Gang War in Nexus

 

Run by: Walker of Shadow (3xp)

 

 

Players: Tsangun, Azami, Fudou, Vathrin, Walker of Shadow

 

 

 

 

 

The rampant growth of the new forest has thrown the 'balance' of Firewander into chaos. Many people, used to the Wyld font, have had their lives changed by this upheveal. Mutants, whose survival was linked to the malestrom, are going into a frenzy as they slowly die. Everyone is affected by this, and they are all reacting to it predictably.

 The level of unrest has been building for the last several days, and who knows when it might overflow?

 

Tsangun had, perhaps foolishly, accepted an 'easy job' as she was told: Go in, have a look around, and make a few assessments as to the state of people living in the district. Normally she would pass such offers over, but after her little fiasco with a manse, intelligence system, and mysterious green water, the Djala was less inclined towards wandering around ancient ruins far away from the safety of a city. Plus, the offered payment wasn't bad.

 

Wrapped up in a tattered mantle of grey wool, Azami pauses to rest one hand against the side of a building on the edge of the jungle wilderness, standing in a patch of moss where the cobbles have exploded with violets. It's humid-- the plants and animals have filled the wonderously clean and vibrant air with the sounds of teeming life, even this far from the center of it all, and so she pushes back her hood and wipes a hand over her brow absently and simply takes in the sights. The place she's looking for should be around here somewhere... there are still shops in operation, though they're few and far between, as well as incredibly hard to find unless the owners have cleared away the plantlife.

 

Vathrin has been, quite simply, sight-seeing. It has been quite some time in fact since he has even set foot within the walls of Nexus and his curiousity has pulled him in this direction when the distinctly unfamiliar sound of wild life met his ears. Despite the humidity of the area, Vathrin appears to be comfortably cool within his leather outfit that leaves only his head exposed to the sun. He pauses to lift a hand to his face so as to shield his eyes against the glare of the sun and look about him at the jungle that has erupted here. He is reasonably confused, this was most certainly not here on his last visit. The black silk that trails from his arms and torso flutters and twists with his body as he moves about at the furthermost edges of the jungle, not quite ready to plunge headlong into it just yet.

 

Tsangun sighs a little bti as she rubs the back of her head. Humidity wasn't too much of a problem, but jungles generally attracted mosquitos - which never quite sat well with the djala. For dress, Tsangun had on a rather flowy shirt and pants, the top undone to reveal a simple breastplate over a lavender shirt. "Hmmm, seems peaceful enough," she mutters as she looks around curiously.

 

A tropical tree branch is pushed away with long, slender fingers as Vathrin has finally decided to move somewhat deeper into this oddity. He dips his head lightly to avoid a particularily thorny looking specimen, maneuvering his body so that none of his trailing silk is caught on anything as well. It is, all in all, a rather interesting sight for the pale man who has in fact never even seen a true jungle.. Let alone one in the middle of Nexus. He pauses when movement catches his eye, a glimpse of black and white flesh some twenty yards ahead of him beyond more folliage though he does not move towards it quite yet.

 

After a few moments to catch her breath, Aza catches sight of the familiar Djala woman and steps out from around the building, waving with a smile to catch her attention. "Hey there! I didn't expect to see -you- inside of Nexus." Shrugging the satchel she wears slung over her shoulders into a more comfortable position, she makes her way over towards Tsangun and nods politely in greeting. "The jungle ate my master's second most favourite lab, I'm afraid... gobbled it right up. It's a terrible shame." She doesn't seem terribly upset by this, actually. "Seen any sign of Mauve Lotus' Tailor shoppe by chance?" 

 

The three of you just happen to be in the same area, a large thoroughfare on the edge of the morass, one end disappearing into a mass of leaves, the other clear.  On one street corner, standing on an out-thrust root, is a Wyld mutant. His skin is a swirl of red and black, and he has long claws and sharp fangs. He is addressing a mixed group of mutants and humans, his words punctuated by gestures of the claws.

