The Muck Pond

[Lumin]

Squall's eyes snap open and she scrambles to her feet. Her mouth goes dry and she feels the hairs on the back of her neck stand up as she identifies the eerie sound as a voice.

As the voice continues, she edges closer, stopping a little to the side of the door, where'd she'd hopefully be unseen if it were to suddenly open from the inside. Shooting a quick glance behind her, she makes sure that the path to the cave exit is clear.

"Who is it?" she asks, the words coming out as little more than a hoarse whisper. She grits her teeth, suddenly angry at herself for being unable to get her fear under control.

Defiantly, she lifts the bone club to her shoulder in preparation for a powerful swing.
"Who's there?" she demands in a bolder voice. "I can't hear you, you're going to have to speak up! And if you open that door, open it slowly. I will kill you if you try anything!"

If whoever, or whatever, was behind that door proved unfriendly --and it was very likely that this creature was the one responsible for the cave's gory decor--, at the very least she might be able to stun it long enough to escape. Or, if the situation looked hopeless enough she might decide to dispense with the former and go straight to the latter. It would only take a second to get out of the cave, and in the general confusion of the rain and darkness she might be able to lose anything chasing her.

Heart pounding, every muscle taught, she grips the club tightly with whitening fingers and waits for a response.

[Fleegle]

(For Nixit, Schme, and El_Skwidd)

As Felinibis bore down upon the bowmen, the one who Briker had picked out seemed to vanish into thin air. He returned to the exact same spot moments later, except now he appeared to be crying. It turned into a loud wail, which his companions, though they could not understand what was happening, were too preoccupied with the present danger to pay any attention to them.
The Judged Pink One fell to his knees and held his hand over his heart. All of a sudden a great bolt of lightning split the night. The Judged Pink One illuminated briefly then fell to the ground, his skull smoldering where the lightning had struck him.
The lightning threw the bowmen off guard, and two of them succumbed to Felinibis' attack. One was pinned to the ground, the claws of Felinibis' left paw impaling his chest. The other was grabbed by the beast's maw, and flung backwards over Felinibis head. He landed on his head, a resounding crunch indicating that his neck had been snapped. Both of his shoulders had deep gouges where Felinibis' fangs had sunk in.
The spearmen payed no attention to the events behind them, so single-minded in their task were they. Two of the spearmen were bearing down on MushBall; they would be upon him in moments. The other five went after Vex/Xev and Bassus.

(For Lumin)

"H-hello?" the high-pitched voice spoke. The voice appeared to be that of a little girl. "Please help me! I got lost in the cave and I can't get out. Please, I'm not going to hurt anyone. I just want to go home to my mommy!" The voice seemed scared, on the verge of tears.

[Schme]

(I don't really know much about spears and suchlike, but I do know some about bo-staffs. They're these kind of long wooden shafts you use for fighting, the kind you see in movies. Not quite the same, but like I say, I don't know much of spears.)

It was very startling for MushBall to be so suddenly exposed, and he found it most annoying the Felinibis was not following the evidently superior strategy he had concocted. But he was not too upset. "After all" he thought "Not every is as brilliant a tactician as myself." And besides, Felinibis had severly injured one of those revolting skeletal beings, and so he supposed it was not a total loss.

Now, MushBall knew very little of danger, and consequently, he had a bit less fear than a normal person might deem safe. He also knew very little of weapons, but he decided to start by laying out a clear objective, that being, to stick the sharp in his enemy.

And so, picking up the spear and getting a good grip, he rushed at the approaching spearman, letting out a low and loud, muffled sounding warcry as he did. As soon as the man was within range of the spear, MushBall thrust upward as the man's face. As he did this, he threw his legs forward out from under him and landed on the ground. He then swung the spear around, swinging the back end upward toward the man's groin.

As he did this, he teleported the other spearman to where he had been but moments ago; that being high above ground, where had been sitting on Felinibis's back.

(Can't remember how high that is. Seven feet?)

[Fleegle]

(For Schme, Nixit, El_Skwidd.)

