The Chosen [IC / Not Accepting / PG-16]

[yui 574]

He's still staring. Every since stepping out of the tower, Pyrrha could feel Damien staring at her. Judging her, maybe? She wasn't sure. Whatever the reason, it was making her uncomfortable, and it was tough to not turn around to check on just why he was looking at her so intently. For the time being, she tried to focus less on him, and more on these oddly-named knights. Something was up with some local minotaur tribes, there was a spooky island over on the lake or something, and there wasn't really a more detailed map of Qresa they had on them. Some of the minor details slipped her mind, as her attention kept inevitably swinging back to the fact that there was a guy with a rather big sword staring at her very intently, before she forced it back onto the knights.

"Don't worry about it," Pyrrha smiled. "A job's a job, after all. And you all seem to be doing a pretty good one with this bridge. Thanks for the information. We can probably find someone further in the island that can fill us in more on the details you're not sure about." Probably. Pyrrha glanced around to the other Chosen. "Right?"

[Hollow 21]

"I just wonder how long those others in your group can last. It seems to me they're going to all fall soon. What a waste of power." 

The last words of the dream gently blew through his ears like a passing wind, causing Lindow to reopen his eyes. Seeing that the other Chosen had finished their business in the tower, he let out small sigh before walking towards the group that had gathered around Keres and the teleportation device. Lindow stood quietly and pretended to watch as Damien and Pyrrha exchanged introductions. In his head, the man wrestled with the haze that seemed to shroud the memory of the woman he had reached out to only moments prior. Though he still couldn't piece together a physical appearance, her words seemed were far easier to recall than before. Was this a product of him growing more powerful? Or perhaps she had just been careless this time...  

"There's no need to be hasty. The adventure has just begun..." He assured himself. When Keres activated the device's magic, Lindow left his thoughts of the grey woman behind as the tower and its surrounding scenery vanished from sight. 

Although the calm welcoming air of Qresa and its bridge guards was much more ideal than greeting they were met with in the dessert, Lindow found himself standing near Keres at the edge of the party. Allowing the others to take the lead in the talk with the eccentric knights, the lion share of Lindow's focus of was set on maintaining a neutral expression as he struggled to recover from the horrid wave of motion sickness that seemed to always accompany the council's transportation magic. 

"Don't worry about it," Pyrrha smiled at the guards before turning her attention to other Chosen. "A job's a job, after all. And you all seem to be doing a pretty good one with this bridge. Thanks for the information. We can probably find someone further in the island that can fill us in more on the details you're not sure about. Right?"  It was already clear that this girl was far more sociable than the rest of the group.

"Indeed." Lindow responded with a nod. Allowing himself to truly observe their new ally for the first time, it suddenly occurred to Lindow that he hadn't seen head nor tail of new Spirit of Wind since Pyrrha was introduced to the party. "I guess we'll be on our way then... we have our own job." Nodding in the direction of the path, he waited for the others to follow before proceeding to leave the knights to their post.

After the group had walked a fair distance, Lindow strolled beside the new Wind Chosen to strike up conversation. "You were with the council for pretty long, right? Did they tell you anything interesting about spirits or the gates?"

Edited May 26, 2019 by Hollow

[Skaia 578]

The chosen of Earth had mulled over the problems that seemed to be plaguing the area. The first of the issues seemed to be more monster related and while Ryia was not knowledgeable on the type of monsters involved she was definitely already feeling more comfortable with the idea of dealing with this then she had been bandits or the sun. The second problem, however, was far more unexplored territory. 

Obviously there was something very strange about a lake with a permanent mist field around it. Her mind could race between it being some weird freak weather, to ghosts, to of course a Demon Gate. The girl was neither sure of how long the town around it was founded nor did she know how long the demon gates around. However she was aware that it probably something dangerous that needed their attention all the same. The girl simply shuddered at the thought of having to fight in water though and was not at all keen to actually explore it.

All the same, as the others before her had, Ryia bowed and thanked the knights for their aid before nidding to Pyrrahs question. Thus, the group began to walk down the road to their next destination. Ryia was more focused on her surroundings than she was the others, simply on the lookout for if any kind of monster was skulking about. 

[LordCowCow 839]

The knights saw the group off with a wish of good luck and a promise that they could come back there for shelter if they had to.

While the group set out on their way Keres could be found with parchment in her hand, writing down notes as they passed by the grassland. She trailed behind the rest as she examined the field. The animals. And the plants that sprouted up. She started to fall farther behind as they continued along the path.

Everything was much more pleasant than the desert. The temperature wasn't nearly as unrelenting. The sun felt much more natural. And all the winds did was sent the scent of flowers to their senses.

Damien made sure to travel near the elf girl and, when Lindow asked her question, the young man laughed. "Right I'm sure they told all sorts of things. If the Council is known for one thing it's their gift at sharing knowledge." She winked at the girl. "Don't worry, this isn't an interrogation, Dark and Stabby is just an inquisitive boy."

He looked towards Ryia. "You've been quiet for a while, something on your mind?" He asked with a smile.

As they could tell from afar the farther they got the taller the grass got. To the point where it was getting difficult for them to see over it.

Unless someone went to her Keres would be fairly far behind the rest at this point. Over a dozen feet from the back of the procession. She had finished up a sentence when suddenly she heard a rustling noise in the grass. The wind had just passed, bringing with it a sweet flower scent, and she could tell this wasn't just wind.

