Ninjas/Mages RP

[Deleted]

Bettyming jumped off the tree branch and ran into the shield surronding PFA. "Why does this keep HAPPENING?!?" She was crounching and she had her arms over her head. Obviously she was very scared,
.

[Vyt: Down, but Not Out]

Cat Assassin looked at PFA as she took charge of defending the ninjas, jumping and landing near him and warning the others to stick close to her. While the cat was busy restoring some of his energy back, his niece quickly channelled a barrier against the incoming fireballs.

Lucky for the ninjas that they took PFA's decision, for more fireballs were blazing towards their targets. Running away would've spelt doom, Cat Assassin thought.

The feline let go of the ramp he made, and it vanished like it never appeared. "I don't understand... How many barrages of these are there, anyway?" he asked no one in particular, partially to alert the other ninjas. "Or worse... What traps lie ahead after this?"

The rage of the fireballs continued hampering PFA's barrier. It won't take long before she needed to rest, he knew.

(Sorry, filler post. Will post something meaningful after I rest from our exams)

[Jove]

Jakie looked around PFA's back with a perplexed expression. "Keeps getting better, doesn't it?" She gazed at the fireballs as if they were nothing more than harmless rain falling from the sky. She would have liked to do something about the situation, but that would be revealing herself, which for the time being was against orders. Besides, the string of traps wasn't nearly life threatening enough for her to interfere. Whoever was behind these schemes obviously wasn't trying hard enough. She glanced sideways at Cat Assassin. Well, what do you expect us to do now?

[Kat]

The Leader of the Mageri was a tall, imposing man who wore the sleekest, blackest cloak, and who almost never removed his hood, as if showing his face was the ultimate sin. Very few Mageri knew that he had long, slightly wavy hair as dark as his cloak, or that he wore a monocle over his right eye, or that his eyes were a piercing emerald shade. Because he was always clad in that sweltering cloak of his, almost nobody was sure whether he was a little chubby, or a stick of a man. Only Evandra, his loyal second-in-command, knew all these things, including his full name, his exact age, and his favorite flavor of pie.

But there was one thing everyone knew about him - he was their Leader, and his word was law. He commanded them with an iron fist, but his rule over the Mageri was no hegemony. At least, he tried to be a little democratic, a little kind - that is, to those who served him well. The Leader saw through bribes, however, and nobody dared trick him. Once he saw through someone's ruse...well, nobody ever heard from the deceivers afterward. At the very least, they were probably banished, never to see the Mageri or its headquarters ever again.

Now, this man of power walked the corridors of the headquarters, his gait hurried and his cloak sweeping the floors. Two guards marched behind him, striding to keep up with his pace. These men were no mages, but they were quick with their spears, and their eyes darted all around from beneath their visors. So intent were they on watching out for any danger that they nearly jumped out of their chain mail when the Leader whipped around, a hooded symbol of dominion. He raised a hand adorned with a gaudy gold ring with an emerald cut into a six-pointed star.

"Yes, O Great One?"

"What do you require of us, my lord?"

The Leader had many titles, but they all meant only one thing. He was loved, feared and respected, all at the same time, so it was no surprise to see the two guards tripping all over their boots just to bow low before him.

"You may leave. Return to your posts in the dungeons with the...newest prisoner." He blanched at the last two words and waved his guards off; it made him uncomfortable describing the prisoner - she looked like a spotless cow. Spotless cows that lived to chew cud and give milk were one thing; spotless cows that walked and talked like humans were another, and definitely not something you saw everyday.

And now, they had one in their dungeons.

His guards nodded, scowling in disapproval behind their visors - not at the Leader's order, but at the thought of keeping a cow in the dungeons. Maybe they could milk it. One of them laughed at that thought, but instantly stifled it when his companion discreetly elbowed him. Then they left, leaving the Leader to walk the rest of the way to the Hall. It didn't matter; he didn't really need guards, after all. Those two had just insisted on accompanying him. It was a nice gesture, but one the Leader didn't really need.

At last, he threw open the doors to the Hall, surveying his audience of gathered Mageri. A quick head count told him that everyone was present - at least, everyone he needed to see, judging from all the faces that turned to face him. Evandra was up front, on duty, as usual. But she quickly curtsied at the sight of him and shouted for all to hear, "Our Leader has arrived!"

