damned_institute | NIGHT 65: ROAD TO DOYLETON

Lloyd stayed close to Flora as they started down the road. He justified it by telling himself she might still need his support, but he probably needed it as much as she did. He was still just so bone tired.

He was also cold. The cool air hadn't felt so bad when they'd first stepped out of the building, but the farther they traveled, the more he wished he'd thought to bring some extra clothes from his closet. Oh well. Too late for that now. He wasn't about to go back. If they stopped for the night, they'd just have to huddle close for warmth. He doubted they'd find somewhere safe enough to build a fire for the night.

At least so far things had been going smoothly enough. Smooth enough that he felt like he could indulge in curiosity. "What did you mean?" he asked Flora. "What's wrong with the trees?"

He glanced at Lee, as though silently asking the ninja if he'd seen something that Lloyd had missed.

There was more in the forest than the trees. The wind carried the scent of three unlucky humans deep into the woods, and something stirred. A howl, long and low, rang out.

Then silence. Damp leaves muffled what little noise the tailypo might have made as it undulated through the woods towards the road. The first thing the prey might spot was a dark shape, snaking through the trees, above the glitter of shining claws. It had no trouble at all catching up and matching the group's pace. Two would be a good night's hunt. Three was a treat. It would need to keep them from splitting up, if it wanted to eat all of them.

Best to let them come to it. Thought was action, and it turned its snout towards them, watching them as it ran alongside them.

[Sarah]

Lee shivered, the sound of a wolf-like howl coming to his ears from somewhere deep in the woods, but such sounds were typical of the wilderness. The shinobi discarded the noise as natural and didn't think beyond that.

Flora's mention of a town had his attention first and foremost, and he moved along ahead of the group at a quick clip of a step. If anything was going to come at them from the front, he would be the first it would spot, and more likely give the others a chance to escape it necessary.

Lee exchanged a glance with the young warrior, then shifted his left shoulder, the good one, to express his confusion at Flora's words. He took a moment to glance over to the treeline, and for a moment he thought he glimpsed something, but no. With his chakra dampened he couldn't sense anything more than the faint rustling of the wind through branches. It was frustrating and daunting, but Lee couldn't let every little suspicion sidetrack him. They needed to keep moving. That was their priority here.

Oh, this was not good.

There was something following them, she was sure of it. They were out of the institute, and there were many trees around, but this was still a developed aread. Many animals, even potentially dangerous ones, really just want to left alone. Usually. The fact that this one was so close and not deterred by the environment or the fact that they were in a group did not sit well with her. The possibility that it coupld simply be watching them quietly disappeared the moment it howled.

They were being hunted.

And by something desperate enough or thought itself outright strong enough to think that it could take them all on. Either way, it wasn't to be trifled with. Flora made sure she was on the outside, putting herself closest to whatever was there. It was a casual shift, nothing sudden even if her heart beat faster in her chest. They weren't in great shape here, and running might not be an option, at least not at first--she could sense its speed as it wove through the trees--but whatever happened, she would take point.

The other two might have been used to animals that mostly minded their own business, but Lloyd was from a world where monster activity was on the rise, creatures and monsters becoming more and more aggressive as the mana flow thinned and shifted. Some places were worse than others, but Lloyd had no idea where this place fell in that spectrum - and he did still think this was part of his world. He tensed at the howl, then made a point of undoing the drawstrings he'd used to tie his knife to his waist.

Holding the knife now, he scanned their surroundings for movement. Damn, I don't know if I'm up for this. He pressed his lips into a thin, determined line, keeping the thought to himself. If something attacked, he'd have to be up for it. He wouldn't have any other choice. His tired muscles would just have to hold out long enough for them to find someplace safe to rest.

Speaking of which...

He kept his voice low, not knowing how close they might be to whatever had howled just then. "If we don't find a village in the next hour, I think we should find someplace to rest." An hour. He could manage that.

Assuming nothing else happened.

The humans were noisy, and all-too-visible on the road. One of them had a tiny claw, but the tailypo had a blade just as large on every toe. They were nothing but food, now.

It swarmed down out of the woods, writhing across the road before turning to stare straight at the black-haired one in the lead. It was already injured; it would make easy prey.

Then it lunged, teeth bared, skipping the human's limbs and going straight for the throat.

"Rest would be good..." Even Lee knew it wouldn't be in their best interest to keep up a hard pace tonight, even if it was dangerous out here. He normally could hold his injuries in check a bit with his chakra, but he didn't dare with his stored power so nearly depleted. Maybe when they managed to find a good place to rest he could ask Flora or Lloyd to give his arm a look over.

