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Nero took the spetum from Celestine and didn't bother lingering there any longer. He'd already turned around and started back the other direction, though he walked a few of the first steps just to test his footing with the extra weight. He wasn't quite as fast as Kyran, but he could still move fairly quickly especially when he really needed to. A moment later he'd started to dash back the way they'd come. He was pretty light on his feet and didn't think it would take him all that long to get out of the forest.
LaRae stood there rather quietly for a moment just staring at Nanashi. She really hoped that he was going to be alright. Her eyes shifted slightly to Nero thinking that he'd better be able to get Nanashi out to a safely. He wouldn't want to deal with her should he fail to get him out. She started to absently fidget with her hands once she saw Nero start off. Once he started to run, it didn't take very long for her not to be able to see them anymore. She heaved a heavy sigh and dropped her eyes to the ground slightly. Kyran watched as Nero left, a little surprised that Nero could still move quickly with the extra weight. Once they were out of view he looked back to Celestine and then shook his head lightly while looking away. It was just now clicking why Celestine had said back a few days ago that they shouldn't bring Nanashi in here. He felt a little bad for raising such a stink about it, but he couldn't help thinking his response would've been different if Celestine had told him about the poison to begin with. Aamori had just started to take a couple steps back towards the others when Nero had started to run off. She looked over at Hikari and then over to Celestine, not quite sure who it would be better to ask. "...Is he going to be alright?" She asked quietly and sounding rather concerned. |
Nanashi just kept his eyes closed when Nero started moving and moved one hand to grab the back of his shirt weakly, just to make himself feel slightly more secure. Breathing was really starting to become more trouble than it was worth. He could barely suck in are as it was without his body forcing even more back out; his lungs were starting to burn from being oxygen deprived as well as from all the coughing. Finally just to stop the coughs he tried to take in a deep breath and just hold it, but that only lasted for a few seconds before he started coughing again. At least once they started to get back toward the roped trees the air was a little easier to breathe....but by then he was just hanging limply over Nero's shoulder. He'd all but given up on the idea of breathing and only pulled in what little air his boy could force him to take in. He was just worn out and wishing he would just pass out already; he felt like he was halfway there.
Celestine looked over to Aamori when she walked over and asked her question. "...I don't know. I don't know how all of this works." He said simply, shaking his head, "I didn't even know about this poison until the other night, I don't know how it will effect any of us..." He turned around and started moving gain, "...Let's go before someone else drops." he said quietly. Hikari shook her head slightly when Aamori asked. "I don't know either..." she said quietly, "I hope so..." She looked over to LaRae and walked over to stand beside her, gently placing her hand on her shoulder. Her eyes turned toward Celestine when he started to move again and she gently put her arm around LaRae for a moment. "Come on...you can stay with him when we get out of here." she said quietly. She was pretty sure that she knew how LaRae felt; she'd be feeling the same way if it was Kyran instead of Nanashi. |
Nero was just barely paying attention to Nanashi for time, he was more focused on making sure he was running the right way. The last thing he wanted was to go getting turned around in this place. At times like this he was thankful for his tracking abilities, though at the same time they hadn't really diverted from a straight line too much. His ears laid back slightly when he felt Nanashi go limp on his shoulder and sighed heavily before trying to up the pace a bit. He knew he wasn't too far off from the ropes at this point, he wasn't having much trouble with the air himself. After a few more moments of running he'd come to the white ropes without really even noticing. The foliage had been so thick that he didn't see the ropes until he was practically on them. Thankfully he did think to jump over them before he ran right into them.
Aamori glanced over at Celestine when he answered first and gave a heavy sigh. She would've preferred hearing a 'yes he'll be fine'. She then looked over at Hikari and just gave a nod. It was a shame that no one knew anything more on this poison. She just hoped that Nanashi, along with the rest of them would be alright. She turned and followed after Celestine as soon as he started walking again. "I'd be bad if anyone else went down." She paused. "We'd end up losing two more people..." She commented quietly. Kyran listened to what Celestine said and then heaved a sigh after hearing that he didn't know about the poison until just the other night. Even still, it probably would've been better to let everyone know that sooner. At least then they might have been able to talk Nanashi into staying with Nobu. He shook his head lightly. It didn't matter now, it was already done and Nero was taking care of getting Nanashi to safety. He glanced back briefly to look at Hikari when she was with LaRae and then turned to follow after Aamori and Celestine. LaRae kept her eyes glued to the ground for a few moments even when Hikari came over and touched her shoulder. She lifted her eyes finally when Hikari placed an arm around her. She looked at her for a moment, only briefly with her eyes full of worry before letting them dart off to the side. She wished that she could've done more to help him. Instead she got shoved out of the way and left here to worry over his well being. She wasn't focusing on anything that was going on around her and she didn't even notice when the others started to walk away. Part of her wanted to go after Nero and the other half knew she'd be needed here more then there; At least she was trying to convince herself of that. She finally came to a little and glanced around, only now noticing that she should be moving. She gave a heavy sigh followed by a slight nod. "..." She was just at a loss for words. She pulled herself away from Hikari and started to follow after the others with a little mope in her step. |
Nanashi jarred slightly when Nero jumped the ropes and then coughed slightly. He cracked his eyes open slightly, though he could still barely see anything through the blur of water over his eyes. He just started trying to gasp in the clean air, but even that was burning his throat and making him cough.
