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Open Grimoire of Dragons

"No, no, no, YOU are the ones that are outnumbered, Kupo!" Ottoran said in his loudest and most confident voice. Ryu rolled her eyes.

"Why don't you just cast another one of your spells on all of them?" Ryu asked, whispering very quietly. "It would make a whole lot more sense."

"I will, kupo," Ottoran whispered back. "But if we can scare them away from their cart then I will not have to resort to violence." Ryu shook her head and began playing with a blade of grass.

"Surrender now, kupo, and the two - erm, 16 of us will not harm you!" Ottoran said, speaking loudly again.

"Do they even know what we want?" Ryu whispered.

"I think that, by their completely kupo reaction, they've figured out what we want," Ottoran whispered confidently. "Besides, what else would we want from them aside from their cart and money?"
 
Ming sniffed at the air and noted that there were two more bodies that appeared. She rolled her eyes as a hidden Moogle started to threaten them, saying that there were a number of them.

"The only numbered force is the enmey you are hiding near, you morons! Leave now before they-"

Lighting fast, a arrow shoots out of the bush toward her. She help up a hand and snatched it from the air, slippin gher bow off her shoulder and returning the fire back to then attacker. Her ear twitched as she heard the sound of weapon punchering the soft fleash of a Hume's throat.

"Maes! I call the battle, do your thing now!"

She then turns her head and glances at the cart.

"Everyone out and ready to fight. They are here and they seem to be itching for a dirt bed!...Roy. Stay with the cart, and melt the ice around Choco's feet won't you."

She then turns back to the bushes and pulls an arrow from her satchel, pointing at where the strong scent of a unfamiliar Seeq stood.

"Take this you pig-faced bastard."

Releasing the arrow, she heard another sound of weapon peircing flesh. A sly smirk appears on her face as the smell of their struggled atempt to regain their advantage.

"To the ones that claim they are 16 strong, I suggest you leave this instant unless you wish to be taken down along with these vermin. We will not be treatened by the likes you and that older Hume female, little Moogle boy."


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

"Idoits."

Roy turns to Thalia, knuckles white from grasping his fire staff.

"We are going to have to fight. Damnit...this is a forest, thus I'm...likely to cause a forest fire of I'm not careful...you, get some way to protect yourself in case the cart if attacked. Al, we'll need you outside as our healing force...plus, you know a few...Alchemy tricks, right?"

"Y-yes..."

Both slip through the back of the cart, Roy noting that Cid was already at ready since he seemed to somehow climb to the roof and holding out his cards. Roy sighs and runs over to choco, kneeling down and conjuring a weak fire to start to melt the ice, careful not to harm the Chocobo.

Al on the other hand begun his spells of protection, Shell, and other spells to aid his clan. He glances back at the cart and prays that Thalia will be alright.

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

Cid chuckled under his breath, scanning the brush before him with a card in hand. He glances down at the leader and shakes his head.

"If they want to die, then let them try to treaten us. It's their choice."
 
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(blaagh I got behind. I'll try to catch up here.)

Lodrick looked silently at the pages. Surely this was one of those serious books; he wasn't much of a reader so all books seemed beyond him, but this one especially so. It almost seemed like that book was a presence itself. He noted the blood on the edges of the pages. This wasn't the first struggle over the ownership of this book, to be sure.

The Bangaa flinched when the cart jerked to a halt. What was going on? From the suddenly anxious atmosphere and discussion, he concluded a fight was about to take place. "'scuse me," he mumbled, shuffling over to the back edge of the cart. "This'll only take a second, I'm sure," he said in an attempt to comfort as he prepared his cannon. He looked at the others outside the cart and peered out at the surrounding forest. Where were their adversaries hiding? He loaded his cannon as quickly as he could manage. These people could burst out at any moment. Lodrick shuddered a bit, not expecting a nice, refreshing Protect and Shell. He nodded to Al and grunted in thanks. "Nu mou, lemmie know when you feel short on that mana energy o' yours... I got somethin' that'll give you a boost, iff'n just say th' word," he said, over his shoulder. "... Er, that goes for both o' you nu mou back there."


Abelat's ears twitched and Luroa chirped uncomfortably. A confrontation?!

"No, no, no, YOU are the ones that are outnumbered, Kupo! Surrender now, kupo, and the two - erm, sixteen of us will not harm you!"

At this Abelat drew his sword and shouted back at the voice, "Kupo! Only sixteen!? Our clan would not be intimidated, even if your numbers were one-hundred strong!" The Moogle waved his sword in the air in an attempt to be threatening. "Come and face us, we are not afraid."

Luroa warked loudly. Whether this was her own enthusiasm or "speak for yourself" in Chocotongue, no one could tell.
 
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Avan leapt out of the cart, slowly drawing his katana and clapping Abelat on the back. "That is the way to speak, my good fellow! Even if their force were 1000-strong, I would fell them all at Miss Ryuu's command!"

Waving his katana slightly, he quickly springs forward and casts a Rockseal on an opposing hume. "Take this, you foolhardy fools!"

---

Gradivus gives an amused grunt at the enemies, before casting Astra and Discipline on himself, and charging at the enemies head on, hitting and knocking back 3 of them with a well placed Whirl Burst, and waiting for their counter with anticipation.

"Finally, sssomething worth doing!"
 
