Children of the Gods: Arc 2 [Game/Closed]

[Athol]

"Hey, time to get up, we have a horse fucking ass clown to kill."

Yawning, Keshi sat up and put her feet on the floor. Somehow the both of them had managed to squeeze onto the crappy little single bed, though between worrying about what Rias had been saying the night before, and her snoring, she hadn?t had that restful a sleep. Getting dressed, Keshi went into her camera bag, and pulled the memory card from it. ?Even if shit goes sideways and I can?t make it back here, I am not going to lose that many weeks of work.? She said, half to herself.

Wedging the card into the back of her pendant, she did a once over of her swords. All four were sheathed, and those sheaths were bound together by thick military-style webbing, turning them into a single unit. A second piece of webbing formed a carry strap allowing her to carry them at her hip. With everything as ready as she could make it, she shot Rias a half-smile. ?Well lets go kill a God?how hard could it be?"

 

[Lunar Templar]

Rias rolled her eyes at Keshi's statement "Famous last words right there." and got up and got dressed and armed her self, after stretching, laying back down, then stretching again before getting back up.

"Welp, lets go do this" She said as she finished getting ready, slipping her ring on then that glove on, and headed out into the hall with the impatiently waiting Titan. "Patience is a virtue ya know." she said as she approached him. Rias was still convinced this was a wholly bad idea, but she was also convinced they didn't really care.

 

[hiei82]

Hymir was shocked by Rias's sudden reversal of opinion. It wasn't often he saw that among mortals OR gods. In his experience, people tended to be stubborn. "Thank you Rias. I'll remember this in the future." he said through the link before going quiet.

A while later Andrew contacted him. He received a fair amount of information about everyone followed by a quandary. How should Andrew focus in battle. "Allow me to sleep on it." Hymir finally said; he needed to digest the new information. It sounded like they all had a fair amount of skill in battle so the question was how to draw the lines. He experimented with a few ideas on the chessboard before eventually going to sleep.

Sunrise​

"We had best get moving. Don't leave anything here - no guarantee we'll be coming back. To here, I mean." Prometheus said, drawing the Norseman from his dozing. "Of course" he replied, pushing himself up from the chair he'd slept in. He stretched, used the bathroom, and otherwise got ready in about 5 minutes.

By this point, Hymir had more or less come up with a battle plan. It wasn't a perfect plan by any measure - what was a perfect plan to kill a god after all - but that mostly had to do with a lack of knowledge of what support Loki had with him and what the terrain was like. In any event, Andrew's role was a fairly easy one. Through the link, Hymir finally answered Andrew's question; including everyone in on it as well.

"Andrew. I thought over your question. I think the best option is for you to focus on healing. We have enough people on the front line to bring the pressure to Loki. Specifically, here's my opinion. When we trigger the battle but before the front line reaches Loki, I want you to try and contain him using your bow. Once the front line connects with him, I want you to switch over to healing. Focus primarily on keeping yourself alive. I'll ask one of the fighter types to focus on your defense as well. Otherwise, stay out of harms way, healing as much as you can. The front line will focus on a switching maneuver - where some attack while others recover, then they switch - to keep the constant pressure on Loki. We need you to facilitate the recovery so avoid the poison. Keep the Ambrosia in reserve in the event of an emergency. You and Nicole are - as far as I know - the only support we have and we'll need both of you at full power if we want to defeat Loki." he said.

From there he added the still fluid parts of the plan. "Rias, Keshi, Shiro, Promtheus, and I will be divided between the following three groups: 2 Attackers, 2 Recovery, 1 Defender. The Attackers and Recovery will switch throughout the battle while the Defender will focus on keeping you and Nicole safe. Which groups are which will depend on the conditions of the battlefield. If for instance he has additional allies than we'll need to switch one of the attackers and recovery groups over to defend the group from the mooks. We may also want to rotate all 5 of us through all positions to keep Loki and his group off balance, though that will depend on the terrain of the battle. The overall strategy is "Blitz-and-Switch" I suppose." he said, finding the rhyme surprising.

"This is just the preliminary idea; feel free to voice concerns or suggestions" Hymir added, ditching all pretense of being the commanding general. Each of them knew their own abilities far better than he ever would and so he wanted... no needed their input and buy in.

 

[Green Shoes]

Prometheus raised his eyebrows at Rias, and have her a brief grin.

"I used to be very patient, you know. But now it seems we have no time for patience..."

As they left the hotel, they were graced with early sunlight - yet an unnatural storm still hung low over the forest; the clouds thinning out at its edges. Prometheus briefly considered finding a taxi to take them as far into the forest as it would, but quickly dismissed the idea before it was raised. The noise would attract attention, and they had no idea how many enemies they would find therein.

