Abysmal Souls Chapter 5

[Anti-Social Meta Knight]

Gideon

"Oh, shoot... sorry, Gideon. Eheh heh..." She flopped onto him before he could get up properly, and he didn't really mind that. I'm awake, and she wants me to stay in bed. Women... "Oh, Mel? I saw her rush out, when I was downstairs... Didn't get a chance to ask what was wrong. She seemed really upset, though. Maybe I'm just imagining things, she must just be running off some energy~" Gideon didn't really know, but her guess was as good as any. "She'll be back," he said dismissively. "Either she stays with us or she heads back with Grant, and I don't see her doing that." "So... what're we gonna do now? Just relax until she gets back, or... take this time alone to have some fun?" He rolled his eyes at that. Not this again... Smirking, he moved his hand to her ear and began to scratch it. If she wanted to play this game, he'd play. "You're a tease, you know that?" he jabbed at her sleepily. "Fine, I'll bite. What did you have in mind?"

Melanie

"Good morning Mel..." A chill crawled up Mel's spine when she saw Grant standing in front of her. When did he get here? "Just so you know, you left a ton of stuff up in my room. Do ya want it back or no? And I can also assume that you won't be making any armor for me?" "Um...you can keep it if you want," she ventured. "I mean, it's mostly junk, but if you find anything you want..." "Doesn't matter in the long run I suppose..."

"Oh, shut up," Mel almost snapped, arching an eyebrow and glaring at Grant. "Look, Grant, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't mad at you right now. I followed you to a city I've never been to to hunt a witch that doesn't even seem that evil, so yeah, I'm pretty mad. But you didn't even do anything wrong." Her hand made its way to her hip. "I know you didn't tell me about Carrion to fuck with me, or to manipulate me or anything. So don't act like you deserve a tongue-lashing or something. Seriously, dude, the way you mumble like that makes you sound like a kicked puppy or something. Man up, huh?"

She glanced down the street at the inn she had bolted from that morning. "But I...I can't stay here," she added, her voice a bit calmer. "I'm going to ask Carrion if I can go with her for a while." Her eyes met his again and she pointed at him. "Don't get the wrong idea, though," she said sharply. "It's just to make sure I'm not wrong about her. If it turns out you were right..." She grinned. "Well, I'll just have to finish that armor for ya." Grinning, she waved to him as she began to walk towards the inn again. "I'd talk s'more, but I gotta catch 'em before they leave. Take care of yourself, okay?"

She wanted to explode at him. To slap him silly for doing what he did to her. She wasn't even sure why she didn't - he deserved it. Still, as she walked back to the inn, she felt a lot better. I still haven't seen Grant kill a dragon, though. Gotta get on his case about that...

Edited October 5, 2011 by Anti-Social Kitty

[Nanami Touko]

"Mmmmmm," already enjoying the scratching, she half smiled at Gideon's comment, "that's not what I meant, pervert." She almost appreciated the fact that Gideon thought that was her intention, but she was going to lay off of the teasing until she knew she was ready for more. "I meant... now that we've got some time away from Mel-- as much as I like her, she's really loud and obnoxious --what say we hit the town, now that the festival's over, and see what's going on before we leave?" She climbed on top of him, resting her head on his chest. "Or we can lay here, try to sleep some more, and wait for Mel to return. Your choice... but don't stop scratching 'till we leave, that really feels nice..." She wanted to get out and stretch her body some more, but it truly was early, and there wasn't a bone in her body that would protest them relaxing instead.

[Anti-Social Meta Knight]

"that's not what I meant, pervert." Liar. "I meant... now that we've got some time away from Mel-- as much as I like her, she's really loud and obnoxious --what say we hit the town, now that the festival's over, and see what's going on before we leave?" Gideon almost groaned at that suggestion. He liked Pravna, but he was quickly getting sick of it, and going back into the city for no real reason didn't appeal to him. "Or we can lay here, try to sleep some more, and wait for Mel to return. Your choice... but don't stop scratching 'till we leave, that really feels nice..." Tempting though it was to stop, Gideon didn't; it kept Amera from acting hyper, and he couldn't complain about that.

