[[IC] Heartless Souls: JID. Castle Dour Thread]

Icarus, Aurora, Ajax, Mufasa ,1st day of the 1st month, Year of Rebirth. Approximately 3:00 PM

The impact caused Icarus' whole arm to vibrate uncomfortably. A slight grimace passed over his face as he tried to get control over his arm again, the armor was tougher than he had imagined. Though the toughness of the armor wasn't what surprised him as much as the speed the spider had been able to move with armor as strong as this. It should have been heavy as hell yet her speed had completely caught him off guard. Live and learn, he would not make the same mistake twice.

Gritting his teeth, he waited as the vibrations ceased to course through his arm. Moving it to help return feeling into his arm, completely aware that his chain didn't seem like it would last long. Best idea would be to just slice her throat as she busied herself with trying to escape it, and that was exactly what he had been readying himself to do when new arrivals came and interrupted them. From what he could tell, it seemed the Illithid knew his most recent sparring partner. Which made things much more complicated, how fun.

"Me? Oh I'm just fighting for survival. You know how bloodthirsty Arachnoid's get, don't you?" His hand gripped the blade tighter, he did not want to have to fight more than one opponent at once but it seemed like he would have no choice. "She's got no better control of her killing instincts then other Arachnoid's , it took her less than five minutes upon seeing me before she decided I was prey." Annoyance was clear in his voice, he wish he could just cut all their heads off already and get this over with. "It makes me wonder how many others does she have hidden down here, how many poor souls wandered down here only to be caught in her sights? You wouldn't happen to know would you? Oh how ridiculous of me, of course you wouldn't. It would be painfully easy for her to hide her 'prey' in these dark tunnels, would it not? Your dear friend here would have no trouble pulling a wool over your eyes. Perhaps she does see you as a friend rather than food, but what about others? What would have happened if your partner standing beside you had come down here by himself, how long would she have waited before injecting her poison into him? Or perhaps that's why you had indeed accompanied him down here? Because you are well aware of how likely it would have been that he wouldn't have left this place alive if you hadn't come to stop her from slaughtering him in the dark?

[[OOC] Pokemon: Luminous Dawn]

To alleviate confusion I quickly sketched how the scene is playing out between Rascal, Apollo, and Ol' Blue eyes. (At least how I see it, feel free to explain if you saw it some other way.)

Blue eyes is using revenge towards Meena, who is in front of him (symbolized by him letting out a punch forwards). Rascal jumped into the air and is using pound with his tail, using his tail to smack blue eyes fist/hand/arm down while Apollo is coming from behind with flame wheel to land a direct blow on the Patrat's back.

I unfortunately got ninja'd on the post, when I initially started it Jory hadn't made his post yet and by the time I posted mine he had already posted his. I was tempted to rewrite it after I read his but decided to keep it as it is. The way i see it is that if Rascal pounds the Patrat's arm down to the ground succesfuly, it'll keep it occupied and unable to evade Apollo's attack which is coming right behind him. Hopefully smacking it right in it's back and catching it in a sandwich. I don't think Rascal would get caught in the crossfire if done successfully since he'll probably be able to jump away after the pound connects (using his' tail to bounce him off the Patrat) so Apollo should be able to land his attack without any problem. (Then again, this is how I see it.)

(P.S: Yes, I know the sketch is horrid. I just drew it really fast to give ya'll an idea of what I was seeing since I wasn't sure I'd be able to describe it well enough.)

[[IC] Pokemon: Luminous Dawn- Chapter 1- A Bright Future!]

Alecks and Apollo

Apollo was taken aback with anger as he glared and growled fiercely at the damn rat that had nullified his ember. His body tensing and the fire on his rear burning more intensely as he prepared to pounce after the rat and knock it's stupid bucked teeth out.

"Apollo, calm down! Leave that one alone for now, we have bigger fish to fry." Alecks had been keeping track of the abnormal Patrat, the one with blue and gold eyes. It was different from the rest, his strange colors on their own making it stand out from it's teamates. Alecks thought it be best to take that one out as soon as possible, he didn't trust that one. "Apollo, focus on the blue eyed one! Use Flame Wheel!"

