A Grande Adventure

(awesome! XD it worked!)

Saen had no time to boast in his victory as the beast charged him. The young man didn't think he could out run the beast for long and definitely didn't want to put Gildor in danger by running with him. So he turned to sprint away to the nearest tree going away from the monster and the elf. He attempted to climb out of it its reach jumping and climbing to higher branches nimbly. If he could make there before the jaws could reach him then he would fire arrows again trying to keep its attention on him.

Gildor spun around mid-run and let his arrow fly straight into the creature's mouth. "Hey Taikhaku, I just fed it an arrow." He laughed at his small joke and ran for a tree. Slipping his bow back over his shoulder, the Elf braced himself against the tree and drew Tathar, his Greatsword. "Alright Tathar, you've helped me cleave dragons, lets see if you can help me with these things." He pushed off the tree, aiming to run right between the legs of the Balbakh that was chasing him to deliver a powerful uppercut slash.

(What even is a Bakalabh? I can't find them on the wiki, and no, I only misspelt it this time right here. D: )

Taihaku had been told to use an instant freezing spell. That would make Freeze Blast the choice to make, but seeing Dargo suddenly put himself in danger, she did not feel she had adequate time to prepare it for such a large creature. The jewel-encrusted golden ring on her tail glowed as she applied her control of magic energy, creating a thin pathway of ice over the ground from her, past Dargo, and away from the creature. She took off on it, skating using ice she formed on the edges of her boots. With her increased speed across the ice, she zoomed by Dargo, scooped him up in her arm, and sped out of harm's way.

After skating the full path of ice and getting back on solid ground, she turned back to the monster, took Dargo in both hands, and raised him up facing their aggressor.

"Would you be so kind as to do that again?" she asked him, trying to be respectful. He was, after all, their leader's pet. Having seen Dargo's ice breath, she had an idea. A creative idea was a rare thing for her, too, so she felt it even more important to act on it.

( Here ya go nyaha. :3 http://www.felarya.com/wiki/index.php?title=Fauna&redirect=no#Balbakh )

As Saen climbed the tree and narrowly escaped becoming Balkabh dinner the animal looked up at him and let loose a roar that shook the tree showing it's frustation. After wards it got hit by a ray of pale yellow energy and seems to slow down the creature's movements. The beam is being projected by Corveta from atop her perch on rock.

"Saen make your way to the net tree and try not to fall!" Said Corveta as she was holding the Balkabh in place with her magic giving him time to run. "Nnngh...But hurry! I can't mantain this spell for too long." She focused and kept the beam on the creature. She didn't want to see Saen killed yet. She still needed to know if he was boyfreind material.

Gildor's sword cut through the creature's belly and leave huge gaping wound pouring blood which splatered on his tunic quite thoroughly as he slide under it and out from underneath it. He slide along until he passed beneath the creature and out of the danger zone for what Taihaku was planning.

Dargo did as Taihaku had told him and built up ice magic in his body and then opened his mouth to release it at the huge creature. 'I hope she knows what's she's doing...' Thought Dargo.

Richard took this oppunity to replace his Actinite Battery and take aim at Saen's critter opening fire with flurry of shots. "Hmph! Make me look like fool will you? How do you like the taste of Photons?? Ha ha ha!" He aimed to try and hit the legs and some of the more weaker points in it's tough hide making sure if it regained mobility it wouldn't be causing them any more trouble.

[Good timing jedi! I was literally about to start typing a post when I saw that you had just done so, lol]

For Persephone, things had worked out pretty well as far as this incident was concerned. She'd literally not had to do anything. She wasn't being lazy of course, nor was she unconcerned about her fellows' safety. But they had handled the situation surprisingly well, which bolstered her confidence that this mission might succeed. It also was a bit of a relief from her worry about the last fight; her overzealous involvement had, she saw in retrospect, endangered the rest of the group nearly as much as it had helped. She resolved to try and find a better way for the team, especially insofar as she was involved, to work as, well, a team in these situations. After all... the things they'd have to overcome as they approached their destination, not to mention the vampire queen herself, were bound to be a lot tougher.

