Penumbra Cielo - Supernatural Ghoul-Hunting: RPG

[Yggdrassil]

Lucian sat alone in a simple patch of grass away from the others, entranced by the twirling pattern of his sword as he spun it back and forth in his hands. He cared little for the people around him. Whatever skills they had, whatever they wanted and their motives, none of it mattered to him. They were each little orange traffic cones on the road that led to his proof of strength, and he would run each of them down before the contest was up.

He still hadn't moved his head at all, and found himself getting bored of the constant spinning of his weapon, so he pulled out the disk and spun that instead. How many of them are watching me? he wondered How many see me as some harmless guy who won't make it through? That got him smiling again, and he reversed the disk's direction. Now it spun left and his eyes continued to follow it, for seconds, then minutes, and then he was asleep, a devilish grin on his face. After a short nap he would wake around five thirty and wait until six o' clock.

 

[Tame]

Chapter 2: Survival!

Aster was handed the disc bearing the number 36, along with a complimentary glare from Lianna - she hated children.  The next three candidates to arrive had done so by the same boat; they were apparently working together in order to increase their collective chances of passing.  Next came Johanna, who was handed the 40th disc.  Lianna would have liked to congratulate her on her ingenious method of transport, but it was her job to stay impartial, and so she let it go.

As Johanner wwalked away to fill out the form, the chubby swimmer who had arrived towards the beginning of the exam approached Lianna.  'So, when do we eat?' he asked cheerfully.  Lianna looked at him blankly for a moment before replying.

'You don't,' she said.  'Unless you've brought your own food. However, you'll get a chance to forage for whatever food you can find in that forest once the first test begins.'  She jerked a thumb at the mass of trees that stood at the top of the beach which stretched the island's length, and whose depth was was presumably just as great.  It was very forboding.  'What were expecting from this exam, bed and board?'

***

The next few hours passed slowly.  Still more examinees arrived, most my boat, until, at 6pm, seventy-six had applied for the test.  Lianna shouted down the beach that the preliminary test had finished, and that everyone was to come forward for details of the first part of the main test.

When everyone had gathered, Lianna cleared her throat and began her explanation.  'Congratulations, all of you, on successfully applying for the main part of the exam.  Your numbers have been cut from around two hundred to seventy-six.  Some of you may be wondering why only those who make it to this island may apply.  Let me say now, that it is out of mercy.  Anyone unable to get here in six hours wouldn't stand a chance in the coming, much more difficult parts of the test.  It also eliminates those among you were only half-resolved on taking the test; it gave such people time to rethink their decision.  If any among you still feel that way, I strongly recommend that you turn back now.'

Everyone was silent, but none turned to leave the beach.

'Good,' Lianna continued.  'Now, onto the first test.  To pass, you must reach the island on which stands Penumbra Cielo's headquarters.'  At this point, she held up a map for them all to see.

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y33/Rex_Raptor/map.jpg[/img]

'Study this closely now, because you won't get another chance to see it,' she said, 'once the test has begun.'  The yellow X indicates where we stand now, on the seouthern beach.  The smaller island, with the green X, is your target destination.  Arrive there, and you pass.'

Lianna pointed at the forest behind her again.  First, you must make your way through this forest, successfully fending off all the many dangers that lie there; wild beasts, insects, even dangerous plants, and of course, each other.  You must also provide your own food and shelter, but beware, a lot of the plants and animals in there are poisonous to humans.  It is up to you to decide which are okay to eat and which aren't.  As to water, there are many small pools in there, so that should be no problem.

Once you've fought your way through the forest, you'll reach the northern beach, marked on the map with a blue X.  There you will find six yachts, each capable of holding, at maximum, ten people.  You must pilot these south, along the west coast of the island, to your destination.'

At this point, Lianna rolled up the map again, having explained its contents.  'Next, a few warnings: first, apart from these two beaches, the island's coasts all rocks and cliffs.  It would be impossible to set off from anywhere but the beaches.  And, naturally, you are forbidden from doing so from this beach.

Second, this distance from the northern beach to the headquartes is about five and a half miles, and the waters are much more treacherous than the ones you've just crossed.  To try and swim it would be suicide.  Then only way you can reach the island is from the northern beach, by way of the yachts.

You have precisely five days to pass this test.  Apart from the rules laid down here, anything goes.  You may fight amongst yourselves if you wish, even kill them.  Are there any questions?'

The sailor who had arrived at the island second raised his hand.  'What about the boats that we came to his island in?  When will we get them back?'

'Don't worry, they will be kept safe, and provided you survive, they will be returned to you at the end of this test, whether you pass or not.'

'You say there are six boats,' one man asked.  'Does that mean only six can pass?'

'Not necessarily.  As I said, up to ten people can fit aboard.  It is possible that for whatever reason, more than one person may travel across on one boat.  One other thing I forgot to mention was that you may not destroy, damage or set out to sea, more than one of the yachts, ie. the one you travel by yourself.'

The wealthy-looking man also had a question.  'Vat is the meaning of these amusing numbered discs?' he asked, in an eastern European-sounding accent.

'They are to identify you, so that we may know who you are, since we can match them with your application forms.  They also determine what order you set off in - those who arrived here first will leave first, with intervals of twon minutes between each of you.'


The explanations complete, the large group proceeded to the edge of the forest.  'The time is 6.30pm, the 26th of April!' Lianna called out.  'The test will end at 6.30pm, on the 1st of May!  First contestant, head out!'

