[attr="class","cromscroll"]

The grinding of his ribs and the pain lancing down his side forced him to swallow bile and shake another wave of nausea away. He had experienced pain, he had went through training to keep going no matter what. However he hadn't been in a true life or death moment until now and here he was, wounded and surrounded by sinners and demons. Perhaps his parents would be proud of him, he'd need to ask them when he found them. He snarled out in agony as he was pushed out of the water and he stumbled forwards, taking breaths in through clenched teeth.
[break][break]
He had been so focused on stopping himself from vomiting that he hadn't even noticed the second monster until now. At least the Ogre had decided to leave them well enough alone or it was far enough away not to bother them just yet, didn't matter which. Turning around, Tali steadied his hip against a tree and fired an arrow off at the Strix, only barely clipping one of its wings and only thanks to the debuff that Rory had put on it. He then turned and moved under the tree cover. He focused hard, pushing the pain down as they moved closer to the light that hopefully spelled freedom.
[break][break]
"The trees should make it harder to fly for that thing, we need to keep moving. I can fire off a few shots if it should try and dive us again and we can probably take it if it tries to land..." He hissed out, taking a moment to lean his shoulder against a tree and straighten himself out with a grunt of pain before moving forwards again. He had no medical supplies at the moment, he'd definitely need to get some help once they were out of here so that his ribs wouldn't end up brittle by the time he was fighting fit again.

[attr="class","cromtag"]
Try Hard Rory Perkins

[attr="class","cromscroll"]

How much had he missed of what seemed to be a normal life? As Vanilla explained what a maid cafe was, the way she spoke of it made it seem like it was commonplace, as though he should have heard of it. He had never really thought about just how many experiences his upbringing has forced him to miss or just see as odd. Where others went to theme parks or out to the beach for picnics, he only remembered his family teaching him fieldcraft out in the forests surrounding the town. Or showing him how to hunt for food and hide. He remembered sitting with the old retired surgeon as he demonstrated how to stitch a wound shut on Dantalion when he had run afoul of his own knife while cleaning it.
[break][break]
It was only after getting access to the internet when he was older had he found some of these but it seemed like a lot had fallen through the cracks. Was he resentful of that? Or did he simply dislike things passing him by? He let out a soft hum and pursed his lips in thought for a moment. "Connection to other people is good, so in a way it seems like you were doing a fine service. Loneliness can eat away at the soul, lead people easily into evil. Not that people are entitled to attention from others, there are always limits." He bit back saying anything further about evil, no need to let that spiral away from him. "Did you enjoy working there, was it fulfilling to you?" He asked earnestly, turning to give her a surprisingly warm, open look as he did so.
[break][break]
When she mentioned him being cute however a spark of confusion ran through him and he turned away, going back to examining the surroundings. It had been some time since he had been called cute, one of the older village girls when he had been early in his teens if he recalled correctly... Relationships had always seemed strange and awkward to him but he was looking too deep into things now. "Ah hm... Yes... Well being fair, I am a one man and one horse army, my steed does assist me greatly, so it is unfair to not give them their proper due." He made that as best a deflection as he could, if he focused too hard on it he was likely to blush and lose his composure.
[break][break]
Once they made it to the tree and he realised how high up it was, he glanced over at Vanilla and reached out to rest the tips of his fingers against her shoulder to stop her from climbing. He wouldn't say it outright but being under her while she climbed might have led to... Embarrassment and it was best to avoid such things. He reached out and took the knife from her before hopping up onto the tree and starting to climb, his fingers digging easily into the wood and finding gripping points. Ever since the end times had come, he had found that he was stronger than usual and this made climbing the tree quite easy thankfully. Once he was at the plant, he cut it free and dropped it down to Vanilla before taking a moment to scout their surroundings from a higher point.[break][break]
Once he hopped back down he gave a firm look at Vanilla and shook his head slightly. "I am sure you have many skills but remember most of all, you are good at surviving. You live, you breathe, you move forwards. If you face death with your teeth bared and blade in your hand then you also die well and die properly. Rage against the dying of the light, do not go gentle to the end." He intoned before turning away and shrugging. "Expectations are dangerous and weighty but it's not a bad thing to follow in the footsteps of those that came before you, their wisdom is to be learned and used to further your cause, perhaps the bakery was only a stepping stone to find your true purpose. Now... The next plant, can't be too far."

