Spring Cleaning!

[papergurrl]

WHO: OPEN
WHAT: An ad requesting assistance culling creatures in Everglade was posted recently. The log is catchall for those who respond to it.
WHEN: April 25, 2014
WHERE: Everglade Marsh

When travelers/mercenaries/guardian trainees/whoever reach Everglade, they meet the poster of the request, Stuart. He describes the creatures in question as Biguana, and explains that normally they make their home in the marshes outside Everglade. Of late they've been breeding quite a bit and due to successful attacks on adventurers/wanderers that risk going out there unprepared, they've gotten extremely bold. He goes on to note that the creatures have made a den in an underground cavern accessed through a sinkhole a mile and a half from town. When our brave adventurers make their way to said sinkhole (mind the mud, it's slippery in some places), they'll find the cavern - which doesn't really look very stable. There are tracks, multiple ones, of creatures leading in and out of the den. Dare ye brave the depths?

[ OOC: Inside is a group of 10-18 'Biguana', each one about the size and speed of an average horse. They attack with spikes, draining magic and - in some cases - thrown weapons. Reward is $100 per head. ]

Comments

[short_n_sweet]

[Let Jaune Arc, your local Everglade Guardian lead the charge!

... Well, if he was being honest, he wasn't technically the Guardian. That was Harry, and Harry's gone, and no one's been named Guardian in his place. Maybe Harry wasn't actually gone? Whatever the case, it's left Jaune in a bit of a position where on one hand he feels that he's responsible for picking up the slack left behind, while on the other hand he's just not confident enough to take the mantle for himself... He doesn't really want to. Not being a Guardian is just so much easier! And much less dangerous!

But it's not the first time Jaune's lied like that. Probably wouldn't be the last, too. So, he's the Guardian for all intents and purposes, if for no other reason than to impress Raye and... well, and not die or something.]

Oh boy... [Jaune is hiding near the sink-hole where these creatures had supposedly set up their lair. Looks awwwwful dark in there, and scary, and full of lizard-monsters all set to eat his fleshy bits.]

[If you listen carefully, you might hear his armour rattling. But he's not scared, honest!]

[explodewiththerage]

[Well then it's a good thing that he's not the only one who decided to look into that request for help. However unlike the armored Jaune the two who have chosen to answer the call for aid are considerably quieter. Something which is also out of the ordinary given that one half of the pair is Fairy Tail's resident Dragon Slayer and property damage Veteran.]

Hmmm? This scent. I recognize it from the party.

[celestial_wizard]

[ And the other half of the pair is Fairy Tail's resident Celestial Wizard. It reaally shouldn't be a surprise to find Lucy there though - where one goes, the other will always follow. Even if they weren't teammates it'd be that way. ]

The party? Do you remember who it is?

[ Wait, why did she ask him ethat - he's horrible with names most of the time. ]

Hopefully he's not in trouble.

[ After a moment as she drew nearer, she caught sight of the cavern near the sinkhole, frowning slightly. ]

That... doesn't look too safe either. We'll have to be careful, if we can't lure them outside an-- hey isn't that..

[ Is that Jaune, cowering bravely standing his ground outside the cavern? ]

[papergurrl]

[ DELICIOUS Fleshy bits, Jaune. DELICIOUS. Come jump into their mouths! The critters are making all sorts of critter noises in that cavern, and they may be aware of Jaune just because he's got that not-scared vibe going on. They will be very disappointed to know that their visitors are not pushovers! ]

[short_n_sweet]

[Hm? Voices? Jaune looks up quickly from staring at the sink-hole to see... Lucy and Natsu! His face immediately lights up!] Oh thank Go-- Er! *Ahem*

[Stepping out from his hiding spot guard post, Jaune approaches them, straightening up and fixing his armour and stuff.] I guess you guys are looking into this too, huh? I'm a little surprised, this is pretty far from Fayren.

[He wasn't going to play the whole "this is dangerous" card. He's pretty sure Natsu on his own is more dangerous than a buncha lizards.] I suppose I wouldn't mind more help. Now this'll be even easier.

[Look at him, trying to be all calm and collected.]

[explodewiththerage]

Yeah I think his name was June?

[Of course he'd bungle up the name. No matter though because the source of the scent quickly comes out of hiding.]

Woah that's some sweet timing. Yo.

[he raises a hand in greeting.]

It's not that unusual for us. We used to take missions all over Fiore back in Earthland. Even if I always suffered cause of it. At least portals beat trains any day.

