Infinite Heroes

[Wolfsong]

The latter sounded more like Ash, but Zare could only hope that he was having an uncharacteristic spike in brain power. Honestly, between the two of them it was a wonder they ever got anywhere by thinking.

OOC - am I the only one with faith in these two idiots? not that you're wrong...

/Eshalehm/Lily/
He was thrown off guard by all that. It was like a river bursting through a hole, and he was stuck on the other side. They could die a...zillion times? Hard core? What was that?
"Um....well, I've never died, per say, but...I'm not hard core," he said, laughing shakily. Awkward...zillion probably meant several times, considering the way he said it. But then...what in heaven's name did that make these people?! "In fact, I....well....." Dang it. He had no clue what to say. Frantically he tried to rally his thoughts, trying to figure something to say.
"Hey!" Lily suddenly dropped down beside them, smiling up at Jayar. "Would you be my friend?"
"Lily!" Ramus said, surprised. "You can't just randomly ask that of someone you just met!"
"Well I am!" she replied, pouting at him, then smiling at Jayar again. "Please?"
Rasmus sighed, then suddenly remembered something he'd heard. "I'm a newb, actually," he said to Jayar. "I suppose that may explain it," he added, laughing a little awkwardly. He hoped he'd gotten that right...would be really awkward if he hadn't.

/Stephen/Ashimatya/
Ash grinned at him, feeling the specter inside him stir. "I was thinking about all the places Pierce has been over the years. He's always been fond of Central, but since his place there was discovered I doubt he'd still be there. He's also been to places like Siccilian, Wispy Hollows, and Megiddus Valley at one point. Now," he said, warming to his topic. "We can rule Siccilian out, because we found him there too. Central is also a closed door, so that leaves two more places. Megiddus, and the Hollows Swamp." He smiled faintly. "Honestly, no one's set foot near the IFF base since the faction war. Its just an empty shell now, which makes it a nice spot. But then, Wispy is full of monsters, old and new, which is a strong deterrent. And Pierce was never really bothered by those things, so...one of those two places would be perfect."
"Hunt. Why do you even wait? You know now, you have a clue. Why do you hesitate?" He felt it stir inside again, and suppressed a shiver. "Let me...not even these monsters you feel would matter. Let me out."
"No...."
"Where do you think we should try first?" he asked Zare, suppressing the Dark Angel again. He felt it strike vengefully, and he couldn't suppress a wince. It was getting stronger...He needed to find Pierce and find a way out of here before it took over.
Who'd have thought. He came here to get Pierce. Now he needed to get out before his inner demon became his master. Ironic, that...

[Oddood198]

Saify ducked and weaved around the attacks of another Observer, avoiding all the damage she could and minimizing what she couldn't. Despite being covered in soft, gooey eyes, Observers could hit rather hard. That, and being impossible to sneak up on barring some sort of invisibility -and even then it was a stretch- made Observers a rogue's worst nightmare.
But Saify was not a rogue.
With that thought in her mind, Saify took her spear in both hands and blocked a crushing attack from the Observer, deflecting its arm away, then taking a series of springing steps all around it, spinning her spear wildly as she did. The Observer could see her, but it couldn't keep up with her, and she left no openings in her series of attacks.
Soon, that Observer was brought to its knees, and Saify impaled it with her spear and pinned it to the ground, letting it bleed out there.

Creating another pair of spears, Saify surveyed the situation. It looked like there were about eight more Observers in this group, and all the players were fighting hard. Their last-minute additions, Hael and M'kalna, were making a significant difference in the battle, and M'kalna's band of mercenaries weren't too shabby, either.
The rest of the players had split into two separate groups; one of them was lead by Heraldier, and was defending on both sides from two Observers, and the other didn't seem to have a direct leader, but the players there worked like a well-oiled machine as they fended off another one of the eye-laden monstrosities.
"Don't stop!Fight as you move!" Saify called to the others. As much as they needed to defend themselves from their attackers, they also needed to keep moving. The longer they stayed immobile, the more denizens of the forest they would draw to them, and the harder it would ultimately be to get out. "M'kalna, help them!" She hollered, pointing with her spear to the leaderless group of players, "Hael, with me!" Calling the girl's aid to her, Saify ran toward Heraldier's group, trying to flank one of the Observers. For all the good it would do.



Moving in short, quick bursts, only when no one was looking her direction, Claire managed to maneuver her way to the far wall of the reception area, unseen by the hospital employees or their children. She was now hiding in just about the worst place imaginable; wedged between two soda machines. She had barely had enough room to fit, but the light fixture above it had burned out, so she would be hard to see between the machines. That said, she wasn't sure she could get away without immediately being seen.
She had been between the soda machines for fifteen minutes by this point, and the incessant chatter of the children was close to driving her mental.
"Are you gonna do an operation, mommy?"
"What does this button do?"
"Can you do a surgery for my tummy? I had too much cake."
"I want my Infinite band back!"
"I gotta go potty!"
Wait, what? Claire moved her head out just slightly to the edge of the soda machines, looking out around them. Soon, she spotted a child clearly in pouting mode, bordering dangerously on going into a fit, glaring up at an adult who Claire assumed to be the child's father. And in his hand, the father was holding a silver Infinite headband.
"Jonethyn, I told you not to touch this until I said. You can't play the game right now." The father scolded his son.
"But I will, soon! And when I can, I want to have my band so I can play it!" The child exclaimed, stamping his foot on the floor.
"No, Jonethyn. You don't get to have this right now." Claire had to crane her neck to see it, but the father placed the Infinite headband somewhere behind the reception desk. "Now, go sit down for a while, I have to see to a patient."
Claire moved back to where she was fully hidden by the machines. What luck! An Infinite headband, right there. She could log in! She just had to get to the thing. For a second, she felt a pang of guilt over stealing the kid's console, but hey, he was grounded from it anyway; he wouldn't mind.
Now, she just had to get there. But how? If she was seen,with this mess of hospital staff around, she would be restrained despite her best efforts, and taken back to her room. She sighed, why was this so difficult?
Then she saw it. A screwdriver, misplaced, lost, under the back corner of one of the soda machines. A devious plan came to mind as she stooped to pick it up. Working quickly, she scooted back as far as she could and set about unscrewing the back panel of one of the machines. In just a moment, she removed the back panel and had access to the machine's entire supply of soft drinks. Claire grinned an evil, impish little grin.

