Riding The End (L3 | Archived | Fantasy/Sci-Fi)

[SiberDrac]

All Nine really heard was "Nine, catch me on fire!" This task, he pursued with reckless abandon. Oh but damn it this was the one with breasts. "Morea! Um!" he shouted immediately after sending electricity lancing down the length of his liquid conductor towards her mount. Well. Hopefully the tree would not explode. Much.  

[Isa-sama]

((As promised, here we go again! And once I get someone to do it, everyone will be bumped up to Level 8. Enjoy! AND because I love you all, you all get an extra point ON TOP of the one you earned from being a level 8 chara! mrgreen ))

The first time Nine used his water/electric attack, it did less damage than hoped. It cracked the bark of the legs but never set it on fire. What a pity for Nine. It took one step before the legs cracked and it suddenly became a midget Trent. This didn't stop the crazed creature; it hobbled over to the rest of the group ready to get revenge.

Morea's work was slow but it was surely working. The one Trent she'd worked on was swiping around less. Her idea had merit; however, she'd forgotten to take into account Nine. Nine's electrical attack worked to set the stiff Trent's legs on fire. The huge creature fell forward. Morea was lucky that it hadn't fallen backward and squished her. It continued screaming while it's legs were on fire. It slammed its hands on the ground - within seconds vines popped out of the ground and wrapped around Nine. The vines held him in place while others started squeezing him to death.

The third Trent realized it was under attack and started spinning around. It seemed it had no idea who it wanted to fight. Looking to the side, she found what she needed: an young stiff tree. It took a few minutes, but she was able to pull it from the ground and held it as a bat.

The Trent chose Ashling as its enemy and ran straight towards her. In response, she swung the tree-bat and knocked the crazed Trent to the ground. The Crazed Trent got up and ran towards her again. She kept it away by swinging the bat. While a good idea, there was a slight problem; if the Trent closed his/her mouth, the person inside was either starved to death or (if he/she were close to the mouth) chomped to death.

---------

Osiris, Donnie, and Trajan walked back the human camp with very little said. Traveling was easy since they'd not run into any trouble.

Once the humans saw their base, they smiled - it was good to be home. They were greeted happily by the others, but the minute the others saw Osiris, they tensed. "Prison camp is in the other direction. You remember that don't you?" There was someone they'd had to prevent from straight out shooting Osiris, but other than that one idiot, the walk through the camp was not as terrible as expected.

"Oh hi! Back so soon? Wow, I didn't think you'd kill Saturnine that fast..." Private Jack Archer had popped out of a nearby tent once he heard that DuPont and Trajan returned. "Oh my God! Who is he?!" He paled and pointed at Osiris. "You weren't supposed to bring back anyone. But you know where Prison Camp is, why not take him there?"

He pushed up his glasses and stared at the three men. "Oh sorry, I should probably let you talk. Actually, why don't we go inside and then you can debrief me on your mission? And please explain why HE is here."  

[Venom3001]

"This is absurd, and you are absurd for suggesting it!" Theridan informed Ashling. "Phallo, give me a boost next time it screams."

The Trent roared and Theridan leapt off of Phallo's throw, landing gently in its mouth. He raised one leg against the roof of the mouth while the other remained on the floor of it, doing the splits vertically as a way of stalling for a few more seconds of light to look around-

Clomp.

Well, it was dark now. That hadn't helped for long. He pulled some flint from his pack and began striking it against his sword as he investigated.

"Ooh, this looks important," he commented as the sparks' dim illumination provided just enough light for his Trow vision to catch sight of what looked like roots feeding between parts of the tree deep down the "throat" of the Trent. He drew his sword back and thrust it in. The Trent's legs buckled. A second thrust caused it to fall over. "At least they don't have saliva," Theridan commented as he forced his way out of its mouth. He looked back at the eyes, and-

The eyes turned to meet him. The poor b*****d wasn't even dead. What Theridan had done must have been the equivalent of severing the spinal cord.