The fired up monkey found it hard to tear his furious gaze away from the pesky rat, but he would not disobey his trainer. They were partners now, and partner's stuck together. Apollo quickly looked towards the blue eyed rat, watching closely as it began closing in on Meena. Then, with acrobatic ease, he jumped off the tree limb he had been resting on and leaped towards the odd rat. Burning flames began to surround his body as he somersaulted in the air. Before long Apollo had disappeared from sight and all that could be seen was a wheel of fire spinning in the air, straight towards the back of the blue eyed rat. Gaining speed and power as the momentum pushed Apollo to his limit.

[[OOC] Pokemon: Luminous Dawn]

I just imagined Rascal doing a little dance like this when he used Helping Hand, and it made the image in my head so much better. <3

[[IC] Heartless Souls: JID. Castle Dour Thread]

Icarus, Aurora, 1st day of the 1st month, Year of Rebirth. Approximately 3:00 PM

His hand tightened around the chain as he felt the spider pull on it with all her might, the screams of agony coming from the silver links filled his ears. His body tensed up as he resisted her force at first, but in her state she was much stronger than he was so he had no hope of trying to use brute force to his advantage. Then again, he was used to facing opponents that were much stronger than him power wise. He just needed to use the skills he has been perfecting throughout the long years of his lifetime to his advantage.

The chained blade in his other hand fell down from it's swinging position so the hilt of the blade landed and was in his hand as he prepared for his next move. Instead of resisting her force any longer, he let her pull him and his chain towards her. His boots smacking the stone as he sped closer to her, using the massive amount of force she used in his favor to encourage his body to close the gap between them even faster. But once he reached her he did not begin to immediately attack her directly as she may have anticipated, instead he used all his speed and momentum to run past the predator as he ran in a small circle two times around her body.

[binding of Chains: Used] The chain attached to her leg following him so the rest of the silver links began to close in and bind her long, arachnid legs. Finally stopping the second time around her once he was behind her spider segment, able to see the strong armor much closer than he had been able to before. He hadn't used all the chain as there was still a small segment of links that hadn't wrapped itself around her to give him some room to move. The silver struggled to wrap itself around her spidery legs due to how large her bottom half was but that actually slightly aided his efforts as it meant it wrapped itself tighter around the thin legs in order to be able to completely wrap itself around them. He knew he couldn't completely bind her as she was much stronger than him, but he hoped this would limit the movement of her dangerous legs.

His eyes quickly inspected the hard armor of her lower abdomen, if it behaved like natural armor then his blades would be no use against it. But if it really was like normal armor, than that meant it also had a weakness. He personally did not use blunt weapons, but he had seen many times the damage it could cause to an heavily armored body if there was enough force behind it. Quickly, he raised his right hand up high as if he meant to stab downwards, but the hilt of the blade was the part facing down instead of the actual blade itself. Then he used all his strength to bring the hilt of the blade down towards her tough exo skeleton, hoping the impact would be strong enough to cause some damage.

[[IC] Pokemon: Luminous Dawn- Chapter 1- A Bright Future!]

Alecks and Apollo

The loud war cry brought Alecks out of his stupor, his eyes snapping open as he looked at what they were facing. The world still seemed to be a bit shaky but the effect was lessening with every passing second. The formation of Patrats racing towards them filled him with foreboding but it was obvious he could not afford to sit back any longer, recovered or not it was time to finish what they had come here for. "Apollo! We need some air support bud, Ember!!!"

At the sound of his trainer's voice, the fire monkey's eyes flared open. His trainer needed him, now was no time for resting. With a quick shake of his head, Apollo snapped out of the confusion. He braced his body and stood up on the sturdy branches, looking down from his position to see their new enemies. The whole scene was right before his eyes, and his gaze was glued on the squad of advancing Patrats. His hands tightened into fists as he let out a low growl, he could feel the fire raging inside him as it yearned to be let out. He shut his mouth tight as the fire began preparing withing himself, his chest puffed out as he let the fire build up inside him. Finally with a loud war cry of his own, he opened his mouth and spit out bolts of red hot fire down on the group of advancing Patrats with all his strength. The orange and red bolts speeding towards their targets with all their might.