[1/2]

[deathsought]

[ Zeref is not the 'quest taking' type. He's not a member of any guilds, he wouldn't trust himself to work in a team, and when it comes to Dark Guilds, he would rather not be involved at all. Of course, that becomes rather irrelevant when he happened across the cave by pure chance. Go figure that it's the same cave mentioned in the ad he just briefly glanced at.

Well... It couldn't hurt to have a little bit of money. Besides, if these things were a threat... ]

I'm sorry...

[ His eyes began turning red, as he heard the hissing noises get closer. Black wisps of energy began radiating from his body. ]

... But you should have stayed in this cave. This will be over quickly.

[ A sphere of Death Magic began encircling Zeref. He bright his palms up to his face, as the sphere grew larger in both diameter and circumference, expanding into a large wave of black energy. Anyone who can sense magic in the area... Yeah, this magic is pure evil. Zeref heard two thuds nearby, as two lifeless bodies of very large creatures fell to the ground, dead as a door nail.

...

... Wait... ]

[2/2]

[deathsought]

[ Zeref felt his knees buckle. How on earth--... He felt like he was just on the receiving end of Obra's Drain. He didn't just use THAT much magic, did he? He didn't exactly value the lives of monsters that wanted to eat him. No... No, these monsters just did that, likely in the split second right before they died. His eyes reverted back to their usual color. Zeref was left panting for breath. ]

Impossible...

[ He gasped, trying to stand up. Zeref didn't fear death - quite the opposite, actually - but he wasn't going to die at the hands of random monsters. Not here. Not today. He didn't have nearly enough time to try summoning a demon that used Curses instead of magic. No... He had to get out of here. Zeref wasn't much of a physical fighter. Why would he be when, usually, most people don't even live long enough to get close enough to throw a punch anyway?

Zeref began trying to inch backwards. He wasn't down and out yet, but he knew he couldn't stay. Her come back later and flood the place with Nemesis later. Right now, he needed time to recuperate his magic supply. ]

[celestial_wizard]

[ Maybe not as quickly as he thinks. Lucy had been in the cavern with Natsu and Wendy when she sensed a familiar magic. With the way it rose and cut off so abruptly, leaving only a faint trace, it was notably worrisome. So she'd trotted back into the cavern. MAYBE not the best option, but considering most of the monsters had scattered already maybe it was safe now. Besides, she wasn't exactly alone. ]

Hello? Does anyone need help in here?! [ The ad didn't say anything about rescue but.. ]

[tenkuunomiko]

[ Wendy trailed after Lucy in concern as well, as the blond headed down the cavern. Wendy followed her quietly as she looked around, somewhat peeved by the darkness it held and that strange unfamiliar feeling it gave off. It reminded her of the fight with one of Zeref's demons and it still lingered in the back of her mind. Wendy stayed close to her as she walked. ]

Hello!

[ She called from behind Lucy. ]

/cringes at my previous typos

[deathsought]

[ Those voices... no, what were they doing here? Well, it's not like he had much magic left to use, anyway. The fact that he was afraid of Wendy and Lucy becoming collateral damage weakening his Death Magic was a moot point after whatever it is the Biguanas did to him. ]

Lucy... Wendy...

[ He was able to stand, now, at least. The nearby moss had shriveled and fell off of the cave's sides, and a few mushrooms near the cave's entrance had been reduced to blackened, petrified spores. ]

What... are those things? [ Because whatever they are, all of a sudden, he's glad the Magic Council hasn't managed to domesticate them yet. ]

/judges those typos! (Only not)

[celestial_wizard]

Zeref? What h-

[ Whoah, that there is a big lizard. A big lizard that, on sight of someone with lots of magic in her tiny tiny body, starts to make a beeline for Wendy. GIMME YOR FRESHNESS. ]

Wendy, be careful. [ Don't get eaten. She moved over towards Zeref, frowning. ] They're called Biguana. They've been overbreeding and now they're threatening the townspeople nearby.

Here have a Princess

[xroyal_bratx]

[ Fortunately, for Zeref, there happened to be a female as well, wandering around here for her own leisure, and seeing what was going on when she entered the scene, made it easier to almost deduct what was going on. All she needed to know was that someone needed help and she moved him to slice at a couple of them with Sidia, the Holy Sword ]

Hey, hang in there.

[ She moved towards him to help him out. ]

Thanks, don't mind if I do! :9

[papergurrl]

[ Wandering around in the area for your leisure is unsafe! Although that holy sword is good for keeping three of them at bay, the creatures smart enough to keep their distance when the first of them got cut down for getting a tad too overzealous. But they don't want to let their pray to get away so easily! In fact, one of the creatures waits just long enough for Ishtar to move towards Zeref before it hefts a rock about a foot wide, long and thick, and hurls it at her back. ]

Princesses? For me?

