Cabin in the Woods [Job/Ringo]

Spoiler:

"Yes, this is the place." Ringo moved her gaze from the piece of paper that she held in her hand, to the land mark that was mentioned on the letter. She really did not know Clarissa that well but an old saying once said that a friend in need was a friend indeed. Who ever coined that phrase was a bit ambiguous by what he meant by "indeed", but none the less, it was a pretty catchy phrase and dear old Ringo had lived by it ever since.

She still cant believe Clarissa sent her that distress mail, it was a good thing that the mail was addressed to their guild's headquarters, if she had mailed it to her last known address it would have been lost forever. She didnt even knew that Clarissa had originally come from the cursed lands, just the name itself, she knew that she would find creepy things. But what she saw along the way was far more than what she had in mind.

She had heard of rumors about the cursed land, how everything within the land had turned vile and revolting because of a powerful enchantment cast over the land. Even the trail of flowers that she left behind turned into a bouquet of nasty snapping carnivorous plant. To any consolation, the plants aren't snapping at her, just at the other critters that walk them.

"Well at least they still recognize me as their master...." she paused as she looked at the instruction on the letter once again. "From the strange totem thingy I'm suppose to make continue forward until I encounter a fork in the road where I'm suppose to turn right, seems simple enough. Ill probably make it there before sundown."

The crimson haired mage continued on her path unaware of the dangers that lurk ahead, light was swiftly fading and as the dusk set in creatures who are not free to roam during the day comes out to hunt.

Out of the five markers that she had to follow, Ringo had only encountered one, the weird totem, and is currently on the path that would lead her to the fork in the road, but somehow, the road seemed to drag on and on. Not to mention that the path was getting narrower and darker, or it could just be that the sun was already setting. Time and time again, she would hear movements from the tall creepy hedges and snapping bushes that line the narrow road so she would occasionally stop to inspect, but end up with nothing, till she got annoyed and just ignored whenever she would hear anything unusual.

"Where the hell is that fork in the road, I have been walking for almost an hour now and still all I see are these damned vegetation. Wait, something doesn't seem right."

The red haired girl turned around to confirm whether her theory was correct. And just as she suspected, she could still see the weird totem even though she had been walking for more than thirty minutes.

"There must be some enchantment on this path that prevents me from moving forward."

She took out the letter from her pocket and reviewed it. She knows the sketch of the map was not pit point accurate, but the distance of the fork from the totem should not be great. Retracing her steps, she went back to the totem.

"It would have been helpful if she wrote in how to pass trough the enchantment."

In her frustration, she slammed her fist on the totem. She must have punched the totem with great force for her knuckle chaffed and bled, the blood smearing the wooden totem. The blood did not get to trickled far down, the blood was absorbed by the totem. The eyes on the totem began to glow and a disembodied voice spoke out.

"The ransom has been paid, you may now pass."

The girl stared at the totem. Could it have been the cause of the enchantment on the path. Then it was then that she noticed something written at the base of the totem. "To pass the test, you must pay with blood." She rolled her eyes and said.

"Right... good thing I did what I did."

Perhaps it was luck or maybe it was fate, whatever it was, the girl was now on her way towards the next marker.

Ringo had only been walking for over twenty minutes when she finally reached the fork in the road. It was a lot faster than she expected, considering she had walked for over more than an hour before and still got no where. Well it was the enchantments fault that she did not get anywhere, but now that she was there what's next. The girl took the letter from her pocket and read the instructions.

"So im suppose to turn left into the..."

She lowered the letter and took in her choices. The path to the right seems to wind on on, all the way to the group of small houses on the horizon, the path to the left lead her straight into the woods. She looked up to the sky, dusk had already set. She really was not expecting to be caught outside when the sun sets so she did not bring along any means to illuminate her path.

"Well, I can't go back anymore...It's all that stupid totems fault."

And with a reluctant heart, the thorn cursed mage marched off into the woods, unaware of the dangers that lurks within the shadows.

Surprisingly, the insides of the woods was not as dark as she anticipated. Weird glowing balls of lights can be found dangling high above the tree canopies while different colored ball of lights drift in and out randomly around the woods. She watched in amazement as these balls of lights floated to and fro. Enticed by the glow, Ringo tried to touch one, but it drifted away from her fingers, passing trough a tree and exiting the other side.

"I see, that is why they seem to appear and disappear. Those little glowing things can pass trough objects." Ringo whispered under her breath.

Just then Astral decided to show up.

"They are called Willo the Wisp. They are spirits who had forgotten what it is that they want to accomplish after their death...they are now forever earthbound." the tiny sprite explained.

