Pursuing Shadows

Winter had arrived and snow now covered the landscape in seemingly all directions. It made travel difficult for those making their way outside of cities, and troublesome even near smaller settlements. Due to that, it was highly likely that there weren't many, if any, people out in this particular forested region. It was hours away on foot from the nearest city but there was a road running through it, connecting towns in the region.

So it's possible that no one has seen the signs of strange activity taking place in the forest.

From a distance, the sound of heavy impacts would echo out and vibrations from them radiated out in all directions, becoming weak by the time they reached the edge of the forest. Occasionally a tree would topple over shortly after one of those impacts and be noticeable from a distance and audible nearby. At other times there would seem to be bursts of dark energy barely visible through the tree canopy and clouds of snow would be thrown outward from the shockwaves. Individuals some distance from or elevated above the forest would more easily notice these events.

None of these events occurred in a regular fashion, so someone or something must have been causing them. They had started unexpectedly and occurred in a random pattern for a period of about twenty minutes before they came to an unexpected halt.

About ten minutes later, a silver furred wolf staggers out from the treeline near the road running through the forest. Even from a distance, he look worse for wear. There is a fine layer of snow on most of his clothing and belongings and most of his clothing is frayed or has rips and tears. There are even some small splotches of red on his beige clothing. One of the straps on his backpack looks almost ready to break.

He walks towards the road, limping visibly on his right leg and cradling his left arm against his chest. Due to this whole area being forest, the snow isn't very deep here so it doesn't impede his progress very much. Looking either way, he sees the path that the road makes through the forest and he heads towards it.

When he's only a short distance from the road though, a black coloured arrow sails out from the trees behind him, and strikes his backpack, lodging there. The impact of it makes him stumble, but then the burst of energy that follows from the arrow a moment later throws him forward and he crashes down onto the far side of the road. The landing looks painful and leaves him sprawled out across the snow covered pavement.


( OOC: Been a few months since I got an rp going, but with all the stuff that has passed since then, I figured a follow up might be called for.

So, this is obviously an open rp. All are welcome to take part, but I will let it be known now that I'll give some time for people to join up initially. Maybe a day or two, perhaps longer depending on apparent interest, before I'll post again.

Post order will be enforced to give everyone a chance to respond to events. If you don't want to respond to events just inform me by PM or post here that you'd like to skip your turn. Also, if you don't post within 24 hours of the previous poster when your turn comes up, you will be skipped. Anyone skipped can reenter the rp at their earliest convenience though. This is to keep the rp moving as I've seen a lot of rp's grind to a halt when waiting on a poster for days, or even weeks.

If you know you'll be away for a while, please let me know by PM so things can proceed here with minimal disruption.

I'm hoping that it'll be a bit more interesting than my first rp, and I'm hoping that anyone who joins will help to make it so as well.

With that said, have at it everyone. )

White fang was doing the normal traveling, as usual. He like the open air the cold wind blows against his fur. ( I think it's time to rest.) He thinks to himself.

As he travels down the path the sound of a bomb explosion filled his ears. " What going on?" He said finding the answer. It was another wolf. He quickly rushes in to find the bomber.

When White Fang rushes into the area, there is an obvious sign of where the explosion of energy had occurred. There was a relatively circular area off one side of the road that the snow had almost entirely been displaced from. It had a circumference of about ten feet.

The wolf sprawled across the road, was about fifteen feet from the circle. But based on the explosion and his landing place, there was no way to be sure just where the 'bomb' had originated from, only where it had gone off.

There was no sign of activity from the line of trees on either side of the road, but White Fang was being observed.

" What's going on?" White fang was now holding his hammer. (This wolf had some explanation to give me) white fang was worried, he smelled the pursuer. Then he shot a rock at that durations with high speeds.

The rock sails into the trees and smashes into several of them, but there is no indication that it hit anyone at all in that direction.

