Vulcans, Woodsmen, and Strange Introductions (Private: Dmitry/Luna)

Job Description:

The forests East of Magnolia.

Calm.

Serene.

Peaceful.

Some people come to this place to relax and meditate, to take in all that nature has to offer it, finding peace in the open air and the sound of world around them. Others come for recreational purposes, hunting, fishing, or physical training to hone their skills or simply to pass the time on a Summer's day. However, aside from the forest's wildlife, there is a human who came here for no particular reason at all. Carried here by nothing more than chance and whim, this wanderer needed little reason to abode in such places, finding them as a home.

Tucked away in the lofty branches of a tall oak tree, the figure of a human male rested on high, out of reach of the majority of the forest's more dangerous creatures. He was adorned with a long, charcoal colored coat over a black shirt along with a black, wide-brim hat that sat perched over his face, dusty, tattered, and torn with some tufts of steel colored hair poking out from underneath. A pair of hefty, yet heavily damaged, black boots sat on his feet, somewhat covered by some faded, brown pants. His chest rose and fell steadily as he slept in the tree, unperturbed by anything around him. Likewise, the world of this forest seemed to almost give him special permission to exist there as he was, animals neither avoiding nor meddling with the man.

Unfortunately, as the sudden racket through the woods suggested, this young man's peace and quiet was not to last.

Stopping by Magnolia town, Luna had caught wind of a job request regarding a captured maiden. She heard a bunch of adventurers and novices wizards boast about taking the job, however they talked about what they would do in groups or the clear fools that would do it solo. When Luna asked the bartender for information, she said she'd be heading out alone. Everyone thought she was joking, however when she decided to have a little fun and play the boast game, she bragged about fighting alongside a dragon. With no tell of lies, everyone had shut up as Luna left the bar, followed by Neptuna in her human form who at Luna's request was wearing a white toga. While not specific, all Luna asked was that Neptuna covered up a bit.

Meeting the client, it was a man by the name of Glenn, a 22 year old blacksmith, who's fiance Claudia was kidnapped by a Vulcan. However, she didn't care for the reaction of the man either as he laughed at the notion of Luna taking on this job, as he doubted that she looked like an experienced enough wizard to handle a Vulcan. However, she kindly smiled and said that while she is not a heavy combatant, she is a clever wizard. All the man knew was that a Vulcan dragged her future bride off eastward.

Later on while walking through the forest, Luna kept her eyes closed as she was sensing the magic around, however she started to sense something scurrying in the distance and soon around her. She thought it was a Vulcan, however she realized it was not one body, but a collective of smaller ones. She minded them no attention as she figured they were just harmless critters. Neptuna however was clinging to Luna, terrified. Her voice was loud, and not exactly discrete.

"Mis, mistress? I, I'm scared..." Luna stroked Neptuna's hair with her free arm, trying to reassure the mermaid. "We won't be long, we just need to find the Vulcan and get the girl back." Neptuna steps on a twig, snapping it, before screaming scared, hopping into Luna's sash while turning into a 8" Mermaid. Luna looked around trying to figure out what was going on. "Neptuna, it's okay, it was just a twig." Neptuna nervously nodded before Luna kept traversing the woods, hoping she could get this over with before the critters she sensed made a move.

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Meanwhile, a great trampling could be heard in the distance. "Pretty Lady, pretty lady!" A deep, apish voice said, followed by the screams of a no doubt captive woman. For a moment, a single, gold colored eye shot open at the noise, practically slamming shut after in the hopes of drowning out the sounds. However, the scurrying and alien chatter of some small, horned creatures nearby ruined that hope as well, causing both a gold left and blue right eye to snap open again, accompanied by an exceedingly frustrated groan.

No longer able to sleep through the commotion so close to where he was, the young man pulled his body up from against the trunk of the tree, not bothering to shift the hat on his head. He then shifted on the branch he sat on so that his legs dangled over the same side, one of the noisy creatures below him. It seemed to be some variety of forest demon, not of enough of a spiritual presence to affect the world on any more than a physical scale. With little effort involved, no more than a quick push of his hands, the wanderer slid off from the branch and down into the forest not far below. And with a loud and painful thud, he landed on top of the small demon, slamming it in to the ground and pulverizing its nose. Naturally, the others in its band were now alerted to the man's presence, whom they seem to recognize judging from the degree of fear in their eyes. They must have had run-ins with the fellow forest dweller as they immediately fled in the direction of the pink haired wizard and her mermaid friend, sheer panic in their expressions.

