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| Exsors; chapters posted weekly, please comment | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Jun 12 2009, 08:38 PM (799 Views) | |
| Marian Frae | Jun 12 2009, 08:38 PM Post #1 |
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tutor de atrum
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![]() Written/Roleplayed by RaineGryphon and MarianFrae In Progress since June 2007 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE CHAPTER TWO CHAPTER THREE CHAPTER FOUR CHAPTER FIVE CHAPTER SIX Edited by Marian Frae, Dec 7 2009, 08:33 PM.
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Never doubt my weaseling abilities, Shadowhunter, for they are epic and memorable in their scope. Any dolt with half a brain would have to see the human race has gone insane. My UniCreatures | |
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| Marian Frae | Jun 13 2009, 11:50 AM Post #2 |
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tutor de atrum
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CHAPTER ONE 1907 Women screamed and babies bawled as men ran or hid from battle. Demon-Spawn searched from house to house, leaving doors hanging on their hinges. Any child of 10 years or younger was snatched from their family. The braver fathers fought back and were violently slain, trophies for a dark master. In a secluded, hidden place, the Exsors hid to bide time with which to conjure a plan. A dark decision lay before them and none could make it but a mere child. Could they defeat their enemy without doing the unthinkable or would they have to make an ultimate sacrifice for the world? 2007, January 10 7:30 am. A young woman with bright red hair and dazzling turquoise eyes walked the halls of her high school with an air of triumph, “Finally back from winter vacay!” Not that London was boring... but... well... okay, unless we were with gay guys and shopping... it was boring. But let’s look on the bright side... I learned what snogging was through experience! With a gay guy! As she passed a group of people, they waved and air kissed. She sighed with contentment and continued her thought. So exciting! My best accomplishment yet! Well... unless you count that “76” I made on my midterms! Approaching the door to homeroom, she felt a slight shudder. It feels weird... like something’s different... Walking into the classroom, she surveyed the body students. Oh! There it is. We have a new girl! And a lesbian too from the looks of her! Yay! Now I can really have fun! She walked over, switching into full flirt mode and sat down on the desk beside the new girl, flashing a dazzlingly white smile, “Hi! I'm Kayle Adams. Welcome to Grindel High! I’ll be your tour guide!” 8:00 am. Another young woman with dark red hair and bright green eyes stood from a wicker chair in the corner of a beautiful garden, “There. Finished my last book. Now I just have to practice for real.” She carried a book inside the house and set it down, lingering next to the coffee table for a moment to gather her thoughts. I bought some flowers the other day, they might be dead now. I could check the pond out back for subjects, too. As her mother walked past, she verbalized her thoughts. “Is it wrong to wait for things to die to practice Healing? It’s not like I'm doing anything to kill them.” Then again, I'm not really doing anything to help them until they’re good and dead. Her mother ignored the question, passing it off as an aloud thought rather than the question it really was. Mother said it’d be fine as long as I didn’t practice on anybody else’s stuff without their permission. Magi...why does it have to be so hard? “Lithe, dear, could you come help me in the kitchen?” 7:45 am. A quite sullen, almost washed out looking young man trudged his way through the hall of his high school, muttering to himself. Get through the day. Get through work. Get through homework. Get through dinner. Hole up with the computer. Go to sleep. You do this every day. What is so different about today? He walked into his English 4 room and was temporarily thrown off by the desk arrangement. Ah, that’s right. He groaned with utter disdain. Group project. I actually have to talk to people. “Yippee.” His teacher looked up, “What was that?” Zen looked up briefly in horror, “Uh, nothing. Sorry. I'm.. uh... getting a new game today. Just realized.” “Oh, what game?” “Uh, can’t remember which. Ordered three.” He shrunk into a desk and picked up the paper in front of him, reading it with disinterest at first. At least this one’s a computer project. I can do all the work and let everyone else take equal credit. Teach won’t notice. That’s it... that’s all I have to say and they’ll leave me alone... I hope. His teacher looked up, remembering something, “Zen , I want some discussion from you and your group.” Zen groaned and slid further into his seat. 9:00 am. Stretching, a golden brown haired young man with soft light blue eyes looked out his window and groaned, “Why did it have to rain today of all days?” He dragged himself from his bed and pulled on a t-shirt, muttering, “Stupid weather man can’t tell snow from lava.” All I know now is that I'm holed up inside for good, forced to study against my will. Heading downstairs from his loft, he sighed at the closed bathroom door, “Parents.” What good are they? It’s not like I'm gonna get into a good school anyway. Being Magi... screws up my image. I’ve worked hard to keep it from everybody but it’s getting hard now. Have to go to a Magi school soon. A couple of explosions here and there’ll persuade any parent to send a kid away. 9:00 am. New student teacher... has to be a genius, Kayle thought, walking into Pre-Cal. He looks 21. I thought all geniuses were gross and nerdy. Wonder if he just— Ooh... tutorials... no one goes to tutorials... especially not with a student teacher. THAT could be fun! Sitting down, she pulled out a spiral and started doodling. Kelsey needs a new name... it’s not fun enough. What should it be... She glanced up, paying attention for a second. No! No... No... No... No... We can’t have a project already! I barely made it through that last project! And we only had to do that one in class! Sighing, she went back to her doodles and thoughts. Why do I keep feeling new people? I mean... it’s weird... I get this strange sense something’s really different and then... new person! Weird... oh well... I guess I can tell Daddy I am good at something. Speaking of new... I can’t wait until our heated pool is usable again! I can’t believe my stupid step-brother used it for one of his stupid genius experiments! Gross. But that pool boy! She shivered with excitement. 8:30 am. Groaning, Lithe touched the leaf of a dead plant. Argh. How many times do I have to practice? There’s this horrible sensation in the back of my head, and it only goes away when I use my abilities. I suppose I could always go to one of the hospitals and see if they need a Healer, but most people go there for non-Magi methods. Stepping onto the back porch, Lithe sighed. The backyard looks like a jungle; I’ve used it so much. Maybe I could open up a Healing business. Nah…too much trouble. I’d need a permit, and a shop... not to mention Mother’s permission. Maybe I can finally move on to animals. 8:15 am. Assignment: Create a media portfolio or collage pertaining to the Lord of the Rings and/or its companions. Video, pictures, music, writing, etc applies. Ok... easy... this is for seniors? I read those when I was seven! But at least it won’t take up too much of my time. So glad everyone knows I'm a computer whiz... for real this time., we all agreed on and planned a game. Everyone participated and contributed. It works. Now, to work on my magic— Ew... bad choice of word... my genius. “Distribution will be Darren,” most likely to become the country’s worst president. “Music will be Connor,” jerk of all time. “Art work will be Ariel,” our resident slut. “Dialog is Max,” the only decent guy in school. Max handed Zen some notebook paper. “Everything else will be me. I’ll have the game ready for music, art work, and distribution ready by tomorrow.” I should feel better than normal... but something’s just not right. 11:53 am. Rai looked up from his books in boredom and glanced out the window then looked back again, quickly. Jumping up, he ran to the door to the garage, “Finally, it stopped raining!” I hate being cooped up too long; it makes my insides itch. “Now, where did I put my board?” Can’t let those idiot normals find my beach. He stopped rummaging through his stuff. Funny... it’s not in the garage. Where could I have left it? I only used it last week. Aha! Of course, mom made me put it in the shed. Rai ran to the shed and grabbed his board and a pack and headed back into the kitchen. Right, now for a note. "Gone surfing. Be back tomorrow. –Rai." That should do. Board, overnight pack, check. Now to claim my beach and get rid of this horrible itch. 2007, January 19 2:15 pm. Kayle walked to her bright pink Miata, threw her bag in the back, and drove off looking slightly annoyed. Okay, that feeling hasn’t gone away... I’ve had it for over a week now and no more new people. This isn’t like some Magi extra puberty thing is it? Oh God... I can’t have a magical period! A normal one is bad enough! And no one else seems to feel it! Why does no one feel it?! It’s growing stronger now too... more a tug then a sensation. I sound crazy... in my own head I sound crazy! Great... no, really! This is great! I'm crazy! Wait... but I don’t want to be crazy. Kayle shrieked as a car honked at her for accidentally passing into the wrong lane. Why can’t life just be easy? It sucks. This thing... whatever it is... sucks. 4:31 pm. Lithe took a small cage out to the patio and opened the door sadly. She left it, going into one of her greenhouses. Ok... no animals. Mother absolutely exploded. Maybe taking home dead mice from the pet shop wasn’t such a smart idea. Well, it was but mother didn’t think so. Two little white mice meekly emerge from the cage and scamper into the grass. So now they’re live bait for snakes. She sadly touches a leaf, moving long the line, looking for any dead or dying plants. That what I get for teaching myself the Arts I suppose. Now she’s sending me to Magi school in a week. says it’s mandatory for true Healers to get a job where they’re actually trusted. Honestly, I think it’s a load of garbage, but mothers know best, right? Right? 