Dearly Departed

Gamon felt uneasy as he walked through the dark woods, thankfully he wasn’t alone. His exceed, Tykva, followed close behind him. She hummed a tune to distract herself from the eerie woods surrounding the duo.  Tykva looked at Gamon and noticed that he wore a very concerned look upon his face. “So, you still haven’t told me about this job that we are going on. You want to fill me in silly,” she said, trying to understand why he looked so worried. “Its nothing nothing really. Just your standard job.” Gamon sounded nervous, but also determined. “Come on, I can read you like a book Gamon. Something is up. Please tell me, I’m always here if you want to talk about it.” Gamon looked at the letter that the sharply dressed man had delivered to him.

He took a deep breath and stopped walking. Tykva looked up to see that Gamon had extended his arm out the letter in hand. “Here, read this, and you will understand.” The exceed took the letter in paw, unfolded it and started to read it. "Dear old friend, I don't know if you remember me, but I need your help. A strange curse has swept across my home land destroyed most of the population. I managed to escape, and am now in hiding. While I was escaping from those creatures, one of them bit me. Within the envelope, I have placed my current location. I am currently at an old cabin in the cursed lands. Please come as soon as you can, as I am beginning to feel quite feverish. Yours Truly, Nikolai." She looked up at Gamon, “I’m so sorry, you must be worried to death about your friend.”  “I don’t think we are alone anymore.” Gamon said nervously not knowing what to expect.

Gamon looked around nervously. Looking for whoever or whatever is closing in on him. Slowly getting closer to his location. The presence was slowly getting closer his location. Gamon prepared for the worse. He readied himself for whatever was about to come at them. At that moment, a wild deer jumped out from behind a tree in front of them. Gamon gave off a “manly” scream at the sudden wild life. “Well, aren’t you the manliest wizard in the woods right now,” Tykva snickered. Gamon cleared his throat, “In my defence these woods are filled with plenty of monsters, that could attack us at anytime.” Tykva rolled her eyes at the comment. “Oh yeah, plenty of dangerous creatures. The most dangerous of which are deer.” she said sarcastically. Just at that moment, a tree branched snapped below Tykva’s paw, causing her to scream and jump into Gamon’s arms. “Well, I see that I’m not the only one on edge right now.”

They continued through the dark woods. Tykva was sitting on Gamon’s should, due to her getting too tired and wanted to rest while they had a chance to. They followed the map to the location that Nikolai had provided. “Are we even going the right way? We have been walking for hours,” Tykva said worryingly. “Of course we are going the right way. I think.” Gamon said, trying to sound as sure as he could. Gamon started to slow down his pace and looked around franticly. “There’s that feeling again.” “ Huh, what are you talking about? What feeling?” she questioned. He picked Tykva up, placed her on the ground, and motioned to hide behind a nearby tree. “Wait, what’s going on? Why do I have to hide?” she said anxiously. “Just do what I say,” Gamon firmly said. Tykva obeyed the demand of the young mage. When Gamon saw that Tykva was out of the way and out of danger, he turned and shouted into the surrounding woods, “Who’s there!? Show yourself!”

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

'Monster Dice' :

Just as he finished yelling into the dark forest, seemingly by himself, a figure had started to come out from off the path. Gamon couldn’t make out the figure, due to the fog that has been steadily rolling in. What he could make out, however, is that the figure was about 4 feet tall. Gamon was confused and scared that he could not see the creature’s feet. To him, it looked like it was floating. The figure was silently creeping closer. Then, Gamon noticed that there wasn’t just one, but a second one coming from behind him on the trail. They were getting closer, and he readied himself to attack. His initial response is to call upon his falcons. His hands work quickly to summon them, “Metal make Falcons!” Their screech echoes through the dark forest surrounding, before coming to an abrupt explosion at the base of the ghastly creatures.

The figures were slightly shaken by the event that had occurred, but their stop was only momentary. In all of his years of practicing magic, Gamon had never encountered a beast resistant enough to simply shake off an explosion of that magnitude. This shook him to the core, and presented him with one option: Run. He had no choice. He yelled over to the hidden feline, “Tykva! Quickly run!” As they made their escape one of the ghosts followed close behind. Gamon could feel the presence behind him, reaching out to him. Suddenly, he felt like he lost control of his body. Everything was cold and his mind began to feel somewhat distant, like he was fading away. However, something forced him to keep running. He looked down to see his furry friend call his name a worried looked showed on her face. He jumped over logs and ducked under branches, before starting to feel like himself again. It was a good several miles before finally slowed his pace, finally feeling as if he had shaken the creatures.

