Hunting the Stymphalian Bird (Success!)

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    The young man sipped his coffee patiently. Reading a small book set in the fantasy setting of Dragonlance, he totally had time to kill until the others arrived. Rumors had reached the young man through various sources the the Stymphalian birds of legend had returned to Lake Stymphalia.

    Jack had initially dismissed these as children's stories, mere myths. But he'd been watching the area just in case. If the creatures proved violent towards humans, then he would have to cull some so as to prevent any human governments or, Goddess forbid, the media from growing suspicious and sending people to investigate. That was shortly before people began disappearing.

    So there he was, sitting in a small coffee shop not too far from the lake. Knowing he could not undertake such a dangerous quest on his own, Jack had prudently called for back up. He'd reached out to two of his friends, Nyght and Aela, supernaturals both, asking them to help him stop this out of control beast before it did too much damage and potentially upset the delicate balance that allowed supernaturals to remain secret from the rest of the world.

    As for additional help, the young man had posted an ad on Craigslist requesting adventurers to hunt the Stymphalian bird with him. Most of the people who'd responded were, at best, crazy. But a couple had seemed legit.

    Anyways, the five of them were supposed to meet up at the cafe at roughly this time. So far, the place was empty save for employees and Jack. But that was alright. He was early, he knew.

[Nyghtingale]

      Nyght came wandering in, carrying her standard backpack and slouched in to a corner beside the door. She did this to stay out of the way and let other people continue coming and goes easily. She however was not coming, nor going, anywhere for the moment. She was just standing there, looking around for her friend. She was having some trouble seeing above and around everybody, but eventually she spotted the male and smiled to herself.

     She began gently wriggling through the crowd of people, trying to get through a particularly thick knot of people standing around and running their gabs. She narrowed her eyes in frustration, and she began to rub her thumb and forefinger together, whispering beneath her breath. Then she reached out, and pressed the two appendages against the person in her way. The build up charge, amplified through her magical abilities, charged through the person in front of her. They yelped, jumping and moving out of the way and she slipped past them and towards Jack.

     Smirking, she sat down across from him plopping in to the seat. She slipped her backpack off and set it upon her lap. She jerked her chin up at the male in greeting before speaking. "Hey Jack, what are you up to? Other then the obvious mischief of starting some crazy hunt for some apparently giant metal chickens." She laughed, unzipping her backpack and withdrawing two of the three books inside and setting them on the table. One was her spellbook and personal journal. The other was an old library book, one filled with myths and tales of mythical creatures. She had...."checked out" this book from the library to find out anything she could upon the subject of these creatures Jack had contacted her about hunting. She had glanced at the section, and found it was full of information though whether or not any of that was true information or just myths she was not sure.

     The third book, left in her backpack, was a very ancient old textbook. It was filled with stuff about ancient Rome, Britain, the Celts, and other such things. She was using it to research in to her past. She was obsessed recently with finding out what her father had been up to before she ran away. Was she REALLY related to the both famous and infamous Morgana le Fay, the Lady of the Lake, who had helped King Arthur or whatever it was she had really done? She was not entirely sure, and thus she was researching it so painstakingly. This book had many old genealogies inside it, and she was painstakingly going through them trying to find a connection between herself and this possible ancestor. However, this was her own private mission, and she had not even told Aela about it yet. 

[Aela Ward]

Turning the key in the ignition, Aela unbuckled her seatbelt and opened her door. Stepping down onto the asphalt, she straightened her Star Wars printed t-shirt - on it was a picture of master Yoda, his lightsaber drawn. Checking her Spider-Man watch, she contentedly realized that she was a few minutes early. Locking her cherry red Ford f-350, she headed across the street into the coffee shop where Jack had requested they meet.

Inside, she went up to counter and bought a vanilla latte, and went to sit down in the far corner. Assuming the no one was there since she was early, she brought out her phone - an LG Optimus F6 - and started up her Clash of Clans game. After a few minutes she glanced around the room and noticed that Jack and Nyght were already there.

Standing up, latte in hand, she went to sit by Nyght, just across from Jack. Sliding into the booth they sat at, she grinned, saying, "I thought I was the early one."

