Raffey felt the woman land near him, smiling. When she scolded him with those cold eyes of hers, all he could do was laugh heartily from his stomach, dodging a near tentacle slap. He watched as she took off, wondering at her plan. When he saw her bring down the herd animal, [color=39b54a][i][b]"See! It jus' bou' havin' fun Mehgoogoo!"[/b][/i][/color] He pulled his spear free of the creature's backs spinning it backwards into a proper combat position, crouching low. He thrust out once at the head that was facing him, just missing its throat. A tentacle lashed around the shaft, and he smiled, [color=39b54a][i][b]"Nah ya dun!"[/b][/i][/color] He twisted and yanked, feeling it slice the tentacle as he freed it, taking a heavy step back to maintain his center of gravity. 

He thrust once more hitting the throat square on this time. The creature reared back unexpectedly, and Raffey had to step forward to maintain his grip on his spear. This brought him too close though, and a large tentacle slammed heavily into his exposed ribs, a pained groan escaping his lips. He'd barely held onto the spear, stepping forward quick enough to avoid the tentacle from wrapping around him. He kicked a foot against the creature's neck, to kick himself free and out of range. The creature stopped for some reason unknown to the monster hunter, giving him the opportune time. He pushed off his leg hard, landing on his back, spear free of the dead head's neck. The creature as a whole still seemed to be quite alive, and screaming in pain. That's when he noticed new tentacles, drenched in blood, smaller, coming out of the wounds. He stared curiously, before the creature sort of just... popped. Raffey was thrown, landing heavily on the cold grass, stunned, surprised at the grip that remained on his spear.

Where the creature once stood was a mass of [url=http://vignette4.wikia.nocookie.net/ebonfort/images/d/d6/Bloodvines.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20160104075811]red vines[/url], roughly the same size as the creature they'd been inside. The vines were covered in razor sharp leaves and what appeared to be long thorns. The speed at which they struck out at Raffey was intense, wrapping around him and his spear with ease, thorns embedding deep into his chest, arms, and back, him screaming in pain. He had to act fast, feeling his spear splinter against him. He let loose a shrill, high pitched whistle, one he'd trained into Dibney, but had never used before now.

The beetle understood, scooping up the nearest person, that happened to be Megumi, into the safety of her chitinous, sticky mouth, and sped off. The vines lashed out at the beetle, but were useless against her armor. The vines grabbed many of the herd creatures that were too slow, taking them down and ripping flesh and limb apart. One snaked around Halbera's horse, over her legs, lifting both. The knight could hear the air escape her horse's lungs as the thorns impaled it. Her legs were protected by her armor, but she was trapped. 

Then the creature stopped, lifting Raffey and Halbera (and her dead horse out). A group of people moved out of the trees, mostly on horses, at their forefront, a redheaded woman, her body covered in tattoos that looked similar to the vines the pair were currently caught in. [color=ed1c24][i][b]"Seems someone else was hunting our prey. That's not very nice. Luckily for you, I'm in need of slaves for trade. So you'll live."[/b][/i][/color] She smiled lovingly at the vines creature, before nodding at the hairfoot halfling standing next to her. Two quick blows from a dart gun, and the world turned dark for Halbera and Raffey.

Dibney ran until she was certain she was safely from the creature, before spitting Megumi out. She looked back, the giant mass of vines still visible, the people that had approached it small dots in the distance. She chittered sadly, sure that her master was dead. The aaenshi on his wolf spotted them and rode up to Megumi, [color=0054a6][i][b]"What in the hell is that thing?"[/b][/i][/color] He knew she probably had no idea, but he felt it needed to be said. Megumi's sharper eyes could see that a woman and Raffey were tied up and slung over horses, indicating that they were still alive. The vine creature disappeared into a little red woman, and the group on horseback began heading their direction.

Nervously, [color=2e3192][i][b]"We... we should hide,"[/b][/i][/color] already taking  off into the forest. Dibney nudged at Megumi, then lowered her head to let her climb up, before following suit. As the party passed the forest line, Dibney saw her master, and shook excitedly, but made no noise. Once they were well off into the distance, the aaenshi said the obvious, [color=2e3192][i][b]"Well, they are heading the same direction we needed to go anyways. Perhaps a rescue is in order. And Sheila here,"[/b][/i][/color] patting at his wolf, [color=2e3192][i][b]"Can keep up with this big gal, faster than any horses."[/b][/i][/color] 

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When Raffey and Halbera awoke, they were chained to posts so thick, they might as well be trees. They were near a fire, in the middle of a camp of their captors. Halbera's armor and weapons were gone, the pair of them only in their clothes and boots. This was their life for the next couple of tendays, until the day of the 24th of Jadeyan. On this day, they were led into a much larger camp, the rest of the tribe they assumed. During their imprisonment, they were treated well for the most part. They were fed, kept warm, but always chained to either a horse or a post. They were allowed to talk amongst themselves, but if they tried speaking to a tribe member, they were ignored. 

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Megumi and the aaenshi, who never gave his name, and their mounts had followed at a very safe distance, but never saw an opportunity to rescue their charges. They met little other trouble along the way, as anything dangerous was disposed of by the tribe they stalked. Once the group joined with the rest of the tribe, it all seemed hopeless, the aaenshi, suggesting that it was too late now.

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((Drache will be joining now, feel free to do as much posting either here or as separate stories up until the 24th. I'll post again for that, and continue on from there. :D))