Ninjas/Mages RP

[PFA]

PFA took the flare from her Uncle, looking at it skeptically as if not completely convinced that it would really work when she needed it to. But hopefully she wouldn't even have to cross that bridge. Hopefully.

"There should probably be at least two people per group, if we're splitting up," PFA suggested. "Because then one can watch the other's back and vice versa. Two heads are better than one, as they say.

"That said, if one of you mages would like to come with me, you can if you want to." Which was basically a fancy way of saying she didn't want to go alone. She wasn't sure she'd be strong enough to handle anything on her own just yet.

"You'll probably need some experience in stealth, though, if you'll be coming with us ninjas." Hearing Salah, PFA added, "She could probably help you if you aren't very good at it."

[Deleted]

"Anyone of you may accompany us ninjas. Possibly this will speed up our search,"
Hunter looked up. "I suppose I could come. I may be an ice mage, but I can cast Haste and Reflect, which would help considerably. For stealth, there is a trick that I haven't gotten a chance to use yet, which might be very helpful." Another factor existed in that he just KNEW that Slothbird was near the Mageri, and he needed to find him.

~~~

Slothbird was hiding behind the same pillar he started at. He saw the Mageri's prisoner, now obvious to be some sort of shaman, raise a bow out of nowhere. Slothbird wanted to join them, but that bow looked deadly. So to be safe, Slothbird soared silently... and landed right on the bow. "Woo?"

[Kat]

"Escaped?" Evandra screeched, and Pollux stumbled against the double doors, shrinking against them as the second-in-command stomped down from the stage, down the aisle and toward him. "What do you mean, escaped? I can't believe that two strong guards like you can't even keep an eye on a young...young..." Her voice trailed off; she had absolutely no idea what to call her - it - whatever they had kept in their dungeons.

But this time, the Leader made no move to silence her. Instead, he disappeared behind a thick cloud of pitch-black smoke and reappeared beside Pollux, who shuddered in the Leader's presence.

"Forgive me, my lord...forgive us...she..."

"Please stand aside," he told Pollux in a very calm voice. "You too, Evandra. You might get hurt."

They did as they were told. In the audience, Althius shuddered; when the Leader told anyone to stand back like that, he meant it. With such power, the Mageri's leader was more than capable of accidentally injuring anyone in his way. Thankfully he was at least benevolent enough to warn innocent bystanders when he was about to do something drastic.

"I can sense...the strangest aura," the Leader whispered, more to himself.

And without further ado, he threw open the double doors and created blasts of fire that engulfed the entire corridor. These flames were dark as the darkest, most starless night, but they were not hot. They were actually quite cool, but their purpose was not to burn anyway.

The flames were paralyzing, striking the nerves of any living creature and restraining all voluntary movement. They would not cause pain at first, but as the paralysis spread, it would bring with it excruciating pain.

As the Leader cast his spell, a tear flowed from his right eye.

* * *

"I'm terrible at stealth," Kat admitted, blinking and stretching out her arms. "All right, the Manor's highest defenses are up, and it will recognize the ninjas as well as us. I think my place is here."

[Celestial]

"Anyone of you may accompany us ninjas. Possibly this will speed up our search," Cat Assasin said. Celestial looked up. It was better than being stuck in the Manor doing nothing. Kat had everything under control it seemed and there was nothing else to be done.

"You'll probably need some experience in stealth, though, if you'll be coming with us ninjas." PFA added but it did not deter Celestial. She stood up and looked at the ninjas.

"I am coming with you. I have enough experience with stealth to not be a hinderance" she said, making sure her wings were tucked uner her cloak. If these mages really hated half-human hybrids then she must make sure to hide all traces of her dragonic nature. Even if she wasn't technically a hybrib, Celestial doubted that she would be asked questions.

[Vyt: Down, but Not Out]

Cylak wanted to shrug a bird off Dexter's bow, but verbal persistence from the archer kept her from accessing her childish demeanor. The bird was quite peculiar, almost as if spying them from a distance, and took the daylights out of an over-acting Nakaw. Still, Cylak decided to at least talk to the bird; she was getting a bit bored.

"Hey there, little fella," she mouthed out. "You should probably stay away! There are nasty people just after those doors, and I-"

"LOOK OUT!" shouted Mana, who was probably the only one who knew what was behind the doors.

Quickly, the double door bursted open, letting out quick blasts of black fire that went straight towards the off-guard Cylak. She made it a point that the bird be unaffected and quickly pulled it behind her, but she could not save herself then.

Cylak found herself engulfed on the strangest flames of all.

Stunned, she felt her body completely rendered immobilized by the awkward coldness surrounding her. However, moments later, she felt it like a stampede of buffalos.

Pain on every part of her body.

"UWAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

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

At that same instance, Cat Assassin felt his heart being pulled by that cry. Somehow, he could sense Cylak's wails of pain, but was helpless that he could not even detect her.

Involuntarily, a tear came across his right eye.

"We should move," he almost shouted, trying to retain that deep anger inside him. Of all things he hated most, being unable to do anything was among the highest of them all. Most of all, a friend of his was surely in a lot of pain, and he was not near to save her.

Immediately, Cat Assassin headed for the Manor's exit and into the woods, having no clue whatsoever of Cylak's whereabouts.

[Omni]

"Hey, wait!" Omni headed for Cat Assassin, hoping that she could get to him before he left the manor. "I just had an idea: Earlier, I asked another mage to find Nature's location using a spell… or did they offer to do it? Anyway, I was thinking, maybe if you have a picture of the person you're trying to find, the same spell could be used to track her. Do you have a picture, or something?

"Oh yes, and on stealth, while I don't blend in to most surroundings, I'm pretty good at being quiet." You kinda have to be if you want to catch your own dinner, she added mentally.

[Deleted]

Slothbird watched in horror as the Mageri's prisoner was hit by black flames from the door. As the flames subsided, Slothbird went on the offensive. He flew forwards, ready to use his sharp beak, talons, or whatever else to get revenge.

