Welcome to Gaia! ::

"You can do whatever you want, who cares how it affects other people? As long as it's what you realy want, then do it." He said and gave a nervouse smile. "Not to sound like an ungrateful a** or anything, though." he added, then looked arround the place to find more people entering the beltower and the area arround it. "But I am happy that you're not crying anymore, I must be a lozer to be so upset," He took a quick breath, letting more words flow from his mouth as he released the air he had enhaled a moment ago, "just from seeing you like this." His words sounded just like a sigh at that seccond. He shifted his blue eyes from the newer people back to Yuina, then stood from the ground he was sitting on earlier. "We can leave this place if you want to, yuina, it looks like people are getting into a fight," he shifted his gaze back upon the three people, two males and a female, "and it doesn't look so good at this moment."

((Sorry, school. Oh, and i've gotten better! I thank the books i've read at study hall ^^))

((On my screen they're all in the three-line area...))

Ryuu looked over in the direction of the voice to see a man who seemed to be in his twenties despite his hair. "Who are you and what are you talking about? What buisiness? And what do you want with Sora?" He stood up at full height and observed the man, paying particular attention to the pauldrons.

((It's about a 303 character at-least limit, thank you ^^ Sorry to nag >.> I can't often tell... but it should be at least three lines and a bit... I think, to make sure the crew don't catchya! Gomenasai! ... and now to post again since Shiny ish a bit busy... ))

Rivera didn't know how she could stop Kestrel... but then she thought again. So how was Kestrel going to stop her after she closes the Kekkai? There was one way she could earn her full obedience, and she could only guess what variation Kestrel might have twisted it into. Even variations were still restricted to one category, however. She would somehow deal with the problem later. Every inch of her shook with the risk she took with the decision, "... fine... it's a deal..."

Almost immediately, she felt a heavy iron-likr collar slip around her neck and the clink of chains become more apparent with every second as the Kekkai faded from existence. Rivera had a pretty good idea what Kestrel had done, but she had to check. The moment she tried to release a bolt of electricity, she felt like something heavy punched into her stomach and she dropped to the ground, her every limb feeling like jelly. Kestrel just laughed. The other end of the chains were attached to a manacle around her wrist. Neither of them seemed to have an oppening on the strangely sharp substance, so Rivera wondered what these were, exactly.

"Aw... I wanted to play with your friend a little longer! Phooey." She looked at Kira, "Well... it might take a while for him to get undazed after I shrink that Kekkai... oh well." Rivera couldn't help noticing that she said shrink... Shrink, not close? She began to pick up her things quickly, including the remaining paper from her wings. She didn't even have to use them at all. Kira's presence worked like a charm. If only Ravenhawk thought things out more. And while she was doing that, Rivera forced her voice into Kira's mind with her will. "Kira... She can't open that big black thing shen she's attatched to the other end of my chains... this thing IS the Kekkai! You have to get up! Please... this is your last chance... I'll do what I can to keep her occupied, but I won't be able to do much with a power restriction... she's--" The message was cut off abruptly as Kestrel hauled her up. She had almost no control over her still numb and weak limbs. Kestrel was smiling quite apologetically.

"I've got no grudge against you... just a job." She said apologetically, but still cheerfully. "So I'm going to do you a favor." Rivera's quizzical eyes were met by a look that expected gratitude instead, but soon shifting to realization that she did not understand. "You remember that thing you've always wanted to tell Kira, but you could never get out of your mouth? I swear, you've tried to break the truth out several times so you can get it off your mind and rest in peace at night for once. And every time when you say something like 'um...' and he says 'yes?' it usually ends with you saying 'nevermind'... I'll tell him for you now as a favor... you'll thank me later!"

