Crusader Lord

Why Were We Reincarnated as Orcs?!

Lazash

The scorch marks were evident, but neither Vola nor Lazash looked like their insides had liquidfied, and their limbs were certainly in place, so the explosion must have been more a firework than a proper bomb. Esfir hid what flicker of relief she felt though, and instead focused on the presence.

"Explain what happened. Was that your magic, or a creature?"

Esfir

Glancing between Lazash and the bug’s final resting place, Vola responded, a very small laugh escaping with the words before she could stop it and she quickly tried to put a serious expression on her face. She really hopes that she’ll outgrow the stress-laughing at some point, the last thing she wants is to look like she doesn’t take things seriously because of it… ”I guess you could say that it was a bit of both?”

Vola

Laughter in the face of stress....yes, she could understand that well enough. The joy of catching her first fish after being stranded. The day that they finally came back for her, and got her off of that forsaken little islet years ago. Could remember it all like it was yesterday, recall it as if it was just a fresh as a pizza just coming out of the ovens of Napoli. She wouldn't comment about things, but would let out a long but mostly quiet sigh before doing anything else.

"A creature called a Flint Beetle. It likely contains explosive gases of some kind, as-"

Esfir and Akeno both called after the two of them to investigate, but as the party of orcs hung near the entrance of the cave, a sound drifted to them from within the tunnel depths. However, this sound didn't seem like it came out of the ground. Rather, it felt like it was reverberating through the roof above them---from somewhere inside the caves, and yet, further UP the mountainside.

It was a roar.

Lazash's voice cut off abruptly and in a heartbeat after hearing the monstrous roaring, catching in her throat. It sounded like something straight out of a cartoon or film, and yet it was more than that right now. It was real. Yet the echo of it spoke to a different location, somewhere higher up and back into the mountain yet connected enough to be audible this far down into the caves as well. It was something that no doubt came from a predator of some sort, one that had been awakened from wherever it slept by the din of the explosion that had echoed through the caves perhaps.

...The Head Warrior had been correct. There was a reason some of these things only came out at night. And they'd been foolish enough to wake it from its slumber.

She drew her line in the sand and treated it as a groove in concrete.

"Leave if you don't have anything else to give. Hide or run; I'll keep whatever's inside busy enough for you three to do so."

Stupid way to reclaim her youth, ambushing something that sounded like it was ten times her size. But all it took was a satchel of peppers to chase off a beast. How much more could a monster take?

Esfir

The female orc runt tightened her grip on her pointy stick, makeshift spear as it was, and sloowly stood up once more to get into a defensive sort of stance. Adrenaline began to flow through her veins, a peculiarly nostalgic sensation, as the beginnings of the visceral instinct to 'fight or flight' started to kick in with a vengeance. It was as if the soreness and explosion and such hadn't happened, but there was one thought that came to mind otherwise. Something important.

"Normally I would accept the offer, but if we run outside into the open we could be picked off. If we stay here, at least we have a choke point to use for defense."

She also had a skill for identifying creatures at that, admittedly, which could be helpful in potentially sighting a weakness. But that statement of hers, at least, summed up her thoughts on the matter well enough. She didn't want to die stuck in a corner, but running in the open from a larger predator was usually not a good idea in her mind. Especially when the passage before them was still small enough that anything too big wouldn't be able to squeeze through easily unless it burst through the thing.

Besides, she'd already volunteered as bait for this operation. Might as well see the hunt through, if she ultimately survived that long, to get back to the camp with a kill if possible.

@ERode@Zeroth@Unkown58@King Cosmos

Pokemon: Dream

Clarissa Ryte

Byjerfal Airport, Commerical District, Byjerfal City

“...for the love of...”

“Hey hey hey, what have we here? A cute little trainer falling right into my lap?” A smirk that could only be described in some manner as smugly malicious appeared on Valarie’s lips as she’d look down at Clarissa. “And a cute little bunny, too! Your boss would love this lady, wouldn’t she?”

