Rue remained silent as they approached the gathering with her bow still drawn. She scanned the group of children to see if there was any more fearful beings amongst them as she waited for further instructions or knowledge from Thirteen.
Nuala is here, yes...waiting in the shadows. I do not recommend trying to track her down, she'll be impossible to find in the dark. No, you must be ready for her to reveal herself at an opportune time.
The orange glow intensified, and the pumpkins surrounding the children lit up.
The Horseman rides! The Horseman rides! The Horseman rides again!
The Pumpkin Scarecrow in the middle came to life, it's straw body moving of its own volition, wielding two shadow covered sickles. An inhuman cackle resonated from within the mask, and the children broke their circle, picking up the glowing pumpkins and wearing them on their heads. Strange shrill noises came from them as if possessed by dark spirits.
Kiga wasn't about to stand about and discuss the matter, Thirteen sounded all too urgent. That and someone needed to test what they were up against - and he would do so gladly.
He broke from the small group and his hands waved over his hips, knives now between each finger. He ran low, strangely low toward the ring of children - and then with a circular blast of air, took to the sky. He flpped and folded, arcing to soar over the ring of children dancing around the headsman. He spun as he dropped, arms whipping each knife at the demon in the center of this bizarre ritual. He said nothing, the predatory scream of a raptor on his lips.
Venom looked towards the remaining group with a concerned look upon his face.
We can't all run in and start fighting. It may be a trap, and not to mention we must wait till Nuala shows herself if we want to save these children. I'm sure Kiga and Captain Mikael can take care of themselves for now. Keep your eyes open for that witch. Any sign of her, please let me know.
Venom looked towards the darkness, trying to spot the witch. His body was dying to join the fight, but he thought it was best to keep the group split in order to keep everyone alive, including the children.
Post by John Harding on Oct 27, 2011 5:19:05 GMT -5
Kiga seemed to have been thinking the same as Jonah; take out the head scarecrow and (theoretically) the children should be released from their trance. Well it was worth a try. But Venom also had a point about remaining weary, so the tribesman compromised and ran towards the circle of children, attempting to remove a glowing pumpkin from one kid's head.
The scarecrow cackled as it raised it's arms upwards, commanding a swarm of large black birds with red eyes emitting an equally terrible shrill as Kiga's. A few birds caught the ninja's knives, falling to their deaths as the rest attacked Kiga with their beaks and talons, clawing and snapping. This bought Margrett enough time to run between the pumpkin children, managing to connect against the scarecrow, knocking it back. Straw shot out from it's body, but it was otherwise unscathed. It roared a sick croak and nimbly returned the Captain's advance, stepping with it's long limber straw legs and gracefully spinning the sickles around it's body, slashing in an X formation.
The kids did not respond favorably, calling Jonah and Chaz's names, their pumpkins refusing to come off however hard they tried. The children tried grabbing them, holding spare pumpkins for their heads, begging them to join, that the horseman was coming. Thunder boomed as lightning cracked the sky again. Nuala's laughter wasn't far, but she remained in the darkness watching.
Post by John Harding on Oct 28, 2011 5:23:18 GMT -5
Wait - no - kids - STOP -
Jonah's rescue attempt didn't appear to be going as smoothly as he'd hoped, and now he was trying to get the children off of him as they made to pull the tribesman down to their level; he didn't want a pumpkin for a head (however humorous it might look).
Chaz, I don't - think this - is working -
But what could they do that wouldn't hurt the children?
In a vain attempt to forestall a pumpkin-crown coronation, Jonah reached for one kids waist and made to throw him over his shoulder, where the little hooligan would be less of a nuisance. Pumpkin heads or not, Jonah would drag these children back to Wistvale, kicking and screaming if he had to.
Last Edit: Oct 28, 2011 5:25:20 GMT -5 by John Harding
Margrett had taken her shield with her, luckily, and one of the blows was caught on it. The other connected, hitting her chest and almost knocking her back. She recovered and braced her legs and, head low, spun once at the scarecrow, trying to knock out its feet from under it.