The Taurerosa Rainforest, what in the world was I thinking? Valdearg looked around him, wondering why in the world he had come there. It had seemed like a good decision at the time. There wouldn't be many people in a rainforest, he could be alone for a while. Unfortunately, the forest has lived up to it's name. It had rained for 3 days without stopping. So those 3 days had been spent making his way through mud up to his ankles and cursing every living thing int hat forest. At least the rain had detered some of the insects from being out. If he had had to deal with the rain and insects at the same time, he thought he might have exploded and burned the whole forest to the ground. Sure enough, he hadn't seen any sign of life for those 3 days, but that did nothing to cheer him besides what he had dealt with. Looking back, he realized that there were other places he could have gone. There were plenty of places where people were scarce. Why hadn't he picked one of those places instead of the rainforest? Glancing down, he was reminded of the predicament he was in.

At the moment, he was tied to a pole about 6 feet off the ground. It seemed that the rumors about a tribe of humans who sacrificed other people to their god was not just a tale. How they had managed to hide from him, he wasn't sure, but Valdearg knew that he must have walked past 4 or 5 of them before they sprung their trap. At the time, they hadn't said a word, they had simply tied him up and taken all of his stuff. Now, they were happily singing in some other language while they gathered wood for what appeared to be a bonfire. Maybe they thought that a larger sacrifice would make their god happier. The form that Valdearg had chosen was indeed rather large. Wonderful. Normally he changed into a large human being because people were less likely to bother him. While he could let his polymorph spell expire and change back into a dragon, Valdearg didn't want to. At the moment, he was feeling very belligerent, and the only ones around he could take it out on were these tribesmen.

So for now, he waited as the tribesmen continued to gather wood. He could see the small pile that his possessions made, and he was sure that as soon as he was dead that his possessions would be fought over. That thought caused him to look over at one of the tribesmen. That one was definately going to die. The man had taken one look at Valdearg's ring and had snatched it up, claiming it as his own. Looking up at the sky, Valdearg saw a break in the clouds. The rain had stopped while he had been thinking. Apparently that was what the tribesmen had been waiting for, because they began sprinkling a powder over the wood they had gathered. Valdearg had wondered how they were going to get the wet wood to burn, and now apparently he had his answer. What the powder was he didn't know, but he had seen the effect it had when a small amount of it had been burned in front of him. Well, soon it would be time to make his escape. Glancing down at himself, he pulled at the ropes binding him, testing their strength. They didn't budge. It looked like he was simply going to have to use a spell to get out of it, but then he would get his weapons and kill whoever got in his way. A slight smile came to Valdearg's lips, he was already savoring what was to come.

She had gone to sleep the night ruled by her good personality but when she woke things were different. Caranrendis sat up from her sleeping perch on the tree and looked around trying to figure out where she was. Rain was pouring down over her and she was soaked through to the bone. Her hair was plastered to her face and her cloak had slipped from about her shoulders leaving her chilled. The last memory she had was of lying out on the ground in a little open space along the path through the mountains. She had been hidden slightly though she had known that if anyone truly looked they would have seen her. Now she found that she was up in a tree in what she could only guess was the Taurerosa Rainforest, it was the only place she could think of where the rain would be this all consuming. She had no idea how she had gotten there and didn’t think she would find much of interest to do but she was ready to head on and see what she would find.

She slipped down from the tree and landed softly on the ground. A slight shock ran up through her legs from the landing but within a few seconds she was as steady as she ever was. She thought about wrapping her cloak back around her but didn’t think there was much point considering how wet she was. As she went to walk she realized that her foot had sunk into the mud slightly and when she went to lift it her foot was sucked back in. She finally managed to pull her foot from the mud and knew that she would have to be careful of where she stepped so that she wouldn’t get stuck again. As she slipped around the worst of the mud puddles she had no idea that doing so would put her in more danger then risking getting stuck.

