~bellatrix~ (reboot)

Vixie's fox-like ears kept "sweeping" the area for unfamiliar sounds, or any sound that warranted attention. Her eyes moved towards the werewolf's direction...naturally, she was apprehensive of the werewolf...however, after a short time, she moved her gaze away from her direction, and closed her eyes- trying to concentrate more on anything that needed to be warned of to everyone else. By this time, it was easy for her to drown out the sound of everyone's voices to nothing more than a muffle.

Arisa walked towards Sean and the werewolf. She tilted her head slightly, as she asked: "Are you okay?" - to the werewolf. "I mean...you're not cold or anything?" She corrected herself, not sure how to ask a werewolf if she wanted anything new to wear.

 

I smile back at Jeru. I've gotta say, the kid definitely has spirit. Maybe working for him wouldn't be so bad, after all.
"Tell you what, kid. If you can pull all of that off and rule your own kingdom that's just, fair and kind to the people, I'd be glad to call myself your ambassador any day."
I chuckle a little and give him a wry grin.
"Just don't expect me to do anything weird like kissing your ring or licking your boots. A pirate's gotta hold onto his pride, after all!"

Mordred looked at Trinity's still fully-clothed figured and gave a slight nod.
"It would appear so. Very good, this will certainly make a lot a things easier for us. Such as your training, for example. I have been meaning to teach you some basic hand-to-hand combat techniques for quite a while--"
He stopped suddenly, hearing a faint noise somewhere in the distance. It sounded like...
"...Whistling?"
He muttered under his breath, looking around to see if he could tell which direction it was coming from. He then looked to Trinity again.
"Do you hear the faint sound of whistling in the distance? If I were to venture a guess, it might be coming from another prisoner. Listen carefully, you may be able to hear it more easily than I can."

 

The newcomer was silent for a few moments, gently nodding and faintly smiling, before his face dropped and he shook his head.
"Umm...no. The only thing I understood was that I'm in someone's head. Fascinating. Proves the theory that individuals do in fact have pocket dimensions within there own minds! I can't wait to tell the others of this discovery! If of course I can figure out where they are..."
He began mumbling unintelligible things for a few moments, seemingly, and rather ironically, lost in his own world, before he remembered he was talking to someone.
"Ah!" he exclaimed, upon the realisation. "Terribly sorry! Been doing that a lot recently. You see, I'm currently suffering from a dimensional crisis. It's like an existential crisis, except it is less about if I exist and more about if I'm in the right dimension. Although saying that, I am in someone's head, so I could be the figment of their imaginat..."
He cut himself short and slumped to the ground.
"and there's the existential crisis."

 

Breakign her glare at Hexy, the werewolf turned towards Arisa and was instantly bright and bubbly.
"Oh no, I'm okay," she said happily. "This is just fine. See, it's a cape!"
She put her arms underneath the tattered sheet and lifted it up making whoosh sounds and revealing her nudity in the process..

 

"We should, and we will. Be prepared for anything at a moment's notice."
Mordred took point and led them in the direction Trinity pointed out. They followed a branching pathway in the direction of the intermittent whistling and soon found themselves in another corridor lined with cells. Since this was one of the outlying corridors in the area, only one of the cells was occupied at the moment. Mordred took a closer look as he approached the dimly-lit cell and saw a young man with silver hair casually leaned against the wall of his cell, whistling to pass the time. The man stopped as soon as he noticed the two and turned to face them.

"Let's see here...no pointy ears, you two must be the cavalry. And here I was starting to think I'd never see a human face again! Much obliged, the name's Leif."

Name: Leif Gulbrand
Age: 17
Sex: Male
Weapons: Mythril Rapier
Class: Wanderer
Appearance: Fairly tall with long silver hair and pale blue eyes; wears mythril armor underneath an ornate cloak.
Ability: Magic (Ice Element) -- Wields high-level Ice magic that can be used in various ways such as freezing the opponent, launching projectiles made of ice or creating an ice clone of himself. Also useful for quickly chilling drinks.

Leif pushed himself off of the wall and stretched out his muscles as he let out a yawn.
"I've gotta say, elven hospitality leaves a lot to be desired. The food's bad, the bed's stiff and they always give me dirty looks every time they walk past my cell. I still haven't figured out if they do that to all of their guests or just the ones that freeze their scouts solid. Ah well, doesn't matter. More importantly, might I ask your names?"
Despite his time in prison, his confident grin was as charismatic as always.

