Creatures of the Night

Creatures of the Night
Date of Scene:	19 October 2013
Location:	French Countryside
Synopsis:	Dark things are happening in the French Countryside. A group of heroes goes to investigate, only to find it is more dangerous than they had thought.
Cast of Characters:	Setzer Gabbiani, Myla Mason, Kyra Hyral, Alexis Belerang, Caran Steel, Disarray Grimstone

---

Disarray Grimstone has posed:
The sun is just setting in the French Countryside. Villagers have already retired to their homes, with only a brave few seeming to linger with torches lit to ward off the darkness. It wasn't long ago that a call for help had gone out, seeking heroes willing to brave the night and discover what has been happening in the eerie woods.

Two human men stand watch, though it's clear that they would rather be behind walls than hoping on some rescue. Sometimes, a person peeks out from some draped window, but any sign of light is soon extinguished. Even the sky above is mostly clouds, with only the occassional hint of moonlight that manages to sneak through.

"It's the curse of the castle, I'm telling you." One of the mutters, blowing warm air into his cupped hands. "Anyone who goes out there gets turned into a monster and never returns."

"You're talking foolishness." The other, younger man replies. His eyes sweep over the streets, which are empty other than arriving travelers. "It's probably just wolves or some other wild animal. Nothing some hunters couldn't take care of."

"I don't see you heading out to take care of the problem." The older man chuckles, although it has a dry, nervous sound to it.

"One man against a pack of wolves? I'd be a fool with those odds. It's not my fault that most of the men of this village are cowards." This earns the younger man a glare from his companion.

These two seem to be the ones responsible for the call for help. A desolate, eerie wind blows. In the distant forest, there is a cry that almost sounds human. It's enough to make the older man shiver, and the younger one take a step back towards the inn door.

Alexis Belerang has posed:
"It's important for a ruler to see to the needs of the downtrodden." A girl's voice comes from the dark of the forest. "You're not their ruler." A young boy's voice counters the girl's argument. "Still, it's good that we're helping them. And with the reward, we can get some supplies renewed."

Coming from the dark is a short young man, followed by a girl carrying a bow of sorts. There's a tiny pale light at the tip of her bow that seems to serve as their torch at the moment - reflecting the little tiara the girl wears on her head. It seems that between the two of them, there's no lack of bravery at the moment. Call it foolish adventurer's bravery.

The two finally come into full view. A young girl carrying a bow and dressed up in a 'pretty dress', and a young man in overall carrying a small handaxe. What is this? Halloween?

"We're here to help." The young man announces. "We heard there might be a reward."

Kyra Hyral has posed:
Did somebody ask for some WILLING HEROES?

Too bad, they'll get some Alexander Academy students instead. Honestly, it's probably just as good, perhaps even better. They've received training for this sort of thing, you see, because adventuring is an important life skill. It's as important as accounting or medicine-at least...it was on their world.

Kyra was all too happy to pick up on this job, if not for a reward but if to keep her 'technical chops' functioning. She's all decked out today, her hoodie seeming pretty bulky upon her frame. Beneath are her double sets of bandoliers holding many vials of chemicals as well as multiple holsters for her multiple firearms. More importantly, she's with people because Kyra prefers adventuring in groups. Meaning not only did she follow the young man and girl with the bow but she also has Myla in tow.

Setzer Gabbiani has posed:
Clad in a hooded cloak, Setzer approaches the city's inn. The weather surely was colder than he expected, even when used to the breeze on the Blackjack's deck. He had heard the call for heroes, and while he didn't see himself as a hero, hey, he could give a hand either way, right?

Of course, if they told him it would be this cold, he's probably think about it twice. And accept the mission nonetheless. After all, it was a new field, who knows what odds might have changed on the deck... err, mission that awaited him? He brought enought things to open up a casino, too. Cards, chips, the kitchen sink, some tea in an ingenious invention called 'thermos' and sugar.

Sugar was important. Very important. (Bouncing on the balls of his feet) Very very important.

Ahem. On with the events.