Everyone stood up from their chairs, hurriedly bowing and curtsying, watching with awe as the Leader walked down the red carpet that divided the audience into two parts. He seemed to glide toward the stage gracefully, ascending the steps with barely a sound and finally coming to the podium, staring at everyone from under his hood.

"Greetings, everyone," he said in a bass voice that echoed throughout the Hall, even to the very back. His deep, imperious tone chilled the bones of some; it lifted the spirits of others.

[Vyt: Down, but Not Out]

After a few minutes of hiding under PFA's barrier, the ninjas looked as the fireballs stopped coming towards them. Cat Assassin alerted himself at the expectation of another trap, placing himself in a defensive stance without another word. Traps like that really did not want to keep victims alive, as seen from the spontaneous events they had triggered. A meteor from the sky hurling towards them at high speed, skeletal warriors without any conscience whatsoever, or a portal sending them to another dimension; any of those were already bad, and anything else were worse.

Still, Cat Assassin waited for nothing. The traps had been cleared.

"Well that wasn't very... nice," the cat breathed a sight of relief. He then proceeded to pick up again the staff he saw earlier, but not without checking for more traps first. He wouldn't want to tire everyone out, physically or mentally.

"... I was clueless about the boulder, but the fireballs gave me a hint," Cat Assassin stood up and faced the ninjas. "Those fireballs were a typical product of the Mages. No other guild in this world can create blazing projectiles like those we just saw." Of course, he was open to the idea of having any projectile being covered in flames, but he knew such shallow thinking will lead him to nowhere.

"Perhaps we should give them a little visit," he suggested. The cat then waited for response; he really needed one right now considering that time was already severely hampered thanks to the trap.

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

"Ugh... No, Laine... I don't want to lick your kunai..."

Cylak woke up once more, this time accompanied by sluggish movements and untimely mumbles. Her eyes were starting to get a little blurry with all the darkness surrounding her, save for the tiny sparks of light coming from every soul around her.

The four special souls that accompanied Cylak were already holding a meeting, discussing how they could let Cylak escape from the invisible force that bounded her. Regna suggested foolishly that they bite that off, in which he received strange glares in return. However, that was the best thing they really had right now, since Mana's staff was lost in the first place. Cylak was known to be largely dependent on Mana's magic, and was only seldom seen merging to other forms when certain situation arose. Now that her source of magic was lost, she would have to depend on her other forms to stay alive.

Cylak started to struggle under the force around her, keeping her uncomfortable. Her mouth let out shrieks of hopelessness as she rubbed herself against the wall behind her, trying to remove the force. "Iyaaaah! I don't want to stay in this place! I want Cat Assassin!," she pitifully cried out.

One particular soul tried to help her remove the invisible rope. It was Nakaw, the thief apprentice who was killed during her first ever mission. Even with her relatively fresh experience, Nakaw knew how stressful the rope was to Cylak. "I'm here, Cylak! I'm cutting it, somehow," she tried to encourage her.

"That won't work, you dumbo," spoke out the last of the four souls in return. It was Dexter, the archer who killed Nakaw but was fatally injured in retaliation. "You can't even see anything binding her. We all can't see anything binding her."

However, Dexter was proven wrong. Somehow, Cylak was free.

"Hmm. I still think Nakaw didn't do it."

Cylak took a moment to rest her mind. In fact, she took a lot of time.

[PFA]

Fireballs... so many fireballs... PFA grimaced, sweat dripping down her forehead as she struggled to keep the barrier up. She couldn't stop now; the other ninja were counting on her.

Finally, the fireballs stopped. PFA waited for a moment to make sure there were no stragglers, then put down the barrier, collapsing to her knees from exhaustion. She had never kept a barrier up that long before... especially not while fending off a constant wave of fireballs. It had drained her energy rather harshly.

"If the fireballs... were made by... magic, the boulder... could have been earth magic," PFA noted, talking between breaths. "But... even if they weren't... the mages might be able to... tell us something.

