[Blue]

[Luna]

There comes to sound of heavy footfalls crunching through the grass towards the congregation. Attached to the footfaller is flowy white cloth covered light plate mail, marked with a perfectly polished Ishgardian herald. Long white hair has found itself pinned up once more on top of the knight's head as she approaches. “I know not if I find myself surprised to see such a large gathering around yourself, Miss Blue.” comes Luna's voice, ever neutral and elegant. She stops as she comes up on the woman, looking at the Sylph in her arms. “Is that… That is one of the beasts of the Shroud, is it not? It does not seem to be doing well. What has happened here, Miss Blue?” the knightess asks, her gaze falling upon the woman herself now.

[Blue]

Blue glances around as the crowd disperses, leaving only Rolfe still nearby as Luna walks up to her. Immediately the look of distress on Blue's face shifts to relief as she looks up at her friend. “Luna!”.

Blue herself was sporting the normal dress she ran around the Shroud in, the only difference to her attire would be the addition of the metal claws she'd been wearing to the Grindstone of late. After a certain event taking place in Thanalan, the Xaela didn't want to go anywhere without them.

To Luna's questioning, The woman frowns and glances down at the weakened Sylph. “I usually make a short trip to Little Solace, this one's settlement, at least once in a few moons. I enjoy talking to the sylphs about the plantlife around here. Was making my way there when this one ran into me and its wings were on fire!” Closer inspection of Blue's dress would reveal dark toasty scorchmarks where the Sylph must have pressed into her and she dropped her arms a bit to reveal minor burns along her hands for emphasis.

“It only kept yelling that the Sylphlands were on fire, so I ran here to gather any help I could.”

[Vinalo]

“Another great day for walking,” Vinalo had thought as they headed out from their apartment not even a bell ago. Comfortable robe, pouch of rations, and one of their wands (just in case), they were ready for a relaxing day way from their work. It wasn’t long before they’d picked up on the distinct scent of smoke and fire on the wind. Hoping that they could be of some help in whatever was happening, they’d picked up the pace of their walk and set off in the direction of the presumed burning.

Approaching the Hawthorne Hut from the south, the smell of smoke and heat on the wind was impossible to ignore. Vinalo saw a crowd gathered in the center of the settlement and made their way to the middle of it, assuming someone was hurt, or worse. Though it took some scooting around the legs of tallfolk as the group dispersed, they were met with some now-familiar faces upon reaching the center.

“Blue, is that you?” they asked of the distinctly colored Auri woman they found at the center of this gathering.

It was only after asking that they noticed her cradling an injured sylph in their arms. Vinalo also then noticed the imposing figure of their knightess friend just off to the side, speaking with Blue.

“Luna? You’re here, too? This is much more than a normal bushfire. What’s going on?” they asked in quick succession, looking for both answers and a way to help.

[Luna]

The knightess puts a hand to her chin in thought. “That is… most unpleasant. I am not as familiar with the Sylphs as I am perhaps Moogles or even Sahagin, but this is not acceptable all the same. Hooded folk bringing fire to your lands… I wish I could speak of knowledge of some plot involving that, but nothing comes to…” Her eyes scan from Blue down to Vinalo for a moment. “Ah, Ser Vinalo, you as well?” she greets quickly. As if hoping to find something herself, Luna looks around from her current position though nothing is availed to her.

[Blue]

Blue smiles as Vinalo enters the fray, nodding in greeting to her friend before shrugging her shoulders helplessly. “I also don't know why anyone would do such a thing. Of all the tribes Tret and I have interacted with through the years, the Sylphs are the least likely to cause any trouble.”

Blue perks up to attention and nods eagerly. She didn't need much prompting. “Of course! I'll go at least- how about you two?” She looks between Luna and Vinalo, before turning to her sylphic friend. “We need to bring you back to Little Solace at the very least, hopefully the other Sylphs are alright..”

She pauses and blinks, looking back to Vinalo. “Actually..Vinalo! Do you think you can heal this Sylph? Their wings got burnt up..” She crouches down and extends her arms out to the lalafell, gently holding out the green creature to show them proper.

[Vinalo]

Vinalo quickly gets the idea of what’s happened up to this point and nods.

“Even the tempered Sylphs keep to themselves most of the time. Can’t imagine them doing anything that’d provoke this.”

The Lalafell watched as Blue crouched down to their level and showed them the injured Sylph. They’ve had exchanges with the Sylphs of Little Solace from time to time but was never called upon to treat one. Regardless, they quickly began to look over the wounded one in Blue’s arms.

“I’ll do my best. This’ll be different from what I’m used to, but…” they say, simply nodding as they extend their hands over the Sylph, ready to begin. Singed wings. Minor burns. Fatigue from exertion. ‘I can do this,’ they thought.

Vinalo closed their eyes and concentrated. A dull glow formed from their hands and tiny strings of golden light made their way down to the Sylph in front of them. They gently swirled around the Sylph’s body, making their way to the burnt wings. Vinalo only hoped that they weren’t too damaged to regenerate properly.

[Luna]

Luna turns to listen to Rolfe, allowing the man's knowledge to compensate for her almost entire lack regarding Sylphs. She then rests a hand on the hilt of her sword as she turns and watches Vinalo work. As many times as she's watched conjury, it still amazes her. She waits for the healer to finish before speaking to Blue.

“I see no reason to not render aid, even as a representative of the Holy See of Ishgard. We have much concern for matters affecting the Alliance, distant as they may be. Not to mention I personally find this act repugnant, and would labor to see the perpetrators brought to justice. I will do what I can. Which, I feel, may involve as you said returning this Sylph home and investigating the area there-of. Anything that may serve to guide our hands to the culprit.”

[Vinalo]

The Lalafell continued their work, thinking their way through the treatment

Careful now. The Sylph’s body makeup is different, but not entirely. Sounds like tiny flutes, full of life, but so fragile. Cleanse the burns, weave the…flesh? Leaves? Feel out the wings. Singed. Charred. Can they fly again? Not like this.

Vinalo’s brow furrows a bit and the thin strands of golden light now seem to be focused on stroking the injured one’s wings, like tiny brushes.

‘You can fly again,’ the healer thinks. Gentle. Encouraging. That’s what the wings need to hear. Shake off the fire and the smoke. Vinalo feels the wings slowly uncurling, proper shape returning. ‘You’ll have to take it the rest of the way,’ they think, visibly nodding.

The glowing subsides and the tiny strings simply fade away. Vinalo takes a deep breath and opens their eyes, smiling warmly.

“That was… a very different experience. But they should recover fully if they rest up good and proper,” they say to Blue, before looking up at Luna, having (mostly) heard her commitment to helping.

“Probably the best way to see how this started, I reckon.”

[Blue]

Blue has never been privy to the workings of a healer before, and as she holds out the little Sylph, she too is transfixed watching the workings of Vinalo as the charred and burned wings begin to recover. It's the Sylph itself though who seems the most fascinated, slowly drawing a hand to the tip of its wings as if mesmerized. It couldn't hide the astonishment in its voice. “This one feels whole again!” It giggles and wriggles around in Blue's arms, to which the Au Ri shakes her head sternly. “You heard them, little one! Rest for a bit longer!” The Sylph pouts but nods and Blue stands up again, broad smile on her face at Vinalo. “Am grateful you're here, Vinvin. We may have need of more healing yet before this is through, though I hope that's not the case.”

She looks to Luna and nods, grateful for the assistance from the pair. “It's not too far to Little Solace from here, I can show you both the way. We can see if any more of the sylphs know anything further before going deeper in.”

She'd already begin skipping in the direction of the beastmen settlement, cradling the recovering Sylph in her arms still.

[Luna]

“Very well, lead on Miss Blue.” Luna follows the woman, withholding verbal judgement of skipping at a time like this. As they near and the smoke begins to thicken, she withdraws a cloth from her person and covers her mouth with it, though still needing to cough on occasion. “My word, this is practically full-scale arson.” she remarks with a small cough, pressing the cloth harder against her mouth. Her posture changes as she considers the area possibly hostile now, and her eyes once more scan the area, hoping to find anything of note.

[Vinalo]

“Vinvin? That’s not my-“ they started before shrugging it off and focusing on the bigger issue at hand.

Vinalo knew the Shroud as well as they could imagine, having spent years living amongst its trees and rivers. Still, they followed behind Blue’s enthusiastic skipping, smiling a bit at the idea that she could remain upbeat at a time like this. It didn’t take long though before the smoke thickened and it’d become difficult to breathe, let alone see more than a few fulms ahead. They pulled out a cloth that just a sennight ago had kept a few biscuits together and covered their mouth to hopefully block some of the smoke.

Seeing both Luna trying peer into the thick smoke and Blue calling out for any kind of response, Vinalo pulled out their carved branch wand to attempt something.

“I’m going to try and clear some of this smoke away, maybe long enough to see something!” they called out to the other two, the oppressiveness of the smoke making it seem like even their voice would be hard to hear.

With a swift outward movement of their arm, and a brief moment of concentration, Vinalo’s wand glowed with a green light before a nearly tangible gust of wind forced its way through the smoke, hopefully clearing enough to spot someone or something.

[Blue]

Blue shrinks at Luna's remark, coughing into her dress before managing out with a sputter, “Arson is one thing..but we still haven't found any other Sylphs. You don't think..” She cuts herself off rather sharply, remembering she was still holding one in her arms, and allowing Luna the chance to investigate.

Blue, determined by the sight of at least one living soul around the area, calls out again, “Please, don't hide! We want to help you! What happened?”

[Luna]

“A force intent on eliminating the entirety of a tribe would be much more noticeable than some small squadron intent on setting flame to it all and fleeing. I would not wager annihilation.” she says coldly and clinically. “Not chocobo at all, indeed. How very queer…” she remarks to herself upon examining the hoofprints. Her attention is drawn by Vinalo's gust dispelling some smoke momentarily and revealing a frightened Sylph, though she doesn't move to act about it. As the voices enter her head, she looks around instinctively, quickly finding no source. She pauses to think on what she hears, looking toward her companions. “Did you all hear that?”

