Forums » Fantasy Roleplay » Stranded in a Magic Jungle

Between the two immediate problems of a lack of food and her conversational partner's mouth having a more efficient motor than the Silvered Wind, Kathleen decided to deal with the former first.

She pursed her lips as Brink and Tenkojima approached, a dull-looking brown sack the only item shared between them. Neither of them had pleased looks on their faces, matching her own. Guess it was too much to hope for that there was a giant barrel of salted meats which had just been too big to carry. That bag really was all they had.

"We're stranded." Kathleen informed the two warrior-types, offering them the navigational notes with her calculations as an easier explanation than she could provide through speech.

At the same time, she eyed the treeline. What should their next course of action be? The broken skyship wouldn't be very efficient shelter from the elements, since it felt like a stiff wind would blow the whole thing over. That meant they probably really would have to brave the jungle, something she was hoping they could decide against.

Well, maybe if they were able to reach the shoreline they could make a fire and flag someone down. She thought she saw that in a survival manual once. Wayland Nor was thankfully one of the more local deserted islands for them to get stranded on - more likely for any distress signals to be discovered.

Kathleen glanced around at her companions. "So... a plan?" she ventured. "The ship won't sustain us. May need to leave."

Once they'd rejoined the others, Brink halted and surveyed the things which the other two had found. It came as no surprise that they were stranded, and Brink pulled the end of herbling braid a bit as she thought. She had a good sense of direction, aided too by Miko's natural instinct and keen sense of smell. She recalled flying over a large portion of beach during the final agonizing moments of battle, and before the subsequent plummet semt them into the jungle.

"If this is an Island, I think we are closest to the western beach." She said finally, even as she called Miko back with her mind. The ferret had found no sign of her other things. Not surprising given the smoke, debris, and general brush and bracken of the jungle. It wasn't conducive to finding things, only getting lost.

Jerking a thumb at the Bag O Taters, she shrugged. "This is all we found, some delicious looking potatoes. I can try to hunt as we go, so hopefully we'll be okay. I have no idea what we'll do for water though." She reiterated what she'd said to Tenk just before adding, "but it IS a jungle, so I bet it rains alot. There may even be fruits and othwr plants we can forage, but I don't know much about the plantlife around here."

She looked between the others, waiting for their ideas as far as a plan went, then added, "whatever we do, we should set a watch whenever we stop to rest. There are probably things here besides pirates that could get curious."

The feline peeked over the Brink as she looked at the plans, granted, he could really understand them. As the rest of the party made little progress, the tabaxi frowned and took a few steps away from the group. Gazing into the jungle as they spoke, the Kensei raised his Nodachi and pointed it at the dense foliage.

“Well, whatever we do, we should act with haste. No doubt that there may still be hostiles in the area, and we’d do best to have no part in a confrontation right now.” He spoke quickly, feeling more uneasy for each minute that the party remained by the crash.

Grunting, the feline knelt down as he cleaned the blade of his sword off. Dusting ash and dirt from it as he glanced back at the party from within his ornate helmet. The samurai wasn’t looking forward to traveling through the jungle. Granted, he understood the principals of going through enemy territory, but in past circumstances he was in a conflict, traveling on open ground, and traveling with dozens of armed men and women.

“What’s the vedrict? Should we leave or take a chance?” He asked, looking down at his hands and carefully adjusting the wrap on his weapon. Tenkojima figured that if he could apply what he learned in the past to war, he could apply it to this.

“You mentioned a beach?” Koji inclined, nodding towards Brink. “Might not be a prime spot for a vacation, but it would allow us an open area to set up and fish if we needed.”

"Oh, we /definitely/ need to leave this wreckage. The pirate ship was damaged, but mostly just superficially, whereas our ship." Fixer waved a hand dramatically at the remains of her home and workplace. "I figure that if their crew is worth half a damn, they'll have about ... six or seven hours of repairs to get the rudder working again, then they'll come for us. They'll want to pick the bones clean to help pay for the repairs, munitions, and crew salaries. And there's a not insignificant chance that they'll look for us if we're not here."

