|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 Posted: Tue Aug 16, 2005 9:13 pm
There is a quest waiting for you in the Quest thread!
Quests
Please pick one and PM me which one you decide to choose! Also, you HAVE to take one, this is a chance to increase speed up Rama's growth rate!
|
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Fri Aug 19, 2005 11:27 pm
--- The Dream, and the Ofuda
It had been 2 months, 2 full months ever since Aziel was expelled from the water fairy tribe. His magical powers were completely stripped off of him, and he remains now, as a simple mortal. In his desperation for shelter, he had imposed as a researcher that came to the village of Elsas to research on the Great Tree Kuma. Unknown to the villagers that he was once, actually a water fairy living in the Lake Solilo.
There was never a day that Aziel do not crave to go back to the lives of being a water fairy. It was so free. Every midnight he and his fellow low ranked water fairies would emerged onto the lake, and played little games with each other while bathing underneath the beautiful light of the moon. Although the elders would always warn them about the dangers of emerging onto the lake, still, Aziel and his friends do not listen to their wise words. Never once were they found out by the villagers, until that night. That unfortunate event that happened that night, had also been the reason why Aziel was expelled from the water fairy tribe. Now, Aziel lived in this small village, burdened by mortal needs and limitations, having to work at a small inn at night as a bartender to make a living. He had tried to wander off onto the lake in the middle of the night, in hopes for spotting some of his fellow friends. But he had been unsuccessful thus far. Maybe the fairies were banned from appearing before mortal eyes now? Aziel never knew.
Lately however, Aziel had been having weird dreams every now and then for 2 weeks now. In his dream, he would see the great tree Kuma, with all the paper ofudas swinging along in the wind. The sound of the wind and the rustling of the leaves created such a soothing rhythm, that Aziel was unable to tear away from the dream. But always, as Aziel was enjoying the nature's song, everything in front of him will suddenly lit ablaze. The great tree Kuma, the ofudas on the tree, the surrounding. EVERYTHING! Will suddenly be consumed in flames. And everytime at this very moment, Aziel would jolt awake from his dream, sweating like mad.
Is the dream trying to tell something to Aziel? Is it telling Aziel to go to the great tree?
-----------------------
Bitting on a stump of lit cigarette, a bad habit he had developed within this 2 months, he found himself standing in front of the tree one faithful morning. It was rather cold, Aziel stuffed both his hands into the front pockets of his blue jacket for warmth. With a sigh, he released a small cloud of cigarette smoke from the corner of his mouth, then he spit out the cig onto the floor, and stepped on it a few times to put it out. Hands remained in his jacket's pocket we walked towards the great tree slowly. He had visited the tree a few times, because he had to fulfill, or at least, faked that he's doing research of the great tree. As that's his excuse for residing in the village, he was lucky that the villagers were nice enough to let him live in a small hut in the village. Equipped with some basic furniture, it was at least enough for Aziel to run his daily lives.
Aziel stood under the great tree looming over him, and stared at the numerous hanging ofudas on it's branches. A soft wind blew over and a soft flapping sound of the papers could be heard. He removed his right hand from his pocket and touched the tree's trunk. The thickness and the rough lines in the tree showing it's age and wisdom. What was the tree trying to tell me? He thought solemnly. The image of the burning tree reliving in his mind. He knew there was something the tree is trying to tell him! He closed his eyes and hoped that the tree would communicate with him through his touch.
What am I doing here? Aziel thought suddenly, realising that he might've looked really silly right now. He removed his hand swiftly from the tree trunk and placed it back into his pocket. He looked around to see if anyone was around. Taking a last longing look at the tree, he was going to return back to his house. When suddenly he saw something that caught his attention on one of the tree branches. He looked closer, and saw one of the ofuda was hanging just by a small corner of the paper on the branch. A strong wind suddenly gathered up and striked the ofuda. The ofuda wasn't able to hang onto the branch, and snapped off, gliding along the wind it flew into the forest beyond.
Almost immediately, Aziel tore off and chased after the flying ofuda into the forest. Is this what the dream was trying to tell me? Aziel thought curiously, eyes following the flying ofuda as it slowly landed on an uplifted tree root. Halting in front of the tree root, white clouds coming out of Aziel's mouth as he breath heavily in the cold weather. He bent down and picked the ofuda up. The symbol on the ofuda was painted with a dark red ink, it looked vaguely like a fire symbol. Aziel wasn't certain what exactly what it was, but whatever it is, he felt like he should keep the ofuda for a while before putting it back on the tree. If it really is a fire symbol ofuda however... Aziel couldn't help but laughed. How ironic, an ex-water fairy ended up with a fire ofuda. This must be some sort of joke God is playing on me...
