ic [Lost Expeditions] Castle Ravenloft

[Moira Morley]

GM

 

The Totality. The Solar Eclipse. Happens all the time, but why focus on it now? It has some magical significance for the Yellow Sign. Something about the Pact being weaker? Who knows, those guys are nuts. While they're being dealt with by other heroes, we focus on our daily life in Freedom City. Heroes with equally important tasks. Grimalkin, fae hero of great power. Spitfire, twisted firestarter. Red Moon, 'vampire'. Scion, former Olympian goddess. Going about their days as usual. Maybe they're fighting crime. Maybe they're trying to watch the eclipse (Good luck, only 70ish percent in New Jersey!)

[Ari]

Silently, with a majesty that belied the cold, dead world of her birth, the Moon slid across the face of the Sun before Red Moon's awed,  spectral blue eyes. 

 

The black helmet of her terrasuit lay on the rooftop beside her, letting her dead, drifting black hair waft in the strong sea breeze whistling over the rooftop of the Goodman Building in downtown Freedom. 

 

For once her flesh did not hiss and bubble in the path of solar radiation. She could feel the warmth of the day without burning agony. 

 

The Atom Family had just left minutes before for her home of Farside City, there to meet distant relatives, check in on her home world's hero Crater, the defenses installed back during the Incursion War, and where Chase Atom would to continue his communion with the Moonstone. 

 

'May he find better fortune than me' Atraxia thought, listening to the silence of her heart, feeling the stiffness of the blood in her blackened veins. 

 

Today was too beautiful to dwell on her failure, however. Today was a day to cherish. 

 

Red Moon gazed up at her home and smiled a little, her sharpened fangs gleaming red in corpse-white. The synthesized blood pack had never tasted so good. 

[EviscerusNox]

Maxie sat hunched over the naked back of a 20 something girl giving what he thought was probably the 3 hundred and fiftieth butterfly tattoo right above her tailbone.  The space was cramped, considering his tattoo parlor at the moment was his trailer.  Maxie still hadn't gotten around to getting into a proper store front, as he had been busy lately what with the being sucked off into Hell for a bit, and then the little dust up with white supremacists at the concert.  Things had been busy on the hero front, and that always seemed to interfere with real life, as it were.

 

The girl beneath his needle was one of the girls that he had met the night of the concert.  She was fun to hang out with and he felt he needed to keep his skills sharp so he decided to offer her a free tattoo.  He wasn't planning on hooking up with her or anything, he really just needed the practice, despite her advances beforehand.  Apparently what she thought free tattoo meant was something different then  what Maxie had meant.  Maxie stifled a giggle, remembering her response to finding out it was really about getting a tattoo.

 

"I thought this was like a netflix and chill thing, only with a tattoo and not netflix,"  She had said, sticking her bottom lip out in a pout.

 

"Think of it more like a netflix and chill thing, only with a tatoo and not chill.  We can totally watch Netflix if ya wanna afterwards, I need to catch up on mah stories,"  Maxie had replied.

 

Now he was completely in his head when he realized she had been trying to have a conversation with him.

 

"Sorry, wassat darlin'?"  He asked.

 

"I said, did you wanna take a break to go outside and look at the eclipse?  Supposed to be happening around now.  Besides, might put you in the mood for that chill part we were talking about," she gave a flirtatious wink as Maxie straightened his back nodding.

 

"Sure, could use a break, fingers are startin' to ache.  Might be good to see some of those things that only happen once in a lifetime."

 

"Actually the next one's only 6 years away I hear." she said as he opened the trailer door for her.

 

"Huh, well, might still be a once in a lifetime thing depending on how interestin' the next six years are."

[Heritage]

Gretchen had better things to do; she had a store to run and customers to assist. But if her somewhat flighty girlfriend and the former goddess wanted to sit up on the roof and stare at the stupid eclipse 'til their eyes melted out of their skulls, they were welcome to do so. However, if there was any sort of kissing going on, and she wasn't invited? There would be hell to pay.

 

- - -

 

"It seems like something I should be able to do, y'know? I mean, I don't have to breathe anymore, I should be able to stare at the sun if I want to, am I right?"

