Scion: Seeds of Glory IC

[Tymeless]

The commontion was enough to direct Hikaru's eyes off of Evan but it was almost to much seeing that disgusting looking pig creature charging and promptly running off with her new friend Nerina. You would think that with her mother being a god and her own budding powers that she would be able to react quick enough to at least try to slow down this beast until they could save their companion but she was in a bit of a shock and watched until the creature had rounded a corner.

"Shit." she screamed out as she ran towards the alley that the beast had went down ready to go into hot pursuit herself.

 

[Armphid]

Evan was a bit surprised when Torc wandered off. He'd never known a mortal to be able to look away when he'd done this. And he really shouldn't be going off on his own if that monster was around. "Nerina, maybe you should go with Torc just to make sure that-"

The sound that cut his words off was one he'd heard before. The shrill, squealing, bellow of an irate pig. If you'd never had to deal with one, the idea was funny. Until you were ankle deep in mud and a five hundred pound sow was charging you. And this sound was worse. Louder. Bigger.

He'd had an idea how big the boar would be. As he turned around and saw it almost upon them, he realized that his concept had not prepared him for the reality. The boar was massive; just under his height at the shoulder and probably as long as a large sedan. He didn't even want to think of how much mass was barreling towards them and how powerful the beast would be.

It was rushing Nerina, ignoring him completely. He was ready to spring in and pull her away...until Kaldur jumped in front of the rampaging pig. Evan switched targets immediately. Nerina was a Scion, she could hold on. But the boar could kill a mortal Kaldur without even an effort.

Evan summoned the power of the sky into his body and leaped. He grabbed Kaldur as he passed before his jump took him impossibly far and high, landing on the rooftop of the store that made up the alley's east side. He dropped the startled Icelander, "Run to the Snoja Hvitur hostel! Bring the two girls there here as soon as you can!"

He didn't wait for a reply. A pig that size running all out, there was no way he'd catch it chasing it on the ground. Too many obstacles. Instead he ran to the edge of the roof where he could hear the thundering hooves below and the snorting breath and jumped. He hurtled up...and went higher before leveling out. His right hand held out in front of him, his mother's ring gleaming, Evan flew after the fleeing swine.

 

[Pywakit]

Nina Taylor

"The minotaur?" Nina repeated, thinking of the old legends of the cursed half man, half bull. "To be honest, I never really considered it, but in light of what I've seen and learned in just the past few years, to say nothing of the past few hours, I'd have to say that I do. Certainly I know better than to doubt things just because they seem implausible to common society."

She looked down at the large footprint Crystal was studying. It was sizable, but it didn't quite look like the hoofprint of a bull.

"I'm not sure that's a minotaur's print, but whatever left it was certainly huge," she mused. Suddenly, she heard a sound, as if something approaching quickly. She stood and whirled on a foot, stepping to the side to give Crystal a clear shot with her bow if needed and ready to defend the other woman with her magic if needed.

 

[cats]

Crystal

IC: "I suppose there is enough of the bizarre and strange that it could be something else. But still it is an oddity."

It also forces a decision. Do I continue to fallow our allies or do we switch to this odd beast? I should ask Nina what she wants to do.

That is when I heard a strange sound like hurried footsteps coming in all to much of a panic. I walked out of the alley to get a better view of the incoming noise. I relied on my sharp reflexes and nearly indestructible gloves to keep me out of trouble.

OOC: Is the noise the pig and Nerina or is it the people on the way to fetch the girls at the hotel?

 

[JillyS]

Panic

Nerina didn't know what hit her. The air in her lungs escaped in a whoosh. "ah fuck" she grunted as she found herself dangling from the pigs snout. She closed her eyes as the ground rushed past her at a rate of knots. With a shaky hand she reached for her necklace again. She would try to stop the beast.... was it really a beast though? her communication hadn't worked... she would try though...

She closed her eyes and concentrated... nothing. Brilliant. It must be really powerful to block her ability.

Panic was starting to set in.

