Tomiko Kioku [Forest]

Having heard that Tomiko was back in town, Eien headed into the forest after retrieving Song Lin Tiao from her mansion. She had called the other trainer to let him know that she had news. While they walked to the woods to meet Tomiko, the two discussed both of their previous nights encounters. Eien detailed the story of his encounter with Shiflu while Song Lin energetically told the tale of her encounters with the Reacat and the Ocalia.

This passed the time very, very quickly. Soon, the duo caught up to Tomiko, who wasn't far into the woods. With Eien's help Song Lin was able to move a lot faster than she would be on her own. Once they caught up to Tomiko, Eien quickly explained, "Tomiko, this is Song Lin Tiao. Her family is the family that funds the festival here in Lifan."

Song Lin gave a polite little bow, "It is a pleasure to meet you." It was clear from her response that she was a noble. It was a very practiced response and one that lacked much of the emotion of less formal greetings. However, Song In didn't really know much about Tomiko, aside from what Eien had said as they walked over here. She didn't know anything about Tomiko's personality and she hoped it wouldn't be one of those awkward situations where she felt like a third party. However, she had confidence both Eien and Tomiko would try to avoid it.

Unsure how to progress, Song Lin let Eien speak for her, "Song Lin just became a trainer against her parents wishes." He has a fiendish smile on his face, "She caught a Reacat and an Ocalia without another Natrelmon." Song Lin turned her head away at the statement, a bit embarrassed by the praise from the other trainer. If she had something to stare at, she would have been doing that. That is partially what made it much more awkward for her, since she was all based with her other senses, especially her hearing. There was no real 'turning away'.

"And," Eien continued, smiling even brighter, "I encounter Shiflu. Just don't let anyone know about that. I don't want word to spread about encountering something like that...." Finding something like a Shiflu would just draw unnecessary attention. He didn't want all of the other trainers to discuss it. Fame wasn't something he was after and many trainers who encounter legendaries became famous.

Song Lin was taking Eien's talking time to adjust to the presence of a new person. With her disability, these kind of encounters were a bit more awkward. She didn't want people feeling sorry for her. Eien's taste in people though was quite in line with her own, so she suspected that Tomiko wouldn't be someone to think differently of her because of something she couldn't help. It did make it slightly less awkward for her....

Eien's speech and Song Lin's thoughts were interrupted by a nearby rustle.

(( First 4 are Eien, Second 4 are Song Lin ))

The member 'Innue' has done the following action : Dice

#1 'Percentile' : 85

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#2 'Percentile' : 89

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#3 'Percentile' : 30

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#4 'Percentile' : 95

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#5 'Percentile' : 4

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#6 'Percentile' : 90

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#7 'Percentile' : 8

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#8 'Percentile' : 68

"Hello, I am Tomiko Kioku, my family comes from the city of Relin." Tomiko said with a bow. She was glad to meet anyone who Eien would consider a friend and she knew that Song Lin would probably be highly trustworthy, again due to Eien's trust in introducing her to Tomiko. "I haven't really had much time to experience it, but the Lifan festival seems wonderful, I am especially fond of the flowers that are displayed all over the city." Tomiko said, until now she had spent more time in the forests, away from crowds. However she did enjoy the festival somewhat, the ambivalent nature of the city seemed contagious and it had certainly lifted her mood to see the bright flowers whenever she returned to the city at night. "I think the Festival is wonderful, and I wonder if it hasn't helped Eien as recently he caught an Atrix which is tied to Suzaku, it might be the festival which attracted the Atrix." In general Tomiko didn't like hot temperatures, probably because she liked the colder summers of Relin, however Tomiko was sure that next summer she would return to Lifan for the festival at least, even if she didn't stay longer than that.

Tomiko felt a simple companionship with Song Lin, an aura of sorts that put her at ease. "Any friend of Eien's is someone well worth getting to know." She said, saying this because of her trust in Eien's judgment, not because she wished to flatter him. Tomiko did notice something was slightly odd about Song Lin, but didn't comment on it, and didn't press for details, as Eien introduced Song Lin's situation Tomiko nodded with sympathy and replied. "That sounds like a very difficult situation, but catching a Reacat and Ocalia is a good accomplishment, you made the right choice I think." Tomiko hadn't really defied her parents wishes in becoming a trainer, but she had argued with her parents several times before leaving. The topic was somewhat different though, less because Tomiko's parents didn't wish for her to become a trainer, and more because they worried for her safety leaving Relin to travel across the land.

