To Hell With The Damn Vulcans! (Dmitry, Aku)

Job Description:

Three weeks before the Nightmare incident...


A gray haired wizard in a black trench coat and a matching hat was walking through one of his favorite places in Fiore, known to most as the Spooky Forest. Unlike before, Dmitry Kazakov was accompanied by a younger mage from his guild, Lamia Scale. The boy's name was Aquata...okay Dmitry wasn't going to try and pronounce that. "Try not to fall behind, Razy." There, that works. Dmitry wasn't sure why this newcomer wanted to accompany him, but then again, Dmitry wasn't sure why people did half the things they do. Either way, Dmitry enjoyed having an excuse to come back here. This place may have scared most folk, but it was close to nature and the spirits flowed freely.

The exact reason for this trip was a job dealing with a recent string of thefts involving vulcans, a type of creature that was smart enough to cause trouble but too stupid to avoid it. Dmitry had run into them in his travels before and they were easy enough to deal with. Prove you aren't a weakling and they generally turn tail. However, for them to steal from a village was dangerous to both them and the villagers, much like a bear or coyote digging through trash. What made it worse was that vulcans were just smart enough to take offense, which could obviously lead to more trouble. Dmitry's task was to engage the offending vulcan's so others wouldn't follow suit. He would avoid killing them if he could help it, but there are no guarantees in the wild...

Aku was tall for his age some would say he was too tall. His dark brown almost black hair hung nicely behind him and touched the scarf that he tied around his waist and chest area or it would if his jacket didn’t cover the scarf. Part of the scarf dangled to a little past his knees. He wore green tinted glasses that made his eye color shift from red to brown and a hat that matched his jacket. His jacket and hat were both a dark red and he wore black jeans. He had purchased a special pair of shoes that were all terrain. They reminded him of a cross between a boot and running shoes.

Aku didn’t know why he wanted to go to the Spooky Forest in the first place. He just thought that Dmitry was nice sometimes and wanted to help him.

“Hey! Call me Aku if your brain cannot process the longevity of my name!” Aku yelled out to Dmitry as he followed the man… well, he was older than Aku. So he thought but now he thought he may as well reevaluate his new friend. Besides only his older brother called him Razy and it made him feel uncomfortable. This uncomfortable look transferred to his body language as he followed behind Dmitry. He tried to keep up pace with him but couldn’t and didn’t understand why. He was making sure to step where Dmitry stepped but it didn’t help. It was as if he was energized in the forest or something.

“So what's the job again?” Aku asked for about the twentieth time, it wasn’t because he forgot. Aku wanted to talk to Dmitry but he wouldn’t talk about himself much or at all. He ducked barely dodging a branch that Dmitry was holding.

“Damn, this guy doesn’t care huh?” He thought to himself as he continued to follow. He looked a little hurt but shook it off and tried to keep pace with Dmitry.

Dmitry didn't notice Aku's struggles as he continued his trek through the forests, keeping an eye out for signs of their quarry. To him, this was easy. The tribal saw no reason why anyone should have trouble with a simple walk through the woods. He soon came up on what seemed to be vulcan scat; it didn't take an expert to figure out the poo was about the size of a two year-old child. While most people would turn away and plug their noses, Dmitry noticed that it seemed rather fresh, which meant the hairy bastards were nearby. Vulcans were one of the few animals he just plain didn't like. They seemed to share all the wrong traits of human kind, whom Dmitry had no particular love for in the first place. 

"You chastise me for forgetting your name and yet you can't seem to remember something you were told many times over..." Dmitry said as he continued on ahead of the smelly brown stuff. "We're here to flush out some vulcans that got caught harassing the local villages. If they keep this up, somebody's gonna get hurt. Try not to kill them, but don't put yourself in harm's way just to avoid it." As they went deeper into the forest, Dmitry felt more and more connected to it, allowing him to better read it's movements.

