EnterTheHero

Hunters of Remnant: Bleeding Hearts

@Tergonaut Oh, I agree! That's why I hope people join in on your idea!

Hunters of Remnant: Bleeding Hearts

@Tergonaut Interesting idea, let me know how it pans out.

Hunters of Remnant: Bleeding Hearts

@Ryuji Sakamoto We can talk about it, if you want. Previous association is up to player discretion.

Hunters of Remnant: Bleeding Hearts

First IC post is up!

Hunters of Remnant: Bleeding Hearts

Huntsmen and Huntresses Wanted

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On any other day, the settlement of Vasim would have been somewhat beautiful in the gold-and-orange light of sunset, the desert winds more gentle and warm than scathing and scouring, the last glimmers of the day filtering through the buildings and alleyways, as the people of the town returned to their homes. On this day, however, the beauty of the sunset only served to contrast the horror in the streets, illuminating row upon row of bodies, the jagged hole in the wall through which the Grimm had finally penetrated through their defenses, and the blood spattered across the sands.

The sirens still wailed, with no one to turn them off, drowning out the shuffling and snarling of the few Grimm still scavenging their way through the remains of the once-prosperous settlement. If any survivors were left, they would have either run for the hills hours ago, or, worst-case scenario, found somewhere to hole up and pray for the Grimm not to find them.

The bodies of Vasim’s former residents lay strewn over stands and crates, hanging in windows, lying in doors, and through the various holes that had been created in the walls and homes. Slashes and punctures were gouged out of their bodies. Several were tossed aside, with deep, round wounds taken from their shoulders, stomachs, or heads. Despite the pools of blood gathering on the ground in the dusty, desolated town, motes of dust creating shafts of failing light, the most eye catching red was the telltale mark on the back of a white jacket on a body lying face down on the ground...

---

All in all, thought Raye, as he observed the carnage from a dune some distance away, a pretty normal day in Vacuo. He sighed tiredly as he gazed through a pair of binoculars, keeping a tally of the Grimm he could see, knowing there were likely more lurking in the shadows. His mouth twisted as he realized there were more Grimm about than there should be. Bigger than they should be, too. He cursed as he witnessed the tail end of a black snake body trailing away, the tail alone the size of a couple train cars. Way too big for just a normal Taijitu…

Fuck. That’s a big snake. Great. Vasim really hadn’t had a chance, if something of that caliber was out and about. Still, there was one silver lining, of sorts: it was still here. Which meant it could still smell something it wanted in the town. Logical conclusion, there were still people in the town. Somewhere.

The bad news is that Raye now had to go in and find them before they got eaten. Sigh… the things I do for Lien… Raye put down his binoculars, then pulled out his Scroll, reading over the distress call that brought him here, when Vasim was attacked. It wasn’t very hopeful, however- mostly just a request to wipe out the Grimm in kind, and perhaps pay their respects to the fallen. No mention of searching for survivors.

Until now, thought Raye, tapping a command into his Scroll, and raising it to mouth level. “Emergency Broadcast HQ, this is Hunter Raye Solaire. Large Grimm presence verified in the settlement of Vasim. Too many for just scavengers, they’re looking for something. Possible survivors within city limits; will update with new information as needed.”

He hung up, then, hoping it would take less than a few hours for the message to go through and relayed out. He didn’t want people just randomly shooting up the place if there were still civilians in the crosshairs. Pocketing his Scroll, Raye reached down and hefted Prominence, gazing out at the rapidly-darkening desert around him. With any luck, there would be more Hunters on their way here soon. As good as he was, he couldn’t handle a whole city full of Grimm on his own. I’ll still try, though, he thought, grimacing. Without hesitation, he called upon his Aura and jolted into the sky, in the direction of the town, camouflaged by the light of the setting sun...

---

@Rune_Alchemist@Eisenhorn@Ryougu@Tergonaut@Ryuji Sakamoto@Sho Minazuki@floodtalon@Mercurial@MasquedMartyr@Afro Samurai@AtlasRize

Persona - The True Self

Mako Moritomi//Seto, Hyuga, The First Step - Fields Trail, Hut

Thursday, July 23, 2015

---

Mako had to admit- he was expecting perhaps a little more of a reward from this endeavor. Sure, those Shadows were pretty easy to deal with, but that was probably only because all of them were so powerful in the first place- maybe. He actually wasn't certain how powerful they were in comparison to others, but he was certain it was at least substantial. Regardless, such thoughts were off-topic- they had rewards to dole out, such as they were. And they were...

"...Cards?" echoed Mako, incredulous. "Seriously?" Something of a downer, if he was being honest. Oh, well. This was some weird fantasy world; maybe they did something interesting here? He took the card proffered to him and turned it over, glancing at the illustration on the other side. He shivered as he felt something well up within him as he looked, some new power. He exhaled as he went over his newfound understanding of the cards. Rakunda... a defense-decreasing skill? But I already have something like that. Not to mention better... He was probably being too harsh. Debilitate was a hard skill to match, and they were only a short way into Seto at the moment. Perhaps there were better rewards deeper in.

"We should keep an eye out for more of these," he remarked to his allies, indicating the card. "We may not have gotten anything too impressive this time around, but I'd be willing to bet that there are cards with more oomph to them."

With that, they continued on their way, in the direction of the larger Shadow. Mako's attention was grabbed by movement from above- Zeke, probably, waiting to provide fire support.

