Welcome to the Eternal Waltz IC

Your standard rules apply. I believe we're old enough now that I don't have to remind you guys to play nice.

I’m not going to hold your hand in this RP. You’ve been given a world and a mission, how you choose to complete that mission is up to you. There are many alternate endings, and many alternate routes. As Game Master, I will of course present challenges and problems for you and your party IF NEEDED, but I hope you will create the story with each other. I’ll just add the consequences and rewards for what you do. I want this to be character driven. Sit on your ass and I’ll make sure an airship somehow mysteriously falls out of the sky and kills your character. This maybe based on the whole “Empire vs Rebel” thing, but there is so much more if you just take advantage of the freedom here. When facing a powerful threat, one of the best things you can do is to cut off the head. When facing a small slippery foe, the best thing you can do is remove support from them and cut them off from resources.

I'm going to do this a little backwards from traditional RPs. Instead of the cast/character list in the OOC, it will be here in the IC. Status of the characters will also be present.

Eternal Waltz OOC: viewtopic.php?f=3&t=47659&start=0
GM: Ro Wong.

Characters

Slipslash as E2CX-MIRAGE (Accepted)

Slipslash as "Hallow" Jace (Accepted)

Slipslash as Zackariah Frostheim (Accepted Undead Lord)

Doctress Who as Mystara Hallow (Accepted)

Doctress Who as Lady Ivy “Xantara” Swift (Accepted Demi-God)

Blood Lord as Vaco Malen Blood (Retired)

Blood Lord as Captain Minda Sylvanas (Retired)

GM CONTROLLED FOR CONVENIANCE as Major James Valerian (Accepted)

Ro Wong as Gabriel Faus (Accepted Undead Lord)

Kougaiji+Sesshomaru as Julius Justin Ashton (Accepted)

Kougaiji+Sesshomaru as Amir Sven Malachi (Accepted Demi-God)

top gear tony 666 as Dan, Slate (Accepted)

Jasthn as Jazz and Jessica (Accepted)

IamAlphaGeek as Mhotep (Accepted Undead Lord)

SaladSnack as Ishimaru Kaito (Accepted)

Musicmac as Helios Felis (Accepted)

MQuinny1234 as Christopher Quinn and Ashley (Accepted with Demi-God.)

Tuor as Frankie Degenstein (Accepted)

Iris as Subject 217 (Accepted)


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“. . . as we all know has changed for the worse. We have been told repetitively to look to the past, into history, for our answers. There, it is said that we can learn from past mistakes, past lessons, to help us through our current trials. History repeats itself… or does it? Where do we find our answers now, my brothers and sisters? Where have our gods gone to? What have we done to deserve such a terrible affliction? I know not these things. For as long as we have dwelled on this planet, who could have possibly known that it would come to this? There were no warnings given unto us, no previous lessons learned that could have helped us. What could have prepared us for this? Our Gods have forsaken us due to our sins. Only through repentance and by the humbling of ourselves can we hope to overcome this trial.

The time has come where we must unite as we did in ages past. Cast down the petty bickering, and charge forth against this nightmare, wrapped in the protective armor of our Gods as Paladins of Truth, Justice, and Wisdom! I call to you my brothers and sisters, Gatos, Humans, and elves alike. Unite! Only together can we hope to overcome and defeat the oppression of the De’larin Empire! Unite as we did so years before they invaded us. Unite in arms, and faith and rebel! Go forth, and lay waste to those who oppress us, do unto them as we have been done unto. Fight for your country, fight for the future, fight so that your children may grow up in a world free from there tainted influence, free from the yoke of oppression, free from the horrors of their Undead Lords. Go forth and reclaim this world in the name of our beloved Gods, wipe those bloody bastards from the face of Exalia!”

- Excerpt from the last sermon of the Elven High Priest, Devian Kal’us. Killed a few minutes later during his congregation.



Searching…
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“We all know what has happened this day, but do not let your minds nor your hearts be troubled. This gruesome task was necessary to preserve the light that we bear forth into the darkness. We know that by our strength and conviction to our work, can we only hope to enlighten those who have fallen. They either do not know or deny this, but we were once a great united force. Every planet in this galaxy was united behind a single banner, but the greed and selfishness of a few destroyed the perfect dream. Now we crusade among the stars, gathering our lost brothers and sisters. That they may join with us once again as we continue to become once we were. The Golden Age will come again, but we must work with the utmost diligence.

Remember the principles that we’ve been founded upon; Brotherhood, Unity, and Peace .Let those words brand your hearts and minds. Let them create armor around you. Brotherhood, for that is what the Empire is. A brotherhood is where we all help those in need, where we ask ourselves not what the government can do for me, but what can I do for it. Unity, without uniting, we would be as fragile and as reckless as those responsible for the destruction of the Golden Age. Strength though purpose will give us this unity. Peace, the final principle, the requirement for our ascension. Only through the last two tenants can we hope to achieve true peace. I will not lie to you, my brothers and sisters, I am a solider of the Empire, and I enjoy my job. But I look forward to the day where I can cast aside my weapons, and not have to kill; where I can dwell in peace, knowing with pride that I have put for an effort to creating paradise for the next generation. That is what we work for. We work and go through these trials so that our future can live a better life. That alone, is worth any sacrifice.

Remember. Peace through Power.”

- Speech given by the Lord-Commander, Vaco Malen Blood, to the Imperial forces under his command in the Aftermath of the Purge of Pasarela, the Gato City-State.

_________________
Stufflikehearts - He is a Sith Lord. I love Blood Lord :3
Jeffffey - Blood, you look at the information someone says, look over what really happened, and reply in a way that makes them realize what they were really thinking.
Mythrrinthael - Blood Lord, our local expert in interpretation of The Grim Tales from Down Below!
Fievel - Numerous campaigns and conquests, countless bodies decaying after the abandonment of victorious battlefields. Such is the life of Blood Lord.
Dusk_Imp - Blood Lord is like a celebrity here. Everything he does is pure awesome. ALL HAIL BLOOD LORD
Doctress Who - Why couldn't there be a Blood Lord in every forum? It would make life so much easier.
Snafu's Mercypostle.

~Jace and MIR~

The trip was uncomfortable to say the least. Not with the undead Lord sitting not but a few feet from him. MIR was off, sitting in the large cargo-hold behind the metal wall next to them. Jace, and Faus, were sitting in the passenger hold.


This was a large transport ship, hardly designed for "Royalty" Jace had a mind to wonder why on Earth such a high-status member of the Empire would opt to take a trip, on a regular transport plane no less, then go on a real passenger ship.


