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Post by splatterpaint on Feb 15, 2012 18:45:39 GMT -5
The fact that she had some ponies on her side comforted her a little bit. She was glad when Kuruka defended her and nodded when her gaze was directed to her, "I don't want a game, I want an adventure." she retorted. Hopefully, the leaders wouldn't tell her to leave. She glanced at them, her gaze questioning as she waited for them to put in their 2 cents. She was startled, however, to hear a new voice echo through the caves. Her eyes glazed with wonder as she looked over to the new colt. Where did he come from? And what happened to his armor? Splatter was glad to hear that he wanted her to stay, though, so she refrained from rudely calling out, "Who are you?"
It was evident that this newcomer was important. It only took one look at the other's face to tell her that. She tried her best to look amazed, like the others did. Splatter was well aware that he was someone famous... but she honestly had no idea. But he seemed to know his stuff, and she couldn't keep the surprise off her face when he began to talk about the Necrolord and Death Chargers. Those words stirred something in her mind. She had definitely heard of them before, but she couldn't quite put her hoof on it...
As the new colt directed his attention to her, she stood and walked over to him, gazing at the spell formula. She wasn't the strongest in magic, but she had a strong memory, so it didn't take her long to memorize every bit of it. She lapped up the information eagerly, her eyes wide with curiosity. Undead repellent spell? It sounded almost like dark magic, how curious.
Without a head, huh. Kinda like a cockroach. These sure were weird happenings. She couldn't hold back the burst of excitement at the prospect of what lay ahead. Did that sound crazy? Yeah, it probably did. Most ponies wouldn't like the sound of this danger, but she loved it. Splatter probably shouldn't, but she did. "Okay, so we have to kill the denmother? I'm ready too, then." She was completely oblivious to the uneasiness that could be resonating off the others.
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Post by StormShroud on Feb 16, 2012 23:21:12 GMT -5
Looks like Storm Shroud didn't have a choice. He sighed sharply, but didn't offer rebuttal - He simply forced his uneasy feelings down, further into the pit of his belly, and trot over closer to Ranger as the ponies readied themselves to delve further into the caverns.
Stopping very close to the masked pony, he leaned in to whisper so only he could hear.
"You understand what's at risk here.. How many can you lose before it becomes too much, Ranger? I'm protecting that filly, even if it costs my life. Pray you don't regret not sending her back." Storm Shroud took a moment to stare at the pony, eye-to-eye, before spreading his wings and stepping away, giving them a few quick flaps to ensure they were loose and ready for battle.
"We have a den-mother to kill, then." Shroud glanced to Kuruka, "Seems I need to remind somepony who my herd is."
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Post by kuruka on Feb 18, 2012 17:15:48 GMT -5
Kuruka snorted and tossed her mane in irritation. She'd never considered before how difficult a pony with her background would find it to fit in. Fine with her, she had two responsibilities in this group, teach the filly to defend herself and assist in killing this den mother. Nopony had to like her for any of that.
Kuruka watched patiently as the younger mare studied the strange formula drawn in the dirt and gave a grim grin when the filly said she was ready. That's what you think, little one.
"Do you have a weapon other than your horn... um..." Kuruka paused, realizing that she didn't know the filly's name. Not wanting to reveal that she had lied to protect the filly, Kuruka glanced at her cutie mark. Usually, those were a good indicator. "I've, uh, forgotten, was your name Sprinkle? Splash?"
Kuruka pinned her ears back in frustration. She should have asked the filly a long time ago so she could avoid this situation. At the very least, she should have asked the filly quieter, instead of loud enough for the entire group to hear.
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Post by Red Charge on Feb 19, 2012 10:54:18 GMT -5
Starling patiently waited for all of them to be ready. He knew firsthand how disturbing an encounter with the undead could be, and wanted to make sure no one was going to freeze at the wrong time.
Ranger had nodded at Shroudy's words, whispering, "I know, but..." And slightly inclining his head towards Starling, then assuring the pepgasus that, "We'll be fine."He had a bad feeling about the place, a bad feeling about what they were going to do there and a bad feeling about what they might find. He did however trust the Field Marshal's words and instincts. If Starling thought they could proceed, he believed they could.
Whitehoof finally spoke during this time, "Whenever you're ready." He said simply to the others, stretching his muscles and preparing his psyche for the next encounter. He'll admit he feared the undead, what pony didn't? But he knew he should still give it is all. Get the mission done and get out of this zombie infested land back to the barrens. That's more or less all he wanted at that point.
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Post by splatterpaint on Feb 21, 2012 0:05:05 GMT -5
Splatters continued looking at the odd formula, tilting her head questioningly as she sudied the strange markings. She was slightly distracted by StormShroud, who she could see in the corner of her eye, whispering to the masked colt. Knowing that it was probably about her, she sighed exasperatedly before directing her attention towards Kuruka, who had begun talking to her.
Did she have another weapon? "Eh? Oh, yeah I do, a... It's Splatters, my name is Splatterpaint." she replied, acknowledging the fact that she was trying to hold onto the story of Kuruka helping her stow away with a tiny nod.
"I have this knife..." she said, withdrawing the small blade from her bag and holding it out for the other pony to see. "I'm not amazing with it or anything, but I'm decent."
