[Episode 2] Two Minds, One Body

The story unfolds around Osaka, Japan, with the unlocking of one girl's hidden potential, and a gathering of Young mages whom are destined to change the fate of the Earth.
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Kai
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Re: [Episode 2] Two Minds, One Body

Post by Kai »

Katerina hustled her way through the gate, telling this Eryl person "Sorry, but I can't make that decision" as an apology for not being able to let her in. She wondered why Willow took off the opposite way but was more focused on the task at hand, and Eryk pointing out some more signs of Drysi's passing as they went along.

"From what I've known of Drysi, she absolutely abhorred the forest, so her going this way makes no sense, unless something was forcing her, or making her think she had no other choice."
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Kokuten
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Re: [Episode 2] Two Minds, One Body

Post by Kokuten »

"I've got a bad feeling," said Eryk, answering Katarina with a worried look.

He kept a close eye on the tracks they followed, pressing his fingers to the disturbed dirt, pushing aside brush to uncover any more prints. He looked up at the trees as the group began to fall under the dark canopy. There was a dark aura swirling in the trees, and the cat eyed teen looked nervous.

"Is this forest always this creepy at night?" asked Eryk.

The brush rustled up ahead, a low-lying thicket where the footprints ended into. The Hexer readied his blade, holding a hand up, looking at the others and pointing at the dark greenery.

A bike horn sounded weakly at the back of the group, startling those at the front. Eryk looked back to see Manon holding a horn close to her chest.

"Merci, I honk when I am nervous," explained the Clown with a defensive smile.

Rattle. A wooden chittering rose over the sounds of the forest.

Out of the brush came a Spriggan, small and cute, wearing a set of stained, cracked, three-eyed glasses. In its hands was a spear with a freshly sharpened tip. It was flanked by two more of its kind, carrying clubs, each of them wearing a boot on their head. The same mud-covered brand that Drysi wore on the forest outings. The three of them were at the head of what looked like a small band. They looked riled and covered in splotches of mud and some other dark liquid.

Rattle. The leader raised its spear, the wood-block language it spoke low and filled with rapid percussion. The two on its flanks answered by holding their clubs with purpose.
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Straken
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Re: [Episode 2] Two Minds, One Body

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The British girl huffed as she caught up to the group. She was loving these new abilities. Between the pewter and tin she felt like she could run laps around the school on a new moon night. Hell, she could drop a coin and fling herself back to the group and give them quite a startle. At that, a slow realization dawned on Willow's face as she drew closer to the group; she had forgotten to grab her coin purse.

"Ah beans," Willow lamented her inexperience as she made it to the group. Close enough to see what the hold up was, she staggered a bit at the sight of the spriggans and their odd accessories. It indeed was odd that Drysi would enter the forest at night, given her hesitations during the day, and the spriggans having Drysi's things made her feel even more uneasy.

Stooping down, Willow shuffled towards the little forest spirits and started to burn zinc; she began to kindle the emotions of the spirits since burning zinc had apparently been what had made her popular with other spirits before.

"Hey hey," Willow said with a forced smile to spite what she was feeling. "Where did you get those cool accessories, huh? Can you show us?"
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Kokuten
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Re: [Episode 2] Two Minds, One Body

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The armed Spriggan at the fore raised its spear as Willow began to project her influence on the the creature. The wooden-faced fae were new to the forest, but were normally very amiable to her, so much so that they would crowd her ankles, holding up shiny offerings like a bunch of grateful crows. The leader was not offering anything except animosity at spear-point, under a trispectacled gaze. Even in Willow's short time with them, this was unusual behavior, Spriggans weren't normally hostile creatures.

It shook its head, rattling something, before one of the wilder boot-Spriggans threw its club at Willow, chittering some warning in their language. The club struck the druid-in-training on the forehead, bouncing just short of the skin.

RATTLE!

Seven more mottled spriggans came charging out the brush, sharpened branches and rocks in their hands. Their percussive voices rose in a small warcry as they sought to overwhelm the group. The three by Willow lept upon her, while each of the others paired off on Katerina, Johann, with three leaping on Eryk as well. One of the ones attacking Eryk took a circus ball to the face by a shocked Manon.

"Merci! I hit people in the face when I'm nervous!"
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Kai
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Re: [Episode 2] Two Minds, One Body

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"I don't think they're keen on conversation-!" Katerina commented to Willow before they were suddenly set upon by spriggans. Unsure of what else to do, she pointed her finger like a gun and directed it toward the small wood fae that was currently accosting her, shouting "Water Jet!" and concentrating very hard on expelling just a moderate amount of mana on just shooting water out of her finger. It took all of her concentration, but she was successfully able to shoot water from her finger with about the pressure of a fire hose and found her hand thrown backward with recoil and she also found that she had lost her footing, wheeling backward a few steps before tripping up on a root and falling over on her rear unceremoniously.
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Mr. Blackbird Lore
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Re: [Episode 2] Two Minds, One Body

Post by Mr. Blackbird Lore »

No. NO. We are NOT doing this! Just when Johann thought he couldn't be pushed any further, he discovered the well of his teenage angst was much deeper than he had ever known; he had only needed the right push. Continuing his string of firsts, the youngest Krieger summoned his dark forces and committed his first hostile spell, reversing his familiar energy transference to its intended form.