Off to the right of White Fang, a large cloaked figure walks out through the trees and towards the more open area. A horn is visible, protruding from under the hood of the cloak, pointing upwards from the figure's grey scaled nose. They watch White Fang, appraising him quietly.

A white cloaked figure runs out of the forrest onto the street to see Whitefang and C.S.O., quickly realizing the situation the figure pulls out a staff and runs twards the 2 of them coming to a halt when the figure reached the group.

White picks up c.s.o and carries him on his shoulders. Then he asks " Who are you and why are you after this wolf?" Then he address to Thunder " And where did you come from Thunder?" This action was hurting White's head with all that is happening.

( OOC: Okay first off, my character isn't named C.S.O. so please don't refer to him as such. It tends to make things more confusing then they need to be. Referring to him as 'the wolf' for the time being would suffice. )

The wolf groans faintly as White Fang hauls him up off the ground and over his shoulders, but offers no other reaction to being moved.

The figure that had emerged from the forest watches the two new arrivals, now standing close together and apparently protecting the fallen wolf. After White Fang asked his first question, a second cloaked figure emerges from the other side of their group. They turn to face White Fang and then offers a reply.

"Who we are is none of your concern. Our business with that wolf is not your concern either. We have no interest at all in the rest of you... so leave now, before we change our minds." the masculine sounding person says.

( OOC: Same like C.S.O. said, my character is not thunder, dont go assuming things, always think it is a person you dont know untill they reveal there identedy)
"Huh Thunder? Who's that" said a female voice comming from the cloak, then heard the quickly went quiet pulling out the staff a bit farther to reveal it was mechanical. She presses a button and the staff extends to 6 feet long and then turns into a spear. "what is that" the female voice said pointing to the giant creature in the forrest.

((Haaa, if anyone ever thought I wasn't jumping in here, they would be wrong. Release the dragon for the third time and hope this rp doesn't die like the others!

Despite being so far out in the wilderness, the road was being traveled by at least one actual vehicle. A dark grey truck was... well, trucking along as the pavement wound through the frozen wonderland. Its driver was oblivious to the strange happenings off in the far distance, far more interested in the music currently blasting through the truck's speakers. Sure, the truck itself was a bit on the older side, it's less-than-shiny paintjob showing its age, but with as many long trips as it went on, the owner ensured that it had a ballin' sound system. She needed her jams, after all.

The 'she' in question here was currently bobbing her head along to the beat of the current song. A clawed, scaly finger tapped rhythmically against the steering wheel.

"Your crooked love is just a pyramid scheme and I'm dizzy on dreams. Hm hm hm hm hm hm hmmm. But if you ask me, two's a whole lot lonelier than one. Baby, we should have left our love in the gutter where we found it, gutter where we found it. 'Cause you think, you think your only crime is that you got caaauuuuaaaauuuaaaght..."

Well, she didn't have much talent for singing, but there was no one around to judge as the dragon did so. Her drive continued over the course of this song, though before it could reach its end she turned a bend and saw... something in the road ahead? Ah, no, it looked more like people in the road.

She'd been speeding so she had to hit the brakes a little harder than usual to stop in a timely manner. Good thing she at least got new tires to handle this ridiculous weather. The volume on her music was turned wayyyy back down to a more reasonable level. A pair of cerulean-colored eyes squinted at the sight of a white-furred wolf out in the snow as well, seemingly carrying someone else over his shoulder. And there was also someone wearing a white cloak and carrying a... spear.

"...The hell?"

The reptilian woman was leaning forward in her seat to get a better look at the scene unfolding before her when movement out of the corner of her eye drew her attention to the tree line and she could vaguely make out some cloaked figure appearing to have just emerged from the snowy forest. Distracted enough as it was, she didn't notice the last cloaked figure appearing from the forest on the other side of the road.

'...What the hell is going on, why are there a bunch of people out here?' the dragon wondered silently, 'It's too damn cold for this. I better not have to get out of the truck...'

