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Post by GW2 on Oct 16, 2008 14:53:52 GMT -5
BaconJord winced as Ikkin stabbed his shoulder, unable to block because of the way she opened him up. As she pushed his knuckle-blades further to his left, he bent over with them, brought his right knee up high, and sent his right foot into Ikkin's stomach. Deri moved out of the way as the fighting intesified. He was about to strike at Ikkin when he stumbled forward for no apparent reason. Deri turned and saw Kat standing behind him. Did she just kick him in the back? He shrugged, not really sure, and hacked at her with his Vorpal sword. Surf((Near the pirate shippy-whatever it's called right now)) Surf was glad to see her strike hit this time, but then Kyve jumped back in at her, slashing at her torso. She managed to move enough to the side to prevent damage to any major organs, but couldn't completely dodge, and took a gash in her side. Before she could feel the pain of the wound, she brought her staff downwards at Kyve's skull, while simultaneously kicking at his solar plexus. Then, the pain of the wound kicked in, and she pushed herself away from the 'Fleeter, landing a couple yards away. The mage tied her jacket tightly around her waist, in an attempt to slow the bleeding, and jumped back beside Rider. Instead of wilting from pain, the mage instead glared at Kyve, angry that he had landed a blow. She would make him pay. Tamia((Castle Kestrel, the South Entrance Hall))
Fire.
Tamia Wendfeld’s eyes snapped open and her torso spasmed upwards. She had time for her body to suck in a ragged breath of air before it fell back to the cold flagstones, not remembering how to coordinate its muscles. It seemed very slowly that her mind started working again -- blinking her eyes, breathing in, breathing out, and pumping her heart. Her heart was pumping perhaps a little too hard.
Fire, was the first coherent thought that crossed her mind, although her brain had not yet warmed up sufficiently to guess at what it meant.
In what could have been seconds or several minutes, her body seemed to decide of its own accord to slowly drag itself into an upright position, slumped against one wall of the dim hallway for support. All of a sudden, it occurred to the knight that she felt very queasy, and she stifled a groan of pain -- pain that seemed to originate from her left arm. Gingerly, she turned her head to glance in that direction, and was mildly surprised to see a ragged bandage hanging there. A lot of dried blood and inflamed, pink skin could be seen hidden beneath it.
Puzzled, she wondered vaguely how she had obtained the wound. As she moved to absentmindedly unwrap the soiled bandage, something crackled gently under her weight. Parchment, she realized, carefully removing it from the compacted haversack behind her. She unrolled it. An official stamp and the words “Royal Library of the Kingdom of Dunburrow” graced its upper corner, and she skimmed the contents of the scroll before realizing that it was just a minor document describing tax changes in the last forty years. She frowned. Why on earth do I—
And then it came slamming back to her. Everything. A white stallion on the horizon. Kit’s voice in her head, a girl with feline ears. Oran, gone. Shino and a dark-robed man -- a dark-robed man who had stolen a trivial scroll from Castle Kestrel. A man who had hoped she would unwittingly return the scroll and bring the poison to her comrades’ door.
Tamia Wendfeld was dead. Tamia Wendfeld should be dead.
The girl shuddered despite herself and, ignoring her pain, drew her limbs close around her body, trembling. Why wasn’t she dead? She remembered falling to the ground, her body starved of oxygen. She remembered falling asleep, and at the same time, knowing that this was not sleep -- this was death. And then there had been nothing.
Fire.
Yes, there had been fire, she realized. A hotter fire than she had ever known. Pain, and also elation. She had been reborn. Sev.
Her first impulse was to hate the bird. It was the same thing everywhere she went -- everyone, no matter who or what they were, seemed to feel the urge to interfere where they were not wanted. She had been meant to die. She had died. And then came swooping in the fabled phoenix of Ikkin, who was no doubt supremely pleased with himself for reviving her... and most likely several others.
Then, however, her heart dropped. Several others... she squinted at the sky beyond the arched windows of the hall. The sun was rising. How long she had been gone she did not know, but she did know that it would be foolish to think that no one else had died since her own passing.
At that moment, a flash of white crossed into her field of vision, and a small, wingless bird -- a Weewoo -- streaked into the hall from one of the open windows, flying in the miraculous fashion that Weewoo flight was. Something spiralled down from its beak, landing directly in the girl’s lap, before the Weewoo flitted out through another window. Dully, she glanced at the dropped evelope.
Tamia Wendfeld, Orange Knight of Dunburrow South Entrance, Castle Kestrel, Dunburrow
There was no return address. Finding no better alternative, she slid one finger cautiously under the fold and opened the letter inside.
Tamia Wendfeld,
I'm not sure how to write something inspiring, as I don't remember any speeches or documents that were meant to be. So I will stick with the facts. I hope I'm not too late to warn you. There is a force that threatens to take over this world with its power, and oppress the inhabitants. This force's power is bound to be large and may even be connected to the dark storm that is plaguing this world. Last I heard, it was near the castle, and there may still be some sign of it there. But I doubt that it will stay for long, it will likely move forth and conquer at the first chance it gets. If this world is to continue to be free we will have to stand together against it, use everything in our power, and not back down. Please, join me against this force, then this world will have a chance at survival.
-Ethan
P.s. You may ask others to join the fight, but please don't tell them about this letter.
Admittedly, the only thing Tamia could think of when she had finished reading the letter was how very late this Ethan had been in warning her. In fact, the letter had only brought her even more confusion. Who was Ethan? How did he find her, and, more importantly, why did he need her?
Turning over the letter’s contents in her mind, she slipped it inside her pack and rose unsteadily to her feet. Swaying slightly, she stumbled towards the open doorway, and the group of mismatched travellers outside. ZariZari made a face and began to chew on one of the remaining sheets of paper. 'Looks like a bright idea to me. Just hope it doesn't explode in our poor fleety faces, since, yanno, I'd rather it didn't, since I deal poorly with such things when I am tired.' <Ienalle> Zzzzzzzzwhat? Oh. Catching up, catching up> Zari gave Ienalle a dry look. 'At least you can sleepwalk.’ Rider“Hoist the flag!”Ahh, finally, the red flag got a little airing-out. At this point, Rider was too dizzy with blood-loss and battle-high to think straight. She rolled out of the way of Kyve's sword just in time. Ventratta had made it up to Kyve's shoulder. With as much vengeful fury as he could contain in his tiny body, he bit Kyve's ear. Nalia bit his neck with an almost equal anger, but the kind reserved for an employer rather than a friend. While the Meepits were biting the Fleeter, Rider travelled to the ship as fast as her weakening legs could take her. She passed out within two yards of the ship. Gently, the mist scooped her up and deposited her on the deck. PFA((Y'all know where))Jernath frowned. His arrows were completely ignored by missed the red-cape pirate, the signpost girl and the purple-clad mage. The kitsune blew the one fired at her off-course with a small wind blast, and then shot a fireball in Jernath's direction. "Look out!" he hissed to Rose, as he hopped from the tree he was in and into the next one. He watched as the branch he had been on just moments ago caught fire, charring the wood. That was close, he grimaced. He looked back over at kitsune, who was now back to fighting the marine as if she had never been shot at. Jernath couldn't help but feel a little annoyed that he was being ignored, but decided it also meant he had an advantage. If they didn't notice him, they wouldn't see his attacks coming. Noticing a new pirate who had started attacking the marines (Leste, but he didn't know her name), Jernath grabbed another arrow, and fired at her. He decided it best to not try and attack the kitsune again just yet, unless he wanted to have the whole forest set ablaze. --- PFA was starting to feel dizzy from concentrating so much. So she stopped healing her shoulder for now, and took a moment to examine it. It was far from fully healed, but it was better than it was before. It would have to do for now. She rolled onto her knees, looking back at the battlefield. It looked pretty nasty; swords swinging everywhere, arrows flying about, magic blasts... her stomach churned at the thought of going back into the battle. But... she didn't want to leave Uncle to die. Not again. Gathering up her strength, she pushed herself to her feet, ignoring her aching wounds. She didn't want to fight, but... this was war. She had to fight. "Bluisa!" she called out, barely remembering that she had been trying to do so before. She figured she could use all the help she could get. And then, not waiting to see if her attempt to summon Bluisa had worked, she pulled out her katana, and ran over to help her Uncle with whatever he was doing. Trying to take on the blarf, from the looks of it. Well, if that was what we was going to do, then that was what she'd do as well. She wanted to be by her Uncle's side, help him in whatever way she could. After all, he and Bluisa were the only allies she had left in this war. "Need help?" she said to Uncle, forcing a smirk. She gripped her katana tighter, and prepared for anything that would be launched at her. BaconDeri turned and swung at her with his sword, and Kat raised her staff, blocking the blow. However, the impact almost sent her tumbling backward, and she fumbled, keeping her balance. The blades on the ends of her staff were out again, and she disengaged, stepping back. Putting away her staff-turned-wand and unsheathing her sword, Kat ran at him again with a series of chopping strikes. IkkinJord's kick knocked the breath out of Ikkin, and she reflexively brought her legs up to trap his leg and keep him from kicking again while digging her dagger deeper to keep herself from getting pushed away. This left her floating in midair, the wind holding her up rather than her own legs. Still holding the knuckle daggers away with her sword, she pushed forward against him as hard as she could with both hands, in an attempt to take him off balance - which would, hopefully, be easier since she kept held of his right leg between her arm and her knee - and down to the ground so she could finish this. So you can finish him" the nasty part of her mind told her. She pushed that thought out of her mind. She didn't want to think about that. There had to be some way to end this without any more death... even if the flag ordered her to "show no quarter.” Vyt((War Zone))
A familiar voice made its way through the battlefield, eventually piercing through Cat Assassin's energy ball. The feline turned around to see a mysteriously-healed PFA running towards him. The wounds on the ninja seemed to have regenerated, though at a rate even faster than Vyt's metabolism.
"Need help?" asked the ninja, her grasp on her own katana tightened.
Cat Assassin was caught dumbfounded at first, but quickly recovered. "... It seems that we've somehow became blessed by an unknown force," he uttered, noticing his niece's quick recovery and a third-party energy currently residing in his energy reserve.
"... Anyway, let's put an end to this meaningless war and-"
Cat Assassin was about to finish his statement when a blinding flash emerged from beside him. The feline tried his best not to be affected by the light, covering his eyes to avoid its harsh contact. As the light slowly dissipated, it revealed an envelope of some sort. Written on it was:
"Cat Assassin" Briske, Subordinate Ninja Castle Kestrel, Dunburrow
"... That was unusual. Whoever wrote this must've known I'm here," the feline thought, obviously surprised by how accurate the address was. There was no return address for some reason, hinting that it might've been made by someone who was not currently in the battlefield.
Without a minute to lose, Cat Assassin opened the envelope, which contained a letter specifically delivered to him.
"Cat Assassin" Briske,
I'm not sure how to write something inspiring, as I don't remember any speeches or documents that were meant to be. So I will stick with the facts. I hope I'm not too late to warn you. There is a force that threatens to take over this world with its power, and oppress the inhabitants. This force's power is bound to be large and may even be connected to the dark storm that is plaguing this world. Last I heard, it was near the castle, and there may still be some sign of it there. But I doubt that it will stay for long, it will likely move forth and conquer at the first chance it gets. If this world is to continue to be free we will have to stand together against it, use everything in our power, and not back down. Please, join me against this force, then this world will have a chance at survival.
-Ethan
P.s. You may ask others to join the fight, but please don't tell them about this letter.
Folding the letter, Cat Assassin slowly placed the letter inside his right pocket. Ethan, as the letter suggested, might've been too late to warn him about the chaos that was ensuing inside NTWF, but at least it gave him another clear reason to continue fighting. If this Ethan was telling the truth, then something was provoking everyone to fight.
It was the gem. Since its existence, everything went totally wrong.
Cat Assassin turned to PFA, who was obviously itching to fight. "Try to stop everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, who gets in my way. I'll handle the pirate captain myself," he breathed out, his voice not stirred by his difficulty in breathing, but rather empowered by the mission of destroying the gem once and for all.
The feline then concentrated once more, filling his hands with energy. If his assumptions were correct, he'd have at least a considerate amount of energy in his reserve for him to stop the pirate captain and her opponent at the same time, and get the gem away.
Moving around the hurt Blarfie, Cat Assassin slowly walked towards the two. It's about time someone who has the real sense of justice entered that scene. JinaAlmost instantly after asking her question, Jina's surroundings faded. Talk about strange things happening, she thought. She stayed still for a moment, then looked around. There was nothing but darkness. "Hi," said a voice. Jina looked around. There was no-one there. "Of course you can't see me, it's dark. You can't see anything." "How did you know I turned around then?" said Jina. "Everyone does. But I believe I can answer your question better than anyone." "Who are you, anyway?" "It doesn't matter. Anyway, to answer your question, the reason so many strange things have been happening to you is that I made them happen to you." "But... why?" "It's very fun. I bet you would do the same thing if you had the power and boredom that I have." Jina thought about this for a moment. "I guess... but why did you bring me here and tell me?" "Because there is a battle going on. I want you to help one of the sides win." "Who are the sides?" "Pirates and Spacemen. Among others." Jina was confused. "Why would they fight?" "There is a gem. The Spacemen want to destroy it, the Pirates want to make money from it." "And why do you want to stop it?" "It's fun." "I see. So which side do I help?" "Your choice." "And why should I?" "Because you don't like strange things happening to you." Blackmail, thought Jina. "Fine." Then Jina's surroundings changed again. She was now not far from a loud noise which she assumed was the war. She knew which side she going to help. The Spacemen's intentions seemed honorable. And she didn't like that.
Ferdamei The peaceful silence was cut through like a piece of fabric when a loud thud, followed by curses, disturbed a young fmale mage from her nap. Ferdamei frowned. "Thissa better be good, not some eejit salesman." she grumbled, brushing a stray strand of hair away from her face. She pulled the door open. Sprawled on her doorstep was a face she knew all too well. "Zaria Hawkeyes. You nutty old codger. What are you doing here? I heard Castle Kestrel got the bangs and a ship started flying, and th' weather went haywire. Oh, and shiny metal men from Mars. Whatsoever that means" she raised an eyebrow, knowing full well Ailura Vaiderayle hated being called one of her old aliases, especially under an old nickname. Ferdamei stopped talking and frowned. Her friend seemed distressed, slightly hazy around the edges, and to top it all off, she was glowing slightly. "Za...Ailura? You okay there?" She cursed herself for asking such a stupid question. But if she knew Ailura, if there really was something bad she'd admit to it. AmneigerAmneiger had already started into the forest, but when he heard Ethan he had stopped and waited. When Ethan finished mailing his letters and said that he was ready, Amneiger continued walking to the forest. After several minutes of wondering both where Ethan had learned how to write with a knife and how he could get a mailbox like that, Amneiger reached Zari's shuttle with units 5 and 6 still close behind him. Everything seemed fine; no trees that had turned into chewed stumps, no recent blast marks, no fresh blood stains. > Unit 4, did anything happen while I was gone? >> Reviewing log of past events...no entries. So nothing unusual. With that done, Amneiger looked around to see if everybody had gotten here. CelestialShe missed! It was impossible! Somehow she had mistimed her strike and instead of the marine having a nice clean cut down his back he was fighting Kat, the pirate-knight-mage. Leste glared at him and was about to try again when a glint of metal distracted her. A mercenary was sitting on a tree near the ship and he was holding a bow who's arrow was pointed straight at her. Before she could even react, he fired.
Leste expected pain, a searing pain from the arrow which struck her deeply. Instead she only felt a little light headed and not all there. The arrow clattered harmlessly on the deck behind her and Leste opened her eyes. She and her cutlass was just a swirl of shadows roughly resenbling her. She looked like she was covered in the mist of the ship but nothing could be further from the truth; she was the mist. This self-defence strategy was all that was left of Leste's Shadow Pirate days which she had forgotten.
Blinking as she resolidified again, Leste gripped her cutlass tighter. The mercenary had attacked her and she wasn't going to ignore that. Leste climbed the rigging of the ship until she was level with the mercenary. Taking a deep breath, the pirate jumped the distance and grabbed one of the branches of the same tree, letting her momentum bring her forward enough to swing onto it.
Squatting on the tree branchand looking the mercenary straight in the eye, Leste drew a hidden dagger from her boot. No self-respecting pirate had less than two weapons.
"You shouldn't have done that" she said in bloodthirsty tones and readied her dagger. Nature"When you say 'species', don't you mean 'race'? It's just that 'species' is like dog vs. horse vs. cat, while race is like Asian and African. Is there any particular significance to this? I mean, I haven't heard of dragons particularly being racist. Also, have you ever heard of elvish dragons with three or more elements?"Seline shot a look towards Omni. "Well, I'm not really sure. It's just that there's a strict law between the Dragons that Elvish dragons of different elemental powers aren't allowed to breed. And yes, there are rare cases in that Elvish dragons can have two elements." She looked at Demene. "Like this one." Strife((The Forest Near the Manor)) After noticing Professor Amneiger walk into the forest, Leoness followed him from a fair distance away. She still felt nervous about the locals discovering her affiliation with Spacefleet, and even though she had to reveal it at some point, she preferred to keep it hidden for as long as possible. As she made her way through the thick bushes and tall grass, Cyclops simply clinged himself to her back, making random noises every now and then. He was really looking forward to getting his suit back. Eventually, the two of them reached Professor Zari's shuttle. Amneiger was already inside, looking over the ship's logs and scans to see if anything unusual happened during their trip. By the look of it, the shuttle was hidden well enough to avoid any strange happenings. Cyclops turned himself around, crawled down Leoness's leg, and entered the shuttle. As he expected, the robotic suit was in the same position he had left it in. Eagerly, he climbed his way up the thick legs and bulky chestplate of the suit and rested himself comfortably in the hole at the top. After allowing his body to melt and fill the space of the hole, the suit's dome helmet sweeped over him, and various lights scattered around the suit started to glow with life. "O nc e a ga in, th an k y ou fo r t ol er at in g m e, C hi ef Me di c," buzzed the speaker in his suit. "You're welcome, Subcommander," replied Leoness as she walked closer to the shuttle. "The slime will dry itself in about an hour, so it's perfectly okay." Her head darted left and right, searching for the medical supplies in the ship. "Are there any medkits in here?" "O h, m y m is ta ke... my su it is bl oc ki ng th e m ed ic al su pp ly co mp ar tm en t." Cyclops bent the pitch of his suit's voice so that it sounded like he was chuckling, and then proceeded to slide himself over and hop out of the shuttle. He landed on the forest soil with a metallic thud, kicking up a cloud of dirt beneath him, and then straightened his suit so that it was standing at its full height - about eight feet. A large metal claw with sharp edges was attached to the suit's right hand, which looked more like a militarized crane machine claw than anything else. A large cannon was attached to the suit's left hand that looked very similar to a gatling gun, but the inside of the barrels glowed with a pulsing green light. The suit as a whole was mainly black in color, and it shimmered in the streams of light that poured in from the treetops. Cyclops swiveled his torso around to face the shuttle again, and his lower body did the same, albeit more slowly. Leoness had grabbed a single medkit from the shuttle and was now standing outside the door, waiting for the Professor to finish gathering his own supplies. As she waited, she began to wonder what it would be like when the others discovered that she was working for these people. Based on her past experience in the Fleet, she knew that her planetside friends would not greet them with open arms, and would probably declare open war with them. Spacefleet's missions and beliefs were simply too distant from the rest of the NTWF for them to coexist peacefully, at least during first contact. What she feared even more, however, was losing her friends. She joined Spacefleet because she felt that she could make a positive difference. She didn't join to conquer worlds or make enemies, and she truly hoped that her friends would see that. Suddenly, she was caught by surprise when a voice entered her head. I have stated this before, but I would like to remind you again that I will not reveal your affiliation with us.Leoness turned her head towards Cyclops, giving him a warm smile. Thank you, she replied telepathically. You have no idea how much it means to me.Another limitation of Leoness's telepathy was that she could not lie through it. Whenver she sent telepathic messages, she was always forced to speak the truth from the bottom of her heart. It was yet another reason that she used it rarely, because she wasn't the type of person who enjoyed hurting others, through truth or otherwise. "Are you ready, Professor?" she asked to Amneiger, turning her head towards the shuttle door. PFA((near the Weewoo. Yes, I'm calling it the Weewoo. XD; ...I'm running out of other ways to say it))Uncle looked with surprise at the strangely healthy(er) PFA, then at some sort of letter that appeared in his hand, and then back at PFA. "Try to stop everyone, and I mean EVERYONE, who gets in my way. I'll handle the pirate captain myself."PFA nodded, chasing after Uncle as he ran off toward Huntress and the Commander. She held her katana ready, acting like a bodyguard to her Uncle. The first person to try and stop them would get a face-full of steel. --- Jernath's arrow went straight through his target. But yet, it did no damage. Jernath grimaced. What was with these opponents and all their weird magic? The pirate got angry at the fact that she had been shot at, climbed up the rigging of the pirate ship and hopped over to one of the branches on the tree. This was strangely satisfying for Jernath, considering how the previous people he shot at didn't seem to care. "You shouldn't have done that," the pirate said, pulling a dagger from her boot. Jernath realized that his bow would do no good if the pirate was getting up close, so he immediately put it away and instead pulled out his own daggers. "I'll do what I feel like doing, thank you," he retorted, in a rather weak attempt at sounding threatening. Inwardly, he was just hoping that his attacks wouldn't go right through the pirate as they did last time. He took up a defensive stance, waiting for the pirate's move. Huntress((The battleground)) Bloody Mary had finally gotten the courage to jump out from behind the barrier, now that the Commander - and everyone else - was reasonably busy, and trotted over to the blarf. Huntress, who wasn't busy at all, was standing there in front of that barrier, having caught her breath, drew patterns in the air with the tip of her silvery sword in order to get used to the weapon and its weight and balance, and watching the Commander getting attacked. But since she wasn't busy, she also saw other things. Like the ninjas. One of which attacked the blarf. Again. When the Commander was kicked down, she took a few steps closer, and when he got up, she was standing there a few feet away, still twirling the sword, and nodded at the approaching ninjas as if she and the Commander were best buddies and on the same side. "They want them gem," she said. "Neither of us wants to let them have it, and neither of us likes getting interrupted, so make sure you know your priorities in the battle." She raised her voice. "Pirates!" This was by now a raging fight, but hell, she was still the captain. "Remember who you are! Fight, kill, show no mercy, but know what you're doing. The Spacefleet are only the enemy, but the ninjas," her eyes darted to PFA and Cat Assassin for a second, "the ninjas are traitors. I don't want you to kill them. I want you to annihilate them and bring me their heads, and I'm very willing to personally pay fifty shinies to anyone who does that - you hear that, Fleeters? That goes to you too." Bloody Mary, who was halfway past her, stopped right there. "Whahahat?" "You heard me." Hunty grinned at the Commander. "Bit of a shame that I don't have the time to handle them myself, but we were having this lovely chat here and I wouldn't miss it for the world - don't you think?" She raised the sword, leaving a silvery trail like a slow-motion special effect, and swung it forward horizontally, more or less at her opponent's neck. Her eyes narrowed cautiously, she had no doubt the Commander would be able to parry that, but in order to know how to fight and what to expect, she had to learn how the Commander fights. And there's no easy way to learn that. "Idiot," Bloody Mary muttered, jumping on the blarf's back and struggling to the depths of his fur in order to find his ear. It was like descent to Hell - dark, hot, and smelly. "You okay, boy?" he asked. "Blarp," came the sulky, muffled answer from the smelly depths in front of the meepit's feet. "Yah, stupid question." The meepit sat down more comfortably, reminding of a furry little therapist at that point - if there'd been anyone to watch. "What'd he do to you?" This time the reply came on different vocal cords, from the deepest, darkest, smelliest depths of the creature, and emerged in a low quiet wail. He listened, and understood. "Pain in head?" "Blarf." "Sunnowa..." Bloody Mary muttered, poking his head out and looking around for help. Battle was raging all around, so there wasn't much to be expected from any side. And their healers, the mages, were all engaged in the battle and healing would take their strength. Crud. They had medicaments on board, but nothing in quantities suitable for a blarf, and what exactly would help to numb the pain in his head anyway? Then it clicked. The meepit grinned widely to himself and jumped back into the blarf's fur. "Get rolling, boy." Trying to ignore the piercing pain in his head, the spiky blarfball started to move, rolling away from the battle and towards the ship. As it reached the board, it turned around the keel and to the other side, where it was quieter. Something small and blue jumped into a still-open cannon hatch. Vyt((War Zone)) "Pirates! Remember who you are! Fight, kill, show no mercy, but know what you're doing. The Spacefleet are only the enemy, but the ninjas... The ninjas are traitors. I don't want you to kill them. I want you to annihilate them and bring me their heads, and I'm very willing to personally pay fifty shinies to anyone who does that - you hear that, Fleeters? That goes to you too." Cat Assassin did not want to admit this, but the captain was very good at manipulating her people. Considering the fact that she even had to use her own enemies against them, the captain did a pretty good job at trying to keep them busy. The energy ball was also starting to fade out as well, losing its reddish translucency. Now that everyone was going against the ninjas, Cat Assassin had to think of yet another plan without using the ball's invulnerability. Instead of getting gravely scared by the captain's orders, Cat Assassin retained his expressionless face intact. After a line of thought finished its run across his mind, the feline quickly turned to PFA. "PFA! Change of plans!" he shouted, making hand gestures to PFA and signalling her to come over. Before his niece could come closer, the energy ball had completely lost its effectiveness. " Oh crud.” Celestial"I'll do what I feel like doing, thank you," the mercenary replied and drew his own daggers. Leste growled but before she could attack, the captain's voice rung out.
"Pirates! Remember who you are! Fight, kill, show no mercy, but know what you're doing. The Spacefleet are only the enemy, but the ninjas... The ninjas are traitors. I don't want you to kill them. I want you to annihilate them and bring me their heads, and I'm very willing to personally pay fifty shinies to anyone who does that - you hear that, Fleeters? That goes to you too." she shouted and Leste's eyes narrowed. She would have rather stayed and dealt with this upstart of a mercenary but the captain's orders were to be followed unless of course, the pirate wanted to spent the rest of her days in the lowest part of the ship as a punishment for insubordination.
"As much as I would have loved to fight, you heard the captain's orders which are fortunare for you. But for your sake, I hope we don't meet again" she said and jumped gracefully off the tree, her black coat fanning out like wings behind her. Ninjas were such a fun prey with their kunais and throwing stars, whatever they were called.
She only saw two ninjas, a feline-boy with a reddish glow around him and a girl next to him with her katana-sword held up high. Leste smiled at their naivety. How did they expect to fight the whole crew when there were only two of them. This should be very good. She drew her cutlass which still had to taste blood and charged at them both. If there is going to be blood tonight, she hoped it would be ninja blood. PFA((the ninjas-are-about-to-be-swarmed zone >_>))PFA gripped her katana so tight her knuckles turned white. Huntress was putting a bounty on the ninjas' heads. Ho boy, was PFA's only thought. "PFA! Change of plans!" Uncle shouted, making gestures to PFA to come closer. PFA did so, just as Uncle's energy sphere vanished. The look on Uncle's face told PFA that this was a very bad thing. "I really hope you have a good plan," PFA muttered, watching as several eyes went to the two ninjas. She noticed a pirate charging toward her and Uncle, and she brought her katana around so she could block the attack. --- One of the pirates, apparently the captain, shouted that she was willing to give fifty shinies to whoever brought her the ninjas' heads. Jernath, being a mercenary, was obviously intrigued by the offer. And thankfully, the pirate he was fighting decided to stop her attack and go for the ninjas as well. With a sigh, Jernath put his daggers back in their sheathes and once again pulled out his bow and an arrow. He looked over the battlefield, spotting the two ninjas standing near each other. He took aim at the feline, who Jernath just then remembered was called Cat Assassin. This cat was the one who once knocked Jernath out of a tree and tied him up, leaving him to watch helplessly as his friends were killed off. Jernath let these memories overshadow his other, far more pleasant memories of the ninja, letting himself become filled with rage. And then, he fired the arrow. The ninjas were going to die. BaconDeri blocked Kat's strikes with minimal effort with his Vorpal sword. He temporarily extended a knuckle-blade and swiped at her between blocks. Kyve winced in pain as Surf kicked him. Not because of the kick, mind you, he could barely feel it with his body armor. No, Kyve winced because she also hit him on the head with her staff. Hard. He turned to find her glaring at him. "Oh, you are going t-AAIIEEE!!" Kyve yelped suddenly as two meepits started biting him. He dropped the sword in his left hand and removed the meepits in no gentle manner. Kyve turned to face Surf again. "As I was saying... Now you are going to taste my full wraith." "That's 'wrath', you idiot!" Jord shouted to Kyve as he tried to escape Ikkin's grip. He retracted one knuckle-blade and moved his arm away from Ikkin's sword, while attempting to hold it in place with the other knuckle-blade, bending towards her to stab her knee. ZariZari wandered after Amnei, thnking. Her wings itched like fire. As soon as the trees obscured her from sight, she opened them and shook them out. 'Cramps in the joints. They're really annoying and if I let them lie my wings seize up and I can't use them. It's either make 'em vanish, which takes constant concentration, or do what you need to make sure they work. Yes, I know, absent chatter, one of my bad points, should really shut up, not proffesional, yeah huh.' Zari stopped taling and clambered inside her huttle, which began chirping at her in Illhvrenan. She ignored it studiously while the clones who had been left behind clambered all over Zari and insulted everyone else. <Salricio> Humans. Smelly as ever, I see.> <Latiere> A bit smellier, possibly?> <Ytrisan> Wear proper shoes, idjits!> <Aeloan> They look like proper shoes to me, Ytrisan.> ((Note- The clone language isn't all meowing, when it is noises at all. Chirruping, growling, sneezing, sniffing, making dog noises, and twitching of head, ears, and tail also have distinct meaning. )) Ailura gazed sourly at her old friend. 'Don't use that name. Please. It only reminds me that someday the truth is gonna come back and bite me with much gusto.' She levered herself back onto her feet and stretched, wincing. 'Yeah, sure thing I'm fine. I'm talking to myself, seeing demented games in the skies and my home has been blown up by who knows what. That's...the fourth 'home' that's done a bunk in my memory. I'm stuffed. Officially. With a wax seal to make it nice and tidy. Maybe I should start writing my life story. It'd make a tragically lovely comedy for the literate masses.' she emitted a crazy laugh and fell sideways against the door frame. 'I need some food...' Rikku((Mage Manor)) Rikku, feeling a little disgruntled, marched haughtily through the cold-floored hallways of the Manor. She didn’t have a particular goal in mind, but merely wandered, feeling bored. Ideally, she was going over the events of the past few days in her head, trying to make sense of them. In practice, this translated to wondering how the sheer magic of the place managed to warp the Space/Time laws so easily, and whether it was possible to replicate the effect. She frowned briefly, remembering the girl from earlier. She’d had some kind of barrier, and that had to mean she was scared of something. The question is, what? She’d said she was looking for Kat; maybe it wasn’t on innocent business. And the expression on her face hadn’t been pretty. Maybe – Rikku passed a window, blinked, and backtracked. A small bundle of white feathers had hopped through a window. It blinked back, and then fluttered over to her with a sparkle of magic-looking glitter that must have substituted for wings. The necromancer petted its snowy plumage but the small bird ‘woo’d in irritation and dropped an envelope into her hands before flying back out the window. Rikku examined it, scowling. Rikku Dianthe, Pyro-Necromancer Extraordinaire Second Floor, Mage Manor Curiosity overcoming her misgivings, Rikku read the letter inside. Rikku Dianthe,
I'm not sure how to write something inspiring, as I don't remember any speeches or documents that were meant to be. So I will stick with the facts. I hope I'm not too late to warn you. There is a force that threatens to take over this world with its power, and oppress the inhabitants. This force's power is bound to be large and may even be connected to the dark storm that is plaguing this world. Last I heard, it was near the castle, and there may still be some sign of it there. But I doubt that it will stay for long, it will likely move forth and conquer at the first chance it gets. If this world is to continue to be free we will have to stand together against it, use everything in our power, and not back down. Please, join me against this force, then this world will have a chance at survival.
-Ethan
P.s. You may ask others to join the fight, but please don't tell them about this letter. She stared at the paper for some moments after she finished reading it, thinking. Who was this ‘Ethan’ character? What force was he warning of? The gem, Spacefleet, some other unknown peril … the amount of conspiracies bubbling around currently was rather surprising. Rikku carefully put the letter back in its envelope and tucked it under her belt. She needed to think about this. Not entirely sure why, she found her footsteps directing themselves back towards the kitchen. “Food is always good,” she reasoned. “For thinking and such. And eating, can’t forget eating.” Vyt((Afterlife))
"She's lost her mind."
Vyt's eyes widened in surprise after hearing Hunty's offer. Fifty shinies for pitting two ninjas against death would definitely trigger the greed of any money-hungry creature, and more surprisingly everyone around Cat Assassin and PFA were starting to pursue such a selfish task.
"... There's something wrong here," Vyt noticed. "The gem is a far much better reward than 'fifty shinies' (whatever they are). Why can't they just take the gem?" Indeed, the artifact was a better prize, and taking out a single pirate just to take the gem would be a more logical situation than taking out two ninjas for only fifty shinies.
"Probably everyone around Huntress have also been corrupted by the gem."
((War Zone))
"... Summon Vyt's shuriken."
Cat Assassin mouthed the words coldly yet hesitantly. The weapon he was talking about was a very rare possession: a human-sized shuriken dyed crimson red that once released will chase anyone until their lives are taken away. As much as the feline hated to go against his principle, he would not want to die so quickly. The eyes of everyone around them suggested that they were blindly following orders from a corrupted pirate, and his and PFA's deaths would eliminate the chance of waking them up from such manipulation.
A mild whish that echoed through the air prompted Cat Assassin to look behind him. The source of the sound was coming from an arrow shot from quite a distance, and was heading towards the feline. Thanks to his cat senses, Cat Assassin was able to hear the sound while the arrow was probably a couple of feet away from him, but that was not the only thing his senses could do.
It triggered a swift kick from the right foot of Cat Assassin on the body of the arrow, redirecting it upwards and away from them.
Still up to his alertness, Cat Assassin turned around to see the first pirate charging towards them. His hands were still filled with focused energy, which means the cat would have to rely on his feet if he would conserve the energy he had just concentrated on his hands.
The feline's right foot was still up in the air, not giving him enough time to change his stance. He would have to improvise if he would avoid the cutlass that was aimed at him, and fast for the pirate was just a few feet away.
In an incredible feat, Cat Assassin kicked the ground using his left foot, launching him into mid-air. His body turned in a half-circle arc, forcing the right leg to follow. The centrifugal force accumulating from the tip of his foot met the side of the cutlass, launching the blade upwards as well.
However, the feline's one-legged jump did not suffice for his body to counter-act the force of gravity. Cat Assassin fell down, only to roll away from the pirate.
It gave the pirate a few more seconds to launch another attack. KatKat frowned. Deri was parrying all her attacks with almost unnatural ease - but then again, that was to be expected; she wasn't exactly the best fencer around, whether on the ship or in the castle. But when she felt something cut through her shoulder, ripping right through her robes, she stepped back instinctively, but the next strike slashed through the chain that held her crescent moon pendant, and it clattered at her feet. Crouching down, she tried to kick at Deri's ankles as she swiped her pendant, which was still clouding over ominously, and attempted a slash at his chest as she got back up. After stowing the crescent in her pocket, she created three ice daggers with her now-free hand and tried to will the throbbing pain in her left shoulder away. Kat stepped back again and threw the daggers at Deri, Kyve and Jord. Kwoiffei((Mage Manor - Library)) The sphere's flickering ceased. Shortly afterwards, the air had shifted back to what it had originally been - little more than the scents of books, wood, cobwebs and who knew what else. She narrowed one eye, and raised the other. Huh... it must've been a reaction to something.
But it didn't last for too long... what, a minute? More? Less? What is a minute? Heck, forget I asked; I've got work to do.The nondescript mage took a deep breath, and focused on the sphere. Once more it began to glow white. In a few moments a face appeared. "Who is it?""A messenger," she spoke in a low female voice. "What now?""He has the uniform, yeah. I'm not sure you picked the best time, though..." "Why not?""The sky's turning green." The voice in the sphere swore loudly. "Not too loud!" she hissed. "They might hear us." "Eh...""And... you don't really exist." The mage sighed before continuing. "You're a fabrication. A puppet, if you will." "But you're not."She nodded. "Any ideas?" "Keep an eye on him.""Keep an eye on an overreacting spirit," she mumbled, nearly revealing a set of sharp teeth, "yeah, that's easy." -- ((Mage Manor - Kitchen)) The other nondescript mages had been worrying, as had Drakhé, when the air seemed to change back again. "What was that?" "Better keep your guard up..." "If it's an intruder, I'll zap 'em."
Maybe I should get going...Forgetting to wash his hands or his mouth after eating plenty of fruit, the dragon instead simply walked towards the door of the kitchen. Maybe I'll see Rikku again.The corner of his mouth twitched ever so slightly upwards at the thought. After all... Focus! Idiot! PFA((near the Weewoo!))
The reflexes. How could Jernath have forgotten about Cat Assassin's heightened reflexes.
Regardless, he pulled another arrow from his quiver, and fired at the other ninja this time, the one known as PFA.
---
PFA's eyes widened when Cat Assassin mentioned the shuriken. She really did not like to use the weapon, as it was so very hard to control. But... he had a point. It was the best weapon she had.
PFA moved her katana into her left hand, and reached her right hand straight out to her side. The hand suddenly started to glow white. This was a magic technique that PFA actually knew how to use.
Uncle had thankfully managed to block the oncoming pirate's attack while PFA was distracted, though perhaps at his own expense. He was now completely open to attacks. PFA grimaced, and tried to get the summoning to go quicker.
Thankfully, the summoning didn't take long, anyway. The light in her hand was spreading out, forming the shape of a giant shuriken. And then, the light started to turn into the shuriken itself. As soon as the shuriken had materialized, PFA grabbed hold of it, just before gravity kicked in and pulled the shuriken to the ground.
PFA heaved the shuriken above her head and began looking around, trying to decide which direction would be best to throw the weapon in. Before she could decide, though, an arrow came whizzing through the air, piercing her in the shoulder. And unfortunately for PFA, it happened to be the right shoulder.
PFA's right arm buckled from the sudden pain, combined with the weight of the shuriken. The shuriken smacked right into her head, rather painfully at that. It didn't do any significant damage, but by golly, it hurt (and it made her bite her tongue, which of course wasn't pleasant either).
She forced her arm into the air again, feeling it shake from the weight of the shuriken, coupled with the pain of the arrow in her already-wounded shoulder. Her head was spinning from the shuriken's impact, and PFA knew she had to act fast. Willing up all her strength, she roughly chucked the shuriken as far away from herself as she could. The throw was a really odd throw, though, and wouldn't have been able to get most things airborne.
But this shuriken wasn't like most things.
Before it could hit the ground, its falling speed started rapidly decreasing, as the shuriken started spinning faster and faster. It stopped just inches from the ground, hovering there for a moment while whirling around at a deadly speed. And then, it started flying through the air on its own, swerving toward the closest group of living things it could find.
That group being the three marines, and the ones fighting them. If those people wanted to survive, they would have to duck, fast.
PFA then brought her right hand back to her katana's hilt. She once again took up a defensive stance, glaring straight at Leste. "Touch my Uncle and die," PFA hissed to the pirate.
---
The arrow hit PFA in the shoulder, just before she could unleash the fury of her giant shuriken. Jernath remembered the beast of a weapon as the thing that did most of the damage that one time. His eyes narrowed, as the ninja proceeded to throw it, even after being shot in the shoulder.
Knowing he could do nothing to stop the giant shuriken, his eyes instead went to Cat Assassin again. The feline was on the ground now, where he would probably not be able to react to attacks as fast. Taking notice to that fact, Jernath immediately fired another arrow at the cat. CelestialThe ninjas were better than she thought they would be. A parry worthy of her own blocked Leste's cutlass but she quickly jerked her sword out of the lock. However, the cat also joined in the attack and jumped up into the air using his right foot to kick Leste's cutlass out of her hand. It flew in an arc and landed point down into the ground close enough to the pirate so that she could easily run over to grab it but still have an advantage.
Quickly she ran towards it and yanked the steel straight out of the ground. Clumps of dirt flew everywhere like angry bees and she noticed a few even sticking to the blade. This would make any wound inflicted by her much nastier. How foolish of the ninjas.
She spun around to see a huge star-thing spinning around off the ground and charge into the group of marines and pirates. Her crewmates were in the path of that thing!!
"Get down! All of you!" Leste screamed at them but turned away before the star made contact. She turned to the two ninjas, pale grey eyes flashing with unimaginable anger. She hadn't felt this was since she was a shadow. The girl ninja was bleeding from an arrow in her shoulder which looked so like the one that went through the pirate just a few minutes ago. How ironic that her worst enemy was now her best ally.
"Touch my Uncle and die," the ninja shouted at Leste. She just smiled for out of the corner of her eye Leste saw the mercenary attacking the cat.
"I won't lay a finger on him" she said with a clear mocking tone and put her cutlass down while slowly walking up to the ninja concealing her plans. She needed to get closer if she was to get a clear strike. "But please enlighten me first, who is your uncle?" Leste said and knowing she was close enough, struck out at the girl with her cutlass. It was a perfectly executed maneuvere which almost guaranteed a wound of some sort. The ninja was already weak anyway. SpeckThe pickaxe dove into the ground, completely missing the Commander. He had side-stepped with ease; it annoyed Speck to no end. This tool was clearly not meant for battle. She hooked it onto her belt once more, and pulled out lemons from her pockets. One of them had never been re-sealed: it had no purpose but to fend off scurvy. She chucked it, full force, at the Commander's head, then chucked the real lemon bomb at his back. If she couldn't fight him... she could at least serve as a distraction to him so that the Cap'n could. There were only one or two more lemon bombs in her pockets now; she would have to use them sparingly. Speck looked around the battlefield for anything that she could throw at the Commander. She saw a few large rocks... but had already witnessed his power over the earth. It would be a bad idea to throw something at him that he could just deflect back at her. The pirate then spotted a discarded blaster. She dove for it, hoping that it still had some ammo in it. Scooping it up as fast as she could, she aimed it at the Commander. Flipping the safety, she braced herself for a kickback as she pulled the trigger, but nothing came out of the high-tech gun, bullet or otherwise. She pulled the trigger again: nothing. Speck turned the blaster around in her hands, looking for some kind of cartridge. There was one... but it was damaged beyond her non-'Fleeter repair. She pocketed the currently useless item; she had been distracted by it for far too long. Strife((The Battlefield)) As The Commander stood up and turned around, he heard the pirate captain approach him and start speaking again. "They want them gem," she said. "Neither of us wants to let them have it, and neither of us likes getting interrupted, so make sure you know your priorities in the battle."
"Pirates!" She shouted to her crew on the battlefield. "Remember who you are! Fight, kill, show no mercy, but know what you're doing. The Spacefleet are only the enemy, but the ninjas... the ninjas are traitors. I don't want you to kill them. I want you to annihilate them and bring me their heads, and I'm very willing to personally pay fifty shinies to anyone who does that - you hear that, Fleeters? That goes to you too."
"You heard me." Hunty grinned at the Commander. "Bit of a shame that I don't have the time to handle them myself, but we were having this lovely chat here and I wouldn't miss it for the world - don't you think?"The pirate captain gave him no time to reply as she swung her blade horizontally at his neck. The Commander quickly ducked down, and the sword left a silvery trail in the air above him. In his crouched position, The Commander dashed towards Huntress. His shoulder pad made contact with her stomach, knocking her backwards a fair distance. The attack gave him the space he needed to respond to her statements. " Your petty currency means nothing to us," said The Commander with a laugh. " Listen to yourself, captain. It seems that I am not the only one who has been affected by the gem. Slowly but surely, its power is consuming you. I know you can feel it." He lowered his head, glaring first at Huntress, and then at the gem in her pouch. " You have two choices, captain. I can take the gem, or I can take your life. Don't make me take both." The Commander took several steps forward, but as he did so, he felt someting zoom through the air and narrowly miss the back of his head. He turned around and saw Speck throw a lemon bomb in his direction. While the first bomb had apparently missed, the second one smashed into his arm, exploding in a cloud of yellow fire. The Commander was knocked backwards, but his heat shield absorbed enough of the explosion to prevent him from falling to the ground. The blast was relatively close to Huntress, but he didn't bother to see if she had been hurt by it. Speck looked around the battlefield, scooped up a damaged blaster pistol from the snow, and attempted to fire it at The Commander. There was click, but nothing came out of the busted weapon. As she fumbled around with the blaster's energy cartridge, The Commander seized the opportunity. The Commander aimed his Leech at Speck and began to scan her. A bright green light filled the insides of her pockets as her remaining lemon bombs were briefly covered in scanlines. The Leech pulsed with an ominous purple glow, and a row of lemon bombs began to appear inside of it. As this happened, the Leech expanded in length in order to make room for its new ammunition. By the time it was finished scanning, it was a little less than twice its original length. Wasting no time, he fired one of his new lemon bombs in Speck's direction and quickly turned around, hoping that Huntress hadn't been waiting behind him with another attack. ((Please note that Hunty gave me permission to knock her backwards in this post, so I didn't godmode my attack into hitting her successfully. ^^; ))
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Post by GW2 on Oct 16, 2008 15:09:14 GMT -5
Vyt((War Zone))Rolling away from the pirate was a heavy task, considering that Cat Assassin had to extend his arms if he was to avoid the energy in his hands to be expelled prematurely. In fact, he was not able to catch up with the roll, as the cat landed on his back and faced the sky. It was then that he saw another arrow pass over him. Quickly changing to a sitting position, Cat Assassin took the time to check who the target of the arrow was. It was PFA's recently-healed shoulder, and it looked pretty nasty. Worse, one of the pirates was approaching her, the chance of making an underhand strike pretty obvious. Far worse, another arrow was coming towards him. Fighting with only his feet proved to bear little for the ex-hitman. The cat eventually realized he had to use the energy in his hands if he was to somehow be able to fight the captain later on. With the energy in his left hand, Cat Assassin extended his arm to block the arrow. The yellow ball of energy stopped the arrow in its track, leaving the arrow completely useless. Then, a shout escaped from the cat's mouth. "Signum Sanctuary!" He then proceeded to using the energy in his right towards the ground. Underground, the energy turned into a small circular blast, swimming across soil and rocks. After travelling a couple of feet, the energy pushed its way upwards, forming a circle of wall around him, PFA and the pirate. Slowly, Cat Assassin stood up. If something bad would happen to PFA, the pirate would pay dearly by fighting against someone who had killed more than anyone around. SpeckShe looked down at her pockets to see green glowing lemons shining through the fabric of her coat. Speck looked up just in time to see a lemon bomb flying her way. She exclaimed like a sailor, and tried to dodge out of the way. The bomb went off as expected, right next to her escaping feet. Speck was knocked to the ground from the close range force of the explosion. Luckily, she didn't fall on her remaining lemon bombs. While she rose from the slushy ground, she glared at the Commander. How was it possible that he had redirected her attack? Yet while she glared, she saw evidence that her bomb had gone off. (The subtle scent of lemons was one giveaway, for sure.) Was it possible that he had copied her lemon bombs? Well, it is possible. Think of all that technology that he and his guild command, She thought to herself, Surely, they have some sort of technology that can replicate an opponent's attacks.
Too much thinking, not enough fighting, Speck had to focus. Otherwise, she might not survive this battle. Her forearms warmed up, tingling with magic. She lifted them up to look at them, and saw nothing. Except, perhaps, the glowing white scar on her right arm. The knowledge of an experienced blood mage ran through her head. A blood mage is a healer, and a blood mage is a fighter. They rule the life-giving liquid that runs through every creature's veins. By focusing magic around their limbs, they can speed the healing process by leading the blood of the wounded to even the worst bruises and cuts. Equally, they can damage an opponent from the inside, forcing the body to attack itself...It went on for what felt like hours, when in fact, the information came to her in a manner of seconds. She clapped her hands together, then spread them out slowly, equally spreading magic between her palms. While she could not see it, she could feel a wall of invisible magic between her hands. With a final push, she sent a wave of magic through the air towards the Commander and Cap'n Hunty. If he were indeed beyond death like his circulatory system seemed to indicate, then maybe a healing spell would cause him pain. Remarkable, distracting pain. Even if she missed the Commander, the spell could still reach the Cap'n and revitalize her. Speck stumbled a bit. Inexperienced with using magic, she had let out more than half of her energy casting that spell. She felt dizzy, and decided that it might be her time to leave the battlefield. Yet all she could do was crouch down on the ground, clutching her spinning head. PFA((I'm just gonna go with the war zone))"I won't lay a finger on him," the pirate taunted, walking closer to PFA. "But please enlighten me first, who is your uncle?"Before PFA could even think up a response, the pirate stabbed her cutlass straight through the ninja's still bandaged waist. PFA had never thought to remove the bandages, and was suddenly glad she didn't, as her blood started spilling into them once again. Gritting her teeth, PFA immediately brought her own sword around, slashing at the pirate's shoulder. The pirate wouldn't have been able to move away in time to dodge the attack. At least, not and take her cutlass with her. PFA smiled a little when Uncle's Signum Sanctuary came up. Now no one could come and attack them except for the pirate she was already fighting, who was now outnumbered two-to-one. As an added bonus, the demonic shuriken was outside of the Sanctuary, and thus wouldn't be able to unintentionally strike either of the ninjas. --- Cat Assassin's barrier thing came up. Jernath sighed. His arrows wouldn't have been able to get through the barrier, so he would have to wait for it to go back down before he could attack the ninjas any more. In the meantime, there were still the pirates. Jernath took aim, and fired another arrow. This time, at the pirate with the lemons. Bacon((Stellar Eye wreckage))
Bacon opened his eyes, and as his nervous system slowly recovered, he noticed he was in pain. LOTS of pain. He looked to where the pain climaxed and found another gash in his shoulder was bleeding.
He sighed bittersweet relief; if he hadn't healed his shoulder with Fraze's medical supplies, he could have lost his arm in the crash. Then he'd need some sort of bionic arm with a special appendage that would allow him to steal quarters from pinball machines. Before he could wonder about either where that idea had come from or the ethical ramifications of such actions, the computer beeped.
Bacon blinked. The ship's computer never actually did *anything* in all the time he'd owned the Stellar Eye. He looked at the black computer screen.
[Massive System Failure... System Resetting in 5... 4... 3... 2... 1... * ... System Online Mayday Scenario Detected...
Ship Diagnostic: Engines: Fail Motor: Fail Life Support: Online Steering: Fail Radar: Fail Radio: Fail Main Boarding Ramp: Fail Landing Gear: Fail Airlock: Online Computer: Online Passenger: Deceased]
"WHAT?! I'm not dead!" Bacon shouted.
[... ... Pilot *Bacon*?]
"That's me."
[Lifesigns detector: Fail Audio Receptors: Online]
Bacon sighed. "Do you know what happened to Lily and Urchin?"
[... Ship <3Lily<3 Status Unknown... Radar Currently Offline... Log Indicates Intense Radar Interference Prior to Crash... Source of Interference: Explosion of Ship *SF Dropship 94*...]
Bacon was about to ask why Lily had hearts on either side of her name when he and the dropship had asterisks, but decided it didn't matter. Meanwhile the ship continued its diagnostic.
[System Logs: Online Maintenence Logs: Online Pilot's Diary: Fail Music Library:... Songs 1 of 29 Online Songs 28 of 29 Fail Registration: Online]
Bacon blinked. "Registration?"
[Registration: *Excalibur III*Owned by *Stella J. Reyes*, 98-99 *Stella Reyes* Owned by *Clint B. Thunder*, 99-03 *Stellar Eye* Owned by *Soto S. Valkyrie* 03-06 *Stellar Eye* Owned by *D. Bacon Lewis*, 06-current]
Bacon nodded in some sort of confused understanding. He remembered now Soto once saying the previous owner called it the "Stellar Eyes". The ship's name was actually a typo, in a sense. Question was, if Clint owned the ship before, why didn't he say anything to Bacon? Also, who was Stella Reyes, and why did Clint name the ship after her? More important than either of those questions, where was Clint? Bacon just realized he hadn't seen his friend since before he started working on making the Sparrow-class fighter.
Bacon shrugged these questions away. "So you were originally called the Excalibur III?"
[...Yes]
"I like that. I'll call you X-3 for short." Bacon said smiling.
The computer seemed to be analyzing this last statement for quite a while. [... ... ... ... You wish to rename *Stellar Eye* as *Excalibur III*? Or *Ex-Three*?]
"Both. Excalibur III as a full name, X-3 as a nickname." Bacon said, unbuckling his seat restraints and trying to walk to the back of the ship a little, turning around when he heard the computer beeping.
[... ... Understood Registration updated: *Excalibur III*Owned by *Stella J. Reyes*, 98-99 *Stella Reyes* Owned by *Clint B. Thunder*, 99-03 *Stellar Eye* Owned by *Soto S. Valkyrie* 03-06 *Excalibur III*;*Ex-Three* Owned by *D. Bacon Lewis*, 06-current]
Bacon walked over to the airlock in the roof. It was originally installed for external repairs in mid-flight, and the computer said it was the only way out. He opened the inner door, crawled into it with great difficulty, closed the inner door and opened the outer door.
Squinting against the sunlight, Bacon first looked down at the mangled ship, half-buried in dirt, and the other half mostly buried in broken trees. Then he looked up and around. To his surprise, the Weewoo and Castle Kestrel were a good distance away. He turned the other way to see Mage Manor quite close.
"I must have gotten lost in the sky... I thought I flew back that way... where was the explosion?!" He looked the direction his ship came from, which was far away from either landmark.
((Near Mage Manor))
Bacon shrugged and limped over to the Manor, holding his left shoulder with his right hand. When he was close, he saw Ethan leaving it. "ETHAN! Ethanethanethanethan!" He shouted as he raced after the 'Fleeter. He came across Zari's shuttle. As he ran into it, he asked, "Hey, guys, can I hitch a ride?"((EDIT: Made font smaller) IkkinIkkin reacted quickly, blasting herself upwards with her wind to get out of the way of her opponent's stab. She used the initial force to try to flip him, but let go of his leg quickly so she could gain more air. She didn't really need to jump so high, but she had a feeling that she needed to get further out of the way than she would have thought. This move turned out to be a very good thing, as a giant red shuriken came soaring through between her and her opponent, and her leap into the air had allowed her to narrowly avoid it. It started to turn as to come around again, but she blasted it with a strong wind that flying straight towards the Commander. Hopefully, it would seek him out instead of her. Then, without missing a beat, she dove down towards her opponent, taking care to aim towards his daggers with her own two weapons as she attempted to use the force of her dive to ensure that he stayed on the ground. She oriented herself in such a way that if she took him down, she would pin his legs to the ground with her knees; she didn't want him kicking her in the stomach again. Omni((Mage Manor, guest room)) "That's not what I asked. I asked if you'd ever heard of elvish dragons with three or more elements," Omni said, not long before yawning. "Well, I'm feeling tired, you can answer that later. I'll be in my room." Omni got up, and teleported'ly navigated her way to her room, where she flopped onto her bed, not even bothering to get under the blankets. … "Gooood morning everybody! Wake up and turn your brain on! I am your host…" *click!*Omni lifted her hand-paw from her alarm clock, looking at the time, feeling like she hadn't got any sleep. As a matter of fact, she hadn't. "Oh, whatever," Omni thought aloud, getting back up. "I'm going to take a long nap later…" ---------- ((Mage Manor, front entrance)) "Sorry we couldn't answer your question," Ethan said to the girl, before turning and following the rest of the group. "Siber! Heel!" The group made their way to the shuttle, where Amnei did some checks to see if anything happened. "Are you ready, Professor?" Leoness asked the others. "I'm ready to go whenever you guys are," Ethan said as he and Siber walked onto the shuttle. As he buckled himself and his dog up, Ethan wondered if his letters reached their recipients, and if they had been read, and how those who read them would respond. Hopefully… we will meet soon. AmneigerAmneiger looked up from buckling down the last of the minitanks. "Bacon? Where'd you come from? Never mind, we're about ready to lift off. I don't think Zari will mind if you take a seat." Amneiger got into his chair and buckled the seat beat. Ethan and Zari look busy and Leoness spent the past few hours inside Mage Manor, so... "Cyclops, do you know who that mage and that blond-haired girl were?” Bacon((Zari's shuttle)) "Thanks." Bacon said as he sat down and buckled up. He grasped his bleeding shoulder. ((The longest post I've ever written followed by the shortest... )) Kat((In the path of one huge shuriken)) As Kat clutched her bleeding shoulder, feeling her magic knit through the cut that she had sustained from the knuckle-blade, she heard something whoosh toward their group, and it looked very much like an overlarge shuriken. She gasped, quickly diving out of the way and tripping over her own feet. Kat fell forward, but thankfully she didn't fall onto her sword. Cautiously standing up again, she saw that the shuriken was headed towards the commander - not that Kat wanted to save him from it. She decided to let it do its work and focus on her opponent, creating another ice dagger. As she threw it towards Deri, a tongue of purple fire bloomed from the hilt and encircled the blade. ((Mage Manor, entrance)) "Where are you going?" Asthielle called out to Ethan before he could walk out onto that strange shuttle. "Where - " She paused. There was no reason to follow him if he didn't know anything as to the whereabouts of Kalianne Triss either. Surf((Near the pirate shippy - whatever it's called now...)) Surf smirked when both of her strikes connected with her target, and, better yet, Kyve began to get angry at her. While the Fleeter was still wincing in pain, the airborne mage kicked at the side of his head with her left foot and attempted to latch her other foot around his ribs on the other side. Without waiting to see if her attacks had worked, she quickly spun herself around in midair, in an attempt to flip Kyve over, or at least throw him off balance. PFA((the war zone))The shuriken was being pushed away from its prey. It struggled against the wind, but to no avail. It couldn't get near this one. But wait! There was another prey nearby. In fact, the shuriken was already being pushed toward this one. This one would be a much easier target than the one it was trying to push against the wind to get to. It immediately changed course, continuing to whirl around at a deadly speed as it flew toward The Commander. ((...writing from a shuriken's point of view is difficult. ) ZariZari collapsed into the pilot seat. 'Sure. Park yourself. Don't let the ship computer teach you Illhvrenan...' she yawned. 'Whut? It was either that or...urffffggh...it doing everything with slavish obedience. I'd rather the backtalking and the attempts at teaching me my birth language, personally.' She pulled a few levers, then got up and kicked a large black metal box standig in a corner. The ship started up happily, as though it's irate owner hadn't kicked it hard. Zari flopped back into the pilot seat, then grabbed what was possibly a steering...triangle, checked a few intruments, then looked behind her. 'All present? Where do we head? HQ? Should I contact the commander for orders?' Without waiting for an answer, Zari rummaged amoung the many leather and metal strings hidden under her t-shirts ((Yes. That's a PLURAL.)) and pulled out a crystal, glowing faintly. She inspected it. 'I think there's enough for maybe seven minutes in here. Keep your hair on.' The crystal clutched in her hand, she shut her eyes and reached out. Bacon, Ethan, Leoness, Amneiger, Cyclops...More people, auras twisting and turning and rearing up in the savage games of war. The imprints ones personality made in the mind were faded behind rage and greif. Warring people were not your Brothers, your sisters, your friends. They were a many-armed creature that tore itself to pieces. The fragile tendril, shedding small fragments that were supposed to somehow be her essense, maybe, shot forward. A mind she knew was near. Strife, obviously. #Commander! COMMANDER, SIR! Professor Ailden here. We're not sure what to do now, as we have retrieved Doctor Leoness from Mage Manor. Should we join you or go to Headquarters to refuel and regroup? Bacon's injured, Leoness has burns, and the rest of us are a bi-ARGH!# Zari, talking madly, recoiled as though she had been stung. This was Strife, but...Not Strife. It was different. The mindprint had a cold, clammy feel and seemed...not like the leader she knew. The person who'd given her a place to live, opportunities, both scientific and otherwise, she wouldn't have otherwise had. This was wrong. The tendril left, racing back to it's owner with alarming speed. Zari groaned and clutched her head. 'Somethings wrong. Really, really wrong. Like one side of his head had sat on the other and taken over. Sort of cold. Like a robot...ow.' She slumped in her chair, eyes shut. It was hard to tell whether she was unconscious or just resting. Ienalle shifted to her human form and stood. 'Zari not like what she find. It scare her very much. Need to tell HQ. Commander mayhap been corrupted by...Outisde Infooenks...Eeen-floo-enz. That word.' She shuffled over to Zari and kicked her. 'No time for sleeping. Time for takeoffs.' she reminded. Zari sat up blearily. 'Okay, everybody buckle up...Don't worry. If there's one thing I don't do...it's fall asleep at the wheel. I go too fast. I got nothing off the Commander, so: Vote. Where do we head- HQ, to warn the subcommanders, or The Commander, to get him back to himself, or something else- please specify…?” Bacon((Frontlines... er... front-amorphous-blobs)) Jord, although surprised by Ikkin's sudden and swift leap into the air, easily flipped around at a diagonal so that he faced her as he landed. He barely had time to react as she was diving at him almost instantly. He dodged to the side, cursing under his breath that he didn't have a weapon long enough to slash at her as he did so. Deri watched in horror as the shuriken raced towards the Commander. Not that he could do anything about it, though. He was out of ranged weapons and he couldn't possibly get to it before it hit the Commander. He looked back at Kat to see a purple-glowing dagger headed towards him. Unsure of what exactly to do, he held his Vorpal sword out to block it with the blade edge. The energy shield of the Vorpal sword flickered in response to the fire, and the dagger passed through the synthetic energy blade with little difficulty. Deri blinked in surprise as the dagger hit him in the shoulder, peircing his armor and starting to burn into his skin. Kyve saw Surf's first kick coming a mile away, and blocked it with the broad side of his Vorpal sword. He felt the energy sheild ripple as Surf's shoe hit it. Then Kyve felt her other shoe impaling his ribcage. Surf then spun around, apparently trying to flip him. Kyve was dizzy for a moment as his feet came out from under him. His focus came back after his head hit the ground. As quickly as he could, Kyve rolled away from Surf in order to regain his footing, and clear his head a little more. ((Stellar Eye wreckage)) [<3Lily<3... how I hope your current status is superior to mine. It would crash my emotional cortex to see your systems in such a state as I am in. If only I had knowledge of your safety...]The ship's computer slowly realized it was talking to itself, and calculated it began shortly after Bacon left out of the airlock. It began to theorize about such an improbable course of action when it realized auxiliary power was running low. [System shutting down... ...] Amneiger"Radio HQ and tell them what's happening while we go to see what's going on with the Commander," Amneiger instantly replied. "We don't need to go back to the station to talk to the subcommanders and it's likely that we'll have to go the Knight's castle anyway, since the Spacefleet members there may need our help. Speaking of which..." Amneiger rummaged through his pockets until he found the radio again. "Fraze, this is Amneiger. We've found Leoness and are getting ready for takeoff. What's the situation like over there?" Rikku((Mage Manor)) Rikku opened the door to the kitchen, only to almost bang right into Drakhé coming the other way. Not sure whether to grin or stare at the ground, Rikku settled for a compromise, and smiled. “Oh, hey!” She sidestepped past, breaking into a real grin as she noticed the fruit stains on his clothing. “I …” She paused, realizing that she didn’t actually have a reason for being there. “Um, it was just some people,” she said hastily. “At the door, I mean. They were looking for Leoness …” Still feeling a little peckish, she snagged an apple and bit into it. “And, um, I …” She hesitated again, not sure what she was going to say. At that moment there came a thud. Rikku glanced out the window in time to see a rather familiar sparrow, its flesh and feathers hanging down in places. Drakhé doesn’t like necromancy …Rikku quickly hopped in front of the window and grinned, somewhat unconvincingly. “So … um … nice weather, isn’t it?” KatKat felt a tug of concern when she saw one of her ice daggers meet its mark. He's the enemy. You're fighting to save yourself and your comrades, remember? Don't be such a pushover...like in the first war.She sheathed her sword, and brought out her staff next, and created a wave of energy that sparkled and shimmered with an eerie violet light as it headed towards Deri and his compatriots. Glancing towards the commander, she saw the shuriken still blazing its deadly trail towards him, and knew that she wouldn't have to worry about him for now. Huntress((Le battleground)) The test-swing had been somewhat of a bad move. Huntress was rather glad that Bloody Mary wasn't there to make his usual sarcastic comments about her tactics - he did that a lot, and for a reason, since he was always better at tactics. He wasn't, however, better at fighting, not on that level, so she relied on herself on that question. The Commander's punch came as a complete surprise, but she was used to falling, she'd practised a lot due to the fragile cargo she usually carried on her back. The captain skidded into the snow, turning sideways in the air so that the crossbow and the overly dented quiver wouldn't suffer a hit. That was the upside of wearing a leather corset, it was nigh impossible to get bruises. It was all too possible to get the air knocked out of her in that battle, though. Hunty slammed the sword into the ground and leaned on it to drag herself up, nearly headbutting into the Commander that way. "Your petty currency means nothing to us. Listen to yourself, captain. It seems that I am not the only one who has been affected by the gem. Slowly but surely, its power is consuming you. I know you can feel it." He was laughing. Oh yes, do get overconfident, that suits me just fine."You have much faith in people who can't even control their instincts," she half-gasped, half-hissed, sitting up. "Been punctual with their salaries, I hope? Minions get touchy when they don't get their money in time. Look, buddy, I'm a pirate. These same hands have held the crown jewel of Alera; now that affected people, I think they sent out the army of the entire country to retrieve it, and a royal marriage turned into a royal catastrophe." She smiled at old memories. "We got away and sold the thing for some two hundred shinies, wasn't worth more, a pretty badly cut sapphire. Maybe it was magical. They said it was. But we're used to those things. It's not the shinything itself, it's always something more... the monetary value, the magic, the power, whichever. We only ever care about the value." But what if it is controlling you? a voice asked deep inside her. What if-I'd know, she snapped back at herself - if it'd been her own thought. A pirate's mind is more straightforward and has a lot less inner doubt than most landlubbers'. It's crucial for survival, and she was, after all, the captain, a rank not received for pretty eyes. "I'd much rather keep my life and the gem, frankly," she said, spinning the sword around. That was the upside of sitting on the ground: the sword was long enough to create a wide silver-shield that took the entirety of Speck's blast. The only thing Hunty herself got was a puff of lemonscent. "Friendly fire, doofus!" she shouted, though without much disapproval. It'd been a good explosion. Thankfully, the Commander turned to Speck now, giving her the time to catch her breath. Hunty wasn't in a hurry, and she didn't like backstabbing, so she was well prepared to wait. Besides, she knew what to wait, and backstabbing isn't the same as sidestabbing, so the very second the Commander turned around again, the sword whizzed forward, this time at full speed and backed by all of the captain's reflexes, aimed straight at his knees. *** "Getting better?" "Blaurgp." The blarf's voice was even cheerier than usually. "Good man. Here's another. For the king, as they say." "Blargpgk." "Wanna get back to the battle once you're feeling okay?" Bloody Mary was fully aware that given the circumstances, it was a kind of very contextual question. "Graurp." "Was afraid of that. Finish all this first." IkkinIkkin growled as she hit the ground, annoyed that she had somehow not only failed to flip her opponent again, but also missed her dive, as well. She landed hard on all fours, but didn't waste any time before attacking - she slashed out with her sword nearly as soon as she hit, using it to create a high-pressured wind that she threw towards her opponent to knock him backwards. She then leapt to her feet, placed both of her hands in front of her, and summoned a high-speed wind from behind her opponent to force him into her other attack. It wouldn't really do much damage, but hopefully it would knock the breath out of him for long enough for her to take the advantage. Then, she sunk into a ready position, waiting to see what her enemy would do. Strife((The Battlefield)) As The Commander turned around, the captain was, surely enough, waiting for him with a well aimed swing. The sword made a large slice in the armor on his knees, but being a half-zombie, he felt no pain from it. That was about to change, though, as Speck casted some kind of healing spell on him. The Commander was surrounded by a burst of sparkling light, and all of the pain in his limbs immediately resurfaced. Blood began to trickle from the fresh cuts on his knees, and he dropped to his knees while screaming in pain. As The Commander fell, a large shuriken of some sort zoomed by above his head. Based on the direction it was travelling, it would hit Huntress if she wasn't smart enough to duck out of the way. ((The Forest - Zari's Shuttle)) "I'm ready to go whenever you guys are," said Ethan. He climbed onto the shuttle with Siber and strapped himself in. Amneiger did the same while throwing a question at Cyclops. "Cyclops, do you know who that mage and that blond-haired girl were?""U nf or tu na te ly, no," he buzzed. " I a m n ot fa mi li ar wi th an y o f t he te rr es tr ia ls." At that point, Bacon settled himself down in the shuttle while clutching his arm in pain. Leoness noticed this immediately, due to her insincts as a medic. "Oh my goodness!" she yelped, rushing into the shuttle. "Let me take care of that wound for you, Bacon." She flipped a hatch on the medkit and popped it open, revealing a set of sleek, silvery tools. "That is, if you want me to." "P le as e e xc us e m e," said Cyclops as he forced himself back into the shuttle, taking care not to bump into any of the officers that were already seated. In the meantime, Professor Zari clutched some kind of communication crystal and attempted to send a message to The Commander. #Commander! COMMANDER, SIR! Professor Ailden here. We're not sure what to do now, as we have retrieved Doctor Leoness from Mage Manor. Should we join you or go to Headquarters to refuel and regroup? Bacon's injured, Leoness has burns, and the rest of us are a bi-ARGH!#Suddenly, the Professor recoiled and grabbed her head. "Professor!" said Leoness. "Do you need help too?" "Somethings wrong," said Zari. "Really, really wrong. Like one side of his head had sat on the other and taken over. Sort of cold. Like a robot...ow." She closed her eyes and slumped down in her chair. This fact only served to confirm Leoness's worries. Her lover was definitely in trouble... and definitely not himself. Her heart started pounding like a hammer with worry. Nearby, Ienalle shapeshifted into her human self and stood up. "Zari not like what she find. It scare her very much. Need to tell HQ. Commander mayhap been corrupted by...Outisde Infooenks...Eeen-floo-enz. That word."This made Leoness feel slightly more relieved. Strife's unusual burst of rage was not his own doing, but it was being caused by something else. Could it be the gem he had harvested from the planet last week? It seemed to make sense, based on what she saw in the manor several hours ago. Ienalle kicked Zari, and she immediately opened her eyes and stood up in her chair. "Okay, everybody buckle up...Don't worry," began the Professor. "If there's one thing I don't do...it's fall asleep at the wheel. I go too fast. I got nothing off the Commander, so: Vote. Where do we head- HQ, to warn the subcommanders, or The Commander, to get him back to himself, or something else- please specify...?"
"Radio HQ and tell them what's happening while we go to see what's going on with the Commander," Amneiger instantly replied. "We don't need to go back to the station to talk to the subcommanders and it's likely that we'll have to go the Knight's castle anyway, since the Spacefleet members there may need our help." He fished around in his pockets until he found his communicator, and sent a message to Fraze. "I ag re e," replied Cyclops. "W e d o n ot ne ed to re vi si t H Q i n o rd er to wa rn th em of th is th re at. Th e C om ma nd er is ou r t op pr io ri ty." "Yes," said Leoness. She spoke her words carefully, reminding herself that her relationship with Strife still needed to be kept a secret. "We have to save him from whatever is causing his unusual behavior... We have to help our friends over there." She turned her head to Zari. "Are you sure you'll be okay with flying the shuttle, Professor? I can take a look at your headache when i'm finished with Bacon's injury." Wolf
((More from me...? Hmm, what could this be?))A dark-robed woman ran through the woods. Though at first sign silent, the trees soon echoed the sounds of combat. Her mission was clear, but such conflict could aid her, so she turned in the direction of the shouting and soon broke free of the trees—men and women, human and otherwise, fought all around her, weapon fire flying in every direction alongside boulders and vines.
The woman grinned as she caught sight of something glistening at a man’s waist, and she slid behind a tree to watch him. He soon moved back, away from a blast of shadows that had appeared out of nowhere, and she seized her chance—she bolted from behind the tree and dashed into the man, knocking them both to the ground. She grabbed the glistening thing and leapt off him, into the trees and out of his sight before he even knew he was on the ground.
* * *
The woman fiddled with the device for a little longer until she figured it out: It was a communicator, and it broadcasted the transmission of an organization called Spacefleet. It didn’t take her long to fit the pieces together and realize just what Spacefleet was—another of the NTWF’s numerous guilds.
She pocketed the slender device and stood up: She had rested for too long already, and she still had a long way to go.
* * *
Her feet splashed through the half-dried, sticky blood as she followed her candlelight through the archives of Castle Kestrel, so deep beneath the structure, in fact, that she was all but forgotten to the world. Ironic, then, how her mission was to prevent exactly that from happening.
At last, she located the tome she desired, a tome so old only a single known copy remained. The dust on the shelf before it seemed disturbed, but whoever had sought it hadn’t taken it off the shelf, and for this, she was thankful. If it had been the demonic alchemist she’d heard of, then he was the last person on the face of the earth and behind it that she wanted to see what lay hidden in this tome.
She carried the tome to a table and set it down, a plume of dust billowing up around it. She carefully pried open the cover and turned the first thin and light page. She hoped only that she may find what she sought, what she needed, what the entire world needed to survive.
* * *
Hours had passed, and her candle had grown small and tapered, but at last she smiled as she read aloud the words she had so dearly needed to find, “To destroy the artifact of Luminence, one must hold the creation to the heavens and chant these words.”
The woman pulled out a quill and a folded of parchment, upon which she copied the words that followed, such words not even in the natural tongue of the land. She was able to recognize the meaning of a few, but the incantation was still largely foreign to her.
Ex umbra, excio lucem.
She reached the end of the page and quickly flipped to the next; it felt somewhat thicker and heavier than the others had, but she thought nothing of such and finished copying the incantation onto the roll of parchment.
Before she shut the tome, she scanned the remainder of the page, and grinned. Further theories of the artifact and its origins have been housed in the library of Falci Castle in the mountains north of the town of Palisade.
Palisade. She was in the heart of Palisade at that very moment. Centuries before, a massive earthquake and landslide had decimated most of Falci Castle to the north and, using the recovered stones of the ancient fortress, Castle Kestral had been erected and the city, once a small settlement but now the capital, had been renamed Falcorum in honor of the Order’s maiden castle. If she recalled her lessons correctly, only the abandoned keep of Falci still remained….
Yes, the keep of Falci, the King’s Keep….
That was where she’d find the man she now sought. Kwoiffei((Mage Manor)) Unexpectedly, the door opened to reveal none other than Rikku. Drakhé's reaction was only appropriate for such a situation: to fall down and land squarely on his behind. When he saw that it truly was Rikku, he felt a mixture of annoyance, surprise, and... what was that third emotion? It felt nice, whatever it was. While it caused yet another blush to come onto his face, he could only grin himself. "H-hello. Again."“I …” Rikku said before going quiet. Drakhé tilted his head. “Um, it was just some people. At the door, I mean. They were looking for Leoness …” This was spoken hastily. He didn't recognise the name... Oh, the lioness who'd come earlier. Maybe they were her friends? Part of that space-whatsit?
But she hates 'em...
She's not your master, Drakhé.Now she'd taken an apple and had begun to eat it. “And, um, I …” Rikku had gone quiet once again. The dragon opened his mouth - but no words came. He had no idea what to say... Luckily, a conversational subject came in the form of a thud on the window. He looked towards it and saw a little bird. Something seemed wrong with this bird, however... Wait, is that...?Rikku suddenly went in front of the window and gave a grin. “So … um … nice weather, isn’t it?”Drakhé was quiet for a moment. Inside, there was a lot of thinking going on. "That bird..." He fell quiet for a moment, before he remembered something. And it was something important - he'd have to ask someone else, now. "Uh, Rikku?" He swallowed before saying, "I-I keep seeing the sky t-turning green... not a nice g-green, but a sick one..."
I feel stupid.
"You... do you think i-it's just m-me? O-or the gem?” JinaJina, still watching over the battle, didn't know where to start, but she knew she had to join in somewhere. So, she drew her dagger, and ran straight in, screaming. Celestial((Sorry internet has been playing up recently. >_< PFA, Vyt, Spacefleet HQ could you please bear with me?)) Leste's cutlass went deep into the ninja, and it finally tasted blood. Sure it was opening an old wound but it was blood nevertheless. Leste's eyes suddenly darkened as her shadow instincts resurfaced. She felt compelled to draw more blood and claim her gold. What is happening to me? asked Leste terrified of her old self coming up.
However, she didn't have time for though. The ninja could still fight. Her katana was aimed at Leste's shoulder and the pirate didn't have time to dodge. The katana went a few inches into her shoulder before she dissolved into the mist that was her self-defence mechanism, a reminder of what she once was. The mist flew away from the katana a little bit and reformed in front of it, ready and waiting. She pulled her cutlass out but this time she did it carefully, aware of the pain the ninja must be in. Leste didn't like it when humans suffered too greatly.
A magical signature suddenly made itself clear in the air and Leste looked at the feline ninja. He had cast some sort of spell around the three of them. In a way, this was a blessing and a curse. While the twon ninja's were hers, she was also theirs.The man was vulnerable while wounded that was certain. It was his time to strike. Overlord quickly decended but he made sure that it was controlled. There was no Celestial around to heal him this time if things went wrong. He was on his own.