~~~

Mundus saw a dark green shape zip up towards the ceiling. "What the...?" He resisted the urge to use levitation to catch it. He didn't want to attract attention, as he didn't think anyone else saw it.

~~~

Hunter saw Cat Assassin turn and walk out after saying simply: "We should move." He thought he saw a tear in his eye. Hunter almost felt as if something was happening to Slothbird, almost confirming that Slothbird was with Cat Assassin's friend. Cat Assassin walked out of the Manor, it looked as if he was headed to the forest. Hunter took out his staff and followed him.

[Nature]

Seline nodded at all the words of negotiation between the mages and ninjas, but soon, she got bored. Without anything to do, the snow-controlling dragon climbed up the dining table and was about to give Demyx the Walrus to Nature . . .

. . . Only to find that the Freezemancer was fast asleep, soothed to the air spell the Dragon Mage beside her cast. Seeing Nature eyes closed, mouth slightly open, leaning on Celestial's wing irritated the Elvish Dragon. So she just tossed the plushie on the Zafara's lap, mentally cursing at her owner.

Demene listened to also to the negotiations. Since Nature was asleep, she spoke up for the ice mage.

"Nature may be a bit paranoid now, but she can hep a bit. If you need snow magick, she can give it, not to mention some music. But you might want to wait until she wakes up to truly know."

===*===

A large yelling of pain was heard far from the corridor. It was so loud, it reached the Hall.

((How does Cylak yell that loud? Seriously. >_>))

Hearing that scream made Dymien smirk a bit. Though he wasn't much of a sadist like Lireo was, he did like seeing (or hearing, in this case) illegals get hurt. It was somewhat like . . . revenge for him, in the most. An idea suddenly popped in his head. Maybe . . .

In a voice loud enough for most of the Mageri to hear, the incantator started singing (yes, singing) an old chant. His melodious voice filled the room, an ancient language enchanting the Leader's magic, making the paralyzing spell stronger and more pain-inducing. Soon, the afflicted screaming got louder and Dymien couldn't help but mentally snicker at the plight of the prisoner.

You should just hope I don't reach the end of my song . . .

((Kuya Vyt . . . sorry for godmodding a bit. ^_^'))

Lireo looked at her lover and smiled cruelly. He was learning, she saw that. She could only imagine the expression on the prisoner's face and soon, she found herself laughing gleefully at the prisoner's pain.

The only one not focusing on what was happening to the prisoner was Marthae. She was focused on the dark flames engulfing the corridors. She was frightened. She got ensnared in those flames once by accident while the Leader was torturing an illegal. The pain was so unbearable she cried in front of the Leader himself. Since then, she avoided those flames of darkness, even looking at them. But now she couldn't, and had no choice but to shake and shudder as Dymien made the spell stronger and the screams of pain louder. Lireo's sadistic cackling didn't help Marthae much, either, and the old hag almost felt like fainting.

===*===

dreamless sleep, dreamless sleep . . .

consider yourself lucky, nature.

[Kat]

Evandra saw something fly forward toward the Leader as the flames slowly began to recede. She reached into the long sleeve of her robes and drew a foot-long stick. As she waved it, she created a net pulsing with magical energy, just right for ensnaring the creature. The bewitched net blocked the bird's path, just as the flames grew once again.

But Althius saw someone who wasn't enjoying this display of power. Marthae looked listless; even uneasy, as though she were being tortured as well. He stood up and went over to her. "Hey...are you all right? Do you need a healer?" Glancing up, he called, "Marthae doesn't look good! Someone help her!"

Meanwhile, nobody saw it, but the Leader's eyes grew wide with fear when he saw his spell intensify when he hadn't done anything. It didn't take him long to realize who had. His palms began to sweat, and he hurriedly wiped them on his robes. But instead of saying the counterspell, he turned around.

"Dymien," he said clearly in his deep voice, "please stop. That will be enough."