"Good evening, good men." he said to the guards with a small bow. "It has come to my atttention that you were in need of adventurers?"

Myla Mason has posed:
Kyra was not alone, nay she was far from alone as Myla was coming with her. She'd been pulled out from under the airship she'd been working on for some time and hopefully it was finished, or would be so soon. Either way the child of the first flood has got out for once, so this is a wonderful thing for her. Still prehaps it would have ben better if he'd gone with something else however? So here she is, all suited up well as much as one from her region of the ocean did. She's fallopwing along and might stand out just a whee bit with her utterly out ragous style of dress compaired to the locals, also the facial tattoos don't help much neither.

"So got any more detials on this Kyra?"

Caran Steel has posed:
What? Of course Alexander Academy students can be heroes! Kyra and Myla aren't alone, for CARAN STEEL is coming with them! Someone wearing BRIGHT RED riding what appears to be a BLACK CHOCOBO might stick out a little bit -- Caran is good at fighting evil, not so much blending in. "It seems pretty straightforward. /Something/ bad is going on in the woods, some people think it's wolves, other people think it's a curse. We'll find out what it really is and stop it."

Disarray Grimstone has posed:
It's clear from the expression on the older man's face that he was not expecting a group of what appears to be school-aged kids to be showing up to 'rescue' them. "You have to be kidding me." He probably hasn't seen the skills of those people from Alexander Academy, or the abilities of certain sparkly princesses and their henchmen. It leaves him rubbing at his nose.

The younger villager is the one to speak up. "Of course. Um." He glances at his companion, then back again. Setzer and Caran's arrivals don't seem to add any more confidence. There is a beat of silence before the young man seems to martial his courage. "Thank you all for coming. I'll lead you as far as the crossroads. That... seems to be where all the disappearances have happened, although a few people have been nabbed from town, too."

The old man grumbles, "If you make it back alive, then there will be a reward." He doesn't sound too certain about that.

"If... you'd follow me?" The young man offers, holding up his torch. The older man doesn't even bother saying a good bye, he just folds his arms, watching them go.

As they travel from the town into the forest, it becomes clear that this place is not your average cheery place outside of the World of Ruin. In fact, there are spider webs and wolf-howls and those tangled roots that tend to catch ankles of people who aren't paying attention.

"We're not sure what started it, just that all of a sudden people started going missing. First it was the blacksmith, and then his wife and daughter." He begins to tell the tale, although the young man seems to jump at every sound, even ones being made by chocobos or clumsy princesses. "No one's sure what to make of it... just..."

Then he goes quiet as he steps onto the cross-roads. the entire journey had taken only a matter of maybe fifteen minutes or so. Most people didn't go that far from their home village, and their guide seems ready to head back home, himself. "Uh..." He starts...

Then, just as he steps forward, the young man is seized by an ankle snare, which quickly has him hanging upside down from a tree, making a distinctly girlish sound of fright. There is movement around them in all directions, and soon enough, the dark forms of Heartless begin to appear, their yellow eyes staring at the 'adventurers'. Their guide's eyes roll back into his head and he proceeds to pass out. Some brave villager he turned out to be.

"You're... not welcome here." A voice growls from the darkness. From amidst the Heartless, something more gruesome rises. The creature seems put together from leftover parts of other monsters. The Shadow Lord stands with an aura of darkness around her.

Caran Steel has posed:
Caran is oblivious to the lack of confidence he's inspiring. "No kidding involved! Five heroes have answered your call! We'll take care of it!" He cheerfully replies, and follows the guide. Somewhere along the way, Ketan flies down out of the sky to sit on Blackwing as well.

Then things start going to pieces when... a vine! What? Oh. /Heartless/. Caran gestures in the air, and a shield of magic forms around him before he mostly fades from view, and the sound of a sword drawing can be heard. "/You're/ the one that's not welcome! You'll terrorize these people no longer!" Ketan arches his back, fur sticking up and hissing at the shadow lord.

Alexis Belerang has posed:
"EEEEE!" Alexis turns around and spots Myla and Kyra now that they're talking, and her face turns white as a sheet. "S-s-s-syg! There's people behind us." She declares, her hair raising slightly. She spots Caran not moments later.

