Restart Round 1 Halcus (Part 2)

It took a bit, but we all eventually came up with a general idea we agreed on. But first, we had to travel to the forest that the dark elf had described. It took a good 45 minutes or so, but the group had finally reached the edges of the forest he had told us about. We stopped for a brief rest before attempting to infiltrate whatever dangers the forest had in store for us. John, being John, had his gun at ready, suspiciously looking around everywhere. Again, I worry about his health.

The youth, whom I learned was called Eli, seemed to be in some form of respiratory distress. He was sitting down on the thick grass, gasping like a fish.

"...What the heck... *gasp* No one told me we were doing so much walking..." he whined. It was perhaps a bit petty, but I observed him with some amusement. Serves him right for constantly pushing John's buttons like that.

In the meantime, Kezza and Mr. Trench Coat Man (AKA Xemthawt as I eventually learned), were having some idle chit-chat while we waited to catch our breath and rest-up for the challenge ahead.

"So let me get this straight...you guys are both men of magic or something?" asked Kezza.

Xem simply shrugged and said, "More or less."

By this time, me and Ravex caught up with the group, with me sitting down in time to hear Kezza's question. I let out a big sigh in relief. I may be a slow runner, but at least I was doing better than Eli. Being impatient and impulsive as always, he had sprinted here as fast as he could, and was now paying the price.

Panting a bit, I decided to add a bit to Xem's admittedly short answer.

"It seems so, yes. However, from what I've heard from Xem, it looks like we specialize in different areas of magic."

"How do you mean?" Inquired Kezza.
I liked her. She seemed smart and level-headed, good qualities to have for a person you want to depend on. Let's just hope she rubs off a bit on her OC.

"I specialize in more elemental spells, while Xem here has told me he focuses on more spiritual methods involving that bell he carries around."

"Oh - so that's what you guys were chatting about on the way here..." said Kezza, looking thoughtfully at the sky and chuckling.

Xem nodded in agreement before adding his two cents:

"It works to our advantage in the long run, anyway. A little variety in our skills should help make things easier."

John, being the permanent grouch that he is, chose that moment to speak up.

"I hope so...for all our sakes! I have to get outta here and back to my work..."

Eli, mumbing between breaths added:

"Heh, not like I have anything I want to get back to anyway..."

To be honest though, I don't really know the nature of our OC's. Would they simply disappear from existence once this is over? Would they follow us back to the "real" world?
Ugh, time to save the thought-provoking questions for later. Worrying about it now won't help anyone.

Kezza let out a big sigh before asking about our best plan of action.

Ravex decided to speak up.

"I have a built-in compass and I can use my sensors to detect oncoming danger. The compass function may not be enough to truly prevent us from getting lost, but it is better than nothing right?"

A multipurpose robot is always handy.

Meanwhile though, Xem was looking quite thoughtful.

"Personally, I'm curious why it's so easy to get lost around here in the first place..."

"It wouldn't be any different for you anyway. You'd get lost no matter where we were," snarked Eli. Xem scowled.

"I recall the dark elf back at the ReTavern said something about a spell on the forest causing people to get lost or something..? But he didn't say what kind of spell..." Kezza replied.

We were suddenly startled from our musing by sounds of rapid gunfire from Johns direction. Not to mention the colorful cursing.

"John, Everything ok over there!?" shouted Xem worriedly.

"Of all the damn things - why the frig did it have to be WOLVES!" growled John.
"Yeah...got the bastards. You might wanna hurry it up and make some kind of descision soon though...I got a feeling there'll be more of them lupine tossers making their way here in a while" he replied ominously.

Eli couldn't resist the opportunity to rib John some more.
"What's the matter...afraid of a little puppy?"

"Shut it, freak!" John snarled in response.

The pale-skinned youth smiled.
"I'll take that as a yes."

John growled some more and deliberately attempted to ignore Eli. Good luck with that, dude.

Kezza sighed in exasperation before warning the teen about continuing to bother John. In the meantime, me and Xem were discussing magicky-stuff.

"Hmmm... this forest sounds like it is cloaked by some sort of illusion spell..." I mused. "Are spirits able to be affected by such spells? If not, maybe we can use them to help us navigate the forest?"

Xem put some thought into his response. "Well, if it is something illusion related, a ghost would probably be able to see through it...give me a sec," he said before walking away a short distance and ringing his bell. Immediately, a thick mist spewed forth from the ground in front of him before summoning some sort of warrior spirit.

While we were doing this, Eli somehow managed to get Kezza to pin him down and hold a dagger at his throat. I'm not surprised this happened really. Why would someone create someone so aggravating? I politely kept this question to myself though, in fear of offending Xem.

"Yo, Xem, a little help?" squeaked the teen, staring at the dagger with some fear.

Xem casually brushed off his OC's request with a casual "Your problem, not mine."

Wow. I guessed that the ever-patient Xem had his limits too.

Kezza went into that stern lecture-mode that women often do when they are scolding little children.