Rivera's eyes widened in fear as Kestrel slashed downwards with a few remaing paper feathers from her makeshift wings. The back of her jacket and t-shirt completely ripped open. What wasn't covered by the bandages around her chest was a mass of scarred tissue streaking down over a few spots of smoother, unharmed skin. Kestrel grabbed her arm and pushed her down so she was sitting on the ground again. The only difference was that Kestrel had pulled her hair aside and her back was facing Kira. Rivera's heart beat suddenly raced to a dangerously high speed. Her chaotic level rose in the highest peak it had ever risen before. Before Kestrel had a chance to say anything, Rivera's rage activated the mark on her forearm. The Black Dragon Formation forced its ways through the morphed paper chains's restraint, overpowering it. Her constant usage of this formation strengthened it continuously. She forced all that she could channel into Kestrel before she felt the chains would knock her back into the ground. Kestrel let out a piercing scream that nearly forced Rivera to give up, but she held on for the sake of all that she held important.

"I believe in you, Kira!" She screamed over the overwhelming agony caused by the Black Dragon Formation rebounding back onto her from the chains. "This is the last chance... Please... DON'T HESITATE TO KILL HER!" Her last few words were spoken with the light of crimson blood in her eyes. She could only hold Kestrel off for a few seconds longer for Kira to attack. Kestrel's shield generator was quite strong... it'll take a power almost as strong as the black dragon formation's full power to destroy it. At only a small fraction of its potential, Rivera had no chance of breaking free on her own. When her power had been fully drained, Rivera could feel that the chain was weakening along with Kestrel. She hadn't been able to block the chaotic energy attack from such a close range. She was intent on keeping the chain whole. If it broke, she would be free but the Kekkai would be back. She couldn't afford letting Kira fight in the Kekkai. Part of her said that she didn't want him to get hurt while the Gyrfalcon part of her said that he'll just get in the way... besides, she wouldn't have enough power to fight Kestrel immediately after having her entire Black Dragon Formation drained.

Rivera sat there like a defeated figurine in a toybox war, still sparking bits and pieces of her confined power. All the strength had drained out of her body and into the Kekkai. The only reason Kestrel didn't drain Kira with the Kekkai was probably because it would've killed him. He wasn't using a tier 2 or above attack. There wasn't much she could do in a few seconds of complete immobility for Kira to attack her without doubt. "Kira... Anata ga shinjite... Ichirin no Michi... Anata no sadame wa Ichirin no Michi... Mirai... Mirai wa doko e...Shinjite, onegai!"

((Here's a quick footnote translation! >.> I'm proud of myself for saying that much without a dictionary! Kya... Okay... "I believe in you... the Lone Path... your destiny is the Lone path... the future... where is the future? Please believe!" There we go! I wonder if Kira knows Japanese... oops! Well, Ichirin no Michi has a special meaning I set up, which meant it had to be put in Japanese. I just hoped my brain translated everything right >.> I don't usually talk in Japanese, ya know! The point was, Kestrel doesn't know much Japanese at all ^^ I didn't want her to find out... shh! Kya!

Note: If you have to have extra energy, you can always request to borrow Rivera's Black Dragon Formation... sure, it might kill ya since you've never trained with it ---uh... no it won't, you survived to go to the picnic. You might just get really drained--- , but if all else fails, it's about the only thing you can do! Kya ^^;;; How did I wedge myself into this spot? Garr... >.> I'm such a literary masochist...))

Kestrel dodged the first few rounds with much difficulty... but she miscalculated the destructive radius. The air around the bullets were heated with the entrophic energy given off from Kira's dark-light fusion technique. She hadn't expected the attack to be so powerful. After suffering several burns and grazes on her arms, she didn't even seem to waver. There was one thing different about Kestrel from most other assassins... Rivera noted this carefully. Assassins often use their brains to get whatever they want with whatever method, no matter how dirty they were... but Kestrel was different... She was as sharp as a whiplash, to be able to get this far on a game of planning against her was a difficult task. Kidnapping Kira was such a simple strategy, and it had been completely missed! Rivera cursed her misplacement of intelligence with a string of colorful Atlantean swearwords. But Kestrel wasn't using one of the primary strategies for any basic assassin. She wasn't using her as a shield... Kira would never hurt Kestrel if Rivera was in the way of fire. It even seemed like she was actually trying to keep her safe... so why?