"Hey, everyone." She called out, the volume of her voice not much above talking level.

And then figures came through the grass.

Giant bees. About the size of large dogs, flying a couple feet above their heads, with foot long stingers coming from their thorax. The creatures had emerged from somewhere inside the grass and surrounded the group in moments.

Spoiler

Okay so make sure to get dialogue from each other for any talking done before this.
The map is...tricky. Because I can only give a general idea given that I don't know where everyone is. Especially cause idk if anyone is near Keres. But the gist is...

Map

let me know asap where your characters would be about and I can update the map before posting it in chat.

 

[Doggo 218]

Reinaan was relieved to hear the journey to town would be relatively short and straightforward. With the much less intense sun it felt like it would be a lot easier than moving through the desert. While the others wrapped up with the knights, the Draken got aboard Kloqah after making sure all of his things were in order for setting out. Though he couldn't help but overhear the new Wind Chosen. She barely knew them yet seemed comfortable enough to speak for the group. The boy's nostrils flared for a moment as his attention turned back to getting into position on his mount. There was nothing to be mad at he told himself. At least not yet anyway. He was realizing he hadn't yet directly spoken to the elf girl and was suddenly dreading the inevitable first conversation.

As they began on their way, the lizard duo hovered toward the back, a bit uncharacteristically. Reinaan's main reason for doing so was he wanted to keep an eye on Pyrrha and Damien. But more importantly, Lindow was toward the front of the group and he trusted the man's sharp senses to catch onto danger quickly. Kloqah seemed content to walk at a casual pace behind the majority of the group and Reinaan took to scanning the area around them. Seeing so much grass just go on and on forever on relatively flat land was a new sight for him. The mountains of his homeland weren't nearly so accommodating to it except for around whatever lakes there were.

Upon looking at the group ahead of him again the boy realized Keres wasn't among them. In something of a panic, thinking maybe something had abducted her again, he turned about from his position atop the saddle and saw her trailing behind him. She seemed to be writing and was taking things at her own pace. It was a relief to see she was okay. If it went on too much longer he would probably have Kloqah hold up and offer the girl a ride so she didn't get too separated. But before she could get much more lost in her own thoughts a series of sounds caught Reinaan's attention. A rustling in the grass, and a call from Keres sounded nearly at the same time as large winged creatures surrounded the group. The Draken saw several ahead of the main group and heard a few more behind him. He turned about quickly to see two enormous bees between himself and Keres and one more behind the girl. He acted quickly to produce his spear and jumped off from Kloqah's back as it would prove faster than having the larger lizard turn herself about.

"Keres, one behind you!" he called out to alert the girl to her situation. At the same time he set his sights on the one nearest him and lunged out and upwards with his spear to stab at it. The creature was quick to move to the side and weapon missed its mark. Reinaan carried his momentum forward and began moving towards the Water Chosen, figuring it would be easier to protect her the closer he was. He kept his weapon raised and ready to stab at the thing again if needed. The bee wasn't going to hover idly and went in for an attack, it's stinger readied and trained on the boy. Reinaan was ready of course and attempted to stab at the creatures head. However the weapon lodged itself in the abdomen of the thing, a much bigger and easier target. The bee's advance was halted but it hadn't yet realized the extent of the injury as it continued to fly in place. Meanwhile the other bee between the Chosen of Water and FIre was approaching, its own stinger readied.

Reinaan jerked his spear to side, tearing through the bee's abdomen in the process. Guts spilled from the wound and the injured creature fell to the ground. It's wings and body still moved but it wasn't able to get off the ground for the moment. The other bee meanwhile had gotten close and personal. With it approaching the Draken drew in his breath and exhaled a stream of fire. The bee continued through but the exoskeleton began emitting popping sounds as the creature began burning. The stinger was still coming at him causing him to abruptly end the flame breath before raising his spear to deflect the attack. It managed to redirect the stinger into his collar bone and the very tip of the thing pierced his flesh.

The boy was angry at having his scales pierced by yet another giant creature's stinger and his free hand grasped the length of the thing. He pulled it out of his collarbone which tore the appendage from the end of the bee in the process. It's guts were pouring out from the new hole and the creature began falling down on top of Reinaan. The smell of the burning creature was becoming repugnant and the boy wasn't wanting for guts all over himself so he took a few steps back. Both bees were on the ground and seemed mostly harmless. He'd be sure to finish them off in a moment. But first his attention turned back to Keres as the pain from the sting began setting in. Hopefully the girl had handled the one behind her. He had to get to her soon as he had his suspicions that these were only the first of many more hiding among the grass.

Edited May 28, 2019 by Klonoa

[Hollow 21]

"Don't worry, this isn't an interrogation, Dark and Stabby is just an inquisitive boy."

"Is that my pet name?" Lindow responded right away. He peered back at Damien for a moment with a blank expression before pointing a finger towards the other man in an accusatory manner.  "I thought I told you before that you weren't my type..." 

As he spoke, it occurred to him that Damien had been lingering near Pyrrha since she had been introduced. Though it wasn't too strange that the swordsmen would flock towards the women, Lindow couldn't help but wonder if there was another reason for his interest in the girl. For a brief moment, Lindow's eye strayed to the elven blade on Damien's back. However after seeing the boy turn his attention to Ryia, Lindow shifted his gaze back over to the new Wind Chosen, only to hear Keres call out from the rear of the group.

Hey, everyone."

