The Rostical Guild - Sceldrant's Comet

by Michael Rogers

  Tara: "Their energy signature was last located here-" *She whispered to herself and entered the village, glancing to each side.* "You!"

  *Tara screamed and pointed at a nearby villager managing a small carriage filled with bread.*

  Villager: "Y-Yes?"

  Tara: "Despite the no armour, I'm a warrior, okay?"

  Villager: "O-Oh?" *He quickly dropped to his knees, lowering his head.*

  Tara: "There has been an unscheduled warrior sighting in this village. Tell me all you know now."

  Villager: "You mean the warrior that was here yesterday-?"

  Tara: "Where?!"

  Villager: "H-He was with other people."

  Tara: "Did they wear strange garments?"

  Villager: "Two of them did."

  Tara: "Where are they?"

  Villager: "They went into the Inn." *He pointed to his side while keeping his head lowered.*

  Tara: "The Inn?" *She stepped to the side and faced the Inn, smirking at the water fountain.* "Fufufu."

  ----------

  Nathan: (We've covered a lot of ground right now-) *He mumbled to himself in thought, staring at an enormous tight forest in the distance.*

  Luna: "So, even vice-captains could slaughter an entire village?"

  Trevour: "I'm afraid so, madam."

  Champion: "You captains are very frightening."

  Trevour: "They are."

  Luna: "Wat captains are there?"

  Champion: "I've seen a few, all were very intimidating." *She hobbled to each side, walking towards the forest.*

  Luna: "If non captain rankin' warriors can't use Rostickal, how can you?"

  Trevour: "To be honest, there's probably a fair few that can. It's just illegal."

  Nathan: "Why? Holding someone back-" *He glanced at Trevour.* "Even if it's a warrior and Rostical, you warriors could be feared even more."

  Trevour: "It's to shine all the spotlight on to the captains."

  Luna: "So there could be strong non-captains?"

  Trevour: "Negative, madam."

  Champion: "Oh my, care to explain?"

  Trevour: "If or when someone makes captain ranking, they undergo vigorous training."

  Nathan: "What's makes this training worthwhile?"

  Trevour: "I don't know.. I'm not a captain."

  Champion: (Ah.. So, even if someone had the potential to be captain, this training sets them apart from other warriors?)

  Nathan: *A heartbeat-like pulse thumped through his body, causing him to stare at the forest in curiosity.* "This, is The Twilight Forest?"

  Trevour: *He looked up, noticing the tall trees.* "Yes it is, sir."

  Nathan: (What a weird feeling.)

  Champion: "Oh my, we're here already?"

  Trevour: "You almost sound disappointed, heh heh."

  Luna: "Aha, gonna miss us?"

  Nathan: "Hmmph."

  Champion: "Unfortunately, for my best interest, I need to leave."

  Trevour: *He took a deep breath and let go of Luna's elbow, allowing him to bend over in exhaustion.* "Could I please take a break?"

  Nathan: "... We're far away from Sorrowprax now. I'm in no rush right now."

  Trevour: "What about the yellow-eyed condition?"

  Nathan: "I've never had a proper lead to go by." *He shrugged his shoulders and sighed, as if the idea bothered him.*

  Trevour: (Nathan, despite the quality of his values, has no true purpose as of yet-)

  Champion: "If you have no leads, maybe spending a little time in Silver Wind Island would be of benefit?"

  Nathan: "Maybe.." *He walked towards the closest tree and rested his back against it, placing his hands on his head.*

  Luna: *She wiped sweat off her face and pinched her black clothes, waving them back and forth.* (I'm not really hot, but I'm sweating like a pig.)

  Nathan: "If we've reached The Twilight Forest, then-"

  Trevour: "It won't be long until we reach the city."

  Luna: "We've spent hours talkin' about warriors.."

  Trevour: "Yes."

  Luna: "Wat is your ranking?"

  Champion: "..."

  Trevour: "It's thirty-three."

  Luna: "Oh.. Nowhere near, aye."

