Ah! It's been a while since I saw the outside world, and what a way to start this routine! [Hearing about the stories, he decided to satisfy the curiosity that roared inside of his empty chest. And so, walking down the left path with his permanent smile and arrogant pace, he looked around, wondering if any of the stories were true.] I will know sooner or later, and if not...well, I got myself a nice stroll down a forest.

Zero transfers via teleportation to the forest... "This forest seems to be interesting for a bit." "Zero...Be careful, the forest seems to be a bit dangerous." a voice comes from Zero's comm, it's Ciel, the child scientist that awakened him and somehow ended up in the nexus with Zero. "I'll be fine, Mission Commencing."

Painwheel walks a little ways ahead of Kazuma as they walk down the left path. The path is annoying, with thornbushes and fallen trees dotting the path, but nothing remarkable. The path slowly begins to fade more and more until it is lost completely. By this point you can make out a small clearing in the forest straight ahead. To your left is a withered, decaying grove... When Painwheel and Kazuma glance at the grove a shadow seems to dart in front of it, only to vanish when they blink. Zero finds himself in front of the forest, as previously mentioned. He is able to see two people, a girl with some sort of rotor blades coming from her back and a boy with green hair walk down the left path. He begins to hear some faint whispering from the forest, but nothing can be made out from it

"Walking trees and dancing shadow... Sounds like one of them, if there's any truth to it." A young girl wanders the path of the forest with a cautious look on her face. She'd go down the left path and glance about curiously, looking down at a ring on her finger every now and then as she ponders whether she'll find anything.

Nana finds herself at the forest edge, looking around Hmm..... forests usually feel peaceful and beautiful...... This one seems to be different though....... Mah, standing around won't do anything! She takes the right path, using some earth magic to move the heavy branches out of her way

[He turned to see his aparent companion in this adventure of his.] Why hello there peculiar woman that looks like a corpse! [He says in a very polite and cheerful tone, and with a quick wave, he kept on moving. He was not annoyed at the road itself, as he had dealt with other annoyances way bigger that these, like those masked weirdos. However, after noticing the strange shadow, his eyes open wide and quickly ran ahead in an attempt to catch it, but with no avail, as it was lost in a heartbeat.] Shoot. So they weren't just rumors...this is getting interesting, I'm excited! Aren't you too? Good old pal missy? [He says to Painwheel before looking around for any trace of this bizarre occurrence.]

As with Kazuma and Painwheel, Homura decides to head down the left path. The path is annoying, with thornbushes and fallen trees dotting the path, but nothing remarkable. The path slowly begins to fade more and more until it is lost completely. By this point you can make out a small clearing in the forest straight ahead. To your left is a withered, decaying grove... Homura catches sight of two individuals, one shorter with what seems to be rotary blades sticking out of their back and another much taller man who cheerily walks beside her. They both seem to be heading towards the grove In an attempt to find that shadow, Kazuma and Painwheel enter the grove of trees. Within they find a pond of scummy, purple water, probably not safe to drink... On the other side of this pond they see three pairs of glowing-orblike eyes staring out of the shadows. The eyes seem to be getting closer Nanaka follows the right path for some time, it is similar to the left, filled with fallen branches, decaying bushes, but nothing major. Quite a way down it she finds what seems to be a clearing of fallen trees. One of these trees is covered with a weird, purple substance. It doesn't seem like a good idea to touch it. The path winds on further ahead..... A faint... Pulsing, can be felt here. Almost as though something is calling.

................ Whatever that purple stuff is.... it's not good..... Nanaka pokes the purple with a stick she finds lying around, then tries to burn then freeze it, noting the reaction each time

Painwheel flinches at Kazuma's sudden greeting, both from the odd cheerfulness and the words themselves. He... seems to mean well, but is rather annoying too... I'm more worried about those eyes. She points at the glowing orbs across the water, still hovering in the air. She tilts her makeshift helicopter blades forward a little, moving to the edge of the water's surface.

Homura glances over at the two in front of her... Well, she might as well see what they're doing, so on that note, the girl calls out to them and smiles, doing her best to look as though shes's not expecting something to try and kill her at any moment. "Ah hello there! I'm Homura Akemi an-" As she speaks however, she'd glance over towards the water and spot the eyes staring over at them. Rather than continue on, the girl would sigh to herself as her clothing bursts into light for a moment before coming back in its usual black dress with a white and blue overcoat, the shield on right wrist aimed towards the eyes as she watches them. "Well, I guess pleasantries can wait for now. Any clue what the heck those things are?" She'd glance towards both of the pair for a bit before turning her eyes back to the strange beasts, hopefully, they've got a better clue than she does.

Ah~! You might be right Miss Corpse! But I don't think of them as worrying, just interesting! [Almost as if he was enchanted by it, and soon, he walks towards the orbs as fast as he could. After all, running was too much work for something like this.] My name is Kazuma Kval, little miss, it's a pleasure to meet you! [He says without looking back, absolutely casual in this situation.]