Listening to Hymir's plan, Prometheus spoke, aloud, to the group, as the crossed the final, empty road, and began their trek into the forest. Keeping his eyes peeled for any edible plants, he posed several questions.

"I think it's as good a plan as any, if we face only Loki and one or two others. But I don't know how many he will have on side - or whether they will be split up. Or if they are keeping an eye on the forest - I doubt we're the first to hunt him. Perhaps stealth would be a better advantage..."

As they walked, the group was quickly encircled by the forest, and the small, flitting shafts of sunlight began more and more sparse, as they entered the jungle and the storm. The Titan had already lost his bearing. He stopped, and listened. He heard nothing, except the small droplets of water falling from the canopy.

Ahead of them was a small creek, swollen with the rain, that ran downhill into a small valley, thick with trees. To their right, a sloping hill, that would take them up the side of a gentle but high mountain, whose peak sat above the trees. Left, and the trees continued on flat ground, save the odd stump, whose tree had been felled quite recently.

Prometheus spoke quietly, trying to make as little noise as possible.

"Anyone have a preferred direction?"

 

[DarkRawen]

"This is just the preliminary idea; feel free to voice concerns or suggestions"

So, healer it is. I suppose I'm not surprised.

Andrew thought about what Hymir had just proposed. On one hand, he understood what Hymir intended to do, and it was a somewhat safe option compared to some of what they could choose to do. On the other hand, he wasn't entirely sure how he felt about Nicole not flying, or even doing anything but having a support role. Still, at least it would mean she was safer than the people in the front.

"Understood," Andrew replied, and got his bow out as soon as they were out of public eye.

"Are you sure you want to have me avoid using poison with the first shots, though? If I did manage to poison him, it could weaken him considerably. It also would not drain me too much if it was only for a couple of arrows, how exhausted I get depend on how much I have to make, and how effective it is."

He supposed voicing his opinion might be seen as somewhat rude, considering that he had asked Hymir to decide. He listened to Prometheus speak, this time aloud, before continuing.

"I think it's as good a plan as any, if we face only Loki and one or two others. But I don't know how many he will have on side - or whether they will be split up. Or if they are keeping an eye on the forest - I doubt we're the first to hunt him. Perhaps stealth would be a better advantage..."

"If we're going for stealth, you actually using the telepathy would be wonderful," Andrew replied, amused and smirking. It was a bit ironic to have someone pretty much yell at the top of their lungs -compared to the mind-communication, anyways- that they should be stealthy. He continued, whispering, if only for the benefit of Keshi.

"I agree in that we should attempt to scout out the place before making our move, though I doubt we have the right powers for taking people out stealthily. If I were to use my bow, I could take out some of them from afar, but..." he trailed off, it wasn't his choice this time. There was a kind of relaxing feeling to that, knowing that if everything went wrong, it wasn't his fault.

"Anyone have a preferred direction?"

Andrew simply shook his head, he did have an idea and preferred direction, but he'd rather not be responsible for making such a decision, in case something went wrong.

 

[Lunar Templar]

As Hymir spoke of the plan she repeated it for Keshi, since she figured no one else would. Apart from that, she remained quiet, she didn't have much to say on the matter and really just followed along, brushing the plants from her path as need be. Though she did wonder by what means Hymir deduced where to place her for the coming battle, but then shrugged it off, it didn't really matter as it was the right place to put her, even if it was a bit of a guess on his part.


"The one that's the shortest distance to the target and allows for as much a surprise attack as possible" Rias replied to the Titan when he asked for a preferred direction, as she moved to stand on one of the many stumps, though the one Rias picked was slightly away from the group. She didn't really care what direction they took, so long as it got them to Loki and it allowed them to catch him as unaware as possible.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Shiro didn't say much during the walk back to where Keshi was staying, as his thoughts were on the fight ahead. He listened to the conversations going on around him, but Shiro couldn't help but think that things were bigger than he had realized. He couldn't help but think about his family - mortal and otherwise - and hoped they were alright.

Mother... I swear I'll come back to you. And father... if I find you again, I want to know what you're been doing...

When everyone prepared to rest for the night, Shiro went to a corner of the room to meditate. He needed a clear head for tomorrow...

(The Next Day)

There was a bit of a rush to get ready, but soon they were off towards the forest, presumably where Loki was hiding. Shiro kept his eyes and ears open, in case anything jumped them. So far, it was pretty peaceful, but you couldn't be too sure...

