There Wolf, There Castle. (Werewolf Hunt)

@TOGAtogaTOGA

Lycan Woods, the name itself was a dead giveaway of what was in store for any who dared to set foot in the dense forest. Sarah Stone had taken a mission on behalf of Sabertooth, to exterminate a particularly rowdy pack of lycanthropes. Normally she detested such work. She wasn't interested in killing, and would prefer to let people live if she had a choice. Unfortunately, such decisions were usually out of her hands. Due to how violently this particular pack had become, Sarah would not have any other choice but to dispatch them. Luckily for her, and her moral code, she had not come across any just yet.

However, she could detect several signatures circling her from just barely inside of her magic detection range. They could likely smell her fear, but they would be foolish to assume that the fear was of what they were capable of. Sarah was only ever afraid of one person, and that person was herself. She was perfectly aware of her own capacity for destruction, but she didn't want to lose control of herself like that. Sarah just wanted everyone to get along.

"Okay, I can sense you, and I know that you can sense me. So, we can talk about this face to face, or we can fight. Personally, I prefer option A. Let's face it, I don't really want to fight. Besides, you have me vastly outnumbered, and in your home turf no less. I'd be a fool to try and fight the likes of you."

She was playing them, but there was also a ring of Truth in her words. Sarah didn't want to fight them, because that would mean killing them. She could feel them drawing closer, knowing that they were planning to attack, and she let out an audible sigh.

"Alright, don't say that I didn't warn you."

(link to job)

Code:

Post WC: 310
Total WC:310/3000

Cursed lands. Why? Just why? Why did she have to come out to here? Lorelei sighed to herself while she pulled her cloak's hood up, her pony tail left to dangle over her right shoulder while she trudged her way through one town and in to the forest. Character building they said. Maybe a good fright would get her some of her emotions back they claimed. But she was fine as she was. She wasn't broken, she just had trouble expressing herself. It wasn't her fault that she went through a traumatic experience that caused this.

Whatever. Lorelei just continued to make her way off in to some rather spooktacular woods outside of a town, thinking that if she spent a night out in the woods alone she would have enough credit under her belt to head back to the guild and go back to reading and writing. With her new guild tattoo on her left shoulder in place of the old one, Lorelei Laguna was an official member of Silver Wolf!

Lorelei Laguna wasn't really out here for animal extermination, or aware that there was a mission to be had. She was just looking to take a break from people thinking she was emotionless in the guild she wasn't even looking to join but wound up joining! It was weird. Everything was weird.

She sighed to herself while making her way through foliage and snagging branches that wanted to latch on to her top and tug it away, she just wove her hand and made the word Hedge Trimmer appear in the air, where the two words interlinked and started to chop through any branches that were in her path. If she could find a tree that was climbable, she could make a bed for the night and just get some peace and quiet.

Unfortunately, just as luck would have it, the kuudere girl was going to get involved with helping someone take care of an animal problem. She could sense the other person, and the various different sized antagonistic presences around it. "This is troublesome." SHe muttered to herself.

On one hand: she wanted to keep to herself and just get the night over with. On the other hand: She wanted to help whoever this was to make up for those she couldn't help in the past. Yet on the one foot, she was already walking toward it, jogging even, to meet up with this other person! Lorelei hurried her way through the brush and avoided contact with any beasties, and met up with this person from another guild.

"Is everything okay here?" She had a tired look on her face, or, not tired, just devoid of expressing herself? Either way, she spoke in monotone that made it sound as if she didn't have much of a care on the matter.

WC: 486

Code:

Total WC: 796/3000

A low growling could be heard from within a twenty foot radius. Sarah and Lorelei happened to be in a clearing with a ten foot radius, and Sarah could make out several pairs of yellow eyes staring directly at them from beyond the tree line.

"Damn, there's more than I thought."

Sarah barely had time to react as one of the yellow eyed figures lunged at her, tearing her shirt, but not damaging Sarah herself, before jumping back into the safety of the trees.

"This was bad enough when it was just me."

