Novam Initium

[agentaaa]

First topic message reminder :

Shel wearily walked home, satchel of medicinal salves and herbs she'd collected ready to bring to her village. She sighed at the thought of what her village had become - and how she was now the last of the medicine women of her tribe. Warlock magics had taken definite root in her hometown, and while not everyone turned from the old ways in favor of the demonic magic, a good portion of them certainly had. "oh, all-father, give me a sign, something to show that not all is darkness, and that the light may yet glow and spread once more." Shel Pleaded, looking up to the sky, as tears ran down her cheeks, the stress building within the old orc woman finally being released.
Shel asked for a sign, and, seeing a twinkling in the sky, she soon wished she hadn't. A ball of flame and rock headed towards the planet, blazing brightly with an orange light. Hitting the ground, the massive meteor revealed itself to be incredibly large, creating a massive crater where it hit. though Shel was not near the impact site, the shockwave nonetheless shook her off her feet. Then, the crater, as quickly as it hit, seemed to disappear and crumble, as a massive blue light shot from the heavens, striking and dissolving the meteor in a massive burst of energy.
And that energy was what finally revealed the world of Novam Initium to the universe...

[agentaaa]

Shale would appear just above him, jumping directly onto his shoulder as he did so, moving at a speed not trackable to Tyrath's vision. moving his sword-point downward, he stabbed down into Tyrath's shoulder, with brutal efficiency.

[Wynn]

Shale would appear just above him, jumping directly onto his shoulder as he did so, moving at a speed not trackable to Tyrath's vision. moving his sword-point downward, he stabbed down into Tyrath's shoulder, with brutal efficiency.

Tyrath parried the blow with a quick spin of his great sword and shouted at him before he could even start descending back to the ground. "VUL!" A black liquid/gas substance would fly out from the crevasses of Tyrath's armor and hurl itself at Shale. When it hit a living thing, whether it be Shale or the trees around them, the parts of the living things it hit would be severely decayed and corroded by the black energy.

[agentaaa]

Shale, however, used the greatsword of Tyrath's as a stepping stone, to jump to his other shoulder, before jumping off and landing some distance away. "that's such a waste of power." Shale said, as the liquid landed. "I'd try an' convince ya to use it for something better, but I get the feelin' you're not one t' listen to reason." Shale said, before moving directly towards Xaldius, taking his katana out and striking with both hands directly at Xaldius's midsection, seeming to warp to a regular being's senses.

[Wynn]

Tyrath would shout out "TIID!" In the brief moment before the stab. Everything slowed down around him. Even his own movements slowed. However, Tyrath's thoughts were the one thing that were not slowed, giving him more time to react. He stepped inside the swing and swiped the side of his arm, which had sharp spikes on the outside of it, at Shale's throat.
As he initiated this attack, his frost knights arrived in the area. It spoke in a language unknown to Shale, andd Tyrath replied with the same dialect before his knight could finish.
Immediately after Tyrath's interruption, the Knights took off running... in the direction that the others had gone. Tyrath, however remained to fight.

[agentaaa]

shale made a deep cut within Tyrath's armor, stopping it a good portion of the way in as he pushed upward on the blade, helping him move his body downward to avoid Tyrath's attack, before moving away once more, suddenly appearing behind Tyrath. Shale held his Katana in front of himself, awaiting Tyrath's next move with a calm look, almost seeming bored by this entire fight.

[Wynn]

shale made a deep cut within Tyrath's armor, stopping it a good portion of the way in as he pushed upward on the blade, helping him move his body downward to avoid Tyrath's attack, before moving away once more, suddenly appearing behind Tyrath. Shale held his Katana in front of himself, awaiting Tyrath's next move with a calm look, almost seeming bored by this entire fight.

Tyrath anticipated Shale's disappearance and swung behind himself just a moment before Shale appeared there. Tyrath was starting to catch on to Shale's fighting pattern.

[agentaaa]

Shale moved in, Catching Tyrath's arm as he swung. His katana, already in his other hand, swiped for Tyrath's back.

