Where YOU, are the hunted.

"H-Hey!! Wait for me!!" Brent yelled, flying forward to try and catch up with the electric fairy, matting his hair back down as he did so. Since he was fairly new to flying he had a little bit of trouble controlling his wings at first, but got quickly used to them, flying as fast as he could to catch up to the fairy. Not that he expected to beat her, but still, it was all in good fun, and the fairy seemed to be enjoying herself quite well.

----------------------------------

"Well, isn't it obvious? You didn't ask." the fairy stated as she picked up her other dagger, walking back over to Coda as she brushed the dirt off and put it back in it's sheath. "I mean, if you would've said something like 'Wait, aren't you that fairy that put me in a jar?', I'd have been like 'Yup! Long time no see!', you know? But anyway..." She then offered Coda a hand to help him up, asking, "So, what brings you two humans out this way? Felarya isn't exactly safe for your kind, after all."

"uhhhhh... Well im not really sure, we just kind of appeared here, i know theres one other person with us, i hope the guys ok..." He said as he accepted her hand and stood up, brushing his clothes off. "Well, I understand that im guessing I won the fight and me and my friend here can leave, but I had an offer that could work to benefit all of us, I was going to ask if me and my friend could maybe stay with you for a while, seeing as we are kinda helpless here, and i would let you maybe suck on me or something like that... just to make things fair..." he offered, half regretting it to the fact that he was still at a risk, but at the same time it wouldn't be as bad as trying to take felarya alone, with just a small knife and the few other things in his backpack.

After finishing his sentence he walked over and retrieved his backpack, putting his knife away in the side pocket and going through it and putting a black item in his pocket then slinging it over his back. "That sound fair enough? you get a... sucky treat?... and you give us somewhere safe to stay until we figure out what to do next." he continued, stuttering on 'sucky treat' because of how strange and somewhat childish it sounded.

"fine by me" Niklas said, lifting his legs and swinging them down, making him tilt into a sitting position. "if it means we won't get killed, i won't mind being used a candy"

While Ryan was making his way towards the river, a vulture harpy with black wings and light red skin started to make her way towards the river as well, having caught the scent of something dead, which for her meant food. After flying around for a bit, she finally found the corpse of a dead naga, having been attacked and eaten up by kensha beasts. The harpy swooped down on the remains and landed, unaware of the human nearby as she licked her lips, ready to dig into her meal. She set a clawed foot on the corpse to hold it in place, biting down and pulling the flesh away from the dead body, the sound of ripping flesh being able to be heard by anyone nearby.

It took Ryan several hours to reach the shore of the river, but it was worth it. Being on your toes all the time, using all your senses to stay alive... in a weird way, Ryan was enjoying it. It was a huge change from the mundane.

Ryan knelt down to drink from the river. Even here, he could not take any chances. Not far away, he could hear the sound of something eating. Best to avoid that all together. He headed down river, away from the "Whatever-it-was-eating." Once it could barely be heard, he pulled out the tin whistle and began to play. It was a bit dangerous to play in such an area, but he was hoping an old friend might hear it and come. If not, he still had the claymore.

Lucky for him, he thought, that most of Felarya thought people from his world more strange than edible.

(-cricket chirping- and then it gets really quiet again...)

(...)

(Ok, seriously im thinking we have been patient enough in waiting for Tuc's posts... and since he joined this RP and plays a role in it which we have to wait on... he should actually be here being a part of the RP... -_-")

(Sooo... what do we do about it?)

(I've been talking to tuc, he's having some RL problems apparently. I dont want to discuss them publicly, but I'm willing to wait.)

Archmage_Bael wrote:

(I've been talking to tuc, he's having some RL problems apparently. I dont want to discuss them publicly, but I'm willing to wait.)

(i guess so...)

