Mac Anu, the city of rivers, the city of newbies, shone in the permanent sunrise. People hurried around, going on their errands, rushing off to battle, or spamming the air with calls for purchases or sales. A few errant bots, somehow not yet picked off by the admins, hawked the ill-gotten gold to be had for only a few USD or Yen. A string of a dozen lone wolves, brooding warriors and dark knights lined the bridge, spaced evenly to watch the river in their solemn silence. Below, people splashed in the river, having water fights or simply having been thrown from the bridge above. A couple tried to fish, with no results.

High above the sun-sparkled river floated two pairs of birds. They circled on the thermal currents of the air, large black silhouettes against the sky. Each scanned the hustle and bustle of the city with their black pearl eyes, looking for one character in particular. On occasion, one or two of them would swoop down low, diving for a closer look at a character in the town.

Down below, no one seemed to notice, or care. To them, the birds were graphical effects, tied to the sky. No matter how close they seemed, they could never be touched, never be targeted by a spell or attack. They were background; something to make The World more realistic, but nothing beyond.

One by one, the crows dove from the sky, locating the player they had searched for. They landed on rooftops, watching their chosen, ruffling feathers and preening wings. Only when they were sure, would they make their move.

One by one, four characters found small scrolls dropped at their feet, landing such that a single word was embossed on the front. One: Kashi. Two: Shenmock. Three: Exangelus. Four: Bane. The scrolls plainly were meant for them.

Picking them up and opening them revealed a short message.

You have been invited to an event as yet unseen. Earn fabulous rewards! Come to the field Delta: Glorious Crossroad Negotiation to see for yourself. Feel free to tip the bird.

Looking up, they would find the crow perched on a nearby rooftop, watching.

Whoa, damn is it busy today.

The Blademaster thought to himself with a small sigh as he gazed walked through the city he digitally called home. Throngs of players clogged Mac Anu like a dozen chunks of cork in a tiny drain. Groups moved about the city, laughing and chatting. Scorned warriors purchased large quantities of items, particularly Health Drinks, as they muttered to themselves about a random monster preying on their class’s weaknesses. The bridge was as populated as it normally was, except there was a small mood shared among the characters standing by the ledge side. Kashi had a small urge to tip a couple of them over, headfirst, into the dunk to join the frolicking players down there and actually have some fun, but making a scene when there was so little room to manoeuvre was a bad idea.

There’s gotta be a place in this city I can get to without being bothered, he thought, trying to picture the city as a self-made map. The shops were all busy, the bridge and central square were fairly jammed, heck, he could even see the feet of some players swinging from the rooftops. The only place he could think of to get to was the network of back alleys that usually stayed empty. But… he shuddered as he thought of what happened the last time the boy had to make his way through the alleyways. Regardless, it seemed to be the best option he had, as all his other hiding spots were taken.

Pushing his way past a handful of conversing Wave- and Whipmistresses, the boy excused himself as he made his way around the crowd blocking his entrance. He wasn’t going back there unprepared again, though. Drawing his Komura, the shiny light-red blade glinted softly as he made his way into the semi-dark area. Turning around to make sure he didn’t have a certain clown-esque stalker this time, the Blademaster screened the players hanging out around the alley’s entrance. There wasn’t anyone dressed up in flamboyant pinstripes, but he wasn’t sure if Shin was there, considering he could only see one layer of characters. The boy turned back and resumed his trip, shoes softly padding along.

Small rays of sunlight shone down from above, but there were hardly enough to make a soft glow of light near the top of the tunnel, much less illuminate ground level. The boy started to wonder what happened to two people he had seen recently. Neither of them were particularly safe, one having witnessed the deletion of her friend to a dangerous hacker and another apparently working as a fake in the field he had been escorted through. Kashi was more worried about the woman than the man, as she didn’t have any part in their little drama.

Hearing footsteps echoing behind him, the boy turned his head over his shoulder. To his surprise, he found a blond-haired boy tailing him. The boy seemed very familiar, except for the smirk on his face and the sword in his hand. The sword was glowing blue, a very light blue. Almost the same colour as the data released from a character when they were…deleted…

Shadowy remembrance erupted into clear recognition. The boy was…not one to be messed with, especially on his own in the alley. Breaking out into a run, Kashi turned the corner, raising a Rue Zot behind him to stall as he tried to get out. He wouldn’t do anything with all those other players around, would he? His thought was shattered as the ice behind him did, the boy sauntering past remnants of the spell. The Blademaster doubled his efforts, turning corners and dashing past chunks of wall (looking quite familiar), leaving spells behind him. Each one met some sort of loud destruction, and the boy continued his prowl. Isn’t this way a…dead end? Skidding to a stop at a three-way intersection of sorts, the boy dashed left, casting a Rue Zot in the other path to try tricking the boy. Watching behind him, he saw the youth destroy the spell before turning around and following again.

Sound flooded his ears and light his sight as he tripped forward, stumbling into the back of a short red-haired Heavy Blade. He faintly heard a cry from behind him, “You can’t run forever, Kashi!” The boy got to his feet, apologising swiftly to the woman before he exited to his left. Amazingly, the Blademaster wound up leaving the way he entered. He wandered back over to the Chaos Gate, running through the fields he knew. None of them would work to take his mind off the boy, and worse, he would be alone.

A small scroll bounced off his head before falling to his feet, his name written in raised ink. Curious, the Blademaster unrolled the scroll, reading the small message contained within. When the bird was mentioned, he looked around, confused, before spotting a small crow perched on the roof, watching him intently. “Didn’t see you there. You just wait there, birdie, and I’ll have something for you.” The boy headed over to the Item Shop, picking up ten Mage’s Souls, ten Resurrects, ten Health Drinks and a Dark Night scroll. He then returned to the Chaos Gate, placing the Dark Night scroll and five gold GP coins on the spell, waiting for the bird’s reaction.

Bring it.

A golden light burst forth from the Fist Fighter’s hand, showering sparks onto the enemy and sending it back a few feet. Shenmock crouched down, listening to the gentle pound of the rain as it came down on his head. His emerald eyes were closed for a second, his ears perked for the signal. He didn’t have to wait long, though, as not a second passed before it roared and brought both of its swords down. His eyes flashed open and he was up in the air, sliding in between both of the swords and bringing his fist back.

“Moon Calling!” he cried. He brought his fist down first, creating a large dent in the monster’s arm. Then, pushing himself back up in the air, he brought his leg crashing down on the monster’s head, sending it back down to the ground. He realized once he landed that it wasn’t about to get up anytime soon. Thunder crackled in the distance. Shenmock smirked and then gated out.



One fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish…

The Fist Fighter once again looked down into the icy depths of the Mac Anu River, a place that he had been quite fond of ever since his first entrance into the MMORPG, ‘The World.’ It was a strange thing looking down into the lives of the virtual fish and seeing all the NPCs rowing their boats around. Occasionally he’d even witness someone fall into the river. Maybe pushed was a better word for it…

It was rather nice, actually. Most people left him be, as he was one of the few people among the thousands of players that still hung out in this root town even when the level of the monsters was well below what might actually give him a decent challenge. Either way, he was perfectly content with it. Better to be alone than to be constantly bothered, right?

The fishing rod he pulled out occasionally sometimes attracted a few eyes, too. It didn’t do anything and it was horrible for catching fish, but it was still something that amused him. Why anybody would actually use one in an online game to waste their time was strange. But that was just what he did, and he was perfectly content with it. At this point there seemed little point in trying to gain levels to be well beyond that of every other player. He hadn’t come here thinking that the sole goal of the game would be to level up and fight monsters 24/7. There were things to see, time to waste…

The Fist Fighter heard the squawk of a bird and instinctively looked up. It wasn’t often that birds actually made a noise in this game. Usually they just flew around… A small black speck falling towards him caught his eye, though. With each second it grew bigger and took more and more shape. Shenmock caught it between two fingers and opened it, still in his seat. That was certainly…weird.

Upon reading the note, the Fist Fighter raised one eyebrow. An event yet unseen? Win fabulous prizes? Tip the bird? Sounds fishy… He heard the squawk of another bird and looked up, only to find two black eyes locked onto him. “Okay, this is definitely weird,” Shenmock muttered. He stood up and ignored the bird, who he was sure was watching him as he approached the Chaos Gate.

Once there, the Fist Fighter muttered the keywords under his breath. Expect the unexpected, I guess? With a longing look back at Mac Anu, the player disappeared behind the golden rings and was whisked to the field.

((OOC: For my reference, this takes place after the events of a solo I am yet to finish, so…yeah.))

Beep…beep…beep…

Ivan groaned, rolling over in bed and fumbling around for the switch on his alarm. He rolled back onto his back; sighing and looking at the ceiling through his dyed fringe, hearing the sounds of the morning resonate within his ears as the new day called to him. He furrowed his brow, unsure of what to make of it. So much had happened to him thus far, and he just couldn’t wait to have everything nice and settled again. He sat up, stretching and scratching the back of his head, grumbling about how the mornings were too rough on him as he prepared for the day. A day with no school, and thankfully something that let him have more than ample time to play The World.

After his shower, and the daily ritual of getting dressed, he sat down in his swivel chair and contemplated. All things considered, The World was becoming less and less kind towards him, and from the increasing numbers of comatose victims, he really wondered if it was worth the risk. His eyes gazed over his setup, examining everything over his desk with little interest with his closed fist supporting his cheek as he peered around through his spectacles. Then something caught his eye. His FMD was sitting off to the side, and for some reason, the break in his curtains had let a single beam of light fall down upon and illuminate the glossy sheen of the headpiece.

He chuckled, reaching out a hand and taking the FMD securely in his hand, placing it gently onto his head, making a sound of amusement. “I must be nuts…” He pressed the power button on his hard drive and let it whirr to life, watching the monitor switch itself on and continue on with it’s loading. While it did that, Ivan considered how Erika was doing, and that he should probably give her a call later today to make sure the funeral was going okay.

He heard the Altimit OS do its odd little chime to indicate that it had loaded, and Ivan began typing hurriedly his personal information regarding his The World account. With a short time loading, Ivan’s FMD made everything go dark momentarily, before he saw himself descending into the construct of the data plane known as The World. He held his hands up, and his hands transitioned into the hands of the Heavy Blade known as Bane, someone who was continuously becoming more and more of a real person through Ivan.

As the three golden rings descended over his figure, Bane opened his eyes, hair rustling as a gentle breeze drifted by, looking up to the sky. ”Well…I’m here…what now?” He held out his hands as if he were to only half shrug, and before he knew it, a crow was hopping around near him, looking at him curiously with something held in its beak. However, when Bane made a move to come closer, holding out his hand to take the scroll, the crow took to the skies and left the Heavy Blade stranded on the ground, looking up at the bird that had joined its companions in the wide circle they were flying in.

He stood there for a bit, watching the birds descend in other parts of the town, but they never returned to their formation. Bane took a single step forward and looked through the crowd, noticing someone running towards him at an alarming pace, Bane’s eyes widening in both shock and curiosity at the fairly unique behaviour amongst a mass of casually moving players. Then he took a closer look. The kid was familiar, and then he placed it. He had seen him once or twice around the AoD mansion from time to time, but from memory, never talked to him.

He watched the boy access the Chaos Gate, looking over his shoulder at the Blademaster with an amused smirk and watched one of the crows perch on one of the gutters of a building nearby. Bane then heard the Blademaster behind him make an odd sound of surprise and out of the corner of the Heavy Blade’s eye, Bane could spot a scroll similar to the one that the crow he encountered before, had.

He chuckled. ”Oh, a game is it? I see…if it’s by invitation only, then I suppose all I’ve got left to do is go about my business, then.” He let the Blademaster rush past him, closing his eyes as he let the player get on with his business. He felt so full of pride in himself, but at the same time he felt…empowered in a way that he was doing something worthwhile with his life.

Oh how naïve…this game is just a construct…it’s just a game. I don’t believe you felt how something like this could be dangerous. He looked up at the sky again, feeling another gentle breeze rush past him, the hustle and bustle of the Root Town of Mac Anu made him somewhat weary. So many lower levelled players, and so many people squandering their hard earned allowances and paycheques on a game where they play such an insignificant role.

But what made Bane different? Was it because someone had taken an interest in him? Was it because of Erika’s past that had now made him connected to the sever and it’s problems moreso than anyone else? He shrugged. He didn’t know, nor did he see a way of ever really knowing for certain. Bane noticed the Blademaster returning, and watched the crow flutter down from the gutter so that he, the Blademaster, could pass the crow something. As he waited expectantly for the bird to react, Bane wandered over and crouched near the pair, looking at the bird and then the Blademaster in turn.

”So…this bird running a party or something? He didn’t want me invited before when I tried to take that scroll he gave you. What did it say?” Direct, and straight to the point, just like Bane liked it. However, no sooner had he spoke, had a loud caw distract him from the Blademaster and make him look next to him. On the cobblestone ground next to him, hopping up and down impatiently on the spot was a fairly young crow which seemed just a bit more than excited to be noticed. Bane smiled, holding out his hand and letting the bird drop its scroll into his hand. The Heavy Blade destroyed the wax seal on the scroll with a single finger and unrolled the parchment, eyes scanning over the words as he read them to himself.

“You have been invited to an event as yet unseen. Earn fabulous rewards! Come to the field Delta: Glorious Crossroad Negotiation to see for yourself. Feel free to tip the bird.” Bane had to pause after reading it, looking down at the crow and momentarily forgetting about the Blademaster next to him. ”A tip for the bird? Well, I’m afraid I don’t have any birdseed, however…Here.” Bane rummaged through his pockets and took out a Sports Drink, an Antidote, a Health Drink, and 100GP, setting it before the bird and wondered if the small thing could hold it all.

Bane stood, turning to face the Chaos Gate and rolling his shoulder, shifting the weight on his back and psyching himself up. He looked over the scroll again, memorising the key words and inputting them into the Chaos Gate. He raised his hand, looking back at the bird, smiling. ”See you later, I’m sure; little bird.” His smile faded as his character data was deconstructed and sent to the field in which this game was supposedly going to be held.

He could only hope that this was going to be fun.

One by one the crows found their marks and delivered their scrolls. Three of them, anyways. The fourth, destined to search out Exangelus, was unable to find the character.

Shenmock ignored his bird, and the crow gave a miffed squawk and fluttered off into the sky. Both Kashi and Bane left items at the feet of their birds. The birds hopped over, and one by one, swallowed each of the items. Then, with happy chirps, they flew off to disappear into the sky.

Then, once more one by one, the trio of invited players gated into the field.

When the golden rings dropped from the sky and revealed the players to the field, it also revealed the field to the players. Despite leaving at different times, they arrived at the same instant. They stood on a flat bricked square, a plaza of sorts, wide as a city street and raised above the land around them. The sun was high and hot, shining in a cloudless sky. Below them, the bricks were painted in a vibrant compass rose; they faced north.

To the north before them lay a transition point. Far in the distance were mountains, but to the west were trees, while to the east were sands. Turning to look behind them, far to the south they could see the faint shimmer of water; again to the east was a sandy expanse.

The forest, and jungle, seemed to merge where they stood. To the northwest was coniferous forest, while to the southwest it turned to rainforest. From this half of the map, they could hear the myriad sounds of life. Birds chirped, animals called, and wind rustled the leaves. Through the middle of this forest, heading in a straight line due west, was a wide cobbled path. This path reached where they stood and continued on, somehow unburied in the desert sands, arrow-straight to the east.

The only hint of where to go or what to do stood in the form of two signs; one at the foot of the plaza where it met each road. To the west was a simple black triangle, its point at the ground. To the east was a white triangle, its point at the sky.

Before the players could greet each other, or decide where to go, a pair of figures emerged from the field, walking along each road. Each step took them hundreds of yards, but they walked at a slow pace. From the western forest came a man dressed in black leather armor, bound with chain. He wore a broad sword on his back and a black iron helmet rested on his brow. His skin was pale and his boots marred with dirt from the forest. From the eastern desert came a man dressed in white robed, covering him from head to toe. Only half his face was visible, eyes and nose and mouth, his chin and forehead wrapped in white cloth underneath a hood that dazzled in the sun. His entire robe shimmered, as if woven with threads of silver. He carried a long white staff, neither using it for walking nor holding it as a weapon.

The two figures arrived at the same time, and gave each other looks seemingly made of hostility. Then, as one, they turned to the newcomers, speaking together.

”Hello and welcome to the Rendered Land, watched and ruled over by the Twin Princesses. The Princess invites you to visit her holding, to hear her plight, and to come to her aid. Please, follow me to our home, we must make haste.”

The pair stop and glare at each other again, and mutter at each other. The trio would catch some heated words, about line-stealing and getting in the way, among other more personal insults.

”Look, you can only follow one of us, but we both want you to come.” says the black general. ”My name is General Kirkus, and I’ll be your guide to see Princess Kyora.” here the white wizard glares.

”Much as I hate to admit it, he’s right. You can only meet with one princess at a time. I’m your guide to come see Princess Inra. My name is Geoff.”

The two stood, waiting for questions to be asked, which they fully expected. No adventurer would make a decision without knowing more than names, would they? So they waited, hoping a decision would be made sooner rather than later.

((Scripted with Nights to get some vital information out of the two NPCs))

Bane sped through the multi-coloured highway that was the transitioning point between the Root Towns and the fields. A spectrum of colours surrounded him, and all he could do is look and wait, biding his time until the server loaded his location. A flash of white light signalled his arrival and the next thing he saw were the golden rings settling him down onto a brick platform of sorts. Bane looked to either side of him, noticing more people, one of which he had made a comment to only moments before.

He stepped forward with his hands on his hips, looking north to the mountain range spanning the horizon. Bane did a few stretches, before jumping up and down on the spot a couple of times, psyching himself up for the adventure to be had. To his left, the west spanned a road leading into a forest and jungle hybrid, the lush greenery more apparent to the side closest to the southern ocean. To his right and to the east, spanned a long weaving road through what seemed to be endless dunes. The Heavy Blade’s gaze turned to the sky, letting out a sigh before deciding silently to get to work.

Alas, the server had other things planned as something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Down the road to his right, from the desert sands approached a white robed figure, travelling at an alarming as well as misleading pace. He spun around and noticed a knight, clad in black leather armour, approaching at the same pace as the white figure. They arrived simultaneously, exchanging glares before looking at the group, speaking in unison.

“Hello and welcome to the Rendered Land, watched and ruled over by the Twin Princesses. The Princess invites you to visit her holding, to hear her plight, and to come to her aid. Please, follow me to our home, we must make haste.” Their time to exchange their hostile gazes came again and Bane could hear the sarcastic mutterings coming from both of them, relating to the other’s presence and their unfortunate lack of creativity when it came to thinking up their own lines. Bane couldn’t help but chuckle, bowing his head as he heard the pair squabble like an old married couple.

”Look, you can only follow one of us, but we both want you to come. My name is General Kirkus, and I’ll be your guide to see Princess Kyora.” The black general spoke, arms folded while the white wizard glared at him. The other figure, the wizard spoke in a bitter tone towards the general, however his words were for the group. He outlined that he was Geoff, an emissary of the princess Inra. Bane looked at them both in turn, from where they came from, and he knew already that this was going to be more hassle than what it was going to be worth.

There were three of them, and only two paths to traverse. If they chose one as a group, then the other may be cut off from them forever. If only one chose to follow one while the other two followed the other, it could be a potential trap for the one left alone. There was too much mystery around this, and Bane didn’t like it one bit. If there was at least one more person with them, they could break off in couples so that there was some degree of protection. Then again, levels would need to be taken into account, let alone introductions. Bane gave a sigh of exhaustion, thinking through things and then coming to a conclusion: He would need to interrogate both the general and the wizard to find out which was potentially the safer of the two decisions.

Bane turned to Kirkus first and folded his arms, looking inquisitively at the general, his voice neutral and glancing across at the wizard. His mind wandered to what would be the most important question that would need to be asked, so he asked simply. ”Sir Kirkus, why us? What makes us so special?”

The black general rolls his eyes. "You're not special. We sent out the call to adventurers, and you're just who showed up."