[Stilia Medusa]

If there was one thing Stilia hated, it was returning to Greece. She felt as if she had just fled the country the other day, after having returned for the first time since she had left her homeland. But despite this being the place of her birth, it was only her second time visiting a Greek city.

She had lived underground, and although they spoke Greek at her home, the only time she’d been in a city was when she was getting ready to leave the country, to gather supplies quickly. She had never lingered before. She was back here in a Greek city all thanks to something Alysia called ‘Craigslist’. The gorgon had never used a computer, had never needed to. She travelled, read books, it was how she learned things. She never stopped at an internet café, nor had she ever been to a McDonalds to use the free wifi. She had a phone, but no computer. But her darling little Weaver seemed to be adapting quite well to be an Earth teenager, and knew how to work a computer. She had pointed out something she had seen, about one of the ‘crazier Craigslist ads’. Stilia had no idea what that was, but she knew what a Stymphilian Bird was. So after reading the ad herself, Stilia decided to leave her new house to go and see if the fuss was real.

She was trying to find a coffee shop, and stopped to ask a man for directions. He commented that she had a very strange Greek accent, asked what town she was from, and managed to ask her out on a date. Stilia made up some story and quickly left, the man grabbing his crotch and yelling something quite rude in reply. She walked a bit more, turned a few corners, and managed to get directions from someone else. Finally, she was at the coffee shop.

And with stellar timing, as she arrived just as a woman was talking about ‘Giant Metal Chickens’. The gorgon, disguised in a human form, approached the trio. “My apologies, are you Mr. Fletcher?”

[Marcus Drago]

Craigslist... Marcus never used it. Sure he went on the site a few times to look at the weapons offered, but he never used it. There were too many things wrong with craigslist, one being that it was involved on the internet and allowed anyone, even liars and thieves, to access it. He also didn't want to trust the site when he saw an ad for a hunt of the stymphalian bird, but his curiosity just couldn't help getting the best of him in that moment. 

Information about the stymphalian bird was all over the Daemon's of Rome library. From biographical books to journals, proof of the birds existence rested in all those scripts. Marcus thought it odd for someone to post a mythical creature hunting ad on craigslist and called it a scam, until he began researching strange events happening near a lake named Lake Stymphalia. Humans were disappearing by the dozen, and the balance of that area was beginning to tip. Curious for the real human disappearances, Marcus answered the craigslist ad, and shipped himself over to Europe.

He was currently suppose to meet someone in a coffee shop, a typical place of meeting. It wasn't the best though, as many people could listen in on their conversation. Soon, someone curious about what they were speaking would follow them, then they would have a mundane aware of the supernatural world. That was something Marcus never wanted to happen, especially with the amount of media they have now days. Snapping pictures of him is fine, capturing a picture of a magical bird that's going extinct, however, is never a good thing.

When Marcus entered the coffee shop he instantly heard a woman ask for Mr. Fletcher. It just so happened that the person Marcus was looking for was a Mr. Fletcher as well. He walked over to that woman, who was looking at a group of people as though she was searching for a certain person. The daemon spoke up: "I am looking for a Mr. Fletcher too."

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    The young man looked up at Nyght's approach, his face breaking into a smile. "Nyght!" He said, greeting the young woman as she sat down across from him. "Well, you know me. Getting into trouble, sticking my nose where it doesn't belong, as usual." Jack smiled warmly. "What have you been up to, lately?" The young man asked, genuine interest in his voice, dropping the fantasy novel into the pack that sat next to his chair as he did so. He was good at that. Sounding interested, that is.

    Shortly after Nyght's arrival, a wild Aela appeared. Jack grinned at her comment. "What kind of loser would I be if I showed up late for my own quest?" The young man asked innocently before taking a sip from his drink. The question was rhetorical of course. His mood was brightening considerably though he couldn't help but notice the similarity between their current meeting place and the Starbucks where they'd first met. A connection Jack's tired mind had failed to make when he'd chosen the meeting place, having picked it mostly for it's close proximity to the lake.

    Just then, two strangers approached, asking for Mr. Fletcher. Jack's face flushed. He'd never told Aela and Nyght his last name. Oh well, they knew now, if they'd heard. It didn't really matter anyways.

