Repercussions - vengeful spirit attack

[Morgan]

Ever since the infestation of spirits, Morgan found himself hiding in his cave nearly all the time for days. When the event first occurred, he had something of a sensory overload. The auras of thousands upon thousands of beings exploded out of the earth at once, filling the samoyed's mind with far too many images to comprehend. He crawled to his original abode out of pain, where the vast amount of saltwater nearby was enough to repel the ghosts for the time being.

After taking some days to recover, the canine brought himself to leave his hiding spot out of some sense of duty. For the first time in quite a while, he formed a thick, full set of ice armor out of the sea's water, as well as a pair of large pikes of ice. Tossing aside any thoughts of wasting any more time, he pulled a wave forward from behind himself. The water gathered around the samoyed, then blasted forward to allow him to cut through the forest at a high speed. He was as determined as ever to help out any Tanglers in need, even if it hurt him. As he passed by the Crater, he shuddered as he sensed the aura of post-death emanating from the cracks that had appeared there. He reached the town in a brief minute, landing in front of the broken statue in the square.

Suddenly, the General was hit by a wave of sensory information. Even if he was not near the crater, he could feel the presences of a massive amount of others all at once. He cringed and felt a bit faint; he had only been used to sensing a few Tanglers at a time, but the spirits had clearly overrun the town with immense numbers.

A chilling feeling hit Morgan next as his mind began to parse the auras of those nearby. They were more than just familiar;

"No..."

he whispered, eyes shutting.

"So you all... you really are..."

The ice around him flickered like a cold fire as his breath quickened. These ghosts were not foreigners. They were not even all particularly ancient. The dog gasped out a breath of surprise as his deductions were answered.

"You let us die."

Not one, not two, but at least twenty Tanglers' voices echoed out around him. A huge mob of apparitions appeared in a circle, each one appearing scarred, battered, and maimed. The startled dog found no words to answer with, no justifications for any actions of lack thereof. To his silence, the disgusting spirits replied with force. Several ghostly animals tackled him all at once, screeching as they collided with his armor. They phased through it and bit into him, leaving an unusual pain with no marks and causing Morgan to yell.

Yet, he was not the only one hurt; the former Tanglers screamed in a garbled, distorted unison not unlike nails on a chalkboard. The armor had burned them, badly. Their already mangled, grotesque forms then boasted ugly scars across their faces where they had touched the saltwater armor, which rattled the General even more.

"Please... I, I didn't mean for this to happen."

The angry Tanglers did not care, for the leader was clearly the target of their hatred.

"I don't want to hurt any of you..."

But his plea fell on deaf ears.

"Any of the pain you bring upon us now is nothing compared to that which was caused by your betrayal, 'Commander'."

A familiar Tangler emerged from the crowd, his announcement of the outdated term surprising the samoyed. Once again, he had no response, and received a searing swipe across the face. He nearly picked up one of his pikes to attack back with, but held himself back completely as his muscles tightened up. He had no desire to hurt those whom he had already hurt with the pain of death, so he did not fight back as more and more of the apparitions threw themselves at him to attack. His screaming barks could be heard all over the town nearby as the spirits hacked and slashed at him.

(TL;DR: A big group of Tanglers who had disappeared and died since Morgan became leader have come back to torture him. He kinda needs a lot of help since he's been stricken by guilt and won't use his saltwater weapons to hurt them yet.)

[DELILAH.]

DELILAH EVERGARDEN

Pain, memories, death, something Delilah was all too familiar with in her short time of being in Tanglewood. She had witnessed others die, she had tried to die herself, it wasn't a missing objective when she said she had pretty much seen everything.

Everything but ghosts. Gods, she wasn't prepared for this.

The spirits of past dead Tanglers had surrounded her Commander, and Delilah didn't know what else to do. She couldn't see too well through the blurriness of her tears which had unknowingly began to fall, but she did know what to do about it.

