Even the lowest branches loom at great elevation above the grass floor of the forest, many layers that spread thick clouds of leaves that altogether conceal the blue sky. At the very least the light reaches through, reflecting off those leaves in such a way that it's left tinted by the time it reaches the open forest lacking roads now, though it's bright enough to adequately guide those who live beneath. These rustling leaves sticking out of branches shroud the whole forest, stretching all the way down to the horizon in all directions, not a sliver of an end seemingly no matter how far and fast one navigates through these woodlands.
Along the endless terrain, one of those branches high up is struck by a translucent blue cable made of concentrated energy, which upon contact straightens as if made of a physical rope before then bending while shortening, functioning as a reeling pendulum swing for Meditat whose cape remains straight from the breeze he flies against, that cable attached to his left hand. His freely floating cable reveals his back which has a consistent three other cables emitting from it, each one attached to the chests of Ekitai, Kokei, and Dana, all of whom casually glance around as they've long calmed by now. Kokei's gaze still lingers behind in the direction of where they exited from with a frown, gripping the cable with both hands despite there being little significant impact on safety from that gesture alone.
Neither Ekitai nor Dana do, cleared of anxiety either by their very nature or a trust built over a lifetime, letting them just pan their gaze casually around the forest as if being driven once more with Meditat at the helm, keeping his focus forward though his head has a slight downward tilt to trail the ground. That tilt sharpens all the sudden from a subtle low chin to facing nearly straight below right as he disengages his right cable, next launching a cable from both hands before his body begins the swinging motion, reaching the bottom of the pendulum where the rise would begin.
That's when the front of his body begins secreting a boosting energy off his chest, however rather than propelling him forward as his thrusts are traditionally used, it repels him backwards, countering the momentum he's built up to directly slow himself down though smoothly enough as to not cause violent whiplash. While the pendulum swing nearly completes, he doesn't detach the cables to continue onwards but instead prolongs the contact, letting himself and subsequently the team swing backwards as the cables itself begin to elongate, causing the four to slowly be lowered from the branches. They complete another backwards swing albeit not as intensely as the initial swing, leading to them being swung forth again though notably weaker now, the momentum being properly cleared which allows the braking force to be disengaged. Kokei, Ekitai, and Dana dawdle beneath Meditat now that there's little force carrying them with him, hanging off his body though they don't all collide together but rather each cable maintains an angle off his back to separate the three, the tension tight to hold them in place.
Slowly swinging back and forth but with each one being milder than the last, the four descent closer to the ground as given the lengthening of the cables, neither one straight as Meditat instead lingers in between the two anchor points, creating a V-shape that stretches vertically until it reaches the hard surface, or rather first Kokei touches ground followed by Ekitai then Dana, those cables loosening immediately on impact as they quickly chance to resemble simple rope just dangling off their chests. They all raise their heads and watch Meditat gently descend the final few feet until ultimately touching ground, both feet planted firmly on the grass, before disengaging the two cables attached to the branches. Promptly next the three cables emitting from his back vanish, freeing the three Bellators, Ekitai taking the time to stretch his arms. Meditat marches forward along the path they were already navigating as his head is still low to focus on the ground, similar to Dana who walks to his side in analysis whereas Kokei just shows perplexity to the abrupt stop, approaching Meditat to ask, "Wait, why did we stop?"
It's not Meditat to respond, but instead Dana who curiously notes, "The trail weakens here…at this point even my augmented senses aren't able to get a confident reading."
It's then when Meditat compounds systematically, "I assumed given the source of the trail, it'd eventually be cleaned either intentionally or simply by time, especially given the distance being traveled. It was weakening for some time but similar to Dana, I'm not able to interpret a confident registration of the composition anymore. We could estimate to just continue ahead but we'd be operating off a guess, we could quickly diverge from the correct path without realizing."
Stretching his arms behind his neck, Ekitai spins around and comments, "Man they got pretty far, I mean I know this happened last night but still. The lack of any landmarks is kind of making this a pain in the ass too."
Meditat extends his hand forward and focuses his eyes on it, aiming specifically to unleash a blue light from his goggles onto his gloves, that blue light warping its shape before manifesting into the very remote he had obtained earlier. Bringing the remote closer to his gaze now to properly inspect it without haste, he considers in a steady tone clearly already in thought, "I'll run some examinations on this device, check if there's any residuals I can use for tracking. It'd have been easier if the survivors were able to keep this and potentially send another signal, but I'll work with what I can." He then silently stares at the remote, just standing in place and his gaze still fixed to the device. Kokei and Ekitai exchange glances along with Dana, somewhat awkward not only in that they have no tasks of their own, but also the somewhat negligence of the experience they just escaped, one that the leader clearly was startled by enough that it nearly cost all of their lives.
As they all had the same thoughts in their mind, Meditat then raises his head to switch his focus to them –specifically Dana–, not with a report as his words are instead spoken in a wary intrigue: "Wait, how did you know we wouldn't be able to fight those…entities?" He then turns his head to Ekitai before reflecting, "Neither did you attempt to engage them, as if you also knew it'd be ineffective."
