Secret Waterways

Secret Waterways
Date of Scene:	15 December 2012
Location:	Traverse Town - District 3
Synopsis:	An infestation of Pot Centipedes has made their lair in the waterways underneath and around Traverse Town. VALKYRI (plus special guest Hati!) investigates the maze underneath the city of Traverse and puts a stop to them and the bandit using them to plunder the poor Manhattan refugees.
Cast of Characters:	Katyna, Avira, Hati, Minerva

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Avira has posed:
All is not well in Traverse Town. The sudden influx of refugees attracts all types of people, some of the less desireable persuasion.

For a week now, rumors of an infestation of a strange sort of "heartless centipedes" somewhere underground have been spreading like wildfire. Furthermore, they've been thoroughly blamed for a large increase in thefts in Traverse Town recently. Refugees have been finding personal belongings of varying value vanishing when their backs are turned. On a few occasions, the Pot Centipede culprits have been spotted...but so far, none have been apprehended.

A bit of independent research revealed that there was an extensive, if somewhat ancient, sewer system beneath Traverse Town. So if these Pot Centipedes were making their home underground, this would certainly be the place to start!

Avira, being one who does such research in advance before embarking on missions, awaits outside one of the sewer entrances. Of course she wouldn't go in alone! Others of VALKYRI would be coming with. Furthermore, word that this little mercenary guild of Traverse Town is investigating these thefts has gotten around pretty darn quick.

Katyna has posed:
Katyna had been quite intrigued to hear about the sneaky Heartlesspedes, and their propensity for stealing precious items from unsuspecting victims. She didn't really care about playing 'hero' again, although she was interested to see what lovely treasures awaited in the sewers - intent on stealing some for herself if she could!

Of course she was also here to keep an eye on Avira, and back her up. Afterall, she didn't want any harm to come to an individual who not only intrigued her, but might also be of some use to the heartless cause, especially in this form. The Ember Knight steps in a little behind Avira, waiting for her to lead the way.

She wrinkles her nose at the stench that already hits her near the entrance, however. "Ew, what a place to live! I hope we don't have to wander down here all night.." A little shrug. Oh well. "So which way, oh fearless leader?" Kat quips cheerfully inspite of the dark, grimy, wet environment she finds herself in..Surely it'll all be worth it in the end!

Hati has posed:
Some might be drawn to the sewers by the chance to fight back against the Heartless, others for the gain of finishing some job for the mercenary guild, but for a certain werewolf, it is more about curiousity. It isn't to say that she has any great qualms about stealing, even from those who have been displaced, but the fact that they seem to be able to do so without being caught... well that is interesting.

The wolf prowls in the shadows, checking the street for any sign of a certain familiar burmecian who has already threatened her life once for wandering too close to town. The templar is thankfully absent, so the girl who looks almost like some teenage punk in a trenchcoat emerges, moving across the street with her hands shoved into her pockets, looking only vaguely interested.

Of course, her nose and her ears are already on the alert, taking in the scents around them and listening for other arrivals. "There are days when it is not a good thing to have a sensitive nose." She can smell it already, and it's enough to draw a growl from the wolf. Her eyes look towards those already gathered, "Mind me tagging along? I might be able to help you track the culprets. If I can smell anything at all down there." Hati blows a breath out of her nose, and then gives a small wry smile towards Katyna.

Perhaps the ember knight isn't the only one interested in what treasures lie below.

Minerva has posed:
After the encounter with Ang to say Minerva had been left chilled would be a lie. She's even more angry at the doctor behind everything, but there's little she can do. There's nothing her martial mastery can do to help with this, he can help with this tonight. She's following after Avira with her fists at the ready. "So humm where might they be hiding down here..."

Avira has posed:
"Yeah, tell me about it." Avira snorts, her nose wrinkling. "Glad you could make it, by the way. Maira won't be joining us tonight...she's got some Hearts Intertwined business to attend to." She starts to take a step towards the entrance, but pauses, eyeing the dimensions to the tunnel warily. With her current size and wingspan...

