Life Stone

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

An hour and a half later, Kiana had to remove her cloak. The air hitting her arms and the back of her neck felt good for a little while, but then it was just hot no matter what. The heat wouldn't have been bad if she hadn't been walking so fast. When it started to cool down later in the evening, she welcomed it, but it wasn't too long before her muscles cooled and got stiff. She was stubborn though and did her best to ignore the pain and fight putting her cloak back on. When Korius spoke to them at high moon, she was just putting her cloak back on with the hood up and then her quivers and bow back over it. "That's not exactly the word I would use." Kiana muttered as she pulled a piece of jerky out of her food satchel then tore a bite off after she had spoken.

[Suzumibachii]

While the sun was out and the temperature warm Suzumi seemed to do well, she was clearly fitter than most mages due to her unique combat style, somehow keeping up with the quick marching pace the group had to keep. She ignored her fatigue during the day but after 8 hours she was feeling the strain and now with the  sun having set. She quickly pulled her cloak from her bag and put it on, the cooler it got the more her muscles started to burn and ache and by high moon she was at what she thought was her limit. Looking up from under the hood of her cloak at Korius as she bit into her lip and spoke up with her voice audibly more pained than earlier. "G..Good, I'm still good."

[Vosur Aekira]

Karina kept her pace with the others, not seeming to be as bothered by the heat as she thought she was going to be, but she contributed it to her time assisting in the smithy with her father, but she started to get jittery when the temperature dropped. "A vixen without thick fur... I feel like the laughing-stock right now." she grumbled to herself before she heard Korius speak up. "Too cold, too cold... don't stop." she repeated to herself over and over as she brought her cape around herself to shield some of her exposed body from the cooler air.

[tangletail]

Leo smiled to himself as the night soon came. Oh how lovely this was for him! He could still see as clear as day with the eyes of the feline, and thankfully for him, his body was still warm. While he had the body of a desert cat, he wouldn't necessarily have any ability to stave off the cold. No, instead... the tight leathers he wore did a tremendous job at holding in his body heat and keeping him warm. Not to mention the thick canvas leggings and undershirt he wore underneath his armor.

"Normally I'd avoid the cold like the gloom. But oh I feel quite peachy. I'll wager my legs will give before I cave to the cold for now," Leo chuckled in a sing song manner. His hand's moving behind his head to lift up a portion of his cowl and use it like a hood to shield his ears. Though the cloth wasn't as thick, it did help with allowing the feline to stay warm for a little while longer. After all, the ears was what allowed him to regulate most of his body temperature, aside from panting of course. He did wish, however, that he could give Karina, or Suzumi something. But the thief did not pack a cloak with him.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Despite the insulation provided by his leather, Leo would definitely feel the draw backs of wearing such cloths in the cold weather as it made it harder for him to walk since the leather stiffens with lower temperatures. "We only have 1 more day to go. Keep pace you all. Otherwise, you'll get left behind and probably get lost. This ground is far too solid to leave any tracks, even from large beasts. The only thing you'll ever find in this place is battle damage." Korius looked around at their surroundings. Even though it was cloudless with a bright, full moon, the temperature was still dropping. There were absolutely no signs of damage anywhere, and he couldn't even help but notice that, despite the weight of his sword, his steps didn't even stir up any dust, let alone making an imprint. This is truly one of the worst places to get into a fight, and worse yet if it would be with anything larger than a feral wolf or lion.

Though the old wolf kept his pace up, he was sure to be cautious. He had no idea what kind of creatures are rampant in what areas, and until they got to the city, anything could happen to them. Korius discreetly shook each leg as he walked with each step for a couple metres. The ground was working its way through even his knees as they traversed farther. If it was his guess, this probably used to be a Long Gui habitat and stomping ground. It was only one of two creatures in the world that could do this, but the only one that has a high number in populace. Grand Dragons do not have herds, and there aren't more than 20 around the world.

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Kiana finished a couple pieces of jerky while the others answered Korius and then he spoke again. Grabbing her gloves from a pouch in her belt, she pulled them onto her hands. After that, she grabbed the sides of her cloak and wrapped it around herself tighter to try to get her body warmer. "At this rate, saying there's only one more day to go doesn't make me feel any better." She thought to herself. While she walked, she kept scanning the surrounding area, keeping a lookout for any kind of attackers.

[Vosur Aekira]

Instinctively, Karina got closer to Suzumi as if to try to share warmth with her but she herself was shivering quite a bit while the sun was down, despite their movements. "Think warm thoughts, think warm thoughts..." she grumbled to herself, letting her mind venture to the smithy, working with the blazing coals. Apparently this did start to work as she was lessening in shivering, or that she was starting to feel the peeking light from the dawning sun on her, but either way she was definitely calming down in her movements. She still kept semi-close to Suzumi, blocking a bit of the wind that was blowing from the north side of the path.

[tangletail]

Leo grunted to himself as he began to feel a bit heavier now. No it wasn't heavier, it was stiffer. His legs were able to move just fine, but the straining his arms and upper toroso had against the leathers were a bit abnormal to say the best. He hadn't even realized that Leather stiffens up greatly in the cold, especially when it was already hardened for protection against blades. His movements now became a bit more clumsier as he neighbored against his own armor. Having to sacrifice making more noise just so he could keep his own balance, as well as continue to breath against the  constraining chest piece. “A day left, oh grand...” Leo grumbled to himself as fatigue began to make it's course on his own legs. What could possibly be next with this -wonderful- leader of theirs! Combat training for a thief armed with a tooth pick vs a hulking barbarian wielding a mountain?