Both Dana and Ekitai turn to each other first, shocked to have been directly called out. They then simultaneously face back at Meditat whose gaze jumps between the two, eager for the first answer, still keeping attention on the remote though letting his curiosity splinter.
Meditat's head fixes on Dana who takes a step towards him before explaining gently, "It's…not the first time we've encountered them, we faced quite a lot of them back on the mountains after you were…taken away. Honestly though we spent most of the time just trying to get away from them, none of our weapons were effective, no amount of explosive power or concentrated energy seemed to have an effect after they waved it off."
Ekitai scratches the back of his head and chimes in, "Yeah it was weird, not a single one of my solutions did anything. Couldn't rip them, squeeze them, spread them, they were immune to anything we hit them with," which pulls Meditat's attention.
Stunned at first from the abrupt bombshell of information as the responsive silence proves he clearly had no knowledge about the other half of events from that battle, Meditat just awkwardly stands in place before facing Dana again. A gust of wind lifts his cape delicately the same as his hood before he slightly tilts his head down and understands, "You were all in that grave of danger for all that time…I knew you weren't safe but…against that? I should've been there…I wanted to get back as soon as possible and I tried but I-."
"Medit," Dana promptly interrupts, cutting Meditat off, his head raised to meet her. She extends her hand forward and assures softly or at least as much as reasonable through the inhuman electric voice, "It's not your fault, please. You have no idea how much I wished the same for you…."
Successfully Meditat's panic has been quelled, his head tilting back down in silent reflection, his facial expressions ungauged though his body's responsive enough. He then suddenly raises his head and turns it not to her or Ekitai but in between them to whom he references upon the recall, "Wait, but you were able to do something, I saw that. Your abilities were effective even on them, if it weren't for that, I'm not sure if we would've escaped."
Between Dana and Ekitai who turn around to face her, Kokei blinks twice in surprise at being introduced, glancing from Ekitai to Dana before centering her gaze on Meditat. Her head drops at first to shyly mutter, "Oh uh…yeah thanks…."
An invisible kick to herself raises her head given the tactical significance of this discussion, clearing her throat before explaining albeit with a tint of unconfident apprehension, "Yeah so it was sort of complicated, when I first tried to use my powers on them back in the mountain, they didn't react to it. Actually it was probably the first time a being had absolutely no reaction, then again it doesn't look human but still. Same for all the other Exhumans, none of their powers did anything, none of the attacks worked, they broke through all our defenses, I guess you probably missed this but we kind of had to work with those pirates just to survive which uh yeah it was sort of a mess back there but even with all of their powers we couldn't do anything."
She raises her hands in front for her eyes to center on it, staring at her own open palm and fingers while reciting, "But at some point…there was something that clicked. I…still can't really describe it that well, but it was something different I did and that's when my lighting started freezing and holding them. Same for all the other Exhumans, their attacks hit like it would on anyone else, we actually didn't have to keep hiding after that point."
She frowns softly as her recollection concludes, "I…can't believe I actually sort of felt good fighting alongside those pirates…like in that moment we were actually sort of like allies. Just to find out they were all gone…."
Dana turns towards Meditat to properly clarify, "Even after the Exhumans were able to counterattack, the rest of us were still ineffective against them on our own. We were able to support the Exhumans for that time, but…well ...."
"They're all gone now…," slowly mutters Meditat, his head lowering more to the ground between his feet, his tone somber.
Still facing Kokei, Ekitai frowns to his friend's dismay, letting out a soft sigh before reminiscing, "Those crazies did fight till the end, he did say the only way they'd die is die fighting. But damn, I've seen some things in my time but what happened back there…can't say I've seen anything quite like that. And we just saw the smallest part of it too."
Goggles to the floor, Meditat mutters in a soft voice nearly whispering to himself: "So he was watching it all that whole time…it felt like half of what he said made no sense. So he learned about the exploit…." His hands slowly raise to the sides of his head as a horrible revelation begins to dawn on him, warranting Dana's concerned attention, his voice shaking as he wonders, "There's no possibility that alone was the reason…to do all of that…and I just let him use me-," before an abrupt gunshot thunders over them, pausing their hearts for just a second as Kokei and Meditat both stumble backwards, Ekitai and Dana facing up at the trees that rustle ominously.
Immediately both of Meditat's arms drop to the side and he turns to the right to face down the forest in the same direction both Ekitai and Dana do soon after, though it's Meditat first who identifies in a voice switched swiftly stern, "That was emitted in this direction, we need to investigate it quickly before the source can diverge far enough. Dana, carry Kokei, for now maintain concealment, it could be hostile. Move high up in the branches and use the trees for blocking, once we reach a vantage point of the scene we'll use trees as cover to stay hidden before determining our next move. Mobilize." He strides a few steps forward and reaches his arm back to aim his hand towards Ekitai who tilts his head in disorientation as Dana strides towards him and warns, "Wait Medit, are you ok-," just as he projects a cable onto Ekitai's right hand before launching himself off the ground to provide an immediate movement burst that he chains with additional cables aimed high up those tall branches, swinging to quickly climb elevation which Dana watches silently.
Blankly watching the two start ahead through her flat face, Dana stalls as Kokei lowers her head to face her, now the one to tilt before asking, "Should we-?"
