A small group of five, An experienced hunter and his disciples, were doing their own things at a place called Coalstrike, a reasonably important and prosperous 'Fortress-City' of Kiruth, one of the few places that is, for the most part, absolutely safe against Beasts. Two of the students, a Nickolaus Schulze and a Sapphire Amaryllis, put the generosity of their teacher to good use, acquiring new clothes to replace the remnants of their old ones, tattered by the recent 'incidents' they've been in.

They were mostly just waiting for their first Switch-Weapons to be produced and tweaked to their specifications, and when Joshua, their teacher's, list of errands was completed, he showed them to a little 'hideout' he had saved. He notified it was effectively collectively theirs, and went to do 'unrelated, private things'. As the party began to settle in, it was not long before an arguement started unintentionally. Nickolaus, leaning on a wall, was beckoned into one of the rooms by Sapphire. Schulze took control of the situation.

A conversation turned into an interrogation, but the other two in the little housing couldn't hear the specifics, aside from a loud bump as if something was knocked over, and the door swinging open loudly as Sapphire, angrily began to walk out, raving. "I should've known better then to trust you people!", she yelled, dissapointed and furious. exiting the building, she slammed the door behind her, finishing with a "You're all the same. You make me sick."

Eventually, Sapphire, in her bottled up anger, found herself sitting alone at the top of one of Coalstrikes' few towers, jumping there from one of the rooftops. It was somber as the sun began to set, but she could still feel she wasn't completely alone.

...Not in the metaphorical sense, she actually began to hear someone else apparently climbing the tower after her. Who the hell could this be?

Back at the Quartets' hideout, the headcount continued to decrease as Schulze followed Sapphire's example, angrily, yet also sadly, mumbling things about the unbelievable unproffesionalism of everyone, including himself. Not wanting to even associate with this group of idiotic misfits anymore, he quickly exited and made his way out of town, abandoning Joshua's 'teachings' and deciding to make his own damn path.

Now, Imgor and Alex were pretty much alone, together, as the Quartet turned into a Duet.

That escalated quickly...

---

In the harbor of Kiruth a different group of Hunters in training arrived just after sunset. They disembarked from the boat that got them through the fairly long journey. The harbor itself was the definition of deserted. After sunset few people ventured near it as it was one of few places still vulnerable to plagued beings. Even fewer sailors dared to dock there at night, but there were exceptions.

Four people stepped on the ramp leading from the boat to the pier itself. Willo Luelle, Ramone Truvo and Aelar Starseeker were all nearing the end of their training under Drake Lazarus, a man with dark, shoulder-length hair who typically wears a fancy, black trench coat with red sleeves. Despite training under him for months on end they barely knew anything about him except that he had a straightforward and sometimes rather cruel attitude. He was an enigma to them and everyone else, but somehow he was famous at the same time. If you would ask around for his name, you would find that every other person has heard of him at some point, yet nobody knows anything about him.

The fact that he had managed to train his quartet through words only already hinted at skill. During their training he had not revealed the nature of his combat abilities even once, yet when sparring with him he proved untouchable without even having to use any spells or weapons. The second clue was the fact that he was one of the few if not the only hunter not to carry any physical weapon. And his training was not to be taken lightly. The four individuals training under him found themselves facing seemingly insurmountable tasks again and again. And for some of them it proved to actually be insurmountable. What once was a quartet of Hunters in training had become a trio. Ironically, Darke’s favorite among the four was the one to lose his life during one of the assignments. The trainee was cool headed, logical thinker yet ruthless at the same time and didn’t show much emotion. His fellow team members on the other hand. . . Willo usually maintained a generally cheerful and lighthearted attitude of which Drake disapproved. Likewise he questioned Ramone’s dislike of killing and Aelar’s preference for support rather than offensive. He constantly voiced his disapproval including during their trip to Kiruth. Regardless of all that he had taught them all to the best of his abilities. Weak points of plague beasts, advanced combat techniques with the weapons they had chosen, the importance of knowing your enemy and not rushing into battle. But most of all, he offered them opportunities to gain hands on experience in combat.

As they reached the end of the ramp Drake began explaining. His voice was deep yet oddly soft.“I’m sure all of you have heard of Castle Bloodleaves. It was built centuries ago by a dynasty of nobles. They had a curious fascination with blood.” Drake paused as he pondered on what he had just said, realizing he hadn’t given it a lot of thought in the past.

