Conquering the Swamp [Dungeon|Open]

[Shinomori Katsumi]

As she went forward with Haji, they seemed to be sucked into a new area again like before. While startled, it was not nearly as bad as earlier, and Katsumi was beginning to feel a little more comfortable with all of the supernatural happenings time after time. Takehiro and Yukimura both headed in opposite directions and she pressed her lips in a firm, straight line.

"Uhhh..."

Was splitting up really that great of an idea? With a maze, it seemed? How would they meet back up? Lifting up her hand, Katsumi took a step forward before her arm fell back to her side and the girl released a sigh. What was the point? Those two would do what they wanted. She may as well go along with it. Katsumi didn't want to come here in the first place and now was far stronger than ever before. While perhaps it was dangerous, it seemed danger reaped the best rewards, and she was beginning to develop a little bit of a risk-taker side.

When Haji began to speak, Katsumi turned towards him and nodded her head in understanding. Glancing over at Takehiro, she bit down on her bottom lip. While leaving him on his own didn't seem quite right, he was by far the most capable person she knew. He had handled all of the creatures fine on his own, while Haji and Yukimura... well...

Releasing another sigh, the archer leaned down and picked up more rocks, stuffing them into the pants of her hakama. Standing tall, the girl looked over at the path Takehiro went on.

"Takehiro!" she called out. Her expression was serious. "Be careful."

That was all she needed to say. Maybe Katsumi had yet to tell him her real identity, but she still valued his friendship, or whatever it was they had. Fighting companions. Something.

Nodding her head before running off to Haji, the archer eventually slowed down and watched her steps and surroundings carefully. Upon catching up to Yukimura, Katsumi would draw out the demon bow, ready to fire at anything or dash to wherever need be in case anything happened.

[Oda Nobunaga]

Takehiro: Upon proceeding down the path, the mercenary would find no traps or monsters! Were he to continue down the hall and turn, he would find a light blue vortex that pulled things toward itself!

YukiHajiKatsu: The three would proceed down their path safely. It seemed any "funny-looking" tiles were just dirty! Looking down the hall at the turn, they would find another fork in the path! Once they went down, they could go either left or right!

[Amakusa Takehiro]

Takehiro looked back to Hiroshi and just grinned, offering a confident thumbs-up before continuing. He appeared to be perfectly fine going off on his own. After all, he had an awesome new weapon. Plus, it seemed there were no troubles, so he wasn't scared. Though, he was constantly on the guard, keeping his glaive at the ready. Upon noticing the blue vortex thing, he stopped, cocking a brow.

"The fuck?"

He stepped toward it, noticing his clothes fluttering a little, and his hair flying toward it. It pulled stuff toward it... what was IT, though? He steeled himself, opting he needed to find out, though he was wary of these voids and vortexes after Hiroshi threw the head at the last one and they had to face dark lords of death. Slowly, he would thrust the glaive into the vortex, to observe what would happen. If it seemed like it was safe, the mercenary would simply take a chance and proceed through the vortex of sorts, though he never let his guard down.

If he ended up falling through some hole into never-ending darkness, he was gonna be PISSED.

[Sanada Yukimura]

Upon reaching the turn and peering down the hallway, Yukimura, along with Haji and Katsumi, who had come with him, leaving Takehiro to fend for himself, would be greeted by another split path, this time a fork. Stopping in front of it, directly in the middle where the paths forked, he would look down the left, then down the right, before turning to face the other two.

"Morei-san. ... Shinomori-san."

Yes, he had just called Katsumi by her real name, which would indicate to Haji that he in fact, knew about Katsumi and her secret.

"I would bear no hard feelings towards either of you if you two wished to go down a separate path from me. Just be careful, the both of you. There is no telling what is awaiting us in this maze."

Turning around, Yukimura would throw a rock down the left hallway, carefully listening for any sounds, especially the sound of the rock landing, and if nothing happened, he would then cautiously make his way down the hallway, his spear held in front of him. If they came with him, that was great. If not, he silently wished luck to the both of them.

