Porcelain Child/SessionSixteen

In the river wild…

<onine> You plunge into the water, out of the dead monster's grasp. You see it above as the current and flow of the river takes you briskly south. The river isn't chaos, but it is still a fast moving one, with many sucking currents and flos. You scramble about in the water, getting a quick gasp of air every now and then when you are able to break the surface. Everything is the muffled rumble of muted sound underwater, pierced by the sharp clarity of air. You're doing alright now at least, but realistically, you cannot keep this pace up. Even Magpies seemingly boundless energy is just that - seemingly boundless.

<onine> A little further down, your arms are starting to feel like lead, and getting that vital air is becoming a lot harder to acquire. The dim evening light doesn't help, and you find it hard to differentiate up from down and vice versa.

<onine> Another sound, the splash of a dive into the water.

<onine> In your state, you almost dismiss it, that is until you see in your peripheral vision a long light colored shape sloughing through the water, just at the point where the blue takes over. Then it is gone again.

• Magpie struggles in the current, trying to pierce the surface...somehow. A dive. That had to mean a shore, right? And ...that thing...maybe it's a monster...New adrenaline surges through her muscles as she flails in the water.

<oni-sama> You suck in another precious scrap of air, and you see it again, this time closer. It flows through the water fluidly.

<oni-sama> This new swimmer gives Magpie some new strength to flail her arms about, but they move slowly from exhaustion.

<oni-sama> Your lungs burn with the want for oxygen and you feel the current pulling you deeper.

• Magpie kicks frantically, trying to get back from it. It wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair. Knocked off a cliff by a zombie-thing; caught in a river; and then eaten by a river monster.

<oni-sama> Black spots start to appear on the edges of your vision and a strong screaming in your ears begins to drown out the muffled rumble of the water. You cough a mouthful of bubbles out and watch them rise effortlessly to the surface, jealous of the ease.

<oni-sama> Dizzy, you look around, and the shape is gone. You thought. You are on the verge of passing out into oblivion when a light colored mass rises up beneath you. You 'land' on top of its back, draped over it. You can feel fur between your fingertips, and underneath hard lumpy patterns. You can just barely feel it moving upwards, but in seconds it breaks the surface and you can breath again, dazed. It pushes you up onto a flat rocky outcropping on the shoreline, leaving you in a cold wet heap. You hear the splash of it coming out of the water, and then everything is silent except your ragged breathing, the wind through trees high above and the sound of the river. Having working gravity again feels*good*. The water in your ears doesn’t.

On the rocky shore…

• Magpie sits, shuddering. She squints, and shakes her herself, throwing the water off. Well, some of it, anyway.

<oni-sama> "You're alright, thank goodness." Says a boys voice.

<Magpie> She rubs her ears, and clambers unsteadily to her feet. "What..." she gets out, turning around. A cliche she would later regret, probably.

<oni-sama> The owner sits nearby, peering at you. It is no boy. It looks like a ferret or a mongoose with a long tail and white fur. Strangely it is only about four feet tall, it looked*a lot* bigger in the water. It looks at you, its whiskers twitching.

<oni-sama> "I was afraid I was too late, I'm glad that I was not."

<Magpie> "No..." She agrees, trying to assimilate this new feature of her life. "What...?" she sits down again.

<oni-sama> It sits on its hind legs with its forepaws out in front of it. Any smart kid knows that mice and rats don’t sit up like this, but it sits the way they sit in kids books. It shakes like you, spraying droplets of water around, and scratched behind a rounded ear.

<oni-sama> "What's the matter?" it asks.

<Magpie> "What are you?" Magpie finally blurts out.

<Magpie> It was rude, sure, but it was also the burning question of the moment.

<oni-sama> You actually know what this creature is, its what is commonly known as a Glacial Mongoose, a type of small predator that lives*quite* far north. It is a creature associated with the elemental pole of air, and is something of a 'symbol' of the air aspect, beyond Mela of course. You remember them from old immaculate picture books that talked about the sacred poles and whatnot.

<oni-sama> Though you do remember they didn't look*this* big, and you're pretty sure they didn't TALK either. Not an animal as such but a simple elemental being.

• Magpie follows up her first, stunned stupid question with one slightly- but only slightly- more intelligent. "Why are you -here-? On the Blessed Isle." Magpie shakes her head, wondering if she had hit her head on something.... "I mean, you're from the North, right? From north of North, practically."

