Fantasy Light In The Darkness (IC thread)

[Clockwork Syringe]

Sildar Evans
LumaThePhoenix Trektek LegoLad659​

As soon as Sildar had approached Illen asking if he could have some of the food he had prepared Monica appeared and thanked Illen for his hospitality. Sildar waved to Monica and then listened as Illen exclaimed that it was indeed for them and he had every belief that they would succeed. Of course right after that Suva appeared and then asked where Blue was. Monica then replied that she had left the quarters to go sleep in a tree and in fact he remembered hearing a good deal of footsteps. Most likely he had awoken Blue and he would have to apologize to her the next time he saw her. There were also some that came quite close to his side of the bed, but at the time he did not sense any ill will towards himself. "Monica tells the truth Suva, I may have caused her to seek a new sleeping area," sildar explained with a sheepish face and with a hand on the back of his head."

 

[LumaThePhoenix]

Monica Battaglia​

LegoLad659 Clockwork Syringe Trektek

After looking around once more, there was still no sign of Blue. Monica began to fear that she might oversleep. What if something is wrong? What if she misses breakfast? Some say it's the most important meal of the day. The nurse couldn't just by and risk her teammate missing out on such a thing. She stands up and speaks to those around her. "Looks like our young ally still hasn't arrived yet. I'll go get her so that she doesn't miss breakfast."

Monica turns and walks away. She makes her way to the tree that she saw the Blue Fox sleeping in. There she was. Sleeping like a baby. She felt bad about having to tear someone from their slumber. She thought to the times that she would bring breakfast to a patient and they were sleeping. It was a delicate task and going about it the wrong way could have put herself and/or the patients in danger. So she stood under the tree branch in the unlikely, but possible event that Blue were to fall. Then, the inhaled deeply and placed her hands around her mouth and shouted.

"Hey! Blue! Wake up! Breakfast is ready!"

 

[LegoLad659]

Catherine Terra
LumaThePhoenix
​

Catherine had been drifting between sleep and wakefulness for a little while now, not quite fully asleep but not really ready to wake up fully either. So when Monica arrived to speak to her, she woke up easily and quickly. She looked down at Monica for a moment while she told her that breakfast was waiting for her. She still wasn't keen on eating food other people had prepared, but she figured she should at least be there if they start talking about a game plan for this warlord. She stood up before hopping down to the ground, her enchanted shoes keeping her from landing roughly as she hit the floor "I'm not hungry, but I'll come along anyway so we can talk about our plan." She explained to Monica. Well, that wasn't entirely true, but she still had food on her that she was more confident in than the goblins'.

 

[LumaThePhoenix]

Monica Battaglia​

Clockwork Syringe Trektek LegoLad659

Monica watch as the thief dropped to the ground. Her landing was actually graceful considering her height and the distance she fell. It may have to do with some power that allows her to do so. That or she just has incredible balance and knows how to land from high drops without hurting herself. Either way, Monica was just glad she landed safely. Hearing that the girl wasn't hungry caught her by surprise though. Maybe she ate so much the previous night that she's still full. Regardless, she nods after Blue finishes speaking and turns around to return to the others.

Once she makes it back to Sildar, Suva, and Ilen, Monica takes a moment to check her backpack while she speaks to them. "We are reunited once more! Perhaps now is a good time to finalise our plans and set them into motion?" Monica puts her backpack back on and takes a seat to eat breakfast. Part of her was nervous. She wasn't used to getting her hands dirty like she figured she may have to on this day. It was too late to turn back now. There would be violence upcoming. Monica wasn't sure how much or even if she would be causing any of it, but her hallucination was right. Going up and begging them to stop their heinous actions would be a fruitless endeavor. The part-sea creature would now keep quiet and listen what ideas the others would come up with so that she could process them in her mind.

