A person

It seemed as though one of the creatures was feeling rather brave as it threw its lantern out at the quartet and charged at them, its knife out in front of itself. The creature was hit hard by the bullet, sending it face-first into the ground, though it still managed to slowly pull itself up, albeit stumbling as it did so. Nemesis' target creature spotted this and proceeded to raise up its lantern, the red flames upon the ground beginning to get pulled into it, causing Nemesis to back off from it. However... ...her attention was soon brought to Hinamori. Nemesis: Hina! She immediately ran to the girl's aid. Her allies' well-being was far more important than ensuring that the creatures were all dealt with.

The creature danced to the right of his thrust and, using the close quarters to its advantage, proceeded to try and throw the lantern at him... ...only for it to explode within its grasp, causing the flames to shroud it. Having no other choice, it proceeded to charge directly at Tommy, its arms out as though it were getting ready to hug him. Nemesis, meanwhile, proceeded to fall upon the creature that was knocked away by Hugh and sent her katars into its head, ensuring that it was going to stay down. Permanently. Not hesitating, she moved onto the next creature, one with a lantern, her katars ready to send another to the afterlife.

The creature would find itself meeting up with an electrically-charged first, causing it to be sent flying away from him and tumbling along the ground. Another, seeing this happen, proceeded to fling its lantern at Hugh, trying to catch him while he was busy assessing the damage dealt to the other.

The creature twisted around and hopped back to face Tommy as he went in for the grab, causing his attempt to miss. It pointed the knife at him in a threatening manner, and raised its lantern up as well. Meanwhile, another one of the creatures proceeded to throw its lantern at the smoke-producing male, the red flames lashing out from the open sides of it.

The water splashed upon the red fire, sizzling loudly as it evaporated upon contact with it. The creature slid underneath Tommy and his blade, causing both the weapon and the dropkick to miss, and thrust its knife at his back as he sailed over it. It still had its lantern in its grasp as well. Nemesis, after sending her target into the ground with her kick, proceeded to hunker down and thrust both katars into the back of its head quickly before yanking them out just as fast, and proceeded to charge towards the next target. Nemesis: Let none survive; they'll all learn a lesson today!

The lantern was shot as it flew through the air and split apart, causing the red fire within to shower the ground below and begin spreading along it like, headed mostly in their direction. The creature would find itself being hit three times, grabbed, then slammed upon the ground, leaving it either dead or in a daze. Another one of the 7 remaining proceeded to charge atTommy with a sudden burst of speed after seeing him take its friend down, its knife in front of itself.

BGM: Mother Earth of Dishonesty ~ PART 2 The creature would find itself being blasted by a barrage of missiles, causing it to be blown away from the scene, through its lantern flew up into the air and began to fall towards the ground. Meanwhile, another one of the creatures suddenly charged at Yui, displaying an incredible amount of speed that put its earlier shambling along to shame, its knife out in front of itself and its lantern at the ready.

One of the creatures approached Tommy and Frank and, instead of getting closer, proceeded to bring the lantern in its hand back and throw it in their general direction. Nemesis, meanwhile, started to walk around the puddle of red fire as Hinamori's rock throwing slowly put it to a crawl, allowing for, at least temporarily, a safe passage around it. Once she was around it, she proceeded to launch herself at one of the creatures approaching from the front and sent her right heel down at its head. Nemesis: You chose the wrong party to mess with, you cretins...

The plan worked like a charm, the creatures within the trees falling out of them due to the wind projectile blasting the trees and causing them to shake violently, sending more than a few dead and rotting branches into the air as well. With the mysterious assailants' appearances now revealed, the only thing that mattered was numbers; there were eight in total, 7 with lanterns, one without a lantern, and all armed with seemingly very dull knives. One by one, they began to stand up and slowly walk towards the group. Meanwhile, Nemesis waited for the fiery puddle to be put out. It was probably not a good idea to step into fire, especially red fire. Nemesis: Are you sure rocks are going to do the trick...?

Nemesis let out a sigh, muttering something to herself quietly before picking up the pace. From the shadows of a tree on the left came a lantern whirling through the air, a large, red flame coming from within the cage it consisted of, it headed for the ground between the party and her. It hit the ground and split apart, the red flame within spreading along the ground and forming a sort of fiery "puddle" between them. Nemesis slid into a combat stance. Nemesis: Guess I was wrong...looks like we're in for a fight!

BGM: Approaching Dread As if triggered by something, several pairs of glowing lights appeared within the shadows of the trees' upper branches, like eyes gazing down at the party below. They gave off an unwelcoming aura, one of pure malice. Nemesis turned her head to gaze at them, seeming to take mental note of how many there were. Her katars slid out of her coat sleeves. Nemesis: As long as we stay on our guard while we advance, we should be okay. Slowly, she started to continue on down the path. Nemesis: If any of you notice any sudden movements, alert the others; don't try fighting alone.

Up ahead, the path leading to the city could be seen, the heavily used road curving in the direction of the large silhouette to the northeast. Nemesis set foot upon it immediately and began to follow it...but suddenly stopped in her tracks as a shadowy figure seemed to quickly dash by the group's front. Nemesis: ...looks like the animals are interested...