Any thoughts of the past were torn from Tomiko's mind by what Eien said next, in fact she was shocked. "You encountered Shiflu!?" Surprise clear in her words, it wasn't that she doubted Eien's words she was simply amazed at the rarity of the event. "Congratulations!" She said, giving him a hug, it was a major accomplishment to so much as see a Natrelmon of that rarity, and beyond that Shiflu was very often sought by breeders for its ability to build nests. "Do you plan to train it and use it in your party?" She asked him stepping back, hoping she hadn't embarrassed him or Song Lin too much. "Don't worry, your secret is safe with me, I can see where it could become an issue, at the very least we will get flooded requests for A Shiflu egg. Truthfully it would be popular, but if we keep it to our selves, it will be an advantage most other farms simply don't have, right?" She asked him, seeing good sense in not spreading information about the rare capture.

There was a rustle in the trees nearby and Tomiko's Sparwire darted down, flying low over Eien, before flying in a circle around his head once before vanishing again into the upper canopy. "It seems Sparwire missed you." Tomiko said, continuing she added, "I've found a few Natrelmon myself, though none of them compare to yours. I did capture a Reacat and I think I'll use it instead of Kaigara, which combined with Elwis, and Sparwire is a somewhat well rounded team. I will hopefully be able to find a strong fourth soon, but I guess at this point it's not entirely required. I'm not quite sure what type I'd be looking for as a fourth, training and battling isn't going to be a focus of mine." She said, speaking to both Song Lin and Eien, she paused for a moment before continuing again to ask "Do you have any suggestions? Preferably something somewhat agile, Centice isn't a terrible choice but it isn't an ideal choice either I don't think." It wasn't that she disliked Centice, but she saw it as a stronger asset for breeding than battling though she would have to evolve it into Milice first.

The member 'Ametsuchi No Seigyoki' has done the following action : Dice

#1 'Percentile' : 91

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#2 'Percentile' : 6

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#3 'Percentile' : 13

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#4 'Percentile' : 5

As the Armic appeared Tomiko was shocked, and at the same time now had no doubt that she experienced far greater luck when she was near him than she did on her own. Taking out one of her relics she hoped to capture the Armic quickly, avoiding the need to fight it. True the odds didn't exactly favor her, but on the other hand, they could be a lot worse, activating the relic Tomiko hoped for the best but readied Elwis in case it didn't work.

The member 'Ametsuchi No Seigyoki' has done the following action : Dice

'Percentile' : 92

The Armic felt the Relic pulse and repelled it with enough force to make the Relic shatter, as was customary upon failure to capture. Then, it hovered at the other end of the clearing, the metallic plates that comprised its body slowly shifting and turning in on themselves. It would respond with due force if Tomiko decided to use Elwis to capture it, but not run unless it was clearly outnumbered or outclassed.

Tomiko knew that Armic might attempt to flee, however she also knew most rarer Natrelmon had their pride, so she would approach this with care. Elwis appeared, and seemed to understand the situation well enough, it was ready to fight Armic, and waited for Tomiko's order. She commanded Elwis to meld the shadows around it, weaving them into a multitude of small shadow knives, there were five formed and aimed, small but launched in a slightly staggered formation. the first flew at Armic, the second right, the third above, the fourth below and the fifth left. each was delayed behind the others by a fraction of a second, the timing was such so that Tomiko hoped Armic would attempt to dodge to the left, but there was no guarantee that it would react in such a blatant manner.

Immediately, as Elwis appeared, Armic loosed off a hail of Steel Darts, the maximum number of five. They flew straight at Elwis in a loosely packed cloud, so that they would hit if it moved to the left, right or slightly above and, of course, if it remained stationary. It could not fire the Dark Blades and dodge the attack at the same time, or dodge the attack and fire the blades to hit Armic where it was. Then, Armic began moving towards the tree, its steel plates compacted to present the smallest surface area possible for an attack to be aimed at. It had Aura Shield ready to use to defend itself.

