A new Leaf, so to Speak?

[XIII]

The green skinned woman stood calmly in place, her body unmoving against the arrival of the three men. Her feet began to root into the ground, connecting her to the source of her nature magics. Holding her deer staff up in front of her, she motioned to the three men. "La'Marri is a place of peace and refuge. My brother does not enjoy your presence. I'll warn you once. Leave now and do not return. Or else, I will show you the same ferocity a mother bear shows when defending her cubs."

She paused, as if collecting her thoughts, then spoke again. "This home of mine was burned once before. I will not allow it to happen again. Water of the Heavens, quench the forest and saturate all that is natural." With her words, storm clouds began to form overhead and slowly but surely, a heavy downpour descended upon the forested area. The trees were soaked along with Claire's home and the ground began to become muddier with each passing second.

[Anonymous]

As expected, nobody was backing down. It would have been nice if the three men would have decided to give up and go home, but there was no such luck here. This would come down to confrontation, and chances were good that someone wasn't walking away from this alive. Alicia intended to ensure that if that happened to anyone, it would be the three men before her. Especially that asshole who shot her.

When the rain started, it seemed universally agreed that there was no further need for words. Immediately the man with the crossbow leveled it on Alicia, firing a bolt aimed at her chest. Her dagger quickly left its sheath as she held it before her. The blade suddenly began to glow as magic channeled through it before finally projecting a shimmering golden shield. The crossbow bolt struck the shield, bouncing harmlessly off and falling to the ground. Seeming to prefer staying at a distance, the man began reloading another bolt into his crossbow.

After this the armored man began to charge toward the two. In response, Alicia allowed the barrier to fall and ran in as well. The two would meet in the middle; the man named Marek lead in with a swing of his axe, but Alicia rolled beneath it. After the roll she turned and made a lunge to drive her dagger toward the man's unarmored neck, but she was met with his elbow in her stomach, driving her back.

Meanwhile, the third man cursed; heavy rainfall was not a good thing for a pyromancer. He conjured a ball of fire that was roughly basketball-sized. He sent the sphere flying toward Claire, set to explode on impact. However, due to the rainfall, the sphere would end up a bit smaller by the time it reached its target.

[XIII]

Claire had assumed that the men would not leave peacefully. So it must come to this then. She knew that hand-to-hand combat was not her specialty, but she would do what she could.

Claire stood motionless as the fireball arced through the air towards her. Raising her hand, she flicked her wrist. This sent a sudden gust of wind in the opposite direction of the fire, blowing a freezing blast of water which extinguished the fire. "Alicia, keep your guard up!"

She took a deep breath and began chanting in a language that sounded like clicks and chirps. Thorned vines, each as thick as a man's arm, began to rise from the ground. Five vines each grew near each of the men and began to thrash around wildly. Claire's chanting kept the vines from hitting Alicia, but it took all of her concentration to keep absolute control over them.

[Anonymous]

Claire's warning to Alicia was not without good cause. While she was busy recovering from a stomach full of elbow, the man with the crossbow was prepared to fire again - and he wasn't the type who typically missed twice. Fortunately for Alicia, the man's aim was thrown off when he found himself being bitch-slapped by a large, thorny vine. The pointed smack knocked the man off the feet, leaving him bleeding from the side of the head as he scrambled to get away. "Watch the vines!" he called to his companions.

The armored man heard his friend's call, but between his armor and sheer strength the vines weren't much of a concern for him. He swung his large axe in a single sideways swipe that aimed to sever as many vines as he could in one swing. While this may not occupy him for very long, it did give Alicia enough time to back safely away from the vines and reassess the situation.

The mage, as well, was able to heed the warnings of his companion, acquiring only a few minor lacerations as he leapt from the flailing vines' grip. Obviously he needed to step up his game, and he decided that the one who was summoning vines and making rain was the bigger threat here. Once he managed to get safely out of their reach, he would begin to chant quietly. A ring of flame immediately erupted surrounding claire, and quickly began to close in on her location. The flames burned hot and strong, seemingly unhindered by the heavy rainfall.

"Oh Holy Light, shine from the Heavens and burn away the wicked!" Alicia's voice chanted loudly from the other end of the battlefield, her dagger pointed toward the mage. A bright beam of light emanated from the sanctified dagger in her hand, piercing through the night and striking the mage in the chest. Despite the rain the man's clothing quickly caught fire, turning his quiet chanting into a very sudden and loud string of curse words. While he struggled to put himself out, the ring of flames that surrounded Claire would stop closing in and quickly die out.

