Dorisma surveyed the corrupted and dead wasteland that lay before them, a once lush forest turned to dust. If only this had been a human city. That thought rang through Dorisma's head as an exceptionally brilliant idea. The desire to follow through with this was only compounded by seeing the Princess shove people into the dust, her reaction clearly showing she'd expected something different, likely terrible to happen. A silent snarl crossed Dorisma's face and she grabbed some of the dust, roughly cramming into her coin purse that she'd emptied a while ago and gave to their group funds possessed by Robert. She didn't care if anyone saw her doing so, though they'd likely be more focused on the princess anyway. Dorisma dusted her hands off carefully to make sure there was none left on her hands and stood up, waiting for the rest of the party to finish whatever they were doing so they could head back and return to the dragons.

After getting up, I noticed that Dorisma was scooping some of it into her own bag, and... while I would normally be against such a thing, I assumed she only meant for it to be used against humans, and I've pretty much confirmed that the stuff has no effect on any of our own party members, or, at least, it didn't effect her, myself, Backstabs, Deravan, or Trey... I was unsure about Miles, and honestly didn't care if it could actually effect the princess, who seemed to respond to Deravan with "Well, I was testing something, and you three were staring right into the stuff, so, I figured 'why not?'," that confirmed that the only person she was thinking about with this was herself, which only made me wonder why in the world she stuck around with us. I pulled out an empty bottle that once contained the dragon potion, and used my own claw to scrape some of the dust off of a wooden building that... probably used to be something at some point. Once I finished, I put that same cork on the bottle just to make sure I didn't accidentally spill the stuff. "Alright, the job's done for now, I guess we should head back, now, right?" I asked the group, just to make sure nobody wanted to go deeper into this place that was no doubt already swarming with zombies. Strangely enough, I noticed something... odd... a bright, white stone just barely in my view in the otherwise dominantly grey atmosphere of this place... maybe it was just some sort of illusion, or mirage, but, maybe that odd stone had some sort of dust-stopping properties... maybe I could look into it a bit more the next time we come here, as I didn't want to get too close to the zombies, this time.

Deravan nod as Robert got the dang dust here. He then go to head to leave, annoyed by the princess as he looks at her.
"Always thinking about yourself, never thinking about others... why you think we don't like you... you never show any sign of respect and your not even nice to us..." he says as he go to move.
"This is why I dislike humans... you take no second thought's about hitting us in the back... as if you think you have enough powers to evade all consequences. Too much power makes someone abuse it..." he says as he moves forwards.
"You best freaken start respecting us a bit more... cause one day things might go badly for you... and that day you will wonder why no one will be helping you..." he says as he moves forwards, clearly annoyed by that princess...

Robert got some of the dust in a bottle for the dragons to examine, and Dorisma also grabbed a handful. She was probably thinking she could use it as a weapon. As much as Trey would enjoy seeing a human slowly rot to death, it could potentially be dangerous. There was no telling whether or not it would keep spreading to the ground beneath whatever she killed with it. "Be careful with that, Dorisma." He said. "We don't really know how the dust works yet."

I didn't even pay attention to the princess, taking my eyes off her rather immaculate gown and continuing to stare out into the desolate beyond. "You're invulnerable. You could at least poke the next road-agent we meet in the eyes." I muttered, half-heartedly suggesting a use for her as I continued to spy on the grey destruction ahead of us. My shocked expression had long been replaced by a concerned and grim look. Surely it would've been reassuring to look at the greenery behind us, but it all just seemed helpless against this unstoppable tide of doom.

Well, except for a strange patch of light green almost peaking the horizon. Anything that could shuffle seemed to steer well away from an overgrown white rock, sticking out in the middle of nowhere like a shining beacon of light. No one else seemed to notice (they were all to busy scraping up dust like gold dust), and it seemed far too invaluable to leave it as it was. "There's something out there guys. We ought to mention to the dragons back at the stronghold."

