"Well, that's not a bad idea. It could work I suppose." With nothing else to discuss, Etum began to think about how could they hunt the wargs. Traps, there was nothing else they could use. Something sharp would be useful to skin it. To kill it? Well, something brutish would be enough. For instance, crashing a rock against its skull a few times ought to be enough... actually, that sounds shabby. The more he thought of it, the more he felt the need for tools. "Darn it. We should really get some tools though. While that's probably not hard to hunt without, that's still gonna be difficult." Hell. Undead warriors and that stuff are likely easier to deal with. Between facing a beast or a humanoid creature without a weapon, the latter certainly sounded easier. Unless they discover some kind of powers on the way to the forest. "Oh well, let's just head there. We will see what happens then."
Moon nodded and followed Etum. "It'd be nice if we could get swords or daggers... The most I would be able to do is grab one and then splat them on the ground, depending on how heavy they are. But on our way there maybe we can practice? So far we know that our current words were discovered when we thought about something and wanted it, right? If that's the case, then we just need to think up some dangerous words... Although when I say it out loud.. Nothing seems to come to mind.." Moon thought in her head for a while after trailing off. She tried to come up with words that lead to painful outcomes. However, thanks to memory loss this wasn't such an easy task. She would have to feel the need for it. How that was going to happen, she had no idea. Moon just hoped it would save her life when the time came for it. "In any case, we can just rely on our instincts."
But I don't have any "word" yet. While he wished to say that, she remained quiet. Etum did not know how to feel about powers being related to words. There was something off about it. If words had power, then speaking would be prohibited or restricted. Yet, it was not the case. Then, they were the unusual ones. Right, they do not belong here, thus, would it mean that there is a discrepancy between the rules of this world and them? Put simply enough, some basic rules do not apply to them? If that was the case. Then, it's like searching for your memoirs in a stranger's house. You will never find it because it cannot be there. At some point, both of them left the city and were approaching the forest, bright with colors. While it was colorful, it seemed that once you enter into it, the sunlight hardly passes between the leaves. In any case, it did not make much of an impression on Etum. "Well, gotta head deeper into it I guess."
Moon looked at Etum, and while he wasn't very excited, Moon was very excited. She was practically gawking at all the leaves and different flowers. She had seen the forest from the sky, but had failed to notice it until now. It was beautiful up close. Not to mention, she was already in a better mood now that she could stretch her wings without anyone staring at her. It was nice to be herself. Moon did a little happy dance while spreading and closing her wings and spinning in a circle, while chanting "forest, forest, forest." She knew hoe stupid it must have looked, and that she was probably not supposed to be acting thi-... All of a sudden Moon stopped. She looked down in shock as a memory suddenly came at her like a speeding hawk and smacked her in the skull. She stood still for a long while. Remembering someone scolding her for having fun, three others that looked about her height laughed at her antics. And then she was pulled out of it. "You need to act your part!" was the last thing she remembered being said to her. Suddenly Moon wasn't very excited anymore, and calmly walked into the forest with her posture on point. And then it came to her; poise. And she felt her fingers tingle. Her third word of power. She looked at a wilting plant, and smiled. "Poise." And it did. The poor looking plant was now stiff and standing tall.
'Yeah, definitively. They should not be here. This kind of thing just doesn't make sense.' While Etum only had doubts, now, its doubts were confirmed. Or at least, she was now confident in those. In any case, it was not time for him to think about this. In any case, he felt more relaxed now than when he was in the city, he did not have to keep in mind at all times their identity. "Congratulations on finding... a word I guess?" While he did not pay much attention, Etum saw what happened from the corner of his sight. Nonetheless, he was not sure about what happened. Did the plant regained vitality, or did it just stiffen? Whatever it is-- there were things to do about it. "Do you think you could try it on other things? For instance, let's say, a fallen off branch?" Maybe it won't work on a more resistant material, or maybe, because it's not part of the tree anymore?
This person is taking forever to talk to this bad birdie! Bad! They must be negotiating me as food in exchange for protection! Ilya is no emergency food! Ilya will go off!!! I tried flying away again, but wings ached so much... I couldn't just go on my own... If only there was a strong wind that would blast me away to safety... Just as I thought that, a huge gust of wind blew me off and I suddenly started flying without any control whatsoever... Wait! I'm sorry! I didn't mean it! Please take me back to the ground! I can't fly the way I am right now! "HEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEELP!!!!" I screamed as I was being blown away by the air current.
