The Rostical Users - Sceldrant's Comet

by Michael Rogers

Ashton: (So there's different elements of Scoldrants?)

  Alicia: "It had the type of a poisonous signature."

  Ashton: "Signature?"

  Alicia: "A signature are obvious things like colour or characteristics, for example the spider was red, it would be a fire based Scoldrant."

  Lance: *He stared at the Scoldrant's legs, twitching on the ground.* (This is like a freaking game or something.)

  Ashton: "You say would?"

  Alicia: "But really it wasn't, that was for defensive purposes, why would a fire based Scoldrant be in that type of environment?"

  Ashton: (That makes sense.)

  Lance: "I don't get any of this." *He shook his head and moaned with frustration.*

  Alicia: "Although some are not so obvious, hence the reason for different titles upon fighters."

  Lance: "Now we're talkin' about fighting titles? Wha-?"

  Alicia: "I-I don't believe this is the best place to talk about this." *She spoke quietly, as she stared at Cliff in concern.*

  Lance: (I'm going-) *He started to walk towards the dots in the distance, causing the party to follow him.*

  Ashton: "What about Cliff?"

  *The party quickly walked across Hollow Plains, as they hustled their way to AriAri village.*

  Alicia: "Cliff is one of the lowest ranking fighters-"

  Lance: "Lowest?! He like sliced the giant wasp thing with ease."

  Alicia: "Someone who can't use Rostical or use any sort of Rosterology supporters no matter how skilled they are, are automatically placed on bottom rank."

  Ashton: "No I mean what about Cliff, as in is he okay?"

  Cliff: "Heh, not to lower your morale, but I'm done for."

  Lance: (Done for? What a girl-)

  Cliff: "That tiny needle was lethal. No cure is known, it would be best not to worry."

  Ashton: "Surely there's a cure somewhere-"

  Cliff: "Don't talk about it please."

  Ashton: (Un-) *His eyes widened in shock and he paused, taking time to register what happened.* (Unacceptable.)

  Alicia: (We could get a cure at Surpreon, but we won't make it in time.)

  *Awkward silence hovered around the party, as they drew closer to the village.*

  Ashton: "L-Look-" *He coughed to clear his throat.* "I see AriAri village." *He spoke to clear the awkward silence.*

  Lance: "It's a little quiet for a village."

  Alicia: *She shook her head in response.* "Sometimes you can hear their festive activities from the other side of the Hollow Plains."

  Ashton: (If so, then why is it so quiet?)

  Lance: (About time-) *He walked into the outskirts of the village and turned around, facing the party.*

  Cliff: *He glanced to each side and suddenly looked cautious.* "Something not right."

  *The sounds of a commotion could be heard from the village's central square, catching the party's attention.*

  Alicia: "W-What was that?"

  *The party stealthily made their way to the central, hiding behind a stack of crates.*

  Lance: *He noticed a man in black armour with the number seventy engraved on the back.* (Is it a cosplay village or something?)

  Alicia: "A-A warrior." *She gasped in fear.*

  Ashton: *He watched frighten villagers circle around the warrior.* "Is he a bad guy-?"

  Warrior: "I expect food, money and jewels, pile them up right here, now!"

  Villager: *She nervously gulped and took a step forward.* "But you came just two days ago-"

  Warrior: "Know your place trash, I am warrior number seventy out of two hundred and fifty five."

  Lance: *He pretended to be a robot.* "I am four out of sixty thousand two hundred and ninety three-"

  Ashton: "Inappropriate time, not now, Lance."

  Lance: "Wateva-"

  Warrior: "I've been sent directly from the Consultants, don't ever speak to me in that matter."

  Villager: "Please, we don't have any, we have yet recovered from the last visit." *Her hands trembled with fear.*

  Warrior: "Too bad then." *He quickly grabbed a child by the hair and placed his sword on her throat.*

  Villager: "D-Don't!-"

  Warrior: "Then pay your tax?"

  Villager: "We can't-"

  Warrior: "Humph."