Closing his eyes, he swooped like a kestrel aiming straight for the man's head. If he could touch his for long enough and focus his mind, they would be joined and the buzz in his head would be quelled until Celestial came back. If she came back. And if she was still alive.((Strife, feel free to godmod Overlord while my internet is sorting itself out ^_^)) Bacon((Zari's shuttle)) "Oh my goodness! Let me take care of that wound for you, Bacon.That is, if you want me to.""Thanks...er..." Bacon couldn't quite remember Leoness's title off the top of his head. Part of him wondered if this meant head trauma, "...thank you, ma'am." Bacon idly wondered if she had any anesthetic with her, but then decided it didn't matter. Nothing she did to him could possibly hurt more than that goo Fraze had given him for his earlier wound. ((Battle-place)) Deri winced in pain as Kat's hesitation gave hima chance to inspect the ice-dagger wound. He discovered it actually struck the very edge of his collar-bone, and was relieved when he found it hadn't been a few centimeters closer to his middle, where it would surely have been fatal. Deri looked up to see a wave of fairy dust coming at him. He gritted his teeth and stood his ground, seeing no other way to avoid it. Jord's eyes widened with fear as Ikkin jerked him back and forth with the wind. This would probably be why Deri said not to fight her. Not that Jord had much choice in the matter... well, he did, but then Deri would be dead. As he landed, he noted her expression. She was waiting to see how he would react. Replaying the battle in his mind, Jord wondered if she had been doing that all along. He smirked. He wasn't going to play that game anymore. This time, he'd wait for her to make the first move. Kyve got stuck in a time warp until Surf's next post Vyt((War Zone))"PFA!" shouted Cat Assassin, his eyes filled with a mix of anger and concern. "Clean your wound and look out for the shuriken. I don't want it causing unwanted casualties," he added while slowly approaching the girl who had attacked his niece. Though his mind was being attacked with ideas of unreasonable rage (thanks to his trauma), the feline did his best not to succumb to his old ways. "You people are so easily manipulated," the cat taunted. "I mean, come on! Fifty shinies for trying to fight the two best and only ninjas? My head alone had much more worthiness back in my own world," he continued, trying to play mind games with the attacker. If there was something else beside his capability to refine his own energy that made Cat Assassin well-known, it was his great use of words to influence and invoke his enemies. "Look at the person who placed that reward," Cat Assassin pointed at Hunty while keeping his head straight towards the girl. "She has the gem, for Felicity's* sake! Why can't you just take it away from her instead of risking your life fighting us for only fifty shinies... whatever they are?" the cat continued. Deep inside, he did not want to persuade the girl to betray, but the war was more of an influential rather than a physical one. The captain was trying to keep Cat Assassin away from her, he noticed. Confident that he can take on the girl without having to focus his energy, Cat Assassin assumed his fighting stance. "... Or will you be so naive as to hold your loyalty towards a despicable captain and play with the devil himself?" * - Felicity is the goddess of Feline Town, which is Cat Assassin's birthplace. She was known to have bestowed numerous blessings among the feline race. PFA((war zone))PFA's katana sunk partially into the pirate's shoulder, but the pirate became a shadowy mist and backed away before it could do any more damage. PFA was suddenly reminded of the shadows back from the last time the guilds were warring, but stopped pondering it when the pirate re-solidified and yanked her cutlass from PFA, causing the ninja to fall to her knees and clutch the wound with her left hand, while her right hand remained firm on her katana. "PFA!" came a shout from Uncle. He was quite obviously concerned for PFA. "Clean your wound and look out for the shuriken. I don't want it causing unwanted casualties."PFA had a brief thought that everyone outside the Sanctuary currently were their enemies, but shook the thought away. She nodded in response to Uncle, and glanced at her wound. She grimaced when she realized there was some dirt in it. The blade was dirty. That could mean an infection, came a thought, and PFA immediately tore a small strip from her bandages and used it to try and clean the wound a little. The sooner she cleaned it out, the less likely it would be to get an infection. Once she had cleaned it as much as she could without making it worse, she tossed the strip aside and once again clutched her hand to her wound. Looking up and noticing that Uncle had the pirate distracted, PFA took a deep breath, and began concentrating once again. Weird magic, don't fail me now.Soon enough, her hand started to glow, and the wound's bleeding slowed. PFA hoped beyond hope that the pirate wouldn't notice and begin attacking PFA while she was trying to heal, as the ninja wouldn't have the chance to react in time. CelestialThe ninja fell, much to Leste's sadistic delight. However, she silently snapped at herself for being so happy at another's suffering even if it was a ninja's. Instead of attacking and delivering the killer blow, she watched the ninja bandage the wound and a grudging respect filled her: these ninjas were tougher than they looked. She took the time and cleaned her cutlass with a cloth she always kept inside her coat, a mockery of the handkerchiefs that gentlemen always had in their coat pockets.
"You people are so easily manipulated, I mean, come on! Fifty shinies for trying to fight the two best and only ninjas? My head alone had much more worthiness back in my own world! Look at the person who placed that reward, she has the gem, for Felicity's* sake! Why can't you just take it away from her instead of risking your life fighting us for only fifty shinies... whatever they are?.. Or will you be so naive as to hold your loyalty towards a despicable captain and play with the devil himself?" the feline behind her said and Leste turned to see him ready to fight. She was amazed at how manipulative he could be. But two could play at that game.
"I truly do not care about rewards and I despise the gem for I have seen enough shadows to last me a lifetime. But why do you want it? Jealousy? Greed? Or maybe another reason? Personally I wouldn't touch that blood-soaked thing for all the stars in the sky. But I would dance with the very devil himself to prevent others from doing so. That is presuming that the devil would dance with a creature like me," she hissed with malevolence that would have rivaled anything on this battlefield.
Taking up a defensive stance with her cutlass, she waited for the cat to make his move. After all, she wouldn't want to be the one who strikes the first blow. It might make her revert to a full shadow again and that was the last thing she wanted. Taking a breath of air, she prepared herself and hoped that the mist would save her when needed. Blood trickled from the katana scratch but it didn't matter now. It's pain was superficial and if she paid too much attention to it, she would be in even greater pain. However, she couldn't notice the slug trail of blood coming down her coat. IkkinTime seemed to stretch on as Ikkin waited for her opponent to attack, but he made no move to do so. Perhaps he was afraid of her powers - he did seem to react badly to the fact that she could attack him at a range like that. Well, then, if he wasn't going to attack her, then she'd just have to take the initiative. And now that she knew her opponent was looking for a chance to strike, she'd use those frightening ranged powers to make sure he wouldn't get that chance. Taking a firm stance, she willed the wind from behind her enemy to increase even more, then pulled it all to one side of him with a move from her left hand. With her right, she pushed it around again, circling back around to form a perimeter several yards away from him on all sides. She repeated several times, starting out slowly, then quickly increasing the speed of the winds while decreasing the space contained within to try to trap her foe within the growing whirlwind. The walls of wind grew taller with each rotation, making it impossible to jump out for any normal person in short order, and it picked up dirt and small rocks from the ground that could do a great amount of damage to anyone who tried to get through it. Once her whirlwind had grown enough, she ended the wind from behind, leaving only the whirlwind itself to circle around endlessly, then set her dagger aflame with a flash and threw it into the twister to set the whole thing on fire. It took a good deal of energy due to the size, but, at least, it wasn't quite as costly as her shards of wind; the concentration needed for those used her magic even faster than the less nuanced control of the twister. Hopefully, this opponent wouldn't be immune to fire like the Commander, she thought. Zari"Radio HQ. Got that." Zari sat up, fiddling with the shuttle controls until quiet static filled the air. "This is Professor Ailden. Do you read me? Professor Ailden. I have a report to make, darlings, and I'd appreciate it if someone was at communications!" A weary male voice answered "Davis Verdham, Communications speaking. Report." Zari sighed. "Some sort of outside influence appears to have corrupted the Commander's mind to the point the original is nearly crushed under it. We're going to see what the Nai T'ranz is going on after this. My authority isn't great, but I'm warning you: Think over the Commanders orders from now on, or things are gonna get real hairy faster than you can say Combat Sector." Davis made an affirmative noise. 'Yes, yes, But no need to be belligerent. I'll relay that to the subcommanders. Goodbye." Zari switched the radio off. "Another vote, guys. Frrrrrm...Either blow our cover and go fast, or stay secret and take a few hours." ((Davis is an NPC, so if anyone wants to use the poor guy feel free... Frrrrrm is a frustrated noise, by the way)) -- ((War Zone)) A heap of rubble shifted, stretched, then reared up and collapsed on itself, revealing a blinking ninja-cat. Zahere Emaya spun around, hering the fight scene, recognizing the voices and the way they moved, and growled. Her friends. Naviere, those two had guts enough for the whole ninja guild. "Well then, you two, I was looking for you, but it seems I only needed to get knocked out by rubble to find you both. Maybe I should try that more often" she called, drawing her katana. "Need help?" She shifted into a more comfortable stance, while quietly reaching up behind her left ear and grabbing hold of the silver throwing star woven into her hair. The edges had been protected to stop her ear being sliced off, but that was magical so she could easily remove it. ((Yep. Zaha's back. Now with sharp things in her hair and a sense of humour.)) Vyt"I truly do not care about rewards and I despise the gem for I have seen enough shadows to last me a lifetime. But why do you want it? Jealousy? Greed? Or maybe another reason? Personally I wouldn't touch that blood-soaked thing for all the stars in the sky. But I would dance with the very devil himself to prevent others from doing so. That is presuming that the devil would dance with a creature like me." Cat Assassin let loose a mild head shake, trying to fix his black hair. The feline could feel the tension rising between them; that was good, considering that he needed to distract the pirate for PFA to at least stop the wound she recently received from getting infected. Cat Assassin noticed the irony inside the pirate's reply. "Believe me, pirate. Not everyone you've been following are good. If you really are true to your goal, you will not be so easily tricked by a fifty-shinies reward on our heads," he breathed out. The reply to that was a fighting stance prepared by the pirate. Seconds had passed, yet neither Cat Assassin nor the pirate had made their first move. Both were hoping they could anticipate each other's strike. Cat Assassin sighed. "The gem... We don't need the gem. We need it to be destroyed." With that, the unarmed cat rushed towards the pirate, keeping a close eye on her cutlass. Already having a plan in mind, he placed his right arm behind him and his left arm on front, twisting his body a bit to the right. As soon as he got closer, Cat Assassin released the twist from his body while his right leg extended outward, trying to land a sweep kick to trip the pirate down. Amneiger"Fraze? Fraze?" Amneiger finally put down the radio; this didn't look like it was going to work. "Bacon, you were at the castle, right? What was going on when you last saw it?" SpeckSpeck had no time to see her spell at work on the Commander. She had her own problems to worry about as an arrow whizzed past her shoulder, grazing it through the fabric of her sleeve. Her head whipped up and looked around. The haze in her vision had almost disappeared, and she could only see a glimmer of the circulatory systems of the people and creatures around her. While the shadows in the trees concealed the figure quite well, Speck could still spot Jernath's glowing veins. She felt for one of her lemon bombs, and threw it at the base of the tree. Always partial to distracting her enemies, she rushed towards the tree once the bomb had gone off. With any luck, Jernath might stumble from the branch... or at least have to catch his balance. Even if that didn't work, the smoke could at least obscure his vision. CelestialBelieve me, pirate. Not everyone you've been following are good. If you really are true to your goal, you will not be so easily tricked by a fifty-shinies reward on our heads," the feline said while flicking his hair out of the way. Leste suppressed a desire to laugh but nevertheless a small snigger escaped her.
"You really think I'm in this for money, ninja? If so, you are a fool," she said and let out a mocking laugh which sounded like a ship's bell in the mist. Leste held her cutlass firm and true but niether of them were prepared to deliver the first blow.
"The gem... We don't need the gem. We need it to be destroyed." the cat said and ran at her. She suspected a some sort of trick but did nothing, instead allowing herself the pleasure of seeing his expression as she melted into black mist around his foot. However if he had caught her off guard, that impact would not have spared her slight frame.
"First rule of engagement: know what your enemy is truly capable of" she taunted and seemed to duck while secretly drawing her dagger and hiding it in her large sleeve. Now she had more going for her. Taking a deep breath and assuming a fighting stance, she sent a powerful swing of her cutlass at the ninja. To anybody standing by, it would have just looked like a silver trail sweeping across in front of her. VytCat Assassin felt it. His foot moved through a cold mist, a black one similar to Bluisa's. A chilly sensation entered the feline's body. "First rule of engagement: know what your enemy is truly capable of," taunted the pirate as she prepared for her first strike. A swing from her cutlass sent its message across the air, reaching for Cat Assassin. The feline was fully aware of that. He would not get near the pirate for nothing. Before the cutlass could reach the cat's head, Cat Assassin quickly grabbed the pirate by her arm, avoiding contact with the blade. In a swift motion, he positioned himself behind her, the cutlass rendered powerless and immovable. "Second rule of engagement: take advantage of your enemy's weakness," he whispered, trying to provoke the pirate. With him holding the pirate's arm, his enemy could not use the cutlass without struggling to keep herself off, but such a position would restrain her from moving at all. Still observant of what had happened earlier during his sweep kick, Cat Assassin took note of the possibility that the pirate will reform into a black mist to get away from him. Surf((Near the pirate shippy, still...)) Surf smirked when her flip actually worked and Kyve landed headfirst on the ground. He had rolled away, but Surf wasn't about to give him breathing room. She sent a gust of wind at the 'Fleeter and then thrust her staff at his sternum. ((Sorry, Bacon, I've been busy... ^^; ) KatNow that Deri didn't seem to be retaliating to her spell, Kat took this time to glance over her shoulder and see just where that giant shuriken was going, after it missed her and everyone else. It blazed through the air and towards the Commander, who was looking even less like himself as he seemed to be in a lot of pain. He ducked, and the shuriken zoomed over his head - towards Huntress. Without wasting any more time, Kat quickly created a gust of wind she maneuvered towards the shuriken, hoping to veer it off course and back to the Commander. Sparkling with tiny bits of purple light, it buoyed the shuriken, and she prayed with all her might that the spell would work.
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Post by GW2 on Oct 16, 2008 15:29:32 GMT -5
Celestial((Spacefleet HQ)) The gas had cleared and there was a little bit more room, relieving the fear of the dragons. But Celestial and felt that they wanted out. Telling them to focus all their energy on the door, she put her hands on each half of it with closed eyes. Power swirled around the doors, looking for a weak point. It found it in the gap between them. To anyone watching, snakes of flame would have been seen briefly. In case of fire, do not use the lifts Celestial remembered the old safety instruction on Earth. She laughed now and kept observing, aware of the feeling of doom that she felt but couldn't do anything about. The dragons were in control now, only allowing her a little. Her body, almost detached from her mind, closed it's eyes and let the full force of the spell fly. The door burst off the walls, preceding a waterfall of flames that spilled out of the confined space. Out of it walked Celestial like a phoenix rising from it's own funeral pyre. The explosion itself bathed the droids in flames which could have melted metal and flesh. "Your move" Celestial smirked. ((The Battlefield))The cat avoided the cutlass and in true ninja fashion, grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her back, coming to stand behind her. Leste uttered a curse that would have seemed foul to anybody no matter what their background was. That cat was a wily creature and for once she regretted that she still wasn't a shadow. Her misting ability only came now when she was attacked but it never came when she needed to get away.
"Second rule of engagement: take advantage of your enemy's weakness," the cat whispered in her ear, his breath smelling of something Leste coudn't identify. She turned her neck and glared at him, aware that she was being provoked. If she could only use her cutlass but it was trapped with her hand. However, she still had her dagger in her left arm.
She slowly twitched her left arm to bring the dagger forward and held it carefully by the blade, aware of the deepening cuts she was sustaining on her fingers from holding it. Leste only had one chance to get this right but if she did, it could mean a lot. She sunk her head in mock defeat and turned around, trying to look the feline in the eye.
"Why do you keep fighting us? And are you sure you want to just destroy the gem?" she said with a false layer of sadness in her voice. When she was sure the cat wasn't paying much attention to her other arm, she lashed out with it and tried to drive the dagger deep into him. It was her only chance. Huntress((Battleground)) "You know," Huntress said darkly, getting to her feet again. They were shaking slightly. Adrenaline overload. She paused; the 'you know' had only been said to win her brain some time to get her thoughts back in line. The ninja's big shuriken was whizzing her way, but she barely noticed it, and she didn't have to, since Kat's blast veered it off course. A captain's best offence, defence, and backup is always her crew. She did, however, smack it with her sword to send it sideways, in the very general direction of the ninjas. She didn't want it in her vicinity. "You know," she began again, taking a deep heavy breath, looking down at the Commander on his knees, "I could kill you. Here and now. Bugger about that pirate Code. Can't very well kill an enemy who's on the ground, especially a leader and especially one who's already in a poor shape. There could be talk." Hunty looked up at the surroundings. The battle was still raging, still because of the gem sje was carrying. She knew that it'd be reasonable to get the gem over to the ship, over to Leraye, who was better at keeping it under control; if the Commander was possessed by the gem, then the farther away it was from him, the better; but Leraye was pretty darn clearly a wimp and she didn't want the ship to attract the Fleet's attention, seeing that they carried lasers. One gem or demon here and there, but laserblasts at the ship she wanted to avoid. The captain sighed and leaned forward, pushing the tip of her sword against the Commander's shoulder. He was wearing armor, so she doubted that he could even feel it, but one way or another it would've been easy for her to turn it into a quick and merciless chop at his neck whenever she felt like it at that point. "Or you could surrender," she said. "We don't usually do that when fighting under the red flag, but right now... I'm not entirely sure if the man I'm looking at is the man I'm fighting. I don't want to take two lives at once if one of them is innocent." Bacon((Battlefront, middle, and rear)) Jord was surprised by just how quickly his opponent took the upper hand. The flaming whirlwind emerged around him faster than he could react. He blinked as a single fiery pebble flew into his nose, causing a small cut. Jord grabbed his radio, and, as loud as he could screamed the word "help" into it, hoping it could be heard over the cyclone. "HELP!" Deri's radio screamed alongside a sudden sea of crackling static. As Kat looked away, Deri took his chance to turn and see Jord trapped in a blazing tornado. He raised his Vorpal sword, and lunged at Ikkin, swinging his sword at her back. Kyve had no way to block the gust of wind Surf sent at him, but easily blocked and counter attacked her staff strike. As he swung his Vorpal sword, he heard Jord's cry for help. A quick glance in that direction told him Deri was already taking care of the situation. ((Zari's shuttle)) "Bacon, you were at the castle, right? What was going on when you last saw it?""Castle? Oh yeah... I passed it briefly when I was in the air, but I was going too fast to see much of anything, other than the pirate ship healing itself." Bacon removed his jacket and made the tear in his shirt bigger, so Leoness could more easily get to his wound. He glanced uneasily at the group of silver medical instruments she had. Especially that spikey one on the left. Vyt((War Zone [or whatever you want it to be called] ))"Why do you keep fighting us? And are you sure you want to just destroy the gem?" "Be careful, it's not pity we're confronting here," Cat Assassin thought. It's not a very logical situation for someone to just attack and then, when pitted in a tight spot, would suddenly become so concerned, especially for a pirate. It would just be a trick. His hypothesis was correct when the pirate swung her only free arm towards the feline's body. A glimmering silvery light entered the corner of his eyes, coming from the end of the arm. Still grasping the pirate's right arm, Cat Assassin tried to grab the pirate's left arm in an attempt to render her attack void. Though he was successful in holding the left arm in place, Cat Assassin let out a rather crude groan. The dagger dug its way into the cat's left side for about an inch, the wound it made slowly releasing blood. The pain that suddenly jolted inside the feline's mind released a couple of involuntary body movements, most notably the hastened breathing interval Cat Assassin was now having. Quickly, he raised the pirate's left arm to the same level as her right arm while struggling to keep himself from shaking so badly. Still fighting the pain inside his mind, Cat Assassin then jumped and placed both his feet between the pirate's legs. Gravity then made its own work by tripping the two over. By the end, the pirate landed quite harshly on the ground face-first, with Cat Assassin on top. "I ask... The same questions to you... You underhanded coward..." To make the matter worse, the feline could hear a buzzing sound getting louder and louder. Without looking, he knew it was Vyt's shuriken getting closer to them. "PFA! I said... Look out for... Vyt's shuriken!" Cat Assassin shouted, his breathing trying to hinder him from talking. Though the pirate's blade did not hit any vital organs, the wound it made was pretty bad. "I'll need to at least cover my wound up before the hole widens," he thought, noting that every movement he caused was making the wound worse.
Spacefleet HQ ((Spacefleet HQ - Subterranian Sector 3 - Command Center)) "Davis to Command," said the officer whom Zari had just contacted. "We read you, officer," responded Subcommander #13, pressing a small communication device to her ear. "Professor Ailden's team gave us a report from the surface," Davis began. "Apparently, an outside force has taken control of The Commander's body." #13 cursed under her breath. "We'll keep an eye on the situation. Thank you." After setting down her communicator, she quickly stood up from her seat. The light on her control panel illuminated the bottom of her face with an eerie blue glow. "Gentlemen, we have to get our act together. The Commander's gone haywire and there are intruders in the station." She glanced at Subcommander #20. "Subcommander, contact our dropship and inform them of The Commander's state of mind." "I have a name, you know," replied #20 with a disgruntled look on his face. "Are you going to follow orders or not?" #20 sighed. "Yes, ma'am." "As for the rest of you," #13 transferred her look to the other officers. "Keep a close eye on the situation in Subterranian Sector 2. Be prepared to send more reinforcements." ((Spacefleet HQ - Subterranian Sector 2 - Main Hallway)) Just as the squadron of Fleeters had predicted, the lift doors were blasted open with a large waterfall of flames. All of the officers remained in their hidden positions as the flames slammed into the flash drones' energy shields, which flickered on and crackled with bright red energy. The drone on the left recieved more of the blast, and as a result, the energy in its shield completely disappeared, and it was knocked backwards a few meters. The drone on the right suffered less damage, and its shield would have enough energy to protect it from one more attack. "Your move" snarled the intruder with a smirk. Haggoth returned to his hiding spot behind a pillar while gritting his teeth in frustration. "Get her!" he snapped, shaking his fist in front of him. The hole in the right drone's stomach widened, and a cluster of about five metal spiders jumped out of it. The spiders were silver with glowing red eyes, and their legs were very thick to support the weight of the explosives inside their bodies. The little buggers giggled as they sprinted across the floor in a zig-zag pattern, heading towards the lift where Celestial was standing. While this happened, the drone on the left ambled forward, raised its arm, and fired a net at the intruder that crackled with blue electric sparks. As it flew towards her, it expanded from a small capsule into a circle large enough to trap her if it hit her successfully. Upon contact, it would deliver a series of intense electric shocks while tightening its grip on the intruder. Zari((War Zone)) Zaha didn't see the battle, but she could hear it, feel the anger down to her bones. A sudden flash of memory-- "Hawkeyes, keep your cat out of this, I'm not sure if she knows this is only training!" Omivaise shouted over the din of swords clashing on staves, other swords. The girl he was fighting rolled her eyes. "For a country who worships Felraen gods on the side, you remarkably stupid. You know what white desert cats are meant to be, don't you? She's making this situation more realistic by fighting you alongside me. Fighting in a group is better than an one-on-one face-off." She whirled around and smacked her trainer hard on the shoulder, just as his blade hit the magical wards she'd installed around herself. She stepped back, brushing her short brown hair away from her face and inclining her head. "Guard against my cat, next time. You did tell me to improvise last time. " Omivaise sighed. 'Fast learner you may be, you're too abstract for my food starved brain. I'm off."Zaha smiled, stretched, and shifted into her cat form, then curled into a ball. -- Zari raised an eyebrow "No Radio contact? I just reported to HQ and the connections fine. So. Do we take my ship, or go on foot? Speed or secrecy?" She folded her arms, and began to swish her tail. "We need to oust this outside influence quickly, and hopefully without much of a fuss...Because, I've learned, fusses are bad. Real bad." PFA((the place with the ever-changing name >_>))The girl chucked a lemon at the tree Jernath was in. The lemon exploded, shaking the tree and sending a cloud of citrus-y smoke through the air. Jernath almost fell, but thankfully managed to grab onto the tree trunk with his then free hand, and thus keep himself on the branch. After regaining his balance, he started to look around, trying to see what was happening. But unfortunately for him, he couldn't see much of anything through the smoke. Grimacing, he put the hand he had used to catch his balance to the hilt of one of his daggers, and waited for the smoke to clear. Smoke had a way of hiding all sorts of goings on, and he wanted to be ready for whatever might be revealed once the smoke went away. --- "PFA!" came a shout from Uncle, breaking PFA from her concentration. "I said... Look out for... Vyt's shuriken!"PFA blinked, then whipped her head around to see the giant shuriken whirling its way toward her and Uncle. Doesn't the Signum Sanctuary protect us...? came a brief thought, but PFA decided she shouldn't take any chances. "Yon-po hiden!" PFA called out, albeit rather weakly, as her wounds and her general tiredness were making it hard for her to breathe. The shuriken still had heard the call, though, as it immediately had started slowing down. Once it had come to a full stop, it clattered to the ground, unable to move until someone once again rendered it airborne. PFA then sighed, looking back to the wound she was trying to heal. It was better than it was before, but it was still not as healed as she would have liked. Taking deep breaths, she started concentrating again, and began healing the wound some more. She knew she wouldn't be able to keep that up much longer, though. The more she concentrated, the faster her energy was used up. And once she ran out of energy, she would become unconscious, which was an especially bad thing with a war raging around her. Omni((Zari's shuttle)) "If the Commander is as you say, our cover may have already been blown; I vote for speed," Ethan said, bracing himself for another unpleasant ride. Amneiger((Zari's shuttle.)) "I agree with Ethan. Let's go." Amneiger checked his seatbelt again. ((Yay for short posts again. >>)) ZariZari grinned. Leoness, Bacon, Ethan and Amnei were all strapped down, and the clones had crawled under the seats. With a wry smile, she turned and grabbed the steering triangle and took off. 'I'll go slower, to save your poor brains from being mishmashed.' she called, manuvering in a tight circle, then moving forwards, the ship's computer happily chirping away to itself about altitude and speed and how much oxygen storage Zari had left. Zari Ignored it. The ship lurched forward, then set off with much enthusiasm. Zari steered towards where her pulse had gone and began to hum. Ienalle, under a seat in her human form, thought aloud. "If she begins to sing I will most likely die of a heart attack from the irony of singing happy songs while driving a masochistic Illhvrenan Ex-four-two-nine v.3 towards certain doom and possibly a big fight, possibly against the Commander, who is the guy who orders us to attack, and..." Ienalle trailed off, feeling very secondary-character-ish. DoodyDoody didn't know where he was heading, all he knew was it wasn't going to be good. He had been flying on his makeshift escape pod (a toilet with flame runes attached) for days, and he had only just entered the atmosphere. "That's the last time I try and destroy a Spacefleet ship with my Poopomancy", he thought to himself as he was heading to what seemd like his eternal doom, until one of the runes fell of, sending him flying upwards, downwards, and directions he would prefer not to disclose when he smashed right into Zari's Shuttle. "Ow." He moaned, realising he was stuck onto the windscreen. If it wasn't for his magic ring, he probably would've smashed right through, although now the windscreen was covered in a smelly brown substance. KatThe shuriken was now headed towards the ninjas - not that Kat cared. After all, there were other things to worry about, like the marines fighting her comrades, and the Commander, who looked like he could still take a few more punches. Well, that could be arranged, if Huntress wasn't there to take care of the situation. Instead, Kat focused on Kyve, Jord and Deri, and sent each of them a purple fireball. * * * Meanwhile, a blonde mage fell out of nowhere and landed at the foot of Jernath's tree, clutching her head and making a mental note to brush up on her teleportation. Or maybe after the shield that had protected her in the Manor, she was running low on energy. Still, she found herself on a battlefield of sorts. Smoke was everywhere. Everyone was fighting, and several magical signatures tainted the air... Especially that of one called Kalianne Triss. Celestial((Spacefleet HQ)) To Celestial's satisfaction, both drones were hit, although one withstood the attack better than another. She was getting bored of fighting now but it had to be done if she was to survive and maybe even get somewhere. "Get her" a gruff voice shouted frm behind the pillar and the right droid suddenly began opening up, releasing five spider-like robots in her direction. They made zig-zag patterns across the floor which reminded Celestial of evasive action. But it was clear that they were explosive and she suppressed the urge to laugh. Flames and explosions couldn't harm her. However, the electric crackling from the more damaged from caught her attention and made every singe entity inside her feeze. The droid fired an electric net at her which didn't look like good news at all. However, it was nothing the dragons couldn't handle. They raised her hand and created a shield of air around them which stopped the net dead in it's tracks. However, one part of it made it through and touched her hand. Immediatly she recoiled in pain, roaring and letting the shield drop. The net however, had lost it's momentum and fell to the metal floor. Celestial's conciousness watched it and for the first time, smiled. At least my soles are made of insulating wood. I truly do not pity those with metal boots she thought and she tried to withstand the pain. Thank the Draconis Founders for healing magic, she thought as the blue sparks danced over her hand and reduced the pain. Now Celestial paid attention to the spider droids advancing towards her. Without even flinching, she stepped out of the lift and right into their path, a tongue of white hot flame ready to burn through their shells and set off the explosives. She was just glad Bluisa was out of the way. At least she could withstand the explosions. ((The battlefield called whatever))The dratted cat grabbed her arm but not before she managed to wound him. Leste felt his breath hastening and knew the wond she had inflicted wasn't too superficial. However, she was defenceless now and needed to get out fast. Curse her shadow ablity only coming when she was attacked!
Leste was suddenly knocked to the ground by the cat and both her arms were held high above her head. All the breath was knocked out of her by the fall and the unnatural position of her arms made her wince with pain. However the cat was also shaking so she might stand a chance.
"I ask... The same questions to you... You underhanded coward..." he breathed above her head, obviously labouring to keep himself under control. Leste spat, not surprised to see the blood in her spit.
"I never want to see that accursed gem again! However I do need to redeem myself and the only way I can do that is to serve the pirates!" Leste shouted at the cat and closed her eyes, breathing in the smell of the grass. There was no way out...unless...
Taking a deep breath, she let go of her dagger. It feel forward and aimed for her back but instead of wounding her, she simply turned into mist along with her cutlass. The mist slipped out of the cats grip and reformed away from him as Leste who stood over him, weapon ready and drawn. A look of surprise passed her face and then a malicious smile. Her plan had worked and her body did respond to the weapon even if it was her own. The cat was now wounded and has lost his prey.
"You see, kitty, I must stay loyal or it will be a lot worse for the whole of the NTWF. And for your sake, I truly hope you destroy the gem properly," Leste said and lifted her cutlass.
"I really do not wish to kill you but the red flag flies and even a ninja must know that it means we give no quarter. I'm sorry," she said and brought the cutlass down. ZariZari braked, the ship floating in midair like a cork in a sink. What the- "Guys. There's something on the windsheild. Wait a Sec, please kay thanks? Zari disappeared in a flash of fire, reappearing in front of the...brown splat. "Now what, pray tell, are you? she inquired mildly, stretching out her wings for balance. 'I'd rather you removed yourself from my poor abused windscreen rather than me use the wipers and the water jet, which might be uncomfortable on you, whatever you a...ew. EW EW EW.' She edged away from the...brown splat...and crouched, keeping her tone friendly. After a moments pause, she added 'Please remove yourself, preferably sometime in the next few minutes, since we'd got a Commander to...exorcise? Depossess? Mentally scrub? Maybe I should buy some Demon-b-Gone while I'm at it...No wait. The terrestrials don't have this stuff. Jhioan! ...I meant what I said, there. I can't find a Commander with brown stuff on my windscreen.” Vyt((War Zone))
Cat Assassin desperately tried to contain himself while in pain. He was struggling not to use the other option, for it could put a life in danger which will totally oppose his principle. The feline had not broken his principle even once, and would really be disappointed if he does.
"I never want to see that accursed gem again! However I do need to redeem myself and the only way I can do that is to serve the pirates!"
After a rather bold statement from the pirate, a cold breeze then started to exist from below Cat Assassin, reaching up to his legs. He looked down, only to see the pirate reforming herself once more in a black mist. The cat could almost reminisce the time he and his friends were fighting Subila back in his world, where they took an awful lot of time and stamina just to defeat an immortal. The pirate he was fighting now was just as persistent and annoying as Subila.
Moving around for a few seconds, the mist concentrated itself into a mass. The pirate then emerged from the mist, now with a malicious smile on her face.
"You see, kitty, I must stay loyal or it will be a lot worse for the whole of the NTWF. And for your sake, I truly hope you destroy the gem properly."
The pirate lifted her cutlass in front of a helpless panting Cat Assassin.
"I really do not wish to kill you but the red flag flies and even a ninja must know that it means we give no quarter. I'm sorry," she ended before swinging her cutlass towards the cat.
((Afterlife))
"Enough!"
Vyt was already tired of watching every event unravel in front of him.
"Enough already!"
His eyes were completely awake, surprised and unbelieving of what they were seeing.
"I said enough!"
For a furious soul is still a force To be reckoned with, it may enforce, And its acts it wishes to do may still perforce.
A white aura started to surround the ethereal Vyt, expanding and expanding around the unknown dimension. His hands were extended towards the hole he was looking at.
"This is not the NTWF I wish to re-exist in! I will change its dying course for the last time!"
With that, he released the exponential power of justice into the world he once lived in.
((War Zone))
Not even minding about his wound, Cat Assassin picked up the dagger the pirate left behind and swung it against the cutlass with enough force to remove the blade from the pirate's hand. It was so powerful that even Cat Assassin looked at his counterattack with surprise.
Nevertheless, the cat needed to fight again.
"... Loyalty?" Cat Assassin started as he stood himself up. "Your loyalty is more of blind following. What made you think that captain would give your honor back?"
It was then that a white aura started to emerge from Cat Assassin's body. Not only the cat, but PFA was also being surrounded by the white force of the unknown. It was starting to fill their stamina with such energy.
In a voice accompanied by an echo of a different voice, Cat Assassin continued. "No one can redeem you but yourself, young lass. Unfortunately, you've blinded yourself too much. I'll have to bring you back to your own senses."
Behind Cat Assassin and PFA emerged a lonely soul, looking at Leste from above.
It was Vyt.
Hoping the white light had distracted the pirate, Cat Assassin rushed forward, his arms both drawn behind him. PFA((battle place... thing))PFA's head was spinning. Her body ached. Her brain hurt. She was on the verge of unconsciousness, but she continued to urge herself onwards. Just a little more... you only need a little more strength...And then, a strange sensation. The sensation of... energy returning. But it wasn't PFA's doing. It was coming from... somewhere else. PFA took a deep breath, and put forth a huge burst of her newfound energy into healing herself. Her hand glowed brighter than ever before, and the wound immediately went numb. Once PFA had opened her eyes again, the wound had closed up, and all that was left visible was a large scar. How did I...? PFA blinked, then looked up. Uncle seemed to be surrounded by a white aura, and so was PFA, now that she was looking at it. Uncle was charging toward the pirate, with more energy than he seemed to have just moments ago. And then, PFA noticed there was a figure standing behind her, glowing with a bright light. Could it be...?Then, filled with more determination and vigor than ever before, PFA climbed to her feet, taking up a defensive stance once again. She was going to back up her Uncle, no matter what. For Father. Doody"Do I have to leave? Fine..." Doody than jumped up on top of the ship - before smashing a hole in the roof. "What can I say? It's comfortable in here?" Zari"Yanno, I'm really not happy with you at this current moment, because that's gonna need repairing before we head back to 'Fleet HQ, even before we get to the commander. Do I have to shovel you out the airlock, for Nytheonei's sakes, or do you want to be the second shapeless blob in this party?" Zari ranted, reappearing inside the ship. She was beginning to emit a cloud of smoke, a sure sign of anger. "Delay after delay...It's like the Illhvrenan law courts, but without the free leaflets...rargh!" ((Nythonei (Nigh-thoh-nay)= Ancient-Illhvrenan Goddess of Order, Peace, and the Law. Twin of Ciscerail)) Doody"Do you have any weapons on you?" He asked her, seemingly ignoring her threat. AmneigerAmneiger was quite surprised to see an odd person suddenly land on the windshield and suddenly force itself into Zari's shuttle. His surprise, however, was cut short by alarm when he realized that the minitanks behind him were trying to train their weapon on the intruder. "Hold fire!" he shouted. "For now." Surf((Where d'you think? )) Surf's wind gust hid dead on, but then Kyve blocked her staff, and counterattacked by slicing at her arm. Normally, Surf would have been able to dodge this, but her wound was beginning to affect her. The vorpal blade cut a deep gash in Surf's left arm, and Surf winced in pain, propelling herself away from her opponent. Luckily, this wasn't her strong arm, but it hurt terribly, and she was losing blood fast. Half-dazed, Surf ripped her jacket and bound her arm; it was all she could do to remain concious. Doody(((OOC: I know there is an OOC chat, but not everybody reads it, and I just have to say that my character is not a brown blob, he is a guy with a brown cloak. He has a ring though that shoots out poop when he is in danger, hence the poop on the windscreen))) "For now? Nice to see I'm trusted. And I thought you Fleeters liked us Mages." Zari((Whoops; changed it.)) "You just smashed a hole in this ship instead of using the door. And you still haven't told us who you are or what you're doing here. You've been here for less then a minute so the last two are excusable, but breaking our things for no reason and coming in without asking aren't. If you start attacking people...hey, wait, how'd you know what Spacefleet is? We have a secrecy policy.” Celestial((Still the same old battleground. >_>))This was wrong. This wasn't meant to happen! As Leste's cutlass lowered, the cat grabbed her dagger and knocked her weapon clean out of her hand, sending blinding pain all the way down her arm. The cutlass landed too far away for it to be any use. Leste looked up from her arm and at the cat who seemed just as surprised as she was. But that wasn't what disturbed Leste: he was glowing and so was the ninja she had wounded earlier. The ninja walked over to the unarmed pirate and for the first time, Leste felt like she stood no chance.
"... Loyalty? Your loyalty is more of blind following. What made you think that captain would give your honor back?" the cat almost shouted at her. Leste let a clear laugh escape her at how clueless the cat was. Another voice rang out behind him, this one different and clearly not the ninja girl's.
"No one can redeem you but yourself, young lass. Unfortunately, you've blinded yourself too much. I'll have to bring you back to your own senses." it said. This time, Leste laughed even harder.
"Fools, both of you! You think I am looking for honour and simple redemption? It is not as simple as you think. If you were in the last Guild War, look at me. Do I remind you of the shadows? That wouldn't be a coincidence. I am a shadow" she said, her voice aquiring a hiss at the 'am' part. Nevertheless, she continued.
"The only difference between me and the rest was that I was given a second chance but only if I would follow the current leader of the pirates through thick and thin or else I would join the rest. I agreed and once I made that agreement, I couldn't turn back on it. You may call it blind loyalty but I call it survival. Kill me now if you wish, it would be quicker and more painless than what would be inflicted on me if I broke the pact. All I can say about it is that it wouldn't be the pirate captain who punishes me," she finished and spread her arms in vulnrability. Leste closed her eyes as to not to see her own blood streaming out of the wound that the ninjas would make.
"In case you are wondering, I won't mist" she uttered with finality. Death wasn't as terrifying as breaking The Promise. ZariZari's jaw dropped. "WHAT? WEAPONS! You offend me, Mr Makes-Brown-splats, you really do.' She removed her dart pistol and her knife from her belt and waved them, then grabbed her staff and waved that around too, then put all three in the dashboard, clambered up onto a shelf, then opened a locker, pulling out several more weapons 'Katana...throwing stars...explosives...tranquilizers...kitchen knives...saucepans...hypnotic fishpaste from Illhvren, gawd, some of this stuff isn't even mine. That "weapony" enough for you? Ienalle's got a flamethrower strapped onto her arm too.' She jumped off the shelf and folded her arms in an annoyed fashion. Vyt"Fools, both of you! You think I am looking for honour and simple redemption? It is not as simple as you think. If you were in the last Guild War, look at me. Do I remind you of the shadows? That wouldn't be a coincidence. I am a shadow." The pirate was right. Though she looked more normal than the shadows from the first Guild Wars, Cat Assassin thought the pirate was somehow affiliated with them. Now that the pirate had already given up her real identity, the feline had no reason to attack whatsoever. He was fighting against a lost person. "The only difference between me and the rest was that I was given a second chance but only if I would follow the current leader of the pirates through thick and thin or else I would join the rest. I agreed and once I made that agreement, I couldn't turn back on it. You may call it blind loyalty but I call it survival. Kill me now if you wish, it would be quicker and more painless than what would be inflicted on me if I broke the pact. All I can say about it is that it wouldn't be the pirate captain who punishes me." Lies. Another one of her lies. The pirate spread her arms in an attempt to make herself vulnerable. "In case you are wondering, I won't mist," she added, almost making the idea of killing her more concrete. After staring at the pirate for quite an awful time, Cat Assassin released the grip from his hands and turned away. "PFA, let's move," he ordered his niece as he waved his right hand in a familiar gesture. In a matter of seconds, the Signum Sanctuary was gone. "Don't shower me again with lies, pirate..." the feline spoke without turning his head back on Leste. "I've misunderstood you; you're just a shadow lost in reality." He then looked at the white aura around him. "This aura I have seems wanting to face off against the real evil.” Cyborg( Yay I'm back!!! Thanks Keng for taking over while I was gone!) Cyborg who had for some reason not done anything almost this entire time decided to do something and sent a huge earthquake at the ninja Jernath was after. Sure he was after the pirates right now, but there was money in the deal. Midknight got out of the tree in time so he wouldn't get hit with citrusy goodness, um I mean the lemon bomb and he and Shado ran at the ninja as well, Shado with teeth barred and Midknight with cutlasses out. IkkinIkkin heard Jord's crackling, low-bandwidth-radio call for help, and wondered why spacemen from the moon still didn't have the ability to create a high-def radio. Then, she realized with a start that whoever had received said call for help would probably attack her to try to help his friend, and swung her cutlass around just in time to block a slash from behind her, which she quickly realized was her opponent's ally's energy blade. "Attacking from behind? How dishonorable," she said in a soft yet dangerous voice. She pressed forward fairly hard against the blade with her cutlass in her right hand, while dramatically stretching out her hand backwards in the direction of the firestorm that still surrounded her prior opponent. "Oh, you thought that distracting me would stop that, didn't you? Well, I've had too practice splitting my focus for that. And I can tell you, if you - or your other friend - attack me again, I will close in that entire tornado on your friend before you even have a chance to respond to my parry." This wasn't exactly true; it took a lot less concentration to keep wind and fire moving than to force it to do something new, but her opponent probably had little idea of how magic worked, and as long as she had some time to think, she probably would be able to do what she'd threatened anyway. Not that she really wanted to, but... well, she was fighting under the red flag. "Now, drop your weapons, and I'll let him live," she finished, her voice deadly serious. Nothing better to cover up uncertainty than the illusion of certainty, after all. Doody"Firstly, you have a bumper sticker saying that your 'other ship is not a spacefleet', and as for the reason I dropped from the sky... let's just say Dragon's don't like to be ridden." ZariZari stared at him, flabberghasted. "My ship doesn't even have a bumper. Liar, that doesn't grammatically make sense, and you've just destroyed private property, and offended an unstable Illhvrenan Ocelot-Fae, with a clarinet and some failed 4-second noodle packets nearby. Are you sure your head isn't cracked four ways from southwest?" her voice, usually pleasant, had a frustrated note to it and the smoke she was giving off was making the air rather nasty to breathe. AmneigerAmneiger looked at the intruder. "I have no idea what dragon you're talking about, but you deliberately made that hole after you landed on us. And now you're making things up. Why should we trust you?" The whirring and clicking behind Amneiger moved into a tense silence; while he had ordered the minitanks not to fire, he hadn't ordered them not to get a weapons lock on the stranger. Rikku((Mage Manor)) "That bird..."Rikku tensed, hoping that they wouldn’t have to go there. She somehow doubted that the ghost would approve of wantonly reanimating little dead happy woodland critters. To her relief, though, he seemed to be thinking about something else. "Uh, Rikku?" Rikku looked towards him, noting his expression. "I-I keep seeing the sky t-turning green... not a nice g-green, but a sick one..." Green? "You... do you think i-it's just m-me? O-or the gem...?"“That’s kind of odd. Green? The gem mostly seems oriented with purple and black, but …” She paused. “Who knows? Could be something to do with that. It’s playing hell with the weather system and Hades-knows-what else, so yeah, it’s a distinct possibility. If it’s just you … well, hey, could be the gem or again, or just natural perception, or, or …” Or you could be going crazy. But Rikku wasn’t going to say that, not in a million years. “Maybe someone else knows about this,” she added. “It sounds important, anyway.” Doody"It probably is. Might be a sound effect from falling so far." And with that, he fainted. (((OOC: Sorry for the accidental godmoding. Thanks for the save ))) Bacon((Battleplace)) "Attacking from behind? How dishonorable... Oh, you thought that distracting me would stop that, didn't you? Well, I've had too practice splitting my focus for that. And I can tell you, if you - or your other friend - attack me again, I will close in that entire tornado on your friend before you even have a chance to respond to my parry."Deri winced at Ikkin's comment. He was trying to kill her, not distract her. "Honor? Like how honorable trapping a helpless opponent is?" He laughed when she asked him to lay down his weapons. "Never give up! Never surrender!" With that he swung his Vorpal sword three times, and on the third time, he also slashed with one of his knuckle-blades, which immediately retracted at the end of the attack. " Get down on the ground!" Kyve commanded Surf in a no-nonsense tone of voice, the kind police officers use on perpatrators they have surrounded. Just after he said that, though, he saw the Vorpal sword he had dropped earlier, and reclaimed it before anybody else could touch it. " I said get down!" He added, although he didn't really know that he needed to. Jord blinked and coughed as hot dust got caught in his eyes and throat. The walls of fire swirled around him, hogging what little oxygen he had. His dark skin got pale, and he was forced to use his armor's emergency breath mask, which had a twenty-minute air supply before it started filtering oxygen out of the outside air. He only hoped somebody heard his call on the radio earlier, because he was too weak to make anymore noise. ((Zari's shuttle)) Bacon, although somewhat annoyed by the intruder, refrained from commenting. This wasn't a consious decision, it just happened that every time he opened his mouth Leoness pricked a sensitive spot and he'd force his mouth closed lest he scream. Speck"Curiosity," Speck would have shrugged if she had the luxury to. As it was, shrugging would be a dangerous thing to do in this situation. She tried to block Jernath's stab at her right side, but was too slow and got a nasty gash across her forearm. The same forearm with the curlicue scar. Blood dripped down to her hand for a moment before the blood clotted at an amazing speed. Speck failed to notice the wound start to heal, but felt the tingle of magic in both her hands. The magic extended from the kunai in each hand. Withdrawing her left dagger from her opponent, she slashed at the open in air in two swift diagonal movements, first with the right, then with the left. Her magic felt as though it were cutting through the air. Maybe they would cut Jernath through his clothing; she might not have to touch him at all. She felt the first slash falter in the air and collapse; the other one stayed the course and was headed directly towards Jernath's chest. The only evidence of this magic traveling was a waver in the air, much like the waver that heat gives off on the hottest day of the year. Just as she had cast the spell, a fox came out of nowhere and latched onto her leg. Blood started to soak her black and white striped socks. She yelled out in pain, then furiously stabbed at the beast, almost forgetting about Jernath. Surf((You know where )) Kyve barked at Surf to get on the ground, and grabbed another sword. Surf knew that surrender meant death, and mustered up the last of her energy. She thrust her staff into the sunlight, sending a blinding flash of light as far as possible in all directions. Hopefully, this would blind Kyve long enough for her to escape to safety. The mage was so worried about getting to safety, however, that she failed to realize that this could affect others as well. Without waiting to see if it worked or not, she sprinted towards the pirates' ship, and prayed that she'd have enough energy to make it there.
The Horsemen Death was standing a few feet away from the battlefield, staring into the Commander's hourglass. It was still filled with purplish glow, and there was no sand in either half.
INTERESTING, he said.
War strode closer, his sword dripping with blood that hadn't been spilled. As a Horseman, he never attacked anyone. Like Death doesn't kill people but rather acts as a diplomat between two worlds, War doesn't spur wars but is simply present when they happen, making sure things go as necessary. But he had an image to keep, and so his sword was bloody. Death had never seen him done anything but wave that sword and run or ride on the battlefield, yelling generic warcries. He remembered a time when the land had faced so many wars against so many different armies that War had had to keep a schedule. At one point things got so confusing that he'd put sticky notes on his horse's neck: 5 p.m. to 5:40, Mages vs Pirates; 5:40 to 6:15, Mages vs Pirates vs Knights; 6:30 New Reinforcements...
It'd been a long time ago, but Death never forgets. And what he was seeing now was creating a pretty strong and very distinct deja vu...
WHAT? he asked, realizing that War had asked him something.
"I said, what's the deal with that guy?" the Horseman repeated.
HE'S DEAD, BUT SOMETHING'S KEEPING HIM ALIVE. MOST ANNOYING. DOES THE UGLIEST THINGS TO ACCOUNTING. His face went blank, as much as it still could, when something in his deathly senses caught his attention, and he snapped his fingers again. A row of hourglasses appeared, and he looked into them.
CRUD.
"Bad news?"
FOR ME, YES. ACCOUNTING JUST GOT MORE CONFUSING. IT'S THAT PHOENIX. PEOPLE HAVE BEEN RESURRECTED. He sighed, sounding much like an old forest in the wind. Resurrection and non-timely deaths always created a horrible lag in his accounting. Could people never keep lives and deaths where they belonged?
War watched as his fellow Horseman produced another row of hourglasses, this time very small and hazy ones, and the row got hazier near both ends. Death was still looking in the general direction of the Commander, but this time at the captain.
"The gem?" War understood.
THE GEM.
"If they're released, would that spaceman die?" War's voice was interested. This was new. Usually he wasn't much interested in anything except his own expertise, but during that night Death had witnessed him keeping a very stern and curious eye on the progress of things.
NO IDEA. WHAT ARE YOU THINKING? Death knew him well. War didn't just get interested in people. That was dangerous for a Horseman. If they lost focus on their own task, they could fade out of existence.
War scowled. "I thought... there's the two of us, right? And then there's all those people hungry for the gem. And possessed. I mean... that hunger's only been growing, and wounds have been infected and possession falls under mental disorders these days as I recall, and we've seen all this before, haven't we?"
The two, unable to contain themselves, peered around. Apart from late Surly, who'd come out through the wall and was sitting on the lawn, there were no new faces on the ethereal plane.
"Hope it doesn't go that far, though," War grumbled. "Huge nuisance, those things. And my horse was limping last week." KatAs Deri swung his knuckle-blade and sword up at Ikkin, Kat strode forward and placed herself between them, her staff blocking his strikes. She felt the familiar grate of metal on metal, and gritted her teeth as she held her position. But suddenly, there was a flash of light, and Kat cursed loudly as she was temporarily blinded. She faltered, shielding her eyes with one hand and briefly forgetting that she was blocking an attack. * * * Still slightly confused about where she had landed next, Asthielle scanned the battlefield - and saw it. Just one flash of purple was enough for her to aim a huge burst of pale yellow lightning. Straight at the Commander. Omni((Mage Manor, kitchen, mostly)) Omni sleepily made her way to the kitchen, yawning a few times on the way. When she entered, she saw Drakhé and Rikku. "Hey," she said as she walked past them, raising her hand-paw briefly. Pondering what she could have that could help her stay awake, she eventually decided on bacon and eggs, which she got out of the fridge. She also got out a frying pan and lit the stove. “That’s kind of odd. Green? The gem mostly seems oriented with purple and black, but…”"Gem…" Omni said quietly as she cracked an egg open and dropped the contents into the pan. "Gem…" The mention of it tickled something in her mind. The fact that she was sleepy probably wasn't helping her remember. "Oh! That artifact?" she said as she suddenly remembered. "I did notice the purple storm, but I haven't seen any green, thought that may just be because I haven't been paying much attention to the weather." Omni poked at the yolks with a spatula to break them, and then separated the bacon slices with the help of some tongs, thinking as she did so. "I did feel quite a bit of a strange energy when I was outside. It felt… ominous, and I felt uncomfortable with it. …And Nature, she was affected by the energy for awhile, it gave her nightmares. Maybe she picked up some info about the gem as well." Omni hadn't learned any air magic - she wanted to, but had yet to ask to learn it - but maybe she wouldn't need to in the Manor. Maybe the Manor would carry the message for her. "Nature," she said, trying to say it with a feeling as if she Nature were near eachother, able to hear eachother clearly. "Would you please come to the kitchen?" CelestialThe cat finally stopped staring at Leste and turned away. That could only mean that she was being spared. She would have walked over to pick up her cutlass but the cat spoke first.
"Don't shower me again with lies, pirate...I've misunderstood you; you're just a shadow lost in reality.This aura I have seems wanting to face off against the real evil." he said with indifference. Leste wanted to scream at him! How dare he think that what she told him was a lie!
"What reason do I have to lie, cat?! What I told you was the truth! Do you not realise what I risked to tell yo-" she shouted but got no further. A blinding pain from her sword arm overtook her and she screamed in pain before falling to the ground, blood pouring out of her sleeve and eating away at the grass on the ground.
----- The pirate stood terrified and weeping in a chamber full of smoke. A voice which penetrated like mist spoke. Leste could do nothing but shudder with fear and the feeling of being disconnected from her body.
So Leste, you thought you could tell someone? You thought it would bear no action? You were wrong. We shall spare you this time but not without cost. A pint of your blood for those words. May that cat walk away from you and leave you bleeding and vulnerable to attack. We hope it never happens again. You were a disappointment from the start and you are a disappointment even now"
Tears flowed down the pirate's cheeks. She cired from hopelessness and despair. This was much worse than the pain that the others were experiencing. The pain of being alone was the worst kind.
---- On the battlefield, Leste's body lay. Her arm's blood ran red on the grass and to any casual observer she was dead. However her breath, while shallow and irregular, was still there. VytHearing the pirate scream in disagreement, Cat Assassin continued walking away from his enemy, his head lowered so that his face could not be seen. The cat knew he had just angered the pirate with what he had said, but actually he knew right all along what was going on. "Pirate, you're asking the wrong person to do it for you."The constant screaming from the pirate then stopped abruptly. One of her arms started to spill out an alarmingly large amount of blood, as she collapsed to the ground against her will. Cat Assassin turned around and glanced at the fallen pirate for a short moment. The feline then started to walk again towards her, this time slowly. As soon as the cat was close to the pirate, he crouched down in a gentle manner. "Sorry, but I'm afraid I cannot kill you," Cat Assassin started to whisper. "... Not unless you actually tried to anger me enough, but you didn't. I've lost my will to take another life away, and only my other animal side can regain that." Fearing that the pirate might be attacked in such a vulnerable spot, Cat Assassin began to focus his energy in his right hand. The energy began to concentrate itself once more, this time with a mix of yellow and white light swirling above his palm. Gently, the cat placed his focused energy just beside the pirate, into the ground. "However reluctant you may be to fulfilling it, you still have a promise. Dying won't take that heavy load away from you." The energy then spread out, this time reaching a much shorter distance. It then rose up to form a circular wall, leaving the pirate inside the smaller Signum Sanctuary. Cat Assassin then turned away once more and looked at PFA. "The pirate captain... The Commander... They will all PAY," breathed out an explosively angry Cat Assassin. PFA((*is not even going to bother coming up with a name*))"The pirate captain... The Commander... They will all PAY," Uncle growled angrily to PFA. But before PFA could think of a reply, a cyborg Kougra sent an earthquake at the ninjas, knocking PFA to the ground. PFA grimaced, pulling herself back up, just in time to see a fox and another Kougra charging at them. She brought her katana in front of herself with her right hand, to block the Kougra's cutlasses, while she reached for a kunai with her left hand. She stabbed at the fox with her kunai, hoping to keep it from biting her. "Uncle!" she called out, knowing full well that she couldn't exactly fight a Kougra with two cutlasses and try to keep a fox from biting her at the same time, even with her aura of heightened energy. --- Jernath couldn't react fast enough when a pirate came through the cloud of smoke and slashed her kunai into his shoulder. He did manage to dodge the second attack, though, by jumping to a different branch. As soon as he landed, he put away his bow and pulled out his daggers. He then took up a defensive stance, aware that it would most likely be a matter of seconds before the pirate followed him to the second branch. And she definitely wouldn't come and have a calm discussion over tea and biscuits. There was going to be a fight. CyborgShado reacted in time and grabbed the kunai in his teeth. Meanwhile Midknight slashed at the ninja with his cutlasses while Cyborg rushed at the same ninja with his cutlasses and sent vines at her legs arms and throat. " Take that ninja!" Cyborg shouted. VytThe ground shook as soon as Cat Assassin finished his statement, knocking PFA and Cat Assassin into the ground. PFA was the first to be attacked after the tremor as a cyborg Kougra and a fox started to launch their set of attacks against the ninja, binding her to a couple of vines before rushing off with cutlasses and bites. Of course, Cat Assassin would not allow his niece to get attacked. The feline rushed in front of PFA and looked at the vines. He then reached for something under his coat and swung it across the vines, releasing PFA from their grasp. As Cat Assassin's arm slowed down, on his hand held a very familiar weapon. It was Vyt's dagger. Seeing the Kougra approaching, Cat Assassin dropped the dagger on the ground and anticipated him. Cocking his elbows behind him, the feline watched as the cyborg ran closer and closer. As soon as the Kougra was just within his arm span, Cat Assassin snapped his arms outward, his hands aimed at the face in hopes of pushing the cyborg and stunning him for awhile. PFA((...WHjlgrnigdrjg.))PFA blocked as many of the cutlass swings as she could with her katana, though she wasn't fast enough to keep herself from getting a few gashes in her sides. She tensed as vines suddenly wrapped around her arms, legs and throat. Thankfully, though, Uncle slashed at the vines with Father's dagger, causing the cut off parts to fall harmlessly to the ground. "Thanks," PFA muttered quickly, before going back to blocking cutlass swings. She also sent a sharp kick to the fox, letting go of her kunai. Hopefully, the fox would be knocked back enough for it to stop attacking her for a moment. Regardless of whether the attack worked or not, though, she immediately grabbed another kunai, which she would either use to better block the Kougra's slashes or to continue to stab at the fox. SpeckOnly one left. Do you really want to spend it on this guy? Who knows how many you have left on the ship. Speck thought to herself, glaring at the enemy on the branch above. She ran back at the trunk, then jumped against it to get onto the higher branch, again using her kunai to regain her balance. "Fleeing rather than fighting? How cowardly of you, archer," She spoke harshly, hoping to provoke him to attack. Hoping to catch him off guard and distract him. She ignored the voice at the back of her mind telling her that she fought in very much the same way. Always running away, always attacking from a safe distance. Her right kunai stabbed at the mercenary, while her left remained in a defensive position. Then, she switched, slashing for Jernath's neck while her right kunai took up the defensive. "Why are you doing this? Money? The gem? I'm sick and tired of people fighting, to tell you the truth." I am such a hypocrite, she thought. CyborgShado was knocked back a few feet and dropped the kunai and rushed at the other ninja this time who was busy attempting to attack Cyborg. Meanwhile Midknight continued his sword fight with the ninja who seemed highly skilled and now had another kunai. Do they ever run out of those things? Midknight thought to himself. He needed to even the odds and use a little bit of the magic he a regained an caused complete darkness around him and the ninja. Meanwhile Cyborg was just able to duck out of the way of the old ninja's fist and decided Midknight could take down the girl ninja and began slashing at the old guy. RiderNalia and 'tratta were both thrown off Kyve. Nalia, nursing broken ribs, went straight to work whipping the guy's ankles out with a vengeance. Seeing his proud beauty wounded, Offsephious took to Kyve's feet with the spiked guitar, hitting them repeatedly. Ventratta, also nursing broken ribs, pursued Rider to the deck of the ship. "Sev!" she called. "Where is that blasted fire-chicken?" Then, in a rather Kat-like manner, she lost consciousness.
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Post by GW2 on Oct 16, 2008 15:48:03 GMT -5
Ikkin"Honor? Like how honorable trapping a helpless opponent is?" Ikkin's opponent responded. Ikkin almost laughed. A helpless opponent? No, a helpless opponent was a weaponless opponent, or one who could not react to an attack, or one who could not stand on his own two feet. Not an armed opponent who simply didn't have the tools to deal with magic. "Never give up! Never surrender!" her opponent continued, slashing at her with his Vorpal sword. She moved her cutlass to block, but the strike never came; Kat jumped in the way, taking the strike for her. Ikkin paused, unsure of what to do. She'd said that she'd kill the trapped marine if her opponent attacked her... but she really didn't want to do it. But, if she couldn't do it, any threat she made would have no power. She extended her power, preparing to release the full force of the firestorm... but couldn't do it. All she needed to do was let go... do what she'd been ordered to do. The red flag meant no surrender. The captain could very well order all captured enemies to be executed anyway. But Ikkin still couldn't do it. Even at her worst, when she was fueled by hatred and anger, she hadn't been able to kill Kit; how could she even think she could kill an opponent who had never done her any wrong, whose only crime was to be on the wrong side? Her extended hand shook, still holding all of the unreleased power captive. Maybe she could just make it look like the firestorm had filled in on the inside? She began switching her focus from the center of the storm to the outside - a huge increase in the outer perimeter would probably make her point, since no one could see that the marine inside would still be alive anyway. But before she could switch completely, a huge flash of light blinded her, making her lose enough focus to let the energy go entirely. The flames immediately flared up ten feet higher, the walls of fire widening several feet both inwardly and outwardly, until the inward edge almost touched the marine inside - though, as neither fire and wind were known for control, the "edge" wasn't exactly a perfect edge. Realizing what she'd done, Ikkin immediately released the firestorm completely. Unfortunately, the winds stopped before the fire, which collapsed in on itself before burning out completely. Well, there was always Sev... Besides, she was still in a fight; she focused her magical senses and sunk into a defensive pose, hoping that her eyes would stop hurting before she had to fight for real again. *** "Sev!" Rider called. "Where is that blasted fire-chicken?"
Sev, in fact, was still on the deck of the ship, watching the action from above. Ikkin had told him many times that his help should not be given except when absolutely necessary, due to the fact that more often than not, it ended up with one or more of his allies set on fire.
Though, in all actuality, watching wasn't exactly the right term. He was actually roasting marshmallows and toasting popcorn for Leraye, who seemed to think that they went very well with the war show. Sev rather agreed - otherwise, he wouldn't have been doing it.
In any case, Sev's beak was full of sticky marshmallow at the point when Rider called out to him, and he was sitting on the floating couch, which might have explained why Rider hadn't noticed him.
"I'll be right back," Sev told Leraye, but in a much less intelligible way, then flew over the couch and landed next to Rider as he swallowed the remainder of the marshmallow.
"Let me guess, you got in over your head again?" Sev sighed. Rider really did have a tendency to get hurt more often than... well, most of the other crew members. But, she was Ikkin's friend, so Sev just had to put up with it.
Of course, Rider was unconscious and couldn't answer, so Sev blew a bit of healing fire over her without waiting for a response.
As soon as she woke up, he said, "Have a good rest, Sleeping Beauty?” RiderHovering on what she percieved as the edge of death, Rider looked to the other side of the Chasm. There were two... men? Phantoms? Something. On horses. Frustration. The cloaked one with a scythe. He was the clearer of the two. The other was blurred in haze. The cloaked one turned his head ever so slowly. He was going to look at Rider. She knew it and she dreaded it, but she was frozen to the spot. Her eyes would not close, almost as though she had no eyelids at all. He was turning, turning... Just before he reached the point where they would be making eye-contact, he said in a voice so big you could feel it in your core, "I REALLY OUGHT TO HIRE A SECRETARY FOR THIS ACCOUNTING BULLCRUD." A rush of fire, and she was whisked back into the snowy world. "Have a good rest, Sleeping Beauty?" "I am beautiful, and don't you forget it," Rider murmured, rubbing her healed side. "Thanks, Sev." And so, after a week of absence and very little attention, Rider returned to the fray. She could see the body of the newb pirate surrounded by battle. "Hey, Sev, we've got a man down! I think she's dead!" They killed one of ours. Granted, it wasn't one she knew, but the bitterness filled Rider's mouth all the same. A ninja? A Fleeter? Who had killed the mysterious pirate? She was inside a bubble, like the one that Cat Assassin was in. To prevent her from being healed? Of course. That cat had to be the one to have done this. He was contending with a Kougra. Rider snuck up behind the Cat Assassin and went to stab him in the back. KatAfter recovering from the abrupt flash, Kat squinted around the battlefield, her staff still keeping Deri's weapons in check and blinking stars - definitely not like her earrings or the ones on her cape - from her vision. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw someone lying bathed in a magical shield of sorts. Definitely a pirate. The purple kitten materialized again from one end of her staff and scampered towards the fallen comrade, leaving a sparkling violet trail in its wake. But when it lifted a paw to touch the shield, the kitten yowled and drew its paw back. Meanwhile, Kat gasped as she felt something like an electric shock course through her body, causing her to stumble and fall, still clutching her staff. She didn't feel faint, but she shuddered as she backed away from Ikkin and Deri, and as soon as she recovered from the shock, she ran towards the pirate and her affronted magical kitten. Strife"I could kill you," began Huntress, staring down at the fallen Commander. "Here and now. Bugger about that pirate Code. Can't very well kill an enemy who's on the ground, especially a leader and especially one who's already in a poor shape. There could be talk."She pointed the tip of her sword against his shoulder pad. "Or you could surrender. We don't usually do that when fighting under the red flag, but right now... I'm not entirely sure if the man I'm looking at is the man I'm fighting. I don't want to take two lives at once if one of them is innocent."By this point, The Commander's pain had faded enough so that he could concentrate again. He stared up at the pirate captain and laughed, his teeth shimmering underneath the purple glow of his eyes. " How short is your memory span, captain?" he said mockingly. " You can't kill me. The knights have already done that. Besides..." The Commander suddenly gripped the blade of Hunty's sword and pulled himself up from the ground. As he did so, he intentionally forced the blade to pierce straight through his shoulder. Using the sword as leverage, he shoved his body upwards until he was so close to Huntress that their noses were practically touching each other. Blood trickled down his shoulder and the hand he used to grab the sword, but he felt no pain from either. " ...you said yourself that there will be no mercy... from either of us." Just then, The Commander was suddenly hit with a magnificant burst of yellow lightning. His body was overwhelmed with electric sparks that danced across his armor and travelled down Hunty's magical sword. It was very likely that the electricity would surround her body as well. The blast knocked him backwards while pulling the sword out of his shoulder, but before he fell to the snow again, he used his psionic strength to balance his feet against the earth and prevent himself from toppling over. He remained on his knees for a second, his head darting around the battlefield to try and spot who had just attacked him... but he could not find an obvious figure among the chaos around him. For this reason, he ignored it and continued to focus on the pirate captain. The Commander threw his arms into the air, and the ground beneath him started to shake violently to the point where everyone on the battlefield would feel it in some way. As this happened, he was surrounded in a cloud of dirt and snow as rocks began to orbit around his body, forming a protective sphere of stones. The stones orbited around him very quickly like a cyclone, and they were so dense that only the deep purple glow of his eyes could be seen beneath them. His stone sphere grew bigger with every second that passed. Fraze((The War Zone Amneiger--sorry I wasn't able to respond to your post. It's a bit hard to find internet access while exploring around the Scottish highlands in a rental car. Also, just as a reminder, the gray font means that Fraze is cloaked.)) Feeling as though he had done it far too much already, Fraze cloaked. He had just made a truce with the pirates, and didn't want to break it--especially after seeing Huntress's reaction to some act of treachery on the part of the ninjas. Fraze wasn't up-to-date with the exchange rate, but he was pretty sure that he made well over fifty shinies a week just working in the Spacefleet gift shop, to say nothing of his regular salary.A cosmic convergence involving a fishbowl, several firecrackers, and a pen aligned such that the cross product of the vector pointing from the fishbowl to the firecracker and the vector pointing from the pen to the fishbowl pointed directly toward the Gem warped space-time such that Amneiger's message, rather than travelling directly to Fraze, was instead re-routed to deep space. Roughly 30 million years after the events of Guild Wars II (give or take a couple eons), the message arrived at a planet populated entirely by the Telephone Wire race. The message was translated into Wirese as being a declaration of war, obviously sent from the Telephone Wires' enemies, the Cellular Phone Rechargers. The Telephone Wires and the Cellular Phone Rechargers were then thrown into a bloody war that nearly annihilated both races. After centuries of fighting on both sides, the two races finally came to realize that they both faced a far greater enemy, the Broadband Internet Cables. The survivors on both sides allied, and together defeated the Broadband Internet Ca--*internet cuts out*((Ahem, moving right along...)) Fraze was so distracted by his own thoughts that he missed Amneiger's message. He registered the sound, but did not hear the words--they simply fluttered around his brain until the words themselves forgot what their message was.
He decided, finally, that it was time to take a side--though he didn't know which side to choose. He still didn't want to betray whatever truce he had formed with the pirates, and he didn't yet have a quarrel with the ninjas--the completely pointless capturing of the blarf in Castle Kestrel notwithstanding.
This is pathetic. You know that, right? said the part of Fraze's mind that wanted action. I don't want to go into battle without a good reason, answered the part of Fraze's mind that liked both being alive and staying friendly with as many people as possible. We've been in battle plenty of times before. Yeah, well, those have been for good reasons. All of them? Both parts of Fraze's mind stopped at this thought. No, definitely not all of them. A great number of wars were waged without good reason. Yet they were waged nonetheless. ...All right, point taken. We'll go in when we find an opening.
He saw...someone, whom he did not recognize, at the edge of the battlefield. She threw what looked like lightning at the Commander. Well, there you go, thought the action-centered part of his mind. Fraze grabbed his Table from his back--it shared his invisibility, but he did not need to see it to find it. He ran behind the newcomer, decloaked, and aimed a shot with the broad, flat surface of the table at her ribs. At the force he used, it would knock the wind out of her, but probably not much more. He could have done more while cloaked--but despite all that he had seen, he wanted a fair fight. Not waiting to see the result of his attack, he said, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't attack my Commander." He was painfully aware of the irony of the statement after his own attack. But he had seen how impulsive people were, how ready to attack--he just wanted to be the first to start the inevitable. KatAsthielle gasped, feeling something crash into her chest and knock the breath out of her. She fell onto the grass, her hand still glowing with the lightning spell she had only recently cast. It had found its target...and yet, something just wasn't right with the picture. The mage jumped back onto her feet, both fists pulsing with pale yellow energy. "I'd appreciate it if you didn't attack my Commander."
"Your Commander?" she repeated, ready to cast another spell. "Kalianne has an army now? And since when has she learned earth magic?" Bacon((Place with people swinging swords and giving two second speeches etc...)) Kyve closed his eyes forcefully as Surf's staff sent a blinding light out. When he opened his eyes again, he saw that Surf had retreated. He growled and would have chased after her, had he not seen in the corner of his eye what he had just seen. He took off in a mad dash, not even noticing the Meepit attached to his boot... Deri hissed as Kat jumped in his way and blocked his strikes. She quickly backed away, but not before Kyve lept at Ikkin, swinging his two Vorpal swords in a wild inverted figure eight. Deri, though surprised and confused by his comrade's appearance, took the opportunity to swing a third Vorpal sword at Ikkin's ribs or back, depending on if she turned to block Kyve or attempted to block from where she stood. Jord sheilded his face with his hands as the tornado collapsed, closing his eyes to prevent them being damaged. His eyebrows were singed off and he had a gash on the top of his right ear, in addition to his hair catching fire and severe cuts and burns all over the unsheilded part of his head. The pain was exruciating as he felt his skin melting... Jord opened his eyes... the nightmarish place was gone... replaced by the horrors of wartime. He saw Deri and Kyve attack Ikkin in a pincer move, and looked around to see if anybody else immediately threatened them. Seeing nothing of great importance, he turned back to watch Deri and Kyve, so he could back the two of them up if they needed it. (( Operating Room Zari's shuttle)) Bacon's fist clenched as he tried to withstand the pain of having his shoulder sewn back together while he's awake. His right fist, that is, he left his left arm limp so that he didn't accidentally stretch the wrong muscle and mess around with the wound. Bacon started humming "These Pages", a song by the band Mainstay, to ease his mind. IkkinIkkin still couldn't see very well, but she could definitely sense that two opponents were trying to catch her in a pincer attack. There really was no way to block both attacks with only one cutlass... at least, not without some serious magic. Fortunately, she had some serious magic. Of course, it tended to be really messy and she didn't like to use it, but one tended to give up on such preferences when one was blind and surrounded. She blasted winds powerful enough to knock a fully-grown man into a wall (assuming that there was one within ten feet, which there wasn't at this point) in a sphere surrounding her before any of the strikes hit, ensuring that none of her enemies would be close enough to finish their strikes. However, not all of the winds were focused on the blunt force needed to knock her enemies attacks away; she forced out needle-sharp shards of wind in the same sphere shape as well, aiming to tear her opponents to shreds. None of her allies were close enough to be in range of the shards; hopefully, they'd all stay far enough away so she wouldn't have to worry about causing friendly fire. ZariZari stared at the unconscious Poopomancer, then rummaged under the controls of the ship, pulling out what looked like some sort of membrane. She focused on the hseet of pale-grey stuff and willed it upwards. It sailed out of her hands, wobbling, then stuck onto the hole, sealing it over. "That's only temporary, maybe for, meh, five days, a week at most?" Zari comment tiredly. "We're gonna have to release Mr Brown-Splat-Guy when we get to the commander. Save time. And probably the world as well. Everyone, back in yer seats!" She sat down in the drivers seat and sent the ship cheerily through the sky, while Zari got a focus on where the Commander was. /The humanoids are not responding to my attenpts at teaching them a higher language!/ Shut up and go faster. Vyt((Cyborg, Cat Assassin's not old. He's stuck at 16.)) Cat Assassin danced around the cutlasses of his new enemy, dodging every swing of the blades with minimal effort. Thanks to the new energy he received, the feline was able to escape each attack, with milliseconds spared to look around and plan his next move. Though his defensive and evasive abilities fare well with his opponent's offensive skill, he realized he had to eventually attack again. "I've heard about you from a friend of mine," Cat Assassin spoke whilst moving aside to dodge a tackle attack from a fox behind him. "An arrogant cyborg Kougra who thinks he's strong enough to take on anyone." Cat Assassin stepped away a bit, moving the distance beyond the Kougra's arm span. His new enemy was a tad weaker than the pirate he faced moments ago, but his guard was still high for the probability that his opponent might not have unleashed his full powers yet. With that thought in mind, the feline moved his right elbow behind his head while extending his left arm towards the direction of his opponent. His legs followed the same position, pointing his left foot towards the Kougra. It was a different stance than the one he used against Leste. "Let me show you a stance I've been working on." KatThe kitten pawed at the shield surrounding the pirate again at its master's orders. But every time it touched the magical barrier, the cat whined, and constant contact sent shocks up Kat's spine, and she could barely stand still without leaning on her staff. At last, the kitten disappeared, and Kat let out a long breath, swaying on the spot. She tried lightning bolts, fire, ice and even a bit of wind, but nothing seemed to work. "Don't worry, I'll get you out of there!" she called to Leste. A flurry of ice shards assaulted the shield, but to no avail. They all shattered on contact. Kat was beginning to feel the burn; she couldn't waste her magic. Perhaps the shield would dissipate on its own; they usually did. But whoever had cast this one was probably one really, really good mage. She made a mental note to figure out whose handiwork it was. Kat decided to sprint back into the battle, putting away her staff and drawing her longsword, ready to ram it straight into Jord's back. Cyborg(Oops sorry Vyt, but then how is he PFA's grandfather?) " You're fast ninja, but you don't seem to understand what power I have. Who's this friend? By the way yes I'm arrogant, and I don't think I'm strong enough to take on anyone, I know it. Savvy?" Cyborg said with a smirk. Before he attacked he used his magic to stop the quake around his and Midknight's vicinities. Then he launched at the ninja with a fury of stabs and slashes hoping he'd hit his target. " Fraze"Your Commander?" the newcomer asked with what sounded like a mix of anger and surprise. "Kalianne has an army now? And since when has she learned earth magic?"Fraze faltered, but did not let his guard down--she may just be trying to confuse him. Fraze felt something akin to nausea at the thought that he had been mistaken--perhaps she had been aiming for Kalianne. But--he looked again to the two figures in the distance, using slight magnification. From what it seemed, Kat hadn't caught much of the blast, but the Commander had. "No," he replied after a pause. "Not Kalianne, the person she's fighting. He is my Commander. And unless I'm mistaken, he has been the one using earth magic.” RiderStance isn't going to help you in a flank attack, Rider thought as she stabbed wildly at the Cat Assassin. It wasn't the most effective, but she was too angry to care. She danced around the cat, striking, striking. The Fleet could die second. This one would kill a pirate and set up a shield to prevent phoenix for resurrection or even a decent burial. Meanwhile, Nalia was thrown from Kyve a second time. Hooray for the hardness of boots. She squealed as her injured ribs hit the ground and got to her feet again. She had waited so long for a battle. it wasn't fair. Meepits were climbing and being thrown everywhere. So this was what war was. A dry smile crossed her normally unexpressive lips. Offsephious wasn't too steady on his feet after being thrown once. He always was the weakest fo the group. A prettyboy. Ventratta had abandoned his post altogether. No, he hadn't. The ball of pink fluff flew off the ship and into the mist, then to his nephew Mittens's side. Uncle and nephew conversed a while, and the younger Meepit fled back to the ship. Ventratta swore. He had made a rash and grave error in tactics. They had no haven, and were constantly dodging kicks from foes and allies. Sending a few out at a time for geurilla tactics would have been more effective. There was only one thing to do now. He sent the signal of retreat across the battlefield. A high, wailing cry of despair that reached the keen ears of every Meepit. Some responded. Some didn't. Nalia snapped her whip in the ears of the fallen. Those who didn't respond were listed in tiny Sharpie pen on Ventratta's paws and carried back to the Weewoo. Maybe, Ventratta thought, the Meepits are the ones who are really helpless. Pirates have power so long as they're people. Meepits... running, running, with not even the desire to be free. PFA((That place))As Jernath expected, the pirate hopped up to the branch he was on, using a kunai to balance herself once again. She stabbed twice, but Jernath managed to deflect the stabs before they could do any significant damage. Though the first one managed to pierce into him a little before he could knock it away. That unfortunately meant there was a rather painful slash across his shoulder now. "Why are you doing this? Money? The gem?" the pirate asked. "I'm sick and tired of people fighting, to tell you the truth.”