"Mordred. And this is Trinity."
Mordred replied dryly, clearly uninterested in any further discussion.
"The lock on your door seems quite durable. Give me a moment to break the door down."

"Don't worry, I've got it."
Leif stepped forward and pulled out a lockpick he hid away for just such an occasion. After just a few moments with it, the lock fell off and the door to his cell slowly swung open.
"Now I'm really glad I picked up on this stuff. You never know when it's gonna come in handy, am I right?"
"Does that mean...you could have opened the door at any time?"
Leif chuckled.
"Yeah. And then done what, exactly? I'm pretty good with a blade if I do say so myself, but facing down a whole army? Not really my thing."
"So you waited for a more opportune time. Yes, that would be the wiser course of action."
"What can I say? If there's one thing I'm good at, it's getting myself out of the trouble I get myself into."

Leif then looked over to Trinity.
"Trinity, right? Nice to meet you."
He gave a slight bow.
"And it looks like you're a shapeshifter, if I'm not mistaken. Huh. It's been a quite while since I've seen a catgirl, who would've thought I'd run into one down here?"
He looked up slightly and clicked his tongue.
"Nice ears. It's a good look on you."

 

OOT: Going to see if I can speed things along on this floor.

Martyris, despite being taken aback (and considering he was a god, that was very difficult for him) patted the lost traveller on the back – metaphysically speaking as neither had any physical presence in the world currently.
“Believe me, my friend. You are no figment of any imagination save that of beings far beyond even the both of us. If you want, I can show you the way back to the physical plane, though between you and me you are a lot safer where you currently are.”

Hexy reached into her magical bag awkwardly and got out some very slim bands of cotton – not really much, but enough to cover the girl’s modesty. She muttered a few things and they appeared around the naked body. “Look,” she said apologetically, “I know it might seem like we got off on the wrong foot. But in my defence, you were lying on top of MY BOYFRIEND.” She emphasised the last two words. “I’m sorry if I came off as mean to you.” She held out her hand to shake. “I’m Hexy. What’s your name?” Even Fweep bowed a little bit, looking chastised.

Jeru huffed. “You wouldn’t be fit to serve under me if I made you do that and you didn’t thrash me for it!” He bopped Leon on the head in reproach. “Never forsake your pride!”
The other pirates let out a cheer, and Jeru blushed – even more so when Luceforvis leaned on Leon’s shoulder, swept off his hat and ruffled the kid’s hair.
“So, big strong Pirate King... you gonna have room for a Pirate Queen in this little fleet?” She batted her eyelashes. “I know a good candidate...” She jerked her thumb at Leon. “And if not, I’ll have his job.”

A noise sounded behind Leif, Mordred and Trinity – a low, grunting bellow that seemed to shake the eardrums. Everyone in the main group heard it, and all of Savvie’s group turned their weapons towards the sound. The captain pulled his cutlass. Tyrcestus turned to check his people were alright, only to find that Mordred and Trinity had gone.
“Jeru!” Savvie’s voice brooked no arguing and Jeru scuttled down off Leon’s shoulder. “Stay with Lucy!”
The pirate lady pulled Jeru close to her. “If I go down,” she whispered to Leon, “you guard this boy with your last breaths or I swear on the skull-and-bones I’ll spend eternity in the black deep throttling your soul!”

Vizard and Gizzard moved next to Arisa, the werewolf girl, Sean and Zerron. Stake had not left Vixie’s side and physically interposed himself between her and the sound, clearly in a protective stance. Brisk was a statue with an arrow drawn, aimed unerringly at the passage from which the sound had come. Hailbird was ready, sword raised and shield braced. Briarle turned from Tyrcestus and clasped her hands together, as if in prayer. Her eyes were wide and fearful, but she stood her ground.

The sound got closer, and distant snuffling and keening could be heard, in large amounts. Occasionally throaty whoops and yells split the air.

“Oh good,” Hexy said despairingly. “They have troll mounts down here.”

Tyrcestus had already started running towards the passage it was coming from. “TRINITY! MORDRED!” Savvie yanked him back. “No sense getting flattened, boy,” he muttered. “EVERYONE GROUP UP, BE READY FOR BATTLE!”

