[RP]Obake Blade

[Quist]

Maggie hadn't slept well for some reason. It was probably the bed; she'd been so used to the hard, flat mattresses of the monastery that the inn's relatively soft and squishy ones felt as if she was trying to sleep in gelatin. As a result, she'd tossed and turned quite a bit and was groggy as she woke and dressed.

 

Rubbing her eyes as she came down the stairs for breakfast, she saw that there were only two people up, Kyo sitting in the corner on his own and Carwyn's sister Chrys sitting at one of the middle tables, a mug clutched in her hand. Maggie could tell from their postures that they had definitely sized each other up and were ready for anything; such was the way of armed combatants. They seemed to be breaking fast peacefully enough though, and she hoped it stayed that way.

 

Striding over to the table with rolls and coffee, she poured herself a cup, picked up a smallish loaf and headed to a table. She chose one in between the warrior and the erstwhile assassin; she didn't want to interrupt or encroach on either of them, but she did want to be cordial and greet them. "Good morning, Kyo," she said, nodding to him as she pulled out her chair and took a seat. Scooting forward, she turned to her left and said, "Good morning, Chryseis. I hope you both had a better night than I did. Those beds are absolutely killer."

[JasraLantill]

With Bob trailing behind her, Aya and Toa headed down to the nearby beach. Sun sparkled on the sea. Calm waves tickled the shore with foamy ripples. Seabirds called as they circled overhead. Sand crabs scuttled in between pieces of driftwood. It was a perfectly lovely day.

 

“I miss volcanic air,” said Toa. “Or was it the magma sea’s air? Hard to remember with this fever. The air here is too light.”

 

“Too light, huh?” Aya nodded. “I think I know what you mean. And,” she added, as her eyes scanned the beach, “I think I can help.” She smiled at the mancer. “Because, well, helping people has sort of become my forté these past few days.”

 

Just up ahead on the beach, she spotted a pile of strange looking red seaweed. “Perfect! Here.” She handed Toa Bob’s lead. “I’ll be right back.”

 

She ran over to the seaweed, plunged her hand into the middle of the pile and began to root around. Her face scrunched up in concentration as she searched, until finally, she brightened and lifted her hand up. “Got one!”

 

With her treasure secure in her closed fist, she ran back to Toa and Bob. “Ok, I just need a little heat and some sea water….” She spied a small outcrop of rocks, one of which had a natural cup eroded into it from years of pounding waves. “See that little tide pool?” she asked Toa, as she plonked the small, black porous looking rock she'd been holding in her hand into the still water. “Think you could heat that rock up a bit? Just enough to boil the water in the tide pool, mind.”

[Rexraptor2000]

Toa chuckled remembering the coffee, though was confused as to what Aya was doing. What was the rock about, why was it in a pile of seaweed, and what did heating the rock in seawater have to do with anything? He didn’t know, but unless he did what she asked, he wouldn’t know. So he stretched out his hand towards the rock and suddenly it turned red, the water beginning to boil. Toa had made the hot superheated, and was merely controlling the amount of heat that was escaping. If he let go of his control, the water would be instantly evaporated.

 

“What now?” Toa asked Aya, his hand still outstretched towards the rock. It was actually kind of funny. He was the all power pyromancer and yet Aya was the one saving his skin more than a few times in the last few days. That was certainly more than any woman had ever done for him in a long time.

[Master_Archon]

Once Xan had decided to go to bed the night before, he'd found it difficult, at best, to do so, seeing as the room that the guys got was not the best of places to be sleeping, and the place looked like it'd gone through a little war with how many singe marks there were from the sickly pyromancer that he'd found in the room. So instead of sleeping in the Inn, Xan had left and found a nice tree by the beach to sleep under, and for the first time in years, the large guard had finally gotten a good nights rest.

 

 

 

By morning the burly man had awoken far before dawn, and had spent his time meditating on his thoughts, his memories, and the past few days, not to mention a little bit about what awaited him, and the group's future, and in truth, he wondered if this was why the swordsman seemed to be so burdened? He did have to think of the well being of an entire group now, not just himself. He would have to get to know the man a little better.

 

As daylight came Xan found himself wondering the nearby beach, carrying only his rucsac (which still had Akkan in it), his belt with his two throwing axes, and a book (yet another gift from Xan's old friend Kazuo), which was a very special book, written in a special form of calligraphy-brail, called Te-No-Yubi Writing, because of a special ink simply called, Te-No-Yubi. Xan had several of these books that were given to him by Kazuo, most were for study and for passing time when Xan had nothing to do, and when he was bored. All that can be said of how Kazuo got these types of books and scrolls, is that he spent many years of transcribing to make them, which Xan tried to stop years back, but found it useless to do so, because he was such a determined old man (Kazuo that is).

 

Xan studied the book for some time, and found himself imitating the images within as he tried out the lessons the book had. And with time, Xan was taking the first steps down the path to learning Tai Chi, one of the easiest form of martial arts to learn, but also a very effective form; and quite calming when it was used outside of battle, alone, or even in groups.

 

As Xan performed his stances, he saw two figures down the beach a ways, he couldn't quite make out who they were, but then again, he was half blind, so he decided to stop what he was doing and go see what was going on. When Xan got to the two figures he finally recognized them, one was the friendly merchant, Miss Aya, and the sickly pyromancer - and just like with everyone else in the group, he didn't know his name.

 

"Hello Miss Aya, good day isn't it?" Xan spoke up as he halted himself. Xan galnced over at the poorly pyromancer and spoke to him too, "Hi, sorry if I don't greet you more formally, I don't know your name after all. But mine is Xan, if you didn't know?"