Moon did not think about that. Would it work on detached things? In her mind, logically no. A tree branch is already poised because it cannot slouch. "I don't think so, Etum. I cannot poise what I already consider to be poised. It's all about your state of mind, I think. If I don't consider something to match my definition of being poised, then the power should work. Unless the plant just happened to fit a universal perspective and that's what makes the powers work." It seems like Etum had not noticed anything about her regaining a memory. That was good. She did not want to worry or have him feel bad in any way so that they could focus on the mission. "Do you have any powers, Etum? I've been trying to expand mine so that I can be more helpful. Although I can't seem to think of any dangerous words that could be used for killing anything. And while I can poise and hold our enemies in a fixed uptight position there's no telling if it'll work the same way on an animal trying to move... We should brainstorm some more."
"I don't know? So far, I haven't manifested any power neither did I felt the need to." Unfortunately, it may seem that Etum needed to be stuck in a situation to awake such power. Nonetheless, if there was a "word" that kept surfacing in his mind. Then, it would be a word such as "discrepancy, distance, disharmony." Why do all these words begin with d? Let's not think about it. Then, maybe they just had to find the right word along these lines? Basically, the right synonym. "Mmmmm. Space? Interval? Difference? Disparity?" Nothing happened. So it had nothing to do with these. Then, without warning, one word particularly struck Etum's brain. As for why? There were no reason. It was just a short and simple word that smoothly rolled out of its tongue: "Gap?" Still, Etum doubted whether that was right or not. Any worries it possibly had was for naught. Since nothing happened. "Thought I got the right word." Perhaps, it needed more than simply a mention of the word. For instance, a target. That was perfect considering that they were in a forest. There were plenty of objects to test this out. More precisely, leaves, branches, and such things. Etum crouched and stared at a branch. For something to happen, a change was necessary. "Let's... reduce the gap." At this moment, the branch flew towards Etum and crashed against his head. "...Okay. Maybe I need to set a target on both sides?" In any case, all he had to do to discover a power was to think about it. Which is rather awkward considering that his fellow-creatures discovered their powers much earlier than he did.
Moon burst out laughing at Etum the second the branch hit her face. Moon couldn't help it. "Hahaha! Etum, I don't think the problem is the words you use, its probably the fact that you aren't envisioning what you want the word to do. Its like having a command with no command to follow. And each word you say sounds like a question. But that was brilliant! Moon gestured to the branch and then to Etum's head, trying to hold back even more laughter. "Gap seems like a good word. Although, how are you going to use it in battle? Hey... Do you think you can fling things towards other things? Like flinging a rock into a wargs skull?" This was a good start to their practice. The more she thought about it, the more she realized she was missing something... She finally noticed her skin becoming red and feeling like it was about to catch on fire! She quickly thought about the sun and had wished she remembered to say her moonlight word before they left Nocturne's wonderful night sky. "Moonlight." And just like that her skin and wings were being covered in a protective layer that reflected the suns awful light. However, she still had the burns. They were really starting to hurt the more she thought about it. Oh, how she actually wished she could roll in the cold snow in Kalasi. That would feel much better. She would rather be freezing that feel like this. "Ahh... That's right... I would rather.." Moon stopped and looked at the plant she had stiffened. "Freeze." And like artwork coming to life the plant became incased in a beautiful ice barrier. This gave moon many ideas for battle. Then she thought about how it would complicate things... How would they kill it if the creature was trapped in ice like the flower was? She would need to practice on the thickness she wanted. She began looking around and froze a number of poor plants before she figured out to imagine the insides freezing instead of the outside. She made one last attempt. "Freeze." Moon whispered to a large plant with many leaves and pictured every stem, like blood veins, freezing into place and not breaching the outside. However, instead of the plants insides only freezing, menacing looking spikes slowly pierced the surface, causing the plant to look more like a crystal thorn bush. It was beautiful and scary at the same time. But most importantly... Useful. And Moon couldn't help but smile. Moon looked back at Etum. "Your turn Etum. Lets see how dangerous your words can be." Moon wanted to sound encouraging, but that honestly sounded better in her head.
