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A Tale of Heroes (RP)[M]

AJ2000

Well-Known Member
| Kale |
En-Route to Winness
Artus Callum



Artus backed away, more towards the man and his family, aiming his sword right at the beast. He certainly hoped it wasn't going to lunge, however, if it did, then he knew it had to go down. Suddenly Artus let down his guard just for a second as he saw Tim approach the Spectre. Just as he was about to say something, Rose was quick to give her input on the situation. "Idiot! You really think that's it's just going to fucking walk away! We're all meat here, pussy!" She shouted, saying exactly what was on Artus' mind as well.

"Over there, near the horses!" The man suddenly shouted, knocking Artus back to the topic at hand, and focus on another Spectre. The man was pointing past the horses who were still frightened and neighing, and Artus saw the another grey figure prowling about in the grass, looking a bit different then the other one. Quickly observing Rose engaging another Spectre as well, it became clear to Artus there were several of them wandering around, waiting to get a chunk of meat from someone. He slowly walked away from the family, and near the horses, readying his sword. The Spectre was about 20 feet from him, standing still on all fours, not moving a muscle. "H-Hey, what're you doing?! Kill it, quick!" The man said, shouting at both Tim and Artus.

"Uhh, y-yeah." Artus just replied, a bit nervous, with his eyes still focused on the Spectre. But exactly how do I do that? He was unsure as to how he was actually supposed to kill the darn thing, as he wasn't sure if it had some sort of weak spot. Suddenly, just as Artus was thinking, the beast sprinted forwards and lunged at Artus, who randomly swung his sword, preventing the beast from jumping right ontop of him, and keeping it at bay. It let out a guttered growling noise, creeping around Artus and trying not to go too close to his sword as if it were observing him.

"Be careful, they are smart! They are not just an average pack of wolves..." The man said, rushing next to Artus with his dagger in hand.

"Stay back, you'll get in my way!" Artus shouted frantically at him, whilst still looking at the Spectre. The man didn't look impressive, and he certainly did not want some random guy with a butter knife backing him up. Just then, as if there were an opening for attack, the Spectre lunged out again, this time at the man, knocking him down and getting on top of him. The man had dropped his knife in the process, grabbing the Spectre by the throat as it tried to open its jaws to presumably take a chunk out of his throat. "H-elp me! Help!" He shouted, the Spectre digging its claws into the man's arms, as it flailed around on top of him. Quickly, Artus kicked the beast off of him as to not accidentally cut the man with a swing of his sword. The Spectre fell over, and admittedly, was a tad heavier than Artus anticipated. It did not even move much, but instead simply got off the man and hissed at Artus in annoyance. Not exactly knowing what to do next, Artus just swung his sword to try and get the Spectre at bay. "H-Hey, what do I do? Scare it?" Artus shouted at the man, while still focused at the gray being in front of him.

"Scare it? Kill it! Swing your sword and cut it! Just do something!" The man shouted back, clutching his upper arm where the beast had torn through the clothing and cut his skin. Artus heeded his words, and cautiously but slowly crept towards the Spectre with his sword pointing right at it.

Okay...I'm going to give it a swift blow to the head. That should do the trick I think He thought to himself. Unexpectedly, the Spectre lunged once more, this time higher than before and almost reaching Artus' head. Letting loose a mighty swing of his sword, Artus swung upwards, feeling the sword hit something solid, and pierce right through it with a satisfying, yet unnerving ripping of flesh. Artus had closed his eyes for this part, and when he opened them, he heard the sounds of a Spectre in trouble, hissing and crying out in pain, as it rolled around on the grass, green blood spraying out of his now-severed arm. Artus looked around and saw the beast's dismembered body part sitting on the grass, and then noticed the Spectre had stopped moving. He just looked at it, as it lay there, eyes still opened and still breathing, and leg twitching every few seconds.

"Kill it! Kill it!" The man shouted from afar. Artus didn't answer back, and stood there for a few seconds contemplating on just leaving it to die, or to actually finish it off. He slowly walked up to it, poking it with his sword, which just caused it to twitch a bit. It then quickly tried to get up using its other three legs, causing Artus to jump back in shock, and just watched the beast use the last of its strength to swiftly limp away into the grasslands, seemingly heading back where it came from. The blood almost seemed to camouflage with the grass, as it trailed a bit to where the Spectre ran away from.

 
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*Jean Grey*

Night Triumphant
Rozalia Faustyna Górniak / Rose Thorn
En Route to Winness​

"Scare it? Kill it! Swing your sword and cut it! Just do something!" Rose heard the exasperated shout of the man from behind her, obviously referring to Artus judging from how he mentioned "sword". She grunted as she looked around, checking if there were any more Spectres in the vicinity. The sound of metal slicing pierced the air, followed by a thump. The redhead looked back and saw that Artus had struck a Spectre with his eyes closed. The monster had fallen over, hissing and crying out in pain as its arm fell off, the familiar green blood spraying out of it, as well as from the Spectre's shoulder.

"Kill it! Kill it!" The man shouted from afar, but Artus stood still. After a few moments, he walked up towards the Spectre and poked it with the tip of his sword, causing it to twitch. The creature then quickly tried to get up, which caused Artus to jump back in shock. Instead of killing it, he let it get away, seemingly a result of his shock. The creature was moving back towards where it came from, and Rose was in its path. If you won't kill it, I would, she thought as she readied her scythe once more. Charging forward, she slashed her weapon down towards the Spectre's neck once she got close enough, pushing it down hard. Sputtering cries came from the creature's mouth, but she wasn't about to show it any mercy. She twisted her scythe and jerked it sideways, slicing its head off. More green blood spurted out onto the grass as Rose picked up the head by its scraggly hair, and took a look to see if both it and the body were indeed dead. Aside from a few twitches and a blink, neither moved. Flinging the head away, she turned around and headed back towards where the group was,

"If it has to be killed, kill it!" She mumbled furiously at Artus.
 

Minteh

It's so shiny!
Kenna Keyes​
En route to Winness​

Kenna had yet to attack any of the Spectres, despite still having her bow ready. Instead, she was lingering by the man's family, in case one of the still prowling Spectres decided to turn on them. That and the man himself wasn't doing a particularly great job of protecting them, since he kept running around offering help to the others. Tim had tried to soothe one of the beasts, before Rose quickly put an end to it by hacking at the beast. Meanwhile, Artus was having trouble with the man. Having gotten another Spectre drawn towards him he apparently was now unsure of what to do next, and had asked the man whether or not he should scare it.

"Scare it? Kill it! Swing your sword and cut it! Just do something!" The man responded with a rather exasperated tone. There was a sudden thud, and she noticed that he had managed to hack the beasts arm off. The monster had since fallen over, and was now hissing and crying, green blood spraying out of it.

"Kill it! Kill it!" The man was shouting, but Artus did nothing. He hesitated briefly, and the poked the beast with his sword, which then sprung back to life and apparently scared him. It attempted to get away, however Rose was quick to stop it. She did not hesitate to kill it, and after getting rid of the head, she stomped back over to the group mumbling furiously to Artus.

For a moment, Kenna would've believed they were out of the clear, if it weren't for the now rapid clicking noises, coming from one of the still prowling Spectres. For the most part, it hadn't strayed too close, but apparently with two Spectres dead, it had decided to get in on the action. Still protecting the man's family, Kenna watched as the beast started moving closer and closer. The rapid clicking noises made it a lot more menacing than before. Sensing that it was attempting to attack, Kenna felt her grip tighten round her bowstring. For a moment, she did nothing, and instead watched it carefully as it carried out the same few movements over and over again. When it does something different, I'll attack She noted to herself. It repeated the same action a few more times, before it suddenly attempted to lunge. Kenna was ready for it, and the moment it did something different she released a bow. The Spectre howled as the arrow lodged itself in its arms, and staggered backwards, making a softer purring noise. It's pain clearly did not last long, for it soon went back to prowling, though it wasn't clicking now, and was staring rather menacingly at Kenna. With a sinking feeling, she suddenly realised it was getting ready to attack again. She didn't want to kill the creature but if it wasn't going to relent she may have to. Behind her the woman was whimpering that he didn't want to die. "You have to do something, please!" She pleaded to Kenna, when she realised how close the Spectre was now getting. Instead of waiting for it to lunge, Kenna attacked first. Readying her bow once more, she aimed for its face, and when she released it, the arrow found its target. The arrow had buried itself in one of the Spectre's eyes, which must've called it a great deal of pain, as it recoiled almost instantly and was still howling as it managed to stumble away.
 

Monster Guy

Fairy type Trainer
Timothy "Tim" Wolfe
En-Route to Winness​

Naturally, the first thing everyone else did was try to kill the poor creatures. Rose shouted and hurled insults at him while making short work of one of the other beasts that was surrounding the group. Everyone else followed suit, and one by one they killed off one of the creatures. Artus hesitated at first, but managed to kill the specter at the man's urging. Tim ignored everyone else, and continued petting the one he had befriended. He never understood why everyone else felt the need to resort to violence to solve all their problems. From his own experience, it just made problems worse. That was why they were in this war in the first place.

Seeing that it was clearly going to get killed if it stayed here, Tim urged the specter to run. "I think you should go. It's not safe for you here. Leave before you end up like the rest of your friends." Much to Tim's surprise, the creature actually listened. It turned right around, and ran into the forest with it's tail between it's legs. Tim let out a sigh of relief. At least that was one creature that wouldn't be needlessly killed simply for being in the way.
 