But Jace did not voice any of these, he was, after-all, under command by Faus as well. It was just strange, strange and uncomfortable. Jace glancing ever so often at the huge imposing man, it would have been easy to tell how Jace felt.

It wasn't that Jace had met an undead before. Well he hadn't met one, just seen one. All Jace really remembers is a huge skeleton in a suit looking in on him through the glass. This would definitely be a first. Jace was on transportation to Gia Panta, from a mission both he and his partner, MIR, had been deployed. Jace, and somewhat MIR, were under jurisdiction of the 501'st commander Vaco Malen Blood unoffically, but he gave them orders all the same. The transfer to 501'st command had just happened recently, up until this point Jace (and MIR) had been under general command by HQ. Both Jace and MIR had been given to Vaco under bequest by the undead Lord Zackariah Frostheim, as a gift.

Jace wondered what Commander Vaco would think of them. However, he'd have to deal with other problems right now, mainly the daunting huge undead lord across the room directly in front of him.


Oh what Jace would give to switch places with MIR, in the hold. . .

++Zackariah Frostheim/Undead Lord++

Calibrations, numbers, orders, forms. This was the usual life of Dr. Zackariah Frostheim. The skeleton man was busy in his room.



His room being a lead lined, pressure sealed, radiation hazard. Zack, being radioactive, had to take such measures.


However, Zack liked it this way. Being able to walk around freely that is. Zack wore a regular lab coat. Well the lab-coat wasn't really regular. Zack had to have it infused with Void so it wouldn't disintegrate when he wore it. Most things Zack touched disintegrated. Which was shy Zack was also wearing gloves of the same make.


This was Zack's lab. He did a number of experiments here, all of which were extremely deadly to all organic life. Zack could afford to take such measures, considering his state. Zack could withstand the most hazardous of human environments. Except for space. Zack needed matter to continue living, space had no matter what-so-ever. Which was also why air was constantly being pumped into the room, otherwise the room would turn into a vacuum due to Zack's presence.


Today Zack was experiment with a new miniature version of the reactor core. The radiation level of the room was at 687,634 rem. It took 850 to kill a man. Zack was unharmed.


"Blasted thing, I'm trying to make en engine, not kill everyone in the process. . ." Zack said to himself as he worked.



It was just a normal day to the undead. Zack hoped it'd stay that way. Zack would later found out how wrong he was.

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*WHAT I THOUGHT I'D DO WAS PRETEND I WAS ONE OF THOSE DEAF-MUTES*

Mystara Hallow ~ Sorrow Lake, Forest of Memories

The young gato sat by the lake, her legs brought up to her chin, her arms wrapped around them. Quietly she stared out across the sparkling waters, lost in thought.

“I only wanted to see him alive again,” she whispered to herself. “That’s all I wanted.” She looked down beside her at the glowing sword she’d retrieved from the cave. It had spoken words of comfort to her as they escaped, but now the Sword of Asymbolus was silent. “Was it so wrong to want him alive?” she asked it, feeling so lost.

She didn’t expect a reply. She turned back to staring out across the lake. “Just for a moment I wanted it to be him. I really thought it was him…” Anger caught up in her throat. “Why did I have to be so stupid? She buried her face in her arms. "They’re all dead now, all of them. None of them are ever coming back. Especially not Jace.” She fiercely rubbed the tears away from her eyes.

It was just her now, surviving all on her own. As far as she knew, there was no one else left. First her friends and family, her home. And now her brother. It had been that way for precisely a year, now. This had been the day her brother had died. Killed in a fight that wasn’t even theirs. Mystara had watched him die. She had forced herself to abandon his body and save herself. And there wasn’t a day that went by that she didn’t blame herself for it. But even more than that, she blamed them. The Empire. If it weren’t for them, she wouldn’t be here now, alone in the Forest of Memories. She would still be at home in Parsarela, all four of them together; Father, Mother, her…and Jace.

Mystara took her sword, standing up and walking over to the nearest crystal tree by the lake. She sat in front of it cross-legged, staring at the reflective surface, homesick. The memories displayed turned towards what Mystara remembered of home. Her father’s shop at the front, small and cosy and cluttered with shelf upon shelf of different bottles and boxes, all different colours and shapes. A polished wooden counter for serving customers at, a pen and pad of paper always left abandoned on the counter in case there were any orders that needed writing down. Through a door behind the counter, the hall leading to the rest of the house, the first room being her father’s workshop. Something reminiscent of an old-fashioned science lab, with storage for substances too dangerous to be on display. So many happy memories had filled that room. The gato girl watched, as a few of those scenes now unfolded before her. Memories that hadn’t seemed so special back then, and yet now meant so much to her. Her father working on a few new projects, a ten-year old Jace helping him and already giving suggestions for new ideas. She saw herself there too, tugging on her father’s sleeve every few minuets to ask what they were doing.

She watched another memory; Jace having sneaked down to the workshop at night to play with the chemicals without their parents permission, her tiny six year-old self following him. Jace hadn’t been pleased, and the two of them had bickered, causing their father to come down and scold both of them. Mystara smiled faintly at the memory, hugging her knees again. Things had been so simple, back then. Oh sure, the two of them had often heard their parents speaking behind closed doors…raised voices as they discussed the Empire and another wrong they had done against the planet, arguing about how much help they should be giving to the resistance (the Talen)…Mystara hadn’t liked it when her parents were distressed. But at least back then, they could put it all behind them for a few moments while they went about their lives, in peace.

The silver-haired gato sighed. Now every waking hour was a constant reminder of how much she hated the Empire. All those memories of home, that’s all they ever could be: memories. There was no home to go to now. Her brother had been all she had left. But now he was gone too.

She wished she could take it all back. She wished things could go back to the way they were. That’s why she had been fooled into thinking that shape-shifting creature had been Jace. Because she had wished it, so much…

But I was wrong, she thought sadly. Jace is never coming back. He’s dead. I’ve got to let it go.



Lady Ivy Xantara Swift, Demi-Goddess ~ Gia Panta.

The Lady Xantara (or Ivy Swift, as she was more commonly known), sat at a table outside a small café, legs elegantly crossed, a pair of big stylish sunglasses perched on her nose. She appeared to be engrossed in a magazine, chewing a strand of her brown curly hair thoughtfully. A tortoiseshell cat sat on her lap, golden eyes surveying the passers-by.

“Anything to report?” murmured Ivy casually, not looking up from her magazine.

“Nothing to report at present,” the female cat replied to Ivy, so that only she could hear. To anyone observing, it would have just looked like an odd young woman muttering something to her pet. The only ‘speech’ from the feline was a quiet mew. “You know, the scouts are telling us the coast is clear. If you wanted an opportunity to make your way to Indolentia HQ safely, my Lady, now would be a good time.”