“...Miss Kiera does like Bunearies, yes…” The suit wearing woman would help Clarissa to her feet. “You alright miss? If so, move on. Neither of us have time to entertain fans-”

The psychic trainer accepted the help up as she listened to the two women talk in front of her, grabbing the nearby handle of her suitcase as she did so before she forgot, before trying to dust herself off a small bit. At least her suitcase was ok, and she was in one piece, though Sir Lopsalot visibly scrambled in a hurry to get back up onto his little Buneary legs before walking over to Clarissa and look up at her with a concerned expression.

"Bun?"

But it wasn't as if she had the chance to respond, as a moment later-

“Heey, don’t listen to that dummy. I make the rules here so I can do whatever I want, including entertaining a cute little fan like yourself.” Valarie interjected, taking a few steps towards Clarissa, earning a frown and a quiet grumble from the suited woman. “So how about it? A once in a lifetime chance to have some alone time with me. I’ll even give you a first class ticket to the contest. VIP seat, back stage access, autographs.”

Eh? EH?! What was this all of a sudden! She'd just been grabbed by a press from the crowd, and...a-ah, wasn't this the Valerie the crowd was trying to get toward?

The suited woman was glaring at Clarissa now. The word ‘Menacing’ certainly came to mind. Many of the people in the crowd were complaining about how it should have been them.

The glare from the seemingly stoic suited woman just to the side. The smug the smugly malicious smirk of this Valerie who had gotten basically in her face and whose eyes seemed to stare into her soul. The dissapointed mumbling of the dissipating crowd behind her as Sir Lopsalot jumped up into the psychic girl's arms and looked at her with worry about how she was feeling. Her head, reeling from the fall and trying to grasp the situation in front of her on a dime. She. Umm. But. It. Maybe. Aaaaah....

"O-O-Ok!"

The word left her lips in a slightly panicked stutter, but one that accepted the smug woman's offer nonetheless. All as Sir Lopsalot was being held in her arms, and her suitcase stood up next to her once more.

Frankly, once this sudden matter was wrapped up one way or another, Clarissa knew she was going to bolt for wherever Sir Lopsalot had been guiding her to. Hopefully that would be someone holding a sign or something, so she could finally make her way to the Professor's Lab. Anything to escape the awkward situation and get herself back under control before her power took the chance to pop out and do something funny. Luckily for her, she had just enough of a thumb on it to at least avoid that worst-case scenario for the moment being.

@Rune_Alchemist

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Lillianna

"One....two....three...."

She had found herself sleeping somewhat better after a late night conversation with Adam, though perhaps it had been in part that she'd been up too late as it was before going to bed that assisted in her falling asleep more quickly. Whatever the case, her dreams had been filled with images of the face of that peculiar ghost who had assisted them back in the Labyrinth. Then had come images of rushing wolves, the sound of a roar from afar, and then the flash of that shiny metallic helmet staring eyelessly back at her. That damned robotics, metal, ninja, something...whatever it was! She could still see that helmeted face so clearly, so distinctly, before the ghost of coursing pain and hot lightning pouring through her flesh and bone kicked her back awake again in the wee hours of the morning in a sudden cold sweat.

"Sixty five, sixty six, sixty seven-"

Whatever the case, she'd fallen back to sleep and then ultimaetly gotten up at her usually early time out of habit. Hmm. Habit. Yeah. A regular morning habit at that, minus the smell of late night chili-infused something or another having climbed up from downstairs to get to her room on the second floor ove the course of the night. Nor was there the sound of her uncle watching TV downstairs as he cooked breakfast, or him shouting 'rise and shine' after her alarm went off and he could even hear it downstairs. For more than a moment it made her take pause, though soon she shook her head and got out of bed before trying to clear just enough space for herself to move. Wood floor wasn't too rough or threatening to put a splinter in her either. Good.

Because habits would help her get by at this point. Habits would allow her something familiar, but also to perhaps better handle the new days and weeks and so forth ahead of her to some extent as well. Hopefully.

