Soldiers of Light ch. 8 "The New Set of Scrolls"
 

Kurama knew he was asking too much of Garud. The summoner's Earth Titan was holding of the members of Team Evil, but it wouldn't last for long. So far, the legs, Takin, and most of the other members of Team Good were in the boat. Youji and Sanjuro were no where to be seen. Sarai, after escaping from Kirakiri thanks to Garud, had managed to make it back to the temple. She should be safe there.

"Dammit. Garud! We're heading out! Do something with that Titan of yours and let's go!"

Kurama sprinted back down to the boat and leapt into it.

Fen-edit: testing something involving not making a new post ignore this

"Kurana! Gets back here!" Kazunori yelled. For some reason Kurama seemed preoccupied, so Kazu decided just to follow Kurama and see what was up. He took a hit from his drink, and followed Kurama into the temple.

The Titan may have felt fresh, but the summoner was really feeling the effects now. Finally, Garud heard the call. He nodded and leapt straight for the boat. He made it on. He would dismiss his spirit after one last attack.

Titan fought bravely, but the numbers game was too much. Finally, it roared, and changed the ground. Beneath Kirakiri, Ayako and Kirie's feet, quicksand appeared. The golem then faded in a flash of light, letting the ice shrapnel fall to the ground.

Garud slumped to the seat. He was not planning on leaving the others behind, and a slight change in the wind signaled that the ancient guardian was planning something.

Ayako wasn't so pleased with the Rock spirit's disappearance without so much as a satisfying fight, but it had served its purpose. She was a bit suprised when the ground beneath her feet turned to quicksand, however.

"That's a dirty trick!" the ice-demon muttered to herself, flicking her wrist to unravel the chain wrapped around her right arm. With a quick snap, the mithril strand uncoiled like a snake, wrapping around a sturdy, small tree outside the edge of the quicksand field.

Ayako sank to her waist by the time she took firm hold of her end of the chain, using her upper-body strength to pull herself back to dry land.

Green Kimono Kirie
A problem easily solved. Lengthening and morphing the weapon into a giant pickaxe, Kirie swung the weapon in an overhead arc and dug one of the picks into solid ground. Her body was exhausted and bruised, yet she was strong enough to pull herself free. A moment later and she distanced herself from the quicksand pit, transforming the Heavy Pickaxe into a long rod in case she needed to save anyone in the same situation. A wasted effort, but it never hurt to be ready.

Pyros soon saw that those coming had no intention of helping. When Gekido swung his blade, Pyros stood upon it. "Prithee sir, I do not care to have any further conflict for I have had my fair share of it today. Also, I am not even properly dressed to spar with you."

Pyros was a bit embarassed of his current state of dress, and wished the possessed woman had given him back his clothes. Seriously, so far he'd either been with faulty armor, in a women's kimono, or partially nude!

And being barefoot on the demon's blade wasn't very fun indeed.
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Moriko did some sewing on Pyros's armor, fixing a few torn or weak spots. It was amazing that it had even stayed on him earlier, instead of just fallilng to pieces when he moved. She did have a few worries about his being out in the wilderness of a strange island wearing women's clothing, but she figured he could take care of himself. Especially after what he did to that Leviathan...hm.

Finn had called Pyros a fire lord, hadn't he? What did that mean? And what was Ifrit? Was it the same name as the supposed fire boogeyman she'd been told would take her if she let the house's fire go out? She wanted to ask someone about it, but none on the ship knew much other than the ocean. Perhaps she should find a mage of some sort. They tend be in the know about these things. But where was she to find one out here?

Meanwhile, Suij and Crew were busy on the ship. "As I was saying Captain the ship's not suffered too badly, thanks to my superior design, and all we'll need is a simple patch job." a heavily bandaged Parker pointed out from the table he was laid out on.

"Oh sure, a simple patch job. When THERE"S A BLASTING TREE GOING THROUGH TWO DECKS?" Edward yelled. "And I don't suppose that even if we fix that, the fixed ship shall sail a good 50 yards back into the beach?"

