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 Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 7:04 am
Tomorrow looked down at the little girl with his blank sunglasses, her pouting face reflected in the lenses as he sighed audibly, almost with irritation...
...Before he took the glasses off and put them in his coat pocket. "Of course. You're right, short stuff. I shouldn't turn down a gift."
Reaching out to tousle her hair with a smirk, he grabbed the package and tore it open, pulling out the hoodie and gloves. "Neat." He muttered blankly, like a kid at Christmas who'd gotten clothes instead of that new video game he wanted.
Shucking off his crimson trenchcoat and unclipping his webbing and shoulder-holsters for his Desert Eagles, he pulled the hoodie over his massive frame, pulling the hood away from his shock of thick blonde hair as he pulled off his gloves and replaced them with the mithrial ones, pulling them on and testing them by punching his fist into his palm.
"..."
He didnt say anything about it. He simply replaced his webbing and clipped his shoulder-holsters back on, before putting his trenchcoat back on over his hoodie, pulling the hood out from under the collar of the coat to hang over it.
"Happy now, honey?" He asked Juuni with a small, forced smile.
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Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 7:08 am
"..."
Equally Juuni said nothing. She frowned slightly at John, his distaste for the gift as obvious to her as his false smile. The small girl blew a raspberry up at him and toddled back over to Mere, snuffling at his small back pack, wondering what other interesting things it held.
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Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 7:13 am
John sighed, feeling a little heartbroken at the tiny girl's responce and leaned his head into Amber's shoulder, whispering to her quietly. "...Cant help it...something strange about him..."
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Posted: Thu Nov 03, 2005 7:16 am
Amber smiled at her fiancee and wrapped an arm around his large shoulders, playing with the small wisps of hair at the back of his head.
"I shouldn't worry about it, she's only young and doesn't really know what she's doing. I'm sure she didn't mean it sweetheart, and you're only trying to be careful, I know that" 3nodding
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Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 10:56 am
His foot had stopped the traveling parcel as it skidded in front of him, and he shrugged, bending down to take it, before Juuni snatched it back out of his grip and forced the larger man to accept.
Tomorrow would find nothing magical or wrong about the clothing, same as with Juuni and Amber. The only thing noticible is that it's was smarter to wear such things in the biting wind.
As the little neko's nose poked into the sack, it would suddenly seem rather empty, as if totally barren of most of it's contents. After a pause, Henry reached past her and pulled out a long length of material, with, ridiculously enough, little knitted bobbles on the end. It was a very long black and midnight blue striped scarf, of which, he wrapped around his face. Blue eyes smiled down at the curious neko before he once again hauled the sack onto his back. Oddly enough it made a dull thunk as it hit his back, looking full once again.
"Amazingly enough, the gorge is pretty much the easy part," He pointed outwards, and if one had good eyes, such as Tomorrow, it'd be easy to see the gulls that drifted a good distance out. "The cold comes from the freezing waters of the coast here. Once we get to the village we'll take lodgings, simple as they may be, and start early again tomorrow, hopefully with guide in tow. Oh, and if anything moves...try and kill it, strange creatures that will feast on anything, breathing or not, live here." As if punctuating this sentance, there was a far off cry. Mournful and hungry, it was one of the tundra wolves of the north, known to carry off full grown men if driven that far into the winter starvation time.
The almost solid magic messed with beasts minds up here. Sometimes driving them insane, or intelligent, and at worse, both. The wolves were no exception to this, casting off their other kin, or eating them, before divulging it's madness on the general human population of the area. Some said that they hunted by magic itself, looking for the usual allotment around a Gaian's soul with their strange humanish eyes. But they certainly weren't the worst mutations in this area, and Henry didn't seem bothered by the cry at all, heading off in a steady pace down the outcropping that served as a semi-bridge against one of the rockfaces.
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Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2005 4:33 pm
Ryugi and Vargus made their way up the snowy slopes of the Mithral Mountains. It had been nearly two weeks since the end of Eclipse, and the death of his little friend still weighed heavy on Ryugi's heart. It reinforced something that Ryugi had known since he was very little. Every choice has a consequence. He felt like he had failed the little dragon, and at the time, he had just wanted to curl up and die somewhere. But Vargus had literally smacked some sense into him.
