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 Posted: Sat Aug 16, 2008 10:57 am
Just like every other night, Kai found himself at his desk soon after dinner. Other times, he'd probably still be downstairs, reading a book or telling his father, Susumu, the day's happenings. Perhaps he'd even be showing the older Hiwatari the strange red stone he'd found that morning. But both parents were currently abroad, leaving the slate-haired teen in the care of his grandfather. It wasn't that Kai disliked his guardian, but he wasn't that fond of him, either.
And so it was that the maroon-eyed high schooler was in his room at a relatively early time, trying to finish his homework. The key word there was 'trying', for every five minutes or so, Kai would glance at the stone sitting not five feet from him on the desk.
There was something about the red object that drew him to it, and Kai couldn't put his finger on it. He intended to find out, however, one way or another.
----------------------------------
Yuriko leaned back and stretched, slightly pleased that she'd finished her homework so early. Now she could work on a few artpieces that had been gathering dust, so to speak. She was about to get to work, one of her favorite CDs already in the player, when her mother Asami knocked on the door and peered inside.
"Yuri-chan? You have a phonecall. It's Takao-kun."
A bit annoyed at having been pulled from her work, nonetheless, the ebony-haired teen stood up from her desk. "Arigatou, Kaasan," she said, taking the phone from the older woman.
Once Takenouchi Asami had gone, Yuriko put the phone to her ear. "Hai? Yuriko desu."
"Yeah, I guessed," the voice on the other line sounded lightly teasing, as though playfully mocking Yuriko for her 'formality', even among friends.
"Okay, Takao, quit it. Why'd you call? I was about to work on an art project."
"Don't worry, its got nothin' to do with homework. But I do have something to ask you. See, I found something earlier today..."
----------------------------------
Aelian sank down onto the pale blue bed, heaving a sigh of relief. She'd been in Fioraln for a good four hours now, even more cautious since her run-in with the Black Rose.
The auburn-haired half-elfin thought back to the battle that mid-afternoon. Once caught within the tree-creature's branches, one was assured an agonizing, slow death - if one lost one's wits. The young Guide needed only remember that, having been turned into a categorically higher level of creature, this tree thing was more like an animal than a plant now, and would react to stimuli as an animal would.
Hence, Aelian had produced a dagger, through her knowledge of Summoning incantations, and had stabbed the branch leeching off her shoulder. Unfortunately, she'd wounded herself as well. It was a minor injury, however. She'd used the surprise generated by such an action to escape, as the tree withdrew its branches in fear of being hurt again. It had been a sheer stroke of luck that the journeyman Tracker found the subterrainean passageway leading from the Plains to the outer reaches of Fioraln.
But it was only when she was well within the Center - where most businesses and utmost security was to be found - that she sought medical attention. She was partly a cleric by trade and training, it was true, but she knew of no way to reverse the numbness induced by the tree-creature's "feeding". That was where she was now, at a cleric's safehouse just outside the Center of Fioraln.
Glancing at the peaceful night sky outside, she felt, somehow, that her Guide training would come in handy very soon now. It was strange that Yumeru-hime felt nothing when she had been the Protector of the Orb, and subsequently the Stones, but Aelian as a mere Guide knew exactly how many of the Stones had found their bearers.
Only three more to go, and then... it begins.
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Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 7:07 am
The next day of school. It was rather a normal day if you dis include the same seething charcoal layered haired older girl walking angrily in front of another bunch of teens. One redhead male walking alongside of a slate-haired girl.
Tala was rather more silent than ever. Diana told him that she needed help in making Uwaki pay for what she did so he gladly accepted. Took the liberty of telling Kai before he went to bed. But that wasn't the only thing bothering him.
He went to get bacon on the convenience store near his house since his mom asked him to. He and his habit of waking an hour before school was getting to him. He was cruising through the fridges of the store when he looked at something odd.
It looked like a thumb of some kind. Aqua in color and looked shiny. Like a gem or a smooth stone. But there was also a symbol. It looked like a triangular swirl with a tail. He felt some kind of blizzard chill, the kind he felt when he was back in Russia. Intrigued, he pocketed it and went back to his house.
But this time, he had to focus on trying to protect Miki in going to school. That slut might try something funny because of how he treated her yesterday. It won't pay to be safe because of the recent happenings.
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Posted: Sun Aug 17, 2008 8:58 am
It was one of the rare times that Kyouju walked to school with Takao and the others, but he could tell immediately that somethin was amiss. One didn't have to look the older teens in the face to know that; there was something about the seeming agreed-upon silence that told of it.
Truth be told, he didn't find it at all comfortable. So he lingered towards the back, near Yuriko, Takao, and Max. The same atmosphere, same overall feeling of unease still hovered about them, but in less intensity compared to Tala, Diana, Rei, and Kai.
"Hey, Yuriko...?" the bespectacled teen ventured, turning to the ebony-haired girl. "Is... something wrong?" He knew, of course, that something was wrong, but Kyouju knew better than to ask directly what it was.
"Yeah..." Daichi added, in the same tone. Ordinarily, the green-eyed student would have been about as loud as Takao, but he, too, felt the tension and had the decency to keep his voice down. "What happened to you guys?"
Yuriko gave an inaudible sigh, then half-turned to her slightly younger companions. "Well... we found out something about Miki yesterday. Also, it involves this junior who could probably be the most easily-hated person among the other juniors. Because of that, everyone's pretty much on their guard." She said it all in one breath, in a lower tone of voice than normal to lessen the chances of being overheard.
