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Post by Huntress on Oct 15, 2008 12:32:55 GMT -5
Roleplays don’t usually get prologues, but this thread warrants one, for purely practical reasons. The Guilds’ War 2 roleplay started on January 12th, 2008, and ended on August 20th, 2008, after 174 pages of posts. When it was being moved to Memory Lane, it glitched and disappeared off the face of the forum. It did, however, remain in some kind of a cache, where it was retrieved with a lot of collaborative effort and immense amounts of patience. Special thanks hereby go to PFA, Celestial, Fraze, and Rider for doing lots and lots of coding for the project. And more special thanks go to Wolf and his summary thread, without which I would’ve been unable to rearrange the posts in their correct order. Even more special thanks go to everyone who participated; namely, in alphabetical order: Aerisa ~ Amneiger ~ Arista ~ Bacon ~ Candy ~ Celestial ~ Clocky ~ Crystal ~ Cyborg ~ Doody ~ Dragon ~ Fraze ~ Goosh ~ Huntress ~ Ikkin ~ Jason ~ Jina ~ Kat ~ Keng ~ Kit ~ Kwoiffei ~ Nature ~ Omni ~ PFA ~ Pyro ~ Rider ~ Rikku ~ Rose ~ Salamander ~ Scarven ~ Shade ~ Shino ~ Smithy ~ Speck ~ Strife ~ Surf ~ Tamia ~ Trilly ~ Urchin ~ Vyt ~ Wolf ~ Zari ~ ZylaaDue to the new, somewhat messy format of the roleplay, I divided it into rough chapters, for easier access and an excuse for drawing pretty picshurs. Always happy to get an excuse for drawing.Ch 1 - The FindCh 2 - The OfferCh 3 - The ManorCh 4 - The ForestCh 5 - The ShipCh 6 - The CastleCh 7 - The WarCh 8 - The ArmyCh 9 - The BayCh 10 - The EscapeCh 11 - The IcebergCh 12 - The BetrayalCh 13 - The WyrmCh 14 - The BattleCh 15 - The TreatyCh 16 - The RevivalCh 17 - The WeddingCh 18 - The EpiloguesEnjoy :3
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Post by GW2 on Oct 15, 2008 12:37:19 GMT -5
Strife((A few people have expressed concern in the GW2 planning thread that there's too much extra planning and built-up hype. The first Guild Wars didn't even have a planning thread to my knowledge and was started pretty much on a spontaneous idea. Therefore, i've taken it upon myself to spontaneously begin Guilds' War 2. If this is a bad time to begin the RP for you, then you can simply jump in at a later date when you do have time. It's better to start this thing as early as possible so that we at least get it off the ground, and if you have trouble finding a place in the RP once the action starts kicking in, we'll help you. ^_^ Just don't feel disgruntled that we didn't wait until March or until next summer or whenever to start this. The new year has just kicked in, so now is a better time than any to start a fresh Guilds' War. No more excess planning of future events. We'll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, let's get this thing on the road, shall we? ^_~ Just like the first RP, feel free to join in from your guild at any time you choose. Here's hoping this turns out well!)) The darkness of the hallway surrounded the nervous soldier on all sides. He could see nothing but a red light at the far end. If he had a choice, he would have turned around and walked back the moment he came in here. But he couldn't. He was under orders, and nobody who refused The Commander's direct orders returned with all of their body parts intact. Slowly, he marched towards the red light, the sound of his footsteps echoing across the lifeless walls. As he walked, he noticed small openings in the walls where he could see the stars outside. The openings were much too small for the view to be enjoyable, though. He continued walking. Eventually, the soldier reached the end of the hallway, where he stood in front of a metallic door. He could see himself in the reflection of the door's surface. The Commander's symbol was pasted in the center of the door, and its outline glowed with a deep red light. The soldier forced himself to stop shaking. It's okay, he thought to himself. He can't possibly know the whole story.His thoughts were suddenly interrupted when the red light on the door turned into a blue light. There was a clicking noise, and the door slid open. The soldier took a deep breath and walked into The Commander's office. The office was average in size, but the ceiling was high. There was a large pill-shaped window at the far end where he could see a beautiful blanket of stars. He could also see a large, dark circle where the planet of NTWF resided, but since the sun was on the back side, he couldn't see the clouds or landforms. In the center of the room was The Commander's desk, and his oversized chair had been pushed to the side. The Commander himself was standing next to the window. His arms were folded behind him, and he was staring out the window towards the planet. The soldier could only see the back of his head, the shimmering shoulder pads of his armor, and his flowing black cape. He's not sitting in his chair... That's a bad sign, thought the soldier. He stepped forward, and the door behind him immediately slammed shut. He stiffened up, and there was a long period of silence. Eventually, the deep slithering voice of The Commander broke the silence. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" said The Commander, referring to the planet outside his window. He did not move a single muscle, continuing to look at it. The soldier remained behind the desk and cleared his throat. "Yes, Sir... It is." "It's quite fascinating how a giant rock can possess so much capacity for life... How it can lead to the creation of civilization itself..." The Commander raised his hand and gently slid it down the window, as though he was trying to pet the planet like a soft kitten. "This planet has been good to me, and I must return the favor." The soldier said nothing. He didn't want to risk anything. "Tell me, Subcommander #12... What is Spacefleet's primary mission?" "You doubt my knowledge, Sir?" asked the soldier. "What is our primary mission?" shouted The Commmander. He suddenly turned around and glared at the soldier with a pair of blood red eyes, his cape twirling in the air momentarily. "To ensure the safety and security of Terrestrial Entity #53, codenamed NTWF," the soldier replied swiftly. "Exactly..." The Commander walked forward and stood directly behind his desk. The soldier grew more nervous and angry at the same time. "It is in our best interest," continued The Commander, "to protect the planet from any force that threatens to damage or destroy it." "What about the conflict that took place on the planet no more than a few months ago, Sir?" "Hah! I would hardly consider that to be a threatening force. It is perfectly normal for a civilization to undergo periods of war and conflict." "Sir, you speak as though the inhabitants of this planet are nothing but cavemen. They're human beings, Sir, like you and me." "Enough!" barked The Commander, slamming his fist on the desk. "I didn't give you permission to speak freely, Subcommander." The soldier's anger grew intensely, but he restrained himself and took another deep breath. "I apologize, Sir." "Good." The Commander's voice calmed. "Now... explain to me the definition of Jurisdiction 2-I of Spacefleet Protocol." A shiver crawled up the soldier's spine. He had a gut feeling where The Commander was heading with this question. "Answer me, Subcommander." The soldier reluctantly began to recite it. "Under Spacefleet Protocol's Jurisdiction 2-I... any Spacefleet personnel who..." the soldier swallowed, then continued, "act in a manner inconsistent with the primary objective-" Without warning, The Commander leaned over his desk, clutched the soldier's neck collar, and violently pulled him forward while staring furiously into his eyes. "-will be persecuted for insubordination!" he shouted into the soldier's face, finishing the sentence for him. "Don't think for one second that I don't know what you've been up to, traitor!" The soldier was shocked, and his mind started swimming with fear. How did he get caught? There was nothing he could do now. There was no turning back. His fear of The Commander suddenly grew into hatred... a hatred so intense that he could no longer contain himself. He quickly pulled a small blaster out of his pocket and fired it at The Commander's chest. There was a flash of light, and The Commander was forced to release his grip as he flew backwards. Both men fell on the ground and quickly rose to their feet. The Commander's chest glowed red where he had been hit, but his armor has absorbed the blaster's energy and did not seem to harm him. "I'm not going against the primary objective, YOU ARE!" shouted the soldier, his face turning red. "All you've ever wanted is complete control of Spacefleet and the world. You're insane!" The soldier fired his blaster once more, but The Commander effortlessly dashed out of the way. "There's a fine line between insanity and genious, traitor. You're insane for even challenging my authority!" The Commander pulled out his Leech gun and aimed it at the soldier's blaster. Both the blaster and the Leech immediately pulsed a green color. The soldier looked at his blaster with surprise, but he was even more surprised when The Commander shot the blaster out of his hand. It soared into the air, shattering into dozens of pieces. The soldier would have charged at The Commander to attack him with his bare fists, but the door to the office suddenly opened and two Spacefleet officers rushed inside, grabbing him by the arms. "You coward!" he yelled. "Fight me yourself!" "Oh, you'll have that chance, traitor," said The Commander. He put his Leech away, marched forward and glared at the soldier while smiling devilishly. "When you recieve your death sentence for attempted assassination, I will be your personal executioner." The Commander gave the soldier an uppercut to the chin. He fell backwards a little, but the officers holding him pulled him back up. "Take him away!" The Commander turned around and walked back to his desk. The two officers dragged the soldier out of the room. After the door slammed shut and the symbol on its surface glowed red once again, The Commander leaned over his desk, lowered his head and clutched his chest with his left hand. That blaster shot was very painful, but he didn't reveal that to the traitorous soldier or the officers. Revealing weakness was a bad idea in his position. It wasn't the first time he was shot, though. Two other soldiers tried to kill him this week, and after taking them down he quickly discovered who the third was. All three of them had the exact same motive and had been giving him problems over the past few months. It didn't matter now, however, since they would all be disposed of soon. Once the pain of the blaster wound had recided, The Commander returned to the window of his office and stared again at the planet. He was obsessed with it. Like a zombie has a constant craving for human brains, The Commander had a constant craving to expand his glove of power. The best part of it all was that nobody, not even his highest-ranked officers, knew exactly what his true intentions were. All he needed to do was wait for the perfect opportunity. He smiled, his teeth glowing in the starlight like white flames. "Soon enough... the world will be mine..." * * * Amidst the ominous events that took place beyond the sky, the world of NTWF kept spinning. The sun kept shining. The birds kept chirping. Most importantly, the various factions of the land went about their daily routines, undisturbed and joyful of the peace they had rightfully earned since the fall of the evil Barak and the end of what they called the Guilds' War. Despite the price that was paid in blood and death, the peace that came in its aftermath made it seem as though it had not happened in a thousand years. Someday it would fade into the tunnels of legend, where children would gather around old folk to listen to tales of heroism and bravery that they themselves would pass down to their own grandchildren. But until that time comes to pass, the war remains a recurring memory in the minds of those involved. It was a bright autumn day in the fair kingdom of Dunburrow. The harvest season was coming to a close, and everyone was looking forward to a month of feasting and celebration. Many farmers were excited this year, as their harvest of crops were much larger than they anticipated. However, not everyone's luck turned out well. One farmer in particular lost most of his corn harvest when a stray lightning spell set his field on fire. By the time a mage was summoned to cast water spells upon it, more than half the field had been roasted into ashes. The farmer recieved sympathy and boxes of chocolates from his neighbors, and the mage who started the blaze had received a sound fishslapping, but the poor farmer still felt bad inside. Afterall, most of the work he had done all year plowing the fields had literally gone up in flames overnight. The following morning, the farmer walked across his field, staring at the large empty space in the center of it. He couldn't see any of the damage the previous night because of the smoke and darkness, but he could now see it clearly. Tiny black stumps dotted the field where hearty cornstalks once stood. The farmer would have started crying, but he spotted something that caught his eye. He rushed to the center of the field, where he saw a lump of dirt sticking out of the ground as though something was buried underneath it. The lump seemed to be glowing with some sort of light. "What's this?" the farmer asked himself. He pulled a hand shovel out of his pocket and started digging. Eventually, the shovel struck a hard surface. The farmer kept digging, and he eventually saw that the object was inside a thick cloth sack. He pulled the sack out of the hole, set it on the ground in front of him, and opened it. His jaw dropped. "Oh my goodness..." The farmer was in awe. How did something like this end up in the middle of his cornfield? Whatever it was, it looked like something very important. He stood up and began to call for assistance. "Somebody! Come quick! Look at this!" KwoiffeiMage Manor...Those who knew Mage Manor would know that it seemed to have a mind of its own, as if it were created by a powerful sorcerer - or magic that was self-aware. Regardless of the cause, the effects were known quite well; the Manor had adapted to its new inhabitants, the Mages Guild, even going so far as to act to protect them during the Guilds' War. The surviving veterans could testify to that very easily. Not all in the Guild had been around during the War, though. Some had arrived afterwards. The wingless, tail-less, black humanoid dragon in a bathrobe, fast asleep at the book-covered desk in his room, was one of them. He had disappeared months before the War, and arrived mere weeks after its end. Prior to this, he had been a spirit, but now he could take on a solid form, as if he were alive once more. The dome-shaped room that was his dwelling was filled with the sound of his low-pitched, rumbling snores. For the moment, all was peaceful and quiet. Then a hole in the roof of the dome opened, letting in bright light. Slowly, the dragon's snores turned into grumbles and mumbles, until he opened his white, pupilless eyes. It started slow, then suddenly they expanded to 'bug-eyed'. "Ah!"Now his room was filled with an audible WHUMP! as the dragon rolled off his chair and collided with the floor. As he lay there, a few dozen curses ran through his mind, mostly in a foreign language, and at himself. RikkuA little sparrow hopped on the mossy forest floor, looking inquisitively at Rikku. At least, it was meant to be looking inquisitively. It came across as squinting. At that point, its eye fell out, and dangled from its nerve. The bird continued to hop, its movements almost mechanic. The Mage sighed and scooped up the sad little bundle of feathers, placing a drop of a concoction unique to her into its eye socket and trying to place the eye back more or less in the right place. She then placed the bird back on the ground and took a few steps back. She gripped a small bone from her pouch, concentrated, and tried again. This time the creature's hops were a lot more natural looking. The necromancer was trying to make it so things she reanimated could move by themselves without her having to control them directly, but it was a lot harder. She'd been practicing on insects so far, particularly ants and bees, as their 'hive-mind' instincts made it easier. The bird fluttered its wings, gave another hop, and jumped into flight, swooping into a nearby tree. Rikku's eyes widened in panic. The last thing she wanted was an undead bird wandering around without her, causing havoc ... "Come back, little birdie?" she said, slightly pleadingly, mentally resolving to try a combination of instinct and her own control next time. The sparrow chirped (somewhat smugly, Rikku thought) and fluttered over to the next branch. Rikku followed. The bird flew to the next branch ... Half an hour later, Rikku was back in the forest in front of the Manor. The bird gave one last, triumphant little chirp and fluttered off back into the forest. Rikku looked forlornly after it ... but the sun was higher in the sky than when she'd ventured into the forest, and her stomach growled audibly. She sighed, spun her frying pan, and jogged back up to the Manor to get some food. "It's not like I can't come back later. It's not going to cause any harm, right?" Rikku laughed to herself. There were a lot more dangerous things than one measly undead sparrow. Scar"Ah so a pinch of ... worry wart? How do they come up with these names anyway?" "Just be careful dear," cautioned Aeri next to Scarven as he toiled over a huge cauldron of what can be loosely be called 'stuff'. Scarven waved a hand lazily and threw the powdered ingredient into the cauldron. "Oh sweetheart this is easy. I mean, it's only alchemy and besides I've got the spellbook right here." He snatched up a handful of some brown powder and sprinkled it into the mix before picking up a ladle and stirring with a frenzy. Aeri looked worriedly at the bubbling pot. "You sure that's how you do it dear?" she asked. Scarven nodded and jabbed a thumb at his chest. "Of course dear! I've got everything under control. Hah! If I'd had known common magic was this easy I'd have gotten into it earlier." His wife crossed her arms across her chest. "You know magic isn't that simple dear," she snapped. "Oh really?" Scarven said with a grin, holding up some yellow liquid in a bottle. "Well if it wasn't that simple why am I nearly done?" He started tipped the whole bottle into the cauldron. "There! Now I should have a nice potion of ... dear? Did the spellbook say it's supposed to turn black and white?" Aeri flipped through the spellbook. "Neope, don't think s -- DEARIE!" she gasped in surprise as the cauldron started smoking before exploding in Scarven's face, drenching him in potion. "DEAR! YOU ALRIGHT?!" "Yeah I'm alright dear, just a little wet," Scar answered, batting away the thick smoke around him. Then he yelped and jumped back, staring at Aeri. "Dear! What did the potion do to you! You're enormous!" Aeri pointed down at him, her hand shaking. "Dear? What did the potion do to YOU!" "What? ... Oh ... oh no ... NOOOOooooo ..." Much later in the Mage Manor's library, Scarven found himself sifting through mountains on spellbooks. But he wasn't alone ... "I told you to be read the instructions!" "I know dear ..." "I told you to measure the ingredients properly!" "I know dear ..." "I told you --" "Okay, okay you told me so. My bad alright," Scar groaned, scratching his head. "And I'll tell you again and again so you won't forget it you silly kitty!" "Oh did you have to remind me dear," Scar sighed, staring at his new fluffy paws, black tail wagging sadly behind him as he sat upon a small stack of books. "Still ... you are kind of cute my dear," Aerisa said, grinning as she ruffled the fur on his head. "Har har dear," he mewled back, straightening his fluff before turning a page. "Okay that should do it I hope," he went on, tossing a tiny pinch of his fur into what's left of the liquid in the cauldron. The contents bubbled and settled a moment later but did nothing else. Frustrated, he jumped off the stack of books. "Aargh! I can't believe I'm stuck as a cat!" He raged, pacing back and forth across the table amid the beakers and vials. "And I just can't figure out how to reverse it from all these tomes!" He kicked some vials bad-temperedly into the cauldron. "Guess I'll have to look elsewhere for a way to ... to ... oh no, dear, did that potion just turn pink?" "Yes dear I ... what are you doing sweetie?" she asked curiously as Scar walked slowly over to the cauldron. "No ... it can't be ... curse this kitten form ... must resist ... noooo ..." Without another word, Scarven leapt lightly off the table and dived into the cauldron. Aeri squeaked and rushed over to see him floating on his back, an expression of pure bliss on his face. "Dear," he mumbled. "Please remove me ... from ... this catnip ..." Aerisa"ARGRRRR!!!!" Aerisa grabbed her head in exasperation before grabbing the kitten by the fur at the back of his neck, using her own magic to protect her arm from the magical catnip. Her loved one lost all bliss he possibly had as he was carried around the manor in this fashion. "Dear, what are you... ARRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" A loud SPLASH was heard as Aerisa threw him into one of the fountain outside of the manor, forcefully washing all of the potion and catnip away from the cat. "Nooo!! Please, MERCCYYYYY!!!!!" After much drama from his part and a VERY thorough washing, she finally removed him from the water and put him on the ground, bending herself and looking at him harshly. "You. Are. UNBELIEVABLE!!!" "...sowwwyyyyyyy..." Kitten Scar meowed pitifully, looking at his wife with equally pitiful eyes. Aerisa sat on the ground, putting her hand over her eyes. "Oh please dear, you KNOW I can't resist when you make eyes like that, even when you're human! DON'T do it to me as a KITTEN!" This only seemed to encourage the cat, who jumped in her direction, nuzzling her belly as he meowed more and more pitifully. She twitched and grumbled as she tried to resist, but to no avail. "Ah darn it, I give up, you were a doofus when I married you, you'll always be a doofus. I should start to get that in my head..." She took him in her arms, snuggling the happy kitten as she nuzzled and kissed his forehead. He seemingly hadn't heard the "doofus" part one bit. "Wuvvle you! Meow!" He caused Aerisa to chuckle as he licked her nose. "I love you too dear... but a kitten with a human isn't exactly a good coupling." She poked his nose, putting him on the ground in front of her. "...You think I'm going to stay this way forever, dear..?" His voice sounded slightly frightful at that idea. "Could be. We searched in every books we found, and we don't even have a clue as to what happened, even less a cure." She sighed, massaging her forehead. "Usually, when you can't find something, the only way to get it is to leave on a journey." Scar's kitten face dropped. "Me? On a journey? ALONE!?" "Now now who said you'd be alone." She winked and, the second after, Scar found himself with something new in front of himself... but awfully familiar. Standing on all four slightly taller than an house cat, with pure white scales and brown fur, her ears and horns unchanged since when he had last seen her, the Dragonbunny started trotting around him. "I married you from best to worst, well, let's get with it! If it comes to the ultimate worse, I'll just spend the rest of my life like that! Not that I mind of course, this IS my real physical specie... thought I'm usually much taller..." Scar barely listened as his beloved babbled, simply looking at her with teary eyes. "You'd... you'd do that for me?" He watched as she nodded, more tears of joy rising to his eyes... "OMG THANK YOU!" And with that, he tackleglomped her, unwillingly sending the both of them in the fountain. Again. TrillyIt had all seemed so simple when she'd first decided to try for her knighthood. Anyone would admit that the idea was an appealing one... the respect of others, excitement, the chance for your name to live on in history... and battle. Although she was loath to admit it, despite her distaste of warfare, she was actually quite eager to experience the fight for herself. Would there be a rush of adrenaline as the enemy advanced? Would she do something incredible and be forever known as a hero? "Tralira Pirul, Ivory Knight. Aged sixteen." Trilly muttered darkly as she picked cobwebs out of her violently red hair. " I've been a knight for two months and the most epic battle I've been in was with a broken practice dummy, simply because it fell on top of me." Trilly plopped down on the stone floor and moodily scanned the darkness around her. Now, if she'd just turned left at the suit of armour outside her quarters, she may have found the mess hall by now, or at least run into a helpful castle servant who could give her directions, but instead she was running into walls in a deep, dark part of the castle that probably hadn't been used in at least half a century. "Got any more bright ideas, Feather?" The lynx-eared girl said sarcastically. "Oh, no," she imitated, "We came in the other way. If we go right at the torch bracket we'll end up in the courtyard. We have to go left." A tiny head poked out from behind her shoulder and peered through her mass of hair. The tiny size of the figure was a dead giveaway that this was a feyrie of the small, magic-less type who made their home primarily in forests. "How was I supposed to know there may be more than one torch bracket outside you room?" he sniffed. "Anyways, this is the most excitement we've had since we got here, isn't it? This may be a good thing." "We only just got here yesterday and we're already messing things up." Trilly groaned. "Look, maybe this wasn't the greatest idea I've ever had, I miss home, and... and I'm hungry." "Raisin?" Feather offered. Trilly took the withered grape from her friend and popped it into her mouth, trying hard to remember the castle layout as she chewed. KengKeng was in the Spacefleet laboratories. A dangerous place to be sure. When she'd first started going there she'd received sever cuts to her hands when she'd put them down on the edge of a table that'd been sharpened by some escaped nanites that had been programed to sharpen blades while they were sheathed. She'd learned to be more careful since then. "Ok Sir, er Ma'am." "Sir's ok. I don't care. Ma'am sounds whiney anyways, Keng is fine too." The scientist decided to get around the confusion caused by this by avoiding using a name or title altogether. "Well, it should be ready for testing." "Nice. I'll get into the viewing room." "Um, that's probably not necessary." "You're 'probably' fills me with confidence. No offense, but I come here often. Things tend to not go as planned. I'll watch the test from the viewing room thank you very much." The thing they were testing was another of Keng's ideas. The problem was while Keng had lots of ideas, she wasn't to good at the actual sciency part, so she'd get help from the scientists. Currently she was in lab 1: Personal Protection. They didn't know her as well here though as most of her ideas involved weaponry which was dealt with in lab 2. This is probably the reason she was used to things exploding when they weren't supposed too. What she was working on in lab 1 that day were lightweight portable shields that could easily be worn, stored, or put in a pocket. As she stood in the viewing room waiting, it occurred to her that she should really start putting patents on these things. Especially this one, as it seemed to work. Or at least, it hadn't blown up. Not yet anyways. Well, she could only hope it would get approved before she had to leave on assignment so she could bring a working prototype with her. She was being sent onworld along with much of her team, the full briefing of why had yet to take place. KatSome people had warned her about wandering about in the wilderness on her own, but of course, Kalianne Triss Lunara, First Mate, Purple Knight and certified mage, almost never listened to anyone else unless she trusted them. They warned her about being unarmed, but she remedied that by carrying a wand and a small dagger. They also warned her about anyone who would take advantage of her, but she was always ready, with either a fireball or a quick poke in the eye. She sat down on a rock, staring out into the distance. Somewhere out there, the pirate ship was docked. Somewhere else, the Mage Manor stood waiting for her, and so did Dunburrow. It was peaceful here, in her spot in the grassy field, and quiet...for a while, it was nice not thinking of swordplay, or buried treasure, or even arcane magic spells... "Somebody! Come quick! Look at this!"And just like that, her peace and quiet was shattered. But still, Kat was interested. Nobody shouted like that everyday, with an urgency that was too much for the curious little girl in her to resist. Kalianne stood up and vacated her comfortable rock, following the yell. It had come from somewhere in Dunburrow, and she ran as fast as she could, until a cornfield came into view, and a man standing in the middle of it... "I'm here! What's wrong, sir?" she called out. The warier side of her made her draw out her wand, just in case this was an elaborate trap of sorts...but she had not detected any foul magic in the air. Of course, some of the best traps were not created with witchcraft. Strife"I'm here! What's wrong, sir?" called out the Purple Knight. "I... I found something in my field!" said the farmer, holding up the cloth sack. For a moment he was tempted to keep the artifact to himself, but he figured that being open would yield a greater reward. "I don't know what it is, but it looks like it belongs in the castle." Just then, he spotted another mage walking towards him who was carrying some kind of sitar. The mage jumped in surprise when she realized that Kat was already here as well. "What's going on?" she asked her. ((From this point forward, feel free to control the farmer, since he is a minor NPC to me.)) Nature"Somebody! Come quick! Look at this!"Nature stopped playing her sitar and looked up. The Zafara was sitting under a tree, playing all the songs she knew and loved on her sitar. Most of the time, the songs she played sounded watery or snowy. But she didn't mind. She liked both elements, anyway. Nature got up from where she was sitting and ran toward were the yell had came from, holding tight to her sitar and her mp3, which she almost always brought along. Beside the Freezemancer, a small, light-blue Elvish Dragon with cloud-like splotches on her scales and a small snowflake charm around her chest. The two finally reached the area of the event. Nature sighed and looked around. This was a farm. Why would anything bad happen here?, she wondered to herself. Suddenly, a rustle sounded. Nature looked around herself, strumming her sitar for attack. You see, her sitar was no ordinary instrument. She used to control snow and water, quickly making them lunge at enemies or create walls that attacked the opponent. Nature really never perfcted the water clone or snow clone technique perfectly, however. It wasn't her strong point. Nature looked at her right and almost screamed. Then she calmed down when she realized who it was. It was Kat, her sister-in-law and fellow mage. Kat was a good friend to Nature. They were almost like actual sisters. Nature breathed a sigh of relief. It was nice to see a familiar face. The Freezemancer went to the other mage and asked, "What's going on?” IkkinWhile the events leading up to the war between the guilds had been largely put aside to foster the peace that had come after the defeat of the General Barak and his shadowy minions, one of the war's veterans still found it very hard to put it out of her mind, even with time to heal things somewhat. Ikkin flew over the farmlands of Dunburrow, lost in the memories of the things she had done, still trying to find atonement for her betrayal of the Knights and what she had led the Mages to do. She was a far different kitsune than the one who had led the Mages against the Knights. She no longer spent so much of her time as the de facto leader of the Mage Guild; rather, she floated along, spending little time with any of the guilds, avoiding places that she associated with the strife and doing little things for people when she came across someone to help. Perhaps that was why she felt such a personal responsibility in something that really was, in its essence, a minor mishap. One of the Mages - whom she'd once commanded, though she had not done so in some time - had accidentally set a Dunburrow farmer's fields aflame, and he had lost most of his crops before the flames could be put out. Almost everyone considered the situation resolved - it had caused little tension between the Mages and the Knights, and it was largely assumed that there was little that could be done - but to Ikkin, the situation felt like a chance for atonement, a way for her to apologize, as a Mage, for the things she had done to the Knights. Of course, she didn't actually know any spells that would help; her particular brand of magic tended towards combat and sailing far more than growing crops. But, she had been able to collect some magical scrolls that could reverse at least some of the damage from an outside wizard at a fairly steep cost, and was flying off to give them to the farmer to complete the task. Perhaps that was why she was nearly there when the farmer called out for somebody to come and take a look at something in a sack that he seemed to have pulled from the ground. She couldn't tell what it was from her position in the air, but she could certainly feel something from inside the sack - something powerful, and possibly dangerous. Whatever it was, it would probably be best for the Knights to come and take a look, she thought. So, for the first time in quite a while, she flew off to the castle to tell the others about what she had seen, without even noticing Kat and Nature had arrived to look as well. Just as the castle came in sight, she was greeted by Sev, who she had been using to keep her up-to-date on what was happening in the different guilds. He was really supposed to be in the court, listening for any news of interest, but the bored look on his face made it clear that he hadn't heard anything particularly interesting. "So, it looks like you've finally decided to come back," Sev said. "Finally get over your pathetic guilt-complex? Or do I have to keep being your little spy until the next war?" "Oh, shut it, Sev," Ikkin said. "You know as well as I do why I don't like being here if I don't have to. I just came to report a potentially dangerous magical artifact in the hands of a farmer, which I thought the Knights should know about. And if you really want something else to do, go tell the Mages about this, so I can have some backup if something goes wrong with whatever-this-is." "Oh, goody, now I get to be the messenger boy." With that, Sev flew off towards Mage Manor with the news, while Ikkin made her way into the castle. "King Wolf," she said, bowing on one knee as she entered the throne room. "A farmer appears to have found some kind of magical artifact in Dunburrow. I didn't see what it was, and the magical signature was unfamiliar, but it felt very powerful. I fear this object could be dangerous, and suggest that the Knights investigate this. I have sent Sev to the Mages to ask for assistance, if you feel that is wise. OmniOmni walked down a hallway of the Manor, greeting the occasional fellow mage that she walked past. Eventually, she came to an area that was currently very quiet. She spotted a door, looked around to see if anyone was there, and turned the doorknob. On the other side of the door was a nice, cosy-looking room, with a plush carpet, and a few tables - one of which looked like it could have been a desk. This looks like a good place, she thought to herself, slipping into the room. She reached up to her neck, and removed her collar - the one that she had bought after the Guild War, since her old had been cut and was unrepairable - and placed it on the desk. She then walked to the middle of the empty space part of the room, and stood with her feet at shoulder width, parallel to eachother. Inhale - raise arms in front of you… Exhale - lower arms to waist level… Inhale - spread arms apart… Exhale - bring them together again…---- A gruff looking man in his early thirties. His name was Ethan.
A red-headed kid of kindergarden age. His name was Ethan.
A bald man with a long, black beard. His name was Ethan.Ethan headdesked, careful to have his actual flesh contact the table. "So many Ethans…" he mumbled. Since he joined Spacefleet, he made periodic attempts to find his original identity, or at least where he might have come from. Why couldn't he at least remember a clue? He raised his head, looking at the screen, and brushed some of his sandy-blond hair out of the way, touching one of his implants as he did so. He added some info to the search, to narrow down the results from the profile database. Name: Ethan Gender: M Eyes: Green Hair: Blond Skin: Fair Minimum age: 10 Maximum age: 15 Minimum height: 4' 10" Maximum Height: 5' 10" Occupation: Build: Residence:He decided to leave the search a little broad, just in case. He hit the 'search' button, the number of results had fewer digits this time. "WAF!" Ethan suddenly looked from the screen, down to the spot of the floor to the right of him. There sat a dog, which resembled a Siberian Husky with stripes. A food dish sat in front of it, having been taken from its usual place. "Are you hungry boy?" Ethan asked. The dog gave him a a look, as if to ask if he was stupid. "I guess it is lunchtime." He pick up the bowl and walked a few steps before stopping. "Tell you what, you've been really good lately, I think you deserve a treat. Siber! Heel!" The dog, Siber, walked by Ethan's side as the cyborg headed out of the room, toward the mess hall. ((OoC: My first post in GW2 to is also my 3,000th post!)) TamiaThis journey would take far less time if you stopped daydreaming every few minutes, came the familiar voice, like a distinct thought in Tamia’s head. It had come from the black cat at her heels, who had been both following her and communicating with her in the same strange fashion for long enough to make her forget any hesitation she might have once felt in talking to a cat. “Sorry, Oran,” she replied, trying to keep any hint of irritation out of her voice. “It’s just... I don’t remember as much of this countryside as I thought I would.” Oran meowed impatiently, and Tamia resumed her pace through the amber field to placate him. It was a few years ago the last time you came through, he reasoned, obviously put in a better temper now that they were moving again. The young knight shrugged. “That isn’t any excuse for forgetting my home. We should be getting very close to Millsford now, and yet... this doesn’t feel like the place I used to live.” The Castle has been a good home, Oran said fairly. No one can blame you for living your life.Still unconvinced, Tamia scanned the horizons. In the morning sky, the sun was burning in all its harvest glory, and the ripe fields below glowed in its light. She raised a hand over her eyes to help block the glare, and was surprised to see a dark blur moving across the fields to her left -- and, Tamia thought, doing so rather quickly. As the figure was one of the first signs of life she had encountered for a good mile or two, she watched him, intrigued. However, even as she looked on, a flash or light caught her eye directly behind him; something shiny had just fallen out of his pack. Oblivious, the figure hurried on. Tamia sighed a little to herself, and started after him. “Excuse me sir! Wait!” she called, hoping that the distance between them wasn’t too great for her voice to carry. Oran bounded along behind her reluctantly, and as she ran, she heard his grumbling thought, Once a Knight of Dunburrow, always a Knight of Dunburrow. SurfSurf yelled out in frustruation. She's been looking at this magic puzzle box for hours, and she wasn't even close to solving it. She sat down on the tree branch, and leaned against the trunk, examining her surroundings. She noticed an apple tree, and her rumbling stomach reminded her that she had forgotten to get lunch. She jumped down and ran to the tree, nimbly pulling herself up. She had just taken a bite when she heard a cry. She couldn't quite make out what it said, but it didn't sound good. She hurriedly rode the wind currents to the source of the noise: a startled-looking farmer, staring at the sack in his hands. And Kat and Nature were there as well. She landed in a fighting stance, but relaxed when she realized that no one else, besides the two mages and the farmer, was there. "What's wrong?" she asked, and took another bite of the apple. AmneigerAmneiger had received the message about the offworld assignment an hour ago. He'd already packed one minitank and had a few hours before he had to report to the docking bay, so he was spending the time with a few more...personal preparations. "Professor, why are you attaching laser turrets to the ceiling of your lab office?" Amneiger reached down and picked up another bolt. "In case somebody tries to steal something." The security guard's next question was drowned out by the sound of the power screwdriver. "What?" "But you already put three of them in the hallway outside! Why do you need more in here?" "Confined spaces. The hallway is a fairly long one with corners, which are good for dodging around. In a small room like this that's not an option. And besides, it's good to make sure." Amneiger leaned around the turret, opened up a back panel, and start adjusting the wireless network connection. The security guard opened his mouth to ask another question, but decided against it. Why are scientists so wierd? Zylaa"Somewhere out there," the pirate crew were giving a small village the benefit of their custom. Supplies were running low, and the crew was busy restocking and enjoying some of the benefits of time on land. At least, most of them were. Zylaa was trying to pry her weasels away from the jewelry shop, where they clustered, staring, at the valuables inside. The shopkeeper had already frantically barred the door, presumably with teleportation blocks as well, and for the moment, the weasels could only stare in silent longing. "Guys," Zylaa said, "we have treasure of our own, and we can plunder more treasure, but we can't set sail to plunder until you help load the supplies." The weasels gave no sign of having heard. In frustration, Zylaa leaned into the mass of fur and picked up one of the leading weasels, who wore a ring around her arm as a symbol of rank. "We need help loading," she snapped. "Shinies..." the weasel murmured, twisting around to look at the shop. "I'll buy you shinies," Zylaa said. "Okay?" Slowly, as if with great effort, the weasel turned back to look at Zylaa. "Just get the troops away from the shop." "Need general," the weasel said. Zylaa didn't point out that she outranked the general. "Where's he, then?" she asked. "Why isn't he there staring at cheap jewelry?" "Shiny," the weasel explained. "Big shiny. Magic shiny. Went to see." Zylaa pricked up her ears. "A magic shiny? How close?" "Close," said the weasel. "Close." "How helpful," Zylaa grumbled. "Which way?" The weasel's gaze grew vacant, and after a minute, it pointed inland. "Good. I'll tell the captain about that." "Shinies now?" the weasel asked. With a sigh, Zylaa knocked on the door, and when the trembling shopkeepers opened it, she began to negotiate for a dozen cheap necklaces. Purchases made, she led the weasels back towards the ship like some twisted Pied Piper. Hopefully Captain Hunty would be there. HuntyAnd the waves crashed against the cliff. The small white brigantine of the pirate crew was swaying back and forth, occasionally thumping against the cliff. Somebody had foreseen that, though, and padded the cliff with old tires that hung from chains. There was also a gigantic iron ring to which the ship was tied. The waters were deep there, and the waves were fierce. Anchors were not enough to keep the brigantine in place. This was the secret anchor spot of the pirates, a sanctuary near a small village that had a marketplace and a number of understanding merchants who weren't picky about their customers. The cliff was high enough to completely hide the ship standing behind it, so even the Jolly Roger couldn't be seen from land. Only a rope ladder that was nailed into the ground right on the edge and thus formed a makeshift bridge showed where the crewmembers had climbed ashore to buy provision. Huntress leaned on the railing, shooting a confirmative glance at her ship. Everything was peaceful and quiet, as always. There was nothing but thick forest on the cliff. But she still didn't like it. The hideout was good, but it was good because it had to be. The Knights of the NTWF resided nearby, and Mage Manor wasn't too far off either. Huntress was fully aware of the words 'courage', 'we can take them' and 'we're pirates, we shouldn't be afraid of them'. She was also aware that those words tended to end in bloody and very uneven battles. And she wasn't an idiot. At that point the world was still quiet, though. Maybe even too quiet. "I don't like it," she said to the world in general. "Like what?" the world asked back in the form of a small blue meepit on her shoulder. "Too quiet." "No such thing as too quiet," said Bloody Mary in full determination. "As a matter of fact, this is just the way I like things." "It might change soon, though. Something's in the air." The captain stared down at the waves where a dark shadow, nearly as big as the ship itself, passed under the surface, circling under the ship, hunting for food. "I can think of a number of nice and quiet days that didn't end in the apocalypse," the meepit remarked levelly. "At least wait until the crew returns and says that they heard terrible news in the village's tavern or something. Then I can understand worrying." Huntress snorted and turned away from the railing. Under the ship, a curious shark swam closer to investigate the looming shadow by the cliff, and barely had time to regret it. ZylaaFrom the top of the cliff, a glittering necklace arced through the air and thunked onto the deck of the Weewoo. It was followed by several dozen of the weasels, who jumped from mast to rigging to deck at lightning speed, all clamoring over the shiny. Zylaa reached the edge of the cliff and tossed the remaining necklaces to the deck before clambering down the rope ladder. She plucked another high-ranking weasel from the fray before turning to Huntress. "Captain Hunty," she said with a lazy salute, "the weasels report a powerfully magic "shiny" nearby. I thought we might like to investigate." SpeckUp until Zylaa's return to the ship, Speck had been content to squeeze the juice out of her newest pile of yellow and green citruses. She would take a pair from her pile, and unceremoniously deposit the juice into a clean bucket. Speck mixed the lemon-lime concoction with her bare hands, perking up at the mention of a "magic shiny." "Ho there, captain. May I tag along with the investigation? My hands are getting very pruney right about now," She called from the helm, holding up her dripping hands to demonstrate. (( I'm really no good with intros. Sorry. *hasn't RPed in a few years*)) Kat"What's going on?""Hi, Nature," said Kat, waving to her fellow mage. "This farmer needs our help...he found something in his field..." She turned to him and said, "Don't worry; I'll see what I can do." But when she stepped towards him and peered into the sack, she gasped. The Purple Knight froze, and for a second, it was as if her mind had suddenly gone blank for a moment. Kat continued to stare at the artifact, and began to shiver and sway, but willed herself to stand. I'm not going to faint...I'm not… DragonThe elf sighed. They were "anchored" down and the the waves were a'waving. Normally Dragon would've been in the kitchen with Echo teaching her the art of real pirate food. But the crew could scrape their own food together on land. So instead, Dragon stood on the railing of the brigantine and watched the waves crash against one another. It was a really windy day. She longed to dive into the depths, most likely as a shark, but how would she know if her captain needed her? She stifled her shape-shifting urges. "Something s'not right." She murmured. With a sudden impulse she jumped back onto deck and power walked to Huntress. "Captain, permission to go to Artist Alley?" She knew it was an unusual request and not exactly near their position. But, for whatever reason, she needed to see. HuntyUpon hearing about the shiny, Hunty scowled. She liked shinies, that was a fact. But a magical one? She'd never been good with magic. Matter of fact, her relationship with magic was more or less like some people's relationship with computers: doesn't work out despite even the most foolproof manuals and only breeds mutual hatred. Then again, she really did like shinies. Not to mention all those people nearby. She'd never trusted the knights. Moral values were one thing, she could understand those, but they were all too eager to wave pointy things around. And they liked sticking their noses in other people's business. And the mages? Meddled with things no sane human - or creature - should meddle with. Impossible to pillage, too. You'd usually walk out with tentacles in your nose. And she really liked shinies. Besides, if the knights and mages are meddling around with a magical shiny, then things are bound to go boom, and the more they know about it, the easier for them. ...shinies. She came to a decision and sighed. "Get any weapons you can carry without attracting too much attention. Can't be too careful. Bloody Mary, go tell Justice and Bob, I'm taking you three along, and tell Santa to keep an eye on things while we're gone. Wait-wait... also tell her that if anything happens, they must save the ship. Sail off without us if necessary. We can handle ourselves, but when our ship goes down, we're pretty much doomed." "You worry too much," said the meepit, though his voice hinted that he fully agreed with everything. He bounced off the shoulder and disappeared down the deck. "If anyone asks, we're weary travellers headed east to look for jobs in the towns there, and we travel together and are armed because the roads aren't safe," said the captain, running her hand through the hair. Then she turned to look at Dragon. "Captain, permission to go to Artist Alley?""Granted. But don't take your time. These are hostile lands, and we might need every hand we have. And," she scowled again, "be careful." JasonA black ponytail whipped around, brown eyes surveying the room from circular black rimmed glasses. A purple robe with green stars ripped at his heels. The young mage, Jasor, looked around the watrr on which he stood. Without warning, the water began to crackle as the mage plunged deep into the water. Gasping, Jasor struggled for air. Thoughts of death and destruction swirled through his head as he found himself floating in and out of consiousness. Opening his eyes, he found himself lying on the floor of his room in mage manor. Pulling himself up he stomped the ground, droplets of water falling to the floor. "Tch. I've failed again. Water magic seems to be much harder to perform than healing or air magic. That's it for today." he murmured, pulling his silver dragger shaped amulet from around his neck. Putting in his pocket, he dropping to the fetal position and dripped off to sleep. FrazeFraze swore quietly to himself. Where did I put that thing? I remember taking it with me when I went planetside...All right, think. You took it with you for that excursion. You kept it in a bag so it wouldn't attract much attention. ...You didn't take it back to the dropship, did you? He swore again. If someone found it and shot it accidentally, it would do nothing to ease Spacefleet-NTWF relations, even if it was just an accident. Well, that and Commander Strife would have his head on a pike outside his office. With that last thought, Fraze requested permission for another dropship. He'd just have to retrace his route. As usual when he was preparing for a mission, he grabbed what looked to be a shot glass filled with mercury off of a small table. Removing his clothes, he poured the silvery liquid onto his hand. Within seconds, it had spread to cover his entire body. He put his clothes on again, ordering the skinsuit to slide away from his face and hands. The sight of a tall silver man with a ponytail might arouse some interest. Taking the dropship, he skimmed the atmosphere, too high to be seen from the surface, while using the dropship's telescope to scan the path he had taken. A small group of people stood huddled in a burnt farmer's field, observing something in-- In a small bag. Fraze swore quite colorfully for a third time. He brought the ship in to land in a wooded patch near the field. He hoped that everyone would be too focused on the bag to notice his entry. Once the dropship had landed, he opened the hatch and quickly strolled over to the small cluster. "Please don't touch that," he said. "It might take someone's arm off.” Zylaa"Weary travellers. Got it. The pirate garb is because we accepted a load of old clothes from a theater, of course," Zylaa said with a smirk. "Why don't we try the story out on PFA and the other ninjas? I'm sure they'll be completely fooled." At the mention of the ninjas, pieces clicked into place in her head. Inland... that would be close to the mages and knights. Grabbing a magical treasure under the mages noses would be quite a feat. The weasel-girl grinned. This was looking like more and more fun. "Speck, please tell me you washed your hands before you made the lemon-lime mix," Zylaa said, wrinkling her nose. "I'd really like a drink." ***** In the blackened field, the General of the weasel army crouched. True, he was white-furred, but burrowing in the rubble had served to hide him well from these other people standing around. Poking at the shiny. He had come to lead the weasels through his relatively high restraint in the presence of shiny objects. True, this meant that he had about the self-composure as a toddler, but it was better than nothing. For now, he would wait, until those pesky humans left and he could claim the shiny for the army. ... Wait. The General pricked his ears up at the unusual whirring in the sky, and stared as a massive shiny descended, and a shiny man stepped out. Quivering with excitement, he poked his head further out of hiding to watch. ShinoThus. It begins. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The sun shone bright on the horizon. The gray mist of morning had simpered away, the light in the sky had risen and lowered in the cycle it continued once again. There had been a day where it stood still hidden by the moon...but that day was past tense. This is what he had longed to see, here & now. Beyond the bare plains, past the rivers, and over the hills of clover there lies a land that he had not seen for quite some time. Indeed...quite some time...Half a year elapsed and in the time it took for Lord Shino to slay his demons. Or rather... dragons. The White Knight of Castle Kestrel, Steward of Dunburrow, and Second-in-Command if ever the illustrious King Wolf ever should take leave or be taken by the elements. The places he had seen and the people he met were indescribable. But King Wolf had made him promise he would document each event carefully and in full detail as a favor to him. So Shino had turned out writing a book out of his adventures. "The Momentous Occasions" by Lord Shino was the result of six months exploratory escapades. Not the kind of book you'd like for a bedtime story, of course. But if you enjoyed a thrilling variety of cultures, battles, food, and women you'd have to read. He knew at least the King would appreciate this, since now that Wolf did not get out much past the vast land of Dunburrow he'd need to know what was going on in the world of the wise & hearty. Yet he still had been out of sorts starting that day he became alive again. It was such a strange place that he had been. So peaceful and so... White. What he wouldn't give to return to that Haven past the clouds, seas, and stars. But he knew even then that eventually he would have to return to duty, honor, and country as a guardian, once again. He had sworn his life & never had he gone back on his word to the day. A little worse for wear, Shino looked more like a scraggly old beggar-of-sorts then a respectable Lord. Tattered robe, old bundles of cloth holding his pack and weapons together, plus his face which hadn't seen a clean blade of shaving for a while. Although one swipe by a tyrant did cut pretty close...He would, indeed, care for a bath to be drawn in his very own marble white tub. And more than getting clean...He would greatly enjoy the company of Lady Kalianne Triss once again. She had been on his mind since the beginning. He couldn't stop thinking about her back then...Now he just missed her so. With all the beauty out there in the world, it seemed like none could compare to the radiance that exuded from the valiant Purple Knight. Her smile, her hair, and her vivacious ideal of life drew him to her evermore. Clearly, it was good to come home. But he did not expect to see many people out here in this country. So when he saw his gleaming sword drop from the pack on Bianco's saddle and turned to retrieve it from the ground, he looked at a woman across a few yards. She seemed familiar, yet he had been gone for a while and knew not this face as extremely representable of his old friends. Then suddenly...Her face came ot him. "Lady Tamia, Court Marshall of Dunburrow!" Kat"Please don't touch that. It might take someone's arm off."That was all it took to snap Kat out of it. She blinked several times and turned to this newcomer, taking a few steps away from the item. Right now, she did not know if she had seen it before, or if she had heard of it...but either way, it struck quite a chord in her. "What do you know about this thing?" she asked, drawing her wand, which grew into a staff almost as long as she was tall. "Speak, lest I make you.”
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Post by GW2 on Oct 15, 2008 12:41:43 GMT -5
KwoiffeiIt must have taken at least ten minutes for the dragon to recover from his shock-induced lying-on-floor state. During these ten minutes he had spent a good amount of effort cursing himself... and then what was inside the coffee cup resting on the desk. A rough translation of his thoughts went like this: Why didn't the coffee work?! Everyone said coffee would wake me up!Eventually he managed to push himself up onto his feet, and move towards the pile of clothes that was resting at the foot of his bed. Two minutes passed before he left his room, wearing a white long-sleeved shirt and matching trousers. A belt was slung around the shirt. Today, he was quite well-dressed for some reason. Normally he wouldn't give much care about what he wore. The dragon's destination was the Manor's dining room. He wasn't quite sure what time it was, but hunger was hunger, and to fight it was to invite death - even for a spirit like him. Eventually he reached it, and found himself eating amongst a few other nondescript mages he hadn't had the time to get to know before. Being rather shy, he had away from them, preferring instead to listen to their conversation as he chomped away on his apples. "Did you hear what happened in Dunburrow yesterday?" "Course I did. Everyone knows what happened." "Er... I wasn't there." "What?! I have to explain again?!"Silence followed. He momentarily stopped eating. "Sorry... I'm just tired of having to explain over and over again." "That's understandable." "Anyway... some mage was careless and set a farmer's crop on fire. Even our best efforts weren't enough. We had to teach the guy a lesson."A pause... "So what's he going through right now?" "You don't wanna know."The black dragon's mind immediately jumped to the worst conclusion: "N-necromancy?""No you idiot! I swear, Drakhé... just because necromancy scares you..."Drakhé whimpered and turned away, feeling embarassed. It wasn't his fault that he was frightened of that 'dark art'... SurfSurf looked at the object, and silently wondered what it was. She was so focused on the item that she didn't notice that someone else had arrrived in the area until she heard a voice say "Please don't touch that. It might take someone's arm off." She jumped and impulsively whirled around into a fighting position. She had never seen this guy before. He didn't look like a threat, but the fact that he knew about the thing made her suspicious. She was going to ask him how he knew that, but Kat beat her to it: "What do you know about this thing? Speak, lest I make you.""Yeah," she added. "What exactly is this? And how did you know that?" Speck"Speck, please tell me you washed your hands before you made the lemon-lime mix," Zylaa said, wrinkling her nose. "I'd really like a drink.""'Not so sure you want a swig of this, Xylophone. It might very well explode your innards," Speck said, "But I did wash my hands!" Picking up the bucket, she wiped her free hand on her pants and went below decks. When she emerged, she was wearing a dark green coat that reached just below her knees. It was a vital part of her wardrobe, though she didn't like wearing while she was on board. She had sewn several hidden pockets on the inside of the coat, stowing several of her kunai in them, as well as at least five lemon bombs. "Xylophone! Catch!" Speck tossed a bottle of liquid in Zylaa's direction, hoping that the weasel-girl would indeed catch it. AerisaAerisa gasped as they both splashed into the cold water, her draconic scales and rabbit fur protecting from the chill but soaked nevertheless. "You silly kitten, now we're both wet!" she spluttered, pushing herself up slightly. Scarven laughed and put himself face to face with his dear dragonbunny. "Well you did say we'll stick together through thick and thin, right?" He grinned. "Wet wasn't in the agreement dear," Aeri pointed out. "Oh really dear?" he replied, grinning from ear to ear, leaning his face closer to her's. "Mmhmm," Aeri replied softly moving her muzzle closer to his. "Ahem." They both looked up to see Sev alighting on top of the fountain's top-most fixture, one eyebrow raised, before looking down at each other. "This isn't what it looks like," Scarven said quickly, realizing just as quickly that he was practically in the fur together with Aerisa. If she hadn't been a quadruped right now, Aerisa would've smacked her own forehead. FrazeWhat do you know about this thing? Speak, lest I make you.Fraze raised his hands to show he had no weapon. "No need for hostilities, ma'am. I know that it is called a flechette gun. I know it is rather powerful. And," he added, a slight grin playing across his face, "I know it is mine." He moved forward slowly. "Forgive me, I must have dropped it when I was passing through this way. If you will let me pick it up, I will turn on the safety, take out the clip, and be on my way.” Zari'WARGH!' Zari righted herself, avoiding a pinetree that she hadn't seen until the last moment. She awoken that morning with a cold. Which was unnatural. Meaning either she'd caught a Fae strain, or someone had put bluevage in her room. Probably one of the Squires with Pirate connections. After all, bluevage, or Sea Violets, was only found in the water near harbours. she dived and alighted on on of the windowsills of the Great hall. She regarded the steam of Knights and Visitors, then jumped down into a corner. Everyone, by now, had got used to the whole Fae thing and barely blinked when she threw herself out windows or if her hand set itself on fire. 'Ugh. Curses on all who have access to Bluevage.' She rubbed her nose, then took out a flask and drank from it. Her nose cleared, but the tetchy feeling stayed. A slight figure weaved her way through the crowds of personnel, trying to ignore the little voice in the back of her head that was nagging at her, along with the image of the peaceful face, dreaming, dreaming...NO. NO NO N- Oh, here we are. 'C'mon, Ienalle. The new lab. The new everything. Oh, here's your reward for getting that clone formula to Ice and Amnei.' ZariKrahia Ailden, more commonly known as Zari, handed a strip of beef jerky to the older girl beside her, who said 'Nalay likes jerky, and likes doing the errand. 'Cept Iskale said I was all pinky human. Iskale gots no respect.' she complained, before getting down of all fours and turning back into her normal clone. 'I'll have a word with Amnei then.' <Ienalle> See thatcha will. Or more beef jerky, I'm not picky> Zari sighed. 'Tza, Tza.' ((@fleet in general: My computer still doesn't like translators, so I have little idea on the plans. Someone fill an Ocelot-Fae in? And Two people woke up on the wrong side of the basket. *snicker*)) Tamia"Lady Tamia, Court Marshall of Dunburrow!"Now that she was nearer, Tamia saw that the object the man had just lifted from the ground was a gleaming sword, and her initial reaction was to bristle, placing a hand on the hilt of her own blade defensively. However, partially because Oran had not acted, and partially because some hidden instinct was screaming at her to stay calm, she did not draw the sword from the scabbard that was strapped to her pack. Instead, she scrutinized the face of the man, who, despite his initial appearance as a dark shadow on the horizon, was dressed in fairly light colours -- rather unusual for a traveler. With a jolt she recognized who she was looking at. “S... Sir Shino?” she gasped in amazement. “I wasn’t aware that you had... had returned!” Although she had never known the White Knight personally, she was quite familiar with his name and his occasional appearances at the Council meetings the Knights had once held... but to the best of her knowledge, it had been quite a while since anyone at the Knights’ guild had heard from him. Then again, I haven’t been keeping up with most of the Castle’s proceedings myself lately, she reflected silently, reminded of her new (and virtually unassumed) rank as Court Marshal of Dunburrow. But then, even as she struggled over her next words, she suddenly found them dying on her tongue. There was someone else crouched in the grass a good two dozen yards from where Shino now stood, someone cloaked in dark travelling clothes, positioned so that when viewed from afar, Tamia would have seen not Shino and his hooded pursuer, but just one dark figure.... Oran growled, and Tamia’s heart skipped a beat. “Sir Shino,” she hissed softly, hoping that the hooded figure in the grass had not noticed her gaze. “You are being followed!” StrifeSince the attack on his life, The Commander had not left his office. As usual, he continued to stand next to his giant window and admire the view of the planet he adored so much. The sun was beginning to peek out from under the planet's edge, illuminating his office in warm light. The intense sunlight added golden streaks to his short, jet black hair. His eyes, which glowed blood red in darkness, appeared much healthier and normal in the light. He scratched the small goatee of hair on his chin with his black-gloved hand. The light added a magnificant glimmer to his bulky, metallic armor, making it shine almost as brightly as the sun itself. Overall, the armor was a dark green color with large curvy shoulder pads. The ridges in his chest plate made him appear more muscular than he really was, and his trademark symbol was engraved in its center, its shape too unusual to explain clearly in words. His arms were covered by a flexible material that looked like black chainmail. His leg armor and boots were made of a thick plating similar to his shoulder pads. His eyes remained fixated on the spectacular view in front of him. He never grew tired of watching the sun creep across the body of space. It was like watching a sunrise on the planet, but ten times more beautiful and satisfying. In space, he didn't feel like the sun was beaming down on him. He was beaming down on the sun. And for the time it lasted, he could forgot about all of his troubles in Spacefleet Headquarters and drift into a distant place... a place where he had total freedom and control. The Commander closed his eyes and forced himself into deep thought. He remained silent and recalled a recent, beautiful moment in his life... He stared into her large, sparkling eyes. He never could tell if they were gray, pale green, or pale blue, but he didn't mind losing himself inside those eyes.
He gently raised his bare hand and ran his fingers through her long, wavy mane of brown hair. She closed her eyelids and enjoyed the sensation, and purred softly while her small whiskers twitched. He then began to scratch gently behind her round fluffy ears, and her purring grew louder.
She wrapped her arms around him, holding him close. "Don't ever leave me, Strife," she whispered softly. She opened her eyes and stared once again into his.
There was a pause as Strife absorbed the sincerity of her sweet voice. "I'll never leave you, Leoness..." he replied. "I have been across the stars... but your love takes me to a world beyond the stars..."
Still staring into her eyes, Strife clutched the gold nugget pendant that she was wearing and carefully pressed it against his own chest. "Remember, my love... our two souls have united into one. Your love is my love, and my love is yours. Your pain is my pain, and my pain is yours. I feel what you feel..."
Leoness breathed a sigh. "And I feel, so very much in love... with the most wonderful man in the entire universe."
She held Strife even closer, resting her head in his shoulder. "I love you, Strife..."
"I love you too, Leoness..."
The two of them embraced for what seemed like a very long time, immersed in their mutual feelings for one another. They wished they could have stayed in this moment of time forever, but they knew that Leo's shuttle would be leaving soon.
"Have a safe trip, my love..." said Strife. "I will monitor your position regularly, to make sure that you are safe."
"I'll be fine, love. I won't tell anyone where I came from."
The lioness woman gave Strife a gentle kiss on the forehead, as well as one last hug. She started to walk towards the launch bay, but took a final glance at him.
"Farewell, dear," said Strife.
"See you again soon, my love," replied Leoness. She blew him an airborne kiss, and then walked away to catch her ride.* * * On the planet, another person was daydreaming about the very same thing The Commander was... Leoness walked peacefully across an open meadow, feeling the touch of light grass underneath her bare paws. She always prefered to walk in the grass instead of the dirt paths. She didn't feel like walking the same path that hundreds of others had walked before, and she found more excitement in taking new directions. Earlier, she had a discussion with Strife about her desire to leave Spacefleet HQ so that she could spend time with her sister, Aerisa Darkyna, as well as Scarven Dessan, who was like a brother to her in all but blood. Strife felt extremely reluctant to let her go, but he did not want to hold Leoness in the space station against her will. That, and he couldn't resist her offer to bake a fresh batch of cookies when she returned. She straightened her blue-and-white striped cap and checked her black long-sleeve shirt and dark purple pants to make sure they were clean. Dressing in decent clothes was the least she could do before visiting Mage Manor. She could see the faint silhouette of the manor in the distance, and she was eager to see what her siblings had been up to over the past few months. When Leoness finally reached the outside gate of the manor, where the magical barrier was established, she stood before the manor's large wooden door and gave it a series of knocks with her fist. She then waited patiently for somebody to answer. Zylaa"'Not so sure you want a swig of this, Xylophone. It might very well explode your innards," Speck said, "But I did wash my hands!""And here I was hoping that she had made some new mix to counteract scurvy," Zylaa remarked to the air as Speck went belowdeck. "Or soda." At least we have some decent explosive weapons now, Zylaa thought. We can't rely on our mages for all our firepower."Xylophone! Catch!" Speck called as she emerged from belowdecks again, and Zylaa caught it, careful not to let her blunt claws dig into the vial. "What exactly would have happened if I hadn't caught it, slave?" she asked, responding to the "Xylophone" as much as the command. "Would the whole ship blow up, or just me?" She began walking towards the rope ladder as she talked, prepared to leave in search of the presumed treasure. DragonGranted. But don't take your time. These are hostile lands, and we might need every hand we have. And be careful.""Thank you Cap'n," overhearing Zylaa she turned her head back to Hunty as she walked away, "and I'll be swift." Dragon continued down into the crew's cabin. Usually hammocks would hang around the place but they wished to have any privacy they would need walls/. So they called upon Kat to conjure up some walls and doors. It was like a maze, weaving in and out of all the "cabins". Kat had tried and simple expansion spell so that it would look like it was just as small from the outside when really inside it was much larger, but then again there was a large crew. Dragon liked the idea of privacy and thus, received her closet of a cabin. She wasn't about to flash everyone while changing. She weaved through the cabins reaching her door. Her name was scratched above it. She opened the door where her hammock hung. Her trunk lay underneath it. Dipping under the hammock she unlocked the trunk and opened it. There lay all of her worldly possessions. There wasn't much, but there was one thing she needed. "Ah, here it is," Dragon mumbled, pulling out a worn, black notebook. Dragon made her way back to the deck, climbing to the crow's nest. She threw on a black cloak and with her sights set in the direction she was headed, she transformed into a hawk making way for Artist's Alley. She flew over the farmland that the weasels were hiding out in. Curiosity bit her in the butt to go and check it out. But Artist's Alley pulled her in. It'd be about an hour and a half journey until she reached the gate. But that's when time was at a loss. An hour and a half later...The hawk swooped down to the gate. It looked around- nobody was there. With caution, the hawk transformed back into Dragon. "Ugh, I hate when my muscles get cramped," she mumbled, massaging her sore arms. She brought the hood over her head, hiding her long, elf ears and casting a shadow upon her face. Silent steps brought her to the cold, iron of the gate. She reached out, pushing it open. The doors creaked and groaned, but allowed enough space for the elf to slip through. The pirates didn't know it, but she was a ninja at one time. The moment Dragon set foot in the Alley, all sense of time vanquished and everything was choppy. She seemed to jump from place to place. But she continued to walk on. Artist Alley had five doors. Three on her left and two on her right. She opened the first door on her right. A brass plait read, "Art Studio". From there everything went distorted. KwoiffeiThe Manor had ways of letting its inhabitants know that someone was at the door. The (rather loud) sound of knocking occurred in the dining room at roughly the same time that Leoness would have knocked on the front door. It was loud and sudden enough that Drakhé jumped, only to wind up on the floor for the second time that day. Laughter could be heard from some of the others. "Go and get the door, Drakhé.""W-what?" He turned around to face the others, his eyes wide once more. "W-why me? I'm not a diplomat!""Then go and become one, you spineless wimp."Ideally, he would not have gone, but with all the eyes on him, and some of the laughter, the dragon felt like he was being bullied into this. Shy people were often the victims of bullying, were they not? He would have tried to retort, but the next thing he knew he was right in front of the door - well, the side opposite to the visitor. It had to be the Manor. It had a mind of its own... and it seemed to enjoy humiliating him. Eventually he pushed himself to his feet. With hesitation he grabbed the door handle... And yanked. He gave a yelp of surprise as the door flew wide open, and fell over for the third time that day. Kat"No need for hostilities, ma'am. I know that it is called a flechette gun. I know it is rather powerful. And, I know it is mine.""I see," said Kat, withdrawing the wand. "Well...I'm sorry, I thought..." The young girl stared at his gun. It was lighting up, and it didn't look at all entertaining or cute. She was frozen on the spot, and she couldn't even scream; it was as though her throat had gone dry...
"Come on, sweetheart," the man crooned in a hoarse voice that was not at all suitable for crooning. "I'll take you to my ship..."
There was a flash...Kat blinked several times again. "Sorry again...I guess I just thought I saw that thing from somewhere else. Never mind. So then, are you going to take your flechette gun away now? It's not a good idea to leave it lying around, after all..." Fraze"So then, are you going to take your flechette gun away now? It's not a good idea to leave it lying around, after all...""True," Fraze answered. "I'm glad it didn't fire somehow." Slowly, he picked up the bag. He disarmed the gun, putting the clip on his belt. "Well, I hope that the next time we meet will be under less dangerous circumstances." With that, he walked off. The bag felt heavier than it should have...no worry, he thought. He was halfway to the dropship when he looked in the bag and saw what else was inside it. For a moment, he gawked. I've got to get this to the Commander. IkkinDespite being told repeatedly that fire and ancient sheets of paper did not mix, Sev still found the Mage Manor library to be one of the best places to make an entry. It was large enough and open enough so he wouldn't crash into anything after teleporting in - and, more importantly, he could usually expect to find at least someone there, trying to study how to correctly perform some kind of spell (or, as was often the case, reverse some kind of spell gone wrong). As it turned out, his recklessness once again paid off, as he not only managed not to burn a single page, but also found someone to give Ikkin's message to. Well, he couldn't actually see anyone, but he could sense that Aeri and Scar were there - in the cauldron, maybe, but that wasn't all too unusual for Mage Manor. He wheeled around once before landing lightly on top of the fountain, then looked down into the cauldron to see what had gone wrong. He quirked a feather as he saw no mages in the cauldron, only a very wet dragon-bunny and... was that a kitten? "Ahem." Both Aeri - the dragon-bunny, of course - and the kitten - was that Scar? - looked up at Sev before looking back at each other. Sev raised an eyebrow. "This isn't what it looks like," the kitten said, in what was very clearly Scar's voice. "Clearly," Sev said, his voice dry. "Considering I don't remember you being a cat." He paused for a moment, looking for a reaction, before continuing. "In any case, you should probably dry yourselves off and make yourselves decent. Ikkin made a rather interesting find, and would like some Mage backup to help analyze it." As soon as he finished, he blasted the entire cauldron - kitten, dragon-bunny, and all - full of phoenix fire, making sure to only use the healing kind that wouldn't actually burn anything. It did, however, rapidly evaporate the water from the two quadrupeds' fur, leaving them looking as fluffed up as they would look if they'd just been run through a drier. "Oh, look... maybe you don't have to dry yourselves off after all," he said with a smirk. SurfSurf decided, as the stranger explained about the thing, that there was nothing more of interest to her, and quietly headed back to Mage Manor. I wonder if there are any cookies left... she thought. Upon reaching the manor, she found the doors already open, or, more accurately, off their hinges. Not again. What happened this time? When she got closer, she saw a dragon just inside the doorway, and what appeared to be some sort of lion, both of whom she had never seen before. She tactlessly asked, "Uh, what happened to the door? And who are you?" Kwoiffei"Uh, what happened to the door? And who are you?"
Uh oh...Drakhé sat up with what seemed to be little birds circling his head, but they disappeared when he shook it. I need to stop falling down, he mentally groaned before looking at the more human newcomer... was she another Mage? He'd seen her before around the Manor... "Ah... er... I was... opening... the... door?" he said sheepishly. "I-I'm another mage, honest!” Nature"What do you know about this thing? Speak, lest I make you."Nature stared at her fellow mage, and then stared at the artifact. What the heck was it? She saw what it was, but couldn't describe it. It was too scary for words, however. Suddenly, the sky turned black. Nature looked up and gasped. They sky was a dark shade of purple with swirling black mists. Dark magic was afoot. Quickly, the Zafara pulled out her sitar and strummed it, ready for attack. Seline looked at the sky and shivered. "That doesn't look good . . ." she muttered. All of a sudden, a thunderbolt came flying and hit the artifact. Nature gasped and landed flat on her tail. The artifact started glowing deviously, dark-purple mists swirling from it. Nature was about to go near it when, WHAM! Some dark magic hit her. The Freezemancer's sight was beginning to blur. She turned around in circles, dizzied by the dark forces empowering her. Soon, everything went dark. ((OOC: Just a reminder for those guys joining the roleplay - I am NOT available for romance relationships. Anyone who tries to do that will be sitar-attacked hard. Got it? Good.)) Kat"Well, I hope that the next time we meet will be under less dangerous circumstances.""And the same to you," said Kat, as Fraze walked away with his gun. She turned to Nature and the farmer. "Looks like that's the end of it..." But she paused. Her foul magic senses, which were quiescent a moment ago, were now tingling like mad. Drawing her wand again, she looked around, and saw the farmer pointing up at the sky and screaming, "What's going on? What's that?" "I didn't do anything - " Kat glanced up, and shrank back when she saw the sky turn purple and black. Suddenly, lightning struck, hitting the artifact that Fraze had just taken away. But before she could call back to him, she heard a thump beside her, and saw Nature collapse on the ground before her. "Get out of here! Lock your doors and windows! Warn everyone else!" screeched the Purple Knight, shoving the farmer away. While he fled, Kat swooped down and helped Nature up, letting the unconscious mage lean on her. She could feel the dark magic coursing within Nature and knew that she had to get help - fast. Gripping one of her hands, Kat tried to delve into Nature's system, attempting to filter the bad sorcery out. "Get rid of the gun thing!" Kat shouted, wondering which was closer - Dunburrow Castle or Mage Manor, or even the pirate ship. Her wand grew once again into a staff, and she blasted a shimmering jet of violet light at the gun. Besides leaping out of Fraze's hand, the magic did nothing. Once the gun was on the ground, the Purple Knight made an arc with her staff and created a shield around herself, Nature and Fraze. PFA"You mean like this?" PFA hurled her kunai at a target, just like how her Uncle had showed her. The kunai flew through the air at high speed, and tore right through the center of the target. PFA grinned wide. "Oh yeah, that's definitely much better," she said, as she grabbed another kunai and aimed for the next target. PFA was with her Uncle in the Ninja HQ's training room. Her Uncle, Cat Assassin, was showing her how to use her weapons more effectively. And, as the kunai proved, it was definitely helping. PFA was glad; maybe she could finally be considered more than just an incompetent ninja. ((kinda rushed, but I have to leave really soon, so there we go. >_> *flees*)) Hunty "Weary travellers. Got it. The pirate garb is because we accepted a load of old clothes from a theater, of course. Why don't we try the story out on PFA and the other ninjas? I'm sure they'll be completely fooled."Huntress gave Zylaa the tired grimace of someone who lost her sense of humor quite a while ago. "Well, I didn't ask you to dress in peglegs and eye patches, right? There's no such thing as pirate garb... outside fairytales, anyway. Every other wench out there wears corsets and skirts or strong pants. Every traveller wears thick cloaks and weaponry when on a long journey. Just don't do anything... stupid, and we'll be fine." She turned around and went to the railing. The shadow under the ship surfaced. "Up, boy!" The waves parted, revealing - well, the best description would've been a pair of black beady eyes in a barrel-sized furry face, though most of it remained under the water. Floppy ears rose from the water, paying attention. "Keep an eye on things. And the ship. Don't let anything happen to the ship. Savvy?" The creature, whatever it was, snorted bubbles and sunk back under the waves. "There," Huntress said darkly, turning around again. "Let's go." A short while later the small group of pirates was making their way through the forest, which seemed to be cross-ridden with paths. Bloody Mary the meepitleader was perched on Hunty's shoulder again, ears twitching nervously. This was the land of farmers. All farmers knew that meepits turn dark blue when they catch rabies. And all farmers shot anything that looked rabid to them. "So," he said, pondering hiding behind Hunty's stripey ponytail, though fully aware that hiding behind something that's essentially black and yellow isn't really the best stealthy move in the book. "What's our objective? We can't really walk up to that shiny and run away with it." "I'm not sure if I want to run away with it," the captain admitted. "Magic's not to be messed with. I'd much rather put Zylaa's weasels on it and see if they can find out more. In the meantime, keep your eyes open and remember everything you see. The better we know the enemy's land, the easier for us." "Which enemy?" "Pretty much everyone's our enemy. We're pirates." "Mrm. Figures." Bloody Mary's head jerked up. "What was that?" The distant rumble of lightning echoed through the forest. A moment later, the surroundings turned dark as black and purple clouds spread across the sky. Hunty looked up and uttered a quiet curse. "See? The mages are meddling with something again.” Vyt"... Well, it needs a little bit more swing power..." Cat Assassin was with PFA the whole day, watching her take his own practical test. He had been giving the ninja some advices on weapon handling since months ago, and though he somehow tried rushing things for his niece, somehow things worked out for the two. The orange feline stood out from his bench and approached PFA. "You have to be careful not to have such a short angle in swinging," he noted her. "... You're trying to throw too fast. Take your time," he added. Cat Assassin glanced at the target and almost felt sorry for its pitiful state. "I think it's time for a short break. The straw target looks too devastated to take any more damage." After a long pause that followed, Cat Assassin looked right back towards PFA. "... I've heard we can bring Vyt back even without Sev..." * * * "Tao po?"A knock on the door was heard. "... Tao po?"No response. "Wala yata..."Bluisa had been waiting in front of Cat Assassin's house for a long time, hoping her constant knocking could draw attention from the person she was looking for. However, the mage was getting a bit impatient. She then realized the probability that Cat Assassin was off somewhere. "... I suppose I could look for him at that ancient-looking dojo..." Bluisa told herself. Her eyes were set on the Ninja Guild, which was not far away from her place. It could take her awhile though before she could restart her search. SalamanderSalamander stared out the window with more or less complete disinterest, her head resting sideways on her arms. She'd joined the mercenaries so she could have a job - she hadn't expected it to involve so much waiting for a job. Then again, maybe she shouldn't be surprised. It wasn't like she herself would have any use for a hired soldier, so why should she expect anyone else to? Flopping over on the sofa, the thirteen-year-old fiddled absently with the color in the room, which suddenly looked like a photograph's negative. In the back of her mind, Salamander supposed she should be glad there were no job opportunities available. Boredom at least was better than, say, getting caught up in another war. FrazeGet rid of the gun thing!"My gun isn't doing that!" Fraze yelled back. "It's the other thing that showed up in my bag!" He took out the gun, avoiding the other object, and tossed the bag away carefully. "Thanks," Fraze added once under the shield. "What did you say your name was? I'm Fraze." He held out his hand. He looked at the other two people staring at him for a moment, before realizing why. In his panic, he had told his skinsuit to cover his head and hands once more, now appearing silver. Under the reflective surface, he turned white, then red. "I--it's a shield of sorts.” JasonJasor blinked, pulling himself up from his bed in Mage Manor, gripping his amulet closely to his heart. He had sworn he had seen the sky ignite a deep purple and black. Eyes alit with wonder, the young mage swiftly walked over to the window. Staring as lightning strck the surface of the planet, he stared in bewilderment. " This seems bad. I have to tell someone...As if they don't already know." he remarked. Turning towards the door, the teen ran out, before closing and locking it behind him. StrifeLeoness was startled as the large mansion door flew open immediately. On the other side of the door, a strange dragon-like figure was laying on the ground in a daze. Her motherly instincts began to kick in. "Oh my goodness! Let me help you up," said Leoness. She began to walk towards the poor fellow, but before she could take two steps, she heard a sudden voice. "Uh, what happened to the door? And who are you?"The lioness turned around. A brown-haired girl was standing right behind her. "Ah... er... I was... opening... the... door?" said the dragon sheepishly. "I-I'm another mage, honest!""Your poor thing," said Leoness, walking towards Drakhé. She stretched out her hand and gently pulled the fallen dragon by the arm, helping him up. "My name is Namarie Leoness, and i'm only a visitor here," said Leoness, glancing at the brown-haired girl in a somewhat shy manner. "I came to visit my sister, Aerisa Darkyna. Who are you two, might I ask?” SurfSurf relaxed when the dragon acted scared of her. Fear meant no threat. "Ah... er... I was... opening... the... door? I-I'm another mage, honest!" he replied. "Oh, sorry, I guess I haven't really seen you around. Did the door fall off its hinges again? We really need to bolt that thing in, huh?" After helping the dragon up, the lioness was the second to respond, "I came to visit my sister, Aerisa Darkyna. Who are you two, might I ask?" Surf thought to herself, I like her, she seems nice."Oh, I see. Well, it's nice to meet you," said Surf with a smile. "I'm Surf, one of the mages that lives here. And I'm not sure where Aerisa is, I've been outside for most of the day. Maybe one of the other mages will-" CRACK! Surf was cut short by a flash of lightning, followed by a crack of thunder. She looked up to see that the sky was black. "Okay, I'm pretty sure that the sky wasn't black a second ago. Where do you think that came from?" ZariZaha, throwing shuriken at a cutlass-wielding dummy, looked over her shoulder and smiled breifly at CA and PFA (ATTACK OF THE ACRONWHATSITS!). She'd got back into the rhythm of duck, aim, throw again when she head CA's last words. She turned and stared 'I'm not sure If I was meant to hear that, but: For true?' Her yellow-gold eyes widened at the thought. Necromancy? Vyt back? The very thought.-- Zari wandered around the Great Hall, thinking. There wasn't much for her to do, unless she started a circus or something ridiculous along those lines. That'd be just like herself to do something like that. No wait...Zari raised one gloved hand and cuffed herself over the head. KEEP A CLEAR HEAD FORCES CATCH IT 'Sparring fields.' she muttered, heading off in their direction. Zari stood in a corner, stave in one hand, sword in the other. The fields were, unusually, nearly deserted. If worse came to worst, she'd spar the empty air or summon up an illusion. Either one. 'Mrrrf.' -- ZariKrahia poured a thick green mix into a beaker, thrn set both containers down, and stretched, knocking Dretne off a shelf in the process. 'Yow! Zari, watch yourself!' the catclone complained. Zari turned and shook a finger at him. 'You're not supposed to talk human, it's bad for your vocals.' she said, ruffling the unfortunate clones fur. 'And you, shouldn't fidget so much, it's distracting.' This comment was directed at Ienalle, who stopped worrying at the cannon strapped to one arm. 'But Nalay have flea-itch on arm. Want to scratch.' she retorted. <Dretne> ha.> <Ienalle> Shaddup!> ((Note: I have a prospective voice for Dretne, just in case there's a second GW Movie: My little brother. =3 And the text enclosed in <>> is Clone speech, not understandable by humans unless they have a understanding of the Cat and Leopard dialects of the Feline languages.)) SpeckThe hair on the back of Speck's neck stood on end. She looked up to see the nearly-pitch-black clouds above as the forest surrounding the few pirates darkened. 'How did those get there so fas, I wonder,' she thought to herself. In preparation for potential rainfall, she upturned the collar of her coat to protect her neck. "What's our objective? We can't really walk up to that shiny and run away with it.""We could possibly use this distraction," Speck pointed up at the sky, "to our advantage, and swipe the shiny. Once we're in the clear, it'd give us time to examine it, at least for a little while. And if it turns out it's full of bad juju, we could always just dump it on Mage Manor's doorstep or something. "Of course, that could just turn out to be a suicidal thing to do. In which case, forget I said anything.” ShadeHades was heading back to the Mercs HQ, having both given up hope of finding a new job for them and having found a victim for his vampiric thirst. He winced, remembering that. It still seemed completely unnatural, for all that he had been a vampire for quite a while now. He sighed. His distaste for drinking blood would probably wear off sometime in the next century or so. But until then, he still didn’t like it. The lands of Dunburrow, which he was currently in, were gentle, fields of crops taking up much, but not all, of the plains around the capital. Forests still dotted the landscape, and it was near one of those that Hades saw a lightning bolt strike. He glanced up at the sky, which was darkening, deep purple clouds forming near where the lightning had come from, and started running towards the disturbance. Grudgingly, he admitted that this was indeed an advantage of being a vampire; he could run faster than before, and it didn’t cost him as much energy. But the downsides balanced out the good things, in most cases. During battle, it would be different, he was sure. Then the extra strength and speed would be a major help. But there hadn’t been a major battle since he had been turned, which was bad for his paycheck, among other things. When he got to the place the lightning bolt had struck, he found what seemed to be two mages and someone almost certainly from the ‘Fleet, judging by the silver covering on his skin. There was a gun – he couldn’t quite tell what type – lying on the ground, and a bag sitting near it, with something inside. And unless one of the mages had called the lightning, which he sort of doubted, seeing as one looked rather unconscious and the other one surprised, it was probably the source of the lightning. Probably. He stopped a prudent distance away, close enough to talk easily, but not close enough to be considered a threat. “Hello?” Hades called, stepping a bit closer, hands carefully held palms out. “If any of you know what’s going on, I’d rather like to know.” Belatedly, he realized that his appearance – a metal arm, an obviously bionic eye, and threads of metal snaking across most of the skin on his face – would probably cause them at least as much of a surprise as the lightning. “Um. Sorry about my appearance, but I don’t mean any of you harm,” he added. Of course, if they questioned him and found out about his vampirism, then he doubted that any words would help. But that was unlikely. Besides it wasn’t like there was anything about him that would scream ‘vampire’, unlike the various cybernetic implants and replacements that made it obvious to everyone that he wasn’t completely human anymore. ZylaaAs the lightning flashed down from the sky, the weasel General leapt from his hiding spot in terror. Squeaking, he raced towards the safety of the other humans, and because some instincts are greater than fear, he latched onto the leg of the shiny man, casting a fearful glance back out at the sudden gathering of dark clouds. The magical shiny was still out there... but something told the General that going after it now would be a bad idea. ***** "See? The mages are meddling with something again." "Heck," Zylaa said, looking up at the stormclouds. "Of course, that could just turn out to be a suicidal thing to do. In which case, forget I said anything." Zylaa considered this. "Doing suicidally crazy stunts for treasure has paid off before," she said. "I say we go for it. If the plan messes up, we can always run for it or get Kat on our side." She nudged the weasel commander. "Still straight to the treasure?" The little weasel nodded and pointed straight, into the storm. AristaArista flew towards the Merc HQ. She saw an open window and flew in, landing up in the rafters. She shifted into her human form and dusted the rafter a little. Looking down, she noticed Salamander on the couch. She also noticed the oddity of the walls. "Hey, Salah, what'cha doing?" Arista asked. PFABefore PFA could throw her second kunai, her Uncle spoke up. "...Well, it needs a little bit more swing power..." he stood up and approached PFA. "You have to be careful not to have such a short angle in swinging. You're trying to throw too fast. Take your time.""Take my time..." PFA muttered to herself, letting her Uncle's words sink in. Before she could throw the kunai, though, her Uncle spoke up again. "I think it's time for a short break. The straw target looks too devastated to take any more damage."PFA looked over at her target... Uncle was right; the thing was really beat up. She sighed, putting away her kunai. "Yeah..." And then there was quiet. PFA grabbed the kunai that were stuck in the wall, putting them back with the rest of her kunai. She then headed back to where her Uncle was standing. As PFA approached, Uncle looked her right in the eyes. "...I've heard we can bring Vyt back even without Sev..." he said to her. This made PFA pause. Vyt. She usually tried not to think about her father... soon after she had met up with him, after not seeing him for years, he sacrificed himself... and Sev's phoenix fire failed to resurrect him... She sighed. PFA had no reason to like her father... he had left her alone for years, and when she finally saw him again, he tried to kill her... but even then, she just couldn't bring herself to hate him. Even though he did these things to her, she knew some part of him still cared for her. In fact, his last effort... he sacrificed himself, to save her. She could never forget that. "Remember, PFA... You still have a long way to go. Make me proud," the words rang through her head. They were Vyt's last words. She had been trying hard to be a strong ninja, ever since then... even with Vyt's valiant efforts, she really wished she could see him again sometime... to be there, to give her a hug when he saw how much she had improved... PFA sighed again, and straightened up. She was not going to cry now; this wasn't the time. "...How?" she finally asked her Uncle. Hunty"I say we go for it. If the plan messes up, we can always run for it or get Kat on our side."
