Guild Wars III Roleplay (Rated T)

[PFA]

Ninja Dojo

PFA winced slightly as Kovaran Mokra--one of the newer and definitely more unique of ninjas--shouted exuberantly at her brilliant idea, and offering to lead one of the teams. Before PFA could say anything, Cital started to speak to Kovaran, stumbling over some form of praise before asking to join Kovaran's group. PFA considered commenting on this, but in the end didn't.

"I'll go with you, too," PFA offered. "If you don't mind, that is."

---

Mercenary Base

"H-hey guys? I think we have a... bit of a problem."

"A problem...?" Jernath thought aloud, not liking Sytra's tone of voice. He decided to follow her outside, muttering an "excuse me" as he walked past Hawk.

When he got outside to see what Sytra was looking at, Jernath immediately realized that that wasn't right. It was almost like a black hole in the middle of the forest, devouring everything in its vicinity. If Jernath had been a mage--which he wasn't--he might have said it emanated a malevolent aura.

"What the heck is that thing?" he asked, eyeing the mysterious force warily. He instinctively started to reach for his bow, but stopped himself--shooting arrows into an ominous black void wasn't going to do any good whatsoever. "And how do we stop it?"

[Deleted]

<<Mage Manor>>

Aly nodded her thanks at Celestial's short explanation. Good enough for now, she thought, straightening. 'A place of nightmares'... But that was odd. Thinking over it, Aly couldn't find much that she feared. More often than not, she responded to what most people would have called frightening with arrows, fire, knives, words, or a combination of the above. She acted arrogant when she could, tinkled when she couldn't, and burning with hatred like hellfire when someone dared to push her over the brink. She wasn't invulnerable--she could do plenty of stupid, stupid things when she wasn't paying attention, though she'd learned to twist anger into fuel for thinking things through and doing. But things that she outright feared...

She shivered. Darkness. Shadows. Losing control of myself, and illusions, and not knowing what's what. Dark magic... She'd sworn she'd learned to conquer it, or at least live with it, but at seeing the darkness of this Underdeep, her heart jumped weakly and left her chest feeling strained and hollow. The shadow magic buried within in the fire was responding to it, and it was gnawing at the energy around it, waiting. She would have laughed, except that she couldn't. It felt too real. And that white room...

Well, yes, she feared it. That would explain a few things.

[You're so egotistical.] Lika added to her thoughts with a snort, as if reading her mind. Given how closely the familiar was connected to her, she probably had. To a degree, at least. [Everything you fear has to do with yourself. It's not like you're the most powerful thing in the universe.]

"I'm the most powerful thing I don't just get tinkled at," she retorted, "and that isn't even always true. I mean--"

And then she felt something plunge through the wall of fire she'd put up, and she jumped, the flames dying abruptly at the feeling, the malice of whatever was breaking through the flickering barrier. She whipped around, and found shadowy tentacles lashing out and wrapping around Celestial and Rikku. "Sra!" Aly shouted. she jerked a hand from her side, her voice slightly hoarse and very loud as she started on a word in Ancient. "Pyrsar--"

[NO.] The sound echoed in her mind with the force of a crashing wave behind it, drowning out the rest of the word she'd been about to pronounce.

"Lika..." the girl growled, annoyed. The bare embers of a flame started up under the two mages, but it died down again as a sharp pain shot through her mind. "Lika!"

[You are going to set them aflame,] the Felyr snapped back in response. [Don't.]

Gritting her teeth, the girl left the the magic aside and scooped up her bow from the ground with the fire-fletched arrow in her other hand. Only three... She shook her head at the thought. This is one of those times it might be needed. In one swift motion, as the shadows drew their prey in, she drew and loosed the phoenix-fire arrow into the heart of the darkness.

Please. Let it do something.

[Most definitely not unrelated]

Another dimension

There were dozens of eyes watching.

These eyes belonged to creatures of myriads of species: humanoids, reptiles, sea creatures, insects, some downright unrecognisable, even a creature from space or two. They had come from many places, but all served under one banner. Now, all of their eyes were trained on the one point.

A portal. Or rather, the beginnings of a portal.

The structure was there. The energy was there, and it had formed. But something was stopping it from becoming complete.

One creature grew impatient.

