[RP]Obake Blade

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo couldn't even glance over his shoulder as Xan called to him, so occupied was he by his fight.

 

"Be creative!" he called back to the warrior, "I'm a bit busy myself!"

 

The soldier swiped his blade at Kyo's head, but the swordsman ducked it, swinging his leg out to try and knock his opponent's feet from under him. The Protector hopped over his swinging blade, lunging down at Kyo. But before he could get too far, the swordsman sprang up from his crouching position and drove his shoulder hard into his solarplexus, knocking the Protector over.

[3yks]

It was well known throughout the lands that when mancers of the same type work togethor they can create strength and power well beyond what any one mancer could make, and while a spirit warrior was not exactly a mancer, and Aya was not exactly one either, their powers were both of the spirit, and when her pryaer filled Kai with energy he felt it, deep inside of him. It fueled his own spirit power, and his body began to glow brightly, he reached up, to move his patch aside. he didn't like fighting with his power's, and he just had the night before ... but there were a lot of the elite guard. He sighed, as he flipped his eye patch up. He had spent the fight so far take care of the other troupe's, seven of them lay in various places from his blow's. Neck's snapped, bone's broken ... He leapt into the air, his whole body was becoming brighter and brighter, the combined forces of his spirit and Aya's spirit power's causing him to shine so very bright.

 

He hovered above their enemies, his light still getting brighter, some of them were stopping, blinking, turning to look up at him, and then just staring. They went blind when they stared at him, all but the most experinced of the Elite guard, infact all but about six of them were blind in a matter of seconds.

 

And then Kai was falling fianlly, he hit the ground hard, but hardly noticed, he was a blur as he moved through the remaining enemies around wolf. He kicked and punched and head butted, he dispatched them with ease, a death's head grin formed upon his lips as he finally came to Wolf. "Stop your men." he said, and held out a coin purse. "Here is the payment you desire."

[Grace]

"Oookay," Takara murmured. "Not at all what I expected."

 

"He doesn't care!" Crispin wailed. "You're about to drop me and my father doesn't care!"

 

"He doesn't care because he knows I won't drop you," Takara snapped. "Grow up, whelp!"

 

She tossed him aside and he landed on the top of the cliff. At that moment, Kai's movement caught Takara's eye and she frowned. As he grew brighter and brighter, she looked away. And when he offered the money to Wolf, she sighed. Somehow, she suspected Wolf would not be eager to take money; he and his men were too busy taking lives. But as soon as he'd turned down Kai's money, Takara was determined to put his life in the air... literally.

 

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

 

Katsuro saw Xan struggling with the woman and ran up behind him. "Hey!" he yelled. For just a second, the woman's focus was lost and her eyes locked with Katsuro's. Then, she dropped her sword and sank slowly to her knees.

 

"Sleep," the boy ordered. After a moment's hesitation and the boy's order repeated, the woman lowered herself fully to the ground and fell into the deep sleep her mind was telling her she needed. Katsuro turned and grinned up at Xan.

 

"I don't like to kill them either," he told the man with a big grin, "but I've got nothing against putting them to sleep!"

 

And with that, he scampered off to find another opponent, but at that moment, Kai went sailing over his head, growing brighter and brighter.

 

"Oh, boy..." Katsuro muttered. He looked away and found himself face to... stomach with a mass of a man. "Double oh boy..."

 

But the man looked up and was blinded by Kai. With a cry of fear, he toppled over, tripped on a rock and crashed into Katsuro. His head hit the ground and he lost consciousness.

 

"Great," Katsuro groaned, his head still out from beneath the man. "I'm buried beneath a lump of fearful, brain-bumped man and can't reach anything to get me out... Mom!"

[Rogue Nine]

Hefting a sword taken from a fallen enemy, Carwyn pivoted forward, launching at another approaching soldier. The blade caught him in the joint where the man's pauldron met the rest of his arm, ripping into flesh and bone. The soldier cried out and dropped to his knees, then slumped to the ground as Carwyn's booted foot caught him in the side of the head.