Bang! Fzzz... Bang! Fzzz... Bangbangbang!! Fffzzzzzzzz...
Everyone in the room was startled by the sudden sounds of heavy objects being thrown, and the the fizzing of carbonation bursting free. It took them only a couple seconds to realize that cans of soda were being thrown from somewhere and exploding across the area. "Get some towels!" "Who's doing that?!" "Peter, stop licking the carpet!" Instantly, the whole reception room exploded into chaos as all the employees burst into action trying to clean up the mess and find the cause, and the children stared on in amusement.
And in all the panic and confusion, nobody notices the patient slink her way to the reception desk, grab a star-adorned headband, and then slip away.

[Cheetah]

Sholl & 3rd

3rd grinned and hefted his hammer over his shoulder. "Alright! Let's go hunt some monsters!" He had to duck to go out the door.
Sholl followed far less eagerly, glancing back once more into the shop to be sure she had everything she needed. With staff in hand, Sholl followed the others, wondering where it was Azure was going. Her more skeptical side wanted to probe into Azure's reasons for leaving Central at all, but she decided not to ask personal questions because she didn't want to risk getting mixed up with anything. For now she would quietly acquiesce to this venture, and hope that it would be enough to cool 3rd down for a little while at least.
Judging by her brother's enthusiasm however, she wondered if instead this would simply whet his thirst for danger and excitement.
"So, are you meeting up with anyone else?" 3rd asked as they walked. "Or is it just the three of us?"

[Banana Lobster]

Azure Archer

Azure glanced over her shoulder. "Just us; sometimes people join up with me, but usually everyone's too scared to leave. To be honest, I don't mind either way; solo or co-op, it makes no difference to me." Looking ahead again, she let her hand dip into her money pouch as she walked up to the stable master. "Afternoon. Could you do me a favor and keep that stallion I rode in on here for me? Here's a couple extra for your trouble." She dropped the coins in his outstretched hand and walked on, nodding her thanks as she passed. Turning around, so she was walking backwards, she smiled at 3rd and Sholl. "If you have anything errands you want to run, now's the time to do 'em; I was going to head out, but you look like you just got back, so we can hole up at an inn for the night if you need to. I warn you though, I get up early."

[Wolfsong]

/David/M'kalna/
"Hey, you know, my mother used to say she had eyes in the back of her head. Do you suppose..."
"Keeto!"
Etheral shook his head, laughing despite himself.
M'kalna smiled faintly, then glanced back as Saify called to him. He glanced at the group she specified, nodding to himself. Shouting for Etheral and a couple others to follow him, he made his way over to the leaderless group. An Observer was coming up behind one of the players, and he saw its multiple eyes turn to view him as he walked up behind him. He smiled, making a helpless gesture, before walking up to it, axe raised to let it know he meant business.
"The problem with you things," he said as he went to work. "Is you're impossible to sneak up on. You don't give us players a chance." Cutting it down, he glanced around. Those things seemed to be almost cleared out, and strangely, the people seemed almost...confident now. Shaking his head, he directed the group to take the last couple of Observers neatly and went looking for Saify.
"Hey, not to sound like this is boring or anything," he said, calmly bashing an Observer upside the head as he walked past. As it was currently locked in combat with another player, despite the fact it knew he was there, it couldn't do a thing about it. He grinned as he whacked it one more time and kept moving. Much closer to Saify now, he finished, "But how much longer till the end of this forest?"

/Pierce/Arachni/
He stared at the place that was once a clear valley. Now, it was crisscrossed with cracks in the ground. Stranger yet, near the edge of the field where he stood, some kind of rock or something was coming out through, working its way to the surface. He couldn't make heads or tails of it, and there was no way to get down there, for the cracks were narrow save around this smooth, flat rock.
He'd been standing there a long time now, just staring at it. He'd tried moving it himself, but nothing had happened.
"This," he said softly. "Is one heck of a puzzle."
Suddenly, something appeared further away in the field. He glanced up, startled, stepping backwards. Much to his surprise, a root of some sort caught his foot and tripped him up, sending him crashing onto his back. Before he could even get up, he found a shadow cast over him. He stared upwards in surprise.
"Goodness! The young lord has hit his head again."
He found himself staring into a pair of bright red eyes. Maroon hair hung unkempt about his face, and he wore a bright red, near sleeveless jacket. And all over his body were black splotches with pulsing red lines. On his left eye, in fact, was a huge congregation of these lines, flaring out from the eye like small flames. The black covered that half of his face, going down his neck and joining with the patches on his body. Arachni's eyes widened - one of the virus's victims. He scrambled back and leapt up, watching carefully.
The man smiled faintly, then gestured at the odd rock. "If I were the young lord, I would back away. This place is about to change again."
"What do you mean?" Arachni asked, just as the ground started shaking again. The cracks suddenly grew massive, and he stumbled back just barely avoiding falling into one. The rock rose further from the ground, and he realized it was a pillar. The man jumped onto the top of it as it rose, grinning down at Arachni. More began to rise from the ground, and then even the ground itself was moving. Trapped, Arachni activated the teleportal spell, just to put him as far away as possible and still be close enough to see what was going on.
The ground itself seemed to be rising. Slowly, what was on top gave way to a huge city, which still rose higher. Then the ground itself came up, and the whole thing rose into the heavens.
A floating island now overshadowed the valley.
"Its about to get fun." He turned, stunned to see the man behind him, smirking. His ruined eye rotated in a strange way. "Don't be late, or you'll miss the fun." He jumped, flying over Arachni's head, and began a strange loping and leaping run towards the island. As he neared it, he crouched down, making a huge leap towards it. Despite the height, he made it easily, and disappeared from view completely.
Arachni stared, then quietly prepared a pm.
I am in serious need of some help. Meet me in Wispy Hollows Swamp, under a tree that appears to have been scratched and clawed by wild badgers. Saify, you should know this tree very well. I would ask for a cease-fire, at least until you all know what I want to tell you. ~Pierce
Sending it to everyone he knew the names of from the fight and a few other random names he'd learned, he sent the pm, then teleported to the Swamp. He needed time to prepare, especially with Saify coming, maybe.

