The demon monster was chasing Sarah, just like she planned, and he had changed into his human form. Kensu jumped up from his location behind a rock and began running after the black robed creature with the scythe. "NOOOOO!!" He yelled and raised his mighty hammer. Through his hammer he channeled a thick volt of lightning and aimed for the ground beneath Jabberwocky's feet. The ground exploded in a rain shower of rock and smoke.

Sarah manages to run into the village, and stops to take a breather. At her heels, Pip barks at her in encouragement, then turns around, growling at... something. Sarah braces herself, wondering if the dragon had flown away; she can't hear its wings, and something that big would make a lot of noise stomping around, right?

To her surprise, she sees a man in a hooded cloak, carrying an oversize scythe that was almost rippling with dark energies. A chill shoots up her spine, though she doesn't understand why. Besides her, Pip seems to have gotten even more agitated, actively snarling at the man. Sparks were forming around the electric dog, as though he's charging up for an attack.

"Uh, s-sir?" she says cautiously. "I don't know how to put this, but... there's a flying monster around here somewhere. You might want to take cover someplace before it comes back..."

He grins, baring sharp teeth. "Oh, I know about the monster." He stops when the ground blows up in a bolt of lightning. He turns, enraged, and snarls deep in his throat. "That foolish priest followed me?" He hisses, a thin, animalistic sound. He roars, the ground trembling from the force. He then uproots a small tree, and swings it like a hammer on the priest. "Silence!"

To her surprise, Master Thunderfist appears and used a hammer to create a bolt of lightning, attacking the stranger. The stranger's response was no less startling; he lifts a small tree and tries to crush Thunderfist under it.

Pip needs no invitation, and is already charging the stranger, shooting a bolt of lightning at him. Finding no other option, Sarah raises her sword and moves in to join the fray. She tries to cover Pip so he doesn't get crushed under the stranger's attacks.

Kensu wakes up near the tree, luckily for him it wasn't a direct hit. His leg and his left arm are broken though. He props himself up using his right hand, the tree had knocked him about 3 or so meters from the fight. He could see Pip charging up and Sarah raise her sword. He raised his Hammer, it had maybe one more charge in it before it was just a hammer again, it began to spark.... *poof* he had used up all the hammer's energy with his last bolt. He screamed at Jabberwocky, "YOU'RE A PATHETIC PIECE OF DOG SCAT!! YOU KNOW THAT! NOTHING BUT A WEAK LACKY! TELL ME, DO YOU WIPE DRAYGON'S ASS TOO?" then he collapsed back down, breathing heavily.

He snarls, and spitefully kicks Pip aside, sending him flying into Sarah, bowling her over. He then walks towards the fallen priest, and his pupils narrow into slits. "A lacky? Oh no no no, you don't get it, do you? I have Draygon in my pocket." He laughs, a deep, evil cackle. He looks over at Sarah and dismisses her as no threat. He then looks at the broken, battered priest. "What I want? I want to watch this world burn. For all it's evils, all it's suffering. It's just justice."

"Master Kensu!" Sarah cries out as she sees the old wizard crumple to the ground. She rushes forwards to save Kensu, giving a loud cry as she swings her sword. However, she gets caught off-guard by the man throwing a yelping Pip at her, knocking her onto her ass. She grunts in surprise, but she quickly gets up, putting Pip aside.

"Stay here!" she orders the dog. She charges her sword with lightning and fires it at the stranger once she has a clear shot. Once she has his attention again, she resumes taking a fighting stance.

"Leave Master Thunderfist alone," Sarah demands. "Who are you, and what do you want? And why did that monster attack the villagers?! They've done nothing!"

When Jabber turns to look at Sarah Kensu takes advantage of the moment. He had unscrewed a small bulb from the bottom of his hammer handle and was able to toss it to Sarah. It landed at her feet. "Attach it to the sword, kill this pretender!" He yelled, somewhat weakly

He hisses. "Die." He swings his scythe into his ribs, silencing the annoying priest with a nasty squish. He wipes off his blade, and picks up the mans hammer, spinning it. "A powerful weapon....hum....." He points the hammer, and frowns. "It's empty. Strange...." He tosses it aside.

