FujiwaraPhoenix

Emerald Odyssey — An MMO Isekai RP (Now Accepting!)

Sunswept Plains

With a growl and a (failed) step back, the animal regarded the Shenke's first gesture as one of not overt aggression. There was a pause as it stared at Kokoma, eyes unblinking as it slowly looked her over. Slowly, its posture would begin to relax, and soon enough the cub began to turn its attention back towards the branches trapping it in place. If the person in front of it was not a threat, then it could focus on freeing itself... Or so one would think.

As it moved about, Kokoma would notice that the branches had done more than simply trap the animal in place. At the very least, it seemed that one leg was slightly more out-of-place than the rest, and with how the cub seemed to be yowling in pain every time it tried to free itself, pausing for a few moments before trying again.

And again.

And again once more.

It was at this point that the cub, seemingly unable to bear the pain for the moment, laid down on the ground. Staring at Kokoma, the cat watched in silence for her next move, seemingly giving up on freeing itself for the moment. It seemed to not be calling for help any more, at the very least, but whether that was because it wanted to conserve its strength to try again or because its first attempt had failed was yet unknown.

@Rune_Alchemist

---

The blindingly bright flash of light did little to the monster, as was expected, but the spell had done its job well. Though it had been charging another beam of high-pressure water to fire at the pair, the sudden change in its surroundings (at least, from its point of view) caused the leviathan to recoil back, firing the laser off-course and causing it to carve out the ground in a straight line before it flew off into the sky. Debilitated and blinded as it was now, though, the monster began to fire about haphazardly, aiming any which way it could as it attempted to regain its bearings.

This would give the pair more than enough time to retreat from the monster, which would most decidedly not be happy if they were still present after it managed to see again.

@VitaVitaAR@Sho Minazuki

---

Sen Rynta — Outskirts

Emboldened by the initial panic of the two closest to the food, the hobgoblins scrambled forward, ignoring the bigger threat—at least, for a moment. The sound of the armored woman nearby moving to block their path, though, caused them to instinctively look towards the source. Though they understood not the words that she spoke, the provocations seemed to drag their minds away from the tantalizing smell of food for long enough to swing away at their new target.

With weapons ready, the monsters began to charge forward, bashing their makeshift weapons against the barrier over and over in an attempt to get at Agaue. The others seemed like they couldn't fight, given how they were reacting, which made the choice to beat up the one drawing their attention all the easier to make.

Hopefully, they could be dealt with in short order soon thereafter.

@Operator Luna@Hammerman

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

Given how curious she had seemed, Misaki found herself slightly confused at Lazirha's hesitance at going to check the situation out. Risk-averse as she tended to be, though, the foxgirl could not willingly leave herself in the dark—not in this situation, at least.

Of course, when that reticence disappeared after she gave her confirmation, her earlier worries seemed to not matter; with the younger girl dragging her out in full force now, the young woman could do little but to keep up. Of course, the sight that they came across was none too comforting—an ambush in the works seldom was—but who that was meant for... Well, who could tell?

It was at this point, though, that Narkissa seemed to pop up, and just as Lazirha began to call her over, Misaki waved for the other girl to come to their side before promptly gesturing at Lazirha to lower her voice. A quick glance towards the nearby hunters to confirm that they hadn't caught wind of their arrival would come before hushed whispers, the foxgirl peeking out from behind cover in an attempt to piece together what exactly they were trying to do.

"Suppose we both ended up curious... What do you suppose they're trying to catch—or kill, maybe?" she asked, hoping that she didn't stand out too much against the underbrush. The snow helped her blend in, at least, but...

@Click This@Rune_Alchemist

Emerald Odyssey — An MMO Isekai RP (Now Accepting!)

@Dark Cloud: Depends on the specifics of the stealth, I'd say.

Emerald Odyssey — An MMO Isekai RP (Now Accepting!)

@Dark Cloud: I would say the latter, though to be frank I would not go down this route in the first place. Proficiency in thievery does not make for a good mechanic in this setting in my opinion, as when translated to a more 'realistic' scenario, the ability loses any use against anything that isn't actually carrying anything to steal in the first place.

Emerald Odyssey — An MMO Isekai RP (Now Accepting!)

@Dark Cloud: Situation is still vague to the characters IC, but this is more Log Horizon than it is .hack//. In short, they're in the world and cannot get back to Earth as far as they are aware.

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

"Eh? Wait, isn't it still—?!"

Wholly taken off guard by how casually Lazirha dragged her out of Mie's tent, Misaki stumbled a bit as she attempted to not trip over herself. Given what she had done to help the young woman escape from her would-be captors, the foxgirl was not particularly looking forward to possibly facing off against them again...

And without the element of surprise, it wasn't likely she would get off scot-free like she had the last time. Her hands still stung even now, even if the pain was fading a bit faster than she would have expected.

