Irulia: The Spirit Changers Quest

[Apelatia]

Fortunately, Seamus agreed with him, so they wouldn't be wasting any time arguing. Strangely enough, the other boy returned the shoulder touch, to which Lecta smiled warmly, glad that Seamus recognised his gesture to be an honest one. "I'm glad." Lecta responded in return to his comment, before walking with him to Sera and Mandan. The two seemed to have formed some sort of bond, which, as much as he didn't want to admit it, made Lecta slightly jealous - Sera was never so forward with him as she was with Mandan... She had asked him to the dance, however, so that was something... Seamus came across as rather authoritative and forceful in his instruction, so Lecta added in a kind tone, "We need to get there as soon as possible so that we can sort everything out. Better for us to get there quickly before someone finds us in our...weakened state and falls upon us out here in this wilderness..." Realising that he was rambling, Lecta stopped abruptly, before extending a hand in Mandan's direction, hoping that he would take it and allow him to lift him upright.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

"And you'll get another if you ever do that to me again!" she retorted angrily, though her voice rapidly softened once she realised that he was ok and that whatever state he'd gotten himself into had passed "...as for why you care, They're your parents and it doesn't matter what they did or why, they will always be your parents...besides as I tried to tell you before they're probably fine" she finished, trying her best to sound more confident than she really was.
It was at this point that Seamus and Lecta told them that it was time to go, having reached a decision between them to carry on to Enylia so that they could not only get supplies but allow Sam to rejoin them "Wait! Neither of you went after him!?" Seraphim snapped in a horrified voice "...I can't believe you two let him go off all by himself!" Idiots! she'd even told them to chase after him but no they decided to be all noble and watch over her...I am not helpless you know!
But it was too late now; they'd never be able to track him down now. All they could do now was head for Enylia and hope that Seamus was right and that Sam would catch up with them along the way. Standing back up Seraphim readjusts the straps of her pack, all the while muttering under her breath about how buys could be such idiots before taking Mandan's hand again. He may well say that he was fine now but all the same Seraphim wanted to keep an eye on him...so to speak.

 

[Apelatia]

Lecta rapidly withdrew his outstretched hand, stung by Sera's comments... Not only was she expressing a total disregard for decisions taken by Seamus, but she was accusing him indirectly of being stupid. His irritation at the events of the past few hours and days jumbling together into one, Lecta felt a pressing desire to let it all out. Unable to contain himself, he found himself ranting. "...and for what purpose? Do you want us all to get killed? We're doing what is best for the greater good of the group! I am trying to do the best things I can in this situation that we're in, and you're not helping!" Lecta almost managed to stop himself at this point, but a compulsion inside him forced him to keep going, regardless of the inevitable consequences to his friendships... "If one of us left, do you actually think the other would be able to defend the both of you? I mean, Mandan is clearly in a state and you can't even see! We're all tired! Splitting apart means more death, more grief, more unhappiness and more stupid situations like this one! Do you want us all dead? Fine, then I'll be the first to do that."
Flushed and angry, Lecta spun around and stomped away in the direction of Enylia by himself. His irrational train of thought only strengthened as he strived to vent his frustration in his steps, his aching knees only serving to aggravate the problem. Right now, the last place he wanted to be was out in the wilderness trying to find an Ultimate One, and he certainly did not care for anything else. Clearly, Sera's comment had had a bad effect on him.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

"No your not! Else one of you would have gone after him whilst you had the chance, now he's out there by himself and you two just sat there discussing it like a pair of damn generals!" Seraphim retorted her own temper flaring over the implied accusation that it was her and Mandan's fault. That Seamus and Lecta had had to stay and protect them rather than go after Sam "...and don't you dare say I am not helping! This isn't easy you know and I am sorry I don't meet your lofty expectations but at least I won't have Sam's death on my hands!" she said her voice rising to a shout as Lecta stormed off. The fact that she couldn't storm off herself making her even more angry "To hell with this Mandan, lets just go...the more I learn about the Ultimate one and her damn quest the less I wish to meet her" if Lecta wanted to break up the group then that was fine by her I don't know what I ever saw in him anyway!

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Mandan nodded in acceptance of Sera's explanation for why he cared about his parents…it made sense. He then remembered that she couldn't see such gestures and mumbled, "Thank you, that helps…" At this point Lecta and Seamus came over and informed them it was time to go. The dark boy reached for the proffered hand, only to have it snatched away as Sera rather correctly admonished the pair for not going after Sam…it's not like he could've done it, what with the state he'd been in the last couple of minutes…there was no reason to have assumed otherwise, so why hadn't they?