"You say?" Hunty barked out of pure instinct before loosening up. "Hrm. I do agree that if it's dangerous, it's better to have it near us and in our hands than in anyone else's hands." "Unless it blows up in our faces," Bloody Mary the ever-cynic remarked. "Look, people, you're getting this stealth thing all wrong. I say we track down the shiny, monitor whoever's carrying it, make sure it doesn't blow up in their faces, then, when we've decided it's more or less harmless, then we can nick it and run off with it. Five minutes here or there, right?" Huntress, who'd been out-decided by her second mate and her meepit twice in the span of a minute, said nothing. "Sounds like a plan to me," Justice supported from the belt. "Unless whoever's carrying it gets away with it too fast," said Hunty, a scowl spreading across her face. "It's pretty much now or never. But we do need to be stealthy; even if we get our hands on it, we'd need to get out fast and there's quite a few mages and other nice people out there who could send a fireball up our necks." "Still haven't heard your suggestion," grunted Bloody Mary. "We need the weasels. If anyone's able to steal it fast and effectively, it's them." Hunty rubbed her forehead. "We go forth, investigate the situation, make adjustments according to that, then pop go the weasels and drag out the shiny when the time is right. And then we set the sails. It looks like there might be some good coastal wind soon to help us out." The sky rumbled above their heads. DragonDragon crackled and jumped from spot to spot. Well, she really didn't want to. Some outside force usually was the cause, namely mages. Dragon had been to Artist's Alley on a few occasions when the mages were performing great magic, it usually caused the already screwed up place to just become even more dysfunctional. Dragon sighed in irritation as she crackled and popped into a new place. It usually wasn't this bad unless something big was happening. Hoping it would subside soon, she let her eyes wander over the paintings that hung near her for the few seconds she could. Until she found what she was looking for. She had popped into a new spot, facing a large painting. She felt the air around her crackle with electricity, it was preparing to jump her to a new spot. "Oh not this time!" She retorted, focusing all her energy to stay in that spot. But the Studio didn't want her there. She wasn't supposed to find it. "Well you only don't like humans." She mumbled in anguish. She closed her eyes, taking a second to transform into a monkey. The Studio knew she was in the place somewhere, but it didn't read animal signals. She was safe for the time being. Dragon-monkey giggled inwardly. She had won for the time being. She opened her notebook. It wasn't really a notebook, but rather her spell book/diary. Dragon was a mage, defining her shape-shifting abilities. She hadn't learned them, she was just born with them. She had gone to Mage Manor to further her magic, which really meant she tried to transform into mystical creatures. The only successful creatures she had turned into were a kitsune and unicorn. What she was aiming for, however, was a phoenix. Dragon-monkey flipped through the notebook, looking at the dates. She found the page she was looking for and read it. 24, juillet
So, I was looking through the ancient tomes today and I found one about this artifact. It's roughly five inches in width, three inches in length, and two inches in height. It looks blackish-purple, but supposedly it's iridescent and if you look at it right, it's all the colors and none. The artifact was lost to time, but it has strong magic, dark or light they (the arch-mages) aren't sure. The book said it was once used in a war of all types of creatures on NTWF. It had been a bloody fight and it was pitch black out (I think the artifact caused this). The next day some people went to check out what happened, since everything had gone silent. And there was nothing there. No bodies, no foot prints leading away from the battle...
My guess is that those people are still alived, locked in time, forever fighting. Wouldn't that be so cool if they were let out? But I guess we'd have to find the artifact. The rest went on to talk about a particularly strong love potion this mage had made. It blew up in their face of course. "Hmm... battle of all kinds..." Dragon whispered, staring at the painting in front of her. It depicted just that. At first she had thought it was the Guild Wars, but she didn't recognize anyone in the paint. But more-so the sky was black with purple lightning... coming from an artifact which Dragon had depicted in her notebook. "That's... interesting." The Studio heard her voice, and the air crackled around her. She was popped to the door in which she came in, which opened and forced her out. Changing back into her elven form, she dusted herself off, picking up her notebook. "Touchy." She sneered, before walking towards the gate. Zylaa" You say?" Hunty snapped. Zylaa lowered her head, muttering, "Just an opinion." She listened to the meepits, and thought, If we wanted to be stealthy, we would've been ninjas.The plan involving the weasels seemed good, though. "I'll summon them all once we've looked over the situation. They should be able to carry whatever-it-is, unless it's a building." She considered this. "They could probably make off with a small building, actually." From her shoulder, the weasel commander spoke. "Weasels... pop?" it said fearfully. "It's just an expression," said Zylaa. "You get to all steal the shiny." "Oooh. That good then." CelestialA dragon settled into a comfortable hover over the Guilds, out of reach of any weapon. She could keep this up for days, going down to a sheltered lagoon only she knew about to feed and drink. The dragon turned to a white bird on her back and whispered "This should be fun to watch...and maybe learn something. Hopefully nobody will force us into the fray" The bird looked at it's mistress with knowing eyes and weewooed. The dragon, satisfied with such an answer, turned her head back to the ground and took the scene in. Strife"Oh, I see. Well, it's nice to meet you," said Surf with a smile. "I'm Surf, one of the mages that lives here. And I'm not sure where Aerisa is, I've been outside for most of the day. Maybe one of the other mages will-"Surf, Leoness and Drakhé were interrupted by the loud, sudden crack of thunder. The clouds above them began to turn black. "Okay, I'm pretty sure that the sky wasn't black a second ago. Where do you think that came from?""Oh my goodness!" said Leoness. She stared at the sky with her jaw agape. "Looks like a really nasty storm is coming our way. We should all head inside the manor where it's safe and warm.” Aerisa((OOC: Ikkin, me and Scar were actually outside, in a fountain with water. Sorry if I wasn't clear ^^; Also, while I'm a quad Scar walk on his hind legs ^^ Anyway, I'll just continue how you put it =3 )) "Clearly," said Sev in his usual tone, "Considering I don't remember you being a cat." Scar blushed throught his fur, only NOW realizing nobody knew he was a kitten yet. "In any case, you should probably dry yourselves off and make yourselves decent. Ikkin made a rather interesting find, and would like some Mage backup to help analyze it.""If you're decent in your plumage, Sev," Aeri started, grooming the fluffiness off of herself by rolling around the floor, "I'll darn well be decent in scales and fur. I'm a Dragonbunny," she proclamed proudly, ignoring the VERY silly position she was in. "Not some kind of luxury PET." "You sure act like a pet around ME!" The smug look on Scarven's face disappeared when Aerisa used her tail to make him trip, chuckling evilly. "Anyway, we were thinking about leaving soon, but you can leave your message to us, Sev." She rolled back on her legs, flapping her wings so she would be face-to-face with Sev. "We'll be sure to spread it around, Scar's mouth never shut anyway, we might as well give him something useful to say." "HEY!" Aerisa grinned at Scar's expression, before turning to Sev again. "Or if you'd rather tell everyone yourself, usually most of the mages are in the kitchen, follow me!" She said, already fluttering away... Salah A bird flew in through the window, alighted on a rafter, and turned into Arista. Specifically, an indigo-skinned and aqua-haired Arista due to the odd wavelengths in the room. "Hey, Salah, what'cha doing?" she asked. "Oh. Hi," Salamander said, looking up from the March 22, 1998 TV Guide she had been reading. "Um... pretty much just sitting around. Anything interesting outside?" She chose to ignore the shapeshifter's skeptical appraisal of the room's apparent redecoration. FrazeFraze looked down at the weasel gazing up at him with an expression not unlike rapture. "Does anyone know whose this is?" He had his skinsuit's messaging system send an encrypted message to Spacefleet. He didn't want to send it to the Commander just yet, because he didn't want to think about the punishment he would receive if he was wrong. He did not need to speak, only think the message to have it sent off. With any luck, the people here didn't have the technology necessary to intercept the message. "Spacefleet HQ, this is Special Ops Fraze. I believe I have found the Artifact. It seems to be shooting...lightning. I'm now in the company of some mages, knights, and a merc with some bionic implements. There's also a weasel with some sort of decorations. I will attempt to regain the artifact as soon as possible. I will request backup if it looks like I won't be able to attain it on my own. Fraze out."
“If any of you know what’s going on, I’d rather like to know.”"I don't know much either," Fraze answered. "I came to retrieve my gun, and this...gem thingiedopper was in the bag with it. And who are you?" SurfLeoness stared with her mouth agape at the sky, and replied, "Oh my goodness! Looks like a really nasty storm is coming our way. We should all head inside the manor where it's safe and warm."Surf nodded in agreement, and said, "Yes, that is a good idea," and began to head inside. "But mainly to alert the other mages and get raincoats. Storms don't just appear out of nowhere around here, y'know. Something bad has to be in the works, and we're going to need some backup." Surf walked over to one of the many torches lining the entrance hall, and thrust her staff into the glow of the light, shaping it into an image of the oncoming storm, and sent it throughout the manor. "There, that should alert everyone in the Manor. And now we wait." HuntyThe pirates made their way through the forest and finally reached the other side of it, which brought them to the edge of Farmer Bob's cornfield and the little scene that was currently taking place there. "Buwah," Huntress muttered. "That thing's shiny, alright." She strained her eyes. The people, as well as the artifact, were pretty far away, on the other side of the field. "Is that... Kat?" "That complicates things," snarled Bloody Mary, lowering himself on the shoulder. "How so? We'd need to take her along anyway. She's a good mage, and none of us would probably be able to tell much about that shiny." "Precisely." The meepit turned, his beady eyes narrowing. "Can you count on her? Will she come? Or will she betray us? Wouldn't cost much to her, but we'd all go down." He focused on the scene again. "Another person, wounded... and a third one, wouldya look at that, is that one of Zylaa's weasels?" "Looks too big for a weasel to me," said Bob Squeaky, wiggling to a better position to see more clearly. "The guy he's clinging to, dunce. Look, all silvery." "Another mage?" "No clue. But there's a shield around all three of them, see? With any luck, the weasels would get off before they have a chance to take it down." "That'd leave that one weasel inside the shield behind, though," Hunty interjected. "And we don't want to leave hostages. Hrm. Then again, they could sortof... teleport, right?" "I think so," Bloody Mary agreed hesitantly. "That's settled then. Now or never, while the shield still stands. Get 'em weasels, and get that shiny, and tell them to take a slightly different route to the ship. And then... prepare to run fast and far, people. Justice, you go ahead, or rather back, and tell them to heave the anchors.” Rikku"Hey, is it just me or did it just get a whole lot darker 'round here?" Rikku glanced up at the sky, and raised her eyebrows. The sky was black all over, with streaks of purple lightning crackling across it. "That looks ... nasty." She sped up her jog, sprinting towards the Manor. "I gotta get to cover!" When she reached the door, however, it appeared to be blown off its hinges. A group of people, some of whom the Mage recognized, were standing just inside. Rikku studied them for a second, and then rushed past. "Coming through!" she said cheerfully, trying to avoid banging into anyone. "I need to get my cloak," she added, somewhat ashamed of her rudeness, "because a sudden, mysterious, ominous magical storm just appeared ... and it looks like it's going to rain." She sighed.
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Post by GW2 on Oct 15, 2008 12:45:41 GMT -5
StrifeA soft beeping noise emitted from The Commander's desk. The desk had a built-in communicator that allowed his officers to send important messages to him, and right now, an important message seemed to be coming. Before Leoness left, The Commander had issued orders to monitor her position on the surface of the planet through the use of Spacefleet's sattelite. She was, afterall, Spacefleet's chief medical officer, and a fleet without a good doctor is like an eskimo without a coat. He asked not to be contacted in his office unless something suspicious came up near her position. Immediately, he grew worried. Leaning over his transparent desk, he tapped his finger on a green button in the corner of its surface. "Go ahead," he stated immediately. "Sir," responded a fuzzy voice from the speaker on the wall, "We have detected some unusual energy readings near the chief medical officer's location." "Be more specific!" he snarled. "Based on the sattelite scans, Sir, there appears to be an unusual weather pattern originating several kilometers from her immediate position." "Which is...?" "She is currently at Mage Manor, Sir." "I know that, you moron! Tell me what the weather pattern is. A tornado?" "Some kind of lightning storm, Sir. But it appears to be more than that. Even a heavy thunderstorm doesn't expel as much energy as this." "Contact our research team. Tell them I want them too keep an eye on this storm, and gather as much information as they can on its origin and characteristics." "Aye, Sir." The Commander mashed the red End Trasmission button on his desk. He then pressed a combination of the smaller buttons to contact one of his subcommanders. "Yes, Sir?" asked the subcommander over the speaker. "Subcommander #5, contact my marines. Tell them to enforce Level 2 lockdown procedures until the research team has completed their investigation of the terrestrial storm." "As you wish, Sir. Currently there are two Spacefleet officers on the surface of the planet. I will try to establish contact with them and inform them of the situ-" "TWO?" The Commander was caught by surprise. Leoness should be the only Spacefleet officer on the surface. "Yes Sir. Chief medical officer Leoness, and Special Ops merc Fraze." A bead of sweat trickled down The Commander's face, and he became infuriated. Somebody issued an order without consulting him first. "Who gave the order to send one of our Special Ops down there!?" "I don't know, Sir." "Find out!" snapped The Commander. "Initiate lockdown procedures immediately. When Fraze returns, bring him into my office immediately for questioning." "Yes Sir." The red button on the desk suffered another hard punch from The Commander's glove. * * * A voice boomed over the loudspeakers on every deck, floor, and corridor of the station. "Attention all personnel! To ensure the security of this facility, Spacefleet Headquarters will undergo Level 2 lockdown procedures. No personnel are allowed to leave without permission from a senior officer. Visitation rights are temporarily repealed. Lockdown will commence in five minutes and last for approximately one hour. Thank you for your cooperation." JasonJasor looked up from the hall. An image of the sky from outside lit up the ceiling. Grabbing one of the various torches, he menuevered to the front of Mage Manor. "What's going on? he asked softly. Looking at the sky, he clutched his amulet once again. A silver tingle went up it as Jasor rubbed his forehead. PyroPyro was sitting on the desk in her room at Castle Kestrel, gazing thoughtfully out of the window. Her flameblade was hanging in its place on the wall, where it belonged, for the moment. The events of days past, when war had pitted her against familiar faces in other guilds, leaving scars still fading on her skin and events burned into her mind like her weapon’s brightest flames, had taken any desire for fighting out of her. For once, she had no wish to feel the hilt of her sword in her hand. Pyro turned her attention back to the village and the fields visible through her window, the land past the walls of the castle. All this was her home, and even though the war with the other guilds had sapped her thirst for action, she would still fight to protect the land she held dear. Lost in such thoughts, Pyro did not at first notice the darkening of the sky. Then, as black clouds rolled across the heavens, she frowned, blinking and coming out of her daze. As she cast her gaze upwards, purple lightning split the sky with a violent crash, striking somewhere nearby. Pyro jumped off the desk, sudden fear quickening her breath as she watched more bolts of lightning dart across the clouds that blocked the sun, throwing shade over the world below. The Black Knight reached out and placed a hand on her flameblade, tugging it from the wall. The sword practically sprang into her hand, humming with its strange and uncontrollable magic, vibrating as it had only done once before, when the shadows of the previous war threatened the land. Pyro’s expression grew stormy and she focused her magical willpower on the sword, commanding it to lie dormant as she buckled it to her waist and ran from the room. Magic begets magic, she thought, recognizing the trembling of the sword as she sprinted, and magic like that outside is never good.Down through the familiar halls, taking the back passageways, and she was in front of the throne room faster than ever. She hesitated for only a moment before pushing open the door. “King Wolf! The sky outside…something terrible is going on. Something magical…dark magic.” SurfAs Surf stood waiting, Rikku rushed through. " Coming through!" she cheerfully exclaimed. " I need to get my cloak, because a sudden, mysterious, ominous magical storm just appeared ... and it looks like it's going to rain." "Hi Rikku!" said Surf, waving at the hurried mage. She quickly realized she had forgotten something, and added, "Ah, right, coats! Thanks for reminding me!" As Rikku rushed out of the hall, another mage rushed in, and asked, " What's going on?" "Well," she replied, "a magical thunderstorm just appeared out of the blue, and a powerful one at that. So basically, something bad is going on. Oh, and you should go get a raincoat, because it's probably going to rain." She turned to Leoness and added, "I'm going to go to my room for a second to grab a coat. Do you want me to get you one as well?" RikkuRikku nodded at Surf and continued the run to her room. She wasn't quite sure why she was so hurried; she felt a strange sense of urgency, like she wanted to run and dance and set something on fire all at once, or like there was an itch under her skin that she couldn't scratch. She ought to be tired; she'd just sprinted a distance, after performing necromancy without drawing energy from anything except herself. But she felt more alive than before. The young Mage flew on her cloak and admired her reflection in the mirror. With her pale skin and dark hair, and with the black and purple sky in the window behind her, she really looked rather dramatic. Black and purple sky ... The necromancer frowned out the window. The sky looked like nothing she'd ever seen before ... except, maybe ... "Black magic?" she questioned, her eyes glinting as they reflected the lightning. That would explain a lot. "Most likely not a good thing ... I ought to see what everyone else thinks of this." She ran out the door again. Behind her, another flash of lightning streaked down to earth. She paused outside the library, hearing something that sounded an awful lot like Sev. "In any case, you should probably dry yourselves off and make yourselves decent. Ikkin made a rather interesting find, and would like some Mage backup to help analyze it.""Interesting find ..." Rikku paused. The storm ... "Yup, definitely not a good thing." She ran back to the entrance hall, remembering seeing some Mages there, and saw that they were all, plus another one who hadn't been there before, still standing around, while lightning streaked to the ground outside the doors. Rikku rolled her eyes. Surf said, "I'm going to go to my room for a second to grab a coat. Do you want me to get you one as well?""Raincoats are great and all, but we better do something about those doors, Surf. We don't know what's going to happen ..." She paused. "Oh, and I overheard Sev saying something about how Ikkin had found something interesting ... something like that, anyway. I might try and use the teleporter or something to get where she is and see what's going on, 'cos it might have something to do with the storm. Something bad's going on." She finished with a grin and a little skip. Yes, it was black magic alright, or even something worse. Either way, it was powerful.” Omni"Attention all personnel! To ensure the security of this facility, Spacefleet Headquarters will undergo Level 2 lockdown procedures. No personnel are allowed to leave without permission from a senior officer. Visitation rights are temporarily repealed. Lockdown will commence in five minutes and last for approximately one hour. Thank you for your cooperation.""What now?" Ethan said with some annoyance as he returned his plate and Siber happily munched on some ribs that Ethan had ordered for him. Well, Ethan may not have known what the reason for this specific lockdown was, but he knew that the most common reason was a security breach. So he took his rifle from its usual spot (slung over his back), readied it, and stood watching the door for the cafeteria… He decided to at least wait for Siber to get all the meat off of the bones before leaving. --- Having heard rumbling more than once by now, Omni finished up her exercises, put her collar back on, and exited the room. She hadn't been running down the hallway for very long before very long when she saw an image that depicted a huge storm. "Purple lightning?" she thought aloud. "Is Kat going super-mage again?" Zylaa"The weasels can teleport back to us if they're captured," Zylaa said. So long as no mage puts up a teleport block, she thought, but didn't add. The weasels could take care of themselves. Time to get this shiny and start heading back to the ship before this storm got any worse. She fished around in her pockets until she found a single spoon- simple silverware, perhaps, but very shiny silverware. She pulled it out, held it up, and whistled. Weasels popped into the air, falling over each other in their haste, bouncing towards Zylaa in a wave of fur. For an amazing power, this could stand a little more dignity, she thought as she pointed the spoon towards the bag, lying abandoned in the ground about halfway between the pirates and those under the shield. Weasels poured past her, towards the bag- And about a hundred of them carried on, towards the shiny man under the shield. "NO!" Zylaa cried, "Idiot weasels!" But the sound of the storm covered up her exclamation and subsequent swearing as a third of her army continued charging away. "That's torn it. Let's run before Kat and them figure out what's happened." She raced back towards the woods, signaling with the spoon to the weasels who now surrounded the innocuous bag. This had better be one heck of a treasure. Speck"That's settled then. Now or never, while the shield still stands. Get 'em weasels, and get that shiny, and tell them to take a slightly different route to the ship. And then... prepare to run fast and far, people. Justice, you go ahead, or rather back, and tell them to heave the anchors."Speck wondered about the other pirates still on shore leave, who were unaware of the current plan. Many of them were probably heading back to the ship now, assuming that this storm had reached the nearest town. There was still time to get out to sea before the storm reached a more dangerous level. Otherwise, the pirates might very well be stranded with the Mages and the Knights. No good could possibly come out of that, even if they were in peacetime. But what of Dragon? "I'll head off to Artist Alley as soon as the shiny's in our possesion. Is there anyway I can stay in communication with the ship, if we happen to get separated, which will no doubt happen?" Speck asked, crouched behind a bush as she surveyed the field for potential escape strategies. StrifeI'm going to go to my room for a second to grab a coat. Do you want me to get you one as well?"Leoness was about to respond, but Rikku immediately interrupted her. "Raincoats are great and all, but we better do something about those doors, Surf. We don't know what's going to happen ..." She paused. "Oh, and I overheard Sev saying something about how Ikkin had found something interesting ... something like that, anyway. I might try and use the teleporter or something to get where she is and see what's going on, 'cos it might have something to do with the storm. Something bad's going on."Leoness budged into the conversation. "If you don't mind, Surf, i'd really like to stay in the manor. Normally I wouldn't mind going out in stormy weather, but my legs are just so tired from the walk over here... That, and I want to find Aerisa, and Scar too if he's here.” PFAJernath was in the kitchen, drinking from a water glass. He sighed; it seemed like, as a mercenary, there was always either lots to do or nothing to do. Right now it was the latter. "I wish we'd get hired for something already..." he muttered, setting the glass on the table. He then stood up, and started pacing around the kitchen, trying to think of something to keep himself entertained. The TV wasn't working, as usual, and there's only so many times you can play solitaire. Groaning, he walked over to the window, looking out at the view. The mercenary HQ was surrounded with woodland, so there usually wasn't much to look at. Sometimes there'd be a bird or something, though, so Jernath figured it was worth a shot. But there were no birds. Nor deer, nor squirrels... Jernath was about to give up, but then something unusual caught his eye. Through the trees, he could see a hint of what seemed to be some sort of dark cloud, off in the distance... he would have thought nothing of it, if it weren't for the fact that this cloud seemed to be hovering over one place in particular. And something about this cloud just... didn't seem normal. He just stared at the cloud for a moment, before going into the other room, where Salah and Arista were. He blinked, a bit puzzled at the odd coloration of the room, but disregarded it for now. "Hey, did you see that weird cloud?" he asked the two other mercenaries. "It looks like it's above that castle place..." Kwoiffei((One long post coming up... *le sigh* I hate time zones! Oh, and just a quick thing: Drakhé does not have wings or a tail.)) Drakhé hadn't expected so much compassion from the visitor. At the most, he would have expected a sympathetic, 'are you okay' - but this visitor had actually gone to the trouble of helping him up. A faint tinge of red crossed the dragon's cheeks for a moment. "Th-thank you..." he said as he was pulled to his feet. "I'm... Drakhé."He listened to the other mage - Surf, her name was - before they were interrupted by a loud CRACK! He jumped instinctively before looking up to see the sky. "'scuse me," he mumbled before bolting back into the safety of the Manor. Sure enough, the other two had come inside as well shortly afterwards. By this time, Drakhé had stopped and was leaning against a wall, trying to catch his breath. Mentally he was anything but calm - scolding himself for running at the first sign of danger, but also reminding himself that storms could kill. And this wasn't any old storm. Something seemed magical about it. Drakhé was anything but immune to magic. And now a necromancer had appeared. The dragon was notably nervous... okay, this one seemed harmless, but that kind of magic still gave him the creeps.Listening to the nearby conversation, he swallowed, and moved towards them again. "St-staying inside would be a good idea," Drakhé said, obviously trying not to sound too antsy, "The Manor knows how t-to deal with these things." He paused, thinking through what he'd say next. But the words didn't want to come for some reason. Other mages are there... they could be in trouble. It's dangerous out there. They could be in trouble. CyborgCyborg walked towards Salah." So anything exciting in the guide? And we still are jobless for now." Midknight looked at his brother after walking out of the shadows. " How long has it been since our last job anyways?" IkkinIkkin somehow didn't notice that no one seemed to be in the throne room until after she'd called out her information. She shook her head, trying to clear it. She normally noticed the lack of any magical signatures before she made a fool of herself; she supposed it was because she was preoccupied with the thoughts of the odd something that was in the bag. In any case, she needed to go find someone to tell. She concentrated on the magical signatures nearby... and was blasted with the enormous force of the storm outside. She reeled backwards from the sudden explosion of magical energy. That was unexpected. After she calmed herself down a bit, she felt out towards the source of the energy. She never really had a great sense of direction, but, if she was correct, it was coming from the same place where she had seen the bag with the odd-feeling object. She decided to tell that to whoever she met as she went about the castle. It was much harder to find the relatively-small magical signatures of the knights with so much power elsewhere, so it took her some time to find which direction she wanted to take - and by then, she'd realized that Pyro (whose magical signature was a bit stronger than average) was already running for the throne room herself, so all she needed to do was go to the door and wait for her. “King Wolf! The sky outside…something terrible is going on," Pyro called. "Something magical…dark magic.”"I don't think he's here," Ikkin said. "I was just going to tell him about a magical artifact that was unearthed by a farmer when this happened. I think the artifact might be the cause..." *** ((Sorry, Aeri... I'll just retcon everything that happened so Sev appeared outside. Sev still called Scar a quad, though, since he couldn't tell Scar could walk on his hind legs since you were both all over each other in the fountain. )) "If you're decent in your plumage, Sev," Aeri started, rolling around the floor, "I'll darn well be decent in scales and fur. I'm a Dragonbunny," she proclamed proudly. "Not some kind of luxury PET."
"You sure act like a pet around ME! " Scar said with a smug look. Aerisa tripped him with her tail, chuckling evilly. Sev just raised a wing to his head, as if he'd suddenly gotten a really bad headache from all of the sillyness.
"Anyway, we were thinking about leaving soon," Aeri said, "but you can leave your message to us, Sev." She brought herself face to face with the phoenix before continuing. "We'll be sure to spread it around, Scar's mouth never shut anyway, we might as well give him something useful to say."
"HEY!" Scar said. Sev had to hold back a laugh at the offended look on the kitten's face.
"Or if you'd rather tell everyone yourself, usually most of the mages are in the kitchen, follow me!" Aeri finished, flying away towards the kitchen.
Sev paused for a moment to search for the magical signatures of various mages to see if Aeri was right about them being in the kitchen, only to get hit by the enormous energy of the magical storm.
He quickly decided that he might as well follow Aeri, who had flown ahead of him while he wasted time. He caught up right outside of the entrance to the kitchen.
"Something's wrong... there's a huge amount of magical energy coming from Dunburrow, and it doesn't feel like it's the good kind. Now I see why Ikkin wanted backup..." FrazeFraze looked out from behind the shield, to see a swarm of weasels parading toward them. All their eyes were on him. He turned to Kat. "Er, will this shield hold up against an invasion of a hundred furry critters? Just wondering.” Shino“S... Sir Shino? I wasn’t aware that you had... had returned!”Yes, in fact he had not mentioned his return to any such friend of his in Dunburrow. No mesage had been sent because Shino wasn't actually sure if he was really goign to come home this time. So many times before he had gotten packed up, ready to leave, but then he felt his forgotten shame and hurting soul once again. His soul had never recovered from that last battle and hitherto of his life renewal. His shame had been long dead by now, of course. The White Knight was very happy to see a friendly face in this cold dreary time of the outer lands of Dunburrow. The wet snow fell form the sky and the green lush grass had been affected by the cold. It was layered with forst and each blade of grass was lathered in ice and precipitation. He was, of course, bundled up in all these whtie rags and tattered clothing bound by string and kindle that he wasn't surprised it took a few moments for Lady Tamia to recognize her fellow Knight. Stepping out of his saddle, he bowed before Lady Tamia saying, "Yes...It has been a while, hasn't it? Many nights I have met, not facign this magical land of old. I am glad to finally meet a familiar, albeit new, face out here. I presume King Wolf-" But suddenly Lord Shino was cut off by a growl from Tamia's creature-kin. “Sir Shino, you are being followed!” "Wha-!!!" Shino exclaimed as he looked around. He did not see anything, but he doubted the Orange Knight would make something like this up. Then he saw the "someone" she had mentioned. This person was shrouded in mystery because you oculd not see any part of their skin, as they were bundled up form head to toe. He guessed probably from the wintertime, but also for concealment of identity. Diving for Broken Foe, he rolled with it and ended up in a crouching position with his gleaming sword extended in a protective stance. "Who are you?! Show yourself.” SurfRight as Surf finished posing her question, Rikku ran back in and added, "Raincoats are great and all, but we better do something about those doors, Surf. We don't know what's going to happen ..." She paused. "Oh, and I overheard Sev saying something about how Ikkin had found something interesting ... something like that, anyway. I might try and use the teleporter or something to get where she is and see what's going on, 'cos it might have something to do with the storm. Something bad's going on."Surf replied, "You're right Rikku, we need to fix these doors, or at least get a barricade. I can use my wind magic to cut off a branch for new hinges, or just cut down a bunch of trees for a barricade. But coats are important. I can't exactly help destroy whatever evil is responsible for this if I catch a cold, now can I?" When Rikku was finished, Leoness interjected, "If you don't mind, Surf, i'd really like to stay in the manor. Normally I wouldn't mind going out in stormy weather, but my legs are just so tired from the walk over here... That, and I want to find Aerisa, and Scar too if he's here.""Alright, Leoness. You should wait in the kitchen, in that case. There's a warm fire in there, and since Aerisa's going to have to eat sometime, she'll eventually go there. On that note, I'll be right back." Surf walked outside and controlled a wind current, riding it up to her room. She glided in through the window, threw on a white coat, and hopped back down to the group. DragonDragon had been running for a very long time... as a cheetah of course. She had reached her destination. The building loomed in front of her and she transformed into her elf form once more. She drew her hood over her head, bowing slightly to cast a shadow over her face. She walked through the gardens to the front door. She knocked softly, knowing that whoever was inside would hear. The door of the Dojo opened, a ninja giving her a quick observation. When they realized she was a pirate (her cutlass was poking through her cloak) they tried to close the door, but Dragon placed her foot in front of it. "I know I'm no longer welcome here... but there's matters of great importance at hand," she said, looking up to stare them in the face. KengBy the time the lock down was announced Keng was already back in her room and gathering her things for the upcoming planet side mission, whatever that was. "Oh well, just a 15minute delay." she shrugged to herself aloud. Still, she was curious as to what the delay was, and as a higher ranked combat class officer active in maintaining the moon's security, she figured she would have a good chance at finding out why they were going into lock down. "Connect me to security please." she said to her empty room, and as usual, the room replied. "Now connecting to security." come the voice of the computer. "This is Commando Keng, I'd like to inquire as to the nature of the lockdown." "I.D. confirmation please?" Keng punched in her ID code. The catch was that as she did this it scanned her finger prints with each button. "I.D. confirmed. One unauthorized planet side officer and an unusual storm." "Hmmm, do we have satellite imaging on this storm?" "Yes ma'am. I'll send you the feed now." "Thank you." The swirling purple cloud appeared on her screen in the wall. She let out a low impressed whistle. She didn't think much of the unknown officer, something like that usually wouldn't warrant a 1hour lock down, and once she saw this unusual storm she was pretty sure it was the reason. The purple clouds swirled forebodingly and as far as Keng could tell, the storm was only getting bigger. "What would make the clouds purple like that?" "We don't know ma'am." admitted the security officer. "We suspect magic." "Thank you again... who am I speaking to?" "Phillipe Ma'am." "Thank you Phillipe." "You're welcome Ma'am." With that the connection ended. There weren't many people in Spacefleet that had much familiarity with magic, but there were a few. And, hoping to find out more, she decided to get in touch with one such friend of hers. "Connect me to Merc. Urchin please." " Now connected to Merc. Urchin's room. RikkuRikku had apparently interrupted one of the strangers - Leoness, Surf had called her - as she was about to say something. Rikku flushed. Leoness said, "If you don't mind, Surf, i'd really like to stay in the manor. Normally I wouldn't mind going out in stormy weather, but my legs are just so tired from the walk over here... That, and I want to find Aerisa, and Scar too if he's here.""Sorry for interrupting," Rikku said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. Eavesdropping, banging into people - she wasn't going to make many friends this way. "And fair enough." Surf said something about Leoness waiting in the kitchen, and Rikku nodded. "That would probably be a good idea, Leoness. And there's hot chocolate in there if you want to warm up." A rather twitchy looking humanoid dragon moved towards them. Rikku recognized him as Drakhé, who she'd seen around a few times, but hadn't spoken too much. He'd been by them earlier, but must have been scared by the storm - and with good reason, as it seemed to be getting even worse outside. He still looked nervous. "St-staying inside would be a good idea, the Manor knows how t-to deal with these things." He paused, looking worried. Rikku glanced outside. A wind had picked up now, and was rushing through the door-hole, messing with the clothing of everyone present. Something - maybe the wind, maybe the magic, maybe the electricity - made Rikku's hair stand on end. She brushed it back down again irritably. Surf said, "You're right Rikku, we need to fix these doors, or at least get a barricade. I can use my wind magic to cut off a branch for new hinges, or just cut down a bunch of trees for a barricade. But coats are important. I can't exactly help destroy whatever evil is responsible for this if I catch a cold, now can I?" Surf then did a flashy trick with air magic, coming back wearing a white coat that fluttered impressively in the wind. Rikku grinned. "Nice! And no, I guess you can't. Until we can do something more permanent, though, we should just ..." She stepped up to the doors, trying to heave them back into position. "Just to cut the wind back a bit," she explained, and stepped back, a little surprised, as the doors settled in place. "Right. I ust be stronger than I thought." A lot stronger. Maybe it was to do with all the magic in the air. "Surf, if you could fix the hinges, that would be great. We wouldn't want to take these down and put them up again ever time someone goes outside." The Mage shifted from one foot to another. She still felt the urge to do something, though quite what, she wasn't sure. She ran a hand through her by now quite bedraggled hair. "I'm going to use the teleporter," she said, coming to a decision. "Ikkin and who-knows-who-else are out there, and they might need our help. And I don't fancy traveling in that storm, unless someone can summon a magic carpet from nowhere." Rikku grinned. Jason"Alright, Leoness. You should wait in the kitchen, in that case. There's a warm fire in there, and since Aerisa's going to have to eat sometime, she'll eventually go there. On that note, I'll be right back." Jasor nodded. "We should fix the door, but there are more important matters at hand, such as what we're going to do about this thunderstorm." he remarked. After Surf departed, the young mage dug through the pockets of his robe. Pulling out a silver rain coat, he pulled it over himself. Seeing, Surf reply, he opened his mouth to speak. "So are we going to alert the other guilds, or are we going to let them handle it themselves? I think we should alert atleast most of the guilds. I'm sure some of them already know about what's happening." he remarked softly. PFAOne of the ninjas was passing through the main hall of the HQ, when there was suddenly a knock at the door. Seeing no one else in the immediate area, he decided he should open it. So he walked toward it, opening it to see who was at the other side. As soon as he saw the cutlass poking out from the visitor's cloak, however, he immediately tried to close it again, but the visitor stopped it with her foot. "I know I'm no longer welcome here... but there's matters of great importance at hand," she said to the ninja, looking him straight in the eye. The ninja paused, trying to decide how to respond. Eventually, he decided on, "...What sorts of matters? This had better be worth it, pirate." --- PFA thought she heard a knock at the door, coming from downstairs, but she ignored it for now. Her Uncle had just told her there might be a way to revive her deceased father, and... well, she really wanted to hear what he had to say. The door could wait... another ninja would probably get it, anyway. "Please, Uncle... if you know something about how to bring Father back..." PFA added, staring into Cat Assassin's eyes. "...Please tell me." SurfRikku grinned. "Nice! And no, I guess you can't. Until we can do something more permanent, though, we should just ..." She stepped up to the doors, trying to heave them back into position. "Just to cut the wind back a bit," she explained, and stepped back, a little surprised, as the doors settled in place. "Surf, if you could fix the hinges, that would be great. We wouldn't want to take these down and put them up again ever time someone goes outside.""Alrighty then, permanent hinges it is." Surf glided back up to her room, grabbing a lump of metal, and jumped back down. When she arrived back in the hall, Rikku said, " I'm going to use the teleporter. Ikkin and who-knows-who-else are out there, and they might need our help. And I don't fancy traveling in that storm, unless someone can summon a magic carpet from nowhere." "Well, if you want, I can make a carpet fly, and we can call it magical," said Surf jokingly. She held out the metal to Rikku. "Rikku, before you go, can you heat this up and shape it into some new hinges?" Jason quietly remarked, " So are we going to alert the other guilds, or are we going to let them handle it themselves? I think we should alert atleast most of the guilds." "Well, if Ikkin knows about this, she's probably alerting the knights as we speak. And I don't think the pirates or the ninjas are close enough to the storm to be in immediate danger.” Vyt"...How?" was the only word PFA managed to say. She was stunned by Cat Assassin's revelation, and by the looks of the ninja she seemed to be thinking about Vyt. "... Now is not the time to elaborate on the details..." Cat Assassin said, looking around and seeing Zaha nearby. "I'm waiting for someone who can tell us more about the artifact that can bring the dead back," he mentioned. Days ago, he received a letter in front of his door from a stranger claiming he knew Vyt and has heard of his death. The letter also contained a revelation about something that can bring the half-feline back from the dead. Before Cat Assassin could continue, he was stopped by his own instincts. The feline's head quickly turned towards the source: weird dark clouds hovering over some spot of the land a bit far away from them. " Whoever you are who dropped that letter in my house, I hope you notice the scroll I got from the Mages Manor..." * * * "Putakte!"Back near Cat Assassin's house, Bluisa took more time casting her way of transportation, a cloud she could get on, compared to her constant knocking on the front door awhile ago. Since then, she had let out a handful of swear words from her mouth. "I don't know why this is happening," she heavily said, dropping down the ground to take a rest. "There's something inhibiting me from using my wind magic," she guessed. Ever since the dark clouds appeared from far away, Bluisa was having difficulties getting her magic to work. "I guess foreign magic doesn't work well in this place..." As she descended to take a rest, Bluisa had her hand feel something paper-like. She glanced down to see a conveniently-located teleportation scroll, probably left behind by Cat Assassin for her. The mage closed her eyes and slapped her forehead in sheer humiliation. "I hope this sends me towards Cat Assassin..." she hopefully thought as she followed the instructions also conveniently located just on the lower part of the scroll. A blinding flash began surrounding the mage, eventually dissipating together with Bluisa. * * * As soon as she recovered from the nauseating space warp, Bluisa had her eyes set on the entrance of the Ninja Guild. Still a bit dizzy from the ride, she dropped down towards one of the poles of the entrance gate, hoping she does not vomit. PFA"...Now is not the time to elaborate on the details..." was Uncle's reply. "I'm waiting for someone who can tell us more about the artifact that can bring the dead back.""I... see," PFA hung her head. An artifact that can bring the dead back? she thought to herself. I wonder what it is?PFA noticed that Uncle seemed to be thinking about something else. She started thinking about something else as well... what was that knock she heard at the door? Maybe it was important. Or maybe it was the person that Uncle was waiting for... Well, there was one way to find out. "I'm... going to go downstairs," PFA said. "I heard a knock at the door..." Without waiting for a response, PFA promptly turned around and headed out of the training room. The ninja HQ usually didn't get visitors... whatever this was, it was probably important. Scar"Or if you'd rather tell everyone yourself, usually most of the mages are in the kitchen, follow me!" Aeri finished, flying away towards the kitchen.Scarven quickly leapt to his padded feet and scampered after Aerisa, grumbling at the fact that he was scampering rather than running, Sev holding up the rear of the strange procession. Then he realized his lack of decency. "Meep! Sev! Aeri! Stop staring at me, meow!" he exclaimed, trying mightily to cover his fluff-covered nether regions with his paws before ducking into a nearby closet, slamming the door shut loudly behind him. A moment later he emerged in what looked like a miniature version of what he usually wore: a deep-blue lounge suit and black pants. He dusted himself off lightly and returned Sev's stare as they stood outside the kitchen doors. "It's magic," he explained simply, pushing open the doors to the kitchen as if nothing had happened. Or tried to at least. "Nngh! Aeri give me a paw her, meow," he grunted as he pushed hard at the door, his efforts so far rewarding him with a gap half an inch wide. ZariZari winced was pain scissored through her head, alerting her to the general alarm around her. Trying to hold off her empathy- THINK OF CALM THINGs STUFF YOU ZARI- she dashed back inside. Hopefully, her fellow Knights would have some idea what was going on. She headed to the Throne Room. 'King Wolf? Oh, Pyro. Did you see that Lightning? It...made my empathy go haywire. Thought you should know, that's not ordinary lightning.' she shifted nervously, horribly aware of the fact her empathy was raving around behind the mental wall she had erected. 'It's giving me a headache, and Lightning doesn't usually do that. It's Yradi Aimaon alright.' -- Zari's wristcomp beeped. Her eyebrows shot up. 'Ienalle! I've got an assignment. You coming, or can I teleport there?' Ienalle turned under her fur. 'No...thanks.' 'Suit yourself.' Zari walked into one of the only area's of Spacefleet teleportation wouldn't set off alarms in- A small corner of her lab. She was one of the only Spacefleet operatives with magic, because she was born with it. These days, she only used it to fix machines while reading in bed or cooking. A minute of concentration and she was gone. A flash of fire dropped Zari about 50 or so metres from Fraze and company. Seeing some faces she recognized- Or rather, who might recognize her- she flicked her armour on. It extended out of the metal plates at the backs of her wings, covering her from head to toe in dark-red armour. Her voice came out the same. That was different enough for no-one to see the similarities between her and...NO. NO NO N-'Whoa. Operative Fraze, what the holy Illhvren is this? Have the mages been going crazy, or te Ninja's set off something, or has the smoke machine broken, or what? Yeah, It's Professor Ailden, under the metal.' She looked around, hoping fervently not to see inquiring looks, for the voice issuing from under the helmet was clearly both Young, too young for a Professor, and the tone that of one who was almost tired of being asked to check out every crazy thing going on at the NTWF. She also hoped Fraze remembered not to use her first name. Since if the rest of the NTWF found out the abnormality that was going on right under their noses...that'd be worse than bad. Tamia"Who are you?! Show yourself," the White Knight barked, assuming a defensive stance. Struck by how quickly -- and rather majestically -- Shino took action, Tamia found that she couldn’t help but to finally draw her own sword. She hated its cold weight in her hands, but knew that if they were to fight off a starving raider, she would need more than a slingshot. However, miraculously, the man did indeed stand slowly, his arms raised. He carefully moved to remove his dark hood and a wrap of his scarf, revealing a pale young face, sharp features, and a lazy grin. “Consider myself shown,” he said in an easy tone. At that moment, a distant explosion of thunder reached their ears, and Tamia’s eyes darted to the eastern skies, where dangerous-looking clouds were billowing angrily, seeming to cover hundreds of miles of atmosphere in mere seconds. By the power of Merlin, came the thought from Oran. “Oopsie,” the man drawled, waggling his fingers innocuously. Heart hammering, Tamia stepped forward. “Did you do this?” she demanded. “Not exactly. All I did was dig a hole.” He gestured at the spade protruding from his haversack. “Just a nice little hole.” Glaring, she approached him and snatched the sack away. Backing away to a safe distance, she emptied its contents. She picked up a tattered scroll that had bounced out onto the grass and unfurled it partially. One glance at the script in its upper corner was enough to confirm its ownership. “This isn’t yours; it belongs in the library at Castle Kestrel. How did you come to have it?” He sighed, rolling his eyes in an entirely benign fashion. “I pity you, you know. All you silly little forumers... convinced that you have been divided into guilds... only six different guilds....” Tamia stared. To the best of her knowledge, there were only four guilds. Was the world really changing this much? This is news to me as well, Oran said grimly. The man in the black and brown robes smiled. “Would you like me to tell you a story, my knightly friends? It is the story of the Invisible Guild.” Fraze“Whoa. Operative Fraze, what the holy Illhvren is this? Have the mages been going crazy, or te Ninja's set off something, or has the smoke machine broken, or what? Yeah, It's Professor Ailden, under the metal.Fraze looked up with a start. "Za--uh, Prof. Ailden! What are you doing here?" He let out a snort. "If I had a nickel for every time someone asked me that, I'd have..." he did the math in his head. "Three nickels. I think. I don't have a clue what's going on. I went here to get my flechette gun back, and the thing currently barraging us with lightning was in the bag with it. People keep showing up, and now there's this pack of a hundred weasels that seems to be fixated on my skinsuit. Watch out for them." He added another message using his skinsuit's communication system, sending it to Zari's wristwatch communicator. "I think the thing is something the Commander wants. But I think the other people here want it, too." Zari'Commander sent me. I'd ask what a nickel was, but there's more important things. What else is in the evil bag of doom? Have you thought to check? Or is it just near the bag, but not in it?' Zari let the visor slide back so her eyes were visible, but not the rest of her face. 'Luckily my armour ain't shiny, Tza?' She considered allowing her ears and tail to get some air- The other didn't have them. Quietly, she replied to Fraze's message using the lip-reader mechanism in her wristcomp. 'I hope not, since the Commander wants me and the others to study it.' she mouthed, watching as the message folded up and the envelope icon zoomed off her screen. TrillyTrilly, still sitting against the wall in the castle basement, had tired of moping about how miserable she was and had fallen asleep. Feather, meanwhile, had curled up on top of her head to "keep watch" while she rested, but before she had fallen asleep, Trilly could've sworn she heard small snores coming from his general vicinity. She was quite suddenly awoken by a deep and resonating rumble that shook the stones around her and showered her with dust, stone fragments, and remnants of generations of dead insects. Not the most pleasant way to wake up in the morning. Coughing on the stale and musty air, the knight dragged herself to her feet, plucking her spluttering feyrie companion out of her hair and wincing as he unintentionally yanked a few strands out. That was probably one of Feather's least likeable characteristics; he disliked enclosed spaces and went snakey whenever there was a particularly loud noise. "Ow, leggo!" Trilly complained. "Why do you always have to do to do that? I can't always be losing hair whenever there's a thunderstorm! "Thunder?" Feather asked, looking unconvinced. "That was way too loud to be thunder. Whatever it was, it was unnatural, so my guess is one of your mage friends has been fooling around with a few too many spells. It was bound to happen some--" Trilly tried to hide her surprise. "Magic?" she asked lamely. "No, the mages... the other knights... they wouldn't. None of them would be that irresponsible... it goes against everything..." Despite the doubt she expressed, she realized deep down that Feather may have been right. Although she thought— hoped-- that none of the people she had just met and had begun to respect would intentionally try to cause damage, they were (mostly) only human, and humans made mistakes. Sighing, Trilly ran a hand through her bushy mass of tangled hair as she thought, her stomach squirming slightly as she groomed out mummified insect remains, bits of old mould, and... paper? Frowning, the Ivory Knight picked the scrap of paper from her hair and examined it. It was ancient, crumpled, and worn looking, much as someone would expect of a piece of paper that had spent years in the forsaken pit of doom that was also known as the basement of Castle Kestrel. "What do you have there?" Feather asked as he fluttered by her left ear, his rant forgotten when Trilly had failed to take offense and pick up her side of the potential argument. Trilly turned the paper over in her hands, and as she did she suddenly noticed the cramped, miniscule writing that ran across it's surface. " ...and we, the seventh guild of the NTWF, do hereby claim...", she broke off. "That's all it says, but... there aren't seven guilds, are there?" Feather looked stunned. "I didn't even think there were six!" "We have to get out of here," Trilly realized. "The other knights will need to hear about this. Maybe they'll be able to tell us something..." And she was off down the hallway, heading towards the passage where the air smelled just a little bit fresher. KatDespite the raging storm outside their shield, Kat couldn't help grinning. "You can call me Kat, and I'd know those weasels from anywhere; Zylaa's somewhere around here." She turned to them, keeping one hand on Nature's unmoving fingers, still probing for the strange magic. "Hey, would you guys mind going back to your master and getting some help? I can't hold this shield up forever. She'll give you shinies as a reward, probably. And...and...FETCH!" Kat unclipped one of her gold star earrings and threw it close to the edge of the shimmering purple dome. Turning back to Fraze, she asked, "Can you go get that bag? When I step out, this shield will stop working in ten seconds. Take care of Nature - she's a fellow mage of mine. Tell her you know me. I've managed to keep whatever's keeping her out cold from doing any damage, but you must take care of her quickly before it wears out. I'll figure out what's making this storm...before people start thinking it was me.” FrazeCommander sent me. I'd ask what a nickel was, but there's more important things. What else is in the evil bag of doom? Have you thought to check? Or is it just near the bag, but not in it?"I think it's still in the bag. And nothing else was there, just the gun and this gem." Through his skinsuit communicator, he added, " All right. Do you think we should try to strike some deal with them to see if they'll let us study it, or should we just try to take it?"
Can you go get that bag? When I step out, this shield will stop working in ten seconds. Take care of Nature - she's a fellow mage of mine. Tell her you know me. I've managed to keep whatever's keeping her out cold from doing any damage, but you must take care of her quickly before it wears out. I'll figure out what's making this storm...before people start thinking it was me."Sure, I think I can get it--provided it doesn't zap me in the process. And I'll see what I can do for your friend. Probably not much at the moment." When the shield spell dropped, Fraze ran to the bag and picked it up. He kept the bag tightly shut, though he doubted that would do much to stop whatever magic the gem inside had. Strange...it was still crackling angrily, but his skinsuit seemed to recognize it as an energy source. He had not been able to give his suit much time to recharge after his previous run of missions, but now the energy reserves were rapidly increasing. He didn't know what would happen when the reserves were full--probably, the suit would stop absorbing the electrical energy, and it would be discharged other ways. Fraze didn't want to think about what that meant. He jogged back to Zari and Nature. "Prof. Ailden, do you have any sort of stasis box or something, to keep this in? I'd put it in my--" he mouthed the words "magical expanding box," then resumed his regular speech: "--but I'm afraid of what it might do to the weapons." "Speaking of which," he muttered to her, "I think I may have a Spacefleet medkit or two in there for Nature. Can you make sure no one sees me?" With that, he took a small box, no larger than a ring box, out of a pocket. He opened the lid of the box. "Back in a minute," he said to Zari. Kat"I can take the bag," said Kat. "I'll see what I can do when I head for Mage Manor...or Dunburrow...whichever's closer. Maybe even the pirate ship, I've probably got something in there...ah - " She looked at Zari, Fraze and Nature. "Wait - how'd you get here? Never mind, we don't have time to know," Kat said to Zari. The Purple Knight drew her staff again. "I'll recast the shield for now till we can move Nature somewhere safer, then I can head off with whatever's in the bag." With a wave of her staff, they were once again underneath the purple dome, which was a little smaller than before, but kept all four of them from the gathering storm. AmneigerAmneiger looked up from the hand-held console he was using to program his turrets when he heard the announcement. That's strange. Well, I won't be leaving for a few hours anyway, and somebody'll tell me if there's a problem with the automated security systems.At this point, the computer on the desk chirped. "New message." Amneiger put down the console and pressed the picture of the closed envelope. A magical disturbance? But I don't know anything about magic. Maybe I should take a look though. Amneiger opened up a connection to the surveillance satellites and quickly scrolled through each one. Ordinary...ordinary...Oh. Well, that looks magical enough. How much energy is in each of those bolts? I don't want my tanks short-circuiting after a direct hit. And if we caught some of the rain from the storm we could analyze it later. He opened another connection to the network email client and typed out a quick note. Commander Strife,
I've received your message about the magical storm, and suggest that we send down a meterologist to analyze it before the storm disperses. Even if this is some sort of freak phenomenon we may run into it again, and it would be helpful to see how it compares to an ordinary thunderstorm. I'm concerned about the energy output from lightning bolts and their effects on Spacefleet electronics, and suggest that we gather samples of storm rain for further analysis. If nobody suitable can be found I volunteer to go down myself with a lightning rod, current reader, and a large glass beaker with a secure lid.
Amneiger Salamander"Oh. Hi, Um... pretty much just sitting around. Anything interesting outside?" Salah answered. "Nothing much. Seems a storm's brewing far away, but that's about it." Arista answered. Jernith walked into the room. "Hey, did you see that weird cloud?" He asked. "It looks like it's above that castle place...""I saw a storm brewing, but it sounded like a natural storm." Arista jumped down from her rafter and looked through the window. "I don't see anything." Jason"Well, if Ikkin knows about this, she's probably alerting the knights as we speak. And I don't think the pirates or the ninjas are close enough to the storm to be in immediate danger." Jasor nodded at this. "True they should be safe, for now. " he remarked, pushing his way out from the manor. "So we're agreeing to fix this door and then go out, right?" he remarked., Without waiting for a reply, the mage pulled out his amulet. Running the silvery dagger necklace down his forehead, he intook a deep breath of air. Air swirled around the doors, begining to move them towards the hinges. "I'll just hold these here and then you can meld the hinges in around them, okay?"he asked, holding the doors in place. PFABut before saying anything, the pirate stabbed the ninja in the leg. The ninja grunted, as the pirate began to speak. "Listen to me and listen closely. Something's coming. Something great, something indescribably... something the NTWF hasn't seen in centuries. Prepare yourself... I'm not sure for what. Take this as a threat or a warning. I don't care. You're only ninjas. Be that as it may... good luck, for whatever comes our way."And with that, the pirate pulled the dagger out of the ninja's leg, causing him to fall to his knees and clutch his wound. He made a move to glare at the pirate, but she seemed to have disappeared... he could spot a hawk flying off in the distance, but the elf was gone. That's weird... he thought. --- PFA and her Uncle had gotten downstairs just in time to see a pirate pull a dagger out of one of their fellow ninja's leg. PFA's eyes widened, and she immediately ran toward the ninja. "Hey, wait!" she called out to the pirate at the door, who had turned into a hawk and then flew off. PFA was a bit confused, but she didn't have time to think about it right now. A ninja was injured. PFA came up to the ninja, kneeling on the ground next to him. She looked at the wound, trying to determine whether it was bad or not. It didn't seem too bad, but he'd probably need a bandage. "PFA..." the ninja muttered, looking the other ninja in the eyes. "That pirate said something about... something bad coming. She didn't say what, though." "Something bad?" PFA blinked. What would she mean by that? she thought to herself. And that's when she noticed it. Off in the distance, she saw some kind of storm... but not a natural storm. Something about it just seemed... dark. PFA didn't know a lot about magic, but she could almost swear this was made of it. But why? Where was it coming from? "Uncle..." she called, beckoning Cat Assassin over. "That storm. Do you see it? There's something odd about it..." --- ((Arista- It's Jernath, not Vyt. XD; ) "I saw a storm brewing, but it sounded like a natural storm," Arista replied. She then jumped down from the rafter she was perched on and looked out the window. "I don't see anything.""Well, it's kind of hard to see..." Jernath commented, also heading toward the window. "But it's definitely there." He took a look out the window himself, trying to spot where he had seen the storm earlier. He looked around for a moment, but he couldn't see the storm from here... there were too many trees in the way. "I don't think you can see it from this window," he sighed. "You can see it from the kitchen, though.” VytAs soon as PFA and Cat Assassin went downstairs, they were both surprised by the ongoing scene: a pirate pulling out a dagger from a ninja's leg. Both of them quickly rushed towards the injured cohort as the scum left the scene. Feeling that his help was needed, Cat Assassin pulled out a roll of bandage from one of his coat's inner pockets and tended to the ninja. As the ninja was being treated of his wound, he began to speak. "PFA... That pirate said something about... something bad coming. She didn't say what, though." PFA was taken a bit more surprised by the ninja. "Something bad? Uncle... That storm. Do you see it? There's something odd about it..." Finishing the treatment with a brief sigh, Cat Assassin turned to PFA. "... I saw dark clouds hovering from afar when we were at the Training Grounds, but other than their sudden appearance I could not sense anything. You're looking at someone who does not know any magic at all..." Just as soon as Cat Assassin stood up, he noticed the gate still open. Another person was lying beside it. Quick to his senses, the feline jumped over the ninja and sprinted towards the unconscious being. He then looked closely at the person: a girl almost covered with black cloak looking very ill. "Judging by her state, I don't think she has something to do with the ninja earlier..." he thought. Looking more closely, he noticed something being held by the girl. It was a torn-up version of the scroll he left behind the house just before he had gone to the guild. "... Bluisa?"
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Post by GW2 on Oct 15, 2008 12:48:13 GMT -5
Hunty"I'll head off to Artist Alley as soon as the shiny's in our possesion. Is there anyway I can stay in communication with the ship, if we happen to get separated, which will no doubt happen?" Speck asked, crouched behind a bush as she surveyed the field for potential escape strategies. "I think not," Hunty replied quietly, biting her lip as her eyes remained fixed on the scene on the field. "Bit of a problem with that, yes. We should really get something a little more reliable than bottle post and such... bloody hell." She watched as Fraze got the bag. "This ain't looking good." Bloody Mary was squatting slow, ears pressed flat against his head. "Well, right now Kat's in it. Better than nothing. She's still a pirate. She's your first mate, Hunty. She has to listen to your orders." The captain was gnawing on her lip, torn between two choices. "You said that there's no way for us to know whether or not we can trust her. She's always been a bit of a triple agent." "Never said it was a good plan. Depends on how badly you want the shiny and how much you're willing to risk for it." Hunty's eyes flashed as she came to a decision. "I'm willing to risk a lot, m'dear. I'm willing to risk you." The meepit stared back at her. "We'll go back to the ship, gather the crew, and get ready to set sail." The pirate stood up. "Whereas you'll stay right here. I'll give you a little task. As soon as Kat takes off with the bag - paying good attention so far?" The meepit, bright enough to realize where this was going, nodded sulkily. PFAThe ninja sighed with relief as Cat Assassin finished bandaging his leg. "Thanks, buddy..." he muttered. Cat Assassin sighed, then turned to PFA. "...I saw dark clouds hovering from afar when we were at the Training Grounds, but other than their sudden appearance I could not sense anything. You're looking at someone who does not know any magic at all..."Oh yeah... I guess Uncle doesn't really use magic... PFA thought to herself. But before she could say anything, Uncle zoomed out the door for some reason. PFA was confused for a moment, but then noticed him approaching an unconscious girl. "What happened?" PFA asked as Uncle looked over the girl. Cat Assassin didn't respond, though. He seemed to be focussed on something else. "...Bluisa?"PFA blinked. "Bluisa? Uncle, what are you talking about?” Vyt"Bluisa... She left me a letter near my house days ago..." Cat Assassin began to adjust himself. "She said she knows what happened to Vyt and that she would be glad to offer us some help about the artifact that could bring him back." Accompanied by a brief huff, Cat Assassin carried Bluisa inside the guild, not bothered by the rules about not letting a non-ninja enter the guild. He was, after all, exempted from that rule considering that he was not really a ninja at all, but a substitute nonetheless. "... One thing is for certain, I believe. She might have something to do with the dark clouds." Bluisa's eyes started to open. The red pupils began to adjust towards the new surrounding as the mage slowly regained her consciousness. She could see three heads, two of which are unidentified by herself. One however is very familiar to her. She confirmed it by quickly reaching out towards him with both arms. "Cat Assassin! I'm so glad to see you!" Though taken aback by the sudden greeting, Cat Assassin continued. "Err... Have we really met this close? You are here solely because we both want Vyt back and-" Bluisa stood up and constantly tugged on the feline's arm. "No need to explain! The artifact I am talking about is finally here!" Cat Assassin started to doubt Bluisa's credibility but started to move along. That fast? Is she even serious about this matter? CelestialThe dragon lifted her head up from the stream and sniffed the air. There was something bad coming, she could feel her companion getting agitated. "I see you feel it too, Overlord. Something is happening which will shake the stability of this place. This won't be a mere small conflict" The bird looked at her and nodded. The dragon smiled, obviously picking up more than just the nod. She them flexed her great wings and took off with the thought that they might be able to help, however small their role would be. They both caught a thermal and flew towards the Manour of the Mages, anticipating something terrible. PFA"Bluisa... She left me a letter near my house days ago... She said she knows what happened to Vyt and that she would be glad to offer us some help about the artifact that could bring him back."PFA listened to what Cat Assassin said, thinking it over. So this was the person who said she knew how to bring back Vyt? She blinked. Somehow she expected someone a little... less unconscious? PFA was about to make a comment about her Uncle's disregard of the ninja rules when he took Bluisa inside, but she decided she shouldn't cause a fuss. She just watched as he set the girl on the ground, and listened as he spoke up again. "...One thing is for certain, I believe. She might have something to do with the dark clouds," he said. "You really think, Uncle?" PFA asked, eyes wide. It was then that the girl started to wake up, her eyes adjusting to her new surroundings. The girl looked at the three people standing over her, brightening up as her eyes came across Cat Assassin. "Cat Assassin! I'm so glad to see you!" she beamed, throwing her arms into the air. "Err... Have we really met this close?" Cat Assassin seemed a bit surprised about Bluisa's excitement. "You are here solely because we both want Vyt back and-"The girl grinned, then got up and started dragging Cat Assassin by the arm. "No need to explain! The artifact I am talking about is finally here!""Uh... wait!" PFA called to the girl, barely comprehending what just happened. "Where are you going? Who are you?" PFA chased after the girl, hoping she was listening. PFA wanted answers. Vyt"Where are you going? Who are you?" Bluisa glanced back towards the source and, realizing it came from an unknown person, recedded behind Cat Assassin. Somehow, she was scared upon seeing PFA. "Uhh... I'm Bluisa... I thought we could find the artifact that could bring sweetie Vytty back, but..."Cat Assassin noticed the sudden slowness in Bluisa's words. "You have to tell us quickly just like you told me awhile ago." Not having a knack for explaining things clearly, Bluisa shrugged. She then pulled out a dark crystal ball from beneath her cloak and let Cat Assassin and PFA peek on it. Inside it laid the image of a group of people, one of which is holding a glowing sack. "That person holds the key that can unlock the gates to the spirit world... It's the only way we can bring Vytty's soul back," she tried to explain. Cat Assassin noticed some of the people inside the image. They were the ones he had met during the last war. "I think I know where they are. We should hurry before they could get too far," he suggested. The feline was getting impatient, something unexpected of him, and was trying to force PFA to come. He knew PFA had better bonds between the people in the image. PFABluisa cowered behind Cat Assassin in response to PFA's question. "Uhh... I'm Bluisa... I thought we could find the artifact that could bring sweetie Vytty back, but...""You have to tell us quickly just like you told me awhile ago," Uncle said to the girl. Bluisa then sighed, and pulled out a dark crystal ball, letting PFA and her Uncle look into it. PFA stared at what the crystal ball was showing them... she saw some of the other NTWFers... and a guy she didn't recognize, holding a glowing sack. "That person holds the key that can unlock the gates to the spirit world..." Bluisa explained. "It's the only way we can bring Vytty's soul back.""The spirit world?" PFA muttered. She stared at the bag for a moment, trying to figure out what this mysterious object was... whatever it was had to be pretty small to fit in a bag like that. How could such a tiny thing hold so much power? "I think I know where they are. We should hurry before they could get too far," Uncle said, interrupting PFA's thoughts. He seemed to be getting a bit impatient... which was odd for Cat Assassin, but PFA gave it no thought. "Yeah... let's at least go check it out," PFA nodded. She turned to the ninja who was lying on the floor, "If any of the other ninja ask where we are, just tell them we're going to go get something..." The ninja paused for a moment, but then nodded. "Right. I will." And with that, PFA, Uncle and Bluisa started out the door, in search of this artifact. Their journey to bring back Vyt was just beginning. Shino“Consider myself shown,” the mysterious person had said as they rose to their feet calmly. The strange person turned out to be a fairly tall figure with pale features and confident eyes. Shino didn't know the person, but he suspected that by the tone and words used to converse with Lady Tamia, he was a rogue. He didn't seem to be outwardly armed, but he suspected no less from a bandit or scoundrel. Thunder in the distance rocked the land upon which they stood, and it took a moment or two for Shino to locate which direction it was coming from. Then looked past Tamia, to the point where she viewed, and he noticed it was located seemingly between the place of Mage Manor and perhaps Kestrel Castle itself. He looked back at this seemingly younger man. He hadn't expected much of this man from the look about him, but it seems that this was the way in which he concealed his emotions, thoughts, and actions. But could the words of a stranger and the billowing, dark clouds in the distance be in relation as this man said? When the Orange Knight questioned him about this he only seemed to shrug it off and point out his digging tool as if it was th e culprit they were looking for. The culprit of what? Shino thought. He wasn't exactly sure what was going on around here. Yet. Tamia had taken his belongings from him confidently, while he just mused with a smile on his face. The endless paranoia around this man suggested he knew much, much more than they could guess. It was time to see what he was about. But all that was in the sack was a scroll. “This isn’t yours; it belongs in the library at Castle Kestrel. How did you come to have it?” Lady Tamia addressed the man. “I pity you, you know. All you silly little forumers... convinced that you have been divided into guilds... only six different guilds....”This meant that in the time Lord Shino of Dunburrow had been gone, two new powers had assembled and maintained themselves in the land. Now Ninas, Mages, Pirates, Knights...And two others were living in the NTWF. I guess he couldn't expect things to stay the same when he returned. After his assimilation of the meeting, he was about to ask Tamia if she knew anything of these other guilds, when the man spoke up, “Would you like me to tell you a story, my knightly friends? It is the story of the Invisible Guild.”"You speak nonsense, 'my friend'. How can I know that you speak truth?" Shino said as he stood upright his full height. Bringing the sword to his left hand, he let it hang down. He wasn't going to attack this person. "Regardless...Tell us your story & get on with it. I do not favor being surprised by a man I do not know whatsoever." OmniThe Manor's magic may have made navigation confusing, but it was rather useful sometimes. In this specific case, the corner to the stairs leading down came a lot faster. Though after she came to the first floor, she soon found herself in the kitchen for some reason that she didn't know. Realizing that she was a little hungry (though doubting that that was the reason the Manor brought her there), she decided to get a little something to munch on. Reaching into the fridge (or would the mages have an icebox?), she pulled out a small Ziploc, and took a beef stick out of that. She sealed up the bag, stuck it back in the fridge, and promptly started munching on the beef stick, slowly, to savor the flavor. ---------- A few minutes had past. Ethan looked back at Siber, seeing that his ribs had been stripped down to the bones. "Siber! Heel! Stay alert!" Siber promptly looked up at Ethan, ran to his heels, and started looking around as Ethan walked down the corridor (in that order, with each command). "We should probably check with the others, see if they know anything," he said to Siber before transmitting a message through his built-in, short-range radio transmitter. Prof. Amnei, Commando Keng, Prof. Zari. Requesting any available information on the lockdown.((OoC: As mentioned, it's short range, so it won't reach Zari on the planet. The others should get it, though.)) CelestialCelestial landed just outside the Manor, hoping that nobody would notice her as she shapeshifted into a human. It was a difficult thing to explain, since most hated the dragons. She wondered why, aside from the fact that they never let anybody touch what was "theirs". Overlord landed on her shoulder and told her to get on with it. She send him a thought of mock irritance. It was sometimes a pain to be mind-linked with a Weewoo. Nontheless, he was right. Celestial made sure the cloak covered her wings neatly, leaving only a small bump on her back which could easily be taken for protruding shoulderblades. She want into the Manor, hoping to find somebody who would explain to her the situation she felt was wrong. It was bad to be in the dark. KengMerc. Urchin is currently unavailable. Said her computer after a moment of searching. Then Keng's hand held communicator began vibrating on the desk. She managed to catch it before it shook itself right off. Looking at the 'caller ID' she saw that it was Ethan. Well, no need to confirm that ID. Ethan was kinda the only one who could use his implants. "Hey Ethan, what's up?" she asked. She tended to be less formal with her own team members and friends. OmniHey, Keng. Ethan sent the transmission back, still keeping an eye out for anything suspicious in the halls. I was wondering if you know anything about the current lockdown and why it was put in place. Keng"Yes, I just checked with security a short while ago. There's some sort of weird purple storm planetside. I'm watching the satellite images now. It's growing bloody fast. I managed to get the video from when the storm started aswell. It just kinda appeared there. I'm trying to find out more. The weather satellites can't seem to get any sort of clear readings on it. It's suspected to have some sort of magical properties to it." Keng explained over the communicator. It was a secure line. "If we get to go planetside for that mission at all I suspect we'll have our plans diverted. I'm going to try contacting our personnel at the tabloid town space port once I find Urchin. Oh! Zari would probably be able to help with this magic thing aswell.” Strife"Sorry for interrupting," Rikku said sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head. "That's okay, Rikku," replied Leoness. ‘i#"Alright, Leoness. You should wait in the kitchen, in that case. There's a warm fire in there, and since Aerisa's going to have to eat sometime, she'll eventually go there. On that note, I'll be right back."[/i] Surf walked back outside. Rikku nodded. "That would probably be a good idea, Leoness. And there's hot chocolate in there if you want to warm up.""Sounds wonderful!" Leoness smiled politely. "Thank you." Without a moment to spare, the lioness walked down the main hallway. She was definitely in the mood for some nice, chocolatey goodness. When she reached the end of the hallway, she noticed a series of doors in front of her. She turned around and shouted back to the others. "Excuse me? Where is the kitc-" All of the sudden, she felt a sudden tingling sensation in her body, and she was somehow teleported directly in the manor's kitchen. "-tchen," she finished, her eyes wide with surprise. After looking around briefly, she noticed that someone else was in the kitchen, slowly munching on a beef stick. She wasn't sure if she should introduce herself, but she figured she would need more directions. "Hello there," she said timidly. * * * Deep in the depths of Spacefleet's communication network, The Commander's reply to Amneiger's message travelled at light speed toward the Professor's inbox... Professor Amneiger,
Professor Ailden is already on the surface of the planet. Rendezvous with her and bring the necessarily tools to analyze the storm. Work with her and avoid contact with the terrestrials unless absolutely necessary.
