Pumpkin Picking Gone Wrong

This was the first time the Winter Goddess had come to Lavantir Port City, and she was glad to be here, at least, for the moment. A place such as this, wherein nobody really cared about the name of her guild or where she was from, was a really great breath of fresh air when compared to other places in Fiore, places in which she had to hide her affiliations, or risk playing a game of cat-and-mouse with the law enforcement pooches. Of course, people stared at her, but Beira knew it wasn't because they recognized her guild mark, or any such thing. That kind of staring, she was very fine with.

In any event, the Utgardian maiden had not come to Lavantir to sight-see or go on boat trips or any other trivial matter. She had come because she had received an invitation (to the general public actually) to participate in one of those strange but interesting Fiorean festivals. This one involved actually doing a bit of farming. Beira's knowledge of agriculture wasn't very extensive, and as a matter of fact, the plants she had been more familiar with were nothing suited to Fiore's warmer climes. Still, she would probably learn something new, and hopefully have fun doing it.

Following the directions on the flyer which had led her to this place, Beira soon found the site of her agricultural adventure: a large pumpkin farm which was on the outskirts of the city. Interestingly, the place seemed deserted, but Beira was sure that she could just go ahead with the whole pumpkin harvesting thing and get the fruits she had harvested to the organizers of the weird mission. If she was accosted, she had the proper documentations proving that she was authorized to engage in harvesting here. The issue was harvesting these large orange fruits. Beira had never seen a pumpkin before, so she just decided to spend a bit of time studying the plant's characteristics. The day was still young, she still had a bit of time....


WC: 340 words

Lavantir Port City was a place where everybody minded their businesses, as far as mage factions were considered, and while it was not a Dark mage respite, it allowed people like Belladonna to walk about without having to conceal their guild insignia from patrols and common folk alike. And the fact that it was a town free from the politics and influence of the surrounding major countries made it more akin to the atmosphere she felt in her guild. Everyone was allowed to do whatever, so long as they kept to a few laid down rules. She could live with that.

All in all, the city had its charms. It kind of reminded her of a sort of tame pirate cove, something similar to what she had read in childhood stories, but nothing near as wild. Still, the large ships at port, the sailors moving here and there, the various shops and taverns that catered to their needs... it sort of had a magical feeling to it, that made her want to have an adventure at sea. Then again, she'd read a lot about sea voyages, and was sure that the intrigue and appeal that such a life offered was always terribly offset by seasickness, storms and scurvy. But sailing a ship ought to be a nice experience. For another day, anyway.

A town at the edge of the sea had attracted her, but not because she wanted to go fishing, or take a sea trip. On the contrary, it was something that she normally would not have associated with a sea side town: pumpkin picking. Ah yes, the Halloween festival was around in full force, and invitations had been sent out by goodness-knew-who for interested members of the public to come around and harvest squash veggies. One of the things Belladonna was sure she wanted to find out was who or what was responsible for some of the many strange occurrences that happened around Earthland, such as the mysterious flyer that she now turned over in her hand. Still, like a moth to the flame, she had heeded its summons, and had come...

The pumpkin patch was large, and strangely, it was devoid of harvesters, even though there were many a pumpkin, ripe for the plucking. As Belladonna scanned the farmland and wondered where she would begin her harvesting, she noticed a lone familiar figure (actually it was the blonde hair that gave the person away) seemingly wrapped up in studying something. Belladonna smiled to herself. If anything, the company of a fellow guild mate would make the boring task of picking fruits a little less drab.

Walking over, she said, with an amused grin: "Well, well, well! If it isn't Beira the Third, of mighty Utgardr, studying squashes with such a delightful intensity. I've never thought anything was magical about vegetables, but please, pay me little heed. I know next to nothing about cooking." She stretched out her hands for a light, quick hug. "How have you been?"