[attr="class","cromtag"]
vanilla

[attr="class","cromscroll"]

Towards the water? A potentially good idea but Tali knew that his ability to swim was compromised at the moment. However he wasn't exactly in the best state to against his allies' wishes and at least one of them seemed to have some kind of plan so he just done his best to stagger with them towards the lake. At one point he stopped and turned back, firing another arrow into the Ogre to try and slow it down once more. He hissed out a breath and moved into the water, feeling the cold fluids lap against his legs and slip into his boots, unpleasant but he was dealing with worse.
[break][break]
"I'm going to need help, my ribs are fucked, won't be able to swim properly." He choked out as the cold reached his belt line and he tried to bring himself up to float but it was agony and using his bow like this was going to be impossible. It was at this point that he felt that contact with a creature from beyond. With a snarl he held out one hand and snapped his fingers. In a flare of azure flame Warlord appeared once more. However this time Tali just howled a command and the horse instantly surged forwards into a wash of flame and power, slamming into the Ogre and dispersing instantly.
[break][break]
"I'm all out, it's up to you guys now." He groaned, feeling grey slipping into his vision but he shook it off, clutching onto Rory to try and keep himself going, he held his bow limply with one hand and just focused on breathing now, that was all he could do. He really hoped that whatever the others had planned, it was good...

[attr="class","cromtag"]
Try Hard Rory Perkins

[attr="class","cromscroll"]

Pain thundered through Dantalion's torso and made his breaths ragged, he could feel the sweat slicking his palms and he tightened his grips on his swords. Was this going to be it? In the damn tutorial and already dead? As he readied himself to take a step forwards and find out just how far he could push himself, a popup informed him that all of the berries had been located and a blue light flared up from behind him deeper into the woods. The end was here. He sucked in a deep breath and glanced to the side to see both of his allies approaching, at least they hadn't just abandoned him... Not bad for some sinners.
[break][break]
When the Ogre groaned again and seemed to have some kind of effect take over it, Tali wasted no time in slamming his shortswords back together into a bow, the string snapping back into place with a reverberating twang and a flash of blue light. He drew his arm back and launched an arrow straight into the Ogre's face, sending it staggering back another step. "We're done here, let's leave before it gets back to his senses." He snarled out, pain evident in his voice and he turned, stumbling towards the blue light. "I'm hit pretty bad, you two better not leave me behind!" He growled at them, though there was a smile edged onto his pained expression, he was pretty sure they wouldn't abandon him now.
[break][break]
The light was drawing closer, they just needed to keep moving though the pain lancing through Dantalion's side told him he was going to need a fair bit of time to try and heal this off, or find someone with some healing abilities. The Ogre had managed to shake its head and seemed to regain some semblance of control and was shambling back towards them, though this time it was slower and didn't seem to have as much power behind it. Dantalion only hoped that one of the other two could do something about it because firing that arrow had hurt something fierce and Warlord wasn't ready to come back just yet.

[attr="class","cromtag"]
Try Hard Rory Perkins

[attr="class","cromscroll"]

Piercing blue eyes turned to the young woman, almost as though they were locking onto her. There was a moment of tension before the eyes softened and Dantalion drew his focus away from reaching out for one of his weapons. He refused to underestimate anyone, even a child could wield a knife, but he had a feeling that this girl wasn't going to be any threat, at least for now. To be fair to her, she didn't seem much like a sinner but that wasn't really for him to decide these days. He let the tension ease out of his muscles and smoothly stood up in front of Vanilla.[break][break]