Celestine sighed softly. "I know." he said quietly in response to Aamori's comment. He shook his head and glanced around again. Frankly, he wasn't being effected by this poison at all. He kind of expected that he would have some immunity to it considering that his read grandfather was a hydra. He had no idea where his grandmother met him, but apparently she'd run into one somewhere. He glanced back for just a moment, "Are the rest of you alright for now?" he asked quietly. He was trying to pick up the pace and get deeper into the forest. Again his ear twitched when he herd that strange, almost musical sound coming from deeper in the forest. He turned his head quickly to look off in that direction and then shook his head slightly. Hikari watched as LaRae pulled away from her and started to walk and then sighed softly, hurrying to catch up to her. She just placed her hand on her shoulder again and then looked ahead at Celestine, giving him a slight nod. "...I'm doing fine." she assured him. She could barely even tell too much of a difference int he air right now, she guessed she's already gotten used to it. |
Nero continued a good few feet away from the roped trees before coming to a stop when he thought he'd gone far enough. He'd come out of the forest at the same place they'd gone in at so when he passed by Nobu he glanced over at him briefly. He moved over near a tree and set the spetum down against it before taking a step back and pulling Nanashi down from his shoulder. He tried his best to be a little more gentle with him since they weren't in the toxic air anymore. He set him down on the ground and then stepped back slightly, glancing down at him to see how he was fairing now.
Aamori glanced over to Celestine when he asked about the rest of them. "I'm alright." She said simply. She'd never really experienced any poison before so she wasn't even sure she'd notice if something was wrong, well unless she started hacking like Nanashi did. She gave a small sigh and continued to follow close to Celestine. Kyran looked up when he heard Celestine's question. He gave a slight nod. "...I'm good." He said in response before glancing back again towards Hikari and LaRae. LaRae continued to follow after them barely looking up. She did lift her eyes for a moment when she heard Celestine's question and nodded her head. She gave a sigh and tried to get her priorities straight, though that was hard since at the very moment she didn't want to be here with the rest of them. |
Nanashi still wasn't moving all that much, but at least he wasn't hacking the way that he was before. He was still coughing a little every now and then but at least he was able to breathe better between them now. He slowly opened his eyes again part of the way and looked up to Nero. His eyes were a little glassy looking, like someone who had been up for a long time and was ready to go to sleep but was forcing themselves to stay awake. He finally took in a deep breath and spoke, though is voice was little more than a hoarse whisper coming from his raw throat. "...Thank....you..." After that he just closed his eyes again and tried to turn his head away from the light.
Celestine nodded to them all and then continued forward quietly. Again he stopped when he heard that faint, musical sound. "Does anyone else hear that?" he asked as he glanced around again. Hikari paused for a moment and listened. "...I don't hear anything." she said quietly. Of course that didn't meant much, she hadn't been listening earlier anyway. Celestine shook his head slightly and took another step before he stopped again after hearing the same sound again. He finally reached into his bag and pulled out his pipe then just held it for a moment before he brought it to his lips and played a short tune, mimicking what he was hearing. His ears twitched again when he heard the sound, louder this time and he quickly dashed off in that direction, turning slightly from the path that he'd been following. After a few yards he stopped dead in his tracked and tilted his head slightly, listening for a moment before he played the same notes again. This time the sound seemed to be coming from a slightly different direction, so he turned and continued forward in the other direction a little. Hikari just watched Celestine get out his pipe and then listened to the notes that he played. She blinked when he dashed off and then started after him since she didn't really want to lose him in here. What in the word was he listening for? The second time that he stopped and played the notes, she listened hard. This time she heard it, too, just barely, though she wasn't quite sure what it was. Celestine continued at that rate for a few moments, moving wherever the sound sounded came from and then pausing to see if he could get another answer. After about five more times he stopped again when a sudden shrill ringing sounded in his ears and he shook his head, rubbing his ear, but it wasn't going away. It was almost enough to make his teeth grind, but when he glanced back to the others it seemed like he was the only one hearing this one. He remembered the way that Kyran had gotten all staticy when they got near his relic. He just hoped that this didn't get any louder Right now it was just annoying. "Well...I'm pretty sure...we're going the right way." he said as his ears laid back slightly, trying to drive out the sound. Unfortunately the sound seemed to be coming from inside his mind rather than anything that covering his ears could accomplish. |
Nero shook his head lightly after just barely hearing the thanks from Nanashi. He really didn't need to be thanked and Nanashi didn't need to strain his throat by trying to talk. He continued to stand there for a few minutes before moving off to the side of him, a couple feet away and sitting down with his back against a tree. He tilted his head down and let his hair fall into his face and then gave a soft sigh. He wouldn't admit it but he kind of hoped that Nanashi would get better soon. That, and he was slightly concerned for the others.
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Nanashi was at least breathing a little better now. He still coughed every now and then but at least he sounded better. Being in that forest was like being somewhere with too many chemical fumes to breathe, but now that the air was clean he was starting to get over it a little. After a little while he finally stopped coughing and just lay there breathing shallowly. His chest still burned and his throat hurt, but he wasn't going to complain about that, Nero had done more than he really expected just getting him out of there. A short while later he just dozed off. He couldn't really do much else really, and it was just easier to bear the pain if he was sleeping through it.
