The Furry Forums
Creative Arts and Media => Roleplay => Serious RP => Topic started by: Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy on March 02, 2011, 03:41:58 PM
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Kiral was tired from a hard day's work, and it had been one of the hottest days of the summer yet. Not too long after work, while he was walking down the street to grab a drink, his cell phone rang. When Kiral checked it, it was from the old Celborne home, the old man. "Hello?" "Kiral. I'm glad you picked up. Come over right this instant, it's urgent." Before Kiral could say anything, the old man hung up. Well, if it's something important, I guess it should be okay. I'll just grab something from the deli. When he arrived at the old mansion, he parked his SUV in the driveway before walking inside. "Hey, geezer. Why'd you call me over here at this time? We usually only meet Sunday and Saturday nights at 7." "Just take a seat over at the couch and have a drink. I left a bottle of bourbon for you over there. I know it's not past 5 yet, but you'll want to drink it after you hear what I have to say." Kiral walked over to the couch and sat down, picking up the small bottle of bourbon and just looking at it. When he looked around, he found a few other glasses on the table with several other drinks. Looks like there's a few more people.
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Mahi was sitting at her work table putting together a chain maille necklace. Open ring onto a closed ring and so on. Her phone then rang and she set down the portion of necklace she had been working on. Interlacing her fingers, she quickly extended her arms out in front of her, stretching her arms along with her fingers. After that she reached over and picked up the phone. "Hello. Thanks for calling Chimp Chains. How can I help you?" She said her usual greeting while examining the portion of necklace in front of her. "I still can't believe you chose that name, Mahi. Anyway, there's an urgent matter that needs to be attended to, I need you to come over right away." She was about to ask why but the old man had already hung up. Getting up out of her chair, she stretched then got ready and called a cab. When she got to the mansion she could tell there was already another vehicle in the driveway. She got out of the cab when the driver stopped and handed the driver the money before walking to the door, touching the vehicle that was already there as she walked passed it. By touching it, she figured out it was some kind of SUV. Entering the house, she spoke out to the old man since she could sense him standing nearby. "What's going on? I don't usually come over on Mondays. I always come on Fridays." The old man rested a hand on her shoulder. "Just go on into the living room. There's a can of Pepsi in there for you on the coffee table. I'll explain soon enough." She nodded and went into the living room, sensing the other person in the room sitting on the couch. Walking over to the coffee table, she reached down and found her can of Pepsi, popping the tab on it then sitting down in a chair without saying a word to the other person.
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*White was trying to put up a picket fence at his home and collected a box of nails and a small hammer then put them down on the ground for a moment, making sure that all the pickets were level and dug well enough into the ground* "Alright... looks good I think I can work with this." *He picked up the hammer and the box of nails, placing the sharp end up to the wood and then suddenly his cellphone starting ringing in his pocket* "Ohh maybe another customer." *The wolf dragon set down the hammer and nails, quickly pulling out his phone and answering the call*
"Sharp Wings Carpentry Service, how may I help you?" "...This isn't a customer phone call, this is your mentor. I need you to get to my estate right now, it's urgent." "Oh I see, well..." *Click* "Strange, he's usually less rushed than that, well he didn't sound like he was dying. Maybe he forgot to tell me something perhaps?" *The wolgon looked down at his hammer and nails and then the fence* "I'll just finish this later." *He flapped his wings and started running towards the old man's mansion east of his home, not turning back*
*He got to the old place quickly and walked inside, finding the old man and a couple other people in the same room* "Uhh... so what would you like me to do?" *He looked at the old man* "Just sit down for a bit, there's a can of Vanilla Coke for you next to your glass by the couch and coffee table." *He looked over at the two other people, a guy and a girl; somewhat unsure of what was going on and shrugged, walking over to the area and sitting down next to the guy at the couch with his drink* "Well I guess this will be interesting."
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Mortis was walking down the hill with a piece of illustration board tucked under her arm. She was already late to class, so she gave up on rushing. The last time she had tried to make it to class on time, she wound up slipping and dropping her art supplies everywhere in her rush, so now she just took her time, enjoying the sun as she walked. She hadn't really felt like attending class. So much of her art was based on her mood that she could tell before she even entered the building that she wouldn't be productive today and that class would be a waste of time for her. Just as she put her hand on the handle of the door to the art building, her cell phone vibrated in her pocket. Pulling it out, she saw it was the old man. "Man, he must know I don't want to go to class today." she said with a quizzical look on her face. "Yeah?"
"Yeah.. What kind of greeting is that?" The old man teased over the phone as she sat her supplies down and stepped aside so she wouldn't be hit by the door if someone decided to go through it. His familiar voice managed to make a smile crawl across her face.
"It's my kind of greeting, you ought to know that by now. You must have telepathy or just some really good timing because I sure as hell don't feel like going to class today and you called as soon as my hand touched the door to the art building, old man."
"Well, what can I say? I've got some talent other than just being old. Now listen, I need you to come by right now, something important has come up and it needs to be attended to." His tone seemed to shift from lighthearted to gravely serious. It somewhat worried her, but she didn't question it.
"Alright, well, I'll be over soon enough. I'll have to drop out of school if your timing stays like this." She was attempting to lighten the mood again, but the old man merely hung up without saying so much as goodbye to her. "..Strange." She mused, putting her phone away and gathering up her supplies to head back to her car. Once in her car, she loaded all of her art supplies into the back of her jeep and started it, exiting the college's campus.
When she got to the old man's estate, she saw another car in the driveway. She parked beside it and came inside, looking for the old man. "I'm here." she called out lightly into the seemingly empty house.
The old man stepped out from another room and greeted her. "Ah, Mortis, good to see that you came. Have a seat in the room with the others." He pointed to the room he just exited, indicating a chimp, a silver wolf, and a wolven hybrid of some sort. She wondered what was going on, but instead of questioning him, she took a seat with the others, looking to the glass directly in front of her, where a can of Dr. Pepper was. To occupy herself, she averted her eyes from the others and focused on pouring the canned drink into her glass of ice.
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Constance was in the lion cage at the zoo, with a large bucket of meat. She gingerly threw it at the hungry lions watching them eat. She was beginning to leave when she saw a cub between her and the gate. She knelt down in front of it as it tried to roar at her, which was only a meow. "Aww...At least you're trying." she said. She noticed a small hunk of meat in the bottom of the bucket. "Oh, did you smell this?" she said grabbing it. "Roar for me again." The cub tried again, this time only a low growl. Constance giggled at the cub's attempt. "There we go. You'll get it soon." she said warmly giving the cub the meat. "Don't tell anyone I gave this to you, cubs should be drinking milk." The cub pounced on the meat and happily gnawed on it as she got up to leave. She was met by another worker who opened the gate for her. "Thanks, Jim. What brings you to this neck of the woods?" "Was on my way to the Giraffes when your phone went off. Here." he said, handing a cellphone to her. "Oh, thanks." she said taking it. They waved to each other as he left. She checked her messages, seeing that it was the old man she called back the number. "Constance, I'm glad you called back. I needed to see you, come to my manor as soon as you can." "Alrigh-" before she could finish he hung up. "Hmm...Must be important. Few minutes 'til lunch, I don't think anyone will mind if I go early." With that she headed to the parking lot, got in her jeep and drove over to the manor. She came inside an looked around until she found the old man. "Have a seat, I've got a cola over there for you." he said, motioning to a couch. there was a coke on the end table so she sat next to it and took it. "What's with the other people? is he throwing a party? It's not like him to call me around this time; He knows my schedule."
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Macid was sitting at the main desk in the library, reading the book the old man had given him. This one was a fantasy book, about knights and dragons. Occasionally, he would stop to check out a book for someone or to greet someone coming in, but other than that the day was quite slow. He pulled on his shirt collar trying to cool off as today was rather hot as well. Ever since he started cutting himself, he had started wearing long sleeve shirts to hide the scars. He rubbed his wrists absent mindedly thinking about it. At this time, the desk phone rang. "Public Library. Macid speaking." "Keeping out of trouble Mac?" Macid grew a smile at the sound of the old man's voice. It always cheered him up to talk with him. "Yessir." "Good, because I need you to come over to my estate at once. Tell Catherine its an emergency." "But I haven't finished my..." The phone clicked before he could finish. "...book." He hung up the phone and thought about why he wanted him to come over at such a time. His report wasn't due till tomorrow. "Who was that?" Catherine, the head librarian, came out of the back room to relieve Macid for his lunch break. "I need to go on my lunch now. It's an emergency." Without letting her say a word, he grabbed his journal and walked to the old man's estate. 15 minutes later, he arrived and let himself in. "Hello?" "Macid! Glad you're here. Take a seat in the next room, I left you a root beer while you wait for our last guest to arrive." Baffeled, Macid made his way into the next room, where 5 others were sitting with beverages of their own. He made his way to the couch and sat next to the cat. He grabbed the bottle and took a swig, savoring the taste. IBC, his favorite.
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maxheard a loud buzzing coming from the other side of the sea of mess that once was called his room's floor, he sat up and used his tail to lazily flick his phone over and looked at the caller id. "hay boss, why are you calling, gary sick or something?" "nnooo, your late. again! you have fifteen munutes to get your scaled but over here or your fired!!" his boss hung up on him and with that he fell back and looked at the celling. "i really hate that guy but the old man would kill me if i lost another job....guess i better get to work." he jumped up in nothing but a pair of shorts and started searching for his other clothes (the floor is 90% clothes...) when the phone rang again. he grabbed it without looking and sighed, "look i'm on my way, don't get your panties in a twist." "i didn't even tell you to come over. see you in a bit." the old man hung up instantly leaving max speachless ".....well *beep*.....oh well if i get fired its not all my foult this time." he smirked grabbing a singlet hanging on the door and a shirt on his keys before locking up and heading over to the old mans house.
"ok so whats so important its worth a job i like for a boss i hate" "go inside and meet the others. i'll tell you all soon....and we'll talk later about that job of yours....." max walked inside and paid the others no heed as he found an empty seat with a moderatly sized mocktail in front of it.
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Kiral eyed each person as they walked in and sat down, sizing them up in his mind. First a chimp, then a wolf-dragon, a chameleon, a cat, a lynx, and finally some kind of lizard he'd never seen before. Each had their own drink, so he assumed that the old man knew each of them. It was weird, though, since the old man never once mentioned any other people ever. When everyone had all settled down to their drinks, the old man came in a minute later. "Ah! It's good to see you all here in one place, though I wish it was on a less pressing matter. As you all know, I happened upon a fortune after losing my memory 20 years ago... That story was false. My real name is Filadius, and I am a wizard from the past." Kiral scoffed with a laugh when he heard that, "That's a good one, geezer. I think you've finally hit rock bottom." With a wave of his hand, Filadius' clothes morphed into a long robe, and his long beard into a staff. Kiral's eyes nearly bugged, speechless when he saw the little spectacle. "Having trouble believing now? There's a reason I called you seven here today. Back in my time, a negative time magician came to my time from the far future and took over our world. For years, my people were oppressed, when a prophecy said that warriors from another world would come and save us. As a last ditch effort, I went forward in time, leaving a magical marker so that I can go back to my own time. However, I was desperate and went back with army personnel. They saved our world, but took over it for their own. For the last 60 years, I've been staying in your era looking for the real warriors, and you seven are it. Whether you like it or not, it is what you seven were meant for." Kiral stood up, infuriated, "Now you listen here...!"
Filadius slammed his staff on the ground and a strong wind surrounded the room, blowing them all into a black void that opened in the roof. Before they all knew it, they landed into a grassy plain. When Kiral opened his eyes, he found a clear projection of the old man's feet in front of him. "Sorry you guys, but I only have enough magic to send your seven back. I'll be stuck in your era until my magic recovers. You're all in Moranus Field right now, where I left my marker. If you look around my feet, you should find a black gem, that's my marker. Being a positive time wizard, I can only go forward without leaving a marker. I'm able to communicate with you from that gem, so don't lose it. Now, I want you to head straight west. About 1 mile out, you should find a small cave with a bear laying at the mouth with its cubs. Pinch the gem when you get there, and I'll have the bears leave you alone. In the back of their cave, I have a secret room with some things I wish to bestow upon you seven. Now hurry, if you landed when I think you did, there are patrols around your area." The old man's image disappeared into the gem, and Kiral's face hardened. "I guess that means now. Come on!" Remembering that the chimp girl was blind, he took her hand and pulled her with him as he ran westward.
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Mahi listened to the conversation without saying a word. She wanted to let the old man explain himself before she said anything. The only thing she noticed when the old man had actually changed his attire was a change in the atmosphere of the room. Since she didn't hear anything more from the guy who had spoken (who she had figured out was the person who had been at the place before her from where his voice came from), she figured the old man must have changed somehow since she had sensed a slight movement from Filadius. When she heard the staff slam on the ground, she paid more attention as the wind seemed to almost remove the air from her lungs. She listened even more closely to Filadius' voice after she felt herself sitting in a grassy area and she ran her fingers through the grass. After the old man's voice stopped and the guy spoke, she felt her hand get grabbed so she quickly got up and ran with the person who was pulling her, figuring it was the guy who had spoken. "Oh come on! This is so not fair to the blind girl! Guess I'll just have to use even more of what he taught me now that I know nothing about where I am..." She thought to herself as she ran.
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*As he laid on the ground now, he way very confused at what just happened and decided to roll with it, he looked around at the land for a moment, then the black gem that the wizard projection mentioned , and then ultimately the patrols coming* "Well this is more interesting than nailing wood, so..." *He kept up with the others, not really looking behind himself now* "I hope when Filadrus said patrols were coming he meant in the opposite direction, otherwise we're going to run right into them while trying to get to the cave and who knows what weapons they have. In a world with wizards... could be anything. Agh that sounds scary to have no will against distanced spells." *White decided not to think about it further and just kept looking in one direction, eying the man leading the way and girl he was dragging*
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Mortis was rather blown away with what the old man had said and done, but before she could even think to find the correct reaction, she found herself in a field with the others. Her hands clenched the grass, validating its existence in her mind. She was shocked beyond belief, honestly; everything that was happening was overloading her senses to the point where she could hardly get up, so she just sat there in the grass, dumbfounded, looking around. What the hell Filadrus? I don't even know these people and now I have to help and rely on them? I don't.. I'm not a hero. she thought.
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Constance watched the old man with interest. When he spoke about a different time it puzzled her. Even more so when he transformed. However before she could say anything she was sucked into a portal above her with the rest of the people in the room. When she had landed on the field of grass she looked around, wincing at the sun. Her eyes had to adjust to being outside. She was baffled at the feeling of what just happened, all the while listening to Filadius. "What the-...?" When Kiral spoke about moving she slowly got to her feet. She followed after him, not really knowing what else to do.
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Macid listened intently at the old man's speech. He wasn't sure if he was serious or not, but it was interesting none the less. When he changed his clothes instantly, Macid sat down his bottle, thinking that maybe he had put something in it. As the old man slammed his staff on the ground and summoned the vortex, Macid was petrified with fear. He had no idea what to think of this, nor did he have time to before he found himself laying on grass. Dazed and confused, he slowly sat up, listening to the old man still. "Moranus Field? Positive time wizard? Patrols? What is going on?" Before he knew it, most of the group had run off, leaving him and the chameleon sitting nearby. "Uhm, hey. Sh-shouldn't we follow them?
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max was still half asleep when he reached for his drink, he was completely zoned out and missed basicly everything till the vortex. he was about to take a sip when he and the others were sucked through the portal and he found himself on grass. the others started running off as he stood up. "couldn't you have waited till i at least had a sip?!" he called hoping the old man had heard. he started walking in the same general direction as the others, taking in the scene. "well this should be interesting... you two coming or are you just going to sit there?" he called to the last two that remained behind, barely looking over his shoulder to see if they had heard him.
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Kiral heard the lizard calling to someone and turned his head, seeing the chameleon and the lynx just idling around. He looked on the ground and picked up a pile of pebbles and dirt, throwing them at the two to see if they'd move. "Come on!" The sound of metal clanking started to be heard within earshot. That must be the patrol the old geezer was mentioning. Kiral then turned back west and ran harder this time, hoping to evade from the patrols and that the others wouldn't get caught either. Filadius had made it very clear that it was important for all seven of them to make it to the cave alive, but there was no way he'd be able to do anything against armed men. Because of his physique, it merely took him a few minutes to cover the mile distance, having put the blind girl over his shoulder to do so, and finally found the cave with the bears. However, there was a problem, How the (censored) do you pinch a gem? He held it out in front of himself and squeezed it as hard as he can, but the projection of the old man showed up after Kiral's hand completely closed around it. "I only see two of you and another couple behind you. Where are the other three?" Another couple minutes later, the others arrived, the sound of metal clanking still seeming to be within earshot after they caught up. "Good you're all here." The projection turned to the bears, who had been growling the whole time that Kiral and the others stood near the cave. With a wave of his hand, Filadius got the bears to move and bow their heads for the group. Kiral took the initiative and walked in first, after setting Mahi down. Sure enough, in the far back, was an old wooden door. Back at the entrance, the bears took their positions again. Distant growling could be heard throughout the cave, and metal clanking, which diverted away and faded into the distance. The wooden door then opened as the old man's projection disappeared. "It takes some magic to open the locks that I have placed, so it'll be just audio at this point." The old man cackled at hearing himself use the word "audio" in this time frame. Behind the door was a large cove which lit up magically with torches all along the walls. The room was large, just as large as the mansion except it was just one giant room. There were piles of books, scrolls and rusted, old weapons of all kinds laid around the room. However, what caught Kiral's attention was a lone piece of metal that shimmered directly to the left of him as he entered, a single bullet in the wall. How the hell is there a bullet here? At most, muskets are in this era, but not bullets. The old man's voice snapped him out of his trance, "Kiral, if you'd be so kind as to just kick the large pile of books at the end of the room. I will explain in full later. For now, I want to give you all your gifts." Kiral did as he was told and revealed seven chests. They were old and made of wood, but they glinted in the light, signifying they were sealed by magic. But the biggest surprise was finding his name on one of them. The old man's voice came back alive, "Each of these chests were here when my vision of the prophecy gave me the names of the true heroes of this world were. They will only open for you." As the group got closer, the chests flew open one by one, a glowing ball of light coming out of each one. The first one landed into Kiral's free hand and took form of a large, mechanical sword which seemed to be able to transform, while a holster formed on his hip. The shape of the holster didn't match the sword, and it was extremely long. "Kiral, your physical strength and amazing usage of a nail gun gives you Blaze. This sword is a combination of both blade and bullet. It has unlimited ammunition, but it only fires 9mm bullets, so it's not always a good idea to use it. Merely swing it in the opposite direction to close it and to holster it. There's a button over your thumb that will turn it from gun to blade." The next one landed into Mahi's hands, which then transformed into two gauntlets that had small diamond blades on the underside, while the top had full foot and a half single-sided blades. "Mahi, your precision/dexterity with jewelry and ability to see without sight grants you Viper. These gauntlets are indestructible, as are its blades. The diamonds on the bottom are connected to diamond wires, and can be used for mid to long ranged combat. Just make sure to hold them because the tips are merely a weight, you actually cut with the wires. They are magically extending and retracting, so be careful of your thoughts, because the tips are like the guidance system in a rocket. Its retraction/extension are based on your thoughts." He laughed at himself again for using modern terms. The next light fell into White's hands, which then transformed into a large warhammer and shield. "White, your skills as a carpenter award you with Axe and Snitch. That hammer weighs over 1,000 kilograms, but weighs nothing to you, and you only. Snitch is an impenetrable shield that can also be thrown and will return. Just like Captain America!" The old man cackled again. "Calm down, geezer before you kill yourself." The next light landed into Mortis' hand, transforming into a book and fountain pen. "Mortis, your skills as an artist are some of the most unique and interesting that have ever set foot on earth. Thus it gives you Boreas. This book is a summoning book. Any creature that you see on here, recreate it in the page next to it, and it will be summoned to help you. However, it will come out how you draw it, and messing up too bad will either result in a partial summon or not summon it at all. Oh, and when you do draw something to completion, be sure to point it at the opponent, and not yourself. After the summon dies or expires, the ink will remain burned into the page and disappear when that particular creature can be summoned again. Also, do your best in recreating it, since its strength is determined by how well it was drawn." The next light landed into Constance's hand, transforming into a dirk. "It may not like much of a weapon, Constance, but your love for animals has given you Lych. This dirk is the mark of a druid. This dirk endows you with the ability to magically summon the birds of the air and the animals of the land. However, you can only summon one animal at a time and only three animals a day, so be careful." The next one landed into Macid's hands, which transformed into a tome and a ring on his finger, which covered his whole index finger and extended like a nail at the end in the shape of a fountain pen, "Mac, your love for books and knowledge anoint you with Anan. By writing the full name of someone, you can read and see their thoughts in the book. The pen on your finger can find out someone's name for you, but it takes time for it to write it out for you. Point it at someone and ask their name, the pen will magically write it for you, but it is slow to writing. This book blesses you with knowledge that always puts you a step in front of your opponent." The final light landed into Max's hands, transforming into a giant cooking knife and giant holster around his body for it. Along the belt of it, were several assorted cooking knives that were regular sized, "Max, your abilities as a chef gives you Ramsey. This giant cooking knife is the sharpest blade in the world, able to cut even through metal. The additional knives are also as sharp. However, don't lose them, since they're non-replaceable, and it would be a shame to allow an enemy to posses such a weapon."
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Mahi didn't like the idea of being carried and she expressed that while she was hanging over Kiral's shoulder. "I could have ran, you know. All I needed was to be led." She grumbled. As they were outside the cave, she listened to the bears growling. When she was finally set on her feet again, she indeed happier. Her ears were tuned into Kiral's movements so she followed where he walked. When the gauntlets landed in her hands, she listened to Filadius' description of them then felt them over carefully with her hands, being sure not to cut herself. As she listened to the description of everyone else's weapons, she slid the gauntlets onto her hands and wiggled her fingers. She tested out the diamond weighted wires, carefully extending them out toward the ground then retracting them back in all with her mind. She liked hearing how everyone's weapons were unique to their work abilities and she felt like her weapons suited her perfectly. "Thank you..." She said softly as her clouded over green eyes were directed down at the gauntlets on her hands, not even sure whether the old man would still able to hear her.
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*Being rather dumbfounded still, the wolf dragon picked up the hammer and the snitch not really knowing what to say or do in response* "Uhh... thanks Filadius, but before I get excited about these weapons... our agenda is to simply make this dark wizard guy fall to fatal circumstance by teaming up with six strangers while avoiding these mysterious patrols previously hired arms of your own and trying to figure out how to find this dark wizard?" And.... what is Captain America, some sort of actor?" *A confused White turned to the other party members looking for help upon that question* "Man I hope we get back home exactly when we left, those clients are gonna be pissed if I don't get back home on time.. I know I shouldn't be worrying about that right now, but dad wouldn't want me to fail customers. Hmm... okay so in a sense Filadus is another customer, I'll just do as he asks and worry about the other guys later."
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Mortis face-palmed at the wolf hybrid. "Captain America is a comic book character..." She shook her head as if disappointed with the group, as if their knowledge of comic books was the sole judgment on the characters. Her disappointment was only temporary, though, as she looked at the book and pen in her hands with a certain amount of disbelief. She flipped through the pages, already starting to estimate the amount of pages she had, somewhat afraid to draw in it because she was afraid of wasting it. I guess it's a good thing I like to work with ink. Otherwise I'd be screwed since it's such an unforgiving medium. I'm still no hero, though... "Thanks." She said, having an overwhelming feeling that the old man had still made a mistake by choosing her.
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Constance managed to keep up, though since Kiral had a head start she did tail behind. When she got to the bears she wanted to go up and pet them. However they allowed them to pass. But she did pet them as she went by. Once the spectacle with the chests began she was in disbelief once more. When her weapon landed in her hand she examined it while she listened to Filadius. "T-...Thank you..." She continued to examine it, not sure what else to do with it. She listened to the explanation of the others' weapons as well.
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Macid shielded himself from the dirt that the wolf threw at him. "Ok ok I'm coming, jesus." He got up and jogged to catch up with the rest of the group. When they reached the cave, Macid was frightened by the bears guarding it. Those fears dissapated once the wolf pinched the gem and moved aside, letting them inside. As the spectacle of lights began, Macid was amazed at all the items the strangers were getting. As the light came to him, he felt something materialise, for lack of a better word, around his finger. As he looked and toyed with this finger ring, he noticed the tip was like a fountain pen. He then felt something else materialise in his left hand, a book. As he listened to the wizards explanation, he found himself growing curious about how loudly he had to ask someone's name or how close he had to be for it to work. "Th-thank you." He said quietly.
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Max followed the group quietly, getting distracted by the bears, the bears growling at him and him hissing quietly at them, till they continued to the door. Once inside he was amazed at the room and its massed contence. Once the chests began to open he became more interested and watched closely as the others received their gifts. When the light landed in his hands his body started to get pins & needles. Once his weapons formed he examined Ramsey carefully before sliding the large blade into its holster on his back and pulling out one of the smaller knifes. “Thank you old man, I’ll have fun with these.” He commented twirling the smallest knife in his hands, occasionally throwing it up and catching it by the side of the blade.
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The old man then spoke up after giving the new heroes time to examine and learn about their weapons, "Now if you will all turn your attention to the wall behind the chests, you'll notice a map of the continent. I have your current location marked with the red needle on the bottom left of the map. And the blue marker on the top right is the location of the castle where the previous 'Heroes' currently reside. In this time period, all the continents of the world are conjoined into one land mass. Be careful on your journey, though. There are some who do not see their rule as tyranny, but as a godsend. There are patrols all over the place, always constantly sniffing out potential rebellions, and wanting to snuff them out before they have a chance to even manifest. I'm sorry, but I'm running dry on magic at the moment, I'll try to contact you again tomor-" The voice stopped and the gem just laid dormant. Kiral sighed and placed it in his pocket, looking up at the map on the wall, there was just something off about the old man's voice, but he was sure that no one else noticed, so he kept it to himself. He swung the sword and placed it into its holster that hung at his hip. Taking a step on top of one of the chests, Kiral took the frame down and removed the map from it. "Looks like we're out on a hunt. Anyone want to test out their weapons on the local patrols? It's going to be a long walk, we might as well try to get better at using these."
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Mahi listened to the old man but he didn't really seem normal to her since her sense of hearing was very heightened, but she shrugged it off as an effect of being talked to through a magic-imbued gem. "I think the real test is whether I can actually kill another or not..." She mumbled, mainly to herself but the others would have been able to hear it. With her mind, she extended the blades in both of the gauntlets simultaneously then retracted them. "But I guess if my life's in danger I could do it."
-
*White studied the hammer and snitch in his hands now that he wasn't really thinking about the current situation anymore* "Huh I wonder if Filadius was serious about how much this thing weighs, maybe I could test it on... this pebble." *He carefully laid it down on the small rock and it collapsed rather quickly* "Man this thing must weight about as much as a small car, and now what about this shield..." *The wolf dragon looked up noticing the others around him* "Well I don't really want to risk hitting one of the other party members, I never exactly practiced with boomerangs at home, so I don't know how it's going to work." *He looked towards the one whom Filadius called Kiral upon the mention of the patrols*
-
"Uhmm. Sure.. If.." She looked at her papers again with the pen. "If I can get someone to get my back.. I'm not even sure what I'm doing.." She looked around her eyes averting in any direction they could. She tapped her pen anxiously on her book. Her tail curled around her ankle, waiting to see how the others reacted, or if anyone would take her back, so to speak while she was drawing. She wondered if she could even draw given how anxious she was feeling.
-
"...I'm Constance. I think that would be a good place to start. At least before we go off...Killing others...I mean...I don't know...I'm sure these people...Erm...Patrols...Are people just doing their jobs. I don't know about you all...But killing people so thoughtlessly...I don't know...The old man...Filadius...Just...Turns into this all powerful magician and flings us back in time." said Constance sounding a bit nervous. She didn't say anything after that. She just idly looked at her dirk trying to avoid the looks she was likely getting. She heard what Mortis had said, asking if someone would get her back. She wanted to say something but didn't. She didn't know how to fight, or use her new powers.
-
Macid gripped his wrist as Kiral talked about killing the patrols. He had had his time thinking of pain and suffering. He didn't want to be apart of any more pain, but with everyone else having actual weapons, he didn't feel like he had much of a choice. At least he could stop himself from hurting himself or others. He sighed as he looked back at Kiral. He seemed pretty ok about everything that had happened, like he knew it was going to happen. When Constance spoke, he could sense the nervousness in her voice, mostly because he too was nervous about all this. "Macid. I'm Macid." He was now rubbing his wrists and staring at the floor. "I agree with Constance. We shouldn't just start killing people."
-
"ok, so how about we make a point of not killing unless necicary.....i just hope no one tries to block..." he said carving away layers of metal from what looked like a paper weight. "and i'll do my best to protect you if you want." he smiled at the nervous artist. "seeing as i'm one of our offencive members." he looked at the map carefully and spoted a nearby town les than a few hours travel away and pointed it out. "this place looks like a place to start....might not be a good blace but it's the closest."
-
Kiral looked at Mahi and then the others, "Well, it seems that they'll kill whomever is out of place. Look at our clothes, they'll know we're not from around this time, and try to kill us. I mean, look at some of our weapons, too. They're not of this world, some of them. I don't want to have to kill anyone, either, but if it's as dangerous as the old geezer says, then we have no choice. Anyways, we'll have to head to the first town for supplies. We have no food with us, save our drinks." Kiral patted his pocket with the bulge of the bourbon bottle.
-
Mahi listened to the others, picking out their voices and connecting them with the names that Filadius had said while the weapons were passed out. When Kiral mentioned their drinks, she patted herself down in her sweatpants and t-shirt. "Uh...I don't have mine. My can was already open so if it came with me, it probably spilled when we landed anyway." She said, lowering her head so it seemed like her clouded-over green eyes were looking at the ground. "But I'm ready to go anyway."
-
"Yeah my drink's gone too, I remember seeing it grow distant on the coffee table as we were absorbed by the ceiling, so that's still in the mansion. So are those bears going to give us a problem on the way out Mr. Kiral? I'd like to get out of here. I'm more of an outside person no matter what security is packing behind the armor." *White looked down at his hammer and gripped it tightly while flexing his wings* "Ironically I hate flying high, but I've never been shot at either." *He glanced at Kiral's gunblade* "With guns and arrows, gonna have to start liking it."
-
Mortis shrugged. "I don't have my drink, but I'm fairly certain we're going to look out of place to anyone, period. Attacking the guards, I'm sure, isn't going to help us look very in place.." She looked down, sighing. She didn't really know what to say, aside from what she had already. She didn't know anyone, really and wasn't sure what to do. "I mean, practicing is good and all, but I mean, I don't think it's going to help us too much if we take the offense. I don't know. It might be used against us to make us look bad."
-
Constance didn't say anything further. She looked at the rest of them, particularly Macid, who was the only person who introduced themselves aside from her. She walked closer to him, though not standing next to him. She didn't have her drink either, it wasn't on her mind when she was flung through a portal so abruptly. She didn't have much on her either. From what she could remember was her phone, keys and wallet. She thought she had some gum but wasn't sure and didn't feel like checking.
-
Macid didn't have to check his clothes to see if his drink was with him. He would have noticed a bottle on him when they came here. As the rest were discussing supplies and outside, Macid focused his attention to his new book. He opened to the first page and brought his finger down to it. Macid Macgarma, he wrote. The penmanship wasn't the best, as he wasn't used to writing like this, but it was legible at least. He began to think of all the books he had read, to see if they would appear in the book. To his amazement, they did. First Moby Dick appeared below his name, then Treasure Island, Gulliver's Travels, and 20,000 leagues under the sea. The words kept coming as they appeared what he was thinking. "Amazing, this book actually reads peoples minds! He closed the book smiling. This was by far the coolest book he had ever read.
-
"so what do you propose we do? it's not like sets of clothes is going to magicly apear out of nowhere for us. and starting fights is something that would just make this harder, so i'f we just stay low and out of un-neccesary fights it could save us some time and effort. don't you agree...what was your name?" he asked kiral calmly, not wanting to sound rude.
-
"I'm Kiral. I guess our first order of business is to head to the first town and get some clothes and food. But then again, having weapons on us will still make us stand out, so I guess it's up to you if you want to get new clothes or not, I think I'll keep mine. We'll only fight if we have to, alright? And I think the bears will be fine with us leaving, just not coming in." Kiral headed for the door after having searched for anything significant, but all there was were a bunch of books and scrolls on the prophecy of their arrival, none on what's supposed to happen. Anything that stood out was that single bullet in the wall. Before walking out, he drew his blade, holding the button so that it swung into its gun form and fired into the wall next to the bullet. The 9mm barely made a dent in the wall and shattered. What kind of people were those last people the old geezer brought back? That's an extremely high caliber bullet to sink into the wall without even denting when my 9mm shattered and barely made a dent. He holstered his weapon and opened the door. As per Kiral's prediction, the bears didn't mind the group leaving at all. He checked the map that he took off the wall, "The old man left a legend on here. It seems that the closest town was a couple miles east of where we landed. I hope you guys are still ready to fight, though. I have no plan of dying just because you guys don't want to fight. I don't want to be here or have anything to do with this war, but I will if I have to. Like in the construction industry, you don't decide what's on your contract, you just do as you're told. So we're in this no matter what we each want."
-
Mahi was kind of glad that she wasn't the only one who didn't have their drink with them. As everyone spoke, minus the third girl who she had figured out was Constance, she continued to listen. When she heard Kiral heading for the exit, she followed after him. Luckily, her ears picked up on the gun readying itself to fire before it actually fired so she didn't end up jumping from surprise about it, which she would have. "I'm fine with my clothes. I think they'd be good and comfortable to move and fight in." She finally spoke again after they were outside.
-
*The wolf dragon jumped back upon the gunblade test that Kiral performed. Noticing that the wall must be made of some strong material to hold up against conventional ammunition and probably with some magical qualities beyond his realm of understanding at the given moment. White shrugged and took a moment to look upon the other people in the group* "Quite a diverse group of individuals here, reminds me of one of those animated tv shows where a bunch of teenagers are put in some strange situation and have to work together utilizing different skills.
-
"Artists find creative alternatives." Mortis mumbled under her breath finding a piece of cloth that she fashioned into something to carry her book and pen in. She crossed her arms, unsatisfied with everything going on and she half-way wondered what was going on back in their time. She turned back to the others to introduce herself, "My name's Mortis." She looked herself over, noting her black and white striped clothes. As much as I like my clothes, if I want to blend in, I'll have to get new ones. I don't really have a weapon, per-se, it looks like a pen and book. she thought to herself. Worse case scenario, I can ditch if they cause too much problems for me... Mortis was already formulating plans of her own as she darted in front of Kiral and began to walk out of the cave with or without the others. "Now, if you'll excuse me... I don't plan on dying because of the weapons you all are carrying. I'd rather at least try and blend in, lay low, and not cause trouble until we figure something out." If there was one thing she didn't like, she didn't like to be lead around, especially by someone she had just met. She hoped she wouldn't be the only one thinking this way and that someone would join her, but if they didn't, she supposed that was fine, too.