Schade

Metallic Wonder
=-------------------~*~-------------------=
Valmiro Eberhart
Kale - Barracks
Affected RP'ers: Jeanie-Lou

Sleeping that night was difficult. Not only because two of the guards were getting busy in the room next to his, or by the snoring of his roommates, or by the fact that at any point, he was sure he would wake up to that glimmer of evil in Rose's eyes as she brutally murdured him. It was just one of those nights where one couldn't get much sleep. Oddly though, as morning came, Valmiro was oddly refreshed. At breakfast the next morning. He avoided Rose by sitting at the end of the table next to tim and Kenna while eating his food in silence. every once in a while, the others would try to interract with him, to which he just gave them his usual deathly glare of "Leave me alone"-ness. That wasn't such a great idea though, as he missed out on a lot of information. All he did was to nod in agreement every once in a while, and make snarky comments about trivial stuff to appear as if he had a clue of what was going on. He was getting tired of the group, and their entire situation. All he wanted to do now was to leave. But to where? Where could he go? His hometown was no more, and sure, there were other towns for people of his profession, but to make a new life somewhere entirely new without really having anything going on for him? That would be tough, especially when that blasted emperor was still roaming around. He would just get caught up in another occupation, and be sent to Galvez once more, probably to escape with a new group of people. He sighed as he ate the rest of his meal.


~~~~


Before he really knew it, the group had moved on from the garrisons. Apparently, that wasn't the place they would be doing their handywork. Valmiro was getting tired of being dragged along like some sort of a dog on a leach. He just had to bear with it. every time he thought of rebelling he heard the kings not too subtle threat in his mind. He hated being a lapdog, especially for some bratty king. But the pay was apparently god, and after this, perhaps he would be able to get a house somewhere, a job, eventually wed, have some kids, watch them grow up, grow old and teach his kids about dark magic before dying with the love of his life. He snuffed, He remembered the time he thought about those things. Things were different now. Without really realizing it, he was now a solider. But towards whom? the group pretyt much followed their own agenda, and some would consider them ruffians, even outlaws. But somehow they had the King on their side. This whole situation was a mess, and Valmiro felt that there was no point going depressed about it when they were so close to ending it all. Besides, if anyone of the group saw him moping like this, the consequences wouldn't be pretty. For them.

He still kept a safe distance from Rose. He didn't know if she remembered last night, and he had no intention of asking her. The spell he used had worked perfectly, and he had kept the book. Surely the soliders didn't need it. He had seen most of them, and they didn't seem like much more than big muscle and pretty faces. If anoy of them were doing magic, it was not complicated magic like this.

Suddenly, the group started walking off in another direction. As he came back to reality, Valmiro saw that they were following a voice, which led them to a man next to a knocked-over carriage. The carriage was a simple one that revealed that the owners were not overly wealthy people. The man was simple. simple clothing, simple hair, simple everything. He sighed. Were they really going to help another stray person? Can't anyone ever handle themselves? Did they have to go all Butafucco on everything that needed help? He hated it. He hated that tingeling feeling of helping others. All he wanted was... well, who knows. But now was not the time to be contemplating on that.

“W-We were just coming back from making a delivery, a-and then all of a sudden my horses went into a frenzy after a small pack of Specters tried to surround us!" The man spoke quickly and stuttered, shaken up by his situation. "Next thing I know, my carriage toppled over, and I tried to scare the beasts off!” The man kept speaking frantically, and then grabbed Artus by the shirt. "Please, you have to help!" He said, shaking him a bit. the man seemed deathly afraid. Of spectres? Truly, there as little possibility that he was referring to ghosts. ghosts doesn't trip carriages, and spectres were a term used for spirits of the deceased. Artus looked as confused as Valmiro was, but luckily, all their answers were questioned as the mans wife screamed, pointing besides the group towards.. They looked like a deformed human, with a hunched back, and was incredibly bony and skinny. Their skin was a ghostly grey-white, with visible wrinkles, and Their face was rather disgusting. Their teeth were triangular and jagged, some broken and many missing as well, exposing its rancid gums. Soulless eyes, sharp claws and slits for nostrils made the creature to be incredibly grotesque. "Oh yeah. Those Spectres" Valmiro concluded, scratching his head. He sighed as he manifested his magic and prepared for a fight. again. Spectres like these weren't uncommon back in Ostrheinsburg, but back there, they were much tamer. Probably because the city mistreated them when they misbehaved. Some even took them in as pets or servants. Only now did Valmiro realize how strange and deluded his hometown was.

The man had taken a fighting stance in front of his family with a dagger in order to protect them. Valmiro did the same thing, and went towards them, knowing that he functioned the best at a range. The specters didn't move too quickly, and Valmiro had the chance to strategize before everything went down. The others had taken into their respective poses as well, and once again, the group defended the weak. At this point it kinda went on automatically for Valmiro. Tim seemed to have tamed one of the beasts, though Valmiro knew it would be temporarily. The Spectres were simple to befriend, but they were still vicious. "Idiot! You really think that's it's just going to ****ing walk away! We're all meat here, pussy!" Rose growled at tim. she was right. Kinda. It was best not to get on the beasts bad sides, but at this point, the group was just dessert. He didn't have much time to figure out what the others were doing, as the mans franatic screaming kinda deaphened everything else. "Kill it! Kill it!" he shouted in panic. "Now, that's not nice", Valmiro said, extinguishing the flaming dark energy surrounding his hands. "These creatures are benevolent by nature. For them to gang up on you weaklings like this is your fault, not them. you are under them on the food chain. you are the prey, and you are the ones at fault." He was angry now. He had a bad morning, a lot to think about, and an uncertain future. He also didn't have any way of letting his angst go, so the only non-violent way for him to do so, was to unleash it all on this man. "I have never seen spectres like this outside of my homecity of Ostrheinsburg, but for them to be moving so far away from it must mean that there is little food left. They feed on carcases, dead things and children, and your little **** over there probably looks tasty to them. They have families to feed too, y'know! Just because they look a little.. different, doesn1t mean that they don't have their own set of morals!" he was shouting now. the man looked astonished as he paid attention, and one of the spectres that initially was attacking had taken a step back, observing the rant going on in front of it. The mans wife and son were crying behind the man, holding on tightly to each other while she screamed to the others that they had to help. Surely, they were afraid of dying here, and why wouldn't they be? "Right now there are young Spectres waiting for their daddies to come home and feed them! They have probably lost a lot of their kind after the massacre in Ostrheinsburg!". He put some weight on some of his words to underline how serious he was, but he failed at upholding his emotionless usual self. Was this him realizing that his old life was gone forever? No mom, no dad, no friends, no home to return to? Could he only look forward? It didn't seem as inspiring now as it usually was. He didn't realize he was tearing up until he couldn't see properly. It was then he realized how far he had gone. This was not okay, not even for him. To lose his cool like this, and in front of everyone as well. He only hoped they were still fighting the spectres, and didn't notice this. He shook his head and dried his eyes with his cape, which somehow worked despite his cape's cosmic nature.
 
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AJ2000

Well-Known Member
| Kale |
En-Route to Winness
The Group


Just as the beast was running away, Rose did the dirty deed that Artus could not accomplish himself. Hacking at the base of the neck, she severed the head and let it drop to the grass, with the Spectre twitching a few last times before lying motionless. "If it has to be killed, kill it!" Rose mumbled at Artus, walking past him. Artus just frowned, looking back at the dead Spectre. He didn’t respond to her, mainly because he knew she was right. If the very presence of the Spectres were a threat, then they would indeed need to be killed off. Artus walked turned around, walking further behind Rose, who was already on her way back towards closer to the group and carriage. The others seemed to have been able to hold their own, as Artus saw another Spectre scurry away, with an arrow impaled into it, seemingly coming from Kenna. All in all, it was a bit of a hectic situation, but luckily they came out unscathed. At least, most of them. Just as the man and Artus approached the rest of the group, Val had a whole spiel on how the Spectres attacking was the group's fault, how they were easy prey, and how people has killed them off back in his hometown of Ostrheinsburg. Oddly enough he even ended with a bit of what appeared be tears, wiping them away with his cape.

"Obviously if they were killed by the hands of humans, then they are not above us in the food chain." Artus spoke at Valmiro, ignoring his tears and making sure not to sound like he was looking for an argument. The other man stood next to his family, a bit unnerved at Valmiro's whole breakdown, and kept on staring to see if they were going to do anything next. "Besides, what are we supposed to do? Let them kill us? If it means saving ourselves, then who cares if a few 'animals' die." Artus' tone turned ever so slightly aggressive, however, he kept his composure. He certainly did not hate other living beings, however, there was a reason humans got to where they are now in the world. Not to mention Valmiro had already killed a few people back in Orven, so he didn't even understand why killing people did not seemingly pose as an issue, but killing random monsters seemed to strike a nerve. It all seemed a bit hypocritical to Artus.

"O-okay, c-calm down guys." The man hesitantly stepped in, gesturing to stop the petty argument. "W-We can all stand here and argue about why they attacked, but the problem still stands. Like this young man said over here, if they are running out of food for whatever reason, then we can't stay here. We don't know how many are starving, and lurking around." The man frantically tried to make a point, convincing the group to leave the area. Artus just stood there, thinking for a bit, while his wife pulled out a small wooden box from the toppled carriage, filled with random medicinal supplies, and started to quickly wrap her husband's wound with thin white appendages.

"I'm guessing you want us to help you flip this carriage over?" Artus sighed slightly, crossing his arms and looked at the carriage. It definitely looked heavy, but with a few of them pushing, it should pose as no problem.

"Yes, I will be grateful for that. I'll even give you guys a lift, since you did help with the whole Spectre thing..." The man replied, looking at his wound. His wife however seemed a bit unhappy with his offer, giving her husband a look of uncertainty as she finished bandaging up his arm.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" She whispered to her husband, a bit too out reach for Artus to hear, but it was still a bit obvious what she was talking about. Her husband said something back to her, before turning to look at the group and chuckling sheepishly.