"Aha! Fear not, for my solution will fix both problems! We'll fit the large tree with some winches and pulleys, and use it to pull ourselves off it. And once we're at the top, We'll bend the tree and catapult ourselves onto the water. It's a plan so perfect, It can never be wrong!" Parker held up a complicated schematic labeled "Tree climbey catapulty thingy no. 25"

Suij sighed. "Have you considered the fact both plans rely on the tree to be sturdy enough to support the ship? And that if at any point during this plan the tree may drop in the worst way, killing many of us?"

Parker looked up and down from his schematics. "Well, sure, I suppose that's a possibility, but I already drew the schematics and everything! All my efforts would be wasted!"

"I think you're brain's the thing that's wasted. Any other ideas?" Suij asked.

"Well sir," Paul spoke up. "That winged guy was pretty strong. Mayhaps he could move us. With his winged strength. He could pick us up, and fly us out of here!"

"Hmm...I don't know. A ship flying through the air? Sounds a bit too fantastic to me. And while he is strong, I don't want to bother him too much for the fact he is very strong. And I think even our ship is too heavy for him." Suij thought.

"Besides, we don't even know where he is! Haven't seen him since the crash." Edward pointed to Moriko. "Though since he left his stuff here, he may come back eventually."

"But we can't just be waiting about! That explosion we saw doesn't tell me this is the safest place to be!" Roy stammered.

Niles had an idea. "How about we send someone to look for PYros, or perhaps some help? Then we can learn the nature of the explosion, and perhaps he can help us get off of here!"

Suij shook his head. "I'll admit that's a good idea, but I do not know this island. It had no name or description on the map, so who knows what's on it. If times were better I'd send the crew to survey the island, but I don't want another dance with death, thank you very much."

Moriko stood up. "Wait! I'll go. I need to know if he's alright!"

Suij shook his head. "I can't tell you not to go as you aren't a part of my crew, but I'm saying i feel there's something dangerous about this place, and while I have accepted your strength, I can't just let you go into this forest alone. It's a crazy venture in a crazy world."

"Then that settles it. I'll take her through this search for that winged guy," Paul said as he picked up his cutlass and pistol.

"His name's Pyros." Moriko interjected.

"Yeah, the winged guy. No worries captain, we'll be back before you know it!"

"What? Paul? You can't leave now we need....well, actually we don't at the moment but... oh fine. Be back quickly though, and at the first sign of danger, you hear?"

"Yeah yeah sure sure. Well, come on lass, Let's have a merry walk together!" Paul cheekily grinned as he took some extra gunpowder and stuff it into his pockets. Before Moriko could react, Paul lifted her off her feet. Before she could complain, he leapt off the side of the ship, which was suspended a good distance above the ground. Before she could scream, he had grabbed onto a branch and swung himself forward with one arm, swinging from branch to branch, until they were safely on the ground.

"Whoa..." Moriko stammered as Paul put her down.

"Aye, Whoa. I've never done that before."

"What?"

"Well, I thought it'd be cool. But as we were going down, I thought we were going to die. Bloody good we didn't, huh? Oh well. Off we go!" Paul took Moriko and led the way, nearly dragging her behind him.

Suij watched them go. "Alright. Let's just get to work on getting the ship off this tree. We may not be able to get the Ship to the shore, but I'll be damned if my ship hangs in the trees like a bloody treehouse! Jim! Once you're better take Finks and scout for the clearest route to the ocean!"

As the crew got to work, none noticed Raze sneaking after Moriko....

As Moon brought her quarterstaff down on his head Youji stepped to the side and spun his back to face the monk, allowing Sanjuro to take the brunt of the blow. Regaining his balance, he then dropped the still sleeping man and jumped away, before Moon could strike again.

Drawing his sword, he fell into a defensive stance facing Moon. Though without him possesing the blade it would be no more magical than any other normal mortal weapon, it would be enough to handle her...he hoped.

