Children of the Gods: Arc 2 [Game/Closed]

[Athol]

"I don't think now is the time to voice our concerns. I doubt this mist occurs naturally, and I wonder if those creatures have reported back yet. I feel like we're charging in blind."

Keshi rolled her eyes as she moved through the bush alongside Rias. And in other news, water is wet and the Sun is hot. No kidding; if he is the ?leader? it?s amazing there was anybody left to even meet Riri. As faint voices became audible from the fog, as well as glimpses of figures, she quietly glided to a stop with the others. Swap? Not yet, lets save our strength as much as possible. ?aight.

"Could be a patrol? Or loggers. We could try move around them, but I don't know what's further on."

?No shit.? She muttered, in a voice barely loud enough for even Rias to hear. ?Unless you?re clairvoyant, there?s no way you could know; and if you are clairvoyant, you?re pretty fucking terrible at it.? A muted chuckle echoed through her mind. ?We need to move around them.? She said, speaking a bit louder; so the others could just hear her. ?Our best bet is to avoid a fight until the absolute last moment.?

 

[IFS]

"Could be a patrol? Or loggers. We could try move around them, but I don't know what's further on."

If it is someone like that then they might be able to help, tell us what to look for up ahead. If its not though, then we get into another fight and the fewer fights we get into the better. The others of course had their own opinions, from Rias speculating that they didn't have time to go around, to Keshi stating that they needed to go around.

"We should probably go around," she said, backing up Keshi "if they aren't friendly then we'd be in for a fight, and if they are we might accidentally get them involved in our mess."

She had a brief flash of the plane, where Loki had killed every passenger besides them, and shuddered. She couldn't let that happen again.

"Unless..." she thought for a moment then turned to Shiro "do you think you could do something about the mist? Blow it away with wind or something maybe?"

 

[CrazyGirl17]

Shiro didn't say much during the walk through the forest, barely paying attention to what the others were saying. Instead, he was thinking about what Mixcotl had said. It was possible he wasn't talking about Susanoo but some other storm god, still, it couldn't hurt to look...

The group came to a halt at the sound of voices up ahead, and it didn't seem likely that they were friendly.

"do you think you could do something about the mist? Blow it away with wind or something maybe?" Nicole asked him, and Shiro though for a moment.

"I think I might be able to utilize the mist as a shield around us to keep them from seeing us. It probably won't work for very long but hopefully long enough for us to get in close." He took a stance and closed his eyes, breathing in and out as the mist began to swirl around them.

 

[Green Shoes]

The mist curled around the group as Shiro pushed and pulled the air, rendering them unseen as they circled around the unknown figures. Prometheus placed each step with the utmost care, fully awware that he was the least light-footed, save for perhaps Hymir. The trees grew thicker on one side, forcing them to step dangerously close to the figures; close enough to hear what was said. None but Hymir understood the thickly accented Norse.

"The Jungle Man has yet to return. We should report back."

"Now? Give him some time, he's often late."

"I'd rather his neck than ours. I'll go, you folk stay here."

Glimpses through the mist revealed one figure leaving, heading upwards, parallel with the group. They pushed on through the mist, keeping track of the figure, until the sound of hooves pierced through the blanket of fog. They could no longer see the figure, but overheard a conversation in broken english.

"You are?"

"You know who I am, Horseman. I go to talk with leaders. Tell friends not to shoot."

"Hmph. Very well."

As quickly as they came, the sound of hooves on the wet forest floor left them, and the figure amongst the mists began to walk slower, and with more purpose, up through the trees.

----

Prometheus looked around, but saw nothing outside of the mist, coccooning them at Shiro's will. Stopping to think, he warily gripped his staff, a poor weapon if they were indeed amongst many enemies.

"I think we're moving closer. They must have patrols; many patrols, and fast. If they can afford so many people scattered amongst the forest, I wager there's more than a handful with Loki. If he's here at all..."

Keeping his eyes watchful, and listening for any sound, he hoped that someone had a better plan than he did.

 

[DarkRawen]

"I think we're moving closer. They must have patrols; many patrols, and fast. If they can afford so many people scattered amongst the forest, I wager there's more than a handful with Loki. If he's here at all..."

Andrew nodded, and continued walking, bow ready in his hands. Then he frowned, realizing that Prometheus had spoken out aloud again. He wasn't even surprised now, his opinion of the titan had plummeted rather quickly. For a brief moment he gestured at Hymir, then at the horn, before pointing between the people in the group, hoping the guy would understand what he meant; they needed to reinstate the connection with the horn.

