The Chosen [IC/PG-16]

[Andx]

The Fire Chosen was taken by surprise as the bandit leader seemed to find renewed strength after being hit by Anis' bolt. He rolled and threw the Draken off of his back and stood himself back up. After retrieving his sword his next target was Lindow. Reinaan took a moment while sprawled out on his stomach on the ground to get a grip on what was happening. Everything hurt but he couldn't stop here. He managed to get himself to stand to see the bandit swinging at Lindow again. This man put veteran draken to shame in terms of durability. It would take something no normal human could withstand to finish him but magic was off the table. Going into this fight with Ziiyol already merged with him seemed silly in retrospect. But then a thought came to mind. He had something that might just work. The boy fumbled through his bag that was still strapped to him and at his side. It had managed to stay in place though its contents were jumbled. It wasn't long before he found it: the explosive rock from the bandits who had invaded the village.

 

Holding the dangerous rock with two claws, Reinaan looked at the leader then back to the rock. He had a course of action. He took hold of it in his left hand as that arm was the not seriously injured one. He took a moment to aim square for the back of the leader. There needed to be some room for error to make sure it hit their enemy and not the Thunder Chosen behind him. With a painful exertion he launched the rock forward as he had done so many times to hunt small prey at home. The practice kept the aim true despite the fatigue as the rock found its mark. The resulting explosion tore into the flesh of the bandit's back in what looked like an incredibly painful injury. The injury interupted the man's attack that would have claimed Lindow's innards. But somehow even with that the man was still standing. And more than that he had turned himself about to face the boy who had attacked him.

 

The man's teeth were shut tightly to each other as he ran, holding his blade low. There was little doubt he intended to run the Draken through for the last assault. Reinaan's strength was failing him and he had no weapon on him. He had little left to do but prepare himself to dive out of the way as the man approached.

[Sethera]

Everybody looked pretty busy doing stuff, taking out baddies, so Gilly didn't actually have much to do at all. Put out, the halfling began looking for more bullies to beat up. Bingo! she thought as she saw a crossbowman stab Mute Girl in the side. "Never fear, Gilly's here!" she shouted and raced over, but Hob beat her to it.

 

The sheep ran over and butted the man in the side, baaing angrily. His rider joined him not long afterward, ice spear out and ready to stab. "First you surrender, and then you attack! That just proves that you're a no-good bully with no sense of justice!" she stabbed with her spear on the last word.

[Hälō]

Lindow wasted no time in taking advantage of the opening provide by Reinaan's explosive attack. Dashing after the bandit leader with his blade extended, the witch hunter wasn't surprised in the slightest when the man quickly spun around and slashed back at him with inhuman speed.

 

After hastily ducking under the swing, Lindow sprang up with all of his might, smashing the top of his head into the bandit's jaw before swinging his blade across the man's side and chest. Though the blow to the jaw seemed largely ineffective, the sword struck true and seemed to do some damage. However before Lindow could finish dragging his blade across the bandit leader's chest, he was forced to drop his weapon and duck to the side to avoid a wild swing towards his neck.

 

His dislocated right arm swung limply at his side as the Chosen of Thunder skillfully maneuvered to the bandit's left whilst drawing one of his daggers. By the time his sword had hit the ground, Lindow was already thrusting the dagger towards the bandit's neck in a blur of speed. 

 

So close...

 

Narrowing his eye as his dagger barely missed his opponent's throat, Lindow could do nothing as the bandit leader dropped to his knees and caught Lindow wrist in his vice grip. All to aware of what would happen if he stayed in this man's grasp for long, Lindow twisted his body and brought both feet up off the ground in an instant to preform a savage drop kick that slammed into the bandit's face and forced him to release his hold.

 

Rolling to his feet after slamming down onto his back, Lindow brought dagger up in a one handed stance and tried to control his breathing. It was clear that the Abyss Seeker was reaching his limits, but after laying eyes on the opposition he managed to form a smirk between ragged breaths.

 

"Y-You're... by far... the best I've ever... fought." He panted whilst studying the bandits stance and breathing. The Chosen weren't the only ones at the end of their rope. "Thanks." His gaze hardened as he prepared for the final round of their bout...

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Alaina]

While the girl had managed to take down one more bandit, it had appeared that their success was short lived. The bandit that was nearest Keres seemed to be reinvigorated as he sprung at the girl with dagger in hand. Her eyes going wide as the witch girl was stabbed the Earth Chosen began to make her way over towards the bandit. Wincing in pain, the wound in her leg hampering her movement a bit, the girl made her way much slower than she normally would. Pushing herself forward, though, she was caught a bit off guard as a halfling riding a sheep had dashed into the fray. With the two having successfully rammed into the bandit, the Earth Chosen rushed forward and attempted to slam her shield into the bandit's face.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

Her arrow managed to pierce the bandit leader right on his chest, but it didn't seem to slow him down at all. This man was insane, Anis thought. She watched helplessly as the bandit leader assaulted Lindow, unable to fire without risking a friendly fire. It was uncharacteristic of her but she wished for Reinaan to act in this situation.

And acted he did. Reinaan went out of his way to get the leader off Lindow, even at the cost of him clearly being weakened and now being a prime target for an attack by the leader. Anis then watched in silence as the next exchange of blows happened between the bandit leader and Lindow. The position ended up with the Thunder Chosen being clearly in a more favorable position than before, but the fight was not over yet. Seeing the prime opportunity, Anis went to aim towards the bandit leader's body...

 

...but she decided to not follow up on it. Her aim was locked, but she was aware of the concept of honor in this kind of battle, and firing a killing shot, even if it would immensely help Lindow, would disgrace his honor. In the end, Anis froze in her position, her bow ready to fire any moment if Lindow was unable to continue fighting again.

