Final Five

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The rain was oppressive in its intensity, turning what could have been a pleasant hike into a slog through wet undergrowth and running water. At least it wasn't too slippery to be dangerous to progress, not that Runa didn't stop to catch her balance at times. The occasional barrage of hail was enough to get her to grit her teeth and grumble,but otherwise, the weather didn't seem to bother her that much.

Visibility was terrible, and there was a lot of noise just from the rain. Runa was, like everyone else, soaked to the skin, which had the unfortunate effect of rendering her outfit a little on the transparent and clingy side. Not that she seemed to notice. That she should be cold never even occurred to her, as her body readily adjusted to maintain a nice temperature and even the feeling of one.

"Eh!? Something's out here with us?" Runa asked, glancing around quickly. "I didn't have a clue." All the rain must have completely dulled her senses. It was just a little frustrating to think that she couldn't keep up even in such a situation. She took the offered umbrella easily enough. "Uh, sure, I can keep track of it." The damn thing wasn't doing much good, but someone had to hold it while Iphie got her gun ready. "So, uh, planning on protecting us from whatever's out there?" Not that she was worried. If it was just some animal, it wouldn't be a problem for any of them, and that rifle's probably a cleaner kill. Hell, if it were a bear, she'd even cheer Kyouko on in fighting it.

"I wonder if it even knows we're here."
 
The vegetation rustled for another moment as they continued to walk by, and in a spray of water and dirt, something big and green emerged from the earth. Like a tangled and yet organized mess of vines and armor-like fronds, the creature appeared as if nature had compressed itself into a tight and fierce form. The eyeless, beat-like plant launched out of the earth and onto the path before swiping a thick paw for Iphie. Tian's sense spiked the second before it had even made an appearance, however, and instantly found himself before the strike. It was fortunate he intercepted, as even with his great fortitude, the beast managed to smack his body with enough force to launch the young man ten feet backwards and into the mud.

Just as soon as it had appeared, the creature turned on its feet and dove right back into the soil, instantly blending into the very environment. Even as Tian recollected himself, he could still make out the periodic rustling of the vegetation around him, like a fish coursing through shallow water. He coughed up blood, and his chest was numb.
 
Tian-Gui smirked as Iphie brought out her hunting rifle, beads of water sliding off the side of the barrel. Intent on getting a good experience out of this after begrudgingly coming along for the hike, huh? Well, it'd be nice to get some meat-food, even if hunting without a permit might not be wholly legal. He wasn't certain why Kyouko was so against it though. After fighting Abyssals and interdimensional espers, why was she looking forward to wrestling a bear? Actually…could she even wrestle a bear the first place? The raven-haired youth couldn't deny that she was capable of doing a lot of damage, but at the same time, it had only been a week or so since Kyouko was swatted aside and knocked out by a swing of the Abyssal's limb.

"Don't worry, Runa, if it's just a bear, I'm s-"

A sense of dread shocked Tian-Gui out of his complacency, like taking an ice bath after a sweltering day. A blur of nature streaked through the foliage, too fast for Tian-Gui to match, too fast for a warning shout to matter. The floral beast closed in on Iphie, a trunk-like arm swinging with the bludgeoning force of a toppled tree. But though the sentinel was slow, he had already sensed its target before it struck. Knocking Iphie out of the way with a dive, the paw slammed into his ribcage, the snap of a twig sounding sharply as he was blown ten feet away.

The youth tumbled, bounced, and finally found his feet on the ground, spitting a sticky wad of blood out. It had disappeared once more, gliding unseen in the tall grass and gnarled trees, but that was a mistake. He knew of its strength now, and he was prepared. A streak of gold shone through the tattered rags that clung to his chest, as Flamestone covered him in his entirety, before shattering with the sound of a thousand window panes. Untouched by rain now, Tian-Gui took five quick steps back, his eyes shimmering with blue fire.

"Iphie, you can sense it too, right? Act as Kyouko and Runa's guide then. I'll protect all of you, and you three can take it down in my stead."

Yes, if this beast was normal, this may be good training after all. Tian-Gui's smile was hidden under his mask as he formed a defensive position.

Now come, Protector of the Wilds.
 
Iphie shrugged before handing off her small umbrella over to Runa. "Sure. It's a sporting matter though, I'm sure any of us can do more than a vintage gun can ever accomplish." Holding the rifle in a ready position, she scanned the rain-soaked foliage for any signs of movement, hopeful of finding some sort of game that could become their meal for the night. The sordid weather made it incredibly difficult for her to do so, and when the source of the noise crashed out of the ground unexpectedly, Iphie was completely unprepared.

Catching a glimpse of the leafy-green abomination, she only managed to stumble back, right into the direct path of the aggressive creature. She raised the wooden rifle in front of her for whatever meager protection that it might provide. Barely prepared for the strike, it was thankful that Tian had managed to intercept the beast as it made to hit Iphie, pushing her back as he did. Sputtering out an expletive as she watched the plant-like creature disappear, she fell back against tree, just barely avoiding avoiding the thick mud that would have completely destroyed her clothing. Recovering, she looked at the two other girls before looking back at Tian.