It seems like there's people we can run into everywhere here. Why was it even an issue to let the South American god go?

He heard someone talk, though he had no idea what they were saying.

What language is that even?

Andrew wasn't stupid enough to ask, though. Perhaps after Hymir had made sure that they could talk unheard the words spoken would have some importance. They should at least wait till that had happened to discuss a plan, every word spoken increased the chance of getting discovered with quite a lot.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Rias stuck to the side of the bubble closest to the 'enemy', and kept a close ear on them as they moved around them, which was probably the best idea. She heard a couple of them talking but couldn't understand what they where saying, which was a shame, since it sounded important. Regardless she stay on guard in-case one of them noticed and moved against them.

 

[hiei82]

Hymir nodded at Andrew and linked their minds. He subsequently sent a translation of the what the enemies had said figuring that few of the others spoke Norse. All said and done, all he'd learned was that there were still Nords that followed Loki; something that concerned him greatly. He hadn't considered the possibility that another of the Aesir might be here and what it would mean if it were true. Still, he maintained hope that they were just servants of Loki.

"I think we're moving closer. They must have patrols; many patrols, and fast. If they can afford so many people scattered amongst the forest, I wager there's more than a handful with Loki. If he's here at all..." Prometheus said, drawing Hymir's attention. He nodded and - through the link - replied. "I agree; we may need to either thin their ranks or try to find a time to catch Loki on his own."

He decided not to comment on the part about Loki not being here. He doubted that was true given the words of the last god, but he couldn't deny the possibility. For all he knew, the woman they'd encountered in the market who told them to come to South America was Loki in disguise. Unfortunately, they'd just need to find out one way or another.

Things were getting more complicated and Hymir didn't like it.

 

[Green Shoes]

The mist became thinner and thinner as they moved forward, before finally giving way to the dimly lit jungle. Ahead through the trees was a long wall, constructed hastily from fallen trees. Men and women holding impressively large crossbows stood atop; a few here and there sat with their legs dangling over, clearly idle. At the base of the wall patrolled pairs of guards, carrying axes and powerful flashlights, sweeping the surrounding area. Further down was an opening in the wall, just wide enough to admit two people at once; it was flanked by two huge men, at least 8 feet tall, obscured by the shadows.

As the group took this in, a flash of light above briefly illuminated them. A guard upon the wall stood up, spoke to his companion, and then disappeared over the other side. She then briskly stepped out of the gate, toting a hefty crossbow, and began walking slowly towards their direction, features hidden in the low light.

Prometheus shouldered up to a nearby tree, twisting his hands around the staff. He projected his thoughts out.

"Stealth doesn't look like a plan anymore. Fight now? Or back to the mists?!"

The woman continued approaching, followed by circles of white light from nearby torches. There didn't seem to be any alarm, and she walked casually, with only a touch of restraint.

 

[Athol]

"I think we're moving closer. They must have patrols; many patrols, and fast. If they can afford so many people scattered amongst the forest, I wager there's more than a handful with Loki. If he's here at all..."

He fucking better well be. Agreed. Keshi?d been keeping silent, keeping her attention on the jungle around her; arboreal forests she knew?tropical jungles not so much.

"I agree; we may need to either thin their ranks or try to find a time to catch Loki on his own."

She visible twitched as Hymir?s voice sounded in her head. ?The fuck?? She whispered, an obvious note of surprise in her voice. Okay, you heard that too? Yeah?Umm?that?s new.

As they approached what appeared to be some sort of crude fortification, she was glad to see that those guarding it didn?t appear to expect a fight. The longer the group stayed away from fights, the more rested she?d be when she needed to switch.

"Stealth doesn't look like a plan anymore. Fight now? Or back to the mists?!"

Dunno if you can hear me?hi by the way, I?m Keshi?the four armed one?but as much as I hate saying it, I say we avoid the fight as long as we can. The longer we remain undetected, the closer we can get to the target. My vote is with her.

 

[DarkRawen]

While he didn't like the feeling the telepathy brought, Andrew was slowly getting used to it. However, he noticed that Keshi had been included in it as well, and decided to try to be careful with what he said.

"Stealth doesn't look like a plan anymore. Fight now? Or back to the mists?!"

Did he want to voice his opinion? Andrew didn't trust this, the mist was too... well, too beneficial for someone who was trying to hide, perhaps it hid Loki's hideout somewhat, but it felt too easy.

