Fantasy ✧ Starhunter ✧

[JadeGreen17]

"Well, Kiri. No tapestry of rhetoric and prose is going to change an opinion as strong as that. Since it is clear that some of you still lack my trust, I shall offer some more of my own..."

The maids began to bring out dessert. Cookies, tarts, cakes, brownies, cinnamon rolls and pies. Enough food for an entire army.

"I would like to offer you an airship and her crew. To help you in your quest to find your lost accomplice. I know not where they have found themselves, or even if they are in this world. But seeing as I am the emissary of the first contact between my reality and an entirely different reality and you have been cooperative, and for the most part polite it seems best I return the favor.

I know not where to begin looking. If any of you have powers of extrasensory perception perhaps you can find a lead. But I will offer you one of my own. The Hunters of which I mentioned. Across the atlantic. They are the only other individuals with extensive knowledge of the arcane and supernatural... Though I should warn you they do not take kindly to strangers.

One is an ex student of the paladin's school. He's responsible for the murder of one of its top students, and gravely injured several others... no surprise he's a Ridosian and they're all... bloodthirsty. Another is possessed by a demon of flames and chaos. We tried in vein to contain her."

Rythe glanced out the window at a mountain. Even in the dim lighting it was quite evident the top had been removed, as though a volcanic eruption had occurred and lava had flowed down the slope towards the city.

"They go so far as to call a wendigo... a cannibal who has spent centuries gorging himself on innocent souls a member of their ranks. These heretics are wild, unpredictable and dangerous. But they may be your only lead..."

 

[beymozo]

"Yeah..." Kiri trailed off, keeping to herself in the end.

"Mother... She's out there, I'm sure of it." Ehlijah was grabbed by darkness which obscured his eyes, only a hint of violet glow could be seen as he clutched the beat heartstone hanging over his chest. "I pray to the Idols she's safe and that those so called Nightmare Hunters haven't gotten to or harmed her in any way... if they're as bad as you say anyways." A cold sweat rolled down his face as he cleared his temple. "I'll admit, I've been rather distrusting of you from the start Rythe, but... now that you've said all that you have and through the hospitality, I'm confident that I can at least form an alliance with you... Thank you." He let out a long sigh.

"What 'Lijah said." Draego nodded in agreement as did most of the other watchers.

"So what you're tell us is that we have an implied esper who can distort minds, some crazed fire elemental capable of blowing the top off a mountain, a literal murderer, and a Wendigo so far? Are there anymore we should genuinely be weary of?" Amala seemed puzzled yet curious. "Every ounce of information will be crucial during this... However I must forewarn you on my party's behalf that if given the chance, we may be inclined to infiltrate their ranks to gain more inside knowledge." She continued a bit further.

"You guy's are just going to believe him like that? No questions asked?" Kaimana called out in telepathy.

"We have no other choice Kai, my own mother... her life may be at risk right now... and she's one of the few pieces of my family I have left." Ehlijah snapped for a moment, clearly torn up emotionally.

"Fair, but come on dude, keep a level head on your shoulders. I understand she's your mother, but you can't just get all uppity and emotional about this... It's unlike you to be that way, Cross." Kaimana came right back at him.

"You're right... It's completely unlike me, but at this point, if these people are truly the monsters that Rythe has lead them out to be, then I'll no choice but strike them down with my blade. If it's the opposite, then Mr. Redwin over here will have some explaining to do." Ehlijah sighed.

"Honestly. I've found everything he's said to be perfectly understandable so far ya guys. Besides, who the hell befriends a Wendigo anyways? You can't just do that unless you're a bloo-" Aleixandrea was cut off mid statement.

"Symon. Literally Symon has a fucking Wendigo as a familiar, Aleixandrea. Don't you remember anything at all!?" Kaimana screamed at Aleixandrea over the telepathic channel.

"oh... yeah... I forgot about that one... oops." She said awkwardly, biting into a donut as she shuffled her chair closer to Ehlijah but farther from Kaimana.

Djinn meanwhile back in the storage unit was sifting through boxes when came across the viles of numug. "Oooo, Fairy Dust. This'll fetch quite a few big bucks in the underworld." He exclaimed stuffing the magick disabling powder away; after sifting through all the stuff he had looted and packing it away, Djinn used one last sign and swapped places with his shadow clone which immediately puffed into smoke within the room. Just like that, he flushed the toilet and headed right on out into the hallway all casually, his personal pocket dimensions stuffed with loot as if nothing had happened.

