The Dead Forest (Increased Orc activity due to skirmish)

[Tomorrow]

Then a thunderclap sounded, the roar sudden and explosive and brutal as the .50 caliber bullet slashed through the air above Mere to blow his assailent clear out of the air. A bullet like that - hollow point to boot - was more then enough to send you flying and leave you only a pile of limbs, a discarded c**k and a rolling head. The chest was almost totally torn to shreds after accepting one of those bad-boys.

Tomorrow's Desert Eagle ejected the large shell from the ejector port as the small slide flew back from the force of the gunpowder exploding, the brass twinkling in the dull light as it spiralled off behind the massive Tribal.

There had been no time. No way Tomorrow could have reached the corpse attacking Mere in time. And a throwing something wouldn't have been too easy either, what with all the foliage around them. But a bullet from a big ******** gun worked nicely. The big fat caliber blew through branches and trees with minial resistance to dispose of the rotten assailents with no problems at all.

Only problem was, it was noisey. Real noisey. The sound of the boom echoed out into the distance of the forest, birds taking flight in shock, squirrels twitching on the ground from where they had fallen from perches, deers with quivering flanks hustling to make tracks as soon as possible.

And it ******** with his sonar to boot.

Not that it really did matter. The enemy's stink was all over the place - and it grew worse the closer you got to them. Not to mention that a dead corpse left tracks all over the place - liquids, bits of flesh, torn shreds of cloth. As quiet and as nimble as they were, Tomorrow had still had one small advantage - he was hidden, and knew where they were. Now that advantage had been lost from the gun firing, he would have to get rid of the rest of them quick.

His second gun leapt into his other hand, pulled deftly from it's shoulder-sheath to fan out wide - and report, the flash flaring almost a full foot from the slanted barrel of the Eagle, the bullet screaming through the air to destroy more rotten flesh.

His body smoked. Electricity flashed over him, evaporating the acidic blood on his skin. There was no pain. This man didn't feel pain. His brain did not go into a stupor. Too wired to the electricity was it tuned. Too honed by years and years of fighting and drugs and experimentation was it focused. A killing machine was what he was. Unstoppable. Relentless. Unmerciful.

His guns fired. Bullets flew. He grimaced. So much for stealth.  

[Kraun]

Six. They dropped down from the trees as the resounding blast of the weapon went off, scattering to the forest floor with the rustle of leaves and wings of birds taking flight as the bark of trees blasted off the trunks. Rotting bodies with mouthes agape and empty white eyes, stared up at the man in the treetops above for a breif moment, visible fumes emitting from their maws filled of sharp teeth. Claws poised, they began to move swiftly, through the dense mass of trees that obscured vision and provided cover from the high powered weaponry. With the man's exact position revealed, the pack converged upon him, locking onto his scent as they weaved inbetween trees to close in while taking cover, fanning out to surround him.

The advantage of being in the treetops was its hindrance to sight, providing stealth. However, once discovered, it wasnt a great place to be in a headlong fight. In the treetops, there are only so many things to stand on and grab ahold of, limiting mobility through the branches that could even carry the weight of the large man as he held his weapons ready. That and the environment of the treetrunks and close leaves and branches that would provide screening for those who knew his location and field of vision. On the ground however, there was a near limitless area to move upon, limited only to the trunks of the trees to weave around and provide cover. And at each small gap inbetween the ghouls, where they could appear from either the left side or the right side of the trunk right after they moved behind it, small volleys of needles would be launch out of the mechanisms at their arms, aiming for exposed flesh as they came from all sides.

The problems with numbers was the divided attention however, as two on different sides wasted no time when weaving through the dense foliage to leap up into the boughs instead of moving out from one side of the obscuring trees.  

[Hogosha No Juunikyuu]

((I'm lazy and don't want the hassle of switching accounts so both Amb and Juuni will be posted in this post 3nodding ... So long as it isn't eaten mid way through posting again stressed ))

The small neko-jin blinked in quiet shock and surprise as John suddenly disappeared back into the dense forest undergrowth leaving the neko and anthro quite alone, surrounded by the stench of death from the ghouls. Juuni blinked again to clear her vision and lifted her finger to brush against the scratch the needle had left on her cheek. She winced slightly at the stinging sensation and lifted her fingers into her line of vision, admiring the faint silver smudge that had been left there. She blinked again and shook her head in an attempt to rid her body of the dizziness.

