Guild Wars III Roleplay (Rated T)

[Deleted]

Ninja Dojo


The Ninja Superior.

Both Kovaran and Oncara knew better than to try anything which might be seen as disrespectful. Along with the others they both bowed, although Kovaran took the opportunity to pull his jacket back on and start buttoning it up. Now he looked even more out of place.

The Superior gave a speech. It was not a long speech, but it was mercifully direct - the NTWF was under threat once more. There would be many tests of each ninja's character, skills and strength--

Then the Ninja Superior started coughing, and went on the ground.

"Superior!" Kovaran cried out when he saw this. For a moment he looked like he was going to rush forward to help, but a ninja in front of him held up their hand. And sure enough, the Superior was up again, saying he would be fine.

But Kovaran didn't believe it.

He had seen sickness like that before - and every case he had seen had always ended in the death of the sick person. He had reason to worry!

The Superior was now speaking of something else. It was an order: dispatch yourselves into teams and search around the NTWF for anything suspicious and malevolent. If you have to, group yourselves with those from the other guilds.

*

Oncara's jaw dropped. Then he closed his mouth, his tail twitching. Why would we need to work with other guilds? We're the Ninjas. We are superior to them!

One of the colourful ninjas asked what the Superior meant by "suspicious and malevolent".

"Listen, boy," he growled, "I doubt the Superior was that specific. Even if what I--one of us--finds confirms your suspicions. And there is no excuse for asking the Superior to elaborate about anything."

"Superior! I will gladly go!" The Screaming Dragon's voice could be clearly heard, as always. The panther rolled his eyes.

--

Tabloid Town


Sometimes, panic was a risk to one's health.

But sometimes it was necessary. In the case of the coati, it was the latter. She had stopped caring about where she was going or whether she was tired - as far as she was concerned, all that mattered was getting out of here alive.

She tripped and stumbled. As she steadied herself, she realised that she had a throbbing headache, on top of being in danger.

Lovely. Just what I needed!

Massaging her temples to relieve it, she spotted a sea of masts and sails. The Tabloid Town pier - no doubt it had dozens of ships... dozens of places to hide, or things to climb up. It was a crazy idea, but sometimes crazy ideas worked.

A growl behind her made her decide instantly. The coati leaped up onto a pipe, clamboring up onto the roof of a building, and starting running again, leaping from rooftop to rooftop. Need to get ship! Need to get ship!

Of course, this would be a nice way of attracting attention, wouldn't it? Not just the sight, but the sounds as well.

[Rider]

[glow=red,2,300]Tabloid Town[/glow]

"Shiva?"

Shiva skidded to a halt. He almost hadn't seen the little bundle of rabies there.

"Bloody Mary... It's terrible. There was this hole - no, it was a cave. It sucked her in. Or rather, she went in, but it was like there was a spell on her... and then she... I couldn't see how, but I didn't want to go in or else I'd be under the spell too. I couldn't save her."

Breathe in. Breathe out.

"Where's Hunty? Please, if she has any Phoenix Down still..."

[glow=red,2,300]Brassport[/glow]

Adeline Spencer was in the Aerodome and watching her father sail away in his newest ship. A masterpiece that Adeline herself had helped him to build. He had been taking supplies to the more rural areas.

One moment his ship was rising into the clear blue sky and the next... The sky had changed. For one thing, there were no airships in it.

Adeline held her lolita headband to her head and ran out of the Aerodome. She knew knew better than to shout. Even if her father were nearby, he would not be able to hear her.

Still, she wanted to. She was still just a kid.

Her eyes scanned the horizon. This was not home. It felt different. It looked much more primitive.

She ran back inside just in time to see the mayor of the town enter the Aerodome. While everyone else was crowding around him with looks of panic on their faces, Adeline was too stunned to show anything more than a mild worry, as if someone had told her her fish had fallen ill. She trailed behind the mayor, hoping to overhear some choice pieces of conversation.