9:37 pm. Zen looked down at his grading sheet again, sitting at his computer desk and scoffs, “A++. Stupid pun on source code.” That’s the bad thing about having a fellow computer geek for a teach. Oh well, made mum happy for a little while. Worth the pun I guess. And we’re being allowed to sell the game. Zen picks up a Jewel case containing a CD inside with “The Middle Earth Ring Chronicles” written on it. 20 bucks a day now from selling these things. Better than I get at work. I see a better system coming my way pretty soon. DVD writer and LightScribe. Yeah... I don’t really need those... I could just do it with magic.... but there’s a reason I'm in as little Magi classes as possible. I hate magic. I hate fantasy. Science fiction and history novels... and anime... those are the only things that really matter... along with technology of course. Meanwhile, Rai went into his room, cringing slightly and plopped on his bed. Dude, why is Mom freaking? All I did was scare off the normals... with a measly little insignificant... beach inferno. She wanted me to be able to control my powers, and I did. Really. Well, I didn’t mean to set the kid’s hair on fire but a little sea water did the trick. They didn’t even know it was me, and now Mom‘s gonna ground me again. 24 hours spent sitting at a table, going through books on Magi instruction that I don’t need. Having elemental powers is easy! All it takes is a little use and there’s no problem. 2007, February 15. 10:19 am. Kayle walked away from a twig of a guy, sighing. I can’t even enjoy turning gay guys bi anymore... this thing is so strong... thank God for week long breaks! I'm taking the new little car Daddy bought me and I'm going hunting. Maybe there’ll be a cute guy... maybe he’s my soul mate! Fun! I'm going to meet my soul mate! Hope he isn’t the jealous type... at least... not of girls. Ugh... I hate this feeling! It makes it hard to be happy. It’s like... I'm being called by someone that needs me... and I want them... but we can’t get close to each other. I have to take care of this. I'm only gonna be gone for a week so... 4 suitcases should be good. 11:15 am. Lithe sat on her bed, knees up, doing homework. Okay, so I was wrong. Mother wasn’t right. Only one class I'm taking is actually about Healing. Everyone says basic knowledge of every Art is key, but I’ve gotten along fine without it. the Healing class is wonderful, though. I'm learning new things I can do everyday. Plus, I have to admit, the other classes are incredibly informative. Apparently I'm the smartest student, too. People What is that pull? Okay... you know what? I'm leaving in the truck... I have to get this pull to stop... so... I’ll follow it and take constantly come to me, asking for help. I try to help them as much as I can but it’s getting hard to concentrate on anything with this yearning in my gut. What could I possibly need besides my book? 3:57 pm. Zen slammed the door to the house and stormed to his car, checking every window before getting in. starting the car he pulled out and zoomed to the end of the street. Great... mum wants me to go to the counselor... again. I'm not fidgety or anxious... and even if I were... she would be too if she felt this pull. It’s most definitely magical. I won’t go to the counselor again... or the psych... or the shrink... Zen’s cell phone rang and before he could answer a high pitched whining blasted from the other end. God! Why does she hell does she do this? She ruined my life enough by quitting her job, divorcing her fifth husband, and moving to this ex-crack house. You know. I don’t get it... it’s wrong to be a Magi... and yet... I have to see a stupid psych ‘cause I don’t want to be one. Why can’t she just leave me alone? “Yeah, sure I’ll drive myself. It’s a new guy so it’ll be just fine.” She never learns... GOD! “I’ll care of it.” If nothing else, it’ll get me out of this house for a little while. 4:00 pm. Rai stared out the window as his teacher gave instruction. I can’t believe I'm actually at Magi school. I guess I went too far last time... so now this is my punishment. An ordinary life. He looked around the room. Out of 17 in his class, he was the only one who wasn’t paying attention. Psh. I don’t know how these people so it. everyday, it’s the same thing. Books, lectures, more books... Rai’s thoughts were interrupted by a paper placed on his desk. He groaned softly, looking at it. And now a project. And a group project at that. Wonderful! I don’t even know anyone here yet and I have to work in a group. I'm just “the surfer dude” here. I like surfing, but seriously, I have a name. The bell rang and Rai jumped up, starting to leave, And that itch is killing me now... I can’t get rid of it. I just have to find out what’s bugging me or I’ll go crazy! The teacher called Rai to his desk before Rai could get to the door. Kids poured out of the classrooms at a fairly steady rate. Rai walked out after everyone else had gone through the door, seemingly drained of energy. He stared at his feet for a second then turned decidedly toward the outer doors. Lithe came out of the second to the last door before the end of the hallway and headed outside as well. Both walked past the paved courtyard, entering a field. After walking for a few miles, headed for a snowy, forested area, both stopped and looked at each other, finally realizing the other’s presence. Meanwhile, an old, black open top Jeep, with it’s cover barely staying attached, pulled in front of a baby pink Mercedes. Inside the Jeep, Linkin Park blazed from the near dead radio and Zen muttered, “What was I thinking taking this freezing death trap? Should’ve taken the truck. It has heating and walls. Kayle half danced to Hilary Duff in her new Mercedes behind him. Driving in the same lane and making the same turns for hundreds of miles, they finally parked at a dead end. Getting out of their cars, slowly, they looked at each other. Zen was suspicious and paranoid while Kayle was just happy to have some potential company in her goose chase, The cute male, emo bi-looking kind, too! Lithe turned on Rai, “Who are you?” Rai looked her up and down then playfully said, through thin suspicion, “Who are you?” Lithe stared hard at him, trying to figure out the best way to approach the situation, then calmly said, “My name’s Lithe. You?” “Rai.” “Ok, Rai, are you stalking me or something?” “No... I'm... I’m following something.” “Yeah me. that’s called stalking.” Rai shook his head, “I hardly even noticed you— I mean— I'm following something not someone.” Lithe looked around, “There’s nothing here to follow... except me.” Rai shifted, uneasily and replied, slightly unsure of what he was talking about, “It’s not really something you see...” Lithe perked up slightly, despite her annoyance and asked, “Really? Then what is it?” Rai skirted the question with his own, “Why are you out here?” Lithe’s annoyance returned in fuller strength, “You didn’t answer my question.” “Answer mine.” They stared at each other for a while then Lithe broke eye contact and sighed, “I suppose I'm following something too.” They looked at each other again, briefly, then continued toward the forest, each a little more confident in their sanity and the fact the something weird was going on. On the side of the road, Zen and Kayle stared at each other uncomfortably before Kayle finally broke the silence, “Hi.” Zen made a noncommittal gesture with his head that very well could have just been moving his bangs slightly out of his face so Kayle continued, “My name’s Kayle. You can call me Kay.” Zen sighed, realizing he needed to make some sort of introduction so he begrudgingly muttered, “Gatzen. If you call me anything... call me Zen.” “Ok!” Kayle said brightly. Zen shifted his feet and pretended to be looking at something in his car. “So... where you headed?” Zen muttered, “Trouble.” “Huh?” “Don’t worry about it... you?” “I don’t really know...” Zen looked up at her and raised his eyebrow, “I know, sounds crazy, huh? Maybe it is. But there’s this...” “Pull?” Kayle’s eyes went wide. Zen sighed, “I’ll take that as a yes. Well, it’s gonna keep pulling. We might as well follow and be crazy together,” saying this, he turned and headed for the forest. Running after him, Kayle called, “Hey! Wait up!” 4:45 pm. In a secluded section of the forest, skirted even by the animals, a shabby and deserted hermit’s shack barely stood. Around the shack, overgrowth flourished around the shack, higher than anywhere else in the forest. Rai and Lithe, from the east, and Zen and Kayle, from the south, simultaneously stopped in front of the shack and looked at each other uneasily. Zen fidgeted for a second then said in a strained voice, “Alright, that’s it.” Confused, everyone just looked at him. He shook his head, holding his hands up, “This is too weird. I'm outta here!” He turned to leave. “So that’s it then. New guy chickening out already?” Rai teased, even though he was basically thinking along the same lines, only staying for sake of curiosity and itch. Zen stopped and asked, “New guy?” “Yeah. You just walked up didn’t you?” Zen turned on him and answered defensively, “So did you. You care to tell me what’s going on here?” Kayle spoke up hoping to help, “Well... it’s magical...” Zen nodded and, assuming Rai had nothing else to say turned to leave again, “Exactly. So I'm leaving.” Lithe asked much less aggressively but just as defensively, “What’s your problem with magic?” Zen stopped and sighed, realizing he wasn’t leaving any time soon and turned around, “It’s just... it defines me. I don’t like it and I don’t want it. Have fun with whatever load of crap this is.” Rai scoffed, “So what? Being Magi defines us all. Maybe if people like you would stop whining so much, it wouldn’t.” Zen blew up, “I never asked to be Magi! I never wanted to be a Magi! I never even wondered what it would be like! I just suddenly was!” “You just don’t quit, do you? Nobody asks to be Magi! I didn’t ask to control the elements, but I can! If you just—” Lithe interrupted, yelling and holding her head, “Will you two stop it already? I'm getting a headache!” Zen continued, his mind not acknowledging the fact that she’d spoken, “I should be normal! I want to be normal! I want neighbors to stop destroying my house because they want to be what I am! Because they want to be the ones forced to take special classes they’re never going to use!” Rai scowled and lowered his voice some, “Fine. See if I care. Go and join those jerks who can’t see beyond their own freakin problems. But I'm tied of this itch, and I'm tired of being cooped up,” Rai turned and kicked in the door. Zen started to leave again, Kayle pleading for him to stay with her eyes. Zen was quite immune to the eyes but he turned around again, sighing- he wasn’t immune to the pull. Walking in the doorway after Rai, he began, “What’s in— oh my God...” Edited by Marian Frae, Jul 28 2009, 03:21 PM.
