Private Footprints in the sand

[Jesse Organa]

Seren Gwyn

Jesse looked at her and then at Guilia and Ginger for a moment. "Yeah the spears are not the greatest but we do have a muscled cahar and a lot of shark teeth." She said it and Guilia had the sharkteeth saws and weapons they had made. THey had been upgrading as needed and Mari was directing some of the beasties to attack others while she was moving on the top. "They might be big and nasty but that weaponized fermentation will do a lot when it is on them. The fires can give us some fresh eats." There was a look as Guilia and Ginger weren't opening the gates that had been set up they were using the height and spears first to slash and stab at anything that was getting close.

 

[Seren Gwyn]

Seren watched Guilia and Ginger work from the elevated barricade, growing appreciative of the setup's practicality. Height, narrow approaches, sharpened shark teeth, and controlled choke points significantly improved the odds against creatures that seemed built almost entirely of armor plating and aggression.

Still, her gaze lingered on one particularly large crab clambering over wet stone with deeply suspicious determination.

"I was just thinking that," she admitted dryly as Jesse mentioned the fires doing most of the real work.

The reflected firelight danced across the slick shells gathering near the shoreline while the splashed alcohol continued soaking into sand, rock, and tidewater.

Seren glanced toward the nearby firepit. Then toward the beach. Then back toward Jesse with complete seriousness.

"Should I simply throw one of the burning logs out there?" A pause. "Because at this point I feel we are only a few decisions away from discovering whether this entire defense strategy is actually brilliant or catastrophically unstable."

Nearby, one of the alcohol-splashed crabs clicked aggressively against the barricade supports before recoiling from a spear thrust overhead.

Seren narrowed her eyes slightly.

"Admittedly, I am becoming more supportive of the fire option with every passing second."

Despite the commentary, she adjusted her grip on the spear and moved a half-step closer to the barricade line, clearly ready to follow through the moment somebody gave permission.

The strange part was that she sounded almost calm about it now. Possibly too calm.

Jesse Organa

 

[Jesse Organa]

Seren Gwyn

"Well I don't recommend a lot, you want it to be able to reach but yes. light them on fire." She said it as Jesse was moving and breathed in and then outwards, her hands coming up while she let blue, yellow and a golden crackle come but she was not releasing the force just building it up in herself before she exhaled. Guilia smashing into one crag with a metal and shark toot spear that hooked it and flung it around. Ginger was using another spear where Mari's beasts were tearing into some of the crabs to strike the gaps and wounds. Mugen had finished but was motioning for Seren. "ALright ignite the flames and we'll be able to use the fire breaks."

 

[Seren Gwyn]

Seren tightened her grip on the spear as the camp erupted into full motion around her, the strange mixture of survival instincts and improvised madness somehow functioning far better than it had any right to. Firelight flashed across armored shells and shark-toothed weapons while Mari's beasts tore into exposed gaps beneath the crabs' plating, Guilia hurled one creature bodily across the sand with enough force to crack its shell against stone, and Jesse stood wreathed in crackling Force energy that illuminated the barricades in pulses of blue and gold.

Mugen's shout finally pulled Seren's attention toward the alcohol-soaked firebreaks.

"I still cannot believe this is our actual strategy," she muttered dryly, though there was no hesitation left in her movements as she snatched one of the larger burning logs from the firepit and hurled it toward the shoreline.

The moment the log struck the soaked sand, flames erupted outward in violent branching waves across the beach, racing through the alcohol in lines of orange and blue that cut through the tide approaches and forced several of the crabs backward in shrieking, clicking panic.

Seren stared at the sudden wall of fire for a brief second before slowly lifting her spear again.

"…I retract several earlier criticisms regarding weaponized fermentation."

Jesse Organa

 

[Jesse Organa]

Seren Gwyn

Jesse chuckled a little to that as the flames moves, going along the alcohol and the ones who were trapped were able to be singled out. She waited until something got close and unleashed an electric judgement as the moisture conducted a little more. The electrical energies having some more resistance but it was for stunning rather then cooking... Mari's pet going into one that was stunned and Mari added to the strike with a lunging downward thrust once it was dragged in range. Ginger was checking on more before she didn't open anything to compromise them. She wasgetting ready for the next and tossing down a little more of it as well as some of the brush that they used for the kiln and fires inside. It would keep them burning as the smell of sap was going.

