Dakuan walked forward, peering through the mist, hoping to find a landmark or something to see if they were going in the correct direction. What he didn't see was that he was heading towards the cliff and he soon fell with a yell of surprise, "Arghh~!"
"Shit! Dakuan?! Where are you?" Jubei questioned, stopping just a few feet before the cliff's edge. He couldn't see anything, so he turned around to only find Misao and Kuroyuri, but no one else. He walked back towards the direction they came from, but he didn't see anyone else, "Do you know what happened to Rinko and the rest?"
"No, I thought they were behind us," Kuroyuri said with a frown, peering at the mist around them in a new suspicious light. She moved slightly closer to Misao and Jubei trying to stay within arms reach.
"Well, we got a big problem," Jubei sighed, "Our guide is missing, the mist isn't clearing up, and most importantly, we're lost."
"Should we go back and look for them or should we continue our current mission?" Misao asked the question that is all on everyone's mind.
Kuroyuri gripped her weapon hard for a moment before relaxing her grip and said something that she doesn't enjoy saying, "We continue our mission and walk around until we either find the temple or stumble upon them."
"So which way do we go?" Jubei asked her while trying to contain his yawn.
"That way," Kuroyuri said pointing in a random direction and she started walking again as they followed her.
-----------------------------
(Dakuan POV)
"Argh, ah, oof," Dakuan spoke as he tumbled down the hill until he landed on his stomach, face down on a patch of mud. He shakily turns around landing on his back, wiping the mud from his face, and silently cursed the fog. He stood up trying to wipe the mud from his clothes and turned around, looking up at the cliff he has just fallen from.
He turned back around sighing, feeling his bones ache, "I'm getting too old for this damn... Hm?" He paused in his muttering as he noticed that something wasn't right. He casually rubbed his neck, turning side to side trying to find the source, and only noticed that the buddha statue's shadow was darker than it should be at this time of day.
"It must have been my imagination," Dakuan muttered loudly with a sigh. He pretended to let down his guard while keeping a discreet eye on that area and waited for something to happen. He was thankful that he used something to smother his scent before coming off the boat. It should mask his scent from the snakes.
He didn't have to wait long as a large snake popped up from the grassland, mouth wide open, fangs dripping with venom. He used his metal staff to brain it and his eyes widen in shock when that shadow area shot out a multipronged claw that was fired from a spring that was connected to the bow by a metal chain aimed at his chest.
*Thunk*
It easily went through his clothes and was stopped by the thick rocks behind him. The claw was then retracted, along with the clothes, merging back into the shadows before the clothes were spat out. A few seconds later, another large snake appeared checking the clothes for the scent before it slithered away.
The shadow disappeared and Dakuan, who was pretending to be a tree branch was sweating buckets as the same snake came back a few moments later under him. He silently prayed to whoever was listening that he wouldn't be found and promised that he wouldn't kill his temporary teammates as he had planned on doing. He watched the snake's tongue flicker out, feeling his sweat dripping down the side of his head, and watched it fall off of his face. His heart froze in fear, watching in slow motion as it fell slowly tumbling down, heading towards the snake's head.
He breathed a sigh of relief when the snake moved its head to the side, letting the droplet land on the floor. He stayed still, not moving an inch as it finally left. He did let out a sigh of relief and started making plans to kill his temporary teammates after taking their shares of gold. It's too bad that he has to kill the women, they're quite beautiful.
-----------------------------
-----------------------------
(Group A)
I saw Nure Onna's tail coming at me and I braised myself as best as I could. I heard something snap inside of me when her tail lifted me off the ground
as I flew backward into the middle of the river.
I blinked seeing dark spots in my vision before the cold water woke me back up. I swam up feeling my lungs burn painfully before breaching the surface, taking a lung full of air. I struggled to swim back to shore as a throbbing pain radiating from my side.
"Die!" Nure Onna yelled out, appearing above me and pushing me back down with her. I struggled to get out of her grip as she wrapped herself around me and squeezed tight.
I gasped in pain, accidentally letting out some of my air before I could stop myself. Her hands grabbed my face, bringing it closer to her own, forcing me to stare into her eyes. I tried to struggle, but her strength was too strong and I found myself becoming hypnotized by her violet eyes. My struggles started to become weaker and weaker the longer I stared even as my lungs desperately wanted air.
