Re: Oblivion Phantasy ~ Grimoire of Fate 【RP Thread】

[quackers are yummylicious]

Alice hissed at Jet when he got too close to Lissa. "Get away from her! Untrustworthy scum! You're the reason we're stranded out here, you just through yourself into the group to make yourself look innocent!" she accused, her voice sounding rather menacing despite her rather harmless appearance.

"And I can accept help," the musician told the kitsune, her voice just as cold. "I just don't accept it from evildoers and their allies."

[Book the Hero]

"Ok, what are you basing this logic on?" Jet bluntly asked the girl.

[quackers are yummylicious]

"You seem to know everything before it happens," Alice answered, scowling at the knight. "And you're certainly not a fortune teller."

[Book the Hero]

"Know what?" Jet asked. "Give me an example."

[quackers are yummylicious]

"When we first woke up, you were all panicked, and 'we have to get out of here!' before anything bad happened!" Alice answered, holding her banjo defensively.

[Book the Hero]

"...You mean when I pointed out that we couldn't stay in the clearing, of the area none of us knew anything about, with no basic supplies, food, or water?" Jet asked. "Alice, that's common sense, and basic wilderness survival."

[quackers are yummylicious]

"You said it like we were in immediate danger!" Alice protested. This was just a test, Jet was trying to convince her that he was the good guy. No, he would not succeed! She would not be overcome!

[Book the Hero]

"No I didn't." Jet said. "I was asking what we should do now, at the time, I saw no immediate danger, I just knew we couldn't stay there."

"And even if I did have an urgent need to get out of there, why would I have come here in the first place, and how would that make me evil?" Jet asked. "Alice, from what I can tell, you are basing this entire idea on paranoid conjecture."

[Eebit]

Lissa looked up, seeing the Alice and Jet arguing with the newcomer - a girl with ears and a tail - seeming to not appreciate their lack of gratitude. I'll have to remember to ask for her name later... For now, though, Lissa knew that she had to do something, before Jet and Alice ripped one another to shreds. "Alice... Jet... I don't understand?" She shook her head in puzzlement, "Whether or not Jet is an evildoer... is that important? So far he has done nothing to prove he is our enemy... he and..." she paused at this point, turning to the newcomer, "Sorry, what was your name again?"

Uninhibited, she continued. "Either way... we don't need to like each other, but we do need to cooperate... at least until we can get out of here safely..." Lissa sighed, still beating herself up over her lack of knowledge of the shackle in her apparent possession. She scanned the surroundings for Naina, as well. Just another thing I've done wrong... what next...?

[Kudamon]

Jizara listened to the two humans bicker. It was pointless. Who wouldn't want to get out of a forest after waking up in it? Her tails twitched in annoyance as she began to say something, but she fell silent as the girl who'd just woken up began to speak herself. When attention turned to the kitsune, and she was asked her name, she simply ducked her head at the girl and said, "Jizara." When the girl finished speaking, Jizara stated, "And I suppose I should ask your name as well."

Then she looked at the suspicious girl- Alice, as she'd picked up the name from the other two. The two vulpine ears were slowly returning to their normal positions from their angry, flattened state. "Alice," she said, almost as if to say, "I don't need you to tell me to learn something about you," "I don't remotely care whether you trust me or not. But don't accuse me without proof. That's dangerous when you're in a strange area with limited resources- as I assume is the case." She gave a nonchalant shrug. "I can heal. You can accept my help... or not. If you don't, then don't complain to me when you get hurt."

[quackers are yummylicious]

Alice glared at Jizara. "Thank you for finally understanding," she stated, her voice rather high and mighty and cold. "I don't want help from an evildoer. It's not like I'm as stupid as Jet to run head first into battle, anyway. I don't need or want your help."

[Kudamon]

Jizara gave a slight, condescending grin. "You're being very proud right now. Do humans not consider pride a sin?" She wanted to say more, but decided to turn to the other two. "I would leave right now, but I do not wish to deny you two the chance to have a say." She shrugged. "I can heal. I can protect. I can fight. And I'm open-minded." She gave a sidelong glance at Alice, but no more than that. "If your group requires any of those things, I am more than willing to help when needed."