When the demons came towards Luna, she was nervous but she had no time to be nervous. Grabbing her companion's toga and the rod strapped to her side, Luna ran up to a tree, she jumped up and jumped off of the tree, using her flaming whip to latch onto a higher branch, swinging her way unto a higher branch. Luna landed on a branch. She knew only two things about the forest demons, they were thieves, and they were pesky critters. However they seemed to be running in fear of something. Luna held her companions toga up to Neptuna, who used her magic to store it away. "They seem quite scared..." Luna nodded, she figured the same thing. "I can only imagine a Vulcan sparking this much fear into them. Either that or another wizard on par with myself actively hunting them, they're crafty enough to avoid any other threat."

Luna then proceeded to jump down after the forest demons passed a significant distance, before she placed Neptuna on her shoulder and kept walking in the direction the critters emerged from. No sense in going after them right now, she had more pressing concerns and there was no need to pick a fight. However she was disappointed to be wrong, as she saw the another one of the forest demons by a rather tall man. She didn't know what to make of the man, so she figured better to test the waters. Just because he defeated a pest, doesn't mean he's good. "Hey there, have you seen a Vulcan with a kidnapped girl around here?"

"Huh?!"

The man looked up angrily at the woman addressing him, clearly still enraged at the loss of his peace and quiet. "What, you mean that noisy asshole?" He asked, taking his foot off the now quite unconscious demon, leaving it to bleed harmlessly on the forest floor. He turned to face her, pointing both mismatched orbs at the wizard. There was definitely a presence to her, something familiar. However, he couldn't quite place it. Either its influence was suppressed or it was too faint for even a spiritual medium to identify, something that made it seem like anything but a threat. What's more, it seemed to blend in with the presence of the forest itself, making it no more menacing than a bird or a wolf. What's more, the young medium was far too enraged at the interruption of his sleep to truly analyze the phenomenon, no matter how strange it was.

"Yeah..." He said, distracted for only a moment by that which he had not the ability or the focus to decipher. "I was about to go kick his teeth in." That said, he continued in the direction of the noise, intent on ending the disturbance and getting back to sleep. Not long after he set out, the young man found a rather violently laid trail, complete with cracked or outright toppled trees, massive footprints, and the odd tuft of fur littered about every so often. "Damn vulcans, always makin' huge friggin' mess". Though he generally held no particularly ill-will towards any of nature's creatures, considering such things do nothing for one who lives among them. However, vulcans were a special irritation for the medium, always making an enormous racket and tearing up the forest. With little other options available, he began down the rather obvious trail.

Luna wanted directions to the Vulcan's location, however she was not pleased with the behavior of the man Luna was not able to get a read on the taller man beyond he's alive. Luna tried to sense the man, but could only sense a great deal of repression, almost as if he was isolating himself from everyone, even himself. However from the attitude, Luna assumed the man was a wizard of sorts as he seemed unfazed by the prospect of a Vulcan, nor was he armed like a knight. She didn't know his reasons for hunting the Vulcan, but she had to ensure they were on the same page. "I'm a wizard, on a job. I'm Luna, brief notes are Vulcan kidnapped a woman, I gotta make sure the woman gets back alive.

Luna noted the destructive path the Vulcan made. She noted the fracture in a tree made by the back of giant knuckles. Luna looked at the tree, sensing the soul within. "Hey, how are you doing?" The tree responded to Luna telepathically "Been better, Ya know, just got hit by a Vulcan after his captive was trying to struggle. My cousin said that's who you're lookin for, right? The path is a complex one, there's a lot of zigs, zags, turns. But ultimately, just take a shortcut by heading due north north east. My great uncle is right near his hideout under the ledge with the mini waterfall." Luna nodded, signaling to the other man the direction. "Thanks for the help. Do you want me to fix you up?" "Nah, I'm good, thanks for your kindness young fairy. Just make sure you get that girl back."

