Abysmal Souls Chapter 1: Soul Eater

[CT075]

[spoiler=Battle][search B5]

"Dammit!"

He had no idea why this witch was having such trouble hitting him, as he was tired and less agile than he'd like to be. He strained his eyes again, trying to see the source of the flame this time.

[Kanami]

Carrion Moves!

Introduction to fighting 103

Moving: Moving is a key action if you plan on staying alive, not only will this action reset the number of searches on your map, but it will allow you to move 1 square from your current location.

When moving please make sure to specify who you are moving (Move Adrian D2)

End Battle

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was time for a change in tactic, it was clear that neither of them were in any condition to fight, and Carrion herself hadn't fully recovered from using so much Prana earlier, coupled with the fact that the sun had completely set engulfing their surrounding in darkness didn't help either, and as the sun dropped below the horizon, so did the temperature, she wasn't sure how long she'd been fighting the two, couldn't be anymore then two minutes at most, but fatigue was starting to make her feel the cold, and judging by the way the other two were moving, it was starting to affect them too.

This wasn't smart at all, she contemplated suggesting a truce, but decided she'd rather not embarrass herself by suggesting an end to something she'd started. She noticed two figures looming closer to her by the moment and figured if she didn't relocate, she might as well just let them kill her.

They couldn't possibly see her in this darkness so her best option was probably to flee and return at a later date. After quickly considering her options, she decided she was in no shape to fight these two and fleeing was the only solution. She didn't really know where her enemies were at the moment, but unless they had night vision, she'd be fine. After all, they were probably on edge due to the fact that the barrage of flames had suddenly ceased.

She quickly turned to her left in hopes of escape only to slam right into something, or rather someone, whoever it was it wouldn't be any friend of hers. A quick look told her it was one of the boys she'd been fighting, but she couldn't really tell without lighting a flame to see which of the two she'd crashed into.

Edited April 7, 2011 by Kanami

[Nanami Touko]

Adrian's body was slowly giving out, but he kept fighting. He could barely see, and he couldn't hear very well. The fireballs stopped coming, thinking this as his chance to get close and score a hit on her, something to slow her down and give Ormis the chance to come in and finish her off. Although, in his haste to find her, he ran into someone, not seeing straight as he fell back into the snow. He looked up as a ball of fire illuminated that he had run straight into the witch. He stared at the fire, as if he was enjoying being this close to it. "So, what now?" He asked her, ready to collapse.

[CT075]

Ormis was just about ready to strike when he noticed that Adrian was no longer lying on the snow. Looking around, he noticed that the chef was right at the feet of the witch.

"Damn..."

He started running towards her, but slipped on some ice and ended up lying flat on his back a few feet away from the pair. He scrambled to get up, but in his haste to attack he ran smack into a tree instead, landing him next to Scarlet.

Great...

"Alright, what is it now? Because you clearly aren't gonna let us off scot-free anyway."

[Zsword]

Zwool sighed as the world darkened into night, all his looking for The One with Crimson Hair and no luck... this saddened him, he was hoping to ask her some questions. It was then the smell of burning wood came to him, wood and... spices. Spices must of found Scarlet... and they were fighting... they shouldn't be fighting, they'd need each other, especially with those strange armed men around. Turning on his heel he dashed into the forest, following the scent to them, dodging trees with animalistic precission as he rushed. I hope I"m not to late... I hope they don't kill each other...

[ReformBlade]

(I'm making an assumption here, so tell me if this is alright or I can change it if needed)

Low quality prisons here. He mused. Breaking himself out would be easy via brute force for him, but taking on so many by himself would be an almost impossible task for the man. And then the woman threw in another loop for him, as he didn't much like the idea of her being killed or threatened because of his actions. He didn't know her, probably never will, but he wouldn't be so heartless.

"... The name's Grant." He figured he'd answer her question now, nothing to lose from it, everything to gain.

[Kanami]

Carrion smiled, looking at the two men by her feet. She contemplated killing the pair, she already had a ball of flame ready to strike in her hand, and by the looks of the pair, she'd be able to blast them away before they could retaliate.

The only problem was that if she attacked one of them, it'd give the other more then enough chance to retaliate, and with her current strength, she probably wouldn't be able to sidestep or move out of the way from an attack.