She had only gotten a short distance away from the tree she had awoken in when she felt a harsh tug on her ankle. Suddenly she was flying through the air by her foot and hanging from the branches of the tree above her. She went to reach for her katana in order to cut herself loose when she noticed that there were people below her. She had never believed the stories people told her about the rainforest but it seemed that those stories had actually been true. She glared down at the men and yelled, “You might want to move away and let me go free, unless you want to risk your own lives for me.”

One of the men grinned up at her said something to his comrades in a language that she didn’t understand. At this point she had moved her katana up to the rope and was beginning to cut through. She could hear some laughter coming from the men below her but this only fueled her anger. As the rope was cut she managed to shift her body so that she fell to her feet, though the angle she fell at caused her to fall back on her butt. As she went to stand up again a net was thrown over her and before she had a chance to react her arms had been pinned into a position in which she couldn’t cut herself free. She growled at the men and tried to shift so that she could escape the net but it seemed that the more she fought it the tighter it pulled. The men moved in towards her and three of them grabbed the net lifting her off the ground. She again attempted to escape the net but this only caused more laughter from the men and more anger on her part.

As they carried her along her anger continued to grow and she said, “You’re all going to regret this. I will get loose and then I will kill every single one of you.” The men laughed again and one of them spoke, this time in the common tongue. “You won’t escape, you’ll be dead yourself before you ever have that chance,” he said. With that the men carried her into their camp where they used another rope to hoist the net she was in up off of the ground. The net spun with her in it and she caught site of another man who was also tied up above the ground. She growled again at the men below her and shouted to the other man, “It seems we both have similar problems here, I think that if we work together we could find a way out of this and kill these despicable men for thinking they could use us as their sacrifices.” She had found that she was able to move a little more in her current position and had managed to move her katana so that it was cutting into the ropes that made up the net. With the small amount of movement that she had she knew it would take her a little to get herself loose but in the end she was sure she would succeed and she had meant it when she said she would kill them all.

((Wasn't sure what to do but thought this would be a good way to come in, hope it works for you.))

How long had it been now? How long since he had first came into this blasted Rainforest? That was something that had escaped the mans mind now, it seemed like so long yet at the same time he had not be caught by the Tribe that roamed the forest floor yet which of course made him slightly happier. What man is this you ask? A young Shaman by the name of Tas. The elven Shaman had came to the Taurerosa Rainforest some time ago just to see what it was like since he wanted to see every place in Arda. Yes he knew that it would be a hard journey and one with a vast amount of rain, but at the time Tas did not seem to care, however now the rain was stating to get to him just a little bit. There he was resting in one of the high treetops still half asleep, and still soaked to the bone from the rain that had been falling all through the night.

Letting out a small yawn Tas looked up into the clouded sky above, the rain still falling down hard upon him. The elf slowly raised his left hand to wipe some of the rain from his face, however soon the rainfall stopped. This was indeed a strange thing, Tas had never seen the rain stop in his time within the forest but even though he was happy that he had time to even slightly dry off the young Shaman had a feeling that something was up, that something bad was about to happen in this place.

It was only then that Tas was met by a very familiar being, the Spirit of a White Tiger. There the spirit was, hovering by the side of Tas yet the young elf did not look afraid what so ever. Turning his head towards the Tiger Spirit Tas smiled, it was when he did this that the spirit spoke with the words, “Tas, there is trouble going on in the forest. It seems as though the tribe have taken two people captive and are setting out to kill them.” Once hearing this the Shaman said in reply, “When then Takara, why are we just standing here? We have a job to do, come on!” That was when Tas quickly stood to his feet, balancing on the branch he had been resting on. The Shaman then let out a small laugh before turning back to Takara and saying, “Em… so where are they?” With a nod the tiger spirit leaped over to another tree and started heading in the direction of the tribes camp.

