A series of unfortunate events. (Philsys RP, full)

[LadyDragonClawsEDW]

Bah, you'd at least think they'd wait for me...

Aya nudged the chocobo onwards, quickly catching up to the rest of the group, "So..." she smiled shyly, "Who's going to navigate? Can't be me, trust me..eh heh."

[JoshuaDurron]

Ayri shook her head. "'Fraid I'm no help either. I've travelled alot, and even been to Valth once or twice, but I always travelled in a caravan. No navagation experience."

[Dark Xia]

"I believe one of us was intelligent enough to get a map?"

[MovieMan123321]

Cuimacc slows his chocobo's fast sprint to a trot, and looks back. He waits for the group to notice him, and then continues in a moderately fast pace, breifly referring to the map from now and then.

[Divinegon2130]

Richard, seeing the others leaving, nudged his chocobo out of the stables as well, catching up with the group after a short while.

He stayed near the back of the group, trying not to draw too much attention, then remembered that he had to ask the queen something. However, he figured it would be better saved for when they were OFF the chocobos. The only thing he knew about Valth besides what he had been told recently was that it was more than one day away, at least on foot, so he assumed he would have a chance.

He felt he'd need to say it before they got to their destination.

[FlamingDeth]

And thus, the party of adventurers set out for Valth. Chocobos speeding along at a brisk pace, by the end of the day, they were nearing the border of Riva. In the back of their minds, each knew that just past that border lay danger, and risk of being attacked by dragoons, mobs of xenophobic citizens, or worse, and that they would have to be on their guard.

However, near the end of that day, both Xia and Ayri had notice someone behind them. Now, they had seen the figure earlier, but had either dismissed it as a random passerby, or as a trick of the eyes, as it was never there for more than a moment. However, at this point, one thing had become clear: they did not know who, and could probably take a few guesses as to why, but they were most definately being followed.

The rest of their pack of travelers, however, had missed it. To them, the first thing to be concerned with was finding an appropriate spot to camp...

[Dark Xia]

Xia tried as best she could to command her Chocobo(which she has named "Bart" just for the hell of it and the fact that her original name "Bark, while appropriate, sucked) to go besides Aya's. Once she finally got beside the Queen she spoke ikn a low, but still hearable voice, "My Queen I do believe someone is following us, so if we ever stop be on the look out, and you wouldn't happen to telepathic powers would you? So we could tell the others without alerting those following us?"

Edited by: Dark Xia at: 1/29/03 6:50:56 am

[JoshuaDurron]

Ayri, who's trained ear had caught what Xia had said to the Queen, quickly pulled her own chocobo up to the same position. Without taking her eyes of the road in front of them, she matched Xia's tone and said, "I saw him to. And I can think of an easier way to keep us from being overheard." With that, she raised her voice a bit and seemed to completely change the subject. "Of course, Your Highness. I know just the thing."

With that said, she burst into song, her clear alto voice hitting the opening notes of a song about a young chocobo and his journey to fame as a racer. The song was almost seven minutes long, if she sang all the verses she knew, and she figured that should be enough time for the Queen to spread the word that they were being followed.

[LadyDragonClawsEDW]

"Following us? Great...this being near Riva that's not the place I want to be followed in..." she ordered her chocobo to stop and lowered her voice, "I say we set up camp here for the night and try to find out who this spy of ours is now...better to nip this in the bud before they attack us where it hurts..." she dismounted the bird and pet it's head, "Oh by the way, just call me Aya, not Queen."

[Squintz Altec]

Dhargun hopped off his chocobo, absenmindedly rubbing his rear end. Man, riding chocobos sucked sometimes. "You need fire? Wood? Zombies for the fuel?" He asked, trying to be helpful.

[MovieMan123321]

Cuimacc slowed as well, after hearing the initial conversation on their tail.

"Lady Aya," he said, moving his Chocobo beside hers. "May I suggest that we get to the river first before attempting to confront our tail?"

He glanced over at Dhargun, while letting his eyes glaze over the position of their tail inconspicuously. "Although this terrain allows us to spot him easily, any plan on our part will be see with similar ease."

[Divinegon2130]

Richard tried his best to stop the chocobo near the rest of the group, dismounting when he finally got it to stop.

He took note of what he had heard from the others. His worst suspicion had apparently been proven - someone was following them, but Richard believed that whoever was following was after him.