Aku was becoming somewhat accustomed to how the forest was. It wasn’t something that made him an expert but he was soon able to keep up with Dmitry. Aku knew the mission already but was trying to get Dmitry to say something else. He noticed Dmitry stop in his tracks and was observing a giant mound of… crap. Yup, this was definitely shi… well, poop. Aku got closer to Dmitry and knelt down so he didn’t block the man’s view. Slowly he allowed his cord to go under the foliage in the area. He would use it to either get out of the way or to subdue a foe given they walked on the path his rope was.

“I just wanted to talk Dmitry. You are the closest thing I have to a friend in the guild and that sounds pretty sad. I already know the details about the mission but you can’t grasp that I am trying to form bonds with you. I look up to you…” He admitted and bit his lip as he looked down.

“You remind me of my older brother.” Aku confessed as he focused on the cords moving through the trees. He made a basic foot grabbing trap within each tree.

“Why else would I follow you on a mission? Because I like the forest?” He asked somewhat coldly but bit back at his last words.

“Granted, I will acknowledge that it has a soothing quality to it.” He admitted as he sat on the ground.

“It made it worse when you called me Razy. I swear I could see him in you… if for a second.” He confessed as he pulled a knife and cut the ends of his rope and then got up. The life of his cord now severed form both portions save for the piece in his hand. His thread seemed alive as it moved between his chest and vanished. Aku started to follow Dmitry past the massive poo. It was strange that he didn’t mind the giant poo as if its smell didn’t faze him.

“Avoid killing, unless death imminent.” Aku affirmed as he followed.

Holy crap, Dmitry thought too himself. That is sad.

'If this child is looking up to you, boy, than there must be a shortage of role models in your guild.' he heard Hati say.

'Nobody asked you, old man.' The summoner snapped back. Still, what was so bad about doing a job because one liked the forests? Dmitry could never understand why people loved cities so much.

"Heh, I'll admit, nobody's ever compared me to their brother before..." He said after a few minutes. Actually, nobody had ever compared Dmitry to anybody. He was usually considered an enigma all his own. For someone to compare him to a relative...that must have been a rather unusual family. Soon they were on a large trail found some ten feet from the pile of foulness. It was too wide to be a deer, and bears didn't leave trails this obvious. It had to be the apes. 

"Come on, kid, were on the right track." He continued along the trail, noticing fur caught on some of the branches and trash that had obviously come from the nearby village. Well at least they didn't eat the damn trash... There were also a few branches lying on the ground, most likely the work of a creature too dumb or lazy to duck under them.

The member 'Dmitry' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

Aku followed Dmitry and noticed the subtle changes in the forest. Indents in the ground with leaves stuffed into them looking like massive footprints was a good indication. Then Dmitry started to talk and looked a bit distracted. He admitted that he had never been compared to anyone’s brother before.

‘But how far did that go? Was it the first time he was compared to anything good?’ Aku thought to himself as he walked with him. One would have to be blind to not see the massive piles of excrement lying around like they were people lounging on a couch. Aku took a quick note and thought that the poo was spaced very close together. That last one was far from any others… at least that was as far as his deduction on that pile went.

He tensed up a little and allowed his cord to move out. He did the same thing as before and set little subtle traps. Although this time there were trees close enough that he could make some trip lines. So he did and patted Dmitry. He looked at the wires and hope that Dmitry would follow his eyes to see where the traps had been laid.

“If we get outnumbered we can fall back to here. Use these small things to catch them off guard…” He paused unsure, Aku wasn’t exactly brimming with confidence in his abilities. He looked around and spotted a few of the apelike creatures. He pointed them out although he was sure that Dmitry knew before he did. Aku swung his cord into the tree and silently moved into it. He was surprised at how much noise he didn’t make. Although he was silent the small shift in the wind gave away his position. He had readied his cord and made it into a noose. A second before they looked up into the tree he placed it around each neck but the cord was over each side of the branch. This branch wasn’t like the smaller ones but even so he made the cord wrap around the tree. He had tightened the nooses around each neck so they couldn’t just pull them off.