“I’m sure it would, Tallis,” Ivy said casually, stifling a fake yawn. “I’ll go in a minute.”

“You always say that!” Tallis retorted. “Don’t you ever have any sense of urgency?”

“No,” replied the Lady Demi-God without hesitation.

“You know, you’re insane. Representative of Gaiana though you may be, sometimes I really can’t understand you,” replied the Tortoiseshell with a flick of the tail.

Underneath her sunglasses, Ivy smiled. “You’re not meant to sweetheart. Now be a dear and send a message to Chance. Tell him to run ahead and give them all a scare.”

“You mean announce your arrival to HQ?” asked Tallis with a catlike smirk. “Certainly. They’re going to shit themselves, you do realise? You’re giving them – what – five minutes notice that you’ll be there?”

“Yep. Should be fun, shouldn’t it?” The Lady Xantara folded away the magazine, stuffing it into her bag. Tallis climbed in too, her furry head peaking out of the top. “Oh by the way. One of your fly scouts just got swatted. Man with a newspaper about ten streets away from here.”

Ivy sighed. “Honestly, don’t people ever consider the poor fly’s feelings when they squish it? Guess I better send out a replacement, then,” she said, as she pulled the hood of her cloak up and started to lightly make her way down the streets. “Hmm, and just…animate the dead one to land in his drink…there. Perfect.” She giggled slightly. “Hope he chokes. Not to death, obviously. Can’t have that now can we? That would be rather unfortunate.”

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Hiryu: Doc's bag is a portal. She's actually from another dimension and when she jumped into it, she ended up at a desk with a browser open on this site. That's how she found it.
We have a Doctor Who thread now. Doctor Who threads are cool.

Dan Slate and Rusty.

A small flame came from his lighter as he held it up to the cigarette as the tip hung loosely in his mouth. The man, Dan Slate was there sitting on one of the benches located throughout the city known as Gia Panta. Leaning back he looked at the sky and blew out smoke he had inhaled from his cigarette. By the side of him sat his trusted companion Rusty a Black and white husky dog. Rusty looked at Dan with a slightly confused expression.

Dan, not one for being dense noticed his canine friends stare. "I know Rust, they are taking to long." Dan said eyes still skywards. "I really think they are taking their own sweet time, not to mention the piss." Dan's voice was calm and clear but he was starting to get aggravated.

Leaning forward and tossing the now burnt out cigarette aside he sighed "Still no sign of the informant." Dan shifted his gaze to Rusty. "Rust." At the sound of his name Rusty's head and ears shot up and he immediately looked at Dan. "Listen I need you to scout the city and see if you can find any sign of the informant. You do remember how they look and smell right?" At the question Rusty nodded his head and barked. "Good, now go and report back to me once you find anything." And with that the dog charged off fully of enthusiasm.

"Let's hope he doesn't get into any trouble, but that may be asking to much."

_________________

After mounths of rigorous trials and conducted research I have finally come to the conclusion that Modern Warfare 2 can go SUCK IT.

Jessica put the empty blood bag on the ground next to her. Putting any other useful items back in the small bag it came from, the bag form the crashed ship.I wasn’t trained in health or medication in anyway before this. How long do you think you have before this bag is used up? It seems to be bleeding faster that before we left the airship to me. The wound did indeed seem to be bleeding more than it was previously.

Jazz simply turned his head to Jessica and Sylvanas not uttering a word, he only continued to scratch his arm.

“And cut that out Jazz!” Jessica pulled out her pistol, and tapped his arm and hand with the handle of the gun, harder than she intended to though.

He took his hand of his arm, and stood up, again, not saying a word to either of the girls. A smile was semi visible across his face.

Cancerous itch my ass. She started laughing, quoting a statement earlier before.

“What can I say? It was the only way I could describe it.” He laughed as well, walking down the stairs he came up from, out of sight from Jessica and Syvanas. He knelt down to the waters edge, took off his arm glove, took off the coat from his left side, and dipped his arm in he water. His arm stopped itching, but the sight of his arm wasn’t ever going to go away. His entire left arm was ruby red and blistering badly.

"Do-do-do, do-do- do-" Jazz started humming to a song as he waited for the boat to arive, or until his arm felt better.

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I GOT 'DEM HUMPS.
Doctress Who:You can be my Brony bitch ;D
Droctress Who:Jas, would you like me to make you a sandwich?
JesusChrist: Well if you insist Jasthn I'll use it with you. Spread them cheeks
Tragedy_and_Comedy: Jas is about as dangerous as a kitten.
Blood Lord:I hit your dog with mah truck. :3
Lenore Celestalis:*jumps on your back* weee~
Come check out my story in the Literature Thread. Update? It is true!
I also doodle quite a lot. Check out my art thread here!

{Transport Above Forest}

A cold silence was all that came from the dark armor of the high-ranked Undead seated within the same chambers as young Jace. The powerful former-man was situated exactly across from Jace and was turned to face the young mortal. In fact, if Jace could see any eyes through the lenses of the man's skull helm, he'd say the lord was staring at him through the entire trip. Faus had both hands rested atop his large sword, Shekoga. The blade had no sheath, save for the odd being unfortunate enough to be skewered by it. He slowly shifted his hand upon the pommel of the sword, the blade swivelling and reflecting a streak of light each time it turned, bouncing a bit of it into Jace's eyes over and over and over. This staring and light reflection had been continuing for over five minutes now, and if it weren't for the Undead having no emotions, one would say that Faus was enjoying the chance to bother and unsettle someone.

The masculine creature sat back straight in his chair, swinging Shekoga up from its former vertical position with the floor. He crossed the blade over his lap and faulds, tilting his head back a bit. For a moment, just between the helm and the neckline of the cuirass, a strand of golden hair was visible. The minute glance was quickly interrupted as Faus returned his cool gaze upon Jace once more.

"Hmmm... Tell me, Jace; do you have any family...?" The tone of his voice almost gave away the fact that Faus was forming a mock smile under his thick helm.

_________________

~~Jace & MIR: Transport~~




Jace sat and took the annoying shine from the undead. It wasn't like he could say anything. It also looked like the undead was enjoying himself. Under normal circumstances Jace would have started fidgeting, but he was even afraid to do that, and the light it kept reflecting, he knew he had been stared at the entire trip, that had been nerve wracking enough.

So Jace stared not at the undead, but at his sword. It was hypnotizing, Jace supposed it had something to do with the void it contained, Jace was also made from the void. Power attracts power. Jace sure wished he could have an elemental sword of some sort, he'd be all sorts of powerful with it. The undead said something then, Jace almost did not hear it.


"Family. . .?" Jace said letting the undead's questions sink in.