"Thousands of years! You told us we'd been waiting for thousands of years for this - and we're late! Why's the portal taking so long?!"

Other creatures began to speak, agreeing with the impatient one. Yet others told it to be patient - what were a few more years after thousands? The arguing rose, close to becoming a literal fight--

You will stop.

Next to the portal, the army's leader raised its hand, silencing the crowd.

Not yet... but soon.

In the light of the fortress's walls, the leader of this army stood, watching. And waiting.

[Ian Wolf-Park]

Outside Mage Manor
The wolf was relieved to see a building appear after running in the forest for quite some time. For a few minutes, it rested and observed the beauty of the building. To the wolf, it felt like the building was a good place to stay.

After it rested, it transformed and walked to the front door. After opening it, he stuck his head inside.

"Hello, is anyone here?" he loudly asked. There was nothing but silence. The human decided to wander around to see if he anyone was here. After all, they could have been busy working on something

As he was wandering around, he felt a little uneasy as he sensed some sort of powerful magic in the air. The magic became stronger as he followed it down to the basement. What he saw next made his blood run cold.

It was strange to see a dark void, but he knew that the void was the source of the powerful magic. Two of the mages were being dragged into it while another was trying her best to free them. He knew he had to help them, so he summoned a powerful fireball.

"Eat this," he shouted before flinging the fireball into the void.

[Omni]

*starts post after getting poked by PFA - who keeps up on the OOC more than her*

Spacefleet

Ethan noticed that Leoness opened her mouth to speak to him twice before getting interrupted. She then smiled, apparently glad to see him. He gave a small smile back, watching as she picked up a white coat and put it on, Siber following behind her. He concluded that she must have wanted to talk to him, but felt that the 'dispute' was more urgent.

She would have plenty of opportunities to talk with him. After all, it wasn't like he was going anywhere for awhile.


"What seems to be the problem, Doctor?"

It had occurred to Dr. Cürian that Leoness might not have been considered the Chief Medic. But in her mind, she always was. Whatever the case was, she felt that the old Chief might be able to give advice on the matter, at the very least.

She concisely explained the situation, taking a neutral stance during the explanation itself. She explained the proposition as she understood it, including the equipment itself. She mentioned the benefit it would have in helping certain patients, but how those patients were a small minority and wouldn't help the others. She also brought up the fact that, while she wanted to help ALL patients, that meant complications because installing the equipment would take up space and time that could be needed for patients in need as well as the medical personnel treating them. She knew the complications could be minimized by installing only a little of the equipment at a time, possibly in specific locations, but one never knew when that extra space would be needed.

At any rate, if Leoness was the Chief at the time, it was her decision.



*goes back to reading up on what happened in the Manor*

[Nova]

Mage Manor - Basement

Nova stared down into the basement. No response as of yet. "Hello?" he tried again. Still no answer.

"Shall we go down?" asked Fyren, the small fireball.

"I'm not sure.. who knows if they're not even down there? I didn't even know that Mage Manor had a basement."

"Well, it doesn't seem to me like anyone else is here. And-" Fyren stopped and listened. "Do you hear that?"

Nova listened carefully. Faint sounds that could hardly be heard were coming from the basement. "...yes. Something. And my danger instincts tell me it's not good. Let's go!" Nova held out his hand and in a puff of blue smoke his staff appeared. A big blue orb at the top was made of pure sapphire and provided light to even the most darkest shadows.

The duo flew down the stairs with all speed, but even then it was a long way down. By the time he was there, he saw his fellow mages being attacked by a tentacle from a dark void. He was scared for a moment, but then a burning hatred erupted from within when he saw the creature take Celestial into the darkness. "Die, beast, DIE!" Nova screamed as he shot a powerful blast of fire from his staff.

[Celestial]

A figure came through the blackness, faint and unrecognisable as any guild member that Celestial knew. She tried to move any of her limbs but each of her muscles refused to obey her command. All the mage could do was look at the figure head on. Easier said than done. Horrific images floated past her eyes, burying them in her brain.

"Who are you?" she spat out at the figure. It smiled. At least, she felt it smile. The darkness around her bent to accomodate that smile.

