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 Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2005 7:42 pm
((Thanks much for clarifying, Damias. ^.^))
The soft chime ringing through the breeze beyond the river's reach, much as Leonora wished it were only her imagination, signalled an incoming request from one of her few regular contacts. Her breath was a refreshing pressure building under every part of her skin to later release and resume its presence in space around her. Even this, however, was not peace enough to keep out the soft, but insistent, call. She let free a small sigh. "Path seven," she murmured as she rose from her meditative pose into a relatively more businesslike kneeling position.
A faded pink circle streaked with periwinkle blue sparks curled into existence roughly a foot forward and to her left, rolling out of the misted waters of the river like a circular spill of unnatural steam. Once the ring was completely formed it conjured a face at its center. The face bore a subtitle: Garland, Foster J. "Good evening, Leo," the circle greeted in a masculine tone.
"James," Leonora replied as she opened her eyes. "Your inquiry will wait until tomorrow, I trust."
"Listen, Leo, I know it's your day off, but-"
"Then you understand my position," she cut in. "I am sorry if the circumstances are inconvenient for you. However, my boundaries are clearly marked and have been so for quite some time now. I do not plan to make large alterations for one negotiation."
"Wait, listen, it's not about that. Something's come up."
The urgency underneath Foster's attempt at calm explanation tugged at Leonora's curiosity, despite her wish to remain uninvolved in the man's sordid business affairs. In the last year, not one of his negotations had finished successfully, despite (or, on one occasion, because of) Leonora's involvement in the project as an arbitrator. This, however, felt somehow different. Pale purple eyes focused closely on the pixelated holograph of Foster's profile on the communique ring for nearly a minute while she contemplated the issue.
She sighed and closed her eyes again. A faint ping in the distance signalled the reception of her invitation; within moments, Foster James Garland stood at the east side of her river in all his raging glory. The man apparently felt his avatar needed to live up to the vast energy of his ego, but even the obscene flare of activity surrounding his seven foot frame could not conceal the concern on his face. Not that he was capable of expressing concern, but the glistening beads caught in his bushy eyebrows spoke volumes to it.
"I need your help," he said.
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Posted: Tue Dec 13, 2005 8:28 pm
"What the helllll," Zeke whined, bouncing on the balls of his feet in frustration. His side had- what did they call it- lost. The winning side seemed to simultaneously giggle at him, so he tackled their leader. After a five-minute struggle, they both gave up and pouted, facing away from each other.
"I don't like this one." Zeke woke temporarily, exploiting the system, and fell straight back to sleep. This time it was a race in a lake- two laps. It was a given that he won. Or, well, would have- had he not been pushed out of the way by a pair of familiar hands and a smirk.
"Alex?" he gaped, going from shock to realization to anger. Yes, very much anger. His older brother grinned again at him, doing a backstroke ahead of him.
"You rang?" Alexander laughed and and turned to his stomach.
"What are you doing here?"
"Winning, of course."
"Well, other than that," Ezekiel snapped, eyes rolling. He disliked-and-or-hated his brother, the perfect one. Alex was the type of attractive person who everyone managed to like. Intelligent, successful, blahblahblah, Zeke knew the drill. Apparently, also, he could swim.
"Bothering you, brother." Alex winked, ever amiable.
"And why? How?"
"Magic." Alex swam further, under, and evidently woke up. Zeke swore.
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Posted: Fri Dec 16, 2005 11:00 am
The clinking metal made her curious, so she turned about. Once turned around, she faced a large, white horse, with an armor-clad man in the saddle. He held a lance and it seemed he was staring forward, for he did not see her. Though, that could have been because he had a helmet over his head. When the horse began to move forward, she stepped aside rather quickly, not wanting to get trampled. She then heard a faint ringing and then a whooshing sound.
"Ms. Stens!!" said a high voice, happy and excited
Oh no, she thought. Annoying fangirls. Yes, she loved writing novels and getting feedback, but this girl, among others, kept pursuing her and bugging her out of her mind.