[Morei Haji]

The pathway was free of traps, which was nice. All of that caution was for nothing, but still, it paid to keep our guards up.

My eyes widened as Yukimura said Katsumi's real name, realizing he kept her identity a secret in front of Takehiro this whole time. "Sanada-san..." Another fork, huh? Splitting up wasn't the ideal option, and I didn't want to leave him all on his own with one arm.

As Yukimura wandered off down the next path, I would look at Katsumi. "What do you want to do?"

If she decided to follow Yukimura, I would go along, as was my plan anyway. But if she wanted to split up from him, I would stick with her as I didn't feel safe letting her go on her own. I wanted to protect her if I could. Either way, my conjoined blade would be held at the ready sort of like a staff, ready to fight any enemies we run across.

[Shinomori Katsumi]

(Just woke up. SO SORRY! Dx)

Takehiro was fine as ever, and their path held no traps thus far. There was a fork in the road and, after saying both of their heads, Yukimura spoke, and she bowed her head in appreciation for keeping her secret. Perhaps one of these days she would tell Takehiro. Today simply wasn't the time, she felt.

To be perfectly honest, further splitting up seemed foolish to Katsumi, and she knew if she said to further split up, Haji would try to go with her. She didn't blame him, but right now Yukimura needed more support with injured shoulder. While Kat wasn't the strongest, she was fast and could take a lot of damage. She would be better off on her own right now. And so Katsumi rested her hand on Haji's shoulder, gripping it slightly in a small sign of affection.

"We should go with Sanada-san," said the woman softly, before slipping her hand down the length of his arm and turning, heading towards Yukimura. She wasn't aware that Yukimura knew of their relationship and so, for now, that was all she felt comfortable doing. Katsumi wasn't exactly into PDA.

[Oda Nobunaga]

Takehiro: The moment his glaive touched the vortex, it pulled him in with ridiculous force! Upon entering it, he would find he was in yet another hallway! No monsters were in sight. He could proceed forward for a few feet before the path turned left, and then immediately left again. From there, he had to continue going straight. There were two paths he could take, but both were lefts. He could take the closer left, or the left at the end of the path!

YukiHajiKatsu: The trio proceeded down the path together! They would find no obstacles, and their path would turn left! After a few feet, it would turn immediately right, and there was a long hallway they had to proceed through! At the end of the hall, there was another right turn! But, all along the hall's walls, there seemed to be rather suspicious looking holes!

[Amakusa Takehiro]

Takehiro proceeded along the path, a little confused with what just happened. So, what was that? Some kind of portal? Takehiro seemed to be in a different hall, now... or maybe it was the same one. He was cautious at the turn, sort of expecting to see Hiroshi as he made his way around the corner. Instead, he found a path that had two left turns, and he realized he did "warp" somewhere else. He didn't quite know how that worked, but he had no time to be confused.

Of the two paths, the mercenary chose the farther one, going all the way to the end of the hall before he turned. Though, as he passed, he tried to see what exactly what was down the first turn. Turning the last corner, Takehiro would hold out his glaive, half-expecting to see a crawler jumping out at him.

[Sanada Yukimura]

Leading the way down the hallway, his spear held in front of him, he would go left at the turn, then right at the next turn, finding himself in a long hallway, with rather suspicious holes lining the walls. Holding his good arm up, signaling for the other two to stop, pulling out a rock, he would lob it into one of the holes, ready to react if something came bursting forth from it.

If nothing happened, he would then duck down low, and pushing his back right up against one of the walls, would essentially slowly sidle/crab-walk his way underneath the holes, taking care not to step on any suspicious looking tiles, his spear held in a defensive position. Going underneath the holes made him nervous, but there seemed to be little choice, as he couldn't fly over the holes.

[Morei Haji]

Nodding to Katsumi, I would follow Yukimura in response. It was a relief, as I wouldn't feel safe with him being off on his own. The path seemed to veer onwards quite a bit, but so far there was no traps to speak of, and it was oddly quiet compared to the middle path they had taken previously.

