Shadows Swarm

Taiyo: "That's....a lot to think about."

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Hitomi is certain she can't live off of fruits and grass in her current form, but the idea of eating something that was once....as close to human as a gazelle in this world can be is unnerving.

Hitomi: "Do all animals here talk?"

L"I'm not eating anything that talks & I'm not eating rats regardless. I don't care if I starve."

*As everyone has apparently forgotten about the Heartless, the remaining Power Wild hits Lilith with a sliding kick, at which point she coils around it. The Shadows emerge from the ground around them, attacking them with their claws. Thiera blocks her assailant with her Keyblade, but a Silver Rock teleports behind her & explodes. The Shadows take advantage of the fact that she's been thrust to the ground & smoking to descend on her & start clawing. The other Silver Rock teleports next to Hitomi & sets off its explosion.*
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R"But you should probably know all of that, already. Regardless, we have to head out to see how Sally is doing with these plants. Sorry to run away after meeting you like this, Mr. Stairs."

TOHUTS<No offense taken.>

*He puts a nightcap on & rolls back under the stairs. Roatha & Euryale wave, then set off.*

R"...What a thematically weird whatever he is."
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N"Whatever, we don't need your games, we'll beat things up & become famous on our own."

Phil<Rule 85: Giving up is for rookies!>

Taiyo: "He's pretty nice."

Taiyo follows alongside Euryale while Azuma tries to get ahead of the group and as far from The Thing Hiding Under the Stairs as possible.

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Hitomi recovers and counters if possible with some Keyblade swings. If not, she directs her attacks at the Shadows.

*Safian roars and sends fire at the shadows jumping on Lilith, while Monu adds in his diamonds*
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Artexi:<You really want us to do your chores, huh?>

*Hitomi destroys the Silver Rock. Lilith summons her Keyblade to run the Power Wild through, destroying it, & then slithes away from all of the attacks flying at her. Monu is tackled by Shadows, so Lilith flicks her tail, hurling the Keyblade to slice through the Shadows attacking him & Thiera. The remaining Shadows sink back into the ground, & can be seen moving towards Lilith, Thiera, & Hitomi, while the remaining Silver Rock teleports over to Safian, creating an explosion. Thiera, for her part, stands on the Keyblade & spins it, causing it to spill out a ring of flowers that emit green & gold pollen, which patch up the wounds of herself & Hitomi.
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Phil<The games will be ready on time. The question is, will you?>
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*Jack leads them round a wall, up a staircase, & through an iron gate leading to, of course, a grave yard. As they walk in & look around, a tree with skeletons hanging from its branches walks up from the side. Euryale looks sharply over her shoulder when she hears yelling.*

Hanging Tree<EVERYBODY, SCREAM! EVERYBODY, SCR-->

E"AAAAAAAAAAAAH!"

*She punches it right in the face, knocking it over. Sally scrambles out from behind it, in a hurry to not be broken like the headstone that it lands on, or the skeletons, which don't survive the impact. The tree kind of wiggles its roots & branches, rolling slightly, trying & failing to get up. Euryale holds her chest, breathing heavily.*

Hanging Tree<What did you do that for!?>

E"You--you scared me!"

Hanging Tree<And?!>

Sally<Oh, dear...grab my hand, I'll help you up.>

*Safian leaps away and ends a blast of darkness at the rock. Monu flies forward and, at the first opportunity, attacks the shaodws with diamonds*
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*Artexi looks at Nero*

<I guess it's something to do?>

Taiyo: "He was just singing a song."

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Hitomi directs her Keyblades to assault the Shadows when they emerge.

*Euryale folds her arms, looking irate.*

E"No, I'm pretty sure he was trying to scare us. Half of this place seems to be trying to either scare us or kill us."

*Jack raises his arms in a placating gesture. Meanwhile, Sally struggles to lift the tree to a sitting position.*

Jack<The Heartless don't come from Halloween Town. I assure you, we don't hurt people.>

E"You moron, people are scared of things jumping out of them because they think they're gonna get hurt! Next you're gonna tell me that Guillotine is just for chopping wood!"

Jack<Pumpkins, actually. Though I suppose I've never thought of all that.>

*He taps his chin with his bony finger.*

Sally<I could use some help, please!>

R"Yeah, yeah...."

*Roatha heads over to his left branch & starts trying to help.*
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N"I'm sure we can find something better to do."
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*The Silver Rock releases its heart, while some more Shadows die. Lilith slinks back, cutting across the Shadows attacking her.*

L"You shouldn't use projectiles so close to an enemy!"

*Meanwhile, Thiera hefts the Oathkeeper in her wings, erecting a shield of flame as the last of the Shadows attack, which destroys them.*

T"Should we continue on, then?"

*Monu casts a healing spell on the group*

Safian:<Right, hopefully we'll find some food along the way.>

*So Safian takes the lead, smelling the air to see what's around*
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Artexi:<Like?>

Azuma sets to helping up the Hanging Tree.

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Hitomi follows Saifan.

N"Go to some other world, without itty bitty goat-men."

Phil<Satyrs!>
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*They manage to get him up & notice that his face is cracked. With Sally's help, the skeletons begin re-assembling themselves. Meanwhile, Jack heads over to a grave that resembles a dog house & knocks twice, causing Zero to rise from the ground. Euryale eyes the dog warily & slinks back a bit when he barks.*

Sally<It's okay, this happens to me all of the time.>

R"Right, so, in the interests of avoiding future events...."