"... Is there any way to put down a Trent gently, or at least quickly, before the dumbass realizes what's going on here?" Theridan asked Ashling gently.  

[Jokerman-EXE]

"My name is Osiris Drake," the Druid said, bowing to Archer. "I'm a Commander in the Druid armies. As you can see, I'm pretty beat up." With a wry smile, he gestured at himself with his makeshift crutches. "Perhaps we can take our debriefing somewhere I can sit?"

He spoke impeccably, and very politely. He was still observing everything around him, hesitant to take major action just yet.  

[Mr. Blackbird Lore]

Donnie DuPont nodded. "Like he said: Osiris Drake." He ushered the group into the tent where the initial briefing had taken place, before speaking further on the topic.

"A few things: first- and most importantly- some of the Elves have agreed to help us find Aeon; their leader," he gestured toward the Druid, "Has claimed knowledge of Aeon's location, and has agreed to allow us to accompany them.

"Second: Saturnine is not yet dead." He didn't bother to add, because he's helping us find Aeon. That would look pitiful on his reputation. Absolutely... repugnant!
 

[SirBayer]

"Loath though I am to suggest anything approaching treason," Trajan said, "this one isn't a prisoner. For the moment, he's a comrade, if out of nothing more than necessity." Trajan paused; not good enough. He could see it in their eyes. "If we want Aeon, we need this guy," Trajan added, hoping it would be enough.

"Let's make sure we're loaded up, ammo-wise, before we cruise out of here again," Trajan suggested to DuPont. "I suspect next time we go we'll be out just as long."  

[Jokerman-EXE]

"I apologize if my presence is causing tension for you," Osiris said, sounding honestly conciliatory. "But your men here are speaking the truth; some of our forces have confirmed Aeon's general location. We, however, need their assistance," and he gestured at DuPont and Trajan, "in order to approach him without causing a problem. We have declared a temporary truce with your men here, so have no fear on that account. Does this sound satisfactory?"  

[Isa-sama]

The Private looked like he just wanted to back out of there and call for help. "So you failed your mission. Well, can't say that I'm TOO surprised. I mean, it IS Saturnine."

It didn't seem to matter what Osiris said; Archer was not going to trust a word the elf said. "You brought back an enemy to treat as a comrade?" He shook his head. "I'm sorry. That's not how we work. You know that. But we could probably use him in trade for our captured soldiers. You'd know all about that, wouldn't you," he directed at Osiris with a glare. "And don't think of trying to escape. The second we see an animal here that's not marked - and believe me, we'll know that you're not marked - you'll be shot to death." It wasn't likely that Osiris could transform very well; not with his sustained injuries.

"And you say you know where Aeon is. I don't know if I believe you. That's something the higher ups will have to talk about. Finding Aeon...riiiiight." He wanted to snort as Trajan mentioned getting more ammunition and leaving again. "Ha! Who say's you're going back out so fast? You're going to have to explain why you failed your mission and why you should be let out again."

"For the two of you to deviate so much from your original mission is odd." He didn't believe that the story about Aeon, and he wouldn't without any proof. "By the way, what's that in your hands? You've not let go of it this entire time." He pointed to the file held in DuPont's hands.

When Archer received the file, he skimmed the contents. "Oh. Oh dear. Uhh, this...this is..." He looked up at the three men. "What the hell did you do out there?" He tightened his grip on the file. "General Asmodius HAS to see this." He got up and opened the door to the room. A soldier was standing right outside the door, so he barked out an order to get Asmodius and that it was important that he get there.

He returned and sat down nervously. "Well. The General should be here soon. But my Lord, how did you end up meeting Azrial? How did you get that file?" He was quiet for a few minutes. "That file is amazing. Though it doesn't say anything about Aeon, it give credibility to your insane story. Maybe you really DO know where Aeon is. How can you be sure it's true?"  