“It holds plagued beasts that a long time ago could not be killed by normal means. As such they had been imprisoned in this Castle. Some of them have vanished, possibly escaping and now some freely roam the basement of the glorified prison. Your assignment is to secure the first and second basement of the castle. I will be joining you one last time as we clear the first basement. Successfully do this and I will declare you fully-fledged Hunters. For your sake I hope you have retained what I have taught you. Take note that the second basement is of . . . extensive size. You may have to setup a camp while in there. You can stock up in town tomorrow but I would hope that you have already prepared as necessary so we can move on straight to the castle right now.”

He stopped and turned around facing the trio. His expression was bland and emotionless as usual. The trio had never seen him show any form of emotion throughout their time spent with him and today was no different. They stared back at him for a few moments without saying a word.

“Well?”

Iṃgor kept an 'eye' on both Sapphire and Nickolaus using his tracking spell. As the latter of the two left the town he also left the spell's range. "Looks like Schulze is gone forever, he left town. Sapphire seems to have come to a stop on a building." The questioning look on his face while reporting was supposed to indicate a question on whether Alex worried about her a littlebit. At least to see if he would agree to approach her and inform her on Nickolaus.
"I'll try to get some food at the evening market, I want to check how well one can cook in this hideout's kitchen. Meet me there if you have come to a decision or have something urgent to tell me." With that, Iṃgor left the hideout and headed for the marketplace. He wanted to make at least 1 small meal for 3, which would also turn out as a nice large meal for 3 if Sapphire wouldn't return by dinnertime.

Willo

"The graves~ Have filled~
It's time to burn the dead~
Keep strong~ Your wills~
The Plague has come again~"

The song's somber tone struggled against the lighter voice that sang it. As Willo leaned against the railing of the ship, her eyes cast into the infinite darkness of the sea, she found it calmed her nerves to fill the air with a song. Even if it wasn't per say a happy one, it was associated with the Hunters, and that would do well enough for the situation, she figured.

"The night~ It comes~
And never shows to end~
Keep bright~ Your eyes~
The Plague has come again~"

Willo was not used to riding on boats, in fact, the sea itself set her a bit on edge. Her home had been high in Straneyeth, she had never thought of drowning as a way to die. Though now that the possibility was real, it was less because of her disbelief and more because she'd never learned to swim. But what use did birds have for such skills?

"With blades~ And Light~
We Hunters shall descend~
Keep far~ Your fears~
The Plague has come again~"

At length they came upon the end of their journey, the harbor in sight and in the distance a figure more imposing even than Mister Lazarus loomed. A grand castle, at least from what she could tell, with all sorts of nooks and crannies to clamber upon. If this truly was to be their final assignment, she was relieved to think that at least she could have some fun with it. As they all moved to exit the ship, she finished her little song, voice carrying off to fade amidst the crisp seaside air.

"The beasts~ We hunt~
No longer fellow men~
Keep true~ Your souls~
The Plague has come again~"

Willo couldn't quite keep her eyes on Lazarus as he explained the story of their would-be trial area, though that wasn't to say she didn't listen. In fact, the tale quite fascinated her. She loved old stories about kings and castles, dragons and the valiant knights who slayed them. She liked to think of the Hunters as knights in some way or another, though their work was far less glorious, and probably wouldn't end up in any children's tales. All the same, the leathers she wore felt as armor, and Cinderwill her trusty sword to carry her through adventures. Or vice-versa. Either way, really.

She patted the satchel bound tight to her side and grinned, both to Lazarus and her fellow students. "Set and ready to cut down some beasts, how about you guys?"

Perhaps leading with the vigor of killing beasts wasn't the best way to address them. Ramone had never been fond of the act, which she could understand --even respect-- though that didn't stop her from given him a hard time about it now and again. Aelar on the other hand was fun enough, with the kind of personality she enjoyed bouncing conversations off of. A good group, she thought, though it was hard to tell if Lazarus thought so as well.

Alex sighed Imgor quickly left to go shopping leaving him alone with his thoughts. How had it degraded so quickly? He should've done something to fix it. Larion caught onto his mood and his ears turned down and the lizard licked his hand hopefully. Alexander sighed, he should try to find her to work things out. Imgor had said she was on a building which was incredibly vague but it was likely she had come to stop on one of the taller ones and Coalstrike had relatively few towers.

He got to his feet and made his way out and began searching for Sapphire, hoping he could work something out with her. Of course he didn't even know what the argument was about much less how to resolve. Oh well, he couldn't wait around hoping she came back. Maybe he should try signalling her? Alex knew she was hard to find normally, if she was hiding this would be impossible. Deciding against it Alexander simply wandered hoping coincidence would let him find her, Larion followed obediently behind him.