She nudged her backpack with a foot, "I took the quintessence, so with time to think and tinker, I can build things to help us. If nothing else, I've got the equipment to use it as a heat source, so we can cook food and boil water. I was hoping to find the captain's spyglass, but there's no telling where it got off to, or if it's even intact."

"Personally, I think we try to stick to the forest for a bit while working toward the shore. We don't want to be walking around on a sandy beach if the pirates come a'looking. I can't track under normal situation, but even I can follow sand and snow tracks." She shouldered her bag, "I halfway paid attention to a sailor talking about being shipwrecked. He said the first thing you need is shelter, then potable water, then food. If you can knock those three out, then you can start coming up with ways to get home. If nothing else, we can almost certainly build a raft."

Didn't need telepathy to recognize that the group was anxious to leave. Kathleen sighed, giving another resigned glance at the treeline.

Bugs. Wild animals. Poisonous plants. Any number of things that could ruin her day were most definitely hiding in those trees. If she got out of this without stepping in at least one pile of dung she'd be astounded.

But, the course was decided. After a final look-around to make sure nothing had been neglected, the quartet began their measured journey in the direction that Brink estimated the nearest shoreline to be. Seeing both Brink and Tenkojima on their guard as the brush swallowed them up, Kathleen reluctantly removed her pistol from its holster and held it at her side.

It was a necessary tool for travel, but not one she liked using. Not that she had a problem with actually shooting the weapon - no reason to feel guilt about threatening a street thief, or disabling a malfunctioning golem, or shooting rats in the newest dirt hovel calling itself a hotel that she was forced to stay in.

Kathleen noted with some regret that the Silvered Wave was her first decent lodging in months, and it had gotten shot down. A sign, maybe?

Anyway, the reason she disliked brandishing the magitech tool was due to the fact that it always meant trouble. Nobody with sense would keep a naked weapon out unless they were expecting something awful.

The telepath scowled at the newest leafy branch to sway gently into her face, slapping it aside as she stepped over the roots of the tree it belonged to. She hated the jungle. It was hot, and humid, and full of bugs.

She'd positioned herself at the back of the group partly due to her unwillingness to be the first one encountering danger, but it was harder than she'd thought to move through vegetation this thick. It was taking effort to keep pace with Brink and Tenkojima, but if she got lost in these woods she would have no way of effectively defending herself.

Which reminded her. Kathleen kept an eye on her companions as she dug into her satchel, extracting an arcane rune and beginning to murmur the incantation for her contingency shield charm. No sense in being overly unprepared.

As soon as the group had set off, Bri had gripped the cylinder at her waist and activated it. A soft mechanical sound whirred and quickly her bow assembled, taking no more than three seconss to do so. While the bow assembled Brink had pulled an arrow from the holster upon her back and them brought it to the rope as it finished stringing. Her movements were fluid, practiced and easy.

With the arrow nocked, she held it ready, walking softly as she tried to make little sound. Might as well attract little attention pale blue gaze left no leaf un noticed. Soon, a flash of white with flecks of black sped out of a group of bushes, leaping to Brink's shoulder. She didn't twitch, having heard Miko's mind as the ferret approached. In its mouth was a the strap of a single canteen.

Good job my friend, she said, reach up one hand to run a finger under his muzzle, then took the canteen, partially full it seemed, and looped it over her neck and one arm, before regripping her bow.

As they continued on, Brink glanced toward the Tabaxi, then at the others. Should their little band have a leader? Someone to make a decision should no-one agree? She sighed inwardly as she realized she'd have to work as a team with these people. It wasn't that she didn't like them. In fact she was beginng to, but forming friendships could be dangerous. It left room for betrayal, not to mention that conversation had never been easy for her. Still, she had to trust her companions, or else go it on her own... well she wasn't that stupid, or desperate.

Sweat soon dampened Bri's face and she kept wiping her hands on her clothing so she could maintain a firm grip on her bow. She had dressed for the atmosphere of the sky, not an infernal jungle. Soon she'd have to stop and take off a few pieces of clothing or risk overheating.

Vines threatened to trip, branches slapped, bugs buzzed and bit, and the overall experience was rather unpleasant. Still, she felt her direction keenly, perhaps a hidden intuition, and stayed on course.