As the Armic fired darts Tomiko did not command Elwis to defend against them, instead a feeble wall flickered into life for an instant, it blocked the Armic's spikes, the shield was raised as far from Elwis as Tomiko could manage, blocking the center most darts and allowing the rest of the cloud to pass by Elwis. The shield shattered with the impact of the darts, while Elwis's shadow knives hurled towards Armic, because of the spread only one would strike and as the knives were smaller, to allow for more to be created the damage would be about half of the normal. This would mean the knife dealt normal damage to Armic despite the weakness to Dark. Tomiko gave two commands to Elwis, and as soon as it had finished creating the knives it simply vanished in the now well lit area.

She seemed to be alone now, and she seemed to be open this was as much a test as anything, would the Armic attack her directly?

(I'll post the percentage of health left at the top of each post so you can decide when to capture. Health left = 0.9)

Armic made a strange, unearthly metallic noise that seemed to have been generated by instinctive psychic manipulation of the air around it. It was the closest thing to a hiss of pain it could manage given the obvious lack of speech organs. The pain soon faded to an occasional throb, however, given the fact that the weak knives were half power and it was half steel, which gave it a natural resistance to most moves. It looked around hatefully, ready to inflict pain upon the tricky Ghost that had hurt it.

But the Elwis had disappeared soon after the pain from the knife attack had cleared. The Armic considered fleeing, but it sent a pulse of psychic prescience out into the clearing, which detected Elwis. Although the exact location was blurred, given the invisibility used, Armic knew it was there. Now it waited, without attacking the Trainer, as it bore no grudge against her (although, if the Armic had stopped to consider that the Elwis had only attacked on the command of the Trainer, it most certainly would have attacked her). It didn't do anything the Trainer could timelapse, either, given that it could not fight an invisible opponent with any degree of success.

From the direction where Armic sensed Elwis behind it and slightly off to the right, in the shadow of a tree, A ghostly light appeared fired by Elwis as the ghost Rushed Armic, even as it did shadows boiled around Elwis and unless Armic moved out of the way it would also be covered within the shadows. To make things slightly more difficult for Armic Elwis had launched the ghostly lights directly at the center of its mass so that in hunching it would take a powerful hit should it fail to stop or avoid the ghost's attack. Tomiko had ordered it to ambush Armic with ghostly ligths and use shadow expansion. Now she issued another order as Elwis seemed to be preparing to launch a pure physical assault on Armic.

Armic continued to send prescience pulses out, attempting to locate Elwis. It headed towards Tomiko, intending to attack the Trainer and force her to order Elwis so she could defend herself, or bring forth another Natrelmon, when one of the pulses responded. Armic whirled around, knowing - or sensing - that an attack was undoubtedly imminent. Instinctively, as the Ghostly Light sped toward it, it raised an Aura Shield in defense and glided to the far left, racing faster than Elwis could as it was layered in shadow. It knew it was in a tricky situation, so it used Levitate to throw itself up a particularly tall tree, landing on a branch. Then, it turned and used Steel Net, firing it so it would collide with Elwis even if it attempted to stop, thanks to momentum.

As Elwis charged directly behind its ghostly light, energy flickering around itself, it cackled with glee taking great enjoyment from the sweet music of pain which it had caused Armic. This revealed the truly twisted nature of the Elwis's personality, and even now it took great delight in all thoughts of causing more harm to Armic. It rushed Armic without any pretense or attack the shadows still boiling about it like great storm clouds, darker than the charred ruins of a burned out city. Drunk upon the pain, and brimming with madness the Elwis seemed to pay no attention to everything around it. The Darkness was not yet tangible, but as madness burned the air the shadows were on the verge of becoming solid.

As the Armic moved, Elwis was charging at full speed, in fact Elwis was taking full advantage of its agility at this point. Being able to fly, Elwis simply rose into the air matching pace with Armic easily as the shadows were no real impediment to a creature of darkness, particularly one with a body like Elwis, it floated into the air using its flight abilities to full use.

The net collided with Elwis in midair, hitting squarely and hurling the ghost to the ground with a very sickening crunch, a red mist trailing behind as it fell, the wave of psychic distress hurled forth signifying the end of a life. The corpse fell to the ground, ragged and frail. What happened next was very strange indeed, all of the shadows summoned by Elwis seemed to go berserk, having been undeterred by the height, as two massive hands of shadow formed around Armic forming from shadows cast by the tree canopy all around Armic, each of them over a meter wide and at least three long the hands enveloped Armic in a crushing grasp and slammed it into the ground with a force that was nearly, but not quite, fatal.

