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Post by wolfezth on Dec 23, 2009 23:22:14 GMT -5
Poison.
It was normally a word that sparked mild interest and a grab for coins to buy it, but this time it brought forth anger. Rumors abounded of stories of a black magic practitioner in the forest, calling forth all sorts of monsters for various tasks, men and women relaying their tales with a sense of genuine fear. This caused mild interest, probably exaggerated tales of people so used to city life that they didn't know what they were talking about. Then came the stories about them coming to said witch in need of healing, and how she slips poisons into the so called 'cures'. This immediately changed amusement and mild disbelief into sheer anger. She did actually send cures in for people, but the very concept of poisoning one was... Despicable. Putting poison on a blade before combat, sure. It gives you a better chance to survive, and a fight to the death you have all the more chance of winning. Poison in food, great assassination tactics and a very good way of weakening or killing a more powerful opponent so you won't get hurt. Poison in cures? That crossed the line. If one was ill and went to a healer for help, for healing, and died because of a poison in the cure... The very thought of it made Wolf want to tear something down. If that happened to him he'd be so angry that he'd come back from the dead just to get them back, to exact revenge. He simply had to put a stop to it. There were no ifs, ands, or buts about it. The witch would stop the killing one way or the other. There was one problem with that, however. No one knew exactly where she was, had anything that carried her scent, nothing really useful. Physical descriptions were anything from an old, ugly hag to a shedemon so those were no good. It seemed the witch did a rather good job of secluding herself from justice, but Wolf was determined. The forest was a rather large place, so it would more than likely take a while before he found her... If he found the witch. The stories on black magic made him wary, however. If the witch indeed had black magic, could summon dark monstrosities, and suchlike he didn't want to have her get the jump on him. He had precious little protection from magic, and had been hating his general ineptitude for magic for an entire lifetime now. With any luck, he would get the jump on the witch or the witch would not be able to hit him with her spells due to Wolf's mad dashing zig-zags and whatever else he could come up with to dodge incoming magicks.
The method of approaching such an enemy, with so many unknown factors was difficult. He could fly overhead with dragon form, tear down the forest, and demand satisfaction... But somehow he knew that would just cause any sane person to flee and hide and someone powerful enough not to be afraid of a huge dragon tearing down their doorstep to get very angry at him. He could fly overhead with raven form, but he figured he would see little enough that it wouldn't be worth it. He could come in in human form and cut and weave his way through, but that was too conspicuous. He didn't know the modern forest too well, with all the new trees, shrubs, and suchlike and would be tripping about like an idiot and surely be noticed. This of course led him to two final options, wolf or dire wolf. He reasoned that dire wolf would be for fighting more than anything, but stocking up his human form armor with steel vambraces and a leather jerkin and pants if push came to shove. Normal fabric was not witch-hunting material and very flammable, and even though he was immune to fire that would not be very pleasant. Roaring through the woods with no protection was a rather bad way of going about things. Dire Wolf was also big and noticeable, but normal wolf form wasn't. Plus he could always shift quickly if he needed to. The wolf form also ment that even if he was spotted that he would be mistaken for a normal wolf as long as he didn't do anything stupid, like talk. With that logic in mind, he decided it would be prudent to go with the jet black, lithe, muscular wolf form and try to stalk around a bit before letting himself be known purposefully. With any luck, he could find and get the jump on the witch... What he would do then, he didn't plan ahead that far.
And so Wolfezth entered the forest from the outskirts of town in wolf form, quickly bounding into the thick of the forest while trying to take in all the scents, all the sights, all the sounds. He had to try and get the witch's scent, hear anything out of the ordinary, sight any humanoid movement, and be fully aware of his surroundings. The lush, green, and very much alive forest was refreshing and welcoming in both appearance and scent to Wolf, but he had to focus. The golden sun overhead was reaching its zenith, so this is the time the witch was most likely active, and the time in which he had the best chance of finding her. The warmth of the risen sun flowed through Wolfezth, and he was as energized as ever and ready for the task at hand. Wolfezth walked out to a circular area comprised of about ten metres of the forest in which the trees surrounded the circle and only shrubs and bushes grew inside the circle. He knew not why this occurred, probably by design of somebody who came through or some unhealthy dirt, nor did he particularly care. He inhaled the air around him deeply, trying to catch a scent, any scent out of the ordinary, a humanoid scent. He kept his eyes open while he did this, scanning the area around him and he kept his ears open as well, trying to hear anything like a footstep that wasn't his own or a voice... Anything. He slowly weaved his way around the lowly shrubs and bushes that stood in his way, going forward trying to also act like a natural wolf, easy enough. Most knew little enough about wolf habits that he could pretty much do anything other than talk and they'd not be suspicious, and hopefully the witch wasn't either. He thought on this absently as he snaked through the undergrowth of the stretch of woodland, confident that he could face any challenge the forest decided to throw at him in his hunt.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Dec 25, 2009 20:38:14 GMT -5
Rain had fallen the night before, leaving an earthy scent in the air, dew coating everthing, the earth damp, cushioning her footsteps. Years of living in the forest meant that she could slide through the undergrowth with relativly little difficulty, but today her movements were practically silent. It was the perfect day for hunting. Lately her traps had been rather ineffective, the animals probably getting used to the same tricks over and over. She would need to spy on the trappers when they were next in the forest and see what new tricks she could pick up, until then she would have to stick with good, old fashioned hunting. If all else failed, she would just have to steal eggs from a nest and make do with the vegetables that she had gathered.
