Fantasy Unlikely Partners

[Flutterby]

Ilaria crouched for the round of shots, knowing better than to leap forward out in front of the guns. She waited until the Golden Flame members near her made the move, and then she sprung forward.
Ilaria locked eyes with a boar-shaped demon, and made to spring onto its back. At the last second, she slid low, dashing her long claws along its side. Had she sprung above it, it would have thrust its tusks into her stomach. It squealed, and spun to face her again as she found her footing.
It charged a moment before she was ready, and delivered a glancing blow with the side of its tusk to her hindquarters, a narrow miss from a goring. Knocking her off her paws, it turned to have another go at her.

 

[Tharivle]

Brutes fighting brutes was what was going on on the two sides as large hulking demons fought against mergers empowered by various large creatures like bears, lions and other large mammals. The demons strength matched their hulking size wile the mergers strength matched the strength of the animals empowering them, so all in all is was a pound for pound brawl. The middle fighting was much more technical and skillful. Two mergers clearly siblings, each empowered by cobras were able to bend their bodies in impossible ways, as if they just didn't have joints, to avoid attacks and strike back. Felix wasn't merged with his companion but by the looks of it he didn't need the extra help. A demon that looked like a tall man in every way other than the fact that it had 6 arms, each caring a sword advanced upon him with in a whirlwind of blades, but Felix dispatched the demon within seconds, using his shield like a battering-ram then cutting it down with a slash as it lost its footing. Three other demons came upon him, but he danced around, dodging and deflecting, taking little cuts and stabs at his attackers before they weakened and he could strike killing blows.

Rex attacked at the same time Ilaria did but he shied away from the tusks. Rex ran after the demon as it charged over Ilaria and hit it in the shoulder as it was turning around. The blow nocked the demon onto its side. Rex bit into its underside but let go because he got kicked. Chris had taken a few steps forward and aimed. As soon as Rex had backed away he fired once into the creatures side as it was getting up. There was a loud squeal of pain, but it still got up anyway. The boar charged again, but slower and clumsier because it was hurt. Chris was about to fire again when there was a shriek from above. There was a bat like demon diving straight for him. He raised his weapon and shot it, hoping that Rex and Ilaria wouldn't let him get run over by the boar. The built hitting its shoulder sending it falling to the ground. It got up and faced him and Chris fired again, hitting it in the chest, killing the skinny creature instantly.

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria blinked as Rex hit the demon, knocking it away for long enough for her to get up. Chris fired a shot, but even the magic bullets had a hard time with the demon boar's thick skin. The boar tried to move on Chris, as he was distracted by another demon, but Ilaria took the opportunity to leap onto its back, claws digging into its chest from around its shoulders. The black panther reached its head around, and buried its teeth into flesh. She didn't let go until the boar had stopped, laid down, and stopped twitching.
The taste of demon blood was more like sulfur than iron.

As the fight went on, the demons they were fighting were revealed to be vicious but unskilled. They were being cut down almost at the same rate that theyre were pouring in from the outside woods. But their numbers didn't seem to be slowing, and then came a bellow from the edge of the Grove.
With a clap of thunder, the clouds opened up and started pouring rain, like the first monsoon of the season. A bolt of lighting lit the sky, and kissed the earth at the very edge of the Grove. There, stood Zareth.
To Chris and Ilaria, the demon would have looked vaguely familiar from Mile 7. Between the time of their last meeting and this attack, though, he had doubled in size, and there was a dark blue ripple to his fur. His eye's blazed with a blue light. Hanging from his neck, on a crude rope necklace, was a smooth blue stone. As soon as Zareth emerged from the woods, Ilaria turned to look, feeling the same pull that she felt at the times of the tides. The Sea Spirit was crying for help.

