ic Assassin's Quirk (IC)

[TheAbsurdist]

Jotunn

 

His form shimmered back as he debated going back to mist as he moved after the others, "I am all for going around, if we're supposed to be stealthy." His eyes narrow as he looked around them. "I can try and scout from height, but other people might be better at that then me." He was generally incurious about the abilities of the other people, despite being a competitive jock type, his preferred sport pitted him against himself, and after initial posturing on arrival, he had settled in.

[Tiffany Korta]

Starshine

Rosalind looked down both paths, as if just looking could reveal the obvious trap just up ahead. Alas, all she could see was the obvious path and the scary spooky one.

 

“I can’t help but feel that whatever we choose we’ll find some sort of trouble!” she then added with a shrug “But if we’re trying to stay stealthy a glowing energy field is not a good look in a shadowy forest, so by default I guess I vote obvious path!”

[Thevshi]

Multi-Girl

Seeing Gawain and Neko starting off down the center road, Bernadette looked back over to Starshine, Jotunn and her duplicate. "Looks like it is the obvious path." With that the redhead started off after the other two, her duplicate following right after.

 

The road leading deeper into the fortress was not straight, but wound slightly to one side or the other, without truly turning in either direction. The trees along the path seemed to be rather close in, almost looming over the group, casting long shadows everywhere. The woods seemed unusually quiet, without any sound of birds or other animals that one might expect, even in the Winter.

 

Glancing about, the Bernadette duplicate looked back to Starshine as she spoke in a whisper, "this isn' creepy at all."

 

As the teens moved down the path, they heard the sound of what sounded like the flapping of rather large wings. It was hard to tell exactly where it was coming from in the forest, but at first it was distant, then began to grow louder.

 

Then Neko's scent for magic picked up several magical creatures, approaching from each side the same direction she was certain the sound of the flapping wings was coming from….

[Avenger Assembled]

Off on the edge of the path, Owain collapsed downward into the shape of a large, ferocious-looking wolf, its grey fur sleek and form muscular as it took a few steps away into the cover of the brush. For her part, Neko shut her eyes tight for a moment and listened, ears twitching as they lay back against her head. "They are in the air!" she declared, her accent thick, tail lashing madly behind her. "<Your ambush has failed!>" she called in Japanese, her teeth bared and clawed fingernails pointed. "<Show yourselves!>"

[Thevshi]

Multi-Girl

 

As Owain transformed and Neko called out her challenge dark shapes descended down from above, or appeared from among the trees. Six, human sized humanoid creatures with taloned feet, large black wings sprouting from their backs and heads that resembled those of crows flew into view, talking up positions around the Claremont students, landing on branches above the ground. About half of them carried naganita, while the other half wielded katana.

 

Bernadette and her duplicate moved up near Neko, taking up a position on the opposite side of where Owain was, and stood back-to-back as the looked at their opponents. Neko recognized them a Tengu, the legendary creatures from Shinto belief.

[TheAbsurdist]

Jonah surged towards them his reaction wasn't just quick, it was bordering on sudden. Hoarfrost erupting around him as he did so. He drew on old things, deep and primeval elements, and silvery frost hung in the air and spreading across from his foot falls that became heavy, thunderous. It wasn't just ice he was drawing on, it was The Mountain. In the middle of his charge, he did a quick change of his weight, and pushed off his lead foot like it was a normal step, and he leaped one of the Naginata wielding kenku, and drop his fist right into the face of it with a Centurion Punch, using the momentum, and the growing strength carrying him through. He tried to pivot and swing on the next, but his kick went wide.

[Thevshi]

Multi-Girl

 

As Jonah dealt with one of the bird creatures wielding a spear, and catching one of the ones with a sword in the area of his cold effects, Bernadette and her duplicated turned towards more of their opponents on either side of the group. The original Irish teen rushed forward toward one of the sword wielding enemies, taking a swing at it but the creature managed to dodge backward with a flap of its wings.

 

Meanwhile, the duplicate redhead leapt up into the air toward another of the creatures wielding a spear, kicking it off the branch it had been perched on and sending it flying through several branches until it landed some distance away unconscious. The duplicate then landed in the snow a short distance past the branch as she looked for any other enemies.

