Pumpkin Trouble!

Who grew a pumpkin patch in the middle of a godamn jungle?! That was what came to Suijin's mind as he made his way to meet his fellow guildmembers at the appointed hour. He heard about this holiday and festivities, but didn't think someone would be using it to spread some kind of curse or whatever. To him, it sounded like one of Vector's lame jokes.

Still, Suijin walked out of the jungle to discover the rumors were true. With Kage nearby, he and the Exceed entered the patch that now stuck out from the jungle-like an overgrown weed. Suijin was joined by others, including Janet his now trusting right-hand woman in the guild. What others were around, they could see the pumpkins now around and ominously seemed to smell odd to him. Even the jungle beasts had not gone near the patch. This made Suijin more on guard.

"What the hell is this?" Suijin asked, really at a loss as how this could happen. "This place stinks of something foul, and not just talking about riping pumpkins. They shouldn't be growing in this climate." he commented in a matter of fact.

As they proceeded forward, Kage was becoming a bit skittish. Suijin tried to ignore it but if there was one thing the self-proclaimed ninja Exceed was afraid of, was ghosts. Going into a suddenly haunted pumpkin patch probably wasn't the best element for the little feline.

"I think I will go back to the guild..." he meowed as he tried to leave-- before Suijin took a hold of him by the scarf he wore.

"We are not leaving here till we uproot this place. While I love our jungle, this clearly doesn't belongg here and I for one want answers why it showed up, right Janet?" Suijin addressed his friend and ally.

WC: 326

While Lily wasn't aware of what Suijin was thinking she would have agreed if she had known, because she also wasn't sure why anyone would try to grow pumpkins in or near a jungle. Although her reasoning probably was different from his: from her perspective the climate and environment was entirely wrong for pumpkins. Ancient jungles like these had vastly different conditions than the temperate climates that most civilized folk settled in, you couldn't just plant anything anywhere and expect it to grow properly.

So the dryad's questions were who had done this, why they'd done this and, possibly even more importantly, how they had done this. She was aware of some of the customs of the civilized folk, including halloween, but that alone wasn't exactly an explanation for why someone would try to use a jungle for their pumpkin patch.

Arriving at said pumpkin patch the dryad was visibly surprised by what she saw, together with the other two mages from Rakshasa. Logically the pumpkins around here should be tiny and withered, unable to thrive in these conditions. Instead the pumpkins were big and round and healthy. One might think of this as a stroke of fortune, but for Lily this made alarms ring in her head. When plants miraculously performed much better than they should you had to figure out what was going on as quickly as possible.

"I'm not sure... This place feels strange." The green-haired girl frowned as she crouched in front of one of the pumpkins and studied it from up close. She could sense the plantlife all around them, including the pumpkins, but something definitely felt off. Whatever it was that was giving these pumpkins their nutrients it wasn't a normal part of the jungle. She couldn't determine the source either... only that it gathered near the centre of the pumpkin patch.

"We should remove these pumpkins as quickly as possible. I don't know what's going on here but it's possible that it'll spread to the rest of the jungle if we don't take care of it at the root." As she spoke she glanced about, then blinked and looked upwards. "...Is anyone else hearing crows?"

WC: 362
TWC: 362/1,500

The eerie nature of this cursed land was starting to get on Suijin's nerves. There was no doubt that something evil-- even by Rakshasa's definition of it, had crept into their jungle. He heard his friend Lily too mention about the nature of the pumpkins. As a mage of nature, she had more skill in identifying the root of the problem than he could.

"Considering the state of this, it makes me wish I was a Fire Wizard than a Water Slayer. I guess I will just have to smash them" Suijin boasted to try and ease the mood, bringing a fist to his palm. However the ominous sounds of the crows soon came. He looked up to find them circling about overhead and begin to gather in mass.

Kage nearby saw the birds and let out a cat-like hiss to hear their attack coming. Luckily, Janet was the first to strike and did a good number of it. Now willing to get started, Suijin prepared. The good thing about the pumpkin patch-- was each one was a large sack of water waitingg to be drawn out. With a gesture of his hand, he began to sap out the water from the surrounding ground. Something he wouldn't do leisurely in their jungle home, but these plants were not of thier home.

And now that he was there-- he realized he didn't need fire to remove them. Drawing out the water from them made them wrinkle, shrink and shrivel before his feet. He now had masses of water floating around him. And now as he amassed his 'arsinal' the crows had suddenly merged becoming one large one.

"Water God-- Raging Waves!!" he roared, collecting the large mass of water and with a flow and push of his arms, propelled the water forward. The large blast erupted outward like a flash-flood and shot right into the crow monster.

The impact caused a loud, echoing splash thatt made the monster reel back. Still, water was water and wouldn't do much to truly injure it. It would be up to the others. However, its likihood to fly wouldn't happen... now with its wings weighed down by so much water.

