{"submission_id":"775085","keywords":[{"keyword_id":"60","keyword_name":"cat","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"110716"},{"keyword_id":"44319","keyword_name":"contemporary","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"101"},{"keyword_id":"2193","keyword_name":"fantasy","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"11600"},{"keyword_id":"123","keyword_name":"female","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"519903"},{"keyword_id":"112296","keyword_name":"garuda","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"51"},{"keyword_id":"1440","keyword_name":"human","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"46904"},{"keyword_id":"191","keyword_name":"magic","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"11599"},{"keyword_id":"165","keyword_name":"male","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"639887"},{"keyword_id":"3313","keyword_name":"monkey","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"4907"},{"keyword_id":"10129","keyword_name":"supernatural","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"375"},{"keyword_id":"268","keyword_name":"tiger","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"23780"},{"keyword_id":"597","keyword_name":"werewolf","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"5589"},{"keyword_id":"164","keyword_name":"wolf","contributed":"f","submissions_count":"111560"}],"hidden":"t","scraps":"f","favorite":"f","favorites_count":"0","create_datetime":"2015-01-21 00:47:18.644972+01","create_datetime_usertime":"21 Jan 2015 00:47 CET","last_file_update_datetime":"2015-01-21 00:32:12.135883+01","last_file_update_datetime_usertime":"21 Jan 2015 00:32 CET","username":"Simoni","user_id":"279733","user_icon_file_name":"75728_Simoni_simoni_barjar.gif","user_icon_url_large":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/usericons/large/75/75728_Simoni_simoni_barjar.gif","user_icon_url_medium":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/usericons/medium/75/75728_Simoni_simoni_barjar.gif","user_icon_url_small":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/usericons/small/75/75728_Simoni_simoni_barjar.gif","file_name":"1047710_Simoni_part_16_the_mundane_blade.doc","file_url_full":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/full/1047/1047710_Simoni_part_16_the_mundane_blade.doc","file_url_screen":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/1047/1047710_Simoni_part_16_the_mundane_blade.doc","file_url_preview":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/1047/1047710_Simoni_part_16_the_mundane_blade.doc","files":[{"file_id":"1047710","file_name":"1047710_Simoni_part_16_the_mundane_blade.doc","file_url_full":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/full/1047/1047710_Simoni_part_16_the_mundane_blade.doc","file_url_screen":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/screen/1047/1047710_Simoni_part_16_the_mundane_blade.doc","file_url_preview":"https://nl.ib.metapix.net/files/preview/1047/1047710_Simoni_part_16_the_mundane_blade.doc","mimetype":"application/msword","submission_id":"775085","user_id":"279733","submission_file_order":"0","full_size_x":null,"full_size_y":null,"screen_size_x":null,"screen_size_y":null,"preview_size_x":null,"preview_size_y":null,"initial_file_md5":"aa7cb7abfffca1266b688867dc482859","full_file_md5":"aa7cb7abfffca1266b688867dc482859","large_file_md5":"","small_file_md5":"","thumbnail_md5":"","deleted":"f","create_datetime":"2015-01-21 00:32:12.135883+01","create_datetime_usertime":"21 Jan 2015 00:32 CET"}],"pools":[],"description":"I've been building up to this story for a while now. The girls have encountered Franklin indirectly, through visions and through long-distance communication, but this time it's the real deal. Face-to-face with the man who's been trying to kill them for the better part of a year now... and they lost, badly. It was only through sheer luck that they escaped being killed or having their powers stripped by the Mundane Blade.\n\nI wanted to do this to show exactly what the sword is capable of, as well as give Franklin a chance to have a real bit in the story besides shadowy antagonist. He's old and he relies on the sword against supernatural foes, but he's still very strong and an extremely skilled warrior in his own right, able to take down even Drusilla (despite her being immune to the Mundane Blade's magic draining power) by himself.\n\nFranklin is an adversary, a nemesis, and I wanted to portray him as such. A man who sees all things supernatural as something needing to be eradicated for the good of the world, and having found the means to do it in the Mundane Blade he wields. He lost this time, but he was only humiliated and lightly mauled, the girls got off far worse. Three of them have completely lost their powers with no idea of when they'll return after all.\n\nSo what happens next? Good question~","description_bbcode_parsed":"I've been building up to this story for a while now. The girls have encountered Franklin indirectly, through visions and through long-distance communication, but this time it's the real deal. Face-to-face with the man who's been trying to kill them for the better part of a year now... and they lost, badly. It was only through sheer luck that they escaped being killed or having their powers stripped by the Mundane Blade.
I wanted to do this to show exactly what the sword is capable of, as well as give Franklin a chance to have a real bit in the story besides shadowy antagonist. He's old and he relies on the sword against supernatural foes, but he's still very strong and an extremely skilled warrior in his own right, able to take down even Drusilla (despite her being immune to the Mundane Blade's magic draining power) by himself.
Franklin is an adversary, a nemesis, and I wanted to portray him as such. A man who sees all things supernatural as something needing to be eradicated for the good of the world, and having found the means to do it in the Mundane Blade he wields. He lost this time, but he was only humiliated and lightly mauled, the girls got off far worse. Three of them have completely lost their powers with no idea of when they'll return after all.