Of course, it wasn't Tala or any of the others she didn't want overhearing. Seeing as Uwaki had had people 'working' for her during the 'incident', it paid to be careful about what one said outside the school as well as within, for one never knew just who had overheard.
For his part, Takao just nodded. He had nothing more to add to Yuriko's statement; it was a pretty concise summary of the events that had occured. Plus, as much as he'd have liked to lighten the group's mood, it didn't seem to be right moment to do so.
"Just hope Uwaki doesn't do anything," he muttered half to himself.
Kai, who was walking quite near to the five of them - Yuriko, Takao, Max, Daichi, and Kyouju - had overheard, but gave no indication of it. As much as he'd preferred to keep what had happened the day before a secret, he knew that as part of the group, the two youngest still had to know, at some point. Often, it was better to know sooner rather than later, to avoid messy explanations later should something actually happen.
Still, he'd wished Yuriko hadn't been so open, even though she was still quite cagey about what had happened. But then, would there have been another way to summarize everything? Probably not, he reflected, blowing a few unruly bangs out of his eyes. As he took in their 'formation', walking as a group to school, it amused the slate-haired teen slightly to note that they were in a kind of protective circle.
Tala and Diana walked at the head of the group, with Rei and he on either side of Miki. Yuriko and Takao took up the rear, with Daichi and Kyouju trailing them. Given their recent information on Uwaki's deeds, however, it seemed right that they'd take such positions; it was no laughing matter, not in this case.
--------------------
By Indhal's sphere, I was so close! Keiko cursed, flicking her sword-arm angrily, more forcefully than planned and sending the dagger straight through the young tree she faced.
The halfling fox anima was en route back to Dunzuren - without her prize. Though angered, the Black Rose was also a bit apprehensive of her
inevitable meeting with the Shadow Lord. This marked the first time a target had escaped her. And a mistake such as that she'd committed was, to her thinking, one that could be expected of the lesser Daemn officers. But to have a General-in-Command, the Shadow Lord's right-hand man - or woman - err in the same way... it was unthinkable!
She loped past the tree in the manner of her father's race, and retrieved her dagger, never breaking stride. As embarassing as it would be to report failure, her own sense of honor deemed it necessary. She would not be able to face her commander in the future if she kept this to herself. It would be a betrayal of confidence, she thought, one that could cost her the Shadow Lord's trust; that was something she definitely could not afford.
Besides, the dark-haired assassin reflected, there will be opportunities enough to make right this mistake... the Guardians will appear soon enough, if Guide candidates have already been chosen. If so... the Daemn need strike once, perhaps felling this half-elfin and her charges...
Keiko smiled then, elongated canines glinting, her face so cunning one could see hints of her fox anima heritage. It had come so quickly, so suddenly that she'd scarce recognized the thought for what it was - a plan. The beginnings of one, to be sure, but it was one nonetheless.
Perhaps she wouldn't be reporting only failure, after all.
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Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 3:40 am
The girl of the the topic never said a word. But she did run to hold the hand of her redheaded boyfriend for comfort, who gladly let her. Was it for the best though? To just blurt out the truth just now? Or was it risky. She always consulted for Diana's help. But Diana was the one who mentioned the incident so they were bound to know the truth. She just hoped everything will turn out alright later.
Feeling the smaller fingers clasped his own, Tala had them entwined and let her hold on as long as she wished. Miki needed the comfort from what happened. He couldn't help but emit the low growl that came from his lips. It doesnt matter if it was fair or not. It was low enough to need to get even. He had to...to get his anger appeased.
Rei looked at the tension of the 3 teens upahead. Diana was busy scaring off other male bystanders, Tala was holding Miki's hand. It was rather risky to even go near them for the moment so he turn to the nearest person: Kai.
"Kai...do you think that it is wise to get back with Uwaki? We can always simply tell the principal. No need for violence. I am not saying i don't want to get even but...you know."
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Posted: Mon Aug 18, 2008 8:53 pm
Kai sighed. "To tell you the truth, Rei, even though telling the principal is probably the best choice... I'd feel better if we got back at Uwaki ourselves before doing so." As he was saying this, his eyes danced with an inner flame, something that hadn't been there before if one had cared to look closely. The slate-haired teen couldn't know this, however - for who examines one's eyes in such a way?
All of a sudden, a nearby bush burst into flame. It was a small bush, so small that almost immediately the fire consumed it. Yet it burned so bright, so hot that it startled the young Hiwatari. What the-?
This did not go unnoticed among the younger members of the group. Takao stopped short for a bit, then resumed walking. "What was that?" he whispered loudly, enough for Rei and Kai to hear - he didn't know if Miki, Diana, and Tala had seen what had happened. It had been startling, the bush suddenly set aflame. "Was there a cigarette butt in there or something, d'ya think?"
"Tch," Yuriko sniffed in disapproval at the dark blue-haired teen's suggestion of a smoker's forgotten litter. She saw no point in such a vice and the peripheral destruction that went with it. Still, one thing bothered her. No one among them had a lighter of any sort - at least, she didn't think so. And even if someone was bringing a lighter, they hadn't used it at that moment. And there was no one else nearby who could have done so.