Alexander wandered the town of Coalstrike, sadly, not finding anything. Imgor would use what was left of his 'allowance' to acquire whatever ingredients he desired, and soon noted that Sapphire suddenly got out of range of his tracking spell, going eastwards. Larion would be eager to climb the towers of Coalstrike, but Ironback lizards such as himself are suited and used to climbing wooden trees, with plenty of branches and whatnot. Perfectly cylindrical structures made of stone are alien to him, in terms of being able to climb them.

Imgor would get an understandable feeling that perhaps he should follow Sapphire to the east..

On the towers of Coalstrike...

The individual seemingly going after Sapphire could be easily heard by the aforementioned, alongside the faint jingling of metal. As the person apparently got halfway up or so, (at least, it sounded as such), he or she must've accidentally pulled out a brick, as a mumbling could be heard and a small impact towards the ground. Sapphire was staring at the moon no doubt hearing all the comotion below her. Despite it she choose to not pay attention to it. Ruby was stood right next to her observing the edge of the tower where the unknown assailant would likely emerge.

As a small amount of time passed, a hand was seen grabbing at the top of the tower, ready to pull itself up. After a short moment, the begginings of a man climbing up could be seen, a golden-blonde head of hair, about ear-length, revealed itself as this man rolled unto the top, getting up and dusting himself off and pausing as he noticed the existence of Sapphire.
Sapphire slowly turned her head towards the man as if she wasn't even fully awake.

What seemed like an eternity of awkwardness ensued as Sapphire likely began to recognize this fellow. It was that strange guy they noticed as they entered Coalstrike, the one who was apparently covered in ropes for some strange reason and carried around a damn greatshield as his primary weapon. Why was he up here? Where was his rope? And his glorified slab of metal?

"Uhhhh. . ."
, he started, looking to the side and scratching the back of his head. He was a nicer looking fellow to be honest, sort of young. Trying to grow a beard down the line, as he had a small stubble. "Hello? Why are you u-" Sapphire suddenly spoke up with a rather fierce sounding tone, "If you know what's best for you, you'll leave. . . now. I am not in the mood."
"I apologize, miss.", he began to retort, "But this is my spot. Get your own roof to marvel at things... on."
Sapphire sighed as she stood up and at the same time her crimson eagle took flight aswell.
"Fine." she said as Ruby prepared to pick her up.

"... Well I didn't mean it like that. We can share if you want.", the man spoke, "...It really is beautiful this time of year, isn't it? We really are blessed, wouldn't you say?", Commenting on the moon. He sat down, marvelling at the view.
"No." Sapphire responded , further denoting the fact that she wasn't in a talkative mood.

"Really? I think it's nice to have something so marvellously grandoise in our skies. What a... beacon of hope, perhaps?"
Sapphire repeated her previous statement while adding to it, "No, I don't think we're blessed and by no means do I consider it a beacon of hope."
"...Well, okay then... Would... would you mind if I asked what's, how to say... ruffling your feathers?" He seemed to muffle a laugh at his own poor joke, glancing over to Ruby.
"I wonder why you would ask me that. I wonder what you might have to hide from me or others." Sapphire seemed to get angry. "I wonder how much time I'd have to spend with you until you'd start judging me aswell. Until you'd start pushing me around like the rest!" The final sentence she almost yelled at him. She let her head rest on her knees as wrapped her hands around her knees.

"oh."

"I'm not really one to hide things. I'm not much more then what you see, just some guy who's trying to be a Hunter. Hunters are supposed to help eachother, yes? All I see and care about is a fellow Hunter going through a rough patch, and it appears my assumption is correct. I'm just thinking I'd help out..."
"You can't help me." Sapphire's voice was trembling and it was clear she was on the verge of tears."Just leave me alone."

"I.. I suppose I shall, then. There must be something I could do, though. Would... would you like to hunt some beasts in a while? It could take your minds off things... I know a little area that ones' apparently stalking."

"It.. might be fun or.."

Sapphire didn't say anything for the longest of time. It almost seemed like hours passed, spent in complete silence.
"Sure. . . it's not like I have anything left that I can do." She finally said. Her voice was steady and emotionless. The shell in which Sapphire hid constantly cracked for a moment but she worked fast to repair that crack and hid back in her own realm. [color=00a99d]"All... alrighty then. So... head out now, or do you want some alone time?"[/color
Sapphire finally lifted her head again and stared at the moon once more, trails of tears still visible on her cheeks.
"Sure, let's go."

"I'm Arnold, from the north."

"...Yes, 'From The North'. I know, it's weird. Blame my parents. So... uh... what's your name?"

"Sapphire. Sapphire Amaryllis."

