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 Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 9:30 pm
I've been dreaming for so long... ... To find a meaning, to understand... • ◄AKIHI► •
————————————
"Wh-what are you doing?!" Akihi shouted as the man who had knocked him to the ground was now dragging him back up onto his feet. He yanked his wrists out of Joshua's grip, stumbling backwards in the process. He took only three steps before he tripped over something sticking out of the sand, falling straight oh his butt. His hand searched for the item, clutching his two tomes to his chest. The item crinkled slightly when his hand wrapped around it, but he couldn't figure out what it was otherwise. The sand was too thick for him to see anything clearly.
Akihi let out a groan and went back to huddling up, now that he lost Joshua. He had no interest in moving at the moment...
(( In case you are wondering, what Akihi found was an Arms Scroll. He can't really tell what it is, though. :3 ))
———————————————— The secret of life... ... Why am I here to try again?
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Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 9:37 pm
And then the fighting broke out.
Ninian stayed in the wagon, knowing it was safer, and Roy could protect her better if she stayed in one place. But the fighting grew worse, and soon Roy was caught up in the fray.
Something inside her snapped.
Ninian reached into her pack and pulled out the first scarf her fingers touched--Briseschal. Jumping from the wagon, she ran straight for the nearest bandit. With one flick of her wrist, she sent the scarf flying directly around the bandit's neck. Briseschal looped around, encircling his neck. A moment later, with a jerk of fabric, the man lost his head.
And not a single drop of blood marred the dancer's dress.
The moment the head landed, Ninian's eyes changed. No longer did they show such fury, but shock.
"Wha--what?" she gasped, stunned, staring at the man's headless corpse for a moment before averting her eyes. "What happened?"
And then the sandstorm came from nowhere.
She cried out in pain as the sand pelted her skin. Quickly she covered her face with Briseschal.
"Roy?" she called once the sand had begun to settle. "Roy!"
She fought the panic that threatened to engulf her. There was no sight of her son.
"ROY!"
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Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 9:53 pm
[Permission granted to temporarily play Aidan.]  Aidan had fallen to his knees avoiding the bandits' advances. Man, they really must have wanted him as a sex slave! He scampered across the sand, trying to escape, but his path was immediately met with a weapon's blade. He stifled a shriek of surprise as he backed up, looked up-- hey, was that Abel? "Abel!" But as the winds whipped up, Abel was already gone. "T-thanks?"
The green-clad tactician didn't waste any more time. In an instant, he was back to his feet, his lance in hand. With a twirl of its staff, it quickly found itself embedded in a nearby bandit. But there wasn't any time for him to feel proud of himself-- the chase had now developed into a full-out brawl, and he was right in the middle of it. His head darted around, his free hand over his eyes to shield them from the stinging sand. He couldn't see a thing, but he could hear a faint call.
"Aidan? Aidan!"
There was no mistaking that voice. "Blossom!" Aidan called back. "Blossom, where are you?" He coughed, sand having gathered in his mouth as he yelled. He staggered further through the storm, gathering his cloak tighter around him with his lance hand. As he paced, the violent wind shoving him along, he hadn't really noticed that he was actually moving uphill. So, naturally, when he found himself at the top of the dune he'd just climbed, it only took a slightly more forceful gust of wind to send him tumbling down its opposite side. He rolled on down the dune, losing his lance as it buried itself into the sand along his trip, and he thought he was done for.
Fortunately, Elimine must have been smiling upon him as he found himself collide with a large object that stopped his mad descent. A bit dazed, he opened his eyes again to see just what. And then he coughed a bit.
"Oh, h-hi, Debbie!"
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Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 10:08 pm
Ganon's bow whipped back and forth across his violin. He'd had a long hard thought about bringing his wagon, and when thinking of Ninian finally decided the ice dragoness would need it in the desert. Now, he had jumped down and had sand whipping around him as his music whipped through the air, distorting and fighting to control the sandstorm to obstruct the sight of the bandit archers. A tendril of sand rose up suddenly, whipping around and slamming into the back of one archer, wrapping around him and pulling him down into the sand, but even the mighty bard was facing difficulties with this complicated tune-- he was breathing hard and occasionally coughing from the sand, which caused the sandstorm to intensify when his music faltered.
"Don't know if I can hold this... make good use...!"
[Aria of Sandstorm: -15 Acc for all, +15 crit for Earth and Wind affinity, +20 crit for Earth-elemental weapons]
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Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 10:11 pm
Joshua felt Akihi let go of his hand. "Dammit." He thought. The big dog wasn't that far away but now he'd lost Akihi and he couldn't leave the mage behind... besides what if the dog was fake. Turning around he went back for the twin.
