Bom thought about it. Even if they weren't the most valuable things, they were certainly a useful - and devastating. It was probably a bad idea to leave them on the horses, for the whole world to see.
With no further reason to stay, Bom was willing to get moving.
"...It doesn't matter much because, we are leaving this village within the hour. So grab your gear and get ready to move." William said, then smiled at her. Claire returned the smile - how could she not?
As the group broke to pack up and go, Claire did much the same. Before she went inside however, she stopped at a well to clean the worst of the mud off; no sense dirtying her cleaner clothing. With that complete, she made her way into the Inn; intent on getting out of this town. As she was moving through however, she heard Rias speaking from around a corner.
"If we're done here, lets put this dump of a town behind us, lest we give that thief another opportunity to get more from us with no proof" she said, clearly still upset about the night before. Claire tried to ignore it, rolling her eyes in annoyance. As far as she was concerned, it was the only good solution; Mr. Bom's guilt or innocence regardless. Whatever the truth was, the old man believed the group was responsible. If they had refused, the man would have attacked them. Given their state of dress (or in Karen's case lack of), it would have been a fight with little protection and few medical supplies to make up the difference. Best case scenario, they would have likely lost the medical supplies from the fight anyway, plus the time to heal (and the food entailed in that time) and it would have been a net loss long term
Combined with the way Mr. Bom had been acting; casing a weapon store, taking a late night stroll, and acting defensive the moment he returned - Claire didn't think there was a good way to mount a defense. She was annoyed at Mr. Bom for putting them in that position, but at least they had made the best of the situation - in her opinion.
Claire shook her head as these thoughts went through her head. She would voice them to Rias, but she feared Karen would overhear. Rias she could speak to; and if they had a disagreement they could resolve it. Karen however... Claire got the feeling she wouldn't know what hit her when Karen went berserk.
By the time the thoughts were through, Claire had finished checking to ensure nothing but the bombs had been taken (nothing else had), getting dressed for the day, and packing for their trip. Claire stared at the Inn's bed she had hardly had a chance to use forlornly, then left the room. Leaving the room, Claire called down Elise - who she suspected was sleeping in the rafters somewhere - and got ready to load up the horses. Resolving herself, she decided to apologize to Rias for waking her in such a rude manner upon there next encounter.
"It's going to be a long day" she muttered to herself, grabbing a bit of hard tack for her morning meal.
Time_skip = Time_skip + 1
If Time_skip > Party-count/2 Goto Next_Scene:
Else
Exit Sub
Next_Scene:
Rias opened the door "Where else would I be." Rias said sounding annoyed. "If we're done here, lets put this dump of a town behind us, lest we give that thief another opportunity to get more from us with no proof" Rias walked down stairs. William walked down the stairs too, he was ready to leave this village behind him. He walked over to his pony and he petted her. He had grown attached to her, it was almost like it was his last connection to home. He smiled at the pony, and then turned around. He gave the move order, and began to travel towards their next destination. He walked alongside Claire during their travel, he wondered how long it would take the others to figure out.
as the group closed in onto the city the swamp got more lifeless, eventually the only noises that could be heard was the group walking through the muddy roads. After while pieces of broken wood and cart wheels could be seen floating in the swamp waters.
It was about mid day when the group saw a group of five men completely and utterly covered in moss, They slowly rose from the ground and started very slowly heading towards the group.
Claire had spent the better part of the trip in close proximity to William as they made there way toward the capital. She'd apologized to Rias for the unpleasant waking, but found the relationship still strained (at least in her opinion); the cost of the food and medicine was apparently still eating away at the other woman. Claire flatly refused to apologize for the action; she was in the right. She knew the tension was only enhanced by her stubbornness, but Claire couldn't find it in herself to apologize for doing the right thing. The end result was less then a dozen words said to Rias over the course of the trip since the town. It was even less to Karen, but then Karen scared her so it was hardly unexpected.
Claire was pondering how to rebuild the bridges between the three women when they spotted the floating cart wheels and broken wood. It wasn't an unusual sight - even in human controlled swamps, but it was never a good sign. Broken wheels meant broken caravans, which meant lost souls. She uttered a quick prayer for the lost.
Were they in human lands, it would have ended here, but then, from the swamp itself, a number of humanoids appeared from the mud. They were covered in moss and, as a result, their figures where ill-pronounced. When they started moving toward the group however, Claire stopped and shouted at them. "Stop! Approach no closer!" She said much the same in the Yama tongue, hoping they would understand at least one of the warnings.
She held up her crossbow just in case they didn't.
Ivaan reached out to feel the newcomer's energy, He was unsure of them; possibly ghouls? They look a little worse for wear.
"Stop! Approach no closer!" Ivaan heard Claire call out in multiple languages.
Ivaan felt he knew a universal language; He drew himself up to his full height, bared his large canines and rumbled out a long, menacing growl, sure to let the newcomers aware of the danger if they were at all lucid.
Could I have what Ivaan learns ASAP? I need to know so I can have Ivaan react.
Ivaan stopped growling after he felt the being's pain.
"Wait, Claire, they're being controlled." Ivaan shifted his bag quickly off his shoulders.
