to the Pumpkin Gorge (Event)

Sol yawned as he headed down the elevator to the main lobby of the Tranding Company Building, his work seemed to ebbing a bit which made him rather grateful as he had gotten some well deserved rest and had used his renewed energy to work on more cures and do much needed paper work. As he reached main lobby the CEO took a drink of coffee from his mug. As he reached the desk a flyer on the top of it caught his attention”hmm whats this gathering pumpkins for a party when did we get this?” he asked as the receptionist shrugged.”Im not sure Sir it just appeared” she explained before Sol nodded.”Alright Ill be heading out grabbing a few pumpkins seems to be an easy task so Ill take this” he said as he walked out the door after putting his coffee cup in a shadow portal after finishing the last sips of the dark beverage. It was rather quick for him to get down to the docks before he saw one of the smaller ships getting ready to head out.”Is this heading for the mainland by chance?” he asked the captain when he came into view. “Yes Sir it is did you have business on the mainland we can give you a lift over there it should only take a few hours” the Captain offered as the Deathless nodded and hopped onto the ship as his clothing changed to become his normal wear when not on company business.

The Sound of his geta clacking on the ship filled the air as he walked around and enjoyed the sound and the peacefulness of being out on the open ocean. After a few hours on the boat they finaly made port before Sol would hop off the boat before he formed a portal to a spot that he knew had some pumpkins even if the area itself was a bit weird. Stepping thru the portal he appeared right outside the entrance of the Spooky woods and he quickly went in before he glanced around using his nose to figure out where the patch was and he moved thru the vines avoiding the gnarled branches and thorny bushes before he managed to find his prize. Stepping past two trees the Deathless found a large patch of pumpkins and he smirked a bit as he saw they were all ripe and ready to be picked.”Perfect this will work well and I don’t even have to do that much work for this job” he said to himself as he moved to enter the patch.despite how easy this seemed Sol was still actively moving his eyes and was straining his ears to make sure he was safe and there was no one trying to get the drop on him.if it was another person trying to get pumpkins for the job he had no issue but in these woods you never knew what was going to appear and he didn’t plan on taking any chances

wc- 503/1500

He knew that signature. There was only one person with that kind of smell. That kind of energy singature. He quickly moved around the place, frantically searching to pinpoint Sol location. There had to be a reason why he was here. The Sabertooth mage walked around towards the epicenter of that energy signature. He had gotten stronger it seemed. Well, admittedly, their lst meeting had been a good while ago. He had got stronger too, but the later developments of his power had kinda slowed his progress to a crawl.

And no, it was not his transformation into a huge orange bunny.

He quite liked being one, all things considered. After a while, it felt pretty natural for him to have huge ears and fuzzy paws for hands and feet. Besides, being a bunny did not influencs his magic in any negave way. Plus he had been able to both run super fast and jump super high. For as weird as it sounded, the bunny potion he had drank was more of a boon than a curse.

No, the real problem was the voice in his head. That was what was driving him mad. He had killed Xivu Jih'va. He was dead. Noting more that a pile of bones. Then why had he suddenly started hearing the guy talk to him? It was getting to the point of paranoia. Was the dragon waiting for him to drop his guard? Was he going to attack his village again after killing him?

The young brunette ruffled his hair, thanking the fact he was wearing gloves and boots. No itchy skin after getting into a forest. Why was Sol even inside a forest to begin with? Perhaps there was something there he needed?

Coming up to a clearance, he saw the guy. Still dressed in those ridiculous set of clothes and weird footwear. How could he even walk in those was beyond him. Apparently, there was another guy with him too. They seemed to know eachother. Now, the most pressing matters was...why were the two staring at some pumpkins?

Wait. Do pumpkins even grow in a forest?

"Hoi!" He called out, waving a hand as he approached from the left side. "Fancy seeing you here of all things. Do you know what is going on here by chance? I was just passing by on the way to Ace of Spades and then I pick up your magic signature. Everything alright?"