"Well yeah. They've been following us this entire time." Syg answers the princess lazily, giving her one of those unbelieving sideways glances.

"Hnn... mmmmm." The princess quickly corrects her posture. She strokes her hands down her dress and tilts her head up. "W- well of course they are! I was just testing you awareness. You have to protect your princess after all."

Syg lets out a sigh, slacking his shoulders and just drops his head down. "Yes princess." Luckily the young villager draws his attention away from the troublesome princess.

Alexis props her chest forwards a little as the youth comes forwards and begins to follow him, hearing him out about the wolf-howls. "Blacksmith?" The girl muses idly. Syg actually peeks up in a concerned manner. Something sounds familiar about this.

"Different days?" Alexis continues to ask. "Don't you people have knights around to keep you safe?" She adds to this. The girl continues to light the way with the white-lit dot at the end of her bow, in conjunction with the young man's torch.

In the back, Sygg is in the meantime trying to introduce himself to the others. "The name's Sygg. And that's Alexis Belerang." He points out, and is about to continue this introduction when the young man is suddenly shot up into the air by a trap.

Alexis shrieks like a little girl and hugs her bow to her chest. "Alexis!" Sygg calls out and quickly makes his way to her side, taking out a small shield from his giant satchel and prepares his handaxe.

"Who's there!?" Sygg demands to know, pointing the axe at Disarray.

"Y... yeah! Who's there?" The girl asks, sweeping her bow forwards and trying to send the little bolt of light forwards to illuminate the Shadow Lord. Not seconds later she cries out;

"Iiiieee! It's a disgusting monster! And it TALKS! Kill it, Sygg!"

Setzer Gabbiani has posed:
Setzer grimaces as he watches the Heartless rise, along with their puppet master. "So, guess they needed adventurers after all." he mutters, as he discarded his robe. It would be difficult to move with that thick article of clothing. Running towards one of the closest Heartless, he steps on its head before taking to the skies, aiming at the soldier heartlesses with... playing darts?

Kyra Hyral has posed:
"Yeah, there really weren't that many details. Mostly mentions of disappearances. Knowing how things work out here, it's probably Heartless." Kyra remarks in an off-handed manner, waving her hand. Hey, it looks like she's painted her nails black today. She doesn't paint her nails that often.

The older man earns a roll of the eyes from the teenager. Honestly, she's come to expect this kind of reaction from people from other worlds. It's like they don't get many talented teenagers coming to their rescue or something. "Righto, let's get this show on the road." she grins, stuffing her hands in the front pocket of her hoodie.

They walk along with the others and Kyra starts to wonder. Sure, the story of people disappearing is a pretty heartwrenching one. Especially when the girl enters the picture. Something about picking on children just really rankled Kyra. Nor will she laugh when one of their guides gets caught in a trap.

Her eyes fall in the direction of the voice. "Don't suppose you would know anything about /missing people/ would you?" Calmly, she draws one of her firearms-it's a needle gun in this case, already loaded with vials filled with green liquid. "Hey Myla, heads up."

With just a glance in her friend's direction, she fires.

Disarray Grimstone has posed:
A single soldier Heartless ends up with a dart lodged in its forehead, although it's impossible to see if it's actually in pain. Another ends up rolling backwards into a tree. A couple of others have darts sticking out of various places. It only draws the attention of a small group towards Setzer.

There is a chuckle of dark laughter towards Kyra, which seems to be the monster's answer to her question. A couple of Shadows seem to be climbing up the tree, slicing down the unconscious villager. One is already starting to tug him off towards the darkness while the other bounces up and down excitedly atop the tree.

As for Alexis, the moment she points at Disarray and talks about the 'disgusting monster' that must be killed, the beast snarls in reply. Her hand tightens on her hammer If there is one thing that pisses the monster off more than anything else, it's air-head girls. "Kill it?" She growls. "Why don't I ruin that pretty little face for you instead? We'll see how much you like looking like a monster."