Lifting her head up to the air, she called for the only person she knew who could at least help. Arrow was injured still, wasn't she? She didn't have time to think.

"RENNY! ARROW!" Delilah yowled out, activating x-ray vision as she watched to make sure none of the tanglers were still alive, to see if any were actual live traitors, not vengeful spirits. None so far.

[member=1350]ARROW ![/member]
[member=1221]RENEGADEANTHEM[/member]

TANGLEWOOD — MEDIC — FEMME — TAGS

© MADI

[arrow]

Well this was a sight. Arrow was lucky she didn't get dismembered and eaten as planned back in the Pitt, or she'd be kicked out of that ghost hole faster than her femur got snapped. And that was pretty fast.

Her head snapped up at Delilah's cry, fast enough to leave her with whiplash and a string of profanity before officially taking action. She jumped to her paws within seconds, claws digging into the ground already. That was no casual call, after all. That was a distress signal. Luckily for the medic, and for poor Morgan, Arrow was well enough by now to kick a ghost in the face. The only problem was....how did she go about doing that?

[color=#208030]"What the hell? Ain't the dead supposed to stay dead?" She snapped her jaws at one of them, swishing a front paw in the air to try and see if she could smack one of them before she just jumped for it. [color=#208030]"Morgan, hey, earth to Boss Man! You're getting your ass handed to you by sparkly soulfucks, get it together! Do somethin'!"

Ah, she was no stranger to death either. Not in the slightest, she was lucky to get out alive from a lotta situations, corpses no longer bothered her. But she wasn't used to ghosts, souls, that demon shit. It was unsettling.

© LEXASPERATED

[VIGENERE CIPHER.]

[DELILAH.]

DELILAH EVERGARDEN

The Gods surely must have abandoned Morgan if this had happened, and that unnerved Delilah even further. "Leave, spirits! You cannot haunt him, he has done nothing wrong!" Delilah cried out, glancing over at Arrow. She couldn't fight off the ghosts taunting and torturing Morgan. She didn't know what it was like to be overloaded by senses, she had always a good handle on her senses, but she wasn't psychic, either.

The amount of her cherry blossoms increased, the scent of flowers increasing at the same time. It was the only thing she knew she could do. Telekinesis lifted a bundle of sage out of her satchel, having read something about blessing places. Territories could be blessed, too, right?

"I need fire.."

TANGLEWOOD — MEDIC — FEMME — TAGS

© MADI

[Morgan]

Morgan was in a world of pain that only grew as time went by. He could hear Delilah on the other side of the crowd, to whom he yelled, "Go! They'll -- hurt you!" To confirm his claim, a small part of the group moved toward the pink living Tangler, intent on attacking her when they got their chance. The crowd still focused on the General, however, and continued their assault on his body as parts of his armor melted away.

Next came Arrow, whose cutting words only made the samoyed even more aware of his guilt.

They shouldn't have even been dead in the first place,

he thought, striking and shaking the ground with a paw. Once again, his armor took the appearance of white-seafoam flames, scaring away a few of the spirits. Meanwhile, a few others headed toward Arrow to make her their next target.

The canine knew Arrow was right. He had to do something, but the entire situation was too much for him. His breathing was erratic, and so his icy armor continued to lick the air uselessly. He still felt the presences of a huge crowd of presences, all of their combined malice forming a disgusting cloud that filled Morgan's senses. On top of it all, the pain all over was increasing as more ghosts took potshots at him. Unable to take much more, he found himself shaking under the weight of his armor before it evaporated into the faux-fire.

Before long, Morgan was already lying on his side on the ground. The dead Tanglers were still attacking him then, bringing him to the verge of vomiting. Yet, the pain tapered off almost as quickly as it began once a familiar voice boomed over the scene. As the demon appeared, the apparitions stepped back and away in what seemed to be fear. The General gasped and coughed, his mind losing focus as things turned hazy with his uneven breaths. He closed his eyes for what felt like only a second before he felt a paw touch his, the voice accompanying it with a calmer tone.