[XIII]

Claire had begun to panic when the circle of flames had begun to surround her. Thankfully though, her partner had diverted the attack just in time. She wished to help more, and so bent down to the ground, digging her fingers into the muddy soil as well. They began to root the same way her feet had, and her eyes shimmered with an unnatural light. "Brother, help me."

A pair of thicker, sets of vines covered in bark-armor formed on either side of the man with the axe. They twisted around themselves, forming finger-like appendages on their ends. From there, these new vines reached down, meaning to grab and restrain the axe wielder. They wouldn't kill him, but if they got hold, the bark would harden, leaving him immobile and trapped.

While this took place, the vines that Claire had previously controlled became more violent and less restricted. While this made them more effective against the enemies, Claire hoped that Alicia was still on guard enough to dodge, should one come her way. The Plant woman could not stop her chanting long enough to warn her.

[Anonymous]

The first set of vines that sprouted up may not have had much effect on the armored man in themselves, but they did serve as an effective distraction. He was too busy cutting them down to pay much attention to the new ones that sprouted up behind him; as he cut down the last of the flailing vines, he would find both arms grasped by the new ones. Cursing loudly, the man struggled to break free. "Get the plant-bitch!" he shouted in rage.

Unfortunately for them, their mage was unable to comply. Having been set on fire, he began to panic, scrambling to get his burning shirt off and put himself out. This resulted in him stumbling a little too close to the now violently-flailing vines, taking an additional spiked beating. The man fell to the ground, beaten, bloodied and burned. He was not having a good day.

While Alicia was busy setting his comrade on fire, the man with the crossbow was lining up another shot. Intent on finishing the job he'd started earlier in the day, he aimed his crossbow for a headshot that would end her quickly. Unfortunately, he misjudged his distance from the nearby vines - when they abruptly became more wild, one managed to strike him in the elbow. With a pained grunt he fired off his shot reflexively, but his aim was thrown off. Instead of the fatal shot, the bolt would land in the still-distracted Alicia's side - painful even through the painkillers, but not lethal.

"Ahh!" Alicia yelped as she was struck with a crossbow bolt for the second time that day. She fell to a knee, her free hand moving to her side and feeling the wooden shaft in her body. "Another one? Really?" she muttered. Her grip around her dagger tightened as she held it before her. "Barrier...reform!" she called out to it. Her dagger emitted a golden light that began to take physical form. It extended from the blade, taking a shape similar to a shortbow.

This was actually something she was a little proud of: taking a spell that formed holy energy into a physical barrier, and reshaping that 'barrier' into a more offensive form. As her free hand came to draw the 'string' of the bow, an arrow would materialize. She aimed the weapon toward the man with the crossbow and fired, but due to her recent wounding her aim was a little off. The man was hit in the crook of his right arm, causing him to drop his weapon. The arrow disappeared shortly after hitting.

Seeing that Claire was essentially an immobile target at the moment, Alicia decided it would be a better idea to move toward her to offer support. Wincing from the pain in her side, she rose to her feet again and began to move toward her.

[XIII]

Claire held her breath as she watched the arrow strike Alicia. That would need stitches. Standing up, which tore the roots from her upper arms, she commanded for more vines to raise from the ground. Dozens came to ensnare each of the men, thin yet strong like rope, they rose from the muddy earth, shooting toward each of their targets with a force that was sure to leave deep bruises. Claire was tired of this fight dragging on, and wasn't playing around anymore. The vines that had thrashed around before fell to the ground uselessly as the plant woman's focus turned entirely to the task of ensnaring the attackers.

As Alicia neared her, Claire grabbed the other girl by the wrist and pulled herself slightly in front of the other girl. Alicia was her patient, and these men were not going to take anyone else's life. Even if that meant, Claire thought to herself, that she ended up having to take theirs.

[Anonymous]

The man who formerly wielded the crossbow was already on the move, and he was fast. His uninjured arm had already drawn his sword as he closed what distance there was between himself and his armored comrade, as he was the nearest one. He immediately set to hacking away at the vines restraining the larger man, managing to free one arm at least. That arm reached toward his belt, were a small throwing axe hung. He picked the axe up from his belt and hurled it toward Claire.

