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[[Louis : Narnia : Seymour's Castle - Armory]]

The shadowmancer sighed, "I can't do that. I guess you could say I'm too much of a coward to actually hurt myself. Just do it, but try to aim away from any vital spots, I kinda need them to keep living. Please hurry, I only have so much strength to keep myself in one spot like this."

{ATE: Reisen Dietre : 13}


[[Louis : Narnia : Seymour's Castle - Armory]]

"There are 3 ways to the courtyard that I know of honestly." Louis said as he pondered the question, "The first, is through the main hall, back the same way we came. The second and 3rd, we'd need to go up a floor, and out onto the battlements. There's an east and a west battlement exit overlooking the courtyard. You can spot them on the outside, where either tower meets the walls."

After giving a far too detailed explanation, Louis led the way, moving with a swifter step out than he had when they'd arrive. It was obvious he was eager to get things over with, but not enough to be irritated in any way.

He decided to avoid the main hall because he'd need to deal with that woman, so he took the quickest rout over the east battlement.

When they arrived, he turned back to Nick and nodded once, "Well, I'm ready when you are.I'm sure they're all convinced I'm dead right about now. It's about time I make my... I guess I can't say triumphant return can I? Oh well, this will have to do." Louis laughed morbidly, still regretting the pain he'd need to endure. He hated pain, more than anything else, he hated it.

At last, he drew his Rapier once more, and braced himself for the beating.

[[Louis : Narnia : Seymour's Castle - Courtyard]]

Louis braced, and as the impacts laid into him, so did his upper and lower jaw lay into each other. Searing pain flowed over his body as cloth and skin tore away leaving raw flesh in their place. The pain was soon joined by hot sensation running down his limbs, torso, and one side of his face over the eye. But, he bared with it, grinding his teeth together else he feared in his pain he'd sooner bite his tongue. His hands gripped tightly to his rapier. Just as the winds died down Louis took in a deep breath prepared for the next step, Just a bit more...

[[Louis : Narnia : Seymour's Castle - Courtyard]]

Louis groaned and snapped over the pain, "Just do something! I can only put up with this for so long..." Louis grimaced and prepared himself for whatever came next.

Joe smiled at the girl, his hand moving oddly and in small circles as wind seemed to kick up around his arm. Dawn probably would've caught a glimpse of the occasional streak of wind, and sensed the magic and it's intent as a type of armor.

The fighter, standing near a dummy, put his arm next to it, and watched as the wind cut into the dummy, cutting deeper when he got closer to it.

"Whatcha think? Been thinking about it for a while. A kind of spiked armor, you could say. Good, no?" Yep, that's all he really wanted to try. But he was good with that.

"Hey, Bagheera, where yo—MEEEH!"

For the second time today I had a large jungle cat on top of me. I had woken up and walked outside to get on with my day. Bagheera wasn't on top of my shelter where he had been before. There was a good reason for that.

He backed off quickly with a smirk on his face. "You are quite unaware of your surroundings."

"What was that for?!" I spluttered, trying to block out Titan's chuckles.

"You need to be more observant, Little Tree-Grower. Here in the jungle there are predators that will kill you in an instant—snakes and poisonous insects—you must be more aware of what is around you, or you will not live long. This is your first lesson."

"First lesson?" I grunted, getting back to my feet and dusting myself off. "And since when was my name Little Tree-Grower? Little Tree-Grower, what kind of name is that anyways?"

"You are little, are you not?"

"Well yeah, but—"

"And you do grow trees, do you not?"

"Yes, but—"

"There you have it. Little Tree-Grower. And you wanted me to teach you, so that is what I am doing. I will teach you all that I know that applies life and what you might encounter in it."

"But . . . why don't you just call me by my name? It's a lot shorter than Little Tree-Grower."

Bagheera's smile widened, "I seem to have forgotten it. But that's not important now, let's get going."

"Whoa-whoa, wait, what?! You forgot my name? Rude!"

"Shall I pounce on you again?"