"I don't know how far it is to the beach, perhaps it'll take us a few days to reach, but when we do get there it would definitely be wise to camp within the jungle while we take whatever action we plan on. It's probable that the pirates can see the beach, possibly even landed their..." Bri voice faded a moment as ahe had an idea.

"Their ship." She finished, eyes glinting. "We could steal it."

The feline didn't have much to pack, simply standing up and bearing his nodachi in a semi ready stance. It was time to make a march away from the wreck. As the party ventured into the jungle, the Tabaxi placed himself to the side and a few paces in front of the Archer. If there was to be a confrontation, he wanted to be the one to take the heat away from the group.

The Kensei was no stranger to long trips, and the beauty of the jungle distracted him enough to not mind the heat too much. The feline also diced various foliage that got in his way, demonstrating the fluidity of such an unwieldy looking blade as he cleared the way for Brink to navigate. Occasionally looking back to ensure the party was in tow, the Kensei didn't break stride.

The past has shown Tenkojima that he often would not have the luxury of picking his allies, but he was content with his current group. He felt as though he could rely on the archers survival skills to navigate from this place, the scholars intellect to formulate a reasonable plan, and the small talkative person to make the situation less gloomy.

The feline did not notice the rest of the party starting to fall victim to the heat or fatigue, but he knew it would be best to not keep this up for too long.

As the group progressed, the Kensei began singing the songs he learned from his home in an effort to brighten his mood. This continued for a short while until the Archer suggested stealing the enemy pirates ship.

The feline went quiet as he frowned, sighing and closing his eyes for a brief second. This was a dilemma for him, because while it might mean an easy way off this place, it was morally unjust. Then again, the pirates unprovoked attack was just as wrong. The tabaxi then spoke his mind;

"Yes, that is possible. However we should not have to resort to that. While they did show aggression of the lowest morality; to a merchant vessle. If we retaliate and leave dozens doomed to die here, how are we better?" The Samurai asked the question honestly, hoping to receive justification from the party in a manner that would change his perspective on it.

"Either way, how is everyone feeling? This isn't fun, I know, but is anyone suffering something serious enough to stop?" Since Tenkojima would be stuck with this group of people for a while, he might as well ensure they are feeling alright. He slowed his pace as he spoke, allowing the group to tighten up a bit and removing his helmet to allow himself a moment to breathe clearly.

(( So sorry. I completely missed that Tenk had posted. ))

This sucked. Like, it really sucked. One of the advantages of being small was she could avoid low hanging vines and branches, while slipping through gaps bigger folks would need to squeeze through or go around. It also meant that things they could step over, she had to climb over, with a backpack full of gear weighing her down.

It sucked.

It was also one of the few things that could shut Fixer down. It's not that she didn't want to chatter away. She just had to conserve her breath. The air was thicker here and far more humid. That, combined with the hard work of slogging through the jungle wore on the mechanic. Her top was soaked with sweat that wouldn't evaporate and her cheeks were red from exertion, but she kept up regardless. Stout halflings were tough, which was good. If she were a lightfoot, someone would have probably been carrying her by now.

"Stealing the... ship." She coughed a little before continuing, "Will.. be.. tough. Warships need..." She took a breath, then 'urfed' as she crawled over a log, dropping to her bare feet on the other side. Walking around barefoot in the jungle didn't seem to bother her. One might wonder if she even owned shoes. "More than.. four crew."

Whew. Look. She contributed helpfully. That was awesome. She couldn't really estimate how many they would need without a better idea of what the pirate ship had actually been. Fixer never got a good look at it, what with being down in the hold through the battle.

...and, done. Shield charm securely in place. Now if she got crushed under a tree or something equally ridiculous, she'd have time to cry out before her lungs collapsed.

Kathleen unbuttoned her jacket, attempting to ventilate the permeating heat somewhat as she listened to her comrades speak. Stealing the warship... not a bad idea. At the very least better than any plan she had other than "lounge on the beach for who knows how long."

"They'd be stranded, not... doomed." she huffed, leaning on a tree for support as she stumbled past it. "Wayland Nor's... a hunting ground."

Their own plan for survival could work just as well for the pirates - wait until a passing skyship or hunting party came to the island, then request passage to the mainland. Sure, they'd probably all be thrown in jail as soon as they got to shore, but that wasn't her problem. They shot her down first.