The paralysis would last for at least an hour after the flames died down, anyway, so he would not have to worry about the prisoner escaping.

* * *

"Well, thanks a lot for your support, guys. I'll be alone when the Mageri decide to strike home base," said Kat, grinning crookedly. "As much as we need people who can go with the ninjas, we also need mages to stay here, and perhaps one of you ninjas, just in case."

[Vyt: Down, but Not Out]

((Nature: Call that a dramatic scene. ))

"What power..." Mana was half-terrified, half-amazed by the spell of the Leader. Never had she seen in her entire life something of a different affiliation than that of nature. "... What horrible power!" she exclaimed as Cylak started screaming even harder, obviously under more pain.

"Uhh, guys?" echoed the voice of Dexter through the piercing cry. Obviously he was able to do so through soul telepathy, as he could not do it physically through Cylak. "A little help here?"

"Grab hold of me. I'll help Cylak recover," voiced out Regna, to whom Dexter quickly followed. While merging without the consent of Cylak would mean taking quite a lot of energy from Dexter and Regna to do so, it would mean a lot if the latter would be the one reformed within Cylak for that situation.

Cylak quickly changed then to a more peculiar form. Her brown hair stood out literally and turned red, as her forehead revealed an intimidating mark supposed to mean that the bearer was "the nature of nature". More of these marks were replicated around Cylak's body, most of them covered by her long shirt. Regna's weapons, hand claws and bladed anklets, started to hug Cylak's limbs.

But more importantly, the presence of Regna inside Cylak prompted a mutual relationship between her body and Regna's life form, giving Cylak the effect of the marks around her body. Oblivious to the Mageri, her marks began to neutralize the paralysis and pain around her, albeit at a very slow pace.

"Cylak, I wish you not to move if you feel so," Regna tried to calm her down. "Just... pretend you're weakened."

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

Already in a rush to rescue Cylak, Cat Assassin went ahead of the others, and found himself outside the Manor. From the inside, he could see one of the mages coming out, and his presence intensified the same feeling he somehow got earlier. Maybe he had something to do with Cylak.

"I'll do a quick search around the Manor," Cat Assassin looked at the mage. After that, he pulled out something from his coat: a photo of him and his four friends that have accompanied him through his journey. "Go back and tell them that this girl is the one I'm looking for," he briefly pointed at the one in the blue long shirt before giving the photo to the mage.

And with that, Cat Assassin built up his energy around his feet and started hopping from tree to tree. Hastily, he went on his search.

[Deleted]

Cat Assassin heard Hunter coming.
"I'll do a quick search around the Manor," Cat Assassin said. He also handed Hunter a photo and pointed somebody out. "Go back and tell them that this girl is the one I'm looking for." He handed Hunter the photo and then jumped into a tree. Hunter hurried back to the Manor.

"Cat Assassin gave me this photo. He said that this person is who we are looking for." Hunter pointed her out in the photo. "I'm not savvy in tracking magic, so I don't know if that helps."

((The dark green object going towards the top of the Hall that Mundus saw in my last post was supposed to be Slothbird, but since Slothbird was stopped before he got there, you can just ignore that part.))

[Omni]

"Cat Assassin gave me this photo. He said that this person is who we are looking for." Hunter pointed to the character on the photo, and Omni soon took it. "I'm not savvy in tracking magic, so I don't know if that helps."

"Thanks. I think it might depend on the spell, but I'll take any chance." She ran back toward the Manor, using the Manor's magic, as she usually did, to travel more quickly.

----------

In her rush to tell Cat Assassin of her idea, Omni left that device of hers on the table in the kitchen. As the song 'Celtic Dream' finished, it changed to 'Warriors.' 'Lament,' because it fits the upcoming description better.