WC 410

It had been a while since the magenta haired youth had done anything special outside of meeting a few of his guildmates for the first time, then again he had just recently became an ace his guild for doing something stupid like walking into the pathogen infected area of Tolgalen on a whim. In his defence he didn't know any better, he had heard of the silver moon fairy alliance going on an expedition inside the area. He was pretty sure there was more details to it than that but he hadn't been paying attention if people had warned him. He ended up making a copy of the map and going forth, there were a lot of blank stuff on these maps but one thing imparticular caught his attention and that was the big empty spot in thr middle. After he had made his way to Tolgalen he was soon joined by one of the West Fiore Trading Companies CEO's, the one that he didn't want to see. After a few unplesantries the pair moved forward because he sure as hell refused to go back without doing some exploring and finding something neat to take back and research. Everyone liked souvineres when they went on vacation right? The magenta haired teen was the exact same way, though he was sure the demon and angel on his shoulders were in agreement he was going to get killed one of these days for acting on careless whims. He himself seen no issue in it and would easily blame his parents for not letting him be normal like other people. Gilded cages were double edged swords at the end of the day if you asked him. They kept the one inside safe sure but eventually everything wants to be free, so he ran away and was now being persuded by his own family. It wasn't that easy to do it in honesty given the funds and connections they had at their disposal.

There had been a few hiccups along the way in his personal expedition because of course nothing went as it should have. One of the major things was something activated dormant cells within his DNA and now he found himself being genderfluidic, something that Sol would never let him live down he was sure. Regardless of that he gained the information that he wanted, gained a few things for himself and others within the guild to research and so had headed back home... well to the Silver Wolf guild where he rapped himself up with work, well that was up until closer to halloween. It was the time of year he enjoyed not for the candy or pranks, a lot of odd things without explination happened around this time of year and so it had always peaked his curiousity to find out the reasons behind it. That had led him into trouble a few times but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle or bribe his way out of, money had it advantages after all so why shouldn't he use it. This year however was a little different, he wasn't in his home country and so was rather wary on the halloween situation because he had no idea how Fiore done it in comparision to Minstrel, so this was going to be a learning experience because from what he had seen the guards were somewhat incompetent in comparison to what he was use to seeing.

Regardless he went to the Silver Wolf job board to see if there was something there that was halloween themed and would peak his interest. There was no such luck however and made the magenta haired youth sigh "That's rather depressing." he said to himself placing his left hand on him hip as he read over the board once again just in case he missed something the first time around. "I shouldn't be that surprised in all honesty, it seems everyone is hyped for the time of year and would want to be doing jobs for some extra goodies." he said more to himself than anyone else, he still couldn't find anything halloween related however. "Ah, well." he said shaking his head "Perhaps if not related to halloween, then something somewhere spooky will do?" he once again spoke to himself as he thought to how there were haunted houses, woods and such that people his age could go to at home. This whole thing made him rather homesick if he was honest with himself but at the same time he wasn't prepared to risk going back incase he never left again. His eyes lightened up as he finally seen a gem in the stack of pinned flyers "Oh! Haunted house in the spooky woods!" he exclaimed grabbing the flyer and running to the guild hall's entrance at quite an impressive speed, he wasn't about to let anyone steal his prize from him that was for sure. With several modes of public transportations and a final long walk as no one was willing to go near the spooky woods he finally got to the entrance after what seemed like weeks given the hassle it was. It would be worth it he was sure to experience the haunted house, in honesty he hadn't even read the flyer yet so had no idea what he was suppose to be doing when he finally stumbled upon it, as he had also forgotten to pick up a map of the woods so was pretty sure he was going to get lost trying to find it.