 

[HookerBoots]

Nerina
The pig is moving fast, no hesitation in his strides, and he navigates the streets easily. In just a few moments, the thundering sound of hooves on pavement fades, changes, into the sound of hooves on packed dirt, and then the cacophony of this year and last year's dead leaves being crushed and tossed up around you. The quality of light has changed as well, the streetlights behind you, and the moon overhead obscured by trees. Still the pig crashes onward, seeming to take care to avoid any branches that would harm you, or knock you from your precarious spot balanced on his snout.

After you get farther into the woods, however, he started brushing up against some of the trees, the branches and bark catching at your clothes and tugging at them. Finally, one of the trees succeeds in catching the sleeve of your jacket just right, and tears it from your back, leaving it hanging from the branch.

The pig starts to move a little more slowly now, almost as if he's searching for the right place to stop. A clearing opens up in front of you both, and the pig slows almost to a stop. He circles a mound of bare grass and flips his snout a little, letting you drop the few feet to the grassy forest floor. Before you can move, he dips his head, one of those monstrous tusks slipping between your shirt and your skin, then up, ripping the material and exposing your body to the night air.

Evan and Hikaru
It's not hard to follow to pig - it's a giant boar, running through a modern city, it's not trying to be inconspicuous. Evan has a little more luck than Hikaru - it's easier to see where the pig can turn from overhead. Both of you a loosing a little ground - not a lot - when the pig crashes into the underbrush of the forest. Within a second, the black-and-gray form is lost in the shadows of the forest.

Flying over it doesn't help - the pines have kept their needles, and the result is a thick, almost undifferentiated mass of dark green in the night. Going in . . . it looks like the pig has been in and out of here numerous times. The trail is muddled and messy, and there's no clear place where giant-boar-sized holes have been knocked in the vegetation.

Crystal and Nina
The footsteps seem to flag as they get closer to where you are, and around the corner comes a tall, slender young man, whose eyes seem to light up as he spots you. "Ladies, please," he pants a little, tired from his run, "tell me you are the women staying in this hostel?" He points at Snoja Hvitur, out of breath. "A man, he saved my life," his eyes are shining a little, "and he said that I should come find you."

He straightens a little, his hands still braced on his legs. "The pig-beast, it took one of his companions, and ran off! They are on the corner of Rumskaldr and Hrangthur streets, I think the beast headed north from there."

 

[JillyS]

Nerina
The pig is moving fast, no hesitation in his strides, and he navigates the streets easily. In just a few moments, the thundering sound of hooves on pavement fades, changes, into the sound of hooves on packed dirt, and then the cacophony of this year and last year's dead leaves being crushed and tossed up around you. The quality of light has changed as well, the streetlights behind you, and the moon overhead obscured by trees. Still the pig crashes onward, seeming to take care to avoid any branches that would harm you, or knock you from your precarious spot balanced on his snout.

After you get farther into the woods, however, he started brushing up against some of the trees, the branches and bark catching at your clothes and tugging at them. Finally, one of the trees succeeds in catching the sleeve of your jacket just right, and tears it from your back, leaving it hanging from the branch.

The pig starts to move a little more slowly now, almost as if he's searching for the right place to stop. A clearing opens up in front of you both, and the pig slows almost to a stop. He circles a mound of bare grass and flips his snout a little, letting you drop the few feet to the grassy forest floor. Before you can move, he dips his head, one of those monstrous tusks slipping between your shirt and your skin, then up, ripping the material and exposing your body to the night air.

Oh like Hades she was about to let this happen. "Naiad’s scythe Come forth!" Nude or not, she was not going down. Her scythe appeared and she grasped it in her hand and staggered to her feet.

"You want me Piggy? Then be warned. I won't go easy"

tag

 

[Pywakit]

Nina Taylor

"Pig... beast?" Nina asked, her eyes widening. She glanced over at Crystal, then back at the new visitor. "Is it some sort of monster? Or just a crazed huge boar?" She shook her head, as if realizing the question didn't really matter; one of her new companions was obviously in deep trouble.

"Nevermind... Crystal! Let's get moving; hopefully we can get to Rumskaldr and Hrangthur in time to help!" As Nina set off in the direction the man had indicated, she took a few moments to scan the yards and alleys... if there were any large dogs nearby, it might be a good idea to recruit some of them to help, but it sounded like time was of the essence so there wasn't a chance to stop and look.