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Never doubt my weaseling abilities, Shadowhunter, for they are epic and memorable in their scope. Any dolt with half a brain would have to see the human race has gone insane. My UniCreatures | |
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| Mercinus3 | Jun 13 2009, 06:06 PM Post #3 |
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The English Kitty Ninja
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Looking good, Mari. I'll be waiting to read the second one. |
![]() This is true. I will go ninja kitty on your asses if you do... *glowers and sharpens claws*
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| Silvermourn | Jun 18 2009, 11:38 PM Post #4 |
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The Redneck, the Cynic, the Nerd, and the Hopeless Romantic
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Very interesting, slowly puts itself together a bit. Although it would be nice to have a little bit of backstory on the world, and the organization is good but a little jumpy. Other then that it's good, my only real problem is the jump from character to character without warning, but it reads alright and it's interesting enough I want to read the next one. |
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"I mourn that which may have been but will never be." "Stupidity is a wound that bleeds forever; Intelligence is a blade that stays forever sharp" "An armed man will kill and unarmed man with monotonous regularity" "Nothing adds a little class to a sniper course like a babe in a Ghillie suit." "You have the rest of your life to solve your problems. How long you live depends on how well you do it." "Make your attacker advance through a wall of bullets. I may get killed with my own gun, but he's gonna have to beat me to death with it, 'cause it's going to be empty." | |
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| Marian Frae | Jun 20 2009, 02:01 AM Post #5 |
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tutor de atrum
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@Merc: lol. weak comment! :P but that's ok. I'm not really complaining. xD @Silver: Thanks, and yeah... it is a bit jumpy at first. But it's not true that there's no warning about changing characters- that's why we have time stamps. ;) As for the backstory... that develops. We went into this with... a VERY VERY basic idea and four characters we came up with on the spur of the moment. It has developed from there into something rather HUGE. xD and sometimes, I think Raine might want to kill me for that fact. This was really only supposed to last that summer. anywho... posted on the 13, it is now the 20- 7 days and time to post again. This one's a bit better. Still not much back-story... but more action. CHAPTER TWO Lithe came in after him and gasped, looking around, “Look at this place! It’s like a whole other forest!” You could hardly see the walls of the shack through the massive growth which filled the shack almost entirely. Dirt so covered the floors that Zen wondered if it ever had real floors in the first place. Quite cynically, Zen added, “And it stinks.” From outside, Kayle called, “What’s in there?” Rai replied first, “A pulse. Does anyone else feel that pulse?” Zen nodded, “I'm not sure we should be in here... pulsing is never good.” Kayle giggled and corrected him, “Sure it is! Pulsing has always been good in my experience!” Zen glanced at her then shuddered, “Gross.” Running in, Kayle took a huge whiff of the stagnant air, “Wow... what died?” “I don’t know... but I'm not willing to bring that back to life,” Lithe replied, pointing to a partial skeleton. Kayle shrieked, “Eww! Why’d you point that out?” Rolling his eyes, Zen turned to Lithe, “Did you say ‘back to life’?” Lithe smiled, “Yes. I am a Healer after all.” “You... You’re a Necro?” Kayle giggled, “You don’t know anything, do you?” “What do you mean?” Lithe glared at him, “You don’t have to be a Necro to bring something back to life. A truly gifted Healer can resurrect any corpse with minimal side effects.” Zen scoffed and grinned at her, addressing her with an air of challenge in his voice, “Minimal?” Rai butted in, annoyed and impatient, “Can we just ditch the bones? I can sense something below us.” Zen watched Rai rummage through mulch on the floor for a few seconds before saying, “Thought you were an elemental. Most of this is dirt, plant life, and rotting stuff.” He nodded in Lithe’s direction, “She can bring it back to life and you can move it or whatever.” “You know, you don’t have to use your powers for something so simple.” Standing, he revealed a trap door and extremely dirty hands. “Isn’t that what you jerks are all about? Showing around?” Rai faced Zen, fists clenched, “You’ve got some nerve. It’s not about ‘showing around’ to anything! It’s about control! The fact that I can use my powers when I want, and to whatever extent I want, whenever I want.” “Yeah? Guess you’re the minority.” Lithe yelled over them, “Enough already! If you don’t stop it, I’ll leave you two behind,” saying this, she headed down the staircase. Zen shrugged and followed her, brushing past Rai in the process, “Whatever.” Rai followed, fuming uncontrollably, “What IS it with you? Do you have a problem with me? if so, you can just bug off!” He shoved Zen aside and ran ahead, down the stairs. Kayle giggled and followed them, saying, “Testosterone spill on aisle nowhere.” Zen blew up again, “Shut UP! Will you? I have a problem with people in general. Don’t take it personally.” Rai glanced back, talking over his shoulder, “Fine. Just don’t get in my way then.” “Fine with me. Just don’t get in mine.” Lithe rolled her eyes, changing subject, “When you two are finished, I think the stairs stop up ahead.” “Can you see anything?” Kayle happily replied, “I can!” “Shut up!” “But you said—_ “Shut up! I said shut up!” “Someone woke up on the—” “Shut up! God!” Rai spoke up, “Dude, I think we might have a problem.” “What?” Rai conjured a small flame in his hand and pointed at a not-so-dead skeleton, “If I'm not mistaken, that’s not normal.” Zen took in the skeleton and, still staring at it began, “Necro,” Rai glared at him, “Er... Healer... you know anything about this?” Lithe shook her head, staring at it as well, “I know that’s not the work of a Healer... or the skin and muscles would’ve at least partly regenerated.” “Partly?” Zen shuddered at the thought of it, “So... it’s real Necro then?” Finally catching up, Kayle says, “You know there’s really not much—” seeing the skeleton, she shrieked and started to head back for the stairs, “Just tell me what you find... I’ll wait in my car for a few hours.” “No, there might be more out there. You’re not going alone. Besides, if this thing, whatever it is, is calling you... you have to come too. Come on.” Kayle groaned and joined them again, latching onto Zen’s arm, “Will you take care of me?” Zen started to make a snarky reply but, seeing her face sighed, “Not sure what I can do, but I guess.” Rai rolled his eyes, “I’ll take care of you if it’ll get you to stop screaming.” “Hey, I said I’d take care of her.” Lithe held her arm out, telling them to stop fighting, “Hey wait a minute. It’s hasn’t done anything yet. Maybe it’s not hostile.” “What else could it be?” Lithe shrugged, “Could be a messenger.” Kayle held onto Zen’s arm a little tighter and half whispered, “From who?” Zen added, “Or what?” Kayle shrieked again and squeezed Zen’s arm. Zen grimaced, “Sorry.” Lithe answered, “Probably whoever created this pull. I'm sure if we follow it, we can find out sooner.” She walked toward the skeleton, which headed into a different hallway, slowly crumbling as it progressed. Kayle shuddered and Rai scoffed, “Kinda shoddy workmanship, eh?” “Maybe it’s been here for a long time. I don’t think it’s gonna hurt us,” Zen offered, following Lithe’s example. After walking through an endless number of corridors, the group finally stopped in front of a pair of double doors. “So I guess—” the skeleton burst into flames, “Oh my God!” Zen glanced at Rai, accusingly. Rai held his hands up and blurted, “It wasn’t me, I swear!” Kayle began, “It touched the handle right before it...” trailing off, she swallowed loudly and held onto Zen even more firmly. Zen nodded, scrutinizing the door handle then finally said, “Let g and stay back.” She let go and he advanced toward the door, hand outreached. Kayle yelled, “No! Are you an idiot?!” Rai started forward, “What the heck do you think you’re doing? You have a death wish or something?” Zen shook his head and yelled back, “Just stay back! Real back!” Kayle ran back to Lithe and asked, “Zen, what are you doing?” Zen closed his eyes and swallowed, scared out of his wits, “Everyone far back?” Lithe urgently motioned for Rai to join her and Kayle, “Rai, get back here! NOW! I think he knows what he’s doing.” Under her breath, she added, “I hope he knows what he’s doing.” Rai reluctantly backed up, standing defensively in front of the girls. Zen touched the handle, his hands glowing brightly. An explosion of pure light from the door filled the room. The door opened and everyone but Zen was left blinking, trying to recover from the shock. Zen turned to face them, “Everyone ok?” A voice came from nowhere and addressed them, “Well done, little ones. I didn’t think you’d get this far that quickly.” Zen looked around, “What the—” Kayle ran back up to Zen and latched again, “What was that?” Zen shook his head and answered, “I don’t know that voice just—” Kayle interrupted, “No. what you did.” “Energy.” Lithe stepped forward and half asked, half stated, “So, Hater of Magi, you’re a Generator?” “Uh... sure, I guess... light, currents... energy... other... uh... stuff...” Lithe shook her head, “Incredible. Of all the people to receive one of the rarest of all Gifts, it had to be you.” “Not my fault.” A little blue bouncy cute thing came down the hall beyond the door, “What the crap is that?!” “Aww. It’s cute!” Kayle let go of Zen and reached down to pet it. Startled at her idiocy, he held her back and firmly said, “No!” Kayle looked at him, confused, asked pathetically, “Why?” Rai, looking just as confused, added, “Yeah, what could a little fur ball possibly do?” Zen fought the urge to roll his eyes, “That guy... the voice... made this seem like a test. I don’t think ‘cute’ and ‘test’ go well together... besides... that thing looks like a Furby.” The Voice commended his logic, “Very good. Now, behold the true power of a Magi!” The fur ball began snarling, revealing deathly sharp fangs, dripping with a dark liquid. Growing to ten times its original size, it towered over the group. Spikes spawned from it’s back, and a long tail with multiple sharp thorns on its end appeared. Roaring into the air, he revealed putrid flame breath. Zen backed up, pulling Kayle behind him, and addressed Rai, “Uh... man, I think this one’s yours.” Rai sighed, stepping forward, and braced for a fight, “Not sure I'm up to snuff for this, but I’ll give it a go.” “Kayle, let’s scoot far back. Healer, you should too.” Kayle and Zen scooted back quite a few more feet then she buried her face in his chest, “I don’t wanna see this.” The beast stepped forward, shaking the whole room. Kayle shrieked and buried her face even further into Zen’s chest, ‘causing him great discomfort. He stared wide eyed at the beast and put an arm around Kayle. Rai, not even remotely comfortable with the situation, muttered, “Here goes,” and, glaring at the beast, generated two fireballs in each hand. He channeled his power into them, ‘causing them to swell. When each was the size of his hand, he threw them at the beast, causing its fur to smoke and sizzle. The creature snorted, shook itself, and growled menacingly. “Dude... fire with fire... not sure that’s a good idea,” Zen cautioned. “Shut up and let me concentrate, unless you wanna fight this thing!” “Sorry. Just don’t want you to die, okay.” Sarcastically, Rai replied, “How sweet.” Zen rolled his eyes in reply. Seeing that fire had no effect on the beast, Rai cleared his mind and concentrated once more. This time, water spawned from the ground around his feet, and whirled around him. The beast snarled at the sight of the water and charged. Rai quickly dodge/rolled to the right as a column of water shot up from under the monster, sending it flying upward. It crashed into the ceiling, causing rubble to fall. Rai released the water, plummeting the beast back to the ground. Zen stared at the beast, “Man... tsunami...” As it fell, the beast screeched and righted itself. One large fore claw lashed out, nearly hitting Rai’s shoulder open as he dodged once again.” Kayle peeked from Zen’s chest and whispered, “Is it over?” Zen shook his head, “I don’t think so.” Panting, Rai backed away as the creature growled menacingly and moved forward. It reared back, preparing to turn him into charcoal but was too slow. Five stalactites, which had not previously existed, pierced what Rai assumed to be the beast’s skull, letting loose a free flow of acid green blood. Zen shuddered in disgust, “God that’s sick...” The