Treeborn Tales

[Rehiro]

Trandar looked away from the both of them dramatically. Firstly concerned with his appearance and secondarily concerned with what was going on. So coming to this town had been a fate thing after all, huh? Well, as a believer in fate with six lives to spare he wasn't too concerned. Everyone knew that the first eight lives were just a set up for the dramatic climax anyway. He'd lose 'em when he lost 'em and how it happened would be the right way. Six lives from now would be the time for concern, not now.

Looking away from the both of them, he answered both questions with one answer "I don't know" he said, then, thinking that maybe they weren't subtle enough to understand that he had just answered two questions he said "I don't know" again for good measure. He wouldn't want one of them to be like 'what about my question?' and ruin his dramatic effect after all.
______________________________________________________

"Okay, now reel him in" Rehiro said. Krowin and Daxelore were in position to be back up, so they were standing a little way off. Already out of sight by these mysterious trees, but they could hear him if he shouted toward them.

Zokoren stood next to them, kneeling with his eyes closed. Blue aura omitting from his hands and nostrils.

"He's become aware" he said "I'm going to take him now".
______________________________________________________

Zokorens spirit jumped into Sprinters body and took it from the inside out.

Sprinter yelped, feeling a sudden coldness in his body, a cold electric jolt, and fell still, collapsing on his side.

[Shippo_no_Neko]

Sham nodded, and flicked her wrist. The chain reeled back into the base of the staff, the Cobra's head pulling the Caretaker's limp body. The head snapped back to the base, and she flicked the body on the floor. She gave a cross betweena smile and a look of disgust.

"Alright. Here he is..." She said flatly.

[Rehiro]

Rehiro looked into the large orb-eyes of the Treeborn as a fortune teller would look into a crystal ball. He could see images in them. A much more direct means of telepathy than he could muster with a normal person. Treeborn were ideal for reading.

Ugh.... So that was why this beast was so far away from its habitat. What a disgusting thing. Well, it didn't look to have any abnormal weaknesses.....

Rehiro took out one of his spears and ran it through the midsection of the Caretaker.

Then, a feeble moan came from Zokoren, sitting next to him

"It's killing me" he breathed.

Rehiro looked at him and paused only a moment before shouting "Daxelore! Go through the barrier! Target the Wolf! Krowin! Play back up at the other end of the village!"
______________________________________________________

Sprinter was one and alone. So alone that the attack had almost been a relief. But this was unmistakably an attack. He was dominated. Pushed beneath another within the confines of his own body..... And then..... He was one beneath two. There was another spirit inside of him, now on top of the previous intruder. Without willing his body to do it, he rolled over, and, shaking, his body managed to stand up. He knew the presence of the newest spirit. He knew it from all the time he had worked under it. It was Leader. And it had dominated the intruder.

[Shippo_no_Neko]

(Ressurection~~!)

Sham closed her eyes, focusing on the souls of the wolf. The two-- no, three spirits whirled, blurred at the edges. She aimed at the original owner, the wolf. She let the Cobra fly, and it latched onto the loose skin on the back of the neck. Her spirit poison seeped through the body, targeting the wolf... and just to be safe, she sent it into this unfamiliar soul, as well. Zokoren would be slightly affected, where the edges of the souls carried over, but nothing that he couldn't stand. She began to reel the Cobra back in, it's job finished.

[Rehiro]

"Zokoren, if you fear for your life, I would suggest that you return. Daxelore is taking care of this now" Rehiro said, not because he trusted Daxelore to be able to handle things (how could he? He had no idea what they were up against, except for the fact it was able to dominate Zokoren on a spiritual level) but rather because he could see from Zokorens aura (no one else would be able to see it) that he was dying, and that he would continue to attack the Wolf until he was dead out of a sense of honor. He didn't want that. It wasn't useful to him.

In fact, he didn't trust Daxelore so much that he had signaled Krowin to aid as backup if necessary, and he had sent four of his available six Wolves to patrol the village.

Krowin was riding about on one of his raptors, with his jar of wires tucked beneath his arm and followed by another four steeds carrying two folded up robots each. He hadn't gone through quite yet, to make contact easier, but he was ready to play back up for Daxelore from any angle of the village with only a short burst of speed.

