Rise & Fall

Eve:<Please do not be alarmed by what I'm about to do.>

*Eve summons her keyblade, then starts looking for something to blow up*

Eve:<If you can keep us moving, I should be able to fend off whatever's following us.>
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*Monu parries the blow with his own keyblade, leaping away from the creature before sending diamonds as where he thinks its face is*
--- 
*Artexi nods*

Artexi:<Understood, my apologies.>

~Arendelle~

*As Irritum gets closer, they can make out more specifics of the battle. Some trickles of purple ooze glinting in the creature's glowing eyes are the only sign that the shards even hit it as it leaps into the forest, quickly losing them. Anna seems like she's about to ask a question, but it's drown out by a shriek when the creature bursts from the trees & gobbles up her horse, Kristoff veering hard in an attempt to get away from it. Lilith armors up, taking the Oathkeeper again so she can Glide through the trees in an attempt to gain on the beast.*
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*Vexen turns around just in time for the Keyblade to catch him right in the stomach, smashing him to the ground with enough force that the shockwave trips up Vega. Any onlookers are spared the gruesome sight that has surely been made of him by the fact that he is rapidly dissolving into darkness & snowflakes, much to his horror as he tries & fails to move his limbs.*

Vexen<H--how could this have happened to meee?!>

*His last words trail off as he vanishes. Euryale does not let up, & once she lands she runs to throw the Keyblade at Vega's back, this time with a normal Strike Raid so it won't be seen.*
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~Land of Dragons~

*Yao leads them further up the pass, until they round a corner & disappear from sight. Ping, who happens to be looking up, cries for them to look out & points to the craggy mountainside looming above them, where Assault Riders are hacking & kicking away at the stone pillars, bringing rocks of increasing size down on them. Nero points the Keyblade into the air, using Magnet to gather the debris.*

Ping<We have to stop them before they destroy the rest of the troops!>

*Seeing the trio withdraw their rockets, he moves in front of them, spreading his arms wide.*

Ping<No! If you're not careful, you'll just bring the boulders down faster! We need to use our arrows!>

*Apparently having the same idea, archer Heartless emerge along the crags & proceed to rain arrows down on them. Since the Divine Rose isn't really good for cover, Thiera moves into the shadow of the Magnet spell & casts Lotus on Ping, which in turn covers the trio.*

Hitomi casts Thunder on the Assault Riders while Azuma casts Wolf Storm on the archers.

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Vega rights himself and jumps sending a Lone Eagle in the direction the Meteor Raid came from.

Meanwhile Taiyo moves to approximately where Vega would land, except he lands with Crushing Eagle.

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

Irritum trails the creature through the woods, maintaining some distance in the event it turns its attention to them.

*Eve grips the cart with one hand to hold on, casting Stop on the creature with her keyblade*
===
*Monu armors up as well, then casts Hawk's Dive to increase Lilith's speed. He then follows behind her as quickly as he can*
---
*Safian, still in the shadows, slips up the crag, then reveals herself and breaths fire at the nearest heartless archer. Meanwhile, Artexi creates a thorn barrier in front of herself and the others*

~Arendelle~

*The sleigh wobbles dangerously & the monster charges through the spell with no apparent effect, only being knocked off-course slightly when Lilith rams into it at full speed. It whirls around, slashing apart trees with its tail, Lilith holding her weapon up to block.*

Anna<Who was that?!>

Kristoff<Never mind, we've gotta lose that thing!>

*He piles supplies into the princess's arms, then picks her up & places her on Sven's back before climbing up behind her.*
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*The energy eagle collides almost comically with a wall. Taiyo is thrown back, which Euryale can see due to the invisibility starting to blink out. She calls out & charges towards her, gathering up rocks & shooting them at Vega as she goes. Taiyo lands, hard, several feet away in a bloody mess.*
==================================
~Land of Dragons~

*The trio shakily joins with their arrows, as does Ping, "his" lighted surreptitiously by Mushu. Thiera adds blasts of seeds & under the sheer weight of the attacks the archers fall to their deaths in droves, releasing heart after heart into the sky. However, even with her paws as close together as possible, Safian wobbles dangerously as the rock underneath her crumbles. As the Assault Riders are still a problem, Nero warps back & forth between them, slicing them with Dark Splicer. This doesn't really hinder them & the rock pillars totter dangerously, threatening to topple over onto the path.*

*Eve climbs up behind Kristoff, blasting the monster with Void Flare. She does her best not to hit Lilith. Meanwhile, Monu runs up from behind, using Wind Raid on the creature*
---
*Safian scrambles back from the edge of the rock, then heads back down towards more stable ground. If that includes where the assault riders are, she heads there and breaths fire at the nearest. Artexi gliders up, then flies up and attacks the nearest assault rider with Spark*

Taiyo tries to pick herself up, casting Curaja on herself while Vega rolls to avoid the incoming rocks then promptly gets the hell on out of there, down the hall and away from them now that he no longer has invisible people coming for him.