As the caravan approached the spot, Durun held up a hand. Along it’s whole length, the caravan came to a stop. After the wagon wheels creaked to a halt, the entire group was deathly silent. The men cocked their ears, listening to the sounds of the jungle. Their eyes carefully scanned the surrounding jungle, and particularly the ambush spot up ahead. As they watched, a few leaves fluttered to the ground from the canopy above, despite the absence of wind. Durun raised an eyebrow, then turned to Doug and Aaron.

“You two, take point,” He said softly, nodding his head toward the road ahead. Doug glanced at him, then to Aaron with a worried expression. However, turning back to Durun, the warrior’s face made it clear he had no intention of allowing compromise or reluctance. He watched them impatiently, his hand noticeably resting on the handle of his battle axe. Reluctantly, Doug nodded, and started forward slowly, as quietly as he could. Unconsiously, his hand reached for his handgun as he walked down the path. A few more leaves fell from the branches above.

<><><><><><><><><>

“Ehehehe! You’re falling behind!” Aeille called out in a sing song voice. Flying as if lounging on her back with her hands behind her head, she flew back to Brent. She hovered ahead of him, pacing his flight and waving cheerfully. A second later, she zipped on again, laughing. Showing off her midair acrobatics, she left a trail of sparks in the air as she flew in a spiral, leaving a glittering corkscrew in the air.

Until she flew directly into the back of the head of the read-haired fairy. Aeille bounced off of her and fluttered down to the ground. After a moment, she sat up, rubbing her head, her wings fluttering ever now and then. “Oh, heya! Guess I wasn’t watching where I was going.” Aeille said, getting up and brushing herself off. She glanced to Niklas and Coda. “So, are you going to have both of them?” She asked in an offhanded manner.

Aaron looked nervous, the leaves falling generally means danger in felarya, and If he intends to live longer than a day or two he'll need to improvise and be very careful. As Aaron follows Doug up to the point he knew in his mind that he thought they are expendable since they're basically hitching a ride for free. His katana bobbled up and down elegantly as he walked quickly to the front, careful to make as little sound as possible. He didn't even grasp his sword for fear looking agressive. If there is indeed a predator up ahead, cunning and frendliness are the best defense.

Aaron glances with a worried expression over to Doug, as if to say "what do we do now?".

Before Cazaria could say anything to either Coda or Niklas, the fairy felt something whop into the backside of her head, turning around to see what it was. "What in the...oh, hey there!" she said with a smile, kneeling down to get a better look at the shrunken fairy. "Eh, sorry to disappoint ya, but I just made an agreement to protect them in exchange for them being my sucky treats. I do know of this good ambush spot, though. We could swing by there and grab something to eat if you'd like."

Brent in the meantime was doing his best to catch up with Aeille, rolling his eyes at her antics and muttering "Showoff." About a half-minute later, he flew into the clearing where Cazaria and the others were, instantly stopping as he recognized the red-haired fairy. "Hm? Oh, hello to you too!" she said with a smile as she flew towards him. "Gotta say, it's rather rare for a fairy to wear clothes. Your way of standing out?" she asked, taking a hold of his arm as she felt his clothes. "Well, um, I'm actually not a fairy." Brent stated. "You're not? Huh...that would explain the clothes." she said, putting his arm down. "So how'd you get the wings?"

Brent was about to answer when he noticed Coda and Niklas from behind the fairy, flying up to them as he said, "Niklas! Dude! Long time no see, man! And it's good to see you're alive, Coda! I was worried about you when you disappeared like you did. Glad to see you're still holding up!" The red-haired fairy noted the reuntion with a chuckle, saying, "Guess this is a small world, after all." She then looked back at Aeille, asking, "So how'd he get the wings? If you don't mind me asking, that is."

(Gonna make my response to mdbear a bit later. Gotta head off for work.)

"Brent. sorry to see you here man, though it seems you found your way out of trouble too... for now at least" Niklas said, sighing at the end, "Oh yeah, get this. once again, the first thing i touch here... is a damn river"

Coda went into a small shock seeing the new fairy which sent his hand right to where his knife was, until he remembered he put it back, followed by a sigh of relief to hear Cazaria accepted the deal. he then saw Brent as he flew up and couldn't help but chuckle at Brent's new set of wings, keeping himself practically silent as everyone conversated with eachother.