She was right. Ryugi had more to live for, and every life was full of hard times and happy moments. Ryugi would just have to suck it up, and keep living for all those that had died in some way because of one of his weaknesses or lack of skill in some area. He rightfully blamed himself for the little dragon's passing, and he would do everything he could to live on for the little guy. The abilities he lost meant little to him compared to the life of his friend and companion. But he realized, to stay there and weep was not the right thing to do either. He had to move on and improve, if not for himself, than for Eclipse and all the others that he had failed in one way or another.
It was relatively cold on the mountain, but since his elemental powers had returned, heat was easy to come by. Then, one day while on top of a mountain, looking around to get his and Vargus' bearings, he saw an object fall from the sky, and appear to land somewhere in the area across the sea known only as the Tundra of Guldor. Both he and Vargus could feel a strange power coming from the object as it fell from the sky, and Ryugi had felt something inside him as well, something different from the normal sensations of magical energies. He wasn't sure what it was, but he felt like he had this tug, this pull to go to Guldor, like someone or something was calling to him.
He wasn't sure what it was, but one thing was for sure. He was heading to Guldor to find out what the object was that fell from the sky. Even after the object was gone he could still feel the strange pull, and that pull would act as a guide. But Guldor was even colder than the mountains, and to go there, he and Vargus would need heavier clothing than their normal jackets...
So, where are we going to find heavier clothing in a place like this? There isn't a town for miles around.
Vargus spoke to Ryugi an hour or so after they'd seen the object fall. They were sitting around a small campfire that Ryugi had put together. Dry wood was hard to come by in a snowy forrest in the lower mountains, but Ryugi had found an old fallen tree. While the rusted broadsword wasn't perfect for fighting, it made a very handy tool. Using his small rusted sword, he had pried the log open to reveal the dry wood underneith, and after scraping and cutting away for a few minutes, he'd managed to gather quite a bit of tinder and some bigger pieces for burning. Lighting them was simple enough, and so, a fire was made. Ryugi turned to Vargus after she'd asked the question.
Theres a city named Lament not too far from here. They live in this area year round, so they're bound to have some heavier clothes we can buy, maybe they'll have a weapon shop too. So, as it stands in my mind, we'll first hit Lament, and then make our way to Guldor in some way. What that IS, I still don't know... Maybe we'll fly over there, I'm not sure, but we'll worry about that when that time comes.
Vargus nodded, and the discussion was over for now as the pair settled in for the night before they would head off to Lament the next day. What lay ahead for them in Lament and across the sea? No one really knew for sure, but it was going to be an adventure unlike any other either had ever been on before.
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Eloquent Conversationalist
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Posted: Mon Nov 07, 2005 1:32 am
John stood and followed the man, taking Juuni's and Amber's hands in his as he stepped onto the outcropping behind Mere, lifting Juuni up by her hand to dangle her with a smirk as he guided Amber behind him.
Tomorrow didn't really like this. Being led by someone else. Having to do what other people told him to. He could do it - he just didn't like it.
He'd been happy in his own little world. Spending quality time with his family. Beating up some very unsavourey people. Living his life in peace, quiet and serenity.
Of course, nobody else saw it that way. His version of rules were very different to others...not that they could completely enforce them on him - he was his own man, after all - but conflictions tended to give him a headache. Most of the time it was simply easier to go along with the flow.
He sighed, his smile slowly melting away as he placed Juuni down on the path so she could walk and turned his head to look back to Amber. She could be the only thing keeping him grounded during this...she could have refused to go, or order him to stay, but she had come along with that beautiful smile of hers... she was too good for him. "Sweetheart...i'm sorry for dragging you into this. I shouldn't have..."
But thats all that came out as a shape, some kind of blur, leapt out from the uneasy shadows within the gorge to slam into the largest target it could find - John. Both physically and metaphysically, John was the strongest in the group - and radiated an aura that simply screamed for attention. Maximos had once described it as a 'golden glow'.
The shape hit him so hard his fingers were torn from Amber's hand, his sunglasses clattering to the ground at her feet as he was crushed into the rockface they were traveling against - before talons erupted from the crater John had been embedded in and pulled him out, tossing his 300lb body as if it weight less then a softball.