If it had been another of Uwaki's "pranks", the girl probably wouldn't have settled with just setting a bush on fire and hope some part of Miki's uniform would catch flame. There would have been a small explosive somewhere, and it would have uprooted a tree or something bigger, something that would have done some damage. Oh, well... Yuriko forced the incident from her mind; there were more pressing matters at hand, like this 'plan' to get back in their own way at Uwaki. Loathe as she was towards violence, she felt like adhering to the adage "An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," even if her martial code prevented her from this.
Unknown to the others, though, Kai had noticed something about the flame. The very moment he'd thought of Uwaki's smirking face, gotten annoyed at the thought and clenched his fists within the confines of his trouser pockets, the fire started. He refused to believe, however, that he somehow had been the cause for this little mishap. It was, after all, only coincidence. Right?
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Posted: Wed Aug 20, 2008 10:02 am
In fear, Miki went to Tala for support as she watched the burning bush. It might be one of her tricks. So in silent fear, she urged Tala to move so they won’t be late. But she may be just using it to hide her fear.
Diana noticed the frightened girl jump to Tala’s arms, who immediately comforted her. Looking at her and motioning to continue, she looked at the rest and cocked her head to go forward and both them started walking.
The day went smoothly so far. But with a few events happening to each…
Max was just finish taking his gym class. Running was always a good way to relax himself when he was feeling nervous. He was busy trying to keep an eye on a certain girl. He had to do his part in order to make Miki feel safer. Feeling slightly nervous, he went to the water fountain to get a long drink.
Turning the knob and placing his lips around the spout, he gulped slowly before suddenly pulling away. The water surprisingly gushed out with incredible force before finally subsiding. The blonde boy’s bangs were wet and dripping to his forehead while his gym shirt was soaked. Strange. First it was that bush just suddenly bursting into flames then this. But it might be just be his hand slipping on the knob without him noticing… He might have to inform the principal later.
Rei was having his usual lessons and keeping an eye on Kai and Miki. Something in the back of his mind said that burning bush wasn’t ordinary. But yet it seemed logical to think that something might have been there like a cigarette or a match. But could it? Or maybe it had to do something with that weird stone he found?
Mentally chuckling, he brushed it off. How ridiculous. He already read several fantasy books but those were exactly it. Fantasy. Nothing more. But then, he picked up his piece of metal pen and then the entire school suddenly went black out. The golden-eyed male blinked at the announcement of the sudden power overload. Looking at the pen he held, he blinked to almost see a couple of static circling the rim. Until the power went back on and he was left trying to ponder on the just recent happenings.
The lesson was already boring him. Tala couldn't even concentrate on sleeping in class. He was too preoccupied with that stone he found and what happened to Miki of course. He might be worrying too much but it doesn't help that he wasn't aware to try and help. He then noticed a girl beside him starting to shiver and blinking, did he saw her breath?
Looking around, everyone was shivering. Even the teacher. He whispered "What's going on?". The girl, identified as Ami gave him a confused look but without her teeth chattering, "Don't you feel it? The room just suddenly went cold". Tala was indeed confused. He felt awkwardly fine. But then, he took his notebook and noticed the plastic was moistening. Now how did that happen....
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Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 6:50 pm
Okay... first that burning bush, and then a massive power surge with no explanation whatsoever... The slate-haired teen thought, laying back on the grass. It was time for gym - officially - but he didn't feel like joining in any of the activities; he had too much on his mind. There were those two incidents, plus Miki's... 'predicament'.
After a few minutes, Kai found himself staring at the stone, with its strange not quite script-like letter 'M' - if that was even what it was. Add another thing to ponder to the list.
--------------------
The day had been promising, and Yuriko couldn't have asked for better weather when the freshmen were let out for gym. The sun was out, but the temperature was comfortable. There was even a gentle breeze, blowing intermittently across the field. She'd asked to be excused from a club meeting that day, since if she stayed inside, she wouldn't be able to help with "Operation: Takedown" - it hadn't been named that, but the ebony-haired girl couldn't help but come up with it. And so Yuriko opted to stay outside, engage in some light running or sprinting, or a short game of tennis.
Wait. What was that about a gentle breeze-?
--------------------
Takao hoisted himself to his feet hurriedly, all too aware that he'd lost precious milliseconds with that fall. If he was going to beat his last time in order to get a passing grade for this gym session, he'd really have to pour on the speed in the last few meters. It wasn't easy to do, since the dark blue-haired teen had run four laps around the 500-meter track.
"Man, Kinomiya, Yasuo and the others were right!" a classmate bellowed from the sidelines. "You do run like kid!"
The teen's face burned, but he glanced down, hiding it from his loud classmate - ironic, that, him calling another person 'loud'. It was then that the breeze hit. No longer carressing, gentle. It pummeled bystanders, knocked over several hurdles standing at the ready, and it blew away several of Coach Yamagawa's papers from the clipboard, sending the brown-haired instructor running after them.
Takao himself was unaffected by the strong wind. However, he suddenly found it easier to run the rest of the distance to the finishing mark. Though he thought it amusing how Yasuo had been bowled over, bent almost double backwards, he gave no sign of it, instead going to help the coach retrieve his papers.
--------------------
Halfway across the field, Kai sat up and took notice of this new turn of events, even as he tried not to be buffeted by the wind, invisible hands pushing him this way and that. Was a storm coming, that the wind built to such speed? But no, the sky was a clear azure, plus they didn't have storms that had such an effect.
