FujiwaraPhoenix

Pokemon: Dream

Richard Evans

Route 5

With the Nidoran now sufficiently weakened and Sara no less worse for wear, Richard nodded his head and produced a Pokeball from his bag. By this point, the rest of the battle was more of a formality—doubly so when the Pokemon he was pursuing seemed to be a bit too reckless in trying to fight back. Either way, though, Richard was more than confident that he could catch it now that it wasn't likely to try and break away.

So try he did. With no sense of spectacle or grandeur, the young man quickly lobbed the ball at the wild Nidoran. At this point, there was little else to be done except wait and see if it worked, else he would simply take another ball and try again.

@Rune_Alchemist

Reborn in a Fantasy World, This Time I Shall...!

Steven Yu

??? — Dirt Road

Steven quietly nodded his head as Duncan instructed them—rather firmly—on how to proceed as the three of them approached the ongoing battle. There was a moment of silence as the young man took a deep breath before he moved to slowly unsheathe his blade.

One hand on the hilt, one on the scabbard. A slow, steady motion drawing the blade free from it's place at his side. The actions felt equal parts foreign and familiar to the kitsune as he readied the katana in front of himself, both hands firmly grasping at it as he watched the older man charge into the fray once they were finally noticed.

It had been one thing to see the carnage after the battle was well underway, though, and another entirely to see it play out in front of him. The brutality of the scene was difficult to look away from, and the whole thing looking like a scene out of a fantasy film or show made it difficult to stop.

Well, difficult until one of the other apparent bandits broke away after Duncan was very visibly occupied by the melee in front of him to pursue them. It took a second for Steven to recognize the threat that was running towards them, and another still to ready himself for a fight.

"Damn, not even half a day and I've got to fight for my life. Would it have killed someone to drop us somewhere I could learn to swing a sword first?" he complained under his breath as the enemy—knife ready to stab him in the face—charged straight ahead.

If there was anything he had learned from his time playing fighting games, though, it was that distance was king in melee like then. Sure, it would be more than an issue if the enemy got in close enough to stab him, but his katana more than made up for that so long as he could keep the enemy from getting closer. In theory, at least.

Without any sort of formalized stance or training, though, the best that Steven could do was mimic the way that people fought in those games. It was by no means a practical way or fighting, but he would be damned either way if he didn't try to fight either way; that went double for flailing about with no sense on how to fight proper. If anything, that only meant that he'd be likely to die faster.

Though he had maintained his stance as the enemy approached, the bandit quickly found himself caught off-guard as Steven took a brief step forward and cleaved downwards with his blade. The speed at which he did so forced the man to parry with his dagger, and Steven's choice to follow through with the attack rather than pull back forced the bandit onto one knee before they successfully deflected the blow.

From one slash came another, though, and the young man wasted no time in rotating the blade around to allow for him to return with another slash. This one, the bandit attempted to simply dodge by ducking onto the ground.

Unfortunately for him, though, Steven had no intention of playing by any sort of "rules" of combat when there were lives on the line. Once the bandit found himself prone for a moment after dodging, the kitsune closed the distance ever so slightly and, with all the disrespect of a street brawler, kicked a bunch of dirt into the bandit's face.

Left bereft of sight, the bandit began to flail about, screaming profanities at Steven before the kitsune took a moment to circle around his opponent and raised his sword as he prepared to land a more decisive blow.

The thought of taking a life lingered a bit longer than he would have preferred, but ultimately the wish to survive took precedence over the desire for his hands to remain clean. After taking a deep breath, Steven drew back once again and before slashing clear through the body of the bandit, his sword leaving a gaping wound as it split flesh and bone in turn.

"...You okay back there?" he asked as he flicked the blood and entrails of the first life he had taken off of his sword. "By the looks of things, I don't think I need to jump in to help our knight errant over there, but..."

@Raineh Daze@Sir Lurksalot

From Realms Beyond — An Isekai Crossover RP (Now Accepting)

Kochiya Sanae

Aventon — Deep Forest

Fujiwara-no-Mokou's response to Sanae's inability to comprehend the situation did little to explain any of what had just transpired, but rather than try to press the girl any further for explanations, the shrine maiden chose the more reasonable course of action and simply... Accepted it for what it was.

