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Veil
Dec 4, 2007 16:31:34 GMT -6
Post by Aleu on Dec 4, 2007 16:31:34 GMT -6
A mangy, dog-like creature, all matted black fur save for its unsettlingly red eyes, bounded powerfully from one rooftop to another, spraying small bits of gravel as it landed. It began to run, thudding over a makeshift bridge laid between two buildings and then making another sailing leap, turning around as it landed and skidding to a halt on the asphalt surface. It growled, turning slowly to face the oncoming group of Hunters.
Serene and Cei had taken point, so they stood in front of the group of four and directly facing the creature. Serene's swords spun in her hands and her wings were half-folded over herself protectively. Cei held his arms up, preparing a spell int he back of his mind. Jukka was on another rooftop, adjacent to where Serene was and to the left, holding a spear ready. Senith was on Serene's right, cards spread in his hand.
Its glowing red eyes whirled in its head, taking the situation as it backed up slowly. Then it lunged, feinting towards Serene and flying towards Senith.
((Lizzie is at the settlement.))
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Veil
Dec 4, 2007 17:17:23 GMT -6
Post by Presea Combatir on Dec 4, 2007 17:17:23 GMT -6
Senith stepped back, startled, and almost dropped his cards on accident. As the beast flew towards him, he managed to step to the side in time as it passed by to land on a rooftop behind him. "I wish monsters like this were slower. Maybe I should just pay more attention to things," he muttered to himself, fumbling for the scythe strapped onto his back. With a flick of his wrist, the handle extended and a magical glowing teal blue blade formed at the tip. "Someone wanna cover me, please?" he called out as he shuffled through his cards in thought. "Thank you..."
He pause to pull his goggles down over his eyes, letting them fit snuggly on his head. "I wish I wasn't so indecisive," he murmured, scanning through his hand of cards again, his eyes falling on the picture of a fierce looking wolf with fangs glistening. It seemed fitting for the battle, somewhat. With a deep breath, he gave it a gentle toss into the air and spun his scythe once before bringing it down onto the card. "Dauntless, valiant wolf, please assist us in battle," Senith called out, bringing his blade down onto the card and a blindingly bright light flashed for a moment. Once it receded, a hairy black furred wolf, about the size of the beast they were hunting at the moment, stood in front of the winged boy, and he stroked it gently.
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Veil
Dec 4, 2007 18:21:54 GMT -6
Post by Aleu on Dec 4, 2007 18:21:54 GMT -6
Serene unhooked a trio of boomerang-crescents from her belt and flung them outwards, one streaking towards the canine beast and grazing the fur on its back, while the other two spun away and circled wide. While the creature was distracted by the first blade, she motioned to Jukka to go in, shouting, "Give him some cover and we'll take this one down fast!"
"Cei, think you can hit it and keep Senith safe at the same time?" she asked, crouching down and watching her blades slowly begin to arc back. "Time it with my boomerangs."
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Veil
Dec 6, 2007 17:09:44 GMT -6
Post by Jukka Canola on Dec 6, 2007 17:09:44 GMT -6
Damn, this ones quick. Jukka watched as the beast leaped at Senith and ended up on the rooftop behind him. Serene shouted for cover for Senith, and Jukka was on it. He leapt to a rooftop one away from Jukka was now, giving him a clear shot towards the beast, who looked ready to leap back at Senith at any time. Accuracy wasn't important now - he just needed to distract the beast from Senith.
Jukka launched one of his spears. It arched high in the air and stuck straight up in the gravel where it landed - a few feet in front of the beast. It's head slowly turned towards him and Jukka smiled, knowing that the beast Senith summoned would help and Serene's boomerangs were on their way back.
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Veil
Dec 8, 2007 19:49:34 GMT -6
Post by Aleu on Dec 8, 2007 19:49:34 GMT -6
Serene curled her hand slightly, causing the closest boomerang to tighten its swing towards the direction of the beast. It jumped out of the way, and the boomerang clattered harmlessly into the gravel. Grimacing, Serene focused on the other two blades and called them back towards the beast, while drawing the scimitars from her back. Behind her there was a flash of yellow-orange light; a sparkling streak of fire bounded the gap between the rooftops, moving in a kinda foxish manner, and charged headlong into the creature's face.
Amid the blast of heat that accompanied the firefox's demise, a steely-gray streak lashed across the creature's ear, followed by another that struck it hard in the side and toppled it over. "He's all yours, Senith."