 

The flames on the tip of Vixie's tail seemed to 'roll' down towards her priestess robes. When Stake stood in front of her, the flames stopped and returned to the tip of her tail.

Arisa rushed towards Vixie and handed her a bow and a quiver of arrows. "Here." She spoke softly.

Vixie took the bow and arrows, her ears fixed in the direction of the loud noise.
"Stay close." Vixie spoke firmly.

 

"Okay..." she said in reply to Hexy, somewhat confused. The cotton bands wrapped around her chest and groin, covering her private parts. When the witch held out her hand in apology the wolf took it and faltered.

"Our... name?" She tilted her head to one side.

"I don't know it."
"You were supposed to remember!"
"I was?"

She sighed in irritation and tugged at an ear.

"Our name.... Our. Name.... It was..."

The sounds of an approaching force interrupted her contemplation. A look of fear crossed over her face.

"They're coming back," the two voices said in unison.
The werewolf without a name darted back into the corner of her cell and cowered there.

 

"I did," whispered Mordred as he drew Apocrypha. "We need to leave. Now."
With that, he started to make his way back to the rest of the group but stopped when he realized Leif wasn't following them. He gave the man a stern look, his eyes telling Leif to move quickly.

Leif motioned for the two to keep going without him.
"Don't worry about me, I'll keep up. Just need to grab a few things first."

Mordred looked to Trinity.
"We have no time for this. We must leave with or without him."
Although he spoke calmly, his harsh tone held a sense of urgency, showing how he fully realized just how dangerous the situation was. He took Trinity and made his way back to the rest of the group.

Leif's right hand began to take on a pale blue glow, a sign that he was summoning his power.
"This should buy me enough time...probably...hopefully."
A vicious roar echoed throughout the cavern, louder and closer than before.
"...Maybe."
He slammed his hand into the ground and a massive wall of ice sprung up from the floor, completely blocking off the only other entrance to the corridor. Once that was done, he wasted no time crawling under a table to pull out a locked wooden crate that held his belongings. He took out his lockpick and went to work, trying to open it carefully but quickly. A shiver crawled up his spine as he heard footsteps approaching from some distance away. He almost had it open now. He was breathing heavily and a bead of sweat formed on his forehead as he heard the footsteps come closer and closer.
"There it is!"
He opened the chest and inside were his sword, his armor, his robes and the rest of his belongings. He threw them on as quickly as he possibly could. Just as he was feeling quite pleased to have all of his things back, another roar echoed through the cavern.
"And now it's time to go."
He ran as fast as he legs could take him, going in the same direction that he saw Mordred and Trinity leave from just a few moments ago.

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

Mordred and Trinity soon arrived in a familiar room and saw the main part of the group with their weapons ready. They slowed down from the full-tilt sprint they were in and walked up to the group, with Mordred occasionally glancing back to see if Leif really had kept up with them. A little while later, he vaguely saw a figure dashing towards them at quite an impressive speed. No doubt because he was running for his life.
"So he made it, after all."

Leif came to a full stop right in front of Mordred and Trinity, breathing heavily as he leaned over with his hands on his knees.
"They're coming...they...were right...behind me."
He somehow managed to get this out between breaths.

"Huh?"
That third person who came with Mordred and Trinity...sounded kinda familiar. I take a closer look.
"...No way. It couldn't be, right?"
I mutter under my breath, but a loud roar soon snaps me out of it, reminding me that we've got more important things to think about right now. I draw my cutlass. Whatever that noise was, I get the feeling we're in for a tough fight.

 

He looked up at Martyris, a forlorn look on his face.
"How do you know that I exist? Or that you exist? That's why it's an existential crisis. There is no rational argument or evidence to prove that you exist. You can't use something the imaginator knows, because they know that, so you'd know that. Conversely, you can't use something only you know, because the imaginator could have just made it up."
He stopped talking for a few moments, tapping a metaphysical finger against his chin.
"However, there is always the 'I think, therefore I am' argument, which boils down to the idea that there doesn't need to be proof that you exist, so long as you think you do."
He then popped to his metaphysical feet, with a metaphysical grin on his face.
"Excellent! Glad we sorted that out. Didn't exist for a moment there. Right, so then. What do you mean safer in here?"