<oni-sama> "Aha!" it closes its eyes and scratches the back of its head, mimicking the common human display of sheepishness. "I'm looking for something I lost."
<Magpie> "Oh." Magpie looks interested. "What did you lose?"
<Magpie> What did glacial mongoose elementals have -to- lose?
<oni-sama> "Hard to explain, really...er...oh? What's this....?" it picks up a small object near you quickly. You catch a glimpse - its the crystal you 'acquired' without telling the others after you killed Windswept Boughs. It glows a little in his rodent paw.
<Magpie> "It's my rock," Magpie explains, trying to take it back from him.
<oni-sama> "Uh!" He skitters back a step surprised, but doesn't stop you from retrieving it.
* Magpie puts it back in her admittedly water-logged pocket. "I have a spoon too," Magpie volunteers, in case he's interested. She takes it out to show him.
<oni-sama> "You..." He looks at you. "Uh, you probably shouldn't play with stuff like that." He makes a very pronounced attempt to stay*away* from the spoon.
* Magpie look surprised. She puts the spoon back in her pocket. "Why?"
<Magpie> "It -glows in the dark!-" This would make up for any number of faults, including having been left behind by a child-eating Fae.
<oni-sama> "Well ah, both those things can be dangerous. For you. And for everyone."
<Magpie> "A spoon?! But it's a spoon! It only hurts fairies. Fae," she continues hurriedly, remembering that fairy is a baby's name for the Fair Folk. It hits her, "Are you a Fair Folk?" she asks curiously, peering back at him.
<oni-sama> "Hmmmmm." It peers back at you, seeming considerably more somber. "Well. I certainly did not expect one such as you to walk around with cold iron. I wondered why you felt so strange on my back."
<Magpie> "It's a spoon. Lots of people carry spoons. I have scalpels, too." She begins to dig around her clothing. She can't find any. A horrified thought strikes her...
<oni-sama> They're in a zombie somewhere. What a heart-rending thought.
<oni-sama> It puts its paws up defensively. "Its alright, I believe you!"
<oni-sama> "But..." it sniffs you. "How odd."
<Magpie> "I lost my scalpels," she tells the mongoose tragically. "Yengo gave them to me." The situation begins to sink in a little. "And I can't get any more from him....orr another knife from or Vana...or..." Magpie sinks back down again.
<Magpie> "What's odd?" she asks, looking back up at him broken-heartedly.
<oni-sama> "You're... human!"
* Magpie looks surprised. "Well...yes..." she says, giving him the cautious look one gives suspected mental defectives.
<oni-sama> "Forgive me. I didn't mean to stare, I just didn't expect that. At all. What a strange development.
<oni-sama>*caaw!* You hear a familiar cry from the sky above as crow angles in for a landing...
<oni-sama> ...on the mongoose's outstretched hand.
<Magpie> "Crow!" Magpie calls, delighted.
<Magpie> Her mouth drop opens.
<Magpie> "...Crow?"
<oni-sama> "Impressive. Is it real?"
<oni-sama> Crow hops off his hand and bounds across the rock and flaps up to your shoulder
<Magpie> "It's -mine-." Ordinarily, Magpie considered it rude to speak as if she owned her friends. At the moment, however, she was experiencing a wave of pure possessiveness over the last person she had left.
<Magpie> "He's mine," Magpie corrects herself.
<Magpie> "And he's a crow. Of course he's real. Birds aren't made out of clockwork."
<oni-sama> "Exceptional, exceptional." It says in obvious awe.
<oni-sama> "And..." he looks up, his ears twitching. "Oh dear, they know I am gone. I do not have much time left."
* Magpie gives him a funny look.
<Magpie> "They? What was it you were looking for?" Basic courtesy eventually intrudes of Magpie's consciousness. "Can I help?"
<oni-sama> "Erm!" it stammers, suddenly afraid. "I'll try to be brief... could I have the stone for a moment?"
* Magpie processes this for a second. "If you promise to give it back," she tells him, holding it out to him.
<oni-sama> It takes it in its paw, and places its other paw over it for only a few seconds, then takes it off, and the rock is gone. In its place is a very small dagger, a strange black with metallic green, blue and purple highlights, much like the shiny back of a beetle. It glistens beautifully in the moonlight.
* Magpie 's jaw drops. "How did you do that?" she asks enviously.
<oni-sama> "Imagination. You can do this too, it is merely an act of love and will." it says beaming. "Will it into your hand. Go on..."
* Magpie is a little skeptical. Feeling a little silly, she holds out her hand, closes her eyes, and tries to -will- it into her hand.
<oni-sama> There is no lightshow, no fancy display, you barely even realize it. It is in your hand as you were holding it the whole time.
<Magpie> "Wow!" Magpie stares at the dagger, feeling it in her hand. "That is very strange. I didn't realize you could get things by just willing at them."
<Magpie> She wondered if she could will it into spoon-form. That would be fun. Dueling a fae with a spoon in either hand...
<oni-sama> You try, but are quite unable to alter its state. You're not sure if it is a trick of the light, but you're*sure* you saw its surface ripple like a drop in a pond.
<oni-sama> "Well..." it chuckles. "You cant mostly. You'll have to do things the old fashioned way most of the time. In this case it wasn’t so much moving another object as it was like moving a limb." It looks around.
<Magpie> "Huh. So what is the rock? I mean, the dagger? It was just in Whispering Bough's pool, and I thought it looked pretty. Plus I was mad, and I wanted to take it from her."
<oni-sama> The mongoose looks up again. "Time grows short, I can't be found with you. Listen to me... whatever you do, do not leave this pole, and especially do not go north."
<oni-sama> it moves over to the edge of the water and traces a circle in the air, too small for a human, but perfect for a four foot rodent and an eleven year old girl. The area inside shimmers and focuses into a vision of woodlands. "Come, quickly!"
* Magpie dawdles. "But...what if...maybe they're looking and they won't find me..."
<Magpie> Not that she really -believed- they were looking. But...she could hope, right?
<oni-sama> He ignores your statement. "Hurry! There is a group of them through here that have not become shells, you should be safe with them for the time being - but don’t dally too long with them!"
<Magpie> "What?" Magpie looks uncomprehending.
<oni-sama> "Quickly, go!"
<oni-sama> He waves a little frantically to go through.
<Magpie> "But...."
<oni-sama> "You don't have much time."
<Magpie> "I'm not going to leave my -friends-." Magpie says stubbornly. "And they're not through that portal. I think." She looks doubtfully at the portal, and begins backing away slowly.
<oni-sama> "Your friends will find you, but if you linger here the*others* will first, and then all will be lost." he pleads. "You have to trust me... please."
<Magpie> Welll....it wasn't like she knew where they were....she looks into the furry glacial mongoose's eye, and decides that if you couldn't trust a Fair Folk who looked slightly like a plush toy, who could you trust? She jumps into the portal, holding her breath on they way down.
<oni-sama> Just as you're about to jump through he pats you on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll see you again, Magpie."
<Magpie> "How do you know my name?"
<oni-sama> "The wind hears many things, and your name is but one of the words plucked from yours and the lips of others that care about you." he smiles... well, such as a mongoose can anyway...
<Magpie> "The wind is -spying-?!"
<oni-sama> He places a paw on your back and gently ushers you through the portal.
<Magpie> Confused, Magpie allows herself to be led by the giant glacial mongoose from the North.