Luckily enough, it seemed that the worst of the trouble had passed them by. Whether that was related to the commotion outside the tent during her negotiations or something else entirely was something to consider, of course, but when she arrived back at Lazirha's home...

Well, the sight she found was not all too surprising. If anything, the fact that there was even anything left slightly untouched was a miracle unto itself.

"...Well, I was—" she began to say, only to be promptly knocked to the ground by the fawn she had left behind. Though slightly rattled by the impact as she was thrown to the ground, Misaki managed to gather herself and pet the animal on the head as it rested on top of her... Despite the pain from the impact, at least.

"It's good to see you're all right," she said back, smiling as she slowly guided the fawn off of her and shakily rose to her feet. One would have usually expected 40 kilos of animal rushing at a person to not leave them unscathed, but it seemed that she had come out with little more than a pain that was quickly fading.

Food for thought.

As she brushed herself off, though, the sight of the nearby obelisk grabbing her attention. As much as she would have liked to stay out of harm's way, though, something about the situation seemed to suspicious for her to simply ignore. Lazirha seemed to want to check whatever it was out too, given the look on her face, but...

"...I don't think it'd be any safer here left in the dark about whatever insanity's going on, given how close we are," Misaki sighed, scratching the back of her head before looking between the deer, Lazirha, and the array of flashing lights and whatnot off in the distance. "So I suppose that the recovery here can wait a bit longer. Is there anywhere we could get a better look? Ideally, safety would be included in that, but..."

It wasn't as if she could offer much in the grander scheme of things—at least, not as she was now—which meant that if the others were involved and nearby, being dead weight (or just dead) in the middle of combat or something like that would not end well for anyone involved.

@Rune_Alchemist

Emerald Odyssey — An MMO Isekai RP (Now Accepting!)

Sunswept Plains

As was to be expected from a wild animal, the cub did not take kindly to human contact. Despite being injured and apparently having just woken up, the small creature had more that enough energy to flail about in an attempt to escape from beneath the tree. Of course, when the person who had cut the tree down came near, its subsequent choice of action—namely, to cry out and attempt to look big enough to scare it away—seemed only natural.

There was no sign of its parents anywhere in the immediate vicinity, for better or worse, but leaving the cub be would leave its life up to the whims of fate. It would be hostile towards anything approaching it aside from said parents, it seemed, but...

Well, was that something worth risking right now...?

@Rune_Alchemist

---

As predicted, the scattered bolts of magic had done well enough to draw the creature back out of the water. Breaking through as it had before, the beast simply locked back onto the pair—being the only two others present as they were—before loosing another roar at them. Given how the one in the front seemed to be pointing a weapon at it, the monster seemed to take everything until now as a challenge—one that it was more than willing to oblige. With blue-black scales shimmering in the afternoon sunlight, the leviathan reared back and fired another high-pressure jet of water at the pair—this time, sweeping across the ground in an attempt to attack the two rather than simply attempting to ward them off.

@Sho Minazuki@VitaVitaAR

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Sen Rynta — Outskirts

Overhearing the order to put the food away, one of the hobgoblins found that it could wait no longer and charged out from its hiding place. Its fellows, not quite willing to either let another one of theirs beat them to the punch or run away, decided to simply charge in afterwards. With the knight in their way, though, the best that they could do was attempt to charge in from all sides.

She couldn't stop all of them as they went for the food, right...?

@Hammerman@Operator Luna

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

As she was about to respond to Narkissa's question as to where the caravan was headed, Misaki found that both she and Mie had already left to discuss their own plans, leaving both her and Lazirha behind. She was not in any particular rush to leave, given what had transpired earlier—and neither was her companion, or so she assumed. Hopefully, the others could resolve the issue and come to collect them afterwards, but until then...

Well, the best they could do was get comfortable for a long stay.

With a deep breath, the foxgirl leaned over, resting her head on one hand as she pondered what to do with regards to her papermaking plans. The troubles ahead on that front were a bit more current compared to the undertaking she was going to tackle come their arrival in Chagawa, but even so felt necessary to see to fruition. Proof that she could at least create something of value, to allow her to have something to leverage for herself...

Not doing so would be foolish at best.

It was Lazirha's sudden enthusiasm to aid her, though, that caused Misaki to perk up a bit, her back straightening out slightly as she turned to face the young girl. Compared to the deer (which she could only hope remained out of harm's way, given that it didn't appear to have followed her here), Lazirha would likely be a bit more helpful, at least with regards to preparing everything...

And given the loss of boiling water and possibly the torn not-bamboo, the setback to even reach the starting point meant that any extra aid would be appreciated.

...Even if it meant giving up a bit of her dignity in the process.

