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 Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2010 3:09 am
"Perhaps my outright demand of fealty was the least inteligent move on my part," he sighed, shaking his head. "Well, not just perhaps."
He kept the same amount of distance as when she stopped, trying not to take too much liberty. and with the events of the last few days, she most definately needed her space.
"Please," he said, "perhaps sometime later.... at your convenience."
I will live my own life. No one else's.
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Posted: Thu Aug 05, 2010 5:37 am
Now this was a surprise. Honesty, amongst many other positive qualities, was not what she expected from this man. But she was not going to be so easily deceived. Coline lifted her gaze to watch him for an extended moment before her lids lowered, promptly followed by a muted sigh.
"...If you insist." was her quiet answer. Then, opening her eyes again, she turned and went on her way.
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Posted: Sat Aug 07, 2010 8:17 pm
"Coline," he said, watching her start to move away. He wondered just why she even let him speak. Any other person would see all of his actions in ways that wouldm't be pleasant, to say the very least. He had... been a terrible person to her, to most people he has been in contact with here in the order.
"Just... allow me to apologize for what I've done. I just want to fix things." He stopped, taking his time. "The last week the order has been in turmoil. I can't keep away thoughts of it getting worse before it gets better. I want to help... that's all..."
I will live my own life. No one else's.
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Posted: Sat Aug 07, 2010 9:13 pm
Halting in her tracks yet again, Coline listened intently to the man's words, back still turned to him. What was going on here? Was he really that determined to deceive her? That man was a threat to the Order. There was no way he could possibly have meant what he said, and yet...
....
"...I'm not the one you should be apologizing to. But, if..." she hesitated, "if you are telling the truth, then... thank you. The Order needs all the help it can muster."
After a few indecisive moments, the muddled recruit finally turned to face the man and met his gaze, but otherwise kept her distance. "Was that all you needed to talk about?"
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Posted: Sat Aug 07, 2010 9:26 pm
"The order...specifically the combat division. Things are going awry and there is nothing i can do by myself to prevent it," he started, no speaking to her face. Her face was still innocent, even with what she had seen... Why did that cross his mind? His face seemed to glaze over for a second, then he snapped himself back to reality.
" I need help. I cannot possibly lead the combat division as such. The methods used in my home were..." he paused, leaving out anything that would hint to his origins. "They were far more militaristic than the order has seen. And... They need it. The combat division is divided... and at the same time it is united. I can tell that Gloria hates me, and I know what she is going to do. I have to make sure that the order's fighters are somewhat prepared before something happens.. Before I lose my chance to help them."
He stepped back and turned, gathering his leathers.
Can she possibly help me? he wondered. Does she want to help you... Sarevok replied.
"Please, perhaps sometime later tonight would be better.... Can you meet me here, tonight after the evening meals? I have other duties I must tend to and... I have to find just what I can do to aid Lorika in keeping herself.... "
I will live my own life. No one else's. [Sorry, I have to end off right there. if you want to rep[ly to that, go ahead. I might not be on for a couple days... See yopu all around. And someone please text me lol.]
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Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 4:04 am
"Not so fast." she suddenly called out, a certain stern quality in her voice. Whatever softness she may have shown earlier melted away. Creases appeared where a calm brow once was, her limp form grew rigid, and her gaze had turned to ice.
"You wish to lead our combat division? You, the same stranger who attacked our Captain--who has gone missing--not so long ago? You actually expect me to help you accomplish this?" she crossed her arms, "Forgive me for being blunt, but I don't find that idea to be extremely appealing. Nor do I find your intentions to be as innocent as you claim."
The furrow on her brow could only grow deeper, but in spite of her infuriated expression, her voice remained surprisingly calm. "Tell me. Just what is it that you're really after?"
((Just a few quick reminders: we're currently on December 11, but Storm doesn't get appointed his position until December 14. Also, there's a memorial service conducted for Panda that happens some time on the 11th.))
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Posted: Sun Aug 08, 2010 8:54 pm
[Dec. 12, Day after funeral ceremony]
"Hmm...that's strange" Xeiashi thought as his walk towards the dining hall was strangely lonely. Not a person in sight...nor even birds, but that wasn't too odd anyway, what with the explosion and all.
