The Mysterious Fortress (3 Others)

OoC: Okay, I decided to start my own battle again for up to four different people, including myself. I don't like too many people participating in one battle/RP, because it gets too confusing for me. I can hardly keep up. >_<

Particpants:
- Lady Ranny
- Darius Andreas
- HitokiriChibi
- MaskedLegend

Sorry! We're full! I'm using Judo, my Hylian knight, so click the link to my characters in my sig to read up on him. Because he's married with a daughter, you may see one or both of them appear briefly every once in awhile if you ever continue to participate in battles with Judo. :]

Everyone has to somehow meet up at this mysterious fortress and over there is where most of the battling will take place. Got that? ;D

BiC: "Judo, wait a minute. Are you really sure about this? We haven't any idea what's out there!" Kelli, the wife of the Hyrulean knight named Judo.

"Kel, I know that, but I have to go investigate those woods on my own," Judo insisted. "It's supposed to be in secrecy and I don't want to bring back trouble by taking others with me and getting caught."

"Well...alright. Just please be careful. And don't you dare get reckless!" Kelli warned. Judo smiled at the lovely blonde woman he loved so much.

"Of course. Believe me, I very well know being reckless in a situation like this would be a terrible idea," he replied. "Now listen, while I'm gone, I want you and May to guard this area with the others. My men are scouting other nearby locations. Always keep your eyes pealed."

"Got it. Good luck!" With that, Judo kissed Kelli goodbye and promised her and his daughter, Mayula, that he would return safely.

Out in the open, Judo and his group, which included a batch of his knights, had come to investigate an area just outside of the kingdom of Mayule that was suspected to hold some kind of headquarters for monsters. The area was lush and had thick woods nearby. Judo chose to investigate it alone so he didn't cause too much of a disturbance within the woods. He thought it best in case any monsters did exist and a whole group of warriors is much more noticeable than a single soldier. However, some parts of the woods were so thick that Judo had to constantly cut his way through using his sword, Arion.

Judo had traveled only for fifteen minutes before he came upon a large clearing in the woods. He shook his head at the sight he saw before him. A large old fortress stood on the ground he'd come upon. It was made of tons of stone, and in some places had been a bit damaged. Judo could tell it was a fortress from the numerous murder holes in the walls at the top and torn flags hanging from the rather short towers in the corners. Because the fortress did not appear to be unused, Judo immediately headed towards it for further investigation, unaware that other presences were somewhere in the very same woods.

"This place smells... so musty," Bella muttered aloud to herself. "I can't even find a decent chair to rest in..." She'd come across the fortress while on a stroll though the woods around it. She was tired, and desired to rest, so the though of an entire fortress to herself seemed nice. Once she had gotten inside she'd lit a few lights with her Fire Magic, allowing her to see a bit more clearly. However, the place was old, and as most every chair was wooden, they had all but rotted. Luckily for Bella, she just found a chair made of metal, with cushions on it. She sat down, and started to get comfortable when she looked out a window. She saw a bright aura off a ways, just coming out of the forest. She walked to the window and looked more closely. From here she couldn't make out the form of who it was, but she did know that this person was alligned with a good side.

After a moment the person started to come up to the fortress. She peered down, out the window, to see what this person, who she could now see to be a man, would do. Something got the better of her, and she decided to go speak to the man, rather than just observe. She jumped out the window, and floated down silently to the ground behind the man. "Excuse me, sir? Are you looking for someone or something here?" She asked him softly.

A flash of crimson among the dark green foliage. A streak of white amongst the shadows.

Finally an aggravated snarl as hair was caught upon a branch.

"God forsaken trees!" an outraged shriek later and a bright arc of light as a crystal scythe sliced through the offending branch, revealing a very irate Valkyrie in the sudden clear area. Brushing a hand through her hair, sparks fell in a dazzling sparkle to the forest floor, smoldering before going out.

The Berserker was in control, and as she cut her way through the forest, she was a sight to behold. The around her shimmered with heat, a temperature others would deem uncomfortable but that kept her comfortable and also symbolized her volatile temper that was always simmering beneath her thin self control.

Frustrated by her slow progress, she crouched and then sprang up into the air, her four wings beating against the wind. Quickly she reached her destination, a run down example of a fortress in the middle of the woods.

