Into the Demeter Woods

The attacks of her companions were enough to turn the snake woman's attention off of her, for just a moment. She was still close, however, and things were going very poorly.

"I know you're scared. You have every right to be scared. But you have to move, right this instant. You are letting THEM down! And they're doing everything they can to SAVE you! Now, pull yourself together, pick yourself up, and
GET
ANGRY!"

A sudden surge of emotion came from within her. She had to do something, and now was the time. She felt the ki building in her, and quickly thrust her hand downwards with a shout onto the branch that was holding the both of them up. She had to get out of this tree, right now, and there was no other way that came to mind, not when she was still governed by her own fear.

(Empty Split)

Dixi was starting to get angry, this snake was giving them more trouble than it was worth and endangering her companions. "You are going down!" More sparks kept appearing around her body without the woman even noticing as her hair and eyes started to lightly blink from black to red.

(Basic Attack)

While Dixi missed her shot at the lamia, the powerful assaults by Ryofu and Barchiel landed head-on, inflicting a great amount of pain to the reptilian woman, far more than she'd ever expected, seeing how well the fight had gone for her before. Her body felt weak, her muscles ached like crazy and so many places on her body stung like a bitch. What's more, everyone looked so furious and violent, she practically shrunk with fear, before slithering back over to Ferro.

Coiling around his body and hiding her human half behind him, she cried out, "I'm sorry, I didn't mean any harm! Just stop, stop, stop!"

Basic Attack - 67
Power Fist - 42
Empty Split - 18

Surrender - Auto

Ferro: 12 + Incapacitated
Dixi: 13 (Ki:9)
Barchiel: 17 (Bolter: 1)
Ryofu: 15

Her desperate attack had somehow not shattered the branch underneath them, but it had definitely landed her mark. She was still terrified of the snake woman, but it was easy to see that she was scared of her now, too. Her heart was still beating like crazy, both from the slowly subsiding fear and the exertion, and she quickly covered her mouth to hold back a cough or two. Little drops stained her hand as she pulled it back, but she simply wiped them on her skirt, not really in the mood to dwell on that pain, nor hiding it from anyone. Her mind was far more exhausted than her body was. Slowly, her body slid downward with her back to the bark of a tree, breathing heavily.

"H-Hey..." Her voice was weak, but still directed at the snake woman. "D'you think you could...l-let my friend go now? A-And...let one of those two up to get me down...?" She gulped, already feeling it coming back just looking at the woman. "I'd ask you to do it, but...I-I don't know if I can handle that..."

She missed again, luckily the other two seemed to hit their marks and now the snake was... Surrendering? Well, seems like that was over, for now.

With the fight done, Dixi jumped back up and placed a hand on Ryofu's shoulder. "Hey, you don't look so hot right now. Let me get you down." She offered the woman a hand and waited. Her eyes and hair blinked one last time just like during the fight but more faintly, Dixi didn't notice herself.

The lamia flinched at the sound of Ryofu's voice, even as it was weak and she was coughing up blood. "I-I'm sorry, please don't hurt me anymore."

"Ugh, what happened, what did I miss?" Ferro had slowly recovered from his deep trance, looking back at the Lamia that was cowering behind him. "Um, could you please let me go... I kinda need to pull my pants up.

"AH, SORRY!!" She uncoiled Ferro, backing away from him onto another branch close by. "Oh... Anika's going to be so disappointed...!"

"Nice to see you too, Ferro...you missed a lot..." She chuckled a little, but it only led to a light cough instead, follow by a grunt. "I'm already sick of this dumb...for...est..."

Instead of taking the outstretched hand, Ryofu's body leaned to the side, sliding right off of the branch she was on.

"Whoa, whoa!" The moment she saw the woman slip down, Dixi jumped behind her. She didn't had much time after grabbing her and landed back first on the ground with a groan from her. "Hey... You okay?"

"Anika? Who's Ani-" The Lamia flinched at him too, making him wonder just how hard everyone else retaliated. He didn't have time to ask more questions when he heard Dixi raised her voice, shooting a glance below the branch to see that, thankfully, Dixi managed to catch Ryofu as she fell. "You alright, Dixi, Ryofu?"

Both of them hit the ground with a thump, and while Dixi shielded her from the impact by landing first, it wasn't exactly comfortable for either of them.

She let out a groan first, as if coming to, before letting out a little gasp as she put together what happened. "Dixi! Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry! Are you okay?!? I-I just felt exhausted all of the sudden, and...oh god...please tell me you're okay!"

Answering to Ferro's concern, Dixi gave him a thumbs up to signal that she was okay (mostly okay). "Ugh... Don't worry, this is... Nothing." She reassured Ryofu. "How about you? Are you hurt anywhere?" She didn't want to admit that her back was killing her now and also, that she probably had a broken rib or two, but that wasn't going to stop her. She had a mission to complete.

With Dixi's show that she'd be okay, Ferro looked up to the lamia to address her again. "Listen, we won't hurt you anymore... or I guess they won't. I couldn't do anything," he sighed regretfully, feeling a pang of guilt at the fact that Ryofu had clearly pushed herself too hard again. "Who's this Anika?"

"A-Anika's the one who's been helping us. She brings humans in from the city so we can enjoy ourselves again," she answered reluctantly. So that was the name of the Midara that started all of this...

Luna herself has been keeping track of everything that has happened so far: from Dixi and Ryofu's rough landing to Ferro's inquiring to the name drop of the perpetrator of the disappearance. It seems to be the a fairly typical midara incident. After a quick search on the console that she is sitting behind, she could not find any records about this Anika.