Even a hume could not miss the speaker's blunder, and indeed the leader had decided the hidden moogle was not the main threat. More importantly, the voice was loud, but not magically manipulated, so any moogle could easily pinpoint the source. Hawkeye whipped her gun toward the speaker, into the bushes. While she could not aim with the same unerring accuracy without her eyes, she could still get close enough, and that shot would usually flush prey out of hiding so her next shot would not miss.

She frowned. The leader was using scent to track their opponents, although viera noses were better than a moogle's. Hawkeye didn't fully understand how one could use scent to aim, and if they didn't show themselves, she'd be relying on hearing to fight. Since they had started a battle, though, and possibly had two opposing parties, it was likely a bad idea to leave the cart alone. Hawkeye glanced at the leader, who did not look like she intended to leave the cart, and smelled the strong stench of blood. Lethal violence it was, then.

Ears completely erect, Hawkeye darted into the bushes, letting her nose and ears guide her and warn her of any threats. She always made sure she knew the cart's direction, because she couldn't blindly shoot there (she was not usually an infantryman, so she did not blindly shoot anywhere), and she didn't want to get too far.

She heard the judge make the laws, and blinked when everything suddenly seemed less green. What--? Yes, definitely. The shell and protect were gone, but they were replaced by a slight tingling feeling. She mentally checked, and found that she couldn't immediately recast the spell.

The smell of unfamiliar seeqs and bangaas was strong, though there was a significant hume presence. She wondered how many cannoneers there were, and intending to neutralise those first, she kept track of their scent the most.

But the moment was the most important, and - there! Noise. She poked her head out around a tree, saw a seeq, took a split second to aim, and shot him in the neck. Another seeq, nearby - bang! Two kills in two bullets, and if she didn't keep up that trend, she'd run out far too quickly. It didn't take long to reload, but it took too long.

One second. That was too long to stay still when the enemy had bows and possibly firearms, so she moved. The noise would have attracted attention, because most of them did not use guns, so if she moved just far enough away, she could use the noise as bait--

Thwip.

Though not slowed by any protect bubble, the arrow only managed a (fairly deep) cut, scoring a glancing blow thanks to her movement. Hawkeye looked up, startled by the irritated-looking ranger. She didn't know why people lost their invisibility when they attacked, but she was grateful. She showed this gratitude by shooting him in the chest. When he didn't immediately drop dead from the first shot, she tilted the gun up and made his head explode.

Rangers. Kopu. There were possibly (definitely) traps, then. Hawkeye leapt on the ranger's body, then onto a sturdy-looking branch with the help of her wings. Here, she'd be safer, especially with the leaves to hide herself.

She looked around for any sign of movement below or level to her, then leapt over to the next tree. She looked down just as a hume looked up, startled by the slight thump, but he could only raise his staff with a slightly confused expression before she put a bullet through his heart. Already, she was liking this better. As long as she was careful to only let the blood drip on the branches, she had a very distinct advantage.

-
​

"'More pressing'? Hardly," Deus said. "We saw no one," he added, intending it as a lie although it was technically true. He glanced at the expanding cloud of smoke, unworried.

Deus barely paid attention to the hume thief as he walked toward the seeq, but Lucis was much more interested. "You're not going to eat him, are you?" she asked. "I try not to be discriminatory, but I don't associate with anthropophagi."

She didn't really wait for an answer, though, before plopping down near the fire, with Deus sitting more gracefully a few feet away. She laid the sign down beside her.

Deus offered the bag of bread after taking a loaf for himself. "It goes well with stew," he said, deciding to go along with Lucis's plan.

"But there's fur in it," Lucis said. "Kind of gross, really." She took a bite from her bread anyway.
 
"You idiot," Ryu groaned, "Next time, think before you speak."

"Kupo, I think plenty," Ottoran said, no longer whispering, his voice sounding slightly angry. "The problem is the words coming out of my mouth!" He turned back to the cart and saw a moogle pointing a gun at him. "Kupo!" Ottoran exclaimed, in a frightened tone of voice, shielding his head with his arms. The moogle suddenly looked off elsewhere, and dashed to another part of the woods, firing her gun often. At the cart, however, more and more beings began to come out of the cart.

"Erm, this might not be good, kupo," Ottoran said, nervously. He tried to think as quickly as possible of something to do. "Ryu, do we actually need the cart? Could we just ride on the chocobo?" Ottoran asked. Ryu shrugged.

"We could, it would just be uncomfortable," she answered. Ottoran thought again. Burning the cart probably wasn't such a good idea. He shrugged and spoke again.

"We'll quickly dispatch these members," Ottoran said quickly, "and when they're all off the cart we'll make our getaway in it!" Ottoran was excited at this thought. He turned to Ryu, who just shrugged.

"That should work," she said, taking her bow and arrow out. Ottoran began muttering a few gibberish words again, and suddenly, Ryu and Ottoran were filled with a great amount of energy. They leapt out from behind the bushes to be in full view of the opposing enemies.

"Whether your crew has a hundred or a thousand, we will succeed, kupo!" Ottoran said hurriedly. Ryu aimed readied her bow and looked around at the targets, seeing a female Nu Mou behind the cart. She focused her aim on the Nu Mou. All of the enemies had to be out of the cart one way or another.

She released the arrow.
 
"Fu--! Cid!"

Ming spins on her heel, missing her grab for the shooting arrow as it begun to soar toward the cart. She notes the nod from the Revgaji toss his magic card and slicing the arrow in two. Ming then turns back to the morons and hiss lower in her throat. She slings the bow back on her shoulder and pulls the headband around her neck onto her forehead.