I don't need to stress the importance of confidentiality. Contact me once you have left, and I will upgrade the lockdown to Level 3. We can't afford to have too many officers on the ground at this point.
On that note, we have a Special Ops down there without authorization. Who knows what kind of trouble he's gotten us into... Find out what the hell he's doing down there and bring him back to Headquarters when you return, if he does not return willingly. Lockdown procedures should be finalized by the time you are finished with the analysis.
(The Commander's trademark symbol is displayed where the name would usually be.) CelestialCelestial began to feel slightly hungry wandering around the manor and she searched for the kitchens, hoping that there wasn't anybody there and she could grab a quick bite. It was much easier to find them than wonder around. She suspected it was because of some sort of spell which guides you the room you want. Interesting, she thought, I would have to look into that when this wrongness has been corrected When she entered the kitchens, she saw two people there, one munching on a beef stick and the other looking at them. Cursing under her breath, she creeped in and hoped that nobody would notice her. She prefered to be solitary. ZariZari recieved Fraze's message and replied 'I'll see if I can persuade them.'Zari raised one hand 'I am a Professor of Genetics and Magical studies.' taking a cautious step forward, she added 'Do you NTWFers mind if we have a look at this weird shiny weather-changer?' she asked calmly. 'Could be godly-grade explosives, in which case we should get it outta here, or a weather charm, which would, of course, need returning to the owner. Yes, Operative Fraze, I have a stasis box in my lab. I can get Ienalle to fetch it, if you really need it.' She tried to speak with authority, but it didn't help that the people she was speaking to were all, apparently, older than she was. Shade"I don't know much either," the man covered in shiny stuff answered. "I came to retrieve my gun, and this...gem thingiedopper was in the bag with it. And who are you?"“My name is Hades,” he said. A blast of wind drowned out his voice, however, and after that slight acknowledgement, he was rather ignored. On the upside, he got a good view of what happened. A weasel attached itself to the guy’s leg, and more weasels soon came out of the nearby forest, heading towards the group. Hades looked at them, and backed to the other side of the shield from them. It wouldn’t do to die because a swarm of tiny predators attacked him, after all. The mage – Kat – distracted the weasels with one of her earrings, thankfully, so there wasn’t really the danger of getting swarmed. A flash of fire deposited someone – Hades couldn’t quite tell who, though she seemed familiar – a ways away. As she started talking, the name clicked. Zari. The girl with all the cats. Why was she keeping her name secret from the others, though? And where did all that armour come from? As Fraze – the guy with the shiny armour – grabbed the bag and gave it to Kat, Hades started talking. “My name is Hades. I am a mercenary. Once, I was part of the ‘fleet. Now I’m not. May I ask why the ‘fleet has sent operatives down here? When I left, I was told not to reveal anything. This doesn’t seem like something that they would do.” Speck"We'll go back to the ship, gather the crew, and get ready to set sail."Speck stood up reluctantly and walked ahead of Captain Huntress in the direction of the ship. She stuffed her hands in her pockets, grumbling something about not getting to see any action other than a bit of magic lightening. The pirate kicked at a rock in frustration. The rock squeaked in pain. "Huh?" Speck grabbed one of the kunai from the inside of her coat. Getting down on one knee, she poked the rock with the blunt end of the kunai. It squeaked again, and began to shift. In only a few seconds, a curled up animal of grayish color was in its place. "What's an armadillo doing in the middle of a forest?" The armadillo in question uncurled itself, whimpered up at the pirate, and tried to waddle away. “Oh, no you don’t!” Speck said, scampering after the animal to scoop it up. She held it up at arms length, “What are you doing here? I asked you a question. Answer.” The armadillo let out a indignant squeak before shifting back into its rock form. Caught offguard by the sudden change in weight, Speck dropped it on her foot. She hopped up and down, holding her injured foot, “’Swounds, you’re a mean one. I've got no time for this.” She gingerly set her foot down and picked up the rock, continuing her trek back to The White Weewoo. FrazeFraze was learning firsthand what it is like to be a magnet. Except rather than attracting bits of metal, he seemed to be attracting weasels. As soon as he would shake one off his leg, three more would latch on. He was finding it difficult to walk by now. They seemed to be hypnotized by his silver skinsuit--realizing this, he had it slide away from his head and hands once more. The weasels persisted, undeterred--in fact they were, if anything, even more determined to find out where the shiny had gone. They began climbing up inside his pants. Even through the skinsuit, he was ticklish. He began jumping around, hooting and laughing despite himself. This only seemed to make the weasels even more interested in him. "Shiny man dances!" They began to cheer. He managed to reply to Hades. (The numerous pauses to shake a weasel off his leg, or squawk when one invaded his privacy, will be omitted here.) "I'm here on my own. I got permission to come down here to get my flechette gun back, and I got dragged into this whole mess with a weather altering gem I'm-still-not-sure-how. I lost it when I was here a few days ago, on a routine scouting mission. I think Zar--er, Prof. Ailden--was sent here to look into what had happened with the storm and what had caused it." Turning around to face Zari (which involved shaking several more weasels off his feet), he added: "I think a stasis box of some sort may be the best way to keep this gem from going all zap-happy again.” RikkuLeoness exited. "Alrighty then, permanent hinges it is." Surf glided off somewhere, returning with a lump of metal. Rikku rolled her eyes. Returning, Surf caught her comment about the magic carpet and said with a grin, "Well, if you want, I can make a carpet fly, and we can call it magical."/i]
Rikku paused. "That's actually not a bad idea ... how fast could you make it fly, though? Could it home on Ikkin or Kat or something?" I want to be where everything's happening,[/u] Rikku added internally. I want to know what's going on.Surf held out the bit of metal. "Rikku, before you go, can you heat this up and shape it into some new hinges?""What? Um ... sure." Rikku took it tentatively. She wasn't sure if she had enough control over fire to make it to metal melting point, and certainly not enough to shape it, but she did the best she could, and managed to somewhat-melt them into what looked like some kind of pin. "You can use these to hold up the doors, but I'm not sure how good they'd be for opening and closing them and such. It's the best I could do." She smiled apologetically, then paused. Did someone just pass me? Rikku looked around, and saw a girl dressed in long purple robes, heading for the kitchen by the looks of it. Something about her seemed almost ... reptilian. Rikku frowned. "Just a minute, Surf, I want to look at something," she said distractedly, then looked at the mage hopefully. "Could you maybe work on that carpet?" she said sheepishly, before running after the girl. Rikku was right - she did head into the kitchens. Omni and Leoness were already there. The girl crept around, looking like she didn't want anyone to notice her. Too late. Rikku stepped from hiding. "Hey, who are you?" she asked, her tone aggressive. CelestialCelestial stopped, wincing inside as Rikku noticed her. She tucked her wings under her cloak as much as possible and sent a thought to Overlord to hide. "My name is Celestial and I am a...fire and air mage" she replied, not exactly lying as Dragon Mages could control both the elements. "I came here because I wanted to look at the records and find out something but I got hungry and thought I would take something small from here without anybody noticing. I didn't want to disturb or hurt anybody neither am I your enemy" she added, a small growl creeping into her voice. She saw that Rikku wasn't satisfied with her answer. She hated being caught inside like this. If the worst came to the worst, she could escape as a dragonet. Suddenly the scream of dragonets sending mind signals to her forced her to blink and concentrate...unnatural storm of magical origin...we are scared... an idea came to her. "I am trying to find out why a terrible storm is plaguing the planet" Celestial said with confidence, ready to blot if Rikku didn't believe her. ShadeShade was breathing slowly, calming herself down. Magic. It ran in her blood. She rarely practiced it, and the recent battles were more than enough to convince her to begin trying to learn more than the basics that her father had drilled in to her. The ability to see auras, the simplest of her talents, was what she focused on now.
Even for her, it wasn’t difficult, which is why she had chosen it to begin with. Her eyes were closed, but colors danced across her vision, soft grays marking the stone walls, light brown showing wood. And, of course, bronze flashes glittering over Savucu. Shade opened her eyes, concentrating. The colors faded, leaving her room looking just as it always did; full of shadows, with a single candle providing illumination.
Shade sighed. She had hoped that it would work here, in a place that was entirely her own. But the place didn’t seem to matter much, so long as her eyes were open, and she could see what lay around her. She closed her eyes again, and the colors returned, seeming to taunt her. She carefully stood, using the subtle auras of the stone and wood as a guide.
Walking blind was not something she was used to. Even in the darkest areas, she had always had an idea of where the obstacles were. But now, with only the soft light of unliving things to guide her, she felt blinder than even in total darkness, or even when she moved around with her eyes closed and no aura-sight.
Shade had just reached the door, her touch firming its aura in her mind, when she felt something at the edge of her senses. She leaned on the door, probing it with her mind. Its reaction, a blast of both darkness and light, thoroughly mixed, but not the shadow energy that she knew, hurt. Shade opened her eyes and quickly sat down before the residual magic made her fall.
“Right,” she muttered, trying to ignore the headache the blast had given her. “That was not good.” She fingered Savucu, rubbing its hilt as she thought. If she had sensed the storm, the Mages certainly would have. That is, if the Mages hadn’t caused it, which was quite possible.
Shade stood, opened the door, and ran as quickly as she could without irritating the headache further to the throne room. Someone was there. Probably one of the mage-knights, since she’d felt the aura at all. On the way, she figured out what had caused the surge. There was a dark storm brewing, one that was certainly magical.
Upon arriving in the throne room, she was slightly out of breath. Zari, Ikkin, and Pyro were there as well, all talking. She caught the idea of what they were talking about. The storm. Shade stopped just inside the door, near the others, and leaned against the wall, talking. “Do you have any idea what caused that storm? Even I can tell that it’s magical. And it gave me a headache.”
She hesitated a moment before adding “And it’s energies – they didn’t seem normal. It seemed like light and darkness mixed together, but not in the normal way. Normally, that combination would make shadow, and the storm’s energy certainly wasn’t that.” Only then did Shade actually look at the others. Zari was on edge, though Shade couldn’t tell why. Probably the storm. The other two didn’t seem to be affected by the storm at all, which was probably a good thing, judging by her and Zari’s reactions. SurfRikku paused, and smiled when Surf joked about the carpet. "[/i]That's actually not a bad idea ... how fast could you make it fly, though? Could it home on Ikkin or Kat or something?[/i]" "Well, I was just were Kat was before I came here. Apparently some guy lost this 'gun' thingy-whatever a 'gun' is-but he seemed friendly and I was hungry, so I headed back. But I can take you there if you want. And back to the carpet: I can make it go as fast as you want. All I'd have to do is strengthen the wind currents we'd be riding on." Rikku finished shaping the hinges, and handed them back to Surf. "You can use these to hold up the doors, but I'm not sure how good they'd be for opening and closing them and such. It's the best I could do." Rikku paused. "Just a minute, Surf, I want to look at something. Could you maybe work on that carpet?" she called as she headed towards the kitchen. "Sure! Just hurry!" Surf called after Rikku. "Now then, to find a rug..." Surf carefully fastened on the new hinges, and then looked around for a rug, to find that she was standing on one. "Oh, duh." Surf made the rug levitate by sending a wind gust underneath it, and beat it with her staff to get the dust off. Once she had finished, there was nothing left but to wait for Rikku. Surf was bored. After three minutes, she got impatient and loudly called down the hall, "Rikku, c'mon! We're ready to go down here.” Rikku"My name is Celestial and I am a...fire and air mage." Rikku raised her eyebrows at that. ‘ "I came here because I wanted to look at the records and find out something but I got hungry and thought I would take something small from here without anybody noticing. I didn't want to disturb or hurt anybody niether am I your enemy." A slight growl entered into her voice. Rikku still wasn't convinced, though. Saying that you weren't somebody's enemy certainly didn't prove you weren't. At Celestial's next comment, however, Rikku's eyes widened in visible surprise. "I am trying to find out why a terrible storm is plagueing the planet."Rikku rubbed the back of her head. She still wasn't sure whether she should trust this girl, but they were, at least, trying to find out the same thing. That was something. "My name's Rikku Dianthe, I'm a ..." She paused. "Er, I'm a fire mage too." Might as well keep SOME secrets. "I think the storm might be caused by some kind of object that -" Just then, she was interrupted by Surf's voice down the hall. "Rikku, c'mon! We're ready to go down here!""Gotta go, we're going to see if we can find out ..." Rikku trailed off and looked intently at Celestial. "We're going to find out what's going on. Care to come with us?" Without waiting for Celestial's answer, Rikku looked around in the cupboards and selected a loaf of bread, wedge of cheese and tankard of fresh water. She was starving. That done, she headed back down the corridor to Surf. SalamanderJernath entered the room, looking preoccupied. "Hey, did you see that weird cloud? It looks like it's above that castle place..."Salamander shook her head. "No... what do you mean, weird? Does it look unnatural or something?" Cyborg entered the room, shortly followed by Midknight who, in the same way that always creeped Salamander out so much, seemed to materialize from the shadows. "So, anything exciting in the guide?" asked Cyborg conversationally. "And we still are jobless for now.""How long has it been since our last job, anyways?" Midknight added. ... "Hm?" asked Salah. "I'm not sure, we've never really had steady work, but I think maybe a few weeks since we've had any sign of customers... "Oh, and there's not much that looks better than what's on now," Salamander added in response to Cyborg's question, pointing to the non-functioning TV. "If you want to change the channel, though, I don't mind..." She handed Cyborg the 9-years-old Guide in case he wanted to. Celestial"My name's Rikku Dianthe, I'm a ...er, I'm a fire mage too." Rikku said and Celestial secretly smiled. At least she was believed about her powers. She didn't want to tell anybody about her draconic abilities just yet. She listened intently to the next phrase but Rikku was cut off by a voice down the hallway calling her. "Gotta go, we're going to see if we can find out ..." Rikku said and looked at Celestial, not unfriendly but intently. Still, Celestial tensed. She could never be too careful, not after all the rejection she had suffered. What Rikku said next surprised her. "We're going to find out what's going on. Care to come with us?" Rikku asked and rushed off, grabbing some food on the way. Celetial was left, unsure of what to do. She didn't trust Rikku completely but she seemed amiable enough and help with this storm would be very welcome. Overlord's thought finally convinced her to go. If Overlord trusted Rikku, then so would Celestial. Grabbing some ham and a little sausage which she ate quickly and topped off with a drink of water, she dashed after Rikku with Overlord following her in the shadows. A little company would be nice and extra fire power never hurt anybody. Even dragons had to flock together when they were in danger. PFA"No... what do you mean, weird? Does it look unnatural or something?" Salah asked. Jernath nodded. "Definitely unnatural. It was this really weird shade of purple..." he looked around at the still oddly-colored room. "Then again, maybe it just looked that way." He glanced over at Cyborg and Midknight, who had recently entered the room as well. "Did you see the cloud? Please tell me I'm not going crazy here." SurfRikku rushed back into the hall, carrying some food in her arms. "Welcome back," said Surf. "I hope some of that food is for me, I missed lunch." She paused, having noticed that a human with dragon wings entered the hall behind Rikku. "Who's your friend?" Someone we can trust? she thought to herself. ((Sorry Celestial. I've edited that part to be more accurate)) Celestial((Surf, may I correct you that I am currently a human ^_~ If I was a dragon, I would have trouble squeezing through the door. XD)) RikkuRikku was aware of Celestial following her. Good. I have the feeling we need all the help we can get on this one. The storm had a definite magic feeling to it; the other guilds might blame the Mages for it. The situation could get out of control very easily. Rikku didn't want that to happen. "Welcome back," Surf said. "I hope some of that food is for me, I missed lunch." She noticed Celestial. "Who's your friend?" Surf looked suspicious. "Surf, this is Celestial, she wants to find out about the storm as well, so she's coming along. I think we can trust her." Maybe. Possibly. "She's a mage, anyway. And here." Rikku grinned and broke the loaf and cheese in half, handing some to Surf. "Now what are we waiting for? Let's track down that storm!" Rikku sat down on the corner of the carpet, looking underneath it, trying to figure out how the wind spell worked. CelestialCelestial looked at the person Rikku called Surf. She felt that Surf can be trusted, though Surf didn't fully trust her. However, that was only her intuition and Surf had the expected reaction. I wonder what she would think if I told her what I really was, she thought. However, the storm had to come first if the dragons could fly again. She knew from the dragonets that it was grounding the smaller dragons and the problem would only get worse. Celestial walked forward and looked at the flimsy carpet that was going to carry Surf and Rikku up to the storm and silently tutted. It would require strong magic to keep it together. Then again, she was used to her own wings carrying her up so there was bound to be a bias. At least the levitation spell was alright. Overlord landed on her shoulder but stayed silent. He felt the storm's presence and it's wrongness. Lucky bird Celestial thought You have no idea what would happen if the storm got out of control or was blamed on the mages. Surf"Surf, this is Celestial, she wants to find out about the storm as well, so she's coming along. I think we can trust her. She's a mage, anyway. And here." Rikku grinned and broke the loaf and cheese in half, and handed some to Surf, who grabbed the food greedily. "Now what are we waiting for? Let's track down that storm!" Rikku sat down on the corner of the carpet, and Celestial followed suit. "Oh, I see. Well, nice to meet you Celestial. C'mon, Jasor, climb aboard," exclaimed Surf and she hopped onto the carpet. She began to make gestures with her arms, focusing the air currents underneath the carpet, and thus making it fly. As the carpet zoomed to the farm where Kat was, Surf began to jokingly say, "Welcome everyone to Magecraft Airlines. Please keep your hands and feet inside the carpet at all times, and keep your butt planted securely on the carpet or you will fall off and most likely die. I will be flying you to Kat today. We apologize for any bugs that may hit you, and enjoy the flight." ((Sorry about the airline speech, just couldn't resist. XD)) Salamander"Definitely unnatural. It was this really weird shade of purple..." The red-headed (but currently blue-headed) mercenary paused for a second baffled look at his surroundings. "Then again, maybe it just looked that way.""Hm, sounds magical to me," Salamander told him. "Or maybe just really, really polluted?" She fiddled with the colors until all three humans' hair appeared yellow-green. "Wonder if it's anything to be worried about?” ZariZari raised her head to look at Shade and pulled a wry face. 'Rargh...And it appears to either have feelings, or cause such fear Man, Woman, child and beast are all gone half Ilointh crazy.' She rubbed her temple, trying to keep her head clear 'My empathy's never gone this badly before. A few spikes there, a ripple there, but nothing major, then BANG. All over the place. If this doesn't stop within a day or so, I'll go stark raving mad. Wingnuts with cheese topping. etc.' She pulled another face to Illustrate her point. 'I'd like to know what's causing it, but If I go outside it gets worse.' -- Zari twitched. 'Operative Fraze was retreiving his fletchette gun when the storm occured, rooting near where the gun was deposited. I was sent down by the Commander along with a few other members of the research team to investigate. They haven't arrived, due to the fact none of them have magical transport.' She raised her wristcomp and started speaking with a thick and rather unidentifiable accent. 'Nalay, git yer sorry rump over downside and bring th' stayz box wiv ye. We gots ourselves 'r magic weth'r-changin' something. NOW.' She shut off the audio and looked around. 'Sorry bout the word-mangling. The clones hear radio transmissions funny, so I have to talk like that otherwsie they get the wrong end of the stick and think I'm calling SOS. Last thing I need is 8-odd maniac clones shooting everyone.” Omni"Hello there."Omni turned around, looking away from her snack. She saw some kind of lion-woman with a blue-and-white striped hat. She swallowed before speaking. "Hi." She wasn't sure who this lion-woman was, but she had a rather warm aura, part of which was definitely due to fire magic (actually, there was a lot of fire magic in the room, until the other two girls left). The other part had more of a kind, friendly feeling. That, coupled with the look in her eyes, suggested that this was someone she could trust easily, and not regret it. "Are you new?" Omni asked. "Would you like something?" ---------- …A storm? "Siber, stand down." Siber began to relax a little. Ethan also lowered his rifle. That does sound like a strange storm. It doesn't sound like the kind of thing that would warrant a lockdown, though. Unless they're worried that it can travel through space… or that someone will get caught in it, come to think of it. I'm glad it's not a security breech, though. PyroI don't think he's here," Ikkin said. "I was just going to tell him about a magical artifact that was unearthed by a farmer when this happened. I think the artifact might be the cause..." 'King Wolf? Oh, Pyro. Did you see that Lightning? It...made my empathy go haywire. Thought you should know, that's not ordinary lightning.' Do you have any idea what caused that storm? Even I can tell that it’s magical. And it gave me a headache.” She hesitated a moment before adding “And it’s energies – they didn’t seem normal. It seemed like light and darkness mixed together, but not in the normal way. Normally, that combination would make shadow, and the storm’s energy certainly wasn’t that.” Only then did Shade actually look at the others. Zari was on edge, though Shade couldn’t tell why. Probably the storm. The other two didn’t seem to be affected by the storm at all, which was probably a good thing, judging by her and Zari’s reactions. "I was just going to tell him about a magical artifact that was unearthed by a farmer when this happened. I think the artifact might be the cause..."Pyro looked around in surprise at the empty throne room, but in another second she caught sight of Ikkin and listened intently to the other knight’s news. “A…magical artifact? Do you know what—” Pyro was cut off as Zari burst into the room, much in the same manner as the Black Knight had entered. It was only common sense to assume that the strange storm had sent the Crimson Knight racing to the throne room. 'King Wolf? Oh, Pyro. Did you see that Lightning? It...made my empathy go haywire. Thought you should know, that's not ordinary lightning.'Pyro raised an eyebrow at Zari’s comment, wrapping her fingers around the hilt of her sword again. The metal shivered under her touch and only stilled after a long moment. In her mind’s eye, Pyro saw the bizarre lightning rip across the sky again, and she felt like shivering too. “I saw it all right. It’s not just your empathy that’s affected. My sword is acting strange again, and that only happens when magic’s in the air. Do any of you know where Lord Wolf is—or, Ikkin, do you know anything about this magical artifact…?” “Do you have any idea what caused that storm? Even I can tell that it’s magical. And it gave me a headache…and it’s energies – they didn’t seem normal. It seemed like light and darkness mixed together, but not in the normal way. Normally, that combination would make shadow, and the storm’s energy certainly wasn’t that.”“Light…and darkness? That’s certainly…strange. And disturbing. Gods know I’m no magic user; I’m not even physically affected by this storm, as you can see. But even I can guess that something that draws off both light and darkness, and mixes them together to feed its power…is very powerful indeed.” Pyro didn’t like this at all. The way the flameblade was twisting in her hand spelt danger of the kind she feared most—the unknown, magical kind. “We have to get a message to Lord Wolf, or to some of the Knights that may be in the area. Does anyone know where the rest of us are?” Aerisa((OOC: Since Ikkin's and Scar's post look strange together, I'll try and give some order to it =3 )) As they were walking toward the kitchen(or flying in the case of two of them), Scar was taken by what Aerisa would rather describe as a bout of sane insanity when he randomly exclaimed "Meep! Sev! Aeri! Stop staring at me, meow!"One of Aerisa's eyebrow(if it could be said she had any) raised as she watched him dart toward a closet, exiting soon after wearing cat-sized clothes. "It's magic," he said, causing Aerisa to get more sure of her husband's strange state of mind. "Something's wrong..." Aerisa turned her head when she heard Sev talk, Scarven turning a deaf ear, vainly trying to open the kitchen door while he called for her help. "there's a huge amount of magical energy coming from Dunburrow, and it doesn't feel like it's the good kind. Now I see why Ikkin wanted backup..."Aerisa sighed as she answered softly, practically whispering so Scar wouldn't hear her. "Whatever potion turned Scar into a cat was VERY powerful... I STILL feel it's effect through our soul bond, to the point of it clogging up my magical senses completely... I don't even feel YOUR energy and you're right next to me..." She sighed again, closing her eyes and shaking her head. She knew Sev would understand, for magical creatures like them, losing their ability to sense magical energy was like losing all of their limbs. Hoping Scar wouldn't feel the brief tint of anguish she had felt, but knowing full well he probably had, she turned in his direction, forcing herself to chuckle... which wasn't that hard considering what she knew. "Dear, you need to PULL this door, not push!" She took the handle of the door in her jaw, trying not to bite too hard so as not to damage it with her extremely pointy teeth, and turned it open, pushing in the wall with her "feet" so as to create an acceptable gap. Then it was only a matter of putting her muzzle in it and pushing the door to the side. However, as she put her muzzle inside of the opening of the door door, something caught her attention... "...Sissy?" As the Lioness turned herself, a huge smile appeared on the Dragonbunny's muzzle. "SISSY!" Before possibly anyone around had time to realize what had happened, she'd flown inside of Leoness' arms, licking her face VERY generously. Kwoiffei((Surf: If I had to make a "Top Ten Great Lines From GW2" list, the airline speech would probably be in that list. XD That was brilliant.)) Drakhé was quiet. Well, he would be quiet on the outside, but he was clearly growing restless. It didn't take a psychic to notice he was worried. They might be in danger...He had remained silent for the rest of his impromptu meeting with Leoness, Surf and Rikku before the lioness had departed. Even now he was still silent, in the sense that he was not speaking; he was, however, breathing quite heavily. Now some other Mages were flying right into the heart of the storm, too? They might be killed.
]It's too dangerous out there. It's safe in here...
What if the Guilds' War repeats without my knowing?Without warning, he ran, opening the door to the Manor and stopping only to shut it behind him. The dragon ran, his posture changing as he leaned forwards; his clothes were vanishing and replaced by black fur. A tail grew, his hands and feet changed to paws, and his horns vanished and were replaced by pointed ears. The shape of his skull changed. Were he braver, he would have howled - a signal that Drakhé had transformed into a wolf. Instead, he was silent, focusing on moving himself towards the storm, and towards Dunburrow. So he ran. SurfThe carpet finally feached the farm where Kat had been, but there was no Kat to be seen. Surf squinted and looked closer, and saw Nature collapsed on the ground. The man from before, and a teenage girl she didn't recognize were standing in a forcefield around Nature. She silently gasped, and quickly lowered the carpet, cushioning the fall at the last minute, so it landed gently on the ground. "What happened to Nature?" she yelled to the two strangers, and ran towards the forcefield, but stopped abruptly when she was able to see the two more closely. The girl was talking into some strange sort of wristband, which instantly made Surf suspicious. She momentarily forgot about Nature, and shifted into a fighting stance, bluntly stating, "I don't know what's going on here, but I want some answers. Now. What is that, and who are you talking to? Who are you people? And what's going on?" ((Thank you, thank you, Kwoiffei. *bows* No applause please, just throw money. XD)) RikkuRikku couldn't help laughing as Surf talked about Magecraft Airlines, but she soon sobered for the rest of the journey. The wind made talking a little difficult, in any case, and Rikku was distracted by the storm. Once or twice, they had to swerve the carpet to the side as lightning bolts cracked to the ground below. They were getting closer to the centre of the storm, and it was getting more and more chaotic. Rikku leaned forward on the carpet and narrowed her eyes against the wind. They couldn't get there soon enough. Finally, they arrived at what looked to be the place. A castle wasn't far away. Rikku was pretty sure that this place was called Dunburrow, the seat of the Knights, but she didn't know much about it apart from that. Particularly nothing that would explain the burnt field, and all the people (and weasels? What in Neopia?) clustered around a glowing object ... Rikku's eyes widened as she saw it, and she could almost feel her heart beat faster. That's it. That's what's causing all this ... it's powerful, all right. In the wrong hands, who knows what it could do? But it's so powerful ... what could I do with a thing like that? Rikku abruptly came to a decision, her eyes fixed on the glowing thing. So powerful ...She was vaguely aware of Surf slowing the carpet down, but she couldn't wait. She vaulted off it, falling a few metres and crumpling to the ground. She rolled, stumbled a little, then ran towards the thing. It seemed to be encased in some kind of a shield ... Rikku cursed her frustration and pulled out her wand. The tip was glowing, a ball of energy. It hadn't done that before ... normally, Rikku would be worried, but there wasn't time! Someone might reach it before her! She plunged the bone into the shield, tip-first. The energy wavered around it. She walked through the shield, and it closed again behind her. Her eyes took in the situation, and she growled through clenched teeth, "Give me that bag. Now.” Zari((Zari's in her early teens. Not-a-woman)) Zari jumped, then felt for her gun holster. It wasn't there. she pancked for a few seconds, then remembered it was on the other side. Phew. She drew it 'That's a dangerous object, Miss. I was just asking one of my teammates to bring a stasis box, so we could contain it and prehaps work out what it does. Your Zafara friend is fine, as far as I know. She was out for the count when we arrived.' She raised the watch. 'Ienalle. Ny jo Matorau. Drim'kite- Inyamo.' The girl started as the message came through. 'Tza.' She scratched the skin near the cannon strapped to her arm. Things were getting nasty. ((Said language is Illhvrenan for "Ienalle. We have hostiles. Backup- Now)) StrifeSeveral other people had entered the kitchen shortly after Leoness, but since the kitchen was so large, she payed no attention to the conversation between Rikku and Celestial on the opposite end. "Are you new? Would you like something?" asked the Zafara in front of her, pausing from her current meal. "Yes, i'm new here," replied Leoness. "I was wondering if you might know where my sister is. Her name is Aer-" "...Sissy?" shouted a small voice beside the door. "SISSY!"The lioness turned around, and before she could even say anything else, a familiar dragonbunny fluttered into her arms and started to lick her face very generously. "Sissy!" said Leoness excitedly, giggling as her pint-sized sister's wet tongue tickled her cheeks. She gave Aerisa a large grin, embraced her gently, and let out a sigh of relief. "It feels like I haven't seen you in ages!" While the two sisters reunited, Rikku and Celestial had finished their conversation, exiting the room to return to the main hallway. Omni seemed to watch with interest. Leoness lifted Aerisa and placed her on the table beside her. "Is Scar with you?" she asked with a beaming smile. Tamia"You speak nonsense, 'my friend'. How can I know that you speak truth?" Shino demanded, suddenly seeming a lot more intimidating. After a slight pause, in which the robed man just smiled, the White Knight continued, lowering his sword. "Regardless...Tell us your story & get on with it. I do not favor being surprised by a man I do not know whatsoever."“Clearly,” the man said, lowering his arms carefully. Despite his continued cooperation, there was an icy quality to his eyes that Tamia didn’t care for. If you’d like, I’ll claw out his eyeballs for you, Oran offered, his tail twitching as he stared down the stranger. Heaven knows, the White Knight over there looks like he could use the entertainment.Tamia shook her head shortly, too interested in what the robed man was about to say to notice how perfectly Oran had read her thoughts. “Well then. How shall I start? Perhaps it would be best to dispel any notions you might have in regards to my character. My name is Evan Forest. I am one of many. I am not a bandit. I am not a rogue. I am a thief. Under different cirumstances, I would have been glad to kill you. However,” he added firmly, grinning at their sudden tension. “I would not think of doing so today. I intend to give you my full cooperation.” “And why is that?” Tamia asked coldly. “Because those lovely forumers out there deserve to know of the Invisible Guild before their world meets its doom,” Evan Forest said amiably. “Are you going to let me tell you the story, or should I just admit defeat?”
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Post by GW2 on Oct 15, 2008 12:59:42 GMT -5
Shade
"I'm here on my own,” Fraze explained, the weasels making him jump and occasionally wince in pain. “I got permission to come down here to get my flechette gun back, and I got dragged into this whole mess with a weather altering gem I'm-still-not-sure-how. I lost it when I was here a few days ago, on a routine scouting mission. I think Zar--er, Prof. Ailden--was sent here to look into what had happened with the storm and what had caused it."
Hades narrowed his eyes at Fraze. “This still isn’t proper procedure. You shouldn’t be here with a couple of mages around. Either of you,” he added, glancing at Zari. “I understand the need to research the storm, but this is still dangerous to security. If the Commander knew about this, what do you think he would do?” Hades gestured at the faintly glowing bag that Kat held. “Perfect research material. Take it and leave, before there are more security breaches.”
He ignored that Zari was saying to someone over the radio, just watching both ‘Fleeters with a hand on one of his lasers. He didn’t care if they had permission. The thing that Security had been firmest about when they granted him permission to join the Mercs down here was that nobody – repeat – nobody could know about the ‘Fleet until the Commander chose to reveal their presence. And now Fraze had gone and broken security by talking to a mage!
Hades growled under his breath, shaking his head. When the Commander found out, he doubted that they would get off easily, even if they had found a powerful artifact.
"What happened to Nature?"
At the shout, Hades’ head whipped around, and he crouched, one laser pointed straight at the newcomer before it registered that it was only a teenaged girl. Two other females, one about the same age as the one who’d shouted, and another who seemed to be a bit older than them, were following. One, the girl who hadn’t shouted, was running at them, her odd green hair blowing back.
"I don't know what's going on here, but I want some answers. Now. What is that, and who are you talking to? Who are you people? And what's going on?" The first girl asked, standing in some sort of fighting stance near the shield.
Zari answered her, drawing her own gun. ”That's a dangerous object, Miss. I was just asking one of my teammates to bring a stasis box, so we could contain it and perhaps work out what it does. Your Zafara friend is fine, as far as I know. She was out for the count when we arrived.”
Then the green-haired girl rammed a wand in to the shield and walked through. "Give me that bag,” she growled. “Now."
Hades looked at her. “No,” he said. “Why should we give you, who seems to be rather crazy, an artifact that’s already messing everything up on it’s own?” He walked closer to the shield, examining it as he talked. “I don’t know who’s going to take it right now, anyway. If I had a vote, I would let him -” he waved a hand at Fraze “- take it. Or possibly her,” he said, this time pointing at Kat, “since she has done the least number of idiotic things that I know about.”
He touched the shield with his left hand, letting sparks begin to build. It stood to reason that if he overloaded it with energy, he could get through and have a chance at taking the artifact himself. “So, I don’t think we’ll be giving any of you the bag. But then, it’s not my choice, since I don’t have access to it right now.”
A thin sheen of perspiration covered the non-metallic parts of his face. The energy that he was storing in his hand was getting dangerous, even to him. He would need to release it soon, whether in to the shield, himself, or the ground. The last would be the safest option. But he had to try to break the shield. He waited one last moment, and then released all the electricity in to the shield at once. If it broke, then he had a shot at actually doing something other than talk. If it didn’t, he would quite likely be toast.
Trilly
Trilly had finally made it out of the castle cellar. It hadn't been an easy task, however, and most of the credit could be given to dumb luck and a well-placed gap in a crumbled wall that had put her back in relatively the same place as she had first become lost when she had come by earlier. The Ivory Knight triumphantly made her way back to the door of her quarters, looking regretfully at it as she passed, thinking of all the unpacking she had to do.
"Don't even think about it." Feather warned. "As a knight of Dunburrow, you have the responsibility to tell the other knights about that paper. It may have something to do with the thunder."
"But I'm hungry," she complained, knowing it was pointless to argue. It did not, however, deter her from wanting to slug the genius who first decided that duty and honor were more important than food. "Also... I'm not too sure about the paper. I don't trust it."
"It's a scrap of paper. What's not to trust?"
"It's just... unusual that it happened to turn up at the same time as it seems strange things are happening, and... oh well, it doesn't matter. Let's get to the council chamber and see what some of the more experienced knights make of it," Trilly decided. After all, the fact that the note seemed to imply the existence of a seventh guild (whatever consequences that carried) would seem to be a big enough problem for the moment. No need to make a mountain out of a molehill.
A castle servant was only too eager to direct a dusty, bedraggled, dead insect-ridden and utterly terrifying looking knight away from the kitchens where food was made and sanitary conditions were required and point her in the direction of the throne room. Thus, the final stage of Trilly's exciting castle adventure ended with ease.
Now, standing outside the huge oak door, Trilly began to feel out-of-place and insignificant. She raised her hand shyly to knock on the door, then lowered it. "What am I doing?" she asked.
"You're going to go into that room and tell the knights what you know." Feather stated firmly from his position on her shoulder. "You have nothing to be ashamed of. Heck, you're the Ivory Knight of Dunburrow. Do you thing you'd be here today if someone didn't see something in you that made them think, Hey, this girl'd make a pretty good knight. Just go in there, be respectful, and-- WHA?" He was nearly thrown from his perch as Trilly, in a burst of decisiveness, shoved open the door and ran into the throne room, not even pausing to see who was there or even if there was anyone who would hear her.
"HimynameisTrillyandI'mtheIvoryKnight." she said in one breath. "I was stuck in the castle, you know-- underground, I mean, and I couldn't get back up.. to the surface because, well, it's my first full day and I'm really, really bad with directions and, umm... you get the drift. I found this--" she said, looking at her feet and holding out the paper to no one in particular, "And I was hoping one of you may know something more about it."
"How was I?" the knight asked Feather in a whisper.
"There really is no hope for you." her companion said simply.
Scar
As he was trying to open the door, something made him stop. It had lasted just a moment, but it had been so... vivid... it had been a long time since he'd felt Aerisa anguish...
"Dear, you need to PULL this door, not push!"
"Oh ..." he said sheepishly as Aerisa pulled open the door before him. Their soul bond... "I should've known that ... I think," he mumbled, more busy in his own mind than on the door. What should he do? Start confronting Aerisa about it? She felt more amused right now but he could still feel traces of it. Still, she'd agreed to never talk about private things in front of the others like Sev ...
He was still in his thought as he stepped through the gap. For some reasons his head felt as fuzzy as his paws and didn't like it one bit, even more so when he noticed he could no longer use chronomancy at will like he used to. The latter was what frightened him the most.
He didn't want to be a defenseless kitten.
There had to be a way to reverse this ...
"SISSY!"
"Sissy! It feels like I haven't seen you in ages!"
Scarven watched worriedly as Aeri threw herself at a lioness he recongnized as his wife's sister. Seeing the smile on her face and on that of his sister-in-law, he decided to push aside the questions till later when Aeri and he were alone together.
"Leoness!" he meowed happily, running to the lioness (A little annoyed that he now barely came up to her knees)
"Is Scar with you?" she asked again to Aerisa, who was snuggling in her sister's arms, looking around to spot her chronomancer brother-in-law
Scarven sighed and tugged at Leoness' pants. "Down here, Leoness," he called out in resignation.
Surf
The girl jumped at Surf's somewhat rude exclamation, and got out a gun of her own, pointing it at Surf. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a man with silver...blotches? on his brown skin, who had also pointed a gun at her. Aw, fudge, I knew I should've been a bit more polite. Please don't kill me, I'd like to live. Living is nice, thought Surf. 'That's a dangerous object, Miss. I was just asking one of my teammates to bring a stasis box, so we could contain it and prehaps work out what it does. Your Zafara friend is fine, as far as I know. She was out for the count when we arrived,' answered the girl. She spoke into her watch again, in some strange language.
Rikku, who was acting very rashly at the moment, had jumped off of the carpet the second Surf had stopped it, and was inside the shield, demanding for the strange magical object. Surf shook her head, and sighed. Oh, no, Rikku, don't make it worse.
Before she could tell Rikku to calm down, the man with the silver spots of skin spoke. “No,” he said. “Why should we give you, who seems to be rather crazy, an artifact that’s already messing everything up on it’s own? I don’t know who’s going to take it right now, anyway. If I had a vote, I would let him -” he gestured to the man from before “- take it. Or possibly her,” (he pointed at Kat) “since she has done the least number of idiotic things that I know about.”
"Rikku, he has a point. You really aren't acting rationally. Let's try to calm down a smidge, and regain control of our actions." She turned to the blotchy man, and continued, "But who are you people?" She glanced at the guns, and added, "And if you use your weapons against me, I will fight back."
((Yes, the blotchy man. XD))
Kwoiffei
Drakhé wan't sure how far he'd gone from safety, or towards Dunburrow, but he knew that he was moving right into the danger zone - and he was starting to have second thoughts. For one, the shapeshifter had to dodge strange bolts of lightning; he couldn't take his cheating way out, because it was magical.
For another... was it just him, or were the clouds an even stranger shade of purple? And the winds were stronger than they had been before. It was strange. There were two possibilities: the centre of the storm was very strong, or... it was reacting to something.
But what?
He looked up once more. What was that spot of green doing on the clouds?!
I should get back! It's too dangerous!
Get them out of there. Get them to safety.
But I'll die!
So will they if you don't do something.
The black-furred wolf let out a howl, and screamed, "I'm coming!”
Zari
'We are...a security division for an interstellar company. I am Professor Ailden, part of the Research subdivision of Interstellar Safety Inc. It's our job to locate and either contain or destroy dangerous objects and persons. We usually work in secrecy, but the company's in the phone book. You never know.' the lie rolled off her tongue. Just like making up a story, she thought wryly.
Zar holstered her pistol and folded her arms. 'Anyway, we-' 'YAAAAH!' 'BARGH!' Zari jumped on the russet bundle of fur and sat on it, rubbing her head. 'Sorry. Aeloan got carried away.' 'You sammmmph!' 'Minor misunderstanding. Go back to base.' Zari stood up, allowing the annoyed fluffy something to run off.
--
Zari frowned. 'No. I don't. Sorry. Light and Darkness...as well as people going mad with fear...I DO NOT like this. It's unnatural, and this is coming from someone made from forces of nature.' she raised her broad shoulders in a shrug, still holding the sword she'd forgotten she'd drawn. 'It don't bode well for the four...five?...guilds. Dun never. It's fishier than a ocean-trawler's belowdeck, that's sure.' Her words were speeding up. Anyone who knew squat about the Fae would know the loss of grammar was a sign she wasn't concentrating on her Anglese. She was concentrating on the sudden onslaught of problems.
Fraze
Fraze resisted the urge to roll his eyes. More people after this thing, he thought, just what we need.
This still isn’t proper procedure. You shouldn’t be here with a couple of mages around. "They still don't know about Spacefleet. Just look around you--people have all kinds of strange weapons here. Magic staffs, enchanted swords, all sorts of junk. I could tell them that what I was looking for was some kind of gun, and they wouldn't think too hard about it, just passing it off as another eccentric wanderer's chosen defense. But if it had gone off, the damage might have been catastrophic. Then they'd want to find out whose it was. That's not something I wanted to happen. But the point is moot--what's done is done, I'll worry about whatever consequences there may be later. For now, I just want to get out of here without too much more hassle."
"AND WOULD YOU PLEASE GET OFF OF ME!" he added, bellowing at the weasels.
"Anyway," he turned to Zari. "You got that stasis box? Best keep the thing in there for now."
But who are you people? And if you use your weapons against me, I will fight back. "I am Fraze, associate of the young professor here. There's no need for violence here--everyone carries a weapon of some sorts these days, it would be unwise not to. We just all have to hope that we won't need to use them."
Vyt
Not far from the Ninja guild, Cat Assassin, PFA and Bluisa paced through the forest surrounding their dojo on their way towards the artifact. Ever since they started walking, Cat Assassin had questions lying inside his mind for the mage. He could not remove his own suspicion towards Bluisa with the fact that they had only met just awhile ago and she had not proven her credibility yet.
First of all, he wanted to know how someone who did not participate in the last war knew about Vyt's death. The feline was pretty sure Vyt was not that popular, and despite his constant search for attention in peaceful days, he would not be able to win fame with his childish actions. The probability of a foreign mage having heard of that news was near to zero, he believed.
Second, why the mage was concerned about Vyt. She might have met him a long time ago, proven by how she called Vyt "sweetie Vytty". Not even PFA could coin a nickname for her father.
Lastly, how such a seemingly low-experienced mage knows something about an artifact that could resurrect the dead. Even such a thing would not exist in NTWF, the feline believed. The only being who was capable of reviving fallen allies was Sev the phoenix, and even he could not return Vyt's soul. But now, he was looking at the only person who probably had an alternative way on how to bring Vyt back.
However doubtful Cat Assassin was, he had no choice but to trust Bluisa. She, he thought, might be the only person who can help him right now.
Bluisa turned her head towards Cat Assassin, boggled by something she had seen in her crystal ball. "Someone else is now holding the artifact, and she seems strong," she breathed out. "Her magic signature is much higher compared to mine..."
Cat Assassin glanced at the ball. He could identify the person being compared by Bluisa to herself. She was the same mage he saw in the last war, clad with purple clothing and all.
"Then we must move more quickly and get the artifact from them. It might get worse if we come there too late," he concluded, sprinting off after his last statement.
Rikku
It shines so brightly ... like a beacon. Or a fire. The brightest fire I've ever seen ...
Rikku shook her head, trying to clear it. She was aware of people speaking, but it was all just noise to her. One person's comment penetrated, though.
“Why should we give you, who seems to be rather crazy, an artifact that’s already messing everything up on it’s own?" Rikku blinked. Crazy? Maybe he wasn't too far off. “I don’t know who’s going to take it right now, anyway. If I had a vote, I would let him take it. Or possibly her, since she has done the least number of idiotic things that I know about.” He indicated a couple of people.
Rikku slowly lowered her gaze. He was right. She must be crazy. Letting some random artifact affect her judgement? She was an idiot. She didn't deserve to call herself a Mage! What am I even doing here? At least the others have the excuse that they're here to help people. I'm just here because I'm selfish. Power-hungry. Typical necromancer. She didn't cry, if only because falling to pieces in front of people she didn't know probably wasn't a good idea. She saw with as start that Nature was nearby, unconscious. I didn't even notice. What kind of friend am I?
At that point, Surf said, "Rikku, he has a point. You really aren't acting rationally. Let's try to calm down a smidge, and regain control of our actions."
"Right. Sorry." She shook her hair out of her eyes, with a new determination. Surf then questioned a few of the strangers. Rikku, however, was watching the one who had spoken to her, the one with the silver implants covering a lot of his skin. He was a vampire, Rikku noticed. That was interesting. He also seemed to be trying to break into the shield. That was rather more interesting.
"Hey." She spoke more calmly now. "You're right, I certainly shouldn't take the jewel ... that doesn't mean you should." She raised an eyebrow.
Internally, Rikku was still twitching. The orb or jewel or artifact or whatever it was had a huge amount of energy, and she felt irritated and hyper at once just being near it, but at least she was more under control now.
Surf
The girl answered her question this time, saying, 'We are...a security division for an interstellar company. I am Professor Ailden, part of the Research subdivision of Interstellar Safety Inc. It's our job to locate and either contain or destroy dangerous objects and persons. We usually work in secrecy, but the company's in the phone book. You never know.' Surf raised an eyebrow. She wasn't buying it.
Surf smirked. She had just caught the girl in a lie. It was well disguised, and the girl wasn't giving it away by pausing to think, but there was a hole in it. She smugly said, "If it's so secret, why is it in the phone book, hmm? I do believe you are lying to us. Now, are you going to tell us the truth, or try again and do a better job lying this time?" I have to admit, that was a pretty good lie. If it wasn't for that flaw, I probably would have bought it, she thought to herself.
The man from before was the second to respond. "I am Fraze, associate of the young professor here. There's no need for violence here--everyone carries a weapon of some sorts these days, it would be unwise not to. We just all have to hope that we won't need to use them." This guy was telling the truth, as far as Surf could tell.
Rikku, who had calmed down, jumped in as well. "Hey. You're right, I certainly shouldn't take the jewel ... that doesn't mean you should."
"Thanks for returning to us, Rikku. And that's a great point." She turned back to the others. "Don't you think that a Manor with expert mages, who are more familiar with this sort of thing, would do a better job of it that you? I don't mean to be rude, but seriously." She quietly added to Rikku, "By the way, don't feel like you're a bad person, all of us were shaken by the thing. I know I was."
((Jeez, guys, why do you have to do that? Now I have to go back and add in all the new stuff. T_T))
Strife
After asking where Scar was, Leoness felt something tugging at her pants. "Down here, Leoness," said a familiar voice.
Leoness looked down and saw a small, black kitten at her feet, dressed in a blue lounge suit and black pants.
"Scar! Wait a minute... Scar?" Her eyes widened with surprise. Was that really her brother-in-law? It had to be... Even if she never saw him in fifty years, she would still recognize his distinguished voice. She figured that since Aerisa was currently in critter-form as well, they must have been experimenting with some form of magic. Still, it never hurt to ask what exactly happened.
She lifted the feline chronomancer from the floor, gave him a brief hug, and placed him carefully on the table next to Aerisa. "It's been so long, bro! I would have expected you to grow while I was away... What happened to you?"
PFA
Bluisa looked over at Cat Assassin, showing him the crystal ball. "Someone else is now holding the artifact, and she seems strong. Her magic signature is much higher compared to mine..."
PFA saw as her Uncle looked into the ball, and couldn't help but look into it herself. She saw the figure holding the bag, recognizing her as Kat. PFA wasn't quite sure what to think of this... would she have to fight Kat for this artifact, whatever it was? She hoped not... Kat was significantly stronger than her, and if things got ugly, PFA was sure to come out far worse than the mage would. But seeing as Kat knew PFA, maybe they could work things out peacefully...
"Then we must move more quickly and get the artifact from them. It might get worse if we come there too late," Uncle said, snapping PFA out of her thoughts. She looked up, just in time to see Uncle sprint off.
"Uncle, wait up!" PFA called, running after Cat Assassin. One thing she knew for sure was that she did not want to be separated from her Uncle.
Zari
Zari yawned. 'Oh, fine. I'm a terrible liar, am I not? Goes to show, You can't always live in make believe. My name is, actually, Professor Ailden. I'd rather not give you my first name, since me and another'd probably get chucked in cages and goggled at in a circus. If you must have a first name, I'll give you my Illhvrenan Underway nickname. That'd be Ailura.' She smiled slightly. 'If you know your Greek you should get that one, even without the telltale parts you can't see.'
She paused to glance at Fraze 'Thanks, for giving away the game. I was in my element, too. As Fraze let slip, we're from Spacefleet. I can't tell you any more than that. The Commander'll have my hide. No, wait, he won't, I'm the only Genetics Professor here and he needs my clone coding. He'll probably have Fraze's hide instead. I pity you, I really do. ' The visor slid down, once again hiding her eyes.
Omni
"Scar?" Omni lowered an eyebrow when she saw the cat, who dressed, and sounded like Scar. Upon closer inspection of his aura, she confirmed it to herself. His aura felt a little different, due to the species change, but it definitely was Scar.
"Okay, how did that happen?"
Speck
The rock-armadillo had yet again eluded Speck's grasp. She chased after it, wondering why she felt the urge to chase after it. Sure, it was strange that she had found an armadillo in the middle of a forest. Stranger things had happened in this land, and you never knew what you would find. Especially since this area was close enough to Mage Manor for who-knows-how-many magical experiments to escape from. It's possible a bad potion had been thrown out carelessly, and had resulted in this odd, shapeshifting creature.
Lost in her musings of magic, Speck ran headfirst into a strage metal craft. She let out a yelp of surprise and pain, then looked up at what she had run into. The pirate had never seen anything like it before. It reminded her very much of a bulky submarine, from what she could remember submarines looked like. Yet it didn't look like it had been designed for the sea; it looked as though it may have been designed for possible flight. She could find no wheels on it, nor any sort of propulsion system that could be used on land.
Speck looked around for her captain, completely forgetting the rock-armadillo. She tried remembering which way she had gone... but came up with a blank. 'Dram. If only I hadn't been so focussed on chasing that armadillo, I could backtrack to Captain Huntress,' She thought.
"Captain? Um... Captain Huntress? I found something interesting. You might want to take a look at it!" She called out in the direction that she think she may have come from.
Hearing no immediate response, she decided to take a closer look at the metal ship on her own. She paced around it, looking up and down for an entrance. Finally, she found what she was looking for... and stepped inside.
Surf
The Ailden girl conceded, and said, 'Oh, fine. I'm a terrible liar, am I not? Goes to show, You can't always live in make believe. My name is, actually, Professor Ailden. I'd rather not give you my first name, since me and another'd probably get chucked in cages and goggled at in a circus. If you must have a first name, I'll give you my Illhvrenan Underway nickname. That'd be Ailura. If you know your Greek you should get that one, even without the telltale parts you can't see.'
"That wasn't a bad lie," answered Surf. "To be perfectly honest, I would have bought it if you hadn't contradicted yourself there. I don't need to know your first name, so you can keep that secret to yourself. It's just nice to be able to call someone something other than 'hey you,' y'know?"
Professor Ailden glanced at Fraze, and then continued, 'Thanks, for giving away the game. I was in my element, too. As Fraze let slip, we're from Spacefleet. I can't tell you any more than that. The Commander'll have my hide. No, wait, he won't, I'm the only Genetics Professor here and he needs my clone coding. He'll probably have Fraze's hide instead. I pity you, I really do."
"I suppose that answer is all I'm going to get out of you, so that's fine. Thanks for informing me." Surf smiled at Professor Ailden, and continued, "And now that we know each other, let's address the issue at hand, shall we?" She pointed to the gem. The answers the girl gave her only led to more questions, like what this "Spacefleet" was, and who was the "Commander," but she dropped it for the sake of diplomacy. "So, what do you think it is?"
Fraze
"All of us were shaken by the thing. I know I was." Fraze muttered something under his breath about having flown through asteroid fields that were worse than this, but not loudly enough so that he could be heard.
"The Commander'll have my hide. No, wait, he won't, I'm the only Genetics Professor here and he needs my clone coding. He'll probably have Fraze's hide instead. I pity you, I really do." Fraze shrugged. "We've gotten into and out of worse.
"So, what do you think it is?" Fraze shrugged. "Whatever it is," he replied to Surf, "it thinks for itself. It somehow made its way into my bag. I wouldn't be surprised if it made me drop the bag on top of it. I think it has some agenda. Call me paranoid, but from what little experience I've had with magical objects, I've learned that magical things are often much more than they seem to be."
--
The dropship Fraze arrived on hummed to life when its sensors detected someone inside.
Something in its artificial memory knocked against something else in its artificial memory. The entity onboard did not match any entry in its files.
"Please provide identity verification.”
Speck
The dropship Fraze arrived on hummed to life when its sensors detected someone inside.
Speck was startled by the sudden humming of the ship. She turned around and saw a chair, which was apparently bolted to the floor in front of a panel of buttons, dials and various other technological instruments. Just as she was nearing it, a voice errupted from speakers somewhere.
"Please provide identity verification."
She jumped, pulling two kunai out of her coat in one swift movement. Holding one kunai in each hand, she spun around the inside of the dropship slowly, cautiously.
"Come out from the shadows, and I might tell ye," She said, noting the tinny monotone of the voice, "Or are ye a coward?"
Fraze
"Come out from the shadows, and I might tell ye!" The dropship's computer, not being capable of thought as most understand it, took key phrases and attempted to process them in such a way that they fit with some known phrase that it could understand.
"Current number of occupants: one. Please provide identity verification.”
Kat
"...okay, what's going on here? Listen up, I think Dunburrow is nearest, which means less magic wasted, so I'll be heading off there with this thing, thank you very much," said Kat loudly, holding up the bag she was clutching with one hand, glowing purple with the magic that kept her standing straight. "Right now, Nature needs your help, and I need to find a place where I can figure out what's in this bag."
Summoning as much energy as she could, she turned on the spot and disappeared in a flurry of violet smoke and sparkles not unlike those raging in the storm above.
* * *
When her feet touched solid ground, Kat lost her balance and fell onto the floor. In a muffled voice, she greeted the people she briefly saw before getting an eyeful of tiles, "Hello...fellow Knights.”
Jason
"I suppose that answer is all I'm going to get out of you, so that's fine. Thanks for informing me." Surf smiled at Professor Ailden, and continued,"So, what do you think it is?"
I think it's a key or dimensionql gate of some sort. Though that's just going on pure speculation. I'm not exactly sure what it is though. It is certainly magical," he mused before contiuing," although I could do without it doing all the strange things it's doing." Turning to Fraze, he waited on Fraze to reply.
Fraze shrugged. "Whatever it is," he replied to Surf, "it thinks for itself. It somehow made its way into my bag. I wouldn't be surprised if it made me drop the bag on top of it. I think it has some agenda. Call me paranoid, but from what little experience I've had with magical objects, I've learned that magical things are often much more than they seem to be."
Jasor nodded. "So if that's true, and it does have a mind of its own, we should make sure it doesn't do anything dangerous. After all, we don't want the planet ripped apart at the seems, do we?" he remarked cautiously. Tugging at his ponytail, he frowned. "So that rock-armadillo. What are we going to do about it?”
Hunty
Bloody Mary was squatting by the bushes, eyes twitching. The pirates had already left, and there he was now, on his own, on a mission. Mission impossible if he ever saw one.
And now Kat was gone.
With the shiny, no less. That was a somewhat better situation, but still a big pile of...
The meepit sat up, trying to get his mind straight while trying not to gnaw on his lip. Rabies-infected fangs did the darndest things to your skin in the long run.
So. A triple agent, as she'd always been. A mage, a knight and a pirate. Not necessarily in that order. The White Weewoo, Mage Manor, or the Knights? He hadn't been close enough to hear.
He really needed backup at this point, and for the first time in nearly forever, he didn't have any. Thanks a lot, Hunty. Nice thinking.
And he was rabid. In the land of farmers.
The meepit uttered a few words he never voluntarily uttered in the captain's presence, and dashed off through the bushes.
***
Huntress finally caught up with Speck, and remained staring blankly at the thing she'd just entered.
"What in the world is that?"
"Don't ask me, you got rid of all your bright-brains," Bob Squeaky grunted from her pouch, being the last of the three meepits remaining with her.
Hunty took a few curious steps closer. "Wow. That's some good technology. Where would this come from in the middle of a land that essentially belongs to knights and mages?"
"Not belong, they're more like... friendly supervisors and keepers of the peace," the meepit remarked, though his voice carried a healthy dose of sarcasm.
"S'what I said. Speck?" She stopped in front of the door and stretched her neck out to see better.
Rider
Retirement doesn't suit me, Rider thought. The woods smelled damp and musty. It wasn't like the freshness of the sea. Already she was beginning to forget what that smelled like.
A roar from above made Rider scurry up a tree in fright. Ventratta squeaked in terror and latched onto the inside of her pocket with sharp claws. Rider's breath came in short gasps as she shut her eyes.
Speck's voice. And Hunty's. Familiar voices. And those other Meepits. What were they doing here?
"Wow. That's some good technology. Where would this come from in the middle of a land that essentially belongs to knights and mages?"
"Not belong, they're more like... friendly supervisors and keepers of the peace,"
"Supervisors?"
That's when Rider fell out of her tree.
"Ow."
She stood, brushed herself off, realized that she was in the company of pirates and so probably woldn't have to explain what the heck she was doing up a tree, and continued as though nothing had happened.
"Supervisors? What the heck are they supervising?"
Celestial
Celestial was finally convinced that Surf meant her no harm and climbed onto the carpet, not daring to shapeshift in front of them. She tucked her cloak under her legs so that no wind would expose her wings and her secret.
Celestial smiled as Surf worked the air currents to make the carpet float, reminded of what she does herself. She helped along with a few currents of her own but those were mostly to make herself feel better. Your own wings were much more secure as a flying tool was her opinion.
She was cheered by Surf's little speech and forced an amused smile out of herself, watching as Overlord flew with them at a distance which wouldn't make anybody suspicious.
When they came near the story, she felt sick and the wind nearly whipped her cloak off her back. No wonder no dragon could fly in it. She was glad though, as no questions were aksed during the flight because of it.
They flew in near Dunbarrow, the seat of the Knights. Her slitted pupils narrowed in the draconic hatered of Knights but she didn't react. She knew that some Knights weren't enemies. A few were actually very kind.
Celestial was relieved to be off the carpet and her eyes were caught by a shiny object which she wouldn't have minded in her hoard if it wasn't for the stink of evil that was around it. She felt it in the air, this was the cause of the storm. She watched as Rikku walked towards it and walked inside the shield around it.
Celestial turned into a teleporter dragonet and appeared inside the shield, shapeshifting before Rikku noticed anything. However the object was in the hands of a girl and some man. She glared at them as Rikku spoke.
What made her angry was that Nature, a person she knew well, was lying on the ground stunned with two people next to her. She had to do everything to stop her dracnic side attacking them.
That's a dangerous object, Miss. I was just asking one of my teammates to bring a stasis box, so we could contain it and prehaps work out what it does. Your Zafara friend is fine, as far as I know. She was out for the count when we arrived the girl said as she held the object. Celestial didn't believe that Nature was already unconcious. These people didn't feel right. Her suspicions were confirmed as the girl spoke in a strange language and Overlord translated it. She knew she would have to fight.
The strange man spoke and she calmed, listening to what he had to say. She got so lost listening that she didn't notice everything passing.
She then heard that there was no need for violence and agreed. She couldn't fight just yet. She heard the Ailden girl ask "So, what do you think it is" and kenw she couldn't miss her oppurtunity.
"It is the object that is causing the storm. I feel it in the air, that thing is disrupting the weathers, not allowing us to fly properly." She cursed in her head. Why did she have to mention flying?! This will just lead to awkward questions. She glanced at the silvery man and shuddered. He wasn't anything she was familiar with and that made her nervous.
((Sorry if this is innaccurate but I really am lost. >_> That what happens when you are in the wrong timezone for a big roleplay. ))
Zari
Zari blinked as Kat vanished. 'Drat. And I had the Stasis box too.' She turned to Fraze. 'We'd better go back to base, so the commander can flay our sorry hides and we can speculate on what that thing is. You Mages, Pirates, whatever you are, please don't tell anyone. we'd rather remain under cover for a while yet. Sorry to bother you.' She tilted her head towards Celestial 'It was messing with my teleportation too. I truly do wonder.'
--
Zari blinked as Kat appeared in the room. 'Hello...fellow Knights.' 'Uhm...what is in that bag? Since it's really messing up my empathy.' The young knight looked completely freaked out. Her empathy hadn't gone anywhere near this bad, even during the last Guild War. In fact, she felt distinctly dizzy. 'No, seriously, it's starting to-' Then Kat fell and Zari felt she should really stop talking before she got panicky and started spilling everything. That wouldn't be a nice scenario. Not at all.
((A page? Naughty Naughty.))
Celestial
Celestial was relieved there were no questions from Ailden, at least. But now her powers were in the open and it looked like she would be working alone on finding out the answer to the storm.
"It was messing with my teleportation too. I truly do wonder." Ailden said. Celestial was intrigued. So it was affecting technology too. This was indeed serious as technology and magic usually work in completely the opposite ways. " "I won't tell anybody" she replied. At least, not yet was a thought she kept for herself. "Good luck finding out what that thing is" Hopefully you won't keep us Mages out of the loop.
Still in thought, she turned into Dragon form and set off for the Knight's castle. Something told her that there was something worth investigating there...
Zylaa
((Farmer Bob's Field: Cluster of People))
Inadvertently, Fraze had brought this problem upon himself. When he grabbed the bag from the field, even the two-hundred weasels who were following orders had no choice but to follow him. And a metal-man out in the open is worth two shiny things you can't see... or something like that.
But as the skinsuit receded from Fraze, the weasels one by one lost interest, settling back down onto the ground. Now that the distraction of a visible shiny was gone, even the youngest of the lot could feel the magic radiating from the inside of the bag. Heads swivelled. Silence reigned among the weasels as the people discussed what the weasels classified as "politics"- anything complicated done not in the pursuit of shinies.
"Shiny?" one murmured. But no human noticed- and then Kat vanished.
"Shiny!" several of the weasels cried, leaping up after the purple sparks that vanished as they grabbed frantically. The weasel general and a few others paused, frowning at the smoke. The purple lady had gone- and with it, the magical shiny. They were told to get the magical shiny. And no silly disappearing lady would stop them, the general decided. He signaled to the commanders, and with a few quick paw movements, they had a new plan. Six weasels, including the general, disappeared.
((Knight's Castle: Wherever Kat is)) With faint poofing noises, the weasels appeared and landed on the tiles. Scanning the room, they realized there was nowhere to hide, so they clustered together behind Kat, ears pricked and tails twitching.
********** ((Forest: Approaching Fraze's Spaceship)) "Alright," Zylaa said. "No problem. You ran away from a bunch of unfamiliar people, trying to get a treasure, and got lost in the woods. No problem at all."
She stopped talking. Nothing answered back. No luck, then. She kept walking through the woods, glad at least that the trees offered shelter from the threatening clouds. The storm seemed milder away from the field, she thought. Maybe just because the trees obscured the sky.
After a minute of walking, she heard voices, and veered course enough to witness Rider's spectacular entrance.
Ow, the former captain said as she fell out of a tree. "Supervisors? What the heck are they supervising?"
"Why look, a tree sprite," Zylaa said. Rolling her eyes, she walked up until she could see the rest of the crew- and the spaceship. "Ooooh. Spiffy. Can we commandeer that?”
Keng
"I'm gonna head down to security. I'll catch you later Ethan." Keng transmitted, then, pocketing the radio (though this would be an inaccurate description as it didn't exactly use radio waves), grabbed her things to head out the room. She was almost there when she was interrupted by a whine. In the corner of her room was a small bear cub that she'd gotten permission to keep. She wasn't sure why she'd gotten it, but she'd felt she'd had to at the time. Besides, it was quite cute. "I'm sorry buddy." she told the fur-ball while grabbing it some food and giving it a quick pat. "I don't have time to play now. Later ok?" she gave it one more ruffle to the head then headed out and at a light jog headed to security.
Huntress
((Farmer Bob's Field: near the forest))
Bloody Mary skidded through the grass, brain processing frantically. He was but a small meepit, what could he possibly...?
He gave himself a mental whack for thinking that. It all came down to creativity. At this point the creativity included shards of a bottle or something of the sort, glistening on the ground. He stopped a fair distance from the cluster of people still arguing over something. Whatever it was, it didn't concern him at that point. He held up the shard, letting it twinkle, and edged closer. One or two weasels were bound to notice.
And they did. Bloody Mary snorted contentedly and slid through the grass, meeting with the weasels a couple dozen yards away from the humans.
"You," he hissed quietly, twirling the shard in one paw. "The big shiny. Can you take me to the big shiny and the purple lady who took it? Or tell where they went?"
***
((Forest: Fraze's spaceship))
"Supervisors? What the heck are they supervising?"
Huntress stared at her ex-captain. The day was just getting more and more interesting.
"Peace," she then said. "You know. Order. Oh-great-knights-my-neighbor-and-I-are-arguing-over-this-patch-of-land. Not that it matters. They don't concern us, thank heavens."
She turned back to look at the spaceship.
"Ooooh. Spiffy. Can we commandeer that?"
"I'd love to, if we could. But it probably wouldn't be easy, and extra attention is the last thing we need." She scowled, listening to the quiet 'Please provide identity verification' inside. "We'd have to find the owner of this thingy first, and command them to help us, and with something like this at their command, I wouldn't know what else to expect from them.”
Kat
((I'm with the Knights, where they're all meeting.))
"Uhm...what is in that bag? Since it's really messing up my empathy."
"It's...something, and it's been messing with me too," she said, holding up the object of interest with her still-glowing hand. In a few minutes, her fingers would burn out after using so much magic. "We found it in the field; we think it's what's making this place all stormy."
Kat felt something furry around her legs and behind her. Turning around, she spotted the weasels clustered behind her.
"And don't mind the weasels; they're harmless. That is, if you don't harm them." She looked at them and said, "Go back to your master; I'm safe, and so is the shiny, which is apparently a very dangerous one. Give her this." With a sigh, she removed her last golden earring and handed it to one of the weasels. She probably had a spare pair; after all, they were her favorite earrings.
PFA
((Merc HQ: Lounge))
"Hm, sounds magical to me. Or maybe just really, really polluted?" Salah said in response to Jernath. The coloration in the room changed again before she continued. "Wonder if it's anything to be worried about."
"That's what I was wondering," Jernath sighed. "Which is why I asked you about it. Was hoping you'd know more about it than I would..."
There was a pause as Jernath thought things over. Odd-looking things almost always posed some sort of threat, but then, they were mercenaries... if anyone needed their help, the mercenaries would be asked about it. But then again, not a lot of people even seemed to know the mercenaries existed... especially not in that castle area. He had yet to go on a mission to that place, actually... he only knew about it from what others had told him, and that wasn't much.
"...Do you think we should check it out?" he finally uttered. "I mean, it might be dangerous, and... well..." he wasn't exactly sure what to say. He knew what he felt, though. Something about that cloud was... wrong. And there was something very unsettling about that.
Celestial
((Knight's Castle))
Celestial landed outside the Knight's Castle. On the way, she had heard rumours of a 'purple lady taking the shiny' which confused her so much. She was also a purple lady but had no shiny, at least not the ones they were looking for. However, something in her memory whispered of a somebody called Kat who also wore purple robes. She must be careful, lest somebody mistook her for Kat.
She landed as far away from the Castle as possible, knowing how much knights hated her kind. Shapeshifting back, she walked towards the castle, feeling the reek of wrongness coming from it. Almost instinctivly, she knew it was the cause of the storm. She must find it and bring it back to it's rightful owner so that it would be safe to fly the skies again.
Breathing in deeply, Celestial went into the Knight's lair, following the wrong "air current" of the device.
Rider
((Forest, site of the landing. Whether I mean Fraze's landing or my landing is entirely up to you.)) "We'd have to find the owner of this thingy first, and command them to help us, and with something like this at their command, I wouldn't know what else to expect from them."
"While I am a big fan of commanding, you know how the saying goes. Never tickle sleeping dragons. I don't like the prospect of things going boom on my ship. This ain't nothin' we can't do on our own, right?"
... "So what the heck are we doing, anyway?"
In her pocket, Ventratta facepalmed.
Keng
((Spacefleet: Security))
It didn't take Keng long to get to security, just a short ride on a lift and she was there. "Anything new on the situation?" she asked as she entered the room. "Operative Fraze's ship is sending in a signal Ma'am. I think someone discovered it. Identification has yet to be given." it was Phillipe who she'd talked to earlier. She recognized the voice. "Fraze? What's he doing down there?" "He's the unauthorized officer I told you about earlier." "Bloody hell. That's not good for him. Bring up the statistics on Fraze's ship. Let's try to salvage as much of this situation as we can." "Yes Ma'am." "Thank you Phillipe." Keng said as she quickly scanned over the information. A few people in and around the ship. "Can we get visual?" "Negative." "Ok, time to get creative then. Open communications, and notify the Commander that we have a code yellow security breach." "Communications now open." "Silence please." Keng requested as the connection was made. "This is N.A.R.A the NTWF Astrological Research Association." began Keng using the same outright lie tactic Zari had used. "You've failed to provide identification to the computer, please step out of the craft and identify yourselves. Failure to comply will result in the ship's self defense system activating."
Keng of course had no clue that she was talking to her old shipmates. Her voice would likely be identifiable but it was doubtful that the pirates would make the connection between her and the voice considering the last time they saw her she'd have been just as surprised to discover a large metal U.P.O. (unidentified parked object) in the middle of Dunburrow as they now were.
"I repeat, please step out of and away from the craft or deadly defenses will be used. This is an experimental prototype for a flying aircraft, please do not touch anything and step out and away from it."
As she sent this message she sent an encrypted typed message to Commander Strife, wincing at the thought of the consequences such a message could hold for her friend.
Code Yellow Security Breach: Unattended Spacefleet shuttle craft discovered by unknown NTWF inhabitants. Attempting to communicate with unknowns with story of a research facility testing a prototype aircraft.
-Comdo. Keng
Rikku
((Farmer Bob's Field - Cluster of people))
Everybody talked for a while. Rikku didn't see much point in responding to anything, since none of it was directed at her. Kat, who was carrying the jewel-thing, teleported off - to Dunburrow, she said. Rikku stiffened, then relaxed. Kat was a fellow Mage and a friend; she could be trusted with it. And Rikku immediately felt better at not being so close to the thing. Her muscles loosened in relief. She felt like she hadn't breathed properly in days.
Kat had said something about taking care of Nature. Rikku nodded and walked over to the unconscious Zafara. She seemed mostly unhurt. Rikku pulled out the water she'd brought in preparation for when her friend woke up. She crouched down and looked around at everyone.
Celestial said, "It is the object that is causing the storm. I feel it in the air, that thing is disrupting the weathers, not allowing us to fly properly." Rikku raised her eyebrows. Flying? Oh, whatever. But the girl - or whatever she was - was right; the thing was definitely making the storm. Which didn't seem to be getting any better. Rikku pulled her cloak closer to her in an effort to keep out the cold.