[Wynn]

Tyrath would fail to react to the counter attack. His gauntlet would be gouged deeply, and something would fall off his body when Shale hit him in the back. He couldn't tell what as it was too dark and he had no sense of feel in his body, but he knew his body was not moving correctly when he turned to face Shale once more. "Dur joor kopran! Sahlo paak dilon! (Damn mortal body! A weak and shameful husk!)" Tyrath grumbled in his own language. "Fin dokee se faal sah lein nahkip qeth! (The feral hounds of the Abyss will feed upon your bones!)" His fiery wings flared with intensity and Tyrath roared the words, "TIID KLO UUL!"
Tyrath took flight and flew away, although he did not seem to be going in the direction that the kids had gone.

[agentaaa]

Shale pulled his blade back, as a gust seemed to whip about him, knocking away anything near him. the wind itself seemed to almost be visible as a sphere around Shale, as wind whipped in odd ways about his katana. Shale closed his eyes, seemingly at-peace as he swung forward...
a massive wave of wind would head towards tyrath in the air, moving at high speed and having a large mass about it. The Ultimate wind-slash technique would seem like condensed, gray wind as it moved towards Tyrath.

[Wynn]

Tyrath felt the blast coming for him and turned to face it. "DUR!" He swore. He faced himself toward the ground, letting his flaming wings disappear. "WULD NAH KHEST!" He shouted quickly, sending himself flying face-first into the ground at high speed. He created a small crater where he landed. He got up slowly, his body becoming unresponsive.
"DUR JOORE! (Damn mortals!)" Tyrath cursed. He decided to go by land to avoid becoming a target a second time. He began walking slowly as his armor ground against itself in his attempted motion.

[agentaaa]

Fas ran as quickly as he possibly could, before asking, after many minutes "what was that... thing? It felt so... wrong." Fas said, obviously shaken from the encounter.

--------

Sona was running quickly as well. "tracks and the like are leading that way, from the looks of it. They're moving quickly, but we can move quicker if we hustle." Sona told them, motioning for them to hurry. "I can tell one of them's skilled in wood-craft, so if we don't hurry up, we'll lose them from a stream or something." Sona said, not walking with the others, but actually jumping from tree to tree in order to move even faster than normal.

[Wynn]

Wynn remained silent for a moment, as if considering whether or not to actually tell him. "That's because he's an incarnation of the Abyss." She explained as she looked over her shoulder to see if they were still being chased. She didn't see anything so she slowed down and began scanning the dark for a place to hide out. She then decided it may be best to just take to the treetops again. She jumped a long distance to her right and grabbed onto a branch that was surprisingly high up for someone who had no powers to speak of.
"Come on, I'll explain the rest once we get up top, we can't let them find us, nor can we run forever." She said as she began climbing.

---------------------------------------

Arina sprinted on the ground a short distance behind Sona. She was scanning the ground as well as the trees as best as she could, however she could not see all that well in the dark. She remained silent, but acknowledged Sona's point as a possibility. Although she was moving at her top speed possible, she still kept one hand read to draw her sword at a moment's notice.

[agentaaa]

''Woah! That was a high branch. but then again, if she can do it..." Fas thought, spotting a nearby branch. Moving as fast as he could, he jumped up and...
smacked his face into the branch, getting knocked straight out of the air.
Not saying a word, he slowly got up and started climbing a bit more reasonably...

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I can tell we're probably gaining - these tracks seem a bit more fresh." Sona said, jumping down from a tree, only to jump right back up a few seconds later. "at this rate, we'll have caught them in a couple minutes, at most!" he exclaimed. "don't forget - w have animan forces behind us still Fas isn't the only thing we need to be worried about." Aaron reminded them.

[Wynn]

Wynn stopped her climb when she heard Fas fail miserably down below. She was nearly at the top, but she was perched a relatively precarious-looking branch. She did not seem even slightly worried, however.
"Fas, what the hell are you doing?" She asked in embarrassment of the fact she was actually traveling with this boy.

------------------------------------------------------------

Arina just continued to sprint and follow Sona, but she nodded at Sona when he came to the ground for that brief moment to acknowledge what he said, and prepared to fight in case they would need to.