"I'm done with these fools. You, Lodrick. You say you have a way to boost MP? Hit me. It's time to summon a little...reinforcement on these petty morons that rushed into a battle field."

She licks her lips a bit, glaring down the Moogle and Hume pair.


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

In the woods, the enemy frantically looks around at where the shots came from, quickly deciding that their cover was blown. They draw their weapons and begin to charge out of the woods, a fair number of them appearing on the road to battle and capture Thalia and her book.

The front line didn't get far.

"Bloody idiots. Just because I may cause a forest fire, you were safer from me in the fucking woods."

Roy released a wall of flames, watching as the charging force run through the bone melting flames and drop in cries of pain and agony. Roy then holds his staff tight in his hands and starts to control the flames, drawing them away from the leaves and trees of the forest.

"After years of study fire magic...who would have guessed I'd get to learn how to control the very flames themselves..."

He calls over to Ming, telling her that he plans to spread the flames into a circle around himself and the cart to cut the visibility of it. Ming nodded her head and waited for Lodrick to do his thing.


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

Al fell silent after watching the arrow sliced in half, his eyes narrowing at the intent of the target meant for the arrow. He turns his gaze toward the offending force, his fingers curling around his staff.


"After boosting Ming. Hit me. I won't....can't let them hurt Thalia...not ever. None of these people will...!"
 
Clearly, the enemies had not expected her attack, because she heard them all charging toward the cart. Hawkeye finished her magazine by felling three of them, then took to another branch to reload. It only took two seconds, but by the time she was finished, the front line had apparently already gotten to the path.

"Bloody idiots," a hume voice said. Hawkeye agreed. "Just because I may cause a forest fire, you were safer from me in the fucking woods."

This warning did not prepare Hawkeye for the screams. It felt like something cold and sharp stabbed through her chest.

Hawkeye swallowed. She wasn't close enough for her fur to get sticky with the fat from the victims' bodies, but she could smell the meat. Worse, it smelled like food. The distinct stench of charring did not mask the fact that the seeqs, bangaas, and humes smelled like things she had eaten before. She thought of the less experienced fighters with concern.

"After years of study fire magic," the fire mage proclaimed, "who would have guessed I'd get to learn how to control the very flames themselves..."

A specialist, Hawkeye realised as she defied her instincts and tree-jumped closer to the cart. They weren't unheard of - Hawkeye had worked with an electricity specialist, who was good at both mass slaughter and torture, and she'd seen several healing specialists - but they were fairly rare, because there was usually a set of conditions that made them all but useless. But the rest of the time, they could do that.

She heard the hume mention his plan to surround the cart with a circle of fire, and bit her tongue. No specialist had to be warned about the dangers of his element. Magic flames did not produce black smoke, but they still consumed oxygen, but the hume should be capable of preventing everyone else from suffocating.

Hawkeye paused, hearing a stream of curses, and she looked in the right direction to see a horrified-looking black mage with a flame rod. The ranger beside him was also frozen. Hawkeye hesitated, but fired two rounds anyway. There wasn't even the slightest satisfaction when they dropped, this time.

She looked around her. Most of the fighters were no longer eager to charge, but a few armed only with swords and other melee weapons looked scared and lost. The bowmen and mages, all of whom seemed grateful for their abilities, shrank back into the woods but still prepared to attack.

Except for a seeq wielding a giant axe.

Though staying firmly between two trees, and hiding a cannoneer and ranger, he did not look at all scared. "Don't back down, cowards!" he yelled. "We are NOT going to lose!" He raised his axe, and swung it down. "Kill them!"

Accompanying his cry was a roar, then a massive bolt of lightning struck the centre of the flame-circle.
 
"You got it, Miss!" Lodrick said, excited to be needed. He swapped the shell inside his cannon for a bright yellow one. "This might hurt a bit, though!" He jumped from the cart and aimed his cannon for the Viera, then fired. The yellow shell burst just before making contact, though to an onlooker it would have appeared to burst on impact, and Ming was showered with an enchanted mist. Having expended the ether shell, he loaded his cannon back with one of his normal shells.

Abelat frowned. "Cowards, firing at us under your leafy covers, kupo!" As their enemies charged at the from the forest, the Chocorider cried, "Now that you are upon us you shall be sorry! Luroa, charge!" His sword still drawn, he gave Luroa a kick and sent her hurdling towards the moogle Ottoran, as Abelat swung his blade in his direction.
 
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With a squeak almost in tune with Thalia's, Sonja clung onto the Nu Mou's flowing robes at the disturbance - not that it mattered much, her fluffy tail tightening and carrying the hapless Moogle along with her towards the other Nu Mou in the cart. Most of the clan began to file out, and sounds of battle already rang through the forest, arrows and their distinctive *Thunk* striking the hard ground or wood of the cart, and gunshots beginning to sound. Slowly, she slinked up to the opening of the cart to carefully peer outside.

Hey eyes widened - gunshots and screams were echoing from beyond view, but she could tell what was going on. Flames were sprouting around the cart and leaping and opposing forces, leaving them screaming in agony. More and more poured from the woods, most of the clan cutting them down without a second thought.
'Ku... ku-kupopo.. no-.. no one said... we would be... killing.... kupo...'
In truth, Sonja had never witnessed death - not first hand, and certainly not by her own hands nor of those of the ones she trusted. Was this clan nothing but a murderous bunch of neandrethals? Did she blindly get into some sort of criminal ring in a blaze of self-confidence and greed?
Of course, it wasn't long before she received an answer. Screeching in incomprehensible kupo, she ducked down, hands of her head as she spotted an arrow flying straight at the cart. Yet, it was only reflex - it was not aimed for her, but rather for Thalia. They were out to kill, too. Worse, they were out to kill the most defenceless one present, there wasn't a mistake. She slowly looked up, expecting to see Thalia struck - yet the arrow had fallen to the ground harmlessly and in two pieces. There was a silence for such a close call before the battle drained back in, and not for long either. The mage was visibly fuming, hands turning colour through his fur as he could have nearly snapped his staff from the grip he took.