They fell down both completely out of breath. Gamon held his side in pain, sweat dripping from his face and onto the ground. “Man… how… far… did we… run?” he said, as he struggled to catch his breath. He waited for a response from his companion. There was only silence, other than his own heavy breathing. He looked around, thinking that maybe she just didn’t hear him, or decided to take a cat nap. As he scanned his surroundings, he couldn’t find a single trace of his cat in a hat. He jumped to his feet in a panic. “Tykva!” He yelled in dismay, “Where are you!?” Oh no. No. No. No. Oh god. Where is she? Do she fall behind as we were where running? What if she's in trouble? He thought to himself, his anxiety getting the worse of him. He wasn't able to move, he was just frozen in fear. A thought came into his head that cleared the rest of them out. Find Tykva. Save her. With that he faced the direction he just ran from, and started to make his way back to his friend.

He ran through the dark woods, alone. It was an odd feeling being alone again. The horrible thoughts, that it was going to be too late to save Tykva, started to creep into his mind. These thoughts gave him the motivation to push hard and run faster to save his only friend. He couldn’t afford to lose another soul to the darkness that always follows. “Tykva! Where are you?!” He yelled in hopes that he could get a response.

He ran for about a mile, until he saw an eree clue to the whereabouts of his friend. In a clearing, he could see the hat the that she always wore. He picked it up to examine it; it was without a doubt Tykva’s. Gamon looked around for more clues or any sign that could lead him to Tykva, with no luck. “Tykva! If you can hear me, call back!” He yelled. “Gamon, is that you?” Gamon looked around for his friend, but was confused when he couldn’t see her. “Yeah its me. Where are you?” the panic slowly left his voice. “I’m above you. Can you catch me,” Tykva called down from a tree at the edge of the clearing.

Gamon walked over to the tree that Tykva was clinging to, and positioned himself to catch her. “Okay are you ready?” she asked her rescuer. “Yeah, I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.” he called back. “Okay, on the count of three. One… Two…” She jumped into the arms of her friend. “What happened to three?” Gamon said, surprised by her sudden presence in his arms. He placed her onto the ground and snugged the tiny hat on her head. “How did you end up in the tree anyways?” he asked. “Well, you see, when we running, my short little legs couldn’t keep up with a certain guild wizard. Then I found myself alone in this clearing, and I heard a noise from the woods that made my hair stand on end. So I rushed up that tree and hoped you would come back.” “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to leave you behind like that. I promise it won’t happen again.” he proclaimed. “On a different note, what happened with those monsters you heard?” he asked, hoping it wasn’t anymore ghosts. “You know what, I’m not to sure?”

Monster Dice roll

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

'Monster Dice' :

After listening for a few moments, Gamon decided to shrug it off. The forest around them had grown quiet, aside from the usual (and somewhat calming) sounds of the wilderness. He dug the map out of his pocket and stared at it. Gamon found Tykva suddenly on his shoulder, staring down. “Wait… are you purring?” He asked, feeling her soft fur against his cheek. “What? I was scared!” He can’t help but smile as they tried to figure out where they were together. They had strayed from the path, and now had to figure out where they had ran. Gamon traces the map with his finger, accompanied by a contemplative grunt. Tykva swings her tail back and forth as they both calmed down from their terrible encounter. “Hmmm… So, I think we should go this way.” Gamon says, pointing towards the direction they had been walking in previously. In his panic, he didn’t think to run serpentine, as to avoid the creatures. “We’re pretty close!” Tykva says, enthusiastically. “I can’t wait to get out of these spooky woods.”

Tykva wasn’t terribly heavy, so Gamon decided that she was fine where she was. After carefully refolding the map and placing it back into his pocket, they were once again on the move. This time, he was sure that he knew where they were going. His furry friend, on the other hand, was just hitching a pleasant ride. After all, those short little legs couldn’t keep up with a certain guild wizard. The leaves below his feet are the only sound beside their breathing… Wait, was that their breathing? “Do you hear that?” Tykva whispered, now curling her tail behind his other ear. “What? I thought that was you.” She shakes her head in reply, now tightening her grip on her larger friend. He decides to walk a bit faster, hands balled into a fist as they went. He didn’t want to encounter more of those creatures, whatever they had been.

Gamon froze in his tracks. He had to hear whatever was making that noise. He started to listen to the sound of branches breaking, coming from the right of where they stood. It began as, what Gamon could make out, slow steps; the sound soon picked up the pace. It sounded like a creature at a full sprint, making a B line for the two of them. “Gamon!” It was too late to give a proper warning of the attack. The beast lunged at Gamon, mouth wide open. He had just enough time to get his arm up to block the animal’s deadly bite. The force of the sudden attack knocked Gamon and Tykva to the ground. His feline companion rolled a few feet away from where Gamon was wrestling with the monster. He was panicking, and wasn’t sure on how to get his attacker from chewing his arm off. At that moment, without thinking, he balled his hand into a fist and struck the beast. The blow stunned the creature, causing it to release his arm. Gamon stood quickly, to face his foe and to get a better idea on how to proceed.