-
Constance followed after Mortis silently, she still couldn't picture herself killing someone but she didn't want to die either. She was holding Lych in both hands in front of her. "I wonder where I can hide it...It's too big for my pockets. I guess I can keep it under my belt..." she thought, examining her belt. She tucked the dirk under her belt on her left. "Here's hoping I don't cut it off when I take it out..." Constance stepped outside the door, walking over to one of the bears to once again pet it. "You're not so bad big guy." she said happily. Having animals around made her feel more comfortable. "I want to get out of my work clothes...Ugh...All my clothes are back...Home. Where ever that is now. Somewhere in the future? I miss my skirts. And normal clothes." Constance was wearing a tan pair of pants and jacket with "County Zoo" on the back.
-
Macid let out a small yelp at the sound of Kiral's gun shot. He clutched his heart as he breathed heavily. As he calmed down, he noticed Mortis grab some cloth to help hold her book and saying something about not wanting to die because of everyone else carrying weapons. Looking at his ring, he thought of someway to explain it, should someone ask. Nothing came to mind, so he too found some tattered cloth and wrapped it around his hand, hiding it. He would say that it was burnt or cut, something to let people guess at what was really under it. He followed the rest of the group out of the cave, shielding his eyes from the sun. He felt himself lucky that it wasn't scorching hot here, as his fur was keeping him warm enough already. When Kiral mentioned a town, his ears perked up. "Uhm, Kiral, was it? Whats the plan once we get into town? I don't have any money on me, nor do I think they'd take bills."
-
max wasn't to phased by the loud gunshot and followed the group closely "thats a good question, and i could use some more time aproprate clothing as well. any ideas kiral? seeing as it looks like your in charge here." he walked past the bears and the one of the group who had received the dirk, the largest of them growled at him again, he hissed back and looked at his ally. "your name was constance right? i'm max." he held out a hand and waited, ignoring the look he was receiving from the bear.
-
Kiral turned to the two who followed him when they spoke to him. "I have no idea how we're going to get our hands on money or anything. All I can hope is that we can maybe appeal to some of the shop owners. Maybe tell them we're here to free them or something, and maybe persuade them to at least donate supplies to us. As for leadership, it seems that Mortis girl wants to be it, though I'm used to seeing this kind of stuff happen in groups in the construction yards every time we get a contract. All we can do now is just head east to the first town. We'll just have to take this one step at a time." It took a couple hours of awkward walking when the first town was finally in sight. It wasn't large, but it wasn't super small, either.
-
*White looked upon the town that came into view, not really noticing anything particularly special about it yet and then turned to look at Mortis after Kiral finished talking* "She looks like she doesn't spend too much time around people to me." *Then he noticed Mahi and wondered for a moment before speaking* "I uhh... well...this is probably random given the situation. I've never met a blind person before, what's it like to rely upon the other senses while you're moving about, like I didn't notice you to have a walking stick or seeing-eye dog, so how do you 'know' where you are going when you're not with other people?"
-
Mortis stopped in front of the others as she looked at the city in her view. She didn't know why all of them had followed her. She never really lead anyone. If anything, she had always done her own thing like she wanted to do now. Something inside her, perhaps the individualist artist within, or perhaps her loner attitude had asserted that she desperately did not want to work with anyone. She wondered why the old man would choose her for something that would require teamwork, knowing how she was. I'm no hero was the only thing running through her mind. She pinched herself, hoping she would wake up in class or something, but it didn't work. She thought it was curious that everyone was so accepting of what had happened. She had no clue how she would approach the city. She wondered how strictly patrolled the streets were, and the thought of stealing clothes had crossed her mind... Though only breifly, knowing the old man would disapprove.
-
Constance turned to Max with a smile, shaking his hand. "Yes. It's Constance. Nice to meet you, Max." When the others left she followed after waving goodbye to the bears. When the town came into view she was too taken in by the beauty of the nature on the way there, not like the cityscape she was used to back home. She admired the wildlife running about, just taking in the sights. Her demeanor had changed, she seemed more joyous and carefree now the she was outside in nature. She held her hand out for two small birds to land on her finger. They chirped happily as she gently ran a finger over one's head. The birds chirped happily, making Constance smile.
-
Macid wiped his brow as they approached the city. His thick fur coat was working against him in all this sun. The outside of the city looked like something out of one of his fantasy books, with large stone walls surrounding it. As he looked on in wonder, he heard his stomach growl rather loudly. So loudly that he was sure the others could hear it. "Sorry." Emabarrassed, he looked down at the ground and put his cloth covered hand over his stomach, as if to try and quell his hunger. "Guess it's been a while since I've eaten. Do you think we could find some food while we're here?"
-
max smiled and followed the group quietly. after a few hours travel in the sun the heat was getting to him, his reptilian heart started to pump faster as the heat kick started his systoms, his body pumping adrenelin into his blood as he became fidgety. in an attempt to stop from going skits he grabbed out a rubber band he found in his pocket and begen to fiddle with it between his fingers. the town soon came into view and the heat got the better of him, a shord manical giggle escaped him before he started running "i can't take it anymore!!" he practicly jumped passed the others and covered the distance between them and the town in seconds. he flew around the town on what basicly to him was what a sugar rush to a child. a few minutes later he started to come down and everything began to blur. he fell face first into the dirt near the outskirts of the town and heard, what he hoped was, the others wanking up behind him. he practicly groaned as loud as he could (not much louder than a whisper) "solar crash...." (his equivilent to a sugar crash)
-
Kiral quickly took off after Max when he went completely crazy and ran throughout the town, "That idiot!" Many of the towners there were afraid, many running away to hide from him just from the sight of his weapons on hand. It also caught the attention of the local police, though. A few of the armoured patrols joined the local guards in examining Max. "Those clothes, and those weapons! It's what the Lords have been telling us about! It's an invasion! Kill it, quick!" Just as one of the armoured patrolmen raised his sword, Kiral quickly drew his weapon in gun mode and fired a couple shots, only one hitting the hilt of the sword, knocking it out of the patrolman's hand. Attention quickly turned on him, which the local police quickly charged him. Kiral fired two more shots, taking down two, since the locals didn't wear armour. He then met two others' swords as he switched it to sword mode, knocking the locale over, not really killing them since he wanted to get to Max as quickly as he can. Kiral took his steeletoe and kicked the patrolman who was picking up his sword, in the face, and blocking the attack of another. However, in the deadlock, two more patrolmen came behind Kiral, swinging their swords at him.
-
Mahi raised her head when White spoke to her and turned her head towards him. "Only way I can describe it to you in a simple way is to say that it's like being a bat. I see through sound most of the time. Sounds bounce off of objects and it shows me what's around me." She said and turned her head forward again. "I never wanted one of those sticks or a dog. I get enough people thinking I'm helpless when I don't advertise that I'm blind. I've trained myself to be able to get by on my own without help." When Max ran off and then Kiral ran after him, she followed quickly. She listened to Kiral fighting some officers until a couple more showed while he was preoccupied. Swiftly, she stepped in between the patrolmen and Kiral's back, throwing up her hands as she extended the blades in the gauntlets and blocked both swords.
-
"Oh wow that's pretty cool, I suppose if you had been using a stick or a seeing eye dog you'd be pretty much in trouble right now in this world..." *White looked past Mahi, watching in seconds as Max ran through the town, quickly resulting in the police and patrols attacking quickly* "Crap. Time to play male valkyrie." *The wolf dragon hefted his hammer and flew up in the air watching Kiral shoot and hit at the resistance from the town*
"I have never done this before, but I guess I'll see what happens." *The wolf dragon stopped flapping and glided down until he met one of the oncomers with his hammerhead and smashed them with the force of a small car going at 70 miles per hour, causing them to explode and splattering nearby patrolmen and police along with himself* "That.. really made me tired... and somewhat sick." *White landed on a nearby rooftop and laid down covered in blood*
-
"Oh god, what the hell?" Mortis thought aloud as she saw the other reptilian fly past her with the others on his heels. She felt as if she wanted to climb under a rock, so she ducked downward on the grassy knoll she was on with her sketchbook over her head. "Damnit.. Why?" She looked upward as if expecting an answer. There was no real telling what she was doing, whether she was laying down to die, covering herself with her book for protection, or if she was hiding from embarrassment as if she didn't know the group before her. She was floundering between running off in the other direction or helping them. If I run off... I'll be useless unless I plan on hiding all the time. Then how the hell am I going to get out of this damned place? Her brow furrowed in thought as she took the book from over her head and flipped through the pages, finding something that tickled her fancy. It was a picture of a bush, with the words "Trifid" under it. She took her pen and quickly began to sketch. Please let this thing work, I have to freaking clue what I'm doing here. I assume everything in this book is a creature.. I hope it is, anyway.
-
Constance was startled when Max took off running. The birds she was holding flew off as well. When he collapsed and guards approached him raising their weapons she worried. A couple others sprang to action at the sight. "Max is in trouble...I gotta try something...How does this thing even work?" she thought as she drew Lych from under her belt. She examined it again, thinking. "How am I supposed to summon something? It's a dagger...Ugh, where are the instructions?! Maybe if I think it...? I guess it's worth a shot." Constance looked at one of the guards concentrating. "Uhm...Flock of birds! Attack!" Nothing happened however. "That didn't work...UGH! What do I do?!" she looked around, noticing Mortis hiding and drawing something. "Drawing at a tim-...Oh yeah...She draws things. Hmm...Drawing...Could that be..." again she looked at the dirk, running her thumb over one of the designs etched into the blade. "I think I've seen these somewhere...Is it a language? Hmm...We'll try the top one...Lessee...Something to draw on. Well, might as well do it on the ground. Since my dagger is out of ink! Dirk...I need to remember that...Not dagger." Constance knelt down and studied the symbol on the blade closely and then drew it crudely in the dirt below. After drawing it she looked up at the guards. "...Nothing happened. WHY DID I GET THE COMPLICATED WEAPON?! NYA!" In frustration she stood up, pressing her palm on the drawing to do so. She felt a chill run through her which made her look down. At the point she saw the drawing spark up. It burned itself out like it was a fuse on a firecracker, traveling throughout the design. "What the-..." Before she knew it a wolf stalked out from the trees and stood beside her. "It...Worked? How?" She felt dirt on her hand and looked at it. "Did I touch it? Focus! Max. Right." Kneeling down to the wolf she stroked it along it's back. Marveling at it's light blue and white coloring. "You're a pretty one, aren't you. I need you to protect my friends, please. Now go." Quickly the wolf darted towards one of the guards, so fast Constance fell on her butt. The wolf sunk it's teeth into a guard's hand as he was going to strike someone. The guard dropped the sword and fell to the ground trying to shake off the wolf as it was ravaging him. Constance got up and dusted herself off and watched.
-
As Max ran off ahead of the group, Macid watched as the town guard advanced on him. Before he could act, Kiral and the others lept into action to defend him. "Guess I don't need this anymore." He unwrapped the cloth from his hand and almost tossed it aside before deciding that maybe he should keep it. He wrapped it around his head in a makeshift bandana that almost didn't fit. When he was done, he noticed that Mortis had ducked down and covered herself to try and hide. He didn't blame her, as he remembered her weapon wasn't as ready as the others were for such fast action. He was startled by the wolf that ran by, even though he was aware of Constance trying to summon it. Confusion arose inside him. "What should I do? I can't fight and I don't want to run. What would the old man do in this kind of situation? Probably turn them all to stone or something. Wait, the guards are occupied. That's it! I can help Max!" Macid ran towards Mahi, Kiral, and Max, kneeling down beside Max when he got there. "Come on man, get up!" He grabbed underneath him as he tried to lift Max up, but found his body to be heavier than he thought. He was unable to lift him more than a couple inches of the ground.
-
"Come on man, get up!" max felt someone trying to lift him, energy started returning to his body and started getting up on his own and looked around. just in time to push macid out of the way of one of the guards swards. sorry bout this, i'll explain later." he said rooling backwards as he pushed macid, he drew two of the samller sections of ramsey and stood with them with the blunt side against his forearms between the guards and macid. "you wanna pick on someone, go for someone who has a chance to fight back. (i am aware of the irony....)" he was still tired and couldn't stand up straight
-
Kiral heard the clang of swords against the blades on Mahi's gauntlets and kicked the guy in front of him, turning around and hitting one of the patrolmen with the blunt side of his sword. The rest of the patrolmen in the squad heard the commotion and came over along with the rest of the local police. Kiral turned around again, letting Mahi take care of the other patrolman, and switched the sword, firing off several shots. It slowed down a couple of the patrolmen, but that was it, since the policemen were behind the patrolmen.
Meanwhile, when Mortis finished the drawing, two flower heads popped out and became a rough version of what was in the book. It wasn't as large or had as many heads as what was supposed to be, but it was summoned, nonetheless. It slowly made its way towards the battle, it's poison not strong enough to kill anything or anyone, but potent enough to cause paralysis.
-
Mahi heard and "saw" Kiral knock one of her two patrolmen away so she turned her attention to the other one who seemed quite confused that a blind girl had blocked an attack. She kicked the guy in the gut while simultaneously pushing his sword away with her gauntlet blade. The patrolman staggered backward and she knocked him in the head with her fist while he was disoriented and confused. After that, she took a stance, listening and waiting until she needed to make her next moves.
-
"Oh, uhm.." Mortis seemed to be as confused as she was amazed that the plant thing crawled out of the book and was heading in to fight. She merely just sat and watched, her colors becoming somewhat dark with worry. "I hope it helps." She muttered, feeling somewhat useless. She wondered if the situation had not been more dire how it would have turned out of her nerves hadn't been bothering her while she was sketching.
-
*The wolf dragon got up and looked down at the fight in progress and then noticed some of the patrolmen didn't take his hit so lightly, as at least four of them were climbing the building to avenge their ally* "Ah crap, well I guess they really are gonna give me no choice." *He raised the hammer and swung at one of the guys climbing, who in a quick response let go of the wall with absolute terror in their eyes* "Damn, I'd be scared too if I could explode from a hard hit, though I think on foot the worst would be them just flying away." *White turned to face the three others goons that were on the roof behind him* "Hmm... I'll be too slow to use my hammer, I'll use my snitch." *He pulled the shield off of his back and looked at it for a moment and back up at the guys that looked like they were sweating in anticipation of some sort of gun fight to happen*
-
The wolf then began to bite into more of the local policemen, while the others fought the armored patrolmen. Constance watched and wondered to herself, I wonder if I can control it, too. Wolf, bite the other guard in the behind. She watched the wolf, but it didn't do what she asked it to with her mind, so she sighed and gave up on the thought.
Meanwhile, the trifid finally made it to the fight and found itself in the midst of the fight, aiming and firing off its poisonous darts. however, it was unable to determine which were its targets, so it aimed for all the combatants.
-
When Max pushed Macid aside to cover him from the guards, he managed to accidentally knock Anon out of Macid's hand. "The Book! No!" Macid scrambled to the book to retrieve it, and as he did he was met by another guard towering over him. The guard delivered a swift kick to Macid's face, sending him reeling on his back in agony. The guard raised his sword for a killing blow when the trifid shot a poison dart at him. Caught off guard by the attack, he clumsily dropped his sword, it landing on Macid's left forearm, cutting it open. Macid screamed in pain as he clutched the wound with his hand, his face bloody from the kick of an iron boot.
-
max looked back momentarily as macid was kicked in the face, one of the darts his him in the neck as he did so. he fell to the ground for the second time in the last ten minutes. he landed next to the two guards that he had been about to fight and was stuck face to face with one, a white tabby cat, he looked like a girl but his voice was male. "what trickery is this you scaled rat?!" "do i look like i know?! besides, if i did it then why would i be stuck down here forced to talk to you?!"
-
Kiral growled as he clashed swords with the various patrolmen. He had no idea how to really use a sword so all he could do was swing as hard as he could with each hit. Whenever he could, Kiral would squeeze off a couple shots, but a gun is quite different than a nail gun in terms of usage and power. Firing wasn't bad since the recoil's not as high as an industrial nail gun, but he just can't aim worth shit. After several attempts, he finally managed to kill one patrolman, getting a lucky shot on him right in the eye. However, the rest were closing in fast, and Kiral switched his weapon back to sword mode, finding himself backed against Mahi's back with Macid and Max near their feet on both sides. Just then, he spotted the trifid heading in their direction, firing like crazy. "Get down!" Kiral pulled Mahi down, just barely missed by the needles. Many of the local guards and patrolmen began getting pummeled by the needles, paralyzing the ones that weren't fast enough to duck underneath the barrage.
-
After a moment of standing there in some sort of inexperienced fighting stance, Mahi finally felt the pain in her hand. She shook her hand beside her unconsciously as it if it would relieve the pain, not realizing that she had released one of the waited wires. The diamond swung around and when it hit her palm, she instinctively wrapped her fingers around it. When she pulled on it, she heard a scream of agony. Yanking on the diamond had cause the wire to cut into the leg of the patrolman it had wrapped around. Quickly making the the wire retract back into the gauntlet, she felt Kiral's back against her back and she ducked down when he yelled & pulled her down. She heard things whiz by above her and from sounds bouncing off she saw the monster-plant and identified the things whizzing by her head as needles, poisoned she guessed, coming from the plant.
-
"...Like a frisbee I hope!" *The wolf dragon threw the snitch in a side pose* "I have never seen Captain America, but I hope I can at least catch it." *The flying shield hit two of the men who hadn't expected the quick throw and knocked them off before they could try to dodge, leaving one expecting another throw as it flew back towards White, where as if it were guided to his hand, it came back with ease* "Oh wow that's nice." *He looked up just in time to miss a sword that tried to pierce him as he moved to the side, clipping a bit of one of his wings* "AGH! Buddy do you have any idea how long it takes to heal up wings? Not cool." *He retaliated with a swing and clashed with the sword, bending it in one hit and kept going until it met the man's head and broke his neck, killing him before he hit the ground while falling* "That takes care of these pests, I think I can handle another flight."
-
Mortis watched, seeing her plant not attack the guards, but the people she had come with as well. "Shit.." She muttered to herself. Part of her wanted to come down from the hill, but the other part wanted to stay where she was. "Are there any instructions with this thing, how the hell can I control it?" She began to hastily flip through the pages, noticing a lot of them were stuck together. "Damnit, I bet the stuff I need to know to use this thing is on the pages I can't get to. That would be my luck." Her colors were still dark as she continued to stay on the sidelines of the fight. Part of her wondered if she could sneak by with all the commotion going on and steal some clothes, but she decided against it knowing she'd stick out like a sore thumb if she even tried to enter the town. She just wanted the fight below to be over with.
-
The wolf charged another one of the patrolmen who wasn't paralyzed from the poisonous needles and attacked him, but it was one of the more experienced, and the wolf found itself decapitated right as it lunged for him. That same soldier also utilized his shield to block needles as he charged at the trifid, cutting it down to mere mulch. Sad at the wolf's demise, Constance quickly etched the same rune onto the ground and placed her hand onto it. However, no wolf appeared this time. Constance froze in a slight panic and checked the dirk again. She quickly carved another one into the ground. I hope this will work. She placed her palm onto it and next thing she knew, a large husky appeared before her. "Please, help my friends."
-
The pain from the cut on his arm and his face had subsided enough to wear Macid was no longer screaming in agony. Still, it was hard to move without causing more pain. Looking over to his side, he noticed one of the soldiers destroying the trifid, removing the threat of poison darts. "At least I don't have to worry about poison anymore." Macid lay there trying to think of what to do. "Moving would bring more attention to me, like a woudned gazelle in a lion's den. My best bet seems to be to wait here and hope they can handle everything and still be able to help me." Macid began to feel drowsy from the loss of blood and physical abuse he had sustained. He knew this feeling all to well from his suicidal days. He had to stay awake.
-
max was still stuck face to face with the guard who wouldn't stop yelling at him, he quickly grew anoyed and spoke up. "can you shut up for two minutes? your givving me a headache. look, you want an explination? tell your friends, or whats left of them, to stop attacking and we'll talk, ok?" the guard stoped and just gave him a blank stare. "you want me, to tell them to stop so your allys can kill them all before they can defend." "fine, watch. GUYS, IF THE GUARDS STOP ATTACKING WILL YOU ALL STOP FIGHTING BACK?!!" he called as loud as he couldhoping they heard him, and gave the right answer.
-
Kiral fired off a couple shots to slow down the more experienced of the patrolmen, "Hell no! These bastards are trying to kill me and started all this shit! I'm not stopping until I'm finishing what they started!" He then clashed swords again, but this time was different since he was now fighting stronger and more experienced people, and they knew how to brace and dampen the impact from his swings. Kiral grunted as he locked swords, which helped him notice the armour. Of course. Plated armour is weakest at the hinges, just like roofing. Hope this works. Before he could do anything, the patrolman bashed Kiral's face with the shield. "Blind girl! You think you can get between their armour plates? You should be able to sever some arms and legs with that."
-
"I have a name..." Mahi grumbled as she stood back up and moved towards one of the patrolman but while moving her head around like she couldn't tell where she was. "How is it that the blind one in the group learns everyone's names when they are spoken the first time and everyone else needs them repeated? Guess I just actually pay attention to what I hear..." She thought as she walked. When she got to the patrolman, she reached out to him. "Excuse me...?" She started like she needed to ask him something, but as she reached out and he was distracted by looking at her blank eyes & odd clothing, she made the blade on her left gauntlet come out and swung down hard on his right arm right where the arm and chest pieces met. The blade went to the bone then stopped and got stuck. The patrolman dropped his sword and attempted to punch Mahi with his other hand but she ducked and tugged her arm until the blade finally came out. The patrolman swung at her again and just barely missed her stomach. She extended one of the wires out on her right gauntlet, wrapping it around his legs and bringing it back towards her. She took his legs below the knee right out from under him, literally, and he fell to the ground, screaming until he passed out. After that, she turned her attention on another one of the men.
-
*The wolf dragon flew up into the air and looked down upon Kiral and Mahi fighting* "Maybe I can help those two since attention seems to be laid off of me for the moment." *He lessened his flapping and landed behind some of the patrolmen bringing his hammer up to the ready, hitting three of them and rather quickly breaking their backs* "While I enjoy the convenience of the power, sometimes it's more than I want to use. It's like a death trap for anybody else that comes in contact with this. I wonder if I was given this because of my somewhat intimidating size?" *White quickly noticed that other police noticed him and he quickly ducked down to run through an alley next to him to escape*
-
Constance was shocked to see the wolf be killed so brutally. After she summoned the husky she took off at the guard who had killed her wolf. She was angry at the loss, forgetting she even knew how to fight. She ran with the husky at him, the husky bursting forward to get his guard off as she jumped and latched onto him. She stabbed into his chest, the dirk going through his armor with ease. Constance continued to stab into him until he fell backwards and even then she continued to maul him with Lych. She didn't feel much of it, but there was a resistance when she pulled it out, the curved blade making it difficult to pull it out every time. Though she twisted and turned it to make bigger gouges allowing it to slip put easier. She soon stopped, realizing what she had done. Standing up she looked at his corpse and her bloody paws and weapon. "...He killed him...I had to...Right? He deserved it...He hurt...The wolf..." She took a couple steps back, bumping into the husky. They looked at each other and it whimpered slightly as if it was trying to relate with her pain and console her. "It's okay, boy...It's...Okay..." she said, stumbling back. She leaned against a wall and slid down it to sit down. She let her hands dangle over her knees as she sat there not sure what to do next. She didn't think she could kill someone for harming an animal. As she sat there the husky licked the blood from her hands.
-
max sighed "not helping! and by the way if you remember...i kind of started this..." he lay there and noticed his limbs starting to tingle as he regained feeling in them, "thank god for heat." he smirked starting to get back up, the heat from ramsey sitting in the sun on his back radiating through his body as another solar powered energy surge kicked in. max drew ramsey and noticed one of the guards running at him, sword raised and ready to strike. max held up the large blade in a lazy block at the guards sword swung down, slicing clean in two and missing max completly. "my turn." max lightly kicked the tip of the blade and spun for a follow-through, the last half a foot off ramsey slicing cleanly through the guard causing him to fall to his knees as his entrails spilt out of the cut that almost cut him in half. "i might not be able to fight for much longer but while i'm up, might as well do something 'deconstructive'."
-
Kiral breathed a quick sigh of relief as Mahi took down the bastard who bashed him in the face with the shield. He quickly switched the sword back to a gun and fired off a couple shots, killing the police coming up from behind Mahi. For a few seconds, Kiral looked around and found the only enemies remaining were either being killed by max or just starting to regain their bodily functions from the poisonous darts. He went over to each of them and ran his sword through the joints of their armour to kill each one while running it through the hearts of the local police who were paralyzed as well.
-
Mahi stood there and "watched" as all the rest of the killing took place since she wasn't needed at this point, from the swing of White's giant hammer to Kiral's finishing off the patrolmen who were still alive. She retracted the wire she had used back into her right-hand gauntlet and then felt her ankle get grabbed. Using the blade on her left-hand gauntlet that was still out, she stabbed him in the throat. She retracted the blade back into the gauntlet as she listened to the gurgling of the guy trying to breathe until he finally died.
-
*White looked down from one of the roofs overlooking at the confused police in the dead-end of the alley looking for the wolf dragon and jumped down behind them with his hammer raised, he whistled to them* "Over here guys." *They all turned in horror to see the hammer swing, hitting the closest amongst them into the other three men with him which caused most of the blow to be cushioned, but not enough to save the first man's life and still debilitated the rest of the group* "Well that about wraps it up I think." *The wolgon walked out of the alley and looked over to see Mahi nearby a dead guy* "Hey Mahi, do you need some help?"
-
Looking down, the fight seemed to be over with. While she usually wasn't very cowardly, all she had was her book, which didn't give her any sort of chance against armed men. She wasn't stupid enough to go running head first in the fight, though by now she wish she would have. She wondered what the town would be like if their first steps into it were greeted with brutality. Before coming down, she took off her shirt and striped socks, only leaving her in a black pair of shorts. She took the shirt she had and turned it inside out, ripping it into a long strip. She usually would have just gone down without the shirt, but she figured it would make her stick out. With the white side out, she wrapped the strip around her several times making a bandaged top that left her shoulders exposed. She hoped it would make her less conspicuous to the townsfolk, but she wasn't entirely sure. She was surprised at how much more comfortable she felt, especially with the sun on her shoulders. She stuffed the striped socks into her makeshift bag along with her sketchbook and pen and began to head down the hill.
-
Constance continued to sit there as the battle drew to an end, still thinking about killing the guard. She couldn't decide whether it was right or wrong. She thought taking a life was wrong, but at the same time she felt it was right. She thought of "An eye for an eye.", trying to make an excuse she could live with. The thought of holding the wolf's life more precious than man's had crossed her mind as well, which was fairly strange to her. Even though through her life she preferred the company of the animals over others almost all the time. The husky remain sitting next to her, waiting for any danger to befall Constance so it could protect her.
-
Macid was feeling light headed from the loss of blood, but noticed that he no longer heard the sounds of clashing swords and guards yelling. With great effort, he rolled to his side and tried to push himself up to a sitting position, only managing a few inches before succumbing to his weight. Through his panted breaths, he managed to speak. "Is, is it over?" He turned his head to try and assess the damage to his arm, though he could barely move his head without pain shooting through him. Looking at his arm, he noticed the cut through his clothes and into his skin. It looked rather clean, but he couldn't be sure from this angle, or with his current state of health. "Does, does anyone, know, know any, first aid?" He hoped someone besides him knew something about medicine. All the books about homeopathic medicine the old man had him read wouldn't do much good to him now.
-
max walked over to macid, he picked him up carefully. "sorry about your arm..." max put him down on a bench nearby and pulled out a length of string. "i might not be the best but i can stitch." with that he bagan to stitch up the gash in macid's are loosely. once he was done he grabbed a jug of water and walked back to macid. "this might hurt......alot..." he pored the water on the wound then quickly pulled the stitching closed. "that should hold, its only a trmp fix so be carefull." he took of his shirt and ripped off the main part then used it to bandage the arm carefully. he turned slowly and looked at the others. "i have some explaining to do don't i?...
-
Kiral surveyed their surroundings and the peering townspeople who had all hidden into their homes. Kiral walked over to where Macid as Max just finished tying the bandage strip. He grabbed Macid's arm and unwrapped the bandage, "First Aid 101, kid. Disinfect before bandaging, and when bandaging, do it hard and tight." Kiral shook the dust off the rag and spat on Macid's wound, wiping it with the same rag. He then wrapped it back on the wound, tightening it hard before finalizing the knot. Kiral stood back up and looked around as the others gathered back into the town, finding Constance being the only one not moving, her husky just waiting on her. "Cat girl! Get back over here!" Not too long after him saying that, the townsfolk then began to populate the streets. Some of the men had pitchforks on them, nervous to use them, while others stood behind them in case of an attack. Kiral readied the sword, expecting an attack, but he didn't know what was going to happen. "We're not here to harm you. The old gee- I mean, Filadius sent us to help you all. He raised us all to help you."
-
Mahi's head lifted slowly when she heard White speak to her. "Uh...no. I...took care of it..." She said, angling her eyes back toward the dead guy at her feet. She had no clue about the blood that was splattered on the bottom half of the legs of her sweatpants from the blood that spurted out of the guy's throat when she stabbed him. She had thought that movement of her pants that she had felt was just a slight breeze and not the pressure of the blood hitting them. Casually, she moved over to the others and stood with them as she heard and "saw" the townspeople coming out and moving in their direction. She stood there as if there was no threat as she clasped her hands behind her back but in her mind she was ready to bring out her weapons and defend herself if it came to that point again.
-
"Oh okay, just making sure." *The wolgon turned to see Kiral telling the townspeople how they were actually peaceful visitors not looking for trouble, sent by Filadius* "Well I'm not really sure how well that's going to go considering we just killed off several of their police and patrol units. But I figure he's going to be our leader since he seems to be able to keep us going in one direction, so I'll just roll with it." *White looked around at the folks, not really noticing anything different about them compared to the future party other than clothing* "I guess this really is the past, but what happened to all the magic and such in the future?" *The wolf dragon scratched his head in confusion*
-
As she headed down she put a hand on Constance's shoulder, gently shaking her as if to snap her out of her trance. She eyed the husky, hoping it wouldn't bite her, but she didn't think it would since it wasn't attacking her. "C'mon, you need to get up before wolf boy gets his panties in a wad." She bent down and offered her hand as if to help her up. "Last thing I want to hear is him barking out orders."
-
Constance didn't hear Kiral when he yelled for her. She was still thinking, trying to find a right for her wrong. Though she snapped out of it when Mortis shook her. "Alright..." she said, taking her hand. After getting helped up she nodded to Mortis. "Yeah...He does seem a bit bossy, doesn't he?" she said to her, softly enough so only the two could hear. She noticed her hands were clean again, though they were a bit damp from the dog's licking. She noticed her dirk still bloody however. She figured she was going to get new clothes and just wiped it on her jacket. She knelt down to the husky and began to pet it on the head. "Aww...Such a good boy. C'mon, time to go now." she stood back up, put her dirk under her belt as she usually did and walked on looking back to see if Mortis was going to follow. Giving the dog attention seemed to relieve her of what was bothering her, like nothing had happened.
-
As Max picked him up, Macid winced in pain from being moved. As he started to stitch up the cut, Macid grunted loudly in pain. Halfway through, Max stopped and went to grab something. "This might hurt.....alot..." When he poured the water over the wound, Macid felt a pain similar to his past. He screamed in agony as the water washed over his wound and Max finished up. Tears were rolling down his eyes as Macid tried to relax, thinking that it was the best thing he could do at the moment. He noticed the jug of water still sitting there, hoping it had some more in it. "Max was it? Could you wash my face please?" Taking the jug, Max ran some on Macid's face, cleaning up the blood that had been coming from his nose. Just then, Kiral came and unwrapped the bandage. "Hey! What are youAAAAUUUUUGGGGHHHH!""First Aid 101, kid. Disinfect before bandaging, and when bandaging, do it hard and tight." The pain from the water going in his wound was nothing compared to what Kiral was doing. As he wiped the wound cleaner that before, Macid found himself unable to speak, from being in so much pain. When he was done, Macid was crying softly. These people and this world was bringing all of his old feelings back to him, reminding him of the pain that he had gone through. He just wanted to go home and crawl in his bed and forget the world and everyone else.
-
"i was trying to be nice and not make him pass out from the pain." he turned to macid and wiped away his tears "forgive me but you'll thank me later..." he put a small tablet in macids mouth and rubbed his throat, forcing him to swallow the pain killer. "i'm a chef, i've seen novices loose hands trying to show off with knives they shouldn't be aloud to even look at. that tablet is fairly strong and should hold off the pain for a few hours." max looked up at the townfolks and drew ramsey just in case. "any ideas?"
-
The crowd merely stood there, but cautiously withdrew their weapons, still not too sure about the group, "The last time Filadius brought people back, they were corrupted warriors who killed one threat and became a bigger one. What makes us sure you're not lying and that you're not going to put us under rule like the did?" Kiral holstered his weapon and raised his hands, "Filadius raised us from our childhood. It may not seem like seconds since he left here, but he's spent more years in our ti- er, world than all of us have been alive. Besides, we were just normal folk with normal lives before the old man brought us here. For god's sake, we were barely able to survive our first fight. Can you at least supply us with clothes and food for our journey? Please." There was tense silence for a little while, but then a small child of no more than 5 years of age ran up to Mahi and tried to hand her a piece of bread, while another child, a cat, ran over to Macid and tried to pick up his arm, rubbing the arm against his soft fur to comfort the pain.
-
Mahi listened to what was said and heard someone small walk up to her. She reached out and gently place her hand on the child's head then knelt down in front of the child and took the piece of bread that was extended out to her out of politeness. "Thank you. That's very nice of you." She said softly and smiled at the child. After that, she stood up again while holding the piece of bread in her hands.
-
*White watched the townsfolk become more cautious with their weapons drawn and went into defense mode& "They better not even think about stabbing my wings again... I have this snitch, but that only works to cover most of any hits on my torso." *He eyed the little girl and the feline boy as they made Mahi and Macid more comfortable*"That should at least discourage the town members to attack." *He lowered his shield*
-
Mortis finally made it down the hill and gathered with the others. She kept a sharp eye out, not really knowing what to do next, more or less readying herself to react if things went sour. All she knew was she wanted to go back to her reality. Back where she was a normal art student, just trying to graduate. The fact that she could get left behind so easily depressed her as she looked around at the townsfolk. It was just like growing up back home. No matter what she had to offer, it was never good enough to get noticed. She was invisible, anonymous, and it was probably for the best that she was. She scratched her arm nervously, turning away from the others. The chameleon pretended that she was enjoying the sun rather than being overcritical of herself.
-
Constance stayed near Mortis and the others, silently listening to the people. She was avoiding looking at the corpses of the guards and such a little ways away. She was still feeling uneasy about killing people, but it felt almost right. As she knelt down to pet the husky that was at her a kid came over to pet it as well. "What's his name?" asked the little girl. "Uhm...I haven't decided yet." replied Constance. Because of the question it made her think, what would she call it. "Hmm...What should I call it? Well...First thing..." She checked to see the gender of the animal quickly. "It's a he. How about-" "Hero?" interrupted the girl. "That sounds great. Hero it is." said Constance, ruffling the girl's hair.
