Secret of the Medallions

[Roland Karloseth]

(( Alright, lets try THIS smile )

Karloseth leaned up against a nearby tree, panting. They had successfully cleared the area of the shadow beings, mostly due to Connell's abilities. "Alright... Now we just wait for Marcellus and the others to show up."

It was then that Karloseth's gauntlets beeped. "What the hell...?" Upon inspection, he discovered that the gauntlets had finished it's learning cycle. Switching to the new ability, his gloves were surrounded with a black smoke-like substance. "Well, logically it disposed of whatever 'brain' these creatures have, otherwise it would mess with the gauntlets. This couls be useful..." Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Marcellus and the rest approaching.  

[Erverain]

Gasping a bit as he stumbled out of the treeline, Marcellus noticed that the other group was waiting for them. Not being as used to this much physical exertion as the others were, he couldn't help but nearly collapse when he reached the tree where the group had gathered.
Give me a few hours of sleep. I'd be useless at this point anyway. Tomorrow, I'll get that thing out of Tori's head and see what's bothering Rain.
Slumping against the trunk of the tree, Marcellus passes out.  

[Red Glacier]

Rain ran up behind Marcellus and at the sign of the other group a large boost of adrenaline went off in him and the figures of his mind vanished around him. he grips Toris hand and took and took her arm over his neck and held her up until they got to the group at a quick pace. He sits Tori against the tree and takes off the sack carrying all of their dinner.

he gave off a sigh and shook his head "Glad to see you all are safe. I think its safe to say we have seen better days" he starts getting ready to make a fire and cook. Lilith was probably on the brink of passing out, maybe Tokk could grind some rocks and make sparks so the fire could be made. Really Rain just wanted to occupy himself from the shadows around him, he gathered fire wood and kindling grass and other things to help catch the fire. he gave another sigh thinking about their situation. Everyone was just about to pass out where they stood so if something were to find them they'd be gone, and Rain could only use so much more power so escape would be the only option for him.

"Hey, Tokk. I think Lilith is too tired so do you think you can help me light this fire here?"  

[invisible-weirdo]

As they reached the others, Lilith grabbed Marcellus by the elbow to help stop him from collapsing. She let him go as he slumped down against the tree. Panting and with her heart still beating rapidly in her chest, she glanced at the others around her. At least we're all in one piece, she thought, Though as for what comes next, I'm not too sure. Sitting with her back against the tree, she tried to put her nervousness out of her mind. She saw Rain trying to occupy himself by preparing a fire pit for them. "Rain, I'm fine. I can at least do a simple thing like light a fire." She flipped open her lighter and sent it straight toward the fire wood with a fluid sweep of her hand. Pocketing the silver lighter, she inclined her head back against the side of the tree and sighed. A bit of sleep sounded awfully nice...  

[xDarkPisces]

Tokk put his palms together and breathed out slowly, settling his nerves from the perilous trip from the complex. His enhanced endurance, combined with ancient energy preservation techniques passed down to him by his father, put any thought of fatigue or bodily wear at bay for the moment, and he set about the camp making small rock shelters for the others in the group. Each fit the size and needs of its user, and after a bit of work gathering as much clean, dried underbrush as he could carry, he was able to fashion a makeshift pallet in each. He turned to the disheveled group, smiling a empathetic half-smile.

"It's not much, but... It'll be better than sleeping on the ground, yeah?" He nodded his head and looked over at the already roaring fire. "I never had a doubt that Lilith could handle it, Rain." And he turned to the lake, watching the lightning bugs dancing across its surface like sparks in the dim twilight. He sat to the ground, produced his metal bearing from his pocket, and began manipulating them for practice.  

