Irulia: The Spirit Changers Quest

[DeletedUser37114]

Name: Kulos Branwen (Ku for short)

Gender: Female

Description: 5' tall, with a wiry, muscular build. Keeps her white hair very short, meaning it tends to refuse to stay down and has bright blue eyes. Prefers close fitting, practical clothing, especially in white or grey when she can. Wears a lightweight sky blue scarf around her neck. Carries her weapons in a single sheath on her waist.

Home City: Enylia

Element: Air

Weapons: Butterfly Swords

Power: Can speed up her perceptions, allowing her to see things in slow motion for brief periods of time

Animals: Hummingbird, Nighthawk, Raven, Snowy Owl

Biography: Despite being abandoned by her parents even before she was recognized as a Spirit Changer, Kulos has never seemed like she felt alone or unloved, adopting her instructors and fellow recruits as her family. Always playful and teasing, Kulos makes a point to treat everything as a game, including her studies, leading to less than stellar grades. Kulos didn't spend a lot of her time around students her age, preferring to tag along after those two or three years older than her. When those students left to pursue their quest, she had a difficult time adjusting and turned her talents to troublemaking and setting up pranks over socializing. On the day of her graduation, Kulos only reluctantly went through the ceremony, more frustrated by the delay caused by the missing students than concerned for their safety.

When Kulos' group left however, she felt herself bonding with her companions and making new friends, though the pranks and tricks never really stopped. Early on, a few monsters that looked vaguely like lions caused a some trouble, though they were dispatched fairly easily with the help of a student named Donna who showed up halfway the fight from behind, taking the creatures by surprise. The rest of the trip was uneventful right up until the group reached Enylia to stay the night and resupply. Having become good friends on the trip, Kulos and Donna went together to pick up supplies for the group when the sky went dark...

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Kulos had not had the best of days. Well, the whole "go for supplies while the rest of the group lazes around" thing wasn't too bad, but that was only because Donna was around for her to talk to. However, the whole "fight off hordes of crazy creepy plaguey people" thing left her wishing that she could swap jobs with some alternate version of herself who was only going shopping. The rest of the group should thankfully still be outside the city, so there shouldn't be any danger for them. All she needed to care about was making sure she and Donna could make it out safely. Speaking of which, she didn't even know where Donna was and the five... she didn't even know what to call them... advancing toward her as she backed away meant that her plan was going about as swimmingly as her day. Kulos wasn't about to hurt random people that she didn't know, especially if there was some way to reverse what had happened to them, but there didn't really seem to be much of a choice and she prepared to draw her blades and try to cut her way free, looking around to see if there was any other way out. Feeling heat behind her and seeing sparks around the edge of her vision, she guessed there was a fire behind her and that she was out of time to reconsider her options just when she heard a familiar voice.

Donna had apparently seen her before Kulos had been able to see Donna and was rushing in, intentionally making as much noise as she could. Thank goodness, thought Kulos. She's okay. As the... lobster... people... things... shifted their attention to the new threat, Kulos called on her power, watching the world go into languid motion and waiting for her moment to get through the group. As her moment to go approached, her throat tightened and Kulos felt her body slowly shaking in nervousness as she readied herself... and took off, releasing her grip on her perceptions. Jumping up and planting a foot on the shoulder of the closest thing to her, she raced over heads and shoulders, relying on her speed, dexterity, and guesswork to stay in motion without falling. A push forward with both feet sent the frontmost thing into its fellows as Kulos landed in a roll into a sprint towards Donna, shoving her back and yelling "Run!" as she scrambled away from the inevitably pursuing creatures that had once been Enylia's inhabitants.

(And OoC: Thanks, Zem, sooooooooooooo excited for that...)

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Despite having been hurled in such a rough manner the wild cat still managed to land upon its feet; hissing angrily at Sam before moving to rub herself up against Mandan's legs. The open show of affection would be truly cringe worthy once she was human again but for now the cat part of her brain was taking over meaning that for now she would purr loudly as she left silvery blonde fur on her brother’s trouser leg.
At Sam's mention of Seamus and Lecta an angry growling came from the cat by Mandan's feet more than articulating Sera's feelings towards the other boys. She supposed she ought to return to human form in order to properly explain the situation but she was rather enjoying being a cat as sight was sight even if it was kind of washed out. It also meant she could perform random acts of evil such as clawing Sam's face without feeling guilty afterwards, oh if only Lecta was here right now then he'd be in trouble.