Yuriko, too, saw what had happened, laughed to herself when Yasuo fell over. It was rude, to laugh at another's misfortune, but the ebony-haired student couldn't help it. This served as little distraction from the strange events that had taken place that she had witnessed, much less from keeping an eye on Miki.
Wait. Where is she, anyway?
--------------------
Meanwhile, at Shinsengumi Junior High, it was also the third years' PE time, and Daichi was enjoying every minute of it. The game his class had chosen was one of his favorites - kickball. It was girls against boys, and at the moment, he was a running baseman at second, waiting for the pitcher to 'throw' the ball.
When the pitcher - a mousy-haired teen named Ryoko whom Daichi was often paired with for pair assignments - rolled the ball towards the plate, the redhead took off, headed for third base. There was no runner there, having struck out on a previous pitch, so the overactive teen rounded the base, his sneaker just touching it, and made his way to home base.
Kyouju stood there, as an impartial scorer rather than a participant, as he was wont to do in most physical activities. He'd seen the speed his friend had generated at the start of his run, but he knew Daichi was not that agile, would have lost most of his momentum trying to keep within the white-lined diamond that was the kickball field. And the outfielder for the girls' team had already caught the ball, pitched it to an infielder who would then lob it towards the fourth baseman, in hopes of tagging Daichi out.
It was going to be close.
If a dust cloud hadn't suddenly kicked up.
The bespectacled teen coughed, and his eyes stung because of the dirt particles that whirled around, obscuring everyone's vision somewhat.
The dust cloud didn't last that long, only a few miliseconds. But it had been time enough, apparently, for the emerald-eyed student to reach home base well ahead of the ball, which bounced quite uselessly to home plate.
It was strange, the feeling of being in a dust cloud that seemed to be guiding him yet obscuring him from view of the opponent. He'd seen how close he'd been to being tagged out so close to pulling off a complete run, had wished there was some way he could reach the plate without having to dive or slide in - while he was fine with most physical activities, he did not like the idea of diving or sliding through the dirt, strangely enough.
Uncertain, he turned to Chief, who was cleaning his glasses. "Does... does that count?" he asked. There'd been a dust cloud, hindering proper game play. Daichi valued fair play, no matter what game he took part in, and having a dust cloud - of all things! - seem to help you did not strike him as such.
Kyouju finished cleaning his glasses, put them back on. He, too, was unsure how to call that last run, and he searched for their PE instructor. "Hang on... I'll ask Coach Ishida..."
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Posted: Sat Aug 23, 2008 10:06 am
"Pass it to me, Rei" yelled a male classmate as one tries to block and get the ball. Rei was playing basketball with some of the male students. Rei was rather not focused on trying to score so he passed it to the said classmate who went to try and shoot. He couldn’t possibly think of anything except trying to see if Kai and Miki were there. Speaking of the two…“Where are they?”.
Miki couldn’t concentrate anymore and decided to get out of Gym class in excuse for not feeling well. Good thing their gym teacher, Ms. Reika knows if the student was lying or not by a single glance. But she managed to know that Miki was in trouble and let her be. Miki continued her walk until she saw a familiar male up ahead.
Smiling, she quickly ran and looked down to give a smile “Hi Oniichan. What are you doing here?”
Tala continued with the next class and then noticed the absent charcoal-haired girl in her seat. With a small hunch where she was, he continued taking down notes.
“Miki’s gym class is now” thought the tall brunette girl. Diana had been resting on top of the roof looking down on Miki talking to Kai. She knew Kai to sense if there is someone nearby but she just hope he didn’t notice her as high as in the roof. She asked permission from the Principal to make her absent so she will keep an eye on Miki. That meant keeping a low profile. “Which I am good at” she thought and went to continue her stealth.
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Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 7:42 am
Kai glanced up from behind slightly ruffled bangs - thanks to that sudden gust of wind earlier - and smirked in reply. "What does it look like I'm doing?" he returned. "Cutting gym; basketball doesn't interest me."
Of course, his other reason for skipping gym was to keep an eye out for Uwaki; he wondered, briefly, if Miki knew this. "Anyway," he went on, gaze settling once more on the runners' track. "I'd ask the same of you. Why aren't you at gym?"
Truth be told, Kai preferred this, having Miki out in the open, where he could better keep watch on her. He knew, instinctively, that Diana was also keeping an eye on the slate-haired girl, but felt that he'd rather do his part than leave it to the upperclassman.
--------------------
The door swung shut, creaking on seemingly old hinges set within equally old stone, leaving Keiko in the semi-dark of the summoning chamber.
It was only fifteen feet square, with a plain oak table in one corner and a barred window set in one wall. Upon the oak table was a leather-bound tome, deep red in color. It was this book the fox anima halfling was looking for. She strode towards the table, opened the book. The pages were yellowed and appeared fragile, but this did not bother her; she needed only one thing from the tome - the chanted summon one used to call the lowest-ranked Daemn and control them.
Keiko was still bothered, although slightly, at how the Shadow Lord did not berate her for her failure, instead handing her a different task. But the dark-hiared young woman was grateful for this apparent second chance; it was rare that 'failures' were given opportunities to redeem themselves.
