AC: Round 1 - Group 4

[Revenant]

This thread is reserved for member of Group 4. The thread will open at noon on August 18th (Pacific time) and will be closed after two weeks.

Good Luck!

Group 4
Hsa Eulb - Chibimon Blue
Talen Shadowwalker - Hysteria
Sorish mon Larsh - hoytti
Mordelain Saythrou - Mordelain

[Hysteria]

Talen felt his mind slowly come back from the dizzying magic dreams cast upon him by the old adventurer. The youth blinked away the last dregs of sleep and beheld the island that had the misfortune of being in his way. White sand stretched out from under the youth to the horizon forming a platinum ring around the deep emerald greenery of the island’s flora.

Gingerly Talen pushed himself to his feet. A slight look of annoyance passed across his face as he brushed the sand off his black shirt and pants. The sun beat down upon the beach, and the salty spray of the waves would have been idyllic for anyone but the thirteen year old shadow mage. The boy turned his eyes to the thick jungle that started just a few metres from the shore line. The foliage was a thick mixture of greenery, ferns, palms and so many other random plants it was as if the island was an amalgamation of all things tropical; the epitome of an island paradise.

The youth turned his attention to the other limp bodies lying on the shore and sighed. None of the people he laid eyes on looked familiar, although the youth knew many of the people that had entered the tournament. Talen paused for a moment as he decided what sort of cloths would suit the environment. His black shirt and pants dispersed into a black cloud for a second, before coming back together as a pair of long lose pants and a t-shirt; as always they were black. The youth rested his hands on the pistols holstered at his hips and gazed at the island centre in thought.

[Mordelain]

Mordelain knew much of the landscapes of the nine planes of the Kalithrism. She had wandered each for decades in search of solitude, answers, and sanctuary. She was almost certain, then, that here on this strange island, she was anywhere but home. The air itself seemed to scream into her lungs and tell a curious tale of falseness and magic. If she had not been so irately wound up by Suresh’s insistence on her enrolment in the self-proclaimed ‘Adventurer’s Crown’, her sudden and inexplicable appearance in such a strange and phantasmal realm might have scared her.

“Then again,� she said aloud with a light-hearted chuckle, “it’s not the most dangerous situation he’s gotten me into,� and that was this last month alone. The planes walker had already narrowly dodged death in the gaping maws of sand worms and ant lion demons, a side-trip to another place was practically a holiday as far as she was concerned. “Though I usually amble in respite alone…� she pensively stared at the shadows on the beach some eight hundred feet south along the shore.

Her fists clenched into tight balls, a cautionary reaction, until she reminded herself about the messenger’s strange comment. He had specifically mentioned the group orientated nature of the competition. The best sort of adventures, according to the lavish, hand-written invitations and directions, were those done in the company of friends, allies, and idiots quite willing to get crushed by boulders in the name of fame and fortune, and the occasional ‘flirtation’ with bar wenches along the way. Mordelain’s hope for a little civility and grace from her patron had died the moment she had read that particular comment aloud. The sound of Suresh’s tobacco stained voice guffawing at the disdainful expression still echoed in her head.

Checking one final time she was in one piece, Mordelain resigned herself to whatever fate awaited her, and set along the beach towards the shadows. In the glare of subdual that was the sun’s beaming glaze, they appeared to be gluttonous seals asleep on a salty shore. To their left the jungle canopy beckoned, steamy, dark, and most likely cluttered with carnivores and creatural nightmares. To their right, a more welcoming sight was found in the sprawling, crystalline, and deep blue expanse of a southerly sea. Neither avenue offered an escape route, and neither gave her a clue as to what exactly it was they were doing here.

She took a deep breath when she reached the halfway point, and took a moment out of her stride to place the aroma. The sands of Fallien, her would-be-home-for-now smelt almost poisonous and sewer-like compared to the island. She stooped, ran the grains between fore-finger and thumb, and rose with a perturbed expression. As she continued her walk, the soft scrunch of warm, sterilised flecks of glass and rock echoing in her wake, a seed of suspicion and paranoia sprouted at the back of her mind. Something about the island seemed malicious to the Troubadour. It seemed almost as if, despite their invitation and purpose on this shore above all overs in the multi-verse, the shore was the only party that had received the invite.

“Hail and good today!� she cried, when one of the groups rose and flickered into and out of her attentions. The instant sign of magic use amongst their number gave the less-spectacular talents she possessed a screen and veil to hide behind. She veered around a driftwood log, hopped over a large, smooth, and well-worn rock, then approached the abyssal youth with a broad, pleasant, and inoffensive smile.

Her bright garb and fur-trim clashed riotously against his midnight eyes and black clothing. Mordelain’s thoughts wondered to their fortunes, if the first life she encountered was one so young. Though the boy appeared to be just that to the Troubadour, a boy, his ocular display gave her ignorance pause for thought. She did not wish to make the early mistake of assuming anything she saw was real, or indeed, anyone she saw was just whom they appeared.

“My name,� she said, pausing to catch her breath in a comedic show of knee slapping and grins, “is Mordelain.� She left her titles and surnames to the wayside, where in this situation, they truly belonged. She extended her hand in greeting, a clumsy clubbed and finger-gloved appendage that shook slightly, half through nerves, and half with excitement.

The sense of aloof familiarity she hoped to conjure between them would be one part of her intricate game plan.

If indeed, this so called island forged by Kenneth Stern’s fickle sense of humour was just a game.

[hoytti]

Roxi woke from her sleep. She and Sorish was walking in the merpeople city of Alibar. It was one of the few underwater cities where a Coralian had to use the breathing bubble spell. As they got close to their inn for the night sleep started to overpower them. Roxi was the first to socom to it then Sorish falling to the floor. Now that she awoke she looked around they were on a beach with a ton of plants. some looking like they would eat her if she gave them a chance she hid herself back in Sorish's skull and tried to wake him.

"Sorish, time to get up," Roxi thought to him so that the others wouldn't notice her. She doesn't trust strangers. Especially after the first day that they had set foot onto land.

"Five more minutes Roxi," Sorish thought back to her.

"Sorish please, I'm afraid. We are no longer in the merpeople's city," she cried into his head.

This woke Sorish up. he looked around studying the Island from his pronged position. They were definitely not in the underwater city anymore. He stood up to get an even better look. Upon seeing the other people that was there, two who was awake and one who was asleep he started to laugh. "It has begun Roxi. The day I was anticipating has begun," he thought to her.

"Sorish what is this?" She asked him.

"The Adventurer's Crown Tournament has begun," he thought to her then calmed himself. These must be his team mates for round one. I must look crazy to them, He thought in his own section of his mind.

He just stood there and watched as they conversed for during that conversation, they had all awoke and introduced themselves to each other only noticing him when he laughed.

[Chibimon Blue]

It had been the first time since Hsa had become a Chibimon trainer that the boy had run out of available Chibimon to use in battle. The odd thing was, the youth had not actually been in a battle when he blacked out. However, the teen had seen no other explanation as to why he would go unconscious unless his Chibimon had been poisoned and fainted after Hsa had walked around for a bit.

He stirred when he heard the sounds of people talking, his eyes fluttering open as if he had just had a good long sleep. Hsa rubbed his eyes and stood up straight, trying to focus on the other three people. The crashing waves behind him did nothing to soothe the aching headache that the child had currently been experiencing. Taking a step towards the voices, Hsa groaned when the noise of his foot crunching against sand had the same effect on someone beating on the inside of his brain. Apparently, fainting after running out of Chibimon was not a pleasant experience.

