The emergence of the cult... (Open RP)

The brown hedgehog loved the forests at this time of year, despite not getting a real obstacle course until winter, it was nice looking at all the colors. He never enjoyed being lost though, which was evident in the expression he was making while looking for the clues he left. From his red anklets, a figure emerged, an adult hedgehog colored in a translucent red while having the appearance of your generic biker gang leader. He walks alongside the boy and says:

"Gee, I sure do love being in a forest and being able to look at all of the beautiful burning colors!" "Shame we got lost though, hopefully someone finds us and helps us so we can go our way out of here and back home!"

The man had obvious sarcasm and passive aggression in his voice, which the boy replied with his own sarcasm.

"Yep, would be quite nice to find somebody that knows their way around the forest, or else we'd be stuck here to make our own fire, yep, would be quite bad!"

Another translucent figure appeared, this time, a neat and innocent-looking young boy came from the blue bracelets. The young one appeared frustrated at the exchange the two were having and attempts to stop it.

"Please you two, stop it!" "We won't find anyone with this bickeri-"

Suddenly, the young one's ears perked up as he saw something; the tracks of a large mobian cat, leading towards what seemed like a path, which meant people were around!

"Guys! I think there might be a village around here!" "Look!"

"Yeah, that's great, angel-face, but I'd rather-"

It was then that the man saw the tracks and looked at the boy with an awkward expression, after which, the figures withdraw themselves into the accessories and walked into the village. The tension that the village had was quite unexpected, the numerous amount of wanted posters didn't help at all.

'WANTED, KIDNAPPER AT LARGE. STRONG POSSIBILITY OF ACCOMPLICES. $500 REWARD EACH FOR CAPTURE. PLEASE CONTACT MAYOR IF YOU HAVE ANY INFORMATION'

The amount of rings was certainly surprising, but it was the picture that really surprised him, and as he looked around, it looked like he wasn't the only one, as he saw a feline close to him with the same expression. He tries his best to try talking to her since he had to try and talk to somebody around here.



"This guy is pretty creepy, isn't he, miss?"

The path through the forest was quiet and quaint, a light rustle of twings and leaves crunched underfoot as terry managed his way though the forest, trying not to trip up the various roots haphazardly twirling amount the leaf litter, he was a city man and the forests were not his outdoor spot of choice.

A little further along he spotted some footprints left in the muddy soil by some beast, he slowly approached it, leant down and got a good look at them. "Lion..." he mumbled to himself "whats a lion doing prancing around a forest" he muttered, eventually a village would start to encroach above the horizon as he followed the lions pawprints. The village was relatively unimpressive but what was of interest to Terry were the numerous wanted posters strewn around. Each one of them going on demented about a canine mobian with a 500 dollar bounty on his head. Not a bad bounty for a place like this. "kidnapper huh, don't see one of those every day, I wonder if its some kind of human trafficking ring, the anonymity of a place like this would work well for it" He thought to himself, it was around this point the tension of the village sunk in as around seemingly every corner of the village the same wanted poster appeared. It was definitely a lot more creepy than his usual stint, the spoke about the man on the poster with a fear that one could only gain after performing something heinous. Terry at that point decided to help, after all, 500 dollars would be enough to get someone a nice watch or something of the like.

Unfortunately for him, the idea of a solo mission would have to wait as the spotted one particular poster that had formed a huddle around it. He pulled his rifle up onto his shoulder from its lose slump and put a cigarette in his mouth which he then lighted, taking a long draw and puff out he picked up one of the people speak

"This guy is pretty creepy, isn't he, miss?"


"Guys a creep for sure, ill give him that, if he's got people this shaken, then the more you two dawdle, the more breathing room he gets to act again." He stated in his usual Italian accent, he could tell the two of them were interested in helping judging by how they were glaring at the poster, and a bit of extra help wouldn't kill him and he didn't mind being in a team, provided he got his fair cut of the bounty.

