Realistic or Modern SMITED [Mission 1: Team Bravo]

Mara wasn’t sure what she felt specifically when the forest began to react to Cerin’s little stunt. It was a rush of different emotions not assisting her anxiety, she visibly appearing to glare in his direction as he descended.

Once he finally landed on Micha, she would gesture towards him. “Take notes Agent Ao. This is the exact reason you do not do anything rash without consulting the team. And you, Agent Blair.“ She would cross her arms across her chest as she spoke. “Before you decide to do something so reckless again, I am aware of your probation and I don’t want to have to inquire for more information about that.“

Glancing to the rest of the group she would gesture forward. “We need to keep moving as staying stationary could disrupt the forest even more. Now that we have proof it has some degree of sapience, I want everyone remaining close together and looking out for any potential threats.“ With this she would begin to walk forward, although when she passed by Cerin and Micha, she would comment “And, Agenr Blair, fix those breast of yours. If you’re going to pretend to be female at least present nicely.“

The trees didn't hesitate in their assault on Cerin, branches whooshing through the air, leaves detaching and floating to the ground as the fell off. Most of these attacks were avoided, but one branch managed to land a merciless blow right on Cerin's rear end. It wasn't enough to cause serious injury, but it was going to be painful to sit down for a while and there would most likely be a branch shaped bruise to remind him of the ordeal for a few days.

The dowsing branch that Rill was wielding didn't react very much, at least to the trees, which while clearly magical, weren't enough to cause any leaves to sprout. It was only when it was pointed down the path they had been on, in a direction that went deeper into the woods, that a few leaves grew as though trying to reach out to the source of power, but not enough for more than two to appear. If Rill were to move the branch away from the attracting source, the leaves would begin to wither and fall off the dowsing wood.


Lacily cringed as Cerin body slammed into Micha, wondering what injuries they were going to have to deal with so early on in the mission. Thankfully the harpy was strong enough to catch the falling felon without either of them breaking anything. Mara was obviously pissed at Cerin and made a point to tell Micha to take notes on what not to do. Mara even went as far as to bring up Cerin's probation and told him to 'fix his breasts.' As much as she shouldn't have laughed, Lacily couldn't hold back a snicker at the comment, before quickly clearing her throat.

"Base, any seismic activity picked up there?" she asked over the radio, moving to grab Micha's bag and bring it over to him. Base replied that they had indeed picked up on the tremor. "Interesting. Agent Poecilia, we have access to drones. Perhaps they could send one in with a tracker to give them an idea of our location. Not sure how well it will work, or if there would be interference, but since our radios work, the drones and GPS tracker might as well."

Rill noted the lack of reaction of her detector to the trees themselves, as well as the mild reaction when she swung the branch across the trail they had been following into the forest. Before she could fully process that information however, Micha leapt into the air to intercept Cerin, his spread wings slowing their fall until they landed unceremoniously, Cerin sitting in Micha's lap. Mara made her opinion of the cat's antics quite clear, crossing her arms over her chest and glaring before speaking.

"Take notes Agent Ao. This is the exact reason you do not do anything rash without consulting the team. And you, Agent Blair. Before you decide to do something so reckless again, I am aware of your probation and I don’t want to have to inquire for more information about that. We need to keep moving as staying stationary could disrupt the forest even more. Now that we have proof it has some degree of sapience, I want everyone remaining close together and looking out for any potential threats. And, Agent Blair, fix those breast of yours. If you’re going to pretend to be female at least present nicely.“

The last was delivered as she moved forward past Cerin and Micha, ignoring, apparently, Agent Lufaren's suggestion that they call up drones equipped with GPS units since their communications equipment seemed unaffected so far. Rill gritted her teeth, carefully stowing the magic detector back in her pack, then stepping forward to where Micha and Cerin still sat.

"That was quick thinking Micha," she said, holding out a hand to each of the seated forms. "Cerin, that was stupidity in its purest form. The next time you decide to do something that brainless, please make certain you are far enough away that the rest of us are not endangered."

