[A]Can't stop here, it's Alpaca country [El Greco y Soren]

[Euphoric Ghost]

So you can make dough
can't make the grass grow
There's a hole inside the universe for you
- Honeycut, Tough Kid

The Not-Forbidden Forest was dreary, like every other day. The trees were mangled and fanged, deathly in appearance with patches of black, brown and orange spotted leaves. Whatever life there is were hidden beneath its black-crust bark. There were insects of various shapes that at times appear through the cracks or hang precariously at the branches. Some say they make tasty meals, especially the slimiest of the grub.

The slimiest among the students were among them today. El Greco sat beneath a tree, his legs crossed, and his back against the trunk. In his hand was a death’s head moth, peacefully resting on the ghost’s palm. Its wing’s flapped lazily, closing and opening, revealing the black background and white markings shaped like a skull, from where it gets its name from. His fingers curled, but didn’t close on the winged creature; he wanted to crush it.

“Dear moth,” the slimer lifted his hand closer to him, “you don’t even know that your world is closing down on you.”

The slimer slowly closed his fingers into its palm, the moth, fluttered to the touch and to the movement, but it was too late for the escape. His fingers were pinning its wings down, and slowly it began to press on its body. But the ghost let go, and quickly opened its hand, letting the moth live another day.

“Hello there.”

Something else had caught the slimer’s attention. A four legged creature which wasn’t a horse. It had a longer neck and a less impressive and coarsely fur coated body. The slimer wasn’t sure if it even had eyes since it wasn’t visible. Its mouth was present, chewing on the little grass found around the forest. Its head was facing towards the ghost, but nothing about it, even its stance spoke of anything aggressive or even fear. It just ate.

“It must be stupid.”

ramenli

 

[ramenli]

There was another in the forest who had seen the long-necked creature. Sören had been tracking the alpaca through the woods for several minutes, though tracking creatures was not exactly his forte. At some point he had made it to the grounds of Amityville, but that did not bother him. The students could be useful, packing various items and being guinea pigs, and he had a mission. Boundaries would not stand in the way of him fulfilling said mission.

The alpaca must have been blissfully clueless that it was in any sort of danger, because while its trail meandered a bit it was easy to follow. Where there were not clear tracks there was fuzz caught by various branches. He saw the creature, just standing there, chewing grass if the piece sticking out of the side of its mouth was any indication. It saw him, and simply stood there as he began to make his way toward it, intent upon bringing it in. But another figure caught his eye. He glanced to the side, pausing for a moment.

"You there. Boil. I need to capture it." He approached the alpaca and threw an arm around it, not damaging it but trying to get a good hold on it, despite the alpaca beginning to struggle, at one point stepping on his foot just where the armor ended. "I'll hold it, you punch."

Alpaca HP: 30/30
Soren HP: 35/40
Damage: LOL no

Euphoric Ghost

 

[Euphoric Ghost]

The slimer caught sight of the Horseman at his periphery. Judging from his lack of wings and lack of fancy ornaments, he thought it was probably from Death. It was the last isle he visited before the disaster, and never got to really meet any of them. His knowledge of that clan was lost In the disaster, and so was his curiosity for the culture.

“Aren’t you wandering too far from your,” the ghost lengthened the last syllable while lost in thought, “Oh yes, tent?”

The slimer straightened his legs in front of him, and placed his arms behind his head. He wiggled in place as he tried to make himself comfortable by the tree.

“Before I even touch that beast, what is it? And why should I punch it?”

ramenli

 

[ramenli]

The alpaca that Soren was trying to deal with was suitably unimpressed, simply chewing along and stomping mindlessly. That in turn meant that Soren himself was suitably unimpressed when the boil made no move to do anything but sit on his a**. "Priestess Medea wants it," he said gruffly, still not letting go of the creature. "No other reason is necessary. So either punch it and be useful or stay out of my way."

There was a slight edge to his voice, revealing that he was possibly feeling a bit testy. On the Isle of Death such insubordination just...wouldn't really happened. A guardian? On a mission for a Priestess? Who would sit there and do nothing to help.

Alpaca HP: 30/30
Soren HP: 30/40
Damage: Apparently Soren is just hugging the alpaca

Euphoric Ghost

 

[Euphoric Ghost]

El Greco found the beast interesting. It was fiercer than it looked, and thought that behind all of the fur were a great mass of muscle. It could hold itself up, hold itself from the horseman’s grip, and hold an armored horseman. The slimer would have wanted it for himself, but he didn’t really need any kind of animal, as a mount, a pet, or anything.