"What the bloody hell kind of wildlife is this? Are you alright, Tian?" she asked with some concern, as she backed up again against a tree. Looking apprehensively at the ground, she surveyed their position. She frowned; their predicament looked fairly dreadful. Seeing Tian recover and bring out Flamestone relaxed some of her tension a bit, and she nodded as he spoke.

"Right. We need to get to somewhere more tenable though."
 
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It was...certainly not what Kyouko expected, and considering how well it meshed with its surroundings, by the time Kyouko could have reacted, everything had been done anyways. Luckily for Iphie though, Tian was a real hero. Regardless, Kyouko actually let out a small gasp as even Tian, as unarmored as he may be, took some visible damage. "You alright, Tian?" She asked out of concern, but quickly put that thoughts aside as she realized they weren't out of danger yet.

"It's like a forest-shark-bear!" Giving a short explanation to Runa she now looked into Iphie's direction, awaiting her instructions. "It's not a bear, but we can still wrestle it!" And with that she obviously meant punching it really hard.
 
Runa jumped a good five feet into the air as the nearby vegetation burst into unexpected motion and something attacked the group. She didn't get a very good look at it, beyond the most general of features, which were enough to get one thing across. "Plants aren't supposed to move that way, damn it! It's gonna be hell to keep tabs on that thing as long as it can hide around here."

"We can still get it if we can catch it, yeah. here's hoping it doesn't have a bunch of vine-y tentacles or something. I hate that sort of thing." She moved to turn her back to some of the others, so they had eyes covering more places. "Where would be a better position, beyond out of the woods?"
 
The ground continued to wake as the creature slithered through mud and roots, circling about the group's position before once more surfacing in a spectacle of unrest. The creature launched into the air like a breaching dolphin, wooden claws outstretched before itself. It curved through the air, high above Runa. It's airtime afforded the girl enough of a second to step out of the way, leaving the creature to crash upon the wet earth where she stood. Out of the subterranean protection for a much longer moment, they bore witness to what had truly attacked them; a bear-sized monster, shaped not unlike a muscular tiger, made up solely of foliage and loosely-contained dirt. Its tail was a wild mess of individual vines thick and thin that twisted independently.

It made no sound as it stared them all down for a brief second, seemingly unsure of what to do. At any moment it could return to the mud, poised once more to strike from a sudden position.

-------------------------------------------------------​

"Oh she's so cute!" Amoix declared, throwing her hands into the air. The maid admired Otodete from a few feet away, quite obviously itching to strangle the young girl with a near-fatal hug. Mason scratched his chin and twirled at his mustache in turn, humming.

"Shouldn't she have parents?" Mason asked. He knew what the potential answer could be, but was just making sure, of course. While Amoix had no problem, the old butler was known for having a tough time dealing with young children. He was quite likely urging Jin-sun to get her back home or to a more child-friendly place, more than anything. The maid was too busy beaming over Otodete to register the gravity of what Mason actually asked; as it were, John's information indicated the girl's parents were undoubtedly dead.

Otodete clenched her fists around her hoodie and looked to the floor, unsure of what to make of the two new faces. She didn't seem inclined to cling to Jin-sun either, despite him being the only friendly personage she'd seen in months since her kidnapping. Mason gave a look of, 'What are you going to do with her?' to the cyborg. Blatantly.
 
Kyouko and Iphie's concern for his well-being was nice, but Tian-Gui was, at this point, too focused to respond outside of a quick thumbs up. The muddy surface combined with the unfamiliar terrain made it more difficult than normal to detect the whereabouts of the mysterious assailant. He was a metropolitan guardian, not a forest ranger, after all. Swivelling his head from side to side, partly just to laugh at his own lack of experience and preparedness, the armored giant vowed to do more forest simulations in the future, before turning his focus onto detection once more.

This time, however, their foe got the better of them completely, bursting out in an explosion of mud as it lead towards Runa. The tentacled hero leaped out of the way just in time, however, and it was only then, as the beast stood before them clearly, that Tian-Gui could form his first impressions on this protector of the wilds. It almost instantly reminded him of the golems that Majorana occasionally called into existence, constructs created from nearby materials, their forms enhanced with arcane power. The green tiger showed no signs of aggression at that moment, however, and Tian-Gui took initiative, bringing his hands to the side in a show of peace, or, at least, non-violence.

A golem, after all, must have a master, and thus…

"We've come here for a hike. I don't know who's your master, and frankly, I don't really care, but if you're willing to leave us in peace, then so shall we."

Then, Tian-Gui stopped, thought over what he said, and added a little tidbit.

"Of course, if this is how you greet every hiker in this park, it's the duty of the Final Fi- Four to put you down. Or maybe eat you, though I'm more of a meat-person. What about you, Iphie?"
 
Iphie made a distasteful frown as she continued trying to maintain her bearings on the situation in the forest's horrible conditions. She'd always much preferred metropolitan settings for many reasons, but fighting some monstrous plant-like ground hog in hurricane like weather had not been one of those, at least, not until now. Having been afforded a glimpse of the beast in its airborne attack on Runa, she observed the abomination in increasing displeasure. She noted its organic, golem-like nature, but did not marvel at its form nor at its potential master, as Tian had postulated; instead, in her irritation, she was judging its susceptibility to destruction by high voltage.