  Ashton: *He quickly looked away and squinted his eyes, as several villagers screamed.* (Disgusting-)

  Lance: (He just sliced that girl's-) "Oh f-"

  Cliff: *He quickly covered Lance's mouth.* "Don't give away our position."

  Alicia: *She covered her mouth with both hands, as she tried not to scream.* (H-Horrible.)

  Lance: *He looked at Cliff and nodded his head, causing Cliff to remove his hand.* "..."

  Warrior: "I will be back here shortly and I expect the products soon or more heads will start flying!"

  Cliff: *He watched villagers cry in disbelief.* (More heads?) *He stood up and jumped over the crates.*

  Alicia: "C-Cliff-?"

  Cliff: *He fiercely charged for the warrior, ripping the axe from his back.* "Enough pain!"

  Warrior: *He noticed Cliff and faced him with a smirk.* "Too slow, don't underestimate us warriors."

  Ashton: (This can't be happening-)

  Warrior: "Even though I can't use Rostical, I can easily kill you with no effort. It's as simple as that."

  Alicia: *She kneeled to the ground and stared at Cliff, as her eyes started to glaze.* (It wasn't meant to go like this-)

  Lance: (This has to be some show, or something, this is terrible.)

  Ashton: (I feel like fainting.) *He wiped sweat off his forehead.* "This cannot be accepted-"

  Cliff: *He raised his arm and frowned, swinging the axe at amazing speeds.* "Harh!"

  Warrior: "Grah!-" *He yelled with anger, jabbing the sword forward.*

  *Villagers gasped, as Cliff's axe bounced off the warrior's sword causing both weapons to spiral in the air.*

  Ashton: *He noticed a dirt cloud form around Cliff and the warrior, blocking his sight.* (Their speed and power caused the dirt to fly into the air-)

  Lance: *He watched the sword and axe jab into the ground.* (Those sounds, this isn't visual effects-)

  Alicia: *The dirt cloud settled, revealing Cliff and the warrior lying motionless on the ground.* "Cliff!-" *She quickly ran up to Cliff and dropped to her knees, feeling his cheek.* "I-It's cold."

  *Lance and Ashton ran from behind the crates and up to Alicia.*

  Ashton: (He's not breathing.)

  Lance: *He stared at Cliff in shock and noticed blood on the dirt around his feet.* "Oh shit-"

  Ashton: "This is what violence results to." *He looked annoyed and grunted with sadness.*

  Alicia: *She slowly stood up and sighed.* "Cliff was very experienced, but due to that encounter with the Scoldrant-"

  Lance: "He fought handicapped."

  Alicia: "Y-Yep-"

  Ashton: *He noticed the distraught villagers.* "Unacceptable-" *He mumbled to himself, before running towards them.*

  Warrior: *He twitched on the ground and coughed up blood.* "Me, to go like this?"

  Alicia: *She glanced at the warrior with distrust.* "..."

  Warrior: "My captain, Zayden-" *He coughed up more blood.* "Single digit captain, he will-"

  Alicia: "..." *She stared at the warrior with an emotionless face.*

  Warrior: "He will kill you all, without mercy!-" *He gagged and released his last breath.*

  Lance: "Captain? Single Digit?"

  Alicia: "I don't know much about their rankings, but all I know is that they're evil."

  Lance: "..." (There's two dead people right in front of me.) *He gulped and took short breaths.*

  Alicia: *She turned around and watched Ashton help the villagers.* (Huh?)

  Ashton: "Are you okay? I will take care of the injured first." *Several villagers pointed to the wounded, causing him to rush towards them.*

  Alicia: *She watched Ashton help a villager covered in blood on their f
eet.* "Why is he helping? He doesn't know them." *She looked at Lance with confusion.*

  Lance: "He's always been like that ever since I knew him, always tryin' to help people, I suppose it's nice but it kinda pisses me off."

  Alicia: "Why?"

  Lance: "Because-" *He stopped in mid-sentence and stared at Alicia.* "Shut up-" *He folded his arms and looked away.*

  Alicia: "S-Sorry?"

