Welcome to Gaia! ::

The breeze was cool as it trickled through the full green leaves of the trees, shifting in the hush that settled over the path. The whispers of the leaves rustling and the tall grass waving created a tranquil feeling in the teens bones. The breeze ruffled through wild yellow and black locks, tickling along a pale nose; which crinkled a little. It was a beautiful day, though it seemed there could be a chance of showers later. The sky was a mass space of blue and grey clouds, the breeze warm with just a twinge of cool. It was the perfect day in his eyes to meet up with an old friend and that was exactly what the lightening dust was doing.

Ziya had told his guardian that he'd be back later on in the evening, not t hat he had much of a curfew. He always said where he was going and how long generally he would be gone for; forever the responsible child. Though he did use a great deal of his time in keeping tabs on his little brother, who liked to break all sorts of rules. Then the bird would get himself into trouble and Ziya would have to swoop in like the good big brother he was and bail him out before Ashton could find out.

Today however he was putting those duties on the back burner so he could meet up with Krinn. The rain dust was his best friend in his eyes and any chance to meet up with him was taken. They were to meet along the fringes of the forest; a small nature walk if you will was the plan. So once he found a decent spot, Ziya sat himself down on the ground; threading his slender fingers through the blades of grass. Tilting his head back, he sighed, a faint smile on his face as grey hues stared up into the sky, willing the grey clouds away. Soon he carelessly flopped onto his back, throwing one arm under his head for a cushion.

Today felt like it was going to be wonderful. He was relaxed and unworried about a single thing as he had left Fintan in loads of things to keep him occupied. Plus both Shepard and Ashton were home so there would be no blowing up of the house while he was out. Keeping the peace was a big thing in his day to day life but he wouldn't trade it for anything.

Breathing in deeply, Ziya sighed and cloud gazed while he waited to hear any signs of his friend arriving.

Upon hearing his name being called, The lightening dust propped himself up onto his elbows. Ruffling a hand through the wild locks, he dislodged any organics that had decided to cling to his static hair. "I wasn't waiting long, no reason to be sorry!" He chimed cheerfully. "I'm just glad you remembered!"

Sitting up more, he stretched a little, his back popping from not being stretched in a while. "How have you been? I haven't seen you in a while?" he asked, dusting the leaves off his jacket. It was growing later then he had first thought but being a ways into the forest like this wasn't too bad. There wasn't much scarier out here then them really, a boy who could conjure storms and a lightening bug? The forest was very quiet anyways; not even a cry of a owl could be heard. Quiet and relaxing; just how he liked it.

"Anything new and exciting?" Ziya asked, his smile as chipper as ever. The breeze stirred up again, this time a little stronger then before as it even ruffled through his unzipped coat. Maybe he should have brought a heavier coat; it didn't feel like a lightening storm but perhaps just a heavy rain shower was on its way.

Settling his gaze on his friend, the lightening teen relaxed his shoulders and crossed his legs. Long slender arms draped over his thighs as he leaned forward to sit in a more alter manner. Tilting his head to the side, he looked at the other who seemed to have fallen quiet for a moment. Wondering if it was something he had said, he too remained silent. They had just become teen when they had last seen each other and it looked like Krinn had grown the most. "I haven't seen many other either... and those I have.. well they were still bottles..." he added with a weary smile. No Cada and no Sable, none of the other teens have been around it seemed.

"Thats good to hear," Ziya replied, "Ah yes, Fintan... he's alright... a handful to say the least" he sighed slightly. "It seems I spend most of my time getting him out of trouble these days... he's an excellent lock pick and has no brain mouth filter..." he chuckled a little and shook his head slightly. Ziya would say he was bird brained but he was far to intelligent for that he supposed. Despite all of the birds faults he did really love his little brother and would always look out for him.

The quiet seemed to be getting heavier, to the point where Ziya was even noticing how strange it was. The hairs on the back of his neck seemed to rise a little, an unsettling feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. The only sound was the wind whistling through the trees, but no animals or insects; how strange. The sky seemed to grow a little darker and denser as clouds seemed to be making their precession through the near evening sky.

A yellow brow rose sharply upon hearing Krinns news, not having expected that in the very least. "Circus?" he questioned, a half smile reaching his lips. Nodding a little as the other elaborated it seemed to make sense, no matter how unexpected. "Sounds interesting... not what I expected... though... I'm not sure what I was expecting" He grinned and picked at the blades of grass. "Me? Well nothing as grand as the circus..." He teased playfully, " I've been working on getting an apprenticeship as a mechanic on a fishing boat... been reading up on all the books there are, fixing and rebuilding what I can with spares I get from scrap yards and ship yards" Ziya explained. He was about to start in on something else when he shivered a little, and something willed him to look towards the deeper sections of the forest. The hairs on the back of his neck seemed to rise more; something felt off.

Leaning further forward on his arms, he watched the other carefully; his eyes studying the other as he spoke about Sable and Cada. "I remember hearing about that from Cada... Only met Sable once and she seemed very nice... a little on the shy side though" Ziya smiled, remembering that day, having bought the very shy girl an ice cream. It had been quite interesting, she had been the first girl he had ever hung out with as a teen. He had done all the proper cues as explained by Shepard, as Ashton had been deemed useless on the topic of girls. "No I understand the feeling very well... I lost contact with all of you at one point..." he murmured, tilting his head to the side a little.