Rill cast her gaze forward to Mara, and when she spoke, her voice was as cold as a winter's morning.

"It would be good to know if we have an actual PLAN Agent Poecilia." she said bitingly. "I find myself caring rather less about aspects of Cerin's anatomy, real or otherwise, than finding a way to accomplish our goal without offering ourselves up to whatever is animating this forest. You have been designated the leader of the party. LEAD! You have our dossiers, you should know our strengths and weaknesses. Use that information. Use all the assets at your disposal. If you don't know something, ask! Make a plan, and we will follow it. Blunder along blindly as you are, and I swear that you will get someone killed. With Lady Everryn as my witness, it shall not be me."

C.DEX StoneWolf18 One Mean Ghost Fable

How long had it been?.....

Come to think of it, Cerin couldn't remember the last time he'd actually had to account for someone trying to help him. It was an unknown variable he had never really had to deal with after years of working alone. His backside was a little bruised, but his ego was moreso after being caught by the bird that had barely seemed able to fend for himself prior to leaving.

"Heavier than you look."

Cerin's ear flicked irritably as he glared up at Micha. "I'm fine." Cerin muttered to his next question before standing up on his own and dusting himself off. Normally, he'd do something to get after Micha for that rude statement, but given the birb had just caught him, he'd let it slide this time. However, Micha was not the end of his problems. In short order, both Mara and Rill tore into him.

Rill's statements had merit, at least. From one perspective, it looked like Cerin had done something reckless and stupid. However, that was because Rill didn't see it how Cerin did. He had gone up into the trees because he was confident in his ability to escape in case something happened. Given they didn't know anything about this forest other than the fact people rarely left, it was imperative they gain as much additional information as they could before they got in too deep. As far as Cerin was concerned, now was the ideal time to take a few risks for the sake of information: when they were still close enough to the hotel for a quick trip back if necessary.

Cerin could handle Rill's statements, they were reasonable given the differing viewpoints, and it was clear that Rill's main concern was the lack of leadership.

And that brought Cerin to this.

With a few strides, he cut off Mara as she tried to move forward, an icy glare staring down their so-called leader. "For someone who calls themselves 'leader' you sure as shit don't inspire anyone to follow you" Cerin remarked, with no amusement to his voice. "What, praytell, did you intend to accomplish by bringing up my probation or my nature? Why is it you SMITED fucks think that reminding me of my probation is the way to make me cooperate?" He inquired, his tail swishing irritably behind him. "Here's the deal with me, everyone listen up" Cerin turned his gaze to the others.

"The reason I'm on probation is because I'm a world class thief. I was only caught after SMITED put forth a fuckton of resources to find me after I stole something from the Syndicate. When I was captured, I was given the choice of joining SMITED on probation instead of jail time because those higher up thought my unique skillset could be a major asset." Cerin summarized. Frankly, if everyone in SMITED seemed intent on bringing up his probation, he'd rather just say it himself and get it over with on his own terms.

Turning his gaze back to Mara, he put on a fresh, feline smile. "Meow, if you don't mind, fuck off" Given the change of tone, he almost sounded joking after his previous exposition. Turning on his heel to put his back to her, he started down the trail once more with a sway to his hips, one hand resting on a handle of his Kusarigama just in case...

Now that he'd gotten that out of the way, he could focus on completing this fucking mission...

Mara’s expression deadpanned even more than what was thought possible as Rill and then Cerin exploded in her face. It was the woman’s coping mechanism. The more emotion she felt, the less she expressed. It wasn’t the healthiest method, but it was effective on having the frustrated words fall on partially deafened ears as she glanced between them. It took a moment for her to speak. Find something to say that wasn’t emotionally charged, making her sound even worse in the given situation.