Light flooded the area, and the illusury corpse of Elwis faded to reveal the incorporeal ghost floating intangibly in the air directly above Armic, it was laughing again taking great pride and joy from its clever deception, possibly more than it took from causing further pain to Armic. A look of relief crossed Tomiko's face as she activated her relic, she hadn't been sure the deception would work but everything seemed to have gone to plan with no difficulties in place she hoped to be able to capture the Armic now without issue. After such an intense session of shadow bending, darkness wouldn't cover the area for some time.

The member 'Ametsuchi No Seigyoki' has done the following action : Dice

'Percentile' : 54

The Armic, finally defeated by the superior duo (and tactics) of the Trainer and Natrelmon, offered little to no resistance to the inevitable Relic energy that surrounded it, drawing it in successfully. It was captured soundly, and looking forward to a long rest given the blitzkrieg attack Elwis had used on it in the last minute or so. It would have a grudge against said Elwis in the future, however, as it recognised the pure malice underneath the guise of enjoyment of battle. A beast that revels in carnage may be useful on the battlefield, but it is still a beast off of it.

Song Lin and Eien had separated from Tomiko to allow her to battle the Armic in peace. It was definitely a fight that she needed to focus on, so the two of them continued their Natrelmon search a small bit away from Tomiko's fight.

"She just found an Armic," Eien told Song Lin, since the levitating Natrelmon would be harder for her to distinguish. Since it floated, similarly to ghosts, it was a difficult Natrelmon for Song Lin to identify with just her ears, making it one of the Natrelmon she slightly disliked. She expected at some point though that she would come across an opponent that used Natrelmon like that, and she had a very rough strategy of how to counter them. She nodded at Eien's comment in an appreciative manner.

"Hopefully one of us gets something that is as equally as useful," she said softly, a few feet from Eien. She was generally following him because she knew the route he was taking was safe for her to traverse. "From what you've explained, we should be looking for Natrelmon that are at least good for breeding. I wouldn't feel very good about myself if I didn't contribute a fair share to this."

He waved her off, "Don't worry about it. You have an Ocalia and a Reacat. Both are decent Natrelmon that will be great for a breeding program. We already have a good group to start a program with, now we are just looking for other additions to the program." She nodded, giving a soft smile before turning to focus her ears in another direction, trying to pick up the sounds of a nearby Natrelmon. The battle with the Armic, for the most part, was making any potential to find something much slimmer, since the battle was causing a commotion that many Natrelmon avoided. With that sense, Song Lin gestured for Eien to move further away from the battle to increase their chances of getting something.

Song Lin hadn't told Eien, but she had a good feeling about her search. She felt that they would find something that the two of them would like. It was just a feeling, but Song Lin's feelings were usually quite accurate. People said she was just picking up on small bits of noise, processing it, and subconsciously suppressing it into a feeling of ESP, which could be entirely right, but others said it was something those like Song Lin had. She didn't really care either way, as long as it yielded what she wanted.

The two of them would split up for a few minutes, then return, making a strange pattern as they searched. Song Lin was always within visual range of Eien, in case of emergency, and Song Lin could hear what Eien was doing as well. It was a security for both of them, since Song Lin could pick up subtle Natrelmon noises much further away than Eien could. Sadly, it wasn't the most useful since many of the Natrelmon would get away before they could get there. It did serve the function as a security mechanism.

"Any luck yet?" Eien asked, calling to Song Lin who was about 25 feet away from him. She shook her head, knowing he was looking at her. She hadn't even heard anything! She made a hand gesture to Eien, which told him she was asking the same question, to which he replied, "Nothing for me yet either. It seems we need to go further in."

"I agree," Song Lin responded, her tone expressing very little excitement for the proposition. It wasn't that she was worried, she just didn't have a strong feeling about the action they had to take, other than that they had to take the action. Both of them sighed inwardly a bit, neither being a really outdoorsy type person. They would much rather be back in Lifan, but they both needed additional Natrelmon. That took priority.