"And-one, and-two, and-three, and-four-"

Exercise was that habit, perhaps, that she could take in no matter where she was. She'd liked to swim, but keeping genrally fit had been something she did back home. Something to keep her happy by taking it all in on those special mornings where the weather was just perfect, feeling better some amount in her mind by making her body feel better, helping herself to live a longer live, etc. Whatever the reasons, it was something and certainly better than nothing to do in her book.

And so she'd gotten up earlier in the morning, moving her body with sit-ups, push-ups, and after testing the sturdiness of her staff and some finagling of the window sill had even done some good pull-ups without breaking anything. Then she'd put on some of her most casual new purchases before heading out of the Mended Drum to take a run around Valheim's streets. Or, well, the paths she was somewhat intially familiar with thus far. Up the hill, down the hill. Feel the burn, rest where needed. Control her breathing, and control her pacing. Focus, and remain aware of her surroundings. Rinse. Repeat. Few people at all seemed to be going and moving about as she did this, but it didn't matter. Wave and say hi to those who greeted her, but beyond that focus on what she was doing.

...Though for a moment, near the end of her exercise routine, for a moment Lillianna thought she saw the familiar head of hair of MacKensie moving a ways off from her. Or was it Zell? Eh, she wasn't too focused on other things. Back to her exercise it was!

After finishing, the mage would return to the Mended Drum with a long shower and getting her clothes washed in-mind after getting some water to drink. Once again the soothing of the hot water would run over her body, and for a moment she could just close her eyes and imagine being back in the shower at her uncle's place. Well, home rather. Yes. Not just her uncle's place, but she had been living there as well. He'd taken some time to drill that it was her home too now, really....but she felt grateful all the same for it too. Albeit such memories did bring on a small cry from the mage before she stepped out of the shower, though she felt a bit better for it as she pulled on cleaned clothes and went to the bar to get something to eat. Albeit she did still have a small towel around her neck due to her drying hair, but by the time she walked over it had become over half dry at least.

Didn't seem to be many people in there yet to eat or anything, but as she scanned the tables for a familiar face-

She asked Frederick for a meal and he told her he was busy making a big order, but he promised her he'd bring her a portion of the ham, egg and cheese toasted sandwich and a cup of tea when this was done with the rest of it.

Fenna the Good Friend

Fenna!

Lillianna would let a small smile come to her face as she walked over to the other woman's table, tying to wave at her a little before stopping at the edge of the table. She still felt nervous about it all to enough of a degree, but at the same time the other woman had been there with her for something admittedly a bit nerve-wracking for her. Somewhat the mage wished MacKensie or any of the others had been able to come the rest of the way as well, but having been worried enough about the Frenchwoman at the time they parted she didn't feel like pushing to ask MacKensie about it all later either. Though in truth she hadn't properly seen anyone else other than Adam since ther conversation the prior night, nor even so much as had been able to meet the new member of the group that had been brought in for that matter. So, really, it did feel a bit comforting just to find someone else familiar to be around after her morning routine if nothing else.

"Fenna! I was hoping to find someone else here this morning. Ah....would it be ok if I sat with you here for breakfast?"

Honestly she'd order whatever Fredrick could make more simply and wasn't too expensive this morning, and hopefully that in and of itself would be filling enough. But until he came along, she was content to ask Fenna if she could sit with her and such. Certainly felt better than being....well....alone for breakfast. Somehow that thought hit her worse in her mind than when she'd been exercising alone, though that matter had been something she wanted to be alone for usually back home. Breakfast? Usually wasn't alone for that, and it was more of a comfort to not be alone for it than perhaps she'd actively thought about back then.

Why Were We Reincarnated as Orcs?!

Post coming Thursday or Friday. Been working as well as having to get other irl things done, and had a lot on my plate from that. Apologies. (@_@)

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

MacKensie: I'll never use my grappling hook again
MacKensie like an hour later: I'll grapple our way across the universe!

@Zapdos

My Brain: "Spider MacKensie, Spider MacKensie, does whatever a Spider MacKensie does~"

THE WAR FOR MYTHERIA - Isekai Adventure

Lillianna

"I hope you find the peace you looking for. Best of luck to you."

The mage began to turn her head back to speak for a moment, holding the list tightly in her hands, speaking as she did so.