 

Carwyn landed on two feet, alert and ready for new threats. When there appeared to be no immediate ones, he straightened up and quickly took stock of the battlefield. For one, the ground wasn't shaking anymore, so that meant the geomancer had been taken out or forced to flee. Kai was a few dozen meters away, bright as day, somersaulting and taking out enemies left and right. Kyo and Xan were still locked in battle with their respective dance partners. Toa was nowhere to be seen, his fire soldiers fading out fast. However, ice had replaced fire as Tellis was up and casting ice spells to all sides. Takara was still up on the cliff somewhere, dealing with Crispin and his band. And Katsuro... Carwyn's eyes widened as he spotted the boy stuck fast under a rather large soldier.

 

Carwyn trotted up to a run and dashed towards the trapped youth. Lowering his shoulder, he hit the soldier at full speed, pushing the weight off Katsuro. The boy scrambled out from under and quickly stood up and dusted himself off.

 

"You okay?" the ranger asked.

[Rexraptor2000]

Gaping a moment at what Hedri had done, Toa was unsure as whether to be furious, glad, or shocked. Seeing Hedri wag his tail and then take a protective stance over Aya, which he found cute, made Toa decide that he wasn’t going to be angry at Hedri. There was still the matter of those who had destroyed his soldiers and nearly killed him.

 

He stood to his feet and grinned at Aya. She was a Sprite, and had now both kissed and saved him twice. Then he said to himself “I almost wish I hadn’t teased you about Carwyn. But if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be laughing my head off at your slipups. So I guess we’ll just wait and see.”

 

Hedri stared at Toa with a look that said ‘You? Aya? Ha! Please, you have all the attractiveness of an old fart on Lava-Weeds. It’s amazing that you’ve had two girlfriends so far. Granted, they each tried to kill you in your sleep at the end of your relationships, but still amazing. Plus you also have those two other guys who are yapping over her, and they certainly have more appeal than you. One of them has already been kissed intentionally by her, so the show’s over buddy. Get a life.’ Well, maybe not at that much detail, but that was what he was basically saying. Despite having very limited control over his facial expressions, Hedri was a surprising master at facial communication.

 

Toa’s face twisted into a sardonic expression and he said “Glad you think so too.” Then he walked over to another rather large boulder and began to melt it and form an arachnoid/dragonoid/humanoid creature of sorts. While doing this, he also summoned a horde of fire soldiers to jump right into the battle, this time more heavily armed and accurate due to Aya’s power.

[JasraLantill]

As the chaotic sounds of battle continued, so did Aya continue to pray. But then, it suddenly grew quiet. And stayed quiet for a few seconds. Aya cracked open an eye.

 

"Stop your men." The voice was Kai's. "Here is the payment you desire."

 

Aya frowned slightly. "Payment?" She peeked out from behind the rock once again. This time, she could hardly believe her eyes.

 

While Kyo still had his blade locked with the Knight Protector, they had stopped fighting for a moment. Tellis had apparently patched up Akira well enough for her to surround the battlefield with ice shields, herding the remaining soldiers into Toa's ring of fire soldiers who were marching to surround the six that were still standing and able-bodied. The pyromancer himself was busy making some sort of molten warrior out of a nearby bolder, while the newly revealed aeromancer Takara had successfully stacked Crispin and his archers in to a pile on top of the cliff. Xan, Katsuro, and Carwyn stood near Kyo, battle ready even though there really wasn't anyone to fight anymore. And, Kai was standing directly in front of Wolf holding out an offering of what appeared to be a bag of coin.

 

Protectors and Royal Elite guards littered the area, either dead, wounded, or just unconscious. It appeared that despite the unsurmountable odds, they had won the battle. But the thing that struck Aya the oddest, was that all of her friends were all glowing with a strange golden light.

 

She looked down at her own hands. She was glowing too, but the glow was gradually fading. She suddenly began to feel very tired and with her back to the flat side of the boulder, she let herself sink slowly down to sit on the ground.