"I don't know how, but I'm betting the moss has something to do with it."
Ivaan rummaged through his bag and found his alchemy kit.
"I think I know a herbicide that could kill it off whilst leaving the people inside alive, but I need time to create it."
Ivaan's brow began to moisten.
"I can't fight and create at the same time, and I'm fairly certain if they manage to get a firm hold on me it's curtains..."
Ivaan began to panic a little as the creatures edged closer, before looking to his commander.
"Oh god, they're trying to fight it, but it's too strong... William, What should we do!?"
Hand to hand combat would be useless, Perhaps we could stall them somehow? Ivaan thought, repulsed by the idea of getting infested and controlled like that.
William had been walking alongside Claire during the trip. It seemed that Claire was thinking about something else while they were walking, William decided to give her some space. He would ask about it later. He spotted the floating cartwheel and the other broken wood. That was a very bad sign, William drew his longsword. Then a number of humanoid looking creatures appeared form the swamps, they were completely covered in moss and slowly walking towards them.
"Stop! Approach no closer!" Claire yelled in human and Yama language, William didn't know how to speak Yama but he could understand it quite a bit. Ivaan growled at the creatures, William gather his ash around them. "If you come any closer we will attack!" He yelled as the ash began to move around him violently, he was preparing for an attack.
For Karen the road trip was typical, her up front and on point, the fact Claire hadn't said anything to her didn't bother her, as the two didn't really talk much anyway, she did how ever notice something 'different' about how Claire, it was a 'difference' she knew all to well 'And another fears me that has no reason to' Karen thought when she noticed, but said nothing, no one listened before, and had no reason to believe anyone would suddenly start.
Rias and Claire had talked, briefly. Claire apologized for her rude wake up call but remained stead fast on the issue of the supply's. With a wedge driven between her and Claire they barely spoke during the trip, in fact Rias barely spoke at all, viewing the issue of the 'supply's' as a betrayal of sorts. Rias detests thieves, and the two 'leaders' of this team had just caved to one, and for the first time, Rias was starting to doubt the odds of living through this.
Both noticed the broken wheel and wood fragments in the water, when the moss covered forms rose from the murk, Karen readied her self for a fight while Claire shouted a warning.
Rias was disinterested in another pointless fight, and it showed. Her mist had a different feel to it as flowed from its bottles, the color was a bit darker to, reflecting her mood in a way, as well as giving her the air of a coiled and hissing Rattle Snake
Bom turned to see the advancing moss people, and took a step back.
"Don't let them touch you!" He yelled to the others, "whatever you do, don't let them come near you. That moss, if it even touches you, you'll surely be infected!"
He turned to Claire.
"There is no point warning them. They can't control themselves any more. The moss controls them now."
"There is no point warning them. They can't control themselves any more. The moss controls them now." Mr. Bom called out; there was little need to tell her twice. Claire pulled back the reins of her horse, making some distance between her and the 5 controlled creatures. Judging by Ivaan's words, they had a way to stop them without killing them, which was a good thing. That it depended on their ability to delay the monsters was a somewhat annoying fact, but not something that couldn't be dealt with.
Using her powers, Claire opened a pair of rifts - one in the fork of a tree and another below the closest one's foot. When the foot entered, she closed the portal around the ankle so it would be bound. That was one, but it would tie up her powers until the fight ended; the rest would need to be either dealt with by others or in a more traditional way; with swords and arrows.
"Ivaan! How long is that herbicide going to take?" she called out, hoping for a very small number in a very small unit.
"Bom, if the host dies does the moss die as well?"
Bom shook his head.
"They'll just keep coming."
The whole group was backing away from these things now. Bom was worried that they might stumble straight into something else if they kept strafing. He looked around to see if anything else in the swamp was likely to attack them.
The swamp was lifeless in this area, apart from the trees, though who know what waits in the swamp water. The moss men just kept heading towards the group though anything but fast could be used to describe their movement.
Ivaan was beginning to panic; "The solution's almost done, but I need some heat to boil the mixture."
The large boiling flask Ivaan had transferred the viscous green herbicide into had enough to use on all the moss, but the creatures were getting closer and Ivaan didn't have any matches.
size of the flask: here [http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_qEx5biESpBs/TNo28NwJD-I/AAAAAAAAAqo/jqPM25VsfXM/s1600/ManaPotion+012.JPG]
"Their roots go pretty deep into the flesh. You'll have to burn it off." Mr. Bom called out after her mention of Ivaan's herbicide. While she didn't doubt Ivaan's knowledge on the matter, she didn't doubt Mr. Bom's either. Turning to William who was fortuitously still near her, she called out. "Do you think that you can use your ash powers to start a fire?" she asked, desperate for some kind of ignition source in the damp swamp.
Ivaan faltered in his efforts as he felt that his companions didn't have mush faith in his herbicide.
"William, are we using fire or herbicide? I'm fairly certain fire would kill the victims of the moss, but if you think it would be a better use of my time I can sap the moss and the host's energy, making it harder for them to move." Ivaan needed leadership, if they weren't going to use the herbicide, Ivaan would stop working on it.
This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.