When the monster moved onto the road, Lee noticed fairly quickly that it was hardly just any wolf. He would never have thought to even consider it such a thing at all had he not heard the howl earlier. Then it charged.

The wide-eyed ninja hardly let his surprise get the best of him. Falling into his training was as natural as ice melting into water. Lee dropped, moving so as to throw his right foot up in a kick towards the monster's jaw in an attempt to use its momentum against it. His healthy arm shot out and he palmed against the ground to give himself a pillar of balance. Gritting his teeth against any pain, the Leaf shinobi tightened his right arm against his back to keep it out of the way, but he could feel the bones grating peculiarly. Only years of practice hiding his pain kept Lee from letting out more than a hiss.

Everything was happening so fast, but not too fast for her to keep up with. Flora could see Lee's attack, and raised her arm. The wolf creature would already be off balance, now would be the perfect opportunity to strike it without giving it a chance to recover and do it further damage. She stepped to the side, and, eyes blazing, shouted.

'Autumn Wind!'

Another bolt of green and purple light burst from her hand, aimed to strike down their attacker.

Even though he'd been half expecting the attack, Lloyd's eyes still widened when the creature appeared and hurled itself straight at-

"Lee!"

Despite his exhaustion, he never thought twice. Adrenaline rushed through him, giving him a spike of desperate energy that he used to rush forward and to the left. He'd never fought at either Lee's or Flora's sides, but he knew how to come in from the side while a monster's attention was focused on someone else. Even with a shorter weapon than he was used to wielding, if he could just get close enough while it was occupied, he could do just as much damage, might even kill it if he struck a lucky spot.

If not...

He shoved the thoughts of what might happen if he failed out of his mind. None of them were armed well enough or strong enough that any of them could afford to sit this one out. Everything he could do would help, even if he still nearly stumbled when he lunged - because it was dark, he told himself. The flashlight in his left hand couldn't light up everything in his path when he tried to move this fast.

With the tailypo (hopefully) still distracted, he darted in, the dagger in his right hand aiming to hamstring it if he could.

The kick connected, and as the tailypo's head snapped back, green and purple light exploded in its face. It did not break its silence, but was thrown back, away from the knife coming for it.

It landed in a skid, legs buckling for a few seconds. Then it rose back up, shaking its head. When its vision cleared, it charged again, aiming, this time, for the direction the light and wind had come from. There was a human there, hand outstretched, and it reached out to swat away any further bolts, claws shining in the light.

"Hnngh!" Lee grunted as he swung back up to his feet. Yes, he definitely heard a crack from his right shoulder though it hardly compared to the good hit he had managed to get on the monster.

His eyes refocused in the dark and he gasped when he saw the tailypo was coming back for more. Lee tensed for another attack... but this time it wasn't aiming for him. Gasping, Lee shifted gears, moving into protective mode.

For a brief moment, a spark of fear ignited in his mind. He was always at his worst when he was charged with protecting someone else and not allowed to focus on his own well-being. He couldn't let anyone else get hurt before of his carelessness! Rushing after the tailypo, Lee leaped into the air and spun, attempting to land a crushing kick into the monster's spine. "Leaf Whirlwind!"

Edited 2012-09-17 02:31 (UTC)

Flora's eyes widened in surprise. This creature was strong, and coming for her. She acted on instinct, lowering her arm, but not before its claws swiped into her skin, an attack that could have been a lot worse for her. She cried out, more in shock than in pain, but didn't let that stop her as she moved to flip backwards out of its reach, trying for an arching kick along the way.

"It'll take a lot more than that!" She didn't have as much power, but she wouldn't go down so easily.

The lack of even a yelp when those two attacks landed was unnerving, but Lloyd didn't have much time to think about it before the monster was on the move again. It took him way too long to recover from the momentum of his own missed attack, his movement sluggish as he turned, and again the thought rang through his head that he shouldn't be this tired. He was too late even to do anything to help before the tailypo was on Flora.

"No!"

He lunged again, almost the same time as Lee, and this time he went for the tailypo's neck, and nevermind that it brought him too close to the monster's teeth, he needed to get its attention off of Flora now. He couldn't tell how badly she'd been hurt.

Pain exploded along two places on the creature's spine, almost at once. Its head tipped back, teeth gnashing, and then it started bucking, trying to shake the pain out of its bones. Blood poured from the wound on its neck. It took a few steps, still twitching and bucking, towards the woods, and then turned around. The humans had hurt it, but they were still its best chance for a meal. One of them was bleeding too.

