Perditions Tale, Chapter 6: "Out of the Fire"

[CelesJessa]

(OOC: there, I got the chapter number right this time, the last chapter was supposed to be chapter 5, but I'm a moron. ^^; )

Cesia gagged on water as she surfaced from the water. "Oh... Ow..." She moaned, every inch of her body screaming in pain. "I think... I'm just going to float here for a second..." She said as she saw the others starting to surface, <we must be extremely lucky, having all survived that fall...>

(OOC: yeah I know, unusually short opening post. ^^;; )

[Forever Zero]

Vace dragged himself onto land out of the water, and layed there in pain. <That was the stupidest thing I've ever done... next to joining this group in the first place...> Vace thought, in too much pain to think or say anything else.

[BMHadoken]

"Well...at least it was deep enough...and we escaped the fire...and my wings are soaked...but we live to see another day...and no moat monsters!" Jude said, doggypaddling at the waters surface.

[gh0st]

Taim surfaced quickly. His body felt like he'd just jumped from a high place onto something hard....which, considering that was basically what he'd just done, wasn't really surprising. well, he thought, it's better than being burned to death. at least the water was deep enough to prevent serious injury. even if i did just do the mother of all belly-flops.

[Squishy Cheeks]

ooc: I doubt lynx can swim.

[IHateMakingNames]

Lynx doggy paddled to the shore, then lied down on it, only getting half out of the water. Human bodies are so frail... He moaned to himself, not wanting to move, since anything he did made him hurt all over.

OOC: Cats can swim, it's called a doggy paddle

[Squishy Cheeks]

ooc: you can barely walk, but you can manage to swim?

[BMHadoken]

OOC: Doggy paddle is the equalizer for swimming...its like crawling on land, or just falling in the air, anybody can do it automatically

[IHateMakingNames]

OOC: He could barely walk because he used to walk with four legs, not two. Now it's swimming, and usually two limbs on top, two on bottom(Cats and humans) All you have to do is stroke with arms, and kick with legs. It's not that hard, he just had to adapt to the slight change of swimming, which is much less then walking.

[LilWhiteMage]

Dawn laid out on the shore now amongst all the others, her body aching all over from the shock the water had had on her body as it fell from the window.

At least we aren't stuck in there or dead.

[CelesJessa]

Before anyone else had a chance to say anything else an arrow shot into the water, narrowly missing Jude. Looking up, they saw a small group of woodsmen, some armed with arrows and some armed with swords.

One of the archers turned back to one of the swordsmen, "Looks like the town elder was right about the suspicious activities going on at the wizard's castle." He then turned his attention to the group, "All of you, get out of the water were we can see you! And state your name and what business you had in the wizard's castle!" He ordered roughly.

[IHateMakingNames]

Lynx looked up at the woodmen, and tried to crawl up to a sit, but couldn't. "Blo- blond one... Prinkess... Idiots..."

[Forever Zero]

Vace was lying on the ground looking into the forest as the arrow whizzed by. He slowly got to his feet, slowly recovering from the insane jump, and said, "Hey, the name is Vace, and our buisness would be leaping for our lives out of the wizard's castle to avoid burning to death, thanks for asking."

[LilWhiteMage]

Dawn slowly pulled herself up onto her feet, looking up at the woodsmen. "I am Dawn Trevelyan, student of Reena Burness. We all were sent here by the king in search of the princess." She glanced back at Cesia for a moment, then back to them. "We've suceeded in finding her, and escaping, but we have another problem that has come up. Perhaps you might could assist us?" She of course was speaking about Cid, who had obviously gotten far away by now.

[CelesJessa]

After trying to figure out what Lynx was exactly saying, the word "prinkess" seemed to get through to them, and Dawns story helped too, "The princess? You saw her in there?!" One of them pointed to the burning castle, "There had been rumor of the princess getting kidnapped by the wizard. We came to varify that it was true." the woodsman looked alarmed as they saw the smoke billowing from the castle, "and if the princess is still in there, we haven't a second to lose to save her men! Quick, strange people, what is the fastest way into that building?!"

[IHateMakingNames]

"Blonde one is prinkess idiots!" Lynx pointed to the floating Cesia.

[GatoFiero]

*gurglegurgle*Damn lead shoes! *gurglegurgle* I hope i'm near the water's edge, because if i'm not then i'm dead! Thid kicks with all his might toward the surface, and what he thinks is the shore. Although he more or less ends up running along the bottom of the floor of the moat.