[Vinalo]

‘Maybe I should’ve put more into that,’ Vinalo thought, seeing how quickly the smoke rushed in to fill the brief gap made by their swift wind blast. Regardless, they spotted the Sylph in the distance before they fled. They stepped forward intending to call out, but barely had enough time to take a step before the flying one vanished out of sight.

They suddenly felt their ears filled with the jumbled voices and cries of Little Solace’s denizens. Luna’s question to the group confirmed that they weren’t hearing things.

“They… they’re scared. Panicked,” Vinalo said in Luna’s direction. “Tried to fend off whoever did this. And…”

More voices. More cries. Vinalo looked further to the northeast, vision blocked by smoke.

“…they might still be here.”

[Blue]

Blue winces at the voices- whom all sound terrified and fearful. “It's no wonder they don't want to show themselves immediately..” She lifts the Sylph she's been carrying and tries to call out again. “Look! We've brought back one of your own and tended to their injuries! They need to rest now with familiar faces.”

[Vinalo]

The Lalafell looks around best they can as the Sylph chatter continues, hearing the tone shift slightly after Blue’s plea, and even more when their recent patient joins in the plea. They don’t have much time to process this before a Sylph zooms right up in their face.

The flying ones are no strangers to Vinalo, but having one get so close, so quickly, and without warning is still enough to make them take short step back. The smoke didn’t help, either.

“That’s right! We’re here to he-“ they manage to say before they felt the odd sensation at their neck.

Vinalo reflexively tenses up and makes a swatting motion at their neck, dropping their cloth in the process. They quickly kneel down to grab it, only realizing after picking it up that their nostrils no longer burned with each breath. ‘An enchantment…?’ they thought to themself. A deep breath confirmed this, and their face turned to a small smile.

“Yes. We’re here to do what we can.”

[Luna]

Almost immediately as a Sylph flashes into existence in front of her does Luna reach for her blade, though her hand only comes to rest on the hilt rather than drawing. “These ones? I am not familiar with these prior walking ones, but I assure we mean no threat.” she says, trying to re-assure the Sylph. As her neck tingles, she finds her breathing considerably easier though she is hesitant to store the cloth for fear of the magicks fading. She looks off to Blue and Vinalo, now both accompanied by a small fellow. 'So… Moroxia and Argaxio then….” she ponders. “I do not suppose you two would be able to tell us anything of those who did this? More than just wearing hoods, that is.”

[Blue]

Blue breathes a deep sigh of relief as she finds herself better able to breath. She drops her hands to her sides and looks up at the wizened Sylph named Argaxio.

[Luna]

The knightess listens to their plight, thoughts forming in her head. However, as she begins to respond the explosion rings out. Her head snaps to look in it's direction. Her whole demeanor changes as she begins moving towards the source. As she breaks into a run, she draws her blade, expecting to find these Hooded ones.

[Vinalo]

Vinalo again takes a deep breath, as if making sure the enchantment was indeed still working. They watch and listen to the story being told before them, taking in the details and hoping any motive or clue is revealed.

With the mention of “Those Ones” and what they might try, the Lalafell taps their chin in thought, again gazing in the direction of the Sylphlands proper.

“If the, erm… ‘other ones’ are pushed hard enough, wouldn’t they try to-“

Their attention is quickly stolen by the explosion in the distance, and before they can begin to complete their thought, Vinalo watches Luna take off at high speed towards the Sylphlands.

“Oh no…” they let out, starting to jog a bit in Luna’s direction. Before making it more than a few fulms, they turn back to Blue with a worried look on their face. “Rushing in like this probably isn’t the best idea, but I don’t think either of us could stop her right now!”

[Blue]

Blue blinks as Luna breaks away and heads straight in the direction of the bridge. She bows politely to the Sylphs but hastily skips after Luna, nodding at Vinalo's words. “Would be the first time I've seen Luna in action before!” Blue silently approves.

[Luna]

Luna stops at the start of the bridge, her sword held out as she watches the chaos unfold on the other side. She wishes she had learned some way to easily extinguish flames via conjury or a sword, but she had not. Before she can consider how best to rectify that, she barely manages to step to the side and avoid the oncoming antelope and boards. However, she doesn't manage to avoid the gnats, finding herself knocked back and alighted as they barrel past. The flames, thankfully, are minor and easily put out by some medium effort. It does, however, halt her advance entirely.

[Vinalo]

Vinalo catches up with Luna just in time to see the fleeing animals and leafkin attempt to escape the inferno just across the ravine. They dash to the side as fast they can to avoid getting crushed by hoof or tusk. The giant gnats engulfed in flame and heading their way quickly catch their eye, and they again swing their wand out. ‘No time for anything fancy,’ the conjuror thinks to themself as a swirl of aether coalesces at the tip of their wand and several large orbs of water fire off at the oncoming gnats.

The erratic flight of the gnats causes only the one that was on a collision course with Vinalo to get hit, both extinguishing the flame and causing it to crash into the side of the ravine before it could slam into the Lalafell. They’re both relieved and annoyed, as there seemed to be more where that came from.

[Blue]

Blue clenches her fists as she watches the flora and fauna lose their minds to the fire. “Poor things..” the Au Ri murmurs, hopping out of the way of the beasts if only to find herself tackled by a fireball of a fly. “Eeeek!” She squeals as part of her dress catches on fire, batting at the burning fabric with the tips of her fingers. Thankfully, that would be enough to do the trick for both Blue and Luna for that matter, though the gnat attack would have seemed to have briefly stopped all three from advancing.

[Vinalo]

The torched dream toad couldn’t have made itself stand out more if it tried, which gave Vinalo plenty of time to prepare for whatever might happen when it landed in front of them. Its charred state told a tale of last-ditch desperation, so a drawn-out fight certainly wasn’t in the cards. Vinalo was already concentrating before its tongue shot out to make a meal of the Lalafell.

A mere fulm or so before it would’ve hit them, the tongue slammed into something and ricocheted off. A quick shimmer of light was the only visible hint that anything was there at all. Vinalo watched as the toad’s tongue flailed on the ground one last time before becoming motionless, but not before some toad slime managed to get splattered on the skirt of their robe. The Lalafell let out a sigh of relief, as some slime was much easier to deal with than possibly getting chomped by an oversized toad. They looked to the others, catching their breath before speaking.

“Even with all this and such, this might be our best path in. There’s another crossing north of here, but… I reckon it’ll be even worse by the time we get there.”

[Blue]

Blue, who'd been impressed with Vinalo's quick reaction time, was none the wiser to the status of the supposed-to-be-dead monster, before being sucked in nice and close to the charbroiled toad. ”….Uh oh..” Was what Blue would manage to say, unsheathing her claws and attempting to slash at the beast before it stubbornly bellyflopped upon them.

[Luna]

Luna had been ensuring that she was indeed not on fire while Vinalo dealt with the toad, and she found herself pleased with the Lalafell's capability in neutralizing the threat. Or so she thought. As she found herself being pulled into it's range, she managed to react with highly trained speed and discipline. She held her sword in front of her, causing the action of being pulled to plunge the blade deep within the toad's flesh. Quickly does she jerk the sword to the side, causing it to carve a trench of pain across the frog as she moves around it. As she covers roughly a quarter of the creature's circumference in a long wound and wound up in front of it, she pulls the blade out and unleashes a series of strikes that may give one the impression that it was a Rage given by Halone herself. As she finishes the onslaught on the toad's face, she brings down the blade upon the tongue, severing it near the mouth before driving a boot into the beast's 'head' for one final blow.

[Vinalo]

Misjudging just how close to death it was, Vinalo did their best to resist the strange ability the giant toad was showing off and tried to quickly think of something to end this encounter.

This wasn’t necessary, as they watched Luna use the toad’s own attack against it, delivering a series of devastating strikes with her sword (and boot), ensuring that it wouldn’t be troubling the group anymore. Having not seen the knightess in combat outside of the Grindstone, Vinalo went a bit wide-eyed at the speed and ferocity of her assault.

“Suppose that’s that,” they say to Luna, giving a very appreciative nod in her direction. “Like I said, this still might be our best way in.”

[Blue]

Blue stares at Luna, mouth agape, stopping her own attacks in favor of watching the sheer ferocity of the woman who properly out the toad out of its misery in the most painful-looking way possible. The toad was very much dead this time around, stopped from belly-flopping throes but consequentially blocking the narrow entrance to the bridge with its bulk. Blue shook her head, recovering upon hearing Vinalo speak. “Might require a bit of climbing over dehydrated frog, but I agree, let's get a move on then!”

Blue is more agile than she looks, and is the first to hoist herself up on top of the dead beast, scrambling a bit for footholds but otherwise finding purchase and dropping off and onto the bridge soon after. Luna might have to follow suite, though Vinalo would be fortunate to be able to wedge themselves between toad and bridge and not have to worry about the climb if they so desired.

[Vinalo]

The Lalafell watched Blue nimbly climb the dead toad in an effort to make it to the bridge. While they themself were no stranger to climbing, Vinalo realized that it might be easier to take advantage of their relatively small size and simply slide around the corpse and meet the Auri woman on the other size. They stowed their wand away for the moment and went for it.

It was still a bit of a tight squeeze, but aside from some soot on their robe, Vinalo made it through without much effort.

“Sometimes being just shy of three fulms tall is right handy,” they say to Blue once they’re clear of the toad.

[Luna]

Though her size and bulkier stature impede her, Luna still manages to climb over the fallen creature after some moments, joining her companions on the other side. She sheathes her sword after having used it as a makeshift ice pick to climb the fat fiend. “Have you any experience in this area, Miss Blue? Ser Vinalo? I am completely alien to this land - I rarely patrol further into the Shroud than Gridania.”