The spear ripped a hole in the Pink One's cheek, causing the man to cry in pain. The blunt end smacked the man in the groin, causing him too much pain to bear. Before he went down, however, he managed to pierce MushBall's side with his spear. White fluid began to gush from MushBall's injury, and he fell to the ground, "bleeding", the spear falling out as he did so.
The first spearman was on his knees, holding his hand to his cheek as he tried to reclaim his spear with the other arm.
The second spearman fell to the ground, but he was uninjured. After a few moments he gathered himself up and charged at the fallen MushBall.

[Nixit]

Briker was relieved and, admittedly, a little shocked to see the actual effect of his fate. There were still many more of them, and it didn't seem like the Pink Ones knew what actually happened. Hiding from the Pink Ones on Xev and Vex's shell, he mind spoke loudly, specifically to the Pink Ones.

"Pink Ones! What you have just witnessed here is Justice from the Gods delivering punishment to you creatures! If you do not stop this invasion of this forest at once, the Gods shall have to deliver another blow against you."

Briker hoped this would scare off the Pink Ones, but wasn't afraid to use his fate again, if the time came.

[Lumin]

Now, Squall didn't know what a 'mommy' was, but it wasn't hard to read the emotions behind the voice, for they were similar to what she was feeling herself. And whatever it was certainly didn't sound like a dangerous creature.

She told herself this, but it did nothing to quiet the adrenaline humming in her ears. The dark, the rain, the stench, the hideously grinning skulls, and now this. It was too surreal, and she had to struggle to ground her racing thoughts and focus on the situation at hand. Every instinct she possessed screamed that something was wrong here, and for an almost overwhelming moment she seriously considered running, just leaving the cave to take her chances with the storm and never looking back.

But damn it. She had gone through a lot in her brief life to be here. She wasn't going to be driven away from her dry cave and her warm fire by fear of someone who could be completely innocuous. And somehow she knew that if she left now, she would never have the courage to come back. She would always wonder, and always be haunted by the uncertainty of what was really behind that door.

There was no way she was going to put herself directly in the path of whatever might be on the other side by opening the door herself, but whether harmless or deadly, she had to know.

Squall let out a harsh laugh that was more like a sob and knocked the protective pile of bones away with her club.

"Well come out then!"

[Schme]

(I'd never really considered what would happen if he were cut. I haven't really worked out an anatomy. Never thought about it.)

MushBall let out a loud mumble of rage as the spear sliced open his side, tearing muscle.

He was quite horrified as crimson blood poured from his side and ran onto the ground, staining the green grass dark.

But, true to his nature, he soon began thinking clearly, and started stoping up the blood with his left arm, while with the right he took up his spear.

He then again used his teleporting powers, dropping the villager he'd injured on top of the one he had not as he got to his feet.

[AoM]

Ao mindspeaks to Tek without turning around or stopping. "Keep an eye on him, Tek and let me know if he does anything suspicious. If he wants to he can follow us all the way down to Eriadina's doorstep for all I care... just so long as he keeps to himself."

[Fleegle]

(Nixit, Schme, I'm going to hold off on your response until El_Skwidd responds... things are happening too fast, and I need to keep the timing right.)

(For Lumin)

The door creaked open slowly, and a timid little creature stepped out. The voice did indeed belong to a little girl, but it was a little lizard-girl. She looked human except she had sandy-brown scales instead of skin. Where there would be hair on a human, there was a spiky green comb reminiscent of a mohawk. The lizard-girl wore a pink dress with yellow fabric flowers stitched on in various places.
She looked up at Squall, appearing slightly embarrased by Squall's nudity. Her eyes were most unusual, for they had a redish glow to them.
"Hello miss... I'm Gaela." She quickly looked down at the ground again, and shuffled her feet.

(For AoM and Razorlance)

As they continued to walk, the path became narrow and almost indistinguishable from the ground. The only indication that a path remained was the lightly-trodden dusty earth. The wizard kept his usual pace, peering intently at the trio in front of him (though for him it was a duo, for he did not realize Kikkik was with them). Without the lights of the market, it was getting very dark, and it was nearly impossible to see in front. The occasional flashes of lightning provided the only light.