Then why are you attacking me? he couldn't help but think. He didn't say it, though. Instead, he decided responded to her question. "What does it matter to you?" And then, he slashed at the pirate's side with his left dagger, while keeping her left away with his right. --- PFA was doing good, up until the Kougra put a ball of darkness around her. Great, now I can't see where the attacks are coming from. The thought was emphasized when a cutlass crashed into her side, while another went into her shoulder. Gritting her teeth, PFA forced away the cutlass in her shoulder using her katana, while she stabbed in the Kougra's direction with her kunai. Hopefully she would hit something. Amneiger((Don't worry about it Fraze, I'd forgotten that you were on vacation when I made that post. >_>)) "Shouldn't we tie him up at least?" Amneiger looked at the stranger, whose unconcious body was still lying on the floor. "He might wake up and start causing trouble." Huntress((You-know-where)) Huntress was beginning to think that the only good way of getting rid of the Commander would be exorcism, preferably the oldfashioned kind that firmly separates the soul, however many there are, from the body. Fighting an enemy who was already past death was always annoying, and this particular case was stronger than any zombie she'd encountered in the past. "How short is your memory span, captain? You can't kill me. The knights have already done that. Besides... you said yourself that there will be no mercy... from either of us."Hunty nearly winced, watching the blood run down the Commander's hand and smear the blade as he stabbed himself. That guy was nuts. Then again, what else was new? But judging from what Speck's attack had done earlier, she assumed that those wounds would come back to bite him eventually - after all, weren't his old wounds suddenly bleeding a minute ago, albeit very belatedly? So she glared back at him. "Your own memory span isn't much better," she snarled. "I hold your lifeforce, remember? Wonder what'd happen if I shattered it like Davy Jones' heart?" Ooh, would that make me the new leader of the Fleet? How's all that going to fit in my schedule?She barely had time to wonder how her brain was still able to joke after everything she'd gone through during this last day when something hit her, sending pain through her entire body. The captain stumbled backwards about the same time as the Commander, her heart throbbing like a jackhammer. It'd been more of an initial shock than a serious lasting pain, but it had still been awful. Though seeing the silvery haze that had appeared around the hilt as soon as the shock made her hand twitch unwillingly, she assumed that the majority of the blast had been either absorbed or blocked by it. The tip of the sword had an interesting hue, slightly like bright magenta, where the Commander's blood was overwhelmed by the blade's color. It seemed to fade quickly. Right - a Sue-sword. Can't afford that to remain bloody, might drip on someone's clothes. "Lovely," she breathed out, her brows furrowing, as she straighened her back and watched her opponent prepare a new attack. "Bloody Mary woulda just suggested me to chop his head off while I could... not that I would've listened... Where's that little bugger?" The little bugger had completed his impromptu healing session in the meantime and was spying right near the ground behind the ship's keel, making sure things weren't too dangerous where he was headed. Rider's meepits may have been vicious little devils on the battlefield, but Hunty's gang, making full use of their outsider status on board, kept out of battle whenever possible. They didn't like playing heroes, an attitude that'd kept them alive and well more often than not - actually most of them had gathered around Leraye's couch, stealing marshmallows or looking cute in hopes of getting one. He moaned, realizing that most of the action was taking place where he was headed. But since he'd already made up his mind... "Let's go, boy." Hunty gritted her teeth, weighing the situation in her head. There really was only one effective way out, so she spun her sword around - and again - and again, weaving quick silvery patterns in front of her and all around her, moving around at first, creating a huge silvery sphere of two-foot-wide shields around her, then pulling smaller and closer spheres inside the big one. It'd take one hit to annihilate each small shield, but as long as she allowed herself enough space and had quick enough reflexes, she'd be at least able to defend herself well. Offence was a different question, but one thing at a time was the way to go there. Through this thick cobweb of shields, she could barely see the ongoing battle now, but she did see something humongous and black waddle in from behind the ship. As said something let out a loud cheery 'blarpgpgk', there was no doubt any more. "Bloody Mary!" she yelled, unsure whether or not she could actually be heard through the shields and at that distance. "What're you doing?!" "Committing suicide, I think," the meepit's voice carried back to her. "You just worry about your stoneman there and let me handle myself and the blarf." Hunty, whose attention was darting back and forth between the Commander and the blarf, couldn't believe her eyes. The creature had been in pain, unable to move, and now he was... really, waddling. He was moving more or less in the direction of Leste and her Signum Sanctuary cage, but apparently he was covering twice the distance that was necessary to get there. Each of his six paws hit the ground at a different pace, time, and location. And he let out ever-cheery 'blaurpgk'-s every once in a while. She'd been in enough ports to recognize the symptoms. "Bloody Mary!" This time her voice was loaded with stern disbelief. "Just doin' what I could, and it worked!" the meepit yelled back, sitting safely on top of the blarf's head. He was slightly worried whether or not Hunty could handle herself, but the blarf was in much less of a condition to take care of himself. Bloody Mary had fed him the best available painkiller he could think of, and now Cat Assassin's spiky ball of pain was nicely and harmlessly floating in three crates' worth of good, spicy, sugary, and very stiff Caribbean rum. Cyborg(LOL my mistake though that would be more interesting! ^_^) " I see you don't understand I'm nocturnal, ninja. So you're in my territory, darkness and I can't guarantee you'll survive the journey. So I have one question for you lass. Are you afraid of the dark?" Midknight said with a smirk as he dodged the katana and stabbed at the ninja's ribs. " 'Ello Rider I take it it's a brief break from trying to take out the Fleet. So after this I suggest you and the pirates learn something, even with the living Weewoo over there the combined forces of the mercenaries and the Fleet will destroy you and I suggest you not cross us." Cyborg said as he continued his assualt on the ninja. PFA((That place))"...I have one question for you, lass. Are you afraid of the dark?" the Kougra taunted. Seeing as PFA had been forcing one cutlass away with her katana, she definitely noticed when that cutlass moved. She brought her katana upwards in front of her chest, assuming the Kougra would either be slashing downwards at her or stabbing at her, considering the way the sword would have to have moved. It was apparently the latter, as she felt her katana meeting with steel and pushing the cutlass upwards. "Afraid of the dark?" PFA narrowed her eyes. "I'm a ninja. It's practically my job to be in the dark!" She then quickly stabbed her kunai at where she thought the Kougra's fist was, specifically the one that was holding onto the cutlass she had pushed away from her chest. If this worked, he'd most likely drop the cutlass reflexively, and that would give her one less sword to dodge, if just for a moment. Cyborg" Ah, but have you ever faced a shadowmancer like me in the dark is the question here." Midknight said as he tried to move his arm out of the way, but was cut by the ninja's blade slightly on his right forearm. Shado ran towards Jernath and the pirate and ran up the tree and lunged at the pirate's right leg. Vyt((Okay okay, let me recap: Cyborg and Rider are the only people attacking Cat Assassin, right? Post in the OOC if I'm missing someone else)) Yet another pirate had joined the brawl, as Rider attacked from behind Cat Assassin with her own cutlass. Her blade would have made its way through the feline's back had he not stumbled down thanks to another tremor. " Well that's a close one," he thought as he rolled away from the two pirates. Facing two enemies at the same time did little to stir up fear in Cat Assassin, however. The cat was used to getting inside an angry lot, what with getting caught in some of his assassination missions and all. Still, the two he was facing seemed to be more experienced than the mobs he used to face. After standing up against the tremor, Cat Assassin resumed his stance. Both pirates charged their ways towards him, slashing with their own cutlasses. Cyborg's blades went airborne by a swift swing from the cat's extended left arm, sending the weapons far away from the pirate's right side. Then, Rider's cutlass was next, this time using his right hand to directly steal it away from the pirate. Its palm was starting to become bloody, but Cat Assassin shrugged the sharp pain away. The wound would have to wait. A roundhouse kick came from Cat Assassin's left foot, aiming at the left side of Rider. If this would land cleanly, it should send her towards Cyborg, throwing both of them to the ground. From afar, Vyt guided closer to PFA, trying to fight the darkness with his own white aura. Surf((I think at this point you know where.)) Thanks fully, Kyve didn't chase Surf, who, with her last ounce of energy, swung herself on one of the Weewoo's thorns and hurtled onto the deck, having lost conciousness. Blood flowed freely from her wound, staining her shirt crimson. (( Yay for short posts!! =D)) Ikkin"Well, well, well, look what the cat dragged in," Sev said as Surf swung herself up on the deck in an exceedingly stylish manner for a wounded person and then proceeded to faint before she even hit the ground. "If I were a better man - phoenix - whatever - I might just cry about it and make it all better. But, I'm not, so this'll have to do," he continued, blasting Surf with a large amount of healing phoenix fire.
Whether or not she gained consciousness was up to her, but at least she'd stop bleeding on the deck.((...Sev seems to have suddenly gained Axel/Reno's voice in my head. I'm not entirely sure why, but…)) Zari"If he wakes, Aeloan can copy-and-paste Ienalle's ability so the clones can hold him down. I can't trap him down now, unless one of youse wants to bury him in 4-second noodle packets." Zari replied tersely, altering the ships course so they were above the cloud cover, which was an advantage she really needed to take. You never knew "Now, people, if you've got weapons on you I'd recommend you get them now, and if you don't get Aikran to issue you with a dart-pistol, poison, sleeper, whatever, or whatever else Aikrans's got that you can use or learn to do so within the next ten minutes." Her Illhvrenan inflection was quietly making itself more prominent, a sure sign of lack of control, and her tail was lashing around like a pieve of string in a snowstorm. ((Yep. Explosion point. Help me assemble this bomb shelter, anyone?)) Cyborg(( Vyt Cat Assassin is fighting Cyborg PFA is fighting Midknight)) It felt weird fighting alongside his former captain, though Cyborg knew it wouldn't last. As soon as the ninja was disposed of and Cyborg got the reward for the mercenaries, it would be just him and Rider fighting 'til the death. After grabbing his cutlasses, Cyborg continued towards the ninja with vicious slashes and stabs. Meanwhile Midknight attempted a low spin kick to knock the ninja over, but this time held his cutlass so the blade was on top of the leg her was kicking with in hopes that if the hit landed the blade would get her as well. RiderThe Cat Assassin attempted to wrench the cutlass from Rider's hands, but her grip on her weapon was strong. Plus, cutlasses have the right sort of hilt for these things. The cup-shaped guard that saved fingers and dignity on a regular basis. Roundhouse kicks are the easiest kicks to see coming. They're not entirely unpopular in tavern brawls. It would take a lot of rum for Rider to not see that coming from the side. Rider wrenched her cutlass from the Cat Assassin's grip, leaving a deep cut in his palm, and backed away from the kick. "Flank him again!" she yelled to Cyborg, attacking cat Assassin with quick swipes. Bacon((Gentlemen, you can't fight in here! This is the War Room![/obscure quote])) Deri looked down at his wounded body laying on the ground. A million invisible knives had peirced his armor, and he was bleeding all over. His werewolf skin fortunately healed quickly, but that was more than he could say for Kyve, who looked like he may just bleed to death. He sighed. Their enemy was too strong... surely they would now die... He got to his feet slowly, panting, and stared Ikkin in the eyes. He was determined not to give up. Jord lifted Kyve's bleeding body and rushed him away from the battlefield. "I need a medic!" He called into his radio to any and all Spacefleet personnel. Kyve's eyes were filled with tears of pain. Deri continued to stare down Ikkin. "This isn't over yet!" He screamed, and ran over to Jord and Kyve. He took their blasters from them, one in each hand and guarded them while Jord tended to Kyve's many wounds. Amneiger"So we're getting close?" Amneiger rummaged through his pockets; his flash, grenades, and blowtorch were all still there. After a few moments he decided not to take them out; they were last ditch weapons. Instead, he opened up the laptop. > Disengage safeties on all weapons. Run diagnostics. >> Unit 4: Disengaged. Diagnostic running...all systems okay. >> Unit 5: Disengaged. Diagnostic running...all systems okay. >> Unit 6: Disengaged. Diagnostic running...all systems okay. > Orders: Aid Spacefleet members. Identify targets by looking for those attacking known Spacefleet members. >> 4, 5, 6: Confirmed. IkkinIkkin winced as she heard the marine who was no longer trapped in the firestorm call out "I need a medic!" desperately over his radio. She always hated having to actually see the result of her attacks, particularly the one she'd just used; fighting would be a lot more fun if she didn't have to see the mess, which is probably why she felt an abnormally large amount of envy for Final Fantasy characters. One of the marines seemed to have healed from the attack unusually quickly, and ran over to grab both of the other two's blasters while the one who'd been stuck in the fire tended to the one who took the brunt of her attack. "This isn't over yet!" he screamed, the sound piercing Ikkin's heart. She could definitely understand his position, and she never wanted to be in it again. "It will be for your friend if he's not treated soon," she said flatly. "I'd be going against orders to do this, but... I have a phoenix who could heal him. Of course, if I did that, he'd be out of the fight anyway. Sev doesn't take kindly to people who misuse his kindness. I could have him here in seconds if you wanted, though." Speck"Curiosity," Speck would have shrugged if she had the luxury to. As it was, shrugging would be a dangerous thing to do in this situation. She tried to block Jernath's stab at her right side, but was too slow and got a nasty gash across her forearm. The same forearm with the curlicue scar. Blood dripped down to her hand for a moment before the blood clotted at an amazing speed. Speck failed to notice the wound start to heal, but felt the tingle of magic in both her hands. The magic extended from the kunai in each hand. Withdrawing her left dagger from her opponent, she slashed at the open in air in two swift diagonal movements, first with the right, then with the left. Her magic felt as though it were cutting through the air. Maybe they would cut Jernath through his clothing; she might not have to touch him at all. She felt the first slash falter in the air and collapse; the other one stayed the course and was headed directly towards Jernath's chest. The only evidence of this magic traveling was a waver in the air, much like the waver that heat gives off on the hottest day of the year. Just as she had cast the spell, a fox came out of nowhere and latched onto her leg. Blood started to soak her black and white striped socks. She yelled out in pain, then furiously stabbed at the beast, almost forgetting about Jernath. VytThat did not go as expected. The girl pirate had a better grip in the cutlass, considering that Cat Assassin held it by the blade which gave him no advantage at all. Also, she had managed to avoid one of his swiftest roundhouse kicks, forcing the feline to kick himself off the ground and away from the two once she spoke to her mate to flank him. The pirate might be able to dodge one of Cat Assassin's basic attacks, but the cat was much more faster to sense danger coming. Of course, the kick was one of his basic attacks. Cat Assassin had more up his gray long sleeves. Literally. Trying to keep his distance from the two pirates, Cat Assassin began to smirk: one of the things even PFA would not expect from the feline to do. He rolled his sleeves up to his shoulders, revealing two peculiar strapped objects from each arm. He also rolled his pants upwards until the ends were fitted by his knees, revealing three more of these in each leg. "... You know what?" Cat Assassin spoke in a rather cocky voice. "I've lost a lot of weight since I 'moved' here, so I put this on to continue my training. Guess I'll have to remove them once more," he added. Cat Assassin started to remove the strapped objects off his limbs, dropping them one by one to the ground. Each of them sent out a massive deformation to the ground, as they formed a small curvature in the soil. Ten loud thuds could be heard from afar, even reaching the two pirates. "Well then, shall we fight?" With his training weights off, Cat Assassin resumed his stance as seen by the two. A second later however, Cat Assassin was off his feet, and was already in front of them. He sent out three punches, all aimed at Rider's stomach, within just another second. Cyborg" Rider you don't remember I was kicked off the ship I take no orders from you, but I suggest we work as a team once again, though after we kill him it's you and me til the death!" Cyborg said as he decided it would be smart to use magic instead of his cutlasses incase he hit Rider, that would be later. He used an attack only the mercenaries the Fleet knew of involving rock pillars. He sent two pillars twisting around eachother at the ninja. Meawhile Shado teleported to Midknight's vicinity and ran back towards the pirate, which seemed stupid, but it meant he diddn't get stabbed. Strife((Zari's Shuttle)) After a dispute with some kind of terrestrial that landed on the windshield of the shuttle, the group of Fleeters finally arrived at their destination. As a precaution, Zari kept the shuttle high in the clouds so that anyone below would not be able to see them. "Now, people," began Professor Zari, "If you've got weapons on you I'd recommend you get them now, and if you don't get Aikran to issue you with a dart-pistol, poison, sleeper, whatever, or whatever else Aikrans's got that you can use or learn to do so within the next ten minutes."
"So we're getting close?" asked Amneiger while rummaging through his pockets. "Y es," answered Cyclops. "S en so rs ha ve de te ct ed Th e C om ma nd er 's bi os ig na tu re in th e f ie ld be lo w u s." Upon hearing this, Leoness's heart jumped. She was anxious to see Strife again and help him, but she also feared that he had fallen beyond whatever help she could provide. Despite this, however, she resolved to try her absolute best. He was the love of her life, and she wouldn't lose him. She can't lose him. Amidst her thoughts, she suddenly realized that she still needed to finish Bacon's medical treatment. She glanced over at the medkit and pulled out a small plastic tube that was filled with thick blue gel. She squirted a few drops of the gel on the tip of her finger, turned towards Bacon, and spread it lightly across the fresh stitches in his shoulder. "There you go," she said in a sweet, calming voice. "The pain should vanish in a minute or two." Cyclops rotated the torso of his suit until he was looking at Leoness. "D o y ou re qu ir e w ea po ns or eq ui pm en t, C hi ef Me di c?" "No thanks," she said, her eyes wandering a bit. "My fire magic is all I need." Cyclops could sense her fear, and he concluded that she was nervous about others discovering her Spacefleet rank. "S pa ce fl ee t p er so nn el," began Cyclops, "A ll ow me to re mi nd yo u t ha t I am th e r an ki ng of fi ce r i n t hi s g ro up. As su ch, I a m o rd er in g C hi ef Me di ca l O ff ic er Le on es s t o r em ai n i n t he sh ut tl e w he n w e d es ce nd. If an yo ne su ff er s s er io us in ju ry du ri ng th e m is si on, yo u c an re po rt ba ck to he r f or as si st an ce an d m ed ic al su pp li es. If an y o f t he te rr es tr ia ls as k a bo ut he r, y ou ar e t o t el l t he m t ha t w e a re ho ld in g h er ag ai ns t h er wi ll." Cyclops managed a wink in her direction, then continued. "P ro fe ss or Ai ld en wi ll la nd th e s hu tt le in a s ec ur e l oc at io n w he n e ve ry on e i s r ea dy, an d I wi ll le ad th e l an di ng pa rt y t ow ar ds Th e C om ma nd er 's po si ti on. In ca pa ci ta te an yo ne wh o a pp ea rs to be at ta ck in g o ur so ld ie rs, an d k il l t he m i f n ec es sa ry. Te rr es tr ia ls sh ow no me rc y i n b at tl e, s o I wo ul d e xp ec t u s t o s ho w t he m t he sa me." Bacon((Marines)) Deri blinked in surprise. The enemy was offering her help? He had heard stories of things like that before, but it was relatively minor help, like Uesugi Kenshin sending salt to his enemies. By contrast, Ikkin was offering to save a life she had almost taken. Not lowering either blaster, and stepping away from Kyve lest it be some sort of trick, he nodded. "Go ahead, pirate." "Jord... I never made... a will... can you... tell Bonnie..." Kyve started mumbling, gasping for air. Jord shook his head, "You can tell her when we get back, Andrew. You're going to make it. I promise." "Promise... you better keep... this one..." Kyve laughed. ((Bacon)) "Aikran, do you have a sword I can use, preferably a katana?" Bacon asked the cat-clone. His Pulse-Charger, though it was handy, had a very limited range that, as he discovered earlier, limited its effectiveness. Bacon now thought that he should have gotten his own katana back when he was still in the Stellar Eye, but he wasn't thinking clearly then. He'd rather stay out of direct combat, but wasn't really sure that that was an option. IkkinGo ahead, pirate," the marine with the two blasters said, clearly surprised at the offer of help. "Sev," Ikkin said, not very loudly, summoning the phoenix. Fortunately, Sev's connection with Ikkin meant that even that was enough for him to get the point.
"Sorry, Leraye," he said, cutting off his fire in the middle of toasting a marshmallow. "Looks like duty calls." He disappeared off the couch in a flash, reappearing at Ikkin's side.
"You're not hurt," he said bluntly, looking at the scene. "So... why did you call me out here again?""I'd rather avoid unnecessary deaths," Ikkin said. "Could you help that marine over there?" "You want me to heal your enemy? You're far too soft," he said, flying over to land next to the injured marine. Before any of the other marines could do anything, he bathed him in the healing phoenix fire, which, of course, generally looked like ordinary fire to the observer.Ikkin realized how this must have looked, and took a defensive stance; she didn't want to risk being shot because of her bird's unorthodox methods of healing. Sev stopped his fire after a few seconds, then spoke to the healed marine and his partner. "Now don't go thinking that you're going to attack Ikkin again. Healing isn't the only thing my fire can do, after all, and letting you live wasn't my idea in the first place. It's always easier to bring enemies back, in my opinion.""Sev..." Ikkin sighed. The threats might have been potentially useful, but they certainly didn't do anything for her image. Omni((Zari's shuttle)) Ethan pondered Zari's weapon offer, thinking of the possible uses and strategies. "What kinds of poisons do you have? Do you have any that, say, numb, paralyze, or slow down the target? If I want to quickly knock out somebody, without it being lethal, I could just give them a stun shot to the head." RiderRider you don't remember I was kicked off the ship I take no orders from you, but I suggest we work as a team once again, though after we kill him it's you and me til the death!""It's not an order, it's necessary for survival! Those aren't orders, they're really strong suggestions. Oh, and speaking of survival, GAK!" Three lightning-fast punches hit Rider in the stomach. She doubled over and gasped for breath. No one knew Rider's weakness better than she. One of the few NTWFers without magic. She had always depended on Ventratta and Shiva for backup. Not just them. Ikkin and Kat and Hunty and all of her seafaring friends. Now she was relying on an exile. Putting all her faith in one who would only try to kill her in the end anyway. A blaze had started somewhere. The fire chicken. Ikkin was a bit bipolar. Either far too harsh or far too soft. Had they conquered a single foe since the raising of the red flag? Would they be forced to turn tail and run again? What would happen to Shiva, left behind? Rider steadied herself and prepared to dodge, her diaphragm still strongly protesting. VytCat Assassin noticed something different about the girl pirate. She seemed to have been troubled by something distant, hindering her from avoiding his punches. They were still a bit slow for the feline who just released his weights, and the pirate could've dodged at least two of them. He glanced at the girl's face worriedly for awhile, seeing the painful look on her expression. He shrugged the thought off for awhile as the Kougra released stone pillars towards him. The attack was pretty close, and Cat Assassin only escaped with his tail hitting the rocks. He would've received the full impact of the attack had he not removed his weights earlier. The feline tumbled behind Rider, looking at his tail. A reddish mark could be seen on its surface. He took a quick glance at the Kougra and knew his enemy was not hesitant into killing him. Without turning towards Rider, Cat Assassin spoke. "I don't fight those who do not wish to fight back," he spat out before rushing towards Kougra. With lightning speed, the feline caught the Kougra's head and slammed it backwards to the ground. It should stun him for awhile. PFA((The place where my characters are. Booyeah.))PFA felt her kunai slash against flesh, and the cutlass moved away. But it did not clatter harmlessly to the ground. Instead she felt a leg crash into her own leg, followed by the sharp pain of a cutlass doing the same. The attack tripped PFA, and she fell to the ground. But she wasn't about to give up. Keeping her grip firm on both her katana and her kunai, she slashed at the Kougra's legs with both weapons. One from one side, and the other from the other. --- Jernath's dagger had left a gash across the pirate's arm, right across a rather curious-looking scar. The pirate pulled back, and then slashed at the air, sending some sort of magic at Jernath. Jernath didn't know much of anything about magic, but the way this magic resembled a heat wave was rather unsettling. He immediately crouched down, out of the way of the attack. He wasn't sure what the magic would do, and he wasn't exactly willing to find out. Shado was there briefly, biting the pirate's leg, but had teleported off once the pirate started stabbing at him. Jernath took advantage of Shado's distraction and stabbed at the pirate's leg, the one that hadn't been bit. CyborgThe ninja was fast and obviously had good morals and fought fairly, but that would not help him. Cyborg when thrown to the ground nearly smashed his skull against it, but managed to back flip a few feet away. " Ah it seems you're not the only one with tricks up their sleeves. Not only are you out numbered, you're out numbered against a former pirate captain ( that would be the lass there ya hit), a master earth mage and a mercenary ( that's me), and a healer who would love to slam that staff into your ribs ( that's my friend Rose), savvy. Plus you hit a woman, that's unlucky mate, good thing I don't believe in luck then." Cyborg said as he sent a razor leaf, two vines and a boulder at the ninja as he rushed at him with cutlasses out. " Sorry about the wait but I'm here to help,"" Glad to hear it mate," Cyborg replied. Midknight hit, but as he got to his feet he felt a sharp pain in the right part of his right leg. Luckily only the kunai hit, even luckier it wasn't a deep wound. As he was in a lot of pain the darkness disappeared. "That hurt, but you may not know this about me ninja, even if it means me losing as many limbs as my brother I will kill you." Midknight said as checked over the wound. He struggled in pain to his feet and slashed at the ninja's neck this time aiming to kill. Meanwhile Shado stopped his travel to Jernath and the lemon throwing pirate, and teleported to his injured master. Shado ran at the ninja and attempted to bite her leg.....off.((duh,duh duhhhhhhhhh)) SpeckThe fox was gone, and she was stabbing at empty air. It didn't help her thinning patience that the mercenary had now stabbed her in the leg. Stupidly letting her kunai fall to the ground, Speck tackled him, then felt a crack of wood. Then another crack. If this branch breaks, I'm taking you with me, She thought, pulling his hair, punching his back, doing anything she could to her opponent. PFA((Near the White Weewoo. Mmyep, back to the basics. ))The darkness vanished. PFA was very glad for this fact. This meant she could see again. The Kougra said something, but PFA had stopped listening to him by now. He talked a lot. She did notice, though, when he swung a cutlass toward her neck. She instantly brought her katana up to meet the blade, struggling to keep it away from her. This Kougra was putting a lot of force into this swing; he obviously was trying to kill her. And now that fox was back, baring its teeth as if it was going to bite her leg. And not gently, either. Gritting her teeth, she stabbed her kunai at the fox, determined to keep it from taking her leg off. --- The pirate dropped her kunai upon being stabbed. She instantly tackled Jernath, and began rapidly punching and kicking at him. And she pulled at his hair! His beautiful red hair! This was as low as you could go. She was going to pay. ((*REPEATEDLY STAB'D* X____x)) It was rather hard to move, Jernath noted, when your opponent was on top of you as this pirate was. And when you were on a branch. One that was cracking rather threateningly, to boot. Regardless, Jernath tried to get past his opponent's flailing arms and stab at her side. Whatever happened, he wanted to get her off of him.
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Post by GW2 on Oct 16, 2008 16:01:17 GMT -5
KatKat stopped before she could ram the sword into Jord's back and sighed. This battle was more unpredictable than the last darkness spell she cast. "You should all be glad Ikkin and Sev are lending their services. Harm either of them and I won't hold back," was all she could say, sheathing her sword and crossing her arms. "I - " She heard Rider, who doubled over after being punched by a feline ninja. "That's it, ninja, you die now!" Kat declared, running after him, her staff out. He was fighting with the Kougras and fox she recognized from back at Castle Kestrel, and Kat sent them all a huge, blazing purple fireball. * * * Asthielle heard an ominous cracking above her...in no time at all, a branch would fall, and the chances of it hitting her head were pretty high. But instead of running away like any normal human would, she simply pointed a finger up at it, and burned the entire thing into nothingness. "You seem to know Kalianne. Are you two friends?” ZariZari looked over her shoulder at Aikran, who yawned. Ienalle glanced at her sire breifly, small yellow threads of energy threading from her to Aeloan, and from Aeloan to Aikran. With a stretch, the oversized cat sitting on the floor became a man, cross-legged, staring up at Bacon and Ethan with an almost childish curiousity. "Dart pistols like Zari's are very efficient for non-lethal attacks. Hers are loaded with a alternating mixture of sleeping and temporary paralyzing venom, both lasting up to 3 hours on the average human target, or if a pistol isn't your style I've got throwing darts and soaked knives. Personally I like the pistol better." He wandered off towards a large cabinet with at least three padlocks, a thumbprint and retina scanner, and, oddly, a squeaky toy mouse hanging from a ledge by it's tail. "Katana-wise, what sort? One that gives electric shocks? One that sets fire to itself? One that renders you looking like a flying chicken in a nappy? We've even got one in a rather eye-bleeding pattern of neon green and barbie pink...Or just a regular, bog-standard katana, no frills, no extra gimmicks, just a foot's worth of shiny sharpness?" he began to unlock the cabinet, whistling tunelessly as he went. The other seven clones watched him with mild amusement. <Aeloan> I wonder if those humans will turn around so I can see the looks on their faces when a cat shapeshifts into what looks like a relative of Granddam's who's dressed like a cabbie on a really cold day?> <Ytrisan> ELOHEL. DADDYS A CAB DRIVER. Ienalle looked irritated. "Tell other's to shut cakehole please someone? Being stupid and things is distracting and Nalay needs to clean cannon." She slid the metal tube off her arm and waved it irritably. Aikran looked over his shoulder. "Oh. Yes. And if you feel like setting fire to yourself you could have one of those too." ((Granddam= Zari. Nalay is the last two syllables of Ienalle's name, Ytrisan is a bit off the rails and Aikran is the Feline Combat Specialist (better known as one of Zari's nutty Cat-clones.) Also, the clones each have a special ability that either Zari or her Mentor Tevara had. (For example, Tevara could breathe under water and employ mild mind-control but Zari could not, but she wasn't telekinetic or telepathic, while Zari is) Aeloan's is to copy another clones ability to use herself tor pass on to another clone.)) Vyt"That's it, ninja, you die now!" Cat Assassin never hesitated to turn around, noticing that everyone around him had been provoked by his attack on the girl pirate. That particular voice was the same as one of the last people he met during the invasion of the shadows. A humongous purple fireball started to run ablaze, soaring towards Cat Assassin. The feline could've just avoided the fire spell had Rider not been behind him all the time. The attack seemed to be meant for everyone around Cat Assassin's vicinity. "Lass, move away!" the feline motioned to the girl, but she was too slow to react. Cat Assassin turned around to face the fireball by himself; it was the only way for him to save the pirate. Within the cat's hands formed a mass of focused energy. Quickly, he molded the ethereal concoction into a thinner but larger mass by twirling it around. Upon the release of the energy from his hands, Cat Assassin made a shield just in time to deflect the fireball into the ground. Both the fireball and the shield dissipated a moment later. Cat Assassin glared at the mage who just unleashed her anger quite blindly. "Someone's behind me, mage! You could've killed her-" Cat Assassin gasped, as a rather sharp leaf tried to penetrate through his back. The wound it made was comparatively larger than the one on his right hand, and it hurted so badly Cat Assassin only managed to avoid the succeeding attacks by a mere inch, including rolling away from the Kougra's cutlasses and towards the grimacing Rider. The feline glanced at PFA, but she was busy at the moment fending off her own enemy. Luck indeed was not with him at that time, having to face four enemies successively. Kat"So then, you're a mage too," said Kat, twirling her staff and watching her fireball disappear with the shield KCat Assassin had summoned. "Someone's behind me, mage! You could've killed her-"Before Kat could snap back that she did not see whoever was behind Cat Assassin and was only focusing on him and the others fighting him, he winced and dodged - and she saw two vines and a boulder heading straight for her. She twirled her staff again at high speed, creating a glistening shield and generating gusts of wind that snapped the vines and turned the boulder back to its summoner. The force of the spell was so strong that Kat had to dig her heels into the ground, and when she ended the shield and the blasts of wind, she tripped all over her own feet and fell. Cat Assassin was rolling towards Rider now. An ice dagger formed in Kat's free hand, and this she threw towards the ninja. Cyborg" Kat why are you attacking me?! I was fighting with Rider, for now at least!" Cyborg said as he used a spell only the merc's had seen. Seeing the boulder fly back at him Cyborg concentrated on the boulder and as it flew towards him it was eroded and turned into sand. He then transformed the sand into small dart like objects. He threw five at the male ninja and five at the ninja Midknight was fighting. " Chelley I would tell you to heal Midknight, but I want to see your fighting skills so take out the ninja!" Cyborg added as he ran at the ninja himself. Shado seeing the weapon backed away, while Midknight taking advantage of the distraction stabbed at the ninja's gut with one cutlass while prepared to block with the other. PFA((near the Weewoo)) The branch beneath Jernath and the pirate disappeared. Not from breaking off, but from having someone incinerate it. Regardless, the sudden lack of support beneath them caused gravity to instantly get to work. In other words, Jernath and Speck were now falling rather spectacularly toward Asthielle's head. Jernath, noticing this fact, tried to flip Speck around so she would hit the ground first. --- The fox backed away from the kunai. But PFA had other problems to worry about. Specifically the fact that there was a cutlass headed right toward her stomach. PFA, reacting as fast as she could, brought her kunai around and shoved the cutlass off-course. But even with her ninja-like reflexes, the cutlass had still gotten close enough to make a rather painful slash across her waist, cutting off some of the bandages that had been there from before. The wounds the bandages were intended for had been healed by Omni some time ago, though, so it didn't really matter to PFA. PFA was in a really bad position now, she realized, as she had been keeping the cutlass away with her kunai, and thus the fox would be able to get to her if it wanted. With no better options, she brought her katana around, trying to slash at the Kougra's fist again. If she could get him to drop his cutlass, that would give her one less thing to dodge. Rider“I don't fight those who do not wish to fight back,""But you don't hesitate to kill," Rider spat, dodging Kat's fireball. "Thanks, Kat." "Plus you hit a woman, that's unlucky mate," "This is war. I'm not a woman, I'm a pirate. He's neither man nor cat, he's a murderous ninja who's going to get what's coming to. Besides, it's not like you're not planning on hitting this girl," she indicated herself, "as well." She continued her rather direct slashes with her sword, goign for the general torso and neck area. No need to try anything fancy when the Cat was this badly outnumbered. "Surrender, cat, and perhaps Cap'n Hunty may bend the rules of the red flag. Confess to the murder of that young lady pirate, and perhaps your punishment won't be as heavy as death. Permanent maiming, perhaps, or a lifetime of servitude. You've always wanted to see the world, right kitty? See it as our prisoner." SpeckToo occupied with the thought of causing harm to Jernath, Speck was too slow to even notice him dig his dagger into her side. That is, until the blasted thing had opened yet another wound. She gritted her teeth, but continued to beat the living daylights out of the mercenary. There was a sudden emptiness where the branch had been a second ago. No warning crack or anything; it was as if the branch had never existed. Now, they fell. "Oh no you don't!" Speck said, noticing that Jernath was trying to flip her on her back midair. She tried doing the same, wrestling with him in the air. Maybe they would both hit the ground on their sides. She tried letting go of him, so that she might grab a branch on the descent, or prepare herself for a safer landing. VytCat Assassin's eyes were shut as his enemies started to talk about the pirate he fought earlier: the one he last placed inside a small energy cage. He was already hesitant to even hit everyone around him, yet they were so certain they'd kill him. Still, they were merely following the red flag of absolute war, giving him the idea to only hit back when necessary. Attacks were coming from every side of Cat Assassin. An ice dagger, five sand darts and a sword dance would spell nasty for the feline. If only he could show that he only was fighting to defend himself. He was called Cat Assassin for another reason. Quickly, he turned around, facing Rider with her cutlass. As soon as her first strike went loose, Cat Assassin took a grip on her blade, this time fixing his glare at her eyes for a short time before shoving it aside. His face was expressionless, almost numb about the pain around him. Yet then came the disadvantage of being in between enemies. The ice dagger and sand darts would certainly hit the pirate he just parried, so Cat Assassin would have to take the projectiles head-on to protect the girl. It was hard to protect someone who was going to kill him, but it was part of his principle. It was then that a whitish mass of light entered the scene, getting in the way of the projectiles. The mass consumed everything that was thrown at it, as the darts and dagger slowly vanished into thin air. "Stop! I will not allow your ignorance to rule!" spoke the voice that was the white light. Only Cat Assassin knew who the owner of the voice was. "If the red flag is the only reason why you are fighting, I will shred it all apart! You all are being blind to yourselves... The cat is merely protecting the girl he left behind. She's not dead!” Fraze((Near the Tree of Indeterminate Height)) "You seem to know Kalianne. Are you two friends?""I--" Fraze began before two things stopped him. First, the newcomer vaporized the branch of a tree, and two people--apparently in a fight--fell out of it. Fraze recognized one as the pirate the 'Fleeters had encountered in the woods some hours ago, and the other as the mercenary who attempted to stab him around the same time. Second, he wasn't sure how to answer. Considering this person had just launched an attack at who she apparently thought was Kalianne, Fraze guessed that saying he was her friend wouldn't be the best move. As the two fell, Fraze began speaking again. "I'm not sure. I only met her yesterday. Probably shouldn't be her friend, considering we already trashed the Knights' castle, and now the other 'Fleeters and the Commander are fighting the pirates. But she hasn't done anything to me personally to earn my enmity, and as far as I know, neither have I.” RiderThe Cat Assassin was grabbing her blade with his bare paws, and brushing it off like it was nothing. Rider grimaced. Certainly that would sting in the morning. "If the red flag is the only reason why you are fighting, I will shred it all apart! You all are being blind to yourselves... The cat is merely protecting the girl he left behind. She's not dead!" Rider threw a stick at the glowy, which consumed it like a black hole. Fascenating. No haunt or superstition that Rider knew of did these sorts of things. She had best exercise caution. ... Nah, caution is for sissies. "I could care less about that flag or about you. Oh, and suddenly sticking her in an airtight shield is protecting her? I know what these shields did to the Blarf." "... So... What the frigate is going on? Why's the glowy so bent on property damage?” Cyborg" Rider have I drank too much rum today or is there really a talking glowy thing over there saying that we're all fighting the ninja here over a flag he's gonna destroy? If so I hope Mr. Glowy Thing knows I'm not with the pirates and I'm attacking this ninja for two reasons, 1. I hate ninjas, 2. Money is involved mate. Though I'll stop fighting if Mr. Glowy Thing wants to pay me." Cyborg said in a piratey voice as he continued slashing at the ninja. Kat"Kat why are you attacking me?! I was fighting with Rider, for now at least!""Sorry," she answered, scratching her head sheepishly as she got back onto her feet. But before she could plan her next move, something began to glow from the corner of her eye. Craning her neck to follow the light, Kat saw it - a huge glowing mass that totally devoured her ice dagger. "Stop! I will not allow your ignorance to rule!"Kat sighed. More strange magic. "Wow, it talked. This your doing, ninja?" "If the red flag is the only reason why you are fighting, I will shred it all apart! You all are being blind to yourselves... The cat is merely protecting the girl he left behind. She's not dead!""I know I'm being weird and talking to some light spell of sorts, but I'm not fighting for the red flag either. Flag or no, my friends are in danger, the NTWF is in danger, and sometimes, only brute force is the only way to get people to listen, all right? You should be glad I haven't learned a decent darkness spell yet, but there's always an alternative!" She raised her staff high and chanted a spell that sent a jet of purple-tinged ice towards the glowing ball, hoping to freeze it. Kat knew she was totally defying the laws of physics again, among other laws of science, but then again, this was magic, and magic screwed physics in general. * * * "Oh no you don't!"Asthielle gasped and chanced a quick glance before stepping aside. She would deal with those two later; she was still interrogating this one, who was not out on a limb. "I'm not sure. I only met her yesterday. Probably shouldn't be her friend, considering we already trashed the Knights' castle, and now the other 'Fleeters and the Commander are fighting the pirates. But she hasn't done anything to me personally to earn my enmity, and as far as I know, neither have I."The mage nodded and said darkly, "I see. Well, that's quite fortunate for you, because her mere existence has earned more than just my enmity." She felt her chest for her locket, only to feel skin and cloth instead of the cold metal of the locket. "Have you seen a locket lying around lately? I must have dropped it.” Vyt((Sorry Cyborg, but I couldn't imagine talking to you while you're still slashing Cat Assassin)) It was wrong for the pirates to quickly resolve to attacking the white glow. Everything being thrown at it completely dissolved in an instant, only posing a threat to everyone around. Still, the white light managed to avoid contact with any living beings around him. That is, before the Kougra relentlessly continued his attack on the ninja. Both Cat Assassin and the white mass kept their eyes on the Kougra, knowing that he was the only idiot who'd continue attacking even under negotiations. Unknowingly, the feline's body started to shone with white aura once more. The voice of the white mass came to echo once more, now louder than ever. "I said 'Stop!'," it exclaimed with anger. Every attack from the Kougra was only deflected away. Cat Assassin certainly was surprised, though he wasn't sure if the Kougra would continue or not. If the former would prevail, he'd only be wasting his own energy. "I know this cat, and I know every single ability he has. He taught me some of them, and both of us have only used them for good," the white light spoke as it moved aside the purple ice that was hurled at it. It didn't want to fight back however, and continued talking. "It's called a shield for some reason. Had he left the pirate without the wall up, who knows what would've happened to her if a real enemy approaches her. Have you thought of that, or are you still consumed by the blind rage that red flag has given you? No matter how hard you ignore it, you all are easily manipulated by the war." The white light then started to reform itself. It showed a translucent image of a very familiar person. "... and we're here to stop it," spoke the figure that was the soul of Vyt. Bacon((Marines)) Deri snorted. "So if you won't let us attack your allies, and we won't let you attack ours, which we won't, it seems we have an impass. If any of the four of us attack, our word will be broken. So what do you recommend we do now?" Kyve looked up in surprise. He wasn't dead, nor dying. He just barely heard Sev's words. "Heal... fire?" Kyve never claimed to know much about magic, and there was a reason for that. Jord smiled as he saw Kyve was alright. He realized each of the three of them needed new sets of armor- Kyve and Deri because theirs was shredded, and Jord because of numerous scratches and burns caused by Ikkin's tornado. He laughed at Deri's words. "You'll have to forgive him, miss, he's not one for gratitude. We are in your debt, but bear in mind loyalty comes before debt." ((Bacon)) "Uh, the bog-standard one... I think." Bacon replied to Aikran. He didn't really understand anything Aikran said, he never had for that matter, and figured that the clones' unusual speech patterns might have something to do with them being raised by Zari. IkkinThe marine with the healing abilities snorted and said, "So if you won't let us attack your allies, and we won't let you attack ours, which we won't, it seems we have an impass. If any of the four of us attack, our word will be broken. So what do you recommend we do now?""Oh, I think you must have misunderstood," Ikkin said. "I have never said a word about not attacking your allies, just that I would have your friend healed before he bled to death. Which I have done. As for you, I was never counting on your word to keep you from attacking; considering that Sev was already in range to heal your friend, he's also very clearly in range to burn him and your other friend who was helping him to cinders should he make a move. He can't understand why I insisted on having your friend healed in the first place, so even I couldn't stop him from exacting revenge if one of you tries to use his healing against me or one of my friends. "It might not be entirely fair, but, at least I didn't let your friend die, no?" she finished, stretching out her hands dramatically. "Heal... fire?" the marine Sev had saved said quizzically, clearly not understanding how that could work. The marine who had been caught in the tornado before laughed at his friend's words. "You'll have to forgive him, miss, he's not one for gratitude. We are in your debt, but bear in mind loyalty comes before debt.""I'm not sure what there would be to forgive, really," Ikkin said. "I don't even consider you in my debt, considering my motives might not have been entirely pure. An angry phoenix is a far better motivator than debt, anyway, and far more likely to override loyalty.” Omni((Zari's shuttle)) "I'd prefer the pistol form as well. Do you have any where it's just one kind of poison, or the other, or will I have to remove the shots I don't want manually?” PFA((near Weewoo))"Oh no you don't!" shouted the pirate, and immediately she and Jernath started wrestling to get themself above the other. It ended quickly, though, as the pirate let go, and started looking at the tree to see if she could spot any branches to grab. Jernath noticed this, and with a lack of better ideas, promptly stabbed at the tree with one of his daggers, keeping his grip tight on the hilt. Maybe, just maybe, the friction could slow his fall, if just a little. --- That fox lept at PFA, going for her throat. The Kougra moved his cutlass to start slashing at PFA again, which was both good and bad. Good, since her kunai was now free, and she could stab at the fox again. Which is exactly what she did, in yet another attempt to keep it away from her. The bad part, of course, was the fact that she was now getting slashed at with two cutlasses again. The first two strikes made a rather painful gash in each shoulder, while PFA did her best to block the rest with her katana. This fight was getting horribly repetitive, PFA realized. The fox was trying to bite her, the Kougra was trying to cut her into pieces, and PFA was just trying to survive. She needed something to even the odds a little bit... Now how did I make that barrier? she tried to remember, as she continued blocking slashes. Fraze((The Tree)) The two falling combatants seemed, even from Fraze's perspective, to fall in such slow motion that they had ample time to shout retorts and attempt to gain the upper air hand. And yet they were still at the same time falling at speeds dictated by gravitational acceleration. Fraze chose not to think too hard about this, but took a step back when they eventually landed. "I see. Well, that's quite fortunate for you, because her mere existence has earned more than just my enmity."Fraze raised an eyebrow, but did not ask for an explanation. All too many of the people he had met on this planet had been quick to jump to conclusions--himself as well, he admitted. But this seemed more than a bit extreme. He decided it would be best to approach both Kat and this new one with caution in the future. "Have you seen a locket lying around lately? I must have dropped it.""Locket?" Unconsciously, Fraze rubbed his left shoulder, where underneath his skinsuit lay a throbbing red welt--and his own secret container. "I'm afraid I can't say that I have. Did you need it for something?” Zari((The clones speech pattern's are due to Zari, Yes. They talk very fast.)) Aikran pulled out a katana and stared at it for a few seconds. "I think this one's the one that can't be eroded by any substance whatsoever, but I can't be sure. All the pistols in here are empty, so you can customise with whatever you want in the way of venom. We've got viruses in here too. If you want one of the Kineticomps- They scramble movement, Zari used one on that Hyn of a Togorian Captain, Hrothgar- or any other fancy stuff, just ask." Aikran passed a pistol to Ethan and the katana to Bacon, then pulled a box off a shelf. "This is the ammo. The packs are labelled in English." Kwoiffei((Mage Manor)) Someone entered the kitchen. Though he remained focused on Rikku, Drakhé recognised Omni's voice easily enough. “That’s kind of odd. Green? The gem mostly seems oriented with purple and black, but …”At this, Drakhé blinked. That... is strange... it's not normal for magic colours to vary like that... is it?
“Who knows? Could be something to do with that. It’s playing hell with the weather system and Hades-knows-what else, so yeah, it’s a distinct possibility. If it’s just you … well, hey, could be the gem or again, or just natural perception, or, or …”Rikku had now gone silent, before she continued. Or... what? It might be my mind?
“Maybe someone else knows about this. It sounds important, anyway.”Drakhé blinked again. He opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted before even a sound left his mouth. This time, it was Omni. "Oh! That artifact? I did notice the purple storm, but I haven't seen any green, thought that may just be because I haven't been paying much attention to the weather."He blinked again, seeming a little disappointed. "I did feel quite a bit of a strange energy when I was outside. It felt… ominous, and I felt uncomfortable with it.
"…And Nature, she was affected by the energy for awhile, it gave her nightmares. Maybe she picked up some info about the gem as well."Only now did Drakhé sit up suddenly. "I-it might have affected me! I-I..." He grew quiet for a moment, feeling ever so slightly embarassed. One of the nondescript mages, who seemed to have just entered and was walking towards the others, spoke up from a distance. "I'm sure they'd like to hear about what happened. I know I would." W-what? Who...
"I... I was in the f-forest. I-I started... seeing my home. Aronesh... drakhe grafon ampir.” Kat"It's called a shield for some reason. Had he left the pirate without the wall up, who knows what would've happened to her if a real enemy approaches her. Have you thought of that, or are you still consumed by the blind rage that red flag has given you? No matter how hard you ignore it, you all are easily manipulated by the war."Kat sighed. She would rant about how that glowing thing managed to repel her strongest ice attack later, because for now, she had other things to worry about. "How were we supposed to know it was actually a shield, anyway? There weren't any signposts!" she retorted. "I'll have you know - " "... and we're here to stop it."Whether some mage was still working these things from the shadows or not, Kat instantly dropped her staff to stare at the translucent figure, which was actually the shining mass that had simply reformed itself. She blinked several times to make sure she wasn't seeing things, and slowly picked her staff up again. "...as much as I'd like to agree with you right now, unfortunately others won't listen," was all she finally said. * * * "I'm afraid I can't say that I have. Did you need it for something?"The corners of Asthielle's mouth turned down. "Not really...it was just a little memento of mine. Oh well. And...is your shoulder all right? Perhaps...I could heal it." The thought of actually helping someone was daunting for her, as she was only here to find and eliminate Kalianne Triss, but this person seemed quite helpful, even though he couldn't help her. Maybe if she healed him, he would end up owing her... Cyborg" Ok Mr. Glowy Thing once again I'd like to point out, my fighting has nothing to dod with the red flag as I am no longer a part of the crew mate. I am fighting Mr. Kitty Ninja here for money. I heard whoever killed him got money and that's what I aim to do, savvy." Cyborg said stopping his attack. Midknight seeing Shado in jepordy, shoved him away, but got a cut on his arm, thias one was a nasty cut. " Shado stay back, I need to talk to the ninja with out you trying to rip her neck off." he said stopping his attacks. PFA((near Weewoo))This tree suddenly seemed to be a lot taller than it was before. Jernath didn't know why.The dagger dug itself into the tree, not sharp enough to drag itself down any further. Jernath stabbed his other dagger into the tree to steady himself, and grabbed the tree with his legs so he wouldn't fall any further. The tactic moreorless worked, and Jernath was now hanging from the side of a tree, his right arm feeling as if it would be ripped from its socket. With a sigh, he yanked the right dagger out of the tree, and began climbing the rest of the way down. Once he had made his way to the ground, he looked around for the other one who was falling, taking up a defensive stance. He ignored the blonde girl and Fraze for now. They seemed to be preoccupied with their own conversations, anyway. ((...I have a specific Mythbusters episode running itself over and over in my head while typing this, making me question the physics of this post... >_>; But for the record, I have never tried, nor seen anyone try, to save myself from falling by stabbing a tree.)) --- The Kougra shoved the fox away from PFA's kunai. The kunai, instead of hitting its intended target, left a rather nasty gash in the Kougra's arm. "Shado, stay back, I need to talk to the ninja without you trying to rip her neck off," the Kougra said to the fox, no longer slashing at PFA's shoulders. PFA was confused. "Talk to me?" she questioned. "Just a moment ago you were trying to kill me! What in the NTWF would you want to talk to me about? My preferred way to die?!" PFA was obviously rather frustrated. But even so, she didn't make any attempts to attack the Kougra. Though she kept her grip firm on both her kunai and her katana, incase either opponents decided to make any sudden moves. Celestial((Spacefleet HQ)) Celestial stood there seemingly dauntless and watched the spider bombs come even closer. The flame in her hand burnt vigourously as if it was a beast wanting to sink it's teeth into prey. One of the spider bombs strayed ahead ofthe others and in it Celestial saw opportunity. Without warning, she lashed out at it, sweeping her leg under it to knock it off balance. Before it could react, she brought her flaming hand down on the casing with the explosives. The white flame in her palm greedily melted away the metal and exposed the explosives beneath. In her mind, Celestial was pretty impressed at how much firepower this thing could pack. However, it was firepower the combined forces of the dragons could withstand. She held her flame close to the explosives but not close enough to detonate them. It might be useful for later but if it isn't, she could always create a nice boom with it. The others were still coming at her but she simply spread her wings and jumped over them, careful not to get any of her clothes or wings tangled in the machinery. Celestial came down on all fours behind the spider bombs. A wall of fire suddenly appeared behind her in an attempt to keep the spiders away. "As exiting as this is, we don't have time to waste", she said and ran towards the end of the corridor. ((Near the White Weewoo))Buring pain. That was all Leste was aware of as she regained conciousness. The blood flowing on her arm slowly stopped and the puddle that had gathered drained into the ground like some creature was drinking it. Weak from blood loss, Leste lay where she fell contemplating when they had said to her. It was the longest time of her life.
Finally she gained the strength to try and stand up but as soon as she sat up, her head came up against a barrier. Dazed, she looked around her prison and the battle raging outside. While this shield did a good job of pretecting her and she was grateful to whoever put it up, she now wanted out. Weakly, Leste banged her fist against the shield and shouted, not expecting a responce at all. She leaned against the barrier and looked at the battle raging outside, wishing there was something she could do to help. Cyborg( I love Mythbusters PFA!) " Actually I don't know about you, but I'm finding this fighting rather pointless. I would like to stop seeing as we'll trade stabs back and forth until we're both dead, and what would have been the point? To show I'm not lieing, here." Midknight said as he put his cutlasses on the ground, not too far so he could grab them in case of attack, but not too close either. " I'll stop the fighting if you will. Shado come here." he added as Shado walked over to him and sat next to his master. SpeckSpeck grabbed for any branch she could, hoping to stop her fall. She succeeded, with a very bruised body. Both of her arms and legs were wrapped around a branch that was possibly a little too small for her. It warped and bent toward the ground, and she started to slide off it. She looked down in fear... only to realize that she was only a good seven feet from the ground. Her arms and legs let go at the same time, and she plummeted to the ground once more. This time, she was prepared for the impact, and landed in a crouch. (Albeit, a rather clumsy one.) She breathed heavily, clutching her stomach. Speck could only hope that no one would take advantage of her wounded state. VytCat Assassin gasped at the sight of his childhood friend. "Vyt!" he exclaimed with joy.
Vyt left a smile in his face before returning to the negotiations. He began by looking at Cyborg, who seemed to be solely motivated by money alone. The soul realized he was helping only himself, which he did not considered bad until the Kougra started to sabotage a certain cat's survival for his own effort. Still, a guy like Cyborg was a typical person who needs some proper discipline.
"I've heard about that," Vyt spoke out, his voice echoing around the battlefield. "Fifty shinies for Cat Assassin's head. Well let me rephrase that so I can show you what you've been fight for..." He then pointed at Hunty from far away.
"Fifty shinies for letting the pirate captain get away with the gem. Fifty shinies for taking away the life of someone innocent. Fifty shinies for risking this world to fall under the wrong hands. Now, do I make myself clear, or must I give you more dire reasons how the real offer happens to be?" Vyt sighed before continuing. "There's nothing wrong with getting what you want, but I sure hope you know the price this world is paying for you to reach them."
Vyt then looked at Kat and saw disbelief in her eyes. The soul shrugged it off before starting to talk again. "I understand your point. I'll admit that it's too late to undo what the war has done to everyone around me, but it's never too late to revert them back to their peaceful selves. I've been dead for what, a couple of months, and I see this place to have changed for the worse. I can't take it anymore, and neither will you once you all see my point."
Cat Assassin felt it better to interrupt the soul from his speech. "... About the girl I placed in my Signum Sanctuary, you should've told me you were referring to the pirate I fought a long time ago. I put her into that cage because I thought she was lying in a pool of her enemies. I never wanted to kill her, and I never wanted her to die..."
The feline then stood up, his legs trembling from the pain he had received earlier, and waved his hand in a familiar gesture. Slowly, the wall around Leste started to dissipate.
"Now quick, get her before someone else does," he motioned to the purple mage. RiderThis holier-than-thou glowy-thing was really starting to irritate Rider. She wasn't even sure it was really Vyt. Perhaps just some do-goodie who wanted to tug at a couple heartstrings and anger some other people. The others were talking to the thing as though it mattered. Rider didn't have to explain herself to anyone, particularly not some uppity elitist peace-and-love hippie preacher. "You think you know what right and wrong is, do you, dead man? I think you've been gone for too long." "Cat," she addressed the Cat Assassin directly, "I've about had it with you and your tricks. Quite frankly, I think we're all tired. I don't know what you're trying to pull, but you've released the pirate you've captured or saved or suffocated or whatever. That will not go forgotten, but neither will your other tricks. Then... you know what," she turned to Kat. "Taking him prisoner doesn't sound like a bad idea. Cat, you'll come into pirate custody, quietly and willingly, and you'll answer for your crimes in court. Or the closest thing that Pirates have to a court. Now, we don't believe in law, but we do believe in justice. You'll speak your piece to our Cap'n and the pirate in the bubble, is she's still alive, and she had best be alive or you'll be wishing you were never born." "You're vastly outnumbered. I'm sure there are people here who wouldn't want to kill you, but we may have to, should you resist arrest." Rider chased after Kat, waving her sword threateningly and preparing to defend the purple mage. "The pirate? You mean you don't know her name either?" Kat"... About the girl I placed in my Signum Sanctuary, you should've told me you were referring to the pirate I fought a long time ago. I put her into that cage because I thought she was lying in a pool of her enemies. I never wanted to kill her, and I never wanted her to die...""I see," said Kat, nodding. "In that case, I owe you some thanks, and and an apology for misunderstanding." "Now quick, get her before someone else does.""Rider, the barrier's going down, I'm going to the pirate. Cover me," Kat called, starting towards Leste. Already the shield was much more transparent than before, and by the time Kat reached it, it was all gone. She knelt down beside Leste and placed a glowing purple hand on the pirate's bad arm. PFA((near Weewoo))There was the pirate, crouching on the ground and panting heavily. Jernath kept an eye on her, but for now just stood his ground. She was injured, and there was no telling what was on her mind. Maybe she was going to surrender, or maybe she was going to go insane and start killing everyone. He prepared himself for anything. --- PFA raised an eyebrow when the Kougra dropped his cutlasses. How ironic that she was trying to force him to do that just earlier. "I thought you said you were going to kill me, no matter what it takes?" PFA asked in response to the Kougra. "What makes you think I should believe this sudden change of mind?" The ninja started dragging herself backwards, to get a bit of distance from her opponent. Her leg was injured, and if this Kougra really wasn't going to attack her, she'd want to heal her leg as soon as possible. Celestial((The apparently former battlefield))The shield dropped but since Leste was leaning on it, so did she. A surprised cry escaped her lips as she fell onto the ground, her arm jarred badly by the fall. However, Leste knew she was vulnerable and quickly scrambled up but failed to get up to her feet. The purple mage from the ship came before she could try and stand up again and put her hand on Leste's wound, letting healing magic flow all through it. The pirate immediately felt the hot pain of the wound fade to be replaced with the cool sensation of magic. However, that was all.
"Don't bother with it, the wound won't heal with magic, only with time but I am grateful for the pain relief, thank you", she whispered to Kat and tried to get up, this time with more success. Her cutlass lay where it fell and Leste was glad that nobody had moved it. Carefully, she half-walked half-hobbled over to it and picked up the smooth blade, putting it into it's sheath with a satisfying sound.
Unconciously, she lifted up her bloodied sleeve and looked at the sword tattoo. She brushed off the dried blood and watched as the blood on the sword slowly turned into black ink. The inscription reminded her of the situation.
We are here because we are not free. it said. VytCat Assassin sighed while Vyt the ghost looked at him with concern. Both of them didn't want to talk about how everyone around them considered Vyt mere magic, and they were sure no one was believing them. Rider then spoke out, like a true former captain, how Cat Assassin's actions were misinterpreted by many as an attack on the pirates. Though he never wanted to subject himself to such atrocities, all Cat Assassin could do was give in. He closed his red eyes and gave a smile to the former captain. "Fine, then. At least we've talked about this in a peaceful way, and despite the wounds you've inflicted upon me, I'm still grateful. Though I have my own doubts about being taken in custody because of that red flag, I am hoping that we can settle this with the captain in a more civilised way." Cat Assassin sighed, then took a glance at Vyt. "Don't worry, Vyt. Think of this as another one of my ways to pay for all the lives I've took away way back in my own world. To the eyes of these people, I am a criminal and am still subjected to justification of actions. Whether I am proven guilty or innocent, I do not mind." Vyt stared longingly at the feline in return. Only the soul, who had a much longer time being with Cat Assassin, knew he could easily resist arrest and take on everyone. Through the mouth of his companion SILE did he learn how the feline could easily dispatch an entire company of cyborg rabbits without even breaking a sweat. However, the feline himself was a close reminder that Cat Assassin had changed for the better, and for the better he will march on. Without mouthing a word, Vyt nodded. "... As I've said earlier, the pirate I locked in is now out of my own cage. My only wish before you take me in is to see her safe from anyone who might consider her an enemy. Please grant my wish," Cat Assassin emotionally spoke as he raised up his hands over his head in surrender. RiderSeeing that the pirate was as okay as she was going to get for a while, Rider did not give Kat the opportunity to answer her question, but instead ran off so she wouldn't be in two places at once in a manner that makes Wolf's summary so hard to write up. "Though I have my own doubts about being taken in custody because of that red flag, I am hoping that we can settle this with the captain in a more civilised way.""Cap'n said 50 shinies per head, she never said anything about whether they'd have to be attached or not. As for civilized, well, it's all relative and all painfully subjective. The normal person would say that Ikkin, our knight, is the most civilized. (Not that Kat isn't a Knight, simply that she's primarily considered Mage by most) But have you ever seen Ikkin's sense of justice warp? I have. it's not pretty. Do you see the Spacefleet and their ideas of Civilization? "News Flash: we're all just people. Everyone thinks they're in the right. If a person doesn't think he's in the right, he switches to the side that he thinks is in the right. It's our nature. It's the only reason we can look in the mirror every day and feel good about ourselves. Now, disarm." Rider pointed her sword to Cat Assassin's chest. "There are no real secure rooms in the Weewoo. I guess we'll have to use even mroe of the mist's power to lock a room." Cyborg" Now you Mr. Glowy Thing I understand your point of view. I would rather have the fate of the world rest in the hands of a psycho pirate than a sane ninja any day. I also know it seems that I seem selfish over the money, but you see I don't know if my allies will pay us, so I need to get as much money as possible for my team. Now Rider I suggest that if the 50 shinies do get paid, that you and I split it 25 shinies for you, 25 shinies for me, cause I fought him and injured him more than you I believe. I know how it would be split was a little obvious, but I was a pirate and I know you have to be very specific." Cyborg said to the nearby gathering of people. I thought you said you were going to kill me, no matter what it takes? What makes you think I should believe this sudden change of mind?"I know, I know, but I never wanted to start fighting, but as my brother attacked your fellow ninja I thought you would attack him which I just couldn't allow. I said that because you have injured me a good amount, actually I believe a bit more than a whole squad of the Fleet did. Plus I'm a hired mercenary and/or assassin killing is kinda my job." Midknight replied. VytThough threatened, Cat Assassin maintained his cool composure. "No need to point that blade at a helpless fellow, pirate. I'm not going anywhere with these wounds," Cat Assassin spoke as the blood from his hand slowly dripped over his head, giving his hair a messed-up mix of red and black. Vyt watched as the arrest took place. He could not help but see the pain Cat Assassin was in. He too could feel the agony of being surrounded by hostility. "I sure hope you think you're in the right," he breathed out, talking to Rider. "... If you really have the sense of justice like what you've said, you'd think about this for a long time," he continued. With his tail, Cat Assassin pulled out something from his coat. It was a small black board with a red button on it. Though controversy was lying on such an object for its famous trend of activating a self-destruct mechanism, the feline did his best not to make it sound like a weapon. "This is all I have. Nothing more," he spoke calmfully, his head still fixed at Rider's feet. Huntress((The not-so-battlefield)) Bloody Mary let out a happy sigh. He'd been sitting on top of the blarf the entire time, steering him carefully in the relative direction of the trees, away from the core of the fight. Now that it was breaking up, he loosened up and patted the blarf's ear. "Get your brain straight for a minute there, mate. We've got people to protect." The blarf's beady and currently very hazy eyes stared through his fur, trying to evaluate the situation. For the most part, he was pretty bright, but rum slows down anyone's thinking. But he had his instincts, and one doesn't need thinking to work with instincts - and blarfs are herd animals. So he wandered over to Speck and sat down resolutely like a sphinx, much like he'd done with Hunty a short while ago, enclosing the pirate between his huge paws. A low, protective grumble emerged from the depths of his throat. This was a good, clear, nice goal to cling to, so he was intent on protecting Speck for the time being. Bloody Mary shot a quick worried glance at the silvery sphere that contained Huntress. This was full defense, and full defense isn't useful for winning battles. But for the time being there was nothing he could do, so he went back to full defense himself and sunk into the blarf's fur. PFA((near Weewoo))PFA had thoughts that she probably would have attacked the other Kougra had she not been surrounded with a ball of darkness, but decided not to say anything, as she wasn't exactly looking forward to getting slashed at again. The second thing the Kougra said came as odd to PFA. She had always been one of the incompetent ninja, the one who still needed to be trained. But here she was being told that she was better than a bunch of those Spacefleet people. How was that possible? But still, she kept her thoughts unvoiced. Instead, she simply said, "So... you're going to let me live?” Cyborg( I know a short post, but I couldn't think of anything else.) " Yes, but can you tell me anything about the weird talking glowing blob over there?" Midknight asked the ninja. Omni((Zari's ship)) Ethan took the ammo box and began to look through it, taking one clip of every disabling-and-not-lethal ammo he could recognize. "I'll return what's left. I probably won't even use much of it, possibly not any, this is mostly as a strategical precaution." He pondered the movement-scrambling device that Zari mentioned. They didn't sound lethal, he hadn't seen one in action, and he wondered exactly how scrambled the movements became. Overall, it was too good an offer to resist. "May I have a kineticomp before we land, what exactly does it do, how do I get it to work, and how long does it last?" he said, faster than the written sentence would suggest. PFA((near Weewoo))"What glowing..." PFA started, looking over at what the Kougra had motioned to. But as soon as she saw what it was, she stopped. Is it really? No... it couldn't be... I thought he... I... PFA couldn't even get a full thought together, much less a spoken sentence. She had thought she had sensed his presence earlier, but she didn't think he'd actually... She promptly forced herself to her feet, ignoring her bleeding leg. She was going to heal that, but it could wait. There were other things on her mind. Specifically... "...Father?" Rider“No need to point that blade at a helpless fellow, pirate.""Forgive me for saying, but you're not helpless until you disarm. But we'll have your wounds attended to. We have a skilled mage and a phoenix. Well, the ones the phoenix works with are mostly all dead, but you know..." "I sure hope you think you're in the right... If you really have the sense of justice like what you've said, you'd think about this for a long time,""Hmm? Never said I had a sense of justice. But I do have a sense of caring for me and mine, and that's a fair substitute. There are more questions involved, and less preaching, but it gets me out of bed in the morning and keeps me going through the day." She took the black board. "Curious thing. You ninjas certainly are bizarre. So, Cat, what did you say your name was?" Now Rider I suggest that if the 50 shinies do get paid, that you and I split it 25 shinies for you, 25 shinies for me, cause I fought him and injured him more than you I believe. I know how it would be split was a little obvious, but I was a pirate and I know you have to be very specific.""Good call, getting specific," Rider said. "I acknowledge your work here and hold no grudge against you personally. I was not present when you left. However, as you are a merc now, I would ahve to cheat you on general principle. But now you have my word, 25 shinies will be yours for the taking." She took the Cat Assassin by the paw and, with as little roughness as she could manage in her ticked-off state, she led him onto the Weewoo. "He's our prisoner. Let him in," she said to the mist. "Prepare a room on the lower decks. Seal the doorway and the cracks in the walls and floor." The mist shrank back a little, as it dedicated some of its mass to sealing a bilge-soaked room. About 10-feet by 10-feet, rat-free and relatively hygenic, but still smelling like something goshawful. Rider led the Cat Assassin in and provided him with a meal, fresh water, a lantern and a bucket to serve as a toilet and the promise that the healer would be down just as soon as she was done blowing the crud out of Spacefleet. then she left to blow up some Spacefleet herself, leaving Cat Assassin alone. VytUpon being asked for his name, Cat Assassin replied quickly. "I don't have a name, but everyone in my world coined 'Cat Assassin' on me," he breathed out heavily, trying to shrug off his own past. His expressionless face turned into a depressed one, obviously affected by having to spit out the name not given to him by his father but rather by the people around him. The pirate led Cat Assassin back into the White Weewoo, but this time the feline was able to see its interior part. Everything was much smaller compared to the Ninja Dojo, probably to give way to compactness and simplicity. For some reason, the pirate began to converse with the mist itself. The latter then gave way to a cellar dedicated to the prisoners of war, in which Cat Assassin entered with much disappointment. He was expecting a much smaller cell, since during his time with his clan he was used to squeezing himself inside a five-feet cube-shaped room that smelled a lot worse than a dog cage. "... This is more of a normal room rather than a prison," he commented, ignoring the foul smell that was surrounding them. Pirates and their odd sense of smell, he thought. ------------ "... Father?" The ghost that was Vyt turned around to see PFA from behind. She too had sustained more wounds than expected, and the soul took special note of her bleeding leg. Seeing that he had nothing to save Cat Assassin from imprisonment, Vyt approached his daughter with a sad look on his face. "... They took Cat Assassin," he whispered. Nature"The sitar . . . give it to us!"
"Wha-- Again?!" Nature sighed impatiently. "Good grief, these things won't stop." Quickly, Nature summoned her sitar and started strumming.
"DANCE SNOWFLAKES DANCE!!!"
A huge avalanche showered down on the demons. Nature smirked as each creature struggled in the snow. "Like it?" she taunted them. As they got up, she swung her sitar around and thwacked each of the creatures on the head. She gave a little, sadistic giggle. "Oh yeah. This is fun." She strummed her sitar again and soon, pillars of snow shot up from the ground and hit the demons. Nature smiled then as a large wall of snow came up and attacked them. The Zafara liked this very much. Finally, she strummed her sitar again.
"DANCE SNOWFLAKES DANCE!"
Soon, the ground was meter-high covered in snow. Nature walked over to the main demon, who was panting and yelping in pain. She smirked.
"Ain't it a blast?"(Uh, yeah. I'm lost. 0_o) ZariAikran grinned. "Senali will demonstrate happily. The simple movement required to walk four paces and wave your arms gets so mixed up. Wrists work best, but ankles, foreheads, anywhere will do fine. Senali, catch!" Senali made a noise of mild discomfort as her limbs elongated, nose flattened, and the rest of her features stretched to fit a human skeleton and proportions, then reached out with suprising speed and grabbed the disk, the pressed it to one wrist. #I am going to stand up now. Be warned!# The clone twitched, then rocketed upwards, legs flailing in all directions, attempted a cartwheel, and fell sideways onto the floor. Aikran stepped forward and removed the disk, leaving Senali, to turn back into her normal form and began to wash. "Senali is hardly ever embarassed, so she is best used for demonstrations such as this." Aikran explained. "Salricio is too dignified, and it would not do for the pack leader to look silly, Latiere has no patience for Zari's litte contraptions, and I'm as physically hardy as Senali, so I can not throw myself around like a chicken with its tail wet. Ienalle also is not as strurdy as Senali, I would not trust Ytrisan with machinery unless I was in real trouble, and The twins are both sturdy but too young to hurl themselves around like crazy tar-fried rabbits on anti-depressants. Anyway, Latiere would hit me if I tried." Aikran looked rather peeved, but did not comment further. "Anyway, Aeloan's energy is running out, so any more questions just ask Ienalle or possibly Senali or Latiere. I'm tired and Salricio can't mind-speak." On that note, he collapsed back into clone form, meowed, then curled up to take a nap. "Nearly there. Grab your...whatever you have, get your teeth, claws, flying books, hairdryers, or whatever else you need out and makes sure they work." Zari called over her shoulder, trying to find a good place to land." ((The clones names are pronounced as follows: sal-REE-shee-o, lah-tee-AIR, EYE-krahn, sen-NAH-lee, EEE-nah-lay, TRY-san, AY-low-ann (Like the name "Anne") and DRET-nigh. Just for the sakes of you all not inwardly pronouncing the names like Who-knows-what. FERDAMEI, CAN YOU POST PLZKTHX?))
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Post by GW2 on Oct 16, 2008 16:19:44 GMT -5
Fraze((The Fading Battlegrounds)) The battle between pirates, ninjas, and a few mercs seemed to be dying down. Fraze wondered vaguely whether the pirates would return to fighting the 'Fleeters. "Not really...it was just a little memento of mine. Oh well," replied the newcomer. Fraze wondered if this was entirely the truth. He doubted it, but decided it would be better to exercise tact, so he didn't press the issue. "And...is your shoulder all right? Perhaps...I could heal it."Fraze thought. There was the possibility that she would somehow try to poison him. But then again, he had just seen her incinerate a tree branch with little effort--it seemed to him that if she wanted to attack him, she would already have done so. "Um...yes, please," he replied, drawing up the sleeve of his shirt and having his skinsuit slide away from his shoulder. The wound rather resembled a second-degree burn. As his suit had the ability to regulate temperature, he had been using it to suck more heat out of his shoulder--essentially using it as an ice pack to numb the burn. However, as the wound began to warm up once again, it started to throb painfully. Knowing this new person would probably ask about it, Fraze replied in advance. "It's from a...spell of sorts, that requires a personal expense." Not completely true, but not exactly a lie either. It was simpler to explain and easier to understand than having a small box that contains another universe embedded in your arm. After a pause to think, he added, "I'm not sure I got your name. I'm Fraze." He held out his other hand. CyborgMidknight walked to the glowing blob with the ninja. There, there was also Cyborg and Rose. " Ok so ninja, you're telling me this glowing thing is your father? A little odd sounding don't ya think? Hey Cyborg so did we get the money?" he asked. " Ok I was fighting the ninja, then Rider came and helped, then Rose came and waited for an opportune moment, next enters Mr. Glowy Thing, after that the ninja is arrested by the pirates, but Rider is spliting the money in half with us. Though I suggest we start helping the Fleet, and Jernath." Cyborg answered. " Rose go help Jernath, Cyborg I think I see your old captain, I'm guesssing you want to fight her, so go I'll stay here and check over my wounds then I'm going to help the Fleet." Midknight said. Cyborg ran over Hunty with a big monster truck to Hunty, " I see you kept the blarf. So Hunty how long has it been since you kicked me off this ship?" he asked. Rider"... This is more of a normal room rather than a prison,""It's not like we take prisoners on a regular basis, you know," Rider said acridly before she left. So, people called him Cat Assassin. Generic enough to remember. But he had to have a name at some point or another. Maybe he was an orphan or something. He seemed disappointed at the cell too. Well, he was thier prisoner, what did he expect? They were hardly going to furnish the cell or anything. She emerged and found Cyborg pretty easily in the crowd, as he was the only one foolish enough to try to interrupt a battle between Hunty and the Commander. "I see you kept the blarf. So Hunty how long has it been since you kicked me off this ship?""Like we'd get rid of him! Hey, am I not supposed to be your focus? You know, if I kill you now, I could take the whole 50 for myself." She pointed her blade dangerously close to Cyborg's face. With her other hand, she tossed a bag of 25 shinies at his feet. "If you don't want to fight, step away from my captain. Leave this place, and never oppose the pirates again.” Strife((The Battlefield)) As The Commander's stone sphere grew in size and density, captain Huntress prepared for the attack by swinging her blade in wide circular motions around her. This motion surrounded her with a transparent white shield that was several layers thick. By the time she was finished creating the shield, The Commander was no longer visible inside the stone sphere. It was spinning so quickly that it kicked up dirt and snow behind it like a giant motorcycle tire. Then, without warning, the sphere rocketed towards Huntress at a tremendous speed. The sphere collided head-on with the shield surrounding the pirate captain. The shield stopped the sphere from moving, but the sphere continued to spin wildy, tearing the shield apart layer by layer while throwing rocks haphazardly in random directions. Some of the rocks flew so fast that they would likey cause a decent-sized bruise if they hit somebody. * * * Meanwhile, high above the battlefield, the group of Spacefleet officers were continuing to prepare for their rescue mission. "D o a ll of yo u u nd er st an d m y o rd er s," buzzed Cyclops, "O r s ho ul d I re pe at th em?" "My orders are simple enough," said Leoness with a light smile. She followed that statement with a telepathic message to Cyclops. Thank you...Cyclops nodded his closed eye in acknowledgement. "Y ou wi ll ne ed a om mu ni ca ti on de vi ce, Ch ie f M ed ic. Op en th e c om pa rt me nt be hi nd yo u." Leoness returned a nod, swiveled her body around, and opened a small metal cupboard above her head. She took one of the small communicators from the shelf and pushed a bright green button on its screen... >>SPACEFLEET COM4040 UNIVERSAL COMMUNICATOR >>Initializing Boot Mode... >>... >>... >>Initialization Complete. >>Communicator assigned to NAMARIE LEONESS / C.MED >>Signal Strength: ||||------ >>Ready. After reading the information, she stuffed the communicator into her pocket and allowed her eyes to wander around the shuttle. Her heartbeat grew faster as the group came closer and closer to being ready for landing. PFA((near Weewoo))"...They took Cat Assassin."PFA just stood there for a moment, taking in the words. The Kougra started saying something, but the ninja payed no attention. As the cyborg Kougra ran off to talk to Huntress, PFA fell onto her knees. Partially from grief, and partially from the fact that she was starting to get dizzy from blood loss. "It seems like it's always either Father or Uncle... once one is alright, the other is gone..." she muttered, more to herself than to anyone else. And then there was silence, aside from the sounds of fighting in the background. PFA put away her kunai, and moved her left hand over the cut in her leg. She closed her eyes, and once again started to use her healing ability to close up the cut in her leg. PFA had the feeling, however, that this ability wasn't meant to be used so frequently, as it took so much out of her. It was meant to be more of a backup, to be used alongside whatever other skills she had. But it was either this or fainting from loss of blood, she decided. She healed her cuts just enough so they wouldn't bleed any more, figuring she should start conserving her energy. She was sure there was much more fighting to occur in the near future, and she would need to save her strength for that. Once she was done, she sighed, and stood back up again, albeit a little shakily. "We have to get Uncle back," she said as determinedly as she could in that state. He could die, she added silently, as she couldn't bring herself to actually say the words. Celestial((Near The White Weewoo))Her strength returning, Leste watched as the cat was taken away to the ship and put into a prison of the accursed black mist. Something in her heart twanged. The feline spared and saved her life while all she did in return was try to kill him and watched as he was taken away, possibly to his death. He had a niece as well. But she couldn't break her oath on pain of death.
Slowly, Leste walked up to the ninja girl and the being of light with her. Lifting her gaze from her boots, Leste looked the girl in the eyes, a sympathetic expression on her face.
"Your uncle has my thanks. If there was anything I could do for him, I would do it but there isn't", Leste whispered and felt her eyes stinging a little. "I'm sorry", she finished and walked away towards the misty ship and to where the feline was imprisoned. Maybe there was a way she could free him without breaking her oath.
