The Divine Curse p.1 (Open / Started)

Will kept trudging along, and almost slipped down the side of a ravine. He managed to grab hold of a branch just in time. Down below, a road wound between two steep hills. "I bet that leads into town. Lets find a safe way down,"

Armistice looked down and swallowed hard. "Uh, right. I... Uh, don't... I can't really climb cause..." He gestured to his arm stump, looking away slightly, then realizing he should probably make sure Will didn't slide down without him. "Here." He said, taking out his hammer and offering it down to Will so he could pull him up.

(((AND THE TAKEVIER FANGIRLS SCREAM IN THE DISTANCE. BTW love how she thinks Faron is an elf. That's perfect. Keep it that way,))

Xavier nodded, comforted by Takeo. "Yeah.. I'm fine," He chuckled nervously, "No more fire though, not today oh god," He muttered. Sighing. "Today has been ten times too close," 

Koe sat up slowly and painfully, looking around, "Is it.... Gone?" She looked at Aaron worriedly. She felt... Something watching, not the werewolf hunter, no, something more... Crazed and sinister. She looked around once more, wincing as the air touched her back. It seared, pain shooting up from it. "Ow ow ow," She muttered, low enough for Aaron not to hear. 

  Faron stood to his feet quickly, hesitantly pulling his sword out. As he couldn't turn into anything yet, the effects of the strain were still appearant.

(Aeron will return in a bit  )

Takeo missed all of this, the support of people in the same position as him. Not wanting to leave the moment on Xavier's shoulder, but knowing he would have to, Takeo posed the question:

"So what are we going to do now?"

He could live in the forest for eternity, but with the current position of some of the people around him, it would probably be better to be in a more populated area. Besides, people would likely be less willing to attack in public. He hoped.

Rosario sighed in relief as the dragon flew off, but kept vigilant in case it returned. After all, what sort of dragon would attack then just leave? Her clothes were only singed a bit beyond what they had been earlier, much to her happiness. Her state of non-nudity confirmed, Rosario decided to adress a more common problem.

"Is anyone in need of medical care?" She asked, dispelling the remains of the ice shields as she cast her gaze about.

Koe looked over at the fox, "Well, well, look who it is. The little trouble maker himself," She winked, and smiled, "It's good to see you alive Takeo... And what we should do.... Go somewhere else, for sure. I don't feel safe here," Koe didn't mention her burn, she had caused the witch enough mana already. 

 Faron nodded and waved slightly at Takeo, before lookin at Rosa, "I got burned a little, and I think most of us got spared really. Thank you,"

Will grabbed onto the hammer, using it to pull himself back up. The ground was crumbling at the edge, so he steered well clear of it. "Yeah, sliding isn't a good option. There's rocks and branches down there, and I don't feel like being impaled. Got another plan?"

Elza stood and spit ashen dirt out of her mouth, dragging the back of her hand over her lips to clear them. "Well, that dragon's coming back, I bet. You're right, we need to get moving. I'd say we should go into the forest, but we'd have a hard time dodging fire blasts. It'll give us some cover, though." The elf turned to the witch and nodded her thanks as well.

Aaron raised his hand, as if they were in school or something. "I vote in favor of trees. I like trees."

Armistice paced in around in a circle for a minute, thinking. He gazed up at the sky and noticed that the sun was throughly covered, hopefully enough that he could fly without damage. "Yes, I think I have a plan." He took off his leather vest and threw it to the ground bellow, then spread his wings as wide as he could, which admittedly wasn't much. "Alright, I'm going to have to hold on to you. Or you to me. Doesn't matter. Actually, it does. You hold me. You have more arms."

Rosario headed over to Faron, contemplating that she was most likely going to lose her clothes and feeling a bit distressed about it. She worked over his burns carefully, though there were luckily not severe and it only took a few moments before she backed off and nodded her head, indicating that she was done.

One of the other men made clear his desire to remain near the trees, and Rosario politely countered that statement with, "Yes, let's stay where it's nice and flammable..." 

She shook her head with a sigh, "Never mind that, this really is our only option given a lack of other terrain."

A curious thing then happened, a talking fox began to speak to Koe and the man she had just healed, and she listened in.

"If the dragon is targeting only us it would put the townsfolk in danger." She interjected with a hard glare, "Do you wish the deaths of innocents?"

Koe winced as she started to try and stand. "Well... Whatever the case..." She winced again, closing her eyes tightly. "I need new clothes, but it's dangerous if we all stick together in one big group," She finally got on her feet, and wobbled slightly. "I think we should split up and head to the village,"

Faron closed his eyes as the pain was relieved, "Im pretty sure we all need new clothes Koe,"

Rosario gave the fox a hard glare, but dropped the line of thought. Instead she turned her focus to the idea of pairing off into small groups.

"I suppose I will head tot he village as well. However, I would prefer to travel alone." She made her intentions clear, she would travel much faster if she didn't have any of these lovebirds alongside her.

Will eyed the fairy's wings dubiously. They looked like they would fall apart if a breeze hit them. "Uh, I dunno. You're not very stable and frankly, you smell like singed demon. Gross." Then again, Will didn't see another option, and it would only be for a few seconds, right? "Ugh . . . I really don't want to do this." He stepped closer and kind of put his arms half-heartedly around Armistice. "I swear if you get us killed I will haunt your grave."

Elza nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Takeo, Xavier, it might be better to take someone else along. Just in case. Or something. Whatever. Faron, you want to go with me?"

