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Post by Ignis Aghartus on Jan 2, 2011 9:17:32 GMT -6
Ignis trudged on, walking through the desolate land that was all that was left of Ostia in these days... There had not been much rest since their last stop at Pherae, but Ignis was used to such strenuous trekking when he was in Sacae.
He was finally on the soil of Ostia, and could now start his official search for the Book of Scrying... The book that was supposed to grant powers... The power that both he himself and that older man with him wanted... There was the problem of the older man wanting to get the book all for himself, but Ignis would have to think of that later... He also had to be wary... Something had obviously scared Lucas back in Pherae... And Ignis did not want to find out why now...
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Post by Alexander on Jan 5, 2011 1:55:32 GMT -6
They had reached Osita, but it was in ruins. All that was left of rubble now. Alex saw a few people trying to rebuild their homes, but there were only few. Not much could be done in a year, when the whole city was in ruins and scavengers raomed about.
And then he heard it. A deep howl not far from where they were. And then he heard more howls after that, it was like they were all in synch. He then heard small footsteps... did not sounds like it came from humans. Alex could smell.... he had a better sense than other humans.... what a foul stench. There were vicious creatures.
He turned to the other two. "You both, be on guard. I'm quiet sure we'll be having company soon, and I don't think its friendly." he said in a deep voice once again.
He watched as the residents ran after they heard the howl. They ran north, possibly to their camps. Alex could see.. not clearly, but still well enough... there were mountains up there. Perhaps that was where the treasure lied, in one of the caves up there! His heart was pounding, and as they continued walking, he only grew more excited. All his senses just grew stronger for the moment.
And that was what helped him. He heard another step, and the stench was getting stronger! He looked forward- a weird wolf-like creature was coming out of one of the ruins. Its eyes were red... and its fangs were huge. It did not look like one of your average wolves.
"Ok boys, we're in for some rough business." he cautioned them.
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Post by Ignis Aghartus on Jan 5, 2011 2:41:00 GMT -6
Ignis had heard them too... Rough snarling sounds... Sounds of a scavenger beast... No... A demon beast...
As soon as one of the beasts stepped forward, Ignis unsheathed his sword and stood poised, ready to attack, as another two more wolves stepped forward.
---
Lucas was scared, terrified, even, when the snarling sounds came. He envisioned something much larger than him, a dragon perhaps. He was already starting to regret coming on this mission. It was much more dangerous than he had expected, and now, of all places to go, they came to Ostia, the land that had been ruined and was now overrun by these beasts.
As a few of the beasts stepped forwards, Lucas breathed a sigh of relief as he realised that they were only wolves and not anything big like dragons. Nonetheless, Lucas had to unsheath his sword and get ready for battle.
---
Ignis looked as the older man and Lucas got ready for battle. The older man was not using any weapons... Was he a mage? Or could he fight with bare hands? Well, now was not the time to ask. As they got into their battle positions, the wolves were also getting ready, and without warning, they charged forwards, their lithe, lean forms darting left and right.
Ignis calmed his mind down and watched their movements closely, barely dodging the attack of the first wolf that came forward, while the other two darted towards Lucas and the older man.
As the wolf went past him, Ignis moved his sword upwards in a vertical stroke to strike the wolf on his stomach. However, the wolf was quick enough and leaned towards its side mid-jump to alter the course of its leap. It was not fast enough though, and the sword just barely managed to strike the wolf, albeit only doing a slight scratch. It had managed to anger the wolf though, and it prepared to leap immediately, its fangs bending back into a wide snarl.
---
Lucas moved to dodge the wolf that came towards him. He was too slow though, and the wolf managed to bite his arm. Lucas cried out in pain from the bite and reacted instinctively, bringing the sword on top of the wolf, just as it leaped aside too fast for him to hit it.
Lucas realised something about these wolves. While Lucas was strong and could hit hard, he would not be fast enough to hit quick-moving creatures like these wolves... Watching them dart from side to side only reminded Lucas that he had to train himself to react faster next time.
With a disadvantage in speed, Lucas took a defensive pose, and when the wolf charged a second time, Lucas held the blade of his sword towards where the wolf was charging towards, this prompted the wolf to dart to his left and charge towards him again. This time, Lucas held his sword towards his chest, and brought it down as the wolf came closer. Towards this, the wolf reacted quickly and dodged to the side once more.
