Dark Clouds Looming

It's late in the afternoon, deep in the bizarre-yet-natural landscape of the Frog Forest that a golden rabbit with long, branch-like horns was standing behind a massive mushroom, seeming to hide from one of the large, amphibious creatures a few yards away. He pulled a notepad and pen from out of a pocket in his white labcoat, and began jotting down notes based on what he saw. 
What he wrote down didn't end up mattering anyway as one of his large bunny ears perked up at the sound of a deep, booming CROAK, then the sound of pouring rain. 


The frog hopped away, causing a soft booming noise in the distance as it landed, then hopped again. Booming, rhythmically getting more quiet. 
Something had spooked it. 
"Hmph... I can't work like this." He sighs, quickly putting his notepad away so that the little rain that made it under his little shroom shelter wouldn't mess it up. 
His voice was light yet refined and masculine - he was likely from the Spagonia area, though he was almost literally on the exact other side of the planet from there. 
He looks around the stem again, looking out for whatever spooked the frog... 
He doesn't see anything. 
But he can feel it.
Excitement wells up within him...


"Oh. Here? Now? How... Intriguing." He says to seemingly himself as the quick, heavy rain soon lightened up and stopped just as quickly.


It's a relaxing, rainy day to wander through a forest. But the cool winds passing through the trees wasn't just from rain...

Now you might be thinking, what was a kid doing here on the other side of the world in a random rainforest with froggies that summon rain?

Simple, parkour training of the hardcore variety.

Jumping off of trees, grinding on comically large vines, swinging around, just having a swell time, and the rain just made it more of a challenge!

Eventually, he'd land by the rabbit, about to go for another running jump before actually noticing him.

"Oh- Uh... Hey there!"

A labcoat... probably a scientist, knowing the stereotype.

"Sorry if I bothered you or your work at all from my jumping around, hehe..."

A cat-like Mobian wearing a tattered cloak was wandering through the forest. Following close behind them was a frenzy wisp.

"What are we doing out here in this stupid forest?" Said the wisp through a series of screeches and wails. The Mobian seemed to be the only one who could understand them though.

"I don't know. I just... Feel like it would help me take my mind off things." The Mobian said as they lowered the hood on their cloak, now revealing two fuzzy, black ears. 'Like your stupid, emotionless face.'

The cat moved through the trees until he came across two other Mobians. He looked at both of them, then just pulled his hood up again, trying to hide his face. 'Crap, I thought I would be alone out here! Who actually takes walks out in a rainforest?!'

Another person walking through the forest was human, or at least appeared to be. Mostly. With the black fox ears and nine fluffy fox tails trailing out behind her, drifting about lazily, she certainly looked a bit odd. Especially considering her attire, the kimono the was wearing offering almost no protection from the rain at all. She did, however have protection from the potential rain. When one of the occasional bits of rain hit, the droplets were stopped from hitting her by a thin, almost invisible disc of flames above her head appearing. As she bent down to inspect a rather beautiful flower, she heard a voice. Two, technically. Although one was more of just screeching.

Looking through the trees and walking rather quietly behind them, she watched as the mobian cat quickly brought up his hood as he spotted the others. Quietly walking a few feet to the side of the now-hooded mobian, she looked at the other two Mobians who seemed to be talking and quietly said to the hooded one next to her “A rather odd choice for a meeting place, hm?”

Frog Forest. It certainly lived up to its name.

It was a wonderful natural landscape out here for one who lived away from the comforts of modern society. It was certainly something more than just a forest though. While filled with trees, plants and assorted underbrush one would commonly find in most forests, and possibly much more manicured versions within the boundaries of towns and cities, this region also seemed to be an odd mix that was also composed of jungle foliage. Fern like plants. Large swaths of overgrown fungi. Vines dropping down from above. There were some absolutely massive trees as well that seemed to blot out the sunlight. Well, whatever sunlight that could break through the canopy in most places. It felt like a wonderous place to be.

Everything there certainly made for a much more challenging journey for one on foot, even under normal circumstances.