After talking a bit more, Celestial turned into a dragon and flew off towards a castle in the near distance. Rikku raised her eyebrows higher. That explained a lot. Rikku wondered whether she should follow her ... but there was plenty going on here, and the last time she'd followed her curiosity, look where she'd ended up.
Cyborg
" Hey Salah have you seen Hades? It's like he disappeared." Midknight asked.
Salamander
((Mercenary HQ: Lounge))
Salamander listened to Jernath. "Well... I guess if it doesn't look dangerous, we could go look more closely... If it's anything very powerful, I should be able to tell from its aura."
To Midknight, she added, "Nope, haven't seen him. He's probably just off doing something, or maybe searching for a job..." She twined a clump of hair around her finger uninterestedly.
Fraze
((Forest: My Ship)) The ship had waited. It plugged in the variables and computed them--what appeared to be several distinct voices had found it. None had provided identity verification.
It sent a message saying such both to Spacefleet and to the 'Fleeter who had piloted it last. ((Note: Let's just say the message to Spacefleet is the one Keng received.))
((Forest: Path)) The weasels had finally lost interest in Fraze. And Kat had appeared to poof, taking the bag with her. "Shrike's thorns," Fraze cursed to himself.
It was then that his skinsuit tingled his consciousness, informing him of a message from-- From the ship.
Fraze now said something much more colorful than "Shrike's thorns." "Someone's at the dropship," he said to Zari, and began running toward it, using his skinsuit to roughly triple his speed, at the expense of large reserves of his own energy. Whether Zari came or not was her decision.
Surf
((Farmer Bob's field - cluster of people))
Fraze shrugged in response to Surf's question. "Whatever it is," he replied, "it thinks for itself. It somehow made its way into my bag. I wouldn't be surprised if it made me drop the bag on top of it. I think it has some agenda. Call me paranoid, but from what little experience I've had with magical objects, I've learned that magical things are often much more than they seem to be."
Jasor, who had been pretty quiet the entire time, added, “I think it's a key or dimensional gate of some sort. Though that's just going on pure speculation. I'm not exactly sure what it is though. It is certainly magical, although I could do without it doing all the strange things it's doing."
Celestial also chimed in. "It is the object that is causing the storm. I feel it in the air, that thing is disrupting the weathers, not allowing us to fly properly."
“So we’ve got an intelligent object. It has plans, and something tell me it’s not planning to bake us cookies. And if it’s a portal, Jasor, the question is, what is it a portal to? And the object is also-” She was interrupted by a puff of purple smoke, as Kat teleported away with the orb in tow. “-not here anymore. Great.” Surf sighed.
'Drat. And I had the Stasis box too,' said Zari. She turned to Fraze, and continued, 'We'd better go back to base, so the commander can flay our sorry hides and we can speculate on what that thing is. You Mages, Pirates, whatever you are, please don't tell anyone. We'd rather remain under cover for a while yet. Sorry to bother you.' She added, 'It was messing with my teleportation too. I truly do wonder.'
“Well, then, bye. Good luck with your Commander or whatever-it-is.” Surf smiled. “Don’t worry, your secret’s safe with us.” Surf waved to the two as they walked away. Surf turned back to the other mages, or mage, to be exact, because Celestial had apparently flown off. “Rikku, we should head back to the manor and tell the others about the magical thing.” She turned and ran towards the manor as she finished this statement, not bothering to see if Rikku was following her. I've got to tell the others about this orb. ----- ((Mage Manor))
About ten minutes later, Surf bolted through the doors of the manor, skidding to a halt in the kitchen, where she found Leoness, Aerisa, and a cute little kitten. "Guys, guys, you've gotta hear about this!" She paused to pant for breath, then continued to tell the other mages about the orb and the whole ordeal concerning it, leaving out a few details about the identity of Fraze and Professor Ailden. "And I think we should look at it. I mean, we're more experienced with magic, and we'd do a better job of it. And also, while the strangers were nice, they seemed to think that the higher ranked people where they come from are cruel, so we need to stop these evil people."
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Post by GW2 on Oct 15, 2008 13:18:01 GMT -5
Scar((Mage Manor - Kitchens - Afternoon))"It's been so long, bro! I would have expected you to grow while I was away... What happened to you?"
"Scar? Okay, how did that happen?" Omni echoedScarven hugged Leoness back as tightly as he could before she set him down onto the table next to Aerisa. "It's a really long story," he sighed, looking from Leoness to Omni to Sev and back again. "But to cut things short I'll just say that normal magic just isn't for me." "And he never listens to me," Aeri added with a smug grin. The chronomancer threw his paws in the air. "Okay so I messed up a bit when fooling around with alchemy and turned into a cat." He folded his arms and sulked. "Everyone makes mistakes." Aerisa punched him lightly on the shoulder. "Only you make them more often, my clueless kitten," she said. "Heh, true enough," Scarven said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his fluffy neck. "Anyway, I can't find any way to get back to normal, at least not in the Manor's library, so I was thinking of looking elsewhere to --" The dull boom of thunder reverberated through the kitchen at that moment. "Hey, looks like a storm's brewing up." He turned to face everyone in turn, his gaze lingering a moment on Aerisa's face. Did she just ... I'll ask her later. He suddenly turned to face Sev. "Wait, didn't you have something to tell all of us?" he inquired, standing next to Aerisa and throwing an arm around her shoulders. Huntress((Forest: Fraze's Spaceship))Huntress, about to give Rider another stare, spun around when the spaceship delivered Keng's message. "This is N.A.R.A the NTWF Astrological Research Association. You've failed to provide identification to the computer, please step out of the craft and identify yourselves. Failure to comply will result in the ship's self defense system activating.""Speck, get outta that thing," barked the captain. "I don't want to risk any of the crewmembers for the sake of... this." She stepped closer, scowling, and looked down at Bob Squeaky. "Did that voice sound... familiar to you?" "I'll be darned if I know," said the meepit, his brow furrowing too. "Too much echo. Listen..." Hunty knocked on the side of the ship, not daring to actually step inside. "We can comply and we can step out, but can you give me a single reason why we should identify ourselves? Are you using vehicle trespasser info in your astrological research nowadays?" "Hunty, listen." "To what?" "To me. Someone's coming." FrazeFraze could just make out the glint of the dropship, when he saw three people of the female persuasion clustered around it. They were looking in his direction. He wasn't sure if they had seen him, but he instinctively turned on his suit's cloaking device, telling it to go back over his head. That should make him invisible, and mostly unhearable--the thing was designed to make the wearer silent on a flat floor. In a forest with leaves and twigs and a few other things, it might not work so well in that respect. He'd have to watch his footing. He was almost to the dropship door when he realized the skinsuit still wasn't covering his hands. Immediately he had the suit cover them, but he knew his hands had been seen. Well, so much for stealth, he thought, and dropped the cloak. Rider((Forest, site of the pending explosions.))The noise of a landlubber, and a floating pair of hands. not something you see everyday. Rider, already in a hyped state of mind, came to the most logical conclusion. "Oh frigate, the ship is posessed." Fraze dropped the cloak. "Who are you, vile spirit, and why do you haunt these woods so?" Ventratta rolled his eyes and made his escape from Rider's pocket, as though embrassed to be seen with her. Rider approached Fraze. "She's a pretty little vessel. It's a pity I'll have to destroy her now." She pulled out her flask and went for the engine, attempting to pour the highly alcoholic contents in. PFA((Mercenary HQ: Lounge))"Well... I guess if it doesn't look dangerous, we could go look more closely... If it's anything very powerful, I should be able to tell from its aura," Salah said. "Don't know how dangerous it is... can't tell from here," Jernath muttered. "And I know nothing of auras. You'll have to tell me how dangerous it looks," he shrugged. He had never been into magic, so naturally his knowledge of it was very limited. Everything he knew of it was from things he'd encountered on his various travels. "Hey Salah, have you seen Hades?" Midknight asked, interrupting Jernath's thoughts. "It's like he disappeared.""Nope, haven't seen him," was Salah's reply. "He's probably just off doing something, or maybe searching for a job...""Last I saw him, he was heading out, to look for a job or something," Jernath added. "He's probably just not back yet." Strife((Spacefleet HQ: The Commander's Office)) A typed message zoomed its way across Spacefleet's communications network, arriving promply in the inbox of The Commander himself... Code Yellow Security Breach: Unattended Spacefleet shuttle craft discovered by unknown NTWF inhabitants. Attempting to communicate with unknowns with story of a research facility testing a prototype aircraft.
-Comdo. KengThe Commander slammed his fist on the desk of his office, accidentally causing a tremor that shook the entire room briefly. Luckily he kept no items or trinkets in the office in places where they could fall over, but a large crack appeared in the desk. He cursed under his breath. He'd have one of his support officers repair it later. He took a deep breath to calm himself, and a bead of sweat ran down his face. He didn't bother sending a reply to Keng's message, since it would only contain hot air and violent words of dissatisfaction. At least there was a good thing about spending most of his time in solitude: he could find creative ways to vent his growing anger without taking it out on his officers. For the most part. The Commander had suffered enough bad news for the day to warrent a break. He knew that his commando was capable of handling the situation, otherwise he wouldn't have promoted her in the first place. He couldn't think straight right now because of his immense frustration, and if he didn't get a chance to vent himself, he'd go berserk. Without further delay, he stepped out of his office and marched down the long, dark hallway, his black cape flowing behind him like a living, breathing shadow. Fraze((Forest--My ship))"Who are you, vile spirit, and why do you haunt these woods so? She's a pretty little vessel. It's a pity I'll have to destroy her now."Fraze paused. This has NOT been a good day, he thought. Time to blow off some steam. "First of all, you're spiking the ship's water supply with perfectly good rum. I'm sure the next people to get thirsty in here will thank you for it, but it won't do anything to the ship. Who I am is not important. And, frankly, I've been threatened with violence several times today. I'm getting quite sick of it. Unless you have an arsenal of weapons far beyond the slugthrowers, crossbow, and assorted blades I see here, you'll have a very, very hard time destroying this ship. Do you have any idea how much a dropship heats up during atmospheric entry? What about when a fist-sized meteoroid traveling at ten times the speed of sound strikes against its hull? If it can survive that, it can survive just about any boom you can throw at it. I would suggest," he paused for a slight breath, "for the health and wellbeing of all concerned, that we all walk away from this and forget it ever happened." With that, he pulled what looked like a ring box out of his pocket, opened it, and--jumped into it, closing the lid behind himself. He was standing in an enormous white room, the size of a space vessel hangar. Toward the front of it were a number of racks of various armaments. He picked up a simple multi-purpose weapon, and a few more clips for his flechette gun. If they still wanted to fight, he'd be ready. About fifteen seconds later, he popped back out of the box, making no attempt to hide his weapons. "I hope you agree," he said simply. Kwoiffei((Forest))Drakhé stopped and nearly fell over. He hadn't run so much in quite a while, and it was taking a fair toll on him: he was panting heavily, his tongue hanging out of his mouth in classic canine style. And as if things could not get worse, he had somehow managed to get lost... which was easy, when one considered how little he knew. Now he was in a forest. At least a black wolf would look like it lived there... trying to blend in would be impossible for him. He couldn't change his colour, even just a little. For a moment he stood still, then he began pacing back and forth. Even now, he was still torn between going back to the safety of the Manor and trying to find his way to Dunburrow... Drakhé found himself cursing them for using a flying carpet - he couldn't smell magic! What now...?A long few minutes passed before he started barking – loud. Salamander((Mercenary HQ: Lounge))"Don't know how dangerous it is... can't tell from here," Jernath muttered. "And I know nothing of auras. You'll have to tell me how dangerous it looks."Salamander sighed silently and slumped back onto the cushions a little. "Well, I guess I'd better go out and take a look at it," she decided, in clear contradiction of her body language. "'F it does anything funny, I should see it before I get too close." The teenager rested against the cushions for several seconds before stumbling almost sleepily to her feet. "You guys're coming, right?" she asked, crossing the room to get her six-foot staff. Weapon in hand, she swung the door open and walked through the headquarters to the edge of the forest surrounding. ((Forest: Outside Merc HQ))Glancing up at the sky, Salamander easily spotted the cloud. Wow, that really is one purple cloud... she thought dumbly. Probably something to do with Kat. Clearly magical. Strife((Outskirts of Spacefleet HQ)) Whenever The Commander needed some serious time by himself, he always enjoyed travelling across the surface of NTWF's moon, where the space station was located. For some reason, he never liked the various simulation rooms and training areas scattered throughout Headquarters. He preferred a training routine that was genuine. The Commander's favorite spot to practice rested on the side of the moon that was opposite to the station. It was a barren landscape with green rocks and landforms scattered all over the place. It provided him with the perfect opportunity to escape the stress of his duties, even if it was only for a few minutes. Of course, he carried a handheld console device with him that performed the same functions as his desk. He wasn't stupid enough to go wandering around without any way to contact headquarters. Standing at the peak of a tall boulder, The Commander raised his clenched fist and slammed it knuckle-first into the boulder. The ground shook violently, and a large crack appeared in the boulder. There wasn't enough force to cause it to shatter, but it still felt extremely good. He wasn't physically strong, but he had spent so much of his spare time in this area that, for reasons that are unknown even to his officers, he began to develop the ability to manipulate rocks and the earth. At first he could only lift small stones with his mind, but after more practice, he started to lift heavier rocks... and with even more practice, he also learned how to channel psionic energy through his fists to cause short earthquakes by pounding the ground. Gracefully, The Commander jumped off the cracked boulder, turned around, and began to stare at it intensely with his eyes. With his mind, he forced all of the energy in his body to travel through his nerves, across his arms, and down to the tips of his fingers. He felt the energy grow until he could contain it no longer, and in one swift motion, he clenched his fists and swung his arms forward and upwards as if he were lifting the air. With the strength of The Commander's mental energy, the boulder catapaulted into the sky. It soared much higher than it would have on the planet, and he watched with amusement as it drifted downwards and crashed into the ground about one kilometer ahead of him. The Commander laughed devilishly. This was just what he needed to help himself control his emotional state. Just as he stopped laughing, however, his eye caught sight of the planet floating majestically above him, like a giant marble of life. Normally he would have thought it was beautiful, but his eyes caught a very unusual cloud formation. At first he thought it was some kind of tornado forming, but tornadoes usually didn't produce black and purple clouds. He immediately concluded that it was the storm his officers had contacted him about. Leoness... he immediately thought. I hope with all my heart that you are okay down there...The Commander was torn inside. He felt the sudden urge to visit the planet himself and find his lover... and yet, his will to keep the secrecy of Spacefleet's operations was pushing him to dismiss that idea. He gazed at the menacing swirl of purple and black, lost in deep thought. That storm... Normally I couldn't care less about it. The sooner those savages down there are wiped out, the sooner I can begin my ultimate plans to reshape the world. But Leoness... She's still down there. Without her, my efforts would feel pointless...
Perhaps my secret visit to the planet last week has something to do with this. It's about time I stopped letting my officers screw around. It's about time I started to get some answers.The Commander pulled out his Leech weapon, strapped it to his right wrist, and gently stroked its glass surface while staring into its crystalized power source. The crystal inside the Leech glowed with a deep black and purple light, not unlike the clouds that were terrorizing the land of Dunburrow at this very point in time. Ikkin(Castle Kestrel, Throne Room) “A…magical artifact?" Pyro said. "Do you know what—” She was cut off as Zari ran into the room, clearly having something important to say. "King Wolf? Oh, Pyro." Ikkin wondered if Zari had noticed her at all. "Did you see that Lightning? It...made my empathy go haywire. Thought you should know, that's not ordinary lightning."Well, of course it wasn't, Ikkin thought. She wasn't sure whether or not empathy worked differently than her own magical sensing abilities, though. Maybe the combination of the two could imply something about the magical lightning? “I saw it all right," Pyro said. "It’s not just your empathy that’s affected. My sword is acting strange again, and that only happens when magic’s in the air. Do any of you know where Lord Wolf is—or, Ikkin, do you know anything about this magical artifact…?”Ikkin was about to say what she'd seen, when she was cut off by Zari. “Do you have any idea what caused that storm? Even I can tell that it’s magical. And it gave me a headache…and it’s energies – they didn’t seem normal. It seemed like light and darkness mixed together, but not in the normal way. Normally, that combination would make shadow, and the storm’s energy certainly wasn’t that.”Now, that wasn't good. Very few mages ever mixed light and darkness, because the two types of magic - and ways of thinking - didn't generally tend to mix well. However, it was definitely supposed to create shadow, not magical lightning. There had to be something more to it than just light and darkness to create something like this. “Light…and darkness? That’s certainly…strange. And disturbing. Gods know I’m no magic user; I’m not even physically affected by this storm, as you can see. But even I can guess that something that draws off both light and darkness, and mixes them together to feed its power…is very powerful indeed,” Pyro said. “We have to get a message to Lord Wolf, or to some of the Knights that may be in the area. Does anyone know where the rest of us are?”Ikkin was distracted from the rest of the conversation, however, when another knight - one of the younger knights, she figured - burst in, clearly flustered. "HimynameisTrillyandI'mtheIvoryKnight," the knight said in one breath. "I was stuck in the castle, you know-- underground, I mean, and I couldn't get back up.. to the surface because, well, it's my first full day and I'm really, really bad with directions and, umm... you get the drift. I found this--" the knight didn't seem to be paying attention to where she was holding the paper, but Ikkin took it anyway, "And I was hoping one of you may know something more about it."Ikkin started to look at the paper, but couldn't help but overhear the knight talking to her companion. "How was I?" the knight whispered. "There really is no hope for you."Ikkin stifled back a chuckle as she looked at the paper. The amusement soon dissipated as she read the cryptic writing. "...and we, the seventh guild of the NTWF, do hereby claim...""What does that mean?" Ikkin said, mostly to herself. "Seven guilds? There certainly weren't seven guilds involved in the war only months ago... Where did this come from?" she asked the young knight. *** (Mage Manor, Kitchen) "Whatever potion turned Scar into a cat was VERY powerful..." Aeri whispered to Sev. "I STILL feel its effect through our soul bond, to the point of it clogging up my magical senses completely... I don't even feel YOUR energy and you're right next to me..." She sighed, closing her eyes and shaking her head.
Even Sev, despite his ironically-cold heart, had to feel bad for the dragon-bunny. Losing magical senses was, to him, equivalent to losing his eyes, and he could only imagine it was the same for Aeri.
He decided he needed to reassert his normal, aloof self very firmly to make up for the soft moment, however, so he firmly ignored all warm feelings coming from Aeri, Leo, and Scar.
The next thing he paid attention to was a question from Scar - "Wait, didn't you have something to tell all of us?"
"I would have told you sooner if you all hadn't nearly stuck me to the floor with all your sap," Sev growled. "But, anyway, Ikkin wanted to ask the Mages to come out with her to study a powerful magical artifact that she'd found in Dunburrow. And then, the storm happened. I have to wonder if the two things might be connected, so studying the artifact might help us all out a good deal.” Shade((Field to Fraze's Ship.)) The electricity did indeed disperse the shield. Unfortunately, Kat teleported off before Hades could aim and fire at her. This was not a good thing, so far as he was concerned. The gem was powerful, and it was not a good thing to not know where it was. About the time he finished cursing himself for not acting sooner, he heard Fraze say ‘Spacefleet’. The rest of what he said was lost to Hades, as he was reduced to staring at Fraze for a minute or two. When he finally recovered enough to speak, he simply said “You idiot,” and left it at that. He ignored the conversations going on, trying to figure out how to A) Inform the Mercs of what was going on, B) Get a message to Spacefleet about what was going on, and C) Find that gem again. The first two were easy. He could radio them with information. It was the third that was troublesome. Kat had said she was going to Dunburrow castle, though. He could certainly find that. And once he got there, he should be able to find Kat, and find out where the gem was from her. A smile spread across his face at the thought. Yes, he could get the information out of her, one way or another. One of the mages changing shape to a dragon broke him out of his thoughts. Hades moved away from her as she took off, flying off somewhere. Fraze let out a curse, and started running off down a path, shouting "Someone's at the dropship" back towards them as he began moving faster than was humanly possible. Hades glanced at the others. They didn’t seem to be inclined to follow Fraze. But he was. Hades began jogging after Fraze, pulling out his radio as he did so. First, the message to the Mercs, since the radio was already tuned to that frequency. “Hades here,” he said into it. “Just letting you guys know about something. Somebody found a powerful magical gemstone, and I think that various forces want it, so if you come towards Dunburrow and start advertising, you might get a job. Hades out.” He slowed down, fiddling with the frequency. If he remembered correctly, he would contact Spacefleet’s general system, and anybody who wanted to would hear him. He grinned. Chaos should ensue. “Hello, Spacefleet,” he said. “Some of you may know me. My name is Hades. I am calling to report that Fraze, an operative of yours, has broken Spacefleet’s shield of secrecy. I repeat, he has told people of Spacefleet. Zari Ailden may be involved in this revelation. Hades out.” With that, Hades turned off the radio, replacing it on his belt. This would get the ‘fleet talking, he was sure. He slowed further, hearing voices up ahead. Fraze would be one of them. Now, if he could hide, then he would be able to further antagonize people. And that would get him a bigger paycheck in the end. He slowly made his way through the bushes, careful to avoid the driest places, and ended up behind Fraze’s ship relative to everyone else. One shot, carefully placed, could do a lot. Hades smiled, and carefully shot at one of the pirates; specifically, the short one near its engines. If it worked correctly, they’d think the ship shot at them, not a person. Hades moved back in to deeper camouflage, keeping a clear line of fire to everyone in the clearing, and waited to see what chaos would come. Speck"This is N.A.R.A the NTWF Astrological Research Association." began Keng using the same outright lie tactic Zari had used. "You've failed to provide identification to the computer, please step out of the craft and identify yourselves. Failure to comply will result in the ship's self defense system activating."Speck looked around in confusion. This voice was very unlike the first one she had heard. Both voices had a tinny quality to them; seeing no obvious hiding spots in the space of the ship, she gave up looking. Yet she kept both of her kunai up, ready to attack whatever she may come into contact with. "Speck, get outta that thing," barked the captain. "I don't want to risk any of the crewmembers for the sake of... this."Her ears perked up at the familiar voice of her captain, and carefully made her way out of the ship. “Aye, captain. I was just investigating the—“ She stopped, seeing a strange silvery man holding up what was obviously some sort of weapon. It looked all too much like the pistols that some of her fellow crewmates carried, though much more sleek and advanced. Speck considered complimenting the man on the shininess of his gun, but decided against it. Instead, she pointed at the gun and asked, “What’s that?” Kat"...now what?" was all Kat could ask, still standing in front of all the Knights. The fingers clutching the bag were beginning to tremble, and knew that in a while, she would have to let go of it, but that would also mean discontinuing the spell that kept it from harming her or anyone around her. That same spell made her hand glow a purple that was fading away every minute. She wondered if the weasels were still behind her - more importantly, if they liked her little gift. PFA((Mercenary HQ: Lounge))Jernath nodded in response to Salah, who lazily waltzed across the room and grabbed her staff. He realized it might be a good idea to get his own weapons, just incase something bad were to happen. "I'll be right back," Jernath said to whoever was listening. And with that, he ran out of the room, heading toward his quarters. About a minute later, he re-entered the room, his bow and quiver slung over his back and daggers in their respective sheaths. He was just about to head out after Salah, when suddenly a voice came over the radio. "Hades here. Just letting you guys know about something. Somebody found a powerful magical gemstone, and I think that various forces want it, so if you come towards Dunburrow and start advertising, you might get a job. Hades out.""Speaking of Hades..." Jernath muttered, letting the message register in his brain. A magical gemstone? In Dunburrow? Perhaps this had something to do with that purple cloud... Perhaps the best part of the whole message, however, was the part about getting a job. Finally, the dull, waiting around at the HQ might end. He smiled. Suddenly, the thought occurred to him that he should tell Salah, who had already left the building by now. So he started toward the door again, pausing only briefly to look back at the other mercenaries. "You guys might want to get your things ready," he told them. "This could be big." And with that, he ran out the door, over to where Salah was. ((Forest: Outside Merc HQ))"Hey, Salah!" Jernath called out, running over to the light mage. He noticed the dark cloud as he approached, realizing how big it looked without all the trees in the way. He pondered about how powerful this thing really was, but he decided to think about that later. He had important news. "Hades just contacted us over the radio," he told Salah as he came up next to her. "He said there was a powerful gem of some sort at Dunburrow... where that cloud is. He said that we might be able to get a job if we go there," he grinned with the last sentence. ZariZari swore and ran after Fraze. She tripped and a bullet whizzed over her head. In typical ZariKrahia fashion, she swore again and ran towards Frazes, her visor knocked askew. She stared at Rider and Speck for about two seconds. She then said 'Ahm...this ship is private property.' in a brisk tone. 'We could have you arrested. Be lucky we probably won't.' Amneiger((This is what I get for going off for a day...I should probably hurry Amneiger a bit.)) "I'm not sure," Amneiger said in response to Ethan's request. "I've just been told to go to the planet to make some observations, though. Maybe that has something to do with it. Anyway, I'd better hurry." Amneiger walked into the Spacefleet docking bay with a hovercart carrying two duffel bags and followed by a minitank. He looked around, and tapped one of the mechanics on the shoulder. "Um, hello? I just got some orders from the Commander," he said, holding up a small chip. "I need a ship for one trip to the surface and back. And I'm going to need a pilot." Ten minutes later the ship was approaching the outskirts of the storm. "Where to?" asked the pilot. "That clearing in the forest, over there." As the ship landed, Amneiger stood up. "Once I'm gone, lock the door. Program the keypad with the code 66243708. Close all the windows and try to stay quiet; remember that nobody is supposed to know about us yet." Amneiger grabbed the handle of the hovercart as he turned to the minitank. "Stay in here for now." "Got it," replied the pilot. He yawned and stretched. "Maybe I'll get some rest." The mintank, which lacked a speech unit, instead flashed a green LED light three times. ((Forest: near Farmer Bob's field))Amneiger stepped outside, propped up an umbrella between the bags, and made his way to the edge of the forest, pulling the cart along behind him. He was going to get a look at the cornfield first before doing anything. There was a small knot of people standing in the middle of it; at this distance they weren't much more than a group of black shapes. Amneiger pulled a pair of binoculars from the bag and looked at them. Mages and knights from the look of them, but nobody he recognized. Most of them appeared to be walking away. Where was Zari and the other officer? Amneiger stepped back under the trees and pulled a portable computer from one of the bags. Zari, this is Amneiger. The Commander sent me to the planet to study the storm and I've just reached the cornfield. Where are you?Which reminded Amneiger to send another message to Strife. Commander, I'm on the planet now. I currently do not see either Zari or another other members of Spacefleet and have sent a message to Zari. In the meantime I will start setting up the equipment.Normally Amneiger would have waited for a response before proceeding further, but the storm seemed to be slowly losing power; if he wanted to take measurements, he'd better do them now. First he took out the wind speed meter, put it down under the umbrella, and attached it to the computer. He pressed the power button and then the record button. On the screen, the words "Wind speed meter online. Recording session started," appeared and the meter twitched towards the direction of the wind. Next was the jars for the water. Amneiger pulled out a jar and a knee-height wooden stool and carefully made his way out from under the trees, keeping as low as possible to avoid detection. Once he was sufficiently away from the branches he put the stool on the ground and set the jar on top of it. He did this two more times. Finally, Amneiger stepped back slightly further into the forest and placed the stand for the lightning rod where it wouldn't be obstructed by the branches. He pressed a button on the bottom and rod telescoped up until it reached a point just above the trees. This rod had been colored a nonreflective black and Amneiger was hoping that anybody who saw it would dismiss it as just a shadow. When each of these had been connected to the computer and their recording sessions started, Amneiger started up a word processer and began typing. Entry time - 12:30:15. Arrived at storm site, coordinates (238, 781). At 12:25 observed small group of people near center of storm. Many of them appeared to be leaving the site. Descriptions as follows: one female, black hair, purple bandThe radio crackling stopped Amneiger from finishing writing the word "bandanna." Hades! What's he...
...
...Well. Um.Amneiger almost reached for the radio, but stopped. It would be easier to keep his presence here a secret if he didn't transmit but only listened. Instead he continued typing up his observations. ((Edit: Forgot to contact Strife like I was supposed to. >> Shade((Kestrel Castle Throne Room)) Shade tried to pay attention to the others. She really did. Her headache, however, was keeping her from hearing most of what they were saying. She did hear that it wasn’t just her that was affected, but other things, such as Pyro’s flameblade, were acting up. She was about to ask anybody if they knew a good way to get rid of headaches when Kat teleported in and she was blinded. The pain increased, too. Shade slid down the wall, trying to focus enough to actually know what was going on. She could hear faint words, but nothing else. The only clear thing in her sight was the dark/bright purple glow of what seemed to be a gem. “Get that thing out of here,” she whispered. At least, it seemed like a whisper when filtered through the buzzing in her ears. It was probably louder to everyone else. She didn’t care. “Get it out of here,” she repeated, louder. The glow sharpened. Shade could see it, hanging above the pale shadow of the ground and near the barely visible gold aura of Kat. It was inside something, probably a bag. Shade found Savucu in her hand, but couldn’t figure out how it had gotten there. It didn’t matter. She fell forwards, slashing at the bag. She saw the glowing gem fall, roll on the floor, leave a trail of purple behind it. “Get out.” Now she wasn’t sure if she thought or spoke the words. “Before you kill me. Get out!” Shade hit the gem with Savucu, watching the steady bronze glow. The gem rolled across the floor, heading towards the throne. Shade’s hearing returned, or rather, the buzzing decreased enough for her to hear things. She was now aware that she lay on the ground panting, and that the others were quite probably staring at her. Rikku((In Farmer Bob's field, a long, long time ago, there was a young necromancer who - *brick'd*)) The thing about fields is that they’re remarkably lacking in chairs. And benches, for that matter. And conveniently placed rocks. And everything that could conceivably be used to sit on, when it came to it. So Rikku, after casting around a little, muttered something that shouldn’t be repeated and sat gingerly on the bare earth. Surf had run off to the Manor. There wasn’t much point in following her. Rikku and Nature were alone in this burnt field – even that ‘Spacefleet’ person and the obnoxious vampire had gone. “So, Nature,” Rikku said, drawing her knees up and resting her head on her arms. “I wonder what kind of situation we have here.” She looked up at the sky. It was dark, dismal, lit up only by those unnatural flashes of light. She looked down again, and studied the singed earth. “Frankly, I’m worried. I don’t want, or need, war. Death is all very well, but not when it’s dished out to all of your friends.” She paused and chewed her lip. “I just want everyone to be safe … well, no, I guess that’s not entirely true. I couldn’t care less about the people I don’t know. Does that make me evil? Well, guess it doesn’t matter. I’m a necromancer; I practice the dark arts. Evil is in the job description. If anyone ever wanted to apply to be a necromancer, that is. Which is pretty unlikely. Even if they had anyone to apply to.” She coughed. “Anyway …” Something occurred to. “Oh, Anubis. I really hope that if anyone dies, they won’t come running to me. Erm … I mean … I hope they’re not brought to me. Yeah.” She scratched the back of her head. “It just feels … like the storm’s holding back. There’s so much tension in the air. And I want to be under shelter when the storm breaks.” She kicked at the ground. She would never be saying all this (or rambling this much)were the freezemancer actually awake. Everyone seemed to have left. Rikku was bored … frankly, very bored. To climax it, a dog started barking not far from there. Loudly. Rikku waited for it to stop, and then gritted her teeth and stuck her hands over her ears. The last thing she wanted was to act impulsively again, and have even MORE people thinking she was some kind of deranged idiot. “Oh, blow it all.” Rikku got stiffly to her feet, paused, and placed her water bottle by Nature’s head. “Thanks for listening, pal.” She looked over at the castle, but decided that going closer to the thing probably wasn’t a good idea, and instead walked into the forest, deciding to search for the dog. Its barking certainly didn’t sound like any dog she’d ever head. It almost had more of a … lupine sound to it. Rikku pulled out her frying pan. It felt solid and reassuring in her hand. She went a little more cautiously than usual, which meant that she was concentrating too hard on not making a sound that she probably walked straight past several suspicious things that she’d normally investigate. However, even she couldn’t miss the impressive (and shiny) ship, and the people clustered around it. She quirked an eyebrow and leaned against a tree near it. Hopefully nobody would notice her … At that point there was the sound of … something. Maybe a weapon? Rikku dived to the ground on reflex, but got to her feet again, brushing off bits of rot and dead leaves, when she saw whatever-it-was hadn’t been aimed at her. She sighed, wanting to ask someone what was going on, but decided to just observe for the moment. Hopefully the people clustered around the ship would be so distracted by the shot they wouldn’t notice the suspicious green-haired Mage standing so close to them. Rikku’s eyes widened as she glanced up. The storm, which had seemed to be receding earlier, had now greatly intensified. Along with it came a piercing headache that made the necromancer wince. “Something might have happened to the jewel …” She spoke out loud, forgetting her surroundings, and then groaned and put her face in the hands. “Um, by the way, that suspicious shot before was definitely not me.” She glanced at the shiny thing. “It looked like it came from there, but …” She trailed off and cleared her throat. “Not me. Nope.” There was still a slight chance that everybody was too busy to notice her. A very slight chance. Vyt((Forest: Near Ninja Guild))Colors. Pretty colors swirling inside the translucent crystal ball. Bluisa knew fairly well that it meant trouble for her surveillance. She could not get a clear view on the whereabouts of the people holding the artifact they were looking for. "... Bluisa!" A shout from Cat Assassin shook Bluisa out of concentration as she instinctively glanced towards the feline. "You've been staring at the ball for quite a long time," Cat Assassin noted. "Anything wrong?" Taken by shyness at first, Bluisa could not open her mouth, letting out gibberish words like "But, but, the ball..." The crystal ball then shone brightly, the white light escaping from it. Everyone around was blinded temporarily, but as the light dissipated they could see clearly what was going on through the crystal ball. The image in the ball was that of Shade aiming at a gem, a bit furious for some reason. Only Bluisa knew clearly what was going on, but before she could explain the scene inside the image swiftly moved. The lass inside the image had already fired her armament, causing the gem to roll away and out of view. "It's the artifact!" she exclaimed. "She's trying to destroy it!” Zari((Castle Kestrel, Throne room.)) Zari jumped at Shades sudden anger, watching, wide-eyed as the Phoenix of Darkness got more and more agitated until she slashed at the bag and a purple gem came rolling out. The pain was excrutiating. Her empathy raged harder than ever, her head throbbing like some sort of demented...her head was too painful. Her legs gave way and she sat. Hoping, naively, that the pain would stop if she couldn't see it, she covered her eyes. 'Dun believe tis there, it's not ther-OWCH.' sdhe removed her hands from her face and started giggling inanely. 'Hehe...another bad day, in a string of filthy days...I'm on a roll. Or something along those lines (Lengthened.) Kat"No!" gasped Kat. The spell broke when Shade slashed at the bag and Kat lost her grip on it. Now, the Purple Knight was on her knees, clutching her head. But the gem...it was heading for the throne...would it cause something if it struck? She didn't know what made her do it, but she created a bright purple fireball, the flames leaving trails in her vision as she released it like a bowling ball. It blazed towards the gem, knocking it off course before it could hit the throne. The gem looked like it exuded a more sinister version of her signature purple magic...her signature...magic... "I'm taking it...with me...somewhere...where...I can..." Kat shuddered, but managed to summon enough energy to crawl over to the gem, but once it was in her hands, everything went black. IkkinIkkin turned the paper over in her hands, wondering what it could mean, when her magical senses were blasted with the most powerful force she'd ever felt, as if the magical storm from earlier had burst into existence right next to her head. She dropped the paper, putting her hands to her head as she tried to block it out, to no avail. " No!" she heard Kat gasp, and she turned to see what had happened. A gem had fallen - apparently from a bag in the Purple Knight's hands - and tumbled towards the throne. Kat shot a fireball at the gem, knocking it away from the throne, then crawled over to it, finally grabbing hold of it before losing consciousness. "Kat!" Ikkin yelled, running over to her while doing her best to ignore the throbbing magical force that grew ever more powerful as she drew closer. She stumbled once, forced herself up, then stumbled again when she reached the other knight. This time, she stayed on her knees, feeling for a pulse from Kat to make sure she was still alive, as the magic was too powerful to make out the magical signature even of a powerful mage like Kat. Kat's heartbeat was reassuringly strong. She had clearly only passed out. Ikkin wasn't sure if it was just a trick of her imagination, though, but it seemed to be a bit irregular. In any case, she thought, it would probably be best if she wasn't touching the gem, so, she pulled Kat up and away from it, using a quick gust of wind to send the gem away from both the throne and the knights in the room. It stopped a few feet from the wall; Ikkin breathed a sigh of relief that the distance helped make the headache that it was creating diminish at least somewhat. "What is that thing?" she asked, to no one in particular. NatureDarkness. A swirling, unending darkness which no one could see through. Nature rubbed her eyes and squinted, but she couldn't see anything through the fog. It was too dismal, too dark . . . too dark for the Freezemancer to handle. She started coughing madly, her face turning livid. She looked around and realized what was going on.
The fumes were choking her.
Suddenly, from the fogs, a silhouette came out. Nature squinted. It looked like some sort of astronaut, only in fancier clothing. In its helmet, two evil, red eyes glared at the Freezemancer. Nature, with all her strength, got up and, with determination shining in her jet-black eyes, summoned her most trusty weapon of all.
Her sitar.
The astronaut looked at the musical instrument. He grinned an evil grin. Nature strummed her sitar for attack. But just at that moment, he pulled out some sort of gun and zapped it at the Zafara. Nature screamed as the blast hit her arm, forcing her to let go of her sitar. Nature was sent flying through the air and landed with a thud on her tail. Her expression of anger was then transformed into one of utter horror as the astronaut went to her sitar and grabbed it. He grinned evilly at her once again, and left.
"No! NOOOOOOOOOOO! Please don't take it! *choke gasp choke* NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO . . ."Nature suddenly opened her eyes and sat up. The dark clouds were still there, but she wasn't in that scary, foreboding dimension she was in earlier. She looked around. Farms, trees, roads - she was still in Dunburrow. Gasping wildly, the Zafara looked at her side and sighed a breath of relief. Her sitar was still there, safe and untouched. She picked it up and strummed it a little. Still in perfect condition. Good. The Zafara breathed heavily, her eyes still wide with fear. That dream was a wee bit too real . . . why did she get it? She pondered this while keeping a tight grip on her sitar, just in case someone was really going to get it. She hoped no one got it, or her arnis, or Seline, or -- Nature gasped, a panicked expression appearing on her face as quickly as the lightning bolt that struck her. "Where is Seline?!" ~~~~~~*~~~~~~ Seline ran through the large halls of the Manor, hoping to find the fire-furred Zafara Nature trained under. Her owner probably needed some help, especially at a dark time like this. The Elvish Dragon looked up at the nearest window. The dark clouds were getting stronger. Quiclky, she ran on, looking for Omni.
She panicked as she ran down the halls, going wherever the heck her feet told her to go. Where was Lady Omni's office?! Seline sighed and frowned. "That's it, Seline," she muttered to herself. "Next time, try to at least navigate your way throught this stupid--"
Her thoughts were stopped short as she bumped into something. Something burning. Seline landed on her tail, a large burn mark appearing on her arm. She looked up and saw a familiar-looking fire-bird flying up over her, looking at her in surprise.
Seline growled at the phoenix hovering above her.
"Sev." Pyro ((Castle Kestrel, Throne Room)) Pyro took a step back out of sheer shock as not only did a new knight rush in, but in another second, Kat appeared out of thin air. Kat was clutching onto a bag, and Pyro immediately knew that whatever was in that bag wasn’t good. Everyone else felt it too, as Zari started shaking and looking very dizzy. ”It’s…something, and it’s been messing with me too. We found it in the field; we think it's what's making this place all stormy."”Pyro resisted the urge to rub her eyes as a bunch of weasels appeared behind Kat. The bag was emitting a kind of purplish glow from deep within. It wasn’t the clean, pure violet of Kat’s magic, either. It was a deep, shadowy color that reminded Pyro sickeningly of blood, thick and dark. " …now what?" It was exactly what the Black Knight wanted to ask. Before she got farther, though, Shade’s cries made her whirl and look at the Bronze Knight. As Shade struck at the bag that housed the artifact, a flashing purple gem fell out and spun across the floor, leaving marks of violet behind it. Shade collapsed, and Pyro ran forward to help her as the gem moved further away. However, this put the Black Knight closer to the gem herself. “What the— aah!” The sword at her side was getting blazing hot, as though it would sear through her clothes, flesh and bone all in one. She tore at her belt, undoing the ties with fumbling fingers and flinging the sword, still in its scabbard, to the ground. As it fell, she felt the pressure in the room increase, pounding on either side of her head. She winced and closed her eyes, trying to fight back the wave of nausea that threatened to swamp her. This makes no sense! If my flameblade is the only thing protecting me from that thing’s magic…well, I can’t keep it on, I’ll be burned alive! She dropped to her knees. “Shade? Shade, are you well?” Behind her, Kat too collapsed, and Ikkin’s words rang in Pyro’s head. “We have to get it out of here,” the Black Knight muttered, eyeing her sword on the floor a pace away. “That thing is…affecting all of us. It’s evil." Kwoiffei((Forest))For what seemed like a long time, Drakhé barked as loud as he could, trying to catch someone's attention. They started to get softer and more strained, before they ceased very suddenly. My throat!He nearly collapsed, panting even more heavily than before. The strain of barking loud had clearly taken its toll; his throat was in pain. That pain was almost too much to bear - certainately too much to keep going. And his world was spinning, and his head was going fuzzy. And he was sure that stormclouds were not supposed to be that shade of purple... not that he would know. Prior to this world, his life had been sheltered by an underwater ruin...
Drakhe... karden ampir... karden Aronesh..."Karden... karden..." The words came out of his maw in a soft, ragged voice. His eyes were half-closed, as if he were dreaming... A little ant stung his paw. The eyes snapped open. "KARDEN!"Drakhé yelled, and rolled around sideways. As he did so he hit upon an idea: something was making his brain go haywire. Something was messing him up... messing everything up. It had to be whatever was causing the storm. "Karden... no. Guard! I have to get out of here!"He pushed himself to his feet once more, and began to run, trying to get away from the storm. Then he went face-first into a tree. Salamander((Forest: Outside Merc HQ))Jernath ran out the door a few minutes later, armed with his various weapons. "Hades just contacted us over the radio," he told Salamander as he came up next to her. "He said there was a powerful gem of some sort at Dunburrow... where that cloud is. He said that we might be able to get a job if we go there."Salamander smiled. "Really? That's great! I guess we'd better head for that cloud, then..." She clumsily tied her hair back into a ponytail with one hand, waiting for the rest of the mercenaries to join them. CyborgCyborg and Midknight grabbed their cutlasses and rushed outside to Salah and Jernath. ((Forest: Outside Merc HQ)) " So where are we going?" Midknight asked. KitTime seemed to take on its own pace as Kit sat within the Knights' archives, looking at records dated back to a decade and a half ago. The archive keepers were meticulous in their job, noting down everything down to the monthly wages given to the castle servants. While this meant that what Kit was searching for was definitely recorded, it also meant that he had a lot of data to sift through.
Eventually though, his finger settled down on one line:
Kristen Winterstone, Knight of Dunburrow
Kit took a deep breath, not sure what to make of it. He had been hoping all along that he was wrong, and at the same time, he had been expecting it all along. Ever since their first encounter with the shadows, long before the first war.. ever since that vision. Ever since then he knew.
The Knights had been lying to him.
Kristen had been a Winterstone.
The Knights had killed a Winterstone.
He turned around to face Madame Esmerta, the castle healer. Her corpse hung from a bookcase, drained of blood. Taking a paintbrush, he dipped it in the pool of blood that had gathered below her and painted a demonic circle. Beside him, Maya watched in silence. She knew the pain he was going through, and it hurt her as well. Ever since Kat had returned with the gem, she knew what Kit was going to do.
The library filled with a black mist as Kit began chanting the invocations. This was a much different summoning method from his usual tarotic magic. Maya had been there with Kit as he traced the roots of Enochian magic, a much more powerful form of summoning.
For one, it called out into a different plane altogether.
When Kit emerged from the library, he was flanked by two angels. The first had a metallic tail that sat coiled around her waist. The second carried a twin pair of swords. Bladetail and Twinsword. And behind them, followed three demons. Nyia, a demon of death that covered her form with black tendrils. Tavara, a demon of nightmares who wore a raven mask over his face. And finally, a Zahhak. A mix between a dragon and a scorpion, the final demon had the body and head of a dragon, with the carapace and stinger of a scorpion.
It wasn't hard for him to find the Throne Room. After all, he had lived in the castle for a long time. And then there was the fact that it was radiating magical energy at such intensity that Kit would have to be blind to miss it.
"You guys seem to have made quite a mess," Kit said in greeting as he stepped into the Throne Room. Kat was unconscious, Shade was nearly there, and almost everyone else seemed to have been hit hard. His eyes finally settled on the centrepiece of the chaos, a single gem that lay against the wall.
Ignoring the other knights, he made his way over to the gem, aware of the energy it radiated. "You all don't know what this little thing can do, do you?" he said as he produced a vial of Esmerta's blood and poured it over the gem, causing its energies to slow down to a small ebb. Satisfied, he picked the gem up and slipped it into his pocket.
"Take her too," Kit said, nodding towards Shade. Nyia closed her eyes in acknowledgement and sent a dozen tendrils rushing towards the fallen knight.
Seven clicks away, a silent intruder pulled herself aboard the White Weewoo. Vyt((Forest: Near Ninja Guild))Bluisa watched in horror as the image inside the ball progressed. She had managed to focus again on the gem, only to see it covered in red gooey liquid. Eventually realizing what it was, Bluisa looked pale, as if forcing herself not to vomit at the sight of the gem. Why was everyone trying to destroy the gem, she thought. She then watched curiously at the man who had just picked up the gem: it was a slim black-haired man, his dark hazel eyes seeming to have no emotion at all. His appearance scared Bluisa into shivering, not because she was afraid of seeing new people but because of the person's intimidating look despite his build. Known to be scared by no one, Cat Assassin looked at the surrounding of the image instead of the man. He had not seen the interior of the place, but the decorations and the medieval atmosphere of the room gave him a hint. "This is the Knights Guild, isn't it?" he asked no one in particular. A moment later, the feline realized that the man had just snatched the gem from the group of people, and that they could not waste any more time. "PFA!" he turned towards his niece. "We have to hurry. We don't know what this man is going to do with the gem, and I don't want to know what... We have to get the gem from him, no matter what it takes!" Cat Assassin then turned towards Bluisa, who was still stunned by the image. He had managed to call her a couple of times before he could get her attention. "Jump on my back. We'll have to run," he commanded her, in which she obeyed diligently. Amidst the feline's chain of commands, his feet started to illuminate, giving out a very familiar look. Focused energy started to surround them, even making a small curvature on the muddy soil for every step he took. Huntress((Forest: Fraze's ship))Huntress, wondering to herself what exactly she'd done to get herself into this mess, raised her hands to pick up the crossbow, then reconsidered. The crossbow wouldn't help her much in that situation, and only serve as extra distraction. Instead, she snapped her fingers. Bob Squeaky wasn't quite on the same bounce-level as Bloody Mary, who spent most of his time dropping himself on people's shoulders, but he was ever-so-good at tactics nevertheless. So he dropped himself out of the pouch and disappeared into the thick grass. "You know," said the captain to the whole scene in general, "while I do appreciate people getting protective of their belongings, I don't appreciate of them getting all jumpy while doing so. Can get horribly messy." Skip. Skip. Dodge. Aim."And we're naught but humble travellers," Hunty added, fully aware that the sarcasm wouldn't help the situation by a single bit, but already reached the state of mind where she had to let out some steam, or her head would explode. "Can you blame us for getting a little curious when running into your lovely thingamabopper here, with an open door and all, and looking into it? No harm was meant, after all." And jump.Bob Squeaky landed on Fraze's shoulder and instantly grabbed his ear in order to keep the balance. "How in the name of flying apple cores does Bloody Mary do that?" he grumbled, then shuffled around for a more comfortable position. "Pardonemente, buddy. I too appreciate getting protective, but I don't appreciate you pointing things at my people, and if we all don't calm down right this minute, I'll be forced to bite your nose off." Rider((Forest, the dropship))"For the health and wellbeing of all concerned, that we all walk away from this and forget it ever happened.""Walk away and pretend this never happened? There's a freakazoid storm that's messing up my skies and my seas, and suddenly the land is crawling with pirates and you drop in from who-knows-where. These facts can't be unrelated. I'm no stupid landlubber. Oh, and don't be so rock-certain about this here beauty. She has weak points like anything, and if she don't, you most certainly do." 'We could have you arrested. Be lucky we probably won't.' Rider turned to Zari. "I'm a pirate. You act as though I haven't heard those words a hundred thousand times before. if words had any affect on me, I'd have been out of here when that hellship started talking." ((Castle Kestrel, Stables, Throne Room))Rider had allowed him a week to visit Sora, the sable mare. Actually, her exact words had been more along the lines of, "Get out of here so I can actually get some tenants in this barn. Some horses who earn their keep by paying the rent instead of just eating me out of house and home." A sudden surge of demonic energy in the immediate area caught Shiva off-guard. "Um? Hello?" No reply. "I'll be right back, love," he said to Sora. Recklessly he galloped towards what he percieved to be the source of the energy. The library... but it was moving towards the throne room? "You guys seem to have made quite a mess,""I could say the same of you, Kit." Shiva said from the other side of the throne room door. "Could someone, y'know, open up? It's not easy with hooves and all."
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Post by GW2 on Oct 15, 2008 13:35:24 GMT -5
PFA((Forest: Near Ninja Guild))PFA had been silently listening to Bluisa and Uncle, when suddenly... "It's the artifact!" Bluisa yelped. "She's trying to destroy it!""What?!" PFA yelped, desperately trying to look over Bluisa's shoulder, into the crystal ball. By the time PFA had managed to get a good look at the ball, the image inside had changed. This time, it showed a knight with jet-black hair, shoving the gem into his pocket... Kit... the knight's name rang through PFA's head. "PFA!" Uncle shouted, snapping PFA out of her thoughts. "We have to hurry. We don't know what this man is going to do with the gem, and I don't want to know what... We have to get the gem from him, no matter what it takes!"PFA watched as Bluisa hopped on Uncle's shoulders, and then Uncle's feet started to glow as he zoomed off at superhuman speed. PFA recognized this as Uncle's ability to use focused energy. As amazing at it was to watch, it didn't change one little detail... Uncle may have been carrying Bluisa, but he wasn't carrying PFA. "WAIT!" PFA shouted after him, starting to run as fast as she possibly could in an attempt to catch up. "Don't leave me behind!" --- ((Forest: Outside Merc HQ))Jernath nodded in response to Salah, who gathered up her hair into a ponytail. He turned to look toward the mercenary HQ, just in time to see Cyborg and Midknight running toward them, their cutlasses hanging at their belts. ((or do they carry them on their backs? >_>)) "So where are we going?" Midknight asked. "I'm assuming..." Jernath replied, and he gestured toward the purple cloud in the distance, which seemed to be getting bigger as they spoke. "...That we're heading over to where those clouds are.” Celestial((Castle Kestrel)) Celestial was suddenly knocked off her feet and felt a searing pain in every fibre of her being felt like it was on fire. Normally that wouldn't affect her since fire and dragons were mutual allies but this was a dark fire. She forgot about her wings and spasmodically outstreched them, not caring if anybody saw. She knew it was the object. Something had happened to it and her magic was going mad. It's evil smell clogged her nose and she couldn't breathe, just fighting back the urge to retch and pass out. For what seemed like an eternity, the pain went on. Suddenly it receeded and Celestial stood, without the shakiness somebody wold have expected after such an ordeal. The smell of the gem had receeded. Not caring if anybody saw her wings anymore, she ran/flew towards the Throne Room where the gem was...for now. The now recovering Overlord told her it was moving which some person and two dark...entities...and a demon horse?! She rushed to the throne room doors and saw the horse who unlike most, didn't bolt or even flick its ears when she approached. "Could someone, y'know, open up? It's not easy with hooves and all" the strange horse said and Celestial walked up to it and ,without saying a word, opened the door. The scene was chaos. Knights were lying everywhere and unusually, that didn't please Celestial's draconic side. She then saw the person and the two entities which Overlord reported to her. In his hand was the gem, the gem she had seen earlier. It still smelled of evil but less now, like somebody had sprayed a kind of magical air fresher over it. Overlord however, told her that it's powers were diminished. "Who are you?" she addressed this question to the person, keeping her voice from wavering and outstreching her wings for immediate flight if things went wrong. She couldn't rely on her magic with that gem nearby. "What do you want with that jewel? It should be returned to it's rightful owner so that the storm stops!” Keng"How in the name of flying apple cores does Bloody Mary do that?""Bloody hell." "Actually I think it was 'bloody mary' Ma'am." corrected Phillipe. "No, I - well yea, I know that, the problem is I know who that is." "Isn't that some sort of poltergeist from a ghost story?" "Close enough." Keng had of course heard the whole conversation, and upon hearing all the talk of pirates and then the name of Huntress's meepit she came to the realization that these were her old shipmates she was talking too. This would be harder to salvage than she thought. She would have to play dumb for now. "Capt. Fraze, I assume then that you've successfully relocated the prototype. Will you require the extraction team to get it back to N.A.R.A.? You can give me the test flight recap later. For now can you provide identification on the unknowns?" she asked over the radio, hoping Fraze would have the sense to play along. If the one who had said Fraze had left the door open was telling the truth, then Fraze certainly wasn't having a good day. Omni((Mage manor, kitchen)) "An artifact?" Omni said as Sev finished speaking. It was right about then that Surf burst into the room and started talking about a gem and some things that happened outside. "I'm guessing that's the same artifact?" " Sev." Omni looked down and saw a blue dragon creature with white cloud-spots, who she recognized as Nature's companion. "Hey, uh… dragon…" She searched her head for its name. " Suh… seh… sah… "…Sabine?" That didn't quite sound right, but she was pretty sure it was close. She really needed a way to start learning names more easily. "What are you doing here?" She remembered something that Surf mentioned. "Is Nature still out there?!" Strife((Outskirts of Spacefleet HQ)) Just as The Commander was making his return to Headquarters, his communication device emitted a light beeping sound. He pulled the device out off of his belt and held it up to his ear. "Yes?" he grunted. "Sir," said the voice of one of his various subcommanders. "An officer on the surface of the planet has reported a Code Red Security Breach." His heart rate increased dramatically. "Replay the report." "Yes Sir." At that point, the message sent by Hades, a retired Spacefleet operative, echoed over the device. "Hello, Spacefleet. Some of you may know me. My name is Hades. I am calling to report that Fraze, an operative of yours, has broken Spacefleet’s shield of secrecy. I repeat, he has told people of Spacefleet. Zari Ailden may be involved in this revelation. Hades out." The Commander didn't know what to think. His first thought was to dismiss Hades' message because, under Spacefleet protocol, retired officers were not entitled to report security breaches or make any other sort of announcement. On the other hand, Hades had served well during his time in Spacefleet, and of course, there was the issue of what Fraze was doing on the surface. But Professor Ailden? "Sir?" repeated the subcommander through the device. The Commander shook himself out of his thoughts. "How much time has passed since the message was received?" "About three minutes, Sir. Every officer above basic rank received it." He cursed under his breath. This news was likely to cause his officers to take sides on the issue. He had already dealt with traitors trying to kill him over the past week or so, and he didn't know how much more of that he could take. So much for taking a break from his duties... "I will return to Headquarters shortly and deal with this situation myself. In the meantime, upgrade the lockdown to Level 3 status. Things are bad enough on the surface as it is, and I don't want any more officers causing trouble." "Yes Sir." "One more thing, subcommander. Order the guards in Subterrainian Sector 6 to prepare for execution procedures. When this situation is resolved, we're going to need the extra space in our detainment cells. Execute all detainees except for subcommander #12. Save him for me." "Affirmitive, Sir. I will announce the change in lockdown procedure and contact Sector 6 immediately." The Commander closed his communication device and stuffed it back into his belt. As one last vent of frustration, he approached a spike-shaped rock to his right, focused psionic energy into his fists, and gave it a straight forward punch. It smashed into about three smaller pieces that flew forward, skipping along the ground before they fell over about a kilometer ahead of him. An intimidating smirk appeared on his face, and he rushed back to Headquarters. * * * A message boomed over the loudspeakers on every floor, corridor, and room of Spacefleet HQ. "Attention all personnel! The current lockdown has been upgraded to Level 3 status. No persons may enter or leave this facility unless authorized by The Commander himself. Lockdown procedures will end in approximately 45 minutes. Thank you for your cooperation." Fraze((Forest: My Ship))“What’s that?” one of the pirates asked, looking at his flechette gun. "A gun," Fraze replied. "I could give you a demonstration if you really wanted, but I'd rather not make this any more tense than it already is." The sprint had winded Fraze, though he was trying not to show it. He could still get away if he needed to. As he finished saying this, he became aware of a blue meepit that on his shoulder. "Pardonemente, buddy. I too appreciate getting protective, but I don't appreciate you pointing things at my people, and if we all don't calm down right this minute, I'll be forced to bite your nose off."Fraze considered giving a physical demonstration involving a rock applied forcefully to his face to demonstrate skinsuit durability, but again, decided against it. "First, my good meepit, I'm not pointing anything at anyone. However, it's currently two humanoids against three humanoids and an indeterminate number of non-humanoids--you can see why I'm jumpy. However, we seem to be in agreement in terms of calming down." He was caught slightly by surprise by Keng's message. However, he hadn't been an actor all his life for nothing. He knew Keng's affiliations, and realized he wanted her to identify her comrades. Catching on, he replied. "Ah, commander, good to hear your voice again ma'am. Yes, I just managed to find the prototype after the crash, but I seem to have encountered three pirates who have taken an interest in it. One of the unknowns has black-and-yellow striped hair, carries a crossbow, and seems to have a dark blue meepit under her command. Another is of compact stature, wears a red cape, and seems to be under the impression that I left the door open; the third is carrying two kunai and several...lemons. I would certainly appreciate the extraction team's help in the matter, I will send you my coordinates now." With that, Fraze sent out his location, along with a message via his skinsuit, unspoken so that the pirates would not hear it. "First, I closed the door. And locked it. I don't have a clue how they got in. Second, I know what's causing this storm. I don't know how much I can tell you about it, but I know that it's currently in the hands of a mage named Kat. I think she mentioned something about pirate affiliations to me, so you may know her. Third, I know you're about ready to bite my head off for coming down here. Well, check the audio transmissions in my quarters, and you'll see that I got permission to go planetside from Commander Strife. But the way things are going, I'm beginning to wonder if it wasn't really the Commander who gave me permission. Fourth, if you come down here, could you bring my Table? Tensions are rising, and not just because of this dispute over the dropship. I think there may be a fight, and I want to be ready. You should bring your own armaments, as well." Zari((Zari's wearing a helmet and Visor, just so you know, since if she wasn't there'd be 'why the fail. You look like that weirdo Crimson Knight from Xenam.' FOREST: FRAZES SHIP)) Zari heard Kengs voice and loooked around, trying to locate the werewolf. She realised, dimly, that it was a message. Maybe from Fraze's skinsuit? Her wristcomp tended to pick up things... 'Uh...This is Professor Ailden here. Three- four? -Pirates have discovered the ship.' she backed away, and under cover of a coughing fit, muttered 'Let the Commander know my-erm- connections in this area may help retreive this thing. You know what I mean.' she lowered her wristcomp and smiled. 'Okay. I tried threats. Could you please remove yourselves from this ship?' she paused. 'Wait, I'm asking pirates to leave quietly? I must be made of phail.' -- ((Castle Kestrel: Throne Room)) 'Mess? You got that right.' Zari shakily pulled herself to her feet, then rubbed her head as First some sort of...something her mind couldn't grasp...then Shiva burst through the doors. 'This ain't parade day, or the Monday Theatre. Whazzwitheveryonetoday! Don'tcha think Kit migh' be doing just that? Returning it. Or nooooo-ow. Don't listen to me. I'm spouting nonsense that probably makes sense since I'm a terrible judge of what does make sense.' On that rather confused Note, Zari managed to get herself upright. 'Frankly, I'm thankful, since that thing isn't eating away at my head functions anymore. Much longer and most of you would have been mental toast.' Blinking Rapidly, she turned to look at Celestial, amber eyes narrowed.
Crystal ((The White Weewoo)) The pig had not liked swimming. Pigs were made for soft, slushy mud, not the salty waters of the bay where the White Weewoo sat at anchor. Still, it reasoned, it hadn’t been that bad. At least it was warm. Now the ship, that was quite another matter. The ship was aggravatingly dry, with hard wooden floors and a smell wafting from the cabins below decks that somehow reminded the pig of the sty belonging to its long deceased mother. Come to think of it, the pig hadn’t liked it’s mother’s sty either. In fact, it considered itself quite well-versed in the art of smells, and it was offended that some other pig had managed to come up with this smell, in much the same way as a wine taster is offended by low quality grapes. There was also an odd musky smell around, like tiny, furry, terrestrial animals which really should not have been on a floating piece of wood in the oceans, but were still somehow present on this particular piece. Then there was a clatter to the pig’s left, and it turned and trotted over to its mistress, who was laughing as she gazed about the ship. “So much wood!” she bubbled in glee. “Look! Isn’t it wonderful?” Her thin, burnt face lit up as she hurried over to the doors leading below decks and stroked the rough, weatherbeaten material. The pig followed her eagerly. It always liked this next part. Clara fumbled in one of the many pockets of her shabby dress patched with bright bits of cloth, pulling a match out of its waterproof pack and striking it across the wooden doors of the captain’s cabin. The pig rather vaguely recalled wondering where she had gotten those miraculous pieces of wood. It decided that all those sneaking into towns at night must have been the cause of it, and watched as it’s mistress, too eager to wait, dropped the lit match on the dry wooden deck of the White Weewoo. And then another… and another, and another, all over the ship, turning the deck into a glorious orange inferno. There were chitters from below from whatever animals had been there. The pig’s mistress danced and twirled as the ship caught on fire and the sounds from below decks began to turn into terrible wails of agony, slowly dying out as the things below either jumped or tried futilely to reach them through the blaze. The flames grew closer to the two, and Clara just kept dancing, her face lit up with a wonderful, glorious joy. The pig had not recalled seeing her like that ever since the village. And, well, the village fire. She’d really liked that fire a lot. They were backed up against the railing now; the tiny, scrawny girl reaching out her hands toward the blaze, laughing high and sweet like a child. The pig could feel the heat of the fire backing them up toward the railing, drying out it’s skin and the protective coating of mud that covered it. It nuzzled up against the girl, nudging her to stop her dance. She seemed to feel it’s growing apprehension, and spoke smiling words of comfort. And then, as the fire grew far too close, it’s mistress caught the pig up in her thin arms and plunged over the rails into the cold waters of the sea, where they watched the burning. ((EDIT: Sorry about the earlier godmodding. Been mostly fixed.)) Shade((Kestrel Castle Throne Room)) “Shade? Shade, are you well?”Pyro’s voice penetrated the buzzing in her ears. Shade managed a smile, looking up at the Black Knight. “No, not exactly.” It was true. Aside from the pain in her head and the buzzing, her entire right arm felt sore. There was no reason for it to be sore. All she’d done was whack that gem with her sword, after all. The pain flared. Shade had no idea why. She closed her eyes again, forcing herself to remain conscious and as aware as the gem let her. A deep red aura – Pyro’s – was above her, her sword flickering like fire on the ground near her. Through that, she could see golden colors just barely showing through the purple gem. Kat, probably. Why was she near that gem? She was almost certainly affected by it in some way or another. Deep tones, dark shadows of something, flooded the scene, dimming most of the colors. The distinctive color/tone of Kit’s aura shone brightly, however. Bright purple with shimmering gold woven through it. Calming colors, despite their intensity. He approached the gem, and did something to it. But it caused the headache and buzzing to almost completely disappear, and Shade opened her eyes. Kit had picked up the gem. And the gem seemed to be rather bloody, though the blood was quickly fading. Shade pushed herself up, calling out to him. “Kit? What are you-” “Take her too,” Kit said, nodding towards her. Shade closed her mouth, though there were quite a few questions she wanted to ask. Such as where Kit would be taking her, why he was taking her, and not somebody else, and why there were five things that looked rather like demons in the throne room. No, there was a better way to phrase that. Why had Kit summoned those demons? And why was one of them sending black tentacles at her, anyway? Shade didn’t move or try and get rid of them, letting them twine around her. It was unlikely that Kit would hurt her. Or at least, unlikely that he would hurt her in front of the other knights. After that, she wasn’t so sure. This wasn’t how Kit normally acted. She was about to ask Kit about this, but then the doors opened. Shade could see Shiva outside, and there was a woman with draconic wings standing there too. She’d probably been the one to open the doors. "Who are you? What do you want with that jewel? It should be returned to it's rightful owner so that the storm stops!"Shade laughed a bit. “Who are you, and why do you care?” CelestialCelestial didn't like the look that Zari gave her. Two can play at that game, she decided and looked at Zari with her electric-blue slitted eyes. She concentrated what power she could gather, inhibited by the gem as she was and just managed to send a spark flying from them. She relaxed, hoping that she made her point. "Don't look at me like that" she whispered "It tends to make me tense, especially coming from a knight. I don't intend to hurt you" she was about to say more but another voice broke her concentration and forced attention to its owner. “Who are you, and why do you care?” the voice came from one of the fallen Knights, who had the tentacled demon leaning over her. Celestial barely repressed a growl. Why did people tended to talk to her like that? Nevertheless, she had to reply politely or risk never seeing the end of this, in more ways than one. "My name is Celestial and I am a Dragon mage. I care because this storm is inhibiting magic and technology, threatening the survival of all the guilds of NTWF but it is hitting those indebted to me even harder. Few of us can fly now" she said with feigned calmness, knowing there was no point now to disguise her true powers and kin. She just hoped the Knight wouldn't react as badly as they usually did to a dragon. Zari((Throne Room, Castle Kestrel)) Zari coughed. 'I have all rights to be suspicious. Not because you're obviously some sort of Dragon. I do this to everyone. The Knights are just used to it. I'm no mean of harm towards other magical creatures. I don't want to bring the wratgh of them back at home by spilling blood on hunches.' She quieted while Shade growled at the Dragon-girl, then waited while Celestial spoke again. 'She's speaking the truth, there. My mental barriers have actually taken a battering. And, The wind is strong. I can't fly either, otherwise I woulda gone to the far West of Xenam, where such as this Don' happen.' she jerked at thumb at her own wings, folded at her back. Rider((Forest, Fraze's ship))'Okay. I tried threats. Could you please remove yourselves from this ship?'"First, could you please remove the storm that you caused?" Rider asked with a mocking politeness. Ventratta poked his head out of Rider's pocket and sniffed the air. He started squeaking frantically. "Hey, does anyone else smell... burning?" ... "Oh frigate." Rider could recognize the smell of burning rum anywhere. it goes hand-in-hand with having Hu as a daughter. She turned back to Fraze. "And if you're responsible for this too, you shall pay." She turned and ran. ((The White Weewoo))"My home..." Jelly filled Rider's bones as she sank into the sand. "My beautiful Weewoo." Truly enough, it wasn't really her home anymore. But it was the place that would always welcome her back, if she only asked. It was the place that she had called home for years, the place where she lived, laughed, cried, pillaged, partied... okay, more of the partying. So many memories about that boat, not all of them entirely true thanks to the rum, but they were her memories all the same. Ventratta let out an ear-splitting scream. "Ventratta?" The pink Meepit pointed frantically. Wild hand motions. "What's that, Lassie? Timmy got trapped down a well?" ... "The blue Meepits are WHERE?" Rider jumped in the rowboat and rushed off to save the meepits. "I need my own themesong for this... Or just some more rum." Shade((Fraze's Ship/The Dropship)) Hades missed the pirate. And the pirates didn’t even seem to notice that he’d shot at them. That, at least, was lucky. And they seemed to be distracting themselves very nicely, what with the meepits and all. And with any luck, his message to Spacefleet would start causing chaos soon. Now, to shoot more people and get interesting things to happen. First, Zari in her suit of armour. Hopefully it would melt, or something like that. He aimed for joints, trying not to hurt her too much, but also to disable the armour. He didn’t know why she was in it, but if he could get her out, then that would be wonderful, just for the chaos effect. Fraze. With that armour stuff, there wasn’t any point in shooting at him. But the weapons he carried would do something. Or the ammo. Yes. The ammo. The pirates would be easy, except that Hades wasn’t specifically trying to hurt people, and they didn’t have armour, unlike the ‘fleeters. So he settled for shooting holes in the short one’s cloak, trying to burn bits of stripy hair from the one with meepits, and in general doing as much damage to as many things as possible without killing anyone. He especially targeted anything that looked explosive. Something would blow up, he was sure. It didn’t really matter what, at this point. Hades stopped shooting about the time the short pirate starting running off, since his lasers were running out of energy. He called out to Fraze and Zari, standing up from the cover. "Did you get my message to the 'fleet? I hope you liked it." He moved so that they could see him, his left eye glowing brightly and a maniacal smile on his face, and gave them a mocking bow. DragonDragon stood on the cliff, watching her home burn. The smoke began billowing towards her, she knew if she didn't leave it would suffocate her. She turned and walked away, refreshed from the sleep she had just taken. "Well... here it goes again.. I suppose." Dragon mumbled, drawing her hood up over her head. "It's about time I made a visit to my past." She stalked off down the cliff... the manor was in sight. --- DING DONG. "Mage Manor... it hasn't changed." Dragon mumbled to herself, drawing her hood even more over her eyes. She had flown most of the way here, staying low to avoid the storm. But who burned the ship down... ninjas... but I didn't see any except a something that jumped off the ship. Curse the smoke, blocking my vision. No doubt it has to be a ninja... or a knight, though I'm not sure they're particular to water. Perhaps a knight and a mage... gah it could even be a merc! I smell a war brewing. Fraze((Forest: My ship))Fraze often considered himself a conoisseur of irony. There are myriad different kinds of irony--humorous irony varying from morbid to slapstick, creepy irony, even irony so profound as to have a beauty all its own. The irony of facing an imminent battle and possible destruction of your ship, only to be saved when the threatening party's own ship is set on fire--even to Fraze, this was a tragic irony. He didn't get the chance to say that he had played no part in the burning of the pirates' ship. He doubted they would have listened, anyway. He called to Zari. "C'mon! If I'm going to be murdered by the commander, I'd rather just get it over with. Are you coming back?" Sending a second message to Keng, he said, "The pirates just, well, ran off. I think their ship was burning or something. Should I come back to the station? I'd rather do that than wait here."Fraze had just finished sending the message when he saw Hades. "Did you get my message to the 'fleet? I hope you liked it."Fraze did what he always did when someone said something he didn't understand. He grunted noncommitally. Message, he thought? Must have missed it. Wait...he had been ignoring the beeping in his skinsuit with all that was going on. It was Hades' message. After listening to it, he was much more agitated, but also much more indecisive as to whether or not to go back to the station. Celestial"I have all rights to be suspicious. Not because you're obviously some sort of Dragon. I do this to everyone. The Knights are just used to it. I'm no mean of harm towards other magical creatures. I don't want to bring the wrath of them back at home by spilling blood on hunches" Zari spoke. Celestial felt content with that answer and Zari seemed like a trustable person. "By all means, being suspicious is right at a time like this though I am glad that I finally know for sure that not all knights are a danger to us" she gladly smiled at Zari. It was something she wasn't used to at all so she wasn't sure how it came out and what impression she had given Zari. However, what Zari said next surprised her. She's speaking the truth, there. My mental barriers have actually taken a battering. And, The wind is strong. I can't fly either, otherwise I woulda gone to the far West of Xenam, where such as this Don' happen Zari said sincerely as she pointed to a beautiful pair of wings on her back which, for a moment, put Celestial to shame. "I'm glad you believe me but flying somewhere else will only make the problem worse. The storm will keep getting worse, reaching every single part of this world. I must ask though, how did you get your wings?" Celestial asked, making sure Overlord who sat on her arm kept an eye on Shade. She didn't fully trust that Knight or whatever she was. There was something about her, something...demonic. Huntress((The White Weewoo)) The meepits had been napping somewhere in the forecastle when the smell of smoke pierced their nostrils. Santa blinked sleepily, then jumped up and trotted out. The sight was nowhere near flattering. And as it so tended to happen with Santa in situations nowhere near flattering, her usually sternly pacifist attitude disappeared at once. This meant war. Actually, this meant more than war. This meant a bloody, fierce retribution beyond her measures. She leaped on the railing. " HERE, BOY!" This was more than an order. This was a battlecry that echoed down, into the water, and into a pair of ears that perked at once. And the kraken rose. He wasn't strictly a kraken in those terms, the word being more of a status than a species, but it did the trick. When the pirates had taken him in, he'd been roughly seven feet high, but a healthy diet on sharks and assorted fish had grown him into a beast nearly the size of the ship itself. Fuzzy paws with claws the size of grappling hooks grabbed the railing. The ship careened under the weight. The starboard anchor snapped. The rope bridge broke as well. Meepits, now fully awake, clinged to various objects that weren't aflame. The barrel-sized head with floppy ears rose over the railing, and the blarf advanced, pulling himself onto the blazing ship which careened more and more, yards already tipping into the waves. The second pair of paws found support on the railing, and deckboards bent. Long dripping fur extinguished the flames at places, but it didn't really matter any more. The third pair of paws was now out of the water and leaning against the railing, which was way too much weight for that board. The White Weewoo tipped over completely into a big cloud of vapor. The kraken, splashing with all six paws to get above the water as the ship's weight attempted to drag him down, practically ran across the deck and landed on starboard side, bringing the ship upright again with a violent splash. And then it was over. The meepits blinked, wet from head to paws, as a cheerful 'blaaaarf' echoed behind the railing. "Who-" began Joe the Chef. The rest of the gang blinked. Really, who? And the furious bloorthirst returned at once. The meepits spread out, hellbent on finding the arson and turning them into supper. Most of the supplies were probably washed off in the tidewave, anyway. Keng"What do you mean the White Weewoo is burning!?" asked Keng surprised and insulted by the act, despite not knowing the details. By now the remaining pirates were busy with the same problem so they weren't to inclined to pay any attention to Keng. "Oh, tell me once you get here." ((gah, all I have time for )) Rikku((Forest – Near Dropship)) Everything seemed calm enough for the first few moments. No one noticed her, at least. Rikku breathed a silent sigh of relief and sidled further into the forest, still making sure she had a good position to watch. Then all hell broke loose. A faint smell of burning was brought to her nose by the breeze, causing her to grin on reflex, and – Wait. Was that the vampire? What in Neopia was he doing? He seemed to be shooting at the two ‘Spacefleet’ people, and at quite a few other things. Rikku raised her eyebrows when she saw quite how many of them were combustible. This guy thought like her. The people – pirates by the look of them – clustered around the shiny ship-thing seemed agitated, and some ran off, towards the faint smell of burning, by the looks of things. Rikku scratched the back of her head, wondering whether she should follow them. Going where things were burning was always fun, but things here were still pretty interesting around here. As in, explosion-level interesting. All the same, if there were going to be things catching on fire around here, she’d like to be the one to cause it. This guy’s motives were dubious. He moved out of hiding and called out a taunt to the two ‘Spacefleet’ people. Rikku glared at the back of his head. She’d never been very fond of vampires, of all the undead creatures. You couldn’t trust them. Rikku pulled a lump of coal out of one of her pouches and gripped it in her right hand. On her left hand, she summoned a small fireball, holding it just above her palm, and coaxed it until it grew larger. She stepped a little out from behind her tree, sheltering the growing flame with her body, and started edging closer. She needed to be fairly close for this to work. Of course, several things were already aflame. She drew a little energy from them and added it to her small flame, which blossomed into rather a good fireball, in her opinion. “Right, mister,” she said under her breath. “Vampire, cyborg, whatever you are, you’re going down.” Rikku wasn’t stupid enough to take him on in direct combat; just distracting him a little, maybe, and giving the other two a chance to attack, as they didn’t exactly seem to be on friendly terms. Concentrating on the fire and on the coal, she lifted her hand, and made a ‘throwing’ motion. The fire singed the air, heading straight for his head. Hopefully that’d give him something to think about. Her work done, Rikku ran off into the forest, hoping she’d run ahead of any possible retribution. Her hand was burnt, but not badly, and she’d had worse. KatKat was running.