Persephone deactivated and packed away her plasma sword, then checked on the status of the others. Dargo and Taihaku seemed a little flushed, but unharmed. Gildor had pulled off some impressive maneuvers and slain two of the three creatures like it was easy. All in all, everyone seemed fine, so unless there was something worth salvaging from the fallen beasts, it seemed like they were ready to resume traveling.
"Well that was... fun. I suggest we start keeping an eye out for decent camp sites as we make our way - we might not get too far before nightfall." Indeed, the day was starting to wind down and it was likely the sky would be dark in the next few hours.

Saen nods and runs along a branch to get as close as he can to the next tree. He sprung to it landing but almost falling managing to catch himself. He decided to try and take advantage of the beast being slowed and fire an arrow in it's eye. This would cause him however to not have a very good grip on the tree.

(hm.....now that I re-read it, it does seem as though they are all dead or very near it XD my bad!)

(Yeah, they'll probably be done after my post here. Taking care of the last one now, I hope! ^.^)

She could feel the cold rising up from inside the small creature. His power was considerable for someone of his size, but she could tell from what little effect it had before that it would not be enough. Therefore, Taihaku's idea was to use her magic to augment what Dargo had done before. One of the rings on her tail began to glow once again as Taihaku concentrated. As she felt the energy being released from Dargo's mouth, she summoned a magic circle, about the diameter of Dargo's head, in front of his mouth, which began to catch the ice coming from the dragon's mouth. After a second or two, it began blasting it out of the other side, and what ensued was a large cloud of sparkling, light blue mist of ice that was thick enough to completely block the large monster from view, the water pellets of which were meant to freeze on contact with the balkabh's body.

Richard watched as the creature pursuing Saen fell and died from the combination of attacks and stress to it's body. "And thus ends that nuisance. Hm? Oh yes, Persephone, we may indeed need to camp out the night. Sigh. That means we'll have to barter passage in the morning. I have enough money fortunately but... Gah forget it. After Taihaku finishes this foe we'll march a little more and if we don't see the port town we'll camp for the night." Siad Richard sounding very irritated at having lost their sure ride across the river's deadly waters.

Since Saen's grasp wasn't so sure he fell! But as he did Corveta used a spell of re-location and brought him to stand beside her. "You certainly seem to have knack for danger, Saen Kel." She said with smile working on getting down from the stone and looking up worriedly at the sky turning darker. 'Night. Night is never pleasant in the forests of Felarya.' Thought the mage worriedly.

As the frost cleared from Dargo's attack he was amazed to see what he did. He had frozen the creature solid! His breath had never been able to do that. He looked up at Taihaku with a big smile and did what all Snauwhat's do when they are very pleased and want to show affection. He gave her a licking all over the face. His breath oddly smelled of mint.

Saen blushed a tad embarrassed at falling and having to be saved. "Heh, I gamble a lot. It's one of my quirks." He admitted try to make it sound better than it was. He would help anyway he could in helping Corveta get down, before attempting to get down himself. When they were both on the ground he called to Richard. "Sir! I have no problem traveling through the night! If it makes the quest easier."

Gildor grinned at his blade. "And so we prove ourselves in battle once more my old friend." The elf cleaned the blood and gore off of the greatsword and put it back into the large sheath on his back. He looked down at the beast and shook his head. "A shame they attacked, a shame they had to die, but such is the way of things." He stretched and walked over to Dargo to give him a pat on the head. "And you two, very impressive work. You both make an excellent team." Turning to Richard the Elf's smile grew wider. "And if we're to march in the night, then we should go before something tries to stop us. But first, how many of us need light while we march? I don't require any since I'm an Elf and our eyes tend to do just as well at night as they do in day light."