He felt around his person, trying to make sure he had everything, that thieves had not robbed him in his passed out stupor. Both of his chibiballs were available, though when the child pulled them out, he could see that both MysLight and Servapour were both available for battle, although they both had serious injuries. No, using either of his Chibimon for battle at the moment would have been cruel and unusual punishment. He stuffed the chibiballs back into his pocket as he got with a couple feet of the talking people.

“Hsa,” The boy said, holding his head to try and stop the throbbing, “Hsa Eulb. It’s very nice to meet you guys. I’d introduce MysLight and Servapour, but they’re very tired and I can’t risk them getting hurt any further than they already are. I hope you understand.” Hsa had a child-like mentality, still being a child and all. As a result, he just assumed everybody knew what Chibimon were, and even studied hard to know the names of every single Chibimon as Hsa had.

When he brought his gaze over to Talen, the boy raised an eyebrow. “You…you’re familiar. Isn’t there a statue of you in Ixian Castle?” Hsa scratched the side of his head for a moment, only to hiss at the pain it caused his temples. “I’m pretty sure I’ve seen it when Sei was giving me the tour of the place. I’m Hsa, Sei’s friend and I guess what you could consider the unofficial scout of the Ixian Knights during their war in Corone.”

Hsa, at this point, had no idea that he (at least temporarily) had replaced Talen during Sei’s siege of the continent. Then again, that war had been over and done with so quick, that Talen probably had not realized such things either. Hsa looked around at the beach, at the foamy waves as they hit and retracted back into the water. There was something familiar about this place also, but Hsa could not put his finger on it.

“I feel….I feel I’ve been here before…” the boy said with the utmost curiosity.

[Hysteria]

Talen looked the woman up and down, making no attempt to hide his actions. The boy didn’t raise his hand to meet hers, instead glanced back at the jungle. It wasn’t in his nature to trust people, and offering his bare hand to one he had never met was out of the question. Instead Talen rubbed a hand through his short black hair in an awkward attempt to move away from the handshake.

“Mordelain was it? You’ll forgive me if I don’t shake hands. This is a challenge after all, and I have no idea who you are.� Talen paused and turned his eyes to the others on the team member, “You can call me Talen.�

The youth silently cursed his misfortune at the group. None of them seemed to the brash head-strong leader that he had hoped for. Such a person would have charged in and acted as the perfect meat shield. Instead he was standing on a beach of a mysterious island with a group of people who seemed more like followers. For someone who most of the time worked on his own, it was more than irritating.

“Ixian Castle?� Talen turned his attention to Hsa, his ire rising as time ticked past “Perhaps you have me mistaken for someone who wants to sit around talking about old times and jacking each other off while another group takes the prize? We can sit around and play funny buggers all day long after this is done. For now how about we try and win this?�

The youth shook his head and turned his narrow eyes to the group.

“Now, if any of you had bothered to look at the island you might have noticed that the trees stop a few dozen metres in and then start again. Now I don’t know about you guys, but information is key here. We need to scope out the island if we are going to get to the centre. Unless any of you have anything useful say, how about we get on with this?�

[hoytti]

"You are correct sir. We, will go this way," he said pointing in the direction of the sea. "We need sea water to survive so it is impotent we get some ASAP. As soon as we fill our cantine We will meet up with the rest of you." He then started to walk in the direction of the ocean.

[Mordelain]

Mordelain had to pause for thought, just to double check that she was in fact hearing what she was hearing. Whilst she was entirely used to rudeness, abruptness, and indeed, to ignorance, she was encountering all three in excessive amounts in a short period of time. Already she was beginning to forgive herself for doubting Suresh’s motives for entering this so called tournament. The short tempered and latchkey tongued individual who moved towards the ocean irked the Troubadour most of all. She watched him, with daggers thrown, and waited for a few moments for his back to be turned to the remainder of their motley crue.

“Investigative measures will be easy to develop,” she said, finally turning to the youth with the abyssal persona, and the clothing to match. She rested her hands on her hips, let her stance slack, and pursed her lips. “I can’t say I’m entirely equipped to deal with whatever this,” she chose her words carefully, “individual wants to throw at us.”

The sun continued to shine overhead, almost oblivious to the revelry and confusion reigning supreme on the lapsing shore of the island below. Whatever lay beyond the treeline, the primordial surge of verdant life that swaddled the beach’s ridge without concern for the needs of man, was obviously only going to get more perilous for them all. “You?” she asked. Her question, split apart from the rest of her train of thought came across aloof and confused.

“Me?” Talen blinked, a flash of malice in his eyes brought Mordelain’s faux paunch to light. It reflected the disparaging nature of their unnatural placement on a wholesomely natural landscape.

“I mean,” she stepped forwards, to make for the trees, casually and calmly, “sorry, I mean, what about you? Can you think of why we’re here, why, in all the cosmos, on any plane, we’ve been brought here?” when she said brought, she meant stolen away in the night.

“Of course,” she glanced over her shoulder to Has, the enigmatic youth who claimed to conjured beasts from the very fabric of reality, “the same question applies to you my good sir,” she grinned at the youth, unparsed by his innocence, unlike their companion.

All this hubbub seemed horribly overcomplicated for what appeared, on the front of it all, to be a simple competition between rival groups of ‘would be adventurers’. Gold was not something Mordelain particularly treasure, she had plenty, or at least, Suresh did. Fame was something she chose to ignore, avoid, and deflect. If she were in the limelight more than she was already on the desert isle she now called home, people would become…jealous of her providence amongst the ranks of the il’Jhain messengers of the Abdos.

She turned back to the treeline.

“When our…” she sniffed, “final team mate composes his water reserves, let us see what rests beyond the tangle chord,” she pointed defiantly to the trees, in spite of the fear growing in the pit of her stomach in face of the unknown.

The planes walker knew, somehow, that come the end of their endeavour, she would have to travel many more worlds than this strange one to see them all through the trials that awaited them. Bells tinkling in the soft breeze, and soft silk damp with perspiration, the troubadour spread her legs and took her Kukri into her right hand.

[hoytti]

Sorish returned a little while later with Roxi coming out of the back of his neck. She had lost track of time and travel distance that she didn't hide herself before they left the trees. By the time she noticed this it was to late, everyone else had seen her. She stared at them then quickly withdrew hoping beyond all hope that no one would have spotted her. She really didn't want to have to introduce herself to them. She just didn't trust them.

Sorish sensed Roxi's fear and quickly came up with a solution. "The creature you just saw come out of my neck is my pet. She is only there to protect me and help me out of trouble. Please, do not try to touch her or me or else she will bight."

Roxi relaxed a little knowing that they probably wouldn't come near them now, but she hated being called a "pet". She would have to talk to Sorish about that later, but for now it was fine.

[Chibimon Blue]

Hsa found himself in awe at his teammate’s rude behavior, as well as the fact that most of his team mates, besides the woman, seemed to have little respect for him. He was going to be the very best, like no one ever was, after all! However, the woman’s direct question showed that she saw the child somewhat on level ground with her. In answer to her question, Hsa nodded excitedly.

“Well that’s simple,” he said with a smile, “I know I was brought here as part of my Chibimon journey! I was just kind of assuming the rest of you guys were Chibimon trainers as well. After all, he looks to be the right age for a new trainer,” Hsa motioned his head over to Talen, though his eyes remained on Mordelain.