Upon receiving confirmation that nobody left anything important, Nemesis proceeded to nod. Nemesis: Okay, everyone, let's get going and see what awaits us at this city! And with that, she proceeded to head northeast through the edge of the forest, hoping that the path would be up ahead, just as Hisui said. A thought occurred to her: what could be within the forest? It seemed like it was pretty large, and since this was an unknown land to her, there most definitely had to be some strange creatures within it, just like in the world she was from. The world she told nobody about. She was about to say something about it, but it would probably be best to save it until they got to the city.

She watched Hisui depart before finally turning towards the party. Nemesis: Well, are you all ready to get going? Make sure you haven't forgotten anything before we head over there; I'd rather not have to walk though this place again without some way to leave a trail leading us back!

Nemesis nodded confidently. They had the numbers, and her skills would make finding the path easy, so knowing that it was only a few steps away was reassuring. At least they got a tip from her. Nemesis: Thanks, Hisui! Will we see you at that city?

Despite finding this character rather unusual, she figured that any help would be great to have at this point in time. Nemesis: Okay, Hisui! I think you might be right; I did see something to the northeast, so it'd be nice to find out just what it is! It seemed like their luck was turning out to be excellent; first finding all of these people, then finding people who knew the land, and now this person willing to escort them to a city! She hoped this streak would keep going and only get better as time progressed, but, as is the usual with someone in her line of work, it most definitely was going to take a turn for the worst at some point soon. She just knew it.

Nemesis: Mek-uh His-swe...? And...what city?

Nemesis glanced down at the new "person" that revealed "herself", unsure if she should be concerned or appreciative. She started to descend the tree branch by branch, being careful, yet also trying to speed things up to catch "her" before something went awry. Nemesis: Who are you and where did you come from?

Nemesis called down to Mirfah from her perch in the tree. Nemesis: I would wait for these other people to come around, but I think our primary goal should be to find a town first so that we can gather our bearings. Otherwise, we might wind up becoming lost again! She proceeded to get comfortable in the branches of the tree and took a look around at the land below. There were still several trees in the way, unfortunately, so, with a grumble, she grabbed onto a higher branch and continued climbing up, stopping at the upper part of the tree, but on a branch she hoped would be secure. Nemesis: (All of these people together in one place...just what could it mean? My friends and parents must be really worried about me, too...I hope they find out what happened somehow...ugh, all of these thoughts at once! Come on, girl, get it together. You'll be fine, you've got all of these people gathered together, they'll make sure nothing will happen to you, so long as you do the same for them. Just stay calm, and try to find this town.) She took a deep breath, then looked out towards the horizon, looking for the silhouette of a distant town or maybe even nearby buildings that hinted towards civilization. Her attention as soon brought to several strange structures towards the northeast. They didn't look destroyed, but they were hardly what she would consider familiar. Nevertheless, it was the only thing she saw that wasn't either empty land, trees, or some kind of creature. Nemesis: I see something towards the northeast! I think it might be what we're looking for!

Nemesis was overjoyed to hear this. Even if they were only temporary members, it was still good to have someone experienced with the lands among their ranks. Nemesis: Great! Now, let me see if I can find a vantage point of some kind for us to work with. She then spotted a pine tree to her right among the trees haphazardly scattered throughout the forest's edge. Nemesis: Oh, there's one. Give me a moment, will you? She proceeded to approach the tree and wrapped her hands around it, beginning to scale the tree slowly until she could grab onto a branch and pull herself up, soon beginning to use the higher branches to pull herself up even higher into the tree, causing several birds to fly off in fear in the process.

Nemesis: Ghosts? There aren't any ghosts around here... She then recalled the stories those three told. Heroic Spirits...could she be talking about them? But they looked like normal people...one of them even got into a fight with the shovel-wielding knight! Nemesis: I think I might know who your friend was sensing, but they definitely living beings! I even saw one of them get into a fight with someone else! There's no way they can be g-ghosts! It looked as though her inner being was beginning to show itself, and she quickly realized it. She decided to put a can on it quickly, and came up with an idea. Nemesis: Well, anyway, Yui, since we're both lost, how does joining us in our search for this town sound? We can figure what the hell this place even is, and you three can find out what you need to know, making it a win-win situation!

Upon realizing that they were currently of no threat to her or the party, she slowly returned to an idle stance, her katars sliding back into her coat sleeves and out of view, and shook her head. Nemesis: I'm afraid to say that we don't. We...actually just got here not too long ago, and we have no idea where we are currently, but I'm assuming that you three happen to know if you're looking for a town in the middle of this mysterious forest! Was this the lucky break that they needed? If they could find a town, they could finally safely regain their bearings and find out the information they needed before settling into this "new" land. Then again, there was always the chance that it was a town of monsters...

Nemesis remained in her stance, although she did go through the effort of glancing back at Mirfah, remaining ready to strike at a moment's notice. Nemesis: Name's Nemesis, and sure, you can stick with us. The more, the merrier, especially in a place like this. After all, there's probably a reason for why we're all here, so it'd be best for us to stick together.

Alerted to the presence of an approaching group, Nemesis quickly turned around, revealing her katars from within the sleeves of her coat and slid into an offensive combat stance, faced in the direction Percival was facing. Nemesis: State your names and business! She had a funny feeling in the back of her head that it was yet another group of lost travelers.

Somewhat freaked out by the sight and his response, she silently turned away and returned her attention to the young male. Nemesis: Umm...that never happened.