[[IC] Heartless Souls: JID. Castle Dour Thread]

Icarus, Aurora, 1st day of the 1st month, Year of Rebirth. Approximately 3:00 PM

His eyes widened as she sped forward, he had never realized spiders could move so fast. He barely had time to blink as she appeared before him, her weapon slicing towards his legs. Instincts immediately kicked in and sent his body into overdrive. His feet kicked off the ground as he jumped backwards to evade her attack. A snarl on his face as he landed back on the stone ground with a heavy thud, she was fast but he would be damned if he let her spear even touch an inch of his skin. Who knew what kind of poison she had, it was a question he did not want to find an answer to firsthand.

Once his feet were settled onto the ground, he threw the blade in his left hand similarly how he had done earlier with his right. This time though, he caught the chain quicker than before and soon was swinging the steel links around his body as he had done earlier. He didn't stop there, doing the same with the blade and chain in his right hand. Expertly swinging both his weapons around in a dangerous whirlwind around himself, growing speed through momentum as his body twisted along to his chains' movements. He'd keep the spider at a distance with the range the chains gave him until he was ready to close in for a finishing attack. Once his body twisted in the Arachni's direction, he swung his left chain towards her thin, front legs as he aimed to bind them. The chain speeding in an arc towards her lower body segment, as the chain in his right hand was still being swung in the air. Prepared for a follow up attack or counter attack.

[[OOC] Pokemon: Luminous Dawn]

I just want to beat boss hog already so I don't have to worry about Patrats anymore.

Will pokemon be able to die in the rp. I don't mean npc pokemon since I'm guessing there will be some instances where a mon will die in the story. But will one of our parties be at risk of dying at any time? (For example our starters/pets)

[Happy birthday, SHIA!]

[[OOC] Pokemon: Luminous Dawn]

Hey guys, I'm really sick and not able to RP so I'll be taking a break for a few days. If the hosts want they can bunny Brendan and Titan. It's too bad because I really wanted to bitchslap Mio.

Aw that sucks, I recently am just getting better from being ill, guess I passed it on to you via cyber space. XD I could always write up a post for Brendan if you'd like, unless the hosts want to do it themselves.

Also, quick question that popped into mind. Would there be instances in the rp when a pokemon will evolve during combat, kind of like in the anime? Like if the pokemon is one level from evolving and they're in a gym battle/boss battle/life threatening situation would they be given a chance to evolve in the middle of a fight to give them a sort of adrenaline boost? And would they be able to learn a move once they evolved that could possibly turn the tide of battle.

(For example, Chimchar was level 13 in the middle of a Rock gym battle and the whole fight's been pretty close but the opponent is trying to finish the fight by using rock throw and it seems like a direct hit would end the fight right then and there. Suddenly Chimchar starts evolving right before the rock makes contact, causing him to be able to learn mach punch. Using his last burst of energy and newly learned move, Monferno now uses mach punch to counter the rock throw by smashing through the rock that was speeding right towards him.)

[[OOC] Pokemon: Luminous Dawn]

Should we continue to wait before going on or shall we proceed with the boss (hog) fight?

[[IC] Heartless Souls: JID. Castle Dour Thread]

Icarus, Aurora, 1st day of the 1st month, Year of Rebirth. Approximately 3:00 PM

The loud thunk the blade made as it buried itself in the deceased rodent's carcass was sickening, but the rat was the least of his worries as threads of silk began to mount on top of his weapon. That damn web. Icarus had known the annoyingly potent adhesive would make things difficult for him. He gave the chain a strong tug but the silk was holding on to his blade with an iron grip. He bared his deadly teeth as a low growl of annoyance escaped his lips, if he tried to force the blade free it would take too much time. Time he couldn't afford to waste in a battle, he'd just have to use some other means to free his weapon. Luckily for him, they were surrounded in complete darkness. The only source of light was being emitted from the Arachni's body but that wasn't enough to completely eradicate the shadows that suffocated the tunnels with their unrestrained presence.