The tall man with the bowler hat and the cane walked slowly and calmly into the forest, disappearing into the darkness of the trees.

One-by-one, the others followed, until at 8.46pm, the last woman, a hansome French woman by the name of Coralie Cosette, set off.  By this time it was already dark, and the first examinees had been in the forest for over two hours.  Lianna waited for a few minutes, before prepairing her boat to sail back towards the guild headquarters.  They wereo out of her hands now.


Leaving Order
6.30: Alex (the man with the cane)
6.32: Huw Howell (the sailor)
6.34: Billy Kohagon
6.36: Lucian
6.38: Boyd Volos (the wealthy man)
6.40: Thos Alderete

6.46: Viv Serkham

6.54 - 7.02: Bratislav Brothers

7.16: Kasumi Kyoko

7.32: Abraham Cornelius
7.34: Damian Dreft

7.40: Aster Cicada

7.48: Johanna Elise Wildeman


OOC: Please read my post in the OOC thread before posting here. Thanks!

 

[Spoo]

"Alright, I've got about 3 days, 13 hours, and 26 minutes to travel the 14 miles through the forest."  Damian stared at the replica map he'd drawn on the back of one of his photos. 

"Supposing I spend about six hours sleeping, and about an hour eating altogether, I'll have plenty of travel time."

The sun was already setting, and Damian had made it roughly a mile and a half into the thin part of the forest.

"I'll go on another half mile or so, and then set up camp."  This task got gradually harder, as the sun was already below the canopy and the small glint of light shining through gave Damian barely enough light to stay on his route.

He wasted no time.  He got out his flint and gave a brisk strike to it with his hatchet, making a shower of sparks.  With a few more attempts, he got some dry twigs caught fire, and he added onto that until he had a nice fire going. 

Damian knew that he only had enough food for about a week, but just in case, he rationed out his main meals to keep him from overeating.  He had a meal of deer jerky that night. 

'So far, so good...' Damian thought, as he drifted off to sleep.

 

[Anonymous]

Day One - 8pm while 10(ish)pm

Aster reached into her backpack, wrapping a small hand around the handle of her mattock and pulling out the tool. It was a huge disadvantage for someone as reliant upon traps as she was to be setting off later than others but she was still confident. She swung the adze end into the ground, pulling up the earth. It wouldn't take her long to set up a few punji holes, then she could work on food and setting up a fire to scare wild animals away over the night.

The four holes, when dug, were about a foot deep and a foot wide. Aster spun the mattock in her hands and struck a large branch with the axe end, hacking it from the tree. She cut the branch into half-foot long pieces then cut the pieces into sticks and took one of her knives, sharpening the sticks to a very sharp point on both ends. She set up a few of the stakes in each of the holes, pointing them downward and inward. She took a few more of the sticks and dug them into the soil around her, about three inches of sharpened wood poking out of the ground.

The punji sticks alone were bad enough, they would puncture the feet of anyone who walked on them, their own weight allowing the stick to pierce through the soles of their shoes and into their flesh. The punji holes were crueller. When someone stepped in one the first reaction would be to pull their foot out and keep going. Until they tried to pull their foot out the hole would be indistinguishable from one made by a rabbit or a mole. Of course when they did pull back the stakes would tear into their ankles. It would injure them far more severely and the ones who were not smart enough to dig the stakes out would continue to struggle, maybe until they died from the blood loss. If they were running when they ran into a punji hole they would fall, digging the stakes inside the hole deep into their shins and falling onto the stakes around them.

The girl lazily covered the stakes with loose soil. They wouldn't need much covering to be hidden, it was dark in the shade of the trees.

As far as Aster could tell there was little medical support available on the island other than what the examinees had brought for themselves. Piercing people's feet so early on would be a huge advantage.

Setting up the fire, Aster was glad she'd thought ahead. She'd lost the light and hunting in the pitch black would be asking for trouble. Before on the beach, waiting for the test to begin she had looked around in the falling tide and picked up scallop shells. She tossed them into the fire, having no idea how to cook them she decided to settle for reducing them to cinders. The meat from them wasn't much and it was horribly burnt but it was food and that was good enough. She left the fire burning while she slept to drive off wild animals.

 

[The Cry of Fallen Angels]

One of the latter ones, the frustrating wait had paid off better than expected. Johanna had a fair share of experience with survival, even though she usually had more items on her to make her life in the wilderness easier. She was the 40th of 76 to take leave, most of the physically fit participants had before her, if Jo'd hurry a little the others would be biting dust. She could simply make use of the roads made other participants. An obvious choice was the path made by a young, but surprisingly muscular man, who had been swinging any obstacle out of his way, this fellow had smiled hearing he was allowed to kill other opponents on the other hand, it wouldn't be safe even if he were tired unless she'd kill him first. But at the pace he moved, Jo would be too close in a matter of hours, she wouldn't be the only one having the idea of following him either, if any of the 35 people inbetween them would have the same idea, events would be hard to predict. Yet Johanna was rather happy realising that people would follow him, participants were allowed to kill each other. The more people to follow that man, the less competition she'd have as time'd pass.

While passing on at steady pace for about half an hour, Johanna noticed a teenage girl, the poor thing struggled. She already had several small scrathes on her arms and her loose clothing was sticking to branches. She wouldn't stand much of a chance surviving this, regardless of how hard she was trying. Yet something about the girl caught Jo's interest, her backpack. A metal reflected a ray of light through a small opening, this kid was packed with some kind of gear Johanna couldn't put a label on. She took 5 minutes to circle around the girl without being noticed, then left her be. She might be able to hold some other competitors up and with her speed, she wouldn't even be close to capable of keeping up with a woman that had military training with that weight slowing her already poor mobility in the forest down.

