The white mage and ranger seemed to be dodging all of the group's attacks. Luckily, Backstabs managed to kill the mage by slitting his throat, leaving only the ranger. He glanced at a potential escape route for a moment, which probably meant he was about to run.
"You're not going anywhere!" Trey said, trying to hit him with another fire spell. Unfortunately, the ranger saw it coming, and jumped out of the way once again.

This ranger got REALLY cocky. He tried targeting Robert, who was busy hovering his hand over his arrow wounds (and as I looked around, it turned out we had absolutely no other method of healing aside from Robert's magic). Just as he was finished, another arrow struck him... this ranger wasn't dumb. While the rest of my team-mates seemed to fumble around deciding their next move, I decided to act quickly as I drew out another dart from my hand. This time though, I was observant, knowing how pathetic my darts were on their own... but against an object?

Those stalactites on the cave ceiling looked interesting, pointing downwards with blunt yet jagged tips. It was as if the cave was an amusing game, just flipped upside down. Considering this ranger was now running (the coward, leaving with a parting shot), I decided we'd show him the point of 'free exp.' I took aim once more, closing my eye and rubbing my dart. At once, I threw the dart again... but, I knew I put too little power in my shot, and all it did was embed itself in one of the stalactites. "Guys!" I called out, pointing out to the stalactite where my dart disappeared and left a purple mist. "The stalactite! Hit it!" That thing was going to budge should it be struck once more, but the ranger decided to stay behind to blow a raspberry at us. Although, he was deaf to my yelling and strict arm-stretching. Stupid.

Deravan, who heard the new guy talk about the stalagmite, smiled, before aiming at it. He then got his old sword out from before, and actually threw it at the stalagmite. It then suddenly hit.... and made the stalagmite break off. The ranger looked at Deravan and Miles, confused, before looking up. The stalagmite then fall towards the ground, with the ranger yelling, and trying to get out of the way... only to be impaled from top to bottom by the stalagmite. Deravan stared and looked at everyone in the group.
"Well... that one skewered ranger..." he says. At least that guy was dead... More then dead, he was just plain deader then dead. He looked at the group, before starting to do his searching the corpses, only to find some weird potion from the ranger, and putting it on the side, a bow that wasen't too strong and slacking a bit, with 25 arrows, as well as one that seemed strange, probably poisoned. He then looked at the fighter, and started to remove the armor he had on him.
"Well guys... we got loot here... " he says smiling a bit.

Dorisma was surprised that the ranger had stayed still long enough for the ceiling spike to hit him. She thought it would've worked better if they just hit him but dead was dead. She nodded in response to Deravan's comment and stepped forward examining the fighter. It looked like she could use his armor to either supplement or replace what she had right now. She so ripped the armour of off him, carefully, and began equipping it on herself. After she was finished she began moving back towards the group and called out, "Going." Doubtless the princess would show up about now and start berating them and being otherwise annoying.

I would have done something to finish off that stalactite, but Deravan beat me to it by throwing his old sword at the thing, breaking it, and having it all fall on the unsuspecting ranger, who I honestly thought would have dodged it, given his previous behavior. I took a quick look at the loot, and took all of the money, not to mention the coin bags. I also took the weird potion that was a bright yellow-green color, and read a label that said 'EXP potion (weak)' Well, that's convenient, unlike that last potion where we had to decipher a riddle before figuring out what it did. I thought as I held it up as if asking whether or not someone else wanted it. Somehow, I didn't really feel like having any free experience, especially given that was the fighter's last words. Dorisma, after equipping a new set of armor, started running off deeper into the cave, and I was about to follow her when I noticed something weird with the mage's wand. It seemed almost as if it was made of magic, and I quickly took it, and put it in the bag. It didn't seem like the kind of thing I'd be able to use properly, so, I'd probably ask Trey if he was interested in it... of course, if nothing else, I could always sell it to someone. The princess finally came out of her hiding spot, and commented with "Really? You guys just used a chunk of sharp rock to finish the fight? Also, why do I get the feeling that those humans would have won in a straight fight against you, huh? Is it because, oh, I dunno, you can't seem to damage them unless you get lucky and hit a soft spot!" I... ignored her and simply continued on the cold, damp, dark, rocky road ahead, now knowing exactly why Dorisma wanted to leave so soon.

And then, said ranger got what he deserved, half-way through his raspberry before his eyes rolled back and his body flopped down the stairs, slamming with a sickening crack on the cave's damp floor. "He's food for bats now." I said to anyone listening, signalling an end to our bloody fight. It ended quickly with green flashes and lots of blood spilt across the cave's walls. The fight was brutal for something so precise and surgical.