Up until tonight, Zachariah had mistakenly thought Lavanitir Port City was an odd misspelling of Hargeon town.  He had never been to this place, nor had he ever heard of it.  He simply heard of an event open to the general public and decided to get out of the house.  Here, apparently one's affiliation with any guild didn't matter, and so he didn't bother to bear his mark.  Lavinitir resembled Hargeon pretty closely, both port cities with docks fuller than a pumpkin patch in October.  Ironically, the city had enough pumpkins to stretch for miles, and the main difference between both places was the smell.  At least to him, Lavinitir lacked the unique, fishy smell shared by all port cities.  Zachariah took a deep breath, only sensing the aromas of pumpkins and moss.

He approached the fields, not paying any mind to the people he passed that sent odd looks his way.  By now, it was a custom for people to eye his scars, and he felt more out of place when people failed to notice them.  In truth, coming from a small village in the mountains meant that he was somewhat sheltered.  Where he grew up, pumpkins didn't large or at all, and the fall festivities were not celebrated as grandly as they were here.  Out of curiosity, Zachariah bent over and picked up one of the vegetables and held it up to observe.  It was much heavier than he previously thought, harder too.  Zachariah ogled at how many of the orange orbs covered the field, genuinely surprised to see so many vegetables in one place.  Although he considered himself to be a somewhat skilled gardener, the sheer number caught him off guard.  At the sight of the pumpkins, his first thought was if he could take some seeds for himself.

The flyer in his hand rustled as the wind brushed his shoulder, suddenly reminding him what he was doing here.  His eyes peered down at the paper, and he proceeded to fold it up and store it in his coat pocket.  He didn't plan to stay long, given the amount of strangers surrounding him, but hoped to enjoy himself nonetheless.  It would be a learning experience too; Zach had never been 'pumpkin picking' before, how bad could it go?

The light mage wandered around, and quickly noticed two familiar figures.  He squinted, trying to identify them, and his heart raced.  He saw Belladonna Black and Beira together, and wasn't sure whether to rejoice in finding a familiar face in an odd town, or fear the combination of both ladies together.  Nonetheless, Zachariah approached and greeted them with a smile on his face.  "Fancy seeing you here."

WC: 448

Beira sensed the approach of another person, but she continued her scrutiny of the characteristics of the pumpkin. There was the strong possibility that others would be involved in this garden harvesting issue at hand, and Beira would prefer that there was as little interaction between herself and any strangers until the mission was completed. The most irritating thing about humans, especially when they were not familiar with you was that their every gesture had to be examined for ulterior motives. The average human was less likely to help you than he was to rob you, yet people always kept harping on about how humans were better behaved than animals. It was only when she heard the person's voice that recognition came, and the God Slayer looked up, as her features brightened with a happy smile. Despite her mild distaste for general human company, she was quite satisfied with meeting up with friends and good acquaintances. Belladonna was one such type of person.

"Greetings to you, Belladonna of the Blacks," Beira replied cheerily, momentarily forgetting the Utgardian etiquette of nobility to keep their expressions in check. Then she remembered and composed herself more regally, though the smile remained. The God Slayer was momentarily taken aback when Belladonna stretched hands towards her. Casual hugs were quite alien to Utgardians; as a matter of fact, hugs were more or less executed only, as her elder brother had once put it, when a couple was engaging in the struggle called mating. Still, Beira was not intent on making her friend uncomfortable, so she performed the hug, although the tentativeness of her gesture was evident. Fioreans would always be weird, even if Beira lived a hundred years with them. "I have managed to keep well so far, and have decided to spend a bit of downtime studying Fiorean agriculture. I'm still figuring out how these things are made into food. Can they be eaten raw?"

The arrival of a third person made Beira turn in the sound of the greeting, and the look of mild incredulity was evident on her face, even though she returned Zach's smile as warmly as she could. "Well, this is either a rare coincidence, or some sort of setup," she replied. "Hail, Zach. I hope life treats you well. Glad to see another familiar face come to join in this strange tradition. Shall we begin?"

