-haired girl was officially written down in Chizuru's mental book of people to just generally avoid due to sheer obnoxiousness when she snickered at the newcomer and let out an unprovoked jeer. He probably would have started grumbling about something along the lines of hoping that stupidity wasn't contagious if it weren't for the little lady asking for their names after providing them with her own. So her name was Erica? Like the flower that held the meaning of solitude? Then again, the flower was spelled with a "k" and it was possible that the little lady's name was spelled with a "c" instead. It was a point of slight interest, but nowhere close to enough to get him to add more to his response than was required.


"Chizuru," he responded curtly. It wasn't much longer after their introductions that the quintet arrived at the tunnels. As per usual, the musty scent of the air tickled his nose, causing Chizuru to furrow his eyebrows ever so slightly in order to avoid sneezing. The dim lighting of the tunnels didn't make the passage any more inviting. Just as he had suspected, this would certainly be the best kind of place for an ambush or something equally nasty to happen. Normally, he wouldn't have given much mind to such threats as he had a certain amount of confidence in his abilities, but being with a party whose combative capabilities were unknown to him was a completely different story. He was pretty sure that barking "step back, you're useless" to whoever couldn't defend himself or herself wasn't going to cut it this time. As much as he appeared to not care for the well-being of others, he would still be greatly disturbed if someone just died right before his very eyes.


When Chizuru sensed movement from behind him, the gray-haired boy promptly placed his hand on the hilt of his sword and spun to face whatever had been the source of that movement. However, what greeted his eyes was not the sight of a miscreant but rather the dazed man being sucked into his own shadow which had somehow morphed into a dark void and Erica being flung into the wall. A few seconds ticked by before Chizuru finally managed to somewhat process what had just occurred. Someone had just disappeared without a single trace in a matter of seconds. What kind of magic was that? The magic of Erminia was slow in process, and he had never seen much less even heard of magic that could affect the physical dimension in such a way. There wasn't even an enemy close enough to even cast magic that would affect the area that they were in. Chizuru voiced out the question that his train of thoughts had been leading towards. "Was that even magic?"


—or rather, how was such a thing even possible?



Tagged: @Quark, @TheHappyPikachu, @Celephais

 

[Cosmos]

Ikari walked along behind the group quietly, glancing around the eerily silent town, it had been like this for a while now.... At first things were okay, but as supplies began to decline and no news from outside the gates reached in people began to change, becoming despretly and- betraying what humanity they had left in order to survive, it became a feral place were the strong were the survivors and the weak cast out and abandoned, Ikari wasn't proud of it, the fact that she'd managed to continue on like this despite having remained in the town with everyone else, and the matters of how she'd survived- Her thoughts however were interrupted as the small girl asked for thei names in return of exchanging her own. Erika? That was her name?.... It was fitting by the girls appearance at least in Ikari's opinion though- when it came to exchanging her own in return Ikari hesitated slightly, "Akuma-.... Ikari. My names Ikari." She replied looking away in a stubborn manner, it had been a long time since anyone had inquired her name, after all, She wasn't usually a person who people chose to talk to, let alone interact with. Not that she actively approached others that often in the first place. She'd also heard the rather annoying boy state his own, "Chizure? Chizuro? Nazuro? Naruto?...." She mumbled to herself in mocking manner.


It was only when the small group had descended down the stairs leading into the dimly lit tunnel that Ikari's eyes landed on the startling sight of Erkia being flung against a wall and the pathetic man she'd been dragging along sucked into what apperead to be his own shadow, the blackness consuming him in a matter of moments and Ikari's eyes widened at the scene, she could feel her heart beat faster from within her chest and could do nothing but stand and watch as Erika went over and put a hand to the spot of which whatever had been there disappeared, what she could assume was the mans name being muttered from the child's mouth.


Ikari looked down at her hand and noticed its slight tremble, barely noticeable but still there, fear?.... Was this.... Fear? She hadn't felt such an emotion in a long, long time.... Fear of the Unknown, fear of something that seemingly had no explanation as to where it came from and as the boy stated, may not have even been magic.... It was then Ikari could feel the illusion wearing off, her flaming red hair beginning to fade back to white like it was being painted the colour, her revealed eyes bright green dimming to a silver, as she noticed she quickly turned away from the group, rubbing her hair with her hands a bit, 'Calm.... Fear will not consume you so long as you do not threat, worry will not reach you as long as you do not concern, A sound mind and a sound soul are the key to harmony. Do not think, do not-.... Feel.... Everything's fine.' She thought to herself with a shaky breath.


And with that the red returned to her hair and the green to her eye as she turned back to face the now remaining members of the party. She took a few paces forward towards the small girl and knelt down onto one knee, placing a hand onto the child's shoulder firmly, "Come'on, we must proceed further or he won't be the only one that is to be lost within these tunnels, we've caused to much noise already, someone may come if we do not hurry." She said, her voice unwavering and cold, the same as her eyes and expression, "We have no time to waste on small matters like this." She continued as she stood and walked in front of the two, looking onwards into the depths of the tunnel.


@Nano  @Quark

 

[Mitchs98]

Spoiler

Emiyn Devereaux



"Hey, wait!" Emiyn exclaimed when seeing the young man running around the corner. He seemed extremely agitated and afraid, like those small animals that Emi and Eri didn't even have a heart to hunt after. With his shorter height, Haruko managed to run ahead of him to catch up to the young man. "Can you hear us?" Emiyn spoke again, this time louder, wondering what would have made this man so scared. "My friends and I are lost. We don't mean any harm." He started, his glances turning towards Haruko and Draena every once in a while, as though trying to get some moral support. Thankfully Haruko had asked the similar questions that was on his mind. 


At a time like this, it's more convenient for his disguise, huh... the young prince thought to himself. Perhaps a man would be more open towards a woman. Or... in this case, assume Haruko to be a woman with his current attire. 


@Mitchs98 @Aukanai @Robertaka123


Gin



"Interesting," was all Gin said about his self-evaluation, which may be enough to say that she didn't really agree with his judgement. Howeer, she had no need nor desire to talk to the human about what he was. At the end of the day, it would be whether he would be worth her time. Whether he was evil or virtuous. There was no meaning to use reason any further. 


She turned a little when there was a voice in the distance, and Gin turned to see that a monk walking towards them. It was the same one that she had met with Cider and Peach before she had ran off. Given the way that the old man had ignored him, she could only assume that this didn't seem to be one of the travelers he spoke of. A shame. "Oh my, By darkness you mean, what you humans refer to as the "cloud of darkness"?" she asked in a rhetorical manner to point up in the sky. Though it was currently hidden, she could only be referring to the one in Lexaria. "Ahahahahahaha! AHAHAHAHAHA!" her giggle got louder before her face changed back to the soft smile. She decided she'll leave up to the human to think about whether she would agree it was a good idea or not. It wouldn't be nice for her to spoil of what it could possibly be, right? "Alright, show me what you can do." she said. "Meanwhile I'll propose something to you. Since this is the first time I've seen someone so hard-working in magic, though... the results are somewhat little." she said, letting shards of ice to form around her hands, without the use of gems again. "I'll take you in as a disciple, or I can give you advice on magic. Alternatively, you can ask for other types of help in magic, I'm the best magic user in Roselea." she said, "However, you should show me your resolve. Kill four of those you were travelling with. Bring their hearts or heads. And by the way, illusions and dummies will not work with me." 