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Aug 20, 2005 10:28 am
Kyoupiruchi It was very late at night, probably an hour or two pass midnight. Aziel sat in front of his desk, which was placed right in front of the window in his little house, staring at the night sky. Although tired, his thoughts were still troubled by the incident that happened earlier that day. Aziel opened the desk drawer and took out the ofuda with the fire symbol gleaming on it. It's strange, Aziel felt strangely drawn to it although by nature their elements clashes with each other.
Suddenly from the corner of Aziel's eyes he saw a shadow ran pass not far outside his window. He quickly lifted his eyes from the ofuda and looked outside. The shadow no longer there. It's a hallucination maybe? But worried, Aziel ran out of the house to check anyway. No one was around, as he thought. But something caught his eye at a far corner of the street. An orange glow reflected on a wall, and it seems to be flickering. Wait... Flickering?? Alarmed, and with the ofuda still clutched in his hand, he ran towards the light source. As he turned the corner he was shocked, a small warehouse was set on fire!
Stuffing the piece of ofuda into his pockets, he quickly snatched a large piece of linen cloth that was covering trading goods from a cart nearby, and started to smack it onto the fire, trying to put it out. But his efforts alone wasn't enough! Instead of diminishing, the fire started to spread onto the roof. It's beyond his reach now, he needs help from the villagers. Running as fast as his feet could carry him, he rushed to the nearest house nearby and started to bang on the door. "There's a fire in the warehouse!! Come and save the fire quickly!!" paper x soul As soon as Aziel knocked the the villager's door, out came a young looking man, maybe around his 20's and exclaimed, "A Fire?! Hold on, let me go get my coat and I'll start up the hose! Please warn the other villagers! Especially the house by the warehouse...theres a mother and a newborn that live there!" Kyoupiruchi "What??!" Aziel exclaimed. A mother and a child! He must act fast! He whirled around immediately and saw the fire had already started to creep onto the nearby houses. He spotted a cart piled with sacks which he assumes containing rice, with all his might he pulled one sack off the cart and hurled in into the fire path. With hopes to stop the fire from spreading to the villager's house. It somehow seemed to work! Without further delay, he started to bang on the door of the house where the mother and her child stayed.
"Wake up!! A fire is spreading to your house!! Come out quickly!!" Aziel shouted, accompanied with his banging. It was at this very moment that he wished he still have his abilities when he was a water fairy. A fire like this wouldn't be a problem for him then. "FIRE!!! FIRE!!!!!" Aziel shouted with all his might, hoping that he could wake up all the villagers nearby as well. paper x soul "...Is someone there?" said a woman as the baby started to cry. She opened the door and yawned as Aziel explained the situation to her. The fire started to burn the house! The baby was sweating as the heat was too much. The mother ran to the baby and picked him up along with the cradle and ran outside the house.
"Oh..Thank you so much! We could have lost our lives! Let me put the baby down and get the hose." She ran towards the hose, turned on the water and started to spray independant flames. Kyoupiruchi The baby was still wailing in his little cradle where his mother left him. Aziel took the hose from the lady's hands and said, "Here, let me do that... you go and take care of your son. I think it's a good idea to try to calm him down a bit." He smiled at the lady as he spoke.
With the help of the young man earlier, both of them directed the hose towards the fire and sprayed water at it. I hope this could do the trick... Aziel thought bitterly. paper x soul The woman went to her child's aid and he bagan to calm down as his eyes closed.
The fire seemed to lighten up...and eventually it went out! The villagers sighed with relief and thanks Aziel for letting them know and they went back to their houses.
".......ugh" muttered a shady silhouette behind a tree.
Who is this mysterious man?
FIREE!!! completed!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2005 7:45 am
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Wed Aug 31, 2005 8:18 am
--- A Visit to The Hospital (for a quest)
Aziel stood in front of the Ildas hospital, one hand in his pocket clutching his ofuda, the other holding the piece of note that had been left on his doorstep. "We invite you to the hospital for some research discussions, please bring your ofuda along." were written on the piece of note. A little reluctantly, Aziel walked into the small hospital. He was immediately welcomed by a faint smell of medicine. It was his first time in a hospital and he doesn't like it.