He was finally able to face his attacker for the first time. Gamon was appalled by the sight of this undead wolf like creature. How something could be so hideous was beyond him. Not to mention the creature's rancid breath. Once again, the creature lunges, leaving Gamon no time to consider his plan of attack. He would have to figure something out to stall it. As it lunged at him, he quickly side stepped out of the way of the attack. The creature gave a sickly grunt, it starting to circle Gamon. As he followed the wolf with his eyes, he figured out his plan of attack. “Metal Make Sword!” The sword materialized in his hands with a brilliant light. As he gripped the sword and got into a fighting stance, the creature bowed in front of him, preparing to lunge once again. It growled fiercely and deeply. This time, however, Gamon was ready to take him on.

The monster threw its body at Gamon. He sliced the cursed wolf out of the air and sent it back onto the ground. It whimpered as it hit the ground, but then it popped back onto its feet and charged Gamon again. He didn’t have enough time to attack once again, due to how quickly the wolf moved. He only had enough time to deflect the creatures blow, sending it right past him. Gamon was in a better stance to attack. The persistent wolf got ready to lung once more. Gamon calmed himself, knowing this will be the last blow to deal to the wolf. It lunged at Gamon. He took his sword sliced the wolf down the full length. The creature fell to the ground with a whimper. The undead wolf was finally laid to rest for good. Now he had to find Tykva and start moving again.

“Gamon!” He turned around only to find Tykva running towards him, her eyes wide with fear. Her tail was all puffed up, and the hairs on the back of her neck were standing straight up. Tykva was never one to show her fear, but Gamon was always the person who saw. She tended to spook easily, but his it just fine. At the moment, both her and Gamon were pretty freaked out by the surrounding woods. Just beyond, her two misty apparitions followed close behind her. “Tykva! Get behind me.” He demanded. As the first ghostly being started to get into his range of his sword, he swung and sliced right through with little resistance. “Ah crap! I forgot I can’t hurt you guys.” “Gamon we got to go. We have nothing to fight them.” She said concerningly. “Yeah, I know. Let's get out of here. Hey, remember don’t let them touch you.” They turned tail and head for the hills in hopes that that the apparitions would give up chase.

They ran for a little bit to make sure they had truly gotten away from the ungodly ghosts. He gets the chills just thinking about the experience of the ghost that had possessed him, or attempted but that was behind him now. “Alright, let's stop here and try to figure out where we are.” Gamon said. He sat down on a log and pulled out the map, to try and figure out how close they are to that cabin. “Hang in there buddy. I’ll be there soon.” He said under his breath. “Huh? Did you say something?” “Umm, no. Just talking to myself. Okay, so do you know if we passed any big landmarks, while we were in retreat.” “Umm, Gamon.” “ I think we ran over a stream a little bit ago; we might be somewhere in this area.” “Gamon I…” “ No, wait, we can't be there, we haven’t passed a burned down building.” He said cutting off Tykva sentence. “Gamon!” she exclaimed firmly. “I think we are here.” She pointed up at an old cabin on top of the hill where they sat. “Where would I be without you?" “Completely and utterly lost, silly." “Alright let’s not waste anymore time. We got to save Nikolai.”

Tykva gave a hearty nod, waiting for Gamon to lead the way, his sword still in hand. He inhaled sharply, hoping that they wouldn’t encounter any more monsters on the short journey there. The forest was deafeningly silent once again, the only sounds their breathing and the crisp crunch of leaves beneath their weight. They approached the abandoned cabin. It was dark inside, and most of the windows were busted out. Gamon immediately felt his stomach drop, an indescribable feeling of dread creeping over him. Were they too late? They made their way around to the front of the decrepit building. The door was slightly ajar, and the wood stained with age. How old had that letter been? They approached the cabin with caution, Gamon gripping his sword tighter with each step. He pushed opened the door with the tip of his sword. “Hello? Are you in here?” He asks, voice echoing within the cabin. He waits quietly for an answer, heart pounding out of his chest. Suddenly, he gets a meager response. “Who’s there? Gamon, is that you?” A weak, but familiar voice responds. An emaciated frame came out from the darkness of the cabin. It was Nikolai, but not in the way that he had remembered him. He looked terribly sick, and even starved. Gamon stared with wide eyes, initial response frozen in shock. He took his friend by the shoulders and lead him out of the door frame, unsure of how to handle Nikolai’s bad health.

They led him to a log just outside of the cabin and sat him down. “You look like you need something to eat.” He pulled out a small loaf of bread and handed it to his old friend. “Hey, it this slowly ok.” “Thank you so much.” “How long have you been waiting out here?” Tykva asked. “I’m not to sure any more. It seems like it's been so long since I sent out that letter to you. Honestly, I was losing hope. I felt myself losing my mind. The bite doesn’t hurt anymore. Which is good, right?” “Umm, well not exactly. Ok we got to get you out of these woods.” Gamon helped his old friend up to his feet and slung Nikolai’s arm around his neck. “Come on buddy, let’s get you out of here.”

Their walk back was relatively mild, as there weren’t near as many monsters as there had been before. Gamon guessed that he had taken care of all of them, Tykva said that they were too busy laughing at how fast he had ran from those ghosts. All in all, it all worked out in the end, and Nikolai got the proper medical care that he needed. It all worked out in the end, and no one ended up being… deadly departed.