The pyromancer wasn't in much of a position to avoid being bound, but he was nothing if not stubborn. Before the vines could manage to take both arms, he put what energy he could muster into a much larger fireball than before. He launched it upward like a mortar shot, aimed to come down directly on the girls' heads where it would explode in a rather painful fashion. After this shot went off, he would be more or less at the mercy of the vines.

Alicia may have been injured - again - but she was set to prove that she could be just as stubborn as their fallen opponent. She didn't entirely approve of Claire's plan to act as a human shield, but there wasn't much she could do to prevent that. Instead she took one step to the side so that she could still line up a shot with the bow she still had formed. She aimed for the crossbowman, taking extra care to hit something vital this time. The shot fired and managed to strike him in the chest this time. Before the arrow disappeared, it would be apparent that she had managed to miss the ribs - something she would attribute a little more to luck than skill. Instead the arrow pierced through the torso and - most importantly - a lung. The man fell backward as he began to cough and sputter.

Then there was the matter of the throwing axe hurtling their way. Alicia stepped forward, wincing at the protest from her side. The barrier spell that took the shape of a bow changed back into an actual barrier, which she placed in front of Claire. When the axe struck, it managed to break partially through and become embedded as if it had struck a wooden shield.

[XIII]

Claire stood calmly as the axe smashed into the shield before her. The large man was now free, though unarmed as of now. He wouldn't be that great of a threat. She watched as the fireball that the mage had thrown arced overhead, hurtling like a glowing missile towards herself and Alicia. She felt the water from the rain splashing against her ankles, telling her without looking down that the area was quite flooded. "Perfection. It is time." Her voice was almost giddy with excitement as she pulled her arms in large circles rhythmically as she chanted under her breath.

The water all over the area began to churn violently, breaking as small waves against the upper thighs and hips of those standing, and washing over the mage who lay trapped by the vines. With a flick of her arm, Claire sent a ball of water flying into the fireball that approached. As the two collided, steam exploded in all directions, leaving a momentary fog which shrouded the women. Claire resumed her rhythmic motions, swirling the water into a miniature whirlpool in the area between herself and the attackers.

"I'll ask you once more, because I am merciful. Leave this place. Take your wizard and never return." Claire's tone was harsh and loud, commanding the men rather than asking them as she claimed. If they refused to comply, she was fully prepared to launch the entirety of the water that had collected upon the ground at them, as a large crushing wave.

[Anonymous]

Waters were churning. One man was dead, another wasn't going anywhere, and would likely drown in the churning waters if something wasn't done. The last man standing stared down the two women. Their target was injured, but the job wasn't done. If only that plant-girl wasn't there...

But there was no sense in thinking about that now. They had fought and lost, and now were being offered a chance to walk away alive. It was a blow to the pride, to be sure, but any mercenary who expected to stay alive for any length of time had to know when it was best to keep fighting, and when to retreat. This was one of those times. Letting out a low grunt, the man turned without a word toward the mage. He walked to where he was trapped, bending over to pull the vines apart with what appeared to be relative ease, The sputtering mage was jerked to his feet, protesting between gasps for air.

"What...the hell...are you doing?" he asked angrily.

"We've lost," the armored man replied in an authoritative voice. "We're leaving. But if you still think some coin is worth your life, stay and get yourself killed." With that he turned to walk away. The mage looked angrily toward the two women, weighing his options until finally cursing under his breath and running off after his companion.


Now, Alicia was impressed. Claire had turned their surroundings into a weapon against the three attackers, including the rainfall. "You sure about this?" she asked quietly when the offer was made to let the remaining two men go. "They could come back."

Regardless, if Claire wanted to let them go then Alicia wouldn't stop them. Instead she stood at the ready should they decide to keep up the fight. Fortunately, the men wisely decided to take her up on the offer to leave peacefully with their lives. The young woman breathed a sigh of relief as she watched them retreat out of sight. "That...could have gone a lot worse," she said as her dagger was placed back in its sheath. Even that movement was enough to bring back to mind the sharp pain in her side, where the crossbow bolt still protruded. At least she had the opportunity to get that one back for shooting her. Twice.

"I suppose we should go dry off," she said in a somewhat more lighthearted tone. "Maybe get this thing out of me before those painkillers you gave me wear off."