[IC] The Beasts Within

[antman0623]

Juno ran after Bear, pointing his sword at the first bandit that came at him. The bandit pulled out his own sword and swung it at Juno, but ducking, Juno swung his own sword at the bandit's legs, knocking him down and immobilizing him. Standing up, Juno ran around the tree in which bear was trying to slam a bandit into it and managed to kick another bandit in the legs, sending him down to the ground, then taking his sword and hitting the bandit over the head, knocking him out.

Another bandit was coming straight at him, but he quickly started digging into the ground, burrowing. Juno tunneled a short ways behind the bandit and dug straight up, allowing him to heap out and slam the bandit in the back with the hilt of his sword. Another bandit crippled and fell to the ground. At this moment Juno saw another animal latched on to a bandit that was attacking Bear. He had a feeling it was Surya.

He rolled out of the way of the fray and stopped for a mere moment to catch his breath. It seemed like it was more than a coincidence that they were meeting. He thought he was the only one who had these abilities, but he was glad he wasn't the only one. Something was bringing them together and he intended to find out just what it was.

Juno picked up the sword next to him and pointed it towards the bandits and made his way over, ready to take down some more bandits.

[Kaga]

Nissa was almost too shocked by all the transforming creatures around her to focus on the bandits attacking them, but thankfully her survival instinct was stronger than that. As the leader of the bandits attempted to grab hold of the evidently-distracted Nissa, he could only manage to secure one of her wrists — the other swung around quickly and grabbed the man’s arm, her talons sinking into his flesh as he cried out in pain. The bandit’s grip released, she tossed him to the side before crouching on top of him, her talons on his neck. He shot her a terrified look, begging for mercy — but she’d lived by the law of the wild too long to grant him such. Her claws tore deeply into his throat, ending him as quickly as possible.

By this point, the bandits’ will to fight had suddenly reached severely low levels. Any one of them that had attacked one of the shapeshifters was already either dead or injured, and the rest were growing terrified of the unpredictable mutants. Even their leader had been cut down in almost no time. They were only petty bandits, after all — only used to fighting foes weaker than themselves. “Let’s get away from these freaks!” one of them cried out, agreement spreading through the group like wildfire. “Retreat!” others yelled, all of them scrambling to escape.

[antman0623]

Juno, heading to take on more bandits saw the bird girl and watched for a moment as she took down some bandits. As, Juno dispatched another bandit, he heard the bandits yelling to retreat and saw them running away. He turned to Bear, and the rest of them.

"That was close. Didn't know if we were done for, but we managed to hold them off and drive the bandits away. I suppose we're all here for the same reason, right? Just trying to make our way in the world, what with our abilities marking us as "freaks" or "outcasts". Maybe we should all travel together seeing as we're all alike. Probably be for the best too. Help each other out and such and we wouldn't be alone. Wat do you say?"

That being said, Juno walked over and sat down under the tree and began to regain his humanness. He took a drink of his water jug and let the refreshing water revitalize him. Watching the rest of them, he contemplated what they should do next. He wanted to go to the next village, but who knew if the bandits had ransacked it? The only thing they could do was travel there and see what had become of it.

Everyone seemed to be just standing around for a few minutes regrouping and getting their bearings. Juno stood up.

"So are we ready to go onward?"

[TheSeriousJoke]

Surya watched as the bandits retreated back to their camp. She wasn't too focused, however, as she was both confused and upset about how she didn't know they would be here, and amazed at how so many half animals (she made a mental note to think of a better name) where all in the same place. Surya listened to Armadillo's proposal and thought about it. It was hard for her, as she was so used to being alone, and her skills where meant for that solitude. But she has been getting lonely these past few years...

"I'm game.", Surya said as she slithered behind a tree and quickly reformed back into her human form, something she had spent weeks practicing just to make sure it was as fast as possible. She pulled her pants back on swiftly, considering the usefulness of perhaps getting a skirt of some sort, "By the way, your less than appropriate behavior is forgiven. Oh, and what's your name? You've just been smaller boy and armadillo these past few minutes."

[antman0623]

Juno looked at Surya. "I'm Juno. You said you're Surya right? Well I suggest we head this way." He pointed to the path that led to the west. "That's the way I was headed and I think it's the best route. Unless you know of some other way?"

He started to walk to the path motioning for them to follow. as he got to the path he noticed something on the ground and he went over to investigate. It was a small black pouch, which he picked it up. Juno undid the knot keeping it closed and noticed a spherical object inside. He pulled it out and held it in his hands. It was a ball of sorts, with a transparent redness. As he held it he felt something strange, as if was warm.

"Uh guys, you might want to come look at what I've just found."

[Kaga]

Nissa nodded slowly as she listened to Juno’s hypothesis that they were all alike, just “trying to make our way in the world”. It was true, of course, but she still had a bit of a hard time accepting the fact that she’d found others like herself so easily. “I agree.” she spoke up, her talons transforming back into hands a bit awkwardly. “And, I’m Nissa, by the way…” she added, following along with the group.

When Juno found a mysterious object in a pouch on the ground, she quickly became curious. “What is that?” she asked.

[antman0623]

Juno turned around, still holding the sphere and looked at the girl. "Nissa, is it? I have no idea what this is. Probably something dropped by the bandits, perhaps? It's warm to the touch. I'm betting it has some sort of power. Maybe we could have someone try and take a look at it in the next village? I heard an appraiser lives there."

With that, he put the object back in the pouch and tied it up. He was anxious to find out just what this thing was. If it had powers, who knows what they were used for. Juno thought about it for a second. Maybe it was a key of some sort? Perhaps it was used to unlock something? All these thoughts were running through Juno's mind.

He looked back at the group. "Well let's get a move on then shall we? I'm quite anxious to find out just what we found."

[Kaga]

Cautiously, Nissa approached the translucent red sphere. She held her hand out to touch it, and her eyes widened slightly as, indeed, it did in fact radiate some sort of heat. The warmth almost felt strangely inviting…

“If it’s from those dirty bandits, then I doubt they had any idea what the thing is used for.” she spoke with disdain. “Also, if the bandits dropped it then that means it’s stolen — if someone in the village recognizes this as a stolen good, won’t we be accused of being thieves?”