'k- k-... KUpo pokuKU kopu KU' Sonja shouted. She had begun to lose her bearings now - there was no way she would let that happen again. She already felt useless, and if noone else had been there her selfish self-defence reflexes would have left Thalia for dead.
Quickly pulling her gun from it's holster, she held it up in the direction of the archer, who was by now in plain sight. Her hand shook for a moment before letting go - the puny blaster unloading it's clip as fast as it would fire as her finger twitched against the trigger. To be honest, she didn't know if she was properly aiming at the archer, but before she knew it all ten shots had unloaded, so she could only hope. Ducking down again, she began to fumble, hands shaking immensely now. Yet - as she shakily tried to reload, something deafening rang overhead - and all in one motion she had dropped the firearm to the floor of the cart and clung herself to Thalia again..
 
Gradivus gave a low growl at Sonja's babble, shaking his head and tempted to shout at her for not knowing what she was signing up for with a clan. Shrugging it off, he noticed a few Seeq's clutching axes and gave a low chuckle, now spinning his blade.

"Looks like we're having pig tonight," he says with a rasp, now dashing toward the Seeq's with a roar and promptly roasting one in half after slicing through his axe with a well placed Fire Soul.

Looking toward the other two, he parried one of the axes with his blade, barely dodging the other one as he started throwing and blocking parries with the two Seeq's at once.

---

Avan's eyes narrowed as he saw Ryu shoot the arrow, but grit his teeth as he saw she was a woman. Seeing Ottoman as well, he decided he might as well take care of one of them, before nimbly dashing toward them.

When he gets near enough, he jumps into the air and readies his katana, sending a large slash straight at Ottoman.
 
"I think we made them angry, kupo," Ottoran said. Ryu put another arrow onto the bow and readied herself to fire it. Ottoran began muttering gibberish yet again. Both of them failed to notice the nervous moogle with the gun pointed right at Ryu. Before either of them could take any notice of the moogle, there was the loud sound of a bang, followed by nine more shots. Ottoran jumped out of the way as soon as he heard the first shot. The second shot was fired, barely missing Ottoran's pom-pom. The third through sixth shots were way off, going through the forest, however the sixth and seventh shots came close to hitting Ryu. The eighth shot came close to hitting Ottoran's pom-pom, once again, and the ninth barely missed Ryu's head.

Then the tenth shot was fired.

It seemed to happen in slow motion. The bullet zoomed out of the gun, moving closer and closer to the two of them. Ryu looked at the bullet, knowing she could do nothing, and it pierced her left arm. Time seemed to restore itself. Ryu clutched her arm and knelt down on the ground, clearly in pain, but not showing any other signs of it.

"Kupo!" Ottoran exclaimed in surprise. He got up off the ground and went over to Ryu.

"Kupo! Are you okay?" She shot him a nasty glare. "Well, I know you got shot and stuff but are you okay enough to wait until we get to Targ or Camoa?" She continued glaring at him. Ottoran turned and saw the one of the Viera running towards him. He squeaked and quickly began muttering something, and then a beam of light shot forward at the Viera; hopefully the Stop magick would work.
 
"Stop...such a low trick of the cornered. You attacked my clan, you refuse to heed my warning, and you continue to attack even though you see the forces we are currently battling back. Little moogle, you are a fool and that Hume...no. Gira... is a fool as well."

Ming mutters a soft chant under her breath, disappearing from sight with a well timed Vanish to avoid the magic. She slinks closer to the two morons that continued to defy her warnings. She slips behind them and lifts her hands, creating a seal and muttered the soft words. A spell of rock encases the two, her vanish disappearing. She leans down to them and whispers in their ears.

"Stop. Though a low trick of the cornered, is a good tactic in the hands of those that can use it in the right time. You are currently under the spell of Rockseal, this will stop you in your tracks. If you continue to be a problem, then I will silence you. One. Way. Or. Another. Clear little Moogle."

She then lifts them by their collars, dragging their rock encased bodies with her to where the ring of fire stood, nodding to Roy as she drops them.

"Watch them. I have a fight to end."

She spins on her heel and makes to continue her attack on the enemy when the sky spilt and a bolt descended on the cart behind her. The words she was only able to utter before her heart stopped in fear that her mission ended before it truly started was one simple word.

"Shit."

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

Al growled deep min his throat and calls over to Lodrick again, asking him for a MP boost as well so he could cause some good damage to the enemy when he heard the leaders profound 'Shit'. He turns in time to see the sky crackle and a bolt descending, his eyes widening and heart dropping to his toes. Before he could think, he was running toward the cart, slow as he may be.

"Thalia!"

(the stop spell missed. Just clearing that up. also, thing of the rock encasing the Gira as a ...rock bandade with pressure to stop the bleeding. Ming kinda...saved her ass there.)
 
