Alouette frowned a little, realising that despite having cool powers by now, she had just delayed her return home even more. With an irritated sigh, she began to run down the hill, back towards the monument. The evening air whipped past her as she went, and she grinned, pushing her legs forward as fast as she could, staff tucked under her arm.
edited 22nd Aug '11 6:28:24 PM by KiriAme
Anyway here's Blackwall"Heh, so I guess we'd better do well on this little test, huh?" Marcel chuckled after hearing about how they should get moving. 'Unrepairable damage' did let off a warning, but maybe it won't be so bad. Even if most of them were kids, they should at least have the common sense to know when to step back when things got too rough, right?
He was a little nervous, but he didn't show it. He thought of this situation as a weird form of training,it might get rough but it shouldn't be too much for them to handle. Hell, maybe this could actually be fun.
"Right then, we should get going, Tosh." He said to his classmate, resting his sabre on his shoulder as he got ready to head towards their destination. "You don't want the kids to leave us in the dust, do you?"
"Having a special nature does not make up for me looking like a mascot instead of a warrior!" Tom didn't move his mouth when he said those words, it was as if he projected out his own voice. "At least I can still talk" the magical critter said to himself.
When the magical warriors were told to go down the hill, the distance looked a bit far for Tom due to his smaller size. "Can someone give me a lift?"
Some people say I'm lazy. It's hard to disagree.Toshiko had been looking at her companions, noting the several decidedly non-standard transformations, then looking down at her own apparel. At least I got away without any lace. She thought absently, hefting her wand - more like a quaterstaff, she realised - in her hands.
When the strange girl addressed her and Marcel directly, Tosh straightened up and nodded firmly. "OK. We'll get it done." She said confidently. She would have liked a bit more concrete instruction on their "magic", but if time was so short there wasn't really any choice.
She turned to answer Marcel, meeting his gaze and nodding. "Right, lets move out." She said, turning to follow the kids - many of whom she realised were running on ahead. She frowned slightly, already feeling the weight of responsibility. It was their job to watch over the others now, on top of everything else.
Bending down to pick up Tom, Tosh set off at a jog. "Everyone, stick together!" She called out, glancing down at the puppy tucked under her arm. "Especially you, Tom." She added, trying hard not to think about how he'd been a full-sized kid not 5 minutes ago.
All the while, Hikaru had been dumb-struck. Any and all hysteria she might have had previously owing to the "Magical Girl" prospect was smashed in one fell swoop.
"But... but... how can I fight the forces of evil in this shape? I can't even move! And... and it hurts!"
The other people would realize that she was trotting along at a snail's pace, which was to say, even slower than Tom's transformation. The armor was not quite heavy, but for a girl not used to much physical exercise and who never once wore any sort of armor at all, it was like bounding her legs together. That was not to mention the super-heavy * wings behind her that threatened to pull her off balance and tumbling down face-up.
"Please, everyone... could... you... please... slow down a bit?" she begged out aloud in a very miserable voice.
On the other hand, the voice in her head was quite pleased from the way things turned out.
"Very, very interesting," the voice in Hikaru's head said, his tone full of relief. "I might have underestimated heathen magic and its vast capabilities."
"This might take a while."
edited 22nd Aug '11 8:37:04 PM by ArgeusthePaladin
Support Taleworlds!Alice grasped at her staff, disturbed to find that her orb now had a flickering flame inside it. Why? Why ruin that one thing for her? This had already turned into some sort of horrible experience, and all she did was transform!
"Hey, h-how am I supposed to control f-f-f-fire?" Alice stammered, not yet following the others. "Can't I g-get something e-else?"
Toshiko heard several distraught voices behind her, quickly turning to see Alice and Hikaru in trouble, although their problems looked to be rather different. She caught Mercel's gaze and nodded slightly towards Hikaru with an apologetic smile, before turning and walking back to Alice.
"None of us know how to do... well, anything with our powers yet. We're all going to figure it out together, and I'm sure our host won't drop us in the deep end." She said kindly, giving the frightened girl a what she hoped was a reassuring smile. Still, she cast a questioning glance back at the woman by the tree. Was there any other way? She hoped her assumption about her teaching them even a little was correct...
edited 23rd Aug '11 4:36:40 AM by Gaunt88
"Hey! Why am I singled out?" Tom replied. "Sure I'm stuck in this body, but I'm like a superhero now, right?"