"I'm sure I can manage on whatever light others are using," said Persephone. She wasn't all that afraid of the dark - in her lifetime she had probably come across anything one might imagine lurking in the darkness and either escaped or beaten it. And of course she'd brought a flashlight, given where they were headed - just in case, though. It would be more a danger than a help at this point.
She kept her eyes peeled for the port town as they progressed through the twilight.
One of the most wonderful things about Felarya was that every day had its own unique sunset - sometimes there were even multiple sunsets in the same night. As today's Sun descended into the trees, it cast a golden light over everything that broke into myriad beams as it passed through the canopy. The growing shadows turned the ground into a crisscrossing web of light and dark. A few cozy-looking nooks and small caves presented themselves here and there, though their frequency suggested that they'd have no trouble finding one when it got dark for real. And with any luck, there might be a big, bright moon tonight to allow the party to continue the trek all the later.
Persephone estimated based on their rate of travel that they would reach the shore in about three hours if they continued into the night. That was still plenty of time to get caught and eaten, though, so if it did get too dark and they had to camp out, at least they'd reach it early the next day.

Taihaku didn't mind Dargo's show of affection. Well, much, anyway. And she was happy to have had such a successful and inventive idea as well. The elf's compliment made her feel even better. She entertained the idea of returning Dargo's affection in kind, but decided against it, as such an act would be very unladylike (not to mention unprofessional, and what if Richard caught her licking his dog thing?!). Instead, she brought Dargo down into the soft cradle of her arms in her thick coat and her fur-covered hands. She knew he had to be feeling better, but she thought he deserved a reward for his bravery against a creature so much larger than himself. She also had to admit, she was becoming a little bit attached to the guy, too. She followed the group as they began moving again.

In answer to Gildor's question, the neko said, "As a snow leopard neko, I am blessed with the strength of vision my people have developed over decades since their arrival in this world. However, it is meant for piercing snow, not darkness."

She reached into her coat and produced the oil lantern she purchased in Negav earlier in the RP. She then held it up in front of her for a few moments, silent. She was ashamed in the realization that she did not know how to use it.

Even before the fight had started, Zee had wondered off to make something. He through it up into the air and opened a jacket pocket to let it slip in, as he moved out of the lengthening shadows. Whistling, he walked to towards the group as if he had been there all along. It seemed to him they had decided to move at night, which he was happy about and showed it.

He wondered if the others could travel for that long, though he doubted anyone here could travel for longer than he. Anyone who couldn't take the strain, he would happily carry.

(Para, I have decided after reading and very much enjoying your description of the sun set today that you shall be in charge of time progression and environmental change. The only time you will not be allowed to effect these is if there's already one set up. For example if we were crossing the river and it was raining you can't just make it sunny without at least consulting me, but otherwise you're free to do what you felt like when there's nothing going on. Like the sound of that? )

Corveta blushed a little as Saen helped her down. 'He was in distress and I saved him! Oh my. I wonder if I hurt his sense of masculinity?' She listened to him foolishly state that questing was easier at night. " Saen night is dangerous in Felarya. It's normally hazardous to travel during the day but it doubles at night. Nocturnal predators come out, plus you can't see well and it's notoriously easy to be fooled by Dryad illusion magic at night." She said thinking there was allot more reasons not to move at night, but it seemed they had little choice she though gazing a the beautiful, but ominous sunset. Beautiful for being unique and eye catching, but ominous for the fact it was going to get dark sooner rather than later.

Richard laughed himself. "Elves are wondrous. Night vision. Well I'm afraid I have no special adaptations for seeing in the dark, but I'll manage. We're close now. I can fell it! Nothing will stand in my way this time. We shall not stop till we reach the port town" Said Richard looking determined as he once again took point. "Since we're all in agreement let's go." Thew nobleman said striding ahead with his fur lined cape flapping in the wind. Very dashing and dramatic though not too fast. He didn't want to leave his protection behind. 'After all that's what they're here for." he thought.

Dargo enjoyed his personal time with Taihaku. He too was growing close to her and not just because they shared a similar magical trait ,in that they both were of the ice element, but because she gave him special attention his master had not done that in a long time. He'd been ...colder. No pun intended. Seeing Richard once again striding off to face danger Dargo lept down and trotted after him only looking back to bark at Taihaku and the others.

"Oh I probably should have been more specific." Saen said blushing even more. "I meant easier in the fact, if we reach the boat we are intending on sailing with. If we rested we might miss the boat and that would make the quest harder. Even in my Realm it is still dangerous at night as you say but we don't have to worry about uh what did you call them? Drayds?" He tried to remember the name as he went along with the group. The darkness wasn't too bad for him, he was use to hunting at night. The archer simply listened a little more closely to compensate for the lowering of his vision. The trek wouldn't strain him much either, he was use to traveling lobg distances with little to no rest.