creature collapsed again, never to rise again. Rai collapsed, breathing heavily, “I REALLY don’t want to do that again.” “I can imagine.” “Is it over?” Kayle repeated. “For now.” Lithe ran and knelt next to Rai, “Hold on, let me help.” She closed her eyes and placed her hands on Rai’s chest. They began to glow. She pulled back, opening her eyes again, “There, is that any better?” Rai sat up and scratched his head, “yeah, thanks.” Kayle suddenly broke away from Zen and approached the beast. Zen asked, “Kayle, what are you doing?” Kayle passed the beast, “You don’t hear that?” “Hear what?” Kayle ignored the question, and kept going, pulled by some unknown force... other than the one which brought them together. “Kayle! I don’t— Stop! Where are you going?!” Lithe looked between the guys, “You’re telling me you can’t hear that?” She winced and continued, “It’s driving me crazy!” Rai and Zen replied together then looked at each other oddly, “Hear what?” Kayle continued walking and said, airily, “Hello?” “Kayle! Come back!” Zen sighed and ran after her. Lithe and Rai ran after them down the corridor, Lithe grimacing the entire time. Upon catching up with Kayle, Zen was thrown against a wall by some unseen force. "Zen!" Kayle shrieked. A mere few seconds later, she also was thrown against the wall. turning to Lithe and Rai, she yelled, “Go back!” Zen pulled himself up to a more sitting position and looked around, paranoid, “What is that?” Kayle closed her eyes. When she opened them again, her irises had purple specks among the normal turquoise color. Standing again, she replied, “This one’s mine.” Gulping, she stepped forward and Zen asked incredulously, “What are you talking about?” “We’re not alone,” Lithe stated, point blank. Kayle is thrown into the air again but suddenly stops, mid air, “NO!” She suddenly changes direction and starts flying in a very large circle. Zen begins to ask, “We’re not a—” but then notices Kayle spinning madly in the air, “Oh God.” The area inside her circle becomes warped and, suddenly, a large creature straight from the Jurassic period appeared in the warped space. Wide eyed, Rai began, “Is that a—” Kayle started flying around it so quickly she was just a purple blur which the creature hit at furiously. Kayle disappeared and the creature began to rise simultaneously, “I’d back way far if I were you.” The others didn’t hesitate, almost backing into the other room. Once the creature reached the maximum altitude, it flew into a wall, crashing through it. Standing, it attempted to re enter the room. As Kayle came back into view, an orb of pure darkness shot the creature in the chest. The creature fell and erupted into nothingness. Kayle fell to the ground, hard. Zen stared at the hole in the wall, “What was that?” Lithe replied, point blankly, “That was an allosaur... though, I'm not sure why it appeared right then and there.” Kayle rose to a half sitting position, “Actually, it was nothing.” Rai glanced at Kayle like she was completely insane, “Right... er... care to explain?” Zen was flabbergasted, “It threw us into the freakin wall! It wasn’t nothing!” “Dark matter... nothing. It was quite literally nothing,” Kayle explained, however horribly. Lithe groaned, “Ugh... no wonder it gave me a headache.” Zen walked over to Kayle and knelt beside her, “You okay?” “I’ve never gone against something so powerful... or done that much. I didn’t know I could...” Kayle groaned and grabbed her head. Lithe joined them and placed her hand on Kayle’s head, “Here, I can help now that the dark matter’s gone.” After the glow had gone away, Kayle rose, “Thanks... so we’re all in this together, huh?” Zen looked at the other members of their foursome and sighed, “At least for now... those doors closed again so it’s not like we’re getting back that way.” “Great...” Rai popped his neck left and right, “Better look out, Zen. You might be next.” “I think mine was the door... hopefully there isn’t a— never mind. I think I already did mine,” Zen replied. “I think Healer and I should walk up front though, just in case.” Offhandedly, Rai said, “He’s probably just worried about Necros again.” “No. Necros, I can handle.” Lithe glared at Rai then turned to Zen, “Anyway, shall we move on ahead?” She grabbed his arm and started walking. Zen swallowed hard and looked at Lithe, “Yeah.” Kayle looked lost for a second hen grabbed Rai’s arm. The four walked down various corridors and hallways for hours, sometimes coming to dead ends and having to go back. Finally, they reached a great hall. Everyone looked around and settled on staring at the greatly ornate ceiling, “Man... that ceiling is freakin tall...” Kayle nodded, “It has to go on forever.” Suddenly a deafening bang sounded. Kayle shrieked, “What was that?” Lithe replied, “My guess is our next test.” Zen looked back down, face set, “It came from that chest.” He walked warily toward the chest. Kneeling down, he read the lettering, “Quadriiugis.” “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Zen shook his head, “It’s a Latin word but I don’t know what—” a sudden look of realization came over his face and he stood slowly, “This one’s for all of us.” Rai braced instinctively, “You’re kidding, right?” “I wish I was,” Zen replied, backing up and shaking his head slowly. Mere seconds later, Lithe fell to her knees, holding her head and screaming in pain, “What? What is it?” Edited by Marian Frae, Jul 28 2009, 03:52 PM.
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Never doubt my weaseling abilities, Shadowhunter, for they are epic and memorable in their scope. Any dolt with half a brain would have to see the human race has gone insane. My UniCreatures | |
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| Mercinus3 | Jun 23 2009, 01:50 PM Post #6 |
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The English Kitty Ninja
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Hmmm... an interesting development of the characters, changing from 4 seperate people to... 4 seperate people lol. But the way that they started to learn each other's abilities is rather neat. |
![]() This is true. I will go ninja kitty on your asses if you do... *glowers and sharpens claws*
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| Marian Frae | Jun 27 2009, 07:03 PM Post #7 |
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tutor de atrum
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CHAPTER THREE Lithe stared at the chest, eyes wide open, “No! No... it can’t be... it’s too much for me.” Screaming again, she doubled over in utter pain. Zen’s eyes grew quite wide and followed her gaze, not seeing anything, “What?! What are you seeing, Healer?” Lithe backed away, shaking her head, “It’s... worse than before... it’s a creature made of—” she screamed again then finished, “blood magic!” “Crap!” turning to Rai, he ordered, “Hit the chest with all you’ve got! Kayle, get the Healer out of here!” “But—” Kayle began. “Just get her out!” Zen yelled, turning to the chest. He sent bolts of lighting from his fingertips toward the chest. Rai shot fire at the chest as well. Not seeing anything happen, Zen yelled frustrated, “Come ON!” he closed his eyes, still shooting the lighting, and closed his eyes in deep concentration. Kayle called from the hall, terror obvious in her voice, “It’s not doing anything!” “Come back in and shoot it with your dark stuff!” Zen opened his now pure white, glowing eyes and screamed, light shooting out of his mouth, flames from a dragon’s inner mantle. Rai’s body surged and he sent an inferno toward the chest, his whole self encompassed with flame. Kayle ran back in, shooting darkness. Zen slowly rose off the floor, becoming brighter with each inch. Lithe screamed out. Kayle, still shooting darkness at the chest, was near tears with fright, “It’s not doing anything!” “Try harder!” Zen yelled, not meanly but completely absorbed by the situation and stress it caused. “Become absorbed by your power!” Rai added, much less prone to stress. Kayle closed her eyes again. Everything warped around her, as if she were somehow sucking in reality and tendrils of crimson and an almost black purple reached out around her, searing their way toward the chest. Lithe let out a blood curling yell as Kayle turned completely black and purple. Glancing at each other, the three charged at the chest, summoning all the strength they could muster. Before they came close to reaching the chest, reality warped around it and an amulet soared toward Kayle. The amulet flew into Kayle and seemingly absorbed into her body, somehow causing no damage. Upon the disappearance, or absorption, of the amulet, Lithe stopped screaming and her jagged breaths became more stable. Still tense and wary, Rai looked to Zen, “Did we take care of it?” Zen shook his head, unsure, “I have a feeling that was only—” He began plummeting toward the ground uncontrollably, his light fading in and out. “Zen!” Kayle ran to Zen, reaching him as he hit the ground, hard. She turned her head to the hall, “Lithe!” Rai groaned, “What now?” “Get me out of here. I can’t face this thing.” “What is it?” Zen shook his head with a sense of urgency, “Doesn’t matter. You two can take care of it.” Zen cried out, clutching his chest. Lithe immediately ran to Zen upon entering the room and assessing the situation as well as she could, “What happened?” “Jut get me out of here.” Lithe nodded and helped Zen to his feet, allowing him to lean on her for support. They exited as quickly as possible. Rai strengthened his fire and Kayle rose higher, sending streams, no longer mere tendrils, of darkness toward the chest. Rai closed his eyes, still shooting his fire. The ground under the chest shot up. Zen cried out again and the chest was hit with a massive current of air, causing it to launch into the wall across the room. As the chest hit the wall, it shuddered and emitted a low groan, “Intempestus”. As the word was spoken, Zen cried out a last time and all was then quiet. Lithe and Zen reentered the Great Hall and joined the others. Lithe turned to him and, dead set on a straight answer, asked, “You seem to know more about this than the rest of us. What next?” Zen replied in a hushed voice and gestured at Rai and Kayle, “One of them.” Kayle’s eyes widened with fear and recognition, “One of us?” But whi—” She stopped, her eyes growing ever wider, as a vortex slowly formed around Rai, his fire flickering out, “What’s happening?” “He was in a fire state so it’s taking away his oxygen. Two birds with one stone per se.” He closed his eyes and, much more quickly this time, became light again. Lunging at the vortex, he shot through it. Lithe looked up at him, “What are you doing?” Zen, still shooting through the vortex, replied matter of factly, “Giving him bursts of oxygen and hopefully hurting the vortex. Kayle, hit it with everything you’ve got. Healer, I'm sorry, but you’re gonna have to go in there and keep him alive. If you start losing too much oxygen though. Leave. It’s harder on him though since he practically became fire.” Lithe nodded and ran in as quickly as she could, strangely unhesitant, only getting close enough to Rai to heal him from afar. She fell to one knee as the combination of her exertion and the fire’s heat got to her, but she continued to heal him anyway. Kayle also flew to the vortex, her streams of darkness zooming through it. when she got a few feet away, the Vortex turned in on itself. Kayle desperately tried to stop but had been going far too fast and was now being sucked in. She screamed, “Black hole!” Rai, newly refueled motioned to Kayle, “Lithe, to her! I’m fine now!” Zen stopped and looked from her to the black hole, “Crap!” Emitting a pale green stream from his forehead, Zen soared full speed at the black hole. “Zen! No! You’ll be sucked in!” Zen ignored her and flew directly into the black hole. The black hole immediately stopped sucking her in so Kayle was able to stop. Gliding to the ground, Kayle stared at the dark hole in the middle of the air and muttered, “Zen...” Lithe ignored her as she continued to heal anybody she could. Suddenly, the room was swamped with a familiar light, this time somehow warmer than before. Kayle desperately squinted, trying to see something amidst the pure light, “What the—? Zen is that—?” Zen slowly and gently drifted to the ground, eyes closed, not breathing. “Zen!” Kayle ran over to him and shrieked, “Lithe! Lithe, come here!” Lithe hurried over, “I don’t have much power left.... I’ll do what I can.” She closed her eyes and, muttering under her breath, placed glowing hands on top of Zen’s heart. Zen started glowing and a whisper was heard, “Quadriiugis”. Kayle muttered, “What does that mean?” Rai reached them and stared at Zen’s unmoving chest, “Dude... is he dead?” Lithe barked, “Quiet. I'm trying to concentrate.” Rai started to say something but, seeing the look on Kayle’s face, stopped and put his arms around her comfortingly instead. Zen began to rise in the air as Lithe healed him. Lithe, having used so much power over a prolonged amount of time, fainted from exhaustion. Her hands instantly stopped glowing