Fire Emblem: Soul of Heaven [IC/PG-16]

[Blake]

Ada let out a cry as the arrow struck her, but used that as a chance to brace herself for the incoming impacts. She fired a spell back at the skeletons as they set upon her, but one of their strikes threw her off balance, causing the shot to miss. As she quivered and bled, she grit her teeth, gripping her tome tight. 
 
"Come on, Ada. Pull yourself together. If you don't make it to Layne, you're done for... That Susanoo guy should be able to fend them off, right?"
 
Ada had barely finished her thought before the man in question shoved her back and began to fight the creatures, telling her that a girl needed to back off. As much as her blood was boiling, she had no room to argue, so she retreated as fast as she could. Prick that he was, he did just what she needed. Bracing herself against the cannon that Susanoo had been at previously, she panted, seeing her companion at the cannon across the ship, unaware of the carrion looming behind her. She took a portion of the medicine from her pouch, then cried out.
 
"Layne, over here!"

[spoiler=OOC]From her starting position, Ada moved up 4. She used her Vulnerary, going from 3 to 2 uses remaining.

 

Designating Skeleton 7 for counterattack.

 

 

[Ralsei]

---

Layne rubbed at the side of his head as he felt his hearing start to return proper, a little mumble escaping him as he shook his head. The worst of the ringing from the cannon fire had passed now, and he was left standing there as he picked up his Heal staff once more. He turned to survey the battle going on the ship, his brow raising for a moment from the quick examination...
 
Rona wasn't in a huge amount of trouble. She seemed to be handling the Carrion just fine, and the skeletons hadn't been able to reach her over the water. She didn't need healing just yet. That was an odd thought to have to process. Leon wasn't injured either. He was going one-on-one against a skeleton at the moment, but there was backup rapidly approaching. But Rona would be able to fly in any minute to help him. On the other hand, Ada was stumbling an- "Layne, over here!"

 

It looked like his decision was made for him. Without waiting any longer to make a decision, he turned to the right side of the ship, his heal staff shining as he nodded to Ada, "I'm coming! Stay behind the other two, I can't get to you just yet!"

 

Before he began his dash, he looked back over his shoulder, calling out to Leon and Rona, "I need to move to the other side of the ship to help the others, try to fall back a little bit if you can!"

 

With that, he began his run to the other side.

---

[spoiler=OoC]

Layne moved five to the right. Can't reach Ada, feelsbadman.

 

Heal Staff 1 is at 19 uses still. It hungers for battle.

 

[King K. Azo]

Raynor was frustrated. 

In the group's defense, this was kind of his own fault. he didn't expect Gojira to be so adverse to the water. Sure, they'd never been on a boat before, but he didn't think his Salamander would be so skittish on the ship. He would have to work on that later, he supposed. For now, he had resort to the secret techiquie. As the battle raged around him, Raynor leaned over, whispering something into his Salamander's ear. 

Gojira perked up instantly, and charged ahead, Raynor gripping his lance. It seemed that a bunch of monsters were trying to gang up on Susanoo. He was sure the big guy was able to handle it, but hey, it was better to help out. That's what the guy wanted anyways. 

He had Gojira skid to a stop by a skeleton, and Raynor gave a mighty thrust with his lance. This was a maneuver he and Gojira had practiced many times... but never on a boat before.

 

---

 

[spoiler=Combat Log]Raynor went to Skeleton 7 and attacked it

 

[Alaina]

As the Carrion continued to fly in the face of the wyvern rider, it seemed ready to assault once more, ascending before attempting to dive at them once more. However, this was thwarted as the axe of the girl let out a battle cry as she swung her axe true. The bird did not manage to get out of the way in time, and instead was merely cleaved in two as the axe practically glided through its flesh, tearing through bone, feather and sinew with ease. The two halves of the bird  fell down and struck the side of the boat, before falling into the waters below. 

 

Meanwhile, the two larger men of the group had taken to fighting the skeletons on the starboard side of the ship. As Susanoo made his way over to one such skeleton wielding a lance, it didn't seem to pay much mind to the fight and attempted to continue moving towards the shaman. This was a mistake for the mindless monster as the axe managed to bury itself into the ribs of the creature, both snapping most of its torso and causing it to halt. Turning to face the culprit, it didn't so much as let out a hiss before the lance from Raynor buried itself in the skull of the creature, removing the head from the rest of its body and causing it to collapse. 

 

Leon, meanwhile, was fairing well enough against the skeleton before him, and wanting to halt the advance of the other two skeletons as well made his way to move around the creature. As he stepped around it, he cleaved his blade through the spine of the skeleton, causing it to tumble down to the ground, and putting Leon in front of the next two. Looking to Rona, he nodded saying, "the two of us will handle this side, the rest of you, keep to where you are." 