"Anyone have a preferred direction?" Prometheus asked, and Shiro just shrugged. Each direction looked as valid as the next, really.

 

[Athol]

Keshi moved along in silence, listening to the others and just trying to absorb as much information as she could?at least until the Titan stopped.

"Anyone have a preferred direction?"

Mother save me he?s lost?we?re going to die out here. Probably?why couldn?t you have taken that nice safe job trying to get photos of Boko Haram? I didn?t hear YOU voicing any concerns when I took the gig here? ?I?d say stick to the hill.? She said quietly after a moment. ?Stick to the jungle as best we can, but close enough to the clearing we can see anybody trying to cross it. I assume it?s safe to say that Loki will have some sort of intruder alert to warn him if somebody gets too close to his spider hole??

 

[IFS]

"We had best get moving. Don't leave anything here - no guarantee we'll be coming back. To here, I mean."

Nicole nodded and quickly packed up what little she had, at least this time she'd been able to prepare her pack ahead of time instead of just having to raid her room on short notice. Hymir presented them with a plan soon after she finished packing up, with her and Andrew hanging back as support. I don't want anyone getting hurt protecting me, but I suppose my power is best used if I hang back and try to influence things from afar. Who knows if the rain picks up again I might be able to hit Loki with a lightning bolt, although I'll also have to help Andrew stay calm if that's the case.

"Sounds like a good plan to me," she said, the one who had the most to say about the plan was Prometheus who suggested stealth. That would certainly be nice, to get the drop on one of them for once instead of the other way around, but I don't know how easy it'll be to achieve. We aren't exactly the most subtle bunch most days.

"Anyone have a preferred direction?"

"I'd take walking uphill any day over getting my shoes soaked walking alongside a creek," she said "so if one direction is as good as the other I say the hills, we'd have a better vantage point from them as well anyways."

 

[Green Shoes]

Prometheus folded his lips as Andrew called him out. Feeling foolish was not something the Titan enjoyed. Still, he felt quite uncomfortable with Hymir's Northern Magic, and was slow to project his thoughts back out, with a slight grin at Andrew.

"Right, the Thought Cloud. Alright, the hill it is."

Through the dense trees, and up the mountain, the Titan spied a few open glades of sunshine. The height advantage also risked them being seen along the way.

Nothing for it I suppose...

"As Andrew said, we should try and move quietly. Rias, keep your ears pricked for anything."

Finishing his thoughts out loud, he tried to shut off his mind and get moving. He doubted the paranoia regarding telepathic tethering would ever leave him. Still, the group began to make headway up the mountain - hiking easily enough amongst the clustered trees and rivulets. Reaching a small clearing on a small plateau of grass, jutting out from the slope, the Titan paused.

In the moist dirt by a small creek, were a series of tracks - disturbed so as to give no useful information, but several sets of them were to be seen. The seemingly most recent one ran parallel along the slope, neither up nor down.

Rias heard distant murmuring as the wind picked up and blew towards them. The storm clouds seemed to gather as the wind blew.

A figure darted between the trees into view, following the tracks back to the group. He was covered in blood, and ran as if seriously injured. Keshi recognized him as her former assailant.

Prometheus quickly began to look for a sturdy branch, almost speaking, but quickly turning to his thoughts.

"He's being chased. We'll probably need our weapons now."

The man found his way to the clearing and stumbled, falling flat on his face. Scrabbling to his feet, he implored the groups help, limping closer towards them. Swift, dark figures weren't far behind - more than ten, seemingly flitting through the jungle.

 

[Athol]

A hiss escaped between Keshi?s teeth as she recognized the battered figure stumbling from the bush. My turn? With quick fluid movements, she drew her swords and stuck the tip first into the ground; that done, she closed her eyes and transformed. Striding out of the flames, she snatched up her blades, and went to meet the figure.

"He's being chased. We'll probably need our weapons now."

?Way ahead of you on that.? She said as she moved off. Seeing as they were converging on each other, moments later she found herself right in front of her former antagonist. ?Hello again fuckstick.? She spat. Keeping the other three swords in a loose mid-guard position, she rested the edge of her fourth blade lightly against his good knee. ?Tell me why I shouldn?t cripple you right now and leave you for your ?friends?? Be convincing?they?re close.?

 

[DarkRawen]

"As Andrew said, we should try and move quietly. Rias, keep your ears pricked for anything."

Andrew nodded, still smirking a bit, and started walking. He didn't mind walking up a hill, though he did worry that they might be a little too visible. Then again, knowing what could be find in the forests, perhaps it was the safer option. He'd hate to run into a poisonous snake and end up having to heal someone even before the fight. Andrew kept quiet as they kept walking, until he noticed a man being chased by shadows, flitting through the forest. They didn't appear human.