"Tch, get up" she ordered rather solemnly, now, this time, tell me where you're going without trying to piss me off" she took note of Adrians injury, surely they weren't going to attack the soldiers in their current condition.

[roymbrog]

Susan was sitting in the corner of the cell, knees to her chest, trying her best not to cry. This was the worst day of her life. She’d lost her mother’s tome and father’s blade, two of the most valuable ad sentimental things she had, she’d been captured by soldiers of a foreign nation and shoved in a dingy cell, and still had no idea why she’d been arrested. Cold, she tried to pull the cloak she still had tighter around herself. The boy who’d lent it to her was most certainly dead by now, after the stab wound he’d suffered the soldier would just finish him off. Come to think of it, the witch was probably the only one who’d make it out of this alive.

“…Hmph. Susan,” she said to the cell’s other occupant. She didn’t care who he was now, it wouldn’t really matter after they were both dead anyway. She doubted the bastards in this camp would keep them alive, considering how they’d treated the other two mercs in the woods.

[Nanami Touko]

Adrian tried to get up, finally managing to get himself to stand, bracing himself against a tree. His vision was leaving him again, and he shook his head hard, making sure to keep himself alive. "We're... going to try... and save our friends..." His breathing was low, and his arm was shaking against the tree. "If you want... to help, then... Oh, who am I kidding... Please, help us." Adrian would beg; he didn't care. She was powerful, and they needed the help. Ormis wouldn't be able to take them all by himself, and Adrian was about to collapse. "If you have any... any way of healing me or something, please..." He braced himself quickly against the tree, feeling himself tip over "please help me."

[ReformBlade]

The knight sighed then looked her way. By the looks of it, she had already given up. Hell, that's what a normal person would naturally be doing, but Grant wasn't going to give up, and he didn't think her depressing aura was helping. He moved closer to her, sitting down and keeping his voice very low, "Can you fight unarmed at all? If you can, we could do something here..."

[roymbrog]

“Basic self defense, and I can use a few spells if I have a gemstone. Why? You’re not thinking of breaking out, are you?” she asked quietly, narrowing her eyes in suspicion. That idea was clearly suicide.

[Kanami]

Carrions eyes wavered for a second, she did have a way of healing him, but she wasn't willing to waste her precious energy source on people who'd forced her to waste her energy earlier. But if she didn't help the guy he'd probably die....

Her eyes suddenly turned ice-cold as she glared down at the man, she wouldn't be fooled by such a weak man, she had two options, either kill the man and get her precious Prana, or heal the man risk dying herself. And even if she were to heal the man, there was no guarantee that the two of them wouldn't turn on her the moment they were able to.

"I suppose it's the smart thing to do" she stated coldly, "You can either die trying to save your friends, or you can freeze to death tonight, either way it doesn't change your fate"

Unless Alifer was still standing which she doubted even if the group did escape they were all going to die, "Your friends are probably better off wherever they are anyhow"

[Nanami Touko]

"Heh... You're... right..." He smiled, closing his eyes. She's not going to help. I never thought she would, either way. He collapsed again, and this time he wasn't getting back up. "Just... Just help them... Please." He rolled onto his back, forcing an eye open to stare at the sky one last time. He could see a star from where he was looking, but as his vision got blurrier is faded from view. The cloak on his shoulder was dripping now, and wasn't working to stop the blood that was still pouring out of him. He only wished that he could have saved his family, wherever they were, before he died. "Such... is life..." he spat out, coughing up some more blood before he finally blacked out.

[ReformBlade]

Grant smirked, "Yeah, if we broke out now it'd be suicide. Hell, it's a huge gamble regardless, and I don't know about you, but I'd rather go down taking some of their sorry carcasses with me. But the thing is, we're still here, right? If they really wanted us dead they'd of killed us off right then and there. Now, I know they'll kill us if we just burst out all gung-ho, however... if we're lucky, what if there's a commotion made outside? If we took full advantage of that, we could get our weapons or even one of theirs and cause even more panic, win our freedom back." He paused, allowing her to process what he was saying then continued, "To do that, I'm absolutely certain that we need each other to get this done."