Ringo turned to her pet and yelped "Holy crap! You scared the shit out of me!"

"Such a drama queen." said the tiny sprite.

Just then an idea popped into her head. With a mischievous grin on her face, she turned to Astral and said. "Hey Astral, your a spirit too right?"

The sprite knew that look so it said. "Let me guess, you want me to talk to them don't you?"

The sprite twirled a few round first before it gave her an answer.

"I can try...but I can't guarantee you anything. Willo the wisps are single minded spirits and they might or might not know what you might ask of them. So what do you want me ask them." the tiny sprite chimed.

"Can you ask them if they know where to find a white petrified oak tree? It is the third marker on the letter but it doesnt much information on how to get there." She paused and gestured with her hands the entire surroundings then continued with her speech "As you might have noticed, there aren't any clear paths to take."

The sprite began to fly around, approaching nearby balls of light. But their reactions were either to drift away before she could get close ot after she got close. Ringo was close to calling her back when the lat wisp flew back with Astral.

"Hey this is bloo and he said he hangs around that tree alot so he is will to take us there.He just said be careful where you tread."

Ringo and Asral followed the blue ball of light. Trough the thick undergrowth, the itchy draping vines, and horde of blood sucking insects, Ringo followed on, ignorin the fact that her patience was almost at the limit. She doesnt know if the wisp was doing this on purpose or if this was really the only way to get to the oak tree, either way she hated the fact that it was convenient for both Astral and Bloo but not for her.

As the party marched deeper and deeper into the woods, it began to grow darker and darker. She also noticed that there were fewer and fewer wisps hovering about. She felt tension in the air, it grew thicker and thicker each time they delved deeper. Suddenly the wisp's speed increased, it zoomed past a thick clump of bushes. Ringo thinking the wisp was about to ditch them made a run for it and forced her way trough the bushes. Only to find the wisp waiting for them on the other side.

They made it. Bloo made good on his promise. On the other side of the hedge was a small clearing. There were way fewer wisp here than before but it was brighter since the moon was already out. In the middle of the clearing stood the great white oak, the absence of leaves made it look menacing. Like a huge creature with a hundred gnarly fingers stretching outwards. It towered above the rest of the trees and it cast an eerie shadow over over them.

Ringo took the letter out, now that they had reached the third maker she, had to find out which way they had to go to get to the next marker.

Meanwhile, the wisp and the sprite were playing tag in mid air.

"So this is where you hang out right?" Astral asked Bloo.

The wisp answered with a soft wheezing sound as it did a somersault in the air.

"What do you mean this is where your sleeping?"

The wisp wheezed again and is it did a double somersault. The sprite immediately flew back to Ringo with great haste.

"Master! We have to get out of here now before..."

The member 'Ringo Noyamano' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

#1 'Monster Dice' :


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#2 'Monster Dice' :


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#3 'Monster Dice' :

But before the wisp could finish her sentence, an undead bear, two ghosts and five ghouls rose up from the ground.

" Bloo said this was where most people who wandered trough the woods go to sleep permanently." the sprite said.

"Seriously? We could have used that information, like really really used it."

Well they cant really do anything about it anymore other than face the horde of the undead, and since offense it the best defense. Her fingers turned to vines and shot out towards the undead, piercing them in their nuggin.

"That was easy."

Or so she thought, her attack managed to take down the ghouls and the bear but it had no effect on the ghosts. And it looked like they were really really mad with what she did with their comrades.

"Astral follow my lead." she uttered at the sprite that was hovering next to her.

"Run for it!!!" she exclaimed as she made a mad dash on a northeast direction.

Ringo and Astral fled from the ghosts, which was no easy task, the ghosts can phase through tree trunks, low lying branches and dangling vines. While Ringo on the other hand had hack, grapple and swing just to over come the obstacles.

"Where was i suppose to go again?" thought the girl.

She had passed the totem, the fork and the white oak three, and from the instruction indicated on the letter, she was suppose to take a northeast direction until she finds a clearing. But the girl had been running for over 20 minutes now and still no clearing.

"Could I under be an enchantment once again?"

The girl shook her head, the surrounding change as she moved forward unlike earlier when she was at the path where everything seemed the same.

Astral flew close next to Ringo and spoke. "Why are we running away from them?"

"Well, it seems my attacks dont work on them." she replied in between gasps. She really was running out of breath by this time.

"Well what about me?" chimed the small sprite.

"What about you?" Ringo barked, she really was confused as to what her familiar was talking about.

"I mean what if I gave it a try, attacking." she timidly said.

