As a hunter stalks... (Somewhat mature)

[Chronos]

Mortracta began to laugh insanely in her mind as the foolish human struggled to save his life. This was, however, "cut short" by the sudden loss of her fifth root cap. Mortracta became enraged. Her fifth appendage was now just a ropelike trap with the loss of the gemlike root cap. It had no sharp point, no no means of permorming an abrupt impale, and no way to pierce anything harder than dirt. Mortracta now could not feel where the child had gone. She decided she could no longer rely on surprise. Lifting herself from the soil- and throwing sod everywhere- she crawled along above ground, feeling frantically for her escaping quarry.

[Ashen Rain]

Alive, alive, I'm alive...

These words echoed through Allan's mind as he crawled quickly away from the hole he had been in. How had he gotten out? He wasn't sure, but at least he was ali-

God, I'm dead.

The eruption of earth behind him made him turn his head for just one moment- enough time to see that the beast wanting to kill him was still after him. Allan screamed and tried to stand, holding onto his shears as best he could. Still he tried to run away, stumbling due to the numbness of fear in his legs. He could turn and fight if he needed to- but he knew that would be the end of him. Now, his mind only yelled at him to get away.

And so Allan ran from Mortracta the root beast, screaming though he did not realize he was, foolishly heading away from his only salvation. In is fear, the boy did not realize he was running away from the town and into the open plains.

His only hope now was that someone might hear him screaming.

[Chronos]

This taste was all too familiar to the lonely flower.

Puer minuo! She thought, translating literally as "the boy lets blood."

Yes, this young creature was bleeding, making it all too easy to follow his trail. Blood had a very strong taste of metal. A taste that was fresh in her mind from the loss of her root cap. Withdrawing her flowered main body once more, Mortracta gave pursuit.

Puer maxime fortunatus! (The boy is very lucky!) She thought again to herself as she came upon soil heavily laden with clay. She had been slowed to nearly the running speed of the boy. He did, however, have a headstart on Mortracta. She would not catch up to him for another 240 meters. Pounding at the dirt beneath and ripping great chunks of clay furiously from her path, Mortracta got ever closer, ever angrier.

[TheBlackSoul]

As Lunagon followed his quarry, he noticed they had led him right onto open plains.

Just my luck, he thought.

Now, it would be a bit harder to stay out of their sights. At least the sun was setting.

Lunagon decided to faze to follw them-it would be a bit harder for the women to get a glance of him while he was teleporting.
He put the Staff of Darkness into the ground in front of im, bowed and his head, and waited. Nothing happened.
I should have figured, he thought.
When he tried again, still no response.
WHY CAN'T I FAZE?!
Oh well, only one more thing to do, and that was try again. And so he did, and-you guessed it-nothing happened.

"RICKA DARG FARG!" He screamed, and started spewing a long stream of curses in vampirese, quite loudly.

[Swix]

Had the golden griffin not turned it's head slightly to watch more of the actions of the grounded creatures, she may well have been finished there and then. However she caught the glint of a spear and the sunlight catching off white fur and feathers before instinct took hold. The female immediately folded her wings, instantaneously losing the lift they had been providing and dropped down towards the ground in a freefall. The spear-like instrument grazed the fur-feathers on the back of her neck, missing by centimetres.

~Damn hunters, I haven't stolen anything recently! I need to get this guy off my tail~

As the golden griffin continued to fall, her brown eyes scanned the ground for anything, anywhere, that she might be able to use. But she was heading straight for open ground, and that meant she couldn't hide. She saw the young boy running away from the root monster, and an idea hit her. Maybe she could help him and get the one chasing her off her tail at the same time.

~Let's see how good at flying you are~

She thought as she continued her plunge, pointing her beak at the ground more steadily and using her tail to slightly steer towards the point between Mortracta and Allan.

[GBE]

((Ashen, I hope you know with my comment, I was only joking. I apologise if I offended you...

As for a link: Rolan ))

Rolan carefully watches the farmers expressins as he tells him of the Squid-Tapir that is eating their crops. As Deanna interupted, he could clearly see the farmer was being aged beyond his means by the confidence and independance of his daughter. As the farmer finally managed to finish what he had to say, Rolan nodded and for a few moments stroked his chin as if he contemplating something.

After a short silence, Rolan politely smiles and partially nods his head, "If you to give me a bed for the night, I would gladly help you with this Squid-Tapir, no charge at all. I just require your smallest loaf of bread." To affirm his statement, the seemingly old man nods his head. He almost expects one of the two to suggest that a man ofhis age should keep away from such a creature.