 

As Leon made this note, the enemies began their retaliation. The first off which being a bird striking at Rona, but finding just as little success as the last of its kind. The next two being the skeletons near Leon. While the both of them had lances, Leon was still prepared for their onslaught, and as such managed to parry the lance of the first skeleton attacking him. With a swift riposte, Leon managed to strike back at the skeleton, chipping off a portion of its skull, though the skeleton seemed to mind very little about this. During this time, however, Leon was left open as another of skeletons managed to strike him in response. 

 

Meanwhile, though Ada was feeling healthier, she now had the issue of skeletal bird flying at her and beginning to peck her. 

 

With Susanoo and Raynor having felled the first of the four skeletons, the other three now had their attention set on them. With the  first of the skeletons firing an arrow at Susanoo, the preparation to fire was so telegraphed the the Yonan was able to dodge out of the way easily. Both he and Raynor, however, had much less luck against the two axe wielding skeletons who struck true and managed to wound both of them. 

 

While the group was preoccupied with these monsters, however, they would soon find their problem to get worse as the Carrion that had been ahead of the boat were now right at its head, the shadowy figure encircled by them. What appeared to be a cloak covered in and filled out with wisps of darkness and shadow would be easily recognized by Leon, Layne, Ada and Susanoo as a Phantom. A creature of strange substance and magical might, much less likely to just be found roaming around like the rest of monsters, little was known about these beings other than that to less spiritually attuned they were as dangerous as they were ominous. 

[Hakima]

---

[spoiler=Inventory]

 

“You don’t get to ignore me!” Susan smashed his axe into Skeleton 7’s torso as it tried to move past him. All the momentum the monster had possessed suddenly died, the force of the pirate’s axe splintering his rotted ribcage and dragging him back where he belonged.

 

Skeleton 7’s decrypted jaw hinges creaked as he hissed at the Yonan. Susanoo raised his axe once again to put an end to the miserable thing’s re-existence, but a lance sprouted from the monster’s skull before he could. Susanoo looked over his shoulder to see Raynor pulling his lance back to his side.  “Your beast finally found his sealegs, did he?” He barked a laugh.

 

Their jesting was cut short by Skeleton 1. Susanoo noticed it across the deck, nocking an arrow. “Watch your head!” he shouted in warning, ducking just in the nick of time himself. The arrow flew over his head and buried itself in the door of his quarters. “Oi! That’s where I sleep, bastard!”

 

He made to dash toward the soon-to-be-dead-again Archer, but he was cut off by another skeleton taking a swing at him with a rusted axe. He caught the dulled edge of the axe with his free hand. The skin on his hand was so rough and calloused he barely felt it cut into him.

 

“Stay outta my way!” He slammed the flat of his axe into Skeleton 4’s helmet. The corroded headpiece fell apart on impact, and Skeleton 4 was lifted off of his feet and knocked across the deck.

 

With nothing to get in his way this time, Susanoo stomped over toward Skeleton 1. The undead seemingly tried to raise his bow, but Susanoo brought his axe crashing down on the skeleton’s head before it had the chance to nock an arrow. “Bastard! Think you can come on my boat and just start putting holes in anything you want? Well you…” he trailed off.

 

A chill ran down his spine. Susanoo exhaled, and when he did, his breath fogged up in front of his face. His skin had even prickled up into goosebumps. “Huh?” It felt as if someone had suddenly robbed every trace of warmth from the air. He had only felt something like this a few time in all his years; something supernatural was among them.

 

He whirled around and, to his horror, saw a Phantom floating across the deck. It moved slowly, slovenly, as if it owned the place. Susanoo gripped his axe tighter. “Phantom! Steer clear of it!” he shouted over the clamor of battle. “That means you too, girlie! Dragon scales won’t do much to stop that thing!”

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Oh. It worked. That was incredible! Rona felt an odd rush as the Carrion was cleaved in two so easily. She had done it! Her lips quirked in a small smile as the bird fell into the water. She had done at least as well as the cannon. Which meant the other would fall just as easily...

 

However she heard the clash happening nearby. Leon, being attacked by two skeletons, and her heart dropped. Without even thinking she swooped down towards the one that had damaged her leader. "Commander, I'm here, let me be your shield!" she then brought the axe down, aiming for the skeleton's sternum, hoping to split it in half much like the Carrion.

 

Until Susanoo's shout, signalling her, or rather Cormag, out she didn't notice that the strange figure had gotten closer. She glanced over at it. The Carrion around it didn't seem any stronger than the ones they had felled so easily so far...but the thing in the middle. She knew enough about magic to tell this creature was obviously magical. She had been raised to distrust magic. It was a warrior's bane and she had been taught that it was something no true warrior would stoop to. Thus even without the warning she wanted to avoid it.

