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>>237914

You had expressed your wish to rush down into the crater to look for survivors among your friends and Chao's sword that he had asked you to collect for him. Sensei had firmly told you that there was no time and you had to take him back to his lake immediately. You had hesitated for a couple of seconds, but in the end you caved to your Sensei's uncharacteristically gaze filled with fear and anger. He had always been so collected and calm, even when Chao's escapees had frustrated him.

With a less than graceful landing, the two of you finally arrived to Sensei's lake. It remained as untouched and tranquil as before, without a trace of the toxic black air that had followed you all the way here.

Strange.

"This is where we say our farewell, my young pupil." Sensei's voice was dripping with sorrow, the realization of everything that was happening and what had happened finally hitting him in full force. You didn't really want to imagine how it would feel for you once you sheath your Guardian Blade that has held back all feelings that would interfere with your adrenaline and your battle-ready mind, but in Sensei you now saw a glimpse of it. He didn't cry, but he wouldn't meet your gaze so he shamefully stared down at the clear water before him.

"What?" It finally dawned on you; Sensei wasn't going to come with you. "W-what do you mean, Sensei?"

"I will leave you now. You must make haste to the village and help anyone you can travel past the second barrier." He explained, but you didn't want to hear anything of it!

"Why can't you come with me? None of us are Guardians yet and we can't become ones without you teaching us! We all need you, Sensei!" You never heard the desperation in your voice, but you could only imagine how desperate you must have looked at the time. Sensei left your shoulder and landed at the edge of the water, turning his eyes back to you.

>Continued

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>>237916

"I've been corrupted by the Red Flower. I cannot pass through the second barrier anymore. I will go back to living in my lake and if the Humans find me, then I shall join all those whom I've loved and taught over the centuries."

"NO!" You screamed at him defiantly. Despite holding onto your Guardian Blade, anger and fear almost overtook you once more like it had back on the ruined hill, "This, this isn't right!"

"Know that I always valued your company. I know in my heart that you will make us all proud." He whispered to you, finally shedding a tear, "May the Tree forever guide you. Farewell, Guardian." And with that, the frog left land and dove into his lake and disappeared from your sight within seconds, leaving you standing in front of his lake, all alone yet again. Your hands shook and it felt as though your heart would burst from your chest. You tried to calm yourself down with some manual breathing, but it didn't do the trick this time.

In the end, you left the Lake behind, not sure if your ears would ever enjoy Sensei's wise and calming words ever again. A lot of thing confused you, but one thing was clear: You would make Sensei proud. So you made for the Village.

What should I do when I get there? Chao must have already warned them of the incoming threat.

>Seek out Chao and Ming immediately.
>First of all, find Heim and Ai.
>No prior plan; improvise once you see the situation over there.
>Get any belongings you can from your house first.

>>237919
>Get any belongings you can from your house first

>>237919
>>No prior plan; improvise once you see the situation over there.

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Like before, I'll be back in 20-25 minutes to call the vote.

Welcome to the quest!

>>237919
>No prior plan; improvise once you see the situation over there.

>>237919
>No prior plan; improvise once you see the situation over there.

>>237925
>>237932
>>237957
>>237962
All right!

Writing.

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>>237919
>No prior plan; improvise once you see the situation over there.

You couldn't be certain or assume anything as to what had happened in the village, so making plans ahead seemed pointless. There was no black air on the way there, but through the glimpses you caught in the holes of the forest roof you spotted trails of black air not far from the village. The Humans would soon set upon it! It wasn't entirely unprotected, but you'd imagine that what Guardians that were stationed there would be divided between preparing for whatever attack that was surely coming and evacuation of the villagers through the second barrier that lay around 3-4 miles North. You had been there once, but you didn't remember much from the visit. You had never passed through it though.

Upon reaching the Village, you immediately noticed that half of the homes were already empty and abandoned. Evacuated in the early wave no doubt. Your approach were greeted by four adult Awoo Guardians that kept their vigil eyes set upon the Forest where the black air came from. They asked no questions of you and just motioned you to hurry on into the village. There were no walls surrounding this settlement of sorts. Why would there have been? They had their Guardians there and the First Barrier eliminated the fear of the greatest threat. Until now of course.

Deeper within the Village there were more creatures of the forest running about, trying to get everything ready for the departure. You recognized the back belonging to Chao standing a few meters up ahead, talking frantically with one of the Village Elders. You heard the voices of Ai and Heim a bit further away among the wooden houses. It seemed like they were helping two families pack what little they could take with them on their flight north to safety. Chao, Ai, and Heim had been accounted for.

Where's Ming?

>Approach Chao.
>Go help Ai and Heim.
>Don't interrupt Chao and look for Ming yourself.
>Hurry to your home and pack what little you can.
>Write-in.

>>238083
>Approach Chao.

I guessing Chao asked someone else to carry Ming and evacuate, just ask to be sure.

>>238083
>>Approach Chao.

>>238083
>Approach Chao.

>>238101
>>238110
>>238134
Writing.

>>238101
>>238110
>>238134
He'll be pissed about his sword no doubt.

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>>238083
>Approach Chao

If anything, he has to know where Ming is.