"Yeah sorry, on that," Dana awakes before a golden tentacle emerges from her back to wrap around Kokei's torso as two others crawl out to bend and grab the floor, used as springs to then launch herself up in the same direction to which Kokei hastily clings to the tendrils, that leap amplified with a boost as signified by the golden residual trail. Intent on keeping herself quiet, Kokei bites her tongue as she's hurled quickly up the air, both of them following the first two close behind as Dana primarily soars up to the trees like a rocket.
Back up to the height where the branches of the colossal trees linger, well above the floor, each branch growing smaller limbs that themselves grow their own limbs which sprout batches of leaves, speed has been ignited with the fuel of haste, one of those branches clung to by a blue cable that stretches and swings around to transfer momentum over to Meditat who lets go of that cable gripped to his left hand, ditching the cable at that very moment which releases that momentum into a forward release. In his other hand is a cable still gripped tightly, and at the other end of the glowing rope is the bony hand of Ekitai who clings on too, letting himself be carried at speeds a man of his physical state should likely not be experiencing especially with minimal visible gear and yet he shows no struggle to the winds that push against him. Like a wave, his motions mimic Meditat's though he rises higher given that there's a delay before the next drastic motion pulls him in, this next one being a straight forward pull contributed by two cables projected from Meditat's hips for a direct zip that he appends with a short propulsive boost.
That branch that was originally gripped by the cable is next gripped by another long chain, though rather than made of a concentrated energy it is instead of solid gold, a tentacle with short arms at the head to grip the bark. Instead of the tentacle being used as a swing, it instead autonomously bends itself in a jerk motion similar to yanking, which pulls Dana's body closer towards it, passing said branch and allowing the tentacle which is attached to the back of her left shoulder to release its grip on the branch. Similarly while that one tentacle lingers aimlessly, there is a second one attached to the back of her right shoulder, that one constantly wrapped around Kokei who given her small figure should also likely not be subjected to these speeds without protection against the current that thrashes her long hair wildly. Her eyes squeeze to fight against the forces, struggling but holding on, her hands clenching onto the coiled tentacle, using it like a handle as her body isn't kept upright but is instead constantly being spun and rotated to adjust with Dana's spinning body as she constantly reorients herself before boosting forward.
Dana's quick to reach Meditat's side, the both of them turning to each other to nod before facing forward, able to continue maneuvering the treetops despite the shared space as Meditat simply projects his blue wires at a slight downward angle to zip below Dana whose tentacles grab onto the branches previously at his side to pull herself in the diagonal direction, crossing over each other, Ekitai and Kokei just following in the back.
Meditat's movements noticeably slow down as he shifts from long swings to short zips, specifically pulling himself towards thicker branches and behind trees, as while he pursues forward he shows an additional focus on caution. Without a word, Dana's quick to both interpret and adopt this concern, cutting back from long stretches of flights as she instead grows three more tentacles which grab onto the branches around her, as in a way she swings but as though using longer arms which enables keener control without gaining excessive speed. Her movements break its straight simplicity used previously to gain speed, instead now moving in erratic zags to ensure she's moving in front of ideally thick branches, throwing herself behind trees. Both her and Meditat cross over again and again, precisely avoiding each other whether it be with clean zips or planned swings, the forest their playground, moving with coordinated grace.
That's all swiftly halted when Meditat zips to the corner of a branch just protruding from the trunk, but lets his body be carried all the way onto the branch where he lands at a full stop, grabbing the trunk with his left hand as his cable reels Ekitai up to the branch he's on, dragging him to his side where the cable is released, freeing Ekitai who's quick to hold his footing as the branch itself is more than thick enough to stand on fairly balanced.
Meditat's focus immediately lowers towards the ground further ahead as a golden tentacle latches onto the trunk he grips, carrying Dana who spins as another tentacle grabs onto that same trunk to spin her around the tree towards the side Meditat rests against. She finds herself having landed notably higher than Meditat although with no branches below to land on other than the one he stands on, so instead she uses her tentacles to crawl around the side of the tree before planting herself on its side, the four clenched tight to the bark to let her freely hang in the air same as Kokei still wrapped in her extra golden limb.
After adjusting herself to a comfortable position, Dana faces Meditat as Kokei awkwardly waves to Ekitai who waves back before one by one the each of them follow Meditat's azureous gaze. They all stare down towards the ground not too far ahead of them, at what appears initially to be an unassuming portion of the forest, similar trees just scattered around just as tall as the one they linger by. However it's upon a keener examination that a network of pebble roads connects those trees, those trees of which have active red barriers present on the trunk by the floor in the same arched shape as the doors, as while not all trunks feature this barrier, even the ones without do seem to have arched doorways albeit left open but bleeding a subtle yellow light from behind. While this region therefore is similar to the one initially landed on, there are none of the distinct black roots, whether grown from the ground or spreading out of the trees. In that way the area feels far more serene, silent, and yet even without the roots that silence has a sense of eeriness.
