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Emil listened to Aeris as she addressed the two. She was friendly. Hopefully the guy wouldn't attack her. He was ready to protect her if he did. Fortunately, he didn't really do anything other than say he was fine, which was quickly countered by the girl's explanation. He was one of those "leave me alone and don't worry about me" guys, wasn't he? Sort of like Richter. Only, less lonesome. At least this guy wasn't alone. "Not a city boy, huh?...Are you two from Mizuho?"







Looking at Toothless, Hiccup smiled a bit as the dragon tilted his head before laying down and holding his nose like a dog that was in trouble. "Just Snotlout. But, the guy has an attitude problem. Don't worry. It'll be fine. Toothless is a big bundle of friendly energy. You'll love it."

Well, that surprised Natalia. The little monster wanted to come with Sophie. She wondered if maybe helping it had tamed it somehow. Not that it mattered. What mattered was getting the guy treated so that the remainder of his wound wouldn't get infected. She walked with Sophie and the blue jackel-like creature to the square, arriving in time to see Arlin and Arianna returning as well. Had they found anything to help them?

"Mementos of the old days, huh?" If only Arlin's old days were worth remembering. Actually, he wished he could forget them. Walking with the girl and her Arcanine, they soon crossed the bridge and walked into the square. He could see Natalia and was visibly relieved she was unharmed.






Not that bad!? It was awful! It was the worse she smelled since they met! Hubert closed his eyes and stopped breathing to calm his nerves. Usually he'd take a deep breath or two, but when he was around Pascal when she hadn't bathed in awhile, he somehow managed to reverse the process. "I think you should take a bath before we do anything else."

The cluster had been vibrating for a time, giving off a low rumble like the rolling thunder of an approaching storm. Then with a sharp whoosh, the evil energy that it was brimming with flourished out in all directions with the alarming speed of a flash flood. It blanketed the land with shadow and miasma, creating a dark atmosphere that reached as high as the skies. The plant life caught within it began to wither, ordinary animals grew ill, and monsters were overcome with a sharp pain in their heads.

The Shadow of Corruption swiftly went on to cover the three towns that were at the outskirts of the mountains—Hima, Luin, and Asgard. Fortunately, the edges of the shadow stopped there, but the people within had better get a move on before it gets darker and the miasma settles in thicker volume. Not to mention, the evil energy was making the monsters rapidly mutate and go berserk, and great numbers of demon creatures were materializing within a five-mile radius of the cluster, ready to move out toward the towns.










((Did I miss anyone? If this is too vague or anyone has any questions as to what exactly to do, feel free to say so in the OOC thread.))





"As am I," Jade concurred, then went on to rise from his seat after Zaul.

However, the gunman stood frozen for a moment, his brow furrowing as he made a serious look of concern. As one of elven blood, he could sense the movements of mana, and what he just felt was practically a wave of it being pushed about by some kind of force. A few other half-elven men that were also in the room had also sprung to their feet, making expressions identical to Zaul's. They all exchanged glances at each other that said, "You just felt that too, didn't you?" The people who were still seated looked at the half-elves and began to murmur wonderings of what was going on.

When Zaul looked out the window, he could see the sky graying like there was about to be a downpour, and his eye widened at realizing what that really meant.

"Is something the matter, Zaul?" asked Jade as he looked to him, slightly puzzled.

"Everyone evacuate!" he commanded toward the other people in the room, "A Shadow's come 'round!" While the sounds of panicked people increased all around, he looked back to his company and continued, "Ah'll explain it better later, but th' gist 'f it is, a poisoned air called miasma's gonna start settlin' in, n' crazed monsters're gonna appear n' attack people soon." He turned toward the door. "Ah'm gonna head deeper inta th' town n' help with th' evacuatin' while lookin' out fer them monsters. Ya can head outta town yerself if y'like, but if ya wanna join mah efforts, Ah'd say we can cover more ground by splittin' up. Jus' go wherever, we'd be wastin' more time tryin' ta pick out sides!"