"Akihi! Akihi!" He called out as the wind whipped around him his words stolen away by the wind. "Damn I cant see anything!" He mumbled. Pulling a coin from his pocket he flipped it into the air trusting his luck.
The coin was picked up by the wind and pinged off the back of the magic-users head before resting on the sand glinting for Joshua to see. Following the shine he headed for the coin using it as a reference so he wouldn't get turned around in the hellstorm of sand. Something hard touched his boot and he figured it was Akihi. Lying down beside him Joshua pocketed the coin. "You allright? Sorry about that... I thought I saw something."
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Posted: Sat Oct 24, 2009 10:22 pm
 ...Injured with pain and sadness, the you that cannot be healed
Shoulder the burden of the past that cannot be erased; don't throw away your will to live...[ X ][ O ]Blossom[ O ][ X ] →Blossom was struggling to keep a hold of Vezra, certain that things would die down soon and they could find the others. She could feel a faint thrum of panic deep in her gut, but it was easy to suppress; even if the dune collapsed, it was theoretically easier to get out from under sand than it was stones, right? They would be just fine. They had to be. Deborah knew what she was doing; she was a desert woman, after all.
Blossom could hear faint strains of Ganon's music. She gritted her teeth, praying he wouldn't be hurt or choke in the sands, and then there was someone's voice very close and then a thud, Blossom's eyes startled open, immediately watering at the harsh winds and gritty granules of sand.
There was Aidan, sprawled against the sands, peering up at Deborah with a sheepish look on his face. "Oh, h-hi, Debbie!"
Blossom moved slowly, glad for what shelter the dune provided. She shifted around Deborah, keeping close to the woman to keep from flying away, and pulled Aidan upright. "Aidan...!"
Blossom stared at him for a minute, the howling winds accompanying the strains of frantic violin music. She gripped his mantle in both hands, her palms trembling as she watched his face. That full minute passed in tense silence, and then tears came to her eyes. "Aidan..."
She reached up a hand towards his face. Tears were trailing down her cheeks now, turning dirty with the sand hitting her skin. "You..."
And then her hand reached back and smacked him hard across the face, the Hero's voice lowering to a strained hiss. "How dare you!"←  You'd better forget everything. Remember. . . your different Life?XXX
You'd better forget everything. Remember. . . though, we cannot returnXXXLike in times of warped memories, we can understand somedayXXX[[Betcha didn't see that coming. ;P]]
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 12:05 am
Deborah definitely didn't look happy, Aidan having crashed into him. But he hadn't much time to worry about that. Blossom was there! She pulled him upright, clutching onto him for dear life, and a moment passed that seemed like an eternity as he just stared into her eyes. Tears ran down her face, stained by sand.
"Blossom! I'm--"
Thwack! Aidan's hand quickly moved to caress the stinging, tender flesh where Blossom had slapped him. But why?
"B-but...what'd I do?" he stammered.
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 7:01 am
Charles looked at the two green cloaks, his eyesight was not the greatest, so he started thinking. "Maybe I happen to be seeing mirages... Or there are two tacticians..." He remembered there being a twin of the tactician, or that he overheard, but he wasn't remembering anything about Akihi wearing a green cloak. And speaking of Akihi, he had found an Arms Scroll! Oh, that lucky chap...
His time to think was over, as more big butt bandits came his way. There were four of them, or were there just two; had the mirages actually kicked in? They got closer, and they were confirmed to be four, because all four of their weapons were gleaming with light. Perfect for Charles, he could pick 'em off where they stood from just the reflections.
The light started to bend, and the reflections to centered on the bandits' foreheads. He added some more of his own magical power, and before the bandits could feel anything, a hole was burnt through their heads. All of them dropped, stirred sand around them.
That made six bodies near Charles, that would draw attention to anyone, let alone the one undead thing in the desert. "Oh, I wonder if Domanova would have liked to study these chaps... What a hoot." Charles stopped thinking about that, it was futile to wish for a second life, even though he has one. He should be thankful he lived where Domanova experienced death another time. Although if he stayed within battlegrounds, he would eventually kick the bucket, because he has not found a way to heal himself.
"Oh, here more come..." More bandits flooded Charles, as they thought more was power.
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:12 am
Cerberus was ultimately confused. For some reason there was more weight than his three heads had expected, each one clamped on a different part of Jaren. But that didn't exactly stop the beast; when they arrived home, Cerberus would be delighted to see he had not one, but two morsels to gobble up.
Soren was looking somewhat doubtfully at the two they'd picked up. He knew neither of them, and quite frankly was not happy with the aura that one of them radiated. Still, he was not the master of this creature, so he could not command him to simply drop the two and dart off.