OOC- guys, that pm goes to those from the last battle. Those of you outside, your job for now is to....notice the floating island XD what you do from there is up to you.

[Banana Lobster]

OOC: Well, here goes nothing!

Sage Shade

Her leather boots made barely a sound as she raced into the woods, daggers in hand. Deep within, she could faintly hear the sounds of battle; shrieks of pain-both human and inhuman-, steel on steel, and the rallying cries of more experienced players. She would have had her scythe out, but with the thick tree trunks all around, there would be no room to swing it, not safely at least. Normally, she would have waited at Central, but after hearing of the expedition, she knew Saify could use all the experienced players she could get, latecomers or not.

Drawing her hand back, she threw a dagger as soon as an enemy-looked like an Observer-appeared around a sharp turn, her feet carrying her fast enough to pull it out as the monster fell to its knees. She skidded to a stop next to the orange-clad figure at the head of the party.

"Sorry I'm late, the mission went long, and I dropped off what extra supplies I picked up at Central." Doing a quick about-face, Shade fell into step beside Saify.

[ClaecElric4God]

/Eric/Zare/
Zare was trying to think up a good answer to Ash's question, when a message notification popped up. Curious as to who on earth would be messaging him, Zare pulled the message up and began reading it. His eyes widened as he read.
"Um....Ash? I think I know where we need to go to find Pierce."

/Jenna/Hael/
Hael's head snapped around when she heard her name. On instinct she nodded and spun around, falling into step beside Saify. Katana at the ready, she eyed the Observer they were hoping to intercept.
"Do you have a plan?" She asked quietly, ready to act quickly on her own discretion if Saify didn't have a plan.

/Jarod/Jayar/
Jayar took a step back, startled, when Lily made her unexpected request.
"Um...sure?" Jayar laughed a bit, lightening up. He was starting to like this girl and her carefree attitude. "She's fine," he reassured Rasmus, who seemed perturbed with her.
"Really?" He responded to Rasmus' comment. "Then what are you guys doing out here? This place is pretty dangerous for newbies."

[Wolfsong]

OOC - I am seriously looking forward to when Claire gets here Odd

/Stephen/Ashimatya/
He glanced up in surprise at Zare, but before he could say anything, he realized he himself had a pm. He pulled it up quickly, skimming over it fast the first time, then taking a second, longer look.
This was...amazing. But what...what could it be? What was it that had Pierce calling them all together? Was he seriously in need or...was it a trap?
"Right. What a run of luck." He snorted, then seriously looked like he was about to break down laughing. "Is it just me, or does my luck go up whenever I hang out with you?" Shaking his head, he shrugged. "Well, trap or no, I suppose its worth looking into."

/Eshalehm/Lily/
Lily impulsively hugged Jayar, then started dancing around again. Rasmus smiled faintly as he watched her. This funny little girl was a puzzle even to him. She was so strange at times.
He glanced up in surprise when Jayar said this was a dangerous spot for newbs. Thinking fast, he replied, "Isn't everywhere, anymore?" Laughing, he added, "I love exploring, so I'll go anywhere. Besides, I've special skills of my own. I'm still mastering all of them, but I can protect myself and her. Worse come to worse, we can sure run." he started laughing, remembering that one time he'd tried using a wind spell via crystal to increase their speed. He couldn't figure out how to stop, and they'd ended up crashing. It was funny, in retrospect.
Lily suddenly started screaming. He glanced at her in surprise. She had dropped to her knees and was clinging to the grass, a wild look in her eyes. She looked like she was in real pain. Startled he rushed over, dropping down beside her. "Lily! What's wrong?" he asked.
"They're hurting me!" she gasped, her voice suddenly sounding different; more adult, less of a child. "They're tearing me apart!" Weeping, she flung herself at him, burying her face in his stomach.
He glanced at Jayar, wide-eyed, shrugging. He couldn't see anything, he had no clue what was going on. "Just hang on," he said weakly, uncertain what to do. "It'll go away...it'll get better."
His next glance at Jayar was pleading. "What should I do?"

[Oddood198]

In the heat of the battle, Saify didn't even notice the icon signaling that she had a new PM; she was too intently focused on keeping everyone alive.
When she saw the girl with green hair running toward her, her first thought was for far that an old green-haired friend of hers had gotten trapped in the game, but as the girl got closer Saify could see it wasn't the beast tamer she was acquainted with. Though, this girl did look familiar. That was right: she had fought in the final battle against Pierce before all this mess happened.
"Hate to break it to you, but we're heading right back there." Saify said, then glanced at Hael, "I do: Kill the Observers." with that, Saify bolted forward, throwing both of her spears at the nearest observer and then creating a new one to go toe to toe with it.



Once she had stolen the Infinite band form the child and slipped away, it was a simple matter for Claire to find an unoccupied room and lay down on the bed, slipping the band over her head. She took a deep breath, looking down at her injured, familiar body. Possibly for the last time.
Here goes. She thought, and then started up the game.

Clear's eyes snapped open in the bright light of day. She seemed up rather high, and a dizzying feeling came over her as her senses shifted completely from her real body to the virtual one. This is why Katherine warned me to sit down before I log out... She thought. The last time she and Katherine had played, Clear had seen fit to simply lean against a wall when she logged out, laughing to herself how silly Katherine was for going to the effort of finding a park bench to lie down on.
Now, though, as her brain struggled to register the instantaneous change, Clear realized she should have listened to Katherine's advice.
On that note, "Katherine." The Siren whispered. The entire reason she had come back here, voluntarily trapping herself in the game, was so she could find her sister. She shook her head, clearing it of the lingering dizziness, and then took stock of her situation.
She was standing in the rubble of Central City, still in ruins from that battle, but fully populated by players seeking refuge. Katherine had said that Clear would be best off staying in the area of Central until she had a good feel for the game, despite the state it was in. But now it seemed she would likely have to move. Moving to her person, Clear saw she still had her piano equipped, it was strapped onto her back, threatening to make her fall over from the weight, but she could bear it.
She clenched her fists, "Just hang on Katherine," She said, as if her sister could hear her, "Here I come."