 

Two conjured deck chairs allowed Lynn Epstein and her semi-Divine house guest to chill on top of the Silberman's building; the changeling was wearing a blue and white striped sundress, sandals and pair of for real sunglasses under a floppy sunhat. She was sipping from a tall Arnold Palmer, which she occasionally refilled from a nearby pitcher. Periodically she shaded her eyes as she stole quick peeks at the astronomical event.

 

"I mean, I probably could change my eyes a bit if I pushed it, but that just sounds too much like effort."

Edited August 25, 2017 by Heritage

[Moira Morley]

Moira had been living with Lynn and Gretchen for half a year now. Though she still was a guest. It wasn't as uneasy with Gretchen as it was in the beginning. Still, Moira wanted everything to be good with both the ladies in their home. Moira and Lynn were close while Gretchen and Moira were kind of at arm's reach. She hoped to change the eventually.

 

Right now, Lynn and and Moira were on top of Lynn's pace, looking at the once in a (mortal) life time event. A full solar eclipse going across the continental United States. Moira had heard the next one of this magnitude would be in 2045. And Freedom City itself wouldn't get a full eclipse until 2079. She'd be there for both, but most of her friends wouldn't or wouldn't be cognizant enough to enjoy it. She tended not to dwell on that part of her immortality.

 

"Like I said, I can give you something that would allow you to stare straight up," she looked over to Lynn, showing her her filtered eyes. Of course, she glowed yellow, as she did when she used the gifts from her divine connection. Apollo had given her permission to look at him whenever she wanted, she need but ask. "By the way," she said before...

[Moira Morley]

GM

 

Somewhere in a field in Kansas...

 

Several yellow robed people were laying on the ground and chanting. Those cultists were interrupted by a crew of magical heroes. The cultists were told not to get up and keep chanting, but the heroes were the up front type, stomping and kicking at a few. Finally, one of the robed cultist got up to flee. And that's when the ritual went awry. To everyone there, the eclipse looked like it disappeared. Instead of the Yellow Sign's dark lord stepping through to Earth, the full power of the sun bore down on everyone there. some were blinded even though they turned away. Others were just vaporized. But something subtle happened in that moment. The realms trembled at the mere thought of the great old one walking into reality.

 

A wooded area in Gods-Know-Where...

 

Four people - Moira, Lynn, Maxie, Atraxia - appeared, dressed in nothing but yellow silk robes. They were snatched from where ever they were at and deposited elsewhere in the multiverse. But to them, it looked like a forested place. Up in the sky was a totally eclipsed sun.

[Ari]

For a good few seconds, Atraxia did nothing but stare blankly up at the sun. She couldn't feel anything, but that wasn't so unusual....outside her terrasuit. With a sudden jolt she looked down, saw the shapeless yellow sack. Jumping to her impressive full height with a croaking yelp, the lunar vampire stumbled on the hem and pitched forward into a shapeless yellow mound of bony lumps.

 

My suit is gone. Everything's gone. Even...even the blood

 

With a sour feeling in her gut, Atraxia wondered if she and these others were the only living creatiures...but no, there was...muted, but still there, faintly. Birdsong. Birds she could catch and drink from.

 

<"Where are we?"> she croaked, her voice thin and dry and rasping and deeply afraid, and for most of the people there a series of incomprehensible lilting syllables that would have been elegant and beautiful coming from any other throat between any other rows of teeth. But Atraxia was oblivious to this, like the lack of sensation, the lack of a muffled other voice translating her words into the coarse barks and hisses of the Terrans wasn't something she often thought about. Sometimes she spent months in total silence. <"Who could have done this? Were we transmitted through a fold in space-time?"> 

 

Shuffling around to see her sudden comrades, her ice-blue eyes shining under the hood, the Farsider offered <"I am...Ata. A cousin of your race, a physicist. Who are you?">

 

A lengthy, spindly arm draped in yellow cotton reached out nervously to Lynn. Inside lay long white fingers tipped with sharp black claws. It looked mummified, rotting.

Edited August 28, 2017 by Ari

[Heritage]

Lynn's ass abruptly hit the ground as the folding chair and the rest of Earth Prime disappeared, leaving her sprawled on the ground in the stupid robe. Her first thought was simple annoyance.