A slightly familiar voice comes out of an approaching, trenchcoated figure. The mutate turns, staring at the approaching Hati with a little bit of awe. "...you..." she says, not accusingly, but mostly in surprise. This was Skoll's sister! Though she looked nothing like the wee werewolf Avira saw in that memory. The years had not been kind to Hati, especially given her scars. Strange how she wants to help too. "Sure. In fact..." Avira backs away from the tunnel. "You should go first since you'll get a good bead on the direction."

Avira looks down at herself and snuffs through her snout. "I'll bring up the rear. I'm not sure how quickly I'll be able to get through the tunnels like this."

Within the rounded tunnel, the ground is dry and slopes upward gently. It isn't long before the path splits right away into three: one straight ahead, one to the left, one to the right. The area of the forking is level ground with a bit of standing mud caked upon the floor.

Katyna has posed:
So, that strange fire girl who clings to Avira all the time isn't here today. Good, less distraction. She nods to Minerva when she joins them, recognizing her from the other day. But it's only when Hati enters that she breaks out into a smile. "Hati! Alright!" well now, this might actually be fun.

Katyna pauses to let Hati take the lead, and unsheathes her sword, allowing the brilliant glow of the flames to light her way through the dank dark tunnels. Unlike the mutate and the wolf girl, she has no particular sensitivity to smell although she is careful not to voice her sympathy towards Hati for having to deal with the stench of sewage times ten..

"Lead on.."

Hati has posed:
The wolf chuckles slightly, offering a wink in Katyna's direction. These two obviously are familiar with one another. The mutate, on the other hand, gets a longer look from the wolf, who tilts her head first one way, and then the other. Something isn't quite right about the beast, but there isn't any look of shock like some might expect when being met with such a creature. Afterall, Hati is a werewolf, she's quite a sight to see in that other form.

It's the scents that are more familiar to her than anything else. She had tracked Avira through Fluorgis, and then seen her brother for the first time in years. The overlapping of those two scents has her eyes narrowing. "Interesting." For now, the wolf keeps her thoughts to herself, although it wouldn't be a stretch to figure out what her first one might be - especially with her brothers scent seeming to be so close with that of their mutate 'leader'.

"Sure." Hati doesn't bother reaching for her weapons, not yet. The set of twin daggers are visible as walks in, boots moving easily through the mud. At first, there really isn't anywhere to go until they reach that fork in the road. That's the point where Hati crouches, picking up some of the muck with her fingers to give it a sniff. Her nose scrunches upwards slightly, growling under her breath.

Some of her fur ends up puffed up from having to deal with such things, but she looks back over her shoulder. "That way, I think." She coughs, and then breathes into the crook of her arm, then points towards the far right before using a bit of cloth to wipe off her hands. "Smells like pottery. Could mean there's a potter's trash-bin that way, or the right trail I imagine." She coughs, then sneezes... in a way that could only be described as puppy-ishly cute. Ragewolf is not amused.

Minerva has posed:
Minerva says "I understand Avira. I'm not sure she'd enjoy herself down here. She's really a very kind heart..." she notes tilting hr head a little as she looks about spotting the new arrival she doesn't react too badly for the moment she doesn't know hati does she? No she doesn't as she moves after the mutate she has to wonder a few things about the overall situation what sort of people were they facing down here?

Avira has posed:
"Wellll it's cold and smelly. Can't say there are many people that would enjoy it down here. You'd have to be some kind of mutant turtle." Avira chuckles a little, but that quickly trails off when she realizes exactly zero people here are going to get that reference. RIP, Earth.

It actually seems that Avira's really dealing with 'smell' for the first time down here. She's drastically unaccustomed to having olfactory senses that keen. Eternally grateful for taking up the lead, she mostly remains out of sight as far as people watching her eyes water from the awful scents down here.

Likewise, though, she's curious about Hati. Did she ever meet her brother? They had to have run into each other eventually, especially since Avira told Skoll that Hati existed. "By the way..." she hazards to ask the werewolf, "Did you ever manage to run into another of your kind?"

Nevertheless, Hati points out the rightmost tunnel and SNEEZES ADORABLY. Immediately, Avira has a flashback of wee Hati. With a nod, Avira urges the group that way to continue following after Hati. The particular tunnel they've chosen seems to be getting a bit narrower the farther they go down. It isn't long before Avira has to start ducking her head down.