The mage turned his head. Beyond the walls of the spell, only a thick storm of particles was visible, casting a violent shadow upon the company and assaulting their ears with the terrible howling. He narrowed his eyes and shifted restlessly on the beast's back, wondering how the group would find the tower now. It also struck him that spiriting these two off would more than likely translate to a declaration of war. That was something the mage did not need.
He contemplated requesting the beast to abandon the two anyway, trying to formulate solid reasons so that Cerberus may actually listen. Then it struck him.
"My friends," he murmured to the beast, which had paused atop the apex of another dune, "please, leave these two. They're hardly much more than unnecessary weight on your necks at the moment. As a matter of fact, I suggest you throw them back. They can tell the others about your presence, tempt them all into following us home, and then you can feast on the entire group."
The three heads growled with some animosity between their opinions. For the most part, Cerberus believed it was just fine to eat these two at home and have the rest later when they actually arrived. The beast proceeded down the dune, ignoring its rider.
"Please, Cerberus. Look at this sandstorm. They may never find us, and then all you'll have to eat are the guards back home or anything we find out in the desert. You want them to know where to go, right?"
This made a little more sense to Cerberus. The behemoth slowed to a stop, wariness in his three pairs of blazing eyes, realization sinking in. The center head snorted and the other two grumbled. Cerberus turned about and trotted back up the dune, each heavy step sinking into the sand, and once he reached the apex he carelessly tossed Jaren and Marina back down with a strong lurch of his heads. Then, with those fearsome skulls still upraised, Cerberus let out a trio of powerful howls ranging in pitch and song, mingling with the cacophony of the storm all around.
Jaren and Marina would be thrown from the bubble of placidity back into the whipping sands, perhaps tumble down or simply land flat on a lower elevation.
Cerberus lowered his heads and snarled into the tempest. If the fleshlings didn't come, he'd have more to kill than the guards back home. He whipped about and barreled back to whence he and his companion came, retracing his general direction back to the tower. The fact that Soren was clearing a tunnel in the sandstorm helped immensely.
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 10:36 am
...Injured with pain and sadness, the you that cannot be healed
Shoulder the burden of the past that cannot be erased; don't throw away your will to live...[ X ][ O ]Blossom[ O ][ X ] →Blossom glared at Aidan, chest heaving now. The tears were falling faster, but she made no movement to stop them. If she hadn't seen his face herself, she would have doubted the sincerity behind his words, but sure enough, there he was with that puzzled look on his face, and all it did was make her cry harder.
"What do you mean, what'd you do?" she demanded. She felt the urge to slap him across the other side of his face, but she stifled it. The overwhelming desire to hug him and throttle him simultaneously was confusing enough as it is. "You've been gone for weeks, do you even realize how worried I was? And how long are you going to be back this time, a few hours before you decide you've got to map out all of the shores on the entire continent?"
Blossom halted, using one hand to rub at her eyes as the grit stung into her retina, then looked over at Deborah. "S...Sorry." She looked at Aidan, then huddled closer to the back of the dune, away from the open space where the sandstorm screamed and ripped at the air. "We should... focus more on weathering this thing..." Blossom lifted her scarf and covered her entire face now, her burned shoulder searing in pain. Her scarf kept the stinging sand away from her eyes, and now she wouldn't be as tempted to hit him again.← You'd better forget everything. Remember. . . your different Life?XXX
You'd better forget everything. Remember. . . though, we cannot returnXXXLike in times of warped memories, we can understand somedayXXX
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 12:03 pm
I've been dreaming for so long... ... To find a meaning, to understand... • ◄AKIHI► •
————————————
Akihi shivered with fear, curling up tighter. Oh, why did he agree to come along in the first place? He has always been easily frightened, and being without his sister in a middle of a freaking sandstorm definitely terrified him. "A-Alihi...?" He cried out hesitantly, raising his head slightly. There was no response. His face paled slightly and he forced his head back under the robe, muttering "it'll be okay" under his breath while clutching his possessions close to himself.
He wanted to move. He wanted to stay still. He didn't want to be alone...
"You alright?"
In a way, he got his wish. Akihi tilted his head to the side to look at Joshua. "... I don't know!" He said in reply, shaking his head slowly. "I-I'm not used to this... I... I'm scared..." His eyes focused away from Joshua, as if ashamed for speaking the truth. He never traveled without Alihi. Now, he was separated from her in a strange, desert country.
He shut his eyes tightly, as if the action would change reality.
———————————————— The secret of life... ... Why am I here to try again?
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 12:21 pm
Joshua could hear the shakey voice vise back up to him. "I... I'm scared..."
It brought Joshua back to his first sandstorm on his own. Terrified after running away from the castle in the night he had stumbled through the desert unaware that a sandstorm was on its way. Hed been through one before but Carlyle had been with him.