 

But if it got too close...she would have to bring it down. Not wanting to seem cowardly, Rona shouted back to Susanoo. "Cormag can handle it better than your floating hunk of wood I'm sure."

 

[spoiler=OOC]Rona moved 4 to the right and attacked Skeleton 3, designating it as counter, unless it dies, then the Carrion 2

 

[Blake]

Ada hadn't seen the bird before it set upon her, but she was able to force it away from her with minimal damage. She saw Layne coming to her aid, preparing her book to blast the carrion from the sky.

However, the Phantom appeared before she could make a move. Freezing in place, she scanned the area, trying to decide what would be the best course of action. Moving slightly past the carrion, in order to draw the Phantom's attention, Ada bit her thumb before opening her Shade tome, the magic seeping strongly from it as her blood made contact with the binding.
 
"Shroud!"
 
Using her weapon art on the Carrion, she turned to face the Phantom, bracing herself for its assault. It would hurt, but...
 
"Layne, get behind me! I'm gonna draw it in, just keep me alive!"

[spoiler=OOC]Ada moves left one, then up one, targetting Carrion 4 with Shroud.

Designating the Phantom for counter.

 

[Ralsei]

---

Layne gripped the Heal Staff tighter as he glanced around the boat, watching the combat going on as he winced a little bit. The fight was getting more... Condensed, and that was really, really bad for him. Soon he was going to be trapped in a spot where he wasn't able to get to cover...

 

Hell, that might've already happened, it seemed like he was surrounded at this point. Unless he tried to ditch Ada entirely, he probably wasn't going to be able to get out of the range of the Carrion, and the skeleton warriors... He kind of just had to hope that they would stay occupied on the fighters below him as he moved behind Ada. He held up the Heal Staff in his hand, the light from it growing brighter as he aimed it towards the Ada, a little scowl on his face as he did, "I think we might've made a mistake..."

 

The bright light vanished as quickly as it appeared, his grip on the staff tightening a little bit as he glanced around, a little mumble escaping him as he looked up towards that Phantom that was approaching the boat slowly. He mumbled under his breath, "You really should've let me be the one to lure it out. I can handle magic... I have some practice in taking hits from it when I was trying to learn it... After the first attack from it, if you're too hurt, we need to fall back and... I dunno. Try to get it in range for the others to attack it before it can attack them. They'll be even worse off taking a hit from it then you."

 

He shook his head as he glanced back over his shoulder, a little sigh escaping him as he did. His optimism from the start of the battle was draining fast with the developments that were going, things were looking a bit... Rough. For him specifically. He was definitely caught in a bad spot, he shouldn't have rushed towards Ada the way he had... Mistakes were made.

---

[spoiler=OoC]

 

Layne moves one square to the right, underneath Ada. He heals her for 21 HP to top her off, back to full.

 

Heal Staff 1 is at 18 uses remaining. It's growing angry.

 

[King K. Azo]

“Your beast finally found his sealegs, did he?” 

"Took him long enough, but yeah, he did. Now let's clean up this mess," Raynor replied, spinning his lance. he had been struck by an axe, but the damage wasn't too bad. He'd just keep fighting through it. He stopped spinning his lance before stabbing straight ahead, attacking the skeleton in front of him with all his might. He wanted to make sure that he defeated that monster as fast as possible. As he finished, he heard Susanoo yell something. 
 
“Phantom! Steer clear of it!” he shouted over the clamor of battle. “That means you too, girlie! Dragon scales won’t do much to stop that thing!”

"Should we do something about that thing?" Raynor asked as he retracted his lance.

[Alaina]

With the group moving out to strike, their offensive had been met with great success. As Rona dove down towards the axe wielding skeleton, she managed to cleave off one of the arms of the skeleton along with some of the bones that were attached to it. Meanwhile, next to her, Leon struck with his own blade  at the lance wielding skeleton before him. Cleaving into its ribs a bit more, the creature was soon left with little to make for a torso, though whatever fueled its unnatural strength seemed to care little for  this fact as it struck out with its lance towards him. Thankfully, Leon had managed to parry the blow away with his shield causing the skeleton to stumble back a bit. 

 

On the starboard end of the boat, meanwhile, the others seemed to be handling themselves fine as well. As Raynor drove his lance into the skeleton before him, it might've stuck into the ribs of creature if the act had not torn a large whole through them all. As Raynor struck the creature, it as well seemed to respond in kind as it stabbed into the hide of the salamander he was riding atop of, though this did little to actually impede or harm the creature. Ada as well, had fired off yet another blast of dark magic which struck the carrion soundly and tore a large chunk of its flesh and feathers off. With its eyes clouded by the shroud from Ada's attack, and Ada herself having a small of residual darkness surrounding her the bird's offensive retort was met with a miss. 

