Abysmal Souls: Chapter 2

[Nanami Touko]

"Shit..." In his anger, he'd forgotten to stop at a market and buy food. Of course, Riya mentioned hunting, and Adrian started to smile. "Of course I can! I've lived alone in the coldest part of the country my entire life!" And he wasn't lying to act cool. He'd had to hunt for most of his life, just to stay a live, since he didn't have money to buy food most of the time. Of course, it had been small things, like rabbits. Once he had managed to trap and kill a deer, but only once. Well, I can hunt better than I can ride this horse. The horse, though, had finally become a bearable ride, and Adrian flicked the reins again, trying to get his horse to keep up with Riya. He wasn't going to ask her how far they were going anymore, as she seemed to be irritated enough.

[Shin]

Aurelio - Somewhere on the Astarte/Sapphire border

It had been a good while since Aurelio's group had set off, and he was already planning how to give them the slip. If this pink-haired "witch" was indeed his sister, he wouldn't be very popular if he announced it. He could probably take most of the villagers, they wouldn't pose a threat at all. The mercenaries were an entirely different issues. His axe would be little help against such skilled opponents. Almost ironically, while he pondered this, one of them called out;

"You, axe-guy. You any good with a sword? I've heard that she's no fake, a genuine spellcaster. She'll take you out before you even swing your dead weight."

Aurelio was ready to retaliate, nobody made fun of his axe. Again, with divine irony, the man spoke;

"Take this, I don't need it. Hey, even if she gets you, you'll be a better decoy than with that thing."

He proceeded to toss a sheathed sword, whilst both were on horseback, to the bewildered Aurelio. Not wanting to see too rude, Aurelio replied;

"Thanks. Maybe I'll be quick enough to bail you out with it."

The two men laughed, both hating each others' guts. It would be unlikely either would save the other. The bald one in the red coat, that's the one Aurelio would remember The blade itself was fairly simple, but sturdy. Almost definitely steel. It was probably a spare that he kept around. The villagers were armed with pitchforks and knives. They were terribly outclassed, some even sharing horses. It was a fine way to travel, although not terribly dignified.

The transition from Astarte to Sapphire wasn't terribly noticeable. Aurelio knew from experience that the environment became far more hostile as you got further in. Aurelio began to doubt his lead;

"Something's up. Why on earth are we hunting a spellcaster? There were a tonne of them in Shuthra. There's no reason to hunt a regular mage. Is there something this guy's not telling us? Lunaria, if it's you, what have you got yourself into?"

Aurelio wasn't quite sure about this one. His sister was certainly more intelligent than himself. Despite being 4 years younger, she managed to teach him to read and write. He had been 14 at the time so it was somewhat embarrassing. The villagers seemed pretty eager, they obviously had never encountered magic at all. Or they were idiots, potentially even both. The party continued on, it could be nightfall by the time they arrived.

[roymbrog]

Susan finally showed up outside, sporting a headache and a bag of money. Having heard the explosion she rushed out and took one look at the chaos around before entering panic mode. Having not yet read the note, she had no idea what was going on. “What the hell happened? “

OoC: Playing catch up, w00t

[ReformBlade]

"That's... actually good to hear, for once!" she said to him with a hint of kindness. "But I assume by your boasting that means you didn't get any supplies... I hope you like sleeping on rocky ground, Adrian." She added with a playful tone. She dreaded it, but she was going to have to deal with the kid. She didn't want to risk losing her portion of mana inside him if he was killed, and he pretty much had no choice anyway. In a sense, she brought the misfortune upon herself, but the witch was clever. How else would she have lived such a long existence? She started heading West towards the mountains, thinking that would be the best place to hide out for the time being. "Keep up, boy!" she hollered at him,

Grant had to admire the kid's enthusiasm, but at the same time he wanted to smack the kid silly. "Look, kid, let's just-" And then Ormis tried climbing the city's walls. "Kid, stop, we'll just waste time here, and then once you do hop over, we'll be on foot. We're better off just grabbing a caravan or even a horse and leaving through the North gate. Come on!" he added enthusiastically.