"Well, shall we get to it?" The man spoke. Artus arched an eyebrow, looking at the man's wife, who just stood behind him rolling her eyes in disbelief. Obviously he wasn't comfortable with the whole group on board, but getting a free ride was far too good of a deal to pass up. Artus nodded, and ran up to the carriage, and gave the old heave ho once everyone was ready and accounted for.

~​

Hamm sat next to Artus trying to fiddle around with his sword, to which Artus gently held onto. "Stop that Hammie, you're going to ruin my belt." Artus sternly scolded Hamm, who ignored his warning and continued to play around.

"His name is Hammel, not Hammie. And told my kid what to do." His mother, who was sitting in the back of the carriage with everyone else, retorted at Artus. She was already obviously uncomfortable with a bunch of strangers sitting with her, so Artus did not want to possibly have some sort of altercation that would force her husband Hammel to kick them off the carriage.

"Okay, okay, calm down. I'm just making sure he doesn't hurt himself." Artus chuckled a bit, looking at Hammel Jr. He wasn't too fond of kids, especially when they were other peoples'. Artus continued to sit quietly, as the carriage jerked every so often against the bumpy ground, with a few small crates moving about near them as well. It wasn't long until it suddenly stopped, much to Artus' surprise. Hey, we stopped? We're here already?

"Everyone out!" He heard Inora's husband shout from outside, where he was manning the carriage horses. Artus waited for Inora and her son to jump out of the carriage first, before doing so himself, landing on a soft grassy patch below. "The horses are tired and need to rest. Plus it's getting late, I think we should set up camp or something." Hammel spoke, watching as the group came out of the carriage one by one. Artus just looked up at the sky. It was indeed getting dark, with just a hint of red left in the sky, just before the sun was going to dip under the horizon.

"Camp? What about the Spectres?" His wife asked worriedly.

"Well, we are pretty far from where we last saw them. And besides, the ones we saw were hunting in the daytime. Chances are if other Spectres are doing the same, then that means they would not be active right now." Hammel shrugged. Artus figured it would be safe enough to set up camp, so he was all for it. However, there was still one problem.

"Ehh, what about food?" Artus quickly asked. It was getting dark, and he was honestly in no mood to hunt something. Not to mention, Tim made it a total pain for them to do so.

"Not to worry, I actually do have a bit of food. Remember how I said we were coming back from making a delivery? I have a few boxes leftover, that the buyer did not buy." Hammel spoke, walking over to the carriage and jumping in, and the coming back out with a wooden crate in his hands. Oh, so that's what the crates were for in the back... He wondered why Hammel has a few random boxes in the back of the carriage, but it had seemed his answer was right in front of him. Hammel grunted and managed to pull off the top of the box, revealing a bunch of fish, covered in what seemed to be salt.

"Uhhh...you have anything else in there?" Artus asked. Salty fish wasn't his first choice of food, but he was sure he saw at least two more boxes in the back. Hammel looked confused at first, but quickly realized fish may not be the best for everyone, so he quickly ran back to the carriage and pulled out another similar box, slightly smaller. He put it next to the fish box, and again popped the top off, revealing white and purple bulb-like vegetables.

"Turnips? And salty fish? What kind of food is this?" Artus complained. This was by the far the worst thing he had eaten, even by his standards. "I saw one more box in the back, what is in that?" Artus asked, hoping for a decent response.

"That's just salt in there." Hammel simply replied, keeping a rather confused face, almost as if he were wondering why Artus was asking such a question.

"Look, if you don't want it, then don't eat it." Inora suddenly snapped at Artus, who didn't even have a chance to say anything back, until Hammel Jr also chimed in.

"Yeah, then don't eat it!" Little Hammel laughed and pointed at Artus as he imitated his mother, leaving Artus rather flabbergasted. This was the first time he heard the kid speak, and to top it off, he seemed like a little miscreant with his mother's attitude.

"Don't worry, we can start a fire and it'll taste fine. You won't even notice the salt!" Hammel exclaimed, holding the fish in his hand. Artus just sighed, taking a big swig of the water in his canteen, preparing for whatever dinner had in store for him.

~​

The fire crackled, as the group sat around it a little ways away from the horses. It was a bit darker now, but luckily the glow of the fire kept the near area somewhat visible. Artus just munched on his fish and took a bite out of a turnip he had in his hand. It wasn't very good, but surprisingly it was filling. He longed for an actual homecooked meal, but now was not the time to complain.

"So, you guys said you are headed to Winness? What kind of business do you guys have up there? Seems kind of weird you'd be walking all the way there, especially during war period. Granted it's calmed down a lot now, but you can never be too careful." Hammel asked trying to spark up a conversation, as he took a bite out of his food, and Artus continued to munch along as well.


 

Minteh

It's so shiny!
Kenna Keyes​
En-Route to Winness​

Though the situation was all a bit hectic, it did not take long for the group to drive the rest of the Spectres away. Kenna was honestly amazed that they had come away from the attack unscathed. Swinging her bow across her shoulder, she wiped sweat away from her brow with the back of her sleeve. As the man and Artus re-approached the group, Val started rambling on about how the Spectre's attacking was the groups fault. Needless to say, Kenna was definately surprised by his sudden outburst. Kenna observed quietly, as Artus started arguing with Val. It seemed to go on for a long time, before the man stepped in, and prevented the argument from potentially escalating. After pointing out that just standing around was likely to draw more of the Spectres towards them, he offered the group a ride, as a reward for helping get rid of the Spectres. The man's wife did not seem too thrilled at the idea, even go far to voice her concerns to her husband. After soothing his wife, the man turned to the group and suggested that they get the cart turned over. As Kenna moved over to help, she couldn't help but notice the man's wife rolling her eyes in disbelief.

**​

Travelling in the carriage proved to be a lot more uncomfortable than she expected. The ride was something that Kenna didn't mind, since she was used to riding in rickety old carts across uncertain terrain. What made the journey uncomfortable was Inora, the man's wife. It had been evident from the start she was not comfortable with the group accompanying her family, but now they were in the back of the carriage together, her animosity seemed more apparent.

When Hammel finally stopped the carriage, Kenna was secretly relieved. Inora and her son (also named Hammel) jumped out first, and Kenna followed not too long afterwards. It was quite dark by the time they had stopped, with only a small amount of light left. They had only been stood around for a little while when Artus asked about the food situation. For once, Kenna had to admit that she was hungry too; though she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to go out hunting, especially given Tim's tendencies to blow up at the group whenever they hunted. Thankfully, Hammel had some food from his delivery that were not bought.

**​

It was much later, and the group found themselves sat around a crackling fire. It was considerably darker now, but the light of the fire made the nearby area more visible. Kenna was not too fond of the salty fish, yet she still ate it anyways. Whilst she bit into her turnip, she looked up at Hammel, who had just questioned the group on what their business was.

"Well, we're not stopping at Winness." Kenna explained, swallowing a mouthful of food before speaking again. "We'll be passing through Winness to get to where we need to go. We're on a mission for the king, you see."
 

*Jean Grey*

Night Triumphant
Rozalia Faustyna Górniak / Rose Thorn
En Route to Winness​

Frenetic though the situation was, it only took a while before the rest of the Spectres were driven away. As everyone started to regroup, however, they were treated to a surprising spiel, courtesy of Valmiro.

"I have never seen spectres like this outside of my home city of Ostrheinsburg, but for them to be moving so far away from it must mean that there is little food left. They feed on carcases, dead things and children, and your little **** over there probably looked tasty to them. They have families to feed too, y'know! Just because they look a little.. different, doesn't mean that they don't have their own set of morals," he chastised, his voice raising in pitch. The tirade surprised Rose. Out of everyone, Valmiro was the person she least expected to care about anything or anyone, for that matter. Well, maybe Artus was the sort as well. To watch the white-haired man deviate from his usual stoic demeanor and even shed some tears seemed a strange sight to her, and frustrating as well. Did he really have to get in the way? Did he not see that they were all dinner for the Spectres if they just let the creatures be? Besides, Rose didn't care much for morals to begin with.

"Besides, what are we supposed to do? Let them kill us? If it means saving ourselves, then who cares if a few 'animals' die," Artus argued, his comment perhaps being the first remotely sensible thing that came from his mouth for the time Rose knew him. The last thing she wanted was to fall victim to something so trivial, after risking her life - all that she had - for her freedom. If she wanted to spit, laugh and rub in her survival at Diaz' face, she sure as hell would not be able to do it from her unmarked grave. Besides, why was killing creatures any different from killing other people? Aidan…she never regretted shooting him, not when all his icy eyes held were malice, not when the love she once thought she had for him turned to hatred at that one moment. The bandits? None of their lives concerned her either. Death was death, it was inevitable, and there was no difference in whose life it took.

"Fuck this. I've killed, you've killed. Hell, I've even seen you eat some damn meat. There really isn't any damn difference!" She growled, glaring at the white-haired man. The man stepped in, interrupting the argument and offering the group a ride, stating that the Spectres, if they were hungry, could come back at any time. It was important that they left immediately, he stated, and offered the group a ride on the carriage. The man's wife thought differently, however, and rolled her eyes in displeasure. Rose gave her a smirk. Here was a woman similar in temperament to herself, and knew it, though she probably was all bark and no bite, judging from how she stayed away from the fight. Whether said woman was wary of them because they were strangers, or because of something else entirely, Rose could not fathom. She did know, however, that she would not mind pushing her buttons if needed, if only to reinforce that nobody mess with her.

Rose ran up to the carriage together with the rest of the group, and pushed at it hard to help heave it up.

----

The carriage was tight, with seven of them sitting at the back, and the ride was bumpy. Still, Rose did not mind the ride, as she knew more uncomfortable arrangements. Besides, while she did not mind walking, riding a carriage was a welcome change that only someone stupid turned down. Of course, there was the presence of Inora, the man's wife. Her mood had only darkened, and her animosity became more apparent as the carriage ride went on, and she did not bother hiding it, judging from the way she reacted to Artus scolding her son. Rose considered herself lucky that she was sitting as far away from Inora and Hammel Jr. as the carriage could allow. Whether she was spared from being bothered because of this, or because of the grim look of her scythe, Rose did not care. She did not like children, nor did she plan to have any of her own. Not only was she terrible at dealing with them, but she also knew that the world she lived in was no place for children, with everything that was going on.

