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 Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 6:22 am
Kasumi cocked her head as Merrick revealed an intricate silver goblet and blinked, sensing the energy pulsing through it. She sensed almost immediately it was made almost purely of earth energy with just a touch of fire energy.
-_-_-_-_-_-
Merrick tilted his head as he shifted his hand to reveal the goblet. He saw his mother's cocked head and slightly narrowed eyes before he heard slight creaking sounds and sensed rather than saw Merida listening to them.
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Lorcán chuckled, very amused at the teasing tone.
-_-_-_-_-_-.
Mother Mellus laughed as she winked at Cassandra, amused. "Seeing a close friend always brightens a goodbeast's day," she said teasingly.
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Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 6:40 am
Constance watched as Merrick pulled out the cup and Kasumi's reaction. She smiled, crossing her arms. She heard movement just to her right and saw Merida leaning against a tree, watching them. She smiled at the other woman before turning her attention back to Merrick's mother. Merida smiled and nodded when Constance looked her way. Right now she would stand back and watch them learn. They needed the help the most since everything seemed to be happening to them. -------- Cassandra chuckled and nodded as she uncrossed her arms. "I couldn't agree more." She brushed her hair back as she looked around. "Well we don't want to take up too much of your time, and I do want to show Lorcan around some more."
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Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 7:16 am
Kasumi glanced Merida's way, an eyebrow rising slightly. "You're welcome to join us," she said with amusement.
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Merrick tilted his head as his uncle pressed one palm to the ground before shifting it upward slowly. His eyes widened as a small shoot grew up out of the ground and stopped after growing four inches tall.
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Lorcán chuckled, very amused at the teasing tone. He blinked upon noticing the contemplative look on Martha's face as she stared out of the window."Where once I dwelt in Loamhedge, my secret lies hid from view, a tale of how I learned to walk, when once I was as you. Though you cannot go there, look out for two who may, treavellers from out of the past, returning home one day," she murmured; she seemed slightly confused, though why, he wasn't sure.
-_-_-_-_-_-.
Mother Mellus chuckled with amusement. "Don't let me stop you, then.. though I doubt I need to tell you to watch out for Sister Setiva," she said teasingly. She knew that Cassandra remembered the elderly mousemaid that was rather harsh and sarcastic; she was nearly eighty seasons old and could be fairly blunt more often than not.
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Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 7:48 am
Constance watched in awe as Naruto made a shoot grow four inches tall from the ground. There was still so much that she and Merrick needed to learn. So much they all needed to learn. She glanced over at Merrick, seeing his head tilted to the side as he studied his Uncle's work. "I think I will sit this one out for now," Merida said with a smile. "I want to see how they do." -------- Cassandra heard what Martha said and frowned a little as she looked at her. It was a somewhat strange thing to say. She turned her attention back to Mother Mellus with a smile. "Oh we will watch out." She reached for Lorcan's hand as she then spoke to Martha. "Do you want to come with us?"
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Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 8:23 am
Kasumi smiled slightly, shrugging. "I think we'll help them gain control over their inner strength for now; it'll make some of the techniques they learn later easier to learn and eventually master... maybe if they grow skilled enough, Naruto may teach them a very specialized technique that unlike some techniques, won't require handseals to focus the energy," she said with amusement. She blinked as Merrick's skin changed and saw Naruto's eyes widen in shock before he muttered two words: "Doton: Dōmu." She realized Merrick had unintentionally recreated a technique that had been infamous in their youth; it had strengthened one's physical strength and heightened their resistance to damage significantly.
-_-_-_-_-_-
Merrick took a deep beath with the tips of his fingers touching the ground as he crouched. He felt his skin tingle and cool, unaware his skin color had deepened from a normal tanned color to a deep brownish gray.
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Lorcán saw Martha blink as she looked back towards them, blushing slightly."Ah... um. Sure; though I was thinking of that dream I had a couple of days ago when I dozed off... a 'Sister Amyl' recited it... with Martin the Warrior," she said; she knew Cassandra knew that Martin the Warrior was highly respected as a 'spirit of honor, valor, wisdom and knowledge' and sometimes appeared to those who had destinies that tended to let them roam and return to the Abbey.