@Solemn Jester @SleepyBuddha

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He could hear them now, and the sounded closer than before. 
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Napoleon jumped when they turned the corner to confront the young man, or perhaps comfort him. Napoleon didn't know, all he knew was that he was scared of them. Who knows what they were after, but their voices and the words that came tumbling out of their mouths seemed to ease his alarm bells. Maybe they were just trying to help him. Napoleon had always been quick to jump to conclusions, thinking everyone was out to get him. But, now finding himself in this situation, he came to realize that maybe not everyone was going to expecting something in return. His expressions changed to one not so scared or startled, though he still didn't seem entirely comfortable, he still answered back. 
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With a nod of his head in response to Haruko's first question to answer 'yes' that he was alright. But the next question made the man frown. Napoleon could not recall how he had ended up here, so he most definitely would not have been able to know what would have happened to made this town like it was now. "No...I don't know," though he had spoken, his voice was almost a whisper, if not one,"I only remember waking up here and....and all my stuff was gone."
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@Mitchs98 @Quark @Robertaka123
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Nio rose his brows in response to Doug's outburst. 
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He wasn't sure if he was suppose to feel bad for the guy or just pinch the bridge of his nose as if this was an annoying joke. Nonetheless, Nio let out a deep sigh, finding the man's response somewhat irritable. But, perhaps, Nio should just let him do as he wished. 
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"Well," Nio began, shrugging slightly, "you mustn't be too well known if I haven't heard of you. Maybe you should try harder to get you face plastered on every wall I might look at. Though, I wouldn't say that's a high achievement." 
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For a second, Nio fell silent, rubbing his calloused hands together before letting one hand rest on the hilt of his sheathed firangi. The air between him and the two men seemed to be tense, and he could sense that he wasn't entirely welcome in their company. "Ah, well then, Doug, Ken," Nio nodded respectively to each of them, knowing that he wasn't in the best position to get them annoyed with him, "I'm Nio Lancis."
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Even when Doug unsheathed his sword and pointed it in Nio's general direction, he still couldn't afford to give them any more reason to attack him. At least he was trying not to agitate them and start a fight. So, Nio simply stepped back, keeping his firangi in its sheath. "I have no intentions to do such."
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@Sparkstorm1000
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@Mykinkaiser @Mitchs98 @Zuka @Maki @SleepyBuddha @Solemn Jester @Aukanai @TheHappyPikachu @Nano @Celephais @Sparkstorm1000 @Jefferson


In Roselea and in the outskirts of the frozen city... 


The newly formed couple, Neil and Jessica had not emerged from the fog. Cider's hellhounds had not found them. What had happened no one knows. However, if Cider had paid attention at that time, the pair of red eyes from a few of the pack would have noticed shadows flickering and disappearing beneath the grass. 


...


...


In the very street that Vodka and Garrett were currently exchanging blows and fights, while Refara was fending and fighting against the two hellhounds after her. As Cider was heading towards there, even he did not notice the subtle movements at first... of Marth's shadow. The small five-year-old boy was hidden to avoid the danger of the fight. Little did anyone at the scene know that he would suddenly be pulled into a dark pit that appeared right beneath his feet. 


...


...


The very same fate had happened to Peach. Just as she was on her own in the street. Unfortunately if she had yelled or not, now one would have heard. 


...


...


As Chizuru, Donovan, Ikari, Erika and Kurio had made their way down the 16 steps to the underground tunnel, The shadows casted by the lights on the side of the walls flickered. There was no sound, but suddenly Erika would have felt Kurio's wrist yanked out of her grip. The girl turned, only to be sent back against the wall, as though some thick, black rope had lashed into her upper body with great force. The four would have seen Kurio unable to talk as the black ropes, emerging from beneath his feet coiling around him like snakes and dragging him down. He sank into his own shadow as though it was a dark swamp. As though it was a pit. 


... 


... 


Draena was not very far from Emiyn and Haruko, as they sought after the troubled Napoleon. Emiyn felt no magic, nor any sense of sudden struggles, but heard a sound of alarm, when he turned his head. On reflex he would have taken a step back, unable to comprehend what he was seeing. The bottom half of Draena's body could not be seen. The man from the military was the strongest of all the other travelers he had seen, if not Garrett. And yet, here he was powerless as the mysterious black ropes. 


...


...


When all of the people mentioned had their bodies completely immersed and sunk below the surface of their shadows, it looked nothing more than like the opening of a dark pit. There seemed to be no end. The black circle on the ground, or the remains of the shadow would have gotten smaller and smaller until it was no longer seen. There had been no presences of magic, almost as if it was a natural phenomenon. 


Erika LeBlanc



 Erika didn't yelp, nor scream as her eyes opened. The pain on her back and her head was there when she had been flung back against the wall, but her eyes couldn't pry away from what had happened. It defied the very laws of physics. When Kurio had suddenly... disappeared from right in front of her eyes, she didn't move for two whole seconds. The light from around the underground continued to glow brightly. With one hand's fingers digging into her palm till it hurt, she knelt down where he was last standing, and placed her other hand onto the ground. "...Kurio?" she finally spoke, in an abnormally soft voice. 


@Celephais @Nano @TheHappyPikachu


Emiyn Devereaux



Like his half-sister, Erika, Emiyn didn't say anything. He wasn't focused on whether Haruko or Napoleon had seen, but he was completely dumbfounded, and a fear was worming its way into his mind. It felt like something that he couldn't get rid of, even though he desperately wanted to. That very memory of the conversation he had with Draena that afternoon. 



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"Speaking of people disappearing," Emiyn suddenly spoke up, his knife stopping for a moment before he turned to Haruko, then Draena. "Katherine Brygold Verheim, Irene Ricci Acker, Liam Kahn. Do these names mean anything to you?" The three women were of the four that had encountered the peculiar fate on the night the Tower was invaded, around the same time Garrett had noticed about everyone's shadows "acting strange". He wasn't sure whether the two adults had looked it up themselves, as there had been a few gossip among the guards though most of this strange case has been kept hidden. When he had first heard it when sneaking around the castle, he was puzzled about the common traits these women had.


"They were the ones who "fell into the pit." You know, what I told you about the other day...All female, who know some form of healing magic. "


"What is this "pit". I'm assuming it is not an actual pit otherwise they could simply be pulled out." Draena spoke, giving a sincerely curious look to Emiyn.