"Understood," Jade replied in utmost seriousness, nodding. He was inwardly rather surprised at hearing of the all-too-familiar plague of "miasma" in a world that was not Auldrant. First, the similar currency, medicines, and items, now this...?

As the last of the mad scramble left the room, the two men proceeded out of the inn. Zaul went for the higher parts of the town, while Jade headed for the market area.

((I backread to double-check whether or not they all talked about the Shadows yet and it seems they didn't (the most was that an old man told Jade and Krystal about monsters going crazy), but correct me if I'm wrong. ))

Maka and Soul stood as Zaul did, but Maka noticed Zaul's expression. Soul wasn't paying any attention at all, which made Maka frown and forward her eyebrows in disapproval. He could at least be more attentive, especially to his companions. Shaking her head, she looked back at Zaul to ask what was wrong, but she noticed a few others had stood and look at each other. Jade beat her to the punch and asked Zaul what was wrong, but Zaul didn't answer immediately. Instead, he ordered an evacuation, making the people leave the building. It was then he gave a brief explanation. Hearing about the shadows concerned her, and she looked at Soul. "...What, are you serious? Maka, you literally just--" "I'm fine, Soul. We have to help these people. It's our duty as DWMA students." Soul growled before he crossed his arms and turned. Why did Maka have to be such a selfless hero? Stupid girl. "Fine. Don't blame me if we get hurt." Maka smiled at Soul before they went outside. Zaul was heading upward and Jade went to the market. Maka decided to guard the citizens as they evacuated town. "Soul." "Yeah, I know." Soul's body turned white and he jumped into the air as he transformed, landing perfectly in Maka's hands. "Really think there will be attackers?" "I don't know, but Zaul mentioned monsters. We have to protect the citizens and buy as much time as we can so they can get out."









Maiku blinked. That sounded terryifying. Monsters that could repel attacks. Were there Shadows like that? He hoped not. He watched Yoko hurry inside. Maybe if she'd cover up more....Shaking his head, he walked in after her. It smelled good. Clearly, they served food. But, food wasn't his priority. They needed to find out where the were and how to leave.

"... ... ..." Yuan was left in stunned silence for a moment because what Rhone just said sounded utterly nonsensical to him. Was he seriously lacking a fundamental understanding of how a tree was a tree? How could it possibly have its own will to focus an attack? Or, was he referring to its Summon Spirit? Yuan wouldn't doubt her power, but an expenditure of energy just seemed far too risky in these times. Kratos merely raised a brow sharply, thinking the same as his old friend.

Azura, on the other hand, couldn't quite pay attention from the time Rhone took his hat off to fiddle with it in a showy manner. There at first was a piercing sound in her head akin to intense tinnitus, and for some reason, the words "everyone evacuate" was at the edge of her mind. Bearing a sharply confused expression, she stared straight ahead blankly and pressed her fingers to her right temple. Within the few seconds Rhone spoke, her vision grayed, and she started seeing faint images of a dramatically different setting superimposed on the surroundings. It was blurred, but she could make out what she perceived to be a tavern and humanoid shapes moving about. When the high-pitched whistling sound died out, she heard the muffled sounds of people panicking.

Yuan was about to say his thoughts out loud, but was caught by surprise by the portal forming right behind Seishin. Kratos was as well; his eyes widened and he instinctively moved a hand to the hilt of his sheathed sword. Yuan drew his hands close to each other before him, one curled into a fist, ready to summon his swallow blade if he needed to.

Azura snapped back to reality when she picked up a strong scent and felt a slight trickling on her upper lip before Rhone said, "Before anyone says anything, I didn't do that." Brushing her fingertips to her nose, she came off with a few drops of blood, the source of the scent. Slightly surprised, she curled that hand into a fist to wipe that into the palm of her glove, then pressed her cuff to her nose for a moment. Thankfully, there was nothing more.