Now was not the time to be talking. He listened and waited for the others to come up with the best idea.

[LadyDragonClawsEDW]

Aya lowered her voice, speaking to Cumiac, "Why the river though? What's your plan?"

[MovieMan123321]

Cuimacc lowered his voice similarly, saying, "I noted that the southern tip of the Valthi peninsula is somewhat close to the mouth of the river." He produced the map he aquired to demonstrait this.

"This is the obvious course of action, from the mouth of the river by boat, north to the peninsula. However, we could have several of us quietly cross to the other side, and two of us go in the boat down the river. When we hit the rapids, we anchor and wait for our tail to come down. Before he can change direciton and evade us, he'll come right into our anchored boat."

He then trotted slightly further away from Aya, saying, "Of course, we could always just go up the coast and lose him in the mountains."

[LadyDragonClawsEDW]

"I think it would be better if we confront this person now before he's in a position to summon help, which he may have planted somewhere near the Valthi border. Yuji reported being followed in his journal as well...it's better to nip this in the bud, I say..."

[Dark Xia]

"I agree... I really don't see the logic in waiting. So we shal lset up camp here then?"

[MovieMan123321]

((Joint postage! This is a private convo b/w Cuimacc and Aya. Done with LadyDragon person, of course.))

Cuimacc thought for a moment, and then replied, "I don't like this. We don't know who he is, and he obviously knows who we are, or he wouldn't be following us, especially a large group like this. He knows about us, and he can see us as well as we see him. No doubt he knows we've spotted him."

"Hmm, this is true, but if it's only one person, he, or she, can easily be handled...if we get the jump on him..."

"And it's that jump that I'm hoping to get. This terrain hides very little... Unless if we find some high vegetation."

The Queen scratched her head, "I don't understand where a tail would hide in a place like this anyways...maybe someone has that vanish spell I've heard about and can help us with that..."

"Perhaps you should distract our tail then. You do stand out the most."

"...what's THAT supposed to mean?"

Cuimacc glances directly into Aya's eyes once coldly, then glanced to her apparent ears, and tail. "Besides,” he added, “you're color doesn't blend in well."

"Oh I see, it's because I'm a dragon you think I'd make good bait or something? I doubt our tail is a dragonslayer, as we haven't even entered Riva yet..."

"I was more thinking that you could attempt to hide, and draw his attention as someone else swings around him..." Cuimacc then took another moment to look at Aya. "Y'know, I've always been told that Dragons are bigger. And less bi-pedal."

"I'm a ryuuzoku, we have the ability to assume a human shape. Do you want to see my dragon form? It's quite large, you won't be disappointed."

Cuimacc stayed silent for a moment, and then asked, "Large enough to blot out the sun, and effectively distract our tail for ten seconds?"

Aya frowned thoughtfully, "Yes, that or scare the living bejeebuz out of them..."

"Worse case senario you could just swoop down on him, correct?" Cuimacc asked.

"Heh heh...." Aya grinned. Been a while since I ate someone, last time I did it was out of...self defense...

"I'll take that as a yes..."

[JoshuaDurron]

By now, Ayri had wrapped up her song, and whatever cover it had been providing was now lost. She had spent the last several minutes, as people strategized and carried on other activities beyond her, simply wandering among the chocobos, singing to them as if to boost their spirits, and giving them affectionate pats on the nose. She shot a glance over at Aya, as if asking if the Queen wanted another song, or was the need for auditory cover over?

[Squintz Altec]

Dhargun sat down. He hated it when others just talked and didn't let him in on the conversation. He didn't know what it was, nor did he really care. He was just in this for the promise of the reward at the end of the job. Well, maybe a little more. That half-drow had a nice piece of ass. And he was a full drow. Hey, maybe he could lay the charms on her. Then again, the thought of Fireblaze brought pause to him. But only for a moment. He didn't really care about that old fire elemental anyways.

[LadyDragonClawsEDW]

Aya took a step back, and addressed the group, "I'd like you all to turn around while I trans...oh wait...nevermind that..." she concentrated, her body glowing a bright golden color, almost looking the way it would before she teleports. A white mist arose from the ground, the ryuuzoku could be seen chanting softly as it swirled about her to conceal her form. This "deception" was in fact to her advantage as her transformation usually contained brief periods of exposure that she did not want to share with the group.