Leste just hoped that he would get a fair trial. VytVyt turned around to see a pirate approaching them, though her style of walking gave him a hint that she might not be going to attack them. His assumption was correct when the pirate finally managed to come closer with a sad look on her face. "Your uncle has my thanks. If there was anything I could do for him, I would do it but there isn't... I'm sorry." As the pirate began to turn around and away, Vyt looked at PFA in the eyes. He knew the girl just had a fit of emotional disturbance, but he had to say something to her. It was about her newborn powers. "PFA... I know this isn't the time to say this, but..." He noticed the large wound on her leg getting better, but to a limited extend. Vyt reached out for the wound with his right hand and moved it across. In a matter of seconds, the wound started to disappear. "... I am not the Vyt you think I am," he said while standing up to meet her eyes once more. "I am Vyt the Yang... And I am your real father. PFA((near Weewoo))The pirate girl that Uncle had put the barrier around earlier walked up to PFA, looking her straight in the eyes. But it wasn't a look of hate. It was a look of... sadness. "Your uncle has my thanks," the pirate said softly. "If there was anything I could do for him, I would do it, but there isn't. I'm sorry."While PFA was letting the words sink in, the pirate girl then started walking away, toward the Weewoo. Just as the pirate was fading out of sight, PFA gave a slow nod. "...I'll let him know. I'll be sure to." "PFA..." came the voice of Father. PFA turned her head to look at him. "I know this isn't the time to say this, but..."Father kneeled down in front of PFA, waving a hand over the cut on her leg. Instantly, she felt it getting better, and the cut started to fade away. PFA blinked. She didn't know Father could do that. "...I am not the Vyt you think I am," Father said, as if in response to PFA's previous thought. He stood up again, his eyes meeting PFA's. "I am Vyt the Yang... And I am your real father."PFA didn't know how exactly to respond to that statement. In the end, she just settled with, "No! It's not possible!" "...Vyt the Yang? What is that supposed to mean?” Vyt"... I am the positive side of Vyt the human. You may say I'm Subila's counterpart, but I'm more of Vyt's conscience," Vyt the Yang breathed out. Obviously the name was confusing, and he had to think of another idea how to show PFA. Vyt looked up in the sky. "... After Vyt died a few months ago, Subila and I were released from his body for no reason. Being the stubborn fellow that she was, Subila came to wander around NTWF while I hid myself within the sky," he said. "... About me being your father... Years ago, before you were born, Vyt was tempted by Subila to breed for her dark nature to take over him. At the last minute, I was able to take Vyt's place," the Yang continued. He began to remove his shirt and reveal to PFA a dark spot within his stomach. "I sacrificed myself and was sealed inside Vyt. If I was not there to take his place, the 'seed' would've been affiliated with evil. Instead, I was able to add Yang in the seed to counteract Subila's intention." Vyt the Yang then looked back at PFA. "... And you were that seed, PFA. You now harbor within you the powerful mixture of Yin and Yang. I have come here to reveal the power your heart have harvested from our act." "... But I say this to you: please do not think bad about Vyt," the Yang started to look sad. "I should be the one who needs to be apologized because I wasn't there to take care of you. He, however, took a part of his time nurturing you. I want you to maintain that relationship with him, please.” Kat"Don't bother with it, the wound won't heal with magic, only with time but I am grateful for the pain relief, thank you.""Are you sure?" asked Kat hesitantly, as Leste got up. "In that case...I'm glad to be of help anyway." She decided to walk back to where the battle - or at least, most of it - was. "Rider," Kat called out. "I thought you and Cyborg were supposed to be fighting with each other, not against each other!" * * * "It's from a...spell of sorts, that requires a personal expense."Asthielle nodded and decided not to pursue this matter any further. It seemed that he wouldn't tell her more anyway. She rolled up the long, flowing sleeve of her right arm and placed a hand glowing with goldenrod light on his wound, feeling the gentle magic sinking in and patching things up - almost literally. "Oh...pleased to meet you, Fraze. I am Asthielle.”[/i] PFA((near Weewoo))"Yin... and Yang?" PFA blinked, staring at her hands. This was certainly a lot to take on at once. She had so many thoughts going through her head. First off, Subila was her mother?! Second, so Vyt wasn't really her father? Third, if Subila was her mother, and Bluisa was the remnant of Subila's memories, did that mean Bluisa could be like her mother in place of Subila? "...But I say this to you: please do not think bad about Vyt," the Yang said, a sad look on his face. "I should be the one who needs to be apologized because I wasn't there to take care of you. He, however, took a part of his time nurturing you. I want you to maintain that relationship with him, please."PFA looked back up at the Yang, giving him a smile. "Of course not. I could never think badly about Vyt," she assured him. "As I told him once... even if not by blood, he's my father, and he'll always be that way to me. Always. "...And I... I forgive you," she added, glancing down at her now-healed leg as she tried to think of the right words. "...I forgive you, Father." ((EDIT: PFA likes to edit really old things when she spots typos )) CyborgCyborg bent over and grabbed the bag of shinies. " I suggest you not threaten me, you may have been my superior on the Weewoo, but I've gotten stronger and I'm not afraid to kill you on the spot." he said pushing the cutlass away and taking his own two out. He stabbed at Rider with one cutlass and blocked with the other while sending a vine at her throat. Bacon((Marines)) Deri scoffed at Ikkin's words, "Are you trying to bully us into submission?" He pointed one blaster at her and the other one at Sev, ready to fire should either make a move. Jord looked at Sev fearfully. "Deri, don't... let's just get out of here." "We can't! That's desertion, you coward!" Deri hissed back, shifting his gaze slowly from Ikkin to Sev and back. Kyve lay on the ground, not sure what to do. "Deri, think before you act for once! They could kill us! They will!" Jord shouted irritably. "Better us than the Commander!" Deri spat back. Without another word, he pulled both triggers at once. Jord's eyes widened at the distinct sound the blasters made. "NO!!" ((Bacon)) Cyclops' orders were still fresh in Bacon's memory. "Yeah, I think I got it." He said, as he tried out the katana given to him. The weight and balance were a bit different than his personal sword, but he didn't think the difference would matter too much. He picked up an ammo box Aikran had pointed out that was marked "Katana Ammo". Curious, he opened it, and after peering inside, decided he wasn't quite sure what the contents were. He stuffed it in his pocket anyways, figuring he might need it later. Rider“I thought you and Cyborg were supposed to be fighting with each other, not against each other!""Funny how wars work, Kat. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, well, that adage is a lie." Rider cut the vine and twisted out of the way of the cutlasses, getting a long but relatively shallow grave on the left forearm. "So, it comes to fighting, does it, Cyborg? Thankfully, Spot is not present and even if she were to come, I would not be so foolish as to climb her, so there your hopes are dashed. If it is any consolation, if I were to climb the beast. she would save your sword the bloodstains and kill me herself." Cyborg takes 2d6 bad pun damage.Most of the Meepits were still healing, but the Magus Sisters had not been present in the previous battle. They were probably on medic duty. She had best only call one of them. Sandy was powerful enough. A blossom of darkness appeared over Rider's head and an elegant faerie Meepit emerged. "Sandy, barrage him with lightning spells!" Rider drew a dagger with her other hand. While on the ship, she had restocked on daggers while she was retrieving Cyborg's payment. Five, and only five. Two on her belt and three hidden on her person. Surprises. She had best make them count. She brought her cutlass around to Cyborg's left side and prepared to parry with the dagger. SpeckSpeck sighed relief as the blarf's paws surrounded her. She was safe for the time being, so she relaxed a bit. There wasn't much that could get though a blarf's defenses... Although, he did smell very much like rum. Thank you, she thought, sitting down and leaning against one of the giant paws. Her eyes remained vigilant as she looked around at the dying battle. Only two yards away from Fraze and Asthielle, she decided to eavesdrop. You never knew when important information might pop up. IkkinThe marine with the healing powers clearly wasn't all too impressed by Ikkin's implied threat. "Are you trying to bully us into submission?" he asked, pointing one blaster at her and one at Sev. Ikkin simply shrugged. He wouldn't be stupid enough to shoot a phoenix, would he? Sev, on the other hand, spread out his wings and glared threateningly, daring him to make a move. The marine from the firestorm seemed more wary. "Deri, don't... let's just get out of here."
"We can't! That's desertion, you coward!" the marine Ikkin now knew to be Deri hissed back, looking slowly between Ikkin and Sev and then back. Ikkin sighed. Deri really needed to learn when he was beaten. It would make things much easier for the both of them. The marine who Sev had just healed lay on the ground, apparently unsure about what to do. "Deri, think before you act for once! They could kill us! They will!" the marine from the firestorm shouted. Smart man, Ikkin thought. Listen to him.
"Better us than the Commander!" Deri spat angrily, pressing both triggers simultaneously. Ikkin wasn't prepared for the sudden attack, sure as she was that Deri couldn't have been so foolish. She tried to dodge out of the way, but was hit painfully in the left shoulder and knocked back. She let out a low hiss as she reached towards the wound, then pulled her hand away to look at it. It was red. "Why you..." she growled, trying to slash both blasters out of his hand - or both of his hands off. Either one would work. Sev, on the other hand, simply smirked and spread his wings wide as the blaster fire hit him directly in the heart, killing him instantly. He caught fire before anyone could have time to react; the fire quickly spread into an inferno of near-uncontrolled phoenix fire in all directions around him. It even spread so far that the heat seared Ikkin, who had to quickly jump back to avoid it after making her first move against Deri.
And then, as quickly as it started, the fire dissipated into thin air, revealing a revived Sev right in the center of it.
"I don't know if you'll have a future after this," Sev said, his voice low. "But if you do... try to remember that shooting a phoenix is not only entirely pointless, but the quickest way to incinerate everything nearby. Including your friends." He took to the skies, flying over the scorched area to look to see whether the other two marines might have survived; while he didn't hold much back, he still didn't use the full power of his phoenix fire - it was possible that they hadn't been incinerated. Ikkin could deal with Deri; Sev knew she wouldn't have any more foolishly-kind deals to make after this. Kat((Edited, as Ikkin's post went through before mine.)) "Funny how wars work, Kat. The enemy of my enemy is my friend, well, that adage is a lie.""In that case, Rider...need a hand?" Kat asked, twirling her staff, which began to glow purple. Fraze((By The Tree)) Fraze had read of healing spells described as tingling. He had never known what it meant--but for him, the sensation resembled the pins-and-needles feeling that you get after you sleep with your head on your arm. A not completely pleasant feeling, but much better than the burning welt he had had. He watched with interest as the wound closed up and faded, until it matched the surrounding skin almost perfectly. There was still somewhat of a welt, where the diffused Universal Box lay, but it blended with the musculature of his arm so that it did not look completely out of place. "Thank you very much," Fraze said with genuine gratitude, testing his arm out by stretching it a bit. Looking over to the ship, he saw Kat. "That's Kalianne there, isn't it?" Before he could get a response, there was a bright flash and a wave of heat. His suit responded quickly to absorb the flames. After it had passed, Fraze looked in the direction of the blast. He saw the phoenix that had helped him earlier, which he assumed was the cause of the fire. As well as-- Three of the marines. Inwardly, Fraze groaned. Just what the 'Fleet needed, more dead marines. "Excuse me. I need to keep a few of my teammates from getting themselves killed." With that, he ran in the direction of the marines. VytThe eyes of Vyt the Yang sparkled with gratitude when the words "I forgive you" entered through his ears. For once, he never felt so much happier in his eternal life. "... I'll always love you forever, here inside my heart," he breathed out with passion. The ghost then went to hide the disgusting marking on his stomach with his own shirt, as his eyes readjusted themselves to the battlefield. It was weird that both of them just talked so sincerely in the middle of a chaotic scene, but he shrugged it off completely. "PFA," he noted his daughter to look at the same direction. "Around us are people attacking each other. However, I want you to realize that they do not fight by their own will, but are rather influenced only by the sudden disturbance that is the gem. Cat Assassin and Vyt may have not told you this, but your mission is to end this blind madness by keeping the gem away from anyone's reach. That includes the pirate captain and the Commander." Vyt the Yang kept silent for a moment to give way for something. A black portal started to emerge from behind them, opening the dimension to a place only familiar to a certain mage. Another ghost then appeared through the portal, hovering around for a moment as a black mass before reforming to a human figure. It was the ghost of Subila the Yin. Unexpectedly, the Yin gave PFA a smile: a break from her usual habit of inflicting emotional pain. "... Do not be intimidated by the odds against you," she started to speak in a very sincere and almost motherly voice. "I gave birth to you, and I know more about you. For a stoic person, you have that burning spirit inside of you. Make use of that powerful mixture we made in that act of ours," she winked. Rider“In that case, Rider...need a hand?" "There are more people who need you, presumably." Then Sev exploded. "Like him.” Kat"Excuse me. I need to keep a few of my teammates from getting themselves killed."As the fire dissipated, Asthielle finally brought down the shield she had cast around herself and Fraze while she continued to heal him. "I wish you luck," she whispered, before he left her standing by the tree. Scanning the battlefield, she made out one figure in purple - the one Fraze had pointed out earlier. Could it be? Was she that ever-elusive mage? * * * "Too late," sighed Kat as she and Rider watched Sev explode. "In that case, I'll be your backup again, if you don't mi - " Kat only managed to shield herself and Rider when a bolt of pale yellow lightning exploded out of nowhere, not unlike the phoenix's show. As the shimmering purple walls went down again, Kat saw someone who was just all too familiar; billowing cloak, blond hair and all. "How did you find me?!" she burst out at the blonde. "And what do you want?" "Your life," said Asthielle simply, as she sent a jet of yellow magic at them. Kat quickly stepped forward and created a purple fireball to combat it. The two spells met in a fiery blast, and yet another explosion ensued. NatureSilence. All of a sudden, an explosion of magicks were heard down the hallway. Nature woke up with a start. What was that?! Quickly, she got up and ran toward the area of the blast. Suddenly, she entered a deep, dark-purple Organiztion XIII-ish portal and found herself near the White Weewoo. Nature was confused, but nonetheless followed the sounds of the blast. Once there, her eyes grew wide. Ate Kat was battling someone! A stranger! Probably another mage, banned from Mage Manor who had somehow found a way here! How in Neopia did that happen?! Quick as a flash, Nature went beside Kat and strummed her sitar. "Don't worry, Ate Kat, I'm here to back you up. Dance, snowflakes dance!" A large avalanche wave hit the blond stranger. CyborgSeeing the cutlass Cyborg blocked with his right cutlass, used magic to cause an earthquake, then slashed at Rider's throat. " Wow Rider that was a great attack attempt there, ya." Cyborg said, his voice lace with sarcasm. Midknight got up and hobbled/ran to Rider and Cyborg and joined the fight with a slah at each of Rider's legs. RiderWell, her non-furry magical assistance all went shot straight to hell, not that it mattered since Sandy was now shooting lightning at a very stubborn ex-pirate. The earthquake caused Rider to stumble back as she parried the throat-slash with her dagger. Blasted earth was supposed to be solid. Give me rolling waves any day, but earth is solid earth and we've had far too many blasted earth mages today. " Wow Rider that was a great attack attempt there, ya.""First rule of battle, little merc. save your breath for the fight." Sandy, seeing Midknight's hobbling, shot a bolt of fire at him. that ought to keep him too busy to deal with Rider. HuntressThe silvershield was now nearly two feet thick and there wasn't much space left inside, so Huntress stopped building defenses and looked around, taking a deep breath. She couldn't see much more than shadows and muffled voices. It wasn't a very reassuring position to be in, but at least it was relatively safe. The sword was sizzling in her hand, casting soft light on the walls around her. The muffled voices came closer, but at the same time the dark mass right in front of her also came closer, so she instantly focused on that. When it collided with the shield, it made a sound that reminded of a train on glass tracks. With loud thumps, the stone sphere only a few feet away from her nose began to get closer and clearer as it tore off front layers. Hunty took a few steps back, knocking on the layers behind her repeatedly. They faded off after each knock. Quickly, quickly now! She tried to keep her hands from shaking. If the Commander reached her before she could destroy her own shields behind her, she'd be squished between the two. But she hadn't built as many shields behind her as she had in front of her, for obvious reasons, so two more knocks and the captain broke through the spheres. Fresh air, sounds, colors, and shapes crashed back into her senses as she skidded sideways over the snow, out of the Commander's path. The first thing that greeted her in the outside world was, apparently, Cyborg. "I see you kept the blarf. So Hunty how long has it been since you kicked me off this ship?"Time was of the essence there, but after such an intro, the captain couldn't help but stare at him for a second. Then the flying rocks from the Commander's general vicinity forced her to concentrate again. "Do forgive me for not being used to sitting around and chatting all day long," she hissed, slashing the sword through the air to block whizzing stones, "but I'm kinda busy at the moment." Something blue landed on her shoulder. "Just visiting?" Hunty finally caught a moment to catch her breath and evaluate the situation. "Anything important I've missed?" "The ninjas are down," said Bloody Mary, keeping a careful eye on the Commander, or whatever he was currently in, "and you owe Rider fifty shinies, but the Fleet is going strong. Speck's with the blarf. Erm, the blarf is with Speck and keeping an eye on her, though I dunno which one of them is in the better condition of keeping an eye on the other. And you look like you need a plan." "Actually I have one," said the captain, taking a few steps back and creating another few shields in front of her for good measure. "And good timing, I need you for it." The meepit's eyes narrowed. "Do you, now?" His eyes darted to all the action that was going on around them. It looked like everyone was attacking everyone at that moment. He didn't like the idea of getting mingled in any of that. "Yeah." Hunty took another few steps back. "I need you to go get Sev over here." Bloody Mary's heart sunk. "Important, I hope." "Very." "Then you're putting way too much on this one card here." The meepit jumped off and hurried away over the snow. Omni((Zari's ship)) "Sweet," Ethan said with a grin. "I haven't actually received a 'yes' or 'no' answer though, just a demonstration, so if not, please speak up now." He took a Kineticomp as Cyclops… erm… speakerd. "Yes sir. Disable anyone who's attacking the troops. Kill if necessary. That's what I'm getting these different poisons and such for." ((I don't think I'll make an Omni post until I know for sure what Nature just did.))
Spacefleet HQ ((Spacefleet HQ - Subterrainian Sector 2 - Main Hallway)) As one of the spiderbombs came close to touching the intruder, she tripped it over with a well-aimed sweep. The little spider fell on its back and squirmed its legs rapidly in an attempt to get back up. Before it could do so, however, the intruder doused its metal casing with a trail of white flames. It melted within a few seconds, revealing the fragile wires and explosives inside. The intruder grabbed the explosives, spread her wings, and leaped over the remaining spiderbombs. As her feet made contact with the floor, a wall of flame errupted behind her, blocking the rest of the spiderbombs from reaching her. "As exciting as this is, we don't have time to waste" she snarled, and began to dash down the corrider with the explosives in her hand. She didn't get very far, however, as the flash drone that had been knocked backwards by her earlier attack ambled itself straight into her path. The drone aimed a strong downward punch at the intruder, its fist crackling with blue sparks. The drone's fist was designed to deliver an electric shockwave to whatever it hit, so if the intruder dodged the attack, the surrounding floor would briefly become electrified. Strife((The Battlefield)) The Commander may have been undead, but that didn't mean he could see through a thick wall of stones. For this reason, he simply continued to thrust his stone sphere forward, cutting through the shield that Hunty was no longer inside of. When the shield vanished completely, the sphere picked up speed and continued to roll through the snow. As it rolled, dirt from the ground snapped to it like a magnet, increasing its thickness and size even further. It was currently about three times as tall as an average human being. The Commander didn't know who he would hit, but he decided to take the chance. Unbeknownst to him, Huntress had created another set of shields to protect herself, and as the sphere rolled forwards, it crashed into the shields once again. Based on the angle in which the sphere hit Hunty's shield, it bounced to the side and rolled off in a different direction, straight towards Rider and Cyborg. The sudden change of momentum threw The Commander's senses off, and he now had no idea where he was heading. The sphere was seconds away from crashing into the unsuspecting pirate and merc. Zari Zari sighted a clear spot that her ship would fit in...on a ridiculous angle, that is. "I'm gonna count down from Safyce. On sltazo, All of you throw yourselves to the right. All...five, six of you should be enough to tilt the ship on such an angle it fits in there, we can still get out, and we can get to the Commander quickly." She held up three fingers. "Remove seatbelts please. All okay?" " Safyce..." ((Safyce and sltazo are Illhvrenan for three and zero respectively, pronounced "Shay-vighs (rhymes with sighs)" and "Seel-tah-zo" All Illhvrenan numbers from 1-5 begin with S.)) Amneiger"Uh..." Amneiger stood up, got a grip on his chair, and then thought about the significance of the the words "five" and "six." "Tanks, lock treads and hold position relative to the floor until I say otherwise." CyborgCyborg rolled out of the way of the lightning and the weirdy sphere thingy. " To you I may be a little merc, but to me your an old, retired pirate. So I guess we're even. And your plan to save your breath for the fight is good, but I have fought strong people like you who had the same plan, and now they're dead, let's see if history repeats itself." Cyborg said as he stabbed at Rider's ribs and prepared to block with the other. Midknight barely had the chance to get to the battle before he was attacked. He saw the fire coming and decided to use a little magic. His eyes glowed red and black energy once again formed around his hands, a shadow shield was formed blocking the fire. Kat"Don't worry, Ate Kat, I'm here to back you up. Dance, snowflakes dance!"Asthielle gasped, and sent a flurry of pale yellow magic shot with purple so dark that it was almost black to combat the avalanche that this new mage sent. The snow, once hit with the pulsing energy, began to melt and evaporate at top speed, until all that was left of it were stray puddles here and there on the ground. "I thought Kalianne didn't have an army!" Asthielle complained, sending a flurry of yellow flames to attack the newcomer. Meanwhile, as Nature diverted Asthielle, Kat managed to spot a huge stone sphere rolling towards Cyborg and Rider. With a few complex twists and swishes of her staff, ice began to appear underneath the sphere, covering the stone like clear fingers as she tried to freeze it in place. PFA((near Weewoo))The pirate's big, furry... thing... came and stood over the pirate with the lemons, as if to protect her. Knowing better than to try and attack something much larger than him, Jernath began looking around for a different opponent. Before he could find one, though, the phoenix exploded. Jernath was not as lucky as Fraze or Asthielle, as he had no way to protect himself from the sudden burst of flame. Thankfully for him, though, he wasn't close enough to the fire to get any significant burns. Just a bunch of smaller, but still painful ones. Jernath, deciding that being so close to a phoenix who could explode was a bad idea, moved further away from the phoenix, to a somewhat secluded corner of the battlefield. He did his best to ignore the pain, something he seemed to be doing a lot of lately. Once he reached his destination, he began once again to look around for a different opponent. Preferably one he could keep a good distance from. Seeing that Cyborg was fighting with the red-caped pirate, Jernath decided that she would be a good target. Switching from his daggers to his bow, another thing he seemed to be doing a lot of lately, he pulled out an arrow, and fired it at the red-caped pirate hoping she would notice this time. --- PFA was especially surprised when the ghost of Subila came up to her, encouraging her on just as much as the Yang was. They both wanted her to get the gem. To use her power. To stop this war. PFA's eyes immediately began scanning the battlefield, looking for Huntress. The one who had the gem. She eventually spotted her, noticing that the pirate captain had a few glowy shields in front of her. PFA narrowed her eyes. That made this trickier. "Get the gem. Stop this war..." PFA said, more to herself than to anyone else. "...Should be easy enough." She was obviously being sarcastic with the last sentence. Regardless, she ran in Huntress' direction, her mind racing as she tried to figure out a good plan on her way there. NatureNature watched as Asthielle burned down her avalanche wall. "What the-- darn it!" Nature exclaimed angrily. All of a sudden, the stranger started throwing lightning-yellow/illusion-purple energy spheres at her. Nature dodged and ducked as much as she can. While doing so, she strummed her sitar, sending several snow pillars and ice walls at the evil mage. Unfortunately, a ball of energy signed Nature's arm. The Zafara cried in pain as she fell on the ground, clutching her burned-down arm tightly. To make matters worse, her sitar fell from her grasp and slid - uh-oh - behind Asthielle. Nature gulped. This is sooooo not good . . .~~~~~~*~~~~~~ Meanwhile . . .Demene ran through the forests crying. Her new owner was lost and Seline left for a dragon's meeting somewhere. She heard a cry for pain, and she was sure that was her owner. Why would someone hurt Nature? she wouldn't hurt anyone! Worried thoughts raced through her head as she dodged every twig, leaf and fallen branch..
Am I too late? RiderTo you I may be a little merc, but to me your an old, retired pirate. So I guess we're even. And your plan to save your breath for the fight is good, but I have fought strong people like you who had the same plan, and now they're dead, let's see if history repeats itself."Boasting will get him nowhere, Rider thought. She was a big fan of boasting. She had done quite a bit of it herself. But battle was neither the time nor the place, and she wasn't about the change the young merc's mind. He had left her care some time ago. She took some offence to being deemed "old," though. She made a mental note to discuss this with him later if she allowed him to live. Rider stepped back and parried the blow with her cutlass. She needed a second weapon that didn't have a reach of roughly nothing. Or at least something that would make use of the mercenary's weakness. She racked her memory. Other than being an uppity little snot who thought she was old, what else...? And to make matters worse, she finally noticed that she was being shot at. The wind of it rushing by her shoulder was clue enough. Meanwhile, one of the other Mercenaries seemed to be contending with Sandy. It wouldn't be a long match, Rider knew. Sandy was upping to her more powerful spells, and those would exhaust her quickly. Sure enough, the little Meepit switched to Firaga, the most powerful fire spell in her arsenal. The fire hit the shield with the force of a locomotive, intending to tear right through. it was times like this that she hated being the physical embodiment of Rider's obsession with mainstream RPGs. It meant she couldn't just shoot things and be done with it. Rider was already heavily on the defensive. Any more meant flight. "Ventratta, keep your eyes peeled. Who's shooting at me?" Ventratta squeaked. Some redhead wearing war paint. Maybe a merc. Rider got ready to dodge and run. New tactics were needed. Think, Rider, think... Fraze((The Battlegrounds)) While running toward the three marines, Fraze realized that at least one appeared to be dead. Possibly more. He didn't know their names though, so he wasn't sure who it was. Now that he was closer, he recognized the mage who they were fighting as the same one that Strife had fought in the castle. And that phoenix that had recharged his skinsuit. He didn't want to risk a fight with these two--he had already seen what the mage could do, and he was reasonably sure that he had also just seen what the phoenix could do. Well, he was already running. He might as well keep going. He saw the commotion near the ship, and decided to head in that direction. The Commander was chasing the pirate captain around in a giant stone ball--what was it about people in hamsterballs today?--while the red-caped pirate fought one of those mercs, and the girl he now knew as Asthielle was fighting Kat. Well, he thought, I don't want to start any fights. I guess I'll have to stay here until someone fights me. Seems like a second round of the battle is gonna be coming soon, anyway. Cyborg" That redhead happens to be a merc under my command. If you want to kill him you'll have to go through me to do it." Cyborg declared to Rider as he studied his opponent. She seemed a little slower than she used to be and was also distracted right now. Cyborg aimed a slash at her right shoulder and one at her little companion. " Ah you are a strong opponent and you're very powerful with your magic, but you have yet to see the power of mine." Midknight said as he destroyed the battered shield. First he sent five balls of shadow energy at the meepit, and made a shadow clone of both the meepit and Rider to attack his foe. PFA((near Weewoo))The arrow narrowly missed the red-cape pirate. Jernath promptly reached for another arrow, preparing to fire at her again. It was at that moment that he realized he was running low on arrows. Only three left. He grimaced. Perhaps it would be best if he saved those for something more important. Then Cyborg claimed to be Jernath's leader, which would have made Elycien rather mad, had she heard. >_> ... <_< Jernath switched weapons once again, then charged at Rider, aiming to stab at her back, or her side, or wherever he could hit. Bacon((Marines)) Kyve blinked in confusion. He was lying on his back, and there was an explosion just now, but he didn't feel dead. For one thing there was a great weight on his face. He raised his arms and pushed it off to find it was Jord's armor-covered torso. He felt a tear trickle down as he realized his friend had shielded Kyve, disregarding his own safety. Kyve looked at Jord's face, then quickly looked away. It was so burned by Sev's explosion that it barely looked human anymore. Deri sheilded his eyes when the phoenix suddenly exploded and regenerated. He felt a pang of guilt as he saw the two limp bodies laying there. "... try to remember that shooting a phoenix is not only entirely pointless, but the quickest way to incinerate everything nearby. Including your friends." The phoenix said, and the reality of the statement hit Deri hard. "What have I-..." He started, his voice catching in his throat. Deri was slightly relieved when Kyve started to move, but Jord was still lifeless, and no words could describe his guilt. "Why you..." Ikkin hissed as she lunged at him, swinging her sword at his wrists. Deri just barely had time to pull his hands away from the attack, but at the expense of both blasters. Without a second's hesitation, Deri dropped the blasters and extended his knuckle-blades, reaching with them towards Ikkin's stomach. ((Somewhere else)) Jord opened his eyes slowly. He didn't know where he was or how he got here. Everything was dark. The last thing he remembered was diving to protect Kyve and then... nothing. At the sound of footsteps he turned to see a dark man on horseback. It's about time, Death said. ZariZari nodded absently. "Yes, lock treads, like that's gonna help when this ships gonna park in a space that small and end up on a mad angle." She wrapped the silvery cords of the steering triangle around her hands, pulling them carefully to ensure the ship was in exactly the right position. "Seridan." Wolf
((Please mind this rather eccentric post of mine. It’s pieces like this that make it obvious why I shouldn’t write at four o’clock in the morning whilst snacking on pieces of dehydrated pineapple. It does dangerous things to my mind.))King Wolf sat idly atop the King’s Keep as the evening sun began to set (meaning, actually, that it was late afternoon, and the sun was just now beginning its downward spiral into the west, but all peculiarities aside, please allow me to continue), and although, true, his body was idle, save for his occasional page turning, his mind was very busy with the act of reading what Shino had done when he, too, had been very busy. And although he was still somewhat uncertain how Shino had come back to life after he had sworn that he was dead, he came to convince himself that Shino’s physical death was merely imagined, a way to ease the pain of the White Knight’s decision to leave the kingdom, and therefore, to leave him. But because this paragraph was getting too long, Wolf knew that something was bound to happen that would change everything, so he took a contemplative breath and paused to give his tired eyes a rest.
And, true to his suspicions, everything did change just then when something small and cold blew onto his nose and then quickly melted.
Wolf closed his book (minding well to have placed his leather bookmark in it first) and for the first time noticed the thick and strangely purple cloud cover that had only appeared some hours before, while, still idle of body, he had been busy of mind, too busy, in fact, to have noticed the arrival of the sudden storm.
This sudden snowstorm, he corrected himself as the one snowflake quickly turned into a single droplet a few hundred more, that all seemed to fall nowhere else than atop his head. And since it had been sunny and rather warm prior to this, he had happily removed a number of articles of clothing (for to work on his tan, of course, which was more “fair maiden” than “heroic king”), and so, too, as could easily be deduced, he was not properly dressed at all (for, yes, he was, in fact, still dressed…to a fair degree, at least, if you can mind the unintentional pun). But perhaps coolest of all (if you can mind the clearly intentional pun as well), the snow was a light shade of purple. He had heard word that the Mages were practicing lightning spells around the time he had left some days ago, so they now must have moved onto wintery storms, and considering the color, he suspected that Lady Kallianne Triss was somehow involved. He would have to talk to the Royal Archmage about this issue later (not mentioning, of course, his interrupted tanning), but for now, he decided, since this scene in its entirety was little more than two unnecessarily long paragraphs, a change of scenery was in order, perhaps in more ways than one.
So he got up and moved inside.
* * *
Sora’s wings lurched with a start as she looked up and noticed a large stallion in the stables just as ominous lightning conveniently flashed in the background. Hardly a moment later, after her heart had started pumping blood once again, she calmed herself as her beloved lover moved into the foreground and asked her what was happening. She thought it was fairly obvious, and yet, Shiva simply seemed absolutely…terrified.
She had been hoping for overjoyed, but she figured such emotions could come after the initial shock had worn off. For herself, she wasn’t even sure if she had reached this point or not. Perhaps, though, if the author had gotten more sleep than he’d had now and was able to be seriously write about this, she would know for sure, but at the moment, she simply felt rather moody.
“Oh, Shiva,” she sang as she bounded toward her beloved, sincerely hoping this was wholly the author being inanely insane and not that she would have to deal with this flamboyancy for another eleven months (although, the optimist inside her with a poor sense of smell put in, with wings and some buoyancy, she would be able to conquer land, sea, and sky rather simply if the need ever arose—but enough of that, declared the pragmatic pessimist inside her; she was internally rambling while her lover selflessly waited on her every whim, and it was certainly unkind of her to leave him so hanging).
So with that out of the way, she passionately kissed Shiva as passionately as horses can kiss, and then tiredly took her seat once again, thankful that she, now being the King’s mare, had been given a private (and five-star) stable.
“Oh, Shiva,” she said again, “I was so worried. I searched for you for hours on end, but so fruitless were my ventures, they didn’t even warrant a short scene of their own.” She sighed, but knew that she had to compose herself. “But do not worry for me, my love, for our half-demon horselings surely won’t arrive until the next roleplay, and I shall be alright here on my own for tonight.” She flicked her tail to the assemblage of human maids that couldn’t understand their conversation in the least (although Shiva’s startling entrance may have been the reason why they had all simultaneously fainted), and then smiled reassuringly up at Shiva. “Besides, I’m never truly alone. See that bell over there?” She gestured towards the wall with the tip of her wing. “All I have to do is ring that, and they’ll cater to my every need. Well, at least all my needs that humans can fill.” She grinned slyly up at the studly stud before her.
After some quiet time of unusually peaceful intimacy between the two, Sora lifted her head and nudged Shiva awake. “Shiva,” she said, “Shiva, my demon senses are tingling.”
Demon senses? Why, she hadn’t realized until now that she’d even had any at all.
“Well, yes,” she continued, “I have this inexplicable tingling in my tail, and I just know that both our riders will need us by tonight.” She looked beyond the stable doors and realized that it was now morning, with a good foot of lightly-purple snow butting up against her warm abode.
“Yes, Shiva,” she said sadly some time later, “you should go rejoin your rider, ensure that she is safe and sound. She needs you more than I do now.”
She rose to her feet and once again kissed her beloved.
“I love you, Shiva. We shall…meet again soon, I hope.”
If her demon senses were anything worth relying upon, she feared they would meet again sooner than could be hoped for.
* * *
A magical white Weewoo catapulted into the sky via the Manor’s mailbox, a flimsy piece of paper held tightly in its magical talons. It searched the horizons for a moment, found its mark, and then shot out like a bolt of lightning towards its destination.
Nearly there in t - 10s, it promptly got excited and started flapping its little wings faster to speed up as it flew through the gently-falling, almost periwinkle snow.
Then it crashed into an invisible wall and knew nothingmore. KatAsthielle was ready. With her most powerful fire spells, she started evaporating the snow that came at her, and blasted the ice walls apart before making them disappear as well in a burst of blinding yellow flames. And as she burned as much as she could, she stepped back - and stepped right on Nature's sitar. "Don't bother," shouted Asthielle. "I only came here to kill Kalianne Triss with my own hands, so get out of my way!" * * * A single glance to her side was enough for Kat to see that Deri was ready to attack Ikkin. After she had created enough ice to stall the boulder, Kat replaced her staff with her sword and sprang forward, instantly blocking Deri's knuckle blades with her longsword. Nature"Don't bother, I only came here to kill Kalianne Triss with my own hands, so get out of my way!"Nature clenched her fists and bravely picked herself up from the floor. An ice-hard glare was shot at Asthielle. "No one kills any of my relatives and gets away with it." With all her might, she pushed Asthielle and grabbed her sitar quickly. "And no one steps on my sitar either!” Celestial((Spacefleet HQ still)) One of the droids got into her way, throwing a mighty punch Celestial which crackled with electricity. If the punch wasn't heading for her, she would most certainly have laughed. This was an act of desperation but it would do nothing to her even if she didn't fly. The soles of her boots were cork which this intelligent guild must know, doesn't conduct. Unless they could bend the laws of physics themselves which she thought was highly unlikely. Nevertheless, dragons took no chances having seen the power of lightning. Combining their reflexes, they jumped out of the way of the fist, using their wings to propell themselves back along the corridor. However, the spider bomb fell to the floor in front of the incoming droid, the bare explosives touching the floor off which sparks were jumping off. Brace for flame Celestial thought and a shield of cold air formed around her. It was only a matter of time before the bomb went off. ((Battlefield))Leste watched as the former pirate captain was charged by the mercenary she had fought earlier. Even if she was weak, she had an oath to keep. Drawing her cutlass, she stepped in front of the mercenary.
"So we meet again", she hissed and swung the blade in a clean arc.
The Demons Long forgotten, but still there. The demons had been standing at South Gate for so long, ever since the sudden and surprising death of their summoner, Kit. They couldn't help but wonder why, why they had been ignored? It was as if once their master was gone, they no longer existed. But no, they were still there. Nobody bothered to even notice them, or even really think about them, but they were there. And now, there was a group of guildsmembers nearby, fighting for their lives. But still, the demons were being ignored. This had gone too far. "We do not need a demonologist to govern our choices!" shouted one. "Come, my brethren! Let us regain the fame we once had in this war!" A roar emerged from the demons' throats. Raising their respective weapons, they charged full-force toward the White Weewoo, ready to kill the ones that had forgotten them. The ones that had left them standing in the cold snow for so long. "Show no mercy, brothers!" came the shout, as countless guildsmembers fell to the blades of the demons. "Kill them all, on behalf of all the demons that time have forgotten!" The once white snow was now bathed in a gruesome red, the color of blood. The demons refused to listen to the pleas of the helpless people, for they would only listen to the voice of their summoner. And their summoner was dead. "Sir, I have found it," one of the demons pulled the gem from one of the lifeless bodies. "The gem. It is here. What shall we do with it?" "That is the item that has stolen our fame," came the reply. "It must be destroyed. We shall show those worthless mortals the power of the lower planes!" And then, with one swift swing of a demon's blade, the gem shattered. Millions of gem shards were scattered into the blood-stained snow, and trampled under the feet of the angry demons. There, in the middle of what was once a great battlefield, was where the gem would stay, while the demons marched off into the sunrise, to seek out other lives they could take in their great crusade. ((...and if any of you actually believed that, then you've just been April Fool'd. :3 Hurrah for the return of the April Fools posts! So yeah, none of that really happened. XDDD ...Serious post coming soon. --PFA))
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Post by GW2 on Oct 16, 2008 16:23:59 GMT -5
RiderThat redhead happens to be a merc under my command. If you want to kill him you'll have to go through me to do it."“Just so we’re clear, you do realize that I have no problem going through you. Straight through you. With a blade.” " Ah you are a strong opponent and you're very powerful with your magic, but you have yet to see the power of mine."Sandy preformed her most basic dodge – Drop to earth like a stone. Gravity was generally faster than figuring out which direction to dodge in. The cluster of shadow magic passed straight over her head. Then there were shadow-clones and severe feelings of déjà-vu. Sandy threw her basic Fire spells at the Shadow-Sandy. This left Midknight open. Possibly three mercs and a shadow converging on Rider. Now she knew what Cat Assassin’s odds had looked like. Surrender to a bratling merc-kid was not an option for an ex-captain. Flight, however, was. Not flight towards the Weewoo. Two of the mercs were blocking her way. The only option left was flight towards the castle. Oh frigate. She high-tailed it without shame. Meanwhile… Shiva was wondering who had spiked the dehydrated pineapple. *ahem* I mean, Shiva and Sora were having an emotional moment. Because apparently that’s what they call getting high on pineapple these days. “Sora, this is… amazing. This has got to be the best day of my life.” Then he remembered the sheer amount of times he had been clawed at and shot at earlier that day. “Well, it at least makes the top five list.” “I rather think my Rider needs me already. Sora, sweet, war is on the doorstep. If King Wolf absolutely needs you, you may go, but please, don’t put yourself in danger. If anything should… happen to me, it just means our children won’t be demons. If anything were to happen to you, we would lose them altogether.” He nuzzled her gently, listening to the clash outside. The snow fell so gently, even in a violent world. “Sora, as it stands now, this world is dangerous. Pitiless hearts and corruption are at every corner. And so, you’ll understand, won’t you? If I were to leave, I mean. You know that the only way I can be a good father is by bringing this war to an end. I’m not ashamed to touch my children with lips that have known blood, if it means that I was able to make this mad world even a little safer for them.” “Stay safe, Sora, and know that it’s unfair to make the same request of me.” He nuzzled her again, and left. Rider was running towards him. “Shiva!” With little warning, the pirate leaped onto his back in one fluid motion. “Shiva, where have you been? Never mind that, we have to high-tail it out of here, mach-speed.” “No.” “What?” “No. We’ll stay and fight. What’s after you?” “Three mercs and two shadow-clones.” “The world’s worst father is initiating mach speed.” “… FATHER?” “I’ll explain later.” Shiva called upon what he had learned back in the demon realms. Pain is nothing. Block all pain from your mind. Run to your full extent. And when a demon-horse runs, it’s like flight. Colors blur. PFA((near Weewoo))Before Jernath could reach Rider, another pirate stepped in front of him. It was the same one that had the arrow fly through her. "So we meet again," she said, swinging her cutlass at him. Jernath grimaced, but brought one of his daggers to block the attack. "I see you're actually going to fight me this time," he retorted, using his other dagger to stab at the pirate's side. Inwardly, though, he didn't really want to fight this pirate. He had seen attacks go straight through her, and he had the feeling it would be hard to get around that. Especially in his current state. --- PFA still wasn't exactly sure what she was doing, but by golly, she was going to do it. Somehow. She came running up to Huntress, gripping her katana tightly. With a lack of better ideas, she tried to swerve around the pirate captain's shield and slash at Huntress' shoulder. Cyborg( Just so you guys know Blackout is the magic Midknight uses to remove all light from an area or cause complete darkness in the nearby vicinity.) " Ah I see your using an old pirate tradition Rider, running from battle. Now to deal with the little magic rat." Cyborg said as he sent a rock pillar at Sandy. Meanwhile Shadow- Sandy dodged and sent shadow balls at real Sandy as Shadow Rider slashed at real Sandy. While that was going on the "puppeteer" Midknight sent shadow tendrils at Sandy after using blackout. And while The Shadows Return took place Shado ranat the pirate fighting Jernath, and jumped at it's right leg. Fraze((Flashback)) "The Sphere is destabilizing! Evacuate! Evacuate!" "All personnel, please make your way to the escape pods immediately." "Tidal forces are weakening the hull! Breaches on decks 2 through 5!" "We have wounded on deck 6! I repeat, wounded on deck 6!" "Ops Fraze? OPS FRAZE!"
Fraze watched from his position, ten kilometers away from the station orbiting the black hole, its outer shell now nearly completely evaporated thanks to the incredible man-made technology that he still didn't entirely comprehend. "Yes," he replied over the comm link.
"Escape pods D, G, and H on level 3 are stuck, we need you to help get them out."
Fraze paused. "I--I can't." Nonetheless, he unfurled two silver wings to twenty kilometers across, quickly picking up speed. There were several seconds of silence on the other end of the comm link, followed by "What?! Why not?" By now, Fraze had reached his maximum speed for such distances. He reversed the wings' reflectivity, slowly decelerating rather than accelerating. "My orders were to ensure the safe completion of the Sphere. I have to get it. I cannot help you." "I--people will die!" came the voice that he had gotten to know so well over the past months. The voice of the communications officer whose name he had never asked, and whose name it was likely he would never know. "I know. I'm sorry." He never heard the reply, as he switched off his comm link to concentrate better on what he had to do. While flying, he swung the pack that he carried everywhere over his shoulder, so it rested on his front rather than his back. It was designed from some kind of fabric that could withstand vacuum and considerably extreme temperatures. After digging around, he removed from it a device. He never knew how it worked, but he knew it would work to capture the Singularity Sphere after its completion. The outer layer of the black hole the team was working on had not completely evaporated, but he was assured that if he captured it this close to the end of the process, the process would continue.
It took less than a minute to get to the station orbiting the black hole. He could see flames erupting from various levels, extinguished as soon as they entered the vacuum of space. He activated the cloaking device on the suit he had been given when he was assigned to guard this project. It had had some long-winded official name, but in his head, he always called it a skinsuit. He couldn't stand the shame of being seen there, in plain sight of the people who were dying, who could be saved if he helped them.
In another minute, he was near the black hole, facing it. The suit flashed warnings at him--gravitational forces would rip him apart atom by atom if he got much closer. Even through the protective suit, he felt the tug of gravity--just the increase in gravitational pull between his head and his feet was incredible, it felt as if he were dangling upside-down with lead weights strapped to his head and arms. Only the force of light exerted on the suit's wings kept him from falling into the black hole completely. He activated the device.
There were two flashes of light.
The device sucked in the black hole.
The space station exploded.((The Battlefield)) Hardly a day went by when Fraze didn't think of his actions--or inactions--that day. He saw one of the marines standing now, attacking, being attacked. Screw it, Fraze thought. He didn't want to fight, but he would block. Fraze had always thought in terms of angles. This curve points toward that corner that intersects with that stopsign, all forming some beautiful innate geometry. He analyzed the three vectors of Kat, the marine, and the foxtailed mage. He cloaked, jumped, and landed directly in the path of the three combatants, ready to block all three attacks simultaneously with his own body and armor. RoseRose who had been inactive for quite some time now, quickly ran towards the pirate attacking her teammate Jernath. Her ankle still throbbing with pain, but she decide to try to ignore it. She swung her bo staff at the pirate aiming for the ribs. ZariUnfortunately, at that current moment Zari's stereo decided to malfunction, playing the soundtrack of RENT at approximately 8359390275934872590387693867.4 decibels, and everyone died. The end. Bye bye. Shows over. Go back to your real life. It's P.E time and Zari has finally been tracked down by the nice men in white coats and dinner isn't ready yet. In short, The apocalypse happened because A) Zari's stereo malfunctioned and B) Said crazy Illhvrenan Ocelot-Fae with the sense of humour of a toxic chimpanzee at 4am's dinner is a bit late and late dinner makes Zari cranky and incoherent and the men in white coats have discovered I escaped from my neon coffin so bye. ((Sady, the second paragraph is (probably) true and I am not exactly at my best when I'm half-starved)) Rikku((Mage Manor)) Rikku looked at Drakhé, feeling a pang of compassion. So she wasn’t the only one whose head had been messed up in the storm. Not that my head isn’t messed up already, mind, she thought wryly, leaning against the counter. The sparrow had fallen still, and was starting to decompose by now, but she didn’t spare it much thought. She was worried about the dragon ghost shape shifter. Not quite sure how to respond, and not entirely sure what Drakhé had just said, Rikku glanced out the window. And saw a figure, dressed in black robes. Immediately it felt like there was a lead weight in her stomach. She knew that figure. Knew him well. “Drakhé,” she said abruptly, and then paused. This was difficult to come to terms with. It was too sudden. But then, the whole Time/Space Continuum had been pretty messed up with recently. “I think … look, I’ve apologized enough now. For everything that I’ve done wrong. And I just want …” She paused, bit her lip, and then hugged him tight. “Keep safe,” she whispered. “Okay?” She left the room hurriedly, walking fast, feeling embarrassed. Some part of her was saying no, no, no, not yet, please not yet, but most of her was resigned to it. She was a necromancer; she dealt with this every day. This was just a little closer to home. She went to her room, for no particular reason other than that she liked it. The Mages took me in when I had no home. I’ll be sorry to leave them …
Oh, for Kalare’s sake, girl, get a hold of yourself. This isn’t the end of the world. Stop moping around all angsty.When the figure entered the room, she gave it a cheerful grin. This seemed to unnerve it a little. “Nasty weather lately,” Rikku commented, sitting cross-legged on her bed and leaning against the bookshelf behind it. “Can’t have done your bones any good. My wand always gets kinda slimy in the rain.” THE CLOAK HELPS, the figure said, its bony hand gripping a scythe. “Really? I always thought it was just for the dramatics of the thing.” NO … LOOK, HERE’S THE POINT WHERE MOST PEOPLE START LOOKING BACK OVER THEIR LIVES, PAST EXPERIENCES, WISHING THEY HAD MORE TIME. THAT KIND OF THING.“I’m a necromancer, bud. I deal with Death all the time. Just haven’t met you in person before.” Rikku shrugged. At that point, the door opened again. Fred walked in, flashed Rikku a grin. “Master,” he said, with a quick half-bow. His head wobbled a bit. “Larry and Steve say that they’re waiting in the forest for your word and that …” He noticed her expression. “Something wrong?” “Can you see him?” Rikku said, frowning. “Only I’ve always wondered. Undead people – it’s a fine line, really. You definitely don’t see a robed skeleton carrying a scythe?” Fred scanned around the room, including the lamp on the desk and the ceiling. “Nope,” he said cheerfully. “Why do you ask?” “Just curious.” Rikku turned back to the robed figure, which was waiting patiently. “Care to get on with it, then? Only I want to see what comes after.” ME? I’M NOT GOING TO DO ANYTHING. It shrugged. I’M JUST WAITING. I HAVE PLENTY OF TIME.“How –” Rikku began, but Fred interrupted, looking worried. “Why are you talking to thin air?” he said, pushing his eyeball back into position. “It’s a bit worrying, really …” He took a step forward, perhaps meaning to put a reassuring hand on her arm, but tripped on the rug. Reaching out to steady himself, he knocked against the bookcase. The structure teetered, and then began to fall slowly. Rikku, sitting on the bed, watched as a few books started to drop from the shelves, narrowly missing her, before her brain kicked back into gear and she leaped from the bed, clearing it just as the bookcase crashed down and reduced it to feathers and splinters. Her head hit the stone wall on the far side of the room. “Out-smarted you on that one, didn’t I?” she said cheerfully to the black-robed figure. “Bet you thought I’d get crushed!” If there were eyes in its skull, Death would have rolled them. It pointed. Rikku turned, following the direction of the bony finger. A girl lay crumpled on the ground, her green and black hair matted with blood. She wasn’t breathing. “Oh,” Rikku said, staring at her body. “Oh,” Fred said, staring at his prone master. Rikku Dianthe, Pyro-Necromancer Extraordinaire, died. Kat "And no one steps on my sitar either!"Asthielle stumbled as she was pushed out of the way. So...her sitar must be the source of her power. After all, she was strumming it when Asthielle was hit by all the snow and ice. With a seemingly casual air, Asthielle created three glowing yellow daggers in her hands, which she hurled at the mage, aiming for the hand that clutched the sitar. And once that was out of the way, the mage would probably be quite vulnerable. HuntressAs the Commander-wheel bounced off her shield, accelerating towards the fight between Rider and the mercs and apparently missed, or at least got ignored, Huntress cast a quick look around. At about the same second, the archer-instincts kicked into gear. The sue-sword rose to shoulder level, blocking PFA's blow with a loud, ear-splitting twang. The blade swung back with the force of the hit, and, being double-edged, would probably have sliced Hunty's own shoulder, if it hadn't hit the blade's own silvershield that'd been generated when she lifted the sword. Clumsy as that weapon may have been, it had its perks. "If I killed you now," Hunty said sternly without turning her head, "I'd save myself fifty shinies. I happen to like my shinies." A quick slash with the sword, a quick spin on the heel, and she was facing PFA over yet another hazy shield that floated between them at waist-height, keeping them as if on either side of a fence. "And I'm in a bit of a hurry," she said, stabbing forward. *** Bloody Mary skidded forward, kicking up dirty mud. Luckily everyone was far too busy to pay attention to a meepit who wasn't biting anyone. Sev was circling the area high above and the meepit was there below, but what are sailor lungs for? "Seeeeev!" he bellowed, frantically skimming through his memory to find out whether he'd recently done anything to tick the phoenix off. "Down 'eeeeere! The cap'n wants a word!" NatureNature watched as Asthielle tried getting up from her slumped position. She smiled triumphantly to herself. Now for the finish.She strummed her sitar again, playing a battle-music-like tune. This time, she planned on using a really big avalanche wave, hoping it would bury the evil mage alive. But, then, she saw Asthielle create little, sharp things -- daggers or kunais? -- with her magic. The latter then flung the sharp objects at the unsuspecting Zafara's hand -- the hand with the sitar in it. Tragedy struck. Howling in pain, Nature let go of her sitar (oh no) and clutched her bleeding hand, now paralyzed with pain. She soon realized that her only weapon was far from her grasp -- and that Asthielle would now have an advantage over her. Nature mentally panicked as cold sweat fell from her face. Darn it. Blew it again . . . ~~~~~~*~~~~~~ Demene heard a loud cry of pain far beyond the forest. She was very alarmed. Was that Nature?!
Quickly, she ran towards the direction of the yell. Rider“Ah I see your using an old pirate tradition Rider, running from battle. Now to deal with the little magic rat."And then the lights went out. Sandy, using the cheap retreat tactics favored by Meepits everywhere, summoned a portal of darkness. The rock pillar hit her, sending her flying through the portal. Tendrils of shadow followed her, but were abruptly cut off as the portal closed around them. Sandy's sisters attended to her. Meanwhile, Rider realized that no one was following her. "We have to go back." "Oh, now you frigatin' want to go back." "Yes, I frigatin' want to go back. Stay here if you're too chicken." "I leave the chickening to Sev. You know how much I hate you, right?" Shiva did a 180. "You're here with me now. You wouldn't be if you hated me." "But you had your doubts." "It's all over now." "No," Shiva said as the battle came back into view, "It's just beginning. I'm a father now." Shiva took a deep breath and thought about the whippings he had recieved in the Demon Worlds. Be numb to pain. In battle, whether it's contending with others or the whip, turn off all your nerves. Put pain to the back of your mind. You are invincible. You are stone. Cap'n was using the Sue sword. Inwardly, Rider had to ask, why? It defied all logic. Or maybe the fact that if defied all logic was the reason. "Sorry, Cap'n, but I'm going to have to win some more of your shinies. Gangway!" There's nothing quite like being run down by a demon-horse travelling at full, mind-blurring speed. But PFA was going to get a face full of it. PFAIt was unsure whether PFA had noticed it, but the ninja was going to experience the same situation Cat Assassin just did. Every money-hungry being was going after the reward on her head. The souls of Vyt and Subila knew it coming. "Oh no, you don't. We're not going to stay quite this time."The Yin and the Yang reformed themselves back into their own glowy masses, black and white respectively. They started to swirl around in a circle, the two souls contrasting yet not taking over each other. Together, they shielded PFA against the rampaging demon-horse, pushing him back with his own force. "We're not letting her die because of a reward. Now begone!" they both exclaimed, the mix of their voice creating a harmonious tone. "PFA, this is all you and the captain now. Let justice guide you, and this war will eventually cease to exist." Cyborg" Cyborg you take Rider and the demon horse, Rose has got the pirate over there. I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'll go help the ninja." Midknight said as he joined the battle between Hunty and PFA. He aimed a slash at Hunty's legs. " So I see you've returned Rider, so how long before you flee again?" Cyborg said with a smirk to the retired captain. Cyborg and the two shadows went over and slashed and shot shadow balls at Shiva and Rider. Kwoiffei((Mage Manor – Change of theme song)) The nondescript mage muttered a silent curse to herself. He's already losing it... speaking in the Aronesh language! No-one knows it anymore...Rikku - that was the necromancer's name - was quiet. She looked out the window, and a strange expression came over her face. The mage looked... what was that? Something was there. She couldn't see it, but she knew it was there... Rats! I'm losing touch with the spirit world!
Is... is that what happens when a ghost becomes undead?-- “Drakhé,” Rikku said suddenly. Drakhé noted her expression... she had gazed out the window. What was that she saw? “I think … look, I’ve apologized enough now. For everything that I’ve done wrong. And I just want …”He blinked. Something felt wrong... very wrong. The spirit opened his mouth to speak, but suddenly found himself in a hug. His face went bright red. "Rikku--"“Keep safe, okay?” she whispered to him. An answer refused to come from his mouth, but instead he nodded. -- After the necromancer had left, silence befell the room. Only then did Drakhé notice that, save for the one who'd spoken earlier, the nondescript mages had left. "Drakhé... she spoke like she was going to die..." "W-what...? What?!"
Spacefleet HQ ((Spacefleet HQ - Subterrainian Sector 2 - Main Hallway)) The intruder leaped out of the way of the flash drone's fist as it crashed into the metal floor. A circle of electricity rippled across the floor and caused blue sparks to jump all over the place. As the intruder landed, the broken spiderbomb in her hand touched the ground by accident. Even the robot knew what was going to happen, but unfortunately, it would have no time to react. A burst of bright light touched every corner of the corridor as the spiderbomb violently exploded. The force of the blast pushed the intruder and the flash drone backwards in the same direction, although the intruder was forced higher into the air. Since the drone's shielding had disappeared from the intruder's previous attack, its body could not handle the force of the blast, and it shattered into hundreds of screws and plates. When the light from the explosion vanished, all that was left of the drone was a pile of scrap metal. On the top of the pile, the drone's power cell, which looked like some kind of multi-colored gemstone, shimmered brightly from the ceiling lights. Some of its edges chipped off and bounced onto the floor. Meanwhile, the remaining flash drone began to amble down the corridor towards the intruder. Haggoth emerged from his hiding spot, ran down the hallway as fast as he could, and took cover behind a pillar that was closer to the intruder. Once he did this, he gave a hand signal to the officers behind him, and all of them made the same maneuver, taking cover behind various objects. Celestial((The Weewoo or somewhere near it))"I see you're actually going to fight me this time," the mercenary mocked while trying to stab Leste. She spun away from it, not wanting to risk shadowing after so much bloodloss and the conflict with the darkness. It grazed her side but drew no blood to her great relief. "If it has escaped your attention, I am" she taunted and thrust her cutlass right at Jernath. "It isn't anything personal, it's just that you were attacking one of the crew" she smiled like a fox before it break's the rabbit's neck.((Spacefleet HQ)) As soon as the bomb touched the electrified floor, what happened next was inevitable. An explosion ripped through the entrie corridor but while Celestial paid it no attention and was simply knocked back by the force, the droid wasn't as lucky. She watched sadistically as it fell apart into a heap of junk. But something on top of that heap of junk caught the dragon's eyes. It was the control unit but even to their eyes, it was a gem. On no, no, no, no!! Celestial's mind cried out but the dragons were in full control. Their unity was broken. Eyes whirling in a mad sea of colours, they suddenly cleared and became green. "It is mine!" an unearthly voice screamed out and dived towards the gem, landing on all fours and walking up to the gem in a replitilain way. Once again, the eyes changed colour, this time to red. "No, it is mine! a different voice screamed and lurched towards the gem in a different but the same gait. She was now blind to everything but the device. A scream came from the fallen Celestial, not like any human scream. It would have given chills to anybody standing nearby. From there on, it was nothing but pain for her as the dragons divided to accomdate their own interests. Celestial's eyes went through many different colours in just a few seconds before she gave one last shriek and fell to the floor, twitching as each dragon left her. If the lights were dimmer, small sparks could have been seen leaving her body. Completely unconcious, she never knew how close the guards were to her. PFA((near Weewoo))Huntress had blocked PFA's swing, spun around, and stabbed forward at PFA. PFA quickly brought her katana around and shoved the glowing sword off-course, not wanting to get yet another injury. Shiva was running full-force toward PFA, but the spirits of Subila and the Yang combined forces to push him away. PFA was glad for this fact, as her hands were full with trying to keep a glowing sword away from her chest, and she wouldn't have been able to dodge Shiva. "PFA, this is all you and the captain now. Let justice guide you, and this war will eventually cease to exist." In response to that, PFA nodded. Noticing the Kougra from before slashing at Huntress' legs, PFA took her left hand from the hilt of the katana, grabbed a kunai, and stabbed over the two swords, toward Huntress. --- Leste stabbed toward Jernath with her cutlass. Jernath blocked Leste's stab with his daggers. "It isn't anything personal, it's just that you were attacking one of the crew," the pirate smirked. Ironically, it was at that moment that Rose came up and swung at the pirate's ribs with her staff. Jernath smiled at Rose, then swerved around and tried to stab at Leste's shoulder while she was distracted. RiderIt was like running through flowing molasses. And not flowing in the direction you wanted it to flow in, either, Shiva later said. Meanwhile, Cyborg had returned to be a thorn in her side again. " So I see you've returned Rider, so how long before you flee again?" "A pirate has to hold up to tradition, mate. But this pirate, no, this pirate was just out getting the cavalry." Shadow magic doesn't do very much to a demon. Shiva, seeing that his mad charge was not the way to go about it, turned to the shadow clones. He took the shadow balls and scarcely twitched. Contending with the pain. Like stone. He bit at the Shadow Rider's shoulder with teeth like daggers, built for tearing flesh off of prey. The slash still stung, but it was just one more injury on top of hundreds. Meanwhile, Rider dismounted, mentally vowing to get a good weapon that she could use on horseback more effectively than a cutlass. She slashed at Cyborg's side while he was attacking her horse. CyborgAs soon as the hungry, hungry horsey bit Shadow Rider she disappeared. Seeing this Shadow Sandy followed suit. Meanwhile distracted by attacking Shiva, Cyborg could not dodge the attack, but the cutlass glanced off his metal arm. "Hey these things are very useful." he said as he slashed at Rider. Shado had missed the pirate and attempted this time to bite her arm. Omni((Zari's Ship)) Ethan unbuckled himself and Siber, and stood up partially, readying himself to move when he needed to, and telling Siber to 'heel'. ((Mage Manor, kitchen)) When Omni received no response from Nature, she guessed that maybe the magic of the Manor didn't work that way. "I could ask he later" she said, thinking aloud again and returning to cooking her breakfast. She didn't really pay much attention to what was said after that, only half-listening, partly due to being tired, and partly due to being absorbed in the aroma of the food. However, she did catch the following sentence: "Drakhé... she spoke like she was going to die..."Omni made a surprised-pause. "Wait… What?" she said at around the same time as Drakhé. Setting the stove to 'low' and covering the frying pan, Omni heading out of the kitchen with a "I'm going to check up on her." ----- The trip was short, as it often was in the Manor. She headed to Rikku's room, stopping near it and knocking on the door frame. "Rikku?" she inquired, "are you there?" Celestial((Near the Weewoo on the battlefield))The mercenary blocked her stab and Leste felt anger rising from her heart like lava from an erupting volcano. He then whirled around to stab her shoulder while a girl tried to hit Leste with a staff and some strange foxl lept at her arm. Unfortunately for them, while she expecting only one of the attacks, her shadowing reflex worked against them all.
She became a black mist, much like the mist that made up the White Weewoo. In a way, these mists were the same. However it didn't matter as she flowed past the weapons and rematerialised behind Jernath.
"I'm not easy to hit" she remarked slyly and swung her cutlass, trying to slash at Jernath's back. IkkinIkkin's attack had clearly left Deri without a use for his blasters, as he dropped them and instead struck out with his knuckle-blades again. Ikkin jumped backwards to avoid them, only to find the attack to be intercepted by Kat, who blocked both of the blades with her longsword. This freed up Ikkin, which wasn't necessarily a good thing. No, she hadn't killed anyone this time... but, Sev did, and she still felt responsible. Even if she had warned Deri about it to begin with. She was quickly losing her appetite for battle; she really did not enjoy the thought of more lives being lost, even those of her opponents. But, there was still a war going on, and she had to do something, at least. She'd just have to try to find better, non-lethal attacks to use from now on. And, she thought, she had just the thing. She focused her energy into her left hand, holding it there for quick access to her magic when she needed to summon it. Then, with a quick slide and a click, she activated a mechanism in her cutlass that extended the hilt into a two-handed sword, at the expense of the length of the blade. Her opponent was using low-reach weapons anyway, so the added speed she'd gain from using her sword like this would be an advantage. She aimed towards the knuckle-blades rather than towards her opponent, hoping to catch them in a lock. Then, once she made this first strike, she let go of her sword with her left hand, which she struck towards him with, palm-first, as she released her magic. This was a very different type of magic than the kind she had used before - instead of controlling the air around her to create weapons, she concentrated on pulling a good portion of the air inside of her opponent out. Hopefully, this would knock him out and keep him from continuing the battle. *** "Seeeeev!" Sev heard Bloody Mary call up to him, louder than he expected the Meepit's voice to be from way up in the sky. "Down 'eeeeere! The cap'n wants a word!"
Sev did another quick check of the area that he'd just set aflame. One of the two he'd been near was definitely dead; the other seemed to have been saved by a shielding effect from him.
It wasn't really important anyway, Sev thought. If the Captain had sent for him specifically, something far more urgent was needed from him, anyway. After all, Sev had done a very good job of convincing people not to try to force him into doing things if they weren't entirely necessary.
He swooped down, aiming to grab Bloody Mary in his claws to get the both of them back to Hunty as quickly as possible. "So, what does the Cap'n want, anyway?" he asked as he flew in the general direction that Hunty was in.((Sorry for grabbing Bloody Mary, Hunty, but, it'll be quicker this way. And, you can control Sev over to Hunty if you want.)) ZariZari looked over her shoulder and smiled encouragingly, her hands skillfull steering the ship in increasingly tight circles. "Shyamirr..." Another finger went down. Despite her relaxed shoulders and half-folded wings--always a sign the young Illhvrenan was at ease with her situation, the number ground itself out through clenched teeth. "Sorone..." Zari's long, thin fingers drummed against the control panel. One more munber and she'd...nah. Don't worry yourself." "Sltazo." Zari threw herself to the right as the ship screeched towards the ground in a spiral, angling sharply towards the right side. The shelving near the door connected with her shoulder with a loud thunk. Zari thanked skies her shoulders were by far the sturdiest part of her body, therefore the best place the crash into the shuttle wall first. She clung to the shelfing like an oversized lizard, wondering idly why she hadn't cut her hair short when she joined spacefleet. Because you look stupid with hair shorter than shoulder length. Shut up. Cyborg" That's good I like a challenge. Time for a little high, low." Cyborg said as he made a small vine behind Leste. Cyborg threw a cutlass to the vine which picked it up. Cyborg than ran and slashed at Leste's shoulder while the vine holding the sword grew towards Leste and slashed at her legs. Kwoiffei((Mage Manor)) Both Drakhé and the mage turned. The Zafara - her name was Omni, if the mage recalled correctly - was acting out of what was clearly surprise and concern. She left to check up on Rikku, which left just the two of them. It was only for a moment. Drakhé got up onto his feet, and also headed out of the kitchen. "Drakhé, wait!" the mage called. The dragon paused for a moment, only to resume walking, and more quickly than before. -- He'd never been to Rikku's room before. Given his fear of necromancers, it only made sense; he'd simply avoided the girl and the other necromancers in the Guild. Now, however, he needed to know if she was okay. It was odd... no, beyond bizarre. He had no control over it... did he? She's not your master.Drakhé arrived to find Omni at the door - and something seemed to lurk just beyond. A dark feeling of dread came into his mind, and he wavered for a moment. "She... she might..." the dragon swallowed. "We might be... we m-might be too late..."-- The young mage growled in an animalistic manner, pacing the kitchen floor, bare feet striking with every step. Not good! Not good at all! First the sky, then the girl, now this!
Larnax is going to be mad... it shouldn't happen like this KatAsthielle smiled. It had gone according to plan. The mage let go of her sitar, her hand bleeding. She had interfered, and though Asthielle had not planned to kill anyone but Kalianne Triss... The blonde created something that looked like a transparent yellow sword that took form in her right hand. Flames rolled off the blade and hilt, and sparks jumped from one flare to another. But instead of walking over to the interfering mage, Asthielle simply threw the magical blade like a javelin, and it exploded into several more swords of the exact same size, color and power...which blazed through the air, leaving yellow trails in any witness's vision... * * * Kat felt as though someone was trying to break up a duel between her and Deri before it even ensued. Who was there? Was it a friend or foe? Ikkin was now free to fight again, now that Kat had blocked the strike meant for the kitsune... From the corner of her eye, Kat saw something yellow, and disengaged, stepping away from Deri and raising her free hand into the sky. Her fingers glowed purple for a moment, and she returned to the battle, heading for Deri again with her longsword. * * * The swords never reached their mark. Instead, a wall of purple fire burst forth from the ground in front of the sitar-less mage, swallowing up Asthielle's magical blades before disappearing in a flurry of violet smoke. It didn't take too long for the blond mage to realize what had happened - or more importantly, who had protected her target. Asthielle glanced around the battlefield frantically, totally forgetting about the other mage, blasting golden fireballs everywhere she turned. And the biggest one was headed straight for Kat's unprotected back PFA((near Weewoo))The pirate girl turned into mist to dodge the attack, catching Jernath off-guard. And a bit off-balance, as the stab that was aimed for her shoulder was now flying through the air and swerving toward the ground. He barely managed to keep himself from falling over, when suddenly the pirate reformed behind him. "I'm not easy to hit," the pirate taunted as she slashed at Jernath's back. Jernath tried to whirl around and block the cutlass, but was unfortunately not quick enough to react, and the cutlass smacked rather painfully into his shoulderblade. "Ahh!" he yelped in pain, reflexively trying to jerk his arm away. And in doing so, he also dropped the dagger he was holding in that hand. Before his mind could even register that fact, he promptly hopped away from Leste and whirled around to glare at her. Oh, drat, came the thought once he had realized one of his daggers was lying on the ground, ever-so-conveniently in the middle of the battle. As much as he wanted to get it back, he really didn't want to have to duck under all the cutlasses in order to do it. Also, that arm was now rather painful to move, thanks to Leste's hit on his shoulder. Somewhat reluctantly, he decided to just stick with the one for now, and once again tried to stab at Leste's shoulder, hoping she wouldn't use the same tactic twice RiderCyborg was trying to do two things at once, and thus, had left his back exposed. What the heck did they teach these kids in Merc school? Rider gave an exasperated sigh, and stabbed Cyborg in the back. ((The only way to avoid this is to edit your post so you're not doing two things at once.)) Meanwhile, the mystery-pirate-girl was turning into mist. What the frigate? Questions could be saved until after the battle, but all the same. Shiva, seeing that Kat was in trouble, raced over and took the fireball for her. His demon-blood protected him a little, but it was still fire. Shiva shook it off, turning his mind numb to pain. "This blonde chick shows up at the most inconvenient times. Let's get her." Cyborg( Oh really Rider. Maybe I'll sick Hungry, Hungry Horsies on you. XD I know it's a short post. Oh and if it seems I'm dodging everything I'm planning on having something injure him very soon.) Good Rider had fallen into his trap. Cyborg not having to move thought about a wall and as he did a wall rose behind Cyborg blocking the attack. HuntressHunty's mind was starting to go blank. That's what tended to happen in battles. If you thought too much, you became slow. If you let reflexes take over, you become fast. That way, you won't be much more than an animal in the end, but at least you'd be alive. Which is why wars are so inhumane, a small part of her brain thought. She still wasn't entirely sure whether that voice was her own. Who are you, freeloader? she thought fiercely, blocking PFA's stab - it wasn't exactly hard, since the ninja was right in front of her. The captain took a step back. If there was something in her head, then she wasn't in the best condition to fight. I'm you.
Don't think so.
Yes I am. The voice sounded confused. Her inner voices never sounded confused. She herself did every once in a while, but not her inner voice. Don't gimme that attitude, buddy. Are you possessing me? Dragging this gem around all the time, I wouldn't be surprised.
Um, kinda. Now the voice was sheepish. I'm not exactly a mage, yanno, and you're the pirate captain, and they figured that a soul worthy of possessing a pirate captain...Hunty ignored her brain and everyone in it for the time being as Midknight attacked her legs. It wasn't hard to foresee, since he had to dodge the silvershield in front of her for that, and therefore he could only slash from one particular direction... She jumped aside, but the tip of the sword still grazed her boots and the actual feeling of the blow set a chill up her spine. Getting wounded in the feet was not what she needed there. But since Midknight was nicely semi-crouching due to the aim of his attack, she used the chance to simply bring down the hilt of her sword at the back of his head. You're a former pirate captain? she thought, paying attention to her own head again. I didn't want to! complained the voice. I didn't even want to go to the sea, I just fell asleep in a crate and woke up at sea and they wouldn't let me go and then I made a few smart suggestions over the time and they liked it and I sorta rose in ranks and there I was one day, and I always feel sick in a battle anyway and ...Hunty resisted the urge to roll her eyes, backing off from the general struggle. Being possessed looked like an annoying thing to go through, but also beneficial, considering what it'd done to Speck and the Commander. Sharing one's head with a whiny soul of an ex-pirate-captain was just horribly distracting. Can it for the time being and get on the backseat, she snapped, or I'll magick myself a slushie and get a brainfreeze."Hörk," said a familiar voice somewhere above her head. Hunty looked up. "Goodie, my other inner voice. You okay up there?" He wasn't. Bloody Mary was okay with heights and swinging, seeing that he lived on a ship, but he much preferred the certainty of standing on his own paws. Flying in Sev's claws made him terribly queazy. "If you flew a little to the left," he croaked, "I could probably throw up at those kougras or ninjas. Urk!" The meepit shut his eyes. "No clue what she wants, but if you ask me, it's prob'ly something neckbreaking again." "Not for me, and breaking a neck doesn't bother phoenixes much," Hunty said, having heard the last words. "Hi Sev, saw you blew up back there, feeling better?" She fished the root of all evil, also known as the purple gem, out of her pouch, and tossed it over. Bloody Mary, still between Sev's claws, grabbed it and clung to it as if seeking for comfort. "Here's the deal," said the captain. "I want you to keep it away from the Commander. Not much point in me fighting him if I'm his powersource at the same time. Just, you know, keep your distance. But it'd probably be better if you stayed near the battlefield, in case you're needed... and it'd also be better if you don't get hit and die, because I don't want to see how phoenixfire might affect that gem, and should it break, gods know what might happen..." since getting possessed by a wussy pirate-spirit is already bad enough, she thought grimly, and heard a quiet exclamation of protest at the back of her brain. Bacon((Marines)) Deri gasped as Ikkin quite literally took his breath away. He consciously chose to fall backwards rather than forward so he'd be further away, but it didn't really matter if he couldn't do anything. A mere human would be unconscious by now, but he had just enough time to say, "Clever girl..." Kyve looked up as he heard Deri slump backwards. He held his hands up in Ikkin's direction. "I surrender... please, don't hurt me." ((Bacon)) Bacon nearly lost his footing as Zari's shuttle hit the ground, but recovered easily. "Are you okay?" He asked when he saw Zari hit the wall. He walked to the door and opened it, "Alright, let's go, people.” Celestial((Battlefield near the Weewoo Again))It alarmed Leste when the kougra threw a cutlass behind her but in her rage, she didn't look behind her. While she managed to parry the Kougra's slash at her shoulder, a pain ran through her legs though it wasn't severe. For the first time, she looked behind her and at the vine with the cutlass. It has slashed through the leather of her boots, going for her Achilles Tendon. Thankfully the leather was not a cheap kind and the cutlass only managed scratches down her leg. But her temper now flared.
The mercenary came closer with his dagger and she also managed to parry it, though with more difficulty.
"Why do you get up? Why do you persist?!" she taunted him, pushing his dagger away from her. Sneakily, Leste aimed a kick for his legs, hoping that he would be overbalanced and fall. Relying on that, she turned to the vine and slashed at it's base. RiderRider's sword hit the stone wall. Blasted mages. Cyborg was going to be sorry he ever decided to fight two pirates at once. She went around the wall and started slashing. "Peek-a-boo." Meanwhile, Ventratta had scampered down Rider's leg and was gnawing on the base of the vine, gagging as he went. Clearly it tasted nothing like boxer shorts. AmneigerAmneiger had rolled against a set of crates when Zari had brought the shuttle down. The minitanks had done better; they had hunkered down and were still in their original positions on the floor. He picked himself off and picked up the laptop again. "Okay, out the door." He waited until the minitanks had climbed out before jumping down to the ground himself. They were near the edge of the forest; Amneiger could see light characteristic of open spaces around the trees. "Go ahead and tell me what you see." He crept forward until he found a thicker tree and crouched down behind it. With his safety at least somewhat assured, he looked around the tree at the battlefield. Lots of people fighting, a big stone ball covered in ice, and a strange red flag on the pirate ship. What was that doing there? And where was Fraze? >> Tallying...1 target found. > Show me. The screen switched to a view out of unit 4's camera lenses, showing a kitsune fighting some Spacefleet marines. > Okay. 4, 5, strafe the kitsune. Keep moving to avoid getting hit. 6, stay in the forest as backup. With those orders given out, Amneiger picked up his radio. "Fraze? It's Amneiger. We've found Leoness and are in the forest. What's going on? Where's the Commander?" Meanwhile, the first two minitanks were speeding towards Ikkin. They veered to opposite sides of her, turning their turrets to aim at her. Both were at least fifteen feet away, out of the reach of her sword. >> 4, 5: Target in melee combat with Spacefleet personnal; switching to bullets. Default attack pattern for humanoids: Attempting disabling hits. At the same time, both tanks fired a half-second burst of bullets at Ikkin's legs Kat"This blonde chick shows up at the most inconvenient times. Let's get her.""Blonde chick?" asked Kat, whipping around to see Shiva. "Shiva! Are you all right? I can hea - " Her voice trailed off when she saw who had cast a spell on the demon horse. The blonde chick grinned, her cloak billowing and making her look even more like the harbinger of evil she was. She put her hands together and fashioned a bow and arrow made entirely out of her magic, made just like the swords she had hurled at Nature not too long ago. Asthielle fired, the arrow heading for Shiva. But the arrow simply glanced off a glistening purple shield that blossomed before Shiva, and the arrow raced back to its archer. It narrowly missed, singeing the hood of Asthielle's cloak. "All right, Shiva, let's get her," said Kat, turning and facing Asthielle Fraze((The Battlegrounds)) Fraze stumbled as Kat's blows hit him rather than their intended target. She apparently noticed the intrusion, but didn't act as he expected; instead, she turned to fight Asthielle. Should be interesing, but Fraze didn't have time to watch. The marine who had been fighting fell unconscious; the other asked for mercy from the air mage. From what Fraze had seen of her past actions, he expected she would show mercy. If not, he wouldn't let the marines go undefended. He stepped to the side, coming next to the conscious marine and hoping to remain undetected.
Fraze? It's Amneiger, a voice came in Fraze's ear. We've found Leoness and are in the forest. What's going on? Where's the Commander? Fraze had his suit analyze the direction of the communication. He looked in that direction, magnified his vision, and saw Amneiger peeking around a tree. He responded using his suit's thought-to-speech program. "Long story, Amneiger. The Pirate captain--the one with stripey hair, if you can see her--has the gem the Commander has been after. I think she used it to transform their ship to how it looks now. The Commander is inside that giant stone ball; I think he's attacking the Pirate captain. There are some ninjas here for reasons I'm not entirely sure of, but I think they want the gem as well. I'm next to the marines near the foxtailed mage; they're asking her for mercy. I don't think she is aware of my presence yet. The Commander is...I don't know. Dead, maybe. A zombie, I think, kept alive and conscious by the gem. At the risk of sounding clichéd, it seems like he's been driven insane with lust for power CyborgMidknight rolled out of the way of the attack, but the sword tore a huge hole in his cloak. " Thanks Hunty now I gotta get a new one." Midknight said as he got up and tried something he hadn't done in a while. Hopefully he wasn't too old (like Rider) to do this attack. He stabbed his cutlasses into the ground, backed up ran at them grabbed one in each hand did a flipped and smashed them down at Hunty. The vine sent the cutlass back in time for Cyborg to block the attack. " Rider don't you remember you were never good scaring me unless you were sober which is like never." Cyborg said with a smirk as he aimed a slash at each of Rider's old lady arms RiderThe mercs were getting cocky. Rider grimaced and blocked both slashes. Quick reflexes were a lifesaver. "My aim was never to scare you while you were on my ship. I'm not that kind of captain. And let's see, who's the one whose name still holds honor among thieves? And who's the one who's left in the dust, scrounging and fighting strangers for his supper?" The dagger was still impractical. if only she could get enough distance on him to throw it. For now, she stuck to defense. ((Will edit Shiva's part in first thing tomorrow, Kat, I promise.)) Nature"All right, Shiva, let's get her.""Hey, wait up!" Nature called, slowly getting up. "You won't start a fight without me, will you?" Trying her best to endure the pain, Nature picked up her fallen sitar using her injured hand. She mentally sighed a breath of relief. At least the hand she used to strum her sitar wasn't injured Amneiger"The captain?" Amneiger turned until he could see her; she seemed to be using this really flimsy sword. The person she was fighting didn't look like they were affliated with Spacefleet, which would explain why the minitanks had ignored her in their enemy count. > Unit 6, look for a woman with yellow and black striped hair, a corset, and a sword. Keep an eye on her. >> Affirmative. Searching...found. "I can't see you; are you cloaked? The minitanks are still using visible light spectrum cameras, so they won't see you. Try not to get in their way." Amneiger frowned. There was something else he needed to ask ... wait, now he remembered. "Wasn't there supposed to be somebody here advocating demon rights ZariZari dropped off the shelving. "I'm fine. Out the door we go!" Brushing off her skirt, Zari headed out the door, following the sounds of battle. She bit her lip. This was going to be hard on Leoness. The commander was definetly in a bad way. It'd be hard on her too, of course. Being Empathetic made things hard for her, especially when she didn't really believe these people had done anything that much wrong. Powerlust was a powerful thing. She'd seen it happen to the leaders of Illhvren, watched them fall. They'd had a repreive at the her mentors expense, but just before she'd left to join Spacefleet, she'd had the pleasure of watching them rot right through and collapse, then be replaced by newer, wiser rulers, which she had breifly advocated as a member of the Undercircle. Then it hit her. Like a wave of stench, the gem's influence hit Zari like a living thing, momentarily rendering her entirely blind. She bit her lip and brushed her hand over her eyes, fighting...What was she fighting? Mentally, she used her Largely dormant Shadow and Earth Magics to reinforce her mental barriers, keeping whatever it was out of her mind. She kept walked throughout this. To think I used to fight with a Sonar Clarinet, a Knife and a Firestave. Two years ago I would have died in this situation. Mind you, two of the years of my kind ago I was only 12 years old and only knew the basics. My weapons were my crutches. She smiled, fondly remembering the two years she'd spent mastering those devices, before she moved on to firearms, advanced magic, and the use of the Sarial Notebook. She stopped where the trees ended and powered up her wristcomp. "Operatives Fraze, Kyve, Jord, and Deri, Situation report. I need to relay this back to base. What the Nythonae is going on with the Commander? Any deceased? Anyone dropped their weapon? We're at the edge of the forest at the monent, waiting for a chance to strike and bite the ankles of the enemy with furious enthusiasm. Okay, enough. Status report? Guys?" VytCat Assassin stared longingly at the unconscious pink cat. The seemingly dead eyes of the catgirl reminded him of his home town. Her presence, albeit deserted by signs of life, was calming the mass murderer down, pacing his mind at a slow rate.