[Superhero Live]

Cital turned around when the panther spoke to him and shrugged. "Hey, I'm just asking. Is there a law against it or something? If you don't have anything nice to say, kittycat-cat, I suggest that you don't say anything at all. Didn't they teach you that in kindergarten?"

He stretched. "You know, I'm more than happy to accept this quest and all. I'm not protesting at all. I think it'll be good exercise."

This panther is interesting. Let's fight him.

Almost instantaneously Kitchen Knife became as heavy as a boulder and Cital nearly fell over from the sudden weight increase. "Stop doing that whenever we meet someone new!" he shouted. "It gets really annoying, you know!"

He suddenly noticed that he had spoken aloud and sheepishly looked around. "Erm... yeah... just talking to my inner spirit and all, you know..."

[Deleted]

<<Mage Manor>>
Aly followed the other mages quietly. Lika watched her as they walked with a still, pensive feline face, her expression betraying nothing. To the fire mage, taking a quick glance down, it betrayed nothing but worry and anxiety. She felt her own stomach twisting as they approached the basement, and grimaced.

[You feel it as well?]

"Yeah," the girl replied in a breath. Her stomach told her before her head could begin to think it through. Dark magic, or some form of it, made the bit of shadow in her own pool of magic pulse in response. She'd gotten used to it, but she didn't like it. Dealing with her own things was bad enough, but this...wasn't great.

They reached the basement. Celestial moved the stones aside, and Rikku said something, and there was the sound of a Weewoo...but Aly wasn't focused on those. She stepped back and uttered a short "Sra," but it came out weaker than she'd expected. She saw the darkness pooled in the room for what seemed to be only a moment, because Rikku did her thing next and then the shadows welled up in response--

A hot pain seized her mind, but it was over in an instant, and Aly was all too used to that by now. She recovered swiftly and, remembering how Celestial's attempted attack with fire had failed, grabbed her dagger in one hand and a saruanu knife in the other. "Lika!"

[Go. I'll support.]

Normally, the girl would've shot back with some smart reply, but she just nodded and looked over Rikku's now-inert body, jumping back to avoid a swinging set of claws. "What the hell--"

She thought she saw something humanoid form in the shadowy mass, and directed a knife at it with a quick flick of her wrist. The thing batted it away easily. But then, as she was readying herself to throw another--hopefully, with some fire behind it this time--the shadow collapsed and shaped itself anew, drawing up into...

The girl ground her teeth and jammed both blades into their sheathes, stringing and drawing an arrow from her bow within a few instants. The arrowhead burst into crimson flame and left a trail as it was loosed, and...swallowed. Oh, sra...

She was left to jumping back from the shadows, her fingers feeling for a hidden shaft among her arrows and yanking one out. Phoenix fletching. If that didn't produce a result, then all the fire in the world would be useless...

A long finger of dark reached out. She jerked away, and it retreated, but she was shivering slightly as she drew away, and the bow felt limp and heavy in her hands...

The walls were fading, blurring, lightening to a stark, pure white color. There were no shadows in this empty space,not even under her feet...if there was a floor. The girl shook, steadying herself. This space...

[Aly!]

And then she was staring at the flickering colors of the ceiling, lit by crimson fire in a short column that encompassed her. The ground, she thought, confused. I'm on the ground?

[Allianne.]

The circle of fire died around her. Celestial was kneeling, shouting at Rikku to wake up. "Lika," the girl said, pushing herself to a sitting position. Sra, her head hurt. "White...I swear I was in someone's mind, or something--"

[Talk later,] the feline said abruptly. [First, try to keep whatever's behind that door in.]

The mage glared at the opening and nodded, putting a hand on the Felyr's back and concentrating. She didn't want to draw on her own reserves, for some reason she could only describe as instinct. The shadow within the fire felt unstable. A curtain of bright crimson fire, burning with intense waves of heat, sprang to life across the doors. "Let's hope to Pyra that whatever it is doesn't like flame," she muttered.