-
Macid just sat there with his eyes closed trying to fight back the tears as Kiral spoke to the townspeople. It wasn't until he felt something rubbing against his arm that he opened them. Thanks to the pain killer that Max gave him, Macid could barely feel the young cat rubbing he arm. He looked down at the boy, who in turn looked back at him. "Are you hurt Mister?" Macid turned his head towards his feet, embarrassed to answer. The child walked around in front of Macid, trying to continue looking him in the eyes. "Are you sad?" "...Yes. I'm very sad." "Why? Was it because you lost your book? Cause I saw you drop it and picked it up for you." The boy handed Anon to Macid, who was bewildered that he didn't notice that he had it, or that he had dropped it in the first place. Taking Anon in his good hand, he looked at the boy. "Thank you, but why are you helping me? I have done nothing for you."
-
The child stopped to think a bit and then gave a partial toothed smile, showing that his adult teeth were yet to all grow in, "Because mister and his friends saved us from the bad guys!" The little girl chimed in almost as if on queue, "Yea, those guards and patrolmens were mean to all of us, especially to kids! We weren't allowed to play or nothin'!" "Y-yea! And they kept taking my daddy's food without paying!" Kiral looked around, seeing some of the realization in some people's eyes, while others' seemed to harden. "But I think we might have caused a little over excessive problems for these folks by killing the ones in armour, am I correct?" One of the villagers, a burly tiger who seemed to harden stepped forward, pitchfork in hand, "You're damn right you did. The ones in armour were the royal patrolmen. They continually report back to their network post to maintain their peacekeeping, and you just killed them. Now they'll come down here for blood once they find out about this little mess." Kiral thought hard for a minute, "What if we hid the bodies? Or even made it so it looked like we raided your village? I mean, try not to raise too much suspicion by pretending this was a rogue group?" The man shook his head, "No. There haven't been any rogues in this region of the land for years, and they'd know anyways. Most of the main regiment out in this region are hounds. They'd find the bodies and fast. Plus your particular weapon is similar to those of the Rulers'. I believe you call it a 'gun'? Remnants of a weapon like that will make it obvious who you are and that you're here. If you need food, we can spare a little, but we don't have much ourselves. But you cannot stay here. The next cavalry comes in at dawn's light." Kiral sighed and looked around at the others, "I guess we don't have much of a choice. *turns to the man who spoke* We will accept your offer. At least let me help you somehow." Kiral drew his weapon and fired all over the place, causing mass panic for a minute, afterwhich he re-holstered his weapon. "This should at least confuse them and make them think we're not here to take down the Rulers, or whatever you call them." The tiger nearly rushed over to Kiral to run him through when he stopped. He looked around and noticed what was going on, "Maybe for a little bit, but not for long. Anyways, the women will go and gather supplies for you. Come to my home, my son is an Apothecary. He can assist with your friend with the wound."
-
As the conversation went on Mahi listened and when she heard the man mention that they didn't have much food, she tried to hand the bread back to the child only to have her hand pushed back against her stomach as the girl rejected taking it back. Once again, she heard the gun readying to fire so she didn't jump from the shots actually being fired since she knew she wasn't going to be shot at. She had tensed when the guy was getting ready to attack Kiral but relaxed when he didn't go through with it. At the mention of the women gathering supplies, Mahi kept her mouth shut even though she didn't like how things worked in this time. If she was made to do the "duties" of a woman while she was in this place or treated as inferior, THAT was when she would open her mouth.
-
I suppose I'll allow myself to be lead around again. the chameleon thought to herself bitterly. I'll let myself be lead around by people who could really care less for me. She still felt as if she should prepare for the worst as she merely stood with the others, crossing her arms. She didn't realize, but her whole demeanor had changed to an aggravated look. Again, a shots went off in the air. I can't wait for that thing to run out of bullets. Just because he has a gun, he thinks he knows everything. Mortis was still not very fond of the group, but then again she was never fond of very many people. She also preferred to work alone rather than with groups, which at this point seemed to be a strike against her.
-
Constance listened to the conversation, wincing at the gunshots. "Does that thing come with a silencer? Sheesh..." she thought, still petting the husky. "I wonder where these animals I summon come from? Do they have some weird realm or something? Filadius said I only get three a day...And one at a time...Can I switch them out of something? So far it only seems I can summon a new one when one dies...That's no fun...I probably shouldn't get attached then...Aww...This sucks. I don't want to lose them." She stood up, looking at the tiger after he offered to help one of their injured friends. She looked around, curious as to who it was only to see it was Macid. "His arm...I didn't even notice...I must have completely zoned out."
-
Macid was only half listening to the conversation between Kiral and the tiger. His mind was elsewhere, thinking about what the child said. Bad guys? Where those the men that Filadius sent ahead of us? Why where there more than seven of them? No, they couldn't be from our time, they had to be guards from this era loyal to the first ones." When Kiral shot his gun in the air to disperse the crowd, the boy screamed and hugged Macid tightly, Macid himself having jumped slightly from the surprise. He put his hand on the boy and whispered to him with a smirk. "It's ok. Kiral's not gonna hurt you. He's not that mean." When the tiger mentioned his son being able to help him, Macid tried to stand up from the bench, but due to the loss of blood and pain killer Max slipped him, he found it hard. "Hey, can you get one of my friends to help me up please? The boy slowly pulled his head out of Macid's stomach, and nodded, running over to Max. "Hey mister? Can you help my friend?"
-
max was watching carefully and saw kiral draw his gun, he flinched slightly with each shot and stortly after noticed a kid asking for his help "sure." max secured all the sections of ramsey propely and walked back over to macid. "so how you feeling?" he sliped his hands under his injered team member and lifted him carefully then looked back to the kid calmly. "so where do you want him." he looked macid in the eyes and smirked, "your lighter than you look."
-
Kiral went with the others to follow the tiger and entered into a slightly larger building of the village. There, a much younger tiger, not too much older than those in the group, cleared out a table and ushered them to sit Macid onto it. Meanwhile, he went over to a rather large shelving unit that took up the whole back wall of the home and sifted through several wooden cups of things that Kiral didn't even want to guess was inside. He could have sworn that several of the bottles had fingers or fetuses or even a certain male appendage. Kiral shook the thought out of his head and turned from that part of the house and just watched the tiger bring over several cups of dried materials as well as a jug of some kind of liquid. The tiger ground several dried materials together slowly before finally pouring them all into the bottle of murky, green liquid. He then mixed it all with a wooden spoon and then poured it into a deerskin container. "This little concoction completely purifies any wound and helps speed up the healing process. Use once, and only once per wound. Any more would be waste." He then placed the top on the bag and shook it viciously, before stopping. He then opened it back up and stuck his fingers inside, pulling them out, covered in a thick syrupy goo, "You won't need to mix this anymore, this state of the liquid is permanent. Now, this is going to be extremely painful. Your wound has too much filth within it, waiting so long." Kiral stepped up and removed the bandage as the tiger applied the goo onto the wound, which seemed to harden in a matter of seconds. "You won't need to dress the wound. It hardens in a matter of seconds. Blood causes to quickly harden. Once your wound heals, it should start cracking. Here, you seem like you would be the most responsible for this." He closed the top and handed the bag over to Mortis. At around the same time, several women walked into the home with 7 bags and a small box about the size of a shoebox. With a closer look, Kiral realized it WAS a shoebox. The women handed each traveler a bag, which was warm to the touch, "We made each of you half a loaf of bread and two slices of ham. It's not much, but please accept it." The elder tiger took the box from the last woman and handed it to Kiral, "Several years ago, the Rulers were our worshiped heroes of legend. They saved my life and gave me this box from their world. Inside, is an item that was a keepsake from their leader that he said he would come back for when it was time to return to his world, but he never came back for it. Take it to their group's leader, and cram it up his ass for me." Kiral took the box and opened it. Inside was a weird electronic machine that he had never seen in his life. He closed the box back up and nodded. Kiral didn't know what to do, so he left the room and waited outside for the others. He had no more business and didn't want to stay any longer.
-
Mahi followed the tiger and Kiral to the building and went inside with them. She stood there and shifted back and forth from foot to foot while waiting for the younger tiger to finish taking care of Macid. When the women came in with bags for them all, she took her bag when it was handed to her and put the piece of bread that the little girl had given her in the bag too. She shifted her "gaze" to the others one at a time and then a moment after Kiral walked out of the building, she went out after him since there wasn't anything else for him to do.
-
*White followed silently behind Kiral and Mahi to the inside of the building, looking upon all the very strange concoctions and materials inside the jars, the fetuses in particular making the wolf dragon uncomfortable with the setting overall* "I think I'm gonna go outside and wait, I don't have any business here." *He waited there for a couple of minutes, noticing Kiral and Mahi coming out shortly after he did* "I don't blame them, though Kiral probably left for a different reason than me and Mahi can't literally see anyways so it was probably like any other place."
-
Unlike most of the others, Mortis didn't find the jars on the shelves unpleasant. She actually had a fascination with them, and was hardly paying attention to what was going on because of them. It wasn't until the mention of pain that she stopped looking at the shelves and looked to see what was actually going on. She watched as the tiger dropped some mysterious goo into the lynx's wound. She watched curiously as the concoction hardened, being caught by surprise when the tiger handed her the deerskin container. She wasn't sure if she should have been flattered by the remark he made, but she took the container and placed it into her makeshift bag with all of her other things she had with her so far. She also took her bag that was given to her, nodding in thanks. Carefully, she began to transfer her important items from her makeshift bag to the better made bag, placing the heavier things on bottom and her bread on top, covered with her leggings to keep it warm.
-
Constance watched the healing take place curiously. When the women brought in bags she took the one for her thanking the person who gave it to her. Hero stayed outside, sitting near the door. Kiral happened to sit next to him, which made him look at him. He stood up and walked off around the building before coming back around with a stick in his mouth. He sauntered over to Kiral, sat down in front of him and dropped the stick, tilting his head sideways looking at him.
-
As Max picked him up, Macid whispered a thank you to him. As they followed the tiger and entered the house, he was carefully sat upon a table by order of a much younger tiger. As he began to mix things from his shelves, Macid was feeling uneasy from being treated like this. He never had any good relations with doctors and didn't like being treated with ancient medicine any better than modern medicine. "Now, this is going to be extremely painful. Your wound has too much filth within it, waiting so long." As Kiral unwrapped the wound and the goo placed upon it, a pain similar to taking a white hot corkscrew and running it through his arm shot throughout his entire body, causing him to scream loudly in agony. This, combined with the rest of his ordeals today was too much for Macid to handle. His vision went all white as he fell backwards on the table, landing with a thud. His eyes closed, he passed out into a deep sleep.
-
max put down macid carefully where the tiger had instructed, he helped hosd macid still as he screamed in pain, wishing there was something he could do to help him through it. when macid passed out max watch him sleep. he thanked the woman who brought him has and macid's bags before she quietly walked out of the room. max looked up for the first time and reailsed that only he mortis and constance were still in the tent with macid and the younger tiger, this is when e also noticed the jars on the walls. he didn't feel like going further into their contence and decided to wait outside with the others. a moment later he walked outside, leaving his new bag with macid's and looked around. "he passed out, so what now?"
-
The young apothecary recommended someone carry Macid's stuff while another carried Macid himself. He went outside and looked over at Kiral, who was ready to kick the annoying dog in front of him, "I know it may not be what you want to hear, but you're going to have to carry your friend with the arm. You look like you might be the strongest, so please carry him out soon. You folks don't have much longer to stay here. Make haste." Kiral thought for a minute, fondling the handle of his weapon at the prospect of possibly decapitating the dog. Finally, gave a sigh and got up, "Alright, I'll do it." He walked inside the home again and grabbed Macid's tail, and dragged him along, Macid's head and back making a thump when he hit the ground. "I think we've overstayed our welcome, guys."
-
Mahi listened and "watched" the dog as it pestered Kiral to throw the stick. She could tell what he wanted to do and she was ready to make sure that he didn't actually do it, but she didn't have to since he got up to go get Macid. When she noticed that Macid was being dragged along, she couldn't keep her disapproval to herself. "Oh come on...you can't carry him over your shoulder or something? He's not a bag of trash, you know." She said, some irritation laced into her voice.
-
*White followed once again, feeling bad for Macid, but not saying anything* "That's probably going to leave a bruise or something, I would try to help, but we really should be going. It's not good to stay in one place for too long when you're wanted dead by a corrupt government." *The wolgon looked back to the dog for a moment feeling bad for it and gave it a little wave with his hand and kept walking* "I never had a dog, but they are cute little creatures."
-
Mortis finally made her way outside, listening to the others. When she saw Macid being dragged, she couldn't help but make a snide comment. "Some leader we have. Aren't you glad that you're following someone around that would treat you like this if you were injured?" She had just about had enough of Kiral, and was beginning to get more outspoken about it the more irritated she got. She wasn't really speaking to anyone in particular, more or less at everyone. She knew that the chimp had already said something, but she felt as if she should reinforce the girl's point. "If this is how you'd be treating me, I'd rather take my chances on my own." For the second time, Mortis crossed her arms, doubting the capability of their self proclaimed leader.
-
Constance's ear twitched at something outside just before Kiral walked in making her look at the door. When he began to drag Macid so carelessly she looked at him with a bit of anger. "Hey, what's your problem? What if he goes into a coma or something? I know you don't seem to have a problem with killing people but try to remember who your allies are!" she said, huffing at the end crossing her arms. She thought of just shoving him out of the way and carrying Macid herself. Back home she carried an injured lion over her shoulder in an emergency, because it was going to take too long for anyone else to get there to help. She managed to carry it across the zoo to the vet's area for treatment. Normally Constance wouldn't get angry so easily, but then again, she was in a whole different time and the only other feline there was being mistreated.
-
max walked in to the house again and grabbed his things when he saw kiral start draging macid away. he felt hes anger rise as he lost sight of the lynx. he walked over to the bed macid had been on and grabbing both his and macid's things, including his book. he calmly walked over to the tigers and thanked them for helping the group and aksed them to send the groups gratitude to the rest of the town. after that he walked outside and silently steped infront of kiral, looking him in the eyes with a look of anger before pushing him aside and scooping up macid. he called back to the group as he begining to walk away. "whoever knows which way we're going better start leading. don't care who."
-
Kiral scoffed at the incoming comments, and just dropped Macid, his rear smacking on the floor. "I'm neither a leader, nor am I going to give a damn what you say about me. The old geezer wanted us to do a job, and I'll do it. If you don't like it, you can (censored) off and get there on your own. I'll even give you the map, if you want it. I already memorized it. It's no different than remembering blue-prints." Kiral held out the map in front of him and watched them intently. He couldn't care less what happened to them, but he did want to keep his word to the old man.
-
For the first time, a smirk crept up onto Mahi's face and she crossed her arms, though not in an aggressive way. Considering the circumstances, it seemed like an odd time for such a nonchalant expression as well as the level-headed air she gave off when she spoke. "You don't fool me any. No matter how much you want to not care about any of us and leave us on our own, you aren't going to let Filadius down either." She said with her blank eyes directed right at his face and right into his eyes, not the map he was holding out, and then she removed the smirk so that she was straight-faced but still it wasn't a look of anger. "I don't care how full of yourself you are and how inferior you think we are to you, you know for a fact that you can't do this on your own, no matter how far into the back of your mind that fact may be seeded." It was times like this with those clouded-over eyes directed right at another person's eyes that it could seem like Mahi was staring into someone's soul; even though she was blind her gaze could still be quite intense. "I'm sure everybody here has their own issues, and your issues probably gave you your horrible attitude...but it's time to get over it for the time being and do what we were sent here for. After that, I don't care what you do, but I'm not dying because this group can't get along." This was in no way her trying to become the leader. It was just how she was and how she tried to take care of situations. Kiral needed to be set straight and get over himself to focus on what they were supposed to do, and what she said might have an affect on others in the group possibly even if it wasn't apparent that they might need to be talked to the same way. Mahi's blindness had made her grow-up faster than anyone should have to, so even though they were all responsible adults, she figured she was still more mature than the others though she would never say that to any of them unless they were acting immature for some reason.
-
*Having finally summed up his own thoughts, White came up with on oddity of a rebuttal* "While I think it's not necessary to be rude right now Kiral..." *The wolf dragon turned to Mahi* "Filadius never really said we had to work together, if he really wanted us to, why did we never meet each other until today?" *He alternatively turned back to Kiral* "It doesn't really make sense to me, if he wanted coordination I think it would have it done before now. On the other hand if he did want us to work together and long knowing how we all are over time, it would have been poorly planned out to throw this in at the last second and turning this into a game of chance when the fate of the world is at risk." *He thought to himself* "...Unless he already knew what was going to happen and only told us what we needed to know." *He scratched at his head in some confusion*
"However more than likely if any of us have to fight the police again, it's not going to work in a one versus fifty fight. Going alone would be insane if not fatal, don't even try to break up the group right now."
-
Kiral's words were like a fire under Mortis. Her fist balled up in response and she couldn't help but allow the anger to guide her actions. Her scales had shifted from their normal coloring to something darker with hints of red. She had began shaking because she never liked conflict; it caused her anxiety to rear it's ugly head, but she would be damned if the wolf was going to shoot off like he had and continue having a generally pompous attitude. "AUGH, you are such a jackass!" She exploded at Kiral, not much caring what anyone else had to say or had said. "I could do a better job than you, all you do is act like we should bow down to Kiral, all hail Kiral, all because you worked in a construction yard. Whoop de freaking do, you can order around people there, but you're NOT going to order around me or act like I can't do anything without YOU." Mortis growled, shoving past Kiral and knocking the map out of his hand. She didn't care if he was bigger than her, in fact, part of her wanted him to swing on her just so she could have an excuse to hit him. "And screw your map!" she snapped as she stormed off.
She continued to shake as she walked along, not caring what the others would do in turn. She attempted to take deep breaths to calm down, but to no avail. She had so many emotions running through her all at once. She was angry with Kiral and the old man, and part of her was depressed about how things were looking. The wolf dragon had his points about them being a gamble and it made her outlook on the situation bleak. It made her somewhat disappointed that Filadius was only interested in her for his own personal gain or for a last ditch attempt to save a time that had nothing to do with her. She knew she wasn't a fighter, at least not against well armored soldiers, but she was confident in her natural ability to disappear. Though in the darkest corners of her mind, she almost wished soldiers would catch her and put an end to her.
-
Constance absorbed some of the angry energy from Mortis it seemed, she didn't explode like she did but rather follow after her, snatching the map up as she went. Kiral was already working his way onto her naughty list from how he treated Macid, so it was more easy to be angry with him. She also could feel a vibe from Hero, like he didn't like him either. Hero followed too after growling at Kiral and picking up his stick. Constance wasn't too keen on Kiral's attitude, much like Mortis apparently, and White said there was no mention of them having to work as a team anyway. "You gonna be okay?" she asked, after catching up to Mortis.
-
Kiral merely shrugged it off, he really didn't care at all. So he started to walk out of the town, heading east, leaving Macid where he laid, "Your choice. Anyone who's going my way, let's go. If you want to stick with Ms. PMS, feel free." Kiral never cared much for people. He can work with anyone if he had to, but he wasn't going to give anyone the satisfaction of treating him like shit. It was no different during his years in construction, so he would leave others to their own if they so wished.
-
Mahi rolled her eyes. Agitation boiled up within her but she kept it at bay. Shrugging, she followed after Kiral. It seemed like she needed to be with him as a balance for his horrible attitude, especially since the only other person who really stated her opinion on what he did had decided to separate from the group. "Oh joy, this is going to be such a fun adventure." She thought to herself. "Well, maybe he'll ease-up on the attitude as we go along. Won't get my hopes up though."
-
"I'm going with you whether you like it or not hot shot, going alone means death." *The wolf dragon followed behind Kiral and turned to Mahi* "I think things went well here." *He smiled and kept walking with his arms crossed behind his back relaxing for the walk, his hammer gripped in one hand and the shield attached to his back, he only glanced at the others growing distant behind the trio* "I bet I look kind of like one of those ninja turtles on television from behind." *He chuckled to himself*
-
"I'm.. I'm fine." Mortis replied, her body still shaking, though not as violently as before. "Though, why come with me?" She stopped walking for a moment turning to face the feline. The chameleon seemed a little unnerved and angry at the same time. She scratched the back of her head, looking around as if to play it off. "I mean, really, I have no offensive anything, you're better off with Kiral." She was really speaking the truth. At the point she had no offensive anything if someone decided to attack.
-
"Eh...That Kiral guy was kind of a jerk. I don't think I could have stomached saving the world with him. Or being around him...I would have exploded on him sooner or later." she said fairly casually. Hero was off to her right waling along with his stick in his mouth. "I just hope he hasn't up and killed poor Macid or something..." she said looking back. "Well...Looks like it's just you and me. I don't see the others. I wouldn't have minded someone who could fight coming along...I mean...No offense to you. I'm sure you can summon a fighter or something." Constance turned back around, looked down and saw the stick in Hero's mouth. She took it from him which prompted him to run in front of her and look back wagging his tail. She waved the stick at him teasing him with it. "Want the stick boy?" Hero barked happily and anxiously. "Alright, GO get it!" she said, throwing it on "GO". He chased it down the road ahead to fetch it.
-
Macid could hear the sound of people arguing as he slowly awoke. *groan* "What, what happened?" As he began to open his eyes, he saw the ground moving beneath him and away, as if he was walking backwards. "Whats going on?" His voice raised slightly in panic as he struggled to move, but found he was held in place by an arm. He followed it down to the rest of the person carrying him and found it to be Max. He calmed down a bit and looked to his arm to find the sword wound. To his surprise it was completely gone with no scar, although his other scars were still there. He tried to look up, but was met with a head ache the size of a mountain when he did. He yelped slightly at it and grabbed his head to try and contain the throbbing. He removed one hand and tapped Max lightly on the back. "Uhm, excuse me, but why does my head hurt?"
-
"you don't want to know..." max lightly set down macid and smiled. he pulled off the lynx's things and gave them to him before standing up and looking at the turain before him. a second later he thought he heard something behind him, but before he could turn to see what it was a large stick came flying and caught him on the back of the head. he grabbed his head and turned to see who threw it and was speachless when he did. the large dog bowled him over almost getting macid aswell when it flew past before grabbing the stick and running over max and back to constance. "pain.....sooo much pain...."
-
Kiral was a bit surprised to see White and Mahi following him, but smirked in his mind, Looks like we get the full hand-to-hand combat team here. Well, at least it's not a total sausage fest. "Do whatever you want, kid, I told you what the options were. I personally can't stand people like that lizard chick. I mean for starters, her brains are probably the same size as her bust, very small." Kiral chuckled, though more to himself than to the others. He wanted to say that he usually saw that with those with a larger bust, but he had already noticed Mahi's so he didn't want to say anything unnecessary.
-
Mahi heard what White said to her and just nodded in response to him. "Could have been worse, I suppose." She thought to herself as she followed along. Kiral's comment about bust size and brain size having anything to do with one another annoyed her, but she just chalked it up as just another one of his issues. She worried about the others, especially since a couple of them didn't have actual weapons. Shaking her head, she tried to just focus on "seeing" what was around her.
-
*White just turned away at the comment against women* "Disrespectful as well it seems, this one's gonna be a lot of work. Though the aggressiveness will come in handy when we come into situations where there are people we really don't want to talk to, but are too polite to say it, so he'll do it for us." *He laughed quietly* "Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever had any friends besides my dad, always been devoted to my work and the old man, though I don't really know if we are considered friends more than business associates since it appears that we're part of some end of the world deal. Maybe Kiral will lighten up when he realizes we're not that annoying."
-
Kiral sighed as he looked at his empty hand, "At least we won't have to worry too much about those idiots finding their way. The black gem that the old geezer uses to talk to us is with them now. I'm sure the old fart will be able to help them when they need it." He looked off into the sky. "So what was everyone's names again? I'm not good with them, just faces."
-
"My name is Mahi, his is White." Mahi said, gesturing towards White. "The chameleon's name is Mortis, the cat is Constance, the lynx is Macid, and the lace monitor is Max." As she listed off the names, she emphasized the word 'chameleon' as a way to point out that she wasn't just the 'lizard chick'. Kiral may have only wanted her and White's names but she figured she might as well say them all just in case. To Kiral and White, it might be surprising that she knew everyone's names and even more surprising that she knew each of their species when she couldn't "see" them the normal way.
-
"Wow you certainly are an interesting wookie, though I like to introduce myself as I'm accustomed to it, feels weird if I don't." "I think it's pretty hard to at least forget the sense of familiarity when looking at me without a name since as far as I can tell there's not too many flying wolves in the neighborhood. Sleeping is more about curling up than actually laying down for one and sitting is something that has to be done with care." *White pointed to his wings* "I'm surprised you remembered the name Filadius, Kiral." *He chuckled* "Just kidding."
-
Kiral sighed and continued on westward, "I think I'll remember that eventually. So Mahi and White." He couldn't help but to notice all the scenery in front of him. Kiral had been to the countryside before, but it was never as beautiful as this place. If the old man would let us, I'd stay here for the rest of my life... So much money to be had to build skyscrapers in this time. The thought of money and building made Kiral's head swim happily as they continued for the rest of the day. At night, they laid near a treeline, their location surrounded by tall bushes and bramble. Kiral yawned a bit as he sat down, but he kept an eye open, making sure no one comes near, "I'll try to keep watch first. White, maybe you can take a shift later."
-
Mahi shrugged when White said she was interesting as if what she had known wasn't hard to figure out. She followed along for the rest of the day, getting pictures of the scenery from sounds reverberating off of everything. The picture she got lacked color though so she couldn't exactly enjoy everything fully like the others would be able to. When they found a spot to rest for the night, she laid down in the grass with her hands rested on her stomach with her fingers interlaced and closed her eyes.
-
"I don't mind at all staying up to watch, I've done it many times in construction. We didn't want equipment getting stolen, so naturally we would stay with the job until it was completed. Whenever you're ready to swap, just nudge me while I'm asleep." *The wolf dragon laid down on the soft grass curled up, closing his wings and quickly fell asleep, dreaming about home and his father and the work he left behind* "So much to do, so little time." *He wriggled around on the ground*
-
"Alright, will do." Kiral stayed up on watch all night, never once stirring White or anything. He merely looked up and stared into the stars, his mind going back to his old life back in the future. The biggest thing that bugged him was why their future wasn't affected, or what would happen to their future if they were to succeed, and even how they were going to get back, but he figured that Filarius had a way. That old fart better bring us back. I'll be damned if I have to die out in this time or have to die so that the future could be preserved.
-
Mahi fell asleep pretty quickly while she laid there in the grass. Her dream was about when she stabbed the guy in the throat. It just kept replaying over and over in her mind as she slept. The dream troubled her but in reality, she never shifted her position and just kept laying on her back with her hands on stomach the whole night. After about half of the night, everything went black and she didn't dream anymore.
-
*White rolled around on the grass not finding a comfort zone until eventually he woke up and looked around for a moment* "Ordinarily I would have no trouble sleeping on the ground, but this place is unfamiliar and I don't feel safe outside... *He slowly laid back down and went right to sleep*
-
Kiral eventually fell asleep, but awoke not even an hour later to the sun rising. He got up and stretched, yawning loudly. Kiral drew his weapon and let it unfold to its sword mode. Well, let's see if I can find a food source or something to kill so we can have more than just a two-meal ration for food. After searching for a few minutes, he found a wild feral deer and licked his lips. However, instead of sneaking up on it, he switched the weapon to gun mode and fired, killing the deer after a few missed shots, and a lucky stray bullet that hit its head.
-
Mahi heard Kiral walk off but let herself doze back into a state of being half asleep. When the shots went off, she quickly sat upright as her eyes opened. She moved her head from side to side in search for the source of the noise, but then let herself relax when she remembered that it was just Kiral and she could "see" no others around besides her and White. Opening her bag, she took a slice of her ham out. She closed the bag and began eating the slice of ham delicately as she sat Indian-style on the ground and waited for Kiral to come back.
-
*The wolf got up and soon after Kiral had disappeared and turned to Mahi* "I'll be back soon, gonna go hunt for potential game." *Into the woods the wolgon went with his plans. A few minutes later he spotted a deer drinking from a little creek undisturbed and he quickly took the opportunity by reaching for the snitch on his back to take aim, he took his frisbee pose and tensed to make the throw watching his prey carefully* "Jerky and venison here we come, though I just hope I don't miss." *The disc left his paws and flew through the air, smacking into the side of the deer just as it looked up to see the snitch coming, knocking it over for a moment in surprise and then swiftly unconsciousness from the shock of the hit, but not enough to kill as it only broke the bones close to the hit* "Guess I should help stop the pain, there's no going back now." *White caught the snitch then approached the creature and lifted his hammer, finishing it off with one quick swing* "I'll take it back to the campsite and get to cleaning up and preparing the meat. Hopefully we have enough time, since there's not much time to stall. I don't really want to find out just yet what else the world forces have in store for their nemeses."
-
Kiral came walking back to where the group had slept and was surprised to not see White, but hefted the deer over his shoulder. "I got us some rations. This baby deer should be easy to carry, and it's nice and plump, so it won't run out soon." Kiral was about to ask if she was one of those girls that would throw away her life for something small and/or extremely cute, but then he remembered that she was blind, so he kept that last part to himself.
-
Mahi had nodded at what White said and listened to him walk off as she finished off the slice of ham. As she sat there waiting for the two guys to come back, she listened to the sounds of nature around her. She heard Kiral approaching and turned her head in his direction. She didn't like hearing that he had killed a baby deer and she would have rather of heard about him killing an adult deer instead, but she said nothing about it. "Well, then if White succeeded now we'll have too much because that's where he's off to right now." She said as she got on her feet and put her bag on her shoulder.
-
*White came back shortly after with the deer dragged behind himself, only to see Kiral's infantile deer catch and Mahi where he remembered seeing her a little while ago at the campsite* "Not much I can really say about this..." *The wolf dragon thought to himself before he decided to break the ice with a justification* "Well... now we have more food. I could carry my supply and then we'll have a lot of extra." *He looked down for a moment in the silence* "Crap I didn't want to waste an animal's life for no reason... well at worst I could make a coat out of this and just a select amount of jerky. Though I'd rather make as much as I can, I mean it wasn't exactly difficult, but I won't feel good about this either way if we don't get the full extent of use out of this. Aaaand seeing as how he hasn't been the most pleasant with us tagging along, he might feel agitation because I just copied his action and brought a bigger version. I will honestly be surprised if he has anything good to say about the situation in general...." *The wolgon's mind shifted to another topic at the same time relative to the scenario*
"I think my conservative values probably come from my father who only lived by what was needed, as we never had any of the Grade-A privileges. Mistakenly by many he was actually well prepared financially for anything despite appearance, he just never wanted to spend money since he didn't need to impress anybody." *His gaze that had returned towards Kiral by that time had far glazed over with the past making him look spaced out*
-
Kiral looked at the large deer that White was dragging behind him, and walked over to him, pulling out the sword. With a couple hacks, he managed to cut a third of the deer off, "It's not as sharp as that lizard boy's blade, but it does the job. How about we eat that portion for the morning? I'll drag that part until we can get something to burn that's dry." Kiral grabbed the leg of the severed portion and grunted as he pulled it. Damn. It's heavier than the baby deer.
-
Mahi stood there and listened as White came back to where they were dragging a heavy adult deer behind him. "I said I'd rather have an adult deer than a fawn, not both!" She thought to herself. As Kiral pulled along the severed portion, she stayed silent and made her blades go in and out of her gauntlets as a way to give herself something to do. She finally retracted the blades and kept them that way as she reached in her bag and pulled out the piece of bread that the little girl had given her. Raising it to her mouth, she only took one bite out of it and then put it back in the bag as she swallowed the bite after chewing it up.
-
*White blinked as a third of the deer fell off his catch to Kiral's gunblade, he decided to make a comparison to his own weapon* "I'm not really sure what's worse when we fight people in this unknown world, me hitting people with a metric ton of weight or you cutting and gunning your opponents. But umm... if you don't mind, I'd like to carry that deer, you already have one to deal with." *The wolf dragon scratched his head and turned to see Mahi toying with her special weapon* "I love automatic knives myself, I wish I had the opportunity to have brought my butterfly knife to pass the time when the action slows down." "I wish that Filadius had given some sort of warning to before bringing us to another world so we could have had time to prepare... it's going to become obvious that I easily get bored if I have nothing to do with my hands." *White sighed to himself quietly*
-
Kiral shook his head, "Nah, your portion is heavier than these two, though the rump is heavier than my fawn. Let's just keep our eyes open for something that's dry enough to burn so we can cook this." Kiral started dragging the heavy part-carcass and continued on west, the sun on their backs. "Worst case scenario, we hit the next little town before tomorrow afternoon and ask them to cook it. I'm going to eat my food at noon, so I can walk longer."
-
Mahi was getting extremely bored with nothing to do and she didn't really respond to what White said about loving automatic knives. As Kiral started dragging the part-carcass along, she began to follow after him. "Junk's gonna get all over that from being dragged. Hope it can be cleaned before it's cooked..." She thought to herself as she walked along. It bothered her that she didn't have anything to do in the group and she let out a frustrated sigh, though she didn't mean to actually do it so that the other two would hear her.
-
*White didn't say anything in response and pulled at the remaining portion left beside him. Walking along behind Kiral he glanced at the fellow group member Mahi while they walked together and thought to himself* "It's somewhat strange come to think of it, Mahi has pretty much kept to herself ever since after that fight in the previous town and her reasons for following Kiral seem to remain unclear. Perhaps she doesn't have a reason just yet or maybe she just chose based upon chance? My choice was far more simple, but there's another side behind every table glass. It just doesn't seem to be a logical choice because he doesn't seem have anything particularly good in personality thus far. Someone like her would have to base many of her opinions upon senses beyond vision as she is blind."
*The wolgon then turned to the back of Kiral and looked at him questioningly* "I still don't really understand what his drive is since he seems pretty unmotivated in general about this adventure as if he just wanted to continue life untethered to other people, but maybe this will be good for him in the long run to develop better people skills and maybe warm up some more. Maybe Mahi's senses think he is capable of change and that's why she follows him. If one thing is for certain, I can only hope for his sake that he does improve. Not just for my own interests, but the kindness will be needed in a place we know nothing about to properly get information. Moving along I wonder what his past was like to make him so cold to other people and how on earth did Filadius keep him so close to him? So many questions... I guess I might be able to get something out of him later on." *White blinked as Mahi sighed loudly* "Hmm... maybe she finds me and Kiral boring?" *He didn't say anything anyways and pretended like nothing happened*
-
Around high noon, Kiral's stomach really annoyed him to the point of gurgling and made his legs a little weak. He finally gave up and dropped the two deer carcasses onto the ground. "Alright, let's take a rest. I'm really hungry at this point." Kiral sat down and opened up the little sack and began to eat what little amount was given to them that morning. "So what did everyone else here do for a living before we got sucked into this medieval shit?"