She ran on and on, down a long, darkened corridor that seemed to lengthen with every step she took. There was a bright light at the end, and whether it had magical or metaphorical meaning, she wanted to reach it, no matter what it took. There was something in her hand: her staff, she knew, without even looking. After all, the only thing worth looking in this desolate hallway was the end.
That is, until the light took on a dark, sinister purple, and part of it was blocked by the unmistakable silhouette of a young woman.
Kat slowed down.
"Kalianne Triss. Where have you been hiding? But no matter how many people you hide behind, how many names you call yourself, I will find you."
Kat stopped, fingers shuddering on her staff.
"I will destroy you."
Kat wanted to turn around, but was rooted to the spot, chilled to the bone by the voice that held her down.
"No matter what it takes.* * * And then she was back in the throne room, staring up at Ikkin and so many other knights. But where was the gem? She could no longer sense it...at least, not as much as awhile ago... "What'd I miss?" Fraze((Forest: Dropship))Fraze decided to make a hasty retreat. He paused to allow his skinsuit's computer to take a quick picture of Hades, to confirm his presence there. "Well, it seems that the two of you have other things to worry about. I'll be leaving, then. And," he paused and looked at this half-cyborg. "I'm afraid your laser shots seemed to be missed in the general confusion." Not particularly caring if Zari came along or not, he got on the dropship, stuck his hand in the glove-shaped omnicontroller, and lifted off. Speck((Forest: Fraze's Ship)) Speck ducked back inside the ship (which continued to ask for verification of her identification) to avoid getting hit by any of the ammo that had been fired at her fellow cremates and the two technology-people. As soon as she saw a fireball fly through the air towards one of the non-pirates, she knew what she had to do. "Well. I'd love to stay and chat, but I do believe that things are getting too hot for me," She stated clearly, jumping down from dropship's hatch. The pirate saluted, having no hat to tip to the strangers, and ran off in the same direction that her captain had gone. ((The White Weewoo)) She blinked once she had reached the beach, staring at what remained of the mighty White Weewoo. Putting the two kunai away, she walked up to Huntress's side. Sighing, she sat down on the sand, taking off her black bandana to run her fingers through her hair in thought. "Um... Captain? Know of any schooners we can steal to get back out to sea? I'd rather not stay much longer on land right now... what with this storm brewing," Speck looked up at Huntress. DragonNobody was answering the door and Dragon was quickly becoming annoyed. She turned around to see the smoke high. The smell was beginning to reach her. Now that she thought of it, where was her pirate crew. She had passed Farmer Bob's cornfield without seeing anyone. "Ugh, time to back track." Dragon sighed, turning into a bird she reached the field fast. And then into a bear. A whole new array of senses caught onto her. She followed the pirates tracks to the beginning of the forest where she turned back into an elf. Luckily enough the crew trampled past - and even over- her to reach their beloved ship. " Pirates." ((The White Weewoo)) "Captain... "Dragon didn't know where to begin. She had witnessed what? The smoke billowing out of the ship and the pyromaniac diving into the safety of the ocean. She couldn't do anything. Long ago she had traded her elemental powers in for the return of her shapeshifting powers. "What about Blarf?” Pyro"You guys seem to have made quite a mess."Pyro would’ve been more surprised to see Kit if she hadn’t felt like an anvil was repeatedly being dropped on top of her head. As it was, she could only watch as Kit spilled crimson blood over the gem and tucked it into his pocket. Right away, the gem loosed its hold on her and she rubbed at her temples with one hand, looking up but not trusting to her knees to lift her. Dark wisps of Kit’s demon’s tendrils brushed her skin briefly as the demon passed, moving towards Shade, and Pyro flinched back instinctively before she realized it. “Kit? Why are you taking Shade?” Pyro looked around—Zari was talking to some sort of walking dragon-type being. A demon was hovering above Shade, two more flanking Kit in the doorway, making it even harder to try and stare down the Gray Knight in the desire for answers. Ikkin was staring at a piece of paper, Pyro didn’t even know who was standing next to her—and Kat was still unconscious. Pyro suddenly felt very tired, and she stood, reaching to grab her sword. The blade was no longer the red-hot brand it had been before, indeed, so close to a demon it was cold to the touch. ”…what’d I miss?”Well, at least Kat was awake. Pyro fought the overwhelming urge to prop herself up using her flameblade and turned towards Kat. “A lot,” she muttered. She eyed the newcomers warily. One of them looked like a Knight, but the one talking to Zari was clearly of a different Guild. “Who are you? Sorry, I…missed your name.” She looked sideways at Kit again. “And you, at least, seem to have some knowledge about this artifact. Care to share, Sir Kit?” All the while, she kept one hand on the hilt of her sword, and, deep in her heart, fear twisted its icy grip. Zari(Inside Frazes Dropship) Zari flinched as bullets hit her armour. One hit the back of her knee and she cursed. 'Drat! The armour slid back into the plates at the backs of her wings. Frist a pair of gray-fawn cat ears, flecked with black, then a forehead, a pair of straight black eyebrows, a nose, followed quickly by the rest of her face, her torso, then arms. it had begun on her left leg when it stopped abruptly. This was when Fraze's dropship door nearly shut on her tail, so she jumped out of the way. 'My armour. Crap. It's not gonna take long to fix...It's just gonna get awkward.' -- ((Zari will add Knight post later)) Keng"Fraze was that gunfire I just heard?" asked Keng over the communications again. "Who's firing? What's the situation?" She had been about to hang up the line and send another update to Strife, but was instantly worried by the sound of firearms and delayed that plan. "Do you require assistance?" Cyborg( You are right PFA, on their belts.) " Okay so let's go then, but we should stay together, you don't know who or what could be in the forest." Cyborg said. " Wow you've said something intelligent for once." Midknight declared with a smirk. Huntress((The White Weewoo)) Huntress took a deep breath, still tired of running. Part of her was grateful that the showdown by the spaceship had resolved easily enough and the silvery guy had let them off, but she wasn't sure if this new situation was an improvement. She looked down at the wet and scorched ship under the cliff. Her eyes were flashing, and something bubbled inside her, threatening to bury her completely, blind her with rage, take her over... Dragon's words brought her back to her senses. "Captain... What about Blarf?"Really, what about him? Moreover, what about whoever did it? This was a cliff. The ship had tipped over and broken the rope bridge that connected it with the land. The arsonist had to be... in the water, or still on the ship? "Up, boy!" This command didn't carry quite the furious weight Santa's had, but it didn't need to. The blarf had only submerged into the upper layers of the ocean to track down something he loosely classified as 'new food' and stopped pursuit at once, raising above the water and perking his ears, a motion that always made him look more or less like a cross between a German shepherd and a mutant armadillo. "Who did it?" Hunty yelled. The fanged mouth opened, and a hollow voice carried over the waters, "Foooooooood." "Yeah, that's what you always say," muttered the captain. "Fetch!" He didn't need to be told twice, as that's what he'd been planning anyway. A swift kick with the tail and the beast slid towards the open sea, where the girl and her pig had watched the burning of the ship. "We'll need to replace the sails and the lines, but that shouldn't take long," muttered Hunty. "The damage doesn't look too big. Still... I'll have the heads of whoever did it, and their friends and family, and all neighbors down the lane, if it's the last thing I'll ever do." The blarf snorted cheerily and rose from the waves behind the girl, locking her between himself and the ship. Surf((Mage Manor: Kitchen)) After Surf had finished, she heard a voice say Sev’s name. She looked down and saw that it was Nature’s companion. Omni saw the dragon as well, and said, " Hey, uh… dragon…Sabine? What are you doing here? Is Nature still out there?!" Surf responded, “Yes, but Rikku’s with her, and there’s no one else there, so Nature is in no danger. I’m sure Rikku will bring her here. In fact, she’s-” Ding Dong! Someone was at the door. “Probably waiting outside the door right now. Can someone get that? I’m pretty winded from coming over here.” She paused for a moment. “Anyways, as I was saying, we need to get that orb, before these strange people do. Some of them sound pretty cruel, and I don’t want to think what they’ll do with that thing in their possession. And considering that it knocked Nature out…” She shuddered. Vyt((Forest: Near Castle Kestrel))"I see something! A castle!" Indeed, they could see the castle walls through the green leaves of the trees surrounding them. The guild of the Knights was not as big as they expected, but they could not be bothered to ponder about it. It was not intimidating either, with very fragile defense lines they would have to encounter yet eliminate without much worry. Then again, Cat Assassin had other plans. Cat Assassin dropped Bluisa gently from his back and the two watched as PFA scampered behind. "You sure are comparatively fast," Bluisa noted, brushing off the twigs that have managed to cling on her black cloak. "Even with Cat Assassin using his focused energy, you've managed to follow us without getting lost!" Despite how confusing Bluisa's statements were to Cat Assassin, the feline was too pre-occupied with their mission to be bothered to know. "We'll have to split up," he commanded, knowing that they had no definite destination to take. "We don't know where that man is, so we'll have to search everywhere inside this pity of a castle," he added. "Umm... Wait!" Bluisa stopped the two from implementing their plan, pulling out something beneath her cloak. She then revealed them to her cohorts: three sets of two crystal badges, each set different from each other by the unknown character punched into them. She then gave Cat Assassin and PFA one from each set. "Err... These are summoning badges... When one of us is in danger, one of the badges will start shining... and that person must chant out the name of the badge bearer they wish to summon... I will hear him, do my part here and send the other person towards the person in danger..." She breathed a sigh of relief after that. She was surprised that she was able to explain the badges' purpose properly. "Thanks, Bluisa", Cat Assassin said, pinning the badges on his coat. "This will definitely help us out in times of trouble... Well, I'll take the back route", he ended. Bluisa had no choice but to watch Cat Assassin walk away from her. She still was not comfortable with someone she had just met awhile ago, specifically PFA. Rider((The White Weewoo))"Who the hell?" Rider surveyed the damage, and suddenly her own head felt heavy. "This is our home. Fragile she may be, but she is still our home. Who would do something like this? The ninjas? That person in the mystery ship? Who?" She sighed. "Captain Huntress, I'm reporting back for active duty. Place me wherever you feel I would be most valuable. I put my entire self in your hands." She paused. "Well, as much as a pirate can. A pirate has to be free, and all. Loyal but free." She put her cheek to a scorched mast. "That, i guess, is who we are." Tamia((Field to the west of the Castle))
As the man called Evan Forest asked his question, however, Tamia could think of no reply. Instead, she stared at him mutely, torn between terror and fury and feeling too drained from her earlier display of confidence to act on either. Fortunately, Shino spoke for her.
"Alright then... Forest. Continue." The White Knight’s face was drawn tightly, and she could tell he was striving to keep his patience, even in the presence of this smug villain. Tamia felt a rush of gratitude towards him.
Forest tilted his head and gave a superior little half-smile at the knight’s words. “The Invisible Guild. The Seventh Guild, if you will, although in truth its legacy stretches as far into the past as the first guild’s creation. Although we do not have the records to trace that far back, rest assured that the Invisible Guild was there. That’s what it was built on: that which the other guilds didn’t want. We are the guild of outcasts, the ones who have been turned away from the other guilds.”
And of course the idea of any guild barring their doors to the likes of him is all but ludicrous, Oran’s thought came bitterly.
“Outcasts,” Tamia repeated, her voice layered in skepticism.
He nodded genially. “Pirates who’d turned Ninja and wanted back on crew years later. Mages who’d caused one too many accidents. And of course, Knights who just weren’t noble enough in the end.” He looked at Shino as if this held some special meaning.
“The guilds all have a code of honour,” Tamia said quietly, resisting the urge to clench her fists. “And there are still some of us who choose to follow it.”
Forest glanced at her, and there was something more than amusement in his expression. “Yes,” he said slowly. “But I do wonder if it will be enough.”
Uncomfortable, the young Knight looked to Oran. She was surprised to see the cat sitting staunchly on the brown grass a foot ahead of her, his ears angled sharply forward as he fixed Forest with his most intense stare. By some instinct, the man looked down, and after a few moments, his smile faltered. The hesitation was momentary, however.
“The Guild wants only what every other guild does,” he snapped, taking a step backwards. “Room to exist and the opportunity to grow. And frankly, it’s getting a bit crowded.” He shot a quick glance towards the eastern sky, whose purple and black blanket was steadily fanning out and darkening the day. “It won’t take much for the other guilds to wipe themselves out. I just hope the Knights, as you surround yourselves with your ancient babble of chivalry and whatever it is you think you stand for, will also take your place in the end.”
In one quick movement, Forest made a manic dive for his haversack. Instinctively, the young knight advanced upon him, intending to separate him from his belongings -- however meager they may be, this man was not to be underestimated -- however, as she tried to force the bag from his fingertips, he snarled at her and managed to wrench something small and metallic from its lining. Seeing the object flash in his hand, she immediately drew her sword, but he was faster.
Tamia forgot to scream as the tapered blade pierced the skin above her left elbow, pushing almost to the other side of her arm. Instead, she fell sideways off of him, grunting in pain and shock as he jerked the dagger free of her flesh. Forest stumbled away, running his hand through his hair and panting slightly. He wiped the blade on the hem of his robe and looked directly at Shino.
“Give my regards to the King,” he said, and took off into the woods behind them like a flash.
Oran stood beside Tamia where she crouched clutching her arm, and stared blankly at her. He will die for this, he said hollowly. Mark my words.
“Sh-Shino...” Tamia stammered, gazing up at the spot where Forest had disappeared into the woods. “We need him...” IkkinIkkin was still holding the still-unconscious Kat when Kit marched into the throne room, flanked by two angels and two demons. "You guys seem to have made quite a mess," he said, in a genial tone that didn't seem to fit with his striking image. Ikkin wasn't quite sure how to respond. This wasn't the Kit she remembered, the Kit who had risked his own soul to bring her back to life at the end of the Guilds' War. There was something wrong about him. "K... Kit?" she tried to call out, but couldn't manage enough sound to make herself heard. Kit seemed far too intent on the gem to care about the other knights, anyway. He walked right over it - seemingly not harmed by its power - and poured a vial of what looked like blood over it. "You all don't know what this little thing can do, do you?" he said. The power weakened somewhat until it was at least tolerable. "K-kit... What are you..." Ikkin tried to say, but still couldn't seem to get it out. Again, Kit seemed intent on his own affairs. "Take her too," Kit said, motioning towards Shade. The demon Nyia followed his command, capturing the knight in her tendrils. Shade seemed to just let her do so. Ikkin wondered if she had an idea of what Kit was up to, or if she just thought Kit wouldn't hurt her. Then, finally, Kat woke up. "…What’d I miss?” she asked. Before Ikkin could think of a response, Pyro answered. “A lot,” she said, before asking a mage who had just entered who she was. And then, she asked what Ikkin had been wondering the whole time - “And you, at least, seem to have some knowledge about this artifact. Care to share, Sir Kit?”
At this, something inside Ikkin seemed to snap. Pyro was right. Whatever that gem was, Kit knew about it. He knew what to do about it. And he didn't see fit to tell any of them what to do about it, despite the terrible damage he knew it could do to all of them.
Kit had betrayed them all.
Kit had betrayed her.
Inside herself, she felt a twinge at the ties that composed the soul bond between herself and Kit. He was connected to her, and he still didn't feel the need to tell her about something that had caused her such terrible pain.
And, because she was connected to him through the soul bond, it almost felt like it was her fault.
She let Kat down softly, then leapt to her feet.
"Explain yourself, Kit," she said coldly. "Explain yourself, or I will be forced to kill you."
Scar
((Mage Manor - Kitchen - Evening))
Scarven listened with interest to Sev's news, paying particular attention to mention of the artefact's connection to the storm. "... so studying the artifact might help us all out a good deal."
He rubbed his furry chin for a moment before answering. "No."
"Excuse me?" Sev replied irritably.
"I said no we're not going to go off chasing after some whats-it just because it's a powerful magical artefact." He held up a paw before the phoenix could interject. "You said it yourself that it might be connected with this foul weather we're having. If you want to stick your beak into it then fine, I'm not stopping you. You can't die, Sev, unlike everyone else here." At this he indicated everyone in the room before returning his gaze on the phoenix. "Now I know I'm not the guildmaster but I refuse to allow the mages to go on some wild goose chase for some powerful, probably malign, artefact that could possibly kill us all, meow!
"So you go ahead and tell Ikkin that the mages are staying indoors until this storm blows over," he ended firmly, glaring at Sev.
"Hey, uh… dragon…Sabine? What are you doing here? Is Nature still out there?!"
The chronomancer inclined his head to see Omni, Surf and Nature's little dragon companion chattering to each other. The doorbell rang soon after but the kitten wasn't really listening any more.
"As I said before, no one's going anywhere to fetch some darned magic orb and get themselves killed," he snapped angrily. Seeing everyone's astonished faces he sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Okay, just ... everyone go get some rest. It's getting late for everyone and ..." He sighed again. "Just go. I'll get the door and think of some way to get Nature and whoever else is out there back."
He turned to look into Aerisa's worried face and then to Leoness' before finally settling on his belle, reaching out to take her claws gently into his paws. "Dear I'm a little tired so can you help me with the door? You can come too Leoness; I'll show you to your room after, meow," he added to his lioness sister-in-law.
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Post by GW2 on Oct 15, 2008 13:40:06 GMT -5
Fraze((Somewhere between Planet NTWF and Spacefleet)) The ship quicly ascended into the upper atmosphere, the sky turning darker and darker, eventually fading to black as the planet fell away beneath them. Zari seemed to need to repair her armor. Trying to be polite, Fraze turned away. "Fraze was that gunfire I just heard?" Keng's voice came in over the comm link. "Yes it was, Keng. A former 'Fleeter--Hades--started shooting at us when we were in the argument with the pirates. I think he was trying to cause a fight to break out. Someone else came out of the woods, and started blasting him with fireballs. That was when I decided to leave. Also, he appeared to send out a message on all Spacefleet frequencies. Truth be told, I didn't realize it was Hades at the dropship until I realized the voice on the message was the voice of the person who was at the ship. I didn't notice the message until just before we left, I guess I was too preoccupied with trying to get out of a fight to notice it. The commander will have my head anyway, so I may as well say what I know. Given that Hades already tried to incite a fight between the pirates and the only two 'Fleet fighters on the surface, it could be that the message was partially meant to cause further discord in Spacefleet. I add as further evidence of this, the slight taunt he gave when reminding me of the message. I wouldn't trust anything more that Hades has to say. Neither Prof. Ailden nor I gave any more information than we had to. I would simply have returned to the dropship after getting what I came for, but we were both compelled to come along, in hopes that we could bring the cause of the storm to the Commander. Frankly, very few people on the planet have much of a conception of "space" beyond the simple movements of the stars in the heavens--therefore, I think the name "Spacefleet" wouldn't mean much to them. A number of them saw me in my metallic skinsuit armor, three on the surface saw me cloaked--but let's face it, there are so many kinds of magic down there that those things could just be some other magic. Neither of us had to use any sorts of weapons. But still, I admit to making more mistakes on this trip than Zari. I will report to the Commander myself, as Zari has not done anything to warrant inquiry. On a separate note, the pirates ran roughly east toward the sea when they smelled their ship burning. You could probably make it out from the Spacefleet telescopes, if it's still standing." With that, Fraze sighed. This really had not been a good day. PFA((Forest: Near merc HQ))Jernath nodded in response to Cyborg. "Yes, we should be ready for anything. Many dangerous things live in the forest..." he then turned to Salah. "...So let's go." And with that, Jernath headed off in the direction of the purple clouds, beckoning the others to follow. --- ((Forest: near Castle Kestrel))PFA smiled as Uncle and Bluisa came back into sight. The two seemed to have stopped for her, waiting for her to catch up. "You sure are comparatively fast," came the voice of Bluisa. "Even with Cat Assassin using his focused energy, you've managed to follow us without getting lost!""Yeah..." PFA panted, as she came up next to her Uncle. She had never run that fast for that long... it was rather exhausting. "I guess my ninja training helps." PFA blinked when her Uncle started discussing plans, a bit unsure what he was talking about at first. She paused to take a look at her surroundings, she realized that they were already at Castle Kestrel. She first thought Here already? and then How did I not notice earlier? And finally, Guess I was so focused on catching up I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings...It was then that PFA nodded in agreement with her Uncle. "Yeah... splitting up is probably the best choice." "Umm... Wait!"PFA turned her head, looking back at Bluisa. The young mage girl held out six badges, handing two of them to Cat Assassin, and then another two to PFA. PFA looked at the badges for a moment; they looked like little crystals, and they had strange symbols etched into them. "Err... These are summoning badges... When one of us is in danger, one of the badges will start shining... and that person must chant out the name of the badge bearer they wish to summon... I will hear him, do my part here and send the other person towards the person in danger..." Bluisa explained. "Neat," PFA smiled, attaching the badges to her outfit. She silently wondered if it would matter if she used the name 'Cat Assassin' or 'Uncle.' "Well, I'll take the back route," said the person in question, interrupting PFA's thoughts. "Alright," PFA replied, nodding to her Uncle. "I'll try the side." And with that, PFA quietly started sneaking over to the side of Castle Kestrel. It felt weird breaking into the castle of the Knights Guild, but she wasn't sure the knights would trust them at this point. Better safe than sorry, she figured. SurfThe kitten, who turned out to be Scar, responded to Sev’s suggestion to go after the orb with instant refusal. " So you go ahead and tell Ikkin that the mages are staying indoors until this storm blows over," he finished, glaring at Sev. After the door rang, he went to go answer it. When Scar was out of earshot, Surf said, “I don’t care what Scar says, I’m going over there the second he goes to bed. Can you guys come and help me out, please? We have to contain that thing before it hurts anyone else, and I can’t do it on my own.” Shade((Forest: Near the Dropship)) Fraze reacted to Hades’ message. Not very noticeably, but it did affect him. Hades grinned at that. The result was that he almost didn’t notice the fireball that was thrown at his head, and when he did, he practically fell over trying to avoid it. Even though fire wouldn’t hurt him any more than a normal human, it would still hurt. And it would just be annoying if it had set his hair on fire. As he got his balance back, he scanned the surrounding forest for heat signatures. There wasn’t anything visible, unfortunately. Other than the dropship and the fire that the fireball had created, that is. Oh. Yes. Hades moved away from the fire, but didn’t try and stop it. For one thing, he didn’t have anything to stop it with. For another, it wouldn’t do to stay here any longer anyway, seeing as Fraze was leaving. As Hades began moving back in to the forest, he noted that Zari’s armour had indeed malfunctioned. Hopefully something would come of that. Now, where to go next? The best bet of where to find people was wherever the pirates had run off to, of course, since he could follow them. But those mages, if he could find their headquarters, would be so much more interesting. The knights weren’t worth consideration right now. He could find their castle easily enough, but they wouldn’t accept a mercenary on their side. And it was rather pointless to want to go to Spacefleet or the Mercs, at this point. So. Either follow the pirates or try and find the mages. Hades considered the choices, and then ran off in to the forest, following the trail of broken sticks and scuffed duff that the fire mage had left. The fire, of course, was still behind him, and it would spread. Perhaps not quickly, but it would spread, and if left alone, would eventually begin to burn the fields of Dunburrow. Strife((Mage Manor - Kitchen - Evening))After listening to the conversation between Sev and her siblings, Leoness felt an immense amount of concern for the people around her. Before today, the last time she had seen Scar and Aerisa was several months ago when they helped her improve the foundations of her fire magic. She was looking forward to spending a wonderful week with the two people she cared about the most aside from her lover, Strife, and she hated the fact that they had to meet under such dreadful circumstances instead. "Dear I'm a little tired so can you help me with the door? You can come too Leoness; I'll show you to your room after, meow.""Okay," replied Leoness simply. "Allow me to get the door for you instead..." She walked over to the kitchen door and lightly pushed it open for Aeri and Scar. As her fluffy hand gripped the door's handle, she become lost in more thoughts - thoughts of her secret love for The Commander, for the most part. She knew that because of the terrible storm outside, he would be dreadfully worried about her and that he would find some way to contact her, especially since she refused to bring any sort of communication device. He promised not to meet her personally in Mage Manor, because if people discovered that she was Spacefleet's chief medical officer, she had no idea how they would take it. She didn't want to risk being branded as an outcast. The best thing to do, she figured, was to try and find some way to contact Strife and tell him that she was safe and sound in the manor. She wished she could have one of the mages help her send some kind of magical telepathic message, but once again, she feared their reaction if she stated the truth. She didn't know what to do at the moment. All she wanted to do was sit down and relax with her siblings, even if only for a few minutes. * * * ((Outskirts of Spacefleet HQ)) As The Commander dashed across the barren landscape of the moon towards Headquarters, his communicator began beeping again. Still running, he unclipped it from his belt and pressed it to his ear. "Speak!" he shouted. "Sir," spoke the same subcommander as before. "We have detected one of our spacecraft approaching Headquarters." "Who is the pilot?" "Special Ops Fraze, Sir. Professor Ailden is with him." The Commander didn't know whether to be relieved or nervous. He had to take precautions, though. Hades may have been a former Spacefleet officer, but he couldn't afford to take the chance of ignoring him if he happened to be right about the security breach. This situation had to be taken seriously. "Post guards at the docking bay immediately. When they land, instruct them to head to my office. If they refuse, use force." "Acknowledged. When will you return, Sir?" "I'll be there in no more than five minutes." The Commander clipped his communicator back onto his belt and continued running. Zari and Fraze would most likely be taken to his office before he got there, but there was no real problem with that. They could just enjoy the view from his window while they wait. Worst case scenario, it would be their last view. Shino“The Invisible Guild...Pirates who’d turned Ninja and wanted back on crew years later. Mages who’d caused one too many accidents. And of course, Knights who just weren’t noble enough in the end.” Evan Forest had said while pointedly looking at the White Knight. Shino thought he recognized that smirk and glare on the man's face, but Tamia interrupted his thoughts. “The guilds all have a code of honour & there are still some of us who choose to follow it.” She said. And while Forest's next words were perplexing, Shino didn't give in to the anonymity that he was broadcasting to the Knights. This man was more than just a foot soldier for a coalition of rogues. He seemed much more interested in the area surrounding Lady Tamia and Lord Shino than their actual movements, words, or faces. Shino could tell the Orange Knight was getting gradually more fidgety around this still-stranger. He had weaved his words in and around their heads like a snake around fragile prey. Shino had zoned out Forest's voice for a moment or two while he tried to figure out the man's next move, but then something he had said caught his attention. "...I just hope the Knights, as you surround yourselves with your ancient babble of chivalry and whatever it is you think you stand for, will also take your place in the end.”Shino was thrown off-base at that so familiar statement. In that brief moment, Forest had dashed forward and brought down Lady Tamia in a lightning quick maneuver of something extremely sharp. Shino was at her side as quickly as the mysterious Evan Forest disappeared into the thick brush with a taunt regarding King Wolf. “Sh-Shino...We need him...” she told him through clenched teeth. He nodded, conversing his regrets and the dangers of leaving her. Should he take too long to find their mystery man she could become severely injured of blood loss. But if he didn't retrieve their 'friend' he might very well vanish for a millenia or two to this "Seventh Guild of the NTWF". Strategy was Lord Shino's strong point so it took less than ten seconds to formulate a plan. Shino ran to Bianca and grabbed one of his silver-tipped arrows and a small bundle. He ran back to her and unloaded the bundle revealing an assortment of herb jars. Taking one or two from specific containers he grounded them up between his fingers and put them delicately into the wound along with a white, dissolving pad. Reaching for the arrow, Shino raised it high into the air and jabbed it into the wound, stopping the bleeding significantly. "I apologize for leaving you in this way, Lady Tamia. But our friend will not be allowed to reach the end of his set road." Shino explained as he mounted upon Bianca and pulled out his quiver and bow. "I shall send for help as soon as I am able.", the White Knight said assuredly, "The grave does not await you this day. Take heart." So he dashed forward into the wood, attack the trees at a gallop. He had spent five minutes already, but by the looks of Forest's speed & endurance, Shino estimated that it would take him longer to track the man. Bianca snorted at an array of branches laying between him and path going through the wood. "This man is clever. But he does not know me, quite yet." Bianca leapt over the patch easily, but while in mid-air a little ways over the assortment of foliage Shino shot an arrow dead into the midst of them. A plume of fire and smoke funneled upwards where Lord Shino and his horse would've been a moment ago had they stepped there. "I suppose Mr. Forest counted on my helping Lady Tamia. This could be come more difficult than originally presumed, old friend." Shino said, patting Bianca's neck. Shino had not slowed his gallop since leaving Lady Tamia, so now he was in full swing towards the direction of Evan Forest. Little traces here and there were sign of his escape and travel, but soon Shino came up to a cliff. How could he have taken a wrong turn? Unless there was but faith to put into the invisible path before him. But suddenly a figure flew straight towards Shino, knocking him off and sending them both tumbling into a tree. The Steward of Dunburrow took the roll into his favor, as to flip the man onto his back and arms pinned to the earthen floor. "Welcome back, Mr. Forest. Or perhaps I should say Sir Evan Forest, first Black Knight of Dunburrow." [Indiana Jones reverence] RikkuRikku darted behind a tree, breathing hard. She wasn’t sure whether or not the vampire had followed her – probably not, or he’d have caught her before she made it five metres. A few times she thought she’d heard something, but she couldn’t be certain. Of course, there was always the possibility that her fireball had just bounced off … or something. On second thoughts, maybe it wasn’t such a wise idea to antagonize the guy. Particularly since the only other Mage in the area was unconscious … Rikku remembered that she’d left Nature more or less alone, defenseless, and stifled a groan. Just how many things could she mess up today? Might as well go further into the forest. It wasn’t like she had anything else to do. She kept herself concealed as much as she could, in case there were any other people wandering around. Rikku didn’t really feel like company right now. So. Some gem-thing had been discovered in a field. It had caused a really nasty storm, and played haywire with her head, and probably with most other magic as well. But then it had been taken to Castle – Kestrel, was it? – and presumably was being dealt with there. Fine. One less thing to worry about. There was this mysterious ‘Spacefleet’ thing, but it probably wasn’t anything to worry about, considering she’d never heard of it before. If it were really nasty, talk would have spread. There was that suspicious fire which all the pirates had run off to. Maybe it had something to do with their ship, or rum. Most likely rum. Rikku grinned. Maybe she ought to head back to the Manor, but she didn’t really feel like it right now. Particularly when they’d probably blame her for leaving Nature alone. Guess I’ll go get Nature, then.“Alright. So now I just have to …” She paused. Looked around. Groaned. “Great. Lost, on top of everything else.” Rikku kept on walking. What else could she do? This dumb forest couldn’t go on forever. Hopefully she wouldn’t run into any people, or the dog she’d heard barking earlier. She wasn’t certain that she’d stay entirely sane if she had to endure too much more of this. I have way too low a tolerance level. Need to work on that.She paused, and sniffed the air. That smell was definitely familiar. It was something she was used to, something she worked with. A fact of life. Rikku paled, and began to run. As she grew closer, her senses, refined by several years of hanging around in graveyards, began to tingle. There was something there. Something hidden. Something secret. Something bad. She stumbled through a gap in the foliage into a clearing, and gaped. This was bad all right. There was a pile of … bodies; it looked like five or six of them at least. The smell coming from them was very noticeable now; it was the smell of death. Rikku walked towards them, her professional side taking over. They didn’t seem to have an obvious cause of death, not on first glance, anyway. She’d have to look at them closer, maybe bring one back for a second and see if she could somehow get the information out of it, though she wasn’t sure if she was strong enough to do so. One thing was certain, though. Rikku stepped away from them, then took another step, and another, until she was back into the forest. She fixed her eyes on the heap of the dead, and muttered through gritted teeth, “Whoever did this is going to pay.” TrillyTrilly had been about to respond to Ikkin's question about the small paper's origin, but had been interrupted as the bag Kat had teleported in with (whatever its significance was) had been ripped open by another knight and, to her surprise, a small jewel had fallen out. As soon as the small stone was free of its confines, the Ivory knight had been overcome by an odd feeling of dizziness. Her vision had gone grey, and was steadily getting darker. She sank to one knee, cradling her head in her hands. "What's happening to me?" she whispered, as the other knights also seemed to be overcome by the stone in some way. "What is that... thing? And just as she felt like the darkness would overcome her entirely, the overwhelming dizziness receded. A new knight was in the throne room now, a man with shoulder-length black hair who was being closely followed by four... beings? This was one knight she had never met, and despite the fact that he didn't seem particularly tall or muscle-bound like many of the knights she'd seen on her journey to the castle, but she could tell from his entourage (if you could call it that) that this was one person she'd want on her side. She also suspected that, despite the fact she had missed much of what had happened after the stone fell, it was no coincidence that the disappearance of her strange nausea and the arrival of this stranger coincided with each other so perfectly. "You guys seem to have made quite a mess," the new knight said. Still kneeling weakly on the floor, Trilly bit back a ridiculous giggle. It was a relief to see another experienced knight, and that statement summed up the chaos the knights had just experienced perfectly. Ikkin's reply, however, wiped every trace of a smile off her face. "K-kit... What are you..."Why was Ikkin stuttering like that? Wasn't Sir Kit a knight? Wasn't he on their side? "He's not saving us," Feather whispered in Trilly's ear, his voice hoarse and raspy sounding. "He's protecting himself for long enough to take the shiny rock." Trilly went cold. She couldn't believe that another knight would break the code for... what... a trinket? In fact, she refused to believe it. "And you, at least, seem to have some knowledge about this artifact. Care to share, Sir Kit?”Apparently, Lady Shade shared Feather's doubts, and she'd surely known Kit for longer than Trilly had, since the red-haired knight hadn't so much as seen him until a minute ago. "Explain yourself, Kit," Ikkin said coldly. "Explain yourself, or I will be forced to kill you."Trilly hoped for everyone's sake that Sir Kit had a good, solid explanation as to why he looked like he was betraying them, because she had no doubt that the kitsune knight was completely ready to follow through on that threat. It seemed likely that, unless a miracle occurred, blows were about to be exchanged. With a bitter laugh, Dunbarrow's Ivory Knight realized that the exciting first battle she had been looking foreward to since she joined the knight's guild might actually be against one of their own number. Zari((The sky- Fraze's Dropship)) Zari saw Fraze turn away and began to tug the metal off her leg. She leaned forward, and tugged at one Dark-red plate. It folded in, like a piece of paper. The simile to one of her best friends, one of the only things she felt she could confide in, reassured her, and before long the armour had been reduced to the Plates that fitted to her wings once more. Good. 'I do believ we are in big trouble. The best the Commander'll probably do is give us a lecture, and hope our consciences do the rest. Bargh.' Zari began to re assemble the Armour, and painstaking process, since the armour appeared to have all sorts of minor gadgets- A can opener, a screwdriver, a torch...as well as the fact all together, the armour added three inches to her height. ((Castle Kestrel, Throne Room)) Zari spoke a word- More like made a sound, but it was probably a word- and her staff appeared. 'Indeed, Sir Kit. We'd like to know what in the name of flatulent hippocamps is going on. What is that thing, why are you taking it, is that blood, and why is it affecting us all such?' her tone was blank- Not unusual- but also flat, almost monotonous. She was at the edge of her temper. She could already feel her blood rushing to her fingertips, preparing to use Combat-magic. Wait...Zaha. Where was that cat when you needed her? Bloody, Bloody, Bloody. Shtink. Be- 'I'm right here, y'flying nutswitch.' Zari looked down. Indeed, a white cat was sitting beside her, washing one sable-tipped paw. 'Throwing Kunai got dull. I came back here to keep you from getting yourself into deep crap, and to get some action in to my veins. Looks like I came at the right time.' Zahaere Emaya, Preistess of Feliastion and Ninja, finished with a sarcastic smile and settled on her haunches. ((Note: Zari's magic is tied into her blood, so indeed her blood would go to her fingertips.))
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Post by GW2 on Oct 15, 2008 13:52:46 GMT -5
KitClara's gleeful smile turned to a frown when she saw the fire dying down, leaving a large black column of smoke. "Why is it dying, Mr. Pig? Why do all the fires die?" Sadly, she turned around to head back to shore, only to face a giant kraken which had lots of teeth.
Her face brightened up immediately.
"It's a monster! An ugly one too! Come Mr. Pig, let's hug him!" she squealed and swam towards the kraken, grabbing onto it and hugging it tightly. "Hello," she cooed, "what's your name, Mr. Monster?"
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Nyia gently enveloped Shade with her tendrils, slipping them around the knight's body but leaving her limbs and head free. She took care to not cause the knight much discomfort, allowing her to get used to the cold touch of her tendrils before lifting her towards them. When Pyro and Ikkin protested, Kit lifted an index finger to silence them both, feeling rather tired of their accusations. The only sound for a while was the unnatural clicking of Bladetail's tail as it unwound itself from her waist and slinked into a poised position beside her, raised like a scorpion's tail.
"Humans," Maya spat, "are they all like that? It's as if they can't wait to sink their blades into anything remotely demonic."
"Nice of you to join us, Shiva," Kit addressed the demon horse before turning to the other knights, "look, it would be nice if you gave me a chance to speak before trying to kill me. Or have I still not earned your trust?" with that, he took the gem with his fingers and touched its blood-covered edges, feeling the warm throb of energy within it. It felt comforting, very much like a warm blanket on a cold night. He reached out into the crystal, drawing its magic out gently to amplify his clairvoyance.
"Not that it would surprise me. The Knights after all have a history of demon-hating," Kit said airily before closing his eyes, plunging deep into his Clairvoyance, reaching far to speak to the minds of everyone, of all guilds, in all locations, that he could find.
"To everyone who is willing to listen, I come to you with an offer. It's a simple one. At this moment, you should be painfully aware of a storm that's trying to rip things in half. I can end that, but I don't really plan to stop there. What I want is to put an end to discrimination against demonkind. To put it plainly, I want to let demons walk the lands as freely as you or I. They do not deserve the hatred that is given to them any more than you deserve to be hated. And to do that, I need your cooperation. I do not make this offer without giving something in return," Kit reached deeper into his Clairvoyance than he ever could, amplified tremendously by the gem, to touch the memories and thoughts of everyone he was speaking with.
"I offer you money," at this, Kit channelled the image of a dragon's horde of gold to all the pirates and mercenaries.
"I offer you power," to Spacefleet, and especially Strife, Kit channelled the image of demon-assisted technology, a fusion of the mystical powers of the abyss with the ruthless efficiency of science; alongside images of a limitless campaign of conquest.
"I offer you acceptance," to Keng, Celestial, Hades, Aeri, Drakhé and Scar, he gave them the image of being fully human again, free from the stigma that their current form brought them.
"I offer you healing and life," to Alerid, he gave the image of being fully healed. To Cat Assassin, he provided him with the image of Vyt being brought back to life. To Jernath, Tamia and Emma, he gave them the image of their villages and families brought back, restored to the way they once were.
"And I offer you knowledge," to the Mages, he gave them a brief glimpse of all the arcane knowledge stored within the Abyss, more than enough to fill the manor with parchment several times over.
"And to those that will oppose me, please don't think I'm evil for wanting to do this. Each and every one of you would not hesitate to fight for humankind if it were as oppressed as demons are. I am only doing the same for them. However, if you really want to stop me, I'll probably hurt you. Or more. And to those that will ally themselves with me, I will be waiting until midnight at the south gate of Dunburrow. Anyone who isn't with me, shall be considered against me."
And at that, Kit exhaled deeply and let his clairvoyance go. He took one last glance at the knights and walked out of the Throne Room, with the demons, angels and Shade. Fraze((Space: Closing in on Spacefleet)) A voice came in over the dropship's comm system. "Unidentified Spacefleet vessel, identify yourselves." "Merc Fraze and Professor ZariKrahia Ailden are onboard," Fraze replied. "Wait," the voice came back. The silence, if silences could be so anthropomorphized, was tense. Half a minute later, the voice came back. "Prof Ailden and Op Merc Fraze, go to docking bay 3. You will be escorted to Commander Strife's office for questioning. Do not alter your course away from the station, do not attempt to resist the guards when you get here. We are prepared to use force if you do not cooperate." Fraze knew they'd be told to surrender their weapons. He would give up the flechette gun and multi-purpose rifle, but they would have to kill him before they took his Universal Box. Some responsibilities are greater than one's duty to one's commanding officer, and this was one of them. He took the small box out of his pocket. He hadn't had time to put it back in its usual place, but he would do so now. He pulled the collar of his shirt down over his left shoulder, leaving bare skin exposed. With his right hand, he pressed the bottom of the box onto the shoulder muscle, gritting his teeth in preparation for what would happen. The skin of his shoulder opened up and grew around the box, slowly enveloping it. The box, in turn, seemed to dissolve, diffusing under his skin. By the time his skin had completely closed over the box, all that was left was a bright red, angry welt. It was all Fraze could do to keep from crying out in pain--that process felt like having a burning torch held against the skin. Not a process he enjoyed, but the safest way to transport his most precious cargo. He rearranged the collar of his shirt, allowing the skinsuit to flow back over the arm. He had the skinsuit cool down over his shoulder, acting as an ice pack. He had the skinsuit slide away from his head and hands once more. He wouldn't take it off entirely, either. ((Spacefleet: Docking bay 3)) The dropship door opened, and Zari and Fraze were greeted by several armed guards. "Surrender your weapons-- all of them," one of the guards said. Obediently, Fraze laid his two guns on the ground. As they were escorted to Strife's office, Fraze had little to do but think. He had been transferred here for a single mission, that was it. He never expected to get into all this. Maybe his old superiors wanted to hide him away after the incident. He had thought about this many times, and long ago decided that this must have been the case. Because, of course, what would people say if they found out that scientists had made a true doomsday device? So they sent him away, far away, to an insignificant little system. It wouldn't matter if it detonated there, they thought. It's too far away from everything else! But--this insignificant little system, strange though it was, had become his home. He didn't want to leave, even though he knew that at this moment, the thing that could destroy everything here and so much more...lay hidden in a box, embedded in his left shoulder. A mark of his shame, he thought. No, a mark of shame against the exploitative ambition of science. Perhaps that was why he liked it here--the scientists were not so exploitative here. Nor, for the most part, were the mages. But now there's this gem--perhaps mages were just as easily driven to lust after objects of power as were the scientists he had worked with--the one he had once been. But not just the mages, either: the knights, the pirates--heck, even Spacefleet, probably the Mercenaries as well, all seemed to want this gem for their own separate reasons. Keng"Wait, Hades?" Keng asked. "This sounds more than suspicious. I'll try to get more on that. I don't think we'll have another chance to speak until the Commander has had a word with you. Good luck." Keng's good luck was sincere, she really was hoping they wouldn't get into too much trouble. If Strife was the one to take suggestions on the discipline of his personnel she would recommend a suspension on planetary visiting rights. For now though she could only hope her friend wouldn't loose his job and try to scramble together whatever information she could on the situation. "I want the ship's control history from the past hour. It should have kept a digital record of every button that was pressed and every person who came within two feet of it. Find out where it was parked, and if the door had been closed and locked when Fraze left it. If it had been then I want to know how the pirates could possible have gotten in there, or if it's possible that it was someone other than a pirate who'd opened it. If you find anything suspicious let me know a.s.a.p. I'm going to look into this Hades business. If he was acting in concern for Spacefleet protocol he should have known better than to try to engage with Fraze and Zari." Keng barked at the people around her. She couldn't help but bark. She didn't mean to sound harsh but sometimes those wolfish vocals just came through. Next she grabbed her radio from her pocket and sent a transmission to Strife. "Commander Strife, this is Comdo. Keng. As you should know by now Sir, Op. Fraze and Proff. Zari are returning to base. They've reported former Spacefleet Merc. Hades fired at them. From my understanding it was without provocation. Requesting permission to take a small team to investigate and if possible apprehend Hades for interrogation under the charges of assaulting Spacefleet officers Sir. If he proves innocent I propose a small financial reward for his report of the security breach." Keng ended it by punching in her identity verification then sent the message off as a recording that could be opened by the commander when he was ready to hear it, which Keng hoped was soon, though she wasn't sure how much of a chance she'd have of getting permission to take a team down in a lvl 3 lockdown. Plus that storm hadn't died down yet and the strange purple cloud cover was preventing their satellites from taking any images. With this sent off Keng allowed herself a moment to worry for the well being of the pirates and the Weewoo. She'd put a lot of hours into keeping that ship in shape. The thought of it burning put a lump in her throat. She hoped her friends were all right. The blarf had probably helped keep the crew safe from the flames. There was nothing she could do to help them right now though. She had duties as an officer to the 'fleet and that's where her attention had to be right now. But if she ever met the culprit... wait, had there even been a culprit? With all the lightning from the strange storm it could just as likely have been the cause... bah! She had to help Fraze as much as she could right now (Zari, who she'd only realized when she'd gotten into the ship was there, seemed to be safe from any wrath), she could speculate later. Strife((Outskirts of Spacefleet HQ)) "To everyone who is willing to listen, I come to you with an offer..."The Commander stopped dead in his tracks as he heard the strange voice. He raised his Leech weapon immediately and turned around in a circle. Nobody was around. "I want to let demons walk the lands as freely as you or I... And to do that, I need your cooperation."The voice was so clear that it felt as though somebody was speaking right in front of him. But again, he was alone. The Commander glanced down at the crystalized core of his weapon. Its purple and black glow had intensified. He looked upwards again and noticed as the rocks and stones surrounding him began to rise into the air and orbit around his body. For some bizarre reason, his powers were growing... That's it, he thought. This crystal is the reason for my psionic energy...The Commander tilted his head upwards and stared at the swirl of clouds on the surface of the planet. Was the storm being created by some kind of superior lifeform? At that moment, an image flashed through his head. At first it an erratic mix of flashes and colors, but then he could make out the image of Spacefleet HQ. In this image, the Headquarters seemed to be growing rapidly. Like a field of flames, metallic buildings and platforms spread across the surface of the moon, until eventually the entire moon was covered in a tangled mass of metal, red lights, and giant demonic-looking spikes. But it didn't stop there. In the center of the "Spacefleet City" was a giant dome-shaped structure, and it fired what appeared to be a thick laser beam at the planet of NTWF. In the beam's wake, more of the metallic buildings sprouted up on the planet's surface and spread rapdily across it like a virus, until eventually, the NTWF was overwhelmed by the demonic buildings as well.
"If you really want to stop me," continued the voice in his head, "I'll probably hurt you. Or more. And to those that will ally themselves with me, I will be waiting until midnight at the south gate of Dunburrow. Anyone who isn't with me, shall be considered against me."The voice and the images faded away. The crystal in The Commander's Leech had stopped glowing, and he felt his extra burst of power being drained from him instantly. All of the rocks that had been floating in the air suddenly fell to the ground, and a few of them fell on top of his dome helmet and shoulder pads, causing him to fall to his knees. That sensation... it was unlike anything he had ever felt before. For the first time in his life, he actually didn't feel human anymore. He had felt like... something more... something that had surpassed the limitations of the human mind and body. He stared up at the planet once more, and now more than ever, he could actually feel himself gripping the planet with his iron fist. Someone... or something... was giving him the opportunity he had been craving his entire life. It was an opportunity that he had spent many years and many tears trying to find, and at last, his moment of glory was near. It seems that my visit to the planet last week paid off, he thought to himself with a menacing smile. I didn't think the artifact I discovered would be returned to its rightful owner so quickly. I believe it's about time I collected my prize... after I deal with a few Spacefleet affairs, of course.With that thought, The Commander rose to his feet and darted off towards Headquarters, laughing maniacally as his red eyes pierced through the darkness of the moon's surface. While running, his communicator made a low beeping noise, indicating that he was receiving an encoded message. He would open it when he returned to Spacefleet, he concluded. KengKeng now received the strange message inside her head. 'Power? But we're not out to conquer...' she was deeply disturbed by this. Not to mention the message itself was creepy as hell. "I offer you acceptance,".Images of returning to her old life as a human flashed through her mind. Everything seemed glorified and in slow motion. Pristine and idealized. In fact Keng thought it looked very much like a cheesy commercial and was wondering when the satisfied customer praise would come. "I used demonic energy and now I feel great! I can't stop smiling and everyone keeps complimenting me on how great I look. I even lost ten pounds in a week! Thanks Demon Corp.!". This thought send shivers down her spine. Acceptance through a cure. Puh. Let's gather up all the natives and put them into a boarding school to teach them the proper mannerisms of drinking tea while we're at it! That wasn't acceptance, that was assimilation! Besides, the Spacefleet labs were close to developing a cure. She requested the research be done not long after she'd become involved with the scientific community. Not for herself- indeed she intended to build up an immunity to it once it was deemed safe for use- , but for the many werewolves she knew who had not come to terms with their new state of being and made so fortunate a life from it as she had. Whoever had sent this clearly didn't know her. Kat((Knights' Throne Room)) After Ikkin lowered her to the floor, everything happened so fast. Kat wanted to ask so many questions...questions about Kit and his companions, questions about the gem, and most of all, about that woman at the end of the corridor... But right now, she was just too exhausted, so she decided to ask just one question. "Where's Sir Kit going with the gem? Maybe I can...I can figure out..." She took a deep breath, her voice trailing off. Even talking took quite a bit out of her...or maybe it was something else...it was as if a lot of knowledge was being crammed into her head, and then a voice spoke to her... "And I offer you knowledge."* * * ((Forest outside Mage Manor)) She stood before the Manor, arms crossed in front of her chest and leaning against a tree, and simply stared at it through cold, turquoise eyes. A passing wind caressed her shoulder-length hair, which was closer to white than blond, and was free of any accessory. She was clad in a simple green robe that could probably let her blend into the forest if she kept still enough, and over it she had donned a long, black cloak. There was nothing happening today - at least, nothing she knew of, which was just boring. Then again, there was the storm, which was wonderful to look at, but became boring after a while. She sighed. It would be nice to enter the Manor, but then again...she may just have to wait for someone to pass by. Vyt((Near Castle Kestrel)) Determined to seek the gem, Cat Assassin quickly made his way over the castle walls, proving that he still had the touch of a real feline. Dropping himself a few feet away was no problem for him, landing safely down the ground without sustaining any residual damage nor making a loud enough "thud" sound to alarm anyone. It's a good thing there is not a sight of anyone around, he thought. Suddenly, his mind was penetrated by an unknown power, forcing him to hear something. A voice! I hear a voice...
To everyone who is willing to listen, I come to you with an offer. It's a simple one. At this moment, you should be painfully aware of a storm that's trying to rip things in half. I can end that, but I don't really plan to stop there. What I want is to put an end to discrimination against demonkind. To put it plainly, I want to let demons walk the lands as freely as you or I. They do not deserve the hatred that is given to them any more than you deserve to be hated. And to do that, I need your cooperation. I do not make this offer without giving something in return..."
"I offer you healing and life..."Cat Assassin was taken into surprise as his mind was suddenly filled with thoughts he had never imagined. He could see a very different dimension with waves of different colors swiftly travelling through. In the center of the dimension, he could see a person walking towards him, not minding how he could do so with a place so surreal. The image then became clearer, and the appearance of the person almost terrified him. It was Vyt. "And to those that will oppose me, please don't think I'm evil for wanting to do this. Each and every one of you would not hesitate to fight for humankind if it were as oppressed as demons are. I am only doing the same for them. However, if you really want to stop me, I'll probably hurt you. Or more. And to those that will ally themselves with me, I will be waiting until midnight at the south gate of Dunburrow. Anyone who isn't with me, shall be considered against me."The telepathy ended with Cat Assassin down to his knees. What he just saw was so real. He could not believe it was Vyt he just saw, so alive, so well... ... But then, the feline thought about the deal. After letting his own chain of thoughts enter his own mind, Cat Assassin realized that what he saw was too good to be a dream. There was no one else who knew Vyt better than him, and he knew exactly what Vyt would do. He would prioritize everyone else before him. Cat Assassin's eyes were fully opened, and so were his conscience and mind. Demons were called demons for a reason, and that is because they have something worse stored for humanity. As much as he wanted Vyt to be alive again, he would never risk having a world ran over by despicable creatures. Cat Assassin then noticed something else. The one who had just contacted him through telepathy might have the gem in hand. He remembered moments ago the man inside the crystal ball who took the gem. All to himself. He then guessed reasonably that the person in the image of the crystal ball and the one who was almost threatening everyone into submission were all the same. "Do you take me as blinded to my task?!" Cat Assassin exclaimed to no one in particular, hoping that it would reach the man. "I know Vyt... He would never let me get him back from the other world for a very shallow reason! I will NOT take the easy way out, for this is my will and the will of my friend!" His eyes beamed with fury, as Cat Assassin continued. "You have not yet guaranteed that you will keep your promise, and I strongly believe you never will do your part of the deal! No matter how many you have brainwashed with your petty deal, I will fight them all! All including you!" Fury then evolved into rage, as Cat Assassin held a pretty large amount of energy in his right hand. He then stormed right through the castle by forcing a large hole in the wall. "I will never be a slave to your words," he added. "... Never will." Rikku((Forest Clearing – Pile of Corpses)) Death. Death and destruction and fire and blood. Screams as people he knew fell to the ground. Stalking figures, laughing their scorn at the feeble resistance the villages offered.
Derek stirred. An overwhelming stench came through his bloodstained nostrils, making him gag and cough, his lungs burning in pain with each coarse breath. It is hell, surely it is hell, and he is buried, buried for all eternity under the bodies of his friends and neighbors. His body was twisted and contorted with pain and his mind was filled with thoughts of death.
Until he realized he was alive. This brought no relief to him; rather, it brought further torment. What is the use of life when demons walk the earth freely, and murder wherever they go?
The bodies over him and surrounding him and pressing him into the darkness aren’t those of all the villagers. He shuddered to think what the demons did with the others. They were monsters, and they were evil, and they deserved to die, if demons could die.
He shifted; ignoring the internal cries of pain that even the small movement brought him, he pushed his blood-splattered head through the bodies covering him. Now he could hear, and see. If they came back …
He heard a voice, and moments later located its source; a girl with black and green hair, with a bone on her belt and death in her tone. A necromancer, surely.
Derek groped around in the pile next to him, callously shoving aside the bodies of his countrymen, and felt his hand close around the handle of a broken javelin. It would do well enough for the task at hand.
Necromancer, demon, it was all the same thing. All evil. And evil mustn’t be allowed to live.
Derek sank back into the pile, narrowed his eyes, and waited.((Forest Clearing – Near The Edge)) Rikku stiffened, as thoughts that were not hers shifted and wormed into her mind. “To everyone who is willing to listen …”She clenched her teeth, straining every muscle in her body, trying to force the unwanted voice out of her head. It didn’t work. The voice went on. It was anything but unreasonable, and Rikku almost nodded. Demons were sentient, after all, and though they had their own plane, why shouldn’t they be allowed on the NTWF planet? If Rikku wanted to visit the spirit plane, she’d want to be treated reasonably, and the way some people treated demons was anything but reasonable. Superstitions mostly, built up from the fact that they were apparently evil. Rikku found herself thinking, Evilness is in the eye of the beholder, and caught herself. She didn’t want to just agree mindlessly with this person who was drilling into her head – and probably other peoples’, from the sound of the first part of his message. The next part was more interesting. And I offer you knowledge. Rikku was curious to a fault. Knowledge … with more knowledge of necromancy, she’d be a master. Nothing, not even death, would stand in her way. She’d be unstoppable and invincible. If the demon was true to his word. One thing all the superstitions agreed on was that demons were wilier than a kitsune and caused twice as much trouble, and not out of love for mischief either. So she’d just have to be wilier. “We’ll see, mister. We’ll just see.” But the last thing Rikku wanted was to rush off without thinking again. She ought to investigate these poor peoples’ deaths first. So. Let’s get started. Amneiger((Forest: Outside Farmer Bob's field))Amneiger had head both Drakhé's barking and weapons fire coming from the forest. The first one he had dismissed as an ordinary dog; the second had him flinging himself around a tree and glancing about frantically until he figured out which direction it was coming from. He'd tried to see what was going on, but there were just too many trees in the way. So instead he'd continued with his report. As of now, the light green Zafara is stillA strange voice he didn't know suddenly interrupted Amneiger's train of thought. Demons? How do demons deserve not to be, um, disliked? I thought that demons - and their powers - were supposed to be personifications of chaos and evil. Either that or they were made from wicked souls who are being made to serve penance for their sins, which isn't much better. What good would it do to have them here? And this promise of power. Spacefleet isn't supposed to take over the planet. And what would we do with the NTWF if we conquered it?
"To all who are willing to listen." Does that mean this message is being sent to other people as well? Who else is getting it? Who is sending it? I remember that one of the Knights has studied demons; maybe he can tell us what's going on. But first... Amneiger used the computer to send a message to the members of Spacefleet he was working with. This is Professor Amneiger. This may sound strange, but did anybody else suddenly hear a voice in their head talking about demons and conquering the planet? Pyro“I offer you acceptance.”The echoes of Kit’s voice drifted through Pyro’s mind, as ripples when a stone broke the surface of a lake, spreading outward and awakening memories long pushed aside. Images flashed through the Black Knight’s head, images she should not be seeing. Memories of a time past, and a time she did not wish to remember. They were changed, now, by Kit’s murmured offer, warped into scenes that had never played out. The throne room spun away before her eyes as she watched. “Py! Py!”
The familiar nickname broke Pyro out of her thoughts, and she turned with a smile to meet the wide blue eyes of a child. The little girl’s brown curls bounced as she grabbed Pyro’s hand and tugged on it, putting a wheedling note into her piping voice. “You’re always reading. Can you show me the trick with the pretty sword again, Py?” Pyro chuckled and shook her head, placing her book aside and laying a hand to the sword at her waist. Kids would be kids, and magic tricks were never out of style.
“Only if you’re very good, Taya,” Pyro said, mock-sternly. She took several good steps back from the girl, and drew the sword. The flames sprung to the blade with but a thought, controlled with no exertion of will, and the child laughed and clapped her hands.There was no screaming, no curses and no daggers wielded at her, sharp steel clutched in the hands of neighbors, friends, and family. There were no flames spurting from the sword uncontrolled, burning her hands before she could put it out. No wary, suspicious look from the healer who wrapped her hands, and when she went out in days after that people did not pass her by, hurrying their children along… She felt magic spring to life deep within her, her willpower amplified and her control over her sword increased. Not only that, but magic sang in her limbs, filling her with a heady power and vigor that she had never felt. And will never feel again, she thought, with a sense of overwhelming grief as the projected future melted away, and the sensation fled from her. She stood, breathing hard. Kit was gone by that point. He had left much for her to consider. He had a point, that she would fight against discrimination. And if she were a demon, she knew she’d hate the dislike and outright hatred the demons raced. She herself did not despise demons, though she had seen too much of what they could do to ever call them friends. Yet if demons were to walk the earth unbound…what danger would the rest of them be in? She shoved all her thoughts away, resolving to take a good hard look at her feelings—later. “So, now what?” NatureAnd I offer you knowledge.Nature scratched her head confusedly once she heard the message ring in her mind. Knowledge?! Why the heck would I want to know more? I know almost all my sitar-attacks, I know my way around the place, I know almost everyone in my guild . . . heck, I even know my math problems. What more do I want to know? Nature shook her head. I don't think so. This is a demon's promise. I don't fall for those.With that in mind, Nature got up and went off to find Seline, clutching her sitar tightly. She didn't want to risk her nightmare happening for real. ~~~~~~*~~~~~~ "Hey, uh… dragon…Sabine? What are you doing here? Is Nature still out there?!"
Seline rolled her eyes in utter annoyance. "It's Seline, not Sabine! Great. Just great. Man, these mages are so--"
A doorbell interrupted her thoughts. Seline groaned as the cat Omni was talking with went to open the door and - possibly - get Nature. The elvish dragon faced Omni again. "My owner appears to be okay, but some dark magic entered her. Is that a bad thing?"
All of a sudden, however, a dark, demonic thought entered Seline's mind like a fast, scary song that suddenly played just as you were feeling happy.
And I offer you knowledge. CyborgCyborg and Midknight followed PFA, but they instead took to the trees. " We'll keep an eye on things up here." both said in unison to PFA as hey jumped from tree to tree. Rider"To everyone who is willing to listen …”Somethig deep and primal inside of Shiva stirred. The blood of thousands of generations of demons stirred inside him, responding to the sound of one of their own. Discrimination. Was he really discriminated against? Yes... yes he was. Living under human rule. They were always yanking at the bit. Hadn't he been starved, beaten, tortured? By demons, said the rational part of his mind. Not humans. Not Rider.She had caged him, though. Trapped him in that hellish ship, trapped him in that barn. She controlled him... should he not be free to eat what he wanted? To eat who he wanted? To eat until he had his fill? And he was never full, never full, never satisfied. Always empty inside. Never full, always hollow... "Can you promise power... even to me? If so, I can..." His eyes fixed on Ikkin. It had been a long time since he had tasted fox flesh. With all the fury of the unnatural storm, he reared to bring his forehooves down on her. To crush that weak kitsune who considered herself strong enough to kill Kit, the man who had unleashed the demonic hoarde. To crush his prey, as nature intended. ((The White Weewoo))"I offer you money,"Rider made a low hissing sound. Boy did that look shiny. Imagine the rum you could buy with that. Imagine the wenches! of course, she didn't need to buy wenches. She could win them on her own. And rum, one could only have so much of. An image of herself chasing the wind on the high seas. Fighting, flying, never free. Eating, drinking, never full. The emptiness of the blue bored into her with its sparkling eyes. She countered it with an image of white. Her Weewoo. And the gold and black hair to whom her allegiance belonged. "It's a pretty pile of gold," she said to no one in particular. "But not as pretty as the sea." She turned to Hunty. "So what in the name of Davy Jones was that? Demons aren't descriminated against. Well, not Shiva, anyway. Just the ones who... y'know, kill stuff. Not that Shiva doesn't kill stuff. Just the stuff he kills isn't sentient." ... "It is cute, though." Shade((Forest: Wherever Rikku is))
Hades could follow the mage fairly easily, as it wasn’t trying to hide its trail. The more difficult part was making sure that he didn’t accidentally take the trail of a different animal or loose the trail altogether. At times he could almost hear the footsteps of the mage, but not often. Eventually, however, he found her.
She was near a pile of dead humans. Not her kills, he was sure. They were too old, and piled too neatly, for her to have caused them just now, and if this was a place she had come to before, she wouldn’t be examining them the way she was now. Hades faded deeper into the forest, trying to obscure his metallic parts as much as he could.
It was at times like this that he cursed them the most. Hiding was harder than it needed to be, when metal, even metal that he purposefully kept as dull as possible, was involved. And though he could cover his torso and arm, and usually did, his face still glittered, as did his hand. And of those, he couldn’t just stuff his face under debris the way he did with his hand. Not without half-destroying his view, at least.
"To everyone who is willing to listen, I come to you with an offer.” Hades froze when the voice entered his head. But he listened, as the voice talked of letting demons roam the lands. He couldn’t quite understand why anyone would want to do that, but he understood the reasoning behind it. Though at the line “They do not deserve the hatred that is given to them any more than you deserve to be hated,” he almost laughed, and would have if he had not been hiding. He was a vampire. Of course he deserved the hatred that would be directed against him, if they knew what he was. He was a bloodsucking monster.
But wasn’t that what demons were? They were monsters. They killed. So what would make a vampire any worse than one of them? Nothing. Nothing at all. As if to reinforce what he had thought, though the voice had know way of knowing them, it said "I offer you acceptance." The image of being a human again, without the curse of vampirism that Fenrix had inflicted upon him, was appealing. Very appealing. But if vampires, along with demons, were allowed to walk the earth without discrimination, there would be no need to return to being human. After all, being a vampire brought its own advantages, which Hades rather liked.
“I accept your deal,” he whispered, though the voice almost certainly had no way of knowing what he had said. “And to those that will ally themselves with me, I will be waiting until midnight at the south gate of Dunburrow,” it said, continuing its speech. Hades smiled. He could find his way there easily enough. And it wasn’t late in the day at all. He could easily make it there before the voice left.
But first, the mage. She seemed to have received the same message he had, but reacted very differently from him. Hades shook his head. As the voice had said, if they weren’t with them, they were against him. And even if this mage hadn’t declared her allegiance yet, it didn’t seem likely that she would declare for the voice and the demons it would bring. So Hades eased up into a position he could fire from, carefully aiming at her leg. But he didn’t fire yet. He had to make sure.
“Simple question,” he said to her. “You probably got the same message I did. Are you with them, or against them?” If she said she was against them, then he would shoot. If not, then he would need to think about it, and decide just how likely it was that she was telling the truth. Huntress((The White Weewoo)) The blarf had been having a pretty good day so far. It was quiet, there was lots of food, he didn't have to swim in order to keep up with the ship, and playing spinner with the ship had been fun. And now he was hugged. He didn't get hugged often, not since he'd grown so enormously big that the most the pirates could usually offer him was an affectionate pat on the leg. His ears moved back and forth. "Hello, what's your name, Mr. Monster?""Brp," said the kraken. It'd taken a while to teach him not to open his mouth in the close presence of non-food. Hunty had always said that even though the blarf may not be a kraken, it probably has some kraken ancestry, due to his breath that had always been characterized by the crew as 'the foul stench of a thousand rotting skunk corpses in a very hot desert'. The pig interested him. It seemed a lot softer than sharks, and a lot more compact. He turned to sniff it, then came to a decision - after all, his stomach was full - and began to swim back towards the ship, pushing the odd couple in front of him. Huntress watched it with a grim smile. "We may all have gotten nothing more than a smoked ship out of this adventure," she remarked, "but at least we'll get a little blood to pay for the expenses." At that point, the message hit her. "I offer you money..."Gold. Lots and lots of shiny gold. And jewels. Treasures long forgotten, heaps of glittering metal... demons roaming the earth freely? She paid more attention to the message itself. Then shook her head vigorously to drive off the strange feeling the message had given her brain. It was like getting whacked with a ball of cotton candy from the inside of the skull. "Whatdyesay?" she asked in Rider's general direction, then caught up. "It's a pretty pile of gold. But not as pretty as the sea."Hunty nodded slowly, looking down at the scorched ship and the glittering ocean stretching far behind it. At this particular moment, her thoughts couldn't be farther from money. That little white nutshell, their home and hideout, close to being destroyed completely. 'I offer you vengeance' would've been a better message. But she was intending to get some soon anyway. Soaked little furballs had appeared on the deck, shaking themselves, and the blarf was aiming towards the ship with his cargo. He wouldn't have been able to get up the cliff, so she had to get down. The message could wait. Right now she had better things to attend to. "You okay down there, boys? Get me a rope or something." Salamander((Arista - I'm assuming that you're with the group of mercenaries. If not, just ignore that part of my post.)) ((Forest: With traveling mercenaries))"To everyone who is willing to listen..."Salamander did a double take and stopped in her tracks, craning her neck to see who was talking. No one around her was speaking; and anyway, the voice seemed to be coming more from inside her head than the outside world. "Wait..." she said quietly to Jernath and Arista as she stood still, listening to the carefully prepared speech. When it was finished, Salamander looked to her fellow mercenaries. "Did... you hear that?" she asked, positive that it had been too vivid to imagine. Standing up for the demons, on the surface, sounded right, but Salamander knew that the message had been left carefully one-sided. Clearly, this individual was desperate for followers, and they couldn't be blamed for that... but how much of their offer had been entirely true? Celestial((Castle Kestrel)) “Who are you? Sorry, I…missed your name.” a voice came from one of the Knights who by now was concious. Celestial frowned. She nevr really liked seeing Knights holding their swords. Nevertheless, she tried to be polite and answered "My name is Celestial and I am a Dragon Mage. Please don't be frightened, I am not your enemy" she replied. She was stratled to her feet by the words of one Knight, a Knight who she hadn't noitced waking. "Explain yourself, Kit, explain yourself, or I will be forced to kill you" the Knight said and for once, Celestial would have been glad to help a Knight. Usually she fought against them. She was prepared to stand up but the roof was too low for her to shapeshift. No matter, her dagger would do well, even if she couldn't use it well. The explanation came. It came in her mind, nothing like Overlord would do. It was strong and clear. "To everyone who is willing to listen, I come to you with an offer. It's a simple one. At this moment, you should be painfully aware of a storm that's trying to rip things in half. I can end that, but I don't really plan to stop there. What I want is to put an end to discrimination against demonkind. To put it plainly, I want to let demons walk the lands as freely as you or I. They do not deserve the hatred that is given to them any more than you deserve to be hated. And to do that, I need your cooperation. I do not make this offer without giving something in return," Celestial thought that was interesting. What would he give in return? "I offer you acceptance," came the answer along with a picture of Celestial being fully human and free from the stigma of being a dragon. The images of her life before the power flashed past but all she could see was bullying and despair, which she knew was cured by the power. She felt the need to spit on his offer! She didn't want to be a human and be bullied again! At least while she was like this, the dragons were her friend! She was proud of being a dragon, despite the stigma that came with it She had dealt with that all her life but nothing would replace the power that came with a dragon's form and the joy of flight. Besides, the only way to achieve that was to break the Oath of the Draconis and she would never do that. Not when it involved so much pain and breaking the line forever. She was the last one. "And to those that will oppose me, please don't think I'm evil for wanting to do this. Each and every one of you would not hesitate to fight for humankind if it were as oppressed as demons are. I am only doing the same for them. However, if you really want to stop me, I'll probably hurt you. Or more. And to those that will ally themselves with me, I will be waiting until midnight at the south gate of Dunburrow. Anyone who isn't with me, shall be considered against me." the voice continued and stopped. She had to give it some thought. While she was almost a demon, she was also human. No, she would not fight. Better to die on my feet that live on my knees was her thought. He hadn't considered the dragons, who had no love of demons. Her first priority lay with them. But at the same time... She was suddenly aware of the Throne room again but the strange man with the demons had left, along with one of the Knights, the one who didn't feel right. Celestial made her decision. She flew out of the window on her wings, shapeshifting into Dragon Form by going limp as soon as she was free of the Castle. It was getting harder and harder for her to do so. It took twice as long and her wing just scraped the walls of the castle. Orienteering herself, she flew to Dunbarrow, thinking of what she would do... *** ((Forest: Above Rikku and Hades))Overlord flew high above the forest, trying to find Celestial, his mistress. He couldn't call her by mind-link, they were too far apart and he could feel that the distance was growing.
He was suddenly aware of a voice below him which sounded a bit like a man's voice. Only it was slightly...raspy. Almost dead.
He swooped in for a closer look and was almost glad he couldn't smell anything, being a bird, for the ground was littered in human corpses. Standing near them was a girl. Overlord recognised her! It was the girl on the carpet with his mistress! Well, anybody who is her friend is my friend, he thought. She might even know where milady is! But where was the owner of the voice? In his memory, the girl didn't speak like that.
He landed on one of the nearby trees opposite the girl, careful not to make any noise and settled to watch. He glanced over at his one golden feather for reassurance. There was something here which wasn't right, something alive which shouldn't be. But how?
Hoping the girl would notice him, he sent her a mind-message.
"My name is Overlord the White Weewoo. Don't worry, I know Celestial. Don't listen to him, please!" he thought to Rikku, saddened. Milady would know what to do but she isn't here. I will have to work things out on my own. PFA((Castle Kestrel: Castle Walls))PFA had barely managed to get up the castle walls, when suddenly a voice entered her mind. She recognized it as Kit's voice. He wanted to make a deal. He wanted demons to be able to freely walk the NTWF, without being hated and scorned. PFA wasn't sure what to think of this. She thought it sounded like a good thing, but what would this mean? Would demons take over the NTWF, changing everything? PFA shuddered at the thought. ((I'm gonna assume PFA got the image of Vyt as well, since Vyt's kinda her father and all... >_>)) "I offer you healing and life," came Kit's voice. With this, an image came to PFA's mind. An image of her father. He was alive again, and he greeted the ninja with a warm hug... PFA's eyes became a little teary at the thought, and for a moment she was willing to take him up on this offer. But then, she heard the screams of her Uncle... "Do you take me as blinded to my task?! I know Vyt... He would never let me get him back from the other world for a very shallow reason! I will NOT take the easy way out, for this is my will and the will of my friend!"This caused PFA to think. Her Uncle was right... Father wouldn't want to come back to a world plagued with demons. That would be... cruel. PFA's eyes narrowed, watching as her Uncle plowed through the castle wall. I have to refuse, Kit... PFA thought, not sure if Kit would hear her but she didn't care. I can't do that to Father.And with that, PFA climbed down the wall carefully, going back to what she was doing before. Kit's message wasn't done, though, and the last part caught her attention. "...I will be waiting until midnight at the south gate of Dunburrow."And that's where I'll wait, too... PFA thought with a smirk. If Kit still had the jewel, the south gate was going to be where the jewel was. And that's what she wanted. --- ((Forest: Near Merc HQ))"We'll keep an eye on things up here," Cyborg said, climbing into the trees. "Alright," Jernath replied with a nod. He continued walking for a moment, when suddenly... "To everyone who is willing to listen, I come to you with an offer.""Huh?" he muttered, looking around for where the voice was coming from. He couldn't see anyone besides the other mercenaries... and he knew it wasn't any of them. It was almost as if he was thinking it, but yet it wasn't in his own voice... Jernath fingered his daggers as the voice continued to talk. It was saying something about discrimination against demons... wait, 'end it'? Did that mean the voice speaking was that of a demon? "I offer you money," the voice said, and suddenly the image of a huge pile of gold appeared in front of him. His mercenary side was starting to kick in... that was a lot of money. But then his logical side began to kick in... what in the NTWF would he do with it all? Before he could think on it much longer, the voice continued. "I offer you healing and life," it said. And suddenly, the image of the gold faded away, and was replaced with a much more meaningful one. It was an image of Riverwell Village, before the rogue had come and destroyed it. He saw his family, his friends... and a young woman with dark brown hair, and brilliant hazel eyes. His heart promptly stopped. He recognized this woman... it was Meria, the one he loved. She had been tragically killed when the rogue came, just like many of the other villagers. "Meria..." he mouthed quietly. How he wished he could be with her again... to hear her voice, to feel her warmth... to gaze into her loving eyes once more. He had thought of her as long gone, but suddenly this person was suggesting she could be brought back. And suddenly, she was gone, and he was back in the forest with the other mercenaries. The voice had not yet finished, though. "And to those that will ally themselves with me, I will be waiting until midnight at the south gate of Dunburrow. Anyone who isn't with me, shall be considered against me."With that, the voice was gone. Jernath was shaken... what was that all about? Who was that, even? Would they really bring back what was lost? He really didn't know what to think. "Did... you hear that?" Salah asked. "...Yeah," was all Jernath could say. He was pondering whether he should take up this offer or not. The thought of his village back was really tempting, but yet... he really didn't know. SalamanderJernath, too, had frozen at the sound of the voice. "...Yeah," he replied quietly to Salamander's question. As Salamander looked up at him, she was surprised by how stunned he looked. Did something in the message hit closer to home for him than it had for her? He looked completely human... maybe he was somehow personally interested in demon rights? She bit her lip, wondering whether to speak up. Salamander already knew what she wanted, but she was traveling with a group... Then a thought broke through her discomfort: The reason you don't want to speak up for demons is because of the discrimination against them. Isn't that proof we need a change? With the help of this thought, the mage found her voice. "I think we should go meet them. They sound like they really do need help... and we can't just refuse without getting more information. And anyway," Salamander added hastily, "We're going that way already, so..." PFA((Forest: near merc HQ))"I think we should go meet them," Salah said, snapping Jernath out of his thoughts. "They sound like they really do need help... and we can't just refuse without getting more information. And anyway, we're going that way already, so...""You're right," he nodded, trying to push back the thoughts of his village for now. "We need more information about all this." And then he started walking again, less toward the cloud now and more toward Castle Kestrel. If this person was really willing to give what he said he would... Jernath needed to know. Shade((Kestrel Castle Throne Room))
The shadowy tentacles wove around Shade, cool, but not quite cold. As they lifted, pulling her towards Kit, Shade’s wings unfurled, twitching slightly. It didn’t feel right to be held in the air this way, without providing her own lift and power. She didn’t say anything. The other knights were providing more than enough commentary on what was happening, after all.