  Trevour: "Heh heh."

  Nathan: "Haha-"

  Luna: "Wow, I'm on a roll. Gettin' Nathan to laugh too."

  Nathan: "Tssk." *He pouted and looked away.*

  Champion: "We shouldn't be out for too long."

  Luna: "Aye?"

  Trevour: *He nodded his head.* "We'll be walking between two forests, both are quite dangerous."

  Nathan: (I don't really remember, but I have a feeling I should be more worried about The Twilight Forest-)

  ?????: "Yeup." *A cat-like cry caught the party's attention.*

  ----------

  Tara: *She stepped out of the Inn and smirked, staring at the water fountain.* (Left a few hours ago? I'll see them in a few minutes, fufufufufu.)

  *Tara stepped forward and flashstepped, causing a pulse of dirt to blow where she stood.*

  ----------

  Trevour: "Oh? What is that?" *He turned around and looked down, noticing a small purple furry Scoldrant.*

  Nathan: *He stared at the Scoldrant, causing him to hold onto his sword.* "That's a scout Scoldrant."

  Champion: "A scout? That little thing?"

  Trevour: "I'm not the type to judge a book by its cover, but look at him." *He smiled at the Scoldrant.*

  Nathan: "They usually alert other much bigger Scoldrants of prey."

  Trevour: "W-Why is that?"

  Nathan: "So the larger Scoldrants keep them around for protection."

  Champion: "Oh my. If this is true, perhaps we should do the unthinkable?"

  ?????: "Yeup?" *It hopped towards the party, keeping an eye on Luna.*

  Luna: "That sounds familiar?"

  Nathan: "Don't be fooled, it can levitate."

  Trevour: "Got it, sir!"

  Luna: "Levitate, like float?"

  Nathan: "Yeah."

  ?????: "Yeup.."

  Luna: (Those meow-like sounds-) "Kitty?"

  ?????: "Yeup!"

  Nathan: (It responded-?)

  Luna: "It can't be-" *She whispered, triggering a flashback.*

  ----------

  ?????: "Yeup?" *It started to rub itself against Luna's leg in a cat-like manner and started to purr.*

  Luna: "W-What?" *She looked down and watched the purple hairball continue to rub against her leg in an affectionate-like manner.*

  ?????: "Yeu."

  Luna: (Hey, you ain't so bad-)

  *A scream echoed in the distance, causing Luna to quickly look over her shoulder.*

  ----------

  Luna: "L-Leave her!" *She ran blindly towards the sounds of the hairball.*

  ?????: *It watched Luna stop in front of it.* "Yeu?"

  Luna: *She suddenly faced the party's direction, spreading her arms in a protective-like manner.* "I mean it!"

  Trevour: "Her?"

  Nathan: "What are you-?"

  Champion: "Oh my-"

  Luna: "She's not a threat!-"

  ?????: "Yeup.." *She hopped directly behind Luna's legs and hesitantly glanced at the party.*

  Champion: "It seems to have formed an attachment to Luna."

  Luna: "Aha.." *She slowly bent down and patted the air, trying to find the Scoldrant.*

  ?????: "Yeup..." *She hopped into Luna's reach and started to purr.*

  Trevour: "What are your thoughts, Nathan?"

  Nathan: *He listened to the Scoldrant's purr, looking at Luna's smirk.* "Well, if she isn't causing a hassle-"

  Champion: "What about the larger Scoldrants?"

  Nathan: "They would have attacked by now." *He lowered his arm, as if the Scoldrant was no longer a threat.*

  Luna: "Aha.." *She giggled, feeling the Scoldrant's soft fur.*

  Trevour: *He stood in a casual-like manner, glancing at Nathan and the champion.* "Although a little temperament
al, if the Scoldrant isn't a threat, shall we continue, everyone?"

  Luna: "Like I said, I just know she ain't no threat."

  Champion: (What a very strange way of talking-)

  ?????: "The rodent may not be a threat, but I am, fufufufu."