Soon enough, he entered an off-white, fairly large room with tables strewn about. Luckily, there was some edible food in the hall, along with a few fellow Ordonians, but nobody he knew. Plate in hand, he dished up some egg-looking stuff, something vaguely meaty, and a glass of none-too-fresh milk. Why was it that post-disaster food was always terrible? "Must have something to do with a lack of people-power" Xeiashi thought as he sat down and tried not to think of what he was eating. He trusted the cooks to ensure that the food was safe enough, but nonetheless he needed to stifle the gag reflex a few times during the meal.
Meanwhile, an argument started, escalated, and nearly resulted in a fistfight. Only some harsh words from a nearby Ordonian cut the tension. The nearly-combatants went back to their respective nearly-foodstuffs.
Guess everyone's on-edge now...then again, who wouldn't be? We're missing two instructors and the Overseer, lacking in manpower, and to top it off, a good part of the Temple is in ruins. And then there's S.I.N., whatever they're doing, likely plotting something against everyone else...that can't be good...we need something to rally around, get morale back up. Christmas IS coming up after all, maybe that'll help...
A fork grated against an empty plate a few times before Xeiashi realized that it was his. With a slight sigh, he stood and cleaned his dishes with magic, then put them back in the clean section.
A thought occurred to him then. What exactly was it that was left behind after magic was used? He took his dishes once more and retreated to a corner to examine their secrets.
On the surface, they looked the exact same. But then again, that would be obvious to anybody. He took another look at it through every type of light, but any discrepancies were easily explained. He finally decided to analyze the plate with alchemy to see how, or if, something in it's structure had been altered.
But again, nothing made itself apparent. Even the atoms of the plate were unchanged, to the best of his knowledge. The plate was just that, a boring old plate, and in his utter loathing for all things platelike, he Glued the thing to the table so it couldn't shift as he looked at it again.
[Glue]
Again, other-wavelength examination turned up nothing. Alchemic analysis showed nothing either...except it should have. Pausing for a moment to make sure the plate was still Glued, it was, he began to examine the border between the plate and the table. The structure was completely unchanged, although it was a very high-energy area.
"I need to go to the library" he thought as he Dispelled the magic and left, plate and cup in hand.
((Hooray, I finally posted again!))
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Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 12:44 pm
"My intention is to prepare the combat division for whatever may come. Excuse me for being rash, but it doesn't seem to me that Jessie had properly conditioned you for any sort of warfare- be it physical or mental." He for a moment, judging Coline's reaction. " I swore an oath of fealty to Lorika... I will follow that until she dismisses me from it. And as for the late combat instructor, my reasons were my own. He is drow, and where i come from....."
I will live my own life. No one else's.
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Posted: Tue Aug 10, 2010 10:55 pm
Barely a second after he'd uttered his second sentence, her hand had already reached for her trident and, with practiced swiftness, swung it around to point threateningly at the man's face. Its prongs were but an inch away from colliding with the man's features, but, as tempting as it may have been, she held it steadily in place.
"Captain." she said through gritted teeth. "You will address him as Captain, soldier."
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Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 3:00 pm
The trident was a small surprise, but not enough to faze him. He in fact was a soldier, and beings that he was the one who instigated the conversation, it was her right to retaliate. Yet, the scowl was far more menacing than he could have imagined coming from Coline.
"Yes, The Captain," he said, nodding his head as she continued to place her scrutinizing gaze upon him.
"Look," he continued, his gaze meting hers for but the briefest of moments, "you may not beleive me now, perhaps never, but The captain and I had more in common than I would ever want."
Sighing, he walked a few paces past her towards the main buildings of the order.
"I am not at leisure to tell you most of what I should, but, if you permit me, I would ask to earn your trust. I know I cannot make up for my past, and perhaps you will never overcome the negative feelings you have towards me."
He turned, looking into her eyes to see what reaction he could get.
"Sometime later, perhaps after evening mass is over, would you return, here, where I can tell you what you need to know?"
His brother's laughter rang in his ears for the eternity it took for her reply...