Johanna ventured until it was getting dark, it wouldn't be safe to let her guard down if other competitors would still be awake. She climbed into a tree and could see several campfires burning. One of them was particulary close to her, thus Jo approached it. There was a man curled up next the fire in a tent. Seemed he had been preparing rather well, bringing food and even that tent with him.

"So much preparation, going to the waste." crossed Jo's mind, as she approached the man. She drew one of her knives and without hesitation she moved the blade above the man's throat and quickly cut it and removed the blood. Johanna left the body inside of the tent, and left it open and digged a trap hole before the entrance. Anyone witty enough to attempt the same she did to this man would be in for one hell of a surprise, as Jo went outside of the tent and climbed into a nearby tree with some of the dead man's last dinner's leftovers. The campfire that was still burning would scare wild animals away, and nobody would check the trees before the tent. Johanna had come closer to the lead position. If she kept on moving, which wouldn't be a problem at day, she would be far ahaed of competiton by the end of tomorrow.

 

[Tame]

9.30(ish)

Billy hurried through the forest, trying to put as much distance between himself and his rivals as possible.  A fast runner, his head start would hopefully give him a good enough lead to be one of the first to get to the northern beach.

As he continued forward, he failed to notice the man leaping from tree branch to tree branch above him.  The first he knew was when the man landed in front of him, and swung a silver sceptre towards the head of the oncoming young man.  It struck him heavily and sent him skidding across the ground.  The blow was harsh enough that Billy was knocked out for several moments.  When he returned to consciousness, and a sat up, a throbbing headache already growing, he heard his assailant speak.

'Keep your guard up.  The others out there are less merciful than me.'

Billy looked up to see Thos Alderete walking briskly away from him through the trees.

***

Meanwhile...

As Johanna sat in her tree enjoying her dinner, she failed to notice the long, dark creature slither up towards her.  She was made aware by it coiling around both her and the tree.  At least three metres long, the giant snake quickly held Johanna in a tight embrace.  It looked her square in the eye and hissed menacingly at her.  It squeezed tighter, some of the breath leaving her.  This was the dreaded Jaggy Snake, also known as the Fire Snake because of its being drawn to campsites by their fire, who was famed for its size and power.  It slowly suffocated its prey, which could range from anything from dogs to baby elephants.

Johanna had about three minutes to either kill the snake or escape.  Escape was impossbile - her only option was to kill it, somehow.  The snake's grip was tight, but Johanna could still breath a little.  Gradually it would tighten until she passed out and eventually died.  If she killed it, the immediate danger would pass, but the Jaggy Snake's grip remained after death - for another two hours shou would trapped, until finally its grip would slacken and release her.

***

10pm(ish)

Lucian had been travelling straight forward through the forest since the trial had began.  It hadn't been too difficult so far; he had made good time, and being one of the first to leave, had not yet run into any other contestants.  Soon he came to a small clearing, where the grass looked freshly cut, which struck him as odd, since this island was presumably left unkempt.  On the edge of the clearing leant a short man with a pointed hat and a high collar.

'I was wondering when someone would arrive,' the man said in a high voice.  'My name is Viv Serkham, in case you didn't know,' he went on, flashing his '9' tag 'and I've been waiting for someone to get here.  Y'see, since killing is allowed in this trial, I thought I'd eliminate some of the competition.  I may not get a chance later on.'

He slowly walked forward, brandishing two long knives.  'I get the feeling that you, too, are one who plays for keeps.  Then let us go to it, and enjoy the battle!'

With that, Viv leapt forward, thrusting forward his left knife to stab Lucian in the throat, guarding with his right.  'Die!'

***

12.30(ish)

Damian Dreft felt himself being shaken violently awake from sleep.  Blearily, he blinked and looked up at the face of Kasumi Kyoko staring down at him.  'You're awake,' she breathed thankfully.

Only a minute or two later, the two were sat talking across a burnt-out fire, Kasumi explaining herself.  'I saw the fire and came to look.  I didn't expect to find you, though,' she added nervously, 'I wasn't disappointed.  If it attracted me, it was bound to attract others, so I put it out and woke you.

Its dangerous to sleep by a fire - if someone else had found you, they could have killed you in your sleep.  Of course, its dangerous to sleep at all for the same reason.  Damian!  We must work together to protect one another - act as guards for one another while we take turns sleeping.  I-I think I can trust you.'  She seemed more nervous when she said this.

Then she went on to explain how she had come across a middle-aged gentleman named Abraham Cornelius, and had agreed to work with one another.  He had seemed fatherly and trustworthy, but not long through their journey, he had attacked her and she had only just got away.

'Damian,' she said when she was done wit her story.  'I think a lot of people are using this opportunity to wipe out the competition.  We should pick who we trust very carefully.  But I trust you.  D-do you trust me?'

***

Meanwhile...

Aster's fire had also attracted unwanted attention, but she had gone to the trouble of setting up traps to protect herself.  She was woken from her calm sleep by a scream.  One of the more incompetant late-starters had walked, or rather, run straight onto the punji sticks.  She saw him pull his leg off and stumble away, still moaning feebly.  Satisfied, Aster quickly fell back to sleep and didn't wake until morning.  One of the few examinees who had passed a (practically) peaceful night...

