[Indigo]

"New teammates?" This was an excellent development, Naomi felt. The more people they had, after all, the more likely they were to find the monster--although a part of her recognized that this was not just because more eyes meant looking in more directions, but also because large groups made more noise. But never mind that. Attracting the monster wouldn't be a problem, would it? They had all these weapons and things. They were safe.

Naomi, and therefore Raleigh, ran up to the newcomers. "This is great! I'm glad we're such a big team! My name's Naomi and this is Raleigh!" She turned back to the inspection of the blood...stuff. Sniffing at it would be useless for her, since she didn't have an especially good nose for a cat, but she did look at it with more interest than she had before. It was strange, of course, with the bubbling and all, and of course there was the fact that it must be fairly old but hadn't congealed. But there was something else she couldn't quite put her finger on, probably stirred by the hundreds of monster movies she'd seen. If she could have a few more moments to think...

"It's blood," Raleigh said. "I think we shouldn't hang around here too long, wouldn't you say?" He was nervous. What if he'd marked the wrong place on the map as the tavern? What if that meant they couldn't get back? He would normally be trying not to worry about these things, but this forest was strange and he couldn't say he cared for it much.

[Nyxia]

Noting the curious glances and questions Žez watched the goo drip harmlessly away from the iron rod, "Yeah, it's some kind of blood. Looks harmless enough though." Wrinkling up her nose at the heavy metallic smell coming off the rod. With that she sat back on her heels and planted the rod firmly into the ground beside one of the pools to use as a marker later on, before looking back to Bella and Merpsichore. "It may have stopped bleeding already, but could you have her scent around the edge a bit to see if she catches it's scent?" She asked pushing her platinum hair back from her other eye as she slowly rose from the puddle and moved back a bit, rubbing Merpsichore head as she passed the creature.

At the same point as Žez moved away Far stepped up beside Melline digging out her own hand gun, "Žez has a 50 caliber filled with a quicksilver mix bullets, if that would even effect this thing I'm still unsure." She shrugged keeping her other misgivings about this thing to herself, "And a an iron edged dagger, she also carried that 12 gauge shot gun on her with regular shot." She held out the match to her own weapon, offering it to the werecain in case she didn't have anything of her own. "These have a brass bullet with regular packing." She told the woman.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Bella smiled, though no-one could see it through her mask... it would make her life easier if the others were accepting. She was glad that the stuff seemed to be blood; a weakened creature would be easier to take down. She nodded and bowed to the others, then nodded to Merpsichore, and pointed to the puddle of gloop...

Merpsichore was already sniffing round the edge of the puddle, but at Bella's instruction, she made sure to take a deep sniff of the scent, internalising it, before pulling at the lead, eager to follow the trail...

Melline smiled her quiet smile as the other woman proffered a gun. "Impressive; hopefully they'll be more than capable of dispatching our target. And thank you, but I'll fight with my blades - they haven't let me down yet." And she opened her holster to display a large collection of throwing knives and throwing stars, some of which she caressed with her fingertips before showing the collection to Far...

[Thunder]

The blood hadn't seemed to do anything to the rod, which was good, but Flareo decided to avoid touching it just in case. It seemed that they were mostly done around here. They had their new teammates, they tested the blood, and now it was time to move on. He was a little surprised that no one had questioned why he and his sister hadn't brought any weapons with them, though on the other hand people probably assumed they wouldn't go chasing after a monster without some form of protection.

"It looks like...er...Merpsichore, was it? It looks like she really wants to get going," Glacier observed, patting the Baal Dragony on the head. "Should we set off again, then? I agree with Raleigh, maybe we shouldn't stay here too long."

"If her nose is right," Flareo said to Bella and Melline, "I guess we'll follow you, then."

[ToxicShadow]

Though it seemed that the blood had no harmful effects, not from the test that the team had preformed with an iron rod, there was something still peculiar about it. A dreadful squealing erupted from one of the puddles, shortly followed by it bursting into bubbles again, almost as if the liquid was boiling. Among it all, was a blood-drenched Hisper, eyes glowing red. It twisted in pain, unable to stop it's squealing. "He-help," it begged, it's requesting coming in a shrill shout.

[Indigo]

Naomi ran back to the puddle of blood without much thinking about it: Someone was in danger! Therefore, she would help, because that's what you're supposed to do, right? Monster hunters, she was sure, are about helping people as well as glory, and that meant even when there wasn't a monster actually present. Plus, if it was because of the blood that the Hisper was hurt, then she had even more reason to be involved.

Although it was odd that...well, she didn't usually put much stock in that kind of thing, but there had been no sign of the Hisper until now. It was like it had been produced by the puddle, what with the boiling and all. But that was absurd, wasn't it? She voiced her concerns to Raleigh under her breath as they neared the puddle.

"I don't know," he said. "Seems to me it wouldn't be hurt by the blood if that's where it came from. And how are we going to get it out? Because if it is the blood them it probably won't be too good for us, either."

"Hmm. We'll help you, just give us a minute," she said to the Hisper, presumably to be reassuring. Then she turned back toward the others. "Hey, does anyone have a--a rope or something?"