[Nanami Touko]

Her kind and playful tone was confusing him. What, you're suddenly being nice? Sorry, I don't buy it. But she was right about his forgetting supplies. "No, I didn't, and I'm sorry!" He was embarrassed, and there was no point in him arguing it with her. He had forgotten, and it would be his loss. "I'll try and make some sort of shelter, alright? It's better than nothing!" Riya's horse turned, and as such, he followed her. A large mountain range was viewable in the distance. She's heading to the mountains, is she? Better place than the woods, at least. Her constant hollering was getting to him, though. "I am! Don't worry about me!"

[ReformBlade]

In all the excitement, she had forgotten one extremely important detail. Oh shit... the snow! We're leaving a goddamn trail for everyone to friggin find us! And just then the snow started falling heavily again, as if on queue, a chill wind blowing. Of course, this presented another problem. "Shiiiit. We need to get to some shelter, quickly! Freezing to death isn't something you want to experience, let me assure you..." She said to Adrian, memories of nearly freezing to death many many times surfacing in her mind. The stress was getting to her, but she was persistent.

[Nanami Touko]

The snow had started, but Adrian couldn't understand the stressful tone Riya was putting on. He could understand the worry of being followed, but shelter would be simple. "You leave the shelter to me! Just find a way to get rid of our tracks!" If we were going on foot, it'd be much simpler. We might have to ditch the horses when we get closer to the mountain. They were closing in on the mountains, though, so Adrian thought it would be a good idea to leave the horses where they were. Of course, he didn't know how to dismount a horse. He pulled back hard on the reins, thinking it would stop the horse, but all it did was cause the horse to stand up, knocking him off. He met the ground with a loud thud, rolling a few times. The horse ran off back towards the direction of the town, which would hopefully help throw off their direction, at least a little bit. "Ouch...! Dammit... Oh well, at least I'm off the horse."

Edited June 1, 2011 by seph1212

[Caliban of Sycorax]

((oh hey a post from me))

Lucretia saw the kid from the night prior attempt to attack someone she assumed was this Witch character, and fail.

He's not very bright... she thought as she began to trail him, hoping to find some more answers about this Crimson Witch and what she is about.

[ReformBlade]

Carrion slowed her horse down and dismounted as well, sending the horse off in a random direction. She looked to Adrian and laughed, "Come on, we've got a ways to go still, and this blizzard doesn't look like it'll let up any time soon. On the plus side, that means that many more people won't bother chasing me and you, so let's make the best of it, kay? Hurry up, you're wasting time!" With the intense cold biting her to the bone at this point, she started warming herself up with her own magic at this point, and Adrian if he were close enough to her. "I can only keep this up for so long before I run out of steam, so let's hurry! I really, REALLY hope you're as good as you are boastful, Adrian, I really do. Because if not, well, you'll find out." she finished with a smirk.

As Grant tried to persuade Ormis to move away from the gates, he noticed a woman seemingly watching them. "Enjoying the show, miss?" he said sarcastically, probably with a bit of unintended venom as well, but he was agitated due to the kid he was trying to work with.

[CT075]

After falling off the wall a few times, Ormis dusted his jacket off and attempted to calm down. He had no idea why he was so pissed at this woman anyway, she never did anything to him (well, except try to kill him).

He rubbed his head a few times before picking up his sword. About at that time, he became aware of a woman watching him. He was about to turn around, but didn't bother, since it looked like Grant had it.

((Filler post is filler.))

[Caliban of Sycorax]

As Grant tried to persuade Ormis to move away from the gates, he noticed a woman seemingly watching them. "Enjoying the show, miss?" he said sarcastically, probably with a bit of unintended venom as well, but he was agitated due to the kid he was trying to work with.

I didn't notice him before, hopefully he has some information...