[deathsought]

No, don't--!

[ Zeref's magic might not be a threat, but someone saving his life... a life that isn't worth saving. For one thing, he's the worst person he can think of to have to be in someone else's debt, and for another, someone like him was better off dying, even if it's in such an unceremonious way as at the hands of a bunch of hungry lizards.

He tries to shuffle backwards, nearly tripping over a few rocks. ]

Why... [ The only thing he can think of to say. If this woman knew who he was and what he was responsible for, she'd have never wanted to save someone like him. Right?

Right? ]

[monkeystowaway]

[Sun heard mention about this particular job. He’d also heard Jaune mention that there was an influx of monsters in this area. With nothing better to do, Sun went and talked to the man that was paying people to deal with these creatures. Hearing the details, they didn’t seem like anything beyond his ability to deal with, so he decided to help out a bit and make some money while doing it.

He peered inside of the cave as he arrived at its entrance. Preemptively, he took out Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang and snapped them together in their staff form making his way through the sink hole to enter it, stepping as carefully as possible so that he didn’t fall.]

[papergurrl]

[ Though the lizards aren't visible from when he peered into the cavern, he could certainly smell them and hear them. The cavern is dark and muddy, but he may be able to make out some shoddy dug tunnels, presumably used to make additional dens or escape passages for the clan. ]

[monkeystowaway]

Whew. These guys really smell, don’t they? [That should have been expected, though. They were living in a cave like this, and taking a bath probably wasn’t something they had enough intelligence to do. The dark did not bother him, though. Being a Faunus, he naturally had night vision. He could see nearly perfectly in the dark.

He moved closer to some of the shoddy tunnels and peered into them to see if he could spot any of the creatures.]

[papergurrl]

[ Well that's not very nice! Still, they DO stink that IS a fact. Looking into the first tunnel he can certainly see some of the critters that lived down in the caverns - one had its back to him and was steadily chowing down on.. uh... something that its probably best not to look at too closely, from the sound of tearing flesh and such. It has yet to take notice of Sun though, lucky for now!]

[monkeystowaway]

[Sun is sort of wishing he would have brought someone like Ruby with him. She could easily pick some of these things off with her Crescent Rose if he had. Still, he was pretty confident in his abilities. He took a moment to scan the area in the tunnel, checking to see if perhaps there were any big rocks or stalactites hanging above the beasts. He could probably bring some down onto them with a well precision blast.]

[betel_geuse]

Betelgeuse approached the sinkhole and gave a loud, cackling laugh. Oh, this was going to be fun! Not only could he indulge in a bit of violence and mayhem, but he would get paid for it too! Honestly, he'd felt way too passive lately.

Betelgeuse shifted into his snake form, though keeping himself smaller than usual. After all, it was more fun to hunt the creatures and catch them unawares. He licked his snakish lips, feeling saliva and venom dripping off his needle sharp teeth. Much as he loved bugs, a change of pace was good now and then, right? After all, the ad said they only needed the heads as proof.

Betelgeuse slide down the sinkhole, rolling in the mud.

[papergurrl]

That cackling laugh was enough to get the attention of the inhabitents of the cave. However, the smell was definitely not human, so aside from a few inquisitive glances, the biguana moved on with their business, lumbering along, doobedoo. Betelgeuse would run -- or slither -- into the first few scouts as he continued into the tunnel - two scouts, actually, shambling along hungrily as they aimed to round the corner - which would bring them snout to face with the snakemonster.

[betel_geuse]

Betelgeuse reared up, eyeing the two scouts with his own hunger. His tail ended in a rattle and he shook it, though he was far from angry. He grinned and swung his tail around, aiming a powerful blow at the face of the nearest scout.

[papergurrl]

WHAMMO! That tail smacks the poor lizard right into the other side of the wall, its body hitting with a heavy thud before collapsing to the ground, dazed. The other scout takes one look at the ginormous snakemonster before turning tail and bolting down the tunnel to raise the alarm for the rest of its buddies.

[betel_geuse]

Betelgeuse cackled, taking a moment to swallow nearly all of the first monster, leaving behind only the head. Tasty! He burps, realizing he might not be able to eat all of his kills. That thing, after all, was as big as he was! Ah, well. Maybe he could find a way to store the meat. For now, though, he slithered off in pursuit of the other scout. It had a head start, due to Betelgeuse taking a lunch break, but that was okay. It would keep things interesting.