Iṃgor asked his familiar, an oversized mole, to follow Sapphire underground. The familiar's senses won't allow accurate tracking, but it should still be good enough to get back into the tracking spell's range. However, before he followed, he had to bring back the ingredients he purchased, otherwise they would slow him down. He sped up, but didn't start running, as he didn't want to attract too much attention, especially from the guards. He didn't want to be slowed down unneccessarily.
Back in the hideout he just quickly deposited the items so no vermin or rodent could quickly get to them, and sprinted eastwards once he was done. He chose the path through the back alleys and 'hidden' roads. He definetly didn't want to be stopped for anything now.

It wasn’t the most pleasant song to listen to, but compared to Lazarus’ nagging it was a blessed reprieve and Willo wasn’t all that bad of a singer either. Between the soft, if somber, song and the calm waters, Ramone was quite tempted to fall asleep. Unfortunately they weren’t far from their destination and would have to disembark soon. With a quiet grunt, he tipped his hat backwards and out of his face as he stood to stretch.

Alongside his teammates and teacher, he stepped onto the old ramp and clicked his tongue as the wood creaked ominously under their weight. Then again, its state of disrepair could hardly be faulted with how often it must have received maintenance and care. He put it out of mind for the moment to focus on what Lazarus had to say to them. The castle that loomed in the distance, concealed by the darkness of night, was impossible to miss. An annoyed click of his tongue was the extent of his reaction to their assignment. His fighting style and equipment was ill-suited for interiors, but it wasn’t like Lazarus gave a shit.

“Let’s get on with it,” he muttered as he shrugged his shoulders, shifting the pack he carried. It held enough supplies for almost a week, if stretched, and he sincerely hoped that it wouldn’t take that long.

Alexander sighed and nearly pulled Larion off of another building, it seemed he wanted to go for a walk, or in this case, climb. No doubt Larion was starving by now, it seemed he always was. At this point had given up on finding Sapphire, either she would come back or she wouldn't and nothing he could do would change it. Deciding he didn't want Larion to cause any trouble and since he could use a walk himself he found himself leaving town and headed for the forest. At his signal Larion eagerly rushed into the woods like the oversized puppy dog that he was and quickly began racing through the trees, doubtless searching for some poor animal to eat.

Alexander had just taken a step into the forest when he heard the sound of someone running and, upon turning, saw Imgor sprinting somewhere in quite a hurry. Interesting, hadn't he just gone shopping? Alex snapped his fingers and Larion dropped from the trees above him almost instantly, surprisingly he had already managed to find some prey judging by the blood on his teeth. "Come on." Alexander said, more to himself than Larion and began following Imgor. Though not stealthily, it was more of trying to catch up to him than anything else. Where was he in such a hurry to?

Aelar leaned against the boat railing looking off into the hazy horizon. He listened as Willo sang and thought about the words. It was a song of danger and death yet it was also a song of hope and courage. As the song came to an end so did the journey which was uneventful to say the least.

Stepping off the boat onto the decrepit dock the first thing he noticed was a castle looming in the not too distant distance. He checked the surrounding area for any obvious dangers, seeing nothing he listened to Lazarus' explanation for them coming here and their tasks. "It holds plagued beasts that a long time ago could not be killed by normal means...", it seemed this wouldn't be an easy fight; not only was it indoors limiting movements, especially harming Ramone's fighting style, the beasts couldn't be killed by normal means.

"Sounds fun...", Aelar said, "but how are we going to kill the beasts?" he added half under his breath. He really hoped that there wouldn't be too many unknown variables, but knowing his teacher it wouldn't turn out that way.

The three soon to become hunters claimed they were prepared and no one questioned the task looming ahead. Except Aelar. He was the only to doubt whether the beasts could be slain now, seeing that it was an impossible task in the past.

“Killing them was an insurmountable undertaking during their time. But that was ages ago. Present they Hunters are far more skilled and knowledge of Vitae and Exicus is vast compared to then.” He explained while looking over his shoulder toward the castle. He then continued, raising his voice this time for more emphasis, “That being said, there is no telling what will be expecting us beneath the castle.” He looked at the trio and narrowed his eyes. “Do not take this lightly, as this may be one of the biggest challenges you’ll have ever faced.”

A pause allowed his last statement enough time to sink in.

“Very well then, let us not waste any more time.” He was just about to turn around when he stopped mid turn and looked at the trio once more. "If you have any further questions you can ask them once were at the castle. I'd prefer the rest of the way be spent in silence." He looked at Willo in particular as he said the last part, before heading towards the harbor's exit. Following the harbor was the market district of Kiruth, which was just as deserted and barely illuminated. Few people were there during the night. Every building they passed seemed void of life. Most people who went there at night felt uneasy, however that was the case for any place that was void of people. Nobody knew why. Maybe it was the presence of the castle that is believed to still hold beasts of unfathomable power.

