"Heh, if you think I'd ever suggest that, you don't know me so well." Juniper said chuckling softly to herself, "I will, however, say that you need to be very careful about the fights you pick. Always know what you're fighting for, and what you're willing to sacrifice to get it. We're not the apex predators on this rock, so we no longer have the luxury of getting everything we want." Juniper shrugged her shoulders broadly. There was more she would've liked to say on the subject, but she was bound by her promise not to bring up the crazier aspects of the island.

She'd started to nod as she considered the viability of Eve's "hot wax facial" maneuver . . . it'd make a hell of a mess, no doubt about that. They could always use the stove in the kitchenette to keep the wax warm and bubbling, though somehow the idea of keeping a bowl of scalding wax in their dorm with the way creatures were just wandering in and out of it today just seemed like it would be viewed as an invitation.

"Eve, behind you!" Juniper's hand snapped out as a broad wooden arm reached through the tree she'd cut to create her batons. Crap it seemed that they'd caught up to her faster than she'd expected. Her concern for the other girl was displaced slightly as plumes of dirt burst up around her feet.

"What the hell!?!" for a brief moment, at least, the two girls found themselves on the same page. Juniper straightened her body out in a rush, her gymnastic training guiding her backwards into a somersault as she tried to clear the grasping boney claws that were breaking through the soil. Where the heck had those skeletal arms even come from!? She'd never heard of a graveyard on the island . . . had she unwittingly blundered into the part of the wilderness where they disposed of the more troublesome students? Somehow, that didn't seem right.

Hm, Amelia was quick, he would give her that. The boney claws reach and tried to grasp to no avail. They were only semi real, conjurations of the simplest form and he growled slightly seeing the large tree thing with the other girl it was time to switch up. Regretfully he could do nothing with Amelia but the blonde … that was another matter.

She was to focused on the plant thing in front of her and Gersham had never seen it before. Then again other than Aegir there were so few creatures that he knew, only the incidental ones he met at the arena.

But the black miasma, that inky cold sphere formed on his right hand as those black feathery wings disappeared. He hurled that sphere at Eve before he made his presence known. He could deal with this one though and prepared to hurl another dart of black miasma at the girl.

GET THE OTHER ONE! I'LL DEAL WITH THE BLOND!

He sneered as he strode leisurely forward. Black miasma springing to encompass both hands as the skeletal hands retreated back into the earth.

Birch gazed at the blond who evaded him. Her reflexes would do little good as he reached out through the tangle of vegetation though the other intruded in on the matter. For a second he was confused as if he didn't wish to take any orders, well from anyone other than the giant. But he did not care which girl he got, they both would be quite capable of nourishing him although Eve may have been a delicacy he did not know it.

If Eve struck out then taken advantage of that confusion she would find that the batons based through it harmlessly other than the stone tip that thunked against his barky hide. He looked towards the demon, then at Juniper as he appraised his surroundings before stepping back into the tree, vanishing only to come out of a tree closer to Juniper, and while he loomed closer gathering her attention it was the vine that he was controlling that snaked along the ground that would strike out from behind her attempting to ensnare her ankle and jerk her off her feet.

She holds her ground.. watching the veggatation on the path seeing to extend out of the ground toward them.. there wasnt alot on the path itself and thats where she had dived under and spun to. Now she was glaring at that wood.. type creature..

She would indeed take advantage of its moment of appearent confusion.. darting forward with her wooden weapons she goes for the knock out blow.. aiming for the head.. but her batons pass threw harmlessly. She doesnt really stand still long enough though.. haveing not over extended herself.. keeping to her own bubble.. the one she had full control over.

There had been no stone tips in the batons, the stones she had used were mainly used at cutting tools for getting them off the tree and trimming them for what she needed. The stones were back into her pockets again at this point.