"We're staying put, then," he said quickly. "At least until everyone else starts moving." Even though Gideon wasn't sure he wanted to move with everyone else - Carrion's motives still seemed pretty vague to him. It didn't help that everyone in Carrion's company seemed to want this Grant person dead. He wasn't sure why; Grant didn't seem particularly evil. Still, if they reacted that angrily to him... He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Now wasn't the time to muse about this stuff anyway.

[Jaybee]

Adonis

"Lovely morning, isn't it? Perfect time to take a walk and think, isn't it?"

Oh hell. He sure as hell didn't want to answer any of her questions, let alone even talk.

"Yes, it is..."

He didn't want to say much more, if only because he didn't feel comfortable doing so.

[ReformBlade]

"I'm not being... you know what, it still doesn't matter. You're a person who simply needs to see stuff for herself, so I'm not gonna bother you anymore with simple details. Chances are we'll be seeing each other pretty soon if you're gonna be with Carrion. She's going after the 'other' witch, just so you know. I'd offer to protect you but I don't think you'd like that gesture at this point..." He stared as she began to leave. "So yeah, take care of yourself, and for what it's worth, I do consider you a friend even if you do get on my nerves. I look forward to seeing some of your inventions some day." And with that, he also left, making his way to the armory instead.

Walking inside, the clerk was quite surprised, both at Grant's appearance and the fact that he got a customer so early in the morning. "Um... can I help you sir?"

"Yes you can. I need some boots, I'm kinda only have one here"

"I noticed... some dog eat it or something?"

"Would you believe a dragon did?" Technically it was because of the dragon, so...

"I'm... gonna just assume it's true and try and get a sale here?"

"Well played, sir. So yeah, boots, I'd just like something that'll keep my feet protected as I'm fighting."

"Then you'd probably want some steel toed ones, possibly plated greaves I'd assume?"

"Yeah that'd work, how much would that be?"

Sighing and picking up a pair from the sales floor, the wheels of his mind were visibly turning. "How does... sixty pieces sound?"

"Sure you can't go lower...?" Arching an eyebrow, Grant was playing the staring game with the man.

"Oh sure, how does fifty nine pieces sound?"

Laughing, he pulled out the pouch and poured out more than enough, separating the right amount. "You're a smartass, but I can't argue with ya. Deal, good sir."

"Hmhmhm... You don't get to be in customer service being a big softy, so it's to be expected sir."

"Indeed." Trying on the boots, he smiled. "Not the best fit, but they'll... they'll see use. Thanks a million and have a good one." Walking out of the store, Grant was pumped for the rest of the day. Time to go chase another legend it seems...

[Shin]

Aurelio

He had been in his own world for a couple of minutes. Much to his surprise, he saw a band of people heading towards him. Grabbing his axe, he prepared for the worst.

"Hey, guys! Long time no see!"

It was Ormis, accompanied by Teis and a rather annoyed looking girl. Where on earth were they heading? Pravna was in the other direction. He lowered his axe, they could hardly be considered a threat.

"What's up, kid? I though you were going to Pravna with everybody else. Did'ya get lost or something?"

[Nanami Touko]

"Well..." she sat up on him, unfortunately pulling herself from the enjoyable scratchings, "what do we do then?" She looked at him almost wide eyed, a bit too tired to look exactly as such, but she was a cat with nothing to do and she would be getting restless extremely quickly. At least she was still smiling. "Do you think we should check up on them? Or d'you think they're too busy? No, they might be... y'know, so..." she sighed and fell back against him, out of ideas already. Thinking up things wasn't her strongest ability. "Or... we can lay here and wait. Gideon? Anything we can do? I don't mind if we have to sit here, but... I dunno. It'd be nice to have something to do." She softly pawed at his arm, mildly entertaining herself as she waited.

[CT075]

Totally not my group

"What's up, kid? I though you were going to Pravna with everybody else. Did'ya get lost or something?"

"Hey, who the hell d'ya think I am? We were just at Pravna, Carrion already got attacked and everything. She can take it, though, so-" He was cut off, stumbling, when an apple exploded against the back of Ormis's head. "Hey!"