It was around this time that Sorish had returned with Roxi, introducing the creature as his pet. This caused Hsa to point at the man, his smile growing wider. “See? He’s a Chibimon trainer too! Though his Chibimon looks really weak and easily distracted. Maybe he hasn’t earned its respect yet? Nothing like me and my Chibimon. I haven’t even got an arena talisman yet, and they respect me.” It was at this point that Hsa realized that he was rambling. Trying to get himself out of his rant, the youth shook his head vigorously.

He looked towards the trees that Talen had pointed out earlier, his feelings of déjÃ* vu increasing. “I swear I know this place...” he mumbled to him himself. He was tempted to bring out MysLight, to have his faithful companion lead him to where they needed to go, but the pup was still weak from the previous battles, and thus still not ready to come out. Hsa looked towards Mordelain, then Talen, and then finally Sorish.

“I don’t suppose any of you have a tonic with which to heal my pals?”

[Mordelain]

Mordelain considered herself relatively well versed in the various cultures of the nine worlds. In all her many years, however, she had never encountered a ‘Chibimon’. She guessed the boy gave it that name from some sort of innate and traditional desire to label what she presumed to be no more than a trained pet. She could not help them with any knowledge she possessed, though she was trained in herbology and the use of flora found in Fallien’s harsh climes. She could, however, retrieve something that could.

“If you do not mind me asking, Hsa, what do you mean by tonic?” she cocked her head to one side, half for dramatic effect, and half out of convention. “I assume you don’t mean the sort of liquid that goes nicely with a large slog of gin?” her chuckle was awkward, and Hsa glazed over blankly. Mordelain coughed to clear her throat, “forgive me.”

The boy tried to smile. “It’s okay. A healing tonic, anything that’s not peppermint,” he sighed, “my Chibimon pal doesn’t like peppermint.”

The Troubadour nodded sympathetically. She did not know how to make the healing tonic, by all means, but her mind map had already focussed onto small bazaar trader in the southern half of Irrakam that was renowned across the desert for his talent with moon leaf and ginger root. Whatever the ailment was that was affecting the boy’s pets, Muhammad would have something that would fix them right up. The cost of the tonic would be something Mordelain would have to pay back for many moons, but in the pursuit of the supposed fame winning this tournament would bring, she would cross the boundaries of worlds to give them the best chance they had at victory.

She spread her legs and stooped. “I will see what I can do.” She turned to Talen, “nobody go into the trees – I don’t need to explain why, surely?” she glared at the tree line, which, although beautiful in form, was undoubtedly perilous. “I won’t be long,” which was a truth within a lie, “and when we’re all ready,” she turned then the other monster wielder, “we can go, refreshed and eager,” and see what lies beyond the vines.

With that, she disappeared.

Something roared in the distance.

[hoytti]

Sorish was surprised to say the lest. He had knowledge of beings who could travel just by thought but never seen one actually do it. He then turned to the man who called Roxi a ‘Chibimon’. He had no idea what those creatures were, but what he did know was that Roxi certainly wasn't one. "I'm afraid you are mistaken my young friend, Roxi is a coral worm. She lives inside us for self defense. We bond with them and they with us. She is just shy when it comes to new beings and rarely is seen. If these Chibimon you talk about is the same way may I at least see them?" he hoped that they were indeed not even close to resembling Roxi, but if they did then how was he going to convince the boy that she was not one of them?

[Hysteria]

Like a slowly bubbling pot, Talen felt his blood pressure rise. The youth instinctively raised his hands to his temples and rubbed in slow circles. It was something he had learned while trying to deal with Jensen Ambrose’s antics in the Ixian Castle. This was not to be mistaken, Talen was always up for mischief, but only if he was the perpetrator. Now that he felt he was missing out at the prize at the centre of the island he felt otherwise. As the group talked about Chibimon and various other things that he cared nothing about Talen finally snapped.

“Screw this! I am not waiting around for Miss-I’ll-go-get-you-a-tonic to come back from where ever the hell she just teleported. And I’ll tell you another thing; I don’t need someone who uses weird little monsters to fight, or someone who has the worst case of worms I’ve ever seen.” Talen spat the words towards the remaining to members of his team, “I’m going to claim the prize myself.”

The youth turned and stormed off through the white sand, sending little clouds into the air with every angry step. As he reached the line where sand turned to jungle the youth slowed down slightly and moved slowly forwards with more caution. Regardless of how angry he was, the act was care was ingrained too deeply to be ignored. The thick forest canopy created nets of shadows across the small plants, and Talen was forced to weave his way around thick leafy ferns, over mossy trunks of fallen trees and under low hanging branches. As the beach disappeared behind him the humidity of the jungle closed in. It wasn’t far into the jungle before the boy was covered with a thin layer of sweat and his baggy pants clung to his legs.

As Talen had predicted just over a hundred metres into the forest the plants disappeared. The youth stepped slowly forward and came face-to-face with an enormous gorge. The trees on either side of the gap had been rendered upwards and dirt and shredded leaves covered the ground a metre either side of the three metre gap. The downwards drop was at least ten metres with a rounded bottom. The whole thing looked fairly new, new enough to cause a slight tinge of concern in the back of Talen’s head. As the youth peered down into the hole a light breeze flicked across his skin, carrying with it the slight, almost inaudible of another roar.

[hoytti]

Sorish looked over as the man disappeared into the trees. "He's definitely not a patient man," he thought to Roxi.

"I agree," she replied. Though he has a point. "Shouldn't we get going Sorish? We have already wasted quite a bit of time."

"Roxi, we can't just leave the rest of our teammates. This is suppose to be a team effort."

"Fine, but just make sure to get moving as soon as the lady returns."

"Fine Roxi, I will get them moving as soon as possible."

Sorish stood there waiting for the girl and possibly a reply from the monster wielding child.

[Mordelain]

When Mordelain reappeared on the beach, time, it seemed, was not on her side. Though she had reappeared only a minute or so after her banishment, her journey through Hudde, Petra, and the Bazaars of Irrakam had taken nearly nine hours. She was sweating profusely, covered in a light smattering of sand and smoke scent, and half ready to give in there and then.

On the other hand, she carried in her left hand a dagger, and in her right, a small vial wrapped in paper and rope fastenings that seemed to glow with an inner, fastidious light. Energy was pouring through the glass, and a turquoise and vermillion draught within tempted the sick and weary to divulge in its lavender and okra scented contents.

“Well,” she grumbled, “that was a lot more effort than I’d anticipated.” Her stern grimace faded when she set her eyes on Hsa. “This should give your companions the sustenance they need to bring them back and lively!” she stepped forwards on bandy legs and held out the vial. The boy took it with thanks, and the planes walker retreated. The heat of the sun on the nape of her neck brought her gaze upwards, and then she turned to Sorish.

“Is your water vessel full sir?” she enquired. There was a roar. She craned her neck back to where the fourth member of their party had been stood when she had walked from Althanas. She put two and two together.

“I told him to stay here, if he gets…” the treeline shook. It was the sort of portent that foretold the arrival of something big, dangerous, and potentially detrimental to their combined efforts. “Separated…” she trailed off, thinking her point lost in the immensity of the second roar that broke free of the foliage and shook the calm serenity from the air. It did not take her long for her il’Jhain talents to emerge, and her muscles tightened into haunch and dense supports for her burst of speed.

Her dangling, colourful attire vanished into the treeline with a flash of swiftly readied silver blade and raiment of the tokens on her belt. She reached instinctively for both in turn, turned them ninety degrees with a disc like motion, and felt a wave of intense concentration wash over her. The innate enchantment bound to the tokens that marked her as a soon-to-be Captain of the Fallien Abdos gave her sight and sound alike. Her hearing and her vision keened, narrowed, and pulsated with a bestial latency.