"Phwee~?"

Now, even in her position, Juuni was at a slight advantage. What the poison was trying to travel through to spread through the childs body was concentrated star energy and so its movement was limited though still effecting the child.

She stumbled slightly and fell down to her knees, breathing shakily as her vision became cloudy. Weakly one hand was lifted up to claps tightly at Amber's trouser leg she didn't even flinch as the first loud shot went off.

"Ah, John wait!"

Amber reached out to grab her fiance but missed by millimeters as he disappeared back onto the forest track. She sighed and the arm wrapped around her stomach tightened protectively as the resounding boom of John's fired desert eagle echoed through the forest. She cocked her head, blinking at Juuni before letting out a small gasp as the child wavered and collapsed to her knees on the floor.

"Juuni? Juuni, whats wrong?" Amber asked urgently, crouching down in front of the child, her ears pricked and alert, tail stiff.

"Ha... Ha..."

The small cat girl panted, a cold sweat forming on her brow, causing her hair to stick to it as she closed her eyes and trembled with a sudden chill.

Let go child... Let it go and come back to me...

Juuni's eyes opened in a cloud of purple mist and her grip loosened on Amber's trousers as a faint blue flame began to ficker over her body, slowly and gradually spreading to form a blue hue over her skin. If one was to look closely one would see that it was almost as if the flames were burning from the inside out, purging the body of any trace of the poison before there was a sudden ripping sound and Juuni's jacket was torn to ribbons as her wings erupted from her back, spraying the surrounding area behind her in small droplets of silvered blood as they cocooned around her and the flames roared around her.

"Holy crap!"

Amber scrambled backwards as the wings erupted and flames engulfed the cocooned form, one hand wrapped back around her stomach protectively.

The wings slowly unfolded to reveal the Angel Senshi Juunikyuu, her gaze set firmly as se rolled her shoulders and neck, a few quiet cracks heard before she looked down at Amber.

"Are you alright?"

"Heh... Yeah I think so..."

Juunikyuu nodded with a brief smile before turning her attention back to the forest, summoning her rune engraved staff to her right hand whilst her left balled up in purple and blue flames.

"Give me some assitance then eh? Can't let the men do all the work, it'd never be done right!"

And with that she moved with surprising silence back over towards the forest trail.

Amber certainly didn't need telling twice, her hands came together and began to move quickly in a series of intricate hand seals. It wouldn't take long for the light rune spell to be complete and the effect would be like all the members of Amber's party having a second skin consisting of light energy. That should put a bee in the ghouls bonnet.  

[Sunstrike]

Henry dropped the spell with a curse, diving out of the way as the blood exploded downwards....the left over spell reacted with the substance coming down the tree and the whole thing went up in fire and splinters.

Well.....if the gun shot didn't call the five clans of orcs upon them...then orcs were bloody deaf as well as stupid. Horns sounded in various parts of the forest, making Henry wince. Yep, they certainly weren't to be accused of not hearing things.

Godsdamnit Tomorrow, I knew you weren't subtle, but I gave you more credit then this....of course...undead did have that effect on most people.

Then, quite suddenly, there was a flash of silver and purple in his vision, and he grinned as Juunikyuu and Amber nearly ran straight passed him.

"Afternoon ladies. Pleasant whether we're having, yes?"  

[Hogosha No Juunikyuu]

Juunikyuu's gaze passed lazily over Mere as she fired a bolt of blue fire up into the branches of a nearby pine tree, connecting with the chest of the ghoul that had been lurking there. The contact of the spell would probably put a good sized hole through the creatures chest but it was the after effects that did the most damage because after all, what was a hole in the chest to something that was already dead?

Blue flames would lick around the edges of the wound before spreading outwards, burning everything till not even ashes would remain.

"I've no time for you Mere, we need to get out of here before the orcs arrive!" was the Senshi's response as she eyed the man warily.  

[Tomorrow]

Idiot!

Tomorrow landed on one of the undead monsters, crunching it's body to the floor before the next four launched themselves at him.

Stupid!

A fist literally punched the head off one, the skull flying off to his a tree-trunk with a splat before the next three stabbed their needles into his back through his shirt, leaping away nimbly as he span, throwing out a fist that was too slow, too lumbering.