This is bad news, I am sure of it.

"He's being chased. We'll probably need our weapons now."

You don't say.

Andrew thought to himself, as he raised his bow, arming it with an arrow. He was ready to aim and shoot in less than a second, should it be necessary. The fact that they were outnumbered didn't really bother him as much as the fact that he had no idea what they were outnumbered by.

Not to mention, are these guys with Loki? Should we attempt to move ahead, or speak to them?

What he did know, however, was that he had no reason to aim at the guy they were chasing. The man could easily enough be defeated, given his injuries.

"Tell me why I shouldn't cripple you right now and leave you for your 'friends'? Be convincing...they're close."

He felt the urge to ask her what the hell she was doing. There were clearly others to pay attention to, being alert and, quite frankly, not giving this guy even a second of their time was what he would prefer, but apparently that was impossible. Then again, it seemed to be the guy who had attacked her, and seeing as hostile Keshi had been towards him, Andrew had no desire to get between her and her prey. That said, he sent a message to everyone but Rias -and Keshi, of course- saying what he thought should be said.

"Should we just let her take care of the poor bastard and deal with the pursuers? Or does anyone feel the need to stop Keshi from carving him up? Because I highly doubt that she'll be able to get anything worthwhile out of him if he's dead, which could be a waste."

 

[Lunar Templar]

Rias kept an ear open for odd sounds, as the Titan suggested, problem was. Everything was an odd sound to her, what with being unfamiliar to ambient jungle noises she was.

The sound of running. That was a sound she knew, as was the sounds of a number of pursuers, and she let every one know about it. Then a man came running toward them, heavily injured. Rias was going to help. Was. Until Keshi spoke up, and started threatening him, apparently this was the guy that attacked her. Rias still put her claws on though, who ever did this to this guy would likely do the same to them given a chance. "What ever your gonna do, make it quick Keshi, we don't have time for you to carve this ass hole into a 'Meat Toboggan' cause he attacked you." Rias said, keeping an ear on the sounds of the pursuers that where closing in on them.

 

[hiei82]

"He's being chased. We'll probably need our weapons now."

Before the sentience was even done, Hymir had drawn his father's sword and taken a fighting stance. Then... Keshi recognized the one being pursued. Apparently said person's first impression had been worse then the group's; something he'd not expected to be honest. Hymir made his way over to where Keshi and the unknown man were, taking a defensive position between the pair and the dozen or so pursuers. He heard Andrew's comment through the link and was inclined to agree, though the man's life was in Keshi's hands as far as he was concerned.

"I suggest you listen to her; convince her to let you live." Hymir said matter-of-factly, his back to the pair. "And speak quickly; we cannot ensure your safety otherwise." he added.

A moment later, he heard Rias's comment. "What ever your gonna do, make it quick Keshi, we don't have time for you to carve this ass hole into a 'Meat Toboggan' cause he attacked you." He shook his head, desperately trying to get the image of a 'Meat Toboggan' out of his head.

Spoiler: OOC

"What ever your gonna do, make it quick Keshi, we don't have time for you to carve this ass hole into a 'Meat Toboggan' cause he attacked you." Rias said, keeping an ear on the sounds of the pursuers that where closing in on them.

@Lunar:

 

[IFS]

"He's being chased. We'll probably need our weapons now."

Nicole drew her sword, her wings unfurling invisible behind her, though for now she stayed on the ground. Going airborne would just make her easier to spot. Keshi immediately both recognized and began threatening the man, transforming into her blue form as she did so.

"Should we just let her take care of the poor bastard and deal with the pursuers? Or does anyone feel the need to stop Keshi from carving him up? Because I highly doubt that she'll be able to get anything worthwhile out of him if he's dead, which could be a waste."

"We shouldn't kill him if we don't have to," she thought back through the link "though we do need information, so we should find out what he knows."

She wasn't certain they'd be able to stop Keshi if she did decide to kill the man, she was already at his throat after all, but she disliked unnecessary bloodshed. For all they knew the man was simply being manipulated by the gods, though of course that could just as easily not be the case. At any rate he's no threat to us now.

 

[CrazyGirl17]

"He's being chased. We'll probably need our weapons now."

Shiro had already drawn his sword by this point, ready for anything that came at them. He cautiously glanced over at the newest member of their party, noting how ready she was to kill a man who was most likely not doing anything legal.