[Vinalo]

Vinalo looks to Luna as she joins them.

“Some experience. This area isn’t even the Sylphlands proper these days,” Vinalo responds, pointing to the north through the smoke and flame. “The tempered Sylphs… ‘Those Ones’ Moroxia talked about. They’re very hostile to anyone is that isn’t like them. Fire or not, I can’t imagine these invaders will just be able to run through without any resistance.”

They look ahead and notice another toad shot dead between its eyes.

“Sure seem determined to try, though.”

[Tretesta]

Over the cracking of fire in the trees and cries of creatures, there was a soft thud in the loam. a hooded figure, armed with a simple bow and garbed in dark blues and greens, dropped from the canopy behind the trio. He rose immediately and pulled his hood back, revealing a head of azure in the light of the fires as he approached.

Tugging down a gaiter from his nose and mouth, Tret hailed the group as to reduce some of the surprise “Should give us some time to catch up. Welcome to Hell, friends. Glad to have you out here, but not for the circumstances.” Taking a moment to quickly embrace blue and kiss the top of her head, Tret pulled his bow around to the ready and gave a solemn nod to the other two “Let the poor beasts run, put any suffering out of their misery. Burning is a horrible thing.”

[Blue]

Blue watched her companions bypass the obstacle on the bridge in their own ways, managing a chuckle at Vinalo's quip before looking out at the expanse before them. When asked of her experience in the Sylphlands, the Au Ri shook her head. “I've tried to wander here every so often, but as Vinalo says, the Sylphs here..aren't very trusting or welcoming for that matter. Curious as these woods be, I respect their desire to keep their lands to themselves.” She glanced around slowly at the burning trees. ”..But even they might be willing to ask for help at this point.”

It was around this time that Blue's earfins flicked at the sound of a thud behind the trio, and she'd twirl around, claws still in hand. A hood! Bad man! And then- Tret?!

Almost immediately the female smiles with delight, though she's somewhat baffled as to his sudden appearance. She'd give him a warm embrace, pulling away reluctantly to ask of her mate, “How long have you been here? More importantly, have you seen the cause of these flames?”

[Luna]

Luna spins around, hand on her sword and ready to draw as someone decides to drop behind them in what is basically a warzone. Thankfully, he reveals himself as Tretesta, and she pauses. “Sir Tretesta, perhaps that is not a wise action given the circumstances…” she says, slowly taking her hand off the hilt. She rubs her temples, looking back deeper into the smoke.

[Vinalo]

Likewise, the appearance of a stranger suddenly had Vinalo reaching for their wand. His reveal and Blue's reaction put their mind at ease, however.

“Won't complain about another friendly face at a time like this,” they said. “Any help'll be useful if we're going to get to the bottom of this.”

[Tretesta]

“Fastest way down, and I didn't try to hide myself. Please drop the titles for now. 'Tret' will do in the field.” Tretesta approached the nearby downed frog and pulled his arrows from its head. Inspecting and keeping one that seemed usable again, he gestured the same direction as Vinalo had before with it “You are right. And there's nothing out here worth this much damage except to the north. Find them, capture, and interrogate. I've only seen fire and heard the sylphs yelling, Blue. The bastards cannot be hard to find, though. Watch animals running, go towards their danger.”

[Blue]

Blue nods slowly at Tret's direction. Made sense to follow where the beasts were running away from but the woman wasn't looking forward to seeing even more strife.

[Luna]

Luna rubs her temple at Tret's technically correct but still reckless words before turning to the available paths. She regards each for a moment before turning back to her companions. “So we are availed of two choices. One is filled with… living plants, I suppose. Doused with flame and liable to cause us grief should they bump into us much like the gnats or toads. But the other… There is something about that clearing.” She points to the second path. “Surely it is not deeper within, and yet it is so… specific. As if it would yield something to us, but what I do not know.”

[Vinalo]

“Any path north’ll eventually lead to the Sylphlands. Just a matter of what we’re willing to deal with on the way there,” Vinalo states to the group. They looked in the direction Luna was pointing. “Hopefully whichever we take would slow us down the least, but… we won’t know until we try, I reckon.”

[Tretesta]

“It's sylphs. Has to be, and a trap for any more trouble makers down that way.” The recovered arrow was pointed down towards the winding path, then returned to Trets quiver. ” Let the sylphs protect their choke. There will be grief either way, Luna. I say we relieve some of it, and spare the rest of the shroud before those creatures rampage out to the Solace and Hawthorne. Or deeper.“

[Blue]

Blue pondered a moment with the rest of them. “Strange clearing or flaming plant parade…” She shrugs her shoulders. “I'd go for the clearing I think. There's nothing…too ominous about it, though the Sylphs do tend to prefer being invisible when they cast their mischief…”

[Luna]

The knightess pauses, considering. “Pardon, but they become invisible do they? So that clearing could very well be absolutely filled with them. That is… unfortunate.” she says, exhaling. “I am more inclined to make use of the path where I can see what I am dealing with, to be quite honest.”

[Vinalo]

“I think I agree with Tret. No matter which way we go, we’re going to run into problems. If the clearing is a Sylph trap, then at best we’re gonna have to try to talk our way out of it with tempered ones,” they said, looking back at the winding trail. “Can’t much even talk to burning leafkin, but slowing them down could help the Shroud and we’d still be going forward.”

The Lalafell sighed. “Choice between two bad options, I suppose.”

[Tretesta]

Tret was done with decision making. Possibly knowing the forests better than the rest of the party, he struck out towards the path of flaming plantkin. He drew an arrow to lay on string and pulled his cloth covering back over the lower half of his face, ready for an encounter as he approached the danger zone. “Let's make this clean and quick if we can. Don't let them run far, or we're in more trouble.”

[Luna]

Ishgardian steel finds itself drawn as Luna follows suit, heading down the path towards hot salad. She fights to put down the frenzied creatures as well as one might expect a trained knight from half a continent away to do - that is to say effective but not overly so. Without more familiarity in combatting such things, her work could be better.

[Blue]

Blue clicked her tongue and followed after both Tret and Luna. They did have a point when it came to facing enemies that were clearly visible- and on fiyah. “Let's go Vinalo, before they clear out the entire area!”

[Vinalo]

Vinalo watched Luna spring into action, clearing a way for the group. They readied their wand and followed Blue down the path, keeping watch for any stray vines that may come their way. Though swift steel might be more efficient, the Lalafell knew enough ways to stop a treant’s assault if need be.

[Tretesta]

Tret stepped aside as Luna went in swinging, hanging back with Vinalo in the general saftey of ranged attack distance. He sought to pick off stragglers that were escaping the snowy weed eater. This was not so well done, aim hindered by thick foliage and erratic movements.

Grumbling, Tretesta left the healer's side and called out as he approached the two ladies “We either need to extinguish or put them down. Anything to keep the flames contained!” Tret yelled out as he was struck by a flailing tendril. He turned the bow on the ochu and fired point blank at the center of the creatures flower, easing its pain instantly. Immediately after, the archer patted smoldering embers on his gear to keep from catching fire himself. “Do not let them get away.”

[Blue]

Blue didn't want to downright kill the creatures before her, a bleeding heart when it came even to the plantlike beasts, but they were already suffering…and a swift, painless death was the better way. The Au Ri observes Tret as he aims for the flowers of the beasts, reluctantly taking her claws and picking at the ochus that scurried past them, driving her talons into the center of those flowers with a flick and a twist. It was relatively effective if not brutal, torn flowers, stamens, and leaves sent flying. Blue bit her lip, took a breath, just had to keep thinking it was for the best, no more suffering..

[Vinalo]

The rest of the party’s assaults against the leafkin made enough of a path that they hadn’t needed to join in. The Lalafell might’ve been able to douse at least some of the flames, but a swift end to the creatures too far gone is enough given the circumstances.

“We should have a clear path to the Sylphlands from here. The bridge is just-“

The sight of the destroyed bridge and desecrated totem stopped Vinalo dead in their tracks. Their eyes widened at the pile of corpses and their mind started racing on what these invaders were trying to accomplish. The tempered ones could be violent and dangerous, but they kept to their own most the time. Sylphs didn’t deserve this.

“This… this is just too much! Don’t they understand that the Sylphs’ll attempt a summoning at this rate!? Or do they think they can slaughter them all beforehand?” Vinalo asked in quick succession. They turned to the others. “They have to be stopped!”

Vinalo then looked back at the ravine, trying to think of both a way across and hoping they have the strength to stop the invaders if they find them.

[Luna]

Luna finishes her weed whackering business while Vinalo examines the totems, wiping some of the plant viscera off her face with a cloth and stowing their blade. Hearing the rise in Vinalo's voice, she steps up to the Lalafell and examines the scene herself. “A… summoning? Surely you do not mean a primal? That would be quite dire…” she muses. “By the Twelve…” she says under her breath on closer examination. “Vinalo, can this one be helped yet?” she asks, gesturing to the pinned sylph as she reaches to pull out the dagger.

[Tretesta]

“Perhaps they want a summoning.” Tret stated simply as he brought up the rearguard. “It doesn't matter. They will be dealt with, mercilessly.” Stowing his bow and ignoring the grisly sight on the totem , he approached the spot where a bridge once lay. Taking a few moments to size up the gap and then shake his head, he'd wander off in search of some vines.

Returning a short while later, Tret had found a few lengths of unburned vine that he was knotting together, stopping at the gorge edge to finish and then tie and end to one of his carried flat knives “Most I could find. Blue or I can make this jump. Vinalo, either of us could carry you across. Luna, you may want this vine, given your armor.”

Testing the wrap on the short blade, Tret gave the vine an experimental spin. Happy enough, he'd fling the blade end out as a weighted end, jerking the makeshift rope mid flight so that it wrapped around a far totem. Tret tested the hold by leaning his weight back on the rope, then turned to the group and nodded. “Safe enough.”