and her face grew pale as Zen kept rising, light pulsing from him. Zen’s color started to come back and, as it did, the light emanating from him grew brighter. Lithe began to rise as well. Kayle stared between the two rising figures, “What’s going on?” The mysterious voice spoke once more, “True power. Up.” Kayle and Rai stood warily, powering up as they did so, faces drained and eyes faint, and began to rise themselves, of their own accord. The voice continued, “Keep your eyes on the boy. Don’t look anywhere else. See what he does.” They continued to stare at Zen and Lithe who were beginning to hover toward them. The pale green light returned to Zen. The light emanating from him changed from the pure white to a light blue. Rai and Kayle gained a soft fire in their eyes more fierce than the natural light had ever been. Zen shot toward the chest, stopping mere inches from it. he lighted to the floor, still unconscious, but as Lithe regained her consciousness and the light faded, he began to stir. Lithe averted her gaze toward Zen who was slowly sitting. He turned to the chest and, after a staring at it, he stated, “We can open it now.” Lithe, Rai, and Kayle all alighted on the ground next to him. Lithe touched the chest hesitantly and glanced at everyone else, “All at once, yes?” Zen glanced at her and nodded, “Yeah.” Rai smiled, “Right.” Kayle gulped, “Ok, on three.” They counted to three and opened the chest a soft orange glow crept from the chest, mist rising from a lagoon. The sole item it contained was an ancient and powerful oaken staff, embedded with a crystal. Zen reached in and stood, staff in hand. Lithe reverently touched the crystal. Rai grabbed onto the staff under Zen’s hand instinctively and Kayle enveloped the rest of the crystal with her hand. The staff’s orange glow enveloped the group and, when the glow faded, they had been teleported from the cursed dungeons to a courtyard in the middle of a beautiful, old temple. They looked around an one by one let go of the staff until Zen was left holding it alone once more. A hunched figure in a cloak made its way toward them. Rai braced instinctively but Lithe extended an arm in front of him, silently telling him not to act on his thoughts... for the time being. Zen straightened to his full height, revealing he was the tallest of the group. Breaking away from the group, he walked toward the hunched figure, “Zen, what are you doing?” Zen knelt in front of the figure, “Don’t worry.” Lithe sighed inaudibly and stepped forward, “Just watch. He knows more than he lets on.” “But—” Kayle began but Lithe shushed her. The hunched figure straightened slightly and turned to look at the others. Lithe stayed silent though she knew the figure wanted them to show reverence to it. Rai stepped up next to her. Zen turned his head slightly back at the others. Kayle came to him, still standing. Together, Rai and Lithe joined the other two. Zen looked back down and the others knelt in front of the figure. The voice from the dungeons spoke, “Very good, my Exsors.” Zen stayed reverently looking down while the other three looked between each other, realizing the voice came from the hunched figure. The figure lay a withering but still strong hand on Zen’s head, “The neither willing nor wanting yet powerful all the same.” He then moved to Kayle, “Playful and sweet yet darker than any could imagine.” Zen stood and Kayle took his lead. The figure placed his hand on Rai’s head, “The inner ocean with an outer fire.” He moved to Lithe, “The inner torment with an outer remedy.” Rai and Lithe stood. The hunched figure turned to Zen and bowed slightly. Zen bowed back and the figure walked away, removing his hood to reveal a grayed head of slightly balding hair. Zen watched the old man for a while then walked through some doors into a hallway. The others looked at each other before following. Kayle once again took her place at Zen’s arm. BALCONY 6:30 pm. Zen stared out from a balcony at the calm, freezing sea, leaning against the heavy oak beam which served as railing. Lost in his own thoughts, Zen hardly noticed Lithe walk beside him. Zen tensed a little and started tapping his fingers on the wood. They stood silently for a few minutes. Finally Lithe broke the silence, “You wanna tell me what’s going on?” “I know no more than you guys do,” Zen said with a sigh. “Yeah right.” Zen raised his eyebrows slightly, “I know you were just as clueless as us until you went into that... black hole or whatever... What are we doing here?” Zen began, “Look, I don’t—” “Stop it. how’d you know what to do when you woke back up?” Zen started to say something then sighed and turned to face her, “I'm the Dreamer.” Lithe’s eyes widened and she stuttered, “Well, but if— then,” she resolved herself, “then who was that creepy guy?” “He’s...” exhaling loudly, Zen shook his head, “I really don’t know how to explain him.” “We knelt in front of him, Zen! Give me something here! Is he like our master or something? And for that matter, who are the rest of us? Why were WE called?” Zen leaned heavily on the oak beam, “He’s our... servant and teacher... our Yoda.” Lithe raised her eyebrows, “I'm not good at this, ok. I don’t normally... I'm never in a position to explain things.” Zen sighed and moved on before Lithe could say anything, “We’re here because we’re the Exsors.” Lithe stared at him, completely flabbergasted. Zen took this as her not understanding, “That’s Latin for ‘the chosen ones’. There’s this big prophecy about—” “I know who and what the Exsors are... as much as anyone at least. But— I always thought that it was just... you know, some Magi legend.” “Well, I guess it’s not... I don’t know who you guys are... so don’t ask. Though I’d have to guess you’re the Liven... just kinda makes sense.” Lithe nodded, “So... what are we doing here?” With great disdain, Zen half moaned, “School.” “But we already have schools and our parents will—“ “Special school. First we’ll learn from the ‘creepy guy’ as you so imaginatively named him for a few months.” “Then?” “A school very few get into: MSGT.” Lithe’s eyes grew with excitement, “The Magi School for the Gifted and Talented?! That’s the best Magi school in the world!” Indifferent, Zen shrugged, “Yeah.” “When do we find out who we are?” Zen sighed, “Look, I may have some of the answers... but I definitely don’t have all of them. Besides, it doesn’t matter who he says we are. Those are just titles. I mean, look at me: the dreamer is supposed to be.... well... and optimist, a dreamer...” Zen trailed off. “But we really are the ones from the prophecies?” “You saw the staff, Lithe. That staff is like the Round Table seats. You mess with it and it’s not meant for you...” he drew a line across his throat. “Right...” uneasily, Lithe stared at her feet. After a few silent, tense seconds, she started to leave but stopped at the doorway, turning back, “Zen?” Zen turned to face her, “Hm?” “Isn’t the Dreamer... the leader?” “I don’t really know. But I can assure you one thing: I'm not the leader of anything.” Lithe looked him in the eyes quickly then turned and left. 2007, February 19. 5:30 am. Everyone sat on a pillow in the open courtyard. Kayle had a hot pink blanket wrapped around her. Teacher looked between the tired teens, “Close your eyes and focus your energies on one emotion. Focus on joy.” Zen sighed and closed his eyes, focusing on joy. After a few minutes, he sighed exasperatedly, “Nothing is happening.” “You are too impatient, Dreamer. As you are with everything. We will try something which more closely relates to you. Focus on pain.” Zen closed his eyes again, a look of surprise crossing his face, “Emotional or physical.” “Emotional.” All focused again. Zen glowed a faint red, the ground trembled, and Kayle turned an ember color for a few second then all returned to normal. They opened their eyes once again, “Look... I'm sure you know what you’re doing, but I think it might help if we knew what you were doing.” Sighing, Teacher asked him, “Your impatience never fails to amaze me. What is the core of your power?” Zen stared at him incredulously, “I don’t know.” “Anyone else know?” Lithe looked around. When no one else answered, she coughed and sat up straighter, “I think I have an idea.” Teacher raised an eyebrow, “Yes?” I know that normal people can draw massive amounts of power to save themselves or others when they’re in a lot of danger because of adrenaline. And that’s fear... so wouldn’t our core be our emotions?” Teacher clapped his hands snobbishly. “Very good. Your emotions can help you control your powers but they can also allow you to lose control of your powers. Greed, betrayal, anger, revenge—all are emotions that can cause you to lose your control. The key to completely mastering all you are capable of is learning to harness your emotions fully. That way you could turn off certain emotions entirely or even negate all but one.” “Shouldn’t we be learning about our other abilities?” Zen asked incredulously. “None of you are ready for that yet. Your minds and bodies are not prepared for all of the powers you eventually will have at your control. Your soul would be consumed by any one of the abilities which you do not even know that you, or anyone else, is capable of.” “Then why work so hard to harness our emotions when it is our body and mind we need to ready?” venomously spat Zen. A sad, heavy sigh escaped from Teacher. “Learning patience is part of these exercises, Dreamer. You will also test and develop your minds and bodies accordingly and equally. Hard work is mandatory to bring both your bodies and minds to the same level.” Rai groaned at the mention of ‘work’. “Fun...so I'm gonna be stuck inside studying while Zenny boy over there is working his butt off trying to get as buff as his mind is freakin smart.” “You may find you underestimate your mental capabilities,” coaxed Teacher. Zen rolled his eyes. “Yes, Rai is such an unending wealth of knowledge,” he muttered sarcastically. Teacher seemed a bit tiffed by Zen’s comment, “I am not speaking of knowledge alone, Dreamer. Eventually the four of you must work as a team. Rid yourselves of preconceived perceptions of each other and see yourselves as a family.” “A family?” Zen gaped. “Look, we can hardly stay in the same courtyard as each other and you expect-” Fed up with Zen’s arguing, Lithe took it upon herself to scold him. “We all have a lot of spending time together ahead of us, Zen. What comes of this…team thing…may surprise us all.” An idea struck. “Dreamer, you are wanting to do something which will have a visible effect, correct?” “Yes,” he said grudgingly. “Then you—” Rai chimed in before Teacher could say anything. “Hey wait just one minute there! I want to do something useful too!” Teacher smoldered with anger at such rudeness. “You interrupted me, Rai.” “Yeah. Right. You call Zen by his title or whatever…but you call us by our normal names…why is that?” Teacher let the interruption slide in order to answer his question. “Zen found his fated title on his own—just as each of you must do. Until you come to the knowledge of your destiny your way, I shall address you by your birth names.” Anxious to find out what he was going to do, Zen changed the subject back. “What were you saying, Teacher?” He cleared his throat and continued. “You, Dreamer Zen, and Rai are to enter the forest near here, traverse deep to the center, then return unscathed.” Both boys exchanged quizzical looks. “Is that hard?” they asked in unison. Teacher grinned slightly, as he had predicted such a reaction. “Not alone, no. However, when you bring into the equation that,” as he talks, both Zen and Rai unknowingly begin to hover above the ground, glide toward each other, and are set back on the ground side-to-side, “you will do it together,” there is a flash and shackles are suddenly binding the boys’ wrists together, “I think it makes the assignment much more challenging. Oh, and don’t try to cheat the test. I know where those go all the time. You will not be able to come back once you breach the forest unless you’ve made it to the middle and back.” Rai jumps after he realizes what’s happening. “Hey!” He lifts his shackled arm, taking Zen with him. Gesturing toward the manacles, he says, “What the hell is this for?” “Put me down!” Zen cried as he kicked his legs pathetically in the air. He scoffed and immediately sat back down on the ground, effectively bruising Zen’s rear. “Great, just great. Now I've gotta drag this baggage all through the forest.” “As long as you don't pick me up again, I'll carry my own weight!” Zen replied indignantly. “Pun definitely intended,” he added under his breath. Rai shrugged, still disgusted at having to be connected to such filth for an extended period of time. “Yeah, whatever.” He redirected his attention to Teacher. “Is there a time limit on this thing?” “A time limit? Death.” Teacher answered calmly. “Well, unless something worse than that dungeon attacks, I'm sure we'll make it.” Zen said. Rai openly winced at the though of fighting another ‘little blue bouncy cute thing’, “Right…I guess.” Edited by Marian Frae, Jul 30 2009, 12:29 AM.