Celestine shook his head and finally pit his pipe away, he was pretty sure that he could find his way without it now. He listened hard for the sound that he'd been hearing; it was so much louder now that it was hard to miss. He continued to lead them forward until the trees finally cleared out in a large area. The air was much thicker here, but still breathable at least. He stopped again when he saw the area that he'd seen before in his dream. There was almost a perfect circle in the trees around this area and in the open space were several fallen pillars. This temple was little more than a ruin now. There were pieces of the stone structure laying everywhere. It seemed as though at one time it was probably pretty tall, but now it barely covered one story. The roof if there had ever been one, was gone, and the stone opening was about the only thing that still stood. There was writing above the door but it was too faded to be legible. The shrill ringing in his head was much louder now to the point that it was almost unbearable. He kept tilting his head and rubbing his ears, but nothing was really helping. His eyes trailed down to the ground again and he sighed. The entire forest floor almost was covered in snakes beyond this point. They were laying all over the ground as well as on the fallen stones. What made it even better was that all of them looked to be the poisonous type. No wonder that little green snake hadn't wanted to come here. He glanced back for a moment to look at the others and then looked around slowly. "...It's here..." he said quietly. Hikari had been quiet as they walked since it was obvious that Celestine was trying to listen to something. It was obvious that something was hurting his ears, but she really didn't know what; she couldn't hear anything but the sound of whatever had been calling before, and even that was gone now. She stepped up to stand beside Kyran again and then froze when she saw the ground. "...Sure...why not..." she muttered when she say the mass of snakes. Of course she knew that those were the least of her worries. Suddenly the almost chime-like sound that Celestine had been following sounded again, this time from inside the temple's door. Moments later a large almost lizard-like creature crawled out of the doorway. The creature was small for a dragon, but still large enough that it could easily out mass Nerian. It's neck was long and slender but it's head was fairly large with a pointed snout. It's body was slender with four short legs that ended in tallon-like claws. Once it was completely outside it's three sharp tipped tails were clearly visible as well, all of which appeared to have a sort of arrow tip at the end of them. The hydra looked directly at the little troupe and opened its mouth in another of the strangely soothing cries. Her green eyes fixed on Celestine and the golden pupils narrowed into even tinier slits as she curled up. Venom dripped from her newly revealed fangs and dropped to the ground beneath her, actually causing whatever plants that were below her to wither and die almost instantly. She was an oddly beautiful sight, definitely not one would expect in just hearing about a hydra. She hardly seemed threatening other than the venom. At the moment she was just staring at the little group as if daring them to come any further. At least her appearance caused most of the snakes in the area to take cover elsewhere. |
Nero continued to sit against the tree, for the most part acting like he wasn't paying attention to anything. However he was shifting his eyes without moving his head to glance over at Nanashi from behind his hair, just to check on him every so often. Ordinarily he probably wouldn't have even bothered being concerned about his well being but since he was a part of this group they were all in he couldn't just walk away; At least not easily. When he finally noticed that Nanashi had fallen asleep he gave a slightly relieved sigh. He really didn't want to have to try and find some place to treat him should he get worse, how bad would it look for a dark clan dragon to have a half breed over his shoulder in this territory seeking help? He relaxed a bit more and loosely crossed his arms over his chest.
Aamori stayed quiet for the remainder of the walk. Though she did occasionally look over at Celestine. She thought about asking what was bothering his ears since she didn't hear anything but refrained from saying anything. She came to a stop just offset of Celestine when he stopped. Her eyes rather quickly dropped to the ground and scanned over the mass of snakes. A couple of snakes might not have bothered her too much but that was far more then she'd ever wanted to see. Her eyes lifted from the ground when she heard that chime-like sound, then she focused on the temple's door for a moment until she saw the creature that had come out of the doorway. She was a bit taken back by how beautiful the creature was, she'd expected something a little more vicious looking. Though the instant the venom from it's mouth hit the plants and killed them instantly her whole opinion on that thing being pretty changed. She took her eyes off the hydra for a moment, to look over at Celestine. "...What now?" She asked quietly. Kyran came to a stop after Celestine had and glanced around at the structure, or rather the lack of since it looked like most of it was on the ground. Just about the time Hikari muttered he looked at the ground a little more closely and noticed all the snakes. He gave a slight sigh and then glanced down at her for a moment before hearing that chime-like sound. That rather easily caught his attention and he looked towards the doors. He watched when the large creature came out from the doorway and tilted his head slightly. He hadn't expected the hydra to look like that. For a moment he even thought that wasn't a hydra, at least until he saw the tails and then the venom that fell from it's mouth. That kind of made it obvious. LaRae was barely paying any attention to the others and hadn't noticed right away that they had stopped and nearly walked right into Kyran. She took a step back just so she wasn't so close to him and then lifted her eyes up to see why they'd all stopped. She eyed the snakes on the ground and shrugged lightly. Snakes didn't bother her, even if they were poisonous. So long as they didn't bite her she had no gripes. Her eyes shifted again after she too heard that chime-like sound. She nearly had to do a double take when the creature stepped out. She thought hydra's were supposed to be vicious. |
Hikari stared at the hydra almost aw struck when it came out. She had expected something mean and ugly looking. She was surprised by how beautiful the hydra was, just like the others, but that didn't change the fact that one bite from the thing could kill you. She stood stone still and looked at it for a moment before glancing to Celestine.