-_-_-_-_-_-.
Mother Mellus smiled as she shrugged slightly. "I overheard Brag saying he had a dream of Martin the Warrior as well," she said thoughtfully. She had heard of Sister Amyl; she had been one of the few survivors from Loamhedge's exodus when the unknown plague had rushed through the former abbey, though supposedly it had a beautiful view of the Mossflower Woods from the abbey.
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Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 11:42 am
Kaosujin Ryu ugh...my head is all stuffy Constance watched Merrick as touched the ground. His skin color changed and she gasped softly. She wondered what he had done to get that to happen. She heard Naruto mutter something, but she didn't quite catch what it was. She was too focused on her mate. Merida stood up a little straighter as Merrick's skin tone changed before their eyes. Apparently it was something unique because both Naruto and Kasumi seemed surprised by it. Both Constance and Merrick seemed to be growing stronger everyday. She knew them both to be stubborn and strongwilled, but she sometimes feared all the power they possessed would be bad for them. --------- "Must have been an interesting dream," Cassandra said as she watched Martha. "I am sure that it means something. Most dreams do. It will come to you in time." She nodded towards the doorway. "Let us go see what we can get into."
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Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 12:07 pm
Alede OOC - Trust me, I know the feeling; been dealing with it lately myself, though Zicam knocked it out fairly quickly (3-4 days for me, actually).
Kasumi tilted her head. "I know Merrick mentioned the Nobori no Shugyō exercise to you, but I want to see if you can do it," she said with amusement as Merrick looked up, the earthy tone of his skin cracking and flaking away as he stood back up. He's a natural at Doton techniques, to recreate that technique without even thinking about it; it means he may have natural talent with that and possibly Mokuton and Yōton as well, she thought. Naruto stepped next to Merida quietly and spoke in a low voice. "That technique he used was used by a 'nuke-nin' when I still seemed 'human' and is known as Doton: Dōmu. It is a strong defensive technique that enhances the strength of the user," he said quietly.
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Merrick shifted his weight, pushing off suddenly at one of the trees and shooting up the side before a low cracking pop sounded as he somersaulted off at nearly thirteen feet off the ground.
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Lorcán chuckled as Martha rolled ahead of them, seeming optimistic. "It's clear from the reactions of those downstairs and Mother Mellus, that this sort of thing is uncommon at best," he said quietly to Cassandra. He cocked his head slightly as he heard another pop in the distance and glanced out of the window.
-_-_-_-_-_-.
Mother Mellus tilted her head thoughtfully.
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Posted: Wed Feb 20, 2013 6:50 pm
Kaosujin Ryu It really sucks when you have to run around at work all day Constance looked over at Kasumi as the older woman spoke to her. Her head tilted to the side and she nodded slowly. "Well I can certainly try. What is it that I need to do first?"
Merida looked over at Naruto and nodded slowly. "I am glad someone thought to explain it to me." She smiled a little at him. "Merrick is already very strong, I can only imagine how much stronger that makes him." She was quiet for a moment as she watched Kasumi with the two younger witches. "You know, I thought that Constance would never find herself someone to be with her for her entire life? She had always been so introverted. She barely looked at any boys or girls." Her head tilted to the side slightly. "Now I realize she was just waiting for Merrick to show up. They truly complete one another."~~~~~ "What? Us being here?" Cassandra said as she glanced over at Lorcan. She chuckled a little and nodded. "It is uncommon. There aren't many who know about this place, let alone how to get here." They walked casually behind Martha's chair.