[Book the Hero]

"Thank you..." Jet said to Jizara, before turning to Lissa. "You ok...?

[Eebit]

Lissa nodded at the fox-girl. "Good to meet you, Jizara. My name is Lissa, as Jet and Alice have indirectly introduced me." She then immediately became aware of a sharp, numbing pain in her head as Alice and the new girl began to fight once more. She was distantly aware of Jet asking if she was okay, to which she shook her head. "I'll be fine... Our first concern should be finding Naina, anyways." She looked up at him, eyes having hope flicker through them like she were trying to convey some sort of mental plea to him. It faded, however, as quickly as it came.

She looked back at the quarrelling girls. Jizara was equally as 'proud' as Alice, it seemed. She doesn't seem to be as open-minded towards Alice as she says... Lissa gave the two a distant, haunted look, before moving slowly over to Alice, whispering in her ear, "Alice... I know you don't like the idea of trusting her... but we need her help finding our way out of here. I promise I won't let her hurt you, if she turns out to be evil... if you don't trust her... can you trust me?"

With that, she retreated slightly, giving Alice her space. Lissa looked away from the group, as though scanning the depths of the Seneste Forest. She spoke, tone serious, "We do need your help, Jizara, though I think that in-fighting won't help any of us..." she paused, sighing. "That said, do you happen to be good at tracking? We should probably focus on finding our lost girl..."

[Book the Hero]

Jet was silent. For a second there, he had noticed something in Lissa's eyes, a quiet message and plea. And just as quick as he saw it, it disappeared.

He decided he would talk to her about it later, but for now, they needed to find Naina.

[quackers are yummylicious]

Alice nodded quietly, backing towards Lissa and grabbing her arm; whether it was a protective or cowering motion was unclear. "S-Sorry..." she mumbled to no one in particular, holding her banjo tightly with her free hand.

[Chiasma]

Scarlet's gleam extended impossibly from Lissa's form for the second time in the day as the shackle she had come to keep reacted unexpectedly. A network of chains materialized--no, phased into existence in a sequenced manner, linked taut with each and every person, their crimson luminescence eerily lighting the forest with a distinctive tonality of red. They pulled their very essences, as if urging the now-assembled group of four to travel towards an uncertain direction, marked by the very surging chain which plunged into the innermost depths of the forest. They were quite deep in already, as monsters such as the Forest Treants they had just faced and the Wandering Toadstool whose bizarre form lay sprawled on the moist grass... but further beyond? Whatever it was, it was certainly a deeply powerful presence, for it commanded the party to mobilize, wherever it intended to lead them. Unfortunately, it was Lissa's, Alice and Jet's only semblance of a clue at the moment...

[Book the Hero]

Jet was silent the whole time, his mind racing as the network of chains phased into existence. Why now? Where was it leading them? Where was Naina? They weren't seriously just going to abandon the girl, were they?

[Kudamon]

Jizara thought about it for a minute. "Tracking? Not really... but she couldn't have gone far, correct?" She looked around briefly, as if she thought she could find the girl that quickly... or perhaps just watching out for more enemies. Then she looked back at the group. "Have you tried retracing your steps? That is often a good idea when a group is separated due to someone wandering away."

And then the red chains materialized, and Jizara blinked uncomprehendingly at the scarlet links. The red light played off of her golden-cream fur, giving it a strange sunset tint, but she looked up at Lissa with a question in her eyes, having noticed the glow seemed to have come from her. She said nothing.

[Eebit]

Lissa had intended to answer Jizara, when the gleaming chains of red had revealed themselves again. The spirit invoker swallowed deeply, clutching Alice with her hand, and staring intently at the chains... though this time, she found that she was not afraid of their presence. It seemed that Naina was the cause of the chains' appearance - perhaps she was not meant to be found by them? Maybe she was an illusion sent to fool us...? Lissa thought to herself. She really did not know what to make of the fleeting girl... Perhaps their paths would cross once more - this she did not know.