So far, harvesting these pumpkins seemed easy enough. Sever the orange fruit from its stalk, and keep it aside. Take a bunch of the fruits, hand them over, and collect your reward. Beira didn't notice the sudden drop in temperature, although she looked up with mild confusion at the darkening sky. "Funny... I didn't think there'd be a storm...." The harsh croak of a crow alerted the Utgardian to the alarming fact that there were swarms of these creatures whirling over them in large numbers, cawing wildly. Then, as though united by the same mind, the birds swooped, shrieking viciously as they descended. Unwilling to waste time in this preternatural place, Beira lifted her head as she chanted softly. A green-white pulse of light flashed outwards, smashing into the crows as well as wrecking a bit of the pumpkin farm. Their mangled bodies and a lot of black feathers fell to the ground as the Utgardian turned to her companions. "I think we should work quickly and get out of here...."


WC: 567 words
Total: 907/1500

Weak enemy type quashed. Moving on...

Belladonna chuckled and shook her head. Obviously, this was the first time Beira was seeing a pumpkin up close. "I don't think it would be wise to eat them raw, though there are quite a number of recipes one could make from them."

No sooner had she tried dissuading Beira from eating raw pumpkins than another acquaintance suddenly showed up: Zachariah, the Take Over mage with the impressive light show. She grinned at him, finding their trio somewhat odd in this place. From the little she knew about these two, they were competent fighters, and she never really expected to see them gathering veggies. But perhaps they could say the same about her.

"Fancy seeing you here yourself, Zach. I never thought you would be interested in agriculture, but who knows anything nowadays?"

After the pleasantries were out of the way, she set about her task. While it was fun, it was also no little feat. Thankfully, she was in tiptop shape, and could probably be at this for some hours. By then, they ought to have secured as many gourds as was necessary. The ominous darkening of the sky that soon followed was noticed by Belladonna, and she looked up with a frown, as she suddenly realized an unhealthy number of crows cawing and flying above them. She rose to her feet, realizing that something was wrong here. The birds began a sudden descent, a murder of crows with murder in their eyes. Beira, however, stopped them in their tracks with a powerful spell. And while the spell decimated their number to the last one, it squashed parts of the surrounding farm along with it.

Belladonna looked from her friends to the farm, which was littered with feathers and the corpses of crows. A strange occurrence it was, and she indeed agreed with Beira that the sooner they were through with their mission here, the best for them. But it seemed something was still amiss.

"Something comes!" Belladonna warned, as the feathers and bodies of the fallen corvids began gathering, twisting and warping together, until it formed a large, birdlike creature, which still seemed slightly humanoid. It let out a shuddering cry and lunged at the mage trio, obviously more interested in seeing their innards than in a warm hug for the cold weather.

With a snarl, Belladonna charged at it herself, blasting forth a wave of corrosive energy, her Touch of Decay, once the Lord of Crows was within range. The creature shrieked and staggered, very intent on separating itself from the corrosion, which oddly did nothing to Zach and Beira. Belladonna, noticing its reaction to her magic, pressed forward the attack and flicked a Venom Shock shard at the demonic creature that was trying to scratch off the poison still eating into its flesh. Being distracted, it was unable to react appropriately, and the solid poison projectile found its way into the monster's shoulder. With a horrible cry, the Lord of Crows staggered and fell backwards...

... only to find Belladonna high above it in mid-air, sucking a deep breath of air. "Venom Demon Exorcist's Rage!" she roared, as she expelled a powerful blast of energy from her mouth. The Crow creature was unable to counter or evade the attack, and with one last cry, was engulfed by the poisonous attack. Belladonna dropped to the ground with the grace of a feline. "Try to come back from that," she said, triumphantly.

Indeed, nothing was left of the Lord of Crows whatsoever, save a few stray feathers. The creature was so averse to her magic; it stood to reason that the creature was either demonic or undead. Good thing she had just the thing to deal with it. Still, from the experience she had had with creatures like this, it was likely there was a bigger threat that was behind all this.

"Won't be surprised if something else comes after this. Hey, Zach, remember the spirit beast up in the mountains?" she asked, recalling similar events that had brought Zach and herself together not so long ago.