 

Xan got quiet; he stood slightly to the mancer's left, and back a little, watching what was going on, and from what he could tell, the mancer was boiling seawater in a tide pool that had a dark lump in it, that he could only guess was a rock...or maybe a crab. Perhaps they were hungry? Xan knew he hadn't eaten in a while, and he could definitely go for some seafood. But for the moment the large guard would keep quiet and watch what was happening.

[JasraLantill]

Aya smiled as Xan approached and greeted them. "It's a great day, Xan," she replied to the aged warrior. "Sunny, warm, and full of promise."

 

She lifted herself up on her toes, peering into the bubbling tide pool that Toa was heating up. "Ok, think that about does it. You can cut the heat now."

 

Toa did, and Aya stirred the bubbly water with a slim stick of driftwood. "There. Now, all we need is a...." She looked around. "Ah!" She skirted between the two men and the pony, and after rummaging around in the sand, she came back with a large clam shell.

 

"This will work as a cup," she said. "I don't want to unpack Bob. Took me ages for me to get everything where I wanted it this time."

 

She gingerly dipped the shell into the boiling hot water. "Ok, Toa, I'm almost positive that this remedy will wipe out that nasty cold you got. See, your an elemental, so this remedy has water, earth (in the form of salt and probably a few grains of sand), fire, and... air." She grinned. "That's a Cusario lava rock I put into this homemade 'soup'. Not only does it contain a lot of cold-fighting minerals, but it's also got these little bubbles full of volcanic gases. Needless to say, it floats and so gets itself tangled in that particular type of seaweed I found over there. But, when it's immersed in boiling water, the gasses inside rock are released, and so infuse themselves in the liquid." She carefully held out the clam shell full of liquid to the mancer. "Here. Drink."

[Rexraptor2000]

The sick Pyromancer took the clam cup and looked at it speculative for a moment, looking between Aya and it, before drinking it like one might drink a shot of scotch, in one shot. To say that it took him by complete surprise in its taste was a complete understatement to say none the least. It was like drinking life almost, as going down in one shot he could feel the rejuvenation, and the familiar volcanic gases that were so familiar that his heart wretched in home-sickness, despite his fever suddenly beginning to die. Still, it was a lot better than his head feeling like it was receiving a pounding and being able to cook eggs with his forehead (It was still funny to him though), so the next moment Toa found himself leaping in joy and throwing random fireballs into the sea and the sand and open sky. It was only by the fact that he nearly roasted Aya that he stopped and instead hugged her, planting a big wet one forehead and saying “Thank you! That was the first and worst time I’ve ever been sick.”

 

Then, after a few moments of squeezing the life out of Aya, Toa let go and said grinning sheepishly “Sorry, I’ve just been sick 2 days too long and had a nack to just do something.”

[Rogue Nine]

Yawning widely as he descended the stairs, Carwyn stepped into the common room, obviously having just woken up. His hair was mussed and sticking up in places and his clothes were wrinkly from his nocturnal tossing and turning. He appeared to still be sleepy, but his keen ranger eyes were already focused on the current inhabitants of the room. Chrys and Maggie were sitting at adjacent tables, while Kyo was by himself in a corner to the side.

 

Maggie had just finished saying something. "Those beds are absolutely killer."

 

"But hey, they beat sleeping on the ground, right?" Carwyn suggested, shuffling towards the table the young woman was sitting at and taking a seat. "Though they were just a little too soft for my tastes, I'll admit." He turned to his sister. "How about you Chrys? How'd you find them?"

 

Chrys arched an eyebrow at her brother. Small talk? she thought to herself. He wants to engage in small talk? He's such a fool. Standing up slowly, she replied, "I wouldn't know. I slept on the floor." She gave Carwyn a hard look, glanced at Maggie and Kyo, then turned towards the stairs. "I'm going to get ready."

 

As Chrys left, Carwyn snorted and looked at his two companions. "Pfeh, who peed in her coffee this morning?"

[JasraLantill]

Then, after a few moments of squeezing the life out of Aya, Toa let go and said grinning sheepishly “Sorry, I’ve just been sick 2 days too long and had a knack to just do something.”

 

Aya, whose face was beet red now not only from the mancers impulsive kiss but also from the heat he'd been generating when he had hugged her, grinned and silently nodded. It wasn't that she was speechless. On the contrary, she had something to say. And she reckoned that as soon as the air that had been squeezed out of her lungs by Toa's fierce hug had returned, she'd say it.

 

She pointed toward inn, then gave a nod in its direction to indicate that the three of them should return. Bob, seemingly aware what she was thinking, unexpectedly nudged her back, pushing her forward.

 

With the pony's nudge, fresh, salty air suddenly rushed into Aya's lungs, and Aya inhaled a deep and greedy breath.

 

"Glad I could help, Toa," she uttered in a hoarse sounding whisper. Then she cleared her throat, took another breath, looked out at the incoming tide and then said, "So, shall we head back now? Kyo said the boat's leaving at noon. And we certainly don't want to be... late... and... miss... it."

 

As her words slowed, Aya's face scrunched up as she squinted her eyes. She was watching the water, just beyond the gently breaking waves, as a strange piece of driftwood bobbed towards the shoreline. No, it wasn't driftwood. It appeared less rigid than wood. And wood didn't ungulate.

 

"Is that a... seal?" she started to ask. But she paused again when the odd looking linear object seemed to be joined by another. "Or is that some kind of a snake, or a...."

 

Two large Kraken tentacles suddenly raised up out of the water. Bob let out a shrill whinny, reared up, and shoving past Toa, Xan, and Aya, took off towards the village at breakneck speed. The arms of the marine beast missed their intended equine target and slammed down so hard against the spot where the pony's had been that Aya lost her balance from the tremor and fell to the ground. Still, that didn't prevent her from inhaling a huge breath and letting out a bloodcurdling scream of terror.