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

Sildar Evans
LumaThePhoenix Trektek LegoLad659​

Sildar watched as Monica left to go and get Blue until he watched her come back just as quickly. Seeing that everyone was now reunited just as Monica had said, Sildar finished some bacon that he had been chewing before swallowing and begining to talk. Crossing his arms, Sildar began. "Ok, now that everyone is here let's begin. First of all, Blue" Sildar turned to the Blue Fox "We were talking last night, the three of us, and we figured that out of all of us you would be the best given your particular set of skills." It was at the end of this that Sildar forwent mentioning his offer to Suva and Monica as he had no idea how she felt given her outburst at Sildar the previous night before.

 

[Trektek]

LegoLad659 , Clockwork Syringe , LumaThePhoenix
Suva Pyrewalker
"You caused her to have a new sleeping area?" Suva looked a bit perplexed. Did something happen between them during the night that made them at odds with each other? That would be a very foreboding issue if that were the case before they were to go after some evil goblins.
"What happened?" She gave a bit of a smirk and almost snickered at Sildar. "Is the professor having women troubles?"

Shortly enough, Monica returned with their missing comapanion, Blue. "Thank you Monica." The mercenary smiled at the nurse. It was kind of her to get their fellow team member, especially since she had known where she actually was. The sooner they all agree and are on the same page, the sooner that they will be able to deal with the Goblin Warlord. The Marberette Tribe was counting on them all.

"Yes Blue, Silvar is correct. We need you to be our scout. To be our eyes and ears in the front on ahead. The more information that we gather, the better prepared we can be going into combat."​

 

[LegoLad659]

Catherine Terra
Trektek LumaThePhoenix Clockwork Syringe​

Catherine followed Monica back to where the group was eating, and listened to their new companion tell her what they were thinking. She nodded in response "I agree. I'm the fastest, and the most skilled in evading capture out of all of us. I may even be able to get inside, as well." She replied, sitting with them "I may even be able to attempt to rescue the warrior as well. Though maybe we shouldn't get too greedy, it'll all depend on how they go about security. Considering the kind of places I've broken into before though, there's at least a chance it could happen."

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

Sildar Evans
LumaThePhoenix Trektek LegoLad659​

Sildar exasperatedly sighed at Suva's remark, "I tossed and turned last night and caused Blue to move away from her own bed and into the tree, nothing more nothing less Suva" cocking an eyebrow at her when he finished. Turning to Blue after she agreed to be the scout, Sildar smiled warmly. "Fantastic Blue thats great to hear, although I would caution against rescuing the warrior, we don't know Straps' capabilities in this kind of situation. We can assault them once we've gleamed her location. However, if the opportunity presents itself and you are 100% certain you can do it, then rescue Straps. Oh and i'm sorry for waking you last night."

 

[LumaThePhoenix]

Monica Battaglia​

Clockwork Syringe Trektek LegoLad659

Monica smiles and nods at Suva as a response to her thanks. She then listens as her allies continued to discuss the game plan. While Blue did bring up the possibility of rescuing Straps, she also brought up the difficulty in doing so. A living souvenir of battle wouldn't just be left unguarded. Monica considered the chances of wherever Straps is located being heavily guarded would be high. Though she was confident in Blue's great stealth, the nurse was nervous. She didn't want the young thief to put herself at an extreme risk of being captured. Still, the fact that she took it into consideration gave Monica an added sense of hope as well as an idea.

The professor seemed to have a different approach to the situation. He was against Blue saving Straps unless she was fully certain that she'd be successful. His words were as understandable as they were slightly disheartening. It almost felt like saving the imprisoned archer was a 'we'll come back and do this if we have time' situation. This is where Monica began feeling torn inside. On one hand, she could just stick close to the others so that she could heal them if something were to happen. However, if Blue does manage to find Straps, but she isn't able to rescue her at the time, maybe Monica could use that to her advantage. It was a longshot that required a few pieces to come together, but in her mind, Monica considers this to be her own back-up plan. If Blue can get intel on the area Straps is trapped in before they confront Dirken, then that could open up a window for Monica to slip away and use her mermaid form to help free the prisoner. That way, she doesn't risk her teammates seeing her 'scary' side. More importantly, it reduces the chance of them getting caught up in whatever she might unleash. Alas, Monica feels that she needs to keep this idea under wraps for now. She simply nods at Sildar's suggestions and adds a few quick words of her own.

