Scene Listing || Scene Schedule || Scene Schedule RSS
Bramble Beatdown
(2012-11-11 - 2012-11-11)
No description.
Avira 0DAY THREE

Clouds have returned, enough to cover this forest in a permanent sort of gloom. Fortunately, they aren't the kind that carry rain. Unfortunately, it carries humidity instead. Even throughout the night, this thorn-filled forest was anything but quiet. Noise, both of the literal and Taboo kind filled this woods in great and seemingly inexhaustable numbers. The dangerous creatures had done quite a bit of damage to the local wildlife-and to a certain someone's psyche at this point.

But as morning hits, the sounds seem to die away, leaving an uneasy calm in the gloomy woods. The calm before the storm, perhaps.

Recently, a note was posted by a mysterious benefactor in Traverse Town. One calling for a "Player" (no explanation given) to go find a "person in need of help" (not named) to remove a "dark threat" (also not named). No contact information was given. So vague, it smacked of a trap. But on the other hand, who would pass up the opportunity to help a person in need? Skoll would have to work on his requests for help in the future to make them much more enticing.

The eerie silence of the forest could easily lead one to wonder if there was a person here in need of help at all. Only the occasional rustle of bushes and flash of a moving shadow here or there give any sort of clue that someone might be here.
Katyna Katyna arrives in the forest quite easily, using a portal to appear in a secluded area. Once the coast is clear, she pulls down the hood of her cloak and proceeds down one of the more main forest paths as she peers around for signs of human life.

Why was she here in the first place, coming to 'rescue' someone threatenned by 'darkness'? She couldn't really say. Certainly not for heroic reasons, for she was no hero. Perhaps moreso, she hoped that there would be a reward involved, or perhaps this dark threat might possess some power that she might find useful. A power that might benefit the heartless cause in some way.

Whatever the reason, here she is, peering around here and there, searching for whoever might be in trouble. But, my, how strange! It seems oddly calm in the morning when she arrives. Still, she does see signs of damage to the wildlife, which is indeed quite suspicious. But..Who caused this?

"Hellooo!? Anybody out there!?" she shouts, glancing around..
Riku Riku does not have a very good relationship with trees.

He tends to, in order, run into them, fall out of them, or get hit by people while in them. However. They are also very good places to hide because most people don't look up. When hiding, he usually only has to worry about point three. Point two only if in intersection with point three. Point one was right out.

Hood drawn over his face, Riku has the dark green cloak bundled around him. He hadn't been too bothered by the Noise. His thoughts were dark enough as it was and needed no manifestations to create any more turmoil than he could make for himself. He untied himself from the branches in which he had been resting (see above point two), leaning away from the trunk of the tree to a symphony of aches and pains that go a long way towards distracting him from his troubles.

Riku balances on the tree, looking from side to side as he scans the gloomy forest around him. In the distance he hears someone calling out, but for now he stays in the tree and simply waits.
Raiya Fujihara Raiya Fujihara gently tips her circular hat up so that she can get a better view of the lazy clouds overhead. Mmm. Overcast. Good enough. The ronin lowers her hat back down and begins to saunter off deeper into the woods. She arrived alone, but that was really par for the course for her. But she no longer seems to be such as she hears someone shouting from off in the distance. Raiya heads off towards the source of this voice, or atleast where she -thinks- the voice is coming from.

This might be a trap and walking towards random noises was often the surest way to find trouble. And yet, trouble would suit Raiya just perfectly. The woman's sheathed katana is kept at her side and she keeps one hand on the sheath as she navigates her way closer to where the voice came from...but she can't see anyone through all this gloom. Did she just get herself lost? "Tch." The samurai now gets silent as she waits for the voice again.
Avira No one seems to answer Katyna's call. Not at first at least. As she makes her way through the forest, there seems to be a small clearing up ahead filled with torn trees and branches. Easily another sign of the wildlife damage that had come to pass here. But upon coming closer to this clearing, Katyna will see an interesting sight: a group of sleeping wolves all curled up against the trunk of a fallen tree. Amongst the group, there looks to be a body, ragged and covered in dirt and old blood. Nearing even closer, Katyna might even notice that it belongs to a familiar face: Avira.

Suddenly, growling comes from the shadows, bushes rustling as a pair of wolves slink forth. Their growling quickly becomes very loud, the effect less to warn Katyna away, more to wake up the sleeping wolfpack behind them.

The "body" quickly rouses, "&#*#! What's going on?!"
Beat There's been talk of some kinda note left in some kinda town asking for some kinda people to help with some kinda problem. Thing is, Beat doesn't really care about that. He HAS heard this place was swimming with Noise just last night, though, and THAT he finds interesting.

Being a Reaper wasn't bad, just different. Beat was relieved Mr Hanekoma's suggestion of extending his quota by erasing Noise and smashing Heartless had worked. Erasing Players was definitely something he wasn't looking forward to trying.

Skating between trees and bouncing from rock to rock on his skateboard, Beat slows down as he spies people in the distance. How would they react to seeing a Reaper, he wonders? Probably not well... he takes a second to collect his thoughts.