They tried… don’t get me wrong there is nothing wrong with trying to survive. It’s an instinct that kicks into even the most basic of creature. He knew that they would try to alert the others and decided that the cord should move around both of their mouths.

“Don’t show fear.” He thought remembering in one of the many books he read that they act on weakness. He moved from the tree using his cord… it was strange how his cord split into a three way but it did. As he fell the fools tried to get at him, straining the cord and pulling each noose tighter around both necks. Once he was out of the tree the two had pulled the rope so tight that they both passed out. As they did he called back his cord and allowed them to both fall unconscious.

He made a little motion as if wiping off some sweat but silently.

‘Whew’ He thought as he felt a strange presence behind him. He became cold as if something was just about to mash him into putty. Quickly he placed his hand in his pocket and threw sand in the monsters eyes. The action made the hit graze him and the creature pulled back screaming. Aku winced as the powerful blow nicked his arm and sent him tumbling back to where he and Dmitry were. The others would know that something was around after that scream.

---

Enemies Defeated
Normal: 2

HP: 70%
MP: 100%

Dmitry looked down at the traps. "I know what a trap is kid, I've been in the woods longer than you have." Still, it was good thinking on the kid's part, Dmitry had to admit. It wasn't long before the apes were surrounding them. Dmitry saw them coming but wanted draw them out. He watched Aku manipulate his cord thingy like a noose, slightly impressed by the technique. Than the kid was sent tumbling towards him like a rag doll. Dmitry simply raised his hand to the creature and fired a wisp which clocked the dumb brute between the eyes, knocking him out cold. He then heard one of the idiot approaching his side and ducked as a massive fist shot for him. It went clean over his, as well as Aku's head...and into a large oak. The vulcan reeled back in agony and Dmitry took this as his opportunity.

"I invoke the Swift Hawk: Vedfolner!" The smoky raptor flew out from seemingly nowhere and sped past the vulcan, passing inches from it's head. The already distracted animal lost it's balance and fell backwards on to it's back, it's head slamming into another tree. Dmitry looked over the unconscious beast, noting how over weight it was. Well, the gray haired mage did see a few pie tins along the trail...

"Damn, brother, you really let yourself go..." Dmitry said mockingly. He then turned to the mage on the ground. "That was some decent work with that cord. But you need to learn how to watch your back, kid." Dmitry held a hand out to the younger mage. Soon after, he heard several approaching noises.

---

Hp: 100%
Mp: 90%

Enemies defeated: 4

Spells Used:

The member 'Dmitry' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

Aku was about to get up after the almost hit that grazed him but he stayed down for a moment. Lucky for him he wasn’t very fast at moving as a massive fist crushed into a tree next to him. Be blinked for a moment wondering if he would have been on the receiving end of that thing had he gotten up quickly enough. The beast stepped back grasping its now broken fist and screamed in intense pain. Aku watched as Dmitry invoked a spell calling forth something made of smoke or darkness. Aku was amazed as this was the first time he had seen Dmitry get serious.

The young man in greys seemed to come to life as he fought. He looked like he was extremely focused on his magic but not, it was strange. Aqutanama let out a little chuckle after Dmitry mocked the creature about its girth. When Dmitry complimented what he had done with the cord Aku’s eyes lit up like he had just been given a bike for Christmas. He nodded to Dmitry and looked around noticing that he had his hand out. Aku stood up taking Dmitry’s hand and looked around. He noted that Dmitry had taken out the others in the area he had missed. With a nod of thanks to Dmitry Aku held his injured arm.

“Yeah I know I’m not all that great when it comes to fighting but we are a team and I was counting on you to watch my back. Although I am kind of just winging it when it comes to fighting.” He informed Dmitry as he looked around. Details came into his mind about how these things operated. They could attack from the trees, he assumed. It was the only way that one got behind him. He heard a noise behind him as one of his ankle traps went off and lifted one of the creatures off the ground. This only happened for a few moments because its foot was tangled with the cord. Aku shot his cord to the ‘rope’ that held the creature and activated it.