"Ready to go when you are, Mr. Butler man." Djinn cracked a cheeky smirk as he propped his shades up.

 

[JadeGreen17]

"Not that stand mentioning... or pose as notable of a threat as an individual. Their ranks have waxed and wained over the years. But there are other radicals to their cause. Some even say that they managed to cause a defection within the Ridosian empire which led to this war; so they may yet have access to more resources than you realize. Keep your wits about you, all of you.

Feel free to eat as much as you like... or even take some with you, as a show of good faith. I will arrange for a coach to take you to the airship dock where I will ensure a ship is waiting when you are ready to leave."

He stood from the table, bowed and left the room just as the butler returned for Djinn.

 

[beymozo]

"Right. We will." Ehlijah and the other Watchers all bowed and waved to Rythe before he left the room. Each and everyone of them quickly finished what food they had left with Aleixandrea deciding to take some stuff of her own food for later, including a pair of Rosai Cider bottles to go. The rest of the Watchers felt as if they didn't need to take anything to go and promptly left the room with the coach.

"And just like that, the Watchers were swept off their feet and placed in the hands of an old man with creepy black eyes." Kaimana sarcastically remarked in telepathy, holding on his flute as if meaning to play it. "Let's just hope our little tale here doesn't end horribly wrong in every conceivable way..." His eyes shot a glance towards a view of Arcadia outside a window.

"Dunno about ya'll, but I can't wait to have more of this Rosai Cider when I get the chance. Stuff's good." Aleixandrea stated, gleefully strutting about, both the bottles nestled between her arms.

"Honestly... If I'm going to be real. That Rosai stuff, it wasn't that great." Kiri stated. "But I guess that's just because I'm a Vampyre and my tastebuds are null and void when it comes to anything but the taste of blood."

"It was alright..." Natalee quietly added.

"You know what, if I'm going to be quite honest myself, it was a little too sweet for my palette." Ehlijah chimed in.

"If there was at least one good thing about that banquet, it was definitely whatever that poultry was... I think they called it duck?" Draego inquired.

"It was duck." Amala noted.

"The duck was really juicy and tender. If only I knew what the damn recipe was, Nat and I would probably cook some more up in a heartbeat." Draego placed his pointer finger and thumb in an L shape under his chin as if attempting to ponder what it might be.

"Oh I agree right there Drae my guy! That duck was soooo good." Aleix's eyes widened with a giddy expression. "But... But! Nothing compares to the Lasagna. Oh the Lasagna!" She continued.

"Agreed Ale. Agreed." Ehlijah gave a thumbs up. As the group carried on towards the airship, they continued to talk and chat amongst themselves, this time outside of the telepathic channel they had made amongst themselves.

 

[JadeGreen17]

Like seemingly everywhere else in Arcadia, the airship dock was somehow nearly immaculate of dust and debris. The crates of supplies were neatly stacked and well organized. The workers diligent and punctual in their duties. He wore an Arcadian guards' captain's uniform a few sizes larger than everyone else with a fair few medallions and commendations. His uniform barely concealed his broad, muscled chest and thick arms like tree trunks. He had salt and peppered hair with an only slightly receded hairline and horseshoe mustache; along with a silver handgun and two inactive weapon handles, one on each side of his belt.

"I Am Captian Damarcus Morningstar." He began formally, with a deep and powerful voice. "I have been instructed by the Crown Priest to escort you on your mission, and take you wherever it is you need to go. We are making the final preparations for liftoff as we speak and will be departing at sunrise."

The airship they were given was of the smaller variety, apparently faster; more maneuverable and more suited to the type of search-and-rescue mission the Watchers were priming themselves for. And By the looks of it, sunrise was not far off as the reddish-orange glow was beginning to creep over the eastern horizon.

 

[beymozo]

"What's-" Ehlijah froze for a moment upon seeing Damarcus for the first time, his eyes had a wide blank expression to them as his hands begun to twitch; his blood was coming to a boiling point. "That stature... Eren..?" He muttered under his slow and heavy breath filled to the brim traumatic anxiety. Ehlijah felt himself engulfed in the flames of his past as he was thrown back into the body of his nine year old self.