"Agreed. If you aren't fully certain that you can rescue her if you find her during your scouting, don't chance it. We can't risk you getting caught out by yourself. That being said, if you do find her, please tell us how to get to where she is so we can know where to go after we deal with Dirken. I know it may sound silly as I'm sure you're great with espionage, but please be careful."

 

[Trektek]

Suva Pyrewalker
Clockwork Syringe , LegoLad659 , LumaThePhoenix

Suva smiled at Sildar. "I was only teasing you, y'know. I was sure that you were a perfect gentleman." The plan was discussed and it seemed decided that Blue was going to be going in to scout with the possibility of checking on the status of the captured goblin. If they got proper information from the scout, which she had every reason to think that it would work out, since her team seemed to believe in her skills, then they should be able to take on the goblins without too much difficulty. Of course, there was always still plenty of ways that things could go wrong, but she wanted to look on the brighter side of things in this case.

"Then it's all settled. As soon as Blue here is ready, she should head out while the rest of us prepare and get into position to act as soon as she gets back."

As soon as Blue would leave and travel in her sneaky ways, she would pretty quickly about half a mile outside the village come across a goblin patrol. They were numbered in five with two snarling wolves on leashes. Two of them had bows and arrows and the other three had short swords with all of them wearing either hide or chain mail.​

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

Sildar Evans
LumaThePhoenix Trektek LegoLad659​

Sildar gave a smirk at the gentlemen compliment and nodded at Suva's suggestion of getting into position while they waited for Blue to return. Sildar did not know how long Blue would take so he decided that he would talk with Monica about the scene he witnessed yesterday night with her pendant acting up. Walking over to her with a soft caring face he spoke in a low voice. "Monica, I want to talk to you about," Sildar paused, "You know, that thing that happened last night." He was trying to be as vague as possible given that he thought he knew more than Suva and Blue about Monica and her heritage.

 

[LegoLad659]

Catherine Terra
Trektek
​

Catherine nodded along with Suva's suggestion "I'm ready to go right now, actually. I'll go on ahead and see what I can find. See you guys when I get back." She said, waving to them as she headed out right away. She made her way across the treetops of the forest, landing lightly on each branch as she sped along in an extremely practiced fashion. She made note of the small patrol group as she passed it, but continued onward to the warlord's base anyway. She wanted to get as much info as she could before reporting back, and while the scout party being so close was notable, her goal was to map out the camp and what their forces generally had, not only their scout parties which would probably only be lightly armed.

 

[LumaThePhoenix]

Monica Battaglia​

Clockwork Syringe Trektek

Monica watched as Blue ran off to do her scouting. She hoped that it would be both a safe and a successful trip. Whatever she could find out would likely be very useful. The nurse relaxed for a bit until she was approached by the appointed leader of the group, Sildar. The professor had wanted to talk to her about the thing that happened last night. At first, Monica thought it was from when he was sleeping and potentially caused Blue to wake up and leave the sleeping quarters. However, that just didn't seem like something he'd want to talk to Monica about specifically. That's when she realized that he was talking about what happened to her when Ilen mentioned what happened to Straps. She takes a deep, silent breath and then stands up.

"Very well..." She said in a softer tone than normal. "...come with me." Monica then looks at Suva and speaks in her regular time. "We'll be back momentarily. Call us if you need us!" With that, Monica turns around and walks a short distance away, motioning for Sildar to follow. Once there in a quiet area, she turns back around and looks him in the eyes with a light smile. "So what's up?" She felt like he had somewhat of a clue as to what she was, but she didn't exactly have a theory as to what he could be. If he found out her secrets and still leaves her in the dark about his, then he would have a huge psychological advantage over her, and she was afraid of that happening. To her, this was her chance to not only show trust in the professor, but to also learn a bit more about him while hopefully gaining his trust as well.