The carriage stopped at dusk, and from outside, Hammel ordered everyone out, adding that the horses needed their rest. Being on the far corner of the carriage, Rose stepped out last, after everyone else. The evening sky was turning a shadowy blue-violet, the horizon holding the last of the warm reds and oranges as the sun set. It was going to be dark at any moment, and Rose knew that if they had to eat, she was going to have to hunt, whether Tim wanted her to or not. She was hungry after all.

As Artus inquired about the food, Hammel admitted that he had with him some boxes of unsold goods, opening one to reveal some salted fish, and another containing some turnips. Artus immediately voiced his disdain, wondering out loud what kind of meal did salted fish and turnips make. This was met with a sharp reply by Inora, who told him that if he did not want to eat it, then he should not be eating at all. Hammel Jr. mimicked it, and Rose felt the urge to kick the boy or prod him with a scythe, if only to shut him up. She did not enjoy dealing with children at all.

---

The night was lit up by the crackling flames of the fire the group sat around. Rose ate her fish and turnips in silence, though she gave the odd glare at Inora and Hammel Jr. from time to time. The woman retaliated with murderous glances, though she never once dared stand up and pick a fight. The kid, however, alternated between avoided her piercing glares and looking back at her, as if he could not decide whether she was scary or funny-looking. In the firelight, it was probably the latter.

"So, you guys said you are headed to Winness? What kind of business do you guys have up there? Seems kind of weird you'd be walking all the way there, especially during war period. Granted it's calmed down a lot now, but you can never be too careful." Hammel asked, clearly trying to spark up a conversation to interrupt the awkward silence. Kenna explained that they were only stopping over at Winness on their way to fulfilling the king's mission. Rose took a quick swig of her alcohol after taking a mouthful of fish.

"Mind you, it's just some dirty work for the motherfucker. If you're looking for some damn miscreants on the lam, you'll sure as hell be disappointed."
 

AJ2000

Well-Known Member
| Wilderness |
En-Route to Winness
The Group


"Well, we're not stopping at Winness." Kenna replied to Hammel. "We'll be passing through Winness to get to where we need to go. We're on a mission for the king, you see." She further explained, clarifying the group’s objective and reasoning for travelling. Artus just sat in silent, nodding to himself whilst looking at Hammel and his family.

"Mind you, it's just some dirty work for the motherfucker. If you're looking for some damn miscreants on the lam, you'll sure as hell be disappointed." Rose also chimed in. Artus pondered for a bit upon hearing Rose, as he did seem to find the whole thing to be almost as if they were on a little ‘errand’ run for the King.

“Oh, are you mercenaries?” Hammel asked. Artus stopped eating for a quick moment to give Hammel a surprised, but amused look.

“Mercenaries” Artus chuckled. “Nothing like that, it’s just a little task he told us to do. He’s asked us to help out with the building of one his forts.” Artus continued, munching his food. Hamel sat still, listening, whilst his wife ate and tried to get their son to eat as well. “It’ called Fort Belpoint, it’s just a bit east of Winness, which is why we need to head in that direction.” He finished.

“Hmmm…I see. Well, if it’s for the King, then I guess it’s none of my business.” Hammel laughed a bit, but Artus didn’t really care. It’s not like the King told them they couldn’t tell anyone. “In any case, we’ll still give you guys a ride. I mean, I can’ I’m guessing if things go well, we can get there in about a day and a half. Maybe two days. “ Hammel finished eating the last of the fish that was in his hand as he finished talking. Artus felt a bit uncomfortable at Hammel’s last statement, hoping things would ‘go well’. Seeing as how the Spectres attacked them in daylight, he wasn’t sure if that was the best plan.

“Errr…why don’t we just travel during the night, if the Spectres are attacking in the day?” Artus asked.

“That’s a not a bad idea, but what would we do during the day then? Sitting around waiting for nightfall while Spectres are preying around is too risky. And my horses need to rest…they are too fatigued to travel right now.” Hammel lowered his head, as he paused and began to think for a few moments before speaking again. “Not to mention…Spectres are supposed to be nocturnal. There’s a reason they are hunting in the daytime, but I’m not sure what would force them to do such a thing…” Hammel sat in silence, lost in thought, while Artus did the same. Nocturnal creatures out during the daytime wasn’t something that was entirely uncommon, but then again, he did know next to nothing about Spectres. “I mean, they are known to be incredibly territorial, so it could be that we are simply invading their space, but then again, I’ve been down this route so many times in my life and have never had this problem before, so I really –“

“Oh, stop it! Why can’t we just sit in peace, without talking about all this Spectre nonsense? You’re scaring your son, and quite frankly, me too.” Inora quickly chimed into the matter, seemingly a bit worried, not wanting to touch on the subject any further. Artus looked at their son, who did not seem scared, but instead seemed a bit fixated on what his father was saying, quietly staring at him. If anything, it didn’t seem like he had a proper grasp on the matter.

“Uh, sorry.” Hammel scratched the back of his head, giving a half-hearted apology, before turning to the group. “Let’s get some rest anyways, if we get up early tomorrow, we can get going faster.” He smiled, as Artus just nodded to him in acknowledgement. After a few more minutes, Artus took a final swig of his canteen, finishing off his dinner, before finding a comfy, grassy patch to lie down on. He made a mental note inside his head to fill up his canteen in the morning, before finally shutting his eyes to try and get a decent sleep.


| Moll Wood |
En-Route to Winness
The Group

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The carriage gently rocked back and forth slightly, as the horses made their way through the grasslands. Artus pushed the curtain away as he peeked outside the carriage, and noticed that they were now inside a forest it had seemed. And a rather quaint one at that. Leaves covered the forest floor, and the ground was relatively flat and easy for the horses to walk on. There was also a slight odor that lingered around in the air and managed to seep inside to the carriage. It wasn’t exactly foul, but instead it carried an aroma-like scent, like fruit or flowers. However, it wasn’t too strong so it didn’t bother him too much. “Huh, at least we know we are going the right way.” Artus mumbled, and looked at the map-book. Moll Wood, I think. He stared at the page for a bit, nodding to himself that they were indeed going the right direction to Winness. According to the map, beyond the woods lay another stretch of grasslands, similar to before where they were attacked by the Spectres.

“What is that?” Junior sat next to Artus, putting his hand on the book. Before saying anything, he looked at Inora who was sound asleep, making sure that she didn’t snap at him for telling her kid off.

“It’s nothing, go bother someone else, Hammel.” Artus spoke, keeping his eyes back on the book, not paying any attention to Hammel Junior. He figured by not giving Hammel Jr any attention, he could divert him away, and soon enough, he did! He slowly got up and approached the others in the group, trying to keep his balance as he walked whilst the carriage rocked occasionally. Artus paid no attention to what the boy was doing with the others, as all he wanted to do was read the wretched map. It wasn’t until a few minutes later, that the carriage had come to a sudden, jerking halt. Artus nearly dropped the book, as he tried to brace himself to avoid falling over. The horses were neighing frantically outside, which immediately gave Artus a sick feeling. S-Spectres? Again?! He really didn’t want to fight a horde of Spectres again, but he knew if it came down to it, he didn’t have a choice.

“Hammel, what’s happening?!” Inora had already awakened from her ‘slumber’ shouting outside to her husband. There was no answer at first, until the horses finally stopped acting weird, and the carriage ceased to jerk around.

“I don’t know, the horses don’t want to move!” Hammel replied, shouting to the group from the outside where he commanded the horses. “Come outside, I think they need a break.” He spoke aloud to the group, jumping off the carriage with a thud on the forest leaves, crunching them beneath his feet. Artus figured a little breather wouldn’t be too bad of an idea, so he listened, getting out of the carriage after Hammel Jr and Inora did first. Artus jumped out of the carriage, notcing the aroma was a bit more noticeable outside. He stretched his arms, turning his body to look at the horses, who just stood there, cowering their heads a bit.

“What’s wrong with them?” Inora asked. Hammel grabbed one of the horses by the reigns near the head, trying to pull it forwards. Letting out a neigh, it refused to go any further, pulling its head back, trying to stand on its hind legs.

“See? I don’t know what’s wrong with them, they don’t want to go any further.” Hammel shrugged, visibly annoyed.

“Is there another way through this forest?” Artus asked. “Maybe they are just hungry or something.” He shrugged.

“We are too far in to go back, and unless we want to spend another day or two on the road, we can’t go around this forest.” Hammel replied, petting the horses. “But yeah, I’ll feed them for a bit and see what happens. I think they are just a bit stressed.” He finished, continuing to pet the horses. Artus chuckled a bit. Stressed? Ha, please. He wasn’t sure why horses would feel stressed, but he just went along with it. Plus, this would be a good opportunity to get a little breather before they needed to hit the road again.
 

Minteh

It's so shiny!
Kenna Keyes​
En-route to Winness​

Following Kenna’s explanation, Rose chimed in with her own response. Though, she opted for more brash response, Kenna couldn’t help but think there were some truth to her words. The whole journey to Fort Belpoint did seem as though it were some “errand” for the king.

Kenna did not say much after that, and returned to eating what was left of her share of the food. Most of the conversation seemed to revolve around the Spectre attack, and how it was uncharacteristic of them. When Hammel mentioned that the Spectres were typically nocturnal, Kenna began to wonder if something had triggered the sudden attack. Hammel was a trader, and as he said himself, he had travelled the route many times in the past presumably without an issue.

“Oh, stop it! Why can’t we just sit in peace, without talking about all this Spectre nonsense? You’re scaring your son, and quite frankly, me too.” Inora quickly chimed in on the subject, evidently worried, and not wanting to further discuss the subject. Kenna’s eyes travelled over to their son, who did not appear scared at all, but was instead listening rather intently to his father. Hammel responded with a half-hearted apology and then turned to the group. “Let’s get some rest anyways, if we get up early tomorrow, we can get going faster.” He smiled. Kenna smiled back in acknowledgement, and after letting her meal go down she left to find somewhere to sleep for the night.

**

Kenna Keyes​
Moll Wood, En-route to Winness​

The carriage was gently moving back and forth, as the horse made their way through the grassland. There was a sudden jerking movement, and Kenna's eyes snapped open. The gentle rocking had lulled her to sleep, which was something she had desperately needed, after barely sleeping the previous night. The spot she had chosen turned out to not be as comfortable as she had hoped. The carriage was still jerking around wildly, and when Inora shouted at her husband demanding to know what was wrong, Kenna believed her husband had not heard her. It was only when the carriage stopped moving that he responded. He informed her the horses didn't want to move, a few moments passed before he instructed the group to come outside. As Kenna moved to exit the carriage, she heard the leaves outside crunch, as Hammel jumped down onto them.

Kenna jumped outside, and stretched slightly. The horses were not going anywhere soon, so it soon became apparent they'd be taking a small break. Kenna didn't mind though. After sleeping for most of the morning, she was glad for the breather.
 

*Jean Grey*

Night Triumphant
Rozalia Faustyna Górniak / Rose Thorn