Lucas stood poised, as the wolf started its charge once more...
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Post by Alexander on Jan 5, 2011 2:57:57 GMT -6
Alexander got ready, putting his hands in his robes and holding his dragonstone. He started channeling energy... he needed to hide his identity. Ah.... a hybrid would do! his robes were covering his body anyways.. and his face wouldn't change.
"GRAH!" he screamed and then there was a flashing light... and Alex stood, battle ready. he looked slightly more buff than before.
One of the wolves,affected by the blind light, charged at Alex. Hmph, it was just simple for him. The wolf got on to Alex's hand, and just as it was to bite, Alex gave it a punch, sending it plummeting to the ground. Alex then grabbed the wolf by its legs and raising it high in the air, he hit its head to the ground, and the wolf gave a great howl and stopped breathing.
Alex watched as two..three..four wolves emerged from the darkness. This was not good.
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Post by Ignis Aghartus on Jan 5, 2011 3:24:40 GMT -6
The wolf charged forwards quickly. But this time, Ignis was ready, he dodged to the side and stabbed his sword into the air behind him, the space which he had just left behind. The sword met its target, cutting the wolf in its eyes.
At this strike, the beast got even angrier and charged Ignis, its nostrils flaring. This time, it had hit Ignis, a scratch across Ignis's leg, tearing the fabric of his pants apart. However, with its eyes wounded and being unable to see, the wolf did not... or could not, dodge Ignis's offensive move, being to strike it hard through its back. The wolf stopped squealing already.
(-3 Uses of Slim Sword total for that wolf battle 26/30 left)
Ignis turned to look at Lucas and the man. The man... looked slightly different, but Ignis couldn't tell how. Lucas had got a bite on his arm, and was fighting defensively against another wolf.
The wolf was preparing to charge, and when it charged, Ignis swung his sword into the path of the charge, shouting, "Now!" to Lucas, signalling for him to hit the now open wolf.
---
Lucas watched as the wolf began its charge once more. This time though, his employer had helped him. He had swung his sword, causing the wolf to cause itself to be open as it dodged the blade. At his employer's signal, Lucas charged forwards and struck the wolf hard through its stomach.
"We did it!", Lucas exclaimed, just as another four more wolves came forward from the darkness and the grin on his face was lost and replaced, almost immediately, by a look of despair.
That was bad for them. Lucas's arm had lost part of his strength from the cut, and his employer was hit in the leg. Now that they were already weakened from fighting three wolves, another four turned up.
"Be careful!", Lucas yelled, although he knew it probably wasn't needed at all.
At that moment though, another wolf, much bigger than the rest appeared from the darkness. This appeared to be their boss and looked much tougher than the rest. Lucas's heart sank at its appearance.
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Post by Alexander on Jan 7, 2011 6:43:27 GMT -6
"Well, well. It looks like they have a leader. we may need to team up." he said with caution. He was actually excited that he was going to kick more doggy butt.
As two of the wolves came charging at Alex, he kept a defence stance. He sharpened his claws... ah. This was going to be a messy tearing.
The first wolf tried a head on tackle to Alex's chest. Alex responded with ease by punching the wolf's gut and then slashin at its face, sedning it into the darkness of the debris.
But the second wolf was succesful in biting alex. It bit at his shoulder blade, and Alex growled with pain as he staggered back. It was just a small wound, thanks to his dragon powers. But still, he needed to be a bit more careful.
Alex ran forward at the wolf, which ran sidewards and then tried to attack Alex's hip. But Alexander was ready. H caught hold of the wolf's front legs and smashed hi to the ground. Then with his claws he was able to tear the wolf's head off his body. Brutal.
( I'd say 3 drgonstones have been used. One for transforming and attacking the first wolf in last post. 2nd is for bringing in claws and attacking the 2nd wolf, and 3rd for the 3rd wolf)
EDIT: After seeing the dragonstone thread, I dont lose any uses I found out. So my dragonsone is till 50/50
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Post by Ignis Aghartus on Jan 7, 2011 7:20:03 GMT -6
Ignis looked at the older man's fighting style, and... To be honest... It had looked slightly frightful to Ignis. However, it was only a slight twinge of eeriness down his back.
After that short spectacle where the older man took care of the two wolves, Ignis held a defensive stance of his own as well, carefully holding his sword such that it could be easily moved to attack the wolves from any angle that they may want to strike from.