 

With Ada's advance, however, as she had planned, the Phantom took great notice of her. In fact, were Ada paying attention to it, it would have seemed to have had its attention on her since it got above the boat. So, quite like she expected, the dark cloaked creature cloaked in shadow made its way towards Ada. With one of their empty sleeves of the cloak lifting itself up, a coarse blue and white light started to gather around where a hand would have been. The light seeming to be a mixture of both fire and lightning, the ball was sent towards Ada, striking her truly and causing a great deal of pain to her, more so then any of the attacks she had been inflicted thus far had given her. With the attack having landed, Ada retorted with one of her own, sending a blast of dark magic at the figure, and causing the shadows around it to flicker and warble as the body itself was pushed back, though recovered easily.

 

What made matters worse, however, was that after the attack had landed, it seemed as though something had changed within the skeletons and carrion. With those that were able, the carrions had all begun to flock towards Ada, with the one she was currently fighting against still moving to peck at her, this time with more success and second one diving in to strike at her as well. Though Susanoo had done a great deal of damage to the archer, it too began to move forwards, now completely ignoring the Yonan and moving to strike at Ada. With bow drawn back, it fired an arrow that sailed right past Layne and into the back of the shaman. The axe wielding skeleton too had begun its march forward, and though it was unable to get close enough to strike  at Ada, it was close enough to another living being. Readying its axe, it took a large swing into Layne, carving a large cut into the boy's side, before dislodging itself and seemingly having its attention drawn right back to the shaman. 

 

The skeletons that had no hope of making it to the girl instead focused on their opponents in front of them. For Rona, the axe wielding skeleton swung once more and managed to pierce through cormag's hide, though if only slightly with its strike. A retaliation was soon had by the wyvern rider, being able to cleave shatter the skeleton with one mighty drop of her axe onto it. The lancer that had been fighting Leon made way to pierce into him as well, the lance striking him in the cut. Wincing in pain, the boy made one quick slash of his own, separating the skeleton's head from its body and causing the creature to fall to the ground. As the lancer Raynor was fighting struck him, this time for a slightly more effective amount of pain, its life too was cut short as the man managed to break apart what little structure was left of the skeletal foe. 

 

With their foes defeated, Leon looked towards the phantom, and though it was obvious he still shouted out, "everyone! Move to cover those two." 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

They had almost cleared off the foes on this side of the boat...when disaster struck. Without any enemies nearby Rona was able to watch, in horror, as Layne and Ada were descended upon. No...no, she should have been there! She should have been faster, been closer, to take those hits for her. It should have been her not them! She had spent too much time on this side and she let the others down.

 

If only she could be in two places at once...

 

She had no choice but to ignore the last Carrion. Calling out to Leon, "Commander, please heal yourself, I'll go to their aid right away!" she had Cormag take off towards the group. She couldn't reach that...thing, but she could clear them a path! As she neared them she noticed, with an increasing dread, that one of the skeletons was holding onto a bow....No, she had to...she had to ignore it. She just would keep her attention off it it, lest the sight be enough to shake her.

 

She ended up next to Ada, swinging her axe upon the other skeleton, shattering it with a mighty blow. "I am here now, get behind me, I won't let these things hurt you anymore!"

[spoiler=OOC]Rona is now one space left of Ada. She attacked Skeleton 4 and killed it, putting Carrion 8 as counter target.

 

[Hakima]

---

"Cormag can handle it better than your floating hunk of wood I'm sure,” Rona shouted over the clamor of the battle.

 

Susanoo guffawed, his rumbling laughter in stark contrast with the skirmish going on around him. “That’s some big talk from such a small brat. Score’s three-to-one in favor of this ol’ hunk of wood!” The skeleton he had been fighting (well, fight was a strong word to describe such a one-sided ass kicking) managed to claws back onto its feet and hobble past the distracted Yonan.

 

“Hey! Where do you think you’re going?” Susanoo whipped around to give chase. Skeleton 1 managed to just barely fire off an arrow that struck the shaman in the back before the massive Yonan caught up to it. “That’s my paycheck you’re putting holes in!”

 

No longer in the mood to play with his prey, Susanoo grabbed the skeletal archer by the neck and bodily threw it over the edge of the ship, resulting in one last raspy growl that was abruptly cut short by the “ploink” of something being dropped into the water.  “Why did it have to be skeletons?” he grumbled to himself. He hated the undead beasties; he had encountered them a few times, and every time, they had been too weak to pose a threat and too dead to be any fun.

 

He hoisted his axe onto his shoulder. With the Boring Bones dealt with, he directed his attention to Layne. The kid had been caught good on the side by one of them.

