Forest of the Bewitched

[~Sukichu~]

Mysterious disappearances have been happening over the past few years and little to no one can explain how or why this has happened. Recently, a nearby church decided to conduct an investigation of the forest and sent one of their well known priests to examine as much as possible then return with any knowledge they could find and present it to the church to give them even a small idea as to what might have happened to the people. The priest that had been sent into the forest had not been seen or heard from since being sent out and the church is now looking for candidates willing to wander inside this forest in search of the priest as well as the many others that have gone missing.

You come across a billboard and one of the papers stapled onto it reads:

"Help requested: 

Brave souls who are willing to step foot inside the woods off the path behind the church, we are in search of one of our members that we sent off a few days ago to investigate that has not shown up since alongside the people who have already disappeared within the confinement of the forest. If you feel you are qualified to do so, please stop by the church before making your way into the forest, so we may have record of your deeds."

Reward(s):

- Up for discussion with the church members.
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(Continuing from the last post in the thread on OD!!)

The figure let out a small noise of uncomfort, hearing one of the other party members call out in their direction. "I would like to stay where I am, thanks." it replied.

"Looks like someone is a little shy~" Serene said in response, a little smirk falling on her facial features. "It's not like any of us are gonna bite as far as I know, so you're kinda safe to come out and join the party." She added.
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"I will be going with what this young woman here said, you have no reason to feel the need to hide yourself from us, unless you have something of your own you wish to hide. In that case, we should be a bit respectful." Youko spoke up while Alurora turned her head towards where she heard the sound.

"What do you think Red? Do you sense anything off?" Alurora quietly asked the fox that had now popped its head out from her shirt and let his ears twitch before looking up at Alurora and making a noise that sounded slightly cautious. "Huh... alright then!" She murmured to herself in reponse.

 

[Freak]

"She's a demon. That's why she's hiding." Oriko grit his teeth as he turned to the stranger. "I suggest you show yourself, since you seem to be up to no good."

"Demons?" Rena got into a fighting position, ready for anything. "I'm sorry if I have to beat you up!"

 

[~Sukichu~]

"I wouldn't go and point any fingers just because I decided to stay hidden since I have no reason to trust any of you, I'm not the one whose causing the issue with this forest." the figure said before hesitantly stepping out of where it had been hidden; a girl now making herself known. "Have you not already sensed what is in that forest? That's why I was trying to go quietly and investigate, but then I stepped on a twig and here we are.." She said, somewhat timidly keeping herself purposefully distanced away from everyone.

"For those with the ability to pick it up, it might not be that difficult to catch on, but for those of us who aren't so lucky, how are they supposed to know? That would be pretty much leading them into a trap that one person knew about, but expected the other to know." Serene said.
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"Is it not just an evil spirit in the forest? I would send Red here in there to investigate, but hearing what I did from the church member, I don't want to send him in there alone." Alurora spoke up, turning an uneasy glance towards the forest. "It would probably be smarter for people to go in as a group..." She added.

"I felt some sort of presence coming from the forest, but I couldn't quite nail down what it could be.... I would think our best course of action at this point would to be go and investigate. She spoke up, looking at the now gathered group. "As for how exactly we all will be doing this, that will be left up to everyone going into the forest as individuals." She finished.
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Within the heart of the woods, the figure of a female sat cross legged on the ground with her eyes shut, but almost immediately opened them and turned towards the direction of the entrance to the forest, putting the smallest of smirks on her face, she went back to closing her eyes as if she was concentrating on something and wished to not be disturbed in her task. 'It looks like some stronger souls have come to investigate... this will be beneficial or harmful, depending on how I approach this situation.' She thought to herself.

 

[Raditz]

Seems he ain't too fond of demons. Definitely not letting you out. Seto thought.

Maybe let me at him after we help this pathetic church? Mokuba asked.

Nope. Seto smiled.

He looked at the group.

"Well, can't stand around here all day. I'll be heading in there." Seto said as he started walking towards the forest entrance.

 

[LoopyPanda]

Asuza had stayed quiet hearing everything. Without much of a shift in her expression, she began to follow Seto, wary of the others.

Quite the rag-tags here... She thought absentmindedly.