Wait! They don't know he's technically a Reaper, right? Right! Beat kicks off his skateboard and launches himself towards the group, propelled faster by the sound of wolves in the distance. "Booyaka!" he yells, swooping around the waiting pair and placing himself between them and the wolves. "Bring it on!"
Katyna Katyna continues down the thick, woody path, using her sword to cut through the overgrown bramble whenever it gets too thick. Phew, what is this place? How very strange. She scratches her head, seeming to hear a noise behind her as if someone was following her..But then it grows silent again at the same time that Kat pauses.

"Huh? Is someone following me? Who's there?" Seem's she's not the kind to just sneak around. What does she had to be afraid of anyway?! She laughs, "Heh, is someone hiding out there? From me? I mean, c'mon, what are you afraid of?"

Still, it feeds her ego, knowing someone is afraid of her. Hahahaha!! Careful Kat..Dont get too carried away! The dark knight narrows her eyes, shaking her head as she continues on through the murky forest, til she comes to a large log upon which she spies the small group of wolves napping together..

Hmm, and what's this? Some sorta girl in ragged clothes? What happened to her and why is she sitting here amongst the wolves like one of their own? Kat pauses, still holding her sword at the ready, especially as the wolves stir and start to awaken one or the other. She's not afraid of them, nor is she concerned for the ragged figure. Moreso, she is curious..

How very interesting! A girl that managed to befriend wolves rather than be torn to bits! And then she stirs and speaks..Kat gasps, taking a step towards her. "Avira!? Is that you?" Woah...
Riku Riku watches the guy on the skateboard fly past him with a flickering moment of interest, standing up on the limb of the tree and putting a hand on the trunk to steady himself. More out of numb curiosity than anything he moves around carefully to the other side of the tree.

He tests the weight carefully as he looks from this tree to the next. Moving from tree to tree would be of great use right now, but he hasn't had enough practice. This would most likely end up in a violation of point two, so instead he slips out of the tree only getting caught on the branches twice before finding the ground.

He approaches the group and the clearing of activty obliquely, keeping behind the trees and out of direct line of sight as he approaches. This causes him all sorts of problems, as briar is not the best stuff to try and sneak through. Curse you, anti-stealth forest.
Raiya Fujihara Patience can sometimes be a virtue and Raiya's waiting allows her to hear quite a commotion going on up ahead. Was it the sounds of a possible battle? The samurai breaks into a light jog as she attempts to close the distance without making too much noise as to reveal her presence prematurely. Her natural agility causes her to mostly avoid getting caught up on the local flora, but here and there a wayward branch or some jaggers tear at her kimono as she moves past.

Aha. A clearing! The wandering roning increases her speed now and charges straight out in order to catch her....enemy....Avira?! What was she doing here? Raiya then makes a few snap observations. Avira is surrounded by wolves, her clothes look raggedly and torn, and Avira herself looks like she has seen better days. Sleeping in the middle of a forest will do that.

*shing*

With a quick flourish, Raiya draws out her katana two-handed and settles back into a fighting stance with the wolves in her sights. Eh. Is that Katyna? And some strange man with a weird wheeled board of wood? Just what is going on here? "Run towards me, I can protect you from those beasts." The swordswoman states grimly as she keeps her ground and distance from the wolves, her katana still held at the ready.
Avira Beat certainly gets his wish. The two wolves, which had been guarding the sleeping pack all night, lunge after the young man that has just showed up. To make matters worse, they each attack from different sides, as they would do any prey animal they've chased down.

As Avira stands, the rest of the group quickly becomes agitated and aggressive at the "intruders." It doesn't matter that they aren't the Noise that has been wreaking havoc on the forest recently. They're wolves! They are angry! And they are many. "Katyna, don't!" Seems Avira still does remember the girl. "Stop!" that one doesn't seem to be directed at either Katyna, Beat, OR Raiya. Is she trying to talk to the wolves? It doesn't seem to be working, especially when it comes to going after Beat there.

"It's not what you think!" Avira tries to explain to Raiya, her eyes wide now that she sees the samurai has drawn her weapon. Despite her protests, the rest of the pack come at them, though again, they don't all charge at once like little kids at a soccer game. They surround and harry, making fast strikes when they think they can get an opening in.

Avira pushes past the circling creatures, managing to intercept one leaping up for Raiya by allowing its jaws to close down on her left forearm. "They're with me!!!" she tries to explain, her voice now heavy with pain, "Put away your weapons!!"
Beat Beat squints sidelong at Raiya. He'd heard from Mr H that people around these parts try to pull off some weird threads but this is really pushing it! "The name's Beat," he says with a small nod. "And I'm here to erase some--!"

The wolves then jump, which understandably cuts his sentence short. Mid-leap Beat realizes they're not wolves, which is dissapointing, but at the same time holycrapthey'rewolves!

The thing is when Beat is mid-thought it's hard to interrupt until that thought completes. When that thought is, oh jeez, these things are real wolves, I'mma gonna hit them with my skateboard it's probably impossible. "Batter up!" he yells, his attention dropping from the one Avira interrupts and straight to the one still causing a problem. His Shockwave psych flares into life, the board getting charged with silvery energy to power the strike.
Katyna Hmm...Something about this scene strikes Kat as odd. Certainly, those wolves are not attacking Avira. Why..They seem to be trying to protect her! However, that wont stop Kat from trying to defend herself! She doesn't rush at the wolves, but she does stand her ground, swinging her sword at any who get too close.