 

[Seren Gwyn]

The shoreline had descended fully into controlled chaos now, the firebreaks hissing and roaring as flames crawled through the alcohol-soaked sand while smoke and burning sap rolled across the beach in thick waves. Jesse's crackling surge of electricity arced through one of the advancing crabs the moment it crossed too close to the wet shoreline, the creature locking up just long enough for Mari's beasts to drag it inward, where her spear finished the job in a violent downward strike.

Seren watched the entire sequence unfold with narrowed amber eyes before slowly exhaling.

"I feel obligated to admit this defense plan is becoming disturbingly effective."

Despite the dry tone, she shifted immediately as another shape pushed too close to the barricade line, driving her spear downward into a softer gap beneath a crab's forward plating before wrenching the weapon free again with visible dislike at the sound it made.

"…I still hate these things," she informed nobody in particular.

The sap-heavy smoke thickened as Ginger continued feeding more brush and accelerant toward the outer fires, the scent sharp enough now to cling to the air and sting at the back of the throat while the flames burned hotter along the beach perimeter.

Seren glanced briefly toward the jungle line beyond the firelight, where darker movement still lingered just outside visibility.

"Whatever is watching us out there is being far too patient for my liking," she murmured more quietly, her grip tightening slightly around the spear. "Most predators either commit to the attack or retreat. Something is learning."

Even so, she adjusted her footing beside Jesse again rather than backing away from the barricade, the reflected blaze dancing across her features as another wave of clicking shapes shifted near the burning shoreline.

Jesse Organa

 

[Jesse Organa]

Seren Gwyn

Jesse gave a nod while she was looking over where Seren indicated and she could see and sense. "If it is learning it means this is a test more then an attack. It will either retreat if there is nothing here or stay there and make us have to adapt to it but either way. Morning will give us more of an advantage.. that and the force." She said it while she was breathing in and out... in and then out and enhanced her body. THe force going into her limbs with a nod when she threw the spear fast.... faster then ginger or mari. The force enhancing her throw speed to the point it was more like a gun going off and it went into a crab sending it back into the shadows with a snap into some of the trees that they could follow and going after the creatures that were there.

 

[Seren Gwyn]

Seren watched Jesse's spear leave her hand like a launched bolt rather than a thrown weapon, the Force-enhanced strike smashing into the crab hard enough to send the creature hurtling backward into the jungle line where branches snapped violently beneath the impact.

Her glowing amber eyes tracked the movement into the darkness beyond the firelight, following the sudden agitation rippling through whatever else lingered out there.

Then she looked sideways toward Jesse.

"…You know," she said with very measured calm, "watching you throw spears has become deeply concerning."

The dry remark faded quickly as her attention returned toward the shadows shifting deeper between the trees.

The creature had not died. It was still moving. Still retreating. Still learning.

Seren's grip adjusted slightly on her spear before she exhaled through the smoke-heavy air, the firelight flickering across her features while her gaze narrowed toward the darkness itself.

"Though now that you mention adaptation…"

The shadows beneath the jungle canopy shifted subtly. Not naturally.

The darkness pooling between roots and broken stone began creeping inward instead, slow at first, then with deliberate purpose, as though something beneath the forest floor had awakened and begun reaching outward through every patch of unclaimed dark.

Seren's voice remained calm. "Running is only useful if I allow it." The shadows surged.

Black tendrils lashed upward around the wounded crab deeper in the jungle, wrapping hard around its legs and lower shell before anchoring it violently against the trees. The creature shrieked and thrashed, claws snapping wildly while the darkness tightened further around it instead of breaking apart.

The surrounding movement in the jungle immediately recoiled.

Seren tilted her head slightly while studying the trapped creature through the firelight and smoke.

"Killing it immediately teaches the others very little," she murmured quietly. "But fear…" The restrained crab slammed uselessly against the shadows binding it. "…fear tends to spread efficiently."

Jesse Organa

 

[Jesse Organa]

Seren Gwyn

Jesse looked at her and gave a nod of her head to that. "Good, what works, works and we will make it through this... then we shall feast on crab soup." SHe said it as a joke as Guilia slammed a sharktooth through a shell. "SHould we survive, the food will be one thing but the shells will make useful pieces that we can use for things and I can see where we will have to fortify." SHe was speaking and had more things getting in her strikes that she would be able to use." She said it while Jesse was moving and threw another spear but was also reaching out with the force to find where these things were. Flinging more sand with a shift of her hand before she dug in. "THose shadows you can use, how far can you reach?"