He flew, spiralling out of control, his arms and legs flailing - before hitting the ground with a resounding boom, the icy rocks accepting his body painfully.
He did not move.
The mournful cries that had sounded before grew louder. More urgent. Closer...
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 1:52 am
The small neko's ears flattened at the sound of the howl but that was soon forgotten as the group began to move off. Eager not to be forgotten Juuni moved along too. She blinked as John's hand closed around hers before giggling as John swung her. When her older brother set her down softly and her feet found ground again she toddled along happily, her tiny pace keeping her just between Mere and the couple behind her. Her ears flickered beneath her hat as she paused, her nostrils flaring. Her head turned slightly as Juunikyuu suddenly became alert.
Away with you little one... This is not for you to see-
Juuni physically jumped in fright, spinning around in full 360 degrees at the sudden, violent movement behind her and resounding scream of terror from Amber. It seemed the world was thrown into confusion for the small girl as her eyes scoured the path wildly for John before she found him, embedded in the rock face. One small, shaky step forwards and then he was flying above her, limbs flailing as he landed much further down the path with a solid boom.
Imediately the child's disposition changed. Her eyes narrowed and misted into spirals of sparking purple, her lip drawn up into a snarl as her nostrils flared. She shrugged on the thick, warm lavender coat with a simple roll of her shoulders and let it fall simply to the ground along with her black kitten back pack. A feral growl escaped the small girls lips as she hugged her chest tightlyher feathered wings burst out of the scars on her back, spraying the rock face with spatterings of silvered blood as her body was engulfed in a thick swirling vortex of feathers, snow and sparks.
Once the swirls disappeared Juuni had disappeared, back into the safety of her mind and Juunikyuu stood in her place, her long purple hair buffeting in the wind and wings billowing behind her as she folded thm down in one swift motion. The slow streams of snow that had begun to fall just moments before the attack were slowly turning into torrents as a storm approached. It obscured your vision and gave you a terrible sense of misdirection. But Juunikyuu didn't need her eyes to see. She drew in a deep breath and used the snow as a mask for her movements, seemingly just appearing at John's side, crouching down besides the giant Tribal and rolling him carefully and with a little effort onto his back.
"John? ... Tomorrow?"
Juunikyuu's head suddenly snapped up at the sound of the urgent hungry howls. They sounded close. Far to close for Juunikyuu to feel comfortable. She looked up at Mere with a scowl.
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 2:03 am
Amber smiled at her fiance, the howl in the distance causing her ears to twitch and nostrils to flare briefly before she was distracted through focusing on not loosing her footing through the icy gorge. Her eyes were wide for the sight of so much snow and ice and she sneezed as a flake landed on her nose, the noise echoing through the gorge and making her ears flicker.
As John spoke to her she turned and smiled gently at him before her eyes widened in shock, her body becoming rigid with fear as the huge Tribal was ripped from her hand painfully. Something brushed past the anthro's arm after her fiance which made her growl in voluntarily. Her eyes followed the path through the air her fiance had taken, the readily heavying snow obscuring her vision.
"John?! John?!" Amber screamed out desperately, turning in a full 360 as a cloud of fear crept up on her.
There was a whistling and billowing sound through the air as Amber's head turned skywards and watched in horror as the shadowed form of John hurtled lifelessly through the air. A faint glow through the thick snow told the terrified anthro that Juuni had transformed and although the snow turrents now throughly obscured her vision Amber was determined to find her way to her partener.
She took a step forward and suddenly froze again, her ears flickering at a sound behind her. A low rumbling growl turned her stomach over as she looked back over her shoulder before a flurry of fur and talons exploded into her face and chest causing her to let out a bitter, terrified scream which was cut suddenly and unnaturally silent.
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 2:23 am
Nodi's dbear... Thor thought as he sailed through the air...before suddenly landing in the snow-covered rock, embedding himself into the ground like a rock thrown into clay.
He lay there for a moment, trying to get what little senses he had left to calm down and rally the rest - before something rolled him over, his vision going from wet darkness to a flurried white.
Snow was falling heavily around them, whipping about like razor-sharp discs of steel. His blurry vision cleared somewhat - to look up to a purple-haired angel, her concerned face staring right down to his confused one.
"I dwoul ehave tthough Evalkyr dwoul eb gwearin sles..." Thor whispered, half to himself and half to the vision before him...