So what happens next? Good question~","writing":"Our story begins in India with the group returning from Texas. Henry McCall’s plans to seize Open Air Ranch, owned by Trixie’s family, have been successfully thwarted, and Mammon seems content to leave them alone as his own desires to foster greed in humanity would gain almost no benefit from taking the land from her family.\n\nIts late evening as the plane touches down at a small airport on the banks of the Ganges, the sun having set hours ago. The small private aircraft pulls into a stop as the door opens and the group disembarks. Simoni hops out first, already wearing her green and gold sari as she takes a deep breath, breathing in the familiar scents of the nearby jungle, \"Mmmmm~ Sooooo good to be back!\" she giggles as the rest of the team comes out.\n\nLupe is right behind her, in her wolf form as she runs around chasing her tail like an excited dog, Dawn smirking at her as she follows behind, not bothering to hide her cat-like features in a country that so openly accepts the supernatural. Nelen heads out next, yawning as he rubs his eyes. He'd dozed off on the last leg of the flight. Lastly, Stephy climbs down, wearing his own pink and white sari wrap. He may not be hindi himself, but he does like the look and, hey, when in Rome.\n\nNatasha yawns as she climbs out of her coffin as well, \"Aaah night in India~\" she coos, near teleporting out she bolted through the cargo hold so fast, appearing beside Arja who was walking down with Simoni \"Glad to be home.\" Arja smiles, looking around, \"Nice night too, maybe we should go for a walk.\"\n\nSimoni starts to nod... but her head snaps around as she hears a frantic screeching sound. A small monkey is making a beeline towards Arja as it races across the tarmac, chattering and jabbering loudly. Simoni lets out an eep as it dives right past her, latching onto Arja's own red and gold sari as it jabbers away in a panic.\n\nArja blinks, picking the monkey up and speaking to it in their language, coming out as just a few hoots and chitters of her own to the rest of the group... \"Hey it's ok little brother, what's wrong?\" she asks almost maternally, figuring a tiger was attacking a monkey family nearby or something. It was a sad situation, but her kind didn't get involved in natural things like that, it upset balance and all that, a tiger that can't eat monkeys could move on the village...\n\nArja’s relation to the Monkey King, Hanuman, allows her to communicate with monkeys (and perhaps other primates as well, but they haven’t tested this theory). She assumes it’s something minor at first, until she hears the small animal’s reply.\n\nTo the rest of the group it just sounds like a jabbering panicky screech, but to Arja's ears it sounds like this: \"Men! Big men! Lots of big men with fire-hair at King-place! Big fight! Bad fight! Everyone getting hurt! Help!\" is about as close as the translation can get in 'human' words, but it definitely gets the point across. Simoni looks at Arja, noticing the girl's reaction to the monkey's chattering, \"Arja?\" she asks, \"Something is wrong isn't it?\"\nArja frowns, \"We have to get to the temple, now. Nat, you and Trixie get to the house and get ready for a fight in case this comes there.\" she says, grabbing Simoni’s arm and near sprinting to the nearby portal to the temple, diving into it as her mind races...\n\nNelen immediately follows behind as Simoni quickly falls into pace next to Arja. Dawn, Lupe, and Drusilla are close behind as well. Trixie and Stephy go with Natasha back to the house to fortify things there as the rest dive through a nearby artificial pond, coming out inside the supernatural world just as a group of monkey-warriors rush past towards the portal that leads to the mundane reflection of the temple itself.\n\n\"Arja?\" gasps one of her younger cousins as she sees the group coming out, \"Oh praise the gods you're back!\" she chatters in Hindi, \"Its chaos out there! This group of men came out of the forests and started smashing the temple! Grandfather sent a group through to drive them off but...\" she glances around nervously, \"Only one of them came back, and he...\" she falls silent, biting her lower lip as her tail trembles behind her.\n\nHer cousin’s words confirm Arja’s fears. Clan Fullmoon has not only returned, but laid siege to Arja’s home. The Temple of Hanuman, it’s reflection in the mundane world at least, is under attack from the monster-hunting warriors.\n\nArja growls angrily as she hears that \"What happened to him?\" she demands, already knowing the answer as she pulls her sari off, in just a black tube top and shorts underneath as she shifts into her ape girl form. \"Is there an old man with them?\"\n\nShe glances around, \"I... I don't know... He's... well... he only said something about their being too many before...\" she falls silent again, then looks towards the portal, \"Grandfather said he could feel something on the other side, something horrible....\" she nods, \"Why? Who is this old man?\" she asks.\n\nArja growls again, \"He's a dead man...\" she snarls, running through the portal to the mundane world, ending up in the temple courtyard proper as she grabs one of the iron claw staves that were scattered around on the ground.\n\nThe rest of the group follows behind her as they pass through the portal into the mundane world again... Chaos doesn't even begin to describe it. An entire squad of Fullmoon warriors is fighting in the temple proper, a good fifty men at least. Several are wounded but show no signs of slowing down. The temple itself is badly damaged too, chunks blown out of walls and statuary destroyed. It seems they'd used explosives to goad Arja's family into attacking. The mundanes who were visiting had already fled and it's just monkeys fighting Irishmen now. Several bodies litter the ground as well... most of them have fur.\n\nSimoni shudders at the sight, having pulled off her own sari wrap on the way out and Lupe is letting out a low angry growling sound, Nelen already summoning up Merihim as he climbs out of the pool as well.\n\nArja and the group arrive to a war zone, many of Arja’s relatives having already fallen to the well-armed and prepared warriors. While the apes are agile and fast, a Fullmoon warrior is as strong as an ox and twice as thick-skinned. As fast as their blows may be, it takes several just to bring down one warrior.\n\nArja’s grandfather is nowhere to be seen, which means he isn’t among the bodies littering the grounds, but doesn’t mean he’s alive either…\n\nArja, for a moment, just stares at the chaos, breathing rather raggedly as she takes in the sight of her childhood refuge, the home of her people, the most sacred site of her divine ancestor, currently turned into a battlefield... Then her face slowly turns to a snarl... \"Kill them... Kill every one of them... We're sending a message, if you set foot in this temple with malice in your heart, you will never leave... but Franklin is mine.\"\n\nOne of the Fullmoon warriors knocks his opponent aside, then sees the group and immediately recognizes Nelen, putting together who the others must be. \"Hoy lads! Our targets are 'ere!\" he calls out above the chaos of the battle. Several of his allies manage to fight down their opponents, then raise their silver-edged swords and charge towards the group... two of them don't get far, falling to their knees as a red smear appears on their faces, soon followed by bile and mucus as their bodies go haywire, Nelen having shot a burst of 'blood' at them, laced with a supernatural pathogen that tears their immune systems apart. \n\nDawn and Lupe dive in as well, Lupe charging through on all fours to claw and bite at the ankles of the Fullmoon warriors still in combat with the rest of Arja's kin, the cat doing likewise in that she teleports around and aims for their eyes and throats. Simoni is trembling as they get close... but it's not fear. This place had become her home and refuge as well, a symbol of her new life, and as the men get close a sudden gale force wind smashes through the temple, knocking them and several other nearby warriors off their feet and slamming them hard into the far wall of the building. \"This... this is too much...\" she gasps out, already in her garuda form as she flexes her wings, her talons scratching at the floor. \n\n\"You... all of you... just... get... OUT!\" she screams, the last word turning into the cry of some massive predatory bird as a roar of wind blows through the temple, lifting half of the remaining men off their feet. Some manage to grab something to hold onto, but the others are blown screaming out of the temple and across the jungle, landing out of sight somewhere in the brush.