 

"AAAAAAAAAHH----------!!!"

 

((OOC--Ok, guys, it's a multi-tentacled marine Kraken, similar to the Watcher in the Water from the first LoTR film. Cutting one of its tentacles will cause it to grow two in its place (like a Hydra from Greek mythology), so be careful! ))

[Rogue Nine]

Chrys padded up the stairs quickly and quietly, ducking into her room. Gathering up her small travel pack, she slung it over her shoulder then strode towards the window. Pushing the shutters open, she hopped onto the windowsill and out into the cool morning air. She latched onto a nearby tree branch and swung herself on top of it, then gazed around, taking in her surroundings. Being imprisoned by her brother was definitely not the most comfortable of experiences for her, so she wanted to get out and stretch her legs before the group started up again.

 

Remembering that the merchant woman had said she was going to take a walk along the beach, Chrys hopped down from the tree and oriented herself towards the oceanfront. Chrys wanted to find out exactly why she seemed to be so special to everyone, especially her brother. She just seemed like an ordinary girl, with nothing really extraordinary about her...but then again Chrys very well know appearances could be deceiving.

 

She'd made it about halfway down the slight slope towards the beach when she heard a bloodcurdling scream of terror ahead of her. Chrys slowed for a second as she squinted ahead, trying to make out what was happening. It was hard to make out, but from what she could see, there were a trio of figures on the beach being assaulted by some sort of tentacled monster coming from the ocean. "A kraken?" she muttered softly. "How quaint." As Carwyn had confiscated her weapons, Chrys was unarmed, but that didn't mean a whole lot when you were an assassin.

 

Taking off at a run, she bounded towards the beast, putting herself between Aya and the kraken. The other two people there were the sickly pyromancer and the blind warrior from the night before; they had better make themselves useful. Setting her feet, she shifted her hips and snapped a kick out as the kraken swung a tentacle forward. Her foot impacted the slimy appendage, knocking it away, but also sending Chrys tumbling in the other direction. Luckily, she had an excellent sense of balance and used the momentum from the impact to perform a backwards somersault, landing on the balls of her feet, ready for another attack. Glancing at Aya out of the corner of her eye, she shouted at the merchant. "For Gods' sake woman, get up and move!"

 

((OOC EDIT: vvvvvvvvvvvvvv Whoops, beat you M_A ))

[Master_Archon]

Xan was only slightly bemused by the strange actions of the mancer, and the odd breathless mannerisms of Aya, but then again, Xan was not used to socializing, so he didn't really know of, or understand the actions of some, if not most people. but that was just him.

"So, shall we head back now? Kyo said the boat's leaving at noon. And we certainly don't want to be... late... and... miss... it."

 

Xan tilted his head like a curious dog at Aya's odd manner of speech, but his question of what had caused such strange behavior was soon answered.

 

"Is that a... seal?" Aya asked, as Xan finally saw what Aya had glimpsed out on the surf, though it looked like a strange blob to his dulled vision.

 

"Can't be, seals don't come around here at this time of the year, it's too warm," Xan said, shielding his eyes to block the sun, so he could get a better view of the object.

 

But as Aya continued to wonder what it was, well, all you-know-what broke loose, as two massive tentacles broke from the water and came careening towards Bob, who fortunately avoided becoming breakfast, and went flying off towards the village. The serpentine coils hammered into the sand, so hard in fact, that they caused a tremor to spread outward across the beach, causing Aya to fall to the earth and send out a deafening scream.

 

 

"AAAAAAAAAHH----------!!!"

 

 

Xan held his hands over his ears. Dear Heaven!!! That woman had some lungs!!

 

Xan's first instinct was to throw one of his axes into one of the tentacles, but that would cause the tentacle to retract, and then he'd be short one throwing axe. His second instinctive thought was to hack one of the tentacles clean off, smart, but then that might cause more problems. Thirdly, he thought that he should go diving in to the water and take out the beast in some heroic fashion, but that would be utterly stupid, and definitely out of the question. But then experience, intelligence, wisdom, and tact kicked in and he di the smart thing.

 

Xan took his rucsac off and spilled the contents out - which was one book and a half blind, white (and quite adorable) dog. Xan ran to Aya's side and without thought, lifted her off the ground, and started running.

 

"Please forgive me Miss Aya, but you still have a life to live," was all the burly, stoic former guard said.

 

"Mancer, boil the water like you did with the rock, that'll most definitely cause the creature some problems," Xan shouted out, Instinctively giving the mancer orders.

 

Xan kept running, until finally he felt he was out of the tentacles' reach, and then he gently put Aya down, and without so much as a word, he stood up, and with an axe in each hand he charged the tentacles.

 

By this time the tentacles had gotten loose of the sandy earth and were searching for new targets, primarily the closest things they could find, one mancer, and a dog, and a very big, and quite perturbed warrior. They went for the dog.

 

Xan saw the creature's intention and so he lunged for Akkan, sliding across the sand he got the dog before the tentacle did, and in turn tossed the dog as far, and hard as he could out of harms way, the fur ball landing near Aya, whom he approached and sniffed. As for the tentacle, it came slamming down onto Xan, though, luckily with less force than it had when the Kraken-like beast had went for Bob. As the coil slammed down, Xan felt the wind gush from his lungs, and his ribs crack, indicating that they (at least a few) were breaking, not to mention that once the tentacle had grabbed hold it started dragging him towards the water with due speed. Xan acted quickly, pulling out one of his axes, he hacked at the tentacle with great ferocity, and with only a few blows, detached the coiled mass from his body, the severed tentacle retracting to the water.