"Thank you, sister, and have a-"

But the nun was already gone, and the front door shut. Whether it meant they were busy, or someting else was going on, Lillianna had no idea. At the same time, however, she would let out a quiet sigh and turn her head back toward Fenna and give the other woman a small nod. Success. They had managed to get something of a sort to look at, even if...well, it was just the two of them. It was just something the mage herself had wanted to do at that, and she hadn't even the time to explain things further before they'd even come here so they could maybe get it done earlier and more quickly. It was...a mess, and all due to her hesitation and nerves about the matter.

"Thank you for coming with me, Fenna. I wish I had said something more about all of this business earlier. But, ah, let's head back to the Mended Drum....yes."

A twinge of regret seeped into the tone of Lillianna's voice as she spoke, though she didn't seem to elaborate beyond it or say more. She was at least happy that someone else had come with her to do this, or had been able to at least, but even so she still felt bad enough for dragging someone along for such a selfish reason all the same. Not that anything about this new world business, and getting yanked away, and all of that was normal. She was trying to look into the past of a ghost who had helped them out back there, for pity's sake! Ghosts, monsters, magi-tech hospitals, lightning shooting from her hands, none of this was anything like that!

So why had her attention been caught up in this particular matter, of all things? Perhaps she was still figuing it all out, really, but it was at least...at least something to focus on for the time being.

With all of this in mind, the mage would pull up the list and take a look over it.

The shortlist was only five names long. Sister Irdil had managed to strike out a great deal of possible locations. Once Lillianna and Fenna cross-referenced the names with a map of Central Mytheria, they would see that the villages were spread quite far to the north, west and south of Valhiem. One village however would be the obvious place to look first:

Cherrad - It was right next door to the big city. And it just so happened to be on the way to the Temple of Hades.

Cherrad. It sounded like a small village, had a nice ring to the name and all of that. It was also located along the way toward their mission! Perhaps, well, perhaps she could convince the group to try to look into this matter along the way. A little detour for something she was interested in, even if it was as selfish as she was feeling it to be in her mind right now. She did want to bring it up to the whole of the group, though, rather than say nothing about it. Everyone seemed friendly enough thus far, and they'd be getting a new member to the group to boot, so perhaps it woudl bode well for her chances.

Whatever the case, she'd walk with Fenna back to the Mended Drum and get herself winding down and ready to sleep. Another shower, making sure her things were in order back in her room, making octuple sure the maid she'd nearly fried was still ok, etc. But she'd have to go have a think about things for the time being, perhaps....at least before trying to get some rest.

Why Were We Reincarnated as Orcs?!

@ERodeSure! Esfir's group is now at the caves---Lazash and Vola went in to scout, Grunthor and Akeno attacked a rocky slime, and then something blew up! Perfect time for Esfir to return from her short break!

@Zeroth

To be specific, Lazash is the one who caused the explosion inside the cave. The explodee was a walking explosive Flint Beetle. Good times.

My Isekai Costumed Adventures

Congratulations, you all survived!
And some of you can add "murderer" to your CVs! :D

@Xaltwind

Wow, Xalt, so r00d....Charlotte's older sister would prefer to call her a "cute murderer", thank you very much! XD

Meanwhile Charlotte will be calling this "self-defense" for sure. Not that she intended to commit a warcrime, but hey the past is the past~

Pokemon: Dream

Clarissa Ryte

Byjerfal Airport, Commerical District, Byjerfal City

Restraining her powers in a general sense was certianly something Clarissa had become accustomed to, whether it was on a plane or on a ship or just in the general sense. Something as easy as breathing air these days, at least better so compared to only two years ago if nothing else. At the same time, however, she didn't have to be psychic to take a guess at a few of the looks she got on the plane during boarding, after getting up in the air, and after landing again. Even her mother had noted that the psychic trainer's attire was certainly like that of 'some kind of Junior Detective' in some capacity. Was it so strange, though?

...To her, that answer was a solid 'no'. Not compared to how Eidda seemed to be in comparison to Orre at least.