  Lance: *He sighed and focused his attention to Ashton.* "So, you're takin' Cliff's death pretty easily."

  Alicia: "It's how we're trained, showing emotion that doesn't benefit what we're doing-"

  Lance: "You show emotion all the time, ya dumb bitch?"

  Alicia: "Well it's how powerful people are trained-"

  Lance: "Wateva, I'm gonna help Ashton." *He grunted and slowly walked up to Ashton.*

  Alicia: (What a dirty la-) *She sighed and shook her head, as if he wasn't worth the trouble.* (To not show emotion upon death, is what the warriors are taught.)

  Ashton: *He wrapped bandages around a man's arm.* (I will do as much as I can-)

  Lance: "Oi-" *He grunted and stood behind Ashton, causing him to turn around.*

  Ashton: "Lance?"

  Alicia: *She stared at Ashton with amazement.* (I've never seen someone help others so much-) *She gasped to herself in thought and bit her bottom lip in frustration.* (What am I doing? I should help too.)

  *A distraught villager, rocked a screaming baby in her arms.*

  Alicia: *She walked up to Ashton and touched him on the shoulder.* "How can I help?"

  Ashton: *He turned around with a smile.* "Could you please take care of the children, make sure they aren't in shock."

  Alicia: "S-Sure." *She enthusiastically nodded her head and walked towards a crying boy.* "It's okay-"

  Ashton: *He tried to lift a man and grunted with failure.* "You three." *He grabbed the villager's attention, causing them to rush over and help him lift the man onto a bed.*

  Lance: *He stood on the spot and watched people run past him.* (This sucks.)

  Alicia: *She made the crying boy giggle with laughter, causing her to stand up and look at Lance.* (What's he-?)

  Lance: "Pssht, this ain't my thing." *He grunted and walked over to wooden crates.*

  Alicia: *She watched Lance sit on top of a crate with shock.* "How can he-?"

  Ashton: "A-Alicia-" *He grunted, as he struggled to hold a villager up over his shoulder.*

  Alicia: "C-Coming!-" *She quickly ran up to Ashton and helped him carry the villager.*

  Lance: *He watched Alicia and Ashton carry the injured one by one in the village's Inn.* (How boring.)

  *Ashton and Alicia worked until the sky started to turn orange, due to the setting sun.*

  ----------

  Ashton: *He walked out of the Inn and looked flustered with blood covered hands.* (Tiring-)

  Alicia: *She followed Ashton out of the Inn, rubbing her wrists.* "And that's it." *She sighed with satisfaction and appeared tired.*

  Ashton: *He looked up into the sky and looked surprised.* "It's almost night?"

  Lance: "Yea, I've been sittin' 'ere for like the whole day." *He selfishly folded his arms and stared at Ashton.*

  *One of the villagers who helped Ashton earlier that evening, walked out of the Inn.*

  Villager: "Excuse me?" *Her words caused Alicia and Ashton to turn around.*

  Alicia: "Yes?"

  Villager: "Thank you so much for your work." *She closed her eyes with gratification and bowed in respect.*

  Ashton: "You're quite alright."

  Villager: "I would like to thank you by letting you rest at the Inn free of charge. It isn't much but, it's the least we can do for you all."

  Lance: "Good 'cause I'm tired." *He yawned and rubbed his eyes without a care in the world.*

  Alicia: (I'm going to hit him soon.)

  Villager: "I will be happy to show you to your rooms?"

  Ashton: "Yes please, that would be great."

  Villager: "Please." *She walked up to the Inn and opened the door.*

  Ashton: "Thank you." *He smiled and walked past the villager.*

  *The floor squeaked, as the party shuffled into the Inn.*

  Lance: "The floors always squeak in these villages." *He looked disgusted and rolled his eyes.*

  Villager: *She opened two wooden doors.* "We currently only have two rooms available." *She looked at the party worried, due to her proposal.*

  Lance: "Yea, that's kool. and Alicia can sleep outside-"

  Ashton: "That's fine thank you." *He glanced at Lance and pretended to smile at the villager.*

  Villager: "Please enjoy your stay." *She quickly bowed and walked into another room.*

  Ashton: "Alicia, you can sleep in one, Lance and I will sleep in this one."