[agentaaa]

Fas would just follow along with Wynn, keeping his eyes down. He didn't see any way of explaining that without making himself just look stupid.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Sona, what are you doing?" Aaron asked, noting that sona seemed to be writing something as he jumped from tree to tree.
"Diplomacy." Sona said with a grin.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

onto a nearby tree, a very audible thunk would be heard as a dart implanted itself into the trunk. A roll of paper outstretched itself from the dart, saying in a rough scrawl "Give us the kid and no one gets hurt." the message would be clearly visible to both of them.

[Wynn]

Wynn turned when she heard the dart hit the tree. She drew her bow quickly when she heard it and readied an arrow. She didn't bother taking the time to read it, she already had a pretty good idea what it said. Fas would hear Wynn 'whisper' a profanity, despite her being up in the tree.
She took one quick look around and spotted a group of people a short distance on the ground before putting her bow back on her back and dove off the branch head-first. It seemed as though she would break her neck, until she grabbed a branch not far from the ground, swung her momentum forward, then rolled on the landing. She redrew her bow and faced Fas.
"Run." She stated calmly, keeping her bow at the ready, spotting their visitors through the darkness. She raised her bow and drew string. She took aim at them, but didn't release right away, hoping they couldn't see them perfectly through the shadows. However, she knew that had already been answered.
"Run, damn it!" She exclaimed, still maintaining a whisper. She looked up in the trees, then spotted the one who she believed to have thrown the note. She aimed at him and let the arrow fly.
Very shortly afterward, one of the ones on the ground drew a crossbow and aimed at her. Just before the shot, Wynn ducked behind the nearby tree.

-----------------------------------------------------------------

Arina saw movement in the trees ahead and pointed at it, not saying a word so as not to give away their exact position. She couldn't make out the exact form, but it was obvious it wasn't a squirrel.
Arina was about to approach, then heard the distinct sound of an arrow flying through the air. She had heard it many times. Without waiting for any kind of orders or wasting time in calling it out, she drew her crossbow and returned fire with a burst of three crossbow bolts from her Avelyn. She avoided using the explosive shots, however, in case the form she had seen in the dark were Fas and not the other one.

[agentaaa]

Aaron clasped his hands to the ground. "Hado, the twenty-first - Sekienton!" Aaron's form was concealed in red smoke, as he stealthily made his way under the trees. Sona, on the other hand, managed to dodge the arrow by channeling chakra into his feet, purposely falling, only to have his legs catch on the underside of the tree, allowing him to change into a spinning jump to the next branch - the only drawback being that he was a little dizzy from the motions.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"But-.... damnit!" Fas swore, running. He wanted to help, but he also knew that the way he was now, he was nothing more than a burden to her, and that he would only be a hindrance... and yet, still, he wanted to help, just, somehow...

[Wynn]

Wynn cursed, seeing one of them put up a smoke screen. She ducked behind the nearby tree when she saw one of them raise a crossbow to bear. She heard three rapid thumps against the tree bark. For a fleeting moment, the thought that she may very well die here went through her mind. Not only was she outnumbered, she was also outgunned and out armored.
She quickly forced the thought from her mind. All she had to do was slow them down long enough for Fas to get away, then she could run for it as well. She had no doubt she could out run them in her mind. She quickly climbed the tree, using only one hand and quick movements to reach a high branch. She ran to the end of it, and jumped for another branch. As she moved through the air, she drew an arrow and took a shot at the one who was also on the treetops. She also heard a few more shots whiz by her from the knight on the ground.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Arina spotted her target leap from a high branch and raised her crossbow and took another shot at it. However, she suddenly felt like the odd card out. She was the only one here that couldn't reliably move into the forest canopy. She had a fleeting thought out of frustration to just burn the whole forest down, but this only lasted for a moment. She reloaded the Avelyn and prepared to take another shot.

[agentaaa]

Sona jumped, his enhanced strength allowing him to push himself almost above the treeline to dodge the attack. He knew he could catch up to this person in the tree-tops, given he had to take next to no time to jump from branch-to-branch, but he risked being without back-up. suddenly, he had an idea...... making twelve hand-signals, he mentally steeled himself for the exertion he always felt using this ability. "Water style: Water dragon jutsu!" Sona finally yelled, as a dragon came out of the ground. "this is improvised, but it should..."
the water dragon reared up to it's full height, near Wynn's position, going above even the treetops. "Water dragon explosion!" Sona yelled, as the gargantuan dragon suddenly exploded in a deluge of water, rushing all across the trees. The explosion was not overly harmful, simply a detonation of water at low speed, but absolutely every tree in the nearby area was suddenly drenched in water to the point of utter slickness, as Sona carefully got to the ground. "There, that's better..."
"Sona, that might be a little much.... " Aaron said, as the water dragon appearedclosing onto wynn's position. "bakudo, the first! Sai!" Aaron yelled, as he fired a tiny yellow bolt at wynn, shortly before the dragon detonated.