There was one thing that made this particular voyage much more of a difficult task.

Rain.

Seemingly never ending rain.

It would die down for stretches of time, only to come roaring back unexpectedly to drench any unprepared travelers. It was especially baffling during the periods where it was bright, sunny with hardly any clouds above.

At least that is how it seems to this particular traveler anyway.

The silver furred wolf glances up towards the sky as the rain picks up once again. He lets out a soft sigh as he continues trudging along through a small muddy clearing within the forest, his brown cloak doing its best to keep the bulk of the water off of him until he disappears back into the vegetation where the trees help lessen the effect of the downpour.

There were so many other ways, faster ways, drier ways, to get around from one place to the next. But here he was. On foot. In the rain. He'd heard that the journey is more important than the destination.

Times like this made him consider the alternative.

As he approaches a region of the forest where the vegetation becomes less dense, the rain begins to lessen once more and the noise it creates lessens as well.

Off in the distance, be can hear the sound of, what he assumes is, one of those giant frogs hopping off to who knows where. At least it sounded like it was heading away. He comes to a halt to better judge that.

Off to his right, he hears something like a series of screeches and wails. It didn't seem to be that close. It wasn't overly loud, but seemed to carry pretty easily. It seemed out of place. Or at least, he hadn't heard anything like that up until now.

Experience suggested that he'd be better off leaving well enough alone... but he had a feeling that he should go take a look just to be sure. If worst came to pass, he was reasonably sure that he could make a quick retreat.

With that, he heads off in the general direction he thought the sound came from, on alert for any surprises the forest might spring on him, and hoping that he wasn't making a mistake by going.

The jackalope was about to go on the move when he heard and felt more people around him. He stopped moving, as if he'd just been caught doing something wrong, then relaxes his posture to turn in the direction of Clash.

He looks around for a couple of seconds, trying to see who else was out there - even through the trees beyond Clash he caught a couple glimpses of at least three others. With a small pout, he looked down at the hedgehog.
Hedgehogs were not uncommon, and many looked fairly similar to varying extents. Hedgehogs were well known for being part of legends and the history-changing events of the world. Even the slowest hedgehogs were faster than a fairly fast human - the fastest, most powerful hedgehogs challenged light itself.
He could be useful.

"No, no- it's fine, really. What are you doing out here? Do you know them?" The scientist asks Clash, looking out past the trees.
He shakes his head, realizing that such a question might make him uncomfortable and scare him off.
"I'm sorry- I promise it wasn't you that... scared away that frog I was studying. They can be quite jumpy, but it left before you got here. I've got a feeling we aren't alone out here." He explains, trying to begin sewing intrigue...

Of course, he wasn't the most normal thing either, certainly had an intriguing aura of some sort, himself. How often do you meet jackalopes, and well...
He smelled weird? Did this dude bathe in his weight's worth of cologne...?

Clash's ear twitched, he felt more presences around them, one of which was particularly... potent but he wasn't going to interrogate.

"No, can't say I do, doubt they're fans of mine, not even they would stalk me here."

After hearing out the guy, his attempt to sew intrigue definitely worked.

"Judging by how you're talking, I assume you mean other things, and not the people sneaking around."

The cat was about to step backwards to leave, but someone snuck up behind him.


"WHAT THE-?!"


 He spun around and swung his hand across his body, claws out. His claw swipe cut away some of the surrounding foliage as the cat then jumped backwards, away from the person that snuck up on him. He landed on the ground as he then took note of where he landed. Right between the hedgehog and the... Bunny... Deer... Thing.


"Crap. I really didn't want to talk to anybody right now."  He said quietly as he stood up while the frenzy wisp flew over and wrapped a tentacle around the cat's ear.


"Let's get rid of them then." The wisp said into the cat's ear.


"Shut up you psycho!" The cat said as he shoved the wisp away. The cat sighed before pulling his hood off again.


"Hey. Uh... Sorry if I interrupted anything. Um... I'm Terry. The wisp over there is Ravage."