"Vee..."

Morgan whispered, clearly having trouble speaking. He opened one eye to see his beloved savannah, opening the other one to match his gaze as requested. Indeed, the reflective pools of black brought immediate comfort to the samoyed, who could not help staring deep into them. Without the constant pain hitting him anymore, he was able to nod, determined to follow the Captain's instructions. As he began to breathe with Vigenere, Morgan let his senses extend themselves, feeling a distinct warmth among the coolness of the ice that reformed in a ring around the pair from his twin pikes. The haze in his mind dissipated little by little as he focused only on his boyfriend's aura.

He could feel everything then - rather, he could feel everything he needed to feel. He let his tongue flop out to muster up a loving smile. He could not speak, so he thought,

I love you,

hoping his partner would hear him somehow. One last conscious breath found its way in and out of him; the earth shook and cracked as ice blasted outward in a ring of cold flames, enveloping the majority of the crowd of ghosts at once. A gust of wind followed the ice ring, throwing clouds of dust all over the area. Delilah's bundle of sage was immediately lit on fire, which turned from seafoam green to its usual color upon contact with the herb.

Screams of tortured, burning pain escaped each of the afflicted deceased Tanglers, who began to flee for their un-lives. Some of the few who remained were paralyzed, trembling as they looked down at their burned appearances. Several still remained unharmed, but their numbers had dwindled to only a handful.

[b]With Morgan unconscious, they were unsure of what to do next, and so they bared their teeth and leapt for the nearest living Tanglers to hurt them.

Some avoided Delilah, however, seeing as she was holding a potential weapon.

[cavalrychoir]

[align=center][div style="width:60%;font-family:arial;font-size:11px;text-align:justify;line-height:130%;word-spacing:-0.5px;letter-spacing:0.5px;"]Ren wasn't... He wasn't prepared to fight anyone. Not yet. It was an ironic statement considering the lynx had done nothing but fight his entire life. He's crushed skulls with his large paws and powerful jaws has snapped countless of bones like twigs. The lives he's took and the many more he put in jeopardy for the sake of expanding territory and amusement left a foul taste in his mouth. The mental and emotional toll that came with his self-reflection, the toll that followed the wave of relief when he finally broke free from his shackles, was mind numbing. So much so he lost all sense of purpose and meaning as his mentality and identity seemed to crumble away. He was still barely hanging on, still gripping onto that one string that kept him sane- that one sliver of hope that everything will somehow be alright. It was a shot in the dark, he knew this, but he was more than willing to put in the work of proving both himself and the individuals who raised him wrong. Ren wasn't going to look for excuses to cover up or justify what he's done. He knew that was the easy way out - also pretty wrong - and to him, it wouldn't be very fulfilling for all his struggle to end just like that. A couple lies and he starts over. Ignore the lives he's took for the sake of keeping his ego and pride unscathed. Nothing he could do will suddenly make everything alright but that was okay. He's come to terms with that much. And because of that, he was doing his best to move past that by somehow turning that weakness into a strength. He had not the slightest clue on how to start the healing process but he hadn't lost his mind yet so whatever he's been doing must be helping. Even if it's just a little bit.