Slightly aggravated by Moon's laughter, Etum clicked on his tongue and remained silent for a while before thinking of how it could be used in a fight. And the reply? It had too many uses. Reduce the gap at high speed will certainly destabilize the enemy while increasing it... would that not mean that the enemy cannot approach Etum as long as this word is 'enabled'? Is that not too outrageous? It must have some limits. For instance... the strength? No, not exactly... what if he tries to close the gap with a tree for instance? "..." If it works, he would be crushed. And if it doesn't? Let's try. The goal is to close the gap between Etum's hand and the tree. As he expected-- it seemed as if his hand was going to fly away and stick to the tree, bringing his whole body with him. Perhaps-- it's about the weight? "Let's try it, I guess..?" Now that he tested that, he thought about what Moon said. That is true, he does not need to be one of the targets. On the ground, Etum picked up a rock and then thought about closing the gap between this rock and the tree. No direction or anything. And as he expected, the rock crashed against the tree. 'Isn't that just telekinesis at this point?' Or messing with gravity? Is Gap really the right word? Perhaps, he got the wrong one. "...Well, it does seem to work." Once he noticed the Moonlight sort covering Moon, Etum could not help but chuckle at how fitting and coincidental it was. Nonetheless, it did not mean that he understood how it worked. Actually, he could not understand how it could make sense. A sigh escaped Etum's mouth before witnessing the ice piercing the plant. "That is... a rather dangerous thing." "And your words sound even more dangerous." Indeed, it did sound better in her head. Jokes aside, Etum wondered what kind of word he could use. Gravity? Not that it would change how Gap works. Another word would be needed. Is there any other word that marked Etum? Something related to intel? Information, right, he kept searching for information. But why? "Mmmmm. I don't know. No other word really comes to mind." To understand the surroundings. Why? No idea. Bah! Let's think about it later, they got money to make!
"Ah, Ilya!" I caught her before she fell in the ground. "Calm down, I'll get the birdie to go away!" I looked at the bird a bit apologetically while I signaled it to go fly away. Hopefully it'll stick with us as a guide, but I don't think it'll be good to have it so close, with Ilya and all. I picked up the flower bed I made Ilya and approached the wolf. It seems it won't attack me since I healed it. I placed the bed on of its back, tying it to the wolf's body with some plant stalks. "Ilya, please hold tight to the mofu mofu." I said as I placed her on the wolf's back. Here's to hoping it'll understand the proper speed to carry her. "Let's go, the way is..." As I look up the sky, I can see the guide bird flying high. "That direction I guess?"
Moon smirked at Etum's acknowledgement. She didn't know why, but it felt good to hear that her words were dangerous. "Well, not gonna lie, it is hard to think of new possible words, especially since we have no idea how this really works, I'm just going off of past experiences. And since we have too little information it makes sense our brains don't know where to start... We'll just have to use what we got and hope that we spill their blood before they spill ours." Moon carefully tried to step as lightly as possible. Whatever they were hunting most certainly would have sensitive hearing. She didn't know how she knew that, but sometimes information in her brain just seemed right. "Hey Etum.. Do you remember any particular way to best kill these things?"
"Any particular way... out of the blue like this, I would say traps that aim their legs. One who cannot follow the pace would be given up on. It's the easiest way to get a beast out of its pack." Then, it is also possible to-- "Place some kind of poisoned bait I guess? But then, we would need to go back to the library to read studies regarding the flora." Nonetheless, these applied to more normal beasts. Wargs may be different. For instance, would they flee or strike on sight? Likely-- the latter, didn't the receptionist say that there were increasing sightings of wargs? Around the city that is. In other words, on the outskirts of the forest. The only reason they would head towards the borders of the forest is-- a lack of food. Or overpopulation, in any case, overpopulation will naturally lead to famine. "I suppose they will attack on sight." A problem was that Etum did not exactly how they are supposed to hide. Is it necessary to hide one's scent for example? Whatever. In the worst case, fleeing would be easy if they get into trouble.
"It would be real helpful to have Nocturne's uhh... Night ability right about now, but I'm not entirely sure how it works. Me and him have the same word, but we use it and picture it differently. His is much more advanced than mine." As for the traps, Moon wasn't sure, but that seemed to be Etum's favorite method of hunting. This is probably the fifth time he's mentioned it since the guild. She might had been over exaggerating a bit, but that didn't matter right now. There was no way to make a trap unless one of them was going to play the bait while the other waited here to spring the... Vine? They had no rope, so what else were they to use? But playing the bait didn't sound like such a bad idea. Especially since she was covered in her bright moonlight layer. She would make the perfect bait. Plus she could fly away if things got too dangerous while leading them to the trap. "Hey Etum. What if I played the bait? And you have some sort of trap set up that I can lead them to?"