He stood himself up, starting slightly when Sera grabbed his hand, only to have Lecta explode at the girl for being, in his mind, silly about the way things had gone. Mandan kept quiet during the exchange, both not sure what to add and not wanting to add anything, knowing that anything he said would only entice one of the other to turn on him, which he didn't want. He had enough demons in his head, he didn't need people outside going after him too. He kept up his silence until Sera informed him they were leaving. "Where are we going?" he asked in a tone that implied he wasn't questioning the fact they were departing, but rather didn't know where the girl's intended destination lay. His mind was currently numb, and he was grateful for that…his inability to focus meant his maelstrom of thoughts that had been threatening to overwhelm him could, for the moment anyway, find no purchase.

 

[DeletedUser13682]

“Lecta and Sera, stop, both of you,” Seamus stated, keeping the calm in his voice. They didn’t need more people angry. “Sam went off on his own; that’s his choice. It would have been bad to split the group up further. We need to stick together as best as possible, and if that means letting one person storm off for a while, then so be it.” Seamus watched Lecta walk away in a huff. Luckily he was headed toward Enylia. “Lecta, please wait up for us. We’ll be there in a second. At least I will be…” Seamus added, his voice trailing off at the last sentence. He turned towards Sera and Mandan. “If you’re so resolute to split us up even further, then I won’t stop you two. I’ll ask you this; where will you get more supplies? The nearest town is Enylia, where we were originally traveling. We’re on our last legs when it comes to supplies.

“Tonight, and that’s it; no more food, no more water, no more survival. Unless you can figure out how to live off the land. I’ll leave it up to you two to decide, but even I know where to place my bets in this race.” Seamus turned away from Mandan and Sera and fast walked to catch up with Lecta. “You doing alright, Lecta?” a concerned look grew on Seamus’s face as he asked. “I know Sera’s words can be harsh; trust me on this one. But she’s recently blind; she’s scared and confused, and Mandan is probably the only thing keeping her anchored here on this mortal coil. None of us has to take words like that lightly, but try to think of yourself in her situation before you storm off. At least you can…”

 

[DeletedUser28032]

“Hey! He’s the one who broke up the group not me!” Seraphim replied angrily jabbing her finger in the general direction that Lecta had spoken; immediately jumping onto the defensive the moment Seamus had started speaking to her before he then went on to imply once again that she was being stupid with his questions “there are plenty of farms and villages out there and yes if it came to it we could live off the land, we’re not a pair soft water castes!” she finished, turning her back to Seamus’ voice if not the boy himself in order to speak with Mandan. She wasn’t sure why she had said the things she had said only that she hoped that her words would inflict half as much pain as she was currently feeling I am not helpless, I am not she thought to herselfwishing she could believe it.
Mandan had remained silent throughout the entire exchange between her and the others, only breaking his silence to ask where she wanted to go “Anywhere will do so long as it’s away from them” she replied not entirely sure whether she wanted to shout and scream or cry, gently squeezing his hand in silent thanks for if not siding with her then at least not siding against her.
Allowing herself to be led in whatever direction Mandan chose she would take several steps before pausing long enough turn around and throw the shillelagh in Seamus’ general direction “oh and take your damn stick with you! I wouldn’t want be to of any further hindrance to the pair of you!” And with her final piece said she continued to walk away with Mandan dropping her voice to a fearful whisper once she was sure the others would be out of earshot, the girl already on the verge of tears “Please say you’re not going to turn on me too Mandan? I...I don’t think I could cope with you turning on me as well”

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

It seemed they were indeed splitting up…Sera didn't care where they went so long as it was away from Lecta and Seamus. Still numb from his shock back into reality, he picked a direction at random and began gently guiding her away, pausing as she threw Seamus' walking stick at him. He kept silent, unsure of what to say and concerned that an attempt to clear the fog around his mind would simply put him back into the complete depression he'd been in ever since The Ultimate One had spoken to him.