​

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Mandan couldn't help but frown slightly as Sam appeared to be in a similar state to how he'd been. Before he could do anything on that front, however, Sera had turned into her cat and swiped at the boy with her claws. The dark boy winced slightly, glad that she'd been a bit kinder to him. He then became slightly uncomfortable as the girl came up to him and began rubbing against him. He had to remind himself that Sera's transformations were different from his…that instead of his normally brooding mind coming to life in an animal's body she kept herself but gained the brain of the animal she was manifesting as…but even so, it was slightly disconcerting, the purring even more so.

Sera's actions caused Mandan to miss the first part of Sam's speech, only coming back in when he enquired after Lecta and Seamus. The cat displayed no intention of returning to a form capable of speech, meaning it fell to him to respond. Not really feeling up to talking, afraid his confused mental state would lead to him revealing more than he intended again, he simply muttered, "We had a falling out." He appeared to have no inclination to explain further, nor did he seem particularly interested in doing…anything else, honestly. His motivations and desires were astoundingly low at the moment…he felt as though there was very little point to what they were doing, nor was there a clearly better option.

 

[DeletedUser13682]

The walk to the town of Enylia was, well, miserable. The group had been split; there was no two ways about it. Seamus, having had the position of leader of the group that would save the world thrust upon him had utterly failed the Ultimate One and all his expectations. He had made one simple mistake and Sera had to hold it against him so constantly and so strongly that it had driven the group apart, despite Seamus’s best intentions. And now it was only Letca and himself; both water types. Sure, they could heal, but that didn’t do much good when whoever was attacking you couldn’t be defeated. And who knew what Enylia held? If Lecta was right, there was nobody here, nobody that they could see at any rate. When they finally arrived at the town, however, it seemed like they wouldn’t be getting much use of its services, regardless of whether there were people here or not. The gate, despite being wide open, had its barrier active, and there were no guards to allow them through. In fact, there was nobody at all in the town, nobody that they could see. Just an empty village and the smell of burning.

As Lecta discussed their options, Seamus thought about what they should do. They couldn’t enter the town and access its supplies, but they couldn’t go on either. They had nothing left but a bit of water. The supplies from the bandits didn’t last nearly as long as Seamus had hoped and now they were in this sort of situation. It was as he was thinking that a scream, a female’s scream, issued forth across the firmament, cutting through the burning and the desolation. There was somebody here after all. Lecta went running into the town, the barrier somehow no longer impeding their progress. Seamus drew out his sword and followed. When Seamus caught up with Lecta, he was being accosted by men whose skin was suffering from some sort of internal fire, still burning deep within them. And it was that fire that drove them to attack Lecta, who as of yet had done nothing. “Lecta! It ain’t time to die yet!” Seamus yelled, as he swung at the closest burning man. “Ya want to save the lass, don’t ya?” as he swung at the other one. If fighting these things two on one was what was required to save this woman, than by jove that’s what Seamus would do.

 

[Apelatia]

Lecta came to an abrupt halt inside the town's gate. He could see and smell smoke, but he was unable to determine its source. Whoever had issued the loud scream was nowhere to be seen at the present moment. Looking around, he could see the townsfolk coming out from their respective houses. Except...these were not the townsfolk. These were definitely...something else. With red, broken skin and white, empty eyes, these were definitely more reminiscent of beings possessed by the Demon Changers. Whether they were the changers themselves though, he was unsure. What mattered for the moment was to defend himself. Three of the former townspeople had noticed him, and a horrific, unnatural scream emitted from the mouth of the nearest one, causing Lecta to grimace. Drawing both his arming sword and the short, curved blade that he used mainly for counterattacking after a successful defensive maneouvre, he prepared himself to go on the defense. Arming sword in his left hand, and short sword in his right, he turned himself so that he faced the enemy sideways on. He vaguely recalled from his many hours spent practising swordplay that standing in such a stance made him a smaller target, and that in a defense, that would work to his advantage (mantis). The 'things' were making a rapid beeline towards his location.