"But, the crew... I agree. Need to... see the ship... before I can say..."

It was getting harder to breathe. Navigating this underbrush was like sprinting across flat terrain. Kathleen grimaced, placing her pistol back into its holster before her slipping fingers lost their grip. No sense in losing the only weapon she had.

As the telepath wiped her brow again, her footing suddenly shifted. Kathleen gave a sharp yelp, losing hold of the ground, tumbling backwards and landing hard on her rear.

"What the...?"

She narrowed her eyes, blinking away the moisture, searching for what had caused her to fall. It was wet in the jungle, but the ground was relatively firm. There shouldn't have been anything to make her -

The thought was interrupted as Kathleen's eyes caught the sight of a thick, leafy vine which was smoothly twisting its way along the soil. In much the way that plants do not, the vine receded into the bushes, which began to shake.

Illusion? Man-eating plant? Natural golem? Snake I stepped on? Waldgeist?

Possibilities flashed through Kathleen's head, none of them friendly. She bolted to her feet, previous exhaustion forgotten in her haste to get to the others.

A flicker of irritation flashed through Brink at Tenkojima's words, though she quelled the emotion quickly. There was no place for tension between the group here and now. Keeping her voice level, perhaps even friendly, Brink responded to the feline quietly as she allowed him to break trail. "In my opinion, it isn't poor morality to attempt to stay alive. We can do our best to keep the pirates alive even if we take their ship, we can even leave them provisions so they can last until they are picked up by another passing ship. I prefer to make sure me and mine stay alive. If that means commandeering a ship that was probably stolen in the first place, then I'm fine with that. Doesn't make me a criminal."

Her gaze flicked to Fixer as the Hobbit.. er, Halfling, spoke up. True it would be hard, perhaps even impossible to fly a ship meant for a bigger crew. But Brink had done things that seemed impossible before. It usually was only a matter of how much a person wanted something. But she made no comment for now, her attention jerking to Kathleen and her outburst. She raised a questioning eyebrow, slowing her pace a bit as she realized perhaps the two fighters were moving too quickly. She hadn't seen the plant moving, but she felt an odd prickling sensation running the length of her spine. Gads this place was creepy.

Miko chirruped, getting Brink's attention and she realized her companion was smelling something... alive. The odor was unmistakably a creature, furry, and not far away. She had no idea if it was dangerous, or if it was edible... easing her bow up, she inhaled a deep breath, keeping her muscles ready. "Something off to our left" she muttered to the others."

Indeed, survival of the fittest was a very real aspect of life. Often times, being moral could result in ones demise. Nodding in confirmation, the feline overheard the scholar and small person. Deciding it would be best to bend the rule a small bit, he spoke up;

“Very well, but how do you suppose we accomplish such a feat? It seems nearly impossible, but it would make for an excellent tale when I got back to...” The feline trailed off, pausing in his sentence as he lowered the Nodach. Resting his arm on it, the samurai allowed it to sink into the damp ground slightly as he gazed down into the foliage. The Kensei appeared to have a shift in demeanor, although it was barely noticeable. A few moments passed before he heard the commotion behind him, narrowing his eyes and flicking them back towards Kathleen. He didn’t see a threat, but the immediate muttering of the archer set him on guard once again. Swiftly flicking on his helmet, Tenkojima raised his weapon out of the dirt once again and bowed his head.

The Kensei did his best to be suble as he lifting the sword out of the ground, not willing to alert whatever it was that seemed to be disturbing the party. In a somewhat battle ready stance, the samurai lowered himself as he seemed to crouch and held the blade high above him.

“Teki wa? Sugureta. (An enemy? Excellent.) Perhaps he was a bit too excited about meeting something that would possibly attack them, but it was in his nature to be eager to meet a foe. Besides, as beautiful as the scenery was around him, he was starting to get bored and worried with all this walking. It appeared as though the time for action was almost upon them however.

“What do you suggest we do?” The Kensei somewhat whispered back to Brink.