After a moment, Sera asked him in a voice that sounded like she was doing her best not to cry if he was planning on turning on her as well. In a soft voice, about all he was capable of but at the same time unintentionally reassuring, he murmured, "I'm not going to, no…we promised we'd look after each other, I meant that. I'm with you, no matter what." He felt as though he should say more, but he wasn't good with comforting lines, and his state of mind wasn't helping him think of a way to be more eloquent about it. He simply hoped it would be enough to placate her…and hopefully she'd be able to come up with a plan of action as far as where to go, as he honestly didn't have much of a clue…his only hope was to keep his sense of despair away from him as long as possible, though he knew it was only a matter of time…

 

[DeletedUser28032]

"Thank you that...that means a lot to me" Seraphim replied in a quiet voice, relieved to hear that Mandan at least would stand by her even if her decision to break away from the group, unintentional or not, wasn't a particularly good one. She didn't have a plan of what to do or where to go, though she supposed they could take an indirect route to Enylia and then once they'd acquired weapons and supplies make a decision as to where to go. It was a shame that Rakasi was on fire else it would have been ideal; large enough to provide them with what they needed and completely in the opposite direction to both the Ultimate one and the rest of the group.
After several minutes of miserably picking her way through the darkness and already regretting throwing the stick away Seraphim spoke up once again in a tiny voice "Mandan...what’s wrong with me? Why is it that everybody I meet treats me like dirt? I mean I don't try to be annoying or...or unkind but I must be doing something wrong why else would everyone be so mean to me?"

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Mandan gave a dry, humorless, dead-sounding chuckle as Sera asked what was wrong with her, that no one treated her well at all. "It's not you, it's the world. I realized long ago the world doesn't care about anyone at all, that as far as the world is concerned we may as well not exist. I locked myself away as much as I could from the world…hid myself behind dark clothes, didn't talk to people…and still the world found a way to ruin me in the form of The Ultimate One…the world isn't a kind place…I…"

The dark boy was silent for a minute, then continued. "You were always the exception. You were willing to look past the clothes and demeanor to train with me…you never pressured me to talk, knowing it wasn't something I enjoyed doing per se. I think…maybe we're the only two who don't fit the world's ideal…instead of accepting our fate, we tried to change it…me by hiding from it, you by reaching out to others. How could a world which revels in its inhabitants' suffering function otherwise? We're anomalies, deserving of punishment. We tried to rebel, and it's gotten us here." Mandan started slightly, shaking his head in confusion. "Did…did I say all that out loud?" he asked, sounding uncertain. "Sorry...I was trying to gather my thoughts before I replied…" He didn't add anything else, feeling he'd already said too much at this point…the beginnings of his return to misery were heralding their arrival...

 

[DeletedUser28032]

"I am afraid so Mandan...but it was kind of sweet of you" Seraphim replied quietly when the boy asked whether he'd voiced it all aloud "...besides which you were the only one patient enough to have me as a sparring partner, I wasn't exactly the most gifted of students" it had taken her a long time to be finally deemed competent with a weapon and more surprisingly with weapons usually far too intricate and exotic for most people to even comprehend let alone fight with. But as their master at arms had said at the time it took a certain kind of person to wield those weapons.
Feeling calmer if still not particularly happy with her lot in life Seraphim decided it was time to make a decision before she and her brother became hopelessly lost in the countryside "Lets take the long way to Enylia, see if we can't find a village to stop in...Perhaps you could try teaching me or you know...beat me up" as much as she was looking forward to sparring with Mandan again she was under no illusion that she would be covered in bruises for a long time to come.

 

[Apelatia]

"She's a nuisance." Lecta puffed angrily as Seamus approached him from behind. "All she does is think about herself and feels sorry for herself, and she definitely doesn't care about anyone else. The first thing she does when Sam runs off and we decide not pursue him is to tell me that I'm doing the wrong thing! I'm not sure why I ever decided that I wanted to court her...." Realising that he'd probably said a little too much on that particular subject, especially considering Seamus's past involvement with Sera, Lecta stopped mid-sentence and continued walking determinedly towards Enylia. "We can get supplies and whatnot, then go to the Ultimate One by ourselves. She..." Lecta pointed angrily with his finger back towards Sera, "...is the last person that I want to be around right now. She's not getting any kind of apology from me if she thinks she can rule the roost all day long and proclaim judgment on us for not doing what she thought was best to do." Further grumbling ensued under his breath, although Seamus would have been unable to make out what it was that he was saying... After an hour or so, Lecta's temper had abated somewhat. He was not too far from Enylia; the town still seemed empty to his naked eye, however, it was possible that the inhabitants were hiding...

 

[DeletedUser31931]

(OOC: After much internal debate, I may have figured out how to do this...)
Seamus and Lecta
The sun beat down on them as they began to walk. As they stormed off down the road away from Sera and Mandan, the others rapidly vanished from sight and they arrived at Enylia about an hour of walking later. The village was still silent, and had either of them chosen to take to the air, they would discover that the village was empty and that a small energy shield (typical of most villages) was around the top of the village, stretching from the top of the wall, forming a protective dome over the village, ensuring that it could not be hit by thunder storms. The only issue this raised was that, as they were junior spirit changers, they did not have the training to be able to safely pass through it yet and so it was as they walked up to the gates that they realised that the guards were not standing to attention, in fact, not a soul was there to be seen... The gate creaked slightly in the wind, a sound that, whilst usually innocuous now seemed dark and menacing, as if foreboding some great danger...

