[i]'By the Tree, this is kinda boring.'[/i]

The lone Foreas stretched her body as she sat on a bed of flowers. "That one Djarkel soldier was an odd fleshling. I really should hang out with him more." She muttered, leaves twitching once, then twice. 

"Yeah, it's better to be here instead of the feast. Last time I was at such an event..." Coco shuddered at the mere memory, then shrugged her shoulders tightly and relaxed, letting herself lie down on the flowers. Once she had settled in a comfortable semi-fetal position, she gently plucked a nearby flower from the ground and brought it up to her nostrils. 

Yet, once she sniffed the air, she knew something was off. The flowers' scents were duller. The distant sounds of singing birds and stealthy squirrels weren't there, either. And then it hit her. Sulphur. She heard a loud, angry scream that sent shivers down her spine. Instantly her leaves had prickled up and her body had risen to an alarmed stance. She dropped the gentle flower onto the ground and listened. 

Another scream was heard next. It was closer. Angrier. Coco was able to pinpoint the source. The screamer was a... Being of strange body shape; it reeked of the Inferno. It was a [url=http://i.imgur.com/XiwqfMT.jpg]demon[/url], that was clear now. That's why she relaxed. Her leaves slowly lied back down on her head when she waved at the demon. All demons in the College were controlled by Khan, after all.

"Hey," Coco asked, "are you lost? Do you need me to take you back to Tyrael the Demonomancer or maybe Khan the Headmaster?"

[hider=Poor Plant]

The demon had definitely heard her, as it turned towards her, staring at her with bloody red eyes. Then it shot toward her at a speed unmatched.

"What are y-" Coco began before recoiling in surprise, leaves once more prickling up in alarm. She reached for her spear, but it wasn't there. She didn't even have the holster. She couldn't think, though. Not then, not there. As it ran, the demon reared its right arm back, emitting a bone-on-wood sound.

"What the dirt?!" She screamed once she realized that the demon had a mutated arm, with three long and sharp claws instead of fingers. Instantly, Coco turned tail and raced for the overgrown cottage nearby, but she could feel the demon approaching. 

The heavy footsteps were getting closer. She could feel its ragged breath on her back as she ran. She wasn't fast enough.

In the distance, a man started to cut the area between the demon who's eyes was solely upon the tender and leafy morsel before it. His body was covered from just below his head to his feet in armor and slightly loose clothing, his skin completely drained of any pigment most skin had as his pinkish eyes stared forward. Each step had strength and purpose behind it while he only had one focus upon his mind, to prevent blood being spill in his presence. Flowers withered into blackened husks around him, the decay flowed off him in waves in his approach as his hand jerked back then shot forward. 

The demon's leg quickly had a rotten flesh scent fume from it, the muscles aged and rippened into a putrid mess to expose the tendons and bone. Connection with air turned the once gleam white surface a dirty green, adding to the rancid stank. It would've been worse yet the man hadn't gotten into range and didn't dare risk another attempt. The demon's head rose in a bellow of pain, her leg gave way as redden eyes turned to give Craig a glare. 

A dull thump was the sound that reached Coco, followed by the furious grumbling and growling from the fallen demon. 

"Oh Tree, oh dirt, oh Tree, oh dirt..." Coco whispered as she kept running, opening hte cottage's door with a strong slam, "Ow!" She had yelped in pain at the pain on her shoulder. She wasted no time, and as quickly as she had entered the cottage, she had left it. She carried a spear in both hands, and she was quick to get into her stance, pointing the sharp end at the twitching demon, who had just begun somehow... Regenerating its damaged limb. 

Coco was fast. And with her speedy reaction came the stabbing motion she made, right at the thing's head. It rolled out of the way and in a lighting fast reflex, grabbed Coco's ankle. It pulled so hard that the Foreas fell on her back and head, letting her spear go at the latter's pain. 

While she struggled to stand up and move, the demon turned back to stare at Craig, bringing its amorphous claws down against Coco's chest.