Disarray charges forward, swinging her hammer out, looking as if she's aiming to take off Alexis' head in the process, or perhaps flatten her knight protector. Either of the two seem to be workable solutions.

For the others who don't earn the direct ire of the beast, there are still plenty of Heartless who seem more than willing to join in the battle with their master. The air soldiers sweep in, trying to grab on to limbs and toss people up into the trees, where their melee counter-parts seem ready to take advantage by leaping towards the heroes, lashing out with armored fists.

Alexis Belerang has posed:
Alexis ducks her head down instinctively when the beast snarls at her. Sygg puts a hand to Alexis' shoulder and keeps her behind himself. "Alexis, don't try to antagonize it more!" He warns the Princess, and continues to stand there to protect the girl. "Is it you, who kidnapped the Blacksmith and his family!?" The young man demands to know!

But little chance for him to get an immediate answer. The beast comes forwards swinging that hammer. Sygg immediately steps forwards, swinging his little handaxe forwards and tries to catch the flat of the hammer. But it ends up just snapping the head off of the weaker wood, flinging the axe back into a tree nearby, and then slams straight into Sygg's chest, sending him flying and then flopping down like a ragdoll.

"Sygg!" The princess cries out, quickly running towards the downed person, and kneels at his side. "Sygg, Sygg!" For all the whining this girl does, she clearly cares a lot for the young boy.

"I'm... okay." The blacksmith apprentice groans. Alexis glances back at the great beastly monster, and steps up while gripping her bow, protecting Sygg from being attacked once more. "You... You'll pay for that, you ugly /thing/. I am Princess Alexis Belerang. And you will pay for harming my knightly cohort! He may only be a blacksmith's apprentice, but he's /my/ knight."

She draws her bow and aims it at Disarray, her gaze burning fiercely. The arrow that lies within her bow begins to shine brightly, diffusing the darkness of the night, and soon flies forth at the beast's chest.

Kyra Hyral has posed:
"Yeah, that's what I thought." Kyra shakes her head and unzips the front of her hoodie down so she can have easier access to her various chemicals and potions. "Well we're here to make you knock it the <Goosehonk> off-"

An Air Soldier swoops in, drags her off her feet, and flings her into a tree. For many moments she's pretty regretful that Kamon isn't here. Or /someone/ isn't here to stick behind. As she reorients herself in the tree, she starts to reload some new rounds into her needlegun. Remedy-rounds, specifically. One she shoots against her own neck. The other is aimed at that silver-haired guy that came with them.

Myla Mason has posed:
Myla Mason had been prehaps holding back a little bit, for unknown reasons to anyone but prehaps Kyra. Why? She'd been prepping something a number of sonic pluse gregnades which she throws into the ranks of the heartless soliders. The sounds? The worst of the eorst corp boy band pop from her home world flare up. She has an diea for a new mark but will need to ask Kyra about using her mogstep for that.

"Come is that's what you want...tch if that's how you wish to play then so be it."

Caran Steel has posed:
Caran's Invis spell isn't enough, though -- the air solders grab him "Hey!" and chuck him into the trees where a beatdown begins. "Waaaagh! Ow! Agh! My everything!"

Well, Caran's off to a great start! Ketan, meanwhile, hoYour power is mine! Vampiric Touch!</span>"

"HEY!" shouts the cat at the heartless now surrounding it. "Guess what?"

'Heaven's judgement, strike them down! Thundaga!' Caran pulls his hand away from Disarray to gesture at the heartless in the tree, now surrounding Ketan, as bolt after lightning bolt floods that area.

Ketan, conveniently, is IMMUNE. "That's what!"

Setzer Gabbiani has posed:
It wasn't pretty. Setzer hit once. The Heartless were many, and they hit many times. Badly. Being smacked around from Heartless to Heartless, setzer felt like one of those flipper games. Only he was the ball. And was about to fall. "Oh." he muttered, trying to shake the stars from his mind, right as yet another heartless hit him badly. "Oh." he was then once again hit, sending him flying... straight down. "Oh *bleep*." was his summary, as he saw a tree branch, then another tree branch, before the ground decided to tackle him.