 

~~~~~

 

Wolf was speechless as he looked at Kai's offering. His troops, the King's troops, were devastated--either dead, wounded, or knocked out of action in one way or another. He looked up, noticing his son Crispin trying to squirm out from underneath the haphazard pile of archers on the cliff top. But his eyes moved past them, searching the craggy cliff for something else...the geomancer.

 

He swallowed hard. The earth wizard was no where to be seen. Not surprising as the geomancer could blend into the rocky environment without any bother, but he obviously wasn't going to help Wolf anymore.

 

Without saying a word, Wolf reached out and took Kai's offering. Then he nodded and took a step back, finally beckoning with his arm to indicate that the group were free to pass onto the road.

 

"What?!" the Knight Protector said incredulously. "You're... conceding?!"

 

Wolf looked at him sheepishly. "Fight to the death if you want to, but... they've won."

 

"The King will deal with you later!" The Protector let out his battle cry and renewed his attack on Kyo.

[ForceFightWMe12]

As the two swordsman locked together in battle once more, Kyo's eyes glowed fiercely. The spirit shield was still glowing strongly around his body, fueled by the furiocity that radiated from his body. The larger man was obviously determined to crush his skull, and Kyo would be damned if he allowed the man to even touch him or anyone else ever again.

 

Left, right, parry, thrust, dodge, kick, duck, roll, strike. The two swordsmen battled on, their movements too fast for anyone to safely intervene. Eventually, Kyo was able to knock the man's blade aside. Using the opening, he swept in with the tip of his own weapon and sliced the man's throat.

 

The Protector glared at Kyo, still not quite sure what had happened. He tried to draw breath...and couldn't. Within seconds, the Protector's body slumped to the ground, and didn't move again.

 

As the swordsman looked up, his breathing heavy and sweat beading down his forehead, he saw the retreating forms of Wolf and his soldiers, their weapons left scattered across the ground. They had won.

 

For now, at least.

 

He kicked the Protector's body one more time, then turned to the others, still fighting to catch his breath.

 

"We'll camp here for tonight." he said, "Clear the bodies away. I'll get a fire going."

 

((Well, this is the lamest end to a battle ever. Sorry for teh suck.))

[Master_Archon]

((Erm, yeah, didn't see the above two posts.))

 

Xan was relieved at the fact that the woman had stopped, he had some time to catch his breath.

 

Xan smiled to himself, looking at the boy go, he looked at the back of his sword at what damage it might have taken, but when he looked back up he got the scare of his life, or close enough to it.

 

The woman, presumed asleep, was on her knees, but her head was up, her eyes wide, and bloodshot, her hand gripped her rapier tightly, Xan could tell she was furious.

 

"Mind-reader!? That boy will pay!" She spat angrily.

 

'Knew it was too good to be true, she's had training against...' Xan's thoughts were cut short as the woman launched forward from her kneeling position.

 

"After you die!" The woman finished, her first statement obviously not finished.

 

Xan bent backwards avoiding the blade, hitting it upward with the back of his blade.

 

Soon, their tango proceeded, Xan blocking, her attacking with new vigor.

 

Xan was now, not backing up on purpose, but with the woman's new anger, she was forcing him back.

 

Xan was studying her now too, though his eyesight was less than hers, he could see something that would work for him, her rapier, as thick as it was, was begining to chip, and dent, and dull.

 

Xan began blocking her strikes, using her anger against her, he began to push against each strike. He found that her blade was now bending slightly, he repelled each blow, more and more the blades rang, but his would outlast hers, it's mass ensuring it would neither bend, nor dull entirely.

 

Xan sidestepped, the woman stubbling forward, as she passed him, he grabbed her weapon, pulling it from her loosened grasp. He took it, throwing it a distance away, turning back to her he held his weapon up to her head, as she knelt on the ground breathing heavily, her anger subsiding, but she still held great resentment.

 

"Yield," he told her.

 

"Never, I fight to the last, scum. End me," she gasped, giving him a scathing glare.

 

Xan lowered his weapon, sighing, the woman smiling sinicaly to herself, "that's right, you don't fight or kill women." She laughed, but she didn't seem eager to rise, she remained kneeling, rubbing her wrist with her hand.

 