Luna nodded, grateful for the help of the tree, no longer finding it odd that she can talk to animals and plants. At first it was completely strange to her, but now it is almost like second nature, akin talking to people. Luna started to walk in the guided direction. "According to the forest vine, plus some deductions based on evidence. The girl struggled which caused the Vulcan to go out of control. Long story short, the Vulcan want on a rampage on the way back to his nest. I'm guessing she might've stabbed him. She's a blacksmith's fiance."

Searching through the woods, Luna could soon hear the river, and the water flowing from the higher ledge down to the bottom. There was a clear gap in the terrain level as the ledge was long, but the nest of the Vulcan, as the screams of a young adult woman could be clearly heard. Luna hid behind a tree a distance away from the cave as she silently gestured towards the grunts of the primate creature. Luna whispered to the other man, hoping to get a sense of what she was working with. "Can you fight a Vulcan? I might have a way to avoid it, I can communicate and to a low extent sway animals."

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Ordinarily, the man would have simply moved on without waiting for the girl, not being one to depend on other humans or even associate with them. However, something felt...odd about her interaction with the tree. It was almost as though what ever he felt before was stirring for just a moment, only to settle back into its obscurity. Not long after, she came back with directions, leaving him to wonder about her. She'd heard of humans communicating with the forest and it certainly wasn't strange by his standards, but the timing...

Instead of simply following the trail, as he had intended to before, the young man followed after Luna, still trying to decipher exactly what she was. The sensation was nagging at him, almost beckoning him. But because he couldn't tell what it was, that only aggravated him. He could ask of course, but approaching others wasn't exactly in his nature. At the same time, the medium had long since reached the limit of what he could examine with his senses alone.

"Hmm? Oh, yeah..." He mumbled, having been preoccupied when she spoke up. Clearing his head, the woodsman crouched down behind a tree adjacent to his companion, getting a look at the Vulcan. It seemed the wizard's conclusion was correct, judging from the spot of red on the beast's shoulder. "Well, your welcome to try..." He whispered back, taking a look around the area while he was at it. "Vulcans aren't quite the same as the other animals around here. They don't fit in with nature as much, so they might not listen as well." He then noticed branch above him, quickly and quietly climbing his way up and perching himself. From here, he would be better able to respond ig the vulcan became violent.

"Well, up to you."

Considering the situation very carefully, Luna weighed out her options as the man didn't offer much in way of suggestions. However it was the tiny maid in her sash that provided her with the plausible idea as she spoke quietly. "Mis- mistress. Why not call one of those horizon forest things?" Luna took the advice into account, however which one to summon was the question. She figured out the best one to summon for the situation was him, but that might not have the best results. "I want to summon Tierra, the forestry would give her a real edge. Aegis would risk the girl, Chuck shouldn't get wet. Damn, I am no good, so I gotta summon him."

A strange drop of yellow liquid poured out of Luna's wrist as she pointed her wrist down, before solidifying into a seed and fell into her fingers. Luna sighed as she lightly tossed the seed further out of earshot from the Vulcan, who was contently focused on the woman he had hostage. Luna whispered the incantation as a twisted wooden spike rose from the ground and unraveled, before a magic circle formed on the plant platform.   "I call forth from the forest beyond the horizon, the guardsman of the defenseless, Woody!  

Coming out of the circle was the wooden man, smoking a wooden cigar while holding a wooden flask.  Stepping off the wooden platform, the wooden man spoke obnoxiously loud"Aye, Lunaris, what do ya need lass?" Luna sighed as the Vulcan turned to see the smoke from the cigar. He grunted in confusion as he slowly approached the scene. Luna, now annoyed, quickly instructed the wooden man. "Quickly, rumble with the Vulcan please?"