In a clear meadow surrounded by what could be called paradise, the sun shone brightly, little animals were lively. The birds and bees hummed their songs, creating a peaceful harmony. The grass and flowers swayed in tune as directed by the wind. It was a perfect picture until... The hill nearby crumbled and revealed a dark pit. Silence permeated. Even the sun hid behind puffs of cloud. A horror it was to see the hollowed earth spouting a human like figure as though it was vile and unwanted. Miraculously after this, the earlier paradise returned like nothing happened at all. --- Blue... the sky is... It's so blue. I haven't seen it for a long- How long? Flashes of darkness flew past her lids but gone even before she could grasp them. ....Where? All she knew right now was the vast blueness she was seeing took over all her senses. There was nothing more important. She could rest like this forever. Nothing could make her suffer anymore. Anymore? Was she suffering? 'Time...' something whispered. Time made her suffer? A feeling of emptiness emerged not only from her mind but also from her soul. It was akin to something absorbing everything she had. That something... maybe it was time. The being curved her lips in a blank smile. [Apathy] Yes, this emptiness and inexplicable exhaustion is apathy. But she didn't want to do anything about. So she laid there for who knew how long. OOC: here goes nothing~
"Well, any of us could play the bait. I would say that I am confident in my evasion-- huh, so I am good at that?" Or at least, he could assume that he was familiar with the act of avoiding attacks. Perhaps she should become talkative, with luck, it will learn more and more about itself, bits by bits. In any case-- he had an idea in head. "We can make something simple. For instance, we just need something sharp, attract the wolves and then I would throw them against it with my 'word.' What you made with the flower but in sharper would be perfect." Pointing at the icy thorn bush, Etum thought it was the simplest trap they could make without tools. On top of that, it would force them to use their powers and thus increase their proficiency. If it does not work though? Then, they just have to find a substitute for the spikes. Branches would do, if one is thrown at a sufficient speed, anything pointy would become dangerous. Or so Etum thought.
Moon nodded to Etum. "That honestly sounds like a great idea. I'll try to use this big bush over here, but it might take me some time to visualize everything." Moon walked over to the huge berry bush and touched one of its leaves. She felt all the tiny vines and visualized how many more might exist within the whole bush. However this wasn't supposed to be like her normal Freeze word. This needed to be sharp... Pointed... She needed to think about how the previous plant looked with all of the crystalized spikes. Yes, that was it. She felt her mind click to the new word. She could feel exactly what she wanted to turn this plant into. Moon closed her eyes and commanded: "Crystalize." Moon stood back, and watch as the bush slowly stiffened, each leaf that was saying in the wind came to a stop, and slowly the whole bush started to turn glossy as the ice broke free from the veins. Moon focused extra hard to make sure these crystals turn out extra large and pointy. She imagined each breaking free and becoming twice the size of the branches they breached from. By the end of it the bush wasn't a bush any longer, but rather a huge spike ball. Of course, this was only from the front. Moon wasn't able to transform the whole bush because she could not see the back side of it. But at least half could be used as a giant spear point. Moon suddenly felt dizzy after her word power was complete and had to rest by a tree. She looked to Etum, and tiredly smiled. "Think... You can handle.. The rest?"
"Sure, don't worry about that. I just need to find some wargs and lure it to the trap." If they are as overpopulated as speculated, it should be easy to return with some. In any case, the time between the search and the hunt remains considerable. So, there was only one thing left to do during its absence. "While I am luring these beasts. Just find some comfortable place nearby, and rest by. I will swiftly come back with our living pouches." It was a bit of a lie. If Etum does quickly find their prey, he will take his time so Moon can recover as much stamina as possible. Nonetheless, if the prey is discovered after an appropriate amount of time, then, she would proceed as planned. Following this exchange, Etum headed off and planned to search for the wargs. Simply making a lot of noises would not do, that would be troublesome if he attracts something else than the wargs. Then, he must find a pack of wargs and make enough noise to attract a few of them. The best way to find them was to either to distinguish their remains or to seek for scratches. There was also a detail that marked his mind, it was that cannibalism was not uncommon in dire circumstances. In any case, it was not too hard to find the territory they marked. There seemed to be scratches on trees every dozen of meters. Is that not too many? Unsure since he did not delve that deeply into the subject, sure, there are marks. But aren’t there too many of them? That was the feeling he got without knowing. Following that, groans followed-- that was a good thing, he did not even need to search for them when they came for him. Perhaps, there are packs of