 

 "Brothers and sisters! Now is the time to crush the Genth once and for all! We are stronger than we have ever been, and they are weakened by these strange new events! We shall sweep over them like a wave, crushing all resistance and forcing them from our city forever! We shall rule Firewander, as we were meant to!" His passionate words evoke cries and shouts from the crowd, and they are stirred to greater and greater heights by his exhortations. "Now, are you ready to become lords?!" *YES!* "Are you ready to exterminate them?!" *YES!* "Well, then, FOLLOW ME, AND I SHALL LEAD YOU TO GREATNESS!" He draws a gleaming blue jade sword, and points it down the street, in your general direction.

 

 At the opposite end of the street (you are in the middle, ish), another crowd has formed. This one is around a tall, handsome man with windswept blond hair, who is wearing a long black coat. He is talking to a similar crowd, except his is more human than mutant, while the other crowd is the reverse. His speech is not as loud, but they are hanging on to his every word. "Friends, we have dealt with a lot over the years, but now, we've had enough. The Wuxan are filthy cowards, and they've been muscling in on our territory for far too long. Now, they think these plants have given them a chance, having cut us off from our source of wealth. They are correct, but it doesn't matter! We already have all the weapons and money we need, and their overconfidence will be their downfall! Let us band together and destroy them, once and for all!" *YEAH!* He pulls out a pair of red jade swords, and advances to the head of his army, then heads down the street to meet his opponents head on.

 

Azami looks down toward the inhuman mob, then back at the more human-looking. "Damn... How did they sneak up like this?" She looks around quickly for a way out, but it looks as though they're caught in a stampede alley, so to speak. The plants have pretty much killed any hope of escaping between the buildings.   Aza pales slightly. Being run down is even less pleasant sounding than getting caught in the middle of the war. "There's no way to get out of here-- into that building, maybe?" She points at a shopfront, but rolling vines of thorny bracket have broken the glass from the inside.

 

Tsangun's eyes just widen as she watches the two groups, alternating between one and then the other. When she finally looks back to Azami, the djala just silently nods her head at first. "If worse comes to worse, do you have a weapon on you?" she asks even as she starts towards the shop that the other woman pointed towards.

 

Azami gulps, and nods, patting her satchel. She goes along with Tsangun towards the shop, soft-soled boots padding on the debri and creeper vines, the long copper wieght of her braid bouncing behind her. Along the way, she plucks up a rock and throws it at the window, busting the glass remorselessly. "What if we can't get in there?" she hisses, eyeing the approaching hordes.

 

"If we can't then be ready to flee... Or fight depending on if we can get away with the first option or not," Tsangun replies, her own voice more of a hissing sound as she sneaks a hand into her overshirt to withdraw one of her knives. She glances down the street, both ways to see how fast the two groups were marching.

 

The two forces run towards each other, hurling first obscenities, then, when the range closes, rocks. The Genth seem to be much better equipped than the Wuxan, though the Wuxan have the advantage in numbers, and more of their mutants range towards the "huge, muscley tough guy" than anything else. Many of the people on both sides have deformations, ranging from asthetics, like large moles, to cripling, like cysts and other strange mutations. Neither group has any non-combat looking people in view.

 

 Both groups ignore anyone in their way, confident that they'll join them, or get out of the way. Their taunts grow ever more below the belt, each group trying its best to goad the other into senseless anger. They are closing fast, the Genth brandishing shining swords and axes, the Wuxan brandishing clubs, hammers, rocks, and parts of plants. The leader seems to be the only one with a proper weapon.

 

 The storefeont is easy to get into, and looks like it'll provide a good bit of cover.

 

The little barbarian can run! Azami wastes no time in sprinting towards the bracken-filled shop, the dark layers of her skirts kicking up around her legs as she races to the broken window and scrambles to climb inside, her motions nimble as a dancer's in her desire not to be caught up in that mess! Thorny vines fail to pierce her boots, though she swears virulently as the little jabs sink into her arms and legs and prick at her back.

 

-= OOC =- Walker of Shadow says, "Dex+athletics, please"

 

(Judge) Azami rolls Dexterity  + Athletics: [ -1- 4 5 5 ]

        Resulting in a Botch!

 

There's another curse as Aza botches the landing, slipping on a piece of broken glass and giving herself a good gash in her side. The pristine white of her borrowed shirt blooms a darker red, causing her to fall down to a crouch and swear, clasping a hand to her side and twisting about to inspect the damage. This WOULD happen!