Rina would have thrown another if it weren't for the simple fact that she didn't have any more (someone* had eaten the rest). Before she could find some other blunt object to batter the poor boy with, though, Teis stepped forward, hand outstretched.

"Aurelio. Well met. I must apologize for our unexpected appearance. Pravna is apparently too dull for the boy, so he insisted that we go search for this self-proclaimed 'Crimson Witch' and force our mutual friend Carrion to follow us. Except, we seem to have traveled in the complete opposite direction. Ridicule us as you like, but know that if you had Ormis at the lead, you would end up hopelessly lost as well."

The knight shook his head wearily. "Lord knows, there have already been two attempts on Carrion's life." Then he straightened, chuckling a little.

"Enough with our problems, though. I trust that you have had better luck?"

[Shin]

Aurelio

"Aurelio. Well met. I must apologize for our unexpected appearance. Pravna is apparently too dull for the boy, so he insisted that we go search for this self-proclaimed 'Crimson Witch' and force our mutual friend Carrion to follow us."

Teis also presented his hand to shake. At least someone had sense, but Aurelio would need to make sure that they knew what they were hunting.

"No problem, I suspected as much. Now, that fake witch you're talking about. From the sounds of it, it could be my older sister. Apparently she's on a small island south of Pravna. I was headin' there myself, before anyone else finds her."

[CT075]

Trio

"Your sister?" Teis vaguely remembered Aurelio mentioning her when they first met. "Well, if we are pursuing the same goal, perhaps we could travel together? It would be better than havi-"

Before he could finish, he was interrupted by another loud thunk. Rina had taken her own shoe off, despite her berating of Ormis earlier.

"D'you think we can catch up either on the road or in a camp somewhere? I'm exhausted, and being led around by an idiot with a shiny sword and a cape isn't doing a whole lot to get this 'fake Witch', if it really isn't her."

Edited October 6, 2011 by 王運鈴

[Shin]

Aurelio

"Well, if we are pursuing the same goal, perhaps we could travel together? It would be better than havi-"

It was good to have Teis around, he was usually pretty reliable. It seemed Ormis had managed to annoy somebody else, the girl traveling with them. By the looks of it she was pretty tired, Ormis had probably led her in circles. Seeing an ample opportunity to be mean, he stepped forward. He grinned, he had lost count but he was certain that a point in his favour wouldn't hurt.

"So, Ormis. Who's this then? A friend of yours? We set up camp a couple of minutes into the woods. Feel free to come along, if you can find the way, that is."

[Anti-Social Meta Knight]

Melanie

"She's going after the 'other' witch, just so you know. I'd offer to protect you but I don't think you'd like that gesture at this point..." "Other witch?" Mel glanced over her shoulder at Grant. "What do you..." He was already gone. Probably inside the store...Shrugging, she continued to walk, the rest of his words ringing in her ears. Friend, huh? Don't push it, Cripplecakes...wait, he wasn't even crippled when I saw him today. Fuck, I can't mess with him about that anymore! She sighed heavily at this realization and continued to trudge towards the inn. Where am I gonna find a cripple to befriend and poke fun at now?

The walk seemed shorter on the way back, and before she knew it Mel was at the door of the inn again. Her chest tightened a bit and her hands balled into defiant fists. You can do this, girl. She isn't evil. Just go ask. Biting her lip, she walked in and began to ascend the stairs, stomping a bit more than she realized - the display turned a few heads.

Gideon

"Do you think we should check up on them? Or d'you think they're too busy? No, they might be... y'know, so..." Gideon stifled a laugh. The idea of Carrion in bed with her boyfriend seemed ridiculous to him - the kid was a rail. "Yeah, don't want to walk in on that." "Or... we can lay here and wait. Gideon? Anything we can do? I don't mind if we have to sit here, but... I dunno. It'd be nice to have something to do." "Hmm..." His mind was void of ideas as she pawed him idly. If Carrion wasn't moving, there was little they could do...