 

“You and your magic friend there gonna be okay?” He started fishing around in his pocket with his offhand. “I’ve got an extra vulnerary or two here, if you all need it.”

[spoiler=Combat]

Moved up two squares and killed Skelly 1. Designated Carrion 4 as counter attack.

[Ralsei]

---

Pain.
 
That was all Layne could feel right now. He had been lucky to avoid major injury up to now. He was usually able to stay out of the range of the enemy, or avoid them if they did approach. But everything had gone wrong on the boat. There were no safe areas, everyone had spread too thin, there was no way to avoid all of them...
 
But the skeletons were dead now. That just left the Carrion... They were scary, but not as scary as the skeletons... And the Phantom thing. Ironically, he was probably the person best equipped to take a hit from that one. But as long as the birds were around it... He couldn't stay to try and lure it, or they would gang up on him.
 
But he couldn't run away entirely either. He needed to stay close enough to patch up Rona and Susanoo. They might be able to handle the birds, but that Phantom... "Rona! Do not get too far away from me, that Phantom nearly destroyed Ada just now, I need to be able to reach you..."
 
He winced as he felt the wound on his side trickling blood, his hand reaching over to it to press into it, while he fished around in his pocket for the Vulnerary he kept on him. He began to take a swig of it as he glanced back to Ada, a low groan escaping him, "Ada come with me, we need to... Get out of here and heal up... Let the others start swinging at that thing, we'll support them after we're patched up."
 
“You and your magic friend there gonna be okay? I’ve got an extra vulnerary or two here, if you all need it.”
 
Someone was speaking to him, right? He glanced up as he gave Susanoo a wide grin, sputtering through the pain of the gash on his side as he held up the Vulnerary he had pulled out, "I-I don't go out without one. I think Ada's got her own... But you'll have to check with her. This is nothing..."
 
Bluffing even in pain, never let others see the full trick... He wasn't going to let this little split in his side stop him from making sure no one died. He shuffled away from the fight, leaning against the mast of the boat as he took the medicine, a little sigh escaping him. The pain wasn't going to go away entirely... But this should at least keep him functional.

---

[spoiler=OoC]
Layne moved down 3 and to the left 1 space and took the Vulnerary.
 
HP = 16/18.

 

[King K. Azo]

Raynor sighed to himself as he saw the counterattack defeat the skeleton in front of him. It seemed he and Susanoo had cleaned up shop here, as he couldn't see any more monsters. Now they just needed to clear off the rest of the ship, and they should be good to go. He looked behind his shoulder to see what was going on, and it seemed Ada and Layne were surrounded. 

Yeah, next time, he was going to stick next to them, and make sure this didn't happen again. 

The commander had called out an order to back them up, and he wasn't going to disobey that one. He nudged Gojira, who nodded and moved ahead, stopping right behind Rona. As he approached, he could hear Rona say 

 

"I am here now, get behind me, I won't let these things hurt you anymore!" 

 

"Yeah, the two of us won't let them pass," He said, watching Ada. He'd get next to Rona to make an animal barrier, but he was pretty sure Ada wouldn't want to be knocked down by Gojira.

 

[spoiler=OOC]Raynor moved to one space below Rona

 

[Alaina]

While Rona seemed to think he would be better off healing, and he certainly was not feeling at 100% right now, the boy did not want to back down when the rest of his team was being struck down upon by the shadowy creature. Making his way up, Leon tried his best to make the fight easier on the others by intercepting one of the carrion, bringing his blade up and striking its abdomen. With his blade striking true, he managed to deal a good chunk of damage to it, parts of the carrion's ragged form spilling onto the boat, but the bird still flew. Looking to the boy before him, the Carrion let loose a screech and then dove downward, attempting to strike the boy. Raising up his shield, he managed to deflect the blow entirely, making for a counter strike with his sword and splitting the bird monster in half. 

 

Meanwhile, with the rest of the crew moving down to take a more defensive posture and healing up their wounds, Ada being internally miffed at Rona's comment, the Phantom seemed responded by merely lifting its empty sleeve, pointing in Ada's direction. The Carrion began to fly forward, aiming for the shaman, though some being unable to reach her and targeting the only thing in that singular direction. With two of them dive bombing the Shaman, only one managed to actually strike true, it's beak giving an annoying peck at her. Two more charged the pirate captain, beaks digging into his flesh, causing more wounds to be produced on his body. 

 

As the Phantom began to idly float forward, it paused merely five feet from its original position. Turning its cloaked head, it took note of both the wyvern and salamander before it, both their riders being able to see the full shadowy yet empty hood where its head would have been. Raising up its sleeve, the same crackling, blue and white light that had struck Ada formed. With one blast of magic, it was sent towards the wyvern rider, striking them and dealing far more pain then any of the likes they had faced in awhile. 

