tokyobiohazard

I'd like to have three to four characters per person, and I know I'm stepping on toes by saying this, but even then it seems like too large a party to be traveling across the map together. It's becoming a small army and, though I prefer social RP to fighting all the time, when we DO fight, we're always sure to win because of our numbers. I don't like that it's not a challenge anymore.

Aera chuckled at Conall, "Perhaps we will wake each other up snoring tonight." Ianthe and Arva sat close to each other with their feet dipped in the lake water, Arva nibbling absently at a piece of pork. "What do you think of Theia, Ianthe?" "She's our friend, and she's pretty. I like her," was Ianthe's innocent answer. Arva shrugged and crossed his arms now that his piece of meat was devoured. He looked over at Theia, all by herself, and shook his head. "I don't understand why she prefers to be alone while she travels with a large group." Ianthe frowned and got up, muttering, "Maybe it's people like you."

Ianthe smiled as Theia accepted her flowers, then watched as she and Annette both walked away, seeming quite displeased with each other. She didn't fully understand why Theia was always so grumpy, and followed a few steps behind her. "I'm from the forest, too. Kryptgarden. I'm a half-nymph, so I lived my entire life in nature. Large cities seemed strange to me as well the first time I saw one. My father owned one of those large, grand homes, and I couldn't understand why he needed such extravagant things until I realized it was all for his image. Everyone tries to outdo one another in the cities." Arva, who kept his distance but still followed Ianthe and Theia, interrupted, "It's all a show of wealth in the big cities, but in smaller ones, people just build what they need to survive. And nearly everyone dreams of large cities and being part of them." Ianthe turned from paying attention to Arva and looked back to Theia, "He's from Cormyr, if you've heard of it. He grew up on my father's estate." Arva gently took hold of Ianthe's shoulders and nervously gazed at Theia, "Sorry if she's a bother, she's just a very friendly girl." Meanwhile, Aera gratefully took her breakfast from Nawen and smiled, "Thank you." She then turned her attention to Conall, still grinning, "Perhaps we can still share a cabin. It could be fun. But you must have noticed I snore by now."

Ianthe and Arva had slipped off from the group and been walking together all morning. Well, it was more along the lines of Ianthe wandering around aimlessly while Arva followed her like a lost puppy. Ianthe spotted Theia sitting alone and smiled as an idea came to her, and she leaned over, picking a handful of little purple flowers from amongst the knee-high grass. Her fingers quickly worked as she wove them into a little headband. She then approached Theia shortly after Annette did and offered the woven crown to Theia, "I thought these would look pretty on you. I picked all the flowers over there or I'd have made one for you as well, Annette." Arva was extremely wary, and watched the exchange from a distance, ready to jump into action in case Theia tried to hurt Ianthe. He got a bad vibe from Theia, which was probably just because of her attitude, but he watched from behind a bush with a hand close by his katana. Aera found herself sitting as far away from Conall as possible as she watched the others spar. She found what Daud said to be unsettling, but trusted that he wouldn't hurt anyone in the group. He was outnumbered vastly, and if he wanted to kill one of them, he'd have at least attempted by now. She shrugged it off, and decided to spend the rest of the morning tending to her horse since Conall was nowhere near the horses. She gulped thirstily as noon approached. It was getting hot, and the group seemed to be gathered around the water. She decided to brave it and walked to the water, picked up a bottle, and filled it up with water from the lake before sitting down next to Conall and looking at the ground. "I... I'm sorry about this morning." she stammered, not daring to make eye contact with him.

Aera looked up at Conall, still in bed, in her cabin, wondering what she was doing sprawled out in the floor. Her tail twitched. "I - But - You... What are you doing in here, Conall? THAT'S THE REAL QUESTION!" She found herself pointing at him, her tail waving back and forth. Arva and Ianthe overheard Aera's yelling, and exchanged a look to each other before begrudgingly getting up and rushing over to her cabin, still grasping one another's hands. They burst the door open, each with a hand on their weapons. They were met with Aera lying on the floor looking as if she were about to either murder Conall or take off her boots for some reason, or perhaps both. Aera looked back and forth from Conall to Ianthe and Arva, then realized they were holding hands. She broke out in a sly grin, "Getting awful cozy, aren't you two?" Arva raised an eyebrow, letting go of Ianthe's hand to point at Aera, "This is about you, though. What are you doing?" "I - Well - Conall slept in my room last night." "What's the big deal?" Ianthe interjected, genuinely confused. "The big deal is - Well -" The weretiger's shoulders slumped as she got to her feet and slid her boot on. "I don't know. What's Conall doing in here?" "You're friends with him, aren't you?" Ianthe said, raising her eyebrow and tilting her head to the side. "Well, yes. I suppose I am. I apologize, Conall. I thought you had ulterior motives." Aera responded, rolling her shoulders in a shrug.

