- KAT'S - RP

[- Kat -]

- Kat's - RP is up.

 

Please feel free to post.

 

The colour codes are below:

(remove the spaces)

 

- Kat -

- Kat - [/ color]

 

Arkcher

Arkcher [/ color]

 

Lexxscrapham

Lexxscrapham (no need for code, your colour is black)

 

Krisluvsdogs

Krisluvsdogs [/ color]

 

Mastermind

Mastermind [/ color]

 

Topazia

Topazia [/ color]

 

This will be a sort of neutral color, for the rare occasions where I add something that nobody actually wrote, such as little *** for time lapses.

This [/ color]

 

 

Thanks.

[Horatio]

Hampsterdance Role Play!

 

Alright. I finally finished it. This is the in-order, color-coded document containing the role play Arkcher started a few years back. With any luck, this will help get the RP started again, because now we’ll all know what was going on. >.> . I’ve corrected things like spelling and grammar, and have made minimal edits to the actual story, but some were needed to keep the posts consistent with each other. Hopefully, I’ve don’t okay with that part. I also changed a little bit of stuff about Naomi, but she’s my character so I’m allowed to do that. Believe me, it will make a lot more sense than what I was originally planning. I’ve colored the sections of text according to who made them, in case you were wondering who wrote what.

The code is:

- Kat -

Arkcher

Lexxscrapham

Krisluvsdogs

Mastermind

Topazia

This will be a sort of neutral color, for the rare occasions where I add something that nobody actually wrote, such as little *** for time lapses.

 

And now, THE ROLE PLAY!

 

Khanailoa wandered through the forest in the early hours of 2, 3 AM. For fear of being hunted by the bounty hunter and assassins tailing her, she had retreated from her town in search of a place to hide. She darted through the woods speedily, sharply dodging every tree as it went by. Despite her lack of skill at most anything, she was surprisingly sharp for the human age of 14. After ten minutes or so, being around 2:50, she huffed and panted from running and made her way to a nearby tree trunk. She gladly sat down, leaned against it and in a short period of time had drifted off into a dozed sleep.

 

It had been a hard week for Dimearsh, his lifelong friend had fallen victim to the blade of the infamous assassin Sinvalj. Fortunately, his sword, Starchild, had warned him of the dark presence. Dimearsh decided it would be safer not to stick around, when suddenly he came across and young woman asleep by a tree. It was late, and since Starchild wasn’t giving off any signal, he figured it would be safe to rest here.

 

Blaze was watching the people resting against her tree. Suddenly, she heard a twig snap in the distance. She quickly flied off to investigate.

 

It was Raith’s turn to hunt at night. Her gun-blade by her side, she quietly and stealthily stalked the forest. The City of the Dead had given her one more chance. Bring back fresh blood for the young, or be exiled. And it wasn’t a good thing for vampires to be exiled, what with vampire hunters, and all. But she couldn’t work properly. She was hungry. She found a wild turkey in the bushes. Slowly and soundlessly, she unsheathed her gun-blade, took aim, and fired.

 

Raith was 14 when she was bitten. She had been in the barn, calming a cow, when Eiror had seen her. Eiror had been hungry, just as she had been moments ago. She was bitten over 200 years ago, but despite the ghostly white skin and deep, blood-red eyes that were once an innocent blue, she really didn’t look at all different and had not aged a bit. As she got up off the stump she was sitting on, she noticed that she had gotten turkey blood all over her clothing. She wore a long, deep red dress that matched her eyes, a black leather coat and boots, and spiked arm bands, rings, and necklaces. On the necklace, hanging from the front spike, were her dog tags. They told her job, age, ranking, and home. Raith was not exactly happy with her current situation, but knew that there wasn’t anything she could do about it except deal with it and move on. She tried to get rid of some of the blood covering her clothing and looked around to decide which direction she should go in.

 

Jezebel was a runaway princess. She came from the great country of Glennik. When an unknown assassin killed the entire royal family except for her, the people blamed her as the murderer. They thought that through her want for power, she killed her family. This, of course, was not true. So, before the people stoned her to death, Jezebel escaped from the palace. Now, she was a fugitive from her own country, for a crime she didn’t commit. She lived off of what her sword and bow and arrows could catch her. The few people who believed her where her only friends. Now, Jezebel was on a mission to find the true assassin, and admit to the people his crime with the potion she had in her belt. Then she could reclaim her throne.

 

Jezebel was about 15 with long black hair. She looked like a very pretty Mediterranean girl. Once, she disguised herself as a harem dancer. Living in the wild had hardened

her muscles and strengthened her body. She wore a woman’s gladiator outfit, which was a leather skirt, gold belt, and leather top. Jezebel jumped from tree branch to tree branch, hunting for something to eat. She saw a while turkey in the bushes. But then, someone came out of the forest. Her skin was pale, and she dressed strangely with many spikes. The figure had shot Jezebel’s kill! Now Jezebel was angry. She hadn’t eaten in two days. She loaded her bow, but then realized that the figure was sucking the turkey’s blood! The color drained from Jezebel’s face. She knew what the figure was. She was looking at a real vampire! Jezebel took her rosary with its special crucifix from the pocket near her heart. She put it around her neck, and leaped from the branch. “Touch me not, lady of the dead! I hold a crucifix, and thou cannot touch me. But please, tell me where I can find nourishment, and I will spare thee from my blade!” She held out her sword. It might have been the dumbest thing she ever did, asking for help from a vampire, when she knew the sword would do nothing. But hunger had clouded Jezebel’s judgment.

 

Hissing from the cross, Raith looked at who was holding it. A very beautiful girl, much like herself. “Well?” the girl demanded. This was Raith’s chance. If she could just get the girl to drop her blade, she could strike, and bring back food for the young ones. But the cross was clouding her mind. She felt as if her head was going to split in two.

 

“Alright.” Raith said in her slightly gruff voice, slightly hissing. “Lower your cross, and I shall show you to food.” Raith knew she should, but she didn’t want to hurt this girl. She could prove useful in her plan. Secretly, it was also because Raith didn’t like killing humans. The girl lowered her cross and blade.

 

“Who are you?” she asked.

 

“I am Raith, a Huntress for the City of the Dead. First rank.” she said. “Who are you?”

 

“I am Rene.” she lied, looking puzzled. She had no idea what the raven haired vampire was talking about. “What do you mean, ‘first class’?”

 

“It means that I am a Blood Gatherer, the highest and most respected form of Huntress.” said Raith, a hint of smugness in her voice. “Now, follow me, and I shall show you to your food.”

 

Raith started walking, but noticed that Jezebel had pulled out her blade. “What is that for? Don’t you trust me?” Raith asked with a smirk, unintentionally showed her still slightly-bloody fangs.

 

“It is drawn in case you are not as trustworthy as you claim to be.” answered Jezebel in a serious tone.

 

“I wouldn’t worry about that.” said Raith, her voice suddenly cold. “Even with a splitting headache, I could kill you easily.” She patted the hilt of her gun-blade. “I look young, but I have in fact been doing this for over 200 years. A bit of blurry vision won’t throw my aim.”

 

Jezebel sheathed her blade.

 

As they traveled, they saw a light in the distance. Hurrying toward it, they saw that it was occupied by a 14-year-old looking girl and a man. Raith by instinct moved stealthily into the bushes. Jezebel followed.

 

“What are we stopping for?” she asked.

 

“Food.” Raith replied. She unsheathed her gun-blade and looked at the fire. Sure enough, there was a rabbit on a spit. Raith quickly stood up, barred her teeth, and took aim at the man. “Give me your rabbit, and you shall be spared.”

 

Suddenly, light flared through the trees in the distance. Dimearsh woke with a start. Some child of darkness had just fed nearby, and activated Starchild’s flare. He stood against a tree, ready should the beast still be hungry.

 

Truthfully, Jezebel disapproved of taking food from others. After all, that was stealing. But if an evil, vicious vampire would go out of her way to feed a hungry person, she wouldn’t complain. Jezebel stood behind Raith, in case the people were from Glennik. The girl screamed and backed into the tent, but the man didn’t move.

 

“Come on! Hand it over! Unless you wish to die!” yelled Raith.

 

“It’s okay, Dad! We have enough for a few days! Give it the rabbit, so it won’t hurt us!” cried the girl from inside the tent.

 

“You should listen to her.” said Raith. She still looked dizzy, but was trying to hide it from the people.

 

The man hurriedly removed the rabbit from the spit and threw it at Raith’s feet. “There, Demon! You have our rabbit! Now leave us, least I drive a steak through your chest!”

 

At this, Raith grabbed the coney and slid back into the forest. “Come on, move it, you!” she hissed into Jezebel’s ear. Jezebel took heed and scurried away, following the pale figure.

 

They ran until they came to a small glad with a pond. Jezebel started a fire to finish cooking the rabbit. “Thanks. I haven’t eaten in days. Is there anything I can do to repay you?”

 

“Well, I don’t think you would like giving up you blood,” said Raith with a smirk, “So you could just tell me your real name.”

 

Jezebel froze. “Rene is my real name.”

 

Raith laughed. “Oh, please. Do I look stupid to you? Now come on, what is it?”

 

“Why do you care?”

 

“I just do.”

 

Jezebel thought for a minute. “I’ll tell you mine, if you tell me yours.”

 

“I did.” said the vampire.

 

“No you didn’t! Now come on, I’m not stupid either. I won’t tell you MY real name, unless you tell me yours.”

[Horatio]

Ryukai was a hunter/ranger by day, nocturnal hunter/assassin/gladiator by sundown. At being far from a natural human, he never slept.

 

Not much was known about the shady character, other than that he had very few friends and all of his family seemed to be missing. He had been with nobody since he was

about seven or eight human years old, whilst he was now 19. He wore some ragged clothing, even though he had a necessary home, he never spent much money on clothing. He had some blue pants with a pale, off-white shirt, with a bright orange cape with splotches of bloodstain, making it more of an orange-red color. He did have some magician skill, though it was only useful during combat, able to inflict damage to take out oh, say, two thirds of an opponent’s life.

 

Ryukai was striding though the nighttime forest, sensing a mixture of light and dark presences. At being an anonymously-hired gladiator, he did it for neither light nor darkness. Neutral.

 

He reached behind his cape, where he kept a pack with his wide variety of assorted weapons, and pulled out a special weapon he had made himself. It was a red boomerang

with small razor blades covering its main edges. He skillfully wrapped his hand around it, avoiding the blades he put on it, kept it in hand, and taking a stance that prepared him for fighting something. He silently, stealthily crept along the grassy forest ground, scanning the dark area with sharp optics.

 

Blaze nearly flew into another fairy, and drew her fairy wand, called a toke.

 

“Who are you, fellow Folk?”

 

The other fairy was taken aback at the demanding nature of Blaze. “I-I-I am Kristi. May I ask who in Trezamyx’s name are you?”

 

Blaze backed up a few inches. “I am Blaze, the Fiery Persona of Flames. I didn’t realize I was talking to the great Shard Fairy! Hey, did you hear that twig snap a while back? And did you see who did it?”

 

Once, hundreds of years ago, on the seventh moon of the planet Dresanist, there was a great and powerful fairy named Trezamyx. She went by Zamy. She was the Goddess of all fairies. Zamy had an enemy, a powerful, evil sorcerer named Syandor. Syandor wanted to kill the fairies, but Zamy stopped him by creating eight special fairies. The Shard Fairy, Kristi, was the most powerful. There was Blaze, the Fire Fairy, Teri, the Water Fairy, Roxy, the Earth Fairy, Freez, the Ice Fairy, Trei, the Tree Fairy, Breezia, the Wind Fairy, and Biellami, the Fairy of Whim. These fairies stopped him.

 

Ryukai crept through the forest-y area and came to a small clearing, a glade with two beings within. Ryukai tightened his grip on the boomerang, hid in the shadow, stuck a battle stance, and prepared to throw it, just at the right angle, right distance, right thrust power…

 

And threw it.

 

The curved blade swung through the air as it twisted and turned, gaining its way towards Raith. Ryukai focused his eyes correctly to see the right distance of where the boomerang was heading, as it would fly inches away from Jezebel’s head, while it would have flown straight towards Raith…

 

She awoke with a jolt. Khanailoa was unpleasantly awoken from the not-best of dreams she’d had. She was just positive that it meant something, but what…

 

She tried to see clearly, though unsuccessful, she focused, and saw Dimearsh standing against a tree with what appeared to be a sword in his hand, which seemed to be glowing a flare of light and energies. She saw another being in the shadowy distance, Ryukai, who appeared to be throwing something…

 

Khanailoa was rather frightened with the sudden scenery change, and despite her lack of sleep, sprung to her feet, ready to run if need be, and felt around her waist to find a small sheath and draw out her dagger, in case she needed it. She nervously crept backwards and bumped into what felt like another armed being ready to strike, but turned out to be another tree. She let out a rather loud yeepish sound, but reflexively covered her mouth, and crept against another tree and stood against it, hoping to conceal herself in the darkness.

 

Jezebel’s sharp ears heard something in the trees behind her as she and the vampire were talking. She quenched the fire and grabbed the rabbit from the spit. Jezebel listened for another sound, but heard nothing, so she took a bite. It was a wonderful feeling, like she was being charged with life. Jezebel hungrily bit into the coney, glad that the vampire did not interrupt her eating. She was about to ask the vampire if she wanted any, when something whizzed by her head. She jumped up and saw something whirling through the air, but didn’t see who threw it. So, she drew her sword, and ran into the forest, frantically looking for something to smite.

 

Raith saw a figure in the distance. He didn’t look like he knew that, though. People often mistook her for a normal human from such a distance. She turned to warn “Rene”, but she was already gone. Raith would catch up with her later. She turned to look at the figure in the shadows, but instead saw what looked like a bladed boomerang. Raith quickly drew her gun-blade and fired at it. It did not break, even dent, but it did fall. Carefully, Raith picked it up and examined it. She looked at the person in the shadows.

 

“Who is there?” she called.

 

Ryukai stared in disbelief, but quickly regained his composure. He stepped out of the shadows.

 

“I am Ryukai.” he said without a trace of fear. This was unusual to Raith. Normally, people would see her blood-stained fangs and run. But he stayed there.

 

“Why don’t you run?” asked Raith.

 

“I do not run from things.” he answered. “I either work with them or kill them.”

 

Raith, once again, had the guilty feeling she had when she met Rene. She knew she should be attacking him right now. She should bring him back to the City of the Dead. But she wouldn’t unless he forced her.

 

“I am Raith.” she said. “First rank Huntress for the City of the Dead.” She read the guys expression. Why did nobody understand? “It means that I am a Blood Gatherer, the most prestigious form of Huntress there is.” she said, without him even needing to ask.

 

“I see.” he said, still looking a little puzzled. She grinned, showing her fangs. The expression now on his face told her that he had not noticed the fangs before. He opened his mouth to start speaking. “Not again…” Raith though to herself.

 

Naomi crawled out from under the bush and looked around.