Fortunately, it doesn't get much narrower. The tunnel eventually ends in a much larger room of varying "levels," where they wind up on one "step" above the very bottom.

Straight ahead there is a large basin-like area, half filled with water. The pool is incredibly deep. Also straight ahead is a metal catwalk, supported about two feet off the ground with no railings. The catwalk extends to the right and left of the room, archways leading to elsewhere in the sewer at either end.

About two stories higher are a pair of big pipes protruding from the wall, each dripping a slow trickle of water.

The room smells /terrible/, even to humans. The water in the deep basin is clearly stagnant and has been sitting there for who knows how long.

It's not all bad though. Straight ahead, a large pot is wedged upright beneath the catwalk. The designs upon it betray origins from Agrabah.

Katyna has posed:
Katyna cant help herself. Hati can be unintentionally cute at times..She stifles a giggle, but stops when she realizes that Hati probably doesn't want to appear 'cute' anymore than she wants to appear 'weak'. "Ahem! I guess the scents must be really overwhelming for you two. I cant imagine anything living down here when even I can smell the stench, a little!"

She follows after Hati, anxious to be out of here and get it over with. Minerva's comment about Maira's kind heart is given a slight smirk..More like Naieve, as far as Kat's concerned! But she keeps her thoughts to herself as she hurries on, and pauses for a moment. "Pottery, huh? How odd.." But when they step into the main room up ahead, she can see now what she means. A giant pot? A basin full of rotten water?

"Eww..Gross!" She wrinkles her nose. "What on earth were they doing down here? I wonder if we just wandered into the latrine or something?" however, that's all quickly forgotten when she focuses upon the large pot. It's designs seem vaguely familiar, and make her wonder if the pot is worth something, or has something of value within..

"Ooh, now this looks potential..." she darts for the pot, eager to peek inside. Is this where they keep their treasures, soon to be HER treasures?

Hati has posed:
The echo in the tunnels makes voices bounce, causing Hati's ears to swivel like little radar dishes, trying to catch the way the sound plays back to her time and again. She doesn't bother commenting on the turtle thing, although the look of confusion on her face shows that she's trying to imagine a turtle living down here of all places.

Pulling up her collar, the wolf shoots a look towards Katyna when she laughs, but it's just that. Not even a growl - for now. She's paused for a moment to examine something along the wall when she hears Avira's question come forward, and the wolf looks back into the darkness, her own nightvision spotting the hunched form of the mutate. It can't be comfortable down here. "Yes. Thank you for that." Obviously, this woman turned monster had something more to do with it than just letting her know that she isn't alone.

Just how it went... well, the wolf keeps that to herself fo rnow. That line of conversation is broken as she takes a breath, gagging slightly before covering her mouth with her jacket again. Any good thief brings with them a bandana, so Hati has to stop to wrap it around her nose to keep herself from wreching. "Be glad it isn't as bad for you." Hati coughs again. "My nose is going to be useless from here on out. I can't smell anything over this stench."

As the room opens, there is that pot sitting there that seems to show that they're on the right track. Then, Kat goes racing off towards it, and Hati holds a hand out, "Kat, wait." Too late. The wolf's caution is thrown to the side in favor of the Ember Knight's need for shinies.

Minerva has posed:
Minerva is very glad she can't smell as well as Avira likely can now. "I'm used to such places, I feel like a fool having sweage below the city rather than on street level." She muses about this, her world was odd in how it developed the breakthroughs chemists had made and the existance of White Mages gave them far better medical and life spans than one would expect of such a world. Still somethings were down right medival still. She contines about inf ormation as she makes a face at the smell. "Ugh...hat stench..."

Avira has posed:
"You've got no idea, Katyna." Avira rubs her eyes with the back of her furry hand. "This is incredible. But at the same time, pure torture." Is this what Skoll experienced all the time? Was there any way to turn it off?! "So let's hurry, alright?"