[Blue]

Blue stayed back further away from the totems, her hands clenched and body tense upon spying the dead sylphs. “How could they do this..such senseless violence..” After a moment's hesitation, she drew closer to the scene, just as Luna pulled the dagger from the Sylph. The Sylph who was alive, albeit but barely.

Blue would kneel by the creature as Tret set off to forage for some vines, placing her head over where she thought the sylph's heart might be. “Just barely beating..” She murmurs. “Must have been stuck there for a while..”

She looks up at Tret as he returns with the vines and a plan of action to get across the way. Blue nods. “I'm a wee bit on the short side, but I think I should be able to make it across..”

[Luna]

The woman looks at the proffered vine, an eyebrow raised. “Are you suggesting I swing upon this foliage to cross the gap? Surely there…” She sighs, rubbing her temples profusely. “Oh dear…”

[Vinalo]

Vinalo goes to the fallen Sylph after Blue steps away from it, responding to Tret’s return. They kneel down in front of the wounded one and lower their voice to barely above whisper.

“I don’t know if you can hear me, but I’m sorry they did this to you, truly. We have to keep moving, but… I’ll do what I can.”

The healer held a hand over the Sylph, closing their eyes. A spiral of golden light spread over the wounded one, a quick and imprecise wave of healing. ‘It’ll have to do for now,’ Vinalo thought. They sighed and turned their attention back to the group.

Vinalo tenses up hearing Tret’s suggestion of being carried across the ravine, realizing what that’d entail. Normally they’d object to being gripped like that, let alone carried, but given the direness of the situation, they just took a deep breath and grit their teeth.

“Whoever thinks they can… carry me the easiest, I’ll go along with it,” they said a bit nervously. “Getting across to the other side is more important right now.”

[Tretesta]

Tret rose up and dusted his knees off, shaking his head at Luna “Swing? No. Rappel, Luna. Unless you think you can clear the gap on your own.” He approached Vinalo and knelt down “I know you hate this. I am sorry.” He offered his only smile of the evening, then snatched up the lalafel, cradling them against his chest. He'd turn and take off towards the gap, careful not to jostle Vinalo too much as they approached. With a small “Hup!” Tret and Vinalo were airborne, hitting the other side easily at a jog, keeping them both upright as they circled around.

Coming to a stop, Tret would deposit the healer gently upon the grass and approach the gap, offering a hand out “Alright Blue! You're up, Lovely. Easy jump, its not as far as it looks! And I've got you if its short!” He looked back over his shoulder, calling back as he steadied his assist pose “Vinalo, Cover me. Yell if something is coming.”

[Vinalo]

Vinalo nods to Tret, a look of appreciation for their concern. They brace themself as they’re hoisted up and held tight for the jump. They’ve never been afraid of heights, but this would be the first time they’ve been carried across a ravine like this.

Upon landing on the other side and being put down, the Lalafell let out a sigh of relief at how cleanly Tret made the jump. Being on their own feet again also helped. They took their wand back out, ready to keep watch on Tret’s word.

“Just make sure they make it across! I’ll make sure nothing gets past here!”

[Blue]

Blue watched Tret and Vinalo make the jump without too much issue, breathing a sigh of relief once they reached the other side. Certain that she could make the jump as well, The Au Ri backs up a few steps before taking a running start, launching herself up and across the ravine and choosing to take Tret's hand to help stabilize herself upon landing. “Phew…that wasn't as bad as I thought.” She looked back to Luna with a smile. “You're next!”

[Luna]

Maybe it was the minor smoke inhalation from earlier that clouded her mind, or perhaps it was the fact that her training in rappelling up the mountainside of Coerthas was nearly 2 decades behind her, who could say. But she picked up the ad hoc rope and semi-confidently stepped off the edge of the broken bridge, gliding about as majestically as a 160 ponze knight could held up by a creatively tethered vine would allow. As she nears the other cliff-side, she takes out her blade and plunges it into the hardened dirt face, and her right foot finds some slight purchase. However, as soon as she goes to tug on the vine and begin climbing, she finds that perhaps she over-estimated the strength of the hold, and the knife wrapped in vine cartoonishly flies out of it's prior spot and falls past her, bringing the remainder of the vine with it into the strangely everlong depths below.

“Oh dear…” she lets out, watching her connection to the group disappear. She looks up as best she can, seeing the edge of the broken bridge. Her hold in the dirt wall with her sword and one foot thankfully remains firm, for the most part. “It would appear I could use a hand!” she calls up.

[Tretesta]

Tret throws himself backwards as his knife goes whipping past his face, then he scrambles to the edge, pulling his bow off his back and reaching it down towards Luna “Poyas in… Grab on and I'll haul you up! Blue! Don't let me slip in!” He kept both hands on his bowshaft, not about to let this slip out and into the abyss. He was rather fond of this bow. Oh, and Luna was alright too.

[Blue]

Blue's eyes widen as she watches the knife plummet downwards into the abyss, leaving Luna all by her lonesome on the cliffside. She grabs hold of Tret, fingers clenching around his ankles on the off chance that hoisting Luna up is gonna require some extra pulling on her end as well.

[Luna]

Carefully does Luna use her implanted blade to pull herself up a bit before grabbing the bow with her left hand. She grabs the sword with her right and jerks it out of the dirt wall, sheathing it and grabbing the bow now with both hands, trying to brace her feet against the dirt wall for extra power.

[Tretesta]

Tret pulled the bow and the knight up the cliff slowly, releasing as he passed the halfway point to quickly grab her wrist with his left hand. With a much more secure grip, hopefully aided by Luna taking his wrist as well, Tret would help Luna up the edge of the ravine, the sound of commotion finally coming into focus. Ensuring Luna was able to get to her feet again, Tret would scramble to his own, turning his bow towards the noise

[Luna]

As she crosses the threshold of where dirt meets literally nothingness, she feels her body jolt as her wrist is grabbed. There is a slight hesitation before she grabs the man's back in return, being pulled to a standing position now on terra firma. “My thanks. I know not where that chasm leads, and I have no desire to find out.” she says, quickly letting go of Tret's wrist as the noise grows louder and closer. She draws her blade and pulls the shield off her back now, moving out to the front of the group, ready to defend against whatever the forest would throw at them hopefully.

[Vinalo]

Vinalo continues keeping watch, hearing something in the distance. Their attention is only taken away by the commotion behind them. They glance back just in time to see Luna being pulled up to safety and let out a quiet ‘whew.’

“No time to rest, I reckon!”

[Blue]

Blue thankfully had enough time to register this immediate threat. The goobue was surprisingly quite fast- but still couldn't beat the woman's own dexterity. As she was leapt at, beastly arms sweeping downwards, Blue used her claws to snag onto the goobue's shoulder, swinging herself up and onto the very hot beast before using its bulk as a springboard to land safely on the ground a distance away. Shame the beast was on fire and Blue's clothing was quite flameable, else she would have lingered for longer!

[Tretesta]

Well, this was a much bigger problem than he had hoped for. Seeing Blue not have much luck with piercing the gobbue hide, Tret called to the group “Putting this one out may be easier than trying to kill it! Can any of us get some water or dirt on its back?” Arrow was laid to string, and Tret circled the beast, more on guard to try and get out of the path of destruction if it turned on him

[Luna]

Watching the creature try to smash her companions, Luna moves forward and around the Goobue, now standing opposite the group on the other side of the beast. She looks up at blazing creature and raises her shield high, hitting her sword against it loudly in an attempt to draw the Goobue's attention. “As Sir Tretesta says, we must needs douse it! I will keep it distracted as best I can!”

[Blue]

The goobue snorts and swings its bulk around towards Luna upon hearing the banging of sword to shield. With a low, threatening growl it runs at the knightess and charges flame-ridden headfirst for her.

[Vinalo]

Seeing the burning goobbue distracted by Luna, Vinalo takes the opportunity to try and douse its flames. ‘Nice and simple,’ they though to themself. They gestured with their wand, swirls of aether gathering at its tip. Unfortunately, just as they were about to send forth a flurry of watery orbs towards the goobbue, a small spray of embers from some nearby burning foliage was carried on the wind right into the Lalafell.

“Gah!” they yelled out, reflexively covering their face with their arms. Their robe was fairly resistant to burning, but their skin sure wasn’t.

Though the water orbs still fired off, the aim was ruined by the untimely distraction. Most missed their target entirely, possibly hitting some other burning thing in the distance, while maybe one or two splashed into the goobbue’s leg, barely doing more than making it rather wet.

Vinalo rapidly patted down their body, making sure they weren’t next to catch fire. After brushing away any remaining embers, they looked back at the results of the failed attack. Furrowing their brow and grumbling under their breath, they readied their wand again, hoping for another opening.

[Tretesta]

Seeing a ball of water go wizzing off into the treeline, Tret turns to watch Vinalo scramble to keep from catching flame. With a quiet word to himself, He rushed to the side of the caster and stood ready “Try again. As much as you can to put it out. Luna can keep its attention, I'll guard against anything else.” Tret circled around behind Vinalo, watching area around them with the occasional glance at the Gobbue to ensure the two of them werent suddenly in smash range.

[Blue]

Blue, now safely -not- the target of the goobue's rage, makes for the treeline, looking for a tree that wasn't yet in flames and close enough to Luna. If the idea was to douse the flames off the beast, there was no telling if that would immediately calm it down. If it didn't, the lil Au Ri fully planned to hop onto its head and attempt to direct it away from both her friends and the flames. She hears the water splatter behind her and turns around…to see that none of it ended up on the flaming parts of the goobue. Aww. “I believe in you Vinalo!” She'd call out to her friend, hopefully that and Tret's protection would be enough to help them cast again!