The three remaining wolves reacted instantaneously, the leader of the pack charging towards Ignis, while the remaining two towards Lucas. They must have seen from their battle styles who the strongest of the three of them was and was deciding they wanted to take down the weakest first.
Well, Ignis hoped that Lucas would be able to handle the other two wolves on his own or that the older man would help him. Well, if Lucas died, it wouldn't really affect Ignis at all.
Ignis stabbed with his sword right into the path of the wolf's charge. The wolf reacted fast and stepped on Ignis's sword, using it as a lever to jump towards Ignis's head. Ignis quickly brought his body closer and lower to the ground to cause the wolf's jump to go over his head and miss him.
So... This wolf has fast reflexes... This would not be easy...
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Lucas stared at the wolves coming towards him. He was afraid... He had fought only one wolf earlier and was unable to defeat it without help. And now, two wolves were coming towards him with no one to help him.
Lucas held his ground, and as the wolves charged, Lucas stepped back and tried to interrupt the paths of both of the wolves. However, they were too fast for him, and they dodged to his left and right sides, biting him as they went past, one on his left leg and one on his right arm.
Lucas yelped out in pain and fell to his left knee, the bite on his leg making him unable to stand up again. With a bite on both his arms, Lucas was just barely able to hold his sword up.
"Help..." Lucas said aloud, hoping that the older man would help him battle the wolves.
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Post by Alexander on Jan 7, 2011 8:10:05 GMT -6
Alex watched as Ignis tried facing the bigger wolf while the young man Lucas fell to his knees as the two wolves circled aroung him.
"Heh. Poor Lucas. Should I help him? Well.... maybe. Could be useful for later." he thought.
He snarled as he suddenly came out of the darkness and pounced on one of the wolves. After slashing and piercing this wolf with his claws, Alex used the dead wolf as a weapons and bashed the other wolf with the dead wolf. He then forced the dog to come near Lucas, and it was unaware of its enemy. As he pushed the dog back, it was good enough for Lucas to stand and give it the final blow.
Alexander then watched as Ignis was struggling against his rather faster opponent. "Well, I guess this dog needs a lesson about ambush." he said with an evil grin.
Just as the big wolf was ready to pounce on Ignis, Alex threw the dead wolf carcass on to the big wolf's face, which distracted it. This gave Alex enough time to slash at the wolf's face and pull out one of its eyes, then he punched it to the side, sending it rolling. It wasn't over though.
"...Gah!" he whispered, holding his shoulder. The wound was paining even more. These wolves were not as easy it seemed. And definetly the wound was not as simple as it seemed.
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Post by Ignis Aghartus on Jan 7, 2011 9:01:37 GMT -6
Lucas watched as the man in green robes finished off the two wolves with relative ease. It was that creepy display of strength again, the one that he had seen back in Pherae's inn.
Heaving a sigh of relief, Lucas managed a, "Thanks!", before the poison from the wolves' bites reacted and a stabbing, piercing pain went through the bites that he had received from the wolves...
"H-help...", Lucas stammered, his face turning white, and sweat drenching his shirt rapidly.
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Ignis watched the display of strength from the older man. The man did look different now that he was tossing the wolves like... like a dragon in human form..? Well, that was probably the most unlikely of all the reasons why this man was this strong. He probably was just a strongman from a circus or whatnot.
Ignis lifted his sword and prepared himself for a final strike on the wolves' leader. As Ignis moved his sword through the air, the wolf moved slightly and scratched Ignis's leg, just below the knee. A few seconds later, the wolf stopped squirming.
"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhhh!!!"
Ignis looked around trying to locate the source of the inhuman shriek, before realising that it came from Lucas. The wounds on his body were starting to turn slightly black and the skin was peeling off. Poison? In the wolves' teeth? That was bad. Good thing Ignis was quick enough and was only scratched and not bitten.
"How is it?", Ignis asked the mercenary.
"U-urgh...", was the only answer that the mercenary could make in his pain. He was unable to move properly now, it seemed. The mercenary would probably only be a burden from then on. Well, Ignis had to make the choice. To do that...
