The Hidden Vessel

[Sky]

ordeum 13, 1593, mid afternoon
outskirts of kokoro village, siar, hegatzi

Mato Kurio smiled as she sat down, looking out over the clearing. She was near Kokoro village, just on the outskirts looking out over the sea. She loved this view, it was one of her favorite to draw. She smiled and pulled out her sketch pad. The young lesser demon looked up at the view and took in all in. She set to work sketching it, her eyes only glancing at it every once in a while to refresh her memory. She stopped in mid stroke and looked at the shape that had begun to form on her paper. A mast.

"There wasn't a mast there last time." The lesser demon stood up and spread her wings, taking off quickly to. She spotted the place that the mast was at and headed straight for it, landing on the rocks around it. She looked at the mast, wondering if it once belonged to a ship. She jumped lightly onto it and looked down, surprised to see that it was still connected to a vessel.

"This day just keeps getting more interesting." She slid down the mast and landed, looking down in surprise at the blood on the deck floor. "I know I'm a lesser demon and I usually like this stuff but this, this is a massacre. Who would do something like thi-" Mato stopped dead, looking at the body in front of her. If her memory served her correctly it was Aria. But Aria, dead? Murdered? Isn't that a crime that the Hexedus frowns upon? She Stepped forward and knelt down next to the body, getting a better look and gasped.

"Who would have done something like this to a Mystic? Well, looks like my sketch time will have to wait. Looks like I have some news to spread." Mato stood up and looked around the ship one last time, her eyes scanning over the remains. "I just hope that I'm not accused of this since I was the one who found this wreck..."

[Holly]

"You better believe now you're a suspect," Tori hissed. Pulling down the hood to her cloak, a steady breeze blew the cape just enough for Mato to see the emblem of Acerbus Umbra stitched into the fabric. Her purple-gray eyes were narrowed in suspicion upon finding some girl on the same ship that the crime had taken place. They were also narrowed due to the fact that blood was in the air, making her focus go elsewhere.

"Eheh, she doesn't mean that," Pheonix chimed in, taking his place beside his vampiress owner. "Mato, it's been quite some time since we've seen you last. How is it going?" He barked and smiled as he was picked up by Tori. She jumped onto the boat and Pheonix was placed down once again.

Casting a look over to Aria, there was no sign of emotion on Tori's face. You would think since Aria had been the Mystic of Acerbus Umbra that there would be some sort emotion, but there just wasn't. She wasn't there to help Holly or the other Olisthirs of the world. Well... there was one...

She was just there to protect Acerbus Umbra from some psych-o.

"Pheonix, start looking for clues," The vampiress said before turning to Mato. "Don't tell people just yet. People will come here in a mad rush and we want first look at this boat." It was fairly logical.

[Sky]

Mato jumped at the voice of one of the few scribes that seemed to want her information more than others. This was a surprise, she had thought that she was alone on the vessel but apparently not. "Oh come on Tori, you know that I wouldn't do something as terrible as this. This is just...I don't know how to describe it..." She stepped back and looked at the scene, hoping her boots weren't going to be stained with blood from the scene.

She nodded in agreement at Tori's last statement, of course it would be better to have one person observe this before any more people came to see what had happened. It was better this way. "Do you have any idea who could have done this? They had to have been either a trained killer or a slayer from the looks of things but that's as far as I've gotten. I don't know of anyone who would attack a ship like this and not get injured."

[Roxilicious]

A low grumble vibrated in the thick throat of a rotting monster.

Theron Vitraelli was flying lazily above the emergent layer of the Otekah Rainforest. He was bored. So bored. It was a boring, lazy day. Hardly any weather patterns. Little wind. No sky happenings like any attacks or prey and predator chases. No other dragons or griffins or ibons flying in the sky. Hardly anything.

The sun was baking his rotten flesh, and his toxic fumes reeked even worse in the heat. Vicente was scowling the entire flight. There was nothing worse than rotting, baking flesh combined with the scent of poisonous gasses natural to his undead body.

"Try landing in that clearing," the vampire instructed.