[CelesJessa]

"What?" The woodsmen all turned to look at Cesia, who was doing her best to pretend she didn't exist anymore. She sighed, then climbed out of the water, ringing her hair out, "Yes, I am the princess, and these brave people all did their part in rescuing me. It would be greatly appreciated if you could give us some food and a place for us the rest. It has been a long journey." <and it's probably not over yet... maybe once we get to these people's village, they could supply us with horses to get back home.> "Wait... where's Thid?" Cesia asked, noticing Thid was missing.

[gh0st]

"Oh for...." said Taim. He'd just managed to haul himself out of the water. "I'll go get him."

Taim dove back in, and found Thid exactly where he figured he'd be. About a meter from the edge of the moat, standing on the bottom. Grabbing the man under the armpits with one arm, Taim hauled and kicked and paddled with his other arm up to the surface. It was made easier by the fact that Thid was kicking and paddling too. Taim thanked whichever diety was listening that he had large amounts of experience hauling heavy things off the bottom of bodies of water.

now. let's hope someone has the presence of mind to grab Thid once he's on the surface.

[IHateMakingNames]

OOC: What ever happened to the shape shifting part of you?

[gh0st]

OOC: he can only shapeshift into animals he's seen...and i strongly doubt that any of them would be in any way helpful at the moment. besides, he's only done it once before this. and it's not like i've had an opportunity to use it recently, considering how fast the RP is moving and how many hours i'm spending on finals.

[Darth SS]

Ark hauled himself out of the water. "Damn. I lost my sword. I liked that sword."

He looked back at the woodsmen, and guessed. "So, what's up?" he asked in a foreign language. They looked at him oddly, "I'm a ranger. Live in the wild, etc."

He turned back to the others. "Well, apparently the adrenaline rush was enough to snap me back to some vague resemblance of life. I'm going to fall unconscious now." And he did.

[Forever Zero]

OOC: People are just falling unconscious all over the place...

[MasterZero]

Kalimare breathed heavily, he had only barely regained his strength and knew there was much more to do before the end of this journey. He lumbered along and looked as far ahead as he could to try and see anything. Kalimare then sat down and rested himself.

[gh0st]

Taim's head broke the surface, hauling Thid with him. With a squeak, he said "A little help here?" before bobbing under again.

[BMHadoken]

Jude held his spear out, and Thid grabbed it and with great effort he was pulled out.

Jude felt like falling unconscious, it seemed to be the most popular action recently, but fought against it and merely sank to his butt.

"So...now that were all caught up, us being the group that just escaped from the fire, you being the group that stumbled upon us, mind helping us a tad? Just some food, maybe a bed for a little bit for the majority of us that have passed out...if were asking too much, we'll make due I guess." Jude said to the other group.

[CelesJessa]

The woodsmen glanced at each other, "Brave warriors, I am sorry to say that the nearest town is at least a days walk away... But we have gear to set up camp and you all are more than welcome to help yourselves to our rations." The 'leader' woodsman nodded to the unlucky one who somehow got stuck with carrying all of their stuff, and the group began to unload and build a fire. While the woodsmen were working like ants, the leader rummaged through a pack and pulled out some canned food and biscuts, he offered them to Cesia saying, "Here, Princess. While we set up camp you and your troops may eat our food. It may not be much, but it's food."
<My troops?> Cesia sure didn't feel like a leader, but she shrugged and handed out food to everyone who was still awake, which was only a few, "I guess everyone will have to eat when they wake up." Cesia said with a yawn. The adrenaline rush was over and now the fatigue was setting in.

[Forever Zero]

"Mmm, soldier's rations, my favorite! Actually, not having eaten in a few days, this tastes pretty good," Vace said, immediatly chowing down when rations were handed out from the soldiers. "So, Cesia, why did you go on a quest to save the princess if you were the princess. Wouldn't you just appear to the king and inform him his daughter wasn't kidnapped, much to his joy?"

[GatoFiero]

*eats some food*

[OOC] see, i'm still here! [OOC]

[CelesJessa]

Cesia glanced down, "Well I should have known I was going to be asked about it sooner or later," She mumbled. She glanced at the woodsmen, not really wanting them to hear, but was relieved to see they were all busy setting up. "Well. It's kind of complicated. You know I have premonitions, right? Well one night, I had a premonition of total destruction, at the hands of Skurai. I told my father about it, but he refused to take action based on a 'silly dream' as he called it." Cesia sighed, then continued, "So I staged my own kidnapping, making it look like Skurai was to blame for it. And as I had planned, my father then took action against Skurai. But I wasn't prepaired for Cid to have his own agenda with what was going to happen... we were just supposed to get in, take care of Skurai, and get out and go home..." Cesia sighed.

