AC: North Western Forest

[Valeric]

Mulberry tensed when she heard the scream, unable to recognize the shrill voice was in fact Carl's. Her mind danced with the various possibilities that could have happened. Had the zombie finally shown his true colors and began preying upon other lives? Her suspicion was disproved by Lewis's quick briefing, and she was left feeling a little embarrassed. It was difficult to trust these creatures, but time and again they had proved her wrong.

The creatures that attacked Carl were soon visible, but were unlike anything she had ever encountered. The gigantic snails gave off only a hostile intent, that spoke of its hunger. Mulberry was not about to be intimidated.

"We wish you no harm, great snails!" she shouted at the incoming horde of slimy creatures. They ignored her plea and continued their swift advance. In a few moments, she would be swarmed under by their sheer numbers, succumbing to whatever fate that had befell Carl. Fury leaped to the safety of the trees, and beckoned for the rest of them to follow. There was little options but to follow suit. She coiled her legs and propelled herself towards a nearby tree trunk, then climbed up the vertical structure as nimble as a creature born to it. From this vantage point, she could see they were severely outnumbered, and the snails were quite dangerous if they managed to injure Carl.

Abruptly, Fury threw a broken branch at one of the snails. The sharp wood pierced through its soft flesh like butter, but in and instant it began to dissolve. A few seconds later, what was left of the projectile dropped to the ground, and the snail reared its head back up again. She did not approve of Fury's violent behaviour, but the snail was not fatally harmed, so she let it slide for now. She jumped carefully from tree to tree, catching up with Fury.

[Crazy Scion]

(Going to break up my army into squads.)
Lewis took a position in the sky to stay out of reach pf the snails. he tried his best to read the snails actions, and found them to be quite coordinated. In the time they had spent messing with Carl they had coordinated many tactics to surround them.

Squad 1
The first group of snails that had taken out Carl consisted of 6 snails, and were the closest to the others. The prey had escaped into the trees as was common tactic to escape them. The snails surround the group of trees in a bout a 10 foot radius, then poking there heads out. They look at the tree, and with a gurgling sound all spit out a green glob onto the tree trunks that instantly starts eating through the wood.

Squad 2 and Squad 3
2 more attachments of 6 snails each moved to the East and West side of the trees about 30 feet away from group, and started to slick there way up the trunks of the trees and into the branches. The snail's slime doesn't immediately burn the tree like the ground since it needed to reserve it's acid to climb. Once in position the snails at around the same time the middle ones start firing, set up to fire at any one that tries to leap away in there direction.

Squad 4 and 5
Consisting of 10 snails each, these attachments set up a larger circle mimicking the middle squad except covering an area of 30 to 50 feet around the group. They were hidden in the brush ready to fire on anyone that got on the ground to try to escape.

Squad 6, 7 and 8
consisting of small groups of three circled around the area burning trees down with their acid spit. Always making sure the tree fell away from there comrades, and ignoring the trees with snails already in them.

The other snails apart from the squads stayed back on standby to back up or replace there comrades.

Lewis tries to relay as much of this info as he can to the others, but it took him a minute to do so, which only gave the snails more time to prep.

[Valeric]

Of course it wasn't going to be that easy.

The snails couldn't possibly match them for speed, but they weren't about to give up the chase. The snails nearest to them began to tremble in a fashion that rang some warning bells in her head. Sure enough, a ball of fluorescent green liquid bubbled up from the core of their bodies and spat out from their heads. The liquid hissed noisily as it burned through the tree trunks. In was clear what their intentions were. Mulberry hastily escaped from the tree she was currently perched on, before the acid worked its way through the wood.

"Watch out, they're trying to bring us down!" she screamed out in warning to Fury and Carmen. She wasn't sure how her body would handle itself against the acid. It wasn't an experience she was eager to test. It wasn't until Lewis's briefing of the situation did she realize how much trouble they were truly in. They were being encircled by the creatures.

"Why do they want to kill us so badly?" Mulberry asked out loud. "If they are spreading out to trap us, then we should be able to break through their line."

A few moments later, the first line of giant snails came into sight. Just as Lewis had described, they were forming a circle around their location, but their numbers weren't large enough to make any more than a sparse blockade. If they were to break through in a line, there were only a couple of snails in the way. However, if they weren't fast enough, they would be easily caught in an assault from all directions. It was a chance Mulberry was willing to take.

"Let's break through right there!" she shouted and indicated the point with a thrown branch. It struck the ground beside a snail, which peered at it with its eyestalks. A long tentacle began to morph out of the back of her head, like a smooth ponytail that ended in a wicked blade. If she had to attack the acidic snails, she wouldn't lose that much mass this way.

"If you can take them out from afar, that would be great, Fury. I don't feel getting burned. But please don't kill them!"