The forest was quiet, a gentle autumn breeze blowing leaves off of branches and onto the ground. Suddenly, a light blue blur zoomed through the trees, sending piles of leaves into a spiral. The blur suddenly skidded to a halt to reveal a light blue falcon with a red scarf. He looked down at the dirt.

"Claw prints. Could it be him? No. It's been years. But maybe..."

The falcon's chest shone brightly and then a white wisp emerged from their chest. The wisp floated to the ground and looked hard at the prints.

"What do you think, buddy? Should we follow them?"

The wisp nodded their head and then flew back into the falcon's chest.

"Alright. Here we go!"

The falcon spun his arm in a windmill motion before speeding off, following the tracks.
When the falcon reached the end of the tracks, he saw a small village with a group of people standing around a pole. He was curious what everyone was doing just standing around a pole. The falcon giggled quietly.

"That's a good one Spiral!" The falcon seemingly said to no one.

He then cleared his throat hoping to attract attention.

"Is this the North Pole, or am I lost?"

As a driver and a private security guard, Sam really had no business being out in the forest, but a little hike every once in a while helped put his mind at ease. Dressed in khaki cargo pants, a white t-shirt, and a black rain jacket, it was more practical than his usual outfit, but he had his peacoat and slacks in the black and blue hiking backpack on his shoulders. His gloves and boots were still on, though. The white fox was following a trail to reach a small village that would (hopefully) be the turnaround point for his outdoor journey. Sam takes a deep breath, and continues his way up the trail...


As Sam reaches the village, it becomes readily apparent that all is not well. Wanted posters with a very spooky drawing of a hooded figure were everywhere, and people were rushing about. There was a group of... interesting indivduals who seemed to be gathered near a particular poster. Sam approached them with a easy smile, seeming very at ease. He walked to the group, and after getting to them, says "How are ya? Seems we've got a mook running amok around here, huh?"

The short, wingless bat made his way out of one of equally small wooden houses littering the tiny town. He had only been there for a few months, but it had so far been well enough cover for himself. He checked his wrists, made sure they were covered up nice and good, before stepping out of the somewhat splintering front doorway to the house. The square bulges on either side of his hands were hardly noticeable underneath the long sleeves of his shirt, and his back... well, a well-shaped backpack took care of that.

The talk of a kidnapper had only recently started, and while it was unsettling, the bat was at least not alarmed enough to change his daily schedule. 

The daily schedule of course, didn't involve much besides heading down to the small market, purchasing anything he'd run out of, and then returning to his home. As much time as he could spend indoors, as lonely as it was, was enough for him.

But this time, as he stepped out of the door, a strong feeling of anxiety washed over him at the sight of a large gathering of strangers around the town, looking at the reward posters. Great. Bounty hunters.

Whatever miniscule jolt of excitement that had once coursed through his veins in prospect to bounty hunting dwindled at the realisation that people would likely be coming around town asking questions. And he didn't do too well when questioned, which would definately put him a difficult sitation given the light of recent events.


"Damn." He sighed, walking down the water-logged stairs and stepping onto the still-damp soil of the main road. The bat headed down the street, making sure that his fringe kept his eyes hidden as he began making his way for the small grocer.

The falcon started walking towards the crowd.

"Why don't you go check it out, Spiral?"

The falcon's chest glowed once again. His wisp appeared in front of him, and flew off over the crowd. The wisp saw that there was a wanted poster on the pole. They flew back to their partner. The wisp talked in a language that was unintelligible to everyone, but somehow, the falcon understood what they were saying.

"A kidnapper huh? And a five hundred dollar reward?"

The falcon crossed his arms.

"They must be causing a lot of trouble if a town of this size is offering a reward that high."

The wisp then pointed behind the falcon at a mobian wearing a backpack that was walking down the street. The falcon turned his head over his shoulder.

"Hm? What about them?"

The wisp spoke again in their own complex language.

"You're right. They do seem to be a little too calm for a kidnapper being on the loose. Let's follow them, but not too close. Don't want to frighten them and think we're a threat."

