The Rostical Guild - Sceldrant's Comet

by Michael Rogers

  Nathan: "On our side? You're the one that was lucky enough to get out of my attack!-"

  Tara: "Luck? That was skill!" *She suddenly slapped Nathan, causing a pulse of wind to blow his hair back.*

  Nathan: *He slid back and looked at the sword, noticing it was slightly bent.* (She bent metal with a counter based kick?)

  Tara: *She landed on the ground and back flipped over the sandpit created by Trevour, facing Nathan in an annoyed-like manner.* "How do grubs like yourselves manage to live for so long?"

  Trevour: (Unfortunately, I can't really do that much... I only know two Rostical!)

  Nathan: *His body glowed a shade of blue.* "Stop talking."

  Tara: "You aren't the only one that possesses Azure Bursts." *She spoke on her breath, as her body glowed a shade of blue.*

  Champion: "ICICLE EDGE" *She raised her arm and swayed it down, blasting four ice spears towards Tara.*

  Tara: *She flicked her wrist, causing the whip to straighten like a sword.* "Fufufu."

  Trevour: (She's straightened the whip by adding her Astragons into it and manipulating its structure-)

  Tara: "Tangrowth Slash." *She jabbed the whip into the ground, causing vein-like whips to erupt into the air.*

  Champion: *She watched the ice shatter past Tara's shoulders, as her whips violently shattered them behind her.* (She's skilled-)

  Nathan: *He charged towards Tara, lowering the sword to his side.* "Air Slash." *He sliced upwards, slicing a visible air slash towards Tara.*

  Tara: *She casually raised the whip out of the ground and blocked the air slash with ease.* "I've just decided I will kill everyone besides the Rostical User.. The Consultants may have use of someone with a unique affinity like yourself."

  Champion: "...-"

  Trevour: "DUST STORM" *He punched the ground, erupting a swirl of dirt into Tara's back.*

  Tara: "Argh?!" *She leant back slightly startled.* "Fufu! It only feels like small needles! You're so weak!"

  Champion: (I won't use my Grand Rostical.. The Rasticsplash alone will hurt my party members-, so..)

  *A bright red glyph shined underneath the champion, catching Tara's attention.*

  Nathan: *He ran into striking distance, slashing the sword across.* "Double Slash."

  Tara: *She twirled out of Nathan's strike.* "Tssk-"

  Nathan: "Harh!" *He hopped to the side and slashed across Tara's shoulder, causing a small spark to flash off the leather.* (The leather is as hard as armour!-)

  Tara: (How did I not avoid that strike-?) *She looked down, noticing one of her feet sink into unnaturally soft sand.*

  Trevour: "SWIRLING SANDPIT"

  Champion: "Flames consume and burn my Astragons-" *The glyph slowly expanded and connected lines into itself forming a glyphic platform.*

  Trevour: (I can feel Tara's power, just by her essence in the sand-)

  Champion: "HEAT LANCE" *She pushed forward, blasting two curved fire lances directly towards Tara.*

  Tara: "I kill Rostical Users! I will absorb all if its Neurons!"

  Nathan: "Double Slash." *He quickly slashed to the side and downwards, causing Tara to stagger in shock.*

  Tara: "Dirty lamp-"

  Trevour: "DUST STORM" *A swirl of dirt erupted up, hitting Tara on the knee.*

  Tara: "Yah?!" *She leant to the side, watching the fire lances brightly light up her face.*

  Champion: "Get out of the way, Nathan!"

  Tara: *She flicked her whip, readying to absorb the fire.* "What makes you so special? Fufufu, I decided I'll kill you after all-"

  Champion: "I'm Battling Oxident's champion!"

  Tara: *She spoke in shock.* "What did you-?"

  *The fire lances hit the whip, causing a bright massive explosion to blast Tara back off her feet.*

  Tara: "Ah-?!" *She spiralled in the air and hit a tree behind her, causing its bark to crack.* "Oof-"

  *Tara fell onto her knees and the sounds of snapping wood caused her to look back in shock.*

  Trevour: "The tree, Nathan!"