Fortunately the residential district helped ease the tension. People were roaming the streets, moving on with their lives. The alleys between the various homes were rather narrow and the buildings themselves maintained a rather medieval look compared to other towns they had been to, most likely due to the influence the overshadowing castle had on the town. Far more lamps flooded the streets with light compared to the market district or the harbor. The liveliest of places at night was of course the pub, which looked more like a tavern than anything else, with various individuals entering while others leaving in a less than sober state. At night, the pub became the heart of Kiruth, and whoever had made the decision of placing it in the center of the residential district . . . well let’s just say he could let his money explain the rest.

Most people just outside the pub seemed fairly uninteresting with the exception of a couple of seasoned hunters having a chat. They wore plain clothes and unless someone looked really hard they could mistake them for ordinary citizen. Whatever types of weapons they had, they had either left them somewhere else or were very well concealed. The only giveaway was their rather muscular build and some visible battle scars.

Just as it seemed they would not stop at the pub Drake revealed that the opposite was true.
“I will be back in 15 minutes.” , and without further explanation he entered the pub.

As attractive as a night spent drinking may have seemed to some members of the group, or unattractive to others for that matter, it was doubtful Drake was stopping at the pub for such an ill-bred venture and the amount of time he intended to spend there further hinted towards that. But for now they still had around a quarter of an hour to wander about or discuss their assignment.

Willo

Willo tuned into the conversation just long enough to hear that they would likely be able to actually kill whatever was awaiting them, and then turned her attention to the castle once more. Dark passages, plenty of old toppled things to climb on, chandeliers oh my god it was a castle there were probably going to be chandeliers she could hardly wait.

“... take this lightly, as this may be one of the biggest challenges you’ll have ever faced.”

She blinked, that didn't sound right, Lazarus normally wasn't one to encourage levity, or lightheartedness, or fun. Perhaps she'd missed that low, foreboding "Do-Not" that she'd come to see as one of their teacher's trades. Guffaw to that, Willo thought, this was their last big step to becoming fully-fledged Hunters, like hell she was gonna treat it like some sort of examination. She was going to cut all the beasties and climb all the things, and she was gonna have fun doing it dammit.

"If you have any further questions you can ask them once were at the castle. I'd prefer the rest of the way be spent in silence."

With a lowering of her head, Willo mumbled something that vaguely sounded like "Yes sir..." before following along. Fine, no singing, humming, whistling, talking, whispering, or anything that could even possibly anger Lazarus. She knew well enough the difference between annoyance and fury, and while she'd never outright seen their teacher display anything much above his normal register, Willo was in no rush to push the envelope any further.

Instead she busied herself by observing the town they entered. Dull for the most part, all dim-yellow lights and ye-olde architecture, but there was something to be said for the comforting feel it brought. Rare were the times Willo felt she could truly relax in their day and age, but as they meandered through the streets, she felt a calming warmth within her. Then in a flicker it was gone when Lazarus came to a stop outside of the bustling tavern. Fifteen minutes? What could he get done in a tavern in fifteen minutes? Willo felt an overwhelming urge to follow the man, subtly of course, but figured it best to stay put. She liked to fancy herself a bit of a sneak, but to think she could trail a guy like their teacher without being noticed was ludicrous, even to her. So, she raised her arms up and stretched, letting out a pleasant trill at the popping of her joints, then looked to Ramone and Aelar, a big grin splitting her face.

"You guys ready? Can't wait to get in there, crack a few skulls, eh? Eh?" she said, giving Aelar a little nudge with her elbow. "Does kinda suck though, the whole closed-quarters thing, sorry Rammy. But hey I'm sure you can still put some good shots through their eyes, plus you got me an' Aelar here to make sure nothin' gets too close for comfort, y'know?"

Imgor slowed his pace a littlebit after he left the city walls, stopping him wasn't as easy now. The moment Sapphire entered the range of his tracking spell he slowed down even further to a walk.
As Sapphires movements didn't appear too hectic, Imgor took the time to check if other known people were nearby. While checking for Alexander, the spell indicated he followed behind Imgor.
A littlebit surprised, Imgor quickly turns towards Alex, the glow of the spell still in his eyes, making it look as if he was posessed, especially with the contrast to the dark night.

Before the two could say anything or wonder what the other was doing, something rustled in the bushes. Quickly, an appendage revealed itself slowly rising from the foilage of the outer forest near Coalstrike. It appeared... insectoid. It brought to mind a scorpion perhaps, but this obviously wasn't a scorpion, the stinger itself was the size of a particularly thick long sword, nearly a zwei-hander in overall size! The tail was large and thick as well, whatever its' attached to must be quite a behemoth... easily larger then a human. Very easily.