This might not have been Gensokyo, but Mokou was still a resident of the place as far as she was concerned. In that case, it was best to simply abandon common sense and nod her head as if an explanation like that was perfectly reasonable. Let sleeping dogs lie, was they were.

"...Right, immortality. Well, uh... Just let us know if there's a problem, then," Sanae said, nodding her head towards the immortal-apparent before turning back towards the others to see how they were faring. Youmu and Lewa had cut through the ones flanking their sides well enough, and it seemed as if Remilia had rather unceremoniously fallen face-first into the dirt after executing the one she had found herself up against.

All in all, it wasn't a pretty victory, but it was still a victory. The fact that she felt like she hadn't done much didn't exactly sit well with her, though—it was likely that the others could have solved the centipede infestation without her presence, given how things had panned out—but surely she would have chances in the future to prove herself at least somewhat useful now.

"Uh... I'm fine," Sanae remarked in response to Lewa's question before going around to check on everyone else's condition as well. "...Really, I think Miss Scarlet over here is the only one who isn't looking all that great..."

With the situation more or less handled, though, it made sense for all of them to head back to town and relay what had just transpired here. At the very least, though, it was fairly likely that the boars that had been chased out of their habitat here would be able to return to their natural habitats soon enough.

Provided there weren't more, at least, but if that was the case then hopefully Lily or Saria could head out and deal with them if none of them wanted to go hunting. Heavens knew she wouldn't be of any help, at least.

---

Aventon — Hunter's Lodge

Though taken aback momentarily by Anne patting her on the head, Millie soon found herself accepting the gesture as a small blush crossed her face. It was a nice feeling, being praised like this, but that came to an abrupt halt as a pair of familiar faces entered the lodge.

"Millie!"

Though Kendrick initially tried to stop Alvin from immediately running to his sister's side, the older man decided to instead stay his hand and let the boy loose. Given what had transpired over the last day, he had more than enough reason to run to her side and take the moment in.

"Alvin?" was the young girl's brief response before being half-grabbed into a hug courtesy of her older brother, almost as if Anne didn't exist. To that, Kendrick could only sigh and walk over to Anne's side as the two children began to talk to one another.

"For now, it's probably best to let them have this moment, huh?" he asked, not expecting any sort of answer when it was as obvious as this. "In that case, it's probably time for us to figure out what we're going to do from now on."

Between the arrival of the Heralds and their subsequent retreat, the fact that the two kids were orphaned, and the possibility of what might happen in the future, there were a lot of things to discuss anyways—never mind how much they might need to keep secret given how likely it was that the Heralds might come back for the children in the future.

---

Aventon — Eastern Fields

Though the journey had been filled with a bit more chaos and destruction in it's own right, it was hard to argue with the results that had come about from the Berserker's haphazard plan. The animals were indeed back in their holding facilities, and though it would take a bit to restore what had been destroyed, it probably wouldn't be long until things were back to relative normalcy here. The crops... Were a bit of a different matter, but given what had transpired that forced the farmers to ask for help in the first place, the loss of a few weeks' worth of effort paled in comparison to their lived.

In giving their heartfelt thanks to Rayne (who had done her best at damage control the whole way through), though, the farmers made sure to supply the pair of girls with a few ingredients and foodstuff that had escaped the worst of the attack as gifts of appreciation for their efforts, along with a few coins. It might not have been much in the grand scheme of things, but hopefully that was payment enough for their efforts here.

---

---

Aventon

By now, a few days had passed since the group had first arrived to the town of Aventon. The chaos brought about by the Heralds had by this point passed, and life had begun to move on. Though the scars of battle still remained—both upon the people and the town itself—the least that could be done now was to make sure that they could do what they could to recover. Whether that meant burying the dead or clearing away the rubble that impeded the roads, no effort was spared in trying to right what was so unjustly wronged.

It was then, though, that an odd stroke of luck came about from those heavy days—the arrival of a trade caravan from deeper into the country. Between the pelt of the earthmane boar and the carapaces of the now-retrieved giant centipedes, though, the town—and the group of otherworlders with them—had plenty to offer for trade to try and recover what had been lost.