ONE FALL HEAD-FIRST LATER...

Setzer was aching all over. Not only for the beating, but from the cuts he had, he suspected those Heartless were packing something else. Trying to fight both his lack of mental coherence and whatever the Haertless had, the gambler was now trying to get up.

And then, something else happened. A sharp pain, and a clear mind. Sitting, he could feel that whatever was crippling him was quickly receding. A close inspection of the sting site revealed a needle, and only one person had something that might shoot needles. "Whomever you are lady," he said, breathing deeply as the antidote did its thing, "thank you."

Disarray Grimstone has posed:
As the would-be knight gets knocked back, the beast's lip curls. It's clearly the monster's idea of a smirk. She watches him get thrown back by the force of her blow, her hammer swinging around as she prepares for another strike. "Oh, did you figure that out all by yourself?" Her tail twitches behind her. Of course, Alexis has to add on that she's a princess. "Princesses." The beast spits at her feet. "I'll take extra pleasure in seeing you torn to shreds, then."

The threats from Kyra gain the beast's attention briefly. "Good luck with that." She smirks, reaching a hand across her bracer. The dragon that lies across her forearm seems to wake, head rearing back before it shoots a bout of flame towards the two girls from Alexander Academy, trying to turn them into char-broiled heroes.

The one good thing about people who choreograph their attacks... it means that it's easier to get out of the way. The monster dodges back away from the lightning blasts, but a number of Heartless are not quite so lucky. They burst into little more than dust.

For now, Setzer is ignored as the rest of the group seems to be more focused on telling her all about how they're going to stop her plans. The fire from her gauntlet turns blue, catching onto nearby trees, turning the entire area into an inferno.

Oh, and those two Heartless? They're still trying to drag off the villager. In another round, he'll be yet another victim of the monster of the forest.

Kyra Hyral has posed:
Since trees aren't exactly very good tactical positions in times like this, Kyra endeavors to jump down, half-aided by a float spell as she does so. She lands in a three-point crouch, her hand still tightly wound upon her needlegun. Just as she stands, she receives a facefull of fire and yelps in alarm.

With a snap of the finger, she exerts her own magical ability to snuff the flames around her-especially before her clothing is burned away because that would just be damn embarassing. Not that it's going to matter in a few seconds since that monster woman set the forest on fire. "What the hell, you're just going to burn it all down? What kind of idiot are you?!" Magical power swells again as Kyra allows the wild energies within her to pour forth. A hand lifts and white magic gathers around her clutched palm, first spreading over herself, then again extending to the likes of Setzer.

Yep, Kyra knows he's there. She might also be vaguely aware of the fact that he's going to be doing something productive.

Alexis Belerang has posed:
The inferno that blazes has Alexis chirping in surprise. This monster is so angry. And the fact that she's a princess seems to only have upset it more. She crouches next to Sygg and pulls on him. "Sygg... Sygg, I need you to get up." She whines.

The youth groans and slowly gets back on his feet, staggering a little. "I... I got this." He mumbles and reaches for his satchel, pulling out a blacksmiths' hammer. "Try to heal our allies, Alexis. I'll keep him at bay." He declares, and then suddenly runs in close towards Disarray, trying to stop it from reaching Alexis - jumping through the inferno. He's not attacking it though - and it seems that the clothing he's wearing are at least somewhat resistant against the flames.

"Why are you doing this? What could you possibly gain from kidnapping blacksmiths?!"

Behind him, Alexis in the meantime fires a single shot from her bow upwards, beautiful pearly light blazing outwards and then sparkling down upon Kyra's body.

Caran Steel has posed:
"Ha! Fool, when the forest burns down you'll have nowhere to hi--yeee it burns!" Caran hits the deck when Disarray turns around to blast /him/ with the flame. Why is the fire burning him so?! He had a magic protection spell up, does dragon fire not count?! Ketan flies down from the trees, channeling healing energy into Caran while the red mage casts his own healing spells to put out the flames. When healing comes from Alexis, he gives her a nod, "Thanks!" while Ketan flies over to Kyra, channeling healing energies into Caran's classmate. "Come on!" the cat encourages, "We're not gonna lose to her!"