Kneeling down, he placed his hand down on the cold, stone floor. Focusing his efforts on making the darkness bend to his will. [sanctuary in Shadows: Used] Slowly, tendrils of shadows crawled up and began to absorb Icarus' body into their abyss as they have many times before. The shadows began to cause the parts of his body directly touching the floor to sink into darkness before slithering their way up his body as it clasped him in a dark embrace. The horrifying illusion that had surrounded him moments before now began to waver and disappear as his whole being was absorbed into nothingness. By the time the dark had reached his arms the shadows were now extending and consuming the parts of the chains that were attached to him. But it didn't stop there, Icarus exerted more energy and caused black tendrils to squirm their way along the extended parts of the chain attached to his right arm as they swallowed the silver links one by one, making their way towards the blade. Once they reached the hilt of it, the shadows moved through and ignored the foreign objects, the carcass and silk. They were unfamiliar items, not a a part of Icarus' being like the chains and blades were. The putrid objects were of no interest to the shadows, for they were of no interest to the demon that was controlling them. So the items were abandoned and only the chain and blade were absorbed into the dark, alongside their master that wielded them. By the time the shadows had finished devouring the blade, most of Icarus body had sunk into the darkness and it took mere seconds for the rest of him to disappear. Leaving only the rotting rodent and sticky silk to accompany the spider.

Inside the abyss there was nothing. Icarus was now in familiar territory inside the embrace of darkness, his body seemed to be floating in absolute nothingness. The extended silver chain and blade floating in a slow spiral around him. His eyes were closed and his lips sealed, the usual rising and falling of his chest as he breathed was halted as there was no need for it inside this home of shadows. Although he was in complete darkness, he was able to see as clearly the area in which the shadows resided; almost as if he was watching a vision inside his head. The tunnels where he had left the Arachni, as well as the huntress herself, appeared and he was able to observe the scene with better ease if he was there in person. He remained in this state for mere moments before finally deciding it was time to resume the battle they had started.

At his will, the darkness started to release their hold on him and his body began to rise from the shadows in the exact same spot he had disappeared from. The process was actually much quicker than when his body had been absorbed and in seconds he had once again completely materialized. His feet placed firmly on the ground as he gazed with cold eyes at the Arachni, the illusion he had placed around himself was now completely gone so only his normal form remained. The chain and blade that had been trapped moments before were now free and lying on the ground near him with parts of the chain still wrapped around his arm as before. He leisurely bent down and picked up the blade so he was once again holding his twin blades, before tossing it upwards into the air and catching it in his right hand as it fell. The tip of his lip arcing upwards in a smirk as his eyes twinkled mischievously.

"I'm just getting started, huntress..."

[[IC] Heartless Souls: JID. Castle Dour Thread]

Icarus, Aurora, 1st day of the 1st month, Year of Rebirth. Approximately 3:00 PM

He watched the stinking carcass fly past him and into the arachni's hand. The thread that carried it through the air would be her web, the thread was difficult to see but he was able to tell what it was. That web was something to be wary of, it would quickly bind him helplessly if he wasn't careful. Whatever she wanted that disgusting rat for he did not know, he did not care. She could use it as a shield or a teddy bear all she wanted, his attention was on his blade.

She had managed to deflect it but that was to be expected. The blade had been thrown in plain view, anyone worth their salt would have seen it coming and manage to evade the sharp weapon. The goal hadn't been for the blade to make contact, but was instead for the chain that was attached to the handle and his arm to be extended as it flew through the air. Now with the chain extended, he grabbed the chain with his right hand as it flew forwards to halt it's progress. Using the momentum of the blade, he began to swing the chain around himself. His body twisting and turning expertly with the chains movement as he began to make his way forward. The blade speeding around at such high velocity that it was difficult to track it's movement patterns, if it had any. As he once again began to close the gap, he swung the chain towards her long spider legs. The bloody steel using it's momentum to speed it's progress as it shortened the distance to her front legs with extreme speed.

[[IC] Heartless Souls: JID. Castle Dour Thread]

Icarus, Auroa, Time: 1st Day, of the 1st Month, of the Year of Rebirth. Approximately 3:00 PM

He gripped his weapons more tightly, his body tensing in preparation for a bloody fight between predators. His tail slithered upwards until it was next to his face, the tip had seemed to transform so it looked similar to the head of a serpent. It now had a mouth filled with tiny sharp teeth but no eyes to speak of as it hissed threateningly at their opponent. "Be wary of what you ask for, huntress..."