"Do you seriously have a death wish or something? John would kill you without even thinking about it - so whatever you had planned - don't!"

Eli cautiously pointed the dagger away from his throat before responding.

"Easy there, I get the picture..."

"Make sure you do..." warned Kezza before putting her dagger away and going to check on John.

"I could try putting him in a shield bubble if you'd like?" I offered Xem, who was watching his spirit float away.

"No, I think it's ok, he went on to scout ahead," he replied as the spirit disappeared into the forest.

It was then that chaos broke out.

I could hear Kezza cry out in alarm, followed by a thudding noise.
"Move your bloomin' arse, woman!" shouted John as several gunshots rang out from the underbrush. A big cat-like snarl and deep roar immediately put me on full alert. I scrambled to gather my staff, bag and book, which I had put down while we were resting. More gunshots and frantic shouting followed.

"....that doesn't sound good..." gulped Xem as me and him ran towards the source of the noise.

Ravex was following closely behind us as he prepped and deployed his sonic cannons. The audible hum of power only served to heighten the tension I was feeling as we raced to the rescue.

When we arrived, we found John incapacitated, clutching his shoulder in agony, with a dead panther laying nearby. I suppose that was the source of the growls earlier. However, that wasn't the most pressing issue at hand. Kezza was barely holding off an absolutely titanic  grizzly bear with only her whip.

"Holy crap! What happened?" shouted Xem as we arrived onto the scene.

"Hey! A little help here???" screamed Kezza as her thin defense started being worn down.

The bear continued to advance on her, pushing her back with his claws. Even a single swipe of those huge claws could cause severe damage to any one of us!

"Dammit! My shoulder..." said John through gritted teeth.

He seemed to be severely wounded, and was losing blood at an alarming rate. That panther he shot down must have seriously mauled him. I immediately started casting a healing spell on him, in an attempt to save his life. I was the only one of the group with any healing capability, and I was trusting everyone else to help Kezza before John kicked the bucket for good. Short tempered he may be, but a teammate is a teammate, and I will support my team to the end.

As if reading my mind, Eli jumped out of the brush and shot a lightning bolt at the bear, stunning it. "That enough help for you?"

Ravex also came charging in, and deployed a strong sonic blast at the bear while it was still trying to shake off the lingering electricity. The nearly-invisible cone of pure sound knocked into the bear, sending it sprawling. The bear quickly got up to its paws and lumbered away, roaring in alarm. It promptly disappeared into the darkness of the forest surrounding us.

Kezza breathlessly thanked Eli, looking genuinely grateful for once. She then turned to me, asking if John would be okay in a concerned tone.

I wiped some sweat off of my brow before answering.

"I think I recovered the worst of the injury. It'll sting for a while, but other than that, he's fine."

"Cheers...you'll have to teach me how you do that someday..." she sighed in relief.

Despite our recent victory though, Xem still seemed uneasy.

"What? What is it?" inquired John as he attempted to recover from his recent mauling.

"...we should probably keep moving. As soon as possible," he replied as his ghost finally returned to him from its scouting mission. I'm in agreement with him. We probably weren't safe staying in one place like this.

"...I just love it when everything's trying to kill us..." laughed Eli. There's the jerk we all got to know. Seeing him actually doing something productive for once was quite an experience, I'll tell you that.

Kezza merely rolled her eyes, and John simply sighed before drinking from his hip-flask. Huh. I guess they were growing a bit more tolerant of his behavior. That was a good sign for the future. Still, it was about time we continued forth on our journey.

"We should probably get moving, fast," I said, as Ravex helped up the still-pained John

"Ughhh...thanks..." he said with some gratitude.

"Alright, my ethereal friend found our destination," said Xem as he jogged back from talking to his spirit friend. "We actually aren't too far off...he should be able to lead us there."

"Good work...what are we waiting for - let's go already!" John growled in his usual gruff tone.

"I'll do my best to keep the enemies at bay," said Ravex as he kept his weapons armed and ready in case of danger.

John was once again looking at Ravex with undisguised interest. "I don't doubt it..."
I guess old habits die hard.

We resumed our march, following our spirit guide. Ravex was on high alert, and everyone else was ready just in case something else decided we looked like an appetizing meal. John continued muttering to himself the whole way, probably again marveling at Ravex's advance tech. If the slightly disturbed expression Ravex showed in his optics meant anything, he could probably hear every word John was saying. Poor guy.

"Hey technophile! Try not to get left behind!" shouted Eli, near the front of the group.

"Why don't ya just pull your lip over ya head an' swallow, prannock?" snarled John.

Xem turned to John before saying: "I give you permission to shoot him."

Ouch, that's a bit harsh isn't it?

"Man, that's just cold," replied Eli. For once, we were in agreement, as amazing as that seems.

Once again, Kezza was the one to speak up about the constant bickering going on between the two. And once again, Eli was an annoying prick to her.

Kezza snorted exasperatedly before heading to the front of the group to get away from all the commotion. I don't blame her for doing so.