Of course, everyone at this point was wandering around the men's corpses, stepping over limbs as if they were logs. I did the same, curious to find anything for myself (like money or even some weapons). After inspecting my darts for damage, I followed the others and began putting my hands in the pockets of these lifeless corpses. I kept an eye on the black mage, since he might suddenly revive or something. I didn't find anything of interest on most of the bodies, since they had already been scavenged and picked clean. Everyone was trying their new gear by the time I came over to the ranger's body, frozen with shock over what suddenly impaled his head. I sneered and swayed my head both ways, longing for the end to the fight as I started going through the rest of his gear.

Interestingly, I found a bunch of knives. THROWING knives, all with some pulsing enchantment. I figured this was no different to my own darts, except obviously much stronger and made for throwing. I slipped them into my pockets, but I could find no other items that were useful to myself.

I'd continue narrating, but... my ears broke. Whinging, coming from someone's who's obviously protected against a fight but definitely hadn't ever been in a fight. I just simply walked on, telling the princess to shut her mouth and that maybe she'd have to fight by herself after a while.

Deravan was a bit annoyed by what the princess said, and then look at her, mad a bit.
"Look you little.... they were the ones that were going to kill us. It was either them or us. Yes we got lucky there, but luck can also be linked to skills. I though the least would be that the ranger would have ran away after that stalagmite by dodging and going away, but it was not the case. Instead he stood right there. So I sudgest you cut you little..." he says before starting to calm down. He breath deeply.
"Why am I even bothering, your not even gonna listen to one word that I say, like usual." he then says before moving away and fallowing Robert. If it werent for that dang robe, he would have slit that girls throat for insulting them like that a long time ago. Princess or not, she was a royal pain in the butt.

The battle ended with the ranger getting impaled by a stalactite. Trey was unable to land a single attack throughout that entire battle, but he had a feeling that he would get a chance to burn some humans in the future.
"Let's see what this guy has on him." Trey said, investigating the black mage's corpse. He was wearing what appeared to be enchanted robes. Trey put them on, replacing the old, torn ones he'd been wearing. He also noticed earlier that Robert had also taken something from the mage, and put it in the bag.
"Hey, Robert." He said. "What did you pick up just now?"
He tried to ignore the princess' complaining as they kept moving forward. He really wished that it was possible to kill her.

Dorisma mentally sighed at those talking to the princess, it was a pointless endeavor at best, once they all realized that they'd be better off for it. As she walked she refastened her armor straps as well as the shield that clung to her arm. Everything seemed to be in order. Dorisma was still suspicious of this 'cave ninja' she didn't like the thought of being snuck up on. Hopefully they would reach this new hideout soon, they needed a more secure location if they were going to fend off attacks like this. That fight had barely made her work up a sweat and she hadn't even been hit. Whatever, the cave was comfortably cool, though doubtless they'd exit it soon.

Almost as soon as I tried to pocket the strange wand, Trey seemed to ask about it. I take the wand out of the bag of holding, and hand it to him. "I don't know... I mean, obviously it's some sort of wand, but it seems a little different than the one you're holding... it's got a weird glow to it," I then recalled that someone new helped us out in the fight, and, considering the fact that I didn't really need it, I handed Miles, the new guy, the 'exp potion'. I felt that would help him keep up with the rest of us... even if he was lucky enough on his own to hit where he needs to. If nothing else, I felt it was a sort of reward for the whole stalactite thing he and Deravan pulled off earlier. I then finally headed forwards, catching up with Dorisma in almost no time, and continuing through the damp cave. Interestingly, things were quiet, if a little more dark than I needed them to be for quite some time until we, after taking what I can only assume were a number of wrong turns, came across a strangely ornate, and even golden-colored chest. The chest, unfortunately, was locked, so I tried picking the lock with one of my claws, though, that only ended in pain, and me nearly losing that claw. "So... anyone got any ideas on opening this thing? Obviously the key's been lost for years, and picking it won't work," I say to everyone as I stand back, and wait for everyone else to do something about the chest. Maybe someone else could pick the lock... or maybe Dorisma could just throw the thing against the wall... Trey might just burn it, but I had no idea what Miles would do, if anything.

Somehow, the princess decided to shut up and presumably got left behind. Either that, or we were dead. So, while I was walking, Robert passed me a potion of his, something I didn't exactly notice earlier from the corpses looted. "Oh, thanks." I said, appreciating his gift and inspecting the bottle. It looked like someone ran out of ingredients and decided to dilute the solution, but otherwise I'd expect this to be rather expensive. Then again, this was something I NEEDED, since I wasn't as acquainted with battle as these people were.