Hati admits that she found that 'other person like her' and Avira is imagining a tearful reunion between brother and sister. Why they weren't together right now...well, that isn't any of her business. But Avira "smiles" nonetheless. Hati's probably going to be the only one here that'll recognize the expression on Avira's face as a smile, being familiar with the wolf anatomy that she was. "Oh good, I'm very happy for you, Hati. Being alone is awful." Sounds like Avira's pretty sincere about her words. She IS happy for Hati.

As she emerges in the room, Avira slows, crawling out of the tunnel. Her ears swivel and her hair seems to stand on end. That feeling...

Avira looks all around the room, eyes narrowed.

One of her clawed hands reaches up to cover her nose.

The pot, wedged upright as it was, would clearly need to be pulled out fully in order to open it up via the lid. Just as the pot is pulled free...

...well, Katyna will have a chance to pull the lid off. She can see something deep inside glinting in the light. Something SHINY.

But just as the Ember Knight reaches for it, long, black spider legs made of shadow shoot out from the base of the pot, one of them aimed to jab into Katnya if she doesn't move fast enough. Freed, the treasure-baring pot starts to skitter around, almost as if it were looking for something, before climbing up onto the raised catwalk.

Katyna has posed:
Kat smirks at Avira. "Well, I guess it's not all bad. there must be some advantages to being a mutate..Having super senses can come in handy, so can super strength!" Still, having to take in such overwhelming scents like this all the time must be difficult.

She arches a brow when Hati confirms that she did meet another wolf, idly wondering if it was the sweet girl Sassaral (who managed to get on her nerves when she stopped her from preying on hobos), or that irritating Skoll (who got on her nerves when he fought her in Manhattan).

She's starting to wonder if there are any decent wolf folk out there besides Hati. Fortunately Kit's too busy peeking into random pots for pretty shinies to comment at the moment. Now where was she..? Kat's amber eyes sparkle greedily, rubbing her hands as she attempts to unscrew the top of the pot..And then creepy spider legs shoot out of it, stabbing Kat's outstretched arm and causing her to yelp out in pain as she staggers back.

"What the...Grr!" quickly recovering herself, she slashes out at the spider with her sword, determined to teach it a lesson!

Hati has posed:
It isn't the smile on that wolf-like face that Hati finds a little disconcerting, but the words that follow. Hati's ears draw back slightly, nearly hiding within her multi-colored hair. Her reunion with her brother had not been so joyous as one might imagine. Still, it had come at just the right time. It had kept her from stepping off the edge to becoming a real monster - something far worse than a werewolf or a beastly mutate. "I'm not sure yet if it makes me happy." She admits, and unlike the last time Avira had seen this girl, there is some confusion in her eyes. "I'll figure it out, though."

That is for another time. Hati's attention ends up completely engrossed in the fact that Katyna has wandered straight into the fray. The wolf reaches back for her daggers, stepping clear of the entryway to the tunnels so that the others have room to come into the chamber. The sudden movement of the pot has Hati's tail puffing slightly, a little growl coming from her chest.

"Wait." There's another one of those wolfish warnings towards the knight, but as she moves forward, Hati looks first at Katyna and then to the others. "This one couldn't have taken everything. Maybe if we let it go, it'll lead us to the others." She coughs again, this time her eyes squeezing shut quite tightly. There is a watery quality to them, and it's clear the wolf-girl is struggling with the stench.

Minerva has posed:
Minerva says "I figured it must be but if it smells like this to me. I can't even understand how bad it must be to you." Hati gets anod from the monk and nods a little bit. She understands aout being alone, most of her world is gone, her home is gone. Everyone she knew consumed by the darkness. She's made up her mind no mor. She looks about the room for a moment the pot she doesn't like and oh lok a spider here it comes. She's already got her first bursting into flame as she's abotu to Strike but Hati speaks true and she with holds her attacks.

Avira has posed:
Something seemed off for Avira, her fur still on end. As time wore on, she couldn't help but get the distinct feeling that they were being watched.

Avira seems wholly unsure by this suggestion of Kat's. "Well I /guess/..." she says, her gruff tone doing quite a bit to reflect her feelings. "...but at the same time I don't think I really..earned any of this. Not in like the 'working for it' sense." Her foolishness in battle sure earned her a syringe to the back though.