"Well, I suppose they call it "pit" because it's a softer and more hopeful alternative to "abyss", or "void", " he said, his eyes growing rather dull and a wry smile appeared on his face. "In stories, one isn't able to escape out of the the latter." His hand flinched a little before starting to describe what he had discovered to Draena. He had pondered about the recorded words of the witnesses, that he had secretly copied into his journal. Over the last few days, he tried to compare with any magic he learnt, or any supernatural phenomenon or even anything about monsters that can do that. He had no idea how it could materialised, but it was something completely different from his shadow ritual magic. The scale was out larger, and completely out of control. "I don't know what it was… but it doesn't sound like a mere coincidence." he said. He wasn't sure whether it was something caused intentionally, but he wasn't going to bring up something that might bring panic to the group. He didn't say anything for a while, allowing his words to sink in before speaking up again. "You're right about one thing though. These women weren't found even when we left Iafern. If they are back and alive they wouldn't be hiding."

The young prince felt cold, very cold with fear, and couldn't help but look around frantically. Was someone causing this? "Hey..." though his voice wasn't shaking his eyes couldn't shake off the wild, frantic look. "You both saw that... right?"


@Mitchs98 @Aukanai


Cider



The three-horned demon ignored the signals from the hellhounds from the outskirts of the city. He was just one street ahead away now, the tonic that he had consumed had long wore off. He had arrived, with the intentions to stop Vodka from hindering the plans, but what good would it do? It wouldn't further the plan more. 


The hellhound that was pinned to the ground had its teeth sinking into the flesh of her ankle. A painful scream pierced into the air. The bloodhound that had pounced onto her was not expecting her body to suddenly move, and there was a flash of silver. The scythe sliced into the neck of the hellhound, not even giving it a chance to make any sounds. IN the next second, the red eyes saw it's headless body a few feet away on the ground. The voice box was completely broken and it couldn't even growl. 


Vodka's staff glowed and his form shifted. His form now into a chimera. Three more horns sprouted from his head, as his hands and legs became the four limbs of a lion. His eyes were burning gold. With ease, he lept onto the roof, and from there he could see the current fight. Seeing the white-haired woman, and then the man that Vodka was fighting, he didn't move to hide his presence, but rather there was a thought had darted through his mind with the speed of an arrow. 


@Zuka @Mykinkaiser


Gin



Being let down onto the ground, Gin looked up at the old man curiously. She was more or less wondering why he wasn't questioning how valid a demon's words were. He didn't answer her question but she felt she had gotten to understand something else. There were people like those, that seeks after knowledge without little worries about moral dilemmas. She looked between the monk that was questioning, and then the old man that was being addressed. 


The tension rose in the air, but she seemed not bothered in the least. It was perhaps rather eerie how she could still have the faint smile on her face. There was no reason to dabble into reason for potential patients, the pressure of ordinariness was enough. "Mr Monk," she addressed him finally out loud. "You've heard of 'abstraction', haven't you? The old man can be a ghoul, can be an old-aged human, or... just a sack of flesh in clothing." she said in a natural tone. "It really depends on the characteristics you want to omit in your evaluation." 


She stretched a little, and in the corner of her eye, she saw the shape of a hellhound dashing past really quickly. Cider was moving again. She turned back to the two. "I need to go now." she proposed, giving a small wave." I have to look for my brother. And..." she turned back to him. "Come find me in the library when you need to. I'll be waiting. Rest assured, I have no intentions of breaking my word." She turned to walk around the corner.   


@SleepyBuddha @Solemn Jester

Haruko listened patiently for the man to respond, keeping a kind smile on his face the entire time. He really hoped that he'd be willing to talk and maybe even have some information for them. Though in the end it seemed he was just as lost as they were, causing him to sigh. "I see.." He replied. "Well...you're in Roslea for one." He said. "I can't account for how you're here or where your stuff is, but honestly I can't account for how we showed up either." He said. "Did you notice fog or anything beforehand or..?" He asked, trying to figure out as much information as possible he could.


Of course before the man could answer Draena was sucked into the ground by ropes. Haruko stared blankly for a bit before slowly nodding, "...I did yes." He replied. "Do you have any idea what happened?" He asked, looking to Emiyn as he was quite a bit smarter than he on the study of magic.

Spoiler

 
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Yuki Illinara 
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Yuki couldn't help but feel a little bad about what she did. Senki had a point, she was used to living out in dangerous situations, or at least that's what she said. The white haired girl wasn't quite sure what she used to do, but it had to be dangerous. But either way she couldn't keep treating her like a kid. If the roles were reversed Yuki would feel very belittled, it wasn't fair to Senki. "Forgive me Senki, I just can't help it. I'm rather stressed out about everything and the lesser side of me took over. Please don't take anything I said personally, I truly didn't mean it and I really don't view you as a child..." she said while bowing her head respectfully. Much to her surprise Senki seemed that have forgiven her quickly and was quite eager to move on, literally. Her gaze jerked up from the ground as her hands were taken and pulled violently away in the direction of the tower. "S-Senki, slow down!" She barked, nearly tripping over her own feet. Luckily her good balance and quick reflexes allowed her to remain on her feet and catch up, "Senki, you nearly killed me! My sword was drawn and I couldn't stabbed myself. That was very unsafe of you. Didn't they ever teach you to not run around with sharp objects like scisso-" The guard cut herself off as she realized that she was scolding her girlfriend like a child once again. 


Yuki took the lead as they entered the town, sticking close to the sidewalk as they walked. The place was very different from how she remembered it. Obviously there was no one around, an eerie and scary atmosphere rather than a busy and joyous one. Despite letting go of Senki's hands only minutes ago her fingers were soon laced in between the others, squeezing it tightly. There was something wrong with the place, and she felt like danger could end up at any turn. "Keep your sword drawn Senki, I've got a bad feeling about this pla-Whoops!" As if on que Yuki was suddenly swooped up into the air, hanging by her ankle from a light post. A sudden cackling could be heard from an alley way only feet away from the light post, a group of sketchy men stumbling out from it. 


"Oi, we got ourselves a tasty one!" Said one of the men as he eyed the hanging girl. 


"And lookie over there! She's brought herself a friend! That's two meals with one stone!" 


"And since there are more of us than there is them, this should be a piece of cake! Easier than the other lot we've had to deal with..." Said a third, eagerly drawing a knife from his waist. The others did the same, many carrying similar knifes of swords of different sorts. Fortunately for Yuki she hadn't dropped her sword which would make escaping much easier. All Senki had to do was fend off about 8 cannibal looters! 


"I call dibs on her sword..."

Senki honestly wasn't as mad as she had acted she was, it had annoyed her but she didn't stay mad at her. It was a silly thing to do and she didn't want them to have some fight or something in the middle of a magic forest, she didn't really want to have a fight and break up either way. "I'm sorry Yuki, I just wanna get out of this damn forest." She replied honestly. She would of caught her before she fell regardless, Senki herself having pretty great reflexes. When they reached town she slowed down, growing silent and looking around with a serious expression. Something wasn't right, at all. She knew that much at first glance and by how Yuki was holding her hand she had noticed it too.