Celestine's eyes were transfixed on the eyes of the creature in front of him and be barely seemed to hear Aamori when she first spoke. After a moment he looked over to her for a moment and then looked back to the hydra again. "...Wait here..." he said quietly. He slowly stepped out of the trees and moved toward the hydra, one slow step at a time. Hikari stared at Celestine, almost in disbelief. "What is he doing!?" she asked quietly as she watched him step into the open. The hydra lowered her head when the smallest one stepped forward and opened her jaws in another of the shrill cries. She slowly edged froward, moving her head and body from side to side slowly, almost hypnotically as she stared at the young one approaching her. She moved a little closer and let out another soft cry. She seemed like she was trying to be friendly until she jerked and send all three of her poison tipped tails flying toward the little intruder. Celestine paused when the hydra moved forward and stood still, keeping his eyes on hers for a moment before his eyes quickly shifted to watch her movements. He seemed to know this game; if she could keep his attention on her eyes rather than her body she could strike him down easily. He was glad that he looked away when he did because seconds later he had to jump back quickly to avoid her tails. He reached behind him and grabbed his swallow as he slid back in the leaves and brought it over his head, standing ready to strike at her should she try again. Hikari gasped and held her breath when the hydra struck at Celestine and finally pulled her bow from over her shoulder. She glanced to the others for a moment. She wasn't really sure if they were supposed to go in just yet or not but she wasn't really prepared to stand around and wait for much longer. |
Aamori had glanced back to the hydra for a moment before looking back at Celestine when he said to wait here. She stared at him as he started out and then looked back at Hikari. She couldn't very well answer her question because didn't exactly know. Of course she was a little uneasy since he'd told them to wait while he went out there. She turned her eyes back to watch him; Her hand was already rested against the buckle that released her staff. When the hydra went to hit him with it's tails she nearly choked on her own breath while she froze for a moment. She slid her fingers over the buckle to her holster and pulled it free so that her staff slid out into her hand.
Kyran glanced over at Hikari after he watched Celestine start out. He shrugged lightly. He couldn't answer her question either. He looked back to watch Celestine and that hydra. He wasn't alarmed until the hydra tried to strike him with it's tails. Once he saw that his hands were already pulling his blades from the holster and he'd stepped off to the slide a little so that he could hold them the right way without nicking Hikari. LaRae watched when Celestine started out by himself and shook her head lightly. Oh yeah that looked like a good idea, wander out where the thing can hit you and do it without any sort of plan. She wasn't really that surprised to see the hydra go to attack him. She glanced around for a moment when she noticed Hikari had removed her bow, then Aamori had taken out her staff and lastly Kyran had pulled out his blades. She just stood there for a moment, as if unsure what to do; After all they had been told to wait here. |
Celestine wasn't all that frightened anymore, surprisingly. He knew what he was up again, what she was capable of, and what he was doing. He slowly moved again, shifting to the side. He was slowly maneuvering around the hydra and making her turn in order to keep him in her sight. She was still doing her little dance, trying to distract him from her upcoming attacks. Luckily, he was use to this kind of tactic; he'd used it before himself.
The hydra was fixated on Celestine since he was the only one out in the open at the moment. She watched him start to move around and slowly turned with him, striking at him again with her tails. She was a lot faster than she looked; she could strike as quickly as a snake if she tried. She screeched at him whenever he dodged her attack and just resumed trying to get his attention off of her tails. She was turned almost completely around before she finally changed her tactic and struck at him with her fangs instead of her tails. Celestine was careful to dodge her tails when she swung them at him, though he was taken a little off guard when she struck with her head. She'd had her neck back where it looked like it was a little shorter than what it actually was. He quickly brought his swallow out in front of him and jammed it between her teeth, matching her mouth open. "Any time now!!" He called to the others. He'd gotten her turned away from them, now they could do whatever they wanted. Hikari finally realized what he was trying to do when she saw him turning around. As soon as he called to them she stepped past Kyran and Aamori and raised her. She pulled back on the string and formed another of her light arrows. She wasn't even quite sure where to aim, so she just fired at the back of her head and though she cringed when the arrow barely even penetrated her scales. |
Kyran looked to Hikari when she stepped past him and Aamori and watched as she took aim. He stood where he was long enough to watch her arrow sail across and hit the hydra in the back of the head. He was a little surprised that it didn't penetrate the scales very much. He then wasted very little time in getting out into the clearing. He was still for a moment, while he remembered he was told to steer clear of the tails. Then stealthily dashed towards the hydra and sliced his left blade up against the creatures side; His eyes widened for a moment while he watched his blade move across the scales and barely doing anything to them. He didn't bother staying close to slice again, and made sure to jump back a good few feet so he could reevaluate how to go about this.
Aamori watched when Hikari shot her arrow then focused on Kyran when he started out. It took her a moment but she tightened her grip on her staff and then slid her thumb over the jeweled button to force it to extend. Once she saw Kyran dash over to attack the hydra with his blades she thought to follow up with the force from her staff in the same place he'd sliced at. Since she was just offset of him, and behind him she hadn't noticed when he sliced that there wasn't very much damage done because of the strength of the scales. As soon as Kyran had jumped back she'd already lifted her staff to force it down as hard as she could over the exact same spot. Once she'd made contact with the scales it was only then she noticed that Kyran hadn't broken through the scales and she lifted her staff a little standing there rather stunned. She'd really expected to see some sort of cut there, and yet, there wasn't. LaRae finally took a few steps towards the clearing, though she didn't enter. She stood there and watched as Kyran attempted to cut through the scales and Aamori thought to follow behind him. To her that seemed like a good enough plan, except when she noticed that Kyran's blades hadn't cut through anything. She was alarmed to see that Aamori just stood there after her attack; Why hadn't she moved like Kyran had? "Aamori you idiot, get away from it!" She called out. |
The hydra shrieked when the arrow hit her behind the head and she jerked her head violently trying to turn around, but the little one was holding her head still. The arrow stung more than anything, but she was still angry about it's being there. She hissed at Kyran when he stuck at her side, but at worse he just made a very annoying scratch in her hard black scales. When Aamori struck her int he same place she shrieked again and tried to turn her head again, but she still couldn't free her mouth from Celestine's weapon. Finally she just struck out at the girl with one of her tails while she used the middle one to jab over her head at the one holding her head captive.