[Vinalo]

“As much as I can put out, huh?” they asked Tret as he took a defensive position around the Lalafell. Vinalo brought their wand closer to their body and took a deep breath, mumbling something. They closed their eyes, face full of determination. “Get ready! I won’t be missing this time!”

While concentrating in this position, someone paying attention might notice the air around Vinalo visibly rippling and distorting. Like before, aether started gathering. This time was different, though. Instead of slow and gentle swirls, rapidly moving streaks of aether arced around Vinalo’s arm all the way to their wand.

Suddenly, in one swift motion, Vinalo planted their back heel into the ground and swung their wand arm out in a wide arc in front of them. At the same time, their eyes snapped open, a glow visible to the very observant onlooker. Instead of a scattering of watery orbs, several blasts of rapidly flowing water arced through the air at high speed, heading right towards the goobbue’s burning top. Each arc would crash into the goobbue with enough force to nearly smother the flames through the impact alone. Anyone nearby would probably get rather wet, too.

Vinalo lowered their wand as the glow faded from their eyes and the remaining aether dissipated. They exhaled, looking back up at Tret. The Lalafell didn’t say anything but just gave him a look that read, ‘How was that?’

[Luna]

Meanwhile, Luna was deeply concentrated at the funtime game of dodge the gigantic frenzied monster, something she had ample training in. A dopey mossy lump of flesh was ever-easier to deal with than a millenia-raging wyvern, after all! She continues to drum her shield and evade as best she could, using her shield to deflect lesser strikes and outright moving out of the way of the heavier ones. “You dare cross the Shield of Ishgard, beast!? You know not what would befall you were you not so pitiable!” she yells at it, making sure to remain nice and loud and in it's face audibly.

[Blue]

Blue wasn't going to take any chances with the Goobue. Figuring that she really didn't need to aggravate it further with her claws, she locates a nearby tree, scrambling up it like a lizard and swinging herself up and onto the moss giant's head. Uncertain of what exactly to do from here, the Au Ri just..pets the Goobue gently, clucking at it as if it were a chocobo. While it doesn't look like the Au Ri has total control of the beast, she does manage to gently guide it to an area of the woods not engulfed in flame, at least for a time. Blue breathes a sigh of relief and calls out to Tret in gentle jest, “Think we should start taking in goobue mounts back at the stable?”

[Tretesta]

Tret would breathe a sigh of relief as the rampage ceased, looking down at Vinalo's smug eyes and giving them a nod “Excellent work.” He would take the moment of victory to relax, returning arrow to quiver and leaning lightly on his bow. He raised a thumbs up to Blue and was about to hail Luna before the voice was heard.

Like a shot, he was on guard again and produced another flat knife from his belt. Holding the blade by the tip and spinning about slowly, he stopped and concentrated on one spot for a few moments. Quite fed up with the delays, he barked out at the voice “Point where the hooded ones or don't. But leave. We are going to continue through here whether you like it or not. And take the gobbue with you!” the man seemed to adjust slightly, raising and lowering the blade, head turning about gently towards the empty space

[Luna]

Perhaps having readied herself for some sort of attack, Luna quickly found herself covered in Goobue sneeze juice. She stands there and blinks a few times, quite surprised to find the creature's 'offense' much more tame than expected. She would be needing a long bath as soon as she got home, surely. She lets out a long exhale and resigns herself to wiping off her face with her cloth as best she can after stowing her shield. She turns instinctively towards the voice as it sounds, blade held out like a torch.

[Vinalo]

Tret’s response made Vinalo think they gave the wrong impression but was happy their attack struck true this time. A loud snorking sound quickly caught their attention, and they turned back to the goobbue just in time to see Luna get covered in a layer of mucus. Even with the direness of the situation as a whole, they couldn’t help but chuckle just a bit. A moment of levity was refreshing at a time like this.

Vinalo was about to stow their wand for the time being, but the voice calling out to the group gave them pause. They opened their mouth to say something in return, but Tret’s quick and aggressive response cut them off.

“Erm… I don’t think that kind of tone’s going to help much,” they said to Tret. “We’re still in their lands, and the invaders’ve given them even less reason to trust ‘walking ones’.”

[Blue]

[Vinalo]

The Lalafell watched as the Sylph made themself visible and gave their defeated-sounding explanation. And warning.

“Things really are that dire, then,” Vinalo lamented. “And they are going to summon Ramuh if the invaders aren’t stopped, just like I was afraid of.”

As the Sylph led the goobbue away, they looked ahead and saw that there wasn’t any question on which way the invaders went.

[Tretesta]

Standing up straight at the Slyph departs, Tret returns the knife to his belt and takes up his bow again, staring at the tracks and their direction “Good they aren't trying to hide their route. Let's try and get there before the God, then. I demand satisfaction…” He turned back to look at the others, pausing at Luna and her… mess… for a few moments. Hatred burned in his eyes alongside reflections of flame. “I hope we're ready for a challenge. This is going to get far worse before it gets better. No mercy, No quarter.” Arrow was set to string again, and Tret advanced down a series of winding paths to the north and east.

[Luna]

Having sufficiently cleaned her face off, Luna breathes in fully and nods, beginning to follow the others with her sword held out, now drawing her shield once more and trying to take a defensive posture. “Ramuh? I am to assume that is the local primal, then. That would be incredibly dire indeed, as I do not believe any of us capable of combatting such a monstrosity. Should a summoning occur, we must flee regardless of the status of these Sylphs. We will do no good dead, or worse…” While her face could not be seen as she was alert for threats, her tone was deadly serious.

[Blue]

Blue frowned at the Sylphs words, shaking her head softly. “We're just between a rock and a hard place at this point. But facing the intruders would be so much easier than facing essentially a god..right?” She pursed her lips, staring off after the retreating sylph and goobue before looking up and seeing that Tret and Luna were already making headway further in. She shrugged at Vinalo and followed after them.

[Vinalo]

Vinalo sighed and returned Blue’s shrug, following after her as the group headed into the Sylphlands proper.

“From what I’ve heard, Ramuh is one of the, erm… ‘kinder’ primals. But if he comes to deal with the intruders here, we’d have no chance. Could kill or temper us,” they said, voice dropping on those last words. “And I don’t intend to die or lose myself here. Not after everything I’ve done now.”

[Tretesta]

Tret slowed and then stopped, looking back at the group behind him. He spoke quietly to himself as they caught up, then aloud once they were close enough “The hell am i doing? Stay back and guard Vinalo… Luna, Take point here. Keep along this path and we'll find the seed bed. I'll cover the rear and make sure we don't get ambushed by Sylphs who want to be a hero…”

Tretesta let Luna run by, then took up pace with Blue as they ventured deeper and deeper. With a weary sigh, he confided “Its the Tree all over again. Setting fire to a place we call home. This time, someone answers for it.” He turned, mid run, to jog backwards and watch the path behind them as he said he would.

[Luna]

Asking Luna to be the pointman and guardian was a comfortable fit, and she takes up the front of the group readily. She continues on her path, towards the distant noise and the glow of presumed flame. She stays alert, looking around with her shield raised and sword at the ready, making sure not to advance too far ahead of the group.

[Vinalo]

Hearing Tret’s words, Vinalo gave him a small nod as he took the rear defensive point behind them. They kept their wand at ready, knowing that even if it was quiet now, it wouldn’t stay that way for long.

[Blue]

Blue looks up as Tret falls back to her side, warm smile flickering into a frown at his mention. The Tree…She bites her lip but snaps out of it quickly enough, patting at his arm as if in reassurance before he darts off to the rear.”We'll get them dear-“ She murmurs, more to herself than anything else, before following swiftly after Luna and letting the two behind her keep guard.

[Luna]

Though unable to be seen by her companions, Luna furrows her brow at the chaos beginning to unfold. This was what her training was for, to keep her focused in the midst of war. “I like not the look of their cargo… Crystals, surely for summoning as you have said.” she relays to the group. There is a pause as they continue their advance before she speaks again. “Should their machinations come to fruition, you shall flee immediately. I will do what must needs be done to slow their pursuit.”

[Vinalo]

Vinalo also gazed up at the various Sylphs’ cargo runs. Even before Luna spoke, they knew exactly what the tempered ones were preparing for. They could hardly blame them; Ramuh could certainly stop this entire mess in its tracks. But with this kind of provocation, would he stop there?

‘I’m not a hero,’ they thought to themself, ‘but I guess I might have to play one this time.’

They took a deep breath, again noting how well the earlier enchantment had worked. Vinalo looked ahead at the burning path across the bridge and tried to muster up a bit of their usual optimism.

“None of us are dying today, okay? We’ll stop the invaders, and show the Sylphs they don’t need to do a summoning,” they said to the group, pausing for just a moment. “We have to.”

[Tretesta]

“ No martyr talk up there! We're out here for a murder, Luna!” Tret raised his eyes to the skies to watch the sylphs hauling crystals. Then, down to the earth, seeing 4 sets of hooves drop to one.He stopped and dropped down, checking the area and cursing under his breath. Realizing he was lagging, Tret got up and sprinted back to the group, staring at the bridge ahead of them. He gently pushed past Luna, hooking his bow behind himself and drawing another knife “Good news. Only one is still here…” Caution to the wind and without the same enchantment the others had, Tret charged forward into the smoke, holding his breath and closing his eyes. He dove through to the hopeful safety of the other side, rolling across the ground to out out the fire his clothes had caught from misteps through the smoke.

[Blue]

Blue tensed at Luna's words and Vinalo's resolve. “We're pretty deep in the Sylphlands at this point- will running even be an option if we're too late?” She shook her head, trying to also shake off her worries. There was a lot riding upon whether they could take on this unseen invader. She took a breath and cast her gaze out into the smoke.

