Preparations for War

Lumyr: <RAAAAAAAAGH!!!!>

*As he roars, twice as many arms start shooting out of his chest, continuing to barrage the monster with claws piercing its skin, pulling and grabbing it down, and small traces of flame from the claws burning it. Winston continues shooting missiles, from his cannons now.*

Lumyr: <I can't.... keep this up much... longer...>

*A voice starts to ring in his head.*

???: <(This is the part where you let me take over, isn't it?)>

Lumyr: <(No, it isn't. Get lost!)>

???: <(Oh ho, you sound desperate. It'd be easier if I, perhaps... lent you some more strength? Something like this after all... nothing compared to what you COULD be doing. Imagine armies at your command, city-destroying attacks at your fingertip, unparalleled strength and speed. Doesn't it sound nice?)>

Lumyr: <(It... it does. But not if you're behind it.)>

???: <(Heh. Wonder how much longer you'll be saying that.)>

=====

Kasa: <Well then what DO we do about these things?!>

Enkidu ceased his flaming barrage and twirled his staff above his head, firing a dozen balls of flame at the monster's eyes.

Black Swamp, Northern Leudella

*The monsters lets out one final roar before falling over, shaking the ground throughout the whole swamp.*

-----

Allina: <Stay away from me, you creep!>

=====

*They're once again pushes back, though one grazes her shoulder with its claws. Four mour jump at her, while Ace continues to dodge the attacks made by the one chasing him around. The last one is trying to kill Kasa.*

Ace: <If we can't attack them, we'll lose...>

---

Royal Palace, Kingdom of Nymphe

*They both take a few seconds to process all of the information. Kelphy stands up.*

Kelphy: <Ve-Very well. But we don't have much time.>

*Rhea nods and stands up, cracking her knuckles with a smile.*

"Then we'll begin right away"

---

"Nope" he continues to chase her.

Enkidu tried to steady himself against a tree as the ground shook.

Lunsai:< Can ether of you cast magic?>

*Lunsai jumps aside*

*Lumyr falls over in exhaustion as the ground shook. Winston just reloads his weapons and waits for the shaking to stop.*

Lumyr: <[That took a lot out of me...]>

=====

Kasa: <God damn!>

*He pushes the creature back and then turns to Lunsai.*

Kasa: <Me? Magic? No way!>

Black Swamp, Northern Leudella

Crone: <Let's not stop for too long. We can't afford to keep being ambushed.>

*The taller tree line marking the end of the swamp and beginning of the jungle is actually only a could minutes ahead. Crone proceeds towards it. Aera stands up besides Enkidu, shaking her head.*

Aera: <Stupid animals... Say, where's dollface?>

*Olympe walks over to Lumyr and holds a hand out to help him stand.*

-----

*As she's finally flying through the foliage and above the mist, into the sunny blue sky, thick vines burst from the trees, wrapping around her. She screams, desperately trying to break free and spines emerge all across them and poke into her skin.*

=====

*Ace reluctantly nods, holding a hand out and casting a powerful gust of wind, that sends three incoming tigers flying several yards back.*

---

Royal Palace, Kingdom of Nymphe

Rhea: <You're the teacher. What do we do?>

*He looks up and nods, taking her hand.*

Lumyr: <...Thank you.>

*Winston walks past Lumyr with a smirk and proceeds to follow Crone.*

=====

*He looks over at Ace.*

Kasa: <Nice!>

"You're hopeless" Ranmaru sighs, "Tsubame Gashi" he unsheaths one sword then resheaths it. His slashes so fast that they couldn't even be seen. He cuts Allina free then lets her drop a few feet before catching her bridal style.

"Utterly, and truly hopeless"

---

"Then let's start here..."

OOC: Offscreen training begin! Also...

*Tsubame Gashi = Turning Swallow Strike. Or "To catch a falling swallow".

*Lunsai smiles slightly then blasts the tigers with another shockwave*

Lunsai:< Ace, let's hit them together!>

Cursed Jungle, Northern Leudella

Olympe: <General...>

*Olympe walks with him in the back, staring at the ground. Soon, they're all walking into the jungle. The sky is completely obscured by the gigantic trees they've never seen before. The trunks are dark brown or even black, and the leaves are distorted, giant, covered in spines or slime, all in dark colors. The atmosphere is very heavy, and they feel like they're carrying a huge weight on their shoulders.*

-----

*She bites at him, groaning in frustration.*

Allina: <Put me down!>

=====
Black Swamp, Northern Leudella

*Ace glances at her and starts whipping his hands around, shooting gust after gust at the tigers. He is relatively successful in keeping them away, but not much more seems to be happening. He tries to instead form a flurry of wind blades to obliterate a tiger. Each of the resulting pieces become a new tiger.*

=====
Royal Palace, Nymphe

*Soon, Alto and the person accompanying him are led to the grand hall, where Kelvin awaits them. His partner is a young woman with long blond hair tied in two anckle-length braids and light brown eyes, wearing a dark red trench coat over a white tube top and black shorts, and with two katanas sheathed at her waist.*

Regent Kelvin: <Alto, Keika. Regents Diana and Tuntas have been contacted and they wish to deploy units of their own to join you in this mission. They will most likely consider your route towards the Elven Woods and try to meet you along the way. Please, cooperate. It is important that we join forces in this crisis. As you know, you will need to head South through the magical forests first and then go East near the Vinian sea. Going around it to the Vinian woodlands would take many days, but if you go through the old mine shaft at the bottom of the Valley of Tormenta, you should arrive there much faster. From the Vinian forests, you head South until you reach the Elven Woods. Any questions?>

"No sir" Alto bows.