[MelonHead]

Mulberry, after being warned of their movements, pointed to the weak point in the snails line. Fury had jumped from his original position and landed ungracefully in another tree closer to the line of snails. The slime ladies request for him to take them from afar was fair, yet her desire for him to leave them unharmed was indeed puzzling. With a mental shrug, Fury dropped from the tree with characteristic brashness. He fixed two snails in front of him with a defiant glare and ran towards them, behind him the tree creaked, its leaves were already beginning to die.

The void had fed well.

Blue energy charged in his right hand as he balled it into a fist, running full pelt at the nearest snail until he was only five feet away. With an underarm thrust he unclenched his hand and released the pent up energy from his palm, in a physical blow much like a push from afar. It was the same he had used on Mulberry earlier relatively effectively. As the energy collided with the angry snail it stared out at him with a sad expression on its face. Or so he thought, as it was sent flying backwards. Its tail curled around itself as it collided with a tree face first before falling on the ground. Acid burned through the tree it had hit and fell down upon it, trapping it.

The other was too close for comfort so he slowed to a stop, giving him more time to work on his next attack. He hoped the others were able to aid him as there two more snails behind the one he was about to engage, all of which had to be dealt with in order to break through the line.

He set his right foot onto the ground and slammed his hands together, causing a ripple of force to burst outwards and scatter the leaves as if in a strong wind. It hit the snail, and washed across its body with little to no effect.

Fury’s grin faded and he looked about himself.

He lifted his right hand behind his back, and the thrown spear Mulberry had used as a marker pulled itself from the ground. He threw his hand forward and caught sight of a green blob of acid launched towards him as he dropped low while carrying out his telekinetic throw. The acid narrowly avoided his projectile and Fury himself but still scorched the air as it passed. The Fireen dropped to the ground and rolled sideways before regaining his feet, all as the wood pierced the snails neck and pinned it to the ground.

“This won’t hold them for long… let’s go.” He snarled in pain as the acid burns sizzled lightly across his armour, before energy leapt to smother them.

[Crazy Scion]

Lewis continues to monitor the snails from above. Fury took the offences by charging the snails to the North-West like he was some kind of Rambo. The snails were fewer there and responded by taking defense positions.

Squad 1
Half the squad that had originally surrounded the tree took after Fury the moment he jumped down from the tree. The other half proceeded to fire on the others that he had left behind.

Squad 2 and 3
The snails in the trees were spread thin, but used there height advantage to fire further shots. Only two snails were in range of Fury, and did there best to keep him busy while the others closed in.

Squad 4 and 5
The first snail from squad 4 was attacked with an energy shot and was pinned under a tree. The next two were scattered by a force then one of them pinned by a wooden stick. Other members of squad 4 as well as nearby squad 5 snails started to merge on Fury.

Squad 6, 7, and 8.
Squad 7 was close to Fury and moved in to aid. While the other two collapse trees in front of Fury, the other approached his comrade trapped under the tree and started dissolving the tree.

The rest of the snails continued to move forward to shrink the gap between them. More snails worked there way out of the Forrest to fill in the gaps by the other snails that were busy to leave no openings for escape.

[Tantalum]

'Is something co-ordinating them...?' From Lewis's assistance, it seemed the horde was not very predatory at all - but acted similar to how Humans would - dividing into small groups, and refusing to let any given target escape. With this came endless disadvantages for the remaining trio - but also one that much benefited Carmen for the present.
Through Fury's prowess, Mulberry and himself were close to breaking through their line; which in turn, had drawn most of the snails' attention to themselves. For Carmen, however, the lack of focus on her happened to give her ample opportunity to complete her climb - along with finishing her earlier mutations.

But they had known better than to ignore her entirely. The shifter jumped from the first branch she reached, to catch the one above - avoiding a splash of acid that disintegrated the previous platform entirely. Though worryingly lethal, she found their strange gurgles fairly less intimidating than the gunfire she was used to. Hanging by her left arm, she used her right to pull herself higher by the trunk; and from this height, she scouted for where she needed to travel first.

Finally, literally, her plan was let to unfold. They stretched outwards, fully revealing her four gigantic, overlapping, vein-ridden wings. Their flat, triangular shape and spotted pattern were identical to the one she had consumed; but unlike a common moth, a translucent layer of reddened flesh coated their outer, passing a dull reflective sheen. As well as this, her left claws were now sharper than they had first appeared, and her right had completely deformed into curved six-inch blades in case she would need to attack.

Alas, the giant pests did not halt their attempts to capture her, albeit their methods were still too primitive. A distance ahead, Fury gunned away a snail, causing it to fell a distant tree; and at the same time, two snails below herself had also chewed through the trunk of her own.
With minimal panic, Carmen merely accepted the fall. Her branch lowered five feet before she lost balance - at which point her wings were thrust forward, expertly using the tree's momentum to hasten her airborne getaway.
Whilst too heavy to truly fly, her large wingspan allowed for a well-controlled glide, although a little straining for her small form. With a serene twist to her right, she arced nearer to Fury and Mulberry - avoiding the snails' stray fire with irregular flutters, and travelling from branch to branch to maintain her height.