She gasped in shock when Yuki was lifted off of the ground, glaring as the men came out of the alleyway. She tilted her head curiously as they drew knives and started speaking about meals. Cannibals then? This far into the city? That certainly made sense...perhaps a large gang of them attacked? She outright laughed when she mentioned it being a piece of cake. "Sorry to disappoint boys but it won't be anywhere near as easy as you think." She said as she drew her weapons from her back, striking a loose defensive pose. "You aren't monsters but you might as well be, so I'll kick your asses anyway." She told them. "Who the hell brings knives to...well...any fight when their opponent has a weapon that reaches farther anyway?" She asked, shaking her head and sighing. "Come at me boys, make it fun, 'kay?" She challenged, grinning widely as she prepared to defend Yuki.

 

[Quark]

Erika LeBlanc






She pressed her palm onto the ground. It was only the cold floor, where Kurio was presumed to have been standing. It didn't make sense. Erika was very sure that she had been walking with a person Kurio earlier. All of her recollections up until now from the time when the fog had appeared, was that she was with two people, Benton and Kurio. Benton had disappeared, and now so was Kurio. It wasn't until two seconds had passed that Erika lifted up her eyes. He really wasn't here, as though everything was a hallucination. 


Chizuru had spoken though. Was that even magic? She didn't know. Erika gave a simple nod when Ikari had spoken, urging her that they should get moving soon. "You're right..." she said slowly as she stood up again. She dusted her hand. Part of her was feeling rather uneasy. She couldn't tell whether someone was watching them, or what could have happened to the other two. No, no, I refuse to grit my teeth in fear, she said, feeling the urge to do so creeping up. With as much strength as she could, she resisted from doing so, but that ended up in her having an expression like she was smiling. Her eyes were still just as confused though. "Is this just a one-way tunnel, Chizuru? Ikari?" she asked, wanting to fill in the silence.


@TheHappyPikachu @Nano

 

[Mykinkaiser]

Spoiler

Erika LeBlanc



Erika listened with a somewhat impatient manner to the way he was answering his question. If it was during daytime in another city, where she wasn't currently lost, she wouldn't have minded hearing another person's introduction. But as of this moment, she didn't really care about his name. "I see, Donovan," she said, "I was travelling with a group of people just before the fog came in." Was all she had answered. There were several points that she found this man to be odd about, especially about living in the mountains when coming down at the exact time the fog had rolled in. Erika didn't ask, but it was certainly odd that someone would be coming down from the mountains at this time. She turned briefly for a moment to look at the silhouette of the buildings that were blending into the shadows. 


Unless there was something here.... all the more that she really should be moving, instead of standing around and exchanging names. "Sorry," she said, politely but firm,"I really think I should get going." She looked over towards the grey-haired young man again. "Would it be this way?" she asked, referring to the tunnel that he spoke of. 


@Nano


@TheHappyPikachu 


@Celephais


Vodka



The opponent's left hand parried his uppercut punch, and a small but slightly wide glint had flashed into Vodka's eyes. There was a rush of air, as the top of the hammer was heading towards his stomach. He didn't have enough time to speak, but there was a surge of excitement within. Vodka stepped to the side and spun his body half a revolution, feeling the air rush past his side. Given the force, if he was a regular human he would have been send back flying over 10 metres, with broken ribs and damaged organs. Or just broken ribs, given his sturdier body as a vampire. He raised his left arm, into a right angle, where his elbow was aiming straight for Garrett's chest. Just underneath where the heart would be. 


@Mykinkaiser


Cider



Cider had heard the words from the white haired woman very clearly. He clicked his tongue just as he fished out a small flask from within the folds of his jacket. Drinking it hastily, he gulped down the liquid while his eyes flashed red. A silent command seemed to have been sent to the bloodhounds at that instance, and the two that were near Vodka had suddenly raised their heads. Meanwhile the three-horned demon almost stumbled for a moment. The distance from here to where Vodka was seemed not as close as he would have hoped. 


From where Refara currently was standing. From her diagonal left the bloodhound would have suddenly jumped up, right after her words. It opened its jaws as it leaped into the air, attempting to bite onto her hand that was holding onto the scythe. The one that was on the right side of Refara hadn't moved but stayed there, waiting on the right moment. The split second when Refara would have attacked the other bloodhound, there would be a temporary opening for it to snatch up. 


@Zuka

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[COLOR= rgb(128, 0, 128)]Refara Illinara[/COLOR]
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The snow haired assassin was trying to concentrate on Garrett and Vampire's Vodka's fight, to direct Garrett as needed though truthfully it wasn't necessary. While the pair made a Duo second to none, the couple also spent many years fighting and performing Mercenary missions alone before they meet. So Refara had full faith in her Boyfriend's ability to not only push the vampire back but see the creature receive a similar fate to what the same creature had showed the High Priestess. It wasn't the first time Refara nor Garrett had faced beings and creatures of nonhuman nature and they scared neither anymore then normal people. That is to say, not at all. There were very few things that actually scared either of the two, which may have been one of the reason they had paired and dated in the first place. Or maybe it was something else. Though that seemed an eternity ago now...


Thoughts aside, she was draw from her musing as one of the bloodhounds charged at her suddenly but even in the surprise of it all Refara's eyes widened as something clicked for the girl. The creature had merely stood still, barely even twitching, his ears and tail frozen in place. Even when Refara rolled towards them after her assault on Vodka, neither of the Hounds made any move, and the creature's only seemed to come alive once she spoke directly to them. That meant that obviously someone or something was controlling. For all her sometimes unobservant nature, she was still a very skilled Mercenary with years of battle experience so in the heat of battle nothing escaped the girls watchful gaze. And the idea someone bigger and badder then these hounds brought and fever pitch smile to work into her soft face.

Refara noticed the other blood hound holding back to attack at an opportune time no doubt. The other one immediately lunged at her so she slid her hand up along the pole as she twisted it enough to have the creature snap around it like a dog biting into a long stick, then an adorable giggle escaped as she leaned forward to press her noise into the creatures as she peered straight into his eyes. [COLOR= rgb(128, 0, 128)]"Awww... Does a Doggie wanna play fetch? Yes you do! Yes you Dooooo~"[/COLOR] She said in an annoying sing song voice before she twisted the pole and threw the hound over her shoulder to slam him down onto the ground before she dropped her knee hard into his rib waiting with an excited breath to hopefully hear the delicious sounds of cracked ribs!


Once he was downed somewhat, she forced the pole harder into his jaw, right to the back of his throat and forcing the back of his skull in against the ground like a painful bit in a horse's bridle, another adorable giggle escaping as her eyes lit up. Ignoring any snarls or protest the creature was making. [COLOR= rgb(128, 0, 128)]"Oooo my my! What sharp TEETH you have Mister Wolf~ All the better to-...."[/COLOR] The sing song tone continuing.

Gin



Her voice went much more quiet when Gin turned to see the monk was asking her a question. I suppose my face is uncommon in Roselea at these tmies, Gin spoke to herself in her mind. 