Studying the village through those sharply angled goggles, Meditat reports while still in observation: "Based on the sound of the initial shot, this is the general vicinity of the source. Most likely those who fired it haven't moved much further from here, if anything there's a likelihood they're still here if they've yet to notice our presence. We should first do a sweep of this area, clear all houses in search of survivors, if it truly is empty we'll try to find a new trail to guide us. For optimal efficiency it'd be best for us to again search houses independently for quick spread, however remain on high alert as there may be armed individuals here and they may not know our intentions before taking action. State your intentions clearly but refrain from making yourself a target if it jeopardizes your safety."
He extends his hand to begin pointing around the village to brief, "I'll drop Ekitai off there to sweep these points and I'll begin my own search here. Dana, deploy Kokei here and cover this area. Remember, use the Link channel when needed. Understood?"
He raises his head up to meet Dana, perched against the tree, who first turns to Kokei who extends her arms to flash two thumbs up innocently, letting Dana stare back down at Meditat and nod to indicate comprehension between the two. Meditat nods back and turns to face Ekitai who flashes a smirk for his own declaration, to which Meditat aims his hand back at Ekitai to project another wire to establish their connection. He lets go of the tree and aims his hand forward at an upward angle where he shoots his next cable before it pulls himself forward, directing three of Dana's tentacles to begin bending which signals Kokei to once again cling to her handles before said tentacles spring Dana off the tree, leaving one that swings her body before she lets go, throwing herself towards the general area she was directed to.
High above the village, the Bellators swing off golden tentacles and blue cables off in a divergence. Around the same time, Meditat attaches a wire to one branch which he swings towards but holds onto, instead extending the cable to slowly reel himself down towards the ground with Ekitai by his side all while Dana launches herself onto a tree before using her tentacles to climb straight down rapidly. They both reach the ground where Meditat detaches the cable binding himself to Ekitai while Dana uncoils the tentacle holding Kokei, letting them both go to take one more glance at their carriers who promptly climb back up; Meditat's cable begins pulling him back up as it reels him in as Dana turns around and starts crawling up the tree, leaving Kokei and Ekitai to place their focus on the closest tree house to them which they then begin to approach. Further in the distance, both Meditat and Dana again climb down, however Meditat doesn't smoothly bring down a rope but instead dives straight down similar to Dana. Just before the both of them crash into the ground, Meditat uses a dash to backflip, aiming his hands straight up to fire cables that grabs onto branches to suspend his fall right before smashing his head in the dirt whereas Dana's tentacles land right before her main body can, absorbing the impact while keeping her in the air. As she lets herself descend to her feet which recedes the tentacles into her back, Meditat does another flip before detaching the wires, landing on his feet now at a safe height from the ground. Like their allies, both of them focus on the nearest tree houses and approach them, their second round of searches active.
Stepping up to a barred door, Meditat extends his hand which unleashes a flame that shapes into the same metal rod which he promptly pokes into the red barrier, causing the barrier to start flickering before being absolutely disabled. Following the motions, he strides inside the house as he erases the rod in a small fire that disperses by the time he's fully entered. The breeze that was playing with his cape largely ceases once he's exited the green tinted light and become drenched in the golden glow of the house he swiftly scans, finding that while the exterior seems largely similar to the houses from the other village, the interiors differ in that there are many more fully enclosed rooms. Whereas the other village's houses were open enough that a vast portion of the floor was visible just from the door, here Meditat is marooned to a single lobby space the size of a fairly small room, the only glimpses into an extended area being the three open doorways on the other faces of the room, the right doorway next to a set of physical stairs that rise to the upper floor.
. He cautiously walks towards the center of the room, the two doorways at his side leading to different rooms with the one at his left resembling a larger office given the tables surrounding the two wooden chairs, and the one on his right appearing to be some sort of general living room given the couches facing each other. Neither of these two rooms at a glance pose a presence after a short inspection, leading his attention ahead to the third doorway which leads into a longer corridor that has a few openings further ahead, presumably leading to the other enclosed rooms.
Acknowledging that sweeping these houses wouldn't be as easy due to the additional barriers, Meditat flips both of his palms up before releasing flames from each, spawning two spherical drones in front of him. He flips his hands down and drops them to his side as he relays the silent command that prompts both drones to autonomously hover, each entering one of the two rooms at his side for a thorough inspection, allowing Meditat the liberation to focus ahead and pace into the hallway. His movements have a discernibly heightened caution to them, a lower body stance ready to spring into action at a second's notice, his head on a constant pan to gauge his surroundings.
That base floor the leader had explored is only one half of the house, as after exiting the forward corridor Dana sets her sights on the staircase which she wraps around to begin climbing, which like the other houses do impressively hold her weight without much creaking. The base floor she leaves behind is also far more walled as the stairs are not mere boards protruding from the wall but have a solid ramp that doesn't allow for peeking between steps. The railing additionally covers the lobby below until her entire side is blocked by a low hanging wall, transitioning her to the upper floor as it's only a few more steps before she reaches the hallway.
This upper floor has a similar structure to all others: a corridor that divides columns of rooms defined by the open doors, the main difference being that there's no sharp turns as the one hallway that she pivots to the left to view extends straight until a full cutoff. Interestingly enough the corridor is particularly wider than the others, allowing for multiple people to walk side by side where it'd be difficult to achieve such in the other village's second stories. Of course she's the only one here so that excess space isn't so necessary, if anything leaving the area hollow, reminding her of her current solitude. She turns around to find that the hallway practically begins at the staircase as there's a hard wall behind her, starting at one end.