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The Judge lowered himself closer to his Chocobo's back as the pair darted a few meters down the path so they would be out of the way. Then, Maes pulled his massive sword from his back and thrust it into the air, where it glowed brilliantly for a moment. The law that was to be obeyed for this engagement flashed into his mind, and he yelled it out loud enough for everyone to hear.

"Forbidden: Harming Nu Mou!"

And with that, the battle exploded around him.

---

When he saw the burst of fire, Greed just knew that something bad was going to happen. He growled and hunched down a bit, then felt the magical energy of the Dragoon pulse into this legs, the thrust himself upwards and landed with a thud on top of the cart, rattling it a bit but otherwise it was fine. He growled and made a hand motion towards Cid.

"Watch my back, Revgaji. We're out in the open here, ssso we need to be in top form!" He hissed, waving his spear. The smell of burning filled his nostrils and was rather sickening, but he payed it no mind.

---

Thalia squeezed her eyes shut as the battle raged around her, the sound of gunshots and cannon fire making her sensitive ears burn and she hugged the book tighter to her chest. There was a nauseating smell and a blazing heat as the cart shook as if something landed on it. She squealed as whimpered in fear, her body trembling.

The smell continued to assault her nose, and her stomach churned violently, and she pitched forward a bit, emptying her belly with a rather messy sound, and she groaned.

She looked up when she heard someone yell her name.

"Huh...?"

---

Grumbling, Greed scanned the ring of fire with his keen eyes, hissing under his breath about Roy's lack of tact, and holding his spear at the ready in case he needs to use Jump. It was then a loud rumbling made him look up, right at a bold of blinding light. He squeezed his eyes closed, snarling and blinded temporarily as the bolt crashed down on him.

A second later, the electricity spell came rocketing back out of the ring of fire towards the caster with the same blinding speed. Greed snarled and opened one eye, looking over at Cid.

"Mirror Mail. It'sss a lifesssaver."

---

a bit off in the woods, Breda jerked his head at the sound of a battle not too far off, and squeezed his bow a bit. He took a few steps forward and stood on a log, then looked back at the guests.

"Looks like we got us a fight. Let's go look, eh? It's probably my ol' clan, knowing them, eheh." He said with a tone full of an odd mix of joking and worry.

((this post sucks and is later than I would have liked :C))
 
Ming stopped for a few moments, then begun to laugh, watching the lighting shoot back at the Viking after bouncing off of Greed's armour. Then a idea struck her just as fast. She close her eyes and held her hands out to her sides, muttering a odd language and begins to chant a old spell. She then tosses her head back and calls out the name of the one is summoned.

"Carbuncle!"

A small creature appeared, lighting shimmering around the fox-like figure. The small being giggled softly, uncurling and sending a blast of light toward the cart and a good chunk of the area around it. The beings around, in, and on the cart were not coated in a faint green aura, lighting reflecting off of it.

Just as fact, the creature disappears into the ether.

Ming smirks and waits for the Greed's mail to kick in.

Reflecting magic is good for a few things.

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

Al stopped in his tracks as he watched the bolt redirect itself, falling silent as he processed it in his mind. Unfortunately, he paused for too long and received a arrow to the side of his arm. He hisses and pulls the arrow out, casting a quick cure to seal the wound and focusing back on the fight.

"Lodrick. That shell if you please."

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

"Indeed it seems...and the name is Cid, Bangaa."

Cid draws a few more of his cards and aims at the targets before him, deciding on what tactic to use to cause troubles. He then spots the fool that used the lighting attack, smirking as he draws the six of diamonds for the desired effect.

"Pig he may be...but he will be a frog in a moment!"

He tosses the card at the Viking, praying that the wind doesn't pick up that moment and throw his card off target. Granted, it would hit either of the sword wielders next to the Seeq, but it still wasn't his prime target.
 
Avan slides next to the Rocksealed pair, before noticing an enemy Sniper with a start and quickly snatching up his bow, and hitting the Sniper in the neck just before he shot another arrow at one of his clanmates.

"These fellows seem quite determined Miss Ryuu! Have we offended them in some way?!"

---

Gradivus gave a loud roar, before charging at the Seeq and the two sword wielders, and casting Silence on the Seeq before it could shoot any more lightning.

"Your right," he shouted at Greed, now swinging his sword at the sword-wielder to the left of the Seeq. "Mirror Mail is great, but they can't hit you if they can't cast!"
 
Hawkeye grimaced when she heard the ten rapid shots, recognising the sound as her fellow fusilier's gun. That was definitely not controlled shooting, and while it would be easier to get a few seconds' respite when protected by allies, it was still not a good idea to waste bullets. She crouched on the branch she was on and kept an eye on the thundaga-wielding viking. The cannoneer behind him was moving out of the way, as was the ranger, both of them probably having seen the three axe-wielders getting attacked; the viking moved, too, but lightning moved at the speed of light and the second it took to reflect the spell was the only second he had to move.

It struck him almost full-on, anyway, because of the bolt's massive size.

The flash was blinding, and by the time the spots had stopped dancing on Hawkeye's eyeballs, the cannoneer had already pointed his cannon at the roasted pig. With the standard loud contained explosion, a reinforced glass shell exploded on the seeq, immediately healing his wounds. He stood up, still smelling and looking rather burnt but not acting at all harmed.

"Cannons! Arrows! Thundaga!" the viking yelled. "The circle is one big target, and you cannot miss! Fire, then move! Use the trees!"

The cannoneer ducked away to reload. The ranger moved behind another tree and loosed an arrow, sending it too quickly through the flames to even catch on fire.