The slimer heard the tone in the horseman’s voice, and smiled.

“Well, hello, I’m El Greco, and if you say please, I’d be happy to help.”

ramenli

 

[ramenli]

This whelp thought he could coerce him into saying please? Soren merely shot him a glare. "If you're too much of a scareling to help than just say so. I realize that the fuzz may be a bit too much for someone as lazy as you. On the other hand, if you would like to help the Priestess than you'd do well to get up and do something useful."

With that he set his legs into the ground, digging in, and headbutted the alpaca. It jarred him probably as much as it did the alpaca, but his faceplate certainly knocked the alpaca silly and it stopped stomping for a moment.

Alpaca HP: 25/30
Soren HP: 25/40
Damage: 5

Euphoric Ghost

 

[Euphoric Ghost]

El Greco finally lifted his arms off his head. He had his palms, facing each other, just a few inches away, and an eye peeking through them and at the horseman. There was a smile behind them, though, his flaring nostrils made it seem like it wasn’t the friendliest of smiles.

“No please, and now no name; I was this close,” he inched his palms closer together, “This close to helping.”

The ghost then floated a few inches off the floor, and slowly lifted himself off the floor. Being semi-ethereal had its perks, like being nearly weightless, and the ability to levitate. Its mechanics are yet to be argued, but no one denies its usefulness.

“If the priestess wanted help, she should have sent a better horseman.”

He sneered.

ramenli

 

[ramenli]

It was apparent that the ghost boil had not spent very much time on the Isles at all. Antagonizing a horseman? Not exactly revealing brilliance. Soren released the alpaca, giving it a light pat and the creature just stood there, chewing away, not perturbed in the least though it now had a prime opportunity to run for its fuzzy little life.

The ghost had began to levitate as Soren made his way over to him, but with Soren standing at a solid 6'4" the few inches made little difference. His armored hand balled into a fist, safely tucking away the sharpened points, and in a sudden move he dropped fist aimed straight toward the other's face, stopping precisely the distance that the boil's hands been from each other.

"And I was this close to injuring you." His voice was flat, a simple statement of the truth. The fact that he could stop his blow so precisely was a simple testament to the skill that had went into the maneuver. "You will notice that the priestess didn't ask students for their help. Even the lowest horseman is worth 10 of you, if not more." The ghost did talk quite highly for one who had so far proven to be useless.

Alpaca HP: 25/30
Soren HP: 25/40
Damage: He has restraint
Target: El Greco

Euphoric Ghost

 

[Euphoric Ghost]

El Greco snickered, and then mockingly pouted as he stared at the horseman.

“You should have hit me, I might have respected you more.”

The slimer grinned, revealing rows of jagged teeth, and slightly green gums. It looked a little sickly, but it was just his nature color. The ghost felt so close to having a fight with the horseman now. He hadn’t really fought any of their kind before, and the ghost felt a little excited at the thought. He bobbed up and down in place, and slowly hovered around the horseman.

“You’ll have to prove yourself right horseman, have our fists talk after you finish your chore,” he looked at the horseman from feet and up back to his eyes, “It wouldn’t be fair fight while you’re in that condition.”

“Besides, you smell.”

ramenli

 

[ramenli]

Some did not know that it took more power to show restraint, and more effort to do what he had done than carrying through with the attack. So the snicker did nothing to really phase the horseman. He was correct, to Soren his mission was much more important that standing around wasting time with some student. As for his insult...

Soren knew that he smelled. He often carried this scent, the scent of raw masculine power. He had had more than one woman attempt to bury herself in his neck because of that scent, and that indulgence had often led to even more pleasurable ones.

The alpaca started to move off into the forest and Soren focused his attention on the creature, not bothering to waste another glance or word toward the ghost.

EuphoricGhost

 

[Euphoric Ghost]

El Greco sort of missed the horseman. It’s been awhile since anyone actually would stand up to his insults, and he had been itching for a fight.

The slimer didn’t see a lot of horsemen, and now that he had met another one again after the disaster, the only thing he could do was irritate it. He felt a little off at the thought, and definitely heartless knowing that the horseman had lost so many things, and all that he did was give it a hard time. He wondered if he would see him again. He wondered what the beast was. He wondered why the priestess wanted it. He was left as lost as before.

He shrugged. The ghost turned to the opposite direction and floated off.

“I’ll be seeing you,” he muttered.