The wisp nodded in affirmation. The falcon and wisp proceeded to travel down the same road as the mobian. Keeping a close eye on them.

(Pssst, Rez. Usually RP posts go in order of who posted, up next would be any newcomers or Shalina)

(Sorry! Still figuring out the rules of rp-ing. I'll make a note of that for next time.)

The hedgehog was certainly surprised at the sudden crowd, but he responded to everyone, starting with the echidna.


"Yeah, he could be anywhere by now-"

The falcon comes in with his witty joke, bringing laughter to the boy.

"Might as well be! Haha!"

The bat had caught his attention but his attitude had stopped him from talking, leaving him to respond to the fox.

"Yep, he's got a cult-ey look to him doesn't he?"


The boy sees the wisp go along with the falcon, which gives a look of excitement, he had only seen them in books until now and starts to chase after the falcon, despite leaving the conversation.

"H-hey! Is that a wisp?!" "Can I see it?"

(I'll leave it. I kinda have to because I guess when someone else posts something, you can't delete posts before the newest one.)

Terry just kept his cool and sort of let the conversations around him fly by, he listened to what people said and took it into consideration, heck he even smirked and rolled his eyes at the blue falcon's dumb joke cause hey, he tried. His attention was focused on; a) what looked to be a tiny alien delve into the falcon's chest, making him double-check reality like he saw a ghost. b) The Lioness seemed like she was somewhat guarded, with quite a bit going on through her head.

After the falcon had left and the hedgehog was busy fangirling over a wisp, whatever that is, he approached the lioness and extended a hand with a firm and professional yet friendly smile. "Don't think I've introduced myself yet, Terrance Tirabochi, terry is fine too. You ever done bounty hunting work before? I'll show you the ropes if you'd like, even got a spare weapon to boot". 

The motive is simple, he helps her out with the bounty that clearly got her a bit rattled and he gets to diplomatically get the larger portion of the bounty. "In and out with the cash about" He thought to himself, still maintaining his professional visage, fully donned in a white three-piece suit and purple tie.

---

The falcon heard a voice coming from behind him.

"H-hey! Is that a wisp?! Can I see it?"


They turned to see a young, brown hedgehog chasing after them. He looked back to the mobian they were following, then back to the hedgehog.


"Not now kid. I'm a little busy with somethi-"


The falcon looked back to see that the mysterious mobian had disappeared from his sight.



Drat. Lost 'em. They thought to themselves. Oh well.


"Nice to meet you, kid! I'm Rez, and this is Spiral."


The wisp flew around from behind Rez and then around the hedgehog, inspecting them carefully until floating in front of their face, waving at them.


"What's your name?"

Sam had pretty much been quiet through the guy... Fangirling (Is that even a word?) over the wisp, but the guy introducing himself as Terrance to the lioness made Sam do the same. "My name's Sammy Sampson. Call me Sam!" he then added "So, bounty hunting huh? And I thought I was gonna be bored today!" Sam, with a big grin on his face, then held his gloved hand out for a shake to Shalina. 
He noticed the person walking by, but didn't acknowledge the bat at all.

((So I got real confused at what the post order was, but since nobody's posted and this is roughly where I think I am, here ya go. Please let me know if I'm wrong!))

The bat's mood went from dull to grey as several of the people standing at the wanted poster looked his way. Thankfully enough, most of them seemed to ignore him entirely, only a quick glance in his direction and then back to discussion. But he did catch one of the mobians choosing to persue him out of the corner of his eye. At least the augments were finally good for something. He made sure that the falcon stayed within the peripheral of his fringe-covered eyes as he continued walking down the street, but breathed a sigh of releif as it all became unnessecary as the falcon began talking to someone else.

He so very desperately wanted to just go about his normal day in town, going to the grover, buying necessities and then heading back home for the day. And whatever the bounty was, he didn't need it since the paychecks were bringing themselves in automatically. The short, wingless bat sighed, "goddamit".