    "Please, Mr. Fletcher is my father's name!" The young man told them, rising to his feet and extending his hand for each to shake in turn. "Call me Jack. You two must be the one's who responded to my ad!" He chuckled, running one hand across his cropped black hair. "Honestly, I wasn't expecting that to work at all. You wouldn't believe how many crazies responded!" An uncomfortable thought ran through the young man's mind for a brief moment but he dismissed it. These two were probably sane enough. Probably? Probably.

    "Now that the group is assembled, we should be on our way. Introductions can be made in the car and I'll lay out all the details for you all on the way. Wouldn't want any of this lot to overhear, eh?" At this last part, Jack winked at Aela and jerked his thumb over his shoulder, indicating the oblivious humans.

    "I trust everyone is ready to set out?"

[Nyghtingale]

     Morgan smiled at Jack's genuine affection and interest, and was actually about to tell him what she had been doing the past few months but was cut off by the sudden arrival of Aela. She jumped to her feet, hugging the woman before sitting back down quickly and trying to compose herself. She could not help it, she had missed her female friend immensely. Now she was sitting here, with her two best friends in the world and she was genuinely happy despite everything else that had been going on.

     However Morgan's mood faltered and fell rapidly. Two more people arrived, asking for a Mr. Fletcher. This caused Morgan to raise her left eyebrow at Jack and mouth the words at him mocking him teasingly. At least this was how the first person was reacted to, because this female Morgan did not know anything about but she seemed like a nice enough lady. Nothing to terribly wrong going on there, though Morgan had already learned that looks could be extremely misleading. The second voice, however, was what dropped Morgan's mood and erased her smile and drew her lips in to hard feral frown.

     She KNEW that voice, the second voice that belonged to a male. The voice that belonged to HIM, that bastard..that monster. She slowly leaned back in her seat, leaning her head back as well until she could see past whoever was in the way and her eyes settled upon the male. The one who had hurt her so much. Her lips pulled back in to a feral snarl, though no sound came out of them. She contemplated unleashing a torrent of deadly lightning in to his chest right where he stood, though she did not. Far to much chance of her hitting another member of their party or even an innocent bystander. No, she would bide her time and wait...just wait for the perfect opportunity to her her revenge.

[Stilia Medusa]

The name seemed to attract the attention of another, who was also lucky enough to come across at an opportune moment in the conversation to know who to see about the Craigslist advertisement and not have to awkwardly ask everyone at the coffee shop if they are interested in finding giant metal birds.

He proclaimed Mr. Fletcher was his father. Stilia could understand the whole needing a first name thing, as not only her entire family, but also her entire species shared the same last name. Stilia shook his hand, nodding to his words. “Yes, well, I wasn’t completely sure if you yourself was sane.”

She’d have to leave it to trust though, and nodded once again when he said they should all get in the car. She made a mental note to not accept any candies, as she’d seen in human advertisements. However, before following him, she glanced at the other participants.

She was a bit surprised to see the level of hate in the one girl’s eyes, snarling. Stilia’s eyes followed hers to the male next to her, but said nothing. It may pose a problem, but that would be dealt with when the time came. The gorgon cared not for personal feuds, and was only interested in studying the Styphilian bird.

[Marcus Drago]

"Please, Mr. Fletcher is my father's name!" The boy chimed, rising to shake Marcus' hand. Marcus shook, and the man continued talking. "Call me Jack," he said. "You two must be the one's who responded to my ad! Honestly, I wasn't expecting that to work at all. You wouldn't believe how many crazies responded!"

The woman who he had heard mention Fletcher's name before replied, "Yes, well, I wasn’t completely sure if you yourself was sane.”

"Ditto," Marcus added.

"Now that the group is assembled," Fletcher continued. "we should be on our way. Introductions can be made in the car and I'll lay out all the details for you all on the way. Wouldn't want any of this lot to overhear, eh?"

Marcus nodded to the man to tell him that he understood.

"I trust everyone is ready to set out?" Fletcher asked.

Marcus gave another nod then waited for the group to leave.

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    "Me? Nah. I'm all too sane and these attacks are all too real, I'm afraid." Even with that somewhat sobering reminder of the dying peoples and endangered balance, Jack still managed to chuckle inwardly at Stilia's response. Of course he wasn't crazy. That would be bonkers!