Zachariah was pleased to hear Beira and Belladonna's cheeriness, though wondered how the three of them managed to be in the same place at the same time.  Had Victoria been there, he would be surrounded by all the people he called friends, and he wasn't sure whether to laugh or frown at that prospect.  "You probably could eat it raw," he mused, "but I think it might be too hard on the teeth...and bitter probably."

He laughed and bent over to pick up the nearest pumpkin, holding it up to examine it.  "I do dabble in gardening here and there," he said.  "So I like to think I know a thing or two about plants."

Though, Zachariah peered up at the sky and noticed darkness, but no stars.  Crows cawed and threatened to dive at the group, though Beira quickly dispersed and took care of them.  He snickered, the ordeal with birds reminding him of their partnership slaying the Phoenixes of the Wakusei portals.  To help with visibility, Zachariah threw a Morning Star straight up into the sky and willed it to burst.  Warm orange light filled the air and illuminated the entire field.  Though, it also unveiled more creatures in the foreground.  The crows Beira defeated seemed to melt together into one large, incoherent creature.  Luckily, Belladonna had them covered, striking it down with ease.  Though, he swore he saw movement, and chucked the pumpkin he was holding at full strength.  It burst and sent seeds flying in every direction.

She then asked if he recalled their time in Mt. Hakobe, to which he grimaced.  "Sadly, I still get chills thinking about it," he replied.  As he spoke, a humanoid figure leapt over the fence.  A scarecrow crept into the light, scythe in hand, and now was Zachariah's time to shine.  He quickly summoned the Bifrost Blade and parried the scarecrow's blade.  It moved at ridiculous speeds, unpredictable and swinging its weapon with no regard for anything around it.  Zachariah triggered the Lightspeed Beatdown and met its speed, then struck it hard with his blade.  The Realm Cutter cut through the Scarecrow in multiple places at once, though it simply reattached its limbs and resumed its onslaught on the group.  Zachariah reacted quick and planted a Morning Star in its side, sending it flying a distance away.  "Spectral Drill!" he conjured, and three colored arrows sailed through the air and penetrated the scarecrow.  Its scythe fell, and as it reached for the weapon again, Zachariah lunged over and stabbed the creature through its chest.

"And here I am, thinking we were going to enjoy a normal evening, pumpkin picking," he sighed, all the while the scarecrow rising behind him once again.  "Instead, we're out here, killing monsters." The Scarecrow prepared to slash Zachariah's neck once again, but he simply raised his blade again and lit the creature with rainbow flames with the Lotus Eater ability.  "A warm pumpkin pie would sound refreshing right about now, don't you think?"

Crows gathered overhead again, but Zachariah pointed a finger up in the air and used the Scatterbeam to fry all of them at once.  "There must be one more creature, though, that couldn't be the last one."

WC: 536
Total: 984/1500

Shortly after the crows had been decimated by the Winter Goddess’ attack, their corpses began moving by some preternatural force, coming together to form some anthropomorphic corvid made from shadows. In any case, Beira did not have to make any move, as Belladonna simply leapt into the fray, using her poison magic to lay waste to the creature ferociously before it could even take the time to recover. After three successive attacks, all that was left of it was a smouldering mass of corroding stuff, which the Winter God Slayer was almost certain would not be yielding any more surprises for the mages that evening. All the same, she was not eager to leave anything to chance, keeping an eye on the dead mass from time to time.

Belladonna had asked Zach about some event, which he didn’t seem too comfortable remembering. Beira ventured a silent guess that it must have probably been a mission that the two were speaking of. She idly listened to her colleagues, while resuming harvesting what pumpkins she could; so far the harvesting process did not seem at all difficult, and with luck on their side, the mages would soon be through and out of this weird field. Yet even as she worked, her senses picked some strange movement. Something was approaching quickly. It was too gaunt to be human, and it held something in its spindly hands. As Beira looked up, a scarecrow, animated by some dark magic, came over the wall, and headed for the trio. Beira in response began distancing herself from the rest of the group, not because she wanted to run away, but so that the scarecrow wouldn’t be able to attack multiple people at once, and also to execute attacks from the monster’s blind spot at her own convenience, should it be engaged in battle with the others.