The cord coiled around the creature like a snake quickly mummifying it. It was a bit odd though because one of its legs was free. After that exertion Aku fell to his knees and started vomiting up what seemed like a gallon of water leaving him open to attack. His hand shot to his mouth while the other arm moved across his stomach. His back convulsed as he started to cough but no cough noise came out. In its place a wet splatter came out and small breaths could be heard from within each. As if he were drowning from the curse that infested him.

When he was done he fell over gasping for air. Either Dmitry had covered his back or he was lucky because he didn’t get attacked. He looked around but remained on the ground because his lungs were on fire.

---

Enemies Defeated
Weak: 1
Total
Normal:2
Weak:1
Group Total: 5
Normal: 2
Weak: 3

HP: 70%
MP: 100%

A team. There was a new concept to the former hermit. Dmitry was still getting used to being around people this often. Before he joined Lamia Scale, he simply drifted from place to place, his main source of company being his spirits. But it seemed he was actually making friends these days; Seikatsu and Katerii, that Shairako guy and Sayrn. Then there was that Mao girl and now this kid. It was all so new to him, having been on his own since he was eight. It was at this point that Dmitry noticed a vulcan getting mummified by Aku's cord. He was about to pay a compliment, but then the kid dropped down a began vomiting what appeared to be fresh, clean water. The spirit mage turned to see two younger vulcans approaching. They were a good deal smaller than the others, yet just barely large enough to be called adults. 

What these didn't understand was that the hawk Dmitry summoned was still circling over head. As they began to charge, Vedfolnir swept past the legs of the one in front, causing him to trip and tumble into the same tree that had been punched. The other had gotten tripped up on his tumbling 'comrade' and fell on it's face shortly after. Dmitry calmly walked up to the vulcan and delivered a swift boot to the back of it's head. He then turned to his own comrade who was now gasping and looking about. Well, that's a new one...

'I've seen plenty of curses in my time,' Hati spoke up in Dmitry's head. 'But this seems...peculiar.'

"Nice work back there," He said as he approached the Aku. "But I can't have you dyin' on me out here..." Dmitry decided not to ask about it; if the kid didn't mention anything on his own, then he probably didn't want to talk about it. The spiritual medium was about to help Aku to his feet when he heard more noises.

---

Hp: 100%
Mp: 90%


Enemies defeated: 7

Aku had his arm slung over his chest and holding his injured arm. It looked as if he couldn’t decide what pained him more, his chest or his arm. He rolled to his knees and knelt there for a moment. He noticed two Vulcans approaching but couldn’t will himself up to stand. He watched awestruck as Dmitry’s spell was still around. He noticed it before it smashed into one of them and tripped it. Aku started to laugh as the other one tripped on the one that Dmitry had made fall over. It was like going to the circus and watching people do dumb things for his amusement. The fact that one had smashed its face into the tree they were next to had made it more amusing.

Aku was already out of breath but he was laughing so hard that his lungs were pleading for a breath. He curled into a small ball smashing his fist into the ground. It was all just too hysterical for him to bear. After a few moments he collected himself letting out little giggles and wiping some tears that had formed in his eyes.

“Please… stop it’s too much.” Aku pleaded as he walked closer to Dmitry. Aku wanted to be able to stop laughing but he found the situation hilarious for whatever reason. Dmitry said something about nice work and not dying and Aku nodded to him.

“I wasn’t dying Dmitry…” He started and looked down at the ground as if recalling a painful memory or set of memories.

“I was tortured with magic. Someone wanted to test the lengths of their magic as well as acupuncture. I was the guinea pig of those tests. It seemed like it lasted for years although I’m sure that it didn’t. I was informed after that it was almost a year. Short by only a few days.” He explained as he moved into the area and started looking around. He checked the traps he had set and noted the ones that didn’t do crap. Probably because of his inexperience, sure he had read about it all but applying it is different. He took out a notepad and jotted some notes down.