For his part, Dantalion was a few inches over six feet and due to this he fair towered over Vanilla. He wore a fur-lined coat and combat trousers with heavy black boots and a black cloak-like mantle over the upper half of his body that floated around in the wind like smoke. His features were sharp and his blonde hair had been pulled back into a ponytail to keep it out of his face. He spent a moment assessing the woman before nodding and holding out a gloved hand towards her. "Indeed. I'm trained in survival but in this new world my old skills might not be so reliable. It's a pleasure to meet you Vanilla, my name is Dantalion though you can call me Tali if you wish."
[break][break]
He looked around at their surroundings for a moment, waiting to see if she shook his hand or not. Either way he'd turn slightly to make sure nothing was sneaking up on them before speaking again. "How long have you had your class, Vanilla, and do you have any combat experience?" His voice was soft with a strange accent to it that decidely marked him out as non-American. As much as he knew she was doused in sin, it was hard not to see at least a few of his younger family members in her but he hadn't seen them in some time and the thoughts left a sour taste in his mouth. "If you don't mind, please take the lead to find the herbs, I shall support you and back you up should anything have hostile intentions."

[attr="class","cromtag"]
vanilla

[attr="class","cromscroll"]

Seeing the destruction wrought by whatever spell Nikolas had just cast caused Dantalion to slightly reconsider his options if it ever came down to fighting him. However there were more pressing matters to deal with just now, that being a number of spiders that he still had to deal with. The numbers had been massively lowered due to Nikolas' laser strike and Dantalion had shifted his position around so that he stood back to back with Nikolas and he readied his scythe once more. "Only a few left, can't be too many more in this tunnel." He muttered before rolling his shoulders.[break][break]

With a crack he slammed the scythe blade into the ground to steady the massive weapon before letting off another screaming ghost round. It exploded forward and slammed into another giant spider, exploding it so thoroughly that several of its legs pinwheeled away and bounced off the walls of the tunnel they were in. He loaded another round into his rifle and started to adjust his aim but the last couple of spiders were instead attempting to flee out of the tunnel and away, they knew when they were beat it would seem. He kept an ear out for a moment in case there was something else but he couldn't be entirely certain of it. "Up to you, think this is enough or are we going deeper?"[break][break]

His breathing was still controlled but he had a feeling that Nik probably wasn't doing too great but that made sense considering the circumstances. It reminded him of his tutorial and dealing with people that quite obviously hadn't ever really fought before.

[attr="class","cromtag"]
nikolas

[attr="class","cromscroll"]

Knowing there was someone else in the area, Dantalion made sure he could watch them out of the corner of his eye. Paranoia used to be a pretty poor trait but these days, these days it saved lives. Before the End of Times, a snapping branch or a leaf moving in your peripheral was simply an animal shifting their weight or the wind stirring. Now it was the sign of a weapon being drawn, a beast prowling, a monster crawling from the shadows. Of course, sometimes Dantalion was that monster but that was besides the point and it didn't make him any less wary, there was always a bigger predator out there.
[break][break]
So even as his body fell into a rhythm, as the sound of cracking wood and the gentle soaking pain in his knuckles lulled him into old routines, he kept his senses sharp, his eyes flicking to the side, always aware, always watching. The moment the other individual turned to look at him, Dantalion rolled to the side as though avoiding a punch, putting the dummy between him and the other figure but still allowing him to see him fully behind the pretense of sparring with the dummy. Then they started to walk towards Tali and his nerves started to sing, his body growing tense as he reached out subconsciously for the weapons hidden away from sight.
[break][break]
Then Emir started talking and Tali stopped, taking a flask of water from his waist and taking a sip to hide the tension leaving his body. Friendly, just someone friendly, that's all. Dantalion gave Emir a smile and put his flask back before giving a bit of a shrug. "My parents and my community trained me in most weapons and quite a few martial arts, just to make sure I was prepared for what was to come. The town used to have a tournament every month, different weapons, different restrictions, it was fun." He pursed his lips slightly as the fond memories surfaced, so long ago now. "What about you, any particular specialty?" Best to size up the competition, just in case.

[attr="class","cromtag"]
Emir Nebu