The whereabouts of Ming mattered more than your other viable options at the time. With a steady pace, you approached Chao and the Village Elder who was having a heated discussion. You caught Ming's name being mentioned several times before Chao noticed your arrival. He scanned you for a couple of seconds, scoffed, and then turned back to the Village Elder.

No, I don't have your sword, asshole. I'm sorry., you thought to yourself, not really in the mood to apologize to him out loud with his poor attitude, despite the circumstances.

"Then what are you suggesting, Elder? That we just leave her here?!" Chao blurted out, almost shouting in the Elder's wrinkled face. The old Awoo didn't flinch for a second from Chao's anger and his collective expression remained intact.

"Chao, breathe and reclaim your senses. We cannot be divided now when the Red Flower is approaching." The Elder urged Chao and tried to put a hand on the young Awoo's shoulder, but he recoiled violently from the old one's touch.

"What's happening?" You chimed in, worried about what Chao said earlier. He threw a glare at you as if you were on the Elder's side.

"The Elder is suggesting that we leave Ming here. He says he won't heal her wounds!" He spat out in anger, both figuratively and literally pointing the blame at the Elder.

"We don't have the means to heal her, Chao. The herbs she needs are on the other side of the barrier and she will succumb to her wounds before then. Let not sorrow stay your hand and help carry the belongings for those whom you can still assist, young one." The Elder waved to the other families and individual Creatures of the Forest that were still struggling to pack and carry what they could.

You were at a loss on what to do; You'd rather try and fail to save Ming, but if the wise Elder says she won't make the journey no matter what, is it truly worth it? You thought so, but you were left unsure what to do. Chao and the Elder resumed their squabble, leaving you to make a decision.

>Agree with the Elder. If Ming cannot be saved, you need to focus on helping others. Hard choices have to be made for the sake of the many.
>Agree with Chao. The Elder couldn't possible know for sure. Every single Creature of the Forest matters to a Guardian, no matter the odds.

>>238236
>Agree with Chao. The Elder couldn't possible know for sure. Every single Creature of the Forest matters to a Guardian, no matter the odds.

This is the nobledark option, I suppose.

>>238236
>Agree with Chao. The Elder couldn't possible know for sure. Every single Creature of the Forest matters to a Guardian, no matter the odds.
If those herbs exist I bet they kept some back at the village.

>>238236
>>Agree with Chao. The Elder couldn't possible know for sure. Every single Creature of the Forest matters to a Guardian, no matter the odds.

>>238236
>Agree with Chao. The Elder couldn't possible know for sure. Every single Creature of the Forest matters to a Guardian, no matter the odds.

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>>238255
>>238273
>>238275
>>238282
You've decided that every single life matters right now!

Writing.

>>238236
We really agreeing with Chao?

>agree with Chao

>>238236
>Agree with Chao. The Elder couldn't possible know for sure. Every single Creature of the Forest matters to a Guardian, no matter the odds.

No. You couldn't, and wouldn't, accept something like that. Ming might have been a sacrifice to help others get out of the village faster, but you wouldn't give up your principles so easily in the face of the Human threat. That's what they wanted. For you and every other Creature of the Forest to stop working together, to divide and conquer everyone more easily, and for you all to give up your beliefs and kneel before them. In a way the Elder might have been right, but you wouldn't agree with him. Not then and not any day after that, if you survived this ordeal.

Chao and the Elder's heated discussion came to an abrupt stop when you forced your way past them and entered the building in front of you. You found Ming's unconscious body on the wooden bed with a cover made out of leaves and bark sown together upstairs. She still had the jack in her head, but the wound had been cleaned and covered with a wet leaf to prevent infection. You didn't know much about medicine or herbalism, but any Awoo worth their salt knew that wet leaves were good antidote against infections on wounds while they were healing or until the necessary herbs could be acquired. You carried her out and when you left the house, the Elder and Chao met you with opposite expressions. The Elder seemed more sad than frustrated and held a gentle hand up against your approach, as if to stop you from making a mistake. Chao had given way to a genuine smile before it regressed back to an arrogant smirk directed at the Elder.

"Are there no herbs in the Village that can help her?" You stopped in front of the Elder's hand, staring into his old and wise eyes.

"No. We ran out this morning. We would have sent out herbalists to pick some on the other side, but then we heard something horrible from the valley and we saw the trail of smoke rising from that part of the forest." And as a response to his answer, you forced your way past him and approached Chao once more.

"Sensei entrusted you with her for the journey to the village and now I entrust you with her survival, Chao." You sighed, handing the unconscious Ming over to Chao's willing arms, "Prove that you can be a better savior than me." You edged him on and he nodded at you.

"Of course I am. Don't you dare die, Lin! I'm still going to punch you for losing my sword!" He shouted and ran off with Ming in his arms, heading North for the barriers.

>Continued

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>>238411

"I didn't lose-- Never mind, you thick headed toad-licker." You muttered to no one before deciding what to do next. The smoke was closing in and you probably only had time to do one last thing before you had to leave the village as well. Some of the Guardians that had escorted the first wave of evacuating villagers had returned to help the remaining villagers and lead the last wave out. Time was running out.

