VG Rumble

"No," Luke said, "we have to go this way." He steered the cart down the left track. "Everyone stay still. These tracks are old, if the cart rocks too much we may fall off."

They passed over an old bridge over a large chasm. The chasm was about a mile wide, and no matter how hard they looked they couldn't see the bottom.

"Wow, that sure is big," Izuki said, leaning over the edge of the cart.

Luke lightly pushed her away from the edge. "No one knows how deep this chasm is. I rather we not be the ones to find out."

A roar tore them away from the bottomless pit. They saw an orange glow from across the chasm. A feral creature stood on the cliff edge, its mane blazing with fire. It had the head of a lion and the body of a bear. It had long horns and red fur.

"What is that!?" Karana yelled.

Luke answered her. "It's the Esper!"

The fiery beast opened its mouth and shot a fireball at the cart from across the chasm. Luke held out his hand and shot a ball of void to deflect the attack. The two elements crashed into each other and sent a shockwave through the cavern that nearly threw the cart off the tracks. The minotaur creature shot another ball of fire, this time aiming at the tracks ahead. The bridge exploded in a blaze of fire, wood and metal.

Everyone except Luke screamed as the cart hurtled toward the end of the bridge. Luke shouted, "Everyone, jump!" when the cart flew off the tracks. Everyone did what they were told, but Luke was the only one who grabbed onto the bridge in time. He watched in horror as his comrades plummeted to their deaths.

(Of course, no one's actually DEAD, I'm not that cruel. But everyone will be separated, though. This'll be a good chance to see what everyone's characters can do on their own.)

Oooh, an interesting idea. Raven is using her level one holy in the following post just in case it's unclear.

Raven

"Everyone jump!" Luke shouted. Izuki let out a soft cry of fear and I pushed her gently towards the edge, encouraging her to jump before I followed; the last out of the cart. For a second I held the foolish belief that I would make it but it was too late and my only consolation was that Luke had made it. Survived to face the beast alone. I lost sight of him as I plummeted through the dark and neither could I see the others. I could only hope that we'd all meet a swift fate.

At the beginning of the fall I was terrified and then I became almost paranoid, expecting the impact to come every other minute but it didn't and eventually I passed into an almost peaceful, tranquil state of mind. It wouldn't be so terrible to fall forever, would it? Gradually I felt something building up in me and I suddenly knew what to do. I unleashed the magic inside of me and in a blinding white light, I felt my descent slow as if the air around me had thickened but no, it was more than that. I could feel a pressure at my shoulder as though some invisible creature had me in its arms and was beating its silent wings against the force that pulled me down.

Not enough to halt my fall but perhaps to prevent my death? And I had a feeling that my magic had spread further than I could see. Perhaps it would be enough to save us all. But how incredibly tired I felt. My eyes could not latch on to the wispy light. They refused to remain open and at last I allowed them to fall, only awaking when I landed with a soft thud that echoed through the cavern. I did not have to endure the pain of my bruised body for long before I drifted into unconsciousness.

Luke pulled himself onto the bridge. He had let his friends fall to their deaths. He would have time to mourn later, right now he had to find a way out of there. If that creature was indeed an Esper he would have no hope to defeat it on his own.

The beast let out another roar as it shot flames at Luke from its perch on the other side of the chasm. Luke cast multiple balls of void to redirect the paths of the flames. The balls acted somewhat like vacuums that pulled on the flames as they came by, causing them to miss Luke.

He quickly tried to think of a way out. He might be able to go the way he came and get Ilum. He shook the thought away, he was too far away from where they last saw Ilum.

A thought occurred. It was too far for him to jump to the other side of the broken bridge, but if he used his void magic the same way he used it to redirect the flames he may be able to get to the other side.

Luke held his hand toward the Esper and cast a massive lightning spell that caused the beast to stumble. Using the moment of distraction he pointed his hand toward the ceiling. As soon as he cast his void spell he jumped as far as he could. As he began to fall he wondered if he made a mistake and would pay for it with his life.

Then the void ball imploded, and the force of the implosion pull Luke up. His body slammed into the side of the bridge, knocking the wind out of him. He climbed up the broken bridge as fast as he could as ran to safety. The Esper let out another roar and shot a fireball. The fire hit the bridge just behind Luke. If he had been any slower, he would have suffered the same fate as the others. As luck would have it, he made it to the other side.

Hmm...this oughta be fun, and interesting! lol Time to play with my ice powers!

Karana

I leapt, not knowing whether I would survive or not. But it was the only option I had...to jump and see what awaited me at the bottom.

Please, just not death! Anything but death!

I thought of Ilum as I fell...and I fell for a long time.

Then, out of nowhere, as if it was a part of this darkness, a slope greeted me. I hit it hard, and rolled. I cried out when my shoulder and sides cracked against rough edges of rock, and I continued to roll.

Instinctively, I put my hands out to break further falls, and my fingers brushed the stones.

I gasped as something happened. I felt weaker, lighter, and I was sliding...I slid along the rest of the slope, gradually speeding up as the angle of the slope slowly steepened before dramatically leveling out again. I slipped off of this strange, unexpected surface and rolled several more feet along the cold rocks, where I just lay...

I lay still, letting the pain from the fall slowly subside. My shoulder throbbed, but I could still move it; it wasn't broken. My ribs just ached; I could breathe fine.

It was this weariness that I couldn't recover from. I was tired, but I didn't know why? Had I hit my head? Had I lost blood?

I stretched, and my fingers settled on a cold, damp surface. I lifted my hand and felt of my fingers...they were so cold, they felt wet.

