high_seas | Giant Spiders Oh My

Entry tags:

Giant Spiders Oh My

Who: the current Hazmats
Where: sailing to Manahana-lia Island, then on the island
When: August 27 through September 5th
What: sailing as fast as they can to rescue Cynthia, and the rescue thereof. They'll try to save time by jumping through Empieza but...
Warnings: spiders. Violence, talk of death, Gan Ning's mouth
Style: whatever you want, don't mind the setup
Status: closed to Hazmat crew

The minute the scream came though his journal, Gan Ning was moving. There was no time to waste fiddling around, they had to set sail to find Cynthia before it was too late. He tore through any maps and information they had on the ship, looking for anything that suggested spiders. Her clue, the spider-webs, meant that was all he had to go on. Fortunately, other pirates around the docks totally knew which island that was, and aside from impressing on him the "don't go there" part of the legend, told him where to find it.

It did seem odd that no matter where they were, if they set sail for Isla Empieza, they'd make it there in a day or so instead of weeks. Gan Ning relied on that, even though he didn't do more than skim through the harbor before setting a new course for Manahana-lia in the far west of the land. Hopefully weather wouldn't be against them. They had a long way to go and didn't have Wan there to guide the winds in their favor.

Spiders, the other pirates said. There'd be large spiders and his crew would be killed. Nope, Xingba would not let anyone die if he could help it. But that meant they'd have to fight. Roxas needed to heal so he could guard the ship, but everyone else, well...

Let's hope they make it on time.

[ooc: info on the island is here - make and date your own sailing threads but we'll hit the island about the 3rd or 4th and there'll be a fight log for that]

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Straight ahead and look for spiders, right?

[Basically, he has no idea, but if there are spiders, it has to be the right way.]

It's not like we've got a map of the place.

...all right, ya got a point. Straight ahead and look for spiders it is.

[there's already lots of cobwebs all over the roof and walls of the cave. Big nasty ones. Better duck so they don't get in their hair.]

[Lea reaches out and touches the sticky threads, sending hundreds of little spiders skittering.]

I could probably light all these things up. Think I should try?

[No doubt a terrible idea, but it would be pretty awesome to see them all go FWOOSH! and burn up.]

It'll probably call down hordes of 'em on our heads.

[in other words, yes. Yes, do. Bring it on!]

Got it!

[He taps the web again and it bursts into flame. The fire races up the wall as the cobwebs light, and a few more taps along the wall later, the hallway becomes a corridor of flame as far as the eyes can see.]

That oughta get their attention.

[Sure enough, that sounds like a lot of clicking and ticking and chattering from down the hall..]

[the blazing-bright tunnel is also quickly filling with flakes of ash from the consumed webs and the charred remains of spiders that couldn't flee in time, but the fire definitely pissed something off. Something big enough to fight. Gan Ning goes into a crouch, scimitar held across his body in preparation]

Heh! Here they come. Time to clear a path!

[as the webs burn away and the fire dies, there's room for them to move and not get burned, room Gan Ning takes advantage of as he charges into the mass of dark shapes starting to converge on their spot]

Hey, are you gonna leave any for me?

[Lea strolls after him and whistles when he sees the big black leggy wall.]

Looks like you are.

[Seems like a job for long-range attacks. Hurling Fira spells might catch poor Captain Kitty in the crossfire, so Lea lights his chakrams and hurls those instead, cutting into the chittering mass of arachnids.]

There's more'n enough to go around!

[a few testing hacks at the first line of the spider army assures him that they are quite vulnerable to sharp objects as much as fire, so Ning goes in hard and fast, cleaving through as many as he can. He glances briefly to the side as a chakram flies past his head, but he's used to melee fighting alongside the Lady Shangxiang - he knows this tune. He evades them easily so he won't get cut, and deals all the damage out to the spiders instead.]

Problem is, we can't just wait for them all to come over here and hang out. We have places we need to be.

[Cutting a path through looks a bit difficult, but they're going to have to figure it out. Lea closes the distance a little to get a better look down the hall, but all he really sees are lots and lots of creepy mandibles attached to creepier spiders.]

Don't think they care about that, though.

Well, then. Guess there's only one thing for it.