"Einmal zweimal gebunden, sollten Sie den Preis bezahlen." With fury writ plain on his face, Johann held an open palm toward the nearest spriggan. He had meant only to exhaust the small creature, but it was so small and its life force so minute he easily overshot the mark. The spriggan collapsed on its face, motionless. Johann's anger abated slightly, now sharing headspace with worry. He couldn't be certain just then that the spriggan was still alive.

But his anger and fear fueled a continuing aggression. With the energy drawn from the first, he hurled an ennervating blast at the second. They attacked ME, he reminded himself. It was a feeble attempt to shield himself from his conscience that knew he had gone too far, but the anger in him was still strong enough to win.
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Straken
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Re: [Episode 2] Two Minds, One Body

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Willow yelped as the club dazed her. In the daze she tumbled backwards as more spriggans jumped at her. With a hurting head, and a primal fear surfacing in the dark forest; all she could do was react. Her first instinct was to hit things. Part scream and part shout, Willow flared her pewter and tin. Her head cleared itself of the daze and she could see the environment clearly, but the pain became more acute and the noises her companions made hurt her ears. Still, the Brit's attention was focused on her assailants. As she was continuing to act rather than think, she grabbed one of the spriggans piling on to her, and with an arm powered by flaring pewter she threw the spriggan up through the tree canopy; the spriggan disappearing from sight in the darkness and tree cover. Regaining her senses a bit, she dialed back the pewter and balking at how much the metal had burned away during that flare; she still had a good reserve, but the change was noticeable. With a firm, moderately enhanced swing, she swat away another of the spriggans before grabbing the last and holding it aloft. Scrambling to her feet, she realized something. Shouldn't that have hurt a lot more?

Willow positioned herself to look as though she was preparing to punt the spriggan with the same might she had used to help found the Spriggan Space Program. "Call off the others or you'll be looking for this lad's bits in the next country over!"
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Kokuten
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Re: [Episode 2] Two Minds, One Body

Post by Kokuten »

It was a rout.

The Spriggans assailing Eryk found themselves blasted by a sudden wave of force as the hexer made the hand motions to cast the spell to repulse them. Manon had climbed back on her ball at this point, and was bouncing upon it, and jumped right as another set of Spriggans went flying by under her, a trail of water in their wake.

The two accosting Johann never stood a chance. The other wood fae stopped to look at its fallen comrade, wondering why it was laying on the ground before it fell prey to the same innervation. The small creature toppled over the other, it twitched from the energy drain until something seemed to absorb the rest of the spell.

Spriggans were not meant to fly, but the way Willow handled her opponents seemed to indicate they did. A small flare of magic sparked off as her boot connected with the boot-wearing fae, sending it off minus its shoe-hat. She swatted back the next, which went tumbling like a beach ball, bouncing once on the ground with a bloom of light, before bouncing up and ricocheting between two trees, and landing in a bush.

The last one was the trispectacled spriggan, making feeble attempts to whack Willow's arm, before realizing just how outmatched it was. It turned to rattle a command to its tribemates, only to find that they had been wiped out. There were seven more sets of eyes in the bushes, shivering in fear.

Rattle! It gave its unnecessary command to the ones in the bushes, holding up a hand for them to stop. A pair of them popped out, one on the shoulders of the other, rattling in annoyance and throwing acorns at their leader.

Eryk took a step back, his blade still up in reserve. He looked over his shoulder at Kat and took a couple more, careful and calculated, offering a hand to help her to her feet.

"Don't know if they're done for sure," cautioned Eryk, not seeming to trust the glowing eyes.

Meanwhile Manon made her way over to the shaken Johann, bouncing high on her ball, before landing square on her two feet. She opened her mouth to say something bombastic, but her jaw caught on the word. She saw the look in his eye, and she flashed a subtle glance to the dead spriggans.

"Mon ami, what has you so flustered? You were quite the knockout player," the Clown laughed, good-spirited, jingling her way over to the two Johann had fell. When she got to them, she bent over, inspecting them closely.

Then, unceremoniously, she scooped them up, one in each arm and jingled back to him. "Pere, look at your doux enfants, sleeping so soundly."

Sure enough, while both were limp in her arms, each were making an odd noise, equivalent intermittent waves of a rain stick. One, the less innervated, curled over into her ruffled chest.

"Oh, sweet as a pea. Pere, shall we put them to bed?"
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Mr. Blackbird Lore
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Re: [Episode 2] Two Minds, One Body

Post by Mr. Blackbird Lore »

Before Johann could work himself into another rage, Manon revealed that they were only asleep, and a deeply relieved sigh gushed out of him. Then he paused and peered at them closely, as if looking for something. There souls were wholly intact, he could see, and none of the necrotic energy lingered as it ought to have with the amount he had used. Confusion settled into his one good eye and he scrunched his face.

"Something isss ppppprotecting them."
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Straken
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Re: [Episode 2] Two Minds, One Body

Post by Straken »

"Okay, driftwood, you better bloody listen up. You're gonna be our very own dowsing rod, you roger?" Willow said, gripping the spriggan by the back of its neck. She waved the little gremlin around so it could look at the trouble it and its friends had caused the group. "Anymore funny business, and we'll build a campfire. Now, point us to where you found that stuff."

The spriggans possessing items of Drysi's was concerning, and if being mean to these little guys helped them along then Willow was willing to bend her values a bit.
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