 

[Tharivle]

As Zareth landed the skies cleared up but now there were more flying demons than before. "Take to the skies!" Felix yelled over the sounds of battle. At his command about 20 or so people merged with their winged companions and they sored up to meet the new threat. Since the start another 12 willows had fallen and the remaining three were being swarmed. Felix was about to order the retreat when two groups of five willows crawled onto the field and started attacking the demons from both flanks, letting the mergers on the sides have a brief breather before they charged in toward the middle to help everybody else.
Zareth bellowed a challenging roar but made no move to attack. Instead he just stood there letting his lackey demons charge to their deaths. Felix made his way over to where Chris and Ilaria were. "I'm going to attack it." He said to the two of them.
"Are you mad Felix?" Chris yelled back before firing three shots into a charging demon, killing it.
"Ilaria, If i get and keep its attention, could you get close and cut off that stone? All of our flyers are person sized and will be seen, but you don't have the same limitations when it comes to flying."
It was obvious that Chris was not happy about the proposed plan, but he said nothing to interject. Instead he reloaded and continued fighting.

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria stopped and starred at Zareth, her eyes glazing over a bit as she listened for the Sea Spirit. She was convinced she would hear it, if she listened closely enough. If not for Rez, she wouldn't been sliced open, but the large canine brought down her demon-attacker before it hit her. She blinked, brought back to reality, and took a few steps forward, before she caught sight of Felix and made a move to meet him.
Ilaria barely caught what Felix said, as she was in a growling match with a demon, but Rex dispatched it quickly enough for her to catch Chris's response. She figured it out, and grinned. She was already nodding by the time Felix turned to ask her.
"I'll await your distraction," the panther growled in her voice, its mouth parted but not really moving. In a soft flash, the panther disappeared. It didn't appear to be replaced by anything.. until a high-pitched whining sounded in Chris's and then Felix's ear, and Ilaria the mosquito flew off to get close to Zareth.

 

[Tharivle]

"Throw me." Felix said to Chris. Chris whistled and slung his gun around his back. Rex came running at him and leapt into him disappearing in a small, golden explosion as they merged. A demon charged Chris and Felix as Felix back peddled a few steps. Chris now supper fast and strong and with sharp claws quickly dispatched the chubby little monkey looking thing that attacked him. Felix sheathed his weapon and looped his shield around his back, and ran right at Chris who was standing directly between him and Zareth. As Felix got to him Chris grabbed him under his chest plate and spun, throwing Felix almost 30 feet into the air. Chris didn't wait to see what would happen, he just rejoined the battle, this time staying merged and slicing through enemies as they came to him.
Just as Felix started to louse speed and started falling there was a loud piercing cry of an eagle. From above the battle, circling in the skies until he got his queue, a massive eagle dove straight down towards Felix. As it dove it caught on fire and its armor seemed to dematerialize and disappear. There was an explosion of golden fire as the burning eagle hit Felix about 10 feet off the ground. Then from under the flames Felix came shooting out just a foot from the ground. His hands were at his sides but they looked like bird talons. His face had pulled together slightly and had eagle like features. his armor had even morphed, it still looked like the armor, but now it had feathery features. But the most notable feature were the massive wings. Each of them were almost 7 feet long and made of golden light. Felix left a trail of fire behind him as he pulled up away from the ground, then took several powerful beats of his wings, gaining several feet of altitude at a time, heading almost straight up.
Many flying demons veered to attack him, one couldn't be sure the exact number because there was such a mess of wings in one spot. But one thing that was certain, after about the 6th demon fell from the sky dead before they hit the ground, the air around Felix cleared as the demons flew away not wanting to be the next between his tallons. Then he gained a bit of altitude so he was about 20 feet higher than the head of Zareth, then dove toward him and the match was on. As Felix got closer Zareth breathed deeply in and let out a blast of blue fire. Felix spun, folding his wings in and shifting to the side a few feet, dodging the attack. When he opened his wings again he was coming up along the demons side and dove under a swipe from its large clawed hand. He then arched his back and shot straight up the demons side. Felix didn't strike out at the demon instead a plume of golden fire shot up under him and hit Zareths underside by his armpit. The blast didn't seem to hurt the demon at all, but it did throw it off balance, and it made him very very angry.

