Adventure Thread - Group A

Tiki looks around the group, and then looks back to the girl. "Ok. Ok. We're gonna untie you here. We aren't gonna harm, or fight you anymore. But, you gotta promise you don't attack us, ok? Here I'll help."  Tiki begins to undo the ropes, and help her to her feet. "See? Everything is gonna be fine. Hey. My name is Tiki. Wanna tell me yours?" Tiki smiles reassuringly. 

Rei steps forward, and looks to the two of them. For a moment, Rei's serious face remains, but it returns to a smile very quickly. Rei places one hand on the bottom of her umbrella, and a light *chink* is heard to those more perceptive than others.

"It is clear, that because of your blade, you will not stay restrained. So we shall not keep you that way, and we do not wish to bring further harm to you. But you must still come with us. Your connection with spirits and the fact that you openly attacked these three working on orders from the guild mean we can't in good conscious let you go."

Really Rei doesn't believe reason will work but she's really just trying to stall as she observes the two and tries to figure out the connection between them...

What little Rei knows about spirits tells her something is definitely not 'normal' between these two. She's heard how spirits can sometimes manipulate inanimate objects, and with enough effort, even manipulate or influence humans. Possession, (which Rei may or may not be considering as an explanation to this behavior), is a whole other story. From what she learned from her father, it takes a particularly powerful spirit (or particularly vulnerable human) to possess someone against their will.

The girl/sword glance briefly at Clay when he moves, but continue to make no hostile movements (or any, for that matter). Either they're trying to process Clay's words, or are still debating whether trying to attack or run away. It's unclear given their expression at present is one of wariness more than anything.

Despite approaching with an open hand, the girl suddenly tenses up, her eyes focused on Tiki. Anyone with experience reading body language can tell she's ready to attack at a moment's notice. She clearly doesn't understand the gesture Tiki is making, and moving much closer seems like it may provoke an attack. The girl holds her ground, not moving away, but not moving closer either.

Meanwhile Clay's stepped over to put a hand on Tiki's shoulder. "Uh, I wouldn't get any closer. It looks like she's scared, might do something dangerous if you crowd her."

He looks back over his shoulder at Sano, wishing the medic better luck talking to the sword than he's had so far. For all he knows the sword's just as scared as the girl, but he can't exactly read the sword's expressions. Though now that he thinks about it, the way the girl's eyes match the sword's is worrying him a little. In a low voice, he asks, "Hey, Rei, you know about this... spirit stuff. You see their eyes? Is that normal?"

He's beginning to wonder if he should ask his newest partner to try negotiating on their behalf, but even if two "spirits" - he's pretty sure the candle is a spirit too - work together well, he's afraid calling out another Pokémon would look aggressive.

The change is almost imperceptible, but something happens. The girl seems to start to relax ever so slightly, then suddenly tenses again, looking past the group. Turning around, you see someone standing there. Someone that nobody even realized had approached.

"What's this then? Five young people standing in the middle of the road?"

The new figure is a dark-clad woman carrying a rather intimidating weapon. It's not entirely clear what the weapon is, but some sort of polearm.

"How interesting... a young lady with a Honedge attached to her. I'll take it from here."

The girl shrieks in a mixture of fear and anger (or is it bravado?) and rushes at the strange woman, sword leading the way. She slashes wildly.. only for every single attack to be deflected with barely any effort at all.

"Oh please. Even if you weren't barely conscious you couldn't touch me. Just stop it already before I stop it for you."

Sword-girl continues to desperately swipe at the new person, who merely looks bored and mildly irritated as the surge of energy from adrenaline wears off and the girl collapses. As the lightly armored woman approaches her, she lashes out one last time, though in vain once more. Whoever this new person is, she isn't somebody you want to mess with.

"Stop squirming," the woman demands. For just a moment, all ambient light seems to get sucked out of the area and into a tiny, concentrated ball of... something. Pure darkness it seems like. The woman sends this small orb into the girl, knocking her out cold before what can only be described as a portal of inky darkness swallows up her unconscious form.

"There now.. that's better." Seeing the looks of absolute terror on your faces, the woman merely laughs. "Fret not, Guildlings. If I'd wanted to harm you, you'd be lying in pools of your own blood already. As for the possessed girl... she is no longer your concern, but thank you for bringing her to me. I'll make certain you are rewarded."

