Group Alpha: Druid's Quest (Hybrid, Solora, Reina, Cresco)

[scottishgal]

Tehron paid no heed to the wings pressed against him. He had his eyes fixed on the Orcs, never had Neara been so close to a battle. He had to protect her, at all costs. Their roars made Neara flinch, her hands nearly tearing the fur from his skin. She squeezed her eyes shut, she had never expected to be in a situation like this. Tehron dropped himself lower, gearing up to pounce as the Orcs surrounded them. One obviously caught sight of Neara as he heard a low raspy chuckle.

“Come here Little one.”

Neara snapped her eyes open as the voice appeared closer than she thought. She stared at this creature, his dark eyes fixed on her. She kept his gaze, her whole body trembling gently. Tehron let out another growl as the Orc before him moved closer, his axe pointed directly at Tehrons head. He didn’t move his eyes but he spoke gently, “Hide”.

It was the Harpy……tearing into the other Orc’s flesh that gave Tehron the distraction he needed. The lumbering Orc before him snapped his eyes to his fallen brethren and seemed shocked at the creatures claws sending blood flying. Tehron kept on all fours and took two fast steps forward before pouncing. Throwing his full body weight at the larger Orc. The shock and force sent them both tumbling backwards. His axe went flying out of reach and Tehron gave him no chance to defend himself as his right hand claws tore through his neck.

Dragging the flesh away, the Orc tried to scream and fight back but blood bubbled from his mouth and Tehron moved his face closer to the dying Orc and snarled. Keeping his body weight on him, pinning the struggling Orc in place. The Orc dropped his bloody grip of Tehron’s paw and his eyes rolled back in his head. Tehron didn’t miss a beat as he swung himself around looking for the next Orc.

Neara was nowhere to be seen. She was breathing deeply evading the Orc who was chasing her heavy footsteps in the sand. Having also taken the distraction, she had taken the chance to run and try to hide. She had her sights set on the small group of boulders up ahead. Smaller than the heavy Orc, she was just slightly faster than him. If she could only get there before the Orc she could get between the spaces and hide in the darkness.

It felt like his breath was down her neck and she picked up her pace. Neara reached the boulders and squeezed herself quickly between them. Her breaths were tearing through her chest and she wriggled herself further into the darkness. Then she felt thick fingers dragging through her hair, she felt pain shoot through her scalp as the Orc tore at her hair. Pulling her backwards towards him as he gave out a deep chuckle. Neara reached out for anything to grab and let out a high pitched scream. It seemed too loud for something so small but it didn’t startle the Orc.

Tears streaming down her cheeks, her fingernails dragging along the stones trying to give herself something to hold her within the safety of the rocks. Then the grip on her hair disappeared. She took the opportunity and scrambled forward into the darkness. Curling herself into a ball and keeping her eyes away from the small shred of light peaking in. A few moments later she heard a soft whimpering sound. A whine almost. Followed by a small scraping sound at the entrance to her hiding place.

She peaked slightly at the light and noted the dark fur covered paw trying to scrap through the boulders. Neara shuffled forward, peaking out from the spaces and looked up at her companion. His breathing was ragged and blood dripped from his teeth. The Orc’s carcass laid a few feet away, his neck and chest cavity wide open.

Tehron stood on two feet before her, his chest raising dramatically with each breath. She was okay. She was alive. He heard the scream…and he couldn’t remember what happened next. The soft clunking of metal on sand altered Tehron to the mechanomicon coming towards them. He caught his gaze and nodded slightly, the creature seemed to have the human draped over his shoulders.


Neara felt her bottom lip wobble as she wriggled from the space. She took a firm grip of his right paw though blood stained her fingers. She snapped her eyes to the people who had completed their battles, who had remained triumphant against their attackers. She frantically snapped her eyes over each one, each one had violently killed another creature…could she trust them. Her eyes landed on the metal creature coming closer to her, she shied back slightly. She didn’t know what it was, she didn’t like it.

[DukeWolfRein]

As Reina walked towards the water she shook her head, the energy floating around her dispersing in to the air. A Druid was far more than just a Nature Mage, a Druid was the connection between instinct and thought. Het training had been spent mastering how to separate both of them while at the same time combining them for her own use. She knee led by the shore and dipped her hands into the water, closing her eyes for a few moment before opening them back up and looking back at her group and at the other two.