I moped, "No. Please don't."

Bagheera took the lead and I followed behind, making sure to subtly mark my surroundings with a red flower. Bagheera would probably remember the way back, but I sure as hell wouldn't. I didn't want to take any chances. When we stopped we were near a large river that seemed relatively calm, though I'm sure the current was quite strong. The muddy parts of the banks didn't have trees on them, so I was able to stand in the sun. It felt nice, even though the jungle was humid and made me sweaty and sticky. The sun was high in the sky, meaning that not too much of the day had passed. This also meant I had plenty of daylight left, and plenty of opportunity to see Elleon. Yaay me.

"So what are we doing . . . here . . . Bagheera? . . . Aww, damnit." I grumbled. Bagheera had disappeared again. This meant he was going to pounce on me again. He was right, I really was rather unobservant.

'Can you really not find him?'
Hey, I don't need any help from the peanut gallery.
'You really do need to learn to use what's at your disposal. You've been equipped with many things, but you don't use them to your advantage.'
What're you talking abou—oh riiiiight . . . yeah, shuddup.
'I didn't say anything.'
Well then shut up now.

I tried to feel out where Bagheera was using the earth. It wasn't as easy as I thought it would be though; sensing different pressures and disturbances in the earth was really difficult, especially because there was so much plant life. I stomped the ground with my foot and the soil rumbled a little in response to my touch. But that didn't work, I couldn't tell between a body standing on top of the soil and a tree. Maybe if I could use my agromancy as well? That made things even more difficult. Trying to combine the two senses overloaded me a little and I just had a muddled mess of an outside sense.

Titan, this isn't working. I can't seem to eliminate the insignificant things to find him.
'Insignificant things? Don't be foolish, nothing is insignificant in this technique. Even the bugs digging through the dirt are an important component to sensing that which does not fit in with natural sources. I suppose you're not ready to learn this yet, you do not have the right skill set. Give it time, and you'll learn it eventually.'
Eventually? I want to learn it no—

"Meeeeh . . . must you do that every time? Why not just scare me or something? I mean, honestly, is the whole let me jump on your chest! thing necessary?"

"Absolutely." Bagheera replied, backing off again after he had tackled me . . . again. "You are still not wary of what's around you, and this is the third time today. You were clearly not focused."

I grumpily got back to my feet and rubbed some mud off my cheek, "I was focused, just not on the right thing . . ."

'I think I need to join Bagheera. I'm not much help in here.'
Are you sure that's such a good idea?
'You're not scared, are you?'
Un poco.
'What?'
Nothing, go ahead.

Titan's form rose from the earth beside me, standing at least six feet and possibly five inches from head to toe. He was muddy and gross because that was the most immediately available earth, but this made him look a little less frightening (an image of the Molasses Monster from Candyland popped into my head). He did, however, look as grumpy as I imagined him looking all the time. It was actually a little strange having him regular sized—I was used to having him in battle when he was the size of a mountain.

Bagheera did not seem to take kindly at all to Titan's sudden appearance. He had already crouched and was ready to spring. If I hadn't moved fast enough, Bagheera might have tried to eat him. I jumped between them and frantically shook my head.

"No-no, Bagheera! He's alright, he's not an enemy!" I shouted, waving my hands for him to stop. He slowly eased up, but the snarl remained on his lips.

"Honestly, it's okay Bagheera." I told him with a nervous smile, "His name is Titan; he's my summon. He's my source of earth magic. I can grow and move plants on my own, but without him I would have no controll of the earth."

Bageera sat back a bit, "Titan? . . . A mud creature?"

I laughed a bit then stopped when Titan growled at me, "No, not usually. He is made of whatever earth is available. Right now we're by the river mud, so this is what he has."

"All right then. My apologies. Nice to meet you, I suppose."

"Pleasure." Titan grumbled, "I will be helping you train the human. She is not adept enough at her current level."

I made a face, "Aww, come on! I'm better than you guys give me cred--" Slpunk!