Bane, taken aback by the blunt response considered the possibility and then concluded that yes, it was possible. He looked at Geoff in case he had anything to say but went back to the general all the same, prepared with another question. "Alright, so we replied to your message. What possible dilema could possibly be solved with us? From where I see it, both of you want us, so this leads me to believe you're at war."

He sighs. "War, yes. A battle fought for ages. Our forces are even. You will be able to turn the balance. Perhaps."

Bane nodded. "Yes, with there being only three of us, even if we were to split unevenly, one side would have the advantage over the other, if it is in numbers alone. However...what is in it for us? Honestly, if one kingdom were to prevail over the other, all we'd be recieving is bloodshed. Is there no way for a treaty to be made?" The Heavy Blade looked up at the sky, scanning the mountain range briefly. He sighed, and then looked up at Kirkus again,waiting for a response.

"I don't know. I'm just here to bring you to the Princess. What you do there, what you're rewarded with, that's all up to her."

Bane unsheathed his blade, holding it at his side, not in any way a hostile action. He looked it over, noticing that Kirkus had a blade of a similar style. He looked back at Geoff, then back at the general. "Alright...Then answer me one more question. Why is it that you rage war on one another? Surely it's not just because the princess wills it, right?"

"The princess commands it, and what she commands is what we obey."

Bane turned to Geoff. "Is this the same on your side, too? If this is the case, must we meet with both princesses, or just the one?"

"You may only follow one of us." the wizard replied. "Yet what he says is true."

Bane closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath and concentrating, thinking over what he had been told. It was as he feared; this was just going to end in bloodshed. One way or another though, he didn't plan on dying any time soon. Whether or not his reward would be worthwhile or not, he had made his choice. He didn't know his fellow adventurers, but at this stage in time it mattered very little. He approached the general, standing by his side with his blade in front of him, pointing down with the tip touching the brick pavement. "My blade is at your command, general. I'm sorry that it has to be like this Geoff, but if we have to make a choice, I'd rather someone that is on par with me. As you are undoubtedly more magical than I, there's little defence I have if your side of the story is a trap."

Geoff just eyes you for a moment, his eyes narrowing, then turns to the other two. "Is this your decision?"

Bane cut in, a slight smirk on his face. "Do not get me wrong, Geoff. I stand alone in my decision and whatever they choose is up to them. Those two I have not met formally before, so I hold no allegience to them as such."

The general merely shook his head at the Heavy Blade, glaring at the wizard. "You misunderstand. The three of you are in this together. Either Geoff or I will return home alone."

Bane, looked up at Kirkus, blade returning to his side a look of bewilderment on his face. "Together? With people I have never met before? I understand the importance of unity, but I cannot justify making their decision for them. That's the same lack of freedom of choice that you have, both of you, in raging war upon each other!" Bane stepped back slightly, sheathing his blade once more and folding his arms again, annoyed. The decision could be made with a simple coin toss, but...How could he make such a decision if he had to take into account the feelings of others?

”You will face far greater challenges than unity amongst strangers." says Geoff, glaring back at the general and muttering profanities and insults at the general under his breath.

"Perhaps...but in this situation, we have to choose which kingdom to save and which to condemn. While yes, this is inside a game, the fact is so many innocent lives will be slaughtered thanks to our forced decision to choose. It's starting to make me reconsider what to do now..." He turned to the others, grunting and unsure of what to do. "Well...what should we choose?"

The crow cawed happily, gobbling up the scroll and the pittance of GP. Must have catered to his tastes. The Blademaster watched the bird fly up into the air, hearing the words of this stranger next to him. Something seemed familiar about him, but he couldn’t really place it.. Experience had taught him the best way to deal with prying eyes, ears and mouths was silently, so he paid the man no attention, wondering just what the bird wound up doing with gold coins and a spell in its stomach. Another caw sounded off; a second crow flew down, dropping another message. It seemed that this one was for Mr. Nosey, an unfortunate development. It meant that the Blademaster would most likely be going to the same field as the person he tried to brush off, possibly an awkward situation. The Blademaster watched this stranger read the scroll aloud, then entered the keywords into the Chaos Gate and warped away.

Kashi got to his feet, making sure he had what he would need for the event. Ten Health Drinks, Ten Mage’s Souls, Ten Resurrects. Kind of basic, but with my budget it’ll have to do. I just wish those prizes from the tournament would have been distributed, so I could use mine. ‘Unexpected delays’ my ass, it better be worth it. He drew one of his swords, the Mizuchi. While his weakest weapon, it did hold a handy buff spell that would affect the collective, saving him SP. He considered equipping the Rondo instead, but the Ap Torma would probably not have been as useful as an Ap Ganz. The boy knew he was just delaying - he was nervous about going to this event. At least with the others he had some idea of what they would be doing, or even what it was about. The lack of both pieces of information bothered him. Well, at least I know someone who will be there. Stepping to the Chaos Gate, the boy cleared his throat and entered the keywords, watching the golden rings whisk him away.

Warping into the field, the boy looked around. The area looked nothing like the standard fare, but that itself was becoming normal to him. This field was more like an estranged town, the three players standing in the middle of a square ‘plaza‘, the midday sun beating down upon the vibrant stones beneath their feet. The colouring of the ground painted out an odd shape, one the boy had only seen once before in his lifetime. Since it was on a map, he assumed it had something to do with direction, but the shut-in didn’t know what. What he did know was that whoever designed this field had no sense of consistency. Far ahead of them in the distance were several mountains, but closer lay two different types of terrain. To their left there stretched forestry for miles and miles, two different types of forest separated by a single road at precisely ninety degrees ‘west’ of their position. To the right was desert, golden sand as far as he could see. Again, a road separated the expanse of sand, ninety degrees in the opposite direction. The boy turned around, looking for anything different. Behind him, he was surprised to find gallons upon gallons of water forming an ocean of sorts.

The boy had little time to marvel at his surroundings. Opening his mouth to talk, he shut it, watching a figure come from his west, what would be east originally. A figure decked out in shimmering white approached them. He couldn’t help but gawk a bit at the foreign attire, the Blademaster hadn’t seen anyone dressed up entirely in white before. As he got closer, the boy saw only half of his face. The other half hid behind a cloak of material. Turning around, the boy caught sight of the armoured knight approaching them from the left. He didn’t have much more than a quick once-over before the discussion began, but he did note the unusual amount of chains wrapped around the man.

The two stopped simultaneously and welcomed them to the field, referred to as the Rendered Land. The pair of introductions flowed along with complete synchronization, right up until they finished and bickered to high heaven. The black general introduced himself as General Kirkus and he wanted to bring them to a Princess Kyora. The white wizard also told them his name, Geoff, as well as his princess’ name, Inra. The Heavy Blade that was so inquisitive in the Root Town earlier began the round of questions. Kashi quickly found that, through the conversation, these two were proving to be less than informative in an interesting way. What he did learn, however, was that the Heavy Blade was less than eager to actually make an effort in uniting their group. In fact, the collective well-being of the group could have probably not mattered any less to him. Something struck in his head then, and the boy knew where he had seen Mr. Nosey before. He’s in the Army. The boy was less than thrilled to remember.

Kirkus and Geoff waited expectantly, and the third member of the group wasn’t striking up any conversation. Kashi figured he’d fill in the gap with a few questions. Turning first to Geoff then to Kirkus, the boy voiced his first question. ”What is life like in your kingdom? General activities and such.” The wizard answered him first.

”You should come to find out for yourself. Due to the war, though, neither of our kingdoms fare well.”

Kashi turned to Kirkus. ”You can’t tell us anything else at all? Not a word?”

He could see the general practically sigh with annoyance. ”Look. We want you to come to our kingdoms.  Telling you things you can see for yourself isn't going to get you there."

Fair enough. I wanted to maybe get an idea of just how bad it would be, but I guess we can see once we arrive there. He thought for a second about what they had already been told, before deciding on his next question. "Could you tell us anything more about your princesses than their names?"

The answer he got made him want to slap his forehead and drag his hand down his face. “Princess Kyora is the ruler of half of this land’s elements, while her sister rules the others.”

He tried prying a bit further, looking to Geoff for this one. ”I meant about their personalities, not their real estate. Some insight into their values, notable past activities?”

Together, this time. ”We’re not granted permission to speak for them on this matter.” He closed his eyes for a moment. Are they that bad? Or, are these two just trying to rush us off… The boy thought back to some of the ancient games he used to play. Enemies had reasons for being enemies, right?

"What's the issue between you two? There seems to be a lot of animosity."

The answer he received from Kirkus didn’t exactly fit what he’d thought would have been said. “We’re at war, what do you expect?”

Looks like the Fire Emblem method of diplomacy doesn’t work. Kashi couldn’t help but throw back a quiet mutter of a retort along with a small roll of the eyes. "The way you talk? For a fight to have already broken out."

He looked to Mr. Nosey. The Heavy Blade pitched a question on their course of action. The Blademaster thought for a moment. Well, we didn’t exactly get much to go on either way. I’d like to know more about the royalty before picking, but… “I’d rather not walk through desert. The scenery is a bit depressing, y’know?” He waited for a reaction, doubting that one would come. ”With what little we know, my vote’s on Kirkus. If we’re headed into a trap, at least the forest will provide some cover for a getaway.” He looked over to the two signs for a moment. Sure that he had tried both their patience already, the boy voiced a thought. ”I’d like to know what those two triangular signs mean before we head out. Any idea?”

To Kashi, Kirkus answered.

“Those signs are indicators of territory. This plaza is a zone of truce. To our side is Kyora’s land, and on the other side is Inra’s.” The black-clad swordsman turned and faced Geoff.

“Tell your mistress what transpired here. Don’t forget to assure her of her imminent defeat.” He smirked, and turned his back at the wizard. The wizard in turn glared, seething with anger, but schooled himself and turned away. Without a word, he stepped off the platform and began to walk across the desert.

Kirkus faced the two players, looking them over. “A bit scraggly, but you’ll do. Come, follow me. It’s a long journey, and Kyora will be interested in meeting you as soon as possible.”

The swordsman walked off the platform and headed down the path designated by the black inverted pyramid. He seemed utterly at east, his weapon tightly sheathed, unworried and unhurried. He kept a solid pace, not too fast, but faster than a walk. It was plain he wanted to make the best time he could for the energy he expected them to have.

Soon, sooner than expected, the forest began to close in on them. The trees were larger and growing closer to the path. The canopies knit together until it was a dim half-light, most of the sunlight blocked out. The few small gaps there were, showed the hour was growing later as they walked. The sky turned orange and red above them, and finally grew so dark as to be almost black. Before long, if there was still sky visible, it was as black as the undercanopy.

As if to forestall questions, Kirkus began a small monologue.

“Kyora and Inra split from unity long ago. Each took with them half of the world, and half of the elements. Mistress Kyora controls the water, wood, and darkness. What you see around you is the world we live in.” He paused, gesturing around as he walked, and gradually they could make out more details.

Side paths, gaps in the magnificent and gigantic trees, seemed almost to be hallways through the forest. Sounds echoed, carried above and through them, coming from everywhere at once. No light came from the sky, but there were numerous forms of luminescence. Fungi, large glowing mushrooms, sprouted from the base of trees and from the crooks of limbs. Bioluminescent lichen grew on trunks and similar moss carpeted the floor. Here and there, insects floated, fireflies glowing and pulsing in the darkness. Occasionally, large lights hung from the ceiling; massive insects as big as a head, glowing softly blue.

The effect was beautiful, and magnificent. It also made it easy to see their path, the widest of the glowing trails. Everything was tinged with blue and green, the occasional insect tending towards yellow. Kirkus’s armor appeared to be coated with something that reflected the light, or perhaps absorbed and emitted it, for he too glowed with the same soft blue. If he stood still, he would be near-invisible in the soft diffuse light.

“We are lacking. Our people have no fire, no thunder. Our rain is soft, not storms. Even our earth has dropped away, leaving only this; wood, tangled branches for walls and floors and ceilings. The water has washed the dirt away.” He is right; a soft rain can be heard somewhere far above, light, little more than a mist. The water filters down, lending everything a soft hiss they had almost tuned out until it had been pointed out. Any true dirt, any soil, had long since been washed away.

“We cannot cook our food. We cannot light our homes without capturing or killing insects, or cultivating the mosses. We cannot build; only tease the slow growth of plants into something habitable.”

The further they travel, the more it seems like the Vak, Rai, and Gan elements are completely missing. In fact, were the pair of them to check their status screens, they would notice those particular stats were minimal.

After some time, they reached their first landmark. There was no way to tell how long it had taken, with a sense of time almost completely gone by now. Kirkus stopped, on the edge of what appeared to be a large room. In a normal forest, perhaps it would have been a clearing, but here it was a large hollow. Perhaps half the size of a football field, and equally tall as it was long. They could see the path continue on beyond it, but there were a dozen ominous holes, bits of blackness in the moss and bugs.

“Your first test.” Kirkus said, facing the open room.

At the sound of his voice, a light hiss filled the air. From the holes crawled large, sinuous shapes. They looked similar to iguanas, only as large as people, and more lithe, faster. There were six of them in total, once they all crawled loose. Three were large as people, and three were half that size. One of the large ones and one of the small ones had blue glowing eyes. Likewise, two had purple and two had green.

“Survive, defeat the Wyverns, and we can proceed.” Kirkus stands aside, and watches.

-------------------------------ooc:

Yay, a battle! Monster descriptions are below. For this battle, due to the unique distribution of the elements on this field, you act as though you have a perpetual and unremovable Dek Vakz, Dek Raio, and Dek Ganz.

Blue/Purple/Green Wyvern (Male)
Level: 10
Rue/Ani/Juk Tolerant respectively

Each Male Wyvern has a few attacks. They have a tail whip, a bite, and a slash, as any large lizard would. They have a charged slash attack where their claws glow, equivalent to the Blademaster “Crack” skill of their element. The blue one can cast Rue Kruz, the purple one can cast Ani Don, and the green one can cast Juk Zot.

The Male Wyverns are the smaller ones. They’re faster than the females, more agile, but weaker.


Blue/Purple/Green Wyvern (Female)
Level:20
Rue/Ani/Juk Tolerant respectively

Each Female Wyvern has a few attacks. They have a tail whip, a bite, and a slash, as any large lizard would. They have a charged slash attack where their claws glow, equivalent to the Blademaster “Crack” skill of their element. The blue one can cast Rue Kruz, the purple one can cast Ani Zot, and the green one can cast Juk Kruz.

The Female Wyverns are the larger ones. They’re slower , less agile, but stronger than the Males.

This should be a pretty challenging battle, so Kirkus will help in his own little ways. He won’t do any fighting, but he might heal or res you if you die. You should script with me for his actions, though. Otherwise, have at it.

He considered things, thinking over both options as the Blademaster interrogated them for further information. He was only half listening as he eyed both paths and they respective owners, wondering which the better path to take was. He was still leaning towards following General Kirkus into the forest due to the cover of the foliage as well as the more inviting nature of greenery rather than the harsh desert.

The Blademaster came over again and spoke plainly to Bane. “I’d rather not walk through desert. The scenery is a bit depressing, y’know?” Bane noticed he paused, quite possibly waiting for a reaction. Bane nodded, but realised that it went unnoticed as the Blademaster continued to speak. ”With what little we know, my vote’s on Kirkus. If we’re headed into a trap, at least the forest will provide some cover for a getaway.” Bane nodded again. It appeared as though this player saw reason as well.

”Yes, I agree entirely. All things considered, it’s better to play it safe, for now.” Kirkus dealt with the last question, outlining the territories and stating the neutral nature of the plaza they were currently standing in. Then the general put on an arrogant display before Geoff stormed off, retaining what composure he had as he left. Bane was going to state his discomfort but when he realised that Kirkus and his partner were already on their way, due east, into the dense forest. Bane glanced once over to the desert and ran to catch up to the general.

They were surrounded by the overgrown mass of green, the gnarled roots and coiling vines of plants only getting in the way as they traversed further into the realm of Princess Kyora. The canopy created a speckled path of light that lead them into the dark depths; however, the deeper they traversed, the further away from natural light they found themselves. Bane could hear birds and other wildlife settling, and considering that the path behind them was just as dark as the path ahead, he concluded that dusk had come and soon, night.

“Kyora and Inra split from unity long ago. Each took with them half of the world, and half of the elements. Mistress Kyora controls the water, wood, and darkness. What you see around you is the world we live in.” Kirkus spoke to break the silence, and Bane could only guess why. The darkness was stifling, and it was only now that they were starting to get to the point where fungus and other like things were beginning to provide their own brand of bioluminescence to guide them further. The ground had transitioned from dirt to moss, and it was like a lit walkway for them to follow.

The tune of “Follow the Yellow Brick Road” entered Bane’s head and he groaned, scratching the back of his head as he followed on, making sure to go around the large, bulbous mushrooms rather than risk temptation by jumping on them like a makeshift trampoline. He found something glowing ahead and as he concluded that the closer they got to the keep of the princess, the more furnished this forest would become. He reached out and grabbed a firefly, opening his hand slowly and letting it fly out to join its friends once more in a ballet in the sky.

He looked around as they walked, hearing Kirkus talk again after a long while. “We are lacking. Our people have no fire, no thunder. Our rain is soft, not storms. Even our earth has dropped away, leaving only this; wood, tangled branches for walls and floors and ceilings. The water has washed the dirt away.” It was the first time Bane noticed it and could place the sound. Before he just figured it was a speaker playing up on his computer, or very soft white noise, but what it was, was the faint pitter-patter of the rain on the leaves above their heads. It was gentle, almost like a mist, then again that could be an inaccurate assumption as the canopy above them had become so dense no light could filter through. “We cannot cook our food. We cannot light our homes without capturing or killing insects, or cultivating the mosses. We cannot build; only tease the slow growth of plants into something habitable.”

Bane interjected, muttering something to the Blademaster so that only he could hear, walking forward next to him with both of his hands on the back of his head, a sullen, unimpressed look on his face. ”Considering that the polar opposite would be happening over on the other side of the plaza, I bet things would be equally bad, and also why I think that this war us just a joke.” He stopped, letting the Blademaster go on with Kirkus for a little bit before getting the hinting suspicion that something wasn’t right.

If things here were essentially Ruem, Juka and Anid controlled, then he wondered if this was going to have an influence on them as well considering the influence it had on the landscape. His first reaction was to check his health and status. While he may have had a thing for various poisons and toxins, he didn’t have a particular fondness of being poisoned unwillingly. Finding nothing there, he checked his status, and swore. The environment, while not technically causing any status down effects was playing games with his elemental alignments. Ruem, Juka and Anid remained unchanged, however Vakz, Ganz and Raio had taken huge hits.

He realised how far behind he had fallen for spacing out, and sprinted forward to catch up, almost tripping over a root, and having to make an awkward dodge around an engorged mushroom. He saw Kirkus standing in front of what seemed like a hollowed out bee-hive; a large room that stood in place of a forest clearing or glade. Its size, in no way, shape or form was small, but their path ahead could clearly be seen which made Bane wonder. Kirkus turned and spoke again. “Your first test.” Bane looked around and found that they were no longer alone, or rather, weren’t alone to begin with.

As if the general’s voice had summoned them, a low, serpentine growl began to echo off the walls of this roost, as six reptilian figures began to emerge from hiding. Bane unsheathed his blade, nudging the Blademaster to follow suit if he had not already done so, looking above as the lizards peered down at them, making Bane grunt slightly from the trap that was set up for them. While this supposedly a test, they couldn’t harness the natural surroundings as the room-hive-thing they were in was pretty much bare aside from patches of moss that provided the lighting. Bane counted and, smirked at the irony and predictability of the programming for this field. Conveniently, there were an even number of foes for them to take down, and each one of them having their own specialised tolerance for one of the dominant elements of the area.