Changing direction, he went from a beeline to the store, to a beeline to the congregation. Even if only to say hi, anxiety was a thing, he just couldn't resist the impulse to head over. After all, friends might be nice.

(I'm not in charge, but I think the post order is: Ninathelioness, KingOfGames, ecolusion, RezTheFalcon, TauZeroReached, Wolf478)

The young lioness observed with a twitch of her round ears as the brown hedgehog made a comment on the appearance of the drawing and it triggered... A strange feeling buried deep in her chest- A cult-ish look...? Why did that feel so odd to her...?

A simple word that struck her deep that she couldn't quite pin the reason of... Was it... Familiarity? The thought had her heart pounding in her chest, a vivid booming thrumming in her ears. Could this strange kidnapper have something to do with-

"Don't think I've introduced myself yet, Terrance Tirabochi, terry is fine too."

The introduction snapped the young lion out of her thoughts as she focused back on what was being said to her,

"You ever done bounty hunting work before? I'll show you the ropes if you'd like, even got a spare weapon to boot"

It was an... Interesting proposition. An offer of free lessons in bounty hunting? The idea seemed sketchy to her. She figured that perhaps the reward money was his goal in the long-term,

"W-while I'm not exactly a weapon-savvy girl, let alone a bounty hunter, I can't deny that your offer could help me... Be a bit more useful in investigating what's going on here. I think I'll take you up on that offer... Thanks, Terry." She finished with the firmest hand shake she could manage

The well-being of the only home she's ever known, the ones who treated her like FAMILY, mattered much more to her than the reward money anyway. The thought was interrupted as Sam also added his own introduction and similarly extended a hand, to which the lioness responded by shaking it with a similar firm grip,

"Heh, it tends to be a bit more exciting when people AREN'T frightened for their lives. Good to meet you, Sam."

As she let go of his hand, the young lioness realized her own introduction had yet to be said and a rush of sheepishness filled her, not yet noticing the wingless bat approaching from the side,

"Oh yeah, I should probably introduce myself now, heh... My name's Shalina."

She said with a small bashful smile... A sense of awkwardness and self-consiousness filled her for the fact she couldn't even remember her own surname... And even for a long time before now, she'd pondered... If she even HAD a surname to begin with. The old question began ringing around her mind again, pestering her as she just wanted to focus on the conversation at hand

Clash was very excited to meet the wisp, but he calmed himself down enough to introduce himself.

"Oh, My name's Clash Kopis, it is very nice to meet you Rez and Spiral!"

Clash then realized that he just abandoned conversation with someone else due to his excitement, and a wave of guilt washes over him.
He manages to hear what the names of the lioness, echidna, and Sam, and motions Rez to rejoin the rest of the huddle.

"It's nice to meet everyone, in fact, since I guess we're all going after the same guy."

He then sees the bat approach, noticing the anxiety that covered his face, which prompted Clash to have a calmer, yet still friendly expression on his face as to not scare him off.

"Oh, hey there!" "Is something wrong?" "You look kind of down, there, buddy."

As Terry was making his introductions he was swiftly followed up by a fox named Sam. He was certainly an upbeat character and his big dumb grin didn't exactly match the look of professional the rest of his attire gave off but it was too early to be giving people an earful, he had the lioness to hear out.

"W-while I'm not exactly a weapon-savvy girl, let alone a bounty hunter, I can't deny that your offer could help me... Be a bit more useful in investigating what's going on here. I think I'll take you up on that offer... Thanks, Terry." 

He took her hand and shook it with great enthusiasm, smiling politely as he did so "That is no problem at all, once I'm done with you, you'll be as weapon-savvy as you could ever dream of!" the echidna proclaimed, lightly chuckling after he was done "Sooo, she's a complete and utter novice huh? Great! The cut of this bounty is gonna be fantastic!" Terry turned to Sam and extended his hand out. "Well, when all is said and done perhaps you'll gain something from this outing" He smiled politely again and nodded his head in acknowledgment. "He looks tough, he's probably here for the cash as well, no matter, 250 rings is 250 rings... bloody weasel." The echidna thought to himself, annoyed internally but he wasn't showing any signs of it externally.