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Veil
Dec 17, 2007 19:23:06 GMT -6
Post by Presea Combatir on Dec 17, 2007 19:23:06 GMT -6
Ceileuse held his hands suspended in front of him as his firefox dissipated after contact with the creature, baring his fangs at the goggled blue haired boy. It looked like it was about to launch itself again, and with a disapproving frown, Ceileuse flicked his wrist nonchalantly, sending a quick jet of flames at it, planting the red hot stream between its eyes. "Down, boy," he muttered, ready to shoot more fire if necessary.
Senith took a deep breath to calm himself, nodding at Serene. "Thanks," he called out to the group as he stepped back from his summoned beast. Its fur began to glow slightly as it growled at the monster before it, and as its eyes dimly shone a dull silver, short jolts of lightning started to surge around its body, riding on the tracks its shaggy fur created. "Okay, this monster doesn't look too tough," Senith mused thoughtfully. He smiled encouragingly at the back of his summoned spirit, knowing it wasn't looking back. "Let's just try some standard stuff, nothing special. Don't get hurt, okay? And don't strain yourself..."
The wolf made a gruff, wheezy noise in reply to Senith, and it lunged at the monster, claws and fangs ready to combat its enemy. As it landed beside the monster, short electrical shocks shot out of the ground, one of them managing to hit the creature. It was paralyzed for a split second, and the ebony wolf used that time to claw at it, managing to scrape and bite at its vulnerably open shoulder. More jolts of lightning shocked the monster after the bite, leaving it motionless for another second.
Ceileuse noticed an opening and quickly raised his hands up above his head, his long sleeves beginning to slide down his arms. A pillar of fire formed above the monster, and in synchronization with his arms as he lowered them, the pillar split into a cage and slammed to the ground, closing in on the monster as Senith's summon leapt back to safety in front of its summoner. "I'm thinking we got it," Ceileuse declared victoriously, keeping his hands still as the monster was trapped inside his makeshift cage. "Now what?"
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Veil
Dec 18, 2007 21:44:39 GMT -6
Post by Jukka Canola on Dec 18, 2007 21:44:39 GMT -6
Jukka took a deep breath. The beast was caged. It was a good catch - they had worked quite efficiently. He gracefully leaped over to the same rooftop as Ceileuse and clapped him on the shoulder. "Nice!" He said referencing to the flames surrounding the beast. He looked to the rooftops surrounding to see the other members of the team heading towards the same rooftop. Jukka walked over and picked up his spear he had used as a distraction - it was still plenty sharp, why not save some money? He slid it into his quiver of throwing spears.
He waited for the rest of the group. The beast was captured, but now what?
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Veil
Dec 18, 2007 23:52:45 GMT -6
Post by Aleu on Dec 18, 2007 23:52:45 GMT -6
Serene looked at the two of them for a moment, looking almost confused. "What do you mean, now-- oh, that's riiiiiight. None of you have ever been on a real hunt before." She grimaced a little before hopping down next to the caged creature. "What we do here is get up close and..." Serene stretched out her hand, holding it about an inch from the bars of the fiery cage. The beast snarled angrily, looking ready to throw itself against the bars. Pain flittered through Serene's expression.
She squeezed her fingers into a tight fight, and yanked it to one side. "Die!" With a loud snap, the creature's head jerked at an unnatural angle, and then the entire beast crumpled to the floor. In a similar motion, Serene pressed one hand to her chest, breathing heavy and looking sick, before sinking to her knees in the gravel.
"I... hate..." She gulped. "I... hate doing that..." Wings folding in around her, she crawled towards the edge of the rooftop, leaned over, and started coughing and hacking. It took her about a minute for the nausea to fade.
"Okay... sorry about that. Jukka, think you can carry it with you back home? It's off over there," she said, indicating a direction. "We've got about a verst to go; if you get tired Cei or Senith can give you a hand.
"I'm not touching that thing."
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Veil
Dec 19, 2007 19:04:25 GMT -6
Post by Presea Combatir on Dec 19, 2007 19:04:25 GMT -6
Ceileuse let his hands relax from his tensed grip on his magic and let the bars of fire melt away. After feeling Jukka's pat on the shoulder, he glanced back to him with a small smile. "Thanks, you did well, too." He saw Jukka going to get the monster and Senith awkwardly following the spear thrower and turned, noticing Serene and the trouble she had doing this with a concerned frown. "Hey, if I can, I wouldn't mind doing that next time," he called out, starting to walk after her. "You know, if it makes it easier on you. It looks like it's hard."
Senith trailed after Jukka, hurrying to the monster before he could get there. "Thanks for the help back there. If you have trouble getting this thing up, I can help. Or my spirit here, he's pretty strong." He blinked in realization after mentioning his summon, a sheepish smile forming on his face. "Oh yeah, I'd better seal him back up," the blue haired boy mused. "Unless you want his help lifting the monster." The black wolf slowly paced back and forth on the other rooftop, and Senith watched, pulling his goggles off from his eyes, letting them fit snugly on his forehead. He let his scythe retract back into its portable form, the blade disappearing, and strapped it back onto his back.
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Veil
Dec 19, 2007 20:02:20 GMT -6
Post by Jukka Canola on Dec 19, 2007 20:02:20 GMT -6
"Of course...no problem." Jukka replied to Serene. He gave her a concerned look and walked off towards the body of the beast. She was strong...she knew that it wouldn't bother others here to finish it. He shrugged the thought off - next time someone else could do it.
Jukka and Senith walked off towards the corpse. "Hah, nah, it's no problem. Seal him up, should be a good workout." As always, he seemed concerned with keeping himself in top shape. Not a bad thing of course.
He bent down to the creature. It sure was dirty. The dark fur was matted and tangled and left a slight shade of black on Jukka's fingers as he ran his hand across the beast. It didn't smell the best either. At least it didn't look quite as scary - the bright red that had burned in it's eyes was now faded. Jukka closed the beast's eyelids, heaved it up onto his shoulders, and joined the rest of the Hunters.
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Veil
Dec 21, 2007 22:23:49 GMT -6
Post by Aleu on Dec 21, 2007 22:23:49 GMT -6
"Jukka, be careful of the lith* on that thing," Serene said over her wings, indicating the black on his fingers. "Brush it off with your deadstone every quarter of a verst or so; that stuff'll do all kinds of havoc to your body and head, even more than the normal lith does."
Taking off, she pushed with a single, hard stroke, and spiraled up and around the higher buildings. "Sen and Cei, into the air with me. I don't plan for any trouble, not when we've got meat, so you two will be spotting with me unless Jukka wants a break." 'Spotting' referred to watching out for potential thieves or hungry beasts. Free meat was understandably scarce on the rooftops, so hunting parties returning home were frequent targets of attack.
"Let's go," she said, waving an arm towards their destination. "We should be back within five spins ((25 minutes)) or so."
**Refresher: Lith is the black/gray ash that falls perpetually from the sky. It sticks to living things and doesn't come off unless brushed with (or comes in close proximity to) a deadstone: a rock with the name and date of death of someone deceased. If you leave it on for too long it causes fatigue, hallucinations, muscular deterioration, madness and death, in that order.
On the topic of deadstones, there come in big and small varieties. The smaller ones are about big enough to fit in your palm and only clear lith within a 5-inch radius around itself, give or take. For faster, less annoying removal, there is a large deadstone in the centre of each colony, made of white marble and marked with hundreds of names, which neutralizes lith within the entire settlement.
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Veil
Dec 30, 2007 11:31:43 GMT -6
Post by Aleu on Dec 30, 2007 11:31:43 GMT -6
((I can't believe I just wrote "centre" the British way...)) The trip home was fairly uneventful; the only creature that they encountered was a small feline, which quickly scurried away after a bladed boomerang nearly took off its tail. Jukka seemed to be doing pretty well with the carcass; they took a five-minute breather for him to get the lith off when the settlement was just barely in sight. It was a rather ramshackle little thing; it sprawled in a mess of battered tin and gravel. The inhabitants had managed to scrounge together as much metal as they could find and managed to piece together rudimentary houses and workshops on the rooftops. The white marble deadstone stood like a beacon in the centre of the settlement. Serene folded in her wings and alighted next to Jukka. "Can you take that... thing to Millie? She'll be in the kitchenhouse. Afterwards, go ahead and take your leave; it should be enough for at least a few meals." Rising into the air again, she circled towards Sen and Cei dismissed both of them until after the end of the next sleep-period; they both had roughly a half-whirl (four hours) until it was time for bed. ((Lizzie, go! ))
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Veil
Jan 2, 2008 16:06:55 GMT -6
Post by Deviette on Jan 2, 2008 16:06:55 GMT -6
"Hey Serene!" Lizzie ran over to the group of three still standing by the dead beast they had just bought in. "I'm sorry I couldn't go out today, but, as I told you earlier the wound on my leg is stopping me from moving very well." She started to unbandage the dressing on her leg to show them. "See! It's stopped bleeding and it's healed quite nicely." She started to wrap it up again. "And I'm able to walk on it again, so I should be able to join you again by tomorrow as it'll be all good!" She smiled again, though this time it was more of relief than of excitement. "I'll be useful again."