Seeing his Guardian Ghost leading the way Tas took one of his weapons out, a strange looking whip made mainly of vines, it was a good thing to have when you wanted to travel between the trees of the forest. Raising the right hand, which held the whip within it, up over his head Tas quickly brought it back down thus sending the vines of the whip over to the next tree, the vines tangled around the branch allowing Tas to easily and silently swing over to it. The Shaman continued to do this for almost ten minutes until he finally reached the clearing of the tribes’ campsite. There he saw the two beings that were being held captive, one a man and one a young looking woman. Seeing them both still alive made Tas smile a little as he thought to him self, “Well at least I still have something to do!” Wrapping the vines of his whip around the branch below him Tas set out to enter the campsite.

He lowered down to the ground and landed softly onto his feet, the whip was quickly placed back at his left side and then drawn out from his right side was the Katana that Tas had used in his training for many years now. Its blade seemed to shine in the now soft light of the sun above and soon Tas took a few steps forwards, walking further and further into the camp. One of the tribe members then turned and looked right at Tas before speaking in a strange tongue the Shaman did not know. Only when the leader of tribe stepped forward did Tas know what was being said. The leader spoke of a sacrifice to his god, the sacrifice of course being the man and woman that were currently tied up.

Once the leader had finished talking Tas seemed to close his eyes and look down towards the ground, a smirk forming over his lips before he said to the tribe members “You really don’t want to do that, you won’t want me to get angry right now. Either free these two people, or fight me!” After saying this some of the tribe members seemed to laugh, then again one person standing up to an entire tribe was rather comical in a way but Tas did not care one bit. Again the leader stood forward to speak, this time he aid “You fight us? You and what force fight us?” It was only after the leader said this that Tas slowly raised his head once more and opened his eyes before he said in reply, “Me and what force? Why myself and my friend here…” With the last words of this spoken Takara once again appeared by the side of Tas. The Shaman and his Guardian Ghost were ready to strike!

It was only as the spirit of the white tiger appeared that some of the tribe drew forth their weapons towards Tas. The Shaman just let out a laugh at this as he raised his right hand above his head and said only a few words, “Takara, SPIRIT FORM!” The tiger spirit then turned into a ball of spiritual energy within the hand of Tas, that was when the Shaman lowered the ball of energy towards his chest and spoke one final word, “UNITY!!” the ball of spirit energy merging with the body of Tas with that final word spoken. Yes the Shaman was now ready for battle, his Guardian Ghost was merge with his body and he now held his Katana tight within his right hand. If any battle was about to happen Tas was ready to strike, and since Takara was merged with his body the Shaman would have a little help!

((OOC: Sorry for the real bad post, still getting back into RPing ^_^; ))

Pulling once more at the ropes that held him, Valdearg watched, keeping his face blank as another person would pulled up near him. This one they simply had in a net that was now suspended in midair. Turning his head slightly, he glanced at the newcomer, almost laughing at the situation. The woman in the net didn't appear to find the situation even remotely funny, and she was busy threatening the men who held them captive. Letting his head fall down so that his chin rested on his chest, Valdearg ignored the exchange that occured, intent upon his own escape. Hearing the woman hail him, he once again turned to look up at her. Her words brought a small smile to Valdearg's lips. Before he could help it, a chuckle escaped him. Turning his head further so that he was actually facing the woman, a wide smile came to his face. "Well, I don't know about you, but I can get out of my bonds quite easily. So in that aspect you have nothing to offer me. Still, I can see that it would be easier to defeat these men if there were two of us, so it appears that we are temporarily aligned." Valdearg once again let his chin fall to his chest, staring down at the men below him. He could strike down any one of them even though he was tied up. Unfortunately, they would eventually figure out that he was using magic and probably shoot him full of arrows. It would be better if he was able to move around before he began killing them.