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Never doubt my weaseling abilities, Shadowhunter, for they are epic and memorable in their scope. Any dolt with half a brain would have to see the human race has gone insane. My UniCreatures | |
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| Raine Gryphon | Jul 22 2009, 04:29 PM Post #8 |
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CHAPTER FOUR “When do we start?” Zen asked with a sigh. Teacher acted as if thinking over it for a minute. “When the two of you feel ready…but I must remind you, you will be chained together until you make it back.” Zen anxiously looks at Rai. “Wanna start ASAP?” “Ugh, let's get this over with now.” Rai said stubbornly. “What are you gonna eat? Each other?” Kayle eagerly pointed out. Rai snorted with disgust. “Hardly.” Presented with such a dismal situation, Zen channeled his disappointment through insults. “We'd run out of me pretty quick with the metabolism he's displayed.” Kayle shuddered. “Eww! I was joking!” “And I was playing along.” Zen added arrogantly. Rai started to scan the room. “Well, if anybody would tell me where everything is, I could put together a couple packs in no time. I do it every weekend back home.” Curious, Zen followed Rai’s eyes around the room. “Why?” “I get twitchy when I can't move around, so I always take an overnight trip to my private beach to relax and go surfing.” Kayle exclaimed “Private beach? You're rich!?” at the same time that Lithe stammered, “Private beach? Don't you have to pay for those?” Rai laughed nervously, then explained, “Well...it's not exactly my own personal beach...I just claim it when I want to use it. Fire scares people away really fast.” Zen laughed despite himself. “Nice…knew there was something redeemable about you.” Kayle blathered, “I don't see what's re—” until Zen gave her a look, “—oh.” Eager to get his first task over with, he happily asked, “So how bout it, Teach? Gonna give me—I mean—us, a tour of the place first?” Teacher sighed, then waved his hand dismissively. “How about I just give you the knowledge?” “Now who's impatient?” Zen jeered. “I need to give the girls their assignment,” replied Teacher with the least amount of enthusiasm thought humanly possible. Rai’s spirits seemed to have lifted now that he had something to do. “Sure, that'll work.” Zen gave Rai a look. “Surprised you didn't complain about actually having to study at other times.” Rai stared blankly. “Eh...you mean he could've done that the WHOLE time?” Zen laughed arrogantly at Rai and adds, “You didn't realize that?” “No…if I knew, I would have asked him to earlier…” Rai said sadly after he sighed and hung his head low in defeat. Teacher instantly corrected him. “The other knowledge you will have to gain yourself. Otherwise it would not be beneficial to your brain. It would be like gaining muscles for a day then sweating them off.” Zen’s jaw dropped in horror. “What?!” “Ouch. It takes good, hard work for muscles…I know that much,” grimaced Rai. Zen quickly lost interest. “Whatever…just give us the map in our heads or whatever so we can get this over with.” Teacher raised his eyebrows in a superior way, obviously expecting more. “Please.” “Ditto,” Rai agreed. Having heard that, Teacher placed his hands on Rai's head, with his thumbs at Rai’s temples and closed his eyes. His hand and Rai's head glowed for a few seconds then Teacher let go and moved in front of Zen. Zen’s eyes grew big, and he proceeded to wave his hands in front of him and back away at a considerable pace. “No way! I'm not letting you turn my head into a Jack-O-Lantern,” he added hastily. Rai smirked at Zen’s show of fear. “Too scared? That's fine. I know the way…just follow me.” He instantly took off at a run, heading towards the kitchen and yanking the reluctant Zen along with him. Kayle stood up and yelled after them, “Don't leave without saying good bye!” Rai stopped. “Why?” Zen called over his shoulder. “Not like we're gonna die or anything!” added Rai, obviously in a hurry now. Kayle put her hands on her hips and huffily replied, “I want to say goodbye!” “Fine!” both boys shouted at the same time. Rai started to run back to the girls, but switched to a walk after receiving a death glare from Zen. “Bye then,” he stated bluntly, turning away again. “No, I want to say goodbye right before you reach the forest. I'm not saying bye now!” Zen was tired of all this back and forth by now. “Why?” he asked with a sigh. Stubbornly, Kayle said, “Because, it's not the same if you still have to pack!” Just finished with her concentration exercise, Lithe opened her eyes and stood up with them. “Well we're not gonna get our task until after you guys are gone, so I'll go with too, okay? Packing's easier with more people.” “Speak for yourself,” Rai muttered, impatient to get started. “Good,” Zen said, not having heard Rai. “Now Mr. Buff Butt won't drag me at full run.” Rai’s eyes grew wide. “What the heck are you looking at my butt for?!” “NO! It was! I wasn't actually—I—GOD!” stammered Zen. Lithe laughed at seeing Zen so nervous. “Stop aggravating him, Rai!” “He's not aggravating me!” “Then why are you being so defensive?” Rai observed. Zen was getting tired of all these questions. “I—you've been—let's just go.” Rai shrugged it off. “Fine by me.” He started toward the kitchen, making sure to stay at a walk. Entering the kitchen, Lithe immediately headed for the pantry and placed things on the ground beside her. Utterly lost as to what was needing to be done, Zen asked, “Don’t we need something to put the food in? Like a pack?” “Don’t get so hasty. The food’s gotta stay in a separate place so it doesn’t get spread out and ruined. Now, where were those sacks?” Rai opened doors, rummaging through to find large zippable bags. Zen’s eyes grew wide after looking at the gigantic storage bags. “They make Ziplocs that big? Where the mess do you get those?” “Factory warehouse,” said Rai matter-of-factly. Still lost as to what to do, Zen asked, “Okay...so...what are we taking? It's cold enough we don't need ice or whatever right?” Rai stopped rummaging around and thought for a minute. “I guess not...but we still should take a majority of non-perishable foods. Trail mixes, bread loaves, and fruit would probably be fine right now.” “Protein would come from where?” pointed Zen. “Well we won't be cooking, so we'll have to make some dry meat sandwiches. Oh, and don't forget cheese,” Rai mumbled nearly to himself. “We're not talking like...Spam right? ‘Cause that's like...toxic waste...in a can...mixed with liver...and guts,” said Zen in revulsion. Rai gagged. “Of course not! I'm talking hard cheese, like real Parmesan, for instance. That can last for years.” “Man…Spam's a meat…not a cheese…” “Who cares? All that liquefied canned stuff is poison. I've never eaten it, and never will. No, real meat like, turkey or some kind of chicken. Any kind of bird'll do for the sandwiches, really. Then some beef jerky just in case,” Rai rambled on to himself, too used to doing this kind of thing alone. Zen still seemed disgusted. “Jerky's junk…almost as bad as Spam.” Kayle once again made her presence apparent. “Will you two stop fighting and just grab stuff?” Blinking, Lithe commented, “Are they still at it?” She held up many bags filled with various foods. “I've already packed enough for at least a week!” Confused, Zen spoke in disbelief. “But were deciding what to…see this is why I'll never be leader.” “You all so greatly underestimate yourselves. Girls, once you've made your good-byes, come find me in the courtyard,” interjected Teacher before he traipsed off on his own. Rai patted Zen on the back with his free hand. “Look man, don't let it get you down. She's got all of the stuff we agreed on anyway, so let's get everything else, okay?” Zen shook himself until Rai stopped the contact. “Man…don't do that. God…fine let's go.” Through packing foodstuffs, the group moved on to the general storeroom. Pleased with the job done so far, Rai had practically taken over. “Okay, so anything else we'll need will be here, including the packs themselves.” “What else do we need? I mean…other than like blankets,” Zen asked. Rai stared at Zen with a blank look on his face. “Man, you don't plan on freezing at night, do you? We at least need some flint for a fire.” “But...you can shoot flames out of your freaking hands…what the mess do we need flint for?” “It's just a habit, really. On one of my first campouts, my powers got completely drained from all the activity, so I couldn't make one myself,” answered Rai. “Canteens'll be handy too, since I can fill em up anytime.” “I'm surprised you don't want to melt the snow,” jeered Zen. “Whatever, just don't come running to me when you don't know how to camp on your own,” Rai stated after he shrugged. He proceeded to shove two equal portions of food into a couple packs he just found, along with canteens and some flint. Zen muttered, “I've camped on my own…” Rai zipped up the packs and offered one to Zen. “Sure you have.” Zen looked up in anger. “What?” Lithe frowned, frustrated at the both of them. “At this rate, one of you'll chew your arm off before you get back!” “That would be good practice for cauterizing wounds,” said Rai, grinning devilishly. Zen ignored Rai. “Hmmm…you could always heal it back…right?” he asked Lithe. She thought about it for a minute. “If you get to me in time...WITH the arm, mind you.” “In time? But you said you could—that's why I called you a Necro, remember?” Zen asked, shocked. Lithe sighed, knowing he wouldn’t fully understand. “There's a very delicate balance when it comes to a Healer's powers. I wouldn't be able to regenerate your arm if it hadn't decayed yet. Therefore, the arm would have to be present so I could simply reattach it.” “Decayed?” said Zen, shuddering. Lithe nodded. “Right. If even one cell of your original arm still lived, I wouldn't be able to recreate it. That would mean creating you a third arm.” Zen was already confused. “You can create a third arm but you can't add to an existing one?” “No, I can’t create a third arm. That's the point. I can only heal an existing one, or replace one that isn't ALIVE anymore.” “But...but you...gah…never mind.” Zen changed the subject. “Are we ready to go yet?” Rai happily shook his pack, which he had already thrown over his shoulder. “Yep,” Rai said. He attempted to salute Zen. “Ready for takeoff, sir.” Zen raised his eyebrow. “Are you saluting me?” Giving up, Rai put his arm down. “You said something about being a leader, right?” “Yeah…” mumbled Zen halfheartedly. “I think he was trying to make you feel like a leader. How sweet,” giggled Kayle. Zen turned a slight shade of red. Awkwardly, he said, “Were you?” Rai coughed evadingly. “Eh...uh...it was...a spur of the moment...thing.” “Well, don't... I don't really want to be leader...” Zen replied stiffly. Both Kayle and Lithe are cracking up on the sidelines, watching both Rai and Zen dig themselves into an awkward ditch. “Okay you two—let's not start off—on the wrong foot—alright?” Lithe attempted to say between bursts of laughter. “What's so funny? Besides, we're already on the wrong foot,” retorted Zen. Lithe finally succeeded in stopping her laughing. “Nothing, nothing. Just get going so we can finally get OUR assignment.” “Well if Zenny boy here would stop getting flustered, we would be. So sayonara, girlies,” Rai joked. “At the forest! We're saying goodbye at the edge of