En Route to Winness​

“Mercenaries. Nothing like that, it’s just a little task he told us to do. He’s asked us to help out with the building of one his forts.” Artus explained, mentioning the group's destination of Fort Belpoint. Hammel chuckled as he decided that it wasn't in his place to know the king's business. He, however, offered to allow the group to continue their journey in the carriage, mentioning how they could arrive in a day and a half if things went well on the road. Artus then wondered out loud about travelling at night instead, bringing up the Spectre attack once more. Hammel replied, however, that Spectres were normally nocturnal in terms of their hunting habits. Now, Rose had never come in contact with Spectres before, them not being native to the northeast or the mountains, but if what he was saying was true, then no time of the day was perfectly safe.

“Oh, stop it! Why can’t we just sit in peace, without talking about all this Spectre nonsense? You’re scaring your son, and quite frankly, me too.” Inora quickly interrupted, her voice holding a note of worry and fear. Junior, however, looked the furthest thing from scared. Rose's expression remained grim as she regarded the woman with distaste. The war was no place for a mother to act overly protective, and she found Inora's attempts to shield her son from real life rather stupid. To pamper and hide, and to run away from the truth? Rose knew the cruel truth that it would never do a child good in a war-torn country, a cruel truth that her parents overlooked in her younger years.

"'Tis no world for cowards and the fearful, imbecile," Rose commented bitingly, before taking a bite out of her fish. Hammel, however, apologized to his wife, prompting Rose to look away and grimace. After a few minutes, she stood up, separated herself from the group and finished the last of her food, knowing her night was going to be sleepless once more.


Rozalia Faustyna Górniak / Rose Thorn
Moll Wood, En Route to Winness​

The carriage gently rocked back and forth, and Rose noticed that they had just entered the beginning of a forest. An aroma wafted inside the vehicle, a floral scent that was foreign to her, but not unpleasant. From her seat on the opposite side of the carriage, she noticed that Artus had opened the map book and stared at the page. Junior started to bother him, and Rose faced the window once more and grunted, not wanting to deal with the kid if he decided to bother her next. Anything was better than having to deal with a kid - staring blankly out the window included.

The carriage came to a jerking halt after a few minutes, nearly throwing her off her seat. Outside, she heard the frantic neighing of the horses. She looked out the window once more but saw no sign of Spectres, or anything out of the ordinary for that matter. Inora shouted at her husband, demanding to know what was going on, and Hammel answered aloud, claiming that the horses did not want to move, before telling everyone to come outside. Rose stretched her limbs, glad for some time to walk and exercise, before stepping outside with her scythe in tow, the leaves crunching under her boots.

“What’s wrong with them?” Inora asked, and Rose spotted Hammel trying to pull one of the horses forward by the reins, to no avail. The horse simply refused to budge, rearing on its hind legs as it was pulled.

“See? I don’t know what’s wrong with them, they don’t want to go any further.” Hammel shrugged, clearly annoyed at their predicament. Artus asked if there was another route, but the only other one, according to Hammel, was a longer route that would require them to spend more days on the road. The horses stood unmoving, and Rose went on her way, but not before delivering a remark of her own.

"We apparently have a little plant-eating idiot who claims to feel animals better than people," she alluded, before going on her way.
 

AJ2000

Well-Known Member
| Wilderness |
En-Route to Winness
The Group


With the current trip stalled at the moment, Artus stretched out his arms trying to decide what to do. "We apparently have a little plant-eating idiot who claims to feel animals better than people." He heard Rose say, obviously referring to little old Timothy.

“He feels animals better than people because he thinks he is an animal.” Artus spoke aloud, chuckling to himself and turning away from the group to venture off somewhere. Sure they were being a bit harsh on Tim, but it was all in good fun in Artus’ eyes. Thinking nothing more of it, he began to casually walk off alongside a leaf-covered trail, veering away from their small ‘rest area’. He wasn’t exactly sure where he was going, but he figured it would be a good time for a little walk. Hmm…this is such a hassle. It’s one problem after another with us it seems. Artus walked, a bit lost in train of thought. It certainly had been a rough little while ever since getting out of the prison, and things just seemed to have been piling on top of each other. Admittedly, it was rather exciting to be venturing around like this, but sadly it could very well prove to be dangerous since they were in the middle of war period.

Artus continued to walk some more, eventually noticing that the odor was considerably strong in the area he was in. “Ughhh…[/I] He muttered, covering up his nose for a brief second, until realizing it wasn’t much help when the smell was so strong. It even had a rotting scent to it now, which just caused Artus to wince in dismay. He slowly began to walk forwards, where the ground was now filled with longer grass, which only covered the previously visible forest floor. It was only a few steps forwards, until he noticed something in the grass ahead. There were two or three spots where the grass was flattened, almost as if something were lying down on top of it.

Curious, he cautiously took a few more steps forwards, until he could see what seemed to be grey-beings lying down in the grass, motionless. Startled, Artus nearly jumped back and was just about to run, until he noticed that the Spectres were not chasing him at all. “…Huh?” Once again, he slowly approached the Spectres, and once he got close enough, he examined them from a safe distance. The rotting scent in the air was definitely coming from the dead Spectres, which made sense. However, what really intrigued Artus was the manner in which they were dead. Not one, not two, but three Spectres lying dead in the same area, and all three were rotting? It definitely put him on edge. “Hey, guys? There’s something over here!“ He shouted, glancing around, not knowing if he had ventured a bit too far for anyone to hear. Could this…be what’s scaring the horses? He stood there, thinking for a moment whilst covering up his nose. He wasn’t sure why the horses would be scared of something dead, seeing as how it would not have been a threat. He crept closer to one of the monster's bodies, and kneeled down to see if he could see anything unusual about it, trying to cover himself from gagging. No marks or visible wounds it looks like...but -

"Hey, what are you doing?!" A voice suddenly boomed through the forest, interrupting Artus' train of thought, and at the same time, startling him. He quickly stood up and looked forwards, and saw three figures hastily approaching Artus. Two men and one woman it seemed. "Get away from the Spectre." One of the men spoke and quickly drew dagger at Artus as they drew in closer. The man was around average build and height, and his dark hair was in a ponytail of sorts. The other man also had long dark hair, but was not fashioned into a ponytail, whilst the woman had shorter blonde hair, just above shoulder length. Other than the fact that they were all wearing brown, burlap rucksacks on their backs, they seemed like ordinary people. light tunics and pants, it almost seemed as if they were adventurers of the sort. Or at least, people who liked to go outside a lot.

"Hey, relax, I'm stepping away." Artus calmly said, putting his hands up as he took a few steps back. He didn't think fighting three people at once was a smart move, especially if the others had concealed weapons as well.

"What did you do to them?!" The woman shouted accusingly, quickly approaching the dead Spectre and kneeling down to inspect it.

"What? Don't accuse me of doing anything. I did nothing to them, they were like that when I got here." Artus furrowed his brows looking at the trio in front of him. He wasn't even sure why they were so worked up over the dead beasts anyways. "Why does this bother you anyways? You realize this forest would be safer if they were gone, right?" Artus' angry tone was getting more prominent now, hoping the situation would de-escalate a bit. The trio stood quiet, with the woman giving Artus a look of disgust.

"Or maybe people should stop wandering into places they shouldn't go!" The woman shouted back at Artus. This just made him a tad more annoyed, seeing as how, ironically, those three also happened to be in a 'place they shouldn't be wandering into'.

"That's funny, because the last time I saw those things, I was simply just enjoying a horse-ride minding my own business, until they decided to have drop in for a visit. Trust me, not only did they try to kill the horses, but they were going to kill everyone else with me too. Hell, I even ended up taking off one of their arms." Artus calmly explained why a few dead Spectres here and there couldn't possibly be a bad thing, but they apparently thought differently.

"And you're proud of that?!" The pony-tailed man yelled at Artus, pointing at the bloodstains on his shirt with his dagger. "Spectres are indeed dangerous. But they are not intelligent beings, even considering they are Monsters. If people like you would simply do a little research on how to avoid and survive encounters with them, maybe they wouldn't be on a population decline." The man put his dagger away, still angrily looking at Artus.

"Nobody has the time for 'research'. Don't act self-righteous when you know you would kill a Spectre if it came down to it. I know I would." Even though Artus did not generally agree with killing so cold-heartedly, he had no problems with killing if absolutely necessary. Artus just kept his stare at the Pony-tailed man, who suddenly just grunted with anger.

"You're not even listening!" He shouted, as he charged at Artus grabbing him by the shirt, attempting to knock him down. Startled, Artus stepped back, but as soon as he did, his foot slipped against the grass, causing him to fall down with the man on top of him, giving Artus a solid punch to the face.


 

*Jean Grey*

Night Triumphant
Rozalia Faustyna Górniak / Rose Thorn
Moll Wood, En Route to Winness​

“He feels animals better than people because he thinks he is an animal,” Rose heard Artus comment aloud. She groaned as she separated herself from the group, though she did have to agree that Tim was in fact, a strange boy who did not have much in the way of sensibility and would have probably sided with an animal regardless of the situation, judging from the way he acted.

Once a sufficient ways off from the rest, her senses came back to her. She inhaled the damp, muggy air, noticing that the odor still lingered. It wasn't so strong that it bothered her - she smelled worse things in Galvez - but it was strong enough for her to know that it wasn't anything that smelled like forest, unless Moll Wood really did smell of rotting and was unlike any other, or that the smell was coming from creatures that lurked in the woods. At the thought of "creatures", Rose unsheathed her scythe as her instincts kicked in. Whatever it was, she wasn't going to be caught off-guard.

“Hey, guys? There’s something over here!" The familiar voice of Artus echoing through the trees distracted Rose. It was clear enough for her to hear, meaning that Artus was probably merely a short distance away. Did he find where the smell was coming from? Rose thought as she walked towards the direction of Artus' voice. Or is he just showing us a goddamn feast he stumbled upon?

As she trudged on forward, the smell only became stronger. Pushing back her damp bangs away from her face, she took a deep breath, and instantly regretted it. She was more than sure that it was indeed the stench of decay, but something seemed off about it. As she pushed on forward, longer grass covered the brown forest floor, and a clearing came into view. Rose would have immediately dashed for the clearing to scold Artus should his "something" have been a feast, but new voices rang out from the glade, shouting angrily.