Hawkeye watches as a bangaa charged at another seeq viking, who looked like he was in the process of casting a spell. The swordsmen tried to move to intercept, but the viking's voice was suddenly cut off, and he looked startled for a moment. The bangaa managed to yell at another ally while fighting and hold his own, but the distraction may have been costly. Then again, perhaps not. Even Hawkeye barely noticed the flying toad-enchanted card, flying straight at the bangaa now that he'd gotten between the thrower and the seeq. It may as well have been a bullet, because it was impossible to dodge, and Gradivus would soon find himself small, slimy, and unable to wield the weapons beside him, while a pissed-off axe-wielding viking glared down at him.

Meanwhile, the others were following the original thundaga-user's lead. Three portals opened almost at once around the circle, and electricity shot down into three different areas. When one was deflected and returned to its caster, he was already gone, having taken the "move" part to heart. At least three trees must have exploded, and there was a moment when Hawkeye thought there might be a forest fire after all.

With loud a BANG!, and then another, two cannoneers fired into the midst of the circle, and even as that happened, several arrows flew in at the people around it.

Overall, though, the combined effort was smaller than Hawkeye expected. She leapt to another tree to find the cannoneer that had been with the viking, and closer, then closer still to get a perfect shot. He raised his hand cannon, narrowing his eyes, but the bang! was not the same sound as one from a cannon. He screamed, and his shoulder seemed to explode, with blood gushing out from both sides. His arm hung limp. He dropped the cannon, hand immediately going to staunch the blood at the front of his shoulder, but he'd be dead within minutes. He looked around, desperate, then his eyes alighted on the cannon. She let him desperately remove his standard shell and replace it with a clear one containing a liquid, and try to align it with his head, because it gave her time to aim for her favourite target. The bullet went through near the base of his skull and came out the neck, and if he was not dead before he hit the ground, he might as well have been.

(( Yeah, there were no sword-wielders behind the viking, so Gradivus and Cid went after another viking. But they were both going for the same target - there cannot be doubt about that - so Gradivus got in the way of the toad. Can be saved if the reflect happened to catch him, and it'll hit Cid instead.

Two thundagas missed, either because the casters didn't want to get roasted or because they were going for an indirect heat attack. Or one justified by the other. ))

-

A hume gripped his Thor rod tightly as he hid behind a tree. He ignored the intense blast of heat that was much too close, and the flying pieces of wood that struck his back. The body didn't matter when his mind was at work. His eyes followed the path back to the circle, and he furrowed his brow. Then he smirked and raised his staff.

Often, people came to the realisation that humes were rather weak and squishy compared to other species, most of whom were more intelligent and better at working with machines or spells, or stronger, or faster, or had better senses. Mostly, it was a combination of those qualities. And that was true: humes were the standard by which most species were measured not only because they were the most common, but also because they were the most average.

But even with wisdom, strength, and sensory abilities, no species could beat humes in one particular area: ingenuity.

He practically thew himself around a tree and whispered the words, then a portal opened up on the far side of the flame-circle, but where he remembered the reflected lightning bolt striking before. Yes, it was possible that the intended victim had moved, but it had hardly been a few seconds and there was likely no reason to move that the bangaa knew of - and the spell covered enough area so that it might strike him anyway

As expected, the lightning bounced off, and right toward him, although the hume was already moving two trees over just in case.

Then it smashed right through the wooden cart, setting it afire and striking the people inside. And from there, it did not bounce.

The hume's smirk turned into a wicked grin.

Reflecting magic is good for a few things.

And now, his allies knew it too.

-
​

As much as he liked bloodshed, Deus had intended to ignore the gunshots and screaming. Now, though, since it was related to their food source, he was more interested. He pulled the bread bag back toward him and stood up.

"A battle?" Deus smirked. "I'm definitely coming to watch."

Lucis stood up, too, looking more disappointed. "We're coming back, though, right?"
 
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Before Lodrick had a chance to fire his offensive shell, he was being called by Al. "Aye!" he called to the nu mou, fumbling a bit as he swapped the shells again. He quickly fired the bright yellow shell at Al. That should be enough to raise the dead, he thought, swapping back to a fragmentation shell. Squinting his eyes, he searched for several enemies that were close together. Spying a pair of seeq, his finger went for the trigger...

There was an ungodly sound of splitting wood and roaring flame. Lodrick jerked at the sudden sound and reverberation, and the Dromaeo fired. Its aim might have not been precise, but the exploding shell would send shrapnel flying about where it made impact, so he was bound to hit something. Lodrick wasn't concerned with that, though. He had already spun around to look at the flaming cart. All of their supplies, up in smoke. But, wait... wasn't little Thalia in there too? Just because their judge had declared it forbidden to harm any nu mous, didn't mean it wasn't going to happen. It only meant whoever did would get in trouble for it.

But Lodrick hadn't even thought that far. He made a dash for the flaming cart, his cannon bouncing around on his back. The bangaa got as close as he could to it and looked into it through the back. "Thalia! Gunner moogle! Are you in there!?"

--

Abelat missed his target entirely, his blade whistling through the empty air. "Kupo!!" he cursed. He turned Luroa around to make a second attempt, but saw that the Moogle and Gria pair had already been handled. He looked around for some new targets and spotted two Seeq together. Of course! He would swing at them broadly and take them both at once! He spurred Luroa in their direction, raising his sword to strike...

KABOOM!