[LilWhiteMage]

Unlike the others, Dawn was making use of their time by getting in some rest. Food could wait till later, but now she needed to regain her strength before they were to get back to moving again.

After a while she finally cracked open her eyes, sitting up slowly. "Hn...?" She looked over to Cesia, only catching the last bit of her explanation, of how she wanted to go home. "Don't worry" she paused for a moment to stifle a yawn. "We'll go back to the kingdom and warn your fa... the king"

[Forever Zero]

"The future is a complicated and dangerous thing to predict. The future is always in motion and is never predictable. Your premonition was right about the fire in the bandit's hideout, but a different one has been proven wrong by the events today. I have never believed in prophacy or fate, and believe the future is what we make of it, but I'm not sure if you have proven me right or wrong with your predictions. All I know, is that the greatest threat the kingdom has faced is headed there right now, and unless we do something about Cid and his new powers, none of us will have a future," Vace responded, giving some sage advice of his own.

[BMHadoken]

"Anybody know why Cid got all 'NOOO' towards the end there? Or was I knocked out? And its okay Cesia, as long as your ok, Cid can't claim coodeetat or whatever for long. We'll just stroll in, then have him hanged or fed to dogs or the whatnot...plus, what can he possibly throw at us thats been worse than the monster and getting half of our life sucked from our souls...mmm, biscuits..."

(OOC: This is where Jad pops in with a post about Cid concoting evil machinations...and is there still a ninja in the group, or did that person (in RL) leave?)

[Forever Zero]

OOC: Well, the ninja posted twice and never posted again, so I think it would be safe to say they left this RP...

[LilWhiteMage]

"My guess as to why Cid was having problems at the end was definately because of Skurai. He was the one controlling the power that went into Cid. Perhaps he was doing something in order to hopefully kill him. With Cid out of the way, Skurai could have taken over instead."

She leaned over and picked up one of the bisquits, eating it slowly. "One thing is certain, Cid will definately be hard to beat now that he has the powers of each of us."

[GatoFiero]

"Who said he had the powers of each of us? The transfer was incomplete. Who know's what powers he has now."

[BMHadoken]

"Well that only means he can heal, predict the future, emit electricity, turn any stationary object into a weapon, shapeshift, immune to any insta-kill magic we could get, and phase like a moron...but that last one might help us a bit more...and he can't take my legs, and I have no clue as to what governs werewolf boy..." Jude said. After taking a drink of water, he added, "And that fire thing he's got goin...but cmon, how hard is that to beat really? Together we can take him."

[CelesJessa]

(OOC: yeah Dante is out. He couldn't keep up with us)

"Well it look like he got at least a little hurt from Skurai before he dashed out, setting the place aflame, so hopefully he's off wounded somewhere dying slowly." Cesia stopped, "Yikes, that was a little harsh, wasn't it?" She said, surprised by her own intense hatred of Cid.

[gh0st]

Taim spoke up from his position lounging on the grass, drying out, "Well, you do sort of have a right to be harsh. I mean, so far, he's tried to kill you, admitted to plotting the destruction of your father and your kingdom, and tried to trap you in a flaming wizard's tower. Somehow i don't think that's his way of saying ' let's be friends'."

[BMHadoken]

"I'd be a tad miffed."

[gh0st]

"i'd be freaking homicidal. but then, i'm disreputable."

[IHateMakingNames]

OOC: Cid didn't transfer anything... I doubt the wizard would try to kill him with a spell, but first power him up...

[BMHadoken]

OOC: I'm still confused about that bit, but Celes says it, so meh...

[IHateMakingNames]

OOC: Where does she say it?

[BMHadoken]

OOC: She didn't correct Zero when he said it...but she mighta missed it...I dunno...