[Roland Karloseth]

"Indeed, it's been a rough day. Get some sleep, all of you. I'll keep watch tonight," Karloseth said, and froze time. "No way I can sleep anyway, I might as well. Though I can't help but wonder, can I maintain my grip on time while sleeping? That could come in handy. I could keep watch every night, and freeze time at some convenient point in the day and sleep for a bit. I think tomorrow, I'll have to give it a try." He looked around at the place they were staying. It was a somewhat clearer area than the rest of the forest they were in, the trees had thinned out considerably. "I think it would be best to climb a tree, sit on a branch and watch from there. Higher elevation, I can see farther and I'd be well hidden." Karloseth found a good tree near the center of the camp and climbed up, finding that it had a nice wide branch to sit on comfortably. Once situated, he allowed time to flow freely again.

"Alright, lets see exactly what can be done with shadows now, shall we?" Karloseth called the shadows forth from the gloves and set to work. "Hrm... too flimsy to be used for anything solid, like any weapon. However, it appears that I can use it for visual cover, during anything that may require stealth. Wish I had thought of this sooner, that could have been useful during our raid on the compound."  

[Roland Karloseth]

Karloseth watched the sun rise silently. "Such beauty... strange how things that always look the same look somehow... ENHANCED in the wake of madness. Perhaps the joy of seeing the sun rise is attributed to the relief of being alive, I can think of no other explanation. Can't decide if that's a good thing or a bad thing, honestly... I hope this isn't an indication of how things will be from here on out. Our home is now the base of the creatures planning our demise, leaving us out under the stars. I imagine the Medallion Wielders of other countries are in the same boat as well, this seemed to be a coordinated assault, despite the fact that we were underestimated. And these shadow beings... I fear what these things may be capable of. Also, these things need a name..." Karloseth thought. He knew a few ancient languages, that was one of the only things he had enjoyed learning while being trained. "Hrm... what was that word... That language had such interesting sounding words, and those words have been used as names several times... Ing. That's it, that's the word for 'terror'. These things are surely frightening, it seems to be a fitting name. I may run it by the others later, just because 'shadow beings' is getting a bit... well, it's longer, at any rate."

Karloseth continued his thoughts until he looked up and saw that it was approximately 10:00 am, judging by the location of the sun. "Alright, wake up call for anyone still sleeping. I understand that it was a late and exhausting night, but..." He thought to himself before jumping out of the tree, using his propulsion boots to slow his fall. He landed rather softly, and was a bit surprised at such. "Alright everyone, wake up call. we need to have a small palaver, figure out our next move."  

[Erverain]

Marcellus stirred. His body seemed so stiff, as if he hadn't slept properly. Opening his eyes slowly, he realized that he had indeed fallen asleep improperly leaning against a tree. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes, Marcellus looked over the group. Then he remembered he had a job to do.
Karloseth, the sooner I get that thing out of Tori's head the better. I don't suppose you have a way to get rid of them, aside from Connell? Though, since it is daylight, it might die the moment I drag it out...
Marcellus pondered for a minute. What sort of harm might this inflict on the host? Keeping it tied up wasn't going to last, but what if forcibly drawing it out had some ill effect on Tori's mind? This is why Marcellus hated mental parasites. They were so tricky to get rid of.  

[Kerrigan_dragon]

In the dark of night, I waited until everyone fell asleep. The leader, Karloseth, stayed awake, but he wasn't a bother to me at this point. The one who'd put the limit on me, he was the one I was concerned with. I mentally paced in the corners of Tori's mind, forcing her awake every time she nodded off by sending screams running through her mind, screams that were but a taste of the frustration I was feeling. I wasn't going to harm her, dammit! I just needed a host. Only my screams could affect her until Marcelles fell asleep, and once his eyes finally drooped and his breathing became deep and even, I let Tori fall asleep. She was so drunk with exhaustion, she probably wouldn't even remember my screaming in her mind by the morning, which suited me just fine. I now began evaluating what I could do, and I began tweaking.

Now that Marcellus was asleep, I found I could do a little bit more than I'd originally thought. I thought all I'd be able to do was watch, or scream so loud she'd hear a distant echo of it in her mind, or tweak her subconscious so that when this barrier was let up she'd instantly feel the effects, whatever they may be. But this was so much better.