It took but seconds to finally reach her target - which in fact, was not Fury or Mulberry themselves. Rather, she perched above and behind what happened to be a 'squad 2' snail, landing as silently as the leaves allowed.
Carmen swallowed. Against any usual sniper, a slash to the neck was enough to incapacitate; but not at all familiar with her non-human target, she was filled her with endless concerns. The slug raised its head, its unsettling gurgle was sounded; and realising she had no choice, she was forced to improvise.
Upon jumping down, her bladed hand was extended and pulled - severing half-way through the branch itself, and letting the snail's weight do the rest. By the time it had noticed her, it had already plummeted to the forest floor - squealing before landing with a faint squelch, but without any sound to suggest its shell had shattered.

"Hurry!" was all Carmen had to say to Fury, as she stood alert with wings half-folded. Disregarding the one she had interrupted, at least five of the snails were directly closing in on him, and more still were in position to open fire.
As she stood, her wings were reddening still - as were the rest of her limbs, turning a lighter yet more distinct shade. With familiar, renewed pink-shaded eyes, she scanned to determine which of the threats she could subdue first.

[Valeric]

Mulberry watched in satisfaction and Fury's magical ability sent a snail flying through the air. It landed a good twenty feet away. He wasn't so lucky with the second snail, which resisted his attack. It fired a ball of acid in response, which Mulberry thought would be the end of him. The man managed to dodge the ball at the last moment just as he returned fire. This time the snail was struck by something, which pinned it to the floor. Mulberry flung herself out of the tree and landed several feet in front of him, rolling to lessen the impact. She began to sprint forward the moment she got on her feet.

A passing shadow made her focus her attention to the skies. A winged figure glided past her, which turned out to be Carmen on closer inspection. She had somehow grown wings. The human landed on the trees behind the firing snails, and dropped one of them to the ground. Mulberry reached the location a few moments later. It was disoriented from the fall, but was still alive. Mulberry steeled her resolve and whipped her bladed appendage outwards with outrageous speed. It sliced through the air and drew a line across the creature's eyestalks, severing the tips from its body with minimal resistance. Mulberry flicked her blade clean of its acidic slime and carried forward. With its sight removed the snail would pose little of a threat.

"Sorry about that!" she said in apology to the giant snail. There were other snails hiding in the trees here, and they began firing upon her the instant she came into range. She darted behind a trunk and with a few agile leaps, climbed back up into the canopy. In her haste she almost slammed into another giant slime. Copying Carmen's tactic, she severed the branch it was perching upon with two quick slashes from her blade. It fell towards the ground, snapping several branches on the way. Her action attracted the attention of several other snails in the vicinity, whom all pelted acid balls in her direction. She had little choice but to seek refuge behind the tree trunk, which was quickly melting to the corrosive fluids. Waiting for a gap in the volley, she dove out of cover and ran down the length of a branch, before jumping to the next tree. She looked back to her companions, anxious to see their progress.

[MelonHead]

Fury saw his allies deal with the two ranged snails quickly and efficiently with a grim satisfaction. He allowed his arms to drop from their raised position and the shield protecting him from the acid projectiles to fade away. As they had broken through the line, the party were free to escape through the trees leaving the snails in their dust. Fury himself however was now faced with a dangerous force of the snails which had closed in behind him.

He turned to the sound of sizzling leaves and burning bark. A snail was frighteningly close to him, naught but five feet away as he raised his fists in surprise. It closed in on him and he jumped, diving to the soft soil and rolling to the snails side as it struggled to turn to face him. He threw his arm back and then launched it forward with a thunderous roar as it collided with the massive snails shell.

He rightly assumed that the acidic slime qualities would not be present on the shell, and his attack was met with a gratifying crack as his fist slammed into the shell. A brief blue aura surrounded his fists, showing that he had avoided damage using his limited energy supplies. He drew his fist back and followed the motion through with an upper cut from his left, knocking the snail back in its effort to turn around.

“Enough of this crap.” He snarled, throwing both hands, palm forward, into an energy blast which took the snail side on. It flailed as it crashed into its ally which was heading towards him from the flank.

“Alright, time to go!” He raised his voice so the others could hear him and turned on his heel, splats of acidic spittle landing at his feet as he sprinted away. His feet threw up clods of dirt and plant waste as he nimbly dodged over fallen trees and snails to head out into the forest away from the horde of snails. He hoped his allies would also take advantage of the breach and follow him.

[Valeric]

By now they were almost reaching the edge of the encirclement. Mulberry could still see the occasional snail lurking in front, but with their numbers thinned their solitary fire did not pose as much of a threat. While the burned-down forest left her with less cover, the terrain was sufficiently hilly. She darted and dashed around the rocks and cliffs, evading the painful acidic globs.

"That reminded me of the day fifty hunters came after me. Except they only had crossbows and dogs, not acid spit," she told Fury as she kept pace with him. She looked around for Carmen, but nothing turned up on her senses. With her wings, the human should have escaped without trouble.

Not that I would cry over her death.