open Occult in the Swamps

[SilverHeart 741]

(OOC: posting from phone. Also that seems like way more than a mere scratch if it hurts to move with that injury.)

 

Mirror positioned herself so that she had Wish on one side of her and the wall on the other. She whispered to Wish, "Wish, please don't tell anyone..."

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

@@SilverHeart,

 

Wish couldn't help grinning for real - what kind of pony did her friend take her for? She put a foreleg around the mares neck in a reassuring way and focused her attention on the shine of the eyes under the shadow of the hood.

 

"We're friends..." She snorted quietly. "Friends don't do stuff like that!"

 

@,

 

Releasing her, Wish quickly felt the feelings of unease and paranoia start to creep back into the pit of her stomach, but kept a stony expression in vain hope of covering this up.

 

"We should find Go... Gob... You're friend!" The mare announced. "I don't know if splitting up was such a good idea any more... he's not got me to look after him like you guys have!"

[Mickey Taker 347]

@, @, @SwigglySwiggly

 

After finally reaching the end of the corridor Golbez looked back to check if Stormwind was keeping up, he stopped mid air barely managing to land without crashing as he watched the Pegasi about to enter a janitor closet the griffon simply stood there in disbelief, as his left eye began twitching erratically,

 

That.

Was.

The Last.

Straw.

 

Since the whole ordeal started, Golbez had slowly began to notice every single time he saved a pony from becoming fish food, it was almost as if they were doing it on purpose, of course Golbez knew better than this but regardless, It caused Golbez's patience to snap.

"AGAIN!?", gritting his teeth the angry Magician once again took off down the hall, his eyes fixed on the closet as he came barreling down, beginning to form a quick plan in his head as he noticed a stairwell directly opposite the closet from the corner of his right eye, "STORMWING!! Get your cowardly flank out of there or so hel-...", 

*WHUMP"

Coincidentally, for that split second, out of the corner of his left eye, he noticed the monster they've been trying desperately to get away from, right beside his head having charged at it's full speed.

There was nothing he could have done.

 

As Golbez and the monster collided it was if time had nearly all but stopped to a near stand still, the lumbering beast (The monster, not Golbez) appeared to have more momentum as Golbez was slowly pushed sideways, it was odd, he was non-surprisingly terrified at his sudden predicament but at the same time, he could actually think clearly and even notice the surrounding area in great detail.

He could even see the numerous scales lining the creatures body, his eyes shifted to that of one the monsters own eyes and even see it's reflection, he looked closer and could see himself in the creature's lidless eye, it looked like he was screaming.

 

Another thing that Golbez could notice as the two continued there slow collision was that the pair seemed to be falling down, or backward from at least Golbez's perspective, a quick glance to the right had shown that they were both about to tumble down a flight of stairs, "Oh, Bugger..."

*CR-RA-AC-CK*

"There goes a few ribs...."

That was the first and only thought that occurred in his head as the griffon felt the noticeably heavy weight of the monster press right up against him as the rounded edges of the carpeted stairs dug into his back, both of which pressing so hard the air in his lungs shot right out, needless to say, it was agony.

Gritting his teeth Golbez instinctively moved and turned his head to one side as he felt the weight beginning to shift up his chest and about to go for his head, instead feeling the immense pressure pinning down  on his left shoulder, placed at such an angle over a stair and with the immense weight gradually pressing more and more painful pressure, something was bound to give.

*POP*

"....and the blasted shoulder."

 

As the pressure began to ease off Golbez felt himself being lifted up again, now it was the monster's turn.

At the moment Golbez could think of several ways to take advantage of this situation with only just a single talon alone, never mind the props he had stashed in his tux, but in that moment Golbez decided to take a different approach, as his talons were by now digging into the monster's hide, as he released them he found himself flung in to the air by the momentum they both traveling.

Time had apparently began to speed up again as the slow distorted noises the half-dazed griffon could barely make out become high-pitched screams and monstrous roars, and then came the pain.