However, before his opponents had an opportunity to reach his position, Seamus suddenly appeared to go on the offensive, with some comments something along the lines of 'not dying yet' and 'saving the lass'. The third monster, it seemed, was still heading in his direction, so Lecta maintained his stance, deigning to talk to his companion in the meanwhile. In a joking voice, he spoke, "I thought you were a water type, Seamus...Hadn't imagined that you would keep secrets from me. You? A land type! Who would have known?" Should his opponent converge on him, Lecta would step backwards quickly, before producing a full horizontal swing with his arming sword towards his opponent. Seeing as it had no weapon from what he could see, it would be up to him to strike and use the length advantage that he possessed...

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Taking several quick steps away from Mandan's legs Seraphim returned to her natural form; momentarily losing her balance as sight suddenly gave way to darkness, the girl holding out her arms as if she was on a tight rope until she had fully regained her balance once again "We had ideological differences where the Ultimate one was concerned" Seraphim simply stated; tossing her head to one side before proceeding to smooth her hair by tough alone "...that and Seamus and Lecta are self-righteous, inconsiderate idiots that I never wish to see again...Don't either of you go there!” she suddenly snaps irritably realising her unintended slip up. Neither of the two boys was actually liable to make anything of it, but a lifetime of being picked on had made her kind of over sensitive which made for a bad combination where her current mood was concerned… that and she was used to Seamus taking the Mick out of her and so was unintentionally tarring everyone else with the same brush.
After taking several moments to straighten her hair and clothes; relieved to find that no embarrassingly large portions of flesh had been on display, Seraphim holds out her hand for Mandan to take "We're taking the long way round to Enylia...you're welcome to join us until we get there" and then we can go our separate ways she said being sure to keep the last part to herself. It wasn't that she wanted Sam gone but rather that she didn't think he would wish to join them in the north though another blade would be useful especially seen as she didn't have one "come, lets see if we can find ourselves somewhere to stop the night"

 

[DeletedUser31931]

Sam
Sam nodded vaguely along with their statements, not really listening or caring. He stayed still as Sera finished fixing up her clothes and then stated. "We should... we should probably get moving. It'll be dangerous to stick around here, we can't stay for long..." He began shuffling off, heading in the wrong direction as he subconsciously began walking away from Enylia and towards Rakasi and it was only as he looked up and saw that he was headed towards the wetlands that he stopped, muttered "Oh." to himself under his breath and then began heading back in the right direction.

The Boy
The source is low.... We must sleep... The Boy had been brought to a cavern now, one that only they knew of. We must prepare him. He can perform the summoning. There was a part of The Boy that knew it was wrong. Quell its thoughts! No, no... it was fine... all was fine now. They would take care of him, They would nurture him, They would make him stronger until he could have his revenge. He could hear them, the whispers. Shadows swirled around the cave as they used his body, his mana as a portal. More of their dark brethren poured through the rift that had opened in the cavern wall, pouring into his body. The Boy fell further into the depths of shadow as they gained further control of his body. He was needed as an interface and a mana source but beyond that... he was expendable. We must find the stone... We know the plans of him.... He wants to enslave us but we shall turn that against him and then... we will be free.

Donna
As Kulos did her leap and kick off of the inhabitants, Donna skidded to a stop and left out an impressed whistle before jerking back into reality as the other girl landed and shoved her backwards telling her to get moving. Thankfully, Donna had already got the supplies that the group would need in her backpack that she'd borrowed from David and so she turned and sprinted with Kulos, heading for the gate.

Lecta and Seamus
The two inhabitants that Seamus attacked fell with a sickening crunch and Lecta's attacker soon followed as their chest opened up and blood came out of the wound. The blood was different to normal blood though, it sizzled and bubbled as if the blood itself was burning. Lecta didn't really have time to consider this, however, as Donna and Kulos arrived. Donna chose to not mention the fact that Lecta had quite probably just killed the person but instead grabbed him and Seamus and pulled them after her. "Come on! It's not safe here you morons!" She hurtled through the door and then looked back and checked to make sure that Kulos was still with them and that they weren't being followed. This day could still get a lot worse and she didn't want that to happen.

 

[DeletedUser37114]

As she ran with Donna towards the gate, Kulos thought hard about what had just happened. She couldn't understand why these things were happening to her, where her group was please let them be okay, and who in the world the two boys she was running towards, both having put down the... she really needed to come up with a name... that were attacking them. She thought she recognized one from the group that had been abducted on graduation day, though that couldn't be right, and the other from another group that had gone a different way, but that didn't really matter now. All that mattered was getting away, getting back to the group, and making sure everyone was okay.