I ignored the protest of my energy, and created a small ball of fire to hold in my hand.

Ice. Ice stretched from the peak of the slope, which must have been a good seventy feet above me, all the way down to just in my reach.

I'd frozen the ground to save me from the fall, from more pain...

And there, just to the left and barely distinguishable, was a tunnel.

And I was alone.

Perfect.

(An interesting bit of information. There's actually a reason why I gave you ice powers. When Karana used Unity with Ilum their powers merged with each other, and when they turned back to normal they gained a spell that the other had. So if Luke uses Unity with Raven, he'll get either water or healing and she'll get either lightning or void.)

Oh wow, now that's an opportunity I look forward to!

Raven

I could not tell you how much time passed before I realised that I was awake again. I tried to open my eyes and realised they already were open - the light was gone. I touched my arm and my fingers glowed faintly as I concentrated on healing the bruises there but, though they faded, the pain and wound were barely diminished. The same occurred when I repeated the attempt on the rest of my body.

Groaning, I shifted on the rock floor, trying to avoid the occasional spike that lay there.

"Hello?" I called softly. The word echoed around the cavern until it was distorted, the original meaning lost and no reply came. Alone.

"Aaargh," I cried out as I tried to stand, only to find a jagged cut to one leg. I fumbled in the dark, located a large piece of cold rock and sharply pulled it out. The attempt to heal it was partially successful in that the bleeding stopped but standing on one leg with no tangible wall within reach was getting me no where so I lowered myself to the ground and began to crawl.

--Random Encounter!-- (Luke)

x3 Kobloids

(Hey, can we have our own random encounters? Or are you going to give them to us, as usual?)

(Either way is fine.)

Luke was barely out of the fire when he jumped right back into the frying pan. He heard small voices coming from further down he tunnel. He used his shadow spell to avoid detection just before three Kobloids skittered into view. They stood about as high as Luke's waist and they each carried little pitchforks.

Luke knew how these creatures operated. Alone, in small groups such as this they were easy to kill, but if you're not quick enough they'll alert other Kobloids to your position. Pretty soon you'll find yourself up against an army of these tiny creatures.

Luke came up to the first one. With a quick flip of the wrist he lobbed off the creature's head with his sword. Once he had attacked his shadow spell wore off and he was completely visible to the enemy. Before the other two Kobloids could react he fried one of them with his lightning magic. The last Kobloid turned tail and ran, obviously leaving to alert its fellow Kobloids. Luke pulled out a throwing knife and, using the same momentum he used to pull it out, threw it into the creature's back.

Once all the creatures were dead he made his way through the tunnels, silently.

Raven

I crawled slowly over the rocks, reaching out ahead to pat the ground before me. I figured that if I headed in a constant direction I was bound to find a wall sooner or later and then it was just a case of keeping one hand on the wall and following it to the exit, right? Apparently it's not that easy.

For almost an hour I crawled along in my estimation of a straight line until I reached out before me and found only air. I wriggled back, away from the edge and turned to the left before forging on. This time the ground ran out much sooner. Once more I turned left, now breathing heavily and covered in cuts, bruises and, presumably, black soot. I suppose not being able to see how bad you look is one benefit of a lack of sight.

I could hardly believe it when my fingers brushed against a wall just a few minutes later. I moved so that I could rest with my back against the wall and looked up. Through the shadows I thought I could make out a patch of lighter dark but my eyes had been straining for so long that I doubted it.

Karana

The tunnel was just the beginning of a long chamber. The torches had been burned out ages ago, I could tell, and it seemed as if nothing had passed through here.

But I could hear things, hear faint noises...

I couldn't help but wonder what I would encounter.

*Sorry, all I got...*

--Random Encounter!-- (Karana)


x2 Kobloids

(Forgot to post this after my fight.)


Luke gained level 2 Shadow!

Current Abilities:

Ilum:
Level 3 Ice
Level 1 Fire
Level 1 Gravity (Advanced)
Level 1 Burst of Strength (Skill)

Karana:
Level 2 Fire
Level 3 Lightning
Level 1 Ice
Level 1 Meteor (Advanced)
Level 1 Burst of Speed (Skill)

Raven:
Level 3 Healing
Level 1 Water
Level 1 Holy (Advanced)
Level 1 Empathy (Skill)

Warren:
Level 3 Wind
Level 1 Lightning
Level 1 Time (Advanced)
Level 1 Enhanced Sight (Skill)

Luke:
Level 3 Lightning
Level 1 Void
Level 1 Earth (Advanced)
Level 2 Shadow (Skill)
Leviathan (Summon)

Izuki:
Level 1 Void
Level 1 Unlock (Skill)

Karana

I heard them before I saw them. Little creatures only as tall as my hips, scampering around noisily with pitchforks in hand.

These should be easy to finish off. What they were, I had no clue, but I knew I couldn't risk letting one go. That would give away my position...wherever that is.

I pressed my back to the wall near the corner. They would come around it any moment...and then I would strike. A strong fire spell should finish them off...

I waited...

And waited...

Were they stalling? I peeked around the corner, moving only a fraction.

The weapon hit the side of the tunnel, spraying shards of rock on me. I yelped, and the creatures called. Great!

I had to hurry. They were scampering away!

I put my hand flat against the rock, letting magic flow into it, and fire leapt, engulfing them, before they reached the end of the tunnel.

I singed the bodies again with a quick burst of lightning, then I was speeding away. I had to get out of there in case I had drawn attention.