Lucretia responded quickly and with wit, "It's quite entertaining, but I've seen wild animals with more grace." She approached the pair, keeping one hand fixated on her swords in case they needed to be used.

"Could either of you tell me about this 'Crimson Witch' character? Apparently there is a hunt for her and I am curious as to why."

[CT075]

"She's that woman I attacked earlier, I'm sure of it. She's responsible for a good number of my grievances, from what I can see. Attacked us earlier, though you wouldn't know anything about that."

Ormis didn't even bother turning around. Still trying to find a way out through the destroyed front gate (it would take too long to ride around the other side), he had an idea.

"Hey, does anyone in this town have a catapult?"

[Nanami Touko]

Adrian brushed the snow off of him. He hadn't been feeling the cold the night before, because of this new body, but he was starting to feel it now. He sort of wished he hadn't given his jacket to Susan. Riya's jeering only made him want to walk faster, as he started jogging through the piling snow to catch up to her. "I'm coming, I'm coming!" He made it back up to her, glad for the fire she had made. It was obviously much better than having nothing. He began to watch how slow she was going, wanting to walk faster. I guess she's not used to the snow, eh? I've got an idea... "Listen, Riya, you're going pretty slowly here..." He then ran out in front of her, his back facing her, and got down on one knee. "Get on my back. I can go faster in the snow than you can, and it'll be harder for them to track one set of foot prints in this mess."

Edited June 3, 2011 by seph1212

[ReformBlade]

She liked his idea, for once, if for no reason other than she could conserve her mana more if they were in closer proximity. "Sure, I just hope you don't over exert yourself in this weather. I'm not dragging your carcass, I hope you know..." she said as she took him up on his offer. He seemed to actually be a bit stronger than she thought just based on looks. She liked the idea of not having to drag his body to shelter, shelter he promised to make as well. "Alright, if you're ready, let's go." She wondered to herself if she should toy with him by giving him some really mixed signals, but ultimately decided against it since the situation was too serious at the moment. Maybe later? She giggled at the thought of it.

"What can i tell you? She's a completely heartless and cold bitch who ironically has a powerful grasp for fiery magics. Nothing you haven't heard in the legends already... Also, what he said." He added after hearing Ormis. "A catapult? No! Kid, look, let's just... Alright fine, you know what, fine! Grab some gloves, we're climbing this son of a bitch, okay?" Grant just didn't want to hear the kid's ideas anymore as he started climbing up the rubble of the gate. "If you want, miss, you can join us. Lord knows we'll need all the help we can get. In fact... since this blizzard kicked in, we should really grab something to keep us warm."

[Nanami Touko]

Riya climbed onto his back, Adrian stumbling a little because she was heavier than he'd thought. Nevertheless, he slipped his hands under he legs to hold her there, and started running towards the mountain, used to moving in the snow. "Don't worry about me. You seem to do that a lot, you know? I can carry this much all the way there... You're not that heavy." He chuckled, taking a small shot at her. He heard her giggle, though, and that made him worry. Great, what's she got planned now? I'm never going to understand this girl, am I? The mountains were beginning to come into view, through the storm, and Adrian sighed a sigh of relief. "Alright, try to find a cave. If not, I'll make us a little Igloo and we can sleep there. You'll have to use your cloak there as a blanket, or a bed, though." It'd be better than nothing. At least she HAD something to use as a blanket. Adrian would have to find some sort of... he didn't even know. Maybe he had something in his sack. If not, his shirt would have to do.

Edited June 3, 2011 by seph1212

[CT075]

"Heh. So we ARE climbing the walls after all."

Ormis thought for a moment.

"Wait a sec. There's a blizzard out, which means a lot of snow. You pack snow enough, you can stand on it. I'm sure that'd be easier than climbing up this damn thing."

With that, he started packing snow at the base of the wall, but gave up when he realized that he'd have to wait a few hours before there was enough snow for his idea to work. He instead followed Grant up the gate, not really bothered by the cold.