"But if you're not comfortable with it, or you're too afraid, I do understand that. I don't accept it, but I understand it. Maybe I'm too carefree about this, but I don't like giving in. Ever. I can see freedom, it's right out there, and if I'm denied that then I'm already dead." he finished.

[Kanami]

The guard thought he heard the word break out and flinched but passed it off as the wind and his paranoia. But when he heard the man mention the word commotion he snapped, brandishing his spear menacingly at the pair, "Don't even think about it" he grunted, obviously not wanting to be where he was, it was probably alot more warmer, in the tents then the wreckage of a house they'd rebuilt as a prison. "Make any moves and I've got orders to kill you... actually" he added after a slight pause. The look in his eyes changed as he contemplated just killing the two and saying that they tried to escape.

But before the soldiers could do anything stupid, another soldier appeared out of seemingly nowhere, "Get some shut eye, I'll watch them" the soldier stated gruffly, handing the man a small steel bottle, which gave off the smell of spirits that even Susan and Grant could smell.

As the two soldiers switched positions, and the former soldier hurried off, just glad that he'd be able to get out of the cold, the other soldier spoke up "Don't try anything funny"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Carrion panicked for a second, before realizing that she shouldn't care that the man infront of her just collapsed, if anything she should be worried that the precious energy she could get out of the man was slowly being sapped away, normally this'd be where she'd pounce on the opportunity and get what she could, but the other kid would probably slice her in half if she tried anything. Though if these fools cared about eachother she could probably fool the man into letting her have her way.

Feigning a sigh, she looked over at Ormis "Good thing he didn't collapse while you rescuing your friends huh?" she said rather sarcastically, "I could heal him I suppose" she stated casually, but quickly added "for a price" as she noticed a glint of suspiscion in Ormis's gaze. "I'm no healer, probably closer to the necromancer of old, if you're willing to give up part of your life then I'd be more then able to heal him."

[Zsword]

Zwool came rushing out of the forest, the smell of smoke was originating from this fire charred clearing. His night eye kicking in, with the aid of a fire from the Scarlet One, he could see Spices laying on the ground bleeding out, as Youngling was somewhere just in the firelight, but not enough for him to tell what he was doing, or how ok he was. The Gem on Zwool's gauntlet glowed brightly, and he subconciously used it to light his face as he spoke, his voice almost some form of snarl, "What... happenned? Will he be... ok?" He was obviously referring to Spices on the ground, his expression jumping between angry, concerned, and confused. I might be to late for one, but the other two look... ok...

[Kanami]

Carrion wasn't sure how convincing she'd been, negotiating with others had always been... nevermind She needed to stop focusing on the past and focus on the present, no matter what she did, things weren't going to work the same way they used to. Staring the man down as she looked for a sign of weakness, a voice interrupted them.

A quick glance over told her it was the Anri from earlier, "he'll be fine if the boy decides to trust me" she said smugly, "though if he doesn't get some sort of healing soon, he's as good as gone, being unconscious, lying in the snow at this temperature isn't going to do anyone any good right?"

[Zsword]

"Why do..." Zwool began, choking a little as he it seemed he needed to carefully think about his words, his Gem flared. "Need the... Youngling's help?" He asked, calmly walking closer to the group his eyes darting around wildly, whether he was just thinking very hard, or watching for unseen attackers, was hard to determine.

[Kanami]

Carrion nearly laughed at the question, "Do I look like a member of the priesthood? I'm not a healer Anri, and even if I were I wouldn't be willing to heal anyone for free." Seeing the puzzled look on the mans face, she decided to explain, "There's no real definition of the type of magic I use anymore, but the easiest way to describe it here would be a necromancer, though I can't really revive anyone once they actually die" she stated, emphasizing the last part to give them all a sense of urgency, "Best I can do is transfer one life force to another vessel, done correctly it should heal any wound or illness, done incorrectly and...." she paused unsure of whether to continue. "Well if things don't go well, the receiver will blow up in my face" she said a little too casually.