"... She's beautiful," commented the feline: such words he was not able to speak of for many years. His life was corrupted by the role given to him by his clan, yet all of that was simply taken away by the innocence surrounding the lass.
The feline then reluctantly took his eyes away from the girl for awhile to stare at the plate that was in front of him. As his mind processed the words that were engraved upon the steel plate, Cat Assassin was struck with grief.
It read "The Queen".
"Cat Assassin, do you copy?" beeped the communicator attached to his left arm. "Your objective is to eliminate The Queen without catching much attention," it repeated."... Is this what it feels like, SILE?" Cat Assassin spoke to no one in particular whilst spending his time inside the cell he was in. Though the feline himself had experienced living inside a cramped space, he had never experienced being alone while doing so. Cyborg" Who kills those theives all the time, that would be oh wait me. Rider you may not know until now, but my employer has had me killing all those theives and has got me trying to kill my former friends for a high price. Get it, got it, good." Cyborg said as he stabbed at Rider. Celestial ((Same old battleground))Nobody was attacking Leste yet which was a good sign. Without waiting or even hesitating to think about the wounds on her legs, she ran at the kougra mercenary and parried his attack before it could get to the former captain. Her normally pale-grey eyes were filled with pure hatered for the Kougra.
"You must coal for a heart then" she sneered at him and slashed at his legs, aiming for his tendons
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Post by GW2 on Oct 16, 2008 16:26:46 GMT -5
Huntress ((Cyborg, I smacked Midknight with the hilt. As in, the blunt end, doesn't tear much. Though I s'pose the sword probably could spin around a bit.))
The mercs were getting annoying, though Huntress had to admit that it was still a lot easier than dealing with the Commander. And there came Midknight again with a dual sword slash.
Air attacks, however, are predictable, and very obvious; even more so if you have to prepare for them. So by the time the kougra had grabbed the cutlasses and was in the middle of a flip, Hunty's sword was already spinning. Midknight's attack hit the silvershield with a clear 'twang'.
"If you hadn't wasted your time flipping, you woulda been able to attack more quickly," Hunty prompted, quickly sliding off from under the fading shield and towards Rider. "Hey thar. Need help? I've a dagger and kunai to spare." Can you help? she thought.
There was a pause. Me?
Yeah. If I let you take me over, would you be of any use?
Another pause. I'd probably throw up at them whenever I see blood, if that's any help.
No skills? Magic? Swordfighting?
Um, no. I already said, I'm not much of a mage. I kinda know a thing or two about herbs, though... and I once took fencing lessons.
To hell with you. I need a plan, Hunty thought, letting her reflexes take over again. The gem was with Sev, but that didn't matter in this battle. They would fight until one party was defeated, and they were pretty equally matched.
Um...
Wasn't talking to you. Great, now she wasn't even alone in her own head to think her own thoughts. Now that the freeloader in her head had revealed itself, it seemed pretty vocal.
No, um... you could break the gem. The thought sounded hopeful.
Whatever for?
It'd set me free, for one. All of us, in fact. You'd be rid of me. It'd kinda channel our way out, see?
Hunty paused. And we'd be up to our necks in angry warriors?
But we'd be free. The voice had a longing note in it.
How long have you been there?
Too long. I mean, you're kinda hostile and snappy, but your head is like fluffy clouds and harp music compared to that gem.
Hunty paused again. I don't do mushrooms.
You get the picture.
Rider
Who kills those theives all the time, that would be oh wait me. Rider you may not know until now, but my employer has had me killing all those theives and has got me trying to kill my former friends for a high price. Get it, got it, good."
Rider paused. What was the fundamental difference between mercernaries and pirates? Both had to do horrid things to stay afloat and keep bread on the table, but...
"Cyborg, since you left us... have you been free?"
Leste popped in to help with the battle. "Thanks," Rider siad to her. "I'm sorry, you must have joined after I retired. What's your name again?"
She tried to flank Cyborg while he was contending with Leste. She slashed at his side. She'd rather go for the back, though. "Try to draw him away from the wall."
EDIT: And Hunty offered assistance as well. She seemed a bit distracted.
"It's Cyborg, Cap'n. He's one of ours. Just... do what you can to end this madness."
Part of original post ((Which I started to abbreviate, but then found out the hard way that it's... yeah.)): Meanwhile, Shiva had backup as well. "Thanks," he said to Kat. "Geez, doesn't she know there's a war going on here? Yo, blonde chick, don't you know there's a frigatin' war going on here?!?"
He charged at Aesthielle, mostly hoping to distract her. He could take most of what she could dish out anyway. Hopefully. Meanwhile, a fanged demon-horse running at you is probably the most distracting thing you will see in this RP.
Kat
"You won't start a fight without me, will you?"
Kat walked briskly over to her fellow mage, took one look at Nature's injured hand and held it. "With that hand of yours? I think Shiva and I can handle this. Ah, what the heck." Purple fire rose from Kat's fingers, looking more like wisps of smoke, and surrounded Nature's hand before disappearing and doing their work. Just after applying the healing magic, Kat dived and rolled away; a large scorch mark was there to mark where her feet had been seconds ago.
Asthielle sighed. "I thought you were going to fight me, but apparently it seems you'd prefer to waste your time tending to the needy. Perhaps you would like to die this way...like a martyr?"
"Yo, blonde chick, don't you know there's a frigatin' war going on here?!?"
The horse actually talked. And not for the first time, even.
But Asthielle had no time to wonder how the heck that happened, as he - his voice did sound distinctly male - began charging towards her. Threads of yellow fire entwined themselves into a whip, and as Asthielle cracked it, it sent a flurry of what looked like minuscule flaming daggers towards Shiva.
"What you do in your spare time in this country does not matter to me. What matters to me is killing Kalianne Triss. I cannot let her live any longer."
Meanwhile, the mage in question sighted Cyborg fighting Rider, and chose this time to summon purple lightning to strike him
PFA ((near Weewoo))
Huntress blocked PFA's stab, then stepped back, away from PFA. The captain then proceeded to attack the Kougra. They fought for a little while PFA apparently stopped existing for a moment, and then the captain ran over to the former captain, offering her help.
PFA, not ready to give up just yet, ran over to Huntress and attempted to drive her katana into the pirate's shoulder.
---
"Why do you get up? Why do you persist?!" the pirate girl taunted, parrying Jernath's stab and pushing his dagger to the side. She then kicked at his legs, knocking him to the ground.
While he was on the ground, his opponent had ran off and started attacking Cyborg. Jernath grunted in annoyance, scooped up the dagger he had dropped since he was already on the ground anyway, and pulled himself up. He then narrowed his eyes, and charged at Leste.
"I am not," he hissed, attempting to backstab Leste with both daggers at once, "going to let my friends die!"
He'd already been through that twice. He was not about to let it happen again
Celestial
"My name is Leste", Leste quickly replied, taking note of Rider's flanking maneuvre.
"Try to draw him away from the wall" Rider shouted and Leste simply nodded, taking a step back and hoping Cyborg will take the bait. Everything depended on it.
What she didn't count on was Jernath stabbing two daggers into her back. By the time she turned to mist, it was too late. They had gone in deep. She tried to become solid once again but it was impossible for her for if she did, she would die. But even as mist, she could still fight. For she was a bit more solid that the normal mist that she normally became.
"I am not going to let my friends die either!" the mist shouted at Jernath and began wrapping around his neck, choking him. The eyes were the only part of Leste that could be been but instead of pale grey, they were red. She had once again become a shadow.
Fraze ((The Battlefield))
"I can't see you; are you cloaked? The minitanks are still using visible light spectrum cameras, so they won't see you. Try not to get in their way." Fraze began to respond, but it turned out that Amneiger had simply paused. "Wasn't there supposed to be somebody here advocating demon rights?" Again thinking the message and using his skinsuit to translate it, Fraze responded. "I'll start sending you a regular ping again so you know my location. When we came to the site where the demon rights entity told us to meet, there were no people, but there were a few signs of violence. We aren't sure what happened."
"Operatives Fraze, Kyve, Jord, and Deri, Situation report, came a voice that Fraze recognized as Zari's. "I need to relay this back to base. What the Nythonae is going on with the Commander? Any deceased? Anyone dropped their weapon? We're at the edge of the forest at the monent, waiting for a chance to strike and bite the ankles of the enemy with furious enthusiasm. Okay, enough. Status report? Guys?" A lot of questions, but Fraze started to tell what he knew. "Already told Prof. Amneiger some of this, so he can fill you in. The Commander is possessed by the gem he's been searching for, I believe. Several marines and Subcommander Surly dead. Some weapons dropped, but I've got enough to arm the 'Fleeters here twenty times over." Not an exaggeration, he knew--if anything, it might have been an understatement. For whatever reason--and despite the circumstances surrounding what may as well have been his exile--his superiors had left him very well-armed. But since he knew Zari's penchant for more exotic weaponry, he decided to elaborate. "I've got mostly fairly conventional weapons: plasma weaponry, laser weaponry, explosives, and so forth--including a few ship-to-ship weapons that'd take ten of us to carry." His teammates knew about the Singularity Sphere, so he decided it best not to mention that particular explosive. "And I have medical supplies. Mostly first aid, dermal regen and stuff like that. What is your status? Is the Chief Medical Officer all right?"
At this point, Fraze saw Amneiger's minitanks roll up and fire at the mage that the marines had been fighting. Well, that certainly wouldn't help... "Prof. Amneiger! Can you tell your minitanks to break hold their attack on the mage? She may be ready to give quarter, and two of the marines are injured and one dead. Even if we're going to be in battle with her, I'd still like to get these marines out safely and healed before that
Rider
Whips. Shiva flinched at the sound of the crack. It had been a long time. It was shortly followed by what was probably the worst case of pins and needles ever. He lost control of himself and skidded, still in Ielle's general direction.
No sooner had Rider learned her name than Leste was stabbed in the back. And became mist. why the fail?
"Leste, what's happening?"
But even as Rider asked, she knew. Leste had never been one of her pirates at all. She was little more than a ghost.
Surf
Surf woke up and wondered drowsily what had happened. Her wounds had apparently disappeared; Surf figured someone had healed her, and quietly thanked whoever it was. She hopped down off of the ship, and before she could re-enter the battle, heard two loud booms. "What was that?!" she exclaimed worriedly.
((Here lies my lame attempt to re-enter the roleplay. >>))
Zari
"I tried to contact the commander telepathically, so we've gathered that the Commanders mind isn't entirely his own at this point. " Zari replied mildly. "Are any of the terrestrials allied with us or can we just attack them all? I'd hate to kill off someone who turned out to be an ally or friend. So would the others. So. Who to shoot?"
Strife
((The Battlefield))
As The Commander rolled around inside his stone sphere, he felt himself gradually slowing down. The air inside the sphere became chilly as shards of ice crawled up its surface like fingers. Eventually, the sphere stopped in its tracks.
The Commander focused his mind to try and collapse the sphere, but surprisingly, it wouldn't budge right away. A moment of silent thought, and he concluded that he was too far from the gem. As a result, his powers were becoming less effective.
He concentrated harder, and the sphere rumbled while pieces of ice shattered around it. Before he freed the sphere, however, something in his senses caused him to stop and rethink his strategy.
Leoness was near. He could feel it. He felt his heart sink into his chest, and her presence fell onto his conscience like a bag of bricks. He didn't want to lose her over this... He couldn't bear to think what would happen if he lost her...
Unfortunately, the gem's influence on him was too great. The gem filled all of the holes inside of him that had been cut, slashed, or blasted open, and suffice to say, there was not much Strife left inside of the mass of heavy metal and dead flesh that was The Commander.
The militaristc side of him took over, and resolved to wait inside the sphere of frozen stones. He knew that Leoness was brought here by one of his squadrons, so it was only a matter of time before he recieved reinforcements on the battlefield.
The Commander sat cross-legged in the center of the sphere and waited, his eyes casting an ominous purple glow around him.
Bacon
Bacon got out of the dropship and followed Zari for a short ways, trying to see the battlefield, but with little luck. He could see people, but not who they are what they're doing. As he tried to inch closer, he overheard Zari ask someone, "Are any of the terrestrials allied with us or can we just attack them all? I'd hate to kill off someone who turned out to be an ally or friend. So would the others. So. Who to shoot?"
"Oh, yeah!" Bacon had forgotten to inform the others of the alliance, and now turned to Zari, "We did ally with some mercenaries back in the jungle... I forgot what they looked like, though... except for that grey Kougra, what was his name? Android?"
As he said this, he moved closer to the edge of battle, where he saw a few people more clearly, although he didn't recognize them. Two appeared to be Spacefleet marines.
Nature
"What you do in your spare time in this country does not matter to me. What matters to me is killing Kalianne Triss. I cannot let her live any longer."
"But why?" Nature asked, in a voice sounding both angry and innocent. "Ate Kat has done nothing to you . . . has she?"
Kat
Asthielle had no time to react as Shiva bowled into her, and she was knocked to the ground. Still clutching her glowing, magical whip, she raised it and struck the horse.
"Ate Kat has done nothing to you . . . has she?"
She glared darkly at this mage who had spoken.
"That is none of your business. Now get out of my way." The whip shrieked again as though emphasizing this point, striking the ground at the mage's feet, which crackled and exploded in a flurry of dirt and light.
* * *
"If I were you, I'd stay away from Rider," Kat shouted at Cyborg after creating the lightning bolt. This time, she held her sword. "I won't hold back."
Nature
"That is none of your business. Now get out of my way."
Nature felt her feet burn as Asthielle whipped the ground beneath the Zafara's feet. Being an ice mage, it was torture. But she tried to stand the pain. Nature strummed her sitar with her non-injured hand. "Dance, snowflakes dance!" Soon, another flurry of snow, ice and -- unexpectedly -- hailstones attacked the blond stranger.
Fraze ((The Battlefield))
"Are any of the terrestrials allied with us or can we just attack them all?" Zari asked. "I'd hate to kill off someone who turned out to be an ally or friend. So would the others. So. Who to shoot?" "The two kougras and that redheaded guy are mercs," Fraze responded. "They're working for us now. I think. Don't try fighting that phoenix, I don't think it stays dead. And don't shoot that enormous-fuzzy-tentacled-spiked-thing either, that's the reason we're short several marines and Subcommander Surly. If it seems mad, just run away or, ah..." Fraze paused. "Or I've had good luck playing music and dancing for it."
Fraze looked around. The battle seemed to be picking up again, but the Commander's hamsterball was now stationary. Either he couldn't move it anymore, or he simply didn't want to.
Fraze turned around to see Bacon peering out from behind a tree. He gave him an upward nod, before remembering he was still cloaked. He moved over to Bacon, decloaking.
"How's the arm doing?" he asked, only afterward realizing that he might startle his teammate.
Amneiger
"Wait, what? Just a minute..."
>> 4, 5 hold fire. Maintain weapon locks and continue evasive action. > Affirmative.
The tanks stopped firing, but continued driving around the battlefield and checking for incoming attacks.
At this point, Amneiger saw Fraze decloak and head towards them.
"Um, Fraze? If that mage is going to get angry about getting shot at, shouldn't you be there to try to calm her down?"
Vyt
Subila looked sternly at Vyt, who seemed to be puzzled with something. The girl quickly knew what he was pondering about.
"... You're acting quite far away from your usual carefree habit," the Yang commented whilst swirling around the dark ball in a curious manner.
"I should," the Yin answered. "I'm already dead, and my only hope of getting back here is with Vyt's revival. I need to look convincing towards my daughter," she added. The dark mass began to inch away from the light ball that was Vyt, rather annoyed by its circling.
The Yang replied with a brief laugh. "I was expecting that from you. That phoenix was quite a handful, wasn't he?"
Subila hissed. "He's more of a pushover, but I felt that I shouldn't break his high morale. He may be overestimated, but he's the only 'powerful' entity this world has got. I just needed to make myself look dead so he wouldn't lose his kayfabe."
Though unnoticed because of his form, Vyt smiled. "I envy your strange yet justified action," he concluded, honesty always released from his mouth. "Now, shall we get Cat Assassin so justice can have one of its disciples back?"
Subila returned the Yang's smile with her own. "I may not know justice at all, but if it's getting me revived, I will!"
With that, the two ghosts began to move towards the White Weewoo in search for Cat Assassin.
PFA ((near Weewoo))
The daggers had hit their target. The pirate, apparently named Leste, turned to mist in an attempt to dodge the attack, but wasn't fast enough. Her eyes became red, and she immediately started wrapping herself around Jernath's neck.
"I am not going to let my friends die either!" she shouted. Jernath would have replied, but he was too busy being choked. Out of instinct and desperation, he brought his dagger around and tried to stab at the shadow, making sure he wouldn't hit himself in the attempt.
Cyborg
Midknight moved to Hunty's left and stabbed at her. " I'd love to stay and fight, but my brother needs help and family comes first." he said as he ran to wards Kat and stabbed at her.
Cyborg was being attacked from everywhere. He dodged the lightning and Leste's stab, but Rider stabbed his ribs. " Rider you might not remember this I respected you, even Hunty until Keng was kicked off the ship. That's when I lost all respect for pirates. Yes I miss the sea and some pirates. So Rider what do you mean by free? And you the new pirate you weren't there when I was, so you obviously don't know how stubborn I can and will be, my name is Cyborg, I will not die, but today, you WILL!" Cyborg said as he began to stab at Leste until he realized she was mist again so he broke the earth wall and sent it all at (rocks, dirt, sand) at Rider.
Kat
Still slightly stunned, Asthielle raised her whip again, and it spread out from her hand, creating a glowing dome that deflected hailstones and kept her safe from the incoming snow and ice - and unwittingly protected Shiva as well. Unfortunately, she had been using much of her magic lately, and her shield began to flicker, forcing the mage to resort to good old-fashioned ducking and dodging whenever the shield disappeared for a split-second.
Then it died completely. When it did, she was buried in snow, wrapping her cloak tightly around her as she shivered. Snowflakes glistened in her hair, making her look even more like a parody of a fun-filled snow day.
"You were lucky this time," Asthielle gasped, trying to dig herself out and escape while her magic reserves were still recharging.
* * *
"Hey - nothing's faster than light! How'd you - "
But Kat didn't have time to finish whatever she had wanted to tell Cyborg, as she blocked Midknight's blow with her sword before attempting a pass that would hopefully send his weapon flying
Rider “So Rider what do you mean by free? And you the new pirate you weren't there when I was, so you obviously don't know how stubborn I can and will be, my name is Cyborg, I will not die, but today, you WILL!"
How little he remembered. The sea was freedom. If he misses one, he misses the other. The sea was a pirate's gate to the world. When the wind was in your sails, nothing was outside your reach.
If that was the case, why were they still seeking freedom? Maybe Cyborg was right, and they really had no idea what freedom really was.
Rider blocked her face with her left arm, (her dagger arm), and thus avoided the brunt of the attack. A few bruises elsewhere, but bruises happened.
She started contending with Cyborg again, hoping to keep his cutlasses busy before he could do any more damage.
"You may have forgotten freedom, merc, but never forget this. I am the Red Rider, and I'll not die until I'm good and blasted ready."
((I won't react to what you did to Leste until you decide you really want to have stabbed her.))
Shiva screamed as the whip came down on him. A loud, ringing whinny of anger and fright and years of having to deal with abuse.
And now the fool had trapped herself in a dome with him. He kicked at her and bit at her. The actions of a wild, angry beast. No method to his madness, just the desire to cause pain.
Surf
Surf wondered why no one noticed Amneiger's shots, and decided they were all deaf tried to find the source of the noise. She looked around and, although she didn't find the source of the noise, she did see some blonde girl attack Nature with a whip. Surf leapt next to the Zafara and said, "I'm glad to see you're feeling better. Need any help?"
Bacon
Bacon jumped when Fraze reappeared next to him, although not nearly as high as he did the first time Fraze decloaked unexpectantly. He wondered slightly about Fraze's question before answering. Did he hear about the crash? then he remembered that his shoulder got hit earlier, when Fraze healed it.
"Oh, yeah, it's fine. Healed completely until my ship went down. Good thing for me I found the others pretty quickly, and I think it's okay... again." He opened the hole in his sleeve to get a better look at it. Leoness stitched the hole up pretty good, although the surrounding skin looked sore and red
Ikkin "Clever girl..." Deri said before passing out.
Ikkin turned her attention towards the other marine, who held up his hands and said, "I surrender... please, don't hurt me."
"Drop your weapons and remove yourself from the battlefield, then," Ikkin said. "I have no qualms about you going free if you don't hurt my..." She was cut off as several little tanks stopped about fifteen feet away from her and started to fire. "Hey!" she said in surprise as she jumped into the air to avoid being hit.
She avoided being hit by flying up into the air, buying herself some time as she tried to figure out what kind of attack would work best against small, armored robots.
Before she could decide, however, the tanks moved away, apparently called off by whatever was controlling them. Not very persistent, are they? she thought. In any case, they didn't seem to be a threat anymore, and her friends probably needed her elsewhere. So, she flew even higher to get a better view of what was going on around her.
The biggest concentration of fighting was definitely in one area, where Rider, Shiva, Kat, and a pirate Ikkin didn't know were all facing off alternatively against a variety of opponents, including that annoying cyborg Kougra who she remembered from her days on the Weewoo. He was currently fighting against Rider.
Ikkin decided to go after him first. Taking down the enemies one at a time seemed like the best way to go here, and Rider, not having any magic of her own, was in one of the most precarious positions of the fighters on her side.
She flew even higher, then dove down towards the Kougra's back, her cutlass prepared to either slice at him or defend as soon as she reached him. Rider was on the other side; even if Ikkin's strike didn't hit, the former cap'n would have an opportunity to finish him
Omni ((Mage Manor, Rikku's room [and just outside thereof]))
"She... she might... we might be... we m-might be too late..."
"We don't know for sure." Omni slowly walked to the door, and opened it, having heard no response anyway.
One of the first things she saw was a zombie, it seemed to be one of Rikku's. Omni looked at it in an odd way. Undead always had the strangest auras.
The next the she noticed was Rikku, crushed - not entirely, but enough to be fatal. What skin Omni saw was ghostly pale, as it always was as soon as someone died. (Well, Omni didn't know about people with dark skin, but she assumed it would still be a lot paler.) Omni felt choked up, saying nothing. Feeling that she should at least get Rikku un-buried, she crept forward, slowly. There was a… foreboding feeling in the air, as well as a voice in her telling her to be careful, with a stern voice. When she came close, she crouched down, and moved the bookcase out of he way, as well as several books, and turned Rikku over so she was facing upward, her face just as pale. Omni just sat there for a moment, unsure what to think, until she saw and heard a paper falling to the floor. Curious, she picked the paper up, seeing that the writing was carved into the paper, showing through the other side. "What's this?" she thought, saying it under her breath.
((Battlefield))
Ethan looked over the fight. There were pirates, fighting mercenaries, fighting a ninja, fighting pirates, with some Spacefleet members caught in the middle. He was considering shooting the pirate captain. But then again, if the Commander wasn't in himself, then would it be a good idea to help him? Still, he wanted to do something… It would be hard to enter the battle at the moment. If there was a distraction…
Ethan continued looking over the battlefield, until he noticed something by a large tree on one side. "I have an idea. It's kind of crazy, but it might work." He fingered the keneticomp that he had hidden.
Amneiger ((Battlefield)) "Oh, yeah, it's fine," Bacon said after starting at Fraze's approach. "Healed completely until my ship went down. Good thing for me I found the others pretty quickly, and I think it's okay... again." "Wait--your ship went down? Oh, I'm sorry. We'll have to get it after--"
He was cut off, as Amneiger's voice spoke in his ear. "Um, Fraze? If that mage is going to get angry about getting shot at, shouldn't you be there to try to calm her down?" Fraze looked up to see the mage moving away. "She's gone now," he sent to the newly arrived 'Fleeters. "Fighting someone else, I guess. I'm going to try to get these marines to Leoness." With that, he jogged over to Kyve. Nodding toward Deri and Jord he asked, "Can you help me get them to the landing party?”
Vyt ((Sorry, Rider... It's better that Cat Assassin is back on the battlefield. Probation time is over, methinks))
"... Calm yourself down, young boy," spoke an old canine clad in yellow monk clothing. "Do not let your mind be corrupted by anything else."
Cat Assassin was in front of him, exhausted from expelling his own stamina in a futile effort to focus energy in his hands. "I need to do this quickly... I need to be stronger!"
The dog sighed. "... But how can you be if your mind is not set to do so? You speak of becoming stronger, but I can tell your mind is wandering off elsewhere. Your subconscious is telling me that you're not here to become stronger, but to be able to defeat someone."
Cat Assassin looked at the dog in return, his face showing a confused expression. "... Perhaps you're right. I'm so fed up with defeating Fritz that I thought I was-"
The canine gasped. "... Fritz? You mean that traitor?"
Cat Assassin sighed as more flashbacks occurred inside his mind. In his journey he was able to not only defeat Fritz despite his low chance to do so, but convert him back to the good side. His type of energy, as described by the old canine that taught him, was of a milder kind. Though it was stronger in terms of quantitative quality, it could only knock opponents unconscious at best.
"... He said it was the better type, though... For it was meant to bring justice and not doom," Cat Assassin remembered. That statement was the exact replica of the dog's last words.
"Cat Assassin!"
The feline turned around, hearing his name echo outside his cell.
"Vyt! And... Subila?!"
Cyborg
" Rider I haven't forgotten your kind of freedom, I have simply found another kind of freedom. Midknight don't worry about the mage, take down the kitsune!" Cyborg yelled as he stabbed at the scariest drunk of the seaRider's ribs and throat.
Meanwhile Midknight's cutlass was sent flying, but he jumped up and caught it though cut his hand/paw on the blade. He ran past the purple lightning bolt shooter of DOOM mage and tried a mid air tackle at the kitsune.
Kat
Truly, this was definitely not what Asthielle had planned to do once she had found the elusive Kalianne Triss. The mage was deluged in snow and slush, and now she faced the wrath of a horse that she had just whipped and magicked. She winced, but tried not to scream as she attempted to evade his strikes. But a lot of them got through, unfortunately.
At last, she staggered back onto her feet - ragged, cold, wet, cut and bruised, but most of all, still regaining the use of her magic. Asthielle picked up a stone and lobbed it at the horse, gritting her teeth as she maintained her balance.
It was humiliating - so humiliating, in fact, that she decided to risk it and use her magic anyway. The whip took form again in her hand, and she cracked it towards the horse - except that this time, once it came in contact with something, it would transform into a lasso and bind whatever it touched.
* * *
Kat watched Midknight run toward Ikkin, and shot a purple lightning bolt fireball after him, hoping that it would knock him down. For good measure, she sent two more after in case the first one missed
Rider
" Rider I haven't forgotten your kind of freedom, I have simply found another kind of freedom."
"The kind born from lies and blood-soaked gold." Rider parried his strikes. Years of physical combat had readied her for this. "The kind that keeps you scrounging for your next job, dependant on stangers for your bread."
Meanwhile, Shiva was in a bit of a bind. Hah, get it? Bind? Yeah, yeah, I'm not allowed to make puns... Um, heh, yeah, a lasso got tied around his neck. >.>;
... Well frigate.
So Shiva did what any other animal would do. He continued to go berserk, wildly yanking at the magical string. He tried to gnaw at it with his teeth, but found he couldn't reach. This failing, he went to continue his assult on Aestielle.
Cyborg
The lightning bolts fireballs wizzed by and singed his fur. " No cookin da kitty!" Midknight yelled.
" Lies, lies your one to talk. I don't lie for fun, I lie to save lives Rider. If I was still stuck on that ship of yours I wouldn't have found my old friends or my brother. Yes there is alot of blood ,but there's also a lot of blood spilt in a fight with a pirate. Sure we're dependant, but at least we won't die at sea cause we can't find some stupid treasure. We get hired cause we're good." Cyborg said as he slashed at Rider yet again.
Rider
" Lies, lies your one to talk. I don't lie for fun, I lie to save lives Rider. If I was still stuck on that ship of yours I wouldn't have found my old friends or my brother. Yes there is alot of blood ,but there's also a lot of blood spilt in a fight with a pirate. Sure we're dependant, but at least we won't die at sea cause we can't find some stupid treasure. We get hired cause we're good."
"There's treasure all around you, lad. We pirates will take all we can get our hands on, and thus, we prosper. Not our fault that you can only see treasure in another man's blood. I don't doubt that you're good, merc, but you're a blind fool."
Rider parried both strikes and went for Cyborg's throat with the cutlass.
Cyborg
Cyborg easily parried the strike. " I don't see treasure in man's blood, it's not just assassinations Rider. We protect, we fight, we kill. Now I suggest you tell your pirates to stop attacking and I'll tell my merc's to stop. If not I'll have to anger Midknight and neither you nor me want that to happen."
Zari
Zari smiled at Fraze and raised a hand, then crouched, one arm slung over the knees, her other hand worrying at the ankh pendant she was always wearing((Maybe it's glued on...)) "Crazy Ideas are always welcome. I joined Spacefleet on a crazy idea and look where that got me. Stopping you lot from dying of boredom, or going on mad rampages because of said boredom, or attempting to take over the world, again because of boredom. Maybe The Commander is bored? Or maybe human boredom is different from Illhvrenan boredom. I wouldn't know. C'mon, let's hear it." She looked over her shoulder at the other four, then returned to watching the battle intently.
Amneiger
>> 4, 5: No hostile action detected for five minutes. > New orders: Protect Spacefleet members. Continue evasive action. >> 4, 5: Confirmed.
The minitanks began to travel in rough ovals between the marines and the rest of the battlefield, watching for anybody who approached.
((Short post again. >_>))
Ikkin
Ikkin wasn't exactly sure what happened at the end of her dive, due to unclear writing what seemed to be a temporary break in the space-time continuum, but she ended up with both feet planted firmly on the ground and a moron Kougra - who caught the blade of his cutlass in his hand - leaping at her to try to tackle her in midair. Kat had sent over a fireball to stop the attack, but he was only singed and continued on towards Ikkin anyway.
She jumped over to the side to avoid the attack and get in back of the Kougra, then slashed at his back with her cutlass as soon as he passed by her.
Huntress
Hunty had quite a bit of experience fighting two people at once, but even so, this was too easy.
"These are the mercs these days?" she asked the universe in general, bringing the sword around in one clear long slash. It served two purposes at once - the generating silvershield parried PFA's stab and the blade itself blocked Midknight's blow. It hadn't been much of a hearty blow either, and the kougra ran off at once.
In my time- the helpful voice in her head began.
Zip it unless you're asked, savvy?
The captain backed off from the battle, her mind racing madly. She needed a plan. And biased opinions didn't count.
But what exactly did she want? To keep the gem from the Commander, well, that was done, nobody messed with phoenixes. To keep her crew safe... that wasn't done in any shape or form, even if it looked like Rider and Cyborg were attempting to talk each other to death, and she'd never really believed in the quill-vs-sword theory.
Break it.
Tad obsessed, are you not?
I'm a pirate. You're a pirate. We both know the importance of freedom. The voice sighed. Besides, it's been going haywire. And you want to protect your crew, right?
Hunty was now a good dozen feet away from the others, multitasking with her double-brain and keeping an eye on everything around her. But everyone seemed busy with everyone else, so she focused on the voice for the time being.
I'm listening....?
Distraction, said the voice. Big angry distraction. And you have the Pirates on your side, well, on my side, anyway, and I'm willing to pledge my allegiance if it gets me out of here.
Hunty scowled. You're suggesting me to take a hike.
I'm suggesting you to reorganize. Those people are bound to call for backup any second now, in fact, I'd be surprised if they already haven't. What do you have? A few mages? Where are you thinking this will go? If they win, you'll be wiped out. If you win, there'll be more of them to come.
I can't do that under the red flag, the captain thought, furrowing her brow.
For the first time, the voice in her head got stern. Girl, I've been doing this shtick long before your era. The concept of the red flag wasn't even there in my time. We only had this custom of dipping a rag in someone's blood, waving it around and yelling stuff like 'soon this will be soaked in your blood too!' or whatever sounded good at that point... 'course, I'd usually throw up and feel guilty after each battle, but while they lasted, it was... like a different world.
Ah, Hunty realized. Berserk rage.
So they say. Probably how I survived and rose in ranks, I guess... look. We didn't have binding traditions or whatever. We were pirates. Pirates are free to do whatever they want, whenever they want, wherever they want, in any way they deem necessary, and that's the only single rule, though it seems to have gotten lost in time by now. Either way, you're thinking too narrowly. This is a war, and you're fighting it to win it. If you get wiped out now because of your blind dedication to traditions, you'll be dead. If you back off now, you get a chance to strike again. Savvy?
...How many of you are in there, exactly?
There was a pause. Know that cheesy line about 'thousands upon thousands of soldiers covering the plain as far as the eye could see, with hundreds of banners flying in the sun'?
Yeah?
Guess where the idea originally came from?
Oh. Hunty paused. You're not trying to trick me with this, are you?
I already told you everything I want. You don't have anything else I could be after. Crew? Got one. Money? I've seen you fight, I'm not that stupid. Your ship? I've seen her fight, I'm not that stupid.
Just keep that in mind. The captain gnawed on her lip. Very well then. Protect the crew, protect the ship. Neither was currently in a very favorable position. But she had a voice from the very dawn of piracy on her side.
"Sev!" her voice echoed over the battlefield. "Break it! Now! Break it!”
Cyborg
Midknight fell after the miss. He got up, but realized he dropped his cutlass and bent over to pick it up. As he bent over Ikkin's cutlass wizzed over him. He stood up. " Huh what was that, ..... right fighting." He slashed at the kitsune's ribs.
" Sev, oh that annoying thing's still kickin. So destroy the gem I take it. If you do that I'll tick Midknight off. See his powers make him a ticking time bobm. When he's angry he gets way more magic and way more power. So Rider it's your choice, tell Hunty and the rest to stop or risk the chance of pirate extinction. Which will it be?" Cyborg asked.
Kat
Even after binding the crazy horse, Asthielle still didn't feel like she had gained the upper hand, as he still continued to assault her. She pulled her glowing rope, and it seemed to sprout more loops, binding him more tightly.
And for a moment, she forgot just what this was doing to her reserves of magic. When she was done, she plopped down on the ground, heaving.
* * *
Kat gasped as a cutlass fell at her feet as she followed Midknight. She stepped back, but quickly picked it up. "As much as I'd like to believe that it's raining weapons, I believe this is yours, Ikkin. Think fast!"
But she wouldn't have to think that fast, as Kat controlled the cutlass toss with a bit of simple air magic. It bore the blade neatly over Midknight, and it would fall gracefully into Ikkin's hand by the hilt.
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Post by GW2 on Oct 16, 2008 16:30:38 GMT -5
IkkinSev had taken the first possible opportunity after being saddled with the gem to drop Bloody Mary off wherever he wanted, take the gem into his own claws, then spent his time flying in circles over the battlefield, staying just out of reach of most of his enemies' ranges.
He was just starting to get bored and wonder when something would happen when he heard Hunty's voice boom out over the battlefield, "Sev! Break it! Now! Break it!"
Hmm, this could be interesting. "Aye aye, cap'n," he called out sarcastically. "How about I make a show of it?" He flew faster and faster, igniting the tips of his wings first, which then spread to the rest of his body, making a fiery streak across the sky. This was true phoenix fire, of the type that consumed everything. If the cap'n wanted that gem destroyed, he'd do it properly.
It was over in seconds. Nothing was left of either the phoenix or the gem. And then, several moments later - just long enough for someone to start to wonder about whether Sev was actually going to reappear or not - a flash of fire appeared onboard the Weewoo, then disappeared, showing Sev, just as if nothing had ever happened.
Well, physically, at least. Sev's face betrayed the fact that he was far more worried by the destruction of the gem than he would admit. He could feel the souls that were trapped in the gem being released on the battlefield, and he wanted nothing to do with it. It was unnatural, and considering what he was, that was saying something.
"We should leave. Now," he called over to Hunty. "I don't know what you're thinking, but I don't think I want to be around to find out."*** Ikkin almost laughed as her opponent managed to dodge her attack by sheer luck. If it weren't so inconvenient, she'd have liked the turn of events. Fortunately, convenience seemed to be in the air, as she caught another cutlass from Kat in just the right way to block a slash from Midknight. Luck's interference on her part was made only more amusing by the irony. She stabbed out her own cutlass towards Midknight's stomach while holding his own off with the one Kat had thrown her. It might not have been hers like Kat thought, but that matter as long as it helped her win the fight. Vyt"Cat Assassin!" Vyt spoke first. The Yang had sensed something sinister brewing into the air, and somehow he knew what just happened. "The gem has been destroyed, but it's not over yet!" His voice began to tremble. "I could sense spirits escaping from the gem and into the battlefield," he noted the feline. "That dratted phoenix!" Subila commented, having felt the power of phoenix fire being the reason for the gem's disposal. "He never knew how to destroy the gem properly!"Cat Assassin was more surprised at the news the spirits gave him rather than the fact that Subila was just cooperating with the person she'd least be with. "What do you mean, destroy properly?" he gasped, taken back by the sudden news given to him. Subila sighed before continuing. "The gem was only made to encase the spirits Vyt mentioned. Even I don't know what happened to the spirits, but I'm most certainly sure they're angry for being imprisoned inside that thing... We need you down there to undo everything, Cat Assassin!" Cat Assassin lowered his head. "But I... This imprisonment..." The black mass that wasSubila then began to approach the feline. "This is no time for you to be selfish, Cat Assassin! What good is this if your world is overran by vengeful spirits? Is this what you want?!" For the first time, Cat Assassin stuttered. "N-No..." Vyt began to speak once more. "Look, I know you want to serve for all those you've killed and hurt, but Subila is right: what good is that if it can only help yourself? Do everything you can to help not only yourself, but everyone else around you." Vyt and Subila began to merge back into a swirling form of white and black light, as their presence opened up the bars that were holding Cat Assassin inside the cell. "Now, run! You have a lot to amend for the things you've done, but you have much more to do," spoke the Yang and the Yin. Regaining his composure, Cat Assassin nodded. He began to rush outside and back on the deck of the ship.
The Horsemen Death swore. War gave him a half-surprised, half-concerned glance. Death got angry very rarely, so in the light of current events, this didn't sound good. "What is it?" WATCH THAT PHOENIX. For a horseman, the world looks somewhat different, because they're able to see more than just three dimensions. For one, they can see past and future simultaneously with the present, so every person looked like a lifespan squeezed together for them. And Sev, who had an infinite number of lifespans, looked more or less like a huge bird-shaped circle that constantly radiated magic and fire. The Horsemen avoided looking at phoenixes whenever possible, because to their eyes, the firebirds were like a mathematical theory come to life. Nonetheless, they could spot the gem between Sev's claws, and that wasn't a better sight, because the gem, containing a huge number of humans in essence, each of them the actual size of a human, was even harder to look at. But the process itself was clear enough. Phoenix fire consumes everything, and the gem, being one end of a channel between dimensions in this three-dimensional world, was already weak enough. It simply dissolved. Or better put, its casing dissolved. AND THIS, Death said grimly as the space-time continuum pulled itself in a major glitch, IS WHERE I START WORKING OVERTIME. The gem was gone, but its contents were now soaring between worlds, lost in all the dimensions between their original location and the present world, looking for their destination and being pulled towards it like iron dust to magnet. The universe knows where things must be, and this particular army belonged in this particular world, so it started to straighten itself out. It didn't happen all at once. Slowly at first, but then increasingly faster like popcorn in the microwave, warriors started to materialize on the field in front of the castle, side by side, different species and races and clothes, but each of them ragged and sweaty and currently looking pretty confused. As they came, new hourglasses appeared in front of Death, disappearing at the same second, as if they only came by to check in. The Horseman observed them as sulkily as his face could express. War pulled out his sword and examined the blood on its blade. It began to shift around and formed patterns. He turned the sword around a few times, reading the patterns, then swore as well. Death gave him an impartial glance. War was unable to see anything in hourglasses, and he was unable to see anything in War's sword. Each on their own turf. MORE WORK? "You betcha. It kinda dropped in from nowhere." He sighed. "Otherwise I wouldn't mind, but usually I'm able to foresee these things. SAME HERE. They continued to watch the rearrangements. This was likely to take a while. Warriors kept materializing in quiet clanks of chainmail and thick leather, hourglasses kept popping in and out, the patterns on the sword kept swirling, and the universe was healing itself. Celestial ((Sorry I have been so lazy ^^; ) Leste didn't hear Rider's question and she continued wrapping herself around Jernath's neck, choking the life out of him. However, the iron-like grip of the shadow suddenly loosed and she knew perfectly well why: she was free now of The Oath and couldn't kill this man. Slowly, she unwrapped herself and floated off his neck.
"I won't kill you. You see, you set me free", she whispered in a voice that could have been a cloud's. But something caught Leste's attention. The phoenix was flying with the gem! He was going to destroy it! She screamed in protest but it was too late. The souls of the dead trapped inside the gem poured out like a flood. Out of the corner of her eye, Leste saw Death and the other horsemen. As long as they don't see me, I will be ok she thought and hovered on the edge of the battle, waiting whatever came. CyborgMidknight blocked the stab/slash and stabbed back. Shado ran to Jernath and watched Leste preparing to attack. The squirrels ran over to the merc/pirate mini war and began trying to bite Rider and Ikkin's feet even though they smelt terrible. " I hope you know Ikkin, because of your flaming chicken there's gonna be a lot of trouble and possibly death happening soon to all the guilds." Cyborg said as he grabbed his cutlasses in case of attack. SurfSurf jumped when she saw Sev break the gem. She had heard the mages talk about what it might do if broken, and she was beginning to get scared. This was all giving her a feeling of impending doom, and she wasn't enjoying it. However, what really scared her was when warriors started popping up on the field, first one or two, then ten, then twenty. The mage screamed in surprise, and instictively hopped towards the only walled structure nearby, the ship. She landed in a fighting stance, waiting for the attack she thought would come. PFA ((near Weewoo))
PFA's katana crashed into a shield that Huntress' sword had made. Huntress then backed away from the battle, presumably to think.
This left PFA standing with nothing to do. No one was attacking her, and she now noticed that Huntress didn't even have the gem anymore. Sev did. And he was flying above the battlefield, just outside of everyone's reach.
So while no one was attacking her, PFA concentrated. She tried to see what other abilities she would have, what with being filled with the powers of Yin and Yang. Maybe she had a way to land Sev, so she could get the gem... but then again, even if she did, this was Sev she was thinking about.
"Sev!"came a cry from Huntress, distracting PFA. "Break it! Now! Break it!"
PFA's eyes widened. That was exactly what she had never expected to hear.
She was talking about the gem.
Before PFA could even think up a proper response, it had already been done. Sev incinerated the gem in a burst of phoenix fire, and reappeared moments later on the deck of the Weewoo.
A terrible feeling overcame PFA. She had never been very good at sensing magic, but in this case, it was practically impossible for her not to. She had no idea what it was, but it felt something like... a swirl of light and dark. And some sort of summoning spell. As if...
...As if something had been inside the gem, and now it was being released.
"No! NO!" PFA screamed, with a lack of other things to say. She tossed her kunai roughly in Huntress' direction, gripped her katana firmly, and ran toward the Weewoo. She needed to find Uncle. They needed to get out of there.
---
The mist that was Leste loosened from Jernath's neck. Jernath immediately gasped for air, and dropped to his knees from the shock. Shouldn't he have been killed?
"I won't kill you. You see, you set me free," came a voice that resembled Leste's, but seemed more... mist-like.
This made Jernath even more confused. "What? Set you free...? What are you talking about?"
Before Leste could answer, the phoenix exploded again. Except this time it was holding the gem. Jernath didn't know what exactly the gem did, but he knew this was bad.
Never trust an exploding phoenix with precious cargo, Jernath made a mental note to himself, as he began looking around to see if he could spot Spacefleet and/or the other mercenaries. The sooner they got out of there, the better. But he had a feeling they wouldn't be leaving anytime soon. RiderRider was familiar with the damage that biting rodents could do. Thankfully, in a few seconds, the merc would have more to deal with than just her. She kicked at the squirrels, backing towards the ship. She saw Hunty's plan. It was cruel. But hey, it was survival. By the tempests, there must be hundreds of them. They could tear a merc to bits. "I don't want to see you die, Cyborg," she called. "But I also can't help you." She turned and bolted, Ventratta following close behind. Meanwhile, Shiva was choking on the magic rope. He had reached that point between consciousness and unconsciousness, and he could see reality glitching and folding in on itself like the old quotes in Proboards 4.5. In the distance, the screams of those held silent for centuries. or maybe it was just a rush of wind. The rope clung to his legs and throat. His whole body went limp. He could hear Aesthielle's breathing clearer than anything else on the battlefield. In vain, he willed it to stop. HuntressHunty blinked. Something was wrong with her brain, kinda like someone had punctured an airhole in it, but into the mind rather than the body. "Crazy showoff turkey," she grunted, struggling to focus. Well, at least Sev had done the trick, and the gem was gone. Destroyed. But something told her that the people present wouldn't be happy about it. "We should leave. Now," the aforesaid crazy turkey yelled to her from the ship. "I don't know what you're thinking, but I don't think I want to be around to find out." Well, that made sense, but it was too late already. The ancient army was released. The odd feeling disappeared and the captain's focus returned just to notice something hit the ground near her. A kunai? "Don't mind if I do," she grinned, squatting to pick it up. "You don't look at all like I imagined," said a voice somewhere next to her. Hunty got up again, and turned around. "Neither do you," she said earnestly. The pirate-possessor had a different voice now - in her brain he'd only ever used Hunty's own voice - but his appearance linked clearly with his words. It was impossible to determine his age, he might have been a few years younger or a full decade older than Hunty herself. He was skinny, had messy hair that showed signs of occasional unskilled barberwork with a knife, and wore the perfect pompous attire a la Pirate Lord Extraordinaire. It was an odd caricature at first sight, but if he really was the pirate captain, then one look at the massive horde appearing on the battlefield confirmed that his rank was essentially high above Hunty's. Heck. He'd still occupied her head, and a pirate doesn't take such things lightly. "How many of those are pirates?" Hunty asked, nodding at the warriors. The young man craned his neck to see better. "Lessee, hard to tell, they're all kinda scattered. I see clusters of black flags there to the right, see, and another few there, and ooh, a couple dozen back there..." "There's a whole fleet?""Sure." The other captain looked at her with surprise. "The guilds used to have a lot of people. After we got trapped, guess the real world that got left behind lost too much of the legacy and paperwork." The nearer warriors had now gotten over their initial shock and were displaying general signs of interest towards the skirmishes in front of them. By the Weewoo, there was a minor struggle going on, as the ship pushed off everyone who went too near to examine her, causing shouts of fear and curiosity. Those who were near enough to overhear the two captains looked most curious. Hunty figured that all sides were currently mixed up in that horde, but they hadn't come to realize it yet. "I kept my promise," she said. "I take it that you're planning to keep yours?" "Oh yes." The man raised his voice, pointing at Hunty. "Hear ye! She's the one who released us!" A cheer erupted. It was the kind of cheer that starts from the front rows and moves as the back rows realize that the front rows have some kind of a reason to cheer, and from the dozenth row forth nobody has a clue what the deal is, but it was a cheer nonetheless. Hunty grinned, but it was a hesitant grin. This was only a trance, the initial shock, and anything, absolutely anything, could tip the scales. She patted the man on the shoulder, "Look, appreciate it, really, you're not half bad. What's yer name?" She could barely pick up the answer over the noise. "Rane." "I'm Huntress. If we survive this, keep in touch. It'd be nice to bring back the Golden Age again." She gave him a nod, tucked the kunai between her corset belts, and galloped off towards the ship, twirling the sword absently, ready to impale anyone who got on her way. Something blue rocketed into her halfway there. "All hands!" she shouted; the easiest and shortest command a captain can use if they essentially mean 'get your lazy behinds off whatever you're doing and get to your respective stations, pronto'. "This's'not good," Bloody Mary panted. "D'you hear?" "Yes." And indeed, somewhere along the way the cheer had collided with another noise coming from the general direction of the ship. It rose and spread and made way through the immense horde, and this sound was angry. It also had too many vowels for her to understand what they were yelling, but it didn't bode well either way. "I can only understand 'ey'," Hunty gasped, jumping into the mist. It pulled her up helpfully, nearly knocking her against the railing. "Let's just get to more fresh air before everything explodes here... oh bugger." Now that she was on board, she could see a lot farther. Rane hadn't been joking about 'as far as the eye could see' and they were still appearing. It was the kind of sight that could've made Peter Jackson cry tears of joy. "They seem to have a problem with us specificially," Bloody Mary noted over the deafening roar of the army. "At least the ship is doing a nice job keeping them back.” Bacon ((Slight time manipulation)) ((Bacon)) "Wait--your ship went down? Oh, I'm sorry. We'll have to get it after--"Bacon nodded as Fraze appeared to be interrupted by a message Bacon couldn't hear. Yep, they'd just have to get it after, although he wasn't sure if the ship as a whole could be salvaged. Fraze ran off before Bacon could reply. Bacon emerged from the forest, ready to join the fight when all of a sudden he saw a streak of flame rip across the sky. "What was that?" He asked when it passed. Passed might be the wrong word, as suddenly a phoenix appeared, then thousands of NPCs warriors appeared on the field. "Where's a Concorde Beta-Class Bomber when you need one?" He hissed through gritted teeth as he flourished his Katana, holding it in front of him in a ready position. ((Marine)) "Can you help me get them to the landing party?"Kyve looked up, surprised by the question. "Yeah, sure." He picked up Jord's limp body, seeing out of the corner of his eye Sev igniting his wingtips, about to destroy the gem. He didn't know a thing about the phoenix or the gem, but he did know he didn't want to see what happened next. "Come on, let's hurry." He said to Fraze, taking off at a brisk pace. Cyborg" Hazel take the squirrels into theforest and stay there, Shado go too. Midknight we need to find the Spacefleet, any Knights not helping the pirates, any mages not helping the pirates and I can't believe I'm saying this, but any Ninjas. We have a war on our hands and need as many allies as possible." Cyborg said as he spotted the ninja girl and ran after her. " Got it, I'll find the Fleet, somehow." Midknight replied as he ran off in a random direction. " Squirrels, Shado you heard the orders, into the forest, but we'll stay near just incase they need help." Hazel said as she, the other squirrels and Shado ran into the forest. Kwoiffei ((Mage Manor - Rikku's room [and just outside])) "We don't know for sure." With those words, Omni walked over to the door and opened it. The first thing he saw was the zombie - one of hers. Immediately a blast of cold went off inside of the dragon spirit. Why is he... Then he turned his head. Rikku. There was no colour in her skin, and blood was everywhere. Gone. -- "May the guardians protect our empire from its demon adversaries... may the guardians use light and darkness to drive the Abyss's forces back into the depths of their home."
Nothing was mentioned about persuing them.-- Something long, thin and black slid from Drakhé's back. It reached to the bookcase, where its end suddenly spread into a sharp spade. Then, with some effort, it tore through the wood, creating a deep crack. Cuts and splinters aplenty appeared on the tentacle's end, and red blood began to drip. The dragon himself growled. Then he caught sight of the zafara, and a piece of paper. The tentacle disappeared seemingly in a flash. Drakhé walked over and grabbed the paper, and began to read. I hope I'm not too late to warn you. There is a force that threatens to take over this world with its power, and oppress the inhabitants. This force's power is bound to be large and may even be connected to the dark storm that is plaguing this world. Last I heard, it was near the castle, and there may still be some sign of it there. But I doubt that it will stay for long, it will likely move forth and conquer at the first chance it gets. If this world is to continue to be free we will have to stand together against it, use everything in our power, and not back down. Please, join me against this force, then this world will have a chance at survival.
This power... the storm... the headache... the green sky...[/b] The dragon stared, not saying anything. Something had clearly changed about him. If the tentacle striking the bookcase's remains was any indication… Fraze ((Where Hell Breaks Loose)) ""Yeah, sure," the marine replied. He grabbed one of the two on the ground, and Fraze got the other. Just as he picked the marine up, he glimpsed a bright streak of light--looking up, he realized it was the phoenix. Holding...? Magnifying to get a closer look, Fraze recognized the Gem that everyone seemed to be after. The phoenix burnt out, and Fraze could no longer see the gem. Did the phoenix take it somewhere? he thought. He had seen the phoenix teleport before, maybe he wanted to take the gem somewhere safer. He walked back to the landing party, carrying the marine with him. He was dragging the marine while walking backward, facing the battlefield, when he saw people begin to appear. Some were dressed in armor of varying styles, sophistication, and quality; some were carrying swords, axes, shields, staffs, bows, or other weapons Fraze never knew existed; some were human, others not even moderately human-like. But all carried about them the unmistakable aspects of war: weatherworn, sweaty, dirty, and carrying a deep tiredness that became a form of energy. As he continued walking, Fraze felt a strange sensation near his hip--an almost electric tingle that somehow went through his skinsuit. He looked down, seeing his flechette gun. Touching it, he realized it was vibrating--literally humming at near-subsonic frequencies that he could barely hear. Continuing to carry the marine with one hand while holding his flechette gun with the other, he saw it begin to glow faintly purple--the same purple color he had seen in both the Commander's and the possessed Pirate's eyes. He put the gun back where it was. These three evvents could not be unrelated. Still carrying the marine, Fraze sent out a message on all Spacefleet frequencies. "This is Special Ops Fraze. I have reason to believe that the Gem has been destroyed! I repeat, I believe the Gem we came planetside to find has been destroyed!"Shortly after he sent out the message, he and the other marine arrived at the Spacefleet group. "Can the Chief Medical Officer see what she can do for these marines?" he asked, also including the one who had helped him in that sentence. By now, the people who had appeared numbered in the thousands. Many of them appeared to be cheering about something--whatever it was, Fraze didn't think it was anything good for them. "I know it's painfully obvious by now," he said, "But all heck is about to break or has already broken loose." His skinsuit slid away from his left shoulder. Asthielle had done a very good job of healing it, there was barely a red patch now. Figures. Once again, he removed his box from its secure place on his shoulder. He opened it and placed it on the ground in front of the group. "Take whatever you think you'll need and can carry," he said. "Except for the closed box at the far back. You won't be able to open it.” Kat"Oh boy, this is really gonna get interesting now," said Kat, clutching her sword and watching the masses of warriors advance toward them. "Oy," she called out to her comrades, "should I fire the first shot, or will that get us into more trouble?" Meanwhile, Asthielle had seen the group arrive as well. "You destroyed it!" she rasped to no one in particular. "The gem...now..." She stood up, swaying slightly...and spotted her main target, who clutched a sword and faced the coming threat as well. AmneigerThe minitanks had followed the marines back to the forest and had made it back under the tree cover when Amneiger saw a sudden flash of fire near the pirate ship. This was followed by the arrival of both Fraze and very many people. "You're going to try to fight them? Why? There's far too many; we'll be overwhelmed. I don't think there's anything more we can do here." Amneiger looked back at the battlefield and saw the Commander's stone sphere in the midst of the horde. "We need to get out of here, now. Do you have anything that we can use to cut a path through them very quickly? Or we can get back into Zari's shuttle and use a rope to pull up the Commander. Or - did he have a jetpack with him? We can contact him by radio and ask him to him fly out of there without having to fight through them IkkinThe Kougra somehow managed to block Ikkin's stab despite having his own cutlass bound up with her own - how, she'd never know - and retaliated with a stab of his own. She neatly avoided it, dodging backwards and into the air. If the Kougra wasn't going to react logically to her ground attacks, maybe attacking from a range would be better. Or, she decided, after feeling a very bad sensation at the destruction of the gem, maybe not attacking at all would be better. She put her own cutlass away and switched the one she'd gotten from Kat to her right hand. Cyborg seemed to have noticed the change as well. "I hope you know Ikkin, because of your flaming chicken there's gonna be a lot of trouble and possibly death happening soon to all the guilds.""Well, I hope you know that it probably won't be mine," she said, flying off towards the Weewoo. She landed next to Sev. "How much time do you think we have before we need to get out of here?" she asked as the battlefield filled with more and more warriors. "Not very long at all. But, if everyone gets back fast enough, the ship might be able to take us all out before they start attacking."Gotcha," Ikkin said. "You up for grabbing any stragglers?" "If I have to.""Good. Hey, Pirates, Mages!" Ikkin called out from the deck of the Weewoo. "Let's get out of here! Anyone need any help?" Kat"Hey, Pirates, Mages! Let's get out of here! Anyone need any help?""I thought we were going to start firing the first shots," Kat called back. "So is this a tactical retreat, then? Whatever the plan is, count me in!” RiderHaving been abandoned by Aesthielle, Shiva regained control of himself. He shook the noose off his neck, still visibly shaken and wounded from the battle. The Weewoo lay in plain sight. The spirit-armies hadn't started moving yet. He could make a bolt for it. Get there in more than enough time. He was a demon-horse. When he ran, colors blurred. But that wasn't the proper direction. With full demon speed, he headed back to the royal stables. He had to get Sora to safety. The mist lifted Rider up onto the ship, and she saw her horse running in the opposite direction. She smiled sadly. "So is this a tactical retreat, then? Whatever the plan is, count me in!" "Time-honored pirate tradition!" she yelled to Kat. "Of course!" Kat"Time-honored pirate tradition!" she yelled to Kat. "Of course!""In that case, wait up!" Kat sheathed her sword and brought out her staff. Waving it once, flaming purple wings sprouted from her back again, and she rose up, flying after Rider, landing onto the ship. Unfortunately, those purple wings weren't exactly the most inconspicuous things in the world, and in no time at all, Asthielle took notice, forgetting her noose, which began to dissipate into sparkles in the air. "You won't get away that easily, Kalianne Triss, I'm coming after you!" She ran towards her nemesis, and sent jets of yellow lightning after her. Kat gasped, and tried to dodge and twist in the air, but one blast tore through one of her wings. She only managed to steer herself and landed haphazardly on the ship's deck, ending her flying spell. But Asthielle won't give up, and focused her wrath on the ship, blasting it with lightning and a flurry of fire. VytCat Assassin's eyes met the sight of the retreating pirates as he jumped outside the dark corridors he was in. Eventually, the pirates he had fought against earlier rushed on the deck of the ship, but he had no time to meet them and explain his own course of action. "PFA! Where's PFA?!" shouted Cat Assassin, his concern for the ninja making him nervous. "Do not be alarmed, my friend," Vyt assured him as the white ball hovered upward to get a better view. "She's already inside." Subila followed the Yang, but was finding someone else. The Yin had her attention centered on the phoenix, and was rushing towards the bird in a fit of rage. Cat Assassin also had his own target: the captain that was Hunty. He began to squeeze himself in the middle of the crowd and ran towards the pirate. After doing so, he grabbed whatever clothing the pirate had in frustration. "You idiot! Look what you've done!" they both screamed. SurfSurf complied with Ikkin's order, propelling herself onto the ship. "Are we fleeing for our lives now?" she asked Ikkin, with a slight grin. In a more serious tone, she added, "What's going on? Where'd this army come from?" ZariZari looked away from Ethan, eyes widening as first the bird exploded, then a whole lot of people landed on the battlefield. "So? What is thi- Oh. Nythonae, Svanzou, and Kyrithe!" She covered her mouth. Her empathy had expanded greatly to take in the emotions of this new party, a few of whom were Illhvrenan, possibly from the Ioharion War, which had occured in her lifetime and lasted nearly a century- a short time for her long-lived race. She probably outlived the oldest of the terrestrial guildsmembers by several millenia, for all she knew, and seeing all these wartorn people made her adolescent stomach immediately begin to perform what her cynical side was sure was an acrobatics routine. ((The oath Zari used is the Illhvrenan equivalent of "Oh *bleep*ing *bleep* *bleep* *bleep*ing *bleeper machine breaks* Oh Jhioan!", naming the gods of Chaos, War, and Justice respectively (But not their counterparts. Who'd call on the God of Theives in the middle of a war?))) HuntressThe ancient army had pretty much completed appearing by now, and had even begun to break up in farther areas where people had no idea what was going on in the front and were too shaken and curious to continue fighting. Small troops gathered themselves and wandered off to explore the land in hopes of finding food, people with information, and, all things considered, more space. By the White Weewoo, however, hell was seething. Word about whatever had made them angry in the first place spread, and as it did, more and more warriors got angry - no longer generally mood-spurred angry, but justly and with focus. Side by side, regardless of old issues, they were yelling the same thing and pushing against the black mist that was relentlessly pushing them back. Hunty still couldn't make anything out of that thousand-voiced battlecry, and at this point she had more things to worry about when Cat Assassin ran up to her and grabbed her collar. What was the deal with people and her collar this war? "You idiot! Look what you've done!"Hunty scowled. "That's my collar," she said sternly. "I rather like that collar. And I already saw what I've done. If you stopped screaming in my face and let me manage my ship, I might be able to get your sorry tail out of this among others... though quite frankly I don't see why I should, and since you've already taken the trouble of getting out of your brig, pushing you overboard and leaving you to these lovely gentlemen would be mighty easier than dealing with you later. Which would you prefer?" Bloody Mary, who was paying attention to other things as usually, scowled. Animal ears were much better at hearing distinct voices in the masses, and understanding those distinct voices was easier. "...Leraye?" he muttered to himself. And at that point, something broke up the roar by the side of the ship. The yelling died down to give way to other shouts, fierce arguments by the sound of it. "...I didn't tread on your shoe, you big oaf, just look at that shoe, you wouldn't feel if a log fell on it!" "Ye callin' me a liar, pipsqueak? An' stop pushin' me, I've keelhauled many a better man than yerself!" "Bloody stubborn pirates, don't you hear what I'm saying? Are you calling me a liar?" And elsewhere... "I owe you nothing, you idiot!" "Ye stole me wallet on that fair, dontcha remember? I'd recognize that mug anywhere!" And so on and so forth... Hunty stretched out her neck and grinned widely, noticing Rane's big pompous hat bobbing up and down in the sea of warriors, moving from one cluster of black flags to another, and wherever he went, he left behind a trail of fierce arguments. "No matter what the century," she said, "no matter how much time has passed, pirates have always kept their honor. Well, now or never. Everyone aboard? Um, right. Hey, boy!" The blarf's ears perked. "Back to the sea with you!" The kraken snorted, got up somewhat uneasily, and wobbled off through the forest. "Let's hope he won't get lost in his current condition," the captain muttered, and knocked her boot against the deck, seemingly already forgotten that she was still facing Cat Assassin. "You. Time to go, same way we came." The ship, that had sat still throughout the battle, showing no signs of sentinence, turned a little on the pool of mist it was sitting on. The masts creaked. Rigging loosened up a little and then straightened out with a 'twang', like people straighten their jackets before leaving the house. Those warriors who weren't yet caught up in the number of skirmishes erupting everywhere let out shouts of fear and rushed away from the brigantine. "Well, that's kinda stupid," Bloody Mary remarked, climbing up Cat Assassin's clothes and landing on his shoulder. "We sat here all this time waiting for things to calm down so that we could take a hike, and now we take a hike when escaping gets most dangerous. You, cat. Let 'er go before I bite your face off. I've a little bone to pick with you." "We still have pretty decent distraction-factor," Hunty guessed, now paying no attention to the ninja in front of her and instead turning on the spot as much as she could, keeping an eye on just about everything at once, like captains do before setting sail - or wings. At that point Asthielle's wrath hit the mist, which responded instantly with fierce sizzling. The fire and lightning was redirected at the sky without any harm, but the captain's scowl severed. "Great, that too. Now we can't leave. Anyone feel like going and knocking her unconscious or something?" "Witch!" shouts had already begun to emerge from the huge army, while swords were pointed in Asthielle's general direction - which in some cases meant the sky, because the army was standing so closely together. "She's a mage!" other shouts instantly responded. "Are you ever able to make the difference, you idiots?" More skirmishes broke out at once. CelestialLeste heard the order to get back onto the ship and, orders were orders even if she was now only a black shadow mist, albeit a free one. Quickly, she slithered on the air like some flying snake, wary of the black mist of the ship would could swallow her whole if she wasn't careful. The warriors beneath were skirmishing and something told Leste she didn't want to be caught up in their squabbles.
Quickly, she settled into the rigging of the ship, hoping nobody would notice an extra tentacle of mist and waited for whatever came. PFA ((side of Weewoo))PFA ran up to the side of the ship, watching as the pirates were also climbing onto it. PFA grimaced. That made this a lot harder. She was just glad that the mist didn't treat her as an enemy yet. Hoping to sneak on-board unnoticed, she had started climbing carefully up the spikes. She hadn't gotten very far, though, when she noticed that there was a Kougra following her. The gray one, with the metallic parts. She looked over at the Kougra from her perch on the spike, narrowing her eyes. "What do you want?" she hissed to the Kougra, hoping desperately that the pirates on-board wouldn't hear. "I need to get my Uncle before this ship leaves..." As if to prove her point, the mist around the ship had started swirling around, as if it were about to take off. She glared at the Kougra, a silent gesture that he should make it quick. --- ((what was once the war zone))Jernath couldn't help but notice the crowd getting swiftly larger. Who were all these guys? Where were they coming from? Before he could finish that thought, he noticed Midknight, running around in search of Spacefleet. Jernath ran over to the Kougra, calling to him. "Midknight! I don't know what all these guys are doing here, but it doesn't look good," he said to the Kougra, then took a moment to look around. "We need to get out of here. Where's everyone else?” Vyt"That's my collar," Hunty said sternly. "I rather like that collar. And I already saw what I've done. If you stopped screaming in my face and let me manage my ship, I might be able to get your sorry tail out of this among others... though quite frankly I don't see why I should, and since you've already taken the trouble of getting out of your brig, pushing you overboard and leaving you to these lovely gentlemen would be mighty easier than dealing with you later. Which would you prefer?" Before the feline could react, a meepit came to jump on his long coat, grabbing a delicate part of his only upper clothing. "You, cat. Let 'er go before I bite your face off. I've a little bone to pick with you." First, Cat Assassin ignored the meepit and faced the captain once more. "Don't even try to scare me with your empty threats, captain", he hissed, sarcastically remarking her rank. "Either way you want, I will single-handedly bring this ship down along with myself. You have the guts to command someone to destroy the gem so prematurely, yet you look as if you're already scared of what you've done!" Realizing that he wasn't getting along quite well with the captain, Cat Assassin slowly let go of her collar. "Where's the honor you've been keeping all along?" he began to ask, verbally attacking the foundation that was keeping the captain from even listening to him. "Is it even worth fighting for it, I dare ask you? Look around you, lass. Your crewmates are pitiful, your ship reeks of magical corruption, and even you can't fight for yourself, and you call yourself someone who holds up her honor?" His fur was beginning to stand out in anger, but Cat Assassin was obviously keeping his composure. That was confirmed by the sigh he released, trying to cool himself down. "Now, I don't like you, and you obviously don't like me..." The feline began to swallow hard as he continued. "But still, something must be done. Unlike you, I don't give out definite choices, but I will open your mind to what is really going on." He pointed at the direction of the forming army. "What we have here is something that will definitely kill us all without any hesitation. Not even your ship can hold them off longer for you to be able to go, and I won't risk having you make decisions so quickly. Not anymore, captain, since the lives of everyone around you rest in your decision." CyborgCyborg had finally got the ninja's attention. " It seems we have a similar goal right now. You want to keep you and your uncle safe, I want to keep me and my merc's safe. I suggest we make an alliance. We'll be safer together plus the merc's have another powerful alliance and we could defeat the pirates. It's up to you though. Though I can help with the getting your uncle problem." Cyborg said as he made two rock pillars stepped onto one and made them rise up to the deck of the ship (not touching the ship just near it). " Hello I'm looking for Cat Assassin? There's some ninja girl wanting to get you away from the pirates so if you'll go step onto the rock." "We need to get out of here. Where's everyone else?" " I know. Shado and the squirrels are already into the forest, Rose hasn't moved from where she is, Cyborg's going to get the ninja's to go with us and you and I are here. We need to get Keng and find the Fleet though." Midknight replied. Omni ((Battlefield)) Ethan watched as an unknown-but-definitely-large number of characters appeared, who he wondered if they were the demons he had heard about. "…Well, the idea is to attach a kineticomp to the large monster, to create a distraction, and possibly figure out who could be allies, judging by how they react," he said, wincing a bit as his implants started to act glitchy. "The monster is walking away, but I think we could still get it to work, if we hurry." ((Mage Manor, Rikku's room)) Omni, out of curiosity, looked over Drakhé's shoulder. Seeing that the letter was to Rikku, she thought it might be good to read the letter and give a reply to the sender about… what happened. A force… "The demons?!" A small pause. "I think we should go. If this is connected to the storm, then we might be able to figure out something about your headaches." She couldn't help but notice the tentacle. "Uh… Drakhé…?" Zari"Ethan whateveryoursurnameis, You've-gone-stark-bonker-freaking-raving-off-the-heights-crazy. That might actually work." She scratched one ear, tail switching from side to side as she watched the now-teeming clearing. "The Fluffy Sharkeater flopping around like a mad rabbit on a stick might throw some of these Terran-Arehean's off balance. if only for a little while, and that thing is dangerous." Zari stood and stretched, yawning "One more thing- How are we gonna get that disk onto that Fluffy Sharkeater without being eaten by it...him? her?...or leapt on by Terrans. Any plans?" SpeckAll the while, Speck had been leaning against a furry trunk also known as a blarf leg, generally zoning out and/or napping. She had perked up as people appeared out of nowhere: pirates, ninjas, knights, mages... guilders from all walks of life. And all ready, it would seem, for battle. Is this some sort of illusion? she thought to herself, rubbing her eyes. Just as she was starting to comprehend the situation, her comfy guard moved. She scrabbled out of the way before she was crushed under one of its massive paws. Captain Hunty had obviously told it to retreat. If the blarf was told to move, then the crew had been told to move. The pirate could see the black mist of the ship writhe, beginning to form the skeletons of its black wings. Speck stared at the crowd of guilders between her and her way back to the sea. "Here goes nothin'!" She said to herself before shoving her way through the crowd back to the ship. Kat"Great, that too. Now we can't leave. Anyone feel like going and knocking her unconscious or something?""My pleasure," said Kat grimly. A second after saying that, purple-tinged ice shards rained down on Asthielle, who instantly retaliated by evaporating the ice right out of the air with a burst of pale golden fire. "Come down and fight me, you coward!" Asthielle screeched. Kat raised an eyebrow and summoned a lightning storm to take care of the other mage. "Sorry, but we've got a plan, and looks like they'll be needing me. So if you don't mind, I'd like to live a little longer." She gasped and ducked as one of her own bolts was reflected back towards her by Asthielle's glistening shield. Amneiger"Fly over it and drop one on it," Amneiger said in reply to Zari's question. "Or go through the trees. But look. We came here to provide backup for the Commander and any Spacefleet personnal in the area. Most of that crowd looks concerned with other things for the moment and they haven't seen us yet, so we should try to find anyone we can and get them somewhere safe while we have time. That'll be the Commander and ... I'm forgetting someone ... oh, right! Keng and any marines who might be left. Did somebody take - no, wait, here it is." Amneiger pulled the radio from his pocket. HuntressHunty's glance darted back at Cat Assassin, and her eyes were flaming as she listened. "Don't even try to scare me with your empty threats, captain. Either way you want, I will single-handedly bring this ship down along with myself. You have the guts to command someone to destroy the gem so prematurely, yet you look as if you're already scared of what you've done!""Empty?" She raised an eyebrow. "They weren't empty, and they weren't even threats. I was just stating a fact. And," she turned to look at the army, "do I look scared? I don't think I have a reason to be." At that point attention had turned away from the ship as squabbles broke out all over the army. Some of the warriors tried to surround Asthielle, but were held back by other warriors - ancient mages by the look of it. The ship was still reflecting the girl's attacks, but now it had Kat for backup. As Cat Assassin let go of Hunty's collar, the captain took a few steps back, casting a quick look over the ship. "Everyone aboard? Everyone off who shouldn't be aboard? Not that it matters, we're going, Sev, mind picking up whoever's still lagging behind? I see Speck's having a little bit of trouble back there, but we can't afford to wait any longer. Move out, girl." The response was quicker and more powerful than she'd expected. As she looked back at the ninja, the picture suddenly cleared up. The black mist dropped down from the rigging. "Where's the honor you've been keeping all along?" he'd asked. Well, this would take a while to explain, but she had no time to spare, so she took the easy way out. "We," she said grimly, "pillage and plunder and don't give a hoot, didn't you know? But if you're saying that everyone's lives rest in my decision, then do stop distracting me. The faster I make that decision, the more likely we-" WHOMP."Ah, there we go," Hunty said, leaning her hand against the mast for balance as the ship's jet-black wings smashed into the air, with far more power than the first time. Of course - the ship's mist-shroud had been doubled a while back. She'd expected the ship to use half of it for wings and the other half for protection, but apparently the brigantine had a different idea. It was using the entirety of the mist for wings, thus making them stronger but on the other hand leaving the deck defenseless. Another deafening WHOMP and the ship rose a good six feet from the ground, rocking heavily from side to side. The captain trotted off to the bridge, due to the simple fact that she could see farther and also be seen farther from it. "Gentlemen," she shouted, heaving her five-foot crossbow from its usual holding place built next to the wheel, "since your services aren't currently needed for sailing, thank goodness for magically corrupted ships, do everything in your power to protect the ship. That's an order! And Leraye, cut your teaparty and do something too, are you a demon or not? Don't you have any magic?" Indeed, a cloud of arrows was already emerging from below, from the part of the huge army that wasn't currently caught up in punching other parts of the army. Most of the arrows got stuck in the mist-wings, but quite a few of them reached deck level, mostly from the prow. "What she meant with pillaging and plundering," Bloody Mary said jovially, settling down on Cat Assassin's shoulder in the kind of pose he liked to call 'ready to bite or run, whichever suits the situation' "is something you ninjas never were able to understand. This is pirate honor. It's a kind of old... code or whatchamajigger. Regulates pirate conduct. And only ever applies to pirates. Otherwise there wouldn't be much looting, innit?" With another heavy WHOMP, the ship rose for another six feet. Omni"Yes, and he idea was that we couldn't be very good backup if we don't know who our allies are. Also, it would be very difficult to enter the battle without getting hurt, and probably killed, even if we don't attack. Especially now, I hear that pirates aren't exactly the most friendly people. "The idea is to go around the group and try not to be noticed, probably through bushes or something, get to the monster, possibly lure it back, and someone attaches the keneticomp, underneath it's fur. This should give us a distraction, and a higher chance of getting in and helping without being noticed, or hurt." Ethan watched as the demonic pirate ship began to fly away. "Again, we'll need to hurry.” Kwoiffei ((Mage Manor - Rikku's room and a change in theme song )) Who is this "Ethan"?... One of those space people? Why did he ask Rikku for help then?
...a trap?
"The demons?!" Omni's voice snapped Drakhé from his thoughts. He jumped, and as he did so, another tentacle appeared. This one disappeared almost as quickly as it had come. "I think we should go. If this is connected to the storm, then we might be able to figure out something about your headaches.""That... yeah, maybe." As he spoke, he folded the letter and tucked it into his belt. Maybe it would last for a while. That would, of course, depend on the weather... "Uh… Drakhé…?"
The tentacle? What?"I, er... it m-must be the gem. O-or the force... the daimon. Demons. Whatever they are." He shook his head, avoiding looking at the deceased necromancer on the ground.
They must have killed her...
I am a demon hunter.
She's not my master!
--
((Mage Manor - Kitchen/Just outside))
She couldn't take it anymore. Something had to be done.
So she opened the window, and jumped through. Her bare feet were the first part to impact the ground; her legs bent and shook with the recoil.
A pair of black wings materialised, and she leapt into the air.
Bacon
Bacon took three steps backwards towards the forest, tripping on a tree branch although he managed to regain balance just before he shoved the katana through his skull. He turned around and jogged back to where Zari and the others were.
"Hey, should we do something about the Millenium Vulture there?" He asked, pointing to where the pirate ship could be seen flapping. "I don't know if they're allied or enemy, but either way, they seem to be leaving us with quite a mess. Speaking of the mess, anybody have any heavy weaponry other than Fraze's, uh, secret?"
Vyt
Cat Assassin's eyes darted back at the meepit, who seemed to have a grasp of his shoulder by then. Talking to the captain was hopeless, as she was not even listening to what he was trying to tell her. For once, he wished he could directly show her.
"That's not honor at all," the feline hissed. "Even if you take pride in what you're doing, as long as it's not pleasant to the others, it's not anywhere near honorable. That's something even a ninja understands, and the thing you pirates are trying not to know."
"Cat Assassin!"
Vyt's voice broke the heated argument as the feline diverted his attention towards the ghost. The erratic movements of the Yang gave him an intuition that something was wrong.
"PFA's not climbing aboard!"
Cat Assassin's eyes widened in fear as he frantically looked down. Indeed, the girl was being held by the Kougra he faced earlier, and seemed to be talking to him. "Did she know that the ship's already going off?"
The pirate captain mentioned something about Sev fetching up the latecomers, but there was no time. Even a very stubborn phoenix like him would not dare get them up and would rather wait for the war to end so he could just resurrect them right afterwards. "Phoeni take pride in their powers, yet they could do little for this world," he thought.