“For god sakes please don’t be…” an image of a half-eaten torso, black and bloodied flashed into her mind. “Gone already,” she settled on, not quite ready to proclaim the savagery of the island as the early victor in their soon to arrive war. With a leap, she cleared a fallen, fetid, and ancient log and broke out into a clearing. What she saw, smelt, and heard was as surprising as it was frightening. “What in the name…?” she cocked her head.

The coursing array of smells that filled her nostrils began to fade slowly. The rain, the damp, the dew, and the blossom of a hundred strange plants all gave way to the single, overbearing scent of dung. It clearly belonged to the creature on the far side of the clearing, who, as far as Mordelain could see, was just as surprised to see her and the shadowy boy as they had been to see him. Mordelain assumed it was a male, from its elongated tusks beneath its rigid, mighty, and muscular trunk.

“Talen…” she said, as she spread her legs, splayed her arms, and curled her grin wide. “You might not need us, my boy, but that creature appears to need you.” The connotations of which she assumed would go straight over his head. “Very, very slowly now, and without noise, get ready to run…”

Whatever the creature was, it was not happy to have its home invaded. Their team had just encountered the first of the island’s strange inhabitants. Whilst Hsa had trained his strange Chibimon in the real world, these creatures were of a different breed of ‘pet’ altogether.

Unbeknownst to Mordelain and Talen, they were both staring directly at a creature that had evolved through battle and hardship.

It opened its mouth slowly, roared a final time with a torrent of spit and virility, and then said, in a low, deep, and trundling voice, a word Mordelain would not forget in a hurry.

“Don….phaaaaaannnnnnnnnnnn!”

[Chibimon Blue]

Hsa grabbed the vial the second it was offered to him, popping the cork of the mystery liquid as he pulled his two chibiballs out. He inserted the fluid into a hole inside one of the capturing devices, waiting until the tonic was half way gone before switching to the next Chibimon. Hsa turned his head towards Sorish with a wide grin on his face. “Prepare to be amazed!� the young boy said.

Before he could release his Chibimon however, the entire group heard the ground shaking roar of a mysterious beast. Mordelain took off, and Hsa wasted no time in following the woman’s lead. However, when the youth got to the knocked over tree, he found himself wasting a little more time climbing over the object, as he was not as agile as his team mate. However, the Donphan’s declaration instantly caused the youth to quicken his pace faster than what he had been going, for good reason.

Donphan was a second evolution Chibimon, evolved from the much smaller Tusgleekee. It was said that the tusks on a Donphan were coveted by poachers, though few lived to actually claim their prize. If Hsa could capture himself a Donphan, it would be his first Chibimon within a second stage evolution to be under his command. While the thought of such a powerful beast ignoring his orders had occurred to the youth, he figured if the situation arrived, he would just not use the beast until he acquired an arena talisman, which for some reason was a sign of respect among Chibimon to their trainers.

Hsa continued to run, knocking the various limbs and bushes out of his way to get to the approaching danger. When he arrived, he marveled at the beauty of the beast for just a minute. The smooth black skin of the creature covered its entire body, and its eyes had a kind of gentleness to them (mind you, that was in Hsa’s own warped mind, at least). The Hsa looked down to his hand, where the two chibiballs were still placed. Both MysLight and Servapour were at about half health, but together, maybe they could weaken the Donphan just enough to be captured.

Pressing the button on each device, Hsa threw the objects down to the ground. The second the traps hit the floor, they opened, a white light emanating from both of them and the two Chibimon popping out; an odd color wolf and a translucent, crystal snake. Hsa smile, pointing at the Donphan as MysLight howled and Servapour hissed its own name. “Alright guys, lets make us a new friend!�

[Hysteria]

A smile spread across the youth’s face as he pulled a cigarette from his pocket and lit it with a flame that sprung from the end of his finger. He took a deep drag and exhaled from his nose creating smoky tusks of his own. The powerful drugs located in the cigarette coursed through the youth’s veins, his muscles hardened and his eyes dilated. The boy turned, eyes wide with excitement, towards Mordelain.

“You can run if you want girly,� Dark bands of shadows wrapped around the youth’s arms and hardened into wickedly cruel, arm-length gauntlets, “Do you want me to give you one of those tusks after I slaughter that beast? You could use it to scratch your butt while you watch a real adventurer in action.�

Hsa burst through the tree line and released the two chibimon he had been talking about. For a moment Talen allowed himself to glance at the odd creatures. A loud roar from the Donphan quickly forced the youth’s attention back to it as the beast charged towards the gorge that separated them. To the youth’s surprise the beast lent forward at top speed and curled into a ball. A cloud of debris trailed behind the beast as it picked up more speed and literally bounced over the gorge towards the group. There were only seconds as the giant creature arched across the gap. Talen’s hand came up to one of his pistols before the rational side of his brain took over and he leapt to the side.

The beast landed where he had been amid a shower of dirt and plants. Talen twisted from his prone position with his gun pointed at where the creature had been, only to see it tearing through the plant life and leaving a trail of destruction in its path. The youth was already up on his feet with both guns drawn as he waited for the beast to make another run.

[hoytti]

Sorish wasn't able to get throw the trees as easily as everyone else had. His giant frame made it so that his head was above the first tree branch and his body was easily tangled in vines. As he got closer to his allies he heard the cry of a beast he had never heard before. The beast sounded almost like it was yelling. Suddenly he heard a giant object hitting the ground then a bunch of trees falling over. The sound of trees falling got closer at an alarming rate. He knew he didn't have the time to get out of the way so he decide that it would be best to try to brace for the impact of whatever was falling the trees. He crouched low and readied himself to catch what ever it was, hoping that it was just a creature that chewed through trees and didn't plow through them.

As the sound got closer he noticed a glint of grey coming his way. He held out his hand ready to catch the creature. It got closer and closer plowing through the trees as the last tree between him and the creature fell he noticed it was rolling like a bowling ball. As soon as the creature was within grabbing distance he clamped his hands shut and held on tight slowing the rotation of the creature greatly then he followed it in till his arms encompassed the creature and it slowed to a stop. Upon doing so, the creature opened up and jumped back.Sorish didn't want the creature to try to roll again so he grabbed the creature around the waist and wrestled it to the ground. The Donphan struggled to get free of his arms but he had locked it causing the creature to be unable to escape. After a while Sorish started to tire. It was around this time that the others ran down the path spotting Sorish wrestling with the beast.

[Hysteria]

The thundering rupture of the rolling Donphan ended abruptly. Talen stood waiting for the return of the creature, but when none came felt his anger grow. The chance to let out some frustration was all that was keeping the youth from completely exploding, and heaven help the thing responsible for stealing Talen’s glory. What’s more, his cigarette had been wasted, the icing on the cake for the already annoyed youth.

The youth took off like a mini black blur along the trail of destruction wreathed by the living bulldozer. It didn’t take long before he found the creature caught in the giant arms of Sorish. The youth didn’t bother to think of the consequences, of what reaction he might garner from the others he was paired with as he lifted his hand towards the locked fighters. From his mouth exploded a jet of sticky black liquid towards the Donphan. The cigarette that had been in Talen’s mouth trailed through the liquid for a second before the tiny spark at its end caught set the flaming liquid alight. The resulting torrent of burning fuel rained down towards both Sorish and the creature.

