Outside the Campus' North Gate, Wednesday Morning

[seeks_truth]

She had heard the first shriek when she'd left the dorms complex for her morning jog. There had been dead eels on the lawn, but she had not paid it much heed.

Then there had been the second shriek, as she approached the gate. It had given her pause. What was out there that was, apparently, throwing fish at the school?

It was the third shriek that made her draw her weapon.

By the fourth, Cassandra was outside the North Gate, her sword in one hand and a makeshift shield in the other. "Maker," she snarled, "You will not make it to the school, creatures!"

... and so, if you left campus before classes today, there was about a fifty percent chance you'd run into a tall, dark-haired teenage girl in full armor, punching flying eels in the face with a garbage can lid. One had to make do with what one could find, after all, and she had not had the presence of mind to equip a shield the day she'd come to Fandom... etcetera.

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[not_every_mage]

When the first eel hit Anders' window, his reaction was to roll over and try to get some more sleep. Someone else would deal with them eventually, right?

But after another hour or so of screeching flying eels crashing against the dorms, he reluctantly decided he might have to be one of the someones to go deal with them. He put on a heavy sweatshirt and jeans -- the closest his wardrobe came to armor -- retrieved his staff, and went out toward town.

He'd zapped a few eels off to meet whatever Maker they believed in before he spotted Cassandra and greeted her with a relatively cheery "Hello!"

Killing things together tended to lead to a temporary truce, after all. And if Cassandra didn't think so -- his train of thought was interrupted by the need to attack a particularly large eel propelling itself directly toward him.

[seeks_truth]

"The eels are more plentiful outside the gates!" Cassandra felt she should likely warn him. "Do not let up your guard!"

She was even going to be nice and put herself - and her garbage can lid shield - between Anders and the next barrage of eels hurtling his way.

[not_every_mage]

"Thanks," Anders said, waiting behind the shield for the barrage to die down to something he could manage. (He had no shame when it came to not getting killed.) As he did, he noticed what exactly it was. "You're protecting us with a garbage can lid?"

[seeks_truth]

Cassandra grunted.

"Are you complaining?" she asked, bashing the last of the barrage with her shield so hard the eels went flying backwards.

[kenselvren]

Jalian took out an eel near Anders and grinned at him. "Can we kill things together again?"

[not_every_mage]

"It'd be my pleasure," Anders grinned back, generously freezing some eels in Jalian's general direction. "Well, not exactly a pleasure, but as close as we're coming to one today."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy had to raise her voice a little to be heard over the shrieking. "On your right!" She was coming in to land next to him and didn't want to be frozen or electrocuted or smashed with a rock or whatever else he was doing to the eels.

Flame is not Kathy's best color, Anders!

She landed in a handspring next to him, then bounced back up into the air to kick on of the critters right in their flying equipment to knock it down. Another, she grabbed by its tail and flung into the bars of the North Gate.

[not_every_mage]

"Thanks," Anders called back, and held his fire -- and his ice, and his electricity -- until he was sure he wouldn't hit Kathy. "Nice moves. Do you fight eels often?"

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

"Anders?" Hanna remembered him from her Friday class, and asked a little plaintively, loading her gun. "Is this... expected?"

[not_every_mage]

"Oh yes, every third Wednesday," Anders told her airily. "Well, in odd months. In even months we get bears instead so fighting eels doesn't get too boring."

(Sorry, Hanna. He wasn't quite clear on when to hold his sarcasm.)

[kenselvren]

Jalian wasn't sure precisely what was going on here, but once an eel tried to attack her, she didn't much care. She started around the dorms, but when she saw the battle by the gate - well, numbers always helped.

So she was striking out at the latest batch of eels, a long knife in each hand, practically a blur as she sliced them neatly.

[seeks_truth]

And now they had a dual-wield rogue!

"Watch your left!" Cassandra yelled, as she dashed forward to catch another wing of this latest batch on her shield.

[kenselvren]

NGL, I totally thought that!

"Thanks!" Jalian sliced through the one there, then whirled to take out a few at the end that tried to sneak around Cassandra's shield. "How many are there?"

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy didn't have anything as exciting as a knife or other bladed weaponry, sadly. And the weapons she did have weren't the kind that would inspire fear in the hearts of onlookers. Probably for the best that eels didn't really have the brains to care one way or another.

The weighted handle of a set of reinforced gymnastics ribbons smashed into the side of one of the eels, knocking it to the ground. Kathy was by Jalian's side an instant later, giving the other girl a grin and a wave. "Morning! "

[kenselvren]

"Morning," Jalian returned, waving back before slicing another eel. She eyed Kathy's curious weapons. "What are those?"

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy had skipped out on the Banzai regalia today, since the invasion was limited to the island. And the last thing she wanted to do was get eel guts out of the white cotton (or whatever the fabric actually was) of her gi. But that was hardly going to stop her from fighting off screaming flying eels, ha! Even without her customary rainbows, she was still a colorful blur as she fought off the eels.

But as much fun as fighting off flying eels was solo (and yes, she was having fun, shh! Don't judge!), Kathy guessed it was going to be even more fun joining up with a group, so when she saw Cassandra and company coming, she called out to them. "Hello! 'Ware your left!"

If there's already a mage, a tank, and a rogue, does that make Kathy the Inquisitor?

[seeks_truth]

Only if she got a glowy bit surgically implanted in her hand.

Cassandra looked briefly bewildered by the blur, but then chalked it up to a mage using Fade Step. Strange; Kathy had not seemed like one when they first met. She had more important things to do now, like turn around and cleave Left in two. "Got it!"

[spin_kick_snap]

Sigh. Cassandra you killjoy

"Awesome!" Kathy darted away, using the nearest bit of wall to bounce up and get some air to fight off a small group of eels that were aiming directly towards them. She never stopped moving, a using a spin kick over here to drive one of the eels into the ground, then vaulting over to scissor kick another few on the other side.

They made a creepy snappy sound when she hit them. She was trying not to think about that.

Moments later she was landing back by Cassandra's side, unaware that she'd been classified a mage or what a 'Fade Step' was. "Nice swordwork."

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

Hanna had stopped to watch Kathy for a moment, and then carefully shot the one or two flying eels (very few!) that Kathy had missed. "This is the oddest thing I have seen yet."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy spun around at the sound of gunshots, then flashed Hanna a smile. "That's how I know you're new," she teased. "Flying eels? Must be...what day is today?"

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

Hanna had noticed this on her way back from class, and gone straight to her weapons locker. Gun, bow and arrows, knife, all at hand, once she'd realized that there were other people doing this. She would not be trying this alone, Sparkle. She promises.

"Where are they coming from?"

Anything more existential like why are they flying? could be addressed after they were all dead.

*bang*

[kenselvren]

"We're not sure," Jalian called back. "Last time there were deadly things, it was another island."

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

"I didn't realize there was another one close to here!" *bang!*

Hanna wasn't sure she'd seen this girl in her classes, so when she got a moment she maneuvered closer, on the girl's left. "I'm Hanna. This is my third week here."

And an exciting week it is turning out to be!

[seeks_truth]

"The water, I assume," Cassandra called.

She twisted, slicing through an eel on her way down.

[hexentotchen.livejournal.com]

Hanna should have thought of that! Cassandra was right. And very skilled; impressive. Hanna carefully aimed her bow away from the others, getting a clutch of eels to the left that had been slithering over each other in the air. "If we can clear them out here, we should probably check the shores, to see if we can find them," she called out.