"How boring," she muttered, landing at its back entrance. The place had the feel of an empty graveyard, no souls but essentially dead for all purposes.

Tucking her wings against her back, she strode inside with no thought as to what might be within. Her scythe would probably have given any attackers a second thought anyway.

The shadowmancer strolled leisurely through the forest, yawning a bit as he walked, obviously bored out of his mind from all of this senseless traveling. He wanted something to do, somewhere to be... maybe even someone to fight, anything to cure this dreadful boredom that had taken hold of him.

"Oooh, what's this?" Ralis asked with a smirk, advancing out of the trees, now on the edge of the forest and staring up at the ramparts of a fortress that loomed on the horizon. From the numerous cracks in the stone and breaks in the portcullis, this installment had seen many days of battle, obviously the people who controlled it were victorious unless they were killed from the inside.

"Maybe there's still people in there... hehe, I hope so," he chuckled darkly before yanking his heavy revolver out of his holster and bringing his gloved palm down upon the barrel, listening to the metal gears inside spin wildly yet at the same time, stably. He had grown to love that sound, even better when he pulled the trigger. That reminded him! Ralis tore open the top of his bag where he kept his weapons, taking out several thick and heavy bullets. He shoved the barrel open with one hand while he gave each little bullet a home to call its own, closing the revolver shut.

"Well, now we're ready for some fun, aren't we?" he asked, staring at the gun. He didn't expect a response and only laughed slightly after a few moments of silence, putting the weapon back in its holster as he happily marched towards the fortress. He grinned at the sight of several figures up ahead. One of the unknown strangers seemed to have wings, that individual soared to the back entrance of the fortress. Ralis laughed a bit, then beheld the other two that were still at the main gate.

"Hmm... how should I approach this..." he thought aloud, tapping his fingers against the stock of his gun continuously. "I don't know too much about those two up there... I want to get the jump on them, but I can't quite pull that off when there's nothing around them to hide behind or anything. I'll have to go around.."

Ralis yawned a bit, shaking his head and mturned back around, going into the forest yet again. This time he continued around, unseen, until he arrived at the back of the fortress. The stranger that flew here was gone by now, they had probably went inside already. With another small sigh of boredom, wanting to do something now and not later, Ralis strolled up to the back gate and entered the rundown installment as well. It was dark and he could practically smell the lingering decay of death.

"How quaint..." he muttered to himself, smiling slightly as he marched further inside.

BiC: "GAAH!" Judo exclaimed upon hearing a female voice behind him. He turned around so quickly that he tripped over his own foot.

"Oof!"

In front of Judo, and now laughing, was a woman who did not appear to be a threat or had a desire to fight him. She had long brown hair with light eyes. She wore a mage's robe that reached to her feet, telling Judo she used magic. He also noticed a dagger was sheathed at her side. Curious about her for an unknown reason, Judo got to his feet and brushed himself off.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to startle you," the woman said. "I couldn't help but giggle at that."

"Eh, it's nothing. Don't worry about it," Judo replied, secretly feeling a little embarrassed. "And no, I came to take a look around. I suspected monsters might have been using this place."

"Hm, yeah, it does seem like monsterville here. So what's your name, handsome?" the woman asked with a smile. Judo cleared his throat in slight nervousness at the word handsome.

"Judo. I'm a knight," he explained.

"Judo, huh? I won't forget that name!" the woman replied in a flirty tone. "My name is Bella."

"Erm...nice to meet you, Bella," Judo replied. Oh boy, am I glad Kel isn't here to see this, he thought.

"Say, what are--" Judo continued, but then cut himself off. For a second there, he could have sworn heard movement nearby in the woods.

"Hm?" Bella wondered.

"Shush! There's someone or something else around here besides us," Judo warned. Bella listened closely herself and started hearing the footsteps and bushes moving herself, confirming Judo's sentence. Judo motioned Bella to follow him and said he had experience with these situations before. They want to figure out who else is around without themselves getting seen by them. Judo led Bella back inside the fortress and made his way up to a look out area above, thinking if there were monsters out there, Bella might have a magic spell that could be fired through the murder holes. Judo peeked through the various holes in the lookout, looking closely for whoever or whatever was around.