Titan and Baheera's laughter could be heard from only one of my ears because the other was clogged with mud. Titan had sneak attack mud balled me in the side of the head while I was talking. The glob just launched from the ground right into the side of my head. Lovely. I stuck a finger in my ear to clear it while complaining.

"God, what was THAT for?!"

"You should have been able to block or dodge that. You didn't, thus it is clear that you are not as good as we don't give you credit for."

"But that came from nowhere!" I protested. Titan gave me a glare like he was attempting to melt my head.

"Oh? That's your excuse? What do enemy attacks do?"

I opened my mouth to give a smartass reply but stopped when I realized he was right. "They . . . come from nowhere."

"Precisely. So this is the name of the game: be alert, be quick, and you won't get hit." Titan said, arms crossed like he was some sort of football coach briefing his star quarterback--me.

I sneered, "Oh, is that all?"

"You say that like this is going to be easy."

"Well, I mean, come on. It's just a little mud--OOOOWWW! HEY. THAT WAS A ROCK! YOU LAUNCHED A ROCK AT ME!"

Bagheera was visibly snickering and Titan couldn't help but lift the corner of his mouth as I rubbed my arm where I had been hit. "It's time for you to start taking things seriously human. Or you will die. Now get moving."

"Moving?" I repeated, puzzled. "Moving where."

"Go collect the seeds from at least a hundred different species. Be watchful."

I raised the corner of my lip as I leaned slightly to see past Titan. A hundred different species. That shouldn't have been too difficult--I was in a rain forest after all. The place was just teeming with life. And all I had to do was watch out for a few mud balls and (hopefully less) rocks? No sweat.

Well, I started out thinking that, anyway. I soon found out I wasn't thinking clearly. Titan would spring a bombardment of mud balls on me at the exact moment I lost focus on my surroundings. After forever--well, what seemed like forever, anyway-- I had probably hardly walked a hundred feet and gathered twenty five seeds. Every once in a while I would hear Bagheera chuckle from some unknown location and I would get mud in the face or the back of the head for being distracted. A little way into the exercise, I started to get the hang of things. I realized that what Titan was trying to teach me wasn't just awareness and speedy reflexes; it was about being able to handle and complete a task (like, oh, preparing an attack) while being aware of the enemy's movements. Took me long enough, right? I was a little miffed that I didn't realize how simple it was from the start. I just had to be extra careful to keep paying attention to my surroundings when my eyes weren't on them. Well, I guess from error comes wisdom . . . no matter how long it takes you to get it.

By the time I had hit the mark of gathering fifty seeds I was caked in dirt. Hardly any of the color of my hair could be seen past the brown-black soil and my arms were sticky with the stuff. I didn't mind it, though. I might have actually been beginning to enjoy myself. The more time passed, the better and more efficient I became. After one hundred seeds had been collected I kept going.

Titan stepped out for another check as he had been doing through the entire practice. "Have you reached your mark?"

"Yeah," I replied, seeding another leafy plant. "I have a hundred and twelve."

"Well I suppose your job is done then. And at just the right time, too. You're beginning to look like me."

I could hear Bagheera laughing from a pearch he'd chosen in a tree. I stood back up indignantly and put my hands on my hips, "Wha-ho, look at the humor on mud man."

Just as Titan was about to growl some sort of grumpy reply a woody vine lashed out at me. Briefly thinking it was another one of Titan's tricks I dodged it and grabbed hold of it before it could come back and hit me. That's when I realized . . . Titan has no control of plants.

"Well look at you! All fast and strong-like. You're starting to look more like me . . ."

Before the thought even completed in my mind, my spear was in my hand. My eyes darted to the voice and I immediately felt every muscle in my body tense. I wasn't expecting her to be back so soon, it wasn't even evening yet. Two scraps in one day? I didn't know if I could keep up. Bagheera jumped from his tree with a snarl, growling menacingly.

"Where'd you get the kitten? I'm impressed!" Elleon crooned with a vampire-like smile.