"What? Don't accuse me of doing anything. I did nothing to them, they were like that when I got here." That was Artus' voice, defending himself from his accusers, his crime apparently doing "something" to whatever it was he found. If she heard correctly, she recalled "Spectre" being mentioned. What did I say? Ineffectual, afraid of fighting and always needs saving, she thought as she stepped towards the clearing to see what the ruckus was.

Artus was in the company of two men, one woman, and three Spectre corpses lying on the grass. The heavyset boy was hovering tentatively over one of the dead grey bodies, but was standing his ground as he asked aloud why dead Spectres were bothering them anyway, before throwing in a comment about how the forest would be safer without Spectres lurking around. Rose took in the appearances of the strangers - both men had long, dark hair, the lone woman had shorter, fair hair, and all three of them were dressed in light tunics and trousers, as well as carrying burlap rucksacks on their backs. They could have been from anywhere, judging from their looks.

"Or maybe people should stop wandering into places they shouldn't go!" The woman shouted back, the annoyance in her voice clear. The woman's comment left an ugly taste in Rose's mouth. Whoever declared forest glades with dead Spectres were now forbidden for human entry anyway? As if dead Spectres were a big fucking deal and needed their "space"…something only the most insane animal and creature rights activists would attest to. Was she actually seeing creature-obsessed lunatics who probably thought that said creatures deserved more rights than humans?

"That's funny, because the last time I saw those things, I was simply just enjoying a horse-ride minding my own business, until they decided to have drop in for a visit. Trust me, not only did they try to kill the horses, but they were going to kill everyone else with me too. Hell, I even ended up taking off one of their arms." Artus rebuffed by recounting their previous experience with the Spectres, his last statement holding a hint of smug pride. It was a pride, however, that was easily picked up by the ponytailed man, who immediately yelled at Artus and told him off, mentioning that the Spectre population was dwindling. Yeah, fucking activists alright.

"Nobody has the time for 'research'. Don't act self-righteous when you know you would kill a Spectre if it came down to it. I know I would," Artus declared, prompting the man to make a grab for his shirt. Artus stepped back, but slipped on wet grass, causing both of them to fall down. A scuffle ensued with Artus getting punched on the face. It was funny how harebrained activists vehemently protected the rights of creatures and animals, yet when it came to humans, basically anyone was fair game…all the more Rose wanted to beat them up, and now was probably her chance for another good fight. She pushed away a few branches and stepped inside the clearing, before setting her sights on the man scuffling with Artus. Acting quickly, she struck the man's back hard with the pole of her scythe, before kicking him on the head twice. She then spun around to face the other two, her blue eyes narrowed.

"Creature rights, huh? Damn, you pricks really got nothing better to do? What if you're the victims? Whose fucking side would you be on then, cunts?" Rose snarled, before launching herself at the remaining man and the woman, kicking the woman before proceeding to punch the man on the jaw. The woman unsheathed a dagger and slashed the redhead's shoulder. Rose wasn't going to let up however, and turned around to grab her neck.

"Wait your turn, motherfucker," she snarled.
 

Monster Guy

Fairy type Trainer
Timothy "Tim" Wolfe
En-Route to Winness​

After the events of earlier, Tim didn't say another word to anyone else, and went on the carriage to take a long nap. Apparently, he was more tired than he thought because by the time because when he woke up again, the group was in a completely place. He awoke to the sound of human voices talking. Tim yawned loudly, and sat up before exiting the carriage, with his wand in hand, and find out the source of the sounds that rudely woke him up.

After a bit of walking, Tim eventually heard the familiar sound of Artus' voice. "What? Don't accuse me of doing anything. I did nothing to them, they were like that when I got here." He eventually found him in the company of a group of people Tim had never seen before, and a bunch of dead spectres lying around. Artus made a comment about how the world would be safer without them, to which Tim thought. The world would be safer without people who don't know how to leave things that clearly want to be left alone, alone.

There were more words exchanged, and one of the strangers punched Artus in the face after he mentioned killing one of the Spectres. Tim couldn't help smiling about that because he had it coming. Even though he felt bad for thinking that afterwards, as it felt mean. Then, Rose came out of nowhere, and started saying some unpleasant things too. "Creature rights, huh? Damn, you pricks really got nothing better to do? What if you're the victims? Whose ****ing side would you be on then, ****s?" Rose snarled, before proceeding to attack the complete strangers.

"STOP!" Tim shouted as he fired a blast of magic from that produced a barrier of ice in between Rose and the strangers, a second blast to knock the weapon out of her hand, and a third one to freeze her feet to the floor so she wouldn't try attacking them again. "Is violence the first thing you turn to when you have a problem?! You're worse than the spectres!" Tim usually wouldn't have said anything, but he was grumpy after having just been woken up. He then went over to the people Rose attacked, and used magic to heal them of whatever wounds they got. "I'm really sorry about this..."
 
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Schade

Metallic Wonder
=-------------------~*~-------------------=
Valmiro Eberhart
En-Route to Winness

After the event that Val would more than happily forget, and after a few comebacks from the others that he actually did forget, the group suddenly found themselves in the carriage on their way to.. somewhere. His mind was somewhat of a blurr right now, and he decided it would be best for him to take a nap in order to regain his cool. He was somewhat re-vitalized after his outburst, which made sleeping a lot easier.

He awoke to the sound of someone exiting the carriage, and stretched properly before trying to figure out just where he was. He was still in the carriage, and it was now empty. He culd hear voices outside. Based on the sounds, it seemed like he had totally missed out on something. He sighed before putting on his cape again before then lea ving the carriage. They were now in a completely new place, and Val did not feel familiar or anything. A part of him cursed himself for sleeping through a potential debrief about where they were heading. He found the group just as Rose was reacting to something Artus said, in her usual charming Rose-Kinda way, of course.

"Huh? We're discussing Animal politics now? How long was I out?" he said. He got no immideate answer, as Rose lunged out at a man and woman for some apparent reason. There were more dead spectres around, which made him a little uneasy. He did not want to go back into Spectre-killing. He shook his head and regained his posture before continuing to observe what was going on. Tim was quick to retaliate, and used his magic to freeze Rose's feet in their place, disabeling her movement, as well as a few other nifty tricks. "Is violence the first thing you turn to when you have a problem?! You're worse than the spectres!" he then told her in a rather aggressive way, before heading over to the newcomers to heal them. Val went over to where Rose was standing, cursing like an old sailor. "Oh, Rosie. What have you gotten yourself into this time?" he said in a dead tone, not bothering with his usual flirty way of adressing her. He manifested his magic and fired a consecutive blast at her feet, slowly melting away the Ice Tim had inflicted earlier. Afterwards, he stepped a few feet behind her to get out of her reach, just in case she felt like strangeling him to death.
 
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Minteh

It's so shiny!
Kenna Keyes​
Moll Wood, En-route to Winness​

With nothing of particular interest visible to her, Kenna opted to stay close the carriage instead of exploring the nearby area. It did not take long for Rose and Artus to seperate themselves off from the group. Valmiro and Tim did not have the same thoughts as their travelling companions, and instead retired to the carriage to nap for a while. After gently petting one of the horses, Kenna sat down a small distance away from it, later joined Hammel Junior. They sat in silence for a long while until he suddenly came at her with a barrage of questions. Kenna quite happily answered most of his questions, much to the boy's delight. When he asked to see her bow and arrows she removed her bow from her shoulder and let him hold it. When it came to her arrows she was more reluctant to let him hold one, partly because he seemed like the sort of person who wouldn't handle it carefully, and partly because Inora was watching them from a distance. The woman already had a grudge against the group and Kenna did not wish to further raise the woman's ire.

“Hey, guys? There’s something over here!" The familiar voice of Artus came echoing through the trees. She wasn't certain how far he had walked, but she imagined he couldn't be too far away as his voice was still very clear. Excusing herself from Hammel, she stood up, took back her bow, and then headed off in the direction in which she had seen Artus walk.

As she made her way to his location, the unpleasant smell from earlier seemed to be growing worse. The odour was so pungent that Kenna found that the scent was beginning to greatly bother her. Doing her best to ignore the stench, Kenna carried on walking, until a clearing came into view. Moments later new voices seemed to arise from the clearing, indicating that Artus was not along. Picking up the pace slightly, Kenna kept low in the treeline and soon came across Artus who was not alone. There were two men, one woman, and three dead Spectres lying on the grass. Artus was stood close to one of the dead creatures, and was doing a surprisingly good job at standing his ground against the three strangers. Kenna watched with a steady gaze as the strangers seemed to defend the actions of the Spectres. Appearance wise the three did not look like anyone special and their clothing suggested they could've come from anywhere. Unfortunately, it did not take long for the situation to escalate out of control. After Artus made a remark regarding killing a Spectre, one of the men lunged at him. Kenna was not sure if what followed next had been part of his plan. A small scuffle ensued whcih resulted in Artus getting punched in the face. Suddenly, Rose appeared out of nowhere, setting her sights on the attacker. Pulling him off Artus, she soon began a violent assault of her own.

"Creature rights, huh? Damn, you pricks really got nothing better to do? What if you're the victims? Whose ****ing side would you be on then, ****s?" She snarled, before directing her attention to the remaining man and woman. Kenna considered stepping out at this point, but decided against it when Tim came into view.

"STOP!" He called out, firing off a blast of a magic to create a barrier of ice between Rose and the strangers. Two more blasts followed: one to knock the weapon out of Rose's hand, and another to freeze her feet to the floor. After berating Rose for her actions, he dashed over to the strangers, and used magic to heal them of whatever wounds Rose had managed to inflict. Kenna made her way to where Rose was frozen to the ground. Val got there before her, and after her mocking her slightly, used his magic to melt away the ice. Afterwards, he took a few steps back from her, which Kenna imagined might've been to protect himself from being assaulted by Rose.

Kenna knew she had to step in now. With Val having 'freed' Rose, there was nothing to stop her retrieving her weapon, pushing Tim aside and attacking the strangers again. Sneaking out of the bushes slightly, she crept up behind Rose, and before the older woman had a chance to dart anywhere, Kenna began to sing to her. It was different to the song she had sung to the dodgy trader back in Kale. Once again there were no words, but she sung in a lower tone. When she finished her song, she smiled slightly, noticing that Rose was not visibly as angry as she was before. "There we go, Rose." Kenna said softly, as she stepped beside and rested a hand on her shoulder. "How do you feel now?"
 