"Are these are your friends, Avira? Dont you have any control over them? Call 'em down or else I'll have to defend myself, sorry!" She then spies some guy she doesnt know who goes skating through the forest like some sorta park. Rather than call out a warning to him, she grins. "Wow, cool..I gotta get me one of those!"

Then Raiya makes herself visible, and Kat arches a brow, recognizing her from a few scant meetings in the past. "Heey..Raiya wasnt it?" she chuckles, shaking her head, "Dont worry about me, I'll be fine. Avira, however..Well, looks like these wolves are her friends. But..I wonder how much control she has over this pack?" Hmmm..Should be interesting! Still she makes no move to defend the others or to attack the wolves. She is simply keeping them away from her. For now..
Riku Even an Anti-stealth forest cannot balk you when others are being so loud that it shields your movements and occasional grumbled curse.

He hears Avira's name and is a little confused by the whole arrangement with the wolves, but no more so than any other strange thing he's seen. So he lets it all play out up until the point Beat's board powers up with silvery energy. He reaches down to casually scoop a large branch from the floor.

He hefts it carefully, eyes Beat and throws the branch straight at their head as they make a diving pass.
Raiya Fujihara If Raiya had been to Shibuya she juuuuust might have just fit in perfectly depending on the week. Or she would have really stood out among all the gothic fashionistas. But Raiya has never been there or 'Japan'. She is a samurai from Wutai which is -totally different-.

Avira's urging that she stop opposing such creatures is nearly akin to her staying her blade against Heartless. Wolves would not show her the same mercy, but there is some hesitation to the samurai's movements as she remains on the defensive. Her katana moves from an upstance to a downstance as she crouches slightly in anticipation of the leap. The coiled ronin is ready to strike when Avira intercedes inbetween her and the advancing wolf. Avira's renewed plea causes a look of confusion to settle over Raiya's features. Put away her weapon? The samurai cannot comply as she does not trust these wolves as much as Avira does. The kimono wearing woman does cast some sideglances towards her companions to see what this 'Beat' and Katyna are doing. She might have to run to either of their aid if they lower their own interpretations of weapons. "Call off these beasts or I, too, will defend myself and the others here if need be."

Raiya is a little preoccupied with the wolves to notice the stealthy Beat-seeking branch being thrown.
Avira "C'mon, let go-" Avira grunts, lowering her savaged arm. The wolf attached to it pulls back for a moment before letting his jaws drop open. It backs off shortly afterwards, looking confused. "I'm trying to, damn it, this is the first time we've been together around other people!" Other people in this forest...only now does that strike her as weird. Did they notice she was missing and come looking for her? No, that couldn't be it. She wouldn't call herself a good friend of Katnya and she definitely wasn't a good friend of Raiya. That Beat kid she didn't even KNOW. What was going on here? Skoll's doing maybe?

Now she's rushing after the pair eagerly attacking Beat. The kid does manage to slap one away with his psych-powered skateboard, which drops to the ground almost comically with a yelp. That other one, though, is all about ready to put its full body weight against Beat and knock him down. It's definitely a possibility-he's more than large enough than some teenaged kid! Avira's trying to leap on top of him but even the woman loses in this contest of body weight and winds up...clinging to the wolf.

"0STOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOP!!!!!!" she screams in a surprisingly loud voice for someone so tiny. A large flock of birds flee the nearby trees shortly afterwards.

The pack ceases movement, some tilting their heads in confusion, others looking in askance to the biggest wolf here. The very wolf that Avira is clinging too right now.

Elsewhere in the forest, Grunge Wolves and Walls of Grizzly look to the skies, then move for the source of yelling.

The big wolf fully removes himself from anywhere near Beat's person and Avira slides off, holding her wounded forearm. "...that shouldn't have happened." Avira says quietly, a hard and distant look in her eyes, "What brings all of you here? This forest is dangerous."
Beat Beat draws his skateboard back, waits and... stops. He exhales, more than a little relieved, but takes a few steps away from the wolf anyway because... well... it's a wolf. "That's why I'm here yo!" he says, arm falling to his side. "I heard this place was crawling with Noise, and erasing Noise is what I do."

Beat adjusts his clothes, then gives Avira a slow nod of greeting and a curious look. "Like I said, my name's Bea--" THUNK! Suddenly, branch!

"Hey!" Beat yells, suddenly defensive again, eyes darting around the place suspiciously. "Who was that, yo?! You can't just go throwing branches outta nowhere you know! Come out and get ready to be dunked!"
Katyna Kat blinks slowly as she watches Avira's strange movements and actions..Why if she didnt know better, she'd have thought that the girl was born and raised by wolves! What on earth had come over her?

Of course, Katyna doesn't really know Avira that well, although after this incident, she'll certainly be keeping a closer watch on this rather..Interesting girl, in the future.

Still, she does lower her sword, watching the interaction between Avira and the wolves with increasing interest. It's only when she asks about why they're all here that she responds.

"Ohh? Well it seems that someone sent out a message, asking for someone to help find and rescue you from some..Dark threat?" She scratches her head, and shrugs, "Sorry, it was pretty vague. No idea who sent it, but.." Well, she was hoping there would be a reward. Not that she can tell that to this girl. "Heh, you okay, Avira? What happened here?"
Riku Riku keeps the hood over his face, his voice quiet as he reveals himself by speaking. He's actually not too far away from the group, now leaning against a tree as he looks between everyone here. "You can certainly try, if you wish." he snorts faintly as he glances towards Beat.