Without anything interesting there, she turns once more and begins to sneak down the hallway, adopting a lower hunched stance to keep her metal clawed feet quiet even if her body isn't particularly the most unassuming. She keeps both open, sharp claws at her side in preparation for necessary retaliation, reflexes at a high. She steadily approaches the closest open door to herself, two tentacles slowly crawling out of her back, remaining short as even with the wider hallway there is still little space to stretch, though in the limited space they bend to turn their heads around like a second set of eyes to cover her rear. These heads however are equipped with small cannons, not only capable of identification but defense as she finds that capacity necessary.
Another house has a likewise wider hallway for the second floor which Ekitai strolls down, reaching one of the doors that he stops in front of before spinning to face it head on. He rolls his shoulders with a sigh, at this point getting somewhat exhausted with the constant searching especially needing to be done on foot, a tedious chore though complaining such would likely just warrant disgusted glances from his allies. Nonetheless he enters the room, finding himself in what best is identified as a bedroom given the signature item that being a bed sitting against the wall across, hoisted on a physical frame. Oddly enough the bed is completely missing the blanket which isn't even visible on the floor, the white sheets are all that remains. Cabinets sit against the wall adjacent to the bed, most of them left open with clothing scattered by, whether hanging on the drawer or left on the floor some of which is torn up or reddened.
Spoken not from any particular direction but instead straight into his head as though it was his own thoughts, Ekitai hears the voice of his friend Kokei report softly as if trying to keep her voice low even if it's already silent: "Link Network, I'm still just finding the same sights as the other place, just a mess everywhere I go. I'm not really sure if there's something I should be looking out for."
Another voice speaks into his head like thoughts, though this one being Dana's natural voice to remind, "Link Network, it makes sense for the scene to be largely the same, even if this place wasn't directly hit there was still likely a chain evacuation from local alerts. I'm not sure how far everyone would've moved if they didn't stop at neighboring villages though….. Anyways, first and foremost check for other civilians, if Meditat's right there should be people in this village right now."
"Link Network, oh right, my bad, okay got it," Kokei recalls somewhat stumped, assured by Dana: "Link Network, let me know if you find anything." The conversation ends there, likely the both of them diverged to their own investigations.
The sight is familiar to recent memory which Ekitai frowns upon, the aftermath of a family hurrying to escape, leaving a mess behind the home they abandoned. There is however an interest that peeks above that similar sight that draws him in at a steady amble. He does have a casually straight posture, not showing the same concern of stealth or at least not doing so explicitly, though his footsteps are naturally quiet to a near silence so it's not that he's entirely disregarding it either.
Stopping in front of the cabinets, Ekitai's eyes dart between the articles of scattered clothing: tunics, trousers, and undergarments. His eyes however stick to one particular tunic that has a few significant cuts in the sleeve with dark crimson botches stained around the openings. He picks up the shirt and holds it in front of himself, observing it to be far too small for himself to fit, something better suited for a younger teenage boy perhaps. He gently places the tunic back on the drawer before turning his head to find another shirt on the floor that's torn, not just with a few cuts but a massive tear from the waist that reaches up to the chest, a chunk of the fabric seeming to have been ripped off. Strangely enough there isn't any dried blood on this tunic despite the far worse condition, as a slash of that magnitude would've been instantly fatal. His attention returns back to the abandoned bloodied tunic, reaching for it carefully by the collar and holding it up for a second inspection, his yellow eyes sharpened in studying.
Without moving his mouth, Ekitai reports through his thoughts directed: "Link Network, I found a bloodied tunic here ripped up, it could've just been from anything I mean I'm sure dumb kids try climbing all around here but I mean if you think about it, if this was from a scuffle with those monsters then the person who owns this couldn't have been from here. And whoever wore this changed it out and I'm guessing people didn't change their clothes in the middle of running out of here."
The first voice to respond is neither of the other two's but instead Meditat's natural voice which comments, "Link Network, interesting find, your hypothesis is sound, very well could be one of the survivors we're tracking, it would coincide with the struggle that lost them their transmitter. Under that presumption they at least entered these houses rather than merely passing by, I may be able to obtain some identifying readings with it. I'm marking your current location, you're free to continue unless there's more you find. I'll clean this area and head there later, though there's not much I'm registering here."
Ekitai huffs after that response that showed genuine interest in his find, sighing with relief before remarking, "Link Network, I guess at least you didn't ask me to carry this bloody tunic around."
"Link Network, use this channel for exchanging information, please," Meditat sternly lectures rather suddenly after seeming engaged in the discussion, leading to Ekitai frowning and letting out a disappointed sigh. He rolls his shoulders and turns around to begin strolling back out of the room as he sarcastically retorts, "Link Network, okay okay, short data plan huh, got it."