the forest!” burst Kayle. “Fine…whatever. Let's go,” Zen said dejectedly. They all trekked to the edge of the forest, where Zen promptly asked, “Now can we say goodbye?” Kayle furiously glomped Zen. “Yes. Goodbye!” She emphasized her point by giving Zen a—none too shy—kiss on the cheek and briefly hugging Rai. Zen stared at her incredulously. “That's it? You could've ki— why the mess do you keep doing that? Stop flirting with me!” "Aww but you're so awkward,” she giggled. Lithe smiled and cocked her head. “I think it's cute!” “Exactly! Wait! Cute?” Zen said in disbelief. Kayle giggled once again. “Yes…cute.” “But—I don’t want to be cute!” huffed Zen angrily. “Sorry, but I can't help it if I think it's cute,” Lithe said in a carefree tone. A look of disdained disgust planted itself on Zen’s face. “Why? What about me is even remotely appealing?” Lithe blushed. “Well...I...it doesn't matter. Goodbye.” With that, she rushed away before Zen could say anything more. Zen stared blankly after her for a few seconds. “Does she—nah…can't be…” He shuddered. “You're so deliciously awkward,” Kayle chimed. She giggled and ran off. Rai couldn’t help himself and started laughing. “Boy, they sure do make life funny. Can't wait to get back.” “I can,” said Zen, glowering. Lithe and Kayle walked back up to the courtyard, arguing. Kayle was giggling, “You like him! Admit it!” “Do not!” Lithe was obviously annoyed. “You do too! I saw how you were acting! I know the signs! It’s so cute!” “The signs? Come off it.” “I’m around the dating scene a lot! You totally like him! Oh my gosh! It’s so adorable! And you’re even in denial too.” Lithe groaned in frustration, “Remind me to never find anything cute again.” “You were stammering and ran off blushing! It was so cute! Besides, he asked what made him so appealing.” Lithe’s cheeks flushed, “I never even said he was appealing!” “But you didn’t deny it either. Aww! You’re blushing again!” “Argh. Just forget about it, okay?” Kayle hugged her, “OK! For now!” And with that, she ran ahead to Teacher. Lithe stood rigid for a few seconds then walked after her. “I see you two are getting along, “Teacher noted with a slight and very subtle air of sarcasm. Lithe scoffed, “Better than the guys I suppose.” “Are you ready to receive your task?” “Yes!” Kayle eagerly answered. Teacher looked at Lithe who nodded, “Ditto.” Teacher nodded, “There is a labyrinth under these grounds. When you are ready, it will be opened up for you. You must make your way through the labyrinth.” “Is that it?” Teacher fought a grin, “Your powers will be switched until you complete the labyrinth. It covers the whole grounds. You will have an amulet which will transport you to the beginning, should you need that resort. Though you will not be able to leave until you have mastered it. Food will be transported to you.” Wide eyed, Lithe exclaimed incredulously, “Powers switched? You’ve got to be kidding! How will we use them?” “There will be obstacles. Don’t worry, none as dangerous as the first test...” he said, with the slightest of condescending tones. Then, smiling, added, “Not the first time anyway.” Perking up like a dog, Kayle asked, “First time?” “You will go through the Labyrinth multiple times. It’s a true testament to your abilities.” “So... what you’re saying is that it’s kind of a training ground that gets harder as we progress with our abilities?” Lithe asked, soaking it in. “Precisely. Just as is the forest... and eventually the sea.” “The sea? How does that work out?” Chuckling despite himself, “All in good time, Lithe.” Wincing, Lithe asked, “Eh... you’re not gonna chain us together, are you?” “Of course not.” Lithe visibly relaxed a little, “Once in the Labyrinth, you can’t really do anything to get away from each other except sleep or go off ahead. There really isn’t much need.” Lithe sighed then, with a determined look on her face, stated, “Well... I say I'm up to the challenge.” “You passed the first test. There was no doubt of that.” “Kayle? What about you?” Lithe said, turning to Kayle whom had been remarkably quiet. Kayle perked up a little at the sound of her name, coming back into the world from deep thought and concentration, “It’ll be fun! Like an extreme sleepover!” Rolling her eyes, Lithe turned back to Teacher, “Then if there isn’t anything else for us to know, I guess we should get started.” “Alright. Just a warning, this might hurt.” “What might—” Kayle was cut off by a dark maroon cloud erupting from Teacher and enveloping the two girls. Lithe cringed and clutched her head as if it felt like her brain was bursting from her skull. Kayle closed her eyes and concentrated on pushing away the pain, a slight outline appearing around her. As the pain continued to corrode her senses, Lithe’s hands began to glower slightly then faded into a purple so dark it was almost black. Edited by Raine Gryphon, Jul 30 2009, 11:42 AM.
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| DarkAngel013 | Jul 28 2009, 07:30 PM Post #9 |
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Sleepy Inspiration
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Very interesting. xD I like how both of the females seem to like Zen, much to his annoyance. My favorite character right now would have to be Zen. lawl. I look forward to reading the next chapter. |
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^Clicketh on thy picture. =] Call me Niko-chan~ ![]() ![]()
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| Marian Frae | Jul 30 2009, 12:24 AM Post #10 |
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tutor de atrum
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:D Sweet! I love that so many people are loving Zen nearly as much as I do. I luff him soo much! *huggles Zenny* I think this is the point where we decided to post it for people to read the first time. A couple of friends had told us it was great, and we had really gotten a hold on how the characters were going to be. CHAPTER FIVE Startled, Lithe instantly let go of her head. The maroon cloud started to fade and both girls fell to their knees in pain. Teacher shrugged, “I warned it would hurt.” Lithe opened her mouth to speak but was dumbstruck by the dark mist surrounding her hands. Looking at Lithe, Kayle brightened, “Oh! You’re mad! You have to calm down! Pep up!” Incredulously, “What? You’re telling me this is emotion?” “Of course! What else would it be?” “I don’t know.” Closing her eyes, Lithe concentrated on the image of a girl running around happily and playing. The mist slowly dissipated. “Good job! What’d you think about?” “Er... I'm sure you wouldn’t be interested.” “Of course I would! I love to talk to people and you have my powers so I really want to know how you’re using them!” “Well... I thought about my dream of becoming a Master Healer.” “Aww! That’s so cool!” A door opened from the ground inches away from where they stood. Teacher spoke past their surprise, “Once you’re ready, enter the Labyrinth.” Lithe nodded, “Come on then, the faster we get in the faster we get out.” She reached for Kayle's hand then flinched and walked to the doorway. “Why’d you flinch?” Kayle asked, following after her. Then, giggling, she added, “I don’t bite.” “I guess I'm just not used to having my powers activated by emotion. It kinda unnerves me.” “Your powers aren’t activated by emotion?” “Nope. If they were, I’d be attempting to heal any little injury I saw. Mine are activated by will.” Eyes big, Kayle’s voice lowered a little and a downcast expression passed over her face, “That sucks.” Shrugging, Lithe replied, “I disagree. This way I have more control over what I do.” “But you can get depressed... and everyone will know.” “Well, yeah... but that’s almost part of being human, don’t you think?” Kayle stared blankly at her for a moment, “But why would you want to be sad?” Smiling weakly, Lithe attempted to make Kayle understand, “It’s not that I want to be sad. It’s just that, for me, if I do happen to get down, I can’t hold it in. t would rip me apart. I’d much rather everyone else know so that they can help me out of it, y’know?” “People do that?” Kayle asked, genuinely amazed at the concept. Lithe stopped abruptly and stared at Kayle, “You’re telling me you don’t know that?” “You mean people really do that?” “Of course! Didn’t your parents ever give you a hug when you cried as a kid?” Looking down, Kayle started walking again, “No.” Hanging her head, Lithe caught up to Kayle, “Look, I'm sorry. I didn’t know. I won’t mention it again if it bothers you. But just so you know, I'm here if you ever need me.” Kayle stopped again and looked at her oddly, “We’re all here, aren’t we? And we’re going to need each other? That’s why we’re a team?” “Yeah that’s right.” “I'm not stupid. I realize we’re all here. Why wouldn’t you be?” Sighing and secretly chiding herself for getting her hopes up that she’d actually gotten somewhere with Kayle, “That’s not what I meant.” “Oh...” Kayle blinked as if waiting for Lithe to continue then asked, “What did you mean?” “I meant that if you ever get depressed and you need someone to listen to you... I would.” “Oh, well, thanks. But I never get depressed. If you ever need someone to talk to though, I'm willing!” Smiling, Kayle ended the conversation and descended the stairs, leaving Lithe blinking in bewilderment. 7:30 pm. Rai emerged from the darkness, holding a bundle of twigs and branches in his hands. He created a hole in the ground to house a small fire and, dumping his wood on the ground, set it aflame with a snap of his fingers. Muttering, he turned toward Zen, “There. That should hold us for the night.” Noticing a pale, queasy looking Zen, he shouted, “Oi! Everything ok over there, Zenny boy?” Looking up with a pained expression, Zen asked, “You don’t hear that?” Rai twisted his head so his left ear faced up, “Hear what?” “That— That— I don’t really know what it is... you seriously can’t hear that?” Rai dug a finger in his ear, “All I hear is that badger rooting around in the bushes.” “But it’s screeching!” “Oh, that. Yeah, I hear it. sounds like one of those... er... whatchamacallits from before.” Shaking his head, Zen tried to stand but didn’t even rise an inch, “No not that far away thing... it’s like.. right next to me...” Rai plunked down and stared at Zen, “Nope... sorry, dude, don’t hear it.” “But you have to!” Suddenly, Zen screams and grabs his ears, doubling over. “Okay, now you’re starting to scare me. What the heck could it be if only you’re hearing it?” “I don’t know it— wait it’s—” Zen convulsed then continued, “it’s almost human.... but garbled... like a messed up message or tape.” “Whoa! Wait! Maybe it’s a message! Can you understand any of it?” “No. If I could understand it I’d not be wondering what it was!” Zen grew slightly green, ran behind a tree, and puked his guts out. Rai grimaced, “Aw man... that’s foul. You got any way to track where the voice is coming from?” Coming back around the tree, “Apparently my stomach... it’s gone now. I need sleep... I feel like my head exploded...” “Eh... alright then. The packs are over there. I’ll help you set up your bed. I’ll take first watch so you can sleep.” “Thanks.” They set up a sleeping area and Zen conked out immediately. Rai sat at Zen’s feet and looked around. After a bit of thought, he lowered the campfire a bit so he could better distinguish the shadows. All is black. Zen is floating in a place devoid of anything. Even the blackness