Somewhere deep inside Talen knew that it wasn’t Sorish’s fault, that he had to most other people done the group a favour. As Talen lifted out one of his pistols for his next move his conscience was all but silence by the darker streak in the youth. The boy was a servant of N’Jal after all, and in a setting like the one he found himself in, where death was but an illusion he had no qualms about openly causing pain to those around him. Behind Talen he could hear the other two team mates coming.

“Be careful!” Shouted the youth, “I scared off some weird red lizard breathing fire!”

The boy smiled. With luck he might even get away with this.

[Chibimon Blue]

Hsa watched the events unfold, watched as Sorish somehow started wrestling the Donphan and took it a distance away. Talen was the first to react, following them, and Hsa quickly followed suit. Even though Talen appeared about the same age as the boy, he was much faster, and Hsa found himself falling behind once again. The child looked behind him to find MysLight running, easily keeping pace with his young master, and Servapour settled upon his back.

“Great job, guys!” Hsa said, continuing as fast as he could. He stopped dead in his tracks, however, as he hard Talen warn about a red fire-breathing lizard. The boy blinked a few times, looking down at both of his Chibimon as he did so. While the two Chibimon could probably handle the Donphan, there was no way they could handle was Hsa suspected the fire lizard to be; which was a Flamodo. Flamodo’s were third evolution Chibimon, and rather difficult to tame.

MysLight took a step forward, preparing to join Talen and Sorish, but the boy sent his arm forward, stopping the creature. “No, MysLight,” Hsa explained, looking behind him for any traces of Mordelain, “Not this time. Let the others handle this one.”

[Mordelain]

Mordelain, in the commotion, had managed to do two things. The first had been to alert the others to the presence of the creature, leaving them able to aid Talen in his idiotic charge headlong towards its robust form. The second had been to be taken quite aback by the ensuing emergence of Hsa’s so called friends. They dealt with the horned monster so quickly and effectively, that she spent a good few minutes fondling the mossy peat beneath her backside, wondering just why she always ran headlong and stubborn into new scenarios.

“Way to make a first impression here you stupid Junta,” she muttered, using her worst insult on herself, to make her quite aware of his idiotic she had been. This so called tournament, after all, was supposed to be a team affair. She pushed herself upright, still sulking, and glanced up at the motley crue just in time to see the last flicks of magical fire fade into the humid atmosphere.

“I’m sorry,” she said, with a plain, unabridged tone that left nothing hidden in semantics. She said it, and she meant it. “We really did not get off on the right foot,” she continued, though she turned and addressed the latter comment to Talen and Sorish. The pulsating atmosphere of the jungle seemed to teethe and fester with aggression. Mordelain did not like it one bit, but she could not be sure if that was because she was out of her depth, or because it was a sign of ill fortunes for the group.

“Let’s not take turns,” she smiled at Hsa, “let’s do this as we should have done right from the start when we converged like chattering housewives around a dusty fountain.” She unsheathed her second kukri, and spans them meekly in her palms. They flashed quicksilver circles in the shade of the clearing, and marked her path through the sticky air as she bounced, almost as if she were dancing, directly towards the flaming creature. “This is an adventurer’s tournament, after all!” the flash of youthful exuberance she shot the Chibimon trainer held more truth in it than any promise.

She turned her attentions, blurred by the rush of adrenaline back to Talen and Sorish. In Irrakam, smoking was not held in the sway of laws of convention, but even to the well-travelled Mordelain, the sight of someone so young tarnishing their lungs upset her. The mimicry of his tar flame dancing in the light of the fire lizard’s immense form was ironic at best, and ominous at worst. She grits her teeth, danced and tinkled over a mossy verge, and ran up to a halt between the two.

“You two ready?” she seethed. Her heart raced, her eyes shone, and her skin sparkled with sweat. She was not in the desert anymore, but with such strange and headstrong allies by her side, she doubted she would have to call on the sands to save her hide here.

[hoytti]

Sorish was most defiantly not ready to get on the move again. He had been caught in the inferno that Talen had sent his way. Because of this, he was badly burned and unable to continue. In fact, there wasn't even life inside of him. He and Roxi were gone just like the Donphan. That moment as he laid there he felt himself leave his body and head straight to a tower in the center of the islands. Inside was none other then Kenneth Stern. Sorish looked around and found that there were two others who were in the tower. A young man who sang everything he said and a man with a weird sword. He then stiffened as he heard the sound of a creature he knew. It was the Donphan. He turned around to see it standing right behind him. It let out its cry then lifted it's trunk towards him. Sorish grabbed it and rubbed his hand up and down. The Donphan trumpeted in glee.

Sorish was shown to his room by Kenneth who also told Sorish that the creature wanted to be with him. Sorish thanked Kenneth then walked over to an orb in the center of the room. He noticed that it showed his teammates as they were. The Donphan came up behind him and called out "Donphan!" his teammates looked around. Sorish got an idea. He zoomed in on Hsa then spoke. "Hsa, it's Sorish, tell the other's that I didn't survive the flame that had killed the Donphan. I'm in a tower, waiting for the results of the first round. I'll see you after the quest."

[Hysteria]

Talen’s feet crunched through the shredded foliage as he walked over to the mess of smoking and burnt flesh that had been Sorish and the Donphan. With a sickening crunch the youth grabbed onto the creature’s tusk and ripped it from the charred flesh. With a wicked grin Talen turned to Mordelain and made a show of flicking off some of the skin still stuck to the bone before tossing it woman.

“There you go; the most exotic butt scratcher this side of the mortal realm.” The youth chuckled and looked past the remaining members to the gorge, “Shall we continue? I can be persuaded to help one of you get over that gap, but the other will have to make their own way. “

The youth slowly walked back to the gorge slowly collecting his thoughts. Although he didn’t want to admit it, the team might work well as a meat shield should a stronger creature than the rolling elephant appear. A slightly tingling of apprehension filled the youth as he stood looking at the recently torn dirt of the gorge as he waited for the others to make their decision.

[Chibimon Blue]

Hsa followed Talen’s lead, afraid to question the decisions of the fellow youth. After watching one of his team mates fall to the wrath of what appeared to be a flare shot attack. Hsa took a heavy gulp; sure that Talen had somehow scared away the beast that not only killed Sorish, but the Donphan as well.

When they approached the gorge, Hsa smiled to himself a little, looking behind him to make sure his Chibimon were still following his lead. Luckily, the wolf and snake had been by their master’s side ever since they had been first released. Hsa nodded happily to MysLight and walked over to the pup, pulling one leg over the dog’s spine and wrapping his arms around the Chibimon’s neck. He could feel Servapour slowly slithering up his form, coming to rest upon the child’s shoulders.

“See you on the other side!” the kid announced gleefully, as MysLight began a sprint towards the chasm before them. The dog had gained a superb running start at the cliff, using its strong legs and leaping once he reached the edge of the opposite side of the gap. The canine Chibimon fell to the ground, his paws scrambling around on the rocky floor in order to gain a better footing. When he finally regained his balance, MysLight stood proud, and released a bone-chilling howl of victory.

Hsa dismounted his starter Chibimon, the Servapour still on his right shoulder, and grinned to his friends. He cupped his hands around his mouth (though honestly, they could probably hear him if the child had just spoken normally) and shouted. “Talen, you said you can get Mordelain over here? Let’s do it!”

