Juilen started panicking as the group was swept up by the river. "This probably wasn't the smartest choice. Especially since I have this heave hammer, and I cant swi-" Juilen gargled and took a deep breath as he flailed his arms about to keep him afloat. "-im very well..."

After a short struggle against the rushing river, Luna unclips her huge sword from her back, holds it at the top of the water and sits on it, floating along. "Well then. This is rather calm now..." She says, watching her struggling companions.

Jamie patiently waited as Toot chowed down on his favorite foods left by the Mysterious Stranger. In his head he's debating on whether or not to tell Toot about the Stranger or the weird positive vibe I got from him/her, after he was too full to eat anymore, Jamie ate a little bit, fed the horse some bread and apples, and stored the rest into his pouch. I see Toot looking at me oddly, "In case we need some later or if this horse is a pig." Jamie waited for at least the littlest chuckle. "Aye, let's get moving." I hop onto the back of the horse and wait for Toot to hop onto the saddle. As we're riding, I think back to the Female healer we met a few towns ago. The one that healed us, she was able to sense where the princess was but not why or what she was thinking... Could I ? I have dark magic and it does have the potential to be stronger than light magic... Closing my eyes, I feel the breeze, through my short black hair, the smell of the grass, I start hearing a thump-thump and thump-thump, rather rhythmic, It's out of sync with my heart beat so could it be Toots ? Getting frightened that I may be doing something harmful to him, I snap myself out of focus and slap myself across the face. "No ! No more doing that."

Quhark swims like an alligator and pulls Julien towards the water surface.
"Two-hundred, get out of the water!" shouts Quhark.
Everybody looks confused while Quhark swims with Julien to the river banks.
"One-hundred meters!" he shouts, then everybody hears the noise of a waterfall.

OOC: I don't know if I need this but my battleplan is according to my broken personality is Attack(when WIN chance is above 70% sure),Passive(when LOSE chance is under 70% sure),Aid(when someone got low health).

"No! I shall not die here!" Luna says as she jumps off her sword and tries to swim to the side, but the current is too strong and her sword to heavy, she rushes towards the waterfall. Frantically trying to escape it, she falls off, but holds on, stabbing her sword into the wall at the top of the waterfall and holding on with both paws, unable to get up. "I cannot hold! Assist me!" she shouts, water beating down on her.

The muddy soil does not keep the sword in place for too long. 
Luna falls but Quhark grabs her hand quickly and pulls her up.
They get back to the shore with the others and Quhark says."I think nobody will have trust issues with the "Dragon" now."

"You kept me from oblivion...you have my gratitude." Luna sits down to get her breath back after the traumatic event. "My deepest apologies for my actions privy. Perhaps I am too overprotective. From now on, I shall be your sword, and like I do for all who have a worthy cause, I shall protect you with my life."

Luna, Quhark, Juilen, Sael, and Jabbin

With all having made it to safety, Sael, not one to ignore problems, points out the obvious thing that's on everyone's mind.

"Well what do we do now? We looked for the beast and went through the all of that trouble to find him, and when we finally find him, we run. We're going to have to face him eventually." She says, obviously disappointed.

"Well I don't see how we had much of a choice, if we didn't want to become it's next between meal snack." Juilen answers, as he twists the bottom of his shirt, wringing the water out.

"But the Princess...er....Sael, is right." Luna interjects "We need to either face this thing, or give up and go back from whence we came. To keep running around in circles like this until that thing does manage to catch us-- And it will catch us one of these times- is senseless."

The truth of that statement weighs heavily on all of them, and they remain silent for a good half hour before anyone dare speak. Finally, Jabbin breaks the silence.

"Well if there's one thing a self respecting goblin doesn't do," he begins, thinking out loud as much as he is speaking to the others "it's run from an enemy. I say we get ourselves together, and head back there and show that creature a thing or two. And if we fail...it's better to be a dead hero, than a live coward."

"The goblin is right" Quhark says "Anyone can call themselves a warrior, but it's the moments like this that prove if we're as tough as we talk, or we're all air."

Luna nods in agreement, and together, they all pick up, and begin the trek upstream, looking for some way to cross back over to where the creature is. Along the way, they discuss their battle plan, since they obviously don't wish to rush into battle against this thing, head on.