She hears that sudden yell.. Her eyes quickly snapping in that direction.. if it hadnt been for Agility.. that black ball or whatever it was.. would have caught her square in the back... Even as she twists.. arking to her toes as she twists her intire body.. the thing still manages to catch her on her shoulder... the impact physical to a extend as she spins around.. useing the things movement of her to swing around.. crouching low to the ground as she spins down.. in one smooth motion she drops one of the batons, snags up a fist sized rock.... and hurls it.. directly at the creatures face, without even really stopping to see what it looked like.

Even as she crouchs on the ground.. she feels... a suddenly.. larthergic feeling speading from her arm.. She blinks a bit.. what a odd.. time to be tiring allready.

She was remaining focised as she glances back at the wooden creature.. only to see it.. backstep and dissappear into the tree.

Juniper let out a breath as she landed spryly on the balls of her feet and bounced back a little further. She'd lucked out, she'd had to move before really perceiving what was happening around her, she'd felt the caress of skeletal fingers along her legs before her momentum carried her free, and was fortunate to land on the other side of a ring of grasping claws instead of putting her feet down in a field of them. Paranoia and reflexes, it seemed had kept her out of the grasp of whatever was coming a few moment more, at least.

"Incoming!" she barely snapped off a shout, the passage of the dark elemental sphere whipping her hair and skirt around with it's wake. She blinked slightly and turned on her heel . . . if that had been aimed for her she'd have been caught flatfooted, still scrambling to get her head around everything that was happening around her. Then she heard that commanding shout ring out. Perfect, it seemed they'd managed to attract the attention of her favorite voyeur. Aegir said he'd warned the thing off from her . . . but that kind of protection didn't apply to Eve, and old Squid-lips had also intimated that he wasn't exactly a light touch.

And there he was, striding up after them with that confident sneer etched on his face, both hands wreathed in rolling balls of light-consuming darkness as her circled them. Instincts told her to run, but principle kept her rooted in place as she saw Eve take a knee in the dirt.

"Do you remember what I said about the first rule of self defense . . .?" she said lowly, taking a defensive step towards the other girl, tossing her books aside to draw her hands up defensively in loose fists. She wasn't sure she could actually do anything to Gersham but he looked human enough. Eyes, ears, joints . . . he might have some of the same vulnerabilities. She'd focused too much, however, missing as Birch stepped back through the tree he'd first emerged from. She'd been expecting another trick like the grasping skeletal hands, so the sound of a vine slithering through the grass caught in her ear and caused her to nimbly hop away again.

The broad wooden creature's rapid position shifting, however? That she hadn't expected. She'd assumed he was able to meld with trees and use them as camouflage, perhaps merge with them and direct the passage of their roots and branches, but teleportation and most of the other esoteric abilities the island's denizens possessed she was still getting her head around. And as she landed, she grit her teeth, the shadow falling over her shoulders telling her that she'd just landed inside arm's reach of the other thing even as she felt that her balance wasn't back under control just yet.

She was quick. Good, he was hoping that this wouldn't be over too quick. She was no Iria though, Gersham sneered at the student as his attention had been locked upon her. He was unable to touch Amelia but this one was fair game. So delicate looking, a radiant flower in the garden Gersham, being half incubus, had dealt with all manners of women before and Eve would have certain fallen into the more beautiful of them.

Despite that he was already getting hard in anticipation of all the things he was going to do to her and have her do in a few short minutes, this would not take long with the inhibitors in place. Even if he were going to toy with them he doubted that it would be more than a few minutes before he had her at his mercy.

Even now the blond showed how desperate she was by hurling a stone at him. He lobed the black miasma on his left hand at it to semi solid sphere of darkness deflecting the stone as it rushed forward, he dropped, a single arcane word passing from his lips as his left hand slapped at the earth ripping a tremor though the earth towards Eve. With the miasma going in one direction the shock wave in another there were directions for her to dodge and if he had the time he would spring up and hurl the miasma on his other hand in that likely direction now always keeping the girl off balance at least even if he were not connecting.