"It will not be long before more Orcs come down to search for these. We would do well to leave thsShorr before that." Her eyes once more fell on the Wolf and his small companion. Even in the heat of the battle he had sought out to protect her rather than attack the rest of them. A man who thought before striking, especially during a chaotic battle, that was a man worth trusting. Reina wiped the last bit of blood from her hands and got up slowly. Her armor was splattered with blood, though not her own. She had splashed her face and hair to remove as much blood as possible, but she could tell that by the end of the day she would still be getting dried blood off of her. There were few things that bothered Reina, but cleaning off somebody else's blood was one of them.

She walked towards the group once more and noticed Cresco carrying Solora back. The girl was dead, her eyes were closed and there were spots of blood lining her mouth. She had choked as her lungs had filled with blood. It was a horrible way to go, but they had been caught by surprise. Reina felt almost guilty, the girl had been her charge, she had promised her safe passage so long as she was with her. Her red hair fell almost down to the floor and her ears perked up from underneath it. "Thank you Cresco. We will bury her as soon as I know we are safe. She smiled at the Mechanomicon and placed a hand on his forearm. The mystery of why the girl had hidden her true self still lingered in her mind. Why was she hiding? Were they looking for her? And more importantly, was she a person worth leaving Ghrithalla for? She didn't know, but she was sure that she'd find out soon enough.

Reina turned and looked at the Wolf "What is your name if you don't mind me asking? You fought well, especially under such chaotic circumstances.I appreciate you helping us with our attackers instead of running as most would."

[kaptainjohnson]

As the battle raged on outside, a Synrian hid inside what appeared to be a rock - in reality it was a series of hastily erected small rock pillars to hide him from the orc party, already knowing they would come, drifting back in time to further prevent the chance of his discovery. It may of left him a bit taxed, but the alternative would just take up more mana in the end. 'Sitting', if something with four legs could, it was quite cramped hiding between the slabs of stone, having to draw his legs and wrap his arms round his body. He grew to disagree with his helm, forcing him to bend his neck to fit in the ridiculous length of it.

Hearing the roar of battle dim and the world outside become quiet, he weighed his options. He still had yet to know who had won, and even if the other party had came out victorious their was still the chance they wouldn't take a liking to him and attempt to make him join the losers. So, he could wait and let them go past...And waste time fleeing from the search parties no doubt seeking him. The other option was to expose himself and try talk himself out of it, unless it was the orcs of course in which case he would return to hiding. Seeing their being a worthy risk vs. reward, he pulled himself from the fake rock, spliting open the top and pulling himself out.

Peeping out and looking over at the victors, an odd 100 metres away, he called out to the group "I present no threat. A battle with you would have no positive result achievable through other means that consume less of my resources". He awaited their response, ready to make this not even happen

[scottishgal]

Tehron had his eyes fixed on the distance. That small dark line of trees, the one where he knew his group were residing. His eyes danced around the trees and shadows, nothing. No one. Brilliant. Neara kept her eyes on the metal thing beside them, she pulled herself closer into Tehron’s side. It was so very strange, it didn’t sit right in her heart.

Tehron’s ear’s swivelled with the elf’s questions. He sighed gently, tugging Neara closer to himself as he turned his head. His eyes landed on the elf and the red within them was slowly fading. “Tehron…My name is Tehron.” He made sure to leave out the name of Neara, he didn’t want her presence in the forefront of their minds. “I did not help you.” He raised an eyebrow. “I saved myself….and my companion that is all.” His words cold as he snapped his eyes around the group. He gave her a small smile though, his lips barely moving past his teeth. “But I never run from Orcs.”

He turned his gaze back to the woods, “You should make to reach the forest by nightfall. You are vulnerable here. You will find safety within the trees.” He said gently to the elf. Though it was almost as if he was speaking to himself, to remind himself of where he was truly safe.

Neara heard the crack before Tehron. The wolf was too concerned on the people before him and not those behind him. She turned towards the noise and her eyes went wide. If she had been frightened by the metal creature then she was petrified now. Her fingernails dug into the palm of Tehron, her breath caught in her throat as she tried to say something. Then it spoke.

Tehron turned at the sudden voice echoing around them and pulled Neara behind him. Facing the creature, he held Neara in place. Neara was now facing the new group and looked like a trapped animal. Her eyes were wide, frantically snapping across them. Tehron growled gently at this strange creature. Speaking to the elf near him “You know of this being? Is it another one of your tricks?”

[darkpigeon]

Hybrid had a fascination for Anatomy ever since she was just a chick. Watching the Dwarfs taking apart all their failed experiments had made her curious as what they would find and what it was they were searching for. As she had taken apart the orc that she had killed she was enthusiastically looking at its insides and how her talons had damaged most of his organs. She happily digged around for a bit while the others had killed the rest of the orcs, she simply did not seem to care nor notice that they were under attack as she was happily chirping away.