 

"What the f*** just happened?! Moira, did you do this?"

 

But then she noticed the former goddess's own confusion, and it quickly became clear that something else was up. 

 

"Or...not."

 

The changeling began to sniff the air, trying to detect any traces of man-made emissions that would give her a sense of how far they were from civilization. Her ears were also straining to catch the sound of a nearby road or highway.

 

And then her eyes fell upon the frightened, withered creature that spoke a language that felt like death, and she shuddered despite herself. What was that made-up tongue they had in D&D called?

 

Grave argot.

 

It took her a few seconds for her faerie gift for languages to kick into gear, but soon Lynn grasped the creature's meaning and even responded, though somehow the words were silver and silk upon her tongue.

 

<"I'm not sure how we got here; I was on Earth Prime with my friend here, watching the eclipse.">

 

She pointed at the sun above, which appeared much the same as it did back home.

 

<"That eclipse, to be precise.">

 

She put a hand to her chest, then indicated her 'house guest' with a nod.

 

<"My name is...Grimalkin, and this is Scion. Can I ask, what language we are speaking? I'm not familiar with it.">

 

She decided to stick to 'professional' names as a precaution. Finally she noticed the only male present; the changeling frowned, then sniffed the air again.

 

"Do I know you? You smell awfully familiar..."

Edited August 28, 2017 by Heritage

[EviscerusNox]

One second, Maxie is outside, smoking a cigarette watching the girl he had been tattooing cover her eyes and look at the eclipse, and about to tell her she was going to ruin her eyes, and the next he was on his keister in the grass looking up at a bunch of women talking in a language he didn't recognize and wearing horrendous yellow robes.  He looked down to see he too was wearing same robes and cursed before jumping up.

 

"This is not my color, and not my style!"  Maxie spat before ripping the arms off the robes, displaying his full sleeve tattoos on both arms, and making the robes look almost more like a sun dress.  "Yeah, that didn't help the situation at all."

 

Maxie turned to Grim when she adressed him and squinted his eyes trying to place her, then it dawned on him and his mouth spread into a toothy grin.  "Yeah hey, I do know you!  You had that kissin' booth at the carnival we held in town, god years back now.  I can't remember yer name darlin' but I remember you bein' a damn fine kisser.  Name's Spitfire, if we're bein' formal about it, you can call me Maxie though.  All the girls I kiss get to know my real name."  Maxie turned to Scion and laughed a belly laugh at the similarity between this and their last adventure.

 

"Scion, my love, we gotta stop meetin' like this!  Tell me you haven't gotten me dragged off to hell again!"  There was genuine mirth in his voice, but also a little bit of apprehension.  Their shared experience had been a less than jovial one, and a more than a little personal.  They had seen things about the other that spoke to the core of their being.  Things most people don't tell other people, unless they've known each other for years.  It left him feeling, uncomfortable, to say the least.  Still, he knew Scion to be a good person, or god, or whatever, and was glad to have her here, despite being once again shunted off to some place he had no clue about.

Edited September 5, 2017 by EviscerusNox

[Moira Morley]

"...Are we going to..." Moira's sentence trailed off as she gawked at her new surroundings and new clothes. She wince when Lynn started yelling, but that wasnt the truly weird thing about this whole thing. There was a giant alien-looking (possibly?) woman talking to them in an unknown language. Luckily, like everyone, Lynn could understand and translate. "So, she's on our side, right?"

 

She smiled and hugged Maxie, leaning her head on him and looking up, "I swear, I never know where I'm going with these things." She remembered the trip through the demon's real hazily, as most of it was erased from her mind. To this day she could not remember if it was just her and him or if there was a third person with them. "So, we go off on another grand adventure. Yes?"

 

She looked at Lynn, trying to avoid the gaze of the alien, "so, um, Grimalkin," she almost said Lynn, she had to keep code names as she didn't know if Maxie and Lynn knew each other personally, or if the alien could understand her, "can you get some eyes in the sky? Maybe figure out where we are?"