 

Landing with a solid thud flat on his back Golbez's first reaction was to abrupt grip at his chest and dislocated shoulder with both talons, gritting his teeth harshly to prevent from yelling out in pain.

As tried to take a breath of composure he immediately regretted it as he found it painful to even breathe, only managing to take short breaths without too much pain.

Still wincing in pain he glanced at his surroundings through one eye, he was back at the main entrance and noticed that a few of the staff ponies were still alive as they looked back at him with mixed expressions, one particular pony that was the only one not wearing a uniform caught his eye, pure habit made the griffon address the pony in a hoarse voice "*cough, cough*...H...Hello Mr Swiggly,"

Timidly, the griffon then moved his gaze slowly to the Monster that dragged him down here in the first place.

[Stormbringer 346]

@,

 

Storm came out of nowhere, brandishing a mop. "HYAH." He struck the end of the mop down on the back of the creature. He then jabbed it into both eyes, then went back on to beating the fishy thing. "BAP." He smacked it again. "BAP." Again. "BAP." He kept beating the thing to a pulp, or attempting to, anyways.

 

 @,

[Umbreon 569]

Sabellah

 

@,

@@SilverHeart,

@, 

 

Sabel had been about to say something when she heard a loud crash, from what she remembered to be the direction of the lobby.  "Come on - that didn't sound good at all!"  Ignoring the pain from her scratch, she immediately starts towards the staircase to go back down.  She was worried - the griffoness didn't show it, but she was.  He had better be okay...  

 

 

--------------------

 

@,

@,

@@SwigglySwiggly,

 

A sickening crack accompanied the monster's crash to the floor - that followed up by Storm's assault with the mop against the already battered monster's unprotected eyes proved to be too much.  The monster started to shudder before, with a loud splash,  collapsing into a puddle of crystal clear water.

 

At the sight of the monster falling down the stairs with the griffon the panicked employees had scattered - the guests would find themselves alone in the lobby, apart from each other.

[Stormbringer 346]

@,

 

Storm perked his ears and watched the monster dissolve. "I... What?" He ran to the puddle and poked at it with his hoof. "Is...is it dead?" He cocked his head and watched the puddle. He was still holding the broom. "Well, I guess I better clean it up before it comes back again..." He mopped up the water, then propped the mop up against a wall. It proved to be a reliable weapon. "Might as well keep it." He struck the broom's handle with his hoof, causing the mop end to fall off and thunk on the floor.  

Storm looked around at the other guests, having no idea who any of them were except the new Griffon and Swiggly.

[SwigglySwiggly 358]

@, @,  

 

"Ah Storm, where were you this whole time? I had so much fun without you... getting chased on the docks and cussing at the employees" Swiggly sat there the whole time just watching the violence unravel "but honestly guys, if you're going to burst in with another one of those fish things, at least try to make it entertaining" Swiggly levitated a bar of hershey's chocolate to Storm and Golbez "but still, it was more fun than watching a chicken fight"

Edited January 15, 2014 by SwigglySwiggly

[Mickey Taker 347]

@, @, @@SwigglySwiggly, @, @@SilverHeart, @

That touched a nerve, "Who are you calling a chicken you ungrateful little..!", Golbez cut himself off short as began to push himself up, rolling onto right side and pushing himself up on his good forearm whilst his left forearm folded up close to his chest, it noticeably hung a little lower on the shoulder than the right one did.

He glared at the two angrily through gritted teeth, breathing short labored breaths, he opened his beak to begin a much needed rant but stopped and turned his head as he heard foot steps coming from upstairs, to his relief, it was the rest of the group.

Edited January 15, 2014 by Sparx

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

@,

@@SilverHeart,

@,

 

"Come on." Nodded Wish with a predictably concerned expression, following the Griffon to the top of the staircase and thundering down them - desperate to find the rest of the guests and get out of that place as quickly as possible. "S-Stay behind me! I'm not h-hurt..."