Then again, a little voice in the back of her mind reminded her that if there was something... supposedly bad going on, it would be wrong to just run off. For now, she waited to see what these crazy people were actually going to do, though. Hopefully it could just resolve itself? Yeah, that'd be nice.

However unlikely...

(Surprise from a friend of Envy.)

Well... Whilst the others were having their charade...

Along the roads for unknown reasons, the sounds of footsteps might've been heard as a small girl began to approach, devoid of direction...

The girl in question was a black and white cat of about 3'9 in size, she was shivering with her arms around herself as she walked in the cold...

The sound of an engine made her look up, her eyes seemingly having no pupils, her violet eyes surveyed the situation to realize... This could turn into a fight...

...And with that... She had to be ready to intervene at any moment..

But she still wanted to ask the driver of the truck something.. Since Serra feared the thought of freezing to death...

So she walked over and very slowly and shyly tapped the glass...

She honestly didn't like getting involved, so she planned to stick with the... dragon?

(Can we get a recheck on the order)
"Well, if you want the wolf you'll have to go through me." White was angry at the figure, trying to murder the wolf ,even if he deserves it , was unforgivable.

(OOC: The order is currently C.S.O., Thunder, Froshana, and WhiteFang. I am assuming that 'Guest' isn't going to be returning, so just ignore their post.

Also, welcome back WhiteFang. You haven't missed much.)

The large dark cloaked figure glances at the white cloaked figure now wielding her spear. Whether they are going to reply to her question is unclear as they instead take a moment to glance back over their shoulder towards the truck that was just pulling into the area.

"Hmmm... very well." the other cloaked figure tells the white wolf, "I accept your conditions."

He lowers his arms down at his sides slightly, and a pair of blades slide out, one from either sleeve, and into view. There is a faint black aura around each of them.

The white hooded female figure looked up at the beast and was wondering still what that thing was and why it was here but kept it to herself slowly backing up and readying her spear. She stood there just staring at the thing waiting for the beast to move. A few moments later she started to hear a truck running down the road a bit and was starting to think 'More people?' And asked the masculine wolf "Is this road busy often?"

The dragon was watching as it seemed there was mostly a conversation going on between these people out here. Granted, it was a tense-looking conversation, even from the distance at which she'd stopped her truck. The entire situation just put the reptile in a state of unease, really.

For now, though, she kept quiet in her vehicle. It definitely looked like a fight was about to break out and with so many... strange characters, it was hard to tell which side was what...

White puts down the wolf next to a tree. " Don't move," he orders then he look at the figure. Then with his hands free he summoned his hammer and pointed at the mysterious creature. ( I guess I will make the first attack) White Fang thought to himself. He put starts to charge towards the guy, hammer ready to strike.

The smaller cloaked figure smirks slightly within his hood. He'd been hoping for a chance to spill some blood... and this wolf seemed quite willing to accommodate him. He adjusts his swords before him and shifts his stance to prepare to deal with the wolf's charge.

With the truck having come to a halt, but the driver remaining inside it, the larger cloaked figure returns his gaze to the white cloaked female. Beyond her and her spear, the fight was just getting underway. The larger figure snorts out, sending a pair of clouds of warm air drifting upward. Then with a deep voice, he addresses the obstacle before him.

"Move."

Now the threat alredy being taken on the female figures out that the creature is evil and attacks the creature with her spear attempting to throw it at the creatures eye. 1. If the spear hits the eye my character runs and goes to retreave her spear to attempt to impale the creature more times. 2. If it misses i pull the spear back with a thin line of thread attached to my hand and to the spear.

The white wolf carrying what appeared to be an injured person on his shoulder suddenly moved off of the road and set down the seemingly unconscious form down against a tree.
The observing dragon wondered if this stand-off might be centered around what appeared to be... another canine of some sort. It was hard to tell from here. That or the fight had already been going on and she had come in during a short lull after one combatant had already been put down. When the wolf summoned up a hammer out of the earth, the dragon raised her eyebrows.