"Quit with the small talk," I seethed, "Why are you here?!"

"God, what a stupid question!" She hissed, all amusement gone from her features. "You know damn well why I'm here, we had an agreement!"

"So that's what you're calling it?"

The vine I had grabbed wrapped around my arm and constricted, twisting it painfully. I tried not to cry out as I bent my body to prevent my arm from snapping. Bagheera was about to lunge.

"No, Bagheera! Stay out of this!" Titan roared, startling the panther. Bagheera backed off, reluctantly sitting down with his head low.

"Oh, and he knows tricks! My replica exclaimed mockingly. "How about play dead?"

"No! Augh--!" The vine twisted more, making me twist my shoulder and fall to one knee. I tried to ignore it, more concerned with what she might do to Bagheera. "Leave him out of this, he has nothing to do with us!"

I could see her thinking about it, debating about whether she could use it to hold over my head or something. Her attention returned to me and in a second I was face down on the ground, flipped there by the jungle creepers at her command. Titan didn't move to help me. In fact, he retreated back into the ground. I was briefly irritated with him but soon realized it was the best thing he could have done for me. I needed all the magic I could get, so he couldn't just be gallivanting around anymore, using it up. My mind returned to the situation at hand when I felt Elleon press her shoe to my shoulder.

"You're right. Let's make this more about us."

She moved her foot and stepped back, leaving me confused as to what she was doing. My confusion didn't last long. All the plant-life released me and the earth trembled, launching me up and backwards. I cleared the trees and continued along my projectile pathway, screaming in terror. I thought I was dead. I had no idea where I was going to land or what I might hit on the way down. My descent began and I didn't come into contact with any more trees. That was a good sign. As soon as I heard the rushing water, I knew. Raging river, here I come. My back slapped the water before receiving another blow from the sandy bottom. I had landed in the shallows where the currents weren't strong enough to carry me away, but where the bottom was close enough to the surface of the water to make my landing very painful. I sat up in the water to regain my bearings but kept having to wipe mud out of my eyes. The water was causing the soil in my hair to run down my face and blur my vision. I stumbled like a drunk, trying to get back to my feet and clear my eyes. Elleon was waiting for me on the shore, smirking as I winced from my sore arm and my now sore back. I didn't move to get out of the water, thinking it was better to stay as far from her has possible.

"What, are you just going to stand there?" I asked, trying to get something to happen.

"Your move." She smirked, "I initiated."

"You're pretty damn polite all of a sudden."

A look of gratification crossed her face, "Oh, you think I'm being polite do you? I suppose I should stop, then."

The speed with which she closed the distance between us was frightening. One moment she was on the shore and the next she was wading next to me, fingers closed tightly around my throat. Her lips raised in a snarl and she spoke through clenched teeth. "I'd hate to seem merciful."

I moved my spear to crack her in the side but she caught it and tucked it under her arm. Releasing my neck, she drew back to punch me in the face. I guess she wasn't expecting me to actually let go of my spear to get away, but I managed it, ducking and leaping to the shore. Mud came from the river bank at her side and slapped her in the side of the face as I was escaping, effectively pissing Elleon off. Thank you, Titan, as if this wasn't going to be hard enough. She hefted up my spear but it disappeared from her hand and re-appeared in mine. That made no difference, though, because her own came up to replace it. With a mighty throw, my replica launched her spear at me. I fell back, literally, to avoid getting hit. I rolled backwards over my shoulder to expedite getting to my feet. This was a bad location for a fight--the soil was too muddy to do real damage and most plant-life would tear up from the ground easily.