Donna took the words right out of her mouth as they reached the boys, though Kulos took a little time to examine the dead... whatchamacallits. Looking at their boiling blood, she shuddered, thankful that she hadn't just started cutting and fighting back there, as she tended to get blood everywhere when she used her swords. She wasn't looking to earn a collection of burn scars. Time was of the essence, however, and she hurried after Donna and the boys they sound like a troupe of street performers as they ran out the gate. As the group stopped to catch their breath a little ways from Enylia, Donna checking to make sure Kulos was still with them Aw, that's sweet of her, she does care and a glance towards the gate to make sure they weren't followed left her with a feeling of safety she hadn't had since everything had gone dark and her day had started rapidly going downhill.

Now that they really were safe, Kulos asked, "So who are you two? And we need to get back to my group, they've gotta be worried. I mean, did you see that blackness? Well, not see, in any case, but we really do need to get back to the group and you two boys should probably come with us. Safety in numbers and all that jazz." The sentences came in between hard breaths as she strugged to regain her air. She was used to sprints, but not distance runs, and Enylia had been large enough to really tax her. Still, they needed to get back to the group and get the heck away from this city before this day decided it was done with hills and dumped them off a cliff.

 

[DeletedUser13682]

Seamus looked down at the people he had cut down. It appeared that their blood was not normal; it caused a bubbling and fizzing, as if a natron and vinegar reaction had been put on high heat. This was strange. They weren’t humans, definitely not normal humans. “You know Lecta,” Seamus said, as he poked one of the corpses with his foot. “These things aren’t human. They might have already been dead. Read about something like that once. Fed some herbs, buried for a week, then dug up and turned into a slave. And I’m not a land type. I’ve had to learn to fight well; my water abilities are only really good for healing. No offense there at all. Had to make up for it somehow.” It was at this moment that he and Lecta were almost literally swept away by the two women they were here to save. This caused them to run out of the town and back into the wilderness.

After a while of running, it was hard to keep track of time in cases like this, they finally stopped; it very well may have been the same clearing that the group had split apart in, but that was nearly impossible. Most everyone was out of breath after running so far, though Seamus felt he would still be able to get up and go again if they needed to. “I’m Seamus, and this here’s Lecta. Pleased to meet ye.” After a moment, Seamus decided on a better introduction. “We’re Spirit Changers, water types. I mostly heal, but I bet I can get some of yer energy back. Hold on.” Seamus took his water skin and held it; the contents within splashing about for a moment. “There we go. Here; take a drink. You should feel right better.” Seamus offered the waterskin out to the two women, a smile on his face. “Then we’ll be able to get back to your group. Unfortunately, we lost ours. Not sure where they are.”

 

[DeletedUser37114]

Kulos eyed the water skin warily. She'd been fond of playing tricks like that at the academy, but never wanted to be the one to fall prey to something so easy... But this wasn't the academy and after what had just happened to them even an idiot would know that this wasn't the time for jokes and even less so for pranks. She took the skin and took a swig, the warmth and energy in the water catching her by surprise. Looks like... Seamus had been telling the truth. "We're Spirit Changers as well," she offered, passing the water to Donna. "My name is Kulos, I'm air, this is Donna, also water. Nice to meet you too, though I'm sad to hear that you lost your group. If you help us get back to ours, maybe we could help you track down yours, or maybe the other way around or something..." She was rambling, she knew, but she really did want to get back and make sure everyone was okay. Helping these two would probably mean that it would take longer to get back and she really didn't want that, but Spirit Changers were supposed to do good things and besides, these two were classmates, which made them kind of sort of like part of her group? Donna kept telling her she needed to be nicer to other people and Kulos sighed inwardly. In a voice that was a little calmer, she said "We'll help you find your group, then try to find our own, okay?"

 

[Apelatia]

Fortunately, the resistance to his sword stroke from the creature was nonexistent, and he soon found his loose tunic being sprayed with sizzling blood. Disgusted, Lecta stepped rapidly backwards to escape the blood. The disgust evident on his face, he turned to Seamus, who was saying something about the things that they had fought being dead. "I'll agree with you there... Their blood certainly doesn't...look normal..." Moving around to the other side of the creature, Lecta wiped his blood-stained sword on a less bloody part of the dead thing's body in an attempt to clean it. This removed most of the blood, fortunately. Turning around to the sound of footsteps approaching rapidly, Lecta found himself confronted by some girl that was ranting about it not being safe. The girl, it seemed, was making it very clear that she wanted for Seamus and himself to follow her outside the gates, when the whole purpose of their entering the town had been to find the screaming girl... She didn't seem to be particularly dangerous, if only rude, so Lecta obediently followed, though the memory of being called a 'moron' didn't sit well with him. They could discuss the incident outside. As he jogged after the girl, Lecta also noticed that there was another girl following a short way behind them.