Quickly her amethyst eyes scanned the pages, faded blank spiders scrawling over the yellow parchment, until Keiko found what she required. Another reading and she memorized the four-line chant. Then she stepped back, drew the incantation circle around her, and began the summoning.
"Shadows surround, heed and take form
Darkness encroaching now stand before
I call you thus, Morhanae, brothers
In the name of the Shadowed One thou now serve..."
--------------------
Yuriko smiled, seeing Miki hurry over to join Kai. She herself sat in the grass, although a bit further from the two, her sketchpad in her lap. The ebony-haired teen was getting quite bored, despite the initial excitement the sudden strong wind had generated. So she set about sketching; she could afford not watching Miki at this time, as she was with Kai, and surely Diana could see them... from wherever she was.
What she didn't see was the strange shadow creeping up behind her.
--------------------
Takao excused himself, leaving a still-flustered Coach Yamagawa rearranging his papers, and went to get a drink at the nearest fountain. It fronted the field, in between the plain grass area and the runners' track; not much of a view, but welcome nonetheless as it was a break of sorts from the austere, grayish school buildings.
When the steel blue-eyed teen glanced up from the water fountain, he spotted first Kai and Miki, chatting. Then he saw Yuriko a little distance away, engrossed in sketching, and -
...Is that a... a shadow? Takao squinted at the formless dark shape behind his classmate, not quite comprehending. But when it suddenly seemed to grow arms, reaching around the girl, he snapped out of his reverie. "Yuriko! Behind you!"
--------------------
"Yuriko! Behind you!"
At this shouted warning, the hazel-eyed teen glanced over her shoulder, immediately dropping her pencil and sketchpad, ready to ward off this... thing, whatever it was. She rounded up on her feet, into a fighter's stance, and then lunged forward to tackle the creature.
Nothing. She passed straight through what should have been the shadow-things lower torso. Instinctively, she ducked and rolled, rounded up into a crouch in time to see her strange assailant come at her again. Yuriko ducked low, scooted out of range and then grabbed her things. She didn't know why, but she felt she had to get away from the creature. Fast.
Kai, too, half-twisted to see what was going on. He saw the shadow thing, how it was intangible but could probably still grab something or someone when it wanted to. He got up, wanting to do something but not sure what he could do, except get away. He reached for Miki's wrist, telling her in a glance that they needed to move, unless either of them wanted that thing to come after them as well.
The slate-haired teen hoped it wouldn't.
((OOC://The attacks begin! twisted ))
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Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 10:48 am
Miki gave a small smile and decided to stand near him. It felt nice whenever she spent time with Kai. Like, he could actually be her real big brother, even if they weren't related and all. Because of how he rescued her from those bullies when they were kids, she forever felt grateful and called him "Oniichan".
It felt nice whenever she called him that for some reason. But at least, he didn't get annoyed by the name anymore. But then, noticing at the corner of her eye, was Yuriko. She wanted to say hi but then Takao shouted at her and she immediately saw the shadows darting to grab her. Feeling shaken with fear, she couldn't move until Kai took her wrist and her eyes met his and understood his message, but her feet couldn't move.
"We can't leave Yuriko, Oniichan" she cried out until a familiar female came dashing. "Diana!"
Sensing the danger, Diana needed to get down before anything else but then something glistening came to her mind and saw a small cardboard box on the corner. Rummaging through the papers and various cans, she managed to see the small glistening black pearl. Well...it looked like a pearl. Only around an inch bigger in diameter or two. It had a gray symbol on the front. Dunno what it is but it looked like some kind of...worm thing with a dot on the left side or...the head.
But the observation had to go later as she dash to go down the stairs and jumped from the window. Running at top speed, she immediately blocked the way of the shadow between Yuriko. The stone was in her hand, but at contact with the shadows, it emitted a black light and the shadow backed away, almost in fear.
Not knowing what happened, Diana blinked and looked at the stone in the space in her open palm. What exactly happened there?
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Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 7:48 pm
It had been only an hour since Aelian woke up, all injuries healed and veritably refreshed. But in that hour, the half-elfin had felt something - a stirring - that told her it was nearly time.
Only the Keeper of Light remains... she thought, even as she hastily drew the portal spell on one of the walls in her room. Though she had no way of knowing herself where the Guardians were, but certain runes in the inscribed spell ensured that once she stepped through, Aelian would have no trouble finding them.
Especially since the Shadow had already begun to move against them.
--------------------
"We can't leave Yuriko, Oniichan!"
"I know, Miki, but something tells me we'd better get away from that thing as -" Kai started to say, but was cut off when a dark-haired blur brushed past them both. He knew instantly who it was, and Miki proved him right when she uttered the charcoal-haired girl's name.
He watched as the shadow-thing backed away as soon as Diana got close enough, and wondered vaguely what the upperclassman had done to elicit such a response. But he was distracted again when Takao shouted again, this time sounding a bit... pained.
The slate-haired teen turned, maroon eyes widening when he saw the younger teen in the grip of another of the shadow-things, what looked like a dark dagger but attached to the thing's arm protruding from his lower abdomen.
"Takao!" Yuriko hurried towards her friend, horrified. She didn't know what she could do against something that could apparently make itself intangible at will - it was holding the dark blue-haired boy in place, after all - but ran over all the same, to see if she could make the thing let go at least.