  Nathan: *He smirked and faced Tara, slicing the sword across.* "Air Slash."

  *Nathan sliced a visible air slash towards Tara, watching it suddenly hit the tree behind her.*

  Tara: *She watched bark snap off the tree in a cut-like manner, noticing the tree slowly arching over her.* (He purposely missed me?)

  Champion: (Fantastic! The tree will collapse on top of her!)

  Luna: *She held the Scoldrant in her lap, closely wrapping her arms around her in a protective-like manner.* (It's OK, it's OK-)

  ?????: "Yeup-"

  Tara: "Grrr-" *She flicked the whip behind her, causing it to wrap around the trunk.* "Your petty combination of attacks are nothing on me-"

  *Tara pulled the whip forward, causing her to suddenly sway in the air, as if she was riding a vine.*

  Nathan: *He looked up, staring at Tara with a frown.* (She simply threw herself into the air?)

  Champion: "Icy swirls call down upon me, frigid skies grant me power-" *A blue glyph drew itself on the ground around her.*

  Tara: *She eased her grip on the whip, causing it to let go of the tree before it hit the ground.* "..."

  Nathan: *He covered his face, as a pulse of dirt blew around the tree.* (Damn-)

  Tara: *She flicked the whip upwards, causing it to suddenly grab onto the air, as if it wrapped around an invisible branch.* "Fufufu." *She swung on the whip and glided over the party, smirking at them in a taunt-like manner.*

  Nathan: (She's swinging on the whip? But it's holding onto nothing?!)

  Tara: *She spiralled in the air and elegantly landed on the ground in front of Luna.* "Now, let me know what you taste like!"

  ?????: *She watched Tara ready herself to hurt Luna, causing her to hiss in fear.* "Yeu!"

  Luna: "It's OK-" *She whispered to the Scoldrant, as if she didn't know Tara was standing directly in front of her.*

  Trevour: "DUST STORM" *He punched the ground again, causing Tara to chuckle.*

  Tara: "It's too late!" *She swayed the whip towards Luna, watching it slither towards her face in slow motion.*

  Champion: "ICICLE EDGE" *She shouted with an echoing voice, watching large thick ice spears materialise in the air above Tara.*

  Nathan: *He opened his eyes, staring at the whip with widening eyes.* "Luna!-"

  Luna: "Ah!-" *She squinted her eyes, holding the Scoldrant close to her chest.*

  *A swirl of dust erupted up in front of Luna, causing the whip to twirl inside it.*

  Tara: "What-?"

  Nathan: (Instead of attacking the woman, he used the Rostical in front of Luna for defensive purposes. Smart thinking!-)

  Tara: "Hah!" *She flicked her wrist, causing the swirling dirt to explode around her whip.*

  Luna: "Ah?" *She felt the dirt rain on her in shock.*

  Tara: "Tssk-" *She looked up and casually swayed to each side, avoiding the falling ice spears.*

  Champion: (Don't underestimate my Rasticplash!-)

  *The ice spears suddenly exploded into glaciers of ice, slashing Tara across the neck.*

  Tara: "Agh!" *She stumbled back, surprised.*

  Trevour: *He started to pant, causing him to move more sluggish.*

  Nathan: (The champion takes longer to attack, but is powerful, while Trevour is able to use his Rostical more frequently, at the cost of being obviously drained of his Neurons-)

  Tara: *She stumbled out of the ice and flicked her wrist, causing the whip to shatter the ice to one side.* "How embarrassing-" *She spoke to herself, touching the cut on her neck.*

  Trevour: "We may be weaker than you, but together, we're going to give you some major turbulence."

  Luna: (Turbulence? Even trying to taunt the crazy bitch, he'll never be kool.)

  Nathan: *He started to run towards Tara, firmly holding onto the sword.* (I need to give it my all!-) "Champion, Trevour, give me some support!"

  Champion: "Only support? Of course."

  Trevour: "No worries,
sir!"

  Tara: *She flicked the ice off the whip and faced Nathan, looking unimpressed.* "What do you hope to do to me?"