Of course, it wasn’t as if the woman wanted to constantly present this way, but it was what she defaulted to under extreme amounts of stress. And the stress of dealing with a bunch of SMITED agents on your first field mission which you so happened to be selected to be leader for was reaching insane heights.

“You all are aware of what my previous position was.” She spoke in a dull monotone. “While I hadn’t wanted to remain there for the rest of my time at SMITED, I never asked to be thrown in such a position so unexpectedly. However-” Mara’s eyes would narrow slightly. “I’m not going to squander this opportunity.”

Without waiting for a response her voice took a rough edge. “Agent Lufaren, I want those drones overhead as soon as possible. Agent Ao and Blair I want you both walking the sides of this path and watching for any activity from the forest and you.” She focused on Rill with potent hostility in her gaze and growing in her tone. “You are going to be walking here beside me, keeping note of our direction. And if you speak so much as a word that doesn’t have any relation to our current objective, you won’t exit this forest alive. Do I make. Myself. Clear.”

The merwoman still appeared emotionlessly calm, only her eyes and voice betraying part of what she felt. Oddly enough she wasn’t entirely… angry. Rather she was frustrated, upset, anxious… and everything else in between, but anger wasn’t all that potent when compared to the rest.

“We are going to continue to move as I would like to make some type of progress before anything else goes awry.”

Static came over the radios of those who had brought them, the voice of the base HQ leader came through a bit grittier than before, but could still be understood without any difficulty. "Bravo, figured you'd enjoy some good news, a replacement has arrived; Agent Enfield. It has been requested that Agent Hawthorne utilize the exit portal to bring her to your exact location rather than risk sending her into the forest solo to re-group. Just tell us when you're ready to portal her in."



Lacily had wondered who was going to snap first, herself or one of the other members of the team. It seemed Rill was the one to finally crack under the frustrating leadership of Mara. As much as the other elf had a point, that they needed a plan... the volatile and biting words were not going to help in this situation. If they were just going verbally tear into each other, this mission was to fail in the worst way possible; death. There was not good morale or camaraderie here.

Just as expected, there was an explosion of emotions. Cerin confronted Mara seethingly and Lacily closed her eyes and sighed to herself. This was going downhill much faster than she had anticipated. She had expect them to be further in the forest before this mess happened. Cerin carried on about the reason for his probation in front of the entire team.

Mara's reaction was cold to the attack, pointing out she hadn't asked for the leadership position, but still gripping onto it saying she wouldn't squander the opportunity. Mara could have salvaged this, but perhaps it was stubbornness and a desire to prove to herself and others than she could be a field agent that she was blinded. It showed better understanding of her position if she suggested electing a new team leader than to latch onto the position herself. It meant that she understood she wasn't ready just yet for that. Perhaps that was why she had been placed as the leader in the first place. Give someone a position of power to see how they dealt with the stress. Did they refuse to relinquish the position or perhaps they'd consider giving the position to someone more fitting. It was a theory Lacily had now regarding the 'why' Mara was put in such a position.

Lacily opened her eyes and looked at Mara as her name was spoken with orders regarding the drones. "The drones won't be able to find us overhead," she protested. "The canopy is too think. They'd need to send a drone into the forest with a tracker. Once we get that tracker we can figure out how to utilize them both."

She paused before she spoke to Mara again, "Also Team Leader, threatening the life of your team member does not give me any confidence in you, and I doubt it helps the others feel any sort of respect if you have to use threats. Even if I am an official observer, I do have orders to protect the team from threats, even from its own members."

She left it at that, taking the radio Agent Hawthorne has used and raising it closer to her mouth, though her eyes remained on Mara, "Send in a drone, track across the path and you should encounter the team. Keep it away from the trees or it risks being damaged."

There was an affirmation of orders and within a few minutes the humming of the drone could be heard before it appeared through what seemed like a shimmering heat wave, carrying a GPS tracker as its cargo. It halted, the hovered to the ground to allow the retrieval of the item without the blades that allowed the drone to fly threatening to chop of someone's fingers.