[Ari]

The willowy giantess bowed, with a creak and groaning of her bones and sinews. <"It is a pleasure, Grim. What we speak is Lunar Tongue, created in Farside City. My home."> For just a moment the creature with the shining blue eyes looked downcast. Reluctantly, she raised her face, revleaing leathery white skin and blackened veins as she stared out through the hood at the contrasting sun and moon <"I was also watching the eclipse when I arrived here.">

 

<"If true for all, then maybe we switched places with another group focused in the eclipse. Such mistakes are common in magic, according to my research.">

 

Glacing about the clearing, Atraxia decided that a little action was callled for. Grabbing the bits that the now-sleeveless man had discarded, remembering painfully  what her early efforts had been like, the lunar vampire tied her robe tight at the ends and where her limbs draped nearly to the edge of the protective, gaudy costuming.

 

<"I will return shortly."> Her voice was crisp and businesslike. Her eyes shone bright and soon Red Moon was flitting away into the sky.

 

Pausing at the treeptop line, she took stock of the lay of the land, her dead eyes scanning as she rose higher and higher still, searching for any signs of where they were and what was going on. Especially if there was habitations nearby.

Edited August 29, 2017 by Ari

[Moira Morley]

GM

 

As Atraxia rose above the tree tops, all she could see for miles was trees. There were definite small indentions , but not really big enough to be considered cities. Then she saw it, a road. it was a good ways out, but they could reach it if they booked it. Or flew. Or ran faster than norma humans.

 

On the ground another yellow robed figure popped into existence. She too was in a yellow robe. Unable to walk, she fell to the ground. Nicole was sans her suit and her wheelchair.

[EviscerusNox]

Spitfire watched the spindly tall woman ascend then turned to Grimalkin.  "So what language is that y'all were speakin'?  And how do you two," Spitfire moved his finger from Grim to Scion having absently thrown his arm around her during the hug and not let go, "know each other?  Y'all know the tall lady?"

 

Just as Maxie was about to ask another set of inane questions to keep his nervousness at bay another lady in robes popped into existence and fell to the ground at their feet.

 

"Christ on a cracker!  You alright ma'am?" Spitfire knelt down and offered a hand to the new addition.  "Don't freak out, but you've been abducted and sent to another place and you're surrounded by people in matching yellow robes you may or may not know.  Huh.. when you put it that way I figure you got reason to worry!  Anyways, my names Spitfire, this here's Scion and Grimalkin, don't know any of the other folks here myself, but we'll soon remedy that.  What's yer name?"

 

Maxie smiled his most disarming smile, which worked only occasionally given the fangs and red eyes.  He was trying to exude an air of nonchalance and confidence.  Inside of course he was more than a little freaked out, and though hazy, still remembered the mostly distinctly unpleasant memories of the last time he was whisked away.  Still someone had to seem like an old hand at this, try to keep everyone calm.  Best way Maxie knew to do that was distract everyone with questions, get them to build a rapport maybe,  survival wasn't just about getting bearings and knowing what plants to eat, it was also about being able to trust those you were stranded with.  At least, that's what had gotten him through the last time.  With that thought he turned his gaze back to Scion and smiled to himself, again feeling better to have her here with him.  Sure she was good in a fight and all, but her bright demeanor, the ease with which she smiled, the laughter in her eyes that seemed to never go away, and her light, all helped to put him at ease.  They'd been through a lot together and he trusted her, he knew with her help, they'd all get through this and he hoped to exude the same air with the newcomers giving them another shoulder to lean on.

Edited August 30, 2017 by EviscerusNox

[Zeitgeist Blue]

Nicole collapsed with a muffled yelp as she suddenly found herself in the middle of a forest. She sprawled face first on the ground, her shout terminating with a mouthful of grass, and for a moment there was the earthy dark as she tried to grasp her bearings. One moment, she was in Claremont, making tutting sounds at her painting, and the next she was outdoors and without her wheelchair in clothes that did not feel right. None of it felt right.

 

With a heave of her arms, she flipped herself up, sputtering grass and dirt on the way. Her head bounced on the ground with a dull thud and took the wind out of her.

 

...

 

"Ow."

 

She was breathing heavily when she realized she was not alone but alone in the middle of an eclectic group of yellow... robed... She sneered as one of them came running up to her, his hand extended as if she'd fall for that. She diverted her eyes from the symbols on his robes. Maybe he wouldn't be so friendly if she spat on his hand or pushed it away but she smiled, calling for Bellios, her armor, as she tried to stall for time.