The purple stuff spreads a short ways up Nanaka's stick before stopping, and doesn't seem to react to anything else she does. As such the clearing remains much like it had been before, though she can't help but feel she is being watched Painwheel, Kazuma, and Homura step over to the water's edge. The whispering in the woods seems to grow much louder to them, though nothing can be made out specifically, not until the figures emerge from the woods one by one. The first figure is that of a young boy. He looks even younger than Homura, and wears a simple green shirt with blue jeans. His eyes are each a different color, one being green and another red, though both eyes share the blue glow the group noticed earlier. The boy's hair is short and white and not much else seems to stand out. The boy walks towards the group, straight across the water. Kazuma would likely recognize him. B?: Trapped... Monster... Never going to escape.... The second figure is that of a young girl. Like the boy before her, she has a vibrant blue glow behind her eyes. She is clothed in an intricate purple dress with white frills and a purple and red diamond pattern going around it. Her clothes are far more fit for tea parties than wandering through the woods. Her hair is done up in a set of buns off to the side, each of which having a similar purple frilly accessory on top. She too steps into the pond and towards the group, muttering something G?: Gone forever... Never be happy again... All alone now..... Finally, the third figure steps into the light. They seem to be significantly older than the other two, and wear a plain black and white uniform with jeans. Their hair is a plain white, and cat ears can be seen peeking over the top of their short hair. Their eyes are a vibrant blue, but a faint glow can still be seen within CE: All my fault.... Gone forever.... Couldn't save them....

What...? The people approaching them are certainly strange. They almost seem to be in a trance. Painwheel flies a few feet above the water's surface to approach them while keeping a safe distance. What are you talking about?

Hmmm....... She keeps the stick, hiding it away in hammerspace away from everything else before stopping and clearing her mind, listening to the mana in the wind hoping for it to carry the whispers of any forest spirits or the sound of any people nearby

Homuraa looks startled as the 3 people walk towards them, her shield vanishing in a burst of purple light as she smiles at them. "Um... I don't know exactly what's happened out here, but is there anything I can do to help you? If you're in danger than I'd be happy to lend a hand!" With that the girl starts to walk a bit closer, offering her best attempt at reassurance as she looks at them... In spite of this however, Homura feels a bit as though something is going to happen, and she'd prepare to take action as she continues speaking. "Just tell me what happened please, I can't do anything without understanding what's going on after all! And um... If you happen to know anything about this forest, that'd be pretty nice to know too."

[Kazuma laughs at the sight of the very first person to show up, he doesn't pay attention to the rest however, as he has never seen any of them.] Wow if it isn't the little Casanova! What, were you trying to get it on with the other monster? [Kazuma crouches at the edge and moves his hand into the water and moves it around, creating violent ripples and splashing water all over the place with a very cheerful laugh. His hands now were wet.] You seem dizzy, even sick. Why don't you allow me to wake you up? [With a big smile on his face, the young man quickly moves towards the white haired casanova and attempts to rub his hands all across his face.] Answer some question for me now, alright? You don't have much of a choice. [His cheerful tone and smile are still there as he moves. He hoped reactions were worth it.]

Homura simply stares at the older man with a wary look in her eyes, his odd cheer was a bit off to start with... But this? It's perhaps getting a bit out of hand. "Kval-san, um is that really needed? I don't quite understand why you're trying to do that, but it seems needlessly cruel honestly." Homura pushes her glasses up and shakes her head, after that little meeting with Urumi she's not exactly having the best thoughts about people... Well, hopefully Kval isn't as violent as miss crazy was?

Nanaka faintly hears the whispering that has been going on the entire time she's been in the forest, but nothing more can be picked up from it. The whispers feel... Sad.... Or evil... She gets the feeling something is wrong While the other two remain away from the people who emerged from the woods, Kazuma makes for the boy. He meets the child roughly halfway across the pond, and they make no effort to defend themselves, the water doesn't feel abnormal when Kazuma touches it, though it definitely doesn't look very healthy. It has similar effects on the child. When Kazuma approaches him, the first boy's hands seem to elongate a little, before turning into sharp, green claws. He slashes at Kazuma's arm, hoping to siphon off some of his life force, all the while still muttering B?: Never get out of here.... Trapped.... Such a monster..... The girl focuses on Homura, it gives her a blank look and seems satisfied remaining about three-fourths of the pond, or roughly 15 feet, away from her. A sinister aura can be felt emanating from the girl, almost as though there's something else with her G?: Gone forever..... I'll always be alone..... Never see them again......... Finally, the older individual with cat ears, with much less decorum than the children, pulls out a pistol and fires three shots at Kazuma, the nearest person, one aimed for each arm and a final one at his chest. The individual continues on, almost as though it hardly noticed him, trying to walk past Kazuma to the other side of the pond CE: Couldn't save him..... Now there are bad people everywhere.... No point in moving on..... Oddly enough, the forest's whispering seems to stop for these three, almost as though it had finally manifested.... None of the beings seemed to make a single move to protect themselves, instead mindlessly moving forwards.

..................... This isn't good..... I don't really like being alone, but...... Nanaka continues along ahead, pulling the large sword off her back, keeping it ready for an encounter https://78.media.tumblr.com/f1ff655ba1769308c55ccad72e47c6db/tumblr_ncfn1qfMKo1sexwzqo1_1280.jpg

[Kazuma giggles as hundreds of serpentine chains cover the incoming blows by becoming a wall of black steel in front of him. After this, the serpentine chain floats around his body, with the snake head-like tip causiously looks ahead. The young man, however, seems unfazed by it all. If anything, his grin became bigger.] My my, so you were awake! Althought props for the damn cat over there, I didn't see that one coming. [On the exact same place, he shrugs as if the entire situation was comedic to him. He then points at the one with the cat ears with his left hand.] But still, you annoyed me! [And with his right hand, he pulls out a small dagger and swiftly throws it at him, pointed at their forehead, right between the eyes. He had to give him something in return, as the Casanova was his current objective.] I wanna experiment with some stuff, I hope none of you ladies mind? Of course you don't, they are monsters after all~

Homura glances over at Kval with an annoyed look on her face, she does in fact mind given that they haven't even the foggiest what's actually going on here. "Actually Kval-san, I believe you might be judging things a bit too quickly without bothering to determine what's going on... Something feels off about them like there's more to it than just being simple monsters. " Rather than attacking outright she would attempt to focus in on the aura around the girl out of the group. As she does so Homura smiles over at the other girl and speaks in a soft tone. "And um you don't have to be alone anymore, I'm Homura Akemi and it's nice to meet you! So please, try and tell me how I can help with things... I don't understand why your friends are attacking, but. I'm just here trying to help, so that won't be needed!"