With childlike enthusiasm she chirped and found that the orc that was dead, once was a rather healthy young man. Non of is organs seemed out of the ordinary and that she found a little bit boring. She stopped the surgery and looked up as she got of the orc and ruffled her feather so they would lay flat against her body. She was covered in the blood of her victim and did not seem all to bothered by it as she walked over to the group and awaited what they were to do next.

She was unclear about the two new people. She only noticed now that they had been fighting as much as the rest had. That was a very positive thing! She was to introduce herself in the only way she knew how when she heard a voice coming from behind. As she turned around she saw something she had never seen before and it was quite shocking for her as well! the.... creature, she had never seen something like that before and stepped back to let the rest of the group handle this.

[kaptainjohnson]

His head snapping round to the humanoid wolf the moment he spoke, he replied with "I' am no creation of hers. I' am a Synrian, an insectoid or arachnid species, in my case my form has taken on an arachnid form to better aid in the uneven terrain of the Peaks" He just managed to prevent himself going into a full explanation of his species, culture and society. Most sentient beings became bored within the first ten or so minutes in the lecture that could go on for hours, and as to waste as little time possible, negated it. In any case, he did not have time to educate the ignorant as he was destined to be pursued by soldiers from his Hive. Another doomed expedition which would most likely end in his death was not the best course of action to take, fleeing having a higher probability of survival. Perhaps he could take advantage of this group and use them as guardians for his safe passage. Perhaps this group could be his 'vassals'...He knew he would soon become a Hive Mother in future 'Ascensions', and breaking himself off from the Hive, he would lack their support.

Well, as the saying goes, 'The next best thing'...

"I flee from my home to escape a doomed fate. Might I travel with you to avoid such a destiny?"

[DukeWolfRein]

Reina turned and spotted the Synrian. It was an odd sight to see one above Earth, and from the shape of this one she could only assume it was not just a worker or your average grunt. She knew very little of them, but what she did know was that they were as trustworthy as Drows, and she'd rather trust an Orc over a Drow. She raised her eyebrow and looked at him with a bit of curiosity.

Escape? He was escaping from his Hive, and yet that was something that any Synrian would find despicable. She knew better than to believe that he was running away fot good reasons. Reina walked forward slowly, past Tehron and Hybrid to where the newcomer stood. She examined him for a few seconds before lowering her eyebrow.

"What is your name, Synrian? And why are you running? We have enough people to deal with, we don't need another heavy burden to bear." Her words were soft and calculated, almost as if she was testing the ground, each word a step trying to secure proper footing. What of your Brothers and Sisters in your Hive? Do they not treat you well? Did you not treat your Queen with the silly respect they feel so entitled to? Or are you just like a regular spider? Finding itself in places it is clearly not welcome...before getting squashed."

[kaptainjohnson]

"I run, as I said, to avoid a doomed fate. Each expedition, each new set of settlers has ended in nothing. So I shall walk on the path who's end I do not know and how it will come to be. At least then I can hold onto the illusion that something of worth will happen, for even a one in a thousand chance is worth it when the other will always end in defeat". Pulling himself further out of the rock, legs out stretching from his body, he stood infront of the elf, giving himself a shake to dislodge any bits of earth from his form.

"If all you have to say is that you refuse me, then so shall it be. I have already wasted time with this whole encounter, and it has lingered on far too long for me to not even bother" looking up at the elf, his hands interlocked with each other "Say whatever else you have to say and let us be on are seperate ways before we both linger too long".

[vernes]

After the wolf creature nodded at him, Cresco felt some relieve about dragging Solora back here. 
He hadn't noticed the fight was already over when he was about to put down Solora when he noticed Reina nearing him. 
He saw her gaze aimed at the slumped body on his back. 
"Thank you Cresco. We will bury her as soon as I know we are safe." 
Her touch was hardly noticed as he processed her conclusion. 
As Reina turned to speak with the wolf creature, Cresco gently put down Solora on the ground. 
He saw it too now.  One of the bolts must have punctured a large artery and flooded her lungs. 
His earlier frustration was compounded by the fact that a live was lost. 
With the orcish scouting party slain, Cresco looked back at where he left the berserker orc lost in its own thoughts. 
Apparently it had decided to swim on the ground, lying on his belly. 
Somehow this had helped him avoid all detection from the others. 
Some insectoid had appeared but Cresco noticed it wasn't attacking. 
When Reina entered discussions with the wolf man and the insectoid, Cresco moved to the dirt swimming orc. 

