|
|
Post by Lao on Mar 28, 2020 11:06:30 GMT -6
As the unlikely pair shifted and shimmied through the brambles, Lao was careful not to let any thorns touch him. Focusing on this task made talking a little bit challenging, but Zriracha seemed eager to carry on the conversation. Lao would just have to do his best. "Er- uh, swordsmanship? Sorry, I don't know what you mean. I don't know anythin' about swords, really." Lao was suddenly consumed by apprehension that he had just made some kind of faux-pas. After taking a few moments to think about it, he reassured himself that it was probably fine. "I fight with my hands and feet. And, actually... I sorta did learn it all on my own." This part was always embarrassing. Whenever he fought somebody, they were always like 'who's your master?' and it was pretty humiliating to answer 'I learned it from a book.' But, such is life. "That's part of why I'm out here. Y'know... livin' in the wilderness to harden the body and sharpen the mind, and all that. Bein' self-taught, I kinda gotta go to extremes or I'd never get stronger... maybe one day I'll find some real martial artists willin' to train me."
The subject of apprenticeship was something that Lao had often thought about. He had succeeded in strengthening his body with his training, but he was constantly frustrated by his lack of technical knowledge. It just wasn't good enough to push through every match with brute force, and Lao's abridged version of martial arts wasn't good for much else. That method might work for Polarus, but Lao didn't have a protective layer of bio-armor to shield his vital organs. As Lao and Zriracha made their way through the bramble forest, Lao fell silent as he got distracted by his own thoughts. Eventually, the two began to make some real headway and the cleft that they had been aiming for surged into view. "Hey, that's the place, right? We're almost there. Time to see what the fuss is all about, eh?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Zriracha on Mar 30, 2020 14:04:46 GMT -6
Zriracha looked back over her shoulder, a shocked expression on her face as Lao admitted that he didn’t know much about swordsmanship. Had she read the signs all wrong? Now that she thought about it and looked at his waist, he didn’t had a sword at his hip or even a weapon at all. Oh, this is embarrassing… Zriracha lamented, a flush on her face. Thankfully, it appeared that the swo - no fighter – was also a self-taught martial artist, something Zriracha probably should have understood by the manner in which he held himself. Still, it was still she who had made the assumption in error, “My apologies, Lao,” She threw over her shoulder, a sheepish little smile on her face. “You are still quite surprising with how powerful you’ve become on your own.” Maybe… if he was still interested. “If you ever are desiring someone to train you in the way of the sword, I’d be happy to offer my assistance – or find someone suitable,” With a wink, she turned back around. He was the first to take notice of their arrival, a fact that brought relief to the Demon. “Hells below, that was a long walk,” As they approached the clearing made evident by the opening of brambles, Zriracha would first be mindful of her surroundings. It appeared to be desolate, cracks in the ground that were so dried out they almost seemed to reach deep into the ground. Above them, the brambles and vines created a thatching of shadows that made the area only more ominous. Beyond them, however, a small stream could be seen… of what remained of one as it looked completely empty. She turned her chin to speak in Lao’s direction but kept her gaze ahead, “Walk carefully – if the invisible spirit… or whatever it is, truly exists then this would be the area that they would guard zealously.” With that said, Zriracha would take the first step forward in the clearing. It was more than a dozen steps in before the Demon would slowly relax, the silence – while unnerving – uninterrupted by any foe she could or couldn’t see. Well, it would appear at least some things were only rumor. Once she’d reached the dried-up stream, she’d bring a hand to her chin with a some ‘hm’. “It’s… Well, there’s no water to destroy…” She mumbled, at a loss for what to do after coming all this way. She glanced in the direction of the streams opposite flow, contemplative. Lao |
|
|
|
Post by Lao on Apr 2, 2020 14:10:08 GMT -6
Lao was a little embarrassed when Zriracha offered a compliment on his progress, but he immediately forgot about all that when the subject of training was brought up. "Would you?! That'd be great! I've never had any trainin' with weapons before, it'd probably be great experience!" the exciting prospect of a new training partner aside, Lao hoped they reached their destination soon. The walk through the mysterious locale was a little tense, as they awaited interference. When none came, it was partially a relief and partially a little disappointing. As they stared down at the dry stream, Lao couldn't help but lament that he had been expecting a bit... more.