He was actually quite glad to see things were working in his favor and his new collection of friends until something suddenly flashed in his mind. "Damnit! I forgot my bike!" He said getting a grip on his head followed by a loud grunt.

“I don’t know…” Doug whispered softly, peering up into the canopy, trying to see if there was a predator lying in wait for someone to come by. He saw nothing but the branches and boughs of leaves. Anyting beyond them was concealed in a thick layer of foliage. “This may have been a bad idea.” Doug paused, glancing back again. Durun scowled at him, tapping his battleaxe again. “Scratch that, this definitely was a bad idea.” Doug grumbled to himself, thinking of several anatomically impossible places where he wished Durun would stick his wood chopper. He turned his attention back to the path ahead of himself, and continued on as quietly as he could.

<><><><><><><>

There was a faint woosh of air, as Aeille grew to human size, taking a moment to stretch her arms and flutter her wings, making sure she wasn’t bumping into anything. “Oh, alright then. I’ll just suck on them to tide me over then, since they’re sucky treats now.” Aeille said, shrinking Coda down and picking him up and sticking him in her mouth. She didn’t swallow, and just left him laying on her tongue, with just his head sticking out of her lips. There was something about being near her that made Coda’s hair stand on end.

“Yeah, I’d like to go to that spot, I could go for a meal I can actually eat,” Aeille said, her words slightly garbled by Coda in her mouth. “As for him, I didn’t want anyone eating him, so I gave him those wings. He’s got the coolest stuff a storm sprite can play with! Plus the metroids were tasty too, if not very filling. So, where is this ambush thingie?” Aeille asked, fluttering in the air and idly licking Coda over.

<><><><><><><>
Meanwhile, high in the branches above the caravan, Myrah silently cursed the squirrel playing around in the leaves below herself. It was dislodging a few leaves, and drawing attention up to her. Grumbling quietly, she backed off, lest any of the humans of the caravan spot her. Still, while the people were looking up, they were ignoring the ground, and her web hidden by leaves there. She quietly waited for one of the humans to hit the thin tripwire, which would cause the web to fly up and ensnare them, leaving them suspended in midair.

Aaron walked silently next to Doug, whispering.
"I think the predator will likely wait until everyone in the caravan shows up in the middle, that way no one can run away too easily. We could probably use that to our advantage."
He said as he continued walking as carefully as possible, occasionally glancing over to the "captain" of the group.

They were about 1/5 of the way out now.

(judt pass my turn for now, i got some kind of mental something going on and i don't think i can post at the moment...)

Ryan paused and listened intently. He had left the river bank and headed into the forest, taking to the trees. He figured most predators don't look up, being the top of what they do. So why look for pray above them. It was hard climbing that tree, though, he thought to himself. Took him at least an hour. As he continued, he stopped every few minutes to listen for danger, as he did now. So far, so good. He was glad the trees were close enough to form a branch path for him. But he would be a fool to think him perfectly safe. He still had to worry about harpies and driders up here, rather than the nagas and faires down there. Then agian....

The thoughts kept spinning around his head. He was always on the alert, always looking for potental danger... and he loved it. The thrill of it all was a welcomed change in his life. There was no drider to protect him, or friendly harpy comming to his rescue. No fellow humans to watch his back. Though that thought made him wonder if any of his old friends made it here as well.

Confident nothing was hunting him at the moment, he continued on sneaking as best you can, watching in every direction. There was no such thing as "too careful" in Felarya.

"Oh, it's this trading route that's notorious for predators ambushing human trade caravans that, for some reason or another, think it's a good idea to waltz through there DESPITE the fact that it's known as an ambush spot! I swear, humans are so stupid sometimes!" The red-haired fairy then looked at Brent, looking a bit embarrassed as she said, "Um...no offense." Brent just smiled and waved his hand to brush it off, replying, "None taken, it's cool."