  Alicia: "Okay, I will see you both in the morning?"

  Lance: "Pssht, hopefully not-"

  Ashton: "Yes."

  Alicia: "G-Goodnight." *She closed the door behind her and footsteps could be heard from within the room.*

  Lance: "Ya better hope there's two beds, or you're sleepin' on the floor." *He walked into the room and yelled out.* "Ya lucky."

  Ashton: *He staggered into the room and noticed Lance already asleep on the bed.* (What a day it's been.)

  *Sheets which acted as curtains blew in the wind.*

  Ashton: *He plunked himself on the the vacant bed, ignoring Lance's loud snoring.* (Those abnormally large creatures, what were they exactly?) *He leant to the side and blew out candles, which kept the room a lit.*

  *Moonlight filled the room and faint sounds could be heard coming from nearby rooms.*

  Ashton: *He stared at the roof in thought and had a flashback of Millard using his Rostical.* (How is it possible? He used fire? It isn't scientifically possible-)

  *Ashton rolled to his side and ignored the flapping sheet.*

  Ashton: (It wasn't a flame thrower, I didn't smell petrol, I don't know, good grief.) *He frowned in over thought, causing him to doze off.*

  ----------

  *Alicia screamed, causing Lance to moan and lean up.*

  Lance: "That stupid cow is goin' to wake everyone in the Inn up." *He threw the sheets off and jumped out of bed, which caused the floor to squeak.*

  Ashton: "W-What's wrong?" *He mumbled and rubbed his eyes.*

  Lance: "The stupid girl is yellin' in there."

  Ashton: "Yelling? Alicia?"

  Lance: "Yea-" *He mumbled and walked to the door.*

  Ashton: *He hopped out of bed and followed Lance outside the room.* "Let's see what's wrong with her." *He softly knocked on Alicia's door and waited for a response.*

  Lance: "Nothin'?" *He grabbed the door handle and opened the door.*

  *Ashton and Lance walked into the room and found Alicia fast asleep on the bed.*

  Ashton: "She's still asleep." *He looked at Lance in confusion.*

  Lance: "Wateva-" *He yawned and faced the door to leave the room.* "I'm gonna go back to sleep."

  Alicia: "No! Give back my pendant it's mine!" *Her scream caused Ashton and Lance to jump in shock.*

  Ashton: "A-Alicia-" *He whispered towards the bed, as he tried to wake her up.*

  Alicia: "You can't-"

  Lance: "Wake up!"

  Alicia: "A-Ah-" *She sprung into the air in fright.*

  Ashton: (Lance-) *He sighed in thought and looked at Alicia.* "Are you okay?"

  Lance: (Are you OK? OK? OK? That's all he says. It's just as bad as those side characters who sit in the background and scream out someone's name all the time.) *He chuckled to himself.*

  Alicia: *She looked around the room confused.* "W-What happened?"

  Ashton: "Nothing, it seemed you were having a nightmare."

  Alicia: "I see." *She sighed in relief.*

  Lance: *He snickered and pointed at Alicia.* "Look at its hair."

  Ashton: "Unacceptable, Lance, not this early in the morning." *He rubbed his eyes.*

  Alicia: *She
looked out the window half asleep.* "The sunrise-" *She whispered to herself and glanced at Ashton.* "We can leave the village now."

  Lance: (About time, this village sucks.)

  Ashton: "Sure."

  Alicia: "Okay, I'll see you both in the central plaza in ten minutes?"

  Lance: "Wateva, just don't keep me waitin'." *He grunted and stormed out of the room.*

  Ashton: "Sorry about him-"

  Alicia: "No, it's fine." *She yawned with sadness and started to brush her hair.* (Stupid Lance-)