There was a disappointingly small amount of water in this so-called sacred water place. "Huh. Maybe somebody beat us to it?" That certainly seemed possible, but the place didn't look especially damaged... just dry. Stepping further into the clearing to examine the streambed, Lao had an idea. "Say, maybe this isn't the place, after all... I wonder what the source of this dry stream is?" He looked up the stream and off into the distance- sure enough, the stream's bed was bramble-free. It was almost like a path, winding higher into the hills.
|
|
|
|
Post by Zriracha on Apr 10, 2020 17:31:38 GMT -6
She wouldn’t admit it, but Zriracha was actually quite flattered that Lao showed such interest in weapon’s training. It almost made her want to skip out on this farce of a quest and elope with him to some quite place to get started immediately. However, patience was a virtue and this Demon would not forsake such a thing; that wasn’t her vice, after all. As of the moment, as Lao observed where she looked and made a comment that her thinking the same thing, Zriracha was curious to see where the rest of the stream lead into. She looked at him with a mischievous glint in her eye, “I think I have a way we can find out,” And within seconds, she was dropping into the ditch that was the supposed river and looked at Lao with a grin, hoping he got the hing as she lowered herself into a running stance. “Ready?” She would call out to him, curious to see the end of the mystery with a rare feeling of excitement in her blood. Then, like a child calling for a race, she would set off, “Go!” In spite of not having feet like a human would, Zriracha hooves proved to be just as speedy as she bounded with all the grace of a gazelle and the speed of a cheetah. Occasionally, she would look back to see if Lao was keeping up with her, tossing a waifish grin his way before returning her attention to the path ahead of her. There, glinting against the shadow of the vines, appeared to be an opening and it spurned her on faster. Once she reached the opening and slid to a stop just feet from the exit, Zriracha would take in the scene before her – eyes wide with shock. Devastation was the best way to describe it. Skeletons… or what was left of them, scattered the grounds in barely dug graves, if one could call them that. A battle had clearly taken place here, but she couldn’t tell why or for what. The water? The Demon chanced a few paces forward, blinking at the bodies around her before she stopped and released a sigh of pity. “I wasn’t expecting this…”
Lao |
|
|
|
Post by Lao on Apr 16, 2020 4:40:45 GMT -6
Lao was delighted to see the demoness agree with his assessment of the dry riverbed, and even more excited when she challenged him to a race! He prepared himself with a smile, wiping the grit off his feet and dropping into a runner's stance beside Zriracha, waiting for the go-ahead... and then they were off! Lao's somewhat shorter strides impaired his ability to take first in this little race, and the run along the sandy bottom of this dry riverbed was clearly better-suited for hooves than human feet. Still, Lao managed to give a decent account of himself as the two of them raced along the desolate terrain to find the source. When they arrived at yet another cave mouth, Lao was only a few steps behind. But unprepared for the sudden stop, whereas Zriracha slid to a halt, Lao stumbled over a stray skeleton and face-planted directly into a shallow grave.
Scrambling out of the pile of human remains, Lao took a few deep, steadying breaths before rising once again to his feet. "Damn... what happened here?" Lao was honestly a bit spooked by all this. He probably would have been less affected if he hadn't fallen face-first into a skeleton, but such is life. Staring into the dark abyss that was the deeper reaches of the cave, Lao hummed and hrmmed in consternation. "Hey Zriracha, d'you have any kind of light source? The place looks pitch black up ahead."
|
|
|
|
Post by Zriracha on May 27, 2020 16:45:19 GMT -6
Zriracha gave a nod, doing her best not to let the amusement on her face show when Lao had fallen into a skeleton. Holding up her hand, she allowed just a little bit of magic to ignite before allowing what would appear to be a small sprite float about. It danced, summoned by her Magic Materialization, practically see-through as she used her hand to gently coax it where she wanted it to go. Around the area, it floated and flitted about, illuminated what would look like various other skeletons in varied degrees of decomposition. When it reached the mouth of the cave deeper in, what caught Zriracha attention would immediately put her on guard. Footsteps in the mud – hardly unassuming at first… until another was produced right in front of them. Another still. She snarled, using her other hand to gesture for Lao to stay back, “Someone is here,” She warned him, watching the footprints continue to expand as if someone was walking slowly around them. The invisible guardian? So the rumor bare a semblance of truth. Not taking her eyes of the only feature she could track the figure by, Zriracha spoke to Lao over her shoulder. “Be on your guard. If the Invisible Guardian lives, then the power to destroy evil might not be so rumored after all. You may need to beat a hasty retreat show I fall here.” She teased. Lao |
|
|
|
Post by Lao on Jun 4, 2020 19:27:34 GMT -6
Picking himself up out of the pile of bones, Lao looked eagerly at the sections of the darkened cave lit by Zriracha's sprite. "Say, that's a useful trick." When he stopped to think about it a little, he realized that he had no idea how she did it. It didn't appear to be a ki technique. Some kind of demon power? That would make sense. Lao resolved to ask her about it later, when the two of them weren't in the midst of an adventure. When Zriracha suddenly went on alert, it took Lao a moment to figure out what was wrong. When he noticed the advancing footprints in the muddy cave-floor, he was a bit perplexed. What the hell is this, are we fighting ghosts now? he thought to himself, still a little intrigued by the prospect of fighting somebody he can't see.