 

[The Cry of Fallen Angels]

She couldn't move her limbs, she couldn't reach for a weapon, she couldn't kick. Taking a quick breathe Jo went over the possibilities, which were virtually none. She tried to give the snake a head butt, but couldn't gather enough strength for her attack to actually have impact. The serpent was glaring at her, waiting for her to choke and then to feast on her flesh. Jo tried to wrestle her way out, tried to shake the snake off, but it's grip was too tight. Jo put her weight on one side as much as possible, the snake might be able to put a lot of strength into strangling her, but the branche couldn't take the tightening grip the reptile took on it trying not to fall. The branch broke and the snake, with Jo still in it's embrace, fell. It fell on the ground and thus broke Jo's fall, then shrieked, a high-pitched cry of both pain and surprise. Doing so, the reptile's grip slightly loosened which allowed Jo to breathe. She inhaled some air quickly and made a rolling movement before the snake restored it's grip. They rolled towards the fire, the flames touched the serpent's skin. Another loud shriek, appaerently forgotten about it's prey the snake let go to be able to move away from the fire, Jo used this time to reach for her weapon, her fingers found the steel of a revolver. In a quick movement she drew the weapon and aimed at her attacker's head, still suffering from the burn not noticing the snake's prey had become it's predator, Jo didn't hesitate pulled the trigger.

She stood up and threw the snake off her body. The corpse had a wound, showing some flesh which had appaerently been in the fire. The snake appaered to be a Jaggy, or something like that. She had not seen it anywhere in the wild, but read about it on her way to the island. They were known for their immensely powerful grip that would last even after their death, Johanna only then realised how lucky she had been that the snake had landed on some fallen branches. If it wouldn't have suffered as much she would have been gone with the snake.

Now what could she do with it? The shot might have scared other fiends, but might also have lured human threats. Johanna decided to move, as these human threats would see the fallen braches and might see through her hiding-in-trees-strategy. She looked at the corpse of the snake and laid it's wound in the fire, if it'd bleed, hungry predators might follow the smell of blood. Johanna inspected the body and saw she hadn't hit it's head, but it's throat and let the fire destroy that skin also. She realised she had to move away from here quickly, but Jo wouldn't have it as easy to set up a camp leaving her vunerable. She threw another look at the snake, if she would wrap herself in it other animals might recognise her as the snake's prey. Risky, but Jo didn't have much of a choice. She threw the corpse over her shoulder, lifted the head and tail and stepped deeper into the forest.

 

[Devon Jacobs]

Before he left, Billy had filled a small pouch of salt water, and some clams he had picked up on the swim over. The taste of the water didnt bother him like most people as he'd been around it his whole life. He took a gulp of water to soothe the aching in his head and continued on. "That old man..." Billy paused looking around. "I don't like him, he just doesn't feel right." *Grumble... his belly rumbles again. "Ok we'll eat, be quiet. We don't want anybody to find us again. Rather not take a life you know."

Billy's eyes flash a crimson color before returning to the origional baby blue.

"Yeah I feel there presence getting closer to, time ta move."

Billy rushes off into the forest at full speed carefully avoiding making any marks he could be tracked by.

 

[Spoo]

3:55 AM - Day two

"Kasumi, let's go!" 

It was chaos since the start of day two, and the only obvious thing to look forward to was the sunrise.  At least then there would be no more dreaded sneak attacks on them.  Damian questioned his very morals now, as he'd had to kill three of his attackers, and incapacitate two others, leaving them for dead.  He wondered if Kasumi felt the same.  But then, the Kyoko regime were a long line of assassins dating back to the feudal era of Japan; she'd be able to live it down.

"Damian, I hear another person behind us."  Kasumi whispered.  Damian gulped.  It was his turn again.

"I've got him."  Damian split from Kasumi and disappeared into the trees.  As soon as the bald attacker passed him, Damian got out his hatchet and struck him on the side of the head with the blunt end.  Baldy went down fast and silently.

"He's down," Damian said with a sigh.  He could practically feel the bags under his eyes from the lack of sleep, but he wasn't one to complain.

"Damian...We can't run through the forest like this forever, we'll run out of stamina eventually.  We need to find a way to camp safely."  Damian nodded. 

"We'll take turns guarding while the other sleeps, that way, we can avoid getting killed."  Kasumi smiled, "That sounds good to me." 

The two continued their trek toward Penumbra Cielo, both asking themselves the same question in  their heads.

'Is it worth it?'

 

[Yggdrassil]

"I have to say, I don't have time for you. If I'm going to be the first to finish, I can't let anyone slow me down, but if you're offering yourself up I don't mind killing you."

Lucian said this as he ducked and rolled left, narrowly avoiding the strike and coming up directly infront of his foe, his sword still sheathed, though it wouldn't be for long. He had started out with a brisk jog a while ago, determined to be the first person to complete the trial. He had killed someone a while back, a nobody who had barely put up a fight, and finally the short swordfighter realized just how weak the majority of the examinees were. He had decided that anyone who was too slow or stupid to know to avoid him and hide from him was too slow or stupid to stay in the competition.

Lucian had assumed after a long stretch of loneliness that he was in first place, and if he didn't sleep at all would be there before the end of the fourth day for sure. Now, however, it was clear that there were people ahead of him. One of them was standing before him now, and would have to be removed.

"C'mon. I don't want this to take more than five minutes. I have places to go, people to kill, tests to win. In fact, amazingly enough, I am in so much of a hurry that if you step aside I'll only cut off your arms. You can even keep your legs!"