When Tom heard the cry of two magical girls slowed down for different reasons, he was tempted to say 'at least I'm doing a better job than them', but that seemed too cruel.
Toshiko's words to Alice soon became ironic, as Tom's instincts caused him to wriggle out of the girl's arms. He didn't fall however, as the critter was applying magic energy into it's paws for traction and one of his feet was touching Toshiko's coat. Tom climbed up to Toshiko's shoulder, set his sight on Alice and created Beehive Barrier around the staff's firey orb. Tom would be dumbfounded on what he was doing if he wasn't so focused on perserving the barrier...creating these shields just seemed second nature.
edited 23rd Aug '11 10:18:41 AM by JustaUsername
Some people say I'm lazy. It's hard to disagree."But what the hell are you?"
Hikaru nearly literally exploded. Of course, since the others were unaware of the voice in her head, they were not likely to know what she was blowing up at. Which might work for the better - at the present state she looked as though she was legitimately going mad.
For some moments, the voice did not answer. It was as if he was busy doing something, for better or worse, to help her adapt to her new powers...
edited 23rd Aug '11 4:47:50 AM by ArgeusthePaladin
Support Taleworlds!Alice glanced nervously at Toshiko, than at her staff. "B-but... it's fire. What am I supposed to do with t-that?"
Some sort of barrier formed around the orb, and Alice looked confused for a second. She didn't want to touch it in case she somehow broke it, but knowing that something was in the way of the flame helped a little... although, Alice wondered how she was supposed to retrieve the orb. Or if that flame inside it would ever stop burning.
"Huh? Why are you..." Marcel had said when Toshiko had motioned towards Hikaru, which he then had noticed just how much trouble the girl was having moving around. "Oh! Right, I'm uh...I'm on it."
So, he turned around and walked over to the struggling girl, it was part of his responsibility to keep these kids safe, after all. Though her outburst did catch him off-guard.
"What the hell I am? Ouch, I'm just trying to help..." He said, very unaware of what was going on in Hikaru's head. He held out his free hand to the girl, and once she had reached for it he'd support her as they started moving towards their destination again, catching up with the rest of the 'slower' group.
Hikaru realized her freakout's consequences a little too late.
"Ah! I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, her hasty voice muffled up as a consequence of her nervousness, embarrassment and speaking too fast. "I... I was not... I was not talking about you! Not at all! I was talking to... myself! Yeah, that's about it, right? Yeah, that must be it! Please, please do pay it no mind!"
Maybe she had no reason to be so jumpy. In the end, the boy still held out his hand to help her, and that was all that mattered. With a light blush on her cheek, she also held out her hand to catch his. It was the first time in her young adult life that she would hold a boy's hand...
... except for that both her hands were now clad in several layers' worth of metal, leather and velvet in the form of a pair of heavy cavalry gloves. She exhaled in exasperation, albeit in the current mess it was unlikely that the boy would notice that.
At the very least, she could start walking again.
"But... didn't you hear that voice?"
She whispered to Marcel, not knowing whether it was a wise move or not.
edited 23rd Aug '11 6:49:35 AM by ArgeusthePaladin
Support Taleworlds!Sergei had been about to intervene when he saw that everyone else had managed to assist Hikaru. Nevertheless, he wasn't ready to believe that the unfortunate girl was out of the woods yet... and that was leaving aside Alice and Tom. He really didn't envy them at all, and if he was honest with himself he still felt a bit strange about the entire thing; it was almost as though he had been dreaming, and he was both worried and hoping that soon he'd feel the familiar grogginess that heralded the beginning of another day.
Giving himself a small pinch, however, confirmed that yes, this really was happening, and for that he was grateful and anxious. Hopefully nothing too bad would happen. After all, that girl wouldn't put them in extreme danger... would she?
Locking you up on radar since '09Sandra had wasted no time in running ahead, the only thing on her mind was protecting the statue.