Lacily grabbed the GPS tracker and went over to Mara, holding out the item for her to take it. "Do you want the drone sent back or to trail us?"

Cerin showed zero attention to Mara as she spoke. Frankly, he'd already all but written her off as someone unfitting to even attempt to lead. When she gave him an order, that was the only time he responded, though probably not in the way she'd want. With a flying fickle finger of fate waving over his shoulder at her, he just kept on walking. Though, he did at least stick to one side.

Frankly, he didn't care where an idea came from. If it had merit, he'd give it a shot.

He glanced to his far side where the birb was going on about how, in a nutshell, they should try to get along. "Teamwork probably would be helpful, but I don't see it happening." He remarked turning his gaze back to the front. "I've been a solo act for years. I have my own way of doing things that I've developed over the years. Some would call it foolish, others would call it at least unconventional. The thing is, it's worked for me for years." Cerin explained, twirling one end of the Kusarigama in his hand as he shrugged.

"The first rule of any heist is to know as much about the place you're trying to hit as you can before you get in too deep. That means casing the place, poking at the security a little bit to see how tight it is before you get in too deep.." Cerin trailed off. "The point is, I don't expect any of you to understand what I'm doing. However, there is a method to my madness, even if you all don't see it." Cerin concluded. All the while, his voice never changed from that feminine tone he had been using since he'd made his initial introduction back at HQ. Clearly his abilities as a mimic were quite advanced to maintain a persona for this long without ever dropping it.

"Oy... Rill. Did that stick of yours pick up anything when I pissed off the trees?" Cerin called over his shoulder, glancing back at the elf. Frankly, he hadn't been able to see if Rill even used it, but he had to hope the elf would have at least had the sense to realize that when the trees were moving would be an opportune time to check for things... If not, well... Maybe that was on Cerin for not communicating better...

Rill cocked her head to the side as though studying a particularly interesting problem. The smile that slowly overtook her face was not in the slightest a friendly expression.

"Eitha nin ad-ah gwanna, ulunn iell falathren." she said, her voice cold as the heart of a glacier. "Baug Jitris falathren!"

The other elf paled slightly as the last words left Rill's mouth, but she said nothing. Rill collected her pack, then picked up her bow, ostensibly checking the arrows were still fixed in their holders before turning to Cerin and the new arrival.

"Yes Cerin," she said, her voice far warmer than it had been. "The trees that attacked you did not trigger the detector, but something deeper in the forest along this path did. And while you may be confident in your skills, you are part of a team now, and as such, you need to think of whether the reaction you might trigger could splash onto those less capable of dealing with said reaction than yourself. What if the trees had attacked everyone instead of you? That would have ended poorly, for some of us. At least give a warning so we won't be caught unaware again."

Turning to the new arrival, a demon it appeared, Rill gave the newcomer a quick glance and nodded.

"Welcome Larissa Enfield," she said, her voice neutral. "One hopes that your experience lives up to your optimism."

Fable , Vesuvius , One Mean Ghost , StoneWolf18

( To move this forward, we're going to just assume they've gone a way further into the forest. StoneWolf18 Mara is gonna to have to change to a mer form in your next post. )

Mara didn't answer her question, so Lacily sighed to herself and picked up the GPS that had been brought for their use. The drone was far too loud to consider having it tag along, so she radioed back for them to see if they could get it out. She warned them that the trees could attack, but they opted to try anyway, resulting in a branch swiping downward onto the drone and causing it to crash into the ground. Well, it wasn't her fault they decided to go against her advice.

She glanced at the GPS seeing that they'd not gotten very far really. The screen flickered slightly, but worked well enough. She turned to Micha as he said her name, "There are limitations most likely the reason why, he'd be the better person to ask about that than me. I just know he can create portals, nothing more than that." The GPS was useless in guiding them to anywhere but deeper into the forest, but at least it should keep them from walking in circles.