The one with the single, gleaming claw had done the most damage -- it fixed its eyes on the hand holding the dagger, and licked its lips. Then it approached, this time more slowly.

After landing the hit, the shinobi quickly drew back, careful to keep his arm fully tucked behind him even as she staggered back onto his feet.

Lee wondered if maybe this time it was retreated for real, but it turned back again, going for the third member of their party. Lee was getting tired of this game. He was also just plain tired. Lee would offer another attack, but he was already exhausted. He didn't know if he had any more steam left in his arsenal. Unless...

Lee closed his eyes for a moment, drawing on his last reserves of chakra. He pushed the mixture of energy into his brain, breaking through The Gate of Opening. Already his body was reacting, his nervous system shutting down the pain receptors and allowing him freedom to use his body as he pleased without holding back. It was a dangerous move, but it was his last card to play here.

Lee's battled-oriented mind spun through his options, and the best he found was not pleasant, though necessary. Removing his injured arm from his back, he found he was able to move it without pain although he heard the bone crack. As he thought. The best move would be to aim with this arm, however, rather than pulling muscles and breaking bones in other areas of his body. That in mind, he raced for the beast, hoping on beating it to Lloyd. With all his might, he swung with his elbow out, intending to lay the monster down with a hit to the side of the head. With any luck, he'd manage to snap its neck. Then they could put the thing out of its misery.

She's had just about enough of this. "Summer Thunder!" Flora called for vines to restrict the monster, but they weren't rising. Her spell didn't work! "Wh-What?" Her blood ran cold in that instant, but she didn't have time to think about it. The creature was injured, but still able to stand on its feet and was headed for Lloyd, who was having a hard time standing on his own. Its movements were slower, but that might change at any instant.

Her head darted towards Lee who'd begun to run right for it. He looked like he was going to try something. If he was going for the monster itself, then it would be her job to keep it from Lloyd.

Her pounded in her chest, and she hoped. 'Please let this work.' As much as she wanted to run for Lloyd if it didn't, all of them being so close to it as they were was just not a smart play. Flora raised her hands and reached deep inside, trying to break past whatever was holding her power at bay and cried out. Winter Rose!" But it made no difference. The earth remain undisturbed, none of her briars appeared. Oh no! No. No, not again! "Lloyd!"

Their attacks had all hit, and the monster was definitely in pain. Even its movements seemed to have slowed down. Lloyd felt his spirits lifting up. They could do this. They had a chance. They just needed to keep going and finish this before the monster had a chance to recover. Throwing caution to the wind, he lunged right at the beast, knife slashing at its throat once more to finish the job he'd started.

It never crossed his mind that with him closing the distance so quickly, there was no way for Flora or Lee to be fast enough to reach the tailypo before him.

A blow to the head, and the darkness that was usually such a friend to the institute's creatures became overwhelming. The tailypo staggered, and collapsed. It could hear the humans, especially the glowy one, shouting, but no light appeared. Its limbs flailed out, claws aimlessly scrabbling at the air. One of them caught it on the neck -- or was that the human. It gnashed its teeth without opening its eyes; it was losing strength rapidly, and needed food now more than ever.

If he'd had his swords, there wouldn't have been any problem with what Lloyd had done just then. With a dagger, though, his reach was so short, but he wasn't used to taking that into account. On top of that he was already exhausted. Exhaustion led to mistakes.

Lloyd realized all this a moment too late, the moment after his dagger struck home and the tailypo, thrashing desperately on the ground, raked its claws right across Lloyd's ribs and the top of his left arm. He stumbled, far too tired to catch his balance, and he went down as a cry of pain tore from his throat. It was all he could do not to fall right into the monster's claws - but he still hit the ground hard.

This monster was much more sturdy then Lee ever would have given it credit for when he had first seen it. Lesson learned. Learned too late.

Even with the great effort Lee had put in, the tailypo had kept at it. With Lloyd closing the distance and Flora seeming unable to procure more power, there was little the shinobi could do as he attempted to regain his balance. His arm's now very obvious pain was draining away the work the Gate of Openings had given him. His power was like lifeblood leaking from a torn vein.

Flora's scream broke through at last, and Lee looked up just in time to see Lloyd hit the ground. Unthinking, and drawing on the very last of his strength, Lee let out a cry as he rushed forward and threw out a kick at the tailypo's shoulder, intending to knock the beast away from their fallen comrade. He wasn't sure how much fight it had left in it, but by the way it was flailing he didn't think it could put up much of a fight against even that kind of a kick.

Then Lee slumped down to his knees beside Lloyd. He was shaking and, judging from the limpness of his right arm, his shoulder had dislocated with the elbow drop his had landed moments before. This... wasn't good.