"I suggest we get the heck out of here." Fixer replied, looking intently in the direction the ferret helpfully wanted her about. "I know about nature. Predators always try to eat the weakest one. There's a reason you don't see many Halfling wilderness scouts!" It wasn't so much that Fixer was a coward. She could be quite courageous and bold in the right circumstance. The jungle just wasn't that circumstance. She reached into a side pocket of her backpack and pulled out a wrench. It was the wrench she used to whack things with. Every good mechanic knows the power of a good 'whack', and if some furry critter came out of the brush and tried to eat her, she'd whack it right in it's probably terrifying face.

So intent was Fixer on the suspicious bushes, she didn't notice the vines slowly weaving their way around her feet before it was too late. "Wha-ho!" she cried as the vines suddenly cinched around her ankles and hauled her up into the air like a snare trap. She flailed, whacking wrench falling to the ground as she was flung to and fro in the air, smacking against branches and even a tree trunk, screaming all the while.

Simultaneous, a massive black feline with enormous fangs and 6 legs pounced out of the brush, flying toward Kathleen, hoping to catch her off guard as the flytrap sprung.

Oh, did I forget to mention the vines were connected back toward a massive Venus flytrap, easily bigger than three men, it's bulb open and pointed upwards as the vines drew the screaming Halfling in for a snack?

Sorry, with so much going on, a person loses track.

Kathleen stood hunched over, hands on her knees, as she attempted to catch her breath. The group had halted its travel, and Brink and Tenkojima were both staring intently at their surroundings. Recognizing the implications of those wary glances, the telepath immediately fumbled for her own weapon, yanking the pistol back out and pointing it towards the bushes.

As she did so, however, her eyes weren't on the treeline, but on the ground. She hadn't forgotten that creeping vine which tripped her up a moment before, and for all she knew this jungle could be full of... whatever that was. Nothing else was going to menace her feet.

Maybe she should have been less focused on herself, though. By the time she saw the leafy tendril slowly encircling Fixer's bare toes, it was too late.

"Fixer - !"

The halfling mechanic was hauled skyward in the blink of an eye, showing an impressive and intimidating strength on the part of the plant. Kathleen gaped at the sight, unable to provoke herself to movement until her companion's screams finally penetrated the daze.

Adrenaline flashed up her spine.

Kathleen raised her pistol with a hand shaky from lack of practice, attempting to get an accurate trace on the whipping limbs. She was interrupted by a sudden vicious snarl, and the world tipped violently at the same time that something slammed directly into her side, sending the academic sprawling across the jungle floor.

What in the world!?

Face-down in jungle mud, Kathleen gave a muffled snort of disgust and confusion. She caught sight of the interloper as she turned onto her back - a snarling spider panther, in the process of descending on her with fangs bared. The telepath made a panicked attempt to shoot the predator, though her shot went wild; the ringing gunshot accompanied the feeling of the panther biting into her shoulder.

With a dim relief, Kathleen noted that her shield charm was working - the jungle cat's jaws couldn't penetrate her magical protection. That said, she hoped she could get away from it before that protection was depleted.

The swiftness with which things escalated into chaos surprised Brink. She'd had her eyes on the bushes nearby when suddenly the halfling was taking an unwelcome flying lesson. Almost simultaneously Kathleen was bowled over by a blur of fur and fangs.

Of course the danger would aim straight for those least capable of defending themselves. The thought flashed with an ironic jolt through Brink's mind even as her body reacted instinctively. Since an arrow was already knocked there was naught to do but aim and release. Her mind worked quickly to assess the most imminent danger and her first arrow immediately flew toward the tendril of monster plant matter that had Fixer in thrall.

Her aim was true and the arrow would at the very least pass completely through the plant just above where it gripped Fixer. Brink had hoped that if it didn't break the vine in two it would at least be enough to cause the halfling to drop.

Whirling fluidly toward Kathleen next - Brink ran smack into a bunch of huge leaves. Sputtering as the dew from each showered over her, she ducked under to once again get the second monster in her sights, another arrow already nocked. This creature was unlike any she'd ever seen.. furry like a panther yet it had - eight legs? As if spiders weren't scary enough.