The wastes stretching out before one's eyes, the rocky terrain around her former home back in Pyrite Town, the presence of far less people in general, and the like had become so familiar to her and something she had become used to. Meanwhile, though, Eidda seemed to be bustling to the brim with everything! People all over the shop, Pokemon popping up out of the wild grass and everywhere, it was to a certain extent overwhelming for her even after two years of trying to get adjusted to things and going to school and so forth. It had made her need for self-control with regards to her powers also more important, given that she wondered if she'd be overwhelmed by simply trying to relax them for a second as she was able to do back home sometimes.

Blargh. Just blargh. At the very least, though, Sir Lopsalot had been allowed to sit on her lap so she could hold him during the trip. Well, not that the adamant little Buneary hadn't insisted on it anyway after taking one look at her face while walking through the terminal to the plane. So many people, so many crowds, so much....noise, and that had just been at the terminal! Before landing she'd done her best to steel herself and make sure some snacks were on her stomach before exiting at least. Would be enough to help her focus and get through the surely-to-be-noisier path ahead into Byjerfal City to meet up with the assistant she and others were supposed to find.

Yet even with herself steeled, the whole place felt wild in its own right as she got off of the plane, got her luggage, and began to make her way toward the general exist as indicated by large signs hanging above her and others' heads. People, Pokemon, everything and everyone just moving about in a rush and flurry of colors and cries and voices that almost seemed to only ever move to the beat of its own chaotic rhythm. Occasionally she thought she could see something strange in the shifting mass of bodies and movement too, for example some kind of strange Girafarig in the crowd that was even taller than normal and with its tail encapsulating its head! Or at least it had seemed like a Girafarig. Maybe the nerves she'd fought back were still there and making her see things now...

Breathe. In and out. Controlled. Slowly. Steadily. Just like she'd practiced many a time before. Focus. Rinse. Repeat.

Ah, now that did help her feel some extent better at least. Besides the crowd, though, it was admittedly fascinating to see so many Pokemon around as well. So many she had never seen before, so many from places she'd likely never heard of before, and this was only the start! If she were to be honest, she did still feel somewhat excited as well right now as she tried to clear her head of the nerves otherwise.

"Bun!"

Sitting on her right shoulder to get a view on things, the ever-vigilant Buneary by her side would lightly call out and point ahead. It seemed he could see the sign being held up, though his trainer seemed to struggle a little bit more in commparison. Yet as Sir Lopsalot did get her attention, at least, Clarissa simply looked over to him and gave a nod before changing direction.

It did not help her much, though, as soon she became stuck near the edge of a tightening throng of people trying to push forward toward another distraction. Trying to move across them rather than farther in, the psychic girl sought to get through to the other side if she could. Meanwhile Sir Lopsalot would cling to her tightly to avoid getting knocked away onto the floor. Despite getting progresstively more sucked into the throng of adoring fans and wannabe marriage proposals here and there, however, though, it definitely wasnt hard to hear the sort of things many of the crowd were saying in the meantime.

"Valeriiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!"

"I wanna see the famous Contest Star before we go!"

"Isn't she the Bug-type gym leader here in Eidda? How can bugs be contest stars?"

"Marry me, Valerie!!! You're my 'Byjerfal Dream Girl'!"

"Seriously dude?"

"Mommy, can we get her autograph? Please please please!!!"

"I heard rumor that she and Lisia might be doing a collab in the future!"

It was like a Wailord had used Whirlpool or something around the woman the crowd seemed to be mentioning, because as she gripped her luggage and Pokemon for dear life Clarissa was being sucked into the throng deeper and deeper as it tried to push forward. The crush felt worse and worse the deeper they got in, like a pool of darkness was trying to swallow them up in a pop-culture-obsessed living disaster. Clarissa by the moment felt tempted to attempt to use a bit of telekinesis to just push some people back and make some space for herself and her Pokemon to be able to at least breathe for pity's sake! Everyone was just so focused and seemed to be pushing her further forward and forward, yet before she would reach the point of 'letting go' for a second out of sheer frustration the girl found herself suddenly bumped into and sent flying forward-

"Aaaaahhhhh!"

