Welcome to Gaia! ::

[This is the Ero-sensei speaking.

David's back! But he can only rp on weekends... so instead of us convoluting the current rp threads I decided to make a separate one for us. That way we can bloody each other to our hearts' content w/o bugging other people or having to search for our posts 10 pages back every time we start up again. As this is a one time thing I made this an event and not an IC thread.]

Rayan checked his watch. "Ten after noon. Still fifty minutes before begin tutoring," he said to himself. He sighed out of boredom and slumped into his bench seat. Tired of waiting around but not knowing what he wanted to do with his spare time, Rayan looked at his surroundings. People walked along the various criss-crossing sidewalks together, talking and laughing. Rayan swung his legs slightly and lifted his hand enough to feel the sweet wind brush against it.

"Then again, it's not so bad waiting for Campanilla. Relaxation is a good thing," Rayan told himself. "I bet Miss Aili could use a free hour like this..."

[Rayan post transferred to here]

Rayan gave the stranger sitting beside him an inquisitive glance. He realized that some of the man's features were strikingly familiar. After looking all over the man, Rayan raised an eyebrow. "So, you out here to enjoy the weather?"

A short silence followed. These interactions with strangers are always awkward. Maybe he needs directions and forgot how to speak or something. But after a second look, Rayan's eyes widened in realization of who the man's identity. He lifted his hand slightly and pointed at him.

"You... you're the guy I sparred with on that first day of class! Remember? I think you're name is... Summer... or Xavion or Shade or something. You have too many bloody names to remember."

Rayan reeled slightly in shock. Egad... he's lost his wife? That's... tragic... But before he could say anything cosoling, Shadow grew nasty on him. Rayan gave the bulky man a flinty stare.

"Yes, Shadow... that's it." The part about him being a worthless fool irritated him, but Rayan ignored Shadow's provoking words because he had mentioned a topic of far greater importance- Joy. Rayan chose his next words carefully, since she had been classified as a Class A threat due to her bouts with Kurai.

"She is under close supervision at this time," Rayan said. "If you wish to speak to her, I will have to get the headmaster's permission. Not my policy, mind you. We don't want any more... 'incidents' breaking out. It's for her and everybody else's protection. I hope you understand."

Rayan returned Shadow's anger with a defiant glare of his own. Yet he said nothing. Rayan stood up and promptly walked down the sidewalk a ways to a nearby phone. He pulled out two quarters, lifted the phone from its stand and fed in the quarters. After forcefully punching in some numbers, the phone rang. Rayan tsked in disgust.

"Dammit... Headmaster's office isn't responding. Useless..."

He slammed the phone back in its place and turned back towards Shadow. Rayan felt irritated but kept his cool. "Couldn't contact the headmaster," Rayan told him. "Thus, I really don't know where Joy's being kept... although I have a good idea. If you are absolutely bent on seeing her this moment, I would gladly escort you to her destination..."

Rayan paused to stare at Shadow with cool, challenging eyes. What had possessed his old friend, he hadn't a clue. But he had determined not to capitulate to Shadow if he intended to rough his way past safety procedures. He was a teacher at Ria High, and having graduated from it several years ago Rayan had become attached to it with an extreme loyalty, even in spite of the attitudes of many of the students. If his old friend wished to cause trouble, Rayan would not back down. Knowing this to be a possibility, Rayan had purposefully withheld the name of where he assumed Joy to be located. Risking the lives of the innocent students and medical workers at the hospital was something he could never do.

"At any rate, there's no need to get hasty about finding Joy. We'll find her or the headmaster... eventually. Unless, of course, Joy escaped. Knowing her, that's always a possibility," Rayan continued, adding under his breath, "Crazy girl..."

[Oooh pain lovely.]

Shadow came at Rayan fast enough to catch him off guard. Rayan winced as Shadow's massive hand clamped around his neck. Shadow's eyes had turned to a frightening bloodshot hue, and his voice seeped with violence and ill-content. Rayan vainly tried to breathe, while looking at Shadow as if he were crazy.

The hell?! We're supposed to be allies, you moron!

The next moment the sky was flying past him. Rayan knew he was airborne and braced himself mentally for impact. His back slammed against what felt like the bench he had been sitting on earlier, responding with a loud crack. The pain was so sudden that it caused Rayan to cry out; he lay arched over the lip of the bench seat, hanging upside-down in a horrid position. For several moments, Rayan simply laid there, his scream gradually dying. He painfully breathed in a wheeze of air, and forced his eyes to open. Shadow's figure appeared blurry and hardly distinguishable from the ground, except that it was moving towards him. His blurry assailant spoke to him again menacingly.

"Now, where is she or do I have to beat it out of you? I don't care what it is that you see so important to protect with this school or that is so dangerous about her. Take me to her or perish!"

Rayan winced as the pain began to throb in his head now. "I already told you... I don't know... where she is..." Rayan whispered. "They didn't tell me where she's at... What part of 'don't know' do you not grasp?" Rayan spoke while fully expecting another body blow from Shadow. It was merely a question of when...

