Welcome to Gaia! ::

Donner watched from the tree impassively, letting out a short breath before speaking. "If I wanted to stop you, I would have. Don't let me stop you now."

My words are like stars,...

Scattered throughout Earth lie many hidden portals. These portals may be in the form of a tree, a puddle, or any other mundane object or place. As such Loki managed to stumble upon a pebble. Yes, a pebble. As the rubber upon his foot crunched down on the minuscule pebble his body felt as if it where being stretched like Taffy, his guts swirled in a never ending circle, and his balls felt as if they where within a vice. Although it felt like an eternity, the time it took to transport from Rome in Earth to Gaia happened within the blink of an eye.

A flash of bright light, followed by a gentle thud, as Loki's form appeared, sprawled upon the ground. His fore-finger would give a gentle twitch as his eyelids slid open to reveal a set of dazzling green eyes. Shortly after, a loud groan would escape his lips, his limbs trembling as he made his way to his feet. His figure would remain in the same position for a few moments, his eyes lazily taking in the surroundings as the blurriness faded. Suddenly he felt a great pain lurch in his stomach, quickly scrambling towards the nearest tree, leaning upon it with one arm, the other clutching his gut. With a few hacks and coughs a mouthful of blood spurt out upon the tree, the red droplets making their gradual decent downwards. Loki would remain against the tree for nearly fifteen minutes, until a searing pain split across his skull. Accompanying the pain a rough horrid scream was let loose, this would surely attract some being, that was, if the scent of blood didn't.

Unknown to Loki a pair of eyes watched from behind a tree, and as he fell to his knees this creature rushed out, a spiked club in hand. With a pain ridden jerk towards the creature, Loki would lurch forward, the club falling upon the ground, directly where his body kneeled a moment before. Mustering up as much energy within his body, Loki would raise a gloved hand up to the hilt of the sword upon his back, and in one fluid movement would draw the sword, the rest of his body following suit in a spin as if water, his left leg raising up near the end. A spray of green blood would fall upon the forest floor and a nearby tree as the orc exhaled its last breath, the head sliding off a moment later. A half smile would find Loki's face as he eyed the body of the creature he had slain. Averting his gaze, he'd swing the sword in a vertical slash, what blood was on the blade flew ********' b*****d."

Placing the Katana back in it's sheath, he'd adjust his cap and fully view his surroundings. Where could he possibly be? This didn't look like Rome at all.

...They never go down.

Some time after HoH 08 ends... completely seperate from all the other stuff people might have going on...

A middle-aged man began his solemn walk through the trails that wound their ways through the Dead Forest. He had left Latent the day before, and had no where in particular to go. He had spent so much time in the city, though, that he thought it might be good to commune with nature for a while. The air here was so much... crisper? No, not crisper. What's the word...

Healthier.

"..."

He looked up at the canopy as he walked, shielding his eyes with one hand, just barely making out the position of the sun in the sky from the positioning of the limited rays of light breaking through clearly.

"Let's rest for a bit." he said aloud to himself, instantly noticing how parched his voice sounded. He walked slower now, paying more heed to his surroundings until he found a large rock to sit upon.

Sighing once he took a load off, he began to unwrap the bandages around his legs to examine how his wounds were healing up; the results of a spar with Damion Hedley in the HoH Square.

The wounds were almost completely healed now, and the bandages themselves would be unnecessary. Wrapping them up to discard them when he returned to civilization, he would lean back against the trunk of a tree tilted by some unknown past force, and take a long guzzle from his water canteen.

The first man didn't jump when the other spoke up. The second man didn't try to sneak up on him, and didn't charge him in a fury, so there was no reason for the first to be startled.

But, after a moment, he looked over his shoulder and laughed, albiet a little nervously.

"You know, you're the first living thing I've seen since I entered this forest. And you, for the most part, appear human. Unless you're a demon in disguise and plan to eat me, I'm extremely happy to see you."

The first man looked away, upwards once more, and taking another swig of water from the canteen, before capping it. "I... suppose you could say that." he responded to the man's question. "Just wandering. Not looking for anything in particular. Though, something big flew overhead not that long ago, like a plane or airship or something. Not heading in the same direction I was going, and there's really nothing I could do about it if it meant trouble anyways."

There would be an akward silence, before he would turn in place on the rock, facing the stranger proper. The man was in his mid thirties, but looked a bit older than that; he was heavily scarred, not like a slave or torture victim would be, but someone who had been in far too many fights in his day. He wore loose-fitting jeans (currently rolled up to his thighs), a buttoned up vest, and hand and feet wraps (but strangely, no footwear at all). He had a travelling cape billowing now and again when the wind blew, and on his forearms just past the wrist, a pair of metallic bracers. So, more or less, like the current avatar.

"The name's Rain Yupa, nobody extraordinaire. Pleasure to meet you." he greeted the stranger, offering his right hand to him. "So, what's the deal with these woods anyways? They're barren, even as far as forests go."

Rain would look into Nemesis's eyes when he gave that response. Not fear, not anger, not suprise. Just... indifference.

Then he would lower his gaze down to the man's pants.

"Now, I'm no hunter, but the arctic style seems terribly out of season, and seems to stand out quite a bit. I would imagine you would have difficulty sneaking up on animals with something as flashy as that."

Still holding onto the man's hands, he sighed and averted his gaze. "If that's a joke, its not terribly amusing. I took a demon-slaying oath, so it would be terribly inconvenient for the both of us if you were telling the truth."

Then, looking out of the corner of his eyes, beyond his teal and white locks of wild hair, he would just barely catch a glimpse of the man. "Or this is just your way of starting a fight?"

Rain nodded and let go as well, looking thoughtful for a moment, holding a hand up to his chin. He looked back straight up at the canopy, following something with his eyes.

"Well, the ship I heard was travelling... that way..." he started describing, pointing an aged finger upward and signalled a direction. "It was heading westward. I assume there's civilization that way. I dunno what cities lie that way, though."

"A spar, hmm? As long as it sticks to strictly friendly rules, then sure. We gotta promise to make sure the other can still walk out of here, in case there is something else out in these woods. I sure as hell don't want to travel the rest of my trip with you on my back. Heh, no offense, Mr. Nemesis."

He would start to unravel his jeans so they would once again cover his legs once more. Rain had no apparent weapons to speak of, and he was very much in shape; with the amount of scarring he sported, it suggested an unarmed fighter.

He would begin a slow pace walking away from Johnathan, stretching and rotating his arms as he walked, starting to put some starting distance between the two, not saying a word.

Rain would stop about 10 yards away from Johnathan, bending one knee while keeping the other straight to the side, hands on his thighs. He bounced several times in place, before switching which leg was straight out, the other bent beneath him. After doing this several times, he paused, spotting something on the ground. He would reach out, and...

He would then stand up, turning to face his sparring partner. "Here's how we'll start. I'll toss a rock up in the air, and when it hits the ground, we'll start. Cool?" From his right clenched fist, he presented a small stone between his index finger and thumb.

If Nemesis agreed, Rain would stand with his left foot forward, his body turned slightly, and gently underhand toss the rock upwards out from between his fingers, about 20 feet and change straight up into the air between them...

Rain would likewise tense as the stone would descend, as if in slow motion, ready to make a move, be it first or second.

And when the stone rustled the grass as it landed, he would step forward hard with his right foot, bringing his right arm up and around, fastballing the other stone he had hidden in his right hand at Nemesis's head. Aiming more towards the man's forehead, rather than something potentially more damaging/fatal like the nose or eyes.

Though the momentum would be momentarily halted, he would step hard with his left foot, before launching forward like a rocket; sparks would shower from seemingly nowhere in his wake, and loose leaves would be thrown upwards from an unseen miniature gale from his starting position. Rain used a burst of his superhuman speed to launch himself at Nemesis, judging how he would react to the stone (be it deflection, dodge, or get hit) to see where he would run to make a superspeed body check into the man.