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

Unless it's really dark out, Irritum ain't going to be doing so well in keeping pace with the Heartless and its prey.

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

Hitomi casts Stop on an Assault Rider which Azuma then hurls a Darkness Raid at.

~Arendelle~


*Euryale skids on her knees, putting an arm under Taiyo & pulling her close. Once she sees that she's safe, she looks to the fleeing Vega & raises her Keyblade arm as if in preparation for a throw. She snarls at Vega, but before she can reach a decision on whether or not to throw it, a Heartless much like a chained up Dark Ball pops up out of the middle of the floor & all of the exits become sealed off by dark flames as the walls, floor, & ceiling grow pitch black.*
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*Near the end of the hall, a Dark Corridor opens up before him, Axel stepping out & waving.*


Axel<Hey there. I know we don’t talk much, but it seems I’ve been given these icky orders to decide if you’re a threat to the Organization. You wouldn’t happen to be thinking of getting on our bad side, wouldja?>
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*Kristoff cuts the sleigh free just as the beast becomes tangled in thorn beams. Lilith darts around to the beast's other side & detonates a blast of light around her. The beast is revealed to be a giant, canine-like monster with glowing red eyes.*


L"I think it's a Heartless!"


*Evidently deciding to get serious, the monster blurs into a rainbow & seems to move in multiple directions at once, tearing itself free while also striking at Monu & Lilith simultaneously.*
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~Land of Dragons~

*With all of that shit flying at them, the Assault Riders are easily destroyed. Nero & Safian land near the troops. The trio aim their bows at her before Ping steps in front of them again.*

Ping<Please wait, the lion isn't dangerous!>

Yao<"Please"? What are you, a girl?>

Ling<What? How would you know that?>

Th"Isn't it obvious? He must have trained it to help fight the huns."

N"Wait, but wasn't it--y'know what, I don't even care."

Now Taiyo has no choice, but to get to her feet because the day and week as a whole is only getting worse.

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Vega: "Stand aside. My quarrel currently isn't with you."

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

Azuma: "How amazing is that? Ping the Beastmaster."

At some point the lie will get so big no one will believe it.

*Safian walks over to Mulan, then rubs her head against her hand*
---
*Since he apparently can't tell which direction the monster is coming from, Monu uses Aero Shield around himself and Lilith. If he sees which direction the monster is coming from, he moves out of the way. Eve casts Thunder in the general direction of the monster as Sven retreats*

~Land of Dragons~

*She pets Safian, despite the fact that I don't even remotely advise this.*

Ping<Thanks, everyone.>

Chien Po<Seemed like the rest of you had some unusual skills of your own.>

Ling<Yeah, what was up with that?>
===========================
~Arendelle~

*Euryale is about to throw the Keyblade when she sees the monster [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.], forming a mouth below them. She holds tighter to Taiyo & jumps just before it would have bitten them, throwing the Keyblade down its throat.*
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*The monster strikes them both while he's casting the spell, throwing them in opposite directions. Lilith had blocked, so she's minus any nasty gashes, & she uses Float to stabilize before she can hit any trees, Gliding around to Monu & dousing him with healing pollen.*

L"Fast, tough, & resistant to magic, or at least status spells...the Oathkeeper won't be very useful against this thing...."

*Fortunately or not, instead of chasing after them, it traces the path of the lightning that just zoomed past it with its gaze & spits a fireball at the retreating reindeer & its passengers. Anna can't help but scream as Kristoff yells for Sven to go faster & makes a desperate turn.*

L"No, no, it's after the princess! I should've realized!"
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Axel<Well, since you put it that way--WRONG ANSWER!>

*He spreads his hands, shooting a flame thrower out of each that blocks off the doors & covers the floor with lava. He bends his knees as he does so, preparing to jump out of the way if attacked.*

Artexi:<It's better you don't know.>
---
*Eve uses Fission on the monster, hoping the wide radius will prevent it from dodging. Monu stands back up and casts Hawk's Dive on Lilith*

Monu:<Thanks! Come on, we've got to catch up!>

He then summons his glider, jumps on, and teleports closer to the monster but not in the area of Eve's attack *

Taiyo adds her own Keyblade, using Aqua Raid.

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

Vega assumes a double knife hand block, anticipating Axel's attack and appropriate counter, not taking the lava into account.

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

As it's somewhat counter productive to let those others die at this time, Irritum casts Ghost Bite on the Heartless, probably spooking those other folk.