Moments later, Andrew added via some mental link, "Should we just let her take care of the poor bastard and deal with the pursuers? Or does anyone feel the need to stop Keshi from carving him up? Because I highly doubt that she'll be able to get anything worthwhile out of him if he's dead, which could be a waste."

"I saw we keep him alive, he might know something about where Loki was and if not... we can't just kill him, maybe drop him off to the authorities." Shiro thought back. It wasn't like anyone would believe a guy who said he was attacked by a crazy blue-skinned chick, right?

 

[DarkRawen]

Andrew listened to the various suggestions and opinions. It seemed that people were in favor of keeping the man alive, but not actually doing anything to stop her. He wondered if they were expecting him to do something? Why on earth would he? If they wanted to do something about it, they had to act, that was how it worked.

I'll let them deal with that.

In the end, he was fairly neutral on the matter, the man might know something, and Keshi might get something out of them, but just standing around was a waste of time, unless they acted on that time. Instead, he stepped a bit away from the other, arrow still pointed at the shadows in the forest.

"Excuse me," he said, addressing them. Surely they must already have spotted the group -especially because Keshi was attacking what seemed to be their target- so it wasn't as if he was bringing attention to them.

"Who are you, and why are you chasing this man?" he asked, being a bit hesitant to mention Loki's name just yet.

Especially because he was unsure of whose side they were on, and stating they were after Loki might cause the shadows to hurry back to the god. Well, moreso than they already was likely to do, seeing that if they were working to Loki, a group of clearly not normal humans in the middle of nowhere had to be some kind of indication of that they were seeking the Norse trickster.

"Surely you can answer a couple of questions, if your target is already being taken care of," he continued. "And both groups would benefit from not fighting, so talking would be perfect, don't you agree?"

It wasn't just a long shot, it was pretty much impossible that they would actually listen. However, if they did, they could make a bothersome and time-wasting situation into something rather beneficial.

 

[Green Shoes]

The injured figure looked to Keshi and Rias as he limped further forward, pleading his case. His words were ragged and short; urgent.

"Please...I only do what I need to survive. I have information! Don't let me...die..."

The emphasis on the last word provoked an uncharacteristic expression of pity from the Titan. Prometheus looked down at the grovelling creature, and figured him for a rather unique individual. A God with no Heir.

Turning his attention back to the oncoming figures, he wrought a large branch from a tree, hefting it in his hands. Taking a stand next to the injured man, he met Keshi's eyes; a mixture of defiance and reassurance. He spoke out loud.

"We'll see what he knows. Then you can do what you wish. Agreed?"

Keshi didn't have time to answer. Andrew's questions went completely unheeded, and the shadows entered the sunlight. They were men and women - with hands that elongated into claws, and vicious fangs hanging low over their lips. Their bodies were painted in military-grade camouflage - even in the glade, they were difficult to keep track of.

Two immediately headed for Andrew, snarling. They didn't rush blindly, but circled around each-other, trained and alert, flitting faster and faster towards him.

The others began ducking in and out of the trees, attempting to encircle the group. Prometheus tried to keep his vision open to catch movement, but their numbers seemed to shrink and grow, as they snarled amongst the jungle. Two of them made a quick dash towards the injured figure, catching the Titan off-guard. Managing to barely catch one mid-leap, he was now pinned to the ground with inhuman strength, snapping fangs coming closer and closer to his neck. The other made a move to end the terrified figure.

 

[Athol]

"Please...I only do what I need to survive. I have information! Don't let me...die..."

Keshi sneered at the wounded ?man?. Part of her really wanted to just cut him down where he stood, but the more rational bits knew they needed any information he might have. She was about to say as much, but the Titan beat her to the punch.

"We'll see what he knows. Then you can do what you wish. Agreed?"

Before she could respond, the attackers made their move. While the Titan caught one, she dashed to block the other; all four arms moving in fluid, interweaving motions, creating a wall of sharpened blades between the attacker and the group?s new ?friend?. ?Your ass better be worth the trouble.? She hissed.

 

[hiei82]

Having taken a defensive position near Keshi and the pitiful god Hymir was ready to strike at the first sign of trouble. The cowards were rather difficult to see with their camouflage but having trained with the likes of Thor in Valhalla, he knew how to hunt such prey. It was because of this that when the first of the group made their move toward their captive, Hymir was quick to interpose himself between it and it's prize.

Hoisting Hofud in his right hand, he struck forward in a feint the moment the beast was in range. A second later it was followed by his real attack: the pointed end of Gjallarhorn rocketed forward by his clenched fist toward the - hopefully - unsuspecting creatures heart.