WC: 374

While she might have been the first one to notice the crows Lily hadn't expected such an assault. Fortunately the two other mages were both stronger than her and also faster in responding: Janet was already releasing a burst of attacks to bring down the crows, and when the crows were all done for only to merge into some undead monstrosity Suijin was there to smash it with a great torrent of water. Lily saw him drain that water from the moisture inside the pumpkins, which would have bothered her if she had any reason to believe that these were normal pumpkins.

The dryad stood up as she observed the crow lord cautiously, watching it regain its bearings after being smacked silly by Suijin's attack. It looked like it wasn't about to go down, which meant that Lily would have to bring it down. Literally.

Raising a hand she aimed it towards the crow lord, then after a couple of seconds of concentration made an upwards swipe with it, as if pulling something upwards. From the ground around the crow lord large roots burst forth, quickly latching onto the drenched abomination and tightening their hold as large thorns formed. The water that was dripping from the creature was absorbed by the roots, making them grow even larger and stronger even as they began to pull the crow lord towards the ground.

Lily let out a light gasp as she felt the crow lord struggle against its bindings, the thorns digging deep into its twisted form as the roots kept pulling. Raising her other hand the green-haired girl doubled her efforts, the black feathery mass being pulled lower and lower until the earth below it split apart to swallow it. It was fortunate that Janet had used a poisonous attack to take out the crows and Suijin had used such a fierce blast to knock the crow lord back, because Lily was doubtful she could have pulled this off if the creature wasn't already dazed and weakened.

The barbed roots wrapped itself further around the crow lord and pulled it the rest of the way under, the earth closing over its head until on the surface there was no sight left of the abominable creature. Underground Lily could feel it struggle even now but it was now in the domain of Gaia, were the roots were strong and the ground itself was even stronger. Soon its struggles would weaken and eventually cease completely as all life was strangled from it.

Under normal circumstances Lily would have taken the life force of the creature for herself, but that thing hadn't been truly alive. Even if it had been she wouldn't have been confident enough that its life force hadn't been corrupted in some way. Instead she looked back around towards Suijin and Janet.

"Well that helped but the source of these pumpkins is still there... And I think it might be trying to-" Her words were abruptly cut off as she let out a yell and tripped over her feet and fell over backwards. She'd tried to evade an attack which came from a figure which had appeared so abruptly and with such speed as for it to have barely been a blur. The result of its attack was an ugly tear down the dryad's arm with treesap seeping from the wound.

The new assailant was, strangely enough (or perhaps fittingly), a scarecrow. There was a malicious glow in its eyes and its grin, and a fiery light in its stomach. Dressed in nothing but rags and made out of twigs, branches and straws, the unusual construct raised the old and worn scythe it had used to strike at Lily. The blade appeared to still be sharp despite the signs of ageing, and the scarecrow seemed eager to prove it as it now aimed to cleave Janet in twain.

WC: 647
TWC: 1,009/1,500

The water attack upon the crow beast was successful and the others quickly tended to its swift defeat. Between the three of them, things were progressing smoothly enough. With what water remained-- Suijin drew them to his arms, and coated them, forming two tendrils of water of which clung to him like weapons. The waters easily made for useful tools, dexterous but dangerous in combat. He noticed a hint of displeasure from Lily as the next enemy fell-- probably one of the fact he sapped water from the surrounding plants of the pumpkins. It was a technique he only used in extreme situations.

There was little time to worry about that now as he soon sensed the next danger approaching. The Scarecrow was the next one-- but Suijin didn't even get the chance to really bring it any harm. He looked on with pride as both Lily and Janet made quick work of the pumpkin, tearing it to pieces and depriving it of its weapon. Suijin watched as the head of the scarecrow went rolling over and soon ended at his foot. Kage looked from behind a few of the pumpkin patches. It was then that the cat too saw it... The incoming creature that threatened to charge at the Guild Master as he stood there calmly.

"GHRRAAAA!" The specter roared, and fired a blast of dark magic out towards Suijin.

"LOOK OUT!!" Kage meowed, trying to warn his master.

However, without even batting an eye-- water suddenly erupted from around Suijin almost without any gesture from him at all. The result caused a wall of water to coil around him and take the blast from the scary pumpkin ghost. A confused sound came from it as he saw the 'barrier' appear, taking the shape of a water dragon as it finished soaking up the attack.

What Suijin excelled at wasn't just offense, but defense with his water slayer magic. His water could easily be used to protect as swiftly as his attacks could be thrown. The dragon soon hissed at the boss among the pumpkins, and Suijin turned casually to the problem. "So you're the cause of all this huh? No one trespasses into our jungle and gets away with it..." he sneered with a hint of amusement.

With a stretch of his arm, the water that clung to him now shot forward, to reach the creature. It soon wound and latched on to the specter's arm in turn. "HHAAAA!" Suijin roared and pulled, forcing the specter to be pulled up towards him. In a vicious display of strength, Suijin swung the creature around and down into the ground. With another whip up, he threw the creature into the air again, and slammed him down, stunning him with the brutal strikes.

