Mainland (Rescue Isabella Event)

[SirOni]

After a particularly uneventful trip across the ocean to the mainland the group would eventually see land slowly coming into view. The makeshift docking area was obviously built for use by small time fishermen or hobbyists though it appears to be sturdy enough to allow the students to stand on. From there a dirt road stretches from the dock and into the forest, no doubt leading to whatever town these fishermen come from. The road itself appears to be large enough to allow both oncoming and exiting traffic, and dug into the side of an embankment seems to be space for the vehicles to park. The forest itself is situated on a mountain, its slope a gradual incline.

 

[Copper]

Re: Mainland (Rescue Isabella Event)

"Looks like that's about the only place for us ta dock," Ian remarks. "Unless ya wanna cruise furthah along the coast and take our chances."

He'll slowly ease the boat into place, encouraging Ellisia to "do the reverse of what she did back on the island" with a bit of a chuckle as they make to dock the boat. At least they don't have to worry about anyone stealing it, what with there being no keys to get it started, after all.

Already being out of the cabin, Sho will hop onto the dock and catch the ropes that are tossed to her. She's not overly familiar with the knots, but can at least help get the thing stable for someone that might.

 

[SirOni]

Re: Mainland (Rescue Isabella Event)

"So uh...where exactly do we head to now?" Emily asks as she too steps out of the cabin and jumps onto the dock, quickly running off it and onto stable land. "There doesn't really seem to be anything here where that person could be hiding, unless it's further up the mountain."

 

[Unknown Squid]

Re: Mainland (Rescue Isabella Event)

Upon nearing the small dock, Grace who had gone quiet again during the trip sitting at her spot at the front of the boat, suddenly wakes up some, stands and turns to look for Harrel. Asking apprehensively, "Is this it? Can you see them?"

"Hang on a moment, I'm looking ok. Let me focus." He replies standing at the empty cabin top gun mount.

Sliding into the dock Ellisia prepares to tie up again. A proper sea farer might frown on her inexperience with the correct knots also, but she's confident she can tie it up well enough provided a storm doesn't suddenly roll in.

Grace continues to stare impatiently at Harrel, though not interrupting, who was seemingly just standing there with his eyes closed. A twitch in his face causing Grace to lean over closer expecting him to say something, which he does. "Yes." Said opening his eyes and looking up to the mainland. "I think I got something. I can't keep it in my head but I think I got it for a split second."

Proceeding to quickly climb off the boat he follows Emily and continues on a short way past her, slowly walking up the path before turning back to the group. "I need to get closer to confirm. It was in that direction, so... yeah, towards, past or up the mountain."

Hearing that Ellisia quickly finishes up the ropes with Sho's aid. "In that case we should try to move quickly. If he's still on the move then that trace might only get fainter."

Harrel nods knowingly. Grace doesn't need to be told twice and is next to the group's tracker in no time, almost bouncing on her toes.

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Mainland (Rescue Isabella Event)

Jonathan got off the boat, cracking his knuckles. He seemed calm, but the anticipation was starting to drive him nuts. It was the first time he experienced an adventure straight out of a MMO, as he described it to himself. Watching the scenery around him as if he expected something to pop out at him, Jonathan nearly missed the fact that Harrel picked up a trace. "Hmm? Oh. Right." Following Grace's advice, the young man set off as well, moving behind the pair.

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Mainland (Rescue Isabella Event)

Siphon jumped out of the boat onto the dock, and as Harrel did his thing, so too did he. Not long after Harrel confirmed they were on the right track, Siphon caught a scent of something that would likely upset the others, but that he knew he had to tell them.

Bending down for a moment, he examined some of the ground, before standing.


"It would seem they came this way alright. Heavy footprints lead through the areas of soft ground, we can track them that way if we have to."


He pointed to a set of faint, but visible footprints, that dug deep into the ground.

"See how they're so deep? Means he was carrying her while she was out, but there's something else. I know none of you can smell it at all because you don't have the senses to, but ..."


He trailed off as he gauged for another moment, before continuing on.