-
Mahi had picked up some random twigs while they had walked. If she had felt that one was wet/moist, she would toss it away and only keep ones that felt dry. When Kiral finally said that they should rest, she stopped and dropped her twigs in a small pile on the ground then sat down Indian-style so that the twig pile was in front of her. "Well, I make jewelry, mostly chainmaille variety." She responded to Kiral's question about what they did for a living. "Guess it probably sounds weird, a blind person making jewelry, but it's what I do." She lifted her shoulders in a small shrug.
-
*White sat down as well and looked at Korius thinking for a bit before saying anything after hearing Mahi finish her story* "I used to do carpentry, I owned my own business. Sharp Wings Carpentry Service was the name... well more like inherited, but I did my fair share of the work and now do all of it. Dad is gone so I keep the place running..." "How the heck does a blind person know what colors are going together when the jewelry is being made?" *He turned to Mahi* "So anyways, Mahi might I ask how do you know what colors you are using for your chainmaille designs?" *He then also looked up at Kiral* "And might I ponder, what was your occupation Kiral?" "To be honest I'm not entirely sure if I want to know, but I figured I'd give him the opportunity to tell it. Not to mention I might not believe him anyways, he has given me little reason to trust him competely."
-
Kiral downed the last of his rations, "I work in construction. I'm a contracted worker, but in high demand around our area. Being freelance makes me more money than being a salaried worker. I usually do two to three construction projects at a time, working on separate sites, getting time to sleep between shifts. I'm not much of a social bird, but I take time off to chill out and drink with the old codger every weekend. Anyways, anyone got a light?" He had pulled out a cigarette, and held it in his mouth, unable to find the matches he swore he had on him. As he sat there, his ears picked up the sound of creaking, wooden wheels.
-
Mahi listened to White and then Kiral as both of them spoke, her ears picking up the sound of the wheels before Kiral did. "Uh no...I don't smoke so I don't carry that stuff." She said then her head shifted so it was directed toward White. "I have the rings sent to me in plastic containers that have the color written in braille on them. It's complicated at first but I got use to it." She turned her head in the direction that the sound of the wheels was coming from, alert and wondering if whoever was coming was a threat or not.
-
*White listened to Kiral up until the request for a type of flint for his habit and replied* "Dad always said it's not fun playing the part of a chimney in the throat, so no I've never smoked so I don't carry a lighter or matchbox... though your job sounds like it was pretty laid back, though during the winter I wonder what you did for work when nobody was hiring. I had an associate that did the same thing and he had to find some other work to fill in the cold time every year." *The wolf dragon turned to listen to the sound of the wheels coming* "This is probably going to be exciting even if this visitation is good and not here to collect bounty on the chosen people. I just hope we get a break from walking... though probably not with how my luck has been." *He put his hand next to his hammer ready*
-
Kiral chuckled as White's question, "Like I said, I earn more when contracting. I get a year and a half's worth of wages in 6 months. I spend all my winters chilling out, drinking, and spending more time with the old fart on Saturdays." Kiral sighed as he put the cigarette back into its pack and placed it in his pocket. He stood up and kept his hand on the handle of his weapon as a carriage came into view. From the looks of it, it looked like a poor family, nothing that resembled soldiers. Kiral walked up to it and waved them over, "Excuse me, are you folks heading to the next town out east, or at least passing by it? My friends and I could use a lift over if you don't mind." The woman seemed hesitant, but the man merely looked into Kirals eyes for a good amount of time before he spoke up, "Why not. Get thou and thine friends over in the back. We ain't got much, and you seem to have good eyes. However, there's one condition. Make sure that cutie friend of thine sit next to me and mine sister. I like to travel while surrounded by beautiful women."
-
Mahi got to her feet when Kiral stood up and went over to the carriage. She turned her head away to hide the grimace she made when the man said what he did about wanting her to sit with him and his wife so that he would be surrounded by beautiful women. Picking up her bag, she put it on her shoulder and walked over to the carriage, leaving her twigs where they lay. "Don't forget the meat supply." She said to Kiral when she had gotten so she was standing beside him. She didn't want to sit next to the man so she just stood there and prolonged it.
-
*White nodded to Kiral when he suggested how he made it through the winter season and then shortly after listened intently to the conversation between the poor vagabond family and himself, but to his own surprise* "I'm kind of amazed Kiral referred to us as friends rather than associates or companions, but it might have been part of his acting just now... or even more perplexing if that was actual kindness being displayed towards the man he spoke with. I do feel bad for Mahi though, she's sure getting the short end of the stick... I hope he's not a pig at least."
*The wolgon walked over to the carriage quietly, taking a short glance at the man's wife and then the man himself* "Definitely not soldiers, it's kind of funny though to hear someone say Kiral is of good character, before now I wouldn't have expected anymore than grumpiness or quick to the point kind of behavior."
-
The old man patted the empty seat next to him, "Right over here, young lady, or else I'm not giving you all a ride." Kiral sighed, "She's blind, sir. How about we give you a portion of our deer instead as payment? Or even the fawn? How about it?" The man thought about it for a second and then finally nodded. "Thou hast a deal, young one. Very well. Load the fawn next to me, and thou and thine friends may load up in the rear of the carriage." Kiral dropped the young deer carcass onto the seat next to the old man and took Mahi's man, "Come on. *grumbles under his breath* Damn old lech."
-
Mahi had lifted her head toward the man when he spoke to her. When Kiral spoke up, she turned her head towards him and in her mind she was praying that the man would say yes to the deal as she turned her head towards him again. She was very relieved when the man agreed to the deal and she was going to be able to sit with Kiral and White who she at least felt somewhat more comfortable with. For once she was glad to have her blindness as an excuse. When Kiral took her hand, she felt reassured that he would have her back and held in a chuckle when she heard what he said about the man. "Thank you." She said when they got to the back of the carriage.
-
*White looked at Kiral and then the father figure in the poor family when Kiral proposed the deer in exchange for seating* "We're trading... a deer for somewhere to sit... what a waste. We are soooo getting rooked on this deal and I can't believe he cares about the girl enough to trade provisions, looks like I was wrong about my judgment. Though I am still not happy about losing our catch." *The wolf dragon walked around the back of the carriage and sat down silently, not saying anything* "Let's just get moving, at least let's prevent this family from getting hurt by our enemies, because surely if we get too involved with others they might surely get injured or worse than death... wait a minute. What happens if we kill people, people get killed because of us, or other things happen that were not supposed to come to be?"
*He turned to Mahi worried suddenly about the past, talking low* "If we are in the past, doesn't that mean if we kill people or get other people killed, it could seriously alter the future to the point where we don't even exist anymore? And if that's true, what if that means we can't go back home because as soon as we get back we'll be erased?" *The wolgon showed some fear for the first time since he had been in the past, unsure of what could happen*
-
Kiral sat in the rear with the others. After situating himself, he looked across from them, where two kids sat there looking at them weird. "You know, it's not polite to stare. So don't." The kids kept to themselves, and Kiral closed his eyes, trying to rest himself up. Even with his eyes closed, Kiral's mind wandered back to his own time, and thought about what White was whispering over to Mahi about.
-
Somehow, Mahi hadn't noticed the kids until Kiral spoke to them. When White spoke to her, she kept her blank eyes directed at the floor of the carriage as she listened to him. "I don't know. I would like to believe that Filadius would have told us about it if that were the case, but I can't be sure about that." She responded to him along with a shrug. She understood the possibility of someone they met along the way being relatives of their own but she didn't want to think that her relatives would be the kind to want her and the others dead.
-
"He also didn't tell us about any of us and here we all are, he also didn't tell us if we were going to work together and he sure didn't tell us anything about this place except we're enemy of the state and pretty much the primary objective to be destroyed so the future can be permanently altered.... It's almost like a creator of the universe complex, I'd rather not even try to figure this one out. My head already hurts." *White looked away from Mahi into the trees off to the side, wondering about what would happen to home without the group doing anything* "I suppose I'd rather save most people rather than ourselves, so if we can at least accomplish that, I can rest in peace if it's over for me before the adventure is over." *He smiled and turned around to look at the road ahead through the carriage without worry of what was to come next with hope in the back of his mind*
-
The carriage continued on north and Kiral had himself a somewhat restful ride. The carriage slowed down to a stop several hours later, and it stirred him awake. When he opened his eyes, he noticed the kids were gone, as well as the rest of the contents of the carriage. Kiral turned his head to the front of the carriage and couldn't see the old man past the canvas. He got up and peered through the canvas, "Hey old man, what the fu-" Just a bit more to the side, Kiral saw armour and what looked like a checkpoint. He pulled out his weapon in gun mode, "We've been screwed."
-
Mahi heard the family get off/out of the carriage after it slowed to a stop several hours after they had climbed on-board. When she heard Kiral say that they had been screwed, it wasn't very hard for her to figure out what happened from what she could "see" was outside the carriage. "As if he didn't bother me enough before, now I want to track him down and punch him in the face." She said as she turned her head towards the back of the carriage. "So what are we going to do?"
-
*White shook himself awake and looked from Mahi who was talking about punching someone in the face then to Kiral who had his gun out, he quickly noticed the armored man and the emptiness of the rest of the carriage* "So not only did we lose the deer, we were betrayed in the process. Dammit." *He blinked in thought for a few seconds* "But how did they just slip away, surely as soon as they had left the carriage, we would have been attacked... or they would have been killed not far from this ride. Something about the whole thing is too smooth, perhaps the family themselves were an illusion or carefully crafted trap? It seemed so innocently ordinary, does that mean we cannot trust anyone?" *He hefted his hammer into his hands looking up at Kiral* "I hope you don't miss with that gun, because bullets to the brain will be a lot less painful than every bone and muscle in their body bursting in but a heartbeat from one swing from this monolith proportioned weapon."
*The wolf dragon gritted his teeth in anger and some emotional frustration* "Will I ever feel the same about people in general after coming across so many crooked characters and harbor behavior like that of Kiral... it sickens me at the thought, but what if that sense of personality is the only way to survive in this world?" *His grip tightened around the hammer*
-
Kiral sighed, "Well, if you recall, that family's piss broke. I'm sure there's a fortune on our heads that would entice the most desperate. As much as I hate what that family did, we can't really blame them. Good news is that the horses are still here. As long as we live through this and kill off these bastards, I'm sure we'll have a mode of transportation to make our way through this shit faster." Kiral then jumped out, tucking and rolling just behind the immediate men and popping off a couple shots at their armour, taking their attention to him. He then quickly shouted over to Mahi and White, "Three at the front, five out back and three on each side!"
-
"I can." Mahi mumbled in response to Kiral saying that they couldn't blame the family for doing what they did. It was mainly because she hadn't liked the man though and nothing to do with the woman or the kids. "I really don't want to fight..." She thought to herself just before Kiral jumped out of the carriage. Listening to what he yelled to them, she got up and moved to the front of the carriage. She extended the blade out of her right gauntlet and sliced the canvas vertically then retracted the blade. Slowly, she climbed out of the back of the carriage and onto the driving bench like there was nothing to worry about. Swinging out two of the diamond weighted wires (one on each of the gauntlets), she wrapped them around two of the three guys' necks and pulled, hoping to get in between the helmet and the chest armor.
-
"Fine I'll take the three on the side." *White flapped his wings and came down upon the middle man among the other two armored soldiers* "TAKE THIS!" *The astonished soldiers to the side moved a little bit in the opposite directions as he smashed the hammer over the man's head, causing it to burst into an unrecognizable mess that splattered both the wolf dragon's clothes and the soldiers armor on both sides of himself as he landed in a kneeling pose, the lifeless body fell backwards from the force of the blow* "Who wants the next hit?" *At the same time, both soldiers decided to charge him with their swords in a stabbing pose* "Oh yeah I have the snitch on my back, I'm good at least there." *He looked towards the man on the left and decided to first smack the sword from his hands, which caused the man to shriek as it broke his hand that was mostly gripping the sword; at the same time the wolf dragon moved backwards to avoid getting struck by a sword and fell on the ground* "Die you bastard!" *The man said as he swung downwards, so White rolled to the side as the sword clanged on the soil and the wolf dragon hit the guy in the back of the leg with his hammer still gripped* "Ack!" *The soldier went down while the other one that was still standing with a broken hand, grabbed his sword again with his still functioning hand and tried to swing again at the hammer wielder, finding himself hit in the chest instead then quickly to the ground*
"You people really should stay out of our way." *White looked around at the soldiers up towards the front of the carriage and the one that remained nearby Mahi* "Unfortunately it's not over yet though." *He heard the footsteps coming from behind towards the back of the carriage get closer*
-
Kiral then popped a few more shots against the soldiers' armour and kept them at bay for a little as he charged them, changing the weapon back into a sword and thrusting it into one of the patrolman's helmet, killing him quickly. Kiral then turned to swing the sword, but it was caught within the helmet. Ah, shit! Kiral then took the dead soldier's sword and threw it at the one heading for him, making him dodge out of the way. Kiral stepped on the helmet of the dead one and forced his sword back out just in time to block. With a forceful push, he backed the patrolman back and turned to pop some lucky shots into the helmet of the other, in time to see Mahi decapitate two of the front guards. Damn... Kiral then turned in time to block another strike from the soldier, but this time, the soldier was staring down the barrel of his weapon in gun mode. With a quick burst, those shots decimated the man's face, killing him.
-
Mahi listened to the two bodies fall to the ground and the one guard left standing charge at her while she was still standing on the driver's seat of the carriage. The guard took a swing at her legs with his sword and she jumped to dodge it. When she landed, she didn't keep her balance though and fell backward off the side of the seat that was opposite from where the guard who had swung at her was. She landed hard and it hurt a lot, but she managed to get back up before the guard got around the carriage to where she was. She remembered that there were three other guards on this side as well just before she heard them coming at her. Quickly, she blocked the overhead swing of the sword of the guard who she was originally fighting before she fell with the blade of her left gauntlet and used the opening she could "see" in that moment between the chest plate and belt, stabbing in the opening with her blade on her right gauntlet. This action only took a couple seconds and she quickly moved to evade the other three coming at her and the one she just stabbed in case he still tried to attack her.
-
*White turned to face the five men coming at him, but noticing two of them more clever aiming their bows at the wolf dragon* "Shit! Kiral, need some assistance over here!" *The two archers took aim behind the soldiers now close to him about to swing together. He reached for his snitch and parried the hits with a light one-handed swing of his hammer, pushing the men back and leaving himself still protected* "I know I can win against these guys right here, but I can't possibly hope to get close enough to attack an archer with my slow speed along with looking like a walking mass of swiss cheese by the time I get there. I will either have to wait for Kiral by just buying time or use one of these soldiers as a human shield, but it sounds risky." *He jabbed the left soldier in the chest with the hammerhead and it brought him down to the ground with cracked ribs, breathing for air from his smashed lungs, causing one of the soldiers to fallback in fear and one to keep coming with anger* "Murderer!" *The attacking soldier screamed as the wolf dragon silenced the man's sword with one swing that broke most of the blade off the hilt*
-
Kiral heard White and quickly turned, pointing the gun in the general direction and fired. Most of the bullets ricocheted off the armour, but it was enough to distract them a bit. A couple more the bullets bounced off Snitch as well. Kiral kept firing at the patrolmen, trying to his some flesh, which he eventually did with a bullet that bounced off of Snitch again.
-
Mahi kept her ears tuned in on what was happening with Kiral and White while also listening to her own fight so she could "see" what was going on. She blocked a strike from one of the three guards and stabbed him in the throat from the side with the blade from her free hand. After that, she quickly moved away as the other two were moving in. She freed one of the diamond-weighted wires from her left gauntlet, wrapping it around the sword of one of the guards and bringing the diamond back to her hand. She yanked the wire using the diamond and pulled the sword from the guard's hands. The other guard who was armed came at her and just as he was about to swing for her neck, she quickly reached out, grabbing the arm of the unarmed guard and pulling him in the line of the sword. The guard was decapitated and now she was faced with only one left.
-
*White freaked out when the bullets ricocheted off of his snitch* "GAH! You need to practice with that thing! Don't shoot at me, shoot at the other guys!" *While the men were confused from the bullet hits and worried to see if they got hit, the wolf dragon punched the last standing man in the face, knocking him to the ground and grabbing the man groveling in fear still, pushed him forward towards the archers and swung as hard as he could hoping to make it before they were able to lift their bows, hitting the one on the left and causing the right one to jump backwards, falling over* "Don't mo-ov-eee or I'll sh-shoot." *Shakily the man said while quivering with his bow and arrow* "Crap he's going to hit me..." *He slowly reached for his snitch and at the same time the archer released his grip on the string, causing the wolgon to force himself to fall forwards to miss the shot* "That was so close, thankfully not everyone has guns here." *He frowned and as the archer reached for his collection of arrows, he threw the snitch and it smacked into his forehead, knocking him unconscious* "I really don't want to kill all these people unless they make me, but perhaps if I don't they'll come back to haunt me."
*He turned around to look at the two other armored soldiers he didn't kill, seeing the one he but seconds ago hit in the chest, lifeless on the ground* "That's at least 2 guys taken care of."
-
Kiral ran in to help out with the remaining stragglers who were running away and tackled one, and running the sword through the back of the patrolman's neck. He struggled to get up and threw the dead man's helmet, making another one fall off his horse as he was mounting it. Kiral switched the sword to gun mode and gunned down the horse that the other one managed to get on, and it fell on top of its rider, crushing his leg. Kiral grabbed the one that was getting up and threw him over on top of the one with the broken leg and the struggling, very alive, horse on top of him. He switched his weapon back into a sword and held it in front of the patrolman's face so he wouldn't reach for his sword or get up. Well, at least I know that those movies were historically accurate. "Alright, who sent you? And how the hell do you know we're here?" The patrolman held a firm face, "Thou will have to kill me, first." Kiral looked over the man's shoulder at the one with the broken leg, and saw he was still alive. He turned the sword to gun mode and shot the horse in the head to shut it up and shoved the barrel into the patrolman's eye. "Okay. Your incapacitated friend can answer." With that, Kiral pulled the trigger and killed the able-bodied patrolman, pulling the body off the one with the broken leg. "Now you can neither defend yourself nor will I let you die so easily. Now answer my questions." The man, despite the broken leg, spat at Kiral, "Thou foul beast. Kill me because I am not saying anything." Kiral smirked evilly as he pulled the horse of the man's leg, leaving the other one pinned. "I'm going to enjoy this." Without a hitch, he stepped on the broken leg, causing the man to scream out loudly. "Let me know when you're ready."
-
Mahi changed her strategy for the last guard she was fighting, believing that if she mainly evaded his attacks that he would wear himself out and make taking him down easier for her. As Kiral was questioning and torturing the guard with the broken leg, which she could hear going on, she was dodging attacks from the guard. Every once in a while she would have to use one of her gauntlet blades to block an attack but she mainly conserved her energy by evading the guard. Finally, the guard's swings and other movements got slower. She took the opportunity and blocked his sword with one of her blades then pushed hard against it, forcing the sword out of the guard's tired, weakened grip. Quickly, she grabbed the sword and held it against the guard's neck. "Alright...now...move over to where the guys I'm with are." She said to the guard, trying to sound strong and forceful. The guard just stood there defiantly and responded, "I shall not be ordered around by a female, let alone a blind one such as thee." Mahi scowled at the comment and her voice became as forceful as she had wanted herself to be the first time. "Too bad, buddy, because it's happening. Get over there now or I'll lop your head off here and now." She commanded and pressed the sword against the side of his neck for emphasis causing a shallow cut. The guard muttered under his breath but did as he was told and walked over to where Kiral, White, and the other remaining guard were. She kept the point of the sword against his back while they walked over then moved to stand beside him and put the sword back to his neck. "If that one doesn't want to talk, I've got this one as back-up." She said, directing her head toward Kiral torturing the guard by stepping on his broken leg then directing her head back at the guard at the end of the sword she was holding.
-
*White grabbed the unconscious archer and dragged him across the dirt up to the last two soldiers, the fighter watching him carefully and the fearful one still crouching down and cowering* "The fighter will be worthless since he'll ask for death first before helping us anyways, so..." *He dropped the archer and grabbed his hammer* "Let's finish this one off." *The soldier ran at him with his broken sword in hand and tried once again* "Hey could you hold this for me?" *He let the hammer fall and the enemy tried to catch it, quickly discovering the actual weight* "AGGGHHH MY WRISTS!" *He wailed in pain as his broken hands lay under the handle* "That was easy." *He picked up the hammer, causing the man to scream as the bones moved "Don't worry, I won't leave you like this." *The wolgon swung the hammer in an upward motion and brought it crashing down on the soldier's head, causing a quick end; at the same time the coward saw his back turned and came running with his sword* "As a coward would, dammit I should have seen this coming!" *White dropped the hammer and turned around just in time to bash the remaining soldier's knee with Snitch, causing him to fall over and quickly he was dispatched with a hard jab of the shield edge into his neck* "What a mess, now I have my clothes covered in blood." *He picked up the hammer and returned to his unconscious archer carry-on, dragging him towards Kiral and Mahi* "Not to mention now I'm so tired I don't know if I could handle another fight for a long while." *He sighed and looked to the direction of his companions, overhearing Kiral's words of advice to his captured soldier*
"You really shouldn't waste our time either." *The wolf dragon said to the injured soldier as he walked over to where Kiral was interrogating, looking at the broken leg and then back up to Kiral* "If you want, I could just let this hammer sit on his leg, that would help you save on energy." *He turned to see Mahi's captured soldier as well* "Always good to have backup." *He nodded his head towards the unconscious archer gripped in his freehand*
-
Kiral looked over at Mahi, then White, "No, you can dispatch that one. I'm having too much fun." He then took the sword and slowly drove the tip into the man's thigh. The man screamed as the blade made its way into his leg. "Okay, are you ready to talk yet?" The man clenched his teeth and his eyes shut, shaking his head. Kiral sighed and continued to dig into the man's leg until he finally broke, "No more! No more! I will talk!"
-
Mahi listened to White and nodded in response to him saying that having a back-up was good. When Kiral told her that she could dispatch the guard, the guard turned his head toward her slightly as he wondered if she was going to actually take him out. "You're safe..." She said softly and convincingly to the guard, lowering the sword to her side. The guard couldn't seem to stand to leave his fellow guard who was being tortured and that was what Mahi had been counting on as she waited for the man being tortured to give in. Once the guard said that he would talk, Mahi took that as her signal and, before the guard she had brought as back-up could react in any way, she quickly lifted the sword and swung at his neck. The sword went 3/4 of the way through his neck before the momentum was finished and the sword wouldn't go any further. Mahi released the sword and the guard's lifeless body dropped to ground. She then lowered herself and just sat on the ground.
-
"We've killed so many people, I can only imagine the repercussions this will inflict upon history, who knows what will be altered now." *He watched as the guard fell over dead from Mahi's quick strike* "If Kiral wants only one, then I guess that's what we'll do. At least this archer won't feel a thing since he's not aware of his end to come." *The wolf dragon dragged the man a little further away into an open grassy area and lifted his hammer then made one quick hit into the back of his enemy's head* "I take no pleasure in this, it is only business..." *His thoughts trailed off, thinking of what his father would say to such deeds* "I only do this because it's the only way to survive, if we let these men go they would bring more people to hunt us down and eventually the entire group transported here would be killed. We might kill even a thousand people or far more, but we'll be saving millions if not billions in the long run." *White turned back around and returned to the interrogation to listen in on what the soldier had to say with thoughts on the side*
"There really is no way we could know for sure that this guy will tell us the truth, we know nothing of this place."
-
Kiral removed the sword swiftly, which made the man cry some more. "Now talk." The man tried to catch his breath between quick breaths before talking, "The Emperors said that seven more people would follow soon after they took over to attempt to dethrone them, and that whomever would be the ones to bring their bodies to them would be able to sit by their sides as rulers of the new world. The description we were all given was anyone whose clothes were out of place and carried any kind of weaponry. Weapons were abolished from any civilians as of last month, so it made it easier to track. When we still didn't see anyone fitting the descriptions, we posted bounties everywhere. I swear! It's all true!" Kiral sighed as he got up, "So we ARE being targeted, and have bounties on our heads. Looks like we're going to have to tread exceptionally carefully from now on." Kiral switched the weapon into a gun and shot the man in between the eyes, and walked back towards the carriage, "The canvas is pretty much gone but I think it's still good."
-
Mahi listened to the guard as he explained everything. She knew he was going to be killed after he gave them all the information he had so she didn't jump when she heard the shot go off from Kiral's gun-sword. When she heard him moving back toward the carriage, she followed, and when he mentioned the canvas being pretty much gone she thought about how she had cut through it. She didn't apologize for it though since it had been necessary for her to get to the guards she had been going after.
-
*White watched the man fall over dead* "Well it's not like I didn't see that coming, Kiral knows just as well as the rest of us that leaving any witnesses will just put us closer to a grave." *The wolgon walked back to the carriage after Kiral and jumped on top to sit down* "Okay... we need some sort of plan, perhaps we could steal citizen garb somewhere and hide our weapons in a carriage... preferably not this one with a cover on it so they can't see it and we'll look just as ordinary as other travelers. Well... maybe not me, I'm not exactly common blood." *He flexed his wings* "I can't really think of a better idea, unless we stay off of the main roads and just walk through untamed wilderness. Though eventually we will have to go into cities or towns so we can pursue the quest." *The wolgon just scratched at his arm, nervous about the entire situation*
-
Kiral sighed as he sat on the driving seat of the carriage and picked up the reigns for a few seconds, before putting them down. "Does anyone know how to drive one of these things? I watch movies quite a bit, but I have no idea how a real one would react." After White started talking about getting a plan, he thought about it and jumped off. "I guess you're right. If we stay on the main road, we might run into another checkpoint like this one. But it's going to be hard to blend in. I haven't seen a single person who was even close to my size, and every single person I've seen is a single species, none mixed like you. This might be a bigger pain in the ass than I thought."
-
"Even though I can put together jewelry while being blind, I wouldn't risk attempting to see if I could drive a carriage like this." Mahi responded, though she knew that Kiral didn't expect her to be able to anyway. As Kiral was talking about not seeing anyone that was the same size as him, she felt pain shoot through her left side. She grunted slightly from the pain, which must have been the result of her falling off of the carriage when she had lost her balance.
-
*White nodded to Kiral* "So what exactly are you and me supposed to do, the only one that would blend in is Mahi?" *He turned his head to Mahi's direction* "Are you suggesting we just ditch the cart and take our chances on foot instead? I think it's probably a better idea since there's no way a wagon will work through dense trees anyways and since a disguise won't cover up our sizes, might ultimately be the best course of action." *He laid his head back on the edge of the carriage* "It sure would be nice to be able to avoid killing people for once, this is probably going to take a toll on me before this excursion of ours' is over."
-
Kiral was about to answer White when Mahi grunted. He walked over to her and squeezed it hard, feeling for any damage. "You're fine. Nothing's bleeding, cracked or broken. Just try not to use that arm for the rest of today. You'll be fine by morning." He turned back towards White, "We'll just have to put up with it for a little longer until we can bribe someone to help us and maybe tailor some clothes. For Mahi, I think we just need to get her some robes that will cover her arms. I think those gauntlets are just too flashy."
-
"Ow! *mutters incoherently*" Mahi reacted to Kiral squeezing her left arm hard. The thing that she had muttered was her calling Kiral a rather unfavorable name but not wanting him to understand it, especially since he was only trying to help. When he mentioned her needing some robes to cover her arms to hide her "flashy" gauntlets, she lifted her hands from her sides to stomach level in front of her then directed her eyes down at them with a frown. "That sucks. Having these things out makes it easier...but I guess I'd just have to push up my sleeves if I wanted to use the weighted wires."
-
"I don't think we'll make it very far though, I mean surely there are more soldiers nearby. Filadius said they were spread out in chaos, but I still don't like to push my luck." *He rubbed his face with his paws trying to alleviate his headache* "I could fly up into the air and try to see what's ahead and nearby to give us a general idea of where to go, since there is little pollution in this era it should be very clear. Although we risk being located on a higher scale. If we don't go for that option that's fine by me, I hate heights." *He yawned at the end of his suggestion* "That last battle made me so tired. Even though this hammer weighs little compared to it's apparent weight, it still uses up my strength quickly."
-
Kiral sighed at White's suggestion, "Nah. I know where we are. Besides, I heard rumors that people back in this era have better eyesight and can spot anything from a ways away. I don't really want to risk someone we don't want to have that good eyesight spotting you. There were no checkpoints on the map, but I recognize this is the main road and there's a small cluster of reservoirs about a hundred feet that way *points north*, so if we want to get to the next village quickly, we can run parallel with the main road, but there's a nice thicket about a mile east of here, so it'll hide us well if there are any more checkpoints.
-
"Ah crap, so I can't really fly at all or I'm going to bring the calvary back with me when I land. Okay well I don't fancy getting shot at again, so as long as we're not overexposed we should probably be fine." *He thought to himself* "I wonder how long we've been at this location talking about what to do next? Surely patrols or something that were with these soldiers are going to find no returns and silence to be suspicious, err..." *He looked back up at Kiral* "Shouldn't we hide the bodies of those that we have killed? If we don't it's going to leave a bloody trail."
-
Kiral folded and holstered the weapon, "Just make sure it doesn't track on your feet. If we hurry, I'm sure they won't be able to track us. I used to watch Lord of the Rings, and medieval hunters are said to be able to track anyone who's been in an area recently. I'm not sure how accurate that is, but I'm not willing to stay around and finding out. I think it's better if we head on out now." Kiral quickly jumped off the main road and signaled for White to follow. "Mahi, you can follow me by my voice, right?"
-
Mahi listened to the conversation in silence since she had nothing to say on the situation. When Kiral moved off of the road, she started to move in that direction to follow him before he spoke. "Yes, I can." She responded as she paused. "But as I told White before, I can 'see' through sounds bouncing off of things too, so just us moving around will help me know where I'm going." She hopped off the road, hoping that she hadn't stepped in the blood of any of the dead guards.
-
*White jumped off and followed after Kiral, turning around to watch Mahi to see what she would do in reaction to his last comment about her sense of direction* "Well... she usually knows where she's going, asking her if she does if memory serves usually produces an irritated or at least redundant form of positive response. In summary I'm sure she already had an idea of where Kiral was going the moment he hit the ground off the carriage." *He watched as Mahi approached silently and confirmed his assumption* "I bet Kiral will learn to listen to her more." *The wolf dragon chuckled to himself and stretched, letting his wings flex to their full length* "I have a feeling I won't have much room where we're going in thick greenery for my wingspan, so might as well enjoy a stretch."
-
Kiral smirked, At least I won't have to be babysitting. And he led them out towards the east, through the brush and then through the thick forest, though out of sight, he maintained surveillance on the main road that they were running parallel to, just in case of anything that might be trouble or a blessing. The day was long, but Kiral preferred it to be so because it meant no trouble. It was uneventful, but it was safe. "The carriage carried us quite far. If we don't get into any trouble, we'll make it to the next town by midnight-ish."
-
Mahi didn't exactly like the smirk she detected on Kiral's face but she followed along silently anyway as they moved along parallel to the main road. She pushed branches out of her way if they ever ended up in her path through the brush and thick forest. When Kiral finally spoke again, Mahi didn't like hearing that they would be on the move until midnight when they would reach the next town. She didn't really care for staying up late and adding on the fact that they were moving at a quick pace which would tire her out.
-
"Good, I think these brambles and trees are trying to eat my wings. I have no idea how birds could live with all these damn tree limbs getting in the way." *He patted at his folded wings* "Being large in close environments sucks, but it's better than the alternative on the main road." *Blood and dead bodies flashed in the back of his mind* "I hate having to kill people." *He fought to justify with his conscience while trying to not trip on a tree root or fall in tall grass, finding a way to change the subject within himself* "Hmm... I wonder how much land is unoccupied out here, it's amazing to think of a time where territory is still uncharted and nobody is familiar with some places...and another to actually think about being in it." *He worried about Kiral's sense of direction a bit* "I really do hope he knows where he's going, like right now is a bit of a claustrophobic place for me because even if I wanted to now I can't fly with all these trees so thickly put together."
-
Kiral grumbled at the long trek, but the reassurance of safety kept him going. At nightfall, he grew even more cautious, familiar with wild animals being more active at night. "We gotta be more quiet now, guys. I'm sure at least you carpenters know that wild animals are out on the prowl at night. Especially-" He cut himself short, upon hearing some twigs snapping in the distance. Kiral held up a hand to stop White, putting a hand back to stop Mahi when she walked up to him.
-
Mahi stayed alert to the sounds around her, ready to pick up on any sounds that weren't coming from their little group. She was trying to be as stealthy as possible by detecting things on the ground with her "sight", but it was still possible for her to not notice something and step on a twig or something. When Kiral cut himself off, she had already heard the twig snap. She reached out to touch Kiral's hand that was extended out to her to make her stop, putting her hand on top of his and gently pushing it down as a sign to show him that she knew to stop walking.
-
*White froze instantly upon hearing the snapping of a twig* "We're not alone." *He looked around in the bushes feeling very uncomfortable while Kiral held up his hand to signal the group to stop* "This reminds me of that one part in the first Jurassic Park movie where the girl runs for the breaker room while one guy stays behind with an SPAS12 shotgun waiting for his enemy to show itself. Unfortunately it didn't end well as the apparent distraction was a trap and he was killed by the hidden opponent. I hope this is a wild animal and not something of intellect in this scenario." *He watched Kiral to see what he planned to do while listening to the environment*
-
From beyond the trees and down the road, the sound of indistinct voices started coming closer. Kiral took out his weapon as a gun, and readied himself. He didn't want to fight anymore if he can help it, but he will if he had to. Through the thick brushes, Kiral could see a large, fully wooden carriage, and a loud voice could be heard from within. The carriage stopped just on the other side of the trees and brushes from them. "I don't give a (censored) what happened! You were supposed to kill them on sight!" Suddenly, a loud bang and a hole emerged from the carriage. The headless body of a soldier fell out of the carriage, the top of his armour and flesh torn and destroyed. Suddenly, the muzzle of a shotgun stuck out alongside a hand and a shirtless human in camo BDU's stepped out. He wore tall, black boots, a head band, and had dreads, though he was clearly not of African decent. "Lardass! You're in charge of these (censored) of soldiers, now! And if you or any of your men fail us again and come back running, expect me to fill you with more lead than that (censored), Farwell!" The man jumped onto a horse and rode with one hand, while his HS10 was at the ready against his right shoulder. Kiral had held his breath when he had seen the man and his weapon, not letting it out until the man and the soldiers were completely out of sight. He nearly gasped heavily for air as he collapsed against a tree, "That old bastard. He brought back military personnel. Son of a bitch, this is going to be impossible."
-
Mahi listened intently to the carriage approach and the voice that was shouting from it. The bang from the shotgun being fired made her muscles jump within her but outwardly she remained still as she continued to listen to and "watch" the man. She didn't relax her body or move until the man and the soldiers were gone out of her earshot. When she was sure they were gone, she let her body relax. The main thing on her mind, oddly enough, was not concern about the people being military personnel, but who the guy with the shotgun was supposed to be, whose name he shared. The guy sounded like he had Kiral's attitude but she didn't think that that necessarily meant that he was the other Kiral.
