Wellspring Attack

[npc_kun]

Characters:NPC Nothing, NPC Charger, NPC Steve and OPEN
Date/Time: Friday, September 23rd, midnight
Location: Wellspring Island
Rating: PG-13 and up
Summary: The beginning of the end.

Questions and general plotting can be done on this post. You can also page the NPC muns on that page or on our mod contact post. Please remember to forward date

Comments

Ginko and Sniper

[iattractmushi]

It wasn't uncommon for Ginko to have trouble sleeping, especially with the current troubling signs that all was not right with Edensphere keeping him thinking long into the night. Nor was it uncommon for him to slip out of his room and go for a walk on those nights.

So he was quietly walking through the woods--without a lantern, since he was alone--when the fireball shattered the silent darkness. It exploded far enough back that he wasn't hurt, only startled by the sound. Spinning on his heel, he cast a startled look backwards. The woods behind him blazed, effectively cutting him off from the Spa. Sparing a thought for his cat--he'd left the window open, Adashino could get out and safe, he was a smart animal, he'd be fine--he turned, and ran from the flames. He should get to the Clinic. If nothing else, it was a safe place to wait out whatever was happening... and besides, they'd probably need more people.

His thoughts strayed to the tales of how fire overwhelmed Edensphere before, changing the islands and killing many. Yes, they would no doubt need him, and all the hands they could get, helping with the injured and dead.

He was so busy getting to where he was going, he failed to see the small movement in the branches above him. A winged snake hid there, wings hunched and ready to propel it at its target--which was even now hurrying toward it, oblivious to the danger he was in.

[longnosedliar]

Evidently, Sniper chose a bad day to test out his brand new firework, a huge, bright green ordeal with a capacity to go horribly wrong, considering how he wanted to light to trail along the ground. He didn't mean to wait til midnight to do it, but that was just how it turned out once he finally prepared. He was always a bit nervous going out in the dark like this, but he had a lantern with him and he was well prepared. He'd test out a couple of his fireworks, and go home, easy as that.

Somewhere far behind him, there was an explosion. He quickly turned around to take stock of his fireworks, panicking that he had accidentally lit one, but everything was there. He shoved his fireworks back into his pack, and stared up.

Fire.

Oh. He wasn't freaking out. He wasn't freaking out. He totally, totally, totally wasn't freaking out because he was just so in control and he was a brave warrior and oh my god why is the forest on fire they were all going to die. He whimpered and began to run back to the bridge where it was safe so he could report this in the journals, but there were no lights to guide him on his way home.

Which turned out to be a good thing, because in the darkness, he could see the clear form of Cloud. It was also a damn good thing that he was used to seeing things others didn't, because the shadows nearly covered up what appeared to be a six foot snake with wings. Ready to attack Cloud.

Safety momentarily forgotten, Sniper launched a gunpowder star at the snake and cried out, "Cloud, watch it!" It was a lot louder than he wanted it to be but did a good job of making the snake fall out of the tree. As it writhed on the ground, Sniper jogged out in front of it, barely aware in his panic that he was placing himself between Cloud and the snake. Between each of his fingers he carried a gunpowder star ready for the shooting.

[iattractmushi]

He heard Sniper's yell just before something exploded overhead. Worried it was more fire, he skidded to a halt--just as a huge snake fell out of one of the trees in front of him. Taking a few steps back, one hand automatically reaching for the pouch of throwing knives he wore constantly these days, he stepped back from the thing as it reared up on its back half, shaking its head and flapping its...

He paused, blinking. Were those wings sprouting from the creature's hide?

No time to think about it now. He brought up his weapon to a 'guard' position, the tiny blade looking woefully inadequate against the snake-thing, which was hissing menacingly at the two of them now.

"Good to see you," he said, as calmly as he could, considering the circumstances. "But I don't think that thing liked your present very much."

[longnosedliar]

Sniper spared a moment to wonder how Cloud could be so damn calm, considering the situation. Regardless of the fact that Sniper had been the one to cast the first blow to the winged serpent, he was afraid and confused. It was not an uncommon state of affairs, but it didn't make it any more pleasant.

"Yeah, big evil flesh eating monsters don't like being shot at!" He shot back, eyes flitting nervously from the snake to Cloud again. "Big surprise!"

He hopped backwards a couple of steps and tried to gauge the situation. Okay. Things were on fire, there was no light, and there was a huge-ass winged snake in front of them that had huge fangs and was possibly poisonous (Sniper chose to assume it was poisonous because the worst case scenario always seemed to happen around here) and it wanted to eat them. Or just kill them. And it could fly. They couldn't let it get airborne, he decided. They could keep on watching it as long as it was on the ground, but in the air, they wouldn't be able to spot it well enough.