 

[Seren Gwyn]

Seren watched another crab collapse beneath Guilia's brutal strike, its shattered shell scattering across the burning sand while the fires hissed and crackled along the soaked shoreline. Between the flames, the shadows binding the wounded creature deeper in the jungle, and Mari's beasts tearing into anything isolated long enough to matter, the camp had somehow transformed into a functioning defensive line rather than the disaster it first appeared to be.

Jesse's question pulled Seren's attention sideways for only a moment.

Her glowing amber eyes drifted briefly toward the jungle beyond the firelight, where darkness pooled thickly between the trees and roots.

"As far as I can see," she answered calmly.

Almost as if to demonstrate the point, the shadows farther down the shoreline shifted again, stretching unnaturally across stone and wet sand before coiling around another movement lurking too close to the perimeter. The creature never fully emerged before it was dragged violently backward into darkness with an eruption of clicking shrieks and snapping branches.

Seren's spear lowered slightly afterward as though this were becoming less a battle and more an increasingly irritating form of pest control.

"Though accuracy becomes more difficult at longer distances," she added matter-of-factly while another line of flame crackled higher across the beach. "And unfortunately, I cannot simply strangle the entire coastline at once."

A faint pause followed before dry amusement returned to her voice.

"Which, in fairness, is probably healthier for everyone involved."

Jesse Organa

 

[Jesse Organa]

Seren Gwyn

SHe gave a small nod to that. "Maybe though at the moment whatever is back there I would rather drown it in shadows and handle if anything is left over just letting it sit there." SHe said it while she took a moment and lined another shot with a spear for a moment. The shrapnel heads were easier to dispose of compared to the shark teeth so she had more then enough as the force went into her arm and she threw it. The angle good when it slammed into the shell with a crack... then was sending it back fast into the treeline with another snap while a tree fell towards the shadows and she was lining trees as barried further out. Allowing Guiliaa to have things in an area where Mari's beasts were dragging them into range.

 

[Seren Gwyn]

Seren watched Jesse's spear strike with another thunderous crack against the shell plating, the Force-enhanced impact launching the creature backward hard enough to send it crashing through the treeline, while one of the already weakened trees toppled across the approach path. Between the fallen trunks, spreading firebreaks, and writhing shadows deeper in the jungle, the shoreline was rapidly becoming less of an attack route and more of a layered death trap.

Which, Seren admitted privately, was reassuring.

"I support this strategy entirely," she said dryly while the shadows deeper within the jungle tightened further around the restrained creature still struggling there. "At this point, I think anything emerging from those trees deserves whatever horrifying experience follows."

Another crab attempted to skirt too close to the outer fireline only for one of Mari's beasts to slam into it from the side and drag it bodily back toward Guilia's waiting range.

Seren adjusted her grip on the spear but did not immediately throw herself forward into the chaos. Instead, her glowing amber eyes remained fixed farther outward, watching the spaces between the trees where movement still lingered.

Too controlled. Too patient. The shadows there responded to her attention almost instinctively now, spreading low across roots and broken stone like living ink.

"Whatever is directing this is growing more cautious," she murmured after a moment, her voice quieter beneath the roar of the fires. "The smaller ones rush the barricades. The larger presence hangs back and studies where we commit resources."

Her gaze narrowed slightly toward the darkness beyond the collapsed trees.

"Which means eventually it will either retreat…" The shadows farther out shifted again. "…or decide it finally understands us well enough to commit properly."

Jesse Organa

 

[Jesse Organa]

Seren Gwyn

Jesse gave a nod. "THen it is time.. Mugen do it." Jesse said it as she threw another spear with a crack and Mugan looked from where he was. "Ah do what?" He had a spear and was stabbing while directing light towards targets that Ginger and Ru could get. Jesse didn't look while she was getting into position with another. "Ah some secret thing that you have been working on to impress us." He kept looking at her and then at Seren. "Ah... I got nothing? But we might be able to use the hooks to grab at whatever it is the two of you are seeing back there. drag it forward." He shrugged and Ru was looking as he moved towards one of the hooks and lines. "It might work, it is anchored but it isn't exactly quick." He said it but had positioned himself as Jesse was moving. "I can throw it, you help reel it in and Seren can direct me for the best accuracy."