Outside, Valis moves closer to some tracks she believes she's found. Sharing Rolan's knowledge, she keeps herself high above the ground as she circles around and around, looking for where the tracks lead to and from. Occasionally she will release a call, talking to the other birds in the area, attemping to learn what they know. Some ignore her, but the others, she carefully listens to....

[3kul]

Most folk would've been envious of the Demon's hiding abilities if they ever knew of them, for as his name suggested he could disappear beneath grass the moment he touched it, giving him access to a kind of dimension all of his own, under the grass but not underground. It was a place that very few could enter (as far as the Demon knew, he was the only one), and if one should ever have the desire to they'd find it quite difficult to wrench the Demon out of this place. Even if you were to dig for him, the chances of you unearthing the Demon Who Hides In The Grass were slim to none.

To the Demon though, his abilities weren't very interesting at all. He couldn't see much of a difference between what he was doing now and what he'd been doing back outside the front of the Hunter's Guild, and following these women had become boring to him. He found his mind wandering, which led to his feet following suit, and he found himself drifting away from the women.

"Losing focus of the task at hand, yasu?"

He looked about, but couldn't spot the Seedling who was talking to him. He couldn't bring them out in this realm, though they could still speak to him, something which usually caused him a few moments of confusion until he remembered this. "These women are taking far too long, one would think that they'd show a little more gusto for what they are about to attempt." "Perhaps they are forming a strategy, yasu?" The other Seedling spoke up, causing the Demon to once again look for what obviously wasn't there. "Why should they bother? Unlike the Demon Who Hides In The Grass, the Beast With The Squirming Mouth is a mindless beast... isn't it?"

He found himself a little unsure now, wondering just what kind of creature this monster actually was. Maybe it would be too hard for him to bring down even with the women unknowingly helping him. This notion was quite troubling, as he didn't like to think that he was doing this to fail. "How exactly is the Demon Who Hides In The Grass meant to defeat the Beast With The Squirming Mouth?" He thought aloud, hoping that this would provoke a reaction from the Seedlings. Much to his surprise though, the Seedlings did not answer him, which only gave him more cause for concern.

Unsure of how to proceed now, he found himself continuing to follow the women as he'd previously been doing as he pondered over how he could handle this problem if it should arise. As he drifted beneath the grass, he noticed a rabbit grazing above him. "Alright, let us assume that this Creature Who Grazes is actually the Beast With The Squirming Mouth, how does the Demon Who Hides In The Grass act to slay it..." He was once again hoping for some input from the Seedlings, and this time he got it. "It's not very smart, is it, yasu?" "Maybe a trap to confuse it, yasu?"

The Demon thought about this for a little while, but he was a little surprised to find himself disagreeing with the Seedlings. "A trap is not needed here Seedlings. The Demon Who Hides In The Grass is always hidden in places like this, and can strike from below at any time. One quick deadly move would be all that is required here..." "Really, yasu?" The Demon was even more surprised to hear the Seedlings questioning him like this, as usually it was they who suggested something to him and he who agreed - to disagree with them was not something he'd ever done before, and the situation seemed bizarre and unfamiliar. "Yes, really! Be silent for once and observe."

His massive green paw suddenly reached out into the world above the grass, seizing the unsuspecting rabbit by it's hind legs. Before it had time to struggle free of his grasp or even scream in shock he dragged it back beneath the grass, back to where he was. The Demon had not previously realized this, and he hadn't even thought of what he was doing, but in the world beneath the grass there was no air to breath - he could exist here safely, but the rabbit quickly suffocated to death. "Impressive, but it's no Beast With The Squirming Mouth, is it, yasu?"

The Demon didn't respond, he was too stunned by what he'd just done. How had he known that the rabbit couldn't survive here, that bringing it under the grass would kill it? Had he acted purely on instinct? "Killing that Creature Who Grazes was so... so..." He couldn't even think of how to finish his sentance, his mind still buzzing from the rush of what he'd just done. "Quick, yasu?" "Pointless, yasu?" The Seedlings attempted to guess at what he was going to say, yet despite the fact that they were merely extensions of his own mind they could not.

"So easy!" The Demon laughed, ecstatic with this newfound realization. Suddenly he was not just some grass-dwelling annoyance who haunted lawns, he had the potential to be a deadly assassin, invisible to his victims until it was far too late. "Oh how easy it is to kill something! Intelligence, strength, numbers, none of these things matter to the Demon Who Hides In The Grass, he is above them all!" Laughing to himself as he travelled, he continued to follow the two women, leaving the dead rabbit back on the surface where he'd found it. He now relished the opportunity to face the Beast With The Squirming Mouth, and couldn't wait for it to show itself, which fortunately for the two women before him meant that he didn't think to kill them instead.