Setzer Gabbiani has posed:
Meanwhile, Setzer watches. He's pretty sure they forgot someone there. Oh. Oooooh. The guide. Right. Feeling invigorated by the pause and the magics worked by his allies, he takes a deep breath, a few steps back... and decided to try the very same thing he did when the combat started. Only this time he started on the tree, and started to work his way towards the hapless guide, decideding to take a bit of perverse revenge on the Hartless and using them as stepping stones. After all, they had no problems in smaking him around for a bit, right?

Myla Mason has posed:
Myla Mason is not having a good day, she pauses for a moment at the mention of being a princess. She looks at the beast and narrows her eyes for a moment.

"Is that whatcha think? You know I'm more taking issue with the use of the heartless than anything else."

Myla is struck had bty the heartless. She sees that and she choses to go after the man. To become a heartless is a terrible fate and it only swells the ranks of the enemies. Myla is not in the habit of easily forgiving. However she sees Setzer is on it she'll make to snipe at some of the otehrs and call out.

"Setzer get him quick!"

The blue haited young woman fires of a chain of magic blasts from her pistols. Some time they seems to be water other shots are clearly fire.

Disarray Grimstone has posed:
"What do I care about a few trees in a world that will fall soon enough." The Shadow Lord turns to Kyra with a grin that shows far, far too many teeth. "Soon enough, all there will be here is darkness, and there isn't anything you or your friends can do to stop it." She laughs then, one of those deep, evil laughs that you expect out of a true villian.

Seeing the guardian knight get to his feet, the beast flashes her teeth in his direction. "Best get your eyes checked before I knock them out of your skull for you, boy." The monster clearly doesn't care to be called 'him' very much. As for answering his question, she just makes a clicking noise, ticking her finger back and forth. "Come now, I'm not one of those sort of villians who give away the climax of the story before it's even gotten started."

She doesn't seem to be paying much attention to the Heartless who are currently dragging away the villager. So, when Setzer sets to dispatching them, it doesn't take much to mow them down. Unfortunately, what the gambler finds around him is a clearing that shows many footprints. There are many portals between worlds, but this one must be new. Perhaps this is how the Shadow Lord is moving Heartless into this world, and people out of it.

There's little time for investigation, though, as the beast seems to back up, growling as the shots from Myla's magic pierce through her armor, sending a few dribbles of red down along one arm.

An aura of darkness wells up around the beast, a phantom impression of her hammer forming around it, as if it were nearly doubling in size. "It's time for you to leave." She growls, sweeping the hammer up high into the air, then bringing it back down upon the ground. A wave of darkness erupts from around her, shaking the ground and threatening to blast back anyone who is near the center of the blast.

Luckily, Setzer is far enough away to maybe only feel the earth shaking beneath his feet. That can't be good for the others, though.

Caran Steel has posed:
Healing magic washes over him. Ah, Caran feels better. He rises to his knees and looks up--

At the hammer coming down right in front of him. By sheer reflex, he raises a magic barrier in front of himself, but it's not enough. The wave of darkness sends him tumbling into the forest. "Agh--!" Thud.

Ketan, at least, was able to take to the air and so avoid the attack... but for once, he actually looks worried. "Caran!" He flies off after his master. "Caran! Caran! Get back on your feet! Come on!"

Kyra Hyral has posed:
"Darkness, huh? Is that what you think you'll bring." Kyra slips away her needlegun once she has finished distributing healing to both herself and the sneaking Setzer. She is far from the only healer in the bunch, though, enjoying the gifts from Alexis and Caran. "It won't happen because we're going to bring light."

Kyra braces herself as magical circles begin to etch themselves around her feet, spreading outwards into an impressive looking array that glows through the dirt. The blast of darkness strikes her, but she manages to weather the blast, cringing in pain as she does so. She can feel that darkness stirring anger within her-anger that begs to be channeled and used in a completely different way. Yet Kyra elects to not use that option. They needed light right now. Not darkness.