Quickly, she ran behind a tent (it seemed as though this was a jousting arena) and accessed the list of other dreams in progress, trying to find one that the fangirls would not suspect. She saw one, something with a dojo in the description, and thought that would be perfect.
She ran her information into the new dream and exited the old one. There was always the choice of waking up, but the fangirls would follow her dream path that way. So, despite the fact that she woke up lying on damp grass, she preferred this "dojo" dream to anything else with the fangirls.
The grass was tall, but she was taller and scanned the surroundings for the supposed "dojo". Since there was only one building around, she figured this was the dojo and walked briskly toward it.
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 10:51 am
A man ran into the dojo with a gasping yelp. Those in the dojo inhabited it frequently as most dojos were. They were used for training and centering oneself. In one movement, the man who had approached the dojo had knocked down a guard when entrance was refused. He strode in his weapon swinging at his side. His grey eyes looked around at those in the room as they became angry at the disruption and disturbance. As weapons were being grabbed an old hand was raised into the air slowly.
All the movement from the dojo followers stopped and they all calmed down. The intruder still stood in the center of the dojo, now watching the old man as he spoke toward said person.
"Who are you sir to interrupt our dojo's proceedings so rudely?"
The intruder stared with an almost blank expression as he spoke in reply. "I am Calintz Zepher...I'm sure even this out of the way dojo has heard of me...I've come to find challenge and keep my skills sharp. You know the rules, and this is my challenge. I wish to do so to the entire dojo."
The whispers were nearly instant to the name, making the rest hard to hear as the man named Calintz spoke. His grey eyes stared hard at the old man as he put on a pair of glasses to look towards him for a moment. After this he leaned back and nodded slowly.
"Ah...I see. Yes we've heard of you...well, we can't back down from such an honor and request. As per the rules, you'll start with the best first rank and work your way up to myself yes?"
Calintz nodded and turned stepping back about 20 feet before turning to have his side pointed to where his opponent would step up to. His right hand wielding the blade instead of his left. The samurai type man turned the sword around to have the dull side to hit. Soon the first person would walk up very timidly indeed. Calintz barely blinked as he stood there. And with those movements the old man would raise both hands and let out in a louder tone then one would think could come from him.
"BEGIN!"
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 1:57 pm
Noa gulped as she came to the entrance of the dojo. The guards were reluctant to let her enter, but when the other man came rushing through, they were in no condition to put up an argument. So, she just stepped over them and went into the dojo.
Several people were about, dueling and training. The man that had rushed in seemed to be in the process of dueling members of the dojo. Well, fighting was all good to her, and this kept her away from annoying fangirls. Though, she hoped she did not have to fight anyone, seeing as she may not fair as well against them. However, who would ever want to hit a leather-clad woman anyway?
As it was, none of the dojo members were looking her way. They all seemed rather focused on the beginning duels. This was good for her. She would just sit back and enjoy.
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 6:24 pm
The blue sky seemed to pull him on and on over endless hills. For another person the idea of endlessly running would be a nightmare but Licentis never got tired of it. The freedom and thrill he got from simply running was enough to keep him happy for countless hours. Here he was like a kid in a candy store with endless possablities and all of them good forever.
Licentis, for he refused to think of himself by his given name while in Dreamscape, bounded over the hills and leaped over brooks as he travel. His feet barely touched the ground as he ran, as if he was trying to resist the laws of gravity affect him. Indeed, that was part of his wish. His wish came true, at least it was true in Dreamscape.
Eventually he stopped. Not because he was tired, or because he was bored, but because he stood atop a cliff. Birds chirped as he gazed down at the land below. He stood and simply enjoyed the beauty on the land, a beauty he never got to see in real life.
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Posted: Sat Dec 17, 2005 10:29 pm
Calintz Zepher stared at the young man who seemed to not know much of the man before him. He was prideful, and held no humility in his eyes. Calintz bowed full out before rising and looking across at his opponent. As their eyes met, Calintz moved. His speed was astonishing and he seemed to twirl in the air, his blade slashing out quickly and back to his side just as quick. He came to a halt where the man that was his challenger should have been, the first rank was against the wall, and now sliding down.