“Survive, defeat the Wyverns, and we can proceed.” He watched the general with an uneasy frown and figured that he was going to let them do all the work. Figures. In any case, Bane immediately dove for his item reserves and applied a Speed Charm on himself, casting Ap Ruem shortly after, followed with Ap Vorv figuring any and all help he could get with his stats could be a life saver. He rather not risk placing either poison from Duk Lei or charm from Miu Lei just in case their resistances were too high. Recalling that the Blademaster was exactly half his level, he sized up the targets and, without a second thought, instructed him to go for the small ones as if it wasn’t already obvious those were designed for him.

The Heavy Blade however was faced with a trio of female wyrms, each one sporting their own form of feminine beauty and eyeing him suspiciously. Bane chuckled, looking at each of them in turn, sword arm lowered and relaxing himself. ”Come now, ladies. Surely we can’t work this out some other way?” A loud, unified roar from all three of them made him get back on guard, grinning. ”Guess not then. Well…Who wants the first dance?” He smirked and heard one of them prepare to charge, lunging at him from the hole she was hiding in.

The Heavy Blade stepped back and to the side, avoiding a downwards striking claw and delivering a sweeping motion horizontally to its front leg. It reared up in pain, but had more than one reason to feel pain as Bane saw it necessary to be quite the opposite of a gentleman by continuing the attack. From his current position, he spun both his blade and his own body, although the latter only to the point where his back was exposed, before thrusting his blade backwards into the side of the enemy. The Blue Wyrm roared in pain, retreating slightly and making a fierce rumbling sound, the Juka Wyrm joining the fray and letting the Ruem one fall back to its roost to rest.

Before Bane could make a smartass quip about the current battle being able to be compared to both speed dating and Pokemon, he found himself hit to the side by the tail of his new found friend. With a grunt, Bane realised his HP had taken a fairly decent hit, but not worth worrying about and wasting a Health Drink on. The new foe kept her body low to the ground, hissing at him and making him roll his eyes in annoyance, muttering something about women. A green rune opened up below him and he tensed up in his computer chair as he realised what was to come.

Brambles fell atop him, chipping away further at his HP. It was as if they didn’t want him to recover, as a blue rune opened up on him and he noticed the Blue Wyrm he ticked off earlier was casting a spell of her own. Looking up, he assessed the beginnings of a Rue Kruz spell and rolled off to the side, rearing back his hand and aiming high at the Blue Wyrm. ”Let’s see how much you like my own variation of your spell!” He swung his arm around, ducking under a swipe from the Green Wyrm and letting his spell fly. Larger boulders of ice and sleet fell down upon the wyrm of the same element, however, with the added bonus of Bane’s Ap Ruem status, the spell had a little bit of extra bite…


Bane swore, loud, when his magic did absolutely nothing and was more than annoyed when the Blue Wyrm shrugged it off as if it were nothing. The Purple Wyrm hadn’t moved, but was just watching from above, waiting for her time to strike. Bane dove forward, clashing blade against nail as he fought for his ground and for the opportunity to strike again. Finding himself at a standstill, he broke the engagement and rolled off to the side again, dodging the blow. He looked across at the Blademaster and smirked, finally admitting that he had forgotten his name. ”Hey! Blademaster! I’m Bane by the way!” He ducked and attacked the underside of the wyrm he was facing, jumping back to get out of its tail-attack range. ”I can’t remember your name, sorry! But I doo remember you from…the AoD Mansion, yeah?”

Listening out for a reply, he continued to fight, keeping his sword strokes confident, swift and fluid like the Ruem element he was representing. Three more strikes to the flesh of his current ‘date’ and he found that she too wanted out of their ‘relationship’. Bane, getting more serious now, charged as soon as the Blue Wyrm came back to the floor, and spun on his heel and used the momentum to power his next strike. His blade, powered by the added motion dug deep into the flesh of the Blue Wyrm and dealt a heafty blow to her HP.

Granted, he couldn’t see it amongst other things due to the poor lighting in his room and on the game itself, but all things considering the enemy seemed to be in massive amounts of pain from how much it was writhing around. Bane rushed forward and kicked forward with a foot, before cutting down with his blade, and then spinning around again to slice the wyrm from the other direction. This was when he saw a chance, quite possibly the last one he’d get before another enemy substituted in and attacked him from behind. So, he triggered one of his skills, one he didn’t use all that much, and watched his blade glow green. Considering that this attack was his only physical skill that would be able to be used, and even though it couldn’t be used on a single enemy of the three, it was going to be more than enough to finish off this one. ”Hirameki!

Three powerful, swift, and decisive strikes to the monster’s head signalled its fall. The Heavy Blade found that his Ap Ruem and Ap Do status had gone, soon to follow his Ap Vorv. The Anid wyrm decided to take her chances and leapt down upon Bane, pinning him to the ground and attempted to take a bit out of him. The Heavy Blade wasn’t going to go down without a fight and held up his blade to collide with the Anid wyrm’s teeth, grinding against tooth with metal to prevent getting hurt. Granted, he knew it wouldn’t be easy to move, but was definitely possible.

He looked up at the Purple Wyrm and used his spare hand to gently touch her jaw, whispering soft, caring words to her as his hand glowed pink, and soon enough, the pink aura transferred onto the creature. With his Miu Lei a success, and the charm affliction in place, the wyrm hopped off and tackled the lesser, male counterpart of her Anid self. Bane jumped up, skipping to the side to avoid yet another vertical claw strike from the other of his foes.

The charm effect didn’t last long, however, that only really made things a lot worse for him as instead of taking things one on one, it was now two on one. Bane grunted and dug his heels into the ground before calling over to Kirkus, keeping his eyes focused and continually moving between his two approaching targets. ”Hey! Kirkus! Mind lending us a hand? We’re a bit swamped here!”

Kirkus will shake his head, not moving. "I know. This is a test for you, not me."

"Tch. What good are we to you if we're dead?" Bane swings his blade around to bat one of the wyrms out of his way, keeping it at bay while he conversed with the general. "Besides, wouldn't you rather us get to Princess Kyora earlier rather than later?"

"If you die, we get more, better adventurers. Besides, I don't make the rules. I just have to follow them." Kirkus stood perfectly still, watching the battle unfold and adopted a persona, from Bane’s point of view, stating quite clearly that he didn’t wanna get involved in this.

Bane grunted, driving his blade into the Juka aligned monster and grinding it to the hilt in between its eyes. "So it's your princess that's behind this? Figures..." He unsheathed his blade, his metal running with blood that only tinted his blade in the dim, blue light.

"You'd be facing the same thing on the other path, too. We need to test you."

"Well, make sure you remind me to thank Princess Kyora personally. I want to make it known to her that even though we may need to be tested, your kingdoms are at war and if you're at a standstill, a few extra people would be more than able to tip the scale."

"Well, do your best to live to tell her." He nods, but any expression is lost in the darkness and the glow.

((EDIT: Formatting tags for the lose. @_@))

The general turned to him and curtly replied to his question. It seemed that the signs were just markers of land, differentiating Kyora’s half of the field from Inra’s. The Blademaster looked at the two signs one more time, deciding that the directions the triangles pointed in were just a sign of discord between the two princesses, nothing more. Kirkus turned to Geoff, taunting the wizard and his ruler’s chances at success. The wizard left haughtily towards the desert, barely controlling his anger while his opponent began trekking in the opposite direction. Kashi looked over at Geoff for less than a moment before trailing after Kirkus, wondering what the wizard would do about all that anger he seemed to be controlling and dismissing Kirkus’ rather unwanted assessment. Rather, when the man would show up to battle them (it was bound to happen eventually). Looking over his shoulder, he stopped for a moment to allow Bane to catch up a bit, then continuing on after the black general.

Their brisk pace took them through the early section of forest - what Kashi could see from his vantage point on the plateau. Not long after they had departed, there was a noticeable drop in the lighting of the forest. Broad rays of brilliant bright light slowly gave way to pathetic threads of red and orange, hues of their once-strong selves. The foliage quickly closed in around them, wiping all trace of road away almost the moment they entered the forest. Large trunks and trees began to encroach upon their path, bramble and stray branches occasionally jutting out slightly. The leaves and colours of the surroundings were both much darker shades of their “normal” colours, and the ground underneath their feet crunched much more than it should have, leaving the Blademaster to believe that the soil was loose under their feet. The light eventually died off almost altogether, whatever he could catch while squinting his eyes not very bright at all.

Kirkus broke their temporary silence with a simple couple of statements about which elements Kyora and Inra took when they separated from each other as rulers, waving his hands to show Kashi and Mr. Nosey what they lived with. As they continued walking, Kashi began to see more and more of their new environment, little by little. Looking to his left as he walked, the boy saw miniature deviations of the path they walked, like semi-hallways into the darker fringes of the forest. Small insects glowing beautiful variants of teal, blue, and green began to appear, quickly becoming more and more in number. The ground was covered with a light moss which made walking sound less crunchy, and illuminated plants sat upon trees, larger insects sometimes joining them. Large mushrooms of varying species grew out of the ground, some a pleasant mixture of brown lit by a false green.

The general (whose armour was lighting up similarly to the wildlife found in their current part of the forest) continued his description of life in the forest. Without the elements of Vak, Rai or Ganz, housing was nightmarishly difficult. Homes were built by moulding the growth of plants into something hospitable, and the food eaten was not warmed even remotely. Lighting was provided by capturing or murdering the insects to be used as lamps or candles. Upon hearing that water washed the dirt out, Kashi looked to one of the trees. True enough, he caught the reflection of light, provided by a small streamlet of water trickling down the trunk. He could also just barely hear a soft dropping sound coupled with that of the flowing water, the soft rains that had been mentioned.

The Blademaster heard what his Heavy Blade companion had muttered, and nodded in agreement. If your ways of life would be so crippled, why separate in the first place? Kashi looked back and noticed that he had fallen behind again. Waiting momentarily, he watched the man close the distance between them and continued walking behind Kirkus, almost jogging to catch up.

The quiet coupled with the monotonous journey gave the Blademaster the effect of time travelling slower than it was. After what seemed like hours of walking (while it being just minutes), they happened upon a large, clearing-like area. The lighting of the bugs was thrown off in a handful of places, and, after hearing the first three words out of Kirkus’ mouth, Kashi had a bad feeling as to why.

It was rewarded, the stupid thing.

Six iguanas clambered out of the holes, a reptilian growl echoing between them. Without even waiting for Kirkus to continue speaking, the boy began optimizing his equipment. The Prince Attire and Komura would be the best tools for the job, as would his Face Guard. Shrugging the Attire on, the Blademaster fit the Guard on his head and drew his Komura from an invisible sheath. The blade, dark red and practically emanating its desire for blue blood, was pointed forward, at the smaller, male blue wyvern. Firing up his SP bank, the boy unleashed an Ap Do and an Ap Ruem on himself, boosting his resistance to the two supposedly Ruem-aligned enemies. Noting that his ally charged off into battle, the boy nearly reached out after him. It would make more sense to get rid of the weaker ones first! Alas, the Heavy Blade had already engaged the three females.

About to chase after him, the boy was interrupted by a trio of snarling petit wyverns. ”I’d love to hang out with you guys, but there’s more pressing issues to be--” He narrowly dodged out of the way of a tail, the appendage whirring right over his crouched head. ”Fine, let’s play three-on-one, cheap Reptar wannabes.”

The boy instantly raised his Komura, smacking an incoming tail out of the way. Two glowing green claws clanged off of the sword, the Blademaster launching into a Revolver. The skill batted away the oncoming attacks, slicing into the nose of an approaching biter. The purple wyvern snapped back, hissing at the wound. A glowing blue circle on the ground warned the Blademaster of an incoming spell, and particles of ice quickly gathered in the air, converging on the Blademaster. Unable to dodge due to the wind-down of the Revolver, he was battered back by the assault, his Ap Ruem negating some of the damage but the spell packing some unusual punch. The Blademaster lashed out with his Komura, missing one of the wyverns, and was bitten from behind. Watching a chunk of his HP dissipate, the Blademaster whirled around, delivering a diagonal cut to the sneaky green lizard. Turning back to the other two, he charged the energy of fire into his sword. ”Vak Slash!”

The flames that licked along the blade’s edge were pathetically small, and they dealt a pittance of damage to the blue wyvern, both strikes lashing against its back. ”It’s not working?!” The boy exclaimed, surprised. He jumped back, the giant flaming skull of an Ani Don crashing down in front of him. The resulting shock wave from impact knocked him over, clip damage stringing his health bar right into the critical range. If he wasn’t more careful, he’d wind up ghosted in no time. Getting to his feet, the boy used what SP he had regenerated in casting Repth on himself. The blue aura washed over him, restoring his health. He sheathed his Komura, drawing a Grunty’s Sword instead. If his Vakz stat was so low as to reduce his Vak Slash to almost nothing, he didn’t want to know just what had happened to his Ganz abilities, making the Souleater fairly useless for this fight. He heard Mr. Nosey call something out, and responded in turn. ”Name’s Kashi!“ He would have said more, but there were reptiles to hunt. The boy looked around, searching for the glowing eyes that gave his foes away. It seemed that, as he recovered, the wyverns dispersed into hiding. The wily bastards.

A soft blue glow emanated from one of the six holes, the blue magic circle appearing around the boy. He dove out of the way, the shattering of ice crystals heard behind him. The Blademaster saw something move out of the corner of his eye, something green. The Juka wyvern tried to make a quick entrance behind him, but he wouldn’t have it. Whipping around, he instinctively stabbed out. His sword pierced the tongue of the wyvern, open jaw quickly shutting around his weapon. Kashi tried booting the thing to the face multiple times, but it wouldn’t let go. Tugging with a series of yanks, the fragment of the sentence ”Would…you…just…let…go!” escaped his lips, frustrated. When the freak-guana finally let his sword go, he lurched back, stepping forward and slashing across its face. He turned around, catching the blue-eyed wyvern trying to make an escape. Running after it, he pulled a scroll from his inventory. Flame Blast. Deciding against using his only level 2 Vak scroll, he returned it to his inventory, instead activating a skill housed on his Grunty’s Sword.

”Crack Beat!”

He jumped high into the air, his running start providing him with distance. Sword raised, he came charging back down, the weapon cleaving right through to the wyvern’s skull. Slashing three more times, he finished with a thrust, right through its spine. The wyvern passed on, but not without releasing one last Rue Kruz. The spell ripped through him again, shredding most of the HP he had recovered. He turned around, seeing the purple-eyed wyvern prepare to finish him…until his female counterpart came barrelling in, biting down on one of his arms and snapping it. ”What the heck?” Whatever Bane had done, it was a most welcome distraction. That left just the one green wyvern, whose health was probably close to the Blademaster’s. The Ap Ruem conveniently faded, returning his Ruem stat to normal, and the female wyvern returned to her earlier prey. The boy smirked, drawing a blue scroll from his inventory. Now that both blue wyverns were done for, he could try out a Cygnus. He renewed the Ap Ruem on himself and ripped the scroll.

Bane grunted, speaking through clenched teeth. ”Tch. Fine.” The Heavy Blade skipped around the Juka wyrm and brought his blade along with him, cutting sidewards and then curving his attack upwards; dragging his metal along the side of his target. The Purple Wyrm, who was still aligned with Ani (As if that was going to change anyway) charged, finding it’s mark in the center of Bane’s chest and delivering a firm blow, knocking him over the Green Wyrm.

Struggling to get up, Bane downed a Health Drink, rolling out of the way when the Purple Wyrm lunged again, letting it run straight into the wall of the dome they were fighting in. He heard the Blademaster call out his name, and he remembered immediately. Yes, Kashi was part of the AoD. He didn’t know much about him, granted, however there was very little time for that at the moment. Right now, he was trying to stay alive. In any case, Bane ran back towards the Green Wyrm and drove his blade deep into the back of the lizard-like creature, making it cry out in a shriek of pain.

Bane was thrown off, losing his blade momentarily as he skidded along the ground, looking around as much as he could whilst re-enacting a rag doll being thrown across the room by a child. He came to a halt, landing on his backside and jumped up immediately, drawing his Kikuichimonji, which while was 15 levels lower than his other weapon, still had been a reliable weapon to date. Rushing towards the monster that still had his blade, he pulled back his blade, swinging it forward and calling out his skill’s name.

”Hayabusa!” He swung his blade right horizontally with a blinding speed, following it up with one following the same track, albeit back towards the left, spinning on his heel and swinging his blade over his head to strike downwards upon the lizard. Again, it recoiled in pain, jumping back to let the Purple Wyrm take its place before Bane. The Heavy Blade brought his blade up to parry an oncoming attack coming from above, pushing the lizard’s attack to the side and elbowing it in the jaw. Bane grunted as he felt himself in the pincer formation again by the two remaining lizards.

He watched from over his shoulder, stepping to the side as he evaded an attack from above by the Green Wyrm, and then jumped over a sidewards claw strike from the Ani aligned monster. He planted his hand on the claw of the monster that attacked him second, pushing off it like a springboard much like Erika had taught him. Considering that she was a Fist Fighter, she had moved that move a lot considering that she would always find some way to turn her attack on someone else; also known as, the counter attack. Back to the battle and away from memory lane; Bane, now airborne, positioned himself in a crouch, mid air, and had his blade pointed downwards.

It found it’s mark in the Green Wyrm’s skull again, and he found that it’s HP was in critical. Wasting no time, he reared back his hand and aimed a GiRue Kruz at it, letting it suffer from big chunks of ice while he turned to face the Purple Wyrm. A loud roar in pain signalled the Green Wyrm’s defeat, and his blade fell to the ground with a clatter. Ms. Ani-Wyrm decided to attack with some variety and spun around to create a whiplash effect with her tail.

The Heavy Blade sighed, standing on his toes in preparation, crouched and leapt backwards in a somersault, catching his blade when he landed in a handstand, falling back in a kneeling position on the ground. It was funny, or rather amusing to Bane in that as time went by, he was becoming more and more like a Fist Fighter in both his fighting style and personality. That, of course, was in Erika’s opinion. It didn’t bother him really. Jumping back once more, he found his ground now on the body of one of the weaker, still living wyrms. He didn’t mind, because he wasn’t on there for long.

He bounded forward, keeping his motions partially erratic in terms of side-to-side to keep the Purple Wyrm guessing, rearing back his Kikujyumonji and letting it glow with Juka energy. ”Hirameki!” Much like his Hayabusa skill, his sword strokes were a flurry, or rather swift in the three strikes he delivered. Due to his Juka stat remaining unchanged by the environment, his skill was able to take full effect, as shown by the big numbers being pumped out from his consecutive hits.

He was getting tired of this; however, he knew it was only the beginning. Considering that this was the first trial of undoubtedly many more to come from this field, Bane sighed, holding his blade tightly with two hands and delivering the final blow to his last target, slamming its face between metal and dirt; he was already bored of this. He wiped his brow with his arm, sheathing his blade and casting Repth on himself. He turned to Kirkus, watching him. ”Can we go now, please?”

The Cygnus erupted into smoke in his hands, blue sparks claiming the papyrus paper. Drops of water from the forestry overhead converged in several places around the green wyvern. Globules of water combined, growing in size until each one was roughly the size of a two-thousand page book, hovering in midair. Sharp decreases in temperature froze each newly-formed block of water, creating several large chunks of ice. The blocks flew toward the wyvern from all angles, the boy raising his Grunty’s Sword. Blowing the remainder of his SP, he restored his health to full, racing after his “spell”. The Cygnus was doing a fine job of holding up his target, knocking the wyvern around like a rag doll in the hands of a hyperactive five-year-old. Twice he heard the quiet crunching sound of bones breaking. The icy projectiles disappeared after striking the wyvern, returning to some hitherto-unknown place.

Kashi took his opportunity, stepping in with a sharp thrust forward. His sword was blocked by a dirty claw, the wyvern snarling and batting his sword to the side. Green scales enveloped his lower vision as the third appendage of the beast swung in from behind it, connecting with a sound *thud* against his stomach and bowling him back. The Blademaster rolled twice, colliding with a tree. His head spun for a moment, not enough to divert his attention from the quarter of his health knocked away. Eyes refocusing, he spotted the green wyvern closing in as he had, claw glowing a bright emerald. The teen scrambled out of the way, blazingly bright claw tearing into the tree behind him, but not before he sustained a deep wound to his ankle. Blood dripped down his foot as he hopped up, weight on his left leg.