 

She pushed herself to her elbows and when he smiled back, his fangs showing clearly in the eclipse, it only made her want to wretch in disgust. Instead, her stomach fell as her armor failed to respond. There should have been a feeling of battle just about now, of protection and foes to fight and bloody struggle, but there was nothing and that made her more scared than anything these two-bit practitioners could have done.

 

"Cultist," she spat and backed away, crawling on her elbows, from the demon-looking man. Though he wasn't really from the Infernal Realms, a small part of her mind registered as her eyes took in the rest. "There's no need for games; I know who you are. And whatever crazy ritual you've cooked up, it won't work."

 

One hand found a dead branch, sturdy but light enough to swing with one arm, and she pulled herself up against a tree, back leaning heavily against its trunk.

 

"And don't think I'm so stupid that I'd give you my name."

Edited August 30, 2017 by Zeitgeist Blue

[Ari]

Raised on the silent, eternally still desolation of the Moon, Atraxia would have been used to simple lack of people. 

 

But somehow this was worse. She could hear things running, flying, calling and grumbling, could see a road running northwest-south, but there was no people to have made it. It was as though they had vanished and the world reclaimed by unthinking biology. 

 

Shuddering at the thought, the Lunar vampire descended, marking a new Terresi in a yellow robe barking and feuding with the handsome one. She did not seem able to rise, which was dangerous. While Farside City took excellent care of its less fortunate citizens, she knew how harsh and unforgiving human society could be. 

 

I hope we don't have to leave her... 

 

Landing next to Grim, Atraxia reported <"There is a road that way, due east to closest point. We must find shelter, the eclipse will soon be done. I saw no people.">

 

She glanced again at the angry, snarling new arrival <"We must carry her. I will, if need be. ">

 

 

[Heritage]

On 8/28/2017 at 8:44 AM, EviscerusNox said:

"Yeah hey, I do know you!  You had that kissin' booth at the carnival we held in town, god years back now.  I can't remember yer name darlin' but I remember you bein' a damn fine kisser.  Name's Spitfire, if we're bein' formal about it, you can call me Maxie though.  All the girls I kiss get to know my real name."

 

Lynn slapped herself on the forehead. "Omigod, that's right! You were, like the fire-breathing carney guy, right? Boy, I sure got around back in the day. Of course, I looked a little different back then-" And here her form was temporarily obscured by swirling mist, which parted to reveal Grimalkin in full costume, although the yellow robe was still over it. Grim was much thinner and younger looking than 'Lynn', and when she spoke, her voice was a slightly higher pitch as she clutched her hands together dramatically and sighed. "Ah! Such sweet, sweet, memories of a wayward youth!!"

 

In response to the Texan's questions, she shrugged. "Apparently, it's some sort of Lunar tongue from Farside City; first time I've ever heard it or spoken it." And then she stepped to other side of Scion and wrapped her arm around her as well. "And as far as this little vixen is concerned, she's been crashing at me and my girlfriend's place for the last six months! Has it been a lot like one of those racy anime shows where everyone in high school has superpowers? Yes. Yes, it has."

 

But once the newcomer (who was apparently disabled) made her appearance, all jocularity was quickly thrown aside. "Whoa there, missy! We're the good guys!" There was a sharp inrush of air as Grim's empty robe collapsed, and she zipped out of it in pixie form to hover in front of the frightened young woman. "The name's Grimalkin; maybe you've heard of me? We have no idea how we got here, either; maybe you can help us figure out where we are and how we got here? I tried to contact my partner the Shrike, but we're out of range, which means we're at least two hundred miles away from Freedom, if not farther; I don't detect any indications of modern industry or transportation. We might not even be on our Earth anymore"

 

And then the tiny sprite waved her hand, and a pair of wooden crutches appeared beside Nicole, leaning against the tree.