---

"What the hell were you even trying? Do you want to get killed woman!?" He paused. "Why the hell am I even chiding you over it? Strange." he leaps down from where they were and lands on solid ground. "Tch... the group moved on from here. Look what you've done now woman."

*Lunsai looks pissed*

Lunsai:< Didn't I mentioned something about NOT stabbing the tigers?>

Enkidu forced himself to stand tall despite the added pressure that strove to force him down.
"Not even this blasted jungle will bend me to it's will..." He grumbled quietly as he walked on.

*On top of the fact that he's using whatever means possible to suppress himself from being taken over with this pressure, he trips over a couple of times, but quickly returns to his feet and manages to keep up with the group, albeit at the very back. Winston seems to have triggered something in his suit to reduce the pressure around him and is thus walking proudly in front.*

=====

Kasa: <To be fair, there isn't much else we can do, it seems!>

*He starts to get a little anxious and feels a spark of desperation.*

Kasa: <...If cutting them won't work, punch the crap out of them!>

*He runs at one of the tigers with all his might and aims to smash it right in the jaw with his fist.*

Cursed Jungle, Northern Leudella

Aera: <Anyone have any idea what we're looking for?>

Crone: <I must admit this does seem like a rather impossible task.>

*Olympe puts her hands on Lumyr's left arm to keep him to from losing balance again.*

Olympe: <(May I speak with you?)>

-----

Allina: <Good! I'm not staying.>

*She elbows him.*

=====
Black Swamp, Northern Leudella

*Ace glares at her.*

Ace: <L-Like you're doing any better.>

*The tiger's pushed back, but doesn't seem the least hurt or stunned. Ace darts off towards where the sky was red earlier, trying to escape.*

Ace: <Let's go!>

=====
Royal Palace, Nymphe

Regent Kelvin: <Good luck.>

*Keika nods and holds her hand out to Alto.*

Keika: <Hi, Alto. Keika. Nice to officially meet you.>

"Nice to meet you too Keika" Alto extends his hand to shake her's.

---

Ranmaru grunts then responds by flicking her in the forehead; its unusually gentle and playful, "And I suppose you know the way out of this swamp then?"

*Lunsai rolls her eyes and follows*

Lunsai:[ If only there was some dry land around here......]

You're pathetic... Really, watching you try and stand upright...
Enkidu rolled his eyes as he realized the thoughts that just slipped through his mind weren't his.
And all o' these dullards around you! Just look at them! Almost as dumb-looking as you.
"Shut up," Enkidu growled quietly to himself.

Cursed Jungle, Northern Leudella

*The darkness and pressure worsen as they walk deeper into the jungle. After a while, some of the leaves, some large and some small, lying around in their path start glowing and floating upwards, for a second they swirl around an appearing ghostly figure with bright white eyes, but in the blink of an eye, it's gone and the leaves seem to never have moved.*

-----

Allina: <I don't care. Anywhere is better than being with you bunch of heartless freaks.>

=====
Black Swamp, Northern Leudella

*There are the patches of ground above the water level common in swamps. Ari opens his arms and a gust of wind equally blasts their bodies from behind, boosting their speed greatly.*

=====
Royal Palace, Nymphe

Regent Kelvin: <Alto, you are in charge of our part of the expedition. I trust you'll make good decisions, don't waste this opportunity. Help one another.>

*He walks off.*

Keika: <Is there anything you need to do before we leave?>

"Hit up the armory to retrieve my gear. The Regent grabbed me while I was still getting equipped."

---

Ranmaru sighs, "Very well then I guess I have no choice but to play my hand" he reached up to his right eye and seemingly ripped it out. Or at least it looked like it for a moment. In fact what he did was yank a crystal free as evident by the fact that his eye was still there. Shadows pooled in around him a swirled. The dark swamp got even darker and for a moment there was a demonic trilling cry. The shadows burst outward and standing there was... Ranmaru? He stood there with his eyes closed briefly before walking over to Allina and sweeping her up to hold her bridal style. When he spoke the lecherous, sinister edge to his voice had all but vanished. "Be a good girl and hold on tight" the shadows gathered at his feet before rising up, with him on them. Eventually they took shape into a huge Asian dragon made of shadows with them standing on the head between the horns. They took off.

"What kingdom are you from?"

Cursed Jungle, Northern Leudella

Allina: <Extreme Makeover, Freak Edition.>

*After overcoming the initial shock of seeing the dragon, she sighs and replies.*

Allina: <I live in Caleonis, but I'm originally from Nymphe.>

=====
Royal Palace, Nymphe

*Keika nods and follows him.*

"Do note that I'm no longer immortal so please be gentle when handling me" he laughs a soft little chuckle before tapping his foot on the dragon's head sending it zooming for Nymphe.

"I suppose I should re-introduce myself, if I hadn't already. I've taken the disguise of a wandering swordmaster, a brutal killer, however I have never actually killed anyone in cold blood. I've assumed the identity of a corrupt emperor, but worked from the shadows to end his regime. I am the man with many faces and many talents but I have but one true name. Indeed my name is only Ranmaru. I have used many surnames as an alias but my real name is just that, simply Ranmaru. It is a pleasure to meet you young lady."

Lumyr: <(What is it?)>

=====

Kasa: <Fine!>

*He runs after them.*