Eyes darted to the right, sword arm following his line of sight. A black tail and a green one swung for him in tandem. The boy struck up a Crack Beat, jumping up into the air before coming down with a crash on the green wyvern’s head. Two diagonal cuts diced his face, a horizontal slash beating back a pathetically swung defensive claw. He repeated his fake Cross Slash manoeuvre, reversing the ‘x’ so the slashes dragged up against the green wyvern’s maw. A dark hue lit the ground around him, a telltale sign of the Ani Don cast by the victim’s partner. Hopping forward, the Blademaster planted his left foot on the green wyvern’s nose, turning around and throwing himself away from both his target and the oncoming spell.

The rush of air generated by the skull’s landing propelled the boy forward slightly faster, messing up his landing. He landed heavily on his injured ankle, stumbling ahead, left foot planting down forcefully on the grass ahead of him. Kashi sucked air in through his teeth as he heard the impact bring a minor fracture in his right ankle. Suddenly finding himself unable to maintain balance for more than a few moments, he brought the healing light of a Repth down to him again, restoring his ankle to normal and recovering the majority of the damage taken. He wheeled around, raising his left hand in the direction of the Anid wyvern. Crackling sparks of electricity thundered around his wrist, eagerly anticipating the words that would free them.

”Rai Rom!”

The electricity arced towards the wyvern, small strands of thunder coiling around the beast. Hardly a tornado, but it served its purpose. The green wyvern, bleeding profusely, was on the warpath again. Growling, it released a spell. Leaves cascaded through the ground under the Blademaster, foreshadowing pain. Kashi dove forward, but was still caught by the tree. Branches clipped his stomach and legs, tossing him up a foot before slamming into the grass. He grunted as he landed, the wind rushing from his lungs. Rolling forward, he stabbed at the green wyvern with the sword that he had a death grip on. The Grunty’s Sword easily sliced right through the scaly underside of the lizard’s chin, leaving a gaping hole prior to withdrawal. Two beating strikes against the iguana’s back and it was dust, collapsing in a heap. The death of the creature had an added benefit, bestowing upon the Blademaster a gift of three SP [15]. Nothing to write home about, but enough to push him back into Repth range.

The remaining wyvern was done with the fake-nado, and it was ticked. Crashing toward the invasive, violent human, it charged energy into its claws, imbuing them with a purple shine. Kashi switched his Grunty’s Sword with the stronger Souleater. Raising his sword, he unleashed another Crack Beat, flying up over the wyvern’s furious slash. The Blademaster returned to the ground, slamming his sword into the beast’s arm. The purple wyvern’s arm was crushed between the ground and the jagged brown blade of the Souleater, the flesh torn along the limb. Snarling, the wyvern gurgled a growl out - a sound full of pain and rage. Teeth sank down on the Blademaster’s left ankle almost immediately after, a claw puncturing his right. The boy swore profusely (and quite loudly), beating the dumb animal over the head with the flat of his blade five times. Amazingly, three of the beatings yielded health, albeit extremely minute amounts [16, 2, 17, 17, 5]. The frustrated player heard Bane nearby, huffing something about progressing on. Fortunately, Kashi’s dance partner was beyond exhausted. He delivered the creature to digitization with three rough cutting blows across the nose, left eye and neck. The lizard slumped over, dead at last.

The Blademaster took a step forward, forgetting that both of his feet were wounded. The recuperative energies from the Life Drain of the Souleater mended his left ankle, but the right was still wounded, trickling blood. It wasn’t enough of an injury to warrant a regenerative spell casting, so the boy limped back over, leading with the left foot. He noted (with a distinct lack of interest) that his Ap Ruem had run out, presumably when he offed the green wyvern. Upon reaching the two others, he sheathed his sword. ”Sorry for the hold-up.” If pressed, he would dismiss the stab wound. They most likely had bigger fish to fry, and he needed his SP back.

((OOC: Dice rolls are in the square brackets when it comes to the Drains, minimum 0 maximum 20. I actually got four Life Drains, but that would be excessive. and I’m not a lucky guy, IC or OOC.))

Kashi and Bane fought valiantly, but in the end, their victory was less than beautiful. Kirkus watched, studying their tactics, their moves, their banter. He wondered how they would fare in the palace itself. Others before had found the restrictions too much to bear, and now lay rotting in the twisted roots and branches of the trees, their flesh food for the luminescent molds and insects.

When the final wyvern had died, Kirkus walked forward, and looked over the two warriors.

“A less than stellar success, but a success nonetheless. Perhaps you will do after all. For now…” The general drew his sword and used it to scrape a section of the luminous moss from the wall. He tore it in half and compressed each half into a small ball. He sheathed his sword and pulled a flask from some pouch in his outfit. A small drizzle of the liquid inside quenched the light from the balls, and he capped the flask again. He handed one ball to each warrior, and it dissolved almost instantly upon touching them.

Bane and Kashi would find upon the dissolution of the moss ball, their HP and SP were restored to full.

“Come now, we have some distance yet to travel. Princess Kyora will be interested in seeing you now.” He started off without another word, leading the way through the twisting and turning and branching tunnels.

The tunnels seemed to grow smaller, but such was an illusion. In reality, the branches making up the tunnels were growing larger, so fewer of them composed the walls and floor and ceiling. In reality, the tunnels were also growing larger and wider. Until, at last, after ages of walking, they came upon their goal.

The tunnel opened up abruptly into a great open space. The branches still twisted tight above them, but it was surprisingly… bright. Soon, it became apparent why. High up in the peak of their exceptionally large room, a mass of light hung. It seemed to be wavering, pulsing, moving. It cast enough light to illuminate the entire room in an almost-daylight, like a thickly overcast day.

Filling the majority of the room was… a palace. It was unlike any palace on earth, constructed completely out of living trees. It was speckled with glowing mosses and insects, people bustling to and fro, and nothing in the way of guards. No one save Kirkus was even armed. Here, the general paused, and faced the two adventurers.

“Here I must impose upon you. None may seek audience with Kyora without first being bound to peace.” He held out his hands, palms up, and they began to glow. He wove a pattern in the air using the light, which held in place like an afterimage, but not fading. Then, his pattern concluded, he touched the design’s center. It rotated, enlarged, and folded over the pair like a net.

“This is the Audience Enchantment. I caution you; do not draw a weapon, nor raise a hand in violence, nor attempt to cast a spell harmful in nature within the grounds of the palace. The enchantment is ruthless. The first offence results in instant paralysis and reduction to half HP. The second offence reduces HP to 1, puts the offender to sleep, and teleports them to the wyvern pits.”

He paused, looking up at the palace, then began to walk towards the opening that served as a door. “I should also caution you. This far into our realm, you will find the elements of fire, lightning, and earth to be nonexistent.”

Passing through the door led them to a large hallway, lined with paneling of different colored woods. Except here, the wood made up the whole wall, and was not cut to be panels. The floor was smooth with age, the seams between branches and trunks invisible.

Beyond this tunnel was another, and another, until they arrived at a thick curtain of foliage, hanging still. Kirkus stopped and pushed the vines aside, revealing a dimly lit room. “She will see you now.”

Inside was bare, save a single chair at the far end of the room. On that chair sat a beautiful woman. Her skin was pale as moonlight and her hair as black as the night. Her eyes glowed the same blue-green as the luminescent insects, and her gown was made from spidersilk, shimmering in silver and black. She rested lightly, comfortably, in her throne.

”Welcome, warriors, to my throne room. Please be seated, so we may talk.” Her voice was soft, yet filled the room, and was as dark and sultry as her realm. She waited, for the pair to sit or speak as they desired. Kirkus meanwhile stood just inside the door, his arms folded, leaning against the wall.

----------------------ooc:

Vak, rai, and gan are unable to be used. Any skills involving those elements will be grayed out. As will any items, deks, or aps.

Now’s your chance to take up your beef with the princess =D

((OOC: More scripting with Nights. I'm starting to dislike seeing so much orange color.))

As Bane’s gaze fell upon that of Kirkus, he noticed the general walking towards the pair of players. “A less than stellar success, but a success nonetheless. Perhaps you will do after all. For now…” Bane’s expression turned to that one of slight annoyance, and possibly tiredness from the impossible task of pleasing this general. He sighed and watched carefully as the supposed leader of this group drew his weapon and made some kind of make shift cure out of the moss on the tree nearby.

As the orb medicine dissipated into Bane’s character avatar and restored his wounds to their utmost completion, the Heavy Blade noticed something amiss, something that hadn’t before stood out as abnormal. Then again, due to the heat of battle, it was quite understandable that something like this was to go unnoticed. Rotting corpses of the fallen, strewn about where the trees were implanted into the soil; the carcasses now homes for maggots and food for other flesh eating creepy-crawlies that may require sustenance. “Come now, we have some distance yet to travel. Princess Kyora will be interested in seeing you now.”

Bane couldn’t help but make a sarcastic remark, although did so under his breath so he wouldn’t get a mouth full from Mr. General over there. ”She was the one that wanted us in the first place…she better be interested in seeing us…” Bane grumbled as he trudged along in the wake of the general, glancing across at Kashi every now and again to check the Blademaster’s reactions to their surroundings. He could tell they were getting closer; how farther left to go was a question that still eluded him to some extent or another due to the labyrinth-like nature of the path they followed.

The overgrowth was getting worse, and soon enough whole trees were making up the walls around them, and the faint sound of the rain high above them now muted by the dense canopy overhead. Up ahead, and this was confirmed when they got there, was what appeared to be a large, cavern-like room with a light fixed overhead like a pseudo sun. Bane could’ve sworn that it was moving, that it was alive, but dismissed it to his imagination, but not an impossibility due to the unexpected nature of the game he was playing. The main attraction of the room: A large castle; made entirely out of the trees around them, coiled together to form a tight lattice of which inside, rooms were built.

The people around seemed peaceful, although somewhat sad. The Heavy Blade could only conclude why with what Kirkus said earlier. With no sun, no lightning, and no minerals in the earth, there was little to be done about the workability of the land and possible power supplies for the populace. It was unfortunate that one side would need to fall so the other may live, but perhaps the princess may be able to shed more light on the situation. He was good at dealing with those of a higher class; it came as a second nature to him, and quite possibly expected of him as a child. He couldn’t tell for certain, as for some reason recollections of his childhood evaded him like the bubonic plague.

“Here I must impose upon you. None may seek audience with Kyora without first being bound to peace.” Before Bane could respond, he, alongside the Blademaster, was afflicted by some sort of enchantment that didn’t register on his status screen. He gave Kirkus a weary yet curious look, before letting him explain further. “This is the Audience Enchantment. I caution you; do not draw a weapon, nor raise a hand in violence, nor attempt to cast a spell harmful in nature within the grounds of the palace. The enchantment is ruthless. The first offence results in instant paralysis and reduction to half HP. The second offence reduces HP to 1, puts the offender to sleep, and teleports them to the wyvern pits. I should also caution you. This far into our realm, you will find the elements of fire, lightning, and earth to be nonexistent.”

Oh, that’s great fun really. I mean it. Then again…not unreasonable considering she is the ruling monarch… Kirkus began walking towards the castle, and Bane followed behind, led through the castle’s rainbow halls up towards the entrance to the audience chamber. It was a curtain of leaves and vines, and when Kirkus parted it, Bane was the first to enter, wasting no time in striding inside, before bowing once inside the new room and gracefully crossing the floor towards the maiden at the end of the hall.

”Welcome, warriors, to my throne room. Please be seated, so we may talk.” Bane looked around the room, wondering where there was a seat in the otherwise bear room. Perhaps she’d rather them sit on the floor in submission, then again, as a Japanese by heritage, sitting on the floor was generally no problem. Bane knelt down and sat in the traditional Japanese style, sitting upright and down on his ankles, hands placed neatly in his lap as he looked up at the princess, nodding gently at her with gentle eyes before speaking.

”You rule a beautiful kingdom, princess. I would like to thank you for your hospitality. As a follower of Rue myself, what you rule here is much to my liking, however…” Bane’s gentle and pleasant tone disappeared for a moment, becoming calm and serious, looking up at the princess with a fairly curious gaze. ”Princess Kyora, to more pressing matters, as we are more than aware, there is a war raging. There are questions that remain unanswered, and while they may be trivial, my goal here is to try and find a solution with as little blood as possible. A war ended in bloodshed will only resume again. What I’m proposing is thus: Is there no way to cease the war between you and your sister?” Bane reconsidered his question, not bothering about Kashi as he felt he had this situation under control. ”Before you answer, dear princess, I do believe both of us would like to know more about this war. Basic information about how long it has been going, and why it started; assuming of course we would be allowed to be graced with such information.”

Pleasantries and proper etiquite were essential in this environment. Considering the elements, and which elements were present, it could be safely assumed that the hot headed nature of the Vak followers did not exist here, but that said, the cold and unforgiving temperament of Rue might exist here also. It was going to be a risky situation, and considering the restraints of elements to work with, and the enchantment bound on them, this had ever opportunity to not end well.

”Princess, please tell us why the war started, how long it has been going, and what was the cause of it all continuing. Also, I suppose the most important question would be: Is there a way to end this conflict without bloodshed?” Bane’s tone was gentle, but firm, making sure that he kept his respect but had an air of business about him, demonstrating the best he could that chat with royalty; even under simulation.

The princess however merely sat there in her throne, poised and pretty, answering in the same tone as she introduced herself. "The grievance between Inra and I is long since lost in the shadows of time. Our war has been raging for generations, a balance long maintained in conflict. Time is relative to you, perhaps, but for us it has run for hundreds of years." She paused, considered the next part about the needless bloodshed. "Perhaps. I do not desire the death of my sister. I require an artifact she holds, known as the Soul Stone. It contains the power I need to unite this land once more."

Bane considered the information he was given, ideas and questions forming in his head, but before he got ahead of himself, he found that asking the questions relevant to information already given may aid more than going off random tangents of thought. "If said war has been raging for generations, and I question this without a hint of disrespect, how could you two possibly be at war if you are sisters? He paused, asking yet another question. "Regarding the Soul Stone… All things considering, I would assume that you also hold an artifact similar to this, and Inra desires it for her own use?"

To the first, the princess replied "We are cursed to live forever, at least, as long as the battle rages. We are cursed to see our people know not why they fight, and remain unable to tell them."; and for the second, she replied "I know not of her desires. My power is my own."

While that’s all good and well, you’re twins. Why would you have something that can potentially stop this resting with only one of the twins…Unless the Vak princess is an utter bitch, which in my experiences with Rue can more than easily happen on this side of the scale, something isn’t adding up…

Bane considered, keeping that thought in his head until a later date, taking this time to question more and get more answers rather than waste time arguing over facts such as that. Kashi decided to ask some questions, and the princess replied in kind, the Heavy Blade paying close attention to what her answers were as the Blademaster was able to ask some of the questions that he hadn’t even considered to be relevant. Sure, he only listened to ones that piqued his interest, but even so, Kashi was on the ball. ”Is there anything of use known to be across the ocean or in the mountains?”

"There is rumor... but no. I would not have you kill yourselves in search of rumor." Bane interjected here, and obviously annoying the princess to one extent or another just by the sigh she let out in response to Bane’s question.

"Rumor or no, princess, if there is even the slightest chance that we can end this bloodshed, even be it a rumor, it would be worth hearing; assuming you would be willing to tell the tale."

"I suppose I must speak even rumor to the saviors of the land. It was said, long ago, that two figures lived in the furthest reaches from our central path. I know little of them, precious little; Koschey the Deathless, a warrior said to be unkillable because he hid away his soul, and Baba Yaga, the blue-nosed witch, with magics so potent none could challenge her. Where they reside, or even if they still live, I know not."

Bane dismissed the last part, the warning, and retorted with confidence: "I suppose if all else fails, we could always travel into Inra's domain under the guise of merchants to do some information gathering or even sabotage. From what I've currently seen, we've got a few options open to us, and the one that causes the least bloodshed is the one that I'm prefering." He looked up at Kashi as he spoke, listening as the princess warned him about the risk of being found out as an outsider. He let Kashi ask his remaining questions and then rose from his sitting position, turning to face the Blademaster.

”I’m personally for following this rumor. With no other leads, our only other option is to go retrieve the Soul Stone, in which case we should go undercover and check out things on that end of this world. I’m fine either way, but we need to do something and soon.”

The Blademaster snorted, mentally backhanding the first half of the comment out of mind. Such assessments weren't needed or wanted. Alas, it was not his place to retort, for the general handed them a strange item and left for the princess. The item Kashi was handed was made of moss and mystery liquid. He didn't have long to look at it, though. As soon as the ball of plant touched his gloved hand, it dissolved. The item had the wondrous effect of restoring his health and SP (the boy couldn't decide which was worth more, ever). There wasn't anything left to do, just to follow Kirkus, as they had been before.

The flora grew wilder as they began their trek anew, taller and closer together. The lack of light combined with battle frenzy hid some sights that would have been appreciated had they stayed hidden. A stray insect shifting lazily illuminated the remnants of a skull, bugs crawling all over the rotted bone. The boy gasped shortly and softly, not expecting The World to cover realism to such a degree that decaying corpses would be rendered so accurately. It wasn't the first time Kashi had seen a body part laid bare - such effects were commonplace in movies and television. Every other one he had seen was so obviously fake that it helped to desensitize him to such an aspect of death. But this one, empty eye sockets staring dully at the passers-by, burned a horrific impression in the kid’s mind. He was dully reminded that, although the years of being on his own and beating back any involvement from others tried to make him believe otherwise, he was still a child. Children shouldn’t have to look at a decaying corpse of anything, much less if it was looking back. Footsteps growing soft brought the Blademaster to turn his eyes from the skull, to his ally and guide. Grateful for the distraction, the boy hurried after them, not looking back for a second.

Catching up to Kirkus and Bane, he caught a glance from the latter, giving a tiny smile. Putting on airs, the boy (hoped he) looked slightly bored, the customary expression his character displayed. Breaking down to any degree would not help right now - there was time for that crap later.

The trees around them were now close enough so that it looked like bumpy brown walls were closing in on them. Reaching out slightly, the boy was informed that no, the walls were not in fact closing in on them once he hit nothing. Kashi looked back around, trying to find any sort of landmark to tell him they were making progress. At times like this we’d really have appreciated an auto-walk feature.

Without warning, the tree-walls leapt out, developing much farther away than from where they seemed but a moment ago. Light shone throughout the cavernous room, the sort that came with a cloudy afternoon. It lit up a very interesting sight: a palace composed of the native flora. For all the world it seemed like an almost normal village, with people running around as they would in a populated city. Trees made up any and every structure in the area. General Kirkus stopped as they entered, turning to the Blademaster and Heavy Blade. Giving the slightest warning, the man drew a pattern in the air, hands flowing with the light of the area. Once finished, he pressed down on the centre of the design. It grew, spinning, until it wrapped around the two visitors. Kashi checked his status, but it didn’t reflect any change. Kirkus went on the tell them that the spell he cast on them had very...nasty side-effects if triggered by violence. He went on to inform them of the lack of fire, earth and lightning in the palace. Checking his spell list, the boy confirmed what the man said. Gan Slash and Vak Slash were both unusable, as well as Rai Rom. In fact, checking through his inventory found the boy lacking most of the spells and skills he had. The only usable techniques left were on weaker weapons and his weakest armours. Wonderful. A cripple, I have turned into.

They continued on, through a series of halls. Paneling of various colours lined all the walls, the wood various natural colours. The three arrived at a wall of vines, the plants doing a good job of obstructing view into the passage beyond. Kirkus admit them entrance, both verbally and physically, pushing the vines out of the way.

Entering the throne room, the boy didn’t notice much. There wasn’t much to notice. Just a chair and a woman sitting in said chair. The woman seemed very accustomed to her surroundings, clothing and eyes reflecting different materials found in the realm of hers. Of Princess Kyora’s.