"Just... give me a minute to... catch my breath... okay?" She added. "Then we can... head to... Mage Manor."

[Deleted]

Slothbird watched from behind his pillar as Mundus walked into the hall, and guards stood outside it. There was no way for him to slip in. Slothbird noticed footsteps coming down the hall. A powerful figure in a black hooded cloak was coming down the hall. Slothbird didn't know who he was, but he must have been important, as the guards stumbled to bow to him. Slothbird just rolled his eyes, which is quite a difficult thing to do for a bird. The guards were saying titles that indeed confirmed that Slothbird was mere feet from the Mageri leader.
"You may leave. Return to your posts in the dungeons with the...newest prisoner."
Prisoner? Slothbird knew these were enemies of the NTWF, so the prisoners were probably innocent. As the guards walked away, Slothbird resisted the urge to fly into the hall and listen, and flew after the guards, keeping far enough away that they didn't notice him.

~~~

"Our leader has arrived!"
Mundus stood up from what he was doing, which was configuring his compass. Mundus had arrived just in time, as he knew that the meeting wouldn't be held for him. Still, he held a great amount of respect for The Leader, and would not complain. There was definitely a quiet that went around the room when The Leader entered.
"Greetings, everyone,"

[Nature]

The nightmare. The nightmare. Spiders. The nightmare. Evil tarantula. The nightmare. The nightmare. The nightmare. Spiders. That was pretty much the summary of what was going on inside Nature's brain. The poor Zafara was still curled up into a ball, sobbing her eyes out. Her mind made things worse by playing her whole nightmare again and again and by showing up-close views of the spider on the wall. It was torture. Why won't that darned nightmare just--

Blackbird singing in the dead of night
Take these broken wings and learn to fly
All your life
You were only waiting for this moment to arise.

That song . . . 'Blackbird', the very first Beatles song Nature fell in love with. And . . . Celestial was singing it? This piqued Nature's curiosity. Shaking, the Freezemancer propped herself up from the floor and crawled out of the table, glancing around nervously to see if there were any more spiders lurking around. Kat said something, but Nature wasn't exactly listening. She looked forward, and she suddenly stopped and gaped.

Before her were four nearly-accurate ice statues of the Beatles. Though they were a little off, Nature could still recognize John, Paul, George and Ringo's distinct features. Even their instruments looked almost like their actual instruments. Tears of happiness rolled down the tormented Freezemancer's face as she rushed away from the table and suddenly glomped all four ice statues. This was just plain awesomeness.

Suddenly, she remembered the cookies. Nature stopped hugging the ice statues and proceeded to grab a cookie from the cookie jar (and breaking another glass in the process). Once there was a cookies in her hand, Nature opened her mouth wide and ravenously bit into it. It was soooo good! Satisfied, Nature plopped herself down on the nearest chair and continued to wolf down her cookie.

She still had a few screws loose, but at least she was calmed down.

===*===

"Our Leader has arrived!"

Marthae looked up from her tarot cards and almost jumped out of her seat. 'Oh, the Leader!", she exclaimed, standing up. She gave the cloaked man a respecting bow.

Dymien was shocked, too. He literally jumped off his seat. "Sir!" her greeted, bowing quickly (almost to the extent of falling flat on his face.)

Lireo was the least surprised, but surprised nonetheless. She stood up gracefully and gave a small, lady-like bow. "Sir," she greeted quietly.

"Greetings, everyone," the Leader replied to all Mageri present. Marthae was filled with satisfaction and pride that her Leader had come. Dymien's spine shivered a bit, a bit scared of the Leader himself. Lireo was neutral.

===*===

((Is the hall filled up already, or are there still some Mageri lurking around? Because if there still some more, Marthae will get really irritated.

*grumblemoanwhinecurse* >_>

See? >_> ))

[Vyt: Down, but Not Out]

Cylak cried and cried, hugging the cold floor. The force that bounded her earlier was freaking her out, and despite her escape, it had already rendered her confused and puzzled. The four souls watched helplessly as Cylak wailed in sheer pain.

"Cylak, it's already over. You're gone from that nasty grip," Mana called out in an attempt to calm her down. She might've not been a mother in her living years, but she knew how painful Cylak had been. A human mage whose only intention was to make all anthros and humans co-exist peacefully, Mana knew once that her goals would definitely be shot down. The complete irony, however, was that her own people and those she wished them to live with all worked together to get rid of her.