The wolfish smile turns into a look of confusion and concern for Hati. At least their confusion matches-and Avira seems to recognize Hati's. "...hmmm. I see." Mentally, Avira reviews what Skoll said about his sister that had disappeared on her. How upset he seemed, yet overjoyed when it turned out that Avira really had seen Hati. There...must be some drama that she's missing here.

Frankly, she knows better than to bring up touchy family situations in front of everyone, so she lets the subject drop for now. All the better since there was a pot spider to deal with.

Katyna hits the pot spider right in the...pot. The terra cotta cracks, but the vessel doesn't shatter completely. The creature shivers for a second before rattling at Katyna, then leaping up onto the catwalk.

The spider clatters away along the catwalk, heading off to the left archway.

"Hah, good idea. After it!" Avira announces, all too happy to leave this incredibly foul-smelling room. She allows her wings to flare out, perhaps giving herself a little lift as she hops up onto the walkway.

The treasure hunters are going to have to move fast to keep the pot spider in sight, especially since beyond the archway, pipes start to open up and split again, making it easy to lose it if they don't keep up.

Katyna has posed:
Kat frowns when she sees Avira's hesitation, and shrugs, "Sorry, guess that was a bit insensitive of me, huh? I guess I'm just trying to look on the positive side!" Or perhaps..Perhaps she was measuring the benefits and possibilities of Avira's powers, were she working for the Heartless..

But, about that pot..She's about to crash it to smithereens when Hati stops her. "Huh?" wisely, she pauses this time..Trigger happy yes. Stupid? no. Hati's words have merit to them and she lowers her sword, eyeing the pot and its irresistable contents. "...Makes sense. Alright." Let's hope this isn't all for nothing!

She chases after it as it heads down a (hopefully not random) trail, and pauses as Avira takes flight, gasping in silent awe of the girl. "Wow, Avira..." She murmurs softly. "You might be a mutate, but..Being able to fly like that..that must be incredible.."

Hati has posed:
There would be plenty of time for questions later. As much as Avira might want to know about what happened between Skoll and Hati, and if this wolf really is his long-lost sister, the wolf wants to know just who this fighter-turned-mutate is, and hat he has to do with her brother. It's an exchange of information that will have to happen sooner or later, when they aren't trapsing through tunnels chasing after spider Heartless.

The sound of Kat's sword against the pot sets Hati's teeth on edge, but luckily they don't completely smash the pot. The wolf doesn't wait too long, giving a glance just long enough to see Avira take wing, and then look back to the monk. She has every trust in the world that Katyna can manage on her own. The wolf breaks into a jog, then bounces off of a few nearby surfaces, moving quite quickly along with a display that would put most so-called free-runners to shame. The sound of feet clatter in the tunnels, and there isn't much time for scents or sounds. Right now, the hunt is on, and she is one of many predators.

Minerva has posed:
Minerva s awaware something isn't right here she's looking about and has noticed smething clearly isn't right from Avira's body lanuagefrom the looks at it. She's unaware of the family drama between the were beasts and so she's more focused about dealing with going agter the spider. So away she goes tollowing it into the depths. "Prehaps I should have bought a pair of goggles." She muses given the goop that's down here.

Avira has posed:
Her 'flight' is short lived. Avira lands on the catwalk and resumes walking after that.

"That..oh...that...that wasn't flying." Avira looks distant for a moment, recalling the moments in the previous day when she had, alone, scaled the side of the VALKYRI headquarters. It took many tries to get it right, the extra limbs afforded by having wings a strange sensation she was still struggling to comprehend, but on the fifteenth try, she achieved flight.

"...I will show you flying later." For the first time she doesn't sound like she's bothered by her transformation. After all, what child from Earth didn't dream of flying through the air without any sort of machine?

Keeping speed and sight would be the best way to follow this critter and Hati clearly takes this initiative. Were there not so much echo in these pipes, sound would also be a good way to track.

The chase is pretty exhausting and at one point, it almost feels like it is leading them in circles, trying to ditch them, trying to lose them in forks in the path. But they relent.