Imgor looked at the strange insectoid creature with a mix of fascination, surprise and a pinch of respect. This was the first time he had seen such a large insectoid. Slowly, he moved his hand towards where his trusty kitchen knife was usually sheathed, attempting to grab it, in case IT attacked. His familar saw the image through the connection of 'turn familiar', and thought IT looked delicous. Imgor meanwhile observed IT with utmost attention.

As soon as Imgor prepared himself, the Super-Scorpion revealed itself in full. Well, it wasn't a proper animal at all... it was definitely a Beast. This was obvious, due to its'... ghastly features. Firstly, instead of a scorpion-like mouth, it had what looked to be a lamprey's orifice... with human-like skulls coming out and biting. That was.. disturbing. In addition, it had what looked to be over-sized human hands instead of feet, but with eight fingers each instead, many moving the wrong-way, and occasionally gripping the ground so hard a nail broke off. Finally, its' mouth also had a large ovipositor inside, similar to a tongue, in the center of all of the unfleshed human-like heads.

The sight froze Imgor for a second. He knew beasts were not the most beautiful creatures, to put it lightly, but he didn't expect hybrids like these. However, he also knew one other thing: the exoskeleton was likely too thick to be penetrated by his simple bow, and the uncovered parts weren't too crucial either. He attempted to ask Alex for a distraction without being heard by the beast, which obviously noticed. He hopes Alex would distract the beast enough, so Imgor could cut off the stinger using his knife after approaching from behind.

The Beast, as soon as Imgor started to try to whipser, charged, breaking the particularly dense foiliage it was hiding behind and beggining to salivate that particular green bile that all beasts seem to love. If Imgor didn't know any better, he thought he could hear the damn thing attempt to speak... but that was insane!

Imgor attempted to dodge the charge, using a mixe of rolling to the side and running up a tree, the attempt looked...not too elegant. He attempted to hold the knife in such a way, that the beast would run into its edge at full speed.

Alexander was about to ask where Imgor was headed when a massive creature slowly showed itself from the woods. He had seen a plauged harpy before but this... this way something far different. Some kind of hideous mashup of monsters. He instinctively grabbed for his naginata- before he realized that he didn't have it. The blacksmith was still working it. Well this was... inconvenient to say the least, if he'd had his weapon he would've leveled it at the beast and fought it like it was a boar. Now his arsenal consisted of two knives, his crossbow, and the shotgun. Not exactly good odds when fighting something with a tail sword alone that was as big as he was. He doubted his crossbow had the power to penetrate the creatures armor, the gun might do the trick but he didn't want to count on it.

Attacking it head on with his knives would be practically suicidal. Argh, where was Joshua when you needed him? As soon as the beast began moving forward Alexander hurled one of his knives into the beast's gullet, hoping to grab its attention, then raised his other hand. Putting as much power into as he could muster he yelled out, "FLARE! and moments after an intensely powerful light flashed out from his hand. His warning had been enough for Larion and himself to shield their eyes, he could only hope it had been enough for Imgor as well.

If the monster proved to be blinded, or at least debilitated by the viate, he would unsling his shotgun from his back and rush up to the beast, hoping to fire a blast into its mouth and end this in one fell swoop. If not that he would jump backwards onto Larion and get carried out of the way, Larion wouldn't be able to carry him for very long but the burst of speed could save him if the beast was unaffected by the flare. Putting that much power into the blast had been more draining then he thought, he felt tired already. Alex really hoped this worked, if it didn't things were about to get a whole lot harder.

It was a bit odd to hear their teacher warn the three to be careful. Generally that came after one of them almost lost their life at the task. Well… it didn’t hurt to have him hammer the point in one last time before the four of them headed towards town. The man’s directed words seem to have had an effect on Willo as the walk was spent in silence despite the market’s oppressive atmosphere. Usually he might have expected to hear something from her in an attempt to lighten the mood. He peered into lifeless buildings through dirty windows, down unlit alleys, and generally kept his wits about.

He breathed just a little easier as the soft glow of lit lamps drove back the night. It was far from bustling, but the presence of people in the streets was by far the most comforting part of the district. The atmosphere only grew livelier the deeper the group ventured into the district though the reason became apparent soon enough. Ramone had thought it a bit odd to see more and more residents, but the pub that sat at the center of this area was explanation enough.

As their teacher left them by themselves, Ramone glanced momentarily at Willo along with some nearby residents as she called out. He blinked at the odd nickname, one of many, she decided to use and simply shrugged in response. “We’ll make it work somehow,” he muttered before he decided to join Lazarus in the comforts of the pub. It had been a long sail and something hot and hearty would be very much appreciated. “I’ll be seeing if they have anything to eat,” he told the two before he pushed open the door and stepped into the lively building.