Through the portal, into the woods…
<oni-sama> You find yourself... in the woods. Its pretty dark, but you can hear hushed voices a little further up the track. The trees are relatively sparse, the woods here are light.
<oni-sama> Behind you, the portal and the talking mongoose are gone.
* Magpie runs towards the voices. "Helllooo!" she calls. "Anyone here?"
<oni-sama> You literally explode into a clearing and a band of slightly startled, but armed and ready immaculate monks. All of them stare at you with little expression, the firelight lighting their faces spookily. There is silence for a moment.
<oni-sama> "Who are you! Speak quickly girl!" A very sharp female voice breaks the silence like a whipcrack.
<Magpie> "Uh...."
<Magpie> Immaculates.
<Magpie> Immaculates!
<Magpie> ....
<Magpie> Traitorous Mongoose!
<Magpie> "...Magpie." Magpie says quietly. She begins to back away into the forest. "Maybe I should go...sorry, didn't mean to disturb you..."
<Magpie> She looks at their faces.
<oni-sama> The voice belongs to a female, an exalt fire aspect. Like the others she is dressed in simple robes, and she has short hair, like the 'growth-from-bald' that would happen in a month.
<oni-sama> In fact, you notice that most of the monks are haggard and sporting various levels of hair growth, which is unusual.
<oni-sama> "Seize her!" She shouts and the monks close in.
* Magpie turns, and runs.
<oni-sama> They hold you steady, and your attempts to escape are not successful.
* Magpie struggles and kicks wildly. They would put her on a boat and try to starve her to death. Just like last time. "Let me go! Let me go!"
<oni-sama> "She doesn't sound like one of them." One monk says.
* Magpie shrieks, "I'm not! I'm not! Let me go! You're going to make me a zombie! Let me go!"
<oni-sama> "Hold her steady!" The female monk orders. Looking you over.
<oni-sama> "Quiet!" She snaps. "How did you get past our watch?"
<Magpie> "I just -ran- and I thought you might be my friends, but that was sure wrong, and let me go and let me go!"
<oni-sama> "Look at me." She says calmly.
* Magpie looks at her.
<oni-sama> The monk looks at you long and hard, then visibly relaxes. "Let her go."
<oni-sama> The monks release you.
* Magpie attempts to flee.
<oni-sama> "Hey!" she calls after you. The other monks start after, but she calls them to halt, allowing you to delve deeply into the woods...