Mandan and Sera
As they slowly made their way away from the group and towards Rakasi, the sun beat down. They'd been walking barely twenty minutes when, if Mandan was looking around, a small heap would come into view, lying on the ground. At this point Lecta and Seamus were long gone and the figure was in the wrong direction anyway. If the pair chose to approach it, the lines would slowly come into focus until it became clear that the person lying on the floor was definitely human, and most probably a teenage boy, about the shape and size of... Sam.

 

[Apelatia]

Lecta sighed despondently as he reached the small town of Enylia. As he had earlier suspected from his brief flight, the town seemed to be empty, but he had not considered that an energy shield would have been erected around the town. That the residents would do such a thing was a little pointless as he saw it; the energy shield only served to keep air invaders from gaining access. He was not yet skilled enough as a Spirit Changer to be able to learn how to bypass an energy shield, but why would one need to when there was the ground to be used? What was more, the atmosphere surrounding the town seemed cold and uninviting, if not utterly dreary... Something was wrong... Lecta could feel it, but he was unable to determine the source of his discomfort. Perhaps it wasn't the town, but the miserable thoughts that had slowly crept into his mind in that he had done the wrong thing in lashing out against Sera seemed to him to be a reasonable explanation. This decided, he shrugged off the feeling as a personal issue, and turned to Seamus. "We could get supplies if we wanted to... I would feel guilty for stealing provisions from someone's dwelling or stall though, seeing as no one appears to be about... In not one to steal things..." Confused, Lecta began to pace backwards and forwards, in an attempt to think up a solution to their problem. After some time spent in fruitless thought, he realised that his constant pacing might begin to aggravate Seamus, so he resigned himself to asking his friend for direction. "I don't know what to do. Should we go on without supplies and hope that we find the Ultimate One soon, or should we do...something else?" This last option was suggested in a hopeful tone, as the thought of wandering in search of the elusive Ultimate One without the security of at least a few days' supplies did not appeal to him in the slightest...

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Mandan had softly murmured his assent that they'd take a longer way to Enylia, and again when Sera suggested they have a training session before too much longer. They hadn't gone far, though, when a small heap came into view. Sighing internally, the dark boy recognized the lump as Sam…assuming of course that he was still alive, he couldn't ignore the boy…but just as Sera wanted nothing to do with Lecta or Seamus currently, he wanted to stay away from Sam. Unfortunately, it didn't look like that was an option. "Sera…Sam's lying a short distance over here…we should try to help…if he's still in the land of the living, of course…" he murmured, not trusting his voice to go any higher at the moment. He began gently guiding her to the prone figure, hoping the boy was alive but wouldn't want help, as foolish as that was to wish for.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

"Well I hope e isn't too badly hurt seen as our damn water castes have both run off" Seraphim spoke; her anger towards Seamus and Lecta still bubbling just below he surface, I told them it was stupid to let him run off by himself and now we're the ones who have to pick up the pieces! She silently fumed as Mandan led her closer to Sam's prone form “Sam? Are you ok Sam can you hear me?" she asked in a soft caring voice that she didn't really feel at the moment "Are you able to get up Sam? Because we can't stay here, we need to find somewhere to stay before it gets dark" she continued noting the irony of a blind girl talking about the dark.
Cautiously reaching out she gently places her hand upon what she hoped was his shoulder in a comforting gesture. Although without be able to see if he was breathing she could just as easily be attempting to comfort a corpse.

 

[DeletedUser31931]

Sam
The prone figure was clearly conscience and breathing and was quite clearly Sam. His body showed no signs of any broken bones or any physical damage but he was lying face down in the dirt, unconscious and whatever he had seen had clearly been traumatic in at least one sense because he kept on muttering to himself "I can't help you. I can't help you. I can't save you. I can't help you." He muttered to himself again and again, talking in his almost comatose state.

The Village
It was as Seamus and Lecta stood around in front of the town that what was the smell of burning would swiftly become apparent. As Lecta finished talking about their possible options, a loud, girlish scream came from inside the town. It was uncertain who the scream was from but if either of them had had the time to stop and think about it then it would become apparent that they had some form of memory of the voice but neither of them would remember who it was. The girl was clearly in her teens though, she was most definitely not much older than the boys themselves, she might even be the same age, possibly a fellow spirit changer?