Discussions are interrupted however, as they spy a man in the distance, fighting several men in uniform. Unsure what exactly is going on, but certain that a ten on one fight would violate anyone's sense of justice, they can't help but get involved.

(Luna -2 Health, Sael -3 Health, Quhark -2 health, Juilen -1 Health. Describe the battle)


Toot and Jamie

"No more doing what?" Toot asks, confused at Jamie's sudden exclamation.

"Huh? Oh, my apologies. I was thinking out loud." Jamie answers, a little embarrassed.

"Very loud" Toot says, in a failed attempt at a joke. His mind isn't really on the matter at hand, as he is too concerned with what's going on with the search for his sister. He had all but given up hope of seeing her again, and to suddenly have this lead appear out of nowhere, it all seemed so surreal.

After about a mile of travel, Toot spies a a travelling band ahead, under attack by several wild Gowles, and is faced with the decision of whether he should help, or keep going along his way.

"Toot, we need to help those people!" Jamie exclaims, as he dismounts and runs to the battle.

Toot, unable to deny the virtue of Jamie's decision, decides to do the same. He dismounts as well, ties the horse to a tree, lest the battle spook him, and cause him to run off.

As he arrives at the scene, he sees that the odds are worse than they thought, and they are outnumbered by a margin of at least two to one. Still, he and Jamie assist the small group.

(Toot -3 Health, Jamie -2. You win. Now fill us in)

The fight was not a hard one...rather somewhat inexperienced Gowles...but inexperienced in what, killing? 

As Toot rips his long sword out of a Gowl, he notices a small boy and a mother, blood dripping off the back of the mother. Toot rushes immediately over to see if he could help, but it was too late. The mother had a deep gash in her back, and a stab wound, right through what seemed to be the stomach. The small boy...the small boy...is with his mother now. 

"Nooo!!" Toot exclaims loudly. The band of travelers, busy thanking Jamie, look over, and see the horrifying mess. Two of them start to cry, and one just closes his eyes, in deep sadness. The eldest of the travelers comes over and places his hand on Toot's shoulder. 

"You did your best, you and that young sir over there. It is unfortunate, but at least there are some survivors." 

"Darn it all! I am helpless! I can't even rescue others, without death knocking on their doors. They answer, and then they vanish from the world.....I learned skills of the sword for nothing! I should have just stayed with my parents, and help provide for my family...darn it all." 

He remains silent the rest of the time with the travelers, who fortunately had some spare food they shared with Jamie and Toot. Toot clenches his teeth and fists, and slowly walks away after eating. As he passes by a corpse of a Gowl, Toot takes his sword out of the ground and leaves, without a word. Jamie is still by the band of folks, talking about who knows what. Toot's emotions, and soul, had reached a low point. How many people has he seen murdered, right before his eyes? A tremendous amount of sadness and guilt rushes over Toot, and this time, he has a hard time pushing it away...it is lodged into his emotions, and Toot is unable continue on without the constant feeling of sorrow. 

Luna steps in front of her team and stops them, holding her sword to the side. "Stay your hands. Your bodies are not worth a futile battle. This shall take me no time. I need only your assistance if I am in trouble." Luna rushes at the group of attacking men, holding her sword behind her, ready to swing. As she approaches them, she swings her sword, through the ground, knocking up a ton of dirt with it, but three of the men turn, all of them blocking her sword with their own. Luna is strong, but cannot hold the might of three men at once, after a struggle of strength, her sword and herself being knocked back. She tries to get up in a daze but as soon as she does, two of the defending men impale each of her legs all the way through and into the ground, pinning her in place. The third goes to stab her through the heart, but she holds up her sword in time to block it, the two of them pushing against each other, Luna trying to fight back the agony in her legs, screaming as blood rushes into a pool around her legs.