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Post by kuruka on Feb 23, 2012 15:01:08 GMT -5
Kuruka glanced over the blade Splatterpaint held out to her. Not amazing... but decent. What experiences would a filly have to know how to use a knife in any way, other than required training? Generally speaking, ponies were a friendly, outgoing species. A thief or two might exist here and there, but that was the extent of their danger as far as Kuruka knew. There were monsters, of course, but the city didn't have any forests for monsters to hide in, did it?
Kuruka merely switched her glance from the blade, which would obviously not do against such large, pain-immune creatures as these zombie-ferals, to the filly. "You are a brave soul to come here. Either brave or foolish, though I am beginning to lean toward the former, seeing your reaction to the undead filth. I am sorry to say, your blade will not do much for you. It is built for inflicting pain and pain is something these creatures do not feel." Kuruka again motioned to the re-dead feral. "We must immobilize these creatures if we are to be of any effect. Your horn can be of great use to us, if you know how to bind something and hold it still. If not, I can lend you one of my weapons, but be prepared for gruesome work in the case that you are ever faced with an enemy." She paused, again convinced she had seen a glimpse of her youngest sister in the filly. Amali's coat was white, just like Splatterpaint's. "This most likely will not happen. You have many brave souls here who desire to protect you and I will most likely give you the order to run if the situation is too dangerous. But, should the need arise, go for the legs. They cannot harm you if they cannot catch you."
Kuruka turned to the rest of the group. "Shall we continue now, then?"
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Post by Red Charge on Feb 29, 2012 19:02:16 GMT -5
"I already said, don't worry about the filly. They're not going to go for her as long as there are bigger targets closer to them." Starling explained again, "And I won't let her get hurt, trust me." He continued, then shaking his head and leading the group further inside the tunnel.
"Sir," Ranger started, Starling did not turn back to him, "How are we supposed to kill the Den Mother? I mean, if they can make her ..." Ranger couldn't find an appropriate word, seeing as he couldn't use live, "... work without a head, what are we supposed to do to sto..." But before he could finish the sentence, two more undead ferals approached them past a curve in the cavern. Almost before Ranger could react, Starling was upon them. From the first second it was obvious why he was a Field Marshal. Despite his weakened condition and the armor he was wearing, he moved like liquid fire.
He pounced at the first feral, spinning in mid air to bring his mace-tail on it's head, bashing it beyond recognition and sending the feral to the ground. The second feral had no time to react before a blade sprung out of one of the Field Marshal's fore-legs and hacked off its own, sending it off balance just enough for Starling to land a punch with his other hoof, pinning the feral by its midsection to the wall. With a sharp turn of his hoof, the hydraulics in his armor kicked in, a piston crushing the feral's midriff against the wall, rendering it as well, useless.
As both ferals now lay still, Whitehoof stared at the Field Marshal in awe. He knew Starling was originally from the Northern Barrens, and he knew he was a Field Marshal in Equestria but unlike anything he had believed before - he was not soft. He had been displeased at being turned away from being the leader of the group and losing his chance at a bit of glory, but if that was the pony replacing him, he was content in knowing he'd be famous for fighting alongside him.
However, the growls further down the cavern let them know more were coming, and knowing what room lay ahead, Ranger already knew there were at least four of them this time. There was just enough time for the party to prepare itself before the ferals came into view, running at full speed as though they were alive.
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Post by StormShroud on Apr 15, 2012 13:12:14 GMT -5
Although Storm Shroud still protested the filly coming along, he kept his protests quiet, and focused on the task ahead. Just in time, too, as the ferals came lurching around the corner - Shroud popped his wings open and reared back in defense, only to find the ferals were made quick work of by the Field Marshal - He, too, watched in awe with the others but did not settle.
He had opened his mouth to comment on what he'd just seen - But there was no time. Storm Shroud narrowed his eyes and flapped his wings once or twice in preperation for the oncoming attack.
Once the ferals were close enough, Storm Shroud took the lead. Throwing his wings open, he sucked in a deep breath, and shot up toward the top of the cavern as fog shot past the group's legs, slithering around the ferals before promptly expanding, forming a wall of fog which congealed into an almost half-solid state of ice slush. It didn't stop them, but the wall had the ferals slowed to a crawl which would provide the others an opportunity to get the first strike in.
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Post by splatterpaint on Apr 17, 2012 0:16:05 GMT -5
Splatterpaint looked down at her little knife. So it wouldn't be of any use? "Oh, okay." she said, a little crestfallen. It was a good point; these ferals weren't affected by large amounts of pain, never mind the tiny amount of damage her blade would cause. Oh well. At the suggestion that she could still be of use with her horn, her face lit up. "Yeah, I could tie it's legs together with magic, I have some rope so..." she would probably be able to magic the rope and wrap it around a ferals leg, which would be helpful.
Splatterpaint listened to Kuruka's advice, being attentive, a rare thing for her. Nodding to show she understood, her gaze wandered ahead, towards the rest of the caves. What was lurking in there? More of those undead ferals? Or something worse?
Her questions were answered quickly as two ferals appeared. She crouched in the most menacing stance she could muster - which, frankly, wasn't much - but there wasn't a lot to do, since Starling took care of it in the blink of an eye. Splatter's eyes widened in surprise at how fast he moved. He was good. She wished she could fight like that.
But there wasn't enough time for her to wish for fighting skills; more undead ferals had arrived, and she wanted to actually do something. Using her horn, her rope shot out towards one of the ferals, wrapping around it's legs tightly and causing it to fall to the ground face-first. With that one immobilized and the others slowed down by Storm Shrouds ice, the others would have time to fight them off.
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