Kestrel pushed the hair out of her eyes and sighed. "I'm not doing this for fun either. My dad needs the cash and this is the highest paying job that I can get. And don't get started, I don't take charity." Rivera clamped her mouth shut before she could utter a sound. "So it's your happiness verses our happiness. Be happy, I'll make sure she doesn't get killed." Without a backward glance, Kestrel's wings reformed and she shot into the air, carrying Rivera with her. "And the truth will matter soon in the future! It will help you find Kleptos, in any matter, so--" Kestrel suddenly plummetted and fell back to the ground with a bird-like shriek.

Rivera had been drained of almost all her powers, except for a miniscule few, including one she had kept hidden since the end of the Crimson Decadia. A cloud of dust rose when the two of them fell to earth. Everything was obscured save for a strange, vague shadow in the dust. The dust slowly cleared away... Kestrel was on top, trying to pin Rivera down... quite successfully, in fact. The only problem was the Rivera was biting visciously into her left wrist. There was an overall transformation for her... for one, her eyes were the same shade of red as Kira's when he went on a bloodrampage. For another, there were streaks of red reflections in her raven-black hair.

Kestrel managed to tear her bleeding wrist away from Rivera's clamp, knocking her head to the ground with her uninjured hand. Rivera gritted her teeth... her canines looked a little sharper than before, although still quite small and more catlike than anything. Sure, it was sharp to begin with, but it was knifepoint sharp now, covered in a thin layer of red. Kestrel stood up shakily. She felt like crap right now... She would, in any case. Rivera had attached her captor the Kekkai's energy draining properties to weaken her.

"Such a smartass..." Kestrel's mouth twisted into a pained smile. "Your friend will pay for this, of course..." She threw her left hand out towards the sky. That was the command for every diamond hard feather of paper from her makeshift wings to attack Kira in a spherical formation. He was completely surrounded, and the most he can knock aside was probably about 75%. The Kekkai components on them prevented forcefields and the shape of the feathers cut through wind and water. Kestrel spent a long time planning them to go in a completely destructive path. That was Kestrel's talent... an elite, tactical mentality.

Rivera knew very well that the only way to stop the feathers was to completely annihalate them. She didn't know whether or not Kira could do that... but she wasn't about to take her chances. She spoke the the most personally dangerous incantation in the history of sorcery... there were many versions of this spell, unique to the people who created it. It gave one's own magical abilities to another, temporarily. If the spell was handled incorrectly, both giver and reciever would die instantly. If it was used correctly, the receiver would have to know how to wield the new power without dying. Rivera knew she wasn't dead yet, so the spell should've transfered properly. She didn't know if it would be in time to react to Kira's instincts and help him...

"Holy crappin' s**t!" Kestrel morphed a three sheets of paper into shields, but they broke, one by one, cracking into dustborne flames. She retreated in shock... how did he get so powerful, all of a sudden? Kestrel made her fatal mistake there by thinking when she should've been paying attention to the fight. Taking a burning slash in her bad arm, she tried to retaliate with a spinkick. It failed, due to the fact that Rivera was still on the chain and was dragging her down. Finally, with nowhere left to run, Kestrel fell back to the ground, Kira's blade hovering over her.

Her golden eyes shone with frustration... She thought that this had all been planned out. She never expected that... that KID, could have so much potential unleashed in the space of mere SECONDS. How could she have overlooked that crucial point in her eagerness to collect a bounty? She didn't research his origins far enough at all! Kestrel cursed under her breath, nursing her left arm, which looked like a hunk of mutilated flesh now.... was a hunk of mutilated flesh. Blood spewed from her arteries in torrents... She knew she couldn't last long this way.

"You'll pay for this... I swear you will!" The chain suddenly snapped from her wrist and Rivera's neck, falling to the ground in a worthless heap of simple computer paper, folded into ornate shapes. With a snarl, Kestrel just... vanished. Whether or not it was just an illusion, no one could tell. Her illusions were very good, after all.

Rivera rubbed her neck and stood up, her knees shaking uncontrollably. "Short fights are often more violent than long ones... we know that the hard way..." She could dimly make out Kira's shape in the darknes... but she was glad she didn't have to see it completely. His aura was dim and it felt like... a mess. A very BIG mess.

"I won't ask you if you're alright... it's clear that you're not..." She found him by touch and ran her fingers gently over his wings, skimming the bloodstained feathers. "I wish I can just... take your pain away..."