 

As much as she was terrified - horrified even - by the circumstances, she couldn't help but feel a sickening sense of pride. She had killed it - it wasn't pretty... or even remotely efficient... not to mention that just thinking about it made her feel dirty but...

 

She had done it. She could look after herself just like she always knew she could - and now it was time for her to help Sabel look after the others.

 

Pausing near the bottom of the steps to allow her idol, her friend and... the other pony... to catch up again, she looked anxiously about.

[SilverHeart 741]

@@SilverHeart,

 

Wish couldn't help grinning for real - what kind of pony did her friend take her for? She put a foreleg around the mares neck in a reassuring way and focused her attention on the shine of the eyes under the shadow of the hood.

 

"We're friends..." She snorted quietly. "Friends don't do stuff like that!"

 

@,

 

Releasing her, Wish quickly felt the feelings of unease and paranoia start to creep back into the pit of her stomach, but kept a stony expression in vain hope of covering this up.

 

"We should find Go... Gob... You're friend!" The mare announced. "I don't know if splitting up was such a good idea any more... he's not got me to look after him like you guys have!"

(OOC: Phone post)

 

Mirror smiled back at Wish, remaining relatively close. "Thanks." For now though, it seemed best to just follow along quietly for now and so Mirror did just that. Thankfully, Mirror had a lot of practice in being quiet and trying to remain unseen.

[Hive King 2,001]

@, 

"Y-you're vile" Skuldaf snarled to Wish. "Did it have to die?! I take back what I said, gryphons aren't monsters, it's those that are bloodthirsty....like you" Skuldaf hissed, getting up in Wish's face. Skuldaf hated any kind of death, but the brutality had been far too much for him this time

[SilverHeart 741]

@,

"Y-you're vile" Skuldaf snarled to Wish. "Did it have to die?! I take back what I said, gryphons aren't monsters, it's those that are bloodthirsty....like you" Skuldaf hissed, getting up in Wish's face. Skuldaf hated any kind of death, but the brutality had been far too much for him this time

How dare he talk to Wish like that! Using what little magic she had left Mirror his her scars and then positioned herself between Wish and Skuldaf, staring him down. "You shutup! Wish just saved her life." Mirror snarled as she pointed at the griffon. "You didn't even try to help them! All you talk about is how evil others are. Ponies that don't act are evil too. You wanted the creature to live? You should have stopped it. Next time you can die so we can get away! At least then everyone would be happy."

[Hive King 2,001]

@@SilverHeart, 

"We could have simply knocked it out or incapacitated it" Skuldaf retorted, locking horns with Mirror. "As for inaction, do you think I enjoy standing back here?! I do it because I will never hurt something unless I have to, not because I'm afraid or lazy" Skuldaf spat angrily

[Mickey Taker 347]

@, @, @@SwigglySwiggly, @, @@SilverHeart, @

 

Golbez did nothing but observe the sudden argument between the ponies with a perplexed look on his face, at lot seemed to have happened in absence and it was hard to piece together what transpired over the their shouting, he turned his gaze to Sabel for hopefully some answers, "Sabel, what am I missing here exact...SABEL!!".

 

Golbez beak hung wide open in shock as he gave his griffon friend a closer look at her injuries, most of her feathers were bloodstained, clearly limping and from the look of her face suppressing a lot of pain back, he was clearly worried for his friend as he began to stammer his sentences, "Sabel I...Wha-...How....You look terrible! What happened up there!?".

 

​It's not as if Golbez was one talk though, as he clutched his left shoulder tightly with his good talon as if to prevent it from falling off completely he looked a right state.

His hat was long lost ages ago, his tux covered in nicks and scratches from the creatures claws from their tumble and his cloak was in complete tatters, the fact he was only breathing in short breathes would give away he had chest pains and his clothing did hide several other nicks and cuts o his body.