Wood seemed to have no effect on Birch harmless sailing through him as if it were not even there. He made sense out of the commands the demon issued though he was already here, why should he reposition himself but the demon seemed to be concentrating on the blond and that reminded him of the hunts with Slaarr and where his focus always was. For a brief second he recounted how the former imp wanted to employ his aid to get at a blond and briefly he wondered if the imp meant these two, no, what were the odds?

He stepped back into the tree and out another appearing closer to Juniper as she had just nimbly avoided the skeletal hands. She even heard the snaking of the vine as he maneuvered into position as she evaded the vine that brought her within striking distance of himself.

His fighting technique was rather crude but effective. He was no martial artist, he wasn't even a brawler though his natural strength and weight lent him to such a task far easier than others.

He rushed at the smaller girl, leading with his shoulder he attempted to use that weight to drive her into the ground and follow her down if he connected with her.

The moment of the sensuation was tense.. but from the heat of what was happening was making her mind react faster then she would otherwise have been able to considering just what was happening here. When given time to reflect later if she did get away.. she would most likly be swearing.

She hadnt been desprit when she had thrown the rock.. it had been more like a fluid motion from her spin to one knee...She takes note of the.. area for a quick moment her eyes darting back and forth.. she was allready starting to breath harder.. She surprised her on one level.. simply because she had allways been in great shape.. and yet.. something was tugging on her muscels.. like something was trying to tire her out more then normal.

She doesnt really respond to juniper as she was.. intend on watching the creature.. what ever it was before her.. She was too far away.. he was getting to hurl what ever those things were at her.. somehow she didnt feel like she needed to be hit by those.

She only had a moment to deside as the thing had deflected the stone by hurtling another spear of energy at her.. even the... Shock wave passing along the ground she hurd rumbling towards her.. so she did the only thing that might help... she dove forward toward the creature. Diving under the approching energy ball... curling herself into a ball as she rolls forward under the thing sizzeling above her head.. With luck she would roll right threw the vibrations of the ground.. being compact as she was.. it would be easer to control. Even as she would come out of her roll.. on the other side of the trmbling.. she would snatach up another stone to hurl it at the creatures face.. her eyes glaring.. as she goes back to a knee... She was starting to pant.. something was most defently wrong with her.. as this extra.. asseration was defently taking more out of her then it should have.

Juniper grit her teeth, Eve was closing the distance on Gersham. Which was pretty much the opposite of what Juni had been hoping she'd do. The open aggression and the use of hard martial techniques wasn't doing her any favors either, just latching the Inhibitor more tightly to her and sapping her endurance away at a prodigious rate. Or maybe the tri-clops weird black bolts had some form of strength sapping component?

"WUMPH!" of course, Juniper had problems of her own to contend with. Birch only had four inches on her, she barely had to look up to meet his wooden face, but he was broad and heavy. Still trying to reorient, Juniper folded up as he slammed into her with a low tackle. She wasn't going to muscle this thing off of herself if it got her pinned down, that much was sure . . . she had exactly one chance to try and use his considerable momentum against him, grabbing hold of the back of his neck as she felt her body orienting towards the ground, she leaned back to make sure her shoulders would hit first, swinging her legs up.

It was a simple enough, in theory, use her body as a fulcrum, following the natural motion through into a roll as she tried to kick hard with her legs. Simple judo throw, more about redirection instead of strength. Of course, there was the fact that she'd never attempted such a thing before, and while the island couldn't mess with purely physical laws she had a sneaking suspicion that it wasn't above flummoxing her attempts to enact them.

Eve dove, managing to doge the first sphere as it was hurled at her. The second had been hurled towards her left anticipating that she would dodge that way but she surprised him by coming straight ahead. Even so, his earlier assessment had not changed as he could already see Eve struggling for breath as she launched another stone at him as the black miasma formed over his left hand.