The clicking of a metallic tail unfolding, forming an arc above the head of its owner, was ominous, loud in the unnatural silence that Kit had brought. Shade would have spoken, asked him what he was doing, but the cold touch of the demon that still held her stopped her mouth. If she spoke, what would Kit do? She doubted she would die, but it was always a possibility, especially the way Kit was acting.
And then Kit spoke, breaking the silence. "Look, it would be nice if you gave me a chance to speak before trying to kill me. Or have I still not earned your trust? Not that it would surprise me. The Knights after all have a history of demon-hating," Kit said, closing his eyes.
“They why did they–” Shade stopped speaking. Kit’s voice, as strong, or perhaps even stronger, than it had just been, was sounding inside her head. She listened, not really paying attention, until – “What I want is to put an end to discrimination against demonkind. To put it plainly, I want to let demons walk the lands as freely as you or I. They do not deserve the hatred that is given to them any more than you deserve to be hated.”
So. That’s what he was after. But why now? What had prompted him to do this? But Kit was still speaking. Power. Money. Acceptance. Healing. Knowledge. He was offering them freely, as if he truly could give everyone what they wanted. But how? There wasn’t any way for him to have access to that much. Unless he could make the demons give out whatever he told them to. And that was a truly frightening thought. Just how powerful was Kit?
“Anyone who isn't with me, shall be considered against me,” Kit said. He glanced around the room. Shade followed his gaze, seeing all of the knights, caught in the trance he had caused. She didn’t even try to resist when Kit left, taking her with him. She wanted to talk to him about this. But she could wait until they left the Throne Room, at least.
As soon as the door shut behind them, Shade spoke. “Why? Or rather, why now?” She twisted to look at the demon that held her. “Oh, and you can let me go. I’ll stay. I’ll help you, Kit. But only once you tell me why.” It wasn’t as if she really had a choice in the matter. She was half-demon herself, after all. And Kit had her in his grasp, effectively. There was no way for her to side against him in this, nor any reason to. Keng((Spacefleet HQ: Security)) This is Professor Amneiger. This may sound strange, but did anybody else suddenly hear a voice in their head talking about demons and conquering the planet?"Copy that. This is Keng. Here I thought I had just had a sudden flash of delusional madness. I was thinking about reporting to medical. A few others have mentioned it though. As if I haven't had enough to report to the Commander today. I'd bet a pretty penny this all has something to do with that purple rainstorm. If there really is going to be some sort of meeting it'll be worth checking out. Speaking of the storm though, I've heard you're down there. Any significant notes you'd like to share with us yet?" As this went on Keng began typing up yet another message to the commander. Even as she typed this security was getting messaged from all over the station with similar reports of visions about demons roaming NTWF freely. URGENT!
Medical/Paranormal Alert: High Planet Security Risk!
Reports are poring in of a strange vision which seems to have occurred simultaneously to most, if not all, Spacefleet personnel. Visions include promises of desires and most importantly the plan of forming an army in allegiance with demons for the purpose of 'demon rights' though demon rule seems more likely. Such a force would threaten our primary mission. I'd like to have a well armed team at the meeting proposed to take place in Dunburrow on a stealth mission to gather more information and access the threat.
-Comdo. KengWow... what a day so far. And yes, it was only so far.
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Post by GW2 on Oct 15, 2008 14:04:36 GMT -5
Crystal
((The White Weewoo))
Cautiousness was going to be a definite asset here, the pig decided. While it’s mistress was definitely fond of the huge creature that had rose from the depths, the pig had long since decided that there was something wrong with Mistress somewhere in her head. No, it decided. It definitely didn’t like this new creature at all. Perhaps it could get it’s mistress to run away fast enough to evade the thing.
Then the kraken rose a little more out of the water, and the pig gulped… as much as pigs could, hastily revising its opinion. Well, then again, this new creature was definitely slimy. Slimy and slightly muddy, which meant that this particular, terrifying monster obviously had good taste, so it was quite clearly the pig’s duty to give it as much love as the pig possibly could. After all, it prided itself on being a practical pig – with ‘practical’ meaning ‘living’.
Keeping that in mind, the pig bore being sniffed by the huge creature with the kind of look usually only characterized in cornered deer.
Clara was still clambering over the blarf, scratching behind it’s huge ears and seemingly oblivious to the fact that both she and the pig were slowly being herded toward land. Her patched, thin dress clung to her skinny frame, displaying new holes near the hem from where it had caught on branches merely a few days ago. She would doubtless patch it up with more colour sooner or later, adding even more garishness to the already clashing cloth. “Pretty monster,” she cooed happily. “Sweet monster. Clara love you!”
The pig felt slightly neglected.
Then his mistress’ head turned towards land and she caught sight of the grim figures standing still, visibly dripping revenge and anger. “Are they your friends, Mr. Monster?” she exclaimed delightedly. “Do they have more things to burn?” She fumbled subconsciously in her pockets and then her eyes went wide and she cried out in disappointment. “Mr. Monster, you wet Clara’s matches! Mr. Monster is always taking away Clara’s fun, putting out all Clara’s fires and making it so that Clara can’t burn things again.” Her large eyes in a thin face suddenly filled with tears. “Clara still loves Mr. Monster, though,” she added tearily as her feet found their footing on the sand and rocks below. Her pig grunted slightly in resignation as it waded onto dry land. The salt from the water wasn’t playing well with its normal coating of mud, and it didn’t think that this was going to end well at all.
“Mr. Pig loves Mr. Monster too, don’t you, Mr. Pig?”
The pig refused to dignify that with a response.
Fraze
((Spacefleet)) Fraze guessed they were roughly halfway to the Commander's office when he heard the voice. One of the guards shouted at Zari and him, "Stop that!" "We're not doing it," Fraze answered.
At the offer of power, Fraze had to stifle a bitter laugh. Ironic, really, that he had been thinking about just that--power. Those who desire power, he knew, are the ones least fit to wield it. Fraze remembered the old adage--if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. He didn't know much about demons--he had had little time to study this strange and wonderful planet since he had arrived. But in most myths, legends, and folklore, demons are not particularly good things. Sorry, Fraze thought back. But I must refuse. The only thing that could tempt me would be a relief of the burden I carry, but even that is mine alone to deal with.
Zylaa
((Throne room to wherever Kit is)) The weasels felt the message too. It was a silly message, and the General thought it was pretty boring, because the demons weren't that shiny. He was yawning as Kit reached the part aimed towards the pirates.
I offer you money. Shinies, lots and lots of shinies, appeared in the minds of the weasels- more shinies even than the pirates had, and that was a lot of shinies.
The General looked around at the other weasels. "Show hands: Follow man with shinies?"
It was unanimous.
As Kit exited, the six weasels followed eagerly. "Shinies?" one cried at Kit's retreating back.
***** ((The White Weewoo)) Repairable. That was the key, Zylaa told herself as she looked down at the smoking wreckage of their ship. It could be fixed, with enough money. And they were pirates, experts on plundering. If the weasels showed up with that gem, it would be enough to fix the Weewoo.
Then, of course, they could wreak bloody vengeance on whoever was responsible. Zylaa glared down at the girl and the pig that the blarf was ushering in. She had to be working for someone- and whoever it was would pay.
For one disoriented instant, as the message from Kit began, she thought she had slipped into a dream. "To everyone who is willing to listen, I come to you with an offer."
Sounds reasonable enough, Zylaa thought as Kit elaborated on his request. I mean, we've got a bunch of powerful, possibly evil species wandering around already.
"I offer you money." Oooh, a dragon horde. That was a nice touch, Zylaa thought. But a bit too convenient- right after their ship had been burned? Could Kit have been in charge of the attacking girl?
If he was, we know where to find him now, Zylaa thought as Kit established the place of contact. It's still hours away- we can make a decision after we deal with this girl. Vision over, she focused back out to sea. For backup, she summoned the weasels, and they plopped onto the cliffs. In her anger, she didn't notice that the weasels seemed more thoughtful than usual. (And back in the throne room, for the first time, the six weasels pursuing Kit disregarded a summons from Zylaa...)
Was that girl hugging the blarf?
Huntress
((The White Weewoo))
The meepits on board, all a little sulkier than usually, busied themselves with ropes and knots for a while, and finally managed to restore the connection between the top of the cliff and the ship. Hunty slid down before they'd even fully finished, a grim scowl on her face, and marched across the sooty floorboards like an avenging angel. At least they still echoed back solidly. The biggest problem might turn out to be repainting.
The old pirate hideout had been designed with care. The waves that had beaten against the cliff for centuries had carved it in anyway, which served to hide the hanging tires from the sight of anyone looking straight down from the cliff. And right near the water level, there were a few ledges and artificial caves for stuff generally called 'loot and provision', for emergency cases. That's where the blarf landed, or actually pushed the girl off, snorting in vague confusion and then drifting back into the water, shaking his head.
The meepits had gathered on the starboard railing, where they'd watched the arrival of the strange trio and heard the girl's monologue.
"That girl," Joe the Chef greeted Huntress as she reached the board, "definitely is a few screws short of a full set."
The captain looked at Clara and the pig on the ledge.
"A girl." she said. "And a pig."
"Yep," the meepit said sulkily. "They both smelled of seaweed by the time they got here, which is probably why we couldn't smell them. Not sure why the blarf didn't spot them. Probably asleep."
"You sure it was them?" Hunty asked.
"Eyup."
Hunty climbed over the railing, muttering something about a gang of meepits and a fuzzy kraken unable to detect some girl and a pig before their noses are almost burned off, and landed on the ledge. Her rage had somewhat dissolved by then, though she didn't fully realize yet that it was less because the ship hadn't taken any considerable damage, and more because a part of her brain was still preoccupied with the message and the offer in it.
"Well then," she said darkly. "Who the heck are you, where do you come from, and why did you set fire on my ship?"
Celestial
Celestial landed near Dunbarrow, shapeshifting back into a human. She looked up at the sun, shielding her eyes. It was going to be a long wait but hopefully, it would be worth it. Shivering, she turned towards the lonely tomb. She didn't like this place one bit, even in daylight. What it would be like at night, she couldn't imagine. She took the dagger out of it's sheath on her boot. At least holding a weapon like that made her feel better.
Sitting down on the grass, she amused herself with what spells she could manage with the storm inhibiting her magic and sighed. She missed the cheerful, talkative thoughts of Overlord. If only a dragonet could fly in this wing, she could talk to it but alas, the sky was empty of every bird and dragon. She sighed and took out her pipe, playing a mournful tune for whoever lay here.
Rider
"why did you set fire on my ship?"
"My ship," Rider corrected, not to be outdone because in the first time in ages, she finally owned the Weewoo. And the repair bills. Thank you, Stal.
Ikkin
((Castle Kestrel Throne Room))
Despite Ikkin's threat, Kit didn't really seem all too quick to give an explanation. Instead, he greeted Shiva, who Ikkin had just noticed had entered, before saying, "Look, it would be nice if you gave me a chance to speak before trying to kill me. Or have I still not earned your trust?"
Ikkin just growled softly and put her hand on the hilt of her cutlass, which she always carried with her. Kit had earned her trust. He had also lost it. And he still hadn't explained himself; now, he was just playing with that stone, which made her even more angry.
"Not that it would surprise me," Kit continued in an airy voice that only served to raise Ikkin's ire even further. "The Knights after all have a history of demon-hating."
What was he on about, she thought. No one, at least amongst the Knights, had a problem with Kit's rather unusual abilities; it had always been the common people who had felt uncomfortable around him. No one hated Shade, the half-demon, either.
Before she could think too much about this, though, Kit's voice rang out in her head.
"To everyone who is willing to listen, I come to you with an offer. It's a simple one. At this moment, you should be painfully aware of a storm that's trying to rip things in half. I can end that, but I don't really plan to stop there," Kit said.
Yeah, a storm that was your gem's fault, Ikkin thought. Her grip tightened around her sword.
"What I want is to put an end to discrimination against demonkind. To put it plainly, I want to let demons walk the lands as freely as you or I. They do not deserve the hatred that is given to them any more than you deserve to be hated. And to do that, I need your cooperation.
Sure, make it sound like you're just trying to do something good, she thought. Make yourself into a demon-rights activist, why don't you. That still doesn't explain why you went behind all of our backs, though.
”I do not make this offer without giving something in return," he continued, listing out his offers - money, power, acceptance, healing, knowledge.
Ikkin thought she'd like the knowledge, if it included knowledge of what Kit was really up to. Yes, that would be nice.
She didn't have a chance to pay attention to the rest as she realized, with a shock, that Shiva was suddenly towering over her, hooves in the air.
What the... she thought, tossing as much fire as she could conjure up in a split second - which, really, wasn't much - towards the horse with her left hand as she jumped backwards and out of the way before Shiva's hooves crashed down on her.
"Crazy horse!" she said as she drew out her sword from its sheath, still shaking a bit from nearly getting trampled to death by a hungry demon-horse.
***
((Mage Manor))
Sev was furious. How dare Scar refuse to let him take Mages - some of whom might be willing - off to help Ikkin? He did his best to remain calm, but only built up more and more steam as the kitten continued his speech.
"Now I know I'm not the guildmaster but I refuse to allow the mages to go on some wild goose chase for some powerful, probably malign, artefact that could possibly kill us all, meow!"
Scar was right. He wasn't the guildmaster. And Sev wasn't going to let him away with acting like he was if Ikkin was at risk.
It probably wouldn't do much good to attack the kitten, however, he thought - then immediately wished he hadn't been with Ikkin for so long to make him think like that. It might not have helped, but it would certainly be satisfying.
"So you go ahead and tell Ikkin that the mages are staying indoors until this storm blows over," Scar ended, with a glare in Sev's direction.
Sev really wished he could attack the kitten right now. He finally settled on ignoring Scar until he left to go answer the door.
He did pay attention to what Surf had to say, however. “I don’t care what Scar says, I’m going over there the second he goes to bed," she said.
Now, this is more like it, Sev thought.
"Can you guys come and help me out, please? We have to contain that thing before it hurts anyone else, and I can’t do it on my own.”
"I certainly can," Sev said. "Just hold onto my wings, and I'll take everyone."
It was right then that Sev got the message from Kit, offering all sorts of things in return for freeing the demons. With the power of the gem now at a reasonable level, Sev was easily able to pinpoint Kit's location at Castle Kestrel - and that Ikkin was there, too.
He also felt a slight tug on the soul bond between himself and Kit. Which meant only one thing - Kit might be a danger to Ikkin.
"Hurry up," he said. "There's something wrong with Kit, and we need to stop him before something bad happens."
"Something bad" was an understatement, Sev knew, at least in his own case. While he was quite confident that he could take on demons, a torn soul bond was not something he wanted to risk.
Kat
"This is stupid."
The blonde sighed again, resisting the urge to blast the hapless Manor into bits. Then again...she could probably keep them preoccupied while she sniffed out her target. After all, her magical signature was nowhere near; either that, or she was just really good at hiding.
With a sigh, the young woman simply snapped her fingers, and created a huge, dark violet cloud right over Mage Manor, brimming with grim lightning that was more black than purple.
And then she was gone.
Omni
((Mage manor, kitchen and then the front door))
"It's Seline, not Sabine!"
"Seline! I was close that time."
"My owner appears to be okay, but some dark magic entered her. Is that a bad thing?"
"Yeah, that's probably a bad thing!" Omni headed out the kitchen and toward the front door. She wasn't quite sure how, but she had recently become a sort of mentor to the other Zafara, and as such, she felt it a sort of duty to make sure she was okay. Besides, someone rang the doorbell earlier.
She came to the doors, and yanked one of them open. "Woah!" she thought aloud as the aura of the atmosphere changed from the protective, and somewhat-comforting one of the Manor, to a more dark and chaotic one. Outside, she could see the purple storm. It nearly covered the sky, and was probably where the aura was coming from. She also saw an elf-girl, who definitely wasn't Rikku or Nature.
"…Sorry that wasn't directed toward you," she apologized to the girl.
It was about then that she heard a voice in her head, which she recognized as Kit's. She listened, but then again it's hard not to when the message is being projected telepathically.
Knowledge… she mentally shook herself out of it. There was no telling just how accurate all that was, or if Kit would even hold up his end of the deal. And demons… she didn't like that thought of that. She had to admit, though, that he picked a pretty good thing to tempt her with, something that was even part of her name. But even so, when would she find the time to read through all that, even if she were to use speed-reading, or to even sort through them all to find the info she was looking for? No, she wouldn't take up the deal, even with all technicalities aside. Besides, she had other things to tend to…
---
((Spacefleet, a random corridor))
Ethan was walking back to his quarters, having retrieved Siber's food dish, when he started hearing a voice in his head. Is was certainly an… interesting experience. His computer didn't show any indications of picking it up as a radio signal, this was more prominent than the radio messages anyway, and more clearly heard. He was actually wondering if it was a hallucination, though he didn't know why he would be hallucinating. Power… Why would he want power? Would such power bring his memory back? He had no need for power, no interest in it. And the entry on 'demons' in his built-in dictionary certainly didn't make them sound pretty, or nice. He didn't even know where this 'Dunburrow' was.
"Come on, Siber," he said. "Let's go." He was really considering checking into sickbay at the moment, just in case.
Rider
((Kestrel Castle Throne Room))
Shiva screamed as the stench of his own singed fur stung and bit at his nostrils. The pain drove him further into fury then he had been since coming to the NTWF. He snapped at her with gleaming fangs. "I'll send you to a place where no fire chicken will resurrect you."
Rikku
((Forest Clearing of DEATH!!!))
Rikku paused from checking the body of a woman who looked to be about thirty for cause of death and glanced around at the surrounding forest. Had that been a glint, a shine amongst the trees? Could it be the sun was reflecting off something metallic? Or maybe even just a particularly shiny leaf. No way to tell.
Until, that is, the vampire stepped out of the cover of the trees. So he HAD been following her. Rikku sighed, wondering whether another fireball would give her enough time to make a break for it, and then froze. Was he aiming a gun at her? If it was the same one he’d used before, she didn’t stand a chance. She forced herself to breath evenly, and glared at him.
What he said surprised her. “Simple question. You probably got the same message I did. Are you with them, or against them?
He was probably with them. He looked plenty ruthless enough. So …
Rikku allowed the corner of her mouth to twitch upwards in a small smile. “You dolt.” Again, insulting someone who had a gun on her was probably not the best idea, but she’d already said it. Too late to stop now. “I mean, come on. What else am I going to say when you’d shoot me if I said no?” She shook her head slowly, pityingly. “But I’ll give you my honest answer anyway. I’m a necromancer, I’m not scared of death.” That was true. To a point. “I -” She stopped suddenly, as another unfamiliar voice filled her head. What was it with respecting other people’s mental privacy these days?
"My name is Overlord the White Weewoo. Don't worry, I know Celestial. Don't listen to him, please!"
Rikku continued as though nothing had happened. Overlord’s message didn’t change what she was going to say. “I would normally take this offer,” she admitted. “I want to. Not for knowledge, particularly, but because …” For power. For might. For ability. For strength. “ But because it seems the right thing to do, even if the argument’s a little … dodgy.” She looked steadily at the vampire. “But I’m a Mage. My first loyalty lies with the Mages. I side with them. Whatever they decide is what I do.” The words tasted flat on her tongue, unconvincing, condemning, imprisoning even, but she said them anyway. She had to.
Rikku held her hand near her wand. If it came to it, she could control a few of those corpses behind her. They’d make a good distraction if it came to it. She hoped it wouldn’t. After all, if the man somehow forced her to side with the Demon Rights Committee, she could always plead later to the Mages that she hadn’t had a choice.
Ikkin
((Castle Kestrel throne room))
"I'll send you to a place where no fire chicken will resurrect you," Shiva snarled, fangs bared.
Ikkin shifted, still not quite comfortable with the way fangs looked in a horse's mouth. She tightened her grip on her sword, gaining comfort from the weight of it in her hands.
"Control yourself, Shiva," she barked. "I'd rather not be forced to kill you, considering that you're Rider's horse. Do understand, though, that I'm not just some little fox like the ones you used to hunt." She rose up into the air, wind whipping around her and holding her up and out of Shiva's reach. "Now, get those delusions out of your head. The traitor won't give you power. Now snap out of it!"
Rider
((Castle Kestrel Throne Room))
"The traitor won't give you power. Now snap out of it!"
The voice didn't even register as Ikkin's. It was just another feeble prey pleading for its life. Pathetic. And now she was running from him, floating just out of his reach.
"You won't give me power either. These are my people, fox, oppressed for too long. It is time to rise as the children of darkness must!"
Cyborg
(( In the trees near the other mercenaries)) " Hey Cy did you see that?" Midknight asked. " Ya I did, looks like we got a job." Cyborg smirked as they both continued jumping from tree to tree. " So I guess we're going to this guy's castle right?" Midknight asked the other merc’s.
Goosh
((Forest, west of Dunburrow))
He was definitely lost. Not just the kind of lost where you know what you're looking for is around here somewhere, but the totally hopeless lost that results in you wandering around for hours.
Goosh sighed, and berated himself once again. Why had he chosen to follow the Weewoo by land? It had seemed like a good idea at the time, but then again so did bad ideas.
The forest surrounded him on all sides. Green light filtered through the air, showing no promise of a way out. The Yurble sat on a gnarled old stump.
Out of nowhere, a message echoed through his head.
A storm? Goosh looked upwards, but the thick forest canopy laced together overhead, showing mere fractions of the sky. It was a blobby pink orange. The sun was setting.
Demons? What did demons have to do with anything? Was Kit even near here, close enough to contact him telepathically. So many questions...
And it ended with a threat. How charming. Evidently something had happened, was happening. Dunburrow was somewhere northeast of here, right?
His mind full of questions, Goosh orienteered himself and hurried on.
Amneiger
((Forest, near Farmer Bob's field.))
"I've been trying to measure the lightning and wind speed, and have some samples of storm water. For the most part I've been hiding in this forest," Amneiger replied to Keng. "When I arrived there were several peple in the middle of a corn field. I got some of their descriptions, so maybe we can talk to them later. At a first glance the wind and lightning readings are stronger than usual. I'll bring the equipment back up to the station; I'm getting more and more uncomfortable here." He looked around the field; the Zafara had left and there was nobody else in sight, so he gathered up his equipment and headed back to the ship.
"Everything all right in here?"
The pilot rubbed his eyes. He looked dazed and disoriented. "Yeah. I, uh..." he gestured towards the radio, where reports of the message were coming in.
"Let's not worry about that now. Head back to the station.”
Bacon
((Spacefleet HQ, Garage A-37))
Bacon hummed a Johnny Cash song as he connected the weapon power inlet to the main energy coil. For a while the music in his head was replaced with the strangest thought about demons and stuff, but he didn't think about that too much, and the music resumed.
As he pulled himself out from under the small modified flight training ship, he handed the Universal Swiss Army Knife multi-tool to his assistant, a younger man named Koontz, who disconnected the USAK from the welding power supply, removed the "Attachment Three" head, and put all of the components in their proper storage containers. Bacon popped the hatch to make sure the engines and everything still ran with the addition of weapons when he heard Koontz clear his throat.
"Uh, sir? I think I might need some time off..." The tech said bluntly, "I've been having some strange ideas..."
"What about?" Bacon asked, not really paying attention. He hit the ignition switch, and the engines roared loudly for a second, before fading to an almost nonexistant whisper.
"Uh, about demons, and power, and global domination." Koontz replied modestly. Bacon looked at him and he smiled nervously.
"Really?" He checked his PDA and, sure enough, there were a couple messages on it concerning some telepathic message. After browsing through them disinterestedly, he put his PDA away. "Don't worry about it!" He said with a smile, then he turned off the power supply and got out to try rerouting weapon power.
Zari
Zari, having relinquished her armour, five daggers, her sketch book, several vials, her gun, and, oddly enough, her bracelets, started when a guard said 'Stop that! 'Stop what...?'
'I offer you power,'
The image hung in her mind. Something infinite, powered by...demons? She shifted. She had no problem with demons of any kind, loosely being classified as a sort of nature demon herself. But what is born in the abyss should, really, stay there. Were demons not there for a reason? Focus on the matter at hand. She was probably about to have herself a severe lecture.
--
I offer you acceptance
Zaha, too shifted. Herself, a back in the city she had been born in, doing what she loved, free of responsibility, without the stone...No. This was what she loved. Liasing between the Knights and Ninjas. It may not be where she was comfortable in, but it was, somehow, natural to always be on edge. The life wasn't glamourous, but she liked it. She remebered her last impression of Feliastion...Stuffy. Caging. Too hot. Unable to touch a civilian without rumours springing up. This wasn't bad. In fact, in a way, it was acceptance. Kit didn't know her well enough. Playing with one of her heavy armguards, she glanced across at Zari.
'I offer you healing and life.'
Zari inhaled sharply and surreptitiously shook back her left sleeve. Four brutal scars, shaped like runes. To be rid of them, and...bringing her Father back? Healing his mind once more? Her father, not mad anymore. She turned to look at Zaha, who was mouthing. 'Norem.' she nodded and replied, this time giving the word voice. 'Norem.' she said firmly.
Tamia
((Field, a day west of Castle Kestrel))
Normally, Tamia would have protested as Shino attempted to fix a quick poultice for her steadily dripping wound -- as she always carried some medicinal herbs with her as well -- but currently, she found herself hardly capable of forming coherent thoughts. Then the silver arrow, a tool selected specially by the White Knight, entered the wound, and suddenly she felt as if her arm was being burned off. She flinched, swaying on her knees and trying not to black out.
Meanwhile, Oran looked on intently, with an expression that radiated something like regret. Instantly, Tamia felt inexplicably ashamed of herself. It was a wonder she ever made it past a squire’s status.
"I apologize for leaving you in this way, Lady Tamia. But our friend will not be allowed to reach the end of his set road."
She looked up to see Shino leap into the saddle of his white horse confidently, but the glare of the sun, already past its highest point in the sky above, was too much for her.
"I shall send for help as soon as I am able. The grave does not await you this day. Take heart." And with that, he was gone, leaving the girl and the cat staring, hardly daring to imagine what Sir Shino was planning.
After a few deep breaths, Tamia found the pain the injury had brought to be already receding slightly. She winced as she moved clumsily to reach into her backpack with her right hand, and then paused.
"To everyone who is willing to listen, I come to you with an offer. At first, she thought that the message was Oran’s. But no. This was a much different kind of telepathy, a much different voice. It was thinner than Oran’s, but also more calm, composed, and it seemed to the young knight that the speaker’s words were as clear as if he were standing right next to her. She recognized it in an instant, and immediately felt a sick jolt in the pit of her stomach.
It's a simple one. At this moment, you should be painfully aware of a storm that's trying to rip things in half. I can end that, but I don't really plan to stop there. What I want is to put an end to discrimination against demonkind. To put it plainly, I want to let demons walk the lands as freely as you or I. They do not deserve the hatred that is given to them any more than you deserve to be hated...."
Tamia recoiled as the voice filled her mind, repulsed. “No,” she whispered, refusing to hear the words as they came at her. “No.”
"I offer you healing and life..."
It was then that a scene exploded in her mind’s eye -- a rough but well-built farmhouse; a smiling woman in an apron, brushing a lock of brown hair from her face; at the table a stocky woman well past seventy, her eyes crinkled in delight; a slim man whose perpetually-worried expression was today transformed to one of warmth and kindness as he approached her, his arms outstretched as if from another world, a world in which he hadn’t been killed by the same kind of demon that the speaker was trying to bring into the world of the living....
Her voice caught in her throat, and a quiet sob escaped. This was too much to bear, worse even than the white-hot stab of a knife tearing through her flesh... and yet somehow, she wasn’t surprised when the scene dissolved before her, as if it had never been. Numbly, she found that she felt strangely hollow.
"...Anyone who isn't with me, shall be considered against me." And it was over.
Tamia could only stare at the flattened blades of grass before her. “Kit,” she realized softly.
I knew this would happen.
Stricken by something in his voice, she glanced up at the cat. “You listened in on me?”
As soon as I realized something was wrong, he replied grimly. And I was right. Ever since I first saw that... that lunatic, I’ve suspected he was trespassing into worlds that shouldn’t be visited. He will destroy the NTWF from the inside out. Oran swore vividly.
“That’s not Kit,” she murmured. Not the Kit she knew, anyway. She had fought alongside the Grey Knight in battle. She had helped him once, when one of the Castle’s healers had accidentally poisoned him. She hadn’t really gotten any closer to knowing him because of it, but she knew enough to respect him as one of the Knights she most looked up to... despite his affiliation with demonkind. Increasingly dizzy, she placed her good hand on the ground to steady herself.
Oran looked at her. You’ll need help. Carefully, he padded up to her and leaned against her side.
Confused, she mumbled, “This is hardly the time for you to decide to start being a cat....” She gasped as a wave of what felt like liquid fire rushed up her body, originating from the point the cat was in contact with her. Slowly, she got to her feet, her extremities tingling with energy and her mind suddenly much clearer than it had been just moments before.
That should keep you going for a while, the cat said after a slight pause. We need to reach the castle by midnight, after all. Our noble demonologist friend is waiting for us.
Ikkin
((Castle Kestrel Throne Room))
"You won't give me power either," Shiva said with more disdain than Ikkin had ever heard in his voice, as if he didn't even think of her as a person anymore. She wondered if he even knew who she was anymore. "These are my people, fox, oppressed for too long. It is time to rise as the children of darkness must!"
"Rider gives you more power than 'your people' ever gave you," Ikkin snapped. "Just look where you are!" She snapped, making the air crack like a whip next to Shiva's ear. "How long has it been since you've heard that sound? Think for a moment - who did that to you? And why would you want to help them?"
With that, she flew over the demon-horse and in the direction that Kit left from. Shiva could think what he wanted; Kit had to be stopped.
And if stopping Kit meant killing him before he split everyone up, well... that was just her duty, as the guardian of part of his soul.
Shade
((Forest: The clearing with dead guys))
“You dolt.” Hades raised his eyebrow at the insult. The mage didn’t seem very smart, if that was any indication. But as she continued, he revised his opinion of her. Somewhat, at least. Since this was that crazy green-haired mage from before, after all, and he wasn’t sure how much of her seeming intelligence was luck, and how much was actually there.
And she was a necromancer. That was possibly the most interesting part of her entire speech. That changed things a bit.
“So, are these your fault?” He waved a hand at the corpses, ignoring the smell that wafted from them. “I wouldn’t be surprised, seeing as you’re a necromancer and all.” He was being cruel. He knew he was. But some part of him delighted in taunting her, and that little voice was outweighing the part of him that disliked this entire idea.
But he wanted to get to the source of that voice sooner, rather than later, and that required him to stop taunting the mage. It probably wasn’t the best of ideas to begin with, anyway, seeing as she could probably blast him with magic just as easily as he could hit her with a laser. Oh yes. Hades smiled a bit. His lasers.
He adjusted his aim so that his lasers pointed at the mages wand. If he hit it, it would break. That would make it quite a bit more difficult for her to do magic, if the general legends held true. Which they probably wouldn’t, seeing as none of the Merc mages used wands. But it was still worth a shot. Or two, in fact.
Hades looked the mage in the eyes. He smirked a little, and then fired. Two shots, one from each of his lasers, sped at the mages wand. He hoped at least one hit. It would be so very satisfying to watch the bone shatter and explode. The flying shards would be a bonus, so long as none hurt him too badly.
Strife
((Spacefleet HQ - Corrider in Sector 1))
The Commander had successfully returned the Headquarters, and was currently marching down a long corridor in Sector 1 with a team of armed marines following him. It would not be long before he arrived at his office again.
At that moment, his communicator beeped again. He unclipped it from his belt and reviewed Keng's second message.
URGENT!
Medical/Paranormal Alert: High Planet Security Risk!
Reports are poring in of a strange vision which seems to have occurred simultaneously to most, if not all, Spacefleet personnel. Visions include promises of desires and most importantly the plan of forming an army in allegiance with demons for the purpose of 'demon rights' though demon rule seems more likely. Such a force would threaten our primary mission. I'd like to have a well armed team at the meeting proposed to take place in Dunburrow on a stealth mission to gather more information and access the threat.
-Comdo. Keng
The Commander was very surprised at this message, to say the least. He thought for sure that the lifeform's telepathic connection was only directed towards him. He began to wonder if his officers saw the same images that he saw - the images of unlimited power. He knew that his men would never side with the lifeform, since global conquest, in addition to being unethical, was against Spacefleet protocol.
Was he violating the protocol he had built himself from the ground up? No... Impossible. Unlimited power would only strengthen Spacefleet's ability to perform its primary mission. No matter what it took... no matter what actions he would have to perform... he would protect the planet that he loved so much, even if it meant fighting for complete dominance over it. More importantly, he would protect Leoness from harm. She was still down there, and he knew that he needed to act quickly if he wanted to keep her out of harm's way. Once he got what he wanted from the demons, he would have everything he needed to protect her, and so much more.
But The Commander wasn't stupid. He knew that if he announced his allegiance to the demons, his officers would protest and possibly rebel against him. In that sense, Keng's suggestion to bring an armed team to the meeting did not appeal to him at all. He would have to make up some kind of excuse to avoid having any other Spacefleet officers at the meeting.
The Commander pushed a button on his communicator and sent an audio message to Keng.
"Commando Keng, I am aware of this medical emergency. I have recieved the visions inside of my own head as well. Dispatching an armed team to this so-called 'meeting' is not only sheer madness, but a direct violation of protocol. We're trying to maintain what little secrecy we have left, and I swear i'll bust you down to Cadet if you send a landing party to Dunburrow without my permission. I would advise all personnel in Spacefleet to dismiss this phenomena as a hallucination. Some sort of... lifeform... on the planet seems to be stirring up trouble by forcing these images into our minds.
On a seperate note, I have reviewed your message concerning the nature of Hades, and I will take it into consideration when I return to my office and question Special Ops Fraze and Professor Ailden. Contact all senior officers in the station and have them wait for me in the briefing room in Sector 2. If you really want to head to the surface, you will have your chance soon."
Aerisa
((OOC: I'm not sure I understood everything that happened, but anyway, I'll try my best. Prepare for a novel of Aeri thought! xD ))
Mage Manor - Kitchen/Hallway
Aerisa looked at Scar confusedly and worriedly as he did his speech. What was going on? Why was he doing that? And most importantly, what had given HER kitten the the backbone to express himself like that!? She lowered her head when he put his paw on her own. Scar's end of their soul bound was especially strong and had always been.
He could feel everything she felt the same way she did, if not even more intensely. Her own end, however, was weak. She had recieved something else from it, the ability to have this feeling called "love"(not that she couldn't care for other before, but romantical love was impossible for her before then), and therefore, she could only feel the very strongest emotions Scarven felt. Such was the deal accompagnying the age-old spell they had used, one had to suffer the other's pain for the other to love them back.
She got some emotions from him right now, alright, but for some reasons, the emotions she got right now were too messed up for her to make sense out of them. Was that part of her broken, too? She followed silently as they left(or rather were hurried out of the room), giving Sev one last glance before the door closed behind them, trying to tell him a "I'm sorry" with her look alone. She hated leaving friends alone, and honestly, she considered both Ikkin AND Sev to be her friends. Given the choice, she would have helped them gladly, and done absolutely everything she could for them. But her first and greatest loyalty was toward her family, toward Scar, even if she didn't always show it, and his refusal meant her own as well.
Something tingled at the back of her head. It seemed like a male voice whispering in her, but it was way too faint for her to understand anything. She pushed it away immediatly after it began, blaming it on her imagination and her current state of mind.
She worried. She knew what was causing her magical senses to be gone. The potion had left Scar with a lot of leftovers magical energy, which traces reached her through their soul bond, overflowing her magical senses and therefore preventing ANY other traces of magical energy from reaching her. But the potion had NOT affected Scar's soul, nor her own, so the soul bond itself should have been left unaffected. She was certain Scar's end was still intact. Why, then, did she have difficulty reading the emotions she got from him? The potion? Stress? ...or that storm outside?
Whatever it was, she became certain that this new loss was only one of many to come…
Kwoiffei
((Forest))
"To whoever is willing to listen..."
Those beginning words had stirred Drakhé from unconsciousness. Even as the ground beneath his feet began to solidify, and the root of a tree curled beneath him, the strange voice was speaking. It spoke of an offer to ally with the demons, and to bring them freedom to walk as ordinary beings.
"We... already... have..."
"I offer you acceptance."
Images filled his mind, but something was wrong. The images were clear and pristine, up until a humanoid form... they then became distorted, shifting, like a pit of tar being stirred by a giant fork. Drakhe felt and tasted acid on his tongue...
Immediately he began slamming his head into the trunk of a tree. And again, and again, and so on. The haunting, disturbing, sickening voice continued to speak, only driving him to continue. Then it ceased.
Even then he continued, only stopping when he felt a warm liquid on his face. The black-furred wolf panted, looking towards the sky.
How was this acceptance? How was being something so wrong acceptable? Whose acceptance was he seeking? A possibility came to mind: whoever sent the message had tried to show him as a human. Drakhé's eyes narrowed, and he began to growl.
He was never human. Whoever had sent that message was wrong. Drakhé was just that - a drakhe, a serpent, a dragon. Not just any, but the soul of Aronesh's most powerful guardian.
But then... an image came into his mind of its own accord. A seemingly white-furred creature with gray eyes, and colourful clothing. His eyes began to water.
Kwoiffei...
She had come as a stranger, and nearly perished hours later. Who had given up his mechanical body to save her life? Who had accompanied her to this land? Who owed her so much?
The offer was clear: side with evil, or die. How many would refuse to side with evil? No matter what happened he would perish anyway.
"I am no human."
Nor was he a servant of darkness.
Kit
Clara suddenly found herself surrounded by lots of mean looking people who didn't seem to have enjoyed the fire as much as she did. She didn't understand, was the fire not big enough? She looked around helplessly, and realised that the friendly monster had gone too.
That made her sad. And then she remembered that all her matches were wet. That made her very, very sad.
Maybe if she made a large fire, then everyone would be happy. Fires were pretty. But she couldn't make a fire. Not without matches. She wished the fire she started earlier hadn't died. She could use its warmth now.
Sighing, she looked dejectedly towards her feet and began to cry.
------------------
"Why? Or rather, why now? Oh, and you can let me go. I’ll stay. I’ll help you, Kit. But only once you tell me why."
Kit nodded to Nyia, who then set Shade down on the floor as gently as she could. The two Angels took up point position and two of the demons acted rearguard as they stopped, with Nyia by Kit's side.
"Shade, have you been in the archives lately?" Kit doubted that she had. After all, he had been there almost every day, and had rarely seen another knight. "I have. Ever since that encounter with demons in the dungeons. I've been tracing all the previous knights, and every single knight which had some relationship with demons has been sent on suicide missions. Every single one, Shade."
Kit took a deep breath, the toll of exerting so much energy beginning to get to him. He felt terribly hungry, and his limbs were tired. He wanted to sleep. But no, this was no time to go back on his decision.
Kristen wouldn't have wanted him to.
"Shade, have I told you about my mentor? She was a Winterstone too, apparently. And they killed her as well. She wasn't a demon, just a demonologist like me. She was a Winterstone, and they killed her," Kit stopped for a while, letting the weight of his words hang in the air before continuing, "they killed her. And they'll kill us too. All because they think we, demons, are evil."
For a brief moment, Kit felt a sadness ball up within him. He missed Kristen. As cold and as sharp as she was, she still gave him a home. Gave him his craft. The Knights took all that away.
"We should go, we'll need to clear the south gate of ambushes when we get there. That's one problem with telling everyone where to meet, you get party-crashers," Kit gave Shade a small smile and turned to go when a high pitched call,
"Shinies?"
The hopeful look in the eyes of Zylaa's weasels made Kit laugh a little. He picked one up and gave it a gold coin, "tell your mistress that we would appreciate her help, and that despite what everyone's saying about demons, we're not evil. I give her my word that if she helps us, I'll see my end of the deal through," and with that he sent the weasel scampering off.
He then looked at the other five pairs of hopeful eyes and shook his head. "Alright, let's go. All of us. There's going to be a lot to do today," Kit took back on his cold demeanour and nodded to the demons and angels who took back their original positions.
Scar
((Mage Manor - Corridors - Evening))
Scarven shuffled wearily down the corridor, leading Aeri and her sister Leoness to one of the Manor's guest rooms. For some reason he felt so very exhausted. He tried to think why but it didn't come to him immediately.
The book ... all those ingredients ... the cauldron ... the potion ... yes, the potion. That must be it.
He winced a little at the sudden spike in pain in his head, glancing at Aeri from the corner of his feline eye. There it was again. His heart sank as he plodded along; there was something wrong with Aerisa and he didn't know what it was, no matter how much he tried to reach out to her with their soul bond.
Thunder rumbled outside and he spied purple clouds lingering in the sky just outside the Manor. He smiled grimly and continued on; nothing short of a magical earthquake could even hope of touching the Manor's walls.
Then Kit's message came into his head. At least the thing that sounded like Kit
He paused and listened patiently for it to end before continuing on in silence.
I offer you acceptance ...
... Humbug.
Strife
Leoness had followed her siblings to one of the manor's various guest rooms. After the three of them entered the room, she gently closed the door behind them. They were completely alone.
Overall, the room was very cozy and welcoming - a huge contrast to the chaos taking place just outside the window. The lioness walked over to the window and stared out towards the dark, foreboding sky. She then pulled the curtain down, and the only light left in the room came from a series of candlesticks on the walls.
"Thank you Scar, for showing me around the ma-"
Before she could finish her sentence, her mind was flooded with the same voice and images that The Commander recieved. The mention of demons... the promise of power... the horrific vision of Spacefleet conquering the whole of NTWF... it all came to her so swiftly and suddenly that it felt like someone had stabbed a blade through her head.
This couldn't have been any sort of transmission from Strife or Spacefleet... it was too vivid. What did it mean? Was it some kind of message to Strife that Leoness happened to recieve as well, because of her bond with him? If so, it frightened her tremendously. She knew of Strife's hunger for power ever since she fell in love with him, but she had poured everything in her heart and soul to try and steer him away from being the selfish, greedy dictator he currently was. She thought she was making progress, but after sensing these... visions... she suddenly felt like everything she had done for him was worthless.
She felt horrible and hopelessly alone, and yet she feared to tell anyone because of her affiliation with Spacefleet. More apparently, she felt like her legs were turning to jelly. She stumbled over to the only bed in the room and collaped on the mattress, and she wept dreadfully as tears streamed down her eyes.
Trilly
I offer you acceptance," Kit's vice resonated in Trilly's head.
Although the Grey Knight's offer hadn't been extended to her in particular, Trilly still felt shaken by the thought... the very idea that she would be able to walk down a street without eyebrows being raised in her direction, and people ushering their children away from her, as if she had some kind of disgusting disease...
Maybe no one would care she'd been vain enough about her looks to use her grandmother's spellbook to permanently change her hair colour to its vibrant, tomato-red hue, and end up making the mistake that caused her to get stuck with lynx ears and a tail. Better yet, maybe she'd be able to get rid of the stupid appendages altogether and look like a proper human for once. She could go back to her hometown of Blackroots without fear of drawing attention to her grandmother's illegal and highly dangerous yaga activities... if what Kit said was true, all this would be possible. Trilly had minimal experience with demons, but really, how bad could they be?
But then, Rider's demon horse got the scent of freedom, or whatever he thought it was, and Trilly very quickly decided that releasing large numbers of volatile, presumably angry and possibly hungry demons into an unsuspecting world was probably a very poorly advised idea. From the way Shiva was behaving, it was easy to guess at the kind of mayhem that would ensue if Kit carried out his plan.
Feeling rather sick, Trilly ran from the throne room, giving Shiva and Ikkin a wide berth before racing through the door and down the hall, not wanting to look back. Her faith in the unyielding nobility of the knights had taken a heavy blow with Kit's betrayal (she didn't care what nice name he gave it or how much sugary topping had been heaped on as a finishing touch, it was betrayal nonetheless. She needed time to mull over her thoughts.
And fresh air, she realized with a start. She'd spent most of her life in the rural swamp-village in which she'd been born, and the stuffy air of the castle was uncomfortably cloying after the sharp scents of the forest she was used to. Maybe she'd be thinking more clearly in open air.
Her only problem: How was she supposed to find her way outside?
"Feather?" she complained, "How can I get to the walltop?"
The Feyrie rolled his eyes in an exaggerated manner. "There are stairs, you know. Keep going until you can't get any higher, then try opening a few doors."
Okay. She'd do that.
Feather's advice was useful, as it turned out. After only a few bad turns that sent her in all directions, Trilly managed to find her way onto the battlements of Castle Kestrel. She breathed in and out slowly, savouring the sharp, cold taste of the air. From here, the misleading, tricky, vexing castle looked kind of pretty, not nearly as ominous as it had always seemed to her.
Something further down the walltop walkway caught her eye. She thought it looked a bit like a person, but she squinted at it, just to be sure. It was a person... one of the knights, maybe?
She realized her mistake. This was a stealthy, back-clad somebody. A ninja.
"What's a ninja doing in the castle?" she growled, nocking an arrow to her longbow. No matter. There wouldn't be for long...
But just as she was drawing the shaft back on the string, the ninja dropped out of sight. Presumably, they were climbing back down the wall. She'd waited too long to shoot.
"I'm pretty sure we weren't seen," Feather said in confusion. "Why were they in such a hurry to get away?"
Trilly suddenly remembered Kit's parting comment, "And to those that will ally themselves with me, I will be waiting until midnight at the south gate of Dunburrow. Anyone who isn't with me, shall be considered against me."
"I bet you fifty raisins that they're heading for the south gate to meet with Kit." Trilly said, then, in a burst of decisiveness, added, " Let's go too."
"Wha?"
Rikku
((Forest – clearing with a bunch of dead people in it)) Another had come now, who must be evil as well. They argued. Derek watched, his eyes burning with hate. With a little luck, they might start fighting and at least one of them would die. He couldn’t take on both, not with a broken javelin and body. He burrowed further into the pile, a few flies collecting on it now, and watched.
((Forest – same clearing))
Rikku waited, her nerves on edge. If any more voices spoke inside her mind, she’d snap and start blasting everything in site. This whole situation was just getting ridiculous.
The vampire’s next sentence caused her jaw to drop. He really IS a dolt.
“So, are these your fault?” He gestured towards the corpses, seeming not to mind them. “I wouldn’t be surprised, seeing as you’re a necromancer and all.”
“Seeing as you know so much about necromancers,” Rikku said, struggling to keep her forced calm, “I’m surprised you’re risking angering one. Particularly considering what YOU are. You ought to know what necromancers can do to the likes of you, vamp -”
She stopped abruptly. Why was he smiling?
The vampire looked Rikku in the eyes and smirked. Rikku noticed, irrelevantly, that one of his eyes was a different colour from the other. Wonder how that happened.
Then he fired. Rikku’s eyes widened and her mouth opened a little, but she didn’t have time to react before two lasers struck the wand at her side. The impact made her stagger and wince as a few small fragments from the bone embedded into her flesh, but that wasn’t what worried her.
“You … are … a bloody MORON,” she rasped, and hurried to pull of the remains of the bone, flinging shards on the ground, just trying to get as far away from it as possible. She glared at the vampire, incredulous – oh, he was SO going to pay for that later – and then felt at her side for her flask. She uncorked it, screwed up her eyes and gulped down some of the mixture that was in it, gagging at the taste, but managing to get it all down. The blood and ashes would help protect her from the consequences of the wand breaking.
The wand was her best focus, a great amplifier for necromancy. She’d stumbled across a skeleton in a long-forgotten tomb in a patch of forestland where she’d grown up, and removed an upper arm bone out of some morbid curiosity. Later, she’d researched some of the symbols etched on the walls. The tomb was that of a dark sorcerer, shunned and killed before his time. Rikku was fervently glad of that. If he’d been older, his tomb would have had more protections on it, and she wouldn’t be here to think this.
As it was … she sighed, and emptied a few one shards from her pouch into her hand. This was going to be messy.
She’d been using that bone as her primary focus since she was … what, eight? Nine? It had had years of dark magic coursing through it, and it had already been a powerful artifact in its own right. Breaking it released a whole lot of energy, of quite a specific type.
Behind Rikku, there was movement. A figure slowly stood, its muscles creaking. His head was caved in at the side. Beside him, another rose. There was a wound in her chest, exposing her ribcage and liver. Congealed blood dripped wetly off her skin.
Their eyes, crusted over with blood and flies, turned eerily towards the figure standing at the side of the clearing. They paid the other no heed, for now at least, and started to move. They gripped broken weapons in their hands, and didn’t think, not as such. All they knew was that here was someone who had released that energy, who had brought them, back from where there was no return. He had no right.
Three of them, as one, rushed at him, various weapons raised. He would pay.
Rikku sighed and crossed her arms over her chest, bones and fur from her pouch gripped in one hand, frying pan in the other. She’d only have a temporary reprieve before they were after her, too, and running away probably wouldn’t cut it. She knew first-hand how persistent reanimated things could be once they had a goal. She took the opportunity to pull a few slivers of bone out of her side, wincing as she did so. And then she paused, and looked more closely at some of the bodies. They all had dies in different ways, but there was something familiar about it …
Demons. These people had been killed by demons.
Alright, Mister Demon Rights Activist. You’d better have a good explanation for this when I got to the castle … Rikku paused, and looked around again. In a while. I’m a tad delayed right now. She smiled wryly and shifted on her feet. This ought to be fun.
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Post by GW2 on Oct 15, 2008 14:08:47 GMT -5
ShinoEvan Forest lay against the tree trunk, with a slight smirk still on his ever-careful face. "So you have discovered my identity, Sir Shino...You have become wiser since the last time I saw you," He said plainly to Shino's face, "Yet, you know, this changes nothing." "I don't believe that you have the upper hand here, Evan." the White Knight said smiling down at the man beneath him. They both had determination written on their face, both with eyes that perceived into each other's soul. "You still seek the victorious side of life, don't you White Knight," Evan said mockingly, "With more propriety for the 'worthy' and desirable'?" "You know that I always held all at the same standard. Everyone is equal in Knighthood." Shino said, still pinning down the former Black Knight. "Except for me, Sir Shino, Except for your best friend in the entirety of Castle Kestrel!" Evan shouted in Shino's face. "I was your ally and friend!" "You blame me, Evan. And you still choose exile rather than the fortune you could have had in service to the King," he tried to convince the angered man, "But it's not too late to admit your fault." At this Forest pushed at Shino to take him off, but still he could not manage off Shino's brute strength. "Fault!?! It was never my fault for that accident, Shino! And you know it! I was careless for but a moment, yet I recovered our reigning Lord's legendary sword from the ninja spy that day." "I know you did, Evan..." "And they still chose to put the fault on me! I should have received honor and a due notice for my act of heroism." Evan said now lying willfully on the ground. " ((Will continue...)) ShadeThe demon did set her down, and gently, too. Shade watched Kit, noting the positions of the demons as they moved. As they stopped, he began to talk. "Shade, have you been in the archives lately?" Shade shook her head. The archives had a tendency to be dusty and full of old, boring records. Nothing that she felt like looking at. "I have. Ever since that encounter with demons in the dungeons. I've been tracing all the previous knights, and every single knight which had some relationship with demons has been sent on suicide missions. Every single one, Shade."
Shade stared at him in shock. “All of them?” she whispered. “How?” It didn’t seem possible. There were so many knights, and even if few of them had demonic connections, how would they find enough suicide missions for all of them? And if so, then why hadn’t she or Kit been sent away to die yet?
"Shade, have I told you about my mentor? She was a Winterstone too, apparently. And they killed her as well. She wasn't a demon, just a demonologist like me. She was a Winterstone, and they killed her," Kit paused. The silence hung in the air uncomfortably for one second, and then another. "They killed her. And they'll kill us too. All because they think we, demons, are evil."
His mentor.. she’d heard about Kit’s mentor before. Not much, and nothing about her being a Winterstone, though. Memories, brought back by his mention of that day, swirled in her mind. The demons in the dungeons. They had both fought. Had the demons taken the shape of those they had been taught by, then? Shade shook her head sharply. There would be time enough to think once this was done with, one way or another.
"We should go, we'll need to clear the south gate of ambushes when we get there. That's one problem with telling everyone where to meet, you get party-crashers," Kit gave her a slight smile, and Shade smiled back. He had turned, begun to talk away, when there was a shrill squeak of “Shinies?” Shade had to laugh, looking at the weasels. Kit gave one a gold coin, telling it to give its mistress a message, and then continued.
Shade followed him. The gate was relatively close. It shouldn’t take them too long to get there, so unless somebody had started out closer than them, she and Kit would get there first. And once there, she doubted that any one person would be able to do anything. If multiple people ganged up on them, then it might be a challenge, depending on how good everyone was.
The wind, barely noticeable until now, picked up. Shade glanced back towards the castle. There were a few air mages among the knights who would probably side against Kit in this. And one of them was flying their way. “Kit,” she said, almost touching his arm to get his attention, but holding back, her hand halting a few inches from him. “Ikkin’s flying towards us. And somehow, I doubt that she’d coming to join you.” AerisaMage Manor - Guest roomAerisa had felt Scar's gaze as they walked in the corridor. This had nothing to do with their soul bond, more the normal instinct every beings get when they are being watched. She didn't do anything, however, following Leoness inside of her room instead. As soon as she got in she looked at the lit candles rather than the storm, outside. She loved the peaceful movement of candles. She despised this storm already. Too violent. Too deadly. Too much like the part of her she tried so desesperately to make disappear... She watched as Leoness closed the curtains, turning around to face Scar. "Thank you Scar, for showing me around the ma-" Before she could finish, an expression of shock took over Leoness' face. "Sis!?" Aerisa panicked as she saw her sister, her so very beloved sister, walk and then fall on the bed nearest to her, breaking down completely... She rushed in her direction, jumping on the bed right next to her. "SIS!? SIS!" Tears came to her own eyes as she pushed on her shoulder with her head, jumped on her back, pushing her some more as she tried anything, anything she could do to get her out of this state… Scar"Leoness? Leoness, what's wrong!" Scar shouted, rushing towards the lioness and joining Aeri, shaking his sister-in-law's shoulders roughly. Cold sweat dripped down the fur on his forehead. Never had he seen Leoness in such a state. He was horribly reminded of the time Aeri did the same ... how much pain he felt then from their soul bond, knowing it wasn't the worst there was compared to Aerisa. "LEONESS!" he howled, shaking her even more vigorously, claws instinctively digging into her shoulders. ((Sorry, nothing much to add ^_^; )) ShinoWith this, Shino took hold of a firm grasp on Evan Forest looking straight into his eyes. "You deserve Lordship just as I do, my old friend. That was never your burden to bear, "Shino spoke with an assured look on his face, "I admit I should have spoken up for you that day. Instead I let you throw your life, Knighthood, and honor away because I was a coward. I am not proud of this." "But let me give you this, Evan. I should have said this to you a long while ago and I regret that you should turn to a guild of outcasts who have been unwillingly shunned by their friends and family..." Evan now looked up at Shino with tears in his eyes, but still a facade of power displayed on his strong young face, "I am sorry. Sorry that you were given a terrible curse of blame and doubt on your mantle of valor. We promised each other friends forever, didn't we?" Evan could not hold back his emotions any longer and just let himself stream out tears of shame. "It was my shame rightly, Shi. I followed my own ambition instead of the collective sum of decision and nobility." Evan admitted before the older Knight, "Forgive me." "Long ago, I had already." Shino said with a smile on his face. They embraced each other in old fashion and both got to their feet. “I am greatly sorry to your friends wound & I will personally help her in healing it if she will let me." Evan spoke repentantly. "I will speak to her for you. She might yet forgive and bear down a grudge. Her animal might be a bit more testy with you, Sir Evan." ((Third part of a very long post up next)) KengKeng knew that there was no need to reply to Strife's message. She got it, she would comply as expected. End of story. "Relay this message" ((which I originally typoed as massage >.>)) "to all concerned officers." Keng told some random communications person in Security. The name tag said Dino. She then replayed the section of Strife's message concerning the meeting and it's location. Once it was sent she decided she should be on her way to sector 2 "Keep up the good work. And I'll send for more coffee for you guys, it looks like you're almost out." she called as she left the room. She sent the order in as she walked. ShinoJust then a voice pierced the reunion of the old Knights, Black & White. Lord Shino recognized it as Kit Winterstone's, the Gray Knight. It spoke slightly unlike Kit, yet he remembered the tone from his doppelganger Lady Ikkin had charbroiled. It spoke of demons breaking free from conspired control and living as rightful beings alongside humans. Free from oppression. This did not sound like a bargain, yet more like a plan to conquer. "And to those that will oppose me, please don't think I'm evil for wanting to do this. Each and every one of you would not hesitate to fight for humankind if it were as oppressed as demons are. I am only doing the same for them. However, if you really want to stop me, I'll probably hurt you. Or more. And to those that will ally themselves with me, I will be waiting until midnight at the south gate of Dunburrow. Anyone who isn't with me, shall be considered against me.""This man does not seek what he says he does, “Sir Evan surmised after the voice had faded, "Or at least he is telling the truth and is prepared to defend his keep at all costs." "Yes, the latter sounds true, of Sir Kit. He is a vivacious tactician in his demonology and has almost unlimited resources with the power he now possesses." Shino explained to his friend. "I expect this is not all that will happen to us who refuse his deal." Sir Evan Forest turned to the White Knight, "We are to do battle against our own Knight?" "Were you not ready to slit my throat less than an hour ago?" Shino asked with rough chuckle. Evan smirked happily at this, "Yes you were in for a treat had you not been expecting my move." "Let us return to the Orange Knight, Sir Evan, and I will tell you all about what has happened in your leave (to the best of my knowledge), and whether we can contact your Guild for some assistance soon enough." As Evan went to go retrieve Bianco, the white stallion, Shino reached into the folds of his cloak and withdrew a device that looked like a communcation & long-range radio. He pressed a bright red button on it, which activated the 'ON' sequence. It buzzed with transmission. *CHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH..." "This is Lord Shino of Dunrrow contacting Marine Ethan on frequency Com. 32-A00, OVER." "CHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH..." ((I apologize for easy win-over of Evan Forest, but for sake of time I had thought it necessary.)) KatKat just sat on the floor of the throne room, her arms wrapped around her knees, trying to comprehend what she had just heard. Sure, she had heard Kit tell her that she would offer her knowledge...but that was all she knew. Then again, the same message was probably given to the other Mages as well...but why? What for? They could always just find what they wanted to know...and yet sometimes the things most sought are also the rarest ones... She stood up, and turned to her fellow Knights. "Maybe I should try to see what Kit is up to." * * * "What are you staring at?" demanded the woman, as she appeared in front of a white stallion. "Look, be glad you caught me in a good mood. And, I usually don't curse horses. I'm saving the magic for someone else. Kit"Kit, Ikkin’s flying towards us. And somehow, I doubt that she’d coming to join you."
Kit looked up, easily making out Ikkin's approaching figure. He gave her a precursory glance before looking at the sky itself. It was a greyish orange, the sunset itself obscured by the amount of raw energy in the air, making it shimmer in an odd off-yellow colour. Much like the colour of old archive records. Ikkin's approach didn't bother him much, he was convinced that she wouldn't try anything alone. And if she did, any one of the demons would be a match for her, ever moreso the angels.
His gaze dropped from the sky and onto the nearest angel, Twinsword. Ever since he had picked up mentions of Enochian magic in the archives, he had been relentless in his pursuit of this new craft. It was a much more elegant form of magic, drawing on the precise positioning of pieces alongside a rather melodic form of chanting. There had even been a branch of chess devoted to Enochian magic. It was a magical branch that favoured the tactician, the ones with patience and foresight. Both of which Kit had in abundance. It was more of a prepatory form of magic, taking long rituals to set up, making it useless in the heat of battle. But a true tactician knows the battle before it starts, which is when Enochian magic shows its true power.
The angels themselves were graceful beings, free from the prejudice that hung over the minds of everyone else. They for one, understood that demons weren't evil, just different. Which is why these two had agreed to help him. Unlike tarotic summoning, which relied on binding or creating pacts, Enochian magic was more of an appeal. If an angel saw fit, he or she would answer the call, and see it through. The presence of two of these beings were confirmation enough to Kit that he had to be doing something right.
"Don't worry about Ikkin," Kit said, "she won't do anything alone. Even with Sev, the odds wouldn't be in her favour." Closing his eyes, he reached out with his clairvoyance, rather aware that many were converging on their location. He had no doubt that not all were coming with peaceful intentions.
But they had time. And he was hungry.
The south gate of Dunburrow was surrounded by fruit orchards, the mainstay of Dunburrow's produce. It was courtesy for the farmers to not harvest the fruits of the trees that grew by the path, giving travellers something to eat on their arrival. Although Kit wasn't a traveller, he certainly was hungry and saw no wrong in asking Nyia to pick a few apples. The demon obliged, its tendrils plucking several green apples and handing them to Kit. The skin of the apples themselves had turned purple where Nyia's tendrils had touched, but to Kit, they all tasted the same.
He offered one to Shade, "we have a long night ahead of us, might as well eat while we don't have blades pointed at us," he said before taking a bite of an apple himself. He hoped to go through the night without too much fighting, but common sense told him that it probably would turn out otherwise. A more reasonable hope, he told himself, would be to hope that his allies reached first. NatureNature walked on and on, tired already of going around Dunburrow. She just walked, like two miles? She was already to beat to even shake her head. But she needed to find Seline. She just had to. Things got a lot worse. The sky turned darker than before. Nature cringed and wrapped her cloak around herself. The wind blew too strongly, almost making the Zafara drop her sitar. Luckily, she didn't. Wrapping her cloak tighter, Nature went on, worried about the dark magic storm. She was just about to plop down to the nearest tree when suddenly, she heard a rustle. No correction, rustles. Nature froze and looked around. Nothing there. The Freezemancer gulped. Things aren't going well anymore . . ., she thought to herself. Maybe I should hum something to myself - a nice, watery tune, maybe. Yes. A nice, relaxing watery tune would do her good. Discreetly, she took a deep breath and started to hum. It was nothing but a small, slow melody that she listened to every time she needed to calm down. it wasn't really much, but the watery sounds of the song gave her peace and a small sense of bravery. She immediately thought of the sea. A large, blue sea filled with Technicolor corals, a vast array of rare sea creatures, mermaids singing their hymns of comfort to the ocean depths . . . Another image filled her mind. A snowy mountaintop, covered comepletly with a blanket of soft white. Echos of familiar people coming from the other mountains, yelling their hellos, goodbyes and yodele-he-hoos. Nature sighed in contentment. She felt relaxed. Nature kept humming to herself and painting images in her mind, when suddenly, she realized she wasn't in Dunburrow anymore. She looked up. There was a majestic castle of marble, surrounded by several pines, oaks, maples and other trees. Nature smiled at the sight of this. Mage Manor was considered her home, and she was feeling very tired, anyway. Nature walked in. Without knocking. AGAIN. She was just about to inquire if anyone was around when suddenly, she saw Omni, Seline, a little black-and-white(?) kitten and a smaller dragon-bunny. Nature was ecstatic to see them. "Hi guys!" Vyt((Near Castle Kestrel))Left alone to scout the outside, Bluisa had the chance to reveal more of her magical abilities that she did not want Cat Assassin and PFA to know. Part of her shadow began to move by itself, slowly condensing into a small platform below her. The mage then sat and watched as the shadow platform started to escalate, gradually removing her limitation from trying to see through the leaves of the trees. Bluisa still had her eyes set on the crystal ball, revealing Cat Assassin screaming in anger. She did not have to move just to confirm it; she could hear the same cries not too far from her spot. She was wondering why however, for she had not received anything that would at least provoke her to react. A bit worried, Bluisa started moving around the borders of the castle. Her eyes were now set on the southern part of the castle, hoping she could at least see someone. ((Inside Castle Kestrel))It would not take a moment for someone to realize they were lost inside a relatively huge castle. Cat Assassin was no exception. His delirious way of punching his way through had landed him into the darkest place of the castle in which the feline had no idea what it was. Worse, despite his very large stamina capacity, Cat Assassin could not help but wait for a moment before he could release such a large ball of energy again. He was then forced to look for another, more peaceful way of going from place to place. Not long after, Cat Assassin could see what he believed was the first door of the castle. Clueless what was waiting for him on the next room, he took some precautionary measures in opening doors. He quickly barged in and moved into his fighting stance. ... They call this a throne room? What a pity... was the only thought he had when he saw the room. It was then when he saw a glance of someone jumping over a horse, seemingly running after someone else just through the door. Who was that? Why are they in a hurry?, he noted. He realized someone would just take the liberty of going around the horse if they are in a hurry but no, he had to watch as someone wasted more energy going above. That means the horse must mean trouble, he concluded smartly. Not changing his stance, Cat Assassin approached the horse with utmost curiosity. In case it was a furious one and wanted to trample him, at least he could react a few more split-seconds faster. It would then suggest that half a second was more than enough for him to dodge. Huntress((The White Weewoo)) Hunty sighed. This day was just heaping more and more interesting things on her, and the meepits weren't helping. At this point they had all lined up on the ship's railing a couple yards away, all shouting, "Stabbity-stab already!" She looked at the scrawny girl in her patched dress and wet hair, salty water dripping from the hair and mingling with the tears. A small part of her brain cursed her for being way too soft. The girl was an arsonist, after all. Then again... why stab first and ask questions later? The captain squatted down, waving her hand impatiently at the meepits to make them shut up. They did, ears perking. Hunty grimaced, trying to orient in this situation. She'd never been good with crying people; well, she was, but it usually involved going stabbity-stab or just telling them to sit quietly. Actually trying to interrogate one, a child no less, was, so to say, terror incognita."Listen," she began again, leaning forward and trying to make her voice softer than usually, and realizing that she was incredibly bad at it. "Don't cry. There's no need to cry. We won't harm you." Yet, the grim pirate-part of her brain almost added, and stopped at the last moment. Oh bugger, this really isn't my thing. "Just tell me... who are you, and what are you doing here?" The meepits watched them with vague amusement, now more or less over their bloodthirst and wondering what would become of all this. The blarf rose to the surface again, ears perking curiously. Hunty shot a quick sideways glance at the sun. It was near the horizon, and the sky was getting orange. There was still that offer to contemplate, and another small part of her brain was clinging to it like crazy, demanding for attention. There was something in that offer... something worth looking into. Kwoiffei((Forest))He had made one difficult choice, but now he had to make another. Would he continue to Dunburrow, to fight the demons brought forth by their lord (or was it a lady?) Or would he turn around and flee to the safety of the Manor? No matter which way he went, would he remain in the form of a wolf, or would he change his form? Drakhé looked towards the sky once more. The shapeshifter was silent for what seemed like forever... then he turned around, and began to move swiftly, following his tracks. The Manor will be safe.As he moved through the forest, words from long ago began to dance in his mind - an oath. Guardians of Aronesh, save Aronesh from demons. Vanquish the monsters of the underworld. Save the empire's people, and the reward is simple. Salvation.He stopped at a stream. He didn't remember crossing a stream on the way to the storm... oh well. Water was still water, and quite frankly, he was very thirsty. Once he had finished quenching his thirst in a manner more like a crocodile than a wolf, Drakhé crossed it. Bad idea. There were no pawprints of any kind on this side of the creek. Now that he thought about it, the pawprints he had followed did seem to get bigger... and had lost a toe? And just what was that horrid smell? KatA blond woman was in a forest clearing, staring disdainfully at a white stallion. Both of them were so familiar...
Then she turned to stare at her, through those cold, calculating blue eyes of hers...and grinned.Kat gasped. It was as if a chill wind had rushed into the throne room, freezing her to the very spot and making her shiver in fear and in anxiety. She opened her mouth to say something, but she could not find the words - or more specifically, word. Instead, she simply collapsed on the floor again, her eyes still wide and gazing at something - or someone - that nobody else could see, her chest moving with her quick, shallow breaths. CelestialOverlord looked at Rikku's expression to show what she thought of his message but it didn't give anything away. The metallic man had spoken with the same raspy voice he had heard earlier. Fluffing up in threat, he concentrated on Rikku's words.
I would normally take this offer,” she admitted. “I want to. Not for knowledge, particularly, but because …But because it seems the right thing to do, even if the argument’s a little … dodgy.” Overlord heard these words with despair. He lost his one chance of makign an ally. And finding his mistress.
“But I’m a Mage. My first loyalty lies with the Mages. I side with them. Whatever they decide is what I do.” the word's came through his sad thoughts like a ray of light. There could be hope now.Hope worth fighting for. He was ready to swoop if the man made any hostile moves towards the girl, no matter what he felt like.
He wasn't prepared for what the vampite did next. Two lasers were fired from the weopon he carried. He was about to swoop down and peck his eyes out but the girl didn't seem fazed. She simply drank a potion and looked at the bodies. Overlord turned his eyes there to.
What he saw almost made him fall out of the tree in shock and disgust. There of the bodies were standing up, bloody and decaying. Overlord didn't want to wait here long. The girl looked like she was about to run and certainly Overlord would follow. He wanted to put as much difference between him and the dead as possible. *** Celestial felt the wind pick up as another tune she was playign died down. She stood up and saw in the distance, one of the Knights and by the feel of it, an air mage. Cursing her bad luck, Celestial shapeshifted into the smallest dragonet she could manage and crouched low on the ground, the wind threatening to topple her. She wished the storm would be over so that she could use her magic well instead of shapeshifting, though she did manage to ease the aircurrents around herself but only just. That wasn't important now. If this mage saw her, the whole game could be up before it had even began. She looked at the setting sun. A long way to go before midnight. Hopefully, she would last that long. Unless the demon guy appeared early. No chance of that, she thought at the wind blown grass whipped against her eyes. At least she was well camoflauged in this form. Something caught her eye not far from where she was hiding. It was the demon guy with demons and one of the Knights, the one who felt slightly wrong to her. She looked at the sun which was almost in front of her. Of course! He said he would be waiting by the South Gate! Cursing her confusion, she turned back into her human form and ran, aware of how exposed she was. Finally arriving, Celestial gave an involuntary shudder at the sight of the demons. Better get used to them, she thought. Walking up the man, she coughed politely. "I am here to join you. But for a different price than what you have offered" she said to him, looking at them both and trying not to mind the demons and what suspiciously looked like angels near them. Omni((Spacefleet, Ethan's quarters)) Ethan was washing out Siber's dog dish, when a particular voice on a particular frequency caught his attention. He abandoned the dog dish and made a mad dash for something under his bed. He felt around and pulled out an extension cord, and something that looked like a plastic blob with a couple indents and a few metal parts in it. He lifted his shirt part-way, and stuck the 'blob' into a port on his side. He then plugged one end of the extension cord into the wall, and the other into the blob. He felt a small increase in energy as an electric current rushed into him. This is Marine Ethan. Hey, Shino! What's up? Over. He sent this message while diverting power to his transmitter in an attempt to boost the signal as much as possible. --- ((Mage Manor, front door)) "Hi guys!""Oh, there you are." Omni breathed a sigh of relief. "Why don't you come in out of the storm?" she said, holding the door open. "You too." That one was directed at Dragon. She waited a moment as she let the others in. "Now if you don't mind, Nature, I'd like to check your aura.” Rider((The White Weewoo)) Such a fragile little thing, the girl. Such a fragile little thing, the ship. Such a fragile thing, the gold. Here and gone, here and gone, such a fragile thing, the crew. Running and running, running and running, from everyone and everything, until they chase themselves in circles, tie themselves in knots. Burn themselves out. The storm, the demons, the mysterious ship, the offer, the fire, the girl. None of it added up. Where did the pieces fit together? The child didn't seem to be demonic, but neither did Hu at first glance. She turned to Zylaa. "She doesn't seem demonic... does she?" ((Castle Kestrel, Throne Room)) The old king had whipped him. Not these demons. These were his people. It was an important differentiation. Things would finally be good. Not horrible or okay. Things would would be good. He would be on top of the world. "Things will be better someday."
The older horses looked at him with pity. They said hew as young. He would learn to stop fighting inevitable fate. The bottom was thier place. The bottom was the place for a demon-horse.
"Accept it."Ikkin was asking him to just accept it. This was not something he could do. He would push, and push until something broke. if that something was Ikkin, then so be it. There was a lot that she did not understand. The smell of fresh cat. Shiva turned slightly and faced the cat directly. "Cat." He lashed out with his hooves, screeching wildly. Strife"Sis!? SIS!? SIS!"