[Shin]

Aurelio - Actually somewhere near by

The snow meant that the group had to stop and set up camp. Only an idiot would try to travel if it got much worse. That's where Aurelio came in.

"At least I don't have to give them the slip now."

Aurelio's tactic was "fast is good". If he could get far enough ahead, he could find this "witch" and figure things out without having to worry about fending everybody off. It was pretty cold, although not quite as bad as it could get. There was one winter where he had been lucky to keep all his toes. There was a town up ahead, perhaps two or three hours away. He decided to go there, well, initially.

A horse galloped past, which was slightly unusual. Horses didn't usually go off by themselves - especially with saddles on. Either somebody had let it loose or it's owner had been killed. It didn't matter which one, the answer could bring him one step closer to finding his sister.

"Go on, Halberd! As fast as you can!" He shouted.

The pair dashed forwards, following the hoof-prints for as long as the weather allowed them to.

[ReformBlade]

"Not that heavy, huh?" She mused and continued in a playful tone, "Yeah well, that won't matter if you're on top." She held on a little bit tighter so she wouldn't fall, but she still got a kick out of it. She figured he'd be weirded out by it a bit, and honestly, he deserved it for even hinting that she was fat. Bitch at a witch and the witch is gonna bitch back, Adrian... Better learn this quickly. "Seriously though, if you can hurry it up and if you're as good a hunter as you claim, I'll make it up to you or something..." she said to try and calm him down a bit.

Climbing down for a moment, he looked at how much money he had left from the reward, saddened that he had spent most of it on the armor though he did not regret it. "I'll be right back kid, I'm gonna go stock up really quickly, if you hop the gate i'll see you, if you don't well then we'll both hop it or something, anyway, I'll be right back" he said kind of quickly as he went to the nearest supply store. Inside were many things one might need on a trip out in the wilds. Tents, backpacks, canteens, Fur cloaks, etc... Grant picked out a few cloaks, and a few potions as well for when they inevitably have to fight the witch. Now that his reward money was completely spent, he went outside and continued the climb.

[Nanami Touko]

When Riya spoke, Adrian slipped on his right foot, but caught himself on the other and kept running. "Uh..." He blushed, not knowing how to respond to that. Her grip tightening wasn't making it any easier for him, either. And now his mind was aflutter with all sorts of thoughts, not really knowing what he was thinking about, anymore. W-Why would she say something like that? I mean... No, I don't want to think about it! Riya's next words brought him back down to earth, though, as he finally saw the base of the mountain not 30 yards away. "Don't worry, I'll get something set-up. You try and find a cave, like I said. I'll set-up some traps whilst you look." He let go of her legs, the snow high enough now to cushion her fall as he let her drop off of his back. He smirked back at her, as he went to find some branches for the traps.

[ReformBlade]

Carrion grunted as she landed, displeased with the turn of events, but the kid ran off before she could berate him about it. "Fine, fine, why not..." she grumbled to herself as she began her ascent up the mountain. It was rocky and cold to the touch, but climbable all the same. She'd have to find a small cove that was farther in, just to ease her mind more. She left marks on the sides of the mountain that would serve as a backtracking method for herself mostly. Maybe if the kid was clever and fast enough, he'd be able to catch up to her and set the traps.

[Nanami Touko]

Adrian was feeling better, as Riya didn't seem to have a witty retort to him dropping her. Maybe he'd just run off too quickly, but he didn't think that would've stopped her. "Alright, gotta find a pretty big rock, and some branches..." Of course, what Riya had said was still in his mind, and it was beginning to scare him a little. "Why would she even say that? It's not like we'd ever go that far together... She must've said that to try and convince me that she likes me. Yeah, yeah, she's probably just trying to use me... well, that should've been obvious... Ugh, why are women so confusing?" During his little monolog, he hadn't noticed the branch sticking out of the side of the mountain, and walked right into it. "Ooof! Well, I guess there's my branch... ow." He didn't need the whole thing, just the smaller pieces coming off of it. "Alright, nine, ten... that should be enough... Oh, hey!" One very long one was sticking out on the other side, and it would be perfect for a snare. Just hope Riya's found a cave, by now... I know how to build an igloo, but without a shovel? It'll be tough.