[Nyxia]

Before anyone else could come up with any other possible dangers of the substance Žez moved to the edge of the puddle and dropped into it, resolved to wade further in. "Hang on, and stop flailing about." She ordered the hisper after muttering a curse under her breath. At the point where she was almost knee deep she snatched up the creature from the blood, which she noticed was actually warmer than it should have been, and quickly made her way back out. "There, little one." She told it, reapproaching the group as the hisper wrapped around her arm so it's head was resting against her upper bicep area.

Farja had no more than admired the blades produced by Melline when Žez pulled her semi-dramatic stunt. "Typical Žez..." She groaned watching the other woman bring the little creature back, and then shake out her pant legs a bit. "Unless it has something useful to tell us about this place, then I think Flareo has a point. Bring it along if you like." She told the other woman with a shrug before glancing at Bella. Then bringing her attention back to Melline she smiled some, "Those are lovely..." She told her with a soft sigh. "I'd trade these-" She gestured with the gun in her hand. "For those, just for fun's sake." For the same reason she stayed close to the werecain.

[Thunder]

Before Flareo and Glacier could even move an inch, they heard the sharp squealing and both jumped into the air, startled. Flareo whipped around and saw the Hisper writhing around in the blood. That was strange. It hadn't been there a second ago.

"Someone help it!" Glacier cried. But Žez was already on the case and shockingly decided to step into the puddle.

"What if it's a trap?" Flareo growled under his breath, eying the snake suspiciously. "Look, its eyes are glowing."

"But it was crying for help!" Glacier protested. "Surely it wouldn't be faking the pain!" Her brother, though, simply shook his head and marched over to Žez, glancing down at the snake.

"What was that blood doing to you?" he questioned the Hisper. He then looked straight at Žez. "What if whatever happened to this Hisper happens to you, now that you've touched the blood?" He tried to keep his tone calm, though it was a bit difficult. Flareo had a tendency to get frustrated whenever people did things spontaneously.

[ToxicShadow]

Sadly, the Hisper didn't appear to have a minute, Naomi's words having gone to waste as it kept screaming. Though, in Žez's care, still drenched in the disgusting, bubbling blood, the Hisper's screams became whimpers. The blood dripped slowly away from it's form at first, before being seemingly absorbed into the small serpentine creature. All along its body were fleshy wounds, as if the blood had burned away at parts of his flesh.

"Th-the monster's doing," was all the the small thing could handle as an answer toward Flareo.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

Bella had watched the interactions with Zez and the hisper, and now she was pensive. What kind of monster could they be chasing, if it could burn open wounds onto something? She shuddered, hoping that no harm would come to Zez. Though she was still on her guard with the woman, she respected her for her bravery at wading in to save the hisper. She stepped forward, and opened her mouth to speak "I have a first-aid kit here, if you would bring him over into the moonlight..." She always carried one, just in case... whether it was in case something happened to them, or in case they happened to someone, she would never disclose.

She pulled it out of her gear, and held it ready for the other woman...

Merpsichore, her leash having been dropped, wandered over to the hisper, it's cries stirring something in her. She crooned to it softly, hoping to calm it a bit, before stalking up to the leader of the group and tugging at him with a claw, her croons changing pitch to a whine. She had been bred for this tracking thing, so why weren't the others following? Dissatisfied with the general lack of interest (though one of them had agreed to follow her) she stalked a little way down the path, unnoticed by any but Melline, to see what she could find...

Melline smiled at the compliment she had received. She was very proud of her blades, even if they could be a tad inconvenient at times...

"Thank you. They can be quite troublesome, though... I have to wear leather all the time, I can never wear clothes other than my assassin uniform - they cut through anything else like a knife through butter. I have to be aware of how I move all the time, I can never get too close to others physically - I might wind up hurting myself, or them, by accident. It's one reason I'm so close to Merpsichore; her armour-plated hide isn't harmed by my blades."

She sighed wistfully, and carried on: "Sometimes, I'd like nothing better than to just get rid of them - I can't remove them; they grow out of my bones. I'd need surgery to get rid of them..." She gave a little half-smile then; before taking a deep breath and saying "Then again, they've saved me several times, and if it wasn't for them, Bella... let's just say we have a history together."

She had watched, not entirely impassively, as Zez had saved the hisper. Again she mused on the problem her blades posed; she would never have been able to let it curl around her like that. She watched Merpsichore's attempt to comfort the creature, and turned to Far as she stalked off down the path. "I'm going to follow her... the last thing we want is Merpsichore on the loose. I'll be back in a moment - please tell the others; if anything happens we'll need your back-up." With that, she turned and gracefully jogged down the path, her fur blending in seamlessly with the foliage...

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

((My apologies, Toxic, I had mis-counted the days. If you want, just ignore this post - I understand. Guys, I'm gonna try to move this forward a bit... I hope that's ok :/ )

Bella straightened up, hearing Merpsichore's crooning and excited yipping comping from further up the track. She turned to the hisper (who had been bandaged up as best she could and was now coiled back round Zez' arm) and apologised, before heading after her tracker. "Merpsichore! Come here!" she ordered; it wouldn't do to leave the rest of the group behind, now would it?