When Aera awoke, she stretched and yawned hugely before rolling over. She noticed something. Pulling the covers back over herself, she hid beneath them, for she saw Conall sleeping on the other end of the cabin, in a bed across the room from hers, Aodh curled up on his chest. Oh gods, she thought, rolling over so that she wasn't facing him anymore. Under her blankets or not, she felt as if he could see her even if he was sleeping. Her eyes were large and her heart beat quickly as she realized this was the first time a man had slept in the same room as her. "Oh gods," she repeated audibly, throwing the covers off herself with such force that they slid into the floor. Getting up rather rigidly, she tiptoed past the beds with no effort before picking up her boots and starting to put them on. She pulled one leg up and slid her boot on without difficulty, before moving onto the other leg. As things usually go, she then tripped over her blanket and fell, smacking the back of her head on the floor. She was a bit dazed, but pushed herself up onto her hands and knees, eyes on Conall as she hoped the thud hadn't woken him or Aodh. ----------------------- Arva woke up very early in the morning and was shocked to see that he and Ianthe were in the same bed. It took a moment to register with him that his bride had actually wanted to snuggle up to him while they slept. Her head was resting on her arms atop his chest and their legs were twined together. They were both fully clothed and it was quite stuffy under the blankets, but Arva didn't mind that. He wrapped his arms around Ianthe and kissed her hair, feeling as if he were the luckiest man in the world. "Good morning," She muttered as she began to stir, looking up at him with her eyes heavy from sleep. "Good morning," he replied, hugging her tighter to his chest and wishing they could stay like this forever. Ianthe rolled off of Arva's chest and they clasped their hands together, both staring at the ceiling wordlessly. They lay there for what felt to them like hours, before Ianthe turned her head toward Arva. After a moment, he realized she was looking at him and turned toward her, and his heart began to thump in his chest as he realized her face was inches away. He gulped, and their faces both seemed to move toward each other in the same instant and before they both knew it, their lips were together and their eyes were closed. Neither pulled away until several seconds passed, and when they finally did, both sets of eyes fluttered open at the same time.

After recovering from having Conall actually touch her on the shoulders, Aera wrinkled her nose, "Why do we need cabins when we can just camp out under the stars? It's calm outside and not too cold." "You have fur. I, for one, will not pass up an opportunity to sleep in a warm bed." Arva replied to her, rolling his eyes. He ate a few kabobs and a sausage before gathering up his things and heading for the nearest cabin, knowing Ianthe would likely sleep in the water. However, he was surprised to hear footsteps behind himself and to find Ianthe close behind his heels. He turned around, "Why are you coming to the cabin with me, when you could sleep in the water?" She smiled, "I like when you hold me." Arva, of course, was completely smitten at this point and walked to his cabin with a spring in his step. It may have been simply holding his bride as she slept, but that was something special to him. It was an accomplishment that made him feel as if they had a chance as a couple. Watching the short exchange take place, Aera decided to make her way to her own cabin and sat down on its bed for a few minutes before lying down and falling asleep.

Aera was completely rapt as she listened to Conall, forgetting about Aurora and realizing this had become the conversation she'd wanted to have with him. She was taken aback as he said he was afraid. His question toward her made her stop and think for a moment as she realized that she'd never been afraid when perhaps she should have been. "I suppose... I suppose it's all I've ever known, Conall." She paused and rubbed her upper arms, feeling cool with her fur still wet but not daring to move closer to the fire. "I've never stopped and thought I could lose myself because it's a part of who I am. If that makes sense. But if the day ever came where I lost myself to something like our affliction, I'm still not sure what I'd do. As for my transformations, it was hard to reign them in at first and I spent much of my youth as a tiger cub. As I grew, I was able to change forms more easily and now it comes to me with the ease of changing clothes." She suddenly felt self-conscious and looked down at the sand around her. "This is getting deep." Arva whispered to Ianthe, who nodded vigorously.