The young witch was crouched low amongst the undergrowth, ignoring the twigs which had caught in her hair, her dagger held between her teeth to leave her hands free. Rabbits were her prey of the day, hopping around in the grass around her, seeming oblivious to her presence; she had been here for that long that they were just ignoring her. Patience was a virtue, and Ayla had nothing but time on her hands. She could afford to sit there and wait all day if she had to. Time was irrelevant out in the forest, it ebbed and flowed, changing everything and nothing both at the same time. You could pass through the same patch of forest daily and things would change, and yet the main structure, the bigger features, were permanent, changing so slowly that you barely even noted it.
It was time. Without a warning Ayla suddenly moved, darting forward to grab one of the brown rabbits with both hands, holding it tight as it struggled, ignoring the long scratches that the creatures claws raked over her forearms. She didn't hesitate in snapping it's neck, holding the animal firm with one hand, twisting it's neck with the other. That had been easy enough, she had caught dinner, not all she had to do was prepare it. She unwound a little string from her belt, tying it to the rabbits feet before moving to sling the rope over a low branch and hang the creature up, watching it thoughtfully. Should she catch another rabbit or take this one back and skin it now? Decisions, decisions.
Her concentration was broken by a strange rustling coming her way, the faintest of scowls touching to her features, mismatched eyes flashing in the light as she turned in the direction the sound was coming from. That was out of place. Ayla was up the tree in seconds, taking her bounty with her, slinging the rabbit over her shoulder as she disappeared up into the canopy, crouching on a thick branch to await the cause of the noise revealing itself.
She didn't have to wait very long. Soon enough a lone wolf darted past. That was even stranger. Wolves hunted in packs, they were social creatures, in all her years living here she had never seen a lone wolf before. Something was wrong. She couldn't explain it, it was just a gut feeling, but she had learnt to trust her instincts. Her dagger was transfered back into her belt, rabbit secured over her shoulder as she moved to follow the animal, silent as she flitted through the tree tops, leaves hardly rustling as she passed. This creature had sparked her curiosity. It was acting out of the ordinary, and Ayla would know what was ordinary. She had lived alone in the forest for four years, that gave plenty of time to observe the habits of pretty much every animal that lived there. She could probably even lead you to the part of the forest where you were most likely to find them...well...she would if she was in a helpful mood, but that didn't happen often.
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Post by wolfezth on Dec 26, 2009 14:26:54 GMT -5
As Wolfezth snaked out of the circle, he heard the rustling of leaves that caused him to immediately look up at the barricade of trees above him, and breathing in scents through his nose... And found nothing... Nothing but the regular smell of the forest and some... Freshly killed rabbit? He paused and looked up again, rabbit blood that was... In the trees? He saw nor smelled no hawk capable of such a feat, He followed the strong and fresh scent to a low tree branch, in which the rabbit was foot tied to some rope, dead and bloody. He stopped dead in his tracks his bright green eyes completely locked on the sight. This was quite obviously the work of hunters, but he looked around to find more rabbits hopping around, some eyeing him suspiciously but most oblivious to the fact he was even there and was confused. A hunter group wouldn't only catch one, he came to the conclusion, and go somewhere else when there were plenty of rabbits right here. And neither would a lone hunter, so there could be only three possible explanations for this phenomenon... The hunter got taken away by a bear or something and brutally murdered, but he didn't smell anything that would support that so that was out. There was a fugitive escaped from a prison or confinement of some sort and they ran to the outskirts of Valley Town for whatever reason... Again, they would smell like garbage and city and he'd smell them unless they'd been living here for long enough to blend with the scents which was highly unlikely... Or it was the witch who came up and ran away when she heard something coming. This ment she was scared of being hunted, scared of whatever a newcomer or justice might do to her. This of course made it rather easy to find her if she was nearby instead of the straightforward run two miles into the forest deal. Make yourself noticed and watch for movement, when you see that movement attack viciously to pin her down so she can't cast anything. And what was an easy way to attract attention? Dragon form, certainly.. But he didn't want to burn the forest down, he merely wanted the witch to stop the poison either by force or consent. So there was only one thing someone with as cocky a deposition as Wolf could do in a situation like this.