"If nobody's returned then there's a possibility they're either held captive or their bodies are dumped somewhere nearby." Asuza proposed aloud, keeping next to Seto. "Power in numbers I suppose. Though if it's attracting otherworldly beings like that, maybe we've got some black magic at work?.... Hm..."

 

[Freak]

"Well, the last time I let a demon keep on hiding, they tried to kill me later." Oriko spoke to the demon hiding in the bushes before nodding his head. "And yes, I do sense that other presence. Two of them, to be exact." He then turned to Seto. "I can sense it, the demon residing in you. Keep him in check so I don't have to stick an arrow through your chest. As for how we'll approach this, I'll go in by myself. I can handle it."

"You all seem really powerful, so I'll just follow you all!" Rena cheerfully remarked. She seemed to completely forget about the person hiding in the bushes.

 

[Raditz]

Seto's eyes turned blood red and he grew a smirk on his face. He looked at Oriko.

"I'd like to see you try, ass****." Mokuba laughed.

Suddenly his eyes returned to their normal green color.

"Oh crap, I'm so sorry." Seto said. "My friend is really rude sometimes.... most of the time." Seto scratched the back of his head and had an embarrassed smile.

He then looked at the group then back to Oriko.

"And I'm sure you can handle it judging by your wings and really really weird energy. Friends of mine have similar energy but let's not get into that." he chuckled. "So, um, yeah, like I said, I'm sure you can handle it but all of us came here to help so it's a group effort. That cool with you?" Seto gave Oriko a wink and a thumbs up.

He looked at the group and grinned.

"Yeah, we're cool, let's go." Seto started walking again but then looked at the girl who had been hiding most of the time. "You too, don't be shy." 

Seto then turned his head to Asuza as she spoke.

"Black magic, eh? Well, doesn't sound too crazy I think." he chuckled.

 

[Freak]

"This is a group effort, which is why I'm going alone. If I have the power to handle it myself, why decrease the speed that we can operate by sticking to a large group?" Oriko flew in the direction of the forest, to scout ahead for the group.

"Well, why don't we go? If he's gonna go without us, we might as well follow!" Rena spoke to the group, ready to take on the menace ahead. She's always been used to this kind of stuff, so she's not particularly afraid of it.

 

[Raditz]

Seto sighed.

"Well, I wasn't gonna let some oreo angel stop me anyway." he chuckled. "Besides more people, more fun." he smiled.

 

[~Sukichu~]

The girl let a sigh of discomfort escape from her nose, scanning over those currently present in the party before Oriko had taken off ahead of the rest of them. "There's something extremely evil about this forest... even as a demon myself, I don't necessarily like it..." She murmured to herself before walking towards the forest entrance; Serene following shortly afterwards in an attempt to catch up with the girl.

"Whaddya think it could be, if you're so keen on being able to sense what it is? A ghoul? Some kinda weird creature that no one knows about? I kinda hope it's a ghoul, those things are fun to deal with." She said, a grin forming on her face. "Oh! This is my companion Midnight by the way, she helps me sense things that I necessarily can't." She added, motioning towards the cat while the girl seemed to just be keeping her attention focused forward.
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"I suppose the two of us should stick together, Red seems a tab bit discomforted with all this... I can easily understand why." Youko spoke to her friend, before turning towards the member of the church who had been standing there quietly ever since the group had gotten somewhat larger. "We will try our hardest to return your church member sir, thank you for telling us all you were able to." She then said, bowing to the man before heading off towards the forest as well.

"H-Hey! You can't just tell me how Red's feeling, tell me we have to stick together, then just take off like that, wait up Youko!" Alurora called out, immediately going after the girl. "Thank you sir!" She quickly called back to the man before the two entered the forest.


'May the light of the divine protect these braves souls from whatever it is that dwells within that cursed forest...' The church member thought to himself, before bowing his head at the departing group before walking back into the church.
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"It appears they are already keen to walk in here... it usually takes people at least a few minutes before willingly walking in here, or they have to be put under a trance. See to it that our guests feel... welcomed, Velasco." The female figure called up to a now shown Raven who immediately cawed in response before taking off in the direction of the group.