[Lumin]

[OOC: What happened to that essay? ]


A sigh of relief whooshed out of Squall's lungs, and for a stunned moment she was unable to respond. Then she realized she was still clenching the club in a somewhat threatening manner and slowly lowered it, allowing the death-grip she has on the end to loosen and flexing her numb fingers.

"H-Hello," she said awkwardly.

Having been born this way, it didn't occur to her that there was anything wrong with being nude, so the reason for the lizard girl's discomfort was lost on her. In fact, while taking in Gaela's appearance, Squall at first assumed the dress was a part of her -- just another oddity like the scaly skin and the strange green thing attached to her head. After a closer look she realized this wasn't the case, and thought what a clever thing it was to drape yourself in something like that for warmth, and pretty too. She wondered where the girl had found it at. Certainly not anywhere in this cave.

Then she shook her head at the realization that her thoughts were wandering, and again at the most inopportune time.

"Little girl...Gaela, is it? My name is Squall. What...what made you come into this nasty cave? And why were you in the tunnel, for that matter?"

Her first assumption had been that the girl had come in for the same reason she had -- shelter from the rain. However, she seemed completely dry, and so was the pink and yellow thing she wore.

Squall shook her head, stepping back towards the fire. "You frightened me, you know."

[Razorlance]

"I'll try" He replied. As he lumbered along, every time he lifted one of his rear limbs he would glance up the path behind them, trying to be sure the wizard was keeping his distance, but it was getting harder and harder.

[Fleegle]

(Global statement)
(NEW GAME DAY)

With midnight comes a lull in the storm. The rain turns into a light drizzle, and one can barely make out the moon behind the clouds. The lightning has stopped.

(For Lumin)

"I'm sorry..." Gaela said in a weak voice, looking down at the ground. "I was playing in the fields and I found a cave. I went exploring but then I got lost. I found a door and heard some noises, so I thought maybe someone was there."
Gaela lost interest in her story and changed the topic. "Um, how come you don't wear clothes miss?"
Gaela came nearer the fire and sat down opposite Squall, her arms hugging her knees. She looked deep into the fire, her eyes vividly reflecting the flames.

(For AoM and Razorlance)

With the lightning having stopped, it was now difficult to see, but slowly their eyes adjusted to the dark. The hint of moonlight aided them slightly. As they advanced through the thin pine forest, they lost track of the wizard. He was either hiding or had lost interest and turned back.

[Lumin]

"Clothes? Oh, you mean like that pink thing you have? I don't know...should I? Do most other people wear them?" Squall shrugged. "You're the first person I've met, besides myself. I came from that muck pond out there not too long ago." She gestured vaguely in the direction of the exit. "I wasn't wearing anything then and I've been too busy with other things to worry about it since." She frowned. "This isn't a pleasant place, and outside it's even worse."

Squall was still having trouble getting used to this situation. It just seemed unreal to be sitting here calmly chatting when only a short time before she'd been frantic and terrified out of her wits. To cover the awkward pause while she gathered her thoughts, she placed another piece of wood on the fire, noting that the little pile would be gone soon.

"Did you say you were playing in a--" she began, meaning to ask Gaela where the little door led, when she noticed and odd sound. Silence.

"The rain stopped," she said, a little surprised. She hadn't know for sure if it ever would, not having known anything else.

Water still dripped at the mouth of the cave, and if she listened hard she could just make out the light pitter-patter of tiny drops hitting the ground outside, but it was nothing like the relentless deluge she'd been born into.

"Well, that's good," she said. "So, what do we do now?"

[Pie]

Looks around the room, clearly starled with how they all apeard so quickly, then returning his gaze onto Ilosep.
"Uh, yea, I have a question. ......... How do I use this power?"

[El_Skwidd]

Vex and Xev look around the battlefield, confused. Vex looks over at the pile of Pink Ones that MushBall had recently created and motions for Xev to go that way.

They slowly climb atop the heap and start biting at one of the Pink Ones.

[Spiked turtle... not the greatest combat idea ]