Hikari's breath caught when she saw that Aamori was just standing there. "Aamori move!!" she shouted after LaRae whens he saw the tail preparing to swing at her. She fired another arrow at the hydra's head, just trying to distract her, but she moved her head and the arrow went sailing right by her. Celestine was going a good job of keeping the hydra still so the others could attack her. Every time she jerked her head trying to pull away from the weapon he went with her and pushed it against the roof of her mouth. When It wasn't until he heard LaRae shout, though he just barely heard it over the ringing in his ears, that he realized that Aamori was standing right in the line of fire. He saw the tail going for Aamori before he saw the one coming for him and he released the swallow, leaving it stuck in her mouth for now. He darted past the hydra's flailing head and grabbed Aamori, forcing her down just as the tail went sailing over the area were she'd been standing just half a second before and collided with the hydra's side. He stayed on her until the tail swung back away from them and then rolled off of her quickly, "Watch it!!" he snapped at her as he started to get to his feet quickly. Once the boy's grip on the weapon was gone she easily flung the thing from her mouth ant let out an annoyed hiss when she missed both of her targets. She swung herself around with the sheer agility of a snake and struck at the back of the one that had caused her to miss, sinking her teeth into his side before she jerked him off the ground and shook her head with him, jerking him around like a cat trying to kill a mouse. Hikari's eyes widened when she saw the Hydra turning to strike but she had already struck before she could even open her mouth to say anything. The thing struck like a cobra the way that she grabbed Celestine off the ground. She felt her grip on her bow tighten and her mouth fall open. "Do something!!" she cried out to no one in particular. Her arrows weren't working for much and she couldn't stand to see Celestine getting flung around like a rag doll in that thing's teeth. |
Kyran had seen Aamori after he jumped back, he hadn't noticed that she'd followed after him. Mostly because he'd focused on trying to hurt the hydra. He just stared at her for a moment waiting for her to move after she hit the hydra and then his eyes shot over to LaRae, and then Hikari when he heard them. Aamori wasn't moving. By the time he looked back and saw the tail going for her, he'd already seen Celestine move to force her down and out of the way. Had he not looked away to the other two girls, he probably could've gotten to Aamori himself but thankfully Celestine had. His eyes widened when he saw the hydra turn so quickly and take a hold of Celestine. He'd practically frozen still for a moment as if he hadn't seen that just happen and then looked over at Hiikari rather quickly when she cried out. He gripped his blades a little tighter in his hands, though he wasn't sure what to do in order to get Celestine down and away from that damn creature.
Aamori had pretty much spaced out for a moment in disbelief and hadn't even heard LaRae or Hikari. She didn't even seem to come to until she was forced to the ground. Her staff was knocked from her hand in the process of her hitting the ground. She blinked a couple times and then focused on Celestine, only now realizing that she was on the ground. She stared at him for a moment once he'd rolled off of her and started to get to his feet. She sat up and started to open her mouth to apologize but before she could get a single word out of her mouth she'd watched the hydra sink it's teeth into him and start jerking him around. She wanted so badly to scream but her voice got caught in her throat and her eyes swelled with tears. Again, she'd gone stiff. This time because she was genuinely frightened. LaRae could only keep herself standing at that distance for a moment longer. She'd already watched the hydra take Celestine as a toy and then everyone else seemed to just freeze where they were. She was sure that Kyran had because he wasn't sure what to do and obviously Hikari's arrows weren't working. She stepped out into the clearing; Her hands, both of them had already been radiating the green aura. She stared at Aamori for a moment, seeing that she wasn't moving and she was going to be in the way. She shifted her eyes quickly over to Kyran. "Get Aamori out of the way!" She called out in a rather annoyed tone. It wasn't like Aamori to just freeze like this. At least she never remembered Aamori doing this that much. Kyran's eyes shot over to LaRae when he noticed her step out into the clearing, her hands were glowing. About the time that she opened her mouth to speak he'd already figured out what she was going to say. It was obvious Aamori was in the way. He slipped his blades back into his holster quickly and dashed over to Aamori without stopping he'd scooped her up and quickly turned to dash back towards Hikari to set her down. By the time Aamori was out of the way the aura around her hands had grew in size and now engulfed her arms all the way to her shoulder blades. She took a deep breath and quickly dropped to a knee and thrust one hand into the ground. A brief few moment's later an extremely large root burst forth from the ground just below the hydra's neck and shot up to wrap tightly around it's neck just where the bend was. Even if it had tried to move it's head away from the root, it'd just bend to follow it until it caught hold. She hoped taking hold of the neck so high would give a little time before the venom could break it down; Or one of her tails could hit it. The root started to harden and she glanced back over her shoulder for a moment. "Someone had better be ready to catch him just incase she drops him!" She muttered before thrusting her other hand into the ground. After doing so the root around the neck of the hydra tightened considerably, possibly cutting off the flow oxygen. She had hoped that the hydra would drop him with that much force around it's neck. But she had a back up just incase. She'd give a few brief moments before going for an attack. The aura around her arms started to expand, engulfing a good amount of her back; She was using so much energy so fast that it caused the mark on her back to flash a bright red for a moment. She ignored it though and proceeded. Suddenly five massive spikes made from hardened roots shot up out of the ground directly beneath the hydra. They were a good two or three feet tall and spread out below the large creature. |
Celestine was a little taken aback when he was grabbed and let out a yip. He cringed as his neck snapped back and forth as the hydra shook him and he yelled in pain as the fangs tore further into his sides. He closed his eyes tightly until the Hydra's head finally stopped moving. He cracked his eyes open to finally see that he was facing the sky as he hung from the hydra's mouth. Suddenly he felt the fangs sinking even deeper into his side and he screamed shrilly until his voice gave out. The venom made the already painful bite burn like fire.