The sound of footfalls on the stairs - heavy ones at that - drew Gideon's attention. He smirked slightly, secretly hoping he was right about where the sound was coming from. "That might be something we can look into," he told Amera, arching an eyebrow. "I mean, judging from the amount of noise she's making, it has to be her, right?" Suddenly a bit curious, Gideon contemplated moving Amera from on top of him. He decided against it - he was comfortable, and Mel probably wasn't leaving a trail of destruction. At least, not one that couldn't be fixed up afterward.

[Jaybee]

Danyon

Well, now looked like a better time to be out and about.

He saw the same girl he'd tried to shut up at the library stomping up the stairs, probably headed towards Carrion's room, and the door to Carrion's room was closed, probably locked.

Oh dear. This could be bad.

[Nanami Touko]

Amera

"Hmm..." Amera rolled her eyes, her impatience already showing. He can't think of anything either... "Alright, I'm getting up then!" she said as she awkwardly rolled off of him and onto the floor, landing with a mild thud, but springing up to her feet either way. "Gonna try and find something to do~" she said with a stretch, stretching down to touch her toes as well. Mornings are terrible, really... heck, I haven't even had a shower yet, ugh. I should do that first, shouldn't I...? Yeah, probably... About to take her shirt off, some rather loud stomps echoed through the door. What the...? Who's stomping this early in the morning? Gideon seemed to have an idea, which made it click for Amera, "That might be something we can look into. I mean, judging from the amount of noise she's making, it has to be her, right?"

Amera smirked a bit, worried, but at least glad to have something to do. "It's Mel; no one else would be that loud for no reason. I'll go check on her, just gimme a second..." She pulled her shirt back down, wishing she could've had a shower before having to deal with Mel, but instead of complain more, she poked her head out of the door. And there Mel was, seemingly storming her way up the stairs. What's she up to now? Might as well act nonchalant. "Heeeeey, Meeeeeel~! Morning!"

[Anti-Social Meta Knight]

Melanie

"Heeeeey, Meeeeeel~! Morning!" The sudden enthusiasm from Amera evoked a shriek from the hypertense Mel, who had her back to the opposite wall in a fraction of a second. "Oh, it's...it's you." Taking a deep breath, she stood up from her place against the wall, and her hands balled right back into fists - this was scarier than she thought it'd be. "Hey, um...d-d'you know where...um, Carrion is?" she stammered out, doing her best to keep her breathing even. "I wanted to...to ask her something, and..." And what? Shit, fuck, think of something! She didn't; she just trailed off, hoping Amera would understand and point her in the right direction.

Gideon

Amera yelled, Mel screamed, and then Mel mumbled something. Gideon hadn't left the bed, so he wasn't sure exactly what had happened; knowing Amera, though, she probably just startled the girl. He rolled over in bed, trying to capture what little down time he would have left that morning.

[Nanami Touko]

Mel jumped and screamed, which made Amera jump, startled from Mel's... being startled. Geez... that's not the kind of reaction I was expecting. She took a quick glance back at Gideon, who had just rolled over. Sighing, she reached for her other skirt on the dresser, balled it up, and threw it at him, giving him a quick, "come on, wake up! We might as well get today started now..." and then turned back to Mel. Not like my balled up skirt will wake him, but hey, it's worth a shot. "Hey, um...d-d'you know where...um, Carrion is?" "Carrion? Yeah, she's over there," she answered with her finger, pointing at the room down the hall, "but I don't think..." "I wanted to...to ask her something, and..." "That's the thing, I think she might be a bit, uhm..." Amera didn't like talking about sex, or mentioning it, so she turned a bit red as she tried to imply it, "b-busy with Adrian... if you know what I mean. Maybe you should wait a bit? I wouldn't want to walk into them doing that, I think that'd upset her."

It was at this point Amera noticed Mel's hands, and how tense she looked. "Mel, are you alright?" she asked as she slipped out of the room, slowly making her way over, her tail swishing along. "You seem kinda upset. Anything you want to talk about?" I Hope she didn't run into Grant on her way out, or while she was. But if that's not it... what's got her so worried looking?