"I think we should save it," said Mako, assessing the situation. "Depending on how powerful this Shadow is, I don't want to waste too many of our abilities on something that isn't worth it. I think we should make the first strike. On that topic..."

He turned toward Ryan and Samuru. "I'll take point on this one. I'll hit it with a Debilitate, then you two can follow up with your attacks. After that, Sato and I will hang back and bombard it with our spells. With any luck, we can destroy it without too much effort. Is that acceptable to all of you?"

@Sen@Letter Bee@floodtalon

Persona - The True Self

Mako Moritomi//Seto, Hyuga, The First Step - Fields Trail, Hut

Thursday, July 23, 2015

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Mako clenched his fists tightly as they began to move in on their targets. It would be good to get some exercise, no matter what the subject of his ire would end up being. He did raise an eyebrow, however, as they approached, and the Shadows took on forms that he hadn't seen before. Odd. How many varieties of Shadow were there? These ones could even talk! Not that that meant much- his own Shadow could speak, too, and... well... that was a nightmare.

He stepped forward, weapons at the ready, when New Guy decided to try and reason with the Shadows. While a novel concept, it was ultimately pointless- the Shadows began mobbing the rookie, trying the damnedest to rip him apart. Thank the gods his Persona seemed designed to tank hits. New Guy eventually got the hint, calling forth his Persona to slash at the enemies, killing one instantly. Ryan summoned his own Persona, looking far more glorious than before (he'd mentioned it had changed, but damn- that was impressive) and annihilated one of the remaining two with a wind spell. Mako grinned. My turn. An ethereal Tarot card appeared before him briefly, before being slashed into shards by his hatchet, calling forth Israfil in a roar of energy.

"Let's go, Israfil! Freeze 'em!" Israfil stabbed forth with its trumpet-lance, calling forth a Bufudyne, causing crystalline branches of ice to erupt forth underneath the third and final Shadow, impaling it and killing it nigh-instantly. Satisfied, Mako turned toward the new kid as Israfil faded away.

"Look, guy. I realize you may have thought what you did was a good idea, but these things? They don't negotiate. They can talk sometimes, sure, but either they're trying to kill you, or beat an epiphany out of you. There's no middle ground. So if you try to make nice with the solidified dark urges again, I'm gonna slap you upside the head. Understand?" With that, he turned to his other two companions, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well... that was painfully easy. Shall we check and see what's in the hut?"

@Sen@Letter Bee@floodtalon

Persona - The True Self

Mako Moritomi//Seto, The First Step

Thursday, July 23, 2015

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Mako, at Sato's suggestion, looked down at their options. As much as he'd like to prove his skills against the larger Shadow, it was probably a bad idea to just charge in against a possibly-dangerous opponent. On the other hand, if it was sufficiently powerful, maybe it would be best to get it out of the way first, without wearing themselves down on the mobs. He tapped his foot. Decisions, decisions...

Just as Mako was about to open his mouth to offer his suggestion, it appeared that Ryan and Samuru were keen on answering for him, both advocating going after the mobs. Hmm. Well... he did need a warm-up, before the exercise, he supposed. He gripped the chain in his right hand a little tighter, same with the hatchet in his left. His mouth twisted slightly- he really should get some better weaponry. Maybe he could get some gauntlets from the Velvet Room, or elsewhere in here...?

"Well, I guess I'm outvoted. We go clear out the mobs, then, I guess." He turned toward Sato. "If that's alright with you?"

Hunters of Remnant: Bleeding Hearts

@Rune_Alchemist This Monday is the deadline I've set for myself. I'll have an IC up by then, hopefully.

Persona - The True Self

Mako Moritomi//Seto, The First Step

Thursday, July 23, 2015

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After exchanging information with Ryan and Samuru (just in case- he couldn't rely on Rui all the time, after all), Mako began to follow Sato to their destination, shivering lightly as he glanced around the corrupted version of Warakuma around them. He didn't suppose he'd ever really get used to all of this... whatever this was. There were perks, sure, but they didn't make up for almost dying. Mako raised an eyebrow at Ryan's statement about his Persona- seemed like there was something new about this power they held.

Our Personas can change? Fancy that. I wonder what that entails... As he was pondering this fact, another topic of conversation was brought up by Samuru. Mako turned toward them to throw in his own thoughts on the subject.

"I was running an investigation of my own, before I joined these guys. No one who the team has rescued has been targeted again. Whether that means the cult thinks they've already accomplished their 'mission,' or they're afraid of police intervention on a repeat target, they don't seem to want to risk it at all. If they do try it, though..." Mako flexed his right hand, the links of the chain wrapped around it clinking and straining against each other quietly, "...I'll finish what I started the last time they tried to take me." A small, vicious part of him, left over from his Shadow, took pleasure at the thought of that. He smirked unpleasantly.

"Whatever the case, Samuru, I don't think we really have cause to worry, anywhere but in here. But in here? We're the dangerous ones. Fun turnabout, wouldn't you say?" As he was finishing his statement, Mako noticed their surroundings. Particularly the huge torii, and the stairs underwater just behind it. Curious. Did someone's Shadow spawn this? Or is it something else? His surprise and confusion was only enhanced as the group walked down the stairs toward their destination.

"Hopefully we can get some good training in, while we're here. Not just because of the cult- I'd like to try and see what those 'meals' at the Velvet Room entail. With the rewards they grant, I'd imagine there's quite a challenge to getting them." He locked eyes with Sato, waiting for his lead, considering he'd been here before.