Moving onto the next tree house, Kokei enters through another arched doorway, one of many and one of many more. The gentle breeze that plays with her hair weakens as she enters a familiarly structured lobby, for it seems many of these villages have similar architecture. At least this repetition allows for an easier sweep after memorizing the layout, as she knows that after stepping between the side doors, she just has to take a brief glance at the living room and office to register a lack of presence. She reminds herself of the staircase leading up to the second floor but bookmarks it in her head, prioritizing the base floor first as she explores the corridor ahead next. That green-tinted sunlight doesn't reach deep inside as she's quick to leave its grasp, instead being lit by the golden lights around the house, a warm color that provides a sense of calming despite the barren state.
Down the corridor, she passes a doorway to her right which she turns to, finding not a large room but instead a small closet space that has a few coats held up by hangars, but many more littered on the floor messily. She continues ahead, passing a few other doors with one leading down into another living room identified by the slightly visible sofas and tables that she takes a brief peek at. While perhaps she doesn't conduct the most thorough scans, she understands that by making her presence known to these rooms, it'd be enough to attract hiding survivors, and with such a great quantity of houses to search through she couldn't help but use some quicker methods. Still, she's fairly confident in the lack of presence other than herself, her soft breaths and gentle footsteps being the only sources of sound in the otherwise silent house, the warm lights not perfectly combating the sense of cold.
At the end of the corridor opens up another room that has cabinets along the walls with tabletops, boxes and jars littered throughout. She enters through a door by the corner, the room itself rectangular as she faces the left to find the longer end where on the other side of a table standing awkwardly in the center, that being an island which defines the room to be a kitchen, is another doorway to a different room. There's a third doorway on the adjacent wall, facing directly at the table, leading to what seems to be a living room. She first explores this kitchen as she strolls inside the room, twirling around to find that above the countertops are more cabinets hoisted up the wall, some of them open to offer smaller boxes as well as stacks of plates beside rows of cups for dinnerware. While the kitchen is technologically primitive, even at a glance lacking the same basic clean aesthetic as the walls are the same wooden brown, it isn't necessarily inadequate as there's still the equipment needed to produce food to feed. Perhaps this village is neglected by the greater Superverse, centuries behind development and stagnated when living under a chaotic war, but just wandering the houses reminds her that nonetheless people live here, many do have full lives even if contained. As she scans the room, she gently smiles at that thought, though that innocent smile shifts as she sets her eyes on a glass jar sitting on one of the islands, about half full of a brown liquid though it provides a strong meaty smell that pulls her closer in intrigue.
Standing by the table, Kokei peers over the open jar to more intimately inspect the substance, finding that inside the brown liquid that appears to be some broth are chunks of a dark brown meat with a pinkish middle, indicative of red meat. The concoction inside the jar that she slowly grabs with both hands to pull closer to herself for a better examination quickly resembles a stew, and the main meat is derived from a few sniffs before Kokei identifies in a soft whisper, "That's…venison."
Her eyebrow raises as all the details line up and trigger aforementioned details which ring a bell in her mind, her eyes popping wide in shock. As a silhouette of a man approaches from the doorway straight ahead, she raises her head up and concentrates to begin thinking in a hasty tone, "Link Net-," just as that man raises his hands to reveal what resembles a handgun before triggering a thunderous gunshot that instantly shatters the jar in her hands, triggering her to shriek before instinctively dropping to the ground along with the scattering glass shards followed by the stew that spreads over the countertop before spilling over.
Aimlessly wandering outside between towering trees with his hands stretched over his head, basking in the filtered green light beneath the rustling leaves that dance among the soft winds, Ekitai lets out an exhausted yawn as he wonders to himself with his head to the sky, "Am I just circling around now? These routes make no sense."
A single thunderous gunshot scarily close nearly makes him leap, his head snapping to the left from the direction it came from, directly facing a tree house not far from him, the arched doorway left open as marked.
Immediately, Ekitai drops his arms and breaks into a sprint for that tree house, relinquishing any feelings of leisure to act on reaction, huffing against his senile body to stride with all the haste he could funnel into his legs.
Like the proceeding of a storm, thunderous gunshots follow in bursts, temporarily overtaking the heavy heaving mixed with the breeze that brushes the flaps of his waving overcoat, the grass scrunching beneath his racing feet, his hands open, loose, reliant all on his legs to carry him as Ekitai hurries to the neighboring house, slipping into the open doorway.
Like the approach of said storm from the distance, the following gunshots sting the chest harder in its greater volume, the direction clearly ahead. He makes haste past the lobby and the opposing two doors, running down the corridor past the closet and other branching halls, focused on the end of the corridor past the doorway which flares twice in quick succession accompanied with twin thunders; this prompts Ekitai to pull his overcoat forward with his left hand to allow his right hand to dig into the inner pocket, triggering a blue flash of his own as he pulls his arm out to reveal –in his hands– his personal handgun built custom or at least it has the appearance of a makeshift device, coils wrapping around the trigger guard, crawling up and around the barrel several times, that barrel being unevenly heavier than the rest of the weapon.
Able to grip it with one hand, his thumb presses down on the hammer located above a small bright screen on the weapon's butt which clicks into place, letting him then take a few cautious steps to the end of the corridor as he lifts his arm to aim the weapon forward before pressing the trigger twice in quick succession, causing the coils to flare as two radiating lime green bolts are fired from the barrel.