~Arendelle~

*Axel throws his right blade at Vega's right side with a bit of a spin on it & ducks left, moving to slash with his left blade.*
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*Though confused why there's a set of teeth chowing down on the Heartless, Lilith hurls the Keyblade into the fireball to detonate it prematurely. The shockwave nonetheless causes Sven & company to topple over & start rolling down the mountain. Lilith evades a falling tree while others fall towards Monu & Irritum. Between the teeth & the thorns ripping through the Heartless, darkness seeps from its wounds as it limps & prepares a desperation attack, charging around in a ring & jumping at each of its targets with after-images.*
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*After swallowing the Keyblades, the mouth looks sick & the Dark Stalker pops out of the ground, heading towards the nearest pillar.*
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~Land of Dragons~

*They look suspicious, but Ping puffs out her chest.*

Ping<We should keep going until we reach the summit--uh, soldiers!>

Taiyo repeatedly casts Fire from the Diamond Dust. One is bound to hit.

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Vega jumps back, sending a Lone Eagle at Axel. When he lands, he uses Center.

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Irritum casts Graveyard Bomb on the Heartless as those other clods are hopeless.

*Safian sniffs around, checking for any interesting scents. Artexi rolls her eyes and follows Ling and the others*
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Eve:<Anna!>

*Eve attempts to catch herself with her keyblade. If that is successful, she jumps to her feet and looks around for Anna and Kristoff, casting Thunder and jumping away from the after image attacking her. Meanwhile, Monu lands, resummons his keyblade, then uses Wind Raid on the Heartless. He also attempts to dodge the after image attacking him*

~Arendelle~

*Not much they can really do until the Heartless slows down so they can tell what it is. Lilith blocks, & the Heartless comes to a stop in the center, creating a fiery explosion when it lands. Lilith switches back to Divine Rose, stabbing it into the ground, branches emerging around it & stabbing into its various wounds. When the Heartless extricates itself, it begins falling to pieces, simply collapsing into darkness instead of emitting a heart. As Eve is looking around, she notices that the sun is coming up, but it's still too dark to see where Sven & Friends got to. Lilith takes advantage of her distraction to charge her from behind with Sonic Slide, aiming to impale her right through the chest.*
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*After getting hit with a few fireballs, which knocks a chain off, & realizing it's not being followed, the Heartless makes a beeline to possess the windows, its face appearing splayed across the glass. No sooner does Euryale land & release Taiyo than it shoots waves of dark energy out of each window at their general direction. You know how this fight works.*
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*Too late does Vega realize why Axel put that spin on his 1st attack, as he eats a Keyblade to the back. Axel twirls his left Keyblade to block the Lone Eagle, resummons his right Keyblade, & moves in to slash with it as it spins, wreathed in fire.*
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~Land of Dragons~

*Safian smells that Heartless have been through the area, but she can't tell how many or when. As they make their way up the mountain path, unsurprisingly, more Heartless begin to appear, starting with a quartet of Emerald Blues, which pop up around them on a narrow stretch within High Jump distance of a rocky ledge & begin spinning, rapidly gathering air around themselves. Ping raises his sword to block, the trio following suit, while Thiera regains her Keyblade & calls down a dome of lightning. Nero opts to teleport behind them, but this proves to be a mistake as before he can bring down the Keyblade for a slash, a pair of Crimson Jazzes appear on either side of him & pump him full of energy mines, causing him to fly back & trigger a trio of Shadows to rise out of the ground. Clearly, they will have to fight their way through the pass.*

Taiyo jumps to get behind the pillar, shooting more Fire at the Shadow Stalker.

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Vega slams a fist on the ground with Shattering Demon Fist then swings with Demon Fist because charging someone whose M.O is punching things is a great idea.

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Irritum slinks back into the trees to avoid the possibility of being seen by those ungrateful sods.

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Azuma casts Darkra on one of the Crimson Jazzes while Hitomi multi-casts Fira from the Stormfall on the Shadows.

*Eve leaps away from Lilith, parrying with her keyblade if she has to. She summons her glider, leaping on and taking off in whatever direction she thinks Sven fell in*

Eve:<Anna?! Can you hear me?>

*Meanwhile, Monu turns around and stares into the darkness*

Monu:<I know you're here! Who are you?!>
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*Artexi and Safian both target the Emerald Blues, using Spark and a fireball respectively*

~Arendelle~

*As Euryale doesn't know if that attack can be blocked & neither do I, she spins to get between the blasts. The Shadow Stalker emerges from the window & into a pillar far away from them that Taiyo doesn't have a clear shot at. While Euryale decides to close in on it, the pillars emerge like huge teeth & swing back down in an attempt to bite Taiyo.*
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L"Don't think you'll escape from me!"