With several seconds of fast typing of the keyboard with a few manipulation of the user interface with her finger, she created a record for the name and the associated incident.

"It doesn't look like nothing! You just felt out of a tree! Back first! Ohh...and it's my fault, too..."

Physically, Ryofu was mostly fine. She had an episode right as it ended, but the snake hadn't done much to her body. It was her mind that had been pushed to it's limits, just by being that close to that creature. And chances are, Dixi could have easily seen that.

"You had to come save me when I was in over my head...I'm sorry. I'm so sorry...I'm so sick of snakes...they...t-they make it so hard for me to think, and...a-and..." Little tears were starting to well up in her eyes. "It's not fair! It's been months since all of that was over and I still get terrified just...looking at one...! I hate it..." She sniffled a few times, starting to break down not just from the memory but from how useless she felt. In that moment in the tree, she was like a scared, cornered animal, awaiting the worst case scenario, and right now, she knew it, too.

"Enjoy yourselves again?" Ferro repeated, mulling over that bit and planning to ask her further, but he could tell upon looking up at the lamia again that she was trembling and just wanted to leave. "Sorry, you can go, I won't hold you here."

"R-Really? Thank you so much and... maybe pull up your pants?" After pointing out his pants were still down, the lamia slithered off, disappearing into the deeper woods.

"H-Hey, everyone is scared of... Something, okay? I can... Tell you went through some... Hardships. Deep trauma, so... Don't be too harsh on yourself, alright?" Dixi didn't really knew how to act now, yes, she knew what Ryofu was going through, she knew it pretty well but usually she was always on the same end as the green haired woman." I know... How are you feeling, being frozen by fear at the sight of the object of your trauma but... You did great, you fought back and... That's what's important." Only thing that came to mind was... "Everything will be alright now." She said as she wrapped her arms around Ryofu, letting the woman's rest against her chest, just like...

"Everything will be alright, now."

Something about that phrase brought her a moment of pause. It was...something no one had really told her before, when she was scared, or alone. She always figured a parent, or someone above her would, but she never had a chance like that. She always wanted someone to tell her that, when she really needed it. It felt...it felt like...

She sniffled a few times, before outright sobbing into Dixi's chest, unable to hold it back any longer. She was so scared, in that moment. So scared she didn't even know what to do with herself! But right now...it was all over...someone told her it was okay, now. Someone was holding her now, away from all of that nightmare...

It was like looking into a mirror, she had been so very wrong about her that she felt really guilty now. Ryofu was a lot like her, she was scarred by a past trauma and, even with that, she tried to keep carrying on with a smile. "Take all the time you need." She gently patted her head, just like they did to her when she was the one like this, reassuring the girl's safety.

"....."

For a moment, Barchiel lifted the Bolter, aiming it at the retreating form of the Lamia. Anger bubbling within. It would be so easy. A bolt to the back of the head....But no. There was someone else he needed to take his anger out on. Lowering it, he stormed forward. "Take the time you need to compose yourselves. I will scout ahead."

Ryofu kept going for a few minutes, letting it all out onto Dixi. Right now, she felt like a scared, lost child, and the only thing keeping her from panic was having someone to hold her. She didn't even know Dixi all that well yet, but that didn't matter. She needed this, after an experience like that.

Eventually, she pulled her head up, letting her chin rest on Dixi's shoulder, still holding on to her. "No one's every done this for me, before...thanks..." She sniffled, still recovering from it all. "I'm looking forward to never coming back to this dumb forest..."

"Don't mention it. I know that feeling." She felt a pang of pain on her back, probably from the impact but she didn't let it show on her face. "Yeah, I'm getting tired of this forest as well, I'm staying away from places like this for a while."

She noticed Barchiel going on ahead on his own again, she couldn't move but she needed to try and stop him. "Hey big guy! Don't go ahead on your own! Do you want to repeat the trap fiasco?" She warned him.

Ryofu let out a little giggle. "You know, if I had thought about this for more than...twenty seconds, I probably wouldn't have been here. If I never see another snake again, it'll be too soon. I think I might've passed out if it wrapped me up like that. Rrr...I hate it." She let out an exasperated sigh.

"Hey, are you sure you're okay? Like, you hit that ground super hard. Cause of me. Sorry, by the way. I won't tell anybody, if you're not." Her voice was low, and she was in the perfect place to whisper.

Dixi shake her head. "This is nothing, don't worry. I softened the blow with my Ki." That was a lie, she didn't had the time to do it but she didn't want to worry the others and she would probably recover soon enough, she just needed a few minutes to catch her breath.

Ryofu pouted a little bit. "Liar. Don't forget, I'm a ki user too, you know. When you use ki to make it hurt less, it makes a special sound. It makes like a...a whump sound. This was more of a thwack. It was loud, too."

She held Dixi a little bit. "Look, if you wanna act tough, I get it. But...that dumb snake gave me an idea. And I can do it stealthily, too, so nobody has to know. Think of it as my way of paying you back, for, you know...all of that. Alright?"

Ferro hopped down from the tree branches to the ground, softening the patch of ground he'd land on with magic and doing a snappy roll to turn his downward momentum into forward momentum... but whapped into another tree midway through. "...Ow..." Getting up and letting out a deep sigh at the mention of another trap, he followed Barchiel as well. "They're right, you need to stop going on ahead like that or else you might get singled out.