"As far as the 'magic stick' it's a dowser. They're used to help find things or give you a path. Rill has it, so she'd be the one to tell us if anything changes. Also, why are you watching such old shows?"
Kypher's eyes slid over to the harpy who had dared to use his first given name, along with answering Lacily why he couldn't just portal the team to their target. Was he really that dense? "Agent Ao, you are to refer to me as Janus or Agent Janus, nothing else. As far as why there is no portal, well how exactly would we know where one would be placed? Perhaps you didn't pay attention during the brief, but we don't know the origin point of the curse. So, even if I could somehow manage to create a portal to an unseen place, we'd only end up in a random location. And for your additional information, I can only generator portals at locations I can visually see or maintain a portal already created."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a stick of chewing gum, peeling off the protective paper before shoving it into his mouth. He chewed silently, narrowed his eyes at Micha, then turned to look ahead to study the path that was slowly giving way to more wilderness. He clearly was irritated by Micha,
adding more division to their team.

As the team went further into the forest, the path that they'd been following began to become more wild and untamed, before eventually fading into nothing that resembled a path at all. The trees were becoming slightly more... sinister appearing as well, thicker darker trunks and branches, their canopy so dense that it appeared as though it was an overcast day. There was still nothing but silence, no wind.

"Rill, might want to bust out that twig," Lacily suggested.

The woman ignored anything else hurled her way and had faced the new addition to their team. Expression as blank as it had been before, she would give her a once-over as she instructed “Agent Enfield, I assume you were already debriefed but let me remind you that the forest is-.” She was cut off as te drone Lacy called in was destroyed by the forest. “Sapient.” She would sigh before continuing. “Be on your guard as I want you walking along the side of the path with Agent Ao and speak up at the first sign of movement.”

As the path turned to dense woodland, Mara paused, hoping the rest of the team would do the same. This was.... concerning to say the least, it finally showing on her face with a slight frown as her eyes scanned the gnarled trees and darkened canopy.

Mara’s voice was considerably different than before, actually betraying her distress. “Agent Lufaren, try and contact those at the castle to see if we can still use radio. Agent Tyendemarthin, Do as Agent Lufaren said and check our direction to see if we’re still headed-” Her phrase cut short with what could be compared to a squeak of surprise.

Oh.... fuck.

Color drained from the merwoman’s face as her eyes widened. Finally, a strong amount of genuine emotion consumed her features as she reached out to put a hand on a nearby tree. Her legs had begun to burn, slowly growing numb as she tried to remain standing. It was now she regretted not trying to soak for a few minutes before getting onto their flight.

“We... might be delayed for a little while...” She said eventually, sliding herself down the tree’s trunk as yet another pair of pants began to tear, her tail slowly forming.

Mara had barely acknowledged the new arrival, just commenting that the arriving agent should have been briefed. She had just commented about the forest's 'sapience' when someone at the hotel tried to fly the drone out, with predictable results. The drone had been far less capable of dodging than Cerin, and there had been no friendly harpy to break its fall. Now the smashed remains of the drone were far behind them, and the forest was slowly taking on a more, sinister, aura. The path they were following finally petered out, leaving them with what appeared to be virgin forest ahead and no discernible direction to travel.

"Rill, might want to bust out that twig," Lacily suggested.

Rill was already in the process of pulling the detector from her pack when their 'group leader' decided to chime in.

“Agent Lufaren, try and contact those at the castle to see if we can still use radio. Agent Tyendemarthin, Do as Agent Lufaren said and check our direction to see if we’re still headed-”

Rill turned, detector in hand as Mara's voice chopped off with a squeak, to see the mere-woman settling to the ground as her aquatic form manifested itself. That was, odd. Rill knew that mere-folk needed to assume their aquatic forms daily, but being in a dry environment usually precluded that. What could possibly have brought on the change on dry land. It wasn't like the 'training' where she had been sprayed with water to trigger the transformation.