[Ikkin]

Ikkin wasn't quite sure how long she'd been wandering in the Underdeep anymore. Time flowed strangely there - a minute could feel like an eternity, and a year could go by in the blink of an eye.

All she knew was that it had been far too long. Extended stays in the Underdeep, even with all of the protection afforded by phoenix fire, could still strip a person of all hope - in fact, even Ikkin's goal had become fuzzy, even when its object flew right alongside her.

Sev made slow circles in the air, occasionally setting one of the Underdeep's creations ablaze. He was uncharacteristically quiet, and Ikkin suspected that he might have lost his ability to communicate completely.

That was, of course, why she had subjected herself to the rigors of the Underdeep to begin with. Some time ago (which was, in fact, six months ago, though Ikkin didn't know that), Sev had started to change. At first, he had just acted aggressive, which wasn't really that strange - but, he claimed that it was the fault of something he couldn't control, which was something he never said. It became more and more obvious that something was wrong when Sev's magical signature started to change, something that could only happen if his very existence was altered.

That's why Ikkin had ended up here, in the Underdeep. Sev himself was much like the nightmares created by the Underdeep - his form had been artificially created in the same manner, and Ikkin suspected that if something had affected the Underdeep badly enough, it could affect Sev as well.

And, while it was fairly faint at first, there was still definitely something wrong with the Underdeep. If Ikkin had to put it into words, she'd say the Underdeep felt frustrated - something was keeping it from focusing its energies where it really wanted, and that energy had to go somewhere.

Ikkin was almost certain that Sev was taking in a fair amount of it, and that was why he was acting so strangely.

Then again, that still wouldn't explain some of Sev's newfound quirks, like the seemingly-random numbers he'd voiced while sleeping before he'd gone silent.

But, she still had to do something to help Sev, and she was determined to find whatever was frustrating the Underdeep and stop it so Sev would have a hance to go back to normal.

Not that she'd had all too much success with that. She half-suspected that the Underdeep itself was playing on her fears, not by creating monsters, but by rearranging itself so she could never reach the cause of the disturbance. She had gotten so close so many times, but nothing had ever come of it. Maybe she never would find it... and since she couldn't go back with Sev the way he was, she'd be doomed to roam the Underdeep until nothing was left of her...

No, she couldn't let herself think that. It'd just make things worse... but, it had become nearly impossible to force those thoughts away anyway.

Just as she had finally started to calm herself down, there was an enormous roar and the world itself seemed to fall to pieces around her. Flashes of all different portions of the NTWF flashed before her eyes, so rapidly that she had to close her eyes to keep from getting sick from all of the movement.

And then it stopped, just as quickly as it started. With the Underdeep, it was hard to tell, but Ikkin was very sure that she was somewhere different than she had been only a moment ago. For one thing, Sev was no longer right next to her.

Without the light from the phoenix fire and the protection Sev afforded, all of Ikkin's more standard fears came out to play before she could do anything to suppress them, forming into a veritable army of monsters around her...

...which, fortunately, burst into flames before they could launch an attack. Ikkin wasn't sure whether Sev had just been dropped nearby, or whether he had just decided to teleport to her as soon as he realized she wasn't there. Either way, she couldn't expect that kind of luck to strike twice in the Underdeep.

Amazingly enough, it did, and only a moment later. Ikkin felt, for the first time in ages, the magical signatures of other mages. Two of them felt very familiar - a dragon and a necromancer, whose signature was so weak that she had to have been unconscious - but Ikkin was disturbed to find out that she couldn't put names to them; the fuzzy feeling of the Underdeep seemed to have put a veil over her memories. There was a third mage as well, but Ikkin didn't get the same feeling of familiarity from her.

Nevertheless, there were other people in the Underdeep. And there was no way Ikkin was going to pass up the opportunity to see them, considering what had just happened.