 

“Good.” she whispered quietly. “They passed m-“

 

“THERE SHE IS!” yelled a guard. Naomi cursed herself for speaking. Quickly, she got up and ran as fast as she could. The gate to the city was just a couple of streets up. She was tired from running all night, and her rest under the shrub hadn’t been as long as she had hoped. She dodged into an alley to catch her breath.

 

“Where is she?” she heard a guard outside the alley ask.

 

“I don’t know. You go west, and I’ll check east.” said another. She heard the pounding of their feet as they went opposite ways down the street. Neither of them had seen her. She poked her head out slightly to check that the coast was clear, and sighed with relief. She was about to leave the alley, when out of nowhere a hand grabbed her arm. A guard came out of the shadows.

 

“I’ve got her!” he yelled.

 

Naomi was horror struck, but regained her composure quickly. Too fast for the guard to realize what was happening, she turned into a tabby cat. She slipped out of the guard’s grip and made a mad dash for the gate. “SHE’S HEADING TO THE GATE!” the guard yelled even louder than before, chasing her. Two more came from the side

streets. Naomi changed into a cheetah. Running at over 70 miles per hour, she was easily able to beat the guards, but as she ran closer to the gate, she realized it was closed and locked. At about seven feet from the wall, she jumped, changing back into a tabby in mid leap, hooked onto the wall with her claws, and frantically climbed up the stone wall. She was over in a few seconds, but the guards were nearly to the gate, one of them pulling a key ring from his belt. She had a decision to make. She could either run to the city of Oakenberry, or into the woods. In Oakenberry, there would be more guards. In the woods, there would be hunters and monsters. There were even rumored to be vampires! She knew that the only place the guards wouldn’t follow her was into the forest, but she really didn’t want to go.

 

The gates swung open, and Naomi changed back into her true human form, and sprinted down the path that led into the woods.

 

Jezebel flipped down from the tree she had perched in, with the coney slung to her back, sword in one hand, and bow in the other. She had decided

to shoot at the person once they came into view, but she saw that he meant no harm.

 

“I guess Raith really is your name! Now I can tell you mine!” She turned to Ryukai. “I figure you’re not from Glennik, so you can hear, too. I am Princess Jezebel, of Glennik. My family was killed by an unknown assassin, so I ran away, because the people thought I killed them for the throne.”

[Horatio]

Ryukai reflexively turned his head, almost as if to look behind himself as he heard an “eep”ish sound in the distance, while he heard another being, close by.

 

“I guess Raith really is your name! Now I’ll tell you mine!”

 

He reached into the pack on his back and silently drew a sword, in case he should need to strike. At hearing an assumption that he was not from a country called Glennik, he couldn’t help but smirk deviously. If he were to locate this country and notify them of where Jezebel was last sighted, he might get some good pay. He tried to keep this in mind, as he learned that she was a runaway princess, and could be of some worth.

 

With nothing else to do, he figured he just needed to retrieve his boomerang, which was, say, 10 feet away, somewhere in the dark grassy terra…somehow, he’d need to grab it and run, but couldn’t do that in front of a violent being like a vampire. He began thinking out a strategy, of how he could convince the two to let him get away, continue hunting. Although…

 

He could offer to hunt for both of them and provide fresh blood from the vampire, and find a suitable resting area for the other, along with some decent food.

 

Raith could hear the small “eep”, too. Quickly, she darted past Ryukai and into the woods to search for the “eep” making creature.

 

Naomi was very lost. She had no idea where she was and desperately needed help. She heard something running towards her and changed into a cat, hiding behind a tree and hoping not to bee seen.

 

Raith decided to investigate this cat hiding behind a tree later.

 

“…Anyway, now I’m trying to find the assassin and give him what he’s got coming!” She looked at the expression on Ryukai’s face, and really regretted the info she had stupidly given out. For all she knew, he could be a bounty hunter! Jezebel would just have to keep an eye on him, and a blade on his neck, so to speak.

 

Blaze and Kris stopped arguing as they hear a yeep. They looked down to see a girl hiding in the shadows. They flew down, and Blaze demanded to know who she was.

 

“I’ll tell you if you tell me who you are!”

 

Kris laughed. “Sorry, Miss. My friend here knows no manners. I’m Kris, and this infernal creature is Blaze. Who are you?”

 

Khanailoa shivered.

 

Ryukai tried hard to hide his expression and not to give away the intention he had, though he was drawn away from this thought as Raith strode by.

 

There was time.

 

He hesitated a few seconds. There wasn’t as violent a being as a vampire to strike at him if he made the slightest mistake. Only what appeared to be a harmless “princess” a good three feet away.

 

He lunged forth and landed in a summersault and in mid roll, grabbed his boomerang and leaped forward to turn around in a stance as if he were ready to strike Jezebel, with sword drawn, and bladed boomerang.

 

But what to do now?!

 

Should he attack?

 

Run?

 

Stand there are stare?

 

Khanailoa continued to hid against the tree, ignoring the fairies, and completely unaware of the vampire tearing through the forest right in her direction and the crazed assassin off elsewhere. After a rather short while of trying to calm herself down enough to respond, Khanailoa ended up seeing no harm in revealing her name.

 

“I… I’m Khanailoa.”

 

She looked up at the two fairies.

 

“Uh… just out of curiosity… you wouldn’t happen to know where we are, eh?”

 

Ryukai just tried to think to himself, what would his father do in a similar situation? Probably would have had something though out before he pulled off the stunt. Ryukai then tried hard not to think about his father dying, just focused on his surroundings and what he should do. What would Jezebel do if he made a mistake? Nothing was keeping him from running away. She, as far as Ryukai knew, was harmless. Thus, Ryukai darted off into the trees.

 

Jezebel saw Ryukai retrieve his boomerang and take off. Raith was gone, too, so she might as well follow suit. She jumped into the nearest tree. Leaping from branch to branch, she kept out of sight of Ryukai. She wanted to avoid shooting him at all costs, but keep an eye on him. Jezebel would not interfere with anything he did, but she would watch him. He probably figured her as no threat, but she would set him straight.

 

Naomi was both horrorstruck and grateful to God. A vampire had just passed her, and looked straight at her! But it just passed by. Naomi ran out from behind the tree, changed back into her normal, pretty blond self, and took to running the opposite direction of the vampire.

 

Raith was getting closer. Heightening her senses, she could smell the girl’s blood. No more pity. She had to bring back blood, or face banishment. The beginnings of her plan to rid herself of her vampire nature would have to wait until next week, when she was hunting again.

 

Blaze smiled. “Sure, Khanailoa! We’re in the Jerroub Forest, West region. Quite a dangerous spot for a human girl. Oh, and relax. We won’t hurt you. Kris here will probably try to protect you. Say, do you know the way to the big castle over thataways?” Blaze pointed east.

 

“No, actually, I don’t…. I’d help if I could.”

 

Blaze shrugged and thanked her. Kris decided to give Khanailoa some company. Blaze flew off to the east, not knowing exactly where she was going. She had felt drawn to the castle for many years, feeling come injustice that only she could fix.

 

On her way, she heard voices.

 

Blaze continued flying. Kris was flying next to and talking to Khanailoa. “So, that’s my story…what’s yours?”

 

“Greetings,” said Dimearsh to Blaze. “I am Dimearsh. I mean you no harm, unless you seek to aid the powers of darkness. I seek to avenge the death of a friend. That castle is reputed to be the hideout of the assassin Sinvalj. I seek allied in ridding the world of his foul presence.”

 

Khanailoa turned her head behind her, thinking she heard something move. At seeing nothing, she just ignored it.

 

After running about twenty feet, he stopped. Where the heck was that vampire going?! Vampire Slayers were near the highest rank in assassination. If he were to get a hold of it, he’d be able to afford a lot more. Specifically clothing. Ugh.

 

Ryukai had nothing to lose. Nobody seemed to care about his existence in his hometown. All they knew of him was that he always tried to kill something yet never succeeded.

 

If the vampire killed him, so what?

 

If he killed the vampire, he may get upgraded to a Vampire Slayer rank!

 

Ryukai changed direction and navigated through the forest in an attempt to catch up with Raith. There was no sign of it anywhere. The vampire was faster than he thought…this may be a tougher job than he had estimated.

 

As Jezebel watched, Ryukai stopped for a second and looked around. He then apparently found what he was looking for and darted off in a different direction. Jezebel jumped as far as she could to catch up with him. She wondered what he was looking for…

 

Raith saw the “eep”er. She was young.

 

Very young.

 

Too young.

 

Raith suddenly remembered the rule. Nobody under the age of 18 could nourish vampires. She had forgotten about that tonight because she had been so busy just trying to find anybody to take back to the City so that she could stay. She didn’t feel so guilty about not attacking Jezebel anymore.

 

Unfortunately, it was too late for Raith to leave unnoticed. The girl had seen her and screamed.

 

“LEAVE ME ALONE! I HAVE A CROSS AND A STAKE!” she yelled.

 

“Do not worry. You are too young.” Raith said disappointedly. She thought she had smelled something funny about the blood. The girl looked at her with untrusting eyes.

 

“How do I know you aren’t getting me to lower my guard so you can bite me?”

 

“You don’t, do you?” asked Raith, grinning evilly and once again inadvertently revealing her fangs, which were at least cleared of the turkey blood now.

 

Khanailoa had no idea what to do. She had run into a tree which had drawn some fairies who she knew nothing about, and there was a vampire who probably wanted her dead. On top of that, there were still bounty hunters on her tail, along with horrid memories of the near past… her family and friends… her only home…

 

In a short matter of time, tears came to her eyes as her mind when haywire in confusion, fear, loneliness, and alertness. She trembled for a moment, trying her best to hide her situation from the vampire and the fairy and who-knew-what-else in the dark woods.

 

Despite the fact that she had neither stake nor cross, she felt as if the vampire wouldn’t pose a threat to her in any way, almost as if she would overpower it with something she would retrieve soon.

 

Ryukai lunged left and right, trying to dodge the trees coming at him as he ran. Within a short time, he came across Raith, Khanailoa, Kris, and Dimearsh. He came through the small clearing just to the left of Raith.

 

“Dang you, Ryukai! You did it again!” he thought to himself as he had no strategy planned for now. Does he go on and strike the vampire? What would it do if he made a mistake?

 

Ryukai stumbled to balance himself of the soft earthy ground, in an awkward position both physically and mentally. What to do now, what to do now…

 

Naomi heard something move above her. She glanced up to see a strange female lunging from branch to branch, trying unsuccessfully to navigate through the trees. Naomi turned back into a tiny housecat and flattened her body against the ground, keeping from sight. Once the stranger passed, Naomi continued creeping along the earth terrain, closer to the signs of population.

 

Dimearsh sensed a dark presence through his sword, but noticed that it did not seem to be evil.

 

As Jezebel jumped about, trying to find Ryukai, she saw a cat on the forest floor. A cat? Around here? There were plenty of cats in the palace, but in a dense forest? The cat disappeared from sight.

 

She finally found Ryukai, and he was by Raith, and a crying girl. Jezebel loaded her bow. She owed Raith, and she would kill Ryukai if he tried to harm Raith or the girl. He stumbled and almost fell to the ground. Was he wounded? More, why did she care? He was out to get her! But Jezebel had been taught better. She put her bow away and jumped from the tree.

[Horatio]

Ryukai was empty handed. He had put away his weapons by now. He was in an awkward situation, which he had not intended.

 

Whatever the situation, it didn’t necessarily matter what the consequences were.

 

He, as fast as possible, reached behind himself to grab a weapon, and ended up grabbing the blade, causing somewhat sharp pain, along with exposed blood in the midst of a vampire.

 

“Gaah! Dangit!”

 

His bleeding hand scrambled around for a different weapon. This only spread blood around, risking himself to the vampire even worse.

 

He ended up grabbing his bladed boomerang again, giving himself a few more scratches.

 

“What the heck?!” he thought to himself. “What is with this?!”

 

He threw the boomerang in Raith’s direction, as that was his only hope of killing her. Unskillfully, though, it twisted and curved, and didn’t get very far before crashing to the ground.

 

With his other arm, he reached behind himself to grab what was more of a small golden key-shaped artifact of some sort. Should he or shouldn’t he? With the right spells

he possessed, the two items combined could kills Raith, Jezebel, the mysterious girl a short distance away, or any other individual he wanted.

 

But… should he do it?

 

He knew nothing about Raith, other than the fact that she was a vampire. What other power could she have?

 

It was worth a try…

 

Raith watched with amusement at the guy reaching behind him and cutting himself. She was about to ask if he wanted any help when he threw his boomerang at her. She couldn’t just let that slide. She barred her teeth and dived towards him just as he had pulled something small and shiny out from behind him. He dodged. She was about to strike again, when a small cat flung itself out of the bushes at her. Raith grabbed that cat and looked at it for a second. She threw it aside and was about to continue her attack on Ryukai, but the cat wasn’t a cat anymore. It was a 14-year-old looking girl. She looked at Raith. Then screamed.

 

Why was it that the only time she had ever done something like this, it was too a vampire?! And why hadn’t she changed into something like a tiger before she did it?! This was just great. Fortunately, the vampire was stunned by the sudden transformation. So was everyone else, for that matter. She stood up, and with all the fear, confusion, and annoyance at her self swirling in her head and disorienting her thoughts, Naomi blurted out the first thing that came into her head.

 

“Can somebody help me?”

 

Raith noticed a soft light poking over the very tops of the trees. She cursed herself for not realizing what time it was. And nobody was going to let her back into the City of the Dead without any blood gathered. She would have to stay in the forest for a day. With a low, annoyed hiss, she turned around and sped off into the woods, looking for a cave to sleep in.

 

Jezebel jumped away from Ryukai. He was grabbing for weapons, but kept hurting himself!

 

At seeing a vampire lunge in his direction, Ryukai immediately threw himself out of its path, losing his grip on the key in his hand. Ryukai crashed against the hard earthy floor, the key landing a few feet out of his reach. If he didn’t get that item, he may never be able to use his power again. He reached for it. It was too far away.

 

Like someone would have taken it! Who’d steal it if he left it there for a short while…

 

He had other business to attend to right now. A thrashing vampire no more than seven feet away.

 

He grabbed his sword, ready to strike, when a speeding furball zoomed through the air and crashed into the vampire. Apparently a wild feline of some sort. Ryukai watched in utmost confusion as the cat turned rapidly into a human, and, realizing that it had just attacked a vampire, screamed rather loudly and began to struggle to her feet.

 

A look of terror caught Raith’s expression as something caught her eye. Apparently it was near sunrise. The vampire madly dashed for escaping. It had to hide and find darkness to reside in for the day, until nightfall. This was his chance!

 

Ryukai immediately lunged over, grabbed the boomerang, and ran as fast as he possibly could after the vampire. It was around 6:00 AM or so by now. The sunrise would

kill it, or weaken it… if he could delay the vampire and keep it in daylight long enough, it would be weak enough for him to imprison somehow, tame, and sell off… if that was possible. Either that or kill it. Then he could report to his ranger guild back in his hometown.

 

He darted back and forth, avoiding trees as he tore through the forest in an attempt to catch up with the vampire.