“We... might be delayed for a little while...”

Suppressing a snort. Rill pointed the detector at Mara, then began to swing about in a slow circle, watching carefully to see which direction made the most leaves sprout.

Fable , StoneWolf18

The dowsing branch that Rill held at first didn't do much, the leaves from before had already withered and fallen away. It reacted slightly when pointed at Mara and began to sprout leaves quickly once Rill was no longer facing Mara, but had her side to her. Something in that direction was causing a reaction from the branch. As long as Rill was pointing in that direction, the leaves remained fresh and green. Should she point it away, they would begin to wither and die.

Lacily did as Mara asked and pulled out the radio to try and contact their base camp. However, there was no reply this time, only the white-noise of static. She tried a few more times and got the same results. There was no way they were out of range and no reason there wouldn't be an answer. "Shit," she swore under her breath, trying to change the frequency to see if maybe they had switched channels. Nothing.

During her attempts, she heard Mara's 'squeak' and turned her attention to the merwoman, who soon announced they were going to be delayed just as her pants ripped and her mermaid form began to shift. It had only been a matter of time for this event, but she had hoped Mara would have pre-soaked and gotten as much time before her change as possible.

"Lovely," she sighed, "Appears we've lost communication with base. Anyone else want to try their radio to make sure it's not just mine?" She looked at Micha, their conversation about old shows no longer being a priority with this new discovery. "Best hope this doesn't become like an episode of that show."

Kypher frowned as Mara's form changed, displeased at them being more delayed than they already were. "It is a matter of preference and other matters regarding why I choose to go by the name Janus. Nothing more," he replied to Micha, though he didn't even glance at him as he continued to frown at Mara before making a 'tsk' sound.

"Let's just set up a camp site here for now and determine a watch rotation. I'll try to figure out the issue with the radio and see if we can re-establish contact with base camp. Someone should check the other gear as well, compass and GPS. Radio loss isn't the worst thing, but getting lost is. Perhaps after Mara regains her... legs, we'll have some sort of plan."

"Why aren't you all more alarmed? Our Captain is a fish now."

"Well on the upside, if we run out of food we now have a Plan B." Cerin remarked casually. It was, of course, a joke, but for those less familiar with his.. unique.. mannerisms it may have come off as a serious suggestion. He turned his eyes to Lacily. "My radio's no better. Nothing but static. Safe bet, we're close enough to the source of this that we're not getting any more help from outside"

His golden eyes fixated on the device Rill was using. Judging by its reaction, his assumption was correct. They were getting close. Of all the times for their so-called leader to become utterly useless, now was about the worst time. Already they had seen what the forest was capable of in broad daylight. At night things would only get worse. Cerin, of course, as a cat could see in the darkness, but the same could not be said of everyone. Given the forest protected itself, starting a fire would probably be a terrible idea too. When darkness fell, there was no telling if all of them would see the sun again.

The best option would be to move quickly in the direction the leaves had sprouted. However, if the forest grew restless, Mara would be little better than a sitting duck. At this point, she'd gone from being the leader to being a massive liability. He stared off in the direction Rill's device indicated, his discerning gaze looking or anything abnormal; anything that shouldn't be there. His tail swished around behind him as he walked slowly, pacing in a steady line at the edge of the trail. The gears were turning in his head. Instead of idly waiting for orders, his mind was already three steps forward, playing out multiple contingencies and possibilities. This was why he had been so difficult for even SMITED to track down. Even when otherwise idle, he was planning his next three moves.

Even now, he was devising strategies to survive.

Rill listened to Micha's question and Lacily's reply with half an ear. That there was still significant friction and downright inexperience in this group was glaringly obvious. It was also obvious that they were going to have a significant problem with Mara. She was going to have to soak, and the whole team didn't have enough water to cover that, not to mention that they had nothing large enough for the mere to soak in. This was just getting better and bett...