The bowstring twanged again, more like a soft whhhumph and her second arrow sped toward the spider panther's throat as it's jaws opened to try to take a chunk out of the scholar woman. Meanwhile Miko yowled in fright and tucked itself underneath Brink's braid, getting as much out of sight as possible.

Excellent, the foe revealed itself.

Turning to face the scene around him, the Tabaxi made a split second decision and pointed his Nodachi at the other not nearly as cool feline. Glancing over at Brink, he flicked his blade and called out.

“Focus on that, I’ve got the other!” Without waiting for a reply, the Kensei darted towards the large plant, his weapon held far to his side as his heavy footsteps thudded forward with certainty. Finally, the samurai was in his element. As he neared the plant, he sliced at or dodged the hostile and neutral foliage that dared cross his path, cutting his way towards the fly trap as Tenkojima focused on the small person being flung about wildly. As the arrow from the archer passed and went at the plant, he could only hope it was enough to free the halfling as he flung himself forward and jumped at the plant.

“Sonata ni shi wo!” (I give you death!) The feline said, turning as his feet left the ground and bracing the weapon high above him. The samurai didn’t plan to reach the bulb, and was careful not to intercept his fellow party member currently entangled. However, his natural height and the length of the weapon gave quite an advantage, allowing him to at least cut painfully deep with the force and close enough to the bulb. Hopefully this would elicit focus on him from the monstrosity while his party assisted in bringing down it, along with the panther.

The strike was near perfection, and the armored Tabaxi slammed the blade down with less grace then he anticipated, but just enough strength to made a jagged cut along the flytrap’s outer leaf. As the feline landed, he quickly moved back and stomped both his wrapped and armored feet in a manner that may seem funny to the rest of the party, but quite intense to him. Twirling his Nodachi swiftly, the feline flicked off any manner of plant ooze that he brought down with him, standing still and in a tall position. Usually, his combat style did best against sentient beings. He wasn’t sure if the plant would fall for this one, but as he spun the blade with increasing speed around him, he awaited to see if the hostile foliage would take the bait and lash out at him. He also really hoped that the rest of the party would stay a sizable distance away; it would be very counterproductive if a friendly combatant got in the way of the flashing and whirling steel.

Through his mask, the Tabaxi panted lightly and gave off a chilling stare that complimented the ornate and battered helmet perfectly. He was very much daring it to attack.

Fixer fell, and wasn't sure how she felt about that. It was certainly better than being slammed into tree trunks. That had hurt and not just a little bit. Still, falling was a singular experience that was concerning to a person who lived and worked on an airship. Not that she had long to consider her predicament. Roughly at the same moment she realized she was falling, she landed on her backpack with a grunt of pain.

Blood started to trickle down her forehead from some sort of wound hidden by her hair as she sat up, hand moving to her forehead. "Oww." Not a particularly insightful comment, but she'd been dazed. Thankfully, Stout Halflings are descended from Dwarven stock, so they're a hardy sort. She didn't have anything broken, except some skin.

The spider panther snapped and snarled and slashed at Katherine, but couldn't reach her for some reason. Frustrated, it roared as an arrow pierced into it's neck, doing all manner of damage, but somehow not felling the beast, which probably wasn't terribly surprising to Brink. Beasts could often take mortal blows, but keep fighting for a while, not realizing it's dead. That knowledge probably wasn't too comforting as it leapt toward her, abandoning it's former and somehow invulnerable prey.

The Flytrap didn't seem terribly intimidated by the samurai's fearsome display, but then without any sort of recognizable facial features, how would one really know? It could be in mortal terror, /or/ it could be a plant. Tenk's wall of steel seemed a remarkably effective defense as the flytrap sent vine after vine toward him, trying to grapple, but only succeeding in getting trimmed.

Kathleen was vaguely aware of Tenkojima's actions in the background. The panther's inability to close its mouth on her shoulder, in addition to the way its forepaw held her shooting arm fast to the ground, meant she had a fair bit of attention to spare on looking for help.

Though the Kensei was occupied with chopping the animated plant, Brink was focused on the beast. A large arrow sang across the brush, neatly striking the spider panther - or, not so neatly. It looked like Brink was aiming for its neck, but its thrashing had thrown off her aim and so the shaft was buried into its shoulder.