Maybe it would be worthwhile to speak with the merchants here for some goods; else, maybe the mercenaries they had hired to help would make good conversation partners?

@VitaVitaAR@EchoWolff@Izurich@Lugubrious@Drifting Pollen@Raineh Daze@DracoLunaris@Rezod92

Reborn in a Fantasy World, This Time I Shall...!

??? — Dilapidated Shack

"Safety patrol... You could call it that, I guess," the catgirl responded simply, shrugging her shoulders with a bit of nonchalance before she took a more relaxed stance in front of the elf. "But it's not my actual job or anything of the sort. Does pay well enough when I'm too tired to go hunting monsters or something, even if being in this place makes me wish I didn't have a nose."

The fact that the man had chosen to assess her before anything else did at least mark him as somewhat different from the others who lived here in the slums—a point which she did choose to note in her mind—but what seemed more immediately concerning was how the other person still insider the shack seemed to be attempting to...

Pry a plank off the wall?

Even if she couldn't see clear inside, the haphazard construction and wide-open doorway made it quite obvious what the other person was doing. The catgirl stared briefly, blinking a few times as she wondered what could have possibly possessed him to do such a thing before turning her attention back towards the elf.

"...Right. Well, we've all got our own circumstances, I guess. So long as your friend over there doesn't lose his mind entirely and try to crack someone's skull in half with that thing while he's here, I think we're probably all clear," she said, letting out a sigh tinged with a bit of pity before starting to walk away. "Oh, but do try and call for help if something does arise, though. I'm stuck in this area for the day, so I'll probably be the first to respond."

The option to accost her as she left was entirely possible—the catgirl didn't seem too adverse to conversation, at the very least—but otherwise the trio would be left to move around at their leisure.

@ERode@Zeroth@TheMushroomLord

Reborn in a Fantasy World, This Time I Shall...!

??? — Ruined Inn

Though the thumping against the doorway had grown steady since the group had first noticed it, there seemed to be no immediate sign that whatever was trying to force it's way in would be able to do so...

At least, not immediately.

Upon reaching the first floor, it would become rather clear that yes, the things that were trying to break through into their fleeting sanctuaries were indeed zombies, as far as the colloquial definition of the monsters went. A few had begun to gather by the windows, though without any immediate "sight" of the ones who descended none of them seemed to react. Given their clothing and faces caught in a state of half-decay, though, it wouldn't have been too much of a stretch to assume that the zombies were (former) residents of the town.

Sora's choice to lob a window outside, though, did prove to be rather effective at pulling the attention of the undead away from them, though, as it seemed like almost all of those that had gathered near the front of the inn slowly began to turn around and shamble towards the cobblestone where the glass had shattered.

Hopefully, that would give the group ample time to reinforce themselves and prepare for those still knocking at the back entrance. On the upside, there didn't seem to be any windows there, so exploring that area would be more than possible.

The first floor of the inn seemed to be in less-than-stellar shape compared to the second, though; there were signs of battle here, and off near where a reception desk lay toppled over was the desiccated corpse of a woman in armor. Given how it hadn't stirred when the scream had alerted those outside, it would have been safe to assume that this person was well and truly dead.

Otherwise, though, the floor seemed to be cleared of any threats. The benches and tables upon which guests must have eaten upon in the past had surely seen better days, though, and a majority of them seemed to be broken. and no more usable than simple scrap wood. The larger pieces would likely serve well enough as levers to stop things from getting inside, though.

The kitchen nearer the back of the building was in better shape, at least; though the items within seemed to have been thrown around, a lot of the utensils inside seemed to have been preserved from the elements. Dust buildup was still an issue—as was the issue of a majority of the ingredients having long since passed their expiration date—but it was likely that they would be usable enough for daily life if cleaned... And, if used as weapons, even that wasn't really necessary.

That only left the entrance to the cellar. While it would have been a simple matter to open it and simply walk inside, the sound of scratching coming from inside was not something that would instill confidence in any wishing to explore further. Whether that meant whatever was waiting for them inside was any less troublesome than the zombies knocking at their doors was a different question all it's own, though.