 

---

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Keres's breath was ragged. She still hadn't reacted to the sudden dagger in her side, too shocked for anything else. As Gilly and Hob made their joint attack, ramming and stabbing the man in the side, he only pushed the dagger in deeper as he struggled to keep on his feet.

 

Keres, unthinking, pulled away from the man. The dagger came out, covered in her blood, and she clutched at the wound. She fell backwards, landing on her rear, heat from the sun, energy spent from the fight, and the wound all threatening to do her in. She struggled to stay conscious and she could feel her blood leaving her body.

 

The bandit was ready to try and attack Hob, to get the creature away from him, when he noticed Ryia coming at him from the side. He ducked away from the shield bash and brought his dagger up towards the exposed area left by Ryia's shield attack.

 

The leader took several deep breaths. He was dying. He knew that. He had taken too many wounds. The man had hoped that his frenzy would last long enough to finish these people off and he'd be able to heal himself. Unfortunately they had outlasted him and the wounds were taking their toll.

 

He wasn't dead yet, though, and with great effort he stood to his feet. Grabbing the round, bronze, shield that was strapped to his side he held it in front of him. "It's every warriors hope they can choose the way they die. I wouldn't let myself fall to those things back home. But I suppose I don't mind being killed here." He pointed his blade forward at the pair of opponents before him. "But I can't just die without taking one of you with me."

[Andx]

Reinaan and Lindow stood together as the Bandit readied himself. He had brought out a shield that had been on him all this time. Odd of him to have not used it til this point. Both of the Chosen had one good arm left, Lindow had a few daggers on him but Reinaan had nothing on his person past his bag which was useless in this instance. At Lindow's feet was a sword he had just dropped. The Draken had never used one of them before but any weapon made him feel better about engaging the leader than nothing. The shield presented new problems but the basic idea remained the same. The two of them attacking at once would make it difficult for the man to keep up. With a moment of eye contact, Reinaan bent down and swooped up the sword as he began running for the bandit.

 

The Fire Chosen made for the man's left side while Lindow moved right. The Thunder Chosen threw a dagger at the man, looking to cover his ally as he approached, then moved to retrieve his other sword from the ground. The bandit was able to deflect the dagger with his own blade, and he had his shield ready to intercept the Draken's charge. Not knowing much of how to use a sword, but knowing most sharp metal things were fairly good at hurting things, Reinaan put all his momentum into his swing. The blade hit the shield with a loud clang as the two pushed against each other once more. In this test of strength the two seemed equals, which was a relief to the Draken that he wasn't going to get blatantly beaten in a contest of muscle this time.

 

The bandit raised his sword to attack the foe who had engaged him. As he did so Lindow who had still been on the move slashed at the back of the man's knee. Despite a clean hit it seemed to do little to stop the man's movements as the sword continued down on its path to Reinaan's head. There would be little he could to do to stop the attack, so Reinaan pulled the sword back and rolled to the side as Lindow slashed at him again. He carried the momentum and spun around to slam the hilt of his weapon into the bandit's head. With the Draken he'd been pushing against gone the man stumbled forward while Lindow's hilt hit his shoulder. Turning himself about the man dived at Lindow, swinging his shield in front of him to ward off stray attacks.

 

The Fire Chosen got to his feet as quickly as he could as the man turned to attack Lindow. He moved to follow the man's charge, hoping to lodge the blade into the man's back with a thrust. Lindow meanwhile had been stepping backward to make room to counterattack. He leaned his upper body backwards while still standing in place to get underneath the incoming attack, his blade ready to attack the arm that should end up over him. However, with the fatigue of the battle Lindow wasn't able to maintain his balance and so he fell to the earth, landing on his tailbone. Reinaan's attack however landed and the blade pierced through the man's back. It almost alarmed the boy just how deep in it went, though even more alarming was the fact the man kept moving to attack the now grounded Lindow.

 

Though his maneuver had landed him in a poor position, Lindow was quick to continue acting. The Thunder Chosen swept the man's injured leg while Reinaan twisted and pulled at the blade lodged in his back. With the bandit's momentum it was fairly easy to remove, and with the sweep the man feel forward on top of the fallen witch hunter. The leader lost his grip on his sword but he used the now free hand to prop himself up slightly while his lower body held the man beneath him down. His face was only inches from Lindow's and blood was trickling from his mouth. Still the man was determined to kill at least one of them before dying himself. He raised his shield and attempted to bash the Thunder Chosen's face in with it.

 

Lindow was not one to remain defenseless and managed to maneuver his sword with a reverse grip such that it lay along the length of his forearm. With it he attempted to push upward to force the blade into the bandit's arm and face. The Draken meanwhile fought against his whole body telling him to stop and rest and stood above the two, readying the blade again. While the two grappled he would attempt to slash at the back of the bandit's neck, and hoped to continue doing so as much as it took to stop the fearsome foe. Lindow's face met the shield but his blade cut into the bandit's forearm. Reinaan's attack landed and the man seemed to be struggling to use the shield again. Reinaan attempted to continue attacking but with a sudden burst of strength the man shot backwards, knocking Reinaan back. However the bandit could not stand and fell to his side on the sand below. There were no big movements, he seemed close to expiring. The Draken had landed on his tail again, that was going to be sore for a long while now, and his hand fumbled for the sword he had dropped at the sudden movement.

 

The boy stood as his grip tightened around the hilt of the blade. Lindow was still struggling to stand, but the bandit wasn't moving much. He had to settle this here. He slowly made his way to the bandit's side and kicked at the man hoping to knock him onto his back. The bandit fell over without much resistance. Taking a moment to sure up his shaky eyes, Reinaan plunged the sword into the man's chest, straight through the heart. He feel to his knees to drive it in as deep as he could with what little strength remained to him. The man groaned as it started but quickly ceased. The blow was fatal. The man was truely a monster with the sheer number of injuries he had sustained and yet still he kept going.