Without any hesitation, Cat Assassin jumped overboard, heading for PFA
Zari
Zari frowned. "Hmm. Yep, we'll need to sort that out. Either the shortest or fastest of us goes and makes him or herself scarce and claps the disk on..." she tapped her chin idly, aware that her owl-stretched-on-a-rack frame probably ensured she wasn't either. She'd grown a full inch since she joined Spacefleet. "Or we lure the thing over and stick the disk on it thataway. Either way, we can't sit around like a bunch of 10-millenia-old Illhvrenans waiting for their 11th one to get into motion and for their wings to come." She shifted uneasily. Sje didn't like that sudden crowd on people. Then she realised.
Kaidam Ari had been thought to be a person containing more than one soul. Hundreds. Kaidam Ari was not a person but a parasite. Kaidam Ari was the gem. The gem had coldly snuffed the lives of 19 Illhvrenans, all of whom had been priceless to the cause of the more clement side of the dog-eat-dog world of the Illhvrenan government and to the Undercircle. Now the gem was broken. Which meant...? Oh, gods above.
((I had a look on my notes on Zari's Origins yesterday night and found this bit of story in a draft I hadn't used. The person who killed Zari's mentor was posessed by...a gem. I'd written those during the end of the last Guild War and couldn't resist. Poor, crazy ZariKrahia. She hath been poleaxed, perplexed, peraxed, and poleplexed. *struck repeatedly with a Naginata*))
Fraze
((With the other 'Fleeters)) "You're going to try to fight them? Why?" Amneiger asked. "There's far too many; we'll be overwhelmed. I don't think there's anything more we can do here." He had a point. Under his suit, Fraze blushed. Amneiger was right--perhaps he was being too hasty. After a pause, Fraze said, "Well, I'd rather be safe. It's possible that we won't have a choice."
In response to Ethan's suggestion of attaching a kineticomp to the Blarf, Fraze said, "As Special Ops, that's the type of job I'd usually be given. I could probably make it there if I'm cloaked, and the blarf--the creature--already knows me and seems to be fairly friendly with me. I could get it back here as well, but it might not be subtle." The mental image Fraze had of dancing through the woods leading the blarf while trying to remain hidden from a massive army that had appeared out of nowhere almost made him giggle. "Do you want me to go?"
"Hey, should we do something about the Millenium Vulture there?" Bacon asked. "I don't know if they're allied or enemy, but either way, they seem to be leaving us with quite a mess. Speaking of the mess, anybody have any heavy weaponry other than Fraze's, uh, secret?" "Well, I managed to make something of a truce with them by helping the blarf. But after the Commander fought several pirates, including their Captain, I'm not sure whether they'd still trust me or not. And it depends on your definition of heavy. I have a few ship-to-ship weapons that could leave a 100-meter crater in the ground, but you'd need ten of us to carry one. But I've got plenty of standard plasma grenades and such."
Fraze was interrupted when his stomach growled loudly. It had been, what, 36 hours since he had eaten last? And almost that long since he had slept. The adrenaline of the past day and a half had kept him from noticing either. "And we'll need to get food at some point soon, I think," he added with a slight grin. "But yes, to get into the Commander's sphere, I think you'll need some kind of explosives. I can provide those.”
Kat
Asthielle took a few moments to look around. Suddenly, the battlefield was teeming with strange people who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere, but judging from the aura they exuded, they had everything to do with the gem. Some of them started firing arrows at the rising ship - where Kalianne was getting away.
If her enemy had a group of ragtag fighters, then she would have to have her own army. Turning to the horde, she said, "That's it, fire away. Take them down, especially that one in purple." But instead of sitting back to watch the battle, she stayed in the fray, continuing to fire her own lightning at the ship, no matter how many times it would deflect her attacks.
Meanwhile, on the soaring ship, Kat burned several flying arrows out of existence with a blast of purple flames. Unfortunately, she missed one, and it just missed her, tearing her robes and grazing her shoulder. She gasped and fell to her knees in surprise and pain, one hand on her bleeding wound.
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Post by GW2 on Oct 16, 2008 16:34:30 GMT -5
PFA ((side of the Weewoo))PFA wanted to punch the Kougra in the face. First he offered her an alliance, and then he immediately blew her cover by shouting to the people on the deck about her presence. Well, right, that's a good way to offer an alliance there, she thought sarcastically. Before she could say anything to the Kougra, the mist that surrounded the ship had turned into giant wings. With a big WHOMP, the ship pushed itself off the ground. PFA, who had been sitting rather precariously on one of the spikes of the said ship, promptly lost her balance and fell off. "Ah!" she yelped as she made impact with the ground, which was rather painful but thankfully not terribly damaging. If anything, she would probably have a bruise on her backside now, but no broken bones or anything. She shoved herself to her feet, and immediately glared daggers at the Kougra. "You idiot! I could have gotten up there just fine if it weren't for you! Why'd you have to go and blow my cover?!" Before she could go any further with that rant, she glanced up, and immediately noticed her Uncle falling overboard, heading straight toward her. Her eyes widened remarkably. While she had managed to get to the ground safely, he had been a lot higher up when he started falling. "Uncle!" she shouted, promptly dropping her katana. She then held out her arms, trying to see if she could catch him before he hit the ground. --- ((near Weewoo))"The 'Fleet?" Jernath blinked, and immediately started looking around for anyone who looked like Spacefleet. He spotted the giant ball of stone in the middle of the battlefield. He pointed over to it, "Isn't that The Commander?" RiderRider ran to Kat's side, covering herself with a piece of scrap metal from storage. "C'mon, you've done enough here. Get below deck." She used the metal as aun umbrella for her and the purple mage. And the ninja were getting away. Well, Rider didn't know if the proper termw as "getting away," as the army in the ground probably held more danger. She needed rope. She dragged the injured Kat so her back was to the wall so she was at least partly shielded from arrows. She grabbed the nearest piece of rope she could find. She fastened it securely to the mast and dangled it over the side. "I recommend you come back up here, Cat and girl. You know for a fact that we're not going to harm you. We don't harm prisoners. They, however, are a mite more unpredictable." VytCat Assassin hoped he could respond back at a familiar voice from the ship telling him to go back, but his focus could not be stirred so quickly. From the height, he needed to draw both his ability to draw energy and his animal instincts to survive such a fall. It was nice for PFA to have noticed his jump and lend her arms, but Cat Assassin feared that she might not be able to take his weight. "No, PFA! Try to move away!" he warned her. Eight feet...It was a good thing Cat Assassin was, obviously, a feline. With his righting reflex, he was able to orient himself while falling in such a short amount of time. All he needed to do was to exert the right amount of energy... Five feet...... At the right time... Two feet...
"... Now!"Refined energy then started to surround his feet suddenly as Cat Assassin braced for the landing. Though the release was crudely done, the explosiveness of the energy cushioned his fall, leaving the feline with only the stun from jumping from a high place to endure. Still shocked, Cat Assassin cupped his hands together in front of him. He wanted PFA to use them as an elevated base for her to jump on. "PFA, go for the rope! I'll handle your jump!" he assured her while trying to remove the painful expression on his face. PFA ((under Weewoo))"No, PFA! Try to move away!" came a shout from Uncle. PFA didn't know exactly what he was planning, but she decided to follow his advice anyway. She quickly scooped up her katana, then hopped backwards, out of the way of Uncle. PFA shielded her eyes from the burst of energy, but was glad to see that her Uncle was alright. The ninja girl smiled, and was about to suggest getting away, when she heard Rider's voice. "I recommend you come back up here, Cat and girl. You know for a fact that we're not going to harm you. We don't harm prisoners. They, however, are a mite more unpredictable." A rope dangled from off the edge of the ship as Rider offered to bring them back up. PFA grimaced, but saw her Uncle hold out his hands for her to jump up to the rope. So, albeit a little reluctantly, she sheathed her katana, and hopped onto her Uncle's hands. And with the aid of Uncle, she jumped up to the rope, grabbing onto it. She took a moment to make sure her grip was secure, then started climbing up the rope. Once she was on-board, she turned around and looked over the edge, wondering how Uncle planned to get himself up. Celestial((Rigging of the Weewoo))Leste watched the maraudering hoarde close in on the cat, baying for blood. At least the girl was safe but if she lost her uncle it would be a terrible blow. Leste couldn't watch him being killed by those creatures. Not when she was once just like them.
Swooping down as fast as a wisp of shadow could, she stopped right next to the cat. There was no time to ask anything, she simply wrapped her tail around his waist and began trying to fly. It was hard and she sometimes found herself solidifying. Leste couldn't afford to do so because if she did, both of them would have died.
If shadow mist could breathe, Leste would have been panting with effort. Zari ((Hope you mad crazy lot enjoyed Ferdamei's prank. Crazy girl. Kaidam Ari, from Zari's backstory, has little or nothing to do with the gem. As a matter of fact...Kaidam Ari cannopt get into the NTWF. Funny that.)) Helllo. Logic Calling. Kaidam Ari is not that gem. It is A gem, but not that one. From lore we know Kaidam Ari was parasitical, represented by corpse colours. And it had nothing to do with the Earth. Ding, dong, the reality doorbell goes. Whoopsie. Off the doo-lally cloud, Zarikins! Her stomach issued a loud complaint. She rummaged in her pack, pulled out a sheet of paper and began to chew on it idly. "We need food and sleep. We can't do much on empty. I'd give you paper, but I don't think it's good for human digestive services. There's some 4-second noodles in my shuttle, but I'd rather not lose time." she scowled, swiping a hand over her eyes. Rose"Sorry," Rose said as she finally began to walk/hobble over to Midknight and Jernath. Her ankle was still swollen."Guess we better get out of here soon," she said. "Next time we stop, I'll start to heal some of the wounds you guys got if you want," she stated. PFA ((I guess it's not so much near the Weewoo anymore, is it? XD;)) When Jernath heard Rose's voice, he looked in the direction it came from, noticing that Rose was limping. Her ankle was swollen, so much so that it effected her walking. Jernath frowned. "That'd be great... just don't wear yourself out, alright? You're going to need your strength," he said in response to her offer to heal them. He then glanced at her ankle. "And you should probably do something to help your ankle. We don't want you being slowed down, especially at a time like this. You could get hurt." With that, he sheathed his daggers and held out his hand as an offer to help her walk. "In fact, you might want to stay off it if you can. You don't want to make it worse." Omni ((Mage Manor, Rikku's room)) "I, er... it m-must be the gem. O-or the force... the daimon. Demons. Whatever they are.""I just hope it's temporary, or at least, not detrimental," Omni said, grimacing a little. There was a pause. Omni stood up. "I think if we're going to go, we should go now. Well, I'll probably scarf down my breakfast… But the letter suggests urgency, and if something related to the gem or the demons Kit mentioned happened there, then it's probably for good reason. I'm going to go. Are you coming?" ------- ((Battlefield)) "As Special Ops, that's the type of job I'd usually be given. I could probably make it there if I'm cloaked, and the blarf--the creature--already knows me and seems to be fairly friendly with me. I could get it back here as well, but it might not be subtle. Do you want me to go?""You would likely be the best for the job, and it seems to be the only idea we have right now, so yes." Ethan held out the kineticomp. "I think it would work best if you distract it while someone else attaches this. As for the plasma grenades, I'd like a few." FrazeFraze took the kineticomp from Ethan. "Thanks," he said. He hopped slightly, jumping into his Universal Box. From the perspective of someone outside the box, this would have seemed to be geometrically impossible--yet he landed inside the box with knees slightly bent to absorb the impact of the short fall. Quickly finding a crate of plasma grenades he went back out of the box again. "Keep the box," he said to the group as a whole. "I'll be sending out my location so you can get a fix on me. I'll remain open to send and receive communications." He closed the box and returned it to its resting place. With that, he cloaked and set off in the direction of the retreating blarf. Fraze quickly realized that the best way to get through the crowd unnoticed would be to go above it. So he crouched down and jumped up hard, extending energy wings near the apex of his jump. Had he wanted them to propel him using light, he would have made one side reflective--as it was, he only needed to glide, and remain unseen, so he had both sides clear. It was possible that someone particularly perceptive may see slight ripples in the sky, similar to heat coming off pavement, but this was much faster than going on ground. Fraze worried whether he would make it across the swarm, but a breeze managed to push him nearly to the edge. He bumped into a few people on the way down, managing to cause a fight but still getting away in the process.
The blarf was almost to the ship.
Fraze groaned inwardly at what he had to do next. Using his skinsuit to triple his speed, he sprinted to catch up with the blarf. The blarf was good at clearing a path, which meant that Fraze had very little maneuvering to do.
"I've caught up to the blarf," Fraze said over the comm. Even if he had wanted to speak the message, he would probably be panting too hard to do so. "And putting the kineticomp on...now."
He had held the disk in front of him while running, finally managing to slap it against the back of the blarf. With the thing's tough leathery skin, he hoped it wouldn't notice. Kat"C'mon, you've done enough here. Get below deck.""Nice umbrella, but it'll work. And thanks," said Kat weakly, still clutching her shoulder. A little magic would stop the bleeding, but it was worse than she thought, and she wasn't exactly the best healer around. At least the arrow didn't - well, there were a lot of worse things than getting scraped by an arrow. VytAs soon as PFA's foot set its place on his hands, Cat Assassin pulled the remaining of his energy by pushing her upwards. Hopefully, her jump had made its mark, landing her just near the rope Rider had just kindly pulled out. The feline looked up to see her successful in holding the rope for her dear life. Since Cat Assassin was so desperate to help his niece get back up the ship, he forgot that he was still wounded. After releasing dangerous amounts of energy in quick succession, the feline could not help but drop on his knees, exhausted from everything he had been through. Before he could lose consciousness, Cat Assassin felt something cold wrapping around his waist. The shadow that was enveloping around him looked less sinister to be that of Bluisa, so he could only ponder who was causing the shadow, and why it was pulling him upward. Whoever was trying to move him was in a world of hardship. The creatures around him were drawing nearer. Still, the shadow was able to pull the feline up. Huntress ((Aboard the Weewoo)) "That's not honor at all. Even if you take pride in what you're doing, as long as it's not pleasant to the others, it's not anywhere near honorable. That's something even a ninja understands, and the thing you pirates are trying not to know," Cat Assassin hissed, got distracted a minute later, and jumped overboard. Bloody Mary gave a shrug and dropped off his shoulder when he flew over the railing. He still had a few bones to pick with the cat, but for the time being he had better things to worry about. Actually, now that he thought about it, he constantly seemed to have better things to worry about than ninjas. Logical, yet annoying, he thought grimly, glancing at the captain. Hunty had heaved the crossbow on her shoulder in the meantime and was trotting over to the prow. "Smooth, Kat, real smooth, but you did a great job," she said, leaning the crossbow on the railing. As soon as its spike-ridden tip came to the view of the army, more arrows whizzed up. One of them hit a brace and it snapped neatly in two. "Get downstairs, yes, we'll be out of range soon enough." While they were still in range, she aimed her weapon at Asthielle and the ancient mages around her. It had an infra-red scope for distance, but it wouldn't help her much at this distance - the red dot was simply too far to be seen. Nonetheless, the direction was more or less set, so she pulled the trigger. The crossbow did have a string, but it was mainly for show; being semi-automatic, it operated on a weird, complicated, and relatively clumsy system of a revolving drum magazine, a small acid tank, and another small tank for pressurized air. As such, it could fire bolts in a rapid succession, and Hunty only ever used the one-shot string-dependent settings when she needed one single, powerful shot. This was not the case right now. Within five seconds, the crossbow shot out the whole magazine's worth of bolts, while the captain fervently hoped that none of them would hit any pirates. Not good for diplomacy. But she'd aimed it well away from black flags, in any case. With another heavy WHOMP, the ship rose again. Hunty straightened her back and noticed Rider throw a rope to the ninjas, shouting, "I recommend you come back up here, Cat and girl. You know for a fact that we're not going to harm you. We don't harm prisoners. They, however, are a mite more unpredictable."Another cloud of arrows came, while shouts of pain emerging from below indicated that many of Hunty's hadn't missed their mark. The captain stepped away from the railing, avoiding those few arrows that managed to shoot to their current altitude, and watched with mild curiosity as PFA climbed back on board. "Yeah, bit of a bugger with this one," she said. "I'm still the captain here, and I remember for a fact that I declared those two traitors and put up a bounty for their heads. I don't do that so that we could keep them in our best cabins and bring them flowers every day, you know. Down there, they still had a chance to run while the army was distracted." Bloody Mary landed on her shoulder. "Keeping prisoners is still kinda annoying while they're alive. Extra food and precautions in case they escape and all that jazz." "That's why I'd much rather just have kicked them off, but at least this way I get to deal with them myself." Hunty shrugged and nodded at PFA. "Take her to the brig. And the cat to another brig as far away from her as possible once he gets here. The rest of you, hold on." The ship had risen higher than the treetops by now, and took a curve in the air. Down on the ground the only signs of morning had still just been the lighter sky and the occasional sleepy bird, but here the sunrise was shining far over the forest, gilding the black ship's masts and making the sea by the horizon glitter. The brigantine careened slightly, fluttering the wings, and headed off towards the ocean. The foreyard was moving slowly back and forth due to the broken brace, and the reefed sails were flapping in the headwind. Asthielle's attacks were still hitting the ship's underbelly, but as it was completely covered by the mist the brigantine was sitting on, it only sent the attacks down through the wings, making them sizzle with electricity. Hunty saluted at the army and then turned to look at the vaguely visible trail down in the forest where the blarf was making his own way back to the sea. "Should've sent you with him." "Eh, he's cool," Bloody Mary said. "As long as we can still see him move, we know he's okay.” Vyt"Oh no, you don't." A female voice exclaimed her word of disagreement as soon as she heard Hunty said something about Cat Assassin and PFA. It was Subila, who seemed to have reformed in a dark translucent image of herself. "You're not taking Cat Assassin nor PFA anywhere, lady," the Yin spat out, obviously angry about her lack of knowledge about the two. "First of all, Cat Assassin is way better than you in terms of leadership and fighting skills, and at his best he can take on you and all of your crew without breaking a sweat. Second, my daughter here is doing her best to keep you from mishandling the gem, in which you just did." If she wasn't a ghost, Subila would've stomped the deck and create a hole. "I'm not letting you touch either of them just like that, especially when you've just broken the gem. If there's one dirty person that's going to inflict pain and suffering for those two, it's me." RiderRider raised an eyebrow at Subila. Evidently logic was completely optional. "You know, last I checked, the dead didn't meddle in the affairs of the living. Particularly not with hollow threats and empty promises." She turned to Hunty. "They won't escape. this entire ship is a prison. Even if they were to leave the brig, where would they go? In case you haven't notice, that first step off the railing? A bit of a doozy. if you're worried about them hurting us, well, we outnumber them and they're wounded, and I doubt they'd be so stupid. I'll agree with the Meepit on one thing though. It's a pity the extra food is going to waste. if someone will keep an eye on the cat? I'll be back in a jiffy." She took PFA by the wrist and led her to the brig. She knew better than to use a mist-seal. Just a good old-fashioned lock on the outside of the door. She did likewise with Cat Assassin, in a room as far away as possible. Celestial((Saving Cat Assasin's sorry life >_<))The Weewoo was pulling away from them! Leste focused, gathering all of her strength and snaking from side to side on the air. Some speed was gathered but it was only barely enough. Leste caught one of the rear spikes of the ship to "catch her breath" and continued through the final hurdle, bringing the feline down onto the deck, harder than she hoped. For a second, the mist lay there, tired.
However, Leste had no time to rest. The felt the darkness before she saw it. Ghostly Subila was here and by the look of her, she wasn't here to deliver anything aside from pain and suffering. Leste did not want to see anybody suffer. She rose up to her full hieght, red eyes glowing.
"You will not inflict pain on anybody here!" Leste shouted at Subila, not afraid. What should she be afraid of it she was dead? VytSubila's attention were diverted at another shadow being approaching. Her eyes darted towards Leste, whose red eyes were glaring at her. "You will not inflict pain on anybody around here!" she exclaimed. Even for a threat, Subila quickly returned to her traditional smirk. "Relax, young shadow," she said disrespectfully. "I'm not inflicting pain around here yet, for I'm already dead. I just want to say that you all should not be blind to what you are seeing." She pointed at the pirate who was taking away Cat Assassin. "Look at her, she doesn't have any speck of a clue who she's moving away from the battlefield. I'm sure you recognize him quite very well, since he's the same person who just saved you from the mercenaries back then." An awkward pause followed. "If you're wondering how I knew all of that, I've been watching all along," she explained. "You pirates are so feeble-minded." Subila then began to walk away from Hunty, following Rider. "Now, if you still want to follow that so-called captain of yours and remain blind to yourself again, fine by me. I've got a real warrior to attend to, and an inexperienced one to stay away from," she mentioned as she looked at the unconscious Cat Assassin and Hunty, respectively. CelestialLeste hissed at Subila. She was niether young nor stupid but the creature was treating her as if she was both. Quickly, her rage was building up. The shadow brought her "tail" around and slapped Subila right on the cheek. A ghost could hit another ghost just as easily as one human could hit another.
"Don't talk to me as if I am stupid. I am not blind to what the captain is doing but niether am I blind to your cruelty. If I just stood here and watched you harm them, I could never forgive myself. It doesn't matter if I die, I am dead to everyone anyway" she hissed, and stood in front of Subila, eyes glowing with pure hatred. SpeckDistressed, Speck looked up at the ship towering over the trees. A spray of Hunty's crossbow bolts had showered the people below; one barely missed her. There was now a huge gap in the crowd where the ship once was. She took her chance, and struggled through the last of the crowd to get to it. Her eyes rose to the ship once more, and she swore: it was even higher than before. A fragment of the unofficial-official pirate code flashed through her mind. Any man who falls behind, gets left behind.Looking for a way back, she saw the crushed trees and bushes of the blarf's path. That's how I got here, so I might as well go for it. Avoiding as much as the beginning battles as she could, she sprinted in the direction of the blarf, jumping over and ducking under fallen trees. CyborgCyborg was getting fed up, he rose the pillar to meet the railings and jumped onto the now somewhat airborne ship. " A ghost/shadow slap fest, a bad excuse for a pirate captain, another bad decision (that would be Rider's decision to lock up the ninjas) and honestly I'm not surprised this isn't weird to me. Now I have a score to settle with at least three of you. Firstly Miss Angry Strangling Shadow, you think you can nearly kill my friends and get away with it? You won't. Rider, you helped kick me off this ship. The most important one though woud be Hunty. Let's see you kicked Keng off the ship, you ot rid of the rum on the ship, you kicked me off the ship annnnnd you got Ikkin's flaming chicken to destroy the gem and therefore free the not-so-dead, dead forumers. So who's first?" Cyborg asked as he grabbed his cutlasses. PFA((the White Weewoo))The mist of a pirate wrapped herself around Uncle, and brought him up to the deck. PFA gave a smile, though she wasn't sure the mist had seen her. At any rate, she was distracted from her thoughts when she heard Hunty's voice. "Take her to the brig. And the cat to another brig as far away from her as possible once he gets here," the captain commanded. PFA's expression fell. Arguments started as Rider started dragging PFA off to the brig. PFA just helplessly watched as her Uncle faded out of her view, possibly to never be seen again. She wished there was some way to stop this, to make it so it didn't have to be this way... but nothing came to her mind. She hung her head, trying to force back tears. Soon enough, she was brought to the brig, pushed roughly into the room. PFA turned, watching as Rider turned and left through the door. "Please, no!" PFA shouted to the pirate as she was leaving. "How can you be so cruel?! Please just let me see my Uncle! You can keep him out of my reach if you want, but I just want to see him while he's still okay! Please? Please!" A slam. And a click. Rider was already gone. PFA dropped to her knees. And the tears she had been holding back a moment ago started to drip freely down her cheeks. CyborgRose smilied kindly as she took Jernath's hand, she could feel her face turning red. She quickly looked down still holding his hand, she hoped no one saw her blushing, but she was sure they all did."You're right, I'll do something about my ankle later," she said to Jernath still shyly looking at the ground. " So what's the plan? Where to next," she asked. WolfThe woman robed in black fell back into the archives as she realized the peaceable confrontation in the castle above had escalated far beyond the threshold of safely being able to pass it unseen. So with few other options, she returned to the tome in the archives and opened it once more.
And there, she read. And as she read, she listened. It seemed the magically-charged air had reacted with the communicators that Spacefleet carried, and as they waged war in the throne room, she was able to listen in on every word they said.
But she soon grew bored with that and instead decided upon taking a short nap, and then upon pondering how magic could effect the mechanics of such a strange and otherworldly device….
(And although she never came to such an obviously conclusion, the simple explanation is that, magic, being energy, is a form of radiation, being electromagnetic waves, the same such as the radio waves used to communicate with the communicators. Ergo, as Ikkin filled the air with magic, and The Commander amplified it with the gem fragment in the Leech, part of their speech was converted into waves that could be intercepted by communicators. This does, however, raise the question: Why did no one else hear this? Again, the simple answer is the most obvious: The marines were dead, so they could hear nothing. Ah, but what about Fraze, you may ask. That, too, is simple: Fraze used his suit to create music, thus making the communications inaudible, although, he was also in the same room as they were, so if his communicator did broadcast such stereophonics, he’d not have realized it merely wasn’t an echo in the obviously spacious and grand throne room (which you guys are still cleaning up, mind you—Blarf breath is no atmosphere for a king), and by the time he was outside with the other ‘Fleeters, the low-amplitude radio waves could no longer be recognized.)
And now that you, too, are just as asleep as this mystery woman is, allow me to move on.
* * *
The black-garbed woman was pleased to be met by silence when she fiddled with the communicator when she awoke some hours around dawn. Satisfied, she slid the slender machine into a pocket hidden against the inside of her thigh and then proceeded to the courtyard.
A pair of hoofprints littered the snow. They seemed to pick up in speed, and then they vanished all together. She squinted her eyes; this truly was peculiar. And yet, it gave her an idea… Certainly, the trek to the Keep would be treacherous in this snow, and the King would certainly need a ride to get him to the forefront of the battle quickly when the time arose, so if she kindly borrowed his steed to take him it, then all would be well.
Yes, all would be…well, this was certainly odd. She had just stepped into the King’s stable, and his sable mare now had, of all things, two dragon-like wings protruding from her back. She had heard nothing of his steed being winged (winged horses were incredibly rare—which is why Pegasus was heralded with such high praise—and few had wings such as these, which made the mare an even rarer specimen), yet all the better: if Wolf could fly her into battle, the possibilities were endless.
So she approached the steed and knelt down in the snow. The horse eyed her with a peculiar gaze, one caught between bewilderment and solemn expectation.
“Your master is in need of you,” the woman said. “I have come to take you to him. The world is in desperate need of his assistance, and he can only do so with your aid. You have ridden him into battle once before, can you ride him into war again?”
To her surprise, the horse neighed and rose to her full height. But as the woman went to mount her, she snapped her wings back and blocked her entry.
“Fine,” the woman said after a few more unsuccessful attempts, “it seems you only let a select few ride you. Well, no matter, I’ll simply have to walk. Keep up now, will you?”
Again, the horse seemed to understand her, and as she stepped out of the stables, the winged horse obediently followed.
* * *
The woman turned her eyes to the sky as a faint white figure flapped its way through the snow ridden air and then smashed into an invisible wall, where it fell crumpled into the snow drifts below.
Yet despite the spectacle, the woman was oddly unfazed. “Well,” she said, “I’d figured we were nearing it, but I had no idea we’d come quite so close.” The “it” she was referring to was, of course, the magical barrier that surrounded the old castle grounds and still stood strong, even centuries after Falci Castle had stood there no longer.
But she would tend to that in moments; for now, she walked up to the fallen bird, which, upon closer inspection, she realized was a Weewoo, an uncommon sight for these parts of the woods (which was more barren mountain than forested wildlands at the moment, but such trifle details didn’t matter much to her, either). And wrapped around its talon was a note, a note addressed to King Wolf. This, of course, she pocketed. And then, its purpose fulfilled, the bird blew up in a puff of green smoke that blew away with the wind.
“Must’ve been magical,” the woman decided, feeling comforted that no one else actually knew the location of the Keep. In fact, from this far away, through the blowing periwinkle snow, she couldn’t even see the gray towers of the majestic Keep. She’d seen pictures and drawings before, but nothing compared to the beauty of the real thing. It was almost a shame that now that she was here, it couldn’t be seen at all.
So, shaking such thoughts from her mind and reminding herself of her mission, she walked up to the invisible barrier. She could feel the magic buzzing in the air, almost electrical the sheer energy contained within it, and she went over the entry ritual in her head once again. Only honorable Knights could walk unhindered to the Keep, whereas all others were held out, and after seeing what had happened to the Weewoo, she wanted to take no chances here.
The woman cupped her hands over her heart, shutting her eyes and focusing on her intent. If not pure, the ancient magic might dispel her, and that could prove fatal depending upon when it recognized the impurities. So she thought of hate, and she thought of hate, and then she thought of love. And she fell down, down, down…she fell dowwwnnnnnn… She lifted her hands and moved them towards the barrier, all the way until her palms touched it and she felt the little earthquakes streams of lightning running through her hands. She was ready.
“Cum honesta virtute, vado, in Dunni domum.”
Her eyes still shut, she stepped slowly through the force field until she felt the barrier of magic fall behind her. She opened her eyes, felt up and down her body, and gave a sigh of relief that she had made it through unscathed. Beside her, the winged horse ambled up nonchalantly, as if mocking her for all she had to do to gain entry.
But enough of this dillydallying already; she had a King to find. And save for the waves of snow that were presently veiling her vision, he was finally in sight. VytSubila wasn't happy about the girl slapping her. "You sure are cocky for someone who's dead," she breathed out, gently rubbing the slap mark on her cheeks with her hand. "You feel so powerful just when you're dead. Don't you think your life, if you had one, was a waste because of that?" she ended before shrugging it all off and continued following Rider. The ghost had no further reason to continue arguing with the girl, since she was so attached to the captain. "She's already lost herself," she thought. As soon as they entered the insides of the ship, Subila kept her distance away from Rider. It was then that a white familiar glow surrounded the girl, reforming itself right in front of her. "You might want to accompany our daughter, Subila," the glow said as it shaped itself to a white translucent image of Vyt. Half-ignoring Vyt's suggestion, Subila started to rant. "This is the same reason why I was almost able to take over NTWF, Vyt. Everyone here is so foolish! They do not know who to fight and choose immature decisions... I can't believe they're excluding the Ninjas from the war!" Vyt sighed. "As much as I like to shed light upon this chaos, I will have to reluctantly let them suffer for their own consequences. If they keep being so stubborn, it's the only way they'd realize the flaws they're trying to tackle." "... For an evil person bent on creating chaos, I sure feel sorry for these idiots," Subila proclaimed. "Still, we have to break the rules of the dead and meddle with their affairs. I fear that they'll not be able to endure the consequences of their own actions." It was then that the sound of a lock echoed discreetly across the place. "I think she's in the clear. I'll go after her," Subila noted. Her dark image was suitable for sneaking across the dark place. Vyt nodded in reply as he made his way back towards Cat Assassin. --- PFA was alone in the room, sobbing. "... Stop crying! I will not allow my own daughter to cry like that!" A dark shadow made its way through the door that locked PFA in. It was Subila. "What happened to the burning spirit I mentioned earlier? Stand up, young girl. This isn't over yet.” Kat"So who's first?"But Kat wasn't going downstairs just yet. She stepped away from Rider and faced Cyborg. "If you don't mind, I would like to go first." Kat placed her still-glowing fingers on her wound, healing it as much as she could. Then, with the same hand, she drew her longsword. * * * The crossbow bolt found its mark - in Asthielle's spell-casting arm. She fell to her knees and clutched her arm, gritting her teeth and trying not to scream in excruciating pain. Cursing under her breath, she began trying to heal herself as well, standing up and trying to squeeze her way through the ranks of warriors in an attempt to find someplace safer. Huntress((Aboard the Weewoo)) Hunty nodded thoughtfully, patting the magazine of the crossbow that always overheated at these settings and listening to Rider's words at the same time. It remained unclear whether she was focusing on the crossbow or the ex-captain. "Fair enough," she said. "Remind me to send the bill for their food to the Ninja dojo when we get more time." At this point, more time was nowhere in sight. Hunty sidled off to the railing while paying semi-absent attention to Subila. "First of all, Cat Assassin is way better than you in terms of leadership and fighting skills, and at his best he can take on you and all of your crew without breaking a sweat. Second, my daughter here is doing her best to keep you from mishandling the gem, in which you just did.""Last I checked, this was still my crew and your Cat Assassin has nothing to - five, six, seven - nothing to do with it," Hunty said, her voice trailing off as she counted the deckboards from the railing. "So I don't see why his leadership skills are relevant here, or why I should veer from my orders on my ship because of you. Ah, there we have it." She let the ghosts handle each other as she stepped on one end of a deckboard that looked like any other deckboard. It swung open. As Hunty's submachine-crossbow wasn't transported easily and was mainly needed in hectic on-board battle, the captain had a habit of hiding extra ammo all over the deck. As she fished out a bundle of new bolts, she heard Cyborg's ever-so-familiar voice. "Now I have a score to settle with at least three of you. Firstly Miss Angry Strangling Shadow, you think you can nearly kill my friends and get away with it? You won't. Rider, you helped kick me off this ship. The most important one though woud be Hunty. Let's see you kicked Keng off the ship, you ot rid of the rum on the ship, you kicked me off the ship annnnnd you got Ikkin's flaming chicken to destroy the gem and therefore free the not-so-dead, dead forumers. So who's first?""You again. Are you planning to plague me for the rest of my life?" she asked, pushing the magazine open. The bitter scent of warm acid wafted off with the wind. "Pardon, but who are you to tell me what to do or not to do on my own ship? Keng's carelessness let intruders on board, cost us most of our loot, and, had the intruders wanted, would've cost us our lives. You yourself, m'dear," the new bolts slid into place with quiet fzp, fzp, fzp sounds, "should be glad you didn't get keelhauled instead of just getting kicked off." fzp, fzp. "Mutiny, disobedience, backtalking, creating disorder..." fzp."...and being a nuisance in general," Bloody Mary said. "As for the rum... why should I want a drunk crew on my ship?" fzp, fzp. "Can't very well sail all alone." fzp, click, the magazine snapped into place again. "And whadda you have against freeing the guilders? Or would you like to spend an eternity trapped in a jewel?" Clackclack and the crossbow was reloaded, set, and ready for a new round. Hunty lifted it on her shoulder. "Have fun, Kat," she said cheerily. "And try not to get killed, I still need you around. I've a ship to steer." She marched off over the deck to the bridge, the heavy WHOMPs of the wings nearly muffling her footsteps. At the same time, somewhere far below, a drunk blarf waddled through the forest, occasionally bumping into trees and longing for the fresh cold water that'd most likely help soothe his messy head, and somewhere behind him, an army had decided that since the demonic ship together with the one they wanted revenge with had flown off, they might as well explore this land a little - as soon as they sort out their little issues. And so the ancient battle, actually more of a huge bar brawl in essence, raged on. Cyborg" Fine Kat. Keng was attacked from behind at night! It wasn't her fault! I mutinied because even Rider was a better captain than you and that's sad! Drunk crew, DRUNK CREW! You still have Rider aboard don't you. God she could be what we called sober for three weeks and still be drunk! If I was trapped in the gem I might not have to see you would I." Cyborg said as he grabbed his cutlasses and prepared to attack his old shipmate. RiderRider got back to the deck, still shaken by the sobs of the ninja-girl, but her heart stiffened again when she saw Cyborg. "You don't give up, do ya, kid?" she asked, drawing her cutlass. "It's the best thing I liked about you. Unfortunately, the list of things I like about you becomes smaller every time you threaten my crew." She drew her sword. "Cap'n, you'll be alright without us in the five minutes it takes to dispatch this bratling?" Without waiting for an answer, she stabbed directly at the Kougra's torso. "Kat, flank him."
Spacefleet HQ The sudden shriek and collapse had been the last thing any of the guards had expected, and both robots and guards stayed in their defensive positions and waited for the intruder to move. After several seconds, Haggoth got up, cautiously walked towards the intruder, and examined her without touching her. "Okay, she's unconcious. Get a medical team in here with a stretcher and restraints. Tell them to bring more of those power cells. Hold your positions in case she moves again." The rumble of the emergency lift behind Haggoth told him that the medics were already on their way. When the doors opened, they revealed a group of doctors and guards. Haggoth motioned them over. "She's too dangerous to take to the main medical wing. Cuff her to the stretcher, take her to the prison block, and administer any care needed to keep her alive there. Get some samples for the scientists. Keep at least three guards around with power cells at all times in case she wakes up again." Here Haggoth turned towards the officers who were still crouched behind the pillars. "Start searching this area for the second intruder, the human-looking girl. The robots and I will stay here and keep an eye on the prisoner." Haggoth picked up the power cell as the officers filed out and the medics lifted the intruder onto the stretcher and wheeled her into the elevator. PFA((previously the battlefield)) "So what's the plan? Where to next?" Rose asked. Jernath thought he saw her blushing, but he made no comment on such. "We were going to see if we could find the Spacefleeters," he said in response to her question. "They are our employers, after all..." With that, he started looking around once again. Deciding it would be best not to bother The Commander, he figured they should try and find the other 'Fleeters. But through the now rather large crowd, it was almost impossible to make out any one figure. "Come on, let's look around," he said to Rose, as he started walking around in search of the Spacefleeters, being sure to go slow for Rose's sake. To Midknight, he added, "Let us know if you see any of them, alright?" --- ((White Weewoo: the brig))"...Stop crying! I will not allow my own daughter to cry like that!"PFA slowly looked up from her tears, in time to see Subila's ghost float through the door. The ninja sniffed, trying to slow her tears enough to listen. "What happened to the burning spirit I mentioned earlier?" Subila asked. "Stand up, young girl. This isn't over yet."PFA slowly forced herself to her feet, wiping some tears from her face. "You... you have an idea? How we can get out of here?" VytSubila was taken back a bit by PFA's statement. She had absolutely no idea how she could get PFA out of the brig, and even if she had one, it was doubtful that her ghostly form could do anything to help her daughter out. All she had in her arsenal was verbal power, and she was known to have a weaker sense of charisma. Still, Subila had to conceal her lack of plan. Though she began to stutter, the Yin continued speaking. "I'm sure Vyt is on his way to Cat Assassin's brig. They both have a plan, and I'm very sure they'll need your help," she noted before realizing she was just using circular reasoning to encourage PFA. "My, my... I've never seen you raise the morale of anyone else, Subila!" Another formless light entered PFA's brig. Its very bright luminosity gave both girls a hint of who it was. It was confirmed by the reformation of the light; the light transparent image of Vyt the Yang. "I thought you were going to Cat Assassin's brig?" Subila asked, obviously puzzled. "I already know where he is," Vyt assured her. "Remember my sense of direction?" Subila slapped her forehead with her hand. "Oh yeah, I forgot. You had that ability." Vyt almost chuckled before continuing. "PFA, I told you once that you had the power to change the course of this world's fate. I'm not lying for that bit. It may seem that you're much less powerful than anyone else, but that's because your inferiority complex is trying to limit your power." Looking at the direction of Hunty, who was absolutely out of view by anyone else inside the brig, Vyt sighed. "You have untapped potentials within you, and I mean large potentials. This is why the merging of our powers have given you the strength to move further." Vyt extended his arms in an attempt to grasp PFA's hands, but his ghostly form was inhibiting him from doing so. "Concentrate, PFA, and release that barrier you've unconsciously let out earlier. That symbolizes your strength to fight out that inferiority complex of yours." The Yang was hoping she could break out of the brig with that barrier of hers. He knew fairly well that it was much more powerful than Cat Assassin's Signum Sanctuary. Kat"Have fun, Kat," she said cheerily. "And try not to get killed, I still need you around. I've a ship to steer.""Oh, I don't plan to," said Kat. She took one step forward, but didn't lunge just yet as Rider joined her. "Kat, flank him."As Rider made her move, Kat sidestepped, making a series of downward chopping strikes meant to slash Cyborg's legs and temporarily cripple him, giving her and Rider a big advantage. CyborgCyborg didn't see the slash coming and fell to his knees in pain. " You think it's that easy huh Kat? There's a reason I'm still alive, you see while pirates rely on running away to survive, mercs like me and my group here rely on our skills and we're still alive even though we are the smallest guild here." as he said this he sent a razor blade, it was Gillete leaf at Kat's legs. Meanwhile Midknight took over for Cyborg and slashed at Rider. PFA((White Weewoo: the brig))The Yang's suggestion was a little confusing to PFA. "The barrier?" she blinked, wiping away the last of her tears. "...Um, okay, I'll try..." She walked toward the door, stopping just in front of it. She began to concentrate... and then paused. She still couldn't remember how she even made the barrier in the first place. So then the ninja started making all sorts of weird gestures, almost as if she were doing a little dance in front of the door. Hey, it was how she prompted it the first time; maybe she could prompt it again by doing it again. After some time of dancing, she made a motion where she waved both arms simultaneously into the air. A light, and the sound of breaking wood. The barrier had come up, forcing the door roughly out of its way. PFA grinned, made a mental note of what gesture she did, and stopped concentrating on the barrier, letting it fade away. "The pirates might have heard that," she whispered to the Yang. "We'll have to find Uncle before they find us. You said you know where he is, right?” VytVyt and Subila watched as PFA positioned herself near the door. The latter chuckled a little when the ninja decided to do some random gestures, but laughter soon perished as one gesture let out a powerful force within the girl. Subila was only able to sense the power, but Vyt could see the effect. It was a bright shade of yellow and white carefully mixing together to form a barrier around PFA. Before the barrier could expand, the ninja let go of her position. "The pirates might have heard that. We'll have to find Uncle before they find us," she suggested. "You said you know where he is, right?" Vyt smiled a bit while Subila let out a sigh of astonishment, both happy that their daughter was starting to get a hang of her own powers. "Indeed," Vyt stepped up. "However, I'm afraid that he is still unconscious, considering that he hasn't even tended to any of his wounds since you three embarked on this journey, and-" "Wait a minute," Subila interrupted. "Where is Bluisa? I thought she was with you all along?" --- "... Ugh."A weak moan broke the silence of the dark-filled room. Cat Assassin had already been dragged and locked inside it by the same pirate who put PFA inside her own prison. The painful expression on the feline's face could tell anyone that he was in a world of pain. "That was risky... Trying to empty my stamina in such a weak form," Cat Assassin noted whilst breathing heavily. The pain from the wounds were just starting to fade away, but the actions he underwent just to retrieve PFA back had worsened his fatigue. The wounds were non-lethal, but it did little to regain Cat Assassin's strength. "Ugh..." Cat Assassin let out another moan, this time a little bit louder than before. "I really need to re-train myself. My fighting skills need refinement once more, ever since I came into this world..." Bacon"I've caught up to the blarf... And putting the kineticomp on...now."Bacon heard Fraze say. He looked at the battlefield somewhat nervously, as though he expected the massive armies to swarm their position at any second. "Hey, do you guys think we should call HQ for reinforcements? Maybe some fighter squadrons or bombing runs..." PFA ((White Weewoo: the brig))"Bluisa?" PFA blinked. "Uncle said she was with Celestial, but I don't know any more than that." Readying herself to go out in search of Uncle, PFA reached for her katana, but sighed upon the realization that it wasn't there. "On our way out of here, we should see if we can find where they took my weapons... it won't be easy getting away without them." HuntressWith three quick steps, Huntress was up on the bridge and at the wheel. While the ship could fly on its own, it still needed signals for the destination. Now that it could feel directions again, it turned more upright and started to fly faster. "Cap'n, you'll be alright without us in the five minutes it takes to dispatch this bratling?""Take your time," Hunty shouted back. Since the bridge was in aft anyway, she could keep an eye on the whole ship while at the wheel. *** The blarf's rum-infested brain was desperately trying to send signals to the rest of the body at that point in order to keep it going in the right direction. Unfortunately, the signals were already messed up because of the rum, and now they got an extra distraction somewhere else in the blarf's big body. As a result, the kraken suddenly discovered that his brain was distracted twice. In other words, while his brain told the right front paw to step here, the rum made it step there and the kineticomp's signals, which interfered before there could happen, made it actually land elsewhere. And due to his quick pace, that got multiplied by six paws, added the factor of operating six paws which isn't easy by nature, and made it all the more complicated with the fact that the blarf's poor little brain wasn't meant to cope with any of those factors. So he slowed down, tried to shake his head but very nearly slammed it into the ground instead, and stopped, or at least tried to stop. Since his paws suddenly had minds of their own, at least two of them still tried to move on, the third one tried to scratch the fourth one, and the fifth tried something along the lines of cancan. The blarf staggered sideways and then fell over very resolutely. The fact that one of his own tentacles smacked him over the head as he fell didn't make him feel any better about it. *** And Bloody Mary, who'd long had the habit of keeping an eye on whatever Hunty wasn't keeping an eye on, noticed. Actually he couldn't notice anything more specific than the fact that the trail of falling trees wasn't getting any longer, but that was all he needed to see. He trotted off to report. "Toldya that I should've left you with him," Hunty muttered, patting the wheel. "You, girl! Slow down." The wings turned a little, now smashing into the air under a slight angle against the wind, and the ship began to draw a wide semi-circle in the air. Kwoiffei ((Mage Manor - Rikku's room)) "I just hope it's temporary, or at least, not detrimental," Omni said in response to what admittedly had been a feeble excuse. Drakhé twitched slightly. He couldn't understand why all this was affecting him so... it was too much. Perhaps that was the reason? But then, the gem... It feels different."I think if we're going to go, we should go now. Well, I'll probably scarf down my breakfast… But the letter suggests urgency, and if something related to the gem or the demons Kit mentioned happened there, then it's probably for good reason. I'm going to go. Are you coming?"[/i] "Kit?" Drakhé blinked. "The one who promised me acceptance?"For a precious few moments he was silent... or, were they moments? "Am I coming? T-there's no way I can't."With one final glance at the deceased necromancer - had she taken Larnax's place? - he turned and walked out of the room. His destination: just outside of the Manor. It took only a few minutes to arrive at the front doors. Seemingly carelessly he pushed them open, and stepped into the cold winter world... the cold, dangerous winter world. The whole sky was now green... was it just him? It may have explained why he started to change size... this time, growing bigger. Growing a second pair of eyes. Losing his limbs. Shedding the trappings of his normal form in favour of his true form: the serpent. And it was only a fraction of its normal size. Zari"Reinforcements? I've got eight clones, armed with...Am I hearing this correctly?" Zari paused, staring at her wristcomp with growing incredulity. "Spray Deodrant cans, encyclopedias, used sport sock guns, Illhvrenan Garden fertiliser, kitchen implements, and other things that you really shouldn't be able to use as weapons, but can if you're creative enough. What on earth have I been teaching?!" she pulled on one fluffy brown ear, severely, staring at the now wildly flailing Blarf with a despondent look. A sudden idea made her immediately grin. "If the gem thingummy is broken, shouldn't that mist be weakening or something?" It was stupid, but it was an advantage, and a tired, hungry, and cross Illhvrenan never passes up on one of those. "And if it's broken, whatever was in it will probably leave the Commander sooner or later, unless I am being too Optimistic, which is depressingly likely.” Vyt"I must suggest that we do not expose ourselves too fast," Vyt suggested while going through the door before PFA and Subila could. His wings were already blocking the door's view. "Weird as it may be, the pirates are currently helping us get away from the mob that has escaped through the gem. We have to take this opportunity to regroup with Cat Assassin while we are being escorted out of the battlefield." "Listen to him, PFA," Subila whispered. "He's known to have led an entire army of Yang warriors to fight against us. I'm sure he knows what he's talking about." After hearing that praise from Subila, Vyt smiled as he went through the door. --- After having removed the sharp leaves off his back, Cat Assassin breathed heavily. "Thank Felicity they weren't able to penetrate much. I would've died if they went through my lungs," he noted. "Cat Assassin?" A discreet whisper forced Cat Assassin to be alert. The voice came from somewhere inside the room, further intensifying his tension. "Cat Assassin, I've been with PFA earlier." As soon as he realized who the owner of the voice was, Cat Assassin turned around to greet Vyt the Yang. "... Is she safe?" was the first question Cat Assassin let out. Vyt the Yang assured him with a smile. "Do not fret, nothing bad had happened to her." It was then that Vyt started to become puzzled. "Cat Assassin, what exactly are we fighting against?" An awkward silence followed. "To be honest, I do not know," the feline honestly said. "Since the gem is gone, there's nothing else we can do... Then there's those creatures that appeared from the gem, but as long as they're docile, we can't do anything right now." Vyt's smile quickly turned into a neutral state. "... Then what's the reason the pirates are here for?" "That's more confusing than the gem itself. Only they know what they are looking for, and I fear for the worse."
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Post by GW2 on Oct 16, 2008 16:36:59 GMT -5
Huntress
The blarf wasn't liking this one bit. Nothing he tried to do worked out. If he attempted to get up, his paws began to wave around aimlessly. If he attempted to wrap his tentacles around the trees in order to pull himself up, some of them waved around randomly, some whacked him over the head, and some whacked at the Fleeters around him. He whimpered to himself, then attempted to curl up in a ball.
Even that didn't work. Instead of arching, the back twisted sideways. The paws weren't cooperating and the tentacles were just a nuisance.
The creature let out a low sulky snarl and, as the most reasonable action of choice, gave up completely. His body went limp, the paws thumped against the ground, and the tentacles dropped like ropes. Now that his head was on one side, his fur was completely covering one eye, but had left the other one clear, and that's what he used to glare around, tentacles still twitching every now and then.
"Blaaaarp!"
"Atleast he's alive," said Bloody Mary, who'd been straining his eyes to pick up something between the trees. The pirate ship had more or less kept up with the trail, so after a wide arc in the air and a bit of lost altitude, it was quickly nearing the blarf. "Shot at, very nearly blown up, then a ninja-headache and now this. Someone should alert the animal abuse committee."
"Working on it."
Something in Hunty's voice made the meepit turn around to look at her, and he instantly regretted doing that. The captain was still steering the ship, keeping one hand on the wheel, holding the big crossbow with the other. The knuckles of both hands were white. So was her face, and in that face flamed a pair of steel grey eyes, the glance fixed on the patch where the trail of fallen trees ended. Bloody Mary had seen Hunty in blazing rage before, but rarely in this state - a state where she didn't need weapons to cut throats.
"Land." The word was like a whiplash - sharp, hot-cold, and ruthless.
The ship, being above the forest, had nowhere to land, but orders were orders, so down it came.
Branches bent. Falling leaves littered the forest and there was a lot of angry creaking when the black brigantine settled on top of whatever trees happened to remain below it. The wings retracted into the cushion of mist below the keel, forming a big black cloud on top of the trees. As such, even though most of the trees had different heights, the ship itself still remained more or less upright, despite the ominous creaking of the trees below it. To be on the safe side, the mist spread out on farther trees as well for support. That still left the deck clear and defenseless, but at least a couple dozen feet from the ground.
"Blimey, that's a good clear shot," Hunty's grim voice said from the other end of the crossbow that was now pointing down at the clearing.
Rider “You think it's that easy huh Kat? There's a reason I'm still alive, you see while pirates rely on running away to survive, mercs like me and my group here rely on our skills and we're still alive even though we are the smallest guild here."
"The ninja are still the smallest guild, you fool merc. The dead ones don't count, they're already dead."
She blocked Midknight's slash and returned with a thrust of her own. Having focused in swordplay, she was confident she could best someone with two focuses.
... Okay, not really, but this isn't another talking war.
She braced herself as the ship landed on top of the forest. "Heh, hey merc, how far down do you think you'll fall now? All those branches in the way, it probably won't kill you. Dunno how I feel about that."
Vyt
"... If there's something we can do, it's eliminate one of the people holding us up," Vyt noted, taking into consideration the stealthiness and focus of the ninjas. "With your berserk-causing energy, we might be able to take out one of them before anyone could realize."
Cat Assassin nodded. "If that's the case, we'll have to gang up on someone who is currently leading these people."
They both have the same line of thought. "... The pirate captain," they agreed upon.
"But then, there's her pirate crew," Vyt pointed out. "Even with your experience as someone who used to take down a target without getting too much attention, I fear that they will be able to hold you down before you could even reach the captain. Remember that you've already been marked prisoner, and they will be alarmed when they see you roaming around freely."
Cat Assassin paused for a brief moment. He was adding the possibility of a distraction from someone else. "... If only we had someone who can get everyone's attention..."
It was then that the discreet sound of branches breaking caught Cat Assassin's attention. With his keen sense of hearing, he could somehow figure out that the ship was hovering over a forest of some sort. "I think the ship's landing," he observed.
"Not yet," Vyt breathed out. "... But quite close."
"Anyway, we'll have to see if everyone on deck is currently handling some issues up there. I don't care how grave their problems are, as long as they're distracted, we can go," Cat Assassin said as he slowly stood up. The feline then pulled out something beneath his coat and mingled the object with his hands. To Vyt's eyes, all he could see were black leather gloves.
"What's that, may I ask?" Vyt told the feline with utmost curiosity, obviously puzzled by his actions.
"I borrowed this from a friend back in my world," Cat Assassin almost smiled while completely wearing the gloves. "She said I can use this when I need to sneak on someone. I just thought this is the good time to use it," he finished.
Cat Assassin then looked at the door in front of him. He pulled out yet another object from the shadows of his coat and revealed it to be a lockpick in the form of a seemingly-useless pin. "Pirates nowadays overlook this baby," Cat Assassin almost chuckled.
A few mingling with the hinge that was holding the door and the wooden plank just fell right out of place. "Vyt, I think the pirates put me on the other side of the ship per PFA's perspective. Can you go there and tell PFA to break out as well? Also tell her that we'll be meeting just near the deck under the shadows."
Vyt nodded and went on.
Cyborg
Midknight sent another slash after blocking the stab from Rider. " Are you sure about the ninja's being the smallest? What about the ninja's from the gem? I saw no mercenaries in that mix." he said.
" Wow Rider you really think we would get injured that badly on a fall into a forest. A couple questions. 1. Am I or am I not an earth mage? 2. Aren't forests considerred earth? 3. You think it would be that easy to toss us overboard?" Cyborg asked with a smirk as he got to his feet and slashed at Kat.
Shado and the squirrels went out of the forest in an odd manner. The first squirrel held onto Shado and the next held on to that squirrel and so on and so on. They made it over where Shado touched both Rose and Jernath with his tail and teleported them all to Midknight.
" Good job Shado, squirrels take care of any meepits if they attack, Shado you do the same. Jernath if possible help Cyborg take out the mage and then you and Rose go get the ninjas." Midknight said to his friends.
PFA ((White Weewoo: the brig))
PFA blinked in response to the Yin and the Yang's comments. "Wait, so should we go find Uncle, or should I wait for Uncle to find us?"
She wished the Yang would have been able to respond to that, but he had already left. So instead she turned to Subila and shrugged. She supposed they would have to wait for him to come back.
---
((White Weewoo: the deck))
"What the heck?" Jernath blinked at his sudden change of surroundings. He had seen Shado running toward him and Rose... and then all of the sudden they were on the pirate ship.
"Jernath, if possible, help Cyborg take out the mage, and then you and Rose go get the ninjas," came Midknight's voice. Jernath turned to look at the Kougra, not until then realizing that he was there.
"What are we doing here? I thought we were looking for Spacefleet? And... the ninjas? I thought we were trying to kill them!" Jernath narrowed his eyes a little, obviously confused about what was going on. But before he could continue with that train of thought, he sighed, and led Rose to a fairly secluded area behind some crates.
"Sorry, Rose," he said to her, "I guess I have to go fight some mage. You should stay here and let your ankle heal. I'll be back soon enough."
And with that, he took a step back from Rose and pulled out his daggers. He looked around for a moment until he spotted Cyborg, busy fighting some purple-clad mage. He paused for a moment to take a few deep breaths, and then he ran over to the fight, attempting to swerve around and stab one of his daggers into the purple mage's back.
Vyt
Before PFA could ask Subila what the plan exactly was, Vyt was back from finding Cat Assassin. His image was getting blurry, possibly due to his constant passing through walls, but soon got back to its former translucency. "PFA, Cat Assassin is awake now, and is currently making his way near the deck. He wanted to tell you to follow suit and go near the deck as well, but does not wish that you expose yourself to the pirates yet," Vyt briefly stated what went on during their conversation.
"Let's save the barrier for later," Vyt added. "Our plan is to knock the pirate captain unconscious and to keep her away from her crew at all cost, and the latter would need the most of your newfound power," he finished with a wink.
Subila butted in with a "Why can't we just kill her?" expression on her face, but was half-ignored.
"... You still can summon Vyt's shuriken, right?", Subila asked. "It's the only weapon I know that the pirates weren't able to take away from you, and unless you have another trick of your own to get you out of this brig, it's the only way you can cut through those hinges," she pointed at the two metal hinges holding the door intact.
Omni
((Mage Manor, just outside))
Omni, who had been picking bacon out from between her teeth with one of her claws, watched as Drakhé unexpectedly shifted into an oversized snake with two sets of eyes. "I was going to ask if you would be able to keep track of me while I'm flying, but I don't think I'd need to now. Now I'm wondering if you'd mind me landing on you if I get tired." Omni set herself into a crouch, preparing to jump. It was generally trickier to get airborne with two legs instead of four, so she would have to find a way to thrust herself at an angle before she could do much with her wings. She sprang at a diagonal, being sure to catch herself with her wings near the peak of her jump. She started circling around Drakhé as she climbed, eventually heading straight forward as she came above the treeline, toward Castle Kestrel.
---
((Near the no-so-much-of-a-battlefield-anymore))
"I've caught up to the blarf, and putting the kineticomp on...now."
Great, do you think you could get it closer to the crowd?
Ethan's question became less and less relevant as the pirate ship flew closer and closer to the area where Fraze was.
On second thought, maybe you should observe the blarf and the pirates.
"I think we could use backup, because unless we can find some way to turn that army against itself, or something, we're going to have a hard time.”
Kat “You think it's that easy huh Kat? There's a reason I'm still alive, you see while pirates rely on running away to survive, mercs like me and my group here rely on our skills and we're still alive even though we are the smallest guild here."
"I'm not just a pirate, you're forgetting," said Kat, wincing as the leaf found its mark in her left leg. She swayed slightly, but continued standing, one hand on her cut. She raised her sword as Cyborg got up again, but swung aside instead, avoiding the strike. As she did so, she caught sight of someone running towards them, daggers drawn. He didn't look like anyone on the crew, or anyone she knew from any of her other guilds...
Kat raised her free hand into the air and created a spiraling bolt of purple lightning that spun in the sky once before heading straight for this mysterious person. Then, she leapt towards Cyborg again, her sword moving in rapid chopping bursts meant to slice him like a potato.
* * *
And all the while, Asthielle was at the back of the army of mysterious fighters, nursing her bad arm. The ship was gone, and there was nothing she could do.
Then again, maybe there was.
Cyborg
" We would be trying to kill them, but we may have allies in them." Midknight said as he sent another slash at Rider. Shado ran over to Midknight and prepared to pounce on the pirate Midknight was facing.
Cyborg hit his mark, now he had to dodge Kat's potato cutter cutlass, but instead he parried the slashes and sent a slash of his own at the mage.
PFA ((White Weewoo: the brig))
Finally, the Yang was back. PFA listened carefully to what he had to say.
"Knock out Huntress... sounds like quite a plan," PFA said, more to herself than to anyone else. The trick with this plan would be actually executing it, she thought.
Before she could comment any further, Subila spoke up. "...You still can summon Vyt's shuriken, right?"
PFA nodded, "Sure I can."
She took a couple steps back, away from the door. Reaching her arms out in front of her, she began summoning the shuriken.
---
Somewhere out on the battlefield, the shuriken twitched. Summoned. It was being summoned again.
The shuriken glowed a bright white, possibly attracting the attention of some of the armies out on that field. It glowed for a while, before it started to fade away. And soon enough, it was completely gone.
---
Back in the brig, the shuriken reformed in PFA's hands. She grabbed onto it as soon as it had materialized, keeping it from puncturing the ship's floor.
She sighed. The shuriken wasn't her favorite of weapons, but it would have to do, as it was currently the only one she had. She then lugged the big shuriken over to the door, where she proceeded to slice off the door's hinges.
-----
((White Weewoo: the deck))
"Ah!" Jernath yelped in pain as the mage's purple lightning scorched his shoulder. He grimaced. This was why he didn't like fighting mages. They were hard to get close to.
But, not wanting to use up any arrows on this, he continued on his way toward the mage, trying to stab at her now that she was hopefully distracted with Cyborg.
Vyt
Having removed of its only support, the door fell down noisily. The sound would've reached the people on the deck had the place not been spatially-challenged. Still, the thud echoed around the brig, ringing inside every ear.
Subila was the first to comment. "That wasn't pleasant, but it'll have to do," she bluntly said.
Vyt, however, kept his to himself and started walking outside. "PFA, come with me. I'll show you the way to the deck."
--
Searching through the narrow space of the ship gave Cat Assassin no time to relax as he struggled to keep his running to a less noticeable action. It was a good thing he was a feline; his light feet did their best not to make much noise.
It was then that a small set of stairs peeped itself from a wall. "That must be the way towards the deck," the feline thought.
Cat Assassin then started to walk slower and slower as he approached the path in front of him. Noticing that the old wooden planks that were consisting the stairs might creak when stepped upon, he extended his left leg and arm towards one side of the wall and quickly followed with a small jump to catch the other wall with his right limbs.
Cautiously, he started to hop upwards, keeping himself concealed in the shadows.
----
Vyt found their own set of stairs just right ahead. PFA's brig was quite close to it, as he found no difficulty spotting it right ahead. His ethereal wings took flight as they brought the Yang upwards and towards the door to the deck.
Without speaking a word, Vyt turned towards PFA and Subila and gestured them to follow as he spotted the man he was looking for.
---
Cat Assassin focused his attention on the only other door leading to the insides of the ship. Quickly, he noticed Vyt peeping, followed by PFA and Subila. He went on to gesture hand signals to PFA, all of them telling her to keep themselves concealed. The feline then tried to look near the side of the doorway, but his position kept him from seeing further.
"Guess I'll have to wait for an obvious distraction to follow," he told himself.
Fraze ((Near the Blarf)) To himself, Fraze admitted to feeling slightly guilty of his actions, as he saw the blarf's hopeless struggle to continue moving forward. Granted, it already seemed to be more wobbly than Fraze had seen before, but now its legs seemed to spasm at random. Fraze quickly realized that he needed to keep his distance, almost getting hit by a tree trunk-sized leg on several occasions.
"Great," Ethan's voice came in over his comm link. "Do you think you could get it closer to the crowd?"
"I could try, but--" Fraze responded, but was cut off when he--and Ethan, apparently--saw the pirate ship change course and go directly toward Fraze and the blarf.
"On second thought, maybe you should observe the blarf and the pirates," Ethan said.
"Agreed," Fraze replied. "I don't know if the kineticomp can be programmed to move its target in a specific direction, and the blarf probably wouldn't come with me on his own." The blarf in question had apparently given up on moving altogether, now slumped on the ground looking dejected. "Whether it wants to or not, I think it's settled down," Fraze sent back to the team. "Can someone turn off the kineticomp? I don't think we really need it on right now." The pirate ship was now hovering several stories above Fraze and the blarf, apparently resting on top of the trees. He knew why it had changed its course. The thought of jumping onto the ship flashed briefly in his mind--he could do it, but there were too many risks involved. The strain would make it difficult to stand for several seconds, there were an unknown number of presumably hostile people on the ship, and he had seen firsthand that the ship was a peoplecannon. Instead, he backed away some distance into the trees to see what would unfold. He had found out through experience that the meepits could smell him when cloaked. He considered vacuum-sealing his suit as he would do while in space, but realized that his smell would still be on his clothes. All he could do, then, was try to find somewhere to stand downwind from the pirate ship.
Looking up, he recognized the Pirate captain. "Best take cover, or use whatever armor you have. The Pirate captain's got a crossbow out, and she doesn't look particularly happy.”
Amneiger
Amneiger looked at the blarf from his hiding place behind a tree. Nobody had bothered to explain to him why they had attempted to stop the thing, and it looked like everybody else would be too busy with the pirate ship to do so. He moved further back into the tree cover.
>> 4: Update - holding position. >> 5: Update - holding position. >> 6: Update - holding position. Have reacquired lock on previous target; continuing to monitor. > 4, 5, 6: Continue.
Kat
Kat tried to dodge, but wasn't quick enough. Cyborg managed to cut a bit of her robe sleeve, and she chanced a short glance behind her.
The same person with the daggers was still coming for her. She created two daggers of ice with her free hand, stepped towards him and tossed one towards him. Then she turned around again and threw the other one at Cyborg.
She knew she was now fighting two enemies at once, and couldn't keep her eyes off one for too long; it was either get slashed to bits or stabbed in the back - literally.
And Kat had no plans to get slashed or stabbed.
Cyborg
Cybog tried to dodge the dagger, but got a deep cut on his face(the left, kougra side). He then moved to the right a little and sent a rock at the mage (about the size of a basketball, so ouch!).
PFA ((White Weewoo: the brig))
PFA was glad to see that Uncle was alright. She nodded silently at his gestures, trying to make sure no one could see her. She watched down the hall, waiting for her chance.
---
((White Weewoo: the deck))
Jernath dodged to the side, the ice dagger scraping his arm. Grimacing, he continued running toward the mage, and this deck is bigger than I thought it was, and stabbed at her back, at the same time as Cyborg threw a boulder at her. The mage would most likely be hit by at least one of the attacks.
((...short posts FTW.))
Kat
Seeing Cyborg send a rock her way - a good-sized one, even - Kat dived aside and briefly forgot about her second attacker. A sharp pain raced down her back and she knew that as she had dodged the boulder, a dagger ripped her back and drenched it in her own blood. It probably wasn't fatal – probably. And it was definitely something she couldn't heal with her magic alone.
She didn't scream or cry out in pain. Her eyes and mouth were wide open as she collapsed onto the deck, a dark stain spreading all over her robes.
Why didn't you use your shield? It could have repelled both attacks...
I was saving my magic...saving it...
Kat willed herself not to pass out and tried to sit up; a Herculean task. All her efforts were futile, and as she lay bleeding on the deck, she wondered if people would begin ganging up on her. Reaching into her reserves, she then attempted to heal, but to no avail. Her fingers glowed purple briefly before the sparkles fizzled and died.
Kwoiffei ((Just outside Mage Manor))
If anyone had been observing the scene, they might have found it hard to believe that the beast with the Zafara was in fact one of the Mages. Then again, magic could be anything.
Drakhé looked towards Omni. It would have been hard to tell what he was thinking, even with two pairs of eyes; these eyes had no pupils. They had always been like this, ever since his first visit to Larnax...
"I was going to ask if you would be able to keep track of me while I'm flying, but I don't think I'd need to now. Now I'm wondering if you'd mind me landing on you if I get tired."
"W-well, last time I went through the forest, I got lost," Drakhé said, almost sheepishly. "So... I need a guide. A-and I'm a shapeshifter, so... yeah."
The Zafara's takeoff startled the serpent a little, but he focused once more. Now was not the time to panic at every little thing. Not with daimon running around.
With that final thought, he let out a low growl, and surged forward. He slithered, following Omni - he couldn't afford to get lost.
--
((The skies))
The nondescript mage had already been flying towards where she heard the battlefield would be. Being undead, and having magical wings, were advantageous when it came to flying.
But even then, it still took time. She silently cursed the very concept of time and how it was being distorted by the gems.
Wait – gems? What made me think there was more than one?!
...though, it'd make sense. Such artifacts would probably have back-up plans or something like that. If they had minds of their own. I wouldn't be surprised if the gem had its own mind.
She chuckled and dove through a cloud, ignoring how green the sky had become.
And she was greeted by the sight of two ghostly griffins locked in deadly combat. Oh for the love of-!
Vyt
Everything froze inside the Spacefleet HQ. Every space drones and living guards acted as if time had stopped for them. It was because of a bright purple light that suddenly spread out from Celestial's shadow.
"Greetings, darkness! How much damage has your blind chaos done to those forsaken by light? ... Ugh, Subila's habits are on me..."
Bluisa rose up from Celestial's shadow, stretching her limbs as if just woken up recently minus the split ends and nasty morning breath. Everything around her continued being frozen, including the unconscious Celestial. Eventually, the mage remembered why she was there and looked curiously towards the dragoness.
"She looks as if something made her exhausted," Bluisa noted, her tone drastically changed. "... Maybe we should return to Cat Assassin."
Placing her hand on Celestial's forehead, Bluisa began channeling a suitable amount of dark energy required for her to transport them near Cat Assassin. Her eyes suddenly were filled with a mixture of purple and white, a symbol that she had changed despite the fact that she came from the mind of an evil alternate.
Without uttering a chant, Bluisa let out her spell.
And the two vanished.
---
Bluisa's teleportation brought the two on the deck of the White Weewoo. The mist around her suddenly turned violent towards her, but this time the mage fought back with a spell of her own.
Through the eyes of the many, I shall resist Forcing the fact that I still do exist Surround myself with energy, for I will insist!
Bluisa jumped in an attempt to avoid the mist barely. Before the mist could catch up to her low jumping ability however, a dark energy ball similar to Cat Assassin's began to surround the mage, the image of her figure even blurry to the eyes outside the ball.
"You're not pushing me out again," she told the mist as her energy ball began to act as a solid wall.
((Sorry for the godmod. I'm very desperate to bring at least Celestial back from the deserted Spacefleet HQ.))
Ancient Warrior
The ancient warrior looked around him in surprise. It was the same old armies he had fought against when he was inside the gem, but now they weren't in the gem... But now he saw someone he didn't recognize. The ancient warrior drew his cutlass in one hand, his katana in the other, and struck at Nature.
Huntress
The clearing around the now-defeated blarf remained empty, and the thick treetops didn't let Hunty see anything else down there. The acidic tip of the crossbow drew patterns in the air, ready to dash off, but there was no reason for it to dash off.
Bloody Mary, keeping a stern eye on the rest of the deck while the captain kept a stern eye on the blarf, was abruptly shaken out of his focus as Hunty asked, "Anything down there?"
"How would I know?" The meepit scowled. "Even if there are, they wouldn't be stupid enough to wonder into your, as you put it, nice clear shot. Can't smell that far, and those stooges," he gestured at the battle on the deck, "are blocking out any possible noises down there."
Hunty paused, then stretched out her neck to look back at the bridge. "Justice!"
Her meepitgang, while not taking part in the actual battle, had taken up positions all around the ship on the railings, their round eyes full of grim determination. For the most part, their role on the ship was to Keep an Eye on Things, which was a stretch as it is, given the fact that they had no responsibilities on the ship as such. This usually meant that they let the crew handle themselves and only ever interfered if things were threatening the crew as a whole. But they were there, and Justice, the de facto second-in-command, was there as well, only a couple feet away from the captain.
"Yah?"
"Keep an eye on things. If anything bad happens, send someone down to fetch me."
"What if something bad happens to you?" Justice asked in her usual cold, matter-of-factly voice.
Hunty shot a quick glance over the battlefield, where Kat had just collapsed. "The usual. Next officer in line takes over. Not sure who it's gonna be until the battle's over... anyway, the ship is under your watchful eye."
"And what about you?" Bloody Mary asked in the dejected voice of someone who's long predicted what'll happen next.
"Just hold on." And the captain, tightening her grip on the big crossbow, leaped over the railing. The last she heard was Justice bark out a few short commands. From the corner of her eye she spotted as the meepits on the railings began to move together, closer to where Kat lay, to Keep an Eye on Things... and then darkness surrounded her.
"Ohcrudohcrudyoustubbornidiot," Bloody Mary's comfortingly familiar voice muttered by her ear in that darkness. The ship was a good two dozen feet from the ground, and Hunty had never even taken a single course in air magic, much as a captain could've used something like that, especially in a world dripping with magic. But she had other things to rely on, which is why she'd jumped straight into the ship's mist-wing.
It recognized her, and caught her, and let her through, and wrapped itself around her, slowing down her fall. Hunty dropped out from the other side of the wing in a cloud of mist like an avenging angel. The acid-dripping crossbow and the grumbling meepit who was still firmly clinging to her shoulder rather added to the effect.
"...and really, you've always told me that one can't rely on others at crucial times, what use wouldya be with broken legs?" the meepit announced as the pirate's feet touched the ground. The tendril of mist rocketed right back up - the ship, being a pirate ship, had no concern with any of the crewmembers outside its borders. "And how're you planning to get back up? Whistle and your wooden Lassie sends down the mist-taxi?"
"Will you can it for a minute?" Hunty hissed, her glance darting around in the forest. She was standing next to the blarf now, who hadn't moved a muscle, though his eyes - at least the one that was visible - was now shining cheerily. It was clear that the huge kraken wouldn't be of much use there. But he was still big, so Hunty leaned her back against his stomach. This was 180 degrees less to worry about.
"Smell anyone now?"
It was quieter down here, and although there wasn't much wind, the meepit could still pin down something. "Yeah," he said, not bothering to lower his voice. "Not far. Toldya that it wasn't a good idea."
Hunty shrugged with one shoulder as her other hand moved on the stock of the crossbow for a better grip. "It was the only thing I could do." The weapon was still pointing downwards, though clearly hinting that this particular fact could change fast. "Come out, come out, wherever you are. The pirates want to play."
"You'll either get killed or imprisoned," Bloody Mary hissed, sinking lower behind her shoulder.
"I've got you and the blarf. And the sword." It was tied to her belt, still silvery, and even though it was somewhat uncomfortable, its presence felt oddly comforting.
"Yeah, and the strategic thinking of Ronald McDonald," the meepit said, ears flattening.
Speck
Her lungs felt as though they were fit to burst, but she continued on through the brush. It was easy enough to follow the blarf with the fallen trees and branches. The giant footprints were a huge help, too. She pushed a fallen branch out of her way before she finally caught up to the sea monster.
What she saw worried her. The blarf was on the ground, occasionally twitching a tentacle or a leg. She felt as though she had become more attached to the beast, despite his initial reaction to her joining the pirates. Had it not been important to stay on her guard, she might have tried to comfort it.
As she caught her breath, she looked around the small clearing. There was the captain, holding up her crossbow at the ready under the shadow of the White Weewoo. A now misleading name for the ship, to be sure.
"Captain," She continued to huff for breath,"D'you know-- what happened-- to-- the blarf?”
Vyt
Cat Assassin would've jumped at what he saw later on if he wasn't grabbing both walls with all his limbs. The pirate captain literally jumped overboard without any hesitation, and he was doubtful that she knew anything that could save her from such a height. Quickly, he broke stealth and made his way near the edge, watching the figure of the captain slowly diminish to a speck as the distance between her and the ground exponentially decreased.
Seconds later, the captain caught the attention of the mist around the wings as it swiftly surrounded her descent. From the top, Cat Assassin could not figure out what was happening to the captain since she was completely enveloped by her own mist, but knowing the gem she might've been saved.
He would have to figure out how to give chase to the captain later. The feline eventually realized he was still a target of the pirates.
Turning around, he met the sight of a familiar figure under the guard of a dark energy ball. Despite it being able to conceal most of the figure, the feline quickly figured out by her cloak and cat ears who it was.
"Bluisa!" he exclaimed.
Hearing her name being mentioned, Bluisa waved her hand in a circular motion. The gesture made its mark clearly as the energy ball slowly dissipated to give way to her freedom of movement. Upon seeing the cat she looked up to back in the Ninja Dojo, she quickly ran towards the feline and wrapped her arms tightly around him for a moment. For now, she wanted to feel the warmth of a friend once more.
Cat Assassin let Bluisa hug him for awhile, then noted her. "Bluisa, we're in the middle of a battlefield. Everything has changed since you were gone," he told her. As much as he wanted to give out the details, Cat Assassin knew the pirates would not give him time to elaborate on them for the mage.
Amneiger
Amneiger watched the pirate captain get lowered to the ground by the odd darkness that seemed to surround the pirate ship and heard her call for the Spacefleeters to come out. Does she really think that that's going to work? We've got good cover, good concealment, and she's standing in an exposed area. All we have to do is keep quiet and - what's the noise?
Amneiger looked to his left and saw a small group of the gem warriors standing in the trees, staring at him. One of them started towards him, saying something in some odd language while waving his sword around. What's he doing? Maybe trying to ask what's going on here –
There was a slight whirring sound as minitank 4 and 5 turned to face the newcomer. "No, don't shoot yet!" Amneiger stood up and held up his hands in what he hoped would be interpreted in a peaceful manner. "I can't understand you. What do you want?"
That was louder than it should have been...I'm so dead.
Jina ((I quit this a while ago but I never made it official, so this is just tp clear up what happened to me))
Jina died.
Huntress
Bloody Mary's plump body stretched itself out into the shape of a peanut as he spotted someone nearing them through the bushes. "Wouldya look at that."
"Friend or foe?" Hunty asked, instantly raising the crossbow.
"Speck," the meepit said laconically, and indeed, a minute later the pirate made it to the clearing, looking like she was about to keel over. The crossbow lowered again, mainly because it was hard to keep poised with only one hand, heavy as it was, but the captain still remained watchful.
"Captain," Speck gasped, catching her breath, "d'you know-- what happened-- to-- the blarf?"
"No," Hunty said, gnawing on her lip, as Bloody Mary nodded along. "And I'm not entirely sure if we have time to interrogate him. Didn't you notice anyone on your way here?"
"Brp," the kraken said, very nearly smacking her with one tentacle, and began to snarl. From this close, it sounded like an incoming subway train.
"More people closing in," Bloody Mary translated, sinking back behind the shoulder, eyes gleaming. A moment later his ears perked as a voice came through the thicket.
"No, don't shoot yet! I can't understand you. What do you want?"
"'Yet', I like that attitude," Hunty grinned, lifting her crossbow straight back to shooting level.
"This didn't sound like it was coming your way," said the meepit, ears moving frantically in an attempt of hearing as much as possible. "Now you can it for a while, I'm trying to..." his voice trailed off.
Now the captain could hear it too - muffled voices farther away from them. Farther in the forest, while they were standing on the clearing.
"Sitting ducklings, all fallen out of the nest and unable to fly," the meepit hissed grimly, then shook his head. "Can't make out anything they're saying."
Hunty shrugged. She had a direction and that was all she needed to aim the crossbow.
"Get out here, the lot of you, and face me!" she shouted, hoping for the best. "Lurking in the bushes like dirty ninjas... but you're not ninjas, that I can tell." The crossbow moved from side to side a little. "Ninjas tend to have more guts."
"Confuzius say, sitting duckling shouldn't quite get so reckless," her rabid little voice-of-reason muttered from her shoulder. Hunty grimaced and lowered her weapon a little.
"Or at least tell me what you did to my blarf and how to cure him," she ventured.
Rider
Rider blocked Midknight's slash. Cap'n had jumped ship. that means trouble on the ground. Meanwhile, the Weewoo was as vulnerable as Poland in an average history class.
Kat was also vulnerable. Bleeding all over the place. Hasn't fainted yet, though. Go figure.