\n\nArja leaps onto one warrior's back, letting out a feral shriek of rage as she claws and tears into him, her divine infused iron claws and fangs tearing through even the mighty Fullmoon warrior's skin as she brings him down to the ground, Dru already charging at him with a statue she ripped out of the ground as a club...needless to say he didn't get up...\"FRANKLIN! You coward!\" she snarls as she makes her way to the temple proper \"Where are you you miserable old fuck?! Don't you wanna pick on someone who's a real fighter?!\"\n\nHer roar carries across the battlefield as the wind tears through the remaining warriors, Simoni's powers driven by her own anger... and then suddenly the wind snaps off, anyone who didn't get blown completely away landing in a heap on the ground.\n\nDown one of the passageways there's the sound of footsteps... and then a lone man walks into view. Like the others he's wearing armor, with a green tabard depicting a raven's talon crossed over a sword. \"I'm right here girl.\" he replies simply. In his hand is a long solid-looking blade of what looks like iron to mundane eyes... but to those who aren't mundane...\n\nIts a hole... an empty void made solid. Worse than Rama's arrow, this sword wasn't designed to hold just one being... it's a vast emptiness that seems to swallow the light around it. Anything magical that gets near it, that gets anywhere close to the sword... is gone. Its like the man is holing a black hole that he can't feel. \"I knew coming here would bring you out, ape.\" he replies, his voice icy, \"Come then, its past time I dealt with you.\" he nods, raising his weapon.\n\nThis time it’s no illusion, Arja and Simoni have finally come face to face with their adversary. Franklin Fullmoon, patriarch of Clan Fullmoon, armed for battle and wielding the bane of all magical beings… the Mundane Blade.\n\nArja has seen examples before, as well as seeing it in a vision, but the real thing is a terrible sight to behold for anyone who has magic. The Mundane Blade, forged from void iron, could destroy her and her family completely, as well as Simoni, Nelen, and all her friends… while at the same time defending it’s wielder from all magic they used against him.\n\nArja nods, staring at the weapon for a moment, a feeling of genuine fear coming through her as she sees it. Still, when she looked around at the temple, that fear was replaced with rage. \"Yea, you figured out attacking my home would make me mad, brilliant, it take you all these months to figure that smart plan out?\" she spits, sneering faintly as she crouches down \"You know I'm gonna kill ya, right? Like, it's gonna be slow too. First I'm gonna break that blade, then I'm gonna break you...\"\n\nFranklin returns that sneer with a grim smile, \"You will not.\" he replies, walking forward. As he passes the fallen monkeys, those who aren't dead yet, they let out a pained gasp as their fur shrivels away, leaving bruised and battered humans in his wake, the mere presence of the sword leeching away their supernatural aspects. \"You can't even get close to me child.\" he says confidently, walking through the crowd as the remaining Fullmoon fighters part ranks for him, the rest of Arja's kin drawing back from the blade as they see what it does to their fallen warriors.\n\nNelen reacts first, lashing out with several blasts of blood that seem to evaporate the minute they get close to Franklin. Lupe growls, then charges forward in her own impulsive way, only to get knocked aside with a single kick from the old man, a blonde haired human girl slamming into a nearby pillar as she's forced out of her werewolf form. Dawn... is behind Nelen, wide eyed and trembling as she sees the sword, remembering what it did to her own family. Simoni is scared too, but she stands her ground, still in her garuda form, her mind racing as she tries to figure out -something- she can do to fight.\n\nArja looks to Simoni, smiling \"Do you trust me?\" she says, grabbing her hand tightly. \"Come on, let's get in the air\" she says, waiting for the garuda to move before jumping onto her back. \n\n\"You're so full of anger, Fullmoon, and so damn stupid. You had to have known about your clan's link with the Garuda, you had to know that unifying the clans would have made you even stronger...but you just couldn't be content to kneel to a woman. You couldn't handle the blow to your ego to bow your head...\"\n\nHe watches the pair rise, then looks towards the rest of the group. \"Is that what you think this is about?\" he sneers, \"Look at you, all of you... Half-human monstrosities, freakish creatures born of a land of chaos and anarchy, and a man who sold his own soul for power...\" he glares about him, \"Magic is a blight on this world, and I intend to cure it.\" he nods, then ignores the pair in the sky as he brandishes his sword and charges towards Nelen. Dawn grips his leg, too terrified to even remember that she can teleport as Lupe lays unconscious, trapped in her human form by the presence of the sword.\n\nThus are Franklin’s true motivations revealed. Born and raised a monster hunter, he sees all supernatural beings as monsters in need of extermination, and had found the means to do it in his sword. He sees Arja and Simoni as an immediate threat to his plans, which is the only reason he has targeted them in the immediate. Otherwise, to him, they would just be one more example of a supernatural race to exterminate.\n\nArja grins \"Cover yourself in whatever you want, but we all see the real you, a sad, scared, old man! NOW!\" she says, spurring Simoni lightly, \"Just like before, in the temple, put everything behind this baby, because if we don't take him down now we're all going to die.\" she nods, summoning her fire slowly wrapping the pair in long ribbons of fire for her to ignite further for their combined assault.\n\nSimoni nods, summoning up her own burst of wind as she channels it around her body, merging it with Arja's own magic as the two channel their powers together... but this takes time to focus and Franklin is still among the strongest of the Fullmoon clan, in the few seconds that they've begun he's almost reached Nelen, sword outthrust as the blood mage frantically tries to create a blood barrier... which starts to melt the moment Franklin draws near...\n\nAs the girls ready their attack, and Nelen tries to hold back his grandfather, a roar of rage comes from behind Franklin. Drusilla comes charging at him, hurling her makeshift club at the man, more as a distraction than anything because as soon as it hits she's in the air, leaping at him like a wrestler...\n\nSimoni almost loses her focus at what happens next as the cyclops tackles Franklin... and knocks him off his feet. Nelen blinking in shock as the man flies backwards, managing to shove her off him as he gets up and jumps back, his warrior's cries of shock and dismay audible through the roaring mixture of fire and wind as even Franklin looks startled.\n\n\"Son of a...\" gasps Nelen, \"... She's strong... but its not magic, its just muscle! The sword can't steal that!\" he says in an almost bemused tone. Drusilla's inhuman strength is close to what Clan Fullmoon's men have... very close, close enough that the Mundane Blade can't tell the difference! \"Drus! Keep him busy! Whatever it takes!\" yells Nelen as Dawn watches, almost forgetting to be afraid at this shocking turn.\n\nIn a twist that even Nelen, with all his knowledge of the supernatural didn’t see coming, Drusilla is unaffected by the Mundane Blade’s magic-draining power. She’s strong, incredibly so, but its not actually magic! She’s close enough to mundane humanity that the Mundane Blade, to her, is indeed just a mundane blade.\n\nDrusilla grins when she realizes her strength wasn't drained as she was afraid of...\"Oh...this is gonna be fun...\" she says, cracking her neck as she charges at him again, driving her knee into his chest to keep him down \"What's wrong old guy, can't handle a fight when it's against someone you can't drain away?\" She laughs loudly \"You sent a slaver to my clan! You hurt so many people! Did you really think you were the good guy here?!\"\n\nFranklin scowls, then punches her hard in the face, sending the cyclops flying backwards as he gets to his feet again, scowling as he grips his sword. The blow HURT too, even for her. Franklin is a full blooded Fullmoon warrior and the patriarch of the entire clan, he could probably match Drusilla's mother in terms of raw physical strength. \"One eyed bitch... I've come too far to be stopped by children!\" he retorts, charging at her with the mundane blade raised. It may not be able to drain her strength, but it was still several feet of sharpened steel and Franklin was a trained swordsman.