"Just think, once we get back to Lifan," Song Lin said, hoping to pull any negative thoughts away from Eien, "We can go back to the manor and let the Natrelmon out in the room adjacent to my bedroom. They will enjoy that, I think. My Ocalia and Reacat will have a lot of fun with your Meu." Song Lin was a bit envious of Eien's Meu, since the cat creature was about everything she looked for in a Natrelmon. Reacat and Ocalia were wonderful, but Meu's attitude was very playful. She did think it might be too playful for her though, since she needed a bit more of a reserved Natrelmon. It still didn't help the feelings of envy.

Eien's tone was cheerful, "That will be fun. We'll have to make sure we invite Tomiko and whatever she catches. Hopefully your parents won't get too upset that you are having guests, especially guests with Natrelmon." It was a constant worry for him that Song Lin was going to get into more trouble with her family than he knew how to help her deal with. He knew that her parents weren't fond of trainers and probably wouldn't be fond of him, at least when it came to their daughter. Publicly, they were one of the best champions of trainers. They just wanted to keep Song Lin safe. He couldn't really fault them for it, even though they took it to the extreme. He wasn't sure how he would have handled the same situations.

Song Lin nodded solemnly, pausing a bit before she responded. "They probably won't be around though. I'll make sure to check. The Suzaku Festival is still going on, so they will probably be too distracted to really care about a whole lot other than that. This is my period of freedom and I plan to use it as such."

Eien laughed a bit at that, not knowing that Song Lin planned to leave during the Suzaku Festival. She hadn't gotten too much into the specifics of her plan, but she was leaving Lifan. It was something she had decided awhile ago. However, any discussion about this would be have to put on hold, since a rustle on each side of the trainer got their attentions.

(( Dice Rolling ))

The member 'Innue' has done the following action : Dice

#1 'Percentile' : 76, 3, 56, 61

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#2 'Percentile' : 24, 42, 83, 38

(( Capture Rolls ))

The member 'Innue' has done the following action : Dice

#1 'Percentile' : 36

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#2 'Percentile' : 5

(( These are rolls for yesterday, above was a continuation of a roll. ))

Song Lin and Eien had caught their Natrelmon before Tomiko had finished her battle. Not wanting to intrude, the two of them headed back to the manor, Eien sending an email to Tomiko lettering her know that they would be at Song Lin's house and had sent the address. He didn't like leaving Tomiko like that, but Eien needed to rest and prepare for the final stages of the tournament, while Song Lin needed to avoid infuriating her parents. At least, that was Eien's reasoning.

Song Lin didn't really care if her parents were upset with her for being out longer than they had not told her to be. That is what upset Song Lin the most, they never her told her of many of these rules and just expected her to follow them. They expected her to just sit in her room all day and make use of servants for everything. She didn't want that. She did want to do some things herself and interact with people she chose to... not just who her parents deemed safe. Things were much more pleasant for her though, now that she had Reacat, Ocalia, and Fershru! She wasn't sure she was going to keep the new fire type, since she already had one. But, she suspected it would be good for a breeding program. Eien had already told her about 'the plan' and she was willing to help. Hopefully Tomiko would like some of the Natrelmon that Song Lin caught.

The next day, the two headed out earlier than Tomiko, wanting to let her rest and doing something similar as to the day before, letting her know where they would be. Since both Song Lin and Eien were on similar schedules, it was the only reason the two went out together to find Natrelmon. Eien did feel bad about leaving Tomiko behind, but he knew she wouldn't hold it against him, at least much. The walk to the forest was quick in the early hours, since most of the trainers were still resting. Song Lin was an early riser, unlike Eien, who was still rubbing sleep out of his eyes. It was for the benefit of the two, he thought, that she was an early riser. They might be able to get struck with luck. They were already incredibly, incredibly lucky so far. Now they just needed to get luck for what they wanted.

Some people have been sighting some very interesting Natrelmon lately. There were rumors that a trainer had gotten an Albion. Eien was jealous of that trainer. If he had a Natrelmon he was willing to part with, he would have considered trading for it, but he doubted any trainer would want to give up an Albion. They were just too rare and too useful.

The member 'Innue' has done the following action : Dice

#1 'Percentile' : 56, 35, 85, 27

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#2 'Percentile' : 29, 70, 14, 18

(( Passing on Boree - Reroll on Song Lin ))

The member 'Innue' has done the following action : Dice

'Percentile' : 11, 26