"Mmm... I suppose you can look at it that way.... we do the shopping together and that in itself is tedious.. his words" He chuckled, shaking his head a little. "He has only just started as a child so... I have a long time to put up with him.... love him no matter what... little bugger or not" He laughed then looked up as the other stood. "You never seemed terrible to me.... not then and certainly not now."

Watching the fellow teen carefully, he noticed he seemed much more reserved then all of the other times they'd seen each other. Time was a fickle thing and Ziya felt he was a little out of his league when talking to Krinn. He had so much more life experience then he did, the lightening dust just stuck to his usual. Though he was trying, this apprenticeship should really be an eye opener for him; being out to sea with others away from home. He felt a little bad leaving Ashton and everyone behind but he felt like it was something he needed to try out on his own. How else was he going to learn?

Suddenly even Ziya could feel the sudden shift in the air; the taste of it feeling heavy and sharp on his tongue. Something felt off, it wasn't the feeling he got when another dust was around but something like warning bells. He was about to say something to Krinn when everything started to happen all at once. His lanky body snapped to attention when he was told to run; something harsh twisting in his chest.

"KRINN!" Ziya shouted, scrambling to his feet when the poor rain dust was wounded and tossed to the side. Seeing the beast atop of him, tearing and biting caused something within the normally relaxed dust to snap.

The static energy around him crackled as his body tensed like a hot coil. The air grew to feel like a electrical storm was coming, the moment when all your small hairs seemed to stand on end and your teeth go on edge. The build up of energy was so great that the little peels of lightening flipped through his fingers like one would a coin. As of now his attacks with his lightening were short ranged; it was now or never while the creature was distracted; it was now or Krinn was no more.

Taking off like a shot; Ziya hurtled himself at the beast, using the tact of surprise and his sheer electrical force to push the creature off. Their bodies collided with a sharp snap and crackle of electrical current as they tumbled just a ways from poor Kirnn. Ziya released a bright flash of light, the beast howling as the peels of lightening traveled though his dark frame. He knew it would burn upon entry, he knew all to well the pain that an electrical burn caused. The world around him shook for a moment as his head collided with the hard ground. His vision swam as he tried to gain his bearings; the creature just to the left of him, shuddering from his electric shock. Breathing hard, he willed himself to scramble a short ways from the beast to get some space between them. This wasn't something he could kill as Ziya knew he wasn't even close to being powerful enough to kill the damn thing. His only hope now was to get Krinn and himself back into town before it gained its bearings.

Scrambling once more, he ran over to Krinn and his hands nervously fluttered around him. "Krinn, you have to get up, we need to run!" Ziya pleaded, ignoring the pain his his head and shoulder from hitting the ground so hard. Shoulder quite possibly out of place from hitting the ground at an awkward angle with the beast having crashed into him when they tumbled. However it was nothing compared to poor Krinn, with his back to the creature he tried to help him up.

Seeing the red seep through his friends clothes, the determination in his eyes hardened. There was no way he was going to leave Krinn behind and make a run for it on his own. Friends don't desert friends; end of story. Shaking his head, he took off his coat and pressed it against the worst of his friends wound to stop the bleeding. "Krinn, look at me," Ziya said, ducking slightly so they were forced to be eye to eye. "I am not leaving you, if we leave we leave together"

When Krinn was able to push himself up, Ziya helped him as much as he could and made to help the other stand. He could feel that the other was panicked but with his back to the creature he had no idea what was coming until he was given a split second to react. He felt the air behind him shift, his natural second sense sent warning bells in the back of his skull. Then also the sheer panic in Krinns tones gave him the split second he needed to make the decision that would change things.

Pivoting, the lightening dust shoved his friend with enough force to get him clear out of the way as the creature made its move. Taking the full brunt of the creatures movement, a pained grunt escaped him as he skidded through the grass the with creature atop of him. Raising his free arm, he tried to brace the creatures face back, the other pinned down by the shoulder. When the great claws on his shoulder curled and dug and crushed into the already dislocated shoulder a sharp yelp of pain bubbled from him. He could feel his shoulder pop, blood seeping around the punctured of claws. Long legs thrashed and kicked whatever he could connect with, tears welling in the corners of panicked grey hues.

Having used a good portion of his energies on his first bout of attacks, he knew he only had little left in him. The great bloody maw of the demon seethed and hissed as it tried to lean down to bite at his flesh. Blood dripped and splattered onto his cheek as the creature snapped and snarled at him. Lifting its one claw attacked into his shoulder, he lifted Ziya's smaller frame enough for when it slammed him back down, his head snapped back hitting the ground with a crack. Stars sprang into his vision as he gasped, his head swarming as his free arm weakened its hold against the beast. Hot coppery breath heaved close against his face causing his stomach to twist and knot from the smell. It smelled of all things rotten and decomposing in a way that frightened him more then words could express.