Aera's jaw dropped as Aurora moved to Conall and began to... flirt with him. Her cheeks felt hot as she stood up from her spot next to Ianthe and Arva and walked over to Conall, wishing she could shove Aurora away, for some unknown reason. She stood in front of the two of them and then said, "Conall, you should tell us about your first hunt," before planting her behind firmly in the sand before him, sitting cross-legged. "My first hunt was when I was but a cub. I caught a mouse, from what my mother told me. She said I caught it much in the way a kitten normally would. I toyed with it until it was dead." She looked at Aurora as she said those final words. Arva grinned, "Jealous, Aera?" "You shut your mouth! I am not jealous! I'm simply curious about Conall's first hunt as a werewolf." Aera replied in a louder-than-usual tone. Arva laughed at the weretiger, "I think you're jealous, just saying." "I am SO not jealous. Come on, Conall, story time." Aera rubbed her hands together and smiled, her face feeling hotter than ever. "I've seen more flirting tact in Ianthe, for gods' sakes." Arva crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. "What are we talking about?" Ianthe said, roused from making a sandcastle at the mention of her name.

Arva stopped in his tracks as he roasted a sausage, "A dragon was obsessed with you, Tannin? Clearly I have nothing on this guy." Aera found this immensely hilarious and doubled over for a moment, laughing quite loudly, "And here he was, thinking he was something special!" Arva mocked the weretiger and then grunted, "He's got more experience than me. Clearly it's because he's older than I." "Right. Whatever makes you feel better." "Fine. Worst I've had was this one girl named Emily who watched me bathe through a window once." Ianthe grinned, "That's funny." "Tell me about it. And he'd beg for you to do that, Ianthe." Aera said, hand on her hip as Arva choked on a bite of kabob in reaction. "Why would I want to do that?" Ianthe asked, clearly oblivious, as usual. "I... Nevermind." Aera took a moment to remember just how innocent-minded Ianthe was, before shaking her head.

Ianthe was stunned to see the dragon land and begin to talk. She admired its shimmering scales and booming voice before blurting out, "I'm Ianthe, and this is Arva. That's Aera over there. There's Rhaine and Dagny and that one over there's Conall," She continued in this manner until every single party member had been named, as if it were her job to introduce everyone. Arva remembered Charmelion from their trek across the desert and figured this dragon was likely just as friendly, but felt a little wary. After all, this dragon had been watching them. "Yes, I'm Arva..." Aera smiled as the dragon landed, as she'd been proven wrong in the most direct sort of way possible. She smiled as she began slicing up cuts of venison, "You're welcome to what I didn't get off that carcass over there. Probably a small meal for you, but a meal nonetheless. If not, we'll have plenty of more choice venison cooked up in a little while." Arva, suddenly calm and collected, then snatched the dagger from Aera and said, "I have an idea," before slicing the meat into sizable cubes before skewering the cubes of the meat on sticks with varying sliced vegetables from their supplies. He then decided to take out a link of sausages from his pack, deciding they would spoil soon anyway if not cooked tonight, and skewered those as well. "We can each cook our own food tonight." Ianthe clapped with vigor, as if this were the best idea she'd heard all night. "Arva the chef. Who would have guessed?" Aera muttered while rolling her eyes before taking the largest cuts of meat and rubbing them down with spices and herbs, "If you don't want my kill, you could always eat these... Nawen and crew have just brought a ton of meat with them, so you could eat that as well. Not sure if you prefer your meat cooked or raw. I've never met a dragon before." "Isn't this the most she's talked since she's gotten here? Oh, hello Nawen." Arva mused, speaking to the entire group as he handed out the kabobs and skewered weenies to everyone.