[Hakima]

Susanoo swatted at the birds as they dove at him. “Oi! Knock it off!” They both ignored his command and attacked again, raking their talons across his chest, lacerating his skin and ruining his shirt. “That was my good shirt, you stupid flying chickens! Do you know how much time that’s gonna take me to sew all that?” He had only been wearing the shirt for a few months. It would have last him at least another six, if not for the bastard gremlins.

 

One of the Carrion was apparently offended by his berating. Carrion 8 circled around, squawked, and dove at the pirate captain again.

 

Susanoo was more than ready that time. He raised his axe and brought it down so hard that it cleaved the bird in two, the bloody halves bouncing off the deck and rolling to a stop at Leon’s feet. “You see that? I’m after you next!” he shouted at Carrion 7.

 

He was bleeding from so many places that it was hard to tell where one wound ended and the next began, but if he felt it at all, he wasn’t showing it.

 

After all, Susanoo loved to fight, and it wasn’t a good fight unless he was lightheaded from the blood loss.

[Ralsei]

---

Layne took a quick look around the ship as the fighting continued, but one thing in particular caught his eyes. Rona was being attacked by that Phantom, and from the looks of it, it was more of a threat than anything else had been. First Ada and now her, this thing was clearly on a march for blood. The slow advance, the fact that it was almost destroying whoever it was targeting...

 

He couldn't focus on that though. He quickly stood up from leaning against the mast of the ship as he started to run back towards the Phantom, and ducking past Raynor in the process. "Thanks for the cover! Just be careful of this thing, it's causing way more trouble than I expected!" Underneath his breath, there was a muffled addition, "And I already expected a lot..."

 

The Cleric's brought the Heal Staff in his hand into the air, the tip of it shining bright as he pointed it towards Rona. He stopped his dash beside her, the light from the staff washing over her and patching up the worst of her wounds, though the stinging sensations and the pain wouldn't be entirely removed. He let out a little groan as he closed his eyes, stumbling just a little bit as he coughed and rubbed at his neck, trying to stay standing still as he did, "Okay... I gotta get to Susanoo next... But there's not time..."

 

He took another glance around the fight, the phantom was the last big threat they had to deal with. The Carrion were annoying, but that was about the extent of it... Except to him, since he wasn't exactly able to wear armor. So he needed to cover his other side, along with keeping the phantom from getting to Susanoo...

 

"Can someone cover my other side? We need to try and keep this phantom from getting past us..."

---

[spoiler=OoC]

Layne moves up 4 spaces and to the right 1, standing on Rona's right to heal her for 21 HP, back to full.

 

Heal Staff 1 is at 17 uses left. 

 

Body Block strats go.

 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Rona clenched her teeth in an attempt to keep from screaming. Even with that a muffled groan of pain could be heard coming from her as the foul magic struck. She felt a burning sensation but also something else. She'd faced fire before, been burned, but this was no mere fire. Something inside her felt like it was boiling and tearing yet she couldn't tell what.

 

The strange, ethereal, nature of the attack was almost more terrifying than the damage it caused.

 

She only barely managed to keep her hands on Cormag's reigns, almost releasing them as the plasma hit her.

 

Then she felt another magic, a healing magic, and she felt herself regain strength. Though with it came a deep shame that she had to be healed like that in the middle of battle.

 

"Can someone cover my other side? We need to try and keep this phantom from getting past us..."

 

"No need. It can't get past anyone if it's dead!" Rona shouted. She had to lay this creature down lest it continue its rampage. Urging Cormag forward, which was harder than usual as the wyvern seemed uneasy about approaching the thing, she aimed a blow at the strange creature. Aiming for a spot which would make it harder for the creature to dodge out of the way.

 

She managed to land a solid hit, though hitting this thing certainly didn't feel very solid, but before she could celebrate the monster attacked again and Rona shouted out. She forced her mouth closed, biting onto her tongue in the process, as she forced herself to stare straight at the monster. She wouldn't let anyone see the pain in her eyes.

[spoiler=OOC]Rona moves up a space and attacks the Phantom with Locking Strike, before being counter attacked.

 

[Blake]

Having fallen back to recover and steel herself, the comments from Rona and Susanoo's offer did not sit well with Ada. Gritting her teeth, she panted as the pain finally began to subside, watching as the others threw themselves into danger. Risking their lives after their comments towards her. Susanoo's chest was torn, Ada was fighting the Phantom until her last breath. Ada nearly chipped a tooth as she tightened her jaw.