The hydra continued to shake Celestine violently for a few moments until she noticed the root come up around her neck. She tried to moved away form it but it had already started to harden around her neck. She growled when she felt the root hardening and tightening, but she was determined that she wasn't loosing her little prize. She clenched her jaws tightly and her tails started to swish around violently as she tried to break the root that was around her neck. One of her tails collided with it and snapped it in two and she slung her head to the side again, throwing Celestine toward the temple door just before the roots pierced through her underbelly. She tried to scream but the root that was still connected to her neck cut off any sound. She could still breathe, but she was wheezing with every inhale. She jerked herself around, breaking off the spikes into her stomach as she whirled to go after LaRae. She was bleeding heavily, but that wasn't about to stop her. Slow her down considerably, yes, but she wasn't to give up until they were dead, even if it meant her own death. Hikari felt her eyes watering when she heard the way that Celestine was screaming. She almost wished the thing would just hurry and kill him so he wouldn't have to feel it anymore. She gritted her teeth when the Hydra turned around and started after LaRae and quickly raised her bow and pulled back the string, firing another light arrow right into the thing's eye now that it was turned toward them. The Hydra opened her mouth in a silent scream again before she collapsed to the ground, clawing at her own face and shaking her head as she tried to get the arrow out of her eye. She flailed on the ground wildly, shaking her head and thrashing about with her tails. Her struggled were growing obviously weaker by now, but she still started trying to get up again. Celestine slammed into the side of the stone doorway and collapsed to the ground. He just lay there for a few moments, gasping as he tried to get over the pain of the bite and the impact. The Hydra's fangs had penetrated deep into his side, leaving him with blood soaking into his once clean shirt. Finally as he heard the thrashing going on behind him he started to force himself up, grabbing onto the door to help pull himself up. He was lucky that he was what he was. A hydra's poison would kill mot things in seconds, but with dragons it could take a little while longer. Fortunately, he did have a strong immunity to the poison since he had the same poison in his system all the time, but having so much injected into him at once was definitely going to take it's toll on him. He slowly started to walk into the ruined temple, pressing one hand against the door as he moved while the other held his side tightly. He was fairly certain that the others could handle the hydra; he just needed to get this relic while he still could. His hair fell loosely around his face as he moved and he only half realized that the ribbon must have slipped from his hair while he was being tossed around. He continued to stagger forward, looking at the opposite end of the roofless room where the clear orb sat on a pedestal. He staggered over to it and reached out to take the orb in his hand before he finally sat down on the step beneath the pedestal and leaned against it, closing his eyes. It hurt to even stand up right now, but at least he had what they'd come for. |
Kyran had set down Aamori just past Hikari before turning and walking to stand near Hikari. He didn't want to get too close to LaRae at the moment. He couldn't look at the hydra, not while it had Celestine and certainly not while he was screaming like that. He did however look up finally to watch everything that LaRae was doing. He'd briefly noticed the flash of red that came from the mark on her back. The way she was knelt on the ground it was rather noticeable because her hair had fallen forward exposing her back, not to mention the red flash was bright enough to see through the fabric of her shirt. He glanced back to the hydra just in time to see her throw Celestine. Before he could even react to that he'd already put his hands back on his blades when the hydra started to come after LaRae. He was prepared to go attack, but Hikari fired another arrow landing it in the hydra's eye. He started to move back out into the clearing but stopped when he noticed LaRae had removed a hand from the dirt and motioned for him to stop.
LaRae hadn't budged an inch even when she noticed the hydra had broken free of the root around her neck, and even managed to move after the spikes had hit her. She was still knelt on the ground, starting to remove her hands from the dirt when the hydra started to come towards her. She was preparing to attack again but paused briefly when she saw Hikari's arrow pierce into it's eye. She took a deep breath and watched for a second while the thing flailed about on the ground. She heard someone starting to move closer and quickly threw her hand up telling them to stop. She was infuriated that this damn creature was still moving and didn't plan on stopping until it was dead. She growled lowly while the aura around her arms intensified and shot back over her shoulder blades again and then down her back once more; Causing another flash of red from the mark. Had she not been preoccupied with this hydra she might have felt the surges of pain every time the mark reacted to her overflow of energy. This time she thrust both hands into the ground simultaneously. Not even two seconds later more roots had started to spring out of the ground. The sheer number of them this time was extraordinary. They shot straight up on either side of the hydra and then crossed one another before looping straight back down into the ground with enough force that it sank the ground a good two or three feet as it bound the creature to the ground; From the tip of it's neck all the way down to it's tails. The roots left no part of the body exposed except for the head and the ends of the tails. She took another deep breath as she started to stand back up pulling her hands from the ground. Though, this time as she pulled her right hand from the ground a sword came with it. The sword was made from wood even though it looked like an ordinary steel sword. It was reinforced through her magic so it was a lot stronger then it looked. The blade was relatively thin and long with a slight curve to it. This sword was her Talwar, she only used it when it was necessary. She wasted very little time after that in running over to the area where she'd forced the hydra down onto the ground. She jumped down and quickly moved straight for it's head and thrust her sword forcefully into it's other eye at an angle that she attempted to go straight for it's skull. Aamori, while all of this was going on was sitting on the ground a couple feet away from Hikari and Kyran with her back to them. She was oblivious to what was going on with the hydra because she refused to get up and look. She was worried about Celestine of course but couldn't bring herself to get up. She'd finally let the tears fall from eyes when Kyran had set her down on the ground. She felt terrible and to blame for what happened. She still wanted to scream, or yell, just to let it out but her voice was choked up and she couldn't get anything out. |
The hydra tried to move out of the way of the roots, but she didn't get anywhere before the roots pinned her to the ground on the other side. She tried to flail, but she couldn't even move an inch like this. She stared up at LaRae with her one good eye and finally got out a short, choking cry before the sword drove back into her head. Finally after a few more wheezing breaths, she was still.