Zokoren obediently released himself from the Wolf. He hadn't been able to escape until the Wolf had been loosened up by the spiritual poison. His spirit fully returned to his body, and then he collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath.

"Got a little.... Of the..... Poison in me" he rasped.

Daxelore, now through the barrier, launched himself at Sprinter. He threw off his wolf skin cloak and revealed himself as a freaky little dude in a loincloth, with large red bat wings, tangled hair, red iris', fangs, and fast growing claws.

Sprinter lowered his head, growled, and charged Daxelore. The two collided. Daxelores claws dug into Sprinters shoulder blades and Sprinters fangs wrapped around Daxelores neck. Neither seemed close to failing.

"Hey, Sham, you should stick Cobra in the Wolfs back again, even if you can't hurt it, it will allow us to keep track of him if he does beat Daxelore. We'll just follow the chain." Rehiro said.

[Wolfy]

Serin tugged on the reins, and Sharlei backed up a few paces, tossing her head. Serin looked over at Trandar, hoping he would have an order or something for them. She didn't want to reveal her skill with her daggers just yet.

"Trandar, what is that thing?" she asked him.

((OOC: So sorry. Serin was being a pain and wouldn't talk to me. >.O))

[Rehiro]

Trandar gave her an exasperated look and shrugged with his arms spread wide "It's a freak in a loincloth" he said. Then, suddenly feeling obligated to give the others some guidance "Well, at arms, soldiers, this is the day we've been training for" he held his spear aloft "It appears we are under attack."

[Scarecrow]

Glen dropped the twig he had been rolling across the back of his hand, and let immediate instinct take over. He didn't consider himself a violent sort, compared to most of his familly, anyway, but that wasn't apparent as he threw himself at the suddenly appearing enemy, clawlike hands and feet outstretched to both brace himself for impact, and hopefully knock the little freak out off of the Sprinter-thing.
"Kzakh!"*

*Kzakh is an age old goblin war-cry of sorts. It is used how the Scottish used bagpipes in battle- to inform people of incoming pain and likely, doom... Or, as Glen might say,
"Face it, cully! Yer buggered!"

[Shippo_no_Neko]

Sham nodded, then focused her energies back onto the wolf. If she let loose more poison, then the body would become unusable, and that was unnecesary. Her poison had done enough damage already. She flicked the chain, fixing the Cobra's mouth onto Sprinter's back once more. She held the chain taught, and centered her weight, willing the Cobra not to lose it's grasp on the wolf.

[Rehiro]

Rehiro took grasp of Cobra's chain. A connection to the Wolf at last. Around the chain appeared an aura, and that turned to shapes. A Wolf inside a Wolf made of white smoke. Fire and electricity sparking around the chain, but not on it, whereas the smoke was.....

"Yeah..." said Rehiro "I can tell for sure now. This Wolf does have another inside of him, and that one's now in control. It can't keep it up forever though, and the weaker Wolf is already exhausted. This one Wolf.... The one in control is really strong.... Probably even stronger than me in a one on one match, but he'll be felled with the traps we've laid. There's no escape for him at this point. He's in so much pain right now that he didn't even notice the Cobra bite. He'll probably beat Daxelore, but he won't get by all of us. Daxelore will live, and if nobody screws up, this Wolf will have to get through all of us individually to escape, and he'll be just about out of steam by the time he beats Daxelore anyway. The only chance he's got is if he gets some outside help."

The admission that an outsider would be able to defeat either Daxelore or Rehiro was a new one. He'd never said anything like that before, but if he got his fangs on this Wolfs corpse, he'd gain his powers and then the previous personal let down would be relinquished and it would then become a boast. Sham wasn't going to panic, although Zokoren might (he was pretty out of it, but it looked like he got that at least).

Daxelore struggled with the Wolf and found himself under assault by a goblin. He couldn't move from his stance, lest he be knocked over by the Wolf, so he couldn't get rid of it.

"YOU LITTLE @&*$. I'LL %#$^ING MURDER YOU, YOU %$&$!!!!!!!" He replied to Glens choice of action.

[Shippo_no_Neko]

Sham's eyebrows lowered. If Daxelore got distracted now... The wolf would win, and that would just be troublesome. She knew that she would not be much help in a close-range fight... And the poison would have to weaken him a bit more for capture to be easy.