Edited January 16, 2014 by Sparx

[Umbreon 569]

Sabellah

 

@,@,@@SilverHeart,@,@@SwigglySwiggly,@,

 

Sabel sighs and holds up one talon to Golbez before turning and thrusting her uninjured wing between the arguing ponies.  "Alright, break it up!  Keep arguing like that and you're going to let all of those things know where we are!"  She glances at Skuldaf before adding "The fact remains that if Wish hadn't stabbed that thing, I'd probably be dead.  You want to have tea with one of 'em, pick one that isn't trying to murder us."

 

The griffoness sighs again before turning to walk over to Golbez, only limping slightly.  She looks at the other griffon and raises an eyebrow.  "I look terrible, huh?  Thanks, a girl loves to hear that."  She was kidding of course - it seemed that even though she was wounded, it wasn't affecting Sabel's usual personality too much.  "As for what happened, lets just say those things have really sharp claws.  Though you look like you ran into one yourself...  You okay, big guy?"

 

After pausing for a moment to let Golbez respond, Sabel would turn to look at the two ponies she didn't know.  Swiggly and Storm, she remembered from the log book.  She nods at both of them in greeting before speaking up.  "Alright, so...  From now on, we should probably stick together...  And we really need to get out of here.  Anypony know if that ferry is here?"

[SwigglySwiggly 358]

@, 

"Well... even if there was a ferry which there isn't, the docking station has some of those fish thingys crawling around" Swiggly levitated some more chocolate bars around and shaking them, as if trying to offer them around.

"But don't worry, I came here by hoof, we don't need a ferry" Swiggly took a moment to swallow his chocolate.

"I think I remember the way back to the edge of the swamp" Swiggly took another bite of his chocolate and took his time playing with everyone's patience.

"If I remember things right... you just follow the river upstream... duh" 

Edited January 17, 2014 by SwigglySwiggly

[SilverHeart 741]

With Sabellah effectively ending her staring contest with Skuldaf Mirror moved back behind Wish and released her spell. Who were the new pony and Griffon? The griffon's voice sounded familiar, although she couldn't place from where exactly. Mirror whispered to her friend. "Don't listen to him, Wish. You're a good pony."

[Mickey Taker 347]

@, @, @@SwigglySwiggly, @, @@SilverHeart, @

 

Golbez looked over at Wish, blinking a few times with a genuinely surprised look on his face after hearing of her efforts, "SHE killed one of those things?...and saved Sabel in the process?....wow", Still looking at the small pony he couldn't help but whistle, showing he was impressed, "You, young lady, are full of surprises I must say."

 

Weather it was inspiration from Wish's actions or the mere fact he that everypony was now accounted for, Golbez attempted to lift his arm up above his head, it was painful but as he applied more pressure...*SNAP* "De--AAHHhaha....bugger it all."

Rotating his outstretched arm a few times,he smirks, satiated as he begins to get feeling back in his arm again,as he looks over at Sabel again he was already outtig iit to work as he rubbed the back of his head  with a sheepish expression on his face, "Erm...sorry."

 

Walking closer to Sabel, he sits back on his haunches as he gestures with one talon at the staircase he come down from, "I just had a bit of a tumble, that's all, nothing to worry about just a few cracked ribs, really I've had dress rehearsals that have put me in worse shape,", he smirks at the griffoness, wiggling his eyebrows as he applies his own sense of humor.

"You on the other talon, would you mind if I took a look at that?", The magician nods downwards, gesturing to Sabel's deep scratch.

Edited January 17, 2014 by Sparx

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

@@SilverHeart,
@,
 
"It's okay Mirror..."
 
Wish barely moved her head as she nodded back to her friend - glaring pointedly at the coward that once again had displayed his willingness to shout at and threaten mares smaller than his while cowering away from the real monsters under the guise of being a pacifist... leaving it up to her - the farmers daughter - to be the one to take action...
 
@,
 
"It was... I just did what I had to."
 