Nanaka continues onward through the underbrush... It is eventless for some time, until eventually she catches.... Silver? Something that looks like silver or white flashes across her vision at the edge of the forest, though, she's not sure if its a good thing or not. Suddenly, the area around her seems to begin... Pulsing... A faint, pulse can be felt throughout this part of the forest Elsewhere in the woods, Painwheel successfully manuevers to the left edge of the pond, giving her a much better view of the ongoing fight. The cat-eared individual doesn't seem to move out of the way of the knife, however... Before the knife strikes their pistol is dropped, sinking just below the pond's murky surface as they lunge forward towards the other end of the pond. Their shape twists and forms until a massive, white lion is in their place. The knife that was aimed at their head ends up hitting them in the side as they lunge past Kazuma and reach the other side of the pond, attempting to pounce on Homura. In spite of their new form, the voice can be heard as clearly as ever CE: Useless..... Can't protect anyone.... Can't even punish them.... The girl continues their blank stare, and looks over to Painwheel, hovering on the left end of the pond... A ghostly white skeletal figure can briefly be seen behind them, with long, flowing, similarly colored hair. The figure groans and launches a bolt of dark energy directly at Painwheel, when it reaches the point in the air Painwheel was, it would burst into a shower covering the immediate area G?: Gone forever..... I'll never see them again..... Taken from me..... Finally, Kazuma's barrier frustrates the boy initially, his claws scratch across the surface of the Ouroboros to little effect, but he doesn't seem willing to relent. Once again he lunges at Kazuma, this time aiming to drive one claw through his chest, though I think we all know how well that will go B?: Trapped forever.... Never going to leave....

"Gah what in the heck! There has to be some kinda reason behind this..." As the lion rushes across the field and towards her, Homura would sigh to herself and summon up the shield once more. An hourglass clicks inside of it as the flow of time grinds to a halt. "Now then, I can feel something around here, where in the heck is it coming from huh?" The girl darts away from the lion's charge and raises her right hand up, looking down at a jewel upon the top of it and attempting to feel the source of the pulse. She can find Witches this way, so maybe it'll work here? Assuming she found anything she'd then continue running off, aiming to move closer to it as the flow of time resumes once she's about 50 feet out from the lion. "I really don't want to have to hurt any of you! So please stop attacking and try to let me figure out what in the hell is going on here! There's no reason for us to fight!" OOC: Soul Gem: 20% black.

Painwheel attempts to dive down, immediately stopping her blades as she lands on the pond's edge. That got her away from the initial bolt... but the explosion is another matter entirely. Y-you... She narrows her eyes at the girl, then lifts up her left arm, pulling back the sleeve of her coat with her right hand. The skin underneath her forearm bulges. Gae Bolga Stinger! With a pained yell, a few metal shards fly out of her arm, flying towards the girl and anyone else in the way. Once this is done, the wound in her arm seals itself up.

Hmm.... all alone in a pulsing forest.... things skittering in and out of my line of sight, a feeling of dread..... Either I'm going straight to the source of the problem.... or I'm heading for a bad end...... Nanaka continues along the path, surrounding herself with wind to knock off course any projectiles, and expands her area of effect of mana sensing to 20 ft, if there's anything magical in that range, she should feel it

You talk too much, you know that, right? "Homura Akemi"? [He says in reply to Homura's earlier, annoying comment, and from his place, he turns his head a bit to glare at Homura with his sadistic, yellow eyes. Perhaps a warning or a simple suggestion. Before saying anything else, he is distracted by the cat eared one run past him in a new form. He is not surprised, but his interest grew bigger, to the point his past "behavior" came back rather quickly.] Wow, kitty cat is a big kitty! I wonder what kind of things he can do besides meowing! Now, if I could get my knife back... [This distraction was enough for him to forget about the little Casanova, and hus lunge attack get dangerously close to his chest. And to this, all he can do in less that a second is bending completey backwards, barely avoiding the deadly attack, but still it manages to get his chin and leave a mark.] Hey there! Sorry for forgetting about it. [Ouroboros quickly begins to surround the boy's arm and quickly makes his way closer to him by spiriling down all the way the elongated limb, getting tighter and tighter with each cycle it completes. In less than 5 seconds, it should be right at his face. He tries to at least restrict his movement a bit, and crush his entire limb at best.] That was a bit rude, don't you think? Just attacking people out of the blue. Didn't your dad teach you good manners? Hell, with the siblings you had...! [Without the help of his arms, like a snake, he returns to his usual stance as he walks ever closer, his smile turns slightly more sinister, and the yellow orbs of his eyes shine in the middle of his shadowy expression.] ...I kind of doubt he did.