Akari was not at all surprised at the mobian’s reaction, and didn’t flinch in the slightest as his clawed swipe, Akari standing well out of the reach of said swipe. “To be expected I suppose...” she said, sighing as she did so. She watched with some amusement and a small smirk on her face as the cat rocketed backwards, before taking another few steps and standing nearby the hedgehog, the cat, and the rather odd mobian that appeared to be a cross of a bunny and a deer. Perhaps they were somewhat magical? Regardless, she tilted her head in Terry’s direction, the small smirk still on her face. “I apologize for any alarm I may have caused, mortal.” Her eyes then traveled to the wisp as she studied it rather intently for a few moments. Such an... odd energy coming from that one. But nothing that seemed concerning to her for now.

She looked to the other two, her smirk replacing by a quite calm smile, and tilted her head at them. “A very... interesting place for a meeting...” she said, as her ever-present tails lazily drifted behind her, as she seemed to debate as why the hedgehog and deer/rabbit would meet in such a place before mentally shrugging it off. It truly was none of her concern, but perhaps these Mobians could be entertaining for a while. With a light, casual tone, Akari simply said “A rather fantastic environment, this forest. Don’t you agree, mortals?”

The wolf makes decent time heading through the foliage between him and... whatever it was he was heading towards. He tries to move quickly but quietly, not wanting to draw attention to himself.

He pauses as he hears a fairly loud exclamation somewhere ahead of him. Taking a few moments, he listens for any sort of follow up to it. Upon hearing nothing immediately, he readjusts his direction towards it and continues his approach.

Such interesting specimens...
Though being called 'mortal' did bother him a little, he set that aside for the sake of research. 

He chuckles lightly, looking to the cat who was getting upset at their alien companion and the... kitsune before him, with her commanding presence. Though the wolf was on his mind, he still wasn't close enough to aknowledge - he did feel them, however. 
He gives a sidewards glance to the hedgehog while nervously glancing around at everyone. 
"You'd be correct, yes - I was not referring to them. I was instead referring to something of the more monstrous variety - a cold, dark energy in the air, not from cool winds but... like an aura, I guess."
Funny, through the bizarre smell of cologne, his aura too might feel "cold". Odd. 
"B- but enough of that, sorry for my rudeness." He says before giving a cute bow. "My name is Dr. Hirsch. I study paranormal and supernatural activity - I figure I could learn about these massive, rain-calling frogs, but I've since caught a feeling that something much more interesting is on the horizon."

Clash turned around to face Terry when he had stumbled out, repressing a giggle.

"Nice to meet you Terry, Ravage."

And then the... thing approached, certainly wasn't human, nor mobian, and what he felt certainly wasn't normal by any stretch either... And the remark of 'mortal' didn't help him at all.

"Yeah... It's pretty nice..." Clash said with a glare before turning back around to Engel.

Now that he focused a bit, he could feel it... A familiar presence, even Kane and Carter felt uneasy by it.

"Yeah, I can feel that... You know what it is?" "Oh, my name is Clash, by the way, Clash Kopis."

"Don't you know it's rude to sneak up on people?" Terry said to the animal human hybrid that had scared him moments ago. "And like I said a second ago, the name's Terry."

After overhearing Engel's explanation of why he was out here, Terry turned to them and said,

"Hm? Now that you mention it, something does feel a bit... Off. And this time it isn't your looming presence, Ravage."

Ravage frowned at the subtle insult, but didn't say anything.

"So you a scientist or something? Last scientist I interacted with gave me the curse of hearing this wisp's voice. Despite how much I try to ignore it."

Akari felt the presence of the wolf nearby as well, but her attention was focused on the three mortals in front of her... the two mortals, actually. The one who had introduced themselves as Dr. Hirsch was different from the other two. Mortal? No. But this Hirsch was no god or former god, that Akari was sure of. She also could sense something else more ominous about them... the horrid stench of some sort of necromancy. This Dr. Hirsch was once dead, and as with any necromancy she was immediately suspicious. People are not brought back from the dead out of kindness. Her eyes narrowed slightly, but her serene smile remained. She would have to keep an eye on this doctor. She did, however, feel what the doctor meant by ‘off’. Certainly something rather malevolent. “Hm, I believe you are correct, there is a rather... ominous feeling in the air.”