He'd drawn their attention alright, getting them away from his loved ones and Mere - but he had been too anxious. Too gung-ho.

He was like a tranquilzied beast now, his shoulder hanging heavy as he faced the three rotting corpses, his body sparking as his opened his mouth as if to roar, drawing in a breath - to suddenly spit out a bolt of lightening from his mouth, taking one of the creatures in the chest and blowing it into tiny pieces.

Then he fell to a knee. His breathing laboured, his eyes feeling heavy.

Memories flashed through his mind. The collar. The torture. The things they'd done to...Meryl...

His fists were clenched as he heard the horns. Orcs. Their time was running out.

Looking up over the three shambling rotters before him, he saw Amber, Mere and what looked like an angel. What...?  

[Kraun]

((Ah, the wonders of insta-kill NPCs.))

The man sat in the trees, looking through the reflective surface of a mirror in his hands. Only, the mirror did not show a reflection of his face, instead, it showed the scene play out as he watched. Now that was a neat little trick, spitting lightning. Only because he didnt really have an overly large desire for his bodily fluids to turn to steam and burst out of his body if struck from a bolt of said lightning, he decided to raise a lightning ward around himself.

They wasted no time, as the warrior fell to his knees, the two closest moved in fast, each one grasping onto one of the branchlike limbs of the big man to drag his body away. Someone wanted him alive, and as the poison acted fastest once it reached the spinal columb and brain, the antidote would have to be applied quickly before the throat constricted and the victim dies from lack of oxygen or something... unless they didnt need to breathe.

The third ghoul however would spin around to face the oncoming women, mouth opening as if to roar, only it made no sounds with the silence spell in effect. Both arms shot upwards as it began firing five needles each in rapid succession at the two women before it's arms moved to its side, fingers sprawled out, claws extended as it moved forward with the needles.

Orcs? All the undead really cared about for now was carrying the large man away from the scene, before the stupid things arrived. The last ghoul that remained behind however was their to keep the others busy, why not use it as a reason to keep the others around to distract the orcs when they appear?  

[Tomorrow]

((If you meant that as a joke, i can edit this if you want...))

He felt something heave at his arms...but he would not budge.

He wasn't out of the race yet. His heart pounded powerfully, pumping his poisoned blood through his system...but Tomorrow had been through worse situations then this. A warrior born, he had been subjected to poisons that were meant to kill instantaneously - but had managed to survive. The unique biology of a Tribal warrior - hard to kill, no matter what.

So as the creatures grabbed his arms and tried to drag his heavy carcass away, they would feel - if they felt anything before - his fingers digging into their chests -

Before suddenly ramming them together, crushing their bodies like a giant pincer. Then he did it again, their corrosive blood splattering the ground and hissing as it made contact with the soft moss. Then he did it one more time, just to make sure they were too limp to move, no bone left to support their bodies. Then he did it one more time for the hell of it.

Pushing himself off his knee dizzily, he threw the bodies in his hands down viciously, his teeth bared as his fingers curled in and out, electricity sparking over the blood caked on his hands to render the corrision useless. He was running on sheer will at the moment, his body fighting the poison seeping through his system.

There was only one left. His breathing was heavy, his chest heaving in and out as he waited for it to realise something was amiss.  

[Purely Jayney]

Amber hadn't really been paying attention to Mere, Juunikyuu or indeed any of her surroundings as she had almost blindly followed the Senshi back out onto the dirt track of the forest. Her fingers moved quickly, the seal ending with her palms together a fingers interlinked as a soft yellow hue enveloped her and then Mere, Juunikyuu and John in quick succession. She paused as the light skin spell took place, panting as her eyes remained unfocused. The spell had taken quite a lot out of her as it had been a particularly complex one to weave, requiring it to be woen into the very fabric of the targets being.

She blinked as her gaze lifted, one arm curling back around her stomach as her eyes widened and pupils dilated in fear at the sight of her fiance being dragged off in almost a drunken stupor by the pair of ghouls.

"John!" the anthro called out, stepping forwards with one arm outstretched only to be meet by a volley of posioned needles thrown by the thrid ghoul that she had been to blind to see.

Instinctively one arm rose up to protect her face, the other curling tight around her stomach...

But nothing happened.

The anthro opened her eyes in time to watch the last needle of the bolley be burned up, inches before it would even have made contact with her skin, as if invisable flames had eaten away at them.