Keeping his guard up he continued down the path making mental markers so he could find his way out again since he really didn't feel like dying there, at least any time soon though it would be an interesting place to die he guessed as he was sure he'd have pleanty of company. Upon hearing a crunch not of leaves or twigs he looked down seeing a piece of paper, moving back a pace he brought it up and read it "Pumpkin picking?" he said reading over what it entailed "Hay! This place is noted as one of the locations!" he seemed extatic about the fact, so much so he had dropped his guard and hadn't even thought about the fate about the one who likely would have taken a flyer from which ever guild or board it had been on. He was grinning ear to ear when he heard what seemed to be a murder of crows nearby and a few voices but decided not to go near them at least for a moment. It soon went silent and it was then he had decided to move forward to see who it was. It was then he seen his teammate Tyson, a dapper looking male that he had never seen before and then he noticed his very own tormentor in the flesh... Sol. At that point he just wanted to change directions and pretend that he hadn't seen anything but this just wasn't going to happen he knew his teammate and tormentor were both slayers and so had heightened senses so the chances of him not being found were slim to none and he was sure that slim went on strike for halloween just like it did for every thanksgiving, christmas and easter. He was about to open his mouth and say something to the group when his eyes went to the large pumpkin patch that he was a little away from. "Something isn't right..." he muttered quietly to himself as he carefully watched and observed, he himself was in no real danger due to being away from the others and he was sure that they could handle themselves but still he didn't want to alert them as they should have been able to sense it themselves.

It was then he seen it, the seemingly dead crows fuzz and feathers moved together in some freakish scene from a horror movie. It was hideous, instinctually he covered his ears when it let out a ghoulish and ungodly noise. "What the hell... is that... that thing?" he asked as if expecting one of the trees or nearby wildlife to give him an indepth explination as to what was going on and what it was he was looking at but nothing came, the one thing he could tell was it was dangerous and needed to be put down quickly. He was in no danger of being hit due to still being to far to really have a conversation with the others without yelling and from what he could tell when this thing started to sporatically lash out at those in the area it was melee based in its attacks. Taking his bow he drew the string, watching as an arrow formed pointing at him, he forgot that some of the abilities were double edged swords but if it meant taking out what ever that monstrosity was he'd take the hit, it came with it's own benefits as he soon felt the need to make sure that thing was a pin cushion that wouldn't be moving. The arrow soon shot him point blank he let out a cry startling the undead pile of crows made shadow before he started to draw and release the string at in human speed and with great accuracy started to load it full of arrows as it ran towards him, it was when he was just about to take its first swing at Alma it dropped by his feet dead. There was a good eight to twelve arrows seen sticking out the thing before Alma started poking it with his bow for a long moment to make sure it was dead. Once happy he stepped over its corpse and walked towards the others "Well this is exciting for sure." he said waving to Tyson his bow still in his right hand. "By the way, anyone know where the scarecrow went?" he asked pointing to where it was stood previously.

Word count: 1,664
~~wc met, will continue as a job~~
@Sol @Perry Bardell @Tyson Rhodes

Enemy list:
Crows
Lord of Crows
Mr. Scarecrow
Pumpkin Patch King

Sol was glancing around and looking thru all the different pumpkins in the  gorge in the woods and found that despite being a creepy patch of wood lands these pumpkins were extremely well grown and very large perfect for cooking with or using for carving,” hmm which one to take there are so many good ones” he muttered to himself before he suddenly caught the sound  footsteps and he turned his body relaxed but one look at his eyes would show he was ready to react in an instant should the situation call for it. It turns out that it was a member of the trading company  and a man by the name of Perry Bardell and he approached before bowing in greeting which the Slayer returned in king.”Its good to see you mr Bardell I assume you have gotten the same flyer that many in the company obtained as well” he questioned. It was good that  he had another allie in this mission though that fact that many others got this flyer as well and it just randomly appeared raised quite a few red flags for Sol and he wondered if there was foul play or if it really was just a  mass request from a client.

Before he could ask another  question they were interrupted by a newcomer and this one Sol remembered as Tyson Rhodes a friend Alma if he remembered correctly, the Deathless turned before bowing a bit.”It has been a while though as for why we are here it’s a job that’s focused on collecting pumpkins for an event that is happening mr Rhodes and right now we are trying to find the best pumpkin for the job" he explained as he reached down and touched a few of the pumpkins before sighing and shaking his head. The ones he touched while incredibly large were not ripe enough just yet and it was clear they needed another day or two to mature correctly.glancing at the young sabertooth mage Sol blinked for a moment.”Seems you finally managed to reverse whatever made you a bunny Mr Rhodes congratulations im sure your feeling better”he said with a small smile before he touched another pumpkin and resisted the urge to make sick face as he felt the flesh of the pumpkin give slightly under his fingers showing the pumpkin was beyond ripe and actually rotting which made the deathless grumble in annoyace before he sniffed the air and grinned catching a very familiar scent to him.