After a while of watching stalagmites pass by and exploring the rest of the cave, our party came across some huge and golden trap. I was immediately trying to warn everyone of the dangers of traps and ambushes, but evidently after staring at them pick apart at the chest, it seemed as if we were safe. Still, just to be sure... "Alright, stand back. I got this." Glaring at my potion, I popped the cork and took a swig of the thing. Immediately, I was overcome with... memories.

I'll take about that later. Drinking that potion made me feel like a new Kobold. Regardless, we had a chest to open, and I had a feeling lingering in this cave probably would lead to further dangerous encounters. I stuffed the bottle down my pocket, in case we needed a use for it. I looked around the chest, kneeling down in front of the lock as it eyed me. "Robert, it has a keyhole. A thief like Backstabs would probably laugh at you." I didn't really know what else to do, aside from jamming my claw in there and picking out... wax. Yes, I believe that previous human party tried to unlock the damn thing using a candle. "Great, exactly what we needed." I sighed, but I continued picking at the insides of the lock until I eventually heard a click. "Oh... what do we have?" I smiled back at the group, lifting the lid and...

Well. This was strange. "...some katana? Ninja, I think we got something for you." As well as a glowing katana, we also a small bag which I took for myself, considering I didn't have anything to hold my items with.

Dorisma looked at the chest suspiciously, she was about ready to kick the lock open but it looked like one of the kobolds had managed to open it. Well that was that taken care of. Mentally shrugging she gave the chest a small kick and walked by it. At least they had gotten some loot of it, hopefully they arrived at their destination soon. Or perhaps they would get ambushed by more humans, or even the ninja legend of the cave. She snorted dismissively at the last thought.

Deravan looked at the katana, going to actually grab it... before something suddenly rushed and grabbed hold of it.
"Stupid monsters, the treasure is mine now! All mine!" the figure says, which looked like a human ninja. It then started to run away at a... slower speed then it moved first, before suddenly throwing what seemed to be a smoke bomb right on the ground. Deravan, who tried to chasse after him, just cough heavily from the smoke. Unfortunately, it was a transformation potion that he threw to make the smoke. When the smoke cleared, Deravan looked like a sheep. He stared blankly for a moment. HE shake his head. It had to be potion like that. He waited. No use trying to chase with that freaken affect going on.
"That freaken... arg! That freaken smoke... That little bastard of a ninja!" he says mad.

The group had found some loot as they continued through the cave. It was inside of a locked chest, which Miles was able to open. A human ninja came and grabbed it before any of them had a chance, though. He threw some kind of potion, which engulfed the group in a cloud of smoke. Trey closed his eyes to protect them from the smoke, and by the time it had cleared, the ninja was gone.

Something was definitely off. It felt like the smoke had killed at least half of his brain cells, and his body felt much heavier, too. As he opened his eyes again, he saw a sheep standing in front of him, which he knew for a fact wasn't there before. He also noticed that he had hands all of a sudden, which certainly wasn't normal.

He took a good look at himself for a moment. The human had turned him into a Minotaur.
"KILL THE HUMAN!" Trey roared, in a voice that was much louder and deeper than usual. He then sprinted deeper into the cave, falling over several times as he did so. It would probably take quite a bit of time to adjust to this new body.

"Huh... I am assigning you to official lockpicking duty," I say to Miles as he easily and deftly picks the lock of the chest with his claws... something that I tried to do, but failed miserably at. Inside the chest was a very weird-looking glowing sword, and another one of those bags... maybe it was just tradition of some sort to put bags of holding in every possible treasure chest. I would have picked up the sword to give it to Deravan, but out of almost nowhere, a ninja appears, steals the sword, and then throws a weird kind of smokescreen at everyone. I, not expecting a ninja to appear, and not expecting to end up on the receiving end of some sort of gas-based attack didn't close my mouth in time, and accidentally inhaled some of the gas... that would soon present itself as my greatest mistake, as I instantly started shrinking, and changing until I ended up as an iguana... this... was much less than optimal. Someone, probably someone in our group, though his voice was unfamiliar, shouted for us to kill the human... which probably wasn't going to happen while I'm like this, "Let's... not kill the human, let's try to get to a safe spot until this whole mess wears off!" my voice was unusually high, almost to the point of it being squeaky, though, it was a relief that I could still speak at all, as I felt weaker, dumber, and slower all at once. I looked over to see Backstabs growing feathers, and having her hands change into wings, something that would obviously take some getting used to for her. Confused by her sudden transformation into a phoenix, tries to pick up the dagger she just dropped, though, she couldn't hold it in her wings, unfortunately.

