"Hey, wait- Aaand she's gone. Eh, whatever." Camryn waved at Logan. "Hey, dude, come over to the training grounds with me so we can see what the hell all the yelling's about." Without waiting for an answer, Camryn jogged off towards the training grounds.

It had to be some sort of sign, that a quest would appear just as Teo was ruminating over never being on one. He sent a silent thank you out to the gods as he jogged over to Adrian.

"Child of Feronia, Teo Alfero. Happy to help, sir!" He unconsciously stood up straighter in the presence of the military man.

Training Grounds

Aicha finally spotted Matthew she ran to him "I'm terribly sorry for being late. I'm Aicha, your Bodyguard from now on." She got on one knee "I'll be your knight in shining armo-" She looked down on her, realizing a distinct lack of anything even remotely resembling armor "Err, I'll be your valiant knight."

"I was headed there anyway," said Logan. He followed Camryn over to the training grounds, finishing his pizza as quickly as possible.

Alison is already off balance, and can't block the strike. She falls over.

"Ow, fuck."

Then she hears Adrian.

"Oh, mind pausing for a second?" She says to Katie.

Camryn arrived at the training grounds, slightly out of breath. "What's this about harpies, again?"

"Sure thing," Katie says, helping Alison to her feet. "I'll volunteer for the quest. Anyone else coming along?"

"A bunch of harpies have shacked up in a cave down the road. We're going to clear them out by any means necessary." Matthew shrugged his shoulders, then glanced at Aicha. "I'm going, so I think I can guess that you'll come along to protect me. It'll be good experience for you."

"Thanks." She gets up and brushes herself off.

"I guess I'll go.. Haven't been on a quest yet."

"Well, if Pokémon's taught me anything, it's that electricity really screws up birds. I'll come along with y'all."

Training Grounds

Aicha looked up "Y-Yes of course." She smiled "Don't worry, you won't be getting a scratch out of it." She bowed her head "But first, would you allow me to iniate the bonding? We'll be able to comunicate on a telepathic level and I'll be able to take damage meant for you. It won't hurt in the slightest" With that she waited for an answer.

Since I came to quite like knights, I'll be playing her quite knightlike, which comes in quite handily seeing that she's a bodyguard and stuff.

edited 9th Jan '16 9:48:50 AM by Sergey_Smirnov

"Sure, I'm down," said Logan after he swallowed the last bite of pizza. "Just let me grab something I can use to fight the harpies off." He reached up, and a massive sword made of ice that looked like it required two hands to wield appeared in his open palm. He grabbed onto it and effortlessly brought it down like it was a plastic toy without even grabbing it with the other hand. "Okay, I'm ready. Lead the way."

"Then it's settled! We have our party for the quest. Good luck and the favor of the gods to our heroes!" Adrian smiled.

Katie picked up her spear and nodded at Alison. "Shall we join the others?"

Matthew shrugged his shoulders at Aicha. "Truth be told, I have no idea how this ritual works. Do I need to do anything specific?"

"Yeah, sure... Just need to get a weapon."

Training Grounds

Aicha looked up again "Don't worry, its pretty simple, I will make a vow of protection, then, after you accpeted its tradition that you touch me on the shoulder with my sword, and that's about it. The vow sounds pretty heavy but its mostly tradition."

edited 10th Jan '16 12:24:46 AM by Sergey_Smirnov

Teo couldn't help but grin as their quest was made official. An actual quest! He could swing by his place and get his bow on the way out. For now though he checked out his fellow questers. Or 'party' members, as Adrian had put it.

He'd noticed Logan using his power, and now let out an impressed whistle at the magical ice sword. "Hey, cool trick. Ah, no pun intended. Isn't that thing heavy though?"

edited 9th Jan '16 8:15:18 PM by whizzerd

Training Grounds

Aicha closed her eyes and bowed her head "By my life I now swear to the gods to protect and defend you who stands before me now from all harm, you shall not fall in battle at the hands of an enemy nor be slain by foul assassins in your sleep as long as I walk this earth." She got out her Khopesch and held it out for Matthew to get.