Before a scream suddenly rose out from the storm...
John blinked hard, his eyes growing wide in abject terror as he realised, in a split second, who the scream belonged to. "Amber..."
Something landed on him then. Something heavy. Something with talons, which seemed to melt out from the snow and smash into his large form with extreme force.
Something that hisssssssed as it's jaw opened to close around his head...
Before Tomorrow slammed his hands into that gaping maw, jamming his fingers between the massive teeth and pushed out, the jaws dislocating with a boine-shuddering crunch before he pushed the creature to the side, the giant beast flying away with an ear-splitting shriek.
"Amber!!" He screamed to the outcrop - before looking over to the Valkyre beside him, his eyes wild.
"Find her!!" He shouted over the storm - before something else erupted from the snow - and barreled straight into the woman beside him, the two shapes dissapearing into the snowy storm surrounding them.
That was one avenue down. but there was something strange about the attack - mainly, why the creatue hadn't gone for him when he was vulnerable and gone for the winged woman instead?
He didn't think of this however. He was too busy tearing off his clothes, his red jacket falling to the side as he pulled off his new jacket and tore off his shirt, his scarred chest now exposed to the elements as he lifted his gloves hands to the sky - and screamed out, electricity flashing off his body straight into the sky to the clouds above them.
The Rune of Thor marked on his forearm bled freely, crimson liquid trailing hotly down his arm and over his shoulder as he called upon the god within him, demanding that the storm lessen so he could see his lover...
Before the storm let up, for the breifest of moments... to let him see her.
And barrel straight for her, electricity flashing over his body as he fought through the storm, fighting Gaia itself to get to her, his feet cutting into the snow as he ran over it as if it was foam...
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 4:24 am
Drops of blood fell silently to the ground, and there was a loud crunching noise from the area of the fallen girl. But it wasn't Amber being mauled. Henry knew who they'd be skulking after, wolves were still wolves after all. Fierce teeth ripped along his arm all the way to the elbow.
While the other had taken on Tomorrow, it had also driven him away from the weakest in the group. Amber. Blue eyes took in the fierce multicoloured glow of the creatures own. There was a yelp, but it couldn't unclench it's jaws from the strange man's arm. Henry had shoved something down it's throat.
There was cracking sounds, and more muffled yelping as shadows began to turn the wolf inside out and back again, pulling the skin into itself before taking on the same form as a shadow beast.
Only then did Mere let go of his hold, and there was a squish as the wolf landed on itself before reforming, a mask the only indication of where it's face had been. More crunching and it tore off after the other howls that were approaching.
Howls that were remarkably close. He dropped to his knees next to the small girl.
"He won't be able to hold them back for long, and I can't do my shifty number while I'm hurt, they'll smell blood...think you can hold them back long enough for Tom to come?"
That was when something burst out of the white. Two wolves flanked it's sides, it could have been a man once...or a troll, considering the size. Obviously Henry's wolf had gotten to them, because all three were covered in black blood. A large rusty axe dripped with it.
"s**t..." Henry was no Tomorrow, he couldn't match the size of this, and Amber was smaller even then the magician.
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 4:45 am
Amber whimpered and flinched, clutching at the gapping jaw wound on her shoulder from where the wolf had grabbed and dragged her down the gorge kicking and screaming. The pain had caused her to pass out briefly only to find Mere in combat with the wolf. Her eyes flickered and she felt something turn and curl up in her stomach, protecting itself.
Though her vision was blurred through blood loss and snow she saw the two wolves and the massive orcish humaniod approach them, her eyes rolling and temperature dropping rapidly as warm blood ran down her arm and back, staining her coat and making her grip slick.
The orc hefted the axe over his shoulder and reached a large burly hand down to grab Amber by the hand she was supporting herself with to heft her up, dangling in the air. She flinched and whimpered, the creatures breath rolling over her face and filling her nostrils with the sick smell of rotting flesh and blood. The anthro gagged and screwed her eyes shut, tail tucked between her leg. The orc didn't seem interested and flung her to one side, causing her to skid painfully further down the gorge, the two huge wolves in hot pursuit, snapping at her skidding form, barely missing her stomach.
"No... No... NOO~!