 

As Xan stood up, air refilling his lungs, and pain searing into his sides and sternum, something happened that caused Xan to be rather non-plussed, two more took the place of the missing one.

 

"Great, I hate these kind of situations," Xan muttered to himself, he in turn took out his other axe and got into a ready stance.

 

((Forgive my actions people, if you didn't want Aya moved Jasra, then I will edit my post, but I did the only sensible thing any normal warrior/person would do, and that would be to protect the person who is unable to defend themself.))

[ForceFightWMe12]

Kyo was up and moving before the scream had even finished echoing through the inn's open windows. The early patrons - who had come in for an early lunch at this point - had barely even stood up out of their chairs, curious as to the source of the scream, by the time the green-eyed warrior was barelling out the back door of the building, his blade in hand.

 

He took the slope at a run, his boots kicking up an extra plume of dust as he picked up the speed after catching sight of the situation. The Kraken's tentacles were just lifting into the air for what appeared to be a second attack as he sprinted the last few feet to the sand, and surprisingly, a dark grin had caught his features. "Just what I need," he said, "A bit of an after-breakfast warm up."

 

The sheath fell away with a flick of his thumb, revealing the gleam of the naked blade as it fell to the sand. A Kraken was one creature that he'd never actually encountered before - and one that he had never really bothered to study on. Mostly keeping to deep water, he figured that he would have no use of the information...but at this point, he was rather wishing that he had bothered to study. Ah well. There's a first time for everything - and a bit of trial and error would be rather...entertaining. With so much excess adrenaline running in his veins from his terrible mood - and though he wouldn't admit it consciously to himself, the sudden terror that Aya's scream had brought - Kyo was actually looking forward to this particular fight.

 

The merchant was still practically prone in the sand, having just been deposited by Xan to get her out of the way of the fight. The warrior didn't even pause in his speed - he jumped right over her small frame, and hit the ground running again. "You can't be left alone for more than a minute without stumbling into some sort of trouble, can you??" he called to her over his shoulder as he slid to a stop, watching the tentacles warily as he held his blade at the ready.

 

Apparently assessing this new target, the Kraken held the tentacle slithering in the air for an extra moment before making a strike at Kyo - but even with the delay, he was ready. Side stepping as if in a dance, the warrior's silver blade flashed through the air as it came down, hacking at the tentacle as it crashed into the sand. The Kraken roared - an unearthly sound that rattled one's eardrums - in agony as the blade sunk halfway through the flesh, stopped only by the bone. The tentacle whipped up into the air and flashed down again in anger - but that was the Kraken's mistake. Stepping into the other direction this time, Kyo didn't even wait for the blow to land. Before the tentacle hit the sand again, he took the hilt of his sword with both hands, and with one mighty swing, seperated the part from the whole entirely. It went cartwheeling into the air as another almighty roar ripped through the air, the tentacle withdrawing over the water.

 

A satisfied smirk crossed Kyo's lips as he snapped the blade to his side - causing the blood dripping from it to spatter into the sand.

 

((Sorry I haven't been posting again, guys - I took a trip to the mountains with the fam ^.^'' But I'm back again! And... just as a request, I was hoping that the Kraken not be finished off entirely before my next post. I have a bit of a plan for Kyo :3))

[Rexraptor2000]

By the time Kyo was done slicing one of the tentacles off the Kraken, Toa was already using his ability to try and boil the water as Xan had suggested. The only problem? Boiling the portion of water the creature was in was like trying to heat up the entire ocean, and the creature had no intention of letting him try. Two tentacles shot out of the water towards Toa and were immediately incinerated as he threw two fireballs to meet them, withering stumps afterwards. It seemed like that this was actually going to be an easy monster from that performance, except when the disturbing truth revealed itelf.

 

Kyo, Xan, and Toa had all severed a tentacle, and now two tentacles were practically growing from the points of detachment. The two that Toa had removed now became four and they all turned towards him like they had Kyo, like individual predators assessing him.

 

“Out of the pan and into the fire,” Toa said to himself lighting up another two fire balls with his hands and a fire dragon materializing behind him, ready for a fight. “Not my kind of fire. Normally less slimy and hotter.”

 

The four tentacles lunged at him in a frontal assault and the pyromancer took two of them out with his fireballs before his dragon flew forward to tackle the remaining two. They grappled around the dragon for a moment before withdrawing from the heat and the two Toa had taken out a few moments before again doubled, making six. Six made by him in a few short seconds and four from the two others Xan and Kyo and severed. Noting this, Toa could only say “I think we’re in trouble.”

[ForceFightWMe12]

The severed tentacle exploded in a rain of flesh and slime, releasing an instant replacement of the section it had lost - and, branching from that same joint, was a second tentacle. His green eyes widened as he watched both flail high above his head, whipping bits of blood and flesh and slime as it snapped through the air. This...might turn out to be a bit more difficult than he had thought.

 

One tentacle snapped down, sending him dancing off to the side - right into the path of the second limb. He kept his blade away, knowing the temptation to hack another of the tentacles off would be too great if he allowed himself to use his blade. Instead, he stood on top of one limb, holding it down as he tried to figure out what the hell to do with the other one. He wasn't expecting the tentacle to have the strength to lift from underneath him, grabbing him by the ankle, and flinging him out to sea.

 

He didn't have much time to think - the only thought that truly occurred to the warrior's mind was that he couldn't land in the water. In deep water, he would be helpless against the creature. He wasn't about to be caught by another tentacle, and he couldn't adjust his course to land on the Kraken itself...but there were rocks under the waves, right? Rocks...rocks...