[Avenger Assembled]

Growling and snarling, Owain charged the creature endangering the original Multi-Girl. He had no doubt of Bernadette's martial puissance or her tactical abilities, but that was what a man did - he protected a lady. He didn't recognize the demon she fought but it reminded him of the smell of Neko; of that world of shadow and magic that had been her home before she'd been dragged off to the same war as him. That thought, that sacrilege against his foster sister, drove him on as he knocked the bird creature to the ground and tore out its throat with his jaws like one of his father's war-dogs against a Saxon. Spitting out the filthy ichor, he stood atop the fallen beast and howled in triumph before charging after another one. 

[Thevshi]

GM

 

As several of the Tengu went down to the various superpowered teens, three more armed with the spears with the long-bladed tips came flying up, landing in trees to join the fight. They cawed at the teens, a sound that echoed through the dark forest, with faint, answering sounds responding from somewhere within the mists.

 

Down on the forest floor, one of the naginata armed Tengu was able to leap back from the jaws of Owain’s wolf form, hovering in the air as it stabbed down with its spear at the teen-wolf.

[Avenger Assembled]

The Copper Knight turned and caught the spear in his teeth, an awkward maneuver that sent both him and the tengu tumbling, but spared him from impalement for the moment. But Neko couldn't see that, all she could see was Owain falling beneath the tengu's attack.

She suddenly screamed wordlessly, a growling shriek of pain and fury, and something novel happened. Flames seemed to gather around her hands and eyes and behind her her friends could distinctly see not one but two tails twitching with the intensity of a predator on the hunt.

 

"You think you can frighten me with monsters from the forest?" Her voice dropped into a growl that shook the air as she declared, "I AM A MONSTER FROM THE FOREST! <DAMARE KUSOTARE!>" She slashed the air with her taloned fingers, producing flaming claw marks in the space in front of her, and yelled "<SHINU! SHINU! SHINU! SHINU! SHINU! SHINU!>" And the tengu that heard her didn't simply die - they burst into flames and died in them, falling apart into so many flaming skeletons marked with just a few ashy fingers of flesh. 

 

 

[Thevshi]

Multi-Girl

 

As four of the Tengu met fiery death, the remaining two took to the air, flying back into the mists and out of sight. All around the teens, the forest when silent for a few moments, before the mists seemed to clear some and they could see the snow-covered path winding head of them to the next gate of one of the inner walls.

 

"Well, looks like they are done." Bernadette stated as she looked around and moved over near Owain to make sure he was okay.

Her duplicate checked behind them to make sure no one was following but saw only the misty darkness of the forest behind them.

[Tiffany Korta]

Starshine

Rosalind had been powered up and ready to attack the Tengu, but it seemed that her schoolmates were well ahead from a power-level point of view. She'd have to remember all these tricks if they got into trouble again in the near future.

 

"Wow... just wow! That was pretty cool!" she enthused she looked around and groaned at her own"So what's the plan now? I'm guessing we're not out of the woods yet..." accidental joke "... metaphorically speaking!"

[Thevshi]

Multi-Girl

 

Bernadette and her duplicate glance around a moment, the misty forest had gone quiet after Neko had driven off the last of the Tengu. "Doesn' seem like much ta do but press on." The redhead stated, nodding in the direction of the path that led further into the grounds around the fortress.

 

The group of teens began moving along the path once more, the stealthier members taking the lead to scout ahead, while Bernadette's duplicate remained behind with the others, so they had a means of communicating between the two groups. This allowed them to coordinate reaching the next inner wall along a side away from the main gate and when no guards were nearby walking along the wall.

Working together and concealed within Neko's illusions, the group managed to get over the wall and into a large area of gardens beyond. Again, the group managed to avoid small patrols of soldiers that were actively patrolling the gardens, apparently alerted to the previous encounters with the teens.

Eventually they had reached the base of the tall castle that had been identified as their goal, along one of the side walls and away from the guarded main entrance.

 

Looking up at the tall stone wall that eventually gave way to the intricate wooden castle, Bernadette looked back at the others. "Well, unless we want ta just force our way in through the front, might be a better idea ta get up there somehow an' enter on one o' the upper levels?"