Amber screamed, her blood slickened hand wrapping tightly over her stomach as the other preformed a series of one handed seals before opening her palm out, first two fingers and thumb open with the ring and little finger folded down as Amber blew onto her hand, launching a great fire ball at the pursuing predators who both gave howls of burnign pain as they were literally destroyed to ashes in mere seconds as the fireball passed, disappearing as it was engulfed by the snow before to could reach Mere and the orcish creature.
Gradually Amber came to a stop, panting deeply as both arms came down to wrap around her stomach and she balled up tightly, her blood pooling out onto the snow as she foamed a little at the mouth and her eyes rolled.
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 5:02 am
Tomorrow ran forward through the snow blindly, seeing a massive shape approaching a smaller shape, this one on the ground and about to be attacked...
His teeth were bared as he grabbed the orc from behind, one hand digging into the creature's shoulder and the other stabbed into it's hip - before he literally tore the muscle-bound creature in half, his gutteral scream moving over any sound the humanoid uttered before having it's guts and liquids spilled onto the snow-covered ground.
Black lines, spiralling and whirling up from the small of his back, were beginning to creep along his torso and down his arms as he viciously threw the creature's remains over his shoulders and moved over to the shadowy figure, grasping it by the shoulders. "Amber?!" He screamed over the roar of the storm as he lifted the person off the ground - before realising it was only Mere.
Mere would have the front seat to something only one other person had ever seen. Tomorrow's eyes were gone - only white orbs spitting electricity like pulse generators, the black tattooes visibly moving inch by inch over his skin to snake over his back and up his thick neck to begin creeping under his chin and over his jaw - before Tomorrow viciously threw Mere to the side, almost tossing him to the wayside as he turned, seeking his mate through the storm...
Before spotting her, the trembling shape being buried by the falling snow.
Running to her he scooped her up into his arms, holding her close, his trembling hands holding her close...as he turned and ran.
Running hard.
Running past the discarded Mere, grabbing the man by the collar and simply lifting him off the ground like a man would do to a suitcase when leaving for work - before suddenly jumping.
Not just a leap. A jump. The type that threw them [straight out of the gorge, straight up into the sky, flying through the air - to suddenly land on the other side, Tomorrow's steel-bottomed boots slamming into the ground in a run, his chest heaving as he ran hard, fast - before leaping again, hard, this one putting them far, far away from the gorge and all it contained.
It wasn't pretty. It wasn't comfortable, especially for Mere being dragged as he was. But it was fast, effective, and was putting more space between them and the threat to John's loved ones then anything else he could think of at the moment.
Typical Tribal.
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 5:20 am
Mere whirrled around, intent on going after Amber when a roar behind him shattered his concentration, and he was suddenly hauled upwards.
"Oh for the love of...", as he was tossed aside, absently falling into an expression used often by Sunstrike himself.
The last thing he seriously needed was a wild tribal on the loose, then again it had its effectiveness was startling. He managed to twist and catch the ground, slidding only a short way before picking himself up and dusting off. Before being nearly strangled as John grapped him again by the scruff. It was only sheer luck that left the man carting the scarf instead of the man himself.
Henry sighed and watched him run with Amber, blinking as the man made it over the gorge...there'd be time to settle that later...they couldn't leave Juunish, but it was better this way. Amber needed the help of the settlement immediately. While Henry was wounded, he was certainly better off.
The snow didn't obscure his vision too much, dying off a little now that the magic was dispersing from the area.
"Goddess?!"
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Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2005 5:28 am
A single pair of burning purple eyes was all the reply Mere got to his call as out of the last snow flurries limped a large cat like creature, her muzzle torn and bloodied wings folded back down at her sides, her large paws drenched in blood along with that which dripped onto the snow, mixed with frenzied saliva from her jaw. The creature stopped feet away from Mere and lifted its head skywards, letting out a shiver enducing howl as it slowly shrunk back down towards the ground, the fur disappearing, replaced by skin, muzzle, claws and tail slowly merging back to that of the Senshi's form as she wavered slightly on her feet. Her body held obvious signs of the brawl she had just endured, her clothing ripped and bloody as she stooped to collect the items John had so hurriedly discarded before walking forwards, wavering slightly as she passed Mere.
"Let us leave this place..."
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