The man attacked again, and Lucian laughed. That's what you want that's what you get! He swung low at Viv's legs, anticipating that his foe would jump. He did, and landed only to stumble and nearly fall backwards.

"After the swing there's a brief pull." Lucian explained. "If you drop onto it, you'll have trouble landing right."

Now then, how am I gonna do this? He'll swing with one, block with the other, so the best thing to do is...

He honestly had no idea what to do. Generally he would use the pull of his sword, but that didn't work if the opponent blocked, only if they dodged. So what now?

I'll just smash right through. he decided, smiled, and charged.

 

[Tame]

Chapter: The Second Day

7.00am - Day 2
12 hours, 30 minutes since the start of the exam

In the high branches of some of the taller trees, out of sight of those on thr ground, six men sat, each a little way away from each other, discussing the situation.  Boyd Volos, the wealth Slav appeared to be the ring leader.  He spoke in his polished, eastern accent.  'I have brought you all here to discuss matters, and I thank you all for your agreeable attitude.  I would like, if possible, for us to avoid conflict.

I think it prudent for the six of us were to work together on this part of the examination.'

Some of the other men looked surprised.  Only the one sat closest to Boyd, a dejected-looking man with a hang-dog expression, kept the same look on his face.

'You may think it odd for me to want to help my rivals, but I will say that it is not out of unselfish motives.  It is the only way that any of us can pass.'

'Maybe for you,' an aggressive man declared.  'I could pass it on my head.  Its only because we're so far ahead of most of the others that I'm here at all - this is just a waste of time.'

'I cannot, of course, keep you here against your wishes,' Boyd continued, not taken aback, 'but I will not take up too much of your time, and there can be no harm in hearing what I have to say.'  The Slav was clearly the master of the situation.  'I think, not only that we should work together, but that we are meant to.  This exam is set up to pit us against one another, which is suggested to us by allowing the taking of life.  However, certain indications are given that suggest that this is a trap that most of we examinees have fallen into, and that actually, working together is the only expedient route.  One such indication is the boats - there are only six, which would mean that only six people can pass this test.  However, if the maximum number of people were to travel by each boat, sixty could pass - the number that can succeed in this test is not limited to the number of boats.

Furthermore anyone who knew anything about boats would know that one that could fit up to ten people is far too large for one man to handle alone - they would surely lose control.

The other indication is the exam's length - it is far too long for anyone to stay awake for the entire time.  When asleep, even the best candidate is made vulnerable.  However, when acting in a group, people can watch out for each other, they can take turns sleeping and stand watch.  This gives a great advantage to those who choose to team up with others.'

The five other men had listened attentively.  Even the most sceptic among them had been won around.  'Alright,' said the aggressive man, 'it makes sense.  I'll agree to team up with you, provided none of you try any funny stuff, obviously.'

'A certain degree of trust is needed, certainly,' replied Boyd.  One by one the others assented to work alongside the others.  'There is one more thing,' Boyd said.  'This man, Basil Curro, tells me there is one patricularly dangerous candidate that none of us would want to face alone.  Perhaps even together we could not beat him.'  He gestured to the dejected-looking man, who nodded and began speaking.

'I saw a terrible thing last night,' Basil murmured, and began his tale...

About five hours earlier...

Basil crept through the night forest, wary of every sound.  He had dark rings under his eyes from lack of sleep, and was sweating considerably.  He was not a fighter, nor a tactician, nor a good tracker, and he was very frightened.  He was wishing that he had never decided to take this test, he was hopelessly unprepared.  He had been lucky enough to pilot his own small boat to the island, but had smashed it onto the rocks and had only just been able to swim from there, but nevertheless had obtained the respectable position of eighteenth.

Since the treck through the forest had begun, he had been fortunate enough not to come across any danger save a swarm of bees which he had inadvertantly angered and which had chased him, only abandoning the chase when he had fallen face-first into a large muddy swamp.

Now as he walked on, Basil heard the sound of voices from a little way away.  Hiding behing a bush, he crept forward, making sure to stay hidden, to see a group of five men accost a sixth.  The five had surrounded him, and all were brandishing large weapons.  The slim man who was their opponent was armed only with a cane, a bowler hat and a genial grin.

‘My my, what big weapons you have,’ the man in the bowler said.  ‘Are you compensating for something?’  All five of the men grunted and stepped forward threateningly.

‘Don’t mess with the Bratislav brothers!’ one said, waving his large axe.

‘My dear fellows, it is you who messed with me!  All crowding round me and threatening me! It makes me wonder if the only way you can pass this test is by ganging up five to one on people half your size!’

The next thing that happened did so so quickly that Basil hardly saw what had happened.  The Bratislav brother standing directly behind the slim man swung his sword down, aiming to slice him in two.  His target side-stepped lightly, turned around, unsheathed a short knife from his cane and cut his attacker’s throat with it, before returning the blade to its case.

As their brother fell dead, the other Bratislavs blinked stupidly, wondering what had happened.

‘That should teach you not to mess with Alex de Lamont,’ he said playfully.  ‘Though you seem the slow kind, who take a lot of teaching to learn anything.  In fact, even if I were to kill four of you, I think the fifth would still not get the message.  That in mind, I’ll have to kill you all!’  Alex danced forward to the closest, unsheathing his knife as he went.

At this point in his story, Basil stopped.  He couldn’t bring himself to describe the way Alex had swiftly and coolly killed the four other men.