A burning city, within it a burning house. A little girl crying near the houses steps.


"I don't have any family. I mean, I had a family at one point. And they were gatos, but I can't remember them for some reason. I'm quite sure they're dead though, what with the purge. But I honestly don't care. I mean, it's not that I should care. . . it's just. . .why should I care for something that is not there? My info read-out describes my history, but the damage done to my cerebellum prevents me from actually remembering them. I guess you could say, I have an undead's disposition when it comes to what happened to my family. . ." Jace said, answering the undead's question, if he saw the smile he didn't show it.


____________________


The two pilots of the ship continued to pilot. They were both being extremely careful not to his any turbulence, they had an undead on-board after-all. It was both a curse and a blessing. They would get extremely good marks for successfully transporting an undead without incident. But if something were to happen it would be their jobs, and in some cases their lives. The ship was currently entering forest air-space.

"Strange. . .the weather com said nothing about a storm out here. . . " One of the pilots said, noticing the large formation of clouds in the distance. "Well we can't risk making Lord Faus angry, bank upwards through the cloud, we'll have to break through to the top." Said the other.



Void storms are mysterious instances of nature mixed with the volatileness of the void. They seemed to happen randomly. But were extremely rare, only happening once or twice every 3 years, and at random locations. They only lasted a few seconds to a minute. But in that course of time the wrecked havoc. They appeared as normal storms. One could only find out they were void storms by either, entering them, or having an undead nearby to identify it as such. There currently existed no device to detect such concentrations of void.

The craft was still a few good clicks away, so no one would know what they were getting themselves into. . .


++Zackariah Frostheim/Undead Lord++

A com-link was opened up. On it was the face of a young man wearing a lab-coat. " Sir Frostheim, the project goes well. We've nearly completed synchronization of the electrical/psi interface. As soon as we're done with that we'll only need the project center-piece to come in for pure-set synchronization."


"He'll be here soon. Him and that fool Faus. . ." Answered Zack as he sat in a reclining chair infused with copious amounts of void (otherwise Zack would burn a hole through)


"The current number of patients stands at well over 6,000. And as requested we paid off all the families that questioned about their dead."

"Heh heh, people disgust me. They ask what were doing with their sons and daughters, but immediately shut-up if we shove a handful of money in their faces."

"And are you sure about not telling the 501'st? If they found out about this they'll inform the hiearchy and the council. . ."

"We'll be fine my boy. Alls fair in the pursuit of science. Besides its not as if were going to use this against the empire, ha ha ha ha. . . ."

"Well if you're fine with it we'll get back to work"
"Who told you you could stop?"
"Oh, y-yes sir" *BEEP*

Zack put his skeletal hand to his temple. If Zack were still human he'd have a headache. The gesture was more pure habit.

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*WHAT I THOUGHT I'D DO WAS PRETEND I WAS ONE OF THOSE DEAF-MUTES*

[}Mhotep, This may require my attention.{]

Mhotep sat upon his throne at the head of a long glass table. “And does the board agree?” he inquired, resting his hand on his steel clad palm. His voice was low and rasping, his vocal chords all but spent, soon he would require an artificial voice box.

From the shadows, at the end of the table, came a soft voice that strangely echoed throughout the chamber. “Yes, lord. Even He agrees.”

The Undead sighed in a way that very few could, with a convincing representation of emotion. “So be it. I will leave for the reactor tomorrow. I will require a transport and escort, preferably and Savant Militant.”

“Of course, lord.” Steps could be heard exiting the hall.

“This bodes ill for the Tarot Council.”

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'Samus. That's the only name you'll hear. Samus. It means the end and the death. Samus. I am Samus. Samus is all around you. Samus is the man beside you. Samus will gnaw upon your bones. Look out! Samus is here.' - Horus Rising by Dan Abnett

I can see clearly now the rain is gone! I can see all obsta-- *runs into a pole*

Ishimaru Kaito - Location: Gia Panta

In the middle of an alleyway within the city of Gia Panta, Kaito is sitting on the ground against a dumpster, breathing heavily with a loaf of bread in his hand. He looks up as he starts to bite off a chunk of bread. The sky is cloudy, but a little bit of sunlight peers through the wall of clouds.

"Good, they lost my trail. Didn't think I'd have run out of money that quickly," Kaito mutters as he consumes his meager lunch. "But I guess I shouldn't have spent all that money he left me on a few big meals. Tsk. Now I have to start stealing food again. At least I'll enjoy what I've got."

He continues to eat, and manages to finish his meal just as a clamor of heavy footsteps approach the alleyway.

With a sigh, Kaito bemoaned, "Damn, they're here already. Well, at least now that I'm not starving, they won't catch up to me."

Kaito stands up and stretches, while the footsteps continue to grow louder. With a spring in his step, Kaito begins to sprint through the alleyways, maneuvering easily through the maze-like layout. Avoiding trash cans and other obstacles, Kaito dashed through the back streets. As he heads towards the exit leading to a main street, Kaito spots small line of police officers blocking his way. He quickly stops and turns around only to see more officers approach from behind.

"Tch, I guess I'm unlucky today. Great. Well, if there's no way around, then go up!" Kaito shouts as he jumps up and catches a ledge, then begins to scale the building.

Pulling himself up quickly, Kaito reaches the roof within seconds without breaking a sweat. He stares below and watches as the officers begin to climb up the side of the building in an attempt to follow Kaito.

Kaito laughs as he runs off and jumps from building to building, "Haha, see you later, suckers! You won't catch me, not in a thousand years."

After running through the rooftops for a few minutes, Kaito climbs back down into the alleys, only to hear footsteps rapidly gaining on him. Panicked, Kaito starts to run again. Quickly navigating the alleyways, he heads toward a different exit. The path was clear, but the footsteps were getting louder slowly.

"Damn, I'm tired already!" Kaito complained, "But I'm almost there, I just have to make it out and lose them in the crowd!"

As he makes his way to the mouth of the alleyway, Kaito runs without hesitation, barreling over garbage cans. As he is just about to escape, Kaito runs into a trash can and stumbles, then trips and loses balance, flying toward a woman wearing a hooded cloak.

In desperation, hoping to avoid a collision with a lady, Kaito shouted, "Watch out!"

Lady Ivy Xantara Swift ~ Gia Panta//Walking.

“Are we still all clear?” Ivy “Evvette” Swift asked, adjusting her sunglasses slightly as she walked on through the city.

“Looks like it. We’re all good. Although…”

“Although?” Ivy asked her enchanted cat.