Rayan felt his body lifting again by the collar of his shirt. He winced his eyes shut, waiting for the finishing move. But the blow never came. Instead, Shadow dropped him like a bag of garbage. Rayan hit the ground in a crumpled heap. After laying there for several moments, Rayan pulled himself to his feet with a deep, sore groan. At last he reopened his eyes to see Shadow standing thirty feet away from him. Although Rayan had been bruised and his back felt stiff, he was alive and that mattered most. Rayan's face darkened as he looked at Shadow in rage.

"Damn it, that hurt, you b*****d... hurt like hell." Rayan spat the blood out of his mouth into the grass. The infected grass shone a brilliant red in the gleaming sunlight.

The sound of metal chimed in Rayan's ears; he instinctively knew that Shadow meant to cross blades with him. Rayan stepped back with his left foot and brought his hand to his katana hilt, hanging from the belt at his waist. He eyed Shadow and noted his stance, making calculations and predictions of his movements in his mind. A determined gleam shone in Rayan's eye.

Come what may. It's tragic, but the wolf boy dies.

A bright blue beam of energy shot through the air at Rayan in a wave. Rayan pivoted on his back foot and sidestepped the beam. He then charged at Shadow in a sprint. His enemy took a swipe at him, but Rayan dropped down into a slide, narrowly ducking the blade- it came so close that Rayan felt the air brush him as it swept past. He then came up with his blade with a vicious uppercutting slash at Shadow's unprotected middle.

Forced back by a gust, Rayan flipped through the air in a spiral and landed in a crouch. He pulled himself to his feet and spat to the side in compliment of Shadow's bloated words. "I'll take that as a challenge: one I can easily disproove."

Rayan's face showed his focus as he scanned his opponent. He had fought Shadow before, and knew much of his fighting tastes. Rayan knew his own fighting edge consisted primarily in weapon speed and predicting his foe's movements. He stood motionless and silent. Then, he found what he was looking for.

Shadow's fighting stance is based upon power. I will answer it with speed.

Rayan reached down and undid the belt upholding his sheath, holding its middle with his left hand, then looked up. His eyes gazed upon Shadow coolly.

The next moment he vanished in a blur of motion. He reappeared in front of Shadow, air rushing past him, his feet plowing up dust clouds as he slid towards his opponent- backwards. Rayan pivoted his body and unsheathed his katana. A thin streak cut through the air, then another as Rayan struck with a speed that made his blade invisible. When he returned it to its sheath, Rayan pivoted on his back foot, the one closer to Shadow, and brought his sheath up in front of him to clash blades.

Shadow, standing in a sideways stance, was in no position to sidestep him. Rayan ground to a halt as his blade collided with his foe's, shooting up sparks as the metal clanged together. Holding Shadow in position with his sheath-hand, Rayan drew his sword again and pulled back. A smirk flashed across his face for a brief moment.

"Think fast," Rayan said, his first taunt of the fight. He struck at his old comrade with full force.

Rayan watched his blade pass right over Shadow's spiked hair as he dropped to the dirt. He felt his feet suddenly taken from under him with a powerful sweep. Reacting instantly, Rayan twisted his body towards the ground and planted his sword hand on the ground. He coiled like a spring, then flipped back onto his feet again. Rayan stood somewhat hunched over, leaning towards his opponent, both arms resting at his sides.

That's quite some evasion he's got...

Rayan's eyes narrowed when Shadow finished taunting and got into a fighting pose. His mind snapped to full alert- Rayan knew that pose. The slump figure, the relaxed blade arm resting behind the body, the cocky gleam in his foe's eye. A legendary form known for its potential of finishing fights in a single blow- the Myrmidon stance.

Rayan eyed his opponent and flashed a confident grin. "Nice try, but you're a moment too slow," he said. Rayan pivoted his left foot back and brought his sword to his side.

"Ryuuseiken." *

Rayan's image split into five figures, each with a different attack stance, then all vanished together. The next moment, the image of five blade motions cut cleanly across Shadow's chest in rapid succession. each cut flashed in a different direction, with the last one angling upwards.

Rayan reappeared in thin air; he twisted himself sideways and landed in a graceful low crouch, eyes closed. Rayan stood up, and opened his eyes to survey the damage he had caused, but as he did so his back stiffened in protest. Rayan fell to his knee and squinted his left eye in pain. Although he had been ignoring the soreness in his back from having been smashed into the bench thus far, he couldn't prevent from showing its effects any longer.

Damn... He really did a number on me back there, Rayan thought through clenched teeth. He forced himself to stand back up straight, but put his left hand on his lower back to ease the pain, however slightly. Despite this, Rayan made his priority keeping himself alert and on guard.

[* Ryuuseiken: Meteor sword strike. This move is taken from the Fire Emblem series. (also known as Astra in FE: Path of Radiance) Basically its a five hit combo, though this move was used for the 'critical hit' animation in FE 6-8. Spiffy kewl, eh?

Anyways though in the games it always hits, I rped it so that the animation hits, but since I'm not a powerplayer feel free to dodge.]