 

The thick, foreboding wall of greenery that has otherwise stopped Azami and Tsangun does not have a hope of stopping Vathrin should he wish to move on through it. However, from what he has heard, he deems it wise to instead climb up the nearest piece of sturdy flora in order to get a better look at what is going on below. Luckily for him, it is a jungle that has sprouted up here, and trees are in no short supply. He reaches up to take hold of a nearby limb but pauses, instead reaching down to his waist and retrieving a length of black silk. Gathering the entirety of his hair behind his head, he ties it off into a somewhat lengthy ponytail before retrieving the last piece of his disguise, a mask of polished ebon material. Securing it to his face with the lengths of similarily black material, he begins his ascent of the tree in order to glance down at the street below.

 

(Judge) Vathrin rolls Dexterity  + Athletics: [ 2 2 5 5 6 7 8 <10> <10> ]

        Resulting in 6 successes.

 

Tsangun follows behind Azami, moving quickly but not without watching where she was going. Seeing (and hearing) the other woman's marvelous entry into the building makes the djala think twice about following... At least in the same manner that Azami went. Another glance is given between the two parties going to war before Tsangun hastily moves to the door and tries to open it. ~Please don't be locked, barred, broken or otherwise willing to betray me, door spirit,~ the thinks.

 

A monkey skitters down one of the trees, apparently deciding to get a better view of things and perhaps fling some poo! Or perhaps no. This monkey is more sophisticated then that as the gleaming unusual blue-silver eyes reveal for those who know how to spot such things. Except wait! That's not a monkey! That's a huge man!

 

Fudou makes sure his transformation occurs on a particularly large tree branch which he then slides the rest of the way down back towards the street levels itself. From here he begins approaching the building that poor Tsungan is struggling with while looking from side to side at the impending mayhem. "Hrn.."

 

Azami gets back up, one hand on her side, and GLARES at the shop that DARED defy her! Honestly! When did glass get so cocky? It must have heard about it's cousin in the Bastion District last week. Wincing, she reaches into her bag... and very nearly falls back down again when Fudou appears as if out of nowhere. "Gftzgl!"

 

The door is steel, strongly locked and barred from the inside

 

"Oh come on, I was gonna give you a cookie you stupid door," the djala mutters under her breath before looking to Azami. "Okay, new plan. I help you in and you help me in, wor..." she trails off, not noticing Fudou at first. Granted it is quite hard not to notice such a giant of a man, and the djala quickly looks towards the source of Azami's shock, only to press her back against the wall almost immediately. ~This week gets better and better, doesn't it?~

 

The giant man places a single huge mammoth hand against the door, palms flat and fingers splayed out. Fudou's full toothed grin seems to almost gleam white in contrast to the deep shadows cast by his wide-hat as he looks down at Azami and Tsangun, "Your clusminess, luck and timing are abyssmal. Perhaps you've been cursed?" He jibes before pushing his hand forward in an attempt to open the door for them.

 

"......" Fudou watches as he accidentally implodes the front half of the building by pressing on it with one hand. He lifts his hand up from the rubble and looks at it while raising an eyebrow and studying himself curiously. Finally he simply says, "...Whoops."

 

Azami's eyes widen. "Oh... oh dear." Looking up at Fudou and then at Tsangun, she surveys the broken shop, with it's perfectly intact (if displaced) door. The roars from either side do distract her, though, and so she turns in a full circle, holding her side. Bizzarrely, the young woman laughs, even if it is with an exceedingly dark sort of amusement. "I've always wondered what it'd be like to be a pancake."

 

(Judge) Vathrin rolls Dexterity  + Stealth: [ 2 3 3 3 4 7 8 9 ]

        Resulting in 3 successes.

 

(Judge) Azami rolls Perception  + Awareness: [ 6 7 7 <10> ]

        Resulting in 4 successes.

 

(Judge) Fudou rolls Perception  + Awareness: [ 2 2 4 6 8 ]

        Resulting in 1 successes.

 

(Judge) Tsangun rolls Perception  + Awareness: [ -1- 4 5 6 7 7 9 ]

        Resulting in 3 successes.

 

Tsangun's jaw drops when the wall behind her goes... inside of the building. "That was truly terrifying," she mutters before she looks around. She can't help but to laugh with Azami's comment, but she's just as quick to silence herself and gauge the situation. "Well, we can get in now, there isn't much for cover, but we can probably escape their ire," she suggests as she reaches out to grab at Azami's arm in hopes of leading (or dragging) the other woman in with her.