Rill's thoughts broke off as she noticed Cerin pacing restlessly, his gaze fixed in the direction her detector had indicated, his tail swishing back and forth. He was impulsive, and not remotely a team player, but the cat-boy/girl/whatever was obviously skilled. Maybe they could salvage this mission and not expose the less capable team members to anything, untoward. Coming to a quick decision, Rill dropped her pack in a relatively clear area and rummaged through it, transferring enough supplies into her various pockets to last for a brace of days. She carefully tucked the divining rod into an inner pocket, then headed towards where Cerin was pacing.

"It looks like we're going to be stuck here for a while," she said calmly, nodding to where Mara was slumped on the ground. "We should make certain that there are no immediate threats in this general vicinity. Would you be willing to join me on a perimeter check?"

As she asked the question, Rill opened the top of her vest just a little, giving Cerin a chance to see the divining rod tucked safely away.

"After all, you never know what's going to turn up in potentially hostile territory."

One Mean Ghost

Should Cerin, Rill, or both decide to continue to wander a bit further where the group has stopped, off the trail there is a peculiar glint that can be spotted with some difficulty. Whatever the shimmering object is, it wasn't that far from the camp and the closer one would get, the more minimal light reflection would be spotted. The source of the inconsistent shimmer - should they wander closer - is a small scenic pond with three clothed and feminine white stone statues. These statutes have golden rings on a few fingers, a bit of moss here and there, and are standing a few feet from the pond.

Lacily wasn't shocked when Cerin reported he was also unable to make any contact with the radio. The GPS display was stuttering and constantly changes coordinates and direction. Either something was interfering or worse, they were in another dimension. There really wasn't much of a way to test which scenario they were faced with. They only really had one option, solve the problem and hope it released the curse so their equipment worked. She turned off the GPS since it was useless right now. She'd leave the radio on and hopefully if it was just interference they'd be able to sporadically contact Base.

"Micah," Lacily said calmly, "As much as this is probably a horrible idea, go to the edge of the path and see if you can collect a small amount of twigs and dead brush to make a small fire. Hopefully it won't piss off the trees. Janus, you're on first watch."

Janus said nothing, but gave an nearly imperceptible nod to affirm he'd heard the order. It was then that Lacily turned to Mara, moving over to where the woman was 'sitting' on the ground and squatting down to look at her. "I only know limited information about, well, this condition. How long do you have to remain this way and is there any way to speed it along? Not trying to be abrasive or offensive. Worse case, we have to flee and Micah will probably be best suited to carry you."

"We should make certain that there are no immediate threats in this general vicinity. Would you be willing to join me on a perimeter check?"

Cerin's feline ears turned towards the source of the suggestion, though his eyes remained out in the distance. Just because his vision didn't focus didn't mean he wasn't watching Rill in his peripheral view. Considering the general lack of ability in this group, it was nice that there was at least someone competent enough to realize staying in one place would be a bad idea.

"I agree. Let's get going before someone tries to follow or stop us" Cerin murmured, casting just a glance towards the others. At this point, he was all but certain that Mara was useless, the birb was too naive for his own good, and Lacily, unfortunately, was too stuck dealing with them to show what she could do.

Giving Rill a glance, in which the feline noticed the divining rod still tucked away, he set off to "check the perimeter".

With Cerin's predisposition for finding shiny things, it probably would shock no one that he spied the glimmering object in the distance rather quickly. Treading near-silently, he made his way over to discover that the source of the glimmering was a pond, framed by three statues adorned with golden rings...

To most, this would be an ideal find. Now they had a water source for Mara to soak in, after all. However, there were too many things that smelled funny for Cerin's liking. "Rill. Use the divining rod on the statues and the lake... The statues first..." Cerin murmured, his tail swishing as his ears turned on his head, listening for the slightest sound.