We should go for a more straight-forward approach.

If they were fighting a trickster god, perhaps the best thing was to go straight for the target from here on, and try to fool him when the Norse god didn't expect it.

Dunno if you can hear me...hi by the way, I'm Keshi...the four armed one...but as much as I hate saying it, I say we avoid the fight as long as we can. The longer we remain undetected, the closer we can get to the target.

Andrew didn't reply for a while, however, then he shook his head. Stubborn or not, he still had to say what he felt he needed about this. Even if it was the four armed Keshi.

"Let's fight. We do not know what the mist is here for, it could be a ruse to lure us or confuse us. Perhaps it is there as a security measure different from what we've assumed it to be. Stepping out now would require us to fight, but it would leave less people for the battle itself. Well, that's my opinion, anyhow."

Of course, feel free to ignore me.

Andrew sighed to himself, whatever they did, he likely wouldn't be wasting arrows now.

 

[IFS]

"Stealth doesn't look like a plan anymore. Fight now? Or back to the mists?!"

"Dunno if you can hear me...hi by the way, I'm Keshi...the four armed one...but as much as I hate saying it, I say we avoid the fight as long as we can. The longer we remain undetected, the closer we can get to the target."

"Let's fight. We do not know what the mist is here for, it could be a ruse to lure us or confuse us. Perhaps it is there as a security measure different from what we've assumed it to be. Stepping out now would require us to fight, but it would leave less people for the battle itself. Well, that's my opinion, anyhow."

Nicole gritted her teeth, this was bad. Either choice carried problems, she didn't want to fight if possible, but fleeing might put their backs to the enemy and take them farther from their target.

"Can we take her down quietly? Maybe Andrew could poison her," she thought "we have the advantage of surprise, we should try to maintain it."

 

[Lunar Templar]

'I agree we should maintain our stealth advantage for as long as possible, So if she can be taken down quick and quiet that would be preferable." Rias said over the connection 'I get the feeling that won't be an option with her though' Rias added. She highly doubted this woman was 'normal', she was likely a goddess or something far above the average human or the monsters from earlier.

 

[hiei82]

"I agree with Rias; I'd like to maintain the stealth advantage, but I don't think it's possible. Toward that end, I think Andrew should take a shot and try to bring her down quickly and quietly while the rest of us get ready to attack if it should fail. We should wait until she's as far from backup as possible. Otherwise, I'm ready." Hymir said, shifting his hold on his fathers sword.

Whatever the group decided, he'd be ready to make any move.

 

[DarkRawen]

"Can we take her down quietly? Maybe Andrew could poison her, we have the advantage of surprise, we should try to maintain it."

We don't, though.

Andrew thought to himself. Besides, they had a whole group of people who could just go into the fold and rip her apart. Why on earth did he have to waste his energy?

I already nearly wasted it. If they had killed the god...

They hadn't, though. Still, poison was a bad idea, he couldn't just poison her from afar, and he really didn't want to waste any arrows. Hopefully someone would get that, it took more than Nicole having a bad idea -normally her plans was thought through well, so this surprised him a bit- for him to feel a need to complain. Of course, that followed quickly, because of course it did.

"I agree with Rias; I'd like to maintain the stealth advantage, but I don't think it's possible. Toward that end, I think Andrew should take a shot and try to bring her down quickly and quietly while the rest of us get ready to attack if it should fail. We should wait until she's as far from backup as possible. Otherwise, I'm ready."

Right.

Something that could be translated into a sigh escaped and entered the telepathy, and Andrew looked at the person they wanted him to shoot.

"You are aware of that I only have so many arrows, correct?

Andrew's mental tone was a simple question, at least the telepathy allowed him to remove whatever emotions he wanted to. He then put his bow away, not waiting for a reply before he continued.

"I gave you, Hymir, a chance to choose what I would focus on, healing or poison. I was instructed to keep to the healing, and I will until it is absolutely necessary for me to use poison. Therefore, I want to be careful with using my bow as well, as my arrows are only so useful without the poison. I need to keep as many of them as possible, and if one of you cannot simply go out there and slit her throat, then I cannot retrieve my arrow either. It's the only means of defense I have, should everything go wrong, and I do not intend to squander it simply because it's convenient for the rest of you."

It was useful, the ability to not sound as cold as he tended to when he got annoyed. Then again, he supposed the words themselves conveyed the tone well enough, and he added, carefully;

"Shortly put, no, there are smarter way to do this that won't waste valuable resources."