[Hysteria]

Talen was mildly surprised as Hsa rode one of his pets across the divide. The youth smiled despite himself but hurriedly wiped it off his face for risk of blowing his sour mood. As Mordelain remained longer near the charred corpses Talen decided to leave her. The youth disappeared in a small puff of black and reappeared on the other side next to Hsa.

“If Sparkles behind us is worthy of finishing this tournament, then she will be able to catch up.� Talen rubbed a hand through his hair, “Well, no time like the present.�

The youth started walking at a casual pace along the path the Donphan had made. The crushed plants and trees formed a sort of soft mattress of destruction. The minutes past and Talen resisted any conversation with Hsa. The youth wondered what the boy had done with the Ixian Knights and worse, if Sei had replaced one youth with another. As his thoughts turned more and more sour Talen finally pushed them aside. He knew that turning his thoughts too far from the objectives of the Cup would cost him his chance.

Although the pace was easy they made far better time than if they had been making their way through the thick jungle. In a little over half an hour Talen slowed to a stop as the track they had been following turned off in the wrong direction. The youth sighed as he turned back to Hsa.

“I guess we will have to make our wa-“

SSSAAAAAAAUURRRRS

Talen twisted on the spot as another strange sound tore through the air. The youth could head a rumbling sound growing louder as he if the jungle was lifting up to reject the trespassers. Dark shadows ran down Talen’s arms and solidified against into the dark gauntlets. The boy drew one of his pistols and slowly backward from the direction of the roar. He had the sinking suspicion that he was about to come face to face with one of the challenges that he had heard about before the Cup.

[Mordelain]

The plane walker wrinkled her nose at the sardonic offering made by the boy, and shook her kukri in defiance. She would have no part in the murder of animals, even that behemoth of nature that sought to harm them. They had likely discovered a mother’s nesting grounds, and their risk was their own fault. Drained and fatigued by the mental trials, more so than the physical, Mordelain sheathed her blades, watched the group move on with little time to mourn Sorish’s passing, and then followed suit.

She had to walk slower than the rest to catch her breath. Though she was used to the heat of the dessert, the jungle was hotter still, and clammy, humid, and moist to boot. Mordelain was struggling to keep up. Every time she exerted any sort of effort to help her so called compatriots, they pulled together in the nick of time, dealt with adversity, and moved on without her. The whole experience was, for want of a better word rattling about her flustered skill, entirely dissatisfactory. Every time she was caught short of talent and enthusiasm, Suresh’s voice drifted into earshot. The long, languishing, and seemingly poignant lecture she had received was starting to make considerably more sense than it had at the time.

“I hate it when he is right,� she grumbled, staring down into the cavernous gorge as she slowed from her frontal, forward, and wasted assault. She had seen crevices in the dessert in fire valleys in the other worlds plenty of times, but this, this strange freak occurrence on an otherwise tropical island, was quite mesmerising. At the start of the tournament, long before the Troubadour had the mixed fortune of meeting her team mates, a letter had arrived in Suresh’s villa.

There were to be three trials, of a sort, during each ‘round’ of the Adventurer’s Crown. Mordelain had paid little heed to the descriptions at the time, because she had come to expect metaphor and riddle to lead to both disappointment and confusion in her life. If she took the trials at face value, she would be less exposed to reacting naturally to whatever the island had to throw at them. If she over thought about the potential of each of the descriptions, she was likely to walk head first into the otherwise painfully obvious.

“Well,� she said softly, looking up to see the others already well on their own, unique, and selfish way. “I guess teamwork has once again gone out the window,� she sighed, half tempted to shout across the ravine her contempt. Instead, with a longing look to the north, where a rooftop protruded out and up from the thorn weald canopy, she simply disappeared.

Her journey would take many hours in her own perceptive view of the multiverse, but to the remaining members of their party, she would take only a blink of an eye to cross the gorge. She would have offered to walk them over the expanse too, had they not taken it upon themselves to show off so eagerly. Hot, smouldering, and learned, she re-appeared on the far side, not far from the landing point of the others. She brushed herself down; to remove the soot she had accrued from her journey over the Eternity Bridge and the Soft Ochre Sands of Hudde, and waited patiently.

“Are we going to stop measuring our genitals and work as a team, now?� she said, rather too loudly, just as Talen announced the arrival of what she could only assume was another denizen of the jungle.

“Oh for fuck’s sake,� she added, resorting to simple Common for its brunt efficiency over the more exotic expletives of Fallien. “This is beginning to be less like an adventure, and considerably more like a chore!� her kukri flashed into view once more, more determined to actually connect with flesh, this time, instead of just the idea thereof. Something crashed through the treeline that formed one last barrier between them, and the heart of the island.

The horned beast and the flaming lizard had been quite peculiar enough. “What…is that?� she said, asking nobody in particular. There were too many heads, too many colours, and too many gaping maws to put to a name. “Hsa, Talen, on me!� she crossed her blades, thought up a plan, and abandoned it. “All at once!� she ran, somewhat devilish in her stride, up to the pistoled hands of her team mate. “Fire, fire, fire!�

She bounced over moss and log as she advanced, tinkling bells and lavender perfume fading into the madness of a roar and a scream.

[Chibimon Blue]

Hsa looked at the beast, or rather beasts that had caused the massive roar. In the Chibimon world, they were known as Rhinosaurus, an Earth and Iron type Chibimon. The beasts had a leathery, scaly skin texture of light red, with two different sized horns at the tips of their noses that constantly spun around like drills. Hsa caught sight of one of the creatures using the drill-nose to burrow into the ground, the beast charging through the earth as if it were paper.

Mordelain ordered Hsa and Talen on point, but the youths seemed to have their own ideas of how to take care of the monsters. “MysLight,” Hsa ordered, “use bite attack! Servapour, try to wound it with your venom bite!” As if they were soldiers following a decorated officer’s command, the animals at Hsa’s command reacted, jumping into the fray without hesitation.

Servapour, the faster of the two Chibimon, struck first, planting its dual poison fangs deep into the side of a Rhinosaurus. MysLight followed up with his own bite, attacking the stump-like leg of his foe. The Chibimon let out a howl, which sounded more like it screaming its own name. Hsa grinned, but his happiness soon turned to shock as the beast reared up on its hind legs and stomped the ground.

“Ground Pound!”” Hsa shouted, jumping behind the same mossy log his wannabe commander had hid behind moments earlier. The ground trembled with small quakes as the beasts legs made contact with the floor, sending Hsa falling to his butt. The youth looked up to Mordelain, his Chibimon now acting of their own accord without any orders, still focusing on the single Rhinosaurus.

“If we can take out one, the rest of the herd will retreat. They’re an equal strength community, and believe if we can defeat one, we can defeat the rest of them. The problem is…” Before Hsa could finish, the Rhinosaurus that had dug itself into the ground sprung up from between Mordelain and the youth, sending the latter sprawling through the jungle.

“Is they’re quite powerful!”

[Hysteria]

Talen recoiled slightly as he saw the giant beasts emerge from the jungle. The youth regained himself in a second and a smile spread across his face. The fight with the Dunphan has been short-lived, but these creatures seemed to be more resilient and offered the youth a far better outlet for his annoyance. As Hsa sprung into action Talen turned towards one of the still standing trees. Also ignoring Mordelain’s orders the youth sprinted towards the tree and shot up into its branches like a monkey. In barely any passage of time the boy stood on a branch high above the group. From his vantage point he could see the trail of destruction the Rhinosaurus had caused as they moved through the jungle. The deep trench behind them wound through the trees into the distance, and idly Talen wondered if it joined up with the gorge they had passed over earlier.