 

[Seren Gwyn]

Seren's glowing amber eyes remained fixed on the darkness beyond the burning shoreline while Jesse casually volunteered Mugen for some apparently nonexistent secret plan. The entire exchange would have been absurdly amusing under different circumstances, though the massive shape shifting deeper between the trees kept her attention sharp.

At Mugen's suggestion, however, her gaze flicked toward the anchored hooks and heavy lines scattered near the barricade. Then back toward the jungle. The shadows there still writhed unnaturally around something much larger than the crabs now pressing the beach.

"Actually…" The word came slowly as she considered it. "That may not be the worst idea we have had tonight." Which, admittedly, was not an especially high standard anymore.

Another heavy movement shifted behind the treeline, large enough now that even the flames briefly illuminated sections of armored shell and jagged limbs through the smoke.

Seren pointed immediately. "There." The shadows surged again beneath the trees, coiling tighter around the larger creature's legs and lower body to slow its movement rather than fully restrain it this time.

"I can hold it in place long enough for the hook to land," she said while her focus remained fixed outward, the darkness beneath the jungle visibly responding to the tension in her voice. "But once it realizes we are trying to drag it forward, it is going to become significantly less cooperative."

A faint pause followed before dry amusement slipped briefly into her tone again.

"So ideally we avoid missing and provoking whatever enormous mistake is hiding back there."

Jesse Organa

 

[Jesse Organa]

Seren Gwyn

Jesse gave a nod of her head as she motioned and Ru and Mugen were there on the hooks. She moved between them and Mari was directing with Ginger while Guilia had a spear and one of the shark tooth axes that they had constructed to be able to use. "Alright ready." As Seren would have been able to hold it in place once she had it ready... Jesse focused on the force and as they released the hooks to toss them as far as they could... she breathed in and then outwards with the hooks flying forward and slamming into it. Jagged limbs as the lines went tight but they were not pulling at it to break the lines they were working on the tension to ease it closer and closer for the moment. Towards the fire as Jesse was touching the line and focused on the wire and metal threading there as she was sending emeralf and yellow lightning down it... to shock and stun with a nod while she was looking for Seren.

 

[Seren Gwyn]

The treeline convulsed as the hooks slammed home. Drawn taut by Ru and Mugen, the lines groaned under the weight of a creature far larger than the beach crabs. It shrieked, tearing through roots and stone, while Jesse's emerald and yellow lightning surged down the metal wires, lighting up the canopy in violent flashes.

Seren's shadows lashed upward like living chains, binding the beast's lower limbs and pinning it in place against the onslaught.

As the creature lurched into the firelight. An ugly, thrashing mass of excessive limbs, heavy shell, and unnerving eyes. Seren didn't break her focus. Every muscle tense against the strain, she pointed directly toward its exposed underside.

"There," she commanded, her voice sharpening over the chaos. "The joints beneath the forward shell are softer. Pull it into the fire and break its balance!"

The beast shrieked again, fighting the suffocating darkness. Yet, amidst the flames and crackling lightning, a thread of dry disbelief slipped into Seren's voice.

"…I truly cannot believe this plan worked."

Jesse Organa

 

[Jesse Organa]

Seren Gwyn

Jesse looked at her while she kept the shocks going to mess with it and the shadows. Ginger and Mari coming over as they started reeling it in with Mugen and Ru... they had a look before Jesse spoke and she heard a voice. Etain stumbling around drunk yes. "What's going to work team.... work." She said it as she went to the wall and looked. "I knew if we stayed here long enough we would get crabs." Jesse took a small moment to look at the woman who was there and she was moving now as she pulled with the force to bring the beast in more and more. Guilia moving to strike for the open areas that she could and retreat as the larger cathar was trained to take down larger beasts.

 

[Seren Gwyn]

Seren maintained her hold on the shadows as the hooked creature continued to fight against the lines dragging it from the jungle. Every violent thrash sent tremors through the ropes and anchors while Jesse's lightning crawled down the metal cables in crackling waves, forcing the massive beast to spasm and stumble whenever it tried to gain purchase. Between the shadows binding its limbs, the hooks buried into its shell, and the combined effort of Ru, Mugen, Mari, and Ginger hauling it forward, the creature was steadily losing ground, whether it liked it or not.