Her form, obscured by the mist, began to shift and change, twisting and expanding to fill a different, much larger shape that soon outgrew the confines of the mist. In place of the small human-looking woman sat a large 70 foot golden dragon sitting upon her haunches. Her unruly human form hair had arranged itself into a long fin that extended from the head down the back of the dragon. With a yawn, stretch, and scratch behind the ear with one of her foreclaws, she lowered her massive head down to face Cuimacc.

Is this big enough for you? She grinned toothily, exposing long fangs, her voice itself was deeper and rang clearly in the heads of her allies.

[Squintz Altec]

HOLY FUCK! Dhargun had his sword drawn nearly immediately, but then realized that he didn't have to worry about anything. If he recalled, the Queen was a dragon...and dragons were big. Thus, he could reasonably conclude that the big dragon was the Queen. And he also concluded being eaten alive by this dragon would hurt. So he just watched.

[Divinegon2130]

Richard observed Aya transforming. This transformation shocked and alarmed him - for a moment, he was even panicking. How could he have known that the queen was a dragon in disguise? However, watching this transformation also reminded him of what he was going to say. But he didn't want to say it to the queen right away.

Then he got an idea. He'd tell one of the others. But who?

Richard then slowly walked to Ayri, and asked her, "Excuse me... ma'am... but there's something I want to tell you."

[JoshuaDurron]

Ayri had looked over just as Aya began her transformation. While a bit shocked, she quickly got over it. Being young and fairly naive, she simply assumed such things were common place in the adventurer's life, and wrote it off as such.

A moment later, however, she was approached by one of the other party members. The name escaped her, but he seemed to have something he wanted to tell her...

"Um... yes?" Not her most brilliant reply, but then she was still a bit unnerved by the whole situation she had found herself in.

[Divinegon2130]

Richard continued with what he was going to say to Ayri. "I've been wanting to tell the rest of the group here about this-" ...at this point, Richard looked at Aya again... "-but apparently the Queen has sort of beaten me to it. I'm just wondering if it's only me and her that have the ability to assume other forms.

"I ask that you just don't go crazy if you see me turning into a bird." The next part he whispered to Ayri. "I should tell the others about it, but it seems they're busy watching the queen."

[Dark Xia]

Xia just stare quietly at Aya's new form. Though it was not a stare of surprise or fascination, merely a watchful stare.

I guess it'll be hard to extract vengence if I ever get aronud to it. Oh well.

[MovieMan123321]

Cuimacc merely mounted his very excited Chocobo which he left nearby, as he emotionlessly replied, "Your size is your size, but I think that you need to cut off our friend from escaping."

Cuimacc pointed to their tail, as he calmed his bird down by meticulously stroking it's neck. "If we're lucky, then I'll be able to bring him in alive." Cuimacc then unsheathed his Katana, and turned his Chocobo towards their tail.

"I'm at your leave, Lady Aya."

(Sorry about the wait, I had collegy things to do.)

Edited by: [url=http://pub30.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=movieman123321>MovieMan123321</A] at: 1/30/03 1:57:41 am

[FlamingDeth]

(OOC: Blarg, I cannae seem to find Dhargun's sheet, and I have a feeling I'm gonna be needing it soon. So...uh...stuff. Adam = emailing it to me, or putting it on the site.)


However, as Cuimacc turned, the first thing he noticed was that there was no one there. It wasn't that they were tricked, as just barely in his field of vision he could see footsteps that clearly did not belong to the chocobos. Unfortunately, they just suddenly stopped, as if the maker of the tracks suddenly ceased to exist.

Looking around, Cuimacc could find no trace of their tail, beyond the footsteps. None of the others had any more luck. Yet, while none of them could find the figure that had been spotted behind them, every one of them could still feel that they were being watched.

To the objective viewer, nothing at all would seem out of place here. However, it was more than this feeling. Faintly, they could hear the a shrill squawking noise. None of them could identify it's source; it sounded almost ubiquitous in origin. Squinting against the setting sun, a veritable cloud of black spots became visible on the horizon, and the harsh noise began to draw in closer...

Edited by: [url=http://pub30.ezboard.com/brpgww60462.showUserPublicProfile?gid=flamingdeth>FlamingDeth</A]&nbsp; at: 1/30/03 4:40:37 am

[MovieMan123321]

Cuimacc stood silent and still atop his Chocobo, scanning the horizon for anyone. His ear cocked and twitched with each squawk he heard as he strained to hear subtle noises of his surrounding area.