*Roatha summons his Keyblade & uses it to draw the Nobody, Heartless, & Unversed symbols on the ground.*

R"Anything that has one of these symbols on it is an enemy. Don't just go whacking away at anything that happens to have a heart shape on it. You'll need to be able to make snap judgments in the middle of a fight, & not attack the innocent."
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*She catches faint whiffs that another female lion has come this way. When they round the corner, they see that they're back in the desert, but now the moon has risen, & they can see t hat they're coming up on a lush forest.*

L"That's not a mirage, is it?"

T"No, mirages can only happen during the day."

Taiyo: "Sorry, she's new in town."

Taiyo calls her Keyblade to make it rain, fixing up the Hanging Trees face.

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Hitomi heads towards the forest.

Safian:<Another lion has come through here pretty recently.>

Monu:<Could it be Simba?>

<No, it's a she.>

*So Safian continues leading the way towards the forest*
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Artexi:<Come on, he's pretty cool.>

Hanging Tree<What? Where are they from?"

R"Nowhere, don't worry about it. You know, telling everyone we come across that we're weird foreigners sort of defeats the purpose of trying to blend in."

*Euryale squints at the sight of the skeletons re-hanging themselves.*
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N"You really want to do his retarded chores?"
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*They eventually reach the jungle.*

L"It's getting late, we should set up camp. Those who can fly should look for fruits. Everyone else should head to wherever that river sound is coming from, looking for somewhere to sleep along the way."

Azuma: "Because insulting and attacking everyone that comes our way is totally the way to go."

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Hitomi wanders along the river.

*Monu flies up, looking for fruit, while safian heads along the river, sniffing for anything of interest*
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Artexi:<It's better than standing here bored.>

N"That's why I recommended going to some other world."
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*They find papayas, coconuts, & bananas. For some reason, these are actual dessert bananas, just growing out in the wild.*

T"It looks as though there's more than enough fruit here for all of us. The question now is how many of us can actually eat it."
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L"I see a lot of piles of leaves, which animals might be using to sleep on. Not exactly what I had in mind, though. There could be some caves near the waterfalls."
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R"Hey, I'm trying to teach her how to tell the difference between an enemy & an alley cat that jumps out at her & hisses. I don't see what you're doing to help."

Azuma: "Not hitting anything and everything. Setting an example of how to act when in an unfamiliar place."

Monu:<I think that might just be you. I think I'm a bird of prey.>

*Safian is still sniffing around for food or other things of interest*
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Artexi:<I want to see the fights. Come on, some work would do you good.>

*Euryale crosses her arms & looks away, pouting as 2 Wight Knights, 2 Gargoyles, & 4 Shadows appear nearby.*

E"Nobody ever complained about me fighting off monsters, sharks, or pirates before. Bet you want me to start hitting things NOW."

*Soon after, a thorny black stalk shoots out of the ground amidst the Heartless. The bulb at the end unfurls into 4 jaws, like multi-bladed sickles, around a gaping mouth. Said mouth sucks at the air as the jaws click together & the plant bends at the middle, sweeping over the ground.*

R"Actually, no. I want to see how this goes down."

E"You really don't know WHAT you want, do you?"

*The Shadows scatter & the Gargoyles begin gargling darkness, while the Wight Knights just kind of look around.*
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*The lion encountered some other animal nearby, whose scent is mostly overpowered by that of a really stinky warthog. The scents trail off deeper into the oasis, together. Lilith slithers off to look at the waterfall.*
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*Thiera perches on a branch.*

T"In most worlds falcons can't eat meat. On the other hand, in most worlds, they also can't talk. And dessert bananas are supposed to be sterile."

*She gestures to the bananas with her wing.*
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*Nero throws up his arms.*

N"Do what you want, but this is stupid!"

Phil<Your hero career isn't looking too good if-->

*Nero whirls around, pointing at Phil, dark flames coming off of his hand. Phil raises his hands defensively.*

N"Nobody asked you, Goat-Man! So shut up!"

Phil<Alright, alright! Yeesh. Must be from Sparta.>

Azuma: "Big difference between hitting things that intend to do you harm and the locals of another world."

Artexi:<Close enough.>
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*Safian continues following the trail, but stops before she strays out of earshot*
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Monu:<I should probably try, since I don't really want to eat a talking animal.>

*Sally gets behind the Hanging Tree as some of the Shadows creep closer to them. The tree crushes the Heartless under root, preferring not to take chances. The plant suddenly darts forward, grabbing a Wight Knight. The monster tries to claw the ground to get away, but is dragged up into the air & swallowed whole, the plant's stalk engorging to accommodate it. The Wight Knight's claw flicks limply before it is sucked in & the Tentaclaw descends upon the other Wight Knight, starting the process over.*

R"Ugh, it's even worse to WATCH."

E"I don't get it, why aren't they attacking it?"

*The gargoyles then spit out orbs of darkness, one of which heads over to the Hanging Tree, & the other towards Azuma.*
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Phil<There you go. So, which task do you want to sign up for?>
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L"There IS a cave over here!"
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T"If we knock them down, we can probably roll them down the hill."

*Her Keyblade appears in her talons & she fires a blast of ice crystals, knocking down several pieces of fruit.*

*Monu summons his keyblade and tries to knock some fruit down via a gust of wind*
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*Safian heads over to check it out*
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Artexi:<I don't care, whatever's easiest for you.>

Azuma creates a shield of DARKNESS! around the Hanging Tree while holding his Keyblade to block the attack coming at him.

He attacks the Gargoyle with Darkra.

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Hitomi returns to check out the cave.