The Au Ri was growing more wary of the flames, and though the enchantment gave Luna, Vinalo, and herself the ability to breath through the fumes, it was still rough to move around an area that could barely be seen. She didn't know how Tret was going to manage being in so stifling a place for very long without an enchantment on himself, but the woman knew the hyur wasn't going to complain about it. She'd carefully step through, earfins flicking, trying to take note of the slightest crackle or pop of her surroundings so as to not accidentally trip over something…or someone. “Vinalo! Any way you can use some gust on this smoke again? At least so we get our bearings before we fall down a pit or into a fire..”

[Luna]

Had Luna not been so focused on being the point guard, she might have objected to her companions complaints about martyrdom, but instead she continues walking, now moving through the smoke blessedly with unhindered breathing. However, she finds her feet catching on rigid yet softish lumps on the ground. She does not stumble or trip, but she does look down each time she does to find the macabre vision of dead Sylph, bereft of wing. It only strengthens her resolve to help, but it does also slightly unnerve her. “Pray watch your feet, there is… the very countenance of death upon us…”

[Vinalo]

The Lalafell gave an affirming nod to Blue and raised their wand again. A moment of concentration and Vinalo sent out a burst of wind directly ahead of them. Unfortunately, the sheer density of the smoke was simply too much, and any exposed ground was very quickly obscured by smoke rushing in to fill it in. Vinalo let out an annoyed groan.

“Just too much smoke to clear away like that,” they said. “If I had more… time or such, maybe I could. But we really don’t have much of that right now.”

[Tretesta]

Coughing, Tret got to his feet, reaching up with his free hand to check his mouth and nose covering, wipe his eyes, then arm up with a second knife held by the tip. He then lightly turned over a few of the corpses on the ground with his boot. Tret shook his head solemnly and looked up into the clearing, squinting his eyes against the haze. Quite done with the hunt, he yelled, “Alright, you Bastard! Show yourself and throw down your weapons and we'll only turn you over to the Adders! Don't make me find you in here!”

[Vinalo]

Vinalo heard the genuine rage in Tret’s voice and themself felt a smoldering anger at the needless death and destruction the group found themselves surrounded by. They’ve seen plenty of terrible wounds and death in their line of work, but this was a massacre.

Being closer to the ground, they were able to get rather clear look at the corpses. Squinting a bit at one of them, Vinalo tilted their head and couldn’t help but notice something odd.

“The Sylphs’ bodies… the wings’ve been torn off,” they say, moving to another body. “Same with this one. What’s going on here?”

Vinalo looked ahead to where Tret pointed his anger, wondering just what kind of answers they were going to get.

[Blue]

Blue was horrified, stiffening the moment she too near accidentally tripped on a small body while moving through the smoke. The group was too far in now- and she too could feel a heat forming in her chest. Nothing, no one deserved this! She growls. “They'll pay…whoever they are..” Fins flicking still at the sounds of Sylphs calling upon their own. Likely some of them were before them now, never able to answer again.

[Luna]

Luna pauses upon the scene before her, taking it in. “Whoever is doing this must still be nearby. We must make haste.” She quickly turns and begins proceeding down the pathway, shield raised. As she enters the path proper, she slows down to allow her companions to follow while still maintaining a distance ahead, in hopes of intercepting anything before it could get to the rest.

[Tretesta]

Tret relaxed himself slightly when no one answered his challenge, then looked back at Blue and Vinalo. Whether they took off immediately or paused for whatever reason, he would remain still for a few beats before bringing up the rear again, as if expecting something to happen. But nothing did, other than the continued burning of forest around them.

[Vinalo]

The Lalafell grimaced seeing the lamps fall into yet another source of flame. They slowly followed along with the group, wand at ready. Vinalo wasn’t familiar with the deepest parts of the Sylphlands, but the narrowing of the path ahead gave them the feeling that they’d be confronting whoever started this. ‘We have to stop this. We have to,’ they thought to themselves, bracing for whatever was ahead.

[Blue]

Blue followed the group, bringing her hands up to her earfins at the loud explosions ahead of them. She grit her teeth. Not much longer, surely. Though she too had never traversed the Sylphlands, the layout of the land all but promised one thing- there wasn't much farther to go.

---

---

---

[Luna]

Upon entering the area and spying the man, Luna takes a position not far from the man, shield held out and readied. She watched as the man took a chomp out of a Sylph and tossed it aside, pushing a foot out slightly to sturdy her stance. “Are you the source of these flames then?” she asks, working to keep her nerve and not burst forth rage at what was clearly the cause of all the suffering. “Why have you brought forth such destruction?” she adds, her brows furrowed but her tone strong and neutral for now.

[Vinalo]

By the time Vinalo got a clear view of the giant man and his beast, Luna was already in a defensive position and demanding answers. Was this the source of all the killing, the burning? And all for food? How could they? The questions were burning in Vinalo’s mind as they kept a safe distance behind Luna. Whatever was about to happen, standing up front would not be a good idea. The healer grits their teeth, kept their wand at ready, and waited for the next move to play out.

[Tretesta]

Tret rushed into the beds with bow drawn, overtaking Blue and Vinalo as their quarry was spied. As the humanoid turned, Tret wasted no time and slid to a stop beside Luna in the loam. As he came in, he drew back a thin headed arrow and loosed it at the center mass of the man. Shoot first, ask questions never.

[Vinalo]

They didn’t have to wait long. Right as they watched Tret dash in for an assault, before the arrow was let loose, time seemed to slow down. They felt a tingle in the back of their mind. A horrible tone, discordant and stifling. Could it be…?

[Blue]

Blue was not prepared for the sight ahead of them, wincing and clearly unnerved by the giant man and his beast of burden. She clenches her fists though, sidestepping Tret as he quickly passed her and Vinalo to send an arrow out, no questions asked.

[Luna]

Though the woman lacks in personal agility, she is more than ready for such an attack. She brings her shield up to intercept the man's strike readily, angling it so that the axe is deflected to the side of her. Opting to forgo direct retaliation, she instead moves around the side of the man and grab him from behind, snaking her arms around his to attempt to hold back any offense he might attempt.

[Tretesta]

Tret's rage blinded him as he tunneled in on the Roegadyn, and left him wide open to be engulfed in the flames of the charging steed. He would disappear from view for but a moment, but as the flames died off, the man was found face down in the dirt, hands over the back of his head. He was smoking as the horse abomination approached, some of his clothes smoldering or outright caught flame. Finally he stirred once he was sure the fire was done, rolling on the ground for this current round despite clear and present danger looming

[Blue]

Blue gasps out as she sees Tret engulfed in flame, the sight striking a delicate nerve with the Au Ri who stood stock still even in spite of the danger, her gaze cast out the hyur with worry. It's only when she sees him roll around that the woman can breath again and looked up at the beast running towards the trio. She'd place herself in front of the hyur, claws at the ready, a growl escaping her lips. If the beast made towards Tret, she'd make it pay.

[Vinalo]

The tingle was a strong pulse now. There was no mistaking this feeling, one that Vinalo’s dealt with it before: the vile presence of Voidsent. This was beyond any uncaring mercenary looking to make some gil. They had to warn everyone, quickly.

But there was hardly any time to. In what seemed like a split second, the giant man and the beast attacked the group. They gasped as Tret was engulfed in flames, only making their move once the fire had passed and they saw him rolling on the ground trying to put out his ignited clothing. A quick glance back at Luna saw her holding her own at the moment, so this would have to be the priority.

“This’ll just be a moment, Tret! Hold on!” they yelled, swinging their wand out. After just a brief moment of concentration, a large and unfocused splash of water would be dumped on Tret, enough to put out any lingering flames.

Vinalo held position as Blue jumped between Tret and the fire-breathing beast, wand still at ready. This was a good time as any to try get a word in.

“This man and his beast reek of the Void!” they yelled out to the group, hoping they all could still hear them. “We can’t afford to hold anything back!”

[Blue]

Blue stares down the oncoming monstrosity. She doesn't have the strength to keep the horse from running them both over, and instead pounces at the creature as it draws near, utilizing her talons to hook into its spines and swing herself up and onto the monster's saddle, the only part of it not covered in wicked points. Unfortunately, this void beast was unlike any chocobo or goobue, and the Au Ri on the saddle seemed to have made it all the angrier as it jumps in the air, intent on stomping down on Tretesta, Blue clinging on for dear life.

[Luna]

The knightess continues her hold over the man, though she does struggle a bit. She finds herself surprised when the man goes limp, and feels the rush of the incoming darkness, only barely managing to avoid the wings despite being effectively immobilized. She tightens her grip on the man, hoping to find the spare dexterity to use her sword and plunge it into the man but can not manage to do so and quickly stops trying before she loses her grip on both the man and her blade. Though she wishes to protest the man's question, she decides it would be better to ignore it altogether.

[Tretesta]

Tret rolls clear of the reared horse beast and void winds, glad to be rid of the fire between his time in the dirt and Vinalo's help. He got up to his feet and drew knives again, his bow a casualty of the flames. Reverse gripped on both blades, he leaves Blue to tame the wyld stallion and jumps at the larger man to try and pierce his armor with the blades while Luna had him held

[Vinalo]

Vinalo felt the wave of darkness coming, and the defiled wings that came with it. Luckily, their Lalafellin frame made them a smaller target. After narrowly dodging several of the shadowy wings, they got their bearings and tried to assess the situation. With the giant man bound by Luna and Tret making another assault, Vinalo realized that Blue could really use some help with the raging horse beast. At the rate this was going, it was only a matter of time before the Auri woman was flung off the back of the beast and it’d be free to trample or incinerate someone else. ‘I have to make this quick,’ they thought to themself.

Instead of holding it close, Vinalo pointed the wand skyward and closed their eyes. The air around Vinalo seemed to visibly distort and ripple as they concentrated, streaks of aether swirling around the wand. The conjurer suddenly swung their wand downward at the ground. Nothing seemed to happen at first, but after a moment the very rock and soil underneath the bucking beast shot upward in an attempt to pin its hooves to the ground, giving Blue some much-needed stability.