"NO!" Sarah screams as Jabber kills Kensu before her eyes. She sinks to her knees in shock as she watches Kensu's body hit the floor lifelessly. Pip whimpers and lays down, ears drooping, whining mournfully.

Sarah's gaze turns to something Kensu threw her way; a small bulblike object. Through her tears, she notices that there's a strange slot at the hilt of her sword, just matching the bulb. Practically instinctively, she snaps the bulb into the socket, and slowly rises up to her feet. The sword starts crackling in her hand.

"Y-you... monster," she hisses in anger, feeling a burning hatred in her heart for the first time. She then raises the sword and charges him, profile low, muscles tense. This time, she swings with full lethal intent, a red-hot flare of hate rising up through her against the man who murdered Master Thunderfist.

The sword hums with menacing power, strong arcs of lightning sparking from the blade, giving the air a distinct, ionized smell. She moves swiftly, the sword practically leaving afterimages as it swings through the air directly at the stranger.

Once the first blow is blocked, however, she doesn't relent. If anything, she attacks even more furiously. The sword glows even in the bright light of day, moving so fast in the girl's hands it almost appears to be flashes of lightning on a clear day. Rapid slashes and strikes rain down on the stranger, hammering away at his defenses, trying to break through his guard. With every stroke, the sword hisses with barely contained power, sparks bursting into being and crackling menacingly where the blades meet, sound even above the clanging and screeching sounds of metal striking metal.

Sarah is barely aware of how she's doing this, just striking out with pure instinct and some half-remembered ability, all driven with a relentless fury against this man who came to this island with nothing but ruin and death in his wake.

He spins his scythe in a complicated weave, deflecting her blade so it only hits air, his eyes alight in battle fury. He hisses, his teeth sharp and white like a snakes. He backflips over her sword, and uses the shaft of his pole to spin himself around, his feet slamming into her ribs, sending her flying off.

Sarah utters a cry that is sharply cut off when Jabberwocky kicks her in the ribs, sending her flying. She tumbles a bit, but eventually rolls back onto her feet, slightly dirty and bruised by the experience - though the throbbing bruise in her ribs feels the wallop Jabberwocky delivers. She gets back in a combat stance, breathing hard as she tries to gather strength. However, his defense is pretty tough; she was unable to land a blow on him despite going all out. Wiping sweat mixed with grime and a bit of blood off her forehead, she continues glaring at him for a bit. She then shifts her stance, gripping the sword's hilt with both hands, before running forwards to engage again.

This time, however, she tries to probe his defenses, going for flanking swings and trying to find weak points in his stance, shifting her own stance and striking with the lightning enhancement when she feels she can press an advantage. Any time he tries to counter with his scythe, she parries back, using the smaller sword and her own lighter form to get some edge in mobility over him.

"Why?!" she calls out, "why did you kill Master Thunderfist?! What did he ever do to you? You attacked the villagers first!"

He raises his blade, spinning it, and swings the massive weapon around like a willow switch, making a massive web of black from his dark blade. He snarls, shuddering from the power of her electric blade. He roars, and swings his blade into the earth, making the ground explode in thousands of shards. "SILENCE!!!"

Sarah cries out in pain as she gets blasted back, crumpling to the ground. She breathes hard with the effort, feeling tears well in her eyes at the sheer frustration of being unable to hit this bastard. The way he attacked the villagers, how he killed Master Thunderfist, and how he almost effortlessly blocks her attacks, it fills her heart with rage and sorrow.

Pip snarls in fury. The Evil Man attacked the villagers, hurt New Master, and killed Old Master. He didn't care about the cost, he charges forwards to take a bite out of the man's ankle.

"PIP, STAY BACK!" Sarah calls out hoarsely to Pip, who whines in surprise. "S-stay back. I can handle this, Pip..."

Pip, uncertain, nonetheless obeys, whimpering uncertainly as he does.

Slowly, Sarah gets back up, using her sword to prop her up. When she gets to her feet, she tiredly gets into a combat stance, and even though there's dirt and blood on her face and tears of anguish in her eyes, she stares defiantly at Jabberwocky. Once again, she shifts her feet, moving into an offensive stance. Her steps are slow and faltering at first, but then she picks up speed, running as fast as she can at Jabberwocky, charging her sword with the power of lightning itself.