Hikari was just about to fire another arrow at the hydra when LaRae held up her hand to make Kyran stop. She watched as the hydra was thoroughly pinned to the ground and then quickly turned her gaze away when LaRae went to stab her in the eye. She shook her head and then looked back for just a moment to see that the hydra was finally dead before she looked over to Kyran. "Where is Celestine?" she asked quietly. She didn't see him anywhere, just his weapon laying near the opening of the temple. Celestine finally opened his eyes and forced himself up again, dropping the relic into his bag before he staggered off of the steps and moved slowly back toward the doors. He was glad at least that the annoying ring in his head was gone now, that was part of why he finally opened his eyes again. The whole word almost seemed to be swaying in front of him, but he just kept walking slowly, leaning heavily against the wall once he reached it again. He looked up to see what was going on and was relieved to see that the hydra was down. At least no one else was hurt...from what he could tell. Finally he stepped out of the temple again and started to make his way unsteadily back toward the others. |
Kyran continued to stand there, though he had removed his hands from the grip of his blades. He watched quietly while LaRae finished attacking the hydra. He kept his eyes on what she was doing even when she forced her sword into the creatures eye. He gave a sigh when the hydra finally stopped moving and then looked up at Hikari when he heard her question. His eyes shifted and he scanned the area. He was about to say that he wasn't sure but just as he was turning his head back to look at her he'd caught glimpse of Celestine. He just gave a nod with his head in the direction that Celestine was and then started to walk towards him, to at least meet him half way. He was more then a little surprised to even see the guy up, let alone walking even if it was unsteadily. He was pretty sure that he remembered being told the venom from the hydra was deadly. When he reached Celestine he just looked him over for a moment; He looked rough and even now he still couldn't believe he was even moving. The first thing he wanted to ask was if he was alright, but it was obvious that he wasn't so he skipped that question. "...Are we done here?" He asked softly.
LaRae removed her hand from the hilt of her sword finally when the hydra had ceased it's movement. She gave a relieved sigh as she stumbled back a couple steps. The aura that had been emanating from her body had gone back to just her hands and she gave them a slight shake and then the color was gone. After doing so the sword that she'd thrust into the hydra seemed to rot and break down, changing back into nothing more then wood. She then got herself up and away from the now dead hydra. She was worn out, and only growing more tired now that she wasn't feeding off the adrenaline rush from her energy. While coming down off the high she winced for a moment when she finally felt the burn from her marking. She shook her head, she should've known that was going to happen. She glanced around for a moment, seeing Celestine and then Kyran headed for him. She was relieved to see Celestine moving. Her eyes trailed around again and she then spotted Aamori's staff just laying on the ground. She wandered over to it and picked it up before she started back over to where Hikari and Aamori were. Though a few feet from her destination her body finally just gave out on her and she collapsed onto the ground with a thud. |
Hikari sighed in relief when she saw that Celestine was still up and moving, though she didn't know how long that would last. She could see the blood stain on his clothes from here. She was just about to start forward when Kyran started out before her. She shook her head and took a couple of steps before she heard something else hit the ground. She sighed softly when she saw that LaRae had collapsed. She already knew why she had collapsed; she's used up too much energy taking down the hydra. She looked at her for a moment before she turned and started toward Celestine again. She needed to do something about his bleeding, then she would worry about carrying LaRae. She just dropped her bow back over her shoulder again as she hurried to catch up with Kyran.
Celestine was trying his best to get over to the rest of them, but he was relieved when he saw Kyran coming to him. He stumbled and staggered a few feet before he caught his balance again and tightened his grip on his side. He looked up to Kyran when he stopped in front of him, barely even able to make his eyes focus on him, the image ahead of him kept splitting so that he was seeing double. "....Y....yes..." he whispered quietly. He finally just sank down to his knees and placed his hands on the ground in front of him to hold himself up as his head fell forward, causing his hair to curtain his face. "...Yes....w-we're done...." he breathed. He closed his eyes again, wishing that the world would stop spinning on him. He was shaking again, though it was more from the fact that all of the energy was quickly draining out of him than from fear. |
Kyran nodded slightly when he heard that they were done. He was quite relieved, though his concern rather quickly took over when he saw Celestine sink to his knees. He lifted his eyes from him for a moment while he looked to Hikari after she'd caught up. He hoped she could do something to help Celestine, he was almost certain she could help with anything but the poison. After all she'd done some pretty impressive things with a couple of the others. He glanced back down at Celestine for a moment and then returned his glance to Hikari. "...I'm going to grab his swallow. We can head out once you look him over." He said as he started to walk closer to the temple to grab the weapon.