Ianthe noticed the dragon flying overhead and shouted to it, her hands cupped around her mouth, "Hey, don't be a stranger! Land and talk to us! We're real friendly!" Arva clapped a hand over her mouth, "Silver dragon or not, that thing could eat us all! Don't ask him to land!" Aera chuckled, "As if it heard her from all the way up there." Upon the deer being dropped in front of the group, Aera pulled the dagger from her boot and nudged the doe with her foot as Marie started to approach the deer and slit it open, "Good catch, Daud. I hate to steal it from you, Marie but I'd love to clean it. No offense intended, but I think I may be able to teach you a thing or two about cleaning these guys." Going to her saddlebags, Aera pulled out a double-sided hook and set about hanging it from a tree limb. Being so large, it was easy to heft the deer up onto the hook and spear it through the ankles, effectively hanging it by its legs. She then deepened Marie's cuts along the abdomen, splitting the deer open with one giant vertical slice. She began to remove the offal, letting the intestines and such drop to the ground and handing the rest to Marie, who stuffed them into a large wooden bucket. After a few minutes of such work, Aera had butchered the deer and acquired some choice cuts of venison from the hard work in the process. She overheard Sybille's comment about naked women, then asked Marie if this was her first time cleaning a deer, and was met with a confused but positive answer. Aera dipped her hand in a pool of the doe's blood and drew a few tribal-looking markings on Marie's face with the sticky, wet blood. "Congratulations, you're a woman now! At least, according to tradition." Marie could only stand still with disgusted shock as she felt the warm blood on Aera's fingers slather its way onto her skin and drip sickly down her neck. When she was finished, the young noblewoman's eyes were huge and she had to force her mouth not to hang open, a task made much easier when she failed and swallowed warm crimson dribble. ".....Ahem, whose traditions are these? And why do they apply to me?" Aera shrugged, "It's just been a tradition where I'm from forever. Now come on, help me carry this meat back to the party." And Marie silently obliged.

Amazing artwork there! By the way, Flip gave me permission to control Marie in my latest post.

I don't have any issues with Daud being unsocial - I realize it is part of his character - but I'm a hunter and therefore have a few issues with your last post. It's not really possible to sneak up on a deer like that without it taking off. You just couldn't get that close, period. I very much hate to be "that" person who calls anyone out but it is very unlikely even for the most skilled of hunters, and rather impossible to carry a deer on one's shoulders. They're VERY heavy animals, even the small ones. You either have to clean (skin and butcher) them on site or drag them back to camp. I have no other issues with your post.

Ianthe watched from afar as Lucas collapsed into the water and covered her mouth with her hand, "I forgot... Modesty, right?" By this point, Arva had begun to swim to her, and she had begun to go toward him. They met up within minutes, and Ianthe slid on the shirt with minimal difficulty. "Oh, gods dammit. Go put on your underclothes." Arva muttered as he not-so-accidentally caught a glimpse of her backside as they swam to shore, realizing he'd given her a white linen shirt. It, of course, covered her nakedness, but it was quite translucent while wet. "I don't wear any." Ianthe said with a shrug as she stepped out of the water. She went for her saddlebags and pulled out a blanket, wrapping herself in it and sitting beside Aera, who had her toes dipped in the water. "Aera gets to be naked," the nymph mumbled to nobody in particular. "I wish I had fur." "It's terribly hot." Aera remarked to Ianthe. "But it's pretty and nobody cares if you're naked." The nymph replied, innocence in her voice that made Aera regard Ianthe as a child for a moment. Arva leaned down to the sitting weretiger, "She's like a kid with a really hot adult's body, right?" "Don't be a pig." Aera responded, shaking her head. "What are you talking about?" Ianthe asked, pulling her blanket tighter around herself. "We should start a fire soon!" The small nymph playfully pushed Arva's leg, who didn't budge because of his size. "I want to roast sausages tonight!" Aera stood up and grinned, shoving Arva as well. He did budge that time, quite a lot, in fact, nearly falling over with the strength of Aera's playful shove. "Alright, alright! Let's look for driftwood or something." As they all walked along the shores of the lake barefoot and half-dressed, Aera wondered if this was what it was like to be at the beach. There was sand between her toes and water lapping at her heels, so maybe this wasn't far off from being a beach. Their arms were full of driftwood by the time they'd walked about a mile along the shore, and there were still at least another few miles of shoreline, but they turned around and headed back to the group, Aera and Arva with arms full of wood, and Ianthe with handfuls of clam shells. Dropping their armfuls of driftwood, Arva and Aera exchanged a grin and then set about gathering rocks to build a pit in the sand. They busied themselves with this, while Ianthe dug out a pit, for several minutes before actually lining the pit, which took a little while as well. However, by the time they were finished, they had a very nicely built fire pit ready for when the sun went down.