Turning to see holes in the walls, they made me a little nervous. I decided I would emulate Yukimura's actions, scooting along the side of the wall opposite him while ducking underneath the holes. My weapon held tightly as I moved, I would be sure to step on as little of the tiles as possible for fear of a trap.

[Shinomori Katsumi]

Katsumi would follow Yukimura in silence and purse her lips at seeing the hallway with the holes in the wall. Holding up her bow, she decided, despite Yukimura throwing the rock, that this was as good a time as any to test it out. Firing one shot directly forward, she would gauge what would happen, before firing twice on the floor, one a few feet in and the other in the center, and then lastly at one of the holes.

If this elicited nothing, Katsumi would go to the side where Haji went, as the two of them were lighter, and do the same.

[Oda Nobunaga]

Takehiro: Takehiro would notice the first path went on further than the second. The second, he would find inside a small chest. This was noticeably not the Diamyo's treasure chest, but it did look like it held something valuable. Before the mercenary could get to it, however, he would be struck in the back of the head, knocking him to the floor. He would turn back to see one of the knights, just like from before, though this one had legs.

"You do not belong here, stranger."

Knight Stats:
Str: 20(30)
Dex: 20(25)
Con: 20(35)
Wis: 20(25)
Spr: 20

YukiHajiKatsu: The group would find that none of the things they did would trigger any sort of traps. The rock would just bounce away from the holes, and the arrows would disintegrate upon hitting their targets. As they proceeded along the wall, however, Yukimura would end up triggering a pressure plate. That specific hall would raise, so that their chests were at level with the holes, even having been crouching, and spears would shoot out from them. The spears would start at the end, and make their way over to the group. They had to act fast, or be impaled!

[Amakusa Takehiro]

"TREASURE!" Takehiro shouted, before being knocked to the ground. "Fuuuuuck...!" Thank god his helmet granted 1/2 damage to his head!

Takehiro stood to his feet, groaning. He had to fight another one of those knight fuckers? This wasn't going to be very fun, but it looked like he had to. Quickly, he would swing his glaive at the fucker's head, looking to take the helmet clean off. With his swing, the blade would light on fire, and Takehiro's eyes widened. THAT WAS SO FUCKING COOL.

But yes, damage. BREAK ARMOR! BREAK IT!

[Sanada Yukimura]

"OHHHH CRAAAP!"

Yukimura would roar as the pressure plate he had triggered despite being cautious would raise the hallway high enough that his chest was level with the holes, and the sounds of whistling issuing from behind him made him turn to look, only to grimace. He would immediately throw himself to the floor and begin crawling like mad as the spears shot out of the holes behind him and made its way towards them.

"Note to self: Learn to hover to avoid triggering pressure plates..."

[Morei Haji]

"SON OF A..."

As the floor raised, goddamn spears began to jut out of the walls behind us. If Katsumi wasn't already on the move, I would grab her and pull her to be in front of Yukimura and myself, so that she could go first in getting out of here. She was smaller and faster than us, and had a higher chance of escape. Afterwards, I would throw myself to the floor and begin to crawl as fast as I could, praying that I was too low to the ground for the spears to impale.

"One hell of a day..."

[Shinomori Katsumi]

Everything seemed fine, but the sound of a pressure plate going down caught Kat's attention and her gaze immediately went to Yukimura.

"What did you do-?!" she began to exclaim, but she was cut off when the ceiling began to raise. The holes went to the height of Kat's head as she stood up and looked behind them. Spears began to shoot out from the holes at the end and her eyes bulged. "Shit!"

Speed was on her side and, while not wanting to abandon her friend and lover, she jumped out in the middle and began to sprint forward. Katsumi trusted they would know what to do and be okay, and did what she did best: run.

New white locks whipped behind her as the archer sprinted as quickly as she could and, if uninterrupted, when reaching the end she would dive for the clear, rolling when hitting the ground. Scrambling to look over at the men who were crawling forward, Katsumi exclaimed, hands on either side of her mouth to make her voice louder (which was no longer in her false tenor), "Be careful!"

While worried for them, Katsumi would look back to see what else was around her, bow taken from her back and held close to her side.