"Haaaaa," said Logan as he turned to Teo. "Thanks. And yeah, it's heavy if you're not me. Not like I'm hella strong, though; it's just a quirk with the power. I mean, I can't complain. But I can make something a bit lighter for you if you'd like."

"Oh! I'm good. Have a bow and quiver at home, wouldn't want them getting jealous." Teo smiled, feeling himself flush a little. "Thanks for the offer."

He observed the light shining off the sword's surface; Logan's power probably stopped it melting in the Texan weather too. "Gotta be pretty useful, though, being able to just make weapons like that."

Matthew took the sword and tapped Aicha on the shoulder with it. It was weird, but he didn't feel any different. He looked at the other demigod and asked, "Um, is it just me, or did I screw it up somehow?"

Training Grounds

Aicha opened her eyes "There are two simple ways to test it. Though I'd really prefer the first one." She concentrated, trying to send a telepathic message to him ~Can you hear me? We should be able to communicate this way if it worked~ She tilted her head, waiting for a response. Please let it work.

edited 11th Jan '16 5:40:38 AM by Sergey_Smirnov

-Yeah, it worked.- Matthew pointed out across the scrublands. "Let's go, folks. It's about a five mile hike, and I wanna get this over with."

The trip to the cave was uneventful, and the demigods paused at the entrance. Katie said, "I think we should split into two groups. One to go into the cave and actually kill the things, and one to wait at the entrance in case a harpy or two slip through. A lot of my combat powers need open sky, so I'll take the entrance."

edited 13th Jan '16 7:16:01 AM by daird

In front of the Harpy Cave

As they stood there Aicha thought for a bit, after a short while she called one of her familiars "Earhart!" an American Kestrel flew from the skies not even seconds after that and landed on her arm. <Hiya, long time no see there.> The small falcon shifted slightly on Aicha's arm <Yeah, yeah, I know, I know, 'watch the claws'> "Yup. So, I need you to do some reconnaissance, we're here to finish off some harpies, so if you would make sure from the sky that none can escape that'd be great." <Sure thing, consider it done. Oh, and by the way, I'm sensing a connection here, that the one you need to keep safe?> The falcon made a pointing motion towards Matthew with one of her wings. "Sure is, that's Matthew, Grandson of Ra." <You and the Ra's.> The small bird made sounds akin to giggling <Well whatever, good luck to you, I'm taking off.> With that the falcon spread its wings and flew away, circling over the group. After that was done Aicha looked to Matthew "Erm, one last thing - I know its not my place to tell you how to fight... but even-though I'm taking all damage meant for you I humbly ask of you that you don't do anything suicidal." Unheard for the others she added ~To explain my power, trough this bond I literally take the damage meant for you, so if a harpy slashes your arm, mine will receive the slash instead. I plead to you not to be too reckless. Not only for my sake but also for yours, when the connection gets lost for example if I get knocked unconscious all benefits get lost as well, if that would happen in the middle of a fight your life would be at stake.~

edited 13th Jan '16 2:59:58 AM by Sergey_Smirnov

"I'll go inside," said Logan. "If anyone needs a weapon right now, let me know and I can make one before I go in."

Teo unsheathed his bow, nocking an arrow in preparation. His bow would work best outside; plenty of room to aim, and he could catch any who tried to fly away. It occurred to him that his power to converse with wild animals might've helped, but it seemed like a discussion wasn't on the table.

"I'll stay out here too. Any of you get injured, head right back here to me. Be careful in there."

"Fine with me," Matthew commented for the rest of the demigods to hear. "I'm with the team going in. After all we're going to need to be able to see, and while it may not be the coolest power, human flashlight is exactly the kind of thing we need."

The cave was tight for about the first thirty yards, opening onto a large cavern. It seemed that the harpies kept their larder here, with the bones of pigs, deer, and even several cattle stripped almost clean. Matthew's heart started to pound. "This is definitely not good."