However, he was beginning to thrash and fight back! If held out too long, it would break the whips Suijin had now placed upon him. Suijin growled as he turned to the others. "Okay... give him hell, for Rakshasa!" Suijin said with pride and inhaled while the creature was stuck.

"WATER DRAGON-GOD-- ROOOAAAARR!!" he roared aloud and caused a massive rush of water to go gushing out from his maw in a spiraling blast towards the enemy. If used in time with the others, they would strike too and deal tremendous damage.

WC: 560

Not entirely surprisingly Lily was not available to help deal with the scarecrow. She was busy healing the wound in her arm. While she'd managed to avoid having it be cut off the scythe had still managed to dig deep into her... for lack of a better word flesh. The fact that it had cut deeply enough for tree sap to flow out of the wound was proof of that. The good news was that Lily didn't react to wounds the same way as animals did and didn't go into shock. It did still hurt a lot but at least she was fully conscious and in a state where she could restore herself to full health.

This also gave her the opportunity to watch her teammates in action once more. Janet was the first one to step up: she looked rather angry at what the scarecrow had done. The dryad found it interesting to see how the woman mixed poison with shadows to overwhelm her opponents both attacks both fast and very lethal. It certainly did the job for the scarecorw, which first lost a large portion of its chest and then was ripped apart by the follow up.

In the meantime the wound on Lily's arm closed, a green glow enveloping the limb until the dryad stood back up and wiped the tree sap from her once again smooth brown skin. She certainly didn't like getting hurt but she had to admit she was a lot better off than most creatures, since she didn't die easily and could heal herself. In a way it might have been better that she was the one to get hit, although she would certainly not have meant to imply that her fellow Rakshasa mages couldn't endure quite some punishment as well.

While the defeat of the scarecrow was definitely a relief the thing Lily had been trying to warn the other two about before she got interrupted was still a present threat. The energy that fuelled the crow lord -and now the scarecrow as well- was being drawn in by whatever was the source of this pumpkin patch. And it was on the move.

"Watch out!" She managed to yell before the pumpkin king lashed out at Suijin. It was a relief (although perhaps not a surprise) to see that their guild master wasn't so easily taken out. Lily could feel the magic coursing through the water as it first absorbed the attack, then grabbed the pumpkin king and smashed the monster against the ground a couple of times. As Suijin yelled at them to follow up on his attack the green-haired girl nodded, then took several steps backwards and positioned herself so she wouldn't hit the other two even as she gathered her magic.

Planting her feet firmly on the ground and also embedding the tip of her tail in the soft dirt a rumble could be felt going through the ground before the rather small woman opened her mouth and released a torrent of green water which smashed into the pumpkin monster like a boulder.

Lily's roar attack was formed of water which was filled with life force and supersaturated with minerals. The results of this were that being hit with it felt more like being hit by a wall of rock than a wave of water, and that after the geyser ran out of fuel the air was filled with strong fumes. Janet and Suijin would notice that breathing those fumes seemed to invigorate them, but the pumpkin king didn't share those benefits. Instead exposure to those fumes would drain its energy.

WC: 602
TWC: 1,611/1,500

The impact with the ground was answered by a grunt from the monster as Suijin gave the word to finish it. The creature looked startled that everything went to hell and didn't last long as Suijin's own breath attack was followed by the roar of Lily, producing a roar attack of earth, greenery, and nature to mix with his water. The two combined and consumed the pumpkin ghost with a mighty roar of water on earth.

As the two roars finished and dissolved, the pumpkin was nowhere to be seen... dissolved and now mulch for the plants. But it wasn't the pumpkins in this case. After a moment as Suijin rose, he noticed the ground around him shift slightly. At first, he was a bit concerned, but soon he saw it. The pumpkin patch that had been suffocating the jungle's land began to shrivel up-- without him taking the water from it. The large pumpkins began to shrink in size and the vines that connected them all began to shrivel and snap like autumn leaves in the fall-- which wouldn't happen in this area. Even from where the Exceed hid, Kage saw as the pumpkin he hid behind shriveled up before him.

It took a few minutes, but the cursed pumpkin patch had begun to disappear. Slowly, but surely, nothing would remain and the other plants would take the nourishment back-- that or Lily would use her magic to make things work too. It was one of the benefits of having the nymph as a part of their guild. She could make use of plants and in a jungle environment, she was never out of her element. Same could be said of Suijin, when surrounded by water and water was never out of reach.

Though of course, he did notice the glare he got from Lily from when he sapped the water from the pumpkins. He would have to talk to her about that later.

As all the danger was now gone, Kage came out with a shy look on his face-- unbecoming of the ninja exceed. "Is it over?" the cat meowed.

Suijin rolled his eyes. His fear of ghosts and spooks like that really took away from the bad-ass vibe the cat would boast when he transformed into his more suitable and intimidating battle form.

"Yes, it's over. "he said cooly as he soon took the water he had gathered and with a gesture of his hand... the water dropped lifeless to the ground and back into the soil. "Let's go home." He said without much else and turned to return, with the others behind him.

END.

WC: 449
TWC: 1707