His obedient but lethargic dragon roosted in the trees. It was cramped. Hundreds of small birds fled immediately at the sight of the beast, and hundreds of other animals were quick to run at the smell. His noxious gasses poisoned the plants around him, causing them to droop. Theron was gripping a thick tree and trying to stay balanced. He didn't fit in well with the cramped rainforest.

Vicente jumped off of his zombie dragon. He wasn't really sure what was going on or where he was exactly, but he knew of his presence of Siar's rainforest. The ocean was visible through the thinning trees, and also in sight, two people. He decided it would be best to ask them. Perhaps they had seen what he was looking for.

The journey through the rainforest to the outskirts wasn't a long one, but it certainly wasn't a walk in the park. After a good ten minute trek, Vicente approached the pair and caught the demon speaking.

" ... attack a ship like this and not get injured."

The vampire walked up to Mato and Tori.

"Pardon me for interrupting," he began, feeling a little out of place, "but uh... Oh."

Vicente recognized one of the girls. "Hello, Tori. It's been a while. How have you been? No, never mind that; I'm on a mission. Have you seen a rotting female zombie dragon, by any chance?"

Vicente was away from his inn for the weekend, searching for the elusive female dragon he'd spotted about a month ago. He had frequently seen her around his inn, and he had been planning this weekend to track her down ever since. Vincent and Nekana were left in charge of his inn while he was away, and he was determined to domesticate the wild undead wyrm. Theron, on the other hand, believed the family of unusual creatures would be better off without her.

[Holly]

"Slayer. Definitely slayer," Tori replied softly, stopping before a body without a head. The missing part was located a few feet away. Whoever had gotten to them knew the quickest ways to kill a person. Their aiming was precise and obviously not hesitant. They didn't care who they were killing or they actually enjoyed decapitating and slicing a person's jugular. At least they were considerate in killing some of them quickly.

The only one she could consider that wasn't killed as quickly as the others was Aria herself. It was clear then that the Mystic had been targetted, but for what reason was still unknown. Unfortunately, Tori couldn't help but feel a bit of admiration for the mysterious person. Not only were they skilled but they were smart enough to know exactly when the Mystic would be gone, when she would be most vulnerable, and when she would be farthest away from civilization.

Her head snapped in the direction of Vicente once she heard the scattering of small birds in result to Theron's landing. The right side of her lips quirked up in a smirk as she nodded back to him. "Long time indeed," Her voice was quiet, but she was sure that he would be able to hear her just for the fact that he was a vampire. "I don't believe I have seen a dragon like that."

"Oh! Oh! I have!" Pheonix ran up beside Tori, practically bouncing with excitement. Anything to get his mind off of this filthy ship! His orange eyes were brilliantly lit up as he smiled up at Vicente. "It's good to see you again, by the way, Vicente! How's Vincent and Nekana and Theron? They good? How about you? Are you good? How's the inn? Lots of people? How ab--"

"Dragon. Get on with it," Tori snapped before turning and examining something on the opposite side of the ship. There wasn't just one person who had been here...

"Oh yes! The dragon! She was flying over us when we got here not too long ago. I could tell because I could not mistake the smell of rotting flesh anywhere!" Pheonix chirped happily, wagging his tail and hopping up slightly.

[Sky]

Mato blinked at the appearance of yet another person, this timw a man looking for an undead dragon. Mato never really liked undead dragons, they just didn't appeal to her, she preferred living things over the rotting yet living things. She blinked a few times before going about inspecting the deaths of each sailor. They were precise strokes, all obviously done by someone who can kill effectively.

Definitely kills that any assassin such as herself would have been proud to have done.

She walked up to Aria's body, took a knee, and observed it. Tori had probably observed the same thing, but there was definitely a sign that Aria wasn't killed as cleanly as the others Most likely the killer had wanted her to feel the pain of being killed, rather than just killing her outright. Mato knew that she would never do such a thing, but then again she worked as an assassin for royalty, one who kills the enemies of the kingdom, not Mystics and other royalty.

Yep, had to have been a slayer like Tori thinks.

Mato straightened up and glanced at the two standing on the boat with her. "Okay, I think we have more pressing matters to take care of other than an undead dragon that may or may not be in this area any longer. I'm more worried abotu the safety of Falkor, Roxanna, and Holly. They may be in danger of being attacked by this slayer."