[Suzumibachii]

Suzumi was trying her best to supress the shivering as the cold bit down to her bones, thankfull that Karina did come a little closer and act as a partial wind shield to keep at least that part of the chill away from her. Her eyes strained and watered a little in the cold night air, it was clear that being cold blooded really did have a severe disadvantage when temperatures dropped this low. Every step she took was labored and heavy as even the blood in her veins felt like it was thickening and straining against her movement. "As long as it doesnt get colder I think I can make it." Clearly starting to doubt her own physical prowess in the cold.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

The night wore on without getting much colder than 55 degrees after a couple hours past high moon. For the party, the sun probably could have at least tried to rise sooner as the temperature soared back up to 65 degrees with the giant orange globe rising over the eastern horizon directly in front of them. The sun was exceptionally bright, and even Korius had to cover his eyes for a good 2 hours that morning. The old wolf was only feeling mild fatigue, and he was sure the others would be nearing their limits pretty soon, but he had to force them past it. No matter your class, pushing past your limits is the only way to get stronger the quickest, despite the negative side-effects.

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Kiana was pleased when the sun rose the next morning, even though she had to tug her hood further down over eyes and look towards the ground so it wouldn't hurt her eyes. She straightened up once to crack her spine but made sure her eyes were closed. She also did arm stretches as she walked to try to at least loosen up those muscles since she couldn't pause to do anything about her legs. Her body was feeling quite tired but she wasn't going to say a word about it because she wasn't the kind to whine. She didn't expect pity and didn't want any anyway, especially since everyone else was going through the same thing.

[Vosur Aekira]

Karina stayed close until it was far enough into the day for Suzumi to be feeling the sunlight, knowing that she must've been going through agony during the night."Heh, guess I would fare better in this upcoming-heat due to me being raised around a blacksmith's forge." she spoke as she gave Suzumi some space while it was getting warmer. The wind didn't seem to be blowing as strong so it was definitely going to feel warmer soon too. She shifted her posture while she was walking, the only soreness she has was due to the cold, but due to this shift in posture, she caught quite a bit of sunlight due to the direction they were walking. "Hrm, Korius, would there be any markers or direction pointers to Harlotton in this trail? I think I can see something up ahead, but it's hard to see it." she spoke as she moved one of her hands to shield her eyes to try to see what it was up ahead.

[tangletail]

Leo began to look a bit worried as he kept his gaze on Suzumi. She did not look like she was fairing well at all. If they had a moment to sit still, he would try to warm her up, but such an act would require him to remove his leathers. The wonderful insulate properties of the material never ceases to amaze the feline of course. Instead, he'd speed his pace up to catch up to Suzumi. He'd place a hand on her shoulder, and gave her a light shake. If only to bring her attention back to reality if she was beginning to tone out.

"Just hang in a little more," the cat  rasped through his own labored pants. He removed his hand from her shoulder to pull his shawl away from his neck. The action had quietly exposed the feline's head back to the elements. The wind whipped through his messy hair. His ears had quickly twisted back and laid flat against his skull to protect themselves against the chilled wind. Not caring for permission, he'd quickly slip the shawl over her head and onto her shoulders if he was able to. He'd then pull a portion of it up and over her head to act as a wind barrier. "Just a little longer before the Sun warms ya up."

He offered a smile and pulled her closer. Not to be overly friendly, but to share some of his own body heat to keep her up and moving. Well... what ever heat that had managed to leak through the leathers and canvas.

[Shinzuu Katame: Her Tolfy]

Korius looked around, unable to really see what Karina was mentioning. "It's a city, Karina. Don't worry, you'll know by the large walls and ballistas." He looked on forward until he saw the large shape in the distance that Karina had seen. We shouldn't have made it there already, and there's no town or village that brings up walls in this wasteland. So that must mean... The old wolf turned as he started shifting to the side, "Everybody move!" The large shape was rapidly getting larger, being hard to see due to the sun rise being right in front of them. It was a stampede of Golem. Golems are, on average, 3 to 4 metres in height and almost just as wide. They look like humans, but extremely muscular in appearance with tiny heads and shorter legs, but larger arms and abdomens. Most Golem wear the helmets of fallen knights over the years to cover up their hideous appearances. The bottom of these helmets are broken due to the necks of these gargantuan beasts. They can't speak, but they are intelligent enough to understand spoken language. Few of the most experienced Beast Tamers out there are able to conquer and dominate these monsters.


Suzumi continued to shiver throughout the night, but was able to stand it thanks to her party's combined help. As the sun rose and started soaking up her scales in heat, she stopped shivering. Her legs still hurt and she was really feeling the fatigue on top of the almost overwhelming urge to just close her eyes and sleep. However, she was awakened by Korius's yelling and quickly moved off to the side as the stampede came along. But she stumbled as she moved a couple metres. The golem were now on them, and Korius noticed the young, fallen mage. She raised her hands and fired off a few fireballs, doing no more than deterring the first few ones from her, but they were coming up too fast.


Korius quickly jumped over, getting knocked over by a few of the golems, but got there in time to bat a few off to the side. However, after the stampede passed, two of them stayed behind to attack the party. One kept Korius busy while the other started going around him to get to Suzumi.

[Vee Katame: His Wolfy]

Kiana's tired eyes widened when Korius told the group to move and she, quickly as she could manage, moved off to the side out of the way of the Golem stampede. Once out of the path, she turned to see that Suzumi had fallen. She then saw Korius dive into the fray, get knocked over by a few golems and then bat off a few of them. When the stampede was over and Korius was still occupied while a golem went after Suzumi, Kiana decided she needed to take action. "Karina! Cover me!" She shouted then ran over to Suzumi. Glancing at the oncoming golem, she bent to one knee and helped Suzumi to her feet then pulled her out of the way, opposite of where Kiana had originally been before going to help.