One of the men that had been in the group that had remained out of their fight, but still watching, ran forward, giving a cry, thinking Xan's guard was down. Xan twisted, bringing the flat of his enormous blade across the man's head, sending him flying, and unconcious to the ground.

 

He knelt down pulling a belt off the pants of the man, he snatched the woman hands in his grasp.

 

"What!? What are you doing? You said you didn't fight women," she shouted, Xan got back up.

 

"I don't, but I never said I couldn't manhandle them," he told her.

 

"Whaaaa! Hey!" She protested, as he lifted her up, and onto his shoulder. "I can walk!" She continued.

 

"Really? Good for you," Xan jested, the woman snorting at this.

 

Xan moved towards the rock Aya was by.

 

In time he got there. Xan set the woman down against the rock, studying her for a moment, he pulled a dagger out of the woman's boot.

 

"Won't be needing this," he told her, waggling it infront of her face, then turning to Aya, who was glowing, though Xan could care less, for the moment.

 

"Watch her for me," he asked Aya, whether she was paying attention or not. Xan began to leave, "oh, and use this if she tries anything." He said, throwing the dagger down infront of the merchant.

[Rogue Nine]

Carwyn trotted up to where Aya last was to see Xan place a captive female soldier against the rock, then toss a knife at Aya. He frowned and sped up. As he neared, he noticed the state the merchant was in and quickly moved to her side. Xan turned to move away, but Carwyn called out, "Oy, what the hell do you think you're doing, buckethead? Can't you see she's in no state to do anything? Just what is your malfunction?!"

 

The lumbering guard stopped in his tracks and turned his head to the side to peer back at Carwyn.

 

The ranger had Aya, who had shut her eyes and was still glowing faintly, in his arms. "What makes you think she could do anything with this knife anyway?" Carwyn continued, kicking the blade away. "She's a merchant and she hates violence. What super important cutlery convention are you running off to that you feel that you can just leave this enemy in Aya's charge?" he asked contemptuously, then eyed the kneeling warrior woman, who was staring from Carwyn to Xan, a look of angry confusion still contorting her face. Carwyn shook his head. "And Xan," he said, still addressing the burly guard, "What makes you think we take prisoners? We don't need any more baggage on our journey than is necessary."

[Master_Archon]

Xan pondered all the angry and hotty words of the ranger, this was one reason he hated being helped, he didn't like it when people did so, then acted like a complete arse afterwards.

 

Xan turned around walking over to the two he took a moment to study Aya more closely, squinting as he couldn't quite pick out the details, especially with the lightshow. But after awhile he could finally see she was in a state of fatigue.

 

"Hm," Xan mumbled, taking time to think things over, he finally turned his attention back to the ranger.

 

"No, I did not see she was in such a state. As for the weapon, it's to keep her," he paused, pointing at the woman. "On her toes, not for Aya to truely use. As for the enemy in her charge," Xan looked at the woman, who was still breathing heavily, and sweating profusely. "She's not in much of a better condition," he told the ranger.

 

"As for the prisoner," he said, walking over to the woman, he lifted her up harshly, walking her over to the road, he aimed her towards the town, then pushed her forward, she stumbled a bit, then straightened up, and grudgingly began to walk.

 

Xan returned to the ranger and merchant, staring at them each in succession. "I am sorry for that Miss Aya, I did not...see, that you were so tired," Xan said, his indications going towards the fact that Aya was one of the only three in the group that knew of his cataracts, and could only hope that, if she were even concious, would take that into consideration when forgiving him, if she would.

 

As for the ranger, he was a judgemental, hot headed, arrogant man, and Xan didn't need eyesight to see that, it would be hard getting ANY point across to him. He turned to him, sighing, and shaking his head, Xan spoke in a calm tone, "I pity people like you...all I can say is....nothing, there's no point in talking to you."

 

Xan sighed once more, he turned, walking a distance away, but not very far away from the merchant and ranger before he stood on one leg, leaning against his Greatsword. He stood there, calming himself down from the events by closing his eyes, and listening to the sounds of the wind, and of the birds, who's songs began to return, after their silence during the battle.

[Rogue Nine]