[ClaecElric4God]

/Jarod/Jayar/
Jayar practically leapt forward, but stopped just short of the pair. What on earth did he hope to accomplish? Whatever was going on was obviously internal, and Jayar didn't have a clue. So he only stood there hopelessly, until Rasmus shot him a pleading look. Feeling even more helpless, Jayar grimaced, desperately wondering what on earth he could do to help. Reaching out, he put a hand on Lily's shoulder.
"Hey, what's going on?" He asked urgently. "Calm down and try to tell us what's going on."
Jayar signaled to Brick to come over. If nothing else, he was ready to take the girl to a town and see if there was anyone there who could help.

/Jenna/Hael/
"As you wish." Hael hadn't technically meant to be short, but that was how it came out. Perhaps because she felt like Saify was being unprofessional and not taking her leadership role seriously, and Hael felt like the other girl was belittling her and treating her like she didn't know what she was doing. Either way, this was no time for an explanation or an apology, so Hael simply ran on ahead, taking on the next Observer in the path. Katana swinging, she deftly sidestepped it's attacks and countered with her own well-timed hits. But partway through her attack, Hael waited an instant too long to dodge, and as she tried to jerk to the side to avoid a blow, it cut a gash in her side. With a cry of pain, Hael lunged forward, finishing the Observer, then sank to one knee, clutching her side. It wasn't deep, but Hael's low defense made it more worrisome than it would have been for an armored player like Saify. Panting heavily, Hael grimaced, turning her head to see two more headed her way from opposite directions.
At least I'm drawing their attention away from the newbies, she thought to herself. The initial pain past, Hael cleared her head, darting out of the way just as the two lunged at her. They collided with each other instead, with just enough of an impact that they faltered for an instant. Taking advantage of the opportunity, Hael darted back into the fray, landing hit after hit, but having to be extra cautious. The pain was slowing her down measurably, and she wouldn't be as quick to get out of the way now, especially with two enemies at once.

/Eric/Zare/
Zare nodded.
"If nothing else, it'll just be another goose chase or a trap; nothing we haven't handled before. We've got nothing else to go on."
Zare stretched his arms in the air, working out the tiredness that had set in from this whole ordeal.
"On the move again, eh? We never catch a break. Well, you lead the way."

[Banana Lobster]

OCC: This could probably be better, but I've been trying to type it for days and have decided to leave it as it is, rather than drive myself mad constantly tweaking it.

Sage Shade

Shade glanced around, checking on the others in the group. There were of course injuries, and a few severely-injured players were being supported by the villagers, but on the whole, they were doing pretty good. On the other hand, without those players, there was a gap in the defenses. Readjusting her grip on her daggers, Shade threw her daggers at an Observer that attempted to push its way through the gap and summoned water from her canteen, turning it into a whip that she wrapped around its neck, holding it in place long enough for the daggers to hit it. Returning the water to her canteen, she recovered her daggers and took up position in the gap, defending the injured players to the best of her abilities. "We're getting close," she told them.

[Wolfsong]

OOC - guys I'm gonna be gone for a week, so....I'll be seeing you around.

/Eshalehm/Lily/
Lily grabbed their hands, clutching them with a strength Rasmus never knew she had. She raised her tear-stained face, blinked once, then turned to look northward. Slowly, she released one hand - the one clutching Rasmus - to point.
"There," she said softly.
Rasmus stared at her, then looked to where she pointed. His eyes widened. "Oh light," he breathed.
There to the north, round near where Central was located, a landmass of considerable size was rising into the sky. It was hard to tell what rested on this monstrosity, but there were clearly buildings of some sort. It rose slowly, small fragments of rock falling from it; small at this distance, much closer they had to be huge. Eshalehm breathed sharply.
"What is that?" he asked, then glanced at her. "How is it affecting you? Its all the way over there!"
She looked up at him, and he was surprised to see how her eyes were glazed over, empty eyes. "H-hey," he said, focusing on her again. "Don't black out on me. Lily!"
A loud rumbling, like thunder, filled the air. He glanced at the floating continent, for what else could it be, and saw it seem to slow, and then pause. It stopped, hanging there mid-sky, hundreds of miles above the ground. Lily suddenly sighed and collapsed on Jayar. Her face lost the pain, taking on a peaceful continence. "Its not so bad now," she whispered, smiling up at them. "I'm sorry..."
"Lily, why was that hurting you?" Rasmus asked worriedly. This was a side of her he'd never seen, and it worried him. He barely glanced at Jayar, but the stranger was much on his mind as well. He wished he could just grab Lily away, but he wasn't sure how that would be taken.
"It was like....my insides where being ripped up, like paper," she replied slowly, considerately. Her voice had lost that childishness, and sounded more womanly. "I don't know...but I knew it came from there. I'm sorry I don't know."

/Stephen/Ashimatya/
"Yeah, we seem to be very unlucky." Ash brushed himself off, stretched, then turned. "...Zare?" He turned and grinned at him. "I'm outta teleportation items." he grinned mischievously.

[Cheetah]

OOC- Sorry I haven't been keeping up with this.

Sholl & 3rd

3rd replied with a frustrated grunt. "Actually, we've been in Central forever. I'm ready to head out whenever you are. Right, sis?"
3rd nudged Sholl, but realized that she wasn't paying any attention to him. "Hey, Sholl." He turned to her with some concern. She was staring ahead, past Azure. "What's wrong?"
Sholl pointed ahead at the sky. "What is that?"
3rd followed her gaze and knew immediately what she was talking about.
In the sky was a mass of land; a floating island that had never been there before. Everyone had noticed it by now and people all around were pointing up into the sky.
3rd's eyes grew wide with excitement. "That's so awesome! We have to go check that out!"
"What? No." Sholl snapped out of her daze and frowned at her brother.
3rd frowned back at his sister. "I mean, after we help Azure. I'm not that big of a jerk."