Without wasting another breath on talking, his body burst forward as he began to close the distance between them. His monstrous form getting closer but hard to focus on as his agile body moved side to side, making a hard target to aim at. He was confident in his speed and maneuverability, combined with the frightening illusion it would be hard for the stony faced spider to land a hit. Once he was close enough to the long legged spider, he threw the blade in his right hand towards her chest, the chains beginning to unravel from his arm as the blade pulled the silver along with it. Watching the blade and chain carefully as it flew towards their target with calculating eyes. The sharp steel cutting through the air as the noisy rattle of metal filled the dark tunnels.

[[IC] Heartless Souls: JID. Castle Dour Thread]

Icarus, Time: 1st Day, of the 1st Month, of the Year of Rebirth. Approximately 3:00 PM

His eyes stared back at her, two soulless black holes codly meeting her gaze. "It seems to me that you are the one that believes you are comfortable down here below the earth. I don't know who you are or what 'man' you are talking about, nor do I care about your petty threats." His smile widened to reveal one of his sharp canines, his demonic tail slowly slithered free from the cloak and into clear view. The thin tail swaying in the air behind him hauntingly. "But do not compare me to any of your helpless prey from before, I will not be one to run away or beg for mercy. I will not get on my knees and cry to the heavens, nor wish for a savior to come and rescue me from your clutches. For I am no man..."

[Dread: Used] A menacing aura began to be emitted from the demon, his tail's motions began to get more frenzied behind him, slashing at the air furiously. The air around them seemed to turn suffocating, as if it had grown a violent nature. Shadows seemed to dance around them threateningly, as if they wanted nothing more than to jump out and absorb anything they touched into oblivion. His two eyes glowed a blood filled red and duplicated, another pair appearing above the first pair and gazing directly at the spider. He seemed to double in size, the cloak billowing around him caused by non existent wind. His clothing got more ragged and and his chains and blades became covered in dried blood. His mouth began to be filled with sharp teeth that looked like they were as lethal as daggers while goat horns the color of obsidian pierced through his scalp. The blood covered horns twisted and extended beside his face so the horns pushed downwards but would then go up so the sharp tips pointed upwards. The tribal tattoos that were once unseen began to expand throughout his body, covering the left side of his face in black waves and arcs.

"...I am darkness itself." His voice was now raspy and filled with power, a terrifying smile of dagger sharp teeth covering his face. Just by standing there he seemed to emit powerful wavelengths of fear and horror. Any small critter near them began to scatter away as fast as their tiny paws could carry them, loud squeaks of primal terror signaling their retreat.

[[IC] Pokemon: Luminous Dawn- Chapter 1- A Bright Future!]

Alecks and Apollo

In his confused and frightened state, Apollo didn't even notice the green lizard fall so near him. His focus was completely on trying to grab the fleeing tree branch, but it seemed to be to no avail. The longer it took, the more frustrated and desperate he got. Until in his desperation he began to wave his arm wildly, trying to grab hold of anything that would help him. Suddenly his hand made contact with the branch, it hadn't been out of his reach as his mind had made him believe! He tightened his grip on the branch and slowly pulled himself up, his mind and body still shaky in his confused state but he eventually made it up. Once he was settled on the branch, his body collapsed on the tree branch as it tried to recover. Holding on tight as he took deep, shaky breaths.

Alecks continued to have the tree support his body as he slowly began to recoup, slowly being the keyword. He kept his eyes closed tightly, relying on his ears to listen to what was going on around him. He needed to pull himself together before any sort of conflict started but the world was still shaky around him, although his mind seemed to be recovering from the shock.

[[IC] Heartless Souls: JID. Castle Dour Thread]

Icarus, Time: 1st Day, of the 1st Month, of the Year of Rebirth. Approximately 3:00 PM

A smile slowly crept onto his face, something about the notion of her being upset over losing the chance to hunt for rats was amusing to him. Arachi's were usually thought of as proud and dangerous creatures to be feared and respected. But here Icarus had found one that's occupying her time in the sewers hunting overgrown rats for sport, how far has this spider fallen from her web? "My apologies, huntress. I had not realized that the rat had become such a prestigious prey that the loss of hunting one and it's ilk was something to mourn over. I must say, I am surprised to find one from such prestigious race to be hunting frightened mice. Times have grown tough haven't they?"