"For the little good it will do you. Hello Avira. It's good to see that you are well." he says this in such a dry tone that it involves bleeding forearm, wolves, spooky forest and everything as the subtext to the statement.
Raiya Fujihara Avira's antics would have been almost comical if she wasn't trying to stop wolves that outweigh nearly everyone present by an easy margin. When hostilities seem to boil down thanks to Avira pleading with the lead wolf, Raiya begrudgingly sheathes her katana. Her left hand returns to her side, but her right hand remains on the sheath. This allows her to quickly draw her weapon if need be. Her encounters with Avira so far have been rocky and she did not trust her when it came to her life. These were wolves afterall.

Thankfully some levity to the siutation is caused by Riku's thrown branch which whomps Beat on the side of the head. A lucky throw. When Riku reveals himself, Raiya immediately turns in their direction. Her katana remains sheathed as this person is not outwardly hostile towards anyone present. Actually, they are being quite cordial despite the current situation.

Katyna's explanation is quite satisfactory and she receives a nod of confirmation from Raiya. That is why she came to this place. Not that a ronin really needs a -reason- to be off wandering somewhere of course. "This seems to be a reccuring theme; the rescue of those who need not such assistance." While her katana is sheathed, Raiya still appears visibly tense because of this little stand-off.
Avira "It is crawling with Noise." Avira mutters angrily, "No thanks to-wait!" Her eyes pop open and she looks over at Beat. "You-" Then suddenly, she's on her feet and darting over to the kid, her eyes wild with desperation. "Are you a Player?! Sho said there's no way I'm gonna beat all of it without a Pact! ...unless he's lying to me but oh man..."

Avira turns away and places a hand on her arm. A faint blue glow covers it and settles into her skin. Ever so slowly, the teethmarks from the bite begin to shrink. "Someone sent out a message, then?" Skoll...was he doubting her ability to survive? There was no question she needed help now that Sho had viciously complicated the matter. Still...it was demoralizing to think. She wanted to impress her teacher. "Riku! You're...here too." There's suddenly wariness in her tone. She hadn't forgotten how they parted ways the last time they met and realizes she was still a bit unsettled by the kid.

"Okay so here's the deal." Avira looks up at the now gathered group. "I've been out here training and that Reaper called Sho Minamoto showed up and filled this forest with his Noise. There's too much of it-I mean, I have a hard enough time fighting just one of these things." Avira grits her teeth, "And seems no matter how many we kill, there's still more." She jerks a thumb over her shoulder into the forest, "I think there's this spot on a rock face where they keep spawning from. Whenever I go back in that direction, the Noise gets even more numerous and aggressive. I saw that Reaper desicrating the rocks with graffiti before the Noise came so I think it's connected."

Avira looks down, "Look, I'm sorry about the wolves. I honestly had no idea anyone else was gonna come help me..." she looks up to Raiya in particular, "...you especially." Avira turns away muttering something along the lines of 'probably because they didn't know who they were helping.' "So if you guys are serious about this, follow me."
Beat Beat frowns at Riku, his eyes thinning. "Next time," he says, figuring the silver haired guy probably didn't realize who he was messing with the first time. The snort is tactically ignored.

Tapping into his abilities as a Reaper, Beat senses a straggling group of Noise away from the group. He gives Riku a glance while listening to Avira's explanation. He's got an uneasy feeling about this, so decides that erasing them with his own Reaper Pins is better than sticking with them. Plus if he did that he'd have to form a pact, and that doesn't look like it's going to happen.

"Me? A Player? Yeah," he says. "But I a'int got time for a Pact right now, I'm sorry. I got Noise to erase!" With that he skates off sharpish!
Katyna Kat arches a brow at the cloaked figure, having no idea who he is, or at least she doesn't recognize the voice from their brief meeting before..She is grateful when he stops the other guy from continuing to attack the wolves though, and she gives him abrief nod before looking back at Avira, curiously.

"Noise, huh? This isnt the first time I've heard that expression. What exactly *is* noise? Is it like the heartless or something?" Still, whatever it is, it's piqued her curiousity and she grins, "Heh, never realized you were such a trouble magnet Avira, but this sounds like fun..Count me in!"

She pauses though, glancing at the wolves, then back at her. "erm, what about the wolves, they're helping you too? How did you ever manage to gain their trust anyways?" It sure had gained some measure of respect from Kat though!
Riku Riku doesn't look tense at all, or even all that concerned about wolves or people both. He looks at the shielding creatures and the leader whom Avira pulled away with the same numbed and fatalistic expression as he looks at Avira or Raiya.

He doesn't know many of the people in this crowd, even the ones who he has accosted with sticks. Riku chuckles faintly, although the expression has very little to do with humor. He draws the cloak around him, carefully extracting himself from the briar patch he had gotten partly entangled with rather than cutting his way through it.

This takes longer than perhaps is strictly dignified but after breaking away from the tangle he can approach the group without further difficulty. "Noise are.." he translates this back into his head, and then back again. Sadly, this game of telephone leaves him with the equivalent explaination of 'Rancid fish stole my car' -- so he goes with the short answer. One of the ones that doesn't make his head hurt.