Homura can sense some sort of energy, its quite unlike the Grief she's used to feeling, but there is something.... Off about it. She follows the energy to the east, outside the grove. Where the path initially split she can sense it coming from the right, through the dark, decaying forest. Painwheel launches her metal shards at the girl across the pond.... They don't seem to flinch as the shards grow ever nearer. When they're only a few feet out, a taller , more masculine skeletal figure forms in front of the child to take the blow, and then dissipates into dust. The girl continues looking at Painwheel with a blank, emotionless stare while the feminine figure appears behind her. They seem to be preparing something G?: Forever alone.... Gone forever.... I'll never find them.... Kazuma's chain wraps around the boy's arm and begins to tighten. Before long he hears the satisfying CRACK of breaking bone, its loud enough to be heard from where Homura is standing, though she has other things to worry about. From the point where Ouroboros is coiled around his arm a faint black mist begins to emerge. It doesn't seem harmful. The boy himself shows no signs of feeling the pain it should be, instead he simply slashes at Kazuma's face with his other claw. B?: Never escape..... Such a monster.... Trapped forever...... The Lion seems surprised to find its previous target is nowhere to be seen. After glancing around briefly it catches sight of Kazuma again and begins padding towards him, into the pond CE: Never see him..... Can't even improve anything..... Useless. As soon as Nanaka increases her magic sense's radius, she senses something alright, approaching from her left and very rapidly. Out of the forest leaps a massive silver wolf, roughly twice the size of a human, that attempts to pounce on her, breaking a few ribs in the process if successful. There's a madness in its eyes, yet.... The beast itself seems almost beautiful

Ngh! Thankfully sensing it before it leapt, Nanaka manages to use the wind surrounding her to jettison herself out of harms way. Keeping her radius at 20ft, she scans the battlefield quickly, noting her surroundings before shifting her foot, causing a sharp stone pillar to raise right where the wolf's front right paw is in an attempt to skewer it

[This time he was paying attention, but the boy is fast regardless. The claw manages to cut a bit of his hair. In retaliation, Kazuma moves the chain to crush the other arm.] Let's be fair for a bit, now, are you going to keep repeating the same words, or will you speak up for once? [With the other arm apparently being take care of as he speaks. Kazuma puts both arms inside of his pockets and smiles.] C'mon "Kuudere", say something already before your neck ends up like your arms~ [The young man cracks up at his own words.] So silly, I'm expecting an answer from a monster!

Painwheel makes her way to the other side of the pond, near where the girl is while she watches Painwheel's approach. When Painwheel is roughly five feet out the feminine skeletal figure seems to be ready, and launches another bolt of dark energy, much like the first, directly at Painwheel. Again, it would burst upon hitting Painwheel's location or the area they had been G?: Don't want to be alone...... As Kazuma expected, the boy doesn't show any signs of pain itself, as the Ourorboros constricts tighter, more and more mist seems to come off of his arms, and the boy seems to be fading fast.... "Kuudere"'s voice is much softer than before K?: Monster.... Never escape it.... From its position behind Kazuma, the lion attempts to leap at him. It probably could have surprised him too if it weren't so insistent upon the constant, restless muttering. As it is, the creature tries to pounce on him, with several hundred pounds of its weight. CE?: Useless.... Can't even help anyone...... Homura proceeds closer and closer to the source of the pulsing.... She sees the forest seem to shift occasionally, red eyes peering through the trees, but nothing seems to have tried to stop her yet..... Then a branch lashes out from in front of her The area around Nanaka is relatively clear, with few large trees nearby to get between her and the wolf. What few trees there are are small and withered, probably easy to break. As for the ground, its fairly flat and covered in decaying grass and trees, nothing of use, As for the wolf, Nanaka raises a spike of earth directly in front of one of its paws, the creature snarls, and lunges Nanaka again, this time attempting to sink its fangs into her right arm.

The wolf's lunge narrowly misses as she again jets herself away, but as she does, a magician circle forms where she stood, Should the wolf land on it, it'll immediately explode Weird... wolves are pack animals, but you're all alone? She jumps back again, putting more distance between the two, another circle where she stood, before putting the sword away and charging the air around her with lightning Mana

That was what Painwheel expected. She moves her blades to block some of the blast, but the dark energy still does some damage. Noting how the boy in Kazuma's grasp is disappearing, she decides to not hold back as well. Now... my turn! She dashes forward, then sends her blades at the girl. If successful, she'll use the "spine" part of her weapon to pull herself to a close range, using the girl as something for the blades to grip onto.

The light coming from her shield suddenly grows more solid as she stops in her tracks, the glowing light forming a wall that blocks the incoming branches, no telling if it'll actually hold though. Homura then glances at the path in front of her and attempts to spot a way past, no sense fighting here when she can just rush out. OOC: Soul Gem: 30% dark.

Oh bother! [The lion get to him, he let his guard down it seems and was not able to react in time. As he was struck by the gigantic kitty cat, Kazuma decides that it would be the best option to look inside the adventurer's bag he once bought from the Elite Knight so long ago.] Don't worry, I got something for you right here! I hope you like catnip! [And from inside of small bag he carries under his vest, he pulls out a gigantic sword, bigger and heavier than himself. He couldn't possibly lift it, but that's what the infinite chains of Ouroboros were for. With a quick movement and the force that his chain shared with his user, he attempts to cut the lion in two with just one strike.] I can't move this thing that much anyway...! [Wether it lands or not, he would then try to get some distance from the lion and put the "Ultra Greatsword" back into the "Adventurer's Bag".]