"Well by all means." she actually didnt knew what she was agreeing to, she was wanted to get to the clearing where she can try fighting them again.

The pet stopped from flying stood her ground. "I hope this works..Mind Flay!"

The attack seemed to work. The ghost seemed to stop moving. Astral sped up to her master who somehow had managed to reach her intended goal, the clearing in the woods. Astral whizzed in through the bushes causing it to rustle, Ringo who was about to attack paused midway and screamed.

"What the blurg?! You scared the day lights out of me. I thought you were one of the ghost, I almost attacked you!" her tendrils slithered back and reverted back to being regular fingers.

"Dont worry about them, they are stunned for the moments, so we better hurry on to the next marked." said Astral who was brimming with self confidence at the moment.

Ringo didnt pull out the letter to know where they were heading next. She just pointed up ahead and said. "That way."

"Into the fog?" her pet was skeptical of her master's decision.

"No there, at the make shift bridge." and just as she said those words, the night winds began to blow, partially lifting the fog revealing a mote, a bridge and an eerie light off the distance.

"Is that the house were suppose to go too? If it is id rather just poof out again and leave you than hang around with crazy ghost and other undead stuff coming at you. I know im a spirit myself but damn, its still scary."

"Fine, you always were a scardy cat." The night wind blew again, bringing the fog along with it. The bridge looked scary again.

"To be honest im a little bit scare too...Can you at least stay please." she begged he sprite.

"I knew you were a chicken too." both master and familiar laughed. It was the only consolation they'll find given their current situation. But alas, their laughter didnt last long, something was coming out from the bushes and the duo wasnt about to stick around to find out what.

The member 'Ringo Noyamano' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

It seems the two ghost had brought along new friends, another undead bear, two more ghosts and 5 ghouls. Ringo who was already running through the bridge turned to look back. "I thought you took care of them, now they brought even more friends."

Astral flew close to Ringo and chimed "Yes I did, but I already said I stunned them and we should get the hell out of there. Instead you chose to loiter around debate whether that place is creepy or not when its clearly is!"

"Yeah im sorry bout that. Lets just bring them to the other side where I can take care of them permanently." said the red haired girl.

The duo continued to flee their pursuers, it was an easy task for Astral since she was flying. For Ringo it was way harder since the bridge had missing planks, plus the fog had made the floor damp and slippery. On the light side, the undead bear and the ghouls were having a hard time trudging the bridge, but they weren't the ones she was afraid of. It was the four ghost that hovered past the stumbling undead.

The sprite zoomed on ahead of Ringo, an advance party to the other side if you will. She release her aura so that it would be visible and serve as a guiding light for Ringo.

"Ringo hurry they are gaining on you!" cried the small sprite.

"What do you think im doing, taking a leisurely walk?" she sped up even more in an attempt to put more distance between her and the ghost, while the bear and the ghouls had already lagged far behind.

"Just a little bit more, im hovering where there bridge ends." shouted the sprite.

Those words were music to her ears, she doubled her speed. And true enough, she was on land again in no time. Sparing no time, she activated Deadly Nightshade then proceeded to kneel down to touch the ground. From the ground erupted various vines, all curled up but ready to pounce once a prey strays too close.

And just in time too for the ghost arrived shortly after. The vines sensing their presence, unfurled and snared the ghost.

"Who knew that would work, I guess this would work too."

Ringo stretched out her arm and her fingers turned to sharp tendrils once again. Piercing them between their eyes.

"Now we just have to wait for the rest to arrive so that we can.."

But before Ringo could even finish creatures appeared out of the water.

The member 'Ringo Noyamano' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

Ringo and Astral looked at each other.

"Im not even going to ask how that bear got in the water." Ringo told her familiar. As soon as the monsters were near, the vines snared them all and her sharp tendrils finished them off.

"Why didnt you use that trick before?" Astral asked her master.

"Well I didnt think it would work that way, so I figured running from them would be better." she snapped at her familiar.

The remaining undead arrived from the bridge and got snared by the vines. Using her tendrils, she finished them all with her tendrils. They were so busy cleaning up the monsters that they didnt notice the house not too far from them. It was Astral that noticed it first. "Her Ringo, look!"

The red haired mage exclaimed "Its the house! Finally!"

It was the cabin in the woods, the house where her acquaintance fled to escape what ever it was that was she was running from. Though something was strange, how did she even manage to escape the creatures that she herself had a trouble exterminating. She just shrugged her shoulders, worrying about it would be useless, she didn't do all the way there just to back out. With her familiar by her side, Ringo towards the house, not knowing the danger that awaited them inside.