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria didn't get a chance to see the fantastic display of Felix's merging; she was buzzing as quickly as she could toward Zareth. The tiny wings of a mosquito didn't cover distance too well. She had finally reached him, and hovered directly in front of the sea-shard, trying to figure out her next move. The Sea Spirit was almost forming words in her mind now, and it was horribly distracting.
Her contemplation were disrupted when Felix attacked Zareth with fire, throwing him off balance. Her tiny body buzzed frantically away, trying desperately to avoid the flailing arm of the demon. It was a narrow escape; if she could have sighed with relief, she would have.
Ilaria knew that she needed a different approach, and so she flew as far away from Zareth as she dared. She waited a moment, for Zareth to stop wobbling so violently, and then dove toward the demon as fast as her mosquito wings could go.

 

[Tharivle]

Felix continued straight up beating his wings to get away from the demon. Zareth regained his balance then looked up after his opponent. The demon raised his hands and the clouds above Felix started to swirl and electrify. Zelix dove straight down as a bolt of lightning chased him. Felix spread his wings seconds before hitting the ground and veered away as the bolt struck where he had been seconds before. Once the bolt landed Felix pulled up again and started circling Zareth. The demon just stood there moving only his eyes and head, watching and waiting for Felix's next pass at him, because wile it was enraged, this demon was also cunning, and if it didn't let his opponent get an attack of opportunity then he would eventually land a blow.

A spider like demon attacked Chris. It looked like someone had taken two spiders and mashed them together. The creature had one wide body, with two heads and eight legs on each side. Its necks were also longer than a normal spiders would be, almost like it had snake necks. This demon stood about 9 feet tall and was just as long and wide as it was tall. It had just come onto the battlefield and for some reason it decided that it was hungry for wolf of all things. There was a fallen merger next to him and a spear next to him, Chris picked up the spear and hurled it at the very quickly approaching creature. The demon stopped its advance and crouched and moved its heads to the sides and the spear sailed between them and over it. But to make it worse it caught the spear in one of its jays then using its other head it gripped it and broke it in half, spitting both broken halves to each side. The demon continued its charge and laughed at Chris. The demon was nearly upon him and Chris was just standing there. As both heads stretched out to cut him in half with their massive jaws there was a flash of golden light and Rex materialized at the same speed he had run into Chris and sailed between the two heads. Both heads snapped at him but missed and they followed Rex back but the body stayed where it was. Chris dove under it and flipped onto his back as he did so, also wile pulling his M1 around in front of him. Chris unloaded the entire clip into the creatures underside, firing more towards the chest just under the necks. Each shot exploded as the built sank into the demon. And by the time he was done firing one head had been blown off at the base of the neck and the other was damaged bad. The legs started to buckle and Rex tackled it from the side as Chris rolled towards Rex. The demon fell dead on its side then all the way flat as Chris stood all the way and got out from under it before it fell on him. Chris quickly reloaded then put the gun around his back again and merged with Rex again and went back to hand to hand against smaller more manageable demons.

 

[Flutterby]

It was difficult to keep on a straight flight path while buzzing at such a high speed, and even though mosquitoes were basically unnoticeable, she had to admit she needed speed more than stealth. Halfway through her dive, she became a dragonfly, and then zoomed even faster toward the hostage sea-shard.
With the eyes fixed on the shard, she waited until the last second. In a flash of light just below Zareth's cheek, she became a baboon, and fell onto the necklace, cutting through it halfway with razor teeth. She wrapped a paw through the necklace, and closed her eyes tightly.
In the next instant, she was an elephant, clutching tightly to the shard with her mouth and trunk. The damaged cord snapped taught, and then broke. Ilaria felt herself enter freefall, and made one last change, becoming a falcon and driving herself away with frantic wing beats.

 

[Tharivle]

Felix started circling so he could look for Ilaria. He saw the little flash as she turned into a dragonfly. He flew a little higher so Zareth looked up a bit more to see him, then Ilaria ripped off the shard.
As the shard ripped off Zareth, he looked down with a panicked look. As Ilaria flew away with the shard. Zareth swung a clawed hand after her and missed her feathers by inches as she changed into a falcon.
Almost immanently the storm cleared and Felix dove down. He separated from his eagle companion 10 feet above Zareth and drew his sword, and as Zareth came down to all fours and took a step to try to chase Ilaria, Felix drove the blade through the top of the demons head, and held onto the hilt to guide himself to the ground as the demon fell now powerless and dead.
As their leader fell and the source of their power taken, the remaining demons weakened slightly and scattered in fear, knowing that they were now outmatched.

Chris looked up as Ilaria turned into a falcon and narrowly escaped. As the army before them scattered the mergers pulled back to the line of willows that was now coming up from deeper in the grove. Chris retreated as well.

 

[Flutterby]

Ilarja felt the wind of the claw swipe, just inches away from her body. She drove her wings downward again, knowing that the hit would've nearly killed her.
The demons scattered faster than she thought they would, many using the last bit of the energy surge to make a portal back to wherever they usually hid out.
With the demon's clearing, Ilaria coasted down to just behind the line of Golden Flame and willows. She had the shard clutched in her beak, it's weight making the landing a little awkward. The silver-winged falcon sat on the grass, and watched the scattered scabbles begin to die out. Her eyes drifted to the burned and damaged willows, and she ruffled her wings a little. Such a shame.
Chris briefly crossed her field of vision as he retreated as well, and she forced herself to look away, searching for Felix.

 

[Tharivle]

Zareth had fallen and Felix found himself standing on the demons body with his sword buried hilt deep in the demons head. Felix rushed to pull it out expecting to be swarmed for killing the leader. But it seemed like the demon army had no intention on avenging their fallen leader. Felix just stood there with his sword raised waiting for an attack that never came. Once the demons all gone, either disappearing through portals or flying away Felix sheathed his sword and started walking through the battlefield towards where the mergers had gathered.
There were about 300 slain demons riddled across the now scorched part of small woods that was the outskirts of the grove, but it brought little comfort because mingled within the bodies of the demons was around half of the force that Felix lead into battle, about 70 people. All of the first 20 willows were dead as well as a couple of from the second wave of trees, their limbs brittle and scorched.
As Felix walked he occasionally checked on someone, only to shake his head and close their eyes that had affixed open. The crowd of mergers all unmerged and started wandering out doing the same thing that Felix was doing.

Chris was looking for Ilaria. He had seen where she landed but lost track of her as everybody started moving again.
Seth walked up quietly behind Ilaria, "That was a very brave thing you did young lady." Seth's companion was with him but he ran out into the battlefield and started pawing over fallen companions trying two wake them. "You have no idea how many would have died in a direct battle with a monster like that. You really did save us today."

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria turned to look at Seth, with a tilt of her falcon-head. There was a very weak flash of light, but instead of a human Ilaria, there was a silver tabby striped cat. The cat's tail lashed weakly; she was too tired from making several large transformations in a short space of time to go from something her current size, back to human size. She wouldn't be in a human form again for an hour, at least.
The small housecat stepped toward Seth and placed the Sea Shard on the ground between them. "I trust the Golden Flame is more equipped to deal with this than I," Her voice took on a soft purr in this form, but there was a hoarse quality to it that had not been there before. "And I trust you to keep this savior-type talk to yourself." Her feline eyes narrowed at him a little, but there was worry within them as well. The last thing she needed was the Golden Flame deciding to treat her like a hero.
Ilaria opened her mouth to add something, but what came out was a shocked screech. The offending Golden Flame member looked down, as she balanced on three paws. He tried to reach down and pet her, apologizing for stepping on her paw, but she let out a hiss and he took his leave quickly. With her fur ruffled, she looked back to Seth, and added. "I was saying, I'm sorry for the losses the Golden Flame took today."

 

[Tharivle]

Seth carefully picked up the dark blue shard and undid the remains of the belt that was attached to it. "Will do." He said with a small smile. Seth scolded the man that had walked by then tried to pet her, but said nothing because the hiss got the point across. "It is always a shame to louse any of our number, but the nights are always the first to go to battle. Without masters to teach we cannot continue on, and without apprentices to learn we will die out." Seth looked sad, but as he looked into the blue stone in his hands he smiled softly again, "Rest now great one. You are safe once more."

Chris saw Seth as he started talking to Ilaria and made his way over to him. Chris reached the two of them as Seth spoke to the shard, and arrived just in time to hear a faint answer, "Thank you noble flames... My pain has ended... I will rest now..." The shard grew silent and wile it still hummed with power it lessoned, as if something within it had gone to sleep.
Chris waited patiently then looked at Ilaria, "Are you okay?"

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria gave a small nod, respectfully accepting his words, even though they didn't quite make sense to her. Group-beings were so odd sometimes.
She felt a chill down her spine, at the sound of the sea spirit's soft response, and immediately thought of the sea outside of her home in Mullbrook, where she had her rendezvous with the moon. The sound of waves, the constant soundtrack to her life, was so like the spirit's voice that she felt suddenly homesick.
The cat came out of her own thoughts at the sound of Chris's voice. "I'm fine." She retorted, a little snappy. Her paw still stung. She gave Chris an apologetic look, and then corrected herself. "I'm not hurt, just stuck at this size for a while. Unfortunately, people seem to be having a hard time seeing me," She stepped quickly toward Chris to avoid another pair of feet. The tip of her tail flicked slightly. "You and Rex are alright?"

 

[Tharivle]

Chris looked a little confused as to why she was stuck but didn't commit on it, "Rex and I are both fine, although I can't say the same for many others." Chris looked back sadly as the bodies of the fallen mergers that were now being carried back to the grove. Rex then padded up to them and laid down next to Chris. He sniffed towards Ilaria as if checking to see if it was her, but didn't really do anything about it.

In the next few hours the dead willows were set on fire and completely burned away. Then large branches were cut from the biggest willows and planted in the clearing with the Sun Tree. Almost immediately the branches came to life and seemed to grow roots. They were very small and it would take years to grow to fighting size, but all the willows lost were now replaced.
The bodies of the demons were piled up and unceremoniously burned.
And the bodies of the dead mergers and companions were placed together in pairs and buried. A tree or bush or bed of flowers would mark the spot of every pair or small group of pairs.

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria gave a vague nod, moving her eyes away from Chris's face for a moment, looking at Rex instead. There was a prick of guilt, at feeling uncomfortable with his grief, since they had both slept together and become friends. She wasn't great with feelings.
"I think we should probably get some rest," She merowed softly, glancing between Seth and Chris. "Thank you for handling the shard." She directed her voice at Seth, and then nudged Chris's leg. It would be better to just rest, than to make any plans. The immediate danger had passed. "C'mon."

 

[Tharivle]

The people that had fought in the battle either went to the great hall or stayed in the background and rested wile everyone else started cleaning up and burring the fallen.

There was no stream or river through the grove but there was a few springs, and wile salt water would have been better it was all that was available. Seth chose one of the smaller pools closer to the middle of the grove and had 5 small willows move to encompasses a defensive circle around the spring. The pool was circular and 4 feet wide and about 2 feet deep in the middle, and had one lily pad in the middle. Seth bent down and placed the shard in the middle of the pad and instantly the whole spring bloomed. Flowers of many kinds rose up around the edges of the spring. The lily pad wrapped up the shard and transformed into a flower with the stem bulging where the shard was. The flower was unlike anything ever seen, just like how the Sun Tree was magical and unbelievable, so was this flower, and the surrounding pool. Even the grass in the small clearing grew thicker and more lush. The water was already clean and clear but now it was perfectly still and smooth. Its glassy surface untouched, and under the surface there were swirls of dark blue power that moved through the water without disturbing the surface.
Seth watched in wonder as the pool transformed. It took about 2 minutes to stop growing/changing. "Don't tell him I said so, but you have made a much more beautiful resting place than the sun did." Seth said. There was a ripple from the middle of the water that hit the edge of the pool at the same time, but other than that there was no response. Seth bowed slightly as he took a step backwards, then he turned around and walked out of the clearing.

Chris nodded as Ilaria suggested rest, now realizing how wore out he was. He led the way back to where their stuff was. Since the battle the willow that was there had returned to its original spot and was waving in the breeze as they approached. Not only was he tired from fighting but it was getting a little late and would be bedtime soon anyway. Chris pulled out a little cleaning kit from his bag and sat down with his back against the trunk and started cleaning his M1. Rex laid down next to him so his back was also to the trunk of the willow and his head was next to Chris's leg, then he closed his eyes and went to sleep.