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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 6:20 am
Kasumi tilted her head. "You draw energy from your core, here," she said, her fingertips lightly brushing just above where Constance's navel was, "and focus its flow through your body, especially your feet, which may be harder to do, as it's actually supposedly the hardest area to push it from for lack of tenketsu... mastering this exercise will make your magic stronger," she said with amusement before her head turned at a loud thud, seeing Merrick rolling onto his feet. Naruto winced as Merrick made it another couple of feet higher before he lost his concentration and fell again, this time landing with a thumping crunch onto the back of his shoulders and head; he had done the same thing when he'd first learned the exercise. "Tell me about it; he seems to have natural talent for recreating techniques, to manage to recreate a B ranked technique so easily and one that infamous... I personally fought the ninja that had that technique, and that guy could hit hard enough to probably stop a small truck with a single punch.. without Dōmu active," he sighed. "It's funny, but much has actually been forgotten when it comes to 'ninja' nowadays as compared to what it once was like, but maybe that's for the best," he said thoughtfully. He cocked his head slightly, realizing his nephew was identical to him in the way that he learned by doing rather than through theory.
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Merrick winced as he rolled back to his feet, seeing his mother explain the exercise in more detail than he could; he actually hadn't listened that well when he'd first learned it either.
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Lorcán tilted his head. "Among other things. I was referring to these dreams that they're mentioning as well," he said thoughtfully. "I'm almost certain you're right about that; I've only heard of Martin the Warrior sending dreams maybe every three to five generations of Abbeybeasts," Martha said wryly.
-_-_-_-_-_-.
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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 7:11 am
Constance had been listening intently to Kasumi when she heard the thud. She turned to see Merrick getting to his feet. She had taken a couple of steps forward before stopping. He seemed to be okay. She then turned her gaze to a tree and looked at it for a moment. She took a deep breath and placed one foot on it. Constance closed her eyes, taking deep breaths. After she had gathered up her courage she moved her other foot and soon she was standing as Merrick had only minutes before. Keeping her eyes closed she began to move. When she finally opened her eyes she was nearly five feet from the ground. Her eyes widened with surprise and she lost concentration, beginning to fall. Constance gasped, closing her eyes and expecting to hit the ground, but nothing happened. She opened her eyes to see herself inches from the ground. A soft breeze surrounded her, keeping her afloat. Constance let out a deep breath as she was turned the right way, and then she was sitting on the ground. "Holy crap," she whispered. Merida was watching Naruto when he spoke, her gaze going momentarily to Merrick when he fell. "Well you must be either very strong or very lucky." She said with a small smile in Naruto's direction. She heard a gasp and recognized it as Constance's. She turned and her eyes widened as she saw Constance on the tree then she began to fall. Before she could move a force seemed to stop Constance from hitting the ground. "Oh my goodness," she whispered, her heart pounding in her chest. ----- Cassandra nodded slowly. It was rare to get dreams from Martin. Her gaze went back to Martha. "If you want help interrupting your dreams, you might ask Amelia. She has a lot of knowledge on the subject."
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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 7:29 am
Kasumi blinked, surprised at the unintentional reaction; she knew neither her nor Naruto had reacted in time to catch Constance. "Both actually... not to mention I can definitely take a hit, though it seems Constance used the Kaze no Yoroi," Naruto said thoughtfully. Kasumi smiled slightly. "Trust me, it's clear that Merrick is strongly like Naruto... learns through actual practice than theory, though I have known some extremely skilled kunoichi that could apply both theory and practice to a technique simultaneously," she said thoughtfully as Merrick dropped again, this time from nearly twenty feet high before he landed with a thud on his feet.
-_-_-_-_-_-
Merrick
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Lorcán shifted subtly as he heard a couple of pops before he heard a boom. "Somehow, I don't think that's coming from the kitchen, unless someone got a hold of firecrackers," he said with amusement."Sometimes dreams in which Martin appears are better," Martha said with amusement.
-_-_-_-_-_-.