"I come to you because I needed help from you, those whose heart contains the shard of evil which makes them so special. It is a good job, with many benefits and perfect for you. You shall know what it is if you accept. It is not unpleasant, not for you anyway. But I am generous in my rewards for those who serve me. So, what do you want? it said, honey seeming to roll off its tongue. If it had a tongue.

"I'm not buying that stuff. The Underdeep can't trick me so easiliy," he spat out bitterly, wishing she could close her eyes and escape. The darkness shook with a rhythm resembling a laugh.

"Ridiculous. We all want something. You want money and you want power. Is not that right, my evil overlord?" it said with the same honeyed tone. Celestial smiled this time.

"As nice as those things are, having them is not nearly as much fun as gaining them," she said to it. The feel of the smile did not disappear from the darkness.

"I like somebody who enjoys a challange. But I can grant you something else, not just money and power. Who do you love?" it asked her, coming closer. Celestial's eyes could make out a shape that she could only describe a Lovecraftian. It was about time.

"Nobody. And there is nobody I want to love either," she replied to it, wishing she could look the thing in the eye. Except she didn't know where to look. The thing was behind her now, still distorting the air with the same smile. The smile of a car salesman.

"What about your family, back home? What would you give to see them?" it asked. The Dragon Mage's heart clenched tightly as all the memories of them resurfaced after being repressed for so long. Her mother, her father, her brother, all of her family. Pictures of them flew in front of her tauntingly.

"Don't you want to see them?" it asked, slithering back in front of her. Celestial paused. She missed her family greatly and would have given anything to see them, to find out how they were doing but she knew that even if this creature was telling the truth, she could not do so. They sent her away for a reason; dragons did not belong in her world, let alone dragon mages. To visit them would endanger them all. They had all accepted that and so had she. In the end, whatever regrets she felt about leaving her family behind had good reasons behind them. No matter how much she might want to visit them, it was against all logic and reason.

“No, I can’t do that,” she said defiantly to the creature. It hissed a little but the salesman smile did not disappear.

"So, what can I give you which will persuade you to work for me? it asked. Celestial thought. What could a creature made out of darkness and living in the NTWF’s basement give her?

“Nothing,” she said triumphantly. The salesman smile faded out of the darkness.

"You do not understand, Celestial. I need you and I do not accept no as an answer, no matter how cliche that seems." it hissed. Her head was touched by tentacles again but this time, there was pain. It felt as though they were dipped in an acid that was slowly eating away at her. Her face was being reduced to nothing, including her bones.

"You...won't...get me with...torture!" she screamed through gritted teeth. Another smile twisted in the darkness and Celestial shivered. It was unmistakably sadistic.

"I am not going to torture you. I am going to make you," it said. The tentacles stopped the sensation of burning. Celestial's face instantly returned to feeling normal, no parts missing. It was all just an illusion.

For the first time, she could see two thin tentacles clearly. They hovered in front of her face before diving into her mind through her eyes.

A few moments passed. Celestial struggled but the thin wire-like tentacles kept going in steadily, discomforting her but not causing any pain. Then all the images of fear, terror, panic and trauma that could ever be dug up from Celestial's memory or anybody else's flooded in all at once. She wanted to scream and writhe, to feel anything and to see anything other than these images. A girl crying, a fire, dolls, injuries, she saw them all.

"Get out of my head!" she screamed, thrashing from side to side. The thing kept going in deeper. The images showed up more intense and more frequent.

"Surrender to me," it whispered as it eroded away Celestial's resistance.

Mage Manor.

Overlord stared at the empty space that was once Celestial. He sat on the floor, feeling the link grow faint and die. Everyone was shooting flames at the darkness but it would have no effect anyway. It only absorbed the fire like a contented, fat glutton absorbed food.

"Stop it, everyone. They're gone and shooting like this won't...bring them...back," he said quietly, not expecting anybody to her him or even listen to a little Weewoo. He curled up into a little ball and tried to somehow fill the gap within himself that was growing as Celestial was detached from him.

[Omni]

Mage Manor - near basement

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

"That... would be a very good question," Omni said. "I suppose they have similarities, but I don't know what would have caused them to 'connect'... Except for something in space-time, of course." It may be related to that bad feeling... the Chimera added silently.