By now, other people had taken notice of what was happening, and several were shouting for someone to call the police, an ambulance - anyone with some form of authority they felt could help. It seemed, though, that none were brave enough to approach and help themselves. Not Yuriko. The initial fright at having been attacked was gone, replaced now with the same feeling she had when faced with a difficult match; she couldn't explain it, really.
Before she could get within melee range of the thing, however, the shadow-thing went stiff all over, and howled. At least, it seemed to have howled; there was no mouth, no gaping maw from whence issued sound. There was only a high-pitched moaning and sloughing, as a violent wind through the trees. And then, in an instant, the dagger-like object disintegrated, as did the shadow-creature, and Takao staggered forward, Yuriko running to catch him should he fail to catch himself.
"Takao..." she prompted, lightly shaking her friend's shoulders.
Weakly, he looked up, a wan smile on his face. "I-I'm fine... just shaken s'all..."
As one, the freshmen looked down, examining the area where Takao had seemed to have been impaled. There were no signs of injury, no spreading dark red stain. It was reassuring... but troubling all the while. "Weird..." the steel blue-eyed teen muttered. "I know I felt something go through there...
"It would seem I arrived just in time,"
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"Chief! This way!" Daichi called. All around, other students were screaming, running for shelter. In the center of the kickball field stood a strange humanoid creature made entirely out of shadows, and at its feet - or what should have been its feet - lay a motionless Ryoko. He could see why his classmates would get scared of this... three-dimensional shadow, if it could cause someone to lose consciousness just by touching them.
Dark-haired Kyouju ran up, glasses askew, and then both were up, hardly looking back. They were pretty sure the creature, whatever it was, would come after them; why they knew this, though, neither could explain. "Where are we going?" Kyouju asked between gasps, sneaking a glance over his shoulder. Sure enough, the creature had given chase, although it seemed to glide over the ground rather than run. Seeing this gave wings to the bespectacled teen's heels, and he ran harder, keeping pace with his friend rather than lagging behind.
"I dunno," the redhead was saying, "as long as we get away from tall, dark, and creepy back there!"
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Out of nowhere, a tall, auburn-haired woman, garbed in a green vest, shorts, and dark brown boots had appeared. Kai instantly felt there was something going on that he did not understand yet, and for some reason the fairy tales of his childhood returned to him, particular the tales involving elves or faeries.
This woman certainly seemed to be an elf. She had somewhat pointed ears, at least, and the way she carried herself bespoke someone with a refined upbringing. In the few seconds it had taken for Kai to think all of this, the elf had chanted something; immediately after that, the shadow-creature that held Takao had shuddered and disintegrated, leaving no trace that it had ever been there even as Yuriko ran forward to aid her classmate. It was then that the woman approached the two.
"It would seem I arrived just in time," Kai heard her say. In time... for what? he wondered. He let go of Miki's wrist for the time being; something told him this woman meant them no harm.
"...excuse me, but... who are you?" Yuriko was saying, turning her gaze upward at the green-clad woman, even as she helped Takao to his feet.
Aelian arched an eyebrow, wondering at the defiance in the young girl's eyes. True, her words had been somewhat polite, but her half-concealed expression, the emphasis placed on certain words told the Arkannae the true nature of her enquiry.
"Who I am is no concern to you, Earth child," she replied. "I am here only for those assigned to my charge, such as this one," Here she took one of Takao's wrists in a gentle grip and pulled the dark-haired teen closer to her. A quick glance told her all she needed to know.
"You are stronger than you seem, Wind-bringer," the auburn-haired elfin said at last, the barest of smiles crossing her features. "Though you have just been Touched, you are most certainly attuned with your newfound spirit."
"I'm what?" Takao looked genuinely puzzled, as did Yuriko. "What do you mean 'Touched'? And 'newfound spirit' - what the hell is that?"
Aelian looked around; the field was partially empty, and it would have been easy to whisk these Chosen Ones away and return for the others, but that may prove taxing in the long run. So she stepped back, turned to both Kai and Diana.
"You, Flameweaver and Mistress of Dark, you have good instincts; use them," she admonished, even as she drew the runes of travel in the air before her. "You have questions, I can see, but this is not the time or place to talk. I'll be back before long; we can talk then."
The spell finished, the silent incantation said, Aelian took one step, in between the shimmering runes only she could see, and vanished.
Takao only stared at the spot where the elfin had once been, blinking in disbelief. Then he glanced up, looked towards Kai and Diana, noting that the shadow-creature that had attacked Yuriko first had gone. Where it went, he couldn't care less, as long as it didn't come back. "O-kay..." the steel blue-eyed teen began, looking back at the spot where Aelian had disappeared. "Did you guys see that, too?
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Posted: Sun Aug 24, 2008 8:25 pm
Diana blinked and looked at Kai "Flameweaver? Mistress of Dark? Okay, i know i creep out people but that's a little too far to be a joke" she folded her arms in a mix of sarcasm and boredom. Stepping towards the spot where the mysterious woman vanished, she kneeled and examined the earth. Nothing. Not a trace. Just vanished.
"Hmm" gently caressing her chin with her thumb and forefinger, Diana looked once again at the black sphere, she never let go. The woman told she and Kai had good instincts and to use them. Her instincts told her she was crazy but another...told her the stone was the answer. But what can a measly sphere tell her? And that was when 3 familiar males came running.
---A few minutes before------
Rei came running to see the commotion and saw Max also running. "Max? Did you know what happen?"