[Horatio]

Naomi looked at the key the man had dropped. She picked it up and inspected it. It didn’t look really special, but she could feel its magical powers. Maybe this is what she needed to prove she was innocent…

 

Naomi was coming home from the blacksmith shop. She had been looking at the swords. Naomi was fascinated with the making and using of weapons, especially swords, even though she had never actually touched one.

 

She reached her home and was expecting to see her mother, cooking up a yummy dinner, and her father to be out in the front yard, tending to his prize-winning flowers. But neither of them were there. Naomi looked all over the house and yard. She didn’t find them, but in their bedroom was a small, purple box with a silver lock. Naomi had never seen the box before. She was about to investigate it farther, when she heard a loud shout outside. “Hey, I found them!” the voice called. She heard the front door open, slipped the box into a pocket in her dress, and came down the stairs to see five of the King’s guard come in.

 

“Are you Naomi?” One of them asked?

 

“Y-yes…” she said, rather frightened.

 

“You are under arrest for the murder of your parents.” he said.

 

Naomi’s heart skipped a beat. Surely, he had not said what she thought he had. Her parent’s weren’t dead. They couldn’t be. They were probably out shopping. It was therefore impossible for her to have murdered them.

 

“Wh-What?” she stammered.

 

Nobody answered her. They just came towards her, one of them with a rope. She couldn’t run. There was nowhere to go. Two of them held her by her elbows and forced her hands behind her back, and her wrists were tied. They pushed her out the door and into the street. She only had one chance left. Before the guards could get a firm hold on her, she changed into a black alley cat, slipping out of the ropes and running down the street. She thanked God for the fact that her parents had told her to keep this power hidden.

 

Even though she wanted very much to see if this key opened the box, she pocketed the key and decided to check it at a safer time. Right now, she needed to get away from these insane people.

 

Khanailoa tried not to make herself known to the fairy, the odd man who had been quiet during all of this, or the feline-ish human. It appeared that the two most threatening ones had left, though, so that was a plus…

 

Khanailoa remained silent, not a word. She just leaned back against her tree, trying not to draw attention to herself.

 

Raith was gliding over the the treetops, looking for somewhere, anywhere to hide during the sunlight’s reign on Earth. Ryukai was chasing her down as she did so. After a short while, the trees began decreasing in number and rocks where appearing more frequently on the ground. They were approaching the edge of the forest.

 

The two speeding beings came to a large, hallow cave, rather dark inside. Raith was just about to descend and go inside, when a blinding light made its way over and around her. Sunrise.

 

She let out a blood-curdling screech as she stopped in mid-air crashed into the leafy treetops and through the branches, and landed in an uninjured, crumpled heap on the ground, while Ryukai did what he could to stop his 40 mile-per-hour running.

 

Ryukai ended up…not steering completely clear of a tree, as it hit his left side while running, just as he tripped on a tall rock causing him to crash into the ground in a spiraling motion. He dashed against a large rock, causing the bones of his right arm to fracture. Raith scrambled to her feet and ran from the sunlight into the nearby cave.

 

Ryukai cringed immensely, though being highly pain-tolerant. He only clenched all over. He struggled to stand up. This vampire had to go. He followed her into the cave, holding his arm.

 

He stayed out of sight behind a stalagmite until his human eyes adjusted to the darkness. Raith was on the other side, trying to catch her breath, leaning against one of the stony walls. He grabbed his sword and ran toward Raith in an attempt to get rid of her for good.

 

Raith, being a vampire, saw his sword’s motion before the struck, and smoothly dodged each motion of attacking.

 

Ryukai reached behind himself, felt around in his pack, and reached for a sheathed sword. With a loud “shhhhhing” noise, he drew a long broadsword and struck her with it.

 

He made a horizontal swing. Raith evaded it by moving to the right. She struck with her fangs at his neck in an attempt to kill him, but Ryukai had still had a sword in his other hand. As she drew closer, he made a stabbing motion at her. This stopped her attack. And also made a bit of a nasty hole beneath her heart. She bit at him again, and Ryukai, as fast as possible, swung the broadsword behind her. They both hit each other. Ryukai’s broadsword had made a long, nasty gash along Raith’s back, and Ryukai had fang marks on his neck. The two injured beings withdrew from one another. Raith, being a vampire, wasn’t hurt too badly. Swords weren’t her weakness. A cross or a stake would have some permanent damage. Her wounds quickly healed, not even leaving a scar.

 

Ryukai was kneeling in the immense pain he had. He was holding a heavy broadsword with is broken arm, and the side of his neck was bleeding. Not in great condition, he collapsed in an unconscious heap, just managing to stagger out of the mouth of the cave.

 

Raith was rather exhausted from all of this. She scanned the cave for any other signs of life other than the pathetic excuse of a hunter. She walked farther into its shadowy depths where she would sleep for the day. Even if Ryukai was still there when she had rested up, she would strike him again. She could finally get back into the City of the Dead.

 

Khanailoa watched as Naomi examined the key and pocketed it.

 

“Last I heard, Ryukai went back to his house for the night."

 

Xalaryn was asking around her town for the whereabouts of Ryukai. She thought of Ryukai as her best friend, despite their gender difference, and was asking anyone if they knew where he was.

 

Xalaryn had recently aged 18, and had “secret” intentions of marrying Ryukai, though she never verbally spoke it. He knew this, and for his own little reasons, avoided it at all costs.

 

Xalaryn ended up going back to check if he was there again.

 

“He’s probably off hunting again. Why does he do that, anyway?” She thought to herself as she disappointedly strode off into the forest he frequently went hunting in.

 

The girl, Khanailoa, was obviously upset. In hopes of reassuring her, Dimearsh sheathed is sword and tried to start a conversation.

 

“So, what brings you to these parts?”

 

Khanailoa looked up at Dimearsh, who was apparently trying to calm her down. She thought for a short moment, and just looked back down at herself, refusing to speak back.

 

When Khanailoa was seven human years old, she was included in an incident. She was an only child from her parents, and lived in a simple, small humble village in a small suburb of a city some 20 miles away. Or at least, she had lived there, until a group calling themselves the Dark Dragons sabotaged the small town the lived in. They came with swords, flaming arrows, whips, staffs, and various other weapons.

 

Though fortunately, the group of people Khanailoa lived with were the Light Dragons, the rival group of the Dark Dragons.

 

The Light Dragons had prepared for an incident such as this, and had built a small stone, sand, and clay bunker.

 

They had a small underground stone dome for defense in case this happened. And it did.

 

Khanailoa’s parents stuffed her inside the stone dome with a few supplies and went off to fight for Khanailoa, and possibly the rest of the village.

 

One of the last things Khanailoa remembered seeing was her mother getting shot with a fiery arrow, while a swordsman charged her shortly afterwards. Khanailoa darted to the end of the dome and curled up her 7-year-old body to take up as little space as possible, covering herself with a light blue blanket she had had since birth.

 

Tried as she did, she couldn’t help but hear the screaming of villagers as they were slaughtered, buildings burning to the ground, looting of the few treasures there, steel swords colliding, arrows whirring by…

 

Khanailoa just cuddles herself, tears streaming down her face as she fearfully hid in the shadows. Hours after the incident, she had managed to cry herself to sleep.

 

There was no way Khanailoa could trust anyone, hardly even herself. She just stayed to herself, rarely vocalizing.

 

Xalaryn strode along the grassy fields as a forest came into view. Trees came to pass by as she noticed a cave nearby. Might as well look inside. Ryukai could be about anywhere.

 

Xalaryn walked over to it, and upon closer inspection, realized that what she had mistaken as a rock at the cave’s opening was actually a crumpled heap that somewhat resembled her fiancé. She kneeled next to him and nudged his shoulder slightly, trying to wake him, but he only stirred for a few seconds before resuming unconsciousness.

 

Xalaryn stood up and walked into the cave, wandering what could have done this to him. Whatever it was, she didn’t want to face it. But she had the strangest feeling that she was being watched…

 

Ryukai woke up only long enough to see Xalaryn looking down at him. Before he could even open his mouth to say anything to her, he was unconscious once more, pain overtaking him.

[Horatio]

Raith was hiding deep in the cave’s shadows, watching the new comer. She sniffed the air and sensed that the girl was 18. Raith would attack her immediately, and

bring back two sources of blood to the City. She aimed her gun-blade and waited until the girl was far enough in the cave for Raith to engage her in combat without having to go into sunlight. Xalaryn looked up from the ground quickly, hearing Raith #### the gun’s hammer. Xalaryn screamed, but quickly came back to her senses. She frantically searched for her cross, but it was too late for that. Right before the bullet hit her, she cast a protection spell. The bullet stopped in mid air and fell to the ground. Raith hissed, slowly and menacingly. Xalaryn was thinking of any spell she knew that would actually kill a vampire. But she didn’t have much time to think, because the vampire had hit her with a flying tackle. Raith opened her mouth to expose her fangs, but at the same time, Xalaryn cast a water spell. It wouldn’t kill the vampire, but it would get it off of her.

 

After hearing her story, Dimearsh asked if she could remember anything odd about the attack, like somebody who obviously withstood a lethal blow.

 

Raith managed to grab Xalaryn by the arm, make a firm grip, and prepared to bit her, when Xalaryn, in her own defense, cast a water spell, which she knew would not kill the vampire, but stall it for a time. A thin sheet of water formed between Raith and Xalaryn, dividing the two, while waves of water gushed out and pushed Raith out of the way.

 

Xalaryn continued stalling for time. What could she do?!

 

She took advantage of the sopping wet vampire in front of her and blocked off the only exit to the cave with a thick wall of ice. She began using one of the more complicated spells she knew. The cave, with no known exit, seemed to fill rather quickly with dense, thick moisture. There was a heavy mist in the area the two were in, while the sub-zero arctic wall blew a cold wind towards them.

 

In a short matter of time, frost began to form on the two and their surroundings, and the misty environment seemed to cling to the nearest being.

 

It was all luck for Xalaryn now. The arctic mists could either freeze the vampire, allowing her to escape, or it would freeze Xalaryn in her tracks, with no movement possible.

 

Raith cautiously looked around as the light which previously streamed in from outside was blocked, blurred, and fogged. There was only a light blue glow to light the area for Xalaryn to see what she was doing. If there was a way to block all the light from coming in, Xalaryn would have no idea whatsoever where she was!

 

The exit was sealed shut with ice. Oxygen was shortening. This was not a problem for Raith, as vampires did not need oxygen. But Xalaryn did.

 

A mist streamed through the area, covering everything with a thin layer of water, whereas the icy air began to freeze it. It seemed more effort was required to move, now. Ice began to harden around their bodies and they started to freeze at a slow rate.

 

As to when the ice wall melted, that was Xalaryn’s will. She would not let either escape until the vampire was dead. If Xalaryn died here, there would be no way for Raith to escape. If Raith died, then Xalaryn could leave.

 

Xalaryn started to become somewhat dizzy due to the lack of air. She stumbled and faltered. She was weakening, unintentionally making herself vulnerable to the vampire.

 

Raith took advantage of this condition, as she herself had no real need to breath. This girl may be her only hope of staying in the City of the Dead. She lunged at Xalaryn, who was kneeling from dizziness and lack of oxygen.

 

Xalaryn felt something brush against her neck. Eyes unfocused, she couldn’t tell what it was. The mist would cling to her eyes, not allowing her to close her eyelids, also causing ice to for over her optics.

 

Raith, without necessarily thinking of the aftermath, sunk her fangs into the neck of the stunned human. Blood squirted into her mouth. It had been so long since she had last tasted something like this. It was almost new to her. Her mouth seemed to hydrate with the blood she had drawn and Xalaryn toppled over onto the floor.

 

…Uh-oh…

 

The mist around them began to thicken. It seemed as if they were both under water in a short amount of time. The arctic winds began blowing harder, then lighter until it was barely a breeze. Then it began blowing at 10 miles-per-hour winds, and eight degrees.

 

The spell Xalaryn had cast was going haywire!

 

Raith wildly looked around, sharp optics scanning the area in hopes of finding something to stop it.

 

She stood away from the wall and examined it as the cave floor beneath her iced over. Pieces of ice drifted this way and that. The wall blew a 19 miles-per-hour wind at Raith, knocking her over. She had to think fast!

 

Raith darted up to the wall, stood up straight, and examined it very closely. She felt its smooth surface, and realized that the mist was thickening the ice layers! Raith thought as fast as she could for a short moment, then hurled herself against the wall, back flat against it.

 

Soon, the ice began forming over her body, the frosty substance clinging to her face and clothing, not allowing her to move.

 

This wasn’t a bad thing, though.

 

The ice crept over her entire body. She was so engulfed in the arctic wall, the ice would preserve her until it melted, which shouldn’t take too much time. Xalaryn had no will to do anything. The ice would melt soon, and Raith would live through this.

 

Raith had taken off again, and Ryukai followed. Jezebel was about to follow, but didn’t. What was the point, anyway? They seemed to be done with her, and she had

more important matters to attend to. Jezebel was about to leave when she heard shouting.

 

“I don’t know. Anyway, let’s look over here. I think I heard something.”

 

Jezebel’s sharp ears heard the distinct jingling of the keys that hung on the belt of palace guards. She leaped into a tree. She climbed high into it and held her breath. She saw about a score of guards, and strange people dressed in black enter the clearing. She clasped her hand over her mouth in horror. The guards were looking for her with bounty hunters from the Eastern Mountains! Legend said that they were demons, and wicked, but would find and kill anyone… for a price.

 

“Well, I don’t think there is anything here. Let’s leave.” said a guard, but a bounty hunter stopped him. He stood silent, and looked as if he could hear Jezebel’s thoughts. He pointed at the tree she was in, and five bounty hunters began to climb. Jezebel was dead, unless she could kill them.

 

She leaped to another treetop as silently as she could, and quickly loaded her bow. But the bounty hunters saw, and shot at her with harpoons. The steel blades with their poisoned barbs shot into the tree. Jezebel leaped to a different branch, and grabbed the arrow in her bow. She had done this once. Maybe she could do it again.

 

Jezebel released the arrow, which was blazing with green fire. She touched her quiver, and all the other arrows did the same.

 

Raith faded into consciousness. She blinked a few times and saw through the foot-thick ice that it was night outside . The girl that had conjured the storm lay on the ground, dead. Ryukai was no where to be seen. She would take care of him later. She heaved the body of Xalaryn over her shoulder and closed her eyes. Her body and Xalaryn’s

slowly sort of faded, until they were both just clouds of mist. Detecting small holes in the ice near the ground and focusing on Xalaryn’s also-misted body to keep it near her own, Raith slipped through the miniscule holes, and recollected both her body and Xalaryn’s. She saw Ryukai in a heap just outside the cave.

 

She was still drowsy from waking up, and mentally exhausted from turning herself and Xalaryn to mist. She wouldn’t be able to do that again for a few weeks. Hovering only a few inches above the ground, she headed towards the City of the Dead.