"Yes. They are like the heartless." he pauses, looking over his shoulder as a distant blaring, clashing song reverberates around the inside of his head, gaining in volume. "..And they are right behind us, so unless we want to get swarmed perhaps we could think about talking while we move."
Raiya Fujihara "That is twice now," remarks Raiya while making a 'V' with two outstretched fingers on her left hand. She accompanies this jibe with a demure smile towards Avira. Okay, maybe this time should not really count, but rushing to her aid in the middle of the desert fortress probably did.

Before the samurai can even get a close look at Beat, he 'skates' off. How is even able to operate that wheeled board of his on this terrain? What even was that in which he rode upon? All these questions are unanswerable now that Beat is gone. But, one question does remain and it seems Katyna shares this query with Raiya. "Yes. Please tell us what foul manner of..." A glance is afforded towards the wolves now. "....beast is this 'Noise'?"

And it is this mysterious remaining stranger who provides the answer. Noise are like Heartless? That makes things considerably easier. Once more, a grim look appears on Raiya's face. "Let us slay these Heartless. We shall be doing this place and its people a great favor in doing do."
Avira "Wait! No! Don't go! Please!" Avira calls after Beat with just the smallest hint of desperation in her voice. Sure, she's surrounded by wolf-friends but there is still the overwhelming feeling that she's in over her head right now. It's too late though, he skates off into the forest to do his own thing. Avira's shoulders sink.

"Ugh." She looks back to Katyna, "They seem kind of like Heartless...in that they're vicious killing machines. Noise is a whole lot more colorful though. You'll see." Avira lets out a nervous laugh when she's called a trouble magnet, "Guess so...but no pain, no gain, right? Yeah, they're helping me. Basically we came to an...understanding of each other." It's hard for her to put it into words. After helping them, something just sort of clicked. Like they'd sensed something inside of each other? Nah, that'd be stupid.

Avira looks over to Raiya, frowning a little. The Samurai was keeping score? How...how embarassing. Clearly she'll have to return the favor in the future to stop this nonsense. "...does this really count if you didn't know it was me?" Avira questions slyly. She would continue, but Riku brings something very important to their attention. Behind them?

Sure enough, there are Noise out there, though it's still a few seconds before the people here actually hear the crashing through the trees and the wild snarls of something large. Dark-furred creatures come barrling into view, resembling bears. Their arms are odd-skeletal-looking but misshapen to not resemble actual anatomy.

Avira doesn't even say anything at this point, slapping her palms together and spreading ice magic between them. Her hands are drawn back as if she was pulling an arrow of an invisible bow and her ice magic seems to quickly fill in the roll of the arrow. The projectile is fired into the woods and a cluster of ice crystals explodes in the face of one of the Noise.

"Running is good! These ones are really bad!"
Katyna "Like the heartless, eh?" Kat arches a brow, frowning a bit as she ponders this. So..Noise could be a threat to the heartless too. Well she wasnt exactly protective of the heartless, or anyone within it, save Morgan. But, this noise, if it's stronger, might just pique her curiosity. She grins "Sounds fun, let's check it out!"

Then Riku steps out , removing his cloak and she arches a brow. "Heey...Have we met before?" Hmm, he does look familiar from a run-in in the desert if she recalls correctly. Although the meeting was brief. She's interrupted then as something dark rushes through the woods and she waves her sword, ablaze in flames.

"Heh, like I'm gonna run away! Bring it on!"
Riku "Yes. Let's go slay the monsters." Riku says this to himself quietly, eying Raiya for a few moments before starting to make his way through the forest as Avira directs. Actually, this takes the form of a full out run as the rising crescendo of music resolves into some seriously bad vibes. "Sho." Riku grumbles under his breath, making the name a curse as he picks his way over the terrain.

He takes up the rear of the group, and there abruptly is a sword in his hand as he tries to keep an eye on the group as he moves forwards. One second and then the next? Sword. This sort of rear guard action doesn't really work when people STOP and turn to face the oncoming hoarde of Noise.

"Hey!" he yells back over his shoulder. "..damnit." and she's gone. He throws the hood back, tooking to Avira for what they are supposed to do now. They can't fight every Noise in the entire woods.
Raiya Fujihara There is really no reason for Raiya and Avira to not get along. They just need to avoid talking about politics like many people do in everyday practice anyways. Hopefully this 'jovial' banter will be like extending a peace offering. Now, does it count that Raiya didn't know who it was exactly? Of course it does. "Fate has seen it fit that we cross paths in such a way twice now. I would be a fool not to count it." A pause. "Then again, I could always walk away if my assistance is not welcome." Suddenly, bears appear everywhere. Oh my. "Or perhaps, I should accompany you a little longer. It seems quite dangerous to go alone." The samurai smirks now as she places her left hand ontop of the hilt of her katana.

Eh. And it seems that Kat is charging off to fight Noise bears. The samurai dips her head in a quick moment of remembrance for the young warrior. A noble if not foolish death. "I suggest we locate the source of these creatures before we are overwhelmed." That seemed to be the plan anyway and Raiya seems willing to follow through with it. As if there were any better courses of action to take anyways.
Avira "Reflex." Avira clarifies to Riku in an extremely non-apologetic manner. These past few days had made her even more paranoid and squirrly than before, should such a thing be possible. "Wait, what are you-!" Katyna runs right off at the bears. Funny thing is even the wolves aren't too thrilled about having to fight the three of them.

