Hunting (with) the Exorcists

[Blaze]

The Exorcists move to surround the two couches, Logos standing close to the one with the sleeping girl while Jean hovers next to the other, giving the girl a small smile.

"Oh, you were expecting us? You likely know our names then, but I would hate to be impolite due to an assumption. My name is Jean, and these are my teammates, Logos, Lucy, Okuni and Blaze. The other two are Rosemarie and Elliot. What is your name?"

Lucy hangs back while Blaze and Okuni move to the corners next to the door, in case the witch shows up.

[Harri-chan]

The girl's green eyes sparkled as Jean introduced herself and her group. Slowly, she rose to her feet, holding the open book in both hands.

"Um, Blaze...", murmured Elliot. Rosemarie's gun clicked, her finger on the trigger, and she was aiming it at the unmoving girl on the other couch. The teenager began to laugh, and suddenly flung the book up into the air. It spun right over the group, and a bright, blinding white light exploded from the pages, engulfing them all.

[Blaze]

"Dammit Rosemarie, we agreed!" Blaze yells as she attempts to shield her eyes from the light, the others doing the same. Lucy retains enough presence of mind to attempts to detect the changes in the air to see if the girl was moving while Logos instinctively shifted into a stance and struck with with a fast kick towards where the girl was standing.

[Harri-chan]

Logo's foot flew through the air but caught nothing. There was a gentle breeze, and the sound of rustling leaves brushed their ears. As the bright light faded, they found they were no longer in the library, but in a very small clearing amongst hundreds of trees. The branches stretched over the little patch of grass, mostly blocking out the sun, although it clearly was up there, way above the forest canopy. The trees were all around them, so thick that you couldn't see too far without one blocking your line of sight.

Melanie was nowhere to be seen, but everyone else was present, including the girl in the yellow dress, who still lay motionless, but now she was on the ground. Beside her, was what appeared to be a small, rectangular box, no more than a foot in length, covered with faded red velvet, although no opening could be found on any side of it. Rosemarie stepped towards her, the gun aimed down.

"It's the wolf... ".

[Blaze]

The Exorcists look around at the clearing they find themselves in. Blaze immediately gives herself a hard pinch to check if this is an illusion.

Jean meanwhile moves between Rosemarie and the wolf girl, giving the hunter a hard stare.

"No. I will not permit you to kill a defenceless person. She is sleeping, she is no threat."

[Harri-chan]

"She's always a threat... ", argued Rosemarie, but she lowered her weapon when Jean stepped in front of her. Blaze's pinch would have hurt a little, but unfortunately not shattered any illusions. Elliot was lightly grasping at her arm.

"I don't think we're in Muffinville anymore... "

[Blaze]

"Relax, I got it." Jean says with a smile. She extracts a long string of beads from her sleeves and kneels next to the sleeping girl, binding her wrists and ankles together. "See? Not so threatening now."

Blaze looks at Elliot and nods.

"Yeah, seems to be the case. I bet that book was some kind of anchor to this pocket dimension. That coffin over there probably has the vampire in it."

Okuni and Logos move over to the coffin.

"Do you think the shadows cast by the trees would be enough for her to come out despite the sun?" Okuni asks the redhead, who only offers a small shrug in response.

[Harri-chan]

Rosemarie watched Jean with a hesitant expression. As the nun tied the girl, she'd find that she seemed to he unconscious rather than sleeping. The demon hunter knelt, checking the bonds before nodding. Elliot moved towards the box with the girls.

"It seems a bit small to be a coffin...", he said with a frown. The velvet-covered box was only a foot long after all.

[Blaze]

Jean frowns slightly when she realizes that the girl's sleep doesn't seem natural and begins to search her for any signs of injury.

"Ah... yes, good point. I am too used to small containers being something one can live in." Okuni says. Blaze wanders over and examines the box, noting that it does not seem to have any way of opening it.

"I wonder what it's for. Think we should smash it open?"

[Harri-chan]

The unconscious girl didn't seem to be injured, and she was still breathing. She began to make a low murmuring sound as Jean inspected her. However, as they debated what to do with the box, there was another sound from amongst the trees. A sort of skittering. A very fast patter along the ground. A couple of seconds later the same sound came from the trees at the opposite side of the clearing!

[Blaze]

Jean gives a relieved sigh and shifts the girl into a recovery position when the rustling comes from the woods! Blaze and Okuni turn on the sound, handgun and bow appearing in their hands as they aim at the source of the noise. When more rustling comes from the opposite end, they glance at each other and Blaze moves to aim at it.

Jean and Logos pair off with Okuni and Blaze respectively, standing close to them and slightly in front to defend them from attackers while Lucy pulls Elliot close to the unconscious girl to defend both.

[Harri-chan]

Rosemarie had not taken her eyes off the unconscious girl up to this point, but when she heard the sounds from the trees, she turned and her eyes narrowed. The handgun returned to her cloak, and she pulled the long combination of scythe and rifle from her back. Elliot stumbled clumsily, tripping to land on his butt beside the tied up girl.

The sounds started to come from more directions, with almost no gap between them. It sounded as if, whatever was out there, was coming in large numbers. Dark shapes flashed between the trees, and a giant, black spider emerged at the edge of the opening. Another appeared opposite, and two more at the sides. They stood higher than anyone in the group, with huge carapaces, and long, hairy legs. Each one had a set of huge fangs that vibrated as the creatures hissed.

[Blaze]

The Exorcists stand their ground as the spiders emerge form the woods, lowering their weapons slightly, enough that they can be used instantly but low enough to show that they would rather talk this out in case the spiders are peaceful.

"Hello there. Can you talk?" Blaze asks one.

[Harri-chan]

The spiders watched them for a moment, but the hissing did not sound friendly. The group did hear a voice however, but it belonged to Melanie. She was nowhere to be seen but her words came across loud and clear.

"Your weapons can kill them, but they will keep coming until their Queen is slain. Oh, there is one, teeny tiny problem. The Queen can only be slain by the holder of a magical staff... and you don't have it", she giggled, and the spiders rushed in towards them. One towards Jean and Okuni, another heading for Blaze and Logos. That left two going for Lucy, Elliot and the girl, one from each side. Rosemarie leapt into the path of one, but the other was still coming...

[Blaze]

The group doesn't seem to react to Melanie's announcement, too focused on the spiders, waiting for them to take the first move. When they attack, Okuni fires an arrow at the one rushing er and Jean, aiming to pierce the eyes and brain. Blaze lines up a headshot of her own, squeezing the trigger to fire a bullet at the spider.

As for Lucy, she stares down the spider that Rosemarie left behind, her staff in her hand. She gives it a hard shake, the metal hoops clanging against the metal head of the staff. A powerful, almost solid blast of air seems to slam into the spider, hopefully with enough strength to send it flying back!