Ninjas/Mages RP

[Vyt: Down, but Not Out]

Aiming at the clear blue skies, Cat Assassin pulled the trigger on his Glock 18, releasing three bullets in quick succession. The gun echoed a rapid repetition of blasts as it bursted the bullets outward.

It has been a few months since the scramble for the infamous gem began. Without anything colossal disturbing him right now, he was getting bored once more, even being absent-minded enough to pull out some of his precious guns for some random shooting. Still, he sighed in dull agreement with the lack of excitement surrounding him.

There was one thing that gave Cat Assassin a spark of joy, however. A few weeks ago, the feline was able to track down one of his friends from his own world; a young lass going by the name of Cylak. Upon seeing her, he was surprised at how quick she had grown, remembering that the girl looked like a bubbly twelve-year old.

Cat Assassin could also remember the abnormality inside Cylak's entity. During his own journey, he learned about the girl's forgotten history: about how she was one of the "reject" candidates for the title of The Queen, her body's irregular growth that seemed to progress only by its own will, and her underestimated ability to make contact with souls. It was the last one that gave Cat Assassin the reason to be alert, for danger was just lingering around.

Recently, the feline heard of the news about a group of people who wish to eliminate the mages of NTWF due to their magical abilities. Rumors are only rumors, he convinced himself, but nevertheless he was alarmed by the possibility of the group's existence.

Hours ago, Cylak bid her goodbye to Cat Assassin, saying that a handful of lost souls wanted to communicate with her. Since her arrival to the NTWF, Cylak claimed that many souls sensed her ethereal-contacting abilities and rushed off to greet her and be informed about the afterlife. Experiences with the lass told the feline that she was fine on her own, but he had prepared her just in case.

BEEP. BEEP.

That was the sound of a communicator conveniently placed beside the feline, supposedly for Cylak to be able to talk to him. Quickly, Cat Assassin placed the device on his lap and listened.

Muffled sounds of struggling could be heard in the background. Hearing them already informed the feline that something was wrong.

"We've taken her."

Cat Assassin's eyes widened in fear. Was that the Mageri?

[PFA]

((ooh look, we can has a mage/ninja RP. Awesomesauce. ))

PFA, as usual, was in the Training Room. She threw a kunai at a target, piercing a hole through the center. She was getting good at that.

The ninja sighed. Throwing kunai, that she did all the time. Throwing shuriken, she didn't do that as much, but she was pretty good at it, too. Katana-swinging, not hard. Even the demonic shuriken--which Father allowed her to keep--wasn't that difficult to swing around anymore.

Her powers, however, could use more practice. The powers she inherited from the Yin and the Yang, which she discovered in that fight for the gem a few months back, she hadn't had much of a chance to use. Which was a good thing, probably. But it also meant she wasn't as good at using them.

PFA held her hands together, pausing for a moment to think. During the war, she had learned how to heal--herself, as well as others--and how to put up a barrier. Since the war, she managed to learn how to weaken some oncoming magic attacks, and even completely negate some of the weaker ones. She also learned that she could give someone some of her energy, for a temporary strength boost. Kind of like what Uncle would do.

...But she still hadn't managed to do that beam of destruction that she had in her dreams. But why not? Perhaps it was an ability that was to be saved for instances when it was direly needed... but then she wouldn't get the chance to practice it.

Easily the most dangerous of her abilities, and she wouldn't get to practice it.

With a sigh, PFA brought her arms out, putting a barrier around herself. The longest she'd managed to keep one up was fifteen seconds. Maybe she could beat that record this time.

[Deleted]

Bettyming was also in the training room, tilting the head of a dummy backward and stabbing it in the stomach again and again and again before ripping it's head off and throwing at a target. She was more like a Viking than a ninja.

She sat down against a wall and thought about how she could improve. She could have ripped the stuffing out of the dummy's head. Or twisting the body of the dummy at least 90 degrees. She had a lot of rage to give to her opponents, and when she was mad, there was no stopping her. She moved on to a bullseye target, sending her katana flying for the center when it started to veer towards the right, missing the center by half a foot. She walked over pried out the katana. She was never good at long distance anything.