>Get some of your belongings.
>Seek out Ai and Heim.
>Help the Guardians with the Villagers.

>>238415

>Seek out Ai and Heim.
People are more important thann personal belongings, and I'm pretty sure the Guardians can evacuate without you.

>>238415
>>Seek out Ai and Heim.

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>>238418
>>238420
Writing.

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>>238415
>Seek out Ai and Heim

In the end, there really wasn't anything important for you to fetch in your home. It mostly just held memories of your early youth and some memorabilia, but you had your sight on the future, not the past. The Guardians knew what they were doing and while your helping hand would quicken the process, you felt you had a more pressing matters: Ai and Heim. You had to make sure they were ready to leave so all three of you could get out of this in one piece.

In the distance, you heard Ai and Heim talk about something you couldn't quite make out. After jogging past two small houses, you spotted the pair in the distance, closer to the edge of the thick forest than you were comfortable with. Upon approaching them, you were just about to ask them what they were whispering about when they noticed you, and you noticed something else entirely. Something that filled you with dread.

"Get down!" You screamed at them before you threw yourself to the ground. Ai saw what was coming for the two of them in the corner of her eye and in a split-second she decided that neither one of them would make it out of harm's way by leaping to the dirt. She pushed Heim down with everything she had before a blast of Red Flower engulfed her where she stood. The young Awoo you had known for years, but rarely spoken to, turned to ash with a high pitched scream where she stood. The ashen figure soon crumbled and the wind carried her remains away. Her scream would surely haunt your dreams for years to come and the sight would haunt Heim. The young Awoo boy let out an involuntary howl and got up on his feet. He helped you up too just as you spotted a batch of metal clad figures leave the edge of the forest. They held weapons of steel and iron. However, before they could charge you both down, three Guardians had found their way between them and you.

"Flee!" One of them ordered you and you complied without hesitation. The humans charged the Guardians just before you looked away. From the tree tops there came flying small projectiles engulfed in Red Flower in high speed. You thought it was arrows at first, but when the projectiles hit the ground they turned out to be pure Red Flowers.

"By the tree, who are shooting these and how?!

Suddenly your Guardian Blade cried out and you almost felt it yourself by instincts alone; A projectile was heading straight for you! If you threw yourself to the ground, you would be an easy target, but if you kept running it would hit you no doubt. Only one choice seemed viable and it was insane. On a crazy whim, you swirled around with your blade, slashing it vertically right where you thought the projectile would come at you.

>Roll 3d10
>Best of three
>DC: 5

Rolled 8, 2, 8 = 18 (3d10)

>>238588
oh dear...

Rolled 3, 2, 8 = 13 (3d10)

>>238588

Rolled 7, 2, 10 = 19 (3d10)

>>238588

>>238600
>>238611
>>238614
RNG sure loves number 2

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>>238600
>>238611
>>238614
All right.

The writing will resume momentarily.

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>>238588
>Roll: Success
>Result: One [+] to Combat Stat

In an instant motion, you threw yourself into a swirl, slashing with your Guardian Blade. It sliced through air and Red Flower alike. The projectile was split into two, but the parted flower crashed onto your arms nonetheless. The Guardian Blade forbid you from panicking, but it didn't hurt at all nor were you marked by the Red Flower's touch when you looked at it. Nevertheless, there was no time to stop and wonder what had just happened. More projectiles still rained down upon the Village in more and more numbers with each passing second. Soon enough the entire Village would be engulfed in the Red Flower's touch.

Heim was running for his life, growling to himself. He was probably blaming himself for Ai's death. You didn't recall if they were friends or not, but maybe they had grown closer during this short time? If nothing else, he probably mourned the death of yet another one of his peers. You just noticed that he didn't have his gauntlets on either, but you were more focused on running than asking questions. It would have to wait until later.

The Guardians that were going to escort the last villagers out had joined the fight, and left the task up to you. They needed every single Guardian to hold back the wave of Humans long enough for everyone else to escape. A noble sacrificial price that any Guardian would be willing to pay. You and Heim helped the other Villagers out on the road through the Forest leading to the barrier in the north. You took on as much of their belongings has you could so they had room to carry their children and run faster.

Once you reached a hill overlooking the village, you turned and watched your home engulfed in the Red Flower. Heim approached you from behind and took his place beside you. He looked weathered and grim.

"Chao is right." He spat out in disgust, staring at the destroyed Village with an empty look upon his face. His words caught you by surprise, given whom it was that spoke them. "Every single Human must die. It's the only way we'll ever be free." And without waiting for a reply from you, he left you on that hill and returned to the herd of villagers moving towards the barrier that wasn't far off now.

>Continued

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>>238758

The Guardian Blade had fallen silent again and when you looked at it, it gave you a responsive feeling as if to tell you that everything would be okay. You knew it wouldn't be, but there was no point arguing with a sword. You threw a glance where the small pieces of Red Flower had hit your hands and there was still no mark.

Maybe the slash killed it or something?