Raven black curls fell down his unhooded face as he inspected this newly found stranger. The part of her that was human was extremely beautiful as all Arachni's human halves were, but one couldn't forget the deadly intent with every one of the spider's movements. His whole being was wary of her, he knew just how crafty these predators were. One small cut and he could find himself with a deadly toxin coursing through his veins, he didn't plan to give her such a chance. For now, as long as she remained at a distance he could keep her from injecting her poison into him. "Well since you already obviously know what I am then you should know, my kin is known for being 'up to no good'...I am not a soldier nor a servant." He slowly performed a mock bow, never taking his eyes off her. "I am Icarus, my business here is merely to explore the unknown..." His eyes slightly looked down at the rodent's carcass and back at the Arachnoid, "...and it seems the unknown has some interesting things hidden within it to share with me."

[[IC] Heartless Souls: JID. Castle Dour Thread]

Icarus, Time: 1st Day, of the 1st Month, of the Year of Rebirth. Approximately 3:00 PM

The menacing voice filled the once silent atmosphere of the underground, the sound grated on his nerves and caused every hair on his body to stand on edge. Immediately he began to arm himself, feeling the cold grip of his twin blades in each hand as he he pulled them from their hidden positions underneath his cloak. The quiet rattle of silver echoed off the walls as his chains began to unwrap themselves from his waist alongside his blades. Icarus' eyes scanned the darkness to look for this unseen predator as he began to separately wrap the two chains around both of his arms to be used in battle, the other end of the chains being attached to his blades. "I haven't just killed your pet, have I?" His words seemed to be lost in this pitch black underworld, not knowing yet where exactly should he aim his voice. "If it's any consolation I believe you can find a better house pet than that...thing."

Finally, he caught sight of two emerald eyes glaring down at him from the darkness of the ceiling. It was impressive how well her body had been camouflaged in the dark but now that he knew where to look he began to see the rest of her. A shudder began to go through his body as he realized he might have just walked into the spider's den. He's rarely had any encounters with her kind, but when he did it usually did not end peacefully. He tensed his body as he examined her every detail carefully, watching her every move in anticipation for an attack.

[[OOC/Sign-ups] Heartless Souls: A Journey Into Darkness]

ah yes, because if there's any way to get on Aurora's good side, it's certainly interfering with a hunt and ruining everything by killing the prey she was stalking.

yeah... this is gonna be real fun, I can just tell.

Heh, let the games begin eh?

[[IC] Heartless Souls: JID. Castle Dour Thread]

Icarus, Time: 1st Day, of the 1st Month, of the Year of Rebirth. Approximately 3:00 PM

Icarus walked with a purpose down the castle's halls, some new found information filling him with confidence. Earlier, as he had exited the ballroom he had seen a pair of what appeared to be soldiers, their burly appearance and cocky attitudes gave him a clue of what they were. The two orcs seemed to have been slacking off, probably getting ready to celebrate and drink themselves unconscious ((not necessarily in that order)). This wasn't an uncommon sight on Benediction night so the few that were around ignored them, but their topic of conversation had caught Icarus' attention.

"You know, I ain't going to stop filling my belly with food and booze until it all bursts out! See, just cause we're soldiers doesn't mean we can't party tonight like everyone else! If anything, we'll be partying twice as hard than everyone else!" One of the orcs smacked his armored covered chest with a fist, causing it to rattle noisily. He seemed more than ready to join in on the celebrations, but his friend didn't seem as sure.

"Can we really drink all we want? Won't General Cyllis be mad at us if he finds out?" The second orc scratched his chin worriedly, no one wanted to face the wrath of the general.

"Mad? Why?! Shouldn't we be able to have a break, we're the one's defending this castle night and day from attacks! We need...no, we DESERVE a break! Besides, why should that old mantis be mad at us?! I heard that he had disappeared earlier, probably to rest his dusty bones while the rest of us worked..." The soldier had leaned in closer to his companion to whisper that last bit, but by now Icarus had his full attention on the two and was listening intently.

