Session Start: Sat Apr 06 13:30:20 2002 *** GMAmy changes topic to 'Grandia: New Horizons | Chapter 24.2: Feray Lude | Location: Tenkali Village, evening, July 4 | Lude Start' The rain drums a steady staccato on the roof of the little cottage Feray is staying in as she prepares for bed. It was a long relaxing/boring day, with little accomplished but a few plans made. Mitsuo seemed rather distracted, but the others were reasonably cheerful despite the weather... However, a sense of foreboding plagues Feray as darkness covers the jungle. * Feray shakes her head at the thought of Mitsuo's sudden moodiness and tugs off her boots, dropping them beside the bed with a dull thump. "...weird..it's like this group is infected with an angst virus...it jumps from Nate to Erel to Mitsuo..." The rain comes down hard, but inside it's nice and warm and dry, and Feray's bed, while a little odd at first, is quite comfortable. Last night she slept reasonably well; perhaps the nightmares won't return tonight, either... * Feray finally settles into bed and stretches out, sighing happily. "Mmm...nice....better than the forest floor...." * Feray quickly rolls over and grabs the pillow, nuzzling into it and closing her eyes... Sleep comes quickly, and for a time, it is restful. After a while, however, Feray's sleeping mind becomes fuzzily aware again. Opening her eyes, she hears a soft tapping on her door. ...ggnnzzh....go 'way....sleep now...talk later..... * Feray nuzzles harder into her pillow and scowls. The tapping grows louder, and she hears Nathan's voice outside. "Feray? Feray, wake up. I need to talk to you." * Feray blinks and sighs, pushing up and glaring sleepily at the door. "Blah. Alright, alright....this'd better be good, seafood boy..." * Feray slides from bed and heads to the door, opening it up... Nathan is standing outside the door, looking a bit wet from his walk through the rain to get here. He steps inside the door and looks at Feray with intense eyes and a soft smile. "Sorry to wake you, but I had to talk to you...I tried to make it wait, but I couldn't." * Feray shrugs a bit and chuckles, stepping back to close the door. "Alright. You look drenched. C'mon in." Nathan steps inside as she closes the door, shuffles his feet, and clears his throat. "Uh, Feray? I don't know if you've noticed, but we uh...we flirt a lot, right?" Sure, of course....but it's just play flirting, really.. * Feray furrows her brow, scratching the back of her neck. Nathan shakes his head. "Not to me." He grabs Feray's hand in both of his. "Feray, I love you, don't you see? I need you." * Feray wideyes. Uh....uh....huh....wha..? "I'm saying I love you, Feray. I had to come see you tonight, now, and tell you that. You do believe me, don't you?" * Feray stares in shock at Nathan's hands around hers. "B-but...Nate... I....we...we're just....." Suddenly Nathan looks at Feray and grins, then bursts out laughing. ...? What?! Nathan drops her hands, chuckling. "You believed me! Admit it!" * Feray exhales softly, the faint glimmer of hope in her eyes dying as quickly as it had entered. She swallows and manages a weak smile. "No way. You kidding me?" Nathan laughs again. "You're so easy to mess with, Feray. You know, you really are too eager. You don't say anything, but anyone can read your face. No man's going to want a woman like that, you know." .... * Feray scowls. "Well, good, then. I don't need a man to take care of me!" Nathan snickers. "Good, because you sure as heck aren't going to get one. Take my advice, Feray...stop throwing yourself at guys, okay? It's just not appealing. Sorry to say, you're not exactly the most feminine of women. If you DID want a man, well...good luck." He heads for the door. "G'night." He's still chuckling. ... The door closes behind him. * Feray 's scowling facade breaks and she tries to make sense of why Nathan would say that....she rubs her face and sighs.. "Feray....what did you expect?" * Feray stares at the door, looking confused and a little hurt... Something more, I guess... As the rain patters down, Feray notices in the dim grayish light of midnight that there is something strange, an odd feeling...and an unusual rasping sound, coming from outside the window. * Feray blinks out of her confused stare and frowns, tension racking her body. She creeps to the window slowly and looks outside... A huge, hulking shape is moving past through the trees. It's massive, about two stories high...black.......with eight legs. Suddenly it swings its head around to stare through the window at Feray, its beady black eyes about six feet away. * Feray stares and inhales sharply, a shiver running up her spine... Suddenly the thing's head swings about again, and it crashes away at a high speed, as if it spotted something. A moment later, there is a loud cry...Nathan's. ...! Nathan!!! * Feray grabs her sword and rushes out the door! Outside, on the platform where the ladder leads down the tree to the ground, Feray looks around for the monster. She sees it soon, a few trees away, just picking up Nathan in its claws. He screams, struggling, as blood pours down his side. * Feray swallows, terror flitting over her face. "N...Nathan...... .... .... ... hold on! I'm coming!" * Feray resolves herself and slides down the ladder, hitting the ground hard and sprinting forth! The monster turns to look at Feray disdainfully as she approaches. Nathan looks down, then coughs, choking up blood. "Feray, get out of here!" One hand turns into a crab's claw, and he slashes the leg that's holding him, dropping to the ground and rolling. Getting to his hands and knees, he coughs up more blood. No! You moron, you can't