"There's a mixture here. I'm picking up the faint scent of blood, which could mean he's harmed her in some way, it's definitely not his blood. But what puzzles me is ... there's also the very faint stench of death, as if another undead came through here around the same time. I really hope that's a coincidence, but I can say the blood most likely is hers. Just a hint of it, not much, but it's there. Depending on how far they went ... might be able to track her by blood scent if we had to, as creepy as it sounds. Does anyone actually know anything about this area? I've not been to this part of the area before."

 

[Unknown Squid]

Re: Mainland (Rescue Isabella Event)

"Hmm, conventional tracking huh. I missed the opening for the course on that last year. Must remember to..." Harrel mutters quietly to himself as he watches Siphon work.

At the mention of blood Graces face changes to an expression of silent panic, mouth hanging uncertainly a little. Hearing the phrase "stench of death" she virtually chokes on her own voice box for a moment until she realises he was referring to a more specific unnatural stench. She quickly turns away and begins pushing forwards towards the mountain, both out of the same earlier urgency and also to hide her face from the group.

"All right then, lets move." Ellisia declares in a business like slightly commanding manner, properly beginning her march, with Harrel falling in just behind her. "I don't know the area either Siphon, but if you could keep us on track until Harrel can get a stable lock, that would be ideal. And Grace, stay with us. Harrel, watch your footing here. I don't want to end up carrying you again."

"Oh come on... you have to bring that up?"

Not replying to her comrades minor protest she speaks to the group in general, "Try to keep the pace everyone, but don't hesitate to speak up if you have any difficulties or concerns."

 

[Asmodean]

Re: Mainland (Rescue Isabella Event)

Jackson jumped from the boat to the dock and quickly followed the group. After hearing Siphon speak an anger deep inside of Jackson started to burn. Just to the thought Isabella could be hurt made him think back to the Charles and the is was the same anger that got him involved with that event. He tried to relax, however, his face give away the anger.

" I have some experience when it comes to hiking. I'll at least be able to spot a trail or figure out a safe path at least." He said as a reply to Siphon. He started to look at the footprints and noticed how deep they wore. The ground was soft so it may have rained in the past few days, which would make it easy follow.

 

[Copper]

Re: Mainland (Rescue Isabella Event)

Sho thanks Ellisia for the help, listening to the two men as they bring up the ways they can track their quarry. At the mention of another undead, she frowns. "You don't think..." She looks a bit uncertain, not wanting to bring this up around the new students, it looks like, but if that's what they're going to be dealing with, then best to get it out now. "Think it might be leftovers from last year? Something that escaped getting purged when all that crazy business was all said and done?" If the newbies wanted to ask, let them ask. Otherwise, those that were around for it would, hopefully, know what she was talking about.

"Crickey, didn't we blow that bastard up?" Ian shakes his head. "Pretty sure Matt put the hurt on 'im with a block of C-four. Unless this is somethin' new and exciting for us to deal with." Despite the slight quip in his voice, he doesn't seem very pleased. "As for a hike, no worries on my end. If Ah can't keep up, there's something seriously wrong with me." He chuckles. "Ah'll even take the supplies, if ya like. Make it easier on folks without the advantage."

 

[SirOni]

Re: Mainland (Rescue Isabella Event)

"Any idea what they're talking about?" Emily whispers to Jonathan as she quickly walks up to him then matches his speed. "It sounds like something Art should've told me about." As the tree's begun to get thicker and thicker their bough's start to block out the light from the rising sun so to make travelling easier Emily creates a fireball with enough light for the group to see about ten feet all around them.

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Mainland (Rescue Isabella Event)

Jonathan shook his head. "No idea. I came to this school recently, so I don't know anything about old incidents..." The darkling mused about the snippets of info he heard about. Hiking was not a problem for him, he enjoyed long walks, and he always seemed to think better while moving. "Since they mentioned undead and purges, I guess it could have been some kind of outbreak, or something similiar..." He shook his head, sighing. "And by the way, who's Art? A friend of yours?"

 

[SirOni]

Re: Mainland (Rescue Isabella Event)

"Guess I'll find out later then, it's not that important right now seeing as we're busy with other stuff," Emily mutters to herself. "Oh, yeah you could say that. Friend, brother and punching bag."