Sarah caught the next one by its throat and slammed it into the ground before snapping it's neck. This enraged the others, causing five more to attack. Sarah dispatched the first by kicking it squarely in the chest, knocking it back into a rather sharp branch that was sticking out of a tree at a low elevation. The second was a little tougher, as it approached while she dealt with the first. Sarah caught a scratch along her back before spinning around and watching the claws on the right hand of the lycanthrope melt away, as it's face twisted in a mix of anger, pain, and fear.

"Big mistake, buddy."

Sarah repaid the favor, scratching the werewolf across it's chest, and watching it begin to writhe in agony as it fell to the ground. Her face was beginning to take on a different appearance than when the fight started, as she now wore a rather malicious grin while looking directly at the other three that had come forward.

"We're surrounded, kid, so I hope you can fight."

Just as she finished saying this, another of the lycanthropes rushed towards Lorelei from behind. Sarah barely had time to react as she shoved Lorelei out of the way, and found the creature's teeth sinking into her shoulder. Sarah and her assailant both howled in pain as the werewolf's head melted into a grotesque lump before it fell to the ground. Sarah was in a bit of trouble herself, because she could tell that this particular wound wasn't going to heal up like the rest. Still, she had three more targets to worry about before thinking about that. Rounding on the other three, she punched one of them in the chest several times. From the outside, it would seem as though the werewolf's chest was simply disappearing with each punch before Sarah reached into the newly created cavity and ripped it's heart out directly before smashing it in her hand. This left two to be dealt with as she reminded herself of the girl that she had recently protected. Seeing that she seemed to be relatively unharmed allowed Sarah some relief as she quickly dispatched the other two with one of her more fast acting poisons. After calming herself, she noted that aside from herself and the girl, there was no other signature near this particular clearing. Walking over towards her, Sarah knelt down, and felt a twinge of pain in her shoulder.

"Sorry about that, but at least you didn't get hurt. Listen, if you're going to stick around, I can't have you just standing in the way like that. Corpses don't offer much help. Anyhow, the name's Sarah Stone. I still have a few more of these things to take out, if you're up to helping me out."

Code:

Post WC: 560
Total WC: 1356/3000

As she had arrived to provide help, she was pushed promptly out of the way, thanks to the help of her new companion, if only for the duration of this fight. Lorelei was here to help, and now she was being saved at the cost of her ally being bitten by a lycanthrope. Most would assume that the disease would spread from that point, but, maybe she was fine, maybe she was vaccinated. Let that be a lesson, lycanthropy can be prevented with vaccines, don't let the alt media confuse you.

As the battle had already started and werewolves were impaled or melted, Lorelei didn't express much on her face, other than a curious head tilt at Sarah while she stepped in front of Sarah, "Are you going to be okay? I suppose I should say thank you for helping me out, but you got hurt yourself in the meantime." She said while one of the beasts was looking to make a pass at them while Lorelei was speaking to Sarah.

Rather than being taken off guard, Lorelei swung her right hand around, a light generated on her index and middle finger as she quickly wrote in the air the word FIRE, which enlarged in to four big letters, all of which were on fire, "I'm speaking, don't be rude.. Fire..." With a flick of her wrist, the flames dispersed from the letters, streams of embers turned from the letters as they sought out their targets, two streams each would collide with a werewolf while their cries of agony could be heard, the fur on their bodies alight and crackling with flame!

Lorelei turned around while she quickly wove another word in to the air, SWORD. "Give me a blade, Sword." Her voice was monotone still, disinterested. As if she was unbothered by taking life, or just, couldn't be bothered to care. As the word SWORD appeared in the air and glowed with a dull white light, she swung her arm around, conducting the spell with her left hand as the blade went spinning through the air, cleaving down the chest of one werewolf, only to make a pass and cleave over the snout of another.

SHe was more than capable to provide a hand in this fight while the words Fire and Sword were still apparent in the air. She was ready to end these things and go take her nap in a tree or something. This was troublesome, she thought to herself.