Elleon began approaching, trudging out of the water with her spear summoned back to her hand. I stood defensively, backing away. A tree root rose from the ground, snapping towards me in a wave. I reacted fast enough to block my side, my spear in both hands pressing against the thick, woody attacker. However, I couldn't escape the more dangerous spear-tip swinging my way. The bladed arrow cut across my chest as I bent back, leaving a line of blood. It felt like the relatively shallow laceration had been made by a hot poker, searing my skin on contact. I hissed in pain and stumbled back. The tree-root made its move, wrapping around my waist and dragging me back until I collided with the tree's hard trunk. Things were just barely beginning to heat up and I was already getting owned. Fighting to pull myself away, I heard a sharp crack coming from the tree not far to my right. I whipped my head in its direction to see a heavily needled tree. The needles on one side had stood on end and were beginning the process of shooting at me in large quantities.

With a shout I moved to protect my head and neck from the piercing thorns, but I couldn't do much for the rest of my right side. Hundreds of needles stuck into my skin, wracking my body with pain. The rapid-fire suddenly ceased and the tip of my replica's spear appeared in front of my face. I blinked in terror. This is it . . . end of the road.

"You are so damn pathetic." Elleon hissed, dismissing her spear and punching me in the side. I doubled over, feeling my knees shake. I gasped for breath, expecting another hit. Nothing came. It was the strangest thing--it almost seemed like she didn't know what more to do with me.

"Me? How about you. You can't even kill me for christ's sake!" I panted, coughing while trying to right myself. The root around my waist tightened, making it even more difficult to breathe.

"Would you like to test that theory?!"

I grunted, "Not particularly."

'Quit pushing it, human.' Titan growled.
Yeah-yeah, cool your tits.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're keeping me alive for something. A smart cookie like you has to have some sort of plan, eh?" I murmured facetiously.

It was doubtful that I was going to get anything out of her, but it was worth a try. It was just too puzzling that she wouldn't happily end me. Not that I was asking for it at all, I like living. It was all just too strange for such a dark creature not to destroy something that doesn't live up to a standard. Something was terribly fishy.

"Let's try this on for size." She said, grabbing the bottom of my jaw and lifting it up so my eyes met hers. "You're alive because I want you to be. It's that simple. I am in control here. I have you on a leash, and that's something you can't deny. I can track you and trap you where I want. You would even stand where I wanted when I wanted--if I wanted it. It's no different than if you had strings attached to your arms and legs. You know why this is? Can you even guess?"

I didn't say anything, mainly because I couldn't move my jaw to speak. That and Titan would be happy to throttle me if I got us in even deeper trouble.

"I thought not. The first reason is easy enough to spot. I'm better than you. In. Every. Way. I have all of your strengths and none of your weaknesses. At this point in time you couldn't even hope to reach my level of strength. But the second reason is the real killer here. You would jump through hoops to get that pathetic mage's heart back. I've gotten you to risk your life, your pride, and even your dignity to just try and retrieve it. And you're going along with it. There isn't even a two percent chance of you getting her heart back, and you're going along with it . . . You're a fool. And to you, I'm practically God."

I couldn't tell which was more chilling, her tone of voice or what she was saying. She was right. Man, why did she have to be right? But there was one thing I had on her. One thing that made this all worth while.

"This is true . . ." I said through clenched teeth, trying to act like what she said wasn't a big deal. At this point I knew she wasn't going to kill me. She was enjoying her God-complex too much to lose her only marionette. This meant I could try and piss her off. Sure, it was going to suck getting out of the hole I was digging myself, but if I was going to be digging I might as well have been digging deep.

"Yeah, I'm a fool. But at least my heart is true. And that's all that matters. Whether I'm dead or alive, the only significant thing is that I've stayed true to my heart. I have something to fight for, and this gives me strength. You will never know strength like mine . . . because you will never have something to fight for."

I could see her temper flare . . . just about as much as I could feel it. She grabbed me by the neck again and forced my back all the way flat against the tree. Elleon wasn't trying to strangle me but her fingers were twitching like she was seconds from it. I grabbed her wrist with both hands and winced as the root around my waist pushed me into the tree as hard as it could.

"So you're saying that I'm no match for your strength?! What a -%*&#>- idiot, I just went through this! You're nothing but an ANT! A pathetic, useless ant! You couldn't even compete with my strength if you tried! Go on, escape me. Overpower my magic and escape me!"