[Nature]

((Where are the mages? Am I the first mage to post here? ))

There was nothing in the world that beat playing your instrument by the beach. The crashing of small waves against the shore went well with the notes that came out of one's sitar, the morning sea-air gave a chilly ambiance (perfect for a snow-user), and the silent eeriness of the seashore before dawn could actually help one perfect their playing. Not that Nature was the very first one to discover that fact. She just wanted to know if the claim of the beach before daybreak being the perfect place to practice her sitar-playing (and singing) was true. And to the freezemancer's delight, it was.

The Zafara was Indian-sitting by the shoreline, strumming her beloved instrument/weapon - a snow-controlling blue sitar with snowflake patterns - in her sleek green hands. Little snowflakes danced around the instrument's neck as melodious notes of a familiar song floated out from the sitar strings' vibrations. Beside the freezemancer were two other beings - a small, snow-blue Elvish Dragon with little white splotches and a snowflake charm around her neck, who was sleeping soundly due to the cold, and a smaller, metallic-blue Elvish Dragon with sea-green wave patterns and lightning-yellow bolt patterns on her skin and a storm-cloud charm around her neck, who was watching the tiny snowflakes dance along to the rhythm of the sea and the sitar. Nature momentarily forgot all the things around her . . . it was just her, the ocean and the music. The music that lifted her spirits and somehow made her aura stronger than before. It was marvelous.

Losing herself in her music again, Nature without any warning sang along to the music. It felt good, singing while no one was watching. She was always afraid that if someone ever heard her singing, they would either criticize her singing or just directly shoot her self-esteem down. The only ones she let listen to her voice were the sea, the sky, the earth, the plants, the animals . . . basically, anything that wouldn't criticize anything. That would be good, right?

The hours past, and soon it was already day. But Nature, Seline and Demene hadn't noticed - the three were all lying on the sea-shore, fast asleep. The sitarist was clutching her sitar tightly, in case another dream of some weirdo who wanted to steal her sitar came back. Ever since the war, she had those dreams and frankly, they didn't want to leave her alone. Thankfully, they only came rarely, and the Zafara mostly had dreamless nights. But not this time.

===*===

"Take them all . . . take all those magic users and wipe them all out! Each and every one! I don't want to see any trace of those darned mages, you hear me? NOW MOVE IT!"

===*===

((0_o Someone please wake me up from this nightmare.))

((Note for those who are wondering: Nature's dreams don't tell exactly what's going to happen. They're just symbolisms and vague hints of what's going to happen. Nature started getting them after being struck by the darkness/lightning bolt in GWII. Got it? Good. ))

[Omni]

((Just as a note, I'm not sure the Mageri are out to eliminate magic or anything. All anyone-but-Elcie knows for sure is that magic is illegal where they come from [and several related things] and they're the police.))

Meanwhile, in the Mage Manor library, Omni was at a table with two magic-users from the gem, who came to Mage Manor shortly after the last guilds' war. One of them had clothes that included vines and leather, giving her a wild look. The other one was wearing a classic mage robe and several things that could be used for spell components, as well as stuff that was just ornamental. The three of them had spellbooks open.

"Now here's a couple spells I'd like to learn," Omni said, holding open a spellbook.

The other mages looked over. The 'wild' one furrowed her eyebrows. "Why?"

"Remember that Kougra I told you about?"

"Ah, gotcha. One of those is pretty advanced, though. Why don't you try something easier, like… these two."

Omni looked over, looking at the spell names first. "Ouch!" She paused, reading more into the descriptions of the spells. "Yeah, I guess those could work."

"Sweet!" The robed mage took off a bracelet and handed it to Omni. "Here, you can practice on this."

"Thanks," Omni said as she placed the bracelet on a stone bookend. She stood up, and with some help with the movements and pronunciation, cast one of the spells. Immediately afterwards, she asked "By the way, have either of you seen Nature lately? …The Zafara," she added as an afterthought.

They both answered 'no.' The robed one added "Why do you ask?"

"Well, we've been helping eachother with magic on a regular basis, and I can't find her, and we're supposed to meet soon."

"Tell you what," the robed mage said. "How about we use magic to find her?"

"I'd appreciate that."

The robed mage stood up, took out a bit of fur, then cast the spell, slowly turning and eventually stopping. "That way, toward the edge of my range."

"Isn't there a beach that way?" the other mage inquired.