This was of course one of the affects of the light skin spell but still amber grinned broadly, turning to Mere and Juunikyuu.

"It worked!" she exclaimed, almost not believing what she had just seen.

The spell would also have several other implications on the group and the ghouls. John would feel a hot burning sensation spreading throughout his body which would be mildly uncomfortable for the Tribal to bear as the spell aimed to purge the posion from his body. Any remaining ghouls would also find the group painful, like a sharp electrical shock, to touch.

It would appear that the tables may well have turned, at least for now. Amber was truly doubtful if the spell would have much pratical use against the oncoming orcs.

((If its too much let me know and I'll edit 3nodding ))  

[Sunstrike]

Mere's eyes widened as the other girl stepped out. No time for subtlety he launched himself from the tree, and tackled her, just as an orc took a quick swipe from the trees.

"Silly girl!" Crouched down he looked back at Juunikyuu and then at the remaining ghoul. "Time to move," He shouted. "Tomorrow WILL catch up."

Then he took something out of one of his many pockets, and threw it at the creature.

If it hit, it would be a sticky black liquid that would wrap fully around the creatures body, a white, plain mask sealing itself over the ghouls face. The mask would crush the thing to pulp, and then use the left over bits as fuel to go after the orcs, one of Henry's minions now.

If it missed, it was still a projectile coming at the creature, forcing it to focus on something else.

He skidded to a halt in front of Juunikyuu and gave her something.

"You'll know where I am as long as you hold this medallion, can you save him from the orcs?" He pointed up to the stunned man. "Erm...or all the orcs from him? As the case may be?"  

[Tomorrow]

Tomorrow let out a long, slow breath as he felt the burning sensation move through his body, nullifying the poison in his blood and clearing the fog curling in his mind and around his vision. His hand snaked out to whip the jacket off Amber as Mere ran past him, flipping the coat around to slide it onto his massive arms, flexing his muscles to eject the skinny needles in his arms as he did, pausing only breifly to pull out some of the needles stuck in his chest...

...Before looking up as a cavlcade of Orcs suddenly began to bleed into the forest, their massive lumbering green forms thundering around and sometimes even through the trees, their bodies covered in rippling green muscles, scars, and animal hides, crude weapons fashioned out of raw rock and wood clasped in their beefy hands as they barreled forward. Some roared at the sight of the man in the red coat and the winged being standing beside him, some simply laughed that brutish laugh of the orc as they bore down on the pair...

...But all paused as Tomorrow watched the first one rear at him, pulling back the massive chipped battleaxe and bringing it down to the Tribal's skull - to suddenly shatter as a fist smashed into the flat of the blade, the hard wood exploding as Tomorrow twisted his body to accept the blow to his shoulder, his fist flying out to smash into the Orc's stomach, his arms and legs blown forward as his forward momentum was suddenly and viciously slammed to a stop.

Then Tomorrow was all fists and feet. Thrusting the orc away from him he grabbed the tusk of the nearest one and pulled it viciously to the side, the snapping of a neck emitting from the thick muscle around the monster's neck as the Tribal moved on, slamming his boot into the loincloth of the next monster - then headbutting it into oblivion, the last thing it would see being bared teeth and sunglasses.

An Orc with a large broadsword was next, slashing the sword down at the Tribal as he stepped away from his last victim, the Tribal seeming to skip out of the way of the massive blade as it clove into the dead orc beneath him, the sword-weilder grunting in surprise - before a fist smashed into his chin, pushing his jaw into his skull and stabbing one of the edges into his brain.

Then Tomorrow jumped, all three-hundred pounds of him lifting up into the air as the orc started to fall back - before the Tribal's legs suddenly stabbed out, taking the dead orc in the chest and sending it flying back into a proverbial army.

Proverbial not being the right word - literal being the right word. The Orcs had come out in full force, the warrior race screaming and belting their sheilds or thighs with their weapons, their tusked mouths open and roaring at the sight of their fallen comrades surrounded by one man.

Tomorrow picked himself up off the ground, rolling back and away to look over the army before him - before opening his arms wide, his fingers curled, the muscles in his neck standing out as he roared back, electricity slashed over his body and causing his hair to stand up almost on end as he felt himself rising in strength, the power within him fueling him. He was invicible, unbeatable, a god.

Nothing could stop him.

The first orc that stepped forward died instantly, Tomorrow's fist smashing into the large green hulk's head so hard it cracked the spine and turned it's head around on it's body, a shocked expression on it's face as it stared back at it's comrades with it's chin nestled snugly in it's cloak - before Tomorrow grabbed it's shoulder and pulled it back, launching himself into the air at the masses of orcs before him!!

He slammed into the mass with no resistance whatsoever. Two hands full of two different orc-tusk, he quickly smashed two heads together, a sastifying crunch emitting as he threw the bodies down and caught a downward swipe from a hammer, catching the haft of the massive weapon and ripping it out of the monster's hand, stabbing the handle into the creature's eye before swinging it around his head, smashing it into someone's shoulder, obliterating the arm beneath it as well as rendering the clavical useless.

The orcs swarmed him, masses of sweaty green muscle falling over him all at once. Hands pawed at his coat and hair, weapons tried to get a thrust or cut or bash in - but he could not be stopped. He was on a roll. He was breathing smoke. He was carnage incarnate.

Twisting his body suddenly, the masses of hands losing their grip or being blown off by a sudden burst of electrical energy, he grabbed one orc by the shoulder and headbutted it viciously, caving it's face in as he grabbed it's now-limp arm and began to swing it around and around, swinging it around the circle, a good 400lbs of dead orc slamming into it's enraged comrades again and again, Tomorrow swinging it around and around over his head like it was a rag-doll - before letting it loose into the mass before him, bowling some of them down before it was swallowed up by the heaving throng.

They still surrounded him, Tomorrow now all movement. A hand broken here, a eye poked out there, a knee smashed here, a snapped femur there, a crushed maxilla there, an obliterated spine there - and all the while they continued to swarm around him, filling the spaces, two taking the place of one, the pile of bodies beneath him rising and rising...

It was only when he jumped high into the air, arms and hammers and axes reaching out for him as he reached the zenith of his jump that he saw it from his height advantage.

Thousands of them. In every direction. No matter where he looked, there was more. The ground was a swarming throng of sweaty green meat, all grunting and roaring and baying for blood. It was as if the moss-covered ground of the forest had come alive.

Then he fell back to earth, slamming his fist into the ground with a resounding boom, his arm buried to the shoulder in orc-bodies as the shockwave emitted from the ground-punch flew through the orc army before him, blowing every single massive warrior off their feet and onto their backs.

Wrenching his arm from the bodies beneath him and headbutting a quickly-recovering orc back to the floor, Tomorrow watched in awe as the forest came alive again, orcs swarming over their fallen comrades to get at him, red before the forest's lush green, portraying their unbridled rage by bellowing at him with every single breath they heaved into their gigantic lungs.

He roared back. He roared with every single ounce of his being. He roared so hard his tongue sparked and electricity skittered from his behind his sunglasses, before he launched himself into them once more, smashing and crushing and demolishing everything in his path, the only sign he was still alive being the sparks of electricity flashing out of the masses of orcs, their flying corpses, and the gutteral screams of the dead.

His fist crunched into a tusked face, the jaw bending inward and sending the tusk at an awkward angle as he grabbed the monster's jaw and ripped it clear of it's face, his elbow slashing behind him to crush something's sternum before his free hand whipped out and stopped something from knocking his head off his shoulder, crushing the haft with a squeeze and sending a flash of electricity straight into the bearer's head, frying it's brain and making it drop like a rock.

Stabbing the tusk of the jaw into something's eye he wrenched it clear, blood pumped as the orc screamed more in rage then in pain and tried to push past it's brethern to get a clear shot at the slightly smaller human before it - before something that felt like the biggest log in the world hammered into it's chest, making it drop it's b*****d-sword and slam into it's comrades, sliding to the floor and being crushed under hundreds of heavy, knarled feet.

Another orc watched as the human suddenly grabbed the massive sword it's bretheren had dropped - beofre the sword was suddenly swung at it, smashing into it and slicing off it's arm before crushing it's sternum, a drowning feeling filling it's lungs as it dropped like a rock.

A smaller orc, usually riduiculed for it's puny size, had managed to sneak up on the dead-dealing human - sneak being that it had crawled over the heaving masses of its bretheren, stepping on faces and shoulders and narrowly avoiding halberds or spears or axes or hammers or swords before suddenly launching itself at the human, it's sword held in both hands as it fell to earth with a gutteral bellowing roar - to suddenly be blown back into the sky by a thunderclap, Tomorrow's Desert Eagle sliding back into it's holster as quickly as it had slipped out of it, the barrel still smoking as he caught a sword which had fallen from the heavens and sliced open three orc throats with it before jamming it into a massive green chest with a snarl.

His body was drenched with green blood, the electricity flowing over him even more then ever, making the blood evaporate even before it had hit him, his body smoking from the sheer amount. His coat had saved his from many a stab and cut, the specially made garment doing it's job and saving his body from being hacked to shreds - not that he had any worry for it. The crushing throng surrounded him so close nobody except him had any real manouvering capabilitys - only from his swinging fists and crunching blows was he able to stop himself from being buried underneath the sweating forces surrounding him.

Sweat was cutting channels down his face as he grasped a throat and crushed, blew another orc off it's feet, and electrified a whole swarm of them to stop them from getting too close. He had come to rely on his powers and his weapons now - which meant he was losing option. His strength and powers had fallen hundreds - perhaps even thousands - but now he had to stop acting and start reacting.

Suddenly grabbing a hand that had grabbed his shoulder, he flipped his body out of the small hole he had made for himself, spinning himself onto the orc's shoudlers before grabbing it's chin and ripping it's head off, throwing it back as he jumped off it's broad shoulders high into the air, clenching his fists and his teeth as he drew his arms up over his head, sucking in a deep breath, the electricity spider-webbing over his body suddenly growing from skinny little sparks to fat, course ones as gravity pulled him back to the outstretched hands awaiting him...

A flash of light.

The sound of thunder.

Then wind pushed outward in all directions, pushing trees from their foundations, blowing orcs right off their feet and flying into the air, fire bursting in all directions as Tomorrow's scream filled the air, electricity flowing right out of him and into the army around him, several million watts of electricity flowing straight out of him and cooking the entire crowd.

Everybody. All the orcs who had been piling up against each other, trying to find out what was going on, wether the battle had started or not, wether the smell of sweat and blood and wet meat was of the humans or their own kind. Like a massively destructive wave, the wattage flashed straight through them all, cooking every single one into crispy little bits, flash-frying their nervous systems and sending their brains into 'crispy' mode.

***********************

When Tomorrow picked himself up off the masses of dead bodies around him, he shook his head with a smirk. His little show had been a bit too extreme - his energy had been depleted severely. He could feel pain, for a start - that only really happened when he used a bit of his power.

He was going to be sore tomorrow, he knew that much.

Looking at the piles of smoking corpses around him - literally littering the floor, as far as he could see - he sighed. He was fairly certain Mere and the girls had managed to get away. Now was the time to catch up and...

He paused. His eyes narrowing behind his sunglasses as he lowered them slightly, looking over the forest. He could have sworn he heard a soft rumbling, like the sound an army had when it ran...

He suddenly pushed his glasses onto his face and activated the sonar before adjusting it for a good few miles.

pingpingpingpingpingpingpingpingpingpingpingpingpingpingpingpingping

His chest heaved. His hands clenched, his gloves dripping with orc-blood...

...As even more orcs began to fill the empty spaces, swarming over the ground before him like ants swarmed over a cake, the sight of their first army fallen only enraging them more.

These ones were more hardened. Their yellow eyes bloodshot and driven by pure carnage, armour adorning their rippling muscles, their weapons held with a wild experience.

Tomorrow wondered if he would have to start busting out some real moves as they began to fill his vision completely...

((phew...i feel better after doing that sweatdrop . Nothing like cutting sick on a shitload of NPC's to make you feel better xp ))  

[Kraun]

((Naw, dont bother, there's lots of them anyways.))

There wasnt a need for undead to feel pain, and as such, it simply didn't. Moving through the forest floor quickly, its arms reared back as it tiled its body and weaved around the projectile, letting it splatter against a fallen log. And then it swerved back on course at a somewhat slightly different angle and leaped into the air, arms flying up a moment only to swipe down with its claws at the forms of the man and women on its descent.  

[Sunstrike]

There was a flash of the light shield as the ghoul impacted, and a silent scream as something suddenly struck the undead creature in the chest. The last sound was a few drops of blood hitting the forest floor.