As for Clash’s reaction to Akari’s use of the term mortal, she ignored it. If he wanted to be called by his name, he would have to earn her respect. It was earned, not given. Perhaps Akari should stop using such a term? It was almost always accurate, although some (such as this hedgehog) didn’t take kindly to it. Akari simply kept her small smile as she looked to Terry cat and the wisp named Ravage. “A rather fascinating creature, that wisp. It speaks to you, hm?” Akari asked Terry, tilting her head slightly as her cold purple eyes studied the wisp once more.

“Ah, perhaps I should introduce myself to you all. I am Akari, the... ah, I forget that the title has no meaning anymore...” She said, her smile fading slightly and seeming rather wistful as she realized her title was no longer in a position for her to use. Well, former title. There was no Black Sun of the East anymore. She was no longer a goddess, revered and perhaps feared. Just Akari now. “...Regardless, that is my name.” She finished serenely, gazing about once more at the forest around her with a small smile.

The wolf continues his quiet approach, until he is finally able to make out some figures up ahead of him through the forest plant life separating him from them. He wasn't sure if they were even what he was looking for. It just so happened that they were in the path of what he had heard, if they were not the source of it.

The wolf settles down in the foliage of the forest, just wanting to observe the group for a while before approaching. Strangers always made him wary... and there was something that felt off about these individuals ahead of him. He didn't know why, but something had him on edge.

So he would be cautious and wait... and hope again that he hadn't made a mistake by coming here.

"It is very nice to meet you all Clash, Terry, and especially you Akari." Ah, purposefully ignoring the wisp after catching on that Terry doesn't seem to like it, and seeming to kiss up to Akari... Maybe he's already caught on that Akari is suspicious of him? 
Uncertain indeed. 

His gaze would occasionally shift over to the wolf occasionally as he continued speaking, as if trying to let the others that haven't caught on know there's someone else here. 
"I'm more of a researcher than a tinkerer these days - I don't often make gadgets, my feline friend, so trust that I won't curse you with anymore innane voices." He tells Terry. 

"I'm not... entirely familiar with them." He lies. "Last I saw one was a couple decades ago when I was much, much younger. I believe they are referred to as... 'Nightmares'? I've always been curious about them... But they are far too dangerous for someone like me to get close enough to study them." 
It was fairly clear what he was hinting at, especially with his sad little pout.

Clash stifled a chuckle at Terry's remark at Ravage, it reminded him of back when he first got stuck with his spirits.
Though, apparently, Engel seemed to know about the nightmare creatures, aptly named "Nightmares".

"They're just called 'Nightmares'? Huh." "I actually fought one of those a few months back."

Clash could tell what Engel was getting at, he shared the same sentiment, more or less.

"Y'know, I've wanted to take a closer look at those things myself. I'm willing to help out."

Terry turned to Akari to answer her question.

“Yes, it does. Almost constantly. And for some reason it’s some kind of psychopath.”

“You know you want to get rid of them. Just let me take over and we can get out of here.” Ravage screeched. Terry grabbed the wisp, then pointed a finger in their eyeless face.

“No! You don’t just kill people because you don’t want to talk to them!” Terry sighed before continuing with, “See what I mean? A psychopath.” Terry let go of the wisp when he heard Clash chuckle. He walked over to the hedgehog, then stared right in his face as he said,


“What’s so funny huh? You couldn’t possibly know what it’s like to have a voice in your head that only you can hear. So what are you laughing about spikey boy?”