Along the cliffs..
<oni-sama> With Magpie all but lost in the river, the group has little choice but to head south along the cliffs in the hopes that Magpie has managed to grab onto something, or has been washed up (preferably alive) on a stretch of shore.
<oni-sama> The mood is somber this evening, after Yengo nearly losing a leg to a hungry corpse, Magpie's fall, and the separation of the group, things are pretty grim. And it looks as if it is going to rain too.
<oni-sama> "This..." The Magistrate says as he wipes some of the mess off his goremaul. "...has been a very unfortunate day."
* Yengo walks along behind him, limping slightly. The wound seems to be clean, at least. "...yes. But with the others searching the other bank, maybe..."
<oni-sama> The Magistrate looks back. "We are short one fire aspect..." he sighs.
<oni-sama> Only Anona is behind you. Vana is nowhere in sight.
<Anona> "Not AGAIN. I swear, those two... even if it's understandable this time..."
<Yengo> "I thought she might go... I'm glad someone did, and she can probably cover the ground faster than the rest of us."
<Anona> "There is that. From what you've said, though, Magpie has been in scrapes just as bad. Quite a resilient child, isn't she?"
<Yengo> "Yes... I just hope she's tough enough."
<oni-sama> A shame there isn’t a drop of the immaculate dragon's blood in her veins, she'd make a very resourceful if annoying exalt.
<Anona> "Nothing to do but keep an eye open and pray for the best."
<oni-sama> "Indeed." Diamandus says.
<Yengo> "And hope we don't get into any more scrapes along the way." He flexes his leg slightly.
<oni-sama> "Yes, things have definitely taken a turn for the worst on the Blessed Isle. In the nearly three hundred years I've patrolled this land, I have never seen such wanton chaos such as this."
<oni-sama> You walk along the cliffside, picking your way across the rocky path, checking as best you can in the light. Meanwhile deeper in the woods...
<Anona> "I know I've never heard of this kind of thing. This sort of stuff is supposed to be all over the Threshold, not HERE..."
* Yengo nods. He joined the magistrate to do some good, to make a difference... but the entire Isle seems to be falling to pieces.