[Anti-Social Meta Knight]

Gideon

A shirt hit him and Amera yelled at him. "come on, wake up! We might as well get today started now..." "Fine, fine," he grumbled, forcing himself up and glancing out the door. Mel was right there, looking incredibly tense. A knowing grin came onto Gideon's face. Not a fan of witches, are you, girl?

Melanie

"Carrion? Yeah, she's over there, but I don't think...That's the thing, I think she might be a bit, uhm..." "What?" she asked, her voice dripping with tense curiosity. "b-busy with Adrian... if you know what I mean. Maybe you should wait a bit? I wouldn't want to walk into them doing that, I think that'd upset her." They're fucking in there? At this hour? "Mel, are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said quickly. "If they were fucking in there, though, we'd hear 'em, right?" That boy-toy of hers has to be a screamer. He's too skinny to be anything else... "I don't hear anythin'. They're probably just talking to something, so..." Shrugging, she walked over to the door Amera had pointed to and knocked. Her expression was nonchalant at first, but then it hit her - she was about to talk to the Crimson Witch. The tension came rushing back, and she looked wide-eyed at Amera. "C-can you come in with me?" she asked quickly, trying to keep her mind off of talking to Carrion because she might be scary fuck I'm doing it again I need help come on Amera help me! "Please? I just...I really really don't want to go in by myself."

[ReformBlade]

Carrion

Heart racing and pounding, she smiled as she laid there next to Adrian. It hadn't lasted all that long, something she unfortunately had to make sure of due to time constraints, but she smiled all the same. "Sorry to be brief, but we don't want to get worn out before the day starts, you know?"

Knock knock knock

Her gaze went straight to the door, confused at who would disturb anyone this early, and yet, she suspected that it would be one of the people travelling with her. Hopping out of bed and quickly putting on a her original outfit, "Either hurry up and get dressed, kid, or go take a shower, I ain't gonna have you be stark naked as I open that door. Unless you feel like being that forward with our relationship~" Turning her attention to the door, she slowly began to make her way towards it, hoping Adrian would just do something. "Just a minute!" she shouted.

Gwen

"Quite the conversationist..." She scowled at the man. "Look, what are you up to? You've been acting strange since the moment I saw you. No I can't report you to anyone but goddamn, I can easily drum up some annoyance for you. You're being a creep... and creeps don't last long in this world, I'm just saying." Shrugging, she continued. "Who knows, maybe if it's up my alley, I'd actually help you out. Assassination? Some other destructive errand?"

[Shin]

Oshea

He had them following his every order, even if they all got killed it wouldn't matter too much. A weakened witch should be no match for him. Pravna was probably a day away, by horse and cart. He needed to find a cart, not a problem.

"Well then, men. Welcome aboard, all we need to do is obtain a cart for my horse and traveling will be no problem..."

Open statements like that meant anyone could volunteer - they knew, or at least thought, getting on his good side would help them. One of them called out;

"I know where to find one, leave it to me!"

Another couple offered to get supplies, this was too easy.

"Fine work, meet here in an hour, if you're not here, we leave without you!"

[Jaybee]

Adonis

Damn it, she sure as hell was starting to be a little bit of an annoying bitch.

"The last person who said they wanted to help just left the night before," he said, a lack of emotion in his voice, whilst turning his back to her.

"Then again, even if you want to, it's something much more menial... Just trying to find one very... specific person in this country."

Cyrus

The water was rather disgusting, as per normal, but he could just as easily purge the dirt from it, anyway.

With the gold he had... earned? Extorted? from the night before, he ambled his way to the little low-class diner, trying to stay out of the city once more.

Elune

What time was it? It was really bright now, probably late morning.

It was late. She had to get moving again.