Ianthe watched with delight as her companions stripped down to their underpants and began to bathe. She broke out in a large, open-mouthed grin and looked to Arva and Aera before running in a full sprint toward the water, stripping her clothes off as she ran. She dove into the water in one swift motion and began to corkscrew and flip in the water as if she were fluid like the lake itself. Aera blushed beneath her fur. She supposed if everyone was getting in the water, she would as well, and her fur would serve to preserve her modesty. She pulled her outfit off and waded into the water. Ianthe popped out from under the water not too far from Rhaine and caught the bar of soap that was thrown at her. It smelled wonderful, and Ianthe dove under the water with it again, propelling herself with her legs together as if she had a mermaid's tail. It was then that Aera's eyes widened and she glanced at Arva, still on his horse, "She's stark naked!" Arva snapped out of his perverted thoughts involving the women of the party. He then leaped off his horse instantly and then began to hop and wiggle out of his clothes. He threw his shirt so hard it flew onto his horse's muzzle. The horse spooked and ran straight into the water, flicking its head this way and that, before throwing the shirt off and rearing up, soaking Aera's fur. Arva hopped on one leg as he tried to escape his pants, then ran toward the water. He snatched his shirt from the water and swam after Ianthe, "Come on, put the shirt on!" But she was very far away by now, and he didn't feel like swimming out that far, so he instead said, "Well, I guess if she's comfortable with everyone seeing her... That way... I am as well." Aera whispered to him, "You mean you're not enjoying being able to see such a sight? I thought you wanted to see her nude?" He threw back his head and thrust his arms out toward the distant nymph exaggeratedly, "Not like this! Gods, not like this!" Aera shrugged and took the recovering horse's reins, before leading it out of the water and releasing it. She sat down on the shore near Tak'We and Dagny, "Men are complicated creatures."

I'm going away to spend time with my family for a week, and most likely won't be able to post anything that's too long. I'll be on a mobile device, so posting will be a pain, but I'll try to post a little bit whenever I am needed.

"Oh great!" Sven said as he crookedly shot an arrow into the leg of a goblin. One came up quite close to him, so he punched it in the face and watched it fly backward. Luckily that was a small one, or else he wouldn't have been able to do that. He pulled back on his bowstring and "kissed" his fingers, letting the string pull back to be even with his mouth. He exhaled and let an arrow loose all in one go, and found to his satisfaction that he hit a goblin square in the eye socket. He made a note to try this method every time he loosed an arrow, and hit two more goblins in the chest and neck, respectively.

Aera was very upset as she woke up the next morning expecting to have her talk with Conall and finding he was nowhere in sight. She walked up to Dagny and asked, "Where is Conall? I was going to speak with him today..." Arva awoke quite late with his arms posed as they were when he was holding Ianthe while they slept. He stretched and then found, to his surprise, that his tent was gone and he was in the open air. He looked around to find Ianthe packing their tent and bedroll into a backpack and frowned as he realized he was shirtless and in his breeches with no bedroll to cover up with. He shrugged and then walked over to the group as they watched what were said to be centaurs walking through the clearing. He nudged Aera with his elbow and said, "Finally creatures that can tower over you!" Aera wrinkled her nose, "I'm likely taller than they are, and besi--- PUT SOME CLOTHES ON, WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!?"

Arva listened to Sybille's words and gave her a little smile, "I should be affectionate with my wife, no? After all, til death do us part and whatnot." He smiled in Ianthe's direction, then leaned in toward Sybille and whispered as he saw Ianthe climb into an empty tent, "I can't bed her to save my life, don't worry." Meanwhile, inside Conall's tent, Aera pursed her lips in nervousness and nodded at Conall. "I was wondering why you seem to feel ashamed of being what you are. You seemed genuinely upset with not only turning in front of everyone, but also that the wererats were after you and the group got dragged into it. The latter I can understand, but the former baffles me, as I'm not embarrassed by what I am, nor am I regretful of being bitten. Perhaps in my younger years, but no longer. I suppose what I wanted to ask was why?" The words had all spilled out rather quickly, but Aera was no longer nervous as she wondered what his response would be. However, their conversation was cut short as the sound of metal scraping against something filled the air. Aera figured it was just a party member until she poked her head outside the tent and noticed her friends all in battle ready stances. She had already transformed once tonight, so she pulled out her dagger and watched. She hoped she wouldn't be needed, but was ready just in case. "It seems we have company."