He transformed almost instantly into human form, all of his armor and weapons included in the transformation. His now steel-gray eyes glinting with anticipation as he roared at the top of his lungs, "Come out, come out, wherever you are!"
Not even Wolf thought for a moment the witch would just pop out and go 'AHA I SURRENDER' or something that silly. But he did expect her to move, which he was watching out for explicitly. Anything standing still, anything without any movement he completely ignored until they were just blurs in his vision, waiting for any rustling of leaves, any disturbance large enough to be made by a human. If the witch casted any spells on him, he'd know exactly which direction the witch was and attack promptly in retaliation. If she could indeed summon monsters, he could wreck one until they told him where she was assuming he knew the language they spoke... Which was more than likely. Arguing with what some may deem were 'monsters' was ultimately more fruitful than arguing with humans, elves, and the like who had constraints. Whatever happened, Wolf was ready. His right hand gripped the handle of Thirkiitu Cayosin the bastard sword tightly, ready to draw it and slash at a moment's notice. It was time to see if he was right, or if he just yelled at nothing.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Dec 28, 2009 12:52:57 GMT -5
Now that she hadn't expected. It had been quite obvious that the creature that she had spotted wasn't what it had seemed, but a shapeshifter? She hadn't seen one of those in the forest before. He obviously didn't belong here, so that left her wandering just what his business was running around as he had been. Not hunting, he obviously hadn't been hunting, his movements had been all wrong, and she could see no other reason for someone being so far out in the forest, unless he was lost. He didn't look lost, he seemed too sure of himself to be lost.
Ayla did't have to wait very long for him to make his purpose known. A scowl settled over her features as he yelled, the witch remaining perfectly still now, crouched upon a thick branch, mismatched gaze fixed on the man below. He was looking for someone? That was bad news. The only someone worth searching for in this forest was her, and there were only two reasons that people went searching for her, and neither were good. Either they were deseperate for a cure, desperate enough to test their luck with her fickle cures which were as likely to kill you as they were heal you, or they had come to get rid of her. Ayla had a habit of making a nuisance of herself, and every now and again someone took it upon themself to go looking for her and put an end to her tricks. So far none had suceeded, though some had come close.
His presence posed a problem. Ayla was not physically strong, she could not win a fight with him, and his ability to shift forms would make it difficult to run from him even if she scratched him with her dagger. A gleam of mischief wound through her eyes as she realised what she must do. It was time to play games, time for her illusions to come out to play. She would not need to fight him, she would not even need to reveal herself to him. It would be simple, she would merely have to distract him then slip off into the forest. Oh, but what if he attempted to follow her? No, that wouldn't do. She would need to scare him out of the forest for good, that would be the only way that she could be safe.
Her eyes flashed in the dim light as she began to work her magic, not having to move a muscle. For Ayla, creating illusions came as easily as breathing, they required no words, no movement, just will and concentration.
Below, on the forest floor, a figure stepped out from the shadows, wearing a dark cloak emblazened with the coat of arms for the nearby A.R.U.M.S. Purple sparks crackled around the figures hands, as though in reaction to the threat made by the drawing of the man's sword. Let him believe that the 'witch' he sought was some rebel from the school, better that than him knowing the truth. Perhaps a student from such a prestigious school could scare him off.
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Post by wolfezth on Dec 29, 2009 2:11:03 GMT -5
(Short, not gonna bunny so this encompasses all of about five to ten seconds.)
Wolfezth looked around, the blurred outlines of the forest hurting his eyes but he ignored it until he had to blink and everything came out clear again. Nothing, no response. His steel gray eyes flashed with a spark of anger as he took a swung downward into the air with his right hand open in a gesture of frustration. Great, now I just alerted everything within a good half mile of where I am. That's absolutely wonderful. Great job, Wolf! You deserve a round of applause for scaring off the witch! Yaaayy!... I hate hiders with a passion. Too scared to come out, aarrgh! He thought, frustrated in the moments following his yell as he scanned the treetops and the area around him to found not a stir, not even a mouse tail wiggling that he could see. He expected an immediate response and a chase or something, but as several seconds ticked by without anything he thought for sure he blew a chance.