The fairy smiled, then looked back at Aeille, saying, "My name's Cazaria, by the way! Just follow me, and I'll take you to a really good hiding spot!" With that, Cazaria flew towards Niklas and shrunk him down, picking him up and popping him into her mouth as she flew towards her hiding spot. Brent stayed where he was since he was following Aeille and not Cazaria, making a mental note to himself to get Coda's bike back.

-----------------------------------
The vulture harpy, in the meantime, had finished eating her meal and washed herself clean, using the fruit of a nearby tree to help freshen her breath and get rid of the smell of blood that she had on her. Feeling satisfied with how she cleaned herself, she took a bite into one of the fruits before she flew off, keeping an eye out for any other harpies so she could avoid them, not very keen on hearing the usual swears that came out of a typical harpy's mouth. While she was flying, she looked down to see a caravan lead by humans making their way on a common ambush area, her shadow passing over a portion of the path they hadn't crossed yet as she did so. She sighed to herself, wondering if there were any humans in this place with a shred of common sense.

Soon, she settled down on a tree branch nearby, completely unaware of Ryan's presence near her head on an adjoining branch. A faint smile crossed her lips as she completed the bite into her fruit, doing her best to hold the fruit with her wings as she chewed the piece of it she had in her mouth, sighing happily as she enjoyed it's taste.

"Oh great... you couldn't have waited until i changed into the clothes THAT WAS ALREADY WET" Niklas said negatively "I mean, come on... what am i gonna do with two sets of wet clothes?"

“If they’re looking for a big meal, yes.” Doug said, looking around. “If they just wanted to pick off one or two for a quick snack though, we’re…” Doug trailed off as a huge shadow briefly passed over the ground ahead of them. Not too long later, there was a soft thump as the vulture harpy landed on a branch beyond their view, shaking loose a small flurry of leaves. Doug peered up as he tried to find out who or what just arrived. Behind him, Durun cleared his throat, growing increasingly annoyed at his delays.

<><><><><><><><><>

“I’m Aeille!” Aeille said, or at least tried to say with Coda in her mouth. She fluttered her wings a second, before zipping after Cazaria. After a second, she flew back and made Brent’s hair stand up with a slight zap of static electricity. “Hurry up! Don’t fall behind now!” She giggled, before zooming after Cazaria again. She wondered what the other fairy had in mind, but was eager for a good meal.

<><><><><><><>

Myrah sighed again. With the harpy landing nearby, things crowded enough, but now she saw a couple of fairies approaching too. Neither fairies or harpies had much sense of patience and stealth while ambushing. She was going to have to do this the old fashioned way, it seemed. Simply running down her prey. Quietly, she weaved herself a net of silk. She’d do it, and could do it fairly well, but she wouldn’t like it. These humans were armed, and bullets stung like all get out. She’d carve a few healing runes later.

(alright let me try and catch up on this)

Coda kept quiet after the experience of being shrunken down and put into Aeille's mouth, a quick shock going up his spine as his hair turned into a spike ball. He got a good look at his hair and rolled his eyes, guessing enough that this Fairy had a pretty good control on electricity. After she left the ground to chase Cazaria there was a shock to his leg as he was reminded of the black object in his pocket, which happened to have Been his DS which he hung onto and played periodically when he wasn't needed at his work. he then wondered if the fairy had felt the shock and hoped that didn't just fry it...

The Harpy's approach did not surprise Ryan, as he was watching for it. What surprised him was that she practicly landed right in front of him. He was still above her head, but just barely so. If he reached out, he could have touched her. so now what? Suddenly, Ryan got an idea... a rather dangerous one at that too. But hey, if Vin Diesel could do it, so could he.

Quietly and gently, Ryan drew the ninjato from his side and crept up to the harpy. He smelled the fruit she was eating and realized how hungry he was. He would have to find something to eat, if he survived. Getting as close as he could, he reached out and caught hold of a couple strands of hair. Gently and quietly, he cut them and withdrew, coiling them like rope. "This should fetch me a good price in the next town I get to."