As they skidded to a stop outside the gate, Lecta took a moment to make up his oxygen debt, before standing to look at the two girls. Both were young, probably the same age as he himself was. This was confirmed a moment later, as the second girl introduced herself as Kulos, and her friend as Donna; they stated that they were Spirit Changers themselves. Lecta allowed Seamus to do all the talking for the moment, which involved mentioning their elemental types and also the fact that they were apparently 'searching for their group', although when things began to be set in stone that they would be returning with the two girls to their own group, Lecta decided to speak. Placing his two swords back into their places on his hip, Lecta first glared at Donna. "Starting off an acquaintance with an insult is far from being the best way to make friends. I certainly am not going to consent to travelling with such a rude girl." Disapproval clear on his face, Lecta continued sourly, "Safety in numbers is one thing. However, numbers make us easier to spot, and being spotted is the last thing that we want right now..." Turning his attention away from Donna for the present, Lecta spoke rapidly to Seamus. "I thought the whole point of us travelling this way was to get away from...them...because they didn't believe in the...purpose our mission..." His frustration that he had to be so cryptic whilst talking to Seamus was clear by the tone that he used. Donna had started off their relationship in a bad way, and he was certainly not going to let her get away with such actions. His mood was still far from pleasant as a consequence of his argument with Sera earlier in the day, and this was doing little to improve it...

 

[DeletedUser13682]

“Hey there! Glad we got a couple more Spirit Changers.” It appeared that things weren’t going to get off to as good a start as Seamus would have liked. Sure, it seemed everything would be alright when the women accepted the strengthening water, but Lecta appeared to be slightly rustled over some minor insult. “Come now, Lecta. I’m sure it was naught but a friendly jibe. You know, nothing meant by it.” Seamus chuckled in an attempt to lighten the mood, but it didn’t really work. Lecta was still a bit rustled and had turned to being cryptic about things. “It’s fine, Lecta. We’ll be safe. I’ll make sure of it.” Seamus turned back to the women, and clarified the situation a bit. “You see, there were others in our group, but they got a bit, well, lost. In the spiritual sense, that is. They and us felt differently about what we’re supposed to do. I think they got a bit depressed after we found out that the Sanctuary was under siege by the Demon Changers. So, I think it’d be better if we found your group first. Any objections?”

 

[DeletedUser28032]

With Sam having agreed to follow them at least for the time being, the three of them began walking once more with Mandan taking the lead. The journey so far as she could tell was uneventful as none of the others spoke up nor did they suddenly stop to avoid a hail of arrows. Instead they continued to travel in a curving path that would hopefully lead them to Enylia.
Seraphim quietly hoped that there would be a weapon smith in town as she missed the familiar weight of her weapons at her side and has never realised just how defenceless she felt without them "Are we going to reach Enylia before nightfall? Or are going to be spending the night under a hedge?" Seraphim quietly asked; finally breaking the silence that had fallen over the trio. If there was any chance that they'd be able to spend the night in a bed rather than in the open then she'd happily take it.

 

[Deleted User - 819397]

Mandan had kept quiet, focusing on keeping his path steady so as to not upset Sera and attempting to get his thoughts in order…even if it led back to him feeling as though life was hopeless, it would be better than not being able to think straight. To his mild relief, he did return to a morose state, but not as bad as it had been before. He wasn't sure if he felt like eating, but he also knew he wouldn't have much of a choice…he'd gone far too long without sustenance…already he was fighting off shakes from low blood sugar. Sam and Sera were similarly quiet, their thoughts occupying them as well.

A good few hours passed without much to define them. Sera broke the long silence, asking if they would hit Enylia before nightfall. Looking around, the dark boy assessed the situation, then murmured, "We can get there in time…but are we sure the others aren't going to be there still?" He left it at that, as anything else would be redundant, and though he was somehow getting more used to his bare hand holding Sera's, he didn't think he could ever become accustomed to talking the way everyone else seemed to…such a waste of time.