The youth pushed the thought out of his head as the two chibimon attacked one of the giant beasts. Although there was an inkling of interest at the creature called from odd little balls, Talen couldn’t accept the idea of fighting without one’s own power. The youth lifted up his hand and prepared to send a blast of fire as he had against the Donphan. He stopped suddenly, he knew that if he used that skill they would defiantly know he was the one that had killed their other team mate. Talen sighed and leapt off the branch towards one of the giant beasts.

Darkness spread around the youth as he fell, stretching out into a wide net with great speed. The darkness hardened, forming from his will into a large black metal cage. The Shadow Hold slammed over the chibimon next to the one that Hsa's pets had attacked. Talen felt no need to combine his attacks with his team members. The creature roared in surprise, its horns spun and struck the metal cage in a rain of sparks. Talen had landed easily on the flat top of the cage and fired his pistol through the bars at the creatures face. The purple blast of energy smashed over the creature’s face, but didn’t do much to slow the creature.

[Mordelain]

Mordelain’s advance across the jungle floor slowed as Talen’s shadowmancy captured the creature. She hesitated for a moment as she found her hastily put together plan failing miserably in a heartbeat. Her kukri span in flourishes in eager palms, her bells tinkled, and her forehead beaded with sticky, sap like sweat. Her heart raced between beats, and her adrenaline levels continued to rise, despite her momentary pause. There was only one way she could continue, she decided, as the azure and vermillion flames, which changed colour a thousand times in the Tama’s perceptive eyes struck the bars of the makeshift prison.

She vanished once more.

When she returned to Althanas, the strain of walking between worlds undoing her resolve, she stood defiant of Talen’s magic at the heart of the abyssal cage. She took a split second, just one, to compose herself and place her position relative both to her team mates, and to where she had departed seconds before, and did what came naturally to a rat cornered by a considerably bigger, angrier, and deadlier opponent. She lunged.

Her kukri tuck into the hide, but bent inwards on its trajectory. A slither of red, no wider than a thumb and just as long appeared, followed by a roar, a shake, and a deafening thud. Whatever the creature was, and wherever its herd were, they all seemed to let out a cry of contrition together. Mordelain had been a peaceful soul a century prior, before the Cataclysm, the Vhadya, and the fall of the Kalithrism. Each passing day on war torn Althanas had undone all her composure and pious laws. She undid the final one as she pulled back her dagger from her entirely novice thrust.

“Keep firing,” she screamed, louder than any normal lungs should, “whatever you do, keep fucking firing!” she repeated herself, for good measure, and dredged any moisture that still lingered in her throat. With a hoarse wheeze and a second advance, she drove her bloodied blade into the crack the first had left, and pulled it back, thrust it forwards, and pulled it back once again.

A cavalcade of magical flame struck the outer bars again, exploding into plumes of wildfire and maelstrom heat that licked Troubadour and creature alike. Used to the temperature climate of Fallien, Mordelain shrugged off the lethargy, but used her agility and grace to side step and dance about the stomping, rampant, reckless movements of the Chibimon to ensure she did not meet an early and similar fate to Sorish. She had no desire to come this far, only to be flattened under the foot of nature’s cruel joke.

Left with no other choice, Mordelain drove both kukris into the now oozing wound, and twisted both. She felt the sickening, guttural, and unforgettable wrench of metal scraping against bone as they slipped through the fat and muscle wall, and remembered nothing else as one flailing leg smashed into her. The wound was deep, and offered much in the way of hope for those who remained standing.

All she remembered, as the pull and sway of the Nexus tugged her from existence and scattered her wildly to an unknown corner of an unknown land, was the unified heat of Talen’s magic, and the joint cry of the trainer Hsa, and his enigmatic companions.

Whatever final challenge awaited the group just beyond the infested tree line would be lost to Mordelain. Whatever the Adventurer’s Crown had in store at the heart of the primal island, the dancer from Fallien could only guess?

Blackness.

Silence.

A long and lonely walk home.


And thus Mordelain departs round one of the Adventurer's Crown. Fortunes be with you, friends!

[Chibimon Blue]

Hsa’s eyes widened as Mordelain sacrificed herself in order to try and stop the Rhinosaurus’. He took a hard swallow and the injured beast fell to the ground, attempted to gain it’s footing again and fell under the pressure put upon its injured leg. “MysLight, Servapour, that’s enough!” Hsa shouted, withdrawing the chibiballs that belonged to each creature and pressing the middle buttons on the device.

The ball opened and shot two beams of light out, one for MysLight and one for Servapour. As each creature was hit with the beam, their bodies seemed enveloped in the same light that had ‘captured’ them, and in a quick flash, the two beasts had disappeared, their chibiballs closed. Hsa quickly ran over to the injured Rhinosaurus, attempting to avoid falling trees and other debris as Talen held the other members of its herd off.

Hsa quickly withdrew one of his chibiballs, one that did not have a Chibimon inside of it yet, and looked to the Rhinosaurus. “My team and I are just trying to make it to the center of the island,” Hsa attempted to reason with the beast, “I’m sorry for attacking you and your friends, but you came at us first! Please understand that if you do this, your friends won’t suffer anymore, and neither will mine. Please, Rhinosaurus understand….”

As Hsa finished his plea, tears were welling up in his eyes. Looking at the beady blackness that was the Rhinosaurus’ own orbs, the boy could have sworn that the large beast was crying as well. The spoke it’s name once more, this time with a more gentle inflection, and gently touched the center of Hsa’s chibiball with his horn. Once again, the white light shot out and enveloped its target, the object nearly hopping out of Hsa’s hands as it fell to the ground.

It shook once, and Talen seemed to stop fighting.

Twice, and the other Rhinosaurus’ did the same.

Thrice, and the chibiball clicked, confirming a successful capture. Hsa jumped in the air victoriously, looking as the other Rhinosaurus’ retreated into the ground almost instantly at the capture. “Alright! Rhinosaurus was caught! There’s no need to give him a nickname, Rhinosaurus will do just fine, I think!” Hsa glanced over at Talen, a grin plastered across the younger child’s features.

“That’s how you delegate with Chibimon! Now let’s go!”

[Hysteria]

Talen fired his pistol again as Mordelain ordered. The youth could only watch as the feisty warrior did her best to take out one of the creatures. The final thrust of her weapons and the last kick of the beast signalled the end of the woman’s adventure. The beasts reacted as Hsa had predicted. As soon as the first of their number fell the others retreated. The one partially covered by Talen’s cage turned its horns to the ground and very quickly disappeared. Talen struggled to keep his balance and rolled off the cage and onto the shredded jungle floor.

The broken plants caught Talen with minimal force. The youth didn’t bother to get up straight away. From his spot he could see the wounded giant beast disappear into the strange ball Hsa had produced. The youth narrowed his eyes as he realised the boy must have done the same to the two other creatures he had with him. If the creatures he caught somehow became loyal after being taken by the ball, then Hsa commanded some powerful magic indeed. Magic that Talen might need to get rid of.

As Talen lay there the gauntlets disappeared. The youth sat up slowly and looked at Hsa, then to the latest loss of their team. Talen stood up and brushed off the leaves that clung to his cloths.

“Well then I guess twinkle toes is the second one to kick the bucket. Should we find out what is at the centre of this island?” Talen turned from Hsa and looked inland. With a sort of distain that only he could have pulled off, he started walking.