Shouting of what sounds like a young man reacts followed by a sudden storm of shouting, granting Ekitai the chance to sprint inside what he finds to be a kitchen, pinpointing an island counter in the center where behind it sits Kokei, her hands gripping the wooden floor tightly which have been drenched in a brown stew mixed with chunks of cooked red meat though sullied with shards of shattered glass. She turns to face Ekitai with wide eyes as his attention shifts to a doorway at the other end of the hallway where for a split second he can see a figure with a smaller build, more akin to a boy, who is grabbed by a significantly taller figure with a more adult shape, tossing the boy back and yanking something from the boy's hand. What that object is gets swiftly revealed as a handgun which is raised, aimed, and fired towards Ekitai, but not before Ekitai's bright yellow eyes sharpen to focus on his ally whom he breaks into a roll towards, crawling beside her in avoidance of that shot.
Terrified at the predicament she got trapped in, Kokei turns to Ekitai who studies the butt of his weapon, flicking it with his thumb a few times before turning around and quickly popping out of the ground to fire a single yellow bolt at the hallway which the figure ducks away from, leading to more incoherent shouting not just of that voice and the boy's, but several more echoing deeper in the house. Another shot is fired into the kitchen, prompting Ekitai to again drop back down and sit beside Kokei, who just watches that bolt strike the wooden wall, leaving a clean hole punctured through. A few more shots are taken, however instead of flying over the counter, they instead penetrate straight through the cabinet of the island itself, exiting right between Ekitai and Kokei, the latter of whom jumps backwards with fright. While Ekitai does react to the penetrated shots which signifies the weakness of their cover, his eyes oddly trail down to the spilled stew on the floor, and amidst the battle, his free left hand reaches and grabs onto a clump of the venison meat which is seasoned with glass pieces. Nonetheless he carries the chunk to his mouth and tosses it in, chewing to much of Kokei's shock, staring dumbfounded at her friend choosing to eat at such a dire moment, though that friend just casually, whilst chewing his food, swipes on the screen of his handgun a few times before aiming it straight at the cabinets that have been shot up, firing a few blue bolts at close proximity which upon contact explode into patches of blue slime. Each shot is fired with a distance such that after just about five, he manages to cover the entire cabinet in the blue slime, just before a few more shots penetrate through the cabinet though fail to exit through the slime itself, revealing itself to be a formidable barrier.
Still chewing his concerningly crunchy food, Ekitai then pops back up to fire a few more yellow shots just before those echoing voices clear up and suddenly a second set of gunfire joins the kitchen's assault from that same doorway ahead, forcing him to duck back under cover from the added pressure. Both sets find harmony and fire one after the other as if increasing the fire rate of one weapon, reducing the window for retaliation as Ekitai is stuck on the ground with food still in his mouth all while Kokei just faces the ceiling anxiously, now careful to refrain from leaning against the cabinet which she glances at next.
At the entrance of a different tree house whose door is already open as well, Dana strolls out through the lobby with a disappointed sigh, her scouting ventures lacking desired results. Stepping outside under the green light, she glances over to the left where the next house in the forest stands which is when distant booms come in from the right, turning her head the other way. At first perplexed as it almost sounds like fireworks or construction, she just stalls in place until hearing a triplet burst of those same booms, suddenly jolting her to turn her whole body to the right. After another boom echoes to her, she immediately breaks into a forward sprint with abrupt haste, swinging her arms back and forth with a low stance, each step not merely scrunching the grass but more intensely smushing patches. She heaves with electric pants, her metallic body glistening like sweat, the blank face focused forwards as she leaps forward before the back of her knees flare up which then release an intense burst of propulsive golden energy that thrusts her further ahead, not in a constant flight but rather an extended bound.
Landing on her feet and continuing the sprint with no delay, Dana continues towards the gunshots, passing another tree house and taking another leap this time with greater strength to fling her past many more trees, extending her arms forward to catch herself on a tree her body collides into, but with quick reflexes she spins her body and clings onto the bark with her feet, crawling around the cylindrical trunk before the brown bark beneath her feet flash upon the absorption of the light composing the energy burst that she launches herself with, spinning herself upright again to land back on her clawed feet which tear the grass clean off before leaping off it once again, the house without the active door now in her sights, where the gunshots clearly emit from.
Landing close to the entrance, Dana reaches the door on foot with a few long strides, passing the lobby to charge down the corridor, leaving scratch marks in the floor from tense claws scraping the wood. It takes only seconds for her to reach the end of the hallway, entering the kitchen to find both Kokei and Ekitai hiding behind the central island among the spilled stew, using the table as cover from two men dressed in green hooded cloaks over forest brown tunics and navy blue trousers, each gripping handguns by a ring at the weapon's butt, firing bright orange bolts at the countertop. Her head however swivels to the other doorway as does Ekitai and Kokei's, for it's at that moment that two women also dressed in similar green cloaks emerge, both raising similar handguns but with a direct line of sight to the two hiding behind the counter given that the door is directly parallel with it. As Ekitai instinctively raises his hand to take aim, Dana extends her arm in the same direction, though her arm or rather hand extends further than natural as if a tentacle itself, rapidly growing past her allies before the head sprouts out to form a golden shield with raised edges that project a golden energy net to absorb the following fire.