"Over here, Sev," Ikkin said, running off in the direction of the mages. After a couple of minutes of nothing, she saw a set of doors, which were almost directly on top of where the mages should have been.

As she drew closer, she realized that the doors looked exactly like the doors to the basement of Mage Manor, which seemed like a very bad sign. Even worse, they caught on fire just moments before she reached them.

She paused for a moment, decided that getting stuck in the Underdeep would be far worse than a few burns, turned to Sev to say, "hope you can still heal" before leaping right through the burning doors.

Rolling on the ground as she landed kept her clothes from getting too badly burnt, and Sev flew right through after her, so Ikkin figured that things could have gone worse.

Then again...

"Okay, can someone please explain what the Underdeep is doing in the basement of Mage Manor?"

[Draco]

<<Ninja Dojo>>

Sitting there Draco listens to all the Ninja Superior had to say. When his finals words are spoken after his coughing fit he stands up and bows. Without a word he turns and walks past the others and out the door. "I'm hoping this won't be the last time I see him." Once outside he leaps over the fence and begins to run out of the forest his coat flapping around wildly.

---

<<Outside Brassport>>

Gil circles the city a few times taking note on where he was. The city was still connected to the ocean where the port was located in their previous world. "That's good. At least the people with ships could still sail. I guess I'll follow the coast line and see where that leads me." With that he circles the city one last time before following the coast. Every now and then he will press a button and take out a pen and paper. He would then sketch out parts of a map a little at a time.

[Ian Wolf-Park]

A forest outside Tabloid Town
A grey wolf with black paws was wandering around the forest, looking for a place to stay, along with something to fill its belly. After a few minutes, it spotted a rabbit. The wolf wasn't sure if it was going to run away if it was attacked, so the wolf decided to try another way.

Silently, it transformed into a human with black hair, although most of it was covered by a fedora with wolf ears sticking out of it. He withdrew a dagger from his left side and threw it towards the rabbit, hoping that it would hit. It did, causing the rabbit to fall to its side, dead. Afterwards, the human crept out of his hiding spot and plucked the dagger out and wiped the blood away on a patch of grass.

Not wanting to let the meat spoil while searching for a shelter, the human decided to construct a spit at the location where he killed the rabbit. Once the fire pit and spit were constructed, he held out one of his hands and muttered a spell, causing the branches creating the fire pit to ignite.

It wasn't long before the rabbit was fully cooked. The human took it off the spit and slowly ate it, savouring the flavor. As soon as he was finished eating, he transformed back into a wolf and began digging a small grave to bury the rabbit bones. The wolf wondered what it would do next before deciding to stay at the location for a little bit while it rested.

As it was sleeping, it felt the earthquake, causing it to wake up. It wanted to know where the source was coming from, but since it was unfamiliar with the terrain, it decided to find some allies. As far as it was concerned, something didn't seem right about this particular earthquake.

[Goosh]

((The Underdeep -> Merpo's Lab))

Kassandra followed the humming, keeping her sword in front of her. She had tried to build a story here, but the strength of the magic around her had muted her power, like talking softly in a room full of conversations. She'd made something that was small, extending only around her squalid home, but something safe: the story of a young girl who was wronged by pirates and suffered through horrible conditions, longing for justice.

Nearby, the humming suddenly stopped. It was never good to be lost down here--in a place where the floor could grow a mouth or your childhood friend could show up and torture you, the last thing you wanted to trust was your own sense of direction.

She rounded a corner to a strange sight: a bulky shape in a strange suit, hurrying up a flight of stairs. The tunnel was littered with the occasional bolt or bit of wire, and a sterile light poured in from the direction the thing had fled.

It was not that she couldn't escape the Underdeep. It was more that she wouldn't. As much as she controlled stories, stories controlled her. The monsters in the Underdeep didn't know stories, didn't care for stories, so there weren't any footholds for her to drive her magic into.