 

With a flick of her wrist, Ada had swapped her two tomes around again. Soundless incantations began to form on her lips as she walked forward, her voice slowly filling in as she recited the ancient text with her advance. Anger filled her voice as she read, her hair coming unfurled and waving upward in the air, with the remains of the monsters rising up around her as well. As she passed Susanoo, her chanting had reached a peak, with every step exerting her presence on everyone around her, the ship's boards creaking loudly beneath her feet. As the spell reached fruition, a large black orb appeared in Ada's free hand, and she shot forward. Stopping next to Rona, the girl let the orb loose, firing it at the Phantom point blank, the tense air leaving her and following the spell.

 

"Just die already!"

 

Between Rona's strike and the force of the spell, the Phantom had no hope of dodging. The attack struck true as Ada shook in place, adrenaline rushing through her as the spell tore through the Phantom's body, if it could be called that.

 

[spoiler=OOC]

Ada moves upp 3, and uses Dusk's Weapon Art (Pressure) on the Phantom.

 

 

[Alaina]

As the final blast of dark magic struck the Phantom, it's body seemed to lurch backwards as Rona would feel her axe beginning to slide through the only partially substantial dark form of the creature. Letting out an unearthly groan, the creature seemed to die in a burst of darkness, the shadow that made it up going every which way and the cloak that gave form to its body merely crumbling to dust. With the Phantom gone, no sign of it even existing still remaining, the Carrion let out a cry as they seemed to become incredibly disinterested with the occupants of the boat. Flapping their wings, the monstrous birds flew away and back towards the island the group was sailing towards. 

 

Trying to catch his breath, Leon looked to his battered and wounded company, and made his way over to them. Having watched the fight against the Phantom, with concern in his voice Leon asked, "Rona, Ada, are you both alright?" Looking to Layne he said, "make sure everyone's patched up." Leon himself was a bit worse for wear but made no comment on it, instead feeling frustrated at himself for how the whole fight had played out. All the same, it was becoming increasingly clear why the townspeople were in such need of help. And, the sense of dread the Phantom brought with it only seemed to linger on as Leon looked towards the island they were heading too. 

 

[spoiler=Chapter Complete]

[spoiler=Level Ups]

[spoiler=Leon]

HP: +0

Str: +1

Mag: +0

Skl: +0

Spd: +0

Lck: +1

Def: +0

Res: +0

[spoiler=Rona]

HP: +1

Str: +0

Mag: +1

Skl: +0

Spd: +0

Lck: +1

Def: +0

Res: +0

[spoiler=Ada]

HP: +0

Str: +0

Mag: +1

Skl: +1

Spd: +0

Lck: +0

Def: +0

Res: +0

[spoiler=Layne]

HP: +0

Str: +0

Mag: +1

Skl: +1

Spd: +1

Lck: +0

Def: +0

Res: +1

[spoiler=Raynor]

HP: +1

Str: +0

Mag: +0

Skl: +1

Spd: +0

Lck: +1

Def: +1

Res: +0

[spoiler=Susanoo]

HP: +1

Str: +0

Mag: +1

Skl: +1

Spd: +0

Lck: +0

Def: +0

Res: +0

 

And since you're all level 7 now, it's time to decide on Personal Skills. A reminder that a Personal Skill is a small buff or ability unique to your character, so it should reflect something about them. Be sure to run any ideas by me first before finalizing it and try not to make it too strong. Will probably not wait for all the personal skills to be done before moving onto the next chapter, so as not to delay it for too long, but I would still encourage you to get it done. Also feel free to interact and talk with each other as the boat continues to sail towards its destination. 

 

 

 

[King K. Azo]

Raynor sat there watching the others fighting, doing their best to defeat the Phantom. He was all poised, all ready to move in and strike... but before he could do anything, the group had taken down the Phantom, and the other monster had left, as if they were under some spell. Raynor sighed as he slipped off Gojira's back, rubbing the Salamander's side. 

"We're gonna have to get you used to naval combat, buddy," He muttered. He sighed as he sat down and checked to see if Gojira was hurt. He really didn't get to do much in that battle, but it wasn't really anyone's fault, now was it? He looked over to Layne and Ada. The two of them looked pretty beat up, and that wasn't a good thing. They were a lot squishier than him. "Maybe next time, I should stick with Ada and Layne, act as a shield so they don't come out so banged up," He commented. 

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

"Rona, Ada, are you both alright?"

 

"Of course I am fine! Do you think something like this could bring me down?" Rona said, tightening her thigh's grip on Cormag's back to avoid falling off of him as a wave of fatigue, brought on by the damage she was caused, swept over her. "I only regret that I wasn't fast enough to slay the other monsters as well!"