So when Avira runs, they go with her. Their tactics work better as ambush predators. When they're the ones getting ambushed...well... "Hope she has fun with that." Avira grumbles. Well, Katnya seemed strong. She could probably handle it, right?

Soon she's running alongside the samurai, continuing their banter that was so rudely interrupted by savage Noise-bears. "No." she says hastily when Raiya offers to up and leave, "No, stay...please." Avira's face turns red with embarassment. If Skoll saw this weakness...! But on the other hand, survival was at stake, and she would take living to see the next day over avoiding being identified for the weakling she really was. If worse comes to worse, she could try starting over again...right?

"This way." Avira calls out grimly, leading...extremely swiftly and almost completely silently. As if she's had an awful lot of practice running through the forest recently. She seems to be leading everyone to a spot away from the castle that becomes progressively more mountainous with large boulders jutting from the ground.
Riku Riku leaps over some low shrubbery, using a fallen tree across the path to vault over the patch of rough terrain. He nearly stumbles as the land just beyond the fallen tree dips down more than he expected and there's a twinge of pain every time that he puts his foot down after that.

Riku, obviously, has NOT had the benefits of experience in running through a forest. He is more than adequate at running, but everything that gets in the way of that conspires to trip him up or slow him down.

Riku finally gets tired of being caught on snags and balls up the cloak, ripping it away and throwing it to one side just as a patch of mud causes him to slide to a halt up against a rock, banging his knee into it.

Riku snarls at the jolt of pain, but more at the jolt of embarrassment and annoyance for looking stupid in a situation where they can't really afford to make mistakes. Riku puts his hands flat against the rock, pushing himself to his feet as the swelling crescendo of Noise is now a full on orchaestra of very bad things all heading in their direction.

"Run. Faster." is all the comment he makes to Avira. He doesn't seem to mind the paranoia or the wariness. Maybe he's even more comfortable in this situation because it's nobody he knows, and nobody who cares about him around to make things more complicated.
Raiya Fujihara One's life is full of memories. And sometimes you end up reliving one of them when you least expect it. The last time Raiya was running through the woods, exchanging banter, and escaping possible death was a lifetime ago. A different time when she went by a different name. And yet, here she was again.

The overgrown underbrush is quite an obstacle in some places, but Raiya wastes no time in using her sword to cleanly cut a path for them where needed. Thankfully, branches and leaves are no match for Wutai steel. Riku's issues with keeping up is noticed by the samurai. Perhaps this person is a city-dweller and not used to such travel. But there really is no time to ponder such things now.

The samurai keeps silent as she merely follows Avira's and Riku's advice of following them and running faster. Simple enough!
Avira Avira keeps looking over her shoulder, alerted every time by the noise the people with her make. It was actually pretty /strange/ to be so acutely aware of it. Thus she's also acutely aware of how much difficult Riku is having running through the forest with that cloak of his. It's almost a shame to see him throw it away like that but at the same time, speed was important.

She even pauses atop one of the large rocks in the area for them to catch up. She can see Raiya is fairing well, what with being able to easily cleave through the thorns that get in her way.

Riku's advice is well placed. Shortly afterwards, Avira's eyes rattle as she hears a noise in the air likely to be missed for those not tuned to it. "Get down!"

Out of the woods sail black spines, thick as a man's arm and sharp as swords. Fortunately, none of them hit Riku or Raiya, but they do embed themselves in the foliage. A second later, they explode, spraying shattered, splintered wood everywhere.

As if that wasn't enough incentive to move, at least a dozen pairs of red eyes can be seen running through the woods behind them. Avira spies this and pales, scrambling ahead. The terrain becomes even more unsteady and rocky at this point, culminating with a small cliff face jutting upwards into the air. Sure enough, there's some kind of elaborate graffiti scrawled on it. In the very center there is a skull-like insignia.
Riku Riku cries out in surprise as a quill lodges itself in a tree just as he passes it, but the blinding spray of splinters and wood is caught by his arms behind flung in front of his face. He stumbles a few steps, staggering up the hill.

He isn't particularly winded, but the bumps, knocks and scrapes he's picked up from running through the terrain are not helping much. "Alright." he breathes as they find the Symbol, every fiber of his being twitching with the cacophonous thump of psychic sound pounding at him as the Noise advance. "Now what?"
Raiya Fujihara Raiya was doing just fine with navigating until the trio are ambushed by the black spines. What manner of creature could be summoning these? One quill in particular looked like it would have been rather nasty if Raiya had not swung and used her katana to deflect it harmlessly away. These woods were dangerous indeed.

The discovery of the strange skull marking causes Raiya to turn towards Avira. "I defer this to you. Things of a magical nature are not my strength. Instead, I shall ensure nothing interrupts you without first pressing me." To make good on her promise, the ronin draws her katana out once more and keepts it tilted downwards at her side. She'll leave the next part to Avira and Riku as hacking at the symbol with her sword does not seem like the best course of action.
Avira As they arrive at the jutting rock face, all around them, wolves (the normal kind!) emerge from the forest to join them, having split briefly before the arrival. They seem to now form a perimiter around the area, even sidling up to Raiya as she makes her stand with their backs to the rock face. Their vigil is certainly needed, though, as those red eyes begin to reveal themselves. Noise comes in wolf variety too, commonly known as the Grunge Wolf as far as the Taboo type goes. They're slightly bigger than the wolves of the forest and, as one dashes at Raiya fast enough to blur, much speedier. Snarling erupts all around the cliff face as an outright melee breaks out.