 

After nearly two hours, she had reached the black gates of the City. She stood outside and waited while they were drawn back by sentries in the towers of the fifty-foot tall stone wall surrounding the City. She stepped forward, looking forward to a rest, but was stopped by two male vampires she recognized as two lesser hunters named Caleb and Anthony before she could actually get into the City. Caleb roughly grabbed the girl off her shoulders and Anthony shoved a large, heavy leather pack into Raith’s hands. The force of the heavy bag knocked her back, giving the gates enough room to start closing again.

 

“What’s going on?!” she asked angrily, shoving the pack off her stomach and getting back us as fast as she could.

 

“You’ve been gone for a week.” said Caleb, a slight smile on his face. Lesser hunters tended to be a bit resentful Blood Gatherers. “Some are on the verge of death. We can’t have our people depending on sub-standard Huntresses.”

 

“S-sub-standard?!” roared Raith, outraged. “I’ve had this kill for a week! There was just a bit of a… problem… afterwards!”

 

“Excuses won’t help you, Raith.” said Anthony, on the verge of actually giggling. “Good luck!”

 

Raith lunged for him, but the gates had already closed. The two cackled as they walked off. Raith yanked the dog tags off her collar and threw them through the bars, letting out a triumphant “HA!” when they hit Caleb hard in the back of the head.

 

She turned around and picked up her pack. “Sub-standard…” she muttered furiously as she took off into the woods, her anger vanquishing her drowsiness.

 

She stopped and sat down on a stump about 15 minutes later to see what was in the leather bag. It contained all of her possessions. The Vampire Code, a book of the ways of the vampire, a whet stone, all of her bullets, a few changes of clothes, and other random objects. It also had her small pocket watch, which told her that it was about an hour until dawn. With no City to spend the day in, she would need to find somewhere to stay for the night. Not knowing where else to go, she shoved everything back into the bag and headed back to the cave she had spent the last week in.

 

After a rather long while of inactivity, Ryukai finally awoke. He was laying in an uncomfortable position, right arm still broken, weapons still drawn, still in

the bad condition he was in before he showed up to begin with.

 

He struggled and got to his feet, not remembering what immense pain this had caused him before. It distracted him so much that he did not notice the foot-thick ice wall behind him. He cringed and tried to ignore the pain. Doing that was rather difficult. Although…

 

Ryukai reached behind himself for his pack again. He felt around.

 

…It wasn’t there?

 

He would’ve cast a healing spell on himself for this, but…

 

Ryukai pulled the pack off his back and dumped its contents onto the ground. He dug through them madly. The key he had dropped!

 

Ryukai shoved everything back in, swung the pack behind himself and darted as fast as his injured body would carry to the clearing.

 

If someone else had gotten a hold of it… oh…

 

Blaze wondered what could be in the castle. Then she heard something. She dived into the bushes and saw someone. She flew out and demanded that they told her their name.

 

“Who are you, and where are you headed?!” There was a dangerous glint in her eyes. This person really didn’t want to get her mad!

 

Ryukai rather unwillingly soaked himself with sweat as thoughts came to him of what could happen is someone else got his key while he ran from the cave. He had been in such a hurry that he had not noticed that Xalaryn had gone missing from the cave. He did what he could not to think of the consequences of somebody else having his key and focused on running back.

 

ACK!

 

Cramps.

 

He had been perpetually unconscious for who-knows-how long. His muscles suddenly picked up an immense pain as they tightened. Ryukai cringed, and toppled over to hit the ground in an uncomfortable position. Again.

 

Ryukai determinedly jumped back up despite his immense pain. It would end soon if he got a move on. He couldn’t take it much longer. It was another quarter of a mile before he reached that clearing. The 6:15 AM sunlight streamed through the leafy treetops overhead.

[Horatio]

Naomi examined the key closely, making sure there was a chance it might work. She pocketed it once more and glanced back in the direction the vampire had darted off previously. She found a key, which might be able to open the box. To prove her innocence. She may or may not need help from these strangers anymore. She remained silent,

thinking. These thoughts were interrupted, though, by Ryukai bursting through the trees. He looked somewhat desperate as he scanned the green grass for any sign of bloodshed. He found the small spots of red where he had struggled with his bladed boomerang and other sharp objects. He lunged in its direction, combing the grass in a fret, searching all around in hopes of finding a glint of gold.

 

Naomi continued to watch and thought for a short moment. She took the key out of her pocket and held it high above her head, so a reflection of gold shone on the ground near Ryukai. She felt a surge of energy through her body as she held up thekey . She looked up to find a large, dark cloud hovering above her, casting a black shadow elsewhere, but it faded quickly when she lowered the key.

 

Ryukai gasped quietly at seeing the key in Naomi’s possession. He though for a split second as he got slowly to his feet and looked desperately at the key, trying to

think of a way to get its holder to give it to him.

 

“… Ah, just… wondering, but do you really need that key for something... the one you have there?”

 

Naomi thought for a moment. “It’s a long story, but yes.”

 

Ryukai shuddered slightly. “… What for, dare I ask?”

 

“To see if this key will open a lock for me…”

 

Ryukai thought for a moment. “Well, do you suppose I could borrow it from you for a short time? I will assist you with opening the lock if you need…!”

 

“Very well, then. But I need to use it before nightfall.”

 

With that, Naomi tossed the key in Ryukai’s direction, hesitating to part with it.

 

“Many thanks to you! … Tell you what. If you come along with me, you can use it once I’m done, alright?”

 

Naomi nodded.

 

Ryukai gripped the key firmly in his right hand, closed his eyes, and all of his body’s various wounds closed and healed themselves.

 

“Alright,” Ryukai voice seemed a bit louder, and healthier, not like he was about to cough any second. “Come this way.”

 

Ryukai started walking back for the cave again, glancing behind himself to see if Naomi followed. She eagerly tagged along close behind.

 

He picked up his pace, speed and enthusiasm running back, and Naomi effortlessly followed him. If she were to change into one of her feline forms…

 

Well, better not to risk it and wait until later. She should just run for now.

 

Ryukai was getting sick of running back and forth, back and forth between the cave and the clearing, but…Xalaryn was in the cave, and who knows what could have happened to her? Ryukai easily liked her as a friend, but never had many intentions of having a life-long companion. He preferred acting as the Lone Wolf of the town he was from. Once he got to the cave, he skidded across the rocky surface of the earth. Once he had come to a halt, he examined the ice closely and curiously, not recalling it being there before.

 

Naomi was close behind. Her mind was racing for what to do now. Some idiot seemed to want the magical key that could mean her life. It could prove her innocence, and determine what had really happened to her family. Naomi suddenly jumped as he heard a horrid screech. Ryukai had begun stabbing at the ice with his swords.

 

Ryukai needed to get through the ice. Xalaryn was probably in there. He figured he’d used his Dragon Abilities as a last resort, but this stuff was impenetrable. Jeeze. Ryukai grasped the key in his right hand and held it against the hilt of the sword in his left hand, and firmly gripped the hilt with both hands, key stillwithin his grasp. Ryukai closed his eyes as the sword stretched slightly longer and the bladed edges became yet sharper. All of a sudden, a bright red flame engulfed his blade, making it somewhat of a fire-sword. He backed away and then ran towards the ice wall, jumped, and made a diagonal slash with the burning sword.

 

Immediately upon contact, his sword stopped in place. The ice from the uncontrolled spell crept up along Ryukai’s sword, attaching the steel blade to the ice. Ryukai pulled with everything he had, but the ice didn’t let go. The ice covered the flames. They turned blue and entirely still. A frozen fire.

 

The ice crept farther up the blade and passed the hilt, and Ryukai was forced to let go before he was frozen along with it. He looked back at Naomi, who was watching patiently.

 

Ryukai sighed and instructed her to step back away from him, and she did so unquestioningly. Ryukai moved the key to the tip of his hand. He lifted it into the air and felt a strong jolt of energy through his body as he looked up. What looked like a huge thunderstorm was gathering over his key. Dark clouds blocked out all sunlight. A bolt of lightning struck across the sky, loud, booming thunder soon following. A few seconds later, another lightning bolt flashed across the sky, but turned itself downward and struck straight down at Ryukai's key. An immensely bright light flashed around, temporarily blinding Ryukai and Naomi. They regained their vision quickly. Ryukai seemed unconcerned with being hit by lightning, but he seemed to levitate a few inches in the air as huge red dragon wings emerged from his back. His neck deformed and twisted and grew thicker and longer to about 5 feet. His whole

body seemed covered with bright red scales. In a matter of seconds, a huge, 25 foot tall dragon stood in the place Ryukai was just seconds ago.

 

The dragon had let out a blood-curdling roar, looked down at the cave, and moved its long neck down towards it. As it sprayed a flammable gas from inside its mouth, its own breath caused a chemical reaction and resulted in a huge burst of fire tearing through the environment.

 

The huge fireball tore through the wall of ice, overheating and melting through the whole thing. The dragon retracted its head and looked up to the sky. There was another blinding flash of light. The dragon downsized immensely, down to 5"10 again. It began reforming and reshaping back into an identifiable human form. Familiarly known as Ryukai.

 

Ryukai panted for a moment. There were huge, gaping holes in the back of his shirt where he had wings protrude from and holes in various places in his pants. Ryukai

ran inside the cave, water flooding out about one and a half feet.

[Horatio]

He looked around through the water as it flooded and drained out of the cave. He saw that much of it was tainted with blood, and saw small scraps of the same blue fabric Xalaryn’s tunic was made of washed out of the cave with the water. Xalaryn, however, was nowhere to be seen.

 

Raith was there, though, and lightly sleeping, curled against a rock just out of reach of the sunlight shining into the cave. Her mouth was coated with dried blood.

 

Ryukai, though not knowing where her body was, realized what had happened to Xalaryn. One of his life-long friends had been murdered by this vampire!

 

He didn’t realize how much he had cared for Xalaryn until just now. Despite his lack of interest, she was the most likely to be a life-long companion. Much to his surprise, a tear was forming in his eye as he stood motionless in the cave. Ryukai really saw no reason to end the vampire’s demonic acts this moment. Just kill the vampire now, the immense violence would end, and he'd be a Vampire Slayer! There is no downfall he noticed from here. He reached from in his pack, grabbed two equally long swords, jumped up, and slashed down in Raith’s Direction.

 

Ryukai slashed and stabbed at the vampire’s unconscious form. This has to end. Now. He finally swung both swords around and struck them both down, right into Raith’s chest. A hint of dark red was visible in the water from that point on.

 

Raith’s body bled profusely. Ryukai figured he'd just leave it there. He has no use for it. The water had flooded out all the way from inside the cave. Bloodstained stone surrounded Raith. Ryukai walked over to Naomi in a depressed manner and handed her the key. "Where’s the lock you need this for? ...I'll try to make every effort necessary to help you with it." There wasn’t anything Ryukai could do for Xalaryn...

 

 

"Here it is." Naomi said quietly, seeing how sad Ryukai was and walking into the cave next to him. She took the box out of her pack and handed it to him. The shock of Ryukai’s sudden attack and her confusion about why he was so sad slowly faded as she realized that if this key opened the box, she would be free, and the real killer might be found. Ryukai slowly slid the key into the lock and turned it. A small "clink" was heard as the lock opened. Naomi grabbed the lock and tore the box open.

 

 

Dimearsh cautiously approached the cave. Strangely, the ground was muddy outside, and there were signs that a dragon had passed recently. As he entered the cave, he first saw the body on the floor, and then he saw the warrior and a young woman huddled together. They obviously were both focused on something on the floor in front of him. Suddenly, she reached over and opened what was now clearly a small box.

 

As the warrior and his young friend were looking into the box, trying to make sense of its contents, Raith awoke and slowly sat up.

 

 

As the box opened, they could see a small, glowing blade. It was inscribed with many ancient symbols. Something about the blade looked familiar. Naomi was sure she had seen it before. But when… and where?

 

Raith came to, but was nearly knocked out again by a blinding pain under her heart. She slowly looked down to see a giant hole there. She also saw the cat girl and Ryukai gathered around something glowing. Another man was near the cave entrance. Raith decided that it would be best to pretend that she was still out of it until her wound healed. Then she would find out who did this to her.

 

 

Ryukai looked down at the glowing blade in the small box, admiring its shininess. The small inscriptions appeared to be a language he had seen before. The text seemed familiar, but he had no interest in the blade.

 

 

Ryukai slowly read the inscription. “Tari: The Repeler, Bestower, and Destructor.” He frowned slightly. “I guess that’s its name.”

But Naomi hadn’t heard his last sentence. The sight of the blade combined with hearing its name had plunged her into a swirl of memories. Blurred visions of scenes she didn’t remember every happening sped through her brain, but one stood out among the rest, like a lighthouse among candles. Naomi concentrated all her efforts onto that memory, and drifted into a flashback.

 

“NOOOOOO!” she was screaming. She looked around. Everyone was dead, even her parents. Her father’s clawed hand still clutched his sword, and her mother lay beside him, long black hair covering her beautiful white tiger-like face and a broken bow next to her head. They were the best warriors in the country. Nobody was left to save Naomi. A tall, pale man was looming over her, holding Tari, which was at the moment a sword taller than the catgirl child. It shrank as the man spoke to her. “All that stands in my way is a six year old girl…Ha! Victory is so close I can taste it…”

 

He seized Naomi by her arm, drove the now small blade into her chest, and tossed her aside, leaving her for dead. Right before pain caused her to black out, Naomi saw the man stride into her family’s castle proudly, laughing. Whatever it was that he wanted, it was his now…

 

Ryukai saw Naomi’s eyes glaze over. “What’s wrong?” he asked, but she didn’t answer. After about twenty seconds, Naomi came out of her trance-like state. Ryukai repeated the question, but she still didn’t answer. She looked carefully at the blade, and reached out to pick it up.

 

As soon as her had was about six inches from the blade, though, a strong, sharp pain shot through her arm and to her chest, where the knife had stabbed her. The pain was gone as soon as it had come, however, and Naomi realized that she had unintentionally jumped back from the box.

 

Raith peeked under her eyelid at the odd behavior of the girl. She, too, had been in a village that blade massacred when she was young. She recognized the name. But she wasn’t having any flashbacks. Then again, she had gotten out of the place before she had a chance to be stabbed. She continued to silently watch with interest.

 

 

Ryukai silently watched as Naomi drew her hand closer to the blade, then reflexively reared back from it, and went back into thought. Ryukai heard something from behind him. It sounded like a small rustle in the water. He turned his head and saw small ripples flow in the small puddles in the cave. It seemed he had much more to learn about killing vampires…

 

 

Starchild hungered to destroy whatever was in that box. Despite Dimearsh’s efforts to remain quiet, he was drawn forward, and stepped into a puddle. The young warrior started to turn.