[Chibimon Blue]

It would have been easier to just have told Hsa that there were prospective new Chibimon up ahead, for the boy took off like a flash, all three of his chibiballs in his hand as he sped through the jungle now. He would occasionally have to avoid the sporadic hole or two dug up by a Rhinosaurus, but for the most part, the rest of the journey to the center of the island was uneventful.

That was when Hsa saw, with wide eyes, the ultimate destination of the group. They had strived so hard to get here, lost two of their team in the process, but they had finally arrived. White painted walls with the symbol of a chibiball painted above a red door. A red headed woman in a doctor’s coat and a surgical mask greeted people at the entryway. He could hear all sorts of conversations, human and Chibimon alike, from inside the establishment. They had made it to a Chibimon Center.

“Welcome,” the lady in the surgical mask greeted the two travelers, “to the Dandelion Island Chibimon Center! My name is Dr. Yoj.” She bowed, her brown eyes holding with them a kindness unlike anyone Hsa had encountered (at least since the last time he encountered a Dr. Yoj. It was surprisingly a common name, with an eerie resemblance attached). Hsa shook the nice ladies hand and ran into the center, the boy beaming with joy.

“No wonder this island looked so familiar to me!” Hsa exclaimed, though he was unsure if Talen was still following, “This is Dandelion Island! Home to the largest Chibimon Center and Trading Post! What a great guy Mr. Stern is for teleporting us here, huh Talen?” It didn’t even matter to Hsa that Talen was not a Chibimon trainer like himself; the youth thought everyone enjoyed the hobby of collecting and using the creatures to aid in their everyday lives.

“Hey kid,” Dr. Yoj walked through the door for a moment, “I forgot to give you your complimentary map!” The strange doctor handed a parchment to both Hsa and Talen, each of them viewing the object with a curious outlook. “It’s from Kenneth Stern to celebrate the first day of the Adventurer’s Crown Tournament! Anyone who got here as part of a team got one!” Hsa smiled once again, a feeling of accomplishment welled up in the boy.

He was on the road to be the all time greatest, like no one was before….

((Hsa’s conclusion. Take us home, Hysteria!))

[Hysteria]

Talen slowed to a jog as the pair arrived at the centre of the island. What had been an adventure bathed in oddity now featured absurd-scented bubble-bath. The youth just shook his head in disbelief as they reached their goal, a giant Chibimon Centre. For something Talen had never heard of, there was growing evidence that he had severely missed out on a popular past-time, or occupation, Talen wasn’t quite sure what it was yet.

“This Hsa… is possibly the strangest day in my life. I have absolutely no idea what the fuck is going on.” Talen looked around the building filled with chibimon and their masters, “It’s like someone is playing a joke on me.”

Talen ignored Hsa's confused look and took the map from Dr. Yoj. As the youth looked around he felt himself slowly come to terms with what was going on. The normal Talen crept back and he studied what he was seeing. The Chibiballs were everywhere, and Talen put together the information he knew. From watching Hsa it was clear that when the balls contained a creature they displayed a small red light. When they were empty they did not. Several trays of the balls sat near a large whirring machine, with most with the small light on. A man in a white coat swapped them in and out of the machine every time it beeped. To Talen’s delight not all the trays were full. It is easy to notice something missing in a full set, not so much when there were varying numbers. Talen turned back to Dr. Yoj.

“Do you know wh-“ he stopped

The room went black for a few second and there were stunned gasps. The lights flickered back on and everything seemed the same as it was.

“Stay calm everyone!” Said a woman with green hair and a blue uniform, “It is probably just the Rhinosaurus drilling close to the power station. I’ll check around and make sure Meat Missile are not behind this.”

Talen chuckled slightly. Meat Missile?

“Thanks Sargent Yennj” Said Dr. Yoj.

Talen vaguely wondered about the odd similarly of the names as he rested a hand over the two Chibiballs in his pocket. The youth liked how much a coating of shadow around a light simulated a blackout, and that people’s eyes always took a few seconds to adjust to sudden changes in lighting. Like most things, it was a game of speed.

“What were you going to say young man?” Asked Dr. Yoj.

“Oh yes, what is next?” Asked Talen.

“I’m sure you’ll find that out soon young man!” Dr. Joy laughed and Talen raised an eyebrow.

FIN!

[Revenant]

Round 1 closed for judgement.

Good luck!

[Revenant]

Plot: (16)

Storytelling (7) – I give you kudos for making this into a solid story when it had the potential to be nothing but a joke. You followed all the prompts in a unique way and, while your characters weren’t the most cooperative, the story flowed very well once it got going.

Setting (4) – This category really started lagging when the action started. Mordelain kept the greatest focus here but the thread still felt very lacking in this area. Keep your focus and add description to really bring life to the action points. Breathe in dust when the Rhinosaurus stomps, feel the spray of splinters and churned foliage as the Donphan crashes by. You don’t need to devote entire paragraphs in every post to the area surrounding you but dropping a little bit of description every now and then, especially non-visual description, can really bring a thread to life.

Pacing (5) – The thread had a bit of a slow patch between the character introductions and the point where the story’s flow really got going. To improve this score, really focus on starting events and moving them forward right from the beginning.

Character: (16)

Communication (5) – Hoytti, in post 6 you used the acronym ASAP, a colloquialism which is common to us but seems out of place for your character. In general, you should write out terms like ‘as soon as possible,’ it doesn’t take that much longer and doesn’t pull the reader out of the story’s flow nearly as much. Chibimon Blue, your use of “He was going to be the very best, like no one ever was, after all!� in post 9 gave much the same effect as hoytti’s ASAP. Who is this line intended for? It’s use in your last post was well timed and appropriate, but here it is just jarring.

Action (5) –Talen’s stalking away, his sneaky fire breathing, and his decision to attack his own Rhinosaurus really highlighted his loner, rebellious nature. Rather than being too joke-like, Chibimon really brought the thread together, Mordelain, your “walking between worlds� gave a good feel for your character and added a lot of life. One issue here, if Morelain has been trekking for hours and hours in her own mind, I would expect more of an effect on her constitution from it. Hoytti, your actions didn’t really bring your character to life. Your ability to stop the Donphan cold and wrestle it to the ground without effort really broke the flow of this thread.

Persona (6) – The character’s personalities, in general, were what drove this thread. Chibimon and Mordelain really brought their characters fully into the thread in an unobtrusive way. Talen, your character felt a little skewed, as if you hadn’t quite settled into him rough, loner personality yet. Hoytti, here again you didn’t give too much about your character’s personality and only the most basic reactions. Work on putting your character’s character into your threads.

Prose: (15)

Mechanics (3) – There were quite a few errors in this thread that could have been solved with a spell check. While spell check isn’t the be-all-end-all of fixing errors, it’s the most basic way to solve these issues. Don’t feel bad to request that your partners review their posts, especially in a cooperative tournament.

Clarity (6) – There appeared to be some confusion between posts and character actions in a couple of places which, while not thread derailing, made for a bumpy read. Hoytti again, focus on ensuring that your writing is clear and adds to the overall thread. I want to see more posts like 17 and 21 from you.

Technique (6) – The lighthearted, almost joking tone of the thread worked well with the seriousness that you all treated it with. Here, Talen excelled, as the tone really clashed with his character’s persona and he added a lot of levity with his confusion.

Wildcard: (5)

Total: 52

Hysteria receives 910 exp and 105 gp.
Mordelain receives 501 exp and 75 gp.
hoytti receives 455 exp and 75 gp.
Chibimon Blue receives 572 exp and 85 gp.

[Silence Sei]

GP-EXP added.

Mordelain leveled up!