As the other Mages spoke about the Underdeep, she thought she felt something dark slip into Celes and Rikku. She got another bad feeling: one that something bad was about to happen, but she wasn't sure about anything other than that.

Then it happened.

It was so sudden that she could hardly jump before it started. Tentacles wrapped around the two who were just 'marked,' pulling them into the darkness. Celestial tried to fight it, but to no avail, and cried out for help. Rikku was just limply dragged, unconscious. Quickly, Omni drew out some earth energy and created some vines, doing her best to wrap them around the two Mages and pull them back, but due to lack of coordination, and possibly strength, the vines did little to help. The vines snapped, and she watched as the two Mages were swallowed into darkness.

Others in the area continued to fight. Aly, Nova, and some guy with a partial-wolf aura all threw fire attacks into the darkness. Omni watched as they were swallowed up, much like before, and waited. She waited for some sign that Celes and Rikku would come back through the door... but it didn't come.

After a pause that felt longer that it was, and some other stuff such as shaking, she took control of the vines once more. She made them grab onto the door and pull it shut, then had them grow along the side of it, as well as the wall. She had them grow thick and steady, covering much of the surface - perhaps more than she needed. She had the last few vines grow together, then shifted her focus. The skin of the vines began to turn to cold, hard stone. She continued this spell until the shell was thick, but still left a flexible-yet-strong core. Hopefully, this barrier will be impenetrable from the other side.

Despite the drama of it all some part of her found it ironic, as it had on several occasions, that she had only learned a few earth spells, and yet she found them incredibly useful, despite her preference to fire.

[Nasuella]

Ninja Dojo

Oh yes, these people were definitely speaking Kovaran's vocabulary. A human ninja - Cital, Mr. Orange - came up to him and gave him some compliments before asking to fight beside him. And shortly afterwards, PFA offered to come with him as well.

The answer was direct.

"Cital! PFA!--" he was smiling as he said this, "--the honour would be mine if you fought alongside me. You are most welcome - both of you!"

It was easy to tell that he truly meant was he was saying.

--

Tabloid Town

Most would be suspicious that it took a bird of prey this little time to fly from the forest to the NTWF's largest city. But that would be assuming that anyone had tracked it this far.

Kwoiffei flew high above the city. Her eyes were trained on the ground, watching the streets of Tabloid Town - looking for anything interesting.

People... people... empty street... people... people... are they having a party?... people... freakish monsters...

Wait! The shapeshifter did a double-take - well, the closest that a bird could manage to one.

Yes, there were indeed freakish monsters down there. There also seemed to be people running away from them or trying to fight them off, but that just wasn't as interesting. If she could grin right now, she would've.

Instead, Kwoi swooped down onto the roof of a nearby building and perched. And she watched.

Yeah, the mission's important... but this is interesting. And... hm, if they kill anyone, those monsters are going to make my job easier.

*

If certain writers were narrating this, they would say, "Nasuella Lagan. Guildless. Escaping from death." But since I am narrating it, I will instead say:
"Nasuella "Nasue" Lagan. Coati. Guildless. Running from something huge and scary. Bearing the pain of a throbbing headache."

Anyway!

Nasue knew that she was very, very close to escaping. Just one more rooftop, and she'd be in leaping range of the masts and sails. Surely that thing would know better than to chase her onto stuff that would easily snap under its weight, right?

Right?

A roar behind her startled the coati, and she looked behind her. True to Murphy's Law, the thing had somehow grown wing-like appendages, and now it was flying after her.

Oh for flock's sake!

Sheer panic overtook her once more, and she leaped off the final roof at an impressive speed. Right now she didn't care if she'd land in a sail, on a wooden deck, or in the water. She was too frightened to care.

By the laws of fate, and the laws of an easily amused writer, she missed all three of those. Instead, Nasue landed on the mast of a nearby ship. It hurt - a quick check showed that she probably cracked or broke something - but the roar drove her to keep moving.

Parkour style, of course. Which meant grabbing onto sails, leaping from mast to mast, to sail, to mast, and so on and so forth. Anything would be better than being caught. Anything would be better than--

Wait a second, was that a white ship?

Nasue slipped and fell into the water.

*

And the ironic thing about all this was that from the moment she leapt into the sea of masts and sails, the thing hadn't even chased after her.