WC: 428
TWC: 1784

---

spells used:

"Been a while since I've seen magic like that. I think I ran across someone who used it when I was in Crocus, she was a street performer though."

Sarah decided to converse a little with this woman, and try to get her to open up at least a little while she bashed a couple of werewolves heads together before snapping their necks in turn. This was a relatively easy task for her, and was made easier by the fact that this woman knew how to fight.

"Don't worry about this, it'll heal up before long, and I'm immune to most poisons, but I wouldn't get to close if I were you, and you should avoid coming into contact with my blood at all costs. Especially after seeing what it did to the numbskull that bit me."

Sarah was able to finish off the younger wolves with the help of Lorelei, but something felt a little off. She could sense the eyes staring at them as they faded into the darkness, and their magical signatures eventually faded away as they escaped her magic detection range. This was merely a welcoming committee of sorts, a test to see just how strong the two Intruders were. The werewolves had fled back to their camp, and Sarah was beginning to feel tired.

"Hey, why don't we head back to that nearby village for the night? Something tells me that we won't be making any more progress until tomorrow, and we'll need all the rest we can get. That said, you proved to be quite capable, and I wouldn't mind sharing a drink with you, if you're up for it."

Now that their lives were no longer in any immediate danger, Sarah was able to get a good look at the woman who had come to her aid. She was definitely Sarah's type, and Sarah had a feeling that the two of them would get along well.

"By the way, what was your name again? I didn't quite catch it before."

As she asked this question, and the moon shone through the trees, Sarah's bite wound healed up, leaving just a hint of the bite marks.

"Anyhow, it's nice to meet you, and thanks for all the help. It's nice to know that there are still people in this world that are willing to go out of their way for others."

Sarah smiled a little as she realized just how lucky she had been that this woman was there to help her.

"Sorry about my wording before, I didn't mean to be rude, it's just that defending someone else requires a much greater effort than defending myself. Anyhow, it's getting late, and we probably shouldn't be here too much longer tonight. Just because they backed off, that doesn't necessarily mean that we have the upper hand."

Sarah was curious as to why they had backed off when they clearly still had the duo outnumbered. Perhaps this meant that there were some in the pack that could think on their feet, and even be tactical at times. This was a thought that caused Sarah's expression to darken. If they had time to regroup, and plan things out, it was no surprise that their raids had thus far been successful. Putting that thought behind her, Sarah started walking towards the village, which was about thirty minutes away on foot.

"I'm buying, so don't worry about the cost."

Code:

Post WC:571
Total WC: 2355/3000

As she continued to conduct her FIRE and SWORD spells, Lorelei just focused on dispatching any beasts that came close. Making sure that they were dealt with before moving on to the next problem, that problem being socializing. She was bad at being social. It was clear with how she spoke to everyone.

As the werewolves were sent on their way and she was offered a place to stay for the night, along with something to eat, Lorelei just spoke plainly, "My name is Lorelei, and, I was going to go nap in the trees for the night. It's okay really." She said, trying to weasel her way out of going back in to the town.

Unfortunately, her stomach betrayed her, growling out loud for the woman to hear as she grimaced at her stomach's utter betrayal of her desire to get some peace and quiet. At least this woman was offering to pay.

As they would eventually start their way back in to the town, Lorelei would speak to Sarah, "What are so many werewolves doing out there anyway?" SHe asked, revealing just how little she knew about this extermination job, how it was more or less that she stumbled across it.

WC: 211
TWC: 2566

"It's nice to meet you, Lorelei. I'm out here representing Sabertooth on a job hunting werewolves. Apparently they've been terrorizing the locals, and a job was posted to thin their ranks. As for why there are so many, this particular forest is known as the Lycan Woods, so it's kinda their territory."

As they arrived in town, Sarah led Lorelei to the bar and picked out a table in the back. When a waitress appeared, Sarah ordered twelve shots of their strongest whiskey before deferring to Lorelei.