Somewhere in the seat of my mind, a dice gathered dust.

I was just about to leave this area when I heard Miles mention that something else was here, and I looked over where he was looking as soon as he said that "Huh... how about that? Seems like the dust can't touch that stuff. So, before we leave, should we get some of that... whatever it is that's repelling the dust, or not?" I asked my group. I then took a rock, and threw it at some other rock, creating a noise, and making the zombies head in that direction instead of towards us. It would work for a while, but if we wanted to get that slab, we'd probably have to fight at least one of them on the way back. So... if those zombies are made when living things enter the dust... why aren't we effected? I thought as I waited for a response from the group. I then looked around for any wood, just so I could light it in case anyone needed a fire-based weapon to fend off the zombies. I found a few branches that looked like they'd work for what I needed them for, but decided against getting them, at least for now. The smell of stale rot filled the air as I waited, and honestly, I couldn't take it for too much longer. The princess was writing in some sort of book, again, and Backstabs seemed to be on the fence about this saying "Well... I dunno. I'll go with you guys, whether you choose to leave, or stay, but I don't know what we should do," she then brought up a point with "We could just TELL the dragons that we found something like this, and I'm sure they, in all their supposed wisdom, would be able to figure out WHICH material the slab was made of... right?"

Deravan looked at the slab at a distance, thinking a bit for all this as well as the dust and the zombies. He though a bit as he looks at the group.
"If that dust affects dragons.. last thing we need is another dragon being affected... and never know... that thing could end up helping us find a cure anything. I would like us to try to get it, but the risk of being attacked here by those zombies..." he says, thinking a bit more right now.
"I will fallow you guys lead on this, cause I am unsure if its such a good idea to try to go and get that slab. If we could have some kind of magic to bring the thing closer.. not sure i can use the wind from my blade to bring that slab closer... might be complicated to even do that." he then says, thinking a bit, looking at the dust. Why was the group not affected? Was it related to them being stronger? As in... having taken human like classes or such? It was something he though about and would need to think more.

Trey thought for a moment about whether or not they should go for the stone that Robert spotted. It could be extremely useful for finding a way to stop the spread of the dust, or at the very least slow it down. Going in to retrieve it could be dangerous, though. Even though Robert managed to lure most of the zombies away from it, it was unlikely that they could get in and out without fighting a few of them. Then again, they were able to take on several of them back in the goblin cave. "It's worth the risk, I'd say." Trey said. "I'm confident that we can handle a few zombies. We've done it before, after all."

Admittedly I was a little annoyed with my suggestion being taken further, frowning at Robert. It was one thing to take a potentially worthless slab (worthless being mysterious and extremely risky), and certainly another to run into a desert of doom for a possible solution to the whole problem. Honestly, I would've given the idea of simply fleeing the continent more weight than this. "Well... you lads go on ahead. I don't have prior experience with the dust, let alone knowledge of immunity." I stated, a degree of seriousness on a usually discrete voice. It was one thing to fight off humans, but a landscape of dust didn't seem so survivable.

Of course, that's when I noticed a large glob of grey dust hurtled towards my face, impacting my neck as I futilely drew out my knife and slashed it at the princess' chest. (I wasn't quite acquainted with the princess' incredibly infuriating ability.) For a moment I thought I saw my mother in a white flash as I cursed the princess, anger and confusion running through me shortly afterwards. "You fickle newt! What in the Lord's name do you have in that blasted noggin of yours!?" At the time, I was quite enraged and threatened to pick a fight with the princess (again, not quite knowing about the magical invulnerability she had), dust having to be swatted out of my priceless coat and wiped away from my cheeks, stinging my skin but nowhere near brain-dead. "Absolute bitch you are, I would be glad to strangle your neck if the bloody thing took over!" Extremely pissed, fire and embers in my voice. To the point where I almost reverted to a hidden rougher accent. Either way, she got her confirmation and so did everyone else. I hadn't exactly had my composure broken in a long time.