 

[Apelatia]

Lectanus had just been thinking to tell Seamus that perhaps they had better risk going onward to the Ultimate One without collecting supplies when he heard a scream. The scream was that of a girl, but the voice sounded oh so familiar... As much as he searched his mind in those few seconds though, he wasn't able to place the voice. Whoever it belonged to, they would have to find out by going to see her. Whatever thoughts he'd had about avoiding the town by bypassing it, he dropped them instantly. "Quick, Seamus! No time to lose now." Lecta sprinted as fast as he could towards the town gate. He had never been the fastest runner, but he wasn't exactly slow either, so he made good progress towards the open gate. Hopefully, Seamus would be following him... If he didn't, and there was an enemy inside, then whatever chance he had of defeating it would be decreased quite severely. Once inside the gate, Lecta would survey the town's current state, before sprinting again in the direction of the scream, whichever direction that was...

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Although Sam was still alive it was clear that more than a comforting hand and a few kind words were needed as the boy was simply repeating the same phrase over and over again. Well apparently all boys from Rakasi are mentally fragile Seraphim thought to herself remembering the state that Mandan had gotten himself into over the same issue "Come on Sam, you've got to get up...Snap out of it or I am going to have to slap you!" she said raising her voice as she began to lose her temper "We can't take him with us in this state Mandan its going to be hard enough as it is" she said to Mandan in exasperation; raising her hand ready to slap the near catatonic boy before thinking better of it.
Shifting form into that of a wild cat she blinks several times in order to adjust to sight before turning her attention back to Sam; raking the boys cheek with a set of sharp claws well if that doesn't do it I don't know what will.

 

[DeletedUser31931]

Sam
The boy twisted back in fright as the claws raked across his face sending Sera's form flying backwards as he drew his rapier, the tip of his blade coming to stop at Mandan's throat as he recognised the boy. His eyes were bloodshot from crying and they were wide open giving him an air of desperation. "There was a shield... I couldn't get through! The people, they ran towards me seeking shelter... and... I couldn't..." He gestured, his mouth failing him as he merely pointed in the direction of Rakasi, several bloodstains in the desert floor being the only thing left. "I don't know what it was... The power though... the power in that shield was stronger than anything, even what I sensed from Reibald when he took Arthur..." He realised that his sword had still not moved, his iron grip ensuring it remained in place and placed it back in its sheath before pushing himself off the ground. Seeing the wild-cat and realising who it was, he asked "Where are Seamus and Lecta then? Did you guys run ahead or what?" It was clear that the events had still shaken him but right now he was asking to try and keep his mind away from the images that he would quite clearly never forget, what had happened there would be burned into his mind until the end of days, another failure like his inability to save Leo...

The Town
As Lecta rushed into the town the source of the smoke began to become obvious as it was accompanied by the smell of smoke. He heard a cry from the same voice again. "Help!" The voice was closer this time but before Lecta could move the reasoning behind the voice became obvious as several townspeople tumbled out of buildings. Except you couldn't quite describe them as townspeople any more. Their skin was red and cracked like that of the Demon Changers they had seen before. Their eyes were white and they turned their heads to look straight at Lecta, sniffing as if they could smell the magic on him. One of them opened their mouths and gave a guttural scream before all three proceeded to run head-first at the Spirit Changer with murder on their minds.

Donna
Donna was trapped in a corner and the situation was not looking good. There were two of them and one of her and she couldn't get in range for fear of being bitten. What if this... infection was transmittable? She didn't want to use her power either, she wanted to save that if necessary but couldn't really see many other options. She grabbed her dagger and decided she would try to not kill the people in case there was a cure to whatever this... thing was. She feinted lunging at the one on her left, switching at the last second and pulled the legs out from underneath the one on her right sending it flying into the concrete, knocking it unconscious. She plunged one of her daggers into the shoulder of the one on her left causing it to cry out in pain. She spun round and planted her hand firmly against it's back and shoved it into a wall. Re-adjusting her dress she felt a lot more composed now but still had to take some deep breaths. She spotted Lecta down the street and then realised that the other person who had been with her, Kulos, was nowhere to be seen. She spotted her backing up surrounded by five of them but what Kulos hadn't noticed was the house beginning to catch fire behind her. "Kulos! Hold out! I'm coming!" She shouted this as she set off into a run, the noise she was making distracting a couple of the infected for a few seconds, giving the girl time to strike.

(OOC: A new challenger joins the fray! I'd like to welcome Autumneverlast to Irulia and let's make him feel all at home by killing off some people important to him and destroying his emotional wellbeing. Autumn will post his character sheet after this and I'll also be sticking it in my original post to make it easier to find.)