“I was cursed or something that makes liquid, fresh water, form in my lungs. I have to cough it up or drowned. It almost killed me when I was younger but thankfully my parents were there for me.” He said as he tried to stay alert.

The member 'Dmitry' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

Aku let out a sigh of relief from the small respite they were given. Dmitry had said something about being thankful he had help and about some people not. He only nodded in response trying to focus on the Vulcans. Dmitry started moving deeper into the forest and Aku followed.

“They must be getting closer.” Aku thought and it was confirmed as Dmitry said something along the same lines.

“The alpha?!” Aku asked somewhat disturbed about the notion. His voice cracked and he looked a bit embarrassed about the fact it did.

“See you get serious? You mean you haven’t been?” Aku asked and though about it for a moment. In reality he hadn’t even cast a spell yet. Although by the looks of it one could assume that Aku’s magic had to do with how he manipulated the cord. Aku thought about what he said… something about people helping him. For whatever reason that came to mind again while he was taking notes.

“It is nice to have my parents help but they can only do so much. It was the reason I became a Mage in the first place… well, it had to do with family. They were having a hard time paying the bills so I left. It was strange because I was really young when I first set off…” He paused thinking about it he was still young but he had been younger. His train of thought was interrupted when a Vulcan came falling from a tree. Its clenched fist was its lead and Aku did a defensive front roll away from it. The thing wasn’t huge but the crater it left in the ground told him it had power.

He didn’t have time to think he just acted. His cord became a little longer and had a smaller end. It resembled something that looked like a whip. With two quick whips he took out the creatures eyes. Now when the others screamed it paled in comparison to this one. The amount of pain is was going through had to be excruciating. Aku didn’t let up he started in on a specific spot, near the creatures back leg. Every hit was precise and he was extremely focused.

His focused mind was the reason the other got the drop on him. It slammed its fists into his lower back and sent him into the much stronger one. When he hit he didn’t have much time but he tried to move away from it. He ended up flipping over it and going down its back in a tumble. His whip was still connected to the big bad and it was tight around its neck. Aku’s eyes flared as he looked at the other one. Slowly he could hear the blind one gasping for air, flailing blindly and madly. Aku smiled as it smashed into its comrade. The much smaller one was smashed into the ground, its head bounced between the things fist and ground.

Aku took a quick diagnostics of his injury. Back injuries are some of the worst in the field and he knew it. Nothing was broken thankfully but it hurt like hell. He would have made noises of discomfort but he thought it was a bad idea with blindy running amuck. Soon the creature was out of breath and out of time as it collapsed to the ground. Aku leaned against a tree and set up some traps… He set up a few more than last time with his notes. He figured that they would come from either the trees or from the paths ahead of them. He also noted that they had come from a specific direction. Most of his traps in this area just looked as if a giant spider had been around. Although one could only notice the hair thin cord if they were looking for it.

---

Enemies Defeated
Normal: 1
Weak: 1
Total
Normal:3
Weak:2
Group Total: 9
Normal: 5
Weak: 4

HP: 36%
MP: 100%

Dmitry watched as Aku tumbled past him, having finished whipping a vulcan with brutal efficiency. Such could never be obtained without at least a little rage in one's heart. He then laughed as the younger vulcan was basically crushed by the older one. 

"Not bad kid," He said to his young charge. "But what did I tell you about watching your back?"

'Oh come now, boy. You don't have to be so hard on him, do you?' Hati said with mock concern.

'I don't need to hear that from you, old man...' He snapped, remembering the feeling of teeth against his scalp. Still, that was an impressive trick, even Dmitry had to admit. Perhaps there was hope for this kid yet.