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Veil
Jan 12, 2008 14:26:19 GMT -6
Post by Presea Combatir on Jan 12, 2008 14:26:19 GMT -6
Ceileuse gave Lizzie a quick wave as she ran over before yawning tiredly, tears perking the corners of his eyes. "I'm tired, I think I'll hear to my house. I'm boring like that... I'll see you guys later, come bug me if something interesting goes down." He stretched out his arms and shook out his wings before gliding off towards his rickety house across the settlement. With a gentle push, the door creaked open, and he creaked it shut again after he entered. The tired redhead flopped down onto his bed headfirst and sighed after the long day.
Senith gave Lizzie a grin after Ceileuse left. "Awesome, glad to hear you're back! You didn't miss much, don't worry about it..." He watched as Jukka began to start off, the monster in tow, and decided to trot after him towards the kitchenhouse. He walked beside him, a few strides ahead, and peered back at Jukka with a curious stare. "Hey, you sure you don't want a hand? It looks pretty heavy, and you look pretty winded from carrying it this whole way."
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Veil
Jan 14, 2008 17:25:37 GMT -6
Post by Aleu on Jan 14, 2008 17:25:37 GMT -6
"Good to hear, Lizzie!" Serene gave her an encouraging pat on the back. "Don't hesitate to take another few days off if you need to, though. We'd rather have you late a few whirls than out of commission again." "Anyway, I've some errands to take care of before I turn in for the night. I'll be walking around if you need me for anything; you shouldn't have any trouble finding me." With a wave, Serene crossed from the main rooftop over a bridge to one of the peripheral ones. ((Doesn't matter what you do for now, just lounge and talk for a bit :3 Also, a reference to each of your characters, their standing within the settlements, and other such things... Since the overall population of the world is rather small, almost everyone knows everyone else, and have a certain perception of them as such. I kinda wrote this on a whim after talking to P, and there's no purpose to it other than as a reference to how your character is perceived and such... kind of a mock 'history' for them. Let me know if there's anything you don't like. I won't change it :> This also has important people to know. Like I said, just did this for fun :3 Serene - Relatively well known for her accomplishments as the only known triple-wielding fighter for her useage of ranged weaponry, as well as the disastrous failure at transformational magic that left her with her wings (this started a short-lived moment attempting to enforce more stringent guidelines on the development of magic). Generally respected as an upper-tier Hunter. Sen: Summoning is a rare art, as are those skilled in it. Sen is one of the better known and more powerful summoners, if only because so few exist. He gained a small amount of local infamy from his thievery. Cei: Cei is currently the world's most powerful mage, and hence is a household name. He is rather envied, bitterly by some who attribute his prowess due to his being a manakete, a race shrouded in mystery. Nonetheless, people respect him greatly and he usually gets pestered by fangirls and such. Jukka: Condemned by the conservationists for pushing for the increasing adoption of ranged weaponry in hunting, he has made his fair share of bitter enemies. Nonetheless, his position of "lives are more valuable than metal" has struck many a heartstring, and hence he has quite a large number of supporters, slowly growing due to the realization that, with sufficient training, throwing spears are no more wasteful than any other weapon, and the reduced number of injuries sustained by ranged fighters. Lizzie: Her tendency to carry needle and thread is well known yet has the general population completely baffled as to its utility. Similarly, her jumping boots (and their utility) were at first ridiculed, then supported as she demonstrated over time their uses, and has now become a very small fad among the young 'uns. Angela: The nominal leader of Ellus, Angela is a moderate-leaning-conservative. She believes firmly in the status quo, and was one of Jukka's major hurdles in approving his spear-campaign. She is, however, very intelligent and sees reason when it is presented to her. She is in her mid 30's, has a rather stern demeanor but a gentle heart. Strongarm: Generally considered the best fighter in the world, Strongarm is brash and extremely proud of his Strongarm lineage (Strongarm is not his actual name, it's his family name), yet kinder than he appears. He is extremely pretty. Strongarm is traditionalistic, and hence adopted one of the most conventional weapons as his own: his mighty Strongarm Fists. He is from the settlement of Tenmus, about five verst from Ellus. He and Serene have a growing rivalry. He is about twenty two. Menma: Another Ellusian, Menma is the foremost scholar in magical research. She is generally considered the most brilliant theoretician to ever live, though people often poke fun at her for having only mediocre magical power. She has a strong friendship with Kapu, who often works in the lab alongside her. Gina: The Ellusian head cook. She is warm-hearted, green-haired, and wields a ladle with deadly efficiency. She is a proficient shape-shifter and strategist. Gina's shape-shifting abilities allow her to grow what are acknowledged as the world's most beautiful wings (I know what you're thinking P, and the answer is yes), though she ceased to do so sometime last year after a traumatic encounter with a large beast on the rooftops. She has one son.)) If there are more required, they will be added later. :3
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