Eventually, they come to another very large room, almost identical to the first they'd found before. Mercifully, this room is not filled with stagnant and putrid water. That large pit where water was held is filled with stuff.

So much stuff. There is a lot of munny here, but a lot of other things too. Jewelry. Wallets. Cell phones. Soda cans. Bottlecaps. Stuffed animals. Small mirrors. Makeup compacts. Keys. Socks. Silverware. Watches. Musical instruments. Not all of it is valuable but quite a lot of it is shiny and most of it appears to be various stuff from Manhattan.

Pot spiders and pot centipedes wind and clatter about the room, moving by the giant pile of stuff, disgorging things from their pots into the heap. They come in from all entrances, except for the one that Hati, Katyna, Minerva, and Avira came out of.

There's also an Arabian man here, standing with his back to the group, looking over the pile of stuff. There's a strange gauntlet with glowing purple circuts on his left hand. Right now he seems to be going through a man's wallet. "Baaaah, useless, useless..." he discards the credit cards over his shoulder, "Why is it that half of the things you steal are useless? I told you all to bring me valuables!"

He huffs and kicks a nearby pot spider, only to recoil in agony, holding his foot.

Hati has posed:
While some might eventually lose their way, or find it tiring to race through the tunnels below the city in persuit of a creature that doesn't seem to be really going anywhere, Hati shows what might be the first true sort of smile she's shown thus far. The hunt is where she shines, and with the air moving past keeping too much from hitting her nose, it's all dependant on her sight and her instincts. Twists and turns, but she's easy enough to follow with that bouncing black and white tail moving behind her.

Hati comes to an abrupt halt as they come into the room. Maybe the sound of their footsteps could be masked by the movements of all these little pot spoiders and centipedes. One hand slowly reaches back for a dagger, looking behind her to check for the others. Even on her better days, the wolf would probably be overwhelmed by the sheer number of pottery-beasts here. Luckily, she isn't alone.

There is no time for her to consider the irony of the moment - where she'd been unsure about being alone only a handful of minutes before. The wolf falls back, looking towards Avira. It's clear that she's the one calling the shots here - the alpha of this little pack, so for now she'll reserve the right to judge how this wolf leads. In the meantime, she draws out an image in the air with the tip of her dagger, one that reaches back over herself and the mutate. Better to give her a bit of an advantage in these close spaces.

Minerva has posed:
Minerva has been to manhatten and understands the strange plasic cards are something to do with on demand moneylenders. Not that she'll say a thing about it to this man as they arrive. She looks at the man for a moment she is going to try to do something she's going to prepare for what might likely be a fight she closes her eyes and focuses on her own energies for a moment.

Avira has posed:
Avira's the last one to emerge, not due to any lack of fitness, but because of her much larger form than she's used to. Being petite did have some advantages, namely in the realm of agility. Upon arriving, she takes a few moments to process the scene presented. Pile of stuff, clearly stolen from the refugees, by this jerk. Who is using the Heartless to do it.

Her lips pull back into a snarl and she pulls the Spine free. Magic immediately begins creeping around the weapon, but this time, it looks...different. It's not just ice. It's shadow. Darkness. Avira isn't looking at the Spine right now so she might not even be aware that this is happening. But those dark-sensitive would definitely see it.

"GET HIM!" Avira growls, oddly incensed for someone who was just a petty thief.

The man, Amin Damoola, whirls around at the shout. Upon seeing the four here, his eyes widen in terror. "Ahh! No! This stuff is mine!" He falls to his knees, half-hugging the pile of things beside him. His gauntleted hand reaches out to gesture and all the sudden, ever single pot spider and centipede stops cold.

In a flurry of pottery, they swarm together, smashing and clinking-though not breaking! In a short amount of time, they form up into a massively long single pot centipede that encircles the treasure pile with its length. "Go! Go go go!!!" the man calls out frantically, "Get rid of them!!"

The massive pot centipede raises up as if it were a cobra, and thrashes, coming down on both Hati and Minerva!

The creature is large, enabling Avira to get around to its winding coils to start very, very violently hacking away at it. With each blow, pottery crumbles.

