Exam A: Sin and Sinners

Link to Exam A

Sin and Sinners

The mission was not what Temperance was hoping for. Hunting monsters was all well and good but she had an appreciation for animals. Though Sin's home of wild beasts was another matter. She had not spent as much time in SIN or the HQ of Elysium, but her time had come to prove her worth to the guild. Her task involved securing the HQ of the guild by either ridding dangerous beasts too strong to defeat or somehow subjecting them to act as natural guard dogs to ward off attackers in the land of SIN.

Sin was not what she would call a great area for wild beasts or monsters. In the best of areas it was a deserted wasteland. Hardly any wildlife grew there, and a lot of dead forests. She wasn't even sure where to start. Sure, monsters roamed the place, but she was sure wasn't thrilled to find anything around. Part of her wanted to blow off the whole mission.

"This is a shameful waste of time. Monster slaying duty, or recruitment duty? Can't they give me a task more stylish," Temperance groaned as she walked the dried up forest, now black and dark with the dull light of the waning moon? It was a natural haunted forest and just as creepy as any other. If some creepy beast tried to attack her, she would welcome the change of pace from the creepy silence.

Temperance boots crunched under the dead twigs and leaves, while Hex, her black Exceed companion in her witch's hat, clung to her back like a 'kitten'. It wasn't that the cat was scared, but enjoyed the close company of her friend and partner. "Well, I can think of worse things. Besides, who knows. We may be able to talk reason with them. YOU are good at animals and things like that." Hex spoke.

"So glad my talents as a thief and angel-slayer range to animal herding..." Temperance replied sarcastically as she marched forward.

However, as they walked, the presence of things began to appear in the woods around them. She felt the eyes of 'something' leer at her. Whatever it was, it had a sense of ill intent on her, even though she couldn't see it. THis was enough to make her cautious as she gazed upon the shadows deep into the forest.

A soft meow escaped Hex as she observed the shadows. "Mrrrew... Maybe I spoke too soon. Creepy..." the cat meowed as she felt the presence of the creatures become drawn to them. "Well, least it won't be boring..."

"H-hey! Hey you! Are you human?!" a voice called out from behind.

Temperance and Hex turned to find someone among the small ruined path. A single man with a lantern. He appeared to be a rough-looking person with a beard and tattered clothing. He looked weak and in need of help.

WC: 483

A stranger in the middle of a deserted landscape was never a good sign, especially with the senses of other 'eyes' on her. Even if she couldn't see it, she knew she was not alone minus this lone stranger. The man approached, but she held her ground and didn't approach him. He was limping a bit and looked to be part of some kind of band of bandits. Bandits in SIN seemed unlikely, but not impossible. Either way, they were so far into the interior of the forsaken land to consider it was some kind of random band of thugs in here. Or... it could be some survivor from a force who had tried to infiltrate Elysium from the Rune Knights. The possibilities were endless and they had no time to speculate.

The man stumbled forward and paused as he saw Temperance, in her black witch's outfit and Hex on her shoulder. Both didn't flinch or act impulsively as he approached. "E-Excuse me, miss? I'm sorry to frighten you, but please. I need help." he pleaded, still jumpy as he looked around him. "My men.. My men, we... We were ordered by our boss to go into Sin. We told him it was stupid but he was dead set to try and capture these people for the bounty. " He said. "We ran into beasts and ... and... I'm the only one left. Please, please help." he begged, falling to his knees.

Temperance and Hex didn't respond. They just stood there and watched. "Wow... I gotta admit. As far as fake begging goes, he was not half-bad," the cat heckled with a dry tone.

Temperance shrugged. "Eh, I heard better," she commented.

A dumb-founded look crossed the man's face at their response. "Er-- what?! Did you not hear a word I just said?" He responded, now seemingly with more vigor than he appeared before. "My entire group was wiped out. Sure we were just a bunch of bandits but still.. we didn't know what kind of dangers were in here. I was lucky to get this far alive."

"Really, you don't say?" Temperance asked, a hint of sarcasm clear on her voice. "Well, I'm sure you will be okay if you made it this far. Nothing personal, but I make it a policy to not interfere with other's business. I'm sure you can find your way out if you make it till dawn..." she said and in an attempt to leave.

An outstood and angry look crossed the man's face as he rushed over to her and circled around. "H-hey, come on! You wouldn't leave some helpless guy stranded and wounded in the middle of the woods?! Don't you have any common decency?" he pleaded, despite his renewed energy.