\n\nAbove them the air around Arja and Simoni begins to shimmer as Simoni focuses, whistling out complex melodies to shape the wind into a gale again, the flames taking the form of a gigantic fiery bird, the same as they did that day when they first 'fought' Franklin... even if it did turn out to be an illusion.\n\nDrusilla just laughs, sure it hurt, but she was the girl who considered it a great night when she nearly had her head shoved through a wall... \"Yea, how bad is it gonna hurt when a bunch of fucking kids are the ones who kill the great Franklin Fullmoon?\" she laughs, spitting some blood onto the ground before charging back. He was a trained swordsman, a warrior from a long tradition... and Drusilla fought dirty. She ducked under him and the blade, crossing between his legs and, when she does, bringing both her fists up into his crotch with all her might!\n\nA resounding clang echoes through the area as she strikes hard steel. Franklin wasn't an idiot it seemed... He responds by kicking her down and thrusting the blade hard into her arm, twisting it around as he does... but this buys Arja and Simoni the time they need. Simoni focuses as a fiery trident identical to the one from before forms in Arja's hands, then angles downward as she prepares to dive...\n\nDrusilla lets out a loud yell as she's stabbed, groaning in pain, but doing a good job keeping his focus as the girls dive down, Arja raising the trident high, waiting to bring it down on him with all her might as soon as they're in range!\n\nFifty feet... thirty... ten... But before they hit Franklin sees them and immediately wrenches the sword out of Drusilla's arm, blocking the trident with the flat of the blade. There's a tremendous flash as their combined magical power strikes the sword... and then both Arja and Simoni cry out as they're suddenly wracked with pain, worse than any they've ever felt, like a piece of them is getting torn away by an irresistable force!\n\nThe flash of light fades as the two girls fly past Franklin, landing prone on the ground... Simoni's wings and talons are gone, Arja's fur and fangs have receded.... and Franklin turns with a sneer on his face. \"Was that all?\" he asks. The sword is unchanged, their magic ripped straight from their bodies... their one attack has been played... and it failed.\n\nArja and Simoni had their big gamble, but it lost... and cost them dearly. Their magic was drained out of their bodies by the Mundane Blade, sucked into the void iron it was forged from, and where was once a mighty warrior-child descended from Hanuman the Monkey King and her garuda companion who had mastery over wind there was now just a pair of exhausted young girls, with no magic in them at all…\n\nArja breathes heavily as she looks at her hands, feeling for fur around her body, \"No... No no no no no...\" she says, shaking her head as Drusilla stands up weakly, holding onto her bleeding wound as she glares, going in for a rather desperate headbutt to Franklin's gut.\n\nFranklin barely grunts, sending the cyclops flying with a backhand across her jaw. \"Foolish, little, ape.\" he sneers, \"I think I'll start by cutting off those arms of your's...\" he raises his sword... and then a sudden loud screeching noise fills the air as not one, but eight fully grown tigers burst out of the jungle and charge at the remaining warriors and Franklin. The sudden noise catches them off guard as the giant animals tear into them, the screech changing into another, then several in quick melodic succession as a man steps out of the jungle.\n\nHe's wearing a pair of dirty bluejeans and hiking boots, a teeshirt bearing the legend 'Ozzfest '85' on his chest, and a bandanna holding back his messy hair as he strikes several loud chords on an electric guitar that's hooked into a backpack he's wearing. \"Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Go get 'em mah furry buddies!\" he grins, the tigers managing to drive Franklin and his men back. Even if the mundane blade cancels out the magic controlling the tiger that just leaves a very confused (and angry) animal with an Irishman attacking it.\n\nAs heavy metal shakes through the battlefield and tigers charge out of the forest, Arja and company’s former adversary comes to their rescue. Edwood Vargas the Metalgician strides into the temple, hands working frantically along Jackie, his rune-inscribed electric guitar, which he’s using to manipulate a streak of Indian tigers into attacking Franklin and his remaining warriors.\n\nDrusilla groans as she looks at the musician \"...the slaver?\" she sighs as she staggers to her feet, Arja still looking very rattled at the sudden loss of her divine blood, but seeing this as her only chance to recover, grabs Simoni’s arm and moves to join up with the group again.\n\nEdwood either ignores Drusilla or doesn't hear her (given how loud he's being its probably the latter) as he continues to goad the streak of tigers forward, his hand moving across the guitar strings in a blur. One by one Franklin's men fall until its just him and a handful left... He glares at the group, pure hatred in his gaze as he yells, \"This isn't over! No matter how powerful your magic is it's nothing to me!\" he calls out, then one of the Fullmoon Warriors drops a flashbang and a smoke grenade, the sudden bright flash combined with the burst of smoke disorienting the large cats long enough for Franklin and his men to vanish into the jungle.\n\nEdwood's guitar slows to a more relaxed tone as they retreat, his song turning slower as he guides the tigers back out into the forest, making them forget that they were ever here as he does. \"Whew... sorry ah didn't get here sooner guys. Nelen asked me ta keep an' eye on things while ya was in Texas an', well, some monkey showed up earlier jabberin' away at me and ah didn't know what the hell was goin' on until yer vampire friend showed up and told me where ya went.\" he says, turning off his guitar and slinging it over his back.\n\nEdwood had been watching Arja’s house back in town while the group was away (Nelen isn’t an idiot after all, he knew that with them gone the house was unguarded against supernatural attackers) and had encountered Natasha when she, Trixie, and Stephy had returned. When Natasha told him where Arja had gone he realized something was wrong and quickly left for the temple, having to make his way through the mundane world’s jungle to get there, where he ‘enlisted’ the help of the tigers who made their home in the jungle, using his music to control them.\n\nArja just growls softly, still sounding rather feral despite her now human status... \"We need to find him and finish this off…\" she insists, taking a step before nearly falling over, exhausted from the magic attack and the sudden shift to humanity.\n\nSimoni tries to get up as well, but can't even manage to stand as she falls over onto her side, gasping loudly. Even Lupe's own super-fast healing doesn't seem to be working, the currently-human werewolf struggling just to sit upright. \"Yeeeeaah... ah don't think so kiddo.\" says Edwood, glancing at the jungle, \"By now ah'd guess he's long gone anyways, and ya can't fight after that... even if ya hadn't put so much power inta that attack...\" he nods, \"Good thing ya did though... ah didn't actually know where this place was but, well, bigass flamin' bird is kinda hard ta miss.\" he grins as Nelen walks over, Dawn still clinging tightly to him with her arms around his waist, the fur on her tail standing on end.\n\nArja just sits there a moment, sitting on the ground, trying to recover, before she bursts into tears in a surge of emotion, doubling over as she chokes and sobs loudly, \"I feel so...empty!\"\n\nSimoni shudders, feeling drained in her own way as she scoots over and wraps her arms tightly around Arja, feeling her own loss of magic as well. Nelen, however, looks over them and then has one of Merihim's tendrils 'sniff' at their bodies, \"Well... one good thing guys. He didn't actually cut you with the sword.\" he says, \"So it just bottomed out your own magic. It should come back eventually, damned if I know how long though.\" he nods, then looks at Drusilla, wincing at the ragged cut in her arm before going over to inspect her too. Lupe manages to stumble over, trying to walk on all fours despite being stuck as a human, before flopping down at Arja's feet, \"Lupe feel sick...\" she whines.\n\nNelen confirms that their loss of magic should only be temporary, as Franklin didn’t actually cut them with the Mundane Blade. Close proximity to it can temporarily negate magical power and force them into a mundane state, but unless the sword actually ‘cuts’ the magic out of them then their magic will return in time. Sadly, this is cold comfort given what’s happened.\n\nAfter a bit Arja jumps to her feet, snarling again, it was clear she was in a pretty fragile mental state right now, torn between rage and sorrow. \"This is war, Clan Fullmoon has declared WAR on us, we have to... we have to...