"G-Gwyn...? What... What happened?" Ehlijah stood over the corpse of his twin sister, he was confused and unable to understand nor process what was exactly going on; Gwyn's body was in the midst of a smoldering crater within the hardwood floor, she had been mangled and torn asunder with tatters of cloth and flesh scattered about the room from an inhuman impact. Moment by moment, the estate slowly burnt to the ground, pylons of hot wood crashed against the floor as all Ehlijah could think to do was collapse onto his trembling knees and cry out loud for somebody to save him in this harrowing moment.

For a brief moment, the young boy felt relieved upon seeing a hulking figure with flowing silver hair crash through the roof above him, almost as if a guardian angel had been cast down from paradise to save the boy of his fate... Yet that brief moment of hope was soon to be crushed as the man stood up, below his own two feet another freshly pummeled corpse lay there, the man's neck was utterly snapped and many of his limbs were twisted in various unnerving ways.

"Uncle..? What did you do to my uncle!?" Ehlijah screamed, tears streaming down his eyes as he reached a hand out.

"Yet another vermin has been lured out." the man cracked a grin and shot a sinister glance back at Ehlijah, one of his silver eyes glowing red under the blood moon.

"My hunger has yet to be sated... so I'll enjoy gobbling you up like the rest of them."

"I don't know who or what you are... But I..."

"Hmm?" The man turned around, exposing his bare chest littered with scars to the young boy.

"I-I... I"

"Come on spit it out kid, I'm dying of hunger over here. You don't wanna keep me waiting all day on my meal don't you?"

"I..."

"What are you waiting for! What will you do? What are you trying to tell me? Spill it. Spill it!" The man shouted at Ehlijah with anticipation.

"I... I'll..." Ehlijah stopped hesitating and finally grabbed hold of a shard of red hot tempered glass, letting out a small whimper from the searing hot pain. "fucking kill you!" He screamed at the top of his lungs as he charged at the intruder standing before him and attempted to thrust the shard deep within the man's gut; however... Ehlijah's hopes were crushed as the glass splintered and shattered against the man's pale skin and he was sent crashing into the book shelf with a swift counter from the intruder.

"Heheheh... And so the feast begins." The man scoffed at Ehlijah, thick black smoke was emanating from his raised fist; with each step he took, the ground seemingly shook as Ehlijah's vision went blurry.

"Ehly." He felt a voice call out to him. "Ehly... Ehly. Ehly! EHLY!" The voice got more and more intense. "EHLIJAH LILT CROSS!" The voice screamed at the top of it's lungs with immense pressure as Ehlijah sudden snapped back to reality, having obviously gone off into a trance. Draego and Aleixandrea were standing before him while everyone else was working with the Arcadians to prepare to the airship.

"There you are... what in Pandaemonium's sake just happened to you there 'Lijah? Literally just zoned out for a few minutes for fewer reasons than I can surmise kid." Draego added.

"Uhhh... I don't know..." He replied.

"Are you okay dear?" Aleix clinged onto Ehly, intending to warm him up a little and provide some comfort.

"Yeah, I am now. Thanks." He expressed with a thankful grin while warmly embracing his lover. "Apologies for that, episode. Had a bit of a traumatic flashback there all of a sudden..." He stated as Aleixandrea stepped away for a moment to allow her fiancée to courteously bow. "My name's Ehlijah Cross by the way... and you're Mr. Damarcus Morningstar, correct?" He held his hand out wishing to shake hands Damarcus.

 

[JadeGreen17]

"Y... yes yes. An honor to meet you, Mr Cross. I take it you are the... leader of this group?" Damarcus asked with a warm smile, reciprocating his offer to handshake. "So tell me, Mr Redwin included a message that I was to help you look for someone. Precisely who are we looking for, and where are we going to be looking?" He queried as he began to show them onto the outside deck of the ship, lined with about a dozen machine gun and flak gun nests, before bringing them inside. The central lobby was a strange combination of industrial minimalism to save weight with just a bit of arcadian decor with flags and plaques spread across the wall denoting the ship's storied history as a member of the arcadian sky force, and his men were busy loading on plywood crates of supplies for their journey.