Zach, for his own part, seemed eager to show whatever creatures were haunting the field that he was no pushover. Executing a similar tactic to the Pestilence Devil Slayer, he faced off against the scythe-wielding creature in a flurry of speed and light, giving it no time nor avenue for respite, as he buffeted it constantly. Beira was sure he had things under control, but just to be sure, she kept herself at the ready, as she harvested more of the orange vegetables. Crows began gathering overhead again, but this time, Zach did not even let them attack, frying them with a spell. The scarecrow was also dispatched eventually, and that seemed to be all.

”Well, I think we can just gather the pumpkins we have, and be off,” she said, surveying the field. The three mages seemed to have harvested a good deal of the veggies, and Beira was sure that the organizers of this event would be glad for what they brought in, not minding the localized destruction of some part of the field. But just as she was about carrying off her portion of the harvest, an eerie atmosphere seemed to settle on the area. From the gathering mists appeared a strange specter, with what appeared to be a carved pumpkin for its grotesque head. With a laugh that grated nerves, it began firing dark energy at the trio, obviously unwilling to go the same way its predecessors had. ”This is becoming tedious,” the Utgardian growled, clapping her hands together, as a huge wall of nether rime formed between the ghost and the trio. Undeterred, the ghost floated round the wall, only to see a gigantic spiky ball made of ice form behind Beira, which shattered into multiple fragments, each honing itself on the new adversary. Unwilling to give it any leeway, and hoping her colleagues would join in the attack, she gathered nether rime to her hand, forming a spear of ice, which she flung with all her might at the specter’s head. A pause for breath, and Beira flung a second spear, this one striking the ghost’s midsection. Under the brunt of her attacks, it would least probably be able to defend against any other attack aimed at it. But still, just for good measure…

”Winter God Bellow!”

The spiral of purple ice tore into the creature, buffeting it with cold even a spirit of winter could feel. It was time to send this thing back to wherever it came from, with a good measure of butt-kicking.

WC: 730 words
Total: 1637/1500

[OOC:]So sorry for the late reply. RL issues. You guys can wrap up in your next posts, ya?

With the destruction of the composite corvid, it was expected that pumpkin picking could go on as normal. However, the mages were one way or the other expecting something else to happen, and so they were not caught off-guard. The next enemy came in the form of a scarecrow as lean as scarecrows could get, brandishing a weapon that was sure to be painful if it connected with anyone. Zach stepped up to engage it in an instant, and he did a very good job of doing so. Belladonna watched the battle with a hand slightly shielding her eyes; lots of light was involved when Zach was in combat. Eventually, and without too much extra incident, the scarecrow was fried, as were a bunch of crows that were gathering for another likely onslaught.

Beira suggested that they turn in their harvest and leave. That was a wise idea, seeing as they had gathered a sufficient amount, and this place was obviously spooked with some dark magic. Be that as it may, it seemed there was one more hurdle left to cross. As the preternatural fog descended, a dark chuckle could be heard, and Belladonna saw its lantern, before the rest of its body came into view. She frowned. Was it offended that someone had come here to pick pumpkins? Given the shape and size of its head, that was probably the case. The theory that the trio might be trespassers of a sort was probably a secondary motive. It wanted them because they were harvesting its heads. And it seemed to prefer long range, as opposed to the other enemies of the day.

Beira created a wall of dark ice, and as the pumpkin patch king floated around one side, Belladonna dashed around the other, hoping to attack from beyond its sight. As Beira attacked it repeatedly with her ice attacks, Belladonna quickly pressed her attack, so that the pumpkin head thing would be unable to defend against so many attacks. She pointed a finger at the specter, and fired a black shard made of poisonous material into its back, as she muttered, "Exorcist Secret Technique: Bite of Orochi." With whatever speed it boasted off hampered, she unleashed her second attack, stamping her foot as black tendrils whipped out of the ground to strike and ensnare the pumpkin head thing. Then she placed her hands on either side of her temples and focused.