In the end, you shrugged and made your way down the hill. However, upon reaching the road again, immense pain erupted in your arms that sent you to your knees. With a shocked expression painted across your face, you stared at the source of your pain in horror; two strange and living things were moving inside your arms and they were heading towards your upper body. Your chest. Your heart. The Red Flower pieces?!
The thought of cutting off your arms struck you, but you didn't have it in you to convince yourself with the seconds you had at your disposal. The Guardian Blade wasn't crying though, even while you tried to panic. When the two unknown blobs had crawled their way into your chest, you sat on your knees and awaited your death. Breathe in. Breathe out. Breathe in. Breathe out.

Death never came. Instead you felt a hand grabbing your shoulder and forcing you back on your feet. Your gaze met that of Heim.

"Lin, what are you doing?! We need to go, now!"

>Tell him what just happened. Heim might be able to help you, or at least help you calm down better than your blade is at the moment.
>Don't tell him. Probably shouldn't mention that you have what you think are pieces of a Red Flower within you to Heim right now, given all that has happened.
>Write-in.

>>238761
>Tell him what just happened. Heim might be able to help you, or at least help you calm down better than your blade is at the moment.

>>238761
>Don't tell him. Probably shouldn't mention that you have what you think are pieces of a Red Flower within you to Heim right now, given all that has happened.

>>238761
>Don't tell him. We're not even sure it's the Red Flower. We're jumping to conclusions.

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>>238792
>>238793
>>238796
Writing.

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>>238761
>Don't tell him.

Your decision involved swallowing any notion of mentioning this, staying quiet, and nodding at Heim. That's what you did. It wasn't the time or place to tell him about what had happened. Maybe you never would tell him? Maybe you were just overreacting and it was all in your head? Your Guardian Blade hadn't picked up on it so maybe that was the case? You had never experienced hallucinations before so you couldn't tell them apart from reality unless they were extremely absurd.

Well, that wasn't entirely true since you're pretty sure you saw Sensei turn from a green giant back to a frog and it wasn't a hallucination.

You and Heim joined the herd and for the rest of the trip, you walked in silence until you reached the Second barrier. Walking beyond it meant almost guaranteed safety for the first time today. The sun was setting in the horizon and even with your almost unlimited stamina, you were starting to get tired. So many people had died and been left behind. Gran-gran, the other Awoo students, Sensei had stayed, Ai had died, Ming might have died. You hadn't had anything solid to eat all day and you hadn't had much of a chance to rest either since this morning. So many things had happened and it was still not over.

The escorted villagers began to pour through the barrier, one after the other, gladly dealing with the aftermath of such a transition for the protection it gave.

In the end, only you and Heim remained on the other side. He gave you a quiet nod before he too journeyed through the barrier.

Breathe in. Breathe out. Calm yourself, Lin. Everything will be all right...

Your worst fear would be answered within the next few seconds; Had the Red Flower infected you and would it stop you from crossing the barrier?

Without further ado, you ran straight at the barrier, your mind empty and your eyes closed.

___

Did she get through or not? Find out next session on Thursday (Tomorrow) this week! My Twitter is the following: twitter.com/ShonenQM
And I will archive this thread. If you have any questions before I leave, ask them now and I'll answer what I can.

Thank you for participating!

>>238907
Good thread. Awoos got to stop dying left and right here...not going to have a cast at this rate.

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>>238935
Thanks! They're dropping like flies. Sadness all around.

>>238958
fug Chao when?

Rolled 31 (1d100)

>>238907
to see if she made in thow

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>>239481

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>>239557
Never

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>>238907
[STATS]
>Combat: ++
>Social:
>Knowledge: ++
____

3 YEARS LATER

The brown-skinned female marched her way up a couple of wooden stairs leading to a room where two Awoo guardians stood at the entrance, watching her approach. They knew of her all too well: Raubtier. It wasn't her true name, but it is what everyone called her for her skin color and the red tattoos still visible upon her body and face despite her best attempts to hide most of them with bandages. Her red eyes were that of an Awoo, but her pupil was not only showing unlike it was for her peers, but it resembled the eyes of a snake. Raubtier wasn't a complimentary title nor a good word; it was a word from their ancestral white wolf language and it stood for 'A dangerous predator that has to be put down' or 'Predator' in short. Anything a White Wolf considered to be a predator and not a prey to their kind, had to be killed. Despite the name given her, they didn't show hostility towards her, but she was treated with scorn whenever she dealt with her kind or most Creatures of the Forest. Especially since the fall of the first barrier was still fresh in their memories.

Raubtier entered the room and was, as always, greeted by suspicious looks and scornful gazes. Nothing new. Scanning the room, she spotted the one person she actually wanted to speak with right now and began to navigate her way through the Awoo crowd. It wasn't all too easy with the large sword hanging onto her back, but she made due and eventually reached her goal. With a light tap on the shoulder, the other female Awoo turned around with curiousity in her eyes that soon shifted to joy.

"Lin!" Ming gave way to a bright smile and hugged you. Despite the looks the two of you got, you hugged her back. She was one of the few whom would call you by your real name even after your transformation.

>Ask her about Heim and Chao first of all. You haven't seen them the past two weeks.
>Ask her about the final trial that everyone has gathered here for. You missed the announcement.
>Write-in.

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I guess I'll wait until you guys start dropping in again...

>>241083
>Ask her about Heim and Chao first of all. You haven't seen them the past two weeks.