Woody started to walk towards the Vulcan, throwing the cigar into the river and gulped down whatever was in the flask as the Vulcan charged at him, picking up the wooden man and slamming him into the ground, repeatedly until he was just a torso, head, and shoulders. Luna knew she couldn't do much about it, but Woody was the Guardsman she was bound with. The soaked wooden figure let out a burp "That all ye got ye damn dirty ape?" The wooden body started to regenerate rapidly and was quickly back to normal, before Woody gave a firm right hook to the primate's jaw while kneeing him in the abdomen. The primate let go of the wooden man and nursed the wound on his face screaming "You no take pretty lady! Pretty lady mine!"

Luna turned to Dmitry, "Help my alcoholic tree friend if he needs it. I'm gonna get the girl out while they get acquainted." before she sneaked along the the trees before getting into the cave. Luna found the woman in torn clothing pressed against the end of the small cave. Luna reached out her hand as she tried to calm the woman. "It's alright, I'm here to rescue you. I'm a wizard." The woman nodded as she took Luna's assistance in standing up. Claudia was grateful to be saved, praising the wizard as they sneaked away. "Way to go, finally the heroine gets the glory. I was expecting some burly knight or shady character-" Claudia then saw Dmitry as the two were out of the sight of the Vulcan, hiding in the bushes while Woody and the Vulcan were rolling about in the stream, trying to choke the other. "Oh, so there is a shady character. Well, still, seems like you did a lot of the work."

WC 584

To be truthful, the young man was actually somewhat surprised by the talking tree, though not actually because it could speak. It wasn't the first time he'd seen such a being, having been wandering the wilds as long as he has, though perhaps the first time he'd seen one smoke a cigar. What took him aback was to see one brought forth by magic, something he'd never known was possible. Of course, he knew little about the magic performed by other humans, so this didn't surprise him. But for a human to make such a connection, he'd always thought it was rare.

Nevertheless, the creature performed its task rather well, dealing some serious damage to the vulcan. However, by the young man's estimate, (a rather impatient estimate) the treeman was taking far too long. Standing up on the branch on which he previously sat, the man reached his hand out in front of him and closed his eyes. Any being nearby that was connected to the flow of nature would likely feel an unfamiliar pulse, as though someone was reaching out to them. As he opened his eyes, his pupils now glowed silver and his irises became pitch black. Wisps of ghostly like gathered towards his hand and began to weave together to produce the shape of a bow. Upon grasping the bowstring, the man produced an arrow of the same spectral essence as the bow, pulling back and taking aim. On release, the head of the arrow came to take on a shape similar to a comet, rushing past the tree and slamming into the face of the vulcan, shattering its nose and throwing it off balance.

"Jörð," uttered the man as he intentionally fell from his perch, placing one foot against its trunk as he did so. Absorbing energy from the earth through the tree, he released that energy and burst forth from the tree like a cannonball. After a short flip, he briefly slid across the shoulder of the treeman and planted his foot in the vulcan's jaw before kicking off and landing with another flip. The animal, both jaw and nose busted, fell on his back. Between the damage sustained from tree and the man, the fight was now gone from him.

"You talk too much..." The gray-haired wizard muttered as he passed his temporary ally, rejoining the women shortly after.

After the Vulcan was finished, Luna gave the tree man a nod, he then disappeared into a green glittering light that dissipated and scattered. Luna felt bad for the Vulcan, but then again, he should've known better then to kidnap. "Let's go." Luna escorted Claudia through the woods, cautious of any potential dangers as she didn't want any further interruptions. Through a harsh walk, Luna managed to get the maiden back to the outskirts of magnolia, where the woman's fiance was waiting. Relieved to have her back, he handed the jewels to... Dmitry? "Hey man, thanks for bringing back my girl, and the other one too. Funny huh, a young lady thinking she can take down a Vulcan."

Luna was annoyed, she had enough of the macho attitude going around today, and she was not the only one. Before she did anything, Claudia kicked the man in the crotch before grabbing the bills out of his hand while he keeled over. "Oh put a bloody sock in it. This woman actually did a lot of the work." She handed the jewels to Luna . "I can't thank you enough. If you didn't arrive when you did, I can't imagine what the Vulcan would've done." Luna counted the jewels and divided them in half. "Oh please, it was my pleasure." Luna started to walk away, handing one of the halves to Dmitry. "It was a pleasure working with you, I hope we cross paths again." Before starting to walk towards a bar, hoping to relax.

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