When Gin the monk had been swallowed by "the pit", Gin the demon had ran away. Given how there was no magic presence from the pit at all, the 'little girl' did not even notice as she had raced out of the town market. "What had happened to you?" she asked, wondering why there seem to be a half-desperate look on his face. "What are you referring to mister?" 


Before she was able to respond, the old man had squatted down, wanting her to play along with the facade of the lost girl again. Being picked up, she shifted her head towards the monk again to give a half challenging look. "Sorry, mister, I'm really not sure what you mean." she mouthed, then tilted her head slightly towards the old man's direction. Perhaps he could help. As though she was implying that. But very soon the two seem to already be walking around the corner of the street. Gin glanced at the light in his eyes. The patient was already considering about her proposal. "You agreed to it rather easily," she commented casually.


@Solemn Jester @SleepyBuddha


Cider



In the split second when the white-haired woman had twisted the scythe in her hands, the neck of one of the hellhounds that had pounced on her had its neck colliding with the pole of scythe. Being suddenly brought to the ground, there was a yelp when the heels of the woman slammed into the ribs. The yelp turned into a growl. A momentary burst of strength erupted and the hellhound that was held down twisted its body along the ground. Its jaws opened wide to clamp its teeth deep into Refara's ankle. 


The problem with observing from the hellhounds was that Cider could only do so from one hellhound at a time. His eyes saw the white-haired woman again. And this time, she was... smiling? Was she singing? 


He hadn't seen someone like this for a while now. A psychopath or a sociopath. 


Seeing the movement from the woman and the other hellhound, the one that had been merely watching finally dashed forward. Instead to head-to-head, it kept itself low on the ground to not waste any time. Just about a meter away, it suddenly shot up from the ground, its mouth aiming right for the woman's neck. One hellhound was trying to clamp onto her ankle, to keep her anchored whilst the other was going to rip off flesh off her neck. 


@Zuka

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Refara figured that having one of the Hell hounds pinned down to the ground with the pole of her metal Scythe would see him for the most part disabled, what she wasn't expecting was the same hound to suddenly show a surprising amount of flexibility as it writhed and twisted against the ground in a position to see it squirm out from her under hold. How was she supposed to know it was capable of that? Well do or die, most animals were capable of strange things so it shouldn't have been all surprising. Regardless the girl let out a high pitched, painful scream as it's sharp teeth dug into her ankle and as she half twisted she spotted the other hell hound coming towards her to lunge at her neck. As the creature closed the distance she spun the Scythe around her body for one rotation before slamming the point end of the blade right into it's shoulder and out through chest from the curvature of the blade, sending a spray of blood over her body in the process.

In this way she had the hound skewered on her Blade and threw him down to drive the blade further into his frame as she nailed him to the ground then just as quickly yanked the blade out of his body. Then she hooked the blade on the opposite end around the Hound holding her ankle, under it's neck and reefed up completely severing his head from his neck in one quick cut from the razor sharp blade. Now that the creature's head was removed from it's body, she stood up partially and kicked her leg out to send the head flying and only covering her frame even more in that blood. As it was sent flying, Refara glanced down to her ankle which had a not small tear on it and the bite almost seemed to burn gently? She put some weight on that leg to find she could, but no where near as much as normal. It was probably at about 50% weight capacity and for a girl who used agility and flexibility that was some pretty terrible odds for her. 


Still took a shaking step forward before crouching down holding the wound gently as her blood seeped a fraction on her fingers, wishing for once in her life the girl wore more clothes so she could tear a sleeve off and strap it up to get herself back into the battle if Garrett needed it. She couldn't fall down now, not with that crazy vampire on the loose. She wouldn't forgive herself if Garrett got hurt and she wasn't there to duck into battle to take the foe out.


@Mykinkaiser

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Garrett's eyes widened as he heard Refara scream in pain, his smile vanishing as if it had been wiped from his face. No longer did he think about having fun with the fight. After all, how could he when Refara had been hurt like that? The vampire had gone from being a strong opponent he could enjoy himself with to simply being an obstacle that must be dealt with as soon as possible so that he could go to his girlfriend's side and help her. Dropping his hammer Garrett spun and took hold of the vampire's elbow, pulling him along the line of his strike before bringing his knee up to hit him in the abdomen, hard, causing him to stagger back. Wasting no time Garrett stepped forwards, hammering a heavy punch towards the other man's jaw before grabbing him by the collar and hauling him forwards to slam his forehead into the bridge of the vampire's nose, feeling the bone crunch under the blow. He then dropped low, sending a flurry of punches into the vampire's ribs, feeling them crack, before spinning and shooting a leg upwards, his kick catching his opponent in the chin, lifting him from his feet and sending him crashing to the ground. Standing up, the red-eyed mercenary leaped on top of his foe, pinning his arms with his knees. He then proceeded to grab the vampire's head, slamming it repeatedly into the ground as hard as he could, turning it into a bloody paste spreading over the street. His fight thus over Garrett hurriedly got up to run over to his girlfriend, concern written all over his face.

 

[St. Boethius]

Benton looked at the monk for a moment, weighing his options. He was going into this fight blind without any idea of what the monk could do, and the monk seemed to be very confident in those skills. After a few moments Benton decided that fighting the monk outright would put him at an unneeded disadvantage. " Then I'll leave here without further issue. I've no problem with you monk." With that Benton turned the same corner as the child and disappeared from sight.

 

[Quark]

Emiyn Devereaux






Emiyn shook his head. "No... I've not seen anything like it..." he muttered, just loud enough for the other two to hear it. He gripped his fist tightly, while trying to harden his face to a more serious look. Anything to wipe off any hints of fear in his eyes. This wasn't the time to falter or drown in fear. Emiyn wasn't strong, but he needed to have a strong mind to make up for his physical weakness. "I think we really should leave here." he said. "I don't know what that was, but Draena is not here anymore." he said, glancing at the spot that Draena had disappeared. "Let's go... I think right now, our priority would be to find the others, any of the others." 


He then turned towards the other young man. "I'm sorry about your items." he said, his voice less soft, now that he was trying to make a decisive choice. "My friend and I really need to go now. I think it might be good for you to come with us... If you're willing that is." Normally the boy would have perhaps waited for a second. But right now, he needed to emphasize that urgency, and he merely gestured towards Haruko that they would continue to walk towards the town hall to find the shortcut tunnel towards the villa. He knew that he had told Erika about it. 


@Mitchs98 @Aukanai


Gin




Gin was walking towards the direction of the library was, on the other side of the city. She was humming the usual song again.

Spoiler

Poisoned sandwich tea party starts now, 


Eat up, if you're lucky


You will rot


Eat up, it's your turn


Eat till you drop


Eat up, maybe this time 


You'll be caught


Eat up, fill your stomach


Till it pops


Eat it all


Just eat it all


'cause there's no poison after all.  