‘All I can say is, that he felt no guilt whatsoever,’ he told the others.  ‘I think he might even have enjoyed it!’  Basil fell silent and refused to say anymore.

‘From the sounds of things, this man is highly dangerous and most likely insane.  We must at all costs avoid him!’

***

Meanwhile…

Neither Johanna nor Billy had slept and both were very tired, and it showed; both their paces had slowed considerably and both were beginning to show visible traces of their movements by which they could be tracked.

By chance, both walked slowly and wearily into the same clearing at the same time.  They spotted the other immediately and stared at each other.  Both had to decide what their course of action would be immediately.

***

Meanwhile again…

Lucian continued on through the forest, thinking back on what had happened in his latest confrontation.  He had charged at Viv, swinging his sword as he did so.  The other man had leapt over him and landed behind.  He spun around, but rather than stabbing the blind-sided Lucian, placed a hand on his shoulder.  ‘Too slow, sorry.’  With that, the man had left.  Lucian could find no reason why he had done this, or why he had even started the confrontation in the first place.

For the moment, Viv Serkham’s odd behaviour was pushed from his mind by what he now saw up ahead.  Two people were resting, one, a girl, was asleep on the floor.  Sat on a log a couple of feet away was a tall man with dark skin and long brown hair.  Both men had already seen each other, so if Lucian now wanted to fight, he would have to do so without the element of surprise.

***

Meanwhile yet again…

Aster Cicada woke up bright and early, ready for the second day of her trial.  She was fresh and invigorated, unlike the majority of her opponents, most of whom were either dead or exhausted.

As she was preparing to set off, she noticed a tall woman with short blonde hair.  This was Carolie Cosette, a French examinee who had been the last to leave the beach the previous night.  She too, looked perfectly invigorated, despite her night in the forest.  She had seen Aster and approached, expertly avoiding the traps the girl had lain down.  She showed no signs of being about to attack Aster.  ‘What ees this?’ she said, surprise, her French origins evident in her accent.  ‘A child in this exam?  What are you thinking, little girl, in trying to join theese organisation?

 

[Devon Jacobs]

Billy's eyes flashed red.

"Johanna is it. I do not wish for combat nor do I care much for this compitetion, but ingage me and I will have no choice but to defend myself."

Billy readies himself for battle. His sweat grows heavy as usual when put under tension, but this was not something he could decide. Jo remained silent, staring, waiting. Billy's nerves disappeared and his nature changed from jolly and playful to serious and alomst mean.

"Well.....I can't lose here so hurry up and make up your mind."

The decision....

 

[Anonymous]

Aster smiled, cocking her head to the side and giggling.

“I-I guess I do look a little outta place, don’t I?â€

 

[The Cry of Fallen Angels]

"Defend yourself?"

Jo smiled and stared right at the chubby boy even though her eyelids felt heavy. He must haven't noticed she was aiming a weapon at him.

"I have a clear shot at you chump, or you gonna tell me you can dodge bullets?"

The boy didn't reply, he looked right back at her. He seemed to be more serious than he had seemed when he called out for her, probably worried too.

"The decision is yours not mine, surrender yourself and drop your weapon and I will let you live. Otherwise I won't."

That chump hesitated, he hesitated, how stupid could he be? A revolver was aimed at him from a mere five metres away, he was a huge target and wasn't close enough to attack Jo with his katana. That chump was playing with his life and yet she didn't want to kill him, right now at least. She could use him. This chump was a sailor, he had been the only surviving swimmer so he must know how to tame the sea very well. He should be able to use the yacht, as boats were one of Jo's incapabilities. Not to mention he might be able to stand guard if she'd sleep and test out food.
Johanna was still carrying the snake with her, which had gotten heavy on her shoulders. She had wanted to use it to hide herself sleeping, but when she tried she simply couldn't make it look like a real living Jaggy. The corpse would just be wrapped around her body very loosely, unrealistically, it wouldn't fool man nor beast. She had decided to keep walking instead and had gotten surprisingly far. This chubby man was the fourth to leave the beach, he had been running, his shirt was wet showing he had been transpirating. She must have gotten pretty far ahaed by now, using a compass, she traveled straight towards the yachts.

Then the chump tried to say something, quickly shaking off her thoughts.

"Don't talk, act. But to make your decision easier, there are things I can offer you. You seem pretty hungry and clueless about where you're going."

Johanna pointed at the snake with her free hand and then grabbed the compass out of her pocket.

"As you can see I can help you out with both, but if you wish to make use of these priviledges you will have to follow my instructions. Lay down your weapons, slowly."

OOC: I made your "kitana" a "katana" as I assumed it was a spelling error (I googled/wiki'd kitana and all I found was some mortal kombat crap and pictures of a model called kitana). Correct me if I'm wrong, but I'd like to know what a kitana might be if I am.

 

[Devon Jacobs]

(Kit is the name of the Katana so I call it Kitana.)

"Fine, rather not fight, useless fights. If you'd rather a duel we can brawl later."

Billy's eyes flashed red again.

"Why don't we both rest and I will cook something to eat." Billy smiles trying to melt her heart, but to no avail.
He sets up a fire in the clearing and pulls the clams and fish out of his sack.
"I don't need sleep, just rest so feel free to sleep if you want. And you can put the gun away."

Billy looks of in the distance and closes his eyes. "Were far from danger and close to the ocean. If you can recover quickly we can get to the beach soon."