AJ2000

Well-Known Member
| Moll Wood |
En-Route to Winness
The Group


Artus closed his eyes and braced for impact, feeling pain on the side of his face, which went numb, and then quickly filled with pain once again. He could taste the blood in his mouth, obviously cut from the inside, which was to be expected from being hit. It wasn't even a second later, until he felt the weight of the man being lifted from his lower body following a short cry of pain. Artus opened his eyes and saw the man on the ground, being kicked by Rose. Aha...time to give what's coming to them... Artus groaned, massaging his cheek as he slowly got up, a tad dizzy. He figured now that Rose was here, it would have been a good time to deliver some well needed retribution. However, just as the situation was beginning to heat up, it quickly 'cooled' upon the entrance of Tim. A quick jolt of light shot into the area, freezing Rose's feet to the ground, just as she was about to give the woman a pummeling.

"Is violence the first thing you turn to when you have a problem?! You're worse than the Spectres!" Tim yelled, hastily running to the strangers, helping the fallen one up and checking out their wounds. Artus just stood there, now a bit more relaxed, although slightly annoyed by Tim's unnecessary involvement. He clutched the side of his head, trying to wipe away the blood from his red-stained lips.

"Oh, Rosie. What have you gotten yourself into this time?" Valmiro suddenly approached, using the heat from his magic to melt the ice away freeing Rose's movement again, before quickly taking a step back out of caution, presumably as Rose was going to be fuming as always. Luckily Kenna was aware of this, and used some sort of enchantment to soothe Rose down a bit and avoid another scuffle from breaking loose.

“Ughhh…” Artus groaned, massaging his cheek where a bruise was already starting to form. “Consider yourselves lucky that the only violent one is her…” Artus said, looking at the strangers whilst referring to Rose. “A few more minutes and she would have messed you up pretty good.” Artus tried to regain composure after the whole ordeal, approaching the strangers who were also trying to stand back up from being knocked to the ground, one of whom was being treated by Tim.

“You guys are crazy! Was she trying to kill us?!” One of the men shouted angrily, getting up and massaging his shoulder.

“We’re crazy? You guys attacked me first!” Artus pointed to the man lying down on the grass, where Tim hunched over his body trying to heal him up a bit. “And he was the one who drew a weapon!” He exclaimed.

“Symon over there was just trying to teach you a lesson. I mean, you got him pretty riled up.” The man rubbed his head, as he helped his female ‘accomplice’ up as well. “We don’t usually like it when people talk about killing creatures so cold-heartedly. Not to mention, you did look kind of suspicious wandering near the Spectres like that. But I guess we were also t” The man said, pointing at the dead monsters on the ground.

Teach me a lesson? Artus groaned to himself in annoyance. “Suspicious?! Oh come on, I was just standing there. Besides, why would that bother you so much?” Artus furrowed his eyebrows, getting ready to grill the strangers with a heap of questions.

“We’re wildlife researchers. Empathizing with creatures sort of comes with the job.” The woman spoke, rubbing her head out of soreness. “Right now, we are trying to study Spectres. People have a habit of eradicating them, so their numbers are on a decline. Naturally, you stuck out to us.” The woman spoke in a calmer tone now, and sounded almost apologetic. Artus just nodded his head in acknowledgement, but didn’t say anything. He definitely wasn’t going to get mad over a scuffle. After all, what’s done is done.

“Researchers?” Artus mumbled to himself quietly. It did strike him as being odd running into researchers in the middle of nowhere, but just before he could ask more questions, he heard loud mumbling coming from the man that Tim was tending to. Symon was his name, if Artus heard correctly.

“I…didn’t know you had back up…” He spoke, almost slurring his words. Symon put one hand on Tim’s shoulder for support, groggily trying to get up. Rose definitely gave him a good beating, as he still looked like he was going to fall to the ground at any moment. “What are you all doing here? What’s your business in these woods?” He asked, in a non-aggressive tone. It didn’t seem like he was trying to pick a fight anymore, which sat well with Artus. Most likely he did not want another beating, but judging from his face, it was obvious he was feeling a tad bitter about it.

“Just travelling. We need to pass through here to get to our destination.” Artus gave them a simple answer, not wanting to give a backstory nor a real reason for being in the woods. There was a brief pause in the conversation, as the strangers said nothing more, and just looked around as if they were wondering what to do next. Artus was going to suggest they all just leave and part ways, until a voice shouted from the area where the carriage was located.

“Hey! Hey, is everything okay?!” The voice belonged to Hammel, most likely trying to see if the group was okay, due to making a racket.

“Y-Yeah, everything’s fine!” Artus shouted back, assuring Hammel that there was nothing to worry about.

“There’s more of you?” The other man asked, surprised. “What is this? A travelling circus?” He seemed annoyed by the fact that there were more members of the party, but if anything, Hammel and his family couldn’t really be counted.

“Har har, you’re so funny. That was actually our ride. You don’t think we’re all travelling on foot do you?” Artus crossed his arms, arching an eyebrow at the strangers. “Our horses refuse to move for some reason, so we were trying to kill some time, until you came along.”

“Your horses?” The woman put a hand under chin as she began to think. “You…think it could be related?” She suddenly asked, turning to her peers. This question seemed to have intrigued the other researchers, as their faces lit up with curiosity. They stood there thinking for a short while, before the woman turned her attention back to Artus. “Hey, you think we can look at your horses?” She asked.

Artus gave look of shock at first, before shrugging. “They’re not really our horses, but go ahead, I guess. But what did you mean by saying it was related to something?” He asked, pointing the way back to the carriage.

“I’ll explain it, but let’s see the horses first.” She responded, as the group began to make their way back to the carriage.

~​

“Oh wow, they look magnificent!” The woman sped up, hastily jogging towards as they reached the carriage. She approached the horses, stroking them in admiration.

“Uh, hey, who are these people?” Puzzled, Hammel looked at the researchers in a slight frenzy. His wife looked a bit confused as well, and after everything that has happened, Artus didn’t blame her. Last thing she wanted were more people hitching a ride.

“Just some people we met. They’re researchers, and said they wanted to look at your horses.” Artus shrugged at Hammel and his wife, before approaching the researchers who were busy observing and examining the steeds.

“Where are all these people coming from?” Inora exclaimed, rolling her eyes at the sight of everyone. It was bad enough for her that she had to deal with the travelling misfits, but now adding animal activists to the mix was certainly taking its toll. After a few minutes of just standing around idly whilst the researchers did their thing, one of the researchers spoke up.

“Hmm…well, they are definitely spooked.” Symon said, petting the horse.

“They’ve been acting like that for a while now. Mainly around this area and the grasslands. Sometimes they’ll panic, or just stop moving altogether. Sort of like right now.” Hammel replied.

“Look at how tense they are. The muscles look stiff, and the ears are pinned back.” The other male researcher spoke. Artus looked at the horses, and quite frankly couldn’t tell they were tense, but saw the ears laying flatter than usual. “It’s not so bad right now, but you can tell they are in a defensive state. If it was worse, they would be panicking, and their eyes would be wide open, and white.” The researchers continued to pet the horses, who just whinnied gently in response. “Horses are cautious about new places and situations, which is most likely why they have stopped.” Artus already had a hunch that the reason they stopped moving was because the horses felt uncomfortable, but hearing it from the researchers made him more sure of himself.

“But why? Only when the Spectres were closeby did they ever act like this. And these horses travel all the time, so why is this new ‘situation’ causing them to act like this?” Hammel, although interested in what the researchers had to say, still wanted more answers.

“That’s something we don’t really know.” The woman shrugged, looking at Hammel, and then the group.

“But what we do know, is that your horses aren’t the only animals acting weird. We’ve been camped out in these woods for a few weeks already. The fauna have been sparse to say the least. Not to mention the Spectres. They are supposed to be mainly nocturnal, but they’ve been out during the daytime more frequently. Same for most of the other nocturnal creatures as well.” Symon was the one talking now, putting his hand on his chin to think. Artus was very intrigued by their analysis of the wildlife in Moll Wood, giving his full attention to group.

“Why do you think that is?” Hammel asked.

“Honestly, we’re not sure. Something would have to force this behavioural change.” Symon replied, taking another pause. Artus leaned against the carriage, staring up at the sky. He obviously didn't have the knowledge of a researcher, so he couldn't really say anything of significant value, but it was interesting to think about. "But if your horses were scared of the Spectres before, then chances are that's why they have stopped right now. They probably feel threatened, so I would think your best bet is to just wait until nightfall." Symon shrugged.

"Ughh I thought as much." Hammel nodded his head in disbelief.

"Until nightfall? But what are we supposed to do until then? There's nothing to do in this forest." Artus complained.

"You could always give researching a try." One of the researchers smiled, looking at the group. "It's just a suggestion. Plus you never know what you'll find." The man smiled once more, offering the group to accompany them in their exploration of the forests. Artus thought about it for a second. They did got on the wrong foot earlier, but he still wanted to see what the others had to say about it.



 
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Monster Guy

Fairy type Trainer
Timothy "Tim" Wolfe
Moll Wood​

Tim didn't pay much attention to what everyone else was doing while he was busy healing the new people. He was just grateful that Rose didn't come over and start doing more damage. After everyone was patched up to the best of Tim's ability, another argument ensued. Then the new people explained that they were wildlife researchers. They were here to study the spectres, as their numbers were on the decline because people kept eradicating them. Tim smiled smugly at that. He knew better than to kill them, but did anyone in this group listen? Of course not. It was nice to have someone on his side for once.

Once everything got sorted out, the group went back to the carriage, and the people that the carriage belonged to. The horses were apparently spooked, and too nervous to continue moving, which is why they stopped in the middle of the woods. Tim couldn't blame the horses for being terrified. What with there being predators around trying to kill you. He'd be terrified too. He walked up to one of the horses, and gently stroked it's fur while whispering softly. "Everything is going to be ok, no one's going to hurt you..."

“But what we do know, is that your horses aren’t the only animals acting weird. We’ve been camped out in these woods for a few weeks already. The fauna have been sparse to say the least. Not to mention the Spectres. They are supposed to be mainly nocturnal, but they’ve been out during the daytime more frequently. Same for most of the other nocturnal creatures as well.” Symon the name of one of the researchers explained. Tim was interested, even if he didn't know himself why the animals in these woods were acting weird. The researchers didn't seem to know the reason for the animals strange behavior either, but it did mean they were stuck in the woods until nightfall.