Unable to stop its lunge, the wolf is blown back by the magic circle.... Its fur is heavily singed, and it growls at Nanaka before running back off into the woods. Its ambush having clearly failed. This leaves Nanaka alone once again on the long, largely empty path Once again, the masculine figure forms when Painwheel tries to attack the child, the blades are able to latch onto him instead, and propel Painwheel forward. Meanwhile the skeleton reaches out to grab Painwheel. The girl herself doesn't move, just repeating the same few things over and over again G?: Never find them... always alone..... The lion claws at Kazuma's back, leaving a few wounds before Kazuma manages to slice through it with his massive sword.... Its voice is finally silenced, as the lion lets out one groan... For a brief moment its true form can be seen, a shadowy, humanoid figure with two glowing blue orbs for eyes and what seem like burn marks upon its chest. Its skin is a pitch black, like the night sky, and leaves a thin trail of black mist as it dissolves... With Kuudere? finally free from the chains, Kazuma is able to see simply a mess of black and blue where its arms once were. Though it doesn't seem capable of much anymore.... Rather than fading dramatically like the lion did, this creature simply collapses, facedown into the murky water, before fading away completely Looking more closely, Homura sees two massive, tree-like creatures in front of her. They don't seem to be able to move very quickly, but each takes a turn with their massive, branchlike arms to strike at her shield. With how slow they are it would probably be easy to stop time, just for a few seconds to get past them.

The girls nods to herself and quickly slams the hourglass shut once more, time grinding to a halt as she blurs into motion at an inhuman speed. "Right time to keep going and get the heck outta here, I need to reach that energy source as fast as possible after all." As she continues moving, the flow of time would start back up by the time she's about 100 feet out from them. Once again the girl raises her shield up and forms the glowing purple energy once again lighting her path as she looks around in front of herself. "Hopefully I can figure out how to put a stop to this madness soon. Otherwise, who knows what may happen to anyone that wanders out here or something." OOC: Soul Gem 50% dark.

Wow...... usually they don't run...... She dispells the magic circles and draws her sword again Geh..... I immediately defaulted to magic again.... You're never gonna get better with this thing if you never use it... Continuing down the path, she keeps her 20ft radius out, Not interested in being ambushed again

At this close of a range, the skeleton easily grabs the masked girl. She growls and flails wildly. Get... away! She lets out a roar and kicks out at the skeleton's leg. However, this isn't exactly a normal strike. A metal spike, accompanied by some blood, stabs through the bottom of her boot, turning her kick into a piercing attack.

[Kazuma has managed to get rid of the "monsters" for once, but not unscratched and in the smooth way he would've prefered and tried to go for. He slowly sits down and pulls out a first aid kit, opens it and puts some alcohol on a small piece of cotton. He attempts to use Ouroboros itself to treat his wounds, as his arms were not enough to reach the place of the injuries.] I honestly expec-OUCH!...expected more of a reaction, just winning like-WATCH IT!...is a bit empty. [He sighs. And looks up at the skies, just wanting to enjoy whatever peace he had left.] If you ask me, Ouroboros, I really hoped we simply had a nice, quiet stroll down the-I WILL END YOU! [It turns out that trying to patch yourself up with a weapon is harder than it appears to be.]

The two treelike creatures end up hitting each other when Homura eludes their grasp. They begin fighting each other over the offense, while Homura safely makes her way further. Similarly, Nanaka moves forward, and finds the tree's decay to have only gotten worse.... Both Nanaka and Homura can feel the pulsing clearly now... Its almost like a heartbeat. Spreading... Something throughout the woods. In the distance, they see somewhat of a clearing, I say somewhat, it seems like most of the trees within have decayed to the point of near nonexistence.... Near the center of the clearing is a massive, silver wolf, standing next to.... What looks something like a tree, or a nest, possibly both. Its bark has several holes at the bottom through which some yellow fleshy stuff can be barely made out... The wolf stands near the base of this tree and licks its minor wounds... Homura catches a glimpse of a large, shadowy form near her side of the clearing. It lingers, rather than quickly moving on like the others, and seems to be facing the clearing away from her The skeleton proves itself to be rather frail, leg shattering as soon as Painwheel kicks it.... Moments later, it begins to reform, and closes its bony hands around Painwheel's throat... G?: Never see them again.... Gone forever.... Kazuma treats his injuries while Painwheel fights for her life on the other side of the pond. He can easily see all that, but there's nothing stopping him from just walking out the way he came if he wants.

What the.......? Reconnaissance first.... then blowing everything up..... Nanaka summons up some wind and rushes along the outside of the clearing, searching for anything and everything her senses can pick up

"Hmm... It doesn't look human, and up to now everything has been unfriendly. Well... This seems close to the source, I can't afford to get attacked as I'm looking around." In spite of her misgivings towards violence, these things have acted like familiars up to now, so against her own instincts Homura calls forth a shotgun and takes aim. "Now... Where the heck is a wolf's heart? And for that matter is there any point worrying about it? I don't know if these things have normal anatomy or some kinda screwy magic stuff... Well, I guess I'll just find out the hard way." The girl sighs to herself and darts out, moving closer before pointing her shotgun straight at the right side of the wolf's chest, she'd slam down the trigger and cut the flow in her hourglass. Shells stopping mid-air as she darts around to the left side of her foe. "Okay, just make sure that it's harder to dodge via firing on more than one point at a time." As she mutters to herself Homura darts around until reaching the wolf's front side, another shotgun blast flying out a few feet before the effects of stopped time grind it to a halt. And just as suddenly the hourglass would begin to flow once more, from Nanaka's viewpoint it would seem as though two shotgun blasts and a 14-year-old girl simply appeared out of thin air. OOC: Soul Gem 65% dark.

[After Ouroboros puts the bandages on his back. Kazuma pays more attention to Painwheel fighting for her life against a skeleton as a kid watches it all. At first, he realizes he does not give much of a crap about whatever happens to her. However, helping is good for a lot of things, like gaining allies, maybe get someone to owe you a favor...a new tool to use or keep around for protection.] I'm not weak at all, but any extra "party member" is always good. [Kazuma mutters. He points at the skeleton with his right hand, and the infinite, serpentine chain moves towards it at an extreme speed, the head of it opens its jaws, attempting to rip apart the bones of the spine and arms in one move.] I-I can't move much, but I will help with my weapon as much as I can! [He yells at the other, acting as if he was in a lot of pain. Of course, he was not, but it didn't stop him from making it sound genuine.]