They approached the princess, who gestured for them to sit down. Bane did. Kashi wasn’t going to let himself be caught off guard by something while in such a position, so he stayed standing, observing what he could. He trusted Bane to do the talking for now, warring princesses didn’t strike up enough respect in his book for the tone he needed. Listening to Bane converse with the princess, the boy thought for any points he was missing. Primarily, there was the issue with the mountains and the ocean. Logically speaking, they shouldn’t be there if there wasn’t something contained within. This was a game, after all. Anything and everything had a purpose.

Once Bane finished his initial round of questions, it was the boy’s turn. He started with the obvious. ”Why are the elements of fire, earth and lightning missing from this kingdom?”

The princess responded coolly, as though what he asked was standard fare. It was, to everyone else. ”Those are Inra's command. Just as I control water, wood, and darkness, so does she command fire, earth, and thunder.”

He thought for a second. Kashi wanted a different answer than what he got. Something deeper. Maybe something they could use. He tried pressing forward, seeing what he would get. ”Is there any known way of reversing it?“

“I require her Soul Stone, so I might use it to reunite the elements."

The idea of taking someone’s Soul Stone seemed akin to taking their life. Against his better judgment, the boy asked yet another question on the topic. ”Is reconciliation even considerable, if for the citizens' sakes?” Perhaps they could actually try something diplomatic--

"As I said, I do not wish my sister's death. Only that she give to me the Soul Stone."

Taking her Soul Stone did not sound in the least way diplomatic. Thinking about their power source, he tried another direction. ”Are the glowing insects numerous, or waning?”

The reply came, almost nonchalantly. ”The insects? They persist as always. There is no cause to concern yourself with them."

Shaking his head, the boy shrugged. Perhaps not every little detail needed to be investigated. The big ones, however...”Is there anything of use known to be across the ocean or in the mountains?”

There was hesitation this time. Any reaction other than the normal was good. "There is rumor... but no. I would not have you kill yourselves in search of rumor."

Bane jumped in before the Blademaster could continue his thought. The subtlest of glares was directed at the new speaker, who had his turn already. Kyora’s answer was absorbed, and the boy was intrigued. Having the witch on their side would prove beneficial if they absolutely had to go toe-to-toe with Geoff. More than the deathless warrior. Magic was one thing their two-man team was lacking in.

Returning to his line of questions, the boy wanted to know the status of the war. ”Have there been any major skirmishes lately? What were the outcomes?”

The princess returned to her original tone of voice. "Every battle is fought to stalemate, neither side willing to retreat. These days, battles are rarely fought. Only trespasses are met with death."

The answer brought another question to mind. “Are the only people involved of the two kingdoms, or are there others?”

"Some few are granted passage to and from one kingdom to the next. These few are traders or merchants, those who might keep commerce alive amongst us."

He nodded. It seemed to make sense. The Soul Stone was bothering him, though. He wanted to know more about it. ”I don't suppose we'd be privvy to what the Soul Stone does, or why it's so important? Besides returning the lands to normal.

"It is an artifact of great power, and its energy is required to unite the land once more. Without it, while we could still bring unity, the chaos of reuniting the elements would tear the land apart."

Another nod in return. There was a lot to go over, but he was required to come to a decision. His partner already had. ”I agree. If we’re to try getting Inra’s Soul Stone, we’d best have some extra power on our side. Even if there’s a chance of nothing being there, we have to take it. Since there’s two of us, I’d guess we could each take a direction.”

After they had asked their questions, the princess watched them debate where to go. Soon enough it was decided; at the very least, they were on her side. She smiled.

”Now I shall give unto each of you a boon. You have come to my aid, and so I will come to yours.” She gestured, and a figure stepped forward from an alcove in the back of the room, unseen and unnoticed until just then. Shrouded in shadowy cloth, the figure moved to the princess’ side.

”To you, Kashi, I present this. The Grip of Darkness. It will allow you to harness my power outside of my domain, but be wary, for it’s power it limited.” She held aloft a black suede glove, and handed it to the cloaked figure. ”And to you, Bane, the Energy Draught. Use it when your spirits are low, and it will bring to back.” She handed a delicate-looking crystal vial, one that glowed the same color as the bugs and her eyes, to the cloaked figure. Then with another gesture, the shadow moved and handed each item to its respective owner with a sleeve-covered hand. It then retreated to its alcove and disappeared.

”Go now, then, and return once you have the Stone. This insect will show you the way.” A speck fell from the ceiling and pulsed brightly, hovering and flitting this way and that. Then, it disappeared, out the doorway. Clearly their interview was over.

Outside, Kirkus looked the pair over. “Well, she seemed to like you. Just don’t let her down. I’ll be here.” He strode off through the halls without another word.

The bug flitted around, but never strayed out of sight. The pair would find the trek outwards to be much faster and more direct than the trek inwards. Slowly, the ground returned, no longer the forest they had journeyed inside. The slow change in landscape reversed itself, and soon they found themselves standing within sight of the original entrance. The bug disappeared, its job done.

The entry plaza was the same as before, though there were no figures there to greet them. Save for one change… Now, there were extra paths to take. North and South, each a thin trail in the wilderness. To the north was a tiny board grown into a tree, marked with a blue circle in faded paint. To the south was a stone painted with a golden egg. Ahead of them, to the East, was the desert in the distance, the land lacking Darkness, Water, and Wood. The choice, it seemed, was theirs.

--------------ooc:
Pick a direction =D

Each item that was given to you only works for you. No trading.

The Grip of Darkness has three small obsidian stones in the wrist. To use it, you must equip it. A special skill appears in your buffs list, labeled “Grip of Darkness”. When used, it casts a buff on your party that temporarily allows the use of Darkness skills in an area otherwise barring them. Each time it’s used, one of the obsidian stones is consumed. Graphically, the glove emits a cloud of blackness around the user and his party, which sinks into the skin and fades away. While there are beads of obsidian still present, the item is a glove armor, level 0, with 0 stats and just the one skill. Light armor. No beads means it becomes an unequippable key item.

The Energy Draught is a vial of liquid that glows faintly blue-green. There looks to be enough for three sips. Functionally, it’s a consumable item of which you have three in your inventory. Each sip casts a spell on the drinker, with the combined effects of Ap Do, Ol Repth, and Rip Teyn. The Ap Do does not appear as a buff, and so cannot be debuffed.

Obviously, these items are only usable on this field. In fact, once you leave the field, if you still have them, they’re removed from your inventory. Or rather, the beads on the glove are and the liquid from the vial are. The blank skill-less glove and empty crystal vial you can keep as key items.

”Now I shall give unto each of you a boon. You have come to my aid, and so I will come to yours.” A figure donned in a cloak from head to toe, shadowy in both appearance and nature appeared on the scene with some form of grace, arriving at the princess’s side at her command. ”To you, Kashi, I present this. The Grip of Darkness. It will allow you to harness my power outside of my domain, but be wary, for it’s power it limited.” A black glove was passed to the cloaked man, and Kyora continued to talk. ”And to you, Bane, the Energy Draught. Use it when your spirits are low, and it will bring to back.” She handed a crystalline vial to the cloaked man, and that was it.

Descending the single stair that elevated the princess above them, the cloaked figure strode over to them. Bane rose from his sitting position with hands at his side, accepting the flask with a humble and gracious bow. Kashi had his item, and the princess gave them their orders to retrieve the stone. It was weird, because the insect she claimed that would show them away was just one of many glowing specs on the ceiling above them. It hovered in front of them before flying out the door, indicating that their audience with the princess was over.

Kirkus parted from them as well, commenting on how much they were liked before striding off on his own; it was obvious that he too, was longer a part of this party. The bug flittered about, guiding them through the halls of the palace, across the clearing in which it stood, and through the dense canopy, out to the platform that divided the realms in two. Bane had to shield his eyes from the light, suddenly his eyes faced with the fierce light of the sun. Luckily, their element statuses had been resent and there was no penalty or bonus to them anymore.

Bane stepped up onto the platform that was the plaza, looking around them at the four paths that diverged from the plaza. To the north, the mountains; to the east, the dessert; and to the south, the faint glimmer from the ocean. Thinking back to what Kyora had said, to the east resided her sister, and to the north and south respectively lived a warrior that could not be killed, and a witch who’s magic were so potent that none could stand before her. He raised a hand to his chin, folding his other arm over his chest while he contemplated.

”If we were to seek out either Baba Yaga, or Koschey, we may be able to ask them for help in this…but granted, we may not know if they even exist, or…rather…if they would help us. And either way, our task is to head into the dessert and get that orb, so…I currently am thinking we head to the mountains first; that way we have the cover to shield ourselves if something goes wrong. What do you think, Kashi?”

Bane wandered to the corner of the plaza that stood between the mountains and the desert, looking between the two and thinking about what they came against in Inra's kingdom. She was guarded by potent magics that prevented them from drawing their weapons, or making any offensive action. If, somehow, they could get what kept Koschey alive, they wouldn't need to fear the wyverns or whatever Kyora had, and if they got Baba Yaga's blessing, then they wouldn't need to fear that enchantment at all.

But even then, this was all on the assumption that they would be willing to help. It was at this point that Bane realised he was getting a little spacey, so he shook his head hurriedly to rid himself off his over-thinking state. There was a choice that needed to be made, and frankly, he would rather go to a warrior that couldn't be killed; women...tended to have a particular monthy cycle that when coupled with a unmatched skill with magic wasn't the best combination. Not only that, but considering that he, and Kashi were predominantly melee combat types, going un-prepared against a mage wouldn't be the most tactical idea.

Hrm...Warrrior...or mage...I think that...heading straight into Kyora's domain would be suicide, so...We need some kind of weapon, or protection to help us...

He looked over the sands of the desert, the lush grass behind them, the teal ocean to his left, and the range of mountains to his right. It was all so...real. For a game, there were people that lived here; the environment was so alive also. He wondered if a war was really a valid option considering that even while the lives of those in The World were nothing but data, where can the line be drawn between real life people and AIs? Not only that, but he recalled from the newspaper that the EC was involved somehow...Was he being recruited?

Then again, he had been through things like this before: reliastic field, AIs that were just way too real...It was bringing to mind a sense of deja vous. And again, there he was over-thinking things and becoming spacey. He felt bad for Kashi in that if he had responded he would have only really heard on a subconscious level, and even then, he'd need to do more thinking in order to figure out what the decision actually was.

A man (or was it a creature?) revealed itself with a wave of Kyora’s hand. The princess gave a short, formal explanation on what their gifts were before giving them to the servant. Listening intently, the boy was pleased to find out they had a vial of Pain-B-Gone, even if it could only heal one of the two three times. The other item, a glove that allowed Bane and Kashi to use skills pertaining to Kyora’s domain in her sister’s, was deep black, and looked mighty uncomfortable. Kashi watched Bane, ever the picture of perfection, as he accepted the vial with a bow, courtesy dripping from him. It couldn’t be helped - the boy hated the atmosphere here, and while he was glad to have the Heavy Blade take the helm with diplomacy, Kashi wanted to leave. He wasn’t amused when the glove came his way, either. I’m supposed to slip this bulky thing over a glove built into my character? Gee, that sounds like a great idea. Even so, there wasn’t much room for refusal, since it was from a princess and all. Kashi hesitantly reached out for the item, snatching it from this wraith that decided to skulk out from the middle of nowhere. I’d rather take my chances prying this thing out of the hands of a goliath than deal with you again later, hopefully I won’t have to do either.

He then turned his attention to the ceiling, following Kyora’s next command. A tiny little blip of a critter floated down from the ceiling, glowing (as did every other thing in this forsaken place). It was out the door before Kashi could even move. Bane, however, had better reflexes than his junior partner, and Kashi found himself scrambling behind them, free from that hell of manners. Kirkus met them on their way out, saying something or other before leaving. Kashi wasn’t listening - whatever it was wouldn’t be pertinent to the task at hand, or they would have actually needed to stop for more than a few seconds. As it was, a small nod to assuage concerns of being ignored (as if an NPC could have them), and they were on their way.

Having blazed a trail through the wood already, the return trip took much less time than the beginning exposition. Walking briskly to keep up with his guide and ally, the Blademaster had a couple of things to think on. The first was whether or not they would actually head to the mountains or sea to enlist the help of another source before entering Inra’s realm. Kashi wouldn’t object to it, as he had all the time in the world to play this game. As for which to go to first, well, that was a bit tougher. They could certainly use the magical assistance of Baba Yaga were she to offer, being a pair of melee fighters. Koschey’s deathlessness could also come in handy. Unless he wound up hiding his soul by giving it to Inra, of course. There would be a second issue concerning Baba Yaga. How would they cross the ocean? The boy had high doubts that a port would be waiting for them, or that a mystical boat was docked on a sandy beach, waiting to cart them off to her. Maybe some sort of land bridge…or a winged escort? He dismissed those as well, filing them away as the stuff of fairy tales.

Before he knew it, the boy was outside. Their insect guide had disappeared, leaving them to foot it back to the plaza on their own. Listening to Bane’s explanation on their options, the boy nodded in agreement. "I prefer the mountain route as well. The ocean might take longer to cross, and we have the quicker option of returning from the mountain if our search goes nowhere early." There wasn't anything else needed to be done. The mountain made more sense to visit first, since it would presumably take less time than crossing the sea. Plus, the boy didn't want to set foot on a ship until they'd exhausted all land-based options they had.[color=indigo]At least we’ll be able to hoof it back to the plaza if we know something’s gonna hit the fan up there, he thought.

"I prefer the mountain route as well. The ocean might take longer to cross, and we have the quicker option of returning from the mountain if our search goes nowhere early."

”That is very true…however; I think it’s more appropriate that now we’re without an escort, we can take…A shortcut if you would?” Upon asking his question, he withdrew from his pocket a medium-sized, blue flute made out of crystal. He held it up to his lips and played into it a simple and short melody consisting of 11 notes, and highly reminiscent of an old video game melody involving a horse, or so Bane recalled.

As the notes faded away into the air around the pair, Bane put the flute away and walked over to Kashi, nodding at him and looking at the ground; noticing one of the loose stones starting to skip on the ground slightly. Bane smirked; his ‘shortcut’ had arrived and was well on his way of making it onto the scene. With the sound of metal bumping against metal, and the heavy stomping of hooves, Bane’s Grunty, Azul, made it into the plaza from what appeared to be out of no where. The blue armoured pig came to a skidding halt on the cobblestone plaza, standing at Bane’s side.

”You called, Clang? What can I do for you, Clang?” The Grunty looked between the Heavy Blade and the Blademaster, watching the pair with it’s big blue eyes, the mail armour it wore clinking every now and again on the metal plate armour it predominantly wore. Bane walked beside Azul and hopped up on his back, onto the saddle and getting comfortable. He took the sword off his back and sheathed it on the attached sheath that Azul carried especially for spare weapons. Grabbing the reins, the Heavy Blade directed Azul to move next to Kashi, so that he could grab him roughly and get him seated behind him before he could raise complaint.

”We need a speedy way to get into the mountains, think you can provide?” Azul nodded and reared up on it’s hind legs, doing some kind of piggish whinny before getting on all fours, front slightly lowered. Bane chuckled, looking over his shoulder at Kashi before stating simply, “Hold on tight.” With that, Azul rocketed off from the plaza, heading north into the mountain ranges. The further north they headed, the terrain started to change also.

To the left, the forest changes ever so slightly, and Bane wondered if this was due to the direction of where the heaviest concentration of Ruem, Anid and Juka were in comparison to those of Vakz, Raio and Ganz. He glanced across at the desert, looking out into the sandy expanse in hopes of seeing the city in which they would undoubtedly need to raid. The road was getting more rocky, and that lead Bane to conclude that they were nearing the Mountains, if only the base.

Bane called back to Kashi as they rode, something springing to mind. ”Knowing how weird this world can be, and how much danger we’re getting put in; there’s every likelihood that we may try and get deceived by a mimic. If that happens, we’ll use a password…So…If I suspect you of being a doppelganger; I’ll ask you what your favourite fruit is. You’ll say banana. If the other person says anything else, then they are a fake, alright? Same goes for if you suspect me.” To be fair, Bane was beginning to suspect something of someone being undying. Not only that, but he had this unshakable feeling in the back of his mind that something was just not right about this whole situation; Koschey, Baba Yaga, and even the twin sisters.

The real question on his mind was if this would lead them to Koschey, and a positive means to an end, rather than danger.

The pair made an ungainly duo, climbing through the mountains on the back of a Grunty, but they managed. Grunties were certainly large enough to hold two players, though they tended to prefer a single rider. Bane and Kashi were soon hopelessly lost amongst the cliffs and ravines that made up the mountain path. Behind them was only wilderness. In front of them the path stretched just beyond the next curve, but was faded and hard to see. The grunty, at least, seemed to know where it was going.

Soon the path set upon an incline, climbing higher and higher into the chill air. Steeper and steeper the path grew, yet somehow the grunty managed to continue climbing. Almost vertical, the path angled, until abruptly the trio clambered up onto a plateau, kicking debris and stones off the edge. It was long seconds before the sound reached them, and looking down would induce a dangerous amount of vertigo. The realism of a game like The World, even a slight fear of heights would produce dizziness of the highest order.

Upon the plateau was a squad of figures, looking like they had just broken down a camp and were planning to climb yet higher. The plateau was wide, easily wider than several football fields, and in the center was yet another mountain. If you could even call it a mountain. It was nearly vertical, a sheer column of stone unbroken by rockslides or weathering or age. It was pristine, and almost shone in the sun.

The first figures began to climb. Hand over hand, or claw over claw, as Bane and Kashi could see now. Their form was more eagle than man. Their skin was feathered such that it looked like a grayish cloak. Their jaws narrowed into beaks. The talons on their hands dug easily into the rock, letting them climb without rope or tool. Their camp seemed more to have been a preparation place, readying for battle. Each of then carried a sword and a spear, the latter hooked wickedly, almost like a sickle. They were on a mission, and none of the dozen looked back to see the pair of newcomers.

Suddenly two of the bird-beasts pointed at the sky and drew their spears, shrieking for their fellows. The few on the rock face dropped to the ground, landing in crouches with their swords drawn. A flurry of spells were cast, Aps of all sorts, the pair of Rigs, every buff in the book.

Looking up, Kashi and Bane could see a speck in the sky, slowly growing larger. This was what alarmed the monsters so much? A speck in the sky?

After what seemed like almost a minute, the speck resolved itself to be a figure, falling. Falling very, very fast. The bird-beasts scattered, clearing the landing place of the falling figure, but one tripped. It screamed in terror and rolled, holding its blade up to defend itself.

The figure slammed into the ground with a shockwave that kicked up dust in all directions, carried on a wind that nearly blew Kashi and Bane off the cliff, had the grunty not been braced between them and the cliff edge. The bird-beasts weathered the storm, all save the one the man had landed on. That one was a pulp, a smear across the stone, its sword skittering towards the edge and falling off.

The figure stood, easily nine feet tall, and pulled his massive sword from the ground. To any normal person it would have been a huge two-handed blade, difficult even for a heavyblade to wield properly due to its long length. To him, it was one-handed, and he swung it like a blademaster would a rapier. The blade of the sword was a foot wide with wavering edges, made out of a smoky blue glass. It trailed a blue afterimage when it swung. The hilt was obscured in the man’s hand, but looked to be made of cast black iron.

The man moved with startling precision. Two great steps and he had impaled another of the bird-men. He swung the sword and the body slid off, flying over the edge and off into space. Three of the birds charged in, their hooked spears reaching and tearing at the blackened leather armor the man wore. Two caught him over the shoulders and tore into his arms, the third wrapping around his neck. It seemed the birds would win at that moment, as all three yanked in different directions.

Each blade dug in an inch, then snapped, as though made of ice. The cuts carved into the man’s flesh healed over even as they watched. His sword trailed in a circle, and two of the birds were cleaved in half. The third had its sword out, and charged in bravely, but was caught in a heavy gauntleted hand. The man squeezed, and with a sickening pop, the bird twitched and fell limp. It, too, was discarded over the cliff’s edge.

One of the remaining birds had taken this moment to leap with its sword, delivering a heavy blow across the back of the man. The cut was long and deep, but the man didn’t even slow. He twisted and with a side-bladed blow, tossed that bird too off his cliff.