As the group arrived at the campsite, Ianthe smiled as she heard Nawen say she preferred the outdoors and said, "I've missed being outside towns. Arva and I have been staying in cities for so long, a change of pace is nice." Arva grumbled and kicked at a fallen log before sitting on it. He wasn't looking forward to picking ticks out of his bedroll tonight. Aera had only one thing on her mind as she walked toward Conall's tent and crouched down, then crawled inside. It was a tight fit for her, but she sat cross-legged and prepared to wait for Conall to enter. Her stomach turned flips as she wondered if this was too bold a move, but she decided she had to have this talk with him about his shame for being a lycanthrope in as private a place as possible.

Sven gulped as he heard Ali's words. Several goblins... Great. He readied an arrow and backed away from the door a considerable distance, shaking in excitement and fear. He could very well die today, but he was determined to live another day. "I'm ready..."

Arva gathered up his katana and belted it on, then grabbed his satchel and slung it on his shoulders. He took Ianthe by the shoulders as she belted on her own scimitars, then kissed her hair again. He turned and began to walk out of the inn, then heard Shalena's comment about snuggling being "the right idea" and winked at her as he walked by, flashing a toothy grin. Ianthe took no notice and promptly stuck her tongue out at the innkeeper as she walked out, closing her eyes and throwing her entire body into the childish gesture, leaning in his direction as she stepped toward the exit. Aera walked over to Conall, meaning to ask him to talk with her once they got outside the city, until she heard some commotion about a demon. "Oh... Gods, does this happen often?"

Aera changed back to her normal "human" form within a minute or two and frowned as she heard Conall apologize for everything, and presumably for being what he was. She supposed not looking human most of the time made it a little easier to accept lycanthropy, and left it at that, but not before deciding that she'd have a talk with Conall when the situation was more opportune. The weretiger grabbed her clothing and clothed herself, feeling sore in her hand where she'd swiped at the wererat. She'd hit him a little too hard, she supposed. It'd been ages since she'd had to fight anything. Ianthe and Arva stirred as the innkeeper was kicked down the stairs. Arva smiled warmly and clutched Ianthe tightly... Before she awoke and wriggled free, "Thanks for keeping me warm, Arva! We hardly ever keep each other warm like that... It'd be nice if we could share a room more often or something..." She looked down at him. "Yeah, sure!" He didn't even think about the very innocent nature of what she was implying for a moment before beaming up at her and standing, wrapping his arms around her. He didn't mind it. He kissed her hair and intwined a hand with hers. "I love you." She smiled, "And I love you as well." Aera stormed down the stairs and around the bewildered innkeeper who'd been kicked down the stairs and straightened her skirt, "Get your things. We've been asked to leave." "What do you mean? That's never happened before." Arva let Ianthe go hesitantly. "Well, I don't know for sure, but I doubt you've ever been attacked inside an inn before." Aera took a sip of cold cocoa, "Ugh, that's really no good cold."

Unfortunately for Arva, he had no idea of the sensuous words Aurora had shared with Tannin. He was fast asleep with Ianthe slumbering in his arms, oblivious to the flirtation which would have excited him to no end. They lay in the floor together curled up around each other in an innocent fashion which melted Aera's heart. All she seemed to be able to do was stare at them and smile as she listened to the stories her companions shared. Suddenly, Aera heard a ruckus coming from upstairs and rushed up there, not really knowing why. Perhaps she craved a little excitement after the calm of storytelling. She rushed up the stairs after Tenebris and felt herself begin to transform in her excitement. She threw her clothes off and thrust them toward the wall, not feeling shame for being nude, but pride for what she was. Within a few minutes, she was a massive white and tan tiger with two-inch claws and teeth to match. She roared and pounced into the room past Tenebris and Xundus, bristling at the wererat. She swiped her paw at the wererat, hoping to smash its face in, but only managed to make deep cuts in its chest.