OOC: Powers of bastardry activate!

Kirakiri watched Kurama get on his boat, keen eyes noting Taken's presence. It would be foolishness to attack on his own, especially split as he was. Still, they seemed to be waiting for their companions. Kirakiri turned and padded back into the woods.

As Kirakiri's other half extracted himself from the earthen quagmire, he spoke to Ayako and Kirie. "Kurama has reached the vessel he appeared to be fleeing to. The majority of his allies appear to be there. Just the three of us attacking would be folly."

He paused before carrying on, "However, some of his allies are left at the site of the airship's crash - Moon, Sakiko and Gekido are engaged with them. Kurama seems unwilling to depart without them. I advise that we return there, allowing us to regroup with more of our forces and to ensure the death of his allies. Then we can strike as a unified force at Kurama and the rest of his companions if they still delay." It was a simple enough plan. Divide and conquer. As he finished, his other self returned from where he had pursued after Kurama and the shapechanger rejoined into a single larger demon once again. Turning, he headed back to the airship, straining his excellent hearing for the sounds of battle.

* * *

"Prithee sir, I do not care to have any further conflict for I have had my fair share of it today. Also, I am not even properly dressed to spar with you."

Upon hearing Pyros' comment, Gekido's general opinion could be summarised as "Shut up and die." He cared not one whit about the idiot's inane excuses. The only thing Gekido wanted from Pyros was his blood.

The oni lunged forwards with a short, brutal strike, meant so even if Pyros dodged the very sharp axe's blade, he would be slammed by the haft or knocked down by Gekido's bulk.

Moon was elegance in contrast to Gekido's vicious attack. She was surprised that her opponent had chosen to buffer her strike by using his unconscious ally as a living shield. He'd jumped away, dropping the unconscious Sanjuro and drew his sword. Moon recognised it as the magical blade Kirakiri had mentioned before.

Slightly more cautious now, studied her opponent closer, dark eyes fixed upon Youji. He was slightly taller than her and clad in a black yukata, a marked contrast to her pale, sash bound robes. She was light to his darkness. Advancing a half step, she made a quick, probing attack, jabbing at Youji's solar plexus with the end of her staff

And now Sakiko returned. Astral had passed beyond her grasp, too in love with death to be given new life and so had slipped into death's embrace. Her aspect darkened as she approached, shifting from life to death. Her eyes alighted on where Sanjuro sprawled, unconscious and wounded. "Die." she breathed, assuming her death aspect fully.

OOC: Hmm, that can't possibly be good for Sanjuro.

Green Kimono Kirie
"Understood," Kirie simply said, following the logic. She reshaped her sword once again, sheathing it and then chasing after Kirakiri. She had a few things to regret. The first was that she didn't stop to toss off some quick monologue at Kurama, but she didn't have one in mind. The second was that she didn't tell Sanaka to get the gunships involved. From what Sanaka reported, those ships were anchored out some small distance from the island, able to fend off a force coming out to meet them from the monastery easily from the sea. But they could be put to use patrolling the island. Even though they wouldn't have encountered the ship yet, at least patrolling would give them a chance to find the ship and definitely prevent Kurama from leaving. Stationary as they were, it was nearly impossible for the gunships to engage the enemy. Even if the ships did see each other, Kurama could probably keep his ship out of their gun range by changing course and keeping a respectable distance. His ship would be faster than theirs, anyways.

Summary of Events: Kirie follows Kirakiri, lamenting not using her gunships to search for enemy sailing vessels all the way.

Ayako chuckled as Kirakiri unveiled his plan. She'd always liked plans like this, and the thought had almost occured to her on it's own.

"Very Well" The Ice-demon responded, taking after Kirie and Kirakiri, lagging behind a short distance as she concentrated on creating some new Ice-Chakram from the ambient moisture in the humid, seaside air.

"Damn Earth Spirit, making me waste my energy..." she inwardly laments as a trio of new frozen razor disks roll down her extended left arm, where the original two had rested.