In the forest
<oni-sama> Tree, bush, tree, tree. You find that you are growing tired. And hungry. Really tired. You think you're a good distance from the monks by now, and you haven't seen any sign of pursuit.
<oni-sama> There is the rolling noise of thunder high up, and you can smell the water in the air.
* Magpie collapses under a tree. Her legs felt like lead. And there were monks. And there was no sign of Vana or anyone. Crow lands on a tree overhead and cocks his head at her.
<Magpie> "You can't trust someone who makes a living eating catching long squiggly animals," she says to him.
<oni-sama> You sit under the tree a while, and some bark drops on you.
* Magpie looks up.
<oni-sama> "Sssssssssssssssssss..." There is a black shape in the tree above you, all you can really make out is the slightest glow of eyes.
<oni-sama> Crow caws like mad and flaps into the air as it hisses, and begins to descend through the branches, snapping twigs and disturbing leaves.
* Magpie leaps to her feet. She takes out the little dagger, and holds it aloft, hoping it would still glow....
<oni-sama> The dagger does not glow, it remains dark and reflects a little moonlight, - not enough for illumination however.
* Magpie holds it in front of her defensively. "What...what are you?" she asks the shape. She holds her ground. She had done enough running for the day. Though glowing eyes seemed to bode no good...
<oni-sama> As it closes you can tell that it's gangly, and clothed in tattered rags. It has no hair. The exposed skin is rough, and you're quite sure it has only one leg - but seems to get along fine with only one.
<Magpie> In spite of what she'd said about running, Magpie begins to back away. "You're a zombie, aren't you," she says accusingly.
<Magpie> At least it wasn't flying. Yet.
<oni-sama> It emits a slight gurgle, which suddenly turns into an ear splitting shriek that echoes through the woodlands, it crouches to leap...
<oni-sama>*boing*
<oni-sama> You've grown accustomed now - as accustomed as you can to dead people leaping and flying around anyway.
* Magpie dodges to the right, trips over a root, lands on her feet and takes off, running on her legs-o-lead as best she is able- which means crashing through a lot of underbrush.
<oni-sama> With a whooshing noise the thing keeps pace with you, leaping around, landing on tree trunks, then vaulting off. It seems to not be attacking, but more... enjoying toying with you, the way a cat does with a mouse it has disabled.
<Magpie> "You...horrible dead monster thing! This is ALL YOUR FAULT!" With a scream of rage, Magpie halts suddenly, and sees it leap ahead into her field of view. She stretches her arm back, Bough's dagger held between two fingers, and flings it forward, sending it whistling through the air to cut at the creature's throat.
<oni-sama> The dagger hits it in the center of the chest, but it doesn’t slow, now it seems intent on seizing its catch, the game and the thrilling chase is now over. It is time to feed.
* Magpie scrambles around at the forest, hands searching for a really good rock....
<Magpie> She finds, with a nice good point to it, so she picks it up, and glares at thing grasping for her, her rock held at the ready. Maybe she would be zombiemeat, but she would be zombiemeat with dignity.
<oni-sama> The rock misses wide in your haste.
<oni-sama> You find another rock, or rather, your toe does, and you go sprawling into a puddle of mud, water, leaves and sticks in a loud splash. Your momentum sends you rolling across the ground, wet and cold, and with a zombie chasing you.
<oni-sama> It stops.
<oni-sama> It just stops there, balancing on one leg.
* Magpie looks up at it, incredulous.
<oni-sama> It looks around, and it even looks right at you, but doesn’t act.
<Magpie> "Well ?!" Magpie climbs to her feet. "Stupid immaculate zombie!" she spits at it.
<oni-sama> It hisses a little, breathing out puffs of smoke, then looks sharply in your direction with your shout.
* Magpie thinks maybe it would be good to be a thing to be a little quiet now....
<Magpie> She edges silently to the left, maneuvering effortlessly around the undergrowth without sound almost instinctively....
<oni-sama> You don’t get the chance, the beast leaps suddenly and impacts with a reddish blur, the sound of blade cutting air is audiable, and the disturbed air from the attack blows your hair around.
<oni-sama> The beast lands on its one foot on one side of the clearing, and a red armoured dragonblood on the other...
<Magpie> "Vana?!" Magpie calls hopefully.
<Magpie> She looks at the Dragonblood's face hopefully. Is it her?
* Vana looks really, really angry, already glowing like a torch. "You leave her alone."
<Magpie> "-Vana!!"
<oni-sama> The creature rears its head up and emits a terrible call, one that echoes across the lands.
* Vana starts sprinting across the clearing, sword held high, leaving a trail of scorched leaves behind her. She leaps high into the air as she approaches, bringing down her white-hot blade right on the beast's head.
<oni-sama> The beast meets you head on, its claws lashing out at you as you land.
<oni-sama> Its claws rake across the breastplate, leaving ugly marks.
* Vana hops back lightly, interposing herself between the thing and the girl. "Magpie, get out of here. Right now."
<Magpie> "But...."
<Vana> "Now!"
* Magpie drops the rock she's holding, and sprints away, back in the direction she came from.
* Vana , despite her blazing anima, manages to glare coldly at the beast. "Just us, now."
<oni-sama> The creature doesn't look entirely disappointed.