[Jason]

~Mage Manor~

Jasor glanced out the window, once he was sure that an half hour had passed. Having decided that nobody was going to come with him, he whistled a tune to the Manor, one that would relay his message:

Heading over to the Ninja's Dojo to see if they have any idea of what caused the earthquake. If anyone wants to come with, I'll be leaving in a half-hour, to an hour tops. Meet me at the front entrance.

-Jasor

The spell began to take effect, filling the air with a sweet sent, one that would carry the message to everyone within the Manor. Just as he finished with his spell, someone else entered the Manor...and sped right past him.

~Spacefleet~

Javerson yawned as he rolled out of bed. It had been a long night, for he had been up late, thinking of an idea that wouls benefit the guild in terms of food. Running his fingers through his hair, he paced towards research labs in search of Amneiger, still fully dressed in his pajamas.

Passing by the medical bay, he noticed Leoness and Ethan. Stopping for a moment, he made his way over towards them. "Sorry to interject, but would either of you happen to know if Professor Amneiger is in the reasearch facilities?"

[Kiddo]

Gray Lands

Mist swirled around the figure, formless as it always was, refusing to become more than just possibilities. Why dream for someone who had lost the will to dream? The Gray Lands remained silent for Kiddo. She walked like she had for years, in a daze, her eyes not really seeing or caring. In her hand was a spear, solid metal that resembled aged bronze, the shaft and head connecting seamlessly for the spear had been made from one solid piece of metal, the intricate twists and etchings around the blade spoke of some incredible feat of creation. The etchings, sadly, were unreadable. They had long ago been filled up with crusted brown stuff that was almost indistinguisable from the spear itself.

The mist pooled and Kiddo stooped, drinking from the small pond with a mechanical gesture. Then she paused. She saw her reflection in the water, wreathed with gray. Her hair was a tangled mess, cut short and held back by twine. Her fox ears were almost hairless in patches and her tail was a similar state. Her clothing was dirty and stained, her shirt barely hanging onto shoulders that were thin enough that the collarbone seemed like it could break through skin stretched too far over a gaunt frame. And the stains, old old brown, from a tattered mess of feather and bone. Absently, Kiddo reached back and pulled a phoenix feather from what remained and dropped it into the water. The blood gently crumbled off and after a moment the pool showed something else entirely.

Kiddo watched quietly and then stood to go. The Underdeep would sort itself out in time. And if not... well, it wouldn't be much worse than the Gray Lands, would it?

The pool of water expanded. For a moment Kiddo was poised in mid-air, surprise written on her features, and then gravity took hold and she fell, straight into the water, through it and she gasped in, trying to inhale the water and only sucking in air, then she was falling through the air and straight through the roof of what used to be her old room in the Ninja Dojo.

[Shadaras]

((Tabloid Town))


A sharp flash of light filled the area. Shade swore, ducking a now-flailing arm. Flash bombs – or whatever that was – did not help. Neither did the kunai that she saw rattle to the ground, apparently. The monster’s distraction did give her time to slip out of its circle of arms, at least. That was quite an improvement from worrying about being ripped to shreds at any moment. Though really, the ability of this thing to not get hurt was starting to annoy her more than anything else. The bit of time being further away from its arms gave her was enough for her to sheath Savucu and draw her other dagger.

Now, even if her demonic powers had been drained away by something, her father had still taught her a few tricks that had nothing to do with demonic blood and everything to do with sheer willpower. Batting away the next set of claws, Shade took a deep breath and disciplined herself, setting aside all thoughts of anything but destroying the monster. Belief becomes reality, she’d been told all those years ago. Believe in something strongly enough and the universe will make it happen. Magic. Simple as that.

Seemed like a good idea right now, at least. And she had more daggers. Settling herself, Shade threw her right-hand dagger right at the things moon-pale eye, believing with perfect sincerity that it would hit, would go through the eye, go into the fragile brain and kill the hell-cursed thing. She didn’t hold any doubt that this would be true. As the dagger spun through the air, a burst of bright light filled the area and the thing reared back for a moment. As its head came down again, the dagger pierced its eye. Shade smiled. “Gotcha,” she whispered.