Following some instructions on the note he proceeded to the Research rooms, he found the door and entered. Almost immediately he was greeted by 2 doctors and a nurse of the hospital.
"Hello there, I'm happy that you could come!" greeted a tall fair doctor with glasses, happily shaking Aziel's hands. "Please, let us proceed to the next room for the research of your ofuda!" he said, and the nurse opened a door on a far corner of the room. "We were very fascinated by the ofuda's hidden powers you see, we're very interested in doing some tests with your ofuda to attempt to release it's powers." explained the doctor, while escorting Aziel to the experiment room.
Aziel's ofuda was laid on a white table, and he stood aside, observing how the doctors poked, prod, sniffed, wiped odd substances on it, and even tried to cut it but Aziel stopped them on the spot. All of their efforts seems to be in vain though, as the ofuda just laid quietly there, like a normal paper with a simple drawing on it.
"Haiz..." the doctor with glases sighed, admitting defeat after 5 hours of research. By this time Aziel was already asleep on a chair beside a desk out of boredom.
"Mr. Aziel, please wake up." the nurse shook Aziel's shoulders lightly.
"mmph..?" Aziel mumbled, opening his sleepy eyes a little. "Oh, are you done? Did you find anything interesting?" he stood up and stretched, his neck aching a little due to the improper sleeping position.
"No, sadly, our experiments were a failure this time... But I would really appreciate it if you could come back tomorrow though. As it is quite late right now, I wish you could go back to rest instead." the doctor said.
"Oh ok, I'll try..." Aziel smiled lightly in return, feeling a little uncomfortable at the fact that he have to come to the hospital again tomorrow. That means he have to ask for another night leave from the inn too.
"Then I shall leave now." said the doctor, "Have a safe journey home." the doctor walked out of the room, looking a little disappointed, followed by his colleagues.
Aziel stood in the room, feeling at a lost. He went up to the table and snatched the ofuda. The ofuda is a little wrinkled and torn at one edge right now, due to his rough actions of stuffing it clumsily into his pockets and such. He glared at it for a moment before stuffing it back into his pockets.
But an odd thing happened right then. Aziel's ofuda started to glow!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Sep 03, 2005 8:25 pm
Kyoupiruchi Aziel hold out the glowing ofuda in amazement, staring at the glowy smoke swirling around the paper. The drawing on the ofuda seemed to glimmer slightly as well. "How pretty..." Aziel thought, mesmerized by the spinning smoke.
"Oh yeah the doctors!" he suddenly realised. This could be the moment the doctors were waiting for! Aziel ran out of the room and looked around, but there was no one to be seen. He ran pass another corner to see if the doctor is still there, but there was no one. Hands still clutching at the glowing ofuda, it leaves a faint trail of glowy light as Aziel ran. To tell the truth, at this late hour at night in the hospital, it feels a little creepy to Aziel. "It's probably a better idea to come back tomorrow to see the doctors again..." Aziel thought.
He looked at the pretty glowing ofuda for one last time and stuffed it back into his pocket. It's probably safer and draws less attention staying in there anyway. Quietly he started to walk down the straight corridors, trying to find his way out by following signs hanging from the walls. paper x soul The next day...
"Oh! Hello Aziel! Welcome back! Are you ready for some more operations?" said the doctor with glasses. He also said, "Oh, by the way, I think Renault, the Historian, will be joining us later on. Do you know him?" he fixed his glasses as he looked towards Aziel and the other doctors and nurses. Kyoupiruchi "Errr... I don't think I've met this Mr. Renault..." Aziel replied, feeling a little uneasy that more people is joining. Aziel was never comfortable with meeting with new faces.
"Renault will be ariving soon." the doctor said reassuringly, "Why don't you have a seat first?" he gestured to a small sofa in the meeting room. Aziel nodded lightly and walked over to the sofa and sat down, a faint noise of the ofuda crumpling in his pocket could be heard.
"Oh!" Aziel shot back straight up, "After you left yesterday, something strange happened to the ofuda!" Aziel cried, pulling out the glowing ofuda and showing it to the doctors. "Is this some sort of reaction you were waiting for..?" paper x soul "Excuse me? Oh! Wow...really?! That would have been an amzing sight to see! Maybe it will happen again..." The doctor thought of a bright and very soft glow that would come out from such a thing!