“There is something of slight interest,” Tallis explained from the Elf girl’s bag. “Maropa, one of our dog scouts, has spotted a dog in her vicinity. Black and White Husky dog, Adult, Male, gives off an aggressive scent and a sense of purpose. Not sure who he belongs to, Maropa can’t get close enough to get a detailed scent without detection. Could be just sniffing around, but he looks like he’s specifically searching for something. Might be nothing, but should we keep tabs on him just in case?”

“Sure. If you think it might draw up something interesting. Just make sure Maropa understands she is to observe from a distance, but not to engage the other dog unless deemed necessary or unavoidable, understood? Dogs can be too inquisitive for their own good sometimes…”

Ivy knew that whilst most humans and machines were unperceptive to her animals (unless she made it obvious/decided to show off, otherwise to most people they appeared to be ‘just animals’), other creatures were far more perceptive of the natural world. In a way, Ivy mused, animals were far cleverer than most humans gave them credit for. They knew when Mother Nature and the Heavens were at work…whether through detecting natural disasters before they happened, sensing when something was about to die…or even detecting the influence of the Divine on another animal such as themselves. Looking into the eyes of one of Ivy’s animal cohorts, under most circumstances a human could never be too sure whether what they were looking at was an ordinary animal or one of Ivy’s summons, but to a more perceptive being like a dog, they would sense the great power and knowledge these creatures possessed…and, if they had any common sense at all, they would back away quietly without a sound. Throughout the animal Kingdom and Mythological beasts of old, a Demi-Goddess of Gaiana would be greatly respected, admired and feared. And with Ivy, this was no exception. Even for the most powerful of beasts, it would be unwise to do anything against a divine being with Gaiana’s power and blessing. Gaiana had given life to them all, and it was Gaiana who ultimately would end them.

Ivy walked on, taking the scenic route to HQ. She was in no rush, after all. Her scouts would keep an eye on her and make sure she wasn’t being watched or followed. Her animals were dotted about the city, strategically placed and yet behaving in a way which avoided suspicion. In a way, they were better than any security cameras ever could be, her ‘natural’ surveillance team providing Ivy with a panoramic, fully fleshed-out view of almost everything. They not only saw, but heard, smelt, tasted, felt, sensed and experienced. It was like being everywhere all at the same time, added together with all the advanced senses of the various organisms under Ivy’s control. What Ivy lacked in military skill and strategy, she certainly made up for in surveillance and recon work. No manmade device on its own could ever match up to the raw power and camouflage of Mother Nature. Nature was all around, and a silent witness to all things in existence. Many wild living beasts could do things that mankind only ever dreamed about. Technology that humanity had spent many years perfecting, to take on a certain purpose? Some animals were naturally born with those skills, and whilst not nearly as faultless as a machine or device, where they succeeded, they excelled. Ivy Xantara knew all of her animals’ attributes, and used them to the best of her advantage. Who needed to spend a fortune on scientific research and funding, when you had all of Nature’s resources and best kept secrets at your fingertips? Technology was only a shallow imitation of the abilities Mother Nature had not offered to humanity – humanity’s way of trying to take what wasn’t naturally theirs. Typical, that Humans were so jealous of nature’s power, that they had to try and recreate that power for themselves. Destroying nature in the process, it seemed.

Ivy smiled grimly to herself, turning down a small side street before following down another. Tallis watching their surroundings from the comfort of her Mistress’s bag. It wouldn’t be long now before they reached Indolentia HQ…

However just then, Tallis broke the silence. “Oh yeah, Human coming your way, Xantara. Young male, about 5’5”, skinny, scruffy black hair. Looks like he’s from a poor background. And currently he’s not too far away, heading up in this direction. Looks like he’s in a spot of trouble, he’s got the police onto him. According to Haz, he was seen stealing a loaf of bread. And, heh,” Tallis half laughed, “What do you know? He’s got quite a pair of legs on him. He’s a fast one, that’s for sure.”

After a pause, Tallis faltered, nose twitching involuntary. “Uhh…Xantara, he’s literally heading straight for you,” she warned, long before Kaito’s warning.

“Oh really?” Ivy asked. The chaotic Demi-Goddess smiled slightly. Ivy continued on calmly, as if unaware of the young man that was about to collide with her. In truth, her scouts had been tracking the boy ever since he had stolen the food.

Ok then, let’s wait until the very last moment, just for fun…wait for it…wait for it…

"Watch out!"

“Now!” Tallis hissed, letting out a warning cat’s yowl as Kaito careered towards them. Ivy then ‘spotted’ the young man, diving quickly and harmlessly out of the way just in time.
Privately, Ivy giggled, as no doubt Kaito missed her and collided with the ground instead. Composing herself and knowing that there was some urgency to the situation, she quickly went over to help him up.

“Are you alright?” the aristocratic lady asked, concerned. The Demi-Goddess guided the young man swiftly to his feet. Tallis poked her head out of the bag, peering around Ivy at the mortal human curiously.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chance ~ Gia Panta//Indolentia HQ Sewer Entrance

Deep underground, a skinny dark grey rat made its way through the sewer system. Scurrying and pausing every so often to check on its location, before resuming its journey. It looked like any common sewer rat. Only the rat itself knew that it wasn’t. Gaiana’s divine power coursed through its veins, making the creature invincible all but in the physical sense of the word. This rat had been given an intelligent mind of its own and a name; Chance. He was one of Ivy’s many city scouts, and, in this case, her messenger boy. The energetic rat could hardly contain his excitement. He did love running by HQ. Seeing the look on their faces as they reacted to him was something Chance never tired of. Especially the Gato members of the Indolentia. They quickly learnt that Chance was one rat they didn’t want to catch. The rat snickered, recalling the last time a Gato had tried to play with him. He certainly wouldn’t be doing that again in hurry…not if he valued his dignity and his life.

As the rat approached the first heavy mechanical door, one which led to the Indolentia base, he made a slight detour, scurrying up the wall towards a small rat-sized hole concealed in the shadows. Upon her first visit to HQ Ivy had placed her own security measures on it, ensuring that only one of her own animals could enter the mouse hole, and nothing else, if any such creatures realised it was there in the first place. Chance dived into it, running along a tiny network of rat-sized passages, scurrying to the next door, and repeating the process, before eventually plopping out onto the floor, just inside the hallway to the base.

The guard which the Elf, Julius Ashton, had addressed turned at the sound, spotting the rat. His face showed his consternation at the discovery.

“The Lady Demi-Goddess Xantara is on her way here,” Chance explained out loud with a rat-like grin. His voice sounded surprisingly human, for a creature with rat’s vocal chords. However it was still very squeaky, and there was a certain ‘rat-ish’ quality to the accent. “She just thought you ought to know. She’s been held up for the moment, but she’s not too far away. She’ll no doubt be arriving soon. If not, then certainly later today. But I wouldn’t count on it. You might want to be ready.” The rat nodded.