As the dragon's water rushed onto everyone, everyone could hear "Goddamnit Sona! These robes are going to be ruined!"

[Wynn]

Sona jumped, his enhanced strength allowing him to push himself almost above the treeline to dodge the attack. He knew he could catch up to this person in the tree-tops, given he had to take next to no time to jump from branch-to-branch, but he risked being without back-up. suddenly, he had an idea...... making twelve hand-signals, he mentally steeled himself for the exertion he always felt using this ability. "Water style: Water dragon jutsu!" Sona finally yelled, as a dragon came out of the ground. "this is improvised, but it should..."
the water dragon reared up to it's full height, near Wynn's position, going above even the treetops. "Water dragon explosion!" Sona yelled, as the gargantuan dragon suddenly exploded in a deluge of water, rushing all across the trees. The explosion was not overly harmful, simply a detonation of water at low speed, but absolutely every tree in the nearby area was suddenly drenched in water to the point of utter slickness, as Sona carefully got to the ground. "There, that's better..."
"Sona, that might be a little much.... " Aaron said, as the water dragon appearedclosing onto wynn's position. "bakudo, the first! Sai!" Aaron yelled, as he fired a tiny yellow bolt at wynn, shortly before the dragon detonated.

As the dragon's water rushed onto everyone, everyone could hear "Goddamnit Sona! These robes are going to be ruined!"

Wynn would dive off the tree tops as soon as the dragon rose up to the top of the trees. She hadn't planned her jump, she simply got out of the way by instinct. She looked for a branch on the way down to break her descent. She saw one branch that looked promising and grabbed it. It broke immediately under her weight and fall. She slammed into the ground, feeling fire shoot through her upper arm when she landed, as well as aching pain hit her whole body.
She got back up quickly, turning to face the knight, believing it to be the greatest threat now that she was on the ground. She drew an arrow and pulled back the string on her longbow. The pain resulting blinded her and broke her focus. The string slipped from her grasp as the arm with the hand holding the bow buckled under the force of her pulling on the string. The arrow sliced upward and fell into the ground only a few strides away. Immediately after, she felt three metal prongs stab into her center, the knight had just shot her clean in the chest. With no armor and only the cloth of her robes standing between the bolts and her body, they embedded themselves in her chest, puncturing her lungs. Now it was only a matter of time before she drowned on her own blood.
She fell to her knees, gasping for air that she could not hold now. Despite being as injured as she was, she drew a short blade in her right hand and prepared herself to fight back to the bitter end.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Arina watched the exchange briefly. She didn't take any shots because it was useless, and she couldn't do anything on the ground. She raised one hand and conjured a flame, preparing to ignite the trees in frustration, however she looked back up and saw their enemy fall to the ground. The woman raised her bow to fire at Arina.
Arina acted fast, raising her crossbow to aim at the woman's center. Just as she fired, she saw the woman buckle and slice her shot. It was too late to take the shot back, and the bolts hit the archer dead-center.
She didn't want to kill the archer if they could get her alive, but she may have already sealed the woman's fate. Still unsure if sure if the archer was capable of fighting back, Arina prepared her sword and shield and approached slowly.