(ooc: I have a feeling this is a little too violent)

The travelers give me some food as a way of showing gratitude, I invite them to sit and eat with me, and pulling out some of my food also. "Hey Toot.... where did Toot go ?... I hope he's okay." staying and chatting with the travelers one of them let's slip about how I've become a nicer person since the last time we met. "When did we last meet ?" Scouring my memory, I'm not remembering being bad or even meeting these travelers before. Then it hit me ! "You've seen me before ?! I mean it wasn't me it was my twin brother but where is he ? Where did you last see him ?!" "To the south of here, in the last village we were in. You had some sla.." "How far south ?!" "A days travel." "Have a good rest of the day gentlemen, thank you and please bury the miss' body respectfully." Grabbing some bread and an apple, Jamie pretty much forces the food into the Horses mouth and gets on it's back. "Go ! NOW ! Faster you stupid horse !!" as he rides South in search of Scott.

The man watched on as the fight went on.

"How pathetic," he thought to himself. "I could finish them off with one hit if I REALLY wanted to."

He took a sip of water and continued to watch.

(OoC: Skipping tonight's update, to see if anyone else posts first.)

Juilen was shocked at what they had done. Without thinking, he grabbed his hammer, and charged at them....Only to get decked in the face by one of them. But Juilen more than returned the favor. BAM! POW! SMAASH! He wacked them, and sent them off flying. One into some nearby rocks, and the other two into the river. He then tried to tend to Luna's wounds.

Quhark fights bravely, but bravery is not enough to win a battle. Recklessly Quhark rushes into the middle of the fight, only to get himself cornered.
Quhark remembers a moment from his past: He was abandoned at age of 3 but before that his mother, a giant chineese dragon, gave him the secret to martial-arts. Yet not able to use the full potential of this ability, Quhark uses it to get back to his allies with some wounds.
After the battle Quhark tells his allies "I uncovered a new ability of mine. My destiny is to keep with you on your adventure."

Luna, Quhark, Juilen, Sael, and Jabbin

With the last of the men gone, Sael rushes to Luna's aid, with Juilen, while Jabbin decides to tell the man Luna nearly died to save, just what he thinks of his smug behavior, and how he left Luna to die.

"I...I can't survive these wounds" Luna says weakly, her body racked with pain.

"Yes, you can, Luna!" Juilen says, teary eyed. "We need you on our quest. We can't lose you now. Just hang in there".

"Juilen" Luna says, and offers a brave smile. After all, he's just a cub, this moment must be the most frightening moment of the entire journey for him "You'll do just fine. You are all much stronger than you know. Besides, even if I could survive, what use would I be, unable to walk?"

While the two of them are focused on each other, neither notices that Sael is muttering words below her breath. Quhark, however, does notice the strange behavior, and recognizes a few of the words. They're in the tongue of the ancients, those men and women that used their power to split the upper and lower world realms, according to the tales his people had told.

What Quhark understands, sounds like a transference spell. He clearly hears the words "Take", "Death", "Give", "Life", "Mend", and "Break". The majority of the words elude him, but Quhark is left with a pretty good idea of what the Princess is doing. Such a sacrifice, he never would have expected from one accustomed to being pampered and served by others.

"Ah!" Sael exclaims in pain, a grimace on her face.

Jabbin, who was just about to break into a fight with the stranger, hears Sael, and turns to see what the matter is, and what he sees, shocks him.

Blood. Blood is pouring from Sael's legs, but why? She hadn't taken any serious blows during the battle. Had one of his fellows turned on her?

"Sael!" Luna shouts, as she sees what is happening. A quick glance at her own legs reveals that the bleeding has stopped, and the wounds are all but gone, and are healing more with each passing moment. "What...What have you done?!?" She cries, as the realization that Sael has somehow taken the wounds upon herself, sinks in.

Sael doesn't answer, but continues saying the same cryptic words over and over.

"Stop!" Luna shouts, as she grabs Sael's arm, and shakes her.

It has no effect. Sael continues to chant the spell, struggling more to get the words out with each passing breath.

"STOP!!!" Luna continues to shout, determined to break the transference before it can be completed.

Another loud cry, and Sael ceases to chant, and falls back. Luna looks down to see her legs whole, and finds them as functional as ever.

Gathering around a lifeless Sael, the group feels the loss of a great friend, and mighty warrior.

"We came to save you...and you died saving one of us." Juilen says softly. "I owed you my life, and I'll never get to thank you adequately now."

The man seeing their distress, begins to regret his failure to help. He watched the struggle, and now an innocent woman had died.

"Wait. She's breathing!" Quhark exclaims, as he points at the rise and fall of her chest with each shallow breath.