Temperance glared at him. "Oh, I believe in common decency, but you clearly aren't if you act like this," she said boldly. "For some mangy hired merc, you don't seem that lost or even that desperate to me."

The man paused, but then grew a rather wicked grin on his face. "Actually, I was gonna lure you into a false sense of security till you let your guard down-- and then gobble you up! Chew you to bits, except for the nasty parts! Serves you right for thinking I was some helpless thug who was gonna beg you for his life! HAHAHA!!" His attitude no doubt changed at the drop of a hat.

However, Temperance and Hex remained rather the same with their expression. A sigh escaped Temperance. "Oh, really?" she said, a small, minute expression of surprise coming from her. "Wow, I thought you were just some lowly bandit who got lost and was planning to rob us for being 'easy prey'. The thought you were one of Sin's wandering beasts didn't cross my mind at all." she replied simply.

The wicked grin on the man's face suddenly froze and a stupid one showed in his eyes. "Um... you mean I just gave myself away for no reason...?" he asked.

"Yep. Fraid so," Hex mewed with an upbeat tone.

The man was frozen but soon slumped his shoulders forward, his arms to his side as the lantern swung from his hands. "D-Damnit! And here I thought I could lure you ... but no matter. I do like my meat spicy. Heheh..." he spoke, ominous energy now starting to show from him. The same energy Temperance could feel from a distance around. "Guess no point in wearing this costume. Time for some fun, ladies!"

A growl came from him, and then he began to change. He dropped his lantern as the flame flickered inside the glass frame, and illuminated his features. He grew larger, his clothing starting to stretch and his skin now darkened with more hair-- or rather fur. His fingers grew longer with claws from his nails. He growled and grunted as his body transformed, grotesquely changing shape from lean and rugged to muscularly , darker and narrower-- his features becoming more canine in features, including the sprouting of a tail from his torn pants.

The woman in black and orange looked on unmoving from her hood covering her face as the beast took shape. "Hehehe!!" he growled, "Now behold-- MY TRUE FOR---"

"HALLOWEEN CANNON!!" Hex meowed-- launching an energy jack-o-lantern pumpkin at the werewolf. His eyes widened at the sudden projectile crashed, and exploded with a large puff of smoke and energy.

As the smoke cleared, the Pumpkin spell had knocked the werewolf flat on his back, with smoke coming off of him and dog-like whimpers.

Hex gave a pleased meow as she shook her head, and Temperance reached up to scratch her chin and whiskers in thanks. "And another pervy werewolf bites the dust." the cat said, "Why do you always attract them anyway?"

"Well I prefer them to vampires, anyway..." Temperance admitted with a sigh.

However, after the shock of the attack, the werewolf growled and pushed himself up. "THE HELL?! What is wrong with you?! You can't just go blasting some guy in the middle of a dramatic reveal transformation?! Don't you have any manners or what?!" he asked, offended.

This time, Temperance was the one to act. "Oh, I'm sorry... did you want us to act, before or after you tried to eat us?" she jested sourly.

"You meet one dumb mutt, you meet them all," Hex added.

"Why you bitc--- "

WHICK!! The series of sharp projectiles flicked from Selina's hands. A series of them flew upward into the tree next to the werewolf, but one nicked his ear just lightly, proving her point.

"That's Witch, to you. Remember that, Temperance warned, more cards still between her fingers.

WC: 1116
TWC: 1599

Rising back up after his injuries, he soon growled at her. "Okay, no more Mr. Nice Wolf!" the werewolf growled, "Alright, boys! Get her!"

The call-out loud was loud enough and finally, Temperance knew what the other presences were. One by one growls sprouted out from around her in the forest and shadowy figures moved-- revealing to be a series of similar werewolves in a variety of clothing, torn and tattered or armors. Differnet shades of fur color as well. All of them looked ferocious and eager to fight. Howls, barks and laughter echoed through the woods as they closed in, coming up to about a dozen of them.

"Heh, looks like dinner is a real treat tonight," one werewolf boasted. "A lovely lady and a pussy cat for supper."

"Eh, speak for yourself. Maybe we can have a little fun with this chickie before that. " Another growled, licking his lips lustfully.

Hex glared daggers and sighed at the werewolves, looking behind Temperance. "Like i said, you meet one pervy werewolf, you met them all." she replied, before moving to Temperance's other shoulder.

Despite the numbers, Temperance merely shifted her weight and gave a relaxed toss of her hair behind her. "If you insist to go through with this..." she said and tilted to look forward despite her hood-- a smirk on her face. "Try to entertain me a bit tonight..."