The Noxomancer teacher never stopped his pace, his feet guided him towards where the Foreas was. He knew Lucilia would forgive him just this once for trespassing as any of the Alchelmy creations that reached to harm him turned into wilted remains, their blackened husks crumbled and were carried away by the wind. A slight guilt edged into his conscience about what he was forced to do yet Lucilia wasn't here to stop them. 

He didn't bother paying them any farther mind in his little walk. He didn't intend to deny the student her fight but merely even the odd as all the College's students would one day need to learn to fight, else they would perish. When the demon went to launch its claws, Craig's face twisted in anger upon his cold expression. His pink eyes tighten in concentration and his fingers snapped. The Demon's eyes widened in surprise then coughed, blood dripped down the corner of its mouth as it coughed up specks of blood. Each red drop flickered in the area in front. The other hand raised to cover her mouth, her lungs within blackened and decayed from inner rot while her attacking appendage halted. 

That was the moment that Coco, having somewhat recovered her focus, clapped her hands together twice and rubbed them. A great energy charged up on her palms, enough to make them glow in a small measure. Then Coco's leaves twitched, and she pushed her hands against the demon's chest. A loud bzzt was heard as the demon reared its head back in silence. Its body wiggled violently. It was launched up into the air and landed meters away, completely immobile. Or so it seemed like it to Coco. 

"Oh," Coco said quietly, leaves twitching once then twice as she raised a hand to caress the side of her head, "fuck... My head hurts worse than if I had a woodworm infestation..." 

Craig's eyes watched the demon go flying as his body drew closer to the student, his head still fixed upon where the bitch had landed. Even thought she was likely out for the count, spasms of twitches ruptured through the being's body, he didn't leave that up to chance. His ears caught her swearing and stifled a chuckle as he answered. "I'm not surprised. You did rather well for your first fight, however this isn't the time to relax. The College is under attack and you need to seek somewhere safe while I locate other stray students." 

"I guess--" Coco began, "Wait, the College's under attack?" 

Her leaves couldn't help relaxing once the adrenaline in her sap stopped flowing. Her nostrils caught the scents around her once more, and she felt sick. So much death and illness. Death of both plantlife and demons. It dsturbed the deepest reaches of her soul. As she stumbled upon her feet and stood, having recovered her gifted spear from the ground, her scent turned into a crisp, sharp version of the sweet chocolate it used to be. Slowly, she started walking towards the College, a small limp visible on her left leg. 

[i]'I must find Alaira...'[/i]

"Yes, if you've not got shelter then it's likely best you accompany me. It's not a good idea to be roaming around alone with many of the demons on the rampage." Craig said simply as he started to move, following her but allowing her to lead. His decay stopped rotting everything around him now that the danger was gone. His eyes took a moment to look at Coco's head and pulled out a white hankerchief to hand toward her, his body pulled out a head in order to gain her attention. She seemed rather stunned from her ordeal and he had feeling leaving her alone wasn't the best notion.

He smiled slightly and added. "You're bleeding I think, use this to stop it. Or if you have to get sick, now let's get you somewhere safe." 

Coco's neck stiffened when she noticed the offered white, pristine fabric. Her body turned to the man's and grabbed the handkerchief, nodding her thanks. "I guess I did hit my head pretty hard..." She said, lifting her left hand to touch the back of her had, beneath all the leaves. When she pulled her hand back out, her palm was lightly coated in a sticky, dense and translucent orange liquid. It smelled bitter and felt warm to touch, and Coco's leaves twitched in recognition. 

"Yeah," She confirmed, "It's my sap."

She shrugged her shoulders just before she lifted the handkerchief to clean the hidden wound. After some leaf twitching, she had become accustomed to the pain of pressing against her wound, so she holstered her spear and nodded once more at the man. 

"I'll go with you-" She said, reaffirming the pressure on her wound with a slight shift of her left arm's position, "but I have to look for a friend as soon as I can."

"You will find her in time. For now, let's stick together." Craig had told her, and with that, they walked off. [/hider]