Some of the other guards, upon hearing this news, exchanged looks and groans. A few of them looked panicked, and began to busy themselves, carrying the message on through the rest of the base. None of them had been prepared for Ivy, of all people, to visit them today. Out of the three Demi-Gods, she was certainly the most…well, to be honest, words often failed to describe Ivy’s behaviour. How she came to be a leader of the Indolentia, was a question many of its members were still asking themselves. Certainly she was well respected; however her chaotic attitude had a tendency to make those working under her a little…nervous. Perhaps with good reason. Half of the time, it was like the young spirited Demi-god didn’t have a clue what she was doing – or simply did not care. Or at other times, she was simply all too eager. Some of them wondered whether Ivy just made it all up as she went along, or threw a dice…

The guard nearest gave Julius a bit of a grim smile. “Well, I guess that answers your question,” he told the Elf. “Lady Xantara is one of our leaders. And she’ll be arriving soon…apparently.” The guard leant closer to Julius, hoping the little rat Chance wouldn’t hear. “Prepare yourself. It’s about to turn into a Zoo in here.”

“I heard that!” piped up Chance irritably. “Belittle us one more time and I’ll rip your ear off – you know I will.” A couple of the other guards snickered at this. Chance glared at them.

“Oh, if Xantara hadn’t given me strict instructions not to start a fight, I would so make them sorry,” the small rat muttered under its breath in a deadly tone. “Pfft. Silly humans.” Ignoring the guards, Chance then turned to Julius and the two gatos with him. A wicked grin on his furry rat face, his long fine whiskers twitching. “Hello,” the rat said. “The name’s Chance, one of Lady Xantara’s personal agents and courier. Who might you lovely people be?”



Mystara Hallow ~ Sorrow Lake, Forest of Memories

Mystara sighed. She had been quietly watching her memories for a while now. Familiar faces and scenes played out across the crystal surface she was sitting closest to. Her first day at school. Her first scratching post. The time when she’d stolen some of her father’s invisibility potion to play hide and seek, and worried her parents by staying ‘hidden’ until night fall. The time she’d runaway from home, just to see what it was like, and had returned to her family the very next day homesick. The time when Jace first taught her how to use his chemical explosive, Nitro-9. The time when she almost gave Jace a heart attack by using it incorrectly, and Jace, having stopped her just in time, explained to her that had she activated it, it would have exploded in her face. Mystara grinned slightly at that memory. It was one of the very few times she had witnessed her brother really freak out like that.

She watched as the scene changed again, back to memories from home…Her mother teaching her how to play the flute…Mystara watching her mother in one of the music concerts she performed at. The small gato remembered how beautifully her mother had played. Mystara almost thought she could hear it still, as she watched a memory of her mother, her fingers running intricately along the keys of their small piano at home. She hadn’t just played the flute; Mystara’s mother had been known the play all kinds of instruments – the violin and the piano in particular. The young girl could have listened all day to her Mother’s music. And her voice; her voice had been perfect for lullabies. It was that kind of sweet soft voice that could gently take all your troubles away, if only for a little while. She could still remember many of the lullabies her mother used to sing to her when she was small.

Mystara opened her satchel, diving in with one hand and retrieving a small slender silver instrument. Her mother’s flute. It only survived the fire, because Mystara had been practicing with it not long before the Purge. It was the only thing she truly had left of home. The girl ran her hand along its smooth surface, picking it up and placing it to her chin.

How did that lullaby go that mother used to sing? she thought, closing her eyes and trying to recall it. Her fingers placed in position, she started to play a haunting, melancholic tune. The beautiful sound of the flute ringing clear across the lake, out into the forest. She knew it might draw the attention of creatures in the forest, but she didn’t care. She needed something to comfort her, to take her mind off remembering what she had lost. To take her mind off the reason she had come here, if only for a few precious moments.

However towards the end of the song, she had to stop. She put the flute down again, wiping the tears that had somehow rolled down her cheeks without her noticing. She was just so tired. So tired of running away. So tired of fighting all on her own. So tired of trying to be strong, knowing that she had nothing left to live for. Nothing but to keep living for the sake of her brother’s memory. Because she knew that he wouldn’t have wanted her to die.

“I can’t do this on my own anymore, Jace…I just can’t,” she whispered to herself, hugging her knees as a fresh wave of tears streamed down her face. And there on the crystal trees was that memory again. The one which had haunted her since her brother’s death. So many times she had wished it had been her that had been killed by that fatal shot…so many times she had wished she could have saved him.
And yet she couldn’t. And that was what hurt the most. The fact that she couldn’t have done anything to stop it.

Mystara turned away from the memory, looking out across the water. She couldn’t bear to watch it. Not again.

_________________

Hiryu: Doc's bag is a portal. She's actually from another dimension and when she jumped into it, she ended up at a desk with a browser open on this site. That's how she found it.
We have a Doctor Who thread now. Doctor Who threads are cool.

Commander Vaco.

Dropship, skimming the edges of the Crystal Forrest en-route to Pasarela.

The small ship quickly moved across the low hills and in between a few towering crystal trees that managed to grow away from the main forest. It was flying remarkably low, and extremely fast. Its model was difficult to tell due to its black painting and had no clear markings on it. On a closer examination, one could see a small identification number near the front, and 501 on the back.

Officially, the Lord-Commander was at High Command. Unofficially, he was nearly to the ruined city of Parsarela. He wasn't too sure that the Tarots knew he was gone... nor did he really care.

Vaco remained standing in the back of the troop bay, alon except fo a small honor guard. He was looking out of a small window at the passing landscape. Sometimes he saw her... in the trees. He looked down at the golden chain wrapped carefully around his armored fist, ignoring the lieutenant for a minute.

"Sir, are you sure this is a good idea?" she asked him again.

"Yes. I know its close and a without warning thing, but it has to be done." he replied "and I know what you are going to say, and I disagree. The results have never been better, and I believe that it is time for field testing."

"But Commander, with all due respect. The PPC system was never meant to be used as a single unit weapon, but as a high powered artillery weapon. Even by minimizing it, and incorporating it into the new Mark Three Armor... It isn't going to be enough." she said in a small, yet determined voice.

Vaco sighed, and rolled his shoulders back as he thought over his next words. "It will work. We've seen a vast improvement in terms of stability with the new dual reactor, and the new metal alloy. Over heating is still a problem."

"And of the feedback?" she scoffed back at him over the COM.

"It will have to be taken care of in a different manner. The current interface just doesn't work, and I'm hoping they've already have a solution." he replied in a calm tone. He heard her sigh on the other side. He knew that the battle had been won, but not the war. She would try again.