I will live my own life. No one else's.
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Posted: Wed Aug 11, 2010 5:27 pm
Coline watched on as he resumed his undoubtedly dubious explanation with narrowed eyes and a scowl that would put a SINner to shame. The nerve of him! No part of this man--this savage--was remotely close to what the Captain was like. No part of him at all.
....
"...Tch."
With the same fluid movement as when she brought it out, the irate recruit latched the trident back in its place and turned to leave without another word. Only time could tell whether or not she would turn up later that night.
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Posted: Thu Aug 12, 2010 9:25 am
December 18th: 1100 Hours.
The dark mer prince surfaced from the shallows like a crocodile, shiny grey eyes narrowed in concentration. After peering around for a minute, he suddenly ducked under the water again, vanishing. Or, he would have vanished, had the water been murky rather than clear. Then again, no one was watching, so to say that he vanished wasn't entirely a lie, as no one could see him anyway.
He then leapt high out of the water, jumping in a broad arc that carried his entire long body out of the water, before crashing back in again head first. "Woohoo!"
"Look at it, Chi-chi!" he said excitedly to his constant companion as he re-entered their watery world. "Come see!"
He resurfaced himself, gleefully speeding even closer to the shore, until he felt his stomach scrape sand. Zain then propped himself up with his arms, a big grin on his face as he surveyed the construction work many metres away.
"It is all just as we planned," he said triumphantly, to no one in particular, but probably in the direction of Shinichi nonetheless, "Thanks to us, the humans are building a Temple like no other - and what's more, there's going to be a PARTY! A real royal ball fit for royal representatives! We've accomplished exactly what we set out to achieve!"
Where this little victorious speech came from none could have been quite sure, as the mermen had had little to do with the planning of the construction and absolutely nothing to do with the financing - which had called the need for the fundraising ball in the first place. That, and the mermen had approached the island with no agenda besides that which Zain had convinced Shinichi they'd had all along afterwards. Nonetheless, Zain seemed incredibly pleased with himself, pulling himself round and frolicking in the lapping waves. In such little water it quite closely resembled doing the Worm.
He then flopped onto his back and proceeded to make a sand angel. Well, sand angel-fish. However, he seemed to almost immediately get bored of that, and all ten feet of gigantic black fish and muscular warrior began rolling happily in a horizontal line down the shore. He may or may not have been singing to himself.
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Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 9:48 am
December 17
Near Midnight It was just about midnight when a shadowy figure ran off into the ocean. Under the moonlight, the ungraceful shadow moved and splashed around in the water. It kind of looked like a man fighting himself in the water. And it pretty much was. Imaru raked his arms through the water, his hands grasping desperately through the sand. "No, no, no... Where did it go? Dammit!" The young man flopped about the water, regretting his earlier decision to nap near the shore during low tide, only to wake up under the banner of stars, and his precious item that he had with him lost. While it would be near impossible to find it at this point, he continued to rake through the ocean in the dark. A 0.002% chance of ever finding it was better than nothing at all. At least, that's what he told himself. December 18
Sometime, Morning. "I'm never going to see it again..." What was the frantic figure flipping out in the ocean the night before, was now an exhausted human, washed up on the shore under the morning sun, waterlogged and overcome with childish grief. Like an exhausted kid who wore out his tantrum, Imaru groaned at the ocean before him, his cheek pressed to wet sand. It wasn't like his drawings were anything truly spectacular, but he was fond of that sketchbook, and the sketches inside. Drawings of things he'd seen, people he'd inappropriately stare at in public, crazy things he'd imagine, and doodles of naked ladies. Oh boy, he hoped nobody would find that sketch book...
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Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 3:41 pm
Shinichi was keen to sunbathing, but today seemed like a dull day, the sky was gray and there was slight fog dancing on the water’s surface. It was a cold day, and the current was chilly, but the white haired merman was used to it, as were all the other merfolk. He didn’t think it would be a good day to sunbathe, seeing as there was not a crack allowing any sunlight through to the earth. The clouds looked thick and heavy with snow or rain, which ever they deemed fit to drop on this day. Smiling at Zainire, Shinichi took the other’s hand and swam to the surface with him.