Entirely too much talking. Too much worrying about the annoying human that called itself a princess. It seemed the plan was to get the odd shining stone that lay further back in the rotted wasteland ahead of them. She also ignored Trey's comment about not knowing how the dust worked, it killed living things that weren't her and that was all that really mattered. "Let's get then." Figuring they might as well go quickly before any more zombies returned Dorisma immediately began running towards the stone at full tilt, with the intention of grabbing it and retreating before any zombies noticed them, not that she wouldn't mind pulverizing them until they looked like the dust that was everywhere.

It seemed like everyone else either didn't care, or wanted to get that slab, so, after a quick nod, I rushed over there, hoping that the zombies would still be distracted, and just let me take the thing. I looked around, and noticed that a group of them were shuffling their way over here. I then got an idea, and I used the slab to shine some sun directly into their faces, which, oddly enough, seemed to actually get a reaction out of them, and might have actually blinded them, temporarily... somehow. With a grin on my face, I started to leave this place, but then I thought How often do we have an advantage like THAT in a fight? and I started to slow down, as the confused zombies just kept heading in the same direction as they were, before... as if they really WERE temporarily blinded by that white slab of marble. Once I got back to the rest of my team, I asked "So... we could EASILY sneak up on those zombies, and probably destroy them before they could touch us... or just run away. I'd rather get rid of those zombies, honestly, who's with me?" Backstabs, who was somehow following me this whole time, responded with "I'm not... I mean, we have a GOLDEN opportunity to get out of this grey mess, and I'm gonna take it," I then looked over to the princess, who seemed to be writing something down in her book, again, and didn't want to talk. Good. After that, I looked over to the rest of my team, wondering which way they'd want to go... Dorisma would probably want to fight, Miles might want to run away, but Deravan and Trey could go either way.

Deravan looked forwards towards the zombies as Robert got the tablet and then ran back with it, also asking if the group should fight those things. He remembered how though they were, even if they didn't seem to react well to the light.
"Well... I would need a torch... cause if I remember, they don't take fire very well, and that is the only thing and my dagger that can actually hurt those things unfortunately for me..." he then says annoyed. Seriously, if he was a mage, he would have an easier time, but it was not the case right now so he had would need to deal with these carefully if he was to fight.
"I am with you Robert whatever you want to go for." he then says.

"Ahem, right..." I cleared my throat after my tirade, sparks leaving my mouth as I gave a parting glare to the princess. She seemed mostly nonchalant the last time I saw her, my time spent curiously spying on Robert as he sprinted like a madman and back. Hell, he seemed to take piss out of the zombies to our amusement, flicking sunlight into their eyes and causing them to stumble (more so than before). I snickered whilst looking around to Deravan and the others, forgetting about the dust briefly as Robert came back unharmed rather quickly. I was about to congratulate him with hands out to clap until he suggested clearing up the area of undead, which... "Er, I'd probably leave this God-forsaken place." I suggested, rather deflated considering we already had our main goal. Hell, our original goal was to just grab the dust and leave, not risk our lives to purge one or two of these things.

"I take it these things are rather weak to fires?" I asked, in case we came to an agreement to fighting as opposed to leaving.

Dorisma glanced at the light-blinded zombies ponderingly. They wasn't really nay need to smash them, the stupid things likely wouldn't get far either way. However smashing things never hurt, it would be decent training to help toughen up her fists. Shouldn't take long. "Let's go then." Dorisma said walking towards the zombies casually to give the mages time to attack before she engaged. With them raining fire on the ugly things this should be a quick fight at worst and it wasn't like they'd get past her. Dorisma shrugged her shoulders and shifted her neck, letting loose a impressive series of crack and pops.