"Alright, I guess this puts me in charge," she told the ship, her eyes never leaving Midknight. "Re-form your wings and be careful about it, if you will. Head for the sea double-speed. Spare some mist, cover Kat. Keep her safe until someone comes to heal her. When you get to the sea and have some mist to spare, well, you know what we do to mischeivous mercs. Free flying lessons."
She grabbed a rope and swung over the edge, landing gracefully in a tree. She scurried down as fast as her legs could take her as overhead, the ship's wings beat at the treetops, pulling her into the air. She dropped to the ground, panting and brandishing her cutlass. "Cap'n, Speck, Bloody Mary. Partying without me, I see?"
PFA ((White Weewoo: the deck))
Jernath's dagger dug deep. The mage collapsed to the floor, her blood soaking her robes. Jernath just stood there for a moment, staring at the mage and panting. The fight was ending almost as soon as it had started. Jernath was a little glad for this fact, as now he would finally be able to get a rest.
...Or maybe not, he thought, as the dragon girl and a mage girl suddenly warped on-board. He turned toward them, carefully watching as the mage girl put a barrier around herself. If they decided to get violent, he would get violent back.
---
PFA was surprised to see Bluisa warp on-board the Weewoo. She hadn't seen Bluisa since... she felt her heart sink a little. She hadn't seen Bluisa since she had abandoned her and Uncle, by Huntress' command.
But no. She wasn't about to abandon them again.
As eyes started to go to Bluisa and Uncle, who had just hugged, PFA decided that this was her chance. Before any of the pirates could attack the two, PFA rushed out, wielding her shuriken threateningly, and stood in front of the two, guarding them.
"Don't even think of hurting them," she growled to the crowd in general. She knew full-well that people weren't going to react too kindly to an escaped prisoner such as her, but she didn't want to sit by and watch as her friends got killed.
Omni ((Between Mage Manor and Castle Kestrel))
Omni flew, and flew, and flew. Occasionally she would go at a diagonal for a moment to check and make sure that Drakhé was still fairly close by, but other than that and occasionally stopping on Drakhé's head to rest not much interesting happened.
After awhile of travel they came to the forest near Castle Kestrel. A ways into which she spotted a black ship, resting on a pillow of dark mist on the treetops. There was something familiar about it…
"Is that the Weewoo?!” She half-shouted, mostly just thinking aloud.
Rising higher to get a better look, she could make out the shape of the Blarf near the black ship. She also saw a huge mass of what seemed to be people or something. That doesn't look good…
She lowered herself again and landed on Drakhé's head, again. "We'll want to be careful, the Weewoo looks cursed and there's a big, and I mean BIG, group of people or demons or something beyond it.”
The Horsemen
War's red steed was sweating. Even though about a third of the ancient army had by now wandered off, the remaining two thirds were still fighting.
Death was sitting in the saddle of his pale horse, galloping lightly on the sidelines. While War hadn't been that busy for centuries, Death didn't actually have much to do. The fight was less of a fight and more of a bar brawl. The warriors were packed so tightly together that most of them didn't have any room to pull out sharp weapons without risking to cut their own important bits off. So they had mostly resorted to headbutting, stomping on other people's feet, and general yelling.
The reaper watched as War's charger ploughed through the mass of warriors that, albeit packed, somehow let it through easily. He knew that the current guilders had long left and working with a resurrected army was like eating yesterday's meal - you can heat it in the microwave but it simply won't taste the same. But a job was a job; besides, due to that demon, their work had remained unfinished back then.
"You bloody biradez!" a voice yelled somewhere near him with the kind of nasal quality people use when someone else is twisting their nose, "I shoulda gnown dad from de minude diz sdarded! Yer ziding wif zad- ow! that demon!"
"What?" demanded the pirate who'd just let go of his nose. "We, siding with that jackal?"
"Well, you let him get away with the pirates!" the owner of the now interestingly purple-hued nose retorted.
"Get away? You think those pirates are so wimpy that once they have Leraye, they'd let him get away?" The pirate got riled up at once.
"Didn't look like much of a prisoner," snapped another warrior, a tall elf in armor. "He was sitting on a couch!"
"So? Not everyone treats their prisoners like something the dog dug up, unlike some I know..."
War's bloody sword was spinning. "It's not quite the same," he said, now within earshot of Death, "but it falls under the same category, at least."
"Not any more, actually."
The two turned around as more arguments broke out behind their backs.
This horse was probably black, but its hair was matted and shedding at places, making it come off as dust grey. It had no mane to speak of and the tail had only a few sad-looking hairs attached to it. You could count each and every rib under this tight skin. This horse looked like a skeleton covered with old horse hide - and that was, in fact, exactly what it was.
Death grunted happily, fumbling in the depths of his robe as the black horse stepped up to him and affectionately nuzzled his bony knee. A primordial sugar lump appeared fom the Horseman's pocket, and the black horse gulped it down, big ears moving back and forth.
I SEE YOU'VE KEPT HIM WELL, he said, only now looking at the rider of the miserable wreck. I ONCE THOUGHT OF USING HORSE HIDE MYSELF, BUT IT GOT WRINKLES EVERYWHERE.
"Oh, he's such a total cutie, really," said Famine, patting the neck of the horse. It sounded like shaking a bagful of dice. "And it really isn't hard, like, some skillful needlework and a little cutting here and there. Though I still had to use like some wire and such."
Famine was, at least compared to the other Horsemen, rather new to the job. The old Famine had retired after the Mages had put an end to crop failures and other such things with, well, magic, and a few simple weather spells. But shortly after his retirement it became clear that all the little metaphorical things, the longing for things one cannot get, cravings and wishes spiralled out of control - all those had also been Famine's expertise. So they had to find someone new for the job, and fast.
The new Famine was a former top model who had collapsed and died on the catwalk for all too obvious reasons, and brought in by Death mere minutes after her demise. She actually weighed less than Death and, due to excessive make-up, looked quite a bit more creepy. A skull is simple enough. A skull wearing mascara is just wrong on too many levels. But she, albeit a little sad that people couldn't see her any more, was rather happy with her new job. She liked her horse, the fact that she didn't have to eat any more, and she could still wear designer clothes. Which she did. The other Horsemen had tried to protest that, but the girl had pointed out that there's no such thing as traditional Famine clothing and so she'd like to keep her D&G, thank you very much.
"Why're you here?" War asked, trying to sound polite. He had nothing against Famine, but the girl had still once been a human - even if she looked less like one than War himself.
"Thousands of warriors," said the girl, nodding at the army. "All of them, like, totally hungry for revenge. Those things happen, but like, usually not on that scale." She grimaced. As did the other two, subconsciously fearing that Famine's already tight skin might snap at the cheekbones. "I know I'm totally new to this, but I've read back and like, something like this only ever happened..."
DURING THE FIRST WAR, said Death. THEIR ANGER AND THIRST FOR REVENGE HAS PILED UP INSIDE THEM FOR CENTURIES, WITHOUT THEM EVEN KNOWING.
Famine beamed. "I know! It's like, the gig of the millennium!"
The three turned to watch the battlefield - or rather brawl-field - in front of them. At this point the different groups had come to a rather similar conclusion.
"Leraye!"
"We need to find him!"
"And get our revenge!"
Death's horse sniffed the air, whinnying quietly. War's horse shook its mane. Famine's raised its head. Their riders gathered up the reins.
"Looks like we're moving out," said War. Death nodded.
Famine seemed hesitant. "Like... before we go... have you perchance seen, you know... him?"
The other two gave her a sideways glance. The fourth Horseman. The riders of the Apocalypse rarely got together, for the most part only War and Death worked together, occasionally Death and Famine, but three of them together was a very bad omen. Three was only one short of four. And if the fourth was to come...
NO, Death said. NOT YET.
Famine gnawed on her lip, nodded, and gently nudged her horse forward. As the army began to scatter, the three Horsemen rode off. The field next to Castle Kestrel no longer needed them. They weren't sure where the next battle would break out, but once it happens, they would be there.
Cyborg
" Ok so it looks like Kat will have protection from this stupid godmoding ship of wonders ship. Jernath she'll most likely die from loss of blood. I suggest we go to the new comers and see which side they're on." Cyborg said as he walked over to the ninjas and the new comers. Midknight followed with Shado and the squirrels behind him. " 'Ello, I see ya ninjas escaped, good. I need to know though are you and these newcomers on our side or the pirates' side?" Cyborg asked.
PFA ((White Weewoo: the deck))
Jernath was surprised when he saw the ninjas come up to defend the mage girl. So she's on the ninjas' side? Maybe we won't have to fight her, then, he thought, easing up a little. But he kept a close eye on Cyborg as he walked up to the newcomers, incase they decided to refuse the alliance.
PFA was about to slash at Cyborg with her shuriken, but stopped when he started talking. "'Ello, I see ya ninjas escaped, good. I need to know, though, are you and these newcomers on our side or the pirates' side?"
PFA narrowed her eyes. "I don't know. I'm pretty sure that both of those sides have been trying to kill us lately. Which one would be less likely to backstab us?"
The fingers holding her shuriken twitched. If these mercenaries didn't give her a good reason not to, she could easily release it and have it kill everyone nearby who wasn't a ninja. And there were a lot of non-ninjas nearby.
Zari ((Ferdamei is absent and will not be returning until Mid-May at the most, so I will be godmoding her character according to her plans.))
The clones jumped as the pirate girl spoke again. An unconscious decision was reached without Zari's input- a novelty for the Illhvrenan, who was slumped against a tree, massaging her temples. One by one they filed out into the open and sat.
Unfortunately for the Fae flying above the Battlefield and the human making sure she didn't do anything stupid, the wind at that monet decided to change direction and speed up, leaving Ailura Vaiderayle and Ferdamei Omivaise Struggling to keep their course to Castle Kestrel. Ferdamei was a wind mage, so her passage was easier than that of her friend, who only had her wings and dumb luck.
Both Zari's flinched and rased a hand, Ailura's to her forhead, ZariKrahia's to her pendant. Ferdamei attempted to renew her grip on Ailura's wrist. Too late. The unlikely duo were thrown in opposite directions, Ferdamei to Castle Kestrel, and Ailura down.
"Owowowowowow..ARGH!" The two Fae skitterd away from each other in unison. For a few seconds neither of them made a sound. Finally, Ailura sat on her haunches. "You youngsters grow up too fast." "I had to. I'd no parents, no income, and Tevara's money was gonna run out sometime." ZariKrahia replied flatly. "Gonna make some speech about how hard it was, then?" "Sorry, didna bring my cue cards. Don't you get snarky with me just because you figure yourself wiser. I've seen alot more than you had at my age." Ailura blinked at her counterpart's phrasing. She'd changed alot in four milllenia. Her features were somehow rougher, face thinner, movement less clumsy. Not to mention the cat ears- Where'd they come from?
"So. You've gone and grown ten years in four. Who are this lot? Your merry band of mad flying mutants?" Ailura gestured at Fraze, Ethan, and Amneiger. "Whassit to you? They're friends. Yanno what they're s'posed to be a'right? We're rescuin our commander, who's gone and got himself posessed by some evil spirit lot. Fwee."
Ailura winced. This reminded her too much of Shino's betayal the last Guild War. "Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it..." "Wahahaaaaat?" "Nevermind."
((Zari speaking funny= She's angry. Real angry. Watch out for smoke.
And...the final confrontation is not finished. They will continue to throw insults and slices of RL-Zari's birthday cake at each other and each other's guild.))
Cyborg
Rose who had been led by Jernath behind an area with some crates, had finally come out. Her ankle still hurt but the swelling had gone down a little bit. The fighting had seemed to stop or at least thats what she though because Cyborg had started to talk to the ninjas. She decided to walk up to Jernath to ask him what Cyborg was doing. "Umm what is Cyborg doing now? Is he still asking for an alliance," she asked a little confused with what was going on.
Vyt
"'Ello, I see ya ninjas escaped, good. I need to know, though, are you and these newcomers on our side or the pirates' side?"
Cat Assassin kept silent for a moment, thinking about what the cyborg Kougra had just bluntly told them. The pirates certainly weren't a trustful side, but the mercenaries in which the Kougra resided had yet to convince them that they are someone reliable. The pirates had already imprisoned him - twice - for protecting someone he wasn't even supposed to protect. The feline wasn't so sure if the mercenaries would not do the same, considering the harsh stories Vyt told him when he was part of them back then, and would rather play safe.
"I think you're missing a pretty large piece of this puzzle," Cat Assassin noted the Kougra. "The question must be: what is the side you're fighting for? I don't care for a bit if you're fighting for the pirates or the mercenaries, but I do care much for the purpose of your fight."
It wasn't obvious, but Cat Assassin was trying to dodge the cyborg's question. The ninjas could not bear to state their side too early, and for now they had to stay literally close to the captain and watch out for any malicious thoughts in her actions.
Cat Assassin tapped PFA's shoulders and gestured her not to talk much. Any slip-ups could not be afforded.
Bacon “Reinforcements? I've got eight clones, armed with...Am I hearing this correctly? Spray Deodrant cans, encyclopedias, used sport sock guns, Illhvrenan Garden fertiliser, kitchen implements, and other things that you really shouldn't be able to use as weapons, but can if you're creative enough. What on earth have I been teaching?!"
"Uh, so is that a yes or a no on reinforcements?" Bacon said. Before Zari could respond, though, she was interrupted by the sudden appearence of someone that obviously knew her.
As the two old... friends didn't seem quite like the right word... as the two of them continued their banter, Bacon walked slightly away to see if the army was doing anything. It was. It was moving.
Bacon's eyes grew wide. Looking at Ethan and Amneiger, he asked, "Do either of you have a radio? I'm calling HQ for reinforcements. Now."
Fraze ((Near the Blarf)) Fraze felt a twinge ("twinge" in this case meaning "sudden, sharp and violent lurch") of déjà vu when he analyzed his situation. He was cloaked, in the woods, and quite possibly nearing a confrontation with three pirates, just as had happened less than a day ago. The same three pirates, at that. The Pirate captain resorted to the time-honored tradition of taunting one's enemies. "Get out here, the lot of you, and face me!" she yelled, pointing her crossbow in the direction of the 'Fleeters. Aparently, she had heard Amneiger's exclamation as well. "Lurking in the bushes like dirty ninjas... but you're not ninjas, that I can tell."
The meepit on her shoulder--whether it was the same one who had smelled him some time ago, he was not sure--muttered something, and the Captain seemed to back down somewhat. "Or at least tell me what you did to my blarf and how to cure him," she said in a more subdued voice. Fraze looked toward the blarf's rear end--the kineticomp was still there, partially hidden under the creature's matted hair. He was pondering whether he should remove or turn it off for the pirates--but this thought was soon pushed out of his mind by a more pressing matter. The army had begun to move. Like the random motions of gas molecules could all sum up to give an overall motion in a certain direction--wind--so the squabbling, brawling army seemed to be moving somewhere, though Fraze could not figure out where. He barely heard Bacon's voice through the trees and scrub, presumably speaking to the other 'Fleeters: "Do either of you have a radio? I'm calling HQ for reinforcements. Now." "I have one," Fraze said over the comm, still wishing to remain hidden. "But in light of recent events, I don't know if HQ will believe me if I call for reinforcements." He wanted to get back to the 'Fleeters, but he felt a pang of regret for the pirates--they were stranded down here now. He didn't want them to be without the blarf's protection, but he also didn't want the 'Fleeters to be without protection if the blarf got hungry again. Trying to be both quick and quiet--not an easy combination--Fraze went to where he had placed the kineticomp, and turned it off. If he understood it correctly, the 'Fleeters could still activate it by remote. "He's fine," he said, knowing they couldn't see him. Not wanting to make noise with his retreat, he crouched and jumped, preparing to glide back to the 'Fleeters.
Zari
A flat silence ensued. Zari cleared her throat. "Sorry for the interruption. This is Ailura Vaiderayle, who has taken my name for the last four Millenia in various forms. She's...the other me, I 'spose. We're sort of different versions of the same person. there's more'n two of us, too, I'd think more on about...7 or so. The clones are sort-of reinforcements, but they're not too smart against people with melee weapons who can hack at them. Radio? I think my wristcompi is working..."
Zari turned the wristcompi, which had turned off and begun to sulk. "Stupid thing. Nifty it may be, but it gets the fakes when I don't use it for a few posts." Ailura flinched when the oversized watch bleeped sulkily and began to run a diagnostic on it's irate pwner's pulse.
Caution: Blood pressure raised. Magical outlet needed sometime within the next hour
"Yes, I know I'm gonna need to use magic to lower my blood pressure sometime soon! Just put me through to HQ, preferably Davis Verdam, I.D 83592795, or Umbra Kelleson, since she's taken to working in I.T. Even though she ain't good with it, and prolly won't be until the sea-cows take up ballroom dancing!" "Why are you talking to a piece of metal? That won't get you anywhere. Metal pieces do not have brains." Ailura had edged over and was now examining the wristcomputer with incresing apprehension.
"Maybe in your world they don't. This thing can tell the time, contact headquarters, withdraw credits from my bank account, and translate most languages into Illhvrenan. I used it to speak Anglese before I learnt the language. It's pretty ancient by my race's standards. The latest ones can sing, stamp on the fourth wall, and automatically alert the user as to when their fridge is empty." Ailura looked baffled. "Again, in plain Anglese, perhaps?" "Er...That was plain Anglese." "Oh."
((Yes...I really do speak like that IRL under stress. That poor fourth wall. It's been stamped on.))
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Post by GW2 on Oct 16, 2008 16:40:19 GMT -5
KatMeepits. All around her. It was definitely not the big forum in the sky, and yet it wasn't the condemned forum down below either. These Meepits were...Meepits, but they retained that air of familiarity that told Kat she was in good hands - or paws. "I assume...the Cap'n's off somewhere," she whispered hoarsely, trying to spare some magic to keep the wound from getting worse. She could only use enough to avoid infection and slow the blood flow a bit, but she couldn't keep at it for long. "If no one comes...I won't last long..." The mist all around the ship shifted, some of it draping over her like an oddly comforting blanket. It would be so much nicer if it also had some healing properties... Cyborg" I am the current leader of this squad of mercenaries, as our other died. I am Cyborg, a former pirate out for revenge against this ship and it's crew. This is my brother Midknight, my friend Rose, who's a healer, and this is our archer Jernath. What are we fighting for, ... hmm. Well I don' know about them, but I am fighting for revenge and friends of mine, one who is dead and the other hasn't posted been doing anything, but is one of the most trustworthy people I know. I don't know if you'll belive me, but I can offer protection to you guys. There are the mercenaries, and I can offer protection from our allies." Cyborg declared as he placed his cutlasses on his belt. VytCat Assassin wasn't convinced by Cyborg's statement. He eventually realized this was the same Kougra who just sold him to the pirates for some shinies, and fighting the pirates did not look like the right reason he should use. The devil went down to Georgia, he was looking for a soul to steal. He was in a bind 'cos he was way behind: he was willin' to make a deal. When he came across this young man sawin' on a fiddle and playin' it hot. And the devil jumped upon a hickory stump and said: "Boy let me tell you what..." But the feline knew how to play along. Cat Assassin began to glance towards every mercenaries in front of him, taking special note of his former cohort Jernath. With one of the mercenaries already known by the ninjas, the group did not look very much threatening. "... Protection?" Cat Assassin replied, his tone becoming more coarse. "Don't you ever THINK I forgot what you just did to me. Your greed got the better of you and forced you to capture me for fifty shinies!" The tension was starting to build up, as Cat Assassin slowly broke out of his composure. He began to take a defensive stance. Even Bluisa was surprised at the feline's course of action. "Nice try, mercenaries, but this is one veteran fighter you won't be able to fool. You are no different from the pirates..." "I bet you didn't know it, but I'm a fiddle player too. And if you'd care to take a dare, I'll make a bet with you. Now you play a pretty good fiddle, boy, but give the devil his due: I bet a fiddle of gold against your soul, 'cos I think I'm better than you." Bluisa knew what was going to happen. She quickly shook PFA to get his attention and gave her a serious glare followed by a nod. A fight was starting to brew. "We ninjas do not side with anyone," Cat Assassin proudly stated, almost forgetting what he had thought earlier. "... Especially the likes of you who will degrade yourselves to such unforgivable acts." "PFA, go for Rose. Bluisa, fight Jernath. I'll take the Kougra brothers down once and for all," was the last thing he had ever said. The boy said: "My name's Johnny and it might be a sin, But I'll take your bet, your gonna regret, 'cos I'm the best that's ever been PFA ((White Weewoo: the deck))Jernath looked over at Rose, eyes widening a little. "Rose? Shouldn't you be...?" But he decided not to finish that sentence, and just gestured to Cyborg, who was trying to make an alliance with the ninjas. And I'm still not exactly sure what Cyborg's talking about with all this leader stuff... I don't recall Hades ever being our leader. Or did someone else die?Cat Assassin had started protesting the idea of an alliance, rather angrily at that. Bluisa gave PFA a serious nod, as a gesture to be ready for what was about to happen. PFA just gripped her shuriken tighter, glaring the mercenaries over. "PFA, go for Rose. Bluisa, fight Jernath. I'll take the Kougra brothers down once and for all," Cat Assassin said. And with that, it was official. PFA charged at Rose, prepared to slash at her with her shuriken. Jernath grimaced, and although he would have liked to help Rose fend off PFA, he had other things to worry about. Namely, a wild Bluisa had appeared Bluisa was about to attack him, and he wanted to be ready for that. So he took up a defensive stance, glaring at the mage. He hoped he could say he would be ready for anything, but he was fighting a mage again, so unfortunately he couldn't say that. VytBluisa swallowed hard when PFA started attacking. Though she wasn't as fast as Cat Assassin, she was still quick to her senses, being able to have the first strike. To that, Bluisa was quite excited. She then looked towards Jernath. The rogue had already picked up his defensive stance, forcing her to take a stand. It was not the time for her to be hesitant; the guy she was facing might be ruthless enough to kill her without mercy. Nervously, Bluisa pulled out her long staff from her cloak. It was now or never. Johnny you rosin up your bow and play your fiddle hard. 'Cos hells broke loose in Georgia and the devil deals it hard. And if you win you get this shiny fiddle made of gold. But if you lose, the devil gets your soul. Bluisa's eyes had their colors starting to swirl around, a dash of white covering a part of her purple pupils. For the mage, it was the signal that she was prepared to fight. Quickly, Bluisa sent out two black fireballs towards Jernath. On the background, Vyt and Subila silently watched from the edge of the ship. Since Bluisa, now the exact mixture of them both, was around fighting, they could not get much closer for some reason. Subila's pupils started to shake in fear. "Do you think... Bluisa..." "... Yes, she has..." Vyt badly finished. Subila paused for awhile. "Will she be able to teach PFA from now on?" Vyt gave away a long sigh. "I fear for her not being able to. From the future, I sense something terribly wrong happening to her." The devil opened up his case and he said: "I'll start this show." And fire flew from his fingertips as he resined up his bow. And he pulled the bow across his strings and it made an evil hiss. Then a band of demons joined in and it sounded something like this. HuntressThe White Weewoo, although mainly focusing on staying on top of the trees at this point, was still more or less aware of what was happening on the deck. It knew that Hunty had jumped off the ship, and it also heard - or at least paid attention to - what Rider was saying. "Alright, I guess this puts me in charge. Re-form your wings and be careful about it, if you will. Head for the sea double-speed. Spare some mist, cover Kat. Keep her safe until someone comes to heal her. When you get to the sea and have some mist to spare, well, you know what we do to mischeivous mercs. Free flying lessons." With that, the ex-captain jumped off the ship too. Technically speaking, Rider wouldn't have been in charge under any circumstances, but a ship doesn't think that way. It remembered her well, from the days of her captainship, from the days that didn't even include Hunty at the wheel or as Rider's apprentice. In the Weewoo's mind, Rider was as much a captain as Hunty. So it obeyed at once. As thin waves of mist surrounded Kat and the gathering meepits, the rest of the mass under the keel began to shift around. The ship was heavy, even if the demon-form hadn't added much weight. It had already sunk deep between the branches and was mainly sitting in place because it had wedged itself between five particularly strong oaks, but now it pushed itself free with creaking and cracking that would've made any Greenpeace activist go pale. Branches bent back and snapped as the wings spread again. Then, with a loud WHOMP and the rustle of the leaves, the brigantine went airborne again. Leaving behind a marred and crushed spot in the treetops, it rose a dozen feet higher and flew off over the forest. "So much of that," Bloody Mary mumbled as the comforting shade of the ship slid off. "But at least we got backup," Hunty grinned as Rider dropped next to them. "Welcome off-board." "Yeah, more sitting ducklings," said the meepit, who seemed hellbent on having a Bad Day. "And the shadow-Lassie went off too. And- hrm?" His ears perked again as his nostrils twitched. That smell... a familiar one. "He's fine," a bodiless voice said at the same moment. Bloody Mary very nearly slammed his teeth into Hunty's shoulder out of pure surprise and fright, but then got himself together. That voice fit with the smell. "Stoppit," he said, patting his paw against Hunty's crossbow-hand that had instantly turned to aim at the direction the voice had come from. His ears, still perked, were sending him frantic signals. Someone invisible was messing around near them, yes, but that wasn't even nearly comparable with the mess that was apparently nearing them through the forest. The blarf had picked it up too, and his ears instantly perked. A second later he realized that he could perk his ears, and he raised his tentacles. That worked too. The kraken gave a cheerful growl and struggled to his feet. Hunty turned around. "Oh? That was a fast recovery." "More of a fast favor, " the meepit said, keeping the rest to himself for the time being. He sat up on her shoulder. "'Kay, people, it's getting hot in here. There's a crowd moving in and I don't like the idea of getting in their way." Hunty gave him a sideways glance. "A crowd?" The blarf had turned around, his edgy head facing the direction of the castle. "Aaaaaarrrr..." By the time he finished his drawn-out, rum-scented, and generally smelly word, Hunty had to lean against him in order to not fall over, but she was scowling. "The army." "Thassright," hissed the meepit, abandoning her shoulder and landing on the blarf's head, "so you might wanna get on while he still has his sense of direction and let's get outta here." The army was, indeed, moving. From above it looked like it had exploded, different groups went in different directions, but the majority still moved towards the sea, and thus through the forest. Hundreds of feet strode through the bushes, cracking fallen branches and making leaves rustle. Multiplied by all the warriors, their occasional shouts and bickering, it created a low rumble that sounded like an incoming storm. Pirates know well what an incoming storm means, and so Hunty didn't waste any time arguing. She jumped on the blarf's back which was, thankfully, a lot less of a nuisance to sit on as most of his spikes were broken. "We gotta re-forge his spikes at some point," she said as one of the tentacles curled around her waist. The blarf wasn't a comfortable steed, since most of his back was covered in metal and stone, but at least he was considerate. "Rider, Speck, get on, and let's sit backwards, that way we know who's chasing us and are able to do something about it." She'd left her quiver on the ship, so everything she had was in the crossbow, but that still meant twenty acidic bolts, so she intended to use them well. The blarf snorted, cast a quick look back, and once he'd made sure everyone was on, trotted off through the forest, his pace still a little uncertain, but a bit more sober than before. *** "Coming through, coming through, pardonemente..." The meepits shrank back. They were all too aware that the ship was now dominated by people who shouldn't have been there, and the first mate was injured, but they had plenty of confidence in the decisions of the higher-ups, as well as the ship, so they didn't care much. Instead they'd sent after Boom who was currently hurrying over the deck, dragging a small bag along. "And what are our complaints?" he asked, jumping on Kat's neck and leaning his paws on her chin to stare into her eyes. From up close, his sooty face, nearly nonexistent ears, and the eager gleam in his eyes were often enough to take out a lesser man. Boom was more of an experimenting scientist than a doctor, and, being as rabid as the rest, he was under the impression that 'sterile' is some exotic fruit, but at least he was familiar with anatomy. "S'her back, doofus," said Justice. "Just follow the stains." "The stains are all over her robe, if I was to judge by them, I'd have to sew her like a quilt in order to piece her back together," said the not-so-doctor, pulling a needle with thread out of his bag, "but guess I'll have to see about it. Brace yourself and no struggling, thank you." Celestial ((The Weewoo))Leste blinked, dazed by the momentary blankness. She was still shadowy and thus alive but so much had changed since she had last posted had last seen it. However, there was no time to think now as a battle was being waged. Two mages had appeared on the deck, one was unconcious but another was shooting fireballs at the mercenary that had set her free. Before she could even think what she was doing, Leste flew in front of the fireballs, absorbing them into herself.
She didn't know why she just did that but one thing was certain: he had freed her and she owed him that. But maybe it was something else....Her head burned. Her arms felt as cold as polar ice. Celestial opened her eyes but immediately wished she didn't as waves of pain rippled across her body. Thoughts dulled by the stark pain, she coughed once, twice, three times. Every single cough was agonising. She couldn't bear the pain for long as once again the blackness of oblivion enveloped her. It was an escape from her terrible pain. WolfWolf stopped reading and set the book down to the sound of deep, resonant bells ringing throughout the Keep. He rose slowly and followed the echoing harmonics towards the large oaken doors he had entered through just some days before. Certainly, though, it could not be one of his Knights come to find him; no one outside of himself and Sir Kabe even knew that the Keep stood here, and certainly Sir Kabe was too busy keeping the castle in check to stop by for a visit. He would have sent an owl or, daresay, a falcon had he need for Wolf, he knew this. So who possibly could it be?
Wolf tugged on the doors and witnessed firsthand the flawless mechanisms that twisted and turned and made the massive slab of wood as easy to swing open as a thin slice of paper, and as soon as the doorway was clear, Wolf drew his sword and fell into stance.
“Who are you?”
The woman did not falter, but merely nodded with a curt smile. “I am Naft Ali, King Wolf.”
Wolf stood taller, eying the woman more closely. She wore black garbs of mourning and a black sash wrapped around her hair. “Friend or foe?” he asked.
“I am not your foe,” the woman said.
“But are you my friend?”
She hesitated, her slender face barely broken by lines of worry. “I shall never be your friend, but I bring information that shall aid us both, if only you allow me to enter and speak with you.”
Wolf felt his jaw tighten as a cold wind blew past him, scattering purple snow through the entryway. “Enter,” he said at last as he sheathed his sword, “but allow me to ensure that you carry no weapons.”
Naft Ali nodded. “Of course, O King. I bring no objects of war with me; I come only to beseech your services in peace.” She stepped inside. “But nevertheless, if you would feel more comfortable ensuring this, so be it. Have your way with me.”
Wolf swallowed uneasily and allowed the doors to swing shut as he ran his hands up and then down the woman. She stood perfectly still as he did so, practically not even breathing.
“Come,” he said when he was satisfied her words were true, “we shall speak in comfort.” Naft Ali smiled briefly and nodded once again as he began leading her towards an ornate room bearing two carved sofas sitting opposite each other on either side of a cherry-stained table. He motioned for Naft Ali to sit, and once she had, he sat opposite her.
“Now, what message do you carry for me?”
Naft Ali’s hands were held together, palms upward in her lap and the side of her mouth curled upwards in a wistful smile. “I must beseech your assistance; my sister has…departed, and to bring her back to me, we must work in harmony.”
Wolf nodded. “Continue.”
Naft Ali frowned. Obviously, this was not the response she had hoped for. “You do not recall me, do you, King Wolf?”
Wolf shook his head slowly from side to side. “No, I do not. Should I?”
“Only if you were a great magician,” she said. “No, I suppose you are not such; I should not have assumed you would recall. I should have known better. Please, allow me to explain.”
Wolf took a breath and held onto it unconsciously.
“Have you ever wondered how your Dragon’s Blade was broken?”
Wolf felt the color run from his face. “I was told it was best not to wonder.”
“How fitting.” Naft Ali nodded. “I, however, can supply you with the answer. Do you wish to understand?”
There was silence for a moment, and then, “Yes.”
“Good, very good; you must come to understand much in a short time to come.” Naft Ali’s hand brushed across her forehead before she quickly caught herself and reclaimed her posture. “Your blade was broken in the battle against my master, Barak Draymon. You killed him.”
Wolf felt fire lurch in his stomach at the mere mention of the name. He leapt up and drew his sword, its tip touching Naft Ali’s neck in less than a heartbeat. He recalled it all now, the betrayal of everything he had once stood for, the betrayal of his brethren as he was overtaken by Barak. The sight of Shino lying in his own blood, all the cause of Barak’s ruthless greed and desire.
“Calm yourself, O King,” Naft Ali said. “Kill me, and this storm may overtake the world before it can be saved.”
Wolf hesitated, but after a moment he sheathed his sword and resumed his sitting position. “Continue.”
“Very well, milord.” Naft Ali took a breath and rubbed her neck for a moment, no doubt it was sore. “Are you familiar with the guilds of this land?”
“Yes. The Knights and the Mages, the Pirates and the Ninjas.”
Naft Ali nodded and there was a brief pause before she spoke again. “Yes, those are four of them.”
“There are others?”
“Indeed. The Spacefleet—”
“Spacefleet?”
“They live deep in our heavens, upon the moon, far beyond our sight in the sky. They are peoples of the stars…mostly.”
Wolf turned his head upwards, gazed into the abyssal heights of the Keep. “People of the stars, eh? They live on the moon? And just who are the others.”
“The Mercenaries—”
“There have always been mercenaries.”
“True, but they have not always banded together in a guild.”
“And are there more?”
“Yes, two more.” Naft Ali paused and Wolf thought he saw tears budding around her eyes. “The Shadow Guild, from which I have come…. After our last leader perished, and after Barak was slain, we fell apart and became no more…. The oldest guild, defeated in mere days…. Then there is the last guild, the Invisible Guild, where all things end, the place where one goes when you cease to exist….”
“It is death then, yes? It is the land of spirits?”
“No, it is an absence of existence, but…in part, yes, one could say it is death, the realm of spirits.” Naft Ali shook her head. “But none of that matters now. For now, you must understand that there were not always guilds in this land. In fact, long ago, all people were equal; the world was very great then….”
“What happened to it?” Wolf was intrigued; he could see the emotion in Naft Ali’s eyes, the pain in her face, and he knew she spoke the truth.
“What always happens, one could say. Greed, ignorance, indifference…. Haven’t you ever wondered why the land is called NTWF? Haven’t you ever wondered why we are called forumers in this great land?”
“My land is Dunburrow, and my people are the Knights.”
“True, so very true, my King. Long ago, the forum, the town square, was where all people met, where all decisions of rule were made…. No one quite knows what NTWF means anymore, but it is from that lost age that all was born…. Even this storm was born in that dark age.”
Wolf felt his lips curl in excitement and he leaned forwards only in the slightest. “Yes? Then how so?”
“All shall come to light in time, O King. For now, allow me to begin where all must always begin.” Naft Ali took a breath and then nodded once more. “A group of devoted philosophers came together and called themselves the Luminant Guild. Their goal was to attain absolute knowledge of the world; such was reflected in their motto, Semper specta ad fenestram. They made great discoveries about the nature of life and death, about the nature of the living and the dead. However, they were not without opposition.
“A rival group of philosophers came together and called themselves the Shadow Guild, yes, the very guild from which I have come, the very guild you yourself held a hand in destroying…. But it is of no consequence anymore. Relinqua optima in obscura est, they would say, it is best left in the dark. They wished to protect and uphold the mysteries of the world, to keep hidden that which mortals should never know.”
Wolf nodded. “So they fought, yes? The first Guilds’ War?”
“Similar, but not entirely.” Naft Ali smiled weakly, but could not keep herself from frowning. “The Luminant and Shadow Guilds opposed each other and frequently held heated debates, but they were peaceful and little more than petty insults soon forgiven were ever thrown at one another. In time, they came to a friendly challenge to settle their differences: The Shadow Guild proposed that if, in thirty days, the Luminant Guild could not create a passageway into the land of death, the Luminant Guild would disband and all of its discoveries would be destroyed, returned to the hidden world. Perhaps needless to say, the Luminant Guild accepted the challenge.”
“Did they win?”
“Indeed, they did, but not without consequences. The Luminant Guild enlisted the aid of a demon, with whom they created a small box little bigger than the size of a deck of cards. The poured their knowledge into it and pored over it for thirty days, and when the two guilds met, the Luminant Guild took out their box and proclaimed that they had achieved the impossible. The Shadow Guild was disbelieving and challenged the Luminant Guild to demonstrate their find. So they did.”
“It created a storm, didn’t it?”
“Please, have patience, my King,” Naft Ali said. “And, no, it did not generate a storm. Instead, a ball of light engulfed the forum and, a moment later, when it receded into the small box—which had become a crystalline gem—everyone inside had vanished. The entirety of the Luminant Guild was taken that day, and the Shadow Guild suffered severely. The people buried the artifact and banished those few souls left surviving of the Shadow Guild to wander in the wilderness for all time. So it has been ever since; I am testament to this. At least, I had been until I became the last surviving member of the Shadow Guild….”
“What? You mentioned nothing of this.”
“Patience, I had said.” Naft Ali took a breath and sighed. “Many years have passed since the demon created the artifact for the Luminant Guild. When they were gone—or so it had seemed—he dug up the gem and took it for himself, but what ventures came of it then are for another time. For now, we must look to the present.”
Naft Ali grinned, and Wolf had the sinking feeling that she was nearing her true motives for visiting him under such dire circumstances. Setting his jaw, he crossed his arms and leaned back to listen.
“Remnants of the forum remained long after its original destruction. When the Luminant Guild had activated the artifact, it had never truly been deactivated. Tendrils of its power have circulated the lands ever since, wreaking havoc and perpetuating mysteries otherwise unexplainable. Part of this power has settled in the Mages’ Manor; thus is why you can never map the halls for they are always changing, sending a traveller where he is meant to be. Part of this power even dwells in the very crown you wear. You are familiar with it already, am I correct?”
Wolf considered the strange powers he’d had since his coronation, being able to sense the whereabouts of his Knights, being able to communicate with them telepathically even. “I…believe so. Please, continue.”
“From the remains of the Luminant Guild came the Invisible Guild, a guild whose very existence is defined only by its lack of actual existence. Part spirit, part life and part death itself, it is impossible to truly say what they are, but it is certain that they are here.”
“And they took your sister?” Slowly, Wolf was beginning to fit the pieces of her story together. Such an incredible story she wove, and yet, Wolf knew it had to be true. There was no other way.
“No, they do not ‘take’ anyone. Instead, people become them. People succumb to the unknown and vanish, cease to exist. They become Invisible. My sister… her fate rested with them the moment she gave up on life. Lucian and Xymon had both succumbed already, both had vanished… Faet merely followed them, or perhaps they had dragged her along with them…. And now, now I fear that if…if something is not done…”
“You may be next?”
Naft Ali looked up at him, into his eyes as tears streamed out of hers and down her pallid face. “Yes, King Wolf, I fear the nothingness may take me, too. For centuries, millennia, my people have hidden from the Luminant. They desire revenge, they desire retribution. And now, now that their creation has been unleashed upon the world, they may return and destroy us all.”
Wolf turned his head sideways. There were no windows in this room, but he needed none to picture the black storm clouds and the chilling purple snow.
“What must be done?” he asked.
“You must leave this place. You are needed elsewhere. Your kingdom needs you.” VytBluisa was surprised to see a lone shadow absorb her fireballs. Unless it was someone Subila knew, no one could have simply received head-on a fireball made from the darkest flame and survived. Far away, the Yin knew who that shadow was, still remembering the one who just slapped her back then. She hissed in anger, feeling helpless being outside the battle. "Who are you?" exclaimed Subila's remnant, holding tightly to her staff. She took a step back, only to feel the cold body that was Celestial's. She had almost forgotten who she was with a while ago. Turning away from her enemy, Bluisa looked at Cat Assassin. "Celestial!" was the only word she was able to shout out, too nervous to even complete the statement. Cat Assassin stared at the unconscious dragoness. A battle like this would not be suitable for her, he thought. Without saying a word, he nodded at Bluisa and started carrying Celestial away from harm, hoping the distance between her and the fight would be safe enough. If someone had noticed by then, Cat Assassin was a sitting duck, his back turned entirely towards the battle. Cyborg" Midknight go protect Rose it seems we have a fight. The only reason I did that was to get money to survive. Some say luck is involved in everyday life, ninja. Well if that's true you're luck just ran out." Cyborg said as he ran towards the ninja and slashed at his ribs. " Hey ninja girl I swear if you hurt Rose it will be the last thing you do. I will protect my friends at any cost, even my life!" Midknight bellowed as he ran in front of Rose and blocked the shuriken with a cutlass. His eyes began to flare a blood red, and the shadow energy surrounded his hands and cutlasses again. With that he used Blackout and took away light once again and sent tendrils at the ninja. VytThe smell of metal in the air alarmed Cat Assassin. He was used to having that kind of scent linger around him during his time as a hitman. Now that he was retired, that smell became more of an alarm, since that could only mean someone had pulled out a weapon. Cat Assassin glanced right behind him to confirm the danger he was in. Putting Celestial quickly down, the feline circled himself around to avoid the cutlasses aimed at him. Fearing that the blades would reach Celestial instead, he grabbed Cyborg's extended arms and, in a quick motion, hoisted Cyborg around and back towards his group. "You're not going to hurt me again, young lad," Cat Assassin taunted. "I don't even have to use my focused energy to take you and your cybernetic parts out." When the devil finished, Johnny said: "Well you're pretty good ol' son. But if you'll sit down in that chair, right there, and let me show you how its done." His red eyes complemented the anger Cat Assassin was now harboring. He was fighting a former pirate, but more importantly he was fighting a coward whose selfish acts should not be spread out any longer. The feline was starting to wonder if he was the only creature in NTWF to have a selfless heart. His weights already off, Cat Assassin knew he had the advantage of speed and agility. Taking that in mind, he charged off towards Cyborg, only leaving a blurry image of him behind. Fire on the mount, run boys, run. The devil's in the house of the risin' sun. Chicken in the bread pin, pickin' out dough. "Granny, does your dog bite?" "No, child, no." PFA ((White Weewoo: the deck))Jernath was surprised to see the shadow from before block the fireballs aimed at him. What's...? came a thought that never got finished. Instead he simply nodded at the shadow, then swerved around her and tried to stab at Bluisa. Midknight, meanwhile, had blocked the shuriken that was heading toward Rose. "Hey, ninja girl, I swear if you hurt Rose, it will be the last thing you do. I will protect my friends at any cost, even my life!""So you've told me," PFA narrowed her eyes as a darkness once again surrounded her. PFA hated fighting in magical darkness. She had to rely on her instincts to tell her what was going on. A tendril wrapped around her arm, inhibiting her movements. Thankfully, all it took was a small movement to get the shuriken blades to slice them away. She smirked. There were advantages to using a giant four-bladed shuriken instead of a katana. She then stabbed her shuriken forward, hoping to harm the Kougra in some way. Amneiger"Look, it's okay, there's no need to wave that sword around...No, don't try to touch them...what are you saying?" Evidentally Amneiger was not telling the warriors what they wanted to hear, because they were becoming increasingly agitated. Neither Amneiger or the warriors seemed to have a language in common, which only added to the confusion. If I'm lucky, these people will give up and go away.In the meantime, Bacon had started talking and Amneiger decided to risk ignoring the group of warriors in front of him for a moment. "Why do we want reinforcements? It'd be easier to just get back to Zari's shuttle and leave. And could somebody help me with these people?" ZariZari looked over her shoulder, then sighed. 'I'm not sure if Terrans understand Illhvrenan, but I think your tone is making them freak out. You sound pretty freaked yourself." Twisting around, she got up and, making eye contact with each warrior, then unsheathed her knives and put them on the ground. Her pistol followed. "Look. Don't look so angry. We are only passing through. No. Do not point that thing at me, or I will point my pistol at you." she kept her tone calm. It was just like talking to an angry Illhvrenan politician. She sat back down, switching her tail anxiously, struggling to keep a blank facade. It was idfficult to stop herself from croucing low to the ground, ears well back, and to snarl at whatever made her feel insecure. Snarling at everything wouldn't do any good.. "In answer to your question, Amnei, What about Ailura here? I can't really let her run back and spill that she has a link in spacefleet that can be manipulated to betray the Commander with effort. I'd rather not kill her, but we can't just let her run and tell. Besides, we need to stop Commander Strife from making any more of a fool of himself. Hopefully without killing anyone." Cyborg"Well that was a sad attempt." Midknight said as he moved to the ninja's right and stabbed at her ribs. " Shado go guard Rose!" he added. Shado hearing this, gathered the squirrels and surrounded Rose. Cyborg tried to move away, but the ninja was too quick. He was sent back a few feet by the ninja's running tackley thingy. He got to his feet and ran at the ninja, stopped and sent a boulder at him. He then ran forward and attempted a tackle of his own. VytCat Assassin's shoulders met the cold hard implants of Cyborg, pushing the former pirate back. Smiling, the feline looked at the distance it made and took a note of it: his coordination of attacks very much depended on how far his enemy was. He was well known in the Ninja Dojo for his creative ability to use every opportunity given to him as an advantage against his opponents, and he was starting to use that ability very fruitfully.
Noticing the Kougra up to his feet, Cat Assassin braced for the boulder it magically summoned crashing down upon him. It was then that a certain flashback helped him remember an essential part of that attack.
----------------
"... What the hell?!" Cat Assassin exclaimed after the old canine pulled the lever near the waterfall. Massive boulders started flowing with the dropping water, crashing down below.
"What am I supposed to do with them?!" Cat Assassin gasped, obviously scared. He had yet to wonder why the old dog ordered him to stay under the waterfall earlier. "Crush them with my hands?!"
The old canine smiled. "Why, of course I do. Now that you're getting the hang of channelling your own strength, I want you to focus your weight into your arms and legs."
To demonstrate, he jumped high above Cat Assassin and settled above a small ledge protruding out of the waterfall. His eyes were set upon the first boulder coming, and quickly went to his stance. Only Cat Assassin saw the invisible energy flowing through his limbs, supporting his stand on the slippery rock as well as placing an adequate amount of strength on his arms and fists.
The old canine simply extended his hand towards the boulder, not adding any more force. The boulder met its timely impact, exploding into thousands of harmless bits.
------------------
Cat Assassin never forgot a single teaching the old canine had taught him. Without focusing his energy, the feline distributed his weight evenly on each limb. This caused his stance to become more stable, his feet expertly placed to give him the most out of his own weight.
He mimicked what the dog exactly did; placing his hand out against the boulder. The large rock then exploded into tiny bits upon contact with his hand, leaving a smile on the feline's face.
Cat Assassin was still near danger, however. The boulder collapsed only to reveal a charging Cyborg going for a tackle. The feline tried to kick himself out of place, but time could not permit him to dodge the attack entirely.
So all he did was place the weight back to his other hand and release a massive swing, hoping he could at least redirect the tackle and reduce its effectiveness.
Bluisa wasn't having an easy time, however. The rogue that was Jernath began abusing the presence of a potential magic blocker in the form of the shadow, charging off towards the mage. She had to think of something that even the shadow would not be able to block for the rogue without harming her own cohorts.
It was then that she had to improvise.
Mother Nature, your powers advanced, Lend me your strength: do not ever get chanced Empower me with magic beyond all things enhanced!
Bluisa's hands began to glow, an ugly mixture of black and green hovering around her fingertips. Seeing the incoming weapon, she instinctively aimed her hands towards the blade. Suddenly, a powerful surge of animation took over the weapon as it jumped off Jernath's hands and jumped overboard.
Now that she was able to render the rogue weaponless, Bluisa let out another quick fireball towards him. PFA ((White Weewoo: the deck))PFA was getting increasingly angry at this Kougra, who seemed to like teasing her too much for his own good. Out of pure instinct, she managed to shove the cutlass off-course with her shuriken before it could do any serious damage, though her instincts were not enough to deflect the stab completely, and it ended up getting her in the shoulder instead. She grunted. She was getting really tired of being hit in the shoulders. She grabbed the cutlass' blade with her right hand, careful not to grab the sharp part, and shoved it away from her shoulder roughly. She then put her right hand on the shuriken again, hopped backwards to get some distance, and tossed the shuriken in the Kougra's direction, desperately hoping the darkness would fade before the shuriken decided to attack any of her friends. Meanwhile, Jernath's daggers were running away. Jernath grimaced. Yet another reminder of why he didn't like to fight mages. And while he was distracted, the mage shot a fireball at him, but that was once again blocked by the shadow. Why was she defending him? Wasn't she a pirate...? But Jernath decided not to finish that thought. Instead, he ran at Bluisa and attempted to punch her in the face, with a lack of better options. He didn't want to waste any arrows on this mage, and his daggers had thrown themselves overboard (possibly to land on someone, ouch). ((EDIT'D because of leapfrog-ness)) Celestial ((Same old ship ^_^))Jernath took the initiative to attack when she blocked the fireballs but the mage used some sort of magic to knock the sword right out of his hand. Another fireball came towards him but Leste was also too quick for her. The fireball slammed right into the shadow, knocking her over and even making parts of her solid but she remained able to take more damage. As long as she was shadow, she would live. The same couldn't be said for the mercenary. A shudder passed down her as she thought of what would happen if he was hurt.
The strenght of that thought made her fly up, determined to not let him die. With the speed of a striking cobra, Leste flew up to the mage and wrapped one part of her around Bluisa's arms while the other had a firm grip on her neck.
"Who am I? I am the shadow of the last war who has lingered on. If you want him, you will have to defeat me first" she hissed into Bluisa's ear. Somebody's foot hit her, bringing the terrible pain back, just as fresh as it was when she was last concious. Celestial felt as if she was being ripped apart while she was still alive. Coughing once, she once again longed for the bliss of unconciousness. Healing would be of no use, this was pain only time could heal. A fresh wave of pain swept through her, making the Dragon Mage twitch spasmodically. She was paying the price for the dragon's desertion. Why did they do that, she asked herself as she slipped back into oblivion, letting the pain go. She should have been dead. CyborgCyborg was knocked off course, but he ran towards the injured mage, he held a cutlass over the back of her neck. " I suggest you ninjas and of course the mage surrender or this one will go bye-bye." he threatened. Midknight tried to turn away, but the shuriken sliced open his arm. He screamed as pain shot up his arm, making it feel as if it was on fire. " You ninjas think what we do is dishonorable. Well sure it's not pleasant, but it keeps us alive. Without the jobs we get no money, without money we can't buy food or new equipment, without equipment we aren't protected, without food we starve. So basically we do this to live." he said as the light came back. To get his advantage back, he turned PFA's, Cat Assassin's, Bluisa's, and Celestial's shadows into clones of themselves. He then sent the clones to attack PFA. Vyt ((Cyborg, It's Cat Assassin, not Vyt. Vyt's already dead.))
In a fit of desperation, Bluisa tried to block Jernath's punch with her arms. While she was successful in doing so, she let out a mild groan when she felt the impact running down her arms.
Before she could recover, a cold rope-like shadow then started to wrap around her arms and neck, inhibiting her every physical movement.
In a glance, Cat Assassin thought he had Cyborg running away like the true coward he was, but was surprised when he started to notice where he was going: towards the helpless Bluisa. His eyes glanced towards the cutlass he was now holding, and a second later he could see it running near Bluisa's throat.
"I suggest you ninjas and of course the mage surrender or this one will go bye-bye," the Kougra threatened the ninjas.
---
Further away, Vyt and Subila watched as the poor Bluisa was pitted in an ambush. Vyt the Yang could not help but feel pity for the mage; she was the weakest among the group.
Subila however had a smile on her face. A very wide one.
"You know, I've given Bluisa enough of my powers for her to survive," Subila started to talk about Bluisa's hidden potential. "She may not look like it, but she can take out anyone, and I mean anyone. that goes too near."
The Yin turned towards Vyt, retaining her smile and cockiness. "Wanna know why?"
---
Cat Assassin lowered his arm, trying to look less intimidating. He could not risk Bluisa getting killed just to get near the mercenaries for the knock-out.
It was then that something on Bluisa's face was telling him something. It was giving him the courage not to surrender.
Bluisa was mumbling something since the shadow took a grip around her, but every word she let out was inaudible to everyone else. Overcoming the fear of having her throat slit, she started to glow black.
Without any delay, pure darkness began to envelop around Bluisa, then eventually around Jernath, Leste and Cyborg. For everyone else, they could only see a black solid cube surrounded by lingering spirits.
"Don't worry about me," an ominous voice that was Bluisa's echoed outside, telling Cat Assassin and PFA. "They can't escape."
Cat Assassin nodded. He then redirected his attention towards the clones that were attacking PFA and pulled his out of the brawl to throw it overboard. "No clone is EVER going to replicate me," he angrily let out.
---
Inside, everyone was floating in another dimension: one filled with pure darkness and nothing more. Everyone was immobile, helplessly hovering over and below shadows of unknown entities.
In front of Jernath's face, a pair of purple eyes appeared in front of him. They stared right towards his eyes, intimidating him. "Show me your fear..." they said.
((Okay, before you scream "Godmod", there IS an obvious weakness to this spell. )) PFA ((White Weewoo: the deck))PFA was glad to see the darkness fade. "Yon-po hiden!" she yelped, before the shuriken could hurt anyone else. The said shuriken stopped mid-flight, and clattered harmlessly to the deck. Then suddenly PFA started having flashbacks of the last Guild War. In other words, shadow clones surrounded her, all ready to attack. She grimaced at the fact that her shuriken was too far away for her to get to in time. Thinking quickly, she promptly waved her arms in the air, causing her barrier to go up before any of the clones could get to her. She wouldn't be able to fight them while in the barrier, but she could at least get some time to think. She noticed that Uncle had grabbed shadow-Uncle and thrown him overboard. She gave him a smile, then looked over in the direction of her shuriken, waiting for a good chance to put her barrier down so she could go grab the weapon. As nice as it would have been, PFA just couldn't concentrate hard enough to walk and keep the barrier up at the same time. At least not yet. --- ((Bluisa's darkness realm))The battle around him was gone. Jernath grimaced; he was suddenly getting a serious feeling of deja vu. The last time this happened, he got shot in the back. He wasn't exactly looking forward to a repeat of that. Suddenly, a pair of purple eyes appeared in front of Jernath, causing him to jump in surprise. " Show me your fear..." came a voice. He just sat there for a moment, taking a moment to let the words register in his mind. Then, his eyes narrowed. "Fear? You're underestimating me. I'm not scared of you!" ((Vyt, when you say they're immobile, do you mean they can't move at all, or just can't go anywhere? >_>)) VytMisery loves company, or so they say. Though Jernath struggled hard not to get caught by Bluisa's voice, a strange dark fog began to enter through his eyes, consuming him from within. His mind began to be filled rather forcefully by his own worse fear. Images of his village being destroyed soon became quite clear in his mind, trying to pin down his emotional state one brutality after another. The images were rather exaggerated, yet clear enough to send a message. Another scene came up, this time with his cohorts. It was the day they encountered the ninjas, and one by one all of his fellow archers fell down to the ninjas. Jernath was there, helplessly bound by one of the ninjas as the others went to slay his cohorts. "Fear... It will slowly eat you alive..." Kwoiffei ((Between Mage Manor and Castle Kestrel)) While Omni flew and flew and flew, Drakhé slithered... and slithered... and slithered. Perhaps it was just him, but he was sure felt a steadily growing wrongness in the air. Something seemed different about the power... something had happened to the gem. Arkon mentioned having to fight gems... daimon-made ones, too...Eventually they arrived in a forest. A castle - or what was left of it - was somewhere in the distance. Drakhé stared for a moment... this was his first time ever seeing the castle. It must have been more magnificent before whatever happened... Somewhere within this forest, Omni spotted something. "Is that the Weewoo ?!"
Th-the what? A... a... what is that?[/b] The Zafara flew higher; the serpent merely stared, bewildered. He'd never seen anything like that before. What was it called?... a shop? No, shops didn't look like that. Now she landed on his head yet again. Even at a fraction of his true size, the difference in size was simply obvious. "We'll want to be careful, the Weewoo looks cursed and there's a big, and I mean BIG, group of people or demons or something beyond it.""D-demons?" Drakhé shook. Then he sighed, and nodded. "Let's go, then."-- ((The sky)) The two griffins were hard to tell apart. Aside from being transparent (or was that translucent?) in the way only ghosts could be, they had identical colouring - both of them were a greyish-brown. At that moment, they were spinning in the air, beaks and claws gripping and trying to tear each other apart. "Why did you betray us, Mighurn?!" one of the griffins screamed in a female's voice. The second one let out a low growl of the kind that only griffins could make, and swiped at the other's eyes. The other was able to dodge, which only seemed to frustrate this Mighurn. "You speak as if I was part of your self-righteous royal-pain Knights in the first place.”
"What was that!?" Now it was clear that both were female, and that the first one had a higher-pitched voice. The Knight dug her claws into her opponent, but Mighurn did not scream. "I serve no master but myself..." Mighurn narrowed her eyes. "Not even the Invisible Guild can control me!"The mage only paid some attention as she allowed herself to descend slowly. Her eyes were wide, and she was mentally cursing with words from all sorts of languages (including perhaps a few extinct ones). For beneath her was a warzone. Cyborg"We've fought foes that would make you want to run away and cry like the babies you are. Midknight I suggest you find a way in since this will be a battle of the shadow mages I guess." Cyborg yelled to his brother. Midknight smirked this would be easy, he had never used a magic like this he preferred when his prey were able to move. " Shado you and the squirrels prevent any harm from coming to Rose." he said as he turned into a shadow himself and went into the cube. While in shadow form he moved easily, he was able to stop the shadow magic's effects with his own shadow magic. " Mage do you not realize I can see in the dark just as well or even better than in the day, darkness is my friend, my home, my life! Now your in my territory and you won't survive the trip." He added. VytSubila watched carefully as Midknight entered the cube. All she could do was laugh. "... We didn't call it 'the cube of eternal darkness' for nothing, and this fool will learn it the hard way," she noted. --- Midknight only thought he had stopped Bluisa's magic from affecting his cohorts further, his point of view taking the image that the cube was slowly disintegrating. Little did he realize that the instance he stepped inside the cube, it had already taken effect on him. The black dimension the mercenaries were forced to reside in suddenly began to change rather violently, as bright shades of crimson red harshly entered the chilly atmosphere. It was probably the alarm for when someone was trying to resist the effect of the shadow cube, a sign showing the intruder that resistance was futile. The sudden change of color in the dimension revealed Midknight's shadow, prompting Bluisa to make a move. Black masses of pure darkness began to surround the shadow, giving it no time to escape. Some of them were starting to slide down the shadow, forcing itself inside. "Reality check: darkness is only your life. Darkness is me!" --- Vyt turned towards Subila, a rather surprised look present on his expression. "What is this? I haven't seen such a powerful spell like this!" he mentioned. "Actually. there are many ways than one to escape this doom, but guts alone won't let anyone find even one," Subila noted the Yang. "... Believe it or not, someone from the light force like you will be able to escape through this cube easily, which is why we never used this against you during the war..." Vyt turned back towards the cube and noted the people who were inside. "If Cat Assassin was correct, not even the Kougra brothers will be able to escape from this. It'll take more than power to get away from this one..." Back in the ship, Cat Assassin noted how PFA was getting difficulty holding on to her newfound power. He pulled out most of the clones with his bare hands, trying to push them out of PFA's way. The black gloves he just wore earlier was not helping him at all; all it did was inhibit him from focusing his energy in his hands. PFA ((darkness realm))Images, like the exact opposite of the kind Kit showed him the day before. Riverwell being destroyed, his friends being killed by the ninjas, the kind of memories he didn't like to remember. But it didn't really succeed in making him fearful. It just succeeded in making him really angry. "Why are you doing this to me?! Go away!" he shouted, and then he punched in the direction of the purple eyes, regardless of whether he could see them right then or not. Perhaps it was out of instinct, perhaps it was out of anger. Or perhaps he just really wanted this stupid darkness thing to leave him alone.--- ((White Weewoo: the deck))The black Kougra had made a really stupid move. Now that he was gone, and now that Uncle had taken care of the shadows, there was no one left to fight PFA except a bunch of squirrels, a fox, and maybe the girl with the injured ankle. And she didn't really think any of them were that much of a threat. So the ninja lowered her arms, letting the barrier fall. She then walked over and scooped up her shuriken. She moved into a defensive stance, glaring at the girl and the animals surrounding her. "If you think you can fight me, then bring it on," she taunted. RiderThe army kept charging through the forest like a bull in a china shop. Rider wished she had some projectile weapons that were more expendable and accurate than her daggers. A good chunk of the army was heading towards the sea. Thier words were jarbled and incoherent, whether from noise or actual language it was hard to say. "LERAYE!" cried a Knight as he took a flying leap and grabbed at the blarf. Rider slashed his hands and he let go, howling in pain and rage as he was lost in the crowd. The army was gaining. Some had overtaken the blarf on the sides. So much pent-up rage, accumulated over the centuries, that they didn't know where to focus it. Some more tried attacking the blarf, and were unceremoniously picked off by the pirate trio. The sea was so close she could taste it. The sea meant freedom. The Weewoo would be there ahead of them. the sea meant... Rider gasped as huge monoliths of ships rose from the deeps after so many years of slumber. Men o' war, ancient knights' navy ships. Pirate ships and mage vessels rose as well, all tinted green and black with age and magic. Rowboats on the shore were tinted likewise. Such a proud armada, ready and waiting for war. Waiting to be the victors of a Guild War a thousand years in the making. Waiting to take and kill the demon-traitor who had denied them thier violence all these years. So much pent-up rage that they wanted to direct it at everything. The sea was supposed to be freedom, but it had turned into a trap. Running, running, never free. The Weewoo was nowhere in sight.
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Post by GW2 on Oct 16, 2008 16:41:41 GMT -5
Celestial ((The Darkland))
The shadows closed in around them, making Leste loosen her grip on the mage. She hated being enclosed in small spaces but as the mage's eyes become a dark shade of purple, she hissed with surprising ferocity, her own eyes gaining the colour of blood.
Jernath however, was showing signs of fear, she could see that. Anger overcame her as well as a feeling she didn't recognise.
"Stop it. If you wish to fight him, you must fight me first" she hissed into Bluisa's ear like a shake about to strike. However, the darkness suddenly turned red as the shadow of a kougra showed itself in their bubble. Leste winced from the red light but she was still battle-ready.
A pirate could not afford to be brought down by such small things.
Cyborg (( shadow cube of DOOM!!!!!!))" You think you are darkness? Seriously? You may have a powerful spell, but you don't know the spells I do. You may think this will kill me and my friends, but I can resist your power, I can stop it! You made the biggest mistake of your life. You just put a master shadow mage in a shadow realm where he will most likely tear you apart. Do they teach you mages anything anymore? What you don't realize is I'm a black cat, you don't want me to cross your path, for I have nine lives and you have one." he said to the mage. " Do you think you can actually destroy me and my friends? I beg to differ! You see my fox and I share my powers and his, we both the shadows. So I can use his powers and he can use mine, of course I'm still more powerful than him, but you get the picture." he explained.
(( On the weewoo/beekadoodle)) Meanwhile Shado proved this fact to be true. He sent balls of shadow energy at the ninja. He still guarded Rose like his master ordered.
Wolf
Wolf climbed the stairs in the Keep and pushed open the heavy door leading out to the battlements once again. The horrid wind scraped at his bare face and hands, but he didn’t care. He’d just been told that Sir Kit—his Sir Kit, trusted Knight and, he had once thought, honored friend—had taken the crystal and used it as bargaining chip for opening the gate between the demon world and their own. And, so Naft Ali had said, more than half his council had already sided with the Royal Arbiter.
But…was Kit truly so wrong in asking for the demons’ liberation? Wolf didn’t know. He walked over the railing and peered over it with a sigh; the purple snow had thickened, and he could barely see even a few miles towards the capital, towards the small village of South Gate where Naft Ali had said Kit had met all of his allies…and enemies.
Wolf had had little contact with demons, but from hearsay and bedtime stories, he knew quite a bit of their kind. But Lady Shade was part demon, and he trusted her. Had trusted her. She had sided with Kit as well. But then, perhaps Kit’s side was the honorable one. When it came down to it, they were all spirits, whether human, demon, dragon…or wolf. No matter what body concealed them, they were all spirits inside, and did they not all share a right to be free? But then again, prejudices arose for a reason, and perhaps demons were more deserving of theirs than Kit had wanted it to seem.
“Deep in thought, are we, my young king?”
Wolf was too sullen to be startled by the sudden appearance of the oversized kestrel he had met the last time he’d visited the King’s Keep. In fact, he was rather surprised the bird had stayed hidden for so long.
“Dunne, is it?”
“The one and only.” The bird hooted and shook a few flakes of snow from its feathers. “Wretched weather, isn’t it?”
Wolf shrugged. “I was quite enjoying it, actually… Well, except for it being purple and all. But otherwise, I miss the snow.”
“Snowed rather frequently in the forests you’re from, didn’t it?”
Wolf eyed the kestrel rather suspiciously before slowly nodding. “Yes, it did.”
“Well, regardless,” the bird said, “what has your underarmour rusting this time?”
Wolf looked back into the twirling and swirling abyss of snow ahead of them and, after a moment of contemplation, filled the bird in on everything that he had just learned.
“Quite a heavy burden for such a young king to carry,” the kestrel said when Wolf was through. “But, I am certain, you’ll weather this storm as well as the last.”
“But I hardly weathered the last storm at all. And I don’t know what to do. I can’t return undecided, can I?” Wolf shook his head, not allowing Dunne any time to speak. “I mean, we’re all equals, aren’t we? But, if we are all equals, why am I king? Why do I have vassals, and why do my vassals have vassals of their own? It…it just doesn’t make any sense.” He sighed and turned back to the bird. “What do you think?”
The bird flitted its wings, very much akin to a human’s shrug, Wolf thought.
“You care too deeply for the wellbeing of all, I think,” Dunne said. “You carry the weight of too many souls on your shoulders for your own wellbeing.”
“What do you mean?” Wasn’t it his duty to serve his kingdom, his people?
“You’re one man, Wolf. You’re a leader, not a god.” The bird snorted, as much as a bird could, at least. “No matter how much you wish to serve the world all on your own, you simply cannot, and it’s a lesson you’ll need to learn if you’re ever going to succeed in this land.”
Wolf looked down, not that his view was much different than when he’d been looking ahead of him. “But if I can’t be there for everyone, how do I decide who to be there for?”
“That, my young king, is a question no mortal can answer. But, mortal as you may be, you must make a decision, a decision you must stand by wholeheartedly.”
“But how?” Wolf said, turning to the bird. “How do I decide whose needs are more important? How can I say if one’s man plight is any more than his neighbor’s?”
Again, the bird snorted. “Wipe your tears, boy. You’re a king, not a child.”
Wolf stared the kestrel, but wiped away his tears nonetheless.
“Good. Now, listen to me, my boy. The key is not deciding whose plight is greater, but whose plight you can more greatly assist. Perhaps a man is starving, but if you cannot feed yourself, you cannot feed him. But suppose another man hasn’t a place to sleep, but you’ve got an empty bed in the cellar. See what I’m saying here?”
Wolf nodded. “Yeah, I…I see it now.”
“Good.” The bird paused for a moment, stared his golden eyes into Wolf’s green ones for a moment. “Once you’ve decided who you can help the most, your objective is to assist in the most optimal of ways. Take your current issue, for example, to side with the demons or to side against them. Who can you help more, the demons, or those against them?”
Wolf was silent, and he felt himself turn away once again. “If Kit opens the abyss, the demons will be able to fight for themselves. But the people they fight against….” He shook his head. “They can’t force people to accept them, no matter how much Kit offers them in reward. The fighting will continue until all sides are dead.” Wolf shrugged, looking upwards. “Maybe the demons aren’t bad, but they can’t buy their way into the world. They have to earn it, they have to show people they’re not as bad as believed. They have to change the world one step at a time; they can’t snap their fingers and be done with it. Kit can’t snap his fingers and be done with it. It isn’t right.”
“My boy, I’ve think you’ve found yourself an answer.”
Wolf turned to look at bird; it seemed to smile back at him, and then a second later, it had flown away.
Wolf sighed and turned back to face the south. “Kit’s intentions may be honest, even noble, but that doesn’t justify the path he’s chosen to take. Maybe the demons deserve equality like the rest of us, but they can’t buy their freedom and they can’t bribe their way into the world. They have to earn it just like the rest of us.”
Wolf felt sick in his stomach. He knew what he had to do, he knew the decision he had to make, but it made turning against his very own Knights no less hard to do.
((Yep, Wolf's still a little behind here. XD)
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Post by GW2 on Oct 16, 2008 16:44:40 GMT -5
HuntressThe blarf could normally run pretty fast but crashing through the forest and being drunk slowed him down considerably. The army, spurred by thirst for vengeance, could keep up with him rather easily, and there were a number of elves, half-animals, anthros, and other such folk who could run fast by nature. It was a manic chase. Hunty's crossbow was long empty and she was now using it for close combat, stabbing its spiked bow into whoever got too near. The blarf had suffered several cuts around his tail and rump, and he didn't like the chase and the army either, so his pace was getting jumpier by the minute. His strong mace-like tail that had more spikes left than the body was swinging back and forth, mowing down enemies, but that also threw him even more out of balance. "Hunty," Bloody Mary panted, still clinging fiercely, "d'you think we'll make it?" "Yeah." The captain uncorked the small vial of acid of her crossbow and threw its contents at a particularly persistent knight whose armor she hadn't been able to pierce. "At what cost is the question." "Use the sword to create shields," the meepit suggested. "No use. We keep on running so we'd leave them behind at once and they wouldn't slow the army down by one bit." Something crashed into a tree trunk next to them, sending off colorful sparks. The blarf yelped, jumping sideways, and tightened its grip of the tentacles around the waists of the pirates before speeding up. "Idiots," Hunty grinned as the tree began to fall; this would slow down a considerable number of the chasers. A second later her face turned serious again as she scanned the army to spot whoever had done it. Long flowing robes and faint traces of multicolored glow didn't leave room for second thoughts. "Great - mages!" She stooped lower on the blarf's back. "They've had time to power up now." But they were close already. She could smell the salty sea, the fresh breeze coming in through the trees, and she now realized that the army had figured out the same thing: many were slowing down and shouting incoherently as their attention seemed to divert from the blarf. There was a cliff ahead, Hunty knew that without turning to look. A cliff high enough to hide their entire ship behind it. The blarf would overcome it easily but the men chasing them were faltering. Then she heard Rider's gasp, almost instantly followed by Bloody Mary's quiet 'Well, I'll be', and turned around anyway. It sure was a sight to remember. The cliff was straight ahead, the forest was getting sparse, and between the trees she could see the ocean glitter in the rising sun, dotted with ships. As they neared the edge, many of those ships were already careening and sinking right back where they'd come from - ships that were destroyed before the gem was forged. But even so, there were many. "Hah," Hunty muttered between gritted teeth. "This might be fun after all." She stuck the crossbow to her back and held on. Then the blarf jumped. Drunk or not, he could still generate a powerful leap if he put his mind into it. One after another, each of his three pairs of legs pushed off from the edge of the cliff, sending him flying forward and down into the waves. Some fireballs exploded in the air next to them, but none hit. Hunty had braced herself for the landing but as the kraken smashed into the waves a good fifty feet below, it was still a cold, green, seafoam-ridden shock. By the time their steed bounced back up to the surface, she was hacking, breathless, and her ribs were hurting because of the blarf's strong grasp. But at least they were safe, or so she hoped. "Swim!" the hoarse voice on her shoulder yelled. The blarf, who had sobered up considerably in the cold salty sea water, was already swimming. Away from this land, away from those people who were constantly attacking him, shooting him, offering him food that wasn't food, and generally being mean. The blarf wasn't an aquatic creature, but he liked the sea considerably more than the land - the water supported his mass better and sharks were fair fighters. So he'd grown rather accustomed to the sea, and was already picking up speed. "This cliff ain't gonna keep them," Bloody Mary said, spitting sea water as they rode between two silent giants that loomed above them, the greenish rigging waving in the wind. "These are their ships." He gestured at sloops and schooners that were showing behind the two vessels next to them. "Fast ships, too. And they're all after us, or after Leraye, actually, but he's with us so it's the same difference." "What do they want with Leraye?" Hunty asked, looking up at the cliff. Some of the men hadn't managed to stop before the edge and had fallen down, others were jumping down, some were flying or floating down, and she could already spot some rope ladders. They were ahead, but not for long. "Beats me." Suddenly the meepit's face lit up. "Ha, there we have it. I knew they weren't far behind." Indeed, now that there wasn't the thick layer of foliage between them and the sky, the black brigantine on its misty wings was looming clearly against the deep blue sky. The air was still, so they could even hear the distant WHOMPs. "How much time do you think we have?" asked the meepit. Hunty grimaced, but it was a lighthearted one. "Well, it'll take all of them a good fifteen minutes minimum to even reach their ships... add another fifteen-twenty to gather up the crew, fill in the blanks, and make the vessels seaworthy. And they'll still have to sail and there isn't much wind, whereas we have an air mage and a ship that can operate itself." The Weewoo seemed to be aiming at clear sea behind a cluster of old pirate ships so the blarf, guided by Bloody Mary, put all his six paws into full use and paddled in the same approximate direction. RiderSploosh!The water was like a cold, wet kick to the shins. Both shins. At once. And maybe the face too. The Weewoo landed in the water with approxamately the same amount of grace, i.e. none. The wings dissapated into mist which hugged her deck. Mercs would fly like flying fish, which didn't actually fly, but fell into the water. Yeah. That's the point. "Cap'n, once we get on the ship, where will we go? Where can we run from so many people?" She paused, checking to make sure that Ventratta was still in her pocket. The little Meepit coughed out a lungful of seawater and nodded. "We need backup," she said firmly. "The mages are our allies. We could ask Sev to call them." Omni ((Among the Masses)) They were surrounded. It might not have been as bad if those that surrounded them were allies. Ethan had told Siber to stay close. Any who tried to hurt them was promptly shot, although Siber did make some of them think twice about doing so. "Okay, now may be a good time to get backup, or at least the heavy artillery." Of all the things he prepared for, battle-wise, this wasn't one of them. ---- ((Near the Masses)) Omni watched as the armies started spreading out, angrily from the looks of it. "Whatever you can do, you should start doing it!" She hopped off of Drakhé's head, using her wings to slow her decent. Thankfully, the sight of such a large serpent scared off a large percentage of the characters that had gotten near, so she had a decently-clear landing area. Once she landed, she took some more of Cyborg's energy from within the crystal, and held her hands, palms down, near her sides and a little behind. She pulled them up, then moved them forward. Vines sprang from the ground near her and shot foreward, following her arm movements, breaking through the crowd in front of her. Once the vines covered a fair area in front of her, she spread her arms out. The vines moved to either side, clearing a path, at least for now. ((And Kwoiffei, if they're colored, then yes, they would be translucent. Transparent suggests that it lets all light [or at least almost all light] pass through it.)) Bacon ((Spacefleet position, just inside treeline from battlefield)) Ironically, Bacon was at that exact moment speaking similar words to Amnieger and the others as Rider said two post above this. "We need backup. The fighters are on stand-by mode. We could ask HQ to deploy them." Even though he had already assumed its range was too short, Bacon pulled out his PDA to check, and like he thought, it's short-range antenna had no ability to penetrate the planet's atmosphere. He noted an icon on it he hadn't seen before, but he ignored it for now. It wasn't red or flashing, so it probably wasn't important. Bacon shoved the PDA back in his pocket, never opening, or even reading the title of the "Private Communication Channel" icon that had mysteriously appeared on his PDA. ((UFO wreckage near Mage Manor, about forty-five seconds ago)) [... System Online Hermit Scenario Detected Low Power At Last Shut-Down Detected ... Auxiliary Power Systems Replenished Main Power Systems Replenished ... Energy Source Undetected ... Energy Source Too Distant To Detect Currently ... ... ... Radio: 28% Online ... ... Spacefleet Personnel Record for *D. Bacon Lewis*: Rank: Cadet Title: Mechanic Comm Number: 97141-98720+1138 Species: Human Gender: Male Eye Colo- ... File Download Interrupted Protocol Override ... Accessing Comm Number ... ... ... Link Established Waiting On Second Party ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...] Vyt ((Cyborg, was Shado aiming at Cat Assassin? I'll assume he was. Next time, please specify who you were aiming at to avoid this kind of confusion)) Cat Assassin glanced at the black energy balls thrown at him. It was something of a different kind: one that he should not meddle with. Just like explosive devices and corrosive substances, the feline learned not to mess with it too much and risk danger. He moved out of the way of the attack but could feel the powerful waves generating around the energy balls. The feline could not help but glance towards the fox with a rather surprised look on his face. "PFA, that one packs a punch," he stated the obvious. "He's no pushover; stay focused." -------------- Bluisa laugh a tad maniacally at Midknight, partially because of his over-confidence. "Sure, I may not know your powers... But I don't have to!" the disembodied voice of her echoed. "Your magic is quite useless in this dimension of mine... This is not the darkness you thrived in, this is quite different. Your powers are still limited!" The darkness enveloping around Midknight had started to take over his mind forcefully. "I, on the other hand, have more than enough to have total control over you." Of course, deep inside Bluisa, that was not true. While it was evident that she had complete advantage over the Kougra in terms of battleground and spells, the cage was still subjected to its instability. The reason why she barely used this kind of spell was because of its simple weakness, and she could not afford to expose that off. Only when the most opportune time in the form of an ambush came did she had the idea of using it once more, and all it was supposed to do was to let her escape. In reality, she hissed upon using the spell. "... Even though it's against my will, I will never stop on defeating you for the sake of my friends.” Amneiger"We bring her with us," Amneiger said in response to Zari's question. "And we can pick up the Commander once we get back in the air. Which direction is the shuttle?" He glanced left and right; most of the warriors were more concerned with chasing after the pirates then in the Spacefleeters and were simply going through the clearing instead of through the surrounding forest but a few seemed to be stopping and staring at them - and their numbers were increasing. Amneiger didn't like it. "And any ideas for getting past these people without getting them annoyed with us?" Kat"Brace yourself and no struggling, thank you."The last of Kat's magic went into a self-induced sleeping spell that would wear off once the Meepits were done with their work. These were Hunty's Meepits, so they were trustworthy. Usually. She decided that the best way to not struggle was to just give herself a magical anesthetic. It was like fainting intentionally...and not really. Before her world blurred and blackened completely, she could see the battle still going on...but at least the Meepits and the mist would keep her safe. CyborgShado growled at the ninjas, he was not going to let them hurt his friends. He sent out another ball of energy, one at each ninja. ((In Cube of Doom!)) Cyborg was stubborn, but this cube was affecting him greatly this was different darkness than usual. He grabbed his necklace and prayed they'd get out and help Rose. He then sent out boulders at the "walls" of the "cube". Midknight concentrated, if he thought hard enough he could find a way out of this place. VytKeeping four people inside a cage was making Bluisa's job look easy. In reality, she was having a hard time, seeing that she had to drain the energy out of those unlucky enough to be inside her cage. Leeching from four targets was proving to be confusing. Jernath seemed to be the first to succumb to her spell, however. Frustration was building up inside him as he was provoked to shake his fist at the location of her eyes to no avail. "Resistance is futile, young ranger," Bluisa tried taunting him further, ignoring the empty threats from the now motionless Leste. "... Though I love seeing you right now trying to fight this cage off. You're making my job easier," she half-bluffed. Whatever part of that statement she was telling the truth, only the mage knew. She then stared at Cyborg, who was trying to "break" the cage with his boulders. The large rocks only managed to move farther away, almost as if the place did not have any walls at all. "That's good... No one here has figured out the cage's weakness yet," she thought. Bluisa started to drain the energy off her first target, Jernath. The dimension they were in was starting to glow an immense green, harshly contrasting the red atmosphere. It was a sign that her spell was starting to drain the stamina of someone. ----- Cat Assassin went off to dodge another black ball from the fox. He was fearing that they could go nowhere, what with dodging and doing nothing in between and all. PFA ((White Weewoo: the deck))PFA was surprised to see the fox shooting off darkness balls. Since when did it have magic?