 

 

Ryukai glanced around. His surroundings seemed somewhat larger. It seemed more populated, but with less trees. And Naomis. And caves. With dead vampires in them. He thought he heard something not to distant from him. He scanned the area for what made the noise, when he had seen fire. Fires were burning down villages, many of which still had people in them. More people on homicidal rages, chasing other people left and right with blades, stabbing, slashing, hookslaping, jabbing scratching…

 

Ryukai heard the grass rustle behind him as if someone or something was running for him. He clenched his eleven year old fists and turned to face his adversary, and saw a madman with a knife running right at him, too fast for Ryukai to defend himself. He let out a blood curdling scream from pain, then, faster than he realized what was happening, he was back in the present, silent forest, Naomi looking at him questioningly. He was standing, all muscles tense, mostly drenched in cold sweat as he panted lightly and gratefully looked around at the realistic environment.

 

“Eh…so…what do we do now?”

 

As he struggled to speak, Ryukai’s eyes began fading in and out of focus uncontrollably.

 

 

Naomi quickly closed the box. “We take this back to Holly, my hometown, and figure out what it is and why it’s giving us flashbacks.” She said as she picked up the box and got to her feet, still rather shaky from her experience. She put the box back into her pocket. Ryukai followed suit.

 

Raith watched a Ryukai entered and came out of a state similar to Naomi’s previous one. She heard the two talk to each other and get up to leave. Raith couldn’t let them do that. She had to figure out who had stabbed her. Her would almost fully healed now, she stood up and said, “Stop.”

 

 

It seemed the time to act. With the dagger stowed away, Starchild’s urgings had faded. Quickly, he stepped to the side and for the young woman and her companion to pass. Suddenly, the vampire stood up and said, “Stop.” That is what she had to be, a vampire, since no demon would give a warning and no mortal could have survived that attack.

 

 

Ryukai glanced behind himself to see Raith standing, her hand clutching the place where he had stabbed her. His eye began to twitch uncontrollably at how persistent she was.

 

“I’ve killed you once, and I can do it again, if you need me to!” he threatened while reaching behind himself and drawing out two of his sharpest swords. Raith didn’t see, but he had also picked up the key that stored most of his power in it. He kept a firm grip on it with the sword in his right hand. He turned his head to warn Naomi that this might not necessarily be pretty. He then struck a battle stance and waited for Raith’s move.

 

 

Raith let out a low hiss. “So you are the one that did this to me?” she asked venomously, pointing at the scar where the wound was now completely healed. She wasn’t exactly surprised it had been him. “Not wise.”

 

She immediately lunged at Ryukai, but he dodged and held his sword out to the side to impale her. She dodged, too, but just barely. A nasty cut on her shoulder began bleeding profusely. It was already starting to heal, but she knew that this blood along with what she had lost from her stab wound would be too much for her. Luckily, her lunge had put her past Ryukai and next to the exit. With another hiss, she turned around and ran.

 

Naomi watched as the vampire lunged at Ryukai. She tried to change and help him, but she was too terrified to move. She just stood there, unable to do anything to defend herself, but the vampire didn’t seem interested in her, anyway. After a short melee, the vampire left the cave. After calming down a bit, Naomi realized that now would be the perfect time to get back to Holly, now that the vampire wouldn’t be after them for a while. She ran out of the cave in the opposite direction the vampire had gone. They were deep in the forest, and needed to get out before the vampire healed enough to give chase.

 

 

“That was resolved well enough.” thought Dimearsh. He set off to find the vampire, despite Starchild’s to find out the girl’s purpose for the knife.

 

Maybe after his friend had been avenged.

 

He followed Raith’s trail for a while, and then realized that he was pursuing a wounded vampire, and that he would probably be attacked before he had time to speak. Perhaps if he brought a gift…

 

He then turned his efforts and had soon captured several large rabbits. It was not much, but hopefully would buy him time to make his proposal.

 

 

Ryukai, without thinking, darted off after Raith also, going at a much faster pace than Dimearsh. He might actually get this creature this time. If this didn’t kill it, then there was something wrong, either with his attack style or the vampire’s morality.

 

With the key of his power in his hand, he made an attempt to energize himself into running faster, and ended up dashing at some 12 miles per hour. He’d gain on the vampire soon, although he didn’t see it anywhere at the time being. He had a whole forest to look through…

 

 

Ryukai had reached the clearing that Raith was in but he didn’t know it. She was in a tree slightly to the right of him, no longer bleeding but still weak. She needed to get rid of him. He would surely find her soon. She watched him, waiting for him to turn around, or give her some other opportunity to attack. Finally, he turned his head and looked the other way. Immediately, Raith leaped out of the tree at him. She was going straight for his neck. Unfortunately, her fangs came into contact with something else before they reached Ryukai. Quickly landing and backing away, she realized that Ryukai had been in the process of raising his key above his head. She was currently holding the key with her teeth.

 

Ryukai turned around, and for a second, there was a rather bewildered look on his face as he saw the confused vampire stumble backwards with his key in her mouth. Had the situation been different, he probably would have laughed.

 

Raith spit out the key as Ryukai quickly drew two long, sharp swords. With a low, threatening hiss, Raith reached for her gun-blade. They began to slowly circle each other, looking for a weak point to strike. Ryukai picked up his key as he passed it and hooked it onto his belt. As soon as he straightened up, he saw an opening and flew at Raith. She blocked it and managed to push him back. The circling resumed, and Raith wished he had taken the time to reload her gun-blade while she had been in the tree.

 

Raith was getting tired of this. She was hungry because of all the blood she had lost, and needed to find something to eat to regain her strength. She saw an opening on Ryukai’s right side and went for it with a slash. He blocked, but she managed to catch him under the arm. He dropped the sword he was holding, but went for his key. Before Raith could do anything, she was hit with a blinding light as strong as the sun. She was knocked back into a tree, he head throbbing and eyes blurry, even though she had closed them. The impact caused her to drop her gun-blade, and it was now a good ten feet away.

 

This was it. Her loss of blood, combined with her hunger, combined with her severe headache from both the light and the tree she had hit were too much for her to keep fighting through. She struggled to her knees and bowed her head as Ryukai came towards her. It was against the Vampire Code to ask for mercy. Ryukai stood in front of her and pulled his arm back, aiming the blade at her heart. He finally trust the sword toward her, only to be blocked, and pushed back so hard he was knocked off his feet.

 

Ryukai had not seen whoever it was come in front of her. His brain raced as he tried to think of who it could be. Naomi? She was running in the exact opposite direction and out of the forest at the moment. Dimearsh? As soon as the thought crossed his mind, the man came skidding into the clearing.

 

Who was it?

 

He was given an answer as Raith looked up questioningly at the newcomer, a pale man who looked to be about twenty with short black hair, black clothing, and a long black leather trench coat. He had the same spiked collar as Raith, the same black leather pack on his back, and also had a gun-blade.

 

“James?” she said weakly, barely able to recognize him in her highly weakened state. “Wha-… What are you doing here?”

 

“They told me you were exiled.” he said in a smooth, sleek voice, still keeping his eyes on Ryukai. “I knew I couldn’t let you run around out here by yourself. Something like this would happen. And I couldn’t just sit there and eat while my sister was run through, now, could I?”

 

 

Ryukai was now outnumbered. Two vampires against one mortal human. This could only mean one thing. He once again reached behind himself to sheath his sword, and drew out a new one.

 

He had a sword he would only use as a last resort. It had one of the sharpest blades on the outer part, but was hollow on the inside with easily breakable metal in the center. There, inside, were small sacks of fatal venom attached to the inside of the sword. If anything collided with the blade, the toxin would spray in one direction, causing death within thirty seconds. Limited warranty, uninsured, but it killed things, and that’s all Ryukai needed.

 

In addition to that, there were small wire barbs edging the center of the sword, with small spikes surrounding them. One stab into flesh would pierce the body, eject toxins, and tear through the remainder of the target.

 

If this one didn’t kill a vampire… he might not live long enough to actually learn how to kill one.

 

His custom made sword was unsheathed, and his vampire-drool-covered key was in the other hand. They were a lethal weaponry combination.

“If you want me, come get me.” he taunted as he walked toward them, ready to kill.

 

 

James and Raith watched as Ryukai came towards them with a new, strange sword, taunting them and trying to provoke an attack. Raith was still barely awake, but James had encountered this strategy far too many times in training to be taken in by it. Ryukai stopped when he saw it wasn’t working, and ran towards them to attack. Once again, James blocked and pushed him back hard, nearly to wear he had started from. Using the key to make himself heavier to prevent being thrown once more, Ryukai attacked again. James still blocked, but Ryukai stayed close enough to make another attack. He continued slashing and stabbing furiously at James. He wasn’t very concerned with Raith at the moment. James continued to block him, but wasn’t attacking. Ryukai was going to start getting tired before too long…

 

He backed off just enough to be out of range while he chanced a look at the horizon. Raith and James, too, looked up, and saw the first tendrils of dawn start crawling above the tree tops. They both hissed, although Raith’s was a rather weak sound. James pulled her up and, half carrying his sister, started running and searching for a place to spend the night. Even if Ryukai followed, James knew he could easily outrun him. Eventually, a small cave was found that was just big enough for Raith and himself to stay hidden in. After shoving Raith in before him, he slid into the shadows and listened hard. He didn’t hear anybody coming after them. He found some large rocks to pile in front of the narrow cave to keep others out.

 

With one last concerned look at Raith, who had fallen asleep before he had even gotten her into the cave, James closed his eyes. He would need to find some food for her tomorrow night.

 

Naomi was so scared she had nearly passed out. Once again, a vampire had run right towards her, and once again, she had been passed without any harm. “And now there are two of them. Lovely.” she thought to herself in a panicked sarcasm. But, the encounter had made her realize something else. The whole time she had been running, she had thought Ryukai was right behind her. She now realized that she was quite alone. This was not good. Not only did Ryukai carry the key that opened the box, but he also seemed to be able to fight off the vampires long enough for an escape to be made.

[Horatio]

She stood there in a panic, looking forwards and backwards, wondering if she should keep trying to get out of the forest or if she should go back and look for Ryukai. She let out a slight whimper and turned back around. There was no point in going back if she didn’t have the key…

 

This was getting complicated. That guy just didn’t know when to give up. That might serve him well, if the vampire took him into undeath. As Dimearsh entered the clearing, he found he had more company than he expected. The newcomer was wielding a weapon like the vampire’s. The two seemed to know each other, and the young warrior was down to his last sword and a large key. Hopefully whoever won would be in the mood for a talk. Even with Starchild, it would be tough to win against vampires, and there was no telling what powers this warrior’s sword could have, if he held it back until now.

 

It had not been hard to follow the two vampires. Although the cave was barred, Dimearsh noted the spot and set out for bigger pray. Two rabbits would barely distract two vampires. especially if they had rested. It took most of the day, but he managed to capture a deer alive. Hopefully that would satisfy them. He returned to the cave and waited for dark.

 

It had been two days since Ryukai had set out into this forest. No food, water, or sleep, and after the tiring battle with the two vampires, he was on the verge of dehydration, heat exhaustion and hyperventilation.

 

There is one way he could recover himself. Panting immensely, hyperventilation kicked in, the air currents chained to the limited water in his body causing dehydration had soon affected the heat exhaustion from when the first rays of the sun hit him. In a last possible attempt, he reached for his key at his side. He picked it up, still a bit slimy from Raith, but before he could will his own power to cure him, he collapsed under his weight from weakness.

 

He lay, unmoving and barely breathing.

 

As the sun sank slowly to the southeast, Dimearsh realized what he was doing. Actually sitting outside some vampires’ cave waiting for dark. He soon recovered, and thought through his plan again. There was the deer. He hoped its blood would suffice for two. If not, there was Starchild, and its flare should hold them off long enough for him to think of something.

As the sun set, Dimearsh readied himself to act. Hopefully before moonrise, he would have allies in his hunt for revenge. There was a pounding sound, and the rocks blocking the cave began to move. “Steady, now…” Dimearsh thought to himself. The offering waited several feet away from the cave, and Dimearsh waited in plain sight, sword sheathed, but ready, hoping he would have time to talk.

 

As the pounding sound continued, Dimearsh set himself. Eventually, the tightly-packed rocks burst out of the entry, the vampires emerged, and immediately fed upon the deer.

 

"I hope that will suffice for now, I have a proposal to make." stated Dimearsh.

 

"It will do." replied James.

 

"There is a great evil I seek to destroy. However, I hold little hope of victory without allies in this, my quest."

 

"So, where do we come in?" asked Raith, now rested and back to her full strength.

 

"Your...condition makes you ideal allies in this. His powers should have little effect on you." Replied Dimearsh.

 

"I see, and that is why you have pursued me for three days?"

 

"Yes, I seek only to ask your assistance."

 

"And if we refuse?"

 

"I will attempt to leave in peace, but if you are obligated to violence towards me, I will oblige."

 

As this conversation occurred, James slipped around behind Dimearsh. He struck, but quickly released him.

 

"Perhaps we are not so different, you and I..." said James, shaking his head.

 

"Perhaps not. It may be that that certain quality of mankind that was taken violently from you both, I have been trading in small installments for the power this sword bestows. If that is so, that whom I seek is far more dangerous, for he has given it willingly to beings too dark to name, even were I standing among the fountains of paradise, and they have filled him with evil.

 

I must go, what is your answer?"

 

Raith looked at Dimearsh, and then at James. "I will do what James thinks is best." she said, knowing her brother would make the right choice. James thought it over. After five long minutes he finally said, "We will come and see this evil of which you speak. Then we will decide wither or not to fight it with you."

 

Raith, James and Dimearsh got up and started for the edge of the forest when they heard someone in the bushes. Raith pulled out her gun-blade and slowly walked towards the bush. Ryukai was lying there. She could tell he was close to death. But did she really care? Hadn't he tried to kill her while she was unconscious? What would it matter to her if he died? Raith stood there, wondering what to do. James came over for a closer look.

 

"Isn't that the guy who was attacking you?" he asked, heaving Ryukai out of the bushes. "Yes." said Raith. She really didn't think she would feel anything if she just let him die. She didn't think he would have let her live. She had just decided to leave him there when James slung him over his shoulder.

 

"Come on." he said, walking off. "He needs water." Raith stared in shock.

 

"But he tried to kill me, James!" she said, jogging over to him.

 

"Yes." said James. "Therefore, it would not be honorable for you to let him die this way." He looked at her with stern eyes. "You know the Code. You two must fight in a fair battle."

 

"Fine." Raith sighed. "But once his strength is returned-"

 

"We will see." interrupted James as they walked back towards Dimearsh. He saw the two coming back and they explained how they had found Ryukai.

 

“We shall take him to that monastery over there. They should take care of him.” said Dimearsh.

 

After a few days at the monastery, Ryukai was completely healed. The monks let him out of his room for the first time in days, and he seized to opportunity to get some fresh air. He decided a walk in the gardens would do him some good. It was a nice, quiet evening, and the flowers were beautiful. As he took a turn left, he found himself face to face with Raith and James. James looked slightly surprised. Raith glared.

 

Now that the mortal was better, Raith could attack whenever she wanted. But a meaningful look from James made her hesitate drawing her gun-blade. She settled for resting her hand on the hilt, ready to pull it out if Ryukai attacked.

 

Naomi woke up with a terrible headache. She rose to find that she was in a comfortable feather-bed in warm pajamas. A man walked into the room. He was bald and had organ-red robes on.