[SirBayer]

Trajan stood up in front of the private. "Friend, I want to explain something." As the Private had spoken, his temper had bubbled upward. This was a problem, but the Private was well outranked. Trajan was a Staff Sergeant. And so this was going to be the perfect outlet.

"Private, I want to explain something to you. When I come back from a mission, specifically given instructions by Asmodius, I do not come back to report failure unless I have a damned good reason. So you walk in here, you accuse me of treason, and then you have the guts to come back here and face me while pointing out that, hey, maybe he's not lying?" Trajan never raised his voice. Instead he drew closer to the private. "So listen good, buddy. Next time, think before you open your mouth. You're in the army. You're in my army. And you'd better learn what that means." Trajan's face was now less than an inch from Private Archer's. As he finished his hissed reprimand, he backed off, feeling a little more relaxed. That was, unfortunately, what it meant to be in the army. Normally Trajan tried to stay out of disciplining other people's soldiers, but today, well. After that, the son of a b***h deserved it.

"DuPont, you explain where we got the file. I don't have anything more to say."

Skill Purchase: Stealth [1 SP]  

[SiberDrac]

The crazed elf cackled as he saw his victims burning and continued powering electricity into them until he found himself immobilized by the vines that had sprung up around him. "Weird," he mumbled, then stomped, causing a pair of rock spikes to spear through the psuedo-limbs holding him and setting one arm free. The instant the puncture wounds were apparent, he jammed his hand against one and began draining the water from it. Within moments, he had collected several gallons of water in a sphere, shriveling the tree from the inside out as he sucked it dry.

He overheard Theridan. "Quickly?" The water in his hands all flew into Theridan's opponent's open mouth and clenched his fists to freeze it, which caused it to expand to a volume far too great for a normal treant's oral cavity. "Boom!"  

[Venom3001]

"Saturnine has the best hearing of anyone on the continent, I swear," Theridan commented dryly. Perhaps his recent LEVEL UP IN SILENCE would help with that in the future.  

[Isa-sama]

Archer first looked like a frightened rabbit but when Trajan finished his (not really) yelling, he had a blank look on his face. Beneath the table that was conveniently placed in the room his hands were curled into tight fists. "Sir, I apologize for my outburst. However, I never said anything to you about treason." The elf might have tricked these two men; he never thought that they could be traitors. "With all due respect, sir, this is not your army. This is General Asmodius' army."

The young man in front of them was an odd sight - and if anyone were to ask about him, they'd snicker and make fun of him. He knew the rumors. He knew that they thought him a failure; and in the soldier sense, they'd be right. He was not cut out for the military - he was just a civilian! A geographer! BUT he was damned good at his job, and his job was intelligence gathering. The maps that showed where the elves lived? His maps. The patterns the elves fought? His deductions. The safest trails? His work. Where their soldiers were out in that jungle? His knowledge. The others got him the intel, but he was the one that put it all together.

Every day every hour he worked and toiled and got the information up to date and accurate. HE made sure everyone knew where was safe and where to keep away from. HE made sure that everyone knew if the elves made any advances. But no one really knew that. No one other than Major Kelso, and that was because the Major was his supervisor. No one else bothered to find out where this information came from - only if it was accurate.

And it didn't bother him. He was an extreme loner and that suited him. But sometimes - only sometimes - people would say something that just INFURIATED him. How terrible a soldier he was, how he was a wuss, how he never contributed to the fight.

No more. He was taking up those scouting missions again. The minute he was allowed to leave this room, he was going straight to Major Kelso and ask for a mission. He'd show them that he could be a good soldier.

-----

Ashling hated what she was about to do. She was going to kill her fellow Trent. She raised her bat, ready to swing....

CRACK.

And the Trent in front of her cracked open like a popcorn kernel. Ice was coming out of its face. Reason for ice appearing out of nowhere: Nine. Ashling started growling. She hated how the crazed creature died. She'd deal with Nine later.