The panther was thus reasonably deterred from Kathleen, turning and pouncing towards the greater threat - Brink. A wounded shoulder did little to hinder its stride, and so the ten-foot jungle beast gave an enraged yowl, bearing down on the archer with twin claws striking downward towards her face.

Which meant that it was no longer holding Kathleen down. The academic scrambled to her feet, huffing slightly as she raced towards Fixer, who seemed to be somewhat dazed from her fall.

"Are you okay?" she asked earnestly, kneeling quickly beside the halfling woman. "That was... a big fall..."

What an idiot she'd been. How did she not think to give some kind of warning? Brink and Tenkojima clearly weren't expecting a plant monster, but Kathleen had seen the twisting vine as clearly as an open sky. If they hadn't been caught by surprise, Brink wouldn't be getting set upon by a spider panther right now.

And for Tenkojima himself... the tabaxi was holding his ground against the flytrap's assault, cutting vine after vine, but there seemed to be no end to it. It was as if it was commanding every vine and hedge within a hundred paces.

Thinking quickly, Kathleen scanned the surroundings. If she shot at the panther she'd risk hitting Brink, and she wasn't sure that a bullet would do much to deter the flytrap. With mounting desperation, her eyes lifted...

...and lit up as she saw the thick branches which held the jungle's canopy overhead. That might be enough to bother it.

Quickly, the academic began chanting an enchantment of strength, overlaying it with her pistol while she took aim towards the branch. The spell was much too long to use in the middle of a skirmish, but with the two warriors occupying the major threats...

The thought was punctured by a sound like a cannon's blast. Kathleen was knocked onto her back - hopefully not into Fixer - as a bullet coated in brightly burning blue mana streaked upwards. It tore through the base of a large branch like paper, and she watched as it descended towards the flytrap. Maybe it wasn't big enough to take out the plant, but if it could just pin a few of its major limbs, that might give Tenkojima an opening.

Oh, and before she forgot...

"Tenkojima, watch out!"

Whirling away from the plant monster as she saw Tenkojima face off with it, Brink turned back to the spider cat only to see him break away from Kathleen. Her arrow had flown right where she'd sent it, and if the cat had not moved when it did, it would be hurting greatly, yet fate was against them it seemed and Brink swore under her breath as she saw the arrow bury into the cat's shoulder, doing hardly any good at all aginst the raging beast.

Hurtling towards her now, Brink had only a second to act, her brain flicking with the danger signals. Her arm snapped back and she gripped one of her arrows, its razor tip glinting in a ray of sun that snuck through the jungle's canopy. Just as the Spider cat rose with two of its claws rising to come down, raking at her face, Miko leapt from his hiding place onto its face, snarling in his ferret fury, his little black tipped wings vibrating as he trilled high and angry. In that second he bit the nose of the huge creature, hard, raking at its eyes with his claws.

The surprise attack from Miko took the Spider Panther by surprise and it reared back for a moment as it shook off the tiny ferocious critter, flinging Miko against a tree like a fly. But the extra moments had been enough. As the beast turned its head back to Brink it would find her having slipped between its claws. As it whipped a paw up, raking her back with one claw, she snapped her arm up with all her strength and drove the arrow hard up under its chin.

Pain bloomed across her back, lancing sharply into her along the multiple gouges that had torn through the leather armor and clothing on her back to lash her skin. Though the blow had been lessened by the armor's presence, the gouges were still long and vicious.

Brink gasped at the sensation of pain but at the same time noticed the Spider Panther fall back, gurgling and convulsing as it shook its head once, then flopped down, twitching, blood pooling beneath its head. Brink forced herself to move over to where Miko lay, falling to her knees, her vision a bit hazy from the blow still, but scooped up the little creature and held him to her chest. His mind brushed against hers as she held him, and she could tell one of his ribs had been broken, possibly more. Cradling him softly, she didn't move, trying to breath through the searing throb of her back as she crooned to Miko, thanking him for saving her life.

The assault from the flytrap was intense, and soon the samurai felt slaps and whips from the vines as some slipped through his defense. Panting, the feline began to move back, taking step after step closer to the party as he gave ground. Gritting his teeth, the Tabaxi felt as though he would have to charge the monstrosity head-first soon, or risk the party being subject to its onslaught. It never did come to that, thankfully.