 

Vathrin watches the wall collapse inwards with a crash and he smiles to himself beneath the mask, his eyes fixed upon Fudou from where he sits within the tree. He makes no real effort to disguise himself other than remaining still from atop his perch, but even still, where his eyes are pointed is impossible to discern due to his mask. His left hand lifts slowly, a single finger pointed down towards the group for a moment before he lets it fall with a small chuckle and replaces it on his knee, content to watch for the moment.

 

Like a cool breeze brushing at the back of her neck, something brings Aza to look once more away from her strange companions.

 

Her green eyes pass from the screaming and cussing horde of mutants and mishappen people and rise up towards the trees, focusing with a quiet clarity on the branches above the street. There's a figure up there. The young shaman blinks, holding her bleeding side, unable to do anything but search for the eyes behind that strange mask, as though transfixed by the pointing figure. Goosebumps run in a wave down her back and her skirts murmur about her legs as she takes a step towards the tree...  

 

 Suddenly, someone is tugging on her arm, and Azami shakes herself, returning to the moment and looking away from the trees lest she's dragged into the shop. The gangs are almost upon them, after all. Quietly, with a bad feeling, she goes after Tsangun.

 

"You won't be a pancake.." says Fudou matter of factly. He thought it would be a simple matter of simply entering the building with these two..but that was before he crushed the building by simply trying to open the door. He arcs an eyebrow at Azami's behaviour between her laugh and the sudden zoning out she does but he doesn't bother to follow her gaze and since she doesn't bother to point anything out he's no reason to be alarmed in and of himself. He follows the two into the ruins of the shop with a casual gait to his steps, not seeming to concerned for his own safety.

 

The two forces start to speed up as they come within 30 feet of each other, Their insults subsumed into howls of rage. They clash hard into each other, almost directly in front of the shop. They immediately begin attacking each other, the blades of the Genth met and countered by the clubs of the Wuxan, which are in turn countered...and etc. Roars of anger, challenges of superiority, and cries of pain rise from the horde, mixed with the sounds of panic from the other denizens of the district. In the center of the huge melee, the two leaders battle in an eye of calm, their followers giving them a 10ft berth. Their blades flash, strike, parry, counter, block, dodge, thrust, clash, release, in a dance of death, neither man seeing to be

 

able to overcome the other's defenses. The melee soon gets to the edge of the street, and threatens to spill into the shop.

  

"Son of a whore," Tsangun growls under her breath as she squeezes her knife in one hand - a rather painful looking piece of work that seemed almost like a small sword in the Djala's tiny hand. "Are you all right enough to fight, if the need arises?" she asks Azami with a look of concern on her face. She was all ready sure that the giant man would be able to hold his own.

 

After all he was throwing people into walls and crushing their heads the first time she'd seen him. 

 

Fudou turns slightly, studying the distance from the ground and nearest jungle branch large enough to at least support the weights of Azami and Tsangun and low enough for him to leap for albiet with his prodigious strength epic jumps are not out of the question. As the grand melee threatens to overflow into their haven, he turns his head towards it and briefly watches the duel between the two leaders before looking away and once more studying the distances. "Perhaps there's a wisdom in simply escaping this.." he offers, "But I don't promise that my way is gentle.."

 

Azami reaches into her bag, glancing at the knife which Tsangun holds in something like absent admiration before drawing out her own weapons. A pair of bone-white machetes, shaped rather like northern butterfly knives. "It didn't get to any organs. " She licks her lips a bit nervously and looks at Tsangun, wondering if the other woman saw what she did. "Listen, did you see... Um..." Her week in the Wyld at the tender mercies of the Raksha plucks at her, making her wonder if maybe she should keep her mouth-- "Eh?" She looks up at Fudou, her train of thought scattering, then up at those branches. She gulps. Oh gods. Not more midair stuff! She swallows her fear and nods at Fudou, and elbows Tsangun, backing away from the encroaching melee and going towards the huge Lunar with more than a little trepidation at the prospect of leaving the ground again. "Lets get

the hell out of here."