"There is a town near here with a hospital. We might yet save her if we hasten our journey." The stranger says.

"You. You could have stopped this." An angered Jabbin says, as he turns toward the man.

"Shall we argue, or shall we save your friend here?" The man replies. No one can deny he has a good point. Now is not the time to argue or fuss.

"And where is this town you speak of? Why have I not yet found it, being resident in this area for all of these years?" Quhark asks.

"It is a hidden place. One where none will find it and cause it harm. I will lead you there. Follow me." He says, as he starts walking toward the waterfall that the group just left.



Toot and Jamie

"You are a hero" Toot hears a strange voice call out.

"Who said that?" He asks, as he looks around, but sees no one.

"You are a hero. Believe in yourself, and you will acclomplish great things." The voice answers.

"I am a failure! Not a hero! I cannot do anything right. I can't even help my own family, much less be a hero." Toot says, momentarily forgetting that he seems to be speaking with a disembodied voice.

"You mustn't pity yourself any longer! Snap out of it, and come to your senses. They wait on you, even now." The voice informs Toot cryptically.

"They who??" Toot shouts, growing frustrated.

"Go! Help them!"

"Help who? Where??" Toot asks, half certain he's losing his mind.

"You are a hero. Let your heart guide you."

"Could you be any more cryptic???" Toot continues shouting at the voice.

No answer.

After arguing with himself for a while, Toot finally caves in to the insanity, and turns back toward camp, to find the horse is gone, along with Jamie.



Jamie rides as hard as he is able. He doesn't know what to expect, but he can sense his brother is nearer than he has been in years. Still Jamie feels something isn't right, but just what, he is unsure. Suddenly, a figure appears before him in the way. Jamie instinctively pulls back, and the horse slides to a halt.

"Who are you?" Jamie asks the man standing in the way.

"I am the one who was at the camp with you and Toot last night. The one that left you the food. I know you sensed my presence. A power like mine cannot be hidden from one such as yourself." The small man answers.

Jamie doesn't know what to think. This strange man trying to help he and Toot. There is almost a glow about the man, but what exactly this all means, Jamie knows not. As though he can sense the questions forming in Jamie's mind, the man speaks:

"There is no time for questions. Head back from whence you came. Your friends, all of them, need you." Before Jamie can protest, the man continues, "As for your brother, he is indeed along this path, but now is not the time to find him. Acting too soon will seal his fate. There is much you must do yet. Stretch out your staff." Obediently, Jamie does so, and a glow emits from the man, that is absorbed by Jamie's staff. "Share this with your friends. Now go. Toot needs your help."

"She did not need to do this, I was ready, willing. Her heart is one of gold, a selfless soul. We must gather all of our efforts into her revival!" She shouts to the group, her sense of justice at it's strongest. As they travel, she has her eyes firmly locked on this new man the whole time.

(OoC: this is a continuation of the previous update. I failed to finish it, because my battery was overheating)

Callus

He didn't enjoy this particular area much, but it was on the way to Mysteria, and it was the only stop within a full two day's journey, so Callus had little choice. He docks his ship unhappily and heads for the nearest village, while looking at the scenery. At least this place was pleasant looking, that was it's only real perk that he could really note.

Ah, that waterfall...it is quite the sight, and it is a very welcome sight as well, as it means that he's finally halfway to his destination.

"Only five more miles." Callus encourages himself "And I'll be there. Then I can finally get out of this cursed land".

Up ahead, he sees a small group of people, carrying someone. Instinctively, Callus takes cover and watches the strangers to see what's going on. As he watches on, he sees them carrying the woman down the carved trail on the cliff side, step on a ledge, and head behind the waterfall.

"What??" Callus wonders aloud. He decides to see what exactly what was going on, and heads for the waterfall.


(OoC: Behind the waterfall is the hidden town that the stranger (MegaManManiac) told Luna, Quhark, Juilen, and Jabbin about. The people that Callus saw, were Luna, Quhark, Juilen, Sael, Jabbin, and the stranger accompanying them.

Mr. Zed : Apologies for the late entry. You're in now)

Jabbin follows the group. They are running as fast as they can toward the town. He is not sure if they will make it in time but he doesn't want to let it show. Time seems to be going slower, the road feels like it is growing with every step.