As Tenkojima heard a loud crack, followed by Kathleen’s words, he turned his head and looked up momentarily. The plant seized on the distraction, and delivered a jarring hit to Kensei’s helmet. The steel managed to block most of the force, but it sent the tabaxi reeling back into a tree and his helmet sent into a different direction. After this, the Tabaxi would be sure to strap it on better. That is, if he had a head left to put it on.

Expecting a follow up, the Samurai was surprised to see that the plant was swiftly crushed by a large branch, pinning it as it writhed and struggled to reach the Kensei. Glaring at the plant with his dark eyes, the feline felt a surge of rage fuel him, the thought of being beaten by a piece of vine? Absolutely dishonorable.

As his vision cleared, the samurai took gradually sturdier steps towards the plant, ignoring the small swipes of vines at his armor as he dragged the blade of the Nodachi through various foliage and dirt on the ground. Once he was a mere few yards away, the Kensei lifted his weapon and surged forward with anger. Swiftly, the samurai stepped to the side, narrowly avoiding the bite of the large plant. As the flytraps plant like head went past him, the Kensei shoved the point of his blade directly into the crevice of its mouth, going completely from one side of its head to the other. Placing the grip of his weapon under his arm, the Kensei turned the blade until it was firmly pressed against the connecting flesh of its two teeth lined leaves.

Grunting, Tenkojima relentlessly began to push his weapon, forcing the edge to bite deeper as the plant writhed and struggled to free itself. With a final yell of animalistic like hatred, the feline spun himself and weapon around with a loud singing flash of steel. As plant matter was flung onto the party behind him, as well as the now dead spider panther, the flytrap stopped moving, and the top leaf of its gargantuan green being started to slide off before falling onto the jungle floor with a loud thud. Not bothering to look back at his kill, the samurai heaved the blade back up onto his shoulder, panting heavily as he weakly smiled from his bruised face at Kathleen.

“Easy.” He managed to say, giving a partial thumbs up in place of a thanks to the scholar; speaking was no simple feat right now. Glancing at the Halfling, he raised a fist in the air and through his head back, visibly looking as though he had just won a small war. The show of cheer and his smile faded slowly however, as he looked past the dead panther and at Brink. Lowering his arm and wincing, the Kensei started to stumble towards the archer as she cradled something in her arms and knelt low to the ground.

“Archer... are you... injured?” He called out, hoping for the best.

The fallen Halfling had flailed for a moment like a turtle flipped onto it's shell, and like a turtle, managed to right herself with a bit of effort. It wasn't graceful, but it worked. She was taking stock of herself and the situation as Kathleen rushed over to her. That was sort of sweet. Fixer though the scholar had been pretty standoffish, but in a crisis, she cared. You learn who people really are in a crisis. Of course, all she'd demonstrated is that she could take a beating.

"I'm fine. Nothing broken." Fixer smiled, her teeth stained with blood. She'd bitten her cheek pretty good when getting slammed into a tree trunk. It wasn't a great look. She began sliding her arms out of the backpack and stood, hefting her whomping wrench. To the right was a furry, monstrous cat attacking Brink. to the left was the plant that tried to eat her. Both were huge and scary. As she was trying to decide what threat to engage, the decision was made for her. Brink managed to kill the cat, but at a great cost. Kathleen used a freaking awesome tactic to pin the plant so Tenk could like, prune it to death. "Nicely done, Te..." A wave of greenish plant goo caught Fixer right in the face as he killed it with a flourish. "Pttf! Pttf. Ahh, got it in my mouth!" She began scraping off her tongue with her fingers. "So bitter." She spat. "Don't eat that. Pretty sure it's poisonous. Tongue is getting super numb."

She blinked, took the sap, and rubbed it on a bruise forming on her shoulder. The dull, throbbing pain eased. "Of course. It's an anethethetic." She snapped her fingers. "Thaat makes perfect senth." She rushed over and gathered some of the sap in her hands and moved to Brink. "Thhish mayght hurf a bith." Gingerly, she began applying the sap to Brink's wounds. Clearly the numbing was affecting her speech, given the way she was slurring.