Left to deal with the symbol, Avira pales a little. "Errr, right, I'll see what I can do." As far as knowing mystical in nature stuff, Avira's only a bit better off than Raiya in this case. Avira looks to Riku with an almost knowing glance.

"Well we gotta remove it." Avira says slowly, reaching out to rub her fingers against the graffiti. She doubts it'll come off like this and she definitely doesn't have a scrub brush on her to do this the hard way. "Uhhh...I only have ice magic so I can't exactly blow it up. ..wait."

Avira starts to brush her hands over the rock, tracing the contours and identifying the cracks, small they may be, within. "I think I might have something...!"
Riku Indeed, this seems to have not been the best course of action Riku could have taken with his day. He muses briefly on the merits of just leaving Avira and her compatriot to figure this out on their own. The Sigil inscribed on the rock was giving him a massive headache.

Each individual note of the pounding symphony has it's own little place in his head where it is merrily poking and stabbing away. Attempting to control the volume in this case does nothing to mute the furious deluge. There were no forest noise, nor sound of conversation or movement.

Riku only notices that the general melee breaks out because he turns his head to follow flickers of motion and sees wolves arrayed all along the hills to fight back the Noise. He looks to Avira curiously, not knowing what could inspire such loyalty.

In the end though, there was only the constant thrum of the symbol, wearing away at Riku's very-- very last nerve. He frowns at the symbol, cracking his knuckles as he approaches it. He might have said "Whatever you are going to do. Do it quickly." out loud, or he might have only said it in his head.

This thing had to go, and Riku no longer had any compunction whatsoever in using anything he had at hand to make such a thing happen.
Raiya Fujihara Wolves? Why did it have to be more wolves? The appearance of this new enemy causes Raiya to attempt to keep the creatures always in view, twisting around so that she keeps square with them. But, these creatures seem to be moving at inhuman speeds. This....could be troublesome. A small glance is given to Avira to see if she knows -these- wolves too. No such luck as Avira heads to deal with odd symbol instead. It looks like these wolves will have to be dealt with the hard way.

And Raiya is perfectly fine with that.

It has been far too long since she faced such quick opponents. Forunately, the hand moves quicker than the eye and the samurai's katana is merely an extension of her hand. Anticipation is the name of the game as Raiya patiently waits for the attack before using her katana to offer her reprisal to these Noise creatures. The Wutai ronin might not be able to keep this up forever. Hopefully, it does not take that long for Avira and Riku to figure out how to dispel this symbol.
Avira Avira doesn't notice the little glance that Raiya gives her, too engrossed with the rock and inspired by her idea.

Raiya will not have to wait long. Unlike the wolves of the forest, the Grunge Wolf does not bother with anything like 'flanking' but instead makes for one swift blurring dash directly at the samurai. Quick on her katana, Raiya will find that the effect is not unlike two unstoppable objects colliding with each other and a small shockwave splits between the two of them as the Grunge Wolf finds itself flying backwards. Raiya will quickly notice that, unlike the Heartless she may have fought en masse before, these Taboo Noise are significantly tougher. While it plops back onto its side a few feet away, it's quick to rise, a little worse for wear, but still extremely angry. It lunges again with that blurring dash.

It's quickly becoming clear that this Noise greatly outnumbers even the forest wolves. More and more red eyes can be seen peering up from the forest, the air becoming thick with the sneering static-like growl the Grunge Wolves make.

"I've got it-" Well, Avira hopes it'll work.

Both of her hands shimmer blue with ice magic as she presses them up against the elaborate Taboo Noise graffiti. The magic disappears suddenly and the rock face doesn't look that different. Avira's quick to repeat the action-a flash of blue light, then nothing, a flash of blue light, then nothing. The faint crackling noises that the rock is making are virtually unhearable with the fights raging around them.

With one final application of magic, cracks of blue suddenly light up the rock face, which quickly explode with ice crystals. Rocks of varying sizes begin to crumble from the profane mural, forming a dusty pile on the ground at Avira's feet.

A achingly loud Noise akin to an empty frequency being listened to on the radio suddenly rends the air. The Noise simultaneously explodes.
Riku Riku crumples, leaning hard against a tree to keep himself from falling over as he slaps his hands to his ears in a vain attempt to block out the sound.

It's over quickly though, leaving silence behind and the sound of his ragged breathing. Riku steadies himself carefully, head still ringing as he shakes it back and forth. He sighs faintly, looking over at Raiya to see if she is alright before looking to Avira. "Yeah." he pronounces as he leans against the tree. "You got it."
Raiya Fujihara While the head-on confrontation with the 'Grunge Wolf' causes Raiya to be repelled backwards in a shockwave; the blonde swordswoman is able to maintain control of her katana. The weapon is brought back up again and she settles into a defensive stance. This is going to be more difficult then she had anticipated. It is time to get....CRACKLE, CRACKLE, CRACKLE. The Noise have exploded.

The samurai lowers her katana cautiously and glances over to where Avira and Riky are. They did it! And they both seem to be in one piece. Raiya now moves to rejoin the others. "Well done. Fate has been kind to us this day." Hopefully fate will has also been kind to both Kat and Beat who had run off into the woods earlier.
Avira She doesn't even need to ask if the Noise is gone. With a sound like that...yeah, that must've been the outcome. Avira turns around and rests her back against the now jagged rock face, immediately regretting doing so. "Raiya!" she calls out to the samurai, "Are you alright?"