At first, it seems as though she's trying for another attempt to find a weakness in his defense, to try and duke it out in melee. But then, she stops running, lets the momentum drive her forwards as she slides on the soles of her boots, and swings her sword. As she moves to strike, she pours every last bit of energy inside her, every last scrap of biogenic energy she has, into the sword, charging the power of lightning within and amplifying it with the battery in the pommel. When she has the sword pointed at Jabberwocky, she gives one loud cry of defiance as she unleashes all the stored energy in the sword, firing it in a blast of elemental lightning so strong it shines even in the bright light of day. She fires the full force of the attack at Jabberwocky, the arc so powerful it causes the earth around it to crack and shudder.

He roars in fury, seeing her blade charge up, and lunges for her, but stops and starts spinning his scythe like a shield, a thick black wall of metal. The lightning arches across it, and he howls as his arms are scorched, but he keeps up his defense untill the attack ends, his body vanishing into darkness.

As the energy disspiated, Sarah stood there, breathing hard, barely able to stand up. She feels tired, exhausted, but waits to see if the attack got through. All she sees is a dark shadow dissipating.

Did... did she get him? She's afraid to hope, and struggles to hold up her sword. However, it's clear the stranger had disappeared, though he left no corpse. It's... eerie.

For now though, she can finally rest. It had been a long, exhausting, and stressful day, capped with the tragedy of Master Thunderfist's death. She staggers over to his body, and then drops the sword as she collapses to her knees, her body wracked with sobs as tears flowed from her eyes. Pip whimpers as he tries to comfort her.

"I'm s-sorry, M-Master Thunderfist," she sobs. "I c-couldn't help you... I'm sorry..."

Kensu was the first person she'd met when she came out of the capsule, the first person to break the solitude of her existence. He had the keys to finding out who she was and why she was here. And now he's dead, and she feels lost again.

The sky was clear, the sun was bright over head and a salty breeze blew in from the sea. For a few moments the only sounds were the cawing of the birds and the soft slapping of the waves as they broke against the beach and the docks. The ground of the beachhead was scorched and ruined, sand and rock were strewn about impact craters telling a violent story of the fight which seemed to come from no where. A young pink-haired girl, tired and weak, had fallen to her knees and was propping herself up with a blacked and smoking sword. A small, blue tinted dog was on his hind legs trying to lick her face, worry etched in his body language.

Solemnly the people of the village began to pick up rubble and shuffle debris, beginning to form order out of all the chaos. It was not the first time one of Draygon's followers had attacked their village, though usually they were more prepared to fight. The incursion with the spider brood left them weak and open, and it was only bad luck that Jabberwocky, one of the worst of the lot, had been close enough to take advantage of the weakened town, and now they paid for it with the death of their strongest warrior, Kensu Thunderfist. The people mourned quietly, being familiar enough with grief to understand how to cope and begin to heal.

Eight older members of the village walked to Kensu's body, one of them carrying a canvas sail taken from one of their boats. They lovingly brushed the dust off his face and cleaned what blood they could to help him look presentable in his passing. They wrapped him in the canvas and took him down into the village where he would be prepared for their burial ritual. A young man walked up to Sarah and offered his hand to help her up. He was shirtless and tan, wearing some loose fitting shorts with various belts and straps. His hair was long, black, and curled into ringlets; and his body was covered in various, nautical tattoos.

"Hello Oracle," he said warmly, "My name is Steven. You've been through much, I'd much rather give you a proper introduction to our village," he smiled as he helped her to her feet. "First let's get you some food, hot water for bathing, and some rest. I'll take you to Kensu's hut, follow me." He felt tired, the effects of the spider venom and the gas, as well as the adrenaline of the attack from the monster was only going to last so long, but he needed to get her to the hut and then take care of his own family. She was first priority though, she was one of the Oracles. Her kinds were worshipped almost like living deities by the people of the village. She had shown that she had great strength, compassion, and goodwill, this confirmed in Steven that their worship had not been misplaced.