which surrounds him seems to be shadeless, endless, everything black can be but all at once. At first there is no sound but a far off screaming which was so distant you could hardly say it existed. Things begin to take on some sort of shape and shade as the world around him becomes a little more than non-dimensional and the screaming grows louder and closer. As objects and buildings become slightly more defined, so does the screaming. It soon becomes apparent that he is on some street. There are blurry outlines of buildings and signs. The screaming is now very close. In the middle of the street... a cul-de-sac... another thing begins to outline in the circle. This outline is stronger than the others, but barely so. Finally, Zen can make out the figure is a human, as child. This child is screaming. But why? Rai shook Zen awake, far from gently, with an extremely worried look on his face. Zen shot up, panting and Rai asked, “Dude, are you okay? You were screaming and shaking a lot... and you’re drenched with sweat.” Zen looked down, panting as if he’d completed a Triathlon on a single breath, “It’s a kid. The screaming. It’s a kid.” “Who?” Shaking his head, “I don’t know. Everything was blurry and faint. I just know it was a kid.” Not wanting to push any farther, Rai nodded and sat back, “Ok.” Simultaneously, Kayle and Lithe walked in the Labyrinth with some trepidation. Kayle broke an awkward verbal silence, “Since there are supposed to be dangerous obstacles, I suggest you tell me a little about how to use your power?” “Er... well, where to start?” Lithe mumbled to herself, coming to a stop. “You said your powers aren’t controlled by emotion. So what does control them?” “They’re strictly triggered by will power. The only time they activate without my doing is when I'm in mortal peril and my subconscious kicks in.” “So it’s basically the same thing...just more tame. They’re controlled by instinct and will instead of your every whim... or nightmare.” Lithe scratched her head, “Eh... I’d like to think it’s different, but whatever works for you.” “Well, instinct is controlled by emotions as well.... we’ve just mentally evolved beyond being controlled by them, leaving us with will.” “I suppose.” “Ok... I really should try this out before we need it right?” “Yeah. Seeing as it’s your first attempt, I think it should be on a dead plant or something instead of us. Just in case.” Kayle looked around, “Do you see any dead plants? ‘Cause I'm not really seeing any dead plants.” Lithe stopped and leaned against the wall, “I was hoping for a mushroom or something... but I guess not.” “I have some paper in my pocket. A paper cut wouldn’t be too bad, right?” “Nah,” holding out her hand, Lithe continued, “It’s not like I haven’t tried to practice on myself before.” “Ok....” Kayle pulled out a folded piece of paper, “shall I do the honors or do you want to?” “Be my guest.” “Ok...” Kayle bit her lip and slashed Lithe’s wrist with the paper. She turned away, looking slightly ill. Lithe held up her hand and examined the cut, “Not too bad. Now just concentrate on the wound.” “Ok...” still looking away, she took Lithe’s hand and concentrated. Their hands glowed slightly but soon flickered out. “It’s a good start, but you need to want to help more. You have to think about everything that needs to be mended, every fiber that’s been severed.” “What about the blood? Do I have to think about the blood?” “No, for this little injury, the blood’s only a distraction.” “Ok.” She regained her composure and concentrated again, this time, their hands glowed strongly and the cut healed within seconds. “Great! Much better!” she studied her hand and nodded. “Does the blood bother you that much?” “I just really don’t like blood.” At the word ‘blood’ her face drained again, “So when there’s a lot to do... do I have to think about the—” Seeing the distress in Kayle’s face, Lithe quickly interrupted, “The only time you have to concentrate on it is when there’s so much of it that it blocks you from your work. Seeing as they’re not originally your powers, I doubt we’ll have to deal with anything that major.” “Ok... that’s good.” Gaining a little color back, Kayle asked, “So, I get how to heal... is there anything else I should know?” “Yes. Now that you know how to handle minor wounds, you have to understand that there is a balance you must take into account whenever you heal. When you heal, you’re draining actual energy from yourself to do it. you always have to know your limits, or you could end up unconscious... or even dead.” “Is that what happened when you tried to heal Zen? Your balance went out of whack because he was already so far gone?” “If you can recall, I had been healing almost nonstop, and by then my energy was severely depleted.” She lowered her voice and continued, “To tell you the truth, I don’t see why I'm still here.” “Things just kinda seemed to fix themselves... what did he do in that black hole? I don’t see how he couldn’t come out... especially since his power is light and he should be the least strong of all of us.” “I don’t know what he did then. My answer would be just as good as yours. But why do you think that he should be the weakest? Light can be a very powerful force to reckon with.” “He never practiced until he came here... at least that’s what he’s said... and he’s been firm in the fact that he hates magic. We’ve practiced since we got the powers... Think it maybe has to do with him being the Dreamer?” “Could be... but then again he could be lying.” “About not practicing? Why would he lie about that?” “I dunno people can come up with some strange reasons for their insecurities.” “Maybe... I think it has something to do with being the Dreamer... ‘cause he died... you didn’t. You went... coma-like.” Shocked, Lithe stammered, “You- you’re not saying that he... died... for me, are you?” “He died for all of us. What do you think would’ve happened if we’d failed that test? If he’d not sacrificed himself by going in that black hole?” “Well... we’d all be goners then, wouldn’t we?” “Right. Maybe he knew... or at least hoped that if he gave himself up, the rest of us would be fine. He doesn’t seem to be the suicidal kind of guy to me... and he was intentionally going in there.” “yeah... I think he knew. He talks like the world is against him, but he’s still struggling to survive. That guy’s one big mystery, if you ask me.” “I don’t think I could’ve done that.” “Neither could I.” Kayle looked down shortly. Looking back up, she was smiling again, “Well, if there isn’t anything else I need to know, let’s get going again. I want to be done with this thing before the guys get done with theirs.” Lithe started walking again, “Alright, then... you said your powers are triggered by emotions, right?” She stared at the back of her hands again, “Then how can I... y’know... use them?” “Just follow your heart and your instincts.” “That’s real specific, “Lithe stated sarcastically, disheartened. Shrugging, Kayle replied, “It’s always worked for me. I’ve never had a rule book... literally or in my mind. There are no classes for Harnessers. I just follow my heart and my instincts, listening to my brain only when the others conflict. It used to always be a mystery what would come... but I learned what would come with each feeling. I talked to another Harnesser like me, the feelings... the controls... they’re different for everyone... I can’t give you any advice other than that.” “I see.” Kayle stopped walking, “You should go first... in case there’s something invisible. Actually... I guess you should practice some too, huh?” “Yeah... I should.” Kayle picked up a rock and backed quite a way back from Lithe, “Ok, what is the most natural thing for you?” “What do you mean by that?” “Of everything you feel, think, do... what is the most natural, most instinctive?” Lithe cocked her head slightly in thought, “I dunno... that’s a tricky one. I suppose I feel a sort of compassion... a need to protect, knowing that’s how I discovered my original powers.” “Ok. Think of something or someone you really feel compassion towards. Concentrate solely on that.” Lithe brought an image of her younger sister to mind. There was a slight ripple in the space around Lithe. “Close your eyes.” Lithe closed her eyes. “Good.” Kayle threw the rock directly at Lithe’s feet but it stopped a foot and a half away. “Congratulations. You just created your first force-field! If we come up against powerful dark matter or light, that won’t help for very long but it should work fine in a pinch down here. It drains some energy from you so I wouldn’t use it a lot.” Lithe stared at the rock in awe, “Wow... I never even really... did anything.” “Exactly my point. Now... we’re going to do the same thing except this time you’re going to concentrate one something you either deeply fear or something that really pisses you off.” Lithe thought about her father destroying her greenhouses as Kayle picked up another rocked and lunged it at Lithe’s feet. This time, nothing happened, “Okay, did you think of something which makes you mad or fearful?” “Mad.” Kayle nodded, “Ok, so your stronger instinct is fear. This time think of one of your deepest fears.” Lithe once again pictured her sister, this time fatally ill. Immediately upon closing her eyes, Lithe’s hands turned a dark ember color. Kayle picked up another stone and threw it. this time, darkness swarmed toward it and causes it to implode. “Good job. You imploded a rock.” Wide eyed, Lithe asked, So that’s it, huh? I trigger certain emotions with certain memories... and it’ll have the same results each time?” “Sometimes you’ll have to choose a stronger memory, but yeah. What makes you feel insecure?” “I guess... that’d be the fact that I don’t know exactly what I'm doing,” immediately upon saying this, Lithe turned invisible, “with your powers. Not much else I can think of right off the bat.” “So your insecurity is not being confident with what you’re doing. That’s how you go invisible. Let’s go.” “What?” Lithe started to examine her hands, “Wait— where am I?!” Kayle turned around, “You’re right there.” “But, but- I can’t see me!” “But you’re right there, so it doesn’t matter.” Aghast, Lithe came very close to whining, “How can you say that?” “But you are— you’re right there.” “But I don’t see anything! It— there’s nothing there!” “Well if you know you’re there then why does it matter? It’s not like you don’t know where you are.” “That... but... that’s not the point! How can I be sure that I'm real if I can’t see me?” Kayle walked toward Lithe’s voice, waving her hands in front of her, finger outstretched until she finally poked Lithe, “You’re real.” She began to walk again then called over her shoulder, “You coming?” Lithe sighed exasperatedly, “Yes, yes,” and then followed, bewildered. In the middle of the forest, Rai stopped walking and looked around warily, then whispered to Zen, "Hang on... something's stalking us." Zen stopped and gave Rai a look, wearily, "What? How do you—" The bushes off to their left gave a small rustle, barely audible. "Oh..." |
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Never doubt my weaseling abilities, Shadowhunter, for they are epic and memorable in their scope. Any dolt with half a brain would have to see the human race has gone insane. My UniCreatures | |
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Auspice Zeta created by sakuragi-kun of the ZBTZ

















1:08 PM Jul 11