OoC: The ones Judo and Bella heard are Hitokiri and MaskedLegend's characters in case that isn't clear. :] (just before ML's character enters as well)

Bella took a glance out of a small window, observing the ground near the fortress. Something fast caught her glace for a moment.
"Some one's coming." She said softly to Judo. "I could only see whoever it was for a moment. Their aura is... Mixed. We should be careful."
"Naturally." Judo replied. Bella glanced at him and retorted.
"Yes, naturally. That goes without saying, given my comment. I-" Bella froze in place. She looked slowly around, but didn't see anything other than the fortress or Judo. However, she sensed something that didn't make her feel good.
"Is something wrong?" Judo asked in a whisper.
"Yes. Be a man, and barricade the door." Bella pointed to the door while speaking.
"What?"
"You heard me. Stop playing dumb, and do it." She winked at Judo. "It gives a bad impression." Judo reluctantly did as he was told, just because she was right. He was the one who gave orders, not the one who took them.

It didn't take him long to get a few objects propped against the door. When he was done he laid back against the wall near the door.
"Finished. Now then, who exactly are you?" Bella had been looking out the window but turned a bit to look behind her at Judo.
"I'm Bella Rhian, and a varied mage. My favorite color is Leaf Green, I like to hang around in bars, and..." Bella giggled very lightly before continuing, "I think you're pretty cute. At least, better than most guys in a bar." She winked again before looking back out the window. "What about you, Mr. Manly Knight?"
Judo was getting his thoughts together to respond when Bella whipped around and stared at the door. Judo looked at it too, waiting for something to try to break through. Bella whispered to Judo that there was someone there, and it wasn't who she'd seen before.
"A monster maybe?" Judo asked in reply.
"No, this is whoever I felt before." Bella prepared to blast anyone that might come through. She could feel their presence, and I was not a pleasant one. She stepped back as she felt someone else. "Whoever I saw before is in the same room as whoever I felt earlier. I can't tell if they know the other is there, since the last room was rather large, but they're there. Hold onto your... Umm. You're not wearing a hat... Oh well, just be ready."

The Berserker strode through the fortress, her anger mounting with each step. Where were the hoards of monsters that lived here? If anything lived here in any great number it was the rats, and it hadn't taken long for her to reduce those numbers to yet more dust the moment one skittered across her path.

Feeling more and more restless she began to trail her scythe against the wall, the grating sound of crystal against stone sending an eerie shrieking noise through the halls. That should either scare whoever was about into hiding or at least make people come to investigate the origin of the noise.

Coming to yet another room she paused. Like all the others it was filled with ancient dust but perhaps it had been a storeroom of sorts. It was considerably more filled than other rooms, having a multitude of book cases lining the walls with tables and chairs scattered about the middle. A library perhaps? Not that she cared for books, they were all just things she easily burned to ash the moment she touched them.

No, what interested her was how there were footprints in the dust, ones that were new since they had yet to be covered with any more dirt. A few places also looked as though tables and chairs had been there but were now gone.

"Interesting, interesting... mortal monsters? Human scoundrels who've spread the tales of monsters to keep this place to themselves?" she pondered, tapping the tip of her scythe against the closest foot print. It was a very clear print of a boot, one obviously human. The crystal blade rose as it followed the trail to a door. The only closed door she had come across.

Striding towards it,she pushed, only to find it had been barricaded on the other side.

Her laugh suddenly filled the hall, echoing almost maliciously, "Foolish," she called to the other side of the door, "now I KNOW you are there!"

Baring her teeth in a grin, she vanished the scythe momentarily as she lovingly gathered sparks from her hair. She could easily summon flame from nothing but she was quite partial to the baby flames that resided within her crimson locks.

Cradling the embers in her hands she clenched her fist, drew it back and shot it towards the door. The flames erupted from her palm like a flame thrower, massive waves of heat and pressure breaking past the door and its barricade like nothing. They blew back into the room they had meant to protect, nothing more than kindling that burned strongly from the force of the Berserker's blow.

Before she could proceed to enter the room, a blast of wind from within caught her mid-waist and sent her crashing back into another figure she hadn't noticed before.

Voicing a shriek of rage she spun to this new threat, her lips curled back in a snarl and her hair now filled with tongues of flame that writhed among her curls.

"Accomplices?!" she accused, readying a hand of flame once more to attack this man who stood before her.