 

They rode in with all the grace and subtlety of earthquakes – enormous trolls, easily bigger than the ones encountered previously, astride monstrous boars that grunted and snuffled, lean and hungry, eager for the feast.
The group immediately closed up into a defensive huddle, pirates intermingling with the main group in various rings. Savvie’s voice called out to reassure them all.
“Aim for the delicate parts. That will slow them down. Once they start growing, be prepared to fight or die. If one of them grabs you, make sure you stick your blade in his craw – don’t let them best you!”
Tyrcestus looked torn, but Savvie gripped his shoulder. “These creatures are ravenous and mad,” he said firmly. “The only course of action we can do is put ‘em outta their misery.”
Martyris pointed a metaphysical finger outside through Tyrcestus's eyes.. "That's why."

 

'Fight?' The werewolf whimpered to herself quietly. 'There is no fighting. Only suffering. Only. Suffering!' She hugged her knees tighter to her chest, her entire body rigid with fear. The pale moonlight stung her flesh and caused her head to ache. The binding marks on her skin burned as they kept her transformation in check. The agony went unnoticed as her fear was too great.

 

Leif ran up to the group and stood next to Leon, his sword at the ready and his eyes fixed on the cavern that the trolls would soon be coming from. He diverted his eyes towards Leon for just a brief moment.
"Hah...what are the odds? Looks like we'll have a lot of catching up to do."
He kept these to himself and focused on the incoming trolls once again.
"A group of unusually large and insane trolls...hmm. I've lived through worse."
A faint chilling wind swirled around him as he prepared for battle.

I still can't shake the feeling that I know this guy, but that'll have to wait for later. It's time for a morale boost so I call out to the troops!
"No matter how big, mean or ugly these things are, just remember that they can bleed like anything else! It's time to prove your mettle. Let's give this fight everything we've got and celebrate our hard-earned victory together as a crew!"
I'm gonna need something pretty big for this fight. I focus energy into my hands and create a fine-looking greatsword. This should be enough to get through that tough skin of theirs!

Mordred's intense concentration was interrupted when Trinity bumped into him, and he turned to face her.
"Stay behind me. If we become separated, move behind the main group to safety."
He wished they had more time for combat practice, but as Trinity was now she would only get in the way on a battlefield. It would certainly be difficult to fight at full strength while trying to protect her, but he could see no other solution at the moment.

 

The trolls halloed, and charged as one, slavering madly, their mounts bellowing deranged snorts.

“Well... shi-“

A colossal club hit Tyrcestus full on, and he would have been pulverised instantly had the Wingmender’s shield not sprung into being around him automatically. The club splintered, but Tyrcestus was still launched off his feet, spiralling up into a huge pile of cages that tumbled all around him, obscuring him from sight.

The healer was down.

Vizard and Gizzard both provided distractions. “Distractions” meaning they both picked up lumps of dirt off the ground and hurling it full-on at their enemies in the forlorn hope it hit sometroll in the eyes.

Hexy leapt astride Fweep and she buzzed around one of their heads, hurling fireballs, thunderbolts, spheres of dark magic – a patchwork of spells. Fweep expertly dodged every swing and grab, but it was clear she needed some backup.

The captain and the pirates as one let out a slightly panicked roar and charged right back, employing a tactic that would later become known throughout all the legends as the Leon’s Lad’s Lancing Leap, which sounded very dramatic but in actuality was simply jumping at your foe with your weapon pointed in their direction.

In the melee, a troll charged at Vixie and raised his club with the clear intent to squish. Stake promptly reached up and caught the weapon as it descended, before using its other hand to punch the charging boar mount so hard in the face that its skull disappeared into bloody chunks. “Are you alright?” it asked Vixie calmly.

Hailbird had encountered two trolls who had penned him into a corner, but to their bewilderment he seemed very eager. They tried to crush him – and he had lopped their hands off before they could react. Then one fell dead, Brisk’s arrow in the back of his brain.

Savvie and Luceforvis were side by side, grimly battling four boar mounts. It looked like it could go either way, until Briarle reached into the ground as though she’d dropped a coin and huge thick vines tore through the stone and snared the boars up. They were dispatched, but the rest of the trolls looked thick to overwhelm them.

“Ow...” Tyrcestus got up, to find a troll mount staring him in the face.
“YOWZA!”
His arm glowed red and punched of seemingly its own accord and the boar was catapulted across the floor.
“What the-?”
You’re welcome.