"PFA, that one packs a punch," Uncle added helpfully. "He's no pushover; stay focused."The fox fired off two more darkness balls. One at Uncle, and one at PFA. PFA promptly dove out of the way, letting the ball fly past her. She didn't want to try and block it, for who knows what kind of damage the thing could do? Biting her lip, PFA then charged toward the fox and tried to slash at it with her shuriken. --- ((darkness realm))Jernath's punch, to his great disappointment, didn't do anything to the mage. It was as if she wasn't there. "Resistance is futile, young ranger," she taunted. "...Though I love seeing you right now trying to fight this cage off. You're making my job easier.""What the heck is that supposed to-- ugh!" Jernath was interrupted before he could finish that sentence. Suddenly, there was a sensation of... something... and he was starting to feel a lot weaker. He would've fallen to his knees if there were anywhere to fall to, but there wasn't, so he didn't. "Let us... go!" he growled, and would have shot a glare at Bluisa if he could tell where she was. Inwardly, his mind was racing, trying to figure out how he could break this spell. Suddenly he wished he had more knowledge of magic than he currently had. Mainly because the knowledge of it he currently had was next to none. Bacon"And any ideas for getting past these people without getting them annoyed with us?""One or two strafing runs might do..." Bacon hissed through clenched teeth. "None of us have enough firepow- correction, everyone besides Fraze don't have enough firepower to take on an army. One or two shots from Fraze's gun might take them all out, but I still say a couple fighter squadrons are our best bet.” Zari"I suppose that'd work...I'm watching you. Don't think about the sketchbook- I've got it. You can't have it. We'll have to get back to the shuttle to contact HQ. I've got some knockout stuff in there-- If I leave the Poopomancer under some Camo foil or something, we can get rid of him on a clear conscience..." Zari aimed and fired. Three silver darts prompty met their mark, causing their targets to collapse. "The shuttle is the safest place to go at the moment...It's got a long-range radio link. And Food. I dunno about you guys, but my stomach is attempting speed aerobics." Zari concluded tiredly, reloading her pistol and holstering it in favour of her staff, aiming it at the few mages she could see in the crowd. "When in doubt, go for the wizard." she muttered, wondering if the attacking party thought the same thing. CyborgShado and the squirrels were sent flying when the ship landed, luckily Shado kept them on with shadow tendrils. He turned in time to see PFA trying to attack, he almost dodged, but got a shallow cut across his back. In retaliation he sent tendrils and balls of energy at PFA. (( In da cube)) ( OMG I realized we could call the cube Cube-a) " Wait Jernath, Cyborg!! Something she said gave me a clue. Don't fight it, the more you fight the easier it is for her to drain your energy." Midknight said to his teammates," I'm right aren't I?" he asked Bluisa. Hearing this Cyborg smirked, they had figured it out and he stopped fighting. If this plan didn't work he had thought of a plan B. Celestial ((More of the Darkland))She watched Jernath start succumbing to the spell. Leste became blind to nothing else but him and the mage. Anger rose from within her, overcoming all thought and reason. She brought her 'tail' around and lashed right at Bluisa's eyes, making sure that there was a cord of solid matter in the middle to make sure that the mage felt as if she was hit by a whip.
"Don't you dare do that again! Pick me off instead of focusing on someone weaker than you, coward!" she spat the words out, hatered rising up from her core. Leste hated it that just because she was a shadow, she wasn't taken seriously. To prove that she was enough of a threat to the mage, once again Leste struck out but this time she aimed for the wrists where it would hurt enough.
The dead do not care for their personal safey((Just a sidenote, Shadow!Leste does have a very apparent weakness)) Vyt ((Celestial, I don't think Leste would be able to see Bluisa at this point since you all are actually in another dimension where she could easily shapeshift herself with. The only visible parts of her are her eyes, and they're not even the real eyes but merely a representation of Jernath's fear. Imagine illusions. Maybe the whole cage thing is a warning that no one should -ever- try to ambush the likes of Bluisa. )) "Don't you dare do that again! Pick me off instead of focusing on someone weaker than you, coward!" Without echoing her voice, Bluisa began to weep. She really did not want to attack anyone without any valid reason, but every mercenary around her had chosen the wrong person to ambush. Now they're stuck inside a cage that even the mage would not want to see summoned, and she had no choice but to encase them inside her defensive cage. Though Leste did a pretty good job of attempting to hurt her, Midknight was in the midst of figuring out the cage's weakness. Bluisa kept mum as he started to tell the mercenaries his own plan. While it was true that they should not fight her directly, it could only push them midway throughout the whole process. "They're closer to figuring it out..."
"... That's good."--- Cat Assassin could do nothing about the shadow ball, but he had many ways to stop the tendrils from reaching PFA. Rushing off to the side of the tendrils, he quickly let his right foot up and released an axe kick to pin them all into place. "PFA, go for the head!" PFA ((darkness realm))Jernath was starting to get dizzy. His energy was being drained quickly, and if he didn't do something fast, he would probably lose consciousness. "Don't fight it, the more you fight the easier it is for her to drain your energy," Midknight suggested. Hearing this, Jernath tried to calm himself down. Now his only struggle was to stay awake. "If you... let us go... we'll stop... fighting you..." he panted. Well, at least I would, he added mentally. While he was willing to stop fighting the ninjas, he couldn't say the same for the other mercenaries. He just hoped they would follow along. --- ((White Weewoo: the deck))"PFA, go for the head!"PFA nodded, and promptly charged at the fox, attempting to slash at its skull with her shuriken while Uncle had it pinned down. RoseRose went flying when the ship had landed, but luckily for her she had grab one of Shado’s tendrils. She struggled to her feet, but thanks to the tendrils she managed to stay on deck. As she reached her feet she picked up her bo staff and she then tried to thrust one end towards PFA's gut. Cyborg (Wow this is sad Shado's becoming a bigger character than I planned he's almost at Cyborg/Midknight rank for importance to me.(( In Cube-a)) " I could agree to a stop to the fight, but not a surrender." Midknight said as he brother nodded in agreement. (( On the ship.)) Shado made a sound almost like a laugh, this was too easy Rose would take care of the girl, and he would take down the male. He struggled against the ninja. He decided magic would be best, this time instead he built up the energy and sent a giant ball of shadow energy at the male ninja (aka Cat Assassin). Vyt"I could agree to a stop to the fight, but not a surrender," uttered Midknight as he noticed Jernath's struggle to keep himself conscious. That scene made the already sobbing Bluisa feel more pitiful for the mercenaries, seeing that her cage had already kept them inside for too long. Even she was feeling the pressure under her own spell, and would've collapsed already had she not started draining Jernath's stamina. But alas, her own cage would not let her do whatever she wished. It started to have a mind of its own, eventually overpowering the mage's control and taking over itself. Jernath suddenly felt his body being drained more quickly than before. "... I can't stop! The shadow cube is taking over me!" said the voice of Bluisa. A painful scream from the same voice came after. Even with the commotion surrounding Bluisa, the cage kept itself standing. It would not stop until the energy of everyone, including Bluisa, had been drained into itself. --- Cat Assassin's eyes widened as the fox he was fighting against began building up his energy. The feline could feel the tension heating up when his enemy released a massively huge shadow ball towards him. Cat Assassin could've easily avoided that attack with his own speed and agility, but seeing that PFA was within its line of sight, he could not risk her life for his own. Quickly, he attempted to remove his gloves: the accessory that was inhibiting him from focusing his own energy. However, time had only permitted him to remove one, for if he tried removing the other one the ball would've reached him and PFA. He had no choice but to focus energy one-handedly. The feline quickly placed his free hand towards the floor and braced for the incoming attack. As soon as the ball was within a mere feet away, he began to channel much of his energy in an explosive barrier similar to his Signum Sanctuary, barely deflecting the shadow ball upward with its thunderous impact. Focusing a lot of energy in a sudden burst proved to be quite exhausting for Cat Assassin, however. Even though the shadow ball was far away, his legs began to shake. His eyes were not seeing things as clear as they should be, and he began to move rather erratically. He was half-conscious. Cyborg" Fine it's time for plan B!" Cyborg said as he grabbed his cutlass, " Hopefully this will give Midknight extreme amounts of power, which will hopefully be too much for the cube to absorb." " What are you going to do?" Midknight asked with a worry consumed face. " This." Cyborg said as he plunged his cutlass straight into his heart. Cyborg's lifeless body fell to the ground with a thud. " Nooooo!" Midknight fell to his knees. Then all of a sudden His eyes turned blood red, but now they glowed and the usual energy surrounding his hands and weapons was covering his entire body so as the only part of Midknight visible were his glowing red eyes. " You'll pay for this!" (( On the ship)) Shado was starting to affect the ninja, but his magic was beginning to fade away he would need to be smart or wait until Midknight was back to get more magic. He saw his opportunity he aimed another charged up energy ball at Cat Assassin. PFA ((White Weewoo: the deck))PFA's swing was suddenly interrupted when the girl's staff crashed into her stomach. She was knocked back a bit, allowing for the fox to shoot a blast of darkness at Uncle while PFA was distracted. Thankfully, Uncle managed to block it, just in time. PFA, however, had other concerns. Namely, the girl with the staff. The ninja narrowed her eyes at the girl, then tried to slash at her with the shuriken. --- ((darkness realm))Jernath didn't think he could get any more tired, but it was happening nonetheless. The world around him was starting to fade in and out of focus, to the point where he couldn't even understand what was being said anymore. Any second now, he would lose consciousness completely. He vaguely noticed that Cyborg had stabbed himself in the heart. Part of him wanted to scream "WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" but his brain didn't want to listen. So instead he just stared incredulously as Cyborg's body went limp, blood seeping out from the stab wound. And then, what was left of Jernath's consciousness was lost. HuntressHunty clung instinctively to the few spikes next to her as the Weewoo hit the water. The tidal wave it generated carried off as a widening circle and crashed into glittering foam as it reached the blarf. The creature hacked and spluttered once its head was above water again, but it was a cheerful splutter. He was glad to be back in the water. The captain, completely drenched and nearly freezing, wasn't anywhere as glad, but she didn't have a choice at this point. She scowled, curling up as tightly as she could and listening to Rider. "Cap'n, once we get on the ship, where will we go? Where can we run from so many people?""Anywhere," she said. "Maybe up north... there are good hideouts up north." The sole memory of the silent icy fjords of the northern regions of the NTWF made her teeth clatter even more, but it was a good hideout. "But first we have to get on the ship and get rid of all those ninja freeloaders. Full speed ahead, boy." "Blarf!" In the meantime, the White Weewoo, having gone through yet another quick inspection of the state of things on board, had discovered a number of interesting things. Like a cube of some material it couldn't pierce. Having determined that it couldn't do anything to the cube and the cube wasn't doing anything noteworthy, it left it alone for the time being and focused on what it classified as Trespassers. And swung the trespassers off. They wouldn't go. They were all clinging to the ship and as it turned out, with means the ship's mist couldn't shake loose. After a few futile attempts, it let go of them overall and began to seethe furiously, thickening around Kat and the meepits. "Good thing I finished," Boom said, biting through the thread and putting away the bloody needle as the world around them got darker, "else I wouldn't be able to see anything else here. There we go, girl, you can wake up now. If you don't get some icky infection within the next few days, you should be good as new." "You think she can hear you? And shouldn't we take her downstairs?" Bob asked, squinting through the mist at the trespassers who were holding on to the deck with shadow tendrils. The mist was bubbling around them, apparently trying to make up its mind. "Better to stay here and keep an eye on things," Justice said. "At least we're protected here." From the blarf's back, the pirates could see how the ship's mist began to blaze like fire. Then it fell down from the masts again and thickened around Shado, Rose, and the squirrels, fixing them in place. If it couldn't throw them off, fine. It was going to keep them instead like it'd kept Speck. Firmly, heavily, like in a cage. *** "We need backup," Rider had said. "The mages are our allies. We could ask Sev to call them.""Good thinking," Hunty agreed. "Though it'll be tricky for them to follow us... well, it'd better be tricky for them to follow, because if not, it'd be easy for this army to follow as well, and then we're toast." "Ahoy!" She turned around. The big hat drifting past them a few dozen yards away, albeit dripping wet and with a sad-looking plume dragging behind it, was easy to recognize. Only now did Hunty noticed that the sea was loaded with swimmers, each heading towards the ships farther away, and they were still dropping down from the cliffs. She bit her lip. But as long as they still weren't safe, it was important to keep the few good relations she had, so she waved back and nudged the blarf to swim closer. "Hey, I heard you guys have Leraye as your prisoner!" Rane shouted over the splashing waves. Hunty noticed that he was using a piece of wood to swim on. The guy can't even swim...? "Good job, less trouble for us! How'dyou manage that?" "Whuhut?" Hunty began, and earned a whack from Bloody Mary at once. "Don't make me bite you," muttered the meepit. The captain blinked, then turned back to Rane. "A bit of luck, a bit of skill," she cried back. "Want us to hand him over?" "Idiot!" Bloody Mary muttered frantically. "He's got that magic stone. We need all the magic we can get and we can't possibly hand such power over to them!" "Yeah, figured as much, but what else was I supposed to say? They're after that guy and we can't afford to make enemies," Hunty hissed back. "You mean more enemies?" The meepit whimpered. "Hunty, demonship or not, we're still largely disadvantaged. Do you trust them? Pirates have always fought each other, especially back on the days this army comes from. These guys are competition. We're competition. We'd be of no use once we hand him over. And we'd get squished." "What do you suggest? To doublecross the entire fleet?" "Yes!" This semi-whispered conversation that took place while Rane swam through another wave was broken off as the gem pirate replied: "Oh, I wouldn't dream of taking your prisoner. If you have him, you have first right on trial. I'll just get back to my ship there and gather my crew and then we'll rally all the pirates to protect you from these goons until we get around to trialling. Else they might just attack your boat to rip everyone, Leraye included, to shreds - don't think they'd care about you any more than they care about him." He nodded at them and swam off. "Lovely," Hunty said with a frown. "Looks like we need to take a hike with our demon-boy as soon as we can before we get surrounded by our own allies." "Uh, Hunty," said Bloody Mary in the hate-to-interrupt-but-this-is-kinda-important voice. She turned to look in the direction he was pointing, and her eyes widened. "That's his ship?" 'That' was a five-masted schooner floating a few cables away, well bigger than most other ships in that bay and nearly three times the size of the Weewoo. "That'll be fun to doublecross," Hunty said grimly. CyborgMidknight saw what Cyborg did, he sacrificed himself to save them all. With Cyborg's sacrifice it would make him (Midknight) angry, therefore giving him large amounts of power. This power would be absorbed by the cube, so the mage could get her strength back and hopefully destroy the cube. He turned and saw Jernath's unconcious body. He went over to it and took of the Cat's Eye necklace he wore and put it around Jernath's neck. That would keep him alive, until they got out. Then he remembered his brother's necklace. He ran to Cyborg's corpse and watched as his brother's necklace began to move. One of the nine points folded into the centre, and as it stopped it made a loud echoing click. Cyborg had thought this out well. after about a minute or so, Cyborg began to stir, he took the cutlass out of his heart, got up and looked as if nothing had happened though his cyborg parts were still there. " Don't ever do that ever again!" Midknight yelled anger filling his voice. " I see it worked." Cyborg said with a smirk, " I'm telling you dieing wasn't fun.” Kwoiffei ((Near the masses)) Whatever Drakhé had expected, it wasn't this.An enormous crowd was right in front of where he and Omni had emerged. Even a quick glance could tell that this meant trouble if they made one mistake... even if quite a few of these masses were clearly terrified by the sight of such a gigantic beast. You are Aronesh's most powerful karden! You could destroy them easily!
No.
"Whatever you can do, you should start doing it!" With those words, Omni moved from the serpent's head and landed in front of him. She proceeded to start doing some strange gestures... And vines emerged and broke a path through the crowd. Earth magic!?All this time, Drakhé had been hesitant, and notably so. He had been created solely to fight demon armies... but he never had the chance. The awakening from his first slumber had been delayed... apparently, by one of his "allies". By the time he had stirred, the empire he had been made to protect was gone. The army was moving... no, it was splitting. Something stirred within. Whatever this feeling was, it prompted him to growl. The growl grew louder before he fell silent. Some of the army before him had prepared to attack-- And then he roared.-- ((Above the masses)) The army was moving. Part of it had moved away, clearly chasing after something; the rest had stayed behind to face... Drakhé you moron! The mage swore yet again in her mind. In some ways, this would make keeping an eye on him a lot easier... but if Mighurn and her opponent were any indication, there were almost certainly members of this crowd who could fly. That would give the serpent some trouble. And then he roared.She grabbed her ears and gritted her teeth quite tightly. She'd only heard him roar once before... and that was in his homeland, mere moments before she had died. Now, that loud, earth-shaking noise stormed across the battlefield again. Idiot's gonna get himself killed! She snarled. I'd better move fast!She couldn't afford to lose him again - not after all he'd done for her. With a small swallow, she flattened her ears against her head, and began flying towards the serpent, a tufted tail in her wake. Wait - when had her disguise worn off?! Kat"Better to stay here and keep an eye on things," Justice said. "At least we're protected here."Those were the first words Kat heard when she began to stir. Her self-induced fainting sleeping spell had worn off on time, and she was eventually regaining some of her magical energy. This time, she was not at all surprised to see a lot of Meepits...and that everything looked darker than usual. "What's going on?" she asked groggily. She slowly tried to sit up. At least this time she was not making a mess on the deck; her back was fine now, but she knew that she wouldn't be able to fight for a while. Vyt ((... I think the mist is now back. )) The groggy Cat Assassin could still see the blurred image of yet another shadow ball being hurled towards him, and this time he had no choice but to block it off. He struggled to raise his arms in an attempt to defend himself from the energy ball, but all they did was protect his face and body from getting too much damage. In a matter of seconds, the feline was sent off flying, out of the ship and towards the vast area of salty water that was the sea. "... Cat Assassin!" A foggy cushion of white clouds formed right below the unconscious Cat Assassin, keeping him away from going straight into cold water. The cat did not move an inch, signifying that he had just exhausted himself into fainting. From afar, Vyt turned to Subila, his hands glowing white and yellow. "... It's a good thing I'm technically alive," he mentioned, reminding her that he was only released from the half-feline's body and nothing more. "At least I can still use my spells." The two souls then went on near Cat Assassin, the Yang inspecting the feline's status while the Yin watched on. "This is not good," Vyt spat out, a surprised look expressed on his face. "He had been resisting death too much. I'm afraid he won't be able to come back towards the ship." Indeed, Cat Assassin was in no more condition to at least be able to catch on. Several wounds had been riddled around his body, most of them caused by the pirates who he had faced moments before he was sent to prison. Moreover, his stamina reserves had been depleted long before he faced the mercenaries; he was already fighting beyond his body's capabilities. "... We need to take him back to land. He needs medical attention." --- As Cyborg expected, the cube began to drain out Midknight's strength in an alarming rate. However, the hell of a cell did not even budge by itself, keeping itself standing high. Something was wrong. Deeply wrong. The mercenaries had not yet figured out how to defeat the cage's power. "Fear..." Bluisa's voice started to echo around, though severely weakened for some sort. "Fight your fear... Jernath..." PFA ((darkness realm))Perhaps it was the fact that his energy was being drained away. Perhaps it was the wounds that he had been trying so desperately to ignore. Perhaps it was a combination thereof. One of the points on the necklace that Midknight had given Jernath folded in. And slowly, he started becoming once again aware of himself. And then aware of his surroundings as he slowly regained consciousness. "What...? What happened?" Jernath blinked, taking in his surroundings. "...Darn it, I was hoping I'd wake up outside of this thing..." he took a look around to see who was still there. "...Cyborg? You're not...?" "Fear..." came a voice before Jernath could finish that sentence. Jernath started looking around for the owner of the voice, eyes narrowed. "Fight your fear... Jernath...""I'm not scared and I never have been scared! And don't you dare try to convince me that I was!" Jernath shouted back. "Now let us out already!" VytThe atmosphere of the cage started to change once more. This time, the transitions were violent than ever as the scenery started to flash out colors in a faster sense than the ones in "Electric Soldier Porygon". It all started when Jernath expressed his supposed lack of fear. Without a human mind to govern over its actions, the cage went on to release its grasp on Jernath, stopping itself from draining his much severed stamina. Had Bluisa maintained control, it would've continued its destructive leeching on Jernath's energy reserve. Speaking of Bluisa, the mage suddenly appeared in front of the mercenaries, floating harmlessly with them. She was rendered unconscious for some sort, and seemed to have exhausted herself from revealing the weakness of the cage. The cage began to devolve the instance the mage appeared. ((Well that was boring. DDDDDDDD:)) PFA ((I'm sorry, Vyt, were you expecting something more epic? XDDD; ) ((darkness realm))The cage started flashing rapidly between different colors, making Jernath have a seizure. It was then that Jernath noticed that he wasn't getting tired any more. And then suddenly, the mage appeared, unconscious. "She's hurt!" Jernath called out, running over to Bluisa. While he wanted the cage to be broken, he was hoping he'd be able to talk to the ninjas afterwards, hopefully to get them to stop attacking. And that would be hard to do if their mage was unconscious. As Jernath tried to figure out how to wake Bluisa back up, the cage around them faded. ((White Weewoo: the deck))The mist froze PFA's opponents in place, seeing as it couldn't figure out how to throw them off. PFA, seeing this, decided to stop charging at the girl, and instead looked over at Bluisa's darkness cube, which was starting to fade away. What she saw made her angry. Jernath was kneeling in front of an unconscious Bluisa, as if he were the one who knocked her out. Instantly, PFA's eyes narrowed, and she turned toward the mercenaries who had just escaped from the cube. "You monster!" PFA shouted, holding her shuriken ready. "What did you do to Bluisa?!" Jernath was caught by surprise when he heard PFA's angry voice. "What? We didn't do anything to her! I swear!" It was at that moment that Jernath noticed the mist swirling around his feet. Which could only mean one thing. Oh drat.The ship sure liked to teach people to fly, didn't it? Vyt ((... Judging by the mist's entry, I guess I won't be able to finish the dramatic ending for "The Devil Went To Georgia". *rolls eyes* *sighs* ... Better save it for Hunty...)) Bluisa was too unconscious to notice the mist already surrounding her. The mist had definitely not forgotten that time where she mistakenly merges with it. It looked pretty angry. Bluisa's body started to float once more, albeit without the cage's help. This time, the mist was starting to accumulate below her, and was ready to hoist her overboard. Vyt the Yang could see the helpless mage being carried away by the mist. "Oh brother," he spat out, unable to curse further. He then turned over the unconscious Cat Assassin to Subila. "Bring him back to land. I'm rescuing more people," he boldly said. The Yin could only nod in agreement, partially surprised at the Yang's course of action. With his feathery wings, Vyt the Yang rushed on just below the ship, making more of the clouds he had unleashed earlier in an anticipation to save Bluisa. He was just in time; the mage was overthrown only to be caught by the white fogs he had just created. A second later and she would've drifted afloat by the waves. While grabbing Bluisa into his arms, the Yang shot a glance at the mist enveloping around the ship, contrasting the clouds he had just created. "This mist has a mind of its own," he noted. "I wonder if it has the ability to rebel against the same one who created it." Rider “That'll be fun to doublecross,"Rider stared at the ship, then at her Cap'n. "This is madness." In her pocket, Ventratta adopted a British accent and squeaked out something along the lines of "This is politics." Stally came charging through a hole in the fourth wall, yelling, "THIS IS SPARTA!" ... But moving on... "Geez, this is what being a pirate is now, hmm? And that-" she pointed to Rane's ship, "is what being a pirate was back then. Glorious. It'll be a shame to destroy these pretty ships." Her mind flashed back to a pretty talking ship in the forest that had been subjected to the rum treatment. "Speaking of pretty ships, I see ours is doing some spring cleaning. Pity, I'd've liked a new fur coat, and I'm sure Shiva would like to eat sometime. Though that cat wasn't entirely bad. He loved the other ninja like his own kin. She approached Katkat. "Ahoy, Sleeping Beauty. Sorry I couldn't do much for you earlier. I'm more of the one who creates wounds than heals them. How're you feeling?" Cyborg" Jernath grab a hold!" Midknight yelled as he sent a tendril out to Jernath. " It wasn't us who knocked her out, thanks to the cube she lost a lot of her own energy." Cyborg said as he saw the squirrels, Shado and Rose immobilized. " Great, now they can't move, I absolutely hate this ship!” Huntress"Great, now they can't move, I absolutely hate this ship!" Hunty, climbing aboard, or rather floating aboard as using the mist was much faster than rope ladders, overheard that last bit. "Well, feel free to take a hike, plenty of ships out there, don't see why you'd have to run around on this particular one," she said, landing on the deck, and cast a quick look over the deck. Kat was still horizontal though looking better than before, people were getting thrown off, and those who couldn't be thrown off were pinned in place. Curiously, it didn't look like any pirates were involved at all in the latest battle. "Leave you people alone for a minute, look what happens. Everything's gone to pot!" She marched across the deck and to the bridge, leaving behind a wet trail. "If you've things to settle, do settle them elsewhere. I'm gonna need my ship now, if you please." "Plans?" Bloody Mary asked in a voice that may have meant 'got plans?' just as well as 'want plans?' "We'll probably end up improvising anyway," Hunty replied in a voice that was open to suggestions, "but for the time being we've a choice between sailing off right this minute as long as they still haven't reached their ships, which gives us a head start but hints them about our doublecross at once and probably means a race for our lives, or we could sit pretty and play with them until an opportune moment comes, which wastes time but might allow us to fool them for a while and may give us a head start." She sat down on the deck next to Kat. "Goodie, alive and awake. What do my officers say about this matter?" Kat"Ahoy, Sleeping Beauty. Sorry I couldn't do much for you earlier. I'm more of the one who creates wounds than heals them. How're you feeling?" asked Rider. Kat gave her a crooked grin. "Much better than awhile ago, definitely, with many thanks to the Meepits. And that Sleeping Beauty crack might be a tad late. Maybe next time I faint." She steadied herself into a more comfortable sitting position that didn't make her back protest. Huntress approached them next and sat down beside Kat. "Goodie, alive and awake. What do my officers say about this matter?""...we're being chased? I think I missed a lot more than I thought. Well, if we fire the first shot, we get the advantage of choosing how and when our shots come, but if we sit here and wait for them, at least we won't take the blame for starting everything. Either way, I'll be out of commission for a bit longer, methinks. For one thing, I think I'm still in recovery mode, and I'll need more magic if I'm going to fight again. But hey, there's a job for everyone here, no?" Rider “Well, if we fire the first shot, we get the advantage of choosing how and when our shots come, but if we sit here and wait for them, at least we won't take the blame for starting everything. Either way, I'll be out of commission for a bit longer, methinks. For one thing, I think I'm still in recovery mode, and I'll need more magic if I'm going to fight again. But hey, there's a job for everyone here, no?" "Who knows? You might even get the opportunity to try your pretty hands at actual physical labor," Rider joked. "But really, the issue of blame is a moot point. They're going to blame us regardless. The mercs, the ninja, anyone who's angry at us is going to blame us regardless. The only thing that matters is this: I will blame myself if we're not able to worm our way out of that fool captain's grip, aye, him with his fool hat. Open up the sails and put Chikkin to work, we're sheeping again." PFA ((White Weewoo: the deck))"Jernath, grab a hold!" called Midknight, sending out a tendril for Jernath to grab onto. Jernath grabbed onto the tendril, gripping it tightly. He really didn't like being tossed around by magic, especially when he couldn't block it. And this mist easily fit that description. PFA was a bit confused that Huntress didn't comment on the ninjas not being in the brig, but decided that the ninjas had other things to worry about. Namely, the mercenaries. She held out her shuriken threateningly in the mercs' general direction. "How do expect me to believe you?! You've said all kinds of garbage to me, and I don't know whether I can believe any of it anymore!" PFA shouted, casting an especially dark glare at Midknight--the one who had said both that he would kill her at any cost and that he thought fighting was useless. " You were fighting us, you were the ones who went in there with her, and you were the one leaning over her unconscious body. That's all the proof I need!" "We couldn't even see her in there until she was already unconscious!" Jernath shouted back. "How the heck are we supposed to have knocked her out?!" "THIS is what I think of your stupid alliance!" PFA screamed, obviously not even listening to Jernath. And as quick as that, she threw her shuriken as hard as she could, straight toward the tendrils that were keeping the mercenaries on the ship. The shuriken would probably slash through the tendrils easily, then head straight for the flailing mercs. PFA, meanwhile, ran over to the ship's railing, leaning over to look at the cloud that held Bluisa above the water. She also noticed the glowy figure that was the Yang. She smiled a little bit. He must have been the one that saved her. "Uncle! Bluisa!" PFA called out, even though she was pretty sure they wouldn't respond. Even if they didn't, the Yin and/or the Yang probably would. It didn't matter to PFA. All that mattered was that the ninjas were going to get off the pirate ship before the other ships off in the distance decided to start being hostile. She really didn't want to get caught in the middle of a naval battle. VytLooking once more at the unconscious Cat Assassin, Vyt felt it better to take over the ninja's lead. His attention was then diverted by PFA, who was glancing over the railing of the ship. She was obviously concerned about the state Cat Assassin and Bluisa was in. The Yang then turned around to see something sinister brewing up on the other side of the sea. "PFA, get off the ship quickly," he simply commanded, pointing towards the clouds he had created. "We need to get out of here, and fast." He knew fairly well about the ninjas, considering that he lived inside one of them. The ninjas clearly had the disadvantage when handling missions not concerning stealth, and even though they could still be able to hold off anyone who gets in their way, they were simply unfit for the non-stealthy job. That did not mean PFA and Cat Assassin had no chance against the pirates. They simply just have to use another strategy. "... If only they could isolate the pirate captain before she could order her crew to charge towards those new ships..." Zari ((Ferdamei post, for your reading pleasure. I have obeyed her request and not made this character too crazy...)) Ferdamei was bodily flung away from Ailura and towards Castle Kestrel. The tiny spell keeping her aloft wasn't gonna hold for much longer, and she didn't fancy her chances if she kept going and crashed into the Castle itself. She wasn't large or heavy enough to win in a head-on contest with a stone wall. That'd just be silly. Sillier than a gold-plate bathtub in a house full of theives.
Thankfully, while Ferdamei was coming up with an analogy, the spell ran out and Ferdamei fell. Down, down, oooh that look familia- WAITASECOND! Gravity did not oblige, so the unfortunate Xenami was hurled bodily for the second time that afternoon, this time into a huge pile of leaves, brtanches, and...Hey. A act. One that looks familiar too.
Ferdamei sat up, incredulous. Not possible. Nuh uh. No way. Well, that was lucky. A) Nothing was broken, and B) Sleeping barely a metre away was a very familiar white cat.
Ferdamei coughed, not believing the strange way her day was going. "Zahaere...Emaya?"-- Zaha had been sleeping. Yes, sleeping. In the middle of a war. But she's a cat. Duh. She needs sleep. She'd been right in the middle of a very nice dream. She'd been chasing a flying food bowl when she got attacked by a troupe of stress marks, which turned out to taste good, so she ate them all, but they gave her a stomachache, so she went to the vet, who prescribed tuna. That made Zaha very happy, as you can imagine. But at that moment a very large black something had hurled itself out of the sky and landed barely a metre away. The cat part of her took over and she woke, skittering away from the...thing. Who'd just adressed her by name. Through the leaf-smell and the smell of herbal essences and--orddly enough-coffee, Zaha vaguely recognized her scent. Oh. Yes. "Ferdamei. What're you doing here? Zari's not around, if you're looking for her..." The cat-ninja's face, under the blindfold, grew disapproving. At the current point in time Ailura shouldn't have been hurling herself around in her Knightly duties and biting her nails over the welfare of the other Knights. Zaha half-wondered where'd she'd gone. AmneigerAs much as Amneiger didn't want it admit it, it seemed that their chance to leave without getting into trouble seemed to have passed, especially after Zari had started firing. For the moment the warriors were busy staring dumbly at their downed comrades, but Amneiger had no doubt that within the next few seconds they would remember what they had been doing and attack. Amneiger closed the laptop, made sure he had a good grip on it, and stood up. "Tanks, clear a path for us back to the shuttle." The three minitanks turned in the direction of the shuttle and aimed their grenade launchers at the warriors standing in front of them. Ca-chunk.
Whump.The tanks didn't wait for the smoke to clear before charging forward, firing their weapons wildly. Amneiger ran behind them. "Come on, let's go!" HuntressOpen up the sails and put Chikkin to work, we're sheeping again."Hunty gave Rider a sideways glance. "Ahem. Last I checked, I was the captain and my spyglass is waaay longer than yours anyway. >> Gotta agree, though. We're sitting in a pretty pickle anyway, so there isn't much else to lose besides a lot of time. At this point, the ancient pirates are our allies until they get Leraye, though, that's for sure." She got up. "Girl, hoist the sails, course, hm, south-south-west for the time being." Bloody Mary's ears perked. South-south-west was Rane's schooner. "Hunty...?" "At this point we've a whole fleet to worry about," Hunty said, climbing to the bridge and grabbing the wheel as the sails dropped down one after another, flapping in the morning wind. It had to be at least eight in the morning by that time. "If we slide right by that schooner's side, they'll protect us and instead of the fleet, we only have that one schooner to worry about, which is a much smaller problem." The yards turned and the ship began to move slowly. "A much smaller problem?" Bloody Mary chirped. "Comparatively." "And our prisoners are hitting the road," the meepit said sulkily. "Good riddance, can't imagine having to feed them and share our warm clothes with them where we're going. Speaking of which, do fetch my coat, I'm freezing here." Hunty raised her chin. "Yo, mercs! Heard that? You might wanna get off. A little swim is much better than coming along. Once we get past the Rocky Gates up north, there'd be no turning back for you and you'd leave your lives there." "You're actually planning to cross the Rocky Gates?" Bloody Mary asked, nostrils twitching. "We're that desperate?" "We've been there before." Granted, it wasn't a pleasant memory, but it was a memory, ergo, she was alive to remember it. "We have maps with hideouts and everything." "You sure they don't have them?" the meepit asked. "The Rocky Gates and everything beyond is ancient territory, they might very well be familiar with it." "Got better ideas?" The black brigantine was now gaining speed, sailing past the silent giants floating in the bay, on towards the big pirate schooner that could mean their saving and doom all in one.
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Post by GW2 on Oct 16, 2008 16:48:49 GMT -5
PFA ((White Weewoo))"PFA, get off the ship quickly," the Yang called to PFA, gesturing for her to get on the cloud he made. "That was my plan," the ninja replied, climbing off the ship and onto the cloud. Walking on the cloud was way different than walking on the ship, but she'd get used to it. "We might need to swing by the dojo and pick up some weapons, 'cause I don't think I'm going to have time to go get my old ones off the ship." Speaking of weapons, the shuriken was still speeding its way toward the mercenaries, making Huntress' shouting to get off the ship that much more serious. Jernath, deciding that he didn't really have a choice, promptly held his breath, let go of the tendril and plugged his nose as he braced for the cold sea water. Splash. Cough, sputter, shiver. The water really was cold, but it was better than being shuriken'd. "Guys!" Jernath called out to the other mercenaries. If the mercenaries didn't let go of the tendrils, the shuriken would cut the mercenaries away from tendrils. And probably slash their arms off while it was at it. Vyt"We might need to swing by the dojo and pick up some weapons," PFA suggested as she climbed out of the ship and towards the clouds. "... 'cause I don't think I'm going to have time to go get my old ones off the ship." Vyt could not agree more. He noticed his original's shuriken still whirling around the ship: it might be able to act as a threat to the pirates, and PFA could easily summon it back whenever she needed it. "... Still not accustomed towards Vyt's shuriken, I see?" the Yang commented as he waved his hand into the air. Light Forces had been known to have the advantage of movement, as they could easily go from one place to another with their own magic. Vyt the Yang knew more than enough to send him anywhere, and used one of them to swiftly teleport them back in the Ninja Dojo. He kept the clouds in place, taking note of the state of Cat Assassin and Bluisa. "Go and rearm yourself. I'll try to heal these two," he suggested. Subila turned her head towards him with another idea in her mind. "... Why won't you just teach her how to heal them so we can get this over with?" she asked. "Even with your teleportation, we wouldn't be able to reach the pirates in time, anyway." "That'll depend on our daughter's decision," he smiled as he looked at PFA again. "Do you wish to know another ability of your powers?" PFA ((Ninja Dojo))"...Well, that was quicker than I was expecting," PFA commented as the Yang teleported them to the dojo. She silently wondered if she could learn to teleport like that, too. She could summon the shuriken easy enough... "Go and rearm yourself. I'll try to heal these two," the Yang said. PFA nodded in response, and had started walking toward the training room (where the weapons were kept) when Subila started saying something about having PFA heal the unconscious allies. A moment later, the Yang spoke again. "Do you wish to know another ability of your powers?"PFA was about to comment that she already knew how to heal, but then it occurred to her that healing herself and healing other people could be two very different things. "I... suppose so. What do you have in mind?" RiderSo much hard work, just dumped overboard like rotten fish. Ahh well, at this point they were worth about as much to the pirates as rotten fish anyway, these ninja. The Rocky Gates. funtimes, had by all. With any luck, the giant ships would be less apt there than our shiny brigantine. Which, Rider had slipped a moment and forgotten that she was retired. yays. ... (But my spyglass is still bigger than Hunty's.) But yeah, we're ignoring a lot of things on the deck, not the least of which is a passed-out dragon. "Sev, before you go recruiting mages, can you please wake her up? Thanks." Meanwhile, the mist noticed an anomaly. Like, a bigger anomaly than the non-pirates on board. This thing... it was pirate, yes, but it was ancient and angry and sad and the ship didn't remember who she was. The mist probed into the girl's memory and found that she had no memories of the ship prior to that day. In fact, she had no memories at all for the past several centuries. The blankness in her past was a scary thing. The ship started to spit it out, to reject it. She could be on the ship, she just couldn't be mist. Let the pirates deal with her. Spit her out. CelestialHer memories were being sifted through, one by one. Leste shook her head, trying to get the horrible presense out but it stayed there, still looking through like a burgler looks through a house, checking for valueables. She forgot everything but this horrible feeling, forgetting even that she was mist. Leste turned into a pirate again but this time, she was human.
Blood gushed from her wounds as if they were still fresh. Her shadow form only delayed the inevitable. Falling onto the deck of the ship, Leste felt the intense pain spread throughout her, consuming everything. However on her arm there was no pain, only a light. She used the last of her strenght to pull away the sleeve of her coat. The sword tattoo, once a mark of her lack of freedom, was now glowing as the writing on the scroll around the sword changed.
'From Darkness lead me to Light' Leste read. A smile spread across her lips as the last breath of NTWF air escaped them. There would be no tomorrow for this shadow but she was free now. Leste died smiling. Kat"Wow. So our ship's transformation is just full of surprises, no? Very useful," Kat commented. "So what would you two have in mind for me? Get below deck and start recovery ASAP, or stay up here and do something useful? As if the non-pirates would still manage to hold on..." She paused. "Okay, so maybe they might just manage to hold on."
The Fourth Wall The Fourth Wall lay in a corner, sobbing. It was battered and bruised, having been stomped on, broken, mangled, and generally abused. After all it had done for these people--why did they torture it so? From afar, there came an almost audible snap. The Fourth Wall's tears ceased. The corners of its mouth twitched upward, almost imperceptibly. Slowly, slowly, a smile spread across its face--no, not a smile, a leer. The leer of one who had descended into true madness. It would have its revenge...it would have its revenge on all of them! It knew just how to do it. Temporary suspension of disbelief. That force that allowed every fantastic and semingly impossible event to occur. The Fourth Wall had granted it to the RPers, and it could take it away as well. It struck first at the Pirates' ship. That red caped pirate had given it the most abuse. The mist vanished surrounding the ship vanished as though it had never existed. The fire damage that the ship had suffered at the beginning of the RP returned and, having no mist to support it, the ship snapped cleanly in two. Many drowned; those that did not drown, went mad drifting on the sea for days and weeks. Its next target was Mage Manor. The magic that allowed the overlapping probability waves of the Manor's myriad hallways, stairways, and secret passages collapsed (because no one really gets that probability wave junk anyway). The Manor found it was now unable to fit twenty bricks in the space of one, and exploded under its newly created pressure. The Fourth Wall next attacked Spacefleet. Its many flying machines ceased to function, careening out of the sky and crashing into the ground. The 'Fleet's exotic superweapons stopped working, or in some cases disappeared completely. The Spacefleet HQ's forcefields and security barriers vanished, and the atmosphere in the massive compound escaped in a matter of minutes. Those creatures that needed atmosphere quickly died of suffocation or explosive decompression, those that didn't need atmosphere didn't exist anyway, and themselves ceased to exist. It didn't do anything to the Knights' castle, that had already gotten enough abuse. And no one really cares about the Ninjas or Mercs. A laugh escaped the Fourth Wall's lips. The laugh grew louder, louder, filling the void left behind by its destruction, echoing off the empty RP. And as quickly as it came, the laugh ceased. By making this post, the Fourth Wall had broken the Fourth Wall. It had broken itself. Unable to comprehend this paradox, the Fourth Wall collapsed in on itself, forming a black hole that devoured the NTWF. Cyborg ( Just so you know Rose gave me permission to use her character as she said she might not be on today.)" Ok I will happily, leave this ship, but in one of your jolly boats!" Cyborg said with a smirk almost embarrassed at how cheesey that pun was. The squirrels, Cyborg, Midknight and Rose let go of the tendrils and were sent flying, luckily they all landed on one of the jolly boats. Once in Cyborg and Midknight chopped off the ropes holding the boats up. The group fell to the water below. They landed with a huge splash. Midknight and Cyborg began to paddle the boat. They reached Jernath " Hey want a lift?" Midknight asked with a smirk. Zari"Yep, Outta here!" Zari hauled Ailura to her feet and half-dragged her after Amnei and the minitanks. The clones followed, in various shades of amusement. The leaf litter made an orchestra of noises as the troupe of operavtives ran pver it, disguising the fact that Ytrsian and Ienalle were arguing (as siblings do). It was rather one-sided to the human ear, as Ienalle was speaking english and Ytrisan that clone language, which seemed to consist of body language and noises more than anything else. <Ytrisan> Nall, I can take care of myself, you shoulda let me--> "There were to many of them!" <Ytrisan> I can figh-> "Not when the odds are twenty on one!" <Ytrisan> You've been spending too much time around two-leggers.> "Maybe that's a good thing." Ienalle fell back to walk with Zari and Ailura, paying no further attention to her exasperated brother. Vyt"... What do I have in mind?" Vyt repeated PFA's question, rather perplexed by it. "I don't have anything in my mind right now, but you have something... in your heart." He pointed towards Bluisa. "Approach the fallen mage. I'll take Cat Assassin." As soon as they positioned themselves, Vyt began to make a speech. "Kindness is a virtue many of us perhaps ignore. We take the kindness of other people for granted, and sometimes maltreat them to take advantage of ourselves. Still, people who are true to their own kindness keep their pleasing personality to their finest." He began to reach his hand towards Cat Assassin's forehead. His hand started to glow a bright yellow. "Our healing ability lies deeply in our own kindness. Like a doctor who heals any friend or foe, you must learn to give out your own share of goodness within." As his hand finally touched Cat Assassin, the cat began to glow as well. If there was a visible sign that he was beginning to recover, it was the closing up of his wounds. His face seemed to show more vitality as well. "It'll take a while before he gets up," Vyt noted. He then turned his attention back to PFA, a smile present on his face. "Now, it's your turn." PFA ((near Weewoo... except this time that's in the water))"I have to dive into the water and you guys get a boat? No fair," Jernath muttered, but nonetheless swam over to the jolly boat and climbed in. He then proceeded to pour out the water that had collected in his boots and quiver. He also took off his wet cloak and gloves, setting them aside so they could dry without freezing him. Though the cold winter air wasn't much better. "So where are we headed, anyway?" he asked the other mercenaries. "Back to land?" --- ((Ninja Dojo))PFA wasn't expecting the Yang to get poetic on her, but he did. Basically he told her that it was her kindness that allowed her to heal others. It was kind of confusing, but she figured it could be worse. "Now, it's your turn.""Okay, I'll try..." she nodded, walking closer to Bluisa. She held her hand over the mage's forehead, mimicking what the Yang had shown her just a moment ago. Then, she concentrated. Give out your goodness... share your kindness... she thought to herself as she tried to figure it out. She imagined herself giving Bluisa health, making the mage feel better, because she cared. It still didn't make a lot of sense to PFA, but she tried it anyway. It took a while, but PFA's hand eventually started to glow, similar to how it did when she was healing herself. With a smile, she placed her hand to Bluisa's forehead, and the catgirl began to glow, her wounds slowly closing up. Once the wounds were closed enough to meet PFA's satisfaction, she stopped, slowly moving her hand away from Bluisa. PFA smiled. "That wasn't so bad." VytVyt and Subila watched as PFA started her attempt to heal Bluisa. Though the ninja took a pretty long time, she was able to pull out yet another of her newfound abilities: healing. The Yang looked closely as Bluisa's body started to show more energy. To his surprise, his daughter had already caught up so fast that she was able to heal Bluisa as fast as he did to Cat Assassin. "... You have so much potential inside you, PFA," Vyt praised her. "I just wished everyone else around you will be able to recognize that from you." He shot a quick glance at Cat Assassin before continuing. "Oh wait. I think someone already had," he smiled. Though Subila was glad that her daughter was becoming stronger in terms of magical capabilities, she was getting so impatient with what was happening. "Now go, daughter!" she exclaimed. "We don't have much time!" PFA ((Ninja Dojo))PFA couldn't help but blush a little at the Yang's praise. "Aw, thanks..." "Now go, daughter! We don't have much time!" Subila exclaimed. PFA nodded in response, and promptly ran into the training room. She swiftly ran past all the training equipment and went straight to the door in the back of the room, nodding to the superior standing in front of it. He nodded back, and unlocked the door for PFA. PFA gave the superior a quick bow before walking in. This was where they kept all the new weapons. Conveniently near the training room, so they could get the new ninjas some weapons as soon as they were ready to use them. The superiors kept it locked, so they could keep out thieving pirates, over-eager newbies, or whoever else wouldn't be allowed to use the weapons. You needed to be trusted by the superiors to be let in. Thankfully, PFA was already a trusted ninja. PFA quickly picked out a katana, a handful of kunai, and a few shuriken, placing them in their respective holders. The weapons were slightly different than PFA's old ones, and thus felt a little weird to her, but she'd get used to them. Once she had all the weapons she wanted, she left the room, gave another quick bow to the superior, and walked off. The superior closed the door to the weapon room as PFA left the training room, to meet up once again with the Yin and the Yang. "Okay, I'm ready," PFA said with a nod. --- ((White Weewoo))PFA just remembered about the rampaging shuriken that was chasing after the mercs, and decided it should be doing something.The shuriken's prey was in the water now. The shuriken decided that it didn't need to chase them anymore. They were too far away. The pirates, though, they were close. So the shuriken whirled around, sending itself toward the pirates on the deck. VytCat Assassin was the first to wake up from his exhaustion, letting out a wild groan in his wake. For some reason, he was beginning to speak in his own language, spitting out some kind of curse words that weren't understandable by anyone around. When the cat finally realized the two souls around him, he started to calm down. He proceeded to apologize for his rude manners.
"That's okay, Cat Assassin," Subila let out a hearty laugh. "I know how it feels to be ignored."
Cat Assassin was perplexed. "... How did you know I was angry at the pirates for ignoring my presence?" he asked curiously.
"I'm from the Dark Force," Subila stated the obvious. "I know what kind of anger a person has," she winked.
Bluisa was starting to rise as well, but her wake was more silent. "Ugh..." she moaned. "... I hate that spell..."
Vyt went on to approach the mage. "Don't worry, it's all over now," he spoke.
Bluisa looked at the Yang with much confusion in her mind. When she finally realized who that was, she started to smile widely. "Vyt! You're alive!" she exclaimed joyfully.
"I'm afraid you're referring to the mortal Vyt," the Yang explained. "I am his lighter side, Vyt the Yang, and unfortunately the Vyt you know is still dead," he told her.
Bluisa turned around, surprisingly to find Subila around. "You?!" she shouted. "What are you doing here?!"
Subila was quite annoyed at the tone Bluisa was using. "Long story, lass. Now shut up. My daughter's coming."
They all turned to see PFA, all armed and ready to fight again. Cat Assassin and Bluisa were both glad to see her safe.
"... Well, shall we go back?" Vyt suggested, as he started to wave his hand again in a familiar gesture. In a flash, the group was gone.
---------------
In a blink of an eye, the group was back near the sea.
"I'm afraid this is all the support we can give you for now," Vyt noted Cat Assassin, PFA and Bluisa. "You'll have to do this on your own. It is your destiny to fight these scurvy creatures, and the power to defeat them lies on your own hands now."
Subila looked at Bluisa, this time with a motherly image surrounding her. "Now, Bluisa... You may not know this, but you need to stay close to PFA. She needs you more than you need her, now that we can't go on much further."
Bluisa was surprised at Subila's sudden change of attitude. "Uh... Yes..." she stuttered.
"I think the ship hasn't gone too far," Cat Assassin noted. "We might be able to catch up."
Bluisa began to wave her hand and summon back the breeze that carried them for a few times during that journey. "Okay then... Hold on tight!"
And with that, the group of Cat Assassin, PFA and Bluisa began to fly away, as the two souls that were Vyt and Subila watched their ascent.
"... Vyt, do you think PFA has forgiven me for deserting her in the first place?"
"Subila... She has forgiven you a long time ago." RiderThen the universe collapsed in on itself. No, wait, wrong ending. A dead girl fell on the deck. ... Not much better. Rider jumped back. The girl seemed to have come from the mist itself. It was that pirate from earlier. The one who Cat Assassin had trapped. The one whose name Rider didn't know. "... Oh God." Really, that was all that could be said. She hadn't known this pirate, but she had fought alongside her. She never would have guessed that she would end up... A shuriken wheeled around and flew towards Rider's face. Rider hit the deck like she had never hit the deck before. "Oh GOD!" She scrambled to her feet just as the shuriken wheeled around again. "It's like a dog!" Rider brandished her cutlass at it for a second. "Go back! Get! Get!" Then she was forced to dive out of the way again. "Blasted ninjas, ruining the dramatic scene!" Omni ((Edge of angry gem-mob)) Omni had been directing the vines to move farther forward and continue to make a path through the crowd. And then Drakhé roared.Omni instinctively pulled her hands up to her more-sensitive-than-a-human's Zafara ears. In doing so, she lost control of the vines, which dropped limply to the ground. Much of the crowd backed or ran away from the noise, but those who didn't for some reason or another would now easily be able to step over the vines and approach. ----------- ((Near another edge of the angry gem-mob)) Ethan followed close behind Amnei and Zari, Siber 'heel'-ing at his… heels. And then something big roared."Hurry, definitely. I don't think I want to stay and find out what that is!" He continued to shoot those that threatened to attack with stun blasts. ((Bleh, RPer's block.)) ZariZari heard a roar and cringed, covering her ears. A cat's hearing was all very useful at spacefleet, but she still wasn't used to having two different sets of ears, one of which heard things several times louder than her human ones. Naturally, she was about as much cat as Ienalle was mallard duck. A lab incident had changed that. But she was getting off topic. She fired behind her to hold off those gem-warriors that decided to attack, still running. The part of her not focused on the matter at hand remarked that her trainers were gonna need a wash once she got back to base. The part paying vague attention to rhe weather slapped the part noticing her muddy trainers. The argument ended there and the part noticing her shoes decided to scrutinize Ailura instead. -- The strangers talking sounded all gibberish to her. She could understand the words, sure, but what they meant was obscure. Shuttle, spacefleet, and now ZariKrahia was muttering about something called a "dishwasher". Let's all safely say Ailura Vaiderayle was too confused to resist the grip on her shoulder pulling her along after the people she supposed Zari worked for. The last time she'd seen the girl properly, in her own environment, not in disguise, was when she herself had been fifteen and Zari eleven. The younger girl had grown since then. If grown was the right word for it. Children fighting, bang-sticks...Gems that made her empathy go explodey...this was not Ailura's day. It definitely was not. Cyborg" Ya, ... wherever that is. I think we should get back to where you lost your daggers, Jernath. It won't be good for any of us if you run out of arrows." Cyborg said as he and Midknight paddled the boat towards where they had came from. PFA ((somewhere above the water))PFA kept an eye out for the Weewoo as she and the other ninjas flew through the air in their little air bubble. The big ship wouldn't be too hard to spot, considering its size, but then again, there were even bigger ships in this sea, which would make it harder. ((...yeah, not much else for PFA to do at the moment. >_> *moves on*)) --- ((jolly boat))"You've got a point," Jernath sighed, gesturing to his empty dagger sheathes. "Umm... shoot, I don't know where they would've dropped though. We were flying over the forest... over that giant army. Drat!" A thought occurred to him. "Someone might've picked them up. They could be anywhere by now. Dratdratdrat..." Cyborg" Yup , we'll have no chance of finding them, we only, have a fox who can find you're scent, two kougra's with enhanced senses who can mist likely hear anyone talking about them nearby, or see them, and about a hundred squirrels to send out and find them. We're sooooo DOOOOOOOOMED. I think we have a good chance of finding your daggers" Cyborg said dramatically with a grin on his face as the boat drew nearer to land. PFA ((jolly boat))Jernath gave Cyborg an odd look when he started getting sarcastic, but shrugged it off. He sighed, looking up to see the land growing slowly closer. "Yeah, I guess it's not that bad," he admitted. "But still, it's going to be interesting getting through that crowd... somehow I have the feeling they aren't going to be too friendly." HuntressHunty, now fully busy with steering the ship and subsequently caring zilch about anything going on elsewhere, cast an apathetic glance at the mercs who were commandeering their lifeboat. "Good riddance," she muttered. Boats were ten a penny those days and she wasn't entirely sure how long this one would last anyway since it'd been damaged by fire like the rest of the deck, and the ship itself had only gotten a demon-casing, which hadn't included the lifeboats. If it had, it couldn't have been commandeered anyway. "So what would you two have in mind for me? Get below deck and start recovery ASAP, or stay up here and do something useful?" Kat asked. The captain gave her an equally absentminded glance, then turned to look forward again. "No, get below deck. You'll be most useful when you're alive and well, and for the time being you have time to recover. Might change fast, so use the time well." At that point the shuriken whizzed past her ear, circling back towards Rider. "See, that's why I don't like ninjas," Hunty told the whole world in general, still gazing straight ahead. "They run around on your ship," she turned the ship starboard a little, "have battles, leave their junk flying around... Catch it, girl!" The ship, who had until now considered the shuriken ally-weapon, since it belonged to the ninjas, kicked into action. The mist solidified around the big shuriken. As the shady veil used itself up, the world got clearer in front of Hunty's eyes. She blinked, stretching herself, and somehow became a little more aware of what was going on around her. Her eyes fell on Leste's body. Not that she felt particularly sorry. She'd barely known the girl who always looked like she was bearing some heavy burden, and she was long used to losing crewmembers anyway. It happened. People came and went. Sometimes they went for good, but with a phoenix on board even 'for good' wasn't much of a problem. Still, her heart felt heavy. War. Blood and death and battles, brother against brother... this isn't the place for free pirates. We need to leave. As soon as we can.There was now a jagged black block floating around the shuriken, acting like ballistic gel. As such, the rest of the deck was lighter - for some five minutes. Then a dark shadow fell on it. From up close, the schooner looked considerably more impressive. Huge and dark with age, seaweed still clinging to the occasional wet plank, it floated there like a prehistoric castle. It was no longer quiet, though. Many of the pirates had already reached the deck and now there was bustling and shouts coming from above, probably for the first time in centuries for that ship. Hunty bit her lip. Her heart had just gotten a lot heavier. "Okay, reef all the sails here.” Cyborg" Well, you know me I'll either talk my way through it or start... a... battle.. with...a...huge.....army. Ok so my plans aren't that great, but at least I try." Cyborg said as he continued paddling towards land. " You know Shado and I could turn into shadows and search for it while the rest of you stay hidden or, I could use Blackout wherever we go so they won't see us." Midknight suggested, continuing paddling as well. Rider ((The Cliffside. You win this round, Hunty. XD)) "Thanks, Cap'n," Rider said sheepishly, dusting herself off. "That was close." She knelt beside Leste's body. "Poor girl, caught in a war that I don't even think was hers." She paused, unsure of why she wasn't bothered by the smile on the pirate girl's face or the mysterious writing on her arm. She didn't know why she wasn't yelling for Sev. Maybe she knew that Leste wouldn't want to come back. Maybe there's even a better place for shadows of the past. Rider covered Leste respectfully with her red cape. "Never knew you, kid, but you done well out there. Wish we could give you a proper earth-burial, but there's folks out there who'd swarm us, I hope you'll understand. You're a pirate. Maybe you'd prefer a burial at sea anyway. I don't know." She wrapped Leste in the cape properly and threw her overboard. "The tide will take you out where you belong, kid," she said. She threw her overboard as the Weewoo was moving, so that the shadow of Rane's ship passed over her body, but the water she landed in sparkled and danced in the bits of sun that were poking through the old storm. "From Darkness into Light, whatever that would have meant to you," Rider said. "Okay, reef all the sails here." "Consider it done," Rider said as she swallowed her sorrow and climbed the rigging. There was betraying to be done, after all. KatThe shuriken, because the pirates vs. ninjas debate would never end, returned and luckily Rider fended it off before Kat had to resort to some magic. "Thanks, Rider," she said, grinning. "They can't help it...they're ninjas. And we're pirates." "No, get below deck. You'll be most useful when you're alive and well, and for the time being you have time to recover. Might change fast, so use the time well."Technically, this was a captain's order. "Yes, Cap'n," said Kat. "I'll probably stay below deck and practice a spell or move or two when I'm better. Maybe if anything comes from below to attack us, I could sound the alarm. If anything's down there, but it's possible." She tried to stand up and swayed slightly, but used her staff as a cane to head below deck. Fraze ((The Fleeters' Grove)) After hovering in the air for five and a half pagesFraze landed among the 'Fleeters, in time to see the army begin to approach them belligerently. He realized they wouldn't be able to get out of this without a battle. He heard Amneiger order his minitanks to clear the way back to the shuttle. This apparently involved the most direct approach--blow up everything/one in the way. The 'Fleeters began to dash toward the shuttle, just as a roar sounded. The blarf? he thought to himself. No, this sounded different. He had now begun to run, as well. Realizing he should save his energy, he decloaked.Seeing that the others had drawn their weapons, Fraze did so as well. Not wanting to rack up many fatalities if he could avoid it, he reached over his shoulder and grabbed the Table from its resting place. Horizontal sweep to the head at medium strength--broken jaw. Swing toward the legs--temporarily unable to walk. And so forth, making his way through the increasingly hostile throng as best he could. Some got out of the way, but many apparently wished to attack. Fraze realized he should update the other 'Fleeters on what he had done. Immediately afterward, he realized just how absurd it would be--running, smacking people with a Table, and shouting an update to other fleeing people. Eh, screw it, he thought, and began to speak. "I attached the kineticomp--" he paused to wind some attacker with a side-face hit (read: striking with the flat surface of one of the four edges of the Table) "--to the blarf. It's turned off, but we can--" another pause, to block an axestroke with an upward swing "--turn it on again via remote if we need. I think." Fraze had no sooner finished saying this, when he was surrounded by six warriors at once. All seemed to be more or less piratical, but he couldn't be sure. His first reaction was to mutter something that should not be repeated in civilized company. Or even moderately uncivilized company, for that matter. His second reaction was to grin--even through the skinsuit, his eyes twinkled as they always did when he was preparing for some mischief. "Keep going, I'll catch up," he said to anyone who cared to listen. Vyt ((PFA, sorry for leaving you in a situation where you can't do much. I got caught up with that post that I had to end it in a spectacular way... )) Bluisa was wearing a worried face when she realized they left someone in the ship; someone who the mage had clung on when she was rendered unconscious. "Celestial..." she began to mumble, eventually speaking in an inaudible voice. "I'm sorry I had to desert you back there... We're getting you back."It was then that the breeze around them sent them near the White Weewoo, though not close enough for them to get any attention. Now having a bit of knowledge about getting into battles, Bluisa kept themselves low to avoid unwanted attention. "Good thinking," Cat Assassin praised her. What caught the feline's attention was the peculiar black gel now present on the deck of the ship. He somehow was able to catch a glimpse of Vyt's shuriken inside, shaking violently to let itself loose but to no avail. The cat could only hiss in anger. He couldn't allow that one hell of a magical entity to reach its filthy presence around his friend's favorite weapon. The ship was approaching land, Cat Assassin thought. It started to slow down, hinting him that it was going to hit land. As long as the pirates were still around, they could not do anything. It was like a godmodding wall, only not godmodding. ((... And I think we're still stuck. We'll have to wait for a little while, methinks.)) BaconBacon had started running as soon as the mini-tanks had started their charge. He stayed close to the others, and as far away from the armies as he could. As he ran he mumbled to himself, "Why can't we ever come across a deserted alien ship, instead of even more people that want to kill us? That would be nice and peaceful, if not eerily quiet. And I would have more to do there than run away." AmneigerAmneiger was reaching into his pocket for his blowtorch he heard a booming roar somewhere behind him. He stumbled and almost dropped the laptop, but regained his balance and kept running. He glanced behind him and saw - a giant flying black snake? Don't get curious, just run. He finished pulling out the blowtorch and rested his thumb on the power switch. "A deserted alien ship might be deserted for a reason. And we'll figure out something to do that's not running later." PFA ((jolly boat))"Wouldn't moving around in a ball of magical darkness be kind of suspicious?" Jernath asked in response to Midknight. "Or were you planning on putting a blackout on the whole crowd? If so, wouldn't that be really suspicious?" he folded his arms over his chest. Obviously it wasn't easy coming up with a decent plan. "We could try climbing through the trees, maybe. They'd be less likely to see us up there, at least..." --- ((near Weewoo))PFA looked up at the big ship that was the Weewoo, which was currently in the shade of an even bigger ship. PFA grimaced. This wasn't going to be easy. "Any plans?" she whispered to Uncle and Bluisa, her mind racing as she tried to think up her own plan. "'Cause we're going to need some, and fast." CelestialCelestial coughed as she woke up, the pain not as intense as before but still tearing her apart. An instinct told her she shouldn't slip back into unconciousness and wait for it to pass. Breathing in a ragged breath, her lungs rattling, she sat up, every single fibre of her being screaming from the effort. Her skin was covered with tiny pinpricks where the dragons had gotten out. She tried healing one of them but nothing happened. Her magic, for now, was gone. Looks like I will have to rely on my wits to survive Celestial smiled despite the pain. Standing up on one knee, she clencthed her teeth in an attempt not to cry out and stood up. Her eyes were blurry and unfocused. The dragon, for the first time in her life, was fair game. ((Little help? XD) Leste looked around. A sea stretched across the horizon but the land behind her was crammed with bars selling good rum, rich citizens, shipyards, untamed jungle where treasure could be buried...it was everything a pirate needed.
"Hey miss, your ship is ready!" shouted a man from the shipyards. She smiled at him but as she stepped across the sand, something unwrapped itself from her and fell onto the beach. She looked down. It was the ex-captains red cape. Her heart twinged.
"Not yet, there is something I have yet to do" Leste shouted at the man. Taking the cape into her hands, she willed herself back to the mortal world of the NTWF.
Rider was harder to spot without her cape but Leste found her soon enough. Tapping he ex-captian on the shoulder, Leste faded away, letting it fall. She was back on the island paradise now but this time, the pirate happily walked to her ship. Cyborg" That would be good, but what about Rose? I still suggest we hide you guys in the trees while Shado and I turn into shadows, it would be the best plan." Midknight suggested as they neared land. " We could always try to talk to them and I'll shut up." Cyborg stated. Rider ((Sorry, Cele, I thought we had directed the fire chicken to you. XD)) Having reefed the sails, Rider clambered back to the deck. "Has Sev left for Mage Manor yet? If not, could someone direct him over here? We have a dragon who needs his help." A tap on her shoulder. Only it wasn't a tap. It was less substantial, less there. The slightest hint of a pirate whose face she had just covered with her cape, and the rustling of fabric. Her cape. "Thanks, kid," she said with a smile. She sniffed it cautiously. It was slightly damp and smelled of sea water. No bloodstains or anything. Bizarre, but appreciated. She approached the dragon. "Easy there, don't strain yourself. You've been through a lot, we can tell. Lie back down before you hurt yourself." PFA ((jolly boat))"Oh right... Rose probably wouldn't be able to climb very well with a swollen ankle..." Jernath sighed when Midknight mentioned Rose. "Yeah, the shadow thing would probably work. Be sure to holler if you ever need our help though, alright? We don't want you guys getting killed." ((...which reminds me...)) Soon enough, the boat reached the shore. Jernath started to climb out, but stopped upon noticing the necklace he had around his neck. He took it off, looked at it quizzically for a moment, then showed it to Midknight. "Hey, isn't this yours?" Bacon"A deserted alien ship might be deserted for a reason. And we'll figure out something to do that's not running later.""Like a species specific plague, I would hope. Like what killed off the Rakata... have you ever seen the episode of Stargate Atlantis called Aurora? Curious episode where a ship dead in space's entire crew is in a sort of virtual reality stasis pod system. McKay and Sheppard board the ship and... well, I don't want to give away the ending for you." Bacon said, pausing for a half-second to catch his breath. Not that it helped much. Generally, if you need to catch your breath after running that far, a half-second usually isn't enough time to catch it. Bacon continued after the others hurriedly, avoiding the many blades that threatened him as best as he could, which was actually a good deal better than one might think considering his major lack of athletic conditioning. Vyt"Any plans?" PFA suddenly asked. "'Cause we're going to need some, and fast." Cat Assassin turned towards PFA. "Our main priority is taking out the pirate captain herself," he told her sternly. "As much as I hate blaming someone for causing all of these, her suspicious actions have only placed herself perfectly in. We'll have to isolate her from everyone else and make her explain what she is doing." "This time, we're taking a new path to getting this mission done," he breathed out. "Instead of rushing straight towards her, we'll split up and use our trademark stealth to get this over with. I don't care anymore if it's despicable, for it's the only way we'll be able to talk this over with the captain." Cat Assassin stared at the summoning badges, still intact with them. "I'm glad these haven't gone off. We'll use this as a signal when one of us have isolated the captain. When the captain isn't on sight, we'll have to sneak out of danger. Stay dead away from anyone who does not concern our mission." He then signalled Bluisa to release him from the breeze's grasp, in which the mage quickly obliged to follow. Though he hated water as much as he hated the pirates, Cat Assassin shrugged the minor discomfort off his system. "I'm going first," he sighed. "Wish me luck." With that, the cat drifted afloat, wondering how the heck he could swim towards land with his inexperience with water. Cyborg" Yes thank you, I'll take that back now." Midknight said as he, the squirrels, Shado, Cyborg and Rose stepped out. " I'll take Rose up into the trees, Jernath, you and the squirrels come with me." Cyborg said as he grabbed Rose and jumped up into the trees. The squirrels all climbed up into the trees as well, taking up three trees themselves. As Midknight put on his necklace, he and Shado disappeared, but could be seen as shadows moving along the ground. Huntress((Out in the bay)) The White Weewoo slowed down, having lost the wind in the reefed sails, though it still moved on due to inertia. The mist brushed across the schooner's side, acting as a buffer in order to not bump into the other ship. Hunty left the wheel and went across the deck to the prow. As it so turned out, they were in fact in a very favorable position. The big schooner was one of the last ships in the bay and now the brigantine was not only by their side but due to the aforesaid inertia, almost past them. This meant that the ocean was right in front of them, fully clear of ships. ...was. As she stood there, craning her neck to see past the schooner's stern, another ship slowly moved into view. It only had the foresails hoisted but it was a barquentine, meaning that its other two masts had fore-and-aft sails. Hunty grimaced, watching the new ship turn and cut off their clear way to the ocean. Fore-and-aft sails can be hoisted and reefed straight on the deck, making them comparatively faster and easier to operate, with much quicker effect. ...and the schooner they were standing by had five fore-and-aft masts. This would not be easy. Hunty went back to the bridge, only to witness more ancient ships moving out. They were closing in. No wonder too, if this spiky little ship was hosting the one they were after. They'd be surrounded within minutes. She climbed up the rigging. The schooner may have been big but its deck still wasn't higher than their gaff, so she'd be able to look on the deck at the topgallant yards. Hunty eyed the side of the other ship as she went, looking for a name. It probably was there, but so covered in barnacles and other stuff ships usually get when underwater that it was completely illegible. She also saw cannons. Lots and lots of cannons. These weren't light and convenient carronades suitable for a small ship like theirs, but good strong 36-pounders. Granted, she was hoping that since the row of cannons was so much higher than their own deck level, they wouldn't be able to do any notable damage to a largely self-healing ship. But they still weren't a pretty picture. The deck, black and green with age and covered in seaweed, was full of men. Most of them had gathered on her side of the railing already - they'd seen the ship carrying Leraye come in and were, of course, all trying to catch a glimpse. The rigging, distance, and the black mist made it hard, though. "Rane," Hunty barked, and some of the sailors ran off shouting for the captain. He appeared soon enough, the drenched, rather ridiculous-looking figure in his carnival suit. He wasn't wearing the hat any more and was therefore looking at the world between wet bangs hanging in front of his face. "Hey," he said. "Glad you made it, I was getting worried here. Had you delayed any longer, they would've cut your way off." Hunty climbed a little higher to be able to see the bay behind the schooner. Almost all of the ships were moving closer now, except for a few that seemed to be entirely deserted. "They're going to surround us," she said flatly. "Oh yes," Rane agreed. "But look a little more closely." She looked. The closest ships, largely schooners, sloops, and barquentines, had black flags or remains of black flags in the gaff. "I sent the word out," Rane explained as Hunty judged the entire picture. The farther ships, mainly galleons and weird multi-angled things that looked like they were meant to fly rather than sail, were being cut off by the black-flagged ships. "They'll form a kind of protective circle. The mage ships - those weird ones back there - can fly, but most pirate crews have mages so we'll be able to hold them back. Though see that one back there? The clipper? That one will be a bugger." Hunty looked. The ship in question stood farther away in proud solitude, the deck was crowded but silent, and the ship seemed to have no intention to come closer. But clippers were the fastest ships out there, and something in that intended solitude was downright ominous. "Ninjas?" she realized. "Terrible at sailing, but they have a hired crew," Rane said. "They've always been pretty well-off. We'll keep them at a distance but they have this habit of getting close by jumping from ship to ship throwing things and yelling 'Hai!' so y'know, can't make any promises. Just watch out for them." Hunty grimaced again. "Okay. So what's the plan of action?" "Was about to get to that." Rane scratched his head. "When I sent the word out, they sent messages back. Basically they're suggesting all the officers of all the pirate ships to gather here on the deck, since this is one of the bigger ships and there's room for everyone, and then to bring Leraye up here and trial him." "Why?" Hunty finally got around to ask. "What'd he do to you?" For the first time Rane's calm eyes flashed. "He's the one who trapped us in the gem back then." Hunty stared at him. It was like getting hit by a bucket of cold water. It numbed her brain, made her unable to think, and at the same time made many things painfully, unbearably clear. "Why?" was all she could say. "Well, that's why we want him up here to talk and trial," said the pirate. Hunty was barely listening as her mind raced madly. This complicated things. This added a whole new level to them. "But," said a voice on her shoulder. Bloody Mary, still there and equally surprised, but seeing things from his own perspective, had sat up. "Why only the pirate officers? If he trapped you all then the officers of other ships would want to be a part of the trial as well. Else we'll get complaints and attacks in the middle of the trial and that wouldn't end well." Hunty cast him a sideways glance and then someone lit a lightbulb in her brain. Of course! That was a plan. "Took the words out of my mouth," she said. "War or not, this'll get much worse if we try to make it pirate-exclusive. Your ship needs to become neutral ground. Send out word to all ships," she nodded at the ninja clipper, "even them. That's the most reasonable thing you can do. You know that they'll be able to see Leraye here anyway and then they'll try to get here and it'll get very ugly very fast. Better to invite them straight out." Rane made a grimace, but then nodded slowly. "Good point. Will do. Might take a little while and some diplomacy, though." "We're not in a hurry," Hunty said and climbed back down. She could've jumped into the mist but she needed the time to have a look around. They were completely surrounded now. The closest ships, Rane's excluded, were a few hundred feet away, clearly within gunshot. There were about five ships straight in front of them, blocking their way forward, but the good thing about ships is, they have no weight in water. And the Weewoo had its mist. "You're crazy," Bloody Mary said, following her glance, "but I do guess it's our only chance, yes." Hunty nodded. This just might work. IkkinIkkin shook her head as a white fog engulfed her and Sev soon after she'd gotten on the ship. It smelled of... well, it was hard to describe, but something akin to laziness and a general lack of motivation, if those things could possibly have a smell. And everything seemed stuck, as if time didn't exist. Then, before she could realize how odd it was to be thinking about these things in a place where time didn't exist, they were both back on the deck of the ship - which was now, somehow, in the water, surrounded by other ships. This was odd. "...what just happened?" Ikkin asked, looking around, until she saw Rider, who seemed to be helping Cele, who seemed to be hurt or something. "Hey, Rider, what's going on? I have this annoying feeling that I just missed out on a large amount of plot... What happened to Cele?" Under his breath, Sev mumbled, "You just can't help breaking the fourth wall, can you?"*** Leraye, meanwhile, was slowly sinking back into his couch and wishing he could just disappear as the pirates from the ancient guild told Huntress about what he had done to them, and started talking about putting him on trial.
He really didn't want to be put on trial. It wasn't like he had any kind of excuse that would stand up, really. Granted, most excuses don't hold up when you trap someone in a gem for eons.
But, he had to stick around, at least for now. He still needed a new gem, and if he played his cards right, he might be able to make an even more powerful one...
In any case, there probably wasn't much he could do at this point, so he just sat back, prepared his own stone to make a quick exit if it became necessary, and tried to look as non-suspicious as he could. PFA((near Weewoo))"I see you've thought this over," PFA blinked upon hearing Uncle's detailed description of his plan. And then Uncle dove into the water, struggling against the waves. PFA gave him a smile as a silent way of saying 'good luck,' and then turned to Bluisa. Now we wait, I guess.--- ((near sea)) Jernath nodded in response to Cyborg, and promptly climbed up into the tree with him. Once he found a comfortable perch on a branch, he tried to keep an eye on Midknight and Shado, but they were hard to spot when they were shadows. He supposed that was a good thing, though. Let's just hope this goes well, he thought silently. Zari((Yay for-not-from-earth-confusion-of-Illhvrenan-weirdos!)) Zari frowned "Well I guess if you hafta, Fra..." She'd been half-listening to Bacon, but now it struck her these weren't real people he was talking about. "What? You're not talking about real people...are you? What is Star Gate? Is it a particularly fancy space station safety programme? Some sort of human-type thinger? A book? Nevermind...I'll fly. The trees and stuff are making me claustrophobic." She made a few jerky movements in different directions, pushed Ailura towards Latiere and Aikran, who were conversing quietly in clone, and leapt into a tree, and from there into the air. It was good to stretch her wings to their full length. Back at spacefleet she stretched regularly, to stop parts of her body cramping up and refusing to move. That was the problem with having a job that meant sitting at a desk half the day and making clone food the other half. She remembered just in time to keep glancing between the air in front of her and the ground. Distracted drivers cause airway accidents, remember kiddies. Fraze((The grove)) As the pirates surrounding him came closer, Fraze wondered why everyone seemed to be attacking him. The answer came quickly. I'm shiny. They probably think I'm some kind of treasure.Never mind. Fraze moved into a stance that would be better for fighting with a Table. But it was six against one, and he had no intention of using his Table. Discreetly, with his left hand, he unclipped a plasma grenade from its holder, activating it with the press of a button. Had to time it right...there! He crouched, jumped with suit-assisted force straight up, and threw down the grenade as he was going up, directly in the middle of the six warriors. He didn't want to have to do that again, so at the peak of his jump, he extended his suit's clear, dragonfly-like wings once more, gliding toward the dropship. Being above the treetops, he looked toward the sea. What the—Ships. Sailing ships. A multitude of them. He must have missed seeing them among all the other things that were going on. When he landed again, the warriors seemed happy to stay away from him. To the 'Fleeters, he said, "I'm not sure if anyone else has seen this, but there's--there's a fleet of ships in the bay. CyborgMidknight and Shado darted all around, not seen. They hadn't found anything yet,... but wait they spotted two sharp objects, could they be the daggers. They got out of their shadow forms and saw that the sharp objects were indeed Jernath's daggers. Midknight grabbed the daggers, then he and Shado returned to Shado form and darted back to the other mercenaries. " So Jernath been lookin for these?" Midknight rhetorically asked as he and Shado returned to their normal forms and Midknight held up the daggers. VytCat Assassin looked at the ship from below. The lifeless chunk of plank was intimidating to the feline's eyes, what with the illusion of perspective and all. Though stirred for a bit, the cat was not entirely moved by its presence. "I've seen scarier things in smaller packages," he uttered. Holding out his breath, Cat Assassin dove around the ship, or at least he was trying to. His natural instincts as a cat were inhibiting him from swimming at all. He had to admit: he was a poor swimmer, and it was just a miracle that he was still alive from being thrown into a river unconscious years ago. "This is hopeless. Time for plan B." Realizing that being in a water was not helping him much, Cat Assassin needed to take himself out of the sea without being detected. It was a good thing he came prepared, however. The feline began to reach for his shoes, his hands trying to find a specific button. When his fingers started to touch something, he pressed hard. Then, spiked claws pushed itself out of their compartment, exposing itself below his feet. "I never realized I'd be able to use my Ashiko," he noted himself. Grabbing Vyt's dagger from his wet coat, Cat Assassin forcefully kicked the bottom side of the plank and lodged the dagger a few feet above it. His grip tightened around the dagger's handle, holding him above water. "This should keep me away from water and from making too much monologue," he whispered. Far away, he could see a small boat with a few passengers on it. Looking at their faces, he quickly knew who they were. "Mercs," he hissed.
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