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria had to keep up a pretty brisk trot to keep up with Chris, uncomfortably so. But she didn't complain, just trailed along behind him until they reached the willow tree.
She paused, watching him settled down to clean his gun, tail swishing softly back and forth. Rex laid next to him, ever a loyal companion.
The small silver tabby walked up to the pair, hopping over Chris's legs to reach his other side. There, she curled herself against his side, her shoulders and front paws propped up onto his thigh. She set her chin down on her small front paws, and rested her eyes.

 

[Tharivle]

Chris smiled softly as Ilaria curled up next to him. If he had not known it was her he would have reached over and pet her. It only took him a few minutes to clean his gun. Then he slipped off the ammo belt and pulled out the 6 empty clips and reloaded then before placing them back in his coat. "Can you set this on my bag?" Chris asked as he held the gun up over his head. There was no answer save for the willow branch that reached down and wrapped around the weapon. The tree set it down gently on top of his bag. "Thank you." Chris tossed the belt over his shoulder and it landed a few feet from his other stuff. Chris leaded against the willow and let himself get sleepy, his eyes drifting close.
"Are you going to stay a cat all night?" Chris asked in a curious and sleepy tone.

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria opened one eye and peered up at him, showing a bit of amusement with a twitch of her pink nose. She shifted, rubbing the side of her head along his thigh as she stretched out. "I need a few hours to rest before I can do a change that size." She murmured in her cat-like voice. "So probably, because I want to sleep. We both should." her stretch continued, and she ended up on her back, squished up against the side of his leg, and where his hand fell to the ground as he relaxed. "You'll get a pinch in your neck if you sleep like that."

 

[Tharivle]

"Well don't get comfy now, because if I'm going to go to bed then I need to move." Chris said as he smiled down at the cat next to him, very clearly getting comfy. Chris stood and started climbing up into the tree. Once about half way up the branches under him started twisting together to for a tight nit net. He dropped down into it and it bowed slightly like a hammock would. As Chris moved Rex opened an eye but then lazily closed it and went back to sleep.
The branches were soft and pliable so he could move around and he wouldn't get poked, but they were also bowed as to not let him roll off his bed now 15 feet in the air.
"You can sleep down there with Rex or you can climb up and the willow will make a spot for you too."

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria's legs rolled to the ground with a thump when he stood and left her down there. She watched him climb the tree with what could have been a smirk or a frown, but the feline face made it difficult to tell.
The small tabby cat scrabbled up the tree behind them. Despite his statement, she climbed into his branch hammock and curled up next to him, as the willow tree moved just enough to give her a little room. It even made a small rise in it's branches between them, not enough for separation, but enough to keep him from rolling on top of her.
"This is fine," She said casually, and the tip of her tail lightly rested on her nose, partially covering her eyes. "Why do you Golden Flame not pet your companions? Rex likes a scratch behind the ears, you know."

 

[Tharivle]

Chris smiled as she curled up on the side of his little bed but said noting about it. "Just because you don't see the affection doesn't mean it isn't there." Chris replied softly. "For example." Chris continued as he rolled to face her. "Goodnight Rex." He said the words so softly that even as a cat just a foot away from him, she would have had a hard time hearing his words. There was a soft whine and a little bark from below them as Rex very clearly was responding with his own goodnight. "We can feel each others feelings, so he doesn't need to be pet to know that I care for him." Chris paused for a second then added, "But I do anyway, you just haven't seen it."

 

[Flutterby]

Ilaria opened her eyes, which were still the same silver-gray hue. "Well, not everyone in your life can read your mind, hot shot." She said softly, and blinked slowly. There was a pause, and then she spoke again.
"I don't fit here, Chris. I know that. And I think you know that. I just can't figure out why you keep bringing me here." Ilaria blinked. "I'm just a girl from a bar, but that's not.. not how this has gone."
The cat blinked again, and then curled a little tighter. "You confuse me, and I'm not fond of being confused, Chris." Her eyes moved away a little, just so that she wasn't making eye contact anymore. The tip of her tail flicked, tapping her own nose.