@VitaVitaAR@RolePlayerRoxas@Aku the Samurai@SilverPaw

---

??? — Dilapidated Shack

Unstable and rickety as the shack was, it seemed to support the sole door through which people were more or less free to enter and exit from. It wasn't as if any sort of locks would matter in a place like this; it would only take a little bit of force for someone to muscle their way inside, with or without a door.

The smell of poverty and destitution would become all the more pronounced the second that Cassius left the shack. The poor, the infirm, and the desperate—all were equal here, barely making ends meet as they lived and died outside the city walls. For what reason they all moved about, though, none but they could say.

What would stand out to those emerging, though, was how those nearest them seemed to be deliberately avoiding their gaze. Maybe it was the shouts from earlier, but it didn't seem like anyone really wanted to associate with the madmen who had just taken residence among them.

Or, well, so it seemed to be at a glance.

"...Huh. I expected a little less dignity out of someone screaming nonsense in the middle of the day," came a voice from above the group—one whose owner would soon be made clear as a shadow briefly passed overhead before landing on the dirt nearby. "Or maybe it's the other one still holed away I should be worried about?"

The girl that had made herself known simply glanced through the cracks between the planks of the shack before shrugging her shoulders.

"Either way, it's probably not a good idea to raise such a fuss like that. You'd be surprised at how many enemies you make just by being loud."

@ERode@Zeroth@TheMushroomLord

Qlippoth Shift: A Supernatural Action RP About Combating Otherworldy Anomalies

Tachibana Masaru

Nagano Prefecture — Abandoned Mansion

Though bringing the monster down with a single arrow would have been the ideal miracle in this situation, Masaru was not particularly concerned with the fact that the arrow had not dealt anything that seemed even close to meaningful damage. Rather, it was more like he hadn't fired the attack with any intent to kill in the first place.

No, the act of simply lodging the arrow inside the beast's head would have been enough to proceed with the rest of his original plan. The brief pause in the komainu's gait had given the Agent an extra second to make even more distance between himself and the monster—valuable time in it's own right—but what might have been more relevant was the fact that the young man could spot some other form of electricity—not of his own making, of course—being prepared and fired off.

"...Damn, guess this bow must be mass-produced or something," he half-joked before nocking an arrow and aiming towards the same spot that his first had landed in. The projectile was still there, of course—sticking out right in the middle of the monster's head—and with it, of course, was all the water he had used to drill that hole into it with in the first place.

Pure water wasn't particularly conductive in the least, but after being mixed with whatever made these beings up and all the metals in the arrowhead itself, surely a proper shock straight to the brain would fry this thing in short order.

With that thought in mind and his bow crackling with electricity, the young man took a deep breath before beginning to fire a multitude of lightning-laden arrows in rapid succession towards the komainu. With the arrow present already functioning as a miniature lightning rod, the damage would surely continue to build up even if the arrows themselves din't meet their mark outright.

Reborn in a Fantasy World, This Time I Shall...!

??? — Mosslit Cavern

Those who chose to exit the cavern first would come to find that the dimly-glowing moss would grow all the more vibrant once the meadow they had awoken upon was wholly out of sight. The absence of sunlight seemed to make this peculiar lichen shine ever so vibrantly, which made navigating the caves all that much easier.

Not that it helped much when the walls all looked much the same to the untrained eye, but that was to be expected.

The cavern seemed to curve and twist the further they proceeded, until finally the path they were on seemed to merge back into another. The route seemed to split somewhere along the line, which at the very least indicated another route that could be travelled upon.

The other branching path would eventually lead to a small alcove—one that appeared to be rather empty at a glance. The main path from which the two diverged, however, seemed to open up into a more spacious area. This new section of the cave seemed a fair deal more barren, but a quick glance around would little more than the presence of a simple wooden chest and a few odd indentations along the stone wall.

@Crusader Lord@Thunder999999@Crimson Paladin@Expendable

Reborn in a Fantasy World, This Time I Shall...!

??? — Ruined Inn(?)

In the midst of all their exchange of information, drenched in uncertainty, worry, and excitement in equal measure, one could be led to assume that all was well within the confines of the building. Untouched by the living and dead alike, this old building was in marvelously good condition given the circumstances—a boon unto the stonemasons and carpenters who had built it so long ago.