 

"Yeah. I'd prefer not getting tangled up in this either, so as long as it doesn't involve almost certain death and pain... Possibly disfigurement as well, but I'm a little more lenient on that," the Djala says as she looks from Fudou to Azami once elbowed. Her head nods a second later, agreeing with the other woman as she slips her knife back into its holder."

 

Vathrin's smile has not dissipated beneath the expressionless ebon mask, his peculiar eyes glittering darkly from within the slits carved into the mask. His hand rises, this time it does not fall, and he points a single, slender finger at the blonde-haired man who leads the second group. A sound, a single sylable, breaks free of the mask though it sounds muffled and thus would be nearly impossible for anyone to hear let alone discern where it came from. A slimy, black goo begins to seep from Vathrin's palm and slither its way to his fingertip, gathering itself like an arrow on a bowstring before bursting forth in a single rune that soars at the man he had been pointing at, slamming him in chest though silently.

 

(OOC) Vathrin just spent Essence from his Personal Essence pool

 

Speaking of scary men in black...

 

 There is another figure in black watching. This one is sitting on top of a building, making no particular effort to hide. He is hooded and masked, but his clothes are wool, not silk. For now, he just watches.

  

"Alright." rumbles Fudou, "You first then and if I fall and crush you then at least she has learned a lesson of some sort and managed to live to talk about it." says Fudou to Azami while grinning broadly. He then moves to scoop her up, expecting her to secure herself to him by whatever means she sees fit and once she's ready he simply gives Tsangun a grin and rumbles, "Try not to die while we're gone.." and with that he takes several steps and moves to swiftly leap however many bounds he needs to in order to arc up towards the sturdier branches of the jungle.

  

The man is struck hard by the goo, rocked back on his heels and crying out sharply. The goo seeps into his clothes and vanishes from sight, but not before it becomes a strange symbol. The man stops for a moment, as does his opponent, looking fearfully at the goo, then at its originator. The blode man stares at his chest for a moment, then suddenly, his head snaps back, his jaw opens wide, his arms fling out to his sides, and his back curls backwards. The whole effect takes place in the span of a second, then his body seems to regain a measure of control and resumes a neutral position for the moment.

 

-= OOC =- Walker of Shadow says, "Int+occult to recognise the symbol."

 

(Judge) Azami rolls Intelligence  + Occult: [ -1- 3 5 6 6 8 9 ]

        Resulting in 2 successes.

 

(Judge) Tsangun rolls Intelligence  + Occult: [ -1- 3 3 4 5 8 8 <10> ]

        Resulting in 4 successes.

 

-= OOC =- Walker of Shadow says, "Alright, it's a necromancy symbol. Means "control" or "dominance"."

 

At a loss as to what to hang onto, Azami finally grips the ties of Fudou's coat. As such she does not see what happens in the crowd, though she does glance over her shoulder and up towards the tree, struck by an uncomfortable certainty that she DID see someone up there. But what sort of person would be up in the trees, and in a mask? She shudders, and opens her mouth, ready to say something should the person still be there.

  

The man remains still in his neutral position for a moment, though his eyes are wide with fear and a strangle gurling noise is rolling out of his open mouth. It's as if his jaw refused to answer to his command. Then, his arms begin to haltingly rise up from his swords, both swords shaking as muscles fights against the bones that move unneringly on. His jaw goes limp for just an instant, allowing him to properly articulate a scream of utter agony, chilling to the very bone to those who are not used to hearing such things. Then, his jaw begins to wag madly, as though he were laughing, though the fear in his eyes and the strange noise coming from him begs to say differently. Then, the real fun begins.

 

        The swords are flipped inwards, their tips directed at the man himself and he can only gurgle madly as he fights with the very bones in his body and gurgle nonsensically as the tips slowly dig into his flesh. Agonizingly slowly. He screeches once more and the swords fall from his hands, causing them to cut deep gashes along his body as they fall from his grasp. However, he would have been wise to keep them. He begins to claw madly at himself, succeeding in tearing flesh away from his skin in wet, bloody chunks. His eyes are gouged out by his own reddened nails, his tongue similarily ripped from his mouth. The man literally tears himself to pieces, reducing his own body to a pile of wet gore and bones that, insanely, continue to move. Then, falls still.. But only for a second, as the bones themselves finally erupt out of what was left of the fleshy carcass, spraying all nearby in a great gout of blood. The skeleton looks, it's bones coated in blood, directly at Azami and points a single finger. If skeletons could smile, he surely would be.