With an upward thrust that actually makes enough motion to dislodge the moogle-eared hood of Kyra's hoodie from her head, the white mage points a finger high into the air. Overhead, Northern Lights inexplicably begin to gather in the sky before bending inward and seeming to drain into a single point overhead. That point of light twinkles as if it were a distant star before...

...a massive, massive beam of light descends from the heavens, centered entirely upon the beastly Shadow Lord.

Alexis Belerang has posed:
"SQUAAAAWWW!"

A falcon suddenly dives from the air just as Disarray slams her hammer to the ground and darkness erupts from the ground. Sygg stands before Alexis, trying to protect the princess with his body. The small shield however is little before the power of this much darkness!

"Tssssk..." The youth lets out a hissing pained sound as the darkness pushes against the shield and cuts past his leather armor. The Princess behind him reaches out to his shoulder, trying to help him with her magic. "Sygg..." She whispers.

But the power is too much. There's a sudden blast of power, and Sygg quickly pushes Alexis to the side just before he's flung back by the dark power and ends up tumbling back into a tree. His head slams fiercely against its bark, and the youth is out.

This leaves Alexis standing there - dumbfounded. It's the shriek from the Falcon that draws her attention back to the fight however. "Right!" As if she understood what it was saying.

The falcon descends upon Disarray and starts trying to peck at her head and pull out her whiskers! Meanwhile, Alexis draws her bow once more and aims it for Disarray's chest.

"It's you isn't it? It's you who took Sygg's papa!?" The girl calls out at the beast, before loosening an arrow of incredible light.

And another...

And another.

"Give him back!" She demands.

Setzer Gabbiani has posed:
Setzer shook his head in frustration. He was too late. There are many portals, and he is no tracker to check which footprints are the newest ones. However, that was not the worse. He felt the ground shake and the darkness that spread out, and realized something bad had happened back there.

It was time to return... and with the rescue being a failure, it was time to seek compensation... in blood.

Myla Mason has posed:
Myla Mason is caught off guard she doesn't know what happened to the force of the attack clearly has hurt her well. Myla looks at Disarray for a moment as she recovers and pauses for a moment before replying.

"Say what you will."

She lowers her pistols and starts to chant, the language is old for her world. Kyra might know a bit of it but it's clear she's casting a spell and soon she starts to turn the water in the air around them into a weapon against Disarray. The water comes at her now in liquid form in a focused burst enough that might be able to cut through flesh. Swimmer her mecha dog who'd been keeping to the shadows for the most part has been seen pulling the unconscious villager away but it might be some time before he can recovered but everyone else is gone. This was a very bad day, a very bad day.

Disarray Grimstone has posed:
A light from the heavens... it's enough to cause Disarray's eyes to widen, if only slightly. The beast raises an arm to shield her eyes from the light, only to have it crash down onto her, flattening the beast into the ground. Waves of smoldering heat rise up off of her armor as the monster lies there, unmoving. After all that, could it be the end?

No. Her hand twitches, and then slowly the beast rises to her feet, dusting herself off. Her fur fluffs out a bit, and she smirks just in time to see an arrow heading her way from the princess. The monster takes a step back, the arrow piercing through her shoulder. It seems to hiss a bit as it burns. "Heh... Haha." She just laughs at the girl, reaching up to break off the arrow, tossing it to the ground. "Here's a life lesson, princess. You don't always get things your way."

Clearly, the monster is in a bit of pain now, but she doesn't seem ready to retreat, herself. The Shadow Lords may very well have something important planned for this forest, and she's only the front guard. Maybe the main force is somewhere else, biding their time.

The water attack from Myla blasts her backwards, dropping the monster to one knee as she crouches, her armor showing signs of wear. "Irritating little things..." She mutters, spitting a bit of blood out onto the ground.

Since the enemy didn't seem willing to depart on their own, Disarray seemed content to continue the fight until they joined their friend in the woods. A great sweep of the monster's hammer seems to throw her into a spin, threatening to sweep up the heroes within it and send them flying if they aren't careful.

