Forest of the Bewitched

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~Sukichu~

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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.
 
"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!"
 
"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.
------

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.
 
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.
 
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..."
 
"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.
 
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.
 
"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.
 
Seto sighed.

"Well, I wasn't gonna let some oreo angel stop me anyway." he chuckled. "Besides more people, more fun." he smiled.
 
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.
 
Oriko landed in the middle of the forest, retracting his wings into his back so he could walk around easily. He used his light powers to generate a ball of light and walked through the forest, checking his surroundings for an ambush.

"Come out!" He called out. "I know you're here!"

_______

Rena followed Youko and Alurora, stretching out as she walked.

"So the threat must be worse than that of the demons! She thought to herself as she followed the two.
 
At the shout, a raven came flying out of the trees, straight down towards Oriko as if to attack him, but instead stopped short and swooped upwards, cawing as if to gather the attention of someone or something. A few moments later, a ghoulish like figure emerged from the trees and proceeded to jump at the man; ready to attack with its claw like hands.

"You will be the first one to step up... I think I would prefer to keep my distance from you though, I'm not too fond of that little light orb you have there, even if it is just to illuminate your path." The female figure's voice called out, echoing through the forest from seemingly every direction. "Instead I'll just leave you with my little friend there, I have other pressing matters to attend to." She finished.
 
Asuza was listening intently as they walked. "Whatever it is, I don't like the quiet. It probably likes hiding and cooping up somewhere nobody could see it." she couldn't help but feel bothered by how quiet it was.
 
Seto unsheathed his katana as he walked.

"Well, you know what they say in the movies. It's quiet. Too quiet." he chuckled softly. "Best be prepared for anything."
 
"You think a little monster will scare me?" Oriko summoned a light spear, quickly thrusting it in the direction of the ghoul.
 
The spear almost instantaneously went through the ghoul, causing it to shriek in protest before exploding; another one quickly emerging from where the previous one had been and went through the same method, only this time, it appeared to have claws with a dark tint to them.

"Now, why would I expect you to be afraid of them? I would imagine coming in this forest now, you would already assume things like this were wandering aimlessly about. Now, what if I told you these "monsters" as you so put them, were the people who went missing in this forest who still attain some of their human characteristics albeit just barely? That is part of the reason you and that little group decided to come here, is it not? To see what happened to all those people... as well as that church member who came in a few days ago." The voice said. 
------
As if on cue, a raven flew above Asuza and Seto, cawing out in the same manner as it had done the first time, before flying off in a different direction; leaving behind a small group of ghoul-ish creatures to surround the two, their claws also having a dark tint to them.
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"This is the second time that raven has let out a sound..." Youko commented, taking an abrupt stop once the second caw started to echo through the forest and waited for it to die down before continuing. 'What would this bird be doing in this forest though??" She murmured to herself. Alurora on the other hand, looked rather shaken up when the second caw had come through.

"That bird... it sounds like it's trying to call something to aid it, or.... something else." She said in a hushed whisper, turning her gaze to the tops of the trees as well as her surroundings until they had started moving again. 'Just what exactly is going on in here...?' she questioned in thought.
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At the second sound of the raven, Constance took an immediate halt and turned her head in the direction in which she'd heard it come from. 'This bird had something to do with what's going on... plus, that other presence seems to be the stronger one and could be causing whatever it is that is happening in this forest...' She thought to herself.

"I don't normally take ravens or crows as bad signs, but even I get the feelin' that little one is just bringing trouble with the noise it's making. Midnight here doesn't seem too thrilled to be hearin' that again either..." Serene murmured to herself, looking at her companion who looked thoroughly spooked while hissing at the direction the two were headed towards.
 
"I knew that there's some kind of malevolent being at work here!" Asuza clenched her fists, and they lit up in flames. "They don't look all too friendly. Let's make this quick." She said to Seto, making a right hook to the nearest ghoul in order to make a distance between them.
 
"How could you?! These people were just living normal lives!" Oriko thrust the spear through the ghoul, his anger apparent. "I'll end you for this..."

"I don't like that crow.. It's like it's signaling somebody." Rena prepared an arrow as she followed Youko.
 
"It seems I struck a nerve... I hadn't expected any less of course, but at the same time I hadn't expected that much anger. I would ask if you truly cared for these beings, but giving the aura you give off, that already would answer my question." The female said, her voice sounding as if she were getting closer to where the man was; a shadow of her figure beginning to show itself from one section of the trees as if to purposefully lead Oriko into a more shadow-y part of the forest.
------

The hook Asuza made towards the ghoul take a temporary step back, but proceeded in advanced before suddenly setting on fire and exploding; a pile of ash left in its place. Two of the other ghouls then immediately charged towards Seto with a look of ferocity that most people would not want to see.
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Finally, the raven reached Youko, Alurora and Rena; immediately cawing out before turning around to go in the opposite direction it had just come from. As the caw echoed a bit more, more of the ghouls began appearing from underneath the three, grabbing for their feet almost immediately.

"Don't let them grab a hold of you, they have poison on their claws!" Youko exclaimed, immediately withdrawing her staff and using it to smash two of the ghouls away from the three of them before going to jump backwards to gain some distance. "Alurora, be careful! You too!" She called to the other two.

"Something feels off about these guys, like... they're not fully these creatures!" Alurora input, barely jumping out of the way of one of the ghouls' claws that had been headed straight for her. "You're a monk, can't you like... purify these things to see what they are!?" She asked, clearly panicked about the situation.
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"There it is again! There is something very wrong with this bird being in here, every time I hear it caw there seems to be more presences summoned in here." The female said, starting to look a bit on the unnerved side. "What about you? Can your cat give us any clues as to what exactly it is being summoned?" She questioned Serene.

"That would require telling Midnight that she needs to go off on her own and see if she can figure stuff out, but she's too spooked to be doin' anything like that right now. Besides, I don't need my companion getting banged up by whatever the bird is summoning and possibly wind up dead.. I couldn't bear that." Serene replied, looking at the noticeably panicked cat whose hissing had only begun getting worse the farther they got in the forest.
 
"These poor souls.. I feel something different about them.." Rena spoke before jumping up. "SHARP FALL!" She cried out as she spiraled down onto one of the ghouls, the shockwave reaching some of the other ghouls. "I feel sorry for having to beat them up.."

_____

Oriko flew up to the shadow, keeping his light ball and spear up. He knew that this presence was leading him to a trap, but he didn't care.
 
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