It was this moment he chose to shoot a sharp bolt of lightening into the creature, hoping it would by him some wriggle room to dislodge himself and roll away. He needed to be standing, he needed the movement and control of his body again. The hard press against him was suffocating and causing him to feel closed in. So with this closeness it allowed the force of his offensive attack to travel less of a distance, making it more potent. The demon shrieked and withdrew, wrenching his claws from his shoulder and drawing its claws back.

Then there was this moment, where everything seemed to stall and go exceedingly slow. Ashton has explained a moment like this before, where it feels like everything is moving as if it were trapped in molasses. For his guardian it had been when he had fallen out of a tree as a child, having slipped while following his friend up the great oak. However what he hadn't explained was how your mind still raced, stumbling and falling in upon itself trying to keep in time with the rest of you. It was this moment wheres he saw the claws move and change its direction back towards him. Grey hues widened as he dug his elbow into the ground to try and move himself out of range. Cocking his head to the right in an attempt to avoid the brunt of the attack he wasn't quite quick enough.

A sharp pained shriek erupted from the lightening dust; then a last ditch violent blast of light and power that seemed to fill the clearing. Then came the silence.

As the light dispelled, the demon could be seen laying on its side, charred heat rising form its prone body. It wasn't dead per-say but it didn't appear to be moving any time soon. Then, right by it was the quivering frame on the blond teen. His chest heaved as one hand was pressed over the left side of his face, blood pouring from between the digits. Curled up as much as he could upon himself, his other arm dangling useless from being harshly mistreated as blood seemed through his black shirt. A broken gasp for air was the only sound from him as he lay on the damp bloodied grass.

His head buzzed with pain and fear as signals his brain was sending out wasn't being well received in some areas of his body. His body wasn't responding to much as it seemed to be turning to survival mode. Everything seemed wrong and broken as blood trickled across the bridge of his nose and into the grass. He could feel the grass below him growing a little sticky from the blood that was pooling from his head and shoulder. Everything felt heavy, like lead had been injected into his veins; not even a finger could be raised. As he lay there, he noticed distantly that his vision seemed a little off. Hmm.

A sharp hissed escaped the teen when his body was moved; the impulse to reject everything and curl up into himself great. The rain teen's soft tones did nothing to soothe him, his nerves screaming at him. "A-ah.." Ziya gasped, his body going rigid as it pulsed and flared up. The sudden surge of pain made him nearly vomit, everything feeling as though it was pitching forward. If it hurt this much to be sitting up he didn't want to know how standing would fair. His wounds shrieked in protest when his good arm was slung over the narrow set of shoulders and was moved again. The ground lurched and a pained cry tumbled from tired lips as his body was suddenly hauled up.

"N-n-not much of a ch-choice... now do I?" Ziya slurred a little as he spoke, his head lulling to the side to rest against Krinn. His breath caught and he grunted in pain as he did his best to move his lead like feet to walk. The lightening teen knew he had to focus and not despair as Krinn was hurt just like him. He couldn't hold the other back just because everything swam around in what vision he had.

After showing the other he could indeed move, a little slowly though, he fell very silent for a while. He tried to focus on moving one leg ahead of the other as that in itself was proving difficult. It wasn't until they got onto the fringes of town did he speak up. "Where are we going to go?" he whispered, his voice feeling raw and tired. What distance they had walked already was tiring him out as blood loss and pain was starting to win. "I-I-I can't go home Krinn.... I just can't" Ziyas voice was so unlike him, wounded and desperate like a sad caged animal.

The whole journey to their destination was a blur to him, he could have been dragged anywhere and he wouldn't have been the wiser. The pain and blood loss were takings its toll and it felt him out of sorts. He knew he should be doing more to assist Krinn in getting them to where they were going but with the pained buzzing around around in his head he couldn't see straight. He knew something was terribly wrong, more so then just his shoulder. His vision was skewed in such a way that he couldn't gauge things properly; causing him to stumble. This was bad, yet how bad?

He had no idea where they were but Ziya was very grateful to be set down on something soft. What was also noticeable that was was delightfully warm where ever they were now and it made him feel like he should go to sleep. However something in the back of his head screamed at him, warning him that falling asleep now may not be the best option. It was so tempting though, to just close his eyes and let everything else slip away.

The sound of Krinns worried voice drew him out from himself, his good eye shifting to look at what was offered to him. Taking the cloth with a trembling hand, he looked at it before turning it over in a bloodied hand. The water felt cool, dribbling between his fingers, sliding down his palm and trailing down his forearm to his elbow. he was hyper aware of the dripping water, drifting again before he was drawn in again by the small voice.

Addressing a question that he had been trig to avoid, he wasn't sure if he really wanted the answer to it. Lifting up the damp cloth, he gingerly pressed it over his facial wound, a sharp pained hiss escaped him. "Fu-" He cursed but cut himself off out of engrained manners. Making a noise of discomfort as he restrained his loud protests of pain, Ziya shifted and looked over at Krinn as he trembled.

"H-How bad is it?" Ziya asked, his voice quivering a little. "W-where would we find a doctor now?"