That is, until a figure stepped forth from the shadows of the trees and undergrowth to face Wolfezth. It was shrouded in a cloak with the emblem of... A.R.U.M.S. on it. Was the witch simply some runaway novice? Some sluggish, lazy kid who couldn't or wouldn't go through training trying to make a living in the dumbest way they could imagine? Who runs from their rich mommies and daddies and lives in the forest poisoning people for crying out loud? That is absolutely stupid! Wolfezth didn't move to react except to turn his head and think these thoughts until he noticed the purple sparks coming from the cloaked figures' hands. This was trouble, but Wolf knew a situation like this would come and he was prepared. "You wanna dance, kiddo? Then let's dance." He intoned as menacingly as he could manage, trying to sound superior and intimidating to make the mage flinch as he quickly removed his right hand from the hilt of his blade and and moved both hands down to his swordbelt in a matter of about a second, picking up the throwing knives stored there and tossing two out towards the mage, Wolfezth not wanting to take any chances with someone coming out so hostile, and killing it was one way of ending the murders. He knew he'd get a bolt or something back, but Wolfezth knew trying to do something flashy would probably just get him at the mercy of the guy he just threw knives at, so he waited for a flash, or something, tensed as he drew two more knives from his swordbelt, two of the twelve now gone to the mage. As soon as that flash came, he was going to dodge it in the foliage or jump over it... Or whatever he could think of or improvise. A novice shouldn't have too much at their disposal, unless the cloak was a ruse, in which case Wolfezth could be in trouble. He didn't know the terrain at all, so any running from a powerful mage here for Wolf would be difficult at best, suicide at worst. It was time to see if his estimate on the target was correct or if he underestimated the mage.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Jan 2, 2010 12:48:38 GMT -5
Dance? No, this wasn't a dance, that would imply that both parties were equal. This was a game and, at the moment, she was the one making the rules. As long as he believed in the illusion then she had the upper hand. All she had to do was to take care to avoid inconsistancies, and avoid actually 'attacking' this man. He may not rely on his sight as much as she hoped, he may realise that, when attacked by the mage, he felt no pain. Then again, sight was a powerful sense, sometimes the mind could be tricked into believing anything, she had seen how that worked first hand, she had seen people die from none existant injuries, she had been the one that had inflicted those none existant injuries. If the illusion failed, she would scratch him with her knife and run, there was no shame in surviving.
The illusion rose a hand as the throwing knives sped through the air towards him, the purple sparks flashing forwards to hit the knives. This is where the trick became more complicated. She had to lay an illusion over the real knives to make them disappear while recrating an illusion of them to show them being knocked off course and spinning off into the undergrowth. This fight was going to be difficult to pull off, she had to hope that this was going to be a short battle, otherwise her energy wouldn't last.
These worries were put to the back of her mind, it was her turn to attack, and she needed to make this showy enough to intimidate him and drive him away. The best way to do that? Fire, she figured that fire should work. Purple flames sprang up around the mage's hands, replacing the sparks. With a wave of the mage's hand the flames were sent scorching over the ground towards the man that had come searching for her, diverting off course and splitting into two to rush around and circle him, flaring up high once they had surrounded him.
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Post by wolfezth on Jan 2, 2010 18:48:32 GMT -5
Wolfezth grinned as the knives flew at the upstart mage, but the grin was changed to a confident smirk as the mage rose his hand and purple sparks threw all the knives' trajectories askew. Ha, I knew it! Apprentice level mage trying to act all big and bad! If he had any powers he'd've sent 'em back at me with a vengeance. There was an odd thing, though... The thunk, thunk, thunk noises were before the knives went into the bushes... And knives don't go thunk when they go into bushes and grass and dirt... They go thunk in wood. He froze for a moment as he considered this, and during that moment the sparks that were in the mages hands turned to fire. Can't get distracted now... Even if this fool wants to play with fire. It's like a five against an ace... That just doesn't fly. As he thought this, the mage sent fire out of his hands, flying over the grass only to split in twain as it encircled him... And the flames raised to a considerable height once they surrounded him. Wolfezth grinned at this, knowing that no fire could burn HIM... But his clothes and armor was a totally different matter. Wolfezth kneeled down with his left hand on the ground next to his right foot with his right knee pointed up and 'sitting' on his left leg as he transformed into the big, bad dire wolf.
