Arcane Tales

*James runs from behind one of the foxes and slides in front of the girl, sword drawn.*

James: <Just stand back, please!>

*James rushes at the middle fox, lunging at its eyes.*

"This isn't good Alto, this mist is unnatural"

"I realized that a while back" he places his hand on his blade.

"All right, now I'm definitely freaked out..."

[What is water doing out here? This can't be good...]

*Jade clutchs her katana tighter as she marches through the pink water heading towards the village.*

~James~

Allina: <Oh, hi! Again.>

*The fox is knocked back, yelping. The other foxes leap for his face, growling. Allina holds her hands out and a glowing spherical blue shield surrounds them knocking both of the foxes back. The shield disappears and the monsters get back up, growling*

Allina: <Bad foxies! Go away!>

=====
~Soul~

*The mist starts clearing. She's no longer in Alda. She's standing in a narrow path between tall cliffs. There's a few glowing orange tulips here and there and the sky is pink, probably because its sunset, even though she can't see the sun. There's still some hot steam floating about and the whole place feels pretty warm and comfortable*

=====
~Jade~

*The mist starts clearing. Instead of walking towards the village, she walked out of the water. She's in a small circular area, surrounded by cliffs all around except for a narrow path in front of her. The dirt ground is sprinkled with glowing orange tulips here and there, and there's a small pink hot spring behind her. The sky is also pink, probably because its sunset, even though she can't see the sun, and there's still some warm steam floating about.*

=====
~Alto&Creed~

*They stop hearing each other.*

~Alto~

*The mist starts clearing and he is standing in the middle of a large pink hot spring with water up to his waist. He seems to be inside some cave, and it feels extremely comfortable and relaxing. The only way out seems to be a narrow rock path that ends at the center of the hot spring, a few steps to his right. His horse and the others are gone*

~Creed~

*As the mist clears, he's standing in a small circular hot spring, surrounded by tall cliffs except for a narrow path in between the cliffs, in front of him. The dirt ground is sprinkled with glowing orange tulips here and there, and there's a small pink hot spring behind her. The sky is also pink, probably because its sunset, even though he can't see the sun, and there's still some hot steam floating about.*

Alto reaches for his blade which he had grabbed before the mist rolled in.

Creed does the same else where.

*Kentaro hastily draws a gun and slashes the monster with it.*

James: <We aren't going to survive if this keeps up...>

*James' sword lights on fire and he shoots a fireball at the ground around the foxes.*

James: <Come on, come on....>

*James notices that the floor starts to crack around the foxes.*

~James~

*The fireball bursts, knocking the foxes aside and burning a hole in the red carpet. Allina jumps off the altar and points at the foxes*

Allina: <F-Finish them..>

=====
~Soul~

*She gets no reply whatsoever. A few minutes down the path, the path and the cliffs end at an open area with a lot more orange tulips, a cherry tree covered in cherry blossoms at the north right corner, and a little hot pool at the south left corner. As soon as she walks in the space, the cliffs behind her aRE hidden by thick white mist. She can't see a thing beyond that area, as if it is surrounded by walls of mist. The sky however, is quite clean and still pink*

=====
~Kentaro&Kari~

*The monster's knocked back a bit as an armored soldier walks in running and stabs his silver sword into it. They can see a couple other soldiers standing on the doorstep. The monster's body turns into a small sphere of light that fades*

Soldier: <Just in time, eh? Everyone alright?>

=====
~Alto~

*Nothing really happens, it's still a very calm and relaxing place*

=====

~Creed~

*Same as with Alto, really.*

*Kentaro holsters his gun.*

Kentaro:<I think so...>

*Kari stands up from behind the couch in a daze. Kentaro quickly goes to her side.*

"I'm all right... Just a little... sore."

*A fireball starts to emerge from James' sword as he raises it up high.*

James: <...No.>

*The fireball disappears and he straps the sword to his back. He turns back to the girl.*

James: <My duty is to protect, not destroy.*

*Jade heard a distant yell, but immediately lost interest when she heard something wading through the water behind her.*

[Shit!]

"Who's there?!"

~James&Allina~

*She smiles to him as the foxes get back up and growl. White mist starts floating about, and they unable to find its source. It becomes thicker and thicker, and the foxes' growling becomes distant and they stop hearing it. They stop hearing or seeing each other*

=====
~Soul~

*A little girl, around 5 years old, shows up in an orange dress over a white t-shirt and black shoes, pulling a small wooden cart filled with oversized peaches behind her with great effort. She stops in front of the tree and grabs a peach, which is about two times bigger than normal peaches. She then walks over to Soul and puts it down on her legs, smiling and tapping on the sleeping girl's shoulder*

Girl: <It's peachy.>

=====
~Jade~

*There isn't really anything or anyone in the water behind her*

=====
~Kentaro&Kari~

Soldier: <Be careful now, there are still...>

*His voice becomes distant as white mist invades the house, becoming thicker and thicker until Kari and Kentaro can no longer see or hear each other or th e soldiers*

Alto moveswith caution, still expecting to be attacked.

Creed has dropped his guard somewhat however.

Kentaro:<Damn it, I was right beside her. Kari!>

-------------------------

"Kentaro!"

*James quickly looks in all directions for any signs of anything.*

James: <Where did this come from... this isn't normal...>

"Snap out of it, Jade. This place is getting to you..."

*Jade pulls herself together and heads for the narrow path, hoping to find some sign of life in this deathly frighteningly place.*

~James~

*The mist clears almost completely, and he's now standing in a narrow path between two tall cliffs. He feels extremely warm and comfortable. There are a few glowing orange tulips on the ground here and there, and the sky is pink*

=====
~Soul~

*The girl giggles and nods, smiling. She has brown hair pulled back in two long braids and brown eyes. A woman walks into the area from the mist to their right and a man from the mist to their left. They're both armed with blades*

=====
~Jade~

*She feels comfortably warm, but not too hot, like it was back at her village. The narrow path leads to an opened area surrounded by thick mist all around. The ground is sprinkled with several orange tulips and there is a large cherry tree covered in cherry blossoms at the north right corner and a small circular hot spring at the opposite corner. The mist is so thick she can't even see the path she just came from. There's a little girl in an orange dress standing by a cart full of oversized peaches giggling by an older girl who is holding one of the peaches, sitting by the tree. An armed man walks in through the mist at the opposite side of the area*

=====
~Kentaro~

*Next thing he knows, he's standing in a narrow path between two tall cliffs. The mist clears almost completely, and he feels extremely warm and comfortable. There are a few glowing orange tulips on the floor here and there, and the sky is pink*

=====
~Kari~

*The mist clears, and she is at a dead end in what seems to be a cave. There's still some mist floating about, and she feels extremely warm and comfortable. She hears water moving nearby*

=====
~Alto~
OOC: Less vague posts would be very much appreciated.

*Assuming he climbed onto the bridge-like rock path, he walked to the egde of the lake. There're now two paths he can take: One to the right and one to the left of the spring*

====
~Creed~

*Down the path he finds the opened area I described in Jade's section, finding the two girls by the tree and the one standing at the opposite side of the relaxing area*

*Kentaro draws his guns and cautiously follows the path.*

=====================================================

*Kari turns around away from the wall or whatever and slowly begins going forward.*

*Jade wasn't sure whether her mind was playing tricks on her again. She slowly approaches the cherry tree, watching the man that came out of the mist.*

"Hey, who are you and where am I?"

*James starts walking down the path and observes the tulips*

James: <...What is this?>

*James continues walking down the path.*

Alto moves down the path on the right with his hand on his blade.

Creed moves forward towards the gathered girls, "Hey, you there!" he calls out.