 

[DeletedUser28032]

Seraphim couldn’t help but grimace at the prospect that they might run into Seamus and Lecta but didn’t want to let that possibility keep her from doing what they needed to do “Enylia is a big place with any luck we’ll be able to avoid them” she replied in a determined voice before turning her head to roughly face Sam’s direction “don’t feel you have to stay with us Sam, It’s me who has the problem with Seamus and Lecta I won’t begrudge you wanting to rejoin them” she said in the boys general direction; meaning every word that she said. She’d managed to calm down a little in the intervening walk and had come to the conclusion that it wasn’t fair to have Sam saddled with them just because they’d run into him on the road.
Reaching down to where her weapons had hung once upon a time, Seraphim carefully removes the length of white silken sash that had held the wind fire wheels to her belt before then tying it about her sightless eyes as a blindfold “Now all I need is the cane and the look is complete”

 

[Apelatia]

Lectanus took in Seamus' calming statement with a mixture of stubbornness and acceptance. If this 'Donna' wanted to make amends, then she would need to do so. In the meanwhile, however, he would stay put and follow Seamus' lead. After all, he was still the leader of the group, even if that group was now just comprised of the two of them... Sighing, Lecta responded begrudgingly. "Fine, I'll tolerate her company for as long as you see fit." Folding his arms, the young boy continued to look on as Seamus explained the situation that had occurred in their group, how Sera and Mandan had gotten lost 'in a spiritual sense'. That was probably an apt way to put it. Had he wanted to be cryptic in describing the situation himself, he would likely have made a worse job of it than Seamus had managed to... Not wanting to make himself look like the grumpy one of the group, Lecta spoke quickly, "Depressed might even be an understatement..." Then, "I don't object. You know I'll follow your lead, Seamus. As long as we don't run into the others, I'll be content." Inside him, Lecta felt a whirlwind of emotions whipping themselves around in a violent and destructive way. He had started the journey as one person, inexperienced with the matters of the world, and also with people. From his first meeting with the group, he had struggled. In every corner, there had been some form of resistance to him as a person... Perhaps being thrown headfirst into this terrible journey had changed him in a bad way. Falling in love with Sera had been a farce; losing Arthur and Rilnea had been terrible in their own ways, not because he had exactly been close to the two, but two less members of a group of teenagers lost to the evil of the Demon Changers was unsettling... All the experiences that he'd been forced to go through with people that he had previously not known had hurt him deep down. ...and even now, was he a 'good' person? Had his past actions been for his own benefit more than they had been for the good of others? Whichever was the case, he certainly didn't feel that he was the same boy that had used to spend long afternoons relaxing down by the river during the summer months... What had happened...?

 

[DeletedUser37114]

Kulos frowned at the other one... Lecta... as he threw a hissy fit over Donna's choice of words when prodding those two to get out of Enylia. Drawing breath to let the hypocrite have it, she was stopped by Seamus, who seemed to have taken over as diplomat of the group. She looked over at Donna for any objections is she okay? She hasn't said anything since we got out of Enylia, is it shock? Is she hurt?, and got no response, so she shrugged. If Donna wasn't bothered by it, she had no reason to make a fight, though she'd probably have to do something eventually to remove the stick that seemed to be so far up his rear that it was coming out his mouth. The members of your group should be more important to him than they were and Kulos muttered, "Guess they weren't the only ones who were depressed," under her breath. Whatever problems had popped up with their group, Lecta was probably a big part, but there was no point in kicking that wasp's nest by asking more questions. Propping up a smile on her face and pretending she didn't hear Lecta's grudging acceptance, Kulos faced Seamus again. "No objections here," she said. "Donna probably won't have any either, so it'd prob'ly be best if we got going now and found our people. If you guys don't want to catch up with the rest of your group, you could come with us and join ours." Inconceivable, she knew, but with Lecta's hostility it could be that the rest of the group would be better off without them.