>>241083
>Ask her about Heim and Chao first of all. You haven't seen them the past two weeks.

>>241083
>Ask her about Heim and Chao first of all. You haven't seen them the past two weeks.
Glad that Mei made it out okay.

>>241158
Sorry for the delay. Was in transit.

>>241175
>>241196
>>241206
All right!
Writing.

>>241083
>>Ask her about Heim and Chao first of all. You haven't seen them the past two weeks.
lol looks like the red flower has done something to us

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>>241083
>Ask her about Heim and Chao first of all. You haven't seen them for the past two weeks.

You broke away from the hug and gave Ming a weak smile. Your transformation happened gradually and you didn't feel outright discriminated and scorned until a year ago. You still haven't grown used to it. Ming looked pale white in comparison, but she had grown more beautiful than you when the two of you were fourteen. At least both you and most of the other Awoo men agreed on that. However, her heart already belonged to someone else. It had for 3 years now and she still hadn't summoned up the courage to move past staring at his back, looking at him in secrecy when he wasn't paying attention, and sighing loudly to herself while swimming in her love dreams thinking of him. Frankly, it made you sick, but in some ways you also wanted to feel affection for someone, but maybe not on such an extreme level. However, your Guardian Trial and everything else currently happening in your life took precedent as always. Still, sometimes you had to ask about the boys.

"So where's Heim and Chao? Haven't seen them in a while to be honest." You asked her while scanning the room, trying to either find them in the crowd or at least one of the Instructors. You spotted neither.

"Heim is on his way here now. I think he got into a discussion with his mother again."

"She really doesn't want him to become a Guardian, huh?" It wasn't that much of a surprise; the Awoo was a proud race, sure, but given the bloodbath that happened 3 years ago, many young ones are considering giving up on their dreams to become Guardians. For Heim, it was his mother who was pushing him to do it.

"Yeah, but he's kinda like you. Stubborn, but eh, in a good way!" She giggled while you shook your head disapprovingly as a joke. "And my pri-- Erm, Chao has already passed the final trial."

"What?!" You actually shouted at her in surprise, which garnered even more unwanted attention. Ming seemed shocked at first, but then she laughed at you. "When did he pass his trial?" Shifting from shouting to whispering didn't help, but you loved to believe it did.

>Continued

>>241382

"He was permitted to join the first wave of candidates for the last trial." Ming whispered back, containing her joy to not upset you. It didn't work.

They never even considered to ask you, even though you had performed just as well as Chao had during the last couple of trials over the years. You were fuming with anger when the Instructors joined the room filled with Guardian candidates and called for everyone's attention.

In the back of your head, you could almost hear your Guardian Blade laughing at your clenched white knuckles. Ever since the attunement of your blade a few months after you passed successfully through the second barrier, your former Guardian Blade reforged itself to everyone's surprise. It went from a small blade to a giant ass sword, similar to the one Chao had once carried, but still quite different from what Chao would have you believe. This new Guardian Blade wasn't as forgiving or friendly as your last one had been, but it did the trick and you've grown a thicker skin thanks to it.

"With that said, are there any questions?" The Instructor asked aloud.

By the Tree, Lin! Get it together. You missed what he said, again!

>Ask the Instructor to repeat himself.
>Take a chance and ask Ming right before the trial starts.
>Stay quiet and fucking wing it. What can go wrong?

>>241385
>Take a chance and ask Ming right before the trial starts.

>>241385
>Take a chance and ask Ming right before the trial starts.
I bet its because she was saved by Chao. That one anon is going to be quite distressed.

>>241385
>>Take a chance and ask Ming right before the trial starts.
>>241395
yer i know but then he might just hope for a 3 some idk but it ould seem out of person for her to d it, how is he still doing this gurden thing when he dosnt have his sword?

>>241385
>Take a chance and ask Ming right before the trial starts.

>>241385
>Take a chance and ask Ming right before the trial starts.

>>241428
Maybe he got a new one.

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>>241392
>>241395
>>241428
>>241429
>>241451
You decide to take a chance and hope you will have enough time before the trial starts to ask Ming about the details.

Roll 1d100 - Luck check.
Best of 3
DC: 50

>>241451
idk unless he some how made it back to the maige rock and lake i dont kno how he got a sword like his old one. thow i do like how the sword we now have gives us shit lol

>>241456
Ok

Rolled 70 (1d100)

>>241456

Rolled 74 (1d100)

>>241456

Rolled 48 (1d100)

>>241456
trying to beat thows 70s

>>241461
>>241462
DC passed!

Writing.

>>241468
An attempt was made.

>>241472
i tryd
sounds like we got some anger issues.
hay dose the red tatos on us, eyes and the blde glow when we get more pissed? would be cool

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>>241385
>Take a chance and ask Ming before the trial starts.

Although you missed out on the Instructor's speech, you still had an ace up your sleeve: Ming. When it came to being attentive in class, she was your better half. You always preferred practical lessons rather than listening to some middle aged Guardian that had never seen a Human or the Red Flower in his entire life. You had respect for them sure, but being lectured by one of them on how to fight Humans was more ironic than you could bear.