As the chain pulled at her, Lissa attempted to touch it and weaken its grip on her... though her hand fazed directly through it. Saying nothing, she idly waved her hand through it, fearing to look her companions - who had already seen the chains once before - and Jizara in the eyes. "I... I guess we should keep following..." Lissa took a couple of tentative steps forward, silently hoping Alice - her anchor to reality - would not let go. In her peripheral vision, she could see Jizara eyeing her intently, and Jet looking seemingly puzzled. Our efforts to find you are always met with the chains... I am sorry to leave you behind, little one, but... by the chains I am shackled to some other destiny...

[quackers are yummylicious]

Alice bit her lip, squeezing Lissa's hand tighter. She was still rather frightened by these unfamiliar ghost chains. The realm of the unknown was a fearful thing, and these chains were definitely mysterious. Unlike Lissa, she didn't have a good understanding of the spirit world, and was quite scared of it.

"But...wh-what about Naina...?" Alice spoke aloud, looking around. Moments before, hadn't Lissa been worried sick? She didn't understand... That was the thing that scared her the most.

[Eebit]

Lissa froze, wincing suddenly as though she had been punched in the gut. She turned to look at Alice, a slight pain notable in her eyes... though whether this was from the strain of the intangible bond that was pulling her forth into the depths of the forest or sheer, raw emotion itself was indeterminable. The echo of Naina's last few words before the scuffle with the treants and the toadstool reverberated in her mind, as Alice asked about the young girl. Suddenly, her mouth was dry. "I... She..." the words were clear in Lissa's mind, though she could not seem to phrase the sentence.

The chains are dragging us away, Alice... we can't wait around, or maybe the forest spirits will plague us more. She wanted to say, but her mouth simply shut as she looked away from her friend. She wanted to comfort Alice. A single tear formed in her eye, and with her free hand - the one not presently clasping Alice's tightly - she wiped it away, trying to regain her emotional strength and composure. "We can't stay..." she stopped, looking around. "The chains... I don't know what they are, but something tells me that they want Naina and us... separate." Alice seemed worried, and this made Lissa herself, in turn, worried. I hope she isn't upset by me doing this... Naina... where are you? Lissa looked upward, as though hoping the everwatching canopy of trees would answer her thoughts.

[The Kakuzato]

"Wh-where did everyone go?"

Naina wandered around the forest. She had gotten lost -- again. Maybe she shouldn't have stopped to ponder at the verins of that leaf. She was surprised that such a small thing could get her so lost; or would have been, considering this was the second time she had done so in one day. Her innocent face was contorted with guilt and shame as she walked, and streaks could be seen running down her cheeks. She walked still, hoping to find the nice people she had met up with earlier.

Noise. It was like clothes and armor -- definitely not something native to this forest.
Could it be...? Naina asked, though there was nobody around but the plants. She could hardly believe her ears. She had found them again! Even if she couldn't see them yet, there was no doubt in her mind that it could be anyone but them. She rubbed her eyes to rid herself of the wet streaks. She could not let herself look worried.

As she grew nearer to the sound of the people, she began to hear talking -- no, arguing. Getting slightly worried, she sped up her pace. The voices were definitely the same, but there was an added one. As she came within view of her companions, she saw that Jet and Alice were arguing. Hoping to interrupt it, she barged herself into the group. She didn't like arguing -- not one bit.

"I thought you were there with me! she whined to the group, hoping to distract everyone. "I stopped for a few moments and you were gone!

Naina paused for a moment, observing her companions. "Why does everyone look so tired? And who are you?" she directed the last part of it at the newcomer, for she was curious as to who else would be wandering the forest.

[quackers are yummylicious]

"Lissa! Look, Naina!" Alice exclaimed, dragging Lissa over to the girl. She had sounded so sad, so it was good that Naina had showed up again. After all, Lissa was the only thing stopping Jet and Jizara from hurting her.

[Book the Hero]

"Naina!" Jet said, running over to the girl, letting out a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness you're ok..." He said, obvious concern on his face.

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