Akari’s small smile faded slightly at the doctor’s reaction to her, Akari’s suspicion of him reaching new heights rather than being put to rest. Yes, she’d have to watch him very, very carefully… her smile came back, although if one was paying attention for this entire time, it was not a smile that reached her eyes. The cold and calculating gaze of the kitsune traveled from each person in their little group, her senses letting her know about the wolf nearby. She decided to not draw attention to them and simply smiled, her eyes flicking to the wisp and the odd energy from it several times. “You need assistance with these… ‘Nightmares’? I suppose I can assist, if you’d like.”

Akari noted Clash’s previous experience with the nightmares mentally before offering him a small bow. “It seems your experience with the… ‘Nightmares’… will be useful, mor- er, Clash.” She said, giving him a small smile and deigning to use his name. Perhaps he was a warrior? Regardless, affording him the amount of respect needed to use his name was something she was willing to do… she did have a soft spot for warriors after all. “You seem like a warrior to me, Clash. Am I correct in assuming that this is true?”

Akari’s ear twitched at the mention that the wisp creature was a psychopath, and hearing the brief screeching and Terry’s response she was inclined to believe it. “How… interesting…” Akari said, her cold gaze flicking to the wisp and studying it for another moment before she watched Terry’s move to square up with Clash. “Careful, mortal. Some people might know more than you think…” Akari said, her magical senses telling her that Clash likely had more than one soul. Interesting. Very, very interesting. Such an odd cast of characters in this forest, it seems.

The wolf remains crouched and watching as the quartet of people and one strange floating... creature interact ahead of him. Just observing them gave him the impression that they were not a hostile group... and maybe they weren't actually a group as it were.

Then someone in the group let out a screeching sound. One that sounded very much like the one that caught the wolf's attention earlier and drew him in this direction.

So... this was the source of those sounds.

The cloaked figure seemed to immediately react to the floating purple creature in a confrontational way afterwards. The others didn't seem to react at all. Clearly the wolf was missing something here... Maybe there was something about the cloaked person and the floating creature.

As for the others... they appeared to be like average people in the way they acted here. Sure some of them clearly stood out in appearance, but that didn't mean anything on it's own.

Still... there was something dark about them... Not like people he'd encountered before who turned out to be very hostile though. And these ones didn't seem to be aware of him, or if they were, they weren't rushing over towards him to fight. That was something good at least.

The wolf glances down to the ground in front of him, then lets out a quiet sigh. It didn't seem like there would be any harm in approaching and speaking with them. If everything was okay here, he could just be on his way then.

He then stands and begins walking towards the group, emerging from concealment far enough away that they'd spot him at a distance that hopefully wouldn't spook any of them into a hostile reaction. To them, he would look like a hunchbacked figure in a cloak with a clearly canine muzzle visible. He walks towards them at a leisurely pace, clearly not in any hurry to reach them and giving them time to react and respond if they wanted.

How wonderful, how absolutely, positively, awfully wonderful indeed!
Though Terry seemed to show no interest, they were currently preoccupied with their alien acquaintance, so he wasn't too bothered that he didn't seem as quick to jump on board as Akari and Clash, one of which already having experience with Nightmares!

He could learn a lot from this...
"Oh thank you very much, I appreciate all the help I can get!" He shouts excitedly with him arms held firm to his sides. 


It was around then that the figure he'd been watching began to step out from the shadows. Though he had his eyes on him for the longest time, he figured he wouldn't bother them for a while and started focusing on the group he was currently interacting with. 
At the first sign of movement, his left eye, seemingly held in place by a black leather strap, immediately shot in the wolf's direction with uncanny suddenness. It might even be possible to hear the squick of his eyeball's movement...
"Oh, hello there. I was wondering when you'd join the conversation. Did you hear everything you needed to hear or should I repeat myself?"

"Oh, I know all too well, buddy."

Clash says as he approaches Terry, and attempts to boop him on the nose, if successful, his vision would readjust to see both Kane and Carter waving at him, as they exited the red and blue accessories.

Of course, due to Akari's magical prowess, and Engel's undead nature, they'd now be able to see them as well. Speaking of...