[Oddood198]

Saify was a veritable whirlwind of blades flashing in the broken up lights filtering through the forest canopy. She hadn't meant for her fighting style to be more than just a little flashy, but by the nature of her ability and design of her equipment, she was a hard-to-miss sight on the battlefield. Her shining armor, whirling spears, and long, blowing cape moved under her extreme speed in combat to make her a shining, beautiful blur of movement that the eye was just drawn to.
Perhaps that was why she found herself surrounded by four Observers.
This was bad, there were far more of the monsters that she had expected, the players were slowly being surrounded, boxed in, and overwhelmed. Saify had already seen Hael take a wound, she continued fighting, but Saify guessed she wouldn't last long without some support. M'kalna, at least, was holding his own and then some, hopefully he would make up for some of the strength and numbers they were lacking.
Saify stabbed one of the Observers, and a dozen steel points burst out from it. Saify dropped the spear and made another one as she met the attack of another Observer, and then created another one as she launched back into another series of quick, complicated attacked and parries as she fended off the other three Observers. Her goal wasn't so much to beat these Observers, just to keep them, and any others, focused on her to give the other players a fighting chance.

[Wolfsong]

OOC - I've been neglecting M'Kalna, haven't I?

/David/M'kalna/
"M'kalna!"
Swinging it for more force, he brought his axe down heavily on its central eye. It moved at the last minute, and his axe blade lodged firmly in its shoulder. His eyes widened, his expression taking on a comedic dismay. The Observer struck him in the side, sending him flying into a tree.
His vision exploded in sparks and bright colors. Dazed but aware of his danger, he scrambled to his knees, fumbling for a throwing axe. Before his vision could clear, something fell on top of him. It took him a few moments of frantic flailing for him to realize it wasn't moving. Blinking away the remaining sparks, he found a smoking Observer corpse.
"Thank goodness," Etheral said, riding over. Offering M'kalna a hand, he helped M'kalna rise. "The situation's worsening, sir. The players are scattering and there is no apparent end to the monsters or this forest. I think they've lost heart.
M'kalna cursed as he jerked his axe out of the monster's shoulder. "So how does one keep such a bloody long company together?!" he demanded, clearly ticked at their lack of backbone. "I will finish this job if it kills me! Etheral, I must have the horse!"
Etheral, struggling to hide a smile, practically fell off in his eagerness. M'kalna leapt on, his expression quite stern. "Etheral, you've the best magic in the Fool's Legion. I want you to take three others and scour this forest for strays. I don't care if you have to drag them by the hair, get them back to the group." And he whipped the horse into movement.
Etheral watched a second, his respect clear in his youthful eyes. Then he whirled around, shouting to others.
M'kalna glanced around, choosing the smallest group first. They were already scattering, fleeing from the monsters before them. M'kalna rode down on them, circling round them till they were gathered in a tight circle.
"What the heck is wrong with you?!" he snapped. "You got weapons. Use them, for goodness sake!"
Fearful stutters, shouts and curses answered him. Glaring, he slid off the horse, marching toward them. The one in front of him, a guy with a spear, fearfully held out his weapon, pointing it at him.
"There. That's a little better." M'kalna grabbed the shaft, pushing back till he was almost face to face with the guy, then whirled him around to stab an Observer in the eye. "But that's how you use it. Bloody do so already, and get back to the main group!" Shoving him back with the others, he remounted and rode off, gathering the strays with equal sharpness.

[Banana Lobster]

OOC: Oh it feels good to post again; I've been meaning to get this up for days. And my first post with both Azure and Shade.

Azure Archer

Azure pursed her lips and stared up at the floating island. "Well, it is to the north of Central, isn't it?" She turned to grin at them, "Ah, why not? North is north, and this was going to be a fast run anyways. Why not do something fun?"

Sage Shade

Shade bit back a smile as she saw a tall guy with long, purple hair almost physically drag deserters back to the main group, pushing and shoving them into line. She kicked out at a small monster-cub that had been attracted to the fray by the smell of blood. It turned and ran as fast as its short legs could carry it, and Shade glanced around the group. In front, Saify held off three Observers at once, her spears darting in and out. "I'm going up front!" Shade called to the purple-haired guy, before darting up behind (or was it in front? you could never tell with these things) an Observer, opting to unequip her daggers and instead bring out her Fiendish Claws, stabbing them into the eye-head-thing on top.

[Cheetah]

Sholl & 3rd

"Alright!" 3rd shouted, pumping his fist excitedly. "Now you're talking. Let's go, Sholl. Maybe you'll find a fancy stick."
"Wait, 3rd!" Sholl said, following her brother as he started off towards the floating island at a brisk pace. "We don't know what's going on there. 3rd! Are you listening to me?! Jason!"

[Oddood198]

Saify saw Shade coming up behind one of the Observers she was engaged with. She didn't successfully sneak up to it, of course, but she managed to land a solid hit on it's top eye. While that Observer reeled in pain, Saify turned her attention to the other two.
This has gone on long enough. She thought, creating a second spear in her other hand. As she held both spears in front of her, they began to change shape, smoothing, flattening, until she was no longer holding a pair of spears, but two curved, double-bladed swords. She rushed into the pair of Observers, her swords whirling and spinning like a couple of rotors. Her swords cut rapidly, and blood flew from the Observers as their health was slowly whittled down, and finally, Saify snapped her arms to her sides and cut but Observers and two with a single double stroke.
Saify lowered her arms, letting out a long, shuddering breath. Shade was finishing the observer she had attacked, and Saify looked back to see how the battle was faring. It was... not well. Most of the players had turned to run, and M'kalna was riding around to gather up the deserters. Hael was still fighting hard, despite her injury, and Saify saw Heraldier desperately trying to rally players around himself to fight. Saify sighed; if they would not fight through hope and courage, Saify would control them with fear.
She closed her eyes, clearing her mind and taking a deep, deep breath. She focused all of her concentration on an image, a single thought. An Observer. As she focused so hard on the image of an Observer, her swords and armor disappeared, no longer sustained by her magic. Now unarmed and unarmored, Saify raised her hands out in front of her, palms outward, letting her imagination become manifest.

From the forest behind them, Observers began to emerge from behind the trees, through the foliage, some of them seeming to simply rise up from the ground. Soon, there was a horde of hundreds of Observers behind them, to their sides, leaving only a small opening ahead of them.
"There's too many!" Saify called, "There's no hope fighting them all, run! Run to Central!" Saify stood as players began to flee past her, trying to escape the innumerable enemies behind them. She would bring up the rear, maintaining her illusion, and making sure no one ran back to their deaths.