 

"What happened?" Naomi asked. "Where am I?"

 

Ryukai had found himself in front of the two vampires, both of which had tried at least once to kill him. He couldn’t think of how to really react, and just stood still in their presence, silent and mostly motionless.

 

James felt the tension. He grabbed Raith's arm and pulled her by Ryukai to keep walking.

 

Naomi's head still hurt badly. She couldn't hear the man's words through her pain...

 

It had been three weeks, Starchild was growing restless, and Dimearsh knew it was time to proceed. He only hoped there would be time to discuss the matter when they found Sinvalj. Anyways, the hard part would be after he was destroyed, making sure he could never return. Since it was not yet night, Dimearsh considered the other warrior. Could he possibly be convinced either way? He could become a real liability if Sinvalj attacked. A truce was likely the best option, provided this Ryukai had the honor to keep one.

 

Dimearsh knew his own battle would come, a matter of a debt unpaid, he would settle after Sinvalj lay forever destroyed. Death vengeance must come first, that was the ancient way. Unfortunately, the other party had not the courage to join the quest. Such was his option, but it meant he might have to settle for news of death.

 

It would not do to look upon the future, when such a massive task lay before him. Let the current task be passed before thoughts of the future are considered.

 

Ryukai made a half nod, half bow of respect toward James and Raith, making James stop his hurried attempt to usher Raith past him.

 

"I must thank you for getting me here and assisting in my recovery. Let me know if there is something I can do in return for you."

 

He turned his visual scan, for lack of better phrase, toward Raith.

 

"With the exception of much of anything violent between any of us, most preferably."

 

James gave Raith a quick look to make sure she wasn't about to pounce.

 

"You proved to be a skilled adversary. It wouldn’t have been honorable to let a skilled warrior die in such a fashion."

 

He quickly gave Raith a side ways glance, and elbowed her when he saw she wasn't saying anything.

 

"You are welcome." she grumbled, turning her head away so she didn't make eye-contact with Ryukai.

 

Three weeks travel had brought them to the edge of Sinvalj's valley shortly before dawn. It had not been easy traveling by night, but Dimearsh had grown used to it, and Starchild had seemingly grown used to the presence of vampires. Hopefully it would still be quick to warn him of the coming of evil. Seemingly, this would be the last day it would be safe to leave the group, Dimearsh knew the toughest part would come after Sinvalj had fallen, then no living thing could be trusted until the fell sprit was forever banished to the abyss.

 

21 year old Rose walk slowly down the path. Hearing something, she stop and listened. She then suddenly turn around and drew her sword, ready to deal with the silent stranger. No one was there.

 

"I have got to stop doing that each time I hear something. " she said to herself. But she knew that was impossible considering that her past would not leave her alone. Returning her sword to its former place, she turned and continued to walk down the path.

 

That had been a close one. Whoever that girl was, she had nearly discovered the cave where the party had taken refuge during the daylight hours. Dimearsh had taken care to conceal the opening, seeing as he could not afford to have them discovered, and he had concealed himself nearby.

 

He thought to himself, "Who is this strange woman?" She had a warrior way about her. Why was she here? Dimearsh decided to follow, and, if he could, speak with her. Hopefully their goals would not be mutually exclusive.

 

Quietly, he eased himself down from the tree. It was almost nightfall, and Raith and James would awaken shortly.

 

Rose walked father down the path. She had sensed that someone was following her since her last stop down the path. Sensing that the stranger was gaining on her she broke out into a run. She ran and ran until she meet a fork in the road. She could hear the figure approaching her. Drawing her sword and spinning around, she caught the man as he was just about to dive into the forest.

 

"Stop! I will not harm you if you explain why you are following me." Rose demanded of the man.

 

“There is a being of great power living in the valley not far from here. A being I owe a visit. Perhaps you have heard of him?” said Dimearsh

 

"No, I have not heard of this being of power." Rose replied calmly. "Perhaps you could tell me more." Rose didn't like this man but she needed to know if he was on her side or the enemy’s side. She laughed. No one has been on her side for as along as she could remember.

 

The man didn't answer her. He was eyeing her long sword that she was holding loosely in her hand. She put it back and asked him again, "What do you want with this being of power?" She waited patiently, but that was slowly fading.

 

"I have unresolved matters to discuss with him. Perhaps, if you are not doing anything this evening, I could introduce you to him."

 

As Dimearsh waited for her to consider, he placed one hand on his sword and reached out with his mind. It was a risk, but he had to know if it was likely this girl served Sinvalj.

 

Using her mind powers, she could already know what he was doing.

 

"I don't serve anyone, so draw your sword if you want but I don't serve any Sinvalj." Rose said. She could sense that this made the man fear her. "Great. Someone else who hates me." she thought.

 

At that moment, Raith and James awoke and stalked out of the cave, ready to continue the journey. Raith rubbed her head groggily and spied Dimearsh, who was looking at something in the opposite direction. Raith and James both turned and saw Rose standing with her sword drawn. They could immediately smell that she was over 18, and their first instinct was to attack, but then they remembered that they didn’t need to hunt for the village anymore, and could take as much time as they wanted to find food. Not wanting to bother with an armed human that was aware of their presence at the moment, Raith turned back to Dimearsh.

 

“James and I are going to get ourselves some food.” she said, unsheathing her gun-blade and turning around. James did the same, and the two sped off into the forest. They had reloaded their gun-blades before they had gone to sleep for the day.

 

This was too much for Rose, so she turned and ran. She didn't want to be vampire food. She was fast but quiet. She didn't hear anything but the grass beneath her feet. So she didn't know she was being followed by someone.

 

Khanailoa, through all of this time, had secretly been walking along side of the group of mixed species, biding her time for when it was right. She had shown interest in Dimearsh's doings, in hopes of getting vengeance for what had happened 7 years ago. All until the group had come to a cave, where Xalaryn had died, did she take on the path ahead alone, getting a head start ahead of the group, to what she knew.

 

She wanted to scout ahead of them, and spy on Sinvalj's location, in hopes of gathering as much information as possible. Or, possibly, she could try to weaken any of Sinvalj's strength with what little she had herself, alone.

 

Khanailoa patrolled the area, where she believed to have any point of significance to Sinvalj, and collected information there for when Dimearsh had caught up with her.

 

Naomi had fully recovered in the monastery. It turned out that she had run into a tree in the forest close to the monastery, and one of the monks had found her during a stroll. After thanking the monks one more time, she headed off in the direction they said the others had gone. She still needed that key to prove her innocence.

 

Moonrise was coming. Dimearsh could feel Sinvalj stirring, and feel the pull of his sword on Starchild. Soon, the foul beast would know of their approach, even if he never touched his sword.

 

Raith and James where still traveling close by to Dimearsh, who was still on the path, but were attempting to find some nourishment for themselves in the forest.

 

Moonrise had come, and Sinvalj was coming, but, there was something odd.

 

Starchild was reaching out, trying to take control, trying to make him give himself over to its power. Dimearsh stumbled off the path, the internal battle blinding him temporarily to the world outside. The urge had always been there, Starchild had tried before, and Dimearsh had been tempted, had tasted the power. Oh, how easy it would have been, to give up, embrace the power it offered, he could have defeated Sinvalj then, but, at what cost?

 

Enough. To dwell on the past was to ignore the future. Even though he should not expect much beyond the coming battle.

 

Having rarely left the borders of his home country (this was only the third time), Val Hawyn took cautious steps into the unknown. He walked rather slowly along a thin dirt path, which, as he looked ahead, led into a dense forest. This vaguely reminded him of a Wolf forest near his hometown, where some rather unpleasant experiences took place. Val looked up at the newly risen moon, again, reminded of the Wolf Forest.

 

Val took more and more steps into the woods, fully clothed in black, trying to remain invisible to the human eye, and remain in secrecy. He wore a long black hooded cloak, also in attempt to hide his identity.

 

Raith and James had yet to find any food. They were both aware of the shape-shifting girl behind them, but they didn't care much about her. They were hungry, and she was too young to be of any sustenance. Suddenly, they stopped running, whipped their heads to the right, and froze. Naomi stopped, too. James sniffed at the air.

 

New blood.

 

From this distance, neither vampire could tell the age. They took off silently in the direction the smell was coming from, drawing their gun-blades. If this person was old enough, and the vampires could surprise them, then they would have a meal. As Raith and James ran, James thought he smelled something familiar about the blood...

 

Naomi had caught up to and was following Raith and James in her tabby form. They where her best way to find Ryukai. She knew that the vampires were aware of her, but also knew that she was safe. She was slightly surprised when they both stopped suddenly and took off in a different direction, but she continued to follow. Maybe they had found Ryukai...

 

Ryukai had heard footsteps following the path along side him in the forest while he hid silent in the trees and shrubs, eyes every watchful for this intruder. His intention was to jump this stranger, get him knocked out, and steal anything he could find on the adversary.

 

Ryukai reached his left arm into the pack behind himself, pulled out a scimitar, and readied himself for a strike.

 

Val Hawyn stopped in his tracks. He thought he had heard a rustling in the forest on either side of him. To his right was something hiding, to the left he thought he had heard the sound of moving branches.

 

Val grabbed two of the swords at his side, pulled them out with a loud unsheathing noise, and scanned the area carefully. He thought he saw movement in the forest nearby on the left, and turned his attention to it. But he did not have his attention focused to Ryukai, who was creeping up behind him.

 

Rose was still running. In a while she reached a stranger who had two swords pulled. She drew her own and was approaching the man behind the armed one facing the forest. She walked slowing and carefully but she soon stepped on a twig. "Urg..." she said as both men whipped around.

 

As Val was looking in the bushes, Ryukai prepared to attack, but turn around quickly at the sound of a twig snapping. Val turned around, too, and at that moment Raith and James ran out from the forest. They both took aim with their gun-blades at Val, but just as they fired, Naomi jumped out of the bushes in a cougar form and accidentally tackled Raith. She had been trying to lunge for the figure that had drawn the swords, but had missed when he moved to look behind him. Raith's gun arm was jerked violently upwards and shot into the treetops as Raith ran into James, knocking off his aim, too. Only his bullet grazed Ryukai in his left shoulder.

 

Dimearsh had noticed Raith and James leaving and had followed them, ending up right beside Rose. He watched the skies, bow at the ready, and Starchild at his side. All this excitement was sure to draw attention. It would not be good to come this far only to be taken by surprise. Suddenly, Starchild began to glow and shake. Something big was coming. Big, and ripe with a dark evil...

 

Val scanned the scenery, taken by surprise, to see a wild cat, two vampire-looking beings, a strange hunter/thief and two more people.

 

Val Hawyn did the only thing left for him to do: Attack.

 

Val focused his magic power into pure energy into his right sword, increasing it slightly in sharpness, length and width. The other sword emitted ultra-frigid air, and frost formed around the metal blade as if it were swung the correct way, the ice would shoot out and effectively freeze any opponents for later, as he took on the other two.

 

Ryukai put away the scimitar, and drew his toxic long sword once again. Without using any strategic thought, Ryukai pushed the sword straight forward, which upon being crouched down, meant it would have stabbed through this stranger's ankle. This would disable mobility though.

 

The sword was met by Val's right sword, which he threw in front of himself just in time to parry the attack.

 

With his attention drawn to Ryukai briefly, Val swung his frigid sword at Raith and James, forgetting that they had been knocked over and missing them. He let go of one sword, to use his right hand to draw throwing knives.

 

For a split second, Val's right hand flew from his side to the air, lobbing four throwing knives at Rose and Dimearsh, which would either scare them off, hit them, or just be easily deflected.

 

Still using his free hand, Val used a fire spell and a stream of geothermal flames spewed out in Raith and James' direction, while Val grabbed his Ice blade and slashed it at Ryukai, not turning around to see if he had hit or miss or see the effect.

 

Val looked around the scenery wildly, looking for the wild cat that was here not too long ago...

 

Naomi jumped Val from behind, bringing him onto his stomach. Raith and James had gotten up and where advancing on Val, gun-blades aimed for his head. They had not enjoyed being nearly set on fire.

 

Val Hawyn felt a strange sensation on his back as the oversized feline he was looking for had pushed him down from behind. He also heard the hammer of two guns being pulled back and footsteps coming towards him. Val, still having one sword in his hands, did the last thing he could do that came to mind in this situation.

 

He pushed himself upward, beneath the cat’s weight, and threw his sword upward, throwing off the gun-blades aim just before they were fired, and then leaned over to the right, in hopes of rolling over and knocking the cat off of him and giving himself opportunity to attack. Or retreat, if necessary.

 

Once again the gun-blades were knocked and the aim was thrown off, making Raith and James shoot the ground near Val's head. Naomi hopped off of him just before he squashed her. Raith and James quickly cocked their guns again, and Naomi turned back into a human to get her bearings before the battle began again. The all stood there, starring at each other.

 

Val stood motionless, watching for the adversary's movement. Upon hearing rustling in the bushes nearby, Val reflexively cast a spell which made a light shield around him. A bright flash of light temporarily illuminated the area, and it appeared that Val was gone. The area he was standing in was strangely shimmering though. He had used a spell to bend the light surrounding him, proving himself invisible to the naked eye. Naomi's cat eyes could still see him, though, and Raith and James could smell his blood. He reached over to pick up his arctic sword, grabbed it, and slashed it speedily in Ryukai's direction, which effectively hit him in the side. But did not act as a blade. It did not cut him in the least. Most of his body covered with ice almost instantly, stopping him from moving. Val looked over to his right, to see his empowered sword land blade down in the ground not too far away. He tried to determine what would happen if he went to grab it, and decided against it for the time being. He scanned the area for signs of reaction.

 

At the flash, Dimearsh had looked down, finding Starchild still in its scabbard but shaking angrily. He looked around. Whatever it was that was coming, it seemed to be waiting. For what, however, was anyone's guess.

 

Suddenly, ice covered Ryukai's legs. Oh, that had been a trick. That new guy had gone invisible, but as he struck, a faint shadow was cast. Since whatever was lurking in the shadows overhead seemed to be in no hurry, Dimearsh drew Starchild and waited...

 

Val Hawyn continued looking around, waiting for his opponents' reaction. They could not see his body directly, but the vampires could still smell him, he knew this. He left tracks however, and along the dirt path, crunching dirt can easily be heard with each step he took.

 

Ryukai found at least half of his body encased in thick ice, stopping him from moving much at all, with the exception of his head, neck and right arm. Despite this, he could not reach anywhere near a weapon, leaving all his capabilities to wait.

 

Val felt an unusual weakness in his head, which he had felt other times, but very few. This meaning he was nearly out of magic power. His blades would be all he could depend on without using his magic power...

 

Very finite, he did not have endless mind power. Though he had a lot of it, he could run out. He looked around and unsheathed the last of his three swords, again, with two swords in hand. One was ultra frigid, causing ice to form on anything it touched, while the other was smothered in a flame which brightly lit up the area. This sword could do the same as his other one: Cause fire to strike anything it felt necessary.

