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

[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.

hahaahahah awwwh it's okay~

[tenkuunomiko]

Ah?

[ Wendy already didn't like the giant lizard that was beelining towards her and sh moves quickly away to avoid being EATEN alive!!! This is not cool! She isn't a physical fighter. She avoided as much as she could to run towards Lucy's direction towards Zeref.

Lucy-san we have to get out...they smell strange. Zeref-san are you okay?!

ಠ_ಠ

[deathsought]

[ 'Biguana?' Nice pun. That must be what that paper ad was talking about... now he's in a cave, fighting monsters for money, with Fairy Tail. The irony of it all wasn't lost on him. If only Mavis were here to see this. He'd never hear the end of it. ]

Wendy...!

[ Could he save her? Those things will just drain his magic again if he tries... but maybe if they're distracted, who knows. It just takes one hit from Death Magic, but in his state, he's worried he might miss. He tries to summon a bit more Death Magic to the surface, but it's weak. Weaker than when he fought Ultear, even, when he was actively avoiding trying to kill her.

His magic was useless, here. He honestly never thought he'd miss his demons. ]

:D

[celestial_wizard]

What do you mean, they smell strange?

[ She reached down to her keyring, ready to call on Taurus - stopping at the last minute. Wait, didn't that guy say they drained magic? Better not. She snagged her whip instead. ]

Don't get close to them, Wendy!

[ She snapped her whip at the beasts to keep them at bay, but the lizards were still hungry for a Dragonslayer entree. Nommynom come here Wendy! ]

Zeref, can you move?

<3333

[tenkuunomiko]

[ Wendy moved out of the way quickly enough to avoid being attacked and she kept her distance as close to Zeref and Lucy as possible. ] I'm okay, Zeref-san. Lucy-san do you know what they can do?

[ The girl mused giving Lucy a worried look. Wendy didn't want to have them all hurt if they didn't know anything about the monsters. ]

I'm not sure... they're different from the monsters we fought in Earthland. Zeref-san said they drained magic?!

[ That unnerving. ]

❤

[deathsought]

I--... I can.

[ He's still gasping for breath. The adrenaline was still flowing, but he's going to be absolutely exhausted after he gets out of here. ]

Yes... they can drain magic. I wasn't expecting it, I let my guard down. [ If he had known they could do that, he'd have summoned a few demons and let them handle it. Now he's paying the price. ] I'm sorry... I'm not much of a physical fighter.

[ At Lucy's question of if he can move, he nodded. ]

Where are the others? You didn't come here alone, did you?

[celestial_wizard]

[ Lucy backed away from the biguana, glancing towards Zeref as Wendy scurried away from the beasts. ]

We aren't either .. and anyway, I don't know how close they need to be to drain magic, and I don't want to give them that chance. [ They were all screwed if they did that. When Zeref said he could move, she sidled over to him to sling his arm over her shoulder. ]

Come on, we're getting out of here - Wendy! [ Hurry hurry! She shook her head at Zeref though. ]

No, we came with Natsu - we met up with Jaune too.

[tenkuunomiko]

It's okay, we'll get you out of here.

[ Wendy replied seriously as she looked at the black mage. She took his words to consideration and not use her magic at the moment. She'll have to rely on her own strength but she wasn't that strong. She moved to get near him. ]

Natsu-san, Lucy-san and I were investigating the abnormality with these creatures.

[ Wendy went over to the other side to support. ]

[deathsought]

Out of here? You can't mean--

[ Oh, how are they going to explain this to Gray? or Gajeel? Or especially Erza? Well, it's not like he's about to resist. He can't, even if he wanted to. Maybe his magic being drained will even keep them safe from the Death Preying, until he recuperates. Zeref's magic reserves were, of course, massive, resting for him could take days. Maybe even a week. He can't even remember the last time he exhausted this much of his magic supply, his fight against Ultear notwithstanding. ]

Fine... fine, let's go. [ Far be it from him to look a gift horse in the mouth. His arm wrapped around Lucy, rather gingerly; old habits died hard when it comes to his fear of being close to anybody, exhaustion or not. ] I hope Natsu isn't wasting magic down here, either... the only way to stop these things would be to collapse the cave. When he leaves... have Virgo do it.