"What am I to tell anyone should they try to find you?" she asked.

"Tell them I'm busy, and cannot be..." began the Commander, but soon drifted off.

_________________
Stufflikehearts - He is a Sith Lord. I love Blood Lord :3
Jeffffey - Blood, you look at the information someone says, look over what really happened, and reply in a way that makes them realize what they were really thinking.
Mythrrinthael - Blood Lord, our local expert in interpretation of The Grim Tales from Down Below!
Fievel - Numerous campaigns and conquests, countless bodies decaying after the abandonment of victorious battlefields. Such is the life of Blood Lord.
Dusk_Imp - Blood Lord is like a celebrity here. Everything he does is pure awesome. ALL HAIL BLOOD LORD
Doctress Who - Why couldn't there be a Blood Lord in every forum? It would make life so much easier.
Snafu's Mercypostle.

Dan Slate- Gia Planta

Not long had past since he had sent Rusty out to scout around the city and he was all ready getting restless. He just couldn't shake the feeling that some really big shit was about the hit the fan, and he didn't like it not one bit. "This is really getting on my nerves." It wasn't like the empire to keep him waiting like this and now someone is going to give him answeres and pay big time. "That's it to hell with this i'm off the the job!" Dan yelled getting up and attrating more attention from the locals passing by than he would of liked. Ok first things first find Rusty then i'll think of something from there." Walking forwards and taking another cigerette from his chest pocket and placing it in his mouth then with a quick flick of his wrist he sprang out a lighter and quickly lit it.

As he strolled along thinking of his next move and of what to do with his day, but the nagging feeling that something is gonna go wrong keep poking at the back of his head. It was as if god wanted to make this day as hard as possible on him and there was no leeway in sight.

Rusty - Gia Planta.

Rusty was as any dog would act in such a big city full of glee and excitement that his master would let him wonder around in such a place with out any supervision. With his toung hanging out and with his tail happily swinging he forgot what he had been asked to do for a short time and just lose himself in such an amazing place. Normally Rusty wasn't so easly distracted when asked to scout out ahead but this was different he was asked to look around a city unlike the usual mobster hideout or gang crack house were the paths were all mostly linear, no this time he had freedom.

There was one thing that botherd Rusty and that was he felt as someone or something was wachting him and every so oftin he would look behind himself only to see that there is nothing there, So he chose to ignore it as best as he can. He was brought out of his thoughts as he heard a cat like hiss and a yell curious Rusty ran in the derection of the noise only to find a femail and a mail the mail was on the floor and looked like he had just fallen over and the femail was standing over him. Rusty sat there with an amused expression watching as the woman helped the man to his feet. What really got his attention was the odd cat that was with her. Rusty stared at it wondering wether he should eat it or play with it or even get close to it.

_________________

After mounths of rigorous trials and conducted research I have finally come to the conclusion that Modern Warfare 2 can go SUCK IT.

{Transport Ship}

The high-ranked Undead just stared at Jace, watching the man closely after he finished speaking. For some few seconds, an uncomfortable silence had settled in despite the irregular subject they had just mentioned. Or rather, Faus recalled that such things were uncomfortable for others at most times, so he allowed it to settle in for the sake of amusement. While he had no true emotions, he was as prone to nastalgia as could be, often bringing up mock emotions based on memories. It gave him more to do with his rather long unlife in this world.

Gabriel lifted his head, finally noticing something. He then voiced his thought aloud, "The ship's turned... It just made a sharp movement." The undead stated while going over the various reasons why they would need to do so.

Faus just shook his head, disregarding the momentary distraction. ".... Doubt these yokels are gonna mention anything until they've landed us in a marsh or something. Don't want to chance wasting my time..." He grinned inwardly at the thought. "I mean, sure, I'd bust them down if they annoyed me. But I'm an Undead... All I have is time, relatively speaking." He slowly stood up, swinging his hefty blade so that it was held backwards, the long edge moving past his back. Faus began walking, moving through the door to the halls and make his way to check the bridge. Of course, a pair of armed guards felt a need to follow, thinking they could keep him safe.

_________________

~~Jace & MIR~~



Jace was visibly relieved when the undead left. He'd finally have some time to himself.

"That guy seems pretty frigid. . ." Said a little voice in the back of Jace's head.

"Oh, you were listening?" Jace asked his partner. MIR had always been a bit of a snoop. Whatever information he could find he usually stuck with. Jace didn't mind it, he found it kind of funny, in a good way.


"Yeah. . . . .at least you had a family. . ."
"Ahh, you're thinking of that. . .I suppose it helped me at one point"
"Yeah but. . ."

"But what?"
"That's a strange storm. . ."
"A strange st-?"

Suddenly all of the individual hairs on Jace stood on end. The feeling hit him like a brick-wall. The source of his power, the source of the undead's power. MIR couldn't feel it of course (All he could pick up was that sonar/nor radar could penetrate it). But Faus and Jace would have known exactly what was happening.


They were entering a void storm.

Jace braced himself as the shaking began.

"FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK" Was all the unfortunate man could think as the void took its toll on the ship.




_________________________________


The ship had entered the void storm. But the two pilots had no idea what they had just gotten into. For a few seconds nothing could be heard or seen. It seemed to be by all accounts a normal storm. By this point, both Faus and Jace would have automatically discovered the actual source of the storm. As Faus made his way down the hall however the ship would have started shaking as if a toddler had gotten hold of the ship.



Various warning signs and indicators lit up the pilots boards.


"What the fuck is this?" Screamed one of the pilots as they both scrambled to control the bucking ship. Then they would have seen the reason void storms are called void storms.


The storm, was constantly emitting lightning. Not regular lightning, but lightening as red as blood going off in every way possible. It was as if this lightning had no idea what positive and negative charges were. The air also carried a bluish tinge to it. The wind, if you could call it that, had no sort of correlation or plan, it was literally going in every direction at once.

*This. This is the captain speaking w-we've encountered some strong turbulence. For your safety please stay seated and buckled*

Electrical devices and navigation systems were screwed up, the storm was at once charging everything the ship had and discharging it.

*SYST8&@ EM W#@$AR@NING FUEL @*UINT#@AKE DMG ENGINE 3*

Came voice over the com at the pilot's station. "Dammit, we can't have the engine explode here! I'll go for it!" One of the pilots screamed as he opened the pilot's hatch. He ran down the hall, even with all the shaking. As soon as he saw commander Faus the pilot screamed out to him, through the freight-train like noise.

"SIR, WE NEED YOU TO SIT DOWN AND BUCKLE YOURSELF IN SIR. THERE'S NO GUARANTEE BUT WE NEED YOU TO BE AS SAFE AS POSSIBLE!"