Nakaw almost cried upon seeing the relatively younger Cylak scream and sob. "If it makes you feel any better, I'll already devise a plan on how we can get out of here," she suggested. "I may be an apprentice, but I am a thief myself!" A thief herself, Nakaw was indeed. She was a very talented pickpocket among her league, and was considered to be the most sneaky one around. Jealousy from her fellow "side thieves" caused them to take the oath of making her ascent difficult, and one took it as far as setting her up in a mission that struck a vicious blow upon her, killing Nakaw while in her very first mission.

Regna and Dexter were pretty much neutral, them silly boys.

((Yeah, filler posts. ))

[Jove]

"Mages?" Jakie frowned as she watched the barrier drop. The experiences the catlike girl had with mages had been slim to none. She had never been to Mage Manor, and knew only that the Mages living there were neither enemies nor allies to the ninja. Pirates were usually considered their sworn enemies, but Jakie had no real problem with them so long as they keep enough far enough away so that she couldn't smell them. Mages were a bit of mystery to her. Magic was something beyond Jakie's abilities, as well as the abilites of her superiors, and intrigued her greatly.

"To Mage Manor, then. Would you like me to carry you, PFA?"

[PFA]

"No, that's alright... I think I'll be fine," PFA said in response to Jakie's offer. She wiped the sweat from her brow, then stood up. "Let's not waste time, then... unless anyone has any reason to stay, we should get going."

With this, she headed off toward Mage Manor, beckoning the other ninjas to follow. She hoped the mages would know something... perhaps they'd be able to figure out who set that trap on them. Accompanying that thought, PFA added, "Hey, if someone could bring a chunk of the boulder with them, the mages might be able to find out if it's magical or not."

[Omni]

There was a moment of awkwardness, as if the mages weren't sure what to do next.

Omni decided to break the semi-silence. "So… shall we begin?" Omni quickly got some cups, and milk from the fridge, then sat down. "So, Nature, at the beach, you were definitely… distressed about something. Would you tell us about it?"

[Deleted]

Bettyming took a small piece of the boulder and ran off to catch up with the other ninjas. Se wondered about Mage Manor. She had always heard about it, but she never actually saw it... She had no idea whether to be scared, be happy, or feel nothing.

[Kat]

The guards returned to Cylak's cell, resuming their posts and deciding to take some time to gossip about their prisoner.

"Who - or what is she talking to in there, anyway?"

"Dunno. Bet something's not right in her head. Come on, she's just talking and she's the only one in there!"

"Quiet! You don't want her to hear us, do you?"

"Actually...that might be a hoot if she heard us." He slapped his thigh as he let out a stentorian guffaw, which earned him a sharp jab in his ribs from his partner. "Owow, all right, all right, shutting up!"

* * *

Evandra stood to the Leader's right, gazing at him reverently and hanging on to every word he said.

"I am happy to see you all here. More than happy, in fact, to see that each and every one of you is looking well. Forgive me for being late. I can imagine that it is not very good form for the one to call the meeting to be unpunctual," he said, sounding very much like a benevolent old man addressing his many grandchildren.

Then, his voice suddenly became deeper, more formal. The Leader meant business. "Now then, let us move on to more pressing matters. As you know, I don't organize meetings like these unless they are particularly urgent. A certain manor in the vicinity has caught my eye, and surely that must ring true for some of you."

Althius half-raised a hand, but quickly brought it down when the Leader's head turned in his direction. The young man felt his cheeks burn, rivaling his hair.

"Yes, as we can all see, young Althius does agree." As some of the Mageri whispered among themselves, their head snapped his fingers twice, and a map appeared before his audience, a map large enough for everyone, even those at the very back of the Hall, to see and pinpoint the landmarks indicated on it. The snaps also got their attention, and all eyes were on the map.

The map of the NTWF.

And upon it, Mage Manor was encircled with crimson ink.

"Before I say my piece, however, I shall now leave the floor open for anyone who would wish to tell me more about this...manor."