Just as he finished that thought, he could hear one more beast approaching. It was an older one, like some of the ones from earlier. Dmitry put on a wolfish grin. Time to get serious.

"Only natural it would come to this..." He said before raising his hand to the creature. His pupils once again glowed silver, his irises turning pitch black. In this natural setting, even a novice could feel something rearing it's head. Dmitry could hear a light chuckle from a certain spirit.


"I invoke the Great Wolf: Hati!" A loud, almost sinister laughter could be heard as what looked like smoke appeared and converged to form wolf twice the size of a normal one. The vulcan, instinctively afraid of the smoky beast, took two steps back. Hati didn't allow it another foot. He tore off just past the ape, leaving a wake that sent the foolish creature flying into the woods, never to be seen by the mages again.

"Tell me there's more boy!" The excited wolf shouted, eager for his next target. Dmitry pinched the bridge of his nose. "Would you just leave already, you crazy old bastard?" The summoner asked before Hati's form dissipated. He then turned back to his wounded comrade.

"You okay? You're not crippled are you?" Dmitry asked, seemingly concerned before smirking. "I ain't carrying you back..."

---

Hp: 100%
Mp: 90%

Enemies Defeated: 10

Signature Spell Used:

Aku smirked to the compliment and looked tiredly up to Dmitry. Again he warned him about watching his back.

“That’s why you are around right? To watch my back so I can watch yours?” He slurred, apparently the damage to his back made him bite his tongue. He could feel the blood running and ended up prodding it to make sure it was fine. Luckily he didn’t bite his tongue off. Sigh of relief could be heard as he leaned against the tree some more. Dmitry looked like he was angry for some reason. Although he wasn’t looking at Aku anymore.

Everything became somewhat colder or perhaps more focused on the mana in the area. Aku’s eyes widened as Dmitry’s eyes started to change color.

“I invoke the Great Wolf: Hati!” Dmitry yelled and as he did his spells energy could be felt. Collecting just in front of him. Aku sat awe inspired by the young but older man. His eyes shifted again from silver irises to pitch black. It reminded Aku of the torment he went through, although he was still watching Dmitry. He didn’t have time to fall back on those memories and would file away the thought for later comparison.

A giant wolf all made of shadows and darkness appeared. It was massive… more so than the poo they had come across. The Vulcan could tell it was outmatched and tried to run but when it turned the wolf took advantage of its fear. It was helpless against the massive beast as it ran it down. Sadly Aku didn’t get to actually see what happened. He let out a sigh and tried to stand up. But ended up falling back down spraining something in his back.

---

Enemies Defeated
Normal: 0
Weak: 0
Total
Normal:3
Weak:2
Group Total: 10
Strong: 1
Normal: 5
Weak: 4

HP: 35%
MP: 100%

Dmitry sighed heavily as Aku slumped to the ground, before looking around. "Well, I'd say that's enough skulls cracked to keep them spooked," he stated before holding out his hand towards the kid. "I invoke the Lunar Horse: Alsvinder!" The smoke-like horse appeared next to the younger mage and knelt down. Dmitry then helped the pseudo-doctor on to the horse's back before it rose and began following Dmitry out of the forest.

"Sorry to put you on pack detail again," The gray haired mage said to the horse before turning to the mage on it's back. "Those were some clever tricks back there kid, but you need to be more aware of what's going on around you." Dmitry turned to the front. "If you can't watch your own back, how the Hell are you going to watch someone else's?" They continued out of the woods and towards the Hunting village so Aku could rest. Dmitry would have probably had less to worry about had he come alone, but then, he seemed to be doing a lot of things differently since he joined this guild. Still, maybe it wasn't so bad, having people to look out for. Wasn't that why he joined Lamia Scale to begin with?

'Aww, look at that,' he heard Hati say mockingly. 'My little boy is making friends.'

Dmitry's face soured. 'At least I can tune my friends out when I need to...'

---

Hp: 100%
Mp: 85%

Enemies Defeated: 10

Spells used: