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 Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 12:25 pm
Early morning in the forest. Definitely not Nida's favorite setting. She was more of a night owl, having been a traveling performer for the past several years. Back when her village was still standing, she'd had a stage and a school to work in; security breeds regularity, and she had been rather diurnal... but the circumstances which had led to her wandering no longer allowed such freedoms. Hence Nida's self-directed grumbling about the brightness of the morning sun and the threat of oppressive heat which came with it.
She stretched for about ten minutes or so, working out the kinks and aches of another night in a cheap sleeping bag. Then a breakfast of dried jerky and slices of fruit, followed by an equipment inventory and assessment. Satisfied that everything was in good condition and in its proper place, she rolled up her sleeping bag and packed away the few tools she'd used setting up camp. A quick drink at a nearby stream and she was ready to set out.
An hour into her walk, Nida crested a ridge and took stock of her surroundings. She was surprised to see a town perhaps three hours' walk away-- and troubled; either her map was outdated (certainly a possibility) or she'd wandered farther off her plotted route than she'd allowed for. Well, no better way to get her bearings than to ask the local innkeeper. She trudged down the ridge toward the town, backpack bumping against her shoulders and spear searving as a walking stick.
As Baikasu sees a small ray of light come in through the window, he quickly picked himslef up, went through the door, and into the town. About 5 minutes earlier, he Heard a group of people pass by. "I think I'm gonna look around town for a bit." And with that, he walks into town, then walks to the weapons shop, and starrts looking at the guns. He lo9oks at the rifles."Hmm. Maybe it's time I get one. I've been putting up with short range for so long- OH! Yes, I would like to buy this automatic rifle with silencer and scope, please. And also this Fabric National Five - Seven. and, of course, ammo for each." The gunshop owner requests ID. Baikasu shows him the ID." Alright, that will be 5000 gold." As baikasu takes the gold out of his pocket, however, Macnor suddenly says Baikasu, we have to leave immediatly! An unusually strong sand golem has summoned up an incredibly strong sandstorm capable of destroying this whole town! We must leave at once!"
"Those.....people.....ALL of those people.....gone...." Shuichi said, in a depressed tone. He was now on a distant, somewhat tall hill at the outskirts of town, watching the buildings slowly chip away to nothingness. His Horn was still extended, and still shining. "I...I can't believe this...What have I done...It's all.....all my fault..." He kept watching, though he didn't need to. "Those innocent people must be chipping away like that, too..." He sighed. "Now I can't go into towns anymore, either. Otherwise......otherwise......more people could be hurt.....or killed..."
Shuichi, calm down. I understand how you feel about all of this, but staying in such a depressed state will decrease your fighting skills...
"It doesn't matter...." Shu replied, "My fighting skills are not important, compared to what I've done. I mean, I'm only 16 years old, and I've destroyed a wholed community....how can I face anyone in the group now? Knowing that I'm the one who got all those innocent people killed....shoot, I almost got THEM killed, too..."
Exactly.
Shu jumped to attenion. "What?! Who's that?"
Oh, please. Enough with the irritating act.
"You....." Shuichi said, "YOU!!!!" He clenched his fists.
Yes, me. Y'know, you're dangerous. You destroyed a whole community, and almost killed your friends, didn't you?
"SHUT UP!!! It's....it's.....IT'S NOT MY FAULT!!!"
Sure it isn't. You just got a little carried away, that's all
"Wha....what do you mean?!"
Well, you DID destroy the town, didn't you?
".....maybe..."
No! Shuichi, do not listen to him! He is trying to manipulate you! You are not the one who destroyed the town, HE is!!! Auubi commented.
"Yes, but....it was still my fault...If only I didn't go into town, nobody would've died..." Shu replied.
Yes, that's right. Y'know, you are one dangerous kid. Maybe it would be better for you to stay away from people....
"That's impossible...no one can stay away from people forever..."
Then....maybe you should just end it all...? I mean, after all, you've lost EVERYTHING. Even you memories.....your cherished memories...
"....Yeah......"
NO, SHUICHI!!! You have so much to live for! I am sure you want to know about your past? Do you not?! Are you going to give up here? ARE YOU?!
"But....I may never find out....."
Oh, come on. Don't listen to that ancient amulet. It is only trying to convince you to live because it thrives off of your life. However, if you end it now, then you won't ever have to experience pain again...If you want to end it now, then take that road there...
Shuichi turned around and noticed a new, black path. He began to walk, toward that path..........then he felt a sharp pain in his leg. Auubi nipped him on the back of the leg to make him regain his senses. "Huh? What the...? ....Auubi?
You were being manipulated by that voice.
"ARGH!!!! NO WAY!!!!!" Shu exclaimed.
So, you WON'T take the path, I presume? I hope you like your decision, because you will just make your friends' lives that much harder...
"SHUT UP!!! GET AWAY!!!!" Shuichi said while running back to the group. "I'M NOT LISTENING TO YOU ANYMORE!!!!!! NOW GET AWAY FROM ME!!!!!"
Hmph. Fine. See you soon. Everything returned to normal yet again.
As Shuichi was running back to the group, he sighed and said "Thanks, Auubi."
You are welcome. Now, let us return to the others.
With that, the two started walking back...
Nida was looking forward to resting in the town's inn, maybe tossing back a few and setting up for a street performance in the evening. She had a pretty sizeable purse on her, but it never hurt to pad it a bit. Besides, whenever she made it back around to the guildhall so that she could be declared an official member of the guild, she'd have to start paying dues and fees...
Ironically, sparkles of light were what distracted her from her thoughts of gold. She looked up to see the distinctive sight of sunlight filtering through tiny pieces of silica traveling at high velocity. She blinked. And blinked again. A sandstorm? In the middle of a temperate grassland/forest zone? No elfing way. That had to be a dream.
But the residual winds were starting to make themselves known even this far out, and while the air was humid, Nida still found herself blinking against the odd particle of sand. She turned her head at right angles to the breeze to prevent any from getting in her nose or mouth-- and saw a group of people heading away from the town, and at a pretty quick clip, too.
Survivors. Always stick with the survivors. They can protect you.
Nida changed course and headed for the fleeing party, doubletime. It would be about half an hour before she could catch up with them-- but she was walking along the rolling, grassy hills near the town, making her quite visible. Hopefully they'd slow down to see what she wanted with them.
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Posted: Sun Jan 09, 2005 12:26 pm
Before the sandstorm had begun Isa was confronting the wererats in the ally. He smashed his pipe into the face of one and kicked at the other. One of them managed a lucky cut across the face. Blood ran freely from the wound. The mark on his arm began to pulse and his eyes darkened. His head swam and he couldn't see right. Suddenly darkness over came.
When he woke up the woman was crying and huddled against the wall. Sand was blowing around. Isa looked to see huge gaping holes in both the now reverted wererat's chests. He looked at his own hands covered in blood.
"Whats...going on?" He looked at the woman who suddenly ran from the ally and then at the sky to see sand all over the place. He ran out of the ally and looked around. He saw a golem and shu. Knowing he couldn't do much without his weapon and armour he ran to the blacksmiths shop who had already taken off.
He quickly suited up and ran back out. The sand was horrible. He quickly began casting shield on any people who ran near or by him. The sand was getting worse and worse but he wouldn't run away until he could protect as many people as he could. It was his job as a paladin.
Soon came darkness.
Under the sand he could hear the moans of the people who were protected by the shield spells. Isa would not let those people die. No it wouldn't be fair. He began to chant and held his arms in front of him. Suddenly the sand began to split in the middle. Soon the sand began to part from one end to the other and split in half. The sand sat like a lake, burrying it in half but the middle opened and with it came a pathway to freedom. Those who isa managed to protect ran to the center and out. He couldn't hold it for too long but he managed to get out himself before it collapsed once more.
As Shu came running back, he noticed the ruins of the town that was there-and intact-earlier. He also came across a group of people. One of which had been Isa.
"ISA!" he called out, hoping to be heard. He saw Isa turn and spot him, so Shu decided to catch up with him. After catching up, Shuichi said "You're safe! Whew! And you saved some of the townspeople, too! Thank God! That means that there were survivors! That's great!" He said all of this very hastily, and cheerfully. "Anyway, I'm going to go help others in town. There may be more survivors, and I can revive anyone else. Will you help me?" Then he realized that none of the others were with him. Maybe they escaped by way of another route...? he thought, knowing that they wouldn't have stayed in town after receiving Auubi's message. "By the way, do you know where the others are, Isa?" Shu asked, hoping that he did. Shuichi also noticed something in the ruins of the town. Something.....moving? "Nevermind, we'll focus on that later..." he said. "For now, though, we need to help the townspeople." The gem had once again extended into a Horn, as Shuichi got an idea for helping everyone...
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 12:52 pm
Isa nodded and patted Shu on the back. "Nice horn. Yes, let us immediately help those who may still be burried. May God's grace see upon the weak." With that Isa ran back to the village and began moving sand with forces of energy.
As soon as Baikasu heard that there was a sandstorm he quickly pocketed the money , grabbeed the shopkeeper, then dragged him out of the shop. "We have to get out of here. Therte's a sand golem here and we'll be killed if we stay here!" Baikasu then ran to the nearest exit from the city. The weapons shop was next to the east entrance instead of the south entrance where he came in, ,so he went east, hoping that the sand wouldn't get too deep. As he turned the corner right next to the exit he heard blood-curdling screams comming from random parts of the city. He ran a few hundred feet away from the city, still with a tight grip on the shopkepper, and then let go and stopped running. "DAMNIT TO HELL!" He pounded a nearby tree, which shook horribly. He then asked the shopkepper, "You should stay here to help anybody out of the sand. Or, if you like, ytou can run away like a Imp against an army. It's your call. But here," He held out 5000 gold,"My payment for the equipment. I'm sure that you'll need this." And with that, Baikasu started to run south to the other gate, hoping that the others, if they were in the city at the time, wre safly out.
The group Nida was angling toward turned and noticed her. Nida could make out three adults and two children, but couldn't distinguish gender. To her dismay, two of the adults started hurrying the children along. Apparently they were wary of her. And why not? Nida would be wary of everyone and everything if a random sandstorm started leveling her town, too. And of course, she was carrying a spear...
She sighed in exasperation and turned her course back toward the town proper. Hopefully others would be in the process of escaping. Now that the grade of the hill was lessening, Nida unslung her backpack and stuck the shaft of the spear horizontally through the center of her rolled sleeping bag for storage.
There'd better be someone I can hook up with, she grumbled to herself. It would suck so hardcore if I finally found civilization only to have to pass it up for at least another three days...
As Shu followed Isa back into town, he noticed someone moving still. "HEY!" Shu shouted, trying to get their attention. He wasn't quite sure who it was, or if they noticed him because he found a few people buried in sand. "Survivors..." Shu said to himself, helping them out of the sand. They had survived, somehow, with minor cuts and bruises. As Shuu rounded up more and more survivors, he found many dead bodies everywhere as well. He cast life on multiple people, bringing them back to life. However, he could not do this with every dead body in town. That's okay, I'll get to them later... Shuichi thought, rounding up as many living people as possible. Though the town itself was wrecked, an unusual amount of people survived, and Shu eventually ended up with more of a crowd of survivors, instead of a simple group. This is all my fault...I really shouldn't have come here....however, there are so many survivors.....how did that happen? Was it.......sympathy? I doubt it... Shu continued thinking, before rallying up his crowd and putting his plan into action. He knew that he couldn't cast healing spells on everyone, sooo....Okay.....this should work.....Zemzelett! Shu called. And, with another gust of spiraling wind, his Horn started glowing even brighter. In a green flash, Zemzelett appeared. It instantly cast White Wind on the whole group, restoring them all to normal health. After that, Shu sighed with relief and began looking around for the others, with Auubi at his side and Zemzelett flying near him...
Nida drew close enough to choke on sand being driven about. She had seen a figure running out of the city supporting another figure, then heading back toward the gates.
"Wait!" she called out, increasing her pace. "I can help!"
Helping with this little fiasco will certainly win me some points with somebody...
It didn't take long for ISa and shu to heal everyone. Those who Shu could not raise Isa did. He sighed after about 8 hours of work and sat down. The people could rise from this adversity. The town would survive and thus this would not play on Isa's conscience. However it looked as though Shu was taking it personally.
Isa stood up and walked over to Shu and put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey pal, this wasn't your fault. Don't take it so hard..besides, thanks to the grace of God, pretty much everyone survived. The only sad thing about this whole encounter was I lost that girls number." Isa put on a goofy smile in attempt to cheer up his new friend. Isa noticed something on the ground," Hey there it is!!" He scooped down and picked it up. "Hehehe wha hoo! Er..I guess she doesn't have a phone.." Isa snickered and pat Shu on the back before walking away to tend to other business.
After a little searching Isa found the mayor of the city. He had a lot of Gil saved up but he gave 90% of it to her, to help restore the village. "Here you go..its quite a lot, I take a lot from evil opponents. They don't need it when they have been..smoten. hehe, have a good day, mayor!"
Isa returned back to the others.
"No......you don't understand, Isa...." Shu replied despondently, with a pained look on his face, even though Isa wasn't there. "This....this destruction.....it WAS all my fault...I never should've come here.....because......because......." He sat down and buried his face in his arms. "They all died......because of me....they didn't have to, had I not come here...." his shoulders started shaking as he tried to hold back the tears. "I'm a walking, living apocalypse. Everywhere I go, something goes wrong. I.....I don't think I can stand..........this kind of mass-slaughter...even if almost everyone lived, I still feel guilty..." With that, he brought out his guns, holding them in each hand. Though he was still feeling pain inside, it was almost unnoticeable now that Shuichi was in a higher state of pain. He then dropped his guns to the ground and stared at them for a moment, tears running down his cheeks. Suddenly, without warning...
FLASH! A young boy.......flying.....on a gold chocobo....when suddenly.......descent.....descent.....FLASH!
Shuichi gasped. "A young boy........on a chocobo...." he repeated subconsciously. He picked his guns up off of the ground, stood up and ran to Isa. He found him with the mayor, and asked the mayor a question. "Excuse me, but due to the fact that you were the mayor of this town before...the accident, you would know this area fairly well. I must know. Was there a Chocobo Ranch around here?"
"Well, there was..." the mayor answered in response. "However, something strange happened, and the family who owned it disappeared..."
"WHERE?!" Shu almost screamed.
"Umm....well, I believe it was South East from here....why?"
Shu became silent, turning things over in his head. He turned to Isa. "Isa! I have to go.....ummm....see something important to me....sorry to run off on you, but it's a personal....thing." With that, Shu thanked the mayor, and began to rush out of the ruined town as fast as he could before he heard Auubi.
Shuichi, where are you going?
"Auubi! Stay with Isa! That way, I'll be able to find you guys again when I need to!"
But....I can locate the power of the amulets. Therefore, I would presume that that would be slightly more useful...
"Normally, yes, but this...this is personal. Please understand..." Shu said, with urgency. He continued on, not stopping to look back as he was trying to piece everything together in his mind...
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 12:56 pm
"Wait! I can help!"
Baikasu slowed to a stop, then turned around to look at this stranger. "Hello. Erm... you wouldn't have happened to see a large group of people, did you? I'm looking for some people who I came here with, wanted to make sure they're okay." He took the FN Five-Seven and loaded a clip into it. He then put it somewhere inside his jacket and then he took the the rifle he had slung over his back and proceedeed to load a clip into that, too. All while asked, "So, who are you? Were you a resident here?" He then stood up, slung the rifle over his shoulder with the shoulderstrap, and started to quickly walk south, following the outer wall of the town.
Isa waved goodbye to Shu and looked for Gersh. Hopping the chocobo warked and bobbed its head. "Hey fang..anuubi or whatever it was, come on!" Isa smiled and they took off.
They headed down to the south and finally saw a familiar face. "Hey, it's Baikasu!!" Isa slowed to a stop and jumped off Gersh. He walked over to Baikasu and did a short bow. "Hello, my comrade, it has been a bit hasn't it? Sorry about my absence...who is that behind you?"
As Shu was running, desperately trying to reach his destination, he ran right into someone. "Oomph!" was all he managed to say before apologizing repeatedly to none other than Baikasu. "Sor...BAIKASU! Finally! There you are!" Su said gleefully, before adding, "look, I have to take care of some......business.....sooooo, I recommend that you see Isa. He's wit the Mayor in that direction." Shu pointed Northwest. "Anyway, gotta go!" he said, before leaving a very stunned Baikasu behind while running faster to the place that he hoped was still there...
Alarm bells went off in Nida's mind. Why was this guy loading his gun in a natural disaster scenario? Well, not too natural-- maybe the guy was going after whatever magician had started this mess. Or perhaps there were looters in the storm... Whatever the reason, it made Nida nervous. She fell into step near the man (but not right beside him) and pulled her spear out, ostensibly as a brace against the dying winds.
"I'm not a resident," Nida said, then coughed against the grit in her throat. "Just a passerby who wants to lend a hand." As they approached the gate, people began flooding out of the town... well, perhaps "flooding" isn't the right word. "Trickling", perhaps. There were survivors, of course, but not enough to require an organized exit. Plenty of room for fleeing citizens. Several had horrible burns and abrasions from the storm. Some were holding their hands over their eyes, and a few of these had blood seeping between their fingers. Many people had been temporarily deafened by the sand, or rendered too hoarse to speak.
As the people filtered out, Nida went to those she thought she could help and brought out her small collection of healing items. They would quickly be consumed, but in all likelihood she wouldn't need them altogether too soon.
A minute after Shu had bumped into Baikasu, Isa showed up, jumped off of Gersh, boweed and asked, "Who is that behind you?" Baikasu answered, "She said that she's just a passerby who want's to lend a hand. OH! Stupid me, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Baikasu, and this is Isa. What's your name?"
"Name's Nida," Nida said, giving a cursory bow to each man present. "And yes, I was on my way to stop in at the inn before moving on... what caused this rigamarole, anyway?"
As she speaks, she uncorks a vial and hands it to a woman whose sandblasted toddler is crying to beat the band. The woman nods gratefully and begins the arduous task of convincing her child to drink the potion.
"Shuichi, the one who bumped into me and ran southeast, would know better than me."
Isa bowed low. "I am Isaiah Litehart, Paladin." He didn't know what else to say, it was customary to introduce himself to a stranger in such a manner.
He shrugged and pet his Chocobo a bit. "Should we set camp and wait for Shu?" he was mostly talking to Baikasu, but he extented the invatation to Nida. "And you too, of course are welcome to join us. As is anyone else who is interested."
There-- that was the invitation Nida was looking for. She nodded toward Isa and plastered a grateful smile on her face. "Oh, would that be all right? Thanks so much; I'm always so worried to travel alone..." It was true, but the self-serving attitude underneath it all still made Nida feel guilty. Oh, well... not as if she couldn't be useful. "Sir Litehart, I'll leave my stock of medicines with you-- as a paladin, you're sure to have had more training than I in such matters. Please allow me to prepare a meal for you all."
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 1:07 pm
Isa smiled, such a nice girl! " I will store the items in my bag of holding. Thank you. And you may call me Isa, at least my friends do.." Isa shrugged and sat down. Gersh walked over and warked before sitting down beside him. "You don't have to make us dinner though.." Isa's stomach growled loud and could easily be heard from very far away "...but if you want to then I certainly will eat some!" The paladin gave off a chuckle and leaned against the soft feather of his chocobo who warked in agreement.
::Far off in the distance, a man with a cactuar by his side sings::
Roaming sheep in search of the place you've never known
Listen to the wind until you can hear the sign
Roaming sheep in front of the gate that closed so tight
Take a rest on the earth, until you can find the key
Roaming sheep in search of the people full of love
Bathe yourself in water until your mind soothes again
Roaming sheep in front of the deep and dreamless sleep
Here you're by the fire, able to warm your heart...
Each and every moment, oh as time goes by
All in this world has to change...
Roaming sheep in search of the place you've never known
Better take a breath until you can hear the sign
Roaming sheep in search of the place you've never seen
Better watch your step until you can find the key
Roaming sheep in search of the place you may never reach
Better love yourself; tomorrow's another day.
::the man disappears::
Shu finally made it. Made it to the spot that he wanted to get to. "The ranch..." he said, out of breath. "Finally..." He walked around, feeling strangely at home. "Is this...? Could this be....?" He walked around a little more, and began to vaguely recognize everything, right down to the stable. "This....this has to be it...."
Yes...this is it, alright...
"Y-YOU AGAIN!" Shu exclaimed, looking around. "Please....please just leave me alone.....please....."
Why? I think that this is a golden opportunity to explain to you a little about yourself...
"....What do you mean?! How...?"
Poor kid. You're still as lost as you were five years ago...
"H-Huh?! What are you talking about?"
Why, don't you know? Here, let me show you... The farm became darker, before a strange spotlight appeared, lighting up the front of the house.
This....is where you lived. You were a very content little boy, living with your parents, who were chocobo ranchers. Multiple different scenes of a happy family were shown, with a little boy who looked just like Shuichi, and similar-looking parents. One day, though, after you turned 11, you felt angry at your parents. You felt like they loved the chocobos more than they loved you. This time, the scenes showed the parents grooming and feeding the chocobos, while chibi Shuichi was standing off to the side, looking angrily. After a while, you were sick of it all. You killed your parents, Shuichi.
Shuichi gasped as the spotlight turned red. ".....No...." he said softly.
Oh yes. One day, while they were on the front lawn and vulnerable, you scared all of the chocobos into 'stampeding', trampling your parents altogether. The newly red scene showed the chocobos stampeding, and the parents' last look of horror before.......
"No.....NO...NO! This isn't true! THIS ISN'T TRUE!" Shu cried out.
Oh, you have no idea how true it is. After that, you cast an amnesia spell on yourself to forget everything and start a new life. By the time anyone came to investigate, you looked like a young boy crying at the sight of two dead people...THE VERY SAME TWO PEOPLE THATYOU KILLED EARLIER.
"NO! I DON'T BELIEVE YOU!!!"
You don't believe me? Fine. See for yourself. The graves are a little further away from the barn.
Everything returned to normal. Shuichi walked past the barn, and saw two stones. Once he looked upon them, he saw the truth. "No........no....." he fell to his knees, no longer able to stand at the sight of the tombstones. He started crying, letting the pain out. It wasn't helping much, but at least he got it out of his system.
Now do you see? This is why it would've been better for you to end it all, instead of finding out the truth. If you want, I can kill you now and save you the trouble of living any longer...
At this remark, Shu looked up. He got up, without saying a word, and started running....as fast as he could. Running Northwest...
The last thing that he heard from the strange voice was Where are you going? You can't escape your past, you know...
He kept running...
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 1:14 pm
Baikasu eats his shae of rabite stu, falls back onto his back with a satisfied stomach, and says, "I never knew rabite could be so GOOD! Where'd you learn to cook like that?"
Nida smiled sheepishly. "You learn a lot about cooking in the field when you go for years of traveling," she murmured, adjusting her tunic to give her hands something to do. "Thanks for the compliment." Her own stew was almost done; she had taken a half-bowl of it, and was now considering whether she could go for another serving.
As she looked toward her little iron pot over the glowing embers of the fire, a high voice called out. A little girl, one of the survivors Nida had treated alongside Isa and the others, came running up to her on short little legs. "Sank you!" the girl cried, hugging Nida spontaneously (and managing to avoid banging her bandaged cheek on Nida's shoulder).
Nida was caught off-guard. "I, er... you're welcome; that is--"
The girl dropped something in Nida's lap and ran off before Nida could respond.
That was a very surreal experience... wonder if that child took a few knocks to the head, Nida thought as she picked up the small object to inspect it.
Baikasu notices th small object in Nida's grasp. "What's that?" He said, sitting up.
Nida holds the object up to the dying light. It's a small cube, maybe an inch on each side, apparently made of green-tinted glass or crystal. A fitting is attached to one of the corners for hanging from a bracelet or necklace. Within the cube is... a liquid? It looks viscous, with a few tiny air bubbles trapped in the fluid.
"Beats the hell out of me," Nida shrugs. "Some bauble the kid decided to pay me with. Probably a cheap piece of costume jewelry from her dress-up set." She can't stop looking at the gooey center of the cube, though. It has that strange feel of an up-close look at roadkill (a rare occurrence in a land which uses horses for most travel, but it happens nonetheless) which has exploded into a mess of intestines and bladders: revolting yet riveting.
Shu continued running, thinking about everything said and done at the chocobo ranch. He couldn't believe it, but he ran like he did. Eventually, after running for a while, Shu stopped to catch his breath. At that point, he decided to make contact with Auubi, feeling that he was about as stable as he was going to get for a while. Auubi....can you hear me...?
Yes. Are you returning now, Shuichi? was the immediate response.
.....Yeah...could you direct me to where everyone else is?
Alright, just give me a moment.....There. All you need to do is go directly East from where you are, and you should find to the campsite soon. Does that help you enough?
Yes.... I'll be there soon... With that, he continued running. However, he was unable to contain his thoughts, and began crying softly.
Why am I crying....? I can't even be sure if that voice was telling the truth......right? RIGHT???
He wiped the tears, and started walking slowly, not quite sure if he could confront the others yet...
Isa stood up after eating and started fiddling around with his backpacks on Gersh. He strapped his gunblade to his side and stretched a bit. He looked around absently for a bit, not really sure what to say to the others. It had seemed as though the only person he talked to was Shu and as he was gone he felt a little out of place.
"Uh...where to next?" he said to the others, half expecting no answer but asking anyways. He decided that if they didn't want to move on that he'd scout the area. Staying in one place for so long was driving him crazy.
Shu wasn't sure whether he should go back to everyone else....at least not yet. How could I possibly confront them knowing that I put their lives, as well as many others, in danger? Not including how pathetic and cowardly I must seem for running away, and coming back in tears... He looked up to the sky for a moment, before realizing something. He thought about everyone's experience at the last Temple, and how he ended up rescuing the majority of the group from it's depths. No....I must go back. The others.....they need me. And Auubi.....I can't just abandon Auubi now. Not after everything that we've been through...
He started running again. Eventually, he came to the forest that Auubi said the others were in, and upon moving deeper into the forest, he was able to see a light.
Finally... Shuichi thought happily. I'm almost there....
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 1:17 pm
The consensus answer to Isaiah's question about the party's next destination was answered with an overwhelming desire to rest. Everyone had been through a lot over a very short period of time... the temple, the amulets' tests, the attack by dragons (not to mention Ifrit himself!), and now this leveled town. Naoko, taking the leader role again, directed the party a little ways into the forest to set up camp out of the open.
As the level of stew in the pot diminished and the rest of the party began filtering in, Nida introduced herself and made small talk. She told a much-truncated version of her story to those who seemed interested: her family had run a dance school/performance center in her hometown, which had been torched about five years ago; her mother was MIA, hopefully not KIA; and since then, Nida had been a traveling performer. She noticed Baikasu perk up to listen closer when she spoke about her hometown. She'd have to ask him about his interest later.
At some point after the conversation had drifted into more general topics, Nida half-turned to reach behind her for her pack-- and got the shock of her life. A Fang... sitting right behind her... and looking rather intently at her. She reflexively leaped up and back, planting herself to dodge or flee (if she hadn't been so startled, she might have grabbed her spear from her pack), but the Fang made no move to attack. Rather, it seemed... amused? Nonplused, certainly. Now that Nida looked closer, it seemed to be slightly bigger than others of its species... different color scheme, too. Which sometimes just meant that a monster was more dangerous than its otherhued cousins, of course; she kept her guard up.
Hurried explanations from the others confused her, but assured her well enough that she was safe. She sat back down (a little farther from the Fang-- Auubi? Something like that; she was still wary of the creature, but it seemed to have its attention focused somewhere in the distance) and absorbed what information was given. Naoko, in particular, seemed to be hiding something... the youngest of the group said something that sounded like "It's 'cause of our amyu--" before Naoko overrode the conversation. Nida might have been welcomed to travel with the group, but she wasn't a trusted member. Good; that meant at least a few people in the party had good heads on their shoulders.
Isa looked at his necklace in wonder. It was feeling different lately..when he met up with the others. He wondered what was up with it. Earlier it was glowing and managed to hold back that black mark..the black mark. Isa had no idea what was up with that thing but it definately worried him. He blacked out when fighting some wererats and when he awoke...they were definately dead. He shook his head violently to clear his thoughts.
He stood up and stretched, deciding to take a walk while the others rested. He nodded to Gersh and took a walk in the northwest direction.
Shu finally closed in on the 'home stretch' to the camp, before seeing someone walking in the direction he just came from a few yards away from him. Someone easily recognizable.
Isa! Shu thought, before calling out. "ISA!" and running to him.
He saw Isa turn to face him, and smiled. "Good." Shu said, upon reaching him, "so Auubi DIDN'T lead me in the wrong direction. Anyway, I noticed you walking away from what I'm assuming is the campsite." Shuichi looked toward the light, before adding, "So, where are you going? I may as well come with you, right?"
Isa patted shus shoulder. "Hey buddy how was your..sojourn?" Isa smiled. "I'm just headed out for a walk...I don't need to rest like normal people.."
"My sojourn? It was......ummm........well....." Shu couldn't finish the sentence, even though that was the only thing he could think about. Death....it was my fault that my parents died......MY FAULT.......but......for some reason, that just doesn't seem right to me......why would I kill my own family because of chocobos...? And besides that, the voice didn't even mention the whole 'flying' thing, and I honestly believe that the idea of flying has something to do with it all... He lost himself in thought for a while, before realizing that Isa had a puzzled look on his face. Shu realized that he might have been showing a little too much expression on his face. "I-I'm fine, don't worry. I'm just thinking about something, that's all....Hey, you said you were going for a walk, right? Do you mind if I come with? I mean, I'm fully rested anyway, so it would be kind of pointless for me to rest any more..." He trailed off. Besides, I don't think I'd be able to sleep well, anyway. Not with everything that has happened today...
After Isa wandered off, the others began preparing for bed. Nida took a spot just a tad away from the core group, not wanting to intrude. Baikasu had volunteered for first watch. Nida hadn't really seen too many guns in her life, had certainly never fired one; she had a savage-awe mentality regarding the weapons, so the watch arrangement gave her a sense of security.
Normally, she would have run through some positions to loosen up and tire herself out. Today had been a grueling one, however, and she didn't want to weird out her new companions, so she settled for a quick stretch before slipping into her bedroll. She didn't really need tiring out anyway. After tending to the wounds of at least two dozen people, cooking a meal for the group, telling her story and listening to theirs, and getting the crap scared out of her by someone's pet Fang, she was tuckered out. Barely audible snores sibilated from her bedroll within a minute of her laying down.
Nida was usually a light dreamer: a bit of randomness here and there for a few minutes, then back to alpha-wave sleep in the manner of stones and logs. Her mother had teased her about how difficult it was to get her up in the mornings despite her energetic activity in wakefulness. Tonight, however, those rules went right out the window. Nida would spend no less than four hours in REM over the course of the night; she would certainly feel like the underside of someone's shoe in a stomping contest tomorrow morning. Dreams began lining up to await their turn to assault her helpless mind.
The first few were hazy, uncertain. Images of the past few days, then a sudden jump back to when she was on her return home from her journeyman's trip, only to hear that her town had been violently renovated. Her mother's face figured prominently, surrounded often by flames, sometimes accompanied by the ghostly, half-remembered figure of her father as he lay dying. A few scenes threw back before her journeyman stage, but the primary focus was the past five years.
The next two were much clearer. First, Nida was in a clearing surrounded by pitch-shadowed forest. Fangs began pouring out from the woods, led by a giant-sized specimen made of marble whose joints groaned and cracked like stressed rock when it moved. Its eyes glowed yellow as it leaped to attack her, but there was a flash, a feeling of something watery (or oily, or maybe both) on her arms, and then the stone Fang was pacing several yards away, glaring moodily at her in between fits of vomiting up pebbles.
Next was a little teak shrine sheltered in a flow of pine up the side of a mountain. There was a golden altar set into the wood, grooved in places for incense sticks or candles, with a tile icon of what might have been an impressionist Malboro leaning against the shrine's backboard. Nida saw herself reach forward and place a small snake in an incense groove; a small candleflame sprung into life over its head, and the ground rumbled. She looked down to see the ground beneath the altar turn slick and wet as something dark began oozing up from the soil. There was a feeling of something portentious and ominous barreling closer, inexorably closer, from the summit of the mountain; the wind in the trees was trying to say something unspeakable... "sshacshshtaa"...
"Sleep well", indeed.
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 1:21 pm
Baikasu, hidden in a tall tree with silenced rifle out, viewing the dark forest and his companions through h five years ago, while she was on a tour...is scope, he thinks to himself, She said that her hometown was desrtroyed five years ago while she was on tour... it's too much of a coincedence. Baskai Village was the only town I've heard of that was destroyed five years ago. Also, I remember that there was a performance center two blocks away from my house, where I sometimes watched people come and go from on sleepless nights. He took his eye away from the scope, and blinked hard twice. He then looked back into the scope, and upon doing so he noticed some bushes rustling south of his position. He asked his amulet in his head, Macnor, can you give me a hint as to who or what that is?
Holld your fire. It is just Isa and Shu. I do not know why they are out there, though.
If you say so. Anyway, I'n going to have to ask Nida if her hometown was named Baskai Village.
Daewyn woke up from a restless sleep and looked around. Most were asleep, and whoever was on watch was nowhere in site. She hugged her knees and stared into the fire, unable to sleep.
After Shu and Isa returned from their walk, Shu saw Auubi, ran over to the Fang, and hugged it. "Hi Auubi! It feels good to be back together again!"
Well....it really hasn't been that long...Anyway, Shuichi, there is something that you and the others need to know. I believe I sense the presence of another Temple around this area. I've already communicated with the other amulets, and they all agree with me.
"Another Temple, huh? Alright! Finally! I was getting really bored for a while there!" Shu said, jokingly. After that, he woke the others (everyone who wasn't awake already) and explained the situation to them. "So.....is everyone up for it?" Though he got quite a few exhausted looks from the group, they still seemed to like the idea.....somewhat.
"Okay, so when are we going to leave, then?" Isa asked, being one of the few people who currently did not need rest.
"Hmmmmmm......well, we could head out tomorrow..." Shu replied eagerly.
However, all he received for that comment were multiple exhausted looks.
Maybe you should let them rest longer...
"OKAY!! Tomorrow it is, then!" Shu said eagerly, obviously not paying attention to Auubi's comment..."By the way, where is Baikasu...?"
Daewyn was happy to hear they'd be going to the next temple soon, though her memory of the last temple had her a little nervous.
I wonder if I'll be tested again...
All the temples are going to test your limits child, Terra replied, but the nearest temple isn't that of earth, so don't worry you still have some time before your true test comes.
What if I don't survive next time? I nearly died in the last temple...
Her thoughts were interrupted by a tap on her shoulder. It was her turn to watch. She got up and readied her blades, slipping silently amongst the trees surrounding the campsite.
Baikasu, not wanting to lseep on the ground, puts away his rifle after tapping Daewyn on the shoulder and goes back into the tree, falling asleep in a defensive position
Temple? Are these people on a pilgrimage? Maybe that Shuichi guy's a religious fanatic; he sounded awfully excited. Nida had woken up enough to half-absorb the clamor, but hadn't even bothered opening her eyes. She was just as exhausted as everyone else; it had been a long day.
Nida tried to get back to sleep, but she kept falling into near-dreams with sinister overtones. She grumbled and sat up, considering whether she felt enough of a headache to justify making tea.
In the end, she wound up dozing off and on. As night rolled into false dawn and the morning creatures began their noisy routines, she finally just lay awake until the last watch was over.
Daewyn spent the last watch of the night uneventfully. A little after dawn she woke the others up and they all started their way to the next temple. Daewyn watched the new member of their little "troupe" with interest. ((Nida)) While they were travelling she bounced up beside her and smiled brightly.
"Hello! I'm Daewyn! It's nice to meet you. Where do you come from? Why are you here? Ooo! What is that pretty stone? Is that your amu.." She stopped short when Phey tapped her on the shoulder and gave her a meaningful look. She blushed slightly and turned back to Nida. "I mean, where did you get that pretty stone?" Daewyn hoped that she hadn't gotten anyone in trouble. She wasn't used to keeping secrets and had never been very good at it even when she had to.
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 1:25 pm
Shu walked along with the others cheerfully. However, he was expecting the worst, and had a strange feeling about everything.
Hopefully this Temple won't be nearly as bad as the last one... he thought, curious about what could happen. Suddenly, things seemed to go dark. Really dark. Everything stopped.
"What the......oh no, it's YOU again......" Shu said, slightly annoyed.
Yes. However, this time, I'm going to help you...
"HUH?! What could you possibly do to help me?! You've already caused me so many problems as it is!"
Maybe, though I don't believe that I've caused nearly as many problems for you as you yourself have caused for others....Anyway, you are weak.
"SHUT UP! I am NOT weak!!!"
Hmph. You had a hard time killing my most basic monsters before. You wouldn't stand a chance against me right now. Therefore, you are weak. And, because I don't want you to be destroyed before I can kill you, I'm going to give you a little help.
"I don't need help! All I need are my guns and spells!"
Oh, really? Well, I will tell you right now that your 'guns' will become more and more useless. You couldn't do damage to anything the last time you tried to use them, could you?
"Uhhh..."
Exactly. That's why I'm doing this.
"But......then why don't you just kill me now and get it over with?!"
Oh, I think you know why. If you haven't figured that out by now, then you really are pathetic...
"ARGH!!!!"
Well, no need to throw a fit. I can clearly see that your intelligence has obviously left you behind on the road to understanding. Lets just say that your abilities are worth more than you think. Anyway, see you soon.....that is, IF you live through the danger that awaits you.....ha ha ha......
"Hey! HEY!!!"
No answer. With that, a strange object fell from the sky, and landed directly on the ground. Wait a sec..... Shuichi ran over to it, and found out just what it was. A sword in a unique crimson scabbard/sheath with a crescent moon on it.Upon pulling it out, Shu realized that it turned out to be an engraved longsword, with strange symbols that included the same crescent moon. Wait a minute.....I know these symbols.....they are obviously used for magical purposes, but....but......I can't remember anything else besides that... Everything returned to normal after he picked up the longsword, and everyone looked at him strangely, as if he had changed somehow...
"Where.......where did that sword come from, Shu?" Phey asked curiously.
"I......I'm really not sure...." Shu replied, and attached the scabbard to his belt. "All I know is that it.......nevermind..." He continued on, becoming more and more unsure of whether he should go to the next Temple or not...
Nida reeled from Daewyn's flood of questioning. The girl had appeared with the suddenness of a teleport and rattled off syllables so fast Nida was half-convinced that she had hit a time sink, slowing to half-speed while the world flashed by her. The girl's last question, half-phrased, was thus nearly lost upon Nida, but its similarity to the stillborn sentence uttered by the same girl last night, not to mention the similarity of the sentence's abortion, caught her attention. There were only a few words that could fit that particular sound structure, and only one which might connect with her bauble: and thus Nida finally keyed into the fact that everyone's amulets had some major part to play in their strange journey. And now, perhaps, she had one as well... She stammered for a bit, shivering at the thought, but caught herself and tried to answer at least some of the questions Daewyn had hurled on her.
"Hello... Daewyn, right? I'm Nida; it's a pleasure to meet you as well." She smiled; the girl's energy and bouyant cheer was impossible to resist. "I'm a traveling dancer, so I guess I come from everywhere and nowhere." She reached a hand up to her necklace, felt the cool, sharp edges of the cube, detected a slightly warmer patch on each facet toward the center... perhaps the liquid center held heat differently? It had been resting against her collarbone the whole morning; wouldn't be surprising. "This is just something a little girl gave me yesterday," she said. "I notice a lot of you have pretty necklaces. Will you show me yours?" She glanced up at Phey, then at Naoko, hoping her eyes would show no intentions of ill will. If it were possible that Nida had another one of these amulets, then naturally she was curious about its mates.
The sound of someone charging through grass interrupted them before an answer could be given. Everyone looked up to see Shuichi holding a decorated longsword with a red scabbard. Nida raised an eyebrow, determined to try to stop being surprised at anything regarding this man. Pet Fang, swords appearing out of nowhere-- and, as she'd finally noticed upon awakening, a crystal planted on his forehead so cunningly one might almost believe it extended beneath the skin. With a marker like that, he had to be a religious nut; she'd have to be especially careful so as not to offend him.
*sxachtl*, said something in her mind, but she barely noticed.
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Posted: Sun Jan 16, 2005 1:29 pm
Daewyn stared at Shu's new sword, but quickly lost interest. She turned back to Nida.
"Sure, this is Terra. I took her off a rich old lady's neck." As Daewyn held up the amulet the green stone glowed softly at the proximity of Nida's bauble, which also glowed in response. Daewyn's eyes got wide. "I knew it! Your amulet is like ours! So what does yours do? Terra has the power of earth. It's really fun, but it can be tough to use sometimes..."
Naoko and Phey both listened to Daewyn's prattle with interest, but when they saw Nida's stone glowing they both decided to not hinder the girl's speech this time but to listen to what Nida replied.
Nida let out a little scream when she felt her amulet grow warm. She fumbled clumsily at the clasp, finally wrenching it over her head, nearly taking off an ear in the process. Sure enough, the damned thing was glowing green-- not too bright to look at, but noticably. It was a brighter green than... Terra? was that right?... more of a lime-green, and it was centered in the fluid encapsulated at the core of the cube. Nida didn't dare touch the stone itself, preferring to hold it by the tiny clasp at the other end of the necklace.
*sxachtl ssrsisthzrai shss,* the voice intoned sarcastically. This was accompanied by an image-- not one she could clearly see; it didn't interfere with her vision... it felt more like an "under-image", if that makes any sense; something viewed from the eyes inward, with a vague sense of wrongness about it. The image felt yellow and humid and disconcerting. It was a blurred form, tentacles sprouting from a central lump of a body, a mouth or two canted almost randomly and filled with comically protruding fangs, orifices of unknown function irising open and closed, a sheen of stickiness and individual wires of hair. Nida recoiled mentally and let out a noise of disgust.
The voice apparently hadn't wanted this effect; it reiterated, *sxachtl ssrsisthzrai shss, gar-ul,* but this time eschewed the image and instead sent a sense of harmless intention, curiosity, vested interest. Nida was apparently going to be useful to this chunk of nastiness.
She wanted no part in such an arrangement. She very nearly threw the damned thing down into the path to give it a good stomp or two, but she happened to glance again at Naoko, then at Shuichi-- and decided to play ball instead, at least until she could get a handle on what was going on.
"This... THING," the word spoken with tremulous venom, an angry disgust, "is very... disturbing. I think you'd better tell me just what I got into."
As Shu watched Nida and Daewyn talk, he suddenly felt something. Something strange. His gem instantly extended into the form of a Horn again as he looked around cautiously. He noticed Naoko look at him strangely. "There's something......not right here...." Shuichi said. He had the feeling that she could probably feel the weird energy too.
You are right, Shuichi. There IS an unsettling force around here...and I cannot seem to figure out just what it is, either.
"Too.....weird....." He continued looking around, hoping that that feeling was caused by the near Temple.....and nothing else........
~Time Lapse noted~
Naoko had woken up earlier in the morning and went out for a walk. A few hours later, she came back to find that nobody was at camp.
Naoko stretches out her arms from a much needed rest and looked up into the sky. Where are they? She had been waiting at camp for around an hour.
The sky was so ridiculously blue...so ironic to her dark mood at the moment. Her amulet, Daemon, was humming the hymn of her people inside her head, calming her tortured emotions. Naoko Rolfe was stuck between two entirely different worlds -- the one of her childhood and the one that she faced now. Was her brother right about the human race? She didn't think so.
Naoko finally got up from her seat to stretch out her limbs, wishing to herself that she could get out of these robes. The robes of the Melbane were not a style that she liked, nor were they very comfortable. She still wondered to herself how she got into these clothes in the first place. In the midst of stretching, she froze.
Someone was watching her, smiling.
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Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2005 7:29 pm
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2005 7:35 pm
Naoko blinked a few times, absorbing in Nida's words. Daemon's voice echoed in her head:
Some guardian she has...
What?
The Poison bearer cannot communicate with her guardian.
"Um...well," Naoko tried to explain before she quickly turned around to slice a shadow in half. "It's....kind of complicated...."
She sheathed her katana, letting its glow disappear, and looked at Nida, carefully sorting her thoughts. "Do you...have any idea what your amulet bears?"
When she shook her head, Naoko sighed again. She glanced at the others who were recuperating from the attack.
"The amulets are the guardians of elements from long ago..." she began. "To put it in a nutshell, it's a legend that I heard when I was younger. Heaven and Hell went against each other in a great battle, and the guardians sacrificed their lives to seal away the underground. The amulets we hold are actually those guardians...and the temples contain pieces that will reseal the broken seal of the underground. This is why you see so many monsters around all the time."
You rely too much on the legends, child of the Void, Daemon whispered. Naoko frowned.
"Maybe...we should go elsewhere," she said more to herself than to anyone else. "The next temple isn't far from here, but the situation can be explained more clearly as soon as you can talk to my guardian. He seems to know more..."
Oh great...more travelling, Shao muttered thoughtfully, causing Naoko to smile. Of course, none of her companions knew her telepathy.
"Wait, there's something more to the amulets?" Phey asked, her ears perking up upon the conversation.
...I'm not sure... Naoko thought, but she didn't answer Phey's question.
In the recesses of whatever extrasensory existence the guardians "lived" in, Xachta swirled its oozy aura around itself, fairly purring in bliss. It had been out of contact with everything for so long, having taken a vow of solitude generations ago. Hell, by now, it had forgotten what it took the vow for in the first place. Probably annoyance at the other guardians.
Look at my mor-tal; I've got a pret-ty, it singsonged toward Terra. The elemental guardian gave the equivalent of an upturned nose in reply.
Oh, turn away while you can, yes, Xachta cackled. Don't get too close to it, yes, we don't need it, yes. Not until the end. It slithered tendrils of consciousness toward the Void, hoping for intimidation; when there was no detectable response, it withdrew them in disgust. Well, like it or not, my dear brothers and sisters, Xachta is back in business, and you're all going to have to learn to deal with it. Whether you need me for the actual journey or not, I'm not going to sleep through it. You all know what may happen at our destination.
The others unanimously turned their attention toward their mortal charges. Miffed, Xachta broadcast a rather rude image and withdrew its venturing consciousness back into the amulet. Kill 'em all, it would, yes, it snorted. Can't even give a brother the time of day.
-----
Unaware of the background interactions, Nida focused on Naoko's words. (Well, managed to after she absorbed what had happened with that shadow-- she hadn't even seen it coming, ha-ha.) She noticed that Naoko hadn't specified which side the guardians had been on in the heavenly war; she wouldn't bring that up, but rather would tuck that away for further observation. Nida's own mother had relayed something like the legend Naoko described. Of course, there were literally hundreds of religions over the years which had all variously believed in a war between good and evil, heaven and hell; there was always something to explain the ebb and flow of the monstrous population, always a reason for the kindness and hatred in the hearts of man and moogle alike. But Nida couldn't deny there was something up with these amulets, whether they had anything to do with the legends or not.
"Do all the guardians have a temple?" Nida asked, shuddering. She didn't want to imagine what her amulet's temple would look like.
"So, do all the guardians have a temple?"
Naoko pondered a while on the question while they continued walking. Daemon wouldn't answer to her question, she knew that; he wanted to let her answer the question on her own.
"...I'm not really sure..." Naoko softly replied. "The temples...well, most of them are pretty scattered about. None of them have a connection to each other nor to its surroundings. However, they do somewhat focus on a particular element, giving each amulet bearer a test."
She sighed and shrugged. Her new clothing was so light on her shoulders; sometimes she didn't even realize that they were there.
"At least...that's what I know of."
You mean, that was what you were tested on, child of the Void, Daemon corrected her.
Naoko frowned again. Would you stop calling me that? At least my mother called be by my name.
Her guardian chuckled in the recesses of her mind. Much different from your brother....
My brother? What about Dante?
"Hey...um..."
Naoko paused in her step, turning around in the direction of Daewyn's voice. The young girl was scratching her head in embarrassment, digging the tip of her boot into the ground.
"I know this kinda sounds silly, but..." Daewyn began, biting her lip. "But is it just me or...do the ancestors like talking to us?"
*Gwyn walked on silently with the rest of the group. He had decided not to ride on the back of his dragon companion in the hopes of getting to know the rest of the group better. One didn't get much social interaction on the back of a dragon.*
Gwyn: So who's temple do you think is gonna be next? I wonder if it'll be Kain and mines....
___________________
*Kain never had liked that Xachta. He was rude, filthy, and just plain idiotic. But they were still allies, despite his feelings towards him, so he might as well be friendly.*
Kain: Xachta.... can you hear me???? Its been a long time hasn't it?? You... You can't talk to your "mortal"? Or is it you just don't feel like it? You seem to be disturbing her quite a bit..... Of course you always were like that. As a dragon knight I never have been one to freak people out, but it's always seemed to be your proficiency.
*Kain then thought of the others. He hadn't had any chance to talk to them, mainly because the distance that separated them due to Gwyn's constant want to fly. But now that Gwyn had decided to go with the group, he had a chance.*
Kain: How is everyone? I can't help but wonder why after all these many years that now we have been brought back together.... maybe its fate.
*As Kain thought of this he grinned. Or he would have, had he had a body.*
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Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2005 7:44 pm
Daemon van Rolfe focused more onto his descendant than interact with the others. Unlike the others, he was related to Naoko by blood, though distantly. Not only that, he didn't really like talking. Talking to one like him, destined to be all and nothing, he could relate to.
Which was essentially why he was guiding Naoko in the first place. Her mother, Kaen, was a much different person than Naoko was, but he could tell that the two were awfully similar to one another.
Alone, desperate, the last one. After Naoko, there would be no other kin of the Melbane. Only halfings, those who possessed half of a Melbane's traits.
"Oooh, look, I've got a pretty one, seee," Xachta hissed, bragging to the others.
Its tendrils slyly latched onto Daemon's arm, but one look from him, and the tendrils slithered away in disgust.
Foolish... he thought to himself. He continued watching Naoko from his realm, like he had always done with those who were granted the power of the Void.
~~~~
Naoko winced a little bit, rubbing her temples as they continued to walk.
"Yes...they love to talk to us...sometimes..." Naoko answered Daewyn's question, "....a little too much."
Child, you have much to learn about us, Daemon replied.
...Whatever...
Terra disliked Xachta. The fool enjoyed tormenting and poisoning everything he came in contact with. Many times had strong, healthy plants whose roots sunk deep into the rich earth shrivelled under his touch, leaving the soil inhospitible in their wake. These events had created a deep rift between Terra and Xachta and the two entities had sucessfully avoided any contact with each other until now, but given the importance of the current quest, Terra decided to ignore the poisonous one's presence and instead reply to Kain.
I have been well Kain. It has been a long time old friend. I know nothing of fate, it is not my element, but I do know that the earth is rumbling with discontent. Time is ripe for change. It does not seem merely coincidence that we should be reawakened and gathered together after all these years under such circumstances merely by chance. Those who hold the Amulets have great inner strength. Even the little one, Daewyn, for all her blundering, has great power locked inside. These things seem to be ordered by a power even greater than ourselves. What does the time master know of these things, I wonder.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Daewyn skipped ahead of the group and looked ahead. In the distance she thought she could see a small clearing with an ancient building sitting in the midst of it, but she couldn't see so well in the dark. She ran back to Naoko's side and tugged on her sleeve.
"Naoko, is that what I think it is? I can't see so well as you can."
*Kain was pleased to hear Terra's voice again. It had been ages since he had last had contact with his companions. It was good to be back with familiar entities.*
Yes, It would seem that someone or something is guiding these events..... maybe it is just fate, or perhaps there is someone using fate as a mask.... it is very unsettling. But we'll just have to deal with that when the time comes. In the meantime we must guide these new heros on their path.... Even YOU Xachta. I won't sit idly by while you drive an innocent girl out of her mind. Terra, you seem to have made quite a good connection with your companion, as I have. These mortals are quite strong, each in their own way. Some have brute strength, some are cunning, some have great mental powers, some are fast, but all of them excel in courage. It is the courage, wisdom, and power of these mortals that will unravel the events to come."
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*Gwyn looked down at his amulet, which was glowing.*
"Kain.... ummmm......... whats going on?"
"We are coming up on the next temple.... I am conversing with the others."
"Others? What others?"
"The other 'amulets'"
*Gwyn was disturbed by his internal conversation by Daewyn's talking.*
Gwyn: Something up ahead??? That has to be the next temple....... Naoko, I think that we should set up camp for now and proceed in the morning
"Boy...is it dark out there! I must have slept for hours!"
*looks around*
'It's been such a long time since I've had a place to rest,' Bryce thought. 'So long since I've been somewhere warm...it's almost comforting...almost.'
'So many thing I've done...I don't even know half of them. Sometimes I just lose myself and don't know what happens to me, or anyone around me.'
'That's why I got banished. That's why I don't have any friends. That's why I'm all alone. All I have left with me is this stupid broken amulet piece that Mom gave me when I left so very long ago. At least, that's what it seems like.'
"Well, I guess I should get going. Night time is the best time for travel. Especially when you're running."
*puts out the fire and leaves the cave*
"Ah...the night air. It always makes me feel good. At least some things stay the same."
*pulls cloak over himself and grabs his spear in his right hand*
"Well, let's see what kind of things we can do tonight!"
*glances at his left hand, then points it straight out in front and closes his eyes*
*BOOM!*
*The tree in front of him explodes as a lightning bolt strikes it out of thin air*
"Well, at least something good came out of my stay in that village...hmph!"
*the moon twinkles in his blue eyes as he sets off to find something to fill the void in his life*
Daewyn skipped off into the trees a little ways to collect some firewood. She could hear Naoko warn her not to go too far on her own, but she barely registered the remark on her consciousness as she wandered farther into the trees.
Having just gathered about all the wood she could carry, she was about to turn back when she heard a loud sound, like a bolt of lightning. She jumped back, dropping the wood she held in surprise. After scanning the sky and seeing no clouds to explain the presence of the familiar sound, she stooped to collect the wood she had dropped when she saw a cloaked figure standing in front of her. Her hand strayed to her bag, but she stayed it and instead demanded: "Who are you?"
Instinct told her this person could most likely be dangerous, but she waited for his response before drawing a weapon. If bad came to worse she could always dive into the ground and make her way back to camp to warn the others.
*Bryce notices a small girl gathering wood*
"You seem frightened..."
*The girl can only nod her head*
"There's no need to worry, as long as you stay away from me. I don't want to get involved. It only leads to trouble."
*As he turns to walk away, he notices the amulet he holds is emitting a silver glow.*
"That's strange. I haven't ever seen it do that."
*Turns to the girl and notices that she has an amulet also*
"Who are you and why do you have an amulet like mine?
*Gwyn was getting ready to help set up camp when he heard the loud booming noise.*
Gwyn: Whoa.... what was that?! Hmmmm.......
*Gwyn noticed that most of the others were recovering from the shock of the sudden burst as well.... but something didn't seem quite right.....*
Gwyn: Daewyn! She might be in trouble!
*Gwyn turned around to look at the others. It didn't take a genious to realize that the situation might indeed be dangerous.*
Gwyn: Hey, I'll go ahead with Caranar to check on it. With a dragon up against them, I doubt whoever did that will cause any trouble right away.
*With this Gwyn hopped on Caranar's back who ran forward into the trees, knocking over trees with a mere swing of his tail. It was a lucky coincidence that the trees were relatively thin in this part of the woods, or they might not have been able to maneuver(sp?) through the trees quite as easily. But since the trees were all rather small the going was pretty easy. They didn't have to go far at all befor Gwyn soon sensed Daewyn's amulet a little ways ahead. Gwyn hopped off of Caran?s back and faced the dragon.*
Gwyn: Hey bud, stay right here... I'm gonna handle this on my own.
*Caranar snorted and nodded in agreement and laid down as best he could. Gwyn gulped and walked forward toward's Daewyn.*
*Daewyn stared at the silver gem for a second, then looked up at the man holding it and smiled.*
"Hey you have an amulet too! I wonder just how many amulets there are... Anyway, I'm Daewyn! I'm travelling with my companions to that temple near here. Where did you come from? And what was that loud noise? That scared me! Would you like to come to our camp with me? I'm sure the others would be glad to see you since you have an amulet too. My amulet controls earth. I'm learning all kinds of new tricks! What element does your amulet command? It's funny how we just keeping meeting more people with amul..."
*Daewyn's incessant stream of chatter was cut short by a sound in the trees behind her. She stopped and turned to see Gwyn.*
"Hi Gwyn! Did you come to find me? I'm sorry for worrying everyone, but I was about to come back to camp when I met this guy. He has an amulet too! Isn't that wonderful!"
*Daewyn grinned at them both, then continued to pick up the wood she had dropped.*
Geez! She seems to be a lot more talkative than before. Also, she seems to forget rule about traveling #32: Do NOT, under any circumstances, trust anyone you meet suddenly in the woods at night.
Baikasu, having ran after Daewyn to keep her out of trouble, has his hand grasping firmly on something in his jacket.[He knows, you don't^_^.] Baikasu asks, "First, I think we should know why you are traveling by yourself at night in the woods so close to a Melbane temple. As for the amulet, you should walk in that direction and ask Naoko. She's Melbane, so DON'T act stupid."He turns around and heads back towards camp."Sigh, this stuff happens all the freakin' time..."
*Bryce looks at the girl and the other man*
"Hi. I'm Bryce. I don't usually travel with people, but this little girl interests me"
*Motions to Daewyn*
"My only request is that you leave me alone at night and don't sleep near me. You don't need to know anything else about me. I will go wherever Daewyn goes."
....this little girl interests me' and 'I will go wherever Daewyn goes'? Also, he didn't want any of us to know anything more about him. That just screams potential threat... Hey, Macnor. You can communicate with the other amulets, correct?
Yes.
Could you do me a favor and ask Naoko's amulet and Daewyn's amulet to tell their holders that I don't think that guy should be trusted?
I will try, but I don't think that the Void will relay that messege, and Daewyn's most likly too inoccent to believe that.
Thank you. Personally, I don't think that any of my fellow comrads should be in potential danger....
...
Anyway, I've got a question. Which temple are we going to this time? Hope it's not mine. I don't think I've gotten the hang of the whole, you know, not dying from the high voltage thing.
Yes, you DID feel a jolt of pain while you were killing that thunder dragon, weren't you?
I just hope I can get used to it quick, before I get to the lightning temple.
After walking for a while during his inner monologue/conversation, he finaly returns to the camp. "Hey, guys, what's up?"
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Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2005 7:45 pm
[ Message temporarily off-line ]
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Posted: Fri Jan 21, 2005 7:47 pm
Yes, I also believe that he is not to be trusted. At least not yet, anyway. He doesn't want ayone to know more about him except that he has an amulet as well. We should all keep an eye on him, as well as our bearers... oh, and Xachta?
What is its, Macnore?
I think it would be best to stop driving your avatar to the brink of insanity before she finally musters up enough strength to acually shatter your amulet. So just lay off. Acually help this time.
Baikasu, not hearing this conversation between the guardians, looks around for a good tree to climb up for camp defense. He would sleep up there as well, in case they need a good shot. While he was approaching a rather appropriate tree, he heard, "GOOD GODS, YOU DAMNED THING, WILL YOU LEAVE ME THE HELL ALONE!!!" come from Nida, then the distinct sound of a hard object hitting a tree. "What the hell?" he says, while climbing up the tree to the desired point.
**Terra nodded to Kain**
You're right Kain, I should have stopped her from speaking, and I would
have had I known how much she would say. I honestly didn't know what she was
doing until it was too late. I hate to do it, but I suppose I'll have to keep her on a shorter leash. I apologize to you all, the child will be closely watched from now on.
**She turned her attention to Daewyn who was blissfully unaware of the trouble
she was causing.**
Daewyn, hon step away from the others for a little while, I need to talk to you.
Ok Terra, just a sec.
**Daewyn turned her attention back to Bryce and Naoko whom she had been
conversing with.**
"I hafta go for a sec, I'll be right back, k?"
**Daewyn stepped away from the fire and sat down against a tree, then closed
her eyes. She hugged her knees and rested her head on them.**
Ok Terra, what is it we need to talk about?
Sweety, I know that you're a friendly person, Terra began, but you are too trusting of strangers. Not all who bear the amulets are neccessarily good people. Not all of the amulets are necessarily good either. she added, thinking of Xachta's treatment of his bearer. I need you to be more careful around people you don't know and not tell them all about the quest we're on or even the existance of the amulets, even if they have one. Many who possess amulets have no idea of what they're holding. Next time you see a stranger with an amulet come back immediately to the one called Naoko or one of your other companions and tell them about it. They will know what to do in order to determine whether the person can be entrusted with the secret. Can you do that for me?
**Daewyn nodded mutely. The whole concept of secrets was still slightly foreign to her. She smiled shakily**
Yeah Terra, I can do that. I'm sorry about telling too much. I haven't hurt anything have I?
Don't worry child, no permanent harm has been done. Now go back to your friends.
**Daewyn nodded, but didn't return to the others. Instead she went to her bedroll and lay down. Small tears ran silently down her cheeks.**
Ok, Baikasu, Terra has imformed Daewyn of the importance of not talking to strangers and keeping secrets. Hopefully she will tell us about suspected
guardian bearers first, before teling them everything.
Good. I wonder, though...
What about?
How she survived as a thief without keeping secrets or talking to people she doesn't know. She's WAY too trusting of people.
Yes, that's true. But you can't be mad at her for doing so. She's still so young, after all.
Baikasu says to the general group, "I don't feel like sleepinganytime soon, so how about I take the first two shifts, instead of a single 1 hour shift?"
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