Thrice as big as his black timberwolf form, his dire wolf form also had bigger, stronger, and sharper teeth and claws to boot. Grey and white fur all over his body and still retaining his cold, steel gray eyes he sat down and howled. A bone rattling, spine chilling howl that would haunt you... That would make you scared, that would throw you off, that would make you terrified. It wasn't a friendly howl, it was an angry, vengeance-filled howl that screamed his feelings of rage of all the victims... All the dead that were felled by this witch... Rage coursing through his body, Wolfezth finished the dread howl and stood to his full height, about five feet of deadly, muscular, lithe, terrifying wolf. He then jumped out of the fire in front of him emitting an angry growl, and once his paws hit the cold, soft grass and dirt he rushed towards the man who killed so many innocents. He was going to die, mauled by the great Wolfezth of the Third Wind. The threat would be ended, and he would go home the victor. The winner, because none other could win at the deadly dance of death. He fought righteously and justly in the light of the sun at its zenith... It was like a storybook battle, and he was the hero for once in his life. Wait... Was that dirt just cold? Wolfezth noticed in the middle of his self-congratulations mid-charge... But noticing this didn't stop him from charging at the mage, if this was indeed a trick he'd still get his prey, he always did... Because he was the best, and the best always got the job done... It was what made them the best. That didn't completely dispel his doubts of what was going on, but he pushed those thoughts to the back of his mind. He could wait until the witch was gone before figuring it out.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Jan 9, 2010 16:16:12 GMT -5
Another form shift? He was like no shapeshifter that she had ever seen before, and that was like no wolf that she had ever seen before. In all her years living in the forest, she had never once seen a wolf quite that big. It was almost as tall as she was! If the creature wasn't intimidating enough on it's own, then that howl would have stuck fear into the hearts of even the most courageous of enemies. A shiver traced down her spine, Ayla shrinking back a little to put the tree trunk between herself and the monster. This was no good, her mage illusion wouldn't stand a chance against that monster. She needed something else, somthing that looked just as frightening as the wolf did. Think, Ayla, think. She had been playing around with people for long enough to know what there were scared of, this man couldn't be any different to the rest. What did you use to fight a monster? The answer was surprisingly simple. Another monster.
Now, this had to be well executed or it would look clumsy rather than terrifying. She needed to concetrate, ignore that beast below and put all her energy into making one of her own.
The mage didn't flinch at the howl, nor did he move a muscle as the wolf approached him. Instead he smirked beneath his hood, as though this whole situation were amusing, before the change started to occur. It started with his whole form seeming to shake, his very skeleton shivering before starting to change. His arms elongated, shoulders grew broader, the man growing in size until he burst out of his robes, the shredded material fluttering to the ground around him. His skin altered to a greyish colour, bones growing out of his skin to reinforce his skeleton. Thick, curled horns grew out of his head, face no longer human but something far more deadly, yellow eyes still filled with amusement as he looked down upon the wolf.
Ayla seemed pleased with herself as her monster loomed above the wolf, thick, black smoke curling from it's nostirls. Her inspiration? A story that her mother had told her as a child, one designed to keep the children from wandering up into the mountains. This was the demon that supposedly called the mountains home, and that claimed the lives of every naughty child that wandered that far alone, and here he was, created out of nothing to do her bidding, it was such a shame that he could do no real damage. Perhaps she should take her monster to play down in the town when this was over, she was sure that the children there would recognise it, and it had been such a long time since she had heard them scream...
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Post by wolfezth on Mar 6, 2010 13:34:31 GMT -5
Wolfezth's smug confidence turned into a twinge of surprise and an inkling of fear when the mage shapechanged... He had not foreseen that possibility. Maybe I should've gotten Rael for this one... She could've just shot a lightning bolt at it or something, not give it a chance to react...
Then, as the transformation ensued... Wolfezth really wished he had brought forth some sort of backup... The mage's new form shredded his robes, his skin turned greyish, bones grew out of his body to reinforce his physical form... Thick, ram-like horns grew out his ugly, demonic face, and yellow eyes looked at him in amusement... OK, maybe next time Rael rants on about the weaknesses of various demons I'll listen... Big, horned, boney... What could its weakness be? Bones would reinforce his pitiful body, slashing would be ineffective... Realizing that he was still charging toward the demon and within seconds would be in range of a swipe from it, veered off course and kept himself just outside of his reach for a moment while he considered his options. Bones might crumble... If I can hit him hard enough to where the bones either crumble or impale his own skin... Then that might be it. That might be its weakness, or the bones might be unbreakable and I just get myself in whoop ass range for him... And the spells... Can't sit here thinking all day or he'll whack me with a hell of a spell. Go, Go, GO! Wolfezth willed himself to charge back at the demon, but not before calling a moderate gust of wind behind it, akin to something teleporting in or something decently sized flying over, perhaps; hoping to distract the fiend for even a moment. If he managed to do that, his lunge would even be more effective.