*Lilith swings her Keyblade, lashing out with Ivysnatch.*
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*Vega successfully ducks under Axel's attack & blows him away, though seeing as he already did it once, Axel anticipates another ground attack & simply disappears into his flames, rocketing out from behind Vega in a trail of fire.*
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~Land of Dragons~

*Nero stabs the ground & flings himself in the air to avoid being burnt along with the shadows.*

N"Hey, watch it!"

*While he's at it, since the magic seems to mostly be scuffing the other Heartless, he hurls the Keyblade, dispatching the Crimson Jazzes. The Emerald Blues have been hit with enough spells that they dissolve as well, hearts flying off into the sky. In response, presumably the last of the Heartless appear up ahead; a pair of Assault Riders guarding the way forward as a quartet of Nightwalkers approach them from overhead, walking jerkily in the air with their arms outstretched.*

Ping<Ling, go tell the Captain that the passage is secured!>

Ling<Yessir!>

*He bows & runs off as Yao gestures towards Ping & Chien Po.*

Yao<We're not gonna let them have ALL the fun, are we?>

Ping<Uh--of course not!>

*And so they charge forward with their swords in the air, Yao shouting like a maniac. As Thiera's lightning dome fades away, it splits off into bolts that fall randomly but seem to curve away from the soldiers.*

Taiyo rolls away from the pillar and spins around, blasting it with bubbles.

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

Vega spins around switching to his Keyblade to block Axel's attack and spits Poison Dragonspit in his face.

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As confrontation is likely to happen should they step out of the woods and being daylight doesn't help matters, Irritum sticks to the trees, moving about, possibly in pursuit of Eve.

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Hitomi casts Tragic Sphere on the Nightwalkers while Azuma casts Darkga on the Assault Riders.

*Eve speeds away from the vines, shooting at them with her laser. She attempts to make it more difficult to target her by swerving around. Eve looks for any tracks or signs of Sven and his riders* 

Eve:<Anna! Anna, can you hear me?>

*Monu moves back towards Lilith*

Monu:<Lilith, there's someone else here! I can't see where they went, so watch out!>
---
*Artexi adds in Sparkga on the Assault Riders, while Safian adds in more fireballs*

~Arendelle~

*After being hit with enough bubbles, the monster bulges, crackling with energy. Euryale tries to whack it a few times, until the Keyblade moves of its own accord & fires a pulse of light, purging the creature.*

E"I can do that?"

*Euryale shrugs & leaps after it, cutting a few more chains off as it speeds towards the chandelier.*
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*Axel rubs his eyes with his sleeve, lashing out wildly with a Strike Raid that grows an enormous fireball around it as he jumps back towards the flames.*
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*Lilith throws the Keyblade, & when it misses, she resummons it & throws it again.*

L"Go on, keep running! But wherever you go, I'll find you, & you'll wish you died out here when I'm through!"

*Eventually, she half-glances back at Monu.*

L"It's fine. If they were going to attack, they'd have done it by now. The important thing is catching up with the Organization."

*She sees, as Eve does, that the fight has caused a lot of damage & it would be difficult to locate any tracks even if they did exist. But as she gets higher, Eve can also see the glimmer of something tucked away just behind the mountain.*
==================================
~Land of Dragons~

*They're not in 1 place, so Hitomi contains a Night Walker. The other 3 perform a spinning charge, wreathed in flames, but are soundly destroyed by Reflect. Fortunately, Yao is short, so the spells fly over him, but he turns around & shakes his fist.*

Yao<Hey, you blind or somethin'!>

N"Yeah, they seem to have that--argh!"

*As he is preparing for an attack, he is struck by lightning. He glares angrily over his shoulder at Thiera, who shrugs.*

Th"You left the barrier, so the lightning cannot distinguish you from foes. That isn't my fault, though I'm admittedly not upset by it either."

*Fortunately, since they're so large, a few lightning strikes manage to hit the Assault Riders. The one Azuma attacked buckles slightly, before wreathing itself in energy & charging forward. Chien Po manages to block it, & Ping deflects its attempt to skewer him in retaliation. The other straight up jumps over its comrade, apparently intent on trampling the Order when it lands.*

Taiyo casts Fira on the Shadow Stalker.

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Vega counters that shit with Explosive Stream before swapping weapons to jump and use Center then Lone Eagle.

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Irritum resumes moving through the trees, watching the Order, waiting for an opportunity to move into the clearing without having to fear being attacked by them because of course they'd attack on sight.

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

Azuma moves to attack the charging Assault Rider with Vertigo Toss while Hitomi casts Stop on the airborne one.

*Eve flies up to get a good look at the shiny thing*
===
Monu:<Do you think the Organization sent that Heartless? It was attacking that woman with the Princess.>
---
*Artexi and Safian get out of the way, Artexi attacking the charging Assault Rider with Venom Raid and Spark, while Safian sends her clones to crash into the stopped one*