A sharp wail echoed down the tunnel, the exact wording reverberating into meaninglessness. She raced to the other end and up the stairs, emerging in a strange laboratory. The odd shape was crumpled on the floor, murmuring to himself.

Oh, how this place reeked of tales, of legends. It was almost tangible, the complex and tangled emotion that had raged through these walls.

So she perched on one of the tables, smiling sweetly, waiting for the shape to rise. She would play this one by ear.


-----

((The White Weewoo))

"...because it's a pretty song?"

Goosh had avoided the weasels pretty largely since the events that had transpired at the Spacefleet base. Though they were cute enough, they could get a bit overexcited, and they often practiced their music late into the night. He might've complained more often if they had belonged to anyone besides Zylaa.

"While our captain is occupied, and by occupied I mean sucking the face of the local Spacefleet emissary," he continued, glancing around to make sure the captain was too far away to hear that last bit, "I say we do the not-make-trouble thing for once. I'm not sure I'm liking the amounts of trouble we've been getting into lately."

Goosh thought about was Zylaa had said and got an ugly thought. "Although maybe we could ask around and see if anyone's spotted Rider recently? I know she's a big girl--well, a tough girl anyway, and she can take care of herself, but I still worry a little. You know how she is."

He glanced at the weasel girl, maybe a touch suggestively. There may have been a sparkle flickering about his fur. "Did you have any ideas?"

[Omni]

Spacefleet

"Ethan? Is that really you?"

Ethan whipped his head around when he heard his name called. To his surprise he saw Leoness; the old Chief Medic. He hadn't seen her in... roughly a year. His organic brain almost forgot what her voice sounded like, but there was no way to mistake her face around here, digitally assisted or otherwise.

At least physically speaking, they was a big difference in how they changed. For Ethan, they year included a changing voice, a lot of growing, and a bunch of growing pains. (Although oddly, his implants didn't seem to need much adjustment. Just another strange feature.) With that in mind, plus his longer hair and slight change of clothes, her response didn't surprise him. Leoness, on the other hand, looked the same, as if she never left.

Speaking of which, he wasn't sure if he had expected her to come back. "Leoness?"

Siber was also surprised, but excited to see her. He greeted her aloud with a "Woff! Woff!" and a canine smile, jumping up to her and putting his forepaws on her.

And last, but not least, there were the medical workers. Dr. Cürian and Nurse Friedman hadn't worked personally with Leoness very much, even when she was there. But, of course, they still knew her. "Chief Leoness!" Cürian exclaimed. "Thank goodness you're here! Perhaps you could help with our little dispute."

[PFA]

Ninja Dojo

PFA listened to what the Superior had to say, a concerned expression on her face. Not only was she concerned for the Superior's clearly deteriorating health, but for the danger which he spoke of so succinctly. It seemed there was impending doom on a yearly basis these days.

"This is not the best time to be fighting, please," PFA said as, two of the newer ninjas--Oncara and Cital, if she remembered correctly--began to have a short argument. "I think if we discover anything of this malevolence the Superior speaks of... we will know." Or at least... I probably will, she added silently.

As if on cue, the earth trembled beneath the feet of the ninjas, throughout the entire dojo--and the rest of the guilds, unbeknown to them. PFA took up something of a defensive stance instinctively, making sure she didn't lose her balance. And then, it was gone. Now if anything was suspicious, PFA thought, that definitely was.

"I will honor your orders... Superior," PFA stated, giving a bow of respect to the Superior. Inwardly, she began to wonder if this would be the last time she would get to do this. But she quickly dismissed the thought. Turning to the other ninjas, she asked, "I suppose we should get into teams, then?"

---

Mercenary Base

"What else would it be?" Sytra immediately questioned. Jernath swallowed the mouthful of peanut butter, about to reply to this, but she was already off on another topic, saying she was going out to find some food and/or jobs. She offered an invitation to anyone who'd like to come along.