Those were small knives. Proably too small to pierce its skin, but...

"Shoot for the, uh, the membranes of its wings! Let's keep it on the ground."

[iattractmushi]

Personally, Ginko was half-hoping for a decent shot at its eye. It might distract the creature long enough for them to get away... on the other hand, it might just annoy it to the point where it decided killing them any way it could was even better than eating them. Which is what he was assuming the snake wanted to do, currently.

"Right." He took a sidling step away from Sniper, his eye locked on the creature. No point in making it easier for the thing to attack them, give it two targets, make it choose.

It hissed again, flapping its wings, and Ginko gritted his teeth with a small hiss of his own. He couldn't get a clear shot at it like that... well, maybe throwing a few in its direction would be a distraction, at least. Get its attention on him, maybe give Sniper a clear shot. "Hey!" he said, louder. Trying to draw its attention to him through sound, too. "Over here, I'm your target." He threw a blade with a quick flick of his wrist, aiming at the wings, drawing another without waiting to see if that hit anything.

[longnosedliar]

Happily, Cloud's aim proved to strike true and tore through the snake's wing with a sound that would have made Sniper feel a little sorry for it if it hadn't shown itself to be very interested in embedding those sharp fangs into Cloud's neck mere moments prior.

He unleashed one of the gunpowder stars he held at the ready and sent it sailing to its other wing, where it connected at the junction where body and wing met and blew the wing clean off. Sniper blinked at it, a little dumbfounded.

"What, that easy?" Wait, no, you're a super-cool-sniper, Sniper! Say something cool! "Er, I mean, I knew that would hit!" Close enough.

The snake tried to lift itself into the air again, but with only one damaged wing, it merely flopped in a small circle, but Sniper couldn't help but recall one thing: even snakes without wings were pretty damn fast. And though bleeding and probably in a great amount of pain, he was pretty sure that this one would be angry.

[iattractmushi]

Ginko was surprised that his knife had hit--but before he had time to throw another, Sniper's attack hit. He threw himself backward in an automatic reaction, startled by the explosion. He didn't fall, thankfully, but he did need a moment to recover. Thankfully, Sniper's attack had damaged it's wing.

He tuned out what Sniper was saying, for the most part; it didn't seem like anything he needed to pay attention to. Instead, he kept his attention locked on the creature. His thoughts going along the same lines as Sniper's, he was certain that since they hadn't managed to wound it too badly, they'd probably pissed it off. And that wasn't good.

He flicked a look back at Sniper, but almost immediately looked back at the snake. It seemed confused, like it wasn't sure which of them to go after. It swung its head back and forth, fluttering its good wing slightly. Ginko took another step, back and away from both Sniper and the thing. "I'd appreciate any suggestions you have to offer." He'd throw his knife, but... it hadn't done that much damage when it had hit, and he preferred to have it just in case the snake did come close enough to attack. Of course, if it did that he was probably dead anyway, but he still liked the small sense of security the tiny knife gave him.

I couldn't think of anything else! So lemme know if this doesn't work~

[longnosedliar]

"Um. Okay."

Sniper couldn't think of anything clever to do, nor could he think of anything clever to say. So instead, he settled for being very simple indeed and pulled back three gunpowder stars at once and sent them flying, one headed for the snake's head, the other for its midsection (for lack of a better word) and the other towards the tip of its tail. Three explosions later, the snake crumpled in a heap and Sniper was left standing there and scratching the back of his head, somewhat dumbfounded now that he finally had a chance to properly use his weaponry.

There was something clever he could probably say here. Something pithy about snakes and explosions. Instead, Sniper offered, "I think it's dead."

...now I remember why I never do fightlogs anymore /is bad at them

[iattractmushi]

For a moment, all Ginko could do was blink at the prone form. It had happened so quickly...

Straightening up slightly, he lowered his knife, though he didn't slide it back into the pouch. There were more creatures around, though none close enough to be a threat--but he could hear them, crashing through the underbrush and letting out strange cries in the distance.

"Yeah. Thanks." It was sincere for all its brevity. "Hnn... do you know if any of the bridges are intact? If people are being attacked here, I'm not much use." It might look like he was running away, but Ginko preferred to think of it as a tactical retreat. After all, if he got hurt (or killed, which seemed more likely) that would be one less warm body fit to help in the aftermath. More importantly, it would be one less trained medic to help with the people who were hurt. "I can do more to help somewhere else, probably."

hahah well it's trickier when you're working with two ranged fighters ;)

[longnosedliar]

Sniper rested Kabuto on the ground, but kept his hands firmly wrapped around the staff like a lifeline. Which, in a way, it was. He was glad that he took care to keep it in good condition, for it seemed as if he needed it more and more often these days.