 

He didn't feel himself hit the water - but suddenly, his momentum stopped. He landed in a crouch against something sturdy, smooth...and looking down as he set his palm against the surface, he frowned as he found that it was a rock. His brows pulled together in confusion...because there hadn't been a rock there before, and he never entered the water. In fact, looking now, he found the rock floating - literally, floating - a good ten feet above the waves.

 

His confused hesitancy was his biggest mistake of the fight. The Kraken didn't seem to think that a floating boulder was as amazing as Kyo did, because just as the warrior was turning his eyes to the monster again, a second tentacle was sweeping through the air to crash hard into his back. Once more, he was flying through the air, this time completely stunned with the force of the blow. Unable to focus enough to right himself, he crashed into the shallow waves, landing hard on his shoulder. His blade, which had fallen from his hand, landed point-down in the sand several feet away.

 

((let's wrap this up, shall we?))

[Rogue Nine]

After Kyo had darted up and charged out of the inn, Carwyn and Maggie really weren't sure what had just happened at first, but Aya's bloodcurdling scream quickly clued them in. Carwyn raced upstairs to grab his pack and the pair of them quickly made their way towards the beachhead. Maggie spotted Aya crouched on the ground away from the fight and ran to attend to her friend while Carwyn thundered on ahead to join in the fray.

 

Toa and Xan were also mixing it up with the kraken, hurling fireball and axe alike in their attempts to subdue the monster. Carwyn was rather surprised to find his sister fighting alongside them as well, holding her own by quickly darting in between the kraken's blows and using her fists and feet to ward off the flying tentacles. She couldn't do very much damage against something that didn't have very much to break, however, so Carwyn made a quick decision. Pulling his knife from his boot, he called out to Chrys. "Chrys! Heads up!" he yelled, tossing the blade toward her.

 

The erstwhile assassin heard her brother's call and turned to catch the underhand throw. Nodding a thanks to him, she flipped the blade around to rest the dull edge against the length of her forearm as she raked her arm across the kraken's tentacle, spilling black ichor into the frothing waves.

 

The ranger spotted Kyo fending off what seemed like a dozen tentacles on his own."Don't just stand there, Kyo!" Carwyn roared at the dazed warrior as he stumbled about in the water. He already had his bow out and three arrows nocked into the string, which he aimed upward and let fly. The arrows struck the huge tentacle coming down at Kyo, causing it to halt and writhe in agony instead of striking the prone warrior. Carwyn quickly reloaded his bow and continued to rain barrage after barrage into the sea beast as he pushed forward towards Kyo.

 

Reaching Kyo's prone figure, Carwyn stood between the kraken and the warrior, emptying his quiver in an effort to fend the beast off. Gotta get him out of here before this damn thing squishes the both of us flat... Carwyn thought urgently as he fired his last arrow into the kraken. Shouldering his bow, he reached down and hauled Kyo up by the back of his shirt, then threw an arm over his shoulder and began to wade backward, watching the whipping tentacles. He wouldn't be able to get the both of them out of the way if the kraken decided to strike at them again...

 

Just as another tentacle broke away and headed straight for them, a black blur flew in from the side and impacted the appendage, knocking it away from the ranger and the warrior. Squinting through the spray of water, Carwyn saw Chyrs tumble into the waves, her blade flashing and streaked with the kraken's blood. She rolled a few more times, then came up standing and leapt at the beast again. Carwyn didn't wait to see the outcome of her attack as he hauled Kyo onto the sand of the beach. "C'mon guy, on your feet," he said, putting action to words as he lifted the warrior with his arm and helped Kyo stagger to stand. "This fight isn't over yet."

[Rexraptor2000]

Life sometimes simply sucked, like now for instance. They were up against a creature for which every tentacle that was struck down two would take its place. Its main body was inaccessible to Toa’s powers, unless he wanted to turn this part of the continent into a wasteland, and he had already made the problem worse by making more tentacles with his fireballs. What else could he use? His fire dragon was only good as a shield, destroying the tentacles made more, and wasteland was out of the question in this case.

 

That is not all you know, a voice whispered darkly in the back of Toa’s mind. It caused him to pause for a moment, his hands lit with fire. There was something else, just not something that he thought he’d even consider. He didn’t even have a moment though, as the second he stopped to think the tentacles struck like predators, tackling his dragon and came towards him.

 

Toa sidestepped one as it came at him, using fire to incinerate it a second later. Another two came at him from both sides, both burning up as Toa lifted his hands and pillars of fire shot out to meet them. At this point he stopped counting, as more tentacles appeared from fleshy explosions from the remaining stumps. They all shot towards him, and all Toa could do was greet them with more fire.

 

Note to self: bring giant sashimi-eating doom kitten next time, Toa thought to himself with grim humor as he slowly stepped backwards, the amount of tentacles now nearly overwhelming. I really outta think of something else next time than keep throwing fire.

 

A flurry of tentacles assaulted him again and one got through his wall of fire, managing to swipe his legs from out under him. Before he could react, they swarmed over him and he was neatly thrown in the air, flying almost for a moment, before falling back down neatly back into the creature’s slimy grip. This time the creature was more content with enveloping him with all its tentacles and constricting them.

 

You know how to kill it, came the voice again, amplified in the slimy darkness the pyromancer was temporarily trapped in. He was about to incinerate it all, but the thought gave him a pause. He did have a way to do it, but it was evil by all sense. Necromancy was an evil trade, the fact that he had been taught it ashamed him, and the tattoos his bore on his skin were because of it. Yes, but in the end is it evil to save yourself and your friends, also removing a threat to other people? No one even has to know, with your abilities.