 

[The Cry of Fallen Angels]

The guy smiled in Jo's direction, but she threw her hair back and looked away. After a short moment of silence he tried to approach Jo again:

"I don't need sleep, just rest so feel free to sleep if you want. And you can put the gun away."

He doesn't need sleep? He had got to be kidding. Johanna put her revolver back in it's hold and began studying the guy's katana, no hidden mechanisms, no poison, it would only cut, pretty straight forward. That chump seemed pretty straightforward himself, bit on the clueless side. Still, he was trying to be liked and he was cooking. Some clams and fish, right from his sack, didn't seem like a trap of any sort, as there was nothing else in the it, he wouldn't put poison in one sack with food and wouldn't bring poison if he didn't bring food. Still Jo'd let him take the first bites, just to be sure.

"Were far from danger and close to the ocean. If you can recover quickly we can get to the beach soon."

Who did he think he was? If you can recover quickly. Besides, the beach couldn't be that close. It was about a stretch of 6 miles between the two beaches. One mile was 1.6 kilometres, so 6 would be about 9.6 kilometres of forest. They could possibly reach it today if everything went well, however Johanna decided to rest first instead in case there would be difficulties. She looked at the small pan the chump was holding above the fire. A fish was simmering in it.

"Take a bite." Johanna demanded as soon as the guy reckoned the fish was ready. He took a bite and a rather large one too. He chewed quickly and gulped it. No hesitation at all. Before he could take a second bite out of the fish Jo spoke again.

"Good, thank you. Now if I may."

She swiftly took the fish out of his hands and started eating.

"Pretty good."

Jo took a few steps and climbed into a nearby tree, with the fish, katana and all. She sat down on a high branch and looked down where the guy was busy cooking some clamps.

"I'll be here if you need me."

She took another bite out of the fish and then threw a small knife down, right next to where the guy was sitting, he startled.

"Here, use this if you feel like trying to eat that snake, it used to strangle to kill so don't worry about remaining poison. You'll need to peel it's skin if you want to try cooking it. Watch out for the burns it has." Johanna pulled herself up to another branch a little higher. "I'll be resting, if something's happening, just make noise. I'll handle it from up here." Jo said, pulling the revolver out of it's hold and putting it back in. "And yes, my name is Johanna, but call me Jo. What's yours chump?"

 

[Tame]

Before Billy could reply, they both heard a growl behind them.  Billy looked over, and Johanna down, at a group of large feline creatures staring at them.  They were each about two meters long, and there were eight in all.  They each had long fangs, black stripes and a thick mane of fur round their necks.  All of them looked very angry.  These were Chimeracats, a particularly ferocious breed.  They were quick, powerful and could climb trees as easily as monkeys.  One did so now, scuttling up the trunk of the one Johanna sat in and onto the branch in front of her, baring its teeth and snarling at her.  Three more circled around the bottom of the tree, waiting for their prey to fall into their midst.

The remaining four quickly surrounded Billy where he lay and also began circling, looking like they were ready to pounce.  It would be impossible to outrun them; the cats would catch up quickly and leap on their unguarded backs.  fighting was their only option, but if they wanted to survive, they would have to do it together.

Elsewhere...

Both Lucian and Damian were slow to respond to their new adversary.  They stood staring at one another for several minutes, neither moving.  Before either one had moved two figures burst from the trees.  One delivered a powerful kick to the back of Damian's head, the other to Lucian's.  Both the men were sent skidding across the ground, startled and shaken by the attack.  They came to rest lying on the same patch of ground beside each other.  As they looked up they saw the figures of two other men standing above them, obviously their assailiants.

'Think these two are working together?' one said to other.

'Who cares?  They both suck,' the other replied.  'Let's kill them now.'  The man took out a broadsword and placed the tip against Lucian's neck.

'Hey, wait!'  The first man had begun looking around Damian's campsite, and had spotted the waking form of Kasumi Kyoko.  'They got a girl with 'em!'

'Hey, what's this...?' Kasumi asked sleepily, looking around at both the men, then at Lucian and Damian, in some surprise.  But the man had already grabbed her by the hair, and she cried out.  'Awesome!  We can have some fun before we pass this test!'  Both Kasumi and Damian started at this, but the man with the sword kicked him hard in the stomach which silenced any protests on his part.

'So she's your girl, huh?' he said, smirking with pleasure.  'In that case, let's make this a bit sporting.  We'll be nice, we'll give you a chance.  A two-on-two battle, us against the two of you!  Winners get the girl, losers get dead!'

Whatever arguments their three captives had, the two men ignored them.  One tied Kasumi up and took her weapons while the other kept the two men at sword point.  Then the two stepped back a few meters and waited for their opponents to get up.

'I'm Bansho!' the man with sword shouted, drawing a second blade.

'And I am Tiruko!' the other shouted, drawing swords to match his partner's.  'You three are rookies, right?  Your first time taking the test?  We know, 'cause we didn't recognise you.  You see, this is our fifth time taking the exam!'

'You must suck if you failed four times,' pointed out Kasumi.

'Shut up!' replied Bansho.  'We don't apply in order to pass.  True, that was why we did the first time, but then we realised that the exam itself is great fun!  Picking on first-timers like yourselves and playing with them, then killing them in some imaginative way!  What could be more fun, plus we can kill all we want and we won't be in any trouble!  Haha!!'

Triuko smirked and added: 'We learnt in our first trip here that the only way to survive this test was to form a team.  That's why we decided to develop a fighting style that relied heavily on teamwork.  We compliment each other's abilities, so that we can have all the fun we want and be sure we won't get killed ourselves!