 

[Armphid]

Evan stared down at the forest below. The dark pine needles seemed to drink in the little light that came from the town making the woods look like little more than a spiky sea of jet blackness. He was still in the air, about fifty feet up, standing on nothing.

Nerina was in there somewhere with the boar. And he had no sure way to find her. Damn it! Damn it to hell! Why hadn't he seen this coming? He was smarter than this. Or so he'd thought, before he was outwitted by a giant boar monster masquerading as a drunken man. Why hadn't he seen it sooner?

Recrimination later. Act now. He could try to just fly down and search the woods except that he could barely see, there was no clear trail, and the forest was large and deep. He needed a tracker. He needed Crystal.

He pivoted on the spot in the air and shot back towards the city. If Kaldur reached the hostel, the girls should be on their way to that street corner. He could show them the way from there, maybe just grab them and fly them to where he lost the boar in the woods.

He felt a rankled and growing anger in his gut. How could he have been so careless? And now he was just flying off. Unable to do the job himself. Unable to save Nerina or stop the boar.

Evan was scowling like a thundercloud when he returned to the corner of Rumskaldr and Hrangthur. There was no sign of Kaldur, he could only hope the man did as he was told. "Come on, get here, please." He was still flying, hanging in mid-air about fifteen feet off the ground. People were staring but he didn't care. From here, he could see Crystal and Nina approaching and they'd see him easily as well.

 

[cats]

Crystal

IC: 'Pig... beast' Well it was a large cloven hoof print, minotaur was a good guess after all giant pigs aren't something I am familiar with.

'Nevermind... Crystal! Let's get moving; hopefully we can get to Rumskaldr and Hrangthur in time to help!'

"Oh right!" I returned to my senses, I had been distracted of late and it wasn't doing me much good. "Can you lead us young man." Fallowing some one was much faster then tracking even when one was as skilled a tracker as me.

We rushed quickly behind the young man who came to a sudden stop close to Evan. I nearly did the same myself because even was standing on the thin air. I would have to ask about that trick later.

I waved to Evan and kept running to him. I hope he didn't loose the trail.

 

[HookerBoots]

Nerina
The pig eyes you suspiciously, seeming more cautious now that you have a weapon in your hands. It doesn't make any menacing motions, its snout twitching as it eyes you and your gleaming blade. With a strange sound, it takes one step forward and looks at you intently before pawing at the ground with one hoof. He seems almost apologetic, but . . . it's a pig, how can you tell for sure?

The beast tosses his head, sidestepping a little. As you turn to follow him, trying to keep the scythe between the pig and yourself, he snorts softly. Another small step forward and the pig seems to shift his stance a little. You see, suddenly, emerging from between his back legs, a long, slender shaft. It's a little clearer what the beast wants, but a little unbelievable.

Nina and Crystal
When you reach the intersection that the man had told you the others were at, the area is empty - the mortals who had been witnesses to it have run away. Above the street, however, you can see Evan hovering in plain sight, as a beacon for you to show up in the right place.

 

[Armphid]

Evan saw the women approaching; two looking that good, who wouldn't? Normally, he'd grin and say something suave. His face was serious and set as he held up a hand in return of Crystal's wave.

Then he flew towards them, arms wide. "Sorry about the hands, ladies, but I'm just going to have to hope you forgive me." He curled an arm around the waist of both women and shot upwards again, to a height of about thirty feet or so before he leveled off and started north. Gods, they felt good against him...but he couldn't think of that now.

"There's some kind of shape shifting monster here." Again he cursed himself for not seeing it sooner. "Abducting young people, mostly good looking women but a few men as well, and taking them to the woods. We found someone who took us to a man whose sister was taken. But he was playing us. Our "contact" was the monster the whole time."

They were almost on the edge of town, the forest looming up ahead of them. "He changed into a giant boar on that street corner, grabbed Nerina, and bolted. From the air I could keep sight of him but he was too fast to catch. And once he got to the woods I lost the trail. I'm no tracker, unfortunately."

He could see Hikaru now and flew down to meet her. "He entered the woods here." Evan set the women down. "They're in here, somewhere..." He looked into the deep, dark wood. Hang on, Nerina, he thought.