"Hey, yeah." Omni turned back to the robed mage. "Do you know exactly how far away Nature is?"

The distance was told to Omni.

"Great, thanks." Omni started heading for the door.

"Woah, hey! There's traveling magic, too. I can take you there!" The robed mage grabbed Omni's shoulder and spoke a short incantation. They suddenly teleported… to a wooded area.

"What the…?

"Oh boy… Did I mention there's always a chance we could end up off-target? We should at least be closer, though."

Omni sighed. "NATURE!"

[Celestial]

Everything was going well for Celestial. Ever since GW II ended, she has been closer tied with the mages, solved a conflict within herself that had been raging for so long and now she was flying over the sea after a successful mission of intervention. The dragons with her help eventually agreed on a compromise and who owned what was decided. New borders were certainly drawn but at least it all ended without bloodshed. Her and Overlord were looking forward to a good rest in Mage Manor.

But both knew that all was not well. Celestial was feeling the effects of restarted fighting upon her and she didn't know how to resolve the conflict. The two souls had obviously remembered the bad old days of when they tore at each other. Ceelstial's powers were affected once again and it wasn't just Overlord who saw her confidence drop. Yet she didn't want to be prevented from being a good mage because of it and instead saved her tears, no matter how hard they came.

Celestial, there is somebody on the beach, either asleep or unconcious. Maybe we should check it out? Overlord asked her, interrupting her chain of thought.

Celestial put aside her musings and swooped down onto the beach, shapeshifting into a human. She kneeled down next to the person who she identified as Nature.

There is something strange about her mental patterns, they do not look like somebody sleeping normally. Wake her, it can't be any worse if you don't.

She shook Nature gently by the shoulder then again with more force.

"Nature, wake up!"

[Elcie]

((The Mageri themselves are mages, they don't want to wipe out ALL magic-users - just specific magic they deem illegal, which is basically everything elemental/reality-bending, and all non-humans and hybrids. I have a complete list somewhere. But sorry, don't have time to post or get it right now. XD This is the condensed version.

Basically, in the 'verse the Mageri originate from, the "human" style of magic is nonelemental and neutral, involving the manipulation of magic energy, incantations, and occasional potions. And although they don't like elementals, elemental magic is often allowed to slide if the mage in question is completely human and doesn't use spirits or summons to do magic. Such mages are rare but do exist.

Everything else - summoning, chronomancy, and other "unusual" forms of magic - are considered detestable to the Mageri and such mages are killed.

The Mageri themselves vary quite a bit. Most of them only use "human" magic, some elemental as well. But a very little-known fact is that the Mageri actually persuade some "illegal" magic-users and creatures to join their ranks, in return for not being killed. A lot of the higher-ranked Mageri like to study magic in all its forms and will leave them alive for this purpose.))

[Vyt: Down, but Not Out]

Half an hour had passed since Cat Assassin received that grim message in his communicator. Since then, he had been trying to negotiate with the unknown assailant, trying to know why they had taken Cylak hostage, but to no avail. The kidnappers only told him about the conditions he must meet in order to rescue Cylak, in which he reluctantly agreed.

With a heavy sigh and a heavy heart, Cat Assassin picked up his coat and headed for the door.

--------------------------

Minutes later, the Ninja Dojo was within sight for Cat Assassin. Since leaving his house, the feline had been thinking deeply about the course of actions he must take. Should he succumb to the enemies' standards for Cylak or find another way, however bleak the odds were, to rescue the girl? Plans after plans were prepared in his mental headquarters as his mind became absent to the world around the feline.

"Cat Assassin! Cat Assassin!"

A voice of a random female ninja struck the cat back to the real world. He shook his head for awhile before responding to the call. "Y-yes?"

"Superior wants to talk to you. It seems our scouts have found some unknown activity a few miles away minutes ago from the Dojo," she informed him.

Half-listening, Cat Assassin asked, "Was there any hostility?"

The ninja turned her head towards a specific hallway and looked at it for a minute before answering Cat Assassin's question. "Our scouts barely escaped from the group. They attacked them without any notice whatsoever."

Cat Assassin nodded and headed for the briefing room.

[Kat]

Kat opened her eyes. She stared up at the ceiling and knew that she was in her bedroom in Mage Manor. With a crooked grin, she remembered that one time she had thought she was in Castle Kestrel. At least she didn't mistake her room for her quarters on the White Weewoo.