Calintz turned and bowed slowly before taking up the position of the person he had beaten waiting as the second level got up to fight with this intruder. Calintz stared long at the man and turned his body to face the opponent full on. No turn, simply flat. His sword held out at his right side. The grey eyes seemed to stare hard into the man, who was beginning to shake. The second level would then charge, and before he was halfway through Calintz was moving again. His sword connected and there was a thud above everyone as the grey eyed man slid another few feet. The second level on the other hand falling with a thud and moaning without movement.
Calintz once again turned, bowed, and prepared for his next opponent. The third level seemed to be lighter than the others, but still seemed to base more on power rather than speed. Calintz blinked without emotion on his face, and simplicity in his stance. He wasn't a person to go longer than he needed to, nor farther than necessary. He had noticed the woman he brushed past on his way in, but then again, that wasn't his main concern right now. His eyes watched the man in front of him and he let out a slow breath in concentration. Calintz had already gained renown as the best male fighter, but he had heard about a woman, her name was Adara Xenos he believed. She seemed much like him though known, not seen or described much as appearances to the public were slightly rare. He had never fought her though, hence why he didn't know what she looked like. The reason, well it was a huge world right?
He moved first, since there were still four others before he could challenge the master of the dojo. His movement was a surprise to the opponent, as his expression of raised eyebrows and slightly open maw showed. Calintz's sword made impact with the third level's neck. He crumpled to the ground as the swordsman passed over him. He would once again turn to bow and regain a stance. The third level would be dragged off and the fourth level would enter the ring.
Calintz had already defeated almost half of the levels. He stared for a moment and then looked down at the man in front of him. He had speed, but Calintz didn't care. This man held not even a candle to Zepher. His weapon pummelled into yet another victim. His sword would pound down the fifth and sixth victims as well. He looked at the seventh level as he approached. Quite a lower weight than the others. Calintz pondered this as he watched for a moment before changing his form.
The two men stared each other down for a while, and then both moved at the same time. Their attacks met in the middle, a strength fight at the point in time. Calintz fought enough to keep him from winning, and then his body and eyes did the rest. He let out a shout, and in turn intimidated the high level man in front of him. He yelped and tripped backwards. As he would try to get back up the blade would stop at his neck. The only phrase uttered by Calintz was,
"K.O."
He looked up at the old man and pointed his sword at that old man. "Let us begin this so that it can end and your dojo get on with its learning..."
The old man nodded and rose beginning his way towards the fighting floor that had been sanctioned out.
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Posted: Sun Dec 18, 2005 10:38 am
Chimera walked through the lists of dreams. He felt like a challenge tonight... or, more accurately, like challenging. Very rarely was there such thing as a challenge for him. There had been one sniper, once, but he had made mistakes, and had paid for it with his life. A shame, thought Chimera, I should have kept him alive, for the entertainment value. A rival was a failing commodity in this world, and something he badly needed to keep his skills up to scratch.
Ah, a dojo. Many fighters there, he thought to himself. He doubted that they'd pose a threat, but perhaps the sheer number of them would be able to take him down. Hadn't happened before, but the possibility was always there. He turned, and walked into the dream, looking around. There was only one building, so he walked briskly for it. The gaurds had been knocked out. Someone here thought fighting was the only way to go about things. Ineffective. But... interesting. Perhaps his years of combat could begin to match Chimera's skills.
He walked inside, and watched. There was one here, who repeatedly knocked out his opponents with ease, and Chimera watched with great interest. The man was good, he admitted, and his blood began to show that telltale boil again. His heart beat faster with just the slightest bit of joy, even his impressive control cracking to be shown a possibility at challenge.
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Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2005 6:38 am
"Damnit!" Adara Xenos tripped over the doorframe of her apartment, and stumbled in, toe throbbing. "******** shoes."