"Yep, look at the stuff we go-" My sentence was cut off by a whoosh of air and a dark figure who managed to shove me away, grab the katana, and then suddenly a cloud of smoke filling the room. I was sure he put some sort of hallucinogen inside the smoke, because before my eyes I witnessed all my party members and my myself turning into whatever sorts of animals. Robert started to turn into a mini-Kobold or something, our thief started to glow and shift into a bunch of feathers... oh, and I couldn't tell what I became. I had some feline legs and bird claws for hands, which actually didn't feel that much different from having normal Kobold hands.

"Argh, damn you to hell!" With sheer determination, I was able to pick up one of my fallen throwing knives and - get this - STAND UP. It hurt my back quite a bit, but I was REALLY pissed at that human, who didn't even take the time to fight us and try to steal the katana instead. Thankfully, he seemed to struggle to even hold the damn thing, trying to budge it as he limbed. Things got even more uncanny as I somehow forced my arm to jerk and threw a bloody green beam of light at the ninja, getting him right in the flesh of his arm. "Take that, ya coward!" I said with glee, before realising my predicament and falling back onto my claws. Hopefully this didn't last for very long.

Dorisma turned at the sound of shouting and saw some sort of ninja grabbing the blade and running away. Before she could chase after him she was engulfed in a cloud of smoke. Dorisma charged through it, feeling something odd as she ran. Her body seemed to be shifting and she stumbled as her feet changed and her arms changed into strange wings. At the end of it she felt like what she could guess that Trey did. At least if Trey wasn't some sort of bull monster right now. Deciding to worry about it later she lunged at the gimping ninja slashing at him with a talon that he dodged easily, but in the process tripped over the weapon he was attempting to run away with. It left him wide open for her second slash that opened a small tear in his skin. Dorisma grinned at the feeling of his blood on her talons, she tried to yell something at him but it just came out as an awkward, SQWUAK, sound. How embarrassing.

Deravan just stared longly as almost everyone was going to attack that freaken ninja. Seriously... everyone were in forms they were not use to, and what they do? They go straight on to attack a enemy like this. Well, they were not cowards at least, at though it was slightly suicidal... for people that were changed like the form he was. But he was so mad at the ninja. But with how weak he felt right now.... It was a bad idea. He stayed in the back, actually hiding in the shadows. The murderous black sheep.... sheep that wants to kill... the sheep with a vengeance right now. The sheep that wanted to bite the guy hard!....
But he was not going to do that. Instead, he waited. He hoped that potion would wear off soon. It was stupid to try to fight while everyone were in forms they were not use to when that guy was trying to escape.

I watch as my teammates try and, for the most part, fail to do any real damage against the ninja, who chugs some sort of healing potion to heal whatever wounds might have been inflicted on him during the fight. Backstabs, as a phoenix, tries to fly into him at some sort of incredible speed... however, the ninja dodges the attack easily, as if he was, oh, I dunno, a ninja. Feeling useless, I just stayed where I was, hoping that he didn't want to murder anyone at this time. I was proven wrong, as the ninja attacked with a shiny-looking dagger the moment he saw an opening in Backstabs' movements, though, he seemed to hold back for some reason, leaving her incapacitated, but not dead... she changed back to normal as soon as her condition became critical, though, even in her normal form, she couldn't really move a muscle... and all I could do was watch. The ninja seemed annoyed, but for some reason, remained as silent as ever. I tried to say something, I tried to ask him why he was being so silent... but, the words just wouldn't form. The ninja then dropped the sword, and ran right for Miles, dagger drawn, and apparently ready to do the same to him... thankfully, he seemed bent on holding back on us, rather than just killing us outright, which was strange, as I figured no human would do that from what I've heard about them, and from my admittedly limited experience with them. This oddity honestly made me a little bit less afraid of him, as I'd probably get up, again some time later. I looked back only to see the rest of the village changed into various harmless animals, including a few slugs, and even a flower next to the mayor's top hat. I guess we won't be getting much help from them... I think as I try to look like any other villager just to make sure that I don't draw his attention by accident.

A few members of the group seemed to have been turned into animals, which rendered them almost useless in combat. The ones that were still able to fight - an Ave, a Gryphon, and a Phoenix - started launching attacks at him. He quickly healed a bunch of the damage dealt to him with a potion, then knocked out Backstabs with a single hit, thankfully not killing her. This made her change back to her original form. It was obvious that this ninja was much more powerful than their previous opponents.

Trey tried to charge at the human, but he lost his balance and fell on the ground, missing completely. He was having quite a bit of trouble getting used to his new form, and he was sure the others were struggling just as much. He noticed that the katana was lying on the ground, which would give someone a perfect chance to pick it up.
"Somebody grab the sword!" Trey said as he tried to get back on his feet.