Though, when she did hear some complain, she responded without looking back
"Stop complaining and get a move on!", her one track mind in action.
OH GOD WHY AM I A CAR!? - ForzareToshiko had reacted with some surprise as Tom wiggled free of arms and somehow climbed up onto her shoulder. She let him stay there - he was surprisingly light, and he didn't have any claws. She, too, was confused when some sort of shield went up around Alice's staff, but smiled at Tom as she realised he was trying to help Alice as well.
"I know, Fire can be pretty scary." She said to the younger magical girl. Something told her that there was more to Alice's problem than your average person's healthy fear of fire. She seemed to remember hearing something about the young girl, but she couldn't remember what. Silently cursing her reluctant memory, she knealt down beside Alice, gently clapping her on the shoulder.
"If its too much, no-one would think less of you for sitting this one out - just this first fight," She added quickly, to stave off any complaints about being left out. "Just until we've all learned a little more about this magic. Maybe fire isn't all you can do - and think about this: if you really can control fire, then it might not be so scary. A controlled fire can be pretty useful, right?"
"Sorry, Tom, I didn't mean you're any less of a superhero." She said, standing and turning to Tom with a wry smile. "But because you're a lot smaller than the rest of us we might loose track of you, so stay close to someone for me, OK?"
edited 23rd Aug '11 4:22:10 PM by Gaunt88
"Heard a voice?...Did that girl talk to you again, or something?" Marcel said, looking back towards the castle again for a quick second. Come to think of it...they never actually learned her name, did they? Maybe they'd be able to find out once they were done?
He shook his head before speaking to his junior again, she did sound pretty nervous, but he really couldn't blame the girl. Maybe all of this was just too much for her.
"But no, I haven't heard anything else speak, sorry."
He did look over to Toshiko and noticed she had her hands full as well. He chuckled a bit, the idea of these new guardians needing to be watched over by their seniors was pretty funny now that he thought about it.
Whe Miki got to the other hill, she froze. What she saw just what had been attacking the statues... fear had given her pause.
The creatures that were attacking the statues were encased in crimson armor. They were all roughly humanoid, but there were two different types. The first were the size of a grown man, with spindly knife-like limbs and slender, angular armor. With the armor, they looked like insects. Wherever they jabbed their limbs, the red fluid spread.
There was only one of the second type. It was massive, and thick-limbed. In both heavily-armored hands it gripped a huge hammer, which it repeatedly struck the monument with. The characteristic that both variants shared was their lack of a human face. Instead, they had a helmet. The smaller ones had two slits, each with a red light from within The big one had three, red light emenanting from each.
Miki choked back her fear. These were what she had to fight, right? She raised her staff, taking aim...
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."All right, Let's do this.
Mai ran down the hill with the others, her baton in her hand, sleeves streaming behind her. After a while, though she turned to look at those who had stopped. She started back up the hill to help, but they were soon assisted by some of the other students. One of the girls looked....Afraid,though.
Maybe she's afraid of failing? Mai thought, looking towards Alice. Or maybe she can't figure out ho to fight with that staff... Mai glanced at her own weapon. Now that I think about it, this thing looks pretty flimsy. Will I really be able to fight whatever's destroying that statue with this?
She twirled the baton in her hands. Maybe I could infuse it with magic and make it stronger? What kind of magic do I even have?
....Ah! I'm getting left behind! Mai thought, racing after the others.
Eventually making it down the hill, She spotted the creatures destroying the monument.
Huh!? We have to fight..those? Mai thought, holding her baton close to her. This may have been a bad idea...
edited 23rd Aug '11 5:02:15 PM by stargirl93
Tom was a bit straddled by Toshiko's apology, not too long ago, he was the one giving apology due to the statues. "Uh...thanks Toshiko..."
It felt funny, the magical critter instinct that Tom gained agreed with Toshiko. He felt the best place to be in his current form was a magical girl or boy's shoulder or head...than quickly realized this was the thing cute mascots do in anime.
Oh no! Not only do I look cute, but now I'm acting cute!