Robert had managed to get in and out with the stone, while avoiding a fight with the zombies, surprisingly enough. With that stone, and the sample for the dragons, they had everything they needed. Even so, Robert felt the need to go back in and finish off the zombies, simply because they could. "And what, exactly, is there to gain?" Trey asked. "Going in for the stone, I can understand, but now we already have everything we could possibly need. There's no point in endangering ourselves any more than we already have."

I tried to come up with some sort of argument against Trey, and, while he was outnumbered... he was also right. There was no real good that could come of us needlessly putting ourselves in danger. "Alright, Trey's right, we should just head back to the dragon stronghold while we have the chance," I knew that Dorisma, at least, wanted to fight, and it looked as if Deravan and even Miles were preparing to fight, as well. Why did I want to fight them, anyways? Was it just because I could? No... that... that doesn't sound like me. I'm glad Trey snapped me back into reality. I thought as I headed back towards the stronghold, with the zombies still being confused, and blinded thanks to my stunt, earlier. Once the group started moving, again, the smell of decay and rot finally left, being replaced by the scent of pine trees... a familiar scent to me, as most of my hometowns were in forested areas, despite me having been hatched near an ocean. The princess started shouting nonsense at the group, again, as if she was just trying to find reasons to complain, or just trying to find faults... for some reason, she was particularly miffed that we left the zombies alone when we could have had a 'perfectly good fight', instead. Why did she want us to fight, anyways? Was it just because she was bored? Do humans regularly fight things because they're bored? I thought as she continued berating us for not fighting those zombies. Her complaints actually made me feel even MORE like I made the right choice, given that pretty much nobody on the team liked her.

Dorisma growled a little. Well make up your minds already. Leaving the zombies behind the group began heading towards the stronghold, the princess making noise over something that Dorisma couldn't be bothered to pay attention to. Well they should get back to the strongold relatively quickly and then they could see about the whole dragon dilemia. Perhaps find out some more about what ever this gray dust was. It seemed to be a powerful enough weapon if she could figure out how to use it to her advantage. It even created more of itself so there was no need to worry about running out.

Deravan followed Robert as he left the zombies, not wanting to go to fight... and the princess going and complaining about that. He sighed softly as we move forwards.
"If we do not need to fight... then it might be better in this case because we have nothing to really gain from this... Sure... it might be less training in this case, but considering those dang things are resistant to weapons, I feel like its the best choice in this case." he then says, following Robert. Sure... he did want to possibly go and have a fight with those zombies... but was it worth the risk.. not that much. He just keep going and following Robert in this case. They got what they came here for

"I'm glad you see it my way, Robert." Trey said. "Come on. The dragons should be expecting us to return soon."
The princess certainly didn't agree with their decision to leave without a fight. Trey was beginning to grow tired of the sound of her voice, but he had his ways of dealing with that. All he had to do was fly high above the ground, and the sound of the wind rushing past him was enough to completely drown it out. He felt somewhat sorry for the rest of the group. They were stuck on the ground, forced to endure her constant whining.

My teeth chittered as Robert stunned the zombies ahead, pulling out rapidly and turning his back on them. I raised an eyebrow as I bit my tongue, watching his silent apprehension as he walked away. It was certainly smart not to pull us into a fight and focus on the bigger picture, namely to report out findings and possibly get a reward out of it. While the figures ahead shambled and leered at random objects with their useless eyes, I scrambled ahead to Robert and kept my distance, sheathing my warm knives without a word. I didn't particularly care whichever decision he took, but I certainly wasn't going to call him out for either decision. Some like our resident orc and princess seemed to take offense, while others were more keen on just getting out of that decaying hell.

We retraced our steps through the forest, untouched as of yet by the corruption behind us as we stepped forth, a hint of burnt wood in the air from our earlier encounter. It wasn't pleasant, but I was much more annoyed with the princess' incomprehensible whining, a twitch in my eye as she closed in on us and screeched at eardrums. I was tempted to slash at her with my claws, not that it would likely do anything but change the topic to... I don't know, the theory of pain as opposed to zombie hunting?