As predicted, the skeleton's arms shatter easily, crumbling away into dust. Kazuma makes short work of the rest of the creature, tearing out its spine, the ghostly skeleton soon fades away. The child watches the whole event with very little interest in her glowing blue eyes G?: Always alone, never see them again.... Finally, the masculine skeleton reforms in front of the child, while another, more feminine one with long, ghostly white forms behind her. The masculine skeleton claws at Painwheel's mask, while the feminine one looks across the pond at Kazuma... It seems to be preparing something Nanaka dashes around the left end of the clearing... She begins to sense something when suddenly a middle-schooler with a shotgun appears in the middle of the clearing firing at the wolf from earlier... Pretty self-explanatory where the magic is here. In addition to that, she senses something along the left edge. As if on cue, a large, bulbous figure, its body formed from an inky blackness seems to hover into the clearing, letting off a black mist from near the bottom. The figure is easily twice the wolf's size, with thick, branchlike arms. It moves towards Homura. Meanwhile, the wolf is caught off-guard by the sudden shotgun blasts. The parts of its fur that were shot become sticky, coated in a thin, red layer of blood. The massive wolf howls in outrage and immediately lunges at Homura, aiming to snap its jaws around her gun arm and break it. In the center of the clearing, the pulsing is louder and harder, both Homura and Nanaka can practically hear the *thump thump, thump thump,* it seems almost like a heartbeat. The thing in the clearing center seems to be pulsing alongside it.

Gh! Nanaka stops her Patrol and quickly syncs her Mana to match Homura's, preventing her spells from dealing friendly fire to the younger girl before pulling a stone out of her pocket and rushing at the figure, drawing a magic circle with her finger on the opposite hand, then opening her palm as she finishes and unleashing a large blast of fire towards the figure Watch out!

The bony claws tug at Painwheel's mask, although the stitches keep it mostly in place. She smacks the hands away with her nail-ridden arm. That's it! DEATH CRAWL! All the nails in her arm retreat, save for one protruding from her palm. Three others appear: one on her other palm, and two others on the soles of her feet. In an instant, she launches herself backwards with her blades spinning like a buzzsaw, attempting to trap the skeleton underneath her upside-down crawl across the ground. And with her blades on her back... well, that would hurt if it worked.

Homura cries out in pain as the dammed thing tears into her flesh, bones snapping in her arm as the girl quickly slams her other fist into the wolf's nearest eye, from there she'd tear her gun arm free and back away a bit. The shotgun vanishing as that arm hangs limp. "Gah! Th-that really freaking hurts when you aren't expecting it to happen... I need to clear my Soul Gem soon now. But no time for that yet." Instead the girl glares at her foe as black flames burst up around her, a glowing card with the image of a woman dressed somewhat like herself forming in front of Homura's head before she quickly smashes it to bits with her free hand. "COME HOMULILLY!" As the girl speaks the black fire suddenly takes the shape of the woman upon the card. Her face covered in deep darkness, the only visible part being a pair of eyes that gleam out from the shadowy veil upon her, the same color as Homura's Soul Gem shining within them. And a crown of pink flowers upon the top. The woman's chest bears a broken clock in the center of it as well, having been smashed to bits in some prior battle. Her hands hold a gleaming black swinging guillotine on the end of a large metal rod. "COVER THEM IN ENDLESS DESPAIR!" A dark smirk can be seen in the shadows making up the head of the "Persona", waves of dark magic flowing upon her blade before she swings the thing right at the center of the wolf's chest, a blade formed from the darkness into the shape of her guillotine flying towards it as Homulilly glares. Homura on the other would barely even hear the other girl shouting at before shaking her head and trying to focus herself once more. "U-um right, I should really be more careful around these things huh? But, there'll be time to worry over that later." She'd glance at Nana with an apologetic look on her face, Homulilly is... Not quite so as easily controlled as she might hope. As she speaks the bones in the arm making a cracking sound before she starts moving it again, a glowing black jewel forming in her hand as she looks down at her very dark Soul Gem.

I really don't have time to wait. Serpentine Trap! [The snake chain quickly flies to the skies and after a second or two, falls back down straight towards the feminine skeleton as it attempts to coils itself around the neck and forcibly pull her up. If this hits and it doesn't break the neck with the move, it will let go of her neck as she is up in the air, and pierce as much as it can of the bones.] I have to take care of myself too, but the next target is clear. [Still trying to maintain his facade, he stands up slowly and with aparent difficulty.] C-Corpse Girl, be careful! Focus on the other one!

The shadowy creature turns back and catches the full force of Nanaka's blast..... It almost seems disinterested as the flames pass over its inky black skin. Getting a closer look at it, Nanaka can see two horns, formed of the same inky substance as the rest of it growing out to the sides of its lump-like head. In its head are two glowing orbs of light. Finally, the front of the creature's chest seems scarred and burned, but from what its hard to tell. The creature swings one of its limbs horizontally at Nanaka, aiming to knock her halfway across the clearing in a single blow. Kazuma and Painwheel successfully tear into the skeletons, once again ripping the pair apart and causing them to dissapate into dust. The girl steps back, towards the edge of the clearing while both skeletons reform in front of her. The feminine skeleton launches a small bolt of energy across the pond at Kazuma while the masculine one steps in front of her, ready to reach out at Painwheel if they come too close. G: Never see them again.... Gone forever.... Homulilly's guillotine bites into the wolf's chest, causing it to snarl and step back.... It looks a bit more.... Pathetic now, its once beautiful silver fur now scorched and covered in blood. It lunges at Homulilly, a madness in its eyes as it claws at the persona's broken clock. The forest seems to grow darker as the pulsing continues.... The twisted tree in the middle begins to open up, just a little more.....