'So pretty. Why am I fighting her again? I should stop fighting against my goddess and stay in her embrace,' I thought in a haze, feeling her hands loosening up from their tight grip and doing something that surprised the both of us.
I kissed her, on her lips, still staring straight into her wide eyes. It was surprising enough that it loosened her hold and I wrapped my arms around her body, bringing her closer to me. When she began to kiss back, I heard something splashing in the distance but paid it no mind. My hand moved up to grope her surprisingly bountiful chest and breathed in her oxygen when she gasped in surprise.
The next thing I knew, I was pulled away from my surprised goddess's embrace and landed on my back coughing up water. After that, I took a few lungs full of air feeling the strain on my lungs.
"Really John?" Rinko asked me with her twitching eyebrow and a strained smile on her face.
"What? I needed to do that to live. I couldn't breathe and she had oxygen, so I improvised," I told her hoping that she'll buy that excuse. I thought it would work since I saw it in a movie once or twice before and if not, at least I grabbed some boobs before I died.
I suddenly remembered something that caused me to start freaking out, but I let out a relieved sigh when my deck was dry. I put it back in my pants with a pat.
"Get up John! She's coming back and she looks pissed," Midori said helping me up and handed me my sword.
-----------------------------
"I really hate fighting snakes," I muttered angrily dodging to the left as Nure Onna's tail slammed down on the ground. I kept my eyes open, never leaving them from her while trying to stay away from the river. I learned that the hard way when she almost drowned me. I coated my blade with mana, feeling it slip through my metaphorical fingers as I swung it, barely leaving a mark on her scales.
[-179 MP]
[Nure Onna Lv 32 ATT 9,000/ DEF 7,200]
Rinko jumped at her with her sword about to slice into her when Nure Onna's tail blocked it and pushed her backward. She screamed in pain as a katana stabbed into the lower part of her snake half, barely reaching past the muscle. She turned around angrily, noticing that the one in green was gone again.
Rinko using the opening Midori made, launched two long-range attacks called, Mugenhouei, firing 2 rounds of Kuuton bullets which landed on her upper body, obscuring her in smoke as she screamed in pain.
"Did we get her?" I couldn't help but ask as Midori reappeared nearby. I didn't receive an answer as Nure Onna attacked, lunging forward at her, but I tackled her to the ground dodging the sudden attack, but not before I was slashed by Nure Onna's sharp nails.
"Fuck! That burns!" I couldn't help but yell out, feeling a burning sensation on my back. Midori turned me over to see three long claw marks on my shirt, dripping with blood.
"Hahaha, at least it's not a total loss at least." Nure Onna laughed quietly with a smug grin on her face before she slithered back into the lake.
"John!" Rinko yelled, running towards me with a worried look. She reached for the back of my shirt, pulling it up to stare at my wounds. My back is covered in purplish splotches all over and there were claw marks. Blood was dripping out and she sighed softly relieved that it looked worse than it was. Though it still needed to be cleaned and bandaged, Midori help me. Hold John down," She said taking off my shirt and pushing me to the ground as she straddled my legs. Midori pushed down at my shoulders.
"Why? Rinko what's wrong?" I asked but I didn't receive an answer. I started shivering on the cold wet ground and I couldn't stop myself from groaning, feeling the sharp, throbbing, burning pain in my back causing my muscles to twitch painfully.
"John, I need you to bite down on this," Midori said holding up a thick stick up to my lips and I clenched down on it.
Rinko pulled out a bottle of boiled water and poured it down on my wounds and I screamed biting down on the stick. It hurts so much that I blacked out for a few seconds.
The next thing I knew was my back was bandaged and the stick was on the floor next to my head. I stood back up with Rinko's and Midori's help.
"R-Rinko, d-do you, damn that's cold," I started to ask before shivering again thanks to the wind. "Do you have an extra set of clothes for me to use?"
"Yeah, here you go," She replied reaching into her inventory and pulling out a dry set of clothes for me.
I thanked her and quickly dried myself before putting on my new clothes which looked the same but were a little loose with a second top over the first.
[Defeated Lv. 34 Nure Onna]
[Gained 15,000 XP, SP, and x2 Golden Tickets]
[You leveled up × 6]
[Rinko leveled up × 9]
[Kurotaki leveled up × 1]
[Midori leveled up × 24]
[Misao leveled up × 13]
"It seems that this fog is starting to disperse," Midori said, drawing our attention to the fact it is disappearing. We could see our surroundings better and there was a path we could follow.