"Leoness? Leoness, what's wrong! LEONESS!"Both Scar and Aerisa witnessed Leo's sudden breakdown, and they leaped onto the bed and started shaking her with worry. "I'm so sorry..." Leoness managed to say through her tears. She looked briefly at the concerned faces of her siblings, and she knew that there was no getting out of this. She had to tell them. She felt extremely fearful of the idea, but at least she found comfort in the fact that Scar and Aerisa would be the first to know. If anyone would understand, they would. She swallowed, then continued. "I just saw these... horrible images in my head... Somebody was telling me to help demons walk the earth, in exchange for power... and I saw the whole of NTWF transform into this evil city, blended with demons and technology..." Her heart was pounding like a hammer at this point. She gazed sincerely into the eyes of her siblings. "I have to tell you guys something... Please promise me that you won't tell anybody else. I feel so awful for keeping it from you... I guess I was worried about your reaction if you knew..." She took a deep breath, sat up on the bed, and continued. "Sis... bro... The reason I spend so much time away from here, is because my home isn't in this land. It's not even on this planet..." she looked up at the ceiling. "You see, my home is on the moon, in a place called Spacefleet Headquarters. I work as a doctor up there, for a man known as The Commander... and I think the message I received in my head was meant for him rather than me." "But The Commander isn't evil," she quickly added, her voice growing shakier. "I see things in him that nobody else does. He has the potential to do wonderful things for this world... and i'm scared that these images will drag him down again. It's just... I don't know what to do now... I don't know what I can do..." Her eyes filled up with more tears, and she buried her head into her hands. * * * The symbol on the door of The Commander's office turned blue, and it sweeped open immediately. The first thing that Zari and Fraze saw through the doorway was a pair of violent red eyes. The figure stormed into the office, and they could see the pale face, glimmering armor and shadowy cape of The Commander himself. The marines that had followed him through the hallway stayed outside the room, and the door slammed shut. The Commander stormed past the two officers until he reached the front of his desk, then quickly turned around and glared at them. They had a look of surprise on their faces, but he expected that, considering that they hadn't seen him personally since their promotion ceremony several months ago, and even that was only a brief meeting. They remained silent, waiting for him to give his lecture. Their fate was pretty much in his hands. "I sincerely hope I don't need to explain why the two of you are here," he began in a cold voice. Without warning, he dashed towards Fraze and pinned him against the wall of the office, choking him with his right arm. "Under normal circumstances, I would gladly do things to you that are illegal in over sixteen star systems after what you've done." The Commander released his grip, took several steps backwards, and allowed himself to take a deep breath. "But unfortunately, there are more urgent matters that we need to discuss. Count your blessings," he said sharply to Fraze. He then turned to Zari. "As for you, Professor, consider yourself lucky that my research division relies so heavily on your abilities. Don't take that as a sign of immunity though. One more mishap like this, and i'll send you to one of my mandatory flying lessons... but your vehicle will be a catapault instead of a spacecraft." The Commander walked behind his desk, unclipped his communication device, and tossed it onto the desk's surface, where it bounced several times before landing in the corner. "Commando Keng has given me information regarding what happened on the surface. However, to ensure that she's telling me the truth, I'd like the two of you to go ahead and amuse me with your side of the story. Make it brief." The Commander stood in front of his chair and smiled while crossing his arms. ((Note: No officers were harmed in the making of this post. I hope you don't mind the roughness, Fraze. ^^;; )) PFA((Forest: near merc HQ))"So I guess we're going to this guy's castle, right?" Midknight asked. Jernath nodded in response. "Yeah. We have to at least find out more about what he's offering..." his mind started wandering to the things he had seen. Would this person really be able to bring back Riverwell? There was one way to find out, Jernath figured. --- ((Castle Kestrel: inside castle walls))PFA snuck carefully past the guards, doing her best to slip by when they were distracted. The ninja guild had taught PFA everything she knew about stealth. The words of her trainers went through her head with every step she took. Don't let yourself be heard... she recalled the words well. Watch your steps carefully...After some time of sneaking around, PFA finally managed to see what appeared to be a tendril, off in the distance. She vaguely remembered a tendril of that exact same sort from the last time the guilds were warring... wasn't that the tendril of one of the demons Kit was fighting with? PFA smirked, realizing this meant that she was near Kit. But she also knew this meant Kit had kept his guard up. This wasn't going to be as easy as she originally thought. Then again, nothing ever was. PFA just sat there quietly for a moment, in her safe spot behind a bush. She was trying to decide what she should do... she reached for her kunai pouch, but she thought better of it... throwing kunai at a man that was not only wearing armor, but was also surrounded with powerful-looking demons, was a very bad idea. She also pondered sneaking over and trying to grab the gemstone from Kit, but she knew it would be impossible to escape notice in such an attempt... especially considering Kit was a clairvoyant. PFA mentally kicked herself. Kit's a clairvoyant! He probably already knows I'm here! Oh, drat it all... don't tell me all that sneaking was for nothing!PFA finally decided her best option was to try and talk things over with Kit. PFA knew she wasn't much of a talker, and Kit would probably be able to tell if she was fibbing, but all her other options seemed to end in a rather swift death, which PFA really wasn't looking forward to. Without a second thought, PFA promptly stood up and started her way over to Kit. "Hey, you!" the instant PFA heard those words, she regretted her decision. One of the guards noticed her. Oh, this is all just GREAT, PFA thought angrily, grabbing a kunai and getting ready to use it if necessary. ((whoever wants to can take control of the guard... or be the guard, if they wish. )) Vyt((Castle Kestrel Throne Room))"... Cat." Cat Assassin was surprised, but his alertness proved way too endurable to be broken. Instinctively, the feline moved just in time before he was caught by the horse's hooves. Just after that did he realize he was facing a rather mysterious creature: a talking full horse. That did not eliminate the fact that he just spat death in the face, however. "Two seconds..." Cat Assassin started taunting. "... Not bad, considering your kind only has speed but no agility. You're better off running straight ahead, following someone mindlessly wherever he goes." Whatever this horse is doing here, I should figure that out, he thought. ((Near Castle Kestrel))Bluisa was hovering over more trees above her path when she noticed a very familiar but small sound. Knowing what that means, she looked at the badges she pinned on a side of her pants not long ago. One of them was shining, specifically the red one. "Cat Assassin..." she worriedly said. However, she knew perfectly well that the badges shine only when the person connected to them via her own magic is facing some sort of a threat. Regardless of how in grave danger they would be, Bluisa would just then have access to their own thoughts. Don't worry, Cat Assassin... I'll be waiting if you need help, she conceived. ((Wow, my first very short post for this RP. )) Rider"You're better off running straight ahead, following someone mindlessly wherever he goes."Following. That was the opposite of what he was trying to do. "Cat, you know nothing. Your kind is agile, yes, but that's what makes you sich exciting prey. The faster the cat, the sweeter he finally tastes." Shiva luncged to bite the Cat Assassin. Fraze((Spacefleet--Commander Strife's Office)) Fraze had spent the minutes before the Commander's arrival in silent meditation. He knew he had to keep his head for the upcoming interrogation. He also knew that the Commander would hopefully consider some of Fraze's supplies, if not Fraze himself, too valuable to do away with lightly. "I sincerely hope I don't need to explain why the two of you are here," Strife growled. For the most part, this was true. Fraze still had several things that he wanted answered--mainly, if the Commander had not given him permission to go planetside, then who had?--but this was not the time to ask about it. Though he did not fear for his life, he knew to expect some show of aggression. Aim for the neck or face, he thought. If the Commander tried to strike him elsewhere, he would realize Fraze was wearing his skinsuit--this would only make matters worse. Despite having prepared for some show, Fraze still grunted when he found himself slammed against a wall. "Under normal circumstances, I would gladly do things to you that are illegal in over sixteen star systems after what you've done." When he said this, Fraze knew that he was going to live. When the Commander went on to confront Zari, Fraze noted that he didn't choose to harm her physically. Well, maybe there's still some part of him that's a gentleman. "Commando Keng has given me information regarding what happened on the surface. However, to ensure that she's telling me the truth, I'd like the two of you to go ahead and amuse me with your side of the story. Make it brief."Fraze began to speak. "Sir. After my last mission planetside several days ago, I found that I had left my flechette gun on the surface. However, I have come to believe that it was not in fact a fault of mine for dropping it, as I will explain. I requested permission to take a dropship to retrieve it--seeing someone in odd armor wouldn't arouse nearly as much suspicion as having someone torn to pieces from several thousand metal needles shot out of a gun. "It didn't take me long to find the sack I had taken the gun in. There were several people around it, most of whom seemed to be mages. I asked them to return the gun, and they did so. I was about halfway back to the dropship when I checked the bag, and found a strange gem in the bag along with the gun. I recognized it as the artifact you sent me out several days earlier to search for. I did not put the gem in the sack, and from what I gathered, neither did any of the mages. It was at this point when the gem started to give off lightning, and caused a storm. "Sir, I believe this gem has some form of sentience. I feel as if it is playing some twisted game--not only wtih us, but with the other guilds as well. I went along with the mages to attempt to get it back from them, this was when Prof. Zari joined me. We were unable to get it back. The one who had it--Kat was her name--has connections with the Pirates, Mages, and Knights. She said she was going to Dunburrow, which I believe is the location of the Knights. The gem may still be there. "It was at this point when I received a signal from the dropship, saying that there were unregistered occupants. I ran back to it, to find several pirates outside. For some reason I cannot quite understand, one threatened to destroy the dropship. Of course," Fraze permitted himself a flicker of a smile now, "we both know that it would have been almost impossible for them to do so. The pirates' own ship apparently had caught on fire, so they left quickly, with no damage done to the ship. However, at this point, Hades--who, as I am sure you remember, was a former Spacefleet member--showed up and informed me of the message he had sent to you. It appeared that he had been shooting various people around the ship with his laser gun, attempting to spark conflict. I believe Hades' message was specifically meant to split up Spacefleet. He is not to be trusted. "That is all." Vyt((Castle Kestrel Throne Room))"Cat, you know nothing. Your kind is agile, yes, but that's what makes you such exciting prey. The faster the cat, the sweeter he finally tastes."Speaking of taste, the horse seemed eager to get a hold of Cat Assassin as it launched itself for another attack, this time with its mouth. Cat Assassin had the nerve to smirk before reacting, tumbling backwards to avoid the bite. "Equine, believe me..." he was a bit irked that he was copying the horse by calling it by its general name. "Many have tried to know my taste, but failed miserably..." Realizing something he had forgotten awhile ago, he looked behind the horse. The person he saw moments ago was already gone, probably far away from him. It was then that he remembered why he was in the castle for. "... You're not worth my time." With his athletic skills, Cat Assassin launched himself in mid-air, hoping he had jumped just high enough for him not to be reached by the horse. Equines, he thought, were never meant to stand on their hind limbs alone, right? Bacon((Spacefleet garage)) Although his hands were busy trying to find the root of the power supply malfunction, Bacon's mind wandered around the elusive topic of the mental message he and Koontz, and doubtlessly others had received. When his PDA beeped the "Urgent Message" jingle, he jumped... not something you want to do with 6 tons of metal above you. After rubbing his bruised forehead, he pulled himself out from under the spacecraft, and checked his PDA. "Urgent Message For Head Mech. Bacon! Relayed From: Cmdo. Keng; Orig. Author: Cmdr. Strife" Bacon jumped again, only to find his head was under one of the wings. The Commander? What could this message possibly be? Figuring it didn't concern his tech, he excused Koontz from the otherwise empty garage, and played the audio message. "Contact all senior officers in the station and have them wait for me in the briefing room in Sector 2."A meeting in Sec-2 Breifing Room, was it? Maybe this concerned that telepathic signal he had received. Putting a tarp over the "XSP-25-z Sparrow Fighter Unit", he turned out the garage lights and locked the door, walking hurriedly down the hall. ZariZari nodded. 'Tza. That's it. Also, Hades attempted to crash my disguise in the dropship. He shot me at the joints in my armour. I've got a spare set, but I'm still peeved. He's a-tryin' to spark conflict. And to blow out Fleet in general, Commander sir. The only security "breach" was the mention of Fraze's flecheete gun and a few Illhvrenan words I used. I doubt anyone on the NTWF knows what Illhvren is and what I mean by Tza and Norem.' TrillyTrilly (lacking somewhat in the ninja's skills of stealth and secrecy), had to take the stairway to follow her quarry, rather than just follow them down the wall. "You're going to lose them," Feather sighed as he fluttered just above her head, keeping pace with her effortlessly. Trilly glared. "We can't all fly and be the size of a toothpick, my friend." She glanced around the stairwell she was on. "Are we at ground level yet?" Feather frowned at his traveling companion's inquiry. "From the walltop, it was pretty easy to count the number of floors in this part of the castle. I think we're at ground level, but I don't see a door--" For the first time since she had come to the castle, Trilly drew her sword. It was short and would be positively overlookable if the blade hadn't been carved over with runes for assistance in controlling and focussing her energy magic. Over the years, she had added more and more runes to this basic sword, and now, in addition to being the weapon of a knight, it also served the purpose of a mage's staff or wand. "Trilly, what are you--" Feather's question was cut off as Trilly gripped the sword in both hands, focussed on her magic, and ran at the wall with her arms held in front of her. The blade of her weapon sunk through the stone walls like they were made of soft cheese, and, as soon as the hilt touched stone, she let loose a burst of energy that blew out a Trilly-sized portion of wall. Bricks flew outwards and Trilly and Feather, caught in the aftershock, flew backwards into the wall and lay there as dust fell around them. "You idiot." Feather shouted in between hacking coughs. "You could've brought the whole castle down on us! In what world is it easier to blow a hole in the wall than it is to ask to be directed to a door?" "I'm in a hurry," Trilly said, standing up and brushing herself off far more calmly than she actually felt. "Coming?" "Do you think the other knights might be angry that you just blew up part of the castle?" the Feyrie asked skeptically. "The outer wall should be fine. I'm pretty sure I didn't do anything to it, so there won't be a hole people can use to get onto the castle grounds... ah, if the knights are going to make a big deal about it, I'll fix it myself. Later, though. Right now, we have a ninja to catch." Feather looked unconvinced, but he still followed Trilly out of the hole and onto the castle grounds. Once she was away from the rubble, the Ivory Knight re-sheathed her sword and instead unshouldered her bow and an arrow from her quiver. Although she was a knight, she'd been practicing archery for longer than she'd possessed a sword. She was surprised to feel her heart hammering in her chest as she readied her weapons and walked briskly towards the southern gate of the castle. She'd never felt so alone and out of her depth before. There'd always been someone... her grandmother, or an older knight there to tell her what to do if things started going wrong. She'd have to handle this by herself. Spotting the ninja she had been following near the southern gate, Trilly realized that the ninja was not entirely black-clad, as first assumed. Her quarry was a female, that much was obvious, wearing an eye-smarting shade of green besides the regular dark colors of a ninja uniform, with brown hair tied back in a braid. She was, among these other things, armed. Trilly readied an arrow on her bow. "Hey, you!" she shouted at the intruder, and fired a warning shot over the ninja's head. Maybe she'd be smart about this. Most likely not. KatBut the sound of an impending battle brought Kat back to her senses. She saw Shiva, and...a cat? And they were ready to get it on, and not in an innuendo-ridden way. "Wait, stop!" she cried, standing up. Her wand became a staff again, and this she pointed at them. "What's going on? And," here the Purple Knight paused to stare at Cat Assassin, "what are you doing here...whoever you are? You don't look like a knight, or anyone I've seen around here. I demand answers, and if you don't give them to me right now, I'll be forced to use you two as a pair of matches!" ((Sigh...I haven't been doing much in the RP. -_-;;; I'm still in the Throne Room.)) Ikkin((South Gate of Dunburrow)) By the time Ikkin was close enough to see Kit, he had already settled down at the gates, and seemed to be eating sharing some of the apples that grew in the orchards that grew near the path with Shade. Ikkin wondered for a second why Kit had felt the need to be so forceful about taking Shade if he was just going to act nicely in the end, then decided that it made as much sense as anything else Kit had done. All of a sudden, a mage appeared out of the undergrowth and ran towards Kit. Ikkin figured that she must have transformed herself, since the hiding spot couldn't possibly have hidden a human-sized mage. Ikkin landed nearby as the mage reached Kit's party of demons. Ikkin thought she saw the mage shudder before she walked up to them, and wondered what she was trying to do. "I am here to join you. But for a different price than what you have offered," the mage said to Kit. It suddenly hit Ikkin just how alone she really was. There was Kit, surrounded by both angels and demons, Shade, who seemed to have decided to join him despite his rude manner of taking her with him, and the mage, who had asked to join him despite her reluctance. Against those odds, fighting would be suicide. She could talk, though. See what Kit really wanted, perhaps. Find out why he had suddenly decided to do this. Find out where the angels had come from. And, maybe, she could hold out for long enough for help to arrive. Especially if she speeded things up. Sev, she thought over her soul-bond connection to the phoenix. You've probably heard Kit's message. He must be stopped. Bring backup to the South Gate of Dunburrow before midnight, both Mages and Pirates if possible. Say whatever it takes to convince them, but bring no one who is unwilling.And then, she walked over to talk with Kit, hands held empty in front of her to show that she meant no harm. "You still haven't explained why you're doing this," she said shortly, pointing a finger close to Kit's face. "You've never been like this before, so there's got to be some reason." Then, out of curiosity, she moved over to the angel with the bladed tail, keeping a respectful distance this time. She clearly didn't look like the kind of demon Kit would normally summon - and she definitely didn't feel like one. Her aura clearly lacked the darkness that lay underneath the auras of all of the demons that Ikkin had seen, and seemed instead to have something light about it. No, this clearly wasn't a demon at all. She was a being of light - maybe even an angel. And the other, similar being with the twin swords seemed to be the same. But why would angels want to release demons on the world? All Ikkin knew about them - which, really, wasn't very much - suggested that they would oppose demons rather than support them. After all, light and darkness were often in conflict, so why should their embodiments be much different? Maybe she could use this... But, first, she would need to find out why the angels were following Kit in the first place. And that meant at least attempting to be respectful and keeping herself from getting angry. She took a deep breath, hoping to clear her mind, then spoke. "Lady Angel," she said, not knowing what to call the creature. "Why would you want to help Kit release demons into this world?" Goosh((Dunburrow South Gate)) There was a definite sense of danger that hung in the air, full and stagnant. It seemed to radiate from the distorted sky above, which started to gleam with a scattering of pale stars as late evening descended upon them. And it came from the group of people, five or six, that waited by the gate. Goosh stood in a nearby grove of trees, wondering if the angels or the demons could detect him. It would be a dim move to wander out there, alone, no one knowing his position. And, of course, Goosh didn't trust demons, whatever Kit said. Some stereotypes were stereotypes for a reason, and Goosh included demons in that number. There was a shape in the air. Goosh squinted until he recognized Ikkin, touching ground softly and proceeding towards the group. It was a good backup as any. Ikkin could be trusted, at least not to do anything foolish. And standing around in the trees would get nothing done. Goosh needed to know what was going on. Once again, he wondered where the Pirates were. Inhaling deeply, Goosh emerged from the trees, trying not to imagine the many ways this could go wrong. Pyro((Note: I’m going out of state until late Monday, so I’ll be getting Pyro out of any direct situations.)) ((Castle Kestrel)) Pyro leaned against the stone wall of the throne room, breathing heavily. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, trying to use the solid surface behind her head to counteract the emotions raging within her. There was fear, and anger, oh, yes. Yearning for what warped and mocking memories had shown. Confusion…disbelief…and an overpowering sense of being torn between two ideals. First was her loyalty, deep and unchangeable, to the Knights, and to justice and truth. Second was her swear to fight for what was right—and the way Sir Kit put it, it seemed like discrimination against demons was wrong… …but did that mean helping them walk the earth was necessarily right?“Lady Kat,” Pyro muttered, eying Shiva and the black-garbed ninja, who seemed to be preoccupied with trying to kill each other. “If you need me…simply call, and I will arrive as speedily as I can. For now, I must…there are things that bear pondering.” She hastened from the room. Her quick pace led her blindly to the courtyards, where she collapsed onto a bench and tilted her head up to the afternoon skies. Running from it never made the question disappear, and the question remained: would she join Sir Kit at Dunburrow’s South Gate, or would she fight against him? It was no debating matter that she would fight, that was a guarantee. The problem at hand was whether or not Kit was right. According to Sir Kit, the Knights had always persecuted demons, and held a lingering hatred for them. Pyro closed her eyes again. That was his first lie. Shade, half-demon, and Kit, demonologist, under King Wolf’s reign they had met no persecution. Pyro would admit that she didn’t like demons, but she hoped that she would never harm a being out of sheer dislike. The memories of the first guild war hung heavy on Pyro’s mind, and the images that came to the fore were images of the bloodshed demons had caused. Could demons walk the earth in peace? More than that, would they be content with merely freedom—liberation, but no vengeance of the blood kind that she imaged demons would most appreciate? Wouldn’t they wish to take their revenge on those who had opposed them? Then Kit’s promises…Pyro’s mouth tightened into a thin, hard line. No man—no demon—however powerful, could give that all to them. Kit’s attempt at coercion reeked of ulterior motives and even more of falsity. What would he offer to dangerous people just to get them to join his cause? “And I am accepted already,” Pyro whispered, looking back at the castle behind her. “I am home. There is no need to have another.” Her choice was made. In a short time, then, she would make her way to the South Gate—and if she fell before a demon’s sword, so would it be. The needs of the many outweighed the needs of a few; she would fight to protect the people of Dunburrow and the other Knights from the demons and their allies.
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Post by GW2 on Oct 15, 2008 14:15:25 GMT -5
PFA((Castle Kestrel: near south gate))Shortly after PFA had pulled out her kunai, an arrow flew over her head. PFA ducked, grimacing. Why are people always shooting arrows at me? she thought bitterly. She then looked around, trying to see where the arrow had come from. She soon spotted what seemed to be a girl in an ivory-colored tunic. She also appeared to have bright red hair, lynx ears and a lion's tail. PFA thought she also saw something floating by the girl's head, but she couldn't tell what it was from there. Part of PFA felt really weird fighting against a Dunburrow Knight, but seeing as this particular knight seemed to be hostile (PFA was too angry to notice that the arrow that flew over her head was a warning shot), she felt she had no other choice. So she sent her kunai flying toward the girl, aiming for the legs... even though the girl was attacking her, PFA couldn't bring herself to attempt any lethal attacks. Not unless she had to.
Crystal ((The White Weewoo)) The human seemed friendly enough, but the pig was still rather wary of it. There had been sheer rage dripping off that black gold hair not three minutes ago, hot enough to charbroil the pig and turn it into bacon. It didn’t quite understand what Mistress had done to calm the human down, but well, it certainly wasn’t going to complain. Clara’s sobbing had died down a little, and she stared at the pirate captain with something very close to awe in her large eyes. “Clara doesn’t know,” she whispered. “Clara and pig came to this beach and saw a pretty ship, and Clara thought it would be even prettier if it were on fire, so Clara made it prettier.” She glanced down at the pig, who grunted and rooted at the rock and sand beneath its feet. At this point, it was somewhat resigned to fate. What was the big deal about a bit of warmth on a smelly bit of wood? After all, mistress had done worse. There had been the village, and the forest… and a few more villages along the way, and that haystack a few days ago, and that particular little kitten that had seemed awfully cold… The lady was still looking at its mistress in an odd way, and the pig edged a little closer to Clara, suddenly feeling a little protective. “Clara liked the bonfire,” the girl was saying. She looked up at Huntress, earnestness swimming in her eyes. “The one that Clara’s village made. So Clara made a bigger bonfire out of the village.” She paused for a moment, her brows drawn together in thought. “It made Clara very happy,” she added. “It was a very polite fire.” There was a movement under the waters as the blarf rose to the surface again, and the girl’s eyes lit up. “Mr. Monster!” she cried in delight. “You’re back! Clara missed you!” The pig turned dignifiedly, trotting back down to the sea to rejoin it’s mistress as she flung herself on the startled blarf to smother it with kisses. Rikku((Forest Clearing of DEATH – the one and only!)) “Alright. Okay. So we have an uncontrollable zombie kind of situation here …” Rikku scratched her head. There were four bodies still lying prone on the ground, but as she watched three of them staggered to their feet. The one that was left moved more like an alive being, though he was sorely injured. Rikku checked – she could sort of sense things that encroached into her area, and dead things were one of them. This guy was alive, all right, but from the look of it, not for very long. The first three still seemed to be attacking the metallic vampire dude. Good. He’d caused more trouble than was worth. Destroying her wand – what kind of idiot idea was that? Still, she might help him out later, if he was really in trouble. Rikku doubted it. Those lasers could probably deal with a few undead, no problem. Even if the undead were armed with very sharp weapons. Yup. The next three were standing, indecisive, and Rikku had a feeling they were going to head for her, blood and ashes or no blood and ashes. This was bad, and getting worse … Rikku gripped the bones in her hand, trying to turn at least some of the zombies to more of her kind of creature. These ones were just made by random, chaotic magic; hers had more order to them, and were easier for her to control. She blinked as she felt a weight on her shoulder. She looked at it. “Hey, little guy! Decided to come back, huh?” It was the undead sparrow she’d been trying to animate earlier. The released energy must have drawn it to the clearing like a magnet. Admittedly, any magnet that drew zombie birds would have to be a pretty odd one. Malfunctioning. All sorts of complaints from consumers. Rikku grinned at the mental image, and stroked the bird. It could come in handy, having a little minion of her own, particularly when these three – Were bowing? Even more surprising, one of them spoke. “Girl is dark mage,” it said, leering, its mouth misshapen. “Girl master.” Rikku paused, and then grinned. Why not have some fun. “Okay, first of all, grammar! No need to have odd sentence structure just ‘cos your teeth are falling out! THE girl is a dark mage. THE girl is your master. And secondly – come on! Enough of that arms-outstretched-and-mouth-gaping look! It is SO last century.” She walked over to them and corrected their posture. “Back straight … straight as can be, anyway …” She shifted the backbone of one back into place with a grisly grating sound. “Arms by side! Mouth closed!” She looked over them and nodded approvingly. “ Much better. You’ll pass for decent minions soon. “Alright. Good so far. Now, individuality! You need names.” She nodded at each one in turn. “Fred. Larry. Steve. Got that? Good, ‘cos I’m calling you by name from now on.” She patted the sparrow. “Apart from you, little guy. I’m not sure sparrows have enough brain capacity to answer to their names, no offence.” “Braaains?” Larry said uncertainly. “No, no, no. Brains are not good zombie food. Try …” She glanced around for inspiration. “Air! Yes! Air is an excellent source of nutrition!” She gave a broad grin. This was kind of fun. The grin slid off her face as she glanced over at the other one. He was glaring at her. And he had what looked like some kind of pointed stick gripped in his hand. “Oh, dear,” was all Rikku had time to say, before Derek was upon her. He hit her head solidly with the non-pointed end of his javelin, and she slid to the forest floor. Ow … she thought, and then she blacked out. Shade((Forest: Clearing of Death))
The cut off words that the mage had almost spoken shook Hades. She knew he was a vampire. The rational side of him, the side that thought things through, cut in. Of course she knows. She’s a necromancer. She knows the signs, and had magic to confirm them. That didn’t make him feel any better about it, though. Nobody outside the Mercs knew that he was a vampire. Nobody. It was just too great a risk. It would completely kill any chance he had of getting a job, and quite likely do the same to all the other Mercs.
Belatedly, he noticed what breaking the wand had done. Oh. Well. Um. This was not good. Technically, he couldn’t die, as he was already dead. But the zombies could damage him, and damage him quite a lot, by the looks of things. And the stench increased as they moved, rising from the dead and advancing towards him. He began moving backwards, step by step, as the zombies advanced upon him.
Then they charged. Hades cursed, shot at them, and ran. In that order. He could outrun them. He was sure of that, if nothing else. He hated to run away. It was cowardice of the purest type, and other than traitors, cowards earned his greatest ire. But the zombies would overwhelm him, and death was worse than cowardice.
He was running back along the path he and the mage had made getting to that clearing, but now the braches whipped his face. He could scent blood from cuts, and growled. That wasn’t helping. At all. For all that he had fed recently, since he had seen the gem, his vampiric tendencies had reared up, along with his temper.
He could still hear the zombies behind him. They were faster than he had thought, running this way. Hades cursed them. Zombies weren’t supposed to be that fast. But he should be getting to that fire soon. And it should stop them, to some extent. Yeah. Right. He hoped they would, at least.
He could smell the smoke now, and a feral grin crossed his face. He ran straight for the fire, ignoring all the instincts that told him to stay away. And as he neared it, and the smoke became an irritant, he stopped breathing. Of all the vampiric powers, that was still the most unnatural, to his thinking. But he did it, and ran through the fire. It was a good sized fire, too. If the zombies followed him, they would probably get burned.
But the flames hurt, blast it.
He knew that it wasn’t as bad as it could be. In a way, he blessed Fen for being his sire, and the wonderful effect it had of not making fire just kill him outright. It still hurt, though. A lot. And he could barely see anything until he came out the other side, and he couldn’t hear much of anything other than the fire. When he came to the other side of the fire, he turned, looking for any sign of the zombies.
A broken sword came at his face.
He jumped back, turning and running, now towards Dunburrow Castle. If the voice could call to people from as far away as it did, it could get rid of zombies. And if it couldn’t, then it would at least give him help against them. Zylaa((by The White Weewoo))Coming up behind Huntress, Zylaa watched the girl warily. She certainly didn't seem like an employee- of course, the pyromaniac insanity could be an act, but Zylaa didn't think anyone was that good an actor. She had torched her own village, though? Zylaa leaned back involuntarily. Someone this unstable would be difficult to deal with. The weasel-girl looked at Hunty. The captain seemed less wrathful, and Zylaa couldn't blame her, but something would have to be done or this Clara would get a hold of matches and finish what she started. Perhaps we could just keep her occupied with the blarf, Zylaa thought as Clara ran to hug "Mr. Monster." "The name suits him," she said, but quietly, so the other pirates wouldn't hear. She felt a tugging on her boots and looked down. The weasels had returned, the General brandishing a gold coin. "Man with shinies give shiny. Say demons not evil, help him and he give shinies." "Good for you. Keep the shiny." The weasels cheered and scampered off to join the remainder of the army. Zylaa looked after them, not really seeing. It would be pretty amusing if Kit really talked like that, was her first, irrelevant thought. So the weasels had gone after Kit... well of course they would, if they had seen that dragon horde in the mental message. That was 300 votes in favor of joining up with Kit. It wouldn't hurt to check, at least... and it was sunset, slipping towards twilight. They had a few hours to decide, after they dealt with Clara. "Captain, what do you propose we do with the crazy pyromaniac?" Zylaa asked. ScarScarven watched as Leoness calmed down, gently holding her shoulders with one paw while the other stroked Aeri's sides to soothe her. "It's okay Leoness, everyone cries once in a while," he said softly. He heard her talk about the visions and made no remark but his eyes widened when he heard of this Spacefleet. "But The Commander isn't evil. I see things in him that nobody else does. He has the potential to do wonderful things for this world... and i'm scared that these images will drag him down again. It's just... I don't know what to do now... I don't know what I can do..."As Leoness placed her head in her hands, he patted her shoulder and glanced at Aeri, giving her a small nod. "Maybe you could go back to Spacefleet? We'll accompany you there if you want. I mean, that's what family is for, hmm? Besides, a guild on the moon sounds very interesting. "Right dear?" he added to Aeri with a small smile. That and I need to be alone with you, he didn't say. Shade((South Gate))
"Don't worry about Ikkin. She won't do anything alone. Even with Sev, the odds wouldn't be in her favour."
“I’m probably just being paranoid,” Shade admitted, shrugging. “I-” she stopped, looking away from Kit. I wouldn’t want you to get hurt, she finished silently. I wouldn’t want for you to loose any more of yourself than you already have. The soft sound of his footsteps, along with the absence of his presence beside her, shook Shade out of her thoughts. She followed Kit, never quite looking at him. She shouldn’t be reacting to him like this. She never had before, at least. So why now?
She glanced at Kit again. There wasn’t really anything different about him now. Nothing physical, at least. But his presence.. it was different, somehow. More powerful. More like those of the demons he summoned. Alluring. Dark, in a way. But still the same. Still the same as it always had been. And if anything, he had just become more like he had been when Shade first met him. Mysterious and strange, and acting in ways that didn’t seem to quite make sense at first, though there was always a reason behind them, if you looked for one.
The gardens around the south gate were the same as always; fruit hung on branches, leaves blew in the wind. And there was nobody there waiting for them. Shade relaxed slightly. She shouldn’t have expected anyone to be there, since the knights were the closest, and none of them seemed particularly inclined to join Kit, and she hadn’t seen any of them other than Ikkin since leaving the throne room. But she had, unconsciously.
The sight of a demon’s tentacles plucking apples startled Shade. But as Kit took them from the demon and offered one to her, she took it. For all that the skin had become purple, it didn’t seem any different. Shade didn’t take a bite, though. Later, perhaps, she would. But for now, she didn’t feel quite safe here. She was safe. Kit and his demons would make sure of that, he was sure.
Footsteps, loud in the relative silence, brought her attention to a newcomer. It was that mage, the one who had questioned why Kit was taking the gem earlier. The mage paused a short ways away, and then approached. "I am here to join you,” she said. “But for a different price than what you have offered." Shade tilted her head to the side a bit. What reason would she have to join them, then? Shade didn’t ask, though she wanted to. She would wait until Kit accepted her into his force first.
She could sense Ikkin nearby, though she had no idea how. Perhaps being bear the gem had increased her senses, or something like that? Not that it mattered right now. It was another thing that she could figure out later, once there was time. And if this became a war, there should be time, even if Kit had all the demons in the planes on his side.
The more interesting thing was that Ikkin approached them, palms out in a show of peace. "You still haven't explained why you're doing this," she said, pointing a finger at Kit's face. "You've never been like this before, so there's got to be some reason."
Shade laughed. “Of course you ask him the same thing I did,” she said. “But since he explained it so nicely, I’ll let him do so again.” Ikkin didn’t stay still long, though. She moved over near the blade-tailed demon, seeming to study it for a few seconds.
"Sir Angel," she said. "Why would you want to help Kit release demons into this world?"
Angel? Shade looked through the demon’s – angel, whatever – aura. It was closer to the light than most demons, though by her definition, it was still one. Angels were beings that lived in the afterlife of humans, not ones that could be summoned to the earth. Demons were of the earth, in part. Angels had no ties here at all. Shade shook her head. It was a demon. The other one that Ikkin would probably call an angel was also a demon. Light-demons, but still demons. TrillyTrilly was ready for the ninja to either slink off into the shadows or challenge her to a proper duel, like she had been taught, and was almost caught completely unawares when the intruder flung a small, sharpened knife-trowel typed weapon at her. Kunai her mind barely registered as she scrambled for a way to dodge the blade. She jumped to the side at the last minute, and the spinning object just barely grazed her knee as it flew by and came to rest in the dirt with a small thunk."Don't be so lazy," Feather snapped angrily in her ear. "This isn't a knight you're trying to stop. She's a ninja. Their code of chivalry, or the equivelant of it, is very different than yours. " Trilly grimaced as se examined the shallow cut on her leg. Feather was right. She had warned the girl to leave the knight's territory with a harmless shot over the head, and the intruder had made no sign of being willing to leave or even talk. The knight quickly reshouldered her bow, as it would be useless in close-range fighting, and drew her sword. "Got any more, ninja?" she taunted brashly, although in truth she was nervous and wondered what in the world she was thinking, starting a fight inside castle walls, just a few meters away from where a possible megalomaniac was rallying an army of demons and demon supporters to provide demonkind everywhere with freedom and rights with the help of a magical gem that had been, until recently, buried underground in a ratty old sack. Really, someone up there must be laughing their head off. With her sword raised, the knight took a short, running leap (more like a pounce) at the ninja, prepared to incapacitate (or even kill, she thought with an internal shudder) if necessary. She brought her sword down in a short, chopping motion. She would also have to be careful of kunai. She'd rarely heard of a ninja who only carried one. ZariZaha noticed CA and Shiva fighting and turn to look at Zari. The Knight had shifted into a crouch, one shin flat across the ground, creating a not-very-comfortable seat, the the other leg folded and drew in close to her chest, giving her something to support her other arm on while she worked her sword out of the fringed orange scarf she wore as a belt. If worst came to worst, she'd help CA. But not now. What interested the young stragegist was the reason for the fight. Zaha stood in a fluid motion, and began walking towards the two. 'Looks like we've got ourselves a hungry Demonhorse.' she said casually, rearranging her scarf so the choker she'd set the Sylian Stone in was obscured. 'Why don't you go eat the rather fluffy specimen who's been following me and Zari around the last few days. She'd make a lovely snack. Ninja cats taste sour.' she drew her katana from it's shoulder sheath and stood, braced slightly, staring at both the Feline Ex-hitman and the Demon Horse. Nature"Oh, there you are. Why don't you come in out of the storm?" Nature walked in briskly and sighed. The cold? She can handle that. Darkness? Not so much. But cold darkness? That was just too much. Shivering, she wrapped her furry coat around her. She noticed the worried look on her mentor's eyes. "Now if you don't mind, Nature, I'd like to check your aura."Nature sneezed. "Okay, then. Go. I don't want to be infested by darkness, either." she muttered, rubbing her numb nose. All of a sudden, Nature coughed. dark, swirling purple mists came out of her mouth as she did. The Zafara was shocked after seeing that. What the heck?!That wasn't the end of it. She got dizzy. Nature's vision started swirling.The Freezemancer clumsily moved, going here and there, then all of a sudden. Everything went black. ~~~~~~*~~~~~~ "The sitar . . . give it to me . . .” SpeckThe entire walk back to the charred ship, Speck had been in a daze. Thoughts of piles of gold – and piles of lemons- filled her head. She had heard the message, but was very unclear as to what she really wanted. Sure, gold was very nice. She could buy all the lemons she wanted, and make as much lemonade as she wanted. But the thrill of sailing the sea, of pillaging defenseless towns, of capturing ships for their gold—that’s what she loved so much about being a pirate. To earn her keep on the ship she now called home. She was half paying attention to the girl (and the pig) who were now on board. As the captain was deciding what to do with the psychopathic pyromaniac, she sighed dreamily, “So many tart, succulent lemons… Kit"Name your price then," Kit said to the mage that had come offering her allegiance, not quite interested in parleying. If she had a price, he would meet it. Or rather, the abyss would. A few days after the encounter in the dungeons, Marbas had approached him again. Unlike some of the other demons he summoned, Marbas was called by a pact, not by a binding. After all, he was a president of Hell. Marbas promised the aid of demons to those that would accept them on their lands, an offer not made lightly. Kit knew Marbas to be true to his word. Despite the rumours, demons were a trustworthy kind for the most part. They held their word and always honoured bargains, which was more than he could say for humans.
Kit was more interested in estimating the number of hours until midnight, 5 or 4 maybe. It was hard to tell with the sky being as weird as it is. There was a reason why Kit chose the ultimatum to be at midnight. He knew that there wasn't much of a chance that everyone would talk and leave peacefully, and midnight was the best time for a fight if he had to get into one. Tavara wouldn't fight otherwise anyway. Odd though, demons know when to fight and when not to. Humans are terribly irrational sometimes.
The sound of rather forced footsteps caused Kit to drop his gaze from the sky, to meet that of a rather agitated Ikkin. He found it amusing that even with her hands raised, she still managed to come across as rather threatening. Maybe it was the way she marched up right to him and jabbed a finger in the direction of his face. For a moment, he wondered if she wanted to poke his eye out.
"You still haven't explained why you're doing this. You've never been like this before, so there's got to be some reason."
Shade laughed at Ikkin's demands, a sound that Kit found rather melodic. He had to wonder why Ikkin was so against him. She obviously had no bad conceptions about demons before, seeing as how she was willing to share a soul bond with him, and how she didn't seem to hate Shade. So why was she so opposed to the idea of him giving demons an equal chance? I think you're the one acting odd, Kit thought to himself.
Kit started to answer her when she strode away, more interested in Bladetail.
"That was interesting," Kit said to Shade, "you'd think that she'd at least wait for an answer." He decided that it would be best if he just waited until Ikkin was actually willing to listen before trying to answer any of her questions. As she was right now, she seemed unstable for some reason. As if she had developed a chronic allergy to demons.
Somewhere deep down inside, Kit felt a string of pain as he watched Ikkin. He thought that of all people, she would have been the one to support him the most. But now she was on the road to be his strongest opponent. He wondered why she was acting the way she was. Why she had suddenly lost all trust in him. It wasn't like he was going to lead an army of demons to take over the world. All he wanted was for them to be accepted. All he wanted was for the prejudice to stop.
He didn't want them to be killed like Kristen.
He remembered the day Kristen had received the fatal order. She went off alone, the reinforcements never arriving. She was loyal to Dunburrow, and they killed her. As he glanced at Shade, he knew that he couldn't let it happen again.
Bladetail herself smiled in amusement at Ikkin's approach. The false courtesies held nothing for her. Well, apart from amusement that is. Her metallic tail seemed to think the same, clicking merrily as it dropped to coil around her left leg like a spiral staircase.
"For one, he's a lot more honest than you are," she laughed, her voice light and carefree, "and besides, why shouldn't we? How would you like it if I decided that you were evil and stabbed you on sight, instead of talking to you?" she said, her eyes glinting with happy mischief. Vyt((Near Castle Kestrel))"I could see people..."Bluisa had just descended from above the trees, now lying low around trunks of trees. Commotion was just around the corner as she watched at a group of people talking to each other. She shivered in fear when she noticed that one of them was the man in her ball's image. He looks scarier when seen personally than in an image, she mouthed silently. Bluisa then glanced at a lone girl in front of the group. Judging by the situation, she thought that the odds of the group attacking the girl without further ado was not far from possible. Not wanting the girl to be attacked by them just because Bluisa felt comfortable seeing her even for the first time, she drew her magical staff and watched intently. She knew only she had the power to save her when the worst situation appears, even though she was just a novice mage. ShinoThis is Marine Ethan. Hey, Shino! What's up? Over. Crackled back from the device, Ethan had given Shino. "I am in dire need of assistance, dear friend. I require your expertise down here on the NTWF." Shino spoke with a grave and serious manner to the Spacefleet Marine as he started explaining the situation and tehe series of events that led them to this point. "You are very likely the most intuitive cyborg I have ever come to know, in this life. Believe, I do, that you are an essential part of the battle to come." "Ethan, can I count on you?" ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Evan left Shino, per his request, to go find the steady stallion, Bianco. But when he neared the sound of a horse he also heard a person, a female perhaps. "What are you staring at?"The former Black Knight crouched up behind the bushes and spotted a female, not too old who was talking to the horse as if she and Bianco were old chums. Evan rolled his eyes and assumed the light-haired woman was a few demons short of an army. "Look, be glad you caught me in a good mood. And, I usually don't curse horses. I'm saving the magic for someone else." said the mysterious blonde woman. Evan came up alongside the horse and stroked his back, while diverting hsi gaze to her. "I'm not sure where you've come from exactly, and I do not wish to know." he siad while steppign between the strong horse's face adn the seemingly insane lady. "I do think that it would be best to return to whatever asylum you were before & lay down for a quite a while. Mybe until I'm dead, okay?" Surf((Mage Manor - Kitchen)) Sev agreed to help Surf, and said, “Just hold onto my wings, and I'll take everyone.” After pausing, he continued, “Hurry. There's something wrong with Kit, and we need to stop him before something bad happens.”Surf’s face lit up, and she exclaimed with a smile, “Thank you so much for your help.” She paused, and added quietly, “This is gonna be so fun. Finally, I get to-” She stopped in surprise, a voice in her head stopping her from finishing her thought. At first she thought she was hallucinating, but when it continued, she knew it was real. It described a plan for demons to roam the Earth, and offered a reward for cooperation. “And I offer you knowledge.” A brief image of scrolls and books as far as the eye could see followed. It finished by saying that it would harm any opposition. She thought over the offer in awe. All of that knowledge, all the unknown history and spells, it could all be hers. She could hone her skills and learn the ancient arts. So many possibilities… But to any one of her friends who wouldn’t side with this person, the future was not bright, and she could never betray her friends. She had made her decision. “Did you hear get some sort of mental message, or was it just me? Anyways,” she said to Sev, “we should get going,” and grabbed onto his wings. Amneiger((Spacefleet labs)) Amneiger had just reached the labs when he got Keng's message. I just have a few things left to do here first.He walked into his lab office and looked at the duffel bags he was carrying. Inside were the lightning rod, wind speed meter, glass jars, and computer he had been using down on the planet. Somebody should analyze these for magical effects, since I exposed them to the storm. And it should be done quickly before any transient effects have a chance to fade. Well, since Zari is probably in the Commander's office right now I'll have to find somebody else to do it.Amneiger picked up the bags and walked back into the main lab complex. "Is there anybody here who knows anything about magic?" People looked up, then looked down back at their work. "Anybody?" More silence. "Thank you," Amneiger said, and turned and walked away. Right. Guess I'll leave these outside Zari's door with a note then. I just hope she gets back soon. Back in his office, Amneiger sat down and started typing up a note. Zari,
I was just out in the storm with these instruments. The measurements for the lightning rod and the wind speed meter, along with some observations I made are in the portable computer. The jars contain rainwater from areas affected by the storm. I was hoping that you could check these to see if the storm has affected them magically, which might help with figuring out more about the storm.
AmneigerAmneiger printed out the note and put it on top of one of the duffel bags. Good. While he was here he should probably start preparing for the briefing. The strange voice had said that he could stop the storm, so Amneiger printed out the measurements and observations for the storm. After a few second's thought he picked up a console with a library link and put it in his pocket. It didn't seem like there was anything else he would want to take, so he left the bags and note in front of Zari's office and left for the briefing. Kat"I'm not sure where you've come from exactly, and I do not wish to know."She turned to look at Evan after glaring at the horse. "So. You own this?" she asked, jerking a thumb at him. "Hmmm...I was about to take him with me so he could be of some help, but then again..." "I do think that it would be best to return to whatever asylum you were before & lay down for a quite a while. Maybe until I'm dead, okay?""Lying down is the last thing I want," the woman replied, tossing back her hair. Then she paused, staring down at her buckled shoes and said, "Listen, I'm quite...lost around these parts. You see, I come from far away...where I used to pass by a horse like yours, only he was skilled enough to mimic human speech. I'm looking for someone. You could say she's a friend. Perhaps you have seen her around?" Unclasping her cloak, she held up a silver locket and opened it. A miniature painting of her was on the left; while on the right was another smiling young woman - more of a girl than a woman, actually - with long black hair that fell past her shoulders, dark brown eyes. Large golden earrings, shaped like five-pointed stars, dangled from her ears, and she was clad in shades of blue and purple. "My name is Asthielle, but you can just call me Ielle.” CelestialCelestial noted the look the demon-knight gave her. It was a distrusting look that made her shudder involuntarily. No matter, she would rpove her loyalty to them soon. When Celestial saw the knight called Ikkin land, a cold icey fear gripped her. This wasn't going to turn out well, for her at least. To her surprise however, Ikkin walked towards them without malevolence her hands in the air, weaponless. Celestial breathed a silent sigh of relief. She didn't want to fight Ikkin, not with the storm still progressing. "You still haven't explained why you're doing this," Ikkin spoke "You've never been like this before, so there's got to be some reason." Celestial retreated to a respectful distance while Ikkin looked at the angel-beings. "Name your price then," the demon-man spoke. She turned to him, her electric-blue dragon's eyes blazing. "I don't want anything for myself but for those with who I share a mutual debt: the dragons. I want them to be as free as your demons when this is over. If you can provide that, I am your ally. If not, I can always fly away and fight against you. I do not fear death." was her cold but polite reply. She had to make sure the man would accept the terms of her offer. *** Overlord looked confused at the girl from his tree. She was trying to CONTROL the zombies?! If they were summoned by her, he could understand but it was a surge of energy that reaminated them. She was bossing them around and Overlord tutted. This won't end well.
He was right. As soon as the gril mentioned no eating of brains one of the zombies knocked her out! Overlord screeched in rage! He felt the need to protect her, just like he felt the need to protect his mistress, Celestial...who wasn't here and was unreachable, he thought gloomily.
Overlord didn't notice the man running away. He would later thank the fates for it since nobody lived to see a vampire run away like a coward. Overlord saw only red after the girl was knocked out. He swooped out of the tree and towards the zombies, his claws and beak outsreched and hungry for revenge, he let out the most piercing shreik a Weewoo could, his gold feather flashing and tingling with some sort of power. It wasn't such a one-sided fight after all. Goosh((Dunburrow--South Gate)) Goosh's mind tumbled with a thousand questions as he walked quietly towards the group of shadowy figures. Thoughts of angels and demons twisted together in his head as he grew closer. Maybe the flickering in the sky was distorting his thoughts. And then there he was. Kit seemed...different. Goosh could not put his finger on it, but made sure to focus his thoughts. It would not do to be confused. Shade was there too, though he was not sure whether or not that was a good thing or a bad thing. She seemed rather neutral, unlike Ikkin, who was looking curious and defensive. And there was a dragon. Goosh had not met this person. He held his palms up, empty, to show that he meant no harm. Goosh shuffled over to Ikkin. She had spoken to one of the angels. He tapped her shoulder. "...Ikkin?" he asked softly. "I don't suppose you know what's going on here, do you?” Huntress((The White Weewoo)) Huntress was now completely calm, if only because the girl's speech had quite literally pushed the anger out, instead filling her with a kind of mixture of horror, pity, and disgust. She wasn't quite sure what to think, so she shot a quick glance at the meepits on the railing. Their opinion was unanimous. "Told you," said Bob, as the others nodded in agreement. "Definitely a number of screws short of a full set." Hunty scowled. She didn't want to stab this girl, even if death would probably been the most merciful thing anyone's ever done to her, judging by her thin, patched looks. But having her around... she'd have to be under constant supervision. Unless... ...hey... She smirked vaguely. "Go and see if we have something to eat," she told the meepits. "I daresay the water and the fire didn't reach the lower holds, in which case there'd only be a general mess and such." The meepits pulled a collective jawdrop. "You're keeping her?" Joe demanded. "No. We just need to keep an eye on her for a little while, until she's away from the ship, and she does look like she could use something to eat. Go on already!" A few meepits trotted off, shaking their heads, and Hunty turned back to look at Clara. The blarf seemed a bit taken aback by the sudden flow of emotions heaped upon him, and he was currently attempting to nudge thge girl gently back to the ledge and shake her off. "It was a pretty fire," the captain said, with quite a bit sincerity in her voice. Well, it had been. She'd always liked fire. This particular location could've been different, but what's done is done. "But we sortof... need that ship without fire. But tell you what. I know a place that would look very, very pretty when on fire," and that sentence was dripping with sincerity, making the remaining meepits scowl in confusion. "It burns well, too. All light wood and paper. It'd be one big flame." The meepits, finally catching up, pulled another collective jawdrop. "You're not planning...!" Justice began. "I'm planning to lure her away from the ship, and what would your first suggestion be?" Hunty hissed to her, then frowned thoughtfully. "It's pretty far from here, but I can show you the way." Now the preoccupied part of her brain finally kicked in again with the offer that had been made, and a shadow of contemplation slid across her face as she stood up, turned around and looked at Zylaa. "Captain, what do you propose we do with the crazy pyromaniac?" "We keep an eye on her. Until she's far enough. We'll probably have to drag her along a little, making sure she doesn't set fire to everything around us, but after this little swim, I doubt she has any matches left, so we can sortof... control her that way." "Now you're just planning to use her," Justice announced from the railing. Hunty gave her a somewhat guilty look. "It'd make her happy. What's wrong with making a poor little girl happy? Now, what was that deal with Kit's offer?" "He's offering an alliance, as I gathered," said Justice, still a little miffed. "And money." Hunty frowned, giving it a serious thought for the first time, then looking up at the sooty brigantine. It seemed to look back, with its burnt lines, ragged sails, and scorched yards. "We have two choices," she said, stretching her back. "We can leave, and we can stay. If we're to leave, we lose the big shiny as well as the prospect of money. And this is a pending war, gentlemen. You saw them: the mages, the knights, the other weird people, all wanting that shiny. We don't know how far all this might reach, and where it might catch us, wherever we go. But we can't be in it alone. Remember the silvery guy in the forest? His weapons? We need an alliance. And protection, for ourselves and the ship. Right now Kit's offering us one. Demons... Rider has one, and he's pretty much okay in my book," with that she grinned slightly. "I say we go take a look, anyway. We can always decline later, what do you say?" "I for one say that you have a kid and a pig to look after at this point," Justice reminded from the railing. "Well, she can come along. Setting the knights on fire I wouldn't mind." She looked at Clara again. "What do you say?" PFA((Castle Kestrel: near south gate))The knight dodged to the side, avoiding the kunai at the last minute. Missed! PFA growled as she reached for another kunai. The girl put away her bow, and instead pulled out a sword. "Got any more, ninja?" she taunted. Oh yes, PFA thought, pulling another kunai from her pouch. The girl then charged at PFA, her sword in the air. PFA grimaced, wishing she had pulled out her katana instead of a kunai. PFA's kunai were designed to be thrown, so they wouldn't do much good at close range. PFA stepped backwards as the girl brought her sword down, barely managing to dodge the attack. With a lack of anything better to do, PFA stabbed at the girl with her kunai, aiming for the shoulder. --- ((Forest: near Dunburrow))After some time of walking, the village of Dunburrow finally came into the mercenaries' sight. It seemed like a nice, peaceful village... well, it probably would have been more peaceful if it weren't for that storm. Even so, it seemed like it was a usually peaceful village. What caught the mercenaries' eyes most of all, however, was the castle that was placed right in the middle of the village, Castle Kestrel. "That must be where that person is," Jernath noted, turning to the other mercenaries. "He said the south gate, right?" JasonMage Manor-KitchenJasor walked along the corridor of Mage Manor, humming softly to himself. Light steps crossed the floor as he padded towards the entrance to the kitchen. Just as he reached for a doorknob, he felt a tinlge such as air running through his head as he began to recieve a message. "To everyone who is willing to listen, I come to you with an offer. It's a simple one. At this moment, you should be painfully aware of a storm that's trying to rip things in half. I can end that, but I don't really plan to stop there. What I want is to put an end to discrimination against demonkind. To put it plainly, I want to let demons walk the lands as freely as you or I. They do not deserve the hatred that is given to them any more than you deserve to be hated. And to do that, I need your cooperation. I do not make this offer without giving something in return,"
"I offer you knowledge."Here Jasor's mind was filled with a vision. A vision as vived as air forming a tornado. Deep in his mind's eye, he saw things. He saw scrolls and books along shelves. Visions of scrolls for every kind of magic. Straining to get a closer look at the scrolls within his mind, he gasped when the vision faded and the voice resumed its speach. "And to those that will oppose me, please don't think I'm evil for wanting to do this. Each and every one of you would not hesitate to fight for humankind if it were as oppressed as demons are. I am only doing the same for them. However, if you really want to stop me, I'll probably hurt you. Or more. And to those that will ally themselves with me, I will be waiting until midnight at the south gate of Dunburrow. Anyone who isn't with me, shall be considered against me."Here, Jasor clutched his amulet once again, before hearing Surf's voice from not too far ahead. “Did you hear get some sort of mental message, or was it just me? Anyways,” she said to Sev, “we should get going,” and grabbed onto his wings.Gasping, he ran towards the door of the kitchen, tripping over his feet in a hurry and crashing into the table. Pulling himself off, he dusted off the dirt and held onto his bleeding scratch. "Wait!" he spoke to Sev, walking towards the pheonix. "Take me with you." he spoke between clenched teeth. "If you don't take me with you, I'll follow you anyways. If you're going to track down the deliverer of this message, take me along. Thouh if you aren't going to find thrm, I'd still like to come along. If we find out whoever is sending this message, maybe we can try to reason with him or her." he remarked. Rider((The White Weewoo)) "You're a sick genius," Rider siad with a mixture of horror and fascination. "You'd set her on the ninjas? They may not be as merciful as we are, you know." With a tug on her collar, Ventratta reminded her that Rider was about ready to kill the little pyro when she first saw her. "We don't know how far all this might reach, and where it might catch us, wherever we go."Running, running, never free. If I try to wipe demons from the world, would I be able to go home and face Shiva? More importantly, if something like this were to happen again, would I be able to face myself? What used to be a clear-cut decision suddenly wavered and grew fuzzy. Then it was clear again. Crystal clear. "Lets take her as fast as we can without damaging her. I'd like us to be at Dunburrow come midnight." ((Castle Kestrel, Dining Throne Room)) The ninja-cat was asking for it. Rage made the back of Shiva's eyes burn. But Zaha had a katana and Shiva knew when he was outmatched. "I'm not your cleanup crew, ignorant ones. What are your names?" CelestialCelestial turned towards the pirate Yurble as he spoke to Ikkin, her eyes shining in the growing darkness. She strode over to the Yurble, trying her best not to look malevolent as the Yurble seemed willing enough to join. "I suppose you got the message too and have come to join him" and she pointed to Kit "and fight for his cause. We are in the same boat then. However, you should talk to him first. Good to have another ally" she said formally and walked away. There was a sort of...exilaration in her and there had been ever since she made that decision. Sure it was risky, but it would be worth it. Maybe now people would see that dragons aren't foul beasts that just guard maidens and treasure. She grinned thinking that she hadn't played that prank in a long time. As soon as this war was over and won, she would go back. But how soon? Shaking off that question, she focused on what was here and now: fighting for demons and if she got her way, dragons. Hopefully, the demon-man would accept her offer. TrillyJust as Trilly brought her sword down, the ninja quickly dodged the attack and stood ready a step away, a new kunai appearing in her hand. Despite the fact that this ninja was violating the grounds of Trilly's new home by just being here, the knight was still impressed with the stranger's uncanny speed. The ninja, rather than throwing the kunai as before, chose instead to attack in a more hand-to-hand style. Almost too late, Trilly remembered that a kunai was not as good of a slashing weapon as a sword or dagger, a fact that the ninja could've been aware of, as she chose instead to aim a direct stab at her opponent. Trilly quickly raised her sword horizontally, the flat of it barely deflecting the blow from piercing through her metal ring-studded tunic. I want a shield, the knight thought. This would be so much easier if I had a shield.She turned her still-horizontal sword just so much that the blade was now facing outwards, then swung it fiercely in an arc. As far as Trilly knew, that was how she could get the most speed behind her blow. She was really hoping this fight would be over before the ninja could come up with something worse than kunai. Tamia((Rocky field, several hours away from Castle Kestrel))
Minutes blurred into hours as Tamia and Oran moved quickly across the countryside, until the girl could not decide what it was that was keeping her going. Although she had thus far managed to keep a steady mind, thanks to whatever it was that Oran had given her, she was exhausted. As the sun began to set for good, deep red in a sky that was already much darker than it should have been, Tamia brought herself to an unsteady halt.
On top of everything else, her arm felt strange -- it was no longer giving her any pain, but it felt to her like it was sending... ripples of something sinister throughout her body. She hoped the blade Forest used on her hadn’t been poisoned. Oran glanced behind him and, seeing her swaying on the spot, bounded back towards her.
“We’re not going to make it,” she whispered, shaking her head. “People are going to die, and there’s nothing we can do. I’m sorry, Oran... I just can’t....” She felt her knees tremble and let herself fall to the ground, her scabbard clattering on the rocky field.
Oran said nothing for a moment, a sign that he was out of ideas. I would send give you another burst of energy, but I can’t, he said grimly. His eyes sparked in the disappearing light.
Tamia sighed to herself, and decided that if nothing else, she could fix a decent treatment for her wound while she rested. Reaching into her backpack, she stiffly drew a stip of linen and a few herbs from its outermost pocket. She made sure to include some crushed plantain leaf in the mixture, which might help reverse -- or at least forestall -- any blood poisoning, as long as it was mild. I think I need a miracle, Tamia thought without much hope.
But then, suddenly, a powerful sound echoed across the countryside -- a sharp, trumpeting call that seemed to be a part of the wilderness. Tamia recognized the sound immediately. It was the braying of a horse. Sure enough, on the very crest of the next hill, majestically framed by the powerful light of the setting sun, a white stallion without a rider reared, kicking his hooves into the air before landing gracefully and galloping towards them.
The horse’s snowy mane and tail played gently about his muscular form in a breeze that Tamia hadn’t thought was there a few moments ago. At first, she thought that it was the stallion of Shino, whom she had left behind to confront Evan Forest several hours ago; but then the horse spoke.
“Greetings, my friends. I am Deus Ex Machina.”
The young knight stared at the animal in barely-disguised awe. The fact that the horse had spoken did not surprise her particularly, as her own travel companion was a telepathic cat; however, the fact that the stallion was here at all did. “I’m sorry... do I know you?”
Deus tossed his head regally. “Not from this life, perhaps, but you will. At this moment, however, it would seem that you are facing something of a dilemma... an impossible dilemma, perhaps. I am here to tell you that there is still hope. All can still be salvaged.”
This is... convenient, Oran said uncertainly, eyeing the stallion.
Incredulously, Tamia shook her head to clear the ridiculous thoughts that were coursing through it. “But how can it be?” she said. “Kit wants permission to let demons walk freely in the world of the NTWF. At this point, a war will be impossible to stop.”
“Perhaps,” the stallion mused. “But it can still be won by the right side. Did I mention that I am also here to carry you back to Castle Kestrel, if you should wish?”
No, Oran said, wide-eyed. No, he did not.
“That would be... convenient,” Tamia managed, lifting Oran -- who, for once, didn’t seem to mind.
“Of course,” the stallion said as the knight climbed onto his back with difficulty. “After all, convenience is my middle... or rather, my first name.”
I know I’m going to live to regret this, Oran said miserably as he scrambled into Tamia’s backpack and found a secure place to watch.
“Please hold on tight, friends.” Deux Ex Machina started into a trot. Tamia wound her fingers into his mane, bracing herself. “You will find I am rather speedy.”
And with that, the horse and his passengers took off into the sunset at a full gallop. Vyt((Castle Kestrel: Throne Room))Cat Assassin did not bother to turn around, but was considerable enough to answer the question of his "foe". "... Cat Assassin," he plainly said before rushing off towards the direction behind the horse. He did not want to waste his time fighting a demon equine when he could just use that time searching for the black-haired man, let alone noticing a knight who had just appeared near them with a sword raised up. The name "Cat Assassin" was never really meant to be mentioned to those who would die. * * * ((Near Castle Kestrel))Noticing the faint white noise slowly disappearing, Bluisa took a quick glance at her badges. The red crystal, the one Cat Assassin is connected to, had ceased to shine. The mage followed it with a big sigh of relief, but quickly covered her mouth in an attempt not to blow her cover off. She did not want to confront the demons and angels she was seeing there. If only I had someone else to cover me up...It was then that Bluisa noticed another person coming towards the group. It was an anthropomorphosized porcupine, or so she thought. Not wanting to interfere, the mage continued watching them from afar. Zari((Castle Kestrel: Throne Room.)) 'I am Zahaere Emaya, Feliastion Preistess and Ninja.' Zaha reversed her katana so the blade was pointing away from both her and Shiva. 'The Knight watching you like a mad hawk is Zari ret Xenam. Ignore her for now.' The ninja-cat's tone was perfectly cordial. She'd learned over the last Guild War to keep her blood down. But that was getting difficult. Since she really wanted to beat the stuffing out of something. Maybe later. PFAPFA's kunai didn't reach its target, however, as the knight brought her sword up, pushing the kunai away. PFA realized she was in a very bad position right now, with nothing she could really do. Her kunai was being forced away from the knight, and she couldn't grab her katana with her left hand... perhaps another kunai, but that wouldn't have done her much good. Before PFA could even attempt anything, however, the knight's sword came crashing into her side. PFA grunted in pain, determined not to scream. Screaming would only attract more people, and that would most likely result in death, or possibly imprisonment... neither of which PFA would look forward to. PFA roughly forced the sword away with her kunai, then hopped to the side, getting herself some distance from the knight. The wound from the sword made movement rather painful, but PFA tried to ignore it. PFA threw her kunai in the knight's general direction, trying to get rid of it and not really caring if it hit or not, and pulled out her katana. Much better, she thought, gripping the hilt with both hands. She took up a defensive pose, readying herself for whatever the knight would come at her with. Aeri((hmm, I should write a new story about this side of Aeri soon... Strife hope you won't mind that post >.>)) ((Mage Manor, Guest room))Many things defined Aerisa. One of them was that, while for the most part she followed the law, she had more than one link with the criminal world of the NTWF. Under the pseudonym "The Boss" and with the help of competant if extremely strange agents, she oversaw MANY of it's activity, althought neither she nor her agents ever took part in any of them. She was more interest in the street knowledge that could be gathered there than the riches she could get from it. She had no use for riches anyway, as she had inherited the whole of her Dragon Father's hoard, making her filthy rich, much more than many of the Crimelords her personna was often coupled with. None of this was among the things she wanted to change, however. Abusing those who abused others wasn't among her definition of "bad things". Still, one such information she had gotten from that Personna were rumors about an organisation that seemed to match the description of the one Leoness had just told them about. She had never managed to find out much about it. It was an extremely obscure matter, even for the criminal world. But she did not remember hearing ANY good from it. Especially not from the head of this organisation. But her sister was her sister, and she would never, ever let her down... "Of course we will! We want to be there for you sis... You've been there for us more often than I can count. It's our turn to return the favor!" She nuzzled her chin, giving her a small lick. "You don't need to worry about anything, we'll protect you..." Omni((Mage Manor, by the front door)) Omni widened her eyes when she saw Nature cough out mist-stuff that was dark purple, the same shade as the clouds. That. Is. Not. Good."Nature?" she said as Nature began moving unsteadily, and then fell over. She ran over to Nature's side, and immediately began feeling her aura. She felt the normal, icy energy of Nature's, but then she also felt a kind of chaotic energy - the same feeling she got from outside. Where the two energies met, she felt the familiar energy that came from Kat and her spells. The energy Kat left seemed to be weakening, and the storm's energy breaking through. Not knowing what else to do, Omni held her hand near where the dark energy felt the strongest and began to pull it out of Nature. She felt it enter her body, and directed it into her crystal, where it would stay until the did something else with it. She did this as quickly as she could, while still being cautious where she thought she should, trying to get as much of it out as possible before it mixed too deeply with Nature's energy. --- ((Spacefleet, Ethan's quarters)) "You are very likely the most intuitive cyborg I have ever come to know, in this life."Wait… Was Shino saying that Ethan thought intuitively, that his implants were intuitive in design, or both? Ethan thought this, but did not transmit it. "Believe, I do, that you are an essential part of the battle to come. Ethan, can I count on you?"Ethan paused. What do you need me to do… buddy? Cyborg((Forest: near Dunburrow)) " I think he did. So let's go." Cyborg said as he and Midknight walked towards the south gate of the castle.
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Post by GW2 on Oct 15, 2008 14:23:04 GMT -5
StrifeAs Leoness weeped, Scar walked closer to her and patted her back. "Maybe you could go back to Spacefleet?" he said. "We'll accompany you there if you want. I mean, that's what family is for, hmm? Besides, a guild on the moon sounds very interesting."He then turned to Aerisa. "Right dear?""Of course we will!" replied the dragonbunny. "We want to be there for you sis... You've been there for us more often than I can count. It's our turn to return the favor!" She nuzzled her sister's chin, giving her a small lick. "You don't need to worry about anything, we'll protect you..."Upon realizing that they didn't outcast her, the tears stopped flowing. Leoness wiped her eyes with her sleeve and raised her head, giving her two siblings a group hug. "Thank you so much... You have no idea how much that means to me." She grabbed a piece of tissue paper from a nearby end table, blew her nose softly, and discarded it into a bronze trash container. "There is one problem though..." she began. "When I came to see you guys, I was dropped off by a shuttle, and I didn't bring anything with me except the clothes i'm wearing. But I know The Commander... and I have a feeling that his men will be trying to contact me soon. I don't know where we would find them though... and I don't know if they can contact me inside the manor." * * * The Commander listened intently to Fraze's side of the story. "It didn't take me long to find the sack I had taken the gun in. There were several people around it, most of whom seemed to be mages. I asked them to return the gun, and they did so. I was about halfway back to the dropship when I checked the bag, and found a strange gem in the bag along with the gun. I recognized it as the artifact you sent me out several days earlier to search for."Sent him out? When The Commander originally discovered the artifact, he had left it on the planet on purpose. He would never send one of his officers to go back and retrieve it. Unless... It then occured to him who might have given Fraze the orders. Perhaps the gem - or more accurately, whoever owns it - instructed Fraze to head to the surface while implying that those orders were being forwarded by The Commander. Whatever lifeform was down there had used Fraze as a pawn to unearth the artifact. "Hades--who, as I am sure you remember, was a former Spacefleet member--showed up and informed me of the message he had sent to you. It appeared that he had been shooting various people around the ship with his laser gun, attempting to spark conflict. I believe Hades' message was specifically meant to split up Spacefleet. He is not to be trusted.
"That is all."Zari stepped forward next and confirmed Fraze's statements about Hades, explaining how he damaged her suit in an attempt to ruin her disguise. The Commander folded his hands behind his back, and slowly walked around his desk until he was standing directly in front of his two officers. "Under standard Spacefleet protocol, we would commence a full investigation regarding matters such as this," he stated bluntly. "But quite frankly, I have neither the time nor the patience to comply with those procedures. We are in the middle of an emergency, and because we cannot afford to waste time, I would prefer to trust the words of my own personnel than of a former officer who no longer fights for our mission." The door sweeped open again, and the marines that had been waiting outside poured into the office. "The two of you will be under constant surveillance, and you are not permitted to go anywhere without a security escort." He grinned. "Don't think i've grown soft on you." The Commander marched out of the room. "We will continue this discussion in the briefing room," he shouted, his voice echoing across the dark, empty walls. Half of the marines followed him, and the other half poked Zari and Fraze to follow as well. Scar((Mage Manor - Guest Room - Evening))"Thank you so much... You have no idea how much that means to me."Scarven smiled and nodded as he listened to the rest of Leoness' explanation. "And I don't know if they can contact me inside the manor.""Well then, guess we'll have to go outside then," Scar replied, holding his paws to his hips, turning to face Aeri. "We'll just rig up a BIG magical flare so that anyone who isn't blind can see it from the moon. I'm sure the Commander will see it and send someone to get you. And lucky for you the sun's setting so it'll be even clearer." He jumped off the small stool he was standing on and walked between the door and the bed before turning to face both his wife and sister. "I'll be right back with the stuff and then I'll tele --" His smile faded slightly and he turned away, clenching his paws tightly. He nearly forgot he couldn't use chronomancy any more. "Then we'll head off to the woods together. In the meantime you rest up Leoness," he continued in a falsely happy tone. "Want to come along dear? I might need the help," he added to Aerisa, turning the doorknob with his paw. Fraze((Spacefleet--Strife's Office)) Something strange crossed the Commander's face when Fraze said that he had sent Fraze out on that mission. At first he wondered if he wasn't supposed to mention that mission in front of another 'Fleeter. However, when Strife neither said nor did anything to stop him, he continued speaking. Perhaps it wasn't really Strife who had authorized that mission, then? That would certainly fit better with everything else that had happened. "We are in the middle of an emergency, and because we cannot afford to waste time, I would prefer to trust the words of my own personnel than of a former officer who no longer fights for our mission.""Yes, Sir," Fraze agreed. "Thank you, Sir." This seemed to be going better than he had hoped. He wasn't out of the woods yet, though. He knew that big things would soon be happening on the surface, and part of him wanted to be there, in the middle of it, alongside his friends and teammates. But he knew that if the Commander made up his mind to keep them at the station, there would be no way to convince him to change it. "The two of you will be under constant surveillance, and you are not permitted to go anywhere without a security escort.""Understood," Fraze replied with a nod. Well, so much for going back to the surface. Strife walked out of his office, some of the marines jabbing Fraze in the back to have him follow. They were going toward a room Fraze hadn't been in before. "We will continue this discussion in the briefing room," Strife called. From the level of his voice, Fraze wondered if he were commanding half of Spacefleet to meet them there. Briefing room? Fraze thought. So, apparently he wants other 'Fleeters to hear this. Either that, or he has something for everyone to hear. Could this be related to that telepathic message? Fraze thought that that must play some part in all of this. A thought occurred to Fraze, and he almost forgot to keep walking. If Strife had heard that message--and Fraze was almost certain that he had--Fraze knew that he would side with whatever or whomever had sent it. Strife's ambitions for domination were no secret on the station, and such an offer of power would be irresistible to him. But that would mean that he, and the rest of the 'Fleeters, would either have to follow Strife or be thrown out of Spacefleet--probably literally. This thought made Fraze slightly sick. He knew then that this would not end without bloodshed. He walked on in a daze toward the briefing room, occasionally poked by the guards as a friendly reminder that they were there. TrillyTrilly felt the blade of her sword hit flesh with such shock that she quickly withdrew. Striking a living person had felt exactly the same as stabbing a practice dummy. It was disgusting, and crude also... what was she thinking? She stumbled backwards slightly, feeling shaken. Was this what her glorious knighthood would be all about? She was so out of it that she barely even felt the ninja's thrown kunai sink into in her shoulder or the warm flow of blood down her ivory tunic as it soaked into the cloth. Nonetheless, she still grimaced as she yanked the small weapon out. Feather, hovering a safe distance away, hissed with distress. "Look," Trilly said, still feeling numb, but still noticing that the ninja had now drawn a lethal-looking katana. "I don't know who you are or what you're doing, but all I'm asking is for you to state your business here and, well... leave the knights' territory, I guess. I don't know whose side you're on in this entire demon-think, and for the moment I really don't care." Trilly paused to take a breath. The blood loss and the smell was making her feel nauseous. "Let's try again, maybe. 'Cause I don't want to be a killer or get killed on my first day here.” Ikkin((South Gate of Dunburrow)) Ikkin realized her mistake after she finished asking the angel her question - she hadn't stuck around to let Kit respond. That was... really stupid, she thought. But, there wasn't much she could do about it now, and the angel had already started talking. "...he's a lot more honest than you are," the angel said with a laugh. Ikkin bristled, but decided not to react. "And besides, why shouldn't we? How would you like it if I decided that you were evil and stabbed you on sight, instead of talking to you?""More honest? You mean you know that he's telling the truth?" Ikkin asked, more curious than angry now. She still found it hard to believe that Kit would be acting this way if he just wanted to help the demons, but... it was possible, she guessed. Of course, no matter what the angel said, she could always be lying. But, there was something about her that intrigued Ikkin, even if she did mock her. "How would you like it." Really.But, even if it was just a taunt, she had to respond. After all, she was a kitsune - a "fox demon" - herself, so it wasn't like she knew nothing about that kind of persecution. ...well, okay, she had to admit, even to herself, that practically all that she knew came out of the history books. Foxfire had been recognized as a separate state for the kitsune for hundreds of years now, and humans got along with them for the most part. Ikkin was born long after the kitsune stopped having to constantly worry about being hunted by humans who didn't like them for stealing food or playing sometimes-annoying, sometimes-cruel tricks. She was also born just as long after the kitsune decided to stop living alongside humans and make their own separate state, and couldn't help but think that the two things might have been linked. Which was probably why she couldn't understand how Kit could possibly think that suddenly releasing an army of demons on the world would be the best way to end any kind of prejudice. For the kitsune, it had taken ages of very-restricted interaction to convince the humans that they weren't a menace to society, and even still, there were significant setbacks any time a kitsune broke the rules and harmed a human. Things had nearly fallen apart several times when the restrictions were lifted, with success only coming fairly recently. So, regardless of whether or not Kit was right about demons not necessarily being evil, Ikkin thought, if they were all released at once, there would be bound to be trouble. Shiva was proof enough of that. Ikkin's actual response probably came off a lot harsher than she intended. "Probably about as much as I'd like to get stabbed for getting in the way of one of the less noble of the demons once Kit's portal is opened up." ...yeah, that definitely came off too harsh, she thought, then backpedaled a bit, trying to explain herself. "Look, I don't think it's right to hurt anything because of what it is. I just can't help but think this will only cause more problems than it solves, for everyone - including the demons." She stopped and took a breath, then called over to Kit. "I'm ready to listen to your explanation now." She still stood waiting for a response from Bladetail, however. All of a sudden, she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. She looked around to see Goosh standing there. "...Ikkin?" he asked, his voice soft. "I don't suppose you know what's going on here, do you?"Before she could answer, the mage spoke to Goosh. "I suppose you got the message too and have come to join him," she said, pointing to Kit, "and fight for his cause. We are in the same boat then. However, you should talk to him first. Good to have another ally." Then, the mage walked away. Ikkin paused for a moment. Goosh wasn't really there to join, was he? No... he didn't even seem to know what was going on. Speaking of which... she still hadn't answered his question. It took her a few moments to decide on a phrasing, not wanting to insult either Kit or the angel before they answered. "Kit apparently wants to end prejudice against demons by allowing them free entry into our world, and he's waiting here for supporters. I'm just trying to find out what is going on." And planning on stopping him, she added to herself. She hoped that Goosh would follow her lead once she made a move, regardless of what the mage thought. She just couldn't ask him to yet... not before she had backup. But, now wasn't the time for that. Now was the time to hear explanations - and, hopefully, to make it so that wouldn't even be necessary. *** ((Mage Manor))
“Thank you so much for your help,” Surf said. She paused, then added quietly, “This is gonna be so fun. Finally, I get to-” She cut herself off. Sev wondered if it was because of the same message he received.