[Wolfsong]

OOC - BL and Cheetah, I'm sorry there's not much in the way of story for your characters right now. You guys can either just hang out or, if you really want to scale the island, send me a pm.

/David/M'kalna/
He'd just finished rounding up the stragglers when vast hoards of Observers suddenly surrounded them, save the smallest of openings. Saify's shouts sent the remainder of the group at a dead, mad run. He chuckled at the sight, then bashed and Observer at his stirrup and rode about, trying to keep some semblance of order. He saw his own group merging with the stampede and shook his head resignedly. "I am indeed the head of a fool's legion," he said with wry amusement. As he prepared to follow, he spotted Saify facing the Observers, clearly concentrating on something.
Totally unsuspicious he rode up to her, offering her a hand. "Need a lift?" he asked.

[Oddood198]

Saify glanced up at M'kalna when he rode next to her, gritting her teeth from the sheer effort of keeping her concentration on the illusion while also having enough spare thought to answer him. She nearly rejected instantly, intending to get back to maintaining the illusion as quickly as possible, but on a second thought she realized it may prove easier if she could just ride, and not have to run for herself.
How hard could just staying on a horse be, anyways?
"Yeah, I'll take one." She answered, reaching up and taking the offered hand, swinging into the saddle. As soon as the horse began moving, she realized she had made a terrible mistake: It was very hard to keep her concentration while staying put on a moving, jolting horse. She screwed her eyes shut tightly and took a deep breath, resigning herself to a long, hard ride.



"No money, no party, and no clue where to start." Clear complained to herself as she walked out of the apothecary store. She took a peek in pouch she now had on her belt, "But at least I have potions..." If the game was real now, and death meant death, Clear decided that instead of saving money for the next opportunity to spend it, she would rather have potions and other items to ensure there would be a next time. She was still new at this, and even the smallest mistake could mean serious trouble, and all the money in the world wouldn't help her when she was bleeding out, all alone.
'Now, if I could just figure out where to start looking for Katherine..." Clear knew her sister was one of -if not the- biggest heroes of all Infinite, and often went on adventures of the highest caliber in all corners of the game world, and that would make it quite hard to track her down. Clear sighed, already feeling smothered by the enormity of the task before her. Feeling defeated already, she looked up into the sky as if the answer was held there, waiting for her, and...
Was that always there? She asked herself, seeing a massive, floating island on the horizon. It was hard to guess at its size from here, but it must have been absolutely enormous. No, no I'm rather sure that wasn't. She answered herself. Well, if Saify had already done all the exciting stuff in Infinite, maybe the new, floating island was a good place to look for her.
Seeing no better alternative, Clear made sure her compact piano was fastened tightly to her back and then set off toward the new landmass.

[ClaecElric4God]

OOC: I'm such a horrible person...Someday I'll stop being such a horrible person, Wolf.


/Eric/Zare/
Zare shook his head at Ash, snorting.
"You're hopeless, you know that?" He said, sifting through his inventory. He stopped short, giving a short, awkward laugh.
"Yeah...so am I..." Zare sighed, facepalming. "What now?"

/Jenna/Hael/
Hael took deep, ragged breaths. She hadn't had a chance to stop since she'd taken that blow, and the strain was getting more significant. Did these things never end?
Hael heard Saify's voice, though in her confusion she couldn't quite make out what it was she'd said. But the next thing she knew, everyone was running down the path, ignoring the Observers. What were the idiots doing? How could turning their backs on the enemy be a good idea? But then she turned and saw what it was they were running from. Out of nowhere, an incredibly huge hoard of Observers had appeared. Did this forest even spawn that many? Hael knew this path well, and she'd never seen nearly this many at once. Perhaps the size of the party affected it, but still...
Shaking her head, Hael realized this was no time to stop and contemplate the machanics of the game. As long as everyone else was fleeing, standing her ground by herself was foolish. All she could do was try to keep the Observers at bay for the terrified players. Hardly anyone was even paying attention to their surroundings, too absorbed in fear. Glancing back, Hael noticed Saify and M'kalna at the back of the group, hanging behind. After a moment of indecision, Hael decided to fall back and make sure they were alright. Saify seemed to be distracted by something, and M'kalna was helping her onto his horse. Maybe she was injured...At any rate, Hael decided it would be best to go back and make sure everything was all right. Perhaps it had something to do with whatever Saify had shouted earlier.
Hael engaged a nearby Observer, dispatching it quickly, before turning to head back. But by then the pair had already caught up, and Hael fell into step beside the horse, easily keeping pace with it thanks to her speed skill. The pain in her side reminded her of the exertion, though.
"Are you well?" Hael asked. But she was only half paying attention, her eyes scouring the path ahead and watching for any stragglers that may have found themselves left behind. "I heard you call out."

/Jarod/Jayar/
Jayar met Rasmus' eyes for a moment, trying to read his expression. Did the guy think that he was somehow involved? Maybe he did seem a bit sketchy, sitting out here in the middle of nowhere, but he hadn't done anything!
"I..uh...I'm sorry. This is probably a really bad time for me to be here," was all he could think to say.

[Oddood198]

Saify grimaced in annoyance; why did people keep talking to her when she was obviously focused on something else?
"I'm fine. Calling a retreat." She replied shortly, not even sparing the attention to look down at Hael. The jostling of the horse was throwing her mental fortitude for enough of a loop, if she took her eyes off her illusion at this point, anything could go wrong.
"Are you?" She added a moment later, intending to mean 'are you well?', but not thinking of the confusion that could result from her lack of clarity. Well, she was busy and Hael could deal with it.

[Wolfsong]

OOC - will you stop apologizing? For all the times I've abandoned you folks...you all should hate me by now XD
If anyone wants to start scaling the island now, please pm me.