Kensu's hut was directly on the water, it hadn't been damaged in the recent fights. Amara, Steven's aunt, had brought some bread, cheese, and salt cured fish and left them on a plate on the table. Moana, Steven's little sister, had already filled the bath with sea water and lit the fire underneath. The people of the village were of one mind, that they needed to take care of their new visitor, their new Savior. Steven led the pink haired girl over to cot opposite to the table with the food. "There's a pull cord with a bell, if you ring it someone will come to attend to you. Please, you are home here." Steven bowed and smiled and backed out of the door, leaving Sarah alone in the quiet, peaceful room that belonged to, or used to belong to, Master Kensu.

He finishes spinning his blade, deep in a dence patch of trees, and his wings retract into his back. He takes in a deep gasp of air, sinking to one knee, trying to breathe. The old man packed a wallop, and that kid was no joke either. He grins with bloody teeth, and wipes at the split on his lip with his thumb. I wonder if Ruby will grow that powerful one day. He spits on the ground, clearing out his throat of the blood. He then drags his scythe along behind him, digging a groove into the soft earth as he heads for the location of Jub Jub's death.

Sarah was still sobbing softly when Steven came up to help her. Initially, she's still upset, unresponsive, but the offer to take a bath and something to eat was greatly appreciated, given she was tired, exhausted, and stressed out. As she follows him limping into town, she notices the villagers bringing out their dead from under the rubble. She shivers, feeling sorrow and helplessness at helping them get free from the spiderlings only to die by crushing under heavy rocks.

"Some Oracle I turned out to be," she mutters sadly. "I couldn't protect them - or Master Thunderfist. I'm... I'm sorry about your friends."

When in Kensu's house, she looks around, her curiosity helping her come out of her sadness and shock. It's an interesting place, with some rather odd knick-knacks here and there, making her wonder what kind of man he was, and wished she had known him longer. However, all she could do now is try and honor his death and move on, try to understand her destiny.

Steven draws her attention to something small and boxy, a strange thing he's seen Kensu use before but it left Steven utterly mystified. Sarah barely takes a glance at it before she somehow realizes it's a computer, a data processing machine from ancient times.

It still feels strange when she recognizes something she just saw.

Nonetheless, she begins to get to work on it. She's barely aware of herself typing away, it just comes to her naturally. And in the computer's storage, she finds Master Thunderfist's files. About the Ancients, the tale of Harbinger, and how and why the Oracles were created. The power of biogenic energy, the basis of the Oracle Project, and the use of genetic engineering to create Oracles from scratch because regular humans were inefficient in processing the awesome power of biogenic energy. There are some missing spots, of course; the thousands of years and the intervening calamity meant a lot of information was lost. There is a mention of a Julie Anderson, whose teachings formed the basis of current lore about the Ancients.

However, it still incites a certain amount of sorrow in her. Such a mighty civilization, one brought low and to a ruinous end. So much wasted, such loss of life. What she's certain of, however, is that there are signs that Harbinger is starting up again. And this time, the people are much less prepared to face the coming apocalypse.

The picture Master Thunderfist's files and records drew were incomplete, but a general picture emerged nonetheless. As Oracle, her duty is to find the Swords and their matching artefacts, and find a way to stop Harbinger once and for all. She could get a boat to the mainland; plenty of those in what is essentially a fishing village. The real question, of course, is where should she start? What should she look for?

She decides to dig deeper into Kensu's files, petting Pip with one hand when he manages to get up onto the table, tail wagging.

Then she finds a message... from a Dr. Logan? She opens it, curiosity overtaking her.


The mention of her name jolts her. Was this her, or was it another Oracle by the name of Sarah? Could there be more out there? Dr. Logan seemed to have been the mastermind of the biogenic energy research, but a lot of the files and references were missing - either corrupted or lost.

She absently strokes Pip's head as she thinks this over - until her rumbling stomach makes her realize she's overdue for a bath and a meal. She ate some food earlier, but she used up so much energy she's basically running on empty. Maybe some more reading after she's properly freshened up.

Ruby's fiery palm smacked against Annabelle's face and burned half of it off. "OOOUUCH!!" she said, well, half said because she didn't have much of a jaw anymore. Her one eye was wide open, the other burnt off, and what was left of her mouth turned up in a smile. "You're a feisty bitch! You ruined my look!" She raised her leg and kicked the young, blind girl back into the room she came out of. "God, I can only see half of what I'm looking for. HAHAHHAHA!!" She laughed at her own joke as she turned back to the computer screen and plucked the keys trying to figure out the mechanism.