(Slim Sword --> 25/30)
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Lucas was unable to feel anything other than the pain. His mind was red, red hot. The pain was taking over his every emotion. It was hard to not feel anything but the pain. Lucas tried opening his mouth, opening his eyes, but there was nothing coming out, nothing that he could see. It was all a patch of red. He couldn't hear anything as well.
All he could feel, see hear, was the pain coming from his wounds. It was overcoming all his other senses, until he could taste the pain on his tongue as well... Or did he bite it too hard in his pain? He could smell something rotten as well, it was increasing in strength by the seconds, or minutes... or hours... Lucas couldn't tell how much time had passed now. He had lost all of his senses and his consciousness to the pain. It could have been only a few seconds, or a few days, or even a few years of pain. Lucas hoped only to be relieved of the pain.
And then...
A bright whiteness crossed his eyes... The pain stopped instantaneously. His senses slowly returned... Had he been cured, or had he died? Lucas opened his eyes slowly. The first thing he saw... was a patch of red, growing ever bigger on his shirt. It took a moment... two moments, before what Lucas had seen registered in his mind. He was stabbed... He was bleeding... profusely...
At that, Lucas finally found his voice. A scream more gruesome than anything ever heard before escaped his lips. A scream that would chill the blood of anyone who would hear it for miles around. That was the last thing Lucas would ever do, for the next moment, he fell forwards, his face landing flat on the ground, the blood gushing out from his wound spread across the floor.
Red... The colour... of death...
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(Slim Sword --> 24/30)
Ignis sheathed his Slim Sword. A smile was on his face. A smile that came from the satisfaction of another victim well killed. Thoughts of his revenge came back, and Ignis knew... knew even more than the last time he had killed... he knew what his goal was...
Stepping back from the corpse of the now dead mercenary, Ignis looked at the older man, and said, "Well, we'd better leave before more wolves arrive... Especially after the... ruckus... that we had caused..." His voice betrayed nothing. If it was heard somewhere else, no one would have suspected that he had just killed a man a moment ago.
Without waiting for a reply, Ignis trudged on. Towards the Book that would help them...
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Post by Alexander on Jan 7, 2011 9:44:58 GMT -6
Alex watched as Ignis finished off that last wolf and then resume to kill the injured Lucas.
And then he too, felt a searing pain in his shoulder.
"Gah...this... is this poison? Urk... I need some rest. Or some healing potion.... ah that Life Veil! Drinking it helps me recover my wounds faster... although.. this is going to take some time." he thought.
He took a small potion from his robe and drank a bit of it. It would take time for the venom to subside. Until then, Alex was going to have to endure this pain.
"Hey Ignis.... I think it is best if we move on. Wouldn't want to get bitten by those wolves again, now do we?" he said, masking his supposed pain.
"We might as well stop near those mountains and rest for the night...its already late." he suggested.
Saying so, they both went near the mountains to the north.
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Post by Ignis Aghartus on Jan 7, 2011 9:55:32 GMT -6
"Hmm...", Ignis said as they walked off.
To be honest, Ignis also needed a rest. He had to examine the scratches he had gotten from the wolves. Even if he was not bitten, there could be a bit of the poison in his wounds, from the claws of the wolves. The wounds were only stinging a little now, but it could hurt a lot more later on.
After quite some time of walking through a monotonous landscape, they arrived at the mountain, and quickly set up a fire, before Ignis started examining his wounds closely for any signs of infections.
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Post by Alexander on Jan 20, 2011 9:59:20 GMT -6
OoC: Theme Music: www.ffonline.com/ff6/music.htm Dark World. Nice setting I think. IC: The pain was slowly fading...thanks to that vulnerary that he used. He would probably be able to used his right arm again tomorrow... it should heal at least in a couple of days. He really needed a strong arm right about now. He decided to check his surroundings. He looked around.... only forest. Trees...trees...and more trees. He then climbed up one of them and watched back at where they had camped- the mountain was huge. It would take some effort to hike it...and without knowing where the treasure was, this would be tough. He could feel the atmosphere becoming cold....he could take it. He had tougher skin than humans...and he was hairy. He predicted early fog for the next morning. He returned to the camp and got his tent ready. He decided to sleep in the tent for the night. Although there was the risk of Ignis sneaking in and trying to find about Alex's Dragon secrets, he did not want to get mauled by doomwolves while he was sleeping. He hid the dragonstone under his robes, carefully, hopefully the boy would not care to touch him. Alex's senses were good due to him being a dragon, but still..... he did not want to end up like his dead, old friend. Alex would take revenge on the human race for being cruel to dragons. That was his wish, his destiny! -----Timeskip----- OOC: New Theme Song! www.feplanet.net/music/2Shadow Approaches. Looks like fog is rolling in. IC: Alex's prediction were correct. Fog had indeed enveloped their area... things would only get tougher from here. He went to Ignis' tent...the boy was not there. "I am here, Alex. I had been for a walk to check our surroundings earlier...I foud a cave up north. Let's get moving." he heard Ignis say. "Well boy, we better be careful. We must be aware of what's going on.... hopefully we don't get attacked by creatures like those wolves earlier." he said cautiously. A possible ambush in this fog was not a good thing. Saying so, he and Ignis went northwards, into the cave at the base of the mountain.