 

He looked down, and pointed his fire blade upward to the sky. It shot up a huge blast of fire, which illuminated the area as the noonday sun would, in attempt of temporarily blinding his opponent, and increasing the temperature, hopefully having extra effect on the vampires.

 

Raith and James shielded their eyes and let out pained screeches.

 

Naomi was temporarily stunned, but recovered quickly. Her cat eyes could still see the man, even with his spell. If he killed Ryukai, she wouldn't be able to work the key. If he killed the vampires, she might never find Ryukai after this. She jumped on him again, becoming a Bengal tiger in mid air, but her eyesight was being thrown off by the bright light, and she and Val both hit a tree hard, stunning them both. She had, however, succeeded in stopping the bright light.

 

Only the light of the real sun could burn them, but it still hurt vampires' eyes if there was a bright enough artificial one. Raith took aim at the half-frozen Ryukai. For a second, she aimed right at his heart. She could take him out now, and be done with it. But as James had said, it would not be honorable to defeat a foe like Ryukai when he was in such a state. James didn't do anything to step in, but watched Raith intently. With a low, annoyed hiss, Raith aimed her gun-blade downwards and fired several times into the ice that was restraining the lower half of Ryukai's body. The many cracks made the ice easy to kick away.

 

After a short moment of a daze, Val came to, but his eyes were somewhat out of focus and he felt somewhat dizzy. Upon hearing gunshots, Val jumped to his feet and looked around wildly, still somewhat confused and dizzied. He shook his head, ignored the pain, and ran about five feet into the forest behind him. He jumped up to a tree branch and climbed the rest of the way. Jumping his way from treetop to treetop, he eventually came back to the dirt path with the vampires. He backed up and prepared to jump into the air, change into a werewolf, and attack as a different form.

 

As Ryukai was kicking the ice off himself, James turned to Raith and gave her a slight, approving smile. Before anything else could happen, James smelled something rushing towards the path again. He and Raith both whipped around just in time for Raith to be pounced on by a large werewolf.

 

Val willed his body to change. As the moonlight beams completed the steps necessary to do so, Val's body changed within one second. In werewolf form, his new body came crashing down into the ground and impacted Raith's body rather severely, smashing her into the ground. Val looked around wildly, this just demonstrating his power as warning to others. He searched for a nearby target.

 

Rose just walked forward and blocked the daggers Val had thrown at her with her mind. She wasn't much in this battle, so she took the time to notice that there were two were vampires, one werewolf, one cat-human, and two humans. Rose sheathed her sword and walked past the werewolf then she stopped and turned "I'm Rose. And all of you would be...?" She decided that these people were no cause for alarm. She thought for once she could be friends with someone. Maybe.

 

This was unexpected. It seemed one of the newcomers was a bit of a collector of elemental blades. This might complicate matters, but no matter. First revenge. Let the matter of spoils be settled when Sinvalj lay destroyed.

 

Suddenly, a large form descended from above. Dimearsh moved. As he swung, he realized the form was not the dark evil he felt coming. Quickly, he diverted his strike, but was unable to stop completely. He collided with the creature, knocking it from Raith. He turned, sword at the ready, he then saw the girl returning, and waited. That was one mystery cleared up. He introduced himself. Hopefully this Rose would not be a problem.

 

The ground lightly shook as Ryukai recovered balance from Val's impact on the ground. He watched in awe, seeing as the landing on top of Raith could have killed her easily.

[Horatio]

Ryukai grasped his Toxin sword in his hand and ran up to the beast. Deciding against waiting to be within range to slash, he just threw the sword. Surprisingly stable, it pierced through the air, heading straight towards Val...

 

Raith hit the ground with the heavy weight on top of her and gasped as her chest was nearly crushed. She tried to reach for her gun-blade, but she couldn't move her arms. The wolf was on top of them. James ran toward the wolf at the same time as Ryukai and brought his sword down.

 

Val coughed as he felt a blade pierce through his chest. He looked down to see Ryukai's sword had stabbed about half-way through his body, but not necessarily close to his heart. He was injured, but would survive...

 

Or so he thought.

 

With a similar sensation, a different sword went through, close to his right shoulder.

 

An ice cold fluid of sorts was emitting from the blade that Ryukai had thrown, and various places on Val's body began hurting strangely...

 

Toxins...?!

 

Val grabbed the two blades, ripped them out of his body, dropping them carelessly, and changed his body back. No longer a Werewolf, He was not holding Raith down, but was kneeling next to her, though his previous form enabled him to use his magic and power once more.

 

One hand he had on the ground to support himself, and the other had a yellow-white glow emitting from it. He moved that hand over his wound, and it slowly closed and healed, though the tears in his clothing remained. He moved his hand over to the wound that Ryukai had put in him, but the fast-acting toxins had begun taking effect. Val let out a few loud coughs and in between that, vomiting a small amount of blood, and his breathing became rather difficult.

 

He continued trying to heal himself. The wound was no longer his main concern. He began thinking, trying to remember the mental steps to use the spell to remove contamination from his body, while coughing up more blood.

 

Rose hurried to injured man's side. She put her hand up and started to think of a spell to bring the poison out of him. At last she did and as the poison moved into her body she asked him, "Are you well?” She gasped as the poison took affect, then mumbled something and was well again.

 

James helped Raith up. He picked up the gun-blades that had been thrown aside while she rubbed her wounded collarbone.

 

Val momentarily felt the cold sensation leave, and the pains were eased as the toxins were absorbed out of his body. He glanced over at Rose.

 

"For the time being, yes. I will give you proper thanks later."

 

Val grabbed one of his swords. With a look of death in his eyes, he slashed at James, his accuracy blinded by fury. He stabbed with the blade, but was too far away. Upon not feeling his blade hit anything, he withdrew it, and weaved his hands in a gesture to conjure a spell of Darkness. Normally, a wave of darkness would have launched out at Val's target, and as it passed, take the life out of the victim, killing it instantly. Val had overlooked the element advantages. Darkness against darkness did nothing.

 

So, he was a werewolf. That might simplify things a bit. At least, Dimearsh didn't think a lycanthrope would make a good host for Sinvalj. Hopefully they wouldn't have to find out. Yes, a careful attack, destroy the soulstone first, and then Sinvalj's foul presence would be forever gone.

 

"Come, there are dark things abroad this night. You can tear each other limb from limb later."

 

"No." said Raith coldly. "He needs to be dealt with." She wasn't going to forgive Val too soon for crushing her.

 

Suddenly, Dimearsh launched into an attack, Starchild blazing with greater intensity. Relentlessly he charged, slashing at Val.

 

Rose put her sword in front of Val, blocking the attack. “You can kill each other later. He is right. We need to stop this useless fighting." Rose hated fighting. Because of fighting, she lost her family and friends. “Now, can everyone just get along with each other, or do I have to hurt you all so you'll listen?" She waited for their responses.

 

Val didn’t have much of a choice in the matter to listen. He was mentally weak, lacking mind power which was drained by his magic power, and he needed to physically rest. But he tried not to show his vulnerability and hoped the Vampires would not attack him for the time being. He, too, watched his opponents for their reactions to this. He did not know what this group was trying to accomplish, but he did not care much either...

 

Val really needed to rest, and could not do it here. He used the last of his available magic power and used a wind spell to create a strong wind in the immediate area, blowing dirt and grass around. He covered his face from the winds and ran over to his swords, then grabbed them and properly sheathed just one of them so he could run.

 

He successfully grabbed his swords and ran away from the miniature tornado he made, which soon dissipated. He ran from tree to tree, trying to remain out of sight, and retreated. It couldn’t have been more than 60 feet before Val collapsed from exhaustion and glanced behind himself to see that the group on the road was within eyesight of him. Val's heartbeat slowed, his breathing increased, and he felt progressively weaker, until he fainted on the spot.

 

Raith ignored the new girl and tried to run to where Val was, gun-blade readied, but James grabbed her around her waist and held her back. "Leave him." he said calmly. "We'll take care of him later."

 

Suddenly, the night was pierced by a shrill cry as a shadow darker than night crossed the moon.

 

Raith continued to glare in the direction that Val ran off in. She could see him lying in a heap, probably defenseless. If her brother would just let her go, they could kill him now and be done with it. James gathered their scattered weapons and reloaded them. "C'mon." he said, handing Raith her gun-blade. "I'm going to pass out if we don't get something to eat."

 

Raith gave James an exasperated look and pointed to Val.

 

"Later." he hissed, getting annoyed at his sister's persistence. "He might be faking it to lure us in, and I really don't have the strength for another fight. We can find something else to eat for now." He disappeared into the bushes, and a highly put-off Raith followed.

 

Naomi couldn't help but be worried about the werewolf. During most of the fight, she had been standing on the sidelines, scared to death of the combined presences of two vampires and a werewolf. But now the werewolf was hurt. She quietly turned into a small tabby again and slinked off down the path where she had seen him run.

 

Well, that went well. Rose went after the small tabby to help with the werewolf. When she reached him, she raised her hand, and with a swift motion the man was raised and put next to a tree. She walked over to him and placed her hand near him. He was tried. She sighed, stood up, walked back over to the Dimearsh, and asked him "Who are you again?" That was when she saw the shadow pass over the moon.

 

"I am Dimearsh. I have come here seeking vengeance against a being that has done great evil. as you may have noticed, I travel with vampires, so dark is the evil I seek to destroy."

He waited for her response. This girl might have her uses in the coming battle. Hopefully, she was not a servant of Sinvalj.

 

Giving up on Val, Naomi stalked back to where Dimearsh, Ryukai, and Rose were. She resumed human form and propped herself up against a tree. She noticed Ryukai standing nearby.

 

Being able to read minds helped Rose a lot. "I'm Rose" she said, "I am not a servant of Sinvalj. Just so you know"

 

Ryukai sighed, rather displeased, and stood up to look around. He had hoped he could have really killed Val. That way none of these people would have done anything about it, and he could loot any goods he could find on the body.

 

Ryukai just stood and waited for something to happen. He saw that Naomi was standing nearby and seemed to be lacking something to do. He remembered that she had a need for an item that he carried, and proceeded to walk over to her in hopes of getting her attention.

 

Naomi noticed Ryukai walking over to her. "Hey," she said, also moving closer. "Do you still have that key?"

 

Raith was sitting up against a tree while James paced back and forth in front of her. They had both found a small bit of food and were now gathering their strength for a larger kill and trying to think of what was going to happen next.

 

"Yes, I have it. I'd rather not discuss that here, though." Ryukai whispered back, seeing how many people there were surrounding him and Naomi. He had no need for any opponents at the moment. Naomi apparently had an important need for this key that he had.

 

Val Hawyn's eyes flickered open, and he tried to remember were he was or why he was there. Without moving his head, his eyes scanned the surroundings, trying to remain undetected among these people.

 

Val would need to escape from their sight, so he could properly rest and recover and regain energy to take them on later. From what he understood, these people were hunting down a villain, which could be one of Val's enemies as well, though it could also be one of his allies. Being of neither light nor dark for more than 30 minutes, he had allies on both sides. Val looked into his mind, and checked how much magic power he had. It was near depleted, only enough to escape from these mysterious beings. Val immediately took action, conjured a spell to make him visually undetectable, changed his form into a werewolf, and silently but speedily padded off in the distance. Undetected, as far as he could tell.

 

"Alright." said Naomi, also in a whisper now. "Whe-"

 

Before she could finish, she jerked her head to the right and stared at the bushes. Something was over there. Someone, actually.

 

Ryukai did not see what Naomi did, but his attention was turned in that direction upon seeing Naomi's reaction to whatever it was.

 

Rose looked at Dimearsh and asked "Are you...um...well...a servant of Elden?" She didn't think this man was a servant of Elden, but she was not sure.

 

"I have not heard of this Elden. I serve none but myself."

 

Naomi quickly turned into a black panther and begun to follow the path of the whoever-it-had-been. She had a strong suspicion it was Val, seeing as his limp form was no longer leaning against the tree down the path.

 

"Naomi, whatever it was, it won't be much of a threat to us considering how many other people there are out here. Let's get a move on."

 

Ryukai tried turning Naomi’s attention away from this so they could get going with the key, and he could continue on with his business.

 

The large black cat stopped turned back around and looked at Ryukai. "Alright..." said Naomi, turning back into a human, but still staring at the bushes. “How do we get out of here?"

 

"One thing that'd really get us going is if you quit staring at the bushes." Ryukai commented. He looked around. The surroundings were somewhat unfamiliar.

"Chances are, you have more of an idea where you want this key of mine than me. You lead the way."

 

"Okay..." Naomi said, reluctantly tearing her gaze away from the bushes. "Lets go...erm...this way!" She started walking purposefully up the path, towards where Val used to be.

 

***

 

The moon was settling behind clouds. A storm was coming. Carefully, Dimearsh crossed the castle drawbridge. As the shadows deepened, he passed through the gatehouse, and into the courtyard. It was quiet. Perhaps too quiet.

 

After a long time of walking, Naomi and Ryukai finally find the city gates of Naomi's home town, Brige. "C'mon." said Ryukai, walking towards them out of the greenery at the forest's edge. It was nearly dawn. "Wait." said Naomi. "I'm wanted. I can't just stroll in." She changed into a small tabby cat and walked next to Ryukai. As they stepped out of the bushes and such, a guard called out, "Who are you? What is your business here?"

 

Ryukai's attention turned to this guard inquiring of his identity and doings. His mind raced to think of something.

 

"I'm... Faolan. With nothing more to say on that, I'll tell you that I've been commissioned by the kingdom of...eh...Halsing...ting...worths. Not very close to here, probably haven't heard much of them, but anyway. They've sent me to...uh...investigate. Investigate a...an assumed murder case, a runaway usurping case, something to that effect." Ryukai made something up on the spot, occasionally nervously glancing at Naomi.

 

"I'm sorry then Faolan. We can take care of things ourselves."

 

"I'll help you out, then."

 

"Why are you so persistent?"

 

"Why does anybody do anything? Shut it."

 

"Do not make us use force. Leave now. We have private cases of our own."

 

"As do I."

 

"And yours would be?"

 

"I can take care of things myself."

 

The guard struck a vaguely intimidating stance, ready to "use force" to get "Faolan" out. "Do not disrespect the royalty of Brige."

 

"I'm royalty." Ryukai gave a nervous cough. “Royalty of Hal...what was it called...Halsing...place." Ryukai hesitated.

 

"Final warning: We will use force to get you out."

 

"Ah, just give me a minute..." Ryukai bode his time. The guard advanced toward him.

 

"Leave now."

 

"You know, I have other business here other than to investigate."

 

"What would that be?"

 

"To test if the town security can handle their jobs. From the looks of things, it isn't going too well."

 

"Leave now."

 

"In fact, I'll check to see if the guards can withstand attack."

 

With that, Ryukai reached behind himself, grabbed one of his more massive, heavy swords, struck a battle stance, and before the guard could resist, swung upward, but did not use the blade. He slammed the handle into the guard's helmet's weak spot, though if the helmet were not there, it would be enough to knock the guard out. While the guard regained his senses, Ryukai put away the sword and grabbed a small knife, making a very agile swipe at the guard’s neck, barely penetrating his body, not likely to draw blood. But Ryukai then used the knife and stabbed it into the guard’s body, but located where he knew would not kill him. Another smash to the head and the guard was severely weakened and knocked out. Ryukai grabbed the limp body and tossed it aside, out of sight.