"Disappeared? Where'd he go?" The second orc whispered back, though neither of them were being as sneaky as they thought.

"I heard that he had gone to his old training grounds, but he hasn't used it in years so there's no freaking way he had gone to do any real training. Probably went to reminisce rather than hone his skills."

"Training grounds? I don't remember any training grounds, where is it?"

"You know, the one down in the Waterways. A couple of soldiers know about it but no one really ever goes there since who the hell wants to train in the sewers?! But it ain't hard to see the entrance if you know where to look since it's on the bottom floor where there ain't much , so some of the guys had seen that old mantis go in. Who knows what the hell he was doing, just that he wasn't working that's for sure!"

"Yea! Why can he sleep on the job while we......wait....didn't Cyllis have today off?" This last statement caused the first orc's mouth to gape open in confusion. But he quickly recovered and began going on about how what made Cyllis so special that he got so many off days. Though by this point Icarus had stopped listening, a big smile appearing on his face.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The bottom floor was practically empty as everyone was upstairs enjoying the festivities. It took Icarus a bit to locate the exact entrance on the bottom floor but he had eventually managed to figure it out. The door that led to the Waterways had a lock but he easily managed to lockpick it as it wasn't that amazing of a lock, it seemed that no one had thought anyone would bother breaking into the sewers.

He closed the door behind him and was quickly enveloped in pitch black darkness. Though this did not worry him as his eyes quickly adjusted, he practically thrived in shadows and the dark after all. Without wasting a moment, he began to make his way deeper into the Waterways as he began to explore the unknown. To his surprise, it did not smell as bad down here as he had anticipated though his nose was still assaulted by putrid scents every now and then. His steps barely made any sound as his padded boots hit stone, the only noise filling the air was the sound of the flowing water.

After going deeper into the Waterways, he began to hear more sounds in the quiet atmosphere. At first he couldn't quite make it out but it seemed to be.....squealing? Yes, strangle enough he heard squealing and the sound of skittering paws. Then the noise began to grown louder as whatever it was started to get closer. Icarus silently unsheated a throwing knife that he had strapped to his chest underneath his cloak. It was one of three small blades he had hidden on him, he rarely used them as he wasn't the greatest shot but sometimes he needed some range to take care of faraway foes quickly. It wasn't long after he readied his small blade that the one causing all the noise came into view. An ugly rat the size of a wolf was speeding towards him, it's mouth wide open in a frenzied panic revealed the horrific sight of what used to be it's teeth. It seemed to be too absorbed in fear to realize what was in front of it.

Icarus threw the blade as it kept getting closer to him, mostly to put the ugly thing out of it's misery. The blade flipped through the air before burying itself in the rodent's forehead. The rat died immediately but it's momentum kept it's body going before the paws tripped over each other and the rat slid forward on the hard stone, stopping a short distance away from Icarus. He took a step away from the carcass, repulsed by the horrible sight and even worse smell. Before recovering and aiming his gaze forward, trying to pierce through the darkness to see if there was anything else coming. What the hell was in here that could have sent this rat into such a panic?

[[OOC/Sign-ups] Heartless Souls: A Journey Into Darkness]

Idk why but I absolutely adore Barbara's and Babble's characters. I have a strange urge to hug the living daylights out of the silly slime and feed him caramels...

Also, while the beasts are celebrating upstairs the real monsters will be partying down below. Icarus will be joining Aurora in the sewers soon so things should get interesting. It's highly unlikely to end in R&R but who knows?

[[OOC] Pokemon: Luminous Dawn]

I just realized I made my last post longer than I had intended it to be. Whoops...

TL;DR: Alecks and Apollo both got his by confusion. Alecks is trying to pull himself together while Apollo is hanging on for dear life, not being able to pull himself up as his confused mind refuses to let him.

[[IC] Pokemon: Luminous Dawn- Chapter 1- A Bright Future!]