A cannon shell struck the ground between the two groups, sending shrapnel in every which direction. Abelat had surged in the wrong direction at exactly the wrong time. Luroa's legs were battered brutally by the shrapnel, and she crashed headlong into the ground. Another chunk of shrapnel had hit Abelat's sword, knocking it from his paws and jerking his arm painfully as he held his grip for that last brief moment. He and Luroa cried out in unison, thoroughly shaken and unsure of what to do next.

(Making up for all the action that went on while I was at school >:I Also a casualty!?
I kind of lost track of the enemies so I was just assuming they're some kind of NPC horde that ends when it needs to. I dunno if there were two Seeq left or if they were near eachother. ;n; tell me if I need to fix it
Also Al was shot in the arm so I figured that confirmed the nu mou are still vulnerable despite the penalty)
 
(The deal here was that 'we' can't hurt Nu Mou. The other clan can....since they have no judge, thus they can die. That's kinda how it works in this game.)

Ming cursed violently, speeding toward the flaming wall in time to see Roy pull the hood of his cloak over his head and entering through the fire. She growled as the wall stood in her way, knowing that Roy would be fine since he wore that magiced fire robe. She then turns and glares at the woods where the final few stood. She sniffed the air and found the number favourable of the living.

"There are only five left. Send these bastards to hell!"

With that, Ming returned into a vanished state and made for the woods, climbing the remaining trees and pointing to arrow at the remainder. She counted from her spot that the five left were one Hume, two Seeq and two Bangaa left in the fight. She drew her arrow back and aimed with deadly accuracy at one of the Bangaa Cannon users, loading a shell for his next attack.

She released the arrow and leaped to the next tree, listening to the sound of Arrow piercing the neck of someone, followed by the choked words of the dieing. She cast another Vanish and lowered to the ground to change her view point. She then stops and readies her arrow, aiming at the lone Hume separated from the rest. She smirked, licking her lips as the mage seemed to study the burning cart.

The string snapped into place when the arrow was released and soared toward the Black mage. Ming watched as the young Hume dropped to the ground, arrow lodged into her head.


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

Roy slips through the fire, cloak protecting and slowly absorbing the flames that licked at him. He quickly made his way to the cart and crashes the side of the cart in, yelling to the two still inside.

"Thalia! Sonja! Take my hand now! You must abandon the cart now before things get even more out of hand here!"

He then slipped into the cart, slipping his staff into his belt, and grabbed both girls and dragged them from the cart in into the ring of fire. He growled and looked off to the side, seeing both Greed and Cid getting back to their feet after abandoning the top of the cart. He drag both girl over to them and hands them off before turning his back and walking to the near centre of the ring.

"This...will not continue."

He held out his hands to his side, flames starting to encase them yet not burning him. He then places the flaming hand on his fire robe and activates the magic.

"Fire. Return to me."

The circle of flames stop licking at the sky and starts to swirl, encasing the area in a dome for a moment. Then, as if it was water in a sink, it started to drain into a single tornado of flames onto Roy. The flames continued to drain into him, the robe devouring the flames like a starved dog and making Roy stronger with each drink of flames.

It wasn't long until the flames were gone and Roy stood near the cart.

"That should handle--"

The next thing Roy knew was that of Cid tackling him, sending them both a few feet away and to the ground, covering him as the cart exploded from the contants of the cart.

"Pup! Are you alright?! Answer me, Roy."

"I...I'm fine....what...how...."

"Ming keeps Dark Matter in a back back there...just incase we need to trade something."

Both men on the ground turn their heads and looks at Al, seeing him conjuring a strong cura to heal those that were too close to the explosion. Al then turned his gaze to Thalia, Sonja and Greed. He dashed toward them and begun his healing.

"This was...was unnecessary. If...if we didn't have Maes..."

Al shook his head and looked back at the trees, seeing that the remaining few had slunk back into the woods. He curled his hand around him staff and growled, a few sparks coming from the crude staff in his hand.

"This...will be a good time to test my Alchemy...if I can get them back in the open..."

"Forget it. They won't be coming back out. Al, stay here and keep doing your white mage thing. We have reflect, but we'll need...something...I'm not sure..."

Al sighed and looked over to Roy. He knew the man was right, but he still wanted to do something...anything, to the ones that tried to hurt Thalia.

Then the Nu Mou turned as Ming's voice rang over the field. He search but couldn't she her. it was then that he realized that the voice was coming from the pins she gave them long ago. It was made with whisper weed and could be used as a way to talk to each other when far apart. Al asked her to repeat her message, seeing Roy and the others listening to their pins.

"There are three left. Two Seeq and one Bangaa remain."

Al smiled and looked out at their members, glad that it was almost over. A thought then struck him.

Ming forgot to give the new guys a pin.

"Roy."

"On it."

Roy dashed to the nearest member, the one that was now a frog and rather pissed looking as well. He scooped the frog and his gear, bring him back and telling the members close by the news of there being only three left.

"Al...we kinda have a..."

"Put him down and I'll use Refresh."

Roy nodded and placed the frog down, slipping him into his cloths so that once he returned he wouldn't be a naked Bangaa.

That thought caused the Black mage to shudder.
 
An explosion. Hawkeye's head snapped back toward the cart.

Pain shot through her back. She fell out of the tree.

Her hand opened on its own, and the gun escaped her grip. The ground rushed at her too quickly for her to fly, so she instead curled into a ball, ignoring the arrowhead that stuck out of her abdomen and scratched her leg. She landed with a roll, breaking off the end of the arrow and pushing it deeper still into her leg.