It was a two storey cabin, log cabin. It had a veranda and a chimney as well. It was actually nice, well nice was an understatement. She touched the pillars that supported the roof of the porch. It was made from white hemlock, it was resistant from insects and fungi growth, not to mention fire resistant. It also gave off a pleasant smell akin to pine. Who ever made it sure picked a terrible spot to make a luxury vacation home.

Ringo clunked the creepy door knocker, talk about gothic crossed with demonic.

"Clarissa? Its me Ringo!"

She knocked on the door again only this time the door creaked and opened. The sprite was the first to enter the cabin. Following Astral's lead, she entered the house. What she found made her anxious, most of the stuff inside was in disarray. There were claw marks on the floor and some of the furniture, there were even drops of blood and bits of flesh. Fearing for her friends life Ringo called out to her again.

"Clarissa! Clarissa! Astral go to the second floor, maybe she is there."

The sprite whizzed up the stairs while she looked around the first floor. She was at the kitchen when she heard a loud roar followed by Astral's shriek. "Ringo, help me!!!"

She hurried up the stairs, she was very worried since normally Astral would just phase out to escape danger, something was preventing her from doing that and that meant she was in dire danger. When she reached the second floor, she was greeted by a horrendous sight. A ghoul had Astral cornered, green mist was coming out of its body preventing it from escaping.

"Dont worry, ill save you Astral!" she shouted.

Her voice must have caught the monsters attention for it turned around. When it did, Ringo could feel her heart sink. It was Clarissa, she was now turned into some kind of super ghoul.

"Ringo! Ringo! What the hell are you doing! Do something!" the sprite urged her master.

Her summon was right, she had to snap out of it and do what she must.  To save Astral and to free Clarissa from the curse she's in. She felt a throbbing pain in her chest. "No not now!" she cried out. It seems Clarissa's predicament had triggered something in her. A memory that she doesnt want to  forget. In deep and demonic voice she shrieked. "No one else is getting cursed, not if I can't  do anything about it."

Blood seeped out from her pores which quickly evaporated into the air, forming a red mist that shrouded her. Inside the mist, Ringo began to transform into a plant like creature with parts that resembled those of a rose. The ghoulified Clarissa charged into the mist ramming into the newly transformed Ringo, the mist was after all made from blood and ghouls loved the aroma.

The Clarissa landed on top of Ringo, and tried to take a bite out of her. Her gnarled teeth didnt even sink in, Ringo's tough demon skin proved to be too much for her as some of her teeth dropped off. Ringo who was still under the trance of a terrible memory lashed out at the ghoul who had her pinned. It sent Clarissa flying out the nearby window and crashing down on the front porch. The ghoul let out a blood curdling scream, it didnt sustain any injuries from the fall, but its pride got trampled on and it was really pissed.

Too bad for her Ringo was equally pissed, she was still relieving a horrific memory from her past and sees Clarissa as the demon who was responsible for her contacting the terrible curse she was under. A multitude of vines and tendrils erupted from her body, using them as appendages, she catapulted herself from the second floor all the way to the raging undead. Using her hard body, she tackled Clarissa. But the undead Clarissa proved that she was no push over. She grabbed Ringo by her vines and slammed her on the ground, yanking some of her tendrils free.

The two behemoths exchanged blows, they appeared to be equal in terms of strength. But in terms of defense Ringo, yes she had a tougher exterior, but she could still feel the pain while as the ghoul felt nothing at all.

"Just hit her in the head!" Astral shouted.

Astral's voice brought clarity back to Ringo's mind. Ringo let out her thorny vines again and this time concentrated her attacks to her spine and head. At first it seemed that her attack was not working, so she increased the number of vines and doubled the attack speed. It was like a lighting barrage.

"Ringo! Get out of the way!"

Ringo ceased her attacks and backed away as a huge boulder came down hard and fast on top of the ghoul.

"Its it safe now?" asked Astral.

Ringo looked at the oozing green stuff that came out from under the boulder and nooded.

"Sorry for your loss." said Astral.

Ringo was beginning to revert back to her human form, as she said.

"Death was a way out that I had been denied of. I guess its betters this way."

Ringo fell down on the ground exhausted, she looked at the sky, dawn was fast approaching. She doesnt know why, but she was happy. Yeah it may seem that her quest was a failure since she was not able to retrieve and evacuate Clarissa, but she was still happy that she managed to save her from a life of damnation. Of course she still have to find out how that happened to her, but that was for another time. Right now she just wanted to get out of there so she can catch some sleep.