 

Reinaan stood once more, letting go of the sword and leaving it lodged in the man's chest. He dragged his feet away from the corpe a short distance before falling again to his knees, only stopping himself from falling to the ground with his still functional left arm. The boy released Ziiyol's power from his body and the spirit of Fire reformed in the air behind her partner, a bit confused as to why it felt her power hadn't actually been used. The fatigue and pain the boy felt was intense. The deep cut into his right shoulder was still pouring blood down his arm and chest, staining his white scales while blending into his red and black ones. The boy let out a cry of pain mixed with triumph. It carried on as he simply yelled trying to process that the fight with the leader was over. He couldn't even attempt to focus on the bandits still standing against the other Chosen. Ziiyol seemed confused and concerned and the injured Kloqah was slowly approaching, concerned for the small lizard's well being.

 

Reinaan simply held his position for a moment but with a bit of help from the lizard mount was able to sit up on the ground, however he immediately had to lean back into the larger reptile's body for support. His breathing was deep and shaky and his wounds needed treating. His good hand trembled as he attempted to open the jar of salve and apply it to the shoulder wound. It was too wide an injury for that alone to fix it.

 

"Lindow... we did it..." he attempted to call out to his ally to share in the moment. He felt a bond with the man forming as they battled together. It was something similar to hunting with the other Draken back home. There was a closeness not of friendship, similar interests, humor or any other such thing. It came from being able to trust another with your life, and knowing they did the same with you. Each life rested in the hands of the other. This battle had been a constant swing of the boy and the man putting their own life in direct danger to spare the other and allow them an opportunity at a counterattack. And though the bandit leader was by far the strongest thing Reinaan had ever encountered, he and Lindow had been able to best him. A glorious hunt if ever there was one. And he had in the Thunder Chosen a true brother indeed.

[Sethera]

Gilly shouted at seeing her attack had just made the bandit drive his dagger in deeper. "You're like a bully after my own heart," she said. "You won't ever give up! Well, I won't either!" and with that, she aimed her spear at him once more, as he seemed to have gotten distracted with Pinky.

 

Hob snorted and stood poised between attacking or checking up on the Water Chosen, before he made his way over to Keres, standing protectively over her. Other than that, he couldn't do much.

 

Meanwhile, Snow watched Lindow and Reinaan kill the bandit leader with relieved eyes, but he couldn't stop from heaving a troubled sigh.

[Alaina]

With her shield going wide, the bandit saw fit to go to stab for the opening in the girl's armor, located towards her armpit. Trying to step back, the girl buckled her arm inward, causing the dagger only to hit her underarm rather than anything vital. While Ackrin's power made the attack more bearable, she winced in pain as the blade managed to break through. While things seemed to be a struggle, she felt the grip on the dagger loosen, as she saw the halfling strike the man from behind with her spear. With the distance between the bandit and herself being very close right now, the Earth Chosen took advantage of this, dropping her mace and balling her hand into a fist. With one punch the bandit let go of his dagger, seemingly stunned by the attack. With that, she followed up with another uppercut, causing him to nearly fall backward before she finally delivered one final punch, knocking the bandit down to the ground and out. 

 

With the fight done, the girl's breathing started to pick up and grow heavier, fatigue starting to set in. With the wound in her arm and leg, the Earth Chosen's face briefly scrunch in pain, as she started to feel it far more difficult to walk on her wounded leg. However, she was not the main issue. Her eyes went wide with panic as she saw the Water Chosen, bleeding on the desert sand. Unsure of what to actually do here, nor what she could do to begin with, the girl looked over to see that the fight between the Thunder and Fire Chosen and the bandit leader had also ended. While this gave some relief to her, it didn't calm the immediate situation. "H-help!" The girl called out. "She, she needs help!" The Earth Chosen pointed towards the Water Chosen, hoping the others would be more knowledgeable and able in this regard. 

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

"Ah, thankfully they managed to pull it off."

 

"You could've spared them further injuries, you know?"

"And rob them of their satisfaction? You really can't enjoy those fine details, aren't you?"

Anis let out a sigh of relief as she watched the battle between the bandit leader and Reinaan and Lindow had concluded with the duo's victory. Ileca seemed to also notice it, and she went closer towards the two, offering to carry them if they're too weak to move now, which was something unlike her normally, but it seemed that she's somewhat irritated that she didn't get a chance to strike too. But ah, it's all fine. Anis was content with how this unfolded, and they somehow survived without any casualties this time. Perhaps their luck had turned out for the better.

 

"H-help!" A voice suddenly called out. "She, she needs help!"

 

"I hear you!"

 

It was the Earth Chosen, and with Reinaan and Lindow still reeling in from the battle, it seemed that Anis would be the most able bodied person there to help with whatever the Earth Chosen needed her to. When she went closer however, she noticed that she's calling for help for the sake of the Water Chosen. She was bleeding out, and it's getting worse at every second, not helped with the desert heat. She needed to act fast.

 

"Ryia, can you provide cover for her? I'll get to your leg after this, but we need to make her feel comfortable first."

 

After an effort of lying her into a more comfortable position, Anis started out with using what was left of her magic to turn the water from a bottle into blood for Keres, using the girl's blood as a sample for it. It was far from enough to replace what she had lost, but it was a stopgap measure to prevent her from losing a fatal amount of blood. She went on to perform the transfer from the bottle of blood into the wound, while she used a bit of her magic to form tissues to stop the bleeding.

 

"Gilly, can you uh...get Lindow here? My magic could heal her but I believe that the Light Spirit's magic would be far more potent at it than mine. Also please check whether he's in a position to come here and heal Keres in the first place. If he can't, just ge him above Ileca somehow."

 

WIth that said, Anis covered the wounds with some herbs. The stab was really deep and Keres looked like she's completely drained from the fight. Normally she would check in details whether the girl had any internal injuries or not, but with how much blood she had lost, it's not an option now.