Speaking of the psychopathic Fae, he seemed to be doing well against the Trent. The dried up husk of a tree wouldn't be doing any damage.

However, he forgot about the first Trent he injured. It had clawed its way up to Nine and smacked him with a large hand. Ashling was starting to like the human belief of karma because the way that Nine was flying across the battlefield and into a tree was very satisfying. She walked over to the half-Trent and before it could even grab her leg, she started stabbing its face with her tree bat. When she stopped, it's face was no longer visible and it was no longer moving.

It was a sad day when she had to kill a comrade.  

[SiberDrac]

I hate nature.

-whump-

Nine sat up painfully, rubbing at the back of his head. There'd be a lump, that was for sure, but apparently the threat that had caused it had been removed. Paper could have easily been made from the enemy's former facial features. "People tell me I'm a good listener!" he shouted helpfully towards Ashling and Theridan.

Getting to his feet was another question. "Nnnrrgh..." He heaved himself up from the tree and held his lower back, straightening and popping it. Staying down would have been a better idea. "Are they all dead, yet?"  

[Xitemo]

Noise. . . so much noise. Somewhere nearby there was a very loud fight raging and the commotion had woken him from the first peaceful sleep he'd had in days.

Something was going to have to be killed and eaten to settle this mood.

In a flurry of movement Fairo disentangled himself from the nest he had fashioned and set off towards the noise, leaping from branch to branch like a cat running along the forest floor. His jumps were long but his pauses were short, only giving himself enough time to find the next hold to grab. All around him smaller animals fled lest they be nabbed and munched on. Fortunately for them today the 'forest devil' had his ire focused elsewhere. It didn't take him too long to find the source of the racket, a group of tree-like beings were attacking an odd pack of other creatures, one of which appeared to be one of their kind? Fairo stopped just beyond the edge of the fight and watched curiously, trying to understand what had caused the dispute. His knowledge only pertained to animals really however, and seeing as how this was not a territory or mating issue, he was lost as to what was going on.

Then something caught his eye.

There was one among them all who had a smell. A smell not unlike his own. Upon finally locating them he realized it was a being like him! Was this one of his pack? He didn't have long to ponder though, as it ran and jumped onto one of the backs of one of the moving trees. In that moment, without really pausing to think, Fairo dashed towards what he assumed was either prey or a threat. He sidestepped quickly to avoid the strange roots that grabbed a smaller creature nearby, then closed the rest of the space by taking a large jump onto the tree and digging his fingers into it's bark. He could see the creature that smelled like him, and made an attempt to call to it, making a loud bark-like noise he used to scare off scavengers. The tree-thing kept shaking around though, and it was really making his attempts to communicate rather difficult. After a few seconds he'd had enough, and with a loud hiss he attempted to slam one of his fists into the tree's side, hoping a little pain would shut the damnned thing up long enough to find out what was going on.  

[Isa-sama]

((So I was going to do the introduction for our newest RPer this weekend, but it seems he jumped ahead of me. Please welcome Xitemo everyone! His profile should be on the first page.))

The Trent howled when the newcomer's fingers dug into its bark. The added pain did nothing to make it calm down - instead, it made it wriggle around more. It decided to roll over in an attempt to squash the thing on top of it.

Morea was able to jump off and get away from danger. The newer Dryad still had his fingers stuck in the bark and didn't leave fast enough. His arm got pinned to the ground for a few seconds before the Trent rolled the opposite way around and grabbed the man. Now the Trent was a very heavy being - at the very least the man's arm was fractured in several places. Before the man could do anything about the pain, he was thrown away (much like Nine had been moments earlier). The trent then tried rolling around on the ground to get rid of the fire.

It continued screaming as its body was slowly burned away. It couldn't do more than that. Ashling looked distinctly uncomfortable as a fellow Trent was being burned alive.