He was out and about, walking through the territory aimlessly. Maybe he would find something interesting or perhaps find a nice tree to sprawl under and doze off. He was open to anything, really. Almost anything. Delilah's urgent call made his heart leap into his throat before he took off running in her direction, paws thumping against the soft undergrowth. "Del-" He stopped midway as he rushed to the scene, taking in the sight. Morgan's unconscious body laying before Vigenere as Arrow fought off ghosts. Ghosts? There was a lot to unpack, but Ren didn't have to think anything over when he felt a surge of pain in his side. He bit down on his tongue to stop himself to screaming out and turned his head to see one of the spirits had launched themselves at him. Claws piercing skin, he shook them off but made no attempts to attack. Instead, the wildcat took them by the scruff and flung them to the side. He was sure he heard Delilah so where was she? Panicking, he looked around for a moment before dark red orbs landed on the pastel feline. Without hesitation, he quickly made his way over to her and took his position standing over her. "Asking them to leave will not work." He murmured, using his paw to swipe at a spirit that got too close before lunging for their scruff and tossing them aside as well. However, what he wanted to know is why she needed fire. Did she intend to set them on fire? They were already dead so he was having trouble with understanding what she meant. As much as he'd love to sit and chat about it, they did have that luxury at the moment. He could probably bang two rocks together to get a spark but he'd have to leave his position over her. Eyes shifting to Arrow, he launched himself at a spirit making their way over to her before promptly throwing them off to the side as well. Turning his attention back to Delilah, he spoke. "Fire. Go make some. I will cover you." He couldn't leave Arrow and Vigenere to fight by themselves so he could at least provide a safe escape route for her to take to prepare the plan she thought of.

[VIGENERE CIPHER.]

[DELILAH.]

DELILAH EVERGARDEN

"You all died, I can't relate because I'm still here, but I know what it's like to have life cut short. To feel dead, to feel angry at the ones who hurt you. But your vengefulness will not make things better for you." Delilah spoke nervously, her tail brushing against Renegadeanthem's side to comfort him as her herb was lit on fire. Sage, a powerful ghost-repeller, used for blessing territories. The spirits all seemed to avoid her, but with a wave of the herb using telekinesis, Delilah began a soft song, similar to a lullaby, or a prayer.

"We mean no disrespect.. You all deserve to rest. In peace." Delilah whispered, blinking her magenta hues towards the crowd which had tried to advance closer to her group of tribemates. She was a medic, she had studied many things, not just medicine. The vines that stained her paws began to grow further up her legs, stopping at her shoulders and thigh. "Rest." She repeated softly, the spots along her back glowing a bit as large, transparent fairy-like wings began to sprout, cherry blossoms continuing to blow in the cold wind.

The Evergarden's were known in their village for being faeries and nymphs, but she wasn't one to talk about such things. Her family had shunned her for not having wings, she was the cursed child. But it seemed she just didn't obtain them until she did what she was destined to do.

With the holy smoke of the sage dusting the wind with silvers and greens of color, Delilah let telekinesis move the sage around, as she spread her blackened wings, using it to move the smoke around closer to the spirits. "With this sage, you shall rest eternally, and pass over to the light." Came a soft, foreign voice from Delilah as magenta eyes turned a bit darker.

TANGLEWOOD — MEDIC — FEMME — TAGS

© MADI

[Morgan]

In the aftermath of the elemental blast that had come out of Morgan's collapsed body, the ghosts were utterly terrified by Vigenere's brief display of power. The nearest ones were shocked, shaking and distorting before falling into the ground. All the others headed for Renegadeanthem and Arrow next, launching themselves toward the two but stopping short.

The effects of Delilah's sage were already beginning to hit the spirits, who froze in their tracks before turning tail to run. However, it was too late; the ones caught close enough to her sank into the ground, returning to the abyss whence they came. The rest fled the scene, repelled. It was likely not a permanent solution, but it was effective enough for the time being. In any case, the advent of Delilah's apparent powers could definitely be helpful for later.

Morgan did not yet stir, but he was stable. After his final, cathartic assault on the undead Tanglers, the General was calm enough to appear asleep. His boyfriend had helped immensely; without his appearance, the wild ghosts may have caused even more damage to all the nearby Tanglers. Morgan's body had previously been shaking from the sheer unadulterated pain he experienced, but it stopped once Vigenere stood above him for some time. Of course, the unconscious samoyed still needed to be brought somewhere. Even if the square was somewhat safe, the exposure to the elements was a bit of a risk.