"Sorry to interrupt your discussion" Cresco spoke loudly. 
"But what are we going to do with this one?", pointing at the blissfully unaware orc on the ground while taking a look around if anyone came up with a suggestion. 
His frustration left little sympathy for this particular orc. 

He looked back at where he left the lifeless body of the elf he knew as Solora and frowned.
Very little sympathy indeed.

[scottishgal]

Neara couldn’t take her eyes off the harpy, the way blood dripped from her claws. The mangled mess of flesh and organs she left of the Orc would haunt Neara for days. Neara gulped slightly, her eyes trailing up the creature. She didn’t know what to think of it, its massive strong wings and the way it seemed to chirp happily as it tore away flesh.



Tehron snapped his eyes from the elf to the Synrian before him. He rolled his eyes gently, he wasn’t going to trust this thing anymore than he trusted these strangers around him. He let the creature ramble and didn’t really pay attention to it. His eyes had moved just slightly past him to the tree line. He knew that they were still there, he didn’t want this group happening on them.



The elf passed him and he lazily dragged his eyes to her. He couldn’t help but to smirk when she seemed to have no patience for the bug. Tehron raised his chin when the Synrian pulled himself further out moving towards them.



Neara watched as the metal man dropped the human…well elf girl. Neara couldn’t help but to move closer to her. Her eyes were still open. Neara moved away from Tehron and towards the body. She plopped to her knees beside her and gently moved the girls eyes closed. Neara fixed the girls hair around her forehead and moved her hands to resting crossed over her chest. While she did all this, she hummed softly. Something her mother had taught, something that would calm the soul.



Tehron heard the Mechanomicon’s remark, he turned his head gently towards the creature. He knew that Neara had moved from him, but his ears had picked up that she only moved a few steps. Nothing to be concerned about just yet. His eyes snapped to the Orc …swimming on the ground. He nodded towards the Mechanomicon and moved over to the Orc. As he walked, he pulled out the sword that was strapped to his back. The Orc seemed to grumble slightly, truly confused about what to do.



Tehron didn’t waste any time. He twirled the sword in his hand before gripping it firmly with both hands and driving it down through the Orc’s skull. The Orc let out a wrangled cry before falling back limp. Tehron pressed his foot hard against the corpse of the Orc and dragged the sword free. He frowned at the mess left on the sword and wiped it off on the Orc’s clothing. Pushing it back into its place on his back, he moved back to the group. He glanced at Neara and sighed gently. “We must move on.” He said to the halfling but altering the small group around them.

[darkpigeon]

Hybrid was not feeling all to sure about the new creature that had came from the bushes. She herself came from high up the mountains as well and she had heard story's about these beasts. She knew better than too trust any of them. With her inability to speak - or so it seemed- she decided that it was best to leave the whole talking to Reina and Tehron.

She looked at the people that had gathered around the dead elf that once looked so very much like a human. She liked elves, even if they used magic, and she found that it was something they just had to learn not to do. She wanted to pay her respect to her fallen comrade and gently walked towards the rest. As the halfling dropped on her knees a few glass pebbles fell out of her pockets. Her eyes caught the glistening and all of her mind focused on those small pebbles next to the halfling. Hybrid carefully moved closer, she had to pay her respects to the elf woman. She knew that she was being distracted somewhat fierce and did her best not to pay attention to those strange pebbles she wanted to touch and smell and look at. She walked over to the halfling, her eyes darting between the dead elf and those pebbles next to Neara. She had to see those pebbles! she had never seen something so shiny, strange, and fascinating in her live before. She fixed her warm fur clothing, trying to look less suspicious as she moved closer .

[DukeWolfRein]

Reina watched a Tehron dispatched the Orc and she sighed. The loss of Solora meant that they needed an extra pair of eyes to watch for enemies. She looked at the Synrian and nodded "Very well Synrian, if no one else has a problem with you then feel more than welcome to follow along. I wouldn't mind an extra sword anyhow."

Reina felt unsure about letting anyone else in. If Solora could slip through and trick them all, then who was to say who else could be going after them. Was the girl a spy for someone? And why this group? They did not seem to be important, at least not to her. She thought it best to just let it go for now and cross that bridge when they came to it. She began walking towards the Mountain path that would lead them to Herrtikuk, a place where they could have a proper rest and find more info about the Theysilon soldiers that had killed the Drows. She looked at her group and then at Tehron and Neara "Let's move then, might as well make the best of present company."