"But Daxelore shouldn't get distracted. The longer he delays the wolf, the weaker the wolf will become, and the easier the capture. I'll send him the message." She sent her voice down the length of the chain.

"Don't get distracted, Daxelore. Fight the wolf. He's your enemy." Sham's voice rang, tinny and metallic out of the Cobra's mouth.

[Rehiro]

Trandar stabbed his spear at the Cobra's head, and it came loose. Rehiro felt a start. The Cobra couldn't be overpowered by any normal weapon. Did this Wolf have powerful friends? It was hard to say from the split second encounter, but......

"Zokoren..... How much life does Daxelore still have in him?"

Zokoren struggled and felt for the psychic connection he had with him. He reacted with surprise "He's in bad shape and getting worse *cough*" he said.

Rehiro: "How long can he keep fighting?"

Zokoren: "I..... would say *cough* about.... five minutes?"

Rehiro: "Now do you remember seeing anyone else in that other world with the Wolf?"

Zokoren: "Well.... My lord a goblin, and a bat, and a girl and a horse were all in his company"

Rehiro: Observing with his ability to see through people "Do not be ashamed Zokoren. Tell me what you have not. This is no time for hesitation."

Zokoren: "Well.... There is a cat man...... Bearing the Mark of Shame, and it appears to be grown in his fur."

Rehiro: Grimacing "I now understand what it was I saw. My hand is stained from the Mark of Shame, from when it crawled up the Cobra's chain.

Krowin, fill the Wolf with holes. And then.... Burn down the village! Spare the bat, the cat, the girl, the horse, and the goblin accompanying the Wolf if you can. Tell them that they are our prisoners"

He sent a psychic message to the four Wolves to cut down anything that tried to move outside Pig Town. Through methods of land or air.

Krowin took out his jar of wires, and through the dimensional pocket they sprang to life with Krowins touch and inserted themselves in sockets on the folded up robots.

The robots came to life. Eight foot tall metal men with wires attaching them to the jar attached to Krowin. They had large rifles, and, hopping off of the raptor creatures, they and Krowin moved through the dimensional barrier.

Sprinter gave one last push and shot a beam of cycling wind from his mouth, decapitating Daxelore. He then proceeded to run forward and be met with a barrage of hand cannon fuel in the side. He moaned and fell down.

Zokoren: "Daxelore is in critical condition! I can save him but I would need to get there quickly!"

Rehiro: "Then we'll get there quickly..... The Wolf is down by my prediction"

Burning flames shoot through the village, and then cycling, cutting wind, holding the fire back from our group of heroes. Eight metal men with rifles appear. One takes Daxelores body and moves away.

All of Team Rehiro moves through the barrier in their carriage and the metal man hands the body to Zokoren. With the last of his strength Zokoren heals Daxelore and passes out. The two of them at their limit for the time being.

A group of four treeborn ambush Rehiro and Sham on the outskirts of Pig Town. They are clad in black coats and hats. Their fur, feathers, and scales are all black as well. There is a lizard, a bear, a bird, and a monkey.

Back with Trandar, one of the metal men appears to be making some sort of sign language. He points at his gun, then makes a motion with his index and middle finger indicating a person walking, lifts his gun, shows the walking motion moving away from the group, and mocks a shooting motion.

"Well.... I don't know what he's trying to say" Trandar says "you guys have any ideas?"

[Wolfy]

Serin sighed, and reluctantly got off of Sharlei.

"I think we're being captured..." she said softly, biting her lip and clinging to the reins. Now was not the time to give up her charade. She would save that for a time when it might help then get away. Sharlei whickered and flickered her ears back, stamping her feet.

[Shippo_no_Neko]

Sham flicked the Cobra back onto it's handle. Her hands were also stained with the mark. She looked at the newcomers, tucking the weapon back into it's holder.

"What should we do now. Are these friends, or foes?" Sham asked under her breath. She slipped tiny explosives from under her sleeves into her hands, just in case of a fight.

[Rehiro]

Ducking back inside the flames, hidden in smoke, unharmed and alert Krowin trembled. For Sham and Zokoren, they could extend their spirits and hide their soft, physical bodies when they went on the attack, but he, as an energy manipulater had to stay within sight of his metal men, or he wouldn't be able to see what they were doing, and what their prisoners were doing. Right now his body was mostly hidden, but if he could see them, he knew they could see him. They just didn't know where to look. Oh, how unfortunate! He was considered the loser of Team Rehiro because he couldn't handle these missions as well as the others. If it came to a physical fight.... Well, bulging muscles aside, he was the weakest member.