There was a rustling in the grass, and in moments the party was surrounded by a swarm of massive bees. Glancing back to see that Reinaan had already moved to protect Keres, Lindow turned his attention to four monsters that were approaching the front of the group with a small smirk. "Ryia, step back." His eyes flashed brightly with magic as he called out the Earth Chosen. Eager to stretch his muscles after having his body fully restored at the tower, Lindow surged forward past the girl with a sudden burst of speed. Placing himself in the center of the three bees closest to the group, Lindow reached out and released a stream of crackling electricity into the air around him, causing the cluster of insects to scatter in panic.

"Tsk," He watched in annoyance as the two bees at the far edges of the Discharge managed to slip into the grass at either side of the path, leaving the unlucky one in the center to it's fate as the tendrils of lightning forced its smoking exoskeleton to the ground. Not wasting any time at all, Lindow quickly drew one his daggers and plunged it into his victim with a downwards toss before leaping backwards to rejoin the group. 

"Watch the grass..." He spoke clearly so all those on the battlefield could hear him. There was still a single bee approaching from the front, but those hidden in the brushed posed much more of threat. Trusting one of the others to handle the one in plain sight, Lindow brought his hand up to the sword on his back as he waited for any signs of movement from the sides of the road.

Edited May 30, 2019 by Hollow

[yui 574]

"You were with the council for pretty long, right? Did they tell you anything interesting about spirits or the gates?"

The question had been brought up after the Chosen had already made their way away from those odd knights who did their best to give the group some much-appreciated assistance. While Damien explained that "Dark and Stabby" wasn't running an interrogation or anything, Pyrrha racked her mind for any information she might have gotten out of the Council about spirits or gates, besides the obvious stuff.

"Mmm... not really, I'm afraid. I spent most of my time there training with my weapons, and getting familiar with my spirit. Oh! They did tell me though, that there's supposed to be a--"

Before she could quite finish her sentence though, the group was set upon by very large bees. Pyrrha had seen some big creepy crawlies before, but these were a bit bigger than that. Lindow wasted no time charging into the group of three near Pyrrha's side of the fight, electrocuting the first one and causing the other two to run off into the grass. And then there was one more closing in. It was probably safest to get rid of it from here, right? Luckily, that was what Pyrrha excelled at.

The elf girl took aim with her bow, then let loose with an arrow to pierce one of the bee's wings, to cripple its flight. Then, from her hip, Pyrrha procured her axe. She put her arm back, then swung forward, releasing her weapon and throwing it at the bee's head. It lodged itself firmly in the bee's head, but... it was still moving! "These things are pretty sturdy," she couldn't help but comment. That worked perfectly fine the last time she fought an oversized bug, and she didn't exactly want to go up to the bee to pull her axe out of its head while it was still alive.

[Skaia 578]

As the group continued to walk through the country side, Damien had eventually walked to her side, breaking her concentration. The girl looked to him merely saying, "oh, um, no not really. Just...looking out and all...this place is, um, new and all so-" before she could keep up with her master conversational skills, though, the group's walk had been brought to a halt. With large, flying insect creatures, adorned with large and deadly looking stingers at the base of their abdomen coming out from the bushes, it was clear that they had to get straight to keeping these creatures off of them. Seeing Lindow come up and get ready to engage, Ryia looked back to see the other's situation. Noting that Keres was far further back then the others, with only Reinaan as her support, the girl looked to Damien and said, "um, help the others. Up here. I'll um,"  without really finishing it, the girl moved to the back of the group. 

As she did, Reinaan had seemed to be in a tangle with two of them, with Keres just barely managing to avoid the stinger of the one nearest her by using water to push it back. Getting in there, the girl bashed her mace against her shield, before swinging at the creature to get it off the young water mage. The bee scooted back, to which Ryia merely stepped forward and swung at the creature's abdomen. As she hit, there was a crunching noise against the creature's stomach only for it to attempt to come and stab at her neck with its stinger. Bringing her shield up, the girl raised her shield up and knocked the stinger away, denting her shield in the process. Swiveling around, the girl then went for a swing at the bee's stinger as it went for yet another attack at her. Though, as the creature was far more nimble than she was, it had managed to get out of the way, attempting to finish the thrust into her neck. 

However, before the creature could finish its attack, it had appeared to be halted, whips of water wrapped around it and keeping it in its place. Despite the restraints, however, the creature still seemed to be moving forward, dragging Keres along with her. Attempting to halt the creature's movement, Ryia went to swing at both of the bee's wings, though this only proved to make the bee's movements more erratic than anything else. Going for another attack, parrying the bee's stinger as it went for yet another attack against her, Ryia had managed to bash her mace against the bee's skeleton yet again, the creature seeming to slow down as the damage was starting to take its toll. Unfortunately for her, as she went for one more swing, the restraints seemed to weaken and the bee was freed from Keres's grasp. 

The earth chosen was certainly getting frustrated with this nimble creature's movements, and only more so as she went for yet another swing that the bee darted away from. Ryia's attention was then briefly brought away from the bee, seeing a large amount of water form above the bee, but due to its movements was never over it for too long. Thinking she had to do something to keep it still, the girl went to swing once more, the bee backing away before going in for a sting. This time, however, rather than parry the attack away, Ryia merely extended her shield arm out to absorb the blow. As the stinger struck her shield, she could feel the strength that this creature had, as there was certainly a large amount of tugging behind it. All the same, the water came into position and with a simple, "sorry about this," Keres dropped the water down from the sky. 