Which Clint, apparently, accepted the offer. "Well, if anyone comes by, tell them where we've gone."

"Huh?" Jernath stood and watched as the other two mercs started on their way out of the room. "Hey, wait! I'm coming too, alright?"

He started after the two, pausing for a moment to decide what to do with the jar in his hands. He eventually chose to shove another forkful of PB into his mouth before screwing the lid back on and setting the jar aside. This done, Jernath followed the other mercs out of the kitchen.

He realized that he wouldn't be able to tell anyone where they'd gone if he was going with them. He wondered if they should leave a note.

[Deleted]

Ninja Dojo


Oncara had been half-expecting the boy - Cital, was it? - to respond. But he was clearly not expecting him to say what he just said. The look on the panther's face made that clear.

The earth shook.

Instead of replying directly to either of the humans who'd spoken to him, he turned away and stood up.

"I will go on my own. It will be for the better if no-one comes with me."

With that, Oncara turned and walked out. Once he was out of the dojo, he went into a run. His destination: Tabloid Town.

If he knew what would happen to him, the panther would have spent some time at the dojo before leaving - he would never return.

*

Kovaran's mood, on the other hand, was quite different. He didn't seem to be bothered by the quake; other things were clearly on his mind.

"Mark my words, Superior! I will do my best to find this evil that threatens our world, and I shall destroy it if need be! Kovaran Mokra, the Sword that Cleaves Evil - I swear upon it with my life!"

That speech might've been more moving if he wasn't shedding tears. Regardless, now standing at his impressive full height and with Zankantou, the aptly-named Colossal Sword hanging from his back, Kovaran looked as ready as ever for action.

"PFA!" He turned to her, grinning eagerly. "You - and the Superior - have a good plan. Teamwork will allow us to survive with more ease, and bring brighter futures!

"I would be honoured to lead one of these teams!"

[Moonlight]

A soft breeze swept through Wilhelm's makeshift room, fluttering the worn pages of open books from a propped open window in the back. The occupant himself, though, was stretched out in an old armchair with his back to the view outside. Book in hand, it was hard to pay attention to anything else. But occasionally he'd steal glances at the little belongings he owned stacked in an empty corner. A tall ebony cane sat against the cold grey stone, the bright blue stone which topped it reflected on the wall from the open sunlight. Satisfied, he sighed. One of the newer members had a habit of glancing around, searching for things she could lay her little hands on. Perhaps of value?

Wilhelm Bennett, new recruit to the mercenaries. If they did anything at all, of course. The job promised money(which may as well be a shallow lie for the time being), but most of all, it meant something to do.

X the latter. It was boring, but it gave him time to do what he liked. When no orders were in for cutting someone down, he was a hopeless bookworm. Mostly history and fantastical tales. Magic was increasingly intriguing, though it was doubtful you could learn much from spellbooks.

Thump. Thunk!

A small tremor shook the room, toppling a large stack of books from a shelf above Wilhelm's head. He uttered a mild curse and shut his novel before getting up and staggering a few steps and bracing himself on the old wall. A loud slam behind meant the window prop had failed. An earthquake? Probably, and a small one. Wilhelm picked up the books while rubbing a robin's egg bump on his head, setting them on the bed. "Ow," was the best spur of the moment word he could come up with.

Since the earthquake ruined his concentration, he decided to get up and head...well he WAS hungry, actually, so the kitchen it is. Wilhelm looked back over his shoulder at the cane and satchel on the floor, thinking silently that if anyone stole even one item from him, the cane would be put to good use.

With that, he stepped out the door and crossed the hallways to find the kitchen.

[The Ninja Superior]

((Ninja Dojo))

The Ninja Superior looked on as the ninjas began to spread out. "Such wonderful kids, I'd say," he commented before turning back to his messenger ninjas. He prompted to sit down as well. "Please send the message to all those who were absent. I want every ninja to know about this."