Letting his head pear up slightly out of the water much like a crocodile would do, much like Zain had done, he let his wings flap out of the water and fan out before stretching and shaking slightly, and dipping back into the water. Yes, their vision was coming into view, but he was feeling a little sad, the reason they were having the ball was to raise money, the money to use to pay for the work being done to build the tunnels for them. He felt bad for that. If only he could help some way.
“Zain… is there any way we can help them? I feel like it’s kind of our fault that they have to raise money for this because of us… Is there any way we can help out?” Shinichi never liked feeling the pit of nervousness attempt to swallow him whole when thinking of the humans, but in some way shape or form, he had always lingered on the edge. He wanted to please everyone, but it was always hard to.
Sighing, he continued onto the shallows, keeping his head out of the water to watch the beach. There was a young man that was lying motionless on the beach. He seemed so helpless and lost. Advancing slightly, his hand bumped into something protruding from the sand. Looking down at the mysterious object, Shinichi tilted his head and examined the protrusion carefully. “Zain… there’s something here. Look at this.” He spoke quietly so as not to disturb the figure on the beach as he tried to get Zain’s attention.
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Posted: Sat Aug 14, 2010 4:11 pm
Zain, having totally ignored his partner's concern as he blithely rolled along the sand, suddenly bolted to attention like a cat sensing a mouse. Immediately rolling double-time in the opposite direction, he was upon his lover's find in seconds.
"Oooh!" he cooed with fascination, gently pulling the object out of the sand with the care of a child handling a baby chick. "What IS it...?"
Turning the object around in his hands, he inspected it at all angles. Merpeople may not have had the same kind of books as surfacers, but they were not totally ignorant to the concept, and upon flapping the covers back to reveal the pages, sodden together into one big clump inside, it was obvious just what they had found.
"It's a BOOK!" he cried triumphantly, "Awesome! Look, Chi-chi... you can JUST make out the pictures on the first page...!"
He thrust the sketchpad out towards Shinichi, shifting closer himself until the two were touching shoulder-to-shoulder. He then laid the book out in front of them on the sand, just out of the way of the last of the swell, tail twitching as he propped himself up and examined the treasure with interest.
~~~~~
"So pretty..." he breathed, gazing at the blotchy picture of an old man. "It looks like an octopus. Who do you think drew this? It's soooooooooo pretty!"
Eager and in awe, the warrior separated out the next page and tried to turn it. The corner of the sopping paper tore in his hand, and he screamed. "OMG! Books don't do that!! Books don't do that!!"
Panicking, he picked up the book and... stopped.
"Wait," he said, turning it around carefully by its covers again, "This is a surface book, so maybe it's meant to break."
Mer logic at its finest.
"It's weird, though, cos this bit is pretty solid... what's it made of...?"
Referring to the cover again, he closed the book and sniffed it. Then, he ran his fingers down the front. Then, he held it to his ear and shook it, listening closely. Then, finally, he bit it. Chewed it. Gnawed it.
"Hmmmm... tastes weird..."
He chewed it again thoughtfully, tongue working furtively on the side. Lightbulb.
"I think we can eat it!" he cried, opening it up again, "It's just like an oyster - hard on the outside, yummy on the inside, and you don't even have to crack it open!"
The torn corner of the book's insides vanished - the edge rounded in the very suspicious shape of a bite mark - exposing the colour of the book's backing where the wad of paper once had been. The white mess, however, didn't end up predated by a sea mammal. It ended up spat unceremoniously back on the sand after just a few experimental chews.
"EUUUUGH! It's like chewing manatee flipper!" Zainire exclaimed. He regarded the object with a look of disgust, as if it were the book's fault it had proved itself not meant to be eaten. Holding it by its corner like some smelly undesireable, he glared solidly at the book. For a moment, it seemed he may toss it backwards, over his head and into the depths of the ocean.
Then, he shrugged happily, without the slightest bit of concern, and shoved the thing into his pouch.
"La la la la la," the handsome prince sang, flopping back onto his back and rolling off again in the direction he'd come.
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