 

Tsangun responds to Fudou's comments when a nervous, forced and rather unamused looking grin and glare combination. "Try not to die, and try not to step in anyone either," she replies as she leans back, peeking out at the fight going on in the street and narrowing her eyes. A heartbeat later her eyes snap open wide, just seconds before... Whatever it was happened. "Not. Good. Go. Now!"

  

Fudou lands with Azami atop the chosen branch, in just enough glorious time to get a decent enough view of that atrocity. The branch sags under his great weight but manages to hold and he sets her down and narrows his eyes which then immediatly begin flickering around for signs of the potential cause of such a disturbing display. "Hnnn..what the bloody blazes..?" he hisses before suddenly sliding along the length of the branch, trusting Azami to hold her ground there for now, and then droppign the rest of the distance back towards the ground to hurriedly move for Tsangun. Undoubtly a panic filled riot is about to happen.

  

Azami is settled on the branch as the skeleton points a bone finger still thick with the grease of its recenty departed flesh at her. She clings to the branch, seeing all this out of the corner of her eye. Azami pales, green eyes wide, unable to look away. "<Gods!>", she trembles, hanging on with shaking white hands as the branch whips about with Fudou's movement. Feeling the gorge rise in her throat she rises to her feet and steadies herself on the tree trunk, alone suddenly in the tree among the dense foliage, and unable to see where the strange necromancer is.

  

The horrible scream draws the attention of some of the combatants, who are suddenly transfixed by the grusome sight before them. The most horrified is the leader of the Wuxan, who is front row for the atrocity. When the man explodes, he is covered in gore. In horror, he drops his weapon and turns, running as fast as he can in the opposite direction. Those of his gang that saw the birth of the skeleton join him, while the other gang runs in the opposite direction. There is a stampede, and weapons are thrown down to give their former wielders extra speed to escape this horror. The scream of the paniced mix with the screams of the trampled and the dying, all echoing off of the buildings and the trees to double and redouble the sound until it is almost deafening.

 

Ysangun grabs at her knife and draws it out, not caring that she made a small cut in both her pants and the skin beneath.

 

~Come on... Hurry up big man,~ she hisses in the back of her mind as she takes a few steps away from the carnage and the gore. She wasn't panicing too much, but the Djala's body had a noticeable shaking to it.

 

(Judge) Walker of Shadow rolls Dexterity  + Stealth + 3: [ -1- 2 3 3 4 5 5 5 6 9 9 <10> <10> ]

        Resulting in 6 successes.

 

(Judge) Tsangun rolls Perception  + Awareness: [ -1- 2 2 3 7 9 9 ]

        Resulting in 3 successes.

 

The sigil of the full moon flairs on Fudou's forehead as the Lunar suddenly bursts into a brilliant speed with a faint halo of silver around his body as he bounds, rebounds and then covers the distance between himself and Tsangun in the literal twinkling of an eye. Once upon her he scoops the djala up and then takes to the air once again and towards the same branch Azami was upon.

 

(OOC) Fudou just spent Essence from his Peripheral Essence pool

 

(Judge) Fudou rolls Perception  + Awareness: [ 4 4 6 9 <10> ]

        Resulting in 3 successes.

 

(Judge) Azami rolls Perception  + Awareness and spends willpower: [ 2 4 8 9 ]

        Resulting in 3 successes.

 

The other figure in black is now gone from the roof, but you have no idea where he's gone.

 

(Judge) Azami rolls Perception  + Awareness and spends willpower: [ 3 3 5 7 ]

        Resulting in 2 successes.

  

Tsangun makes a sound that stems from both relief and a bit of fear as she's grabbed by the giant man. ~This is terrifyingly exhilarating,~ she thinks to herself, unable to deny the strangely pleasant feeling being carried around was. "Th-Thanks... I don't even know your name," she says softly, possibly going unheard but wanting to express her gratitude none the less.