…Nature…

----------

"Let me get this straight…" the robed mage said. "You want me to use that spell again to find the friend of some ninja, based off a picture?!"

"That's pretty much it."

A sigh from the robed mage. "Alright, but you should know: The less familiar I am with someone, the less likely I am to be able to find them. I won't be able to find them if they're too far out, or if certain things are in the way, either. Also, I can't keep casting these spells all day. Oh yeah, I can't get directions of how to get there, or anything, I only know how far and in what direction, but not relative to north."

The wild mage spoke up. "North? North is even easier than those other spells I showed you earlier."

"Really?!" Omni perked up. "Will you show me… er, Ful…?"

"Folassë," the wild mage corrected Omni. "And sure, no problem."

"Thanks!" She paused, and handed the photo to the robed mage, who was surprised at how high quality the picture was. She then pulled out a piece of paper, ready to write down the direction and distance of Cylak.

As the robed mage cast the locating spell, Folassë quickly taught Omni the spell to know true north. Omni cast it, and was soon told the distance as she looked it the direction, estimated the angle, and wrote it down, being sure to note that this was 'from the manor.'

"Thanks again…"

Before Omni guessed an inaccurate name, the robed mage said "Call me Par. And count on those directions being perfectly accurate."

"Alright… Par." Omni resisted the urge to laugh at the nickname, making a mental note to mention what it meant nowadays. She then ran off to grab some stuff real quick before making a 180 and heading to hand the note to Cat Assassin instead.

[Vyt: Down, but Not Out]

((Filler post.))

While all of this was happening, a friend from far away was oblivious to the current events. This certain someone had much to do with Cylak's development, and he was the one who caused her freedom. At that time, he was tending to his space-travel machine, completely clueless about Cylak's status.

"Krytos," shouted a low female voice from a door above him. "Don't let me go down there to pick you up. You've been there for too long; it's already dinnertime."

As he pulled out a towel to clean himself up, he promptly responded. "Laine, you know I don't eat."

"Whatever, I don't want you to stay your night there!"

The male sighed and dropped his tools. He'd better follow the girl.

Out from the basement door popped a pair of bunny ears, and slowly came out a grey rabbit covered in dust. His cybernetic left arm and right leg had started to lose efficiency, and his head was obviously shaking from side to side. "Silly Laine, you know my 'dinner' is about fixing myself up from malfunctioning," Krytos spoke up with the occasional unusual sound coming out from his motor mouth.

From the kitchen appeared a red Zafara, her purple long hair reflecting the moonlight coming from the window beside her. She was used to only wearing a small top and mini-shorts, and had only her apron up to let her front side look at least decent enough. On her hand was a bottle of oil lubricant, and immediately tended to Krytos' mechanical limbs. "Well, you can't stop me. I'll still make your 'dinner' if that helps!" Laine shouted.

And the couple was happy.

[Nature]

((Vyt: On the post about Krytos and Laine . . . *squeeshippergasm* ^_^))

===*===

Void. A silent, serene space which is filled with a number of uncounted yellow stars.

She feels like floating. The Zafara opens her eyes to find herself in this void, standing on invisible ground. A seemingly dreamless state. She looks around, surveying the space.

Where the heck am I?, she thinks to herself. She wanders around the void, unsure of what direction to take, where to go. Where should she be even, anyways? Who knows?

. . . Nature . . .

Nature listens. Lady Omni?, she wonders.

Soon, music fills the silent void. Slow, somewhat sad music. Nature sighs and basks herself in the soothing melody, despite the fact that her heart slowly breaks with every note of the lyric-less song, its sadness captivating her every being. Soon, she is lulled to sleep once again in that peaceful space of stars . . .

===*===