 

Toa focused on the darkness then, and he could feel control of it come to him almost too easily, the dark energy flowing through his fingers. It felt seductively good inviting him to draw more energy, yet at the same time he wanted to scream at it in horror for the memories it brought up. The prime emotion that ruled here though in the few seconds of re-acquaintance, so to speak, was anger. Angry at being smacked around or killed/nearly killed, nearly getting them all killed at one point, and overall hell that he had dealt with since joining the group on their quest. All it took was a couple thoughts about the Kraken itself, its innards, and what Toa wanted to happen o them before he finally released the dark energy.

 

Immediately the creature let go of him and he fell to the ground, hitting it hard and barely breathing. The creature however, was not so lucky as its insides began to disintegrate.

 

The Kraken let out a loud wail of agony, flailing around it tentacles with enough force to do more than knock them off their feet. It did so for about 10 seconds before it began to weaken, its cries getting softer and its limbs almost limping around. It took less than a minute for the creature’s death wails to cease, now just a floating corpse.

 

The pyromancer responsible lay on the ground regaining his breath, skin a bit paler, forcing back the dark energy to whatever part of his soul it had been hidden in originally. He felt sick, worse than he had with the fever, and even a little guilt for how the creature died.

 

“Definitely need the doom kitten next time.” Toa said to himself as he sat up regardless and looked at the corpse, his attempt at getting a laugh out of himself failing miserably.

[Master_Archon]

Xan had himself surrounded by roughly eight tentacles, give or take two or three, he couldn't really tell, the writhing mass in front of him looked more like one thing instead of many, so he wasn't quite sure how many he was combating.

 

But as for the reason for the large mass, well, Xan had attempted to fend the two tentacles that he had been fighting, off, unfortunately, they always seemed to get him into a situation to where he had to cut one up, off, or whatever you'd like to call it.

 

As Xan was making all of his efforts to hold off the mass of tentacles he glanced around to take in their position, the swordsman, who had luckily been pulled out of the fray by the archer, was no longer able to help them, and the assassin woman seemed to be holding her own, but as Xan looked over at the pyromancer he noticed the young man was only making things worse for himself as he held off tentacles by incinerating them, although Xan really had no room to talk as he looked back up at the tentacles he'd made.

 

Xan was taken off guard by a tentacle that had somehow gotten off to the side, it slammed into his arm, causing him to lose his grip on his axe, the said weapon flying into the air and landing some ways behind him. Xan retaliated by grabbing the tentacle with his new free hand, and whipping around with his only other weapon, embedding his axe halfway into the slimy coil, causing the creature to retract the coil in pain, unfortunately taking Xan's last axe with it.

 

"Oh, cra..." but the warrior was cut short as a tentacle wrapped around his neck. Xan felt the creature pull on him, but he pulled back, using every muscle in his body, he resisted the strong pull of the beast, which evidently surprised the creature, as it lashed out with more tentacles, trying it's best to pull him into the water; one tentacle gripping his right arm, another wrapping around his waist. Xan was in trouble, he could feel himself slipping across the sand, and he was running out of strength seeing as every ounce of adrenaline in his system was being used.

 

Xan began pulling backwards, away from the water, sinewy tendons and muscle popping out all over his body, every ligament of muscle in his body was visible as he resisted the tentacles' pull. But Xan's resistance didn't last long as more serpentine coils grabbed a hold of him, and with that Xan could resist no more, and he was pulled very swiftly towards the ocean, his last bit of strength ebbing from his tired body. But just as Xan was reaching the waters edge, the tentacles froze, Xan could feel them quiver for just a second, then they all let go, Xan dropping to the sandy earth as they did.

 

Xan looked around in bewilderment, he was surprised he wasn't dead, or at least underwater, and as he looked up he could see the Kraken's tentacles flailing around, and he could hear the agonizing wails and screams of the beast as it died.

 

Xan sat up just as the slimy mass of coils went still, and the creature's carcass came bobbing to the surface of the water. Xan staggered to his feet, and began walking towards the creature, when he was roughly waist deep in the water he began looking around until he found what he was looking for, and plucked it from the tentacle it had embedded in. The former guard stamped to shore, one of his throwing axes in hand, he retrieved his other one, and putting them back in their holsters on his belt, he grabbed his book, and then approached Aya, where Akkan, his dog, lay near her.

 

Xan plucked the little animal from the ground and put him back into his rucsac, and with that, Xan plopped himself down on the ground next to the young merchant woman, letting out a big breath of air, he looked over at Aya and spoke to her in the most humorous way he could muster, considering how weary he was now.

 

"Old boyfriend?" He asked with a little smirk.

[Jae Onasi]

"My mind still goes back to that story you told last night." It was unmistakeably Audra's voice, and presently, she stalked forward from behind Takumi and into his sight range. Turning to face him, she placed her hands on her hips and scowled faintly. "A matter of interest to me, Bard. Where did you hear it? And who told it to you?"

 

Takumi continued chewing absently on the aniseed, leaning casually against the fence, but he watched her closely. The bard had been around people long enough to be able to read them well--a skill that had saved his hide many times when bar fights broke out. With her chin tipped up defiantly and hands on hips, it was obvious from her defensive posture that he'd hit the mark last night with his story. Not that he could have missed it--the aura of power that surrounded her virtually glowed, much as she tried to hide it.

 

"My dear Lady, asking a bard how he knows a story is like asking a fish how he knows how to swim. We hear enough variations of a tale that we can tease the string of truth out of a large tangled knot of rumor."

 

Audra lifted an eyebrow in disbelief.