This time he used it as a shield deflecting the stone away before it found it's mark. He grinned, a loop sided grin. His third eye analyzing the fact that she was exhausting herself.

I see someone hasn't been keeping up with her cardiovascular conditioning and here you looked so promising for a few seconds at least. BELZAR.

He snapped the fingers of his right hand and images of himself rushed out of the original. Eight in all, was where he was one of these life like duplicates? A bend of the shadow given shape and texture through his illusions.

The thing was the shadowy images winked out of existence with the barest contact and their attacks were harmless and mere illusions of a true one but the reasoning behind this spell were clear … one of the eight had been real but with eight images all launching those black spheres at her it was clear that the real one would have it easier now, what spheres were going to hurt? Which were going to harmlessly pass through her body? She would have to choose which ones to dodge but in that con-jested mass … all eight of the Gershams had been chuckling at her as they spread out to surround her.

Birch did not learn the finer techniques of martial arts, he had no use for them and being that he did not often have to fight much Juniper actual managed to use his momentum against him. It is rather crude and unpracticed but she does it …

That was were the good news ended for he was on his back contemplating how pointless that was seeing how his heavy frame was unharmed he had considered that it did work in that she wasn't pinned but his left hand had a hold on her right forearm. Even now he had not let go as he laid their in silent contemplation for a moment as he considered the maneuver and stored it away for next time.

He could still here the demon battling the other girl and while this one wasn't pinned she wasn't going to get far either.

What was the point of that? He asked after a moment of this contemplation. He had seen Martial Arts once before when he came upon Susan training but even then he did not truly understand them. Birch kept that grip on her, yet to try to move as he pondered this, he seemed to have an inquisitive mind if he wasn't using this moment as a rouse of some sort for whatever reason.

Staying on her one knee for a moment she narrows her eyes.. at the sudden.. appearence of the mirror images of the first one as they start to encirle her. She was still putting it out of her mind at the moment, not even wanting to deal what with what happening.. or what it ment.. just taking each moment at a time.. and right now the threat that was before her was attacking.

So she was counter attacking.. She wasnt normal one to run from a fight when she stool a chance.. or at least when she thought she stood a chance. But from the way her lungs were starting to complain.. she knew something was eather wrong with her.. or.. something eles. But that was a thought she didnt want to have at the moment.

She needed to end this battle faster then later. She hurd a large THUD behind her.. she hoped that juniper was doing ok.. She knew the girl was fast.. and really wouldnt blame her if she ran away. Most girls she had surrounded herself in the past.. those blond.. bubbleheaded onces at least.. would have been screaming and in tears by now.

Her eyes scan the ground from where the creatures were moveing.. not a sinle one of them was making its own shadow.. But.. only one of them was stepping off the path and making indentions within the leafs and off trail things. She narrows her eyes.. as all the images raise there hands and hurl there bolts at her.

Of course, if by some change the others were not images.. she was about to get.. as the term would go.. blasted to smitherines.. but.. there was no way for her to advoid this onslaurter.. or any of this for much longer.

Scopping up another fist size stone with her free hand she surges forward.. which would be.. to the side of the creature sence it was now moveing off to her side.. Diving forward keeping the stone within her grasp.. not evening noticeing the balls that were hitting her and doing nothing at least within her roll she hadmt.

She was sweating more as the exseration was taking more out of her.. all these rolls and dives were quickly taking her stamunim from her. Even as she goes back to her knee again at the other end of the roll, she lets fly in one fluid motion again that stone aimed directly at the creatures face again.. her body might be tiring.. but she didnt figure her aim would suffer.. and she hadnt missed a target she had aimed for in years.

Even as the stone leaves her hand.. one of the illusionly spheres hits her.. causeing her to flinch for a moment even though she hadnt felt a thing from it.. her heart pounding in her chest.. She would have to think.. long and hard about this come later... if there was a later.