"Pfft," Carwyn scoffed. "Pity people like me? You mean people who have manners and who actually give a damn about other people's feelings? Sure, I'll take your pity, if that's all you've got to offer." Carwyn usually didn't get this hot-headed, but Xan's inconsiderate actions had struck a nerve with him. He didn't press the issue any further, though. He carefully made his way over to where Bob was still standing, pawing at the ground. "Hey buddy," Carwyn called out. "Think you could kneel down?"

 

The pony eyed him, then whinnied softly and lowered to the ground. Carwyn knelt next to Bob and leaned Aya up against the horse's shaggy mane.

[JasraLantill]

"Don't argue," Aya said softly to both Carwyn and Xan as she settled into Bob's comforting warm body "Either of you." She cast her eyes over the bodies of the dead soldiers, then swallowed hard. "So much death.... This isn't the time for petty arguments."

 

She felt completely drained, although she couldn't figure out why. After all, she hadn't done any fighting. All she had done was stay out of the way. She looked up at Carwyn, then cocked her eyebrow. "You're glowing. Everyone's glowing." She looked down at her hand laying in her lap as it was too much of an effort to lift it. She was glowing too, but the aura was fading fast. "Why? And why do I feel so tired?"

 

She spotted Tellis across the way. "Carwyn, if Akira's okay, can you see if Tellis has something to perk me up a bit? All this death and blood..." She swallowed back bile, her stomach becoming unsettled. "I think it spun me for a loop."

[Jason Skywalker]

As a young Akira lay sleeping on his bed, he could hear the sounds of doors sliding and opening as men that made grunts and hard and rigid voices came in. They would fight all night but would eventually come to an agreement. One day, Akira decided to go to the bathroom since he couldn't sleep and saw the door a little bit opened. He sneaked and saw that the men were doing something, he couldn't really get what it was. But he couldn't see his mother and his father was simply sitting still.

 

"Hey, Akira, what are you doing woken up this late?" His father told him, catching him eavesdropping, "Go, shoo, off to bed."

 

Akira then went to bed and slept. He would never see them again as of now, but he knew he would see them again.

 

------------

 

"Ha! Ha! Yaah!" Akira shouted out as he swung around his sword as it clashed against another fighter's sword. The two where fighting and now Akira was gaining the upper hand.

 

"You're losing Sanosuke," Akira said to his companion, smiling.

 

"You mind yourself and if you get out of this alive," Sanosuke grinned at Akira, breaking out of the lock and then going for a stab. Akira pushed the sword away with his as he then accidentally cut the palm of Sanosuke's hand.

 

"Hey! No fair. This hurts you know. Even if it's just a little bit."

 

"Hey, sorry, but you got no reason to complain, you get cut all the time," Akira grinned at him.

 

--------

 

Akira opened his eyes as he then looked around him. Everyone was dead. Everything on fire. Demons everywhere. It was total rampage. It was like he was there but wasn't there. He could see his friends then being flamed to ashes by the fires of dragons and the such.

 

Then, he woke up, as a tear of blood rolled out of his eye...

[Rogue Nine]

Tellis had just finished propping the still-unconscious Akira up against a boulder when she heard someone call her name. Turning in the direction of the voice, she saw Carwyn kneeling by Aya and Bob near the entrance to the canyon. Hefting her kit, she stood and made her way over to them. "Is everyone all right?" she asked as she neared them.

 

Carwyn looked up at her. "Aya kind of exhausted herself doing her whole spirit thing. Got anything to help her out?"

 

Tellis allowed a small smile to grace her lips. "I'm afraid there's no magical remedy for that. The only thing that will cure that is a good rest." Kneeling down, reached over and pulled a canteen from Bob's back. "Some water isn't a bad idea, however," she said, passing her hand over the top, then offering it to Aya.

[JasraLantill]

"Thanks," Aya said gratefully. She went to take the canteen, but although she tried, it was too much of an effort for her to grip it. Embarrased that she couldn't hold it, she set it down again and said, "Erm... I'll drink it later."

 

Tellis arched a thin brow, then clasped her hands over Aya's and lifted the canteen up to Aya's mouth. "Drink." As Aya did, Tellis said, "You should not have expelled that much energy for us."

 

Aya drank down the cool water, and after her last swallow, she smacked her lips gratefully. "What do you mean, I shouldn't have expelled that much energy? I wasn't doing anything but staying out of the way. Oh, and praying that we all wouldn't die," she added.

 