 

He pushed himself off the fence and strolled down the path to go back into the inn. Then, he smiled brightly in case anyone else was watching them. When Takumi was shoulder to shoulder with Audra, he said in a low voice, "If your daughter knew I was speaking with you, I'm sure she'd want me to say hello. I'll leave you to tell the others when you feel the time is right. If something bad were to happen to them, however, I would be forced to say something. If I were to meet an unfortunate accident, rest assured your secret would not be safe."

 

Audra narrowed her eyes. "You dare to threaten me?"

 

"Not at all, my dear," Takumi replied. "You could incinerate me in two seconds if you wanted. However, there are enough people who were loyal to that drakkart of a king that you'd be dead within a week if you were found out. That would not serve the cause of justice for either of us, now would it?"

 

She tipped her head a fraction, conceding that point.

 

He continued smiling broadly, but it didn't reach to his flashing green eyes that held Audra's so strongly she couldn't look away. "Now, I've come to quite like this little group of people I travel with, and the Fates swirl around them so strongly it's almost like a windstorm. I mean to help them as much as I can so they can get through it alive."

 

Audra didn't move.

 

Aya's scream of terror ripped through the air, and both jerked their heads in her direction. They took off in a dead run to the beach.

[ForceFightWMe12]

This was why he never traveled without his armor. This was why he never took it off while on the road. This was why it was a smart idea to keep it with him at all times and a bad idea to have stored it in his pack last night.

 

"Thanks, Carwyn." he said as the ranger helped him to his feet. He'd tried to use his arm in the shallows, to escape the second blow of the Karaken, but as he tried to push himself up even the slightest bit his shoulder screamed in protest. He could move it, at least, which meant that it wasn't shattered - perhaps dislocated, as he didn't have the full range of motion, but not broken. That was a relief. Dislocation can be fixed easily. It just wouldn't be too overly pleasant.

 

He cradled his arm against his chest with the other one as he watched the Kraken's priorly floating body began to slowly ebb into the ocean and sink beneath the waves. Well, that would be one mistake that he certainly would never make again. Just another example of how emotion can be nothing more than a distraction. If he hadn't been so angry, so hotheaded, so looking for a fight...

 

Moving down the beach, his thoughts couldn't help but turn to the mysterious happening as he went to retrieve his blade. One second, he was hurtling towards the dark blue waves, destined to be left for bait in an element that he couldn't fight against, certain that he would be dragged under by one of the many tentacles. He had been hoping that there might have been a rock somewhere under the waves that would be high enough for him to stand on and still be able to fight...but for a rock to literally rise out of the waves...

 

He glanced around the beach at the others of the group, checking for any other injury. Thankfully, he seemed to be the only one this time around - and his wasn't too bad. Though he studied everyone closely, turn by turn, he made no move to address any of them as he set his injured arm back at his side, freeing his other hand to pull his blade from the sands. He glanced quickly up at the sun. "It's almost noon." he said to no one in particular before crossing to pick up his sheath.

[Writer]

Audra and Takumi had arrived on the beach just in time to see Kyo and his rocky support in midair. Audra pulled up short at the sight and her eyes narrowed. "You'd think I'd have sensed it..." she murmured. About that time, the Kraken found Kyo on his perch and knocked him away. Audra watched as the rock dropped back into the water and Kyo went flying.

 

Then, Audra shivered. "Darkness comes to this place," she whispered, just before the Kraken began to shudder and convulse. Her gaze fell on the other Pyromancer as he collapsed to the sand and her eyes narrowed. Great... one more reason not to like him... She sighed. It wasn't as if she wanted not to trust these people, but they certainly weren't making it easier with all these secrets they kept.

 

She stalked forward to Kyo, just in time to hear his absent remark on the time. "High time to be leaving, is that it?" she asked sharply, giving no explanation as to why she was on edge, though it might have been assumed that it had something to do with the fact that her weapons had not yet been returned to her. And by a further stretch of the imagination, it might have been guessed that she was angry that she could not have been more helpful in the fight.

[JasraLantill]

Xan plopped himself down on the ground next to the young merchant woman, letting out a big breath of air, he looked over at Aya and spoke to her in the most humorous way he could muster, considering how weary he was now.

 

"Old boyfriend?" He asked with a little smirk.

 

Aya gave him a quizzical, wide-eyed stare. "Wow," she said, in honest amazement. "How did you know it was male? That's the first ever Kraken I've ever seen! And hopefully," she added quietly, "the last one." She smiled at Xan. "I'm glad you're on our team, Xan. You've got an incredible knowledge of animals. Stick with me and Bob for the sea journey, okay? He's been acting a bit weird lately, and he hates sea journeys. Maybe by just being there with him, you can calm him down a bit for the trip."

 

The crisis over, she rose, brushing the sand from her skirt. "Thanks for your help, Xan." She looked him over, and seeing that he appeared to be none the worse for wear, she turned her attention to the rest of the people gathered on the beach. "Erm, is everyone else alright? And if so, can we go now before some other sea creature decides that they want to have us for lunch?"

[ForceFightWMe12]

"Yes..." Kyo said, turning to flash a glare at Audra - as if to warn her of the very short stretch of patience he had at that moment. He crossed the beach, only pulling his eyes away from the female warrior to find the sheath to his blade. He gritted his teeth as he bent to pick it up, his busted arm sending a ricochet of pain up his arm and shoulder that caused him to hiss under his breath. But if it was painful to lift the sheath to deposit his blade back inside, he didn't let on. "High time to be leaving."

 

He carried his blade by the strap of its sheath, which he dangled lightly over his good shoulder as if he were some sort of grim Saint Nick. He turned back towards the inn. "Everyone, gather your things." he said, his voice empty - but far less harsh than it had been earlier. "If we're late, they'll set off without us." And with little more than that, he started back up across the beach to the building standing several yards away, poised to collect his backpack.