She tossed her slouchy, worn messenger bag to the dining room table. I'm exhausted, man. I don't even want to start my homework. Adara tossed the innocent-looking bag a glare, and instead of sitting down to work as she usually did, kicked off her chucks and collapsed across the sofa.
I could go for a good fight. Scanning the lists, she took in all her options. The Love and Dating subforum of Dreamscape slid into focus, and she pushed it away as quickly as possible. Damnit, I hate that... I want somewhere fun.
IRL, the small, black kitten that'd made itself at home in her apartment nudged her face unknowingly. The wet nose accidentally jostled her mind, and the selection briefly glowed violet before blinking and loading. Damnit! Stupid cat!
The world bloomed around her, and she dropped from the sky to thump into the grass, landing on the sheathed katana strapped to her back. "Ow." She sat up, rubbing her head as the two kodachis beneath her sweatshirt clattered against one another. Shaking the hair out of her face, she tugged herself to standing, and turned to look at the dojo behind her. "At least I didn't end up somewhere sucky."
Adara sauntered over to the door, and poked her head inside.
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Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2005 3:21 pm
"...I see." Leonora lowered the translucency screen, having seen enough to get the general idea. Images of martial combat within an unidentified dojo fell away along with the screen and faded back into the nonexistence that is between dreams in the 'Scape. "Your part in this remains an unexplained element, James. What reason have you or I to be involved with an artificial combat sequence?"
"Just look into it for me, would you?" The large avatar seemed almost frantic in his urgency, though he managed to hide it rather well: any but one skilled in reading the smallest signs, artificial and otherwise, in people would likely not notice the wealth of distress visible on the man. "I've been hearing too much about something on the horizon to not investigate myself, and-"
"You should investigate it on your own, then, rather than drag another into this."
"Leo, look, you know you're good at what you do, and I know you're good at what you do, so what the hell is this 'holier-than-thou' s**t you're trying to pull, hunh? I don't need this right now!"
"I, too, find our interaction unnecessary, James," Leonora replied in the same serene voice. "If you would take your leave now, I would be most appreciative. Any exit will do."
Foster glared at the freelance ambassador with no attempt at hiding his intense displeasure. "So it's like that?"
"It is what it is."
"Yeah. Well, that's nice for you. That's real dandy." The blazing avatar paced back and forth on the bank of the river, seething with animosity...but not toward her. She could sense that much. Something beyond this conversation, something larger than the both of them, had this fellow frightened out of his mind. It was no concern of hers, but the existence of such a force was itself a factor worth investigating, she agreed on that much. That did not mean she was going to do so at Foster's request, however. "Fine." A solemn blip announced Foster's departure, confirmed by a line of text marking the time and location of his entrance and exit from the dream. Leonora always kept careful logs of such events, for the record.
Now alone, Leonora questioned herself about whether to resume her meditative study or further examine the matter at hand while it was in progress. Perhaps stepping into harm's way would allow her to more quickly secure an understanding of what could be of import about the dream and those gathering within it. She closed her eyes, considering. Unbidden, the screen viewing the dojo dream flickered back into place on her left side, silently playing out the conflict within.
Before she could make her decision as to whether or not joining would be worthwhile, the screen was overridden by an official notice from what she only knew as the Source. It blinked once, then patiently awaited her attention, which she gave shortly thereafter. The screen displayed the logo of the Source, then proceeded to read out a brief text series of objectives to complete within the next few days. Leonora dutifully recorded the communique, shut off the screen, and exhaled. She had more important things to worry about than a child's game of Kung-Fu.
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Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2005 8:50 pm
Calintz stared at the old man and then his blade began its movement. None of this was the AI that many new people to Dreamscape used. That was a random thing. His movements were totally his. His sword seemed to leave aftershadows, but again, that would only be to those who could see his eyes. He moved slowly, and in not quite a random fashion, but an unpredictable one. The old man and Calintz stood there in silence for a long time. The old man favoured a spear. Meaning he had Calintz all over on reach.