Ryia's vision and breath were momentarily clouded and stopped, as she whipped the now wet hair out of her eyes and let loose a gasp for air. Though she was not entirely expecting the water to drop down on her, now a bit soaked, it had seemed to do its job as the bee was grounded. With a frustrated final swing, Ryia brought her mace down, hitting the bee with a sickening crush as its guts spilled out from its exoskeleton. Standing up straight, the girl attempted to catch her breath and looked to Keres. "Be - be careful. Some are - some are in the grass." 

[LordCowCow 839]

Keres turned around at Reinaan's warning and saw the bee flying towards her. The creature was fast. But it seemed to be moving right at her without any sort of strategy or thought. "A bee-line." Keres muttered to herself.

Puns aside the creature's stinger looked incredibly dangerous. She knew that if she got caught by it that it could easily get stuck and any attempt to pull it out would harm her greatly.

Gathering up some water she swatted the sting away from her. Unfortunately without much force behind it the bee wasn't much deterred and it went at her again. She stepped back but knew that she wouldn't be able to dodge out of the way. So she once again used the water to push the bee to the side and avoid the attack.

She wasn't sure how much longer she could keep this up. Thankfully Ryia came in at that moment and together they were able to bring the bee down. "Um." Keres said, stepping up beside Ryia. "Sorry...about that." She gestured at the girl's dripping form, having been caught by the splashing of Keres's attack. "And thank you..."

---

While the bee that Reinaan had burned didn't seem to be moving any more the other one was still there. If barely. With a wound in its body and having difficulty staying in the air the bee would surely die soon. However it wasn't quite dead yet and its instincts were to attack. So it moved its large body, barely hovering above the ground, at Reinaan and stabbed at the Draken's leg as his attention had shifted towards Keres.

The area where the bee had caught him with its stinger started to ache and throb painfully. As far as he could tell it wasn't poisonous but the pain did manage to distract the young hunter somewhat.

---

"um, help the others. Up here. I'll um,"

"Yes, of course, as you command milady." Damien said with a mock bow. He placed his hand on the hilt of his sword as he watched the Chosen take off. Most of the bees fell easily. "Suppose can't expect much from fluffy flying bugs right?" Damien said and started strolling towards the bee at the far end as the new Chosen attacked. "Here's some advice sweetheart." Damien said. "Examine the enemy. Figure out what kind of attacks work. These things probably don't really need their heads all that much and a little hole from an arrow ain't gonna do much."

He smirked at her. "But don't worry, I've got this, Miss Chosen."

He took off at full speed then, drawing his blade to slash at the bee's abdomen.

The bee, somewhat disoriented by its sensory organs being damaged by the axe, still managed to fly above Damien's sword as the man ended up running past the bee.

The creature began to descend near him and, as it tried to stick its stinger in him, Damien twisted his body and brought his sword in a horizontal arc. Slashing into the bee's abdomen and cutting through the area above the stinger.

Guts spilled out from the bottom of the insect and it collapsed to the ground.

Wrinkling his nose he stepped over the pile and wiped his blade clean. "See what I mean?" Damien said to Pyrrha.

Soon after the bees from the grass burst out, having moved closer towards where the elf was, and in moments were coming at her from two sides in order to skewer the girl with their stingers.

Spoiler

And then there were...three. If it wasn't clear before if you go at them in certain ways the bees aren't that hard to bring down. But you really don't want to get their stings deep in any part of you.

Map

 

[yui 574]

"Here's some advice sweetheart. Examine the enemy. Figure out what kind of attacks work. These things probably don't really need their heads all that much and a little hole from an arrow ain't gonna do much. But don't worry, I've got this, Miss Chosen."

"It worked last time I had to fight an oversized bug," Pyrrha muttered. Maybe bees were just a different story. Pyrrha hurried over to the dead bee, only to be stopped in her tracks by those other two bees coming out from the sides, stingers out and ready to make her into a shish kebab. The girl leapt back, drawing and releasing an arrow aimed at the abdomen of one of the bees. She wanted to send out Eltain - it would make the fight way easier - but nobody else seemed to be using their spirits. Were they supposed to save them for special occasions? Was there some sort of physical tax she wasn't aware of that didn't apply in the Council's tower?

Whatever it was, it was probably good to show what she was capable of on her own merits anyway. And so, for good measure, she shot a second arrow at the same bee's abdomen. "And my name is Pyrrha," she added. "Not Miss Chosen!"

[Hollow 21]

Lindow watched with interest as Pyrrha leaped back and fired two shots into one of her attackers. He had intended to use this as an opportunity to observe the girl's abilities, but after seeing that both of the bees were still chasing her down despite her attack, the man shot Damien a glance before springing into action. Swiftly closing in on the bee that had been struck by the two arrows, Lindow drew the Bandit Cleaver with both hands to slice at the bee's abdomen on the pass. 

Now brandishing a gash across it's body, the large insect quickly turned face the new threat. Though it's stinger hung crooked, it wasted no time in fly straight towards Lindow in an attempt to run him through. Impressed by his prey's sturdiness, the Thunder Chosen smirked before pivoting to the side at the very last moment to allow the stinger to fly buzz past him.