  

"You're welcome. And there will be a time for names later." says Fudou in answer though he continues focusing on the escalating situation as he releases Tsangun and then turns to check on Azami. His eyes flicker over the panic in the streets below, "Pfft. For once, for all my criticism of him, I would not mind The Prince of Revels abilities to supernaturally influence the masses.." He looks over the two girls, "Did either of you see what might have caused such ill magic? The Prince of Revels purged this place..."

 

Tsangun sets her hand on her chest in an effort to calm her heartbeat once she's set down on the tree. "Are you okay?" She asks Azami with a small smile before nodding her head a little to Fudou. "Yes... Well... Somewhat," she says before explaining what she saw from her spot in the ruined building before - in as much detail as the other two would allow her to use.

  

"We should leave," Azami murmurs, still gazing towards where the Necromancer was, hanging on to the tree as Fudou comes bearing Tsangun, her pulse flickering fast and visible in the white hollow of her throat. It's not the skeleton she's frightened of, after all, though it pointed -right at her-. It's that the gesture has shown that the masked figure knows that she saw him that has her shaken. The braid of her hair swings heavily as she shudders, listening to Tsangun's description.

 

"If you had of pointed that out to me then, I would have looked into it and possibly prevented this." says Fudou in mild verbal chastise, "Nexus is a gathering pit of scum and villainy and in recent memory there's been kidnappings and ill doings by supernatural forces, enough so that caution should not be thrown to the wind at signs of unusual things. I do not like being watched, much less by figures in black wearing masks. Follow your instincts.." He then softens his verbal rebuke by stating, "However I'm at fault for not being more perceptive and there's no way you could have known one way or another. What's done is done..." He looks long at Azami as well, noting how shaken up she is but he comments no further and simply says, "Wait until the crowds die down a touch more.."

  

Almost as if Fudou's words carry power in their own right, the crowd is thinning out. As you watch, the last of them are gone, leaving only the dead and the wounded.

 

 ... And the skeleton. 

 

Vathrin folds his hands neatly in his lap as he watches the scene play out before him, his head cocked to one side in obvious interest as he observes what everyone does when presented with the gruesome spectacle. At the end of it all, his hands clap together and he chuckles quietly to himself before he casually rises to his feet and dusts the legs of his pants off somewhat in a calm manner. This done, he casts one last look at Azami and her group before almost blurring immediately out of sight, though in truth he is simple moving with impressive speed and agility through the folliage behind him. Indeed, a single leaf is enough to hold his weight as he goes skittering in the opposite direction, deeper into the heart of this jungle as he retreats away from the scene. On the other hand, the skeleton goes pelting off in the other direction, it's bones clacking audibly as it trots off in no particular direction other than away from Vathrin himself.

  

Tsangun gives the man a look that wants to be a glare, but can't seem to muster up the energy to do so. "I did mention that we should be leaving quickly as you took her up here," she points out as she leans back, her heart still beating wildly, but less so than it was before, "but we're alive. That's all that really matters right now. That spectacle, as gruesome and wicked as it was, probably saved lives as well."

  

"That was Necromancy," Aza states, looking back at them as soon as the necromancer dissapears. She's not quite comfortable with that either, but having Fudou around and... well, shiny with essence, does do a lot for one's sense of security. "Like out at that village, but not by the same person. What is going on here? How many blood-mages are in this part of the world?" She's angry, the energy bubbling up now that the adrenaline is kicking in a bit. "Thank you-- um, Thanks." She doesn't know Fudou's name, after all, though she's run into him at least twice before.

  

"I would rather a wielder of black arts dead or otherwise hampared from further and future escapades then a gang war stopped by his or her experimentations." is Fudou's counter to Tsangun, unmoved by her glare. His voice is stern and unyielding much like his presence. He seems set in his belief and dislike of such powers. In short, Fudou does not like things of the underworld one bit. He does relent somewhat after Azami speaks for he adds, "You may call me Fudou... And as for your assessment, we do live albiet sitting ducks for whatever magic may be sent our way." He watches as the skeleton goes clacking off and then says, "Let us go.." to the girls. He reaches for them and then begins a rapid descent for the mostly empty streets.

  

Tsangun's eyes roll back a bit at Fudou's response. "I'm not saying that I'd prefer otherwise. It's a terrible thing, but never the less it kept them from killing each other off completely," she half-explains, not that the djala cares too much over the subject, she was happy enough to be alive. "A pleasure to meet you, Fudou. I'm Tsangun," she introduces herself with a smile, doing nothing to prevent the man from helping her back to the ground.