"It got you to talk, for one thing." Juniper responded to Birch, looking up at the sky as she lay on her back as well. Not an advantageous position, given that she'd seen this thing control roots and vines already. She twisted her wrist one way and then the other in his wooden grasp for a moment, but she couldn't get her forearm to shift in his hand. She tried to pull herself to her feet, but it was like being shackled to a rock with a short chain, he was just too heavy for him to move with her own strength.

"The idea though, was to throw you free so I could keep my mobility." well, if she was locked into a particular orientation, she'd just have to work within the confines of her predicament. She kicked her legs up and rolled onto her shoulders, completing the backwards roll until she came to a stop straddling his broad chest. She wasn't entirely certain this was a better position, but it was an improvement over standing still, "Had you pegged for one of the more mindless, brutal sorts. I tend to do that when you things go straight for the attack out of ambush."

She cocked her fist back. looking into knots that seemed to act as this thing's eyes. She wasn't delusional enough to think that trying to punch his lights out would do anything more than break her knuckles. Idly she wished that she'd had one one Eve's wedge-rocks, this would be a little more likely to work with the aid of a tool. Then, with a quick snap of the wrist, she jammed her fist into the start of Birch's grasping thumb. She doubted he'd do it out of pain, no, she was trying to break the comparatively thin branch that made up his finger.

He hardly paid attention to her. This was not an arena contest where he could loose. No, he would win. He entertained no doubts in that and he could obviously see the effect that all her dodging was having.

Gersham wasn't paying attention to the tree creature or Amelia either. He was focused on what he was going to to to Eve to pay much attention to what she was doing like checking the images for shadows.

While so long as one image existed he had no shadow. The images in part were manifestations of his shadow with a trace of illusionary magic. The only sound they made mimicked the sounds that Gersham made. The terrain was unaffected by their passing though if Gersham was paying more attention he might have picked up on the fact that she had figured out the rouse faster than most.

Leaving herself upon to the illusionary spheres she flings that those that strike harmlessly pass through her and the real ones are the only ones she has to concentrate on evading.

But he had suspected that Eve would fall prey to the rouse easy enough, she was just a student, her weapons simple rocks …

NAAARGH! He spat, he had no true forehead for that was where his central eye was though he instinctively closed it as the stone smashed into him and he dropped, all the duplicate images mirroring the action by dropping onto their rumps each slapping a hand over the eye, his eyelid cut, the eye looking swollen as if he were in a Ricky movie.

LITTLE BITCH! He snarled as his usual jovial nature slipped away, it was time to get serious.

The images weren't working so he dismissed them, his central eye still squeezed closed, his other two eyes glaring at Eve as he struggles to his feet more surprised than hurt. I'm going to enjoy this!

Birch chuckled at the simple response, Yes, it has done that I suppose. He remained impassive as she struggled against he grip but it was no use, he was just to heavy to move nor was she strong enough to brake that simple grip that he maintained without any real effort. He was still thinking as she struggled this way and that but he was not letting go. She eventual gave up and rolled back atop him. This wasn't a position he often found himself in though he was fairly confident that he could rule her and pin her beneath his weight now.

He did not seem to do that though simply holding onto her forearm as she explained things to him.

Most times I do not have the luxury of time, especially now with Thudd asleep and Slarr busy chasing his blondes prey is rather scarce at times. I do find all interesting sorts though when I am fortunate to stumble upon someone.

But I could see see how you would leap to that conclusion. I considered a blitz-Grieg style of approach having the best results but I must say that I was somewhat surprised by the maneuver you pulled just now.

Juni twisted once more attacking his thumb but he did not have a nervous system like mammals and his thumbs were tough and only had some movement at the limbs.

I am Yengeal, most psychical attacks will not work on me sapling, not from your king at least. And here I believed we were forming a rapport of sorts.

He moved then attempting to roll her now with his advantage in weight he did not see this as being much of a problem.