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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 2:45 pm
Constance got slowly to her feet. She couldn't believe that she had stopped herself like that. She had expected a hard impact and pain. She looked over at Merida, who had a look of astonishment and fear on her face. She grinned at the woman she had always looked up to, giving her a small wave. She then turned back to the tree to begin again. This time she wanted to higher. She would keep going until she reached the top. Merida shook her head a little as she looked back to Naruto. Constance had always had a way of making her heart jump with fright. She had always been protective of the younger woman. She had always seemed so vulnerable. Now she knew it was not the case. Constance was a bright, brilliant and strong young woman. "Strength and luck are good," she said with a wink at Naruto. ~~~~~ Cassandra's head tilted at Lorcan's comment. "Nah, it's coming from outside somewhere." She said with a small shrug of her shoulders. She chuckled at Martha. "I am sure they are. But even dreams with Martin in them have hidden meanings sometimes. Things we don't see at first. Amelia has always been interested in finding the hidden meanings. She has gotten quite good at it."
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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 3:07 pm
Kasumi chuckled, tilting her head; she could tell the girl would keep trying. "There are always advantages to long life, experience and strength among them... but watching your family from a distance, including those you once loved dearly, is one of the biggest disadvantages... it's too bad our father never mentioned about the mating marks until we were eight hundred years old... in his words we were 'too young to understand and grasp the depth of that kind of love and commitment' since the mating marks also, in a very real way, arrest the aging process if our mate is something other than a Kitsune and usually ends up making them at least half Kitsune as well," Naruto sighed.
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Merrick straightened, tilting his head with a soft pop before he pushed off, this time planting his feet carefully and steadily rather than rushing it. He kept the mental image of a spark of flame in his mind and kept his focus until he reached nearly sixty feet off the ground before slipping again. As he dropped this time, he flipped so he was inverted and facing downward as he took a deep breath, this time deliberately letting his feral side peek through.
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Lorcán jerked as he saw Merrick crest the wall, running up the side of the tree until he was nearly thirty five feet above the top of the wall, which he'd gauged at twenty four feet tall before he saw Merrick suddenly start falling. "Damn it," he muttered through gritted teeth. "True," Martha said thoughtfully; she made a note mentally to seek out this 'Amelia' out later.
-_-_-_-_-_-.
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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 3:57 pm
Constance made it halfway up the tree before she began falling again. This time she was able to slow her fall faster, manipulating the air around her. She landed lightly on her feet, grinning happily. It really hadn't been as hard as she thought it was going to be. Merida watched Naruto silently before looking back Constance's way. "It must be hard...to stay far away from your family." Her head tilted slightly. "Do you not have a mate to make the time more bearable?"~~~~~ Cassandra turned her gaze to where Lorcan was looking and her eyes widened. "What in the world is he doing!?" She exclaimed. He had been running up a tree and then just fell. It made her heart skip a beat.
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Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 8:10 am
Kasumi saw Merrick falling at high speed, not seeming to try to arrest his fall. She could clearly see his claws and lengthened incisors before he started spinning at high speed, the air twisting into a cyclone around him as he shot away to the south, ricocheting off of a couple of trees in the process. Naruto exhaled through gritted teeth. "She passed away a few years before I found out about the mating marks," he said quietly. Kasumi had told him about the child she'd found and was fairly sure that the child was related to them, perhaps a great-grandchild. A faint, wistful smile flickered over his face as he again recognized the technique Merrick was using, this time a technique one of his old friends had used.
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Merrick started spinning, a faint golden-red aura flickering around his body. He had seen a group of vermin headed slightly to the to the north, but still aimed almost directly towards the Abbey. He pushed off the trees at high speed as he noticed a large rat smirking as he dropped, deliberately narroly missing the rat's side and head as he landed, skidding in the bushes with a trail of dust following him as the large searat spun comically before he shifted, his foot snapping out and kicking the rat full in the abdomen and sending him tumbling forward as he kept his head down, watching the three stoats, three weasels, and a short fox. Two had spears, while three had rusty swords; the fox had a good sized scimitar while the other had a decent, if battered spear.
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Lorcán shifted his weight. "I don't know, but I couldn't tell if he was falling out of control or barely controlled from here; from the fact he was falling head-down, I would lean more towards 'barely controlled', but I can't be sure," he said carefully. "What if your friend noticed something none of us did?" Martha said with interest.
-_-_-_-_-_-.
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