-
"Holy shit! What are we going to do now? How on earth are we going to fight gunmen? All we have are medieval weapons. This is going to be suicidal like The Last Samurai movie. Didn't Filadius think about this before he put us here? Goddammit this is terrible." *He thought to himself as he put his hands on his head covering his ears* "What are we going to do now Kiral? Warn the other group? Surely they don't realize the gravity of the situation as of yet... I hope." "It would be really bad if they were already captured or dead, then we're screwed."
-
Kiral sighed, "I don't know, but I doubt we're going be able to find them, now. Best thing we can do is to go on and hope for the best." But I really don't know what the hell we can do. That guy's shotgun is (censored) huge, and that low boom just tells how powerful that damned weapon is, but shotgun shells don't even make marks like that bullet I found in the wall. Goddammit.
-
Mahi listened to White as he spoke. She could tell he was panicking about the whole thing just from the sound of his voice as he asked his questions. Directing the attention of her ears to Kiral, she listened to what he had to say on the subject of what they should do only to hear that he didn't exactly know what they should do. It didn't really surprise her that he didn't know what they should do, and her and White really shouldn't have even expected him to have the answers to their issues. Beside the point, she was ready to move on.
-
"Crap, even Kiral doesn't have a plan. I swear the further we paddle down this muddy river, the less watery it gets. Filadius did not tell us about military personnel having modern guns. Oh there is so much now that could go terribly wrong." *He pinched his nose and asked Kiral* "Perhaps there is a cache of guns somewhere nearby?" "I can only hope so, because you don't bring a knife to a gun fight." *His ears folded at the thought of fighting a gunman with a shield and a hammer* "Whatever the case, I would like to be moving now and not standing here."
-
Kiral scoffed, "Like that's ever going to happen. Let's just move our asses and go." He holstered his weapon and continued on along the path, careful not to be seen by the main road. Not too soon after, Kiral sat down and sighed, "Okay, I'm at my limit. Let's just pick up tomorrow morning. If anything I'm pissed at that old man for, is taking our backup food, that bastard."
-
Mahi stayed silent as the conversation between White and Kiral was finished up. When they started moving again, she didn't move very fast but still kept up with the two guys. She was glad when Kiral stopped and decided they were done for the day. Sitting down as well, she leaned back against a tree and pulled her bag off her shoulder. She pulled the piece of bread that the child had given her and started nibbling on it. Her eyes shifted around just as a regular person's would when they were examining the area they were in, but in the shadows of the dense trees, her clouded-over eyes looked kind of eerie.
-
"I'm still not happy about losing our deer at all, I knew we shouldn't have even bothered with offering it up... but if we didn't that creeper might have taken Mahi with him and that would have been bad for us having to go look for her without any clues as to where she went." *He shrugged and when the group finally got to a resting place White decided to lay down in some thick grass nearby Kiral, just looking up at the trees in empty thought* "I could just lay here in this grass for a few hours not really doing anything if given the chance, the grass isn't full of modern day chemicals and other allergens we usually deal with. Don't have to worry about breaking out in some rash or getting all itchy... unless there's ants, ticks, or other bugs hiding in here."
-
Kiral chuckled a bit, "Yea, you're right. It could've been much worse. Why don't you guys get some shut eye, I'll keep an eye out. I'm just going to soak up a little. There's a small pond about a few yards past the thicket over that way. I'll be right back." He walked pushed through the brush and thicket, and found the little pond. Kiral stripped down nude and grunted as he took the jeans off. He stepped into the pond, inhaling deeply. Unknown to the others, one of the soldiers had cut extremely close to his femoral artery, and he was bleeding profusely. Kiral grabbed his white shirt and tore it, tying it hard around the wound, while biting hard on a few twigs. He sighed after the wound was bandaged and let go of the twigs from his mouth. Kiral commenced to clean the rest of his body.
-
Mahi didn't like being talked about like she wasn't there but she let it slide. "I could have left a trail of bread crumbs..." She mumbled and took another bite out of the piece of bread. She watched Kiral walk away and after he was out of sight she heard the grunt he let out. It didn't sound like a normal grunt either so she wondered what was wrong with him, but she figured if he wanted to hide what it was then that was his decision and she wasn't going to say anything on it.
-
*The relaxed wolf dragon smelled the blood coming from Kiral as he passed by to go wash himself up* "I'm sure if it was serious enough though, he would have been more urgent about it getting taken care of, so I'll just pretend like I didn't know about it. Even if I told him concern, he wouldn't care. I wonder if pride will be an issue with him somewhere along the way as well. On the topic of problems, Mahi probably overheard our conversation about her. While it is offensive in a normal conversation way to talk about people in front of them, I felt that if Kiral hadn't given up the food we would have been at a greater loss." *He rubbed his eyes with his hands and stood back up* "I'm going to walk around for a bit, I'll be right back." *He said indirectly to Mahi as he made his way through the trees* "Not very far though, I don't want to get lost."
-
Kiral awoke the next morning sitting against a tree, and found a spear pointed in his face, "Oh, hey." Standing in front of him was a half-dead soldier, his armour torn in places, and his face all bloodied. "Get up, knave. The Lords be wanting to get their hands on thee and thine companions. Now up! Lest thou force me to kill thee! I will not hesitate, so make no sudden movements, that includes thine companions!"
-
Mahi awoke the next morning sitting against the same tree she had been sitting against the night before only to hear someone who wasn't part of their group speaking. She "saw" the half-dead soldier standing in front of Kiral pointing a spear at his face. The soldier's back was to her which wasn't really the smartest move. Releasing one of the diamond-weighted wires, she swiftly sent it out around the soldier where it wrapped around the spear then she pulled it back, pulling the spear from the soldier's grip but also breaking it in two. "Now what was that you said about killing?" She asked as she simultaneously got to her feet and put a gauntlet blade to the soldier's neck.
-
*White returned from his short walk, to notice a beaten up looking soldier holding a spear to Kiral's face, he ducked down quickly* "Well this isn't good, let's see what I can do..." *He reached for his snitch and then heard the sound of diamond hitting diamond and the man arched forward swiftly as his weapon disappeared from view in the tall grass* "Probably Mahi, I'm surprised he wasn't more prepared than that." *The wolf dragon moved closer to see that it was indeed the case, but still out of easy view without looking hard enough* "Just in case there's more of the goons around, I'll stay hidden for now."
-
At Mahi's surprise attack, Kiral drew his weapon and rammed the barrel into the man's eye and pulled the trigger. Just then, he heard voices in the distance, "Did you hear that?" "Yea, it sounded like it came from that direction!" "What if Lord Jackson is punishing someone? We would be next if we show up unannounced and away from our position!" "Impossible. Lord Jackson's weapon makes a lower sound, and he left for Lamasari last night. Now wake the others and let us make haste!" Kiral swallowed, "Ah shit, let's get out of here. Our cover's about to be blown." He made a dash out of the bushes, but still outside of the main road.
-
Mahi was lucky she hadn't been standing directly behind the soldier or else she probably would have gotten the bullet too. She cussed under her breath as she heard the voices of the soldiers. Turning her head in the direction of White since she was able to hear him, she gestured to him. "Let's go." She said urgently to him to make sure that he followed. After that, she ran after Kiral, dodging through the bushes.
-
*White followed behind the other two companions after Mahi gestured it was time to move, but remained distant a bit so that he could still not be seen if the soldiers came up on the side* "Yep, I figured they wouldn't be alone out here especially in this place. A better question though is why was that soldier all beaten up? We didn't exactly fight him unless he fought other members of our group perhaps? Seeing as how we have all the fighting members of the group in one, I would be amazed if the other group hasn't been having to fight as much as we have to since we hardly ever get a reprieve."
-
Kiral breathed heavily, but tried his best to control the volume, running as much as he could. Goddammit, I need some smokes. He sweat profusely until his legs finally gave way, and he tumbled into the ground. Upon stopping, Kiral quickly grabbed his weapon and aimed the gun-mode weapon towards the road, breathing heavily still and expecting possible confrontation, since he just made so much noise.
-
Mahi continued to run after Kiral, keeping track of White with her hearing and her "sight". When Kiral fell, she stopped immediately and held up a hand behind her to White in hopes that he would see it in time to stop before making a bunch of noise. She slowly lowered her hand as she scanned the road with her hearing sight. As she did that, she slowly let her blades come out of her gauntlets, ready to attack anyone if they noticed them and came after them.
-
*White stopped upon seeing Mahi's hand raise out of the grass* "He probably finally collapsed, he pushes himself to extremes. After hearing Kiral's breathing difficulties along with the sudden stop of his feet, I was ready to halt my feet regardless of warning. I guess now we wait for them to come to us. However... I do have an idea for once. At this point it doesn't really matter since they're no doubt following us still."
*He pulled out his hammer and looked down at a fairly sized boulder, not something that could be picked up by one man and raised the mallet behind his neck* "Time for a quick tee-off, I don't know how this is going to work out exactly." *He swung as hard as he could and the boulder left the ground with a few minor cracks and perhaps a few in the wolgon's arms, but it flew far enough that it went past a few trees smacking into the grass away from their direction* "Maybe that will buy us a few more seconds... hopefully it works otherwise it will be my fault for us having to fight perhaps." *He put one hand to his now sore shoulder* "Usually my targets are softer, that really hurt." *He looked down at the forming purple splotch*
-
Kiral slowly got up, still pointing the gun at the road, still expecting someone might show up to attack them. "Let's keep going. I don't want to risk it if they haven't seen us yet. But if they are, I don't want to know." Kiral forced himself to start inching towards the east, and finally turned around, limping his way forward, the pain of the injury from the night before just catching up to him. Goddammit. Better not rush into a fight like that ever again. I'll end up dead if shit like this keeps up.
-
Mahi winced when White hit the huge rock with his hammer, not really thinking that was a good idea. She breathed a sigh of relief when she didn't hear anyone coming closer to where they were. Following after Kiral when he started moving again, she noticed that he was limping. Pairing that with the sound she had heard him make the night before, she was absolutely sure that he was hiding an injury. "You can't go on forever with that injury you're hiding from us." She said as she followed after Kiral.
-
*The wolf dragon grunted when the other two started moving away putting one arm to his hurt shoulder and walked slowly finding that Kiral wasn't moving very quick now* "We probably won't be moving much at all soon, why don't we just hide somewhere? He's going to have to stop no matter what, whether it be in 5 minutes or 30 seconds. We could probably make it work with these trees being so fond of each other that you can't separate them with enough jackhammer. But I digress, it'd be a cold day in Hell to come upon something convenient like a cave since the other idea might be too complicated to do quickly."
-
Kiral merely growled back, "I have no intention of stopping. My hunger's setting in, and it's not doing us any good to stay out without without any food. If we didn't stop last night, we would have been there already. And the next place is a small village, so it's going to be hard enough to see from just randomly running around. We have to follow this main road without being seen, and hope there aren't more people like that old fart."
-
"I wasn't saying you needed to stop. I was just stating the fact that you won't be able to handle running around forever with that injury." Mahi said casually. She wasn't going to force him to do anything he didn't want to do. It wasn't like she had that kind of power anyway. She continued to follow Kiral at his slowed pace, "watching" him intently as he limped along. It wasn't her way of checking him out, just how she was keeping the status of his wound up to date in her head.
-
"I'm surprised he's still going, I guess if the resolve is good enough even the most stubborn of people can keep going with half of their innards hanging out and dragging on the ground. I just hope my painful plan from earlier at least bought a few more minutes on our shortening plan of actions. If and whenever possible stealth could be our friend in this increasingly complicated environment." *He looked over at Mahi who was watching Kiral carefully* "I wonder if it's partial affection for him or just realization that Kiral is a vital component to the survival of the group... maybe both?"
-
Kiral chuckled at Mahi's mention of his injury, "You should come work in the construction yards with me some time. People get more than just cuts like this. People actually lose limbs or have crap sticking out of their bodies." However, he wasn't kidding himself, the injury can become serious if he let it tear open like it did before. The bleeding had stopped, but the scabs were thin, and he knew it would be a matter of time before he'd be bleeding profusely again.
-
"And an ambulance is always called for them. They aren't allowed to work. But since there are no ambulances here, stubborn attitudes win." Mahi said in response Kiral's comment. She wasn't nagging him in anyway but just pointing out the obvious. Her focus remained on how Kiral was doing while making sure that White was still with them since he hadn't spoken for a while, while the two of them had been talking.
-
"Not sure really how much time has passed since we ran away from the goons, but I'm starting to assume we're fairly safe for now, however I'll give it another hour or so. Until then I keep my distance and my quiet, I'm pretty sure Mahi can hear my footsteps anyways. If there was some sort of irregularity in my steps that would be the only reason to give alarm." *He walked along looking upwards beyond the tall grass and the trees trying to look at the sky* "Not really that easy to see even the clouds another thing that worries me is if they try to smoke us out with fire, that would be pretty easy to do in this thick wilderness."
-
It wasn't another 30 minutes before they reached the top of the hill, and the sight of the small village was in sight. Kiral counted just over 20 buildings, most of which were homes. The only building that didn't look like all the others was the Inn, which was 10 times larger than all the hut-like buildings there. He breathed a sigh of relief as he sat himself down, "Phew! We're finally here! But it looks like we're not going in for a while." There was a small caravan of 5 carriages, soldiers not even hidden, pulling into the village. "That must be another team that had went to check out the checkpoint we killed. Oh well. I wonder how much these are worth." Kiral pulled out a small pouch that he had taken from the half-dead soldier who tried to hold them up that morning. From inside, he found a few pieces of copper that looked like the Pocky crackers that he usually bought at the Asian supermarket in downtown everyday. But Kiral's eyes were more concentrated on the smoke emanating from the inn. "You see that? There's fire. Meaning high times for me." He smiled as he patted the pack of cigarettes in his leg pocket.
-
When they reached the top of the hill, Mahi "looked" over all of the buildings along with the caravan of carriages with soldiers that was pulling into the village as well. She sat down on the ground beside Kiral but made sure that there was about an arms-length of space between them. When Kiral mentioned wondering how much something was work, she heard the jingle of some sort of coins in a pouch which she figured he must have taken from a soldier. Mahi couldn't see the smoke that Kiral was referring to since it wasn't solid but him patting the pocket she had learned that he kept his cigarettes in gave her an idea of what he was talking about. "Well, I guess we can have a pretty good idea of what will be your cause of death if we make it through this whole mess..." She said as her eyes were directed toward the village. "Come have a seat, White." She patted the ground on the side of her away from Kiral.
-
*White finally decided to reveal himself after Mahi motioned to him to come over and came upon the hill nearby his companions just barely looking over the edge cautiously* "Smoking really doesn't help anybody, except perhaps if you're about to die from another cause then you might as well indulge yourself. Thankfully that's not the case just yet. Looks like we can't go to the village, so what are we going to do now? Sneak in as two small giants guiding a blind girl?" "On that thought I hope there isn't giants." "Because it seems pretty impossible for who knows how long and what's not to say these citizens will side with the military even if they leave and attack us?"
-
Kiral smiled and watched the village intently, "Well, if anything, there are plenty of people who would do anything for money, and others, for the sake of their loved ones. I'm sure a small village like this would support us. I've seen that happen in a ton of movies. Besides, I have some of their money. I have no idea what it's worth, but we might be able to buy something." KIral dumped the contents of the small satchel and started counting the Pocky-like currency. About 20 copper sticks, 5 silver, and one gold one.
-
Mahi shifted onto her toes in a crouch then placed her hands on the ground as she extended her legs out behind her and laid down on her stomach. She crossed her arms on the ground and rested her chin on them. She let the "image" of the village blur in her head as she laid there and didn't intently focus her hearing anymore so what she "saw" wasn't clear anymore. "Yeah, but movies aren't like real life, which is unfortunate in some cases." She said with a sigh.
-
"Yeah and since this is real life, as when you tour other countries you know nothing about with currencies and exchanges, very often you find out later you've been taken advantage of. Let's be careful with how revealing we are with the money we have." *The wolf dragon sat down, folding his legs and flexing his wings* "It's a bad time to be someone who can fly when now the bad guys also apparently have guns. I could have been shot dead already in that first town we came upon now thinking about it. I won't be doing that again for awhile."
-
Kiral stuffed the money back into the satchel and tied it off, "It's not like anyone who wants to steal that money would want it more than our heads if we're spotted, anyways. And from what I've seen since we got here, the movies have been pretty accurate in portraying what goes on in these times. I think the weirdest thing is that in this time, all the world's continents were all meshed together. None of the terrains are even remotely familiar, and I've seen my fair share of Discovery and Travel Channel."
-
Mahi kept her chin rested on her arms as she listened to White agree with what she had said and also add of piece of his own ideas about what could happen. After he was done speaking, she listened to Kiral speak again. "Well, it's not like I would know how accurate it is." She said as she blankly looked ahead with her cloudy green eyes. "Movies aren't exactly my cup of tea." She waved one of her hands up and down in front of her eyes while her eyes didn't respond to the movement (even though she did "see" it) as if to give a reminder that she was blind. After that, she thought about the last thing Kiral had said as she put her arm back underneath her chin. "Maybe we got transported to another dimension too!" She exclaimed, making a fake cheesy astonished face.
-
"This is... the Twilight Zone." *The wolgon made a magician pose with his hands casting a spell at the village below* "Sorry I couldn't resist, but anyways how do you propose to get past these soldiers? Wait a few days for your blood loss to get better? They could be permanently encamped here until perhaps even a month waiting for us to show up. Neither me or you Kiral could use a disguise either, only she could since she looks the most normal." *White gestured to Mahi with a hitch hiker's thumb*
-
Kiral shrugged, "Well, hopefully they think that we got the slip and a head start, and rush to chase us. It's been a whole day since that checkpoint. If they don't know that I'm injured, they will probably think we're very far ahead. They would definitely want to catch up to us. I don't know, but the sooner we get into town, the better. I can't stand not having my smokes." He sighed as he pulled the pack from his pocket and patted it down before pulling one out and placed it in his mouth. "Shit like this, ANYONE would want something to relax to. Especially since the world's future is riding on us." After a couple hours, the caravan did start moving again, and headed straight northeast. Kiral chuckled as he stood up, "Heh, and I was just spouting bullshit, too. Who'd have thought they were THAT dumb."
-
Mahi liked that White played along with her little joke even if Kiral didn't laugh at it. "She's right here, you know." She said and reached over, grabbing White's thumb then lowering his hand before releasing it. "But yes, I would be the easiest to disguise if it ever came to that." After speaking, she listened to Kiral as he spoke again. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Try to justify your habit as a technique to make you relax and point out that anyone would in this situation. I get it, you like it." She said as she rolled onto her back since laying on her stomach had been starting to hurt her ribs and rested her hands on her stomach, sticking out her tongue in a kind of childish manner then pulling it back into her mouth. When Kiral stood up and spoke a couple hours later, Mahi got up off of the ground as well, standing beside Kiral. "I would have." She said in response to the comment about them being that dumb.
-
*The wolf dragon winced when Mahi grabbed his hand* "I hate being surprised.. and smokers always justify the habit till the end and the cancer report." *He leaned against a tree and talked to himself* "We really should find some Asian traders by the ocean... it would be nice to have a butterfly knife again." "So at least I wouldn't be as bored as I am right now..." *He laid against the tree thinking about home for a couple hours, almost falling asleep in the process until Kiral spoke aloud about the caravan stupidity* "Let's still think 3 car lengths ahead in this traffic, I don't want to be tricked again." *White said as he walked over to the edge of the hill again seeing the soldiers make their move*
-
Kiral sighed as he walked forward towards the village, "Well, looks like it'd be a mile or so it's a bit of a walk, I'm sure if they try something, we'll see. As for Asian traders, I don't think they exist in this time frame. Remember, this is the time when all the continents were one big landmass. There's no real separation of countries here." He didn't say anything about their remarks on smokers, since they can all blow him for all he cared. Kiral was used to being ridiculed for smoking, so he really didn't give a damn. Once there, they were immediately noticed by all the villagers, and not just because of their clothes. However, contrary to what Kiral was expecting, people flocked to them, asking a lot of questions, mainly are they the Fated Ones of Prophecy.
-
Mahi listened to Kiral once again as she followed him when he began to walk toward the village. She noticed that he didn't say anything about her or White's comments on his smoking habit. It was easy to determine that he probably got crap about his smoking all the time so he just learned to ignore it. She figured she would probably so the same if she had any kind of habit others didn't like. When they made it to the village, her ears were overloaded with a bunch of different voices all asking them questions. Raising her hands, she covered her ears to at least dull down the sound since it sounded like they were yelling right in her ears.
-
"You people need to keep your distance please, while I like that you aren't really worried about our presence here even in these difficult times, I don't feel comfortable when I don't know any of you at this close range." *The wolgon flapped his wings trying to bat away the forming mob of people behind him* "This is better than getting attacked, but if times never change and people still like to assassinate then surely someone will think the bounty is worth the risk to try to kill one of us with some sort of blade or hidden weapon." *White eyed the people around him suspiciously as he walked with Kiral and Mahi*
-
However, this one time, White's hunches were wrong as the entire village was so tired of the tyranny, that they unsuspectingly picked them all up and carried them to the inn. There, the villagers cooked them a grand meal while women who weren't in the kitchen made them some new clothes. However, after being seated, Kiral asked right away for a candle. When one was brought to their table, he quickly lit the cigarette in his mouth and took a few puffs, sighing in relief as he felt the stress melt away.
-
"I don't like this." Mahi mumbled as she was picked up and carried off to the inn with the others. Once she was put down, she hurriedly moved away from the people. They were really getting on her nerves at that point. After they were seated and Kiral lit his cigarette with a candle he was given, she unwillingly inhaled the smoke the he exhaled. "Can't you at least do that outside?" She questioned, glaring at him. "If I wanted to smoke, I do it on my own, not second-hand." She really wouldn't have said anything if she hadn't had to inhale the smoke but since she had, she was really bugged by it.
-
*The wolf dragon was very unhappy as he was touched and handled by several strangers on his back as he moved higher into the air, hearing a couple arm muscles crack he chuckled a little* "Since I have this mystical hammer on my back, I'm sure it must be like lifting a small truck... I just wish they would be a little more careful with the wings." *When they finally made it the Inn and Kiral decided to light up at long last for his relief the wolgon cracked at it again alongside Mahi* "I like my lungs along with the smell of my clothes remaining neutral, do you ordinarily smoke outside or inside? Most smokers I have met try to do it outside so their house and belongings won't smell like tobacco. More importantly however, what are our plans from here?" "Also secretly I do implore him to keep smoking because I want those damn villagers to at least keep their distance to some extent."
-
Kiral sighed as he turned his seat around and puffed the other way. "If you don't like it, you can feel free to leave the room, but I'm eating and getting my fill. As for what to do. I say just to carry on with our job, there's another small village several miles further east of here, but I don't plan on stopping there. Not every single village would have wits like these people's." When the food came, Kiral kept himself facing the other direction, but grabbed the food by the handful and ate it between puffs. When he finally finished his cigarette, he turned to the rest of the group, and ate normally. When they were finished eating, several women came into the inn with piles of clothes. Two women going to each person. To Kiral and White large robes that were brown and loose. "These should be enough to hide your weapons with ease, and you can squat down a bit while you walk, so you're more of a normal height. Plus, since most friars and monks around the land are notorious for being fat, no one would suspect you, either. For the young lady, we have provided a nun's outfit. I'm sorry, but it is the only way you wouldn't stand out. Besides, the most faithful nuns are usually the blind ones, so people won't think twice of questioning who you are, for sure." However, a couple drunkards came in and wielded swords, "-well, I don't believe it! There's supposed to be 7 of them! I'm willing to bet they're spies for the soldiers!"
-
Mahi was surprised that Kiral's response wasn't harsher but was glad for it. "Well, at least he turned the other way. That's something." She thought to herself and rested her head in one of her hands. When the food came, she kept her head in her hand and used her other hand to pick up the food to eat it. She lifted her head off of her hand when the women showed up and listened to the one that spoke. "You have got to be kidding me..." She said when she learned what she was going to have to wear, a disgruntled look on her face. Turning her head when she heard people enter the inn, she let out sigh. "Great. Are we going to have to fight these idiots?" She asked, not enthused by the idea.
-
*The wolf dragon sighed and ate his food silently, listening intently to the disguise agenda* "Monks... of all the things and my back's gonna be killing me everyday. The only upside is not fighting soldiers until perhaps they catch on to our disguise and then a monk outfit won't work anymore." *He turned his head at the sound of the disturbance that made its way into the inn with swords at the ready and false accusations outward* "I can't believe this shit is already happening again, can we just sit at a table for once without a disturbance coming out of nowhere?!"
-
Many men in the restaurant quickly came over and held them back. "Let me go! We're going to kill those spies!" "Daniel pull yourself together! You know damn well that's them. Remember the prophecy!" As soon as one of the men said that, he quickly covered his mouth, and they just forcefully pulled the armed men out of the inn. Kiral sighed as he released his grip on his weapon's handle. The owner of the inn, a large bear, walked over to their table knelt, catching Kiral off guard. "What the-?!" "Please forgive my son. He is headstrong, and absent-minded. There have been rumors that the Lords have sent spies all over the land to weed out possible uprisings. As penance, please stay the night here at my inn." Kiral sighed and walked over, "Dude, just get up. I won't pass up free lodging and food, but there's nothing to bow to us for. How about telling us the prophecy and getting me some smokes?" The bear was confused at first, but looked away as he got up, "I can't. No one is allowed to tell you the prophecy, under Filadius' heed. If we were to let you know about the prophecy, it would affect the outcome, and we may be forever under the iron rule of the Lords. However, if you are looking for tobacco, I can very much oblige. My family's inns are best known for our specially grown tobacco. I'll fetch you some as a gift."
-
Mahi listened to what went on intently and was relieved when the men were taken away. She hadn't wanted to have to fight them. When the inn owner knelt beside Kiral, she listened to the conversation between them, not at all surprised that he asked for more cigarettes. It made sense to her that they couldn't be told about the prophecy since she understood that if they knew exactly what was supposed to happen that they would change how they did things, thus altering what would happen. Letting her mind move back to the idea of sleeping in a bed again even just for one night, she couldn't help but smile. Sleeping on the ground hadn't been too hard on her but a bed still sounded nice.
-
*The wolf dragon frowned upon hearing the bear talk about why he couldn't tell the prophecy due to Filadius* "That old man is really starting to make me frustrated because he's leaving us with no help whatsoever out here, we don't even know who were supposed to kill exactly. Just some group of soldiers... and this group of soldiers has guns... we have medieval weapons. That's so fair." *White's nose twitched when he heard the bear also say he was bringing Kiral more cigarettes* "Great more of that damn smoke, if I wanted to relive this experience I would just go to a casino again." *He got up from the table and headed for the door, without a word*
-
Kiral chuckled and rubbed his hands together after the bear left. "Good, now I don't have to be stingy." He then took hold of a young girl who had brought his robe by the hand and pulled her close. Yep, he guessed right, a wolf, and around his age, too. "Hey there, little lady. Do you want to be the grateful host and bring me to my room?" The girl blushed and even giggled at what was going on.
-
Mahi had a good idea of why White was leaving the table and didn't make an attempt to stop him. She didn't understand what Kiral meant when he spoke at first but then she "saw" him grab the girl and heard his next comment. Right there and then, he had crossed the line in Mahi's mind. She had dealt with his horrible attitude when the group split, she had even dealt with his smoking, but what he had just done had been too much. Without warning, she raised her right hand and smacked Kiral upside the back of his head really hard. "Have some decency, Kiral!" She snapped as she got up from her seat then moved around behind him before pulling the girl away from him even though it seemed like she was enjoying his attention. "Please show some respect for yourself and don't fall for one night of "fun" with that." She said to the girl without directing her eyes toward her and tilted her head sideways in Kiral's direction when she said the last word. She muttered something to herself as she walked away, though not toward the door or anywhere in particular, just in the direction of the opposite side of the room.
-
*The wolf dragon was much too irritated to do anything when he heard a loud smack from outside as he leaned up against the side of the inn close to the entrance* "I'm not going back in there until the smoking habit is done for the moment, one should have been far enough to sustain a fix, now he's just on vacation. I'm not too fond of getting an acquired taste for secondhand either." *White held back the urge to punch the wall, fearing that he might break something both in the building structure and himself, occasionally taking another peek inside at what was going on at their table in case trouble had found the group again* "You don't just hit on every girl that walks through, this isn't a James Bond movie... ugh. Glad she put some sense into his brain."
-
Kiral chuckled as he walked away a bit. "Fine, fine, Mahi. Party pooper." Finally, the bear's wife came in before any heat could start up. "I'll show you to your room, Sir Kiral. Your room is right up those back stairs and it's the first room on the right. Lady Mahi's room is right next to yours, and your other friend has the last one. Please make yourselves comfortable. We'll try to calm things down here. If you like, there is a bath down the east hall. We have 5 baths in all. I warn you, though, it's all lake water. It's expensive to get firewood nowadays, if you haven't noticed. It's a full 2 Kilometer hike to any kind of trees." Kiral smirked and grabbed his robe. "Thanks, Mrs. Owner. And tell your husband I'm looking forward to trying out your family's special tobacco."
-
Mahi rolled her eyes at Kiral's words. When a woman came in and spoke, she listened to her so that she would know where her room was. After that, she walked over to the door, opening it and sticking her head out. "Your room is the last one on the right. And there are some baths too." She said to White then pulled her head back inside, closing the door. Walking to the stairs, she went up them and found the second door on the right, opening the door and going inside.
-
"I hope it's safe to sleep here, the military could come through here again. If I'm not mistaken this inn was where they first checked the last time they were here when we watched from up on the hill earlier..." *He followed after Mahi, watching her go up the steps and go to her room, then he saw his door at the end of the hall* "Simple and easy." *He opened the door and found his bed in the middle of the room* "I guess I shouldn't have expected room design to be any different even this far back in time, I guess our future rooms had to take after something." *He fell backwards on his bed with his wings outward and nuzzled his pillow, curling up with his tail inbetween his legs on his side* "Comfortable at last for now."
-
While inside his room, Kiral enjoyed a nice smoke as he sat on his bed, leaning against the head post. His head whipped around as the door creaked open, hand on his weapon. In walked the owner, carrying a nice-sized satchel and a big smile on his face. "I'm not actually sure what you're using to smoke over there, so I brought one of my spare pipes that I haven't used before. Here, try it out." Kiral took one more puff before putting it out in his empty mug, careful not to destroy the filter. "Actually, do you have any papyrus, any scrolls or posters you have no use for? I prefer to wrap it in those and smoke it. I tried pipes before, and they just don't do it for me." The bear was confused, but left the room and brought some wanted posters back with him. Kiral took the butt that he had smoked down during dinner and licked it with torn pieces from the poster, creating another, though discolored, cigarette. Kiral took it to the candle and puffed after lighting it. After a nice and deep inhale, he let out a large smile as he exhaled a large cloud of smoke, "Whoo, yea! That is the shit!" The bear and Kiral laughed and smoked together for the rest of the day until sunset. At that point, Kiral was finally drowsy enough and fell asleep. The old bear left the room, laughing and carrying several pitchers that used to have beer in them. "Whew! It's been a long time since I've had so much fun with another person. I-" Before he knew it, he took a sucker-punch to the face from his wife. "You bumbling idiot! Do you know how busy it has been all day!? Everyone came here for a feast and celebrate the heroes, and the staff and I ended up doing everything ourselves! Now you march down there and take care of ALL the cleaning, including the dishes, or else you're sleeping outside in the dirt!"
-
Mahi had dared to go to the bath in the east hall even though she knew the water wouldn't be very warm. She washed herself up the best that she could then put her regular clothes on after drying off, not wanting to change into the nun outfit until she absolutely needed to since she didn't like it. Leaving the bath, she went back to her room and closed the door behind her. She sighed as she passed the stand that had the nun outfit sitting on it. Laying down on the bed, she heard the owner's wife yelling at him and couldn't help but laugh. A few minutes later, she had easily slipped into sleep. Her dreams showing her every time she had killed someone.
-
*The wolf dragon fell asleep swiftly after his words about being comfortable and hardly moved at all, being used to harder surfaces before it felt far more high class to him. White dreamed of being back home and doing the jobs he had left behind, enjoying his work and relaxing afterwards by laying in wild grass looking up at the clouds. His father still being alive and his mother not more than a silhouette on the setting sun. He looked to her, but she never turned around to see him and because of the sunlight he couldn't see much of her at all*
-
Kiral awoke the next morning all groggy, but strangely satisfied. He got up out of bed and decided that it was time to try out the new clothes. Kiral stripped down to his boxers and put on the robe. Sure enough, it only went down to his knees, so he crouched down, practicing walking in it. Kiral checked himself as he continued to practice, making sure that his steps didn't make the weapon jostle around too much.
-
Mahi awoke in a very blank state. Her dreams had put her in that state since they had hardened her emotionally and caused her to get in a mindset where she didn't care. She got out of the bed and turned to face where the nun outfit. "Why?" She thought to herself with a unhappy sigh. Walking over to where the outfit laid on a stand, she picked it up and checking which side was the front with one of her hands then laid it face down on the stand. After a moment of standing there dreading wearing the outfit, she finally took off her clothes, dropping them on the floor next to her. Grabbing the nun outfit, she pulled it on and smoothed out the fabric over her stomach. She then grabbed the headpiece and put it on, feeling it to make sure it was on the right way. "I am so glad I can't see my reflection." She mumbled as she put her hands inside the opposite sleeves so that the sleeves were linked and her hands didn't show. "Well, at least I can catch them even more off-guard. Being blind works well enough, but this will help."
-
*The wolf dragon blinked as the sunlight made his fur warmer and still seeped through his closed eyes, flicking his tail and his wings quivering as he stretched while slowly coming to as he sat up on the bed* "That was a very long dream, though too bad it wasn't real. It was nice being with my folks again." *He jumped off the bedspread and looked around the room, noticing his hammer and Snitch leaning against the wall nearby the window* "It's probably been more than enough time spent here, we should be going shortly." *He grabbed his things and walked out of the room, looking for Kiral or Mahi in the hall*
-
After practicing for a while, he grunted as he got up and stretched. "THIS is definitely going to be a pain in the ass." Kiral left his room and looked over, only seeing White. "Where the hell's your outfit? Don't tell me you plan on staying outside of towns, and/or jeopardizing our cover." He sighed and looked at the closed door next to him, "So how long are we waiting for little miss PMS?"
-
Mahi heard Kiral complaining about White not changing outfits outside her door and exited just after he was done talking, letting him make his comment. "No time at all. I've been ready for a few minutes. I was done before White came out of his room." She said as she closed the door behind her. "And it has nothing to do with PMS and everything to do with your disrespect towards that girl. You just crossed the line." She shrugged when she finished talking like it was nothing. "So are we leaving our old clothes here?" "Sometimes I wish I was the kind of girl who would react to an insult aggressively all the time. I would have walked out of that room and instantly punched him in the face. But I just keep myself calm until a line is crossed."
-
"Agh I was enjoying what little time I had left before I have to put my back in pain for a long time... I was just seeing if you and Mahi were awake yet." *He went back into his room and quickly changed, putting on his robe and coming back out holding his hammer and Snitch confused* "Now what exactly am I supposed to do with these things?! They aren't exactly concealable weapons, unless we had some sort of cart to carry luggage. Still.. I'm sure the military would find any reason possible to harass even the most peaceful of people. Monks and nuns included."