We'll show you our Two-Man, Four-Sword Fighting Style!'

Both men roared violently.

'What a lame name...' muttered Kasumi.  Damian could beat these idiots without anyone's help.

Meanwhile...

A hand was lain on the crying girl's head.  'I won't 'urt you,' the French woman said, looking down at her caringly.  'My name is Carolie Cosette.  I will look after you until we can find your brother.'

'Very strange that a responsible brother should leave his petite soeur alone on thees island.  Still stranger that he should bring her here at all.  Perhaps she would be better off with me, if she is as innocent as she makes out, of course.'

'Come now, my child.'  Carolie's manner was reassuring.  'We will look for your brother in the direction of the north coast, so that we may pass this exam.  We will be killing two birds with one stone, no?'

The two women set off, Carolie setting a fast walking pace.  She was going to look after Aster, but she wasn't going to go easy on her.

'Most of the other examinees deedn't get a good night's sleep,' she explained as they went.  'They wanted to get as far across in the island in the night as they could.  This means that we are near the back of the group, but it also means our enemies are tired, weak, off-guard.  Even the meanest beast can kill the stoutest warrior, if they warrior is half asleep.'  She chuckled at this.  'The wisest, like yourself, slept through the night.  Did your brother leave you this morning, or last night?'  Aster's guide through the question out quickly, as if she might be trying to catch her companion out.

 

[The Cry of Fallen Angels]

The smell of fish must have lured these beasts. That must have meant they were close to, abeit not the sea, water, if they were indeed lured by the smell. Or this clearance could be part of their territory, the island was too small for nomadic predators. But this wasn't the time to ponder such questions. One of the beasts had leaped onto a branch in front of Johanna, trying to scare her out of the tree, reaching it's neck out and showing it's fangs. Still holding the katana, she slashed at the feline creature, with amazing reflexes, it moved back to avoid the blade, in a quick second attack Johanna cut the branch it had been sitting on, thrusted the weapon in the strunk and reached for both her revolvers and shot the beast in it's side several times with her left gun and aimed at another trying to climb the tree with the right.

Then she saw the chump, surrounded by more of the troop. He wouldn't be able to fight them off from different sides, especially not armed with nothing but a short knife. Johanna shot in front of the beasts with her left gun to make them back off while trying to shoot the other, now all three cats, off the strunk. Quickly she broke of a branche and threw it in her companion's direction.

"Catch chump! Light it with the campfire!"

Johanna shot once more to scare the beasts away from her companion, but when she shot a third time, she realised she had to reload the gun. Within seconds her right revolver was out of ammo also. But with these three beasts climbing the tree she wouldn't have the time to reload. She put both the revolvers back in her hold and pulled the katana out of the strunk. She could keep her attackers at bay, but they dodged too easily to be killed, or even hurt by the blade. Now if only that chump could lit the branch on fire and ward the beasts off long enough to allow her to reload her fire-weapons.

 

[Devon Jacobs]

An explosion occured in Bill'ys area, shaking the ground and throwing dust into the sky. Johanna quickly looed over while she reloaded her weapon. The cats as well were distracted.... well those of which not caught in the blast. Thru the fog Johanna can see Billy laying on the floor dazed. The blast had spiked his hair and left soot all over him.

"Cough...to much...salt." Billy says rubbing soot from his mouth. "Ugh, I didnt hit the Alpha-male either."
The cats didn't remain stunned for long and quickly returned to stalking their branched prey.
To late though, Johanna reloaded her weapons long ago and was waiting for the shot she desired.
Billy looks around at the ground. "Ooooh some fish left." And withoout a moments notice, engulfs the piece in a single bite.

 

[The Cry of Fallen Angels]

After ensuring none of the chimeracats were alive, Jo walked towards the guy that was laying semi-concious on the ground, softly mumbling; "I'm Billy"

"So, Billy hm?"

Billy nodded as Jo helped him up.

"You've been lucky you didn't get hit by that explosion, what do you cook with anyway to 'cause something like that?"
Jo didn't wait for an answer and demanded Billy to get up and move. These predators had been enough trouble for today, Jo was tired and desired to rest but knew she wouldn't get any if they just remained where they were. An explosion, not to mention there might be more chimeracats around. And indeed, after a few minutes of walking they spotted a duo of the beasts, but this time Billy and Jo had the element of surprise on their side.

"Take it back." Jo forced the katana in Billy's hand. "Wait till they're distracted, then close in and finish them quickly."
She knew she was taking a risk giving Billy back his weapon, but it was relatively small as long as she stayed out of his range. Jo circled around the cats and when the beasts were between her and Billy, she threw a rock at the chimeracats. They startled for half a second and Billy took his chance. He jumped behind them and cut right through one of them. Then Johanna threw a knife at the survivor, which stuck in it's paw, Billy penformed another swing and slayed the second beast.

Johanna complimented Billy: "Nice work chump.", but she kept her praise short. She had heard streaming water. There was a river nearby, Jo walked in northern direction, pushed a few branches out of her way and indeed. A broad river with a slow current, clear water too. There were no living predators around here at first sight. She turned around and shouted at Billy;

"Now you're holding that sword anyway, how 'bout making yourself useful with it?"

Jo took a few steps in her companions direction and pointed at the river.

"You were wrong 'bout that ocean, but at least you were close. That current is our one-way ticket to victory. How 'bout we make a raft and let the river carry us?"