    The young man noticed Nyght's change in mood but he didn't comment on it, figuring it wasn't his place, especially in front of strangers. Perhaps if they got a moment alone at some point, Jack would ask her what was up. But that was unlikely so he pushed it from his mind but told himself to keep a concerned eye on her, just in case things got worse.

    Now confident that everyone was ready to leave, the young man finished the last of his coffee and tossed the empty cup into a trash bin. Jack easily slipped his pack onto his shoulders and began to walk outside. Unused to being followed, he was tempted to walk faster, a little worried he'd get trampled by the group behind him. But the young man dismissed such a silly thought. No one was that rude.

    Anyways, the young man led the group over to a van. The vehicle wasn't much but it was free of any weird smells and not too cramped. The best Jack could do on short notice. He wasn't super used to having to drive everywhere all the time but he would have to make do. Unlocking the doors, Jack climbed into the driver's seat.

    Once everyone was inside he would begin the drive to where he'd determined the last attack to have taken place.

    "You are all familiar with the legend about the Stymph birds, I trust? If not, I can jump into the important bits before I get you all up to date on the situation with them out here."

[Nyghtingale]

     Nyght continued to glare at Marcus, venom filling her gaze before she finally tore her gaze from the male and turned her head to look back at her friend Jack. Her friend whom she knew she could count on to help her and protect her if anything should happen. Not that she needed help, or at least in her mind she did not. She knew she was just about ready to handle anything that life could throw at her. They where here for a reason, and she was not going to ruin their mission because of a personal grudge. If, however, at any point in time during the mission she saw the opportunity to off a certain member of their little entourage some how she had already made the decision in her mind to do so.


     When Jack jumped up, she did as well and hurried after her friend and walked almost beside him. She knew how antisocial Jack usually was, and knew that leading them like this might slightly be discomforting for him. She wanted to let him know that she supported him and had his back no matter what happened. They could count on each other, or at least she hoped that was the case. She pulled herself in to the vehicle first, grimacing at the close quarters with two other people she did not know all that well and knew that she would have to tolerate it for a while. It was not the close quarters themselves, but the fact that she did not necessarily enjoy being so close to two people she knew absolutely nothing about.

     She settled in, pulling her backpack in to her lap and holding it there while everybody else got settled and Jack got to driving them wherever it was he was going. She shrugged her shoulders at his question, and smiled softly before speaking up once.

"I have studied them in my book. However, I am not sure everything in there was real about them or not. Then again, I suppose it is hard to gauge the reality of something suppose to be mythical against what has been transcribed about them."

     She settled down, holding on to her backpack and watching everybody else in the vehicle silently now, letting them speak as her mind reviewed everything she knew about the Stymphalian birds, or at least what was written in her Grimoire. They where massive birds, crafted of metal that could fly but did not like to because of their weight. They had razor sharp beaks and talons, they could fling their feathers like throwing blades at opponents and their excrement was extremely acidic. They did not sound like very good creatures to have running around inside of populated areas, that was definitely for sure. However she knew that they would be simple to take care of with her powers, and combined with Jack's skills and everybody else here she was not worried about anything really. Should she be? Knowing one's enemies was a step towards winning the entire battle already.

[Stilia Medusa]

Things were finally beginning to move on. They left the crowded little coffee shop, and were lead to a van. This only intensified the slight, creepy, ‘I’m going to kidnap you’ vibe this situation was giving off. However, unlike the time she had actually been kidnapped, Stilia was sure she could free herself with barely any effort if anything did come from this.

They all squished into the soccer mom vehicle, and began sharing their knowledge of the Styphalian bird. All she knew about the creature was from the various books she had read, but Stilia had a feeling the creature was real, or else she wouldn’t be here. When people were done with the subject of the metal bird, Stilia would move things on.

“What about all of you? What sort of skills do you possess that can help?”

For a moment she wondered if she was just amongst a bunch of humans. It would certainly make this hunt a lot more difficult if she was the only one with powers.