“I’ll try and hold it best I can! Try and make whatever you can do count!” they yelled; voice somewhat strained. Vinalo dug their heels in and held the pose, hoping Blue could take advantage of however much time they’ve given her.

[Blue]

Blue was doing the best she could given the bucking horse beneath her, the hooks of her weapons surprisingly good at latching onto the creature more than her hands could. Thankfully the movements of the beast actually helped the woman avoid the onslaught of wings swooping in at her.

Blue flicks an earfin at Vinalo's words now that the beast has been pinned, nodding and briefly looking over the dark beast before her. Everywhere was spikes and scales and even more spikes. Where to even start? She knows she doesn't have any time to muse on it and juts her claws into the beast's armored shoulder blades.  She blinks when the scales and spikes almost immediately crack and crumble under her weapon's onslaught- this isn't armor?!?

Briefly transfixed on the sight, the Au Ri hesitates before plunging her talons into the vulnerable skin to deal what she figures would be a devastating blow to the horse.

[Luna]

Luna finds herself grabbed by the mysterious man, but she reacts quickly. She wedges her shield between her right side and the grabby hand and pries it off before taking her sword and ramming it through the man's hand as hard as she can, grabbing it with both hands and wrenching it outwards in an attempt to slice through the man's entire hand. She then repeats the shield wedge to remove the other hand should it remain and doing the same action to hopefully wound the man further, taking a step back from him and holding her shield up. “In the name of the Fury, you shall taste divine retribution for your crimes!” she shouts at the man, circling around to take up a defensive posture between the foe and her beleaguered comrades.

[Tretesta]

“OH GOD” Unceremoniously, Tret was hauled off his prey. Just as he was getting started too! The wild lashings only barely kept him out of reach of the fluttering wings, but were quickly making him ill. Having left his knives in the Roe, Tret struggled to draw out another with the wild swinging ride he was on. He finally succeeded and yelled out as he grappled the tentacle holding him and severed it with one good swing. Momentum did not stop however, but Tret turned over in the air to land on his feet with a skid. Keeping balance, he took off and ran at the horse, leaping at it and stabbing at its face

[Vinalo]

Successfully pinning the horse beast to the ground was expected. What Vinalo did not expect was a gelatinous tentacle to burst from its body and make its way towards them. Even more unexpected was how quickly they were able to react to the attack. The Lalafell managed to dive out of the way of the initial strike, and even leap away from the follow-up sweep.

Unfortunately, the defiled wings from earlier had themselves made another attempt on the group and one was already positioned to take advantage of Vinalo’s movements away from the tentacle. They felt its presence before even seeing it and tried desperately to angle their body to avoid it, but the momentum from dodging the tentacle was impossible to correct for in midair. Vinalo slammed right into one of the wings.

Upon actually landing, they quickly tried to stand upright, but a chill overtook their body and they dropped to their knees. Vinalo tried with all their might to fight it, but the most they could manage was keeping on all fours. ‘Not now. They need me!’ they thought to themselves, gritting their teeth and trying to move. The Lalafell could barely pick their head up enough to see how their companions were doing. The only comfort they had was that it seemed like the others managed to avoid the wings and were holding their own at the moment. Vinalo kept struggling against the foul void energies, trying in vain to force out the paralysis.

[Blue]

Blue tried to regain her focus, the Au Ri trapped to the void horse by means of the tentacle around her wrist. Tug and pull as she might, the tentacles weren't budging, leaving the woman half-braced against the beast's back as her free arm savagely swiped through scale, spine, and flesh. It was like the monster was molting, with all the bits of it being torn off at a rapid pace. Blue only hoped that she was actually doing damage to it with how much it screamed and writhed as if in pain. She still found herself trapped to the creature no matter how hard she tried, the tentacle at her wrist beginning to draw her inside.

[Luna]

Though her shield was held aloft like a divine aegis, it could not have been readied for a rearward assault. Her eyes deadset upon the newly degloved voidsent went wide as the two sharpened tentacles burst through her side and gut, causing her body to unnaturally jerk forward. She was knocked to the ground quickly there-after by the Horsebeast's body colliding with hers, her usual poise and grace completely rent by the attack, and her sword and shield clattered on the dirt. She lay crumpled on the ground, two veritable spaghetti knives still sticking through her body and pouring blood through the wounds.

[Tretesta]

Tret's eyes went wide with surprise as he was losing his knife, pulling his hands free and kicking off the beast before it could fire the knife back at him. Landing in the dirt again and trying to shake the slime off his hand, he looked to see how Luna was far- oh God who is he looking at? Tret followed the eyes to Vinalo, and took off at a run. As the spark was struck, Tret dove. He'd impact Vinalo with hands outstretched, but the hyur hesitated too long. In place of the Lalafel, Tret was engulfed in flame, Again, unable to get himself and the healer both clear.

[Vinalo]

Vinalo strained against the chilling paralysis, trying to possibly draw enough aether from the surroundings to help in any way. Fading, feeling, moving. Though the chill remained, the Lalafell’s limbs began to operate again, with Vinalo slowly getting to their feet. ‘Focus, focus!’ they thought. Their coordination and vision cleared just in time to watch Luna get speared by the horse beast and their mind began racing. Vinalo only had time to take a single step before a spark ignited underneath them.

There wasn’t enough time to dodge or counter the incoming fire. Vinalo swung both arms over their face in a desperate attempt to minimize damage. Right as the flames started to erupt below them, the Lalafell suddenly felt themself shoved hard (mostly) out of harm’s way. They skidded across the ground and only stopped when they slammed into one of the large roots that framed the walls of the Seedbed. Vinalo’s body jolted with pain. They staggered to their knees, shaky from both the impact and the void energies, and saw that Tret had again got themselves set on fire. This time in place of them.

“Tre-“ they tried to yell out, but they had trouble catching their breath and just coughed. “W-water. Th-there!” was all they could get out as they pointed an unsteady arm towards the center of the Seedbed. It would take a moment before they could get their bearings together enough to mount any meaningful response.

[Blue]

Blue had been along for the ride when the HorseBeast had chosen to target Luna, her attempts at freeing herself paused as the creature skewered the Knightess and flung itself into her with the full weight of its body. As it collided with Luna it would fall along with her, dropping to its knees and collapsing to the floor nearby, wheezing heavily. Ihe tentacles momentarily laxed enough for the Au Ri to pull herself free at least, bracing herself shakily against the saddle before slipping off, if only to find Luna near her feet. Numbed by the sight, Blue dropped down at the Knightess' side and wasted no time in cutting away at the tentacles with her claws, separating its connection to Luna. That still left the two strands actually inside and through the woman, which the Au Ri, on the verge of tears, was terrified to touch for fear of more bloodloss. ”…Luna..?” She calls to the woman shakily.

The Au Ri shudders, finally chancing a look back at her other companions if only to find her mate aflame and Vinalo crashing into the rooted wall of the Seedbed. Blue clenched her fists and felt the familiar calling from deep within the reaches of her soul. The temptation to give in and let it take over was fleeting but the Au Ri shook her head roughly. No, that'd make everything even worse! She couldn't put her friends in even more danger…she could change into other things…

[Luna]

Luna begins to stir, if only barely. Her hands flex against the dirt, pulling up a small pile of earth. Her breathing is labored but stable enough, and she is clearly trying to pull herself to her feet but simply cannot. Her fresh wounds mixed with the shocking impact by a strange creature seems to have left her stunned.

[Tretesta]

with flames licking at his back, carried on his clothing and singed hair, Tret lay still for a few moments after the rushing fire faded. Slowly but surely he pushed himself up off the ground, finally letting go of his breath and panting hard. With a soft thump, he flips himself over onto his back to smother the fire further. Tret lay another few beats then kipped back up to his feet, staggering a bit on landing. Still smoldering in several places, he drew another flat knife from his belt. He took a deep breath, and then he yelled. Yelled in pain. In rage. In pain again. He stepped forward and hurled the knife with the building anger of being set on fire twice, but would fall off mark of the center of the big eye being revealed while the body flew up.

[Vinalo]

Catching their breath and shaking off the chill, Vinalo manages to painfully stand back up and really take in the scene. Blue downed the horse beast? A small sigh of relief, but Luna was still seriously wounded and vulnerable on the ground. Tret’s scream of anger and pain caught their attention. The Lalafell didn’t even wait for him to throw his knife before looking up at the transformed void monstrosity coalescing above the group. It felt like a cacophony screaming into their mind. There was no time to spend carefully pondering the next move. They had to act now.

Vinalo started off in Luna and Blue’s direction, body aching with each stride. It was about then they realized they didn’t have their wand anymore. They quickly scanned the area, trying to feel out its location, but this yielded nothing. A quick parlor trick could’ve gotten it back to their hands, but Vinalo assumed that it was lost in the same fire that Tret saved them from. The conjurer would have to do without. They continued as fast as they could and came to a stop only when they reached Luna’s side and quickly started looking over the injury.

Two spines still dripping with void energies, pierced deeply into the torso. A cleansing and a healing at the same time. Delicate, but swift. Vinalo placed their hands directly around the wounds, careful not to touch the spines themselves.

“Blue! Tret! I need any cover you can give me!” they yelled over their shoulder. “This shouldn’t take too long, but I need just a bit of time!”

Vinalo turned back to the injured Luna and closed their eyes. Anyone close enough would feel a pulse of aether radiate inward. The skirt of their robe flared outward and Vinalo’s hands started glowing with bright golden light.

“Luna. I’m sorry, but this is really going to hurt,” they said quietly. Right after, Luna would feel a sensation akin to a pressure wash right into the wounds, forcing the void away and mending at the same time.