'Great. People with crazy powers, too. Fantastic. I definitely needed this kind of traffic stop today.'

She couldn't help but be a little cross at the thought that her truck was too close to a fight among people who could have super powers. She had hoped to spend her recent paycheck on something other than car repairs.

Distractions aside, her eyes followed White as he charged off towards-- Oh, look. Another mysterious person in a cloak. Amazing. This one had swords and seemed plenty prepared for whatever the wolf intended to do with that hammer.
Her attention was drawn away, though, as a few moments later, the figure in a white cloak suddenly hurled her spear off at the first, clearly larger figure that had emerged from the forest.

Both attacks from the two people seemingly defending the fallen one were too quick for the dragon to do anything just yet. However, if the four remained distracted enough, maybe she should go and check on the other person that had now been left underneath a tree...

As White charges the figure with the sword looks like it's ready to challenge him. (All right lets dance) White thought. White jumps in the air mid charge and slam his hammer on the ground making the earth crack under the figure.

The sword wielding figure jumps back as the white wolf leaps into the air, making sure to move clear of his landing zone. The impact and subsequent ground cracking beneath his feet, makes him stumble and fight to regain his balance.

The other figure sees the cloaked female prepare to hurl the spear. It comes flying towards his head, and he turns his head slightly. The tip of the spear appears to hit his horn and, with a brief purple flicker at the point of impact, deflect off to the side.

He turns to focus back on her as she begins withdrawing her spear. Then he reaches into his cloak and withdraws a large warhammer, bigger than the one the white wolf was currently using. He then starts walking towards the cloaked female.

"Wrong. Choice." he says.

"Huh and i thought this could not get more difficult" she said, when she raised her hand the snow around her started to float into the air. She lifted up her second hand and pulled her hands appart and the snow melted she started to focus the water around her spear and afer 5 seconds the water insantly freezed and desified to around the point of the strength of iron. When she had a bit of water left over attempted to hurl the water twards the creatures mouth and nose to cover it up so it cant breathe 1. If it does successfully cover his mouth and or nose she holds it there and jumps back 2 if it misses she jumps back anyway.

As the fights started off with the first two going in on the offensive, the dragon heaved out a groan. It was far too cold up here for someone like her to have to get involved in this mess. Even worse, she might have to defend herself and that could go poorly with how slow the cold weather made her.

She reached over to the floor in front of the passenger's seat of her truck, pulling out small packets which she proceeded to open, then begin tucking little pouches into her clothing. These would help a little bit, but only to a some small extent. However, it would take her about half a minute to a full minute to get this done and then also pull on her jacket, scarf, and hat, which left time for the fights to continue progressing before she could get involved.

" Try dogging this one." White lifted his hands the bring three pillars out of the ground and hurling them towards the figure

The figure is surprised by the sudden display by the white wolf. In the time it takes for the wolf to raise and hurl the pillars, the figure has regained his footing and drawn back one blade, which glows with a more intense dark purple aura now, behind him.

He then slashes out horizontally in front of him with that blade, displacing the air in front of him and creating a shockwave that traveled forward to meet the pillars in midair. On contact, the pillars shatter into smaller pieces and rain down around the points of impact and the shockwave dissipates.

The figure looks at the white wolf.

"Who needs to dodge?" he retorts.

On the other side of things, the larger, horned figure seems disinterested in the cloaked female's water tricks. As the water approaches him, he raises his warhammer in front of him to intercept the water. On contact, the water seems to boil and then evaporates.

As the female jumps back, the horned figure flips his warhammer over, so the head of it points down. He thrusts it down against the ground. The snow in front of him flies up into the air as the shockwave from the impact travels in a straight line towards the female, displacing the snow like it was a wave of water.

It was likely that if it reached the cloaked female, the wave would toss her into the air as well.