"No, but a lot kept saying there was this shadow creep who almost stabbed Takao. Miki, Kai, Diana and Yuriko were there" and then they heard a loud "what!?" and saw a redhead male with worry in his face.
That meant only one thing: Miki. "She might be with those thugs again" Dashing towards the scene with Max and Rei tailing behind, he managed to see the scene of the woman vanishing. Blinking his ice blue eyes, he couldn't believe what he just saw. The girl vanished?
But no time for that since his worry is getting bigger and he came in time. Tala stood still at the commotion and instantly rushed to the two-toned haired girl "Miki, i heard there was some kind of attack going around. What happened? Is it one of Uwaki's thugs?"
"No, i'm fine. Takao-kun and Yuri-chan were attacked though but they seem fine. Although..."
"It was some kind of shadow." Diana instantly cut off Miki and straightened herself. "But then when i got a little close, one backed off. Then a woman appeared and told Takao that he was a "chosen, touched one" or whatever" Diana made quotation signs with her fingers and continued to speak.
"Then she called him "Wind-bringer" then called me "Mistress of Dark" and then Kai a "Flameweaver" which i don't know why. But she did tell me and Kai to use our instincts. well..." Diana closed her eyes and opened them again only to open her right palm to reveal the black sphere "My instincts tell me this.." Holding it up to the group, she continued "this thing has something to do with it".
As Diana showed the black stone, Rei felt that strange static energy and took out the teardrop pale green stone "I have a weird stone too." And he held out his to see. "Me too" he heard from a certain male blonde, who held out an oval dark blue stone.
Tala saw one by one, a few others revealed to have a different colored stone with a weirder symbol on it. Finding the courage, he pulled out the aqua stone and held it up.
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Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 6:59 am
Takao blinked, then slowly brought out the thing he'd found yesterday in his pencil case. he'd stuck it in his pocket before leaving the house, but he hadn't known why; something just told him he had to bring it.
"This is way freaky..." he commented, holding his up for the others to see the deep sky blue stone with its engraved wavy lines. "I found one yesterday, too...whatever these things are."
Yuriko knew about Takao's finding, since the steel blue-eyed teen had told her about it over the phoen. She hadn't known about the others, though, and she looked around at the various objects they held.
Tala's looked something like a very deformed heart shape, pale aqua in color, and it had a triangular swirling glyph in the middle, with the tail end curled to look like the end of a fancy lowercase 'q' written in script.
Rei's looked something like a teardrop turned on its side, colored electric green with a kind of 'z' shape engraved on the side the dark-haired neko-jin showed them.
Diana's, meanwhile, resembled a large black marble; on its curved surface was a thick-bodied 's' with the ends tapering to nearly a point, and at one end of this symbol was a single dot.
Max's stone was a simple oval shape, dark blue with a tadpole-like symbol standing on its head. The ebony-haired girl counted the stones. That makes... five-
"Actually..." Kai broke in, showing the rest of the group his own finding. "I found one as well."
Make that six stones... Yuriko thought, taking in the deep red color and flame-like symbol.
Takao glanced around again, grinning slightly. "It was cool, though," he went on, as though no one had spoken, "how that woman had names for Diana, Kai, and me." He looked thoughtful, as though turning the memory over and over in his mind. "Tala, since you, Max, and Rei got stones too, d'ya think she's got names for you as well?"
"I should say it's a given." Kai replied, tucking the stone back in his pocket. "In any case, you heard what that woman said; she'll be back soon. And she'd better have a good explanation for what's going on."
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"Daichi! You okay?" Kyouju ran over and helped his friend to his feet. The last few minutes had been pretty eventful. The shadow thing that had been pursuing them had caught up and had been about to grab Daichi and take him off to... somewhere, but then a bolt of green light had pierced it - had it been just him, or had it shrieked somewhat then? - and then the creature vanished.
A woman had been standing there, with auburn hair and piercing sea green eyes. She held a phosphorescent bow which slowly disappeared into nothingness, and she held the bespectacled teen and his companion with her gaze.
"You'll do well to harness your powers, Earth Warden," the woman had said, focusing on Daichi when she said it. Then she was looking at them both again. "I shall return for you and your companions when the time is right... and you as well, Scroll Mage.
After that, the woman had vanished, just like the shadow-thing earlier, leaving the fifteen-year-olds more than a little bewildered.
"What do ya make of that girl who was just here, Chief?" Daichi asked, dusting himself off. When she'd called him 'Earth Warden', it had somehow felt appropriate... right. Like he'd had that name or title all his life. And yet he hadn't.
The dark brown-haired teen shook his head slowly, looking back at the kickball field where infirmary personnel were carrying Kyoko off so she could rest properly. "I don't know, really..." he replied, "but maybe we should tell Takao and the others what happened here... and about that stone you found yesterday.
Daichi felt in his pants pocket for the small object, knew it when he held it and didn't bother to bring it out. "Y-yeah..."
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Keiko frowned when she recieved the news of the Morhanae's defeat in what should have been a simple battle.
"How?" she asked angrily, glaring at the leader of the horde she'd summoned, one of the few with names to distinguish them from their nameless brothers. This one had introduced himself as Desalk, which meant 'destruction' in the old language. "The Guardians were newly Touched; they couldn't have mastered there abilities, couldn't have known about them! How, then, can you claim failure?" The Morhani cowered a little before her murderous gaze before what must have been his voice echoed in her mind.