\" she trails off as she looks at the monkeys dragging off fallen warriors around her, face twisting again as it looks like she's about to cry more...\n\nSimoni manages to get to her feet and hugs Arja as tightly as her weakened state is able, \"Yeah, they did, a while ago Arja.\" she nods, \"Right now we need to deal with this.\" she gestures to the wreckage around them, \"... and we need to get our powers back... but...\" she smiles sadly, \"I think... when we hit the sword I felt... I dunno... something.\" she thinks, \"Like... something watching us.\" she nods, \"We can break his sword and defeat Franklin, but not yet.\"\n\nArja nods, trying to take some deep breaths, \"I think I need to be alone for a bit... I need to meditate, I need to talk to... oh gods is my grandfather ok?!\" she cries out, looking to the temple and running (well, as fast as she can at least) up the stairs into the deeper parts of the temple in search of the wizened old monkey.\n\nSimoni eeps, then follows along behind her... to thankfully find her grandfather injured but alright. It seems that he fought several of the Fullmoon warriors but, once he realized that Franklin and the Mundane Blade were there, he and several of his own men retreated and barricaded themselves in one of the chambers to protect the non-combatants who got caught up in the fight. He's bruised and bloodied, but unharmed with his own magic intact.\n\nUpon finding him Arja hugs her grandfather tightly, starting to cry again, \"I'm sorry we were so late...we should have just stayed here until he was taken care of... what are we supposed to do... Simoni and I gave everything we have and he still took our powers...\"\n\nSimoni is visibly disturbed by this, seeing the normally confident Arja in such a state, but stays with her and her Grandfather while the others see to the wounded and help gather up those who didn’t survive the battle.\n\nOut in the courtyard of the temple Nelen sighs as he lets Merihim withdraw from Drusilla's arm. \"He says that the wound isn't any different from a normal sword, but that he doesn't think healing magic will work on it.\" he nods, \"It'll have to heal on it's own. You alright though Drus?\" he asks, patting her shoulder as Edwood helps some of Arja's relatives clear up the bodies.\n\nShe nods, \"Hurt... tired... but I'm fine... considering.\" she looks down, shaking her head, \"I have to get stronger, I'm the only one who can get close to him... if I can just beat him maybe we don't NEED to risk getting close to his sword, I could just knock it out of his stupid hands and I can take it somewhere to be destroyed...\"\n\nNelen nods, \"Maybe... but he looked just as shocked as we did when you got past it. Next time he's gonna be ready for you.\" he replies grimly, \"But still...\" he grins, \"We know we've got something else he's afraid of now. Not just Arja and Simoni, but someone his ace in the hole doesn't work on.\" he nods, ruffling her hair with a grin.\n\nMeanwhile, off the coast of India...\n\nThe remaining warriors man the boat that they came in as Franklin storms around his cabin. He takes a long pull of whiskey before smashing the bottle against the wall, a large claw mark on his face hidden behind gauze and bandages, \"DAMN YOU VARGAS!\" he rages, \"I almost had them! They were right there and powerless! All I had to do was bring down the sword and that old bat's prophecy would've been meaningless!\" he growls as he punches one of the walls hard enough to push straight through it.\n\nHe slumps into his chair, dragging a hand across his face, \"No... fighting them in India again would be a mistake... after what I saw...\" he nods, then opens another bottle and takes a long pull from it, \"We need to find a way to get them onto our own turf, and then we can finish them off without...\" he shakes his head, \"Without THAT almost happening...\" he says firmly.\n\nHe thinks back to what he saw, right before the girl's attack made contact... an image behind them of a giant bird... with something sitting on it's back.\n","writing_bbcode_parsed":"Our story begins in India with the group returning from Texas. Henry McCall’s plans to seize Open Air Ranch, owned by Trixie’s family, have been successfully thwarted, and Mammon seems content to leave them alone as his own desires to foster greed in humanity would gain almost no benefit from taking the land from her family.
Its late evening as the plane touches down at a small airport on the banks of the Ganges, the sun having set hours ago. The small private aircraft pulls into a stop as the door opens and the group disembarks. Simoni hops out first, already wearing her green and gold sari as she takes a deep breath, breathing in the familiar scents of the nearby jungle, "Mmmmm~ Sooooo good to be back!" she giggles as the rest of the team comes out.
Lupe is right behind her, in her wolf form as she runs around chasing her tail like an excited dog, Dawn smirking at her as she follows behind, not bothering to hide her cat-like features in a country that so openly accepts the supernatural. Nelen heads out next, yawning as he rubs his eyes. He'd dozed off on the last leg of the flight. Lastly, Stephy climbs down, wearing his own pink and white sari wrap. He may not be hindi himself, but he does like the look and, hey, when in Rome.
Natasha yawns as she climbs out of her coffin as well, "Aaah night in India~" she coos, near teleporting out she bolted through the cargo hold so fast, appearing beside Arja who was walking down with Simoni "Glad to be home." Arja smiles, looking around, "Nice night too, maybe we should go for a walk."
Simoni starts to nod... but her head snaps around as she hears a frantic screeching sound. A small monkey is making a beeline towards Arja as it races across the tarmac, chattering and jabbering loudly. Simoni lets out an eep as it dives right past her, latching onto Arja's own red and gold sari as it jabbers away in a panic.
Arja blinks, picking the monkey up and speaking to it in their language, coming out as just a few hoots and chitters of her own to the rest of the group... "Hey it's ok little brother, what's wrong?" she asks almost maternally, figuring a tiger was attacking a monkey family nearby or something. It was a sad situation, but her kind didn't get involved in natural things like that, it upset balance and all that, a tiger that can't eat monkeys could move on the village...
Arja’s relation to the Monkey King, Hanuman, allows her to communicate with monkeys (and perhaps other primates as well, but they haven’t tested this theory). She assumes it’s something minor at first, until she hears the small animal’s reply.
To the rest of the group it just sounds like a jabbering panicky screech, but to Arja's ears it sounds like this: "Men! Big men! Lots of big men with fire-hair at King-place! Big fight! Bad fight! Everyone getting hurt! Help!" is about as close as the translation can get in 'human' words, but it definitely gets the point across. Simoni looks at Arja, noticing the girl's reaction to the monkey's chattering, "Arja?" she asks, "Something is wrong isn't it?"
Arja frowns, "We have to get to the temple, now. Nat, you and Trixie get to the house and get ready for a fight in case this comes there." she says, grabbing Simoni’s arm and near sprinting to the nearby portal to the temple, diving into it as her mind races...
Nelen immediately follows behind as Simoni quickly falls into pace next to Arja. Dawn, Lupe, and Drusilla are close behind as well. Trixie and Stephy go with Natasha back to the house to fortify things there as the rest dive through a nearby artificial pond, coming out inside the supernatural world just as a group of monkey-warriors rush past towards the portal that leads to the mundane reflection of the temple itself.
"Arja?" gasps one of her younger cousins as she sees the group coming out, "Oh praise the gods you're back!" she chatters in Hindi, "Its chaos out there! This group of men came out of the forests and started smashing the temple! Grandfather sent a group through to drive them off but..." she glances around nervously, "Only one of them came back, and he..." she falls silent, biting her lower lip as her tail trembles behind her.
Her cousin’s words confirm Arja’s fears. Clan Fullmoon has not only returned, but laid siege to Arja’s home. The Temple of Hanuman, it’s reflection in the mundane world at least, is under attack from the monster-hunting warriors.
Arja growls angrily as she hears that "What happened to him?" she demands, already knowing the answer as she pulls her sari off, in just a black tube top and shorts underneath as she shifts into her ape girl form. "Is there an old man with them?"