The Persona laughs madly and swings the blade, this time using no magic and instead simply aiming to slam her blade down into the thing's head. It'd smack into her clock as she's utterly focused on offense, but the "Persona" is barely feeling anything from its clock. "Let's end this thing quickly Homulilly! No need to waste a ton of our energy after all right!?" As she speaks the girl would hold her Grief Seed above the Soul Gem, black energy rushing into the seed as she sighs with relief, it always feels good to rid oneself of that horrid darkness after all. "Phew, I feel a lot better now that I've got my magic back... Let's just say it'd be a bad thing if I ever run out completely." OOC: Soul Gem 0% Dark. Grief Seeds remaining, 2.

They just keep coming... Painwheel growls a little, then gets an idea. She activates her blades again, this time flying into the air. Once she flies above the skeleton and out of its reach, she suddenly dives down, a metal spike piercing through her foot as she falls directly above the girl.

Gotta think fast! She shouts at Homura Attack the tree! Nanaka throws her right fist at the arm that's swung at her, when they connect, and explosion will emanate from the impact point, throwing Nanaka away by the blast Gah!

I don't want to see you again! [Kazuma avoids the bolt by using Ouroboros the which latches onto air itself and launches the young man forward. As he flies towards the skeletons, he pulls out the Ultra Greatsword from the bag and uses the momentum to slam it against the girl, or he at least tries to get rid of her in one hit.] Just disappear!! [Even if it doesn't hit, Kazuma's eventual landing will be a rough one, the weight of the sword is too big for someone like him. Shoot, if only he was given a stronger body for once. Thankfully, the injuries on his back were regenerating quite fast.]

The skeletons almost seem surprised to find him flying at them so suddenly, both the masculine and feminine ones take their attention off of Painwheel in order to attempt to catch the Sword.... This doesn't go well for them, causing both figures to shatter into dust once more. Thanks to this, neither skeleton is around to try blocking Painwheel's attack, She pierces the small girl through the chest, causing that same black, misty substance from before to leak out in great quantities. The girl's form twists and misshapes, before showing the same, inky black humanoid form the lion did. This soon dissapates into mist. With their foe taken care of Painwheel flies out of the forest, leaving Kazuma alone in the rotting grove. Finally, Homulilly's blade goes through the creature's head... As it finally dies, the wolf gives a sad look at the forest around it, before looking directly at Homura.... The wolf collapses, a massive gash in its skull, and its blood flows freely onto the forest floor. Nanaka one-punches the shadowy figure, blowing it in the opposite direction. The arm in questio has seen much better days, now covered in holes that leak out a faint black mist..... The creature pauses when the wolf blood is spilled upon the forest floor, and looks to the center of the clearing. In the center of the clearing, the tree-like thing begins pulsing faster and faster, by now its beats can be felt all throughout the forest... The wolf's blood seems to be drawn into the tree, causing it to further grow, twist.... And open..... Nanaka can sense an incredible amount of energy coming from this source, more than they ever have before..... Its starting to seem like a bad idea to remain here.....

Fu-...... Run! Run away! This is NOT a good thing! Nanaka quickly runs a circle around the tree and draws a crude magic circle meant to prevent mana from entering or exiting the area, but as its so hastily created, it's rather frail Forget what I said before! Just run!

[Kazuma falls to the ground and, in the end, decides to stay there for a bit. He needed some rest after all this and so...] I will stay here for a bit, and then I will just...walk back home... [He takes one last look at his Ultra Greatsword before closing his eyes, his injures almost completely healed.] What a day.

Homura nods at the other girl and time grinds to a halt, her "Persona would vanish as the girl runs over towards Nanaka. She'd grab hold of one of Nana's hands before time resumes and Homura looks at her, a dead serious expression on her face. "Don't ask questions, for now, just keep running and don't let go of me got it? I can get us a headstart, but only if you do that." Once again the flow of time would snap to a halt, assuming Nana is still holding on Homura would keep running for a good 500 feet or so before time resumes once more, the girl of course aiming to reach the same place they came into the forest through. "Please don't ask me to explain my power, I can do it later but for now just take what we've got going for us and keep moving alright?" OOC: Soul Gem 30% Dark.

Gotcha! Nanaka is pulled along with Homura until they reach the edge It's ok, magic is magic, doesn't matter where it very Comes from. Now it's my turn to help you. Nanaka keeps ahold of Homura as she warps them even further from the forest

The creature in the tree doesn't seem to care much about Homura stopping time. It slowly emerges from its cocoon, or rather, forms with it. The creature's head towers above the treeline. Looking back as they run, they find a massive creature. Its lower half seems to be a mess of barklike flesh zig-zagging all over and around a plain red orb roughly three times the size of a person. This comes to a point with a thin, spine-like mesh of the same material that connects it with its upper body. The upper body somewhat resembles a suit of armor, with an almost skeletal chestpiece. In the center of its chest is another, much smaller red orb that glows with malice. Thick, barklike projections emerge from the creature's shoulders, as a two sets of thin, bat-like wings emerge from its back. You can't imagine that it could possibly help the creature fly. Finally, its head seems to be a pure blue orb of chaotic energy, topped with a pointed helmet composed of the same barklike material as most of its body. The helmets points extend up for several feet, with another red orb suspended in the air between them. The creature looks at Nanaka's hasty circle with disinterest, and breaks it. By this point both Nanaka and Homura turn a corner and run through the woods well away from the creature.... The forest around them seems to be in even worse condition than before, visibly withering and rotting as they flee. [Bad End] The house seemed like it might have been important, doesn't it?