"I wasn't listening. What's the trial about?" You leaned in close and whispered your inquiry. She gave you one of her usual disappointing looks that she always did whenever you had to ask these sort of questions. You shrugged at her and gave her a goofy smile. For once she controlled herself from laughing at your silly expression, but she jabbed your shoulder nonetheless. What little pain you felt was worth the details for the last guardian trial. Chao had already become one, so in the race to become the strongest Guardian, you were currently behind him in progress. Even after everything that had happened over the last 3 years, he was still your rival and you were his. In every single trial except the first and this last one, the two of you had competed for the best results. Sometimes he won and sometimes you won.

"It's the Spiritual Trial. We will enter a state of meditation with the help of some herbs and basically overcome whatever obstacle our minds and souls present us with. That's what he said, Lin." She replied, noting your unconvinced expression. You haven't been doing so great with spiritual stuff, especially not 'soul' stuff. It was a subject you didn't want to touch since you knew full well what was inside of you. You weren't keen on facing whatever has been growing in there, but the time had finally come to do so. You didn't look forward to it in the least, even if completing it meant becoming a Guardian. Still, you had a dream and a promise to your Sensei to fulfill. Chickening out now would hunt you for the rest of your life.

"Is there a problem, Raubtier?" The Instructor's voice came from close nearby and it turned out he was standing right in front of you, gazing down upon you with his cold stare.

>"Not at all, sir." [Respectful]
>Stare at him in silence, defiantly. [Intimidation]
>"Yes, there is; we haven't started yet." [Disrespectful]
>Write-in.

>>241580
>>Stare at him in silence, defiantly. [Intimidation]

>>241580
>"Not at all, sir." [Respectful]

>>241580
>Stare at him in silence, defiantly. [Intimidation]

>>241580
>"Not at all, sir." [Respectful]

>>241580
>"Not at all, sir"
>Other: Just nerves

>>241580
>"Not at all, sir." [Respectful]

>>241590
>>241600
>>241600
>>241611
>>241618
>>241620
>>241630
Writing!

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>>241580
>[Respectful]

"Not at all, sir." The same answer to the same question, as always. Nothing changed with these stubborn Instructors, but you couldn't fault them too much since you were just as stubborn if not more sometimes. Although, you'd rather pay them the respect they believe themselves entitled rather than the alternatives. Getting in trouble and possibly having your last trial postponed because of a disrespectful act would be disastrous.

"That's what I thought, Raubtier." He spat out and marched past you, the rest of the crowd following suit. You and Ming fell into line as well. Further on ahead you spotted Heim. He was his usual stoic self. You argued that Ai's sacrifice still weigh down heavy on his consciousness, but you were far too removed from the inner workings of his mind to make a serious guess. It was unusual of him to share his thoughts, much less his feelings, and given your friendship with Ming, you could appreciate that. However, your friendship with Heim was shaky at best. While in public he would treat you like everyone else and call you by the name they had given you, but in private he'd refer to you by your birth name. It was a confusing ordeal, but in the end he must value the public opinion of him, despite what he says. The Awoo wasn't a backstabbing race like the Dwarf Oni's, but they could say some nasty shit about each other behind their backs. You've learned as much from firsthand experience.

After a short march through the halls built inside a large tree, with pillars reaching from the floor to the shadows hiding the tall roof above, the lot of you arrived to an intersecting antechamber that lead to several rooms. The Instructors stopped and faced the crowd before them. They started to list names and divided everyone into groups. Unfortunately, Ming landed in a separate group than you, but Heim was selected to your group. Upon entry to the room, you immediately took note of the ritual circles and markings of white and black upon the wooden floor that were foreign to you. From what you could tell of the looks from the others, they didn't know what they were either.

"Pick one of these and be seated." The Instructor that had followed your group in ordered and motioned for the circles before closing the doors behind you. The five of you found your own circle to sit down in with legs crossed after putting your Guardian weapons aside, and one by one, the Instructor made his way through you all, giving you a leaf-like herb to chew on.

This must be the herb Ming was talking about. It probably tastes as weird as it looks.

>Wait to see the effects of the herb on the others before beginning.
>Begin in earnest, eager to get this over with.

>>241766
>Begin in earnest, eager to get this over with.
Eat the herbs, start the vision quest.

>>241766
>>Begin in earnest, eager to get this over with.
gota get high and find out what is inside of you

>>241766
>Begin in earnest, eager to get this over with.
The first one to trip balls recovers the fastest.

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>>241776
>>241787
>>241792
Tripping fast it is!

Writing.
As always, I'd love any notes or thoughts you have of the quest or my QMing so far, if only to improve either or both.

>>241824
well i cant realy say moch at this point but iv been likeing it thus far.
im hoping as well go along we will get a bit more into the lore but it would be fun to find out as lin dose

>>241824
So Lin is 17 now
Which means we are old enough to fuck Chao, by medieval standards of adulthood

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>>241927
>NTR
no thank you

>>241927
y do people keep wanting to fuck Chao?
im thinking it morer liky that we will leave the town go past the barria and end up loving a human or something you know arfter we have rage killed alot of them or something as we arnt wanted here. hae fucking a human it is

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>>241766
>Begin in earnest, eager to get this over with.