LaRae laid on the ground unable to move a muscle. She was just barely able to blink her eyes, even her eyelids felt heavier then usual. She was at least still conscious for the time being. But it wouldn't take too long for her to pass out. Aamori started to glance over her shoulder for a moment when she heard Hikari walking away. Her face was ridden with tears, though they did appear to be lessening. She hadn't seen or heard what happened to Celestine so she presumed that the venom from the hydra had probably killed him. It was deadly after all. As much as she didn't want to move she finally talked herself into standing up. She stood there for a moment with her back still to where the others were. After a few moments she turned around and started to walk back towards the clearing with her eyes glued to the ground. She came to a stop just at the edge of the clearing and started to lift her eyes, she noticed LaRae laying there on the ground and startled slightly since she wasn't aware of what had happened. She moved over to her and knelt down resting her hand against her head gently. It took her a minute but she realized that LaRae was alright, just worn out. Her eyes trailed over to her staff and she reached for it, taking it in her hand while pressing the button to make it retract. She started to slip it back into her holster as she stood back up and stepped away from LaRae. She lifted her eyes the rest of the way and looked over at Hikari, now noticing Celestine on his knees. Her voice caught in her throat again and then she dropped to the ground where she was standing and just started crying all over again. |
Hikari looked back to Kyran and nodded slightly before she looked back to Celestine again and knelt down beside him. She reached over to him and untied the sash around his waist to free his shirt and then pulled his shirt up to see the damage. She nearly cringed when she saw the oozing gashes in his side and then dropped his shirt as she reached into her pack for the stuff that Kyran's uncle had given her. She would have just healed the wounds, but she knew that she was going to need to save her energy; there were already two down she didn't need to join them. She opened the container and got some of the ointment out on her hands before she rubbed it over the gashes and then started to apply some of her own healing magic. She watched as the wounds closed and then put the lid back on the container before putting it back into her pack again.
Celestine cringed when she touched the wounds but he didn't say anything at first. "...You shouldn't...waste your energy..." he said quietly. He slowly raised his head to look at her and then glanced back to where Kyran had gone. He knew already that LaRae had collapsed just from seeing the sheer number of roots holding the hydra down and that someone was going to have to carry her. He moved one arm up any removed the bag from his shoulder before pushing it over to Hikari. "...G-give...that to Kanone..." he said quietly, "...it's...it's in there....h-he can....go with you..." he said quietly. "...It's...it's alright...I'll...I'll just...stay...here..." The way that he was feeling now, he highly doubted that he was going to survive the trip back out of the forest, of course by now he barely cared. His entire body still burned from the venom running through his system, and he was just starting to feel sick all the way around. Hikari looked down at the bag and felt tears sting at her eyes again before she shook her head and pushed it back. "Don't you dare start talking like that. We are not leaving you here." she told him. She took the strap to the bag and draped it back over his neck the way that he usually wore it. |
Kyran paused near the swallow long enough to reach down and pick it up off the ground before he started back over to Hikari and Celestine. On his way back he'd noticed LaRae on the ground, and then Aamori not far from her. He shook his head lightly and then came to a stop just off to the other side of Celestine. "Talking like what now?" He'd obviously come back right at the end. "Of course we're not leaving you here Celestine." He paused, having pretty much gathered enough from what Hikari had said to know what had been said; Minus the details of course. "After all that we've been through the past two weeks did you really think we'd just forget you? Or do I need to go into a speech about how friends don't do that?" He joked lightly just trying to lighten the mood. He looked over at Hikari. "Do you think you can carry LaRae?" He asked. "Or would you rather try your hand at Celestine?"
Aamori continued to sit on the ground, though she'd tilted her head down so that her hair was hiding her face while she tried to stop crying. She wanted to stop crying and go see Celestine and see how bad off he was but she couldn't get herself to her feet. She was glad that he wasn't dead like she'd previously thought but she knew he was hurt, and badly just from the blood she'd seen on his clothes from where she was sitting. |
Celestine looked up to Kyran again for a moment and just stared at him silently. He actually almost smiled at him, but he was almost too tired to even make his lips move. He shook his head weakly and then lowered his eyes again. "...I...it...doesn't matter..." he said quietly. "...I know..."
Hikari looked back to Kyran and smiled weakly before she looked back to Celestine again and shook her head. "I'll take LaRae." she said softly. She had a feeling that LaRae would be heavier, but she thought that Celestine would just...rather not be carried by a girl. She knew how boys could be sometimes. She reached over to him and gently placed her hand against his cheek. "...You're going to be alright, Celestine." she said softly before she leaned down to kiss his forehead lightly before she stood up. Celestine was just sitting there, trying to keep the world from spinning before he looked up to Hikari with those dull, glassy eyes. He shook his head weakly. "...W-would...you girls...stop kissing me...like a little kid..." he muttered quietly before he lowered his head again. He moved his arm back through the strap to his bag before he started trying to push himself back up to his feet, though he didn't make it very far before he just fell over sideways, apparently losing what little balance he had left. He'd lost a lot of blood before Hikari got to him on top of the poison that was injected into him, so he had good reason to be light headed and dizzy. |
Kyran just watched quietly while Celestine tried to get to his feet and then sighed heavily when he fell over sideways. He glanced back to Hikari briefly, he gave a slight nod. He would've mentioned that Aamori would probably help her carry LaRae if she was too heavy but he remembered what happened the last time he doubted a girls strength and didn't want to get snapped at again. He returned his attention back to Celestine after he situated the swallow over his shoulder. He knelt down and took hold of him and then pulled him up from the ground as gently as he could and then shifted him slightly so that he was holding him in front of his body with an arm behind his back and the other under his knees. He was sure this was probably a little embarrassing to be carried this way but it was better then slinging him over his shoulder. He looked down at Celestine for a moment and smirked slightly. "So.. if you're wanting the girls to stop kissing you like a little kid..." He paused briefly. "How is it you're wanting them to kiss you?" He of course was only teasing.
Aamori finally lifted her eyes again once she'd gotten the tears to stop though her face still showed the signs of her crying so much. She looked over at Celestine again once Kyran had picked him up. She just barely noticed that his hair was free and no longer tied back. That meant the ribbon that belonged to his mother must have been around here somewhere. She managed to get to her feet, only because she wanted to look for that ribbon. She knew it meant a lot to him so she didn't want him to lose it here of all places, especially since he probably lost it when the hydra had been jerking him about. She started to aimlessly wander around with her eyes glued to the ground, in search of that ribbon. |
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