By now the remaining six had surrounded him. They had discarded their spears, rightly assuming they would just get in each other’s way with them. They moved as a unit, dancing in and out, slashing and cutting at the arms and legs and torso of the giant. He took the damage without paying it heed, and in a dance of power and grace, demolished the six. Only then did he turn his blue-skinned face towards the pair still standing by the grunty, his ice-dark eyes looking them over silently.

He turned away and sheathed his sword across his back, and began picking up the pieces of the birds, heaping them in his arms. Most of the chunks he tossed over the edge, but he saved the heads of the six he killed last. These he strung up with a coil of rope, forming a tight ball of gruesome bleeding heads. He whipped the cord around his head, building up speed and making a hideous whistling, while splattering blood everywhere except on him. Then he let it go, and it flew, and flew, and flew, until it disappeared across the horizon. Only then did he turn back to the pair.

"You do not have the look of the witch’s minions. I will give you the benefit of the doubt and not kill you immediately. Explain yourselves and what you are doing in my domain. I give you fair warning. If Baba Yaga sent you, you would do well to leap from this cliff immediately. It would be less deadly."

The clattering of Azul’s hoofs and the continuous clinking of his armour rubbing against itself was the ambience they had to work with as they ascended the mountain. Bane wasn’t ready to admit that he had no idea where they were, and if Kashi were to ask to head back now, neither Bane nor Azul could take him back. The ravines either side of them showed the brutal ruggedness of the terrain, wilderness at its finest blending behind them into a blur due to the speeds at which they are travelling.

Vertical distance continued to rise, and Bane was thankful that his character avatar was not in need of oxygen, or rather, a correct mix of air. With how high they were getting, it was not long before Azul was struggling, yet somehow managing, to continue the ascent. The higher they got, the more Bane wondered if falling from such a height would result in a death that the game would replicate. He needn’t think of that further though, as before long, they were atop a plateau, a column of unbroken and virgin stone that stretched to the heavens like some form of beacon unable to be scaled by mortals.

This was supported by the fact that whatever the creatures were in front of them, the eagle-like abominations were able to scale it with appendages that Bane no Kashi had. Bane dismounted from his Grunty and took a few steps forward before hearing a shriek. He figured that they had stepped onto enemy territory, and soon they would be outnumbered by a dozen of…whatever those things where. His hand went to his blade and drew it with a fluid motion, only to realise that they were, indeed, pointing up at the sky.

They dropped down to the ground, like they were before, and drew their weapons. Spears, swords, and what Bane could assume were their beaks and talons were all at their disposal. Bane watched the speck in the sky, wondering what it could be that frightened them so. Upon analysing further, they were expecting this, as if they were on the hunt for something, or someone. Considering that Koschey was said to live in these parts, for the briefest of moments, Bane considered that to be an option, but who would be that folly?

Either way, they leapt back as the speck became a figure and landed with a fairly heavy shockwave, the resulting wind and dust almost throwing Bane off the plateau with Kashi, but luckily Azul had his hooves firmly planted and braced against the sudden force. The man that came down was easily taller than any man in the real world. On top of this, due to his build, Bane’s own two-handed sword would be nothing more than a shortsword for this guy. Then the slaughter began.

One by one, each of the bird men were felled with precise, and brutal attacks. When the bird-men seemed like they were going to win, their weapons broke in his skin and resulted in them all being slain with a single, sweeping blow. All wounds he sustained healed over in a matter of seconds, making Bane lower his blade, realising just how impossible it would be to win this battle, if they were to go up against this guy. One was crushed to death by the man’s hand, and the other batted off the plateau with the man’s blade.

Oh, and then the remaining of the squadron, about 6 or so, surrounded the man. They danced in and out, attacking whenever they approached as if it was some form of sadistic game of hokey-pokey. Oh, but that didn’t stop this man, no. With as much skill and expertise with a blade he had demonstrated before, he dispatched of the remainders. That’s when he felt his soul being stared into. This blue skinned man had made eye contact with him, possibly Azul and Kashi as well, and whether it was the height, or just poor circulation, the only thing that Bane could think of was why his skin was blue.

Turning away from them, Bane watched as he sheathed his blade, doing the same and watching on his stupefied horror as he scavenged amongst the carnage for the heads of the slain. He hung all of them on a rope, forming a ball off bloody skulls before twirling it over his head and over the horizon. Bane watched until he could see it no more, the whistling it made ringing in his ears. It was only when the man spoke that he was snapped back to reality.

"You do not have the look of the witch’s minions. I will give you the benefit of the doubt and not kill you immediately. Explain yourselves and what you are doing in my domain. I give you fair warning. If Baba Yaga sent you, you would do well to leap from this cliff immediately. It would be less deadly."

”To clear things up concerning the witch, no. We have not even met with her; we only know of her existence thanks to Princess Kyora. As to why we are here…well…We have been sent on a mission by the princess to venture into Princess Inra’s domain to retrieve something under her care. As you may well imagine, your reputation for being immortal has been told to us and we have come to inquire. With us being aligned with one nation, venturing carelessly into Inra’s kingdom is suicidal.” Bane leant against Azul, lifting himself up onto Azul’s saddle to sit sidewards on it. ”We mean no harm, and are hardly hostile. That said, we don’t have much we can offer in return for anything you provide us…although, considering how well you seem to like Baba Yaga, I can assume that if you wanted us to rid yourself of her, well…We can only try I’m afraid.”

This was hardly a regal setting, but they were in danger. There was little need for formalities, but considering that this guy had enough strength and ability to dispatch of them with very little effort, well…They needed to be respectful, calm, and above all else, ready to run if things went sour.

”To clear things up concerning the witch, no. We have not even met with her; we only know of her existence thanks to Princess Kyora. As to why we are here…well…We have been sent on a mission by the princess to venture into Princess Inra’s domain to retrieve something under her care. As you may well imagine, your reputation for being immortal has been told to us and we have come to inquire. With us being aligned with one nation, venturing carelessly into Inra’s kingdom is suicidal.” Bane leant against Azul, lifting himself up onto Azul’s saddle to sit sidewards on it. “We mean no harm, and are hardly hostile. That said, we don’t have much we can offer in return for anything you provide us…although, considering how well you seem to like Baba Yaga, I can assume that if you wanted us to rid yourself of her, well…We can only try I’m afraid.”

When Kashi didn’t immediately add his own two cents to the conversation, and indeed didn’t move a muscle, Koschey assumed the low level player was paralyzed with fear and only bothered to heed Bane. He listened, his face impassive, to the miniature speech Bane gave him.

"Hah. " He said. "Another set of questors from the kingdoms of Light and Night. " A low rumbling laugh came from his gut. "And you think you can aid me in my struggle against the Witch? A struggle that has seen more decades than both princesses have lived, combined? Hah. " More laughter. "At least I know your innocence. To come here with such a story would have no other reason. " He turned back towards the cliff face leading to his castle. "Very well. We will convene, at least. Perhaps I may derive some idea in which you can benefit m-"

Bane’s vision was abruptly clouded by a field of static, like a television tuned to the wrong station. It flickered in and out twice, the picture on his visors distorting and flaking out. Meanwhile the earphones shrieked and buzzed, the sound as broken as the picture.

Before Bane could recover, before he could rip his visors off and reboot his computer, the picture returned. The sound was broken, still, nothing but a long solid tone. The sound faded, or perhaps his ears simply adjusted to the ringing. He moved, and found himself free to move, but the rest of the world around him was frozen. Like bad lag or a frozen program, only he himself was unaffected. Koschey, Kashi, Azul, all were frozen and immobile.

While Bane regained his bearings, trying to figure out just what was happening, checking menus and finding them functional, finding no hindrance to his character, something happened. Another brief flicker of static washed over him, and when it cleared, a woman was standing on the plateau with them.

This woman looked to be about 30 years old, which made her character model different from nearly every other female in the game. Where most tended younger, towards the teenage physicality, she had opted for a more mature look. She wore the age well, with dignity and grace befitting a queen. She wore a leotard-style body suit that covered her from neck down, even covering her hands and, presumably, her feet. Those feet were clad in supple light boots that glinted with metal. The leotard was a dark green shade, like deep forest leaves. She had a cloak as well, with a hood that shaded her face. It was made of a shimmering black fabric with hints of green and blue, clasped at her throat with a hook of sapphire blue. In her hands she held a long wooden pole, deep brown and polished to a shine. Her skin, what little of it was visible on her face, was a light tan, a woman at home with nature and the sun. Her hair was a brilliant copper, hanging loose from her head to flow down her shoulders, stopping midway through her upper arm.

As Bane took this all in, absorbing her look and her aura of majesty, he found now he too couldn’t move. He wasn’t frozen, merely paralyzed, held in place by some glamour. Another flicker of static and the woman was closer, a mere half-dozen feet away, and an equal distance from the still-frozen Koschey. Now Bane could see in her forest-green eyes a rage unbecoming of her stately presence. A fury burned inside her, and it was directed at him.

”You, you’re the one! You’re the one that’s intruded upon my domain, who has ruined the balance! You disrupt the plot, you skew the scenes, you distort the image. You will pay!” Her voice was the roar of wind through the forest. Her rage was the power of a storm. Her staff flashed around, pointed at Bane, and the tip of it unfolded into claws. Three claws that arced equidistant from each other, folded to point directly at the hapless player. ”You must die!” A vortex of energy formed in the gap between the claws, dismal green and black and deep, dark blue. It swirled and flashed and pulsed, and Bane could see in it the end of his adventure, the end of his quest. If that orb touched him, there would be nothing left of him to save.

A deep rumbling growl tore through the air, and the woman yanked her staff up in time, just barely in time, to keep Koschey’s massive dusky sword from cleaving her in two. The two weapons struck each other and the force pushed the woman back. Bane momentarily forgotten, the two faced off.

”You! You’re one of my creations, how could you turn against me?”

"I do not know what you are, Witch, but you trespass in my domain, bearing powers unknown to me. For that you will meet your end. "

The massive man swung his massive sword, and it met her staff with the resistance of steel. She held her ground and forced him back, and stabbed at him with the flickering orb of power. He sidestepped and lunged, his blade slashing through her side and carrying her several feet back and up before she slid off, collapsing to her knees. She screamed again and stabbed, this time making full contact with the chest of the massive warrior as he advanced for the kill.

An explosion of light and sound rocked the field, and would have blown Bane clear off the mountain had he not been rooted to the spot. When the light and sound faded, and the ringing in his head cleared, the scene was altogether different.

The woman was standing, leaning heavily on her pole, the claws and orb of doom both vanished. Blood seeped from her wound and stained the ground at her feet as she panted in pain. Koschey, meanwhile, was embedded a food into his own cliff face, motionless. He was somehow diminished in his unconsciousness, his helplessness. The woman glanced at Bane, and the rage he saw was tripled from that before. Yet her power was drained, her form wounded, and she collapsed to a knee.

”I will deal with you later. For now I bar your exit, so you cannot escape me.”

Another flicker of static and shriek of noise washed over Bane, and when it cleared, she was gone. Also gone was Kashi, his form having disconnected or otherwise disappeared during the fight. Only himself and Azul were left standing on the plateau.

A groan from the cliff face brought Bane rushing to Koschey’s side, where the warrior eased himself out of the hole he had been embedded in. The warrior wasn’t simply diminished in weakness; he was literally diminished. His entire figure had been reduced to the size of a normal player, his sword the size of a normal blademaster’s longsword. He leaned on it heavily, and though wounded, was still alive.

"Now you see the truth of the rumors. My immortality. Her attack was not enough to stop me. You must help me, take me to my castle. There I can help you on your way. Though your quest has changed, I suspect. Mine as well. " He paused, and looked out off the plateau’s edge, towards the center of the field. Bane’s eyes followed, and he saw what Koschey saw.

In the center of the field, where once the entry plaza had stood, so small as to be unseen from this distance, something new had resolved. An enormous castle floated at their level, in a position that would be high in the sky above the small plaza. It looked to have been uprooted, dungeons and all. Above their eye level was the towering castle of black stone and burning torches, massive bonfires they must be to be seen from as far as they were. Below eye level was a crumbling and rocky scoop of land, roots of trees and boulders the size of houses hanging floating, suspended on nothing. This floating island fortress was plainly the home citadel of that woman, and it was just as plainly out of place.

"We must remove that abomination. " Koschey said, and no truer words had Bane yet heard on this field. Indeed, his quest had changed.

While they watched, a set of figured crawled up over the edge of the plateau. At first glance they appeared to be the bird-beasts Koschey had fought off earlier. They were wounded, broken, but they moved with a will beyond their own. They were corrupted, their flesh blackened in patches, their movements haphazard and twitching. Only three of them clambered to the top, two wielding the long hooked spears, and one a sword. Their goal was just as plainly Koschey, though Bane’s death would be a treat for them as well.

"You must protect me, or else I cannot help you. That witch’s foul magic has sapped my strength. Only my castle can restore it. Defend me, bring me to my home. " There was weakness in his voice, and a subtle fear, the fear of being lost. Bane could just as easily leave Koschey to his fate, and the warrior would have no choice but to die. It was entirely up to Bane and his power to defeat these three foes.

-------------------OOC:

Sorry Kashi, but a month and a half of no word is a bit much. Unfortunately you’ve been dropped from the quest, leaving only Bane. PM me later if you have something to say about it.

Bane, you have the choice to save Koschey or to let him die. Choose wisely.

The bird-beasts are level 14 now. They move jerkily, like they’re not controlled by their own minds, but rather by something else. Puppets, if you will, though not with visible strings. They’ll attack without regard for pain or their own safety. Their goal is Koschey, but if you get in their way, they’ll attack you too. They have no skills or spells, just relentless attacking. IM or PM me if you need more details.

"Hah. Another set of questors from the kingdoms of Light and Night. " His laugh was low, rumbling from the pit of his stomach which offset his passive expression. Hayden watched patiently, waiting for what Koschey had to say. "And you think you can aid me in my struggle against the Witch? A struggle that has seen more decades than both princesses have lived, combined? Hah. " He laughed again, and Bane wandered if this was going to end badly, so far, Bane was led to believe that he was insulting the mighty warrior with such a suggestion. "At least I know your innocence. To come here with such a story would have no other reason. " He turned back towards the cliff face leading to his castle, the towering spire of polished rock on which those bird-men started to ascend. Bane looked up and found that the summit was veiled from view by a blanket of clouds. He was relieved that Koschey knew that they meant no harm, and that they weren’t going to die. Yet. "Very well. We will convene, at least. Perhaps I may derive some idea in which you can benefit m-"

Bane blinked, wondering what was wrong. He saw the screen flash and stretched a curious yet cautious hand out to Koschey, stating the warrior’s name in a questioning tone before his vision was gone, to be replaced with static. He found that his vision was gone, and his hands snapped to grab his FMD, finding that a sharp, high pitched tone sounded in his ears. The sound paralysed him within his chair, making him cry out in pain as the sound assaulted his eardrums. Braving the sound, slowly, gradually, he found his hands edging closer to his head to find the FMD. Alas, his hands never reached there, for his vision returned, and the sounds stopped. Before him, the world as it was before that anomaly happened, but one thing was wrong. There was no music, no sound effects, just the same tone sounding. A single not strummed and destined to play forever so long as he was standing in that space of perpetual time lockdown.

Checking himself, he found that he was free of this restriction. Looking around, Azul, Kashi, and even Koschey remained immobile, it was strange, but Bane considered the possibility of a user-side lag, or perhaps a server error. His menus were working fine, and he found that he was still able to draw and swing his weapon, but there was nothing happening around him. It was unsettling, and Bane grabbed his blade off the sheath on Azul’s back, looking around the plateau for anything that could hint to what was happening. He could call out into the expanse of nothingness in hopes of a GM to come across and force-log him out, or at least return him to the Root Town. Then, like before, a brief flicker of static flashed across his vision but this time, but this time there was a change, and Bane was no longer alone.

Before him, stood a woman of immense regality. The aura she protruded hinted something hostile, not so much as a friendly ally to help them with their quest. Bane made an attempt to move, but found himself rooted to the ground; with another flicker of static, Bane found the woman closer. It was as if she was able to employ the static to grant herself abilities of teleportation or other things of that nature. In any case, Koschey was just as close to her as he was, but in her eyes it showed that her focus was on him. While the focus of a woman was generally a good thing, this time, it was not; Bane could have figured she had PMS, or he’d stood her up somehow in some alternate dimension, but when she spoke, she revealed the nature of her visit. ”You, you’re the one! You’re the one that’s intruded upon my domain, who has ruined the balance! You disrupt the plot, you skew the scenes, you distort the image. You will pay! You must die!” From the staff she held spawned a trio of talons, converging in the middle and grasping a sphere of dark energies; the waves of Juka, Ruem and Anid flashing on its misty yet pulsating form.

Bane flinched and found that at the last possible second, Koschey had come to his aid by attacking her from the side, forcing her to parry in order to prevent her own demise. She exclaimed in disbelief, ”You! You’re one of my creations, how could you turn against me?” combating with the giant with a series of skilled and swift blows. Each one was countered with a sidestep by Koschey, before being returned by a swing of his hefty weapon. This macabre dance of sorts continued before Koschey finally replied to the woman’s question of disbelief, grunting as he stuck at her.

"I do not know what you are, Witch, but you trespass in my domain, bearing powers unknown to me. For that you will meet your end. " Their weapons collided and they found themselves at a standstill, facing off against each other with Bane off to the sidelines, forgotten. Koschey dodged another oncoming attack and came in with an attack of his own, injuring the woman severly from what Bane could see. As he closed in for the kill however, that’s where things took a turn for the worst and he found himself, once again, calling out Koschey’s name. As the sphere of light that once threatened Bane’s existence from his game collided with Koschey, his vision was veiled by a flash of white. The resulting explosion from the impact caused shockwave after shockwave to hit the surrounding area, and Bane was thankful that he was unable to move with the cliff mere steps away.

When the light faded…and everything was restored to their former glory, the scene before Bane’s eyes was not what he expected…

The woman, once strong and confident was bowed in defeat, held up only by the staff she carried. Blood pooled around her, and Bane surveyed the new landscape. Koschey was defeated, embedded in his own stone pillar, motionless, expressionless, with his head hung to hide anything else from view. His attention was turned towards the woman as she glared at him with the rage only bubbling under her visage, the corner of her mouth twisted into a half snarl while she fought back displaying the emotions running through her outside of her eyes. ”I will deal with you later. For now I bar your exit, so you cannot escape me.” With yet more static, and that same shrieking sound, she was gone. He was able to move, and took a sudden step forward as if to stop her in her tracks. She was gone, but along with her was Kashi; meaning he was alone in this now. Azul was here, but excused himself and went trampling down the hill until Bane called again.


At the sound of a groan, Bane rushed over to the stone pillar where Koschey was embedded, finding that the after-effects of the attack made upon him had diminished both his power, and size. He eased himself out of his position, dropping down to the ground and leaning on his sword for support. As Bane helped Koschey stand by supporting one side of him, he spoke, "Now you see the truth of the rumors. My immortality. Her attack was not enough to stop me. You must help me, take me to my castle. There I can help you on your way. Though your quest has changed, I suspect. Mine as well. " Bane nodded at this. With the appearance of this woman, and the weird happenings in this field, he wondered just what it could all mean, but when he noticed that Koschey was looking out at the edge of the plateasu, he couldn’t help but look too.

Where the plaza once stood was a citadel, a towering monstrosity that was a blemish on the otherwise pristine landscape. He looked over to the western desert, where Geoff was possibly meeting with Inra still about the war. It was possible they were behind this, but it was equally possible that they were effected too. "We must remove that abomination. " And Bane agreed. He nodded, and decided it’d be best if they just figured it all out later. Priority was getting rid of that castle, and then returning to their mission concerning Kyora.