You took a deep breather before you force-fed yourself with the herb, chewing it to pieces and swallowing it quickly. The taste was anything but leafy as you had envisioned it just moments ago. It was bitter and you even heard one of the others gag at the taste. Nothing happened for the first couple of seconds, but then your upper body started to shake violently, but your lower body remained the same as if glued to the floor. Your vision began to get blurry and you struggled to keep your eyes open, not yet ready to face whatever demon that lay dormant within you.

"Stop struggling. Embrace it." The Instructor took a knee in front of you and watched you fall into a sleeping trance induced by the herb.

For a long while everything was dark, yet you heard voices and noises all the same. You couldn't make it what they said nor where the noises came from, but they were there nonetheless. Eventually you figured out that you had your eyes closed and upon opening your eyelids, a colorful world spread out gradually before of you, as if it was being painted right in front of you upon a blank canvas. In one moment there was nothing but white and in the next, there was a river running through the green and yellow countryside. There was no forest as far as the eye could see, only a countryside stretching on for miles upon miles in all directions. There were peaceful stone houses here and there, birds chirping happy songs as they flew above you, and a human boy engulfed in the Red Flower stood to your right, warming you. Everything was perfect.

Wait. what?!

>Continued

>>241934
rage

>>241936

You launched yourself backwards in fear, reaching for the sword on your back that wasn't there. What troubled you more than the fact that you hadn't heard him approach or that you were afraid of a little boy was the presence of a threat when you stood without your Guardian Blade. The boy turned his head towards you and gazed at you for a while in silence before he left the hill and ran down to one of the stone houses where he he met by what looked like an adult human female painted from toe to head in the Red Flower whom hugged him and helped him inside. You remained upon the hill, mouth hung agape for only a few seconds before you regained your composure. This was a dream all right. It almost had you fooled there for a second.

From here you could see all sorts of things, but what stood out the most you were three locations: The Stone houses with straw rooftops, a large wooden tower of sorts with a front that spun slowly around to the wind, and a cave opening to a mountain not too far away from river and the wooden tower. All three of these locations seemingly called for your attention. The question was, which one would you visit first?

>Explore the Wooden Tower.
>Explore the Cave.
>Explore the stone houses.
>Write-in.

>>241936
ha!! vcalled it. it since we have some of the red flower in us we have become a bit human heance y the sword chaged and the tats and skin colour

>>241940
>>Explore the stone houses.

>>241940
>>Explore the stone houses.
look for the human boy
is that our son ?

>>241940
>Explore the Wooden Tower.

>>241945
>>241948
>>241952
Writing!

>>241940
>Explore the Wooden Tower
A necessary height advantage to get a lay of the land.

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>>241940
>Explore the stone houses.

Against your better judgement, the only thing of note that separates one of the locations from the others were the humans engulfed in the Red Flower. It had been a peculiar sight and they didn't seem to suffer from it, but then again, this was all a dream induced by whatever herb you ate. Your Spiritual test. Those humans must play a part in it. You wanted to get this over with as quickly as possible before something horrible happened. You left the hill behind and made your way down to the stone houses that made up a small settlement in the middle of this flourishing countryside. You noticed that the birds flying about and the other black and white critters you didn't recognize wasn't touched by the Red Flower. Only the humans.

Opening the door to one of the houses was out of the question, so you opted to peak through the holes that had some form of invisible wall shielding the interior from the wind, but not the sunlight. Human engineering was weird to say the least. Inside you spotted two kids, a girl and the boy from before, sitting at a table, eating their dinner. It smelled delicious. In the end, you watched the two humans eat their meal in peace, not giving the missing human mother another thought. It was as if they didn't know they were covered in the Red Flower or they just couldn't feel it. Maybe it was all in your head?

Everything here is all in your head, Lin.

Your attention returned to the children sitting inside and you noticed that the boy was missing. You spun around, looking around yourself to make sure he wasn't sneaking up on you again. Instead, you spotted him across the river, waving at you in front of the wooden tower. In the far distance to the right, you also saw the human girl standing by the cave entrance, giving you a thousand yard stare before she entered the cave...

What's going on?

>Go to the boy.
>Follow the girl.
>Explore the House further.

>>242063
>Go to the boy.

Eh, why not?

>>242063
>Follow the girl.

>>242063
>>Go to the boy.

>>242063

>Go to the boy.

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>>242063
>Go to the boy

Out of all the options, the boy seemed to draw you in the most. You recognized something about him, but you couldn't put your mind to it.

Leaving the settlement of stone houses behind, you made your way through the painted countryside, taking the road leading underneath and next to the hill where you began this lucid dream. The road lead you to the river where a bridge was painted in front of you to help you across. It was a marvelous sight to see the colors come to life. The river really wasn't wide enough to justify a small bridge, but it was created for you all the same. The road up to the wooden tower proved to be weathered and beaten. Many people had walked upon it for years, or at least that's how it was painted to look like. Upon reaching the top, the boy gazed at your approach with his burning, yet welcoming eyes. You couldn't see a hint of emotion in them nor could you tell his expression. They were all hidden by the ever moving Red Flower dancing upon his small body.