Melline halted suddenly, hidden in the brush, as she heard Bella's commanding voice cut through the half-noise of the forest. She rolled her eyes; that woman just wasn't built for stealth. Straitening up, she walked out of her cover, appearing beside Bella as if out of thin air. The two women exchanged a nod, before following the tracker up the path...

Merpsichore bounded up the path, sniffing the blood pools excitedly. They were getting fresher! She had heard her... companions? call her before, but had ignored them in favour of doing her job. Bella seldom let her run off, and though she would undoubtedly get an earful later, she was enjoying the moment to the full. She paused at a fork in the path for a moment, waiting for the others to catch up...

[Thunder]

(OOC: Ugh, sorry for not posting sooner =/ I've been really busy with school. Getting serious Princess Mononoke vibes from Toxic's post, though xD)

Flareo winced when he saw the wounds on the Hisper. Glacier was right- this serpent couldn't be lying about anything. "We have to stop this monster," he growled. "If even just touching its blood can hurt someone, I don't want to think about what the monster itself could do." He looked at Žez in concern. "You waded right into the puddle...are you feeling any pain from the blood?"

"Brother, we're moving on!" Glacier cried, noticing that the newest members of the party were heading after Merpsichore. She tugged on his hand, worrying that they might be left behind.

"All right, I guess we have to start moving on, then," Flareo sighed. "We'll have to do something about the Hisper's wounds as we go. I don't know if it's a good idea to linger around any longer."

They headed off after Merspichore, Bella, and Melline, and stopped at the fork in the road to wait for everyone else.

[Nyxia]

(Sorry guys, I was kinda waiting on Indigo's post and lost track of the days)

Far nodded to the werecain, contemplating her words and as she watched the other hurry after their tracking Dragony. With only a glance back at Žez she called out, "When you've finished, bring that thing with you." Then followed after Melline, not running but moving at a fast pace to catch up. "Hey, I'm going with you." She told the werecain as she caught up to her, "None of us should be out here alone, besides Žez can lead them after us." She added with a slight shrug, keeping her weapon at the ready as they continued on. As she glanced about nothing seemed to stand out to her eyes in the darkness. "What the hell could this thing be?" She asked, mostly to herself but also aloud to Melline.

Žez shrugged off the concern, "Other than my boots and pants are wet, and a bit warm. It doesn't seem to be doing anything to me." When she heard Farja call out to her before vanishing into the mist and brush Žez gave a nod before giving her attention back to Bella, "Thanks..." She told the woman, gently brushing the hisper's head. She figured Glacier had seen which way Far and the werecain thus she wouldn't worry too much about tracking her friend's aura. Strolling after them keeping a close eye on the creature wrapped around her arm, just in the off chance it might not be alright. "So little one." She began to the hisper softly enough. "Anything you'd like to tell us?"

[ToxicShadow]

((Seeing as how everyone has miscounted days, I think I may end up removing the time-limit rule, or increase the time to a week. Either way, don't worry. This event is supposed to be fun anyway, not stressful.))

Content that the strangers no longer seemed interested in harming it, Hisper notably calmed down. It was still in pain, sure, but relief had washed over it and it was thankful for the warmth while wrapped around Žez's arm. "An awful creature - we all refer to it as a monster - has been manipulating other creatures." Itself, quite clearly, included in that. "I-I'm not sure how he does it, since I... don't have many memories of what happened. I just know... I wasn't myself. I remember being captured, and I think he used magic to do whatever he did to me, but the next thing I knew... I was in that mess that you got me out of."

+

Nyxia, you have been awarded a Hisper! It will be sent to you now. Feel free to use it as you wish.

[ToxxicRenegadeAngel]

((I cannot apologise enough for this... Sorry :/ ))

Merpsichore grunted, and stopped her crooning for a moment. She could hear something moving about in the bushes, and she didn't like the sound of it... She dropped low to the ground, and whimpered silently; hopefully her mistress wouldn't be too far behind...

Melline glanced at the woman beside her, weapons ready, and gave a small, rare smile. Pausing in the shadows of a tree for a moment, she crouched, beckoning the other woman down with her...

"Keep down; I think she's seen something." she muttered, watching Merpsichore crouch low on the path... With her colouring, and the way she was crouching, the tracker looked like nothing more than a large boulder - apart from the muzzle and leash she wore! Melline almost swore to herself; it was times like this that it could do more harm than good! She strained her senses, and caught movement in the bushes on the other side of the path... moving towards Merpsichore!

Bella, with her trained eyes, easily spotted Melline and Merpsichore in their respective places, and reacted immediately. Turning to the group following her, she hissed "Get into the shadows! The others are over there!" And bolted for the shade of a tree, which she quickly climbed quietly and skilfully, coming to rest on a branch overlooking the path. She then proceeded to pull what looked like a bunch of metal poles out of a pocket on her webbing, before quickly unfurling them into a small crossbow and a quiver of darts! She strung the bow, and waited for Merpsichore to make her move...