Alexis Belerang has posed:
Such.... such a fierce enemy. A single monster and a few heartless - holding its own against Five adventurers - some young, some older. This thing truly must be a monster. Alexis grits her teeth as her arrows dig in, and are simply /pulled out/ again. She gasps for air amidst the darkness of this forest, shaking.

"Sygg... Sygg get up... I need you..." The princess whispers. But the young man doesn't move. He remains laying against that tree even as the monster points out that the princess won't always get things her way. Her body feels heavy. As much as Sygg has been protecting her with her body, she knows that the power of darkness has been sapping away her strength.

Disarray comes with that hammer. And this time, there's no shield to protect her. Alexis lets out a shriek just before the flat of the hammer hits her and throws her back, the fierce force of it shredding some of her dress!

She ends up landing on her rear near Sygg, but quickly gets back up. "O... of course they don't!" She steps forwards. "Don't be stupid!" By the stammer in her voice however, Disarray can tell that she hit the mark. Alexis is still a princess after all.

Inwardly, the girl considers for a moment the amount of punishment Sygg took for her with every blow. Ouch. This really hurt! She barely feels like she can keep standing like this.

Her fingers tremble. She has to flee. She can't keep doing this. Without Sygg...

Without Sygg...

Without Sygg she doesn't have that courage.

So she draws her bow and waits for it to shine once more. For it to shine brighter and brighter... and brighter! Until the forest begins to look like it's daylight. She glances back at Sygg... then at Disarray again... and lets her arrow fly for her very heart.

And not a second later, she drops her bow and grabs hold of Sygg, trying to draw his body up and along.

The pretty pretty princess is trying to run.

Kyra Hyral has posed:
Kyra breathes in deeply after channeling that much mana. But even as she reels in magical exhaustion, she's already working to get a gun free. See, yes, she sees that the beast is down but doesn't trust it to stay down. The virtue of the 'double tap' had been drilled into her head. She's all ready to shoot it again while it was down.

Except it's already on it's feet. Kyra hisses and reaches for her messenger bag at the small of her back. "Time for plan M."

From the bag comes what looks like a plastic container filled with a noxious green liquid. Kyra throws this at Disarray's face, then turns and runs. Out comes the needlegun again, this time a dark red liquid contained within the slotted vials.

One is shot at Myla, the other at Caren. Each would come to their senses with an extra burst of energy as the liquid phoenix down enters their bloodstreams.

Setzer Gabbiani has posed:
The gambler has to admit that today, Lady Luck was on the other side of the field. Eyeing the wounded people, his decision was clear. Get those people out before the heartless got to them. Already the still conscious were preparing to bail out. Running towards the archer, dragging the body of... someone close to her, by her expression, he wordlessly picked the fallen adventurer and nodded towards the girl.

At this moment, no words were needed to know what to do.

The other guy was... somewhere. He should be safe, though, as long as someone remembers to give him a kick in the rear to get him moving.

Disarray Grimstone has posed:
A second arrow flies at Disarray, but this one only succeeds in piercing through her leg. It's enough to slow the monster down, though. Her eyes stare into the retreating back of the girl. She'd remember the princess, that much is certain. This isn't likely to be the last time these two face one another.

It's a distraction that only offers the others a momentary reprieve as the monster blocks the strange liquid from hitting her directly with a swing of her hammer. Whatever was in it probably would have been quite painful, as it leaves pits in the weapon as if it were caustic.

As the heroes retreat, Disarray doesn't bother giving chase. She remains at the crossroads. Though they certainly took a beating, it's clear that the monster has seen better days as well. The Heartless around her are all but destroyed.

"This is going to hurt like hell in the morning." She mutters.

It leaves the question, though. What are the Shard Seekers doing in these forests? How are the kidnappings connected? There must be a way of foiling their plans. They would have to formulate a plan to fight back, before it's too late.

Myla Mason has posed:
Myla Mason is out cold from her injuries and hopefully taken to safety b y her comrades at this point as there's no well doing anything for her with, the state she's currently in. She's very lucky to be alive.