She glances around, "I... I don't know... He's... well... he only said something about their being too many before..." she falls silent again, then looks towards the portal, "Grandfather said he could feel something on the other side, something horrible...." she nods, "Why? Who is this old man?" she asks.
Arja growls again, "He's a dead man..." she snarls, running through the portal to the mundane world, ending up in the temple courtyard proper as she grabs one of the iron claw staves that were scattered around on the ground.
The rest of the group follows behind her as they pass through the portal into the mundane world again... Chaos doesn't even begin to describe it. An entire squad of Fullmoon warriors is fighting in the temple proper, a good fifty men at least. Several are wounded but show no signs of slowing down. The temple itself is badly damaged too, chunks blown out of walls and statuary destroyed. It seems they'd used explosives to goad Arja's family into attacking. The mundanes who were visiting had already fled and it's just monkeys fighting Irishmen now. Several bodies litter the ground as well... most of them have fur.
Simoni shudders at the sight, having pulled off her own sari wrap on the way out and Lupe is letting out a low angry growling sound, Nelen already summoning up Merihim as he climbs out of the pool as well.
Arja and the group arrive to a war zone, many of Arja’s relatives having already fallen to the well-armed and prepared warriors. While the apes are agile and fast, a Fullmoon warrior is as strong as an ox and twice as thick-skinned. As fast as their blows may be, it takes several just to bring down one warrior.
Arja’s grandfather is nowhere to be seen, which means he isn’t among the bodies littering the grounds, but doesn’t mean he’s alive either…
Arja, for a moment, just stares at the chaos, breathing rather raggedly as she takes in the sight of her childhood refuge, the home of her people, the most sacred site of her divine ancestor, currently turned into a battlefield... Then her face slowly turns to a snarl... "Kill them... Kill every one of them... We're sending a message, if you set foot in this temple with malice in your heart, you will never leave... but Franklin is mine."
One of the Fullmoon warriors knocks his opponent aside, then sees the group and immediately recognizes Nelen, putting together who the others must be. "Hoy lads! Our targets are 'ere!" he calls out above the chaos of the battle. Several of his allies manage to fight down their opponents, then raise their silver-edged swords and charge towards the group... two of them don't get far, falling to their knees as a red smear appears on their faces, soon followed by bile and mucus as their bodies go haywire, Nelen having shot a burst of 'blood' at them, laced with a supernatural pathogen that tears their immune systems apart.
Dawn and Lupe dive in as well, Lupe charging through on all fours to claw and bite at the ankles of the Fullmoon warriors still in combat with the rest of Arja's kin, the cat doing likewise in that she teleports around and aims for their eyes and throats. Simoni is trembling as they get close... but it's not fear. This place had become her home and refuge as well, a symbol of her new life, and as the men get close a sudden gale force wind smashes through the temple, knocking them and several other nearby warriors off their feet and slamming them hard into the far wall of the building. "This... this is too much..." she gasps out, already in her garuda form as she flexes her wings, her talons scratching at the floor.
"You... all of you... just... get... OUT!" she screams, the last word turning into the cry of some massive predatory bird as a roar of wind blows through the temple, lifting half of the remaining men off their feet. Some manage to grab something to hold onto, but the others are blown screaming out of the temple and across the jungle, landing out of sight somewhere in the brush.
Arja leaps onto one warrior's back, letting out a feral shriek of rage as she claws and tears into him, her divine infused iron claws and fangs tearing through even the mighty Fullmoon warrior's skin as she brings him down to the ground, Dru already charging at him with a statue she ripped out of the ground as a club...needless to say he didn't get up..."FRANKLIN! You coward!" she snarls as she makes her way to the temple proper "Where are you you miserable old fuck?! Don't you wanna pick on someone who's a real fighter?!"
Her roar carries across the battlefield as the wind tears through the remaining warriors, Simoni's powers driven by her own anger... and then suddenly the wind snaps off, anyone who didn't get blown completely away landing in a heap on the ground.
Down one of the passageways there's the sound of footsteps... and then a lone man walks into view. Like the others he's wearing armor, with a green tabard depicting a raven's talon crossed over a sword. "I'm right here girl." he replies simply. In his hand is a long solid-looking blade of what looks like iron to mundane eyes... but to those who aren't mundane...
Its a hole... an empty void made solid. Worse than Rama's arrow, this sword wasn't designed to hold just one being... it's a vast emptiness that seems to swallow the light around it. Anything magical that gets near it, that gets anywhere close to the sword... is gone. Its like the man is holing a black hole that he can't feel. "I knew coming here would bring you out, ape." he replies, his voice icy, "Come then, its past time I dealt with you." he nods, raising his weapon.
This time it’s no illusion, Arja and Simoni have finally come face to face with their adversary. Franklin Fullmoon, patriarch of Clan Fullmoon, armed for battle and wielding the bane of all magical beings… the Mundane Blade.
Arja has seen examples before, as well as seeing it in a vision, but the real thing is a terrible sight to behold for anyone who has magic. The Mundane Blade, forged from void iron, could destroy her and her family completely, as well as Simoni, Nelen, and all her friends… while at the same time defending it’s wielder from all magic they used against him.
Arja nods, staring at the weapon for a moment, a feeling of genuine fear coming through her as she sees it. Still, when she looked around at the temple, that fear was replaced with rage. "Yea, you figured out attacking my home would make me mad, brilliant, it take you all these months to figure that smart plan out?" she spits, sneering faintly as she crouches down "You know I'm gonna kill ya, right? Like, it's gonna be slow too. First I'm gonna break that blade, then I'm gonna break you..."
Franklin returns that sneer with a grim smile, "You will not." he replies, walking forward. As he passes the fallen monkeys, those who aren't dead yet, they let out a pained gasp as their fur shrivels away, leaving bruised and battered humans in his wake, the mere presence of the sword leeching away their supernatural aspects. "You can't even get close to me child." he says confidently, walking through the crowd as the remaining Fullmoon fighters part ranks for him, the rest of Arja's kin drawing back from the blade as they see what it does to their fallen warriors.
Nelen reacts first, lashing out with several blasts of blood that seem to evaporate the minute they get close to Franklin. Lupe growls, then charges forward in her own impulsive way, only to get knocked aside with a single kick from the old man, a blonde haired human girl slamming into a nearby pillar as she's forced out of her werewolf form. Dawn... is behind Nelen, wide eyed and trembling as she sees the sword, remembering what it did to her own family. Simoni is scared too, but she stands her ground, still in her garuda form, her mind racing as she tries to figure out -something- she can do to fight.
Arja looks to Simoni, smiling "Do you trust me?" she says, grabbing her hand tightly. "Come on, let's get in the air" she says, waiting for the garuda to move before jumping onto her back.
"You're so full of anger, Fullmoon, and so damn stupid. You had to have known about your clan's link with the Garuda, you had to know that unifying the clans would have made you even stronger...but you just couldn't be content to kneel to a woman. You couldn't handle the blow to your ego to bow your head..."
He watches the pair rise, then looks towards the rest of the group. "Is that what you think this is about?" he sneers, "Look at you, all of you... Half-human monstrosities, freakish creatures born of a land of chaos and anarchy, and a man who sold his own soul for power..." he glares about him, "Magic is a blight on this world, and I intend to cure it." he nods, then ignores the pair in the sky as he brandishes his sword and charges towards Nelen. Dawn grips his leg, too terrified to even remember that she can teleport as Lupe lays unconscious, trapped in her human form by the presence of the sword.