The pilot screamed out as he dove into the maintenance hatch. A few seconds later and explosion ripped through the eastern wing, tearing it completely in half. The single pilot at the front knew exactly what had just happened. He clenched his teeth as he alone attempted to control the failing plane. The plane was loosing altitude fast.

Suddenly the lights on the key-board blinked out. Now the pilot was truly alone. The sub-lights came on, red lights for situations where light was needed but then again it was useless. The pilot had no time to think of it like that, but he would of. The ship came screaming out of the cloud canopy then, a burning star in the darkness in the forest.



"It's useless. . ." We're the pilots final words as the plane crashed into a row of giant crystals. The pilot was immediately killed on impact, the front compartment crumpling into itself like an accordion. The ship's momentum had still not been lost. It continued crushing crystals in its wake, hitting a particularly large crystal it turned onto its side and rolled 4 times before he finally stopped to rest on an outcropping of. . .more crystals. It sat there, it's damaged wing burning smoke into the sky.

_________________________________

~Jace/Memories or Dreams~





PRE

A burning city lights up the night sky, sounds of gunfire, and flashing lights in the distance. The stars are out tonight. Turning around Jace sees a burning house, and for some reason his stomach and heart aches and feels as if they are in a knot, Jace does not know why or for whom. Staring at the flames, Jace hears a wailing cry to the side. Out of the shadows comes a child, a little gato-girl, holding a damaged and broken looking lute in her hands. Jace opens his mouth in dis-belief, he makes as if to go towards the little gato, that crying child also runs towards Jace. The two collide in a hug. Jace then holds her for what seems like an eternity. After a while Jace becomes aware that the girl has stopped crying. Jace then grabs the child's shoulders, looking into her face.


"There, it'll be al- " Jace's voice gets stuck in his mouth. Not because of any emotion he's feeling. But because of the expression on the girls face, in girls eyes.


HATE


that is what Jace is looking at now, a face twisted in hate, HATE HATE HATE. Jace is unsure whether it is the house's heat he feels now. After giving him this face that would stop a bear in his tracks, he expressions hardens into a cold impassiveness "You aren't my brother" The little girl says coldy jabbing a finger at Jace. "I-I'm your brother?" Jace stammers out confused.

"You aren't my brother, my brother is DEAD." The words reverberate within Jace's soul. As the little girl finished the word dead leaves an echo. Jace opens his mouth to say something, but his hands shoot to his mouth. Something falls out of his mouth. Looking down Jace sees what it is. Maggots. And from afar the "DEAD" slowly get's louder and louder. Terror comes across Jace's face as maggots crawl from in-between his hands and out of his nose. The house and the city have disappeared. The little gato has not. As she sees Jace's predicament a twisted smile crosses her face, a smile that should never be on a child. A smile that then turns into a giggle, and from there a laugh, a high cackling laugh. Jace is brought to his knees. The maggots continue to fall out of Jace's mouth, intermingled with vomit and blood. DEAD DEAD DEAD DEAD. Madness fills Jace's eyes. Shakily Jace gets up, his ears not hearing, his eyes not seeing. He slowly get's up, maggots cascading down his face. And he slowly makes his way towards the gato, hands outstretched. The gato continues to laugh at Jace.


Laughing until his hands wrap themselves around her small delicate throat. Jace beings squeezing, cutting off her young wind-pipe. "I'LL KILL YOU" his thoughts. And Jace does not stop squeezing. Even after he breaks her neck. Even after she's turned blue, even after the stain of piss slowly makes its way down her leg. A few moments later Jace shakily let her go , the body fell in a heap at his feet as he attempted to catch his breath, his labored breathing being the only sound he could hear. Afterwards Jace sits down, the sound slowly dies down, and the maggots disappear. After the strong animalistic force that had taken over Jace's hands ebbed away Jace looked at the body feeling neither sadness or pity. After a few moments of waiting something happens. Pure shock crosses Jace's face as he stares at the body, it changed as it got up, in its place is a young man, he's facing way from Jace, but the back of his head, hangs down off in chunks as if something had blown away the bottom half of his head. This man is so consumed by hate, hate and revenge. Jace can feel it now. This guy is almost the soul incarnate of both of those emotions. A demon in gato flesh. It felt as if this person would go down the fiery path of revenge without a seconds notice. A being like this was destined to burn in the fiery pits of hate."Give me my body. . ." Came the things voice. "W-What?" Jace answered back, confused. "MY BODY. GIVE IT BACK TO ME." The thing lunged out at Jace, grabbing hold of his shoulders it brought its face close to Jace's. Jace went white in shock and fear. It was him. It was Jace.

_________________

*WHAT I THOUGHT I'D DO WAS PRETEND I WAS ONE OF THOSE DEAF-MUTES*

Commander Vaco.

Dropship, skimming the edges of the Crystal Forrest en-route to Pasarela.

"Oh dayum," muttered one of the pilots. "Look at the storm over there..."

"God, I'd hate to have to go through that," replied the other. "Shit, that's a Void Storm. You can tell by the red lightening."

"Let's kick it into gear, see if we can't punch out before it hits us," said the other as he pushed the throttle up. The powerful engines of the ship gave a slight whine of compression before the ship lurched forward and shot out into the distance. The ruins of Pasarela could be seen in the distance.


"My Lord?" asked the Lieutenant over the COM.

"Hmm... Don't worry about it. Besides, there are a few more things in Pasarela that need to be acquired," said Vaco as he snapped out of his day dream. "We need to know more about these Demi-Gods, and there is the Treasury that we left. Those funds could give one hell of a boost to the Indolentia."

"Sir... These 'Demi-Gods' and the Indolentai are just rumors. Do you really think anyone on this planet would dare rebel after the Purge?" questioned the Intel officer.

"I would hope not. That is all Lieutenant." Vaco shut down the COM channel and turned to his guards. The small unit was composed of four members of his Black Hand. They looked up at him as he turned around, but he just shook his head and turned back to the window. He noted the storm, and thought he saw something fall clear in the distance, but the storm was too dark to confirm anything.

"My Lord? Are you..." started Black Three.

"Alright? No. No I'm not." he finished.

"Commander. We've cleared the outskirts of the Crystal Forest. ETA Five Minutes." reported the pilot over the speakers.

"Good. Let's get this over with."


Captain Midna Sylvanas

Harbor.

Sylvanas' world was starting to fade in and out. She gritted her teeth as she reached out and took the kit. "Yes, It would appear that way." she responded. "I suspect its opening more due to movement."

She opened the kit and took out some more gauze pads, wrappings, and a small container of bio-foam