What Wolfezth did himself was leap as soon as he charged a few steps, gaining enough speed to attempt such a lunge, straight towards the demon's chest. If it hit, Wolfezth was hoping the intense weight and force of his dire wolf form would at least wind the demon, opening it up for further attacks. If he missed, he hoped he would just lunge straight past the demon and not give him an opportunity to attack. Quick scenarios played through his mind subconsciously, and he asserted that his Dire Wolf form was best for the job, Dragon form was way too big and conspicuous to use unless this fiend proved exceedingly powerful. C'mon, c'mon... Gimme a crack in the armor... Gimme a window... Gimme a shredded demon... Gimme a weak demon... Gimme a demon that can't just fling me into a tree or somthing... C'mon Bahamut... C'mon Tiamat... C'mon Io... C'mon whoever'll listen. Wolfezth rattled off the names of various draconic gods in his mind, his thoughts racing faster than ever as he was in his lunge. In the final seconds before impact or miss, Wolfezth focused his eyes directly on the demon, filled with a mixture of wariness and determination; the confidence killed itself when the mage transformed.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Mar 6, 2010 14:39:58 GMT -5
This new hunter that they had found to send after her was daring, wasn't he? Most would have merely turned and ran at the sight of the demon that she had conjured, but he held his ground, more in fact, he moved to attack. His confidence had, however, taken a knock, she could see that in his eyes, in his movements. He was unsure how to go about attacking this new opponent. Good, she thought to herself with a hint of relief, the longer he takes to work out how best to attack it, the longer I have to escape. She just had to keep him guessing, keep him dancing about the demon for long enough for her to get a decent head start, then she could lose herself in the forest. This was, after all, her home, she knew it like the back of her hand. If it was a game of hide and seek they were playing then she had a significant advantage.
Thick, black smoke curled from the demon's nostrils as it regarded the wolf hurtling toward him, form tensing ready to move out of the way. She couldn't let them touch, not yet, she needed to keep him dancing around her illusion. As soon as he found out what it was the game was up, and she was in trouble. Ayla stood no chance against someone like him. Even if she managed to get him with her dagger his size meant that he wouldn't be immobilized for long, and he would have her scent, hiding when he knew her scent would be more than difficult.
The demon illusion dodged out of the way as he pounced, narrowly avoiding the attack, Ayla's gaze focused on the confrontation as she began to move, easing along the branch slowly, shifting her weight gradually to avoid making the wood creak beneath her. She had clambered back onto a connecting branch as the demon made to swing at Wolf, fire curling from it's nostrils as it attacked.
Just a little more, just a little more. The branches were obscuring her view of the battle now, the witch having managed to move a decent distance away from the clearing in which she had the man chasing around after an illusion. This was it, she had to run. The demon illusion lingered as she turned and ran, flames still flickering from it's nostrils, the thing looking as menacing as ever as it looked over Wolf, but it would no longer react to anything that was happening. Ayla had stuck to the trees for now, running along the thicker branches, nimbly hopping from tree to tree, gradually climbing higher. There was a rock face not far from here. If she managed to get there, managed to get there then she could escape, she could climb hight enough in the trees to avoid having to scale the wall of rock itself. If he tried following her, she had to hope that would slow him down enough to prevent her being caught.
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Post by wolfezth on Mar 6, 2010 18:41:31 GMT -5
Wolfezth kept his cool when the demon narrowly dodged his lunge, a snarl twisting his features as he tried to invoke a tad of terror. He landed nimbly on his feet, and ducked backwards when the demon lunged itself to attack him, smoke curling out of its nostrils at first, then fire.
"C'mon buddy! Try and BURN me, that works SO well before; didn't it?" Wolfezth taunted the demon, his confidence beginning to well up as he realized if it could cast spells, it would've already. It didn't, and thus the wizard's already weak powers must be nullified in its new form. Wonderful, now it's time to see how strong this thing is. He thought as he effortlessly drove his paws into the ground and lunged once more toward the demon, aiming at barreling straight into its chest.
He passed through the demon, and while smoke still flared out of its nostrils it did not move, react, or do... Anything.
He had been duped, this entire time. By a fake demon. The little inconsistencies suddenly all made sense, the wall of fire... The daggers... It was all an illusion, and Wolfezth now had no idea where the real witch was. This was bad, very bad.
Wolfezth sighed and walked over to retrieve his throwing knives from the tree where he threw them, placing them back in his belt when he had an idea. Maybe the witch is nearby... And I can trick 'em into revealing their hand...
Wolfezth summoned up a some gale force winds with a moment on concentration, and immediately the clear, sunny, and windless day began to have winds; winds that grew stronger and stronger as seconds passed.
"I know where you are, and if you save me the trouble of coming out to find you, I'll be less pissed when I DO find you. You have much to answer for, Witch!" Wolfezth then roared, but instead of his voice being ripped away by the wind, it was carried by it; making it go much farther than it normally would have.