Henry, his other arm raised into the air, had planted one of his masks straight into the chest of the cadaver. The cost was.....minimal, in that his arm was sliced by those nasty claws before he could shove the thing away. The shadows wraped themselves around his arm, tightening like a bandage.

There was a hideous cracking sound, and a "being" rose from the pile of mutilated flesh. Still cracking it launched itself at the orc that had surprised them earlier, destroying the witness with more nasty cracks.

Henry looked at Juunikyuu. "It will burn itself out once we're gone, I suggest not messing with it...I don't want you caught up in it's frenzy...." And with that he was diving off in the forest with Amber in tow...

A bit of the way down the line the shadow bandages fell off like bloated leeches, dissappating, and leaving some nice striped scars on Henry's arms. They'd eaten all the poison out that had been implanted with the wound, but not without leaving a horrible mark of their own.  

[Ryugi Kazamaru]

It was a beautiful day in the forest as Ryugi, Vargus and Eclipse made their way through it on their way to the plains. The cool clean air was a wonderful thing to behold indeed, and the massive trees were a quite a sight as well. The small party's boots made crunching noises as they walked along the forest floor, crushing leaves, pine needels, and small branches.

The group had been walking for several days by now ever since leaving Latent, and they were in high spirits. And why wouldn't they be? They were surrounded by beautiful natural scenery no matter where they looked, the air was clear and fresh, and it felt absolutely wonderful to be out and about, just adventuring and wandering. But what had started this quest? Well, Ryugi had heard that there were numerous other areas reasonably near the stadium that were open to explore, and Ryugi, having missed adventuring around like he did in the old days, couldn't wait until he got out and started taking a look at these places for himself.

He'd never been to the Forest before, even though it was very close to the Stadium and Latent, and he'd never been to the plains either. He figured he'd walk through the forest to arrive at the plains, then wander the plains for a while before ending up at the Mithral Mountains to the North. With any luck they'd be there in a couple weeks.

Hey... As long as we're here, I heard that there are some ruins of an elf city in this place, you want to try and check it out? There might be stuff worth looking at.

I suppose so... I've never seen one of those before. I hear thet elves are supposed to make beautiful buildings from the plants and trees of their surroundings. It would be neat to see them in person.

Alright then, I guess we now have a goal. Heh, lets go!  

[Hogosha No Juunikyuu]

Juunikyuu's eyes rolled as she seemed to melt into the living shadows of the forest, the orcs ignoring her for the time being and focusing in on the more immediate threat that was Tomorrow. The Senshi closed her eyes and began to weave her spell, her hands rolling over and around each other as she collected the vast amount of energy she required. This was a two part, and particularly complex spell and would take until Tomm had finished with the first wave of orcs to finish.

Her eyes spangled as her folded wings unfurled, illuminating the shadows in which she had hidden herself. The full extent of the carnage reflected back at her as she narrowed her eyes in Tomm's direction.

"Have you no self control Tribal?" she asked under her breath as she opened her palms, straightening her arms out so they became parallell with her arms, releasing the spell which spread out through the air, encircling the area where the fighting had taken place, as well as down into the earth.

For a moment in would look like a shimmering curtain was closing around the pile of dead orcs while a second shimmering sheet began to flow over them before any trace of the magic remained.

"And now we must take our leave..."

Juunikyuu exited from the shadows at a sprint, reaching out for Tomm and catching him under his arms as she kicked off from the ground and hefted the huge man up off his feet and into the air with her.

Just as the two exited the orc and ghoul bodies would burst into brigh blue flames that would last for nothing but a few seconds as the corpses were burnt until nothing remained.

The orcs continued to charge but as they hit the invisable barrier they would gallop to a confused stop, forgetting what they had been so eager to gather their warriors and fight about. The only thing they would find would be the wicked stench of the undead.

As they soared over the tree tops Juunikyuu began to waver in her flight, stuttering a little before she knew she'd have to let Tomm go lest they both fall. Her eyes shimmered a soft purple as a portal just large enough for one was summoned, on the other side Amber and Mere were visable, seen running through the woods foliage.

"I hope the earths soft..." the Senshi gasped before she flew directly over the tip of the barrier, releasing John's arms as she threw him through the portal which quickly vanished after he had passed through.

With a sigh, her energy sources severly depleated the Senshi fell downwards, her image melting away in a flurry of sparkling feathers, leaving only the tiny neko-jin tumbling down through the foliage and onto the forest path.