Aaron looked to Koe, noting the barely noticeable pain on her features. She was covering it well. "Uh, do you mind if we travel together?"

Atalia was tense, hidden beneath the blackened foilage in her little ditch. Her muddied appearance and bloody scratches was the least of her worries, because she wasn't prepared for anything like this. The image of the sudden roaring flames were still clear in her mind. She would have to be extremely cautious from this point onward, but it wasn't long before the scent of the half-human half-dragon faded away leaving the stinging flavors of singed skin and burning greenery. The Ram Spirit dug her horns and nails into the walls of earth surrounding her, slowly heaving herself up and out of her hiding place. When her taste buds felt the smoky tang of the air, she paused to note her surroundings. The group from before was still there, and seemed to be discussing something. Atalia knew she shouldn't bother with their plans, but it didn't stop her from walking closer. She knew they were burned.

Koe looked at the witch, smiling slightly painfully. "Yes Aaron of course," she whispered before addressing the witch. "What's your name anyways?" She paused, forcing back a wince and almost grimacing, "And if you'd like you can come with Aaron an I, right Aaron?" She shot him a look. Like a. 'You-better-say-yes-or-I-will-hurt-you' look. 

 Faron nodded, "I'll most certainly go with you, but I don't know... If I can transform yet..." He muttered, sheathing his sword. He just realized he had been playin with it. 

Xavier looked at Takeo and nodded. "Yeah, if you don't mind of course," He answered, standing up slowly. 'Yes going with Takeo would be good, if fire happened he could be like. Yeah no fire, and then I wouldn't e a dead smoldering nymph. So yeah,' he thought chuckling. 


((WWIIIIIILLLLLLSSSSSTTTTTTIIIICCCCCEEEEE *fangirls pass out again*))

Rosario examined Koe closer as she spoke before walking behind her and examining he back. 

"****ing ****," she spat "I TOLD you to tell me if you were injured. Even if it isn't much there's no reason not to be at your full strength just to try making it easier for someone else."

Her words were rather hypocritical she realized with a blush as she took the time to heal the burns. They really were rather superficial, but no burns was a far better state of being than some burns.

"Idiots idiots idiots," She mumbled as she finished it up. "And to answer your questions my name is Rosario Scutese, and I'm traveling alone to the village, like I said. Now that you're healed up there isn't much reason for me to go with you and make you a potentially larger target."

"I thank you very much for the offer though," She curtsied with a polite smile before excusing herself and making way to the edge of the clearing. If she remembered the village should be this way...

"Actually, you're going the wrong way!" Aaron called, being as dense as he was. "It's that way!" He pointed in the opposite direction she was going.

"Actually, you're both wrong." Elza said, holding her forehead in her hands. "It's directly in front of us." she turned back to Faron and gave him the stink eye. "Did you really just say that? Gods, I didn't know you were this dense. See, if you get attacked, you need me to save your butt. So yeah, were a team."

Koe looked down at the ground, feeling like a scolded child. But her back felt better, she could move without being in pain at least. "We'll in any case thank you again," she called, starting to laugh. "Oh my gods you guys are..." She stifled her laughter, still chuckling sporadically. "You all amuse me greatly,"

 Faron blinked, "Im not completely defenseless. I still have my sword...." He muttered, frowning.

Atalia slunk behind a series of burnt trees and let the shadows fall over her. The woman passed most of the group to stop by where she'd healed the werewolf, and spotted the female elf she'd first seen. The ram spirit normally did not require payment for her treatment, but in this case, she needed protection from any harm in her way. It wouldn't hurt to team up with some of them, would it? They didn't seem like individuals who would turn on her that easily. The woman stepped out from the forest and casually strolled up behind Elza, lightly patting her shoulder like she had done before. A slight grin was planted on her expressionless face. "Mind if I join you?"

Rosario flushed at the correction, but began heading in the correct direction anyhow mumbling, "I must have gotten turned around at some point."

Then she was out of the clearing. She walked at an even pace through the woods, taking her time and reaching out occasionally with her magic to make sure there wasn't anything out of the ordinary around her. After all, a lingering demon or two would not be so out of the ordinary. 

Taking a closer look at her mana pool she noted that she was as low as she had expected, which was to say, low. Perhaps an in depth healing of a couple of medium level fire spells were left in her at this point.

She would just have to arrive at the village before the others got there and took up all the space at the inn.

Armistice wrapped his arm the best he could around Will, ignoring the offhand remark about his scent and instead focusing on not killing either of them on his way down. "Careful careful careful careful careful..." he muttered over and over to himself as his wing began fluttering gently, lifting them ever so slightly off the ground. He slowly drifted down the slope, going at a bit of an angle as he struggled not to close his eyes. Eventually, however, he made it down to the road, but he didn't let go of Will. "Will, WE'RE NOT DEAD! This is great news!"

Elza punched Faron on the shoulder playfully, flashing him a grin. "Oh come on, I'm kidding. But still, I don't want you getting hurt. Okay?" When Atalia came up, she nodded to the healer. "Of course. We owe you after you saved us like that. By the way, I don't think we ever introduced ourselves. I'm Elza and this daft lump is Faron."

Aaron looked at Koe almost blankly, and blushed. "What? At least I know what way not to go!"

Will jumped away from the fairy as soon as possible, muttering something about a bath. However, now they were faced with another challenge. Which way lead to the village? "All right, we're halfway there. Now which way do we go?"