 

Vixie nodded her head once. "I'm fine, thank you." She spoke softly, as she drew an arrow from her quiver and fired it into the eye of an approaching troll.

 

With a mighty battle cry that echoes through the cave, I charge right towards the front lines! That should get their attention. Sure enough, I'm staring down a group riders. Actually...there's more of them than I'd expected. Maybe that wasn't such a great idea, but I don't even have time to regret my decision as they start charging towards me in a fury! I focus on the one that's closest to me and point my blade towards it.

He's getting close. Real close. Time seems to slow down as I carefully prepare myself to strike at the perfect moment.
Three...
Two...
One!

I quickly dodge to the right and...bring my sword down on the mount's head! My blade cuts clean through it. I turn towards two more riders who are almost in striking range and reach my other hand towards them. Right at the last second, just like I was hoping, a small wall of swords appear in front of me and launch towards the trolls, knocking them off their mounts and throwing their former mounts into an aimless charge behind me. Perfect. But it looks like there are more coming. This is gonna be crazy, but I'm going for it. I charge right towards the closest rider and...jump into the air, landing right in front of his face on his own mount! I give him a cheeky smile before summoning a knife in my left hand and quickly stabbing him in the gut, making him keel over. I turn around and take control of my new steed.

Now things are gonna get interesting! We're getting a little too far away from everyone, so I make a hard right and plunge my greatsword into the ground next to me to help us turn around quickly. Then I summon a shortsword in each hand and start going to work on the other riders!


Leif narrowed his eyes at the two riders who were quickly approaching him with a slight smile on his face but also a look of deep concentration. He was almost disappoint that there weren't more for him to fight, but he knew to be careful what you wish for. The air around him grew colder by the second and the ground turned to frost as he prepared to put his ice powers to use. But even as the riders drew closer and closer, he remained perfectly still and looked almost serene as the riders were almost upon him. One of them was now getting ready to take a mighty swing. This was the chance he was waiting for.

In the blink of an eye, Leif quickly slid backwards on a path of ice, leaving an icy trail and a frozen decoy of himself in his wake. The rider, now in mid-swing, soon connected and shattered the ice statue into pieces...and then found himself completely frozen from his hand to every last part of his body. Leif's signature Frost Doppelganger technique worked like a charm. The other rider was approaching quickly, so Leif quickly put his left hand on the ground and summoned spikes of ice from underneath the rider to impale his mount. Then in one swift, graceful movement, he lunged forward and stabbed the troll right in his heart.

"Well, now. That wasn't so bad, was it?"
Muttering to himself with a slight shrug, he began to look around, checking to see who might need some help. The first thing that caught his eye was what looked like a witch flying around on a broom. An odd sight, to be sure, but more importantly she was being followed by a small group of trolls.
"Not a problem."
He run towards her, waiting for her to pass by his direction so he could lend a hand. The opportunity came quickly as she flew right past him, still casting spells and trying to avoid the trolls. As she flew by, he leapt between her and the three trolls, his rapier at the ready. He delivered two lightning-fast stabs to the first troll's mount, then jumped and stabbed the troll's head, quickly dispatching both. He stretched his left hand towards the second and a large group of ice spikes came out and impaled both troll and mount. He then took a quick jump backwards and prepared for the third duo, stabbing the mount in the head while grabbing the troll with his other hand and freezing him solid. When all three were taken care of, he breathed a sigh of relief and turned to see if the witch was alright.


True to his word, Mordred stood at the ready in front of Trinity, ready to fend off any attackers that came their way. As they were some distance from the most heated parts of the battle, things were going fairly slow for them. He could have made his way the front and torn through a good deal of the trolls by now, but for whatever reason, he absolutely refused to leave Trinity alone for even a moment. Was it because he had so little confidence in her ability to keep herself alive, or was there something more to it? Before he could ponder this, a rider approached them. Apocrypha brimmed with dark power, its aura reaching out beyond the blade to give it a much greater striking distance. In one mighty vertical swing, both troll and mount were cut in half as they were just about to attack. Left to his thoughts again, Mordred turned back towards Trinity. He almost wondered if he should say something...but he brushed the thought away and turned back, readying his sword again.
"...Stay vigilant. These trolls are moving quickly, they could strike from any direction."