She stood waiting for me to try and counteract the control she had over the root at my waist. I didn't know if I should try it. I really was no match for her physical or magical strength, but that wasn't what I was talking about. She missed the point completely.

"Do it! Amaze me with your strength!"

Fine, screw it.

I pushed, trying to overcome my replica's control and remove the root that was crushing my waist. Elleon watched me in angered amusement as I struggled. As I pushed harder so did she, making my efforts seem like nothing.

Come on, come on! I can do this! I moved a fricking ISLAND with my magic. I can beat this!

I really couldn't. I had the help of another earth user last time, not to mention and endless supply of magic. Here I was tired, hurting, and weakened from Titan's prolonged outside presence while he trained me. If I didn't stop when I did I probably would have really hurt myself. Elleon scoffed, her irritation residing when she saw me beaten. The tremors my words had created moments ago were nothing now.

"I'll say it again. You're pathetic."

She released me and I slid down tiredly, keeping my back to the tree. The root became lifeless and I could finally breathe well again. I watched as Elleon turned away, walking towards a psycho portal she had just created.

"You'll never have strength like mine . . ."

[Anthony ~.~ Isle of Tortuga ~.~ Faithful Bride Tavern (Day 3)]

[Cue: Salty Sailor]

"Avast ye, dungbie landlubbers!" a seemingly intoxicated Anthony shouted out to a bunch of drunken pirates and crooks. "Ye filthy, hornswagglin', g'd-fer-nothin' dogs!" Suddenly, silence fell upon the tavern as they all turned their attention to the young soul with the death wish. Anthony took a moment to take a gulp out of his mug of beer, unbeknownst to everyone else that it was actually empty, then slammed the mug against the bar and stood up quickly, stumbling left, then right until he slammed into a support beam and used it as support to stand. "Now that I be havin' yer attention," he continued, "which one o' ye sissy lasses would want t' brawl wi' th' likes o' me?" His words were slurred and unclear and he'd hiccup once in awhile between sentences as his body swayed side-to-side whenever he wasn't leaning against the beam. Anyone who saw or heard him would definitely believe he were drunk. He reached into his vest pocket and pulled our a small pouch of what could only be assumed to be coin. "I bet me week`s wages that none o' ye lousy seafarin' heartys be able t' take me down!" Interest now filled the tavern as the pirates all stood up at once, cracking their knuckles and necks.

"Perhaps I bit off more than I could chew," Anthony thought to himself, rather nervous from the sight of all the pirates that stood up. "Next time I wont be so rude...

"OI! one of the pirates shouted from the back. "GET HIM!"

[Cue: Tavern Music]

Suddenly, all the pirates shouted as they charged Anthony, who took off running, flipping chairs and tables as he did. "Oh my goodness, what did I do?!" he shouted as he squaddled away. He made his way up the stairs and down the hall until he finally turned around to face his opponents. One-by-one they came at him and one-by-one Anthony knocked them down or over the railing and to the tavern floor. He swung and kicked and flipped them all. Eventually, they became so riled up they began to fight one another, completely forgetting about what Anthony had said just moments ago.

[Anthony ~.~ Isle of Tortuga ~.~ Faithful Bride Tavern (Day 3)]

"Is that all ye`ve got?" Anthony asked as he tussled with a pirate. Kicking in the pirate's knee cap, he twisted the pirate's arm as he turned, lifted the pirate onto his back, then tossed the pirate over his shoulder and down to the tables below. "Give me a real challenge!" he barked, then turned and close-lined a charging pirate. Ever heard the expression, 'be careful what you wish for?' Well... this was one of those situations. Almost immediately after demanding a greater challenge, the pirates brawling on the second floor began part like the red sea, revealing a rather tall individual with blonde hair and blue eyes walking past the pirates and directly at Anthony.

"So ye think ye got what 't takes t' take on a sea dog such as myself, do ye lad?" Anthony mocked, lowering his guard and laughing out loud at the approaching challenger.