/Pierce/Arachni/
No one had shown, yet.
For that matter, neither had he. Arachni was staring up at the island thoughtfully, his mind elsewhere, back in the past.
So much had happened in so little time. That battle...he still couldn't quite believe. A stranger, who used him. What had he meant, the world was real? Had the new virus gone into effect then? He certainly couldn't mean the world itself, Infinite, was real. Pierce had hacked into the world's data, he knew fully well what was in it. Bunches of data, creating a virtual world. Until now, it hadn't been real at all.
He closed his eyes, rubbing at his forehead.
"My name is Dynos Aegis, the creator of this world..."
"The truth is, this world is as real as the one Pierce lives in.''
"But how would that be possible?!" he asked incredulously, flinging his hands into the air. "Where does it make sense? I've seen the bloody core of the world, I know it for what it is!"
Slumping slightly, he started to think about the place he was supposed to be. Sighing, he turned and started walking.
Central was nearby. Not that it mattered, no one went beyond the walls, even to chase someone like himself. He glanced over, then noticed someone - a few people actually, walking outside the gates. He watched them a moment, then shrugged. So what. If they were adventurers, go them. If they wanted a fight, well, he felt like one.

/David/M'kalna/
Saify seemed a little out of it, much to his surprise. He wondered if she was okay. He glanced back, realizing the Observers were almost upon them.
"Are you well?" That girl warrior suddenly appeared, running alongside them. She and Saify started chatting. Rolling his eyes, marveling at a woman's ability to chat even in such situations, he focused on riding.
Breaking through the hole, he noticed all the other players running...towards a city just barely visible on the horizon. They'd reached the edge of the forest, and there was the city itself.
Smiling faintly, he glanced back. "Do you suppose they'll follow us?" he said with a tight grin.

/Eshalehm/Lily/
He stared at Jayar a moment, then sighed and shook his head.
"No...no you're okay. I'm just..." He glanced at Lily, then realized she'd fallen asleep. He studied her a moment, then looked very seriously at Jayar.
"Lily's the closest thing I have to a family now. When...things went down, I was in a dark cave, with next to no memory. I had nothing, just a name and a vague sense of...displacement. Like I wasn't where I was supposed to be. And then I found her...or she found me."
He stared at Lily sadly. "She seemed even worse off than I was. She didn't even know her own name, she chose a flower for a name. She has..." He paused, then continued, thinking this through. "She has no memory of home. She can't remember the...place we came from. She has no family, far as I can tell." He shook his head, sighing. "We're both alone in the world...she's the closest to family I have."
"Strange things are happening, things I don't understand. But I see people behaving strangely, even in the clearest of things." He shook his head. "If I seem suspicious of you...I'm sorry. Its built in now, because I'm afraid." He was struck by a thought, suddenly. Afraid. They all were, of something. It was just...different fears. They were afraid of never returning to their "world" and he was afraid of never knowing who he himself was.
After a moment, he smiled slightly. "If you don't mind...I wouldn't mind being friends either." Laughing awkwardly, he said, "I've some hard edges I need to rub off...if you won't mind that?"

/Stephen/Ashimatya/
"Yeah...you're hopeless." Grinning, he said, "Give me a minute, I'll be right back." And he descended into the shadows.
He paused there a moment, thinking, then turned back to the town. There was a shop there, he thought he remembered where it was. He could see the people wandering about, they seemed to be laughing over their "victory" over the Dark Angel. Smiling, trying not to laugh, he manifested in the shop.
No one was home. Swiping a few teleportal items off the counter, he left the approximate cost and returned to the shadows, and to Zare.
"Here ya go!" he said, appearing in front of him and dropping a couple in his hands. "And obtained through honest means, I promise." Grinning, he held one up. "Lets drop to the one outside Central - its closest to the swamp, and far enough away from Central we hopefully won't be chased all the way over."
And they teleported.

[ClaecElric4God]

/Jenna/Hael/
Was she what? Hael glanced up at Saify, trying to figure out what she was saying. Everything was starting to get hazy...
"No, I'm not ordering a retreat." She replied shortly and with some irritation, simply because she didn't understand why Saify would ask such a strange question. "That is a decision on the leader's part, one you seem to have seen fit to make."
Hael wasn't even sure what she was arguing about or why she was arguing it. A retreat at this point was probably the best tactical decision, so why was she feeling perturbed? Right now, all she wanted was a moment's rest...


OOC: I'm a bum so I'll post for the others later. Odd, do your thing.

[Oddood198]

When they broke free of the forest, Saify dropped the illusion and visibly relaxed as the mental strain was lifted. She slumped back in the saddle, almost falling off in her relief.
At Hael's response, Saify sighed inwardly, but didn't let it show. That wasn't... never mind. "No, I don't think they will." She said to M'kalna, then leapt off the horse, running a few paces as she hit the ground. "Thanks, I'll head back to the front." She said, still gotta rally everyone together and all. Look the hero, if I can't be it.
Saify sprinted to the front of the group of fleeing players, re-creating her armor as she did, and making a spear in her hand. "Come on, we're almost there!" She called, waving her free arm forward. Central was looming on the horizon now, they would be there soon. Not soon enough, if you ask me. Saify thought.

[Wolfsong]

/David/M'kalna/
He sighed in relief, then grinned slightly.
"Miss Saify?" he said after a moment. "I believe now, the subject of payment would be welcome."

OOC - Oh my gosh....three sentences. Wow.

[Banana Lobster]

Sage Shade

"Come on!" Shade pulled people to their feet, pushing them along in the direction of Central. Now that they were out of the woods (literally, not figuratively), people were lagging behind, forgetting or just not knowing that monsters roamed the fields around the city. Any stragglers left behind were sure to be swiftly taken. Pushing another on his way, she glanced around, searching the grass, and thankfully seeing nothing. Back in the woods, she'd seen Saify fall back to slow down the Observers, but she'd also seen her on Purple-Hair's horse, so Shade wasn't too worried. Equipping her scythe, Shade began to walk backwards at the back of the group, watching the fields around them, and the forest especially.

Azure Archer

Chuckling, Azure followed, waving to the city's gate guards as they passed. Then she equipped her bow and darted forwards, an arrow to the string, her eyes to either side as the grass swayed in the wind. She doubted there would be any monsters so close to the city, but she had seen players fall to surprise attacks, and a little extra caution never hurt anyone. "How far do you think it is?" She called over her shoulder, pointed ears twitching slightly.