"Bee gone." Lindow chirped whilst bringing his hand down to one of the scimitar that rested on his hip. Suddenly whipping into a blur of movement, Lindow quickly sliced into the bee's left wing with the Scimitar, forcing its large body to tilt to the side. In the same instant, he bit into the bug's abdomen once more with the Bandit Cleaver, causing the bee's guts to spill out onto the ground with rest of its body falling close behind. 

Shaking off the fluids from his blade, Lindow remained on high alert as hr observed the second bee moving towards Pyrrha.

Edited June 5, 2019 by Hollow

[Doggo 218]

Ryia had gone to Keres' aid while the Draken had been caught up with the two bees he'd been fighting. Reinaan was relieved but knew he wouldn't let her linger too far behind anymore to make sure things like this didn't keep happening. As the others moved about and readied themselves for more to appear from the bushes, the boy was distracted by the sting he'd received. It had been pretty shallow and yet the pain had continually built up. In attempting to process the pain he tried to think if he'd ever been stung by something like this before. He'd seen much smaller bugs and imagined if they had stingers they wouldn't have pierced his scales like these had managed to. His thoughts carried him away from the battlefield for a moment as he held a hand over the injury as if holding it could somehow make it stop hurting or pulsating.

Distracted as he was, Reinaan was not aware the bee that he'd only speared was still moving along the ground and coming for him. However, someone was looking out for the boy. Kloqah had turned about to see what her small lizard rider was going to do once he leaped off her back. She'd been largely disinterested until seeing him get hurt yet again and from that point had started moving his way. She huffed in frustration only to see the other bee moving towards him with his back turned. The larger lizard began charging, not at the bee but at her rider, aiming to show him how to stay out of harm's way one way or another. Only as the lizard's head plowed into his back did Reinaan realize she was approaching. Not braced for impact, he could feel his feet leaving the ground under the lizard's force. As he had still not registered the bee, his only thought was what to yell at her when he landed however many feet away she'd managed to push him. Though a face full of dirt was on the way before any yelling could happen.

[Skaia 578]

Ryia simply shook her head as Keres apologized and thanked her saying, "oh it's um. It's nothing." The girl wiped the wet hair out of her face again and said, "I um, hadn't had anything to drink, today, yet so..." As she tried to, awkwardly, pass off a joke to the water chosen, she then said, "but um, glad you're safe." Ryia seemed to more mumble it, feeling a bit ashamed that she had let Keres get into such a position to begin with, but all the same was glad that she had managed to keep her out of harms way. This, however, was cut off and filled with more dismay to the girl as she saw the bee's jump out towards Pyrrah. As the Wind Chosen tried to navigate around them, the girl then saw that Reinaan as well had been caught off guard by a still living bee. 

Cursing herself for leaving it alone, the girl withdrew her mace and took out a scimitar. Getting ready to fight only to be briefly stunned by the lizard charging and knocking the Draken away, confused by the lizard's sudden actions. All the same, shaking off her confusion the girl charged at the bee's side, going in for a slash with her bladed weapon at the creature, all the while keeping a bit cautious of  the lizard mount. 

[LordCowCow 839]

"I um, hadn't had anything to drink, today, yet so..."

"You probably shouldn't drink that water..." Keres responded. She watched as Ryia ran off towards Reinaan. Or more specifically the bee near him. With a bit of luck and some help from his giant lizard companion Reinaan was able to dodge the injured bee's desperate attempt to sting him. Ryia's attack was more than enough to finish off the dying bee before it could try and sting again and it lay on the ground with several gaping wounds. Laying in a pile of insect guts.

"And my name is Pyrrha. Not Miss Chosen!"

Damien rolled his eyes and ran towards her as the bee seemed not too worried about the injuries she had inflicted and was coming in hot towards her. The young man, taking a page out of Kloqah's book, body checked the elven girl and knocked her away from the bee's assault.

"You're gonna be Dead if you're not careful." Damien told her as he leaned back to avoid the sting and letting it pass harmlessly past his face.

Damien gripped his sword and swung upwards. Catching the bee next to its sting and cutting through its lower half the creature nearly fell to the ground in two halves.

"Well, that was fun." Damien said, returning the blade to its sheath. "What's next, giant beetles? Maybe a killer mantis?"

Keres slowly made her way forward, towards the majority of the group. "They must have been drawn to this area for some reason. Perhaps they feed near here."

As she said this the more attentive of the group would hear some more rustling a fair distance away as well as buzzing. "More coming." Keres warned.
 

Spoiler

 

Okay so no map atm but take this time to decide the course of action from here. Will aim for post next week and anyone who hasn't posted I'll assume has not moved or done anything.

Also Yui I didn't mention but from here on keep track of your arrows and if you write Pyrrha picking any used ones up come to me to see how many of them she can recover. Don't forget that if you throw a weapon then it's gone unless she specifically picks it back up.

 

 

[yui 574]

"You're gonna be Dead if you're not careful."

"I knew that," Pyrrha retorted. "...but thanks for the save." The bee situation... seemed to be handled? Unless there was an invisible one somewhere, that seemed to be about it.

"Well, that was fun. What's next, giant beetles? Maybe a killer mantis?"

Killer mantis could be fun. Or at least, more fun than giant beetles. I wonder if we could tame giant beetles and ride them? Pyrrha got up to her feet, brushing the dirt off her trusty brown cloak, and made for the bee she'd shot at just moments ago. Two arrows in this one's abdomen, and then one in the wings of that bee over in the back. Maybe she should have fired more arrows in hindsight. That time in the tower must have softened her up a wee bit or something. Pyrrha pulled the two arrows from the closer bee, but off in the distance, she could hear... buzzing. And plenty of it.