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Post by Alexander on Jan 27, 2011 5:37:28 GMT -6
OOC: Sorry Ignis, but considering your activity time has reduced and clashes with mine, I'm afraid I'll have to take Alex forward. Do what you will of Ignis.. he can be mauled by more of those wolves, or he can just return from there to seek something else.
Alex and Ignis had moved a long way into the cave.. it had been about 2 hours already, and Alex could STILL see no exit from this cave. He had estimated that at the cave's exit there would be another cave that would lead them to a special place containing the book of scrying. Perhaps he had heard the old man's words wrongly.He could not see anything, especially in this thick fog.
"Ignis, can you see anything?"he asked the young myridon.
But there was no reply.
"Ignis? Ignis!!?? Can you hear me??" he asked, a little more louder.
But there was still no reply.
"Heh, stupid child, he must have gotten lost. That's what happens to those who don't listen to me. Oh well, at least I can use my dragonstone now." he whispered.
Alex took out his dragonstone and its started shining. Alex's secret source of light, this would do for the time being. He still needed to find something significant, something that could show him the correct direction.
Not far away, there was Alex could hear a small rumbling. It was a secret tunnel, leading somewhere, unknown to Alex as of yet. He could hear something that sounded like a small stream running down the path. Intrigued by this new phenomenon, Alex moved towards the direction of the noise.
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Post by Alexander on Jan 27, 2011 5:59:57 GMT -6
The noice grew louder and louder as Alex went further and further. Finally he stopped in the middle to look around for the source of the noise.
The thick fog made it hard to see, even with Alex's dragonstone. He had to release a bit more of its energy to see anything. The stone shined even brighter than before now, clearing the fog, allowing Alex to see a spectacle.
Small streams of water were trickling down on either side of alex, at least a few meters away. And, on the ceiling, there were streams running parallel to the streams on the surface. A stream running upside down....what a miracle!
And that was not all...... a few steps away from him was a silver door... with the graffiti of two dragons. So... this place had more mystery to it than it seemed. Between the two dragons was a small book.... could it be that this book was invented by the manaketes? In any case.... he needed to find a way to open that door.
Then he looked down... it was a small lump in the ground. Although not very noticeable, someone like Alexander would find significance in this lump. If the key to the door was burried in that lump.... he needed to dig it out.
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Post by Ignis Aghartus on Jan 27, 2011 23:53:12 GMT -6
OoC: Oh, Alex, that's quite bad of you... Seeing as I waited when you were gone for more like 2 or 3 weeks and I was only busy for like one week after you posted... Imagine what I had to do to wait for those 2 or 3 weeks and here you are getting impatient the moment you came back.
BiC: When they had arrived at the cave and the older man had charged straight into the cave, Ignis took a step back to survey their surroundings more clearly. He was at a cave on top of a mountain. Not really on top, though. Just approximately halfway up the mountain. There were tall majestic arches over the door and statues of creatures that were or were not real.
Ignis looked around for anything he could use as a fire. There was almost nothing around, no forest's from which he could pluck a branch from, and not much loose stones to start a spark from. So... He had to move in darkness, eh? Well, he'd better keep a close step, caves like this which housed treasure seemed to have lots of traps.
Ignis stepped into the cave and started walking, feeling with the leg in front first to make sure that there was indeed solid ground in front of him. And with the path in the cave mostly linear (or seemed to be mostly linear in the darkness, anyway), Ignis made good distance in the cave, despite the fact that he had paused for a while to survey the surroundings at the entrance to the cave.
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