 

"Ryia, do you have more water bottle?"

 

---

[Hälō]

"Lindow... we did it..." Reinaan's voice caused Lindow to rip his gaze away from the body of the bandit leader. This was probably one of the hardest fights of his life, and Lindow couldn't help but wonder how many strong people like the one they had just killed were still roaming around this crazy world of theirs.

 

He wanted to fight them all. He'd continue to grow stronger by pushing his limits just like this...

 

"Indeed." Lindow smiled drearily at the boy as he slowly dragged his feet over the pair of injured lizards. Though his own wounds screamed for treatment, Lindow would endure it for now. After the agony he had already experienced in the past, this kind of pain was nothing. "You fought well, Reinaan..."

 

With his right arm still hanging limply at his side, Lindow shakily squatted down so that he was level with Reinaan before extending a hand towards the boy's right shoulder. One benefit to fighting an opponent immune to magic was that Lindow was left with magical energy to spare now that the battle was over.

 

"I'll need to save some for the others..." Lindow smirked jokingly at the Fire Chosen. "But I suppose the least I could do is keep you from bleeding out after you saved my life, right?

 

A supernatural light shined in the witch hunter's eye, that was soon followed by a warm aura that seemed to envelop his extended hand. As the aura washed over Reinaan's wound, the torn flesh would soon begin to mend itself to stop the bleeding, and a soothing heat would quickly replace the pain.

 

Healing Reinaan's shoulder enough so that the boy's life was no longer in danger, Lindow felt a wave of exhaustion suddenly was over him. "A-Anis... will have to handle the rest..." Lindow panted whilst fighting to blink away the spots in his vision.

 

Stumbling slightly, Lindow struggled to rise up to his feet again before turning to see Ileca approaching to offer him a ride. "Take me... to the others." He accepted instantly, despite the fact that it would be a struggle to mount the bird with only one good arm. 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Keres felt...dizzy. She wasn't sure what was happening to her. She just knew it was hot, and the world was spinning, she stared into the sky as shadows crossed over her. Allies? Hopefully....She felt the rather strange sensation of blood being put back into her body. It was not something she really had felt before. An uncomfortable feeling of liquid being pulled through and into her body.

 

It didn't last long, though she was still struggling. The wound had gone deep and her consciousness was fading. Then Lindow was brought to her. She was aware enough to realize who it was. She wasn't entirely comfortable with the witch hunter being hovering over her while she was in this state but, well, the others were right there. And she wouldn't be able to fix this wound herself.

 

Something about being healed by a stolen magic was...wrong. She probably would have to get over it, it was practical, and necessary. Still she couldn't help but think about the previous owner. He seemed like a good person, someone who Keres might have been able to open up to...

 

After being healed, Keres sat up slowly. She looked around at her companions who were, mostly, pretty worse for wear. "We won." She stated blankly, the idea not entirely sinking in.

 

Then...something happened. Over by where the bandit's leader's body lay something...moved. She asked for help getting up and, once she did, made her way towards it.

 

Once she got closer she realized there was a small, glowing, orb that was floating above his body. It was grey, resembling a glass orb filled with smoke, and it bobbed above the man. When she got closer it quivered, almost expectantly.

 

Flux appeared over Keres's shoulder. "Ah, so it IS possible." He said. Upon Keres's curious look he explained further. "Something that Chosen are able to obtain. We weren't sure it could actually be possible, so strange it was, but here it is. For ease let's call it a... "Boss Soul"...Oh don't worry it's not his actual soul. More a...remnant of powerful foes. Chosen can absorb these and grow in strength."

 

At Keres's dumbfounded expression Flux let out a strange warbling sound, similar to a laugh. "Didn't think we wouldn't find a way to make you stronger did you? There's much more dangerous battles ahead...you're going to need every edge you can get."

[Andx]

"Thanks Lindow..." Reinaan said softly as the Thunder Chosen healed his wound. It really was Kha's magic. The sensation was the same. This time instead of patching a hole in the boy's neck it healed the cut from his shoulder to the bone. The easing of the pain on top of the warm sensation of the healing magic sent a wave of relief through the Draken's body and an audible sigh that fully expressed it sounded from his mouth. Between Lindow's magic and Anis' general medical knowledge, the lizard duo was functional again. They weren't in great shape but they weren't going to die and that's what counted.

 

The boy's body wanted to rest but his attention was fixed on the Boss Soul as flux had explained to the group. They could become stronger from absorbing things like these. The Fire Chosen stood up against his body's complaints. He brushed himself off, looked at his belongings, including his bag which he'd taken off and set down, all neatly piled next to Kloqah, and decided against going through the hassle of putting his jacket on yet. Instead he made his way to the strange glowing object as no one had done so yet.

 

He stared at the object curiously. To think something so pretty had come out of that crazy bandit guy. Ziiyol hovered close in excitement, awaiting her partner's next move. "Well touch it already!" she said anxiously.

 

"Yeah... right." Reinaan said more confused than anything. He slowly reached a hand out and the tip of his index claw made contact with the orb. As he did so, a portion of the object's power flowed into him. The Draken could feel a rush of energy starting at his hand that quickly overtook his whole body. He felt alert and focused, almost like he hadn't just fought a grueling battle. Pulling his hand away, the boy looked at himself and flexed various muscles on his arms, chest, legs and tail. Everything felt stronger, his scales felt a little more solid. In general he just felt different. He curiously tapped at the object again to see if it would do another round but it didn't respond to him. But still it hovered, as if waiting for the others to come and take their turn.

 

"Hey guys! You gotta try this!" he called out excitedly while pointing to the Boss Soul. He was giggling with the burst of energy, and didn't seem to be aware just how ready to go his body was. "I'm gonna look around!" he called out again, deciding to do something with the energy. The encampment turned out to be overflowing with all sorts of goods. There were weapons everywhere. Swords as well as crossbows and ammunition. There were jars of liquid that Reinaan didn't recognize but were healing potions. There seemed to be various medicines and various other goods. There were roots that the Draken had never seen before but thought perhaps Anis or Keres might know since they seemed to know a lot about various things.

 

Additionally he found a book. Curiously the reptilian Chosen turned through the pages of the volume but as he suspected, it wasn't written in ancient draken. That would be silly of it have been anyway. He looked at the letters, puzzled over what they could have possibly meant. He'd have to get that to Keres too, she knew how to read he was pretty sure. But something else sure caught his eye. A huge supply of gold. It all sparkled so brilliant in the sun he couldn't believe his eyes. He couldn't gather all of the things on his own right away but he would be sure to tell the others what all there was lying around. With the roots and book in hand, the Fire Chosen sought out the Water Chosen.

 

"Hey, Keres, I found some stuff and uh... well I've never seen these kinds of roots before and then theres this." he said presenting the roots and the diary to the girl. "I... can't read so, maybe you could make better sense of it." he said a bit shy about illiteracy. It wasn't critical to life in his village but he was concerned outsiders might perhaps mock him for what he assumed was a common skill for them.

[Alaina]

With the fight having been finished, it appeared that everyone had made it out alive. Letting out a deep sigh of relief, the girl ended up sitting down on the ground, exhaustion quite apparent. Looking at the bolt in her leg, the girl looked to the medic of the group in order to help her get patched up. Before that took place, though, the spirit of water drew their attention to a smoking orb above the bandit leader's body, describing it to be something to power them up. The Earth Chosen's face was a bit dumbfounded at this sudden revelation and said, "wh-what?"All the same, the group was apparently able to gain some form of new found power. While this was definitely different from anything she could've expected out of this venture, the girl could only pay so much attention to it, as her focus was then drawn back to the crossbow bolt in her leg. Not wanting to get up and agitate the wound any further, she merely stayed sitting on the ground until one of the more medically inclined chosen tended to her wounds. Once that was over with, the girl stood back up, shaking her ankle out a bit and still feeling a biting pain there. Trying not to put much pressure on it, the girl shifted most of her way to her other foot while standing, and walked slower when she did move around. 

 

With the fight having been completely over and everyone being as recovered as they could be for the time being, the girl looked to the rest of the group with a bit of a small smile on her face saying, "um. Good job everyone." With the two days prior to this being filled with nothing but the death of the other Chosen, the Earth Chosen had been feeling somewhat shaky about all of it. She knew she had a duty as one of the chosen, and while she still wanted to help others as best she could, it had been a despairing endeavor thus far. Her mind was filled with doubts today, especially with having to face even greater dangers. Yet, all of them had lived and while she was feeling more relief then anything else, there was a sense of happiness at the results of their fight. All the same, the girl then looked around to the camp, knowing that the bandits probably had a large cache of stolen goods here, given how they lorded over the city. 

 

With everyone splitting off, the Earth Chosen first walked over to the smoky orb, curious about it. Knowing that it was supposed to make them stronger, the girl wasn't entirely sure how she was supposed to go about it until she heard the familiar voice of her spirit. "Merely touch it and breathe in the power." 

 

"Wha-" The explanation seemed to further confuse the chosen, but she felt it was best just to go with it. Touching the orb, it was an all at once strange sensation. Twitching a bit, as a result of the suddenness of it all, the girl could start to feel something coursing through her body.All at once her muscles tensed and her focus sharpened, and just as quickly as it came through so to did it subside. When the feeling was over, took a deep breath and clenched her fist, feeling a strange new strength within. It wasn't anything massive but merely the fact that she could feel herself become stronger was more than enough of a tell that it had worked. Looking at the smoky orb, she wondered just how these things worked and how many more there were in the world, but ultimately, left to go help search the camp for whatever might be there. 

 

The search had resulted in the finding of numerous weapons, both swords and crossbows, alongside various vanity objects and a large sum of gold. The Earth Chosen's eyes widened at the sight of the pile of money, being far more than she could ever dream to have at once, let alone having ever seen that much. While she knew how useful having that money would be, given that it was in the clutches of the bandits and that there was only one city in the desert, it was very clear where this money had come from. Believing it wouldn't sit well with her if they just took the gold for themselves, she thought to bring up giving it back to the city when they went back. In addition to all of this, the Chosen of Fire had ended up finding a diary of some sort. Curious, the girl walked over to Keres, who was now in possession of it, and looked over her shoulder as the girl began to read it, trying to not stand too close as to be as least awkward as possible. 

 

The first entries talk about having to run away from home with his family and "as many people I could convince to leave" because of some sort of "creature" making a home in the volcano. "They didn't understand why the Dragon leaving was an ill omen. Anything that causes that beast to leave its home is clearly a threat."

 

It then went into their travel across the desert and how most of them died on the way, unused they were to the terrain and ill-equipped to fight most of them were.

They made plans to leave the desert entirely but then many of them grew sick, including the leader's family, and they realized they couldn't leave until their sick were better able to travel. It talks about how he was hopeful that they would find the right medicine to cure them.

 

It went on to talk about how the sick kept getting sicker and how some of them left, deciding that there was no way to save them and that they had to get out of this place. He, and some others, refused to give up hope. The writing grew more and more delirious, as it turns out that the leader was testing various herbs, medicines, and potions on himself before giving them to the sick.

 

The last entry simply reads. "They're dead. All of them. As am I. The me who entered this cursed desert is dead now. The one who survived is a different man. A man not meant for a simple life. He must be reborn into something stronger than this world."

 

The whole thing was rather disconcerting to read. The Earth Chosen couldn't help but feel sorry for the man as his spiral into madness, and reasoning for it, was quite evident. Not so much that she regretted what they did here, nor did she agree with the direction he decided to go, yet all the same it was a sorrowful tale. However, there was something else that caught her attention in the story. The volcano, and apparently what was residing in it now. The girl didn't know a lot in regards to different monsters, but if there was one famous type it would be the dragon. They were ferocious and powerful, tending to be in a class of their own. And if there was such a creature that struck fear even in their heart, the girl could only think it meant ill for the rest of the land. There was a bit of a pause before the girl said anything, unsure of what to say both to the note about the creature and the bandit leader, but after awhile she just said, "well, um. Do you think we should uh, take some of this stuff back to the city?"

[Andx]

Reinaan stood by, captivated as the girl's began turning through the diary. He looked on amazed that they understood the writing and almost wished he could read himself. "What's it say?" he said aloud, hoping they would share with him as they looked through. The Water and Earth Chosen were accomodating and took turns reading various passages or skimming and summarizing others. There seemed to be tales of the bandit leader's past. But the boy's attention was claimed entirely at one word: dragon. His tail started wagging back and forth like an excited puppy as he urged the girls to tell him more about the dragon. Something about the story seemed familiar, particularly when volcanos were involved. He lived near a volcano and he seemed to recall the elders of his village occasionally telling the story of a dragon leaving their land in times long past.

 

"That's so cool!" he said at the conclusion of the diary readings. He hadn't really paid attention to anything not related to the dragon but that was enough for him. The Earth Chosen questioned whether they should take the camp's supplies back to the town. Reinaan looked at Kloqah, Hob and the mule they'd been provided. "Let's take everything they've got." he said with a mischievous smirk. Though there was something he wanted to ask first. "Hey uhh..." he started. Oh no. The Earth and Fire Chosens had yet to ever exchange names. Addressing her was going to be akward so now he needed to shift to asking the both of them together. Stuttering a bit he recovered saying, "I uh, was wondering if maybe when things aren't too crazy if either of you would wanna try and teach me to read...". He had begun nervously scratching at the back of his neck and he looked down as he asked the question, trying not to make eye contact to hide the fact he didn't know Ryia's name. "But uh, you dont have to answer now, just something to think about. Forget I asked!" he said, clearly struggling. He called Kloqah over after turning around as if to excuse himself though he didn't put any distance between himself and the other Chosen. The boy began trying to guage how much the mount could take back for them in an attempt to try and ignore how he'd messed up a simple conversation.

[Alaina]

Once their description of the story had finished, the Earth Chosen was a bit off put by the Draken's reaction. She didn't really think there was much about the story was cool, and was worried about what the draken did find as such. All the same, she was in agreement with him to lift all of the stuff from here. It wasn't being used anymore regardless, and were there still more bandits out there, it would do no good to allow them such a cache to weapons and money. Cracking her knuckles, stretching her wounded arm a bit to see how well it was working right now, the girl moved to some of the loot they had found and began to move it around. As she went to moving these things, the draken seemed to have something to ask of her. Looking curious as he seemed to be wanted to taught how to read, she couldn't help but softly giggle as the Chosen of Fire started to stammer and seem embarrassed. While she wasn't quite sure why he was, the girl couldn't help but find it amusing that a race of generally imposing and intimidating figures would act in this way. All the same, the girl said, "um well, I'm not the best at reading myself. I, uh, don't really think I'm like the best of teachers either." With a nod and a soft smile on her face the girl said, "but if there's a time for it sure, I'll do the best I can." 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Keres wasn't sure how to feel about this...thing. She could tell it was making her stronger and that was unusual to her. Everything she had learned about magic was that it took a long time to become more powerful and yet...Though, on the other hand this was something directly from the Spirits, beings of pure magic, so perhaps that had to do with....

 

While she was lost in theorizing, the others began to look around and find what was in the camp. Which turned out to be quite a lot. Reinaan went up to Keres to show her some things, a book, and some roots. "Prevents blood loss." She said, looking at the roots, before storing a couple away. Then she looked at the diary, just in time for Ryia to come up to her.

 

She looked back at the girl as she was staring over her shoulder. The Earth Chosen didn't say anything and simply looked on, indicating to Keres that she didn't want to talk. She wasn't used to reading with someone else but she could do it.

 

Though she didn't know how slow to turn the page. Ryia didn't say anything about speed so she went likely slower than she needed.

 

The story was a sad one, showing just how easy it was for this world to break someone. It was quite...depressing. This was the world that they were saving...

Reinaan seemed excited about the story, likely due to the dragon, which was also something that interested Keres. "Where did it go..." She wondered out loud.

 

Hearing Reinaan ask Ryia to teach him to read made her realize once more how young this boy must be. It could certainly explain why he was so...different from the others of his race she met.

 

In any case it seemed that Reinaan and Ryia were busy talking with each other and so she decided to give them some space and wander around some more. And in doing so she discovered some logs which, after trying to read the messy handwriting for several minutes, told her that most of the food was stored in the outpost by the bridge. She didn't think it would be wise to go there but it would be helpful information for the city.

 

She went back to the group to share the information, and her opinion on what to do next, in the best way she could. "Food storage on the bridge. Should bring as much of this," She waved around at the supplies "back as possible. Mounts can carry."

[Andx]

The Draken relaxed some as Ryia began replying to him. Apparently he was doing this interacting with humans thing alright. Maybe they weren't much different than his own people, the obvious things like scales aside. The boy turned back to face the Earth Chosen as she said that if they had time she'd do her best to help him learn.

 

"Really?!" Reinaan beamed. There was a light in his eye that betrayed the excitement. He couldn't wait to see everyone's faces back home when he showed up after his adventure taller, stronger and able to read. They would never believe it was him. The idea would keep him energetic through the rest of the day, the soreness across his body and most especially the base of his tail aside. Ziiyol hovered near, seemingly excited to watch the process. "You're so nice, but you're really good at fighting too. I've been meaning to say something about it since our fight in the Council's place just never got it... uh..." here again the boy faltered as he still didn't know the Earth Chosen's name. But there was nothing to do but ask now unless he wanted to play this awkward game forever. "We haven't really talked huh? I'm Reinaan Malyol. What's your name?" he said extending his right hand as he'd been taught was common introductory procedure among humans once but only now remembered.

[Alaina]

As the draken seemed to be both happy and what the girl could only assume was ambitious, about her being able to teach him to read, she felt a bit of joy at the prospect. She also couldn't help but find it a bit humorous as the draken's tail seemed to move around in excitement as well. She was, however, taken a bit aback by the sudden forwardness of the fellow chosen's compliments, saying, "oh well uh, no more than the rest I don't think." Quickly shifting away from herself, the girl said, "you're um, fairly good at fighting too." She hadn't actually really paid attention to how he had fought, but given he was still around and the man he had fought in this most recent battle, she figured it was true, if not underselling. As he extended his hand out, asking for her name, she had then realized that she hadn't known his name until just now as well. Feeling somewhat awkward about the whole thing, the girl shook Reinaan's hand saying, "well, I um, don't really talk much. In general. Yeah. But um, I'm Ryia. Ryia Mariote. It's good to meet you Reinaan." 

 

With that exchange finished, Ryia still felt slightly awkward but saw that the Water Chosen was gathering around everyone and seemed to have something to share. Turning towards the draken, Ryia said, "we should probably see what that's about." With that, the girl started to move towards the gathering, also hoping that she didn't just come off as too abrupt to the chosen. As they made their way back, the girl heard talk about how there was a large cache of food on the bridge, probably the one they came from. Thinking it a good idea to get it to help themselves and the people of Oasis out, Ryia merely nodded at the suggestion. 

[Sethera]

A lot of stuff seemed to happen at once. Lindow killed the leader of the bullies, but he was injured. Mute Girl was really badly off, but she got better, and then people touched a glowy thing and then were reading from a book. Between listening to people read from some boring book or looking over possible food the choice was pretty obvious. The glowy thing wasn't important, that could come later--

 

"Snooowy, what are you doing?" Gilly whined, looking at the scattered loot with grieving eyes.

 

The rabbit let go of the piece of hair he had been pulling on. "Before you go haring off like an idiot you should at least look at the boss soul. Idiot."

 

"Not an idiot," the girl pouted before trudging over to the glowy thing. "Okay, let's see what happens when--" she paused mid-poke, her expression lighting up. "Wow, that was cool! Let's do it again!"

 

"It doesn't work like that."
 

"Awww, too bad, wait where's the food then? I'm suuuper duper hungry, ya know?"

 

"Do you ever not think about food?"

 

Unfortunately, the halfling didn't really find much that she liked. Mostly gold and weapons, neither of which interested the girl that much. In the end, she just sat there on the ground, grumbling mutinously to herself about the lack of decent grub.

 

Hob had moved aside after the Water Chosen had been healed, baaing happily when she opened her eyes. He ended up following her around for a bit afterward, listening to the story as well but not really understanding what was said.

[Maeriberii Haan]

---

 

As the group mingled with each other, Anis simply followed them, and she ended up busying herself with packing as much as she could from the loot of the battle to the mule and Ileca, with the herb collections going immediately to her own pockets. She was still thinking about the strange surge of power she felt after the leader was defeated, something that felt nice but didn't make much sense. Nevertheless, the longer the group stayed here, the more risk they would face - there might be more bandits than the ones here after all.

 

She was getting a bit too tired right now, so the suggestion to return was met with an agreement from her.

 

"Return, rest, then we'll start figuring out where should we go next. Maybe the town people had some information about it."

 

Thinking about it, the group should hopefully be more acquainted to each other than before now.

 

---

[Hälō]

After getting his injuries tended to, and taking his cut of the energy from the boss soul, Lindow found himself sitting in meditation a little ways away from the rest of the group. He had already grabbed the all the supplies that he needed, and was now trying to access the place he had been to in his dreams...

 

Unfortunately it seemed it wasn't as easy as he thought and he was forced to give up after his third attempt. Sighing, he turned his attention to the others as they assembled to discuss their next move. 

 

"Agreed." He called over to Keres as he approached the group. "We should return as soon as possible..." 

 

Shifting his gaze to the fire chosen, his eye widen in realization. "Oh." He walked up Reinaan and removed one of the four swords from his belt. "I almost forgot..." Lindow smirked as he skillfully twirled the blade in it's scabbard before holding it out towards the Draken. "Here. It's yours now." It was the blade the boy had used to slay the bandit leader, freshly cleaned and with a piece of cloth from the dead man's armor wrapped around it's handle. 

 

"Don't worry, I've already found a replacement..." Lindow nodded to the Bandit Cleaver that gleamed on the opposite side of his other two scimitar with a satisfied grin. "Perhaps I'll teach you how to use it the next time we have a moment..." He said he waited for Reinaan to take his gift. "I've been meaning to give 'The Great Gilly' a few lessons anyway." He shot Gilly a playful glance.

 

"In the Abyss Seekers, the first sword you use to take a life is considered sacred... I lost mine with my eye, but maybe you'll have better luck."

[Andx]

Handshakes were awkward Reinaan quickly concluded as the Earth Chosen took his hand. But now he had a name. "Ryia... that's pretty." he said mumbling a bit. He seemed happy the girl had complimented him on his fighting too. Acknowledging the strength of another was a great honor among his people. Even if Ryia didn't know that, it reminded him of when the other Draken had acknowledged his ability as a hunter despite his size. Fond memories to be certain, and odd of them to come at a time of the quiet that came with the death of foes. Keres had begun to address the group and at the Earth Chosen's prompting, Reinaan gathered near to hear her speak. She spoke of the bandit food storage being at the bridge they had first arrived at and said they should bring as much of the camp's supplies to the village as they could. The young Draken was overjoyed to be able to provide so many supplies to the village in exchange for the Elder's kindess to them. He went about packing as many supplies onto Kloqah's back as she could manage. She was a tough girl so she didn't complain much.

 

Before he could get carried much further away, Lindow approached the boy. The man smirked and held a sheathed blade out towards Reinaan. The Fire Chosen wasn't well versed in swordmanship and didn't see much use in him having it. But he still took a hold of the hilt with his right hand, since it was being offered. The Thunder Chosen said he might be able to teach him some when they had time. "That might be good..." he said as he moved the covered blade about some trying to get more of a feel for holding the weapon. He still wasn't sold on the idea. Or rather he wasn't until Lindow said one more thing. Something of the Abyss Seekers. This was the weapon Reinaan had slain the bandit leader with and as such it was sacred. The man spoke of having lost his first sword but hoped to see the Draken's run last longer. That was all he needed to hear.

 

"That's so cool!" he said in what felt like yelling while whispering. As if drawn to the wonder of the idea he unsheathed the sword to look at himself in the blade a bit. He put it back in it's scabbard, uncertain how he would secure the weapon given his current and usual state of nudity. He'd figure it out, for now he laid it carefully with his things which were somehow not buried underneath the loot he had packed onto Kloqah's back. Turning back to Lindow he was admittedly somewhat curious. "Sooo... who are the Abyss Seekers? Are they like, your family or friends or something?"

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

It felt weird having people looking at her while she talked. Keres wasn't quite sure that she liked it. Though it seemed that everything was settled fairly easily after that. Most of them went about their own business after that, leaving Keres and Hob on their own. She noticed that the rest were getting along better than before for the most part. She was happy to see that the group were forming bonds finally and she was content on the sidelines.

 

She glanced at Hob.

Hob looked at her.

She looked at Hob.

Hob baaed.

She patted Hob's head.

----

Once the group got a move on they realized how worn out they truly were. The sun, combined with their injuries, and the combat itself, had taken a toll on each of them. They were able to travel but they were lucky nothing attacked them on the way back to Sol.

 

Upon entering the city they were greeted by a somewhat unnerving sight. The entire population of the city were waiting in the center of the city; in the former marketplace. They were all silent as the group approached. Expectant. But hesitant.

 

When the amulet was seen, the one belonging to the bandit's leader, several among them began murmuring about the implications. However it wasn't until the elder stepped forward were they asked if the deed was done.

 

The moment the Chosen gave affirmation the crowd went wild with cheers. People hugged each other and shouted in joy at the news. Their prison was no more. The warden was dead. They were free...from at least that. The curse still afflicted them but they could at least rest easier knowing that the bandits would no longer trouble them.

The good mood was increased at the news of the gold that was being returned to them, and the store of food that was now open.

 

The elder thanked the group heartily, and offered them to keep several thousand of the gold for themselves if they so wished. In fact whatever they had obtained, though the elder asked to be able to keep the food and the personal belongings of the citizens that remained, was theirs if they wished it. "The gold would help but we can survive without it. We're happy to be free to begin with."

 

As an impromptu party broke out around them, what little food they had was brought out of storage, and the elder explained that since they had more on the way, via the bandit's supplies, he felt it only right to celebrate as properly as they could.

 

"...Weary." Keres said, as the party began to hit its stride. The elder apologized when he realized how tired they must be. He offered them an empty home to rest in, instead of the ruined temple, as "We have more empty buildings than we used to these days." The somber thought seemed to break the elder a bit from the gaiety of the others. Though he made sure none beyond the Chosen heard those words.

 

"Ah, before you make a decision if you wish to rest, I owe you something. I told you I had some information that could help. It's not much I'm afraid but perhaps it will come in handy. To the east there is a location you should avoid. I will mark on a map the location as exact as I can. For in that area there were sightings of a large gathering of Sand Sharks. Vicious predators, who usually travel solo. I'm unsure why this group is acting so unusually but it would be dangerous to enter their territory."

 

Keres nodded in thanks, and immediately got lost in thought. It wasn't the first time they would have encountered a Sand Shark acting in a strange manner...

[spoiler=OOC]Alright so we're in the city again, feel free to wrap up interactions and start new ones. You may just go and rest for the day, interact with the elder, each other, people of the city, and so forth. But be sure to make sure that all the things that the group wishes to keep are accounted for.

 

[Hälō]

 "Sooo... who are the Abyss Seekers? Are they like, your family or friends or something?"

 

Lindow's smile melted away to a more neutral expression. "Colleagues." He sighed and look up towards the desert sky. He couldn't help but wonder what the organization would say when he finally returned from this little adventure. 

 

If he returned.

 

"We're charged with the task of keeping witches and other practitioners of magic in check." Lindow causally nodded over to Keres as he continued his explanation. "They're not the friendliest bunch you can ever meet..." This was certainly an understatement. "But they're certainly very good at what they do." This however was less an understatement and more a nice way to say that the Abyss Seekers were quite competent hunters and killers.

 

"Given the nature of our little adventure, I'm sure our paths will cross with theirs sooner or later." A subtle frown formed at the corner of the thunder chosen's mouth at the prospect. 

 

When the team had finally returned to town, Lindow was all to eager to get some rest. Between the fight with the bandit leader, and healing his fellow chosen, the man had scrapped the bottom of the barrel when it came to his energy supply.

 

Though a small part of him was happy to see the towns people filled with such joy, he remained stoic and silent as they made their way through the festivities. Only taking interest open hearing about the strange gathering of sharks.

 

"Avoid..." Lindow repeated the Elder's words to the rest of the group with a light scoff whilst making his way to the far corner of the room. Strange events were exactly the kind of thing they were looking for on their hunt for the demon gate, was it not?

 

Sitting with his back against the wall, Lindow rested his blades on his lap before closing his eye to nap in the shadows.