You stopped a few meters short of him, and waited for him to make a move but he just stood there and stared at you, or through you. This went on for seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and even years. You shook your head to get your senses straight.

It's only been a few minutes, I'm sure.

But you weren't so sure anymore. It felt as if everything around you were crumbling to pieces while the boy just stood there and continued to stare at you in complete and utter silence. You didn't dare look away. What did he want from you? What was his purpose? What were you suppose to do to complete your trial?

Suddenly he began to walk in a straight line, heading right for you. His intentions didn't seem hostile, but the Red Flower covering him made it look that way. He stopped just short of reaching you and your entire body was on edge. He reached out with his hand, asking for a handshake no doubt. Without thinking, your hand slowly moved forward to greet his, but when the distance grew closer you noticed that it wasn't his hand that was coming to meet you; it was the Red Flower stretching out to touch your hand.

>Accept it.
>Reject it.

Accept it

>>242110
>Reject it.

>Red Flower is fire
I knew it

>>242110
>Reject it.

Nope

>>242110
>Reject it.

Either this is a test of will to see if we can resist the temptation to grab the red flower, or one that's more along the lines of "you must accept what's within you" or something, meaning we have to accept it.

I don't know at this point, but I have a feeling that either will result in further being ostracized among our peers.

>>242110
>Accept it.
Surely the Red Flower isn't all that bad, right?

>>242121
I guess we've got burn marks on our skin, forcing the need of bandages? Then again, burn marks don't grow over the course of a year.

captcha is flowers

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>>242118
>>242121
>>242122
>>242127
>>242132
Calling the vote!

Writing.

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>>242110
>Reject it

As the Red Flower reached out for your hand, all the memories of everything that happened three years ago hit you like a falling tree. The death of your gran-gran when she was crushed by a boulder; the death of your fellow Awoo friends from the explosion that transformed a beautiful valley into an ashen crater; your beloved and wise Sensei staying behind in his lake; the near death of Ming; Ai sacrificing herself for Heim and her bloodcurdling scream; the Red Flower projectile you cut into pieces that you got on your arms; the horrible moment when you felt the pieces crawl from your arms into your chest.

And most of all, the moment you passed the second barrier and dropped your Guardian Blade that had been shielding your mind from all the emotions that had been bubbling up inside of you through that entire day filled with death. You screamed at the top of your lung and cried for hours, just lying there on the forest ground. They had to carry you with them to the next village over. You didn't recover for weeks. You just kept lying in your b and night, staring at the ceiling without thinking about anything at all.

When all these memories washed over you, your hand clenched and you brought it back out from the Red Flower's reach. There was no way that you'd ever want to touch something like that.

The painted world fell apart all around you in the time-span of a few seconds. The Red Flower increased in size around the boy and became more fierce than before, as if angered by your choice. For the first time, you witnessed the Human boy doing something you didn't think you'd see a Human do: He went down on his knees and pleaded for you to make it stop. His tongue was foreign to you, but you understood that look on his face as if it was your own.

He wanted to be free from the pain.

___

What will Lin do? How will she complete her Spiritual Trial? Find out next session in this very same thread tomorrow (Friday]! My Twitter is the following: twitter.com/ShonenQM
And I'll stick around for a few minutes if you got any questions I can answer. Otherwise, I'll hopefully see you in the next session. Thread has already been archived.

Thanks for playing/reading!

>>242183
Yeah, not going to lie, that update seems to tell me that she's not getting past the mental barriers yet. Not sure how we're going to pass this one.

Good session, I'll keep an eye out for the next one.

Good session. I'd like to ask though what would have happened if we told Heim when we were hit by the Red Flower last session?

>>242194
>Good session
Thanks!

>>242197
Thank you.
Had you told Heim last session, he would know where your change came from and probably treat you more coldly than he is now, maybe even to the point of cutting off ties with you all together until you could patch things back up with him, somehow.

This can of course still happen if he finds out what you have inside of you, when you got it, and that you lied to him, but now you have a better chance of preventing it from happening.

>>242183
>b and night
I just noticed that words got cut out here.
It's
>You just kept lying in your bed, day and night
I'll make sure it won't happen again.

Another question, what would have happened, assuming we were able to pass the save to not rely on the Guardian Blade? It did calm our nerves, so it made sense that when we dropped it, we kind of just broke down. Would the situation be different otherwise?

>>242280
Well, we wouldn't have been able to stop the fire projectile for one. Don't know how that would've ended but I doubt it would've been good

>>242280
You would have been able to deal with everything that happened during that day and the aftermath much better and you would have gained a positive trait/perk instead of a Negative one.

You will still find opportunities to turn the negative one into a positive one and how you reacted to everything that happened will be referenced later and possibly used in your favor and/or against you.

>>242283
The DC for that roll would definitely have been higher.

>>242291
When I say 'much better', I meant without constantly holding onto the blade.

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Posting this message here as well.

Session will unfortunately be postponed until Sunday. I have to pack and pick up my sister. Sorry for the inconvenience! See you on Sunday!
Have a good weekend!

>>243253
Cheers for running, mate.

Fug Chao soon

Being Awoo is suffering