  Nathan: "Air Slash-" *He swayed up, slicing a visible air slash towards Tara.*

  Tara: *She glanced at Nathan with double vision.* (What?!) *She swayed to the side, closely avoiding the air slash.*

  Nathan: (Almost!-) *He ran around Tara, focusing all her attention on to him.* "Air Slash."

  Tara: (I don't believe this, but-) *She swayed the whip to the side and broke the visible air slash, causing a violent gust of wind to blow her ponytail back.* (I might have to retreat..-)

  *A fireball suddenly hit the back of Tara, causing her to gasp in pain.*

  Champion: "Oh my? You're getting slower?"

  Trevour: "Unlike us, looks like she hasn't had a good night's rest."

  Tara: "Shut-" *She quickly ducked under Nathan's sword.*

  Nathan: "..." *He slashed downwards, watching Tara block it with her whip.*

  Tara: "I'll be back, you dirty lamps!" *She screamed and leant forward, pushing Nathan back with her whip.*

  Nathan: *He watched sparks splinter in between his sword and her whip, as he slid back on his feet.* (I know captains are powerful, but she hasn't even broken a sweat-)

  Tara: "I thought I could kill you all with ease..." *She glared at the champion and slowly stepped away from the party.* "But, having the Battling Oxident's champion on your side.."

  *Tara spat on the ground and turned around, flashstepping out of sight, leaving behind a slight buzzing sound.*

  Nathan: (She's so fast, the quality of her flashstep is different from the others.)

  Trevour: "Phew-" *He dropped to his knees, causing his armour to rattle.* "Is everyone okay?"

  Nathan: *He sheathed his sword behind his back and slowly walked towards the party.* "I'm fine."

  Champion: "So am I."

  Trevour: "Luna?" *He looked at Luna, noticing she sat silently with an emotionless face.*

  Luna: "Umm, yea..." *She stroked the Scoldrant, unknowingly leaving smears of blood on her fur.*

  ?????: "Yeup." *She shook, swaying the dirt out of her fur.*

  Trevour: *He walked closer to Luna and leant in shock.* "Blood?" (One of them is hurt!)

  ?????: "Yeup?"

  Luna: "Oh yea, the whip jabbed me-" *She awkwardly smiled and opened her hand, revealing blood everywhere.*

  Champion: "Oh my-" *She covered her mouth with both hands.*

  Trevour: "M-Madam!" *He quickly hobbled towards Luna.*

  Champion: "She chose to protect the Scoldrant over her own well-being." *She whispered to herself.*

  ?????: (Yeup?) *She discreetly glanced at the champion with heightened hearing.*

  Nathan: (I may not want to be a Scoldrant User, but I really respect when people care for Scoldrants to the point of-)

  Luna: "I-I feel weak-" *She sighed on her breath and became limp, causing her to lean on one side.*

  Trevour: "N-No! Madam!" *He bent down and felt her neck, causing him to nod his head.* "She's unconscious."

  Nathan: "I could've told you that."

  Champion: *She looked around, observing the empty landscape.* "What a horrible place to receive a wound."

  Trevour: "We'd have to walk hours back, or-"

  Nathan: "We could carry her and make our way through the forest?"

  Champion: "I actually don't need to go right away." *She turned around, facing the forests.*

  Nathan: "..."

  Champion: *She looked back to the party.* "I'll continue half way, then I'll go into The Twilight Forest."

  Trevour: (Unfortunately, at this rate, we'll need to rest for quite some time.) *He frowned in thought, as if he didn't want to stop.* (We can't let her wounds get infected here of all places.)

  ?????: "Yeup?" *She hopped away from Luna, staring at her in a worried-like manner.*

  Trevour: "Alright, prepare for some turbulence, Luna-" *He attempted to pick her up, causing Nathan to chuckle.*

  Nathan: "Umm, here-" *He walked past Trevour and offered to carry Luna.*

  Trevour: "Much appreciated, sir."

  Nathan: *He turned around and lifted Luna up, carrying her on his back.* "Ahh-, can you get the sword-?"