He'd let a hairline crack in the spell. That was all I needed, though, for it was in exactly the right place. I reached out with shadowy tendrils and wrapped my essence around the little part of her mind that contained a little something called self control. I poured as much of myself as I could into infecting this part of her mind. If they removed me, it would destroy her self control completely, and she'd become a ravaging animal.

Better keeps your paws off, I thought as part of me drifted to a semblance of sleep, just revitalizing my essence, really. I waited..

Tori woke up with a jolt as Karloseth told them to wake up. She pushed herself up from the ground and looked around blearily. She could have sworn she'd gone to sleep in the place Tokk had made for her... She didn't understand how she'd gotten over here. She rubbed her eyes tiredly, looking very much like a young child as she did so. "Mmm. Morning, Karl. Is it time to get my head examined?"  

[Red Glacier]

Rain was asleep in a shivering ball in his nightmares, he was clenched tightly, with a deep gasp he woke up and panted heavily, he shook out of it and got up and when he looked up the female figure stood in front of him and said to him "There are much more dangerous things then the shadows and the soldiers" he shivered and got up on his feet, he blinks and sits cross legged on the ground. he felt fine now then yesterday so he just gave a deep breath and sighed shaking his head.  

[Roland Karloseth]

I'd rather not take the chance of that, Connell should be there. And I can't think of a way to get rid of everyone else... But there is a way to do it right in front of them without them knowing. If we do it right, they could be looking right at us while we do it, and they won't see anything out of the norm. However, in order to pull it off, I'll need you, Tori, and Connell to gather around me inconspicuously. Also, I'd need to be present while you do it. Karloseth looked at Tori and smiled while he nodded slightly. He didn't want to say anything about it out loud, so he left it at that. He watched everyone awaken, and took notice to how haggard everyone looked. "We can't keep this up for long..." he thought to himself.  

[invisible-weirdo]

Lilith had a rather sporadic night's rest. Tossing and turning in the small shelter Tokk had made, she had woken up several times during the night. Once the sun had started to rise, its soft orange light washing over their small group, she had already given up on sleep and just lay there silently. She tried to remember the dreams she had had while asleep, but found they kept escaping her grasp, like water slipping through her fingers. There was a cackle...And a brilliant red that filled her view....A blazing fire perhaps? Or was it blood? And why...? She shook these thoughts from her head as Karloseth called out to wake them.  

[Erverain]

Marcellus nodded at the thought Karloseth had sent him.
Time-stopping so that the others aren't aware is likely his idea. Even so, it might take more than a he can stop for me to finish. Ah, wait, I've got an idea.
Switching to broadcast, Marcellus pinged Karloseth.
Here's an idea: how about I run a psyche scan on everyone, since we've all just undergone a traumatic experience? That way, there is nothing suspicious about me poking about in peoples' brains. To be honest, Rain might be in more danger than Tori, and I'm sure that the others are more affected than they let on. You included.  

[Roland Karloseth]

That might be a good idea. I don't have a problem with that, it might be for the best. Do what you need to do, I suppose. I assure you I'm fine, despite being shocked at all that's happened lately, but check if you wish. I'm not entirely sure I could stop you anyway, It would probably be futile for me to even try. Karloseth thought, and looked around at everyone again before sitting down against the trunk of a nearby tree.  

[xDarkPisces]

Tokk awoke with a start, jumping to his feet in an instant and sending the shelter around him crunching back into the Earth. He dusted himself off with a small cough and squinted in the late morning sunlight. "M-morning, everyone..." he yawned as he stretched his arms back behind his head. He smiled pleasantly, feeling quite revitalized after a nearly uninterrupted night of slumber. "Good to see you all looking... wow... actually... Did I miss something here? You all look so... So poorly rested..." His thoughts trailed to his quick, makeshift shelters, lamenting that he hadn't spent more time making them more comfortable. His quick logic had been that the Earth wasn't actually that hard or unpleasant at all, neglecting the fact, of course, that the others couldn't manipulate it to conform to the shape of their bodies.

His eyes went from Tori to Marcellus to Karloseth, locking on the last with a nod. "Stayed up all night, hm? We all appreciate the effort, man... I'll take tonight's watch."