It froze. Then it keened. Then it keeled over. Shade didn’t move any closer. In fact, she stepped back, just in case it decided to wake up or something. She thought she could see wisps of smoke coming off its blackened body, but she wasn’t sure in the poor light. Damning once more her loss of night-vision, Shade spoke. “Any ideas on how to make sure it’s dead?” she asked, not taking her eyes off it. It wasn’t moving, but that didn’t count for much when it had proven its ability to move quickly and in a deadly fashion when necessary.

[Deleted]

Castle Kestrel

He wasn’t alone. Another Knight, a newer one, had entered the throne room. Sarn vaguely recognized her as Lady Ro, though he wasn’t sure if she knew who he was. Although he’d stayed at the castle these last few months, he was not often around, only returning when he needed sleep, or when the King summoned them. The fact that Lady Ro was just as disgruntled as the other knights and soldiers in the castle was worrying to him.

If something is indeed wrong, why hasn’t Kabe acted?

Lady Ro seemed to be in the foulest of moods and, although Sarn had had only limited interactions, he had found her to always be a pessimistic soul. The complete opposite of his fiery bright attitude. But this was no time to compare personalities or to discuss petty differences. Sarn was utterly exhausted, desperate to get to his sister and now horribly worried that his frequent absence from the two guilds to which he belonged had not come without consequences.

Earthquake … Earthquake …

He had felt it too, just as he had felt Sarinon break through the barriers separating their two worlds. Had he caused this? He glanced around hurriedly and saw small signs of damage – broken vases and few lamp stands that had toppled over. A marble sculpture had fallen over and had a large green-grey crack running the length of the handsome face it depicted. Why had he not noticed this before? Same reason as always. He was clueless ... oblivious … He had walked into the castle not knowing that there was something wrong, he had sauntered around not realizing that there were small signs of a disruption. And worst of all, he may well have been the cause. He had, after all, been ripping a hole in the fabric of this world.

Just as he was about to sink into the pits of despair to wallow in his own self-pity, the tiny tug that was his sister tugged just a little harder. She was thinking of him, she knew he was coming and that gave him hope. Regardless of the minor carnage the NTWF had suffered, if it meant that he could hold his dearest doe again, then no one had a right to complain about a broken statue. His happiness was worth more.

He spared only a thought for the mages, feeling bad that he had offered to take on the temporary leadership and then left. He wondered if someone else had stepped up to take the position or if he should return there and set things in order. The call of his sister was strong, but he was loyal to both guilds and Sarinon could wait. He knew she was not in any danger and another few days wouldn’t hurt. But what to do about the knights? He and Lady Ro appeared to be the only members of the Order of Dunburrow around. Kabe was nowhere to be found and the few other knights who were around were not highly ranked.

“Right,” he said, thinking out loud, “if I caused this, I’ve got to help with the cleanup and make sure everyone is ok. The castle is fine, no one got hurt here, but it’s a strong building. The manor would have protected the mages. As for the other guilds, the ninja dojo may have had damage …” he paused, spared a quick thought for the mercenaries, and then disregarded them. “The rest of them will be fine, but we should send messengers to the other guilds to see if they really are ok and if they need some help. Falcorum has a large enough workforce that we can help with the repairs.”

Summoning a guard with a loud shout, Sarn issued instructions for the messengers and told them to return with an estimation of how many workers it would take to help repair the damage. Once the guard had scampered off, Sarn raked his fingers through his hear, rubbing his aching head. He glanced at Ro.

“Lady Ro, I have flown far and require rest. Would you consent to wake me the moment the first messenger returns? Then we can assemble the Order of Dunburrow and decide how we can best help. Ka-“ he paused and corrected himself, “King Kabe is apparently absent and so is Lady Shade and the others so it is up to us to decide what to do.”

Without waiting for her answer, the Golden Knight ruffled his feathers and dragged his weary body off to his bed. He fell asleep thinking of Sarinon, his doe.

Outside the Brassport Assembly Hall

“It’s a member of the guild, m’lady,” murmured Emily in Sarinon’s ear as the other woman approached and greeted her. Sarinon smiled and focused on the darker shape that stood out among the other colourful blobs of fuzz that made up the scope of her vision. She inclined her head gracefully.