wargs fighting for territories? That may make sense? The offspring and weaker wargs would flee and so find themselves nearby the city? Who knows. Not Etum for sure. Whatever the reason for their increased sighting in Elysion’s vicinity, none of that mattered as long as they succeeded in hunting a few wargs for money. Though, perhaps, a few were not exactly the right number… In any case, it seems that it was around one meter at shoulder height. Aside from that-- everything about it was like a wolf. Once the howls entered into her ears, Etum knew it was time to provoke them, then lure them. And so-- he threw a branch at one of the… five? Six? “Whatever the number was” wolves. The speed of the thrown branch was enhanced by Gap. More damage, more enmity. At this point, the prey and the trapper were running in the same direction. More precisely, three wargs were chasing one creature. Seemed like only half of the wargs decided to run after him. Of course-- Etum was slower, but since he kept throwing things at the wargs, throwing them against each other, tripping them, it was rather easy to keep a certain gap between them. In this course of events, he discovered something, while his word affected distance, it did not affect speed. For instance, he tries to throw a creature running forward on the right. The creature will deviate on the right. In other words, the affected moving object partly keeps its initial direction. Useful to know, if he did not realize it before reaching the trap-- then, the trap would fail. Soon enough, this chase ended when they finally reached the trap. Though there was an issue, there was only one trap for three wargs. “Gap.” Swiftly, one of three wargs was thrown towards the trap. Its throat was pierced, and so its fate was sealed. In the meantime, the two other beasts were dangerously approaching Etum. One could easily be dealt with, another-- “Gap” --will be enough. The second one crashed against a tree, disorienting it for a while. Unfortunately, there was no time to do it for the last one. Thus, Etum took the initiative and kicked it in the face. Since he kept running, it did not expect a strike and took a hit. “I need to repeat this... this?” The moment the word ‘Repeat’ left Etum’s mouth, the kicked wolf got hit a second time? Without anything touching it? Whatever, let’s think about it later. Thanks to this, Etum gained the time to remove the first wolf from the trap and throw another one on it. And the rest happened as he expected. Three wolves were hunted with ease. Thought, that was only because there were three of them.
'W-why am i doing this to the people i just met?' Sky wondered as he began to run everywhere and beat up any monsters without resorting to killing anyone of them. Even when he is in a dangerous spot after using himself as a bait to steer clear the monsters away from the village, he continues to fight with the risk of his life. There was something in Sky that he felt hiding something dark as he continues to bash and sent away as many monsters as he can. Then.... "Guh!" Being tossed away by a wolf that was too fast for him to dodge, he flew far into a tree as he hit his head in and....there.... 'I-is this me....?' It was a certain scene of him bathing in blood as rage and continuous bloodlust slowly seeped inside Sky. Every monster who was eager to feast on Sky's flesh started to flinched as their instincts had told them that they had awaken something far more dangerous than the one controlling them. "Hehehehehehe......" 'No wonder i always hear the voices whenever i slowly awaken my memory...' ——————————————————————————————————————————————————— "Run! Its the 'Mad Oni'!" There was a legend in a certain country during WW2 where the japanese occupied a certain place. 'Mad Oni' It would hunt down the Japanese Soldiers with no hesitation as countless bodies being ripped apart and brutally massacred by a single person. He tortures and kills as the Japanese occupant felt that the monster they awaken had cause them eternal nightmare whenever they hear his growl. It doesn't sleep, eats their flesh and toys with their lives as the Japanese slowly losing moral whenever they would defend a certain point against the Americans. The Soldiers continue to have nightmares of the Mad Oni that only when they left the country they occupied would they feel safe. The Mad Oni said to be created by a sick experiment to fight off the Americans but failed and instead attacked them, some say that he was the ghost of Vengence that risen from that country and seeks vengence upon those who cause harm to the natives there, but only a few had said that it was a person who held a strong grudge yet they don't believe it bue to having no human soul. Yet, only the soldiers who occupied the country can truly feel the danger of sleeping beside the monster and take them to hell as they could still hear its laughter whenever it kills their fellow men. ——————————————————————————————————————————————————— "I....i need to keep going...." Sky wipe the blood on his face as he continues to run, leaving countless bodies behind him as he need to save as many people as he can.
I got dizzy from the sudden flight and catch, and suddenly felt even more pain from it... I was kinda tired... Suddenly I felt like I was in a very comfortable place though, it felt like bliss... I like this one... Mmmmmmmmm... I'll take a nap, this seems like a good moment to rest... Yeah, goodnight, I hope mister Sun finds its light soon~