 

[beymozo]

"Yep. I'm the one and only leader of this party. Pleasure to meet you as well." Ehlijah nodded as he strode alongside Damarcus into the airship for the small tour. Djinn and Kaimana were straggling in behind them while powerlifting a massive crate together; the two of them were throwing shade and swears at one another as usual. The conversation was conveniently muffled by the sounds of soldiers and captains blundering about, however small details were relatively audible but indecisive, the only things being clear was that Kaimana was acting rather demeaning compared to Djinn who was clearly fucking with him once again.

Eventually the two's dispute coalesced and Kaimana let out a shrill and angry scream.

"Alright, that's it. I am going to beat you death with my flute. Come the FUCK here!" Kaimana blurted as he pulled out his weapon of choice and chased the Homunculus off the airship and into the docking area. Draego gave a sigh as he ran off after the two in an attempt to fetch the both of them.

"As you can tell, we're a dysfunctional bunch..." Ehlijah commented as Aleixandrea sat herself down on the crate that Kaimana and Djinn had brought in while her fiancée continued to speak. "Anyways, yeah. I'll keep this brief. We're looking for my Mother, Pollyanna." Ehlijah's tone of voice shifted all of a sudden.

"We're unsure of her whereabouts but I'm certain she's west of here..." The heartstone began to beat once again, it's glowing pulse lit up and pointed westward. Ehlijah went into another much smaller trance as the slits in his eyes suddenly became rather draconian as they started to glow a deep violet color followed by an immense rise in magickal energies which could be felt in the souls of those within the general area; although it quickly died down, it was clear that something inhumanly strong was slumbering deep within him yet it was given presence during moments of great emotional strife.

"Take us straight to where the Nightmare Hunters are currently living." He emphatically declared with a raging inferno in his eyes. Draego shortly returned with the rest of the party, Kaimana and Djinn both had exaggerated bumps atop their heads along with a few loose teeth, black eyes, and bruised up faces; both of them were clearly taught a rather brief yet violent lesson by the stoic old man. Kiri let out a yawn, clearly starting to become drowsy.

"Does anyone else smell like something's bur- Oh fuck, the Sun's out. Gotta get back into the darkness." Kiri's eyes widened as she noticed the side of her cheek igniting on fire as the sun's light grazed her skin, this prompted her to immediately shove Aleixandrea aside and rip open the crate that Kaimana and Djinn had brought inside. Conveniently the crate nothing inside of it but a cloth and a few other small items, so without absolutely any hesitation, Kiri hopped inside the crate and sealed herself within .

"Ya should've warned me before doing that Kiri..." Aleixandrea grumbled as she stood back up, holding onto her gut after the impact.

"Apologies... Had no choice unless I wanted to be burst into flames." Kiri let out a cough, a smidge of black smoke exited a tiny peephole in the side of the crate. "Don't mind that smoke..." She added.

 

[JadeGreen17]

"I believe its the duty of a leader to instill discipline in his unit." Damarcus said, placing a hand on Ehly's shoulder, and speaking sternly after Kaimana and Djinn stopped fighting. The crate they had picked up wasn't even set for their airship; they had been trying to load a cargo full of fine china which had just been imported to arcadia. "You musn't be afraid to be stern with them, to raise your voice and hurt their feelings a little in the short term. Because in the long term your group will become more coordinated and more efficient, and your friends will learn to swallow their petty disagreements for the good of everyone. They might say its "none of your business" but it becomes your business when it starts to affect the team. Your friend there has the right idea, but physical violence doesn't help much either. Be best if your friends didn't accumulate injuries before our journey even begins. Here... I'll show you how its done."

Damarcus stormed over to Kaimana and Djinn, casting a long shadow over them as he puffed out his chest. He wasn't yelling, but at the same time his loud and commanding tone made it clear he meant business. "Are you part of the loading crew? Is it your job to decide aboard what supplies we need? I thought we were supposed to be the ones helping you. That crate is an import, unload it immediately..." A logistics supervisor power walked up next to the captain, about to report that a crate had been taken from the wrong pile without the paperwork being filed before realizing the context of what had happened and looked at a list. "If they want to help so badly, and think they have the extra energy, what can we put them on...?"

"We still need to load the munitions for the main gun, we could put them on that." He glanced at a stack of large caliber shells, no doubt weighing a few hundred pounds each.

"You seriously trust them with something that could explode?" Damarcus asked.

"We load the primer separately. The shells are inert... just very heavy."

"Alright, men." His commanding voice returned. "You heard the supervisor. I need three dozen of those shells taken to the munitions locker on the upper deck. We have about twenty minutes until the sun comes up and we leave, so double time it!"