[scottishgal]

Neara tilted her head slightly, a few dark curls fell onto her forehead. She stopped humming and sighed slightly, her shoulders dropping. She didn’t know this girl but she looked so young. The wound in her chest was horrible, Neara stopped herself from looking at it. She felt the wolf come closer and his gentle touch on her shoulder. Tehron snapped his eyes to the elf and moved towards her keeping Neara behind him.

Neara heard a soft shuffling, snapping her eyes to her left she saw the harpie getting closer to her. She could see her beady eyes fixed on something on the sand. Neara followed her gaze and raised her eyebrows at her small spoils lying on the sand. She picked them up alongside a handful of sand and shoved them deep within her pocket. Keeping her hand firmly around the stones as her hand remained within the orange fabric. It was silly but the familiarity of her finds…the silly trinkets she found…made her feel safe. Made her feel calm. Neara dragged her eyes up to the large creature, her eyes wide as she watched her fix her clothing. Something about her movements threw her off but she was curious at what had transfixed the creature.

Neara thought for a moment, letting her hand grow loose around the objects. She felt incredibly childish in this moment and pulled out a single pebble. The colour a bright amber, the glass had been softened by the waves and the sand. It was smooth to the touch and shone brightly. She placed it in the middle of her palm and reached her hand out gently towards the bird creature.

Tehron could hear Neara shuffling about behind him but he watched the elf’s conversation with the Synrian. He raised an eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest. He wouldn’t have thought the creature any good with a sword and it was merely another body to protect. Tehron glanced at the elf again and stretched to his full height before nodding. His eyes moved past her to the tree line where he knew his companions were hiding.

[darkpigeon]

Hybrid pouted as Neara grabbed those pretty peddles away and shuffed them in her orange bag. She just wanted to see them, just.. maybe.. hold them. Feel how the felt, smell their scent, see what it was that made them look like they did. She wondered if it was her, if Hybrid had done something to upset the small woman. She did that on occasion, she was told so by the other harpy's who would sometimes get a bit scared of the strange animalistic behavior that Hybrid showed. It made Hybrid feel like she was not fully a harpy.. at least not like the rest of them. She could hardly talk, but she was very gifted with making sounds that could be heard in nature. Any type of bird she could mimic, falling tree's, the sound of water in a small river. But speech.. it scared her and because of it she hardly said a word.

She wanted to just down and pout in self pity when she watched Neara open her hand. Hybrid tilted her head and as she saw the orange peddle she smiled from ear to ear. Like a bird of pray she jumped, flew, and landed close by Neara and grabbed the orange peddle so quickly from her hand that the Halfling did not get the time to close it. OH!!! how wonderful that peddle was, soft so.. pretty!. Her blue eyes were fixated on the small object. She held it up against the sky and chirped softly as she was disappointed that the sun was not out. But she did not care, she was holding one of the prettiest peddles in the world now! And that was more than enough for hybrid.

[scottishgal]

Neara jumped back in shock when he talons scraped gently against her palm. Tehron turned around slightly to see the small Halfling who had fallen into him. He glanced from the Halfling to the bird who had a pebble that Tehron remembered Neara finding earlier. He scowled. “Was that stolen from you Neara?” He said keeping his cold eyes on the Harpie. Neara shook her head and watched the bird chirp at the stone. “Oh hush Tehron. I gave her the pebble. Go back to your brooding.” Tehron rolled his eyes and turned back towards the elf. Glancing between her and the tree line, he didn’t want this small group to happen across their own group.

Neara pushed herself off the sand, brushing down her dress. She moved quickly around the body of the deceased and moved closer towards the Harpie. She rooted around in her pockets for something else. Her whole body seemed to jingly, like every movement she made was music. She plopped herself onto the sand before the hybrid and pulled forth some more pebbles from her pockets. One of deep red and another of bright green. She placed them before the hybrid and glanced at Tehron, snapping her fingers.

Tehron dragged his eyes to the small woman and raised a single eyebrow in annoyance. “Yes” came his gruff reply. Neara gave him a sickly sweet grin, “Can I get your pouch....please?” Tehron glanced between the harpie and Neara before sighing and throwing the pouch to her gently. Neara caught it swiftly and shuffled onto her knees. She bent over as she took out what she needed and rooted around in her pockets for some other things. A few moments later, in which she knew the Harpie was eyeing up the other stones, she moved back and a small…very small… fire had started. She chucked the pouch back to Tehron who caught it and placed it back on his belt. Neara then placed one of the pebbles over the fire, the bright red dazzling in the firelight. It even shone up and cast a warm glow over her face. Neara grinned widely and then glanced up at the Harpie and gestured to the fire.