Edited June 3, 2011 by seph1212

[Shin]

Aurelio - Finally somewhere plot-based!

The hoofprints hadn't proved useful. They were speckled with snow and weren't terribly deep to begin with. He had, however, managed to find a town - thankfully before it had started to get dark. One thing was peculiar about it, the gate seemed to have collapsed and had what appeared to be a grown man and a child climbing it. Perplexed at both the damage and the sight of two people climbing the wreck, Aurelio approached.

On closer inspection, the man seemed to be pretty well armoured. He was probably a soldier or mercenary. He didn't seem to be in the best of moods. He either needed to get over or out quickly. Perhaps he knew something about the witch hunt. He called to him.

"Hey! Big guy! You after that witch like everybody else? If you are, I might have a little information for you."

In all honesty, the details about the prints weren't that important. It didn't matter though, the odds were that he had seen the girl, perhaps he had even spoken to her. Even if he hadn't, he'd probably done a little research on his quarry. This guy was Aurelio's best lead.

"I'll give you the details once you get down. Make sure that kid doesn't fall on top of you."

The boy didn't seem to pleased about the last comment, glaring as he ascended.

[CT075]

Ormis had almost reached the half-way point when Grant hopped off the wall. He cursed. There wasn't time for this.

"Hey, you can use my cl-"

And Emerald was gone. Ormis shook his head and kept climbing. It was still snowing, but the boy didn't really mind. He'd lived in this area for essentially his entire life anyway, so he could survive in the wild with nothing but a sword. As it turned out, his cloak was fairly light anyway, and wouldn't be of any use to someone who wasn't accustomed to the cold.

"Make sure that kid doesn't fall on top of you."

Ormis glanced back, and saw a man who looked like he'd been in a few tough places before in his life. He gave a quick sigh of exasperation before hauling himself up to sit on top.

"Are you two old ladies going to stand around all night and gossip, or are we going to go catch that bitch?"

And with that, he hopped off, rolling into a snowdrift as to not hurt himself.

[ReformBlade]

She took as straight a path she could, marking as she went and kept herself warm via magic. As luck would have it, there was virtually no great hiding place in the path she chose which really pissed her off. Her anger only fueled her magic further, making her magic more tiresome by the moment, but she wouldn't rest until she found a hideout. Through a little backtracking, she noticed that there was indeed a cave big enough but seemed a bit out of the way. "Perfect, now to just make sure he can make his way back here." She said with a smile. She made her way back to the base of the mountain to see how Adrian was coming along.

"Oh yeah? Whaddaya got, sir?" Grant said as he climbed up and jumped off the gate rubble, tumbling into a kneel.

"Are you two old ladies going to stand around all night and gossip, or are we going to go catch that bitch?"

"Yeah yeah, we'll get the witch, don't worry. She's been dead the moment I saw her, so don't worry..." Grant said with firmness and valor. He wanted to hear her scream in pain, no matter what. Maybe afterwards he might show some mercy, but like hell she'd accept.

[Nanami Touko]

"Alright, no rock around here. Shit... Guess a Deadfall's out of the question." Maybe there'll be a large rock back near Riya. Near the cave, or something. Oh, yeah. I hope she found a cave... "Aaaaahhh, I really don't want to have to make an igloo tonight! Dammit..." of course, Riya was on the ledge above him, and could hear his complaining quite clearly. And, of course, he then looked up and noticed her, not sure of what to say. "So, uh... I... got enough materials for some traps..." he was blushing a bit, embarrassed of someone hearing him complain. "Did you find a cave? I don't want to have to sleep out in the cold."