[Nanami Touko]

Amera

"Well... I guess. Yeah, you're probably right, I'm just supposing over nothing, ha ha..." Would we be able to? I don't know... I'm sure they could do it quietly enough, but... Her mind unfortunately began drawing a mental image of it all, and she began to burn red, shaking her head to clear her mind of any of that. Okay, whoa, too much thinking. Gideon grunted from inside the room, Amera glad he was finally getting up. But, before she could try to stop Mel, though, the girl had already knocked on the door, leaving Amera there with a sigh. "Mel..." But the calm girl that had tried to justify herself moments ago was now wide eyed and again tense. What the hell? "C-can you come in with me?" "Uh, sure?" She walked over to Mel, "Please? I just...I really really don't want to go in by myself." "Alright. What, scared that Carrion will set you on fire, or something?" She gave the door a small knock as well, leaning against the wall with a silly grin on her face.

Adrian

"Yeah, that's..." he could barely collect himself, smiling, a feeling of euphoria still contained within his entire body. "That's fine." He couldn't muster anything else, as a knock rang into the room. Carrion shot herself out of bed, which was pretty impressive to him, as it took a bit of effort to get himself sitting up. He'd already showered, so her suggestion wasn't the best idea. Even though the sound of another shower was pretty enticing. he decided that pants was going to be enough, slipping into underwear and then them, and falling back onto the bed. Whoever was at the door would have to deal with him not wearing his shirt, too lazy to try and pull it on. Or... nah, come on, sit up. He couldn't be lazy all day, so he did, in fact, pull his shirt on, sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting to see who was bothering them this early.

[Caliban of Sycorax]

Lucretia

She returned to the camp, swords tucked away, and noticed some familiar faces--Teis and Ormis were there, as well as a girl with a bow whom she didn't recognize. What are they doing here? I haven't seen either of them since the Guild fight...

She quietly gathered her things together, it was almost time to leave anyway, and turned to their new companions. "Hey guys, long time no see, huh? What brings you here?" She asked. She wondered if they were staying in the area, or possibly they were joining up with Lucretia, Aurelio, and Adano.

Adano

He noticed the new faces that had appeared at camp. Two of them he remembered from the Arena fight--including the one who had beaten Lucretia. Aurelio was talking to them, and in his grogginess, Adano wasn't able to decipher what was going on, but it seemed their group had gotten bigger.

[Anti-Social Meta Knight]

Melanie

"Just a minute!" Shit, they might have actually... "Alright. What, scared that Carrion will set you on fire, or something?" She didn't answer - she just stood there at the door, fighting every fiber of her being that screamed at her to run. Now wasn't the time. She needed to stand firm. "She's taking a while..." she said softly, not even sure how long it had been. She just wanted it to be over.

Gideon

By this point, Gideon had pulled his shirt on and was standing at the door, watching what he assumed to be Mel's psyche cracking. "No need to be so tense," he offered, still a little sleepy. "She won't torch you for knocking on her door, even if you interrupted a good moment..." The thought made him grin, but he also braced himself for the possibility of being hit by Amera for it. "Just breathe, yeah? Don't let this get to you." Apparently his words fell on deaf ears - she didn't seem to move at all.

[ReformBlade]

Carrion

Rolling her eyes and giggling, she continued to the door, going at a normal pace now. "About time... and put on a smile, alright? It may be annoying, but there's no need to be so forward with how ya feel. Come on. Do it for meeee?" Without waiting for a response, she opened the door, quite surprised at what she saw. "Uh... this is... what's up? Did something happen that I should know about? Because I'm not up for a... three, four... nope, no five ways today, not going there. Not again." She threw that in for the fun of it. You wanna bother me this early, I get to say what I friggin want...

Gwen

"A man hunt... Hah... I'm ever so technically on a similar path. I dream of destroying the entire nation of Astarte. So... Who are you looking for? Or do you just want to deny my help? Personally I don't care either way, I just want you to stop being so... suspicious."

[Jaybee]

Adonis

Destroy Astarte? Is this woman crazy? ... Then again, it's not like I really give a damn about the place anymore, but what the hell.

"Your little 'dream' is almost certainly impossible... Then again, if it's what you want..."

"In any case, the man I'm looking for is my father. You go ahead and help me if you feel like it." He didn't mind the extra help, but he didn't want to say why he was looking for his Dad - Family issues wasn't really something to get into so early in the morning.

Edited October 10, 2011 by JBCWK