[Blue]

Blue looked shaken as she drew back from the Voidbeast, staring down at the ooze-covered weapons before sniffling once and looking back at Vinalo as they managed to make it over. At least the Horse Beast had finally fallen. She nodded at her friend's direction, and stood in front of the pair, ooze still dripping from her claws as she stared up at the Roe-thing hovering in the air. She'd cover them as best as she could manage.

[Luna]

Despite being effectively a Coerthan doormat only moments prior, the powerful heal from Vinalo causes her body to jolt to animation. She rolls over onto her back immediately, eyes wide and clutching at where the wounds had only been seconds ago. She grits her teeth hard enough that they almost begin to feel as if they would shatter. What could be modestly described as a Hurri-Pain of aether inside her raged on as she realized what was going on. She rolls over once more onto her stomach and slams her free hand into the dirt, slowly pushing herself to a stand.

She snatches up her fallen gear, turning to Vinalo for but a moment. “My thanks Ser Vinalo.” And then she is off. She rushes the now levitating Voidboi, her sword raised and held with both hands now, extended forward. As she closes the distance about as fast as a heavily armored Highlander can, shimmering aether begins to wrap around her blade. As she reaches the creature, she springs from the ground in a burst of bright aether, clearing just enough distance to reach it and plunge her sword into it's main body. As she does, the aether that had wrapped around it seemed to surge forward, as if using the blade as a conduit into the voidal creature.

[Tretesta]

Tret began to close the distance when Vinalo called, testing his ability to talk at first. Feeling confident in his footing, he began jogging to the trio, fishing for another knife. 6 left. Drawing his fifth, he cocked back and hurled another blade. Sorta. His confidence was mislaid, and Tret stumbled, knife going straight into the dirt in front of him. He knelt there for a while, breathing hard, then tearing off his gloves and his face covering. Luckily, it seemed Luna had cross classed second wind in addition to some extra healing, so he wasn't needed for healing cover quite as much. He could sit here and rest for a bit… What was the harm? Face hanging down towards the earth, he avoided 4/20 by sheer chance.

[Vinalo]

The healer continued applying the rapid cleansing and healing surge of aether to Luna’s wounds. Drive out the dark, mend the flesh, guide it to be whole again. The spines jutting out of her body would simply crumble and fade to nothing as the light continued to do its thing. While finishing up, Vinalo would feel something approach from the side. ‘No, not now…’ they thought to themselves. Luckily, the attack would drop off so suddenly that they ended up feeling nothing more than a tiny juicy tap at the robe covering their leg.

Vinalo scooted back from the intense surge of healing just in time to watch Luna flop over a couple times before shooting off to do what she does best. Her quick thanks is met with a smile and nod. The Lalafell started to stand back up when a bright flash covered the room. They felt a brief tingle, distinctly void in nature, but it amounted to nothing. Fully upright, Vinalo took a deep breath and gazed up at the voidsent gesturing with its claws. Their eyes widened as they got a feeling for what it was trying to do. It had to be stopped.

Glancing back at Tret, they saw him looking very tired and exhausted, but hopefully stable enough. Vinalo hated the idea of not rushing to someone who needed treatment, but they were even more worried of what would happen if the floating voidsent finished whatever they were doing. Despite not having their wand, they’d have to try something.

Vinalo planted both their feet firmly and swung both arms out to their sides. Closing their eyes again, streaks of aether gathered in both of their hands and began to swirl around rapidly. They grit their teeth, mentally noting the additional strain of not having a focus for something like this. In one swift motion, Vinalo swung both arms forward, causing several large, sharp stones to form and fire off at high speed at the voidsent with the hope of at least slowing down its plan.

[Blue]

Blue was surprised to see Luna up so fast, getting out of her way quickly as she made a charging leap for the void demon. The sight of the knightess and her holy blade stirred the Au Ri to action as well, flicking the last specks of ooze from her weapons with a shake before following after her.

Blue hop skipped her way to the demon, her own leap dropping short of reaching the his punctured body. She makes a grab for the previously-injured leg, dangling from it with one hand while the other raked over his side.

[Luna]

The knightess, either through aether usage or sheer luck, 'evades' the dark tendrils, still attached to the front of the Ahriman. Her mind is still focused on slaying the beast, but her body is beginning to catch up. The pain from the rapid healing begins to set in once more and her body begins to feel heavy. She tries to push through it, letting go of the implanted sword and taking her shield in both hands, raising it up. She drives it downward in an attempt to push the sword further in, but she struggles a bit as her strength falters somewhat, putting less force into it then perhaps she would have liked to.

[Tretesta]

What are you doing? Blue is up there fighting as hard as she can, and you're here taking it easy… Tret slowly got to his feet, reaching out for his short thrown knife from before. He finally looked up at the havok being wrecked upon the revealed ahriman, and around at the changing field. He shuddered at the feeling the wave caused him, and then Tret took off. He made a wide circle around the group crowding the voidsent, throwing his held blade at the round body. Once he had the creature between himself and Luna, he closed in, fishing out four more blades as he went. “HEAAAAAADS UP” Tret took a lightly leap as he got close, reared back, and fired off all four blades with a full body throw. All four went spinning towards the top of the felled creature, and Tretesta hit the ground in a forward somersault from the force of his throw. As he came up on his hands and knees, close to the action, he scrambled for his last knife.

[Vinalo]

The Lalafell almost cheered when the combination of attacks brought the voidsent to the ground, clearly doing significant damage. Enough to even shed its disguise and reveal its true monocular nature. Vinalo’s face dropped when its incantation completed regardless, and the entire Seedbed went black as night. It felt so oppressive and crushing. They’d dealt with minor voidkin before, and the night itself was never something to be feared, but this was different. Being surrounded from every angle with the vile energy made it difficult get a feel for anything except where their allies were.

The appearance of dozens of eyes put Vinalo even more on guard, trying as hard as they could to be ready for anything. They then saw the flurry of dark tendrils fire out from the wall of eyes. Unfortunately, the overwhelming dark and compounding exhaustion kept them from dodging, and one managed to grab their leg. Vinalo instantly felt a cold sting and fought the urge to panic at being grabbed. The cold was followed by a distinct feeling of their own aether being drawn to the tendril. The voidsent was trying to drain them! The Lalafell yelped and winced, but a feeling of determination was welling inside them.

“I won’t fall now, not here. So much left to do!” they yelled out. Vinalo again planted their heels into the ground and began to concentrate. Draw it in, resist the drain, don’t let it stop you! The surrounding shadow and the literal drain on their strength were surely limiting their ability to put everything into this, but the conjurer somehow felt even more confident than before. Maybe it was the stakes, or what it all meant? Regardless, they held a hand to their chest and felt the aether come to them, perhaps piercing through the darkness. Vinalo always tried to avoid drawing so freely when they could just ask nicely, but… hopefully They’d understand. A golden light was swelling around their arm.

Still held back by the tendril, Vinalo swung their arm out in the direction of the fallen Ahriman. They flinched before anything happened but held their ground. No stone, water, or wind formed in front of them. Instead it was something more raw. A burst of aether illuminated their surroundings and a golden arc of light fired off towards the voidsent, weaving around Vinalo’s friends in an attempt to strike it directly in its oversized eye. Vinalo staggered after the attack went off, still feeling the pull of the tendril. They hoped this would soon be over.

[Blue]

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Blue had briefly been knocked out when the Demon fell to the ground, having only been able to hold on for dear life. Her head smacked into the ground upon impact, grip releasing as the Seedbed went dark and the tendrils reached out to her companions. By sheer luck as well but perhaps also by being so close to the source, no tendril managed to touch her as Blue began to stir, slowly opening her eyes to the rest of the group dealing as much as they could to the fallen demon. Ah..they've got this. Just need a little rest. Just a little..

[Luna]

As the wicked Ahriman was slain and became ooze, Luna sank with it. At this point, she is only holding the sides of her shield, pressed against the hilt of her blade as her body breathes in and out heavily. The sword finds a resting place among the ooze, managing to stand up either through the ooze itself or having pushed just far enough into the ground to stand. She continues to kneel there, exhausted and the burning sensation having returned in full.

“It is… done…” she pants out, barely able to hold herself up on her makeshift vigil. Her head is drawn by the sole lightning strike, completely perplexed by both it's meaning and placement. She disregards it, the evil within the beds now vanquished. She looks to any companions in front of her, surveying the results of such a battle, but does not speak out of torpor.

[Tretesta]

Tret slowly rises to his feet, final knife in hand. He looks up as the sky begins to rumble, spreading his arms and closing his eyes as cool, comforting rain began soaking his well charred self. He still jumps, though, as Lightning struck so close by, and would look at the large plantlife that sizzled in the darkness. That was enough to get him moving again, and Tret ran through the black goo to check on Blue “Dear? Dear?! Breathing. Good, good.” With a sigh, He sat down hard on the wet earth and carefully pulled Blue's upper half onto his lap. He was quite happy to just be rained for a while right now.

[Vinalo]

With the Ahriman and its shadow vanquished, the rush of determination faded and Vinalo dropped to their knees in exhaustion. They simply sat there as their breathing finally slowed down to something resembling normal. The Lalafell tilted their head upward and closed their eyes. The rain fell upon their face and they just smiled a content smile. Everything sounded right again. The mischievous flutes and whistles of the Sylphlands were coming back into tune.

The crash of lightning caused Vinalo to open their eyes quickly. Upon looking at the effect it had, they had a feeling of what it meant, and what it didn’t. They looked over at their friends and saw that everyone seemed to be okay, though just as exhausted as they were. The healer simply smiled and was content to just not move for a while after such an ordeal.

[Blue]

Blue stirred again when rain droplets rolled off her nose, elliciting a sneeze. She looked back at the puddle of goo- rolling away from it with a grunt before it could stain her dress before glancing up at Tret as he came over. “It's over, right?” She sighed happily before being shifted into the hyur's lap. The Au Ri was also happy enough just letting the rain soak her.

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