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Mainland (Rescue Isabella Event)

"Oh." Jonathan's eyebrows went up a little. "I kinda feel sorry for the guy..." He recalled the beating Emily served to a guy who pissed her off a few days ago. "About the punching bag thing, of course. I wouldn't wish that on anyone, except worst enemies."

 

[SiphonTalvesh]

Re: Mainland (Rescue Isabella Event)

Siphon nodded.

"So long as both the terrain doesn't change and the scent of blood fade, I should be able to track them. By blood I can sense maybe half a mile away I'm guessing. By the foot marks, as long as those stay visible, I can track this bastard clear across the planet a thousand times if I have to."

He paused as Jackson spoke, then nodded.

"Good, we're fortunate to have another pair of eyes searching for trails and easy paths, ones that we can conceal ourselves in easily. I know what works for me, but not all of you have the experience some of us do with this stuff. Glad to have you on board."


Siphon thought for a long moment as he walked, then shook his head.

"I don't think it's left overs. The stench would be much more ... ugly if it were something we missed, and that big one sure as hell had a very notable ... scent. No, this reeks of something new, something I haven't seen before. I can't tell if it's something to do with him, or something he brought with him. Whatever it is, the further we go, the stronger it's getting. Still ... we should be prepared just in case it did somehow survive. God help us all if it did."

 

[Copper]

Re: Mainland (Rescue Isabella Event)

"Great. Maybe it's a real vampire," Sho quips. She seems to be doing all right, between the march and following the tracks. Or rather, following Siphon, Jackson, or Harrel. She changes position in the marching order now and again, sometimes near the front, other times falling back. All the more reason that she keeps the trackers in sight.

 

[SirOni]

Re: Mainland (Rescue Isabella Event)

"Oh don't worry, we both gave as good as we got during our sparring matches," Emily replies, reassuring Jonathan that the two of them came off as worse as each other. "Though what bothered me the most was that there were people other than me who've beaten Art in battle. As far back as I can remember I'm the only who's managed that."

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Mainland (Rescue Isabella Event)

"I see. And who beat him? One of those guys?" Jonathan motioned towards the rest of the group with his head. "Or someone else?" He briefly wondered how strong Art was. He had to possess considerable power if he was capable of defeating most, if not all, of the people here. The boy shook his head. "I wish I was that tough... I'm better at taking blows than dealing them."

 

[SirOni]

Re: Mainland (Rescue Isabella Event)

"Apparently he was possessed by some spirit and they had to fight him off," Emily explains, still whispering quietly. "Not sure exactly what went on, but my mother had said that happened too so I guess they weren't lying. Art's not really physically tough, probably more than an average person but he's incredibly fast and unrivalled when it comes to magic and swordplay. Not that I've seen any other people use magic outside our family though. And I'm not all that great, sure I may be strong but I can only take a little more punishment than the average thirteen year old and water can kill me. But I am pretty darn fast too."

 

[cross_grave]

Re: Mainland (Rescue Isabella Event)

"Hmm..." Jonathan fell silent for a moment before replying. "As far as supernatural powers go, I can only transform, and my physical strenght is average... But there is one interesting feature I've managed to figure out. It's not really a powerup..." He cracked his knuckles briefly. "It's more of a new way of using my ability. Normally a human can't use all of his physical strenght, since muscles and joints wouldn't be able to handle the stress of using 100% power all the time. My liquid form has no such weak points, though. Unfortunately, I can't use this "hidden strenght" in daylight, it weakens me. In darkness, however... I can go beyond this limit. It isn't 100%, but it's still more than I can do in human form. If I got hold of someone with stronger muscles than me, they'd still have trouble shaking me off."

 

[SirOni]

Re: Mainland (Rescue Isabella Event)

"That's still a pretty cool ability. So is it just daylight you can't use it in or other light sources too?" After a moment a mischievous expression comes over Emily's face. "With your power you'd probably make for a great sparring partner too. Doesn't sound like I'd have to worry about holding back in case I break a bone or rupture an organ."