Edited August 31, 2017 by Heritage

[Moira Morley]

Moira almost jumped back when the fifth person appeared. She too was in a yellow robe, but she thought they were the cultists. She let go of Maxie when he offered the girl her hand. Moira was more interested in what the alien creature was saying. She poked Lynn's clothes seeing of they were real, smiling when she found out the truth. She too had clothing outside of this. Trying to access her bracer, though it was there, was futile. Something was 'jamming the signal'. She could hear her folks, but it was scrambled. "Hello," she said a few times, tapping the golden bracer a few times, "guys, you there?" She sighed, "maybe i can get it working later. for now, we have these robes."

 

Moira shrugged, "wouldn't be the first time I've been sucked away from Earth. Most likely won't be the last time." She looked up at the cloaked sun, "I figure it has something to do with that though. And maybe these," she said modelling off her robe. There was definitely something stitched in the silk but she didn't know what. "Grim, she said we were cultists, and these robes look kinda of cult-y, wanna examine what they are?" She looked towards, but not at the alien creature, "so, uh, do you understand us at least?" She was quick to turn to Maxie, and then the girl on the ground, "but yeah, we're not the cultist you're looking for, hun."

[EviscerusNox]

Spitfire shot up straight in surprise at the newcomer's accusing tone.  "Cultist?!  Lady, the only cult I've ever been a party to is the Blue Oyster kind.  Don't Fear the Reaper is my jam.  If it's cuz of these getups you'll notice yer wearing one too.  We all just popped in here in 'em."  

 

Spitfire looked at the crutches that Grim just conjured out of thin air and shook his head frowning.  "Don't think that'll be good enough Grim, think you can conjure us up a cart or somethin'?  If she needs carryin' I can do it, but I don't think she likes me much.  Standing out here in the woods though isn't gettin' us anywhere, did the floaty lady see anything useful?  Need to find people so we can find out where we are.  Anybody here good in a forest?  I may be from the south but I'm kinda a city boy haven't spent a whole lot of time in the woods."

 

Spitfire did his best to keep his stance open and non-threatening for the newcomer's sake even though the situation probably warranted him staying more on guard.  

Edited August 31, 2017 by EviscerusNox

[EternalPhoenix]

So. Eclipse. First one of Mona’s life. It was Just. So. Cool. So cool, that she had been pacing it (natch) from its starting point way out in the Pacific Ocean. She’d followed it all the way across the United States and planned to followed to the end, most of the way to Africa. She even ran nice and slow, sticking to the pace of the moon rather than her own preferred hypersonic pace. It was…glorious. Magnificent. Beautiful. And other SAT words. She had her special Eclipse Sunglasses (courtesy of the various tech firms in Freedom, who really didn’t want anyone to go blind from stupidity) and gave it a nice long look. Her brother had been beside her since the coastline. “Bro, are you seeing this?”

 

Mickey was, in fact, seeing it. He was borrowing from his sister to keep up as best he could. It was…he had no words. Glory to God in the highest, he thought. He was amazed and humbled. He was powerful, this was true, but even he couldn’t do anything close to this. “Yes, Mona. This is a sight to see.” Obviously, he was wearing a pair of Eclipse Sunglasses as well. “We should be thankful we’re able to see it. Villains could be doing something that needs stopping by us, but it hasn’t happened.”

[Zeitgeist Blue]

Nicole stared blankly at the pair of crutches then at the tiny lady hovering in front of her face.

 

"And what am I supposed to do?" She said, blushing, and waved her branch to shoo the pixie away. Grimalkin was a superhero Nicole knew from her readings of news articles though mundane sources held little noteworthy information compared to the networks of the magical community. Probably a fae people whispered, but one who seemed to want to do good by this world. Just so, a soothing voice and a superhero name might have been enough for some to trust these strangers, but it wasn't remotely enough for her. She knew magic, knew intimately what it was capable of, and she'd be out of her mind to be caught in lies so easily. Just imagining the verbal-barbs her dad would throw if he found out steeled her resolve.

 

She watched them warily even as she gripped her cloak and verified Demon-wannabe's words. Yellow and with the same symbols, similar to all of theirs, but then it had to mean something, things always did. She wracked her brains for an answer, but try as she might she found little.

 

"Why am I wearing this?" she asked finally, slowly as if unsure she would receive a proper answer.