However the slayers mood suddenly shifted as he heard the sound of arrows being fired and crows being shot from the air before he saw the young woman approach and he grinned again.”Alma what a pleasant surprise “ he said before he noticed the dead crow like being  behind the young woman before  he then caught the comment of the scarecrow suddenly being gone when it was nearby them and instantly the slayer became on edge and glanced around before he suddenly heard the sound of  something slashing at him and on instinct the  deathless pulled his katana out from the shadows and drew it blocking the blow from what now appeared to be a possessed scarecrow and he drew his wakizashi from the shadows as well and took another slash at the straw filled being. The creature drew back in shock before lunging again with its scythe only for the slayer to once again parry it with his wakizashi this time and then fluidly slashed at it again. The scarecrow shrieked again before suddenly slashing wildly and oddly forcing the CEO to jump back before narrowly avoiding getting struck by the scythe.

“this is tiring” he muttered to himself as he suddenly slashed with his katana blocking the scarecrows scythe before he suddenly slashed upwards with his wakizashi and shifted into shadows wrapping around the straw beast before suddenly appearing behind it as he sent it skyward with a powerful torrent of feathery shadows causing the straw filled creation to rip apart from the force and all that remained was a shredded stick and pieces of straw. “that’s one murdering scarecrow down” he said as he sheathed his wakizashi before getting a two handed grip on his katana as a fog started to roll in and it was by no means natural. This was starting to make the slayer question if this was just a trap or if some supernatural force was working against them for even trying to get pumpkins for some messed up reason.”Why is it just when one thing is dealt with it goes from bad to worse and all we wanted was some pumpkins” he muttered keeping his guard up for anything lurking in the mist.

Sol Absent mindly wondered if there was a pumpkin god they somehow pissed off with their presence and now it was setting lose these things on them to either kill them or scare them away. If such a thing was true then it wouldn’t work since none of the mages here himself included would dare run away not when such tricks couldn’t fool or scare them  so easily. In truth Sol was still stunned though at all the odd creatures that were popping out around them just from being in this patch of pumpkins. The CEO glanced back at the group of people with him and while he was the most powerful that meant he had a duty to make sure all of them were ok and would get thru this despite the fact that he had no doubt that they would be victorious against whatever was lurking in the fog around them. The thing Sol was focused on more was if he would have to do medical treatment after they were done getting the pumpkins and getting out of here. The issue at hand right now was he couldn’t keep looking for pumpkins at all since the fog was so think it covered the ground and made it impossible to see which also raised the risk of tripping on pumpkins or vines. The CEO could only sigh at the situation they were in.


wc- 1,028
total wc-1,531

Word Count Reached

Enemy list:
Crows
Lord of Crows
Mr. Scarecrow
Pumpkin Patch King

Well this was beginning to turn better and better. First Sol, then another guy, then Alma. One after the other. All this just for pumpkin stuff? It seemed kinda weird but then again, he came from a small village out there in the mountains and the woods so he really wasn't on point on all the kinda things the various people of Fiore and outskirts did for their festivites. Then again, Sol was not even from Fiore so who knew. If his two trips in that weird miaze place thingy maginghy taught him anything about their culture and people there is that said people were weird indeed.

Oddly enough, Sol seemed to not be so weird today. Polite even. Was it because he was no longer a bunny? Maybe so. Still, he could not forget the guy's weird fetish for feet or whatever he was on about that day.

"Uuuh...yeah...about that..." He still did not like the guy, like at all. He could feel he had even gotten stronger than last time. Thankfully he had grown too. "Turns out I am some kind of descendant of animal people or something. That's why the potion thing turned me into a big bunny. Or so I was told anyway from the Sabertooth medic that managed to unbunnify me. It's supposed to be...uuuh...a genetic thing or something like that? I don't remember. He also said that my dragon transformation helped with the whole transforming too. Though...I do not really remember ever transforming into a dragon at all too."