Turning back to the lion after catching her name, he slowly reached into his coat and pulled out a small revolver with an ivory grip and iron sights. "Well Shalina, you don't get better weapons than stuff like this, ill show you how to use it later, for now, id like you to hold onto it" He kept eye contact saying this, slowly placing the gun in her hands "Good thing I took the ammo out, the fewer casualties I have before the search party rolls out the better." He thought before giving a tired sigh.

As Rez walked back to the group following Clash, he saw the mobian he was following, now seeing that they were a bat, walking towards the group as well. As Clash had said, the bat did kinda seem down in the dumps. He then noticed the echidna handing the lioness a revolver. Rez was not too fond of guns.

'Better be on guard.' Rez thought to himself.

"Hey guys! Name's Rez. And this is my buddy Spiral," the falcon said to the rest of the group. Spiral floated up to the middle of the group and waved to everyone before flying back above Rez's shoulder making noises that no one else could understand.

"Guess you're right, Spiral. I'm guessing those claw tracks leading here from the forest were made by you, weren't they?" Rez said to the lioness.

Sam shook Shalina's hand, his friendly grin still in place. He then shook Terry's offered hand, and after finishing the handshake, watched Terry carefully place the gun in Shalina's hands. The blue falcon was back now, introducing himself as Rez, and the wisp as Spiral. "Hiya Rez! Welcome to the party. My name's Sam! I'm sure the others'll introduce themselves as well." Sam then addressed Clash and the bat, saying " And yeah, nice to meet ya too. How 'bout you, pal? You got a name?" He smiles at the bat, looking quite happy to meet all the new people.

The bat was at least grateful that he wasn't garnering the attention of all the strangers standing together, but he sighed silently again to himself as some of them did acknowledge his approach. He signed up for this, try and smile. He let a sheepish grin flash over his face for a moment as he looked up at the group, but once he saw the two other mobians looking back at him his gaze dropped back down to the still damp soil of the road.

The wingless figure appraoched, and at last arrived. "I'm fine." He replied to the Hedgehog's question, wanting with every fibre of his being to remain the dull edgelord that he'd reduced himself to for the last few months of living in the town. It wasn't cold, his tone, but it sounded very much like forced apathy. 

Making doubly sure that his jacket sleeves covered the small devices on his wrists, he waved half-hearted at the group, gently shaking his back to make sure the backpack remained covering the other devices. "Aiden, my name's Aiden." He replied to the smiling white fox, a little uncomfortable around the cheerful individual.

"He really was just shy." Clash thought to himself, he then smiles and says.

"It's nice to meet you Aiden, hope we get along!"
Afterwards, he then noticed Terry hand Shalina the revolver, and a wave of excitement washed over him again, but evidently, it was not his own as the man's voice yelled out.

"Yoooooo! That's a sweet revolver! congrats, little lady!"

Everyone could hear it this time, but nobody could see the true source. This made Clash's face gain a significant amount of blush as the embarrassment now hit him.

"Oh jeez I- uh- that wasn't- it- uh..."

The echidna let out a hearty chuckle at the lionesses panicked stammering and following attempt to stuff the firearm into her pocket, only for it to sag unceremoniously.

"I wouldn't worry to much about it, everyone gets nervous when they first hold a handgun, the more you use it the better you'll feel with it, besides its not even the scariest gun I own" he smirks and nods before turning away and hearing someone chime in

"Yoooooo! That's a sweet revolver! congrats, little lady!" 

He turned around to acknowledge the voice "ain't it ju-" he froze when he realized the voice had seemingly come from nowhere. it would be a lie to say it didn't put him on edge somewhat "guys... what the hell was that?"

He had always been fearful of the supernatural, the stories from his youth of kid going into graveyards and not leaving afterward scarred him for life, he would hope it was just another character entering the fray as what seemed to be going on.