Wolfezth figured this would produce one of two outcomes: Either the witch would be cowed by this show of force and come out, or the witch would be cowed by this show of force and power and hide even better than it had previously planned. The latter was more likely, in which case Wolfezth stood little chance to find it with still no scent. The witch no doubt had wards around it, so scrying would be useless later on... Even moreso because Wolfezth still didn't even an inkling of what the witch looked like, whether it be man or fiend; or perhaps both. Wolfezth fumed silently that he had been fooled by an illusion, a simple illusion; and allowed his quarry to get away, to be forced to rely on bluffs was... Unacceptable, he must be more careful next time, because more than likely he had failed in this chase to even spot the target; rather humiliating. The wind gained speed, turning into gale-force while draining his energy slowly, but he let the gale go on for now - he didn't need the energy, and hopefully it scared the crap out of the witch. He kicked up some dirt in front of him in frustration, silently fuming.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Mar 7, 2010 10:05:03 GMT -5
Ayla had almost escaped when the wind picked up. The witch was stood on the end of a sturdy branch, ready to leap across the small gap onto the top of the roce face, though her plans soon changed. She couldn't jump that far with the wind this strong, she was only light, it would blow her off course. Her hair was blown up all around her face as she scowled, pushing it back out of the way, crouching down so that the swiftly strengthening wind didn't knock her from the branch. Now what was she going to do? She couldn't escape up there, and any way to escape down below would involve having to go past him again, and she doubted that she would get away with creeping past him twice. He had been tricked once, he woudld be on the look out for any more of her games.
She couldn't think about this for very long, the wind was swiftly becoming a problem. So high up the wind was strong, strong enough to almost drag her from the branch even when she was clinging on. She needed to get down, but letting go of the branch would mean that she was dragged away in the wind. She could barely hold on now, her hair whipped away from her face, and she was losing her grip on her catch, the string that the rabbit was attatched to slipping from her grip. Another gust of wind and the string was tugged from her hand, going crashing down through the branches to the ground. "Damn." She hissed to herself under her breath, watching the rabbit fall. She couldn't lose her catch, it had been far too long since she had eaten, she didn't have the time to hunt again and escape this mess.
Ayla growled to herself, carefully moving to clamber down through the branches, hoping that he hadn't heard the rabbit fall. If she was quiet she could retrieve her catch and find a way out of this mess. Otherwise...well...if this didn't work she was just going to have to run like Hell.
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Post by wolfezth on Mar 11, 2010 14:49:21 GMT -5
Wolfezth growled, kicking up the storm around him yet another notch in anger; to where the trees bent slightly and leaves and dirt started flying up everywhere in a circle around him like a miniature hurricane. He continued this for five seconds, and then as his he could physically feel his energy ebb away he stopped. He half-wished he had some flashy magics to rip something apart to satisfy his anger, but alas he didn't. He figured he could always go to dragon form and rip some of the forest open... But destroying a forest would just feel wrong somehow, destroying an unnatural place such as a city felt much less... Profane. In fact, he felt somewhat bad that he disturbed the areas that he did with his little storm, no doubt unlodging some animals from their homes; it's not like they ever did anything to him.
Raaargh... That morality crap is finally starting to work on me... I suppose that's a bad sign. Every time I'm here I might as well try again, maybe with some help next time... Maybe I'll bring a few of my wolves from home in; I bet the witch'd have a fun time trying to avoid THEM... But it'll be holed up now so they probably won't find it... Or maybe this just never happened; yeah... Let's just go with that. Nothing happened, I was just taking a big nappy nap in the forest. Yeps, that works. But Rael can read my mind... Arrrgghhh. Now I have to do it... I hate my life.
Wolfezth then transformed into his normal wolf form, his midnight sky black fur just eating up the sun's rays and his startlingly green eyes taking in his surroundings he opened up his nostrils and breathed in everything around him...
He smelled sap from wood that was cut by big branches and the like smashing into it, the smell of freshly cut up grass and dirt, and rabbit... Rabbit? There's lunch right there.
Wolfezth immediately sniffed out and followed the scent; as he now noticed his stomach was grumbling from the drain of the gale; it needed some food to refuel his energy supplies - and lucky for him food was right nearby! How convenient! Just a good, nice, juicy rabbit. He could come for the witch later, there was no rush. Now that he had to catch the witch, Wolfezth was confident he could do it. He would not go back until he was satisfied this was not a depressingly humiliating experience he'd have to recount at any point in his life... Ever. He'd go back a winner, just like always; but food was closer and more in reach than winning at the moment, so food it was.