He turned to Ehly with a firm smile and spoke softly. "That's how it's done. As for your other friend here..." He excused himself for a moment, returning with a black folded cloak. It was a full body robe and gloves, not unlike the ones the Obido wore but completely black and with a translucent veil. He did a double take. "I've flown with... her type before. Have her keep her voice down about it... some of my subordinates don't exactly have the best perceptions of vampires. But I think the good lady deserves a little more dignity than riding in a wooden coffin..."

 

[beymozo]

"I've dealt with them a few times before. All it is between those two nowadays is simple banter, nothing else." Ehlijah gave a firm nod in reply to Damarcus' words of wisdom.

"I'm going to add on what 'Lijah said here but believe me, if they were being serious about their antics, this whole city would've been nothing more than a smoldering mountain of ash by the arrival of the next witching hour. The two have had a good sturdy lesson in their behavior once before... since then it's been nothing more than bouts of comedic rough housing every now and then. Doesn't mean I still won't beat the daylight out of their skulls once in a while." Draego gave a jolly smile, indulging himself in the conversation.

"Must say though Damarcus, I feel as if I'm looking into mirror every time I gaze upon you, it's almost like you're my long lost twin or something." The old man chuckled.

Meanwhile Kaimana and Djinn stepped over to the logistics supervisor and respectfully gave a light bow. Both of them were eager to help, wasting no time on getting a hastily thrown together set of instructions before heading on their merry way to help out. The rivals felt as if they would be able to get the rest of what needed to be done along the way.

"My fangs are retractable anyways... No one'll ever know so long as no one's a little snitch about it." Kiri callously replied as she cautiously peeked out of the wooden box and swiped the cloak from Damarcus' hands before slithering back inside like some kind of mouse scurrying deep into it's burrow.

"Sheesh, I'm tired." Aleixandrea said out loud after a long drawn out yawn. "Aye. Big guy, got a mat or somethin' to lay on? I could use a good rest for an hour or two." She approached Damarcus.

 

[JadeGreen17]

"You there!" Damarcus called to one of his lieutenants. "This good lady will be taking your quarters for our journey, kindly show her to your room. You will be bunking with the enlisted."

The lieutenant clearly had a few choice words about surrendering his private cabin, but opted to keep them to himself. Begrudgingly showing Aleixandria to a private cabin. This was no luxury warship, with a fairly stiff one-person mattress on a cot, a small desk and a single private toilet and sink. Thin whitewashed sheet metal walls and worn carpet. The officer took his personal uniform and trunk of other belongings out before showing her how to work the door and leaving.

Not long after they were in the air, doing a flyby of the city and its glistening glow as they traveled northeast, rising higher and higher to attain a more efficient cruising speed. Most of the day of travel would be largely uneventful. It wasn't until late afternoon that anything of interest happening.

An alarm sounded; Followed by Damarcus' commanding voice projecting through the voice tubes throughout the ship.

"Ridosian Flotilla! North-Northwest! Sixteen Clicks and closing fast! Everyone, Get to your battle stations!" The men jumped up, some of whom were off duty. They began scrambling to their posts. They only had a single big gun, affixed to the underside of the ship on a deployable mount. The rest of their firepower in manned flak emplacements along the outside deck; half a dozen to each side. The ship began a hard turn.

A few moments later a whistling shell sailed past, nearly striking a decisive first blow and detonated to their starboard side and about a kilometer below them. The Captian spotted the enemy fleet through a gold and ivory spyglass. All around them was nothing but clouds and the frigid north atlantic below; dotted with the occasional iceberg. Then he saw them, rising above the cumulus clouds.

Five Ridosian ships in total, in a fairly tight formation. All of them a grungy gray with a red and white yin-yang emblazoned on the outside. Three frigate class, one battleship class and one carrier class. The frigates being somewhat comparable in armament to their own ship, but somewhat smaller, stouter and faster thanks to the greater technology and efficiency of the ridosians. Both the carrier and battleship were much larger than their ship. The battleship had a sort of track or revolving midsection, around which ran the formidable main gun; giving it the capacity to fly off the ship from virtually any angle. The carrier, predictably had a runway across the top and a lineup of stout, miniature aircraft toting light guns and a single bomb each being readied for sortie in the event the battleship's gun did not do them in.