[agentaaa]

"No...." the faint utterance would just barely be audible to Wynn, as small footsteps came near her. he'd damned her, he knew, simply by his existence, as he had many others already. Every single thing that tried to protect him seemed to die, as if his very existence simply brought death to all around him.
"Do you wish to kill them, for what they did?" A voice suddenly whispered into Fas's voice, a faint whisper from... something.
"I wish to.... Fas thought about what the voice had said, for a second. and yet, he found that at his core, as angry as he was, he did not, didn't want to see yet more death, caused by him. "I wish to save her."
"Wisely said. I am the spirit of the wind, of the air and storm. of the inexhaustible voice of the world. I permit you, Fas."
Fas stood forward, planting his feet. Knowledge, thought that wasn't his own came into his mind unbidden. He knew that in this moment, he was Fas, but he was also linked to this spirit. The question came to mind unbidden, naturally.
"Will you lend me your strength?" Fas said, drawing his hands back,
"I will"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"That's the kid? Looks a bit scrawny, though I guess I don't get to judge." Sona said, seeing him a second after he'd appeared. "What's he doing?"
"This feels..." Aaron muttered, sensing his energies. "[censored]! Get down!"
What do you mea-oh god!" Sona yelled, as a gale force wind struck the group, sending Sona literally flying through the air. Aaron didn't last longer than a second more, even with the binding spell upon his feet, swept up and above the treeline. Any who looked at Sona, by this point, would see his hand held forwards towards them, a glare upon his features. "Get... away..." Sona commanded, a combination of anger and extreme fatigue slurring his speech.

[Wynn]

Wynn gritted her teeth when Fas appeared again.
"What are you doing?" She choked out. "I... said..." She coughed a few times, blood falling to the ground as she did so. "...run..." She was not happy to see that Fas had not ran on ahead. However, she was a bit surprised when he conjured the gale to blow their assailants away.
You've been holding out on me this whole time!? Wynn thought angrily.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Arina stabbed her sword into the ground and crouched low when the gale hit her. She managed to hold for only a couple seconds before the ground broke and she went flying as well. She had no readily available way to brace against it, and was sent against a tree a long ways back. Her armor cushioned most of the impact, but it was still a painful impact.
When she fell to the ground once more, she was on one knee, still recovering from the blow.

[agentaaa]

"Like... hell!" Fas retorted, dropping to one knee. "Like hell I'm just going to sit back... and let someone else die... because of me!" Fas yelled, the conviction in his voice clashing with his body's inability to keep stable, as he used one arm to keep himself stable, gasping for air. It seemed that whatever he'd used had taken a huge toll on his body.

[Wynn]

Wynn didn't have the breath to argue back. Regardless, she attempted to stand. She managed to stand fairly straight up, but she could feel her lungs burning for air and aching from the crossbow bolts hitting her. She could not breathe at all, and her vision was already turning into a gray tunnel.

[agentaaa]

"She is hurt, and badly. She will not survive much longer." another voice whispered in Fas's ear. This voice was also feminine, but it sounded quite motherly, and concerned. "I am the spirit of the wilds, Fas Fatum the embodiment of every plant and animal existing in the worlds. I am normally only met by shaman who have met and treated with the other four elements already... but here, I make an exception." the spirit said to him. "Can you... can you fix this?" Fas asked, looking directly at the spirit.
"I can, but it would require you to sacrifice some of your life-force, in turn, to restore hers. I cannot tell you how much it would require, only that it would be a great deal. you may die, in exchange to save her life. Is this truly the action you choose?"

Fas thought about it, aware that in truth no time was passing. At first, all he could feel was fear - fear of dying, of the thing he'd been escaping for days becoming reality. He'd yet to have his first sip of alcohol, or his first kiss, and the last few days seemed to say that he'd never experience either.

And yet... This whole mess was his fault. the wounds caused by whatever curse Fas seemed to carry around with him now. This was the only way to atone, he decided. Besides, he thought, he wasn't likely to have lived so far if not for her anyhow. There's no way he could just forget the debts he had to her.

"Whatever this life-exchange is, do it." Fas said, his voice trembling as he did so. "If I die, maybe this is just as far as I go..." Fas said, only the last part actually being said aloud in the real world. Fas's body seemed to churn and glow a pale green, as his hand's seemed to twitch of their own accord. "Sh-sh-[censored]!" Fas swore, as it felt like his entire body's energy was being drained. the energy ended up appearing as twin spheres, around his hands, which he pressed to wynn's wounds, the energy suddenly exchanging through them. the glow of the next few seconds would obscure the process, but wynn would suddenly find herself healthy and fine, a few rips in her clothing the only evidence that the crossbow bolts were ever there. Fas, meanwhile, would be unconscious next to her, raggedly and unsteadily breathing.

[Sponsored content]