Izumi didn't want to waste time casting a spell on the slow moving zombies, so she drew her Wakazashi and kicked her horse into a cantor. As she rode by one of the zombies, she slashed at its' mask, breaking it and sending the zombie crumpling to the ground. Pulling her horse to a halt, she turned around to survey the damage and perhaps spot a survivor.

Shiroku finished his prayer and flared his right hand. Thousands of shards of green light shot from his hand. One zombie's flesh became blown off of it's torso but the zombie continued on (11+6+5=22). Another reaching out it's arm toward Izumi found itself on the ground (9+5+4=18). The Jade strike ripped another zombie's leg off (8+4+4=16). The last one however caught the brunt of the spell. (49+9+7= 65) Green fire erupted wherever the spell hit, ripping dead flesh from bone. The peppered coarse fell it's mask shattered, with it's bones. Black blood and gore sprayed onto the zombies behind it.

(Ihmn: you're up)

(OOC: Hey, guys. Umm....where's the sign-up for this? Jadguy asked me last night if I wanted in, and I said sure. But, I have no clue where the sign-up thing is.)

OOC: Long long way behind, go search for it on the 2nd or 3rd page.

ooc:http://www.nuklearforums.com/showth...?t=3451&page=1

Following behind Taken, Kenren glanced back to take in Doji Mei as she brought up their rear. For a moment he was struck by her ethereal beauty, like a single glowing candle in the dark night.

Then the thought left him, and he was focused again.

"Doji Mei-san, we should stay closer to Taken-san. He does know the way best, after all."

"Actually I would suggest staying closer to me, I know my clans lands very well. We're looking to see if the tracks can be found outside of the village. When we find them Taken can lead, cause right now he's leading us toward a cliff."

The trees at the base of the cliff revealed the massive wall of stone.

(OOC: My character is up. Tell me if you want anything changed. I'll just introduce my guy now.)

Tama was strolling by the cliff. His large katana banged out a rythym on his armor. He had a cranky look on his face. His sake bottle had dried up a few hours back, and he had none left. His horse followed by the reigns behind him.

"Great day to not have any alcohol, either. And I need it, too, with all the shit that's goin' on."

A while behind him, some zombies lay in pieces.

Tama kept walking, until he saw a group of samurai. He quickly darted behind some bushes, dragging his horse with him.

"What the hell are they doing out here? They aren't after.....Nah. They would have given up looking for the Sword Beast a while ago. But just in case, it'll be best to not interrupt right now."

"Fair enough, lady Mei. So where shall we head to now?"

"They're probably heading toward the mountain pass and then to Beiden pass, that will give them total access to the southern empire." The crane maiden said.

Tama sat back in the bushes.

"Southern Empire? Who are they tracking? Now I KNOW something strange is going on. I'll just follow along, and hope that they don't notice me." Tama stood. As he did so, a cracked a stick. Loudly.

"Dammit it. I knew I should have paid attention in stealth classes."

Doji mei drew her fan and pointed at some shrubs.

Tama put his hand on his katana, just in case. He slowly stepped from the bushes in the classic pose of one hand on katana, and the other in the air. It was a standard pose in his family that meant he intended to do no harm, but would defend himself if he had to.

"Hello, fellow warriors. I do not mean to intrude. I was simply walking by, and I heard that you were tracking something or someone. For personal reasons of my own, I was listening in."

"You certainly seem calm enough, samurai. Are you aware that there are maho cultists loose in the area, as well as an Oni no Akuma?"

(OOC: You're gonna have to catch me up on that. Cause I have no clue what those are.)

Tama scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"Honestly, those things don't scare me as badly as you might think. Maybe it's because I'm a dumbass."

That's right, Tama. Just give them the whole 'I am dumber than I really look' act. That usually works., he thought to himself.

"Maybe you are, maybe you are. Nevertheless, if you are devoted to your duty, you will aid us in our task. The Oni has been left behind for the time being, but the maho-tsukai are still at large. We are close to finding them, but they are dangerous adversaries and any extra help we could get would be appreciated."

Kenren simply looked at Tama, awaiting his answer.

ooc: Oni No Akuma is a demon who has a reputation for laying siege to castles single handedly, and winning. Maho-tsukai are dark wizards.

Tama lowered his hand from his neck, and held up his empty bottle of sake.

"Well, I am in need of funds for more sake. I guess I'll join you." Tama gave a quick whistle, and his horse came out from the bushes. Tama hopped on.

"Besides. My blade has been lonely. It's been a while since it has last tasted blood."

Perfect. No one would suspect me of being....that thing. Not as long as I'm in the midst of warriors. I'll just be a good little swordsman, and do what I'm told.

(OOC: If you don't know what I'm talking about, check my profile. And remember, no one knows that he is that person. So, there are nobody thinking strange of it.)

"Unfortunately, I know of no spells which can conjure horses out of nowhere... You may have to sit with one of us instead. We cannot afford any further delays."

(OOC: I already have a horse. In fact, I'm sitting on it right now.)

"Another Swordsmen might be useful when we finally catch up to our enemies." Doji mei said. She put her fan away.

"Whatever the case, we have spent enough time standing about debating it. Doji mei, lead the way to the pass, if you would be so kind." Taken stated, gripping his reins with both hands, with a bit of wince as the stone on his right cracked and bled more.

"It's toward the north." Doji Mei said. She led her horse in that direction. Toward the mountains.

Tama clucked his tongue and tapped his legs on the sides of his horse. It went in a trot after Doji mei.

With the spell complete and the fireball formed, Yoshi threw the ball of flame at his target zombie. The fireball hit it in the left arm, doing a mixture of tearing and burning it off completely. And then the zombie caught on fire.

As the group headed for headed towards the north, Tama yawned. He looked tired and bored. But in his head, he was calculating all the possibilities.

I know for a fact that they're tracking something or someone. But they never told me WHAT they were tracking. In order for me to make this work, I'm gonna need more info, he thought to himself.

"So, what exactly are we going to do with these guys? We just kill the lot of them, are we trying to retrieve something, or what?"

Izumi spotted a damaged zombie near her and tried to imbed her Wakazashi in its' neck. However, at the moment of strike, her horse ground to a halt and caused her to fly off of it and headfirst into a snowbank. Her Wakazashi imbedded itself in the zombie's torso. After getting her bearings, Izumi approached the zombie and wrenched her weapon free. The result was black and green blood oozing and gushing out of the wound she had created. However, the zombie was still functional so Izumi backed away quickly towards one of the run down huts. As she got closer, she heard screams coming from a small door leading into a cellar. She called out to Raiden. "Mirumoto-san, cover me! I think there are people down there."