 

"Maybe next time, I should stick with Ada and Layne, act as a shield so they don't come out so banged up,"

 

The girl internally cringed as she remembered how close both of her allies had come to death. She didn't understand why it worried her so much. She had seen plenty of allied soldiers fall in battle. Perhaps it was because, unlike them, she had been able to learn about these people...and she knew their names and not just rank. Still, it was more proof that she had to work on getting stronger.

 

"That reminds me, both of you, be careful. I know I seem indestructible when I charge into battle but you shouldn't follow my example!" She smiled with a mixture of confidence and good humor, making sure to not make it sound like she was belittling them.

 

After all, it was her fault that they had to be in such a position.

[Alaina]

Leon was relieved to see that, even if wounded and injured that Rona was still up and about. Looking to the rest of the group, he nodded saying, "right. I apologize as well for letting you both take on as many as you had to." Even if everyone had come out alive, Leon had still felt bad for allowing things to escalate to the point that they did, and merely left it at that. Getting himself patched up, it appeared that the island they were approaching was starting to get closer into view, and the sight of Carrion circling the skies of the island became all the more clear. Leon couldn't help but have a sense of foreboding about the strange island, but all the same looked to everyone and  said, "our target's almost in range. Be sure to get everything you need ready before we hit land." 

 

[spoiler=OOC]

As less than half the people have posted in something close to two weeks, I am inclined to start the next map in my next post unless I hear any majority of objections. Next post day will likely be Friday.

 

 

[Ralsei]

Layne closed his eyes as the final enemy was taken down, and just quietly slumped himself against one of the masts of the ship. His breathing was unsteady, which was unsurprising considering the attack he had been through near the end. He couldn't quite keep himself supported as he began to rummage through his back, working to pull out the supplies he would need to fix this mess...
 
"Make sure everyone's patched up."
 

He winced hearing that, it was going to be a slow process. He looked up to Leon and nodded, a little sigh escaping him as he started to clean up his own wound first, focusing on it as he mumbled, "I was careless... I had dodged the worst of the stuff before, I thought I would be able to get out of the way in time..."
 
"Maybe next time, I should stick with Ada and Layne, act as a shield so they don't come out so banged up,"
 

Layne winced again hearing that, a little sigh being given as he nodded his head. The cleaning of the wound was slow, but after a bit of time, he managed to get his own cleaned up and taken care of, while taking a quick glance around at the rest of the group. Raynor didn't seem too beat up, Rona needed help, and of course Ada did after tanking those hits from the phantom... The cleaning process was labored considering the wound was along his back, but Layne pushed himself up slowly as he took a deep breath, rubbed at the back of his neck gently as he did, "I screwed up guys, I got myself into a bad spot and Ada had to cover for me... And then she got hurt."

 

He made his way towards Rona slowly, focusing on the tired Wyvern Rider first as he spoke up, trying to project his voice past the mumbling he had worked up previously, "Take a seat on the ground, let me start getting those injuries patched up, Rona." He waited for her response, but... 

"That reminds me, both of you, be careful. I know I seem indestructible when I charge into battle but you shouldn't follow my example!"

 

He winced again, his head bowing for a moment as he nodded it. His hands began to take out bandages and the supplies he needed to clean Rona's wounds from his bag as he sighed, "I didn't realize the skeletons were that close to me. I was too focused on trying to keep Ada up that I forgot about the rest of the battle for a moment. I'll try to pay more attention next time."

 

He took a deep breath as he smiled to her, giving her a nod as he did, "I'll be more careful. Let me get those wounds cleaned up, then you can rest before we start on the next step, yeah?"

 

It wasn't a clean victory, there were definitely things that could've been done smoother, but with Layne patching up Rona there was just one thought that was running through his head right now. At least no one died.

[LordCowCowCowCowCowCowCowCow]

Rona's eye twitched as Layne offered to heal her. She hadn't done nearly enough to earn it...but it wasn't as though she could escape from him this time. Not with them on a boat. So she reluctantly allowed him to get to work. "Next time I'll carve an opening for you, Layne. You shouldn't need to worry about any foes. I'll make sure there aren't any near enough to attack you."

 

Leon had wanted them to make sure they were prepared for when they disembark. Given they likely would meet resistance once they do this was good thinking.

 

Only Rona wasn't sure what she had to prepare. She looked at her weapon, the singular axe she had on her possession, and realized that it was getting close to the point of breaking. Still, it should last her this battle. There would be no point wasting their funding on more of them. If she couldn't make due with what she had then she deserved what came to her.

 

So she settled for checking over the others' condition. What few there were. It felt odd being with this group now that she had time to think about it. One wasn't part of the group. Another only just joined. So many of the group had already left and even those who stayed two of them weren't there.

 

She wouldn't be surprised at this rate if it ended up just being her and Leon again.

 

Well, whatever happened, her job stayed the same. Keeping whoever remained alive.