It was terrifying and the young Joshua had wanted to run but instead curled up scared and lonely until the morning. The only reason he had survived was because Kings wern't killed by sandstorms.... and his journey was to be a better King for his people so he refused to let some sandstorm stop him... his will had carried him through... this boy had no will so Joshua would have to make some for him he lifted one of his hands from over his head and clapped it down on the young mans head as Carlyle had done for him.
"Don't worry.... it's normal to be scared. Hell I'm scared right now too... but there is a soloution to that... We could make a wager. How about.... hmmm although I got some training in with Artur durning the war I still have trouble against mages.. how about if I win you help me train?
As for the bet... I bet you we'll find our friends... In fact I bet they're huddeling safely under the dune nearest to us." Joshua wanted him to take his mind off the howelling winds and instead on the bet.
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 2:23 pm
Aidan could do nothing but stare at Blossom, his hand still rubbing the area where she'd slapped him.
"But...I thought I was doing the right thing!" he explained frantically. "We need money, we can't just keep living how we are." He focused on her, raising a hand to shield his eyes from the blinding sand. "I'm sorry, Blossom. I just wanted things to be like they used to be. Back in Elibe. That's why I have to do this."
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 2:39 pm
The sandstorm continued to brew, causing the group to get lost. It was unknown if the group were able to find each other or not, but they either took shelter from the storm or walked aimlessly. The winds continued to howl into their ears while the sands danced across their eyes.
After an hour, the wind had started to slowly die. The sand that had fluttered in the sky had fell like snowflakes in the winter. Once the sandstorm had die, they noticed that half of their group were no longer with them. In addition, they were unsure where they were for they had lost their guide to get to the tower.
Not far from where the said group was, there was a bandit fort. Inside the fort was the same bandits who attacked them. The bandits were gathered in the main room. Surrounding them against the wall were piles of golds, silk robes, gems, and other treasures among them. Among the bandits, Ali informed his leader of what had happened.
"So? Not only did you lost me a slave but you also lost me my treasures too?" The leader of the bandits questioned. 
"I'm sorry, but there was a sandstorm when we were trying to raid." Ali commented. The bandit loathed this fat, lazy, ugly son of the b***h who called himself the leader. He didn't understand how did that tub of s**t became the leader. But most of all, he didn't understand why was he working for him!
"Personally, if you had accomplished what you were ordered, I would have given you two of my harems."
Oh, yeah. That.
"However, since you've failed, I-"
"Feo! Feo!" A bandit cried out as he entered the room.
"What is it?" Feo questioned annoyingly.
"Our men had spotted a group of caravan not far from the fort. Three women, four men, and a cow."
"A cow? Who would be stupid enough to bring a cow in the desert?!"
"I don't know, sir."
"Ah, no matter. Just raid them, take them as slaves, and have that cow for dinner."
"Yes, sir." The bandit accepted the order and left. Feo turned to Ali.
"I'll deal with your punishment later. As of right now, I want you to deal with these group. If you've done well, I may lighten your punishment."
"Yes, sir." Ali responded before turning around and left. Some of the bandits followed him, wondering what would their order be. Down the hall, exited the fort, and climbed the ladder to the wall, Ali looked over the horizon to see where the said group were. Just as the bandit said, there were the group near their fort and it seemed that they looked familiar to him too.
"So, they came to us." Ali said. "Well, this time, we'll rob them for sure. Have the troops assemble. We're going to raid them!"
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Posted: Sun Oct 25, 2009 3:55 pm
I've been dreaming for so long... ... To find a meaning, to understand... • ◄AKIHI► •
————————————
"... I-I accept." Akihi responded, the fear in his voice diminished and his usual stuttering returning. He wanted to believe Joshua was right. Even though that'd mean he would lose the bet, he wanted that to be the outcome. Akihi shut his eyes, letting himself relax slightly.
He wanted everyone to be okay.
What seemed like an eternity later, the wind died down completely. He rose his head up, shaking out any sand that was in his hair. "Nngh..." Carefully, he stood up, letting his robe fall back to his shoulders. His tomes and the item he picked up (Some kind of scroll?) were sandy but otherwise undamaged. He sighed in relief, looking around at the group.
Elfire slipped from his grip, landing against the sand with a dull "thump". "Wh-what..." Akihi rubbed his eyes, hoping that what he was seeing was just a simple trick of the mind.
But it wasn't. People were missing. "Th-this isn't funny..." He said aloud, expecting this to be some cruel prank. He wanted the people he wasn't seeing, his sister included, to suddenly pop out of the sand and scream something along the lines of "surprise, we fooled you".
There was nothing. It was quiet. The mage bent over, picking the Elfire out of the sand. "... I-is everyone alright...?" He asked, looking at all the people he could see.
———————————————— The secret of life... ... Why am I here to try again?
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