[Chronos]

Now a mere 40 meters away from Allan, Mortracta dug clear of the clayed soil. Moving much quicker now, she closed the distance between them with frightening ease. It was a terrifying scene, even to be watching from afar. A small boy running along a flat plain with an undulation moving quickly behind him in the soil; the scene randomly flinching as long roots stabbed through the soil, straight upward, all around him. Mortracta was getting angrier. Stabbing through at random intervals with her roots, she could not hit Allan. She was either not skilled at aiming while moving, or the crazy boy was dodging quickly. She stopped stabbing upward so she could accelerate. Passing by where she felt the boy was running, she exploded out of the ground in front of him, thrashing wildly with her roots.

[Mitsukai]

((Sorry for the late reply everyone; I've been so busy and tired lately that I've been falling asleep in class! Eh... that was not good. Anyways, I'm back now.

Yay! A new spell! *glomps Ashen*

I used to know how to play the clarinet- taught myself how to last year- but I've forgotten most of it. My main instruments are flute, electric bass, bells, and a bit of drums on the side. Interesting mix isn't it? ))

Eve's emerald eyes lit up at the prospect of something new to learn, and she took the book from Ashen gladly.

"Thank you," she murmured softly, cradling the book in her left arm softly as she ran her fingers reverently over the cover.

The wind blew more strands of her auburn hair our of her normally tidy bun, but she paid as much attention to that small detail as she did the sudden shadow overhead. Which, to say, was very minimal.

Eve opened the book, eyes flickering over the words. She skimmed through the text quickly, page by page, to get a grasp of what sort of spells were in this book.

A bit to her surprise, she found a few elemental spells. It was rather tempting to read over them and compare them to her spells, but she fought the urge since, according to Ashen, she had time for only one.

Eve continued leafing through the pages until one title caught her eye.

Translocate

Her hand stilled on the opposite page as she began to read the text underneath.

Based on this text, this spell was more of skill than memorizing an incantation since she could not find one. Rereading the page over once more, Eve decided to ask the Huntress about it.

"Translocation... how does this work exactly?" she inquired while glancing over.

[Ashen Rain]

~(Alrighty, so pretty much everyone here still wants to role play, save for the fact that I've heard nothing from GBE. I might have to move his character around for a bit, lest we lose the story line I was going for.

So! Mit, 3kul, TBS, Swix, and Chronos! I need to get a post up here for you all. =p

... Which I would have a much easier time doing, if I wasn't blind in my right eye because I shot hair spray into it thirty minutes ago.

So! When I can see somewhat again, I will make my attempt at working on this once again. I know I said I would have the post up a while back, and ended up not doing it because life told me "No, go sit in a corner." I have a few other projects I'm working on as well, but I should be able to continue this. ^^';;

What would be good for me is if I can actually sit down and finish some of those other projects, so I would stop worrying about them. >>

Rambling! Any who, right, yes, posty as soon as possible!)~

[GBE]

((I've made a reply, you just need to scroll up a little, 'cos I am definately interested in continuing roleplaying with you.. So don't count me out... Pwease.... ))

[Ashen Rain]

~(No problem GBE. ^^ I know that you've posted, I was just trying to get everyone to send me a PM to let me know if they were still interested in playing. I didn't get one from you, so I thought you had disappeared.

... Though, you probably would have known I wanted you to send me the PM if I had realized that I edited it out of my previous post. Sorry about that! xp

Any who... I've been really busy lately (3kul knows why now), so I haven't been able to do all of the things I want or need to do recently. However, today, I shall give you postage! Expect a PM when your section is complete, so that you may reply. ^^

Edit: On a side note, my replies might not be the best, as it's almost eleven at night and I've had a long day. o.o)~




[To Mit and 3kul and TBS. It's really long.]

"Translocation... how does this work exactly?"

What ever thoughts involving the anticipated battle ahead vanished quietly from Ashen's mind as those words entered it. Once they had had a moment to process, a whimsical smile crossed her face. She paused in her steps then, and motioned for the girl marching beside her to follow suit, so that she could better explain the spell.

“By will,” the huntress stated simply, in an almost matter of fact way. “Will is the force that drives us and guides our decisions. Will is a powerful thing, and when used in certain ways it can achieve many advantages. This is the way of all things, but the banded hunters, graced with the gift of a nameless god, have been able to perfect many of its points.”