Tellis' lips parted in a smooth smile. "Praying is hard work." She looked down at her own hands. The golden glow was fading but still noticeable. "Especially for a spirit weilding Miko."

 

Aya sighed. She could deny it all she wanted to, but she had definitely done something to make her feel this exhausted. And if she really was a spirit wielder, a Miko, then it made sense that she had been the cause of everyone's glowing auras.

 

"But like any mage, you just have to learn control," Tellis told her.

 

"Great. You can wield ice and water, Toa can wield fire and melt rocks, and Kai has some kind of super-soul power that makes him move like a blur. And Takara...." Her eyes widened with wonder. "Takara can fly, for god's sake! And what do I get to do? Make people glow and get myself exhausted in the process." She sighed sadly. "Some asset I'll be on this quest," she said sarcastically. "'Oh! Watch out for glow-casting Aya and her cast iron frying pan!'" She rolled her eyes. "Really scary."

[ForceFightWMe12]

"There's a lot more to it than making people glow." Kyo said, approaching the threesome. He moved to his pack and removed it from Bob's back before sitting down. He pulled a strip of cloth from his bag and went about cleaning his blade.

 

"The shield you created was near impenetrable." he looked up at the merchant, "Through it, you saved my life, Miss Aya."

[3yks]

"You also supercharged me." Kai said, walking up, Wolf was running back toward town, he hadn't looked int he bag Kai had given him, Kai smiled. "Wolf is going to be disapointed when he gets back. That bag is full of coin shaped rocks." He chuckled and closed his eye, his patcha lready down, and his body looking human again.

 

"Kai appreciates your magic ms Aya, Kai has never felt so much soul energy." He nodded to this.

[Master_Archon]

Xan pushed off from his leaning perch, and put his Greatsword back in position on his back. He moved towards the bodies nearest to the talking group, begining to clear them away.

 

"Best thing for people who aren't used to death, is show 'em a corpse up close and personal, or clear them away," he muttered to himself, picking up a dead man's body, he began carrying it away, laying it down near the canyon cliff face, out of sight from the group.

 

He returned, hefting another corpse. "Seeing as showing Miss Aya a corpse would only cause unrest and anger within the group, I guess the first choice isn't an option," he continued to himself, carrying that one to the same place, setting it down next to the other one.

 

He came back and forth, working alone as he cleared the bodies away from the group. As Xan came back to retrieve the last body near the group he spoke out to the them in a normal and respectable tone, "our concerns should be clearing away the dead and giving them a proper burial, and finding the injured and unconcious, not talking to ourselves as if these bodies won't rot and sicken us as we sleep."

 

At this he lifted the last body near the group, turning to head off.

[Rogue Nine]

"Well excuse us for being happy that we're all hale and whole, dung-for-brains," Carwyn whispered under his breath as he stood up and dusted himself off. Looking at Aya, he said, "I don't know what you did, but that glow did a lot more than make us look like lightning bugs." He flexed his fist. "I felt quicker. Faster. More accurate. It was...enlightening," he finished, throwing her a crooked smile at his bad pun.

 

Tellis rolled her eyes. "Aya, do not do anything to exert yourself further, you need to rest to recover your strength. Perhaps, with time, you will learn to harness your power to the point where you can control it fully."

 

Aya looked up at the willowy healer. "Is that an order, doctor?" she asked, a smile tugging at the side of her mouth.

 

Carwyn laughed. "I think it might be, so you'd better listen," he said, wagging his finger at her. He then turned to Tellis. "Tel, you think you're okay to watch both Aya and Akira?"

 

The healer nodded. "I think so. Aya's powers did more for Akira than I did, so he should be coming to soon."

 

"Good," Carwyn said, then eyed the spot where Xan had piled the dead bodies. "I've got to have a word with Toa...we're going to need to do some burning."

[Rexraptor2000]

Letting out a sigh of frustration, Toa let his almost-complete creation sag to the ground as a puddle of lava. He did everything right, so why wasn't staying? Was he doing something wrong? Did it require one final touch? Or were the instructions from one of the scrolls obsolete? Toa didn't know, but he gave up as he noticed that the battle was finally over and everyone was gathering around the boulder Aya was at. So he called off his fire soldiers and left his lava puddle for the group.

 