Shrugging at Tian's question, she pointed her weapon downwards, before making a crooked grin. "I prefer meat with my salad, stir fried." Letting static charge and crackle in between raindrops and her free hand, Iphigenia was ready to unleash hell from the heavens if the tailed monstrosity made any further moves towards them.

"Runa, better throw that umbrella away, now."

---

As the personal maid and childhood friend of Iphigenia, Chloe had seen her fair share of challenges in her own right, and weathered and even defended against scenarios that could be described as dangerous by the definition of the word. What she was not prepared for, ironically, was the sudden appearance of a small child, brought along by Mason and Amoix, and a surprise visit by one Jin-sun, a name she'd only seen before on paper and whose only relation to her was through virtue of employment. Acting solo, she prided herself as one of the best, but having only ever attended to a rather low-maintenance Iphie, the surprising amount of new and unknown guests was both out of left field and perhaps a bit out of her field. Thankfully, the fact that half of her guests were of the same profession did much to alleviate any concerns she had.

Instead of the more dapper-looking attire she wore when Runa first traipsed through the window, Chloe wore a somewhat more casual French-maid style getup today. In regards to new developments, she was woefully not clued-in and so elected to not participate much in the conversation of her guests, instead supplying them with ample tea and biscuits. She decided against questioning where they had snatched the young lady from, but took Amoix's sentiment to heart, although she was more reserved in expressing them.

When it finally came to discussing what to do with the girl, Chloe finally had some input. "It would seem the young lady should be the responsibility of Mr. Jin-sun, no? If that idea sounds distasteful, I can look through our own channels if your organization isn't equipped to do so, considering the misfortune of earlier this month."
 
Jin-Sun resisted the urge to groan as he rapidly motioned behind Otodete's back for Mason to stop talking. Not in front of the kid. The last thing any of them needed was for her to be potentially set off by any mention of her parents. Fortunately, he'd already had this conversation with John on the ride back to Shanhu. Even though her parents were dead, she still had relatives. However, considering that Heavyware was likely going to be looking for her, it would be a poor decision to put her back into public life or anywhere near official channels for the moment.

"Look, the problem is that Heavyware was experimenting on Otodete-chan, so they'll be actively searching for her. As such, she'll have to stay with us for the moment until we resolve this whole situation with the Thremonts." He paused for a moment. "Or at least, that's what I would say if the penthouse wasn't shot to pieces. I'd like to send her back to her grandparents, but that's likely the first place Heavyware is going to search for her. As such...could I trouble you to take her in for a while? At least until all of this blows over." Jin-Sun asked Chloe, nodding his head towards her.
 
Runa didn't stray too far from the creature, whatever it was, and had a nice, good look at it. About all she could think of it was summed up in a wail of "Things like you are supposed to be made of meat!" Vegetation and dirt couldn't just up and move around like some sort of predatory beast, unless this was all just a disguise. Or some weird magic thing she wouldn't be able to understand. Whatever, it wasn't a ghost, so they could still kill it.

Tian and Iphie were discussing eating it, so she had to chime in. "Too much dirt, but it's probably edible anyway." Never the picky eater, as usual. She did glance between Iphie and the umbrella she was still holding, as if to as "you sure?" but eventually did fold it up and toss it aside. "Not like it'd do us any good now, anyway."
 
This time, the time it attacked Runa, Kyouko was able to get a good look at the monster. Having never seen something like this before, she gaped in awe, it was a bear-vine-forest-shark-mutation-thing! Or something. Definitely not biological, so it was not tasty, and Kyouko wasn't too keen on confirming her doubts. Regardless, the monster now ceased its attack.

Kyouko didn't think too deeply about some golem master shennanigans or whatever, if it followed its instincts to protect its territory or had somebody who could actually understand them, in either cases it didn't seem 100 percent firm on killing them; and Kyouko wanted to avoid losing as many lives as possible.

Carefully taking a step closer to the beast, she awaited its reaction: Nothing. "It's all good. We won't hurt you..." Continue trying to calm it down, as if it was not controlled by someone else, Kyouko managed to get closer and closer, until finally, she was able to stretch out her hand and touch it. A grave mistake. The moment her skin touched the apparently animated construct, it came back to live, not hesitating even a second to lash out after Kyouko.

The bestial swipe was slow, slower than it should have been, maybe Kyouko was lucky? Or maybe the beast was just very unlucky? She couldn't know, as regardless of how slow the beast slashed, Kyouko perceived it at fast nonetheless. Barely moving her legs, the Brunette moved her upper body back instinctively as the powerful blow barely grazed her. Kyouko could feel the wind passing past her face as parts of dirt and rubble sprayed onto her bare skin. The sound of heavy raindrops became lighter and lighter as it slowly dawned upon her: How easy she could have died. And if that was the case, then why, just why was she standing there now, dumbfounded?
 
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