Then came the bird-folk who had attacked Koschey before, but there was something amiss about them. In patches were black, and their movements were ragged and erratic. Armed with their signature weapons, and with twitching heads, all three sets of eyes homed in on the fallen warrior at Bane’s side. It was clear what they were after, but Bane wasn’t going to oblige so easily; he liked being difficult like that. "You must protect me, or else I cannot help you. That witch’s foul magic has sapped my strength. Only my castle can restore it. Defend me, bring me to my home. " Bane looked up to the sky, then at Koschey, then at the birds, then at Koschey, and gave him a look.

”Your castle, the one up in the sky on top of that tower that I can’t climb? You’ve got to be kidding me, but…” Bane hefted his sword up and let Koschey hold himself up as he prepared to fight off these beasts. “If you’re immortal, then we should be fine. However, I’d rather not risk the bird folk getting to you after all the crazy crap that’s been happening. You sit tight and we’ll head on up to your castle after I’m done. I just hope you have a freakin elevator.” With that, Bane pushed off the ground, sword trailing behind him as he sped towards his foes, starting off simply by rearing his blade back and using it as a bat to knock one of the birds back. Jumping back to dodge an oncoming attack, he popped open a Speed Charm and used its effects on himself, speeding himself up to make himself more suited to fighting multiple targets. Sliding back on the ground, he readied himself and let his foes regroup, but it was soon clear that they weren’t going to be tactical about this, they were going into a berserker rage just to get Koschey, and possibly him. Sighing, Bane buffed himself up with Ap Ruem waited for the birds to charge, getting closer, he unleashed a storm of ice with his GiRue Kruz spell.

As chunks of ice hailed down upon the trio, Bane rolled forward and jumped up, rearing back his blade and thrusting it deep into the sword-wielding bird. Watching it flail and writhe, he let that blade go and drew another, promptly twisting on his heel and getting a second one in the gut. Pulling his blade out and deftly grabbing the un-armed limb of the untouched bird, twisting it back and severing it clean off the body. Watching in awe at how easy that was, Bane ducked an oncoming attack, barely thanks to the effect of Ap Do, and came to the conclusion that these things were possibly necromantic in nature. Glancing over his shoulder, he checked in on Koschey, who seemed fine, but was struck by the bird whose arm he just severed. Grunting in pain, wincing as his character avatar took the blow, Bane carried onward, raising his blade and focusing Juka energies into it. A flurry of Juk-based blows later, the single armed bird lay dead, leaving the one impaled on the ground and the other scythe wielding one, alive. Turning to the one that wasn’t put out of commission, Bane angled his blade downwards, eyeing down the length of his blade at his next target.

Naturally, seeing its comrade felled, it shrieked and charged, diving in and digging the tip of its weapon into Bane’s chest. The Heavy Blade grunted and took the sheer pleasure of punching the beast rather than going to work with his blade, knocking the birdbrain away from him. He panted, wiping his brow and going back to work, stepping forward and planting a foot on the bird beast, stepping up onto its shoulders and sliding the length of his blade down the feathered back of his opponent, swinging his weapon around and driving it into the bird pinned to the ground. Raising both hands up to the sky, he used the remaining SP he had to recast his GiRue Kruz spell over and over, blocks of ice pelting down around them as the ice and sleet that coated the immediate area ceased, the enemies he was fighting were down, finished, buried under a blanket of snow.

He fell to one knee, panting, but grabbed his blades and sheathed them where they rested on his body, regaining his composure and taking the time to let his breathing catch up to him. He stood amongst the snow, eyes closed and breathing, resting from the amount of concentration that went into that. Did that static do more than just disrupt his game? In any case, with his weapons in check and his SP slowly restoring itself, he wandered over to Koschey, nodding at him when he was about 6 feet away. He glanced over his shoulder at the fallen birds and the castle that loomed over the ground.

“Let’s go.”

When the last of the zombified bird-beasts had collapsed, chunks of ice impaled in its flesh, Bane was given a moment of silence to rest. Koschey had no immediate response, but soon pushed himself to his feet. He leaned heavily against the wall, severely weakened, but he was standing. He took a step, and another, and a few more, one hand to the column on which his castle stood, the other holding his sword. The icy blade dragged along the ground, the tip scraping a thin line in the stone, the mere weight of the blade cutting through granite. It was not a blade any would want to be hit by.

Finally he reached a point on his plateau and stopped. His hand fumbled with the stones, until he found one that fit his hand, and gave it a yank. The stone moved like a lever, and a slab of rock slid aside. It revealed a long, spiraling staircase inside the column, just under the surface. It was dark, but Koschey touched another stone, and torches came to life.

"Come." He said, and started to climb the stairs.

What followed was torturously slow. Koschey took the steps one at a time, slowly but steadily, putting all of his strength and all of his effort into not stopping, not falling. Occasionally his hand would reach out and graze the wall, and Bane would notice when he did, that torches almost out of sight behind them went dark, while torches ahead of them sprung to life. Meanwhile, with each step, Koschey’s sword clanked into the stone and dragged, before being lifted to the next. CLANK-skkkrrrk. CLANK-skkkrrrk. Over and over, hundreds of times, as the steps kept going and going.

Finally, at long last, the sword didn’t clank again. Koschey touched a stone and the last of the torches guttered out, but it didn’t matter. They had exited the stairs, and entered a new room. An ornate throne room, with a throne of black steel and ice. For all the icy rock, the room was warm, with plush carpets and torches along the walls. Koschey made his way to his throne, stopping by some intricately detailed statues as he passed. One he sat a hand on the shoulder of, and another he brushed the cheek. Abruptly, Bane would realize these were no statues at all, but people, frozen immobile like they all had been when the mysterious woman appeared. Could it be that Bane and Koschey were the only ones still mobile?

Koschey reached his throne and sat heavily, his sword fitting into a slot in the side, seemingly becoming part of the chair itself. Koschey’s eyes closed, and for a long moment he didn’t move, as though he had fallen asleep. Then they opened again, looking at Bane.

"Now I grant you a choice." He said. He grasped a piece of ice from his throne and brought it to his mouth, crunching with strong jaws and breaking it apart. He was eating the ice. "I can grant you a power; limited, but strong. You may accept it and go on your way. If you do this, we part ways; I will continue on my quest alone. Or you may wait, for me to restore some of my power, and we will continue to this Witch’s castle together."

He continue to eat small pieces of ice from his throne, though the throne never seemed to lack the substance. He consumed it like candy, savoring each piece, but eating them in quick succession, while he waited for Bane to answer.

Bane turned to face the weakened warrior, watching him move across the plateau. He struggled to move, and the Heavy Blade wondered just what foul magic was at work in this field. The static before was an ill omen, even if at the time he thought it was a power surge or otherwise a server error. It was definitely not something normal in terms of gameplay, especially the arrival of the woman who seemed to resent him for some reason or another. AS he pondered, gathereing his thoughts, Koschey moved to the lever that was to open their way forward. Well…rather than forward, it was more upward. In any case, Koschey’s ragged movements seemed to make Bane frown, including his sword which made that slightly annoying scraping sound as it cut through the granite. Soon enough though, Koschey made his way back to the column, where a staircase had been revealed behind a stone door, and uttered a single word. "Come."

Bane nodded and followed behind Koschey as he led the way up the stairs. Due to Koschey’s current state, their climb was lethargic, and step after step seemed to take longer than really necessary. The fallen warrior was struggling, but his determination was commendable. Considering that he kept going, regardless of his condition, inspired Bane a little. In any case, Bane stopped momentarily, looking down the center of the column where the stairs were inbuilt into the sides, coiling up the length. As they got higher, the torches behind them diminished, sending the distance below them into darkness, and lighting the path ahead. It was interesting, for it was forcing them forward, and was a good representation of the warrior’s code. Push forward and do not look back, fight until the goal is met. He looked up, and could see that hundreds of stairs stretched above them, the scraping sound of Koschey’s sword echoing above and below them.

It became a steady routine, a droning anthem of their ascent into the heavens. In all honesty, that scraping was driving Bane insane so much so that his left eye began to twitch constantly. But, before long, they were at the top of the stairs, and both the scraping and Bane’s twitching ceased. Koschey made his way to the end of this new room and took his place on what Bane assumed to be his throne. Before he got there, Koschey tended to some statues, very, very realistic statues. They lined either side of the hall, each one as if held still the moment they were frozen; they weren’t statues, but people. Was it the work of the witch? Maybe, either way, the stasis on the land needed to be lifted, because Bane also realised that she had quite possibly barred the way out of the field. Looking back, Bane noticed that the torches behind him had been snuffed out, leaving the spire behind them a pit of darkness that the first few stairs descended into.

Koschey slumped into his throne, his mighty weapon taking its place next to him in an especially designed sheath. Bane stood at ease as Koschey recovered, closing his eyes and slumbering in his chair. The Heavy Blade looked around and wondered what was causing the ice. It could have been the attack on the other people in the room if the woman had come here, or perhaps just the altitude on which this room was built. "Now I grant you a choice." Bane’s attention was brought back to Koschey as he began to speak, his eyes now upon the Heavy Blade. "I can grant you a power; limited, but strong. You may accept it and go on your way. If you do this, we part ways; I will continue on my quest alone. Or you may wait, for me to restore some of my power, and we will continue to this Witch’s castle together."

After his small speech, Bane considered the options. Koschey in the meantime was chewing on fragments of his throne as he picked them off. Eating them like a fat did candy corn. In any case, there was a choice to be had. On one side, there was whatever this power Koschey had to offer; the other was an ally. Undoubtedly, the ally was more than desired, although he was still curious as to what this power could be. ”I’m in no hurry. The Witch said quite clear that I have no means of escaping, so my way out of her is to see her dead. We’ll wait until you are ready, and we’ll depart. Out of curiosity though, what was this power you were to give me? Granted, if I could still have it and accompany you, I wouldn’t turn it down, either.” Bane then remembered something, pulled out the vial the princess had given him. It was blue, and possibly aligned with Rue like the ice Koschey was eating. He looked it over and nodded. ”I’m not sure if this would work, but I got this from the princess. It supposedly heals you completely and gives you a very potent restoration of status ailments. You’re welcome to the first dose if it would restore you to your former strength.”

Bane held out the bottle and waited for the warrior’s response.

Koschey sat upon his frozen throne, that beast of iron and ice. That icy chair had been his for generations, and only his meager household had held it for him on his excursions. He was loathe to leave it now, with that household frozen in stone such as they were. He noticed Bane looking at the statues, or what he took to be statues, and brooded heavily on his decision. He continued to eat the ice of his chair in silence, while even as he sat more ice grew in its place, condensing from the vapor in the air.

While he did not grow in size, he grew in aura, in power, in atmosphere. Bane watched the warrior. When he had sat, he had settled heavily, wearily, into his seat of power. Now he sat like a king, surveying his realm with a glance. He fairly exuded power, a cold grace and a frigid strength beyond what his body showed. He was no larger, no, but he was powerful once again.

Finally he stood, and it was as if he readied for war. He grasped a piece of metal and pulled, and from his throne slid the sword he had slotted into place. It whistled through the air and rang once it was free, a note that almost shone in the still silence of the hall. He hefted the sword easily in one hand, though it was still large enough in comparison to be a heavy blade. He settled it across his back, where it attached without need for a sheath.

"This blade would have been my gift to you." He said, and started walking for the exit. "Or one just like it. We will journey together, however, and defeat this woman. Her castle is a blot upon my kingdom and it must be removed." His tone of voice, his manner, everything made it clear to Bane that this choice was made; he would not be getting a sword if Koschey was to come with him. To Bane’s potion, Koschey made no move. He distrusted such strange elixirs, and regardless, he had his own source of power. It was best that the heavy blade keep it, for later.

Together the pair walked to the front door of the hall, which Koschey threw open. Outside the door was a sheer drop down the cliff; plainly the method Koschey himself used to exit his castle. Bane would wonder, how were they to get down? That is, if the view didn’t overwhelm him.

Beyond the sheer initial drop, the entire field stretched out before them. Beyond the mountains that stretched left and right, was the floating island castle of the Witch Queen. Beyond it stretched the glint of ocean, speckled with islands connected by thin brown fibers that were, no doubt, bridges. Large ones, too, to be seen from so far away. Far to the left the land turned into desert, and the sun glinted off something in the distance; the city held by Inra, no doubt. To the right, the land was overtaken by forests, somewhere in the depths of which was the citadel of Kyora.

Looking closely, Koschey stood fearlessly on the edge. His arm stretched out, pointing at the castle floating on the island in the sky. "Look. That will be our entry point." Following the arm, Bane noticed a small mountain peak, far below them and far in the distance. On the top of the mountain was a drawbridge, barely visible, pointing into the sky. They would have to journey to the top of that mountain peak, find a way to lower that bridge, and take it across to the sky island.

Thus the plan was set, but Koschey didn’t turn away from the door. Instead, he reached to a small pedestal where a collection of glass vials sat, all of them filled with a pale blue liquid. "Drink this." He said, handing one to Bane. Another he held himself, pulling out the stopper and drinking it in a single gulp.

There was a moment’s pause, and then Koschey’s back arched. Icicles shot from his shoulderblades, stretching some distance to either side; stopping barely short of making them too wide to fit out the door. From the icicles rained a curtain of water, water that never seemed to hit the ground, but instead disappeared halfway there. The ice and water looked like wings, but stiff. Or, more importantly, a glider. "It only hurts a moment."

Without waiting to see if Bane quaffed his potion or not, Koschey backed halfway back to his throne. Then, with a roar, he ran and leapt off the edge of his cliff, and dropped like a stone.

A moment later the air caught the watery wings, and he was gliding quickly through the air, a streamlined engine of doom to all who stood in his way. Bane would be left with but a moment to follow, before the warrior would be lost from sight.

It would be only a few minutes of clear gliding before the pair would encounter the first defense of the castle. Black specks in the sky, and black specks on the ground, resolved to be threats of equal caliber to the flying warriors. The specks in the sky grew steadily closer and turned out to be… gargoyles? At least, they looked like the imp-like stone figures carved on ancient architecture. Only these were made of black corruption and pieces of monsters. Their shrieks of rage carried through the air, and the swarm of them began to dive at the flying pair. Dozens, hundreds of them, but they were less of a threat individually than they were in numbers.

Meanwhile below, the specks puffed with smoke. From the ground flew great wooden spears, whistling like missiles, fired like arrows from giant ballistae. To be struck by one would mean death, either from the impact itself or the helpless fall to the ground.

Koschey had his sword drawn, and when a gargoyle drew near enough to him, he slashed through it. The creature died effortlessly, disintegrating before it had fallen a dozen feet. He twisted then, avoiding a spear from below. The spear plowed through two of the diving gargoyles, destroying them. It didn’t seem hard, when Koschey did it. But then, he had who knew how many years of experience flying like this, and fighting like this. Bane was learning his wings, and he was soon forced to watch every direction at once.

----------------ooc:

There’s nothing you can do about the ballistae on the ground except avoid their attacks. They’re firing indiscriminately, so they’ll hit gargoyles without blinking an eye. They’re not for precision, they’re for filling the air with death.

As for the gargoyles, they have no spells or skills and only have 10 HP. They’re easy to kill in a single hit. The trouble is, if they hit your wings more than a few times, you’re done for. Damage to you, you can heal, but not damage to your wings.

You won’t be able to kill all of the gargoyles, and probably shouldn’t try. You CAN target them with spells, to clear a way in front of you or whatever you like. They have no special defenses or anything; their threat is in sheer numbers. You’ve got to fly through this cloud of them defending the drawbridge.

Also as time goes on you’ll be able to tell that the mountain is roughly the furthest you’ll be able to glide from that height without going lower. You wouldn’t be able to fly all the way to the floating island, it’s just too far and too high for that.

The sheer power that radiated off of Koschey as he recovered seemed to add a fierce aura to the room. His power, his will and his command as king over this domain was what Bane could literally feel within his core. As he looked over the warrior, his former glory was slowly restored thanks to his ice candy. It was beyond mortal flesh that his power stretched; a cold, commanding spirit that sat there in dominance over the realm before him. He rose suddenly from his throne, almost making Bane kneel in respect out of reflect, but it ended up more like a stance to ready himself in case of a sudden attack.

Koschey drew his blade and placed it against his back, where the ice and cold from the atmosphere and quite possibly from the throne fused it to his back in some sort of make-shift sheathe. "This blade would have been my gift to you." The blade that seemed to cleave the very air; so much so that a chiming whistle sounded in the sword’s wake whenever it was swung. "Or one just like it. We will journey together, however, and defeat this woman. Her castle is a blot upon my kingdom and it must be removed." Bane pocketed his elixir and nodded as Koschey spoke. He would accompany the warrior and as a pair they would slay this woman who put them in such a predicament.

Together they strode down the hall to what was the front door, but considering how high they were, Bane considered it be something of a decoration. That was until Koschey swiftly and rather forcefully threw the doors open to reveal the world before them, from the top of the column from where they stood. He glanced back to the darkened corridor leading back to the spiralling staircase, but that would take too long. He took a brief peek down to the world below and backed off from the edge, feeling his head spin a little. Being on a plane was one thing, standing at the edge of the world like this was another. Koschey seemed undaunted by the drop, and stood there, looking at the citadel suspended above the plaza. "Look. That will be our entry point." Bane followed his arm out to where he was looking, and had to squint to see where Koschey was refering. Amongst the peaks and spires that made up the mountains, there was one with a drawbridge, raised of course, but one that would lead directly into the castle.

"Drink this." Bane looked over at the warrior, who while Bane was distracted, reached over to the nearby pedestal to retrieve two vials of pale blue liquid. Bane took the vial, looking it over and then looking at Koschey curiously, wondering what it did. As the warrior beside him emptied the vial into his maw, Bane backed off as he shook momentarily, his back soon erupting with icicles, filling with a water-like veil, resembling wings. "It only hurts a moment." While Koschey was backing up, Bane downed his potion, wondering what he could mean and then watched as Koschey ran for the door. He dived off and was out of sight, before Bane could respond accordingly.

He doubled over his pain and he too had icicles shooting from his back, causing him to drop the F-Bomb in an unrestrained and loud manner. It felt real, too real, as if his back was being torn asunder; the pain he’d have to figure out later. But like Koschey said, the pain lasted only for a moment and he was fine, stumbling forward and leaping from the tower in pursuit of Koschey. He, somehow, managed to make up the distance before they encountered the next trial. From what seemed like a great distance to be covered, they were gradually reaching their destination that was that drawbridge. What barred their path now was a flock, or rather a cloud of black monstrosities, coming towards them armed to kill. They appeared to be small gargoyles that were made for buildings, but like the bird warriors from before, they too seemed to be stitched together like some kind of undead creation.

While from the front they were being attacked, they were being flanked from below by giant ballistae. The force at which they were being fired hinted they were powered by gunpowder, and from their aim, they were just risking hitting anything rather than the two winged swordsmen. Bane drew his own sword, gripping it tightly for if he were to drop it, he’d be without his weapon. Aerial combat was new to him, and he was still learning how to move; so for now he’d just focus on dodging those arrows. It was hard to move against the air and strike with his sword due to his fighting style based primarily on the ability to push off the ground for momentum.

In any case, with his way forward barred by this mass of enemies, and the constant stream of attacks from below, Bane called out to Koschey. ”Koschey! We need to head on over to the bridge pronto!” Wasting no more time, Bane reared back his left hand and fired off a GiRue Kruz into the cloud, a small opening appearing within the depths of the mass. Switching to something a little more widespread, Bane fired off a Juk Rom, watching most of the targets around the spell scatter to regain their ranks. An arrow shot up from below, barely missing Bane and creating a shish-kebab of gargoyle awesomeness which prevented the sneak attack that was going to occur.

Koschey was faring well on his own. He had done this before, quite often from how easily he moved through the sky on those wings. Bane was still struggling, and he’d need a lot more practise before this became any easier. Dodging another arrow by deflecting it with his blade, he fired off another Juk Rom and edged closer to his destination. Arrows were still being shot up, and little by little the gargoyles were losing numbers just as fast as Koschey was slaying down the ones in his way. Bane threw yet one more Juk Rom into the crowd before making a break for it. Sheathing his sword, he charged forward, trying to go as fast as possible. Alas, the gargoyles didn’t want that and tried to stop him by clawing and poking him with their spears.