Deeper into the woods
<onine> Meanwhile, Magpie you are tearing through the woods, and you see more dark shapes moving in the direction that Vana and the creature are in, these remain on the ground, moving at a steady but brisk run.
<onine> One of them nearly runs smack back into you. "Hey!?"
<Magpie> "What?"
<onine> It's one of the monks from before, in fact, the whole team are moving with purpose.
<onine> "You again!" He exclaims. "Are you alright?"
<Magpie> "Well...there was a thing." She looks at them suspiciously. "But you probably knew about that. Because you’re monks, right?"
<Magpie> She imbues the word with a certain sinister quality.
<onine> He frowns. "We can’t just leave you however... "Orihime!"
<onine> Another of the monks moves over, the female dragonblood from before. "What is it?! Oh... the child.."
<onine> "What should we do with her? We can't just leave her here."
<Magpie> "Vana will take care of me, I'm fine!" Magpie says a little desperately.
<onine> "Vana?"
<Magpie> "And she'll kill the thing too, so -everything- will be fine and you can go back to your monastery or temple."
<Magpie> "Vana is a Dragonblooded with a supersword and she can kill things like nothing so you better watch out." Magpie demonstrates with chopping motions.
<onine> The dragonblood frowns at you. "What a very rude little child you are. Pazu, take her with us, we have little time to lose, I wont let that beast escape us again!" She sets off almost immediately.
<onine> The other monk, Pazu looks at you with decidedly more compassion. "Can you run? I can carry you if you are tired."
* Magpie considers him speculatively. "Okay," she says graciously. "But I am -not- rude."
<onine> He crouches down and lets you climb up on his back, and then you are both off. He is very fast, and he carries you effortlessly. "Please be silent child if things go awry. Do not fear, I will protect you."
<Magpie> She snorts, but does not otherwise reply to his condescension.