-
"Well, I think we'd better take them with us, or we can burn them. White, you can hang them on you like before on your back. When we're crouched down, these robes seem to expand. I think they put a wire frame in here that takes the shape of a fat monk's body. It'd kinda funny, actually, if you look at it." Kiral squat down, and when the robe touched the ground, the bottom almost stayed completely rounded, while the midsection spread out and make him a couple feet shorter and seem exceptionally obese.
-
Mahi couldn't help but chuckle at what she "saw" with Kiral's demonstration of what happened when he squatted down in the outfit. Turning around, she went back into her room and grabbed her old clothes. As she walked back out of the room, she pulled what was left of the bread in her bag out of it and put the clothes inside, putting the food back into the bag on top of the clothes. "Alright, I'm ready to go."
-
"And I wasn't small enough already." *The wolf dragon said sarcastically as he crouched down, feeling his wings quiver as pressure was forced upon them* "I wish I had some sort of magic to put these away, it really is a pain in the ass to be a hybrid sometimes. Oh well." *He stood back up straight and put his weapons back on his back and crouched* "Let's move, I hope this feels less painful as we travel or I get used to it least. I don't want to be a hunchback either though, I'd take to the skies before that ever happened."
-
Kiral stopped at the inn counter, "You guys go ahead. I have to take care of something, first." When he was sure the others were gone, Kiral faced the innkeeper and placed the small satchel of metal sticks in it on the table. "Can you tell me what these are worth, and what they're called. They're shaped like sticks, but it looks like it has monetary value." The old bear chuckled, "Those are Zeny. The copper ones are the smallest in value, then silver, then gold. The silver ones are worth 20 Zeny, and the gold ones are worth 100 Zeny. But if you're asking me what items are normally worth, I couldn't tell you, since each town and village have different barter systems. You'll find out as you go along, so you should be fine. However, our Inn rates are universal, since my family owns every single Inn in every town. However, not all of them are as nice as myself, so they might charge you a bit of money. Our rates are 50 Zeny per person per night, and includes one meal. Meal costs are different, though, because of what I mentioned earlier." Kiral smirked and took the satchel back, walking out of the inn. "Alright, let's get a move on. Eastward!"
-
Mahi continued on and went outside to wait for Kiral. It wasn't like she couldn't hear what he was saying through the wall. She listened as he asked the innkeeper about the value of the odd money. She didn't say anything to White though since it didn't really bother her that he had asked about it, especially since they would have to use the stuff eventually. When Kiral came out of the inn, she proceeded to follow him along like she had been doing all along.
-
*White followed quitely when Kiral finally came out of the inn, he hadn't cared to listen to the conversation inside; with a few given expressions as to why he remained silent became clearer shortly, he grimaced every few seconds while walking away from the inn* "Well this sucks, I never hunch like this so I'm not used to it, though those who text and use computers frequently probably have less trouble, obviously I'm the latter since I'm mostly outside doing work while standing straight up.... I'm going to need some breaks while we walk like this." *A drop of sweat went down the side of his face as he struggled not to show pain while he walked behind Mahi, wondering where the group will stop next and more importantly when*
-
Kiral chuckled when he saw White hunching as he walked, "Dude, you don't have to walk like that now. Just when we have to, okay?" Shinzuu had smoked 3 more cigarettes the night before, and had re-wrapped them with the posters and stuffed them with the new tobacco, but he took out a new cigarette, and just held it in his mouth, not lighting it. He also pulled out a small bag from his sleeve and handed it to Mahi, "Here. The owner's wife said it'll help us start fires at night. I have no more room to carry it without seeming suspicious, but I'm sure women still carried bags in this time."
-
Mahi turned her head back towards White after Kiral spoke to him. "Yeah, you'd cramp up in no time if you walked that way all the time." She said. "And then you'd really have some trouble." Turning her head forward, she took the small bag that Kiral handed to her and nodded in agreement. Opening her bag, she put the small bag inside it next to the small amount of bread she had left in there from what was given to her.
-
*White instantly stood up straight after Kiral got the first voice-in about his fake posture* "...Ngh, thank you. I don't think I could do that regularly... however what happens if we run into someone that has binoculars or some sort of long-range device that allows them to see us before we see them. Then our disguises are no good, which is why I thought we were doing this the entire time we traveled openly." "I'd actually rather be caught and fight again than put my back out as Mahi suggested, but I don't have to share that information."
-
Kiral sighed, "I doubt they've invented those for too far away. But I'll let you know when we should squat, just in case. The map's still memorized in my head, so I can take a guess on where we should. But I don't know how far I should give the warning. What do you think? How far out should we be to be safe from view? We'd still be pretty small in their sight, but yea..."
-
Mahi listened to both of the guys as they spoke. After Kiral posed his question, she thought for a moment, thinking about distances in her "sight" and linking that and what she assumed regular sight was like. "Probably at least a mile to be safe." She chimed in, in response to his question. She wasn't exactly sure if that was enough distance but it seemed right by what things "looked" like to her from a certain amount of distance, but others could see colors and more detail than she could.
-
*White blinked surprised that Kiral had taken his question seriously and noticed Mahi's response* "That's actually what I was thinking Mahi, though I'm paranoid. I'd go for even 2 or 3 miles just to be extra safe. Telescopes were invented a long time ago so they could have at least that luxury for about half a mile or so of extra vision. Let's just cross that bridge when we get closer to our next objective." *The wolf dragon cracked his back, feeling better he walked forward as normally as he did beforehand*
-
Kiral thought for a minutes, listening to the others. "Yea, I was thinking at least 2 miles, but I'll make it a 3 1/2 mile warning. Heh. This reminds me so much when we built that shopping mall out in Chicago when they tore down the original Golden Mile and had us remake it into a larger version of it." The thought of construction and building got Kiral almost drooling.
-
Mahi rolled her eyes at the topic that sprang out from the talk about how far the distance should be for a warning. "Please don't tell me they're going to start talking about construction together like giddy little school girls talking about cute boys..." She thought to herself. The topic was nothing that she was interested in and if she had to listen to it, it would be a very long, boring, and torturous walk. It would be long and boring enough without the current topic.
-
"...I only do private contracting, I know nothing of megastructures, though I know a thing or two about houses. Sounds interesting Kiral, but industrial work isn't my forte as they say. Sounds all too complicated and overly stressed, just working privately works for me and I still manage to get the job done eventually. At least I don't have to share the earnings with anyone in my line of work." *The wolgon chuckled lightly and wondered what Mahi thoughts were on construction*
-
Kiral's face smirked a dark, maniacal smile, "Well, neither do I. I am a private contracted man. Construction teams auction for my help." The sadistic look on Kiral's face faded as he became serious again, "But yea, the industrial field's pretty crazy work, but it helps with full body muscle training." He continued his discussion with White throughout the morning and into the afternoon without end.
-
"Craaaaaaaap!" Mahi pretty much yelled in her head when White kept up the conversation that Kiral had started. "I can't remember... Why did I choose this group again?" As the day went on and the discussion continued, she felt like she was going crazy. "Anytime now, anytime...some soldier can just come kill me or at least distract these two from their talk." At some point during the whole conversation, she had begun whistling to try to tune the guys out.
-
*By the afternoon the wolf dragon had lost track of time and then looked over at Mahi was just whistling away and decided to stop Kiral for a moment by raising a finger to his lips* "So... Mahi how do you manage to keep from getting bored while there's nothing to do? I always have trouble with withstanding situations, but I'm curious how might you go about that? Normally I would do something that requires some thought or just do something different."
-
Kiral snapped out of his thought when he finally remembered that they had Mahi with them. "Yea, that's right. What DO you do in cases like this? I can't really imagine much for a blind girl to do, even back in our time. If I was in your shoes, I think I'd have killed myself while dying of boredom." He was insensitive on his choice of words, but he meant well.
-
Mahi stopped whistling a few seconds after White finished speaking, looking over at him like she had forgotten he was there even though she hadn't. "I'm sorry, did you say something?" She asked as if she hadn't heard anything that he had said but she really had heard him. Unfortunately, she didn't have the pleasure of having been whistling when Kiral spoke and couldn't play off not hearing what he had said, especially since he didn't sound as nice as White did. Her lips straightened into a hard line at hearing what Kiral said. "I do what any other person would do. I'm not that different." She said, practically spitting on the words like they were horrible things. "Generally, I ignore what bores me somehow." Staring straight ahead as she walked, what she meant by what she said was probably quite apparent.
-
*White looked away a bit hurt for being purposefully ignored* "Well seeing as how she wasn't whistling that loud, I guess that means she's been irritated for awhile. Well I'll drop the subject and I guess carry on with Kiral or find something to look at as we travel. Perhaps we could play one of those spotting games where we look for something unique everytime it comes along and then someone has to find it and they try. Probably nobody sporting except Kiral though." *He sighed and just kept looking forward*
-
Kiral raised his arms and reached over behind his neck as he walked on, "Well, I find it hard enough to do that, and I can actually see. I mean, at the very worst, I have to use my imagination, but you don't even know what anything looks like or even seen anything in your life. How the hell can you do that? What's your take on this, White?" He sighed, at a loss, at wondering how it works for Mahi.
-
"When you've never been able to see in your life, you need a really good imagination. It takes a lot more effort to picture things when you don't see color or fine details so I can occupy myself a lot better." Mahi responded, talking casually like what he had said earlier hadn't bothered her at all. "You get used to it when you live in darkness your whole life..." Her voice had a tiny hint of sadness in it that could be hard to detect when she said that but her expression stayed normal.
-
*White glanced over when Kiral mentioned him and was initially cross-eyed* "I just think of it like that movie Daredevil, he just sensed everything and that's how he was able to see the movements of people and things around him as they came. Also even in real life some of the blind made their hearing so sensitive that they could click audibly and hear the sound come back to them and judge how far away something was, supposedly there's actually a blind motorcycle driver that does that. Doesn't sound like it would work very well to me, but Mahi hasn't been even close to being downed by any weapon or enemy so as long as your other sensations still work anything is probably still possible."
-
Kiral was silent for the rest of the day, not really in the mood to say anything more, lost in thought. Only twice, did they have to play their phony identities, when a few merchants were traveling through the main road. At night they left the main road and found some bushels of trees that were thick enough that not even a fire could be seen from the road. After several tries, Kiral finally got the fire to go with the flint that they were given. Before sitting down, he took the cigarette that he'd been biting on all day, and lit it up, smoking it happily to relax.
-
Mahi listened to White's thoughts on what was being talked about, still feeling unhappy after the last thing she said. She was surprised that Kiral didn't talk at all after that. Both times that they needed to act out their fake identities, she did so. When they finally found a place to rest for the night, she had pulled the small bag out of her bag and given it to Kiral for him to use whatever was in it to start a fire with. She sat Indian-style on the ground by the fire once it was started and angled her head down so it was like she was staring at her hands which were in her lap, which she pretty much was in her own way.
-
*The wolf dragon said nothing either the entire journey, and pained through the moments where he had to disguise his posture and assume the fake identity in behavior* "Well I assume it's going to be silent the entire time, when customers are nasty as well I don't really say much since nothing will help other than getting the job done. I guess the same thing can be said here, by getting the job done we can separate again." *When they finally set up camp for the night he kept to himself and didn't make eye contact with either companion, just watched after Kiral managed to get a fire started as the wood crackled under the howl of the flames*
-
Kiral finished off his first cigarette and exhaled relaxingly as he stared up at the sky. "So what do you guys think? Think we'll be able to accomplish our task? I'm not one to worry, but I'm partially wondering what's happened to the other group. After all, according to the old fart, we need all seven of us to make the journey and complete this prophecy." Kiral put out the cigarette gently and removed the smoked portion carefully and put it back in his pack. He then pulled out another one and lit it.
-
Mahi raised her head as she heard Kiral speak for the first time in hours. "I have no idea if we'll be able to do it. If I keep basically fighting without realizing what I'm doing until later, it could go either way, for me at least." She said in response. "Hopefully the others are okay. We don't need anyone dying during all this, whether we actually do need everyone or not." She angled her head up toward the sky then back toward the ground.
-
*White listened in as Kiral was talking about the prophecy again, when his input was being requested the wolf dragon didn't really want to talk* "We should be able to get the job done." *He yawned and kept close to the fire, wanting to stay warm for the moment* "Reminds me of home when we'd lay in living room in front of the fireplace. Sitting there thinking about work and the customers, eventually we'd get up and go to sleep." *His mind remained at home while the prophecy was being talked about*
-
Kiral sighed and laid back, staring up at the sky and slowly puffing away, "I really wonder what's going on back at home. Wonder if anyone misses us, or getting ready to fire my ass. Good thing I sent out a check to my mother the day before we came here." He took a deep inhale before putting it out carefully and put that filter back into his pack. Kiral made a sigh of relief and closed his eyes, hands behind his head and elbows up.
-
Mahi noticed that White wasn't big on talking at the moment but didn't say anything about it since there was no point in him being forced to talk and she couldn't blame him anyway. Her eyelids started to get heavy and close and she forced them back open again. This happened multiple times before she finally laid back on the ground. As her eyes were directed toward the sky, she wished that she could see the stars and let out a sigh. "What do they look like?" She said, her voice barely audible since it accidentally slipped out and had been meant for her thoughts only.
-
*The wolf dragon at this point had leaned over and fallen asleep, perhaps beyond the notice of his companions he dreamed peacefully* "A quiet day at home and a little bit of leisure time, great for relaxation." *He put his feet up on the porch and laid back in his chair looking out at the front lawn* "It's unfortunate that this is too good to be true as it is a dream, it really is better than the current location of my group." *He stretched in his chair* "I wonder what we'll find next on the quest."
-
Kiral barely, but surely heard Mahi, since she was not too far from him, and reached over with his finger. He poked it into her face and traced the shape of the Star of David. With that, he rolled over and drifted off to sleep. Early the next morning, Kiral awoke to a cloudy and grimy day. Oh, goddammit. Something tells me something bad's going to happen today.
-
Mahi had been slowly drifting off to sleep when Kiral poked her and traced a shape on her face. "Must have said that out loud..." She thought to herself. The shape seemed kind of weird and she wondered if that was just how stars actually looked or was just how they were drawn. Her mind didn't let her think on it too much though and she fell asleep only a few seconds later. When she woke up the next morning, she could tell that the weather wasn't good as she sat up and stretched her arms up into the air.
-
*The wolf dragon stretched and yawned when he realized he was finally awake himself, having heard the others getting up as well he assumed it was time to get moving, but then looked up at the sky* "Oh good, I like rainy days. Also makes it a lot less hotter outside, which is always good in my book. This day might be a little bit better hopefully." *He looked over to Kiral and Mahi* "Whenever we're done looking around we can finally get back to the current task at hand." *White stood up straight and waited for Kiral to give the direction to start going*
-
Kiral stretched as he got up and yawned, opening his great maw. He then scratched his back after twisting it left and right. Several wild wolves ran by, but didn't pay the group mind. However, one of the wolves did look quite odd. It's face was square from the side, and didn't really have a muzzle. It had large teeth and it was twice the size of the other ones. But what creeped him out the most was an even larger version of that wolf ran alongside those wolves, coming from behind the forest treeline and kept with them together until they all ran down a path of the cliff-side. "Well, now. I don't remember those being around in the future. What the hell was that?"
-
Mahi got to her feet after White and Kiral did. She stretched some and yawned, and was rubbing her eyes when Kiral spoke. "What was what now?" She asked as she lowered her hand, having not been tuned in to what was happening around her. Reaching out with her hearing, she "spotted" the wolves running down the cliff-side including the weird looking ones. "Oh wow...that is weird." She said after "seeing" the beasts.
-
*White looked at the wolves as they passed by looking terrified at the abnormally large wolf with alien facial features, instantly breaking his silence* "What the hell was that?" *He copied Kiral as he said it at the same time* "I'm the spawn of a female dragon and a male wolf and I have never seen something so horrifying as that before, what be that creature? Magical, mythological, or just an abomination? Perhaps that's what werewolves actually look like... I really don't like the chill this sends through my skin." *He turned to Kiral* "I think it's time to go. We should probably avoid dark places and anywhere those wolves can hide."
-
Kiral nodded, but his face was far from agreeing, "But there's a small problem with that thought, as good as it is. If these outfits are destroyed, we're found out, or being chased, we would need to go to such places to hide from the danger. I think maybe we just need to get stronger and learn to fight them off. To be honest, I can't stand these outfits, even though it's only been one day."
-
"Learn? Are you crazy?! What if those things infect one of us with some sort of virus and we get turned into some feral beast like that one that ran by?" *The wolf dragon twitched and looked away from Kiral* "This is a bad idea." "I would much rather go home retaining my appearance, last thing I need is to explain why I have warped into some other strange form to my clients." "Then which way are we going? Or are we waiting for the wolves to find us?"
-
Kiral sighed, "Well, let's just keep going on for now. Unless they're extremely bold, I'm pretty sure those wild animals know to stay off the main road." He continued to walk forward, but he held up his right sleeve with his left hand, making it look like both his hands were together, while he slid his right hand into the robe and kept a cautious hand on his weapon's handle, just in case. Kiral didn't want to take the risk of getting killed by feral animals, no matter how weird they were.
-
Mahi listened to both Kiral and White as she stood there with them. When Kiral said that they should just keep moving, she nodded and slid her hands into the opposite sleeves to be sure that her gauntlets wouldn't be seen by anyone who may come across their little group. She kept her senses on high alert in case the wolves or any other beasts decided they wanted the group for a meal at some point instead of steering clear of them completely.
-
The group went on without too much commotion, but that was short-lived. Kiral could hear growling all around them as the road led them into a forested area. What was worse, it also looked like a group of people were coming towards them from the opposite direction, on the road. Kiral quickly scanned the area with just his eyes and lowered his head as he squat down, making sure no one could see his eyes, but he could maintain his scanning. There were several feral legs of wolves all around them, he could see that much. However, the problem is that Kiral couldn't see more than the legs of the group coming towards their way. Their footsteps were heavy, and they either wore torn shoes or no shoes. "Well, well. Doth mine eyes deceive me, or is there three representatives of the church prowling through our territory?"
-
Mahi stayed silent as they continued on. When the growling started around them, she stopped alongside Kiral and blankly looked ahead at the group that was approaching them. One of the group members spoke and Mahi stayed silent, feeling that what was said was just a rhetorical question that needed no response from her. Mentally, she was preparing herself to fight the group or the wolves if she had to, ready to send her thoughts to the gauntlets to bring the blades out or the weighted wires if need be.
-
"Creepy buggers, thank goodness. At least we now have an option to not fight them unless deemed fully necessary..." *The wolf dragon looked back up and noticed they were basically surrounded now with little to no escape even slightly possible* "Shit. We're screwed." *Sweat started beading down the stressed wolgon's face as he looked up at the trees above, disabling him from even that form of escape then he heard one of the newly approached group members start to talk about them as church goers, dwelling upon the term prowling* "Funny even the wording matches these allied wolves, stereotypical if not ironically funny. Since they are associated with the wolves, maybe they can sense fear too. Unfortunately it's too late to start thinking about that..." *White tried not to make eye contact with any of them, but for a moment at the one that spoke with them thinking directly as if expressing through his look* "Please don't have your pets claw me or bite me, I don't want to be a werewolf." *He looked away to Mahi and then Kiral hoping they would reply to the person* "I have a feeling I'd just encourage one of them to have these wolves snack on me if I do a speech."
-
The thieves in the back of the group laughed between each other for a few seconds before the one who spoke decided to hush them. "So what brings you through our parts? I thought there was an understanding that you all have to stay off my territory unless you all finally pay me for all the times you have trespassed without paying the toll?" Kiral cleared his throat before talking. He knew churches even in their time had issues paying money for anything, so he tried to sound as pathetic as he could, "P-please, sir! 'Tis an emergency! Mine companions and I are in a rush for an anointing!" Kiral's heat beat quickly, as he didn't know what churches did, this time or his.
-
Mahi listened to the laughter then hushing then the leader speaking again. When Kiral replied, Mahi was surprised at how pathetic he had managed to sound and she looked sideways at him for a moment before looking forward. Her face didn't show her surprise though and she gave a slight nod in agreement that they were indeed doing what Kiral had told them they were doing. "Maybe I should pretend to be a deaf mute... Then I wouldn't have to speak to them." She thought to herself. "But I probably won't do that and just do my best to talk like they do in this time period along with sounding like a nun would."
-
"I wish you were better with that gun Kiral, six shots to the head of these goons and three wolves would be nice enough to escape with or at least a head start. Somehow I don't think even these guys are that gullible to fall for the pathetic preacher act. We need some sort of attack plan." *He looked from wolf to wolf and back again to the leader and his fellow thieves* "Ughh... I don't want to get bitten or clawed today though, especially with potential consequences." *He shivered in his spine and waited to see how the thieves would react to Kiral's plea*
-
The leader looked stern, but stepped aside, the others following suit, "Make sure this is the last time. I'm in a good mood today. We were actually heading out to claim a large bounty out in the west." Kiral did his best to maintain his tone, "T-thank you, sir! Thou art most gracious!" Kiral slowly took Mahi's hand and guided her forward, playing his part. However, as they were about to get past, one of the men in the back who was laughing earlier pulled off White's hood, "Ha! I was right! That guy's a mixed breed! You can see wing tips! These are the bounties, boss!" Kiral grumbled as he pulled his hand from Mahi's and into the robe, tossing it over his head and drawing his weapon in gun mode, "Goddammit..."
-
Mahi listened but wasn't fully convinced that they were going to be let through that easily. She let Kiral take her hand and guide her, playing her part as well. When White's hood was pulled off, she "saw" the action before the others knew what was happening. "Crap..." She grumbled after the guy made the 'mixed breed' statement. When Kiral drew his weapon, Mahi turned to face the members of the group, her arms dropping to her sides and the blades on the gauntlets swiftly protruding from them partway, but too little enough for them be visible to the group.
-
"Son of a bitch!" *The wolf dragon whipped the back of his head swiftly and beat the man that grabbed his hood in the forehead and jumped forward backing up to Kiral and Mahi who had their weapons at the ready* "I really did not want to get bitten or clawed today." *White said silently that at least Mahi probably overheard well enough; he stretched and stood up straight and gripped the hammer on his back, ready to bring it down upon the first blade or muzzle to strike* "Shall we split them three ways equally?" *He winced at the thought of being cursed* "I suppose there's no way around this now, I can only pray a religious facade that they are not infectious." *The wolgon kept his pose, not letting his eyes leave the eyes of the enemies and the man that was still taken aback from his recent blow to the forehead*
-
Kiral didn't even bother to respond and fired a few shots into the first guy before tackling the second one. He swung the weapon into sword mode and ran it through the thief's head. The leader and the others drew their short swords and daggers as they charged in towards Kiral. "Oh, shit." Kiral tried to roll away, but he wasn't able to get far as his sword was stuck in the corpse's head.
-
Mahi "watched" as White attacked the guy that had pulled off his hood and then Kiral shot at one guy before tackling another and running his sword through the guy's head. When the rest of the group charged at Kiral and she "saw" that he couldn't really get out of the way of the attack, she moved between Kiral and the charging group. The blades in her gauntlets extended the rest of the way so that they were now visible. She blocked two daggers then stabbed the wielders of them both. After that, she sent out a diamond-weighted wire and wrapped it around another guy's midsection, cutting him in half.
-
*White swung out his hammer killing the man he attacked instantly with a sharp blow to the head then followed up quickly to bark at the wolves* "Mahi has already slain three of the thieves and Kiral two of them in fairly swift manners, looks like I have to catch up on my quota..." *He growled in his canine tone* "Back off!" *White threatened them waving the great weighted stick side to side in a swishing manner too quick for them to make a frontal assault on him* "Hmm.. maybe they'll follow orders from fellow wolves such as Kiral and myself?" *He pondered while watching them carefully waiting for a strike to happen and paying half a mind to Kiral and Mahi's actions while holding his position*
-
Kiral gave a sigh of relief when Mahi jumped in and covered him. He quickly put his foot to the corpse's neck and kicked him off of the sword. Kiral quickly got up and before he could do anything, he found himself pounced by a feral wolf, which he kicked off of him, but gulped when he saw three of the feral wolves that didn't look quite right and were three times larger, "Oh, shit."
-
Mahi dodged a wolf that lunged at her then "looked" around her at the rest of the 'wolves'. "Best way for me to take any of these things out is to use the wires, I think." She muttered to herself as she examined each of the wolves with her own sight, trying to predict how they would move. "White, can't you just mash these things with your huge hammer?" She asked as her eyes switched between each of the wolves.
-
"I...don't know if I can. What if some of these wolves are related to me or even Kiral? I know it doesn't sound very possible, but we are of the same blood in one form or another... but since they already attacked Kiral I guess I have no other choice." *White sighed and swung closer to all of the wolves, hitting all of their front legs close to him with the sound of crackling of bones to mush* "I'm sorry guys." *The wolf dragon said quietly* "I don't like to even hurt such things, I guess if we have to we'll finish them off... though I don't want to be the one to make the final blow."
-
Kiral panted as he got up and walked over to the disabled weird wolves, swinging down hard and decapitating them. He looked over at White in a slight bit of anger, "If you attack them, you kill them the first time, got it? The second we hesitate, we die, because they won't. Which would you rather worry about? Dying by potentially killing your own ancestor, or having them kill you? I think the old fart knows what he's doing, so just do what you're told and stay alive."
-
Mahi grimaced when she "watched" White hit the wolves legs to cripple them then breathed a sigh of relief when Kiral decapitated them. She felt bad for White when Kiral sort of snapped at him for not just killing the wolves instantly and just crippling them, but then again, she couldn't help but agree with him in a way. "It is at least a little more humane if you kill them instead of seriously injuring them, but I understand that it was hard for you. Even though they are extremely ugly things from what I could make out from my own form of vision." She said to White, not sounding angry with him but sort of grossed out.
-
"Well maybe in our wizard's feature plans, he didn't account for coming here or killing any of these creatures. We could end up trapped in this time zone if the future is altered to the point our parents were never born. Otherwise some if not all of us can never go back unless we want to be permanently erased. Just my theory anyways."
*After a long pause from thinking, White responds* "I will next time Kiral." *The wolgon turned to Mahi* "It was more humane in the moment, but I get your point." *He looked away trying to avoid Mahi*
-
Kiral's mood had turned rotten at that point, but he kept what else he had been thinking about to himself, If you were so *removed* worried about that, you should more be worried about killing the guys that we did in first. They're more likely to be our ancestors than these disgusting sons of bitches who went extinct for some reason. He turned and walked off the path to pick his disguise back up and put it on, not liking walking around with just his weapon and boxers. After getting his outfit on, Kiral walked back onto the path, waiting for Mahi and White to catch up.
-
Mahi noticed White's attempt to avoid her by looking off in a different direction, which she didn't really get the point of. There were much better techniques of avoiding someone other than not looking at them, but she guessed that that was the best thing to do when you had to travel with someone. She "watched" as Kiral walked off the path and grabbed his disguise then put it back on. The fact that he had been in just boxers after taking off the disguise hadn't hit her until then, but she simply pushed that thought away as she walked over to wear he stood waiting for her and White.
-
"Even though Kiral's face changed, I could tell he held back from saying something. That was nice of him, though I definitely won't hold back against ordinary people. Besides it being that they could be related to me, it went further to the part about them being animals. I just don't like to kill creatures that could be innocent... well depending upon if that have a collective consciousness. Unfortunately I didn't see that among those wolves, which made it difficult if not impossible." *He watched Kiral put his disguise back on and realized something* "I need to fix my disguise too, I really got this thing wrinkled up." *White fixed his monk outfit and put his weapon back then followed behind Mahi who was already headed in Kiral's direction and waited behind her still not paying mind to her* "She's probably already forgotten about ignoring me and Kiral, but I don't forget the little things. That's fine with me, I have never fared well with females in general."
-
Kiral moved on with the others and it took the rest of the day to get out of the forest. There were no more attacks, but there were a few people passing to the other direction, though they were too confused and deep in conversation about not having to pay toll to pass through to notice the three of them. After exiting the forest area, the sun was already down, and there was a small village up ahead, whose only light source was actually a large bon fire in the middle of the village, but it was large enough that it showed the whole village. "Maybe we should hole up down there tonight, and hope for the best."
-
Mahi continued to play her nun role as they kept walking the rest of the day, keeping her hands stuck in the opposite sleeves to be extra sure that no one saw her gauntlets. The incident from earlier where Kiral and White's conversation about construction had bored her and annoyed her (since she had no interest in it) to the point of blocking them out with humming hadn't left her mind, but she was over it and the only way she'd have an issue would be if the conversation started again. She was glad that they hadn't had to fight anymore people or creatures for the rest of the day up to reaching the small village but she was also getting very tired and bored with walking so much and not doing much of anything else. "Whatever you say. You're the leader, I'm just here because I have to be. Guess that's a good thing considering that I saved you back there earlier though." She responded to Kiral, not trying to rub it in his face but rather just stating a fact.
-
"Sounds good to sleep in a bed again, who knows when we'll get to do this again." *White said nothing else openly* "I really like small towns, I wish I could live in one someday, maybe when I get to retire perhaps. Though by then I'll probably be far too used to cities and want to just settle down in the same house I have lived in for years." *The wolf dragon looked at the bonfire in the middle of the town with curiosity* "I don't really see a whole lot of villages doing bonfires, I wonder if they are burning trash or perhaps trying to keep flying creatures in the night away like bats or discouraging rodents and birds from nesting in the houses at night?"
-
Kiral walked with the group and they were greeted right away as they entered the little village. "And what pleasure do we have to have the visit of the church?" Kiral was weary about his choice of words, and slowly spoke, "Our ears had heard of a possible disturbance by certain bounty-sought individuals." The elderly man cleared his throat, "There's no disturbance here, holy ones. In fact, if I'm not too forward, we are looking forward to the bounty-sought ones. We believe that they are the real Destined Heroes, not the current ones who have claimed dominion over us." Kiral sighed as he took off his hood, "It's good to know that this place is a place of friends, then. My name is Kiral Vantis. And Filadius had brought us here to correct his previous mistake." The old man's face lit up at the mention and he called the others over. The village threw them a little feast and the Elder himself offered his hut as lodging for the three of them, as it was the largest one in the village.
-
Mahi listened as Kiral spoke to an elderly man and remained silent as the conversation continued until it was revealed that the villagers would actually welcome them as the people they really were. "Finally!" She said, pulling the nun habit off of her head swiftly and shaking her head to loosen up her hair that had been flattened by it. "I was getting really tired of that thing." After that, she ate calmly at the feast and awaited the time for sleep in the Elder's hut.
-
"At least I don't have someone yelling hybrid in my ears this time." *White gladly took off his hood, standing by his companions; soon after following to the feast that ensued* "So much food, haven't had an opportunity to splurge since Thanksgiving at home last year, I love my food when I can enjoy it." *The wolf dragon dug in like there was no tomorrow* "I can almost never seem to reach an end of being full." *After finishing his dinner, he made his way to the Elder's hut and sat on a bed thinking about the next day, where the group would go next*
-
The village celebrated harmoniously, but many still kept their distances from White, since he was a hybrid, and that was an obscene thing to this society. Kiral enjoyed smoking that night and slept next to the hut entrance, right next to it against the wall, so anyone who would come inside wouldn't notice him in the slightest if they were to com in. However, he enjoyed one more smoke before finally putting it out and going to sleep. "Hope tomorrow gets better than today."
-
After finishing eating at the feast that was held in their honor, she got up and headed for the Elder's hut. It took her longer than it should have to get there because she had to keep rejecting people's offers to help her get to the hut. When she finally got to the hut and entered it, she was muttering to herself about how annoying people were when they thought she wasn't able to take care of herself. She found an empty bed and flopped down on it on her back, staring upwards for a while before she finally fell asleep.
-
*The wolf dragon hadn't noticed the people ignoring him, because none of them made it obvious while he was busy eating, so he sat in peace of mind* "I guess the best thing to do tomorrow first is to thank the village elder for the feast and the roof over our heads for the night, it's time to turn in." *White noticed soon after he looked up from thinking, Mahi and Kiral were in the house as well* "Goodnight." *He said quietly then curled up on the bedspread he was sitting on and closed his eyes within minutes, falling fast asleep*
-
Kiral only rested his eyes for the night, his body being the only thing rested, his mind was far from easy. He kept his ears perked all night, but it was all quiet, up until the morning. Many women from around the village came in just at sunrise, trays of food with them, and got the group up. "Come, come, now. Now is not the time to be sleeping. Too much sleep is bad. Now hurry up and eat these, it'll give you energy and strength." Kiral grumbled as he turned in his bed, but he was pulled out by some of the more burly women forced him to sit up in his bed, and held him there as the more meek wives of the village fed him. The rest of the women just fed White and Mahi.
-
Mahi got up when she was woken up by the women, having gotten enough sleep the night before. She thought it was comical that Kiral was being man-handled by the burly women, but she did not like it whatsoever when the women started feeding her as if she need assistance. "I can feed myself!" She snapped at the women. She sort of felt bad for snapping, but she didn't like being treated like she was incompetent.
-
*The wolf dragon was awoken by being sit up and offered food almost instantly* "What is going on here...?" *He looked around confused, soon noticing Mahi already taking volatile approach to the female overwhelming swiftness to get the party moving* "I don't really know why I need help eating, I'd rather do it myself if you don't mind." *He tried to shrug off the grip that was placed on him by the women* "If they are going to wake us up, I think this included isn't required."
-
Kiral nearly choked as he was being force fed, and was finally able to breathe again as he choked on some of the water being forced down his throat. He coughed as he finally caught his breath and the women were leaving. Before Kiral would start complaining, the Elder walked in with a light bow. "I am terribly sorry if they were a little rude. Our women here have lost many of their husbands to the iron fist of our rulers today, so they see you all as their ray of hope, and they want to take very good care of you."
-
Mahi was glad when the women finally left since she had reached the point that if they had hung around another minute to force-feed her she probably would have knocked them all away. When the Elder came in and explained about why the women were acting that way, she tried to see it from their side but it was pretty near impossible for her since they had pushed her on the brink of crossing the line. "Try having a ray of hope after you choke the people who give you hope to death by forcing food and water down their throats and possibly getting it into their airways instead." She grumbled as she got to her feet.
-
"That however doesn't mean it's okay to be force feeding us either Elder sir." *The wolf dragon frowned at the elder for a short moment then coughed in seconds after being fed again* "I'm good now. Thank you ladies, please relax." *White got up feeling rather bloated* "Hic--ah--hic--crap. I ate--hic too muc--hic." *He gritted his teeth and held his breath* "No---hic more food." *He kept hiccuping quietly and tried to fight it out, waiting for his chance to leave as well*
-
Kiral sighed, "Well, by any means, just make sure they don't do that again. Help us pack some food and water for our journey, and we'll be on our way after we rest up. I have some Zeny, so I'm more than willing to pay up for the resources. Even if we are heroes, I'm sure there's no such thing as a free trip." The Elder nodded in acknowledgment, but waved his hand before leaving. "Money is not an issue here. We may be a small village, but our income is higher than most. After all, our livestock is the most sought-after all across the land. So please do accept our gifts."