Calintz would have to get in under that pole and hit him hard. And so he would do, not a choice, a decision. Calintz was moving forward, and no matter where you were sitting, there were aftershadows. It was a technique he had been working on, one of many in any case. The old man had good reflexes, and speed unfortunately. But his eyes weren't perfect, and it would be hard to see through the shadows. Adara might be able to, and maybe Chimera, but beyond that...it would be difficult. He turned to the left just slightly and brought the blade up over the spear that would have thumped him in the gut. The back side of his blade slammed into the old man and Calintz flung the man across the room and he bounced off the wall. He did this because it was Dreamscape and though it would hurt, it wouldn't kill him, just hurt a hell of a lot.
Calintz sheathed his weapon and watched the old man for a long time. "I defeated your dojo, and it is added to the list. I trust you'll follow the rules as this dojo has always promised to any person who could beat it." It had been a previously unbeaten dojo. The old man laughed softly coughing and then laughing again with a wave of his hand to acknowledge what Calintz said. The man with the white hair who defeated a once undefeated dojo in as much time as a normal fight with the master takes, turned and began walking towards the door. His grey eyes traveled over those who were watching and then he slid past them. He felt great power from all of them, and noticed the differences between each 'aura' as most people called them.
He was most interested in the woman with the katana. Not like his, as his was built different, in fashion, material, and shape. Though it was still one-sided, and normally a two handed blade, at least for optimal performance. He began walking out past them all towards the grass area. This was just the first area. Next he would train, and then move on to other things. He kept all those people in his mind though. They all seemed important, as if their fluctuation of chi was different than normal, like his own was...very odd indeed.
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Posted: Mon Dec 19, 2005 10:44 pm
Licentis simply stood and watched the horizon for several minutes. The breeze passed through his hair and whistled away across the land. He drank all of it in. Some people complained about Dreamscape not being real but Licentis felt that this place was more real then anything back in the so-called reality. After what seemed like an eternity of bliss Licentis broke his eyes away from the horizon and turned. This had been enough in his own dream. While he felt he could spend an eternity here, other places and lands beckoned him.
He mentally consulted various different places he could visit. He passed quickly over one whose setting was a dojo. It wasn't that he didn't enjoy fighting, but he felt that travel was a much better way to spend his time. His mind came back to the dojo as he discovered that most of the other choices interested him slightly less. Besides it had been a while since he had seen a dojo, maybe it would be interesting. His current scenery began to fade and the dojo began to come into focus as he made his selection.
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Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 12:06 pm
Chimera's blood thrilled like a string nearing the breaking point. It was a long time since he'd seen anything like this, and it made him sing with anticipation. He wanted a battle with the unknown man, and he wanted it now. He decided, as the man brushed past, that he would let him go, for now, however. He indexed the man's strengths, because as yet, he had seen no weaknesses except for his tedious relience on weaponry. He would be outranged in a fight, and this man obviously had no interest in the art of ranged combat, but that could wait. Chimera was clearly at the disadvantage in a fair fight.
Perhaps, he thought. Perhaps it's time. He walked out into the night, his eyes adjusting immediately to the darkness, years of practice paying off in small ways. He followed the man into the night, stalking him silently. This would be the first test of the man's skills.
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Posted: Mon Dec 26, 2005 11:44 am
((I don't want to post as I'm waiting for the other people to post, but I don't know...not many are doing anything -.-
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Posted: Sun Jan 15, 2006 12:12 pm
Slipping in the door of the dojo, she saw nothing but the end result of a battle and silvery eyes.
They caught hers, and inwardly, her breath hitched in her throat before resuming. Holy hell, that's potential. Dropping her eyes for a fleeting second, her lashes brushed her cheekbones before flitting up as he jostled past her. She watched him in a predatory manner, analyzing every movement.
"Hm." Adara cleared her throat almost silently in his wake.
Another jostle met her elbow as a man, who seemed startlingly familiar, crept through the door and met the same footsteps as the previous man. Curious, she waited in the dark of the doorway until he was almost out of sight, then, tugging the hood of her black sweatshirt over her hair, followed the pair.
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