It was not as though this could not have been foreseen. Guns were loud, and she hadn't been moving nearly enough. Even if all of their archers had been focusing on the cart, at least one would notice the sound of gunshots from the forest. From the smell, it was a seeq, and the seeq confirmed it by stepping into view. He paused and turned, raising a hand and muttering a spell, then a portal opened up over near where the cart was. It missed, of course, since he was hardly able to aim from where Hawkeye was, but the lightning was much smaller and weaker than a thundaga, so it would not have been much of a problem regardless. It was probably meant as a distraction.

Hawkeye stood up, ignoring the pain in her leg. The end of the arrow was already broken, so she grabbed the arrow just behind the arrowhead and pulled it through, discarding it almost casually. Blood leaked out from her wound, but nowhere near the amount it would have without the judge's protection. Her eyes quickly found the gun, much too far from where she was. The seeq notched an arrow, and Hawkeye moved quickly to avoid it. Rangers, though, knew how to aim for where the target was running, and he shot another one into her gut. It didn't matter. She was effectively immortal, and her gun was right there...

She dove. An arrow flew into her side. Her hand grabbed the gun, and she slid painfully into a tree, an arrow shaft snapping while the rest of the arrow was shoved further in. Spikes shot out, cutting her legs and piercing her abdomen a few times. She pushed herself up, throwing herself away from the spikes, and turned, raised her gun, and--

Thwip.

She moved her head. The arrow barely missed her face, and instead sunk into the tree behind her.

Hawkeye raised her gun, held it steady with both hands, and squeezed the trigger. The seeq's shoulder exploded, blood gushing out both sides, and he dropped the bow with a strangled sound. He didn't scream, though he grabbed at his shoulder uselessly and nearly fell as he tried to use the closest tree for support.

Hawkeye trained her gun on him, trying to remember if seeqs knew any healing magic. It didn't really matter. He vanished.

Tense, Hawkeye tuned into her hearing more than before, though she knew rangers could be very quiet. She carefully backed away, toward a tree, holding her gun in front of her.

Normally, one would expect that the seeq had gotten behind her and would slice her neck. Instead, though, the seeq seemed to have other ideas.

The sound of a contained explosion caught her attention, and Hawkeye turned her eyes immediately to where she'd killed the cannoneer. The trees were in the way, though, and she couldn't see. The tense pause did not take long. Realisation dawned on her when the seeq lumbered back casually, arm still limp but not bleeding as badly as before.

Potion shells were almost miraculous, really, since the potion went for the blood vessels before all else, generally preventing death. It was nothing compared to a cure cannon enchantment, but it could really be a lifesaver. This was why instant death was really the only thing that incapacitated enemies.

The seeq remained hidden behind a tree, though, and he raised his arm. Hawkeye moved, escaping the portal before it fully opened, though she still felt the heat from the thunder. Another portal opened, and the seeq continued to move to avoid being within gun range; it still only struck behind her, though, not causing any damage.

Then needles shot into Hawkeye's feet, and with a yelp, she fell onto her knees - causing even more damage. This time, she couldn't get up in time, but she could not allow the spell to strike her. It wouldn't kill her, but it would probably destroy her weapons. She pointed her gun straight at the tree the seeq hid behind, and sent the bullet through the tree.

She didn't know if it hit, but the seeq moved, anyway, possibly just out of reflex. He didn't look like he had any new injuries, at least until Hawkeye shot him again in the chest. The seeq fell.

Carefully, Hawkeye stood up and stepped off the needle trap. She checked the snapped arrow - no, it hadn't gone through, and it was stuck inside, while the other arrow's head was lodged inside and would tear at her organs coming out. Pain shot through her legs and feet with every step, but she still was not bleeding as much as she should have been, and the pain was dampened by either adrenaline or judge-magic.

She looked up, back at where the cart was, hearing the leader say that there was only two seeq and a bangaa left, but without knowing how the leader knew, Hawkeye was wary of believing her. Sight was impossible with all of these trees, and sound was still likely inaccurage. Feeling and taste were obviously not candidates, and smell wouldn't help at all, since the dead still had scent. Some other sense that Hawkeye didn't have, maybe. Aura?

The seeq moved. Hawkeye shot him. His head did not explode, this time, but the bullet tore through his skull and came out of his chest, and the blood poured out of his head like an upturned jug of water.

Hawkeye staggered over to the seeq, though she stopped before she stepped into his expanding pool of blood. She turned her head and glanced at the blood trail she was leaving. Really, she couldn't hide in the trees like this, and in fact she probably couldn't even balance on the branches. Every step hurt. She thought of what might happen: landing on the branch and slipping on her own blood, or leaping to another branch and being unable to regain her footing, or pain shooting through her legs as she pushed off and not making it to the next branch, or stretching her wings but aggravating the holes in the muscles used to move them.

It wouldn't work. She'd have to fight from the ground. She slowly walked toward the cart, eyes flickering to every shadow but head not moving. Her ears would warn her of any danger, and if there was none, she had to get to the cart for healing.

(( Now the average time I spend on killing each victim is less pathetic :D Also immortality abuse yes. And I don't know if it's possible for there to be Ming's count with what has been said before, but discrepancies could be explained away by the explosion and also scent not being that exact. I'm assuming that even though "her" was used, the black mage killed was my lightning-boy, which makes me sad like :( but okay.

If it hasn't been proclaimed, judge magic has been determined to stop death by a) preventing severe bleeding, no matter where you were hit, and b) preventing damage to the brain and spinal cord, fyi. ))
 
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