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

Sildar Evans
LumaThePhoenix Trektek
​

Sildar was expecting Monica to show a bit more hesitancy and resistance to his request, but surprisingly she acquiesced very quickly and without much fuss. After listening to her telling Suva that it wouldn't be long before the two of them returned, Sildar nodded and said spoke as well. "Don't worry about us Suva, we'll back soon." He then followed her to a quiet clearing.

Upon hearing her ask what was up, Sildar took a deep breath and started. "It took some thinking and deduction on my part Monica, but I'm newly aware of what you may or may not be. What clued me in was your comment about fish and how you became enraged at Straps' situation. However, I have not and WILL not tell anyone about my discoveries without your permission of course. That would be a violation of my charge as the leader of this team. Plus, i can emphasize with what you are going through too Monica." Clearing his throat, he continued, "Since i've revealed what I know about you, do you want to ask me anything?"

 

[LumaThePhoenix]

Monica Battaglia​

Clockwork Syringe

Monica listened very carefully to Sildar's words. He had picked up on her words and behaviors. It was quite relieving when he said he would keep what he believed he discovered a secret between the two of them. If that were the case, then she might be able to open up to him without fear of him betraying her. What surprised her most was when he said he could emphasize with what she was going through. Does that mean that he has a power within him that he's afraid of as well? When he asked her if she had any questions for him, she made sure to take advantage of the opportunity.

"Uhhh, yeah. A few, actually. First, I'd like to thank you for your honesty about keeping this private. I shall do the same and keep this between us until you tell me otherwise. Now, you say that you can emphasize with what I'm going through, that would imply you have at the least something similar to what I have. To be honest, I'm scared of what's inside of me. If that's the case with you too, then I'll do anything I can to help you. Even if it's just being here for support." She holds an arm out towards him. "If I'm right about this, then we both are more than what we show on the surface. I'm willing to show part of what I really am, but I warn you, it's not exactly a pretty sight. I only hope that you're willing to do the same, even if it's just for a second or two."

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

Sildar Evans
LumaThePhoenix​

"I thank you for extending the same courtesy to me first off all." Sildar began. "To be honest Monica, I'm not afraid of what is inside of me, I'm afraid of how it may change me if I use it too often." Sliding up the sleeve on his right arm, but keeping his glove on he held out his right arm and continued. "Then again, while we both may share to a similar degree what is going on under the surface, only one of us originates from there no? I will follow your lead in what you choose to do Monica." If Monica was willing to show him what she was and was going to keep what he was a secret as well he could only do so in return. Otherwise that wouldn't be very becoming of him. It would also mean that Monica would become only one of 4 people who know of his heritage.

 

[LumaThePhoenix]

Monica Battaglia​

Clockwork Syringe

Seeing Sildar hold his arm out as well made Monica a little nervous. It was too late to turn back though. She closed her eyes and a thin coating of light-blue scales runs down her right arm. A wave forms at the bottom of her pendant, but it's much calmer than the ones before. She pulls her arm back up and wraps her hand around her pendant. Then, she opens her eyes and looks into his. Her eyes were icy blue, and if he looked enough into them, he could see a look of fury hiding behind the nervousness on her face.

"Does this satisfy your curiosity? Is it what you had suspected? I am indeed part fish. Half-mermaid to be exact, so one-fourth fish in a sense. I would go into more detail, but I don't want to burden you any more than I already am. Just traveling with me puts you all in danger and I'm truly sorry for that. I hope you forgive me, but I understand if you don't. I-I believe it is your turn now."