"Ah... Well, fine, I suppose that's a fair trade," Misaki shrugged before nodding towards Lazirha. "There's a lot of work ahead, though, so it's not like it'll be anything simple. It's quite likely that we will fail. A lot. We're also on a time limit. But if that's okay with you, then who am I to complain?"

@Rune_Alchemist

The Epic of Beginnings - Fragments of a weathered scroll

With a sigh, Misaki shook her head no and returned Mie's offer with a bittersweet smile. There was little else to pursue for the moment in terms of negotiations, though obviously she would have preferred using something less blatantly easy to abuse for military might in the first place. Regardless, the deed had been done, and she would have to deal with the consequences afterwards.

On the upside, this was likely going to happen regardless, given how Nobunaga was... Well, Nobunaga. That much couldn't really be helped.

"Well, again, I was working on something that I would have liked to finish before ending up here..." the foxgirl trailed off before Narkissa entered the tent. The young woman seemed to note that there were some negotiations at play here, though, and Misaki slowly withdrew her hand from the handshake, looking at the new guest with a shrug.

"Nothing in particular, really," she responded in turn, glancing between the two before taking a step back. "Though, well, I feel like the chaos that brought us here means that we might not actually be able to finish that project before the caravan leaves..."

There was some disappointment that her efforts would likely end up in vain, but compared to letting Lazirha get kidnapped, that was probably an acceptable sacrifice to make.

@Rune_Alchemist@Click This

Emerald Odyssey — An MMO Isekai RP (Now Accepting!)

Sunswept Plains

Having the theoreticals of chopping trees down, simple as they were, meant that Kokoma's attempts to lop one down with her spear were not in vain. The make of her weapon made making headway into the trunk less efficient than it might have been had she used an axe, but both she and Eunice could most definitely see that her efforts were making headway.

A few more heavy swings would leave the tree precariously swaying from side to side, the large indentation on its side making clear that it would fall away from where the two standing by were watching. Slowly, steadily, what remained of the narrowed-out hollow of the tree trunk would begin to buckle from the weight and snap, bringing everything above with it.

Unfortunately for the tree's residents, this would include one sabertoothed cat cub of some variety, who had chosen the tree as its resting place of choice. Its parents were nowhere to be seen, of course, but the startling awakening it had been given coupled with the yowling made clear that it was both stuck and calling for help.

"Ah... Hm," Eunice would enunciate, glancing between the leaves of the fallen tree and Kokoma. "I certainly hope this won't end poorly for either side..."

Given that there was someone far more suited for handling animals, the mage would choose to let the Shenke do as she thought fit... Whatever that ended up being.

@Rune_Alchemist

---

Given the amount of magical firepower directed at the lake, it would come as no surprise that the fish were caught thoroughly off guard. More than a few were launched high into the air, with no small number of them damaged by the blast itself. The sky rained a mix of blood, water, mud, and fish lucky (or unlucky) enough to be launched into the air, and unfortunately for the two standing by the shore, physics did not discriminate. For what it was worth, though, there were a sizable number of fish left stunned in the water or falling towards the two that were left rattled but not damaged in any way.

But as the blood from the blast began to mix throughout the water, a darker shadow would barely make itself out from beneath the depths for but a moment, stirring ever so slightly as something breached the surface for a moment before sinking away from prying eyes.

At least, for a moment.

Another pass of the shadow would confirm that there was indeed something lurking in the depths, and the sudden spray of blood-soaked water as the source of it all—a large leviathan-esque monster—reared up and roared at the pair before shooting a high-pressure torrent of water towards them. Though the attack did not seem to be one with any intent to fight, the withdrawal of the beast back into the lake made it seem as though it was gauging the response of the two before it, it's eyes periodically breaking through as if to continue monitoring them.

Whether it was angry because of the explosion, their encroachment upon its territory, or something else seemed to matter little at this point; the option to retreat certainly existed, though, restrained to water as the beast seemed to be.

@VitaVitaAR@Sho Minazuki

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Sen Rynta — Outskirts

The smell of rabbit was not one that Anastasia was all too familiar with, given how she had never actually tasted rabbit meat before in her life, but the tantalizing scent wafting through the air was undeniably enticing to her. The young woman felt her stomach growl, and an embarrassed blush crossed her face as she moved in closer to get a better look at the meal being prepared.

Unfortunately, though, the scent of such a delectable meal spreading throughout their campground would bring with it a few monsters eager to loot some for themselves—namely, a small group of hobgoblins spearheaded by one with a red cap on its head. The leader apparent and those behind him peeked out from behind the bushes, and more than a few ended up licking their lips as they slowly attempted to sneak further in. The cook looked busy, at least, and the one beside her looked like easy pickings...

But the knight seemed a bit more dangerous. If they could just sneak in and take the two near the food——!

@Hammerman@Operator Luna