[Oda Nobunaga]

Takehiro: aJivbJRC

YukiHajiKatsu: �

[Oda Nobunaga]

Takehiro: The mercenary's strike was successful, smashing the helmet and knocking it off with ease, especially with that awesome new weapon of his! The knight roared in pain, faltering for a moment! If Takehiro waited too long, it would pull its arms back, slamming its giant ax down upon him and cleaving him in too! But he had time to react!

YukiHajiKatsu: Yukimura and Haji successfully ducked under the spears, and Katsumi outran them! As the woman dived, however, a large log dropped from the ceiling and swung toward her, meeting her face with a loud THUNK. It would not be enough to send her into the spears, but her body would flip and she would land on her back, sliding into the wall! If she still got up to look around, she would see the path ended shortly after the turn, and they'd have to make a left... didn't look suspicious though!

[Amakusa Takehiro]

Takehiro would jump as the knight froze up, thrusting his spear inside its armor and looking to break it apart from the inside before ripping it off. If he was successful, he would whip the spear in front of him in a wide arc to slice through the gauntlets and make them useless!

[Sanada Yukimura]

Crawling as fast as he could with one useless arm, he would cringe as he looked ahead seeing Katsumi dive... only to say hello to a log that swung at her from the ceiling. He hoped she was alright because it's Keiko Kitagawa, and would hightail it as fast as he could to the end of the hallway, laying completely flat on the floor. After he was sure no other logs would come flying from the ceiling to say hello to them, he would climb to his feet, his spear held in front of him, as he looked at the left they would have to make.

Nope, not suspicious at all.

He'd then carefully make his way to the turn and throw another rock around the corner, waiting to hear the dull clack before moving forward cautiously.

[Morei Haji]

KAAAATSUUUUMIIIIIIIII-CHAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!

I saw her get smashed in the face with a log, and wanted to cry out her name. I forever vowed to hate logs from this point onward! I crawled forward as quick as I could, making sure that no spears or logs were going to hit me too, and got to her side.

"Katsumi? Are you okay?!" Granted, she was wearing some pretty heavy armor now, but it was a log...

After checking up on her, I would be sure to follow Yukimura, but ensuring I stayed close to Katsumi, weapon at the ready. I'mma cut you log bastards out of the air!

[Shinomori Katsumi]

Katsumi thought she was in the clear, diving to safety when WHAM! A log dropped and hit her in the fucking face. What should have been death felt like a hard slap, and Katsumi fell back, landing roughly on her back.

"Ugh!" she groaned, hands rising up to her face. It hurt far less than expected, considering it was a LOG, but fuck! That still hurt! Flipping to her side, Katsumi spit up some blood and rubbed her head, beginning to grumble quietly to herself about fucking logs and other bullshit.

Before the others reached her, Katsumi would fire a shot in their next path and waited to see what would happen, and turned to Haji when he worriedly checked up on her. Releasing a sigh, she responded, "Surprisingly, I'm alright. More... annoyed than anything. Do not worry yourself, Haji-kun."

And yeah. She'll carefully go forward too if all seems safe.

[Oda Nobunaga]

Takehiro: 16XQvnK4

Group: �

[Oda Nobunaga]

Takehiro: The mercenary successfully tore the knight's chestplate apart and it roared in pain! However, before he could make another move, it would kick him in the chest and he would fly toward the wall, dropping his glaive! In one swift movement, the knight slashed his ax toward Takehiro's neck, looking to cleave the head from his shoulders!

Group: They would hear nothing as they checked what was down the path! The rock did not hit a single thing, and the arrow just disintegrated as it went down the path! The wall behind the group suddenly began to move, pushing the group down along the path, threatening to crush them against the opposite wall if they didn't high-tail it along!

[Amakusa Takehiro]

Cursing, one of Takehiro's arms came up, and he tried to block the ax with his gauntlet! If successful, he would ram his fist into the knight's gauntlet several times, before moving up and trying to destroy its shoulders!

"YOU'RE SUCH A JERK!"