 

[cats]

IC: Evan held up a hand and then started walking on the air to meet us. His face was set in stone however despite the pleasant greeting.

'Sorry about the hands, ladies, but I'm just going to have to hope you forgive me.' As he rounded about us I asked "Sorry about what?" Then my answer came as strong arms grabbed hold of my waist and that of Nina. He held us up with little effort and walked on the air as if climbing a set of stairs.

Before I really understood I was flying I was 3 stories in the air. Then he nearly ran across the air, across the city. A few people saw us, probably the same ones that believed in UFOs, or at least would after this.

He began to recap his part of the story as I, feeling insecure, reached my arm across his shoulder for added safety. I weighed my fair share, and Nina likely was the same, add in our gear and he was likely moving 300lbs. My guess is he possessed a strength like my own.

Before long he sat me and Nina down at the edge of the woods. 'They're in here, somewhere...'

I opened my pack and pulled out the bow. "Are you sure this is where they went in. I don't have Nerina's scent, but I can track there path threw the woods easy enough provided they went in here."

As I said all that I placed the tip of the bow across my right shin I then stepped over it with my left leg and holding onto the upper part of the bow curved it into a U shape. I was surprised at how hard the pull strength on this bow was, the dwarves were stronger then they looked. I then kept the bow in its proper shape by moving the eye of the bow string up to its normal position.

After getting the affirmative from Hikaru and Evan, I placed the tip of an arrow shaft at the bows knocking point and searched for the hoof prints. I found them quickly having seen them only minutes before. Then we set across the forest at a rapid pace, much faster then I had tracked threw the city.

 

[Pywakit]

Nina Taylor

Nina made an involuntary little squeak as they lifted up into the air. The sensation of flying, even if it was only being carried by someone else, was exhilarating, and Nina couldn't get enough of it. The feeling of danger was there, but she felt sure that Evan wouldn't have even tried this if he wasn't sure that he could carry them, and so she was able to enjoy the flight. She found herself wishing it was daytime so she could see more.

And then, just like that, the flight was over. She stumbled slightly as they landed, the return of gravity seeming to be an intruder. Hikaru was waiting for them and Nina smiled at her; the beautiful creature made it almost impossible not to smile when you looked at her. She was about to ask Hikaru if she was okay, hoping to catch another bit of the strange catlike sensation she'd felt around the woman earlier, but then Crystal was off at a nearly breakneck speed, tracking the prints. Nina decided to follow up on the mystery of the not-there cat later, and took off at a jog after the tracker.

 

[Tymeless]

Hikaru thinking of her new friend being captured didn't take time to pay any attention to Evan's movements she tried as best as she could to pursue the beast that had grabbed Nerina. She moved down the alleyway as quickly as possible having to avoid trashcans and other derbis that just seemed to get scattered about as the beast had run off. Eventually Hikaru made it to the end of the streets and came upon a forest. This shocked her that there would be a forest so close to this bustling city.

She looked at Soji who had managed to keep up with her. "Can you pick up the pig's sent. I can't pick up anything to tell me where to go." She patted her little spectral friend and waited to see what she could learn not noticing that Evan was nowhere to be found.

 

[Armphid]

Evan nodded at Crystal's question, "This is the spot where the boar entered." The tracker nodded and set an arrow to her bow before setting off at a steady pace. He grimaced as he watched her; was it wise to go that fast? He wasn't a tracker but it seemed easy to miss something that way.

But then again, he was no tracker.

"Hikaru." He turned to the luminous Japanese beauty and laid a hand on one of her slender shoulders, "Come on, we don't want to lose sight of the others. I think getting split up in these woods isn't a good idea."

Then he set out after Crystal and Nina, keeping them in line of sight as best he could while doing the same with Hikaru.

 

[HookerBoots]

Everyone except Nerina

Suji sniffs the air, then nods. He stalks into the woods after the others, his tail lashing back and forth as he moves. From Hikaru's waist comes a softly glowing light - five little specks of light inside of what looks like a miniature version of a Japanese lantern. The darkness of the forest is pulled back a little by the five little orbs of light, and it becomes easier to follow both Suji and the others - thankfully, they seem to be following the same path.