The shadow manipulator sighed with grief, his unnaturally green eyes darted back and forth, to and fro, looking passed his snowy white hair. Ralis had begun to get angry, not finding a soul here. It angered him further that the winged individual he hoped to find was gone too! And those other two people were no where to be seen. He stomped passed a grand room, its walls were shelves and its shelves cradled an innumerable amount of books, literature, arts.

"Damn it ALL!" he yelled, a tendril of darkness sprouted from his shadow and ripped an entire bookshelf down from the wall, its books went flying everywhere, sliding across the floor and creating skid lines of dust. Ralis had enough waiting. He wanted something to do NOW. At that moment, he heard a loud grating, scraping sound of metal against stone. The horrible sound echoed throughout the empty halls and found its way to Ralis.

It was music to his ears. Ralis grinned, bringing his gloved hand up and snapping his fingers. A plethora of shadowy tendrils sprang up from the darkness in the room around him, absorbing themselves into his clothing, making it incredibly hard to rip, tear, pierce or burn. Another set of shadows burrowed into the pack that Ralis kept at his hip, removing several pieces of interlocking metal and placing them in his hands.

"Let's have some fun, shall we..?" he asked, throwing the metal pieces up into the air and shot out his arm, sending numerous bolts of shadow to follow. The darkness collided with the metallic parts and endowed itself within the weaponry. Soon after, all of the pieces fit together and Ralis laughed happily as a cruel, long two-handed sword dropped into his hands, darkness seethed from its blade and hilt, only accepting Ralis as its user.

"Where... are... you...?" he called out, practically with a sing-songy voice. "I'll find you... don't you worry, I'll discover where you hide... and then you'll be mine," he grinned, then noticed the trails of footprints that were shaped in the dust on the floor. He knelt down to inspect it further, then glanced up at the direction both trails were heading. He smeared his glove across the footprints with a smirk.

"Fresh..." Ralis declared with a sigh of happiness. Immediately bolting up to his feet, he followed the tracks up until he started to hear a voice which only made him run faster. Soon after he arrived at the door that had been barricaded shut. He slowed down o make himself quiet, seeing that winged woman from earlier. She suddenly ignited her hands and shot flame at the door, yelling at whoever was within! Ohh... it's a feisty one... this could be even more fun that I had thought.

It appears she had blasted through the door and its defenses but whoever was trying to keep her out blasted her back with an immense gust of wind. Oh great, another wind-user... Hate those blowhards... he growled slightly, shielding his eyes with his hands from the incoming waves up dust that were blown up from the gust. Of course, it wasn't the dust he should have been protecting himself from.

The fiery woman was sent flying back and collided with the shadow user, making him crash onto his back a few feet away, sliding across the ground slightly. "Son of a-" he winced, instantaneously springing up to his feet, bringing the deathly skeletal sword from off of his back, readying it in his steadfast stance.

The winged woman then turned around to confront Ralis, an aura of heat and anger surrounded her entirely, even her hair seemed to be aflame. "Accomplices?!" she yelled at him, bringing her palm up, looking like she was going to throw a ball of fire his way. Ralis of course blinked, having no idea as to what she was talking about.

"No, I'm no one's damn accomplice!" he shouted back, glaring her way. "I was just wondering what kind of people like to take strolls in deserted castles all by themselves... decided to follow you but I'm really interested in THOSE two," Ralis pointed towards the door which she had burnt down, catching a glimpse of the other strangers.

His answer did not seem to satisfy the Berzerker. She sent a blast of flames his way. Ralis blinked, staring closely at the torrent and tongues of fire that propelled itself through the air towards him. He glared, bringing up his own hand and ignited it, firing back with his own spell. The two blasts of fire collided in midair and dissipated into steamy air.

"Well now, that was pretty pointless, wasn't it?" Ralis asked, propping his sword's blade upon his shoulders and staring over at the woman.

(( Sorry to double post, but this thread was going strong. You guys think we could keep it going? ))

OoC: Hito hasn't been on in a month (so I doubt she'd be back to continue this), so I'd say we pretend her character wasn't a part in the first place, as that's really the only proper way we can continue, which I'd like to do as well. Of course sides will have to be adressed, unless you believe Ralis can take on both Judo and Bella.

Also... your signature... and what you just did...
A bit of irony there?

OoC: Yeah, what Dave/BW said. And I know I should've been the one to post, but I couldn't figure out exactly what was happening. xP I might figure it out now though.