Firing out another spell to brush them off him, he continued to glide towards his destination. But something was up, or rather behind and below. It seemed the ballistae had become more skilled with aiming at their foes and had managed to clip the tip of one of his wings. Granted, he was still able to fly and the arrow had pierced through several of the other gargoyles after his wings also, but he was close enough to his destination that if he were to fail, it’d just be a big tease. It was so close, that bridge that would grant them access onto the floating island and by extension, the castle in which this witch resided.

But that’s when Murphy’s Law kicked in. Bane was so close that he was just about there, when both another shot from the ballistae and a few more Gargoyles grabbed onto him and tore his wings right off. Then Bane began to plummet in such a fashion that he was still getting closer to the drawbridge, but was vertically failing. Seeing their target still alive, the ballistae started picking up the pace, and their shots getting closer Bane got an idea. In one swift motion, he prayed to the gods and Admins of The World, whipping his sword underneath him like a surfboard and closed his eyes, waiting.

In a matter of seconds, he felt two things, strange again considering he was playing a game: One, the first shot on his sword, and then the second one soon after, sending him upwards if only a little bit. The third shot hit the sword in the handle and it flew out from under him, but he was able to grab onto the cliff on the same mountain before he fell any further; his sword sheathing itself right before him and almost taking off his fingers. “Okay, okay crap…O-okay…” Bane heaved himself up onto the cliff, taking a breather before realising that with enemies all around he couldn’t really relax. Getting up and then taking his sword, he made a made dash for the bridge as he sheathed it on his back, throwing out another Juk Rom into the crowd of Gargoyles as they came closer.

Racing up to the drawbridge he placed both hands on it and began to look around for a switch, before giving up and just trying to slam it with his fists. “C’mon! Open!” Backing off and looking up at it, and then to the incoming gargoyles, he eloquently asked himself the following.

“How the fuck do I open this thing?”

Koschey roared his fury as he dove through the cloud of gargoyles, dodging arrows and slashing at the monsters that got in his way. He lost count of how many died to his blade as it sang through the air. Twice he even slashed through arrows that drew too close, batting their halves out of the air and continuing his flight.

Here and there in the air, spells went off, cast by his fellow warrior to ward off more of the beasts. The spells hardly damaged the cloud of monsters, overall, but the sky was clear in patches and allowed him to fly where he needed to go. To Koschey, navigating the skies was easy. He had spent so long perfecting this method of flight, to not be a master of the air would be a travesty. Only his rival, the Witch Baba Yaga, could command the air with as great a skill.

Some distance ahead and below, Bane was hurtling too fast and too straight. The monsters, dense in numbers, took out his wings and send him falling to his death. Koschey sighed inwardly, glad he didn’t lose a sword with such a man, only to see him use his own sword in a way Koschey had never seen. While he still almost didn’t make it, he climbed up the mountain and to the bridge before Koschey himself had landed.

When the ice warrior DID land, it was in a shower of shattering ice-wings. He immediately roared and spun, taking out several of the gargoyles that followed him. The beasties all died in a single hit, and he prepared to defend his companion while he worked on the bridge.

"Find the way to lower the bridge. I will hold them off." Koschey said. Another gargoyle died to his blade as he spoke. At least the ballistae were unable to reach this place with their arrows. The few arrows that were angled at them clattered against the side of the mountain a hundred feet below.

To his surprise, however, his effort was unnecessary. They were both on the bridge platform, now, and presumably that meant they were meant to be there. The gargoyles had stopped pursuing them, at least. Slowly, the black cloud of monsters retreated, back to the positions it had initially taken, minus the numbers that had died.

"It would seem we have some leeway." Koschey said, though he kept his sword at the ready and his eyes to the skies. It could be, perhaps, that something bigger was coming. He left Bane to figure out the puzzle before him.

Bane’s pounding on the bridge seemed to hit a key point. A panel in the supports snapped and fell off, revealing a series of jewels. There were two rows of them, five jewels each, individually the size of his fist. The bottom row looked slightly sunken, and looked like they could be pressed, like buttons. The top row was fixed in place.

There were Red, Green, Blue, Orange, and Purple gemstones, two of each. One was in the top row, and one was in the bottom. That was all. There were no words for a clue, there was no goal presented; simply a series of gemstones, polished smooth, as the key to lowering the bridge.

--------------ooc:

Bane looked over this bridge, wondering on how he could open the damn thing. Something had come to his attention however, something from the result of his barbaric attack on the structure. "Find the way to lower the bridge. I will hold them off." Bane looked at Koschey and nodded, rushing over to the control panel and looking over the buttons and gemstones before him, he tried to make sense of the operating system. While the warrior was battling the monsters, Bane was looking in amazement and confusion at the genstones before him.

In order, gemstones of red, green, blue, orange and purple lay before him, embedded into the bridge. "It would seem we have some leeway." Bane looked back and noticed that this was true. The enemies had backed off for some reason, but he didn’t care. So long as he was able to solve this thing and lower the bridge, he would be okay. Looking over the colours, he wondered what each of them could mean; he figured elements of The World, but with one missing, he was at a loss. Considering no better idea came to mind, he cast Ap Ruem on himself and them pressed the switch underneath the blue gemstone. In an instant, the red gemstone lit up, and then when the blue button un-pressed itself, the red light went out.

Then nothing. He figured that there was something more to the meaning of the colours, and turned to Koschey, asking if the colours meant anything. The warrior glanced over at the gems from his lookout for enemies, before shaking his head. He said that their meaning was just wealth, leaving Bane at a quandary. With nothing else to do, he pressed each button in turn, noting that each light that lit up was the colour corresponding to two gems before the button he pressed. When each button had been pressed, he stood back, wondering what it could mean. There was no clear pattern, and he had successfully lit up each gemstone once, but where to go from here was beyond here.

This was a game, one that was growing more realistic as time went by, but it was still a game. So, he went with an old standard of hitting the buttons in order of colour sequence when referencing the rainbow. Red, Orange, Green, Blue, and then Purple. It wasn’t the correct order exactly, but the bridge was still lowered. Puzzled, Bane stepped out onto the bridge and shook his head, trying to dismiss any thoughts of a trap. ”Koschey! Let’s move!” With that, Bane began to run across the bridge leading to the other side, wondering what was up with that control system, and what lay ahead.

The bridge lowered, bit by bit, but the mechanism for solving the puzzle was still a mystery. The pair began to cross the bridge, and soon discovered that it was quite a bit longer than it looked from a distance. It was wide, as well; wide enough to fight on without worry of falling off the edge.

The length of the bridge wasn’t a worry; they could easily run across it. The worry came when they were halfway across. Shapes were on the bridge in front of them. Moving shapes. Shapes moving toward them. Shapes that resolved themselves to be monsters.

Each of them was unique. With ten in all, that left a lot of detail to keep track of. Each of them were similar, in that they were colored one single tint, as though dipped in dye before being set loose. Beyond that, the similarities ended.

One was a dark shade of red, almost the color of blood. It was a giant, the size Koschey had been before his power had been sapped. It held a humongous axe on a long pole, and wore heavy armor covering its torso and upper legs. Its lower legs and arms were bare, but covered in shaggy hair. Its face was human-like, but feral, and its mouth full of sharp teeth.

One was a light shade of red, almost pink. It was half the size of a man, and covered in quills that glistened sickly in the light. Where it ran it left marks on the stone of the bridge, acidic etchings of footprints. It held no weapons, but its whole body was a weapon; to be touched by those quills would no doubt mean agony.

One was a deep forest green. Superficially it looked like a panther, or some other great cat, but a pair of large curving horns snaked forward from where its ears would have been. It moved swiftly, silently, on feet each holding deadly claws. It had a cunning gleam to its eyes.

One was a light, almost pastel green. It almost defied description beyond that. It floated, and had no limbs to speak of. Nor was it in possession of a body. It was merely a dense cloud of gas or energy or vapor; something opaque and hard to see into. It seemed to radiate a distortion of the air, like a heat mirage, but lacking heat. Something deep inside it crackled with energy, in an audible snapping noise.

One was a blue so dark as to be almost black. It held the shape of a man, but looked more like a walking shadow. In its hand was a long rapier, a stabbing weapon that relied on speed over strength. Its other hand disappeared into an amorphous blob of blue-black goo, the use of which was beyond initial knowledge.

One was a blue as light as the sky, and put that color to good use. It was a hawk, or most of one, but with vicious looking blades where feet would be. Aside from its talons, it blended into the sky, making it hard to spot and harder to dodge.

One was a deep burnt orange-brown. It was taller even than the deep red giant, though it held no weapons and wore no armor. Each of its four arms was capped in a heavy ball of rock, and its body looked to be made of sandstone. Each step it took sent shudders through the bridge.

One was a bright orange-white, the color of deep flame. This color came from it indeed being on fire. Otherwise it was a normal-looking long arm, wielding a spear made of fire.

One was a deep midnight purple, with bright white stars for eyes. Eight eyes, it had, and eight legs, and mandibles the size of swords. It brought up the rear, with its bulk, blocking half the bridge from escape. It set about immediately to weaving a giant web, a gate to keep them from passing.

The last was a light purple, a shade of lavender almost tranquil in the sea of garish colors. It was the smallest of them all, no more than two feet tall, and held a pair of tiny, yet sharp, daggers. It bounced and jittered and moved constantly, so quickly as to leave a faint afterimage.

The ten drew up short of the pair, prepared to guard the bridge. Behind them, the drawbridge drew up, cutting off any means of escape back the way they had come. They must fight their way through, to the castle in the sky, to seek out and destroy the woman who sought to rule here.


-------ooc:
I'm interested to see what you come up with for these beasties. They'll be difficult to kill; each of them has a trick to killing them. Pure damage may knock them down for a time, but they'll stand back up.

I'm not laying down skills, levels, or capabilities of any of them. You can either script with me and have me play them for you, or you can play them on your own and have my posts help you along the way with Koschey.

They have enough AI to help each other, though they also have enough to bicker. They won't do serious harm to each other, however, just scuffles at the most.

As the pair of them, Bane and Koschey ran across the bridge, Bane wondered what kind of mechanism the locking system was. Those gemstones seemed odd, and with little indication as to what the combination was, the Heavy Blade had a hinting suspicion that they were running right into a trap. Little did he know that he was spot on, but the following encounter could have just possibly been a spot of bad luck, rather than an ambush.

By the halfway mark, Koschey slowed down, and Bane soon followed suit, surveying the terrain before them and spotting something the warrior behind him possibly did earlier. These enemies marched towards them, phasing in seamlessly from the air into their crystalline and coloured forms. Each one took a different form, meaning different strengths and weaknesses. Bane sighed and drew his weapon, brandishing it in one hand and then slowly readying his other hand to rest underneath his right on the handle of his weapon. As they stood off against one another, Bane looked across to Koschey, wondering what to do. They couldn’t go back now, which left only one way out; and even then, they’d need to fight their way through.

“Are we allowed to cross?” The Heavy Blade asked to those before him, none of them specifically even though one responded in kind. It was the horned cat that seemed to respond with a low, threatening growl, each of them held back by some imaginary line which Bane could not see. "I guess not...Got any ideas, Koschey? Or is this simply going to have to be a case of charging right on through?" With no response from the warrior aside from the stare down he was having against the opponent in red, it was clear that Koschey was itching to sink his blade into flesh, wanting to engage each and every one of the coloured monsters before them. Sighing, the Heavy Blade swept out his hand and increased Koschey’s defence, knowing all too well that he would dive right in.

The first to grab Bane’s attention was the hyperactive pink one covered in quills. Its hyperactive dancing made Bane wonder what exactly it was doing, or if it just needed to use the bathroom real bad. To be honest, he had no way of knowing whether or not he wanted to fight or was upset about something. So, to test the waters, Bane spoke out to the pink one in order to possibly cause confusion and demoralisation amongst their ranks. "Hey, it may just be me but I get a few people comment on my height and pretty much call me useless in combat...Do you get that? It's usually the tall ones with rocks for brains that try and claim that." It stopped jumping for a moment, if only to give him a blank stare and resume what it was doing; it clearly didn’t understand him.

Meeting this new obstacle with a sigh, Bane snapped his fingers in some kind of dramatic fashion to cast Miu Lei upon the quilled monster; if mind games won’t work, then perhaps the Charm status ailment might. However, much to his dismay, the spell also had no effect, causing Bane to grunt in irritation. Looking over the other targets, he decided next to try his trademark spell upon the large one made of stone, hoping that possibly the damage over time would couple with it’s potentially slow movement speed and help out both him and Koschey in the upcoming battle. While the Duk Lei didn’t have any effect, what amazed Bane was how they were just standing there, not charging while he assaulted them with experimental spells. With another sigh, he looked over the enemy ranks and nodded, doing the last thing that came to mind, hoping that opposing elements would help him out here.

But as that GiRue Kruz came down upon his flamed target, the opposing ranks charged, as if whatever line was holding them back was broken. The arachnid that held the rear stayed put, leaving nine targets for the pair to respond to. First came the midget, lunging at Bane’s face with its pair of knives, the Heavy Blade barely ducking under the first blow, retaliating in kind with a hefty swing of his own weapon. The small one leapt back over to avoid his blow, as if it were nothing, but Bane wasn’t going to lose his momentum and struck the fiery Long Arm with another well placed GiRue Kruz to stagger it.

With his HP in now taking small hits, Bane looked over his shoulder and pulled the thing off, going to throw it off the damned bridge but finding that it diverted its path by digging those knives into his avatar’s form. As Bane cursed that particular misfortune, that midget disappeared amongst the monsters and Bane was left to find another target. Koschey seemed to be holding his own, trading blow for blow with the red monstrosity he was eyeing off before.

As Bane was surveying the current arena, the rapier wielding monster lunged forward, approaching fast and striking Bane clean in the chest. Bane stepped forward and drove the rapier deeper in, his eyes glinting with a hint of masochistic insanity, blade raised over his head before slamming down upon the gelatinous warrior before him. Once, then twice his blade came into contact before the monster panicked and backed off. A smirk spread across Bane’s face as he had the odd sensation of fear coming off the monster he just struck. It came back, meeting the same fate with the added bonus of Bane’s Rairaku, but whatever fear it had seemed to diminish whenever it was free once more. "Koschey! Have you figured out how to kill these things yet!?" Getting nothing more than an annoyed grunt in response, Bane figured that was a no and even he was having trouble keeping up.

Spotting the feline warrior that for the whole time had been sitting on the sidelines, Bane charged, hoping that a change of pace would be for the better. Alas, much to his dismay, the leprechaun came back and pretty much put a downer on his whole plan and caused the feline to escape. What was more is that the sadistic little bastard had decided to cling to his face and that just pissed off the Heavy Blade. Taking a few steps towards the edge of the bridge, Bane threw the leprechaun down off the bridge, hopefully to never see him again. Downing a Health Drink, and picking up his blade, he resumed the fray, this time targeting the quilled figure and hoping to aid Koschey if only a little. This too was halted by the monster puffing itself out, and creating a shield that scraped along his blade and nullified the attack.

Failing that, Bane decided to go after the large sandstone hulk that was idly standing by. Considering the theory of erosion, Bane went in with GiRue Kruz, followed by Hirameki to simulate water and wind chipping away at stone; however, the attacks were too shallow, and glanced off his target as if they were just mosquito bites. Bane began laying into the monster, trying to find some way to damage it, although his tactics left something to the imagination. This, seemed to cause the sandstone beast decide to attack Bane, which really under the circumstances seemed justified. As the two stone-clad arms came down upon the Heavy Blade, his knees buckled and he was forced to kneel, blade holding up the arms with his HP suffering a huge loss.

With a Health Drink and a hasty retreat, Bane was ready to continue, wiping his brow and readying himself once more. Diving in again to hack and slash at the leg which is closest to the edge of the bridge with toppling it in mind, small chunks of sandstone were chipped away from its figure. Rolling between its legs to avoid an incoming attack, Bane resumed trying to chop off its leg before he was met again by the rapier fellow and the Long Arm bathed in flame. Waiting to pull off another stunt like last time, Bane waited until he could see that rapier pierce his avatar before responding. The first was a feint, the second however was a slash that took away some hitpoints, but otherwise Bane was still fine. His counter, sadly missed, and was met with another attack, this time coming from the Long Arm.

With a swift dodge underneath the shaft of the spear, followed by another counter which fell short of it’s target, Bane jumped back to get some distance between the two. However, as if it were some kind of dance, Bane dove in for an attack, followed by a dodge and a retaliation which also missed. He was unsure of how much longer he could keep this up considering that they were still vastly outnumbered, and really no where near ending this battle.

Koschey took swing after swing, trading blows with the deep red giant. His ice seemed to get the better of the giant’s armor, and his sword had the speed to outmaneuver the large axe. Still, he took blows as he gave them, often trading one for one in a show of brute force over skill and finesse. The blows were ramping up in power, until finally, Koschey’s sword sheared off the head of the axe, sending the blade flying over the edge of the bridge. Koschey was relentless, and his blade drove through the armor of the giant and slammed it into the ground. Yanking his sword free, he heaved the giant over the edge of the bridge where the tiny purple leprechaun had fallen, and turned to face the rest of the battle.

Bane was being mobbed by basically everything, though the sky-blue hawk was still taking swoops at Koschey’s head. He ignored it, as it wasn’t doing him any harm just yet, and his sword stabbed in to block the fiery spear of the long arm.

The sandstone giant still towered over him, but it didn’t seem to care. It was watching Bane, its slow mind slowly percolating a chance to attack. Koschey gave it a shove, sending it stumbling backwards. He roared and gestured at the giant as it stumbled. Bane took the hint, and delivered a mighty blow of his own, sending a crack through the beast’s bad leg and sending it toppling, roaring, over the edge. A few long seconds later, there was a loud crash, the sound of a rockslide. Three down, seven to go.

While the spider seemed to be keeping out of the battle, it was an obstacle that they’d have to deal with before long. Koschey shouted as the fiery spearman jabbed him in the ribs, and his sword slashed at the flaming apparition. Meanwhile, the hawk continued to harry him and the black-blue fencer circled, waiting for an opening. With those three occupied, it left only three for Bane to deal with; something he hopefully could handle.

The light-green cloud of gas and the dark green panther with horns were approaching from opposite angles to each side. From the front, the pink quillman was gibbering and running in for an attack, each footstep leaving etchings of acid in the bridge. It jumped, spreading itself wide and angling its spikes forward, hoping to impale the heavy blade.

Bane’s reaction was to raise his blade in the monster’s path, intending to let it impale itself. Unfortunately, his Katana wasn’t suited to the task. It could slide between the quills easily enough, yes, but the momentum of the monster bowled both of them over. He got a wound in, that was certain by the acidic blood that dripped down the blade and splashed on his hand, burning through a few dozen of his hit points in the process. The trouble was the dozen other quills that stabbed through cloth and flesh, stabbing off half his HP in the process and leaving him poisoned.

Rolling with the tackle, Bane managed to kick the creature off, sending it tumbling towards the gas cloud. Once free, a health drink and antidote combination brought him back to a reasonable readiness. Yet he was unprepared for what happened next.

The gas cloud descended, wrapping itself around the pink quillman. It seemed to distort, and abruptly vanished, but the quillman took on a greenish cast. It also grew a full foot in height and, suddenly, looked quite a bit meaner. It squatted, and flung an arm forward. Three quills flew like arrows at the heavy blade.

Bane was fast enough to dodge two, deflecting the third with his sword, but the panther was on him in an instant. Its claws raked at his back, sending him sprawling on his face.

Koschey meanwhile had his hands full with opponents smaller and weaker than him. While he was used to facing the witch’s minions, these were different. They were smarter, more agile, and more powerful. They were a different breed, and he knew not their abilities nor their weaknesses. It was all he could do to ignore the hawk while he blocked the fire spear and the rapier made of darkness. The swordsman’s ambiguous hand worried him as well; what abilities would it have? Meanwhile the hawk was slowly dealing damage, a few points at a time, and he could do nothing but take it. They needed a heads up in the battle, but would they find it?