"Until nightfall? But what are we supposed to do until then? There's nothing to do in this forest." Artus complained.

"You could always give researching a try." One of the researchers smiled, looking at the group. "It's just a suggestion. Plus you never what you'll find."

Tim didn't need to hear any more than that. "Um... excuse me, but um... I wouldn't mind going researching..." Tim said while shuffling his feet. "Unlike some people I actually do care about the well-being of creatures..."
 

Schade

Metallic Wonder
=-------------------~*~-------------------=
Valmiro Eberhart
En-Route to Winness

“Consider yourselves lucky that the only violent one is her…” Artus said to the strangers, referring to Rose. "Hey, that's mean of you" Val replied in a teasing tone. Rose didn't go coocoo bananas as he had anticipated, so he relaxed a little. The group of people they had met didn't seem to be with malevolent intent after all, referring to themselves as "wildlife researchers". Strange thing, researching Spectres like this, but still. He knew it was best not to ask any questions, if so, they would surely be dragged along again.

What happened next was more or less the group being briefed in on the researchers work, as well as a lecture on hos precious spectres lives were. Though he did agree to an extend on what they were saying, Val couldn't help it but feel negative to the whole ordeal. Animal safety was an important thing, at least when it came to something as delicate as spectres, yet still. Maybe Tim would know how he felt. Though he didn't really expect a friendly "Hey, let's be friends!" kinda approach.

“But what we do know, is that your horses aren’t the only animals acting weird. We’ve been camped out in these woods for a few weeks already. The fauna have been sparse to say the least. Not to mention the Spectres. They are supposed to be mainly nocturnal, but they’ve been out during the daytime more frequently. Same for most of the other nocturnal creatures as well.” One of the researchers explained. this did not come as a shock to Valmiro. Every animal would sooner or later pick up in the changing atmosphere of Emperor Diaz' rule. the fact that it was happening so rapidly somewhat worried him, but he played it cool like always. He walked over to Tim to show his support.

"Until nightfall? But what are we supposed to do until then? There's nothing to do in this forest." Artus complained.

"You could always give researching a try." One of the researchers smiled, looking at the group. "It's just a suggestion. Plus you never what you'll find."

"Um... excuse me, but um... I wouldn't mind going researching..." Tim said while shuffling his feet. "Unlike some people I actually do care about the well-being of creatures..."

Not liking being on the same side as Tim, Valmiro walked forwards as well, trying to be friendly despite feeling it didn't succeed.
"I Agree with the wimp here. Not that I am so fond of animals as a whole, but spectres hold a dear place in my cold, undead heart". he finished his sentence off with a cold tone before continuing.
"Though I am not happy about being dragged into yet another side quest, while alrteady being in a side quest for the side quest of our original mission." He knew he was exaggerating, but people needed to hear it, They needed to get their priorities straight.

"either way, I'm with timmy here." he exclaimed, putting his arm around Tim's shoulder in a friendly manner.
 

*Jean Grey*

Night Triumphant
Rozalia Faustyna Górniak / Rose Thorn
Moll Wood, En Route to Winness​

"STOP!" Rose heard Tim shout from behind her, as she threw another hard punch at the man's jaw. Said stranger cried out in pain, and Rose drew her arm back, ready to throw more, before a wall of ice materialised between her and the man, effectively separating them. She turned back to glare at the young boy with piercing blue eyes. Did he really have to interfere every single time she did so much as lay a finger anyone or anything? Before she could hack at the ice with her scythe, Tim fired another blast of magic that knocked the weapon out of her hand. He aimed the last bolt of magic at her feet, freezing her in place. Rose tried to raise her legs, but found herself unable to move. Curse that stupid boy, she thought, her mind clouding with dark fury.

"Is violence the first thing you turn to when you have a problem?! You're worse than the Spectres!" The small boy yelled, taking the side of the activists as he ran towards them and started patching them up with healing magic, apologizing quietly as he did. Rose tried freeing her legs once more, punching at the slippery surface with a fist, hoping to break it; yet the ice held fast, seemingly kept together by powerful magic. This was one of the moments that Rose wished she was better at magic, if only to wipe off the satisfaction the boy surely must have been feeling. She growled and pounded on the ice wall, glaring at Tim and the activists.

"And do you always feel the need to defend just about everyone and everything you shouldn't be trusting?" She fired back, eyes flashing dangerously. It was indeed a strange quality the boy had - and something Rose knew would more often than not go horribly wrong. No good ever came out of trusting too quickly and she learned the hard, cold way - it had to be earned, and wasn't just a matter of choosing to trust ones whose better side was more apparent. For all they knew, there was perhaps, something going on beyond assumed research. Only the guilty reacted that terribly after all. Artus just happened to be in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and couldn't shut his trap for his own life…but she hated to admit that neither could she - only pawns and weaklings submitted after all. Moments later, she felt the tight grip around her legs melt away, and she looked back to see who had freed her, only for her eyes to meet familiar crimson irises. Val stood a few ways off, hand outstretched.

"Oh, Rosie. What have you gotten yourself into this time?" He commented, and Rose stiffened at the mention of "Rosie". Why did he feel the need to give her such a nickname? And, the more pressing question, why did he bring it upon himself to release her from the ice's grasp? She knew that she could have eventually cracked at the ice - Tim would have gotten fatigued sooner or later, and ice magic could only hold for so long when it was far from winter. Did he really want her to owe him, force himself onto her? He was persistent, she had to admit - most other men would have given up on her and dismissed her as a shrew, or would have forced themselves on her - but she wasn't going to give him any satisfaction. As far as she knew, he was most probably just like other men who wanted control and power, even the simple power over a debt. Rosie, a softer word for the thorny flower, evoking a delicate blossom without its barbs, without the needles that made it strong. She hated the name that implied that she wasn't what she truly was - she was foremost a fighter and survivor before a woman, and the furthest thing from a lady.

"Don't expect me to repay you. I don't need anyone," she said flatly, ignoring his question and trying to make herself loath his persistence. As far as she was concerned, she had not gotten herself into anything - Tim had just overreacted once again. She sidestepped, looking towards the direction of her weapon with the intent of picking it up, and hacking at the ice wall once again. A beautiful, haunting song filled the clearing however, and for some reason she could not point out, her head started feeling foggy, though not in a bad way. It was the sort of fog one felt before drifting off to a peaceful slumber, something Rose only truly experienced under the influence of copious amounts lavender tea. She slowly turned her head in the direction of the song, and saw Kenna, clad in her green cloak. She did not know why, but her dark thoughts had fled her mind, and she found herself oddly comforted and in a sort of haze, her body more tired and less tense. Her glower eased itself some as she straightened herself and picked up her scythe, rubbing her head with her free hand.

"How do you feel now?" Kenna asked, her voice comforting, resting a hand on the redhead's shoulder. Rose looked at the younger woman, shook her head and sighed.

"Wasted. I feels like shit," she deadpanned as she turned her eyes towards the incriminating wall of ice, which had disappeared. She then remembered that she was dealing with activists, and wished she could go over and teach them a lesson, but part of her wanted to kick back and relax instead. The odd feeling in her head and body won out and betrayed her against her will, and she stood unmoving next to Kenna, determined not to let anyone know that something was bothering her, as Artus told the strangers that they were lucky that only she was violent enough to mess them up.

"Hey, that's mean of you," Val chastised. Rose quirked an eyebrow at his defense, again out of surprise, and something really must have happened to her state of mind, because instead of scoffing and warning him that she was indeed violent and dangerous, she smirked ever so slightly. After Artus and the strangers had a short argument over the attack, they explained themselves to be researchers, claiming that they were currently studying Spectres, whose numbers were allegedly on decline. Researchers, she thought as she took in what they said, once again doubting their words, though thoughts of beating them up for any truths left her. She would believe that they were researchers if she actually saw them doing their job.

“Hey! Hey, is everything okay?!” Hammel's voice rang out as he emerged from the trees. Artus tried to assure him that everything was fine, after which one of the "researchers" asked if there were more of them. Artus explained their situation with the carriage and the horses after a sarcastic remark about walking on foot. The woman, hearing about the horses, offered to check on them. Rose merely shrugged, before moving along with Kenna as the group made their way back to the carriage.

----

A few minutes passed, and Rose found the odd feeling start to fade away, thanks to a few shakes of her head and closing her eyes tightly for a few seconds. The horses were indeed spooked according to the strangers, who pointed out their tensed muscles and pinned ears. They then pointed out that horses were usually cautious in new places and situations, as they continued stroking the animals. Unsurprisingly, Tim joined in, whispering something that Rose couldn't pick up, though she had no doubt that it was something a lot nicer than what he had to say to most people. The boy, after all, probably felt animals better than people anyway. Artus pointed out that the horses really only acted oddly in the vicinity of Spectres, and asked what exactly was causing the horses to act weird. As she expected the researchers did not have an answer for that.

“But what we do know, is that your horses aren’t the only animals acting weird. We’ve been camped out in these woods for a few weeks already. The fauna have been sparse to say the least. Not to mention the Spectres. They are supposed to be mainly nocturnal, but they’ve been out during the daytime more frequently. Same for most of the other nocturnal creatures as well.” The man she had beaten up, Symon, added as he put his hand on his chin to think. He then continued, mentioning that he wasn't sure what exactly was causing the behavioural change, and suggested that the group move at nightfall.

"You could always give researching a try. It's just a suggestion. Plus you never know what you'll find." The other male researcher offered for the group to accompany them in their exploration of the forests. Tim immediately volunteered, in his usual annoyingly shy way, and Val followed. Rose herself couldn't care less about researching - scholarly pursuits bored her, and she was more than aware that she did not exactly have any researching skills whatsoever. Still she saw that Artus actually looked interested, and knew that whatever she was going to say wouldn't be of any use. On the one hand, walking through the woods and trying something new wasn't a bad thing, but having to kiss ass, wasting time when they should be moving on, and possibly making herself look stupid was another.

In the end, she crossed her arms, her expression hard.

"Save your fucking blather, and don't think that you'll make me care about this...research."
 
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