* * *

Kat nodded to Nature and reached out for a cookie. "Yes, do tell us."

[Nature]

"So, Nature, at the beach, you were definitely… distressed about something. Would you tell us about it?"

Nature stopped munching on her cookie and stared at her mentor. Long and hard. The silence was very tense. It was somewhat evident that the Zafara's eyes were moist and, by the frightened expression on her face, it seemed that tears were going to fall sooner or later. She started shaking uncontrollably, biting her lip as if she did not want to speak. She just wanted to bolt out of the room and run - run, run away and hide because she just couldn't handle it all - their stares, the nightmare, their worrying for her, their dark, dire fate that she had seen in her dream . . . she didn't want to drag them down along with her in her worries. That, and the fact that she was a coward at heart and just wanted to live. She didn't want her - or the others - to die yet . . . Oh goodness, no! Don't think that, Nature. Don't. Think. That!

She felt the pressure of the other Mages' looks toward her. The Freezemancer cowered a bit and slightly shrunk down her chair. They shouldn't know, they shouldn't know, they should not know . . .

"Yes, do tell us."

That did it. At that moment, Nature dropped her cookie, letting it fall on the ground (and be stolen away by that tarantula again, who somehow escaped from his cage again and, after getting the cookie, headed back to its home to share the baked good with its siblings. Thankfully, Nature didn't see it.) Silence penetrated the room for a good five seconds. Then, Nature suddenly broke down and once again started sobbing, shaking her head sadly.

It took a while before the Zafara decided to talk. "Th-there were these p-people in dark h-h-hoods," she stammered, hiding her face from the other Mages in shame and fear. "Th-they had weapons. Their l-leader to-told the others t-to wipe out ah-all the Mages." She sniffed and wiped her tears before continuing. "Th-they went, a-and they found the Manor. Then . . . then . . ."

Demene comfortingly put her hand (paw?) on Nature's. "Then what?," she asked her owner with concern, her usually ocean-blue eyes now an ominous storm-cloud shade of gray - meaning that she was worried. Terribly worried.

Nature started choking on her tears. Then she completely forgot how to hold back her tears and just let them all out. "They killed us!" she hissed, eyes wide with fright. "They killed us all! Only the pure humans were spared, but they were beaten up bad! The sun was red, there was blood everywhere . . ." She shook her head. "One tried to get my sitar again . . . and he succeeded! They were going to use it to kill me!"

Nature then proceeded to sob in her chair again, forgetting about her cookie and about being calm. She acted like a scared little child again, huddling herself in her chair, rocking herself and bawling her eyes out. Seline and Demene saw all this. With a grudging sigh, Seline muttered to herself. "I'll go get Demyx," she bitterly announced to the other Mages, referring to the Zafara's beloved walrus plushie that she always kept in her room. Without another word, the snow-controlling dragon walked out of the dining room, looking for Nature's bedroom to fetch the plush toy. She'd better be okay by the time I get back or else . . .

===*===

"Before I say my piece, however, I shall now leave the floor open for anyone who would wish to tell me more about this...manor."

Lireo was the first to speak up. "That would be Mage Manor, home to the Mages of that land called the NTWF," she told the Leader as-a-matter-of-factly. Lireo was pretty much known for being a bit of a know-it-all (although Marthae beat her to it) and was almost always ready with an answer, may it be right or wrong.

"Yeah. Those darned illegals are rampant there, too," Dymien agreed, a scowl on his face. He had hated illegals ever since, and was sure they were nothing but Mages that should be permanently erased from the face of existence.

Marthae nodded at the statements of her younger colleagues. They were learning well, and she was glad for that, lest her teaching them would have been only a pure waste of precious, precious time. "They are also known to be an assorted bunch, will some legal and illegal magicks they can control." The potion-maker shuddered at the thought of the illegals. "I heard some of them also have strange ways of channeling their powers, like, say, musical instruments and other useless trinkets." Marthae then whipped out her tarot cards and examined them in case the Leader was in need of her clairvoyant services.

===*===

. . .

are they coming?

i think so.

please don't let them come . . .

. . .

please . . .