Thus are Franklin’s true motivations revealed. Born and raised a monster hunter, he sees all supernatural beings as monsters in need of extermination, and had found the means to do it in his sword. He sees Arja and Simoni as an immediate threat to his plans, which is the only reason he has targeted them in the immediate. Otherwise, to him, they would just be one more example of a supernatural race to exterminate.
Arja grins "Cover yourself in whatever you want, but we all see the real you, a sad, scared, old man! NOW!" she says, spurring Simoni lightly, "Just like before, in the temple, put everything behind this baby, because if we don't take him down now we're all going to die." she nods, summoning her fire slowly wrapping the pair in long ribbons of fire for her to ignite further for their combined assault.
Simoni nods, summoning up her own burst of wind as she channels it around her body, merging it with Arja's own magic as the two channel their powers together... but this takes time to focus and Franklin is still among the strongest of the Fullmoon clan, in the few seconds that they've begun he's almost reached Nelen, sword outthrust as the blood mage frantically tries to create a blood barrier... which starts to melt the moment Franklin draws near...
As the girls ready their attack, and Nelen tries to hold back his grandfather, a roar of rage comes from behind Franklin. Drusilla comes charging at him, hurling her makeshift club at the man, more as a distraction than anything because as soon as it hits she's in the air, leaping at him like a wrestler...
Simoni almost loses her focus at what happens next as the cyclops tackles Franklin... and knocks him off his feet. Nelen blinking in shock as the man flies backwards, managing to shove her off him as he gets up and jumps back, his warrior's cries of shock and dismay audible through the roaring mixture of fire and wind as even Franklin looks startled.
"Son of a..." gasps Nelen, "... She's strong... but its not magic, its just muscle! The sword can't steal that!" he says in an almost bemused tone. Drusilla's inhuman strength is close to what Clan Fullmoon's men have... very close, close enough that the Mundane Blade can't tell the difference! "Drus! Keep him busy! Whatever it takes!" yells Nelen as Dawn watches, almost forgetting to be afraid at this shocking turn.
In a twist that even Nelen, with all his knowledge of the supernatural didn’t see coming, Drusilla is unaffected by the Mundane Blade’s magic-draining power. She’s strong, incredibly so, but its not actually magic! She’s close enough to mundane humanity that the Mundane Blade, to her, is indeed just a mundane blade.
Drusilla grins when she realizes her strength wasn't drained as she was afraid of..."Oh...this is gonna be fun..." she says, cracking her neck as she charges at him again, driving her knee into his chest to keep him down "What's wrong old guy, can't handle a fight when it's against someone you can't drain away?" She laughs loudly "You sent a slaver to my clan! You hurt so many people! Did you really think you were the good guy here?!"
Franklin scowls, then punches her hard in the face, sending the cyclops flying backwards as he gets to his feet again, scowling as he grips his sword. The blow HURT too, even for her. Franklin is a full blooded Fullmoon warrior and the patriarch of the entire clan, he could probably match Drusilla's mother in terms of raw physical strength. "One eyed bitch... I've come too far to be stopped by children!" he retorts, charging at her with the mundane blade raised. It may not be able to drain her strength, but it was still several feet of sharpened steel and Franklin was a trained swordsman.
Above them the air around Arja and Simoni begins to shimmer as Simoni focuses, whistling out complex melodies to shape the wind into a gale again, the flames taking the form of a gigantic fiery bird, the same as they did that day when they first 'fought' Franklin... even if it did turn out to be an illusion.
Drusilla just laughs, sure it hurt, but she was the girl who considered it a great night when she nearly had her head shoved through a wall... "Yea, how bad is it gonna hurt when a bunch of fucking kids are the ones who kill the great Franklin Fullmoon?" she laughs, spitting some blood onto the ground before charging back. He was a trained swordsman, a warrior from a long tradition... and Drusilla fought dirty. She ducked under him and the blade, crossing between his legs and, when she does, bringing both her fists up into his crotch with all her might!
A resounding clang echoes through the area as she strikes hard steel. Franklin wasn't an idiot it seemed... He responds by kicking her down and thrusting the blade hard into her arm, twisting it around as he does... but this buys Arja and Simoni the time they need. Simoni focuses as a fiery trident identical to the one from before forms in Arja's hands, then angles downward as she prepares to dive...
Drusilla lets out a loud yell as she's stabbed, groaning in pain, but doing a good job keeping his focus as the girls dive down, Arja raising the trident high, waiting to bring it down on him with all her might as soon as they're in range!
Fifty feet... thirty... ten... But before they hit Franklin sees them and immediately wrenches the sword out of Drusilla's arm, blocking the trident with the flat of the blade. There's a tremendous flash as their combined magical power strikes the sword... and then both Arja and Simoni cry out as they're suddenly wracked with pain, worse than any they've ever felt, like a piece of them is getting torn away by an irresistable force!
The flash of light fades as the two girls fly past Franklin, landing prone on the ground... Simoni's wings and talons are gone, Arja's fur and fangs have receded.... and Franklin turns with a sneer on his face. "Was that all?" he asks. The sword is unchanged, their magic ripped straight from their bodies... their one attack has been played... and it failed.
Arja and Simoni had their big gamble, but it lost... and cost them dearly. Their magic was drained out of their bodies by the Mundane Blade, sucked into the void iron it was forged from, and where was once a mighty warrior-child descended from Hanuman the Monkey King and her garuda companion who had mastery over wind there was now just a pair of exhausted young girls, with no magic in them at all…
Arja breathes heavily as she looks at her hands, feeling for fur around her body, "No... No no no no no..." she says, shaking her head as Drusilla stands up weakly, holding onto her bleeding wound as she glares, going in for a rather desperate headbutt to Franklin's gut.
Franklin barely grunts, sending the cyclops flying with a backhand across her jaw. "Foolish, little, ape." he sneers, "I think I'll start by cutting off those arms of your's..." he raises his sword... and then a sudden loud screeching noise fills the air as not one, but eight fully grown tigers burst out of the jungle and charge at the remaining warriors and Franklin. The sudden noise catches them off guard as the giant animals tear into them, the screech changing into another, then several in quick melodic succession as a man steps out of the jungle.
He's wearing a pair of dirty bluejeans and hiking boots, a teeshirt bearing the legend 'Ozzfest '85' on his chest, and a bandanna holding back his messy hair as he strikes several loud chords on an electric guitar that's hooked into a backpack he's wearing. "Yeaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah! Go get 'em mah furry buddies!" he grins, the tigers managing to drive Franklin and his men back. Even if the mundane blade cancels out the magic controlling the tiger that just leaves a very confused (and angry) animal with an Irishman attacking it.
As heavy metal shakes through the battlefield and tigers charge out of the forest, Arja and company’s former adversary comes to their rescue. Edwood Vargas the Metalgician strides into the temple, hands working frantically along Jackie, his rune-inscribed electric guitar, which he’s using to manipulate a streak of Indian tigers into attacking Franklin and his remaining warriors.