When Zriracha mentioned that he might have to retreat, Lao made a show of snorting dismissively. "Retreat? Hah! Not if I get hold of the invisible bastard first! How about you retreat if I bite the dust? Though... now that I say it, whatever that thing is, I can't sense its energy." Taking up his battle stance, Lao tensely watched the footprints roam the cave floor. He'd never encountered a living being he couldn't sense... the only explanation that made sense was that this 'guardian' wasn't living. Lao decided that it didn't really matter, alive or dead he was gonna beat the tar out of it if it got in his way. "Hey! Even if we can't see 'em, just follow the footprints... that'll show us where he is, right?"
|
|
|
|
Post by Zriracha on Jun 5, 2020 13:18:29 GMT -6
In spite of the potential danger, Zriracha let loose an amused bark of laughter, “I like your sense of humor and honor – let’s hope neither of us are taking a dirt nap at the end of this!” She eyed the foot-prints as they grew closer and narrowed her eyes, giving a nod at Lao’s words. “Exactly what I was thinking,” She hissed, raising a hand to summon a ball of black fire. “Are you a corporeal being?!” She called, ready to chuck the blast at the figure should they fail to answer. Closer they stepped, though with hardly any sense of urgency in their pace. She arched a brow. “Speak, if you can!” She demanded one last time, truthfully growing a little restless at their silence. When they refused or just couldn’t acquiesce, Zriracha let out a soft ‘tch’ before throwing the ball of fire where she believed their center of mass was. It wasn’t a lot of power – hardly any at all, in fact – but as she watched it pass right through where she was sure their torso was, the situation felt like it got a lot more complicated. “Lao… we can’t hit it with magic,” She warned, taking a few steps back as it approached, wary of the potential danger of angering a spirit shouldn’t defeat. It was until it got dangerously close that she could feel lingering scent of molded clothes and mildew. The first clue since realizing they were alone that this being at least held something for her senses to latch onto. Lao |
|
|
|
Post by Lao on Jul 6, 2020 21:03:22 GMT -6
"Well, if we can't shoot it down... how 'bout knocking it down?" Lao did his best to observe the path of footprints in the dust, but it was going to be difficult to aim a strike at an invisible opponent. He couldn't sense its energy, either... which, come to think of it, was a little strange. He had seen ghosts before, when you live in Fukurou Forest long enough, you're bound to meet a couple. And ghosts were basically made of energy, or something, so they were usually pretty easy to sense once you know how to recognize them. So if this wasn't a ghost, then what was it?
Whatever! Thinking later, fighting now! he thought, crouching down into his martial arts stance and preparing to strike the invisible opponent. As he edged closer, Lao kept his eyes focused on the progress of the footsteps, visualizing where the body of the invisible creature would be based on where it was standing. After a few more moments of deliberation, Lao launched a powerful kick directly where the thing's chest should have been. But just like all their previous attempts, the attack simply went straight through without resistance, as if he was kicking empty air.
"Huh. Maybe it's just some kinda illusi-AAH!" Lao started, but was cut off by a hole that suddenly opened up in the stone beneath him. Lao plummeted through the hole like a stone, the sound of his cries growing distant as a splashing sound was heard far below...
|
|
|
|
Post by Zriracha on Jul 8, 2020 17:43:03 GMT -6
Zriracha wracked her brain for a solution as Lao made quick work of figuring where they could attack the being. It was incorporeal, it was not made of energy – just what was going on?! She’d started to prepare some kind of spell – anything to try and make this foe visible – however, just before could set it off, the sound Lao’s voice called out again just before he seemed to disappear. Perking up like a cat hearing something, the Satyr tried to scent where Lao had gone, “LAO?! Where did he-?” She didn’t have much time to think about that, however, as she back away from the impending footsteps to suddenly loose her own footing. “Wha-?”Suddenly, she was falling down some sort of pitfall and – like Lao had – fallen with a loud splash into water below. Swimming back to the surface, Zriracha gasped for breath before shaking her mess of hair, “What in the world-?! A trap? Was it-?” She looked up, watching the very dim light of where she’d fallen suddenly close before she smashed at the water with a hand, “Damn, so it WAS an illusion. But… where are we now?” She looked around, trying to recognize anything in the dim-lighting of the cave. There was a smooth lip near the surface of the water, something for Zriracha to pull herself upon, and when she’d finally lifted herself from the water, that would apparently be the cue for lights to suddenly start popping on. She was blinded briefly, a grimace of discomfort on her face, before her eyes adjusted to see… well, it was something. Equipment, old and archaic, was everywhere and littered with dust. A symbol could be seen, even if it was hard to make out in the dust, that appeared to be a blue ribbon of some kind – the letters ‘B’ in each space of the ribbon ends. She approached, looking around, “Lao! Are you down here with me? Can you… identify this strange marking?”Lao |
|