Vana vs. Zombiething!
<onine> The formation of monks heads back towards where Vana was last seen, when you are close they fan out at the Dragonblood Orihime's silent command.
<onine> Vana in the mean time has been battling this beast, both are ragged and wounded - this beast is far stronger than any of the others that she has faced so far. Even with her superior exalted senses, the silent footfalls of the monks are not heard over the din of jade ringing and the beast’s horrid calls.
* Vana shakes her head and tries to clear the blood from her eyes, blade held warily in her other hand.
<onine> There is a flash of lightning and the roll of thunder and the monks swarm into the clearing. "Chains!" the woman roars, and four monks hurl jade shackles, catching the beast and wrapping around it. It takes to the air dragging the monks with it, they skid across the undergrowth trying to keep it from escaping.
<Magpie> "I knew it was your monster!" Magpie crows from Pazu's back.
<onine> Rain begins the fall, but you feel it, the sound is drowned out by the beasts shrieks.
<onine> "Your pardon?" Pazu asks setting you down and drawing a pair of short blades.
<onine> "Don’t let it escape us again!" the Dragonblood orders as arrows are fired at it. The chain monks are fighting a losing battle, the creature is far to strong for them to hold. The Dragonblood steps up beside Vana, assuming a martial stance. "You've grown thick and fat with innocent souls haven't you creature, well no longer!"
* Vana backs away a little in confusion, but raises her blade once more when the thing seems to be winning.
<Magpie> "He has my knife too," Magpie tells Vana.
<onine> Things take a turn for the worst, it swoops down, latching onto one of the chain holding monks, dragging him deeper into the woods, crashing through the immaculate lines, draggin the other three monks behind.
<onine> The remaining monks give chase, but the beast takes to the air, free of the monks, but still draped in chains.
<Magpie> "My knife!" yells Magpie.
<Vana> "Knife?" She blinks confusedly at the whole scene.
<Magpie> She scales a tree effortlessly, plants her feet firmly on a branch, and launches herself into the air after it.
<onine> "No!" The dragonblood immaculate roars as she watches the beast soar off into the night, and the rain begins to pelt down. She sags visibly. "Got away... again..."
<Magpie> Suddenly, Magpie remembers a certain trick....she closes her eyes. And*wills.* Opens them again...
<onine> The knife was in a monster? Wasn't it in your hand the whole time? Sure feels like it.
<onine> The monks begin to pick themselves up, and begin the task of building a pyre for the monk so recently killed.
* Magpie sighs in relief, feeling a little ashamed of herself. Someone had died, and she was more worried about her stupid souvenir. She puts the knife back in her pocket.
<onine> "Dammit..." she curses. "Well... I suppose we can start by asking who the two of you are and what you're doing this far north?"
<Magpie> "North?" Magpie is alarmed.
* Magpie looks at Vana. "Well, we were part of a caravan...bandits attacked and ran away, and uh..." Magpie's creativity leaves. "And we got separated..."
<onine> She's about Vana's height, athletic and wiry bodied. She has short crimson hair that looks like it has only recently regrown, as to a lot of the other monks. She bears a slight flushed tone to her skin and her eyes are golden. You can feel a palpable heat from her - not too hot, but hotter than most.
<onine> "Yes north. Don’t you know these lands are crawling with all manner of beasts now?"
* Vana is just kinda staring dazedly after where the beast left, but manages to get something of a grip on herself and focus on the current conversation.
* Magpie flounders. "All kinds, huh? Well, what's the nearest city? Maybe we can get back to our caravan there...we got a little lost..."
<Magpie> She nervously babbles.
<onine> "Far south, the town of Glie, one of the few major complexes left. Most of the smaller villages have been... " She shudders.
<onine> The monk focuses on Vana, "I've never seen your style before. Where do you hail from stranger?"
* Vana wipes a little more blood away from her face. "Lookshy."
* Magpie tries to remember if she's ever heard of Glie...
<onine> She raises a brow. "Warrior city... interesting."
<Vana> "Mmm. I got hired to look after the caravan... which we really need to get back to."
<Magpie> "Yes. Nice meeting you." Magpie puts her hand on Vana's sleeve and tugs.
<onine> "Travelling alone in this region is not wise at all. That was only a single creature. There are hundreds roaming this land. Admittedly, that one is something of an 'older' specimen."
<Magpie> "They grow up? You mean, there are baby creatures?" Magpie is grotesquely fascinated.
<Magpie> Remembering her disdain for Immaculate, she adds, "But there are -two- of us."
<onine> “And there are many of us, but our numbers haven’t helped. Half our number are dead...or worse."
<Vana> "What -are- these things?"
<onine> "I wish I could say. We really have no idea, this is unlike any threat we have encountered. As far as I know anyway..."
<onine> “Do you two have names?"
<Magpie> "No."
<onine> She frowns at you.
<Magpie> Suddenly realizing that was rather transparent, as lies go, she revises her answer. "Yes."
<onine> She looks at Vana. "You nameless as well?"
<Vana> "Vana. This is Magpie." She gives the girl a stern look.
<onine> She nods. "I'm Sesus Orihime, the acting-leader of this group. This is Pazu, acting second." she gestures to the young monk who has sidled up very quietly.