She hands each of you a small slip of paper. A note, it seems like. It reads 'The bearer of this note is to be awarded with three thousand Poké Yen for services rendered. ~D'Mara~'

When you look up, the woman has vanished. As if this day/night wasn't spooky enough already...

Clay snaps out of a dumbfounded stare to let out an outraged screech right as the woman disappears, more on instinct than anything else. As much as that girl and her sword gave him the creeps, the feeling he got from that woman is far worse. He crumples up the paper unconsciously as his hands clench into fists - not that he would know what it says even if he looked at it. Something in him rebels instinctively at watching such a one-sided fight; even if the girl had been their opponent before, and they never really got through to her, watching that woman "fight" her seems more like cruelty than combat.

He finally wanders over to lean against Raido's side, looking very, very tired. Fan runs up his leg and chitters something at him - he waves her off with a dismissive noise. No, no, I'm okay. Just... what was that? Once he confirms that, she makes a different noise - something rather sarcastic - and tweaks his ear lightly.

Clay lets out a sigh and looks at the others. "Days like this I think being a Chimchar was easier. Does anybody know what just happened? I mean, apart from the scary lady flattening somebody helpless?" The last bit comes out almost as a snarl again.

Fan, meanwhile, has left Clay to scamper over to Tiki. After a quick tap to draw her attention the little Chimchar hugs her leg. Chimchar give very warm hugs.

Rei stares as dumbfounded as the others as this terrifying woman swallowed up their previous captive and absconded away with her somewhere parts unknown. There's something in this woman, that lights up something Rei thought she had rid herself of. That feeling of being so small compared to someone else. She was always the youngest of the four sisters. She squashed that by toughening herself up and becoming a more skilled fighter than them. Her father had turned her and her sisters into tools for his vengence rather than children. Not only was he longer amoung them to use his hate to muddle their minds, Rei just had run into actual spirits for the first time 'any' of them had seen. Did it make her father and grandfather right? Yes, and that stung. But... Rei would be able to make this her own quest, not fueled by anger or sorrow. She had it past her.

But this woman... Just lit that fire back up again. Rei HATES it. This was unimaginable power. How would Rei, fighting on skill and knowledge alone, ever compete with something like that. In the moment, she tried to scan her for 'anything' she might be able to note, but it doesn't help because she's gone as quick as she arrived, with a new captive.

Clay shrieks and begins to speak, but Rei doesn't hear it. Rei flips her umbrella down, and stabs the small pointed end into the ground. There's a metallic "shing!* as Rei pulls out from the bottom, revealing a long, thin blade hidden within the staff of her umbrella. She practically tears the tag she had placed on the sword's hilt, and holds it out in her other hand. She swings the blade down, steps forward, and her hazel eyes scan the darkened swamp.

"SHOW YOURSELF!"

She knew the Cleanse Tag would allow to see spirits cloaked in front of them using their foul tricks. If the woman had just turned invisible, she would be revealed. Rei knows deep in her mind that's 'not' what happened, but this is all she knows. She keeps stepping forward, ready for a fight.

"SHOW YOURSELF RIGHT N-"

She's halted in her tracks as her kimono has caught on something. Shinpuru had bit down lightly on the back of her dress, and was trying in vain to drag the much bigger Rei back. She turns at first, ready to yell; but she looks down at Shinpuru. Her Bidoof was always ready for a fight with her, and if he's stopping her, then it's a battle she'd never win. Rei looks up from him to see the others experiencing distress. She hangs her head a little bit, and walks back. She sheathes the sword and flips the umbrella back up onto her shoulder.

"I'm sorry. That was very unbecoming of me. I haven't felt that way in a long time and I..."

Rei looks off into the distance, seemingly at a loss for words.

Tiki buries her face in Fan's warm fur, but tears still roll down her cheeks as more shouting erupts from her friends. After a few moments she looks up, and is finally able to speak up. "G-Guys....please don't shout...W-We...*sniff*...We gotta hurry back to the G-Guild. We gotta tell Miss Genevieve...She might know what to d-do..."