 

"That didn’t go as well as I had hoped..." Ryukai spoke indirectly to Naomi.

 

As the two tried to sneak their way toward where Naomi led, another guard inside the city area had stopped the suspicious character. As soon as Ryukai knew he was in their sight, and in danger, he changed his identity again to the village drunk. He unstably made his way over to the advancing guard, eventually ran into him, and resting against the armor, as he said, "You...you know what I...I think of you...you metal...metal metal men, you... I think you...you're fat, oh gawsh."

 

He pushed himself away from the guard, and waltzed around the area briefly, fell over on the ground, and continued moving his legs as if he were running.

 

Ryukai eventually got up, and with the confused guard nearby, Ryukai spoke rather loudly to him from a close distance, "See the thing about my... my...the thing is... my ancestry...has a lot of those...metal metal men in there...dooooowwwwwwwnnnn in the muddy...furry...flaming pits of the ancestry pits...and they tend to...get fat...a lot like you. Do I know you?" Ryukai reached behind himself, pulled out a weapon, and swung it around blindly. "Yaaeeh, I'll...I'm take...I'll take you all on, fat metals...metal...men..." Ryukai glanced down at Naomi. "What’s...what’s this dumb cat doing here?" With that, Ryukai kicked Naomi off to the side and swung the sword up in the air, and accidentally let go of it, causing it to fly through the air.

 

"I think..." speaking to the guard again, Ryukai unstably approached. “I think you guys...need...more fat metal metal men patroll...patrollllllllll...get these @&*$ cats out of here..." He gestured something odd, and then kicked his feet around as he did to Naomi.

 

Wordlessly, the guard, not amused, grabbed Ryukai by the arms and began dragging him off toward the main castle. Ryukai gestured for Naomi to follow, as he looked up at the guard again.

 

"I'm... I'm going to...wow its cold outside...but you metallllll...muuuuop..."

 

Ryukai stopped talking and thrashed violently against the guards grip, eventually broke free, and drew two swords.

 

Naomi watched Ryukai stumble through his excuse to the first guard and act like a raving drunk to the second. It was all very amusing until he kicked her. She made a loud, nasty angry-kitty sound, and was still slightly growling when Ryukai faced the guard, swords drawn.

 

Suddenly, it happened. Starchild blazed to life, and Dimearsh heard him, the foul Sinvalj. With a sudden move, he leapt...

 

And it seemed the whole world exploded, everything torn between unbearable light and blinding darkness. Amid the maelstrom, two figures circled, honor against hatred, justice against greed, they fought, and the sounds of the battle filled the night.

 

Back in the forest, Raith and James lifted their heads from the large boar they had hunted down and looked at the distant bright light that had suddenly appeared, and listened to the sounds of swords clashing. Abandoning the last of their meal, the stood up and raced towards the fight, feeling rested a nourished.

 

Val's eyes opened, all his senses briefly stimulated. He had heard in the distance some swords colliding, as a battle begun. Judging by the beat and the force used in each swipe, Val understood that this was no ordinary dueling of the peoples. This was much more significant. What stood out most to Val, though, were the strong, focused presences of light and darkness.

 

Val Hawyn leapt to his feet, deactivated his healing and calming spells, and absorbed the magic power they had cost him. Somewhat rejuvenated, Val dashed off in the distance, following the sound of swords crashing.

 

With every swing, Dimearsh could feel Starchild's power growing, the energies behind it building. The light from the blade growing more intense, suddenly, it snapped. With the built up energy pouring forth, it was all he could do to keep from losing himself to the torrent, and then it stopped. A dead silence fell over the courtyard, the two stood facing each other, the now useless hilts clutched tight as ten thousand shards of metal rained down around them.

 

Naomi, still in the form of a Tabby, silently followed Ryukai to the castle. After a short battle with the guard and a bit of stealth to get around security, they had been able to continue on. She hoped that the king would still be awake. She wanted to prove her innocence as soon as possible, and find more about her previously forgotten past...

 

Eventually, Naomi and Ryukai found the throne room. Luckily, they saw a light shining under the closed door. Naomi waited for one of the servants to exit the room, and then slipped in before the door shut. People assumed she was just another one of the mousers in the castle, so nobody really paid her any attention. As she had suspected, the king was surrounded by guards, all trained to kill her on sight. She would have to wait for when the king was getting ready for bed. By scratching at the door, Naomi was able to leave the room and trot down the hallway to where Ryukai had hidden himself.

 

Ryukai anxiously awaited Naomi's return, as he uncomfortably crouched in an open cabinet among many others in a kitchen area. He was thankful there wasn’t a need for the chefs in this room at the time.

 

Upon seeing Naomi's arrival, with a somewhat excited look about her feline form, he assumed the King was here, awake and active. He also wondered why the king was up at such an hour.

 

The shards of metal stopped falling. The entire courtyard was covered in softly-glowing dust. The two discarded their now useless hilts. Sinvalj brought forth a knife glowing in evil shadow. Dimearsh rushed towards him, and with a swift kick, sent it spinning across the courtyard.

 

The man entered the tavern. Who he was was anyone's guess. He wouldn't have attracted attention if the entire village had been on edge. The village smith, normally a rather stable, easygoing fellow, had suddenly left town the day before. He had seemed distracted and worried the past few weeks, but had never said anything. He just got up one morning and left.

[- Kat -]

[Hooray! *jig*]

[- Kat -]

[YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSUUUUUUUUUUUUUH IT IS DONE *HAPPIEST JIG*

 

So now I'ma hunt down all the people in it that are still around the board and tell them to get over here. :DDDD *squee*]

[Horatio]

[YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSUUUUUUUUUUUUUH IT IS DONE *HAPPIEST JIG*

 

So now I'ma hunt down all the people in it that are still around the board and tell them to get over here. :DDDD *squee*]

Glad you are happy.

[Arkcher]

[YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSUUUUUUUUUUUUUH IT IS DONE *HAPPIEST JIG*

 

So now I'ma hunt down all the people in it that are still around the board and tell them to get over here. :DDDD *squee*]

Glad you are happy.

[but are YOU happy? o: ]

 

[um, so do we like, continue the RP now and like, actively post in it again? ?]

[Horatio]

[YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEESSSSSUUUUUUUUUUUUUH IT IS DONE *HAPPIEST JIG*

 

So now I'ma hunt down all the people in it that are still around the board and tell them to get over here. :DDDD *squee*]

Glad you are happy.

[but are YOU happy? o: ]

 

[um, so do we like, continue the RP now and like, actively post in it again? ?]

[ I will be happy when you are all posting here. ]

[- Kat -]

[i believe continuing to post was the plan, yeah. O: I'ma go find Lexxy and whoever else is still wandering around speedy-quick.]

[Glowurm]

[Wow. Intimidatingly long.]

[lexxscrapham]

[don't worry, It's the product of several month's effort.. Now, If I could remember what I had been thinking...]

[- Kat -]

[First, Glowurm! *latch*

Second, yeah, I know. XD I'm thinking of making a much shorter synopsis of what all went down for anybody who wants to join in.

And to Lexxy, I totally forgot what I was doing as well. XD]

[Glowurm]

[Ah! -delatches kat-]

 

[Whoo. Synopsis sounds fun. And possibly less than fifty billion pages. o: IT ALL WORKS OUT!]

 

[Perhaps writing a synopsis will help you to put off the task of remembering whatever it is you were thinking?]

 

[...]

 

[Daniel Bedingfield.]

 

[Just thought I should mention that.]

 

[i sort of like these square bracket thingies.]

 

[Aww, I forgot their name.]

 

[Anyway.]

 

[Yeah.]

 

[stopping now. =D]

[- Kat -]

[XD I told you all this thing is a beast. I came home sick today, and then I'm prolly not doing much tomorrow, so I might work on it then. Or I might work on it never. It's kinda hard to tell with me. >_>;]

[Krisluvsdogs]

[ I don't remember writing that stuff for rose but that's cool and I have to go back and read more then I can add but Rose is my chacter right? It's been so long i'm confussed about the whole thing.]

[- Kat -]

[Yeah, Rose was yours.]

[Krisluvsdogs]

[but did i write that stuff? I don't remember.]

[Horatio]

[but did i write that stuff? I don't remember.]

You did.

[- Kat -]

[Everything in green came from your posts.]

[- Kat -]

[so, I'm hoping that once this picks up again, the instant posting will prevent a lot of conflicting posts. When I was putting this together, I noticed there were a lot of those. x___x]

[Arkcher]

[so, I'm hoping that once this picks up again, the instant posting will prevent a lot of conflicting posts. When I was putting this together, I noticed there were a lot of those. x___x]

[Wait, so like, its all up-to-date now and we continue it? or are we still waiting on something? ]

[lexxscrapham]

[so, I'm hoping that once this picks up again, the instant posting will prevent a lot of conflicting posts. When I was putting this together, I noticed there were a lot of those. x___x]

[Wait, so like, its all up-to-date now and we continue it? or are we still waiting on something? ]

[the inspiration to carry on, I guess.]

[Horatio]

[so, I'm hoping that once this picks up again, the instant posting will prevent a lot of conflicting posts. When I was putting this together, I noticed there were a lot of those. x___x]

[Wait, so like, its all up-to-date now and we continue it? or are we still waiting on something? ]

[the inspiration to carry on, I guess.]

[inspire away!]

[- Kat -]

[o.o If we aren't waiting for anything, we should probably get somebody to start.]

[Krisluvsdogs]

[so, where did we leave off at? *looks back.* wait a minute... blah balh reading.... i have no idea what to post so...]

Rose follow this Dishman or what ever his name was. She heard battle sounds as she drew near. Choaching in the trees, she waited to see if she might be needed. [there do something now peeps]

[Arkcher]

[so, uh, Bump, to remind everyone of potential awesomeness.]

[i suppose reading the whole thing through would get me more inspired/in the right mindset to keep it going. so I'll try that.]

[Horatio]

[ Adds another Bump. ]

[- Kat -]

[i've been meaning to reread this and try to restart the epicness. O: I should do that. ]

[Horatio]

[i've been meaning to reread this and try to restart the epicness. O: I should do that. ]

[ Yes... you most definitely should. ]

[lexxscrapham]

[i've been meaning to reread this and try to restart the epicness. O: I should do that. ]

 

[good idea, If I treid to restart it, it'd likely end up a few centuries before or later, and devolve into a lecture on metaphysics..

]

[- Kat -]

[That would actually be pretty cool, too XD ]

[Horatio]

[ *waits* ]

[- Kat -]

[i need to get one this ><]

[Horatio]

[i need to get one this >

[*gives - Kat - "one this"*]

[- Kat -]

[Thanks. Now I just need to get on this XD]

[Horatio]

[Thanks. Now I just need to get on this XD]

[ *sprinkles Pin Tac on every post in this topic* ]

[- Kat -]

[XD That might just distract me more *rolls all over the posts >_o*]

[Horatio]

[XD That might just distract me more *rolls all over the posts >_o*]

[ But at least you are distracted in this topic. ]

[- Kat -]

[PEEPS I WILL DO THIS LIKE THIS WEEK OKAY.]

[Horatio]

[PEEPS I WILL DO THIS LIKE THIS WEEK OKAY.]

[ *sends tumbleweeds rolling across the screen* ]

[Arkcher]

[PEEPS I WILL DO THIS LIKE THIS WEEK OKAY.]

[peep peep peep :­B]

[Arkcher]

y'all should sort this stories forum by number of replies. there's some meaningful stuff in here.

 

also bumping this 'cause Katman can't keep track of time.

[- Kat -]

Oh, has it been more than a week?

 

I don't even remember what I said I'd do.

[Krisluvsdogs]

she's lying cause she can't even finish my bday gift so it will propbaly taske her a long time to post more thenm again she is in college that does explain it a bit. lol jk kat!

[Horatio]

she's lying cause she can't even finish my bday gift so it will propbaly taske her a long time to post more thenm again she is in college that does explain it a bit. lol jk kat!

[ What a nice friend you are...

making excuses for her. ]

[Krisluvsdogs]

hey, arkcher! You're amazing, wanna know why cause you like me bro's quotes! u still have to meet me since you're always here to see Kat and i never knw course that is half my fault cause i'm never on! but i still blame u!

[Horatio]

[ Arkcher appears in the most unlikely of places. ]

[Arkcher]

hey, arkcher! You're amazing, wanna know why cause you like me bro's quotes! u still have to meet me since you're always here to see Kat and i never knw course that is half my fault cause i'm never on! but i still blame u!

so I just saw this post and i'm confused about liking your brothers' quotes.

 

also bumping again for Katman who always does things on time.

[Horatio]

hey, arkcher! You're amazing, wanna know why cause you like me bro's quotes! u still have to meet me since you're always here to see Kat and i never knw course that is half my fault cause i'm never on! but i still blame u!

so I just saw this post and i'm confused about liking your brothers' quotes.

 

also bumping again for Katman who always does things on time.

[ Absolutely, positively on time. ]

[lexxscrapham]

]yeah... eventually, one of us will make an IC post.. although, it's kidna starting to become tradition NOT to.]

[Horatio]

]yeah... eventually, one of us will make an IC post.. although, it's kidna starting to become tradition NOT to.]

[ Truer words have never been said. ]

[Krisluvsdogs]

Kat was at my house and had said that u txted her to hear randomly whaeve my brother has been saying... and i was blaming you because every time u n kc i don't see u!lol

[Horatio]

Kat was at my house and had said that u txted her to hear randomly whaeve my brother has been saying... and i was blaming you because every time u n kc i don't see u!lol

Now you know exactly where you stand.

[- Kat -]

hey, arkcher! You're amazing, wanna know why cause you like me bro's quotes! u still have to meet me since you're always here to see Kat and i never knw course that is half my fault cause i'm never on! but i still blame u!

so I just saw this post and i'm confused about liking your brothers' quotes.

 

also bumping again for Katman who always does things on time.

quiet you

 

Also, she was talking about the fact that you're amused by Jonathanisms.

[Mega Wolf]

ohai kat

[- Kat -]

O: ohai MW!

[lexxscrapham]

you know.. I might just poke around, and tug at my plot thread a bit.. see if i can come up with anything that might be interesting...

[Horatio]

The ideas I have come up with all seem old. There needs to be something new and different. I just do not know what that could be. The old, my parents were aliens, will not work.

[- Kat -]

This old hunk-o-text still has a place in my heart as well. When we have our imaginary reunion, everyone should play.

[Horatio]

This old hunk-o-text still has a place in my heart as well. When we have our imaginary reunion, everyone should play.

YES!!! I totally agree!!!

[- Kat -]

Hey Horatio remember this?

 

Yes I am still avoiding going to bed thank you for noticing.

[Horatio]

Of course I remember!!!

 

*wonders if everyone's email addresses are up to date*