Edited September 1, 2017 by Zeitgeist Blue

[Moira Morley]

GM

 

Somewhere around  Kansas, Pacer saw something weird. Then again, weird was everyday in her life. Some guys in yellow robes lying on the ground while some other people in costumes of various sorts were kind of violent in their actions to them! Before she could react, there was a flash and she was in a forest, clothed only by the yellow robe. Also, other yellow robed people were here. One pixie, one giant alien, one big tattooed dude, one pretty lady, and one on crutches. She could no longer hear Stalwart!

 

A voice came from the trees, it said something that almost no one could understand. Grimalkin was the only one. It sounded almost fey-like. "Intruders," it rang out, before an arrow landed next to each of them. The projectiles landed right next to them. It was clearly a warning shot. "If you do not start running, we will not miss next time!" Arrows flew again, this time, it looked like rain.

[EviscerusNox]

Spitfire jumped at the sound of the voices, and then nearly had a heart attack when an arrow landed near his big toe.  He didn't need further prompting, or to understand what was being said.  There was yet another new arrival but Maxie had no time to stop and consider that, much less make a proper greeting, instead he grabbed the woman on the ground brandishing a stick and took off running.  He knew he ran the risk of being brained and subsequently pin-cushioned by arrows but they had to get out of there and those crutches were not going to be fast enough to do it.

 

"Sorry 'bout this ma'am.  You can kill me fer it if we survive."  Maxie almost instinctively went to start breathing fire in front of him to start his fire skating routine but thought better of it when he remembered all the dried leaves and flammable stuff around them.  Plus whoever was shooting at them would most likely hate having their forest burned down.

 

"Guess we're doin' this the slow way!"

[EternalPhoenix]

Mona was running beside her brother one moment, and the next he wasn’t there. Neither was North America. “Bro, what’s-“ He. Wasn’t. There. She couldn’t even feel him, which to be fair wasn’t something they could always do. The “twin thing”, simply sensing the other’s existence, was something that twins could sometimes do. Mona and Mickey were no different. But there were a bunch o’ people here, and annoying arrows to dodge and a girl who couldn’t walk well to save. She blurred over to save the girl, and reached for her brother’s power like she had ever since they were toddlers. She wasn’t strong enough on her own to carry a whole person. But…it wasn’t there. It. Wasn’t. There. Mickey, the other half of her (well, sorta) wasn’t there. At all. Panic was an understatement. “I don’t do anything the slow way, fang man.” It was obviously false bravado. The tiny girl was clearly badly shaken. “Name’s Pacer. And if these guys wanna go, we can go. I haven’t punched any bad guys in over a week.” Again, forced bravado.

[Moira Morley]

Moira knew Maxie couldn't take off running now. Especially with angry trees shooting arrows. She'd have to ask Lynn what they meant later, but for now she just had to dodge the rain of arrows. "Ma... Spitfire," she yelled, "alley oop!" She said picking him up while he held Nicole. In the immediate thought, she thought it was a good idea. But a few arrows bounced off of her back as she ran. Luckily they were just grazing blows. "I'm sure the dog detective would be amused," she said said with a wince as the arrows rained down.

[Ari]

A clawed hand grabbed Lynn by the shoulder, and Ata's guttural voice hissed <"Grimalkin! Get the others to safety! I will find and disable these creatures. Do not worry, I will do them no permanent harm!"> Before the pixie could react or object, Ata vanished. It was as though she had never been...until the grass wavered ever so slightly, and a faint, high-pitched thrumming tingled through the air. At once, the agitated grass and soft buzzing  sped for the tree line from whence the flight of arrows had come!

 

Atraxia kept her eyes well open, her vision shifting as she, partially shunted from this plane of existence. Her head craned back as she scanned the the vague shadows that the treetops had become, searching for the lumpy, pulsing blobs of warmth that meant prey

 

People. People, not food. Even if they're savages I have to restrain myself. This is all a terrible misunderstanding, once I show them we mean no harm they'll let us go in peace! Perhaps even let Grimalkin-ah! 

 

A blob had appeared, orange and red and purple, seething with harsh violet tendrils. Leaning out of an upper bough, the blob seemed to be looking down.

 

Now I just need to ascend and disable them! Atraxia's thin lips pulled back in a cold sneer 

 

I hope the others are alright...should I really have left them? The injured one may need additional assistance, do any of them know emergency routines?