"More coming."

She'd have to check how many of these arrows were still usable later. With a more urgent pace, Pyrrha made for the bee in the back, yanking the arrow out of its wing and gripping the axe she'd thrown at its head. "We probably shouldn't stick around to fight them," Pyrrha suggested, tugging at the axe and pressing against the dead bee's head. She'd really gotten this thing lodged in there. With a final forceful yank, she pulled the axe out of the bee's head and nearly fell over onto the road behind her. The blade was all covered in bee guts in the top and middle parts. Yuck. "Unless sitting around killing bees is some sort of Chosen rite of passage?" Taking care not to dart off or anything in case the group did decide to stick around, Pyrrha started further down the road at a brisk enough pace. She'd definitely be able to keep pace with the others if leaving was the course of action though. As she walked, a thought crossed her mind. It probably wouldn't stop bugging her for a bit...

Was there some sort of rite of passage she'd have to do?

[Skaia 578]

With the group having felled the bees, coming out mostly unscathed, Ryia let out a sigh of relief. The flying insects had proved to be much more a pest than she had originally been expecting, but it had appeared that their pestering hadn't come to an end just yet. As the sound of bees could be heard coming from beyond the grass, it seemed that they needed to start getting a move on. Nodding as Pyrrah made the suggestion to start walking along, Ryia said, "right, we should go." Looking at Keres she said, "but...I am curious too. Especially since, well...it'll be trouble for others crossing here." Looking to the others she then said, "we should um, probably come back and investigate...later..." Beginning to make her journey forward.

Realizing something, Ryia pulled another of the scimitars they had gained from their handy traveling mule, and looked ahead saying, "oh, um, Pyrrah. Wait up." Making her way forward she said, "the uh, the bees didn't seem to really um be hurt by your arrows. Not to say that your archery is bad or anything but well...if you're without a weapon, well, here." Presenting the scimitar to the girl she said, "I figured that um, you could make use of it. In a bind, or something." 

Once all that was done, Ryia knew that she would simply slow the group down if they continued on foot, her being none too quick on her feet. And so, much to her dismay, the girl looked to the mule saying, "um, sorry about this." Before getting onto it, hoping that it would be able to give her a ride at a faster speed than she could move herself. 

Edited June 15, 2019 by Skaia

[Doggo 218]

With a growl Reinaan stood up and dusted himself off and spat out some dirt before turning to his mount to yell at the lizard for knocking him over. However this motion revealed the injured bee that had been coming for him that Ryia had just finished off. It didn't take long for the boy to put two and two together as Kloqah was showing no further signs of aggression. The fierce expression he had faded as he sighed and thanked the lizard. The one sting he had was still throbbing and annoying him greatly but he had to try and keep his mind on the matter at hand to not have a repeat showing. Looking around, it seemed the others had more or less successfully repelled the wave of bees but with distant grass shaking Keres made the observation that more were coming. The group seemed determined to get away rather than sit by and figure out exactly how many there were and Reinaan was no different. He made his way to the Water Chosen with his mount right beside him.

"Come on, it'll be easier on you to ride Kloqah. I'm not letting you fall behind again." he said, still blaming himself for not keeping her with the rest of the group before any of this started. Keres looked back to the grass before nodding briefly.

"That's true..." she said while looking to the mount before attempting to get up. Reinaan gave her a friendly shove up and onto the lizard's saddle proper before jumping on quickly and sitting behind the girl himself. She stayed quiet and leaned forward as much as possible, likely not wanting to make contact with him. Even after being in direct contact with him as he'd carried her on his back from the lamia's lair it seemed the girl wasn't really yet comfortable around him. The boy tapped at the lizard's sides with the heels of his feet before ushering her onward at a bit faster a pace than she'd been going on the road thus far. She seemed to understand the need to move quickly and was certainly faster than either of the two riding would have been on foot.

"Let's get a move on!" he called out to the others. Ryia's idea to return and investigate was worth considering but perhaps a later time when they'd had a chance to learn more about the area and stock up on supplies at a town.

"I'm gonna need you to watch our left side pretty well." he then said to Keres in front of him. Without explaining he held his free left hand to his right collarbone over the bee sting. The pain was going to draw his gaze to his right side more often than he'd like for this situation so the extra set of eyes was going to be important.

[Hollow 21]

"Survival is the only right of passage in this line of work." Lindow smiled at Pyrrah whilst Ryia approached to offer her one of the scimitar they had looted from the bandit hideout. As he spoke his hands quickly worked to removethe guts from his blades. "Just make it through the night and you're already off to a great start..."

The sounds of the approaching enemies grew louder by the second, and though they had managed to dispatch the first wave with ease, he didn't want to stick around to see what an entire swarm of these creatures was capable of. "Alright, let's get out of here." He took a moment to glance back at the slower members of the party to be sure that hey'd be able to keep up. Satisfied with what he saw, Lindow quickly returned his weapons to their scabbards before proceeding down the path at full speed.   

[LordCowCow 839]

The group was able to make a fast pace down the road. The fact that the road was mostly straight, with only gentle curves, and seemed fairly well taken care of helped them speed along without much trouble.

The mule, happy that someone was paying attention to it, seemed not to be troubled by the load and in fact managed to surge ahead of the rest and had to be reigned in a bit as to not get too far ahead of the rest.