Taihaku, unlike Saen and Gildor, wasn't much good in the darkness. Not only were her eyes not built to see well in the dark (to the contrary - they were meant to help reduce light to an extent), but her hearing was not great either and it did not compensate for what she lost in the darkness. She rather frantically began attempting to figure out how the oil lamp worked. She'd been taught to use torches, and on impulse, she bought the lamp in the belief that it would be exactly the same. But now she didn't know what part of the item to light.

"Are you doing okay?" Saen asked Taihaku. "I could help you light that if you want." The young archer wanted to help, even though they hadn't talked much before hand.

Well, I do like the sound of having that kind of power and am flattered... I'll try my best.

It seemed the group consensus was leaning toward continuing through the night. Persephone didn't mind this in respect to testing her stamina, and she was accustomed enough to darkness, but Saen had brought up a good point regarding Dryads and other predators. While most of Felarya's most famous predators were diurnal, at night it would be all the harder for the group to see them coming and defend themselves. It wasn't any help that they'd inevitably be glowing and broadcasting their position. It was a mixed blessing, in this light, that the forest undergrowth was as dense as it was.
Of course, just as she was thinking that, they reached a clear spot. She pulled a pair of binoculars out of her backpack and peered as far as she could manage through the foliage. So far there was no sign of a port. For a moment, she thought she saw the silhouette of a tall, pale-faced man in dark clothing, but in an instant it was gone. Must've been the waxing darkness playing tricks on her.

Look out, it's Slenderman!

(I'm sure you'll do well, Para. ^_^ You've earned my respect recently.)

Corveta slapped her own forehead. Ofcourse Saen hadn't been saying it'd be easier in the dark. Stupid girl. He was just concerned it would speed their time to get to the boat. "Sorry I mistook your strategy for a mistake in your skill as an adventurer." She said looked abashed. 'Well if didn't like me before I'm sure he 'loves' me now. Smart move, Corveta!' She mental berated herself but was sure to keep and eye out for anymore trouble.

Richard, being at the head of the party he stopped to check back and make sure no one had mysteriously "disappeared" and so he noticed that Persephone had stopped and was looking at something. "See something out there, Persephone?" Asked Richard looking in the same direction as Persephone but not seeing anything.

Dargo stuck close to Taihaku. He could tell she couldn't see well in low light. He had no problems. His own eye sight was very good at night. His eyes were designed to capture light and maximize his vision at night. Though right now he was using one of his other super heightened senses. Hearing. He could hear something...Metal? Grindy and clinky sounding. Like his master's Photo Bow when it changed to "Obliteration" phase. "Grrrrr...." He growled. He didn't like things that sounded like that. They often were very bad.

"I would...appreciate it," Taihaku said to Saen, handing him the lantern and the box of matches she'd bought. With her inadequate senses, she could not hear or see whatever was approaching the group.

It didn't take Saen very long to figure it out, lanturns in his world were similar but not identical. "There" he said showing the new produced flame. "I am glad I could be of assistance m'lady."

Saen returned his attention to corveta. "Corveta!" Saen exclaimed kinda loud when she smacked her own face. "Do not bring any harm to your face, on my accord. There is no need to apologize, unless its me to you. My poor word choice has caused you to harm yourself. That was never mt intention." The young archer was to caught up with Corveta to notice Dargo growl which normally would make him more alert.

Gildor had remained silent, keeping his eyes and ears open. Since he was practically the only one who could see well in the dark and talk at the same time, he felt that guard duty fell to him. When he heard Dargo growl, the Elf slipped his bow off his back, notched a pair of arrows, and began to look and listen. Something was off, but he wasn't sure what the problem was. "Persephone, what did you see?" He suddenly had an idea and grinned. Pulling out a small pouch of spell components, the Elf cast a small spell on himself. "Ok Dargo, I should be able to understand you now. I cast a spell that lets me be able to temporarily speak with animals. Not that I think you're an animal, but it just lets me understand you. Now what's wrong?"