"Ah...well, he is a very nice person. Oh! And here he comes!" the doctor looked to the right to see a handsome man dressend in a nice suit from head to toe. He also had Sakura floating right beside him. Renault Renault walked casually down the hall, past many rooms. He went into the room where the doctors were, and of course, Aziel.
"Hello! It's a pleasure to meet you! I am Renault...and you are? Also this here is Sakura." he said as he reached out his hand towards the man. Kyoupiruchi Grasping the man's hand in his own, Aziel shook hands with Renault politely, eyeing the pretty glowy girl next to him. She had small wings on her back, which wasn't a surprise for him since he used to have them too when he was still a water fairy, but that was history.
"My name is Aziel Galant..." he replied. Galant is the name of his grandfather, water fairies do not have a last name. "...nice to meet you."
He stuff his hands back into his jacket pocket like usual after the handshake, it's an odd habit of his. To tell the truth Aziel had no idea what they're going to do with the glowing ofuda now. But whatever it is, he just hope that it's going to end soon as he doesn't want to stay in the hospital for too long, like the day before. The doctor is still holding onto Aziel's glowing ofuda. paper x soul "Hello Renault!" he exclaimed as he looked towards the ofuda.
"Hm....this won't be too long...." he said reassuringly. "Give it an hour or so."
Renault "Ah! Nice to meet you!" he exclaimed as he also said "Ohh! This should be interesting! I should start to record this in my log!"
Renault sat down at a nearby chair which was near Aziel. He took out his journal and started to write in it. Kyoupiruchi This time around Aziel didn't bother to follow them into the experiment room for their research. Aziel doesn't bother what they're going to do to the ofuda anyway. What bothers his mind more is the young girl... her name was Sakura? What Sakura actually is boggles Aziel's mind, he never saw any fairies that looked like Sakura before. Nor did he ever saw any fairies that would walk openly in front of humans. Aziel frowned at that thought, sitting cross-legged on the sofa.
He took out a cigarette from the pack in his pocket and was going to lit it when he saw the 'No Smoking' sign on the wall. Sighing, he put the cigarette stick back into the pack.
An hour later, Aziel was found dozing off on the sofa when the doctors re-emerged from the experiment lab. Renault When the doctors came out of the lab, they saw Aziel dozing off. The woke him up and said, "Sorry to disturb you, but we have found out more about these! It seems there is something that is imprinted very deep inside the ofuda itself, very light and thin. This serves as a "communicating device" that reacts to the Great Tree itself. This is an amazing dicovery!"
"Also it seems your ofuda might have it's secret power to be soon released!" he handed the crinkled and a bit torn ofuda back to aziel. Kyoupiruchi Rubbing his eyes, Aziel received the glowing ofuda back from the doctors. "Communication Device huh..?" he mumbled. Maybe that explains the weird dreams he had before he found the ofuda. Is this ofuda really truely belong to him? Aziel thought, frustrated.
"What do you mean by... 'it's secret power to be soon released'..? Is something going to happen to m-- I mean, this ofuda?" Aziel asked, curious. He really had no idea what's going to happen soon. paper x soul "Yes, precisely." said the doctor.
"All the Kariis SO FAR all have secret powers. Like Sakura here can bring back forgotten memories. They all have unique and special ones that relate to their design. Like your's may have to do with fire." Kyoupiruchi "Huh?" Aziel stared at the doctor, wide-eyed. "You mean, little child like Sakura emerges from these ofudas??" He looked back down at his glowing ofuda, then turned his gaze at Sakura, then back to the ofuda, sakura, ofuda, sakura. It's a little hard to imagine for Aziel, a little child could emerge from a simple piece of paper! He just couldn't imagine what sort of child would come out from his own ofuda.
"But wait... doesn't that means I have an extra burden in the human world...?" a sudden thought hit Aziel. The child may tie him to the human world, and he wouldn't have a chance to go back to the water fairy tribe. He suddenly have the idea to abandon the ofuda somewhere before the child emerged from it... But of course, this must be done without the doctor's noticing.
"Hum, I guess, I should be heading back then..." Aziel said, standing up and preparing to leave. Like usual, he chucked his ofuda back into his pockets, and tried to look as natural as possible so that the doctors wouldn't know what he's planning. Renault Renault stood up and said, "Yes. Precisely."
QUEST COMPLETED!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Posted: Sat Nov 26, 2005 2:37 pm
-- Trying to dump the ofuda --
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