It seems that taking this task lightly would be a mistake seeing that it will be unpredictable and Lazarus has repeatedly said so. As they silently walked through the gloomy market Aelar looked around hoping to see something interesting or useful. He was disappointed. Eventually they came to a stop outside a pub which was definitely an improvement.

Lazarus said they are staying for 15 minutes, so he must be getting something that will be helpful for the mission. Probably some information or a special item of some sort, either that or he is just hungry which is unlikely. Though the thought of a warm meal in a local pub is appealing.

Nudging Willo back, "I prefer cracking more than just the skulls but I'm always up for some beast head-bashing." Seeing that Ramone following Lazarus, "Sounds like a good idea I could do with a warm meal right about now," Aelar follows Ramone "You coming Willo?" he adds as he stops to see if Willo will follow

You betcha!" Willo chimed, following along after Aelar.

Ramone, Aelar and Willo dodged the few overly intoxicated men as they nearly threw themselves at them and any other object they could grasp in their immediate surroundings to prevent an unplanned rendezvous with the street pavement. As they neared the entrance of the pub they came close enough to the two hunters as to overhear their conversation if they listened at all.

“Alright, then we won’t, beverage.” The more muscular of the two said.

“I told you, stop calling me beverage. I don’t drink that much either.” The other retorted rather annoyed.

“Fine, Lord of darkness, I’ll stop.” He continued poking fun at his fellow hunter. And the other hunter promptly rose his fist at him. “I dare you. Call me some weird name one more ti-“

The hunter was interrupted as the other one turned to face Aelar, Willo and Ramone as they were just about to enter the pub.

“Ayy, you three. You’re part of that bigger group who were passing through, right? You don’t seem to be from around here. Turned quite a few heads, especially the cutie." He glanced at Willo as he said the last part. "You wouldn’t be heading towards castle Bloodleaves by chance, would you? If you are, word of caution. I hear . . . someone . . . let a lot of beasts loose. And I mean a lo-“
The other hunter hindered him from continuing with a friendly shove to the side. “Oh c’mon, stop scaring the kids, dumbass.” He then turned to the three as well. “Don’t listen to him, he blabbers sometimes.”

"Perhaps," Ramone offered vaguely, but in a polite enough manner as he bowed slightly towards the senior Hunters. "Is there anything you can tell us about the Beasts within? Dangerous varieties to look out for? Any odd situations like your friend "blabbered" about? " He asked, hoping the locals would have pertinent info to offer.

"Well there was one thing that caught my attention." The more muscular of the two began. "They were talking about this tall and slender creature." He trailed off. "I don't know, it's just stuff that I heard around the pub. Though they said it had a tendancy to . . . get in your head." The hunter rubbed his chin as he contemplated on that further. "Ever hear of creature being that smart?" He questioned before the other hunter rebuked at that once more. "Man, you heard that from one of the drunker hunters, you really gonna believe what he says. He must've been more of blabber mouth than you."

"I see," Ramone muttered with a nod as he contemplated about what the Hunter had told him. "Perhaps magic of some sort? In any case, thank you for the warning." Even if it was nothing like the man's friend was making it out to be, it didn't hurt to be aware of such a possibility. "Is there nothing else?"

The hunter rested his finger on his chin. "Nope, not that I could think of. Anyways, have a good one."
And the two returned to enjoying their own alcoholic drinks just outside the entrance of the pub.



Inside the pub the atmosphere felt even warmer than outside. Both literally and figuratively speaking. It was really hot inside. And full of cigar smoke. Crowded tables and unconscious people were strewn to the left and side of the entrance in a disorderly fashion leaving something of a curvy aisle open from the entrance to the counter, also with a sizable amount of people delving into their alcoholic assortments. Cheers and moans of amusement, pleasure and joy echoed throughout the room, just the same as arguments that seemed like they could sprawl a brawl at the snap of a finger. If the three thought the outside of the pub was crowded, they could mistake the inside for a mid-day sale at the market. The reddish lighting also added to the warm atmosphere. It was unlikely that this place served any food but that didn’t mean they couldn’t ask.

At the right of the counter towards the corner of the room was another door that no doubt lead to a staff only area. Half obscured by the open door was a woman who wore the garments of a typical waitress at the locale. The most interesting aspect about her was that she wore an eye-patch as well. That could surely equate to an interesting story. Standing in front of her was none other than Drake himself. They seemed to be amidst a heated argument, the sound of it only shrouded by the crowd of people. Or to be more precise, the waitress was doing the arguing. Drake maintained his calm disposition per his usual.