Epilogue A few weeks pass after these events. By now the once-massive forest is nothing more than a barren wasteland, with no living thing in sight. Reporters come to the scene, hopelessly ignorant of what had occurred. Still, they they search the nearby farmhouse, finding one item of interest. A relatively new, well-bound. As the only piece of evidence for the events in the forest, the journal makes its way around, and becomes easily accessible. The transcript reads as follows September 12th Recently there have been rumors going around town, rumor that something strange is happening. A nearby newspaper has begun gathering stories on the subject. As the only one who lives near it I decided to start recording things, for use in journals, or maybe I’ll even write a book. But first, let me give some background on the forest. Having lived here all my life, I’ve seen much that it has to offer. Once, as a child, I stayed out beyond dark, much against my mother’s warnings. She had always told me of the dangerous animals that become braver at night, yet I wandered too far, too deep to get home in time. As I had been warned, while hurrying on my way back, a wolf stumbled upon me. It had likely seen better days, it’s wet, mangled fur was spattered with a hint of its own blood. The Mad beast lunges for me as I stumbled back. That’s the first time I saw something... Odd. I considered it luck at first, the tree branch that fell on and trapped the creature. I stared at the wolf in shock, before running on my way home. This was the first of many such incidents. October 15th I was exploring the woods today when I stumbled upon a hidden grove. Within this grove I saw a beautiful, blonde-haired young woman, kneeling by a pond. She said her name was Ariana. They were rather lonely, rarely left the grove they called home. So I began to return to her, every few days, and we would talk. She told me a story about the forest, one that reminded me of my encounter with a wolf. Legends say that some of the trees were alive and benevolent. They would guide lost travelers out of the woods and aid the place’s guardian. I was about to ask about that guardian of hers when I noticed the setting sun. With that, I thanked her for her time and promised to come back in a week. October 22nd As promised, I returned to the grove today. When I came in the woman seemed troubled, gazing into the pond with a forlorn expression. I asked what was wrong and she told me this. “I’ve been seeing the guardian more and more recently, they only show whenever the woods are in danger. I worry for them.” I asked Ariana what she meant by this guardian, this danger, but she refused to say any more on the subject. She urged me to leave early, so as to ensure my safety.... I have my reserves, but respected her wishes. November 8th Recently I’ve begun to hear a... Whispering of sorts, coming from the forest. It is strange, the forest animals seem uneasy. A wolf attacked me in broad daylight. It almost seemed mad, and gave me a rather nasty bite. I’ll have to be more careful in the future.

around here the handwriting begins to get worse, almost as though the author were in a rush, or a panic to finish. It steadily grows worse as the writing continues. November 12th The whispering has only grown louder. I’ve gone into the woods less and less as of late, though I still enter for both food and firewood. I swear, I saw some... Formless... Shadowy things, darting among the trees. They had glowing blue eyes, and seemed to be doing their best to remain out of sight. Is this the danger she was referring to? I heard a sound like trees crashing in the distance... Best not to find out why. November 20th I encountered one of those creatures today. It seemed mindless, and filled with rage. It’s claws bore down upon me like that of a bear, though the creature carried human shape. It took me one good swing at the creature to destroy it, almost as though it had given no thought to it’s own preservation. The creature burst into a blackish mist, rather than leave some body behind, but not without leaving me with reminders. The scratches it gave me still haven’t shown any signs of healing. I worry they are infected. All it took was On my way back home, I saw a flash of silver a few times. I hope it’s not another of those creatures, but it did not approach Me, so I let it be. November 29th I haven’t entered the forest since the last incident. Though some days I feel a tugging of sorts, I never followed it, as it would be a foolish thing to do. However, today, I saw a young boy walking into the woods, he almost seemed to be in a trance. I ran after him, down the right path deep into the forest. Halfway down the path was when I saw another of those shadow beasts. This one was much larger than the others, with a round, bulbuous body complimented by thick, branchlike limbs. It seemed to ignore the child, instead lumbering after me.... I was about to flee, when I caught sight of a silver blur. In a moment, a massive silver wolf was on top of the creature, it’s claws rended the shadow’s form with ease, and the shadow dissipated into a mist-like substance, much like the previous one. The wolf eyed me carefully for a moment, before nodding its head towards the boy and running off. I caught up to the child, he seemed delirious. Muttering about “the great beast” and “the forest lord”. I can only assume he meant the wolf. I took him back home, and when the child snapped out of it, he didn’t seem to remember anything that had occurred. Either that or he lied in hopes of avoiding trouble with his parents when I took him back to town. here his handwriting becomes little better than scribbling, it was difficult to decipher, but there are seemingly no holes in the translation December 2nd There are many creatures in the woods now. Sometimes the shadows even venture beyond the forest. I have decided to remain in my house for the time being. The forestI knew is gone, replaced with this nightmare. There’s some one... Some..... Thing. That took it from me. I don’t know what it is.... The boy. He went towards the creature..... Perhaps... No, don’t think about such things. This final entry lacks a date of any kind, but is obviously the most recent one, based on its positioning in the journal There’s Something in the Woods There’s something in the woods Something fierce, pulsating, it drives the forest mad There’s something in the woods A strange, alluring, yet terrifying thing There’s something in the woods A terrible, infuriating thing There’s something in the woods A thing that should not be There’s something in the woods I want my home back There’s somethi- and this is where the writing stops. The journal was left wide open when it was found, its likely that the author left it in a hurry