@@SwigglySwiggly,
@,
 
"I think we should go for it... get out of here. We can find somewhere to get everyone looked after properly!"

[Hive King 2,001]

Skuldaf felt sick. All of these creatures near him, all of them were monsters! Skuldaf would have gone, but he'd stay, it was his duty. 

 

"I need to vent" Skuldaf muttered, blasting a hole in the wall and firing a barrage of black and red energy bolts into the sky where they exploded like fireworks

[Umbreon 569]

Sabellah

 

@@SwigglySwiggly,

 

Sabel frowns at what Swiggly says, trying to think.  "If those things are at the docks though, we won't be able to make our way down the river...  Maybe we could cut through the swamp and make our way to the river further down from the hotel though..."

 

@,

 

Glancing down to her bloodstained feathers, Sabel sighs but shakes her head.  "It's...  Not as bad as it looks."  Golbez had seen her acting before, unfortunately, so there was a decent chance that he was going to call her bluff.  "It can at least wait until we're out of he-"

 

@,@,@@SilverHeart,@,

 

 

What she had been saying fell short when Skuldaf started firing off bolts, and she quickly shook her head and started walking towards the door they had exited from that morning...  The one that led to the garden.  She knew how to get into the swamps from there, at least...  And if the docks were already cut off, it seemed to be the only viable option left.

 

"Okay, I'm certain that THAT was more than enough noise to tell the entire swamp where we are!  We're leaving, now!"  The griffoness winces slightly as she lifts a talon to push the door open, turning and using her undamaged wing to gesture for the others to hurry up.

 

 

--------------------

 

Murlocs

 

The pack had grown quickly - when the panicked employees fled in every direction, or tried to hide, they had become easy prey...  As a matter of fact, the pack had swelled considerably over the past few minutes.  The only prey that seemed to remain were the ones who had slain their brothers.

 

Part of the pack had been left in the river, watching and waiting in case their prey tried to flee that way.  The rest was on the hunt.  But where to start?  That had been a problem...  Until the series of explosions sounded off.  One of the creatures that was larger than the others stepped forward and brandished its crude wooden spear, croaking out what may have been orders to the rest of the monsters in their guttural tongue.  The pack let out a cry in response before surging towards the direction of the sound.  The hunt was back on.

[The Elusive Cinder 1,328]

@,

 

"You... you Idiot!"

 

Wish didn't think she had actually ever met a pony as... challenged as this - crying about the fact that they should just lay down and die before advertising their location to everything for miles around... where would it end?

 

@,

 

"I'm going to kill him! I'm going to kill him Sabel!" She declared loudly as she passed through the door - panic overtaking the sarcastic tone that she had intended to use somewhat as she looked about in fear - what were they going to do now? She couldn't kill another one of them... could she? Regardless, she couldn't kill them all: she didn't want to have to kill things - she wasn't that kind of pony...

[Hive King 2,001]

@,

"I am and idiot? At least i'm a good one" Skuldaf hissed, his horn still sparking red and black. "Would you rather I keep my magic suppressed? Have fun for 5 minutes, after that I literally explode!" Skuldaf roared. "Besides, they would have smelled us out anyway, we lost maybe a minute at most" Skuldaf grumbled 

[Stormbringer 346]

@,

 

Storm flattened his ears. "That's a minute that we're gonna need." He frowned. "Have you seen the arms on those... those things? Once they get close, they'll kill you! Eat you, maybe!" He seemed to be irritated. "And now ya went off and fired those shots off and told the WHOLE BLAZIN' SWAMP where we're at!" He shouted angrily, not like his usual quiet self. This was due to the fact that he was seething with anger.

[Hive King 2,001]

@,

"Oh please, I'm sure our bloodthirsty friend gutted one with ease, surely she can got eat their children or something" Skuldaf spat back, stomping at the ground with his hooves. "Those things are just animals, nothing else, I doubt they are smart enough to act the way you think" Skuldaf scoffed