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

Sildar Evans
LumaThePhoenix

Seeing Monica transform her arm into a light blue one with scales, which caused a new wave to form. She then stated what he suspected all along, she was half mermaid. At the mention of how she said that everyone was in danger just because she was half mermaid sildar chuckled at that. "Well Monica, If you think you're putting everyone in danger, well." Sildar started, "then i can rectify that." Holding his forearm in front of himself, a circle of flames appeared around his finger tips and traveled along his arm. As it traveled along his arm his flesh was transformed into brilliant gold scales until the circle reached his elbow at which point it stopped transforming his arm. He looked at his hand, which was now gold scaled and possessed claws instead of fingers, before opening and closing it and then brandishing it before him. "I am a Half Gold Dragon Monica, and you are now only one of 4 people in the empire who know this fact." He then conjured some flames in his hand and said, "I can still use my magic while transformed like this as well." He then undid the transformation and waited her response.

 

[LumaThePhoenix]

Monica Battaglia​

Clockwork Syringe

Monica watched as Sildar's arm transformed. She saw the golden scales and her eyes lit up. She had never seen a dragon before, especially not in person. The professor explained that he was half-Gold Dragon and soon undid the transformation. The fact that he could also use his magic while in draconic state was also quite astounding. Though, considering he's a professor, it would make sense that he's had the time and wits to master such a skill.

"That's...amazing..." Monica said in a whisper. "...and the way you can control it so well and so easily...wait. Is that what you're worried about changing you? If I may ask, how so? How does it affect you?"

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

Sildar Evans
LumaThePhoenix​

Sildar's face took a dark and grim tone as he started his next talk. "Its true that I can control my powers seamlessly and that i've had a lot of practice in doing so." He took a deep breath before continuing, "However, what I am worried about mostly is allowing my power to consume me." Sildar then started to ramble with a sadness in his voice. "I'm a rare person, blessed with immense power, knowledge, prowess, and all of the bad influences that can be associated with it." He then put his hands out in front of him which moved around as he talked. "What I showed you is not the full extent of my powers as I can actually go even further. However, i'm afraid I will give into temptation and become seduced by my powers. Hell if I wanted to I could take advantage of my powers, but i'm not that kind of person its just, just." Sildar sighed. "I honestly don't even know." So essentially that's why I said to you that I can somewhat relate to your situation as mine also relates to my powers. Your emotions and my constant temptations. Couple that with its now my first actual leadership."

 

[LumaThePhoenix]

Monica Battaglia​

Clockwork Syringe

Monica looks concerned as she listens to Sildar. His words reminded her of what she heard when he was sleep-talking. It sounded like every day was a battle fought within himself to resist the temptation to be power-hungry. She reaches out with her right arm and places a hand on his shoulder. The scales on her arm vanish and her eyes return to their normal color. A smile makes its way across her face. She holds out her left hand and water springs from her palm like a fountain.

"It's not how much power you have that proves your strength. It's the fact that you have the strength to keep from letting it go to your head. Besides, you're a smart guy. I'm sure you'll figure out how to get the most out of your powers without worrying about them getting the best of you. As for the leadership thing, you'll get used to it. After all, you're a professor, and that requires leadership as well. If you feel like you're losing your way at some point, just remember who and what you're fighting for and-"

Suddenly, Monica thinks about what she's fighting for and accidentally triggers an internal flashback to when she lost the fellow civilians in her homeland. Memories of being kidnapped after watching her people die floods her mind. A wave starts forming in her pendant and she quickly lets go of Sildar. The fountain begins turning into a cyclone. Monica slams her hands together to stop it, but the impact causes water spikes to shoot out in various directions. Thankfully, they don't travel far, but one spike slices her cheek. She winces from the sting, but then the cut heals incredibly fast. Within seconds, her face goes from fine to cut to fine again. However, she takes a couple of steps back and covers her face in embarrassment.

"Oh no! I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean for that to happen. Please don't hate me." She makes just enough of a space between her fingers for her to see if she scratched him as well. After finally opening up to each other a bit, she was afraid that he would see her as the monster she saw herself as and lash out at her.