The a tought struck him.

"... When has a bird ever been that loud after seeing impending doom?" Cuimacc gestured to Aya as he searched out the bird in the sky.

[JoshuaDurron]

Ayri, still under the impression that transmorgifying adventurers were common, simply nodded to Richard. She matched his tone and assured him, "I will remember that."

In the mean time, she kept a tight hand on Petey's reigns and quickly calmed him down as he shied away from Aya's new form. Casting a glance towards the sky, she added, "Any chance that our friend back there is the same as you?"

[LadyDragonClawsEDW]

Aya frowned and gave the surrounding area an quick astral scan, searching for any auras unfamiliar to the group, slightly bothered by what seemed to be a large incoming flock of birds over the horizon but decided to pay them no real heed.

It wouldn't surprise me to discover that we had some sort of ninja following us, my friends...

(OOC: Note when Aya speaks, it's global telepathy to everyone unless stated otherwise)

[Squintz Altec]

"Bah, ninja." Dhargun spat. "Nothing big about them. They can just hide and make it look pretty. Other than that, there's nothing they can do that I CAN'T do."

(FD- I added Dhargun's charsheet to the site. You can find it from there, I assume.)

[Divinegon2130]

The first thing that told Richard something was horribly wrong was the cloud of black spots. It was a curious thing, since normally flocks of birds, which Richard knew created black clouds on rare occasions, travelled during the day. The squawking noise was even weirder, though.

It wasn't until then that Ayri's comment and Aya's telepathic message sunk in. That's when Richard told Ayri, "Somehow, I have a hunch that it's not the same as me. However, if it's a ninja as the queen suggests, then we may be in for trouble."

Then Richard had a thought back to when they were still in the castle. Unless it's the one we're looking for..., he thought.

(Note: Richard's "hunch", which he just told Ayri about, is an uneducated one. He basically has no clue, and is only guessing there.)

[FlamingDeth]

Time dragged on, as the squawking drew in closer still. Just as slowly, the sun began to sink below the horizon. The last few flickers of light fell out of sight, which should have allowed the assembly of adventurers , yet in an instant, the creatures were upon them.

Looking around, nearly ever loose rock, every stump, every tree branch had a crow on it. All of them were only slightly over the size of a normal one, and they all had cold, lifeless blue eyes. In fact, one could say it was a veritable murder of crows, each piercing them with an icy glare...

Aya's aura scan, however, was odd. She could not see if the auras were masked or not, but they appeared to be normal birds, yet due to the circumstances, she knew that to be wrong.

[MovieMan123321]

((To quote bender: We're boned!))

Cuimacc turned around a few times, jumping off his Chocobo letting it go, and paying special attention to it's reaction, it remaining somewhat calm... for a chocobo.

"Regretfully," Cuimacc said slowly, "... I don't think my sword will be much help here.."

[LadyDragonClawsEDW]

Oh for the love of Ceiphied! Aya emitted a loud ear-splitting roar, intending to just scare all the birds away quickly.

Damn that's a lot of birds...

[Dark Xia]

Xia quietly sat on her brown Chobo, listening to the roar.

I somehow doubt that'll do anything. What evil malignant force would use birds that could be scared away? Wella cheap one.. but I doubt what we're dealing with is being cheap.

Staring at the birds she waited to see if her thoguhts were correct, and if they'd really need to fight these things.

[Squintz Altec]

Dhargun, however, felt at home with the crows. Being a necromancer, he was often linked to the dark, and as such, was linked to crows. He looked at them, not really caring about the cold stares they gave. He felt at home, in some sick way. So he sat down, and minded his own business.

[JoshuaDurron]

Ayri just kept her hand on Petey's reigns, hoping everything would blow over without event.

[FlamingDeth]

Despite Aya's efforts to be as loud and scary as she could, the creatures remained motionless, their icy glare upon the travelers. A few moments went by, yet it seemed longer...all the while, the crows remained stationary, as if evaluating the entourage.

"...interesting indeed." said an ethereal voice, each syllable apparently being pronounced by a different bird. "Interesting, but futile. You'll get what is coming to you soon enough..."

[Squintz Altec]

"Oooh, creepy." Dhargun stood up at once. "Before I get what's coming to me, can I ask you some questions first?"