The two bowed their heads in obedience, but one of them raised his up back. "Sir, were you not reminded of another omen when that earthquake shook our dojo?" he asked.

The Ninja Superior was silent.

"I- I'm sorry to have bothered you with that question, master. We will be going now," the messengers bowed once more before leaving the old man alone.

The Ninja Superior was still silent. He just continued sitting still on the tatami mat by the center of his room.

Unmoving.

[Zylaa]

"Don't ask me, they're your psychic weasels. I'm not even sure I know what requiem means. Anyway, maybe they just like the tune." said Jina.

"...because it's a pretty song?" said Goosh.

"Thanks, guys. Real helpful," Zylaa said, rolling her eyes. Although she did listen to Goosh's next suggestions.

"I say we do the not-make-trouble thing for once. I'm not sure I'm liking the amounts of trouble we've been getting into lately. Although maybe we could ask around and see if anyone's spotted Rider recently? I know she's a big girl--well, a tough girl anyway, and she can take care of herself, but I still worry a little. You know how she is."

"And while we're at it, we should probably figure out what's happened to Ikkin," Zylaa said. "I mean, she's got her walking, flying, snarking godmode with her, but..." she shrugged. What's gotten into you? A bit of a creepy tune and you're suddenly acting like a chased rabbit. "It's good to check on crew."

"Did you have any ideas?" Goosh asked, possibly with a sparkle to his skin. Zylaa was too preoccupied to wonder about it. After all, he did tend to sparkle occasionally now. It was... distracting, but these sort of things became a fact of life eventually.

"None whatsoever. I didn't have any thoughts other than going partying in Taboid Town up til the last minute. So..." Zylaa paused for a second, thinking. "Let's stick with that plan! We can just be sure to stay armed and stick together." She walked over to her own hammock and began rummaging through her chest underneath it, pulling out her few weapons-- cutlass, recently polished spoon, and as an afterthought a vial of the lemony liquid Speck had given her... what, a year ago now? She wasn't exactly sure of its properties, but she was pretty sure it went boom. That was nice.

"I propose we find a semi-respectable tavern, indulge in a few beverages, and see where the night takes us." And maybe along the way I can find some sort of sound monitor from the Space people shop. It would be nice to be able to eavesdrop on the weasels' music.

[Superhero Live]

Cital looked back at that girl... PFA, was that her name? Oh, yes, she mentioned something about not fighting. Cital nodded like the good boy he was to show that he understood and was about to make some sort of silly comment when the earthquake shook the dojo. He fell over, this time, due to Kitchen Knife still being heavy.

Lighten up!

Was that a pun? came the sarcastic answer.

Kitchen Knife, I mean it!

The katana slowly became lighter, as if the spirit inhabiting it was unwilling to do so. Cital sighed as he sat up, rubbing his now sore back. Ouch, ouch.

The panther's gone, Kitchen Knife remarked scornfully.

Shut up. Seriously, man, you're supposed to help me.

When the lizard-ninja guy burst out into his speech, Cital looked up in surprise. Well, he seemed all to happy to begin.

Let's--

If you say another word, I will drop you in a pit of fire.

Kitchen Knife fell silent. Cital strolled over to the lizard-guy... Kovaran, if he remembered his name correctly. He seemed more than capable to hold his own ground, and he figured that teaming up would indeed be a good idea.

"You know, that was some speech," he said. "It was so moving and all that, y'know... I think I'd feel really safe with a person... lizard... ninja like you. Especially if that person had such a big sword like yours. Slice and dice, huh? Must be really easy to chop down your enemies, huh? But it must be a pain in the butt to run with it. It looks really heavy and all, after all..."

Just tell him that you want to join his team, Kitchen Knife flared. Cital rolled his eyes.

I'm getting to that, don't rush me!

Your flattery is so transparent and laughably cliche.

Cital suppressed a frustrated sigh and said, "All in all, you know, I think it'd be a real honor to fight besides a strong and noble ninja like you."