They continued on, rushing, until the grass started to get lower once again, and Keres announced that she believed they were far enough away. They would continue to be alert but nothing came out of the grass to attack them.

Keres, with what seemed like relief, slid off of Kloqah's back. She hesitated and patted the lizard's neck before drifting off to the side. She wasn't fully comfortable with having been trapped with the Draken for so long and it felt much better being away. She wasn't entirely fond of the memories that came to her when the Draken was too near.

---

Myyrha, the largest city on Qresa. Traders from all over come here to sell their goods to the adventurers and mercenaries that pass through the city. Unlike many other cities in Fantalius this city is known to be refreshingly peaceful. Though the merchants, and the theater, makes the city rather lively.

It was protected by rows of high stakes, the kind meant to keep out wild animals and mounted attackers, surrounding the entire city. With watch towers set up where mercenaries with ranged weaponry kept an eye on things.

As the group approached they saw the portion of the wall that the road led up to was being pulled apart. Though it seemed it wasn't to let them in.

Instead it was allowing a trio of people to leave the city.

Two of them would stand out in any situation. They were a pair of yellow scaled Draken. Both in the armor of a Templar and standing on either side of the third person. One of them was holding a large parasol over the one in the middle. Who mostly stood out due to the contrast to their companions.

A young, blonde, girl with bright blue eyes.

Keres's eyes widened slightly in an unprecedented level of expression for the Water mage. As they neared this odd trio she slipped behind the others as though to hide among them.

[Skaia 578]

While the mule seemed to be able to stride without a problem, given how many things it was holding and knowing that she herself was not a light load, she still couldn't help but feel sorry for the creature. That being said, she also couldn't help but feel a bit embarrassed, not only by the kind of ride that she was hitching but also as well by the fact that it kept on striding ahead of the rest of the group. Having to constantly try to get it to slow down and keep pace with the rest, a process the young chosen had next to no experience in, she couldn't help but feel greatly awkward about the whole situation. Eventually, though, as the group had made it to a lowering in the grass, the girl dismounted the mule. Looking to it, she patted it on its neck saying, "um...thank you and sorry, again." 

After a bit more walking, the group eventually was met with the sight of a city. While the girl marveled at the defensive perimeter that the city had up, her attention was quickly arrested by the  sight of the wall being pulled part. As she watched, the girl seemed to move quickly to the side of the road as she was able to see for what reason this wall was opened. Being able to recognize the armor of the templars and the large figures that wore them, the girl had figured that whoever it was that they were escorting must have been someone important. While Ryia had her own curiosities about what they could be doing here, and more importantly if they had any information about their own quest, the girl still couldn't bring herself to ask them. Instead, knowing it customary to just simply watch such a person go by, the girl stood to the side of the road and didn't keep her eyes on them. 

[yui 574]

"Survival is the only right of passage in this line of work. Just make it through the night and you're already off to a great start..." That sounded like kind of a given now that Pyrrha was hearing it for herself. But it was reassuring in a way! All she had to do was not die, and she'd fit in just fine.

"Oh, um, Pyrrah. Wait up."

"Mmm?" Turning to face... it was on the tip of her tongue. Ry, Ry... Ryia! Turning to face Ryia, Pyrrha raised an eyebrow. Was something wrong? Did she have a smaller bee on her back or something? If so, she certainly hoped the girl wasn't about to swat it with the scimitar she was holding.

"The uh, the bees didn't seem to really um be hurt by your arrows. Not to say that your archery is bad or anything but well...if you're without a weapon, well, here. I figured that um, you could make use of it. In a bind, or something."

Ah. "Thanks. You can never have too many weapons as long as you can carry them all, right?" Pyrrha took the weapon, swinging it around in the air as she continued down the road to get a feel for it. It certainly wasn't the axe she was familiar with. It probably wouldn't be good for throwing, but maybe that was for the better. Down the road the group continued, until they got to the biggest city on this island. Myrrha. Sounded a lot like her own name, come to think of it. That tickled her funnybone, prompting a small, stifled giggle out of Pyrrha as the words "Pyrrha in Myrrha" crossed her mind.

As the team got closer to the gate, it opened. While she initially thought this was to give the Chosen a warm welcome to town, it seemed the gate wasn't necessarily for them. Two really tall draken emerged, alongside a human girl. With the Chosen of Water hiding within the group, Pyrrha could only guess she and this mystery girl knew each other from somewhere. The real question was where they knew each other from, then.

But was it really Pyrrha's place to pry like that? No. Besides, although this girl must have been important in some regard, Pyrrha didn't recall hearing about anyone matching her description. So she couldn't have been that important, right? The ones that really caught her attention were those towering draken at her sides! But... they were leaving, and it would probably be rude to hold them up.

But that was okay! Because there was another draken, right here with her! Turning to the group's resident draken, Pyrrha casually asked "Are draken usually that tall?"

[Doggo 218]

Escaping the second wave of bees had proved to be a straightforward affair for the group. Reinaan wasn't surprised to see Keres slip off of Kloqah the moment she felt it safe to. It still bothered him to not entirely know the cause of this unease the girl had around him. As it was he'd never had enough time to even talk to the Nature Chosen much, let alone on why she seemed to not like him. He was determined to not let this repeat with Keres but now was hardly the time for such things. The bee sting pain dulled slightly as time passed and the Draken was still annoyed he'd gotten hit with his scales in top shape. Not enough to seek out armor but still. 