 

[Trektek]

LegoLad659

Catherine easily made it past the patrol, using her especially sneaky stealth skills. They continued to move on without a care in the world. About another half mile away, she came upon another such patrol which she continued to deftly avoid on the path to the warlord's encampment. Another half mile past that, she arrived at a clearing in the forest. It was a clearing that was made through the use of brunt force.

Chopped down trees had been used to make Spiked Palisade walls that traveled around the circumference of the settlement. The front entrance had a spiked wooden gate that was guarded by 2 Heavy looking Goblins wearing Chain Mail, one wielding a spear and the other wielding an axe alongside two wolves.

Observing from the treeline Catherine would be able to see 3 major structures. One looked as though it was probably the barracks that housed all the goblins as well as acting as the stable for their wolf companions. One looked as though it were most likely the armory/blacksmith with heavy puffs of smoke erupting every once in a while. The third was the largest structure, shaped like a skull, built out of metal. It looked most likely where the warlord's place. Probably filled with treasures, weapons, troops, and Straps, the Goblin archer.​

 

[LegoLad659]

Catherine Terra
Trektek​

Catherine approached the camp, observing it from the treetops. She navigated to a section of the palisade walls that wasn't closely monitored, and when she was sure no one was looking, jumped the fence and hid quickly behind a nearby structure. From there, she made her way towards the skull structure, hoping to find a way inside that was unguarded. Not that she was expecting to find one, but she was hoping. And goblins are dumb, so they'd be more likely to leave a loophole unnoticed than most.

 

[Clockwork Syringe]

Sildar Evans
LumaThePhoenix​

Sildar listened as Monica spoke about his strength comes not from his power but from not allowing his power to corrupt him. It was true, it was one thing that his father had always told him to be wary of. Of course, he then noticed how Monica suddenly cast her magic unexpectedly causing her to injure herself. "Oh no! I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean for that to happen. Please don't hate me."
Sildar placed his hands on his hips and laughed hearty as she was concerned she hurt him. "Ha ha ha! I'm sorry I shouldn't be laughing, but this is not the first time I've had to deal with a magical training accident; especially from others" Sildar explained. "You're perfectly fine and besides," A smirk appeared on his face as he pointed to it. "It takes a great deal more to hurt this face no?" The smirk disappeared and he placed his own hand on her shoulder and said the following. "It looks as though you need magical assistance to control your powers, but i'm sure with time you will be able to control your powers. Should we head back soon before Suva starts to..." A ghost of a red flush appeared and disappeared just as quickly.

 

[LumaThePhoenix]

Monica Battaglia​

Clockwork Syringe Trektek

Monica was surprised to hear Sildar laughing. Her blunder didn't even phase him. He confirmed that when he mentioned that he's dealt with magical slip-ups before. She slowly lowers her hands and sees him pointing to his own face. She was thankful that she didn't harm him. A bit of comfort goes through her as he puts his hand on her shoulder and assures her that she'll eventually be able to control her powers. Monica hoped he was right. Despite being able to handle herself fairly well with her aquatic abilities, her flashbacks and paranoia occasionally threw her off balance. Even with the pendant, it wasn't enough to fully suppress her. The nurse begins to believe that she has no choice but to try and control her skills completely. If not, she would always be a danger to everyone, including herself.

When Sildar attempted to ask his last question, she noticed the sudden change and nods at him. It was nice to be able to talk privately with the professor and learn a little about him, but that would have to be put on pause for now. Her sweet smile returns once more. "Yeah, we should. We don't want you having woman troubles with Suva, right hot stuff?" She says with a playful wink and a giggle, obviously referring to comments she heard the mercenary say to him. As she starts walking back, she holds up her pendant and looks at it while walking. "Thank you, Sildar. I'm glad we had this conversation. It has given me a bit more hope and a little less fear towards myself." When they reach Suva, Monica would look up and wave at her. "We're back, Suva. I hope weren't gone long enough for you to get bored. Are you ready to go when our stealthy scout returns? I wonder what she's found so far."