What about the others? Were they alright? They'll have to check later. The wolves...well a lot of them aren't alright it seems and Avira is quick to notice this, quickly standing. "Ugh, no..." Avira kneels by a fallen one, brushing a hand over it, checking for signs of life, before placing a firm palm against it.

"I'm sorry for putting you both through this, Riku, Raiya. This...this is kind of my fault. I found Sho in this forest and kind of provoked him and so he did /this/." A victory, yes, but for some reason Avria didn't appear to feel very victorious about it.
Riku Riku doesn't feel very useful. He looks around at the wolves and the forest, then over at Avira with a hopeless sort of anger instead of relief. What, if anything, did he accomplish by coming along on this stupid errand? He looks down at Avira then over at Raiya. He looks so angry and it's a cheated anger. He puts the brakes on whatever it was he brought forwards, a faint heat mirage around him dying away as he stuffs it back in it's box. It was more than likely very foolish considering the situation but he hates this feeling of being powerless. Of not being able to do anything. Not being able to lash out and extend some of the energy he has built up.

What did he really gain here? In a deadly quiet voice, he turns away from them both."I'm going to go see if the others are alright. Try not to piss anyone else off in the meantime, if you can stand it."
Raiya Fujihara Now that there is no more immediate threat in the area, Raiya can breathe a sigh of relief as she rejoins Avira and Riku. "As healthy as one can be in regards to what just transpired." She reports with a nod of her head as she watches Avira head off. Just where is she going?

Raiya's green eyes follow Avira towards the fallen wolf. The blonde woman feels no kinship towards wolves, but she does recognize the feeling of losing comrades in battle. That is a feeling that Raiya is all too familiar with. This 'Sho' is unfamiliar to her and he must be rather powerful to be able to be the cause of all of this. "Who is this Sho? Is this person some sort of powerful sorcerer?"

The outburst from the stranger known as Riku apparently causes the warrior to turn and regard him silently. His offer of going to look to the others elicits a small nod from Raya. Maybe Riku will be able to work out whatever personal demons he has out there by himself. There are some tasks in this world that can only be solved by oneself. A small wave is offered in parting before she turns back to Avira. "I shall leave you be if you require time to...say goodbye," offers the blonde woman to Avira.
Avira Clearly that was an apology not accepted. Avira watches Riku for a moment, makes a face, then looks away, an unpleasant feeling burbling up in her gut. She seems lost in her thoughts for a moment before the wolf in front of her makes a sort of burbling sound. Promptly, Avira seems to use...some kind of magic on it before stepping away.

"Good to hear, Raiya." Avira says distantly, moving onto another fallen one. A quick look-over confirms that this one was clearly already dead, having not survived the fight. "He's a Reaper." Avira says, crawling over to check another wolf. "And a mathemagician, the worst kind of sorceror there is, honestly. Strong. I've fought with him before." The huntress seems sort of upset, but not downright emotional over what has happened here.

"...no, it's alright. I mean, you can stay for a little while if you want but I doubt Skoll wants me to have other people around for the rest of the training. I still have two more days out here."
Raiya Fujihara A reaper and a mathmagician? Neither of those terms really help Raiya understand exactly who or what Sho is. The samurai still nods her head thankfully to Avira. In the end, it doesn't matter. This person sounds like someone who must be stopped and that was really all Raiya needed to know.

The ronin does not know who this Skol is either or what sort of crazy training regime has Avira nearly dead and resorting to making friends with wolves. As a teacher herself, she reserves the right to hold her criticism until she meets this Skol. Raiya turns towards Avira now and there is a long, awkward pause here. "I would not want to interfere with your training." A bow. "Take care and may fate smile upon you. " And with that, the swordswoman heads back off into the woods herself. Once a wanderer, always a wanderer.
Avira Even Avira has a hard time understanding who Sho is at this point. It bothers her a lot less than other things right now, in fact.

Doesn't seem like the woman's too impressed with the idea of her training out here. Figures-Avira had spent a lot of time not impressing people lately, it seemed. She could only imagine how disappointed Skoll might be with this latest set of events. That long and awkward pause makes Avira kind of nervous, "-I owe you one-" she says hastily, realizing now that people might have picked up on the note Skoll left behind with the intention of getting a reward. Damn it! She had nothing to offer either.

"...be seeing you later." she says to the leaving samurai, knowing full well that she's bound to run into the reserved woman again.

Left alone with her wolves, Avira's shoulders sink and for the first time today, she feels downright miserable.
Raiya Fujihara Raiya is just more of a hands-on teacher than opting to send her pupils out on some quest which seems to be the much more common method of teaching these days. Unforunately, she is also miserly when it comes to giving out praise. Perhaps that was what kept Avira and Raiya from being better friends towards each other.

The wandering samurai pauses for a moment before displaying a 'V' with her left hand towards Avira. "You owe me two." A wry smile is aimed at Avira before Raiya turns back around and heads off into the forest. They surely will meet again. It seems to be just what fate as in store for them.

 
This scene contained 47 poses. The players who were present were: Raiya Fujihara, Riku, Katyna, Avira, Beat