Drusilla groans as she looks at the musician "...the slaver?" she sighs as she staggers to her feet, Arja still looking very rattled at the sudden loss of her divine blood, but seeing this as her only chance to recover, grabs Simoni’s arm and moves to join up with the group again.
Edwood either ignores Drusilla or doesn't hear her (given how loud he's being its probably the latter) as he continues to goad the streak of tigers forward, his hand moving across the guitar strings in a blur. One by one Franklin's men fall until its just him and a handful left... He glares at the group, pure hatred in his gaze as he yells, "This isn't over! No matter how powerful your magic is it's nothing to me!" he calls out, then one of the Fullmoon Warriors drops a flashbang and a smoke grenade, the sudden bright flash combined with the burst of smoke disorienting the large cats long enough for Franklin and his men to vanish into the jungle.
Edwood's guitar slows to a more relaxed tone as they retreat, his song turning slower as he guides the tigers back out into the forest, making them forget that they were ever here as he does. "Whew... sorry ah didn't get here sooner guys. Nelen asked me ta keep an' eye on things while ya was in Texas an', well, some monkey showed up earlier jabberin' away at me and ah didn't know what the hell was goin' on until yer vampire friend showed up and told me where ya went." he says, turning off his guitar and slinging it over his back.
Edwood had been watching Arja’s house back in town while the group was away (Nelen isn’t an idiot after all, he knew that with them gone the house was unguarded against supernatural attackers) and had encountered Natasha when she, Trixie, and Stephy had returned. When Natasha told him where Arja had gone he realized something was wrong and quickly left for the temple, having to make his way through the mundane world’s jungle to get there, where he ‘enlisted’ the help of the tigers who made their home in the jungle, using his music to control them.
Arja just growls softly, still sounding rather feral despite her now human status... "We need to find him and finish this off…" she insists, taking a step before nearly falling over, exhausted from the magic attack and the sudden shift to humanity.
Simoni tries to get up as well, but can't even manage to stand as she falls over onto her side, gasping loudly. Even Lupe's own super-fast healing doesn't seem to be working, the currently-human werewolf struggling just to sit upright. "Yeeeeaah... ah don't think so kiddo." says Edwood, glancing at the jungle, "By now ah'd guess he's long gone anyways, and ya can't fight after that... even if ya hadn't put so much power inta that attack..." he nods, "Good thing ya did though... ah didn't actually know where this place was but, well, bigass flamin' bird is kinda hard ta miss." he grins as Nelen walks over, Dawn still clinging tightly to him with her arms around his waist, the fur on her tail standing on end.
Arja just sits there a moment, sitting on the ground, trying to recover, before she bursts into tears in a surge of emotion, doubling over as she chokes and sobs loudly, "I feel so...empty!"
Simoni shudders, feeling drained in her own way as she scoots over and wraps her arms tightly around Arja, feeling her own loss of magic as well. Nelen, however, looks over them and then has one of Merihim's tendrils 'sniff' at their bodies, "Well... one good thing guys. He didn't actually cut you with the sword." he says, "So it just bottomed out your own magic. It should come back eventually, damned if I know how long though." he nods, then looks at Drusilla, wincing at the ragged cut in her arm before going over to inspect her too. Lupe manages to stumble over, trying to walk on all fours despite being stuck as a human, before flopping down at Arja's feet, "Lupe feel sick..." she whines.
Nelen confirms that their loss of magic should only be temporary, as Franklin didn’t actually cut them with the Mundane Blade. Close proximity to it can temporarily negate magical power and force them into a mundane state, but unless the sword actually ‘cuts’ the magic out of them then their magic will return in time. Sadly, this is cold comfort given what’s happened.
After a bit Arja jumps to her feet, snarling again, it was clear she was in a pretty fragile mental state right now, torn between rage and sorrow. "This is war, Clan Fullmoon has declared WAR on us, we have to... we have to..." she trails off as she looks at the monkeys dragging off fallen warriors around her, face twisting again as it looks like she's about to cry more...
Simoni manages to get to her feet and hugs Arja as tightly as her weakened state is able, "Yeah, they did, a while ago Arja." she nods, "Right now we need to deal with this." she gestures to the wreckage around them, "... and we need to get our powers back... but..." she smiles sadly, "I think... when we hit the sword I felt... I dunno... something." she thinks, "Like... something watching us." she nods, "We can break his sword and defeat Franklin, but not yet."
Arja nods, trying to take some deep breaths, "I think I need to be alone for a bit... I need to meditate, I need to talk to... oh gods is my grandfather ok?!" she cries out, looking to the temple and running (well, as fast as she can at least) up the stairs into the deeper parts of the temple in search of the wizened old monkey.
Simoni eeps, then follows along behind her... to thankfully find her grandfather injured but alright. It seems that he fought several of the Fullmoon warriors but, once he realized that Franklin and the Mundane Blade were there, he and several of his own men retreated and barricaded themselves in one of the chambers to protect the non-combatants who got caught up in the fight. He's bruised and bloodied, but unharmed with his own magic intact.
Upon finding him Arja hugs her grandfather tightly, starting to cry again, "I'm sorry we were so late...we should have just stayed here until he was taken care of... what are we supposed to do... Simoni and I gave everything we have and he still took our powers..."
Simoni is visibly disturbed by this, seeing the normally confident Arja in such a state, but stays with her and her Grandfather while the others see to the wounded and help gather up those who didn’t survive the battle.
Out in the courtyard of the temple Nelen sighs as he lets Merihim withdraw from Drusilla's arm. "He says that the wound isn't any different from a normal sword, but that he doesn't think healing magic will work on it." he nods, "It'll have to heal on it's own. You alright though Drus?" he asks, patting her shoulder as Edwood helps some of Arja's relatives clear up the bodies.
She nods, "Hurt... tired... but I'm fine... considering." she looks down, shaking her head, "I have to get stronger, I'm the only one who can get close to him... if I can just beat him maybe we don't NEED to risk getting close to his sword, I could just knock it out of his stupid hands and I can take it somewhere to be destroyed..."
Nelen nods, "Maybe... but he looked just as shocked as we did when you got past it. Next time he's gonna be ready for you." he replies grimly, "But still..." he grins, "We know we've got something else he's afraid of now. Not just Arja and Simoni, but someone his ace in the hole doesn't work on." he nods, ruffling her hair with a grin.
Meanwhile, off the coast of India...
The remaining warriors man the boat that they came in as Franklin storms around his cabin. He takes a long pull of whiskey before smashing the bottle against the wall, a large claw mark on his face hidden behind gauze and bandages, "DAMN YOU VARGAS!" he rages, "I almost had them! They were right there and powerless! All I had to do was bring down the sword and that old bat's prophecy would've been meaningless!" he growls as he punches one of the walls hard enough to push straight through it.
He slumps into his chair, dragging a hand across his face, "No... fighting them in India again would be a mistake... after what I saw..." he nods, then opens another bottle and takes a long pull from it, "We need to find a way to get them onto our own turf, and then we can finish them off without..." he shakes his head, "Without THAT almost happening..." he says firmly.
He thinks back to what he saw, right before the girl's attack made contact... an image behind them of a giant bird... with something sitting on it's back.
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