-
After the Elder left, Kiral sighed as he sat back, trying to relax, feeling pretty full himself. "I really hope we can get moving very soon. White, the second you can get up and walk, we're leaving. I'm sure I can relax just fine in about 5 minutes or so." He drew his sword and examined it, "How in the hell did this thing come into existence? This is supposed to be hundreds of years into the past."
-
"Guess we're not moving on yet..." Mahi thought to herself, partially irritated that she had to sit around a while longer. Sitting back down on the bed she had slept on the night before, she rested her right elbow on her right knee and rested her chin in her hand. She wished that she had some of her chainmaille rings with her so that she could at least keep herself busy at the moment but she didn't so she just sat there and waited for it to be time for them to get moving.
-
*The wolf dragon started fidgeting with his hands* "I can't stand not doing anything for such a long period of time, this is going to drive me over the edge. At least let me go outside... wait that might work." *He was about to help himself to leaving until Kiral actually encouraged it* "It's about time." *He looked to Kiral and him examining his sword* "Well then I'm ready to go now." *White hopped up off the bed, noticing Mahi looking irritable again* "You look like you're ready to go too Mahi." *He wasted no time to walk out of the house and outside, stretching his legs, wings, and arms*
-
Kiral nodded and got up, walking over to Mahi to help her up. He yelled out the open entrance when he saw White stretching, "Hey! Just because the village is good doesn't mean that there aren't patrols around here, you idiot!" But his worries were put to rest when some of the women of the village had quickly run over and held White's wings down while covering him with a blanket. When Kiral and Mahi caught up with White outside, the rest of the villagers were there. Three women came up first with their disguises, "We took the liberty of washing them with the best materials available so that you can maintain your guise of church-men. Also..." Three more women came up with a sack of food each, and a child came up with a deerskin canteen filled with water, "...some provisions for your journey. There are two days of food in each one, so please be wise on eating. The next stop is a major city called Bri, about two and a half days' walk. If you ration the food enough, it can last longer, should you have to skip the city to another stop." Finally, the Elder came and presented a fairly large egg wrapped in a cloth, "And this, my friends, is a special gift that was destined to become yours in aid of your quest. In here, lies a dragon's egg. The Great Dragon, the longest lived and most powerful in history, is said to only give birth to one egg every 1,000 years when its life expires. However, the last one gave birth to two. Lord Filadius had hatched one and raised it, while the other laid dormant in this region, supposedly waiting for your care. Please keep it wrapped up tight and be sure to raise it well. How you raise it will determine its elemental prowess and personality." Kiral took the egg and slung the wrapped egg over his shoulder, so it was like a slingback.
-
Mahi "looked" at Kiral's hand when it was offered to her then took it to allow him to help her up. She was now accustomed to him offering her a hand every now and again, and she didn't see it as him thinking she was helpless and figured that he probably just did it out of habit since she was a girl, not because she was blind. She followed Kiral out of the hut to find pretty much the whole village standing outside the hut. She took her disguise and her bag of provisions when they were handed to her. Setting the bag of provisions down at her feet, she pulled on her disguise, making a face at the hat piece before putting it on last. As she put the bag on her shoulder, she listened to the Elder explain about the dragon egg and cringed when Kiral slung the wrapped egg over his shoulder. "Be careful with that!" She said quickly, worrying that he would swing it around too carelessly.
-
*White turned around to hear Kiral start yelling about how him openly stretching as he was* "I think I stand out plenty as it is without even helping this with wings, besides imagine sitting in a cramped car for 16 hours without getting up or stretching at all, that's what it feels like on my wings." *Suddenly he turned around to be smothered with a blanket* "Dammit get off of me!" *He closed his wings to make the helpful hands back off and then noticed the disguises come back with some more of the village women* "I wasn't personally looking forward to putting those things back on... I hope this masquerade of monk aptitude will be over soon." *The wolf dragon took his disguise and put it back on, hearing some talk as well of food and water for a couple days* "Better than nothing I guess, though I don't doubt we can manage to find our own food if it becomes necessary." *At long last the village elder approached again, White noticed the rather out of place egg being carried* "I never really asked dad how that worked out, I guess it doesn't matter." *He stopped thinking after hearing the elder talk about the personality and elemental prowess part of the dragon's life, out of his silence he says to Mahi* "Great, if Kiral holds onto that egg we're going to get another miniature Kiral."
-
Kiral bowed to the Elder, "Thank you for your generosity, then. We'll be on our way. I'm sure I speak for the group when I say I wish we can stay longer, but we prefer to get our job taken care of as soon as possible. We miss our home very much." The Elder and the villagers saw them out and Kiral led the way, having completely wrapped the egg so that it didn't show. He knew the others would follow and took hold of Mahi's hand whenever someone passed their path.
-
Mahi let out a quick exhale through her nose when White spoke to her, which was the result of keeping her mouth closed to hold in a laugh. She listened as Kiral thanked the Elder for the generosity then followed Kiral as they left the little village. It was a bit surprising that Kiral actually took a hold of her hand any time someone passed their path. "You don't have to do that, you know." She said one time after Kiral had taken her hand after the person had gotten far enough away. "I do know when someone is coming."
-
*After the group had shortly after talked with the elder and made off with the egg, disguises being held up as before the previous thieves attack, the wolf dragon kept to himself again* "I'm keeping close this time for sure. I don't want some trash or another damn thief picking me out of the crowd worse than airport security with racial profiling." *Occasionally he looked up to notice that Kiral kept taking Mahi's hand every time another person would appear close by* "That's got to be annoying and probably feels about as catering as a Pre-school teacher to small children." *White's suspicions were correct when Mahi responded swiftly to the motion* "Though I hadn't though of it a few minutes ago before she did that, again the hearing sense is one of her most valuable assets and shouldn't be underestimated."
-
Kiral grumbled a little to himself and sighed, "Yes, but it'll look weird and out of place for a blind nun to be able to walk on her own. At least, that's what would look weird in general. Last thing we need is to get noticed by a bounty hunter or someone who's greedy enough to go after us." He then looked her over a bit, remembering her figure when they first met, But then again, she wasn't too bad looking either. But on the other hand, she is a bit of a stickler.
-
"Fair enough." Mahi responded to Kiral, understanding the illusion he was making for any people who passed by. After that she noticed with her own "sight" that he was looking at her and basically just guessed that he was examining all of her, not just looking at her directly. "Is there something that I can help you with, Kiral?" She kept a calm tone because she wasn't sure if he was really checking her out or not so she didn't want to snap at him if it was nothing.
-
*White looked at Kiral because he seemed to be only looking in one direction for quite awhile* "For a bit I thought maybe I was in his center of focus, but it seems more likely to be Mahi. I know that look from anywhere in high school, though I don't really see that working out so well considering Mahi's reclusive sort of ways. It's still fun to watch them box on the sidelines though and I get to hold down a whole theater by myself with inner conversation and review as it progresses." *The wolf dragon looked off to the side to watch the trees pass by and the occasional rock*
-
Kiral smirked, but didn't let his attitude show it, "No, nothing at all. I'm just checking to see if you really are that convincing, but I just realized that I wouldn't know anyways." The rest of the afternoon was without incident, but the air was heavy as the sun started to set. There was something in the area, something big. Kiral's animal instincts warned him to be cautious, so he was more alert, not wanting to say something to alarm Mahi. He was pretty sure that White felt it, too, since he was half wolf.
-
Mahi might have believed Kiral if she hadn't "seen" his smirk before he spoke. She let it go though since she didn't see the need to argue about the matter. She remained silent for the rest of the afternoon as they continued their journey. When she believed it was close to sunset, something felt off to her as she kept moving along with Kiral and White. She kept the rest of her senses on even more of a high alert than usual, not wanting to be caught off guard by anything that might attack them.
-
*White's fur stood up as the group kept walking along and started to get the feeling of being watched* "This is an alien sensation to me, because I've never really felt like I've had someone stalking me before, minus that time a day or so ago when those wolves and the thieves cornered us. I saw that coming, but this time it's different. I have no idea where or when, it's just I know something will make itself known eventually. Just not yet... I think." *The wolf dragon glanced to Kiral and Mahi occasionally to see if they were the least bit alerted as well, suspecting they all probably felt the same thing*
-
Kiral continued on with the others for another half an hour before he finally put his finger on it. He checked to the right, looking at a giant bush that he'd seen out of the corner of his eye a few times. He thought that it wouldn't be too odd to have bushes this large, but to have it look exactly the same, something was wrong. Kiral then put up a hand so that White and Mahi would stop, "Hold on. Something's not right with this bush." He took off his disguise and walked over to it, his weapon drawn. About a meter away, he pointed his weapon and fired. To Kiral's surprise, the bullet bounced off the leaves, and even more surprising, opened up to reveal the roaring, orange body of a Thermadon.
-
Mahi stopped when Kiral put up his hand to signal her and White to stop. She "watched" as he walked over to the supposed bush and fired a shot at it. She was surprised by what appeared next and actually backed up a step. "What the hell is that thing?!" She exclaimed even though she knew that Kiral and White wouldn't know what it was either, it was just an automatic question when she "saw" something she had never heard of before.
-
*The wolf dragon looked puzzled at Kiral telling them to stop suddenly and then seeing him pull out the gun towards the plant seemed beyond comprehension* "I have no idea what he's going to prove by shooting that plant..." *The bullet bounced off the leaves and ricocheted into the distance* "...oh. What the hell is that?!" *White stared at the creature that appeared from behind the leaves* "I don't get a good feeling about that thing at all." *He took off his hood and swung out the hammer to the front of him* "I wonder how resistant it is to something with a bit more punch."
-
Kiral jumped back, seeing the roaring beast, "Like hell I would know!" Kiral pointed his weapon at it, but it receded into its seed shell just before he pulled the trigger. All the bullets merely bounced off. "Okay... let's see how resistant they are to blades." He rushed the beast and put in a strong downswing, but the blade just stopped with a loud "Clank!" as it struck the beast's cover, though the blade did sink into it a little. The monster roared as it quickly opened the armor, tossing Kiral back several feet.
-
Mahi wasn't really surprised to see how resistant the beast was to Kiral's attacks when it was in its shell. She was surprised, however, by him being tossed back and she only just had enough time to sidestep so that he didn't collide with her. "Seems like White's weapon is the best chance we've got, but I don't think anything will work on...whatever this is." She said, not even attempting to attack the thing with what she had to work with.
-
"Well then I guess it's my turn, if I'm not successful we'll have to retreat." *White gripped his hammer hard and ran quickly, coming to the Thermadon it quickly closed up in its shield again and hid as the wolf dragon flew upward about 5 feet above the top of the shield* "I wonder how well protected your upper area is?" *He raised his hammer and completely let loose of his flapping, letting gravity bring the force of his weapon down; it swung hard and eventually reached the surface of the leafy barrier*
-
Kiral readjusted himself and landed on his stomach, Dammit. So much for looking cool and landing on my feet like in those movies. However, he didn't really care, since his main concern was the egg still strapped to his back. Through the impact of the hammer, the leaf armor bent inward, causing the monster to shriek. It quickly flung the shield open, revealing its body. It flipped White upward, but with the armor now folded all the way back to its rear, it was fast, and ran straight for Kiral and Mahi. Kiral quickly pulled up the weapon fired out of instinct and this time, the bullets didn't rebound, but rather, it sunk into the monster's flesh, causing it to trip and fall, skidding a couple feet. "Its body is vulnerable! Quick! We have to kill it!"
-
Mahi had almost completely forgotten about the dragon egg, but quickly looked back to see that Kiral had managed to land on his stomach which protected the egg from being harmed. When she looked forward, White had just hit the beast with his hammer and he was flung up into the air. When it ran toward her and Kiral, she waited until Kiral fired at it and it tripped and fell. Once it was on the ground she ran toward it and came at its head with both of her gauntlet blades out.
-
"Ughh... that went better than I had hoped, I was thinking for sure it would have trampled me after I attacked and was knocked down, but when it closed its shield it probably didn't see me fly up in the air until it decided to hit me and focused more on Kiral and Mahi, probably because he attacked the creature first." *White watched as Kiral fired twice at the now defenseless monster and tripped down to the dirt, becoming defenseless; Mahi took her opportunity and charged at the beast with her gauntlets drawn* "This is probably curtains for it, but just in case....errggghhh." *He pulled himself back up and raised his hammer again* "It felt like denting metal, at least it didn't rebound and throw me backwards instead, that would have been very bad." *The wolf dragon made his way in the direction of the enemy with caution*
-
Kiral placed the egg down and followed after Mahi. He jumped up and ran the sword down, stabbing into the monster's jowls. The thermadon wouldn't even roar at this point, its jaw being clamped shut and against the ground with Kiral's sword. Its legs scratched at the ground as it tried to get up and kill its dinner that it had been stalking the entire day for.
-
When Mahi got to the beast, she stabbed the gauntlet blades into the top of its head. She yanked the blades out then moved away from the beast. She wanted to be well out of the way when White brought his hammer down on it. She picked up the dragon egg in its sling and Kiral's disguise and moved behind a tree, knowing that it would be best if she avoided getting blood and flesh on her or Kiral's disguises. "Hopefully that hammer will be all the hit we need to deliver to kill that thing."
-
*As White approached he watched Kiral and Mahi attack the monster from the front, then saw Mahi retreat with the egg that Kiral had laid down and his disguise, hiding behind a tree* "Well I guess she thinks this is probably going to get messy, I'm kind of hoping not since I'll be covered in the innards if it's that severe of a fatal blow. Though at this point I just want the damn thing to stay down." *He grunted and put everything he had into his blow when finally getting close enough, putting strength and accuracy together to hit the creature on the head*
-
Despite his efforts, White's accuracy was off, and hit the neck. But it still got the job done. The bones were turned to powder and everything within the hit area turned to goo, and built up in the head and the body from the force. The head popped off, lifting off the ground, and throwing Kiral back a few meters, due to the pressure build-up of the blood. "Well, now. That was different." He laid there for a few more seconds before getting up and rubbing his temples.
-
Mahi watched as White struck the blow on the beast's neck and then the head proceeded to pop off which threw Kiral back. Once Kiral was back on his feet, Mahi came out from behind the tree and walked over to him. "Here you go." She said as she handed him his disguise then directed her attention to White. "Nice hit, White." She then directed her eyes down at the egg she was cradling in her arms with the cloth still wrapped around it.
-
"Thanks... but it wasn't my intention to hit the neck. Anyways I think we at least need to write down some of the details of this creature." *The wolf dragon jumped down off the creature's neck and looked at the beast's head* "Perhaps we could get some questions answered about this thing if we also draw it." *White looked up at Mahi and the egg she was holding and then to Kiral* "Perhaps Mahi should hold onto the egg, she seems to be a lot more careful as it could have been hurt in that fight if you had fallen otherwise Kiral."
-
Kiral took his disguise back, "Thanks." He walked over to his sword that was still in the creature's mouth and pulled it out, swinging the blood off of it, and holstering it back underneath his disguise. "If she wants to carry it, she can. But don't think for a second that I'm not careful enough, either. I do work 3 times more difficult than yours and I've never had one near miss or minor hit."
-
"You're welcome." Mahi said after Kiral took his disguise and thanked her for it. She had the egg cradled in her left arm and was absentmindedly stroking the egg with her right hand when White suggested that she be the one to hold onto the egg. She had no objections to carrying the egg but she wondered what Kiral would have to say on the matter. It didn't really surprise her that he went out of his way to defend himself and she let him do so since she hadn't been worried about him with the egg except for when he had slung it over his shoulder so carelessly when they first received it.
-
*White was almost quick to comment quickly on Kiral's last statement, he looked at the wolf's gunblade and almost laughed, but stopped himself* "I certainly hope he wasn't talking about his aim with that gun mode on his weapon, otherwise we'd all be in trouble." *He looked back up to Kiral* "Of course." *The wolf dragon tried hard not to say anything else to him for fear of laughing again, he turned to Mahi to escape the ironic humor* "I'd feel better if you held it, besides you already look like you have its well being in mind already." *He turned away from commenting on her stroking of the egg* "Females always make the best caretakers."
-
Kiral led the party again and walked along the road. It was almost nightfall when they reached a small village, the large city now within sight, but another half a day's walk. Kiral was discreet on trying to act normal and just paid for some small lodgings, making sure to not show too much money, considering he assumed that the movies were correct on the church being poor. He was very wrong, but he wouldn't know until later. "Okay, let's make sure we get some sleep early tonight. I'll get us some food and we can turn in for the night." Being discreet again, Kiral bought miniscule meals that would be enough to tie them over for the night. He finished eating first, and sat by the door, leaving the bed between White and Mahi to fight over.
-
Mahi followed Kiral along silently even when they reached the small village. She also ate her small meal without saying a word while sitting Indian-style with the dragon egg laying on her legs. She kind of expected that the lone bed in the room would be given to her since she was a girl but she waited for White to finish eating instead of just taking over the bed without him getting any say in the matter whatsoever.
-
*After the wolf dragon finished his meal he wasn't particularly pleased with how much he had gotten to eat, especially for someone of his size, but he didn't say anything* "Seeing as how Kiral didn't take the only bed we have, Mahi can have it because I just don't care where I sleep. Though if there's a nice patch of grass outside, I'll take advantage of that no problem." *White got up without saying anything then looked down at Mahi and the egg again for a short moment* "I feel more comfortable with her just taking care of it even in times of quiet, no carelessness seems to be with her actions." *He moved out the door and laid on the nearest green outside then closed his eyes as he curled up and waited for sleep to come*
-
Just past high moon, Kiral stirred when he felt his legs moving from the door opening. He gripped his weapon tightly and quietly backed out of the way, staying against the wall. A dark figure holding a broadsword snuck in, closing the door behind it with its foot. Kiral let the figure take a couple more steps before jumping up to grab the figure's throat and stabbed him through the chest from behind. Or at least, that's what was going on in his mind. However, on his way up, he tripped on an uneven board he never noticed before and ended up tackling the figure, his face in the figure's ass. The first sound that came out after the loud thud was a female voice, "Pervert!" The figure was a female cat, to be more accurately, a first-time bounty hunter.
-
Mahi had heard the cat enter the room, but had kept her eyes shut and hadn't moved from where she was curled up around the dragon egg since she didn't want whoever had entered to know that she knew that they were there. When she heard someone trip, she knew it was Kiral since she had heard someone get up from where he had been sitting. After the intruder and Kiral had hit the floor and the intruder had called Kiral a pervert, Mahi opened her eyes and shook her head. "Yes, I'm sure he's a pervert because he tripped when attempting to kill you before you could kill us and just happened to run into your ass." She said as she got up off of the mattress, leaving the dragon egg on the mattress. "Trust me, he's not your type and vice versa." The blades quickly expanded out of her gauntlets while her arms were are her sides. It wasn't because she was being possessive of Kiral, she had no reason to be. It was because she wanted to be prepared in case the girl tried anything.
-
*Meanwhile the bounty hunter was foiled in her plot to collect on the heads of the group, the wolf dragon snored in the background, tossing and turning in his sleep, hearing sound coming from the resting area of his companions making him get up for a moment, rubbing his eyes and trying to focus on the blurred images in front of him* "What the hell?" *He looked up at Kiral and the bounty hunter, and then over at Mahi with her blades ready to fight* "I can't even sleep without someone trying to kill us now, this is just ridiculous." *He got off the grass and grabbed his hammer quickly, but tiredly trying to keep his grip straightened, still feeling weak from the previous endeavor*
-
Kiral got up, switching his weapon into gun mode, and kept his weapon trained on the young girl, "How the hell did you know we were here? Why are you choosing to favor the rulers right now?" The girl froze when she rolled over and saw Kiral's weapon trained on her, and Mahi standing not too far behind her head. "Y-you have a weapon like them... listen old timer, I need the money. Besides, you guys are dead giveaways. There's no such thing as poor clergymen. You passed through the forest passage, I'm sure you probably already killed the hustlers in there, too. But I'm not the one you should be worried about. I'm just the first to get here. I was hoping to claim you for myself. At this point, I'll be lucky to even claim ONE of your heads." As she said that, a large boom came from the side of the hut as a giant hammer the size of Kiral broke through, revealing a very large and fat wielder the size of three men, and several other shadowy figures which Kiral can only assume were other bounty hunters. "Well shit."
-
Mahi rolled her eyes at the girl, calling her foolish in her head. "Some people in this time aren't very smart..." She mumbled. Since Kiral had his weapon on the girl, Mahi turned and grabbed the dragon egg wrapped in its cloth of the mattress, gently hanging it on her shoulders across her back. She had heard the hammer coming before it hit, but she still jumped slightly just the same. Even though she could "see" the new arrivals, somehow she had switched to a state of mind where she wasn't worried about them. "No one is going to get any of our heads, especially not you." She angled her head at the girl with her blades still out, looking sort of creepy with her fogged over eyes and the look she had on her face. "They've got a better shot, but I still don't think they'll get very far." She tilted her head towards the newcomers when she said "they've" then straightened her head back up.
-
*The wolf dragon looked from outside as the rest of the bounty hunters showed up, particularly noticing the one with the giant hammer just smash through the inside of the room* "Shit indeed, I'll move around behind them, hopefully there's nobody already behind me..." *White moved slowly in the background and crept around trying to stay out of sight and out of mind, he raised his hammer looking upon the big guy's back and his head* "This should be easy... I think. Though as soon as I kill one, the others will probably kill me... I guess I'll play the opportunist's role in this one and wait to attack after Mahi and Kiral do so first. Either that or I could get their attention long enough to escape... I hate these kinds of decisions."
-
While White tried to think of a plan, and snuck around, an archer had been watching from the edge of town and fired off a shot that zinged right past White's ear, barely nicking it. Kiral turned his weapon to the large man in front of the group and fired off a few shots, being blocked by the large hammer as the big man raised it surprisingly fast. The girl on the ground took advantage of it and swung her sword at Kiral's feet, but her swing was slow and she made it pretty obvious with her grunt of effort to swing it. Kiral jumped back and switched the weapon to sword mode, expecting to fight, but the girl still laid there. Apparently, her armour was too heavy for her, and once she fell, she couldn't get up.
-
Mahi would have normally sort of felt bad for the girl's sad, failed attempt and the fact that she couldn't get up, but her demeanor had changed and she just laughed at the girl without looking at her, moving a little to get out of the reach of the sword but not giving the girl anymore attention than that. She wasn't really sure what to do in the situation but just went with what she thought of. She released one of the weighted wires on her right-hand gauntlet, sending it at the hammer-wielding bounty hunter and hoping to get it around the arm that was holding the weapon.
-
"Oh crap! Long range support is nearby, or at least another lone ranger, dammit I just want to get out of here." *The wolf dragon picked up his Snitch and held it up in front of himself, putting his hammer behind his back and running towards the archer* "I'm screwed either way, I might as well try to beat him close up... oh wait." *The wolf dragon spread his wings and flew up in the air* "If shooting a bow is anywhere near close to using a gun, then it's going to be very difficult for him, HA!" *He flew towards the archer, high enough in the sky to make it difficult to hit accurately, all the while using his Snitch for extra protection*
-
Unfortunately, for White, it was a more experienced bounty hunter, and he wasn't the only archer. Two additional arrows had come flying at him, all of them dangerously close, and a few hitting his shield. Mahi's string missed its mark as the giant hippo moved his arm surprisingly just as quickly and demolished another portion of the hut, going for Kiral and Mahi with one hit, the girl also in the way. Kiral quickly jumped back quickly, the hammer hitting down on the girl, but to his surprise, didn't smash her. In fact, the hammer rebounded right off her breast plate. "Goddamn. We might have use for that girl yet."
-
Mahi casually moved back to be sure that she was out of the way of the swinging hammer while retracting the wire back into her gauntlet. "Her armor might be useful but I don't see any use from her other than that." She said in a tone that disregarded the girl as unimportant. "Now...this is going to be stupid, but here goes nothing." She sent all three wires from her left-hand gauntlet at the hippo, timing each one differently.
-
"Crap, well now I'm stuck up here and there's more than one of those damn sharpshooters down there, I guess I'll follow through and just zoom down directly with the Snitch in front of me, hoping they don't hit my wings." *White dove down with the shield raised and headed straight for his closest archer* "I hope they like a dish full of metal, because they are about to get a full serving and if I survive long enough, a hammer to the skull."
-
The first archer tried to run, and took the shield right in his lower back, the bone cracking upon impact. The other two quickly turned and fired at White. The hippo didn't so much as move when a few greedier bounty hunters rushed forward, getting tangled in the wires, the lines already cutting into their clothing and skin. Kiral took a few more shots as he stepped on top of the girl's breast plate after having kicked away her sword from her hand.
-
Mahi tugged her hand back hard which subsequently made the wires tug back hard, being sure to cause major damage to the bounty hunters who had been unfortunate enough to get tangled up in them. "Well at least I got somebody in that attempt so it wasn't completely wasted." She thought to herself. "But seriously, this guy can't be THAT smart..." There was no way she was gonna charge at the hippo since she was sure that the hammer would get her before she got the hippo, but he would also see her wires coming if she used those too. She really wasn't sure what she was going to do to take this guy down but she didn't look scared or worried about what she was facing.
-
*Feeling the lower backside of the archer crumble under the blow of his shield as they tried to flee gave the wolf dragon some satisfaction up until he felt the whizzing sound of a couple more arrows shoot right past his head and back* "More of them?" *He turned to face two more archers looking rather angry and without hesitation to kill anything else that held any sort of inclination to attempt to hurt him or his party members. As he did so he lifted his hammer and tried to deflect what he could, knowing inevitably his wings would probably be pierced and scarred as he charged forward ready to swing horizontally* "Stay still so I can make this quick." *White said as the hammer swished through the air like the sound of tree log flying for a short moment after it had been cut down*
-
The archers maintained their barrage at White to keep him at bay while the hippo finally decided to charge the hut. He was surprisingly fast, and Kiral barely snapped to in time to dodge the charging hammer wielder. As estimated, the girl's armor was strong enough to maintain its integrity, despite her screaming and doubt of her own. The hippo did a small skip and landed right through the floor, swinging the large hammer sideways and backwards, destroying the rest of the walls and roof in the process, aiming for the party.
-
Mahi moved as fast as she could to get out of the way of the hippo and his hammer. She shamelessly laughed out loud when the hippo went through the floor. She couldn't enjoy the funny moment that long though because she had to avoid the wild swings that the hippo sent out afterward. Somehow, she managed to trip in the process but she slowly lifted herself off of the floor. The embarrassment from it would come to her once her she slipped back into her normal attitude.
-
*The wolf dragon smashed into the first archer and was shot by the second in his left wing, letting out a fairly loud roar as the first archer collapsed from broken bones and internal bleeding; the large draconic opponent turned to face the last sharpshooter* "Shoot me again, make my day." *He pulled the arrow out of his wing with a wince and broke it in half with his grip*
-
The last archer fired his last arrow, which bounced off of Snitch, before tossing his bow and drawing twin daggers from their holsters. Kiral made a desperate dive out of the way of the hammer, popping off a few more shots at the hippo. However, even though the hippo didn't block, the 9mm bullets weren't enough to pierce his tough skin and bounced right off like little marbles.
-
Mahi frowned when the bullets just bounce off of the hippo like they were nothing. "This is an opponent that would best be taken care of with White's hammer, I think." She said, mainly to herself as she stood there trying to assess the situation. Pulling the dragon egg sling to the front of her body, she carefully felt along the egg, making sure it hadn't been damaged when she had tripped and it hadn't. She moved the sling back behind her and directed her eyes back at the hippo. Her gauntlet blades retracted into the gauntlets halfway then came back out as she thought.
-
*The wolf dragon looked down at the two double-edged knives that came out of the archer's holsters and responded by raising up his hammer in a defensive position* "That's a bad move against someone who used knives more than anything else." *White charged forward and aimed for the archer's knives with a powerful swing, hoping to either break his hands or the sharp items on them*
-
Kiral jumped back again, dodging another swing of the hippo's giant hammer. "I'm wondering if it's going to be enough, though. I've seen stone slabs smaller than this guy's hammer that weighed over a ton. It might actually weigh as much, if not more than, White's."
The archer jumped back, avoiding the hammer only by a bit, and threw the daggers, one bouncing off of Snitch, and one cutting White's shoulder, and passing through his wing.
-
Mahi dodged as well, careful about her footing so she wouldn't fall over especially not backwards. "Still...White's hammer could deliver the damage that we can't. There's no way I'm moving in close to the guy unless he's unarmed." Her mind's attention turned to the egg on her back, wondering if what was going on right now was already affecting the dragon inside the egg.
-
"Agh you have nothing now!" *The wolf dragon lunged forward feeling the knife hanging in his wing and other now lost in the grass somewhere* "My wings are going to be scarred now, these people need to aim for something more fatal rather than making my dragon functionality useless." *White raised the hammer again and brought it down swiftly upon the defenseless archer's head*
-
Kiral ran out through the initial side that the hippo had broken through and raised his weapon just quick enough to block a sword aimed for his head, and kicked the owner back as he ran on. The archer smiled a bit, but it was gone within a second as he was literally beaten to a pulp. However, the one that White had hurt, ramming with Snitch, jumped up from the ground, after having painstakingly crawled a long ways, and yelled as he drove his sword into White's left arm, his aim not quite the best, having been aiming for his heart.
-
Mahi followed Kiral out. Since she had the opportunity to "see" Kiral block the attack made on him with a sword and kick the person back, she took the opening of the person being off-balance. Releasing a couple of the wires from her left gauntlet, she sent them at the assailant. One went around the guy's stomach and the other went around his neck, cutting the guy into three pieces.
-
"Shhhhhhh.mmmggghhh!" *The wolf dragon turned dragging along with him the archer that held onto the sword that pierced through his arm and tried not to curse while holding back his pain* "You're dead." *He swung his hammer with his good arm at the injured archer and finished the job at last* "It's over... at least here." *He turned towards Mahi and Kiral, seeing that they were fighting a much larger opponent, one even larger than himself; his attention was cut short though as his blood was becoming a distraction and he was feeling light headed from blood loss* "Crap." *He said as he started to try to pull the sword out of his arm with his other arm*
-
Kiral gave a thumbs up at Mahi before remembering that she's blind, "Thanks!" When he was a safe distance, he turned and try to fire a couple more shots at the hippo, the bullets bouncing off again. This time, though, he tried shooting for the hippo's eyes, but his aim was not that stellar from that distance. Goddammit. Even with a nail gun, I can't hit that small target... nail gun. That's it! "Mahi! Cover my ass!" Kiral ran straight back for the hippo. Others were closing in around him and he popped a few shots to his left, though another came in on the right.
-
"Forgot again..." Mahi thought and shook her head when Kiral went from giving her a thumbs up to actually voicing his gratitude like she couldn't "see" what he was doing. She "watched" as the bullets bounced off of the hippo again and when Kiral said to cover him, she nodded. She saw the people closing in around him and when he shot at his left, she sent her wires out to his right, separating the attacker from their legs.
-
*White threw the bloodied sword down into the ground and tried to steady himself as he watched from a bit of a distance as Kiral and Mahi were circling their hippo opponent, noticing that Kiral had stopped shooting after awhile he looked at the scene oddly* "He must have some sort of new idea, I'm not really sure if I should intervene at this point because I could accidentally disturb his plan or find one of Mahi's wires, neither of which sound too pleasant. Besides that, I need get myself patched up or eventually I'm going to faint."
-
Kiral tucked and rolled as the hippo brought the hammer around from the side, just barely missing Kiral by the fur at the tip of his tail. He grunted as he did his best to recover from the roll and jumped at the hippo, but the hammer had continued to swing after the first one, and the hippo had brought it back around, nailing Kiral from the left side, his arm cracking immediately, and he yelled as he was hit, flying over 20 feet to his right, and rolling. Goddammit. If only we had White over here.
-
Mahi made sure to stay out of the range of the hammer the hippo was using as well as making sure that no one attacked Kiral while he was going after the hippo. When she noticed the hammer come back after Kiral had just barely dodged it the first time, she only had time to open her mouth before he was hit with it and she heard at least one bone crack. She cringed at what she "saw" along with the sound. She couldn't decide whether she should go help Kiral or stand her ground. "White, we could really use some help!" She yelled, not having any idea what had happened to him.
-
"Shit." *The wolf dragon uttered under his breath as he watched from a distance as seemingly both Kiral and Mahi weren't able to control the hippo as well as he had originally hoped* "Coming!" *White ran along, blood dripping down his arm every so often, his shot shoulder unhelpful in the battle he was jumping into* "I sure hope I can one-handedly fight this guy at least enough to help." *He jumped in front of the hippo suddenly* "Hey big guy, need a little cut off the top?" *He tried to swing his hammer as best as he could* "At least he can't move super quick like the archers I just had to deal with." *The hybrid thought in the midst of his attack*
-
And how wrong he was. The hippo looked up and matched hammers with White. Despite the force, he was unfazed since he wielded a heavier weapon. Kiral grunted as he tried to get up, but roared as he collapsed onto his rear, the pain of his shattered arm causing him far too much trauma even for a construction worker like himself.
-
When White came along and the hippo matched hammers with White, Mahi hoped that it would be enough of a distraction for her to get an attack in. She resisted the cringe she felt trying to happen when she heard Kiral roar in pain and ran at the hippo's back. She jumped at the hippo with her gauntlet blades out and sunk her blades into his back, causing her to be clinging to him in a place that might be hard to reach.
-
"Nggh... that didn't work as well as I had hoped, apparently your arms are still quick enough to match the hit. Well done. Though I think you'd be in trouble if I could use both my arms right about now... those damned archers really screwed everything up." *White lowered his hammer and moved back enough so that he couldn't be hit again* "Round 2... starts now!" *The wolf dragon flew up into the air and then felt a few stinging sensations rather quickly in his wings* "Crap, those piercings really do hurt." *He gripped his hammer tight with one hand and stared down at the hippo* "Match this." *He let gravity do the work for him as he soared downwards and aimed for the hippo's head with the head of his weapon*
-
Despite his efforts, the hole in his wings threw off White's aim and it was enough for the hippo to match hammers, but from the side, sending White into the ground, his back to Kiral now. However, the rotation of the hippo's body threw Mahi right off of him, not too far from Kiral. Kiral, still in immense pain, bit his lower lip, causing a lot of bleeding, but snapped him back to his senses enough to notice the opportunity in front of him. He charged straight forward, keeping his weapon in gun mode, but other hunters were closing around him again.
-
In mid-air, Mahi made the sling that the dragon's egg was in swing around so the egg ended up at her stomach and wrapped her arms around the egg after retracting the blades into her gauntlets, tucking her chin down and pulling her legs up. This happened in a split second and then she made contact with the ground with a grunt. "Ow..." She groaned as she laid there for a moment with the egg hugged to her torso. She quickly remembered that she needed to back up Kiral though and forced herself to get up. She swung the egg back around gently then began to fight and take down other hunters that were closing in with her blades and wires along with the occasional weapon that she would grab from someone she killed.