Tom's lack of focus was causing his barrier to disappear. Realizing this, he focused back on creating a shield over the orb of fire.
edited 23rd Aug '11 5:22:11 PM by JustaUsername
Some people say I'm lazy. It's hard to disagree.Alouette stopped in her tracks when she saw the creatures attacking the monument, swallowing slightly as she tried to figure out just what they are and how she was meant to stop them. As she stared, transfixed, at the scene, a small screen lit up on her wristguard, text blinking across its surface.
Threat detected. Initiating Combat Mechanism A.
There was a clicking sound as a slit opened at the top of the wrist guard, and a small cylinder slid out to rest above Alouette's wrist. With a soft whirring sound, the cylinder extended outwards, blue light glowing from its interior as the screen appeared once again, words flashing above it once more as Alouette stared at the device.
Combat Mechanism A initiated. Fire at will.
Her shock fading slightly, Alouette raised the gun-like construction on her wrist, pointing it towards one of the armoured creatures. Years of throwing objects around had given her rather good hand-eye coordination, and she was confident that when she finally figured out how to fire this thing, it would hit exactly where she expected it to.
With that thought, a small, blue beam shot forward from the device, heading dead-on for the armoured creature's head.
Anyway here's Blackwall"Enemies."
The voice in Hikaru's head suddenly appeared again, making the girl jerk up. Of course, since she was being weighed down by her armor, that reaction of hers became much milder than it normally would be.
"May the Lord above be praised, I have worked out a temporary solution," the voice continued in a commanding tone. "Do not panic. I will guide you through the field of battle this day.
Hikaru frowned, tilting her head to the boy next to her, as though trying to find someone to share her disbelief. Regardless of whether he would understand or return her glance, she would begin whispering, hoping she could, after all, communicate with that voice.
"But who are you?"
"Just know that for all intents and purposes, I am on your side."
"How do you expect me to trust you when I don't even know your name?"
"My name is not important," the voice said. "Though, if that helps, I am known as Michal Wolodijowski to God, king and among the brave men and women of the Reczpospolita Polska."
"Wo-ro-di-what?"
There was a very brief pause, roughly equal to the time for an average person to move his palm forcefully to the vicinity of his forehead.
"Never mind," the voice said. "Concentrate on the battlefield in front of you."
"But I don't know how to fight! Not like this!"
"I will guide you," the voice continued. "See that lance of yours? Lower it to point straight forward. Hold it in position between the calf of your arm and your side."
Her face grimacing in disbelief, she began to follow the instruction. Strangely enough, the control of the lance suddenly seemed like almost her second nature, as she swiftly and skillfully couched the 15-foot pole underarm within merely a few seconds.
"Excellent," the voice said in acknowledgment. "Now guide the tip of the lance straight at the nearest enemy - keep an eye for any ally in your path."
Fortunately for the confused girl, there were not a single ally in her way. Her path was clear.
"Finally, let your imagination run wild! Imagine that you are standing not in this dreamscape, but in the vast plains of the Commonwealth, filled with green pasture and the bounties of the lands rightfully belonging to our people as granted by the Almighty Lord above with his endless generosity! There you sit astride a mighty hunter, a sworn warrior of the Republic, lance underarm, wings spread, your eyes ever forward! You are a great Winged Hussar! No Swede, Turk or Rus dares stand in your way! You are invincible!"
At the voice's convincing words, suddenly the girl's mind was filled with imageries totally foreign to her head. A battle between the mighty Polish cavalry arms against the rabbles bearing spears and guns of the so-called Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky. Lances were lowered, horses charging at full speed, ramming into the line of infantry like an unstoppable storm, rending and impaling flesh with incredible momentum.
That would be the fate of their enemies after she'd be done with them. * .
"For God, King and the Commonwealth! Szarza Husaria!"
Those words escaped her lips as naturally as those cheerful comments of hers seconds ago. All of a sudden, she burst free from Marcel's grip and glided across the ground as though there was a thin yet powerful cushion of air underneath the soles of her cavalry boots, at a speed roughly equal to a champion, spirited courser galloping across the plain. If nothing would stop her, she would home into one of the foes before her, the couched lance undoubtedly would do very severe damage if allowed to hit.
edited 23rd Aug '11 7:59:59 PM by ArgeusthePaladin
Support Taleworlds!So...they finally saw what was causing the damage, and the red paint from the looks of it. Creepy looking things in Marcel's opinion, and between the smaller ones arms and the large hammer there were plenty of reasons for him to plan his next course of action out. No one had really expected this, but he couldn't let himself be intimidated, if he or any of them lost their cool they probably won't survive for too long.