  Trevour: *He reached in between Luna and Nathan, gently pulling the sword out.* "Phew, all good, sir."

  Champion: "Let's begin it." *She smiled with her eyes shut.*

  Trevour: "We go North." *He smiled and started to walk towards the trees, glancing to each side.* "It's funny how you can tell which trees belong to which forest."

  Champion: "Umm? Oh my, I'm sorry. I don't find that funny at all." *She spoke in an oblivious, innocent-like manner.*

  Trevour: "I didn't mean...-"

  Nathan: *He walked through the naturally made separation of the two forests.* (I wonder when she hurt herself?)

  *Nathan glanced at Luna's hair, recalling the entire fight with Tara.*

  Nathan: (Everything happened so fast-) *He looked ahead, noticing an abandoned hut.* "Wow, look at that."

  Trevour: "Excellent spotting, sir." *He smiled at the hut.*

  Champion: "What a fantastic place to rest Luna in."

  Nathan: "That's what I was thinking."

  Trevour: "I'll have a quick look and see if it's safe from anything."

  Nathan: "Right." *He watched Trevour hobble towards the hut.*

  Champion: (Sometimes there are nasty little Scoldrants that make homes in abandoned places.)

  Nathan: "Do you think it's bad?" *He looked at the champion.* "There was a lot of blood."

  Champion: *She shook her head.* "She's hurt, but I don't sense a disturbance with her life Neurons."

  Nathan: "Cool.."

  Champion: *She sighed, looking up to the treetops.* "That warrior was quite frightening, no?"

  Nathan: *He silently nodded his head with a frown.* (I need to get stronger.. I self-taught myself a lot of skills, but in comparison.. I need to learn advanced captain techniques, like flashstepping, concealing my weapon, Ougi-)

  Trevour: "All clear in here!" *He poked his head out of the hut, glancing at Nathan and the champion.*

  ?????: "Yeup.." *She hopped after the party, catching the champion's attention.*

  Champion: *She turned around, noticing the Scoldrant.* "Oh my, look who followed us."

  Nathan: "... We'll rest here."

  Trevour: "But then sun-?"

  Nathan: "They'll be no point in going to Silver Wind Island if she dies from infection."

  Trevour: "I understand, but-"

  Nathan: "Do you really? Look at her eyes."

  Trevour: "You aren't looking at the bigger picture, sir-"

  Nathan: "Okay, okay. We go straight to Silver Wind Island. Find a healer, and-... It's too late.."

  Champion: *She hobbled forward, holding the Scoldrant in her arms.* "I agree with you both."

  Trevour: "So-"

  Champion: "But I agree with Nathan. Unless they have a powerful Radiaton filled healer. It is very hard to heal something that has been festering for too long.."

  Nathan: "See?"

  Trevour: "..."

  Nathan: "But I happen to agree with you.."

  Trevour: "You do?"

  Nathan: "If she dies, this whole trip is meaningless."

  Trevour: *He nodded his head and stepped away from the hut.* "There's a small bed, and some weapons."

  Champion: "That seems a little too convenient, doesn't it?"

  Nathan: "Yeah, did you check for traps?"

  Trevour: "This looks like a small checkpoint for warriors to rest at. It's safe."

  Nathan: "That's all I needed to hear." *He walked into the hut and gently placed Luna on the bed, before stepping out.*

  Trevour: *He looked up, staring at the swaying treetops.* "This place gives me the creeps."

  Champion: "Trevour-"

  Trevour: "Yes, madam?"

  Champion: "Would you like to explain more about this Tara lady?"

 
Nathan: "Yeah-" *He grabbed the sword off Trevour and tied it around his back, before placing his hands on his head.*

  Trevour: "The reason I know a lot about her is because my former captain spied on The Black Brigade."

  Nathan: "Spied on your own? Just went I think you warriors couldn't get any lower-"

  Trevour: "He did it for a good cause."

  Champion: "Where is this captain now?"

  Trevour: "He was in the rankings for many many years... But he was only my captain for a few."