We were told only to seek out those Touched by the Stones and drain them of their essence. We were able to ensnare one, but he resisted. And a woman - an elfin - appeared and dispatched us before we could counter. We were not warned of outside interference, Rose of the Dark.
"An elfin, you say..." Keiko mused, some of her anger at a second failure dissipating. At the moment, the only elfin she knew who stood in the way was Aelian, her escaped target. Perhaps the bond between Guide and Guardians was stronger than she or the Shadow Lord had anticipated, if the former were so quick to learn when the latter were in danger, and pinpoint their location.
"...very well." The amethyst-eyed teen said after a while, dismissing the gathered Morhanae with a wave of her hand. "This slight is forgotten; I'll summon you once more should I have need of your services."
We await your call, High One.
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Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 7:40 am
Miki looked at all of her friends showing up weird stones. Did it mean...she has one too? But where does she look for one? Until she felt a bump in her pocket which she never noticed before and slipped her hand inside...only to feel a smooth round surface. Wrapping her fingers around the small object, she pulled it out to reveal a shining white sphere.
Diana blinked and looked at Miki, who was pulling out the stone, almost similar to the size of her own black stone. "Miki...you have one with the same size as mine".
Tala went to the charcoal-haired girl's direction to see the younger two-toned haired girl pull out a similar stone. Only white in color. "Miki...you got one too."
She examined the stone. It was rather very pretty. Brilliant white with a symbol. It looked like a fancy letter "T" and a small dot on the right side of the top line of the letter. Does this mean one thing?
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Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2008 9:05 am
Yuriko looked around at the group. So far, that made seven stones. It seemed an odd number, but then in some cultures, seven was a lucky number. Wherever the strange elf-woman had come from, perhaps it was a portent of luck there as well...? The hazel-eyed teen didn't know, really.
Suddenly, the chime sounded out, signalling the end of classes for that day. Of all the students who'd been on the field earlier, before all the craziness started, only a few stragglers had come out to see if it was safe. "Well, there's the bell," she said, to break the uneasy silence brought on by being involved in something one knew nothing about. "I dunno about you guys, but I'm gonna go get changed and get my stuff."
"Me, too," Takao added, slipping the stone into the breast pocket of his PE uniform shirt. "Do we meet back out here to talk about these stones or something?" He was curious, after all, and he thought that if they gathered in one place, it would be easier for the woman who'd called him 'Wind-bringer' to find them all. Maybe then they could ask whatever questions weighed on their minds, and hopefully have them answered.
"We probably should..." Kai said tentatively. The elfin had told him to trust his instincts, and at the moment, they were telling him that they should gather somewhere. "Someone'd better get Sumeragi and Kyouju as well. A junior high kid ran past here earlier, shouting about a 'shadow monster', meaning their campus has been attacked, too. Even if those two aren't involved in all this, they probably should know what's going on."
Yuriko looked at Kai - discreetly, of course - as if he'd grown three heads, or a third eye. That was the most he'd said in one breath, not to mention he'd included something about getting together as a group. That was usually Takao's area, suggesting a get-together of sorts. But she said nothing; the slate-haired teen was probably uncomfortable about what he'd done, so telling him she'd noticed it was probably not the best thing to do.
"Okay... so lets meet by the gate in fifteen minutes?"
"Hn," was Kai's only reply, even as he turned and began walking towards the main building. He hadn't changed into his PE attire, and as such didn't need to head for the lockers.
"He means 'yes'," Takao offered as a translation, still grinning. "Anyway, the gate's probably the best place to meet up, since we can see the junior high campus from there. See ya guys in fifteen!" With that, the dark blue-haired student ran off to the boys' lockers, one hand up on his trademark blue and red baseball cap to keep it from flying away.
Yuriko, too, muttered a "See you,", then went her way to the lockers. She'd brought her school bag down with her so she didn't have to go all the way back to her classroom. Besides, she wanted to see if she, too, had gotten a stone or some such similar item that she hadn't yet discovered. Otherwise, why would the creature have tried to attack her?
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Kyouju snapped his school case shut, then hoisted the adjustable straps onto his shoulders. "Where do you think Takao and the others are now? Do you think they left without us, like yesterday?"
Daichi shook his head slowly, the sling bag he used as a school bag dangling from one shoulder. "Nah, I don't think so. The bell just rang; they couldn't have all changed and left that quickly.
The bespectacled teen started walking, keeping pace once more with his redheaded companion. "...if that's the case, I guess we should head for the main gate; they're usually there." In all honesty, Kyouju didn't think their friends would be there, as there was another gate they used just as frequently when entering and leaving the campus. He could only hope, though, that this educated guess was correct.
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Concealed within the boughs of one of the larger gingko trees near where the attack had been staged, Aelian watched, feeling rather than hearing or seeing what was going on. They'd gather soon enough, all eight of them, and then she would begin her work as a Guide.
Of course, there was the matter of the Scroll Mage - the rather diminutive, dark brown-haired human accompanying the Earth Warden - and this hazel-eyed, somewhat defiant Earth child. The High Priestess-Oracle had not told her of anyone else being Touched aside from the eight Chosen and their destined Scroll Mage. Had there be something in the Teachings withheld from her?
In any case, she would deal with it when the time came. For now, she only observed, watchful especially for any signs of a second attack on her charges.
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