That Mark on the cat man's face.... It was the Mark of Shame. The only two people he knew whom had that Mark were Rehiro and Zokoren. Leader and second-in-command. Both of whom outranked him in level of authority and in skill. He didn't trust that nose on that cat. The smell of burning pigs must be pretty distracting.... But being sniffed out still made him nervous.

He knew that Zokoren and Daxelore, two very powerful members of Team Rehiro had been wiped out by these guys, and he didn't know how. Now he was in control. Had Rehiro sent him on a suicide mission?

No! Not Rehiro! Rehiro was the only person who had ever respected him, had ever been concerned for him. He was the only person to defend him, and the only person who had ever cared for him. Rehiro would not do such a thing...... Would he?

The air was filled with the sound of pigs burning to death.

"Well...." Trandar said "to me these guys seem like the easy-to-defeat kind of people, like when a grand hero confronts an army of demons, he wipes out a whole field of 'em and confronts the real bad tough guy behind the whole affair. You ever see the hero get shot in the neck by some cronie right before the climax of the story? Thought not. Sprinter aint dead. Just sorta banged up, and it's our job to get him to safety. I think we oughta show these mechanical idiots whose boss around here, you agree?"

The Treeborn inside the cabins eyes were glowing a hateful red toward Rehiro and Sham. Rehiro knew who they were and what they wanted. They were the body guard of the Caretaker in their possession, and they wanted him back.

If Rehiro stayed too long killing these jerks, the Wolf might get away. It was still alive after all, and it had that magnificent beast inside of it. If he took the Caretaker with him and went over to the Wolf, he'd have to leave Tracker. If he sent Sham. Could he send Sham?

He jumped in front of the Caretaker. All four treeborn dashed at him. He kicked two of the remaining five spears out from the holsters on his back, and, smashing them into the ground, a burst of wind knocked them back. A gust might've hit Sham, but she wouldn't lose balance that easy. Like zombies the treeborn hopped to their feet again, unconcerned with their well being and resumed charge. So simple minded, they would be incapable of focusing on anything other than what was immediately threatening their master. He lashed at them again.

"Okay, Sham, you're my last competent soldier right now, you have to go and cut the Wolf's throat on your own while I take care of these guys. Take my hunting knife. I'll throw one of my spears and it will temporarily create a path through the fire. As it's gliding through the air you must stay beneath it or you'll die."

Sham was quick. He wouldn't throw the spear too hard anyway. His hunting knife was special. It was large and heavy, with a large metal ring at the base of its handle, its blade was curved and sharp on its convex side. It was enchanted, and should cut through anything. It also had an extra, mystical, killing quality to it. A normal knife wouldn't do a Wolf of that creatures standard in, even if Sham did cut through its throat. He tossed it to her, and, without waiting for an answer, though the spear, gliding its way through the air.

[Wolfy]

Serin loosened her grip on Sharlei's reins fractionally, and the horse grew still, calming a little.

"If you're going to do something, then please, do it quick," she whispered to Trandar, trying to block out the smell of burning pig so she could concentrate on other possible threats.

[Shippo_no_Neko]

Sham nodded, and caught the knife. She ran below the spear, and calculated her next move quickly. She dashed into the clearing, the fire closing behind her, and leaped expertly onto the back of the wolf. She held tight to the fur on his neck with her left hand, her right hand pressed up against the neck of the wolf, trying to get enough strength through to break the skin. Her snake eyes gleamed in the fire and she clenched her teeth, trying to stay on. If she died here, she would never see Shan again...

[Rehiro]

Trandar in accordance with Serins comment sprung into action. Leaping over Sprinters body, spear in hand to fell the first monstrosity. Without doing so on purpose, for she moved so fast he wasn't aware of her presence at first, he ran headlong into Sham, knocking her off. They stumbled to the ground.

The path in the flames that was created by the spear was temporarily lifted to reveal Krowin.

[Shippo_no_Neko]

Sham rolled on the ground, then leaped to her feet. She ignored Trandar, and ran at Sprinter again, knife gleaming in the firelight. She took no notice of the others. She could feel them there, Krowin behind her and the rest a clump of spirit energy, but they didn't matter to her.