Yeah, the whole debacle with him was quite weird all things considered. Well, maybe not weird but puzzling. There was still many many pieces of the puzzle that were missing from the complete picture. Without those pieces it would prove to be kinda impossible to fully understand the extent of the phenomenon that Tyson simply referred to as "bunnyfication".

"A pleasure to meet you too...uuh...you." Tyson moved his eyes over to the other dapper looking guy. He had no idea who he was. It was the very first time he had even known of the guy's existance. "I am Tyson Rhodes. Poison Dragonslayer and the Sabertooth Guild's newest Rising Star, so to speak." He introduced himself. There was no point in being rude or disrespectful. If anything, he should strive to always to give a good first impression to the people that met him. He was kinda famous, so perhaps he should live up to people's expectations of him or at the very least, aspire to.

When Alma arrived, Tyson was somewhat relieved to see a friendly face that was truly on his side of the field. Sol was acting nice, weirdly enough, and the other guy was pleasant to converse with. But Alma was not only a very close friend of his, but also a teammate of his. They had shared a good few moments together, so him being there was a godsend. So this pumking thing was indeed famous from inside Fiore territory.

"Uuuuh so really...is this whole thing happening every year? Like, people just wander alone in woods just take some pumpkins? Is this really something safe for normal people to do?"

He would not have time to ponder on his doubts or even recieve even quick answers to said questions. Alma spoke about a scarecrow. Why was a scarecrow in the middle of a forest.

Oh wait.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah...it was a setup. Of course.

From there on, weird things attacked the group. Alma shot something with the bow he was carrying, while Sol drew a sword and a short sword, dual wielding his weapons to effortlessly take down what seemed to be the animated scarecrow his friend had just mentioned.

"Well, ain't this a fun party." Tyson spatted, jumping back to back with Sol as a weird thick fog mist thing started rising up. It was no normal mist. I was certainly no normal fog. Something was not very right there. Tyson's body would be swallowed whole in bone plating, as the mage quickly equipped his magical armor on his form. He dug his feet claws into the dirt to get more grip.

Thankfully he had trained hard and was able to remain focused and cold blooded though the kind of stressful situation he found himself in. The dapper acquaintance then engaged in combat against a weird floating pumkin. Tyson swore on Xivu's dead body if this was just a prank pulled on him he would murder the three. It did not seem like it was a joke though. The guy's familiar was struggling to hold the cape pumpkin floaty aberration thing up still.

With one arm outstretched, Tyson summoned his own bow. He quickly grasped the ornate jade weapon, swivelling around his own weight so that he could face and aim at the thing. He would hastily reposition himself to get a clear shot. He did not even had to question anything, he just slid under one of Sol's sword swing with a mixture of blind faith in the other much much much more powerful mage not to hit him as well as his mind kicking into gear and being able to veryfy there would be enough space for him to pass through.

One drawing motion and an arrow materialized on the string. With perfect form, Tyson locked his shoulders backwards, completely drawing the weapon. The arrow was sent flying as soon as he heard Perry's cry for help. He had softened the guy with a void attack, now it was his time to hit the final nail in the coffin.

If Perry's magic was void, his was poison. Which meant that if used against something like a pumpkin. Aside from the arrow being shot with such force to pierce straight through the thing, anything the thing touched would immediately begin to rot and decay.

The same spell that took a dragon's life had been weaved once again. Tyson did not hold back. He was not just fighting for himself. He was also fighting to protect Alma. He had sworn to protect any of his teammates. That was why he was their leader. They had put their faith in him and he could not waste it.

The arrow would embed in a rock, it's magical trail leaving a visible scar in the Weave, the invible force that allowed everyone to use magic. For good measure, Tyson shot another arrow sending it roaring at the enemy. This one would explode on impact. He was sure that his attacks would be more than enough to bring the thing down for good, whatever the thing was. Now the problem would be if there were other things around ready to ambush or if there was an acutal mage behind the attack. Either way, that stuff was a threat to Fiore, something that he would need to take care of and neutralize.

WC 1146/ TWC 1556, event wordcount fulfilled.