[Wolfsong]

/Rasmus/Lily/
"Rasmus!" Lily suddenly leapt up, grabbing his shoulders. "We need to go! To the island! To the people! I need to get to the island! I need your help! And they're help! Come on!" and she broke into a run, fast enough to rival a galloping horse.
Rasmus's eyes widened, totally stunned. "Where does she find the energy?" he gasped. Leaping up, he said, "Well, I'll see you later, I guess." He started after her, struggling to pull a gem from his bag. "Lily wait up!" he shouted.

[ClaecElric4God]

Jayar watched them run off, not only surprised at Lily's energetic revival, but amused by Rasmus' inability to keep up. "Those two are really strange," he remarked cheerfully to Brick. "But they're good kids, I think. Certainly not connected to them anyway."
He sighed and lay back, thinking sour thoughts. It wasn't his fault, they had no right! He hadn't really done anything wrong, that guy had just been a sour, humorless grape.
Shaking his head, he made himself relax. Oh well, he was safe and free here. They'd be idiots if they followed him into Infinite anyway, he could sic Brick on them. The other players might not be so thrilled, but he was happy here,. He was safe in a pretty cool world. He was...free.
No more cells. Just open skies...and freedom.
"Well, here's something fallen from the path."
He glanced over towards the voice, then started. Perhaps one of the strangest people he'd seen yet crouched nearby, surveying him appraisingly. His dark skin was covered in black splotches, red vein-like things running through them. This man looked quite sick. Then his head tilted so that his bangs uncovered his eye, and Jayar gasped. The eye was one of the most messed-up things he;d seen yet.
"Who the heck are you?" he demanded, sitting bolt upright.
"Cautious one, this one is," the stranger said, completely ignoring the question. He frowned. "Might be difficult, this one..." Then he perked up. "Or maybe very easy, this one?"
What was this guy's problem? "Well, excuse me," Jayar said, rising quickly. "I gotta place to go to so I don't have time to-"
"I riddle!" the stranger suddenly declared, grinning widely in such a way that his face looked almost demonic. Jayar shuddered. "Answer the riddle before you go! What is tall and white and red all over?"
That was a contradiction, wasn't it? How could something be white and red all over? "I have no clue," he sighed. "What's the answer?"
The odd man's grin widened, and he started skipping around in a circle. Losing patience, Jayar said, "Are you going to tell me or not?"
The stranger smirked, then suddenly lunged forward, his clawed hand raised to strike. Jayar dodged back but couldn't avoid the attack entirely, taking a deep gouge in his shoulder. He cried out, face scrunched up in pain, as the man dug his claws even deeper in. Blood gushed out through his fingers, staining the white jacket.
"The answer is you!" the stranger said in a mad half-laugh. Jayar stared at him in horror; a player-killer, that was what he was facing now. Shouting, Jayar broke away, yanking his whip out.
"Brick, get him!" he shouted, struggling to pull a healing drought from his bag. Brick lunged at the man, who neatly leaped over the tiger creature. Jayar backed away quickly, fumbling for the stopper. Brick leapt onto the stranger's back, bringing him down, and started trying to tear him apart. The stranger responded by lunging straight up, clawing directly through Brick's stomach.
"Cripes," Jayar whispered, staring as the stranger climbed out the bloody hole he made. Quickly drinking the potion, he readied himself. "This guy is really good..."
The stranger wasted no time, instantly lunging at Jayar. Jayar already had another animal out, a bird-like creature that dove at the stranger's face. Jayar attacked while the bird went for the man's eyes. Grinning, the stranger raised a black-coated hand and clamped it around the bird's head. The bird made a muffled screech and struggled, beating him with its wings and raking his arm with its claws. The man merely grinned through it, leading Jayar to question his sanity. Then he noticed something.
The black from the hand was spreading, from his hand to the bird's head, and down its body. The bird's strikes were frantic, frenzied; it was clearly panicked. So was Jayar, who watched with horror as it seemed almost to...disintegrate before his eyes. The black shrouded it, and it broke down into nothing, till the stranger held nothing, at all. Suddenly feeling sick, Jayar backed away. "You- you've the virus!" he gasped, remembering that little piece of information he'd heard somewhere.
The stranger smirked, his ruined eye rolling strangely in his head. He rushed Jayar again, who backed away as he frantically struck at the man. He grabbed the end of the whip which coiled around his wrist. Jayar instantly released it, turning to run, only to be knocked to the ground.
"Clumsy clumsy," the stranger said, sitting on him. "Super clumsy. Stupid Stupid...Now you die."
Jayar gasped as the man's claws tore at him. Planting his hands on the ground, he pushed himself up, which was hard; he wasn't that heavy, but he was awkwardly placed. Grunting with exertion, he rolled over, knocking the stranger off and rolling away. Scrambling to his feet, he staggered back as the stranger tried to rise, then paused. Jayar stared, then realized he was somehow stuck, his foot caught in a gopher hole or something. He grinned, then whirled around to run.
He stopped dead, gasping, as he ran into the curved blade of a scythe. Another guy, this one with purple hair and dark clothes, watched him collapse, choking.
"That didn't go well."
"Ah, young master! Stupid gophers..." the stranger struggled to get his foot free.
The second one shook his head, then pulled the blade free and, swinging it around a couple times, struck the ground with the butt of the staff. This knocked some of the dirt loose, and the virus one pulled his foot free. "Many thanks, young master," he said fawningly, grinning.
"Just finish it. Your games make me sick." The scythe vanished, and the second man turned away. "You're lucky I came along. You know what He'd do if you messed up again."
"Aww young master is cruel but correct."
Jayar had already slipped into the realm where one does not feel pain. When his essence was taken from him, he didn't even notice. Until...the pain began again, in earnest.
His screams vanished into the nether...

[Cheetah]

Sholl & 3rd

"No idea," 3rd said with a shrug.
"So, uh, Azure, right?" Sholl nervously began polite conversation. She glanced up at the strange floating island and felt sick with apprehension. She tried to cover up her real feelings with a cheery conversational tone, but she wasn't the best at facades. "What sort of skills do you use? What's your style?"
Sholl doubted it would take too long to get to the island with 3rd as excited as he was. Going into unknown territory seemed unwise to Sholl, but at this point she knew there was no stopping her little brother. At least not while he was a six and a half foot ogre. Her only other alternative was to try and prepare. She would have to begin by figuring out how their new ally worked into the picture.