[Wolfy]

Serin released Sharliei's reins and lept at Sham, hissing and baring her fangs. She looked as though she'd completely given over to instinct. She hoped that Sham would be distracted by her... And if even if she wasn't, Serin could latch on, using her claws and teeth to keep her grip. As an added bonus, she could feed on the girl's blood. And if Sham was distracted by Serin leaping at her, then it would give someone else a chance to attack her back.

Sharlei reared and whinnied, frightened by the fire and her mistresses sudden movement.

[Shippo_no_Neko]

Sham turned and blocked with the knife's flat edge, and leaped backwards and to the side. Her eyes flicked around the scene. That girl was with her horse... She seemed to care about it... She Flicked her right arm up, sending a shower of tiny explosives at the horse and all who stood near. It took her a while to make them... but now all that mattered was the mission.

[Rehiro]

Trandar took a look down the now open path. He saw Krowin, and the carriage with the raptors. Saw the now gaping hole in its side and saw fighting. Hmm..... how could he get Sprinter to safety? He just needed to reach the forest, and Sprinter would gain as much advantage as was possible.......

He dashed and broke his nose with a flying kick. Krowin fell backward and the metal men collapsed, now lifeless.

Krowin, though conscious, just lay there If I play dead, maybe he won't hit me again he thought to himself.

Back in the carriage, Rehiro fought down the red-eyed treeborn using his spears. Treeborn grow to meet any expectation, and so these people would normally be impossibly strong, but treeborn also had an inherent weakness to the magical poison of the spirit wolves fangs. Spirit wolves always needed to have an edge over treeborn. It was the balance of nature, and Rehiro had the abilities of a spirit wolf. His spear heads were made of wolf fangs.

So single-mindedly they charge forward and every time they did so they became infected, which slowed them down and allowed paralysis to set in. Soon they weren't even moving.

Rehiro bent down and read their eyes. Nope. They had nothing of interest. One by one he lopped off their heads off.

One last effort, one final movement. Sprinter lurched himself to his feet. Bloody and near death he roared. From his mouth came a horned beast made of wind and it parted the flames. He ran away from Rehiro and disappeared into the wilderness.

By the time Rehiro came with his carriage to the point where Trandar and group were, Sprinter was gone.

"Yeah" he said in a language which the people of this dimension couldn't understand "time was tight, I didn't think we'd make it after that unexpected treeborn attack. Oh, well, I'll just take these guys prisoner."

[Wolfy]

((Umm... Shouldn't we wait for Dundee and Scare to post?))

[Dundee]

((Pulk refuses to talk to me. Something about, "Really lame backstory, knew I should've found a better roleplayer," etc. etc. Anyway, the bat's not cooperating, and I'm at a loss for words. Sorry.))

[Shippo_no_Neko]

((No response to the shower of tiny explosives?))

[Rehiro]

((Well..... even if Pulk doesnt post a lot, its good to know that you are still reading Dundee. That means that Pulk is still an available character. Pulk and Glen havent been posting much lately, and I fear that if I stop posting and wait for them, this thread will die. That being said, Ill pull them along on our adventure until requested otherwise and Dundee and Scare are welcome to rejoin anytime. They can even reinvent characters or something if they want. Im quite flexible right now.

So far does this story make any sense? Were getting to a part soon which will allow more character interaction and player-story shaping))

[Shippo_no_Neko]

((We could just pretend that the explosives thing never happened and that Sham just kept going for Sprinter... >.>))

[Zolah]

(( uwaaah D: just continue so I ca join :3 ))

[Scarecrow]

((Sorry again! Traveling, and none of the places I've been staying at have had decent internet access... I'm catching up RIGHT NOW.))

Glen jumped off of the bat-thing's back, away from the wolf and the explosions, anding on the ground not too far away from Serin. He growled slightly, as he scrambled over to the prone dark-haired human-like demon-thing, and, deciding he was using enough '-'s in one thought, remarked,
"Thissun's still livin'..." He remained calm, but was ready for anything. Hopefully.

((I had to re-read it a couple times, but that's probably just me. ^^''))

[Rehiro]

((Very, very sorry for the inconvenience, but there are important issues I must deal with before I am given the necessary amount of concentration to continue this RP. I will return as soon as I am able))