 

[DeletedUser13682]

Seamus inwardly sighed as Lecta made his inner emotions transparently clear. It was Seamus’s personal problems and inability to properly deal with them that caused the group to fracture. He didn’t think Lecta fully understood that. He’d have to explain that to him when they had a moment alone. It seemed that they would be allowed to join this other group, if they were able to be found, that was, and that was a good thing. In Seamus’s understanding of the world, groups of up to 12 or so were the best. He doubted that Kulos and Donna’s group was that large. Maybe they would push it right to 12, but they shouldn’t be over that number. “You know Lecta,” Seamus said to the other man. “We may be more fortunate if we do run into them. We’ve got more people now; if we all came together, we could perhaps more easily complete this quest.” Seamus turned back towards the two women and spoke again. “Well, I guess you two will have to lead the way for now. I don’t have a clue where your group could be; doubt Lecta does either. After we all join up, we can figure out what we’re going to do next.”

 

[DeletedUser31931]

(OOC: Would like to point out that Donna did actually turn up in the horrendous railroad incident which introduced both her and Sam to the group)

Donna
The two boys followed them out of the gates and as they slowed down the others all stopped to catch their breath. Seamus and Kulos began to talk, introducing themselves and deciding to group up before Lecta decided to have a go at her. She held her breath rather than attack the boy on multiple accounts, instead muttering an apology and appearing to show some concern. Lecta was... self-righteous now, what'd happened there?
Either way, the consensus was that they were going to rejoin Kulos and Donna's group. Donna checked her bag to make sure none of the supplies that she'd picked up had spilt out of the bag. As Seamus decreed that they were going to lead the way, she shrugged and responded "Well, isn't that kind of obvious? Anyway, I'll lead on. They should be the other side of the city, in a small rocky outcrop. It's probably safer to go around than risk dealing with those... things." Barring any objection from the others, Donna began to lead the group around the city.

Sam
Sam walked... Mandan was setting the direction and Sam followed, almost as blindly as Sera herself. Meanwhile, the images flashed back through his mind again. As he lay there... an invisible barrier of magic that separated him from Rakasi. The shadowy tendrils, the smoke... Then... a person. They were running straight for him... a... a child. They couldn't have been much older than ten or eleven. They were crying. He summoned up his earth magic, channelling into his hands in a manner he'd never even attempted before. It shattered and the splinters shot into the floor. He tried again, strengthening his fists the way that Donna could... It was holding... He slammed his fists into the barrier, trying to crack it, to smash it. Just to save the child! The kid had seen him, they were running towards him, they were calling out, he could see their mouth open, but there was no sound. Whatever this barrier was... sound couldn't pass through. He tried again, summoning up his magic and slamming his fists into the barrier. Crack. His magic splintered again and the shadowy tendrils began to take notice of this small intrusion. They dove towards the barrier and he was sent flying by a pulse of energy onto his back. The child vanished into the smoke and Sam watched on, helpless as he was carried away, screaming. He got up, strengthened his fists again and ran at the barrier. The force with which he met it would have shattered any normal barrier and any normal fist. His magic protected his hand but he didn't even make a scratch in the barrier. As more and more people began to run towards him, another explosion sent him flying and the last he saw as he faded to darkness was the people running towards him... screaming and crying in terror. He was jerked back to reality from the endless cycle in his head by Sera beginning to talk. She questioned whether they'd make it to Enylia or not by nightfall and, from the looks of things, Sam was inclined to agree with Mandan that they would. As Sera offered for him to ditch them and go with Seamus and Lecta, he muttered his response before then repeating it, loud enough so that they could both hear him, "I'm... I'll stay with you guys. It'd be more dangerous trying to find them alone and with you... with you not being able to see Sera, it'd be a good idea for me to be with you guys, to help Mandan in case of a fight. I don't... I couldn't... No-one else is going to die. I'm going to save them. The people... We're going to do this and I'll... I'll find a way. I'm going to fix this. We have to fix this." There was a steely determination in his voice, a fervour to avoid a repetition of the events that he had seen but the single tear that rolled down his cheek told a rather different story.

 

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“But how Sam? How are we going to do that? There’s only three of us and as you just said I can’t see” Seraphim said in weary response to Sam’s zealous promise that no one else would die. What was with boys making these macho, near impossible promises!? Mandan was still tormenting himself over Leo’s death after making a similar promise oh great that’s just what I need , another tormented soul to play mother to! “...look let’s just get to Enylia first then we can try and work out what we’re going to do next” not that she was sure exactly what that would be because they were on their own, cut off from the citadel and surrounded by enemies...perhaps her plans to turn guerrilla wasn’t too bad a plan after all?