The mage turned over and winced; she had rolled over the book she had been reading last night before she fell asleep. She grabbed it and placed it onto the small stack of books on her bedside table before actually sitting up and scratching her head.

* * *

Now fully-dressed in her trademark purple robes, Kat headed for the library first. She wasn't hungry yet, and breakfast could wait. After all, she had to bring the books back.

[Nature]

((Oh. XD;; My bad.

Do the Mageri consider Demyx-and-Beatles-loving anthropomorphic Zafaras who control snow/water magic with a blue sitar illegal? >_>))

===*===

"Nature, wake up!"

Nature opened her frightened wide eyes to see the waves almost crash into her face and the sun shining up in wide blue skies - which she didn't recall, since she fell asleep when the sun didn't even rise yet. She sat up, turned around and almost jumped out of her fur when she saw Celestial standing over here, with Overlord on her shoulder. Nature, remembering that she saw something terrible happen to her dragon-mage friend in her dream - too terrible that it couldn't be described - huddled herself and avoided Celestial's gaze. "I wanna go back . . ." the Zafara muttered to herself. "Can we go back to the Manor, please? Please? I'm scared. They're coming . . ."

Seline opened her eyes, yawned somewhat obnoxiously, and eyed the mumbling freezemancer. "What's with her?"

[Deleted]

((I'm a bit new to the NTWF guilds, so if I'm doing anything wrong, just feel free ignore my post. Plus I didn't get a chance to learn anything about GWII, so... Another thing that could be wrong is my thoughts about the Mageri in the first paragraph. If I'm not supposed to know that, just don't count that as part of my post. Yes, I'm very paranoid.))

Hunter was standing at the entrance to Mage Manor. He was always nervous about joining a new organization these days, seeing as how others didn't go... as planned. Slothbird, his Mutant Weewoo, chirped timidly on his shoulder. "Nothing to worry about, Slothy." Except those things he heard about mage hunters. Mageroo? Mages-R-Us? Right, Mageri. He knew he must have some facts wrong somewhere, so there was probably nothing to worry about anyways. He clutched his Wizard's Relic tighter, and entered the manor.

The Mage Manor was confusing in layout, as expected. Just like my school, Hunter thought, and grinned. "Maybe I should find a mage in here to tell me a bit about this, eh?" Without even having to be told, Slothbird went to search the manor. Hunter sighed. Now there was nobody there. "No reason I can't explore a bit myself. That bird can always find me." So Hunter walked off, hoping to find a map of some kind.

((Sorry if I seem deliberately vague on the descriptions of the manor, I have no clue what it looks like.))

[Elcie]

((Yeah, that would be very taboo. Anthros, definitely a no to the Mageri.))

Elycien woke with a start, the reason being that a Gathow had just landed heavily on her stomach. She glared hazily at the fluffy white Petpet. "Bliz. You need to lose weight."

"You're going to miss breakfast," Blizzard informed her, tail twitching. "Blitzkrieg is already down there, probably."

Elycien groaned and sat up, shoving the catlike creature off. "Like I said. You could stand to miss a meal." Her stomach rumbled, and she hastily amended, "I'm still hungry, though."

She dressed hastily, her long black hair still disheveled, and started to make her way down to the dining hall.

[Salah~]

Dressed for once in practical clothes rather than her showy everyday ones, Salamander neared the top of a hill, thin brown hair moving slightly in the warm breeze. Almost home...! she thought to herself excitedly, and then was suddenly surprised to realize that she had come to regard Mage Manor as her home. But having spent nearly two years spent in the magic-user's haven, even after fleeing to her birthplace upon spotting the signs of a second war, Salah felt like she was arriving back at the one place she belonged.

Speeding up slightly to a brisk pace -- she couldn't wait to get back -- Salamander pulled out her map to look at as she walked, using her magic to adjust the light so it was just right for reading. It will be nice to get back among other mages, she thought contentedly to herself, or at least mages who aren't old fire summoners. Users of any other element were almost unheard of in her town, which ended her up with more attention than even she had grown accustomed to liking.