Inhaling deeply, Valdearg felt the rope strain against his chest, holding him in place. Letting out the breath, Valdearg whispered a quiet word that would bring about an effect that was anything but quite. Suddenly, and violently, he burst into flame, or appeared to. The flames coated him from head to toe, but never burned him. Instead, the ropes that held him were swiftly consumed by the intense heat. With a loud snapping sound, the ropes parted, dropping him to the ground. It was a large distance, and Valdearg hadn't been able to orient himself properly, so he wasn't able to land on his feet. Instead, he ended up sprawled in the mud, an easy target to anyone that wanted to try and hit him. Forcing himself to move despite a sharp pain in his leg, Valdearg rolled over, swiftly getting to his feet. Taking a few quick steps, he reached his possessions. For the moment, he ingored everything else and grabbed up his blade of destruction, intent upon helping the woman to escape.

Swinging the sword around, Valdearg used the latent magic of the blade to send out a beam of red light. The beam streaked towards the woman and cut the rope that held her aloft. Spinning around once again, Valdearg took a few seconds to view the scene before him. The tribes attention was divided in half between Valdearg, and another man who had come forward. Valdearg watched, interested as a ball of light entered the man, seeming to fill the man with a kind of energy. Flicking his eyes to the side, he caught sight of the man who had taken his ring. The man probably didn't realize that the red ring was more than just a decoration, but that it allowed the wearer to weild fire itself. At the sight of the man, Valdearg burst into action, running swiftly despite the mud that tried to grip his feet. With a loud roar, Valdearg hurled himself at the man, bearing him to the ground, not content with simply killing the fool. If Valdearg had his way, then this man wasn't going to get the mercy of a quick death from a single sword stroke. No, he was going to suffer at least a little bit before he died. He just hoped that he wouldn't get hit from behind.

The man's comments about not needing help in getting loose made her smile; everything would be easier if the both managed to get them selves down. As for a temporary alliance to fight, it would be exactly that, temporary. She knew nothing of this man and she wasn't planning on giving him a chance to get the upper hand on her. She would work with him to kill the stupid tribesman and after that she would go off on her own, though she may decide to steal from him first. No reason not to steal from him if she had the chance when all was said and done.

She continued to cut away at the net, though the progress was slow with how she was tangled. When she saw the man light on fire she jumped slightly but when he landed on the ground she relaxed. It seemed he was more powerful then she had realized and although that would make it unlikely that she would be able to steal from him when this was all over it also would make it easier to defeat the stupid tribesmen. As long as he didn't decide to go after her at the end of it all she would be happy to have his powers on her side.

She had nearly cut through the net when she noticed a ray of light coming from his blade in her direction. Suddenly she was falling towards the ground and the net again caught around her. She tried to pull out but when she hit the ground she landed hard on her butt and was still tangled. She managed to yank the net off and drug herself to her feet before any of the tribesmen had reached her, but it seemed that was likely more to do with the heavy distraction of the man who had saved her and another man who she hadn't seen arrive.

She watched as the new man seemed to merge with a spirit and wondered how much power he might have. She had never seen anyone merge with a spirit before and had no idea what such a merger would do. As she watched she went to move by her partners for this fight and found that her feet had gotten stuck in the mud. She yanked harder and managed to dislodge herself but ended up off balance and fell to the ground. This time she was able to stand and move without becoming stuck but by now she was covered in mud.

Well isn’t this just bloody terrific, she thought to herself. It wasn't that she was bothered by being dirty but the mud was running down her face from her hair and into her eyes. She managed to sweep enough of it away that she could see and moved over towards the other men. Standing in a balanced position she glared at the tribesmen and said "You made a mistake in choosing to go after me. I'd say you would regret it but, you won't get the chance seeing as you will all be dead before all is said and done here."

An evil grin spread across her face and her eyes lit up with the thrill of knowing a fight was to come. If death met her in this fight then she would die before she felt it was her time but she didn't think it likely that she would die, these men won by trickery not by actually fighting. She now had the attention of a portion of the men and she was ready to take them down to size. She may have made a comment about teaching them a lesson but that wasn't the case, if things went her way then no one would be left to learn the lesson that you should watch who you went after.