At this part of the city, there were a few more people around. These were those survivors that had banded together to salvage for resources. Had it been Gula, the large flying shadow of the demon around here, perhaps the people would have hidden right away. However, not many would recognise that the little girl was a demon, just that she looked far too happy. Too clean and undisturbed. 


Up ahead she could see that there was another man. She tilted her head for a moment at the man with long, dark hair. "Hey mister," she asked, her voice loud and clear in the silent evening. "Will you play with me?" 


@Aukanai

 

[Nano]

​

 
​

Small matters. Those two words ricochet inside of his thoughts. Was a person disappearing and possibly meeting his end truly something that could be considered a “small matter?” Indeed, it was fatal to allow for this incident to weigh on his mind and cloud his judgement, but he couldn't agree with passing the incident off as absolutely nothing.

Deciding against expressing these thoughts even in the slightest, Chizuru began to walk briskly forward once again. A "clean mirror" and "the water that is not moving" was something that Ren would mention to him often. You must keep your mind as clear as a shining mirror in order to keep your mind so sharp and devoid of any cloudiness so that you will not make any misjudgments. For now, he would have to keep his mind as sharp as a steel trap in order to get through this tunnel safely. Any prayers would have to be made after they reach a safe area, and any lilies offered would have to wait until their own well-being was guaranteed.

Having been lost in his own thoughts, Chizuru nearly missed Erika's question. “One-way tunnel?” Chizuru murmured to himself stupidly before finally piecing together what the young lady had asked. “This tunnel branches out and has several entrances and exits. The path we're on just happens to be the fastest and most direct way to the villa.”

Despite his voice being steady and calm, Chizuru still felt a sense of foreboding. He didn't know if it was due to the thought of being swallowed up into a void, or if it was his mind subconsciously warning him that something was amiss and that danger lied ahead.

 
​

 
​

Edel and Will


Edel shivered with anticipation. His hand trembled as he tentatively touched the cold steel of the hilt of his sword. Every breath he took seemed almost labored, as he attempted to calm himself down. The sole thought of a confrontation was enough to send him a mere few inches from a nervous wreck, but this was something that had to be done. It couldn't be helped. At least, those were the thoughts that the young boy comforted himself with as he lied in wait for whatever unsuspecting passersby would be unfortunate enough to fall into their ambush.

However, this "comfort" of the mind still failed to keep himself from wandering towards the question of, "why had it come to this?" Edel could still clearly remember the happy days of peace that he had spent with his family, yet those moments also seemed so far and unreachable at the same time. Every time he took a look back at those fond memories, the warmth seemed to brush right past his fingertips, leaving him to wallow in self-pity once again. Now all he had was his brother. Yes, that was right. Will. As long as Will was still here by his side, he would fight tooth and nail to ensure that at least his older brother would be able to crawl out of this hellhole some day. In order for that day to come, however, they needed to survive to see the next.

With a rekindled determination, the young boy stole a glance at his older brother. Just like a tree bending in the harsh winds and refusing to snap and let go of its branches, Will was strong enough to adapt to any situation, and Edel had to do the same. Through all the grief and sorrow, their utmost goal had to be to survive and cling onto the hope that perhaps, one day, they would once again be allowed to travel upon the road of the pursuit of happiness.

Edel couldn't help but worry, however. As of late, Will had been showing signs of his stoic exterior cracking. He hoped that this was simply his imagination. Their situation was already grim enough. The last thing he needed was for his last precious person to fall into the pit of desolation.

It should be alright, right? After all, there were two others with them, although they had only banded together for the sole purpose of survival.



Tagged: @Quark, @TheHappyPikachu

 

[Quark]

 
​

Spoiler

View attachment 184639
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Garrett's eyes widened as he heard Refara scream in pain, his smile vanishing as if it had been wiped from his face. No longer did he think about having fun with the fight. After all, how could he when Refara had been hurt like that? The vampire had gone from being a strong opponent he could enjoy himself with to simply being an obstacle that must be dealt with as soon as possible so that he could go to his girlfriend's side and help her. Dropping his hammer Garrett spun and took hold of the vampire's elbow, pulling him along the line of his strike before bringing his knee up to hit him in the abdomen, hard, causing him to stagger back. Wasting no time Garrett stepped forwards, hammering a heavy punch towards the other man's jaw before grabbing him by the collar and hauling him forwards to slam his forehead into the bridge of the vampire's nose, feeling the bone crunch under the blow. He then dropped low, sending a flurry of punches into the vampire's ribs, feeling them crack, before spinning and shooting a leg upwards, his kick catching his opponent in the chin, lifting him from his feet and sending him crashing to the ground. Standing up, the red-eyed mercenary leaped on top of his foe, pinning his arms with his knees. He then proceeded to grab the vampire's head, slamming it repeatedly into the ground as hard as he could, turning it into a bloody paste spreading over the street. His fight thus over Garrett hurriedly got up to run over to his girlfriend, concern written all over his face.

Vodka




There was a sudden rise in speed when the opponent had moved. That instance when the scream from the white-haired woman had traveled to both their ears. Before even the dropped hammer had collided onto the ground, there was a sudden shift of the other's shadow and Vodka's elbow was gripped. He could feel the strength of the grip and on reflex, the vampire's bones hardened in as many areas as possible. Unfortunately, it was only in the most vital regions near his heart, middle and head. He could feel searing pain in his ribs. When the man had punched into his ribs, the same magnitude of impact would have been colliding his own fists as well. No doubt that the opponent's own fists could be hurting as well, even with minimal fractures. Yet he had no intention of stopping. Mustering as much force he could, he shifted his head towards the side when seeing the movement of the leg. Not quite as fast, it kicked on the side of his cheek. before he was grabbed and he groaned as the ground hit his back rather hard. 


The last image Vodka would have seen was the silhouette of the man dropping down on top him. The pain was slowly dulling and there were dark spots in his vision, and Vodka opened his mouth. 


"Heh." 


It was unknown whether the faint smirk on his face was because he couldn't react fast enough as his head was being grabbed, or whether he was trying to say 'You won't have the last laugh." before there was one final heavy thud and Vodka's consciousness faded. 


Cider




When he had climbed up to the roof, he had been watching the scene unfold. The small pack of hellhounds that were slowly gathering around this place. In his Chimera-like form, Cider watched with widened eyes as Vodka was slammed down onto the ground, and the man who had seemed to have gone berserk was pounding his fist into it over and over. 


No, no, remain calm. He told himself. He was not like the other meatheads in this city, he needed to be calm and collected so that he could have the final laugh and not feel Gula's wrath. There wasn't much time now, and the thought of an idea occurred in his head. Using the paw-like hands, to grab onto the 10 gems that he had to sacrifice to change into this form, he hurled it towards the man that was running towards the woman. Not wasting any time, his body descended from the building that he was standing on. A heavy thud, loud as when Vodka had been slammed to the ground, right in between the two humans and he roared. All around that district, people would have all heard the noise. 