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Post by Angel ♥ on Mar 13, 2010 15:18:57 GMT -5
The path back to the ground was far more difficult than it should have been. The gale force winds meant that she had to be careful, she had to stick close to the wide tree trunks to shield herself from the wind, clinging onto the branches as she decended. There was more than one occasion she had almost been caught by the wind and blown from the branch she had been perched upon. This was the strongest person they had sent after her so far, he was far stronger than the others. Did they think that she was that much of a threat? Perhaps she should disappear for a while, avoid going back to town and keep away from any travellers. She had everything that she needed to survive alone for a while, and if she had to go into town she would disguise herself. Ayla wasn't stupid, she knew when to keep her head down and let them think that she had disappeared to stop something like this happening again.
She paused as she reached a branch close enough to the ground for her to jump down to the ground, leaning over to glance around and make sure that there was no-one around. Ayla dropped to the ground gracefully next to the rabbit, landing lightly.She scooped up her meal, putting it back over her shoulder and tying the string this time before straightening up to look around again. Alright, where to now? She needed to find a way around the man they had sent after her, and then somewhere to hide.
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Post by wolfezth on Oct 16, 2010 11:20:00 GMT -5
Without the gale to maintain now, Wolf could focus his entire mind to focus at the situation at hand and for the first time it occurred to him that if the witch could conjure an optical illusion, why not an illusion that played on other senses? He dismissed this notion, since her optical illusion had failed; and that either ment the witch fled or ran out of whatever sort of energy magic users used to cast spells. They could only cast so much, after all. He didn't pretend to understand magic, simply because it was too complicated for a non-user to understand without long hours, years even of study. Time Wolf never really wanted to invest, having several close friends and associates mages over the years telling him what he needed to know. Now he was alone and had no way to gauge the situation due to his lack of knowledge. He sighed inwardly and promised himself he'd actually take the time to learn as much as he could about how it worked from now on -- he just knew that mages got tired casting spells after a while and they couldn't cast them for a while afterwards. Whether "while" ment seconds, minutes, hours, or days he had no idea. He could only guess it would be the amount of time it took for a troop to recover after a day's forced march... A good night's sleep to be fully ready for the next day. And if the witch was truly that weak - she would've fled in quite a hurry.
But leaving without the day's catch before having to sleep or hide would be harder - and if you tossed an illusion that you expected your enemy to be occupied by for a few minutes why not go after your lost meal? It made such perfect sense Wolf was instantly wary; things didn't go this perfect unless the witch had no battle experience before or was laying an ambush... Just playing possum. Potion poisoner, he reminded himself. Not an enemy general, most likely a hedge wizard of some sort from the last encounter. He had wasted valuable seconds considering his next move - and while normally moments to hatch a perfect plan were well worth it... In a forest he didn't know it certainly was not. With that thought in mind, Wolf quickly bounded through the forest to where he smelled and continued to smell the scent of the dead rabbit - his lupine form carrying him swiftly and easily.
He was expecting to just see the carcass on the ground, smelling nothing but the rabbit and the normal smells of the forest -- so he was scared into transforming into his dire wolf form at the sight of a... Human? His figure grew longer, his fur turning a grey and white -- a stark contrast to his normal wolf form's black and his eyes returning from a startling green to steel gray. He grew to three times the size of his normal wolf form -- nearly as tall as the witch herself in his dread dire wolf guise.
He regarded the small human woman with an amused glint in his eyes - a far cry from the demon many had portrayed her to be. An adult with brownish red hair -- it soon became apparent why he had not smelled anything untoward when nearing the rabbit... The girl smelled exactly the same as the forest except for that fleshy smell that was drowned out by the fresh rabbit kill quite nicely. She had little of a distinct smell, and without knowing it he would've never found her just be the scent -- she had obviously spent a very long time in the forests... But with a few deep inhales he had her scent -- it would be difficult to track but not impossible on its own merit; the rabbit smell even if she dropped it would linger on her clothes and skin and make it that much easier.
"Run if you want, it won't do you much good and I won't be in a good mood after a chase -- though you can certainly try." Wolf intoned with a growl. His lupine maw couldn't form the words of common very well, growling out the words and gave the sentence a halting, feral glint to it that Wolf felt suited the situation just fine. Seeing the woman; he felt pity well up despite the fact she was a known killer. Forced to live in the forests, anyone would be bitter and this woman probably wasn't all there if she chose to live there especially since she was obviously not a druid due to her use of illusion magic and not a ranger due to the clumsiness of her escape. So Wolf waited for her response, his steel gray eyes intent on her -- not sure what he should think for the moment; but careful not to let her bound away and escape him. He had his prey, and he was intending to impress upon her unlike anyone else that if the killings continued she'd be the next victim and not some stranger she likely cared nothing about. It would be next to impossible to find her again, but he hoped to scare her into obedience at the very least.
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