“I’m sorry, I’m not sure I know your name. Mine is Sarinon, I’m an engineer with the First Airship Contingent.” The Feberi woman paused, considering for a moment, before adding, “At least I used to be, two months ago.” She wondered if her position as a high-ranking engineer would hold with Mr. Blackstone, but only time would tell. The meeting would start in just a few minutes and she knew she would be able to explain at least some of the strange events that had befallen her city and her guild.

A group of children scampered past, yelling and laughing and making jokes while another child’s voice told them about the “hanging man down the road.” Sarinon smiled. She loved children.

[Moonlight]

~Mercenary Base~

Wilhelm plodded down the hall from the kitchen, munching on a stale biscuit spread with peanut butter. It seemed the place was always out of food. Not that he'd been here longer than a week or two, but he was actually starting to miss having three meals a day. Oh well. Finishing off the last piece of the bread and wiping the peanut paste off his mouth, Wil decided to look around for anyone else. Perhaps they'd gone to town already.

A loud cracking sound roared from outside a nearby window, like breaking bones, or at the very least someone violently tearing a woodshop project in half. Okay, he so was bad at analogies.

Wilhelm clasped the window frame and looked out, wondering it was an aftershock of the earthquake from earlier. Unfortunately, it would be better it was a harmless quake. The trees outside were being sucked up like a tornado. Except perhaps if a tornado came from the ground. And actually sucked things inside instead of spitting them out again.

The noise was louder now.

Changing his route, he ran to the front door of the base to get a better view of the...thing. Upon opening the door, it turned out that most of the other mercenaries were out here, too.

"Well," Wilhelm straightened his ponytail, "I've seen several freaks of nature before, but can someone please tell me what that thing is?"

A name kept tugging at the back of his mind, but every time he tried to form it into a word it became nigh incomprehensible.

---------

~Mage Manor~

"You're such an idiot, thinking it's all so easy,"

A large and arguably furry brown paw stepped on Liyer's side, compressing his breathing and just pleading to rip open the snowy fur below with conveniently sharp claws. "Oh, please, I'm getting tired of these dreams again," he spat.

The striped tabby inched the claws on his paw a few millimeters further. "Oh, the brave little kitty cat thinks he can handle it, eh?" The feline's face blurred, but never quite focused into one particular face. The voice, too, couldn't be placed in an exact person. I mean cat.

"Just get it over with. I feel like waking up now, if you don't mind."

He clawed the white cat's face, leaving three hair-thin scratches, all rather deep. "Impudent little...you're no fun at all," With lightning swift speed, he bit into white fur of his victim's neck and thrust him into the air, pounding into his stomach with unsheathed claws before throwing him again into conveniently placed burning flames behind him. The embers burned as the big brown cat laughed like an idiot himself.


"Oh...GOSH."

Liyer's eyes snapped open, facing the dancing flames of the fireplace beside his usual napping place. Perilously close. The smell of singed fur smoked around his nose and he had only one though; well, THAT was weird.

"Oh, yummy? Who's cooking a cat? I'd just LOVE some," he muttered. "Lovely, the stupid dreams' trying to kill me again."

Truthfully, he'd get dreams like that. Something tries to kill him, big lame fight ensues, yada yada. Then he'd wake with his back to a knife, drowning in the water dish, or trying to singe all his lovely fur off. Happened every few months or so. Otherwise, life was relatively normal. You get used to it.

But is that really anything much compared to a talking cat? Not really. This was the Mage Manor after all. You get used to it.

Removing his attention from the blackened whiskers on his cheek, Liyer flicked his eyes towards a loud sound from below.

The basement.

[Omni]

Spacefleet - medical bay

"Sorry to interject, but would either of you happen to know if Professor Amneiger is in the reasearch facilities?"

Ethan looked over at the Frycook, the women in white coats being too busy to respond. "I haven't seen him, but I haven't looked." He paused, briefly. "I can try pinging his communicator, but that'll only tell us if it's around, not where it is or if he's holding it." He paused, glancing at Siber. "We could try scent-tracking him, but I don't know how well Siber will do. I mean, Amnei's scent is all over the lab. Plus, I'd rather to keep an eye on him and I'm stuck here for now. So what'll it be?'