[IHateMakingNames]

OOC: She ignored it.. Which I would take as it is wrong, and not worth mentioning

[BMHadoken]

OOC: Jad'll prolly act like he has the powers one way or the other, but Celes ultimatly decides it I guess

[CelesJessa]

Cesia sighed tiredly, "Well, at least my anger is justafiable. Well I'm going to go to.." she yawned in mid-sentance, proving her fatigue, "...sleep now. I have a feeling we'll be walking a bit tomorrow to these woodsmen's town." She wrapped her robes, which were still wet, around her. She was too tired to care about being cold. She curled up on the ground and tried to fall asleep, but one of the woodsmen protested.
"Princess, you should not be sleeping on the cold ground while you are soaking wet. We have no tents but we will easily construct one with our supplies." He insisted, but Cesia tiredly waved a hand in his direction,
"No no..." She wished he wouldn't make her talk, she was too tired to do much anything, and the fatigue was only growing. "I'll... be.. okay." She had slept outside many times, this time wasn't going to kill her.
"But princess! I insist!" The woodsman tried to protest, but it was of no use because Cesia had fallen into a deep sleep. The woodsman looked up, unsure if he should just leave here sleep there, or do something.

(OOC: tonight is jsut for the characters to sleep and catch up. Tomorrow, they'll get going again. I'll probably be getting off soon. it's past midnight and I'm about as sleepy as Cesia. ^^ )

EDIT OOC: and I'll work out any misunderstandings thus far tomorrow too. ^^

[IHateMakingNames]

OOC: The only misunderstanding is does Cid get anything out of the spell that Sukria did to us?(Which most likely is no, since he did try to kill him with that spell...)

[Squishy Cheeks]

ooc: Yes he did. not what he intended. but he did get something out of it.

[MasterZero]

Kalimare sighed and then climbed up one of the nearby trees. He was back to full strength. If Cid trully did have their abilties, it would be one tough fight. Kalimare knew his own limits were great, but the addition of what he knew his allies could do would make Cid almost invincible. Kalimare saw a bird sitting on a branch near him and then lunged at it. He broke its neck quickly to end its life mercifully, as he did with all his prey. He then fed on his snack before continuing on his "watch" that he had self-nomitated himself to do.

[Darth SS]

They heard a crunching, and muffled swearing. Ark had fallen into the ground, but since he had been lying down, he'd gone all the way into the ground. And because of the introduction of the new mass, there was no a large bulge in the ground, that was breaking open.

That had proven to be enough to wake the ranger up. He managed to pull himself out, and get to his feet.

He walked over to the woodsmen, and said in their language, "Do you guys have any swords that you can spare? I lost mine in the castle."

One of them went over to their supplies, and grabbed one of a few swords. He tossed it to Ark, who caught it, drew it, and twirled it. Then he noticed the condition, "Please. This thing'll never hold up. Too flimsy, not much of an edge, and it's rusting near the hilt. I can't be much use of protectin' the princess with this."

They went silent, and one of them grabbed a different sword and brought it over. The hilt was a straight line of silver, with a short triangle growing from it at where the blade started. The handle itself was dark blue leather, with a silver cap and a silver band splitting where each hand would rest if you used both. The blade itself was very polished, and well kept, with a vine design barely noticable on it. Ark squinted because he thought he saw some runes, but it was apparently a trick of the light. The sheath was the same dark blue leather, with a silver cap and a silver band in the middle. Ark nodded respectfully, "Nice sword. Very nice."

They nodded and said, "As a ranger you should know that the woods are devoted to the princess. Use it to guard her, and the woods will aid you." A pair of them snickered.

Not getting the apparent joke, Ark clipped it to his belt and walked back to the others.

[IHateMakingNames]

Lynx had grabbed a knife from the weapons tent of the camp, and cut off a large branch of a tree. He took a seat down near the group, and began carving the branch into a staff.

[LilWhiteMage]

While Dawn was sitting there eating, she noticed Lynx leave to a seperate tent, then return a few minute later with a branch, which he began to carve on. "I take it you're feeling a little better now Lynx?" She smiled faintly as she took another bite of her food.

[IHateMakingNames]

Lynx continued to carve his staff, trying to get it precise. "Not to much, but enough to move around." He said without looking up, slowly trying to get a circle he made to be a perfect one. Which was hard since he didn't have much experience with arms.

[Darth SS]

Ark was running through some basic exercises with his new swordity. He'd just discovered that on the outside of the sheath, there was a second sheath on the side that held a dagger of similar design to his sword. Basically, right up his alley.

He was actually impressed at how light the swords were, but he had to stop eventually and sheath them.

He peaked his head into Lynx's tent. "Whatcha' doing?"

[IHateMakingNames]

Lynx sighed, and looked up. "I'm trying to make a staff so I can conkentrate my magik into it instead myself, making it more powerful and easier to kast."