  *A woman suddenly appeared behind Luna and violently grabbed the Scoldrant by the fur, lifting it up to her face.*

  Champion: "O-Oh my, who are you!?" *She faced a woman, noticing her tight red and black leather clothing.*

  Woman: *She listened to the Scoldrant hiss in fear.* "Shut up, rodent!"

  ?????: "Y-Yeup.." *She stopped her squirm, as if she could feel the woman's evil intentions.*

  Trevour: "H-How temperamental.. It's Tara."

  Tara: "Neh?" *She glared at Trevour, suddenly frowning in anger.* "You fat chunky heretic!"

  Trevour: "I, ah-?"

  Tara: "If it wasn't for your betrayal, these prisoners wouldn't be here today-"

  Luna: "Let go of her!"

  ?????: "Yeup!-"

  Tara: "No-"

  Luna: *She frowned and stood up, facing Tara's general direction.* "Let her go!-" *She took several steps forward, trying to grab the Scoldrant off Tara.*

  Tara: "Fufufu." *She placed her palm on Luna's forehead, keeping her out of striking distance.*

  Trevour: "M-Madam, you mustn't-"

  ?????: *She watched Luna struggle, as she risked herself trying to free her.* (Yeup...)

  Tara: "Hah!" *She let go of the Scoldrant and suddenly kicked her in mid-air, violently knocking her into a tree.*

  ?????: "Yeu!-" *She hissed in pain and squinted her eyes, slowly sliding down the tree.*

  Luna: "No! You hurt-"

  Tara: *She grabbed Luna's throat and pulled her in, placing her other hand around the side of Luna's head.* "I'll be snapping your-"

  Nathan: *He suddenly slid on the ground next to Tara and intensely stared at her, unsheathing his sword.* "Double Slash."

  Tara: *She quickly threw Luna on the ground and swayed to each side, listening to the sword slice past her.* "Fast-"

  *Tara's foot suddenly sunk into quicksand, causing her to look down in shock.*

  Trevour: *He stared at Tara with his hands tightly placed together.* "SWIRLING SANDPIT"

  Champion: "ICICLE EDGE"

  Tara: (Another Rostical User-?!) *She looked up, watching ice spears plummet towards her.*

  Nathan: "Gotcha-"

  Tara: "Don't underestimate a single digit warrior-" *Her image suddenly disappeared, causing the ice spears to stab into the sand where she stood.*

  Trevour: "She flashstepped out of my-"

  Tara: *She flashstepped behind Trevour and straightened her leg, sweeping Trevour off his feet.* "Hah!" *She punched Trevour in the throat, knocking him across the dirt.*

  Champion: *She listened to Trevour's armour rattle, watching him roll onto his side.* (She punched him before he even touched the ground-)

  Tara: *She opened and closed her hand, smirking with confidence.* "We can do this the easy or the hard way."

  Nathan: "Tssk.." *He stood in a battle-ready pose, pointing the sword at Tara.*

  Luna: *She started to panic, as she crawled along the dirt towards the Scoldrant.* "Are you OK?"

  ?????: "Yeu-"

  Tara: "How pathetic!" *She gently placed her hand on her waist, causing Nathan and the champion to gasp as if they knew what she was going to do.*

  Nathan: (She's going to release her weapon!-)

  Tara: "Harh!" *She swayed her arm forward, causing a string of sparks to swirl around a long red whip.*

  Champion: *She watched the whip slither directly towards Luna.* (She's taking advantage of her blindness-)

  Nathan: "Azure Burst, Air Slash." *He sliced the sword to the side, causing a slash-like wave of visible air to hit Tara's whip, deflecting it back.*

  Tara: "Nice save, peasant." *She smirked, glancing at Nathan in disgust.*

  Trevour: *He slowly leant up, holding his shoulder in pain.* (This is what I get for acting so casual! This was my biggest fear-)

  Tara: *She snapped the whip by her side, glancing at each party member.* "It's a little disorientating. I don't know which one to kill first-"

  Champion: (I might have no choice but to use my Grand Rostical?)