Crystal makes her way more easily through the forest than it seems possible, following a trail that Nina and Evan cannot find at all. The wind is moving the tree branches, whispering through the pine needles, bringing shifting scents of decaying leaves, resiny pine, and salt water - you're still on an island, and closer to the sea than you might think.

Suddenly, in front of you, something looms. It looks vaguely person-shaped, but wrong, somehow, and seems to be dangling from a tree branch. The breeze that gusts both moves it, and brings a scent of Nerina's perfume - the shape is her jacket, caught on a branch as she was carried past.

 

[cats]

Crystal

OOC: You know when I said rapid pace, I had something slower in mind. But hey daughter of the goddess of the hunt.

IC: I fallowed a hidden trail much faster then I first had envisioned. The prints varied from time to time, often just the softest impressions on the ground or the subtle way a tree branch was swaying, but every few feet I was always able to pick up some clue as to our next steps.

After some time I spotted a silhouette in the distance, a torso with arms. I ignored it briefly checking the ground for the tracks, when I saw they headed that way I simply ran to the person. After a few more steps I saw that it was a jacket. It was clearly the jacket Nerina had worn as she left the hotel, or at least one of the same design.

I stopped at the jacket and took a look across the ground to see if the subtle tracks were still under foot, and sure enough they had run right under this branch.

I took a catious look across the horizon and then set down the bow. I then took the jacket in my hands. Holding it close to my face I took a very deep breath and then a few other sniffs. I focused on the scent.

I then handed the jacket to Evan. "As a gentle men you should return this to her." After that I renocked my arrow and set down the trail fallowing Nerina's scent more then the tracks.

 

[Armphid]

Evan took the jacket, his face serious, "I'd not argue your claim to do so. When we save her, it will be because of you." It was important to his pantheon, and to him, that credit was given where credit was due. They would save Nerina but if Crystal hadn't been there to track the outcome would be in doubt. Serious doubt. "But I'll make sure she gets it back."

He followed the huntress close now, trusting Hikaru and Nina to stay with them. His earlier failure burned in his heart. When they found the pig, he wanted to be the first to challenge it face to face and draw its ire. He had failed in wisdom earlier, he would not fail in war.

His eyes strayed from Crystal's shapely backside, he did have to make sure he followed her, after all, to the dark forest ahead of them. What was happening at the end of the trail? What if...

No. He would not entertain the thought. They would save her.

 

[JillyS]

The pig eyes you suspiciously, seeming more cautious now that you have a weapon in your hands. It doesn't make any menacing motions, its snout twitching as it eyes you and your gleaming blade. With a strange sound, it takes one step forward and looks at you intently before pawing at the ground with one hoof. He seems almost apologetic, but . . . it's a pig, how can you tell for sure?

The beast tosses his head, sidestepping a little. As you turn to follow him, trying to keep the scythe between the pig and yourself, he snorts softly. Another small step forward and the pig seems to shift his stance a little. You see, suddenly, emerging from between his back legs, a long, slender shaft. It's a little clearer what the beast wants, but a little unbelievable.

NEW:

"Oh that is so not going to happen" Nerina replied. "I don't do beasts." She was not going to let anything like that happen. "Why don't you resume your normal shape and face me properly."

 

[HookerBoots]

Nerina
The pig makes a low snuffling sound, his small eyes traveling over your body. He seems really unsure - and you can't be certain, but he looks smaller than he had been before. The beast paws the ground uncertainly, the hooves scuffing up the turf underfoot. But suddenly, the head whips around, looking back into the trees.

With lightening speed, it turns its head back to you, and lunges forward. You swing your scythe, but the pig knocks the blade aside with one tusk, flipping you up into the air again. He catches you easily, the scythe shrinking down to fit on your bracelet as the tumble makes you lose your grip on it. He starts off through the forest again, his hooves thudding against the loamy forest floor.

Everyone Else
The speed is pretty amazing - you do have a person in the lead with high Epic Dexterity. But the forest is dark, and the path seems to be less straight than you thought it would be. The winding path of invisible traces that Crystal and Suji are following seems to lead you past all kinds of places - stream beds that are dry, trees that look as wide as houses - but no other sign of Nerina or the pig.