But for now, the city they had been aiming to travel to was before them. Reinaan was impressed to see the scale of the place, having not regularly gone to human dwellings. It dwarfed the small desert village but that was to be expected in the much more forgiving climate of Qresa. As they approached what appeared to be the main gate to the town three people left the city. Two armored Draken, Thunder Draken by the glimpses of yellow scales the boy could catch through their templar get ups, and a small human woman with bright blond hair. What she was doing with such a Draken escort Reinaan could only wonder and it more annoyed him than anything to see more members of his own kind so blindly loyal to the council that he loathed. Still, he wasn't planning to make much of it until the new Wind Chosen spoke to him, asking him about the average sizes of Draken.

"That's average height for a fully grown Draken" he managed to say after a prolonged initial growl. Reinaan hadn't been particularly keen on interacting with Pyrrha as it was, but this topic was a sore spot. He knew he still had about another foot to go to match either of the two before them. He had been counting on not encountering many Draken for this very reason. Now the others would all know he was smaller than he ought to be. God forbid if one of them call him short. "Bet they don't look half so big or tough without their dumb armor" he said with no particular regard for who heard the claim. As it was the boy was simply trying to nurse the wound to his ego he'd produced entirely on his own by comparing himself to these strangers. But if he could convince himself they were only imposing as Templars and not as Draken he might feel a bit better about things.

[Hollow 21]

After successfully fleeing bee's territory, the group found themselves at their next destination before very long. The gates of Myyrha swung open upon the party's approach. Though it seemed it was to allow a girl and her templar escort through, rather than let the Chosen in. Noticing Keres's reaction to the other girl, Lindow immediately leaned forward and brought his face down so it was level with the tiny water mage's ear. 

"Friend of yours, little Keres?" He said in a low coo as he watched the blonde girl pass by. Though her face didn't seem to ring a bell, the girl had an air of importance about her that peaked Lindow's curiosity. It wasn't just the fact that she was flanked by the council's men... perhaps it was his mercenary background, or even his time spent living on the streets. Whatever the reason, he could smell money on this girl and it was rather interesting that Keres had any connection to her, given the fact that water chosen was likely living in a some kind of shed in the woods before this adventure started.  

 "Bet they don't look half so big or tough without their dumb armor"

Reinaan scoffed just a little too loudly at the sight of the two larger, more formidable looking Draken that were accompanying Kere's unlikely acquaintance. The pettiness oozing from the boy's words caused Lindow to smirk before shooting the him a glance and saying "Careful, your scales are starting to turn green..." 

[LordCowCow 839]

Keres was doing her best to avoid catching the eyes of the strangers. She wanted to avoid contact with them as much as she could and was certain that, were they to spot her, she wouldn't have a chance to be left alone.

On the other hand Damien didn't look concerned in the slightest. He honed in on the pair of Templar. He glowered as he watched them walk up the road towards them even as he stepped to the side with the rest of them.

The trio clearly should have noticed them but as they got nearer and overheard Reinaan's words one of the Templar glanced over at the boy. He looked him up and down and gave a derisive snort, looking down, literally, at the younger Draken.

Keres realized she was holding her breath as they got nearer. She felt nerves nearly overtake her as she hoped that she wouldn't be spotted.

And yet, inevitably, she was.

The girl in the middle casually glanced over at the group and took note of each of them. Then, when she saw Keres, her eyes lit up. She clapped her hands out and let out a delighted noise. "Ooooh, is that young Keres?" She said. The girl turned course and headed over towards the Water Chosen. Which forced the Draken holding the parasol to turn with and follow her into the group, keeping her shielded with the object.

Once the girl got near to Keres she would reach out to grasp her hands. "It has been too long since...well, I saw you earlier than you saw me, but before that it was such a long time! I was ever so sad when I heard you left the tower. You had such promise. Such potential. You were always my favorite you know. And then the next time I see you all this Chosen business was going on and I couldn't even say hello."

Something about that alerted Damien and he sidled near to Keres. "Hey, so is this your friend or something? Why don't you introduce her?" He asked, while keeping an eye on the Templar. Who was hovering over the blonde girl protectively and keeping an eye on the rest.

"She's...Hannah." Keres said, voice catching with nerves for a moment. With a hesitation she continued. "Council-member Hannah."

[yui 574]

"That's average height for a fully grown Draken. Bet they don't look half so big or tough without their dumb armor."

"Armor does have that effect on some people, doesn't it?" Pyrrha thought aloud. Still, these guys seemed pretty huge. She looked over Reinaan, picturing him in a similar suit of armor. It certainly did give him a more imposing presence if he was wearing that stuff! Even as she thought about how the rest of the group might look in those suits of armor, it had the same general effect to different extents. Keres less so than the others, Reinaan a bit more than the rest.

More interesting than the draken templars though, was the girl who seemed to spot Keres out of the group, and merrily made her way over.

"Hey, so is this your friend or something? Why don't you introduce her?"

"She's...Hannah. Council-member Hannah."

Ohhhh, so Council members do leave that tower sometimes! Which effectively meant they could meet one just about anywhere, right? Pyrrha had some mixed feelings about that one, since some other Chosen clearly had trouble trusting them. "What brings a member of the Council all the way out here, though?" she asked. Pointing her fingers out to Hannah and Keres, she added "And for that matter, how do you two know each other?"