  Trevour: "You're sick in the head."

  Nathan and Tara: "Huh?" *They looked at him in shock.*

  Trevour: "I joined the warriors to become a better person.."

  *Images of young men holding floating rocks in their hands flashed in Trevour's mind, causing him to frown.*

  Trevour: "This isn't what I asked for!" *He stood up and clapped his hands shut.*

  Tara: "And to think, you somehow managed to get down to thirty-three. Fufufu, you're a joke-"

  Nathan: "He may be a joke, but he's a joke worth telling your friends about."

  Trevour: "Sir?" *He looked at Nathan in shock.*

  Nathan: *He glanced at Trevour with a smirk.* "Come on!" *He shouted and ran directly towards Tara, raising the sword.*

  Tara: "Fufufu, you lack skill. Charging at me like this-" *She swayed her whip directly towards Nathan's head.*

  Nathan: *He threw the sword into the air.* "Lack skill?" *He suddenly slid along the ground towards Tara.*

  Tara: *She looked down and back up, noticing the whip flick the air where Nathan would've ran into.* "Don't get so cocky-"

  Nathan: *He slid in between Tara's legs and hopped back up, staring at her back.* "I've spent years training-"

  Tara: "What a waste-" *She suddenly spun around and kicked Nathan off his feet, flicking the whip towards his face.*

  Nathan: (How-?)

  Trevour: "DUST STORM" *He punched the ground, causing a swirl of dirt to erupt up, hitting Tara on the elbow.*

  Tara: "Hah-?" *Her arm moved away from the dirt, causing the whip to flick into the ground.*

  Nathan: (She missed-) *He hit the ground and rolled back, catching his sword as it fell into his hands.*

  Tara: "Damn you, heretic!-"

  Champion: "This has gone for too long.." *She stared at Tara with an emotionless face, as the light from a red glyph gave her face scary-like shadowing.*

  Tara: (A red glyph? I thought she used ice on me before-)

  Champion: *She cupped her hands, causing the glyph to suddenly spiral around her hands instead.* "FLAME BOLT"

  *The champion pushed forward and shot out three fireballs directly towards Tara.*

  Tara: "Rostical Users outside the warrior rankings are feared, but-" *She swayed her whip across the fireballs, causing them to prematurely explode.*

  Nathan: *He covered his face and moved back.* "Watch where you're shooting your Rostical!"

  Champion: *She watched the fire swirl into the whip, causing her to look shocked.* "What just happened?"

  Tara: *She licked her lips, causing her to smirk.* "Yumm.. Your Neurons taste amazing!"

  Champion: (She can somehow absorb Neurons?!)

  Tara: "How scary, knowing opposite affinities such as ice and fire... Too bad.. You could've made a fine warrior indeed."

  Trevour: "DUST STORM"

  Tara: "Give it a rest-" *She spun around and flicked the whip, slapping the erupting dirt away.*

  Trevour: *He leant to the side, as if Tara's counter damaged him somehow.* "How did you-?"

  Nathan: "Hah!" *He ran into striking distance and swayed to the side, slashing across Tara's face.*

  Tara: *She quickly leant back, avoiding the slash.* "Ha!-" *She jumped back forward and kicked Nathan in the stomach.*

  Nathan: *He caught Tara's foot and held it, readying to jab the sword through her leg.* "Let's see if you can flashstep with one working leg!-"

  Trevour: "SWIRLING SANDPIT" *He punched the ground, causing a swirl of sand to spiral around Tara's only foot on the ground.*

  Tara: "Tssk." *She watched her foot sink into the sand.* (Now I can't follow up with a critical-)

  Nathan: "Hah!" *He violently rammed the sword towards Tara'
s foot.*

  Tara: *She leant forward and jumped up, supporting all her body in Nathan's grip.* "Fufu!"

  Nathan: *He looked up, staring at Tara in shock.* "You-?"

  Tara: *She quickly kicked to the side, knocking Nathan's sword away.* "How does it feel to have luck on your side all the time?"