Etain's voice drifting across the camp drew Seren's attention just long enough for her to glance over her shoulder, and despite everything happening around them, a faint look of disbelief crossed her features.

"I am still trying to understand how you managed to become intoxicated during a monster attack," she observed dryly before turning her attention back toward the shoreline. "Though I suppose if anyone was going to accomplish it, it would be you."

The beast chose that exact moment to rear back against the tension holding it, its jagged limbs digging furrows through the sand as it attempted to pull itself free. Seren reacted immediately, extending her will deeper into the shadows beneath it. Darkness surged upward around one of its rear limbs and yanked sharply sideways, disrupting its balance just as Jesse increased the pressure through the lines.

The effect was immediate.

The creature lurched awkwardly and crashed heavily onto one side, exposing portions of its underside that had remained protected until now. Firelight danced across softer joints and thinner sections of plating while Guilia moved instinctively to exploit the opening.

Seren pointed toward the exposed section while maintaining pressure on the shadows.

"There. The underside is far less protected than the shell. If you are going to hit it, hit it there and keep it off balance. The moment it regains its footing, we lose most of this advantage."

Her amber eyes remained fixed on the struggling creature as it was dragged another few meters toward the firebreaks, the realization slowly settling in that whatever had been lurking beyond the treeline all evening was finally being forced into the open.

A faint breath escaped her before a trace of dry humor returned despite the situation.

"And if we survive this, I reserve the right to blame Etain personally for attracting the crabs."

The shadows tightened again around the creature's limbs while the firelight reflected in Seren's eyes.

"Now keep pulling. We have come this far; it would be a shame to let it retreat after all this effort."

Jesse Organa

 

[Jesse Organa]

Seren Gwyn

Etain looked at Seren and she spoke. "Cause I am the pregame master." She said it with a look but she had a spear in her hand but she was mostly looking over while keeping it at the ready. "And I was the only one who took more then one drink of that swill yo." She said it before she was going over everything. Jesse steadying her for the moment so that the two of them could balance it out and help pull as well. Guilia was moving as she threw a spear with another shock coming to the crab from Jesse while she threw the spear towards the underbelly... and then she was slashing while her foot claaws were out and she was slashing with longer toe nails to slice into the belly.

 

[Seren Gwyn]

Seren glanced toward Etain just long enough to confirm that, yes, she was still somehow participating in a coordinated monster defense while noticeably intoxicated.

The fact that Etain sounded proud of this accomplishment did not improve the situation.

"I am not entirely convinced 'pregame master' is a title that should inspire confidence under the current circumstances," she replied dryly, though the corner of her mouth twitched despite herself. "And being the only person willing to drink more than one mouthful of that concoction may say more about your judgment than your fortitude."

The exchange ended there as the creature shrieked again beneath the combined assault.

Jesse's lightning crawled across the hooked lines and into the massive crab's shell, causing its limbs to seize and spasm while Ru and Mugen continued hauling steadily from behind the barricade. The beast fought every meter of ground it lost, but it was losing nonetheless. Firelight reflected from scorched armor plating while Guilia surged forward the instant the exposed underside presented itself.

The Cathar's spear struck first.

Then came claws.

Long, vicious slashes tore through softer tissue beneath the shell while the creature thrashed violently enough to shake sand from the nearby barricades. Shadows immediately surged upward in response, coiling around the wounded limb and dragging against its movement to keep it from regaining proper leverage.

Seren extended her will deeper into the darkness beneath the creature, feeling resistance as it struggled against the restraints.

A normal animal would have broken by now. This one was still thinking. Still adapting. That realization settled uncomfortably.

"Keep pressure on it," she called, her gaze fixed on the wounded underside while shadows continued tightening around its limbs. "The shell is protecting less now. Every wound is making it slower, and if it is as intelligent as I think it is, it is already looking for a way to escape rather than a way to win."

The creature shrieked again and attempted to pull itself backward, only for the hooks, shadows, and sheer stubbornness of the group to deny it the opportunity.

For the first time since it had emerged from the jungle, Seren found herself wondering if they might actually kill the thing.

"And if we survive this," she added, her dry humor resurfacing despite the chaos around them, "I believe Etain has volunteered to sample every future batch of alcohol before the rest of us are subjected to it."

Jesse Organa