[Rogue Nine]

Carwyn glanced over at Kyo; the normally taciturn warrior did seem to be in quite a bit of pain. Not that he would admit it, of course. Warriors often tended to have stubborn streaks about them and Kyo was no different. Still, it wouldn't do for their leader to be injured and not tended to as they went on their journey, and Carwyn knew that Aya would do something about it one way or the other. Speaking of whom...

 

The ranger shouldered his bow and started to make his way over to where Aya and Xan were. "Aya, Xan!" he called out. "You guys all right?"

 

----

 

Chrys pulled herself out of the black-stained water and trudged towards the beach. The fight with the Kraken had been fast, furious and quick, and it had left her soaked to the bone. Frowning at her wet clothes, she wiped the long knife her brother had thrown her on her pant leg, then sheathed it in the strap at her thigh. As far as she was concerned, she had earned the right to carry a weapon again by her actions.

 

Shaking out her dampened blonde hair, she glanced behind her at the carcass of the Kraken floating in the water. It's black eyes were completely devoid of life, as if its very essence had been sucked out. Chrys trained her eyes on the pyromancer, Toa, still sitting on the beach, staring at the dead monster. He had done something...performed some sort of dark magic, that much was obvious by how quickly the creature had died. Yet it didn't seem to die from any sort of fire-incurred injury, making her wonder just how the flamewielder had managed to do it. Chrys didn't trust things she didn't understand, so she made up her mind to keep her distance from him.

 

She began the slow walk back to the inn, her shoes squelching from the water in them.

[ForceFightWMe12]

Setting his shoulder against the wall, he held it in place with one hand. Then, taking in a deep breath and biting his lower lip in anticipation, Kyo threw his weight against the dislocated shoulder. There was a sickening snap.

 

The silence of the room was pierced by a gasp of pain from the warrior, and Kyo had to blink once or twice to clear away the quick, sharp tears that threatened. Rotating his shoulder carefully, he checked to be certain that he hadn't pinched anything important in the process, and though there was a slight twinge as he moved it, he declared the situation as a success.

 

Quickly dressing in his armor, the warrior took on last glance in the mirror as he tied his sword to his back...and the glance caused him to pause and look again. Leaning in, he examined himself more closely...but it seemed that it hadn't just been a trick of the light. He actually looked as if these past few days were taking a toll on him - he looked almost...haggard. Strange...he hadn't noticed anything in his visage earlier - yet, even a few hours later, his skin seemed greyer, his eyes sunken slightly and cheeks a bit sallower.

 

His mind flashed back to the rock that had mysteriously risen out of the water. Perhaps...

 

No, he thought to himself, You're a warrior. Don't be ridiculous.

 

And with little other thought to the subject than that, Kyo turned to sling his knapsack over his shoulder, and left the quiet bedroom room. Jogging downstairs, he quickly discussed the cost of the group's stay with the inn keeper, paid the due, and then gathered the rest of the waiting group with a few words and a wave of his hand. In minutes, they were moving through the streets of the town, passing the carts of fish and the passing fishermen as they made their way to the harbor.

 

The only true ship that was docked there made the other, smaller fishing vessels look like a boy's toy sail boat. It was obviously a merchant ship - and a massive one at that. Perhaps the size of a military galley, it sailed with twin masts, and a bowhead decorated with the image of a mermaid. Its prow read, in golden letters, The April Rain. As they approached it, Kyo's pace noticeably slowed; as he eyed the side of the ship, he seemed almost...wary.

[The Doctor]

Balthazar glared after the young man and his party as they boarded his ship, tugging on the base of his tunic and pulling it tight across his chest. His eyes burned with barely suppressed hatred, and his hands seemed to have balled themselves into fists of their own volition. He turned on his heel and gazed out across the open water ahead of them, his mind reeling. He had never expected to see that miserable coward again, especially after all these years.

 

His gaze fell on the massive wooden figure fixed to the bowhead, and his mood suddenly changed from righteous anger to profound sadness. He placed a hand gently on the figure's back, and let out a cleansing breath. Giving into his temper would only make matters worse, he knew; but hate burned in his chest, and picturing Kyo's smug face brought bile to his throat. He had tried to forgive him, years ago, when his wounds were still fresh. But the scars of hate still ached, and he could never forget what that boy had done - and now, he was travelling with-- what? A replacement? He lost sight, in his anger, of why he had agreed to allow him or his party to board the April Rain in the first place - no shiny trinket was worth this.

 

He closed his eyes and forced back tears of both rage and sorrow. “Forgive me, sister,” he whispered.

[JasraLantill]

Aya had been usually quiet on the walk to the docks. She held Bob's lead lightly in her hand, pensively thinking about the events of the morning, perfectly content to just to let Kyo lead while she and the rest of the group followed. So when Kyo paused in front of the large merchant boat, she stopped as well.

 

It was by all accounts an impressive looking ship. Not new, but it appeared well-maintained--the sails were white and untattered, the hull looked clean and barnacle-free, and from what she could see of the deck near the boarding planks looked tidy, waxed, and polished. She didn't particularly like sailing on ships, and Bob definitely didn't like it, but neither she, or Bob for that matter, felt any apprehension on boarding this one. As ships went, it looked solid enough. Certainly Kraken-resistant, and that was a big plus at the moment in her book.

 

Yet, Aya felt that Kyo was uncertain about something.

 

"Something wrong?" she asked him tentatively. She sidled up closer to him and put a light, warm hand on his arm. "As ships go, it looks alright to me. Even Bob doesn't seem nervous about it." She looked at the name of the boat. "And April's a nice name," she commented.