[he hasn't even tried to use this move since coming to this world. No idea if it'll work. But desperate times do call for desperate measures. Gan Ning lowers his shoulders, putting River Master in front of him, and concentrates his focus. It's not sorcery, like some musou abilities, but he springs from his place into a sudden and unnatural burst of speed. It's a bit wild, he careens from wall to wall as if unable to control his path, but the sword is swinging the whole time and spiders are collapsing left and right. Some of them are only injured, though, missing legs and oozing goo, but there are quite a few spider heads that have lost contact with the right bodies...]

Nice! Now, if you'll allow me...

[Lea steps around him into the space that's open up amidst the spiders. Though he's not entirely pleased about it because ew.]

You might want to stand back a little.

[Fire springs to life around him and fills the cave, a swirling firestorm with Lea at its center engulfs the spiders. The air is filled with crackling, popping and screeching. It doesn't smell that great, either, but it gets the job done.]

[once he's exhausted his musou, Gan Ning backs up to where Lea is and puts his back to his, taking a moment to catch his breath and recover from that while the fire rages around them.

Ew, the smell of burnt spider.]

Holy crap. Look at that...

Remind me never to get on your bad side.

[Lea smirks and idly spins a chakram.]

Haven't had a chance to let loose in a while. Can't really do anything like this on a ship.

[Unfortunately, the light keeps drawing more spiders. At least it looks like they've gotten the really big ones.]

Can't keep it up forever, though.

In that case, save the fireworks for later. No tellin' what might be down deeper, if something's guardin' Cynthia.

[at least they've cleared enough of a path that they can pick spiders off as they go, if they keep moving and hack and slash their way deeper into the caves. And that's just what Gan Ning does, without the speed of his musou behind it this time.]

[Lea lets Gan Ning take the lead and keeps an eye on the path behind them to make sure there aren't any eight legged surprises.]

Do you think something will be? It can't be much bigger than these things, right? I mean, now that I've said that, it will be, but...

[That's not an appealing thought.]

Dunno but where I come from? You mow through the foot soldiers and behind 'em is always a much bigger guy. Maybe more'n one. So if spiders are anything like armies and demons? Yeah. There's gonna be somethin'.

[hack, slash, hack, slash]

Great. Just what we need. An even bigger spider.

[It looks like the path comes to an end up ahead, with a sharp dropoff into a bigger cavern. The webs on the walls shine a little bit, maybe built over bioluminescent fungus or something. Weird and creepy.]

[creepy and gross, yep. But a bigger cavern could be their goal. Gan Ning pauses at the dropoff and cranes his neck to look down and see what's there. One thing certainly catches his attention before anything else.]

...whoa! Look at that! Treasure!

[so that's what all the old salts at Deesuko thought they were coming after. It's something, all right. Anybody else would be a fool to brave spiders just for this, but...you know, as long as they're there...]

Hey, Captain Kitty! Focus!

[Seriously, what is it with pirates and treasure? Sure, he could use some extra funds at the moment, but there's this thing called "priorities."]

[that certainly snaps his attention away from the riches and glory]

What did you just call me?! I thought I told ya not to ever do that again!

Got your attention though, didn't it?

[Lea gives him a smartass little salute and hops off the side of the ledge. You can't really see him hit the bottom, but the giant fireball is a pretty clear indication of where he is.]

[Argh. ARGH. Fine, two can play this game, Lea. Gan Ning doesn't hesitate to follow, taking a running leap and crashing onto the floor below with the shrillest jangle of bells ever. And doesn't stick the landing, he has to roll out of it in order to save himself from serious injury.

He comes up swinging, finding the cavern already thick with spiders.]

Damn this damn cave! Ugh! Get off me, you eight-legged freak!

Hey, we're the ones breaking into their house! You even wanted to steal their stuff.

[Not that Lea isn't cutting a swath through them himself, of course.]

The hell do giant-ass spiders want with treasure anyway? [turning the flat of River Master to swat a spider away rather like a baseball bat. Look at it go! All the way to the wall where it hits with a thud.] They can't use it!

[but that gives him a though. Cynthia is their best treasure-finder. If she made it this deep into the caves, she would have seen it too - and thus been easy pickings for the horde. HMMM.]

We gotta keep movin'. Cyn's probably around here somewhere...

[Lea salutes and continues to toss Fire spells at webs to conserve magic and immolate as many spiders as possible.]

Hey, you don't know what kind of expenses spiders have! Not that we've got time to ask or anything.

[He's looking up, trying to see if there's anything stuck in webs. That's where spiders put stuff, right?]

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