"I saw the lake because it was shimmering. But there's so minimal light coming through the canopy that it shouldn't have been able to glow like that. Something ain't right about this lake..." Cerin's gaze turned toward the statues that he kept a safe distance from. "And these statues are... unnatural.... Their simple pose... their straightforward gaze....That's not like you'd see in a work of art. It's more like a Teracotta warrior. They are significantly out of place here." His grip held firm to his Kusarigama. The more he processed the scene, the less he liked the implications. His stance stayed crouched as his eyes darted along the scene, looking for any movement, any sign of attack. Of course, he also made sure he had full awareness of where Rill was and which direction the others were.

For now, he'd wait for the results of the divining rod before going in closer. He had a bad feeling about this place, and he'd learned over the years to trust his gut when it gave him warning.

Mara was only partially paying attention to what was going on with the rest of the agents. She had maneuvered her bag off of her back and set it beside her so she could dig through it. The spare bottles of water would help, as the towels but she couldn't keep the anxiousness off of her face. She didn't know if it would be enough for them to make considerable travel.

As she look up to see Lacily, her eyes briefly drifted to see Micha pass her a smile. It was strange, to say the least, but she pushed it to the back of her mind as she listened to what the elf had to say.

"Unfortunately, unless it some how begins to rain or a we find a safe body of water, Micha might need to carry me the rest of the way. I do have spare bottles of water I could use, but it might not give me more than an hour or two at most." She was quickly growing disheartened by the growing chain of events, and it was becoming ever apparent through her tone and expression.

Not really sure how to deal with the onset of such emotion, especially before the group of agents she was put in charge of, she forced herself to begin digging in her pack once more. Apparently searching for something, although she knew she wouldn't find it. A solution in situation she knew had been unavoidable. "I... should have tried to soak before we left. Although I didn't have time. The briefing was directly after the training session and the flight only a few minutes after."

Even though she didn't voice it, Mara was now able to admit to herself that SMITED administration was right. Her place wasn't in the field being such a liability. Hopefully they would at least be able to get out of this forest without anything else going wrong, though that might be a bit too painfully optimistic for her to wish for.

Rill had to agree with Cerin's assessment of the area. There was no reason she could see for the glimmer that had attracted his attention. Nodding to Cerin, she spoke quietly.

"Watch my back."

With that admonition, Rill removed the detector from her shirt and began to sweep the area. Circling the pool and statues, her movements barely a whisper in the quiet of the forest, Rill tried to get some differentiation between the pool and its surrounding statuary. Unfortunately, no matter what angle she tried, the results stayed the same. As soon as the detector pointed anywhere near any part of the little, grotto? she supposed the word would do for now, the detector sprouted a plethora of leaves, all of them quivering as though they wanted to leap off the detector and rush towards the pool. After one complete circuit, Rill gave up with a sigh.

"No good," she whispered. "The whole area is saturated, and this detector cannot differentiate between the parts of the area, assuming that the pool and statues are not part of a greater whole."

Rill paused, shaking her head, then continued.

"I cannot believe I am going to suggest this, but perhaps we should ask Micha to carry Mara close enough to see this. There appears to be some kind of water associated with this magic, and she IS merefolk. We also have the resources of a senior agent available. Let us utilize all that we have to work with."

One Mean Ghost , Fable

There was a crackling, grinding sound. A sound of stone rubbing against stone. The shimmering light of the pond soon takes an an erratic flickering, as though the water itself was trembling. Squirts of water jet out at both Rill and Cerin before suddenly stopping and the shimmering lights of the pond completely vanish, leaving only a dark and lifeless pool of water. The expressions of the three statues was no longer boringly neutral, but were now smiling and seemingly looking directly at Rill.

The statues began to shift slowly, the middle one moving it's arm up and gesturing in a beckoning manner towards Cerin and Rill. The two on either side begin to move faster, dancing towards the two team members; gracefully twirling at a moderate speed to the sound of silence. However, the next moment they stop and begin to try and get close enough to grab at Cerin and Rill.
( Tarmagon One Mean Ghost )