There have been few times in Flora's where she's felt helpless exactly like this. It wasn't something she needed to think about, it was staring her right in the face. Lloyd had taken an attack directly to his chest, and Lee was all but down next to him. She should have been able to stop it, but she couldn't.

Even if the monster was down, it wasn't out, and if she didn't do anything, her friends would die. Think, think, think. She couldn't fall to panic, especially not now, for all that her heart thundered in her chest, but she was running out of options. Her last spells hadn't worked, but she still had power--she could feel it. She'd just have to stick with what she knew she had. It wasn't much, but it would hopefully be enough.

It would have to be enough!

She took off at a short sprint and threw herself at the ground, hands first, before launching herself into the air. With a sharp twist of her body, she aimed both hands at the monster's neck, and shouted as she fell towards it, furious.

"AUTUMN WIND!"

Flora never broke her glare at it as she tried to fire her bolt, point blank. She was determined, angry, but not nearly as powerful as she's used to. It didn't matter. Death would be dealt. Either by her, or this monster, but one way, or another, this would be over soon.

Blows battered the tailypo, but it didn't stop thrashing. That was, at least, until a blast of wind hit its spine. Bones shattered, and all of its limbs collapsed immediately. Its mouth bit at the air a few times, and then its head, too, settled into the dust.

Lloyd was down, and in pain, but not out. Weak and exhausted as he was, he still tried to push himself up off the ground, unwilling to just lie there when any moment the monster could attack him again.

But then it was over. It almost didn't register, the realization sluggishly sinking in past the pain and shock. On his knees, still gripping the knife in his hand, Lloyd stared at the body of the beast. It took several seconds before he could really believe that it wasn't going to move again. That realization brought a wave of relief that made his shoulders slump.

"Is... is everyone all right?" He turned to look at the others, to gauge how bad off they really were. Blood dripped from his arm and ribs, but he barely noticed, somehow feeling too numb to even register the injuries.

Lee rested on his left hand and knees, unable to look up for several minutes as he caught his breath. His right arm hung limply, cracking every now and then. He hardly recognized the pain. Too much of his mind was centered on breathing, and what was left of it was desperately trying to force him to look up and check on his friends.

He heard a voice from somewhere to his side and attempted to focus on that. Lloyd. Right, Lloyd was hurt and very close. It was probably him.

"Fine," Lee coughed weakly, moving to sit back on his heels. He blinked up, trying to focus on his comrades. Flora and Lloyd blurred before him, over-correcting before finally settling into focus. "'m fine. Are you...?"

Flora had to touch the downed beast for an instant to flip to her feet. She eyed it warily, feet set as she waited for it to get back up again, but it didn't. It was dead.

She allowed herself a small sigh and loosened, a little. Relief threatened to crash over her, but it was still too soon for that.

"I'm alright." She remembered her wound, forgotten in the rush of the fight and adrenaline. Even so, bloody as was, aching as it was, it wasn't of as much consequence, not compared to what her friends had suffered.

"But you two are in rough shape, we need to get you some help." Flora looked them both over in utter concern, taking in what she could see. She was no stranger to fights, not even a stranger to getting through them by the skin of her teeth, but this was still something different. Flora held her hand out and tried to concentrate. Bandages, ointment, herbs, flowers, she tried to will or shift these things and more into existence, but nothing appeared. Helplessness tore at her. Even after everything was said and done, she couldn't take of things as she was used to.

"How bad are you both?"

She didn't want to have to be the one to bring it up. She wanted to let them rest as much as they wanted. They'd earned it, they needed it, but they couldn't stay here for too long. They should be so lucky to run into one and only creature out here, and alongside that, there was nothing out here to treat wounds. Forward or back, they'd have to press on. "Where do we go from here?"

That same question was running through Lloyd's head right now. No matter how the others tried to hide it, it was obvious they were injured. If they went back, there wasn't any guarantee they would make it out again as easily as they had this time. If they went forward, though, who knew what else they would run into before they could find someplace safe to rest? Who knew how close the nearest town even was? He was torn. He didn't want to go back. But...

"Let's... bandage ourselves up first," he said, trying to put the decision off a little longer. "We can't go anywhere like this. I have my dagger. I can cut my shirt into strips." It wasn't sanitary or ideal, but they didn't have much choice at the moment. Gripping his dagger, he didn't wait before setting to work. Whatever they did, they needed to move fast before they were found by something else.

NIGHT 65: ROAD TO DOYLETON

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[so sorry for the delay!]

[no problem - also, turn skipping with permission from the others]

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