take this thing alone! Nathan growls at Feray. "I don't need your help, woman. Now get out of here before you get us both killed!" * Feray quickly heads for Nathan's side, intent on protecting him despite his words. "Shut up! You're the one so full of holes you look like a piece of cheese! I'm helping and there's nothing you can do about it!" Seeing Feray guarding Nathan, weapon in hand, the monster lumbers away. Almost leisurely, it reaches up to tear off the roof of a nearby treehouse. Screams sound from inside...one familiarly high-pitched. Erellisae? ...! Erel! * Feray looks down at Nate and then towards Erel's voice, panic fixing itself onto her features. The monster turns, now holding Erellisae in its pincers, the little mage girl squirming madly. It tosses her down on the ground, then reaches in for one of the house's owners. A scream and a crunching sound can be heard. * Feray shudders hard, her resolve wavering. * Feray shakes herself hard and rushes forward.. "Hey! Ugly! Leave them alone!" The monster turns, reaching down for Feray....but it proves to be a feint, as it suddenly rushes toward Nathan! He cries out as it scoops him up again, its pincer this time cracking his spine neatly in half with an audible snap. ...!! * Feray twirls and stares in horror.. N...Nate.. The spider drops Nathan's now limp body and heads for Erellisae. ...nnrr... * Feray snarls loudly and rushes to Erel's body, standing tall and waving her sword. The spider turns to her again. It's impossible to read its inhuman features, but if Feray didn't know better, she'd say it looked amused... * Feray shudders hard, her snarl faltering and a look of fear creeping onto her face.. ....l-leave...! Go away! The spider reaches down with one huge leg to sweep Feray aside from Erellisae! Erel struggles weakly to rise, but she can't... Erel!!! * Feray cries out and goes rolling in the dirt, clambering up and attempting to regain her footing to rush to Erel's aid.. But before Feray can reach her, the leg comes down on Erel, smashing her rib cage. Her hand shakes, then stills, inches from Feray's approaching feet. ...n.....no.. * Feray skids to a stop, whimpering.. The spider comes for Feray now, pincers snapping, its eight legs clicking... ...!! * Feray looks terrified as she realizes the spider is now coming for her....she attempts to turn and run but trips up in her own feet, falling into the muddy dirt. She scrambles desperately. "No!" The spider reaches down and picks her up, sharp claws digging into her as the blood pours freely down her sides. The air turns hazy, and her vision swims. She can feel another seizure coming on.... * Feray screams out and her breathing hitches as she begins to twitch hard, blood dribbling from her nose. "Please no please no please no go away...go away...GO AWAY..." * Feray's hands twitch hard and uselessly as she tries helplessly to pry herself free. The air becomes darker and mistier, and the feel of the pincers around her fades along with her other senses. She is spinning in blackness, falling and fading... Feray comes to huddled in a little ball, shivering. She is wedged in a crevice in some rock, in the middle of the jungle; there is no sign of the village anywhere. The rock only partly protects her from the rainfall, and water pours off of her in heavy rivulets; her clothes and hair are completely soaked. The sky is dark gray in the twilight before dawn, and the air is very chill... * Feray whimpers softly but doesn't uncurl, instead squeezing her damp hair in her hands harder and attempting to curl up tighter, shaking from the coldness and terror. Gradually Feray becomes aware that everything seems much more solid, more real now. She has a feeling that she was dreaming, but now she is not. This sensation grows as the minutes pass. ...nn...nhh.. * Feray surges up out of her position and slams her shoulder into a jagged piece of rock. She cries out and grabs the large nasty scratch. Her teeth grind together as she resists the urge to snap the rock apart with her hands, instead gazing around her in confusion and still fading terror.. Some few feet away is the overgrown entrance to what looks like an ancient doorway, carved from gray stone into intricate patterns. Vines and brush climb all over it, and the entrance is choked by foliage to a space just wide enough for one person to walk through. It looks recently disturbed... ...? How....how did I.. There is a strange prickling in the air...magic? * Feray furrows her brow and slides out of the small crevice, staggering a little....her hair has come undone and hangs loosely around her as she feels the tickle of magic on her flesh. ..gotta get out of the open.... * Feray shudders hard and heads for the doorway, hugging herself... There are footsteps here. Feray's experienced tracking skills tell her, even though the ground is half washed away by rain and the light is still very dim, that two sets of footprints are here. One looks like....a familiar pair of shoes. Mitsuo's, perhaps? Over his footprints are some very small animal pawprints... * Feray squints wearily and pauses for a moment, staring at the footsteps blankly. She reaches up almost nonchalantly and wipes the dribble of blood that snakes its way down from her nose. She sniffles a little. ....safety...safety in numbers... * Feray glances over her shoulder at the foliage and quickly heads inside.. Feray enters the ruins cautiously, the gray light of approaching dawn behind her... ==Session End== *** GMAmy changes topic to 'Grandia: New Horizons | Chapter 24.2: Feray Lude | Location: Tenkali Village, evening, July 4 | Lude End' Session Close: Sat Apr 06 14:51:00 2002