"The food here is pretty good, feel free to order what you like. Oh, and I've been wondering, which guild are you a part of? Like I said, I don't see too many people who use Solid Script. So this is something of a rare occasion. Besides, believe it or not, I feel that I owe you a little something for your display of bravery back there. It's not often that someone in this world willingly rushes to the aid of others without thinking of some sort of profit. So, what sort of reward would you like? I mean, it's only natural after seeing how far you went for a complete stranger."

Sarah had originally started with a joyous and pure view of the world, but after the things that she had seen, that view had gradually changed, so it was refreshing to see someone who could help her see the light again, see that the world was not exactly a lost cause. Sarah had caught herself blushing as she looked at Lorelei, and was confused because the drinks hadn't arrived just yet.

Code:

WC: 270
Total WC: 2836/3000

Lorelei nodded while listening to what Sarah said. Of course it would be something related to a job, with a guild, which was something she was trying to avoid. It didn't show on her face though at all. With how she just sat down to look at the menu for something to eat, now that her stomach was demanding she give it some well deserved attention. In fact, it was noisy enough to think maybe she had forgotten to eat in the past day!

When asked about what guild she represented, she slipped her outfit down to the side, exposing the teal colored symbol of the Silver Wolf guild printed firmly on her left shoulder. "I'm from Silver Wolf. Thank you for the meal. I'll have the stuffed mushroom burger please." She said while setting the menu down, ordering what may have been the biggest meal, not the most expensive, but the largest in size, on the menu!

"Oh it's no trouble you see! I'm not in this for a reward or anything. I just had to go spend a night out in a scary forest. They said it would help put some emotion on my face. That's fine." She seriously had a trouble with expressing herself if even her friends in the guild were urging her to do something so dangerous! What the hell would cause a girl like Lorelei to experience this entire disinterest in emotion?

WC: 250
TWC: 3086

"Well, it's just, I'd feel bad, is all. There must be something that I can do."


Sarah pouted a little until the food and drinks arrived. She couldn't help but feel as though she must have said or done something wrong. At least, she did until she started drinking. After knocking back quite a few, she had developed something of a blush on her face.


"You know, you actually look really nice. It's too bad that the others in your guild did something so mean."


She was beginning to slur her words as she continued to drink.


"I know for a fact that I would never do something like this to someone as nice as you. I mean, you seem like a really nice person too. Hey, I have an idea."


Sarah immediately lost her train of thought, as she got up and walked over to the innkeeper. She asked for two separate rooms, but they only happened to have one. Because of this, Sarah was lucky to have her trusty bedroll with her. After paying the bill, she walked back, and placed a key on the table before finishing her drinks.


"I'll see you tomorrow. I need to go clear my head."


Exiting the inn, Sarah walked into the woods, prepared her bedroll, and laid down for a while, staring up at the stars until she fell asleep.

Lorelei would offer a slight smile, the slightest upturn of her lips. Just a gentle inclination of appreciation for everything as she spoke to Sarah, "I'm just happy that someone doesn't think I'm broken. I just have a small problem with emotions." She would comment while waiting for the foot, her short legs swinging back and forth from the stools they were perched upon for the high top table.

She didn't partake in any alcohol, but, she noticed it on Sarah. It reminded her of an old guild mate, someone Sarah was quite close to. When Sarah was making those comments, she just looked down, a little red in the face while she continued to eat her meal. "Thank you for the compliment." She said meekly.

When Sarah brought that key over, Lorelei would look at her, opening her mouth to say something, but closed it as Sarah continued to drink. It wasn't until Sarah was just about to walk out the door that Lorelei would speak up, "You can share the room with me. It's no problem." She said, reaching out, as if the physical gesture was enough to coax Sarah in to staying.

She just pouted a little when Sarah would leave. Some time later, Lorelei was in her rented room, sitting in bed, a bit off put. She wanted to make sure Sarah was okay. So, instead of getting some sleep, she would get up out of bed, and make her way outside. Looking to get in to the forest, just to make sure that Sarah was fine. Unfortunately, her scent was still known to that pack they were slaughtering earlier. And they were looking to get just a bit of revenge. Hopefully she would find the slayer before the beasts found either of them!

WC: 313
TWC: 3633