The hounds were no exception, and about thirty in total emerged from within the shadows in that very same street. They rushed from both directions towards the centre where the beast, the man and women were. Not even caring about how they had  stepped onto pools of blood belonging to one of the superior monsters, they opened their mouth, some jumping over others to launch their jaws towards the man's shoulder and the woman's 


Which to target..., was the momentary thought in Cider's mind before remembering the image that he had seen through the hellhound. Without blinking, the tail of the chimera-like beast whipped up into the air as the woman was approached from the front and side by hellhounds. The end of the tail could provide an impact like a stone launched from a slingshot towards the junction between her two shoulders to knock her off her balance. 


@Mykinkaiser


@Zuka

 

[Aukanai]

​

 
​

Something had happened.
​

Napoleon's gasp caught in his though, making it sound like the man was wheezing for air.
​

 
​

Rather, it would have seemed that Napoleon's mind had shut down in reaction to what was happening before him. A man, a stranger had been completely swallowed up for a force that Napoleon could not explain in words. It was a terrifying sight, something like that just happening. Perhaps it didn't settle Napoleon's fear. But, he was glad he was at least able to close his eyes, to hide the scene away. For he knew that it would haunt him for the years to come, if he was to avoid falling to the same demise in this eerie city. 
​

 
​

But then..the voice came back. The two left standing before him. Napoleon opened his eyes and looked up at the two strangers.
​

 
​

"Oh..I'm not sure what to do," Napoleon blurted out honesty, "but, I suppose I have nowhere else to go."
​

 
​

Though his movements were still stiff and his hands were shaking due to the coldness as well as the scare and shock, Napoleon stood. He who was a slender figured man with a height that did not seem fit.
​

@Quark @Mitchs98
​

 
​

​

 
​

 He'd looked down one of the allyways and found pair of eyes staring back at him from the darkness. Nio was sure someone was there, debating whether it was a good idea to attack him and rob him of his belongings. But, perhaps the sight of his sheathed sword had sent them scampering away.
​

 
​

The man sighed. 
​

 
​

This city appeared to be in shambles, but Nio didn't seem to care an awful lot. Though he would have much preferred it to not be in such a condition. He was certainly running low on his food rations and needed to restock, but that seemed almost impossible to do in this place.
​

 
​

Nio had just been about to continue his little exploration of the city when he heard footsteps, then a voice behind him. It didn't bother him, though the voice seemed to belong to that of a child and seemed too happy - Nio still turned around to face the girl with calm, steady movements. Hell, the girl might have gone insane and might very well attack him. It didn't seem to be a concern.
​

 
​

"No," was Nio's simple, short answer. "I'd rather not."
​

@Quark
​

 

[Zooks]

Spoiler

Vodka




There was a sudden rise in speed when the opponent had moved. That instance when the scream from the white-haired woman had traveled to both their ears. Before even the dropped hammer had collided onto the ground, there was a sudden shift of the other's shadow and Vodka's elbow was gripped. He could feel the strength of the grip and on reflex, the vampire's bones hardened in as many areas as possible. Unfortunately, it was only in the most vital regions near his heart, middle and head. He could feel searing pain in his ribs. When the man had punched into his ribs, the same magnitude of impact would have been colliding his own fists as well. No doubt that the opponent's own fists could be hurting as well, even with minimal fractures. Yet he had no intention of stopping. Mustering as much force he could, he shifted his head towards the side when seeing the movement of the leg. Not quite as fast, it kicked on the side of his cheek. before he was grabbed and he groaned as the ground hit his back rather hard. 


The last image Vodka would have seen was the silhouette of the man dropping down on top him. The pain was slowly dulling and there were dark spots in his vision, and Vodka opened his mouth. 


"Heh." 


It was unknown whether the faint smirk on his face was because he couldn't react fast enough as his head was being grabbed, or whether he was trying to say 'You won't have the last laugh." before there was one final heavy thud and Vodka's consciousness faded. 


Cider




When he had climbed up to the roof, he had been watching the scene unfold. The small pack of hellhounds that were slowly gathering around this place. In his Chimera-like form, Cider watched with widened eyes as Vodka was slammed down onto the ground, and the man who had seemed to have gone berserk was pounding his fist into it over and over. 


No, no, remain calm. He told himself. He was not like the other meatheads in this city, he needed to be calm and collected so that he could have the final laugh and not feel Gula's wrath. There wasn't much time now, and the thought of an idea occurred in his head. Using the paw-like hands, to grab onto the 10 gems that he had to sacrifice to change into this form, he hurled it towards the man that was running towards the woman. Not wasting any time, his body descended from the building that he was standing on. A heavy thud, loud as when Vodka had been slammed to the ground, right in between the two humans and he roared. All around that district, people would have all heard the noise. 


The hounds were no exception, and about thirty in total emerged from within the shadows in that very same street. They rushed from both directions towards the centre where the beast, the man and women were. Not even caring about how they had  stepped onto pools of blood belonging to one of the superior monsters, they opened their mouth, some jumping over others to launch their jaws towards the man's shoulder and the woman's 


Which to target..., was the momentary thought in Cider's mind before remembering the image that he had seen through the hellhound. Without blinking, the tail of the chimera-like beast whipped up into the air as the woman was approached from the front and side by hellhounds. The end of the tail could provide an impact like a stone launched from a slingshot towards the junction between her two shoulders to knock her off her balance. 


@Mykinkaiser


@Zuka

[COLOR= rgb(75, 0, 130)]Refara Illinara[/COLOR]


The snow-haired assassin continued to stay crouched against the ground as she clutched at her ankle, she should have realized her cry of pain might alert Garrett to her position and handicap but oddly enough it didn't really register for the woman. She knew in a one on one fight that vampire was no match for Garrett, or at least she hoped as such because she wasn't really in a position she could help too much. She started to think about all the encounters they had had up till this point and the stupid errors she had made thus far that had caused her injury and put the Duo in jeopardy. Funny how that coincided with the exact timing she started to get these weird feelings. Feelings of fear and worry and regret she had never in her life experienced. Thinking of a future with Garrett, maybe even having a child eventually. She never would have even pondered such a thing once and yet now...


Her attention was diverted as she had a growing pit in her stomach, her battle hardened senses realizing almost instantly they were being surrounded and not by a little or small force. Something told her she knew this was coming, the way that first hound had simply sat back and watched while Vodka was being pummeled, didn't growl or tense up at all like a normal animal might until she spoke to it directly. She knew this was bad, and furthermore something terrible was going to happened between Garrett and her that made her grip tighten to white knuckles on her Scythe. She noticed Garrett make a bloody mess of Vodka that would turn most people pale, before starting to run at her. "Garry please! This doesn't feel right don't-!"


It was too late.