The disturbing, and seemingly disturbed trinity of man, scorpion, and... something else covered its' primary array of eyes at Alex's flare, gurgling something in pain. It screeched, and retreated backwards some, into the bushery. Of course, as it devastated the shrubbery just a moment ago, it wasn't exactly well-hidden or anything. Its' thick, viscous bile, a sickly green, continued emanating from its' various mouths, making patches where grass wouldn't grow again for weeks.

Meanwhile, further on the same path, Sapphire's new compatriot, Arnold, stopped cold. He turned his head to the left, and to the right, taking in the air. Sapphire could hear something in the distance... it seems like they were picking up the same thing, in their own ways. Arnold seemed to.. laugh? A short one, but authentic nonetheless. "About time! We passed them, must've waited for juicier prey, considering what I'm sensing. ...What, do you do too?"

Ah, seems like Arnold's getting suspicious of Sapphire himself, already. Great.

Sapphire frowned at Arnold. "Yes. I can hear it."

"Hmm... I smell it. It's hard to describe... Most of the people I know of who can do it just call it... the smell of fear, nervousness? Eh, it doesn't really matter does it? We have prey to hunt! I'll race you there, hahahah!", Arnold quickly bolted off, dragging that glorified circular iron slab behind him, its' little spikes making tracks in the dirt pathway...

Sapphire rubbed the back of her neck only then realizing she had her hood off the entire time. With one hand she pulled her hood over head while with the other she reached for her kris.

'I'm not in the mood', she thought and sighed mentally before beginning to jogg, following Arnold.

A few tense moments passed, the Scorpion-Beast just beggining to recover from its' eyes being exposed to a tiny sun for a split-second or two, until Imgor and Alex could sense movement in the distance coming towards them, two people. A bit too far away to tell whom exactly, yet. The Beast itself focused on producing more of that corrosive element and recovering.

Thankfully Imgor wasn't looking in Alex' direction as the flare ignited, so he remained unaffected.
With the knife in his hands, he attempted to circle the beast, using the tracking spell to know its position while he did his best to not be noticed by the beast. If he could successfully get behind the beast, he would grab its stinger, jab a knife into a joint of its tail, turn the knife sideways to cut through most of the joint, and then rip off the stinger, in case it was still connected. Without its stinger, the beast had lost one weapon, and in case Imgor wouldn't loose the stinger in the battle, he also had a poisonous weapon for future fights.
The beast would most likely try to attack him the instant he grabbed the stinger. He would have to get away from the beast as quickly as possible, if he didn't want to end up as beast-food.

Alexander some Imgor's intention and slowly began moving forward towards the beast, making sure not to step into any pools of acid. He waved Larion away, he didn't want the ironback getting into a fight with this thing, it was just too dangerous. Alex carefully took out his shotgun and moved in on the beast in synch with Imgor. Alex's ears twitched as he sensed movement behind him, a quick glance revealed two people making their way here somewhat hastily. As much as Alexander would've liked to wait for them he couldn't leave Imgor out to dry. As soon as Imgor grabbed for the stinger Alex would blast the Scorpion-beast-thingy in the face and retreat. Larion whined and waited, ready to jump into the fray at the first sign of his master needing protecting.

Willo

Willo couldn't help but grin wide at the pub's interior. So many people, so many things happening, all of them varying degrees of entertaining, but entertaining all the same. A wave of cheering took over the room and she found herself whooping along with the other patrons, but her excitement took on a devious edge. She saw drunken arguments forming, bubbling up onto the cusp of confrontation, and couldn't resist the urge to egg things on.

"You gonna let him say that?" she'd chime to one, and "He's gonna swing!" to another. Whether the voice of one girl amidst the sea of shouts and hollers would make any difference, she didn't stay to find out. Instead she kept close to Ramone and Aelar, and eventually found herself meandering over to the counter.

"Just a cup'a water for me, thanks," she said to the tender, plopping herself down into an open seat. She drank in quick sips, as though she was more interested in wetting her tongue than actually hydrating. "This was a good idea. Ramone, you have good ideas, you know that?"

Perhaps it should have been difficult to spot Lazarus in the chaos of the pub, but the fact that he was more or less secluded in addition to having seen him nearly every day for years took away most of the difficulty. From her angle she couldn't see the one-eyed woman, but it did look like he was having a chat with someone. A friend? A girly, maybe? She always wondered what sort of folk interested the statuesque man. But it was more than likely some contact or another, maybe regarding their mission. Being close to the castle, someone was bound to know something worthwhile about Bloodleaves, aside from the fact that it was super spooky.

"'Ay guys, look," she said, nodding towards their teacher. "Who do ya think he's talkin' to?"