[Zsword]

Zwool looked at Scarlet with a very simple, serious expression, and calmly held his hand out to her as he stepped forward. "Then use mine." He said, his gem glow slowly beginning to dim as his demeanor became much more relaxed. "Just enough to save him, I need what I can spare to save the others, I take it the armed men captured them?" He asked, turning his head towards Youngling, still looking very serious, but much more calm and collected. I understand that my race means I am more than what these normal people are.. faster, stronger, I don't need as much as they do, it only makes sense I make the sacrifice...

[Kanami]

Carrion hesitated, she hadn't factored in the Anri into her equation at all, she'd hoped to drain Ormis of his Prana first, and then take her time with Adrian, but with the arrival of the Anri things had changed. If Ormis were to blow up into pieces then the the Anri would probably strike at her, if the Anri were to die, she doubted that Ormis would act well.

Crap, this is why I don't like planning things out

After thinking it over, she figured that refusal here would make her look suspicious and instead decided to try and persuade the Anri otherwise, "Firstly, I've got no idea how it'll work on you, never tried it on a warped soul before" she admitted truthfully, "And judging from the magical interference you Anri have I'm not even sure that your energy is compatible, so there's a higher risk of failure"

She wasn't lying, she'd never dealt with Anri Prana before. But judging by how hard it was to control a normal humans energy, it'd probably be a miracle if she could control the hyperactive life force of one of the beasts.

[roymbrog]

“Hmph. That may be all well and good, but who would cause a commotion outside? I don’t know if you’re noticed, but there’s no one here to rescue us and I doubt we’d be lucky enough for them to distract themselves,” she said harshly, then flinched as the soldier spoke. Damn, he must’ve heard something. She glared at him as he brandished his weapon, searching for anything that would signal that he’d decided to attack them.

Thankfully another man came in to replace him before he did anything rash and Susan relaxed slightly. However, he had handed the other soldier a bottle which, judging by the smell, almost certainly contained alcohol. Had the replacement been drinking?

[CT075]

"A price, huh?"

Ormis didn't really like the sound of that. Knowing this girl, she'd probably just drain them both and eat them. He was tempted to just kill her right now then take his chances taking the fort on alone, but every second he wasted here was another second for Adrian to bleed and slowly die of frostbite and blood loss.

"What exactly are you asking?"

--

And then the other Anri from earlier blundered in, apparently under the impression that they were all trying to be friends and all. Ormis had heard rumors of the Anri's exceptional powers but he'd never had to fight one or deal with one directly before. All in all, none of this was doing anything to dissuade Ormis from his opinion that the world just had it out for him.

If we can make it out of here with either all of us alive or just Scarlet here dead, that'd be a ridiculous miracle... Ugh...

He shivered. The cold was beginning to get to him.

"Look, just name your price and we'll talk."

[Zsword]

Zwool clasped his hand with a solemn look, what she said made sense, his magically alterred nature might have great effects on the magic. "I see, let's hope Youngling has enough energy to spare.. he looked severly weakenned himself. You seem, very suspicious of people, Crimson, why?" he asked, he had of course never heard of the Scarlet Witch or the stories aroun her, and she seemed nice enough, maybe just a little mis-understood, and as being half human, he knew what that fealt like. His gem glowed very softly now, occasionally winking a little brighter, but still remaining very tame.

[Kanami]

She raised an eybrow at Ormis's question, it was as if he hadn't been listening, but perhaps he didn't understand what life force was. Sighing she looked over at Ormis, trying to remember everything Faye had taught her regarding Prana. "I'm asking for your life force, it's nothing permanent, it'll just sap you of your strength for awhile though excessive amounts I suppose could lead to death, judging from your friends situation there though, might need a fair bit to make a full recovery though. So I can't guarantee you'll come out of it unscathed either"

She could go on, but figured anymore would confuse the kid.

She looked over at the Anri who seemed much less.... hostile to her then she'd have expected, though she supposed he didn't know who she was yet. "I'm not suspicious Anri, I'm just not stupid enough to put my life in the hands of people I don't know." she looked at Ormis, "especially if I'm around the same group of mercenaries that tried to kill me earlier"

She knew that none of the people here had made an active move against her, it was mainly the man in green that had caused her grief, but if these people wanted to rescue Green, then they certainly weren't on her side, and it wasn't like they'd objected to Green slicing her in half.