Until the path seems to break in a large clearing, where there's what looks like a grassy hill covered in scuff marks. Laying on the ground is what looks like the remains of a shirt. The 'scent' here is strong, but there's no other sign of the pig or your friend.

 

[JillyS]

Nerina
The pig makes a low snuffling sound, his small eyes traveling over your body. He seems really unsure - and you can't be certain, but he looks smaller than he had been before. The beast paws the ground uncertainly, the hooves scuffing up the turf underfoot. But suddenly, the head whips around, looking back into the trees.

With lightening speed, it turns its head back to you, and lunges forward. You swing your scythe, but the pig knocks the blade aside with one tusk, flipping you up into the air again. He catches you easily, the scythe shrinking down to fit on your bracelet as the tumble makes you lose your grip on it. He starts off through the forest again, his hooves thudding against the loamy forest floor.

"Ah frack this." Nerina grumbled and struggled to reach her scythe charm "PUT ME DOWN!" Nerina was not above screaming. It would either startle the pig and it would drop her or it would alert the other Scions to her location. She gave up reaching for the scythe and aimed for the near by branches, trying to grasp them, to make the trail easier to follow.

tag

 

[Armphid]

Evan wanted to grab the fallen garment and inspect it for signs of injury or worse but that would muddy the scent for Crystal. He did, however, circle around it and looked at the hillock and take a few long looks at the discarded piece of cloth. Discarded was too casual a word. It had been ripped off; by something without a good edge too. But he couldn't see any blood either which was a good sign.

"It looks like they were here." He turned away from the shirt and knelt by the recently torn up ground; unknowing exactly where the boar had been before fleeing. "Tore up the turf...but it doesn't look like there was a fight, exactly." There was a scent near where he was crouching. It was faint but familiar.

His mind suddenly flashed back to the farm; to when Dad would bring in a stud boar for the sows and...that smell! "Hell. The damn thing's trying to do her."

As he stood, he suddenly heard...he wasn't sure. It sounded like Nerina! "Nerina! We're coming!" She was yelling but it was hard to make out what she was saying, or the direction. "Crystal! Which way was that?"

 

[cats]

OOC: Epic dex is nice, I got 4 successes before I roll 7 other dice. Along those lines, will you always roll or should we roll.

IC: We came on the clearing surprisingly fast. Not as fast as a boar could run but faster then most people walked. I had high hopes she would be in the clearing but unfortunately she was not.

'It looks like they were here... Tore up the turf...but it doesn't look like there was a fight, exactly.' Evan seemed calm as he walked about.

The area was free of debris and had low grass, the soil was a type of tundra, and the odor was almost overpowering. Nerina's scent was strong here, but over it came a potent masculine smell. On the ground in a carelessly discarded fashion was Nerina's clothes.

'Hell. The damn thing's trying to do her.' There was a story there, but I didn't have the time to ask Evan.

I took in the scene. The pig left deep foot prints at the end of the trail we were fallowing, he stopped fast. A few feet away close to Nerina's garments grass was recovering from being bent under weight, she was likely dropped there to be disrobed.

The pig tracks went off in one direction then circled back, in that circle they formed deep grooves, he must of lunged forward at great speed again. Why would he do that? Perhaps we were heard or...

A cool breeze pressed against my face. "Clever little devil." The beast had been moving down wind, he could smell us before we even got close.

A scream came from Nerina.

'Nerina! We're coming!' Evan shouted. 'Crystal! Which way was that?'

"That way" I faced that direction and started running. I was resonably confident, and did my best to fallow the trail in the dark while running, it wasn't easy and I just hopped I didn't make a mistake.

"Nerina, keep screaming!"

 

[Pywakit]

Nina Taylor

While the thrill of the chase had Nina's blood up, Evan's revelation of what the boar was after made Nina's blood run cold. The thought of such a foul creature having its way with Nerina was frightening and horrifying, to say the least. So when she heard the other woman scream, she visibly started.

Composing herself quickly, she took off after the others. She wasn't sure what kind of aid she could give the group in combat if it was a fight they were about to encounter, but she did know that she could keep them from getting too wounded. She hated using her healing powers to harm, and hoped that when they found Nerina that the fight would be over quickly.