Surf then spoke again, proving him right. “Did you hear get some sort of mental message, or was it just me? Anyways,” she said, “we should get going.” She grabbed onto his wings, ready to take off.
Sev decided he would answer her before teleporting away. "Yeah, I did. From Kit. I think..." He himself was cut off by another mental message - this time, from Ikkin.
Sev, Ikkin said. You've probably heard Kit's message. He must be stopped. Bring backup to the South Gate of Dunburrow before midnight, both Mages and Pirates if possible. Say whatever it takes to convince them, but bring no one who is unwilling.
Well, that certainly made things easier.
"Ikkin says that we should go to the South Gate before midnight to keep Kit from summoning any demons. She's planning on fighting him herself, I think," he explained.
All of a sudden, another mage stumbled in, crashing into a table before walking towards Sev. "Wait!" he said. "Take me with you. If you don't take me with you, I'll follow you anyways. If you're going to track down the deliverer of this message, take me along. Though if you aren't going to find them, I'd still like to come along. If we find out whoever is sending this message, maybe we can try to reason with him or her."
Well, this was just wonderful. Sev was very sure that this mage wanted to go because he was interested in the deal, not to help Ikkin. But, he'd already offered to take the mages to Dunburrow, so that's what he would have to do.
However, he thought, there might be some way to remedy this. If he got Scar on his side...
"I'm not leaving yet," Sev said, pulling free from Surf's grip. He hoped she would follow; it would make things quicker. "I want to get Scar's help first."
With that, he flew into the guest bedroom, not even paying attention to the door. The Manor itself opened it to let him through - it would much rather not have to deal with repairing itself.
"Scar, the storm's no longer an issue, but Ikkin called again for backup. She's thinking of going up against Kit, and wants the Mages to help!" ZariZari nodded. 'Seems reasonable. The Illhvren do something similar. As long as I don't have one inside my lab during experiments. That'd be hazardous.' She flicked and ear when Strife spoke again. 'Uhm...yessir!' StrifeBefore Scar could open the door of the guest room fully, and before Leoness could offer to open the door for him, it swinged open on its own. A bright phoenix appeared in the doorway, the flames on its wings illuminating the room in a warm, dazzling light. "Scar," said the phoenix. "The storm's no longer an issue, but Ikkin called again for backup. She's thinking of going up against Kit, and wants the Mages to help!"Leoness pondered for a moment. Kit? Was he a demon of some sort? And if Scar joined Ikkin in battle, Aerisa would surely follow, and she'd feel bad for making them stay if they wished to support her. More importantly, she feared what would happen if Spacefleet officers started looking for her and found her with three mysterious-looking talking animals. Her eyes grew large, and she looked at Scar with an expression of worry on her face - an expression that seemed to say "Please... don't tell them about Spacefleet..." all on its own. Scar((Mage Manor - Guest Room - Evening))Scar almost fell forward as Sev flew into the room. "Hey what's the big id --!" "Scar, the storm's no longer an issue, but Ikkin called again for backup. She's thinking of going up against Kit, and wants the Mages to help!"He eyed Leoness' expression out of the corner to his feline eyes and turned to glare at him. "I'm busy not getting myself killed Sev," he replied, scowling. "I don't care if Ikkin orders me to crawl up a duck's bottom, I have much more important things to attend to right now." He drew back and folded his arms across his chest. "Go take the rest on a suicide mission. I'll keep the Manor standing if and when you get back, preferably with everyone alive." And this way I won't have any nosy mages asking why I need a crate of magical flares, he didn't say. KengKeng had discovered herself with nothing to do in the briefing room while she waited. She'd been the first one there (besides the guards) and now found herself staring at a handful of dice. Six to be precise. They hadn't been there a moment ago, her hand had been empty then all of a sudden it was holding these small spotted cubes. This wasn't the first time this had happened either. She'd found lately that they would just appear in her hands when she was bored or they felt like it. She could only assume it was some form of accidental magic but really didn't know much about this strange phenomenon. She'd tried to control it, force the dice into and out of existence, but they never listened. She hoped to someday be able to solve this mystery, and perhaps expand it to include a deck of cards. Surf((Mage Manor - Kitchen)) “Yeah, I did,” said Sev in response to Surf’s question. “From Kit. I think...” He stopped abruptly, apparently receiving a message from Ikkin, because he continued, “Ikkin says that we should go to the South Gate before midnight to keep Kit from summoning any demons. She's planning on fighting him herself, I think.”
So I’m finally going to get to fight. This is going to be fun, Surf thought to herself. Before she and Sev could leave, Jasor stumbled in, in such a rush that he fell over the table. "Wait!" he exclaimed. "Take me with you. If you don't take me with you, I'll follow you anyways. If you're going to track down the deliverer of this message, take me along. Though if you aren't going to find them, I'd still like to come along. If we find out whoever is sending this message, maybe we can try to reason with him or her."“Alright then, welcome aboard, Jasor!” But, once again, when she thought they were finally going to leave, Sev pulled free of her grip and said that he wanted Scar’s help. Following this statement, he flew into the guest bedroom. “Sev, wait!” cried Surf, and ran after the phoenix. As she burst into the room, Scar scowled, stating that he wasn’t going to go, no matter what. Surf sighed in resignation, and turned to leave. “So much for getting Scar to help us… C’mon, we should really get to Ikkin now.” That is one grumpy little kitty… AmneigerWhen Amneiger arrived in the briefing room he saw that nobody was there except for Keng. He nodded a greeting at her, sat down, and began wondering what to do until Strife arrived. I suppose I could try to find out who the Knight's demonologist is. Maybe he can identify the voice; they certainly hadn't included their name in the message.Amneiger put down the computer and logged on to the Spacefleet archives. Once there he navigated to the surveillance records and began searching guild member profiles for the word "demonologist." Kit Winterstone, knight, demonologist, clairvoyant. Uses a tarot deck. Can summon demons. Carries a pair of daggers, both of which are probably magical.
Wait, don't the Knights have their castle at Dunbarrow, which is the same place where the voice wanted us to meet? So the Knights - and by extension Kit - either can not or will not attack this person. So he's either joined the demons, is dead, has been captured (although if I were a demon commander I wouldn't leave an enemy this dangerous alive), or is hiding somewhere.
Great. KatKat wanted so badly to knock her head against the nearest wall, or at the very least, levitate the throne over her head and crash it onto her. She nervously paced the throne room after deciding not to follow Cat Assassin and Shiva. There were more important things than breaking up their fight...or so she thought. There were so many things happening simultaneously...and she had absolutely no idea what was going on. Kit had the gem, all the other Knights were gone, and she had absolutely no idea where the pirates or even the mages were at a time like this... She had an idea. Whether it would work was a different story...and it would take quite a lot out of her. * * * Over Dunburrow Castle, a bright, sparkling purple fireball laced with blue lightning, was hurled into the sky, and it exploded in a shower of harmless, violet sparks that marked the position of Kalianne Triss Lunara, who was now lying on the floor of the throne room, greatly weakened by her last spell. And not too far away, a young blonde was the first to catch sight of the pyrotechnics, and her pouting lips curled up ever so slowly into a triumphant little grin. "Hmmm...on second thought, kind sir, I think I know where to find who I'm looking for.” Nature"The sitar . . . give it to me . . ."
"No . . . never. Never in a million years."
"You dare defy me?"
"You're a demon. I am a a good and sensible person. Of course, I would defy you."
"I am not."
"'Demon's rights activist.' Whatever."
"I can give you anything you want . . ."
"I'm happy with all that I have, thanks."
"Well then, so be it."
A million shadow-like creatures surrounded the Freezemancer. Nature, seeing that she was surrounded, strummed her sitar. Things aren't going to get pretty.
"Since you won't join us, it looks more fitting to get the weapon by force. Shadows of the Dark - ATTACK!"
"Not if I can help it!" Quickly, Nature strummed her sitar like a wannabe-rock star showing off her moves. The shadows went closer, but she dared not let them touch her.
"Dance, snowflakes, dance!"
A tidal wave of snow attacked the shadows. Nature grinned. It looked like things were on her side. Unfortunately, the demon's rights activist suddenly appeared in front of her, and knocked her out.
Nature fell on the floor, her eyes wide. The stranger went near her and menacingly snarled.
"Give your weapon now . . ." ~~~~~~*~~~~~~ "No, NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Nature then jolted up, almost knocking Omni and Seline down. The Zafara was shaking madly, cold beads of sweat trickling down her forehead. "The sitar . . . they want it . . .” PFA((Castle Kestrel: near south gate))PFA realized her kunai had hit the girl when she saw her yank it out of her shoulder, causing blood to spill out. PFA gripped her katana tighter, waiting for the next attack. What PFA didn't expect, however, was for the girl to start talking. "Look, I don't know who you are or what you're doing, but all I'm asking is for you to state your business here and, well... leave the knights' territory, I guess. I don't know whose side you're on in this entire demon-thing, and for the moment I really don't care."PFA kept her gaze fixed on the knight, not exactly sure how to reply. The girl had a strange look on her face... PFA would almost interpret it as nausea, but she really wasn't sure. "Let's try again, maybe," the girl continued. "'Cause I don't want to be a killer or get killed on my first day here."
First day? PFA thought silently. I guess that's why I didn't recognize her...But more importantly, PFA thought, what should she tell her? She didn't think "I'm here to steal the gem" would go over very well, nor would "I'm trying to bring my father back from the dead..." "...I'm here to speak with Kit," she finally decided on. It was true, to an extent. "Of an important matter.” CelestialCelestial felt Ikkin's mistrust radiate through the air as she walked away. Good, she thought, it will be useful for what I am planning. Her loyalty about this lay only with the dragons. That is why her offer was like that. If the dragons would benefit so would Celestial. Sitting down on a rock nearby, she took out her pipe and played, releasing her energies that way. She was waiting for the demon-man to either accept or reject her offer. In the meantime, Celestial watched Ikkin since she was the only one who could stop the demons breaking free. She stopped playing as she noticed the faint glowing eyes of a dragonet, black as the new moon. She put her arm out and spoke to it in the Dragon Language which she picked up from the dragons and...Overlord's translations. Celestial felt her eyes beginning to sting as she remembered her companion. Wondering where he was now, she picked up the black dragonet and stroked it, whispering kind words to it. Maybe this dragonet could be her companion...until Overlord comes back. If he comes back, she thought sadly. The dragonet chirped, feeling her distress and she smiled at it. They were beginning a mutual understanding already. Shade((The South Gate))
"That was interesting. You'd think that she'd at least wait for an answer."
“Yes, you would.” Shade fell silent after those few words. There was more that she wanted to say, but she couldn’t bring herself to say anything. Why? She wasn’t normally this quiet. Quiet, yes, but when she wanted to talk, she did. But now, with Kit, she couldn’t. It was more than a bit frustrating.
The dragon-girl explained her price, giving Shade something else to think about. Dragons allying themselves with demons? “Are you offering the dragons, along with yourself, as our allies?” Shade asked. “And fearing death is nothing. If the demons tried, they could find many things worse than death.” It was true. The abyss that Kit drew his demons from almost certainly held demons whose forms would drive any mortal insane. And even if it didn’t, demons were clever enough to find other things that would be worse than death.
A misshapen hedgehog dressed like a pirate approached. Shade stared at it for a few seconds before she figured out who it was. Goosh. He was a pirate, obviously. One that she hadn’t had much contact with, either. Not that that helped much, since she only had regular contact with the knights. And judging by all the sticks in his fur, and the dirt on his clothing, he hadn’t been back to the Weewoo for a while.
He said something to Ikkin, but quietly enough so that Shade couldn’t hear what he said. The dragon-girl, however, did. Her reply to him didn’t actually say much, though. Ikkin’s was much more helpful, both in clarifying what Goosh was doing there and in explaining to him what was going on, though it seemed a bit biased. Shade couldn’t really add anything to it, though. Fraze((Spacefleet--Briefing Room)) Fraze saw Keng and Amneiger from across the breifing room. Making sure the guards didn't object, he went to sit next to them. "Keng," he said. "...Thanks. For relaying what you knew to the Commander. I think you may have saved my life. We may just be out of the frying pan, though," he added with a grin that bordered on expectant. "I think the fire is about to start." He lowered his voice slightly, catching disapproving glances from the guards. To all of them, he said, "I'm sure you got that message, too. What did you say? I don't really want power, myself." With that, he received a particularly hard poke from one of the guards, and shut up. He had a feeling that the rest of them would likely say no. They had all joined Spacefleet to make life better and safer on the planet, not to dominate it. Even if the Commander had forgotten that--or, perhaps, had twisted this fact in some way--most of the other 'Fleeters still remembered their original mission.
The Invisible Guild Although the vast, dome-roofed chamber was painstakingly-crafted from stone, and could probably have held an entire court of nobles comfortably, now it was derelict, crumbling, and all but empty. The throne had been removed from its far end, and instead, a circular table, not unlike the one used for the Knights’ council meetings, had been placed upon the low dais, framed by a large banner draped across the back wall that read “Cohors Invisibilis”. Two men were grouped around this table -- one, well-dressed in a noble’s tunic and an elegantly feathered pirate’s hat and obviously higher ranked, was pacing restlessly while the other, a small, wiry man with brown skin, was seated nervously on the edge of a chair.
“So. Evan Forest has betrayed us.”
“Yes, m’lord,” the wiry man stammered. “As far as I can tell, he has joined forces with Lord Shino, the Steward of Dunburrow.”
“As far as you can tell,” the other man mocked. “But you have said yourself that your... your psychic powers are unfortunately limited, correct?” The other man looked positively terrified. “So let me ask you once more -- are you sure, beyond any reasonable doubt, that Forest has left us? The man liked his little games, if you’ll remember. The Knights never knew a rogue like him in all their generations of Black Knights. Our numbers are shrinking, Avelin... I would hate to be the one whose idea it was to eliminate one of the few men still devoted to the Invisible Guild....”
“No,” Avelin said quickly. “I saw it on his face... I... I used to be a knight alongside him, m’lord. I’m sure of it -- Evan Forest has betrayed us.”
The man in the red tunic was silent for a moment, his pacing halted. “Very well,” he said finally. “So he has chosen death over exile from the Knights. What of the other matter, these... these messages in our minds?”
“Well, sir... only a few of us seem to have received the ultimatum, like you, m’lord --” Avelin, seeing the former pirate lord’s dark expression, continued hastily, “-- only those of us who still, for some reason or another, share some ties with our old guilds.”
“And what of the sender? And without the mage-talk rubbish this time, Avelin.”
The smaller man, who had not received the message, had at first thought his Lord was mad. Upon later investigation, however, it was revealed to him that approximately a dozen of the Invisibles had also heard the message. “Some of the former Knights believe it was sent by a knight at the Castle -- a demonologist named Winterstone. I am not familiar with the man, but the others seemed adamant.”
“So a war is imminent,” the Lord mused. “It may be easier to wipe out these guilds than I had originally thought. Avelin, do we have the forces to meet them in battle? Tonight?”
“We have over five score, m’lord, all with inside knowledge of the guilds and all itching for war.”
“Good. Give them the message, then. And Avelin -- make sure Evan Forest is taken care of immediately. If the noble Steward of Dunburrow is with him, destroy them both. I don’t want to leave any loose ends that could leave us vulnerable to attack.”
“Yes sir.” Avelin jogged briskly from the room, glad to be out of his Lord’s sight.
The former pirate smiled softly to himself, reflecting on how he would relish the chance for revenge on the Pirates, not to mention all the other guilds who ignorantly lived on, despite the suffering of their abandoned allies. Yes, he mused to himself, yes, why not make it a three-way war. After all, the world was changing. What would be the harm in speeding up the process? Trilly"...I'm here to speak with Kit," The ninja said. "Of an important matter."Trilly gnawed her lower lip thoughtfully, thankful that, for the moment, the intruder had broken off her attacks. It was worth something to know a bit more about what was going on. And, "what was going on" would seem to have quite a bit to do with Kit's plans for the future of demonkind. If this ninja was here to speak to Kit, it probably meant she had chosen a side, and had gone to either confront Kit, or to join him. Trilly herself was still somewhat undecided as to which side she'd join, if any. Although the Grey Knight's offer of acceptance was appealing (very much so), the idea of releasing savage demons into the world was less so. The Ivory Knight really didn't have much against demons in general. How could she? Her companion and best friend, Feather, was a Feyrie, and it was widely believed that they were distant relations of the demons. Just like people, there had to be good demons and bad demons. The only problem was, in order to free the good demons, all the bad would have to be let out as well. Still undecided, Trilly decided to take a gamble. Maybe she'd just stand by for a while and watch how things played out. "Fine. If you want to talk to Kit about something, I won't stop you," Trilly said carefully, sheathing her sword. "I'm betting almost everyone who heard that message is heading for the southern wall right now, and I'm not keen on trying to keep every single one of them away." If the ninja still wanted to fight, the tiny throwing knife tucked into her sash would do the trick. If she really wanted to go talk to Kit, as she claimed, Trilly would be keeping an eye on her. Celestial“Are you offering the dragons, along with yourself, as our allies?” the demon knight asked, startling the dragonet away. Celestial stood up and looked at her. "If it comes to that, I can ask the dragons to fight for my allies. However, they will only do so if they think it is right. Since this cause is noble, I am sure they will" she answered the demon knight. Hopefully, she was satisfied with the answer. Celestial didn't feel comfortable around her since she could feel a slight hostility in the knight, though she didn't know why. Settling back onto the rock, she coaxed the frightened dragonet back to her. It was scared of the demon-knight and it took all of Celestial's limited diplomacy skills to pursuade it that the Knight meant no harm. Perhaps it was in their genes, she thought, to be scared of Knights? Hopefully, her actions will show them that dragons aren't all evil. That they can fight for a noble cause. I'm going around in circles, she thought. Surely there were enough reasons to do this without thinking up more. Her resolve hardened. She would fight for what she thought was right and this was. She looked into the dragonet's green eyes. I'm sorry I have to involve you in this, little one, Celestial told it in Dragon Tongue. It didn't reply but those green eyes told her everything. It understands and was just glad to be with her. Celestial grinned with the joy of such a creature trusting her and valueing her so much. Unlike most humans. Omni((Mage Manor, entrance)) Omni was knocked back a bit as Nature suddenly got up, screaming as if in horror. "The sitar . . . they want it . . ."It took Omni a second to figure out what Nature was talking about. Once she felt she got the gist of it, she pulled her closer with a one-arm hug, also wrapping her wing around her as well. "It was just a dream… a hallucination caused by the storm-energy," Omni felt pretty sure of this herself, as she couldn't think of a reason why 'they' would want Nature's sitar. "I've managed to get most of it out," she said as she put what little was currently in her own body into her crystal before she forgot. "There's a little left, but it's starting to mix and mingle with your own, and I'm not sure if I can filter it out… I could take the polluted energy and exchange it for some storm-free energy, if you'd like." She was about to hug Nature with both arms, but then she noticed that she was still holding onto what was left of her beef-stick, and decided against it. PFA((Castle Kestrel: near south gate))PFA smiled as the knight allowed her to go. "Thank you," she said with a small bow. She looked over to where Kit was, debating whether or not to put her katana away. On the one hand, she didn't want to appear as a threat to Kit, since that could cause him to attack, but on the other hand, she wanted to be prepared for any attacks that would be launched at her. She eventually decided to sheath the katana, but she fingered her kunai pouch warily as she approached Kit. ((Castle Kestrel: south gate))As PFA grew nearer to the southern gate, she realized that there were others standing around near Kit. Ikkin, Goosh, Shade, and a dragon girl she didn't recognize. PFA wasn't sure how many of them were on Kit's side, but if any of them were, this could get ugly. She knew Kit and his demons alone would be a challenge enough, but if there were more than that, it would be hopeless. PFA was silent for a moment, trying to come up with something to say that wouldn't get her killed. She was pretty sure that at least someone had seen her by now, so hiding wouldn't do any good. In fact, it might do a lot of bad, if anyone suspected that she was trying to steal stuff or whatever. She figured she should at least make her presence known. "Kit," PFA started, though she was still inwardly debating on the ending. There had to be something she could say that wouldn't end in her death... she didn't want to offend anyone on either side of the demon argument, at least not yet. Part of her realized Kit might have already known what she had wanted, with him being clairvoyant and all... She ended up just leaving it at that, and waited for a response. Maybe it would be best if she heard what was on the others' minds before she jumped in, she thought. CelestialThe dragonet on Celestial's lap lept off and hid in the shadows. Celestial looked over to where a ninja was standing and she stood u, her wings outstreched and her hand ready to fly to her dagger. She knew she didn't stand a chance against a trained ninja but if she could just buy herself time. If only the storm wasn't delaying her ability to shapeshift... "Who are you? What do you want?" she barked at the ninja, makign sure her dragon's eyes were visible to the ninja. Sometimes intimidation could avoid conflict. Celestial desperatly hoped that in this case, it would be so. If not, she wouldn't mind a quick, clean death. PFA((Castle Kestrel: south gate))The dragon girl stood up, glaring at PFA. "Who are you? What do you want?""My name is PFA," PFA responded. "And I..." the thoughts from just a moment ago promptly came back. PFA, not wanting to be rude, quickly decided on the simplest response she could come up with. "I'm here to speak with Kit." Zylaa((By the Weewoo))"You're a sick genius," Rider siad with a mixture of horror and fascination. "You'd set her on the ninjas? They may not be as merciful as we are, you know." Zylaa began to grin. It had been a long time since they had torched the Ninja HQ. That would be something to look forward to once the ship was fixed. "We can look out for her after we torch the ninjas," she told Rider. "She may be crazy, but I suppose she's our crazy pyromaniac now. Make the most of what we've got, I say." "I say we go take a look, anyway. We can always decline later, what do you say?""Aye, Captain," Zylaa said. "Although I doubt politely declining will be an option once we get there," she added. I'd like to have a cause to crusade for again, Zylaa thought, remembering her pre-pirate days. Although the last one didn't turn out so well...Zylaa smiled as she watched the blarf nudging Clara back to the cliff. It was hard to stay wrathful at someone so happily deranged. "Well, she can come along. Setting the knights on fire I wouldn't mind," Hunty said. Lets take her as fast as we can without damaging her. I'd like us to be at Dunburrow come midnight," Rider said. "We should go now," Zylaa said. "He's closest to the knights, and somehow I doubt they'll be happy about this. I'd like to get a word in before people start dying," she said, jokingly, but she felt her heart sink a bit. If the other guilds took too much offense at this message- or the demons turned out to be purely evil- people would die. She tried to shrug it off. "Weasels?" she called. They moved over, looking up much like a dog that sees its owner handling a steak. "Keep a watch on the Weewoo while we're gone." She tossed them a few of the necklaces that she had held in reserve from the jewelry store. "And if you keep the ship safe for intruders..." she fished out even more shiny objects and held them in the air, glittering, for a second. "... you'll get all of these. But no more shinies if the ship is hurt. Got it?" "Yes," the General said, as the other weasels nodded frantically like caffeinated bobbleheads. "Good," Zylaa said. She turned back to Hunty. "The ship'll be safe in their paws, Captain. Let's move out.” Tamia((Nearing Castle Kestrel))
Hardly even breathing heavily, Deus Ex Machina slowed into a gentle trot and then to a walk as they entered the village surrounding Castle Kestrel, whose turrets could be seen over the mass of townhouses and awnings.
“Wow,” Tamia said, willing herself to uncoil her fingers from the stallion’s mane. “That... hardly seemed like it took any time at all.”
Oran unlatched his claws from the lining of her backpack. Is it over? he said, and the knight thought she detected a slight tremor in his thought.
“I will take you as far as the south gate, but I cannot stay long,” the horse said, winding through the village streets, which were all but deserted.
I think the villagers sense something coming, Oran said as he composed himself.
Tamia glanced at the sky above them, a solid spiral of darkness. The light was almost entirely gone. “How can they not?” she murmured, and flinched. The plantain leaf didn’t seem to have worked particularly well -- her left arm felt dead and useless, and she was worried that the infection was spreading.
“Oran,” she said quietly. “I think... I think something’s wrong with my arm.”
Other than the gaping hole in it, you mean, he said mirthlessly. There was a time when I’d have been able to tell you if the blade had been tampered with in any way... but now, I’m afraid I can’t do anything. I’m sorry.
“It’s alright,” she said, struck by his sudden sympathy.
We need to get you to the Castle, he said firmly, leaping onto the horse’s withers. There’ll be someone there who can help you. It’s enough that you stand against Kit; they won’t expect you to fight if you are injured.
At the cat’s words, something stirred within Tamia... something that she hadn’t told him yet, something that she hadn’t even quite admitted to herself. “Oran,” she started. The cat was looking at her intently, awaiting her next words. She averted her eyes. “I... I think I’m going to join Kit.”
The cat was silent for one horrible moment, but his eyes said it all. You idiot, he declared in a thought that was deadly quiet. This man is planning to bring into this world a legion of the same kind of demons who killed your father, or have you forgotten that? Or perhaps you really believe that Kit has the power to bring him back--
“No,” she said sharply, then lowered her voice. She suddenly felt quite sick. “I know that there is nothing that can bring back Drael Wendfeld. Which is why I’m going with Kit. He’s not evil. I’m sure he knows what he’s doing -- and quite frankly, I’m not doing it for him, or for my father, or for you -- I’m doing it for myself. It’s time I stopped living in the past, and... and I’ll only ever accept that he’s really gone when I can finally bring myself to understand the thing that killed him.” She noticed that her throat was clenched painfully, and furiously tried to ignore it. “I need to do this. You’ll never understand, but it’s the right thing.”
Oran just stared at her, beyond rage. I’ve tried to protect you. I’ve tried to lead you to become a guardian of this land and its people. I’ve tried to offer you guidance. And yet you throw it all away. He turned away from her. You’re right. I don’t understand, and I don’t think you do either. Mark my words -- nothing good has ever become of a person who dabbled in the realm of demons.
The young knight watched silently as he jumped clear of the stallion, landing softly on the cobblestone street. She spun around to watch him as Deus Ex Machina continued to walk away from him. The black cat disappeared into a space between two buildings, but still a final thought entered Tamia’s head.
And you still have the audacity to call yourself a Knight of Dunburrow.
*
The young knight dismounted the white stallion, her freshly-donned chain mail clinking. “Thank you,” she whispered.
Deus Ex Machina nodded. “If ever you should have need of my services again, remember: I’ll find you.” He tossed his noble head gently. “And do not worry, my friend. As long as you fight for what you believe in, you are fighting for the right side.”
“I just wish I was sure of what I believe in,” she said softly.
The stallion said nothing, but somehow, Tamia thought that he understood. “Farewell,” he said, and galloped off into the shadowy street.
As Tamia approached the south gate, she thought she could make out several forms against the fruit trees that grew there. Kit was foremost among them with an entourage of demons, as well as Shade and what seemed to be a slightly draconic figure, as far as she could tell. It didn’t take her long to recognize Ikkin as well, set apart from Kit. It was clear that her loyalty still lay first and foremost with the Knights, and Tamia’s heart plummeted. Of course, she knew she would be standing against her friends -- but seeing them before her like this only served to reinforce her feelings of betrayal.
“Sir Kit,” she said quietly, avoiding all eyes. “I will stand alongside you, but... but I don’t accept your offer of a reward. I don’t know if you can really do what you said you could, and I really don’t want to know. I don’t want to think I’m here because I was promised a prize... this is something I need to do for myself.”
To her, they felt like the stupidest words she had ever uttered. Looking up forlornly at the other guild members, she found herself missing Oran more than she ever had in her life. Celestial"My name is PFA," the ninja replied. Celestial thought it was a good sign that she didn't attack right away. After a brief pause the ninja spoke again "I'm here to speak with Kit." Celestial relaxed immediately but was still alert. She had seen enough in her short life to teach her that it could be a trick. Nevertheless, she nodded politely. "Sorry for my rashness but I feel vulnerable with this storm around" Celestial said as she sidestepped, keeping a wary eye on the ninja. Kit...so that was the demon-man's name. It couldn't be anybody else. The dragonet had grown a little bolder and had opened it's glowing eyes. She lowered her arm to it and it grabbed on nervously with all it's claws, hurting her slightly. It wrapped it's tail around her arm for security and lowered it's neck as it looked at the ninja. Celestial stroked it's wing but it didn't relax but just kept looking. Maybe I should follow her, she thought privately. There is no knowing what her real purpose is here. Vyt((Castle Kestrel: Southern Wall AKA South Gate))The sun had already retreated to the other side of the world, as the moon finally dominated over the now dark blue horizon. The stars sparkled across the sky, giving Cat Assassin a hint of hope deep inside. The feline then looked at the moon, only to be rendered sightless for awhile by its rays. The temporary blindness had given Cat Assassin a flashback of his former life. Back in his world, Cat Assassin had been in his own clan for almost a decade. There, he was forced to obey every order pitted at him. As a young kitten who even did not have his own name, he only had his innocence to use as his reason to follow. ... And the black-haired man doesn't know he's forcing all in NTWF to follow my own fate.Having his eyesight returned, Cat Assassin fixed his sight in front of him where he was greeted by an image of a group of people. In the center was the black-haired man who the feline saw in the crystal ball a moment ago. His professional side overcoming his own emotions, Cat Assassin tried his best not to let his anger flow. Hoping he had not been seen yet, Cat Assassin scampered silently into a nearby bush. He was not sure if the other people around are planning to follow the black-haired man or not, but he knew it would be better to have a surveillance of what was really happening first. * * * Bluisa had already been listening quietly to everything that had occurred during her hiding. She knew that most of the people who had come in that place had mouthed out their alliance to the black-haired man, but was a bit confused at why so many people had decided to join him in such a quick instance. It was as if the man had given out an announcement that she was not able to hear. The mage was more curious towards those who have asked the man for some explanations, including the one she was planning to protect in case of an emergency. The girl seemed to be so concerned on the man that she wanted to know the exact details of whatever he was planning to do. I don't like where this is going, she said to herself. ZariZari followed Fraze and sat down. 'I'm not sure whether I anticipate or dread the coming breifing.' she said mildly. Three of the clones had joined them- Aeloan, sitting on Zari's head, Ienalle in the chair next to her, and Salricio under the table. <Salricio> I got a weird message. It offered me an image of myself as a human. I dun wanna be pink and have patchy fur. I like my radiator.> Ienalle nodded at the Alpha Male of the clone pack. 'I'm only alla human because thatsaway they act'chly list'n to me.' <Aeloan> Pfah!>
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Post by GW2 on Oct 15, 2008 14:33:22 GMT -5
Strife((Spacefleet HQ: Sector 2, Briefing Room)) The briefing room, like most of the important rooms in Headquarters, was very dark and had an ominous feel to it. There were no windows, and the only light source came from a large, clear, circular table in the center of the room. The table's glass glowed with an eerie red light. Over the past few minutes, several subcommanders had entered the room and took their seats at the table, next to the senior officers already present. Fraze and Zari had also entered the room at this time, along with the guards who had proded them along. Eventually, The Commander himself marched in, followed by a team of marines who walked to the back of the room and lined up against the wall, their blaster rifles to their sides. Everyone grew quiet, and the only sound present in the room was the clanking of the metal floor as The Commander walked across the room. When he reached the front, he stood on an elevated platform that stretched from one wall to the other. He paused for a minute, looking at the officers gathered at the table, and then finally, he began to speak. "I have summoned you all here because we are in the middle of a serious emergency. You represent the best of Spacefleet, and I trust that everyone here will have no problem keeping this discussion classified." He slowly crossed his arms. "If, however, I discover that someone is disclosing information that shouldn't be revealed to outsiders, not only will they be deprived of their ranks, but I will personally throw them into isolation for the rest of their lives." Placing his hands behind his back, The Commander slowly paced back and forth while facing his officers. His ominous black cape flowed behind him like a waterfall. "As you know, reports have been flooding into the medical bay regarding 'visions' that officers have been recieving. This epidemic has affected every single officer in Spacefleet, including myself. According to the message, a voice is asking us to fight in the name of demon's rights. The message was shortly followed by an image of planet NTWF being consumed by a metallic city, and the voice requested that its supporters gather at the southern gate of Dunburrow by 00:00 hours terrestrial time. At first I believed this message to be a simple hallucination... but after some careful deliberation, it's apparent to me that there's something more to it..." The Commander unclipped a remote from his belt and pushed a small button. Immediately, a giant screen lowered from the ceiling behind him, covering the entire wall. The screen flickered awake and a sattelite image of NTWF appeared on its surface. The dark storm that had been ravaging the planet appeared on the map as a dark purple swirl of clouds. The swirl was so dense that no landforms could be seen under it. "Ladies and gentlemen, I am led to believe that some kind of... superior lifeform... is causing the storms on the surface of the planet. Earlier today, the lifeform apparently sent a false message to Special Ops instructing one of our mercs to head to the surface and unearth some kind of... artifact." The Commander paused and glanced briefy at Fraze. He then continued pacing. "Soon afterwards, this enormous cloud covered the northern hemisphere." He pointed his finger at the twisted mass of purple on the screen. "However, we cannot assume that this lifeform's overall intentions are hostile. It has communicated through a very strong form of telepathy, and I believe that it is calling to the sky for help. It is calling to Spacefleet." "Ever since Spacefleet was founded, race has not been an issue for us. Numerous species comprise our ranks, and only a fraction of our personnel are full-blooded humans. Personally, it makes no difference to me whether I kill a human or a kitsune, because I do not discriminate based on species, but on loyalty. I sincerely doubt that these 'demons' are some kind of hellspawn from a fiery dimension. They are a race of minority rule on the planet, and they're resorting to desperate measures in order for their voices to be heard." "My fellow officers... In order to ensure the lasting security of NTWF, we must establish first contact with these demons. But we must be very careful in doing so. We can't simply beam down to the south gate of Dunburrow and expect a clean act of diplomacy, especially if other people on the surface have heard the lifeform's proposal. We must approach the demons in a more covert fashion, and more importantly, we must show them that we want to help them with whatever problem they are facing. Only then can this devastating storm subside, and only then can the planet return to a state of peace." "Here is our mission, officers..." The Commander pointed at the giant screen with his remote. The globe vanished and was replaced with a map of all the locations on NTWF. Two silver markers appeared in the center of the screen. "As soon as this meeting is over, we will divide ourselves into two groups. Listen very carefully, because I am not repeating this again." The first marker dragged itself to a location just beside where Mage Manor would be, in a forested area. "The first team will have a small group of officers. You will land a shuttle here and try to establish contact with our chief medical officer, Leoness. She did not bring any communication devices with her to the surface, so search for her signal on long-range sensors. We need her for this mission. If any of our officers are seriously wounded, she has the expertise to save their lives." And she has my heart, The Commander thought to himself longingly. The second marker on the screen dragged itself to a forested area near the south of Dunburrow. "I will accompany the second team here, and we will take cover in the forest. When this meeting is over, I will fly to the surface alone while the rest of you stay here to gather your weapons and equipment. Wait for my orders. Once i've cleared the area, I will order you to land at my location with a score of marines ((That's 20 marines, in regular terms)). If a non-officer encounters our landing party, neutralize them as quickly as possible and without hesitation. If they are a risk to our security, kill them." "When the first team retrieves Leoness, they will contact me and head to the location of the second team. On your way, scout the surroundings and gather information on terrestrial activities. We'll need to know who is on our side, and we need to know who will try to stop us." "When midnight draws close, I will travel to the south gate of Dunburrow to initiate first contact with the demons. Wait in the forest until I send you a signal. If the situation becomes hostile for whatever reason, I will signal you to come and assist me in battle." "One more important note..." The Commander pressed a button, and the most recent photograph of former officer Hades that was taken appeared in the center of the screen. "Former officer Hades has been accused of spreading false information and attacking one of our people. If any of you spot him, use any force necessary to retrieve him and bring him back to Headquarters. My security officers will place him in isolation until we're able to question him. If he offers too much resistance or attacks you, kill him." Another button was pressed, and the screen flickered off and retreated slowly into the ceiling. "I need five volunteers for the first team. This includes subcommanders ((or in other words, NPC characters)). The rest of you will be in the second team. If you wish to stay in Headquarters, or if I think you're not good enough for the mission, I will find someone to replace you." He then looked in Fraze's direction. "As for you, Fraze, you're coming with me in the second team. I'm not giving you a choice in the matter, so I sincerely hope that you look forward to the trip." The Commander glared at all of the officers in the room with his menacing red eyes. "If anyone chooses to disobey me, I will paint the walls of this room with their blood.” KitBladetail laughed even more at Ikkin's reply, "You really don't know your own Knights do you? Kit's not going to break the dam and allow demons to flood the world," she gestured to both Kit and Shade with her tail, "they're your appointed judge and diplomat, aren't they? Surely you have more faith in their decisions than that." She gave one last shake of the head before resuming her post as a sentry, taking a marked interest in the events that were unfolding around her.
It didn't take Kit long to decide to accept the dragon mage's terms. After all, dragons and demons weren't all too different, and he'd be a hypocrite to reject anyway.
"There certainly are a lot of people," Maya said as she eyed the somewhat mismatched gathering of guildsmembers, "and there's still two hours till midnight. Are you sure about this?"
No. Kit wasn't sure about this. This reminded him of the first time Kit made a pact with Marbas. Full of uncertainty, with more to lose than to gain. Kit's reply was cut short by Ikkin, who finally came around to her senses and actually stopped to hear what he might have to say. He looked at Ikkin, remembering the times they spent together after the first war. At the very least, he did owe her an explanation. Even if she did insist on acting haughty and deciding on who to speak to and who to listen to.
"Ikkin, have I told you about Kristen?" he asked, not making eye contact with her but rather staring ahead as more people arrived, "she was a knight, a demonologist. Much like me, in fact, she taught me."
"Kit"
He turned to see a ninja approaching with her blade sheathed. A raised finger told the ninja that she would have to wait, Kit preferred not to leave things unfinished. Unlike Ikkin's attention span.
"And y'know what? The knights killed her. Like they killed every other knight before and after her that had ties to demons. Ikkin, I like the knights," he turned to look at Shade, "which is why I have to do this. Maybe this generation of Knights won't for once kill me and Shade, but I can't say that for the next generation, or the one after."
Kit left Ikkin to her thoughts at that moment. If she still insisted on opposing him, he knew he might have to kill her. The thought of having her die in his arms again squeezed his stomach a little, made worse by the fact that this time, it would be his doing. I'm doing this for Kristen. For Shade. For any knight that will tread this path.
"And for me. So don't kill yourself while doing this, please?" Maya whispered into Kit's ear. He smiled. And for Maya
Still, no matter how much he convinced himself of his motives, it didn't make it any easier as friends and familiar faces slowly sifted into allies and enemies. He wondered how many would still be with him once he made known his immediate objectives. To sustain a portal between the planes, he needed control of two focus points. The first was in his room, back in the castle. The demonic energies there were strong enough to act as a harness to the abyss. The second one would prove much more difficult to obtain. He needed to seize Mage Manor.
"Sir Kit," a familiar soft voice drew Kit from his thoughts. Tamia had arrived, and for a moment the cold twist in his stomach got worse. Tamia was one knight he wished he wouldn't have to fight against. Not because she posed a threat, but because she was one of the few that he saw a good deal of potential in. "I will stand alongside you, but... but I don’t accept your offer of a reward. I don’t know if you can really do what you said you could, and I really don’t want to know. I don’t want to think I’m here because I was promised a prize... this is something I need to do for myself."
"You're injured," Kit said, partly out of concern, partly because he thought it would be best not to pry into Tamia's personal reasons. Everyone had a reason for doing what they did, and sometimes it was best to leave things be. "Here," Kit took out a few dried Vervain flowers and gave them to Tamia, "these should help. I trust that you'll know what to do with these." He decided that it would be best not to tell her that he kept them for the summoning of serpentine spirits rather than for the healing of wounds.
A low rattle came from beside him as Tavara began to look up to the night sky. Midnight was only two hours away now. Rider((The White Weewoo)) "I'd like to get a word in before people start dying,"Noting Zylaa's reaction to what she had said, Rider smiled dryly. "Don't worry, Zy-zy. I've died before. It actually wasn't that bad." "In any case, these fellows seem as good as their word. They have no reason to turn on us. If they do, we have the upper hand. This is our world, after all. Their revolution, but our world. Let's go." Us and them... Rider knew she was starting to think in a dangerous way. It didn't matter. Shiva was still one of "us." Shiva wasn't some crazed killer. Shiva was a good horse. Omni((Spacefleet, conference room)) Ethan came bursting into the room, Siber close behind him. Light from the hallway briefly illuminated some of the room before the door automatically closed behind him. He jumped into the first empty seat he could find. Siber flopped on the floor next to him. Both were trying to catch their breath. "Sorry I'm late… I had business to attend to." He panted a few times before continuing, "Did I miss anything?" There was a moment of tense silence as Ethan got a variety of responses, including a few facepalms. Most of the responses, however consisted of not-happy looks, especially from the Commander, who's eyes seemed a little redder than usual. "…Requesting permission to access the computer records of this meeting so I can catch up… Sir?” PFA((Castle Kestrel: south gate))"Sorry for my rashness but I feel vulnerable with this storm around," the dragon girl said to PFA. PFA gave a simple nod to the girl, as she was now directing her attention to Kit, who had signaled to PFA that she should wait. That's alright, PFA thought. This way I can think over what to say...Kit seemed to be saying something about knights killing demons or something like that... it was hard to tell, exactly, since she had come in the middle of his speech. PFA just listened for now, waiting to see if Kit would say anything about the gem. That, after all, was what she was after in all this, really. She silently continued to ponder over what she wanted to say to Kit, while still keeping an eye out incase anything happened. All the demons nearby made her nervous, and she didn't want to put her guard down around them. She couldn't imagine what if would be like with demons on every corner, like what Kit had been wanting... Ikkin((South Gate of Dunburrow))
Ikkin was really starting to get annoyed at the angel's laughter, she decided.
"You really don't know your own Knights do you?" the angel said. "Kit's not going to break the dam and allow demons to flood the world." She gestured to both Kit and Shade with her tail, then added, "They're your appointed judge and diplomat, aren't they? Surely you have more faith in their decisions than that." She shook her head mockingly, while Ikkin steamed.
As it was, she didn't even get a chance to respond as the angel went back off to her sentry post before she could say anything.
If she's really an angel, Ikkin thought, They're nothing like what I thought they were. "You don't know your own Knights..." Well, I thought I knew Kit. Before he decided to threaten to kill everyone if they didn't help him release demons on the world.
But then, if what the angel said was right, she had misinterpreted Kit's intentions somewhat. If he wasn't just going to "break the dam" and really did have a plan to keep the demons in check... well, his method of doing it would still be completely unlike himself, but, at least he'd have good intentions.
She'd have to see for herself whether that was true or not, though, which would have to wait, because Kit was busy accepting an offer from the mage - who, apparently, was a dragon, and wanted the dragons' freedom to be part of the bargain.
This just gets worse and worse, she thought. It'd be bad enough to fight against allowing the demons entry, but adding a second oppressed race on top of it definitely made things worse. And the dragons weren't even locked away, so they might come and help out...
No, it was definitely not looking good for anyone who wanted to oppose Kit. And she still wasn't sure whether she was one of them or not.
And then, finally, Kit decided to speak to her.
"Ikkin, have I told you about Kristen?" he asked, staring ahead rather than look at her. Ikkin thought the name sounded familiar, but couldn't quite remember who it belonged to. She didn't need to wonder for long, as Kit explained. "She was a knight, a demonologist. Much like me, in fact, she taught me."
No, maybe she didn't know, then.
Suddenly, a ninja approached and called Kit's name. Ikkin was worried for a moment that this would mean she wouldn't get her explanation, but Kit cut her off with a gesture and continued.
"And y'know what? The knights killed her. Like they killed every other knight before and after her that had ties to demons." Ikkin wanted to cut him off, shake him, explain that the knights weren't like that now, but, she couldn't risk not hearing the explanation, so, she just let Kit finish. "Ikkin, I like the knights, which is why I have to do this. Maybe this generation of Knights won't for once kill me and Shade, but I can't say that for the next generation, or the one after."
For once since this whole thing started, Ikkin felt like she could understand Kit. He wasn't just fighting against something that was mostly past; he just didn't trust the future generations not to regress.
It was kind of funny, she thought, that he trusted demons more than his own future kids, but not entirely unreasonable, considering how he actually knew what the demons were like.
Or, well, not entirely unreasonable so long as he had a plan to prevent his own demons from confirming the prejudice by their own actions.
Ikkin didn't have a chance to say that before Tamia arrived, offering her own assistance for Kit's project. She found this kind of odd, considering the way she remembered Tamia reacting to Kit in the past. Better to think of that than to think about the fact that she'd possibly have to think about how she might possibly have to fight her.
It was also better to talk to Kit than to fight him. Once he finished with Tamia, Ikkin spoke to him again.
"I'm really sorry about Kristen," she said. "That was wrong, what the Knights did to her. But... what exactly are you planning to do with your demons to keep that from happening again? How will you make sure that you don't accidentally create a self-fulfilling prophecy by allowing the wrong demon to walk freely and enraging those who would take that as proof that they were right about their generalization? And," she added, an ironic smirk on her face, "how do you plan to keep Shiva from trying to eat me?"
***
((Mage Manor, Guest Bedroom -> Mage Manor, at the entrance))
Sev really wanted to roast that impudent kitten right now. It was bad enough that Scar had refused to help outright, but to say it the way he did...
Surf's resigned voice cut through his thoughts. “So much for getting Scar to help us… C’mon, we should really get to Ikkin now.”
She was right, he thought. They really did need to get to Ikkin. But, he really, really didn't want to show up with only one ally and a possible enemy.
Well, he probably could leave the possible enemy, he thought, though that would be going back on his word. He sighed, searching the Manor for the magical signatures of any of the other mages. There were a couple at the doorway.
Yes, that was a perfect excuse, Sev thought. He walked over to Surf, who seemed ready to leave, and held out a wing for her to take. "Just one more thing before we go," he said, then called over to Jasor, "Meet you at the doorway, if you still want to come! But be quick about it!"
With that, he disappeared in a flash of phoenix fire, conveniently forgetting to make it the kind that wouldn't set the guest bedroom on fire. That would serve Scar right.
He appeared moments later, right behind Omni. She had just offered Nature to replace polluted energy for storm-free energy, which made Sev wonder just how dangerous that storm really was, if it was causing problems all the way over here.
Well, that would be solved once they stopped Kit, he thought. And maybe he could do something about Nature's problem, too.
"Ikkin needs our help," Sev said to both Omni and Nature. "She's trying to stop Kit from releasing demons on the world. I'll try to fix the energy problem for you, if you want to come along," he said, making his offer to Nature. "Healing phoenix fire could probably help get rid of any kind of polluted energy that's bothering you."
((Surf, you get to choose whether you want to take Sev's teleportation or come to the entrance yourself. Teleportation is probably easier, though. )) ZariAeloan raised her head to meow at Siber, then returned to staring at The Commander. Zari knew Commander Strife had been enlightened of the fact Dunburrow held many things for her, and she'd rather delay going near it. Hopefully, she'd go with the second group. Strife((Mage Manor - Guest Bedroom)) Surf walked into the room. “So much for getting Scar to help us…" she said. "C’mon, we should really get to Ikkin now.” Sev let out a deep sigh. "Just one more thing before we go," he said, then called over to Jasor, "Meet you at the doorway, if you still want to come! But be quick about it!" At that moment, the phoenix disappeared in a burst of flames and embers. The flames set fire to the floor at the entrance of the guest room, eating away rapidly at the wooden boards. Leoness, having experience with fire, quickly grabbed the blanket from the guest bed and rushed over to the flames. She dropped the blanket on top of the fire and stomped the floor with her feet. The fire suffocated and vanished in a thick cloud of black smoke. Suddenly, she felt a wave of surprise as a sharp pain squeezed at her feet. As a fire mage, normally she wouldn't be burned if her hands or feet touched flames. However, phoenix flames were much different. She stumbled over to the window, her ankles bursting with pain after each step, and she opened the curtain and the window itself to let the smoke out. She coughed several times and took deep, heavy breaths. This is just great... she thought to herself ironically. A massive storm was outside, demons were about to walk the NTWF, and her lover was very likely planning to join them in their conquest. The last thing she needed was burnt feet. KengKeng hadn't had much of a chance to respond to Fraze before the meeting started, and once Strife had finished his speech there certainly wasn't any time to devote to even the thought of doing so. It was a touchy decision to make, and Keng had to admit, it did make sense. "Yea, like I was going to wait around for you to attack me first? You werewolves aren't exactly know for your hospitality." "Maybe the fact that everyone is always trying to kill us has something to do with that?!"The words flashed through her head. Her rage at Kya for her prejudice against werewolves; were these demons no different from her in that way? No, she decided. They weren't any different. She would fight for their cause. But so help her if this guy tried to 'cure' her of her werewolf 'disease' she woul- "Sorry I'm late… I had business to attend to. Did I miss anything?"Keng was among the head slappers. Did her team have some sort of deathwish today!? She wanted to say something to cover Ethan for his tardiness but held her tongue. She couldn't help him with words with an entrance like that. She could only hope the commander would only have time to allow his request and continue on with the urgent business. Speaking of said urgent business, would she be better off retrieving their medical officer or in the commander's team? She pondered where she would be more useful, she would be able to blend in with the crowd and find Leoness without suspicion... You idiot! This is battle we're talking of here! You're needed on the front lines! Leoness is in no immediate trouble as far as is know, you'll be more useful in the throng with weapons in your hands. she yelled at herself inwardly. "I'll go with the second team." she volunteered. Strife((Spacefleet HQ: Sector 2, Briefing Room)) All of the sudden, the door to the room sweeped open. Senior officer Ethan hurried inside along with his companion Siber. "Sorry I'm late… I had business to attend to," said Ethan. He panted and caught his breath before continuing. "Did I miss anything?" There was an uneasy silence. Some officers raised eyebrows, while others responded with facepalms. The Commander crossed his arms and glared at Ethan with the look of a hungry predator about to slaughter his prey. "…Requesting permission to access the computer records of this meeting so I can catch up… Sir?" Ethan seemed to shift in his chair out of nervousness. But then, unexpectedly, The Commander began to chuckle. His chuckle grew into a laugh. It was the laugh of a madman, and it had a deep, maniacal tone to it. Some of his subcommanders in the room gradually started to laugh as well. Vyt((Afterlife)) "... It's quite ironic, eh? He who currently holds the artifact is trying to fool everyone into obeying him, just for a single person... I'm quite surprised, though. I wasn't expecting him to have such an attitude."An unknown dimension from an unknown place was filling the void around a strange human. His eyes, now shining with white and pure light, beamed on a hole in the dimension. It was, apparently, his own magnifying glass to see what was happening in the NTWF. He had been curiously peeking through it since he had set foot, or rather "spirit tail", in the new dimension. The smile on his face gave the hint that though he may not be able to escape from such a lifeless dimension, he was content that he was able to at least watch other people's lives. His was very disturbing. With a sarcastic tone, he mocked the one he was talking about. "They killed a Winterstone! In return, he should release the demons! Yes... Quite an analogy, indeed. I wonder if he will be able to unleash them... I bet he could not even grant anything for those who would join him!" Reverting back to his normal tone, the unknown figure voiced out more of his opinion. "His clairvoyance and petty enchanted cards can only push him so far. He has yet to value the foot of justice..." Behind him, a scale suddenly moved by itself. On the right pot, it contained a small amount of clear gel; on the other, dark orbs. The scale started to fill out more dark orbs, tilting the balance of the scale. Surf((Mage Manor – Guest Bedroom)) As Surf turned to leave the room, Sev walked up to her and held out his wing. As Surf grabbed it, he began, "Just one more thing before we go.” He turned to Jasor and added, “Meet you at the doorway, if you still want to come! But be quick about it!" He then teleported to the entrance hall of the manor in a flash of fire. The two appeared right behind Omni. Sev, wasting no time, described the situation and asked both Omni and Nature to come. Surf added, “Please come, guys, we’re going to need all the help we can get." JasonJasor heard Sev speak in his direction. "Meet you at the doorway, if you still want to come! But be quick about it!" the bird spoke. The creature then teleported out of the room in a flash of fire. Jasor stared in awe, twisting his amulet. A slivr of air wrapped itself around jasor, grabbing him and squeezing him by the neck. A choking sensation went up the teens spine, as the teen found himself slamming into the ground. The air had carried him to the front of the manor by the neck, painfully. Gasping, Jasor dusted himself off. FrazeWell...that was his plan, Fraze thought. He had been expecting something like this. Strife had finally Despite the fact of impending battle, he was still glad to go back to the surface. Big things would indeed be happening very soon, and he wanted to be there for them. "As for you, Fraze, you're coming with me in the second team. I'm not giving you a choice in the matter, so I sincerely hope that you look forward to the trip."Fraze nodded in silent consent. Fair enough. After what had happened, Strife obviously didn't want him out of his sight. What about his cloaking device, then? If Strife needed stealth work done, Fraze would probably be the best person for it with his cloak. He'd think about that later, and discuss options with the Commander. When Ethan barged in, Fraze did his best not to look at him. There were enough people already fixing their gazes on Ethan, and Fraze knew how it was to enter important meetings late. What worried him, though, was Strife's laugh. This was the laugh, not of one lustful for power, but simply of a madman. So, all those rumors and suspicions were true--maybe he really was insane by now. KatSitting up and feeling a bit better, Kat frowned. Hadn't anyone seen her distress call? Then again, the sky was already purple enough; she didn't need to make it purpler...but right now, she lacked enough energy to release a second fireball, one that would be the same color as normal fire. The Purple Knight got back onto her feet, and ran out of the throne room, turning into a corridor that would lead her straight to the castle's library. Hopefully the answer was there, and she could solve the problem before it escalated into anything serious - like all the guilds going to war again. AmneigerAmneiger pretended to be focusing on his computer. It probably wasn't a good idea to disturb the Commander right now by speaking, and he still didn't know which group he wanted to join. I'm not sure why the Commander so readily trusts the demons; then again I know nothing about the paranormal and his clearance is higher than mine so maybe he knows something I don't. On the other hand, what kind of sentient race trying to make peaceful contact does so by making a giant storm of purple doom? Surely they know better than that. And his use of the word "kill" doesn't inspire confidence. Oh well.
But in any case, which group to go with? Both groups are going to meet up at Dunbarrow anyway, it shouldn't take horribly long to find Leoness, and I've never seen Mage Manor. Better wait for the Commander to calm down before speaking, though. Kwoiffei((Forest))
Is it getting darker?Somehow, it was. Trying to follow his own trail was only leading him nowhere. Drakhé was only getting more and more lost, and more afraid. Already the stream had disappeared, and he was moving once more through the monotony of trees and leaves. Instead of following tracks, he had chosen to follow the horrible scent. Maybe, just maybe, it might lead him to others-- That voice!He froze, listening. Voices... one of them distinctively female, and another, male voice. Shortly afterwards, there was a kind of groaning, and the horrible smell just got stronger. Drakhé's eyes went wide again. Undead!For a precious few moments, he froze, only listening. The female voice seemed to get more manic. Nervously he tilted his head, trying to listen. The necromancer...
Whack!
What was that?! He took off into a run, trying to reach the source of the sounds. Rider((Dunburrow South Gate)) ((Assuming we're taking Zy's suggestion of leaving immediately, since it seems to be almost midnight.)) The pirates arrived in what could more or less be considered a timely fashion. Dragging the pyro around was slowing them down, but Rider still got there in time to hear, "how do you plan to keep Shiva from trying to eat me?""I love dramatic irony," Rider muttered. "Um, please explain in a slow and very detailed manner why my horse is trying to eat you?" CelestialCelestial knew the moment the demon-man Kit had accepted her offer. There was no going back now on what she was about to do. The knight named Ikkin looked tense, as she would expect. Dragons were powerful allies to have indeed. The dragonet had made a crude nest of bent twigs for itself in the tree above as Celestial looked at the moon through them. It was two hours until midnight. She looked at the gaggle of people from the borders, as always. No, even with her powers, there hasn't been much change, I only made allies of the dragons. The ninja nodded to her and walked on to Kit, who gave her a signal and she stopped. Good, Celestial thought The fact that she hasn't attacked now means she won't. She is with us, hopefully. Celestial still wanted to follow her and left the sleeping dragonet where it was. Sneaking silently, she came to rest only several inches behind the ninja. She listened to the conversation between Ikkin and Kit. It was an interesting one, though she dared not add anything in. Suddenly a pirate came out of the forest, along with what seemed like the whole crew of their ship. Celestial looked straight at them but didn't raise the alarm. It was better to wait and see and they seemed like they were here to join them. PFA((Castle Kestrel: near south gate))The mercs made their way through Dunburrow to the south gate. It wasn't too hard to spot, as there seemed to be a crowd there now. Jernath looked over the crowd, eventually spotting the knight in the middle who everyone seemed to be talking to. When he saw the demons next to the knight, Jernath figured that this must have been the one who sent the message. "Let's go talk to him," Jernath said, and started running toward the crowd. He figured it would be hard to get the knight's attention with all those people around, but maybe it would do them some good to listen to what the group was talking about. Maybe they could get a better idea of what was really going on around here. CelestialCelestial spun around and saw the group of what looked like mercenries to her. She tucked her wings into her cloak, knowing that mercenries were infamous for their love of gold, no matter how they got it and what they had to do for it. She missed Overlord at this point. He could have watched the mercs while she watched the pirates. However, she had to improvise now since he wasn't here. She turned to the mercenries, nodding at them cautiously. Hopefully they would wait since Kit seemed to be very busy at this time. She returned her gaze to the pirates without saying a word. It was better to let Kit deal with it since she didn't want to be out of the loop so early in the battle. Celestial would take charge of a different matter. Strife((Spacefleet HQ: Sector 2, Briefing Room)) The Commander's laughing ceased as suddenly and surprisingly as it came. His subcommanders silenced themselves as well. "Volunteers!" he snapped. "We don't have all day." "I'll go with the second team," declared Keng. "I volunteer for the first team," said Subcommander #4, raising a hand in salute. "So do I," followed Subcommander #1, raising a metal claw in salute. "Anyone else?" asked The Commander. "If you don't speak up, i'm going to place you in the second team.” Huntress((The White Weewoo)) The blarf was drifting on the surface, ears moving back and forth. The ship had fallen quiet again, except for the sounds of meepits and weasels, who were, as it so tends to happen with guards all across the universe after something has already happened, patrolling the deck with double attention. The pirates had never really figured out how smart the creature really was, but they had all agreed that he was probably smarter than he looked. He could understand speech, at any rate. The ship seemed safe enough for now. So the blarf drifted up the coast, towards the village the pirates had visited earlier that day. There was a port there, so there had to be a way to get on the shore. Where the Weewoo was, the cliff was way too high for him. ((The southern gate of Dunburrow)) Hunty had been deep in thought during the whole trip through the dark forest, barely paying attention to Clara - who luckily had no matches at this point - her crew, and the meepitgang she'd brought along. She'd left half of them to guard the ship, reasoning that this was more of a diplomatic move than a warpath - so far, anyway. Though she was still armed with the crossbow and assorted pointy things. This was an ugly, ugly matter. As a careful pirate, she'd happily have stayed out of this all, but by the looks of things, the whole of NTWF was on a highway to hell, and she'd still much rather ride in voluntarily than get dragged in kicking and screaming. When they got out of the forest and saw the gathering crowd in the orchard, Hunty gave a quiet whistle. "That offer seems to be pretty popular." "Not popular enough, though," said Justice, who was sitting on her shoulder as Bloody Mary's unofficial second-in-command. "This is not an army. This'll hardly be good enough for a picket." "And you know what they say," Bob Squeaky said sulkily. "It won't get better if you picket." "I daresay there'll be more by midnight, right now there's still a while to go," Hunty said. "What the...?" Something small and blue was bouncing towards her through the grass. "Bloody Mary?" The captain squatted down mid-step, suppressing the urge to hug the meepit, who leaped on her other shoulder. "What're you doing here? I thought I sent you on a mission." The meepit's cheery grin faded into a worried scowl. "Yeah, about that. You heard the offer, right?" The captain nodded. "You decided to join the demons?" asked the meepit. Another nod. "Oh, good." Bloody Mary relaxed at once. "Well, you'll have to get in line. That Kit guy is pretty busy at this point." "I don't do lines," Hunty said resolutely, sitting down under a nearby tree, a few dozen yards away from where the people were gathering. "I can talk to him later. Right now I'm more interested in your side of the story." The meepit fidgeted. "Uhm. Well. It doesn't really matter any more. But, you know how we never really were in the muster-roll and in the crew?" Hunty stared at him. "We're meepits," Bloody Mary said grimly. "You know? Zomg, evil little meepit, he's planning to take over the world, look at these big creepy eyes, let's catch him, they're worth a lot. Which side did you think I'd choose?" Now it clicked. "So if we'd chosen the other side?" she asked quietly. "Doesn't matter at this point, and I ain't lying when I say that I'm relieved," he admitted. "You know us, Hunty. We don't show mercy on the battlefield. But, well, I got the message, and I came over. Good thing I did. He has what you sent me after." "Does he, now?" Hunty muttered curiously, shooting a glance at the knight. So this was Kit. She'd heard of him, it was part of her job, or rather what she did as captain. Pretty much everyone out there was considered an enemy from a pirate's point of view, so she'd spent time gathering information about people in other guilds, especially the Knights, who were all too happy to execute law and order... and execute in general, she thought grimly. But if this one was offering an alliance, then all the better for them. But captain's duties always came first. "Rider," she shouted, making herself comfortable under the tree and stretching her legs out, "get Ikkin over here when you're done with her, will you? I need a word." "There're ninjas here," Bloody Mary warned. Hunty shrugged slightly. "Diplomatic area, innit?" She was getting tired, too tired to pick fights. It'd been a long day, and it looked like it would be an even longer night. ShadeHades could see the castle now. It rose up, a dark shape against the dimming sky. And the zombies were still after him. The fire had burned them, but not enough. And he hadn’t had time to reload his lasers power cells, so he couldn’t shoot any more of them down. There were only two of them chasing him now, not the three that he had started with. That was a good thing, at least.
He did wish that he had another way of killing them that didn’t require letting them have a chance to kill him, though. He didn’t have any magic, unlike most people, and he had never really trained with any melee weapon other than his hands. And if he got close enough to grapple them, they’d almost certainly rip him apart.
The wind carried familiar scents to him. Cat and metal, for one. Hades growled. Traitor. He was amazed that the Mercs still let that person travel with them. But they had said they accepted anyone, and they did. Even when that person was a traitor. There were various human scents as well, but he couldn’t tell them apart. No other feline scents. Neither Elycien or Fen was with the group of Mercs, then. That was more than a bit annoying. It would have been nice to have Fen there. Nice to have another vampire there.
But night was falling, and he had to get to that castle before it was fully dark. He had fairly good night vision, but even so, he’d need to slow down, and then the zombies could get him. He wouldn’t be at all surprised if they could just keep going no matter what, even at night.
* * *
Night had fallen, and the moon was rising, full and ominously red through the remnants of the storm. Shade watched it. A blood moon was not a good sign for the coming night. She didn’t need to see the moon to know that, but it certainly reinforced that this night would see blood spilled, in some way or another.
Kit had told Ikkin the same thing as he had told her, just phrased in a different way. But it seemed to work. Ikkin didn’t sound like she would fight them yet. In fact, very few of the people here had chosen to fight. That made sense, but it wasn’t what she had expected. By now, someone should have come to fight. Or was everyone waiting for midnight?
There was the sound of many footsteps coming from down the path. Shade looked away from the moon. First the pirates, then a mismatched group that didn’t seem to belong with any guild, appeared. They were probably mercenaries of some sort or another, but not ones that she had seen before. “This should be interesting,” she whispered.
* * *
Hades was now close enough to the castle’s south gate to see everyone with normal sight. The bloody moon helped, shining down with a clear light that seemed at odds with its color. He could hear the zombies behind him, their footsteps somehow synchronized. It would have been amusing, if they hadn’t been chasing him.
The other Mercs had just arrived themselves, it seemed. Whether that was a good thing or not, Hades wasn’t quite sure. But it would make this interesting.
And then he tripped over a rock, rolled, and ended up in the middle of everyone. “Um. Hello. Mind taking care of those zombies before they eat me?”
Crystal The forest smelt funny, his mistress was quiet, and the pig didn’t like it in the least. The other humans had asked her questions, and Clara had been happy about it, so it had assumed that the questions involved fire in some way, shape or form. They’d fed the two of them, too, which had raised the pig’s opinion of the pirates considerably. His mistress was sweet and cheery, but she never did remember about proper feeding times. Clara had even been bright for awhile as they walked along, running by one of the pirates and asking about these ‘knights’ and ‘ninjas’ she was supposed to set fire to, and whether they burnt well. She seemed to have the idea that ninjas were made of paper, and it took some explaining to make her understand that the knights wore armour and the ninjas wore black, and that she should only set fire to what they told her to set fire to. No, really. There had been silence for a while, as she digested the information, and then she’d asked, in her bright happy way, whether or not she could set fire to the forest. Well, you know, this one. The one they were walking through. It would be very pretty. The pirate had twitched and told her no, very firmly, and she’d lapsed into gloom for a short while. And now it was dark, her feet were bare and hurting, and she’d had to run to keep up with their pace, and she’d had to carry the exhausted pig, into the bargain. The pig rubbed it’s snout against her as they stopped, hoping to reassure her. She was obviously trying to be brave, and it just as obviously wasn’t working. Ever since dark had fallen, his mistress had grown more and more silent, fearful at being closed in by so many grim people and trees. Then they broke out of the forest, and Clara set the pig down with a small cry of delight, her moods changing like quicksilver as she forgot her own exhaustion. “Look, Mr. Pig!” The pig looked. “The stars are different here!" she informed it. "They’re supposed to be balls of fire,” she added, spreading her arms wide with all the solemnity of a child repeating grown up affairs. “Great big balls of fire that never go out!” The pig craned it’s short neck up, but couldn’t make out anything but a great black blur of sky. It grunted again disgustedly, passing it off as another of its mistress’ human ideas. She had plenty of those, and the pig usually didn’t care. There were other people in the clearing, and now they were speaking to each other. The girl was distracted by a voice, saying "I love dramatic irony. Um, please explain in a slow and very detailed manner why my horse is trying to eat you?" And she burst out running toward the pirate, intent on showing her the stars. Catching the ex-captain in a hug, she looked up at Rider with her face made sweet by laughter and a look of adoration in her eyes, even as a new person tumbled out into the clearing and said something about zombies. “Look! The sky is different here! Aren’t the stars pretty?” ZariZari twitched. 'I'll go with the first team.' She was pretty sure the Commander would understand why she wanted to delay getting close to Dunburrow. It...hurt. Something along those lines, at least. Zari also knew The Commander would probably make her twist their bond to his own purposes. Hopefully she could withstand the pain that long. CelestialCelestial almost flew up when the strange silvery man landed near her. His skin was dark where it was real and he carried guns. She didn't like guns; they were the only things that could kill a dragon without much effort. Her wings spread out instinctivly. This man did seem right. As well as that, there was also the reek of rotten flesh in the air. “Um. Hello. Mind taking care of those zombies before they eat me?” the vampire said. As much as Celestial didn't like vampires, she hated zombies even more and besides, she had been itching for a good fight. She shapeshifted into a dragon, again too slow for her liking, and scanned the edge of the forest for the zombies. It didn't take long for them to appear. Celestial was appauled by their bloodied skin and exposed bones but she didn't have long to stare. In one fluid motion, she swept her claws through the zombies, knocking them over. Another stench had joined them: the stench of dark death magic. So they were animated by a necromancer, huh? The quickest way to dispatch a zombie was to tear off it's head. Not even daring to use her jaws, she lept at the nearest zombie clawing off it's head in a few moments.Thankfully, blood didn't flow from the dead but the process still sickened her to the marrow. However, Celestial repeated that horrible process again and again until they were all dispatched corpses, lying headless and occasionaly twitching. She shapeshifted back and went over to the metallic man. "I've taken care of your zombies. Now please, don't get into any more scrapes than that, Ok? Our energies have to be saved for the final battle. Are you here to see Kit about his offer?" she asked, trying not to sound unkind. Rustling distracted her as the headless zombies rose and moved towards them. Celestial cursed with the vilest words she knew. The storng was probably aggrevating the magic that brought them to life. "What kind of magic animated these things?!" she cried shapeshifting again but not without stumbling. Celestial roared in anger before standing in front of the staggering and slightly comic zombies. That roar would probably attract enough attention so help would come. She couldn't take these undead out on her own. Omni((Spacefleet, conference room)) Ethan asked the person next to him which team was doing what before answering "I'll go with the first team, as well." Siber made some quiet dog noises at Aeloan. ---- ((Mage Manor, near entrance)) Omni thought for a moment about Sev's offer. She had been planning on staying at the manor and making sure Nature was alright, plus she was under the impression that going to the south gate was for people who wanted to join Kit. Then again, it made sense to try to stop him, and Sev had offered to heal Nature, something he could probably do to quickly and thoroughly than she could, and with fewer mistakes. "I would like to at least get a few small things before we go," she told the phoenix. Amneiger"I wouldn't mind going with the first team. How much time will we have to prepare?” PFA((Castle Kestrel: south gate))As Jernath got to the south gate, he noticed one of the girls there turn to them and nod. He wondered if one of the other mercenaries knew this girl, because he certainly didn't know her and wasn't sure why exactly she was nodding at them. He didn't have much time to think about it, however, since someone suddenly tripped over a rock and landed in the middle of the crowd. It took a moment for Jernath to realize who it was. "Hades?" he asked, blinking. Hades hadn't heard him, it seemed, since he didn't respond to Jernath. Instead he sat up and said, "Um. Hello. Mind taking care of those zombies before they eat me?"
Zombies? Jernath wondered, turning toward the forest that Hades had come out of. He saw something move, and the smell of death started to seep toward the crowd. Before Jernath could do anything, though, the girl who nodded at him earlier turned into a dragon and started to attack the zombies. This is getting weirder and weirder, he thought. After some time, the dragon turned back into a (for the most part) human and walked over to Hades. "I've taken care of your zombies. Now please, don't get into any more scrapes than that, Ok? Our energies have to be saved for the final battle. Are you here to see Kit about his offer?"
Final battle? Jernath was still confused. Kit? At least that part made sense, somewhat. Kit must have been the name of the person who sent that message... But before he could think on it any longer, a rustle came from the forest, and the smell of death came once again. The dragon girl cursed, turned into a dragon once again, flew over to the zombies and roared. The roar was filled with anger and annoyance, probably toward the zombies. Jernath paused for a moment, considering what to do. As much as he wanted to talk to this Kit person, he wanted to get rid of the zombies. Soon enough, though, Jernath pulled out his daggers and turned to the other mercenaries. "Come on, we should do something!" he told them, before running off toward the zombies. He decided it would be easier to talk with Kit if there weren't zombies trying to attack everyone. Kit would probably understand, he figured. CelestialShaken out of her rage, Celestial glimpsed the group of mercenries, or maybe pirates, running towards the zombies! She let out a truimphant shriek and lunged at the nearest one, this time not caring if her jaws sunk into the putrid flesh. That is precisely what she wanted.
Her fangs squelched against the zombie's chest and withdrew time and time again as it's arms wildly flailed around her. She bit with great zeal, not caring about anything other than the vanquishing of her enemy. This is what it was to be a dragon: live life for the moment without anything else mattering.
Suddenly Celestial's jaws were jarred as she felt her fang scrape horribly over a bit of bone... which wasn't supposed to be there. She scrabbled at that bit of the chest with her claws, oblivious to anything else until at last she could see the bone among the bloody mess. She pulled it out and the zombie's strenth suddenly weakened. The bones were the source of their power! No wonder they didn't die when their heads were seperated from their bodies!
Concentrating on this one zombie, she pinned it down with one clawed foot and probed for more of the bone fragments. Every time she pulled one out, the zombie weakened in it's struggles. It was a horrible task, trying to make sure that she didn't swallow or crack open any of them. At the same time, the rotten flesh left a disgusting aftertaste on her tongue. She sometimes had to pause to breathe fresh air. In her efforts, she had followed one draconic instinct: covering the "prey" with her wings. That was her first mistake.
Celestial was digging out one of the last fragments when a sudden pain flared in her wing, She turned round to see a zombie tearing at her fragile wing membranes with it's teeth and nails. The wound was probably infected by now, Celestial though. Nevertheless, she whipped her tail around and flicked the zombie away for now as she pulled the last fragment of bone out of her current victim. It suddenly stopped it's already weak struggles and went limp, just as a dead body should be. The stench of death from this one was natural, not dark like a nercromancer's magic.
Celestial looked around the battlefield, celebrating her small victory. She then turned to the zombie who wounded her and began the same operation as with the previous one, ignoring the pain in her wing.
A small black shape swooped in on it and started helping her, using it's efficiently small claws to dig out the shards with less mess. Celestial's heart lept with joy as she recognised the dragonet. With renewed vigour, she tore at this zombie, eager for revenge. A few thoughts crossed her mind as she worked: How are the mercenries coping? Are any wounded? Will they be enough to win this battle?
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