[Marcus Drago]

Fletcher led everyone to his van, which definitely was suspicious to Marcus. It wasn't the most expensive, but it would be very efficient for this day. Marcus climbed into the van and placed himself in the passenger seat, if no one else got in it already. When everyone settled in the vehicle, Fletcher began to drive. As the rode became long, Fletcher thought it best to make conversation. 

"You are all familiar with the legend about the Stymph birds, I trust?" Marcus nodded but did not look at Fletcher. " If not, I can jump into the important bits before I get you all up to date on the situation with them out here."

"I don't mind a little more education," Marcus said.

"I have studied them in my book," the girl who Marcus once met answered Fletcher. Her words carried a softer and friendlier tone than what she would ever have with him. Maybe they were close? A couple? The daemon found it interesting to see the type of men she really liked. Whoever it was must have been as annoying as she was, maybe even more. Fletcher didn't seem annoying yet, though; he seemed like a really cool guy. Marcus could deal with really cool guys. "However, I am not sure everything in there was real about them or not. Then again, I suppose it is hard to gauge the reality of something suppose to be mythical against what has been transcribed about them."

Marcus scratched his head, and like that this girl's utter nonsense did not affect him. She never made any kind of sense when Marcus listened to her before, she would not make sense now. 

“What about all of you?" The other woman of this quest asked. "What sort of skills do you possess that can help?”

"I can move metal and cause you to see your worst nightmares," Marcus answered. "I would consider that a worthy skill, wouldn't you?"

[Jacksoπ Flεtchεr]

    The young man nodded. They all seemed to have done at least a little bit of research before showing up for this hunt. That was good. It told Jack that they weren't complete fools and that they recognized that preparation, even just a little bit, was vital when undergoing such a dangerous task. Quest, the young man inwardly corrected himself. Because it was a quest, wasn't it? The band was journeying to do battle with a foul creature, risking their lives so that others might live.

    "Most of the more reputable sources seem to agree that they're essentially large metal birds," Jack chatted to the passengers casually. "Bronze beak, iron feathers and claws, if you believe the myths. They're fairly straightforward fighters though some say they can shoot their metal feathers as projectiles. You really don't want them to catch you by surprise with that maneuver."

    "Their screeches have been rumored to burst many an ear drum, so I took the liberty of acquiring hearing protection for everyone. Underneath your seats you will find some electronic headphones. They will allow you to hear normally but will cancel out any sounds loud enough to be damaging. They were pretty expensive so please try not to break them."

    Jack didn't mention the part about the gap in the creature's armor, just above their heart. It seemed too good to be true and he wasn't entirely sure he believed the legend himself. After all, none of the dragons he'd met had such a gap and a lot of legends said that they did. It was possible the birds didn't either. Anyways, they would find out soon enough whether the legend was true.

    "I trust you all brought weapons capable of penetrating the beast's armor? I don't want to be out here all day." Jack said this last part somewhat jokingly but he was fairly serious. Given enough time and concentration he might be able to peel away the creatures defenses but he didn't want to have to depend on that possibility.

    "Me? Well, I can move metal and have a sort of sixth sense when it comes to danger. How 'bout yourself, Ms...?" The young man said in response to Stilia's question though he trailed off towards the end when he realized that he didn't know the names of the two strangers. "Where are my manners! I was in such a hurry to leave that I didn't ask your names!"

[Nyghtingale]

Nyght sighed, leaning against the window of the van, pressing her forehead against the cool glass and listening to the others chatting away. she was kinda zone out for a moment, staring at the city passing past the window along with the people outside of it. She came back in to the conversation as Jack was discussing his abilities and listened to when he asked for everybody's names. She flicked a cold glance back once at the one she had previously known as "Ghost" then looked at the female and smiled. She reached out her hand, offering it to the other in a friendly gesture to shake her hand.

"Hello, my name is Nyght. The other two happen to know me though under VERY different circumstances. I can also manipulate metal like these two, however I also specialize in electrical magic as well as some fairly useful other spells such as the ability to summon a blast of acid and I have also recently learned that I can create creatures out of pure shadows. I can also fly." She would pull her hand back after the other female shook it, or if she did not. She was just trying to be friendly, because she knew that "Ghost" would have no interest in friendship and would use them all anyway he could.