Routes of Hazzard- Grand Stretch- Alecks and Apollo

Alecks' feet began to ache as he tried to keep up with the Watchog, his boots kicking up dirt with every step as he focused his entire being on going faster and faster. No matter how much his body screamed at him to slow down he did not waver, he just had to keep on moving forward.

Slightly raising his head to look up, he could see that even Apollo was having trouble. The branches seemed to claw at his legs and forced him to slow down lest he risk getting his foot caught. The frustration was obvious on the little monkey's face in the dim light of the forest. But, just like his trainer, he refused to give in and pushed himself to keep on going. He wouldn't let himself fail his trainer...or himself.

Finally, the Watchog and the hat seemed to disappear. Alecks slowed his pace as he looked around, trying to catch even a glimpse of the hat but he did not find what he looked for. Instead he found a pair of foul eyes glaring at him from the darkness of the forest, the malice in them apparent. Soon other eyes of bright scarlet joined the first and Alecks quickly realized he was surrounded. Not another thought had been able to enter his mind as he watched the Watchog appear once again, the hat still resting atop his head like a crown.

The Hog's body started to emit light and Alecks instinctively began to turn his head away and cover his eyes with his hand but he was just seconds too slow. The flash of light managed to pierce into his eyes as he closed them and with a grunt his body shivered from the shock, the effects of confusion quickly taking hold and stunning his body for a moment. He opened his eyes once again and blinked a couple times but it was in vain, flashes of light seemed to repeatedly blind him in his vision. He rested a hand against a nearby tree, ignoring the pain of sharp thorns digging into his skin, as he tried to steady himself. "Fuck...fuck.." He muttered softly as he tried to pull himself together. The world around him seemed to distort, as if he was looking at everything through a carnival mirror.

Apollo didn't get much better luck, the flash of light caught him unaware as he had been jumping from one branch to another and he was hit with the full brunt of the confuse ray. The bright light blinded him for a second and caused him to miscalculate his landing, causing him to miss the branch by a margin. Gravity took hold of his body and began to pull him down, he barely was able to thrust out a hand and grip the gnarled branch tightly as he fell. Now Apollo found himself swinging helplessly as he held on for dear life, his other hand desperately trying to grip the branch to pull himself up but his confused mind kept watching the branch move further and further away from his hand.

[[IC] Pokemon: Luminous Dawn- Chapter 1- A Bright Future!]

"Routes of Hazzard!" - Alecks

Alecks watched in annoyance as Mio whizzed past, if only there was enough room for him to use his skateboard. Alas, he had to settle with good old fashioned running as he doubted he would have enough space without knocking into others, or worse, into a tree. But he did manage to hear Jason calling out to him and saw Treecko follow Apollo up into the trees. At least Apollo had someone to watch his back in case anything happened. "Come on guys, we need to hurry up! Mio will go on ahead of us but we still need to catch up as well, double time folks!"

[[IC] Pokemon: Luminous Dawn- Chapter 1- A Bright Future!]

"Routes of Hazzard!" - Alecks

Alecks was taken aback by Jason's outburst, he hadn't expected that from him at all. "I'm not saying we stop our quest right now to walk them all the way back to the lab. I was thinking more around the lines of giving the passed out Patrats to the truck driver so she can drive them to lab once we give all the food back to her. She's already going to the lab after all, and I doubt some unconscious Patrats would give her any problems."

Before anyone could say anything else, a thick cloud of smoke enveloped all of them and Alecks and Apollo found it hard to see in the smoke. Alecks looked around wildly, worried that Apollo might have accidentally started a forest fire. Though he wasn't expecting something to yank the Patrat out of his arms, it actually made him jump slightly. Before long, the smoke began to clear and whatever had taken the Patrat away from him was making it's escape. At first he wasn't sure whether to try and follow the thing as he would only be running in blind. But once he caught glimpses of what appeared to be a hat, he knew in his gut that was the trucker's hat. "Let's go Apollo! Follow that hat!"

Apollo immediately jumped onto a tree and climbed up it before starting to once again jump from branch to branch in pursuit of whatever that thing was. Alecks following right under him, making sure that the two didn't getting separated. He wished the trees weren't so close together, there wasn't much room for him to use skateboard which would help him catch up to the hat. He just had to make due with running along on both legs.