*CLUNK*

*THUMP*

"BUN!"

-and spilling hard down onto the airport flooring, into the epicenter of the whirpool of Valerie fans. Right in front of the woman in a black and yellow dress and the other woman dressed in a suit, in fact, though the psychic didn't much have the luxury to look up for the moment as one hand briefly clutched the side of her headd. Sir Lopsalot, in the meantime, had been flung a little bit farther due to his position on her shoulder and landed on the floor between the two well-dressed women. The psychic girl's suitcase, however, was lying on the ground on its side near Clarissa's own feet at least.

"Oww..."

Did she mention she hated overly large crowds like this? Because she did.

My Isekai Costumed Adventures

Charlotte

Well, it hadn't taken much at all to get the small girl in the red hood to join her in hiding behind a big tree at least. At the same time, to her the others seemed to sit there and just...dawdle. Do nothing. Not hide or think or frankly do anything about it all but just stand there. Sure, the girl hiding with Charlotte now was loud in what was a sort or survival situation. That much was true. At the same time, at least she'd bothered to do anything about the matter before them. Even if the others couldn't hear it themselves, was that an excuse to just stand there like it was nothing?!

...Ahem.

Perhaps she was shunting a bit of the stress from herself and mentally onto them for a moment there. But at the very least, she and the panicked girl would be in a safe enough position in her mind. Just in case whatever came through to get to them was-

Bipedal rats. Covered from top to bottom in fur. Complete with one of those hairless tails on each of them. Two of them even wore ragged, torn and shabby-looking... Shirts? Capes? It was kind of hard to tell what type of garments they might have been at one point, given their torn-up and rather disintergrated state. Still. There were now three ratmen in the clearing, having just ran in through one of the shurbs next to the clearing's edge. And as they spotted the three human women that were quickly coming closer to their running selves... They skid to a halt. Then stared. Apparently confused or stunned, not having expected to run into anyone else.

Eh? EH?! RATS?!?! Giant, bipedal rats. With fur and tails. And something in their hands?

The two who wore clothes were about 4 ft (120 cm) tall, they had brtown fur except for on their chins and bellies, where the fur was a more tan color. The one not wearing any garments was bigger, standing at about 4'3" (130 cm) and was covered in dark, black fur. The two in garb were also clutching... Twigs? Branches? No, those were more like... Clubs... The bigger black one held a ... Spear... Or.. Well, a makeshift one.

Hmm. Clubs and a spear then. They were at least shorter than her, though the chance of a low blow might be higher in such a case then. Whatever they were, though, they seemed to take pause at the other three standing out in the open and then decided to attack them outright. Definitely this race didn't seem friendly either, so that answered that question in a heartbeat. Or were there other humans in this world? No idea, but she wasn't going to ponder it right now due to the obvious situation.

She would turn her head slightly to whisper to Sayu, not looking over at her as she spoke and kept her eyes on the Ratmen. Rat people? Ratigans? She'd think of something later.

"Let's see if we can get the jump on-"

Her eyes then pulled over, but instead of seeing Sayu all the bunnysuit-wearing girl saw was empty air and a flash of red moving away from her and the cover. Superhumanly fast to boot, at least compared to herself if nothing else. At the same time the other girl seemed to suddenly sprout comic-book-character-like claws from her hands! It was....certainly something?

"Hyaaaah!"

Sayu/"Leeory Jenkins Would Be Proud"

Aaaaaaaaand she just was running in there. Running in there in a rushing attack. Without hesitation.

...Eh, why not at this point?

Charlotte would pop out from the other side of the tree, finger-gun pulling up and at the ready, before whipping her hand around to point at the nearest Rat-thing and casting Crapshooty at it. While she hoped the attack would hit the target in general, this time the dice that appeared and shot out from her finger were red-colored and seemed to be on fire as they shot off like burning streaks toward their intended target. Fire, perhaps, was their element in this case? Though the action of it all made her feel like some femme fatale main-lead-supporting spy woman from some movie in the 70's or 80's that her dad would watch on occasion....ugh.

@Hammerman@Xaltwind