"We need to regroup with the others before she comes back with backup," Midori said looking at the small buddha statue with a frown. She silently chided herself for not being more cautious and yet she simply ignored her instincts. It wasn't the first time it happened in her career, but it was the first time her maternal instinct won over her cautiousness and almost got them all killed.
She dragged her eyes away, staring at my back as my figure was overlapped with her dead husband and she unconsciously rested her hand on her stomach. She was lost in her memories of the past and it branched out to what could have been making her feel melancholy.
"Hmm? Midori? What's wrong?" I asked, bringing her back to the present when I noticed that she wasn't following us.
She blinked as her husband's figure disappeared and saw my concerned look. She smiled lightly trying to not show her inner turmoil, "It's nothing, John. Nothing at all." She started walking and a small seed was planted very deep in her subconscious, unknowingly.
"Well well well, now there's an interesting idea," A female shadowy figure muttered before dispersing as if she was never there.
----------------------------------------------------------
(Group B)
"Hmm? Is the fog becoming thinner or is it just me?" Jubei asked tilting his hat up and staring around at his surroundings.
"Yes, it is," Misao nodded, "And I think I know why." She pointed at the now visible stairs leading up into the mist. She let out a sigh at the obvious trail leading up to the trap that was set. "So, do we follow it, spring the trap or do we split up and have one spring it while the others wait in ambush?" No one said anything for a few seconds, wondering if there was a better plan. Kuroyuri looked back hoping to see if the others were arriving, but there was nothing.
"We should split up, I'll go in front and you two will go at it from the sides," Jubei said in a calm tone walking up the stairs without any debate.
"That could get him killed one day," Kuroyuri said shaking her head before she started running into the left side of the forest and Misao went to the right.
-----------------------------
-----------------------------
John McClain
World: Ninja Scroll/ InuYasha/?
Lv. 26 [598/2,600]
Class: The Summoner
Alignment: Neutral
HP: 8,900 (20,500) {10 Hours}
{Regen 20 per min}
MP: 587 (14,000) {8 Hours}
{Regen 31 per minute}
Deck: 17
Summoning Points: 37,350
Cards in Storage: 0
Available Draw: 0 (03:06:04)
Graveyard: 0
Card pack available (19:06:01)
-----------------------------
[Savage Hunter] Rinko Akiyama (SR)
Lv: 34/45 (1950/3460)
Faction: Taimanin
HP: 7,400 + 900 = 8,300
TP: 1,125 + 225 = 1350
ATK: 2,160 + 1548 = 3708
DEF: 1,072 + 730 = 1802
Special Skill: Ninjutsu: Air Evasion Lv 1
Cost: 60 MP
Increases ATK of all Taimanin by 3000.
Increases ATK of all Taimanin by 17%.
Activation: 3/3
-----------------------------
Kuzu Kuroyuri (R)
Faction: Taimanin
Lv 35 (Max Level)
HP: 4,650 + 100 = 4,750
TP: 1,300 + 25 = 1,325
ATK: 2,000 + 57 = 2,057
DEF: 1,921 + 36 = 1,976
Special Skill: Licentious Techn. Lv 1/5
Cost: 50MP
Cuts damage from enemy Demon by 22%.
-----------------------------
Houma Midori (R)
Faction: Taimanin
Lv 30/35 (1950/2085)
HP: 1,750 + 2,400 = 4150
TP: 650 + 600 = 1250
ATK: 331 + 1034 = 1365
DEF: 589 + 2022 = 2611
Special Skill: Pebble on the road (Lv1/5)
Cost: 40MP
Increases DEF of ally Taimanin by 2000.
Activation: 3/3
-----------------------------
Misao Yukishiro (UR)
Faction: Half Demon
Lv 14/55 (0/400)
HP: 7,500 + 1,300 = 8,800
MP: 650 + 350 = 1,000
Attack: 236 + 1,234 = 1470
Defense: 440 + 1679 = 2119
Special Skill: Ninjutsu: Phoenix (Lv 1/5)
Cost: 80MP
Increases DEF of ally Demon by 40%.
Increases DEF of ally Demon by 1250.
Activation: 3/3
-----------------------------