Finally realizing there was a bright light behind her, she turned only to see Seishin directly in front of it. "Whoa, watch out!" Her first instinct was to dash up to the child-like Spirit, grab him by the wrists, and pull him out of the anticipated harm's way, stopping once she had brought him close by Kratos and Yuan.




((Heads-up, another character is about to join us. surprised Erryn, you can post first while he readies his profile. smile ))

Location:Meltokio
Currently With: Seras, Emil, Sesshomaru, Rin

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Aeris watched as the girl hid behind the silver-haired male when she addressed her. It was understandable since she was a stranger. The male seemed ready to protect the little girl, though he didn't seem to do anything. It was then the girl explained what had happened. "Here. Let me see if I could help." Taking her rod, she would remove a blue materia from its slot that was linked to a green one since she didn't need to use it for what she was going to do. Putting the materia into her jacket pocket, she would raise her hands as her rod floated parallel to the ground as she casted Cure 2 on Sesshomaru to help heal the hurt demon.

Even though Sesshomaru seem to have this 'I'll be fine, don't worry about me' persona, she wanted to help the man. She glanced over to Emil for a moment when he asked if they were from a place called Mizuho. Now that she thought about it, the pair looked as though they could be from Wutai from how they're dressed. She couldn't help but wonder if they knew Yuffie. "This Mizuho....Are there any ninjas there by any chance?" She asked Emil. If Mizuho was anything like Wutai, then it was more than likely there could be ninjas around. Her gaze then shifted over to Seras, who had been keeping her distance. "Everything alright, Seras?" She asked.





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Location: Hima
Currently With: Jade, Zaul, Maka, Soul

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As she rose from her seat, Krystal noticed the serious expression on Zaul's face. Jade was the first to ask what was wrong, though the one-eyed gunman commanded for everyone to evacuate, mainly at the other people in the room. "A shadow?" She asked. It was understandable that Zaul would want to wait til later to fully explain what was going on considering their current situation. However, he did give them a brief explanation. So this miasma could be what was causing the monsters to go into their crazed states. She thought to herself. Giving a nod to Zaul, she headed outside along with the others. Zaul had went upward while Jade went to the market. She decided to head over to the entrance to help guard the evacuating citizens. She had caught notice of Soul jumping into the air and had transformed into a scythe along the way. The blue vixen was rather intrigued by this ability.

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Crow frowned and looked down at the animal. Did he just insult him? "Says the fox with circus markings. You'd be the star attraction of said circus. If you weren't dissected by scientists first." The robot looked at the blonde male who spoke, expressing his approval of the outfit. That made him burst with pride. "Thanks!" The trio were suddenly joined by another male, this one with long red hair and apparently liked the color pink. Off limits? Dangerous? Why? Crow crossed his arms a bit before he looked down at the fox as it lectured the other on how it wasn't a pet. What in the name of god was a Zorua? His head was starting to hurt. The blondie, Richard, asked their new companion if he could tell them where they were. So, he hadn't known either. Well, it was amgokd thing he hadn't asked first.






They were talking to much and making his headache worse. He didn't notice immediately that the woman was going to use magic on him, but when she and the blonde kid began talking about places he never heard of, he looked up so he could tell them to be quiet. That was when he noticed the staff. His eyes changed. They went from copper to looking much more demonic; his irises turned black and his sclera turned red. Standing quickly, he knocked the staff away and raised his hand, now emitting a green-ish gas. He would have attacked her there if Rin hadn't interfered. "Lord Sesshōmaru!" He looked back at the girl as his eyes returned to normal, noticing that she was watching the people around them. A couple of travelers had their swords drawn. Rin wasn't worried about the woman, but rather Sesshōmaru. Lowering his hand, he backed off and sat back down. The Naraku thing had made him more cautiously paranoid than he already had been. Rin smiled and went over to the staff, picking it up and returning it to the woman. "Please forgive Lord Sesshōmaru. He's only had bad encounters with witches and magic."

Yvonne paled a bit. "I...think I'll pass, thanks. Ah....I'll make a raft, yea?"