"Dymien, please stop. That will be enough."

Dymien blinked from the trance his spell put on him. He looked at the Leader. Uh-oh, he was dead serious. Without hesitation, Dymien stopped singing/chanting and bowed his head in slight shame. Darn it.

Meanwhile, a plan hatched inside Lireo's head. Something she knew she couldn't do without even just a small bit of Dymien's assistance. She glanced at the incantator, who easily read the expression on her face. He seemed reluctant, but soon sighed and nodded. Dymien started to sing a small, short chant so quietly that only Lireo could hear it. Once his song ended, a faint white glow surrounded the lightning user, who gave him a small smile of approval. "Keep safe," Dymien mumbled to his lover, who silently promised him that she would. And with that, Lireo took a deep breath and leapt into the dark flames.

((See, guys? Lireo does have a sweet side. Somewhat. XD))

It was a good thing Marthae wasn't focusing on what the lightning-user did, or she would've already fainted. Althius' calls for help snapped her back to reality, and she mentally slapped the read head and mentally screamed at him that she was okay. (We should all actually be glad that it was only mentally, or Althius would've been deaf by now.)

But then . . . something just didn't feel right. Marthae looked around her and saw that the others had sensed it too - the prisoner had grown stronger. Soul-linked, as it seemed. The clairvoyant frowned, reached inside her pocket and took a small bottle filled with a sky-blue colored liquid. She had been testing this potion on other illegals who had the ability to merge with souls, and the experiments were, most to say, successful. Now was the perfect time to truly use it.

If only Marthae could get to the prisoner and feed the potion . . .

~-*-~

It took a while before Lireo found the prisoner, who was curled up(?) on the floor, seemingly weakened. Putting on a sweet smile, Lireo walked up to the prisoner and waved. "Hello there, pretty," she cooed in a false sweet voice. "How do you like your stay here?" Seeing that the prisoner had changed form from the last time she saw her, the smile quickly faded into a look of disbelief and slight anger, then into an evil smirk. Lireo knelt downward and brought her face closer to the cow person's ear, whispering menacingly, "You couldn't get past us, filth. We know of your soul-linking abilities." With that, Lireo picked herself up from the floor and smiled at Cylak again, only with a more dangerous air. "Let's play a little game, shall we?"

With that, Lireo produced a bolt of lightning from her hand and - without hesitation - zapped the prisoner, meaning also to hurt the souls linked with her. She couldn't help but smirk at the reactions of the prisoner and the souls linked with her. "Aww, I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?" She kept on zapping the poor little cow person, a satisfied smile on her face.

((D: I'm sorry Vyt, but my inner sadist wanted to torture someone. >_> *hits inner sadist with a frying pan* >_>

Lireo is an evil, evil woman. D:))

===*===

It took a short while before Nature opened her eyes to the familiar sight of the manor kitchen. The Zafara yawned a very large yawn and scratched her head groggily.

"What'd I miss?"

[Vyt: Down, but Not Out]

"Cylak... Cylak! Are you awake?" asked Regna through the subconscious of the girl. Her lack of response, both physically and mentally, gave him an obvious hint that she had just fainted from the spell. "This isn't good, guys. I need her to be conscious for my regeneration to work!" he telepathically told the others whilst unable to move.

Dexter hovered over Cylak to check on her, but his inspection was interrupted by the approach of a human being. She whispered such despicable words on young Cylak, and the spirits were forced to watch the horrible scene. They had never seen such lack of concern for a child, and that human was even scaring her through her unconsciousness.

And, without any hint whatsoever, the human let out a bolt of lightning from her hand and aimed at Cylak. The defenseless girl was forced to absorb the shock, and shook violently as a reaction.

If the souls were less ethereal, the room would've been filled with their shrieks of pain.