Coming to a bend in the road, Salah chose the slight detour that went by the beach -- it was far too nice a day to miss the sea breezes that came off the water. As she walked, she caught sight of several other people enjoying the shore -- her fellow mages, she realized as she focused light on them to see their features.

Salah broke into a run, enjoying the feeling of moving so fast across the sand, and skidded to a halt as she caught up to the other two on the beach. "...hi," she said, breathing between gasps for breath. "Hello, Nature, Celestial... I'm back!" and she hoped that they wouldn't ask about where she had disappeared to during the war.

She stopped smiling as she realized how serious they looked. "Is... something wrong?" she asked, just a little worried.

[Celestial]

Nature stirred and woke up, much to Celestial's relief. However the Zafara was very scared. It was hopefully just a bad dream and nothing to worry about yet the Dragon Mage knew all too well that dreams could be real just as reality could be dreams.

"I wanna go back . . .Can we go back to the Manor, please? Please? I'm scared. They're coming . . ." Nature said quietly. Clearly it was a very bad dream. Celestial only nodded and shapeshifted into her Dragon Form, scooping up Nature and Seline and placing them on her back. She spread her great wings and took off towards the Manor, hoping that there she would realise what is happening. There was a strange feeling in the air. A green forest-dragon flew up to her and Celestial crooned a greeting but to her surprise the dragon was not happy to see her.

"You should not have left the North now. There is somebody here, hunting mages just like you milady. Go back while you still can" he shouted to her in Dragontongue. Celestial stopped in a hover, her wings cutting through the air. The dragon flew around her, obviously expecting an answer.

"I cannot abandon my friends in Mage Manor. If these people are here to kill us than I shall fight for what is right. If the worst comes to the worst, I can hide with you, can't I?" she asked the dragon. He sighed deeply and flew back into the forest.

"It is your funeral Lady Celestial" he shouted as he disappeared into the canopy. Celestial blinked in confusion but resumed her course. She would have time to think about it when she reached the Manor.

She landed in the courtyard outside, just in front of the beach. Taking Nature and Seline off her back, she shapeshifted into a human.

"Nature, do you need any help? Rest perhaps? Or a cookie from the kithen?" Celestial asked the shaken Zafara.

"Hello, Nature, Celestial... I'm back!" a voice called out. Celestial turned to see Salah running to them. The Dragon Mage managed to smile and Overlord weewooed a greeting, albeit a half-hearted one.

"Is... something wrong?" Salah asked, noting the atmosphere around them. Celestial's wings drooped a little as she looked right into Salah's eyes.

"I'm not sure of what is going on, I just came back from a long journey but Nature had a terrible nightmare and I got a message from one of my kind that there are people hunting for mages just like me. I don't know what he meant exactly but it couldn't be good" she told Salah, sharing the extent of her knowledge.

"Perhaps the other mages know more" Overlord quipped. He seemed very worried and it was no surprise to Celestial. His life was on the line too.

"You're right Overlord but first I have to make sure Nature is ok"

[Vyt: Down, but Not Out]

Near the Training Room, sounds of mild-stomping footsteps could be heard. The source was coming from the same female ninja who had greeted and informed Cat Assassin of Superior's request.

"PFA-san! Bettyming-san!" she shouted. "Superior wants to talk to you!"

---------------------------

By that time, Cat Assassin was already inside the Briefing Room, and it had been a few minutes since Superior started talking.

"... A much-experienced guy like you fits well for this mission," Superior heavily sighed. "I can't risk to pull out another low-ranked ninja teams and make them sustain injuries or worse..."

"I understand, but you do know pretty well that I'm just a honorary ninja around here," Cat Assassin reminded the human. "I can turn down your requests because I'm not really bound by you."

Superior looked directly at Cat Assassin's eyes. He could sense something else was bothering him.

"It is your decision," Superior nodded. "I have already assigned replacements just in case, and PFA is one of them. You might not believe this, but she is the closest we have right now."

Upon hearing his niece's name, Cat Assassin stepped back and began to ponder. What if the mission had something to do with Cylak and the kidnappers, he asked himself. Provided that the time he received the call and the time reported by the scouts were very close, the chances of the mission leading him to Cylak were high enough.

Cat Assassin repositioned himself in front, nodded his head a bit and let out his final decision.

"I'm going, but the replacements will have to accompany me. I'm going to need all the help I can."