-
*Soon after the wolf dragon hit the hippo's swing with his own, upon hitting the ground his back cracked in a untimely manner* "This is not good, I can't move without feeling extreme pain, those years of working with my back bent on rooftops and housework is finally coming back to stab me in the back, almost literally speaking here. Soon however, it will be the end of me if the hippo decides to finish me off now." *White watched and waited with intense anticipation as he expected his large opponent to swing*
-
The hippo brought up his hammer, ready to strike, when Kiral roared, jumping up onto the hammer, and up his arm, climbing onto his shoulder. Kiral took his gun mode weapon and jammed it into the hippo's eye and fired repeatedly, blood flying out now. The hippo yelled as he fell backwards, throwing Kiral off. He grunted as he landed on his right arm, just laying there. Kiral couldn't take it anymore, and just laid still. The other hunters who were watching quickly ran away, seeing the greatest of them fall.
-
When Mahi saw that the other hunters had fled when Kiral took down the hippo which she figured was probably the best of all of them, she dropped the sword she had grabbed from one of the fallen hunters and retracted the blades back into her gauntlets. Turning her attention on Kiral, she saw that he wasn't making any effort to get up so she quickly moved over to him and knelt beside him on the ground. She "looked" over his left arm since she knew that was the one that she had heard the crack from. "We should probably find something to splint this with. Isn't that what they usually do? I'm not really sure but I think that's what they do so it can't be moved. I don't know." She was talking pretty fast and she seemed worked up. It was probably because she was remembering what she had just done, that she had killed a bunch of people even the very first guy that she had killed, and it was finally starting to get to her.
-
*The wolf dragon watched as Kiral shot the hippo down and then silence remained for a few seconds, but thankfully for himself and his companions, the remaining hunters had become discouraged as they departed upon seeing the largest warrior fall* "That was close, thank goodness he managed to aim the gun this time." *White laid there and looked over at Mahi who had made her way over to the fallen Kiral, who was apparently not getting up* "Ironic that the only one out of the three of us who is blind, managed to survive the battle and can still walk." *White shook his head and laid it back down, his blood loss was starting to make him lose consciousness*
-
Kiral roared when Mahi touched his arm and pushed her hands away, unintentionally too hard, "Normally, yea. But the bones aren't broken, they're shattered. A splint's not going to do shit. I'm going to need a full cast and a lot of painkillers. Both of which I don't think exist in this era-" He grunted as his arm laid down, blood now coming out of his skin due to shattered bone cutting through. "Go take care of White. He's bleeding excessively. He left a trail of blood when he was flying."
-
"Just trying to help..." Mahi muttered as she got to her feet and walked off towards White, her caring attitude pushed away by the aggressiveness by which her hands had been pushed away. When she got to White, she knelt down beside his injured arm. "Try to stay awake, White." She said as she reached into her bag and tore a strip of fabric from her sweatpants. "Unfortunately, we don't have a canteen and I have no idea where there is any water around here so I can't clean your wounds. I'm going to have to wrap your arm without any cleaning, and that's still going to hurt. I don't know what to do about your wing though." She gently picked his arm up off the ground and rested his hand on her legs. Once she had created the space between his arm and the ground, she began wrapping the strip of fabric around the injury. "Too bad we don't have that goo stuff, but the other part of the group took it with them." She said, mainly to herself, as she wrapped White's arm.
-
*White remained quiet, trying not to talk and nodded to Mahi, weakly but alert still* "Thanks." *He managed to convey to his companion* "If I fall asleep, I'm probably going to go into a coma or die, so that's really not a good option. That damned wizard really screwed up this time." *The wolgon blamed their benefactor under his breath and focused on the anger inside himself to try to keep himself conscious for any peaceful or calm thinking might push him over the edge and start walking along the light*
-
A few of the villagers had come back, and Kiral quickly lifted his weapon from where he laid, pointing it at them. "P-please, don't kill us! We had nothing to do with it! The hunters threatened to kill our children if we had interfered!" Kiral looked into the villager's eyes and looked in the others' eyes. He finally then lowered his gun, "Alright, I'll believe you. Just help us take care of the wounded and get us some food."
-
Mahi looked up when she heard people approaching but focused back on White's arm once Kiral had taken care of the situation. She asked someone for water and a lengthy amount of fabric so she could wrap the section of White's wing where the hole was in it. While waiting for the person to come back, she unwrapped White's arm. When the person came back with the water and fabric, she took it and thanked them. "Alright, White. This is going to sting, but luckily it's not alcohol or it'd be worse." She said as a warning before she proceeded to pour some of the water on his arm wound. Once she had that done, she wrapped his arm up again then moved onto his wing. Pouring water on the wing wound, she then took the length of fabric that the villager had brought her and began wrapping it around the section of wing that White's wound was a part of.
-
"Thanks Mahi." *The wolf dragon winced in pain as the water poured on his shoulder and wing wounds* "These holes in my wings might never heal up, this sucks now my real world business might be heavily conflicted." *White closed his eyes upon hearing the footsteps of villagers coming forward and the sound of reluctance probably from Kiral* "I guess I get to live another day..." *He trailed off quietly and waited for what was going to happen next*
-
The village housed the group for two days, repairing everything that had been destroyed, using money taken from the dead bounty hunters as well as selling their gear. The girl was arrested and held in the holding pen that they had for local law, shutting her away from even sunlight. White was unconscious for the first several hours, but he was given around the clock surveillance to make sure he was alive. Mahi was asked to rest, and Kiral had his arm wrapped in so much cloth, that it pretty much did make a cast. On the evening of the second day, an apothecary visited the village, under call of the village chief. He first worked on White, who didn't need more than proper wound cleansing. However, he spent the most time with Kiral, pulling fragments of his bone protruding from his skin. Unfortunately, for Kiral, painkillers still didn't exist, and what was worse was that he overheard the apothecary talking to the local clinician about spending 3 days to make a special concoction for his bones, and that his arm needed to be shaved as well.
-
Sure Mahi was asked to rest by the villagers, but she couldn't really do it. She was too worried about Kiral and White to do much resting for those two days. Whenever she happened to start to doze off, she would always wake up about a minute or even less later because of her worries about the two guys. She probably really annoyed the guys since she would hover over both of them during the day and night. When she wasn't hovering over the guys, she was sitting by herself with the dragon egg. She would always be sitting Indian-style and the egg would be sitting in the nook that her legs made, where she would either have her arms wrapped around it or be slowly running one hand over it while humming.
-
The local clinician met up with Mahi as she sat there, tapping her on the shoulder, "Your hybrid friend is doing fine. He will heal up within a couple weeks, but your other friend will have to wait another 3 days before he can get up. The apothecary and I have removed all fragments of bone that have pierced through his muscles and skin. Unfortunately, we had to shave off his fur to get to them, and had to put him through severe pain. The apothecary knows of a rare formula that can help him regrow the bone that was lost alongside a gooey substance that will accelerate his healing." He got up and left, trying to find his assistants. Meanwhile, a few minutes later, the egg in Mahi's arms started to wiggle, and movement could be felt and seen.
-
Mahi looked up at the clinician when he tapped her on the shoulder and listened to him as he spoke to her, not liking that they were going to have to wait a few more days. She was glad that they were going to have some of the goo for him since she had been wanting some. A few minutes later when the egg started to wiggle, Mahi became very alert and nervous and excited all at the same time. "The egg..." She said softly. "Kiral... I think the egg is hatching, Kiral!" Her voice got more high-pitched as she said the second phrase. She had no idea if Kiral was still awake or not.
-
Kiral was still unconscious, having endured so much pain. However, the egg continued to wiggle around, the contents doing its best to get out. An old dragon walking by noticed the wriggling egg, "Young Lady. Is that by chance your dragon egg? It seems to be near hatching. Why don't you head over to the smithy and ask him to borrow his furnace? No matter what element a dragon becomes, heat is the only way to make its birth possible, and less chance of it dying while trying to get out. I lost my first son that way because we thought we were completely different from our more powerful ancestors. Come, I will lead you."
-
"No, I'm holding it for a friend... Of course it's mine!" Mahi thought to herself when the old dragon asked if the egg belonged to her. She listened to him intently though, even if she thought his initial question wasn't really smart. When he said he would lead her, she got up from where she was sitting as quickly as she could with the weight of the egg in her arms, cradling the egg close to her.
-
*The wolf dragon got up after two days of staying in his bed, he got up with some difficulty upon feeling the pain in his back* "That hit to the ground really did me in for awhile, I can't do any flying either probably..." *White avoided looking at his wings, but he could feel the bandages on them* "That was some night, now where's everybody else?" *He slowly made his way out of the clinic looking around in a lost sort of expression* "I don't really know what to do now, I guess wait around."
-
At the smithy, the old dragon walked right up and asked for the usage of his furnace to help hatch the egg. The old lemur smiled and started pumping some air into it, "Right on top there, young lady. I'll make sure the flames reach a high enough temperature." After it was placed on top, he began to pump it more oxygen for a good 5 minutes, the egg actually starting to crack every so often. After another 2 more minutes, the furnace kept at its temperature until finally, the baby dragon's little yellow head popped out. It peeped, more of a squeak, several times, and ended up rolling off the top of the furnace. The impact helped crack the rest of the shell. Unlike when the other party first met Moon, this baby dragon was much smaller, the size of a 2-year-old baby.
-
Mahi placed the egg on the furnace when she was directed to do so by the lemur. She watched as cracks formed in the eggs and her eyes widened as the baby dragon's head popped out of the egg. "Of all the times to be a blind person, this is definitely not the best. I wish I could see this, and I mean REALLY see it." She thought to herself then watched as it rolled off the furnace after squeaking several times and the shell completely cracked after impact. She didn't want to rush over at the risk of scaring the baby dragon so she just knelt down on the floor in the spot she had been standing and watched it.
-
*The wolf dragon leaned up against the clinic wall and let the gusts of wind that traveled through the village cool him* "Someday I'll get to do this again without worrying about being attacked hopefully." *He sighed and looked off to the side, waiting for something to happen* "Kiral is probably still inside somewhere, but I have yet to go look. I'm afraid to see what has happened to him whereas I only got stabbed a few times and hurt my back. He got massacred by some guy bigger than me." *He tried not to feel sick while thinking about the amount of blood he has seen during his time in the past*
-
Kiral groaned as the apothecary walked back into the room, especially since he was not allowed to get up, "What now, doc? There more bones to rip through my arm? The apothecary chuckled, "No, no. I've already made you suffer all of your bones. now, medically speaking, you no longer have any bones inside your arm between your shoulder and your wrist. That's why we had you lay on your back initially, we removed the largest pieces that weren't sticking out. When you fainted, we pressed your arm to remove the largest ones that opened up holes in it, thus the bandages. But fret not, you will only have to lay here for 3 more days. By then, I will have finished a special brew for you." Kiral became furious, "Don't 'fret'!? What the hell do you think you're saying!? I have no bones left you son of a bitch!" The apothecary held up a hand, "Just trust me, young master. Your bones will be sought to soon. Just rest for now. Oh, and before I forget. Your little dragon egg has hatched. I'll be letting your winged friend know and have the girl bring it in to show you."
-
After hatching, the baby dragon had made its way toward Mahi, faster than she had expected it to actually. She had picked the baby dragon up, struggling with its weight for a moment, and then started stroking its head. She walked back toward the clinic with the dragon in her arms and waited outside. When the apothecary came out and gave her permission to bring the dragon in for Kiral and White to see, she stepped inside and made her way toward Kiral. A small smile was on her face when she got to him as her eyes stayed directed at the dragon and she continued to stroke its head.
-
*The wolf dragon watched in confusion as Mahi walked past him holding a baby dragon* "That... was quick. I would have thought it would've taken months for that thing to hatch. I just hope it's not like Kiral, that's the last thing we need. TWO Kirals." *White followed in after Mahi and looked at Kiral who was still in bed* "I take it he's not going to be doing a whole lot of moving too soon. That is unfortunate, especially for this village. We're going to die if we have to fight another horde like that, we can't all babysit Kiral and get attacked at the same time."
-
Kiral turned his head as he heard Mahi walking in with the baby dragon squeaking excitedly, more trying to get out of Mahi's grip to walk on its own. "So that's what's been sitting in that egg for the last week? That's pretty messed up. Man, they really did poorly on portraying feral dragons in the movies, huh?" He chuckled, but quickly stifled himself as the extreme pain of his wrist bone rubbing against his muscles and pinching them.
-
"Hmpf. Serves you right for insulting the little thing. It's cute." Mahi said with a smile toward the dragon then bent down. "Okay, okay. Easy. I'll put you down, just don't break anything. I know you're excited." She set the baby dragon on the floor then straightened herself back up. She looked at Kiral then White then back down at the dragon, hoping it wouldn't run off.
-
"So this is probably what my mother looked somewhat like..." *The wolf dragon trailed off aloud while he looked down at the baby dragon awkwardly, and looked rather confused for a few minutes* "What made dad so crazy about mom?" *He pondered and just decided not to think about it further, finding it somewhat disturbing* "This makes me wonder what she was like and could she actually blow fire or some other sort of element like the legends of dragon lore told." *His expression changed from oddity to interest at the idea*
-
The baby dragon hobbled over to White and sniffed him back and forth, trying to figure out what he was. It just watched White's tail for a little while before jumping up and biting down on it, assuming it was food. Kiral laughed at the sight, "Looks like the little bugger found himself a snack." He grunted against as the laughing caused him severe pain once again.
-
Mahi "watched" the baby dragon as it went over to White and inspected him. She smiled at how cute it was acting. When it jumped up and bit his tail, she covered her mouth with her hand but then knelt down so she was at level with the dragon. "No, no. Don't do that." She said, though she thought it was kind of funny herself. "That's White's tail. You wouldn't want him biting your tail." "What am I doing? It most likely has no idea what I'm saying." She thought as she gently grabbed the baby dragon and tried to pull it off of White's tail.
-
*The wolf dragon's not so often tested weakness was quickly exposed upon the baby dragon biting into his tail where his eyes seemed to fade out for a moment and he stared silently down at the dragon and twitched, trying to hold back a quick reaction of quickly grabbing the baby like a flea and squishing it* "Ngggh... please get off my tail." *A very small tear peaked at the corner of his left eye as he bit his lip* "Mahi needs to hurry up on getting it off of me... NOW." *He put all of his effort into holding his hands together while she tried to pry the creature off of him*
-
Initially, the baby dragon refused to let go, which probably caused White more pain with every tug that Mahi gave to remove it from his tail. Kiral couldn't stifle himself anymore and just laughed at the spectacle. It reminded him a lot of a comedy TV show, and despite the pain, just continued to laugh heartily. After a little while, the baby dragon finally let go and smacked its lips as if it had just had a tasty treat. Lucky for White, it didn't have teeth yet, but its bite was still enough to remove the fur from the portion of his tail that was bitten. It then struggled out of Mahi's grip again, and hobbled over to Kiral, who quickly lifted his tail above the dragon's reach, but wiggled it over its head to keep it in one place.
-
Mahi had made sure not to pull on the dragon too hard since she didn't want to cause White more pain than he was already in, though it couldn't be helped. It was a wonder that she didn't shoot a glare at Kiral since he was finding the situation so hilarious. When the baby dragon struggled out of her grip, she gave up and sat on the floor Indian-style, placing her right elbow on her knee and resting her chin in her hand as she "watched" the dragon move on to Kiral.
-
*White looked down at his tail which was now missing some of his fur and bit his lip not to curse openly* "That's going to be uneven for a long time..." *He couldn't manage another thought without getting frustrated and decided to leave the room, not paying mind to Kiral or where the baby dragon was headed next* "I'll be watching myself more carefully, I don't really like the thought of getting used as a chew bone again." *He waited outside and wondered how exactly he was going to prevent the dragon from attacking him again while he sleeps in the future and decided it best not to think of it for the sake of the dragon*
-
Kiral kept baiting the dragon with his tail and looked over to the others, "So what are we going to do now? We're gonna be stuck here for at least another 3 days. I don't even know if we have to get there in a certain time, or if there's a special way we're supposed to do this. I mean, we even have a little dragon with us, now. I don't know if we have the money to even feed this little thing, let alone ourselves if we get into large stretches where we won't be able to get to any towns or people."
-
Mahi watched the dragon as Kiral baited it with his tail and spoke to her and White, keeping her chin rested on her hand. "We wait, I guess. It's not like we can go anywhere with you in this condition. Then we continue on like we were once we get out of here." She said simply. She didn't have any idea what to do other than that. "I'll die before I let this baby dragon die." She thought as she kept her eyes directed at the dragon.
-
*The wolf dragon spoke aloud from outside* "If we're lucky, the baby dragon is capable of eating people so we don't have to feed it. Maybe that's how dragons in general survived or quickly died off in the past and that's why we don't see them in the future." *He piped in, with some obvious satire then rebounded with logic* "In relevance, I don't really know what we should do other than keep you and the baby alive here for three days, then after that take a wagon or something with food and supplies on it so we don't have to carry all of it."
-
Kiral thought for a second but shook his head, "That won't do. If we take a wagon with us, we'll attract too much attention. If you haven't noticed almost every single person travels by foot here. If we take a wagon, we're definitely asking for trouble. I think we better stick with backwoods hiking and walking." Without thinking about it, he lowered his tail a little too low and it was bitten, "SON OF A BITCH!" Since it was just the tip, he easily yanked it out of the dragon's mouth, who got a little shocked by its couple-inch drop and ran over to Mahi.
-
Mahi listened to White's response as she "watched" the baby dragon trying to get Kiral's tail. When Kiral responded to White, she lifted her eyes to direct her attention at him so she wasn't really focused on the dragon. If she had been focused on the dragon, she probably would have noticed the opportunity that Kiral accidentally gave the dragon and been able to snatch the dragon away before it could happen. But she hadn't been, so she jumped slightly when Kiral yelled out. When the baby dragon ran over to her, she immediately put a hand on its head in a sort of comforting gesture.
-
*White laughed from outside and then came back inside to oversee Kiral's error while talking* "Then I don't know how we're going to bring supplies with us let alone with a tail biter...also if it bites us with larger teeth in the future it's probably going to draw blood or simply remove clumps of flesh. Going back to the attack from a few days ago however, I think we are easily tracked no matter what we do because of the way I look for example."
-
Kiral sighed as he kept laying there, "Well, we're going to need to do something. While we're here, why don't you guys ask around and learn about the culture and shit so we don't act out of the norm. As for your wings, try to hide them better, man. Also, try to cover your neck more, I think that's why those guys in the forest noticed you. It's not exactly normal for a wolf to have a reptilian underbelly, or eve scales, for that matter."
-
Mahi listened to Kiral while petting the baby dragon's head to relax it from Kiral yelling before and scaring it. Once he was done speaking, she stopped petting the dragon and pushed herself up off the the floor, getting to her feet. "I guess I could ask how people of the church actually act in this time and how they are money-wise..." She said and turned toward the door. "You coming with me?" She turned her head to look behind her, directing her eyes down at the baby dragon.
-
*White's eyes shifted to the baby dragon and nearly face palmed upon seeing Mahi address it like an adult then his eyes shifted to Mahi as if she forgot to add him in the search for information and then looked away, during this neither of his hands or feet moved* "Well at least she's not psychic, she can't read thoughts without sound." *The wolf dragon made his way for the door and before he got near the baby dragon, he picked up his tail and continued out the door, directing a last line to Kiral* "I'll try to see what I can find about the church, but as far as it seems so far. Disguises are useless to us." *He kept moving and went towards a more active part of the village, and while doing so hid his neck armor* "...It's not really that unnatural." *He thought self-consciously for a moment*
-
Kiral raised and eyebrow, "Well, from what that girl bounty hunter said, church-folk out here are supposed to be extremely rich. Our disguises apparently were good, but someone suspected us for not spending a lot of dough." He turned his head and sighed as he laid on the other side of his face because the other side had started to tingle.
-
"Shouldn't we be asking about different things?" Mahi called after White as he left. She grumbled under her breath and listened to what Kiral had to say. When he turned his head, she left the clinic with the baby dragon following behind her. She started walking through the village. She didn't want to ask people questions but she knew it was necessary to do so, so that they would know how to act and how the world worked in this time.
-
Kiral spent the day laying until the clinician was able to craft what looked very similar to a sling, but much tighter, and had splints on it, too, holding Kiral's left arm right against his chest without it moving, even if he wanted to. It was already sundown by the time he was allowed to leave, and he still didn't know where the hell to go. However, like other villages and towns, it wasn't hard to find the inn. Kiral reached for his money, but the pouch was missing from his belt. Shit. Probably White or Mahi has it.
-
Mahi went around the whole day asking people questions even though it was uncomfortable for her to do so. She felt like one of those annoying survey people who went door to door asking people questions about their lives or what they bought or whatever. When she finally decided that she had asked enough questions, she just wandered down the street until she "spotted" Kiral outside the inn. "So they finally set you free, huh?" She asked him as she walked up to him with the dragon trailing behind her.
-
*The wolf dragon returned rather angry and frustrated to seeing Mahi and Kiral outside of the inn together* "I can't believe the nerve of these people to ignore me, I can't wait till we get out of here. We're here to save their sorry asses and they repay that by turning their nose up at me. The mores of this era are ridiculous.. I bet it has something to do with the dragon in me. It's done nothing, but make life difficult for me for this entire journey so far." *He looked silently upon his other two party members and just stated* "I didn't get a good response in general. I have nothing important to share."
-
Kiral smirked when Mahi came over, "Well, yea. Can't be laying down for too many days in a row, or else my muscles will deteriorate." When the loud White came by with his little attitude, Kiral just ignored him, hating people who think so highly of themselves. "Sounds like someone needs another bite, but on his fat head to drain the blood."
-
Mahi was about to say "What muscles?" when White came over and spoke, so she didn't get the opportunity. He seemed to be in a very bad mood and she didn't really understand why. But then again, she hadn't been with him so she wouldn't know. She just listened to Kiral's response to him and didn't say anything herself, not really wanting to encourage more of a reason for White to be in a bad mood.
-
"....What?" *He looked confused at Kiral* "I don't really know where that came from..." *He looked to Mahi who also looked fairly indifferent* "I guess there really is no way to please anyone." *The wolgon's ears drooped and looked away, walking back to the village to try asking questions again* "Maybe if I act helpless or not overly bright, I can get more out of the people this time." *He walked around looking for a potential target*
-
Kiral sighed, scratching the back of his head with his right hand, "Well, let's just get some goddamn food. I'm starving. Which one of you has the money? I took everything with me from the clinic except the costumes, and I know it wasn't in there." His stomach growled after he finished, as if on cue, and he blushed a bit as he tried to keep a straight face. Kiral had never gone hungry before, nor had he never not had ample amounts of food 24/7, so it was quite embarrassing.
-
Mahi wasn't expecting White to walk off again but she just let him go, figuring he must have something that he wanted to do. After Kiral asked about the money, she heard a jingle and directed her eyes at the baby dragon beside her. There, hanging from the dragon's mouth, was the money pouch. "Apparently you're asking the wrong people." She said as she knelt down next to the dragon and held out her hand underneath the pouch. "Plan on doing some shopping? *chuckles* Hand it over..." The dragon looked at her for a moment then finally dropped the pouch in her hand. She rose to her feet then handed the pouch to Kiral.
-
*The wolf dragon again returned with nothing to speak of at the inn and just sat inside feeling gloomy in the lobby* "I don't even think they look at me anymore, what's the point..." *He sat there and just looked out the window* "I just want to leave and get out of here and keep moving... this feels like high school again, except I know there's no possible hope of these people changing their views of me." *He put his head down in his arms*
-
Kiral took the money and went inside the inn, sitting down at a table and ordering a meal, telling the manager to charge him for Mahi and White's meals. While they waited, he leaned back in his chair and looked down at the little baby dragon who was just sitting on its rear staring at them hungrily as he could hear its stomach growling, and ordered a meal for it, too. "Now... what the hell do we name you?"
-
Mahi followed Kiral inside the inn with the baby dragon right on her heels and sat down at the table with him. When he asked the baby dragon what they were going to name it, she directed her attention at the dragon once again. "Well, that depends on what sex it is. I'd rather not give it a girl's name and it end up being a boy, or the other way around." She said, directing her eyes at Shinzuu again.
-
*White looked up at the dragon and felt sorry for it in a way, having Kiral respond to it in such a volatile way, responding in a neutral method* "How about a unisex name like Alex? And uh... do either of you mind ordering for me, I don't think they will respond to anything I say. I just want a steak..." *He trailed off and looked away, feeling helpless* "I hate asking for help." *He said to himself quietly then looked back to the baby dragon* "Maybe dragons are quite loving and can be beautiful when they get older, maybe that's what dad saw in her."
-
Kiral waved over the owner, and asked for a meatful meal for White and then picked the little dragon up and looked, "Well, it looks like a girl. Which brings us back to our first question, what should we call you? How does Liana sound?" He put her down before asking and she shook her head in disgust, squeaking in disapproval.
-
Mahi watched as Kiral picked up the dragon and inspected it to determine the sex of it before asking how a name sounded as he set the dragon back down. She wasn't expecting an actual response from the dragon so it surprised her when it shook its head and squeaked its disapproval. "I guess she knows what she wants..." She said as she directed her eyes at the dragon again. "But I can't really think of any good names right now, especially since I've never named anything before. And she probably wouldn't care for any name I chose anyway."
-
"Hmm let me see, I've seen lots of names out there. How about: Lily, Laura, Lauren, Laurie, Lucy, Lucille, Lupa?" *The wolf dragon looked at the dragon for a moment again* "Or maybe... Cassie, Katie, Kellie, Susan, Whitney, Kathy, Heidi, Fran, Jessica, Sassy, or maybe some exotic like Yolanda? To be honest I could go on forever in coming up with names, but I like to just make new ones up myself." *White then looked around, looking for his food to come soon* "I'll be watching that dragon too, she's not going any of my food... or my tail this time!"
-
The baby dragon shook her head as White ran through a laundry list of names, she even stuck her tongue out at "Sassy". However, when he suggested Yolanda, she went right over and bit his tail again, but did let go after biting it. Kiral himself was at a loss for what to name the thing. Despite his neutrality in the workplace, Kiral himself had been quite the closet racist against humans and scales, so he didn't really know what to name anything with just skin or scales. "Well, you were born in the twilight of the morning, so maybe Sun Sun or Sol? How about Twilight?" Kiral himself was given a headbutt from the little dragon, "Ow! What the hell!?"
-
Mahi watched as the baby dragon rejected all of the names that White suggested and how she seemed to really hate the name Yolanda. She also watched its reaction to the next names Kiral suggested. "Okay, so you said names relating to the sun, but she didn't like those, so maybe she wants a name that relates to the moon..." She said then thought long and hard, trying to remember some names that meant "moon". After a while, her faraway expression changed back to her normal expression as she directed her eyes at the dragon. "Alright, how about... Selena, Chandra, Levana, Mahina, Luna, Masina, Phoebe?" She listed all the moon-related names she had been able to think of, hoping that the dragon would like one of them.
-
*Angrily White tried not to hurt the dragon, but instead punched the table after the dragon bit his tail, then grabbed it quickly and put it in his lap* "Goddammit, leave my tail out of this." *He said loudly to the group's kid* "Females are treacherous creatures, they need not be trusted. This is just the start of this one's evil." *He stared at the baby and tried his best not to say anything more, listening to Mahi suggest some names* "I like Luna and Phoebe, but I'm sure it will choose anything I don't go with." *He thought to himself, not letting Mahi become aware of his obvious distaste of his gender communication problems*
-
The baby dragon jumped with a happy little squeak when Mahi mentioned the name, Luna, and again when White had repeated it. Kiral raised an eyebrow when he noticed it, "Well, I guess she likes the name Luna. *Pets the little dragon* Then I guess it's settled, then. Your name shall be Luna." Luna cooed and squeaked, wagging her little stub of a tail, but not as fast as when the food came, and she ran her face right into it to eat.
-
Mahi smiled slightly when the dragon actually picked one of the names she had said, though she was surprised by it. She couldn't help but laugh when Luna dove right into her food when it was brought to her. Mahi directed her attention at her food when it was set down in front of her and started to eat it silently. She didn't really have anything to say and she figured the guys wouldn't care about conversation while they were stuffing their faces.
-
For the next two days, it was very quiet, especially with the tension between Kiral and White. On the second morning, the apothecary came in with the sunrise with a large vial just smaller than a mug at the bar. Even though he was across the room, Kiral could smell the foulness of the concoction. "Shit...."
-
Since things were quiet and Mahi could sense the tension and Luna probably could too, Mahi spent most of the time socializing with the baby dragon. She never forced the dragon to be with her so when Luna wanted to be apart from her, she was able to be. Mahi knew that smothering the dragon with affection wouldn't be the best idea. When the concoction came from the apothecary, she smelled it even before Kiral did and put her hand over her nose. "Oh God...what the heck is that?" She said with disgust.
-
The apothecary smiled, seemingly unfazed by the smell of the concoction, "This is a special potion that has a fortnight's incubation period to become effective, and the ingredients are very hard to come by, too. This potion requires the usage of needles, and for all bones within the affected area to be completely removed." Kiral gave a sigh of relief as the apothecary walked over and pulled needles out of it, putting them into Kiral's arm. He winced each time the needles went in, but it didn't hurt as much as the crap he's been through. When the apothecary finished inserting all 50 needles, he got up, quickly sitting on Kiral's back and held his mouth open, "Now, madam, if you can just pour it all in his mouth and down his throat before he can close it."
-
Mahi stood idly by as she "watched" the apothecary stick all of the needles into Kiral's arm. She was surprised when the guy climbed up at sat on Kiral though, not expecting for that to be necessary. When Kiral's head was pulled back and his mouth was forced open and held that way, she cringed, thinking that it looked awfully uncomfortable. She nodded at the instructions and took the large vial. "Kiral, you better swallow this. We don't need you drowning in this stuff." She said and then gave him a minute to register what was said. After that, she started pouring the concoction in his mouth until the vial was empty.
-
Kiral gagged as the nasty substance was poured into his mouth, but before he could spit it out, the apothecary shut Kiral's mouth and held it shut while rubbing his neck so that he would swallow it, "I know it's disgusting, but you're going to have to drink each and every drop. You think you're my first patient to be treated with this concoction?" Unfortunately for Kiral, he had no choice but to swallow it all, and he felt his skin turn green with sickness as the after-taste of it was even worse, and felt humiliated, treated like a household dog that needed to take medicine.
-
Mahi couldn't blame Kiral for gagging when she poured the stuff in his mouth, so she moved off out of his site while he was being made to swallow it. By the time he was done swallowing it, she was back with a mug in her hand. "I figured you could use a drink that didn't make you want to throw up." She said as she extended the mug to him with a sort of blank expression.
-
The apothecary, held up a hand and didn't allow Mahi to give Kiral any drink, "Sorry, but he may not drink anything while the medicine starts working, else it will dilute it, and he will have parts of his bones missing." Kiral's look of disgust turned to anger, but kept to himself. He already started grunting as he felt the needles slowly getting pushed out of his skin. The medicine was working slowly, but fast enough to be a pain.
-
Mahi was somehow very frustrated by not being permitted to give Kiral the drink and roughly set the mug down on a table as she briskly walked away. She wouldn't have been surprised if Luna had been right at her heels as she left the place, but she didn't look back to check. Once outside, she just aimlessly walked down the street. Normally, she wouldn't be so easily frustrated since she usually kept a level head so she didn't understand why what the apothecary had said bugged her so much.
-
Kiral growled and roared as the pain became progressively worse. The apothecary merely stood there and watched as the needles started changing color, as if turning clear, all while smoking his long pipe out the window, "If you think this is painful, you have still half left to go. If I don't remove those needles at the proper time, the bones will over expand beyond the void that needs to be filled and tear your arm into pieces like pulling pork, but from the inside." Kiral soon knew what the apothecary meant when the pain gradually got worse and worse. Finally, he just let out the loudest roar he had ever done in his life, being one who was used to pain. "Oh shit, I'm going to need that girl's help since the clinic's doctor is doing a house call."
-
Mahi's heightened hearing easily picked up Kiral's extremely loud roar of pain. Groaning to herself, she turned around and headed back to the clinic. Lune skidded to a halt in the dirt before turning and giving chase, only to run into Mahi's heels a moment later. "I really don't want to deal with that guy again, but I should be there for Kiral at least..." She thought to herself grumpily. When she got back to the clinic, she took a deep breath and straightened her face so she didn't look grumpy. After she had finished "preparing" herself, she stepped inside with Luna right behind her again.
-
The apothecary emptied out the remaining tobacco in his pipe and was about to walk out when Mahi surprised him by walking in, "Ah, good timing. Now I don't have to go looking for you. Your friend is about to go through the final stages of the procedure, and I need a second person to help me with this. I need you to elevate his arm off the table and pull it with full tension so I can remove ALL of the needles. If I don't do this in a timely fashion, he could lose his arm."
-
Mahi pretty much looked right through the guy as he spoke to her, but nodded when he finished to show that she acknowledged what she needed to do. After waiting for five minutes, she was told that it was time for her to do what she had been directed to. Walking over to Kiral, she elevated his arm off of the table like she had been told to and pulled it so it was at full tension so the apothecary could take the needles out.
-
The next several days were depressing. White barely talked to Mahi and Kiral, keeping mainly to himself, while Kiral concentrated on getting better, and Mahi just doing whatever she felt like doing, but mostly taking care of Luna. After 2 days, they all left and trekked for another 3. Finally, on the morning of the 4th day, when it was time to leave, White refused to move. "No, I'm tired of this. There is no point! For all we know, we'll cease to exist any minute! Besides, having to put up with you two is a nightmare in and of itself!" Kiral was frustrated and hungry, but he did his best to talk White into going on, but he refused. In mid-argument, there came a glow from White's chest and it grew as it consumed his body. Kiral ran over to help, but the light had spread into tentacles and smacked him away. The tentacled light raised White into the air and one ran right through his heart. White's body disappeared slowly, consumed by the light, and it let out a flash as the familiar old chest landed where White had been. A name inscribed on the lid in an ancient language.
-
Mahi spent the next several days wandering around and also taking care of Luna. When it was time for them to leave the village, she went along with Kiral and White, trekking for three days. On the fourth day when White refused to go and started whining, Mahi was so annoyed with his depressing attitude that she didn't make any attempt to try to get him to move on with them. She "watched" what unfolded as Kiral tried to get him to go with them. She couldn't see the glow when it came from White's chest so she was greatly confused when Kiral ran over and was somehow smacked away before White was lifted into the air. And then White wasn't there anymore and she "saw" a chest land on the ground in his place. "What the hell just happened?" She asked in a confused and frustrated tone as she slowly moved over to the chest.
-
Kiral was still in shock at what had just happened, and couldn't speak or even move. It would be another minute or two before he was able to talk. "I... I don't know. He... I thought he was just blowing off some steam from being hungry that we ended up arguing, and then his weapons just lit up and attacked him!" Kiral was shaken up, despite the brave facade he's been putting up since the begging.
-
Mahi's eyes widened as Kiral said that White's weapons attacked him. "That's crazy..." She said, disbelief and worry in her voice. "It's impossible..." She looked down at her arms, "seeing" her gauntlets. Her arms were shaking slightly. Her knees gave out and she ended up sitting on the ground next to the chest. Luna came over and nudged her arm causing her to automatically lift a hand and pet Luna on the head. She tried to wrap her mind around what Kiral said had happened but it just didn't make any sense and she didn't want to believe that their weapons could attack them.