<Vana> "Nice to meet you." She wipes off her sword, now that things have calmed down, and sheathes it.
<onine> Most of the monks look haggard, tired and unkempt. Many of them sport beards and hair-growth on the head. They have been out here for a*while*
<Magpie> "Have you seen a couple tall guys? Very tall? And maybe someone with a temper? Or a crazy guy and and an archer and Tara?"
<onine> "We have seen no one barring you alive in this area in the last few months."
<onine> "Orihime!" One of the other monks calls through the driving rain. "We cannot light the pyre in this downpour!"
<onine> The dragonblood sighs sadly. "Then you know what to do..."
<onine> The monk nods solemnly. He and another pair begin to chop the fallen monk's body up into pieces.
* Magpie looks up at Vana. "I don't think this is very good..."
<Vana> "Neither do I."
<onine> Pazu and Orihime look on sadly, the pair of you are forgotten for the moment.
<Magpie> "But...if there are so many dead things here....why haven't whole legions come down and squashed them?"
<Magpie> "Isn't that what legions are -for-? Besides quashing rebellious peasantry, I mean."
<onine> "Hah!" Orihime snorts. "What Legions? They're all house troops now. Private armies of greedy families. If this were an important province, then maybe they would take interest. But this area's harvest is meager at best even on a good year."
<onine> "No one will come to help us..."
<Magpie> "But it's the Blessed Isle!"
<onine> "Maybe it was five years ago."
<Magpie> "What if it spreads?"
<onine> "It wont."
<Magpie> "How can you be sure? Unless you were behind it," she mutters darkly.
<onine> She misses your snide comment tacked to the end of your sentence. "Because WE will stop it once and for all." She storms off and gives out orders to set up a second camp.
<onine> "You will have to forgive Orihime's abruptness on this matter." Pazu says apologetically. "She has become quite passionate about this situation."
<Vana> "It's fine. I can imagine how stressful this must all be."
<Magpie> "How long has there been zombiethings on the Blessed Isle?"
<onine> "Not just that. The abbot has not allowed us to involve the rest of the order, fearing that it will bring shame upon the Len-Kei Su temple."
<Magpie> "Ah -hah!"
<Magpie> "So HE is behind it."
* Magpie looks satisfied to have cleared up this mystery.
<onine> "These... anathema of sorts have been springing up for the last year I would say... first in small numbers, but now it is spiraling out of control."
<onine> "Child!" He says in shock. "Please show a little respect!
<Magpie> "Sorry," Magpie says unrepentantly. "But it makes sense, doesn't it?" Magpie looks at Vana for confirmation.
<onine> "No it most certainly does not. We are the immaculate order, not a group of world destroying savages! The order and the Dragonblooded set this world right from the ravages of the Anathema! What sense would destroying the Blessed Isle, our HOME make?"
<Magpie> "I didn't say it was you," Magpie says consoling him. "Maybe it's just the abbot."
* Vana shrugs lightly at the girl.
<Magpie> "But does it really make sense to let people die just because you're too embarrassed to tell anyone and ask for help?"
<onine> "The abbot is a highly respected servant of the Immaculate Dragons, and I will listen to no more of this slander!"
<Magpie> "Fine." Magpie takes a few steps behind Vana, and continues to whisper - probably quite scandalous things- inaudibly to Crow.
* Vana sighs a little. "Sorry. Is there anything we can do?"
<onine> He sighs. "No, thank you. For the moment we shall rest, I would imagine you are both tired and hungry?"
<Magpie> "Yes!" Magpie pokes her head out from behind her Dragonblooded shield.
<Vana> "Very much so."
<onine> "Marvelous. The immaculate dragon Hesiesh is patient and generous, and so are his children." He beams at you then remembers that Lookshy doesn't have much of an 'immaculate faith'. "Come."
* Vana looks at Magpie meaningfully, then follows after the monk.
<onine> You find that the Immaculate’s idea of a camp is to sit cross-legged in the rain, and eat chopped vegetables and rice.
<Magpie> It wasn't Tara's stew, but it wasn't three weeks of onions either, so Magpie chews and swallows contentedly, the food thankfully keeping her mouth shut.
* Vana sits nearby, eating slowly. Jaw hurts.
<onine> Orihime joins you. "So. Vana, was it? Tell me of Lookshy. I've heard about it, but little more than fanciful tales from defeated soldiers."
* Vana shrugs slightly. "A city, like any other. Cleaner than most, stricter than most. What can I say? It's my home."
<Magpie> "Superweapons!" Magpie manages to volunteer around her rice. Maybe Vana didn't like to boast.
<Vana> "Superweapons, yes. But not as many as you'd think."
<onine> "Mmm... we had those. Then She disappeared."
<Vana> "She?"
<Magpie> Even Magpie looks at Vana like she's stupid. "The -Empress."
<Vana> "Oh."
<onine> She looks at you as if you are a wooden post. "The Scarlet Empress."
* Magpie looks at Orihime, and then at Vana, and chews her rice.
<onine> "It's all gone to Malfeas now..."
<Magpie> "The Empress?!"
* Magpie looks excited. "She went to -Malfeas?!"
<Magpie> "I always knew the Immaculate Order had to know something the rest of us don't!"
<onine> "Malfeas?! I seriously DOUBT that! What would she be doing there?" Orihime snorts.
<Magpie> "But you said-"
<onine> She sighs exasperated
* Vana nudges her. "I think it was said metaphorically."
<Magpie> Now it's Magpie's turn to say "Oh."