[ Not exactly a Mavis-tier strategy, but it would definitely slow them down, if not lead to their deaths. ]

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? ]

TOTALLY :D She's a sorta warrior princess nowwww~

[xroyal_bratx]

[ Ishtar eyed the creatures. They weren't that bad compared to what she had to deal with in Facility. Facility had things that were far beyond just this. They were probably good for eating people and kidnapping people, along with more horrendous ways to die. She remembered the akuma as well...

Sorry Zeref, you can't get away from someone like who her who values life no matter who people are. She might have her own concerns but she doesn't leave anyone out to die. Ishtar could use magic to break that rock, but in her own defense she was good at moving better now, so she rolled out of the way and reached to grab the guy before he could get any further. Even if she knew what he was, she wouldn't care, because Ishtar didn't look at people's past.

She didn't need to know what people did in their past for her to save them. ]

We have to get out of here. I don't know what they are, but I don't like it. What do you know about them?

Nomnom?

[papergurrl]

[ Sure sure! Use your magic, please! They're very hungry beasties. Come on, use your magic. Just a little? No? ...aww boooo. Ishtar ruins their plans by rolling out of the way, and even has the nerve to grab the guy! At least she probably won't suffer magic deficiency disease the way the Fiore residents do. The other two lizards don't get too close, but one does boldly go forward, its eyes gleaming- Zeref would recognize that as what happened right before his magic was siphoned off. Ishtar too, if she doesn't get out of range and fast, is going to feel a certain -tug- on that magic in her body, as if it was pulling it out. ]

[deathsought]

Y-You shouldn't--

[ No time to finish that sentence, as she grabs him. He doesn't even have time to object to someone being that dangerously close to him. He tries to right himself, only to see the monster's eyes gleaming. Never a good sign. ]

That one... kill it, quickly.

[ He already feels more of his magic being drained. He'd hate to have to use his magic again. It's even more risky than usual, here. ]

sdkgshs no eating magicssssss sobss

[xroyal_bratx]

[ Okay, so the guy didn't answer her question. Why the hell did it feel like something's being ripped from her. ]

I'm getting you out of here, end of story.

[ Ishtar felt it too and it was tugging at her body. The princess moves to slash at it quickly with a leap at it and a plunge of Sidia towards its main body. ]

We need to get out of here right now!

[deathsought]

Why are you--

[ No time to ask questions. She's right; he needs to get out of here. Zeref may want to die, but he'd prefer something a bit more dignified than dying at the hands of monsters. Especially if it's entirely possible he'll just come back to life like in Exsilium, anyway. Dying at Natsu's hands would be ideal. Monsters? That's just insulting. ]

Fine.

[ Zeref stands up, and tries to make his way out. Adrenaline will only get him so far; those monsters drained a LOT of his power, very quickly. At this point, any of his demons would have been a welcome sight, since they use Curses instead of magic. He honestly can't believe he's thinking that, right now. ]

[papergurrl]

[ HACHAA! And the blade Plunges deep into the creature's body, it letting out a screech and recoiling, tumbling over backwards off of the weapon. Oh the pain! THE PAIN! Ow ow ow oWWWWWWWW ow ow ow ow. But the screech was only drawing attention of the other beasts, who were crawling closer - if Ishtar's going to get zeref out of there, now would be the time to do it! ]

[xroyal_bratx]

It's called getting out is what I'm doing!

[ She shouted towards the guy as she pulled at him some more. She wasn't interested in getting her energy drained anymore than it was. She needed her magic. She pulled at him some more...She didn't need to be dinner for all these guys ]

Going!

[ She's making full speed running. ]

Inbox ate my notif! D:

[deathsought]

[ Zeref took ahold of Ishtar's arm, and tried to follow behind her as she ran. He still had no idea why someone would ever want to save him, or why he's even worthy of being rescued, but he won't question it now. Not until they're safe.

Hopefully, those things aren't as fast as some dragons were... ]