When he got there and saw Aya was fatigued, he chuckled saying "So our little spirit angel exhausted herself? Some Dave's Insanity Spice should be enough to get yourself on your feet in no time, if you're willing to give it a try. Also, thanks for making sure that that heavy arrow didn't kill me."

 

Hedri gave Toa a look saying 'Hey! I helped too.'

 

"And as for you, little Hydra, how would you know that pulling the arrow out wouldn't be fatal?! You nearly gave me a heart attack when you just pulled it out!" Toa laughed, indicating that he wasn't mad at all.

[Jason Skywalker]

"....Aya's powers did more for Akira than I did, so he should be coming to soon."

 

"Whose powers did more for me than who so i should be waking now?" Akira said jokingly, even though he was seriously injured as he then coughed some blood, "Ah dagnabit."

[Rogue Nine]

Tellis eyed the injured warrior keenly. He'd woken up and made his way over under his own power, so her ministrations and Aya's magic had obviously done some good. She frowned when he coughed up blood, however. "Akira, as I recall, you were hit in the shoulder," she said silkily, looking at her handiwork through the hole in his tunic. The wound was closed up quite well, thanks to Tellis' stitchwork and Aya's spirit aura. "So tell me, how is it that you're coughing up blood? Are you sick?"

 

****

 

Carwyn pulled Toa aside and spoke to him quickly and quietly. "Do you think you could burn the bodies of those dead soldiers?" he asked the pyromancer. "Can't very well leave them out to rot in the sun and burying them would be far too much effort and slow us down." Carwyn noticed the scarring on Toa's chest from where the arrow had struck him and the ranger wrinkled his nose. "Not to mention those bastards don't deserve a proper burial."

[JasraLantill]

When he got there and saw Aya was fatigued, he chuckled saying "So our little spirit angel exhausted herself? Some Dave's Insanity Spice should be enough to get yourself on your feet in no time, if you're willing to give it a try. Also, thanks for making sure that that heavy arrow didn't kill me."

Aya smiled at the fire mage. "Thanks," she said softly. "I don't really know how I did it, but I'm glad you're alright." She cast her gaze to the small hyrdra. "Thanks to you, too, little fella." She wanted to pat him on the head, or maybe chuck him under his chin, but she was too tired to even lift her faintly glowing hand.

 

"Dave's Insanity Spice, eh? Sounds, erm... interesting. I'll try it, Toa. I'll try anything." Again she tried to lift her hand but only managed to raise it a couple inches off her lap. She gave him a weak grin. "'Cause this is embarrassing--being this weak."

 

As Toa was pulled aside by Carwyn to consult over the disposal of the bodies, Akira had approached. "Glad to see you're alive," Aya said tiredly to him. "Come, sit by me. Maybe you can catch some residual 'glow' off of me enough to heal you completely."

[Rogue Nine]

(( Gonna have to get moving if we're to make any progress with the story ))

 

It had taken a few hours, but the small group of adventurers had finally gotten the field clear enough to set up an encampment by duskfall. As night creeped up slowly on them, a fire was built, thanks in no small part to the pyromancer. A cool breeze blew through, causing most of the group to huddle closer to the warmth of the fire.

 

Carwyn yawned as he whittled idly at a piece of wood. He was one of the few not sitting close to the fire, instead he was perched on a nearby rock, his keen eyes and ears searching out the night for any threats. After the last few days and their events, he was pretty darn sure that there would be more battles to fight and he would prefer not to be caught off-guard. A breeze whipped up and blew some of his hair across his face. He pushed it out of his eyes, then cast a look at the other fire Toa had started, mostly obscured by the canyon cliff face. It was still burning, but the winds had mercifully kept the smoke away from the encampment, as this fire was fueled by the bodies of the dead soldiers.

 

Exhaling, Carwyn observed as his white breath mingled with the increasingly cold air. He reached into his rucksack, pulled out a slightly bent cookie, and chewed at it thoughtfully.

 

****

 

Tellis was busy ladling out bowls of stew to everyone in the group. It had been a while since she'd last cooked, but with a little assistance from Aya, they'd both managed to concoct a hearty supper for their ragtag band.

[Jason Skywalker]

"Ugh...i don't know, maybe. While i was out, maybe my blood caught an infection from the ground. We can't say it's actually clean," Akira told Tellis, blinking his eyes, "But don't make me think too much please."

 

He then turned to Aya, "Thanks Aya."

 

-----

 

Night had fallen and they had gotten a campsite. Akira sat down beside Kyo.

 

"Say, what happened with Wolf?"