But sturdiness and stability alone did not a sanctuary make. Though introductions and uncertain probing of the situation might have brought with it some faint sense of camraderie, the sound that seemed to be of the utmost concern seemed to be coming down from the ground level.

That shriek, it seemed, had done more than make the others who had found themselves within this odd building aware of the presence of others. Sound, after all, was indiscriminate, and it seemed like others had been made aware that "something" was in this building that had not been there before. The steady thumping, beating like a steady drum, seemed to echo from outside the front entrance.

It was lucky, in a sense, that whatever awaited the group was attempting to use the door—a memory of ages past, perhaps—but soon that steady pounding found itself joined by another—this one, closer to the back entrance of the building.

Then another. And another still.

The streets had been sparse when the newfound souls had poked their heads out, and were still so, but whether or not this would grow into something beyond what should be handled was a different matter altogether.

@VitaVitaAR@RolePlayerRoxas@Aku the Samurai@SilverPaw

Reborn in a Fantasy World, This Time I Shall...!

Steven Yu

??? — Dirt Road

With one hand resting upon the hilt of the blade at his side, Steven nodded in agreement with Duncan's assessment of the situation. The logic he presented made enough sense to heed regardless, and it wasn't like he hadn't already planned to follow the road one way or another in the worst-case scenario anyways.

Hopefully, though, that bit about 'defending themselves' wouldn't have to come to pass. Though he bore what was unmistakably a katana at his side, there was no guarantee he could use it. There was a bit of a foggy memory poking at the back of his mind about the skill he had seen on his status screen, though, but no matter how hard he tried to recall what had occurred it simply seemed out of reach for the moment.

Damn.

"Well, if we want to find something while it's still light out, we'd better get moving," Steven remarked, choosing to give up on that train of thought for the moment and shrugging his shoulders as he looked up and down the road. Unfortunately, being on a fairly flat plain as things were, "downhill" wasn't much a certainty as it was a hunch.

"Uh... Well, I'm pretty sure you can't tell elevation apart when everything level, so I guess we'll go... That way?" the kitsune half-suggested, half-declared before beginning to walk down the dirt road.

Traveling on a dirt path in his new body—and new clothes besides—was undoubtedly a novel experience in it's own right. It was one thing to be walking around a city in modern clothing, but another to do so in garb that wouldn't have been out of place in Edo-era Japan. Sure, he felt cool in the moment doing so, but after a while some part of him really started to miss having sneakers instead of the waraji he wore now.

Though he chose not to gripe about his perceived loss of privilege, the mild irritation the young man felt was matched just as well by the thrill of adventure that awaited him. Here he was in another world, with little else to his name but the clothes on his back and the sword at his side. It would have been difficult for any young man with a bit of fire in his heart to not feel at least a little excited about it all.

After who-knew-how long had passed on the trail, though, the sounds of nature began to die down. Instead, in the distance were faint but audible sounds of steel meeting steel. At that, Steven could not help but grip at the hilt and scabbard of his blade by instinct.

"...There's fighting further down the road," he said, a tinge of worry in his voice as he took a deep breath and glanced at the others. "Be careful."

Of course, that last bit had been directed at himself just as much as it was towards the other two with him. If there was a fight, that had to mean there were people there...

Which meant that every second counted if he wanted to see what was going on for himself. If things like bandit raids or monster attacks were commonplace, then it could well be well within his ability to do something to help those being attacked.

The scene of the battle itself would come into view sooner than the clashing of metal and grunts of exertion would for Duncan, though the opposite would be true for the two kitsune traveling with him. A carriage—and a somewhat ornate one at that—stood unmoving in the middle of the dirt road. Around it, however, was a rather bloody scene. Bodies—some armored in steel—lay strewn along the path, and the smell of blood grew all the more powerful as they approached. Surrounding the carriage were figures cloaked in green—one much the same shade as the grass that blanketed the region the entire time they had been walking—striking out at both men clad in steel and women who wore what could only have been described as maid outfits with steel armaments built into it. The latter group—in other words, those with their backs to the carriage—were clearly worn out, and as the group grew nearer their injuries would be made all the more apparent.

@Raineh Daze@Sir Lurksalot

Reborn in a Fantasy World, This Time I Shall...!

@GOATPlumber: Sorry, but the RP is more than full right now.