  

Azami doesn't argue, but closes her eyes between the tree and the nice, safe, solid, fall-safe ground, calming quite a bit. Once her feet touch the ground, she opens her eyes and smiles a bit wrily up at Fudou. "It's an honor to meet you, Fudou." She bows, wincing and gritting her teeth, but completing the motion, one hand going to press against the patch pressed hastily against her side where her side had been cut. The surrounding shirt is quite red, bringing a scowl to her features. "This is going to stink soon," she mutters, and nods grins at both of them. "I think I'm going to go... ugh, pick the bits of window out before I turn into a porcupine." That said, she smiles and heads back to where she came.

  

Fudou simply eyes both girls but in the end his surliness is not their fault and he yields to that realization and allows a slight smile to return to his features, "Do not linger here.." he says to them both. He then turns and begins to enter the jungle..eventually descending into the shape of a monkey by which to quickly traverse the trees with the intention of seeking any additional signs of this necromancer or anything else unusual before leaving Nexus all together,

  

Tsangun nods her agreement with both Fudou and Azami over leaving the district. She hurries after the other woman, not wanting to let her go in case the wound was more severe than she let on. "That was exciting, no?" she asks, now that the danger was over she could look back on things and smile, even laugh at herself and the mistakes she made. Azami's mistakes too, but she would save giggling at those for another time, when she knew that the girl wasn't seriously harmed.

  

Azami grins and winks at the Djala. "I have to tell you, Tsangun... your version of exitement gives me the sudden urge to piss myself in terror," she jokes, green eyes twinkling. Elbowing her companionably, she grins, and finally laughs, joining in. "Do you wrestle bears for giggles, I must know! You crazy Southerners have the strangest parties."

  

Tsangun's lips curl into a smirk. Normally she'd return the playful elbowing, but given Azami's condition she decides better of it. "Oh no. Bears are for children before they reach puberty. We adults test ourselves against Tyrant Lizards, a simhata from time to time if we're feeling feverish," she jokes before adding in a more serious tone, "the best way to deal with dangerous situations in your past is to look at them, realize that you're still alive and worse could have happened... Then smile and laugh. It'll keep the nightmares away."

  

Azami hrms, smiling down at the vine and debri-strewn ground as they walk, stepping over a discarded club. "That's a good philosophy, I like it. I'll try it, eh?" She winces, closing her eyes briefly and making a faint growling noise in the back of her throat. "Y'know, I didn't even -see- that door! Who knew it'd be the time I really needed to jump through a window that I'd do such a lousy job of it?" She laughs, keeping her arm wrapped cross herself and the hand pressed on the alchemical bandage. Crimson seeps slowly up through her white fingers, though the bandage is doing a good job and it's not gushing great gouts of blood. "How embarrassing. But all those people that lived here, surviving because of the Wyld; where will they go,

do you think?"

  

"Do you normally go jumping through windows? I mean, this time the door didn't work, but usually one just has to knock or jiggle the handle a bit and voila, entry into a building with considerably less risk of personal injury," Tsangun teases as she moves beside Azami, glancing down at her side from time to time before shrugging, "Not sure. Deeper into the jungle perhaps, or they might try to leave the district, maybe even the city. Either way, I wish them luck so long as they don't try to do something stupid."

  

Azami nods emphatically to the wish, then snerks, still walking. Walking towards the uphill climb to the Bastion District, it seems. "Well, see... there was this one door. I hadn't learned anything about warding yet, and it -bit- me, I kid you not. Some bored old sod magicked the latch to turn into a mouth, and it chewed my hand half off." She rolls her eyes. "But nobody ever enchanted a glass pane, y'know? Too expensive." The day she finds out she's wrong will be a bad day for her, most certainly. "Are you apprenticed here?" she asks, curiously. 

 

Tsangun blinks a few times at the story of hand-chewing doors. "Right... All I ever had to deal with was a pissy door-god that wanted my cookies and wouldn't let me in until I shared them. Plus, it was raining," she says with a shrug before blinking again. "Apprenticed here? Oh! No... I do business in Nexus. My apprenticeship has long ended, although I suppose since I do study under Sinzhan..."