His train of thought was interrupted when he saw Alouette and Hikaru start an attack on the creatures..."Hey wait! Don't just do that!" He exclaimed, but it wouldn't have done any good now.
"Well...I hope you guys weren't expecting to find an easy solution to this little problem of ours." He said, speaking to some of the more uncertain looking members of the group. "Just try to watch each others backs and keep your cool, we're the only ones who can fix this!"
Can't say I have any experience with a sword, or any kind of weapon...It can't be too hard to figure out, right?
After taking a deep breath he slowly walked forward, the sabre visibly had a few odd sparks jump across the blade. He'd wait for the creatures to react to the attacks first, his next action would depend on what they were going to do...
The first shot hit, and the armored creature's head crumbled like it was made out of dirt. It toppled forward and dissolved, as further armored creatures were sent flying by Hikaru's attack.
Miki took aim, and... should she just make something up?
Strike Buster.
...
She would go with that.
"Strike Buster!"
A thin beam of energy, which grew tyo about the width of the gem at the head of Miki's staff, erupted from the tip of it and blazed into the minions, who had turned their focus away from the monument to attack Hikaru and advance towards Alouette.
What?! Guardians?!
The figure grew angry. It had delayed, the protector of the monuments and shrines had found some way to produce these guardians. An air of utter fury generated from it, which slowly calmed.
It sent a mental contact, to three of its disciples.
Defeat them. By any means necessary.
edited 25th Aug '11 2:38:20 PM by AnnoR
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."In the darkness of Sakurasaki's night there was a teenager girl sitting upon the water tank of her school, illuminated only by the pale silver light of the moon and stars.
This girl was observing a battle occurring far away... way farther than her eyes should be able to see. However, her glowing cold blue eyes were somehow able to get every single detail of the conflict. This was one of the miracles of magic... just like the one that allowed her to hear the words of someone hidden in the city as if they were whispering them right into her ear.
"Understood" The girl, Takanashi Hazuki, said in a quiet voice, eyes closed as she rose to her feet "Don't worry, my Highness... it shall be done"
When Hazuki opened her eyes next they were no longer glowing in that eerie blue color... they were a pretty, though rather common, brown color. The girl then clasped the pendant that hung from her neck with a single hand, her dark brown hair swaying lightly as the breeze picked up.
What happened next was something that did not transpire in the regular Sakurazaki city upon which it's citizen dwelt. The girl vanished from that mundane world and into a the very spirit of the city.
There the girl was transformed into her battle attire. Her school uniform was swept away as if it were dust in front of a mighty wind. Soon a new outfit started to materialize in it's place. Long black boots that reached almost to her knees, a tight sleeveless black dress which ended about four fingers over her knees over the which there was a silver colored breastplate. On her hands she wore long leather half gloves, armored with the same silvery metal on the back while on her shoulders she wore a dark cape held by two shoulder guards. Hazuki's hair, except for two long locks which framed the sides of her face, was tied then tied back into a ponytail just in time for the final piece of her outfit to manifest, a silver band over her forehead with a little crescent moon in the middle.
The Magical Girl who styled herself after the silvery moon then grabbed at her staff, which was a little taller than her and had a crescent moon on the end which almost made it look like a spear.
Now that she was ready to battle she looked over at the radiance coming from the old temple in the middle of town and addressing her two companions her words were brief "Lets us get going"

Miki quickly turned on her heel to face the other hill, below. Magical girls had to be determined, and defeat whatever evil that they were faced with, right? Her staff felt warm. Like it was alive. She knew, at least a little bit, about how this would go. Attacks needed some kind of spell, an incantation.
She nodded to herself.
"Alright!" she declared, holding her staff out in front of her. "Whatever's down there, it's not prepared for me!"
Miki rushed down the hill, towards the imperiled monument.
"Oh, dear. The toad, the monkey, and the dog have all screwed up."