The cries in the darkness didn't escape Sniper's attention, and he looked around nervously despite his urge to hide his apprehension. "I have no idea," he confessed. "I don't even know what's going on here. I was already here, then I heard the explosion, then I saw you..."

He bit his lip. "I guess it'd be better for you to get off the island - so long as the rest of Edensphere isn't under attack. Why would anyone want to explode Wellspring of all places?"

hahah, true

[iattractmushi]

Ginko shrugged, his attention still on their surroundings. "The 'why' doesn't really matter now. And if the rest of this place is under attack... at least it isn't burning." Yet, anyway.

He glanced over at Sniper quickly, then looked in the direction of the bridge--the woods were still burning all around them, though they seemed safe enough for now. "Hnnn... the bridge to Fisher island is probably closest right now. Think I can make it?" Not 'we'; Sniper was probably needed elsewhere on Wellspring. Ginko was pretty sure he could make it to the bridge by himself, anyway.

[longnosedliar]

Sniper disagreed. The why really did matter. The why was the difference between people rushing in hell-bent on massacring everyone or whether they were causing a ruckus for a reason. The idea of the former made Sniper want to run about wailing with a good measure of flailing in there. Then again, the latter was also terrifying, depending on their reason.

Instead, he braced himself and nodded. No use in voicing those fears right now. "I'll come with you," he said immediately. Then, almost reluctantly, he added on, "To the bridge, at least. I think--I think I'm gonna see if I can help here."

Nervously, he wrapped his fingers tightly around Kabuto. "Somehow."

[iattractmushi]

Ginko meant that it didn't matter now, not when it was more important to concentrate on rescuing and helping. And if they were attacking elsewhere, more people were there that could deal with it. Right now there wasn't time to worry about whys, not when action, not thinking, was needed.

He nodded, grateful that Sniper was coming with him. He was no fighter, as this had so helpfully demonstrated. "Right. Thanks." One last glance around, and he started walking toward the bridge. Time was the last thing they had to spare right now. "And that's a good idea--I think you'll be useful here." Unlike him, but that was fine. They each had their strengths, and Ginko was far better at the healing side of things than the injuring.

[longnosedliar]

Sniper grinned at him, though the expression held no mirth in it, for he was afraid. Still, sometimes it was far easier to smile than to frown, so that was what he did. Besides, a small part of him said, he didn't offer to escort Cloud only for Cloud's safety, although that was primarily why. He also felt better being beside someone, even if he was a someone who couldn't really fight.

He laughed, a shallow sound. "We'll see about that. Come on, let's go to the bridge. The other fighters should be here by the time we get there." He began walking in that direction - or at least what he gathered was the right direction in the darkness of night - before whipping his head back and forth to peer into the suddenly threatening looking shadows. "And keep your eye out for monsters!"

[iattractmushi]

"Right." Ginko was certain it was the way to the bridge, but his already good night vision was being helped (mostly) by the flickering flames around them. At Sniper's words, he cast glances into the woods around him--and also a few into the trees above their heads, just in case their attacker had had a friend. Or worse, a mate.

He didn't see anything, and most of the sounds he heard--squeals, roars, and groaning cries--came from far away. It went against everything in him to just walk away, but... he knew very well that he would just get himself killed.

Still, it was hard to tell his gut feelings that. "Hope everyone else is okay..." It was muttered to himself, but definitely loud enough for Sniper to hear, if he wanted to.

[longnosedliar]

Sniper looked behind him, worry plain as the nose on his face. Which was, considering its length, a very impressive expression indeed. "I doubt it," he said, the flash of pessimism slipping out before he had the chance to stifle it. Still, he couldn't imagine that everyone would be able to escape unscathed. Or even alive.

He could hope, but people here weren't unbeatable. If anything, this place had proved to him that anyone could die, and that they would be cruelly torn from the arms of their loved ones in mere moments, without any meaning given to their deaths. He tried not to think about it. He would do his best to survive this, and he'd try and help everyone else too.

He wouldn't die again.

Sniper placed a reassuring hand on Cloud's arm, knowing how painful it must be to leave his fellow medics behind. "But help will come soon. The people here are strong, and they're used to running out at odd hours of the night."

Now, if only he could convince himself of that fact.