Lifting her chin proudly she closed her eyes, feeling a warm glow on her form as her tattoos began to glow. It seemed as though molten gold rushed beneath the red bands of her skin, until a wavering and liquid like light shined ethereally over her entire body. In the blink of an eye the soft glow had vanished, and where the tall huntress once stood now appeared to be a tall mage of some sort.

The red cloth robes and light leather armor she wore smelled faintly of herbs and potions, as if they had been curred in them long ago. Her hair, now a soft pink, rested in the same manner as Ashen's, albeit somewhat shorter. Resting atop her head was a golden band, which hid beneath her hair on the sides of her head, and held a ruby on a thin gold chain that hung pleasantly in the middle of her forehead. A tall staff, almost as tall as the woman herself and made from the same material as her head band was now held firmly in her hand, a large and glistening red orb at it's peak. Thought here eyes were now an odd shade of lime green, the red bands still visible on her face identified her for who she truly was.

“By will,” Ashen repeated, an impish smile still playing on her lips, “I am what I am. If you can master that will of yours, there's no telling what you'll be able to accomplish.

“However,” she continued, her humor suddenly fading, “Translocation is a hard thing to master. Most other spells involve creating something, willing the air or earth in front of you to form into something more useful. Translocation involves using full concentration in placing yourself somewhere else entirely. My other spells use incantations to help keep focus and let the world around you know what it is you want to create specifically, but there are no words to this spell to guide you- It is an act of will alone. You must focus intently on the place you wish to be, and then will your body to be there, while ignoring everything else around you. If you lose focus while in the middle of casting, you may be zipped back to where you started from- or you could disappear completely from existence without having ever reached your destination.”

With her warning given, Ashen leaned casually upon her staff and turned, looking out into the distance. She squinted, able to just barely see a farm- their destination- about a half a days walk away. In the midst of her peering, her smile returned in full, and with both hands she lifted her golden staff and tapped it's tip into the ground. Turning her gaze back on Eve, she thought a moment before nodding.

“Normally I would have started to teach you this by having you attempt to move a pebble or something that wouldn't be of much harm- Unless you messed up and translocated the pebble into someone's brain or something.” She grimaced jokingly at the thought, letting a small laugh escape her lips before she continued. “However, we have a schedule to keep. So, I'm going to head over to the farm house now that I can see it. You should try to focus your will and blip over there yourself. Worry not though! Once I arrive, I'll help you along your way, so even if you stop focusing I'll get you there- though you might end up on the roof.”

Giggling mischievously, Ashen closed her eyes, gripping her staff all the tighter now. She forgot about the world around her there, focusing intently on the spot right in front of the door to the farm house. To all those who were watching, it appeared as though the huntress had vanished without a trace.

In the shifting tunnel of most common to the translocation spell, the wind rushed by her as she stood solidly on nothing at all. If she did not focus on standing on solid ground, she might come out of the tunnel with her legs buried in the earth up to her ankles. If she focused too much on anything else besides staying steady and the place where she was headed, disaster might strike.

Thankfully however, today was not the one this huntress would spend meeting the gods in her promised after life. In a moment that lasted only seconds in the real world, Ashen was back on her feet, standing dutifully in front of the farm house.

Her head sank and she gasped, panting hard for a moment till she was able to catch her breath. Like always, she had unknowingly stopped breathing as she passed through the tunnel. Perhaps it had something to do with the slightly drained feeling she was now experiencing, the same one she felt after every spell she cast.

No time to waste, she thought then, clearing her mind in an attempt to bring it back into focus. Her gaze swept the horizon when for Eve's form when suddenly the over powering smell of rotting fish hit her nostrils. She choked on the scent, quickly covering her mouth and nose in a futile attempt to remove the stench from her mind. It was too invasive, and at that point she realize that there would be no way she could properly focus on helping Eve translocate over here as well.

Eve would be doing it all on her own.

[TheBlackSoul]

Lunagon stopped cursing, and looked ahead at the pair he was following.

Wow, they didn't hear me. Better be more careful about that, he thought before crouching down enough so the grass hid him.

[Ashen Rain]

~(On a side note, due to TBS's post, no, Ashen didn't hear him screaming. She was too focused on other things at the time. =p

However, Eve might still have heard him. If Mit replies that Eve did hear him however, since he is now hiding, Eve will have to search for him.

End random explanitory thing. =p

Next up is a post for both Chronos and Swix. Then I'll work on GBE's, and hopefully on anyone else's who responded.

I'm going to wait till Mit replies till I respond to your post TBS. That alright?)~

[TheBlackSoul]

((Yep, that's fine with me.))