Minerva has posed:
Minerva lets the other two go in first and her fists start to freeze beoming one with ice and she launches herself at the man as he screams for his minions to attack. She's forced to ignore him and go after the thing coming after them. She launches into a series of attacks while shouting at the man.

"You disgusting little wrethced cut purse! You prey on those whom have lost just about everything but their lives! YOU ARE SCUM OF THE HIGHEST ORDER! When I am done with your beast we shall have earnest words about your ways!"

She's however not so lucky as she strikes the monster it sinks hit into her pumping some sort of posion into her system even as she pulls away from her own strikes. She's not feeling so good now.

Hati has posed:
Seeing the pots come together to form that giant creature is enough to draw the wolf's ears back, a more audible growl summoned up from the small wolf-girl. "It isn't yours little man, and you'll be giving it back." With her spell cast, Hati doesn't need more than that one deep command from Avira before she's charging forward.

Of course, that means charging right into the path of a writhing monster. As quick as she might be on her feet, Hati isn't quite able to get out of the way, allowing one of the pots to land hard on her leg. It's the sort of injury that lingers, making it a bit harder for her to move once she rolls free, showing a small limp.

There is no direct path towards the man and his treasure hoard, but she can try to find the weak points within the monsterous centipede. That is where a hunter truly has skill. She bounces off of a nearby bit of piping, crouching along it for only a split second before launching forward. A quick set of dagger slices aim at the 'head' of the creature, while others seek to take out smaller pots along the way that are key to the overall defense of the creature.

As a wolf, she fights with strength and will, as a human, Hati fights with her mind.

Katyna has posed:
Kat grins, fighting pots as they accumulate, greedy eyes on their sparkling munny and other goodies. She slashes this way and that, trying to hit them but they're fast! And then suddenly they come together to form one giant creature, and her eyes widen in surprise.

"Well finally, a real fight!" Her sword bursts to life as she rushes at the big heartless pot-monster, slamming her sword into the ground to unleash an explosion of blue-white flames, then swings her sword around to release a trail of green flames and thick gas.

All the while she watches the ground for munny to fall..

Avira has posed:
A roar of fury escapes the mutate known as Avira. Seems she's knee deep in trying to wrestle the pot centipede, her claws and Spine leaving marks on the pots that slide by.

"AHHH!" Amin shrieks, apparently easily quite terrified by yelling ladies. Minerva especially, even if she is threatening 'earnest words'. Amin's no fool though (mostly). He knows the punishment of a caught thief in Agrabah. Now if that applied here or resolved to something even worse, well...

The terrified man leaps over the pot centipede chain and scrambles onto his heap of valuables, as if this would somehow put him out of their reach. It kind of does since the big snakelike centipede is curled around the pile.

Minerva smashes through a pot in the chain. Two things immediately happen. One, munny explodes all over the place, coating the ground. Second, that link missing, the adjacent links immediately pull themselves together and the snake is whole again, though one pot shorter than before.

"Finders /keepers/!" Amin sticks his tongue out at Hati before making another gesture with that strange glove he has. The Pot Centipede jerks it's 'head' out of the way of the daggers. The other daggers clatter off the pots and fall to the ground, unable to really stick.

Then Katyna sweeps in. Amin seems totally unprepared for this attack and cannot really command the Heartless effectively, a giant section of coil vaporized into terra cotta dust by the wave of blue-white fire.

The pots rejoin themselves, now significantly shorter in length. Something odd follows, the coils oscillating and warbling irregularly. Without warning, the head darts down to "eat" Hati. That is the lead pot tries to scoop up Hati into it. Nearby Katyna, one of the pots integrated into the coils attempts to trap her as well.

Hati has posed:
Sometimes, getting upclose and personal within a small space really isn't a good thing. Perhaps it's the fact that her leg had gotten injured so early on in the fight, but the wolf slips on her landing, sliding off of the centipede and landing in a crouch. She's distracted. So much confusion from the past few days rages through her mind. When she hits the ground, there is that momentary image of Skoll standing there with his arms outstretched - then the image of the moon and it's pale, taunting light.