"39th Imprecation Curse: Primeval Schism!"

She so positioned the last attack so that the force of the Schism would not send the pumpkin head thing flying off into the distance, but rather would pin it against Beira's ice wall. That would ensure that her tendrils could still hold on to it, and give Zach an opportunity to launch his most powerful attacks against it without fear of a counterattack.

In all honesty, Zachariah had wished for a considerably normal day at the pumpkin patch, but he figured life as a mage would always be far from normal. Just as he thought the onslaught of enemies would come to an end, one final boss sprang from the ground and threatened the three of them.  A creature with the head of a pumpkin attacked them relentlessly, and Zachariah did his best to fend off its attacks with the Bifrost Blade, absorbing as much as he could.  Luckily, Beira summoned a protective wall of ice, but he supposed it was up to him and Belladonna now to finally bring this night to an end.  The creature seemed to attack from a range, not allowing Zachariah get close enough into striking range with the sword.  He dissipated the blade and did his best to dodge the creature's shadowy and orange projectiles.  In reply, Zachariah conjured several Morning Stars and bombarded the creature with hot orange light.  It didn't slay the beast, but would slow it down dramatically.

"Unison!" he shouted, and conjured a neon blue beam that struck the monster.  Bright crystals flew throughout the air and hung around the pumpkin's head, gradually restoring the trio's magic as the battle went on.  Zachariah trusted Belladonna to do well on her own, as he had seen her in battle before and knew how she fought.  She hit the beast with her own curses and spells, which in sync with Zachariah's created an artful contrast of light and darkness across the pumpkin patch.  Zachariah focused his magic and generated the Shinedown spell.  Three rings representing the primary colors levitated over the monster.  Zachariah raised his hand and felt for the light photons in the vicinity and resonated with them.  When he swung his hand down, thick, heavy columns of electric, cold and fiery light crashed down and crushed the beast with immense power.

Lucky for the beast, it survived long enough to be pinned down by Belladonna.  The creature's head soared through the air, slightly steaming and unable to recover.  Zachariah expanded his arms and fingers, summoning Prism darts and lighting up the monster like a pin cushion.  Crows circled overhead again and pecked at his arms, but he used the Ultraviolent Flash and filled the battlefield with indigo light.  The pumpkins around him cooked and released a warm, sweet-smelling scent.  Even in its slight incapacitation, the beast still fought, casting several beams of dark flames and spewed poison his way.  He ducked and dodged the beast's weakening attacks, while not at all waning himself.  Three sharp tipped beams of light began to form within the palm of his hand, and he prepared himself to end the battle for sure. Three Spectral Drills flew out of his hand, striking through the pumpkin's head and Beira's ice wall at the same time.  The drills continued into the night sky and dissipated like a firework, illuminating the battlefield in pastel colors. Warm pumpkin seeds rained over the battlefield and clung to his hair and jacket.

WC: 518
Total: 1502/1500

Beira was glad to see the large pumpkin ghost thing clobbered and finally dealt with. All the same, she was not too keen on getting herself spattered with pumpkin seeds and the pulp from the fruit, which, seeing as it had come from an unnatural creature, made her much less eager to come in contact with the fruit. Turning her body ethereal by phasing partially into the other dimension she called her library, Beira successfully avoided the onslaught of tepid pulp and seeds. She surveyed the environment and then turned to the others with a grin.

"Well, that last stretch was... how do you say it in Fiorean-- panoramic," the Winter God Slayer intoned happily, creating a case of nether rime into which she put the pumpkins she had harvested. "While there's a lull in the whole crow and scarecrow assaulting event, I think we should make ourselves as scarce as possible." Aside the fact that Beira was not eager to have to fight with any other enemies that day, she certainly was just as eager to not have the owners of the establishment come to ask what had happened to the pumpkin field. Their fault for allowing ghosts and other insalubrious members of the underworld to run amok in their farm.



WC: 212 words [Just a perfunctory post...]
Total Word Counts:
Fraag: 1849/1500
Digit: 1652/1500
Lemony.Boy: 1502/1500