Howls went off as the pack of werewolves charged in. From all sides they collided towards her and Hex, soon overwhelmed in numbers. Eclipsed by the several canine bodies, they soon became a massive 'dogpile' as the wolves would of been tearing them apart.

"Oww! Hey, get off! "

"Grrr! This part taste too tough for a cat!"

"That's my tail, you bastard!!"

The entire dog-pile had tackled into one another, but as they backed up a bit... it would appear that the witch and her cat were gone. They simply vanished right as they were about to be torn apart.

"What?!" The first one growled, "Where they go?!"

The small meow of Hex gave away as now they were elsewhere. Up in the tree behind the group-- Temperance and Hex were now upon the thick branch of the tree... as Temperance pulled a card she had thrown up her earlier in her first attack. With the card in hand, she held it before her tenderly.

"Let's dance, boys..." she added with a flirtatious intent.


With Hex free from her shoulders, Temperance jumped high into the air, the light of cresent waning moon behind her as she was now airborne. As she was above the mob of werewolves, a twist in the air allowed her to send a barrage of cards raining down on the ground. As they struck-- flashes of light went off, followed by explosions of fire around them. Two of them were fried as the others scattered due to the flames.

As she descended, another barrage of cards came, followed by bolts of lightning that fell upon them with her cards. Her cards were loaded with a variety of magics, she could call on any at whim.

The werewolves scattered as the magical hell rained down, and she landed between them all. Finally getting a grasp where she was, they charged, intending to tear her to bits. She could see them easily through the corners of her eyes as a couple moved to slash at her. The witch suddenly flipped backward, acrobatic and graceful as she danced around their claws. A simple step to the left, and twist, allowed her to pass right by the next one, becoming a dancing game between the violent monsters. As one got close, she would leave light touches to them-- and planting her cards upon their limbs and body.

With one now covered in cards, she stepped away from behind him-- and snapped her fingers. Suddenly, the cards reacted with coldness as magical ice grew over him like moss-- and soon encased him, making him a wolf-cicle.

Each one to attack, she sidestepped, dance, and evaded. It wasn't just physical grace but magic enhancing her speed as she easily moved and danced around them, making them look even more foolish. Meanwhile, Hex was now above-- her Exceed wings now out to watch the show from above as her friend made fools out of the werewolves.

After a daring dodge of claws barely catching her face, and her back arched enough to reveal a bit of her cleavage unintentionally (XD) , she landed in the midst of another ambush-- of the surviving wolves about to strike with claws, teeth and appetite. All the while, she just grinned as her dance reached its climax-- now she stood in a large array of her scattered claws. They glowed as a rush of wind flowed through the forest. "ACE OF SWORDS!!" she called out, arching her back in a dynamic pose and threw her head back to the sky. With her words and flashy display-- the breeze became a howl as the winds spun around her forming a large twister! The wind sheer surrounded her and soon lashed at the surrounding wolves, tossing them into the air and spinning them like a high-speed carousel.

The howl of the wind drowned out the wolves, till the wind died, and showed all the wolves tossed, battered and dizzy as hell. A few wolves moved but were too incapacitated to really put up a fight. By the time one had enough sense to look up-- they would find Temperance's boot in front of their eyes to see her look like a dominatrix standing up against the werewolves.

"You want to cry wolf, or go again?" she said with a smile.

With a wolf-like whimper, the werewolf shook his head, not willing to fight anymore as it was clear how bad she was. From his view, he now could see the Elysium guild mark on her thigh short of her outfit.

"So this is how this is going to go down. I will let you doggies go, and even let you have your fun-- but you will act in defense of Elysium and its members. You also will inform us if enemies come for us as well. If you act in service to us, you can be. But if you want to keep fighting," she smiled again, flashing a mischievous look in her eye. "We can do this whole dance all over again, and I will not hesitate to put you down like the mongrels you are, understood?"

"Y-y-yes. Yes mistress!" the wolf stammered, as did a few more werewolves, now sitting like well-behaved dogs.

Satisfied with what she saw and heard, she stepped back and nodded in approval. "Good. Goodnight, boys. Don't have too much fun," she said with a wave and turned to return back to the guild.

With the werewolves behind her, Hex soon glided back down from the safety of the sky and plopped back on Temperance's shoulders. "Well, that looked like fun. In another life, you'd make a great dog trainer." she teased.

"Oh shush, Hex," Temperance half-laughed, ruffling Hex's whiskers as they returned home.

END.

WC: 1196
TWC: 2795