The wolf shakes her head, trying to get rid of those memories pressing back in on her, but it's too little, too late. The head of the pot-snake-centipede comes down, and there is just a split second where you can see her notice it. Her ears fold back and her eyes widen in that 'oh crap' sort of way. Then, she's gone. Omnom werewolf.

Apparently, she's so tasty that the lead pot actually burps a bit of fuzz. But fear not, true believers, this is not the end of our resident werewolf. Stay tuned next time for more wolfy action, on 'As the Moon Turns'.

Minerva has posed:
Minerva is not very happy with the guy at all he's been picking on refugees it's one thing if your starving, or someone you know is. OR simple surival like with her and Luso. This wasn't that at all she slams into the pot and just tears into it. Mummy gos everywhere next the other ones seem to pull thesmelves ogether. She sees it getting small. R
"You should be careful little man. Of whom you angered!"

She's posioned she could purge it but she needs to deal with the beats for now she launches into another attack punching it her fists that are now on fire before she pulls back to recover somewhat.

Katyna has posed:
Kat yelps as the pots slam into her, trying to trap her. "Heh, sneaky!" She darts for munny, trying to grab it before the thief can get it. Hati gets eaten by the pots and her eyes widen, rushing towards the pot that ate her, trying to smash it, to free her.

"Hati!" She yells, slamming her sword against the pot, but careful not to apply too much flame. Instead, she attempts to drain energy from the pot.

Avira has posed:
'It can eat people?!' is what Avira would normally be spazzing about at this point. Except there's not much spazzing going on right now. Avira's pretty focused in blow after blow, destroying pot by pot and whittling down this monster to help.

Poor Hati will be rattled around in the pot for now as the giant pot snake battles the other ladies! Fortunately, they're hard at work, and Minerva punches through another terra cotta segment, shortening the creature by another one.

If it's any consolation for Katyna, Amin's too scared to come down from his pile of things to pick up the money that pour out of the pots, leaving them up for grabs! Kat's own attack doesn't destroy a segment, but it does sap away valuable energy.

Suddenly, the whole creature thrashes violently, sending people and 'valuables' alike scattered throughout the room. Avira herself is knocked back by this and slams against the wall. She looks winded, but recovers and comes back for more.

Katyna has posed:
"Persistent, arent you?" Kat smirks, as she continues to slam her sword into the pot, adding more bursts of fire to her attack as she aims at other pots that dont hold her friend captive. If she can separate the others from the one holding Hati, at least it'll be less damaging. (Hati will probably be mad if she finds out she tried to 'rescue' her too, maybe?)

She is momentarily distracted by munny and she makes a dive for it and other valuables, enough of a distraction to get slammed by the pot monster and she crashes into a wall. "Ow.."

Minerva has posed:
Minerva is nopt happy with this thing, she knows the vile little man has been using it to harm people. She now back on her feet, had time to focus and she's going to go after it, she slams her fists into the ground making a shockwave that heads right for the creature. It takes a second more as her right hadn starts to flare up and glow with holy energy. Shes' then raechining for what passes for a head to just flood the built up energy into the beast.

"BE GONE!"

Avira has posed:
The Hati-pot is at the head, which makes it actually quite simple to separate it from the others. Unless it does something dickish and swap the pots around. Fortunately, this does not happen. Nevertheless, Katyna manages to sever the head pot from the rest of the body, which goes crashing to the floor and breaks open, relasing the human-form werewolf. Hacking away, the other pots fall to Katyna's blade, spilling their contents to the ground.

Then Minerva unleashes a shockwave that reverberates throughout the whole chamber. The pot snake freezes suddenly and sits there, unmoving.

Amin Damoola makes frantic gestures, but nothing seems to get it to move. Frustrated, he tears the gauntlet off his hand and THROWS IT ON THE GROUND!!

A loud cracking noise follows and bits of light can be seen emitting from tiny cracks in the snake's pots. Then, all at once, the whole thing shatters into a fine dust.

Glowering, Avira scales the pile and snatches Amin up by the scruff of his neck. "Oooh buddy, do /you/ have a lot of unhappy people to answer to." A menacing growl follows from the mutate.

MISSION SUCCESS!