"Yeah, and you're about to see just how much of a warrior I am if you keep up that 'mortal' business, lady."

He was about to say goddess, but something was a little off, this wasn't an avatar as they tend to do, that's for sure.

After giving a nod to Engel, as to say 'no problem', the scientist seemed to point out a figure coming towards them, Clash staying silent for the moment.

Terry shoved Clash's hand out of his face after he booped his nose.

"What was that fo-" Terry said before his vision blurred. "HEY! WHAT THE HECK DID YOU DO TO ME?!" He said as he stepped back and rubbed his eyes. When his vision cleared, he saw Kane and Carter. Terry stared at the two spirits that were now in front of him. After a moment, he simply said, "... Are you guys like... Ghosts or something?"

When Engel pointed out there was someone else, Terry turned towards them and said, "Huh. I thought I smelled another person around here. Just wasn't sure with all the other smells around here." 

Akari didn’t even turn to look at the new arrival, as she could feel their presence nearby. “Ah, I was wondering if you were going to join us instead of sneaking around…” she said, turning her head a bit, a small smile on your face. You’re quite stealthy… quite impressive.” The compliment was given with that same small smile, before she turned back to the rest of their little group. Akari gave a small smile and a nod to Engel as he thanked them, her cold eyes now drifting to Clash and those… spirits.

She said nothing for a moment, her eyes narrowing slightly at Clash’s brashness and seemingly deep dislike. She closed her eyes for a moment and sighed, a light smile on her face. Opening them and observing the two spirits before responding, she returned her eyes to Clash, her eyes narrowed once more, her face unreadable. She then put a hand up to her mouth and gave a small snicker. “I’m sure you’ll have plenty of time to show your skills to me when we deal with these Nightmares. Now, would you mind introducing me to these two young spirits?” She said lightly, gesturing to the Kane and Carter with a small smile.

Akari gave a small snicker at Terry’s reaction to Clash’s boop, seemingly entertained by the antics of Terry. “Hm… I did tell you to be wary. You never know who might have a spirit or two.” She said, with a small smile and a rather teasing tone in her voice. “After all, sometimes somebody might just have a bit more under the surface…” She briefly gestured to the spirits, her smile remaining on her face, her tails still drifting about lazily behind her.

As the wolf draws closer to the group ahead of him, he sees the hedgehog tap the feline on his nose, drawing a loud response from him that he clearly heard, then a more subdued response that the wolf wasn't able to make out with background noise of the rainfall. It didn't take much longer for the wolf to reach easy listening distance though.

His gaze moves from one member of the assembled group to the next, eventually settling on the odd looking individual with the ears and tails of some sort of canine, but the rest of her was something else entirely. A human. Or at least he thinks she was a human... He wasn't entirely certain. He hadn't really seen many of them before, so remembering what they were called was a bit of a challenge. Of course, he was absolutely sure he hadn't seen one with a tail or many or ears like this one had.

He did continue to stare at her for a few moments more than he had the others.

His attention was then drawn to the trio of responses to his approach. Upon hearing the comments of the horned rabbit and the feline just after the praise of the not quite human, he winces slightly. They'd known he was out there. Possibly the entire time. So much for hiding... They likely figured he was spying on them. Not exactly the impression he wanted to give them to start.

He bows his head slightly to them.

"My apologies if I am disturbing you." he starts, "I'd heard some strange noises coming from this direction and then a raised voice as I got closer. I just wanted to be sure there wasn't any sort of trouble out here before I try to move on."

He lifts his head again and glances towards the rabbit with the horns.

"I didn't actually hear anything you were discussing here. I don't think my ears are as good as yours, especially not from that distance in this weather." he replies.

He looks towards the feline.

"Pretty good nose you have there. Getting scents in the rain is quite difficult." he comments.

He nods slightly to the feline, then glances to the hedgehog, giving him a nod of acknowledgement as well, before looking at the tailed human.

"Seems I'm not that stealthy." he offers in response to her compliment.

And with that, he falls silent.