Some huge creature slammed with a huge force between the two causing Refara to gasp out with a look close to horror with a deafening roar that made her hands lift up and cover her ears to stop them from bursting. She couldn't focus on that creature however when close to an army of Hell hounds came out of no where and attack the Duo causing Refara to have to reef her eyes and attention sideways, narrowing rolling to the side of two that leaped straight at her. Her scythe came around to cut the heads of two more beasts before lodging itself in a third but there were too many and their determination was unnatural. Most creatures would flee after one of two of their brethren would be killed but not this lot. Obviously the man in the center controlled them somehow but Refara couldn't keep an eye on him to even consider him an attack point. Eventually Refara rolled a fraction to the side and in a weird enough angle that it put pressure on the burning bite on her ankle, at the same time she swung her gaze around only to see the end of the creature she SHOULD have been focusing on suddenly thud her right between her shoulder blades with such force the girl couldn't even cry out. The wind had literally been knocked out of her with a pained gasp, before the momentum saw her slam into the ground leaving her gasping for breath.


Still against the ground the girl scrapped a knee up to half prop herself, to try and tilt her head up, to find Garrett in the swarm of creatures. Her breathing wheezing and voice quite.


"G...G...Garret... j...just go.. It's not safe... f...find Yuki... keep her safe... for me.." Her eyes closing down further, needing to say it even if her voice was too quite and he would never hear her. She wasn't unconscious but she was struggling to breath and her vision was blurred. With the frenzy of creatures she knew she was as good as dead.


@Maki @Mykinkaiser

 

[Solemn Jester]

View attachment 202948


[COLOR= rgb(75, 0, 130)]Refara Illinara[/COLOR]


The snow-haired assassin continued to stay crouched against the ground as she clutched at her ankle, she should have realized her cry of pain might alert Garrett to her position and handicap but oddly enough it didn't really register for the woman. She knew in a one on one fight that vampire was no match for Garrett, or at least she hoped as such because she wasn't really in a position she could help too much. She started to think about all the encounters they had had up till this point and the stupid errors she had made thus far that had caused her injury and put the Duo in jeopardy. Funny how that coincided with the exact timing she started to get these weird feelings. Feelings of fear and worry and regret she had never in her life experienced. Thinking of a future with Garrett, maybe even having a child eventually. She never would have even pondered such a thing once and yet now...


Her attention was diverted as she had a growing pit in her stomach, her battle hardened senses realizing almost instantly they were being surrounded and not by a little or small force. Something told her she knew this was coming, the way that first hound had simply sat back and watched while Vodka was being pummeled, didn't growl or tense up at all like a normal animal might until she spoke to it directly. She knew this was bad, and furthermore something terrible was going to happened between Garrett and her that made her grip tighten to white knuckles on her Scythe. She noticed Garrett make a bloody mess of Vodka that would turn most people pale, before starting to run at her. "Garry please! This doesn't feel right don't-!"


It was too late.


Some huge creature slammed with a huge force between the two causing Refara to gasp out with a look close to horror with a deafening roar that made her hands lift up and cover her ears to stop them from bursting. She couldn't focus on that creature however when close to an army of Hell hounds came out of no where and attack the Duo causing Refara to have to reef her eyes and attention sideways, narrowing rolling to the side of two that leaped straight at her. Her scythe came around to cut the heads of two more beasts before lodging itself in a third but there were too many and their determination was unnatural. Most creatures would flee after one of two of their brethren would be killed but not this lot. Obviously the man in the center controlled them somehow but Refara couldn't keep an eye on him to even consider him an attack point. Eventually Refara rolled a fraction to the side and in a weird enough angle that it put pressure on the burning bite on her ankle, at the same time she swung her gaze around only to see the end of the creature she SHOULD have been focusing on suddenly thud her right between her shoulder blades with such force the girl couldn't even cry out. The wind had literally been knocked out of her with a pained gasp, before the momentum saw her slam into the ground leaving her gasping for breath.


Still against the ground the girl scrapped a knee up to half prop herself, to try and tilt her head up, to find Garrett in the swarm of creatures. Her breathing wheezing and voice quite.


"G...G...Garret... j...just go.. It's not safe... f...find Yuki... keep her safe... for me.." Her eyes closing down further, needing to say it even if her voice was too quite and he would never hear her. She wasn't unconscious but she was struggling to breath and her vision was blurred. With the frenzy of creatures she knew she was as good as dead.


@Maki @Mykinkaiser

Gin


Mister Monk





Gin had been wandering around for a bit. Lost once again," Geez I get lost alot!" He complained scratching his head, in confusion." Where the hell am I supposed to go anyway? You'd think it would be pretty obvious! Most bad guys are arrogant enough to make put a sign above their base!" Gin had come to learn that anyone who thought they where strong enough to take over the world, wasn't above making their location known. Usually that's the thing that lead to their downfall though.


Gin had been doing this for a fairly long time now. So he was slightly experienced in the art of  purifying the unholy. But his sense of direction was terrible. Almost like something out of a manga," grrr, this is so tedious. Maybe I can find someone nearby," Gin said as he closed his eyes, and began to sense for other auras. 


Which turned out to he pointless, because he heard a noise from not far off. He immediately turned his attention towards that area. It seemed terrifying, a huge mass of malevolent energy, and it was focused in one spot. Although when he focused, he seemed to sense other non malevolent energy."Oh great," Gin said using his staff as a walking stick."You know, if I just leave them their to die...not like its my fault... I mean they're the ones who went and got themselves in that position. Why should I have to risk my ass to save them?" Gin said seemingly having a debate with himself. In return his master's voice seemed to echo in his mind."Because, it is your duty as the last surviving monk of your temple." With these words Gin frowned, and began heading towards the mass of dark aura.


It wasn't long before be found himself standing before the source. A massive pack of hell hounds, well that's all he could see. But thanks to his sensory skills, he quickly found the aura of a woman. Who seemed to be on the verge of being swallowed up by the beast. So Gin being the ladies man he was, cracked his neck, and slammed his staff down hard.


The chimes of the talisman on the staff would most likely draw the attention of the beast. But if that didn't work, well his loud mouth certainly would."HEY, YA DAMN DIRTY MUTTS! I GOT SOMETHING YOU CAN CHEW ON RIGHT HERE!" Gin said waving his staff at them vigorously. Then with a arrogant smile, he closed his eyes. Began to mutter under his breath, and then in one instant. A mighty wall of light erupted around him.


He seemed to be chanting, and in doing so he had activated his barrier of holy light. This would at the very least keep the enemy at bay. Gin continued to chant, and walked towards the girl. His barrier at its max size of 10ft around him. As the hell hounds attempted to leap at him they would be forced back, or burned to ash. Gin seemed very different from his normal self. He was calm, and  actually pretty damn cool. He continued his chant, so the barrier wouldn't falter. Then as he reached the girl driving off any hell hounds around her. He lifted her up, and then attempted to walk out of the horde of beast. Not bothering to stay around any longer than necessary. He would have stayed longer, but he wasn't sure he could keep up his barrier for much longer. The girl was his main priority, and once she was safe, he would be sure to return to make sure no one else feel victim to this horde, or their master.


@Maki


@Zuka @Mykinkaiser