Covering her team, Dana turns to the two who face back to her but not before taking a shot to her shoulder, grabbing it with her free hand with a grunt as Ekitai pops out of cover to fire two lime green bolts for the doorway ahead, forcing those two men to duck back out of the opening. Noting that Ekitai is covering that entrance, Dana turns to the one her shield is blocking before extending her other arm towards it which also extends, but the entire forearm morphs in shape, resembling the barrel of a rifle in its extruded components along with the hollow end which fires a sluggish stream of glowing golden energy bolts in retaliation, forcing those two women to use the door as cover but returning fire at a higher angle to hit the golden face same as the two men spinning out of the other door to fire at Ekitai who again ducks.
Those gunshots are muffled to the point of being nearly inaudible, nothing beyond puffs like smoke, at least when obstructed by the thick trunk and additional interior walls encasing the bedroom that Meditat departs the doorway of, sighing and determining, "Nothing of note, I haven't completed my side though it may be best to prioritize assessing Ekitai's findings. Orial, can you relay that location ping?"
Reaching the staircase which he spins to face towards before crawling down with casual steps, Meditat retrieves the confirmation from the voice emitting off his body: "I've loaded the position for you." After a few more puffs that are just slightly louder, Meditat suddenly stops in the middle of the staircase and turns his head towards the door where those sounds had come from. Another burst of puffs follows, prompting Meditat to resume his descent down the stairs but with a slightly greater haste, walking speedily as he apprehensively asks, "Can you ping all three of their locations and check if they're still on their paths?"
At the bottom of the staircase, he jogs to the doorway at the other end of the lobby, and upon stepping outside he hears those puffs clarity to what sounds like those booms straight ahead, perking his head up as Orial answers, "They've all diverged from their routes and seem to be currently stationed within one of the nodes along Kokei's designated path."
Meditat anxiously chuffs immediately from the instant recognition, not responding back as he instead raises both hands which each project a blue cable, then bending both arms to tug on the cables, tightening them as the bands of a slingshot, one he makes himself the projectile of by releasing the tug which launches him forward, aided by a latent boost powered by a thrust of blue energy rocketing him high in the air. From each hip projects two cables lined vertically, attaching to the mighty trunks to reel him forwards at an upward tilt at great speeds as his back nearly folds, though he straightens his posture to control the release boosted with another dash, as he extends both hands up to fire cables that attach to the branches high above, letting him swing from the sky as the cables are long enough to stretch in the cavity, providing more energy for him to throw himself with just before barrel rolling with a sideways dash to evade another thick tree, rolling forwards to unravel himself in order to project another three cables from each hip along with two from each hand, reeling forward whilst simultaneously boosting himself from the back, his cape waving frantically. He strafes to weave between trees with a combination of evasive dashes along with cables firing out of his hips to zip him to the side, dashing to the side of another tree before cupping his hands together and shooting a cable onto its side to swing around it in a brief orbit, letting go and rolling forward before again dashing forward and firing another series of cables in quick, frantic succession. He reaches forward and zips swiftly with another two quick cables followed by another three from both hips which pull him forwards, his cape nearly straight from the speed of flight. Approaching another tree head on, the cables firing from his hips attach at the edge of the trunk from his perspective, pulling him around it as another cable attaches onto the new visible edge, continuing one after the other to wrap him around the trunk, the final to do so firing from his hand which he jerks back to pass the tree entirely, finally allowing him sight on that one tree where the gunshots are clearest from, open.
High above the ground, well above the door, Meditat dashes at a tilted dive towards the battlefield, firing another triplet of cables from each hip lined up onto the trunk, although it's not beside the door but rather about a story above it. Bolting towards the trunk from a combination of the controlled wires and directional dash, Meditat aims his free hands along his path which he unleashes azure blazes towards, fiery streams that mixes together to form a single larger tunnel the head of which sharpens to a refined point of a nose, the rest of the stream straightening to a clean cylindrical shape although slightly thinner than the head, akin to a spear. The flame composing the shape hardens before morphing to take on a silver body, the end of which has five fins which begin spinning rapidly as the object propels itself forward, leaving behind a residual blue trail as it accelerates ahead of Meditat though on the same trail. That trail ends at the trunk between the two sets of cables where the head of the missile flares blue before collision triggers a directed explosion that blows a hole straight through the bark not even a full second before Meditat slips through it. Detaching all cables at once, Meditat slides out of the explosion, his body flying straight through the upstair corridor, but halfway through the hall he fires two wires from his hands straight to the ground and yanks himself, snapping a turn along his path and funneling all his momentum into a collision with the floor that cracks open, dust and snapped planks falling from the ceiling among the blue bolt that lands on the countertop of the island, throwing both hands forward one towards each door before bellowing, "STOP!!"
At this very moment, the gunfire from all six shooters ceases abruptly, the man's arms blocking both lines of crossfire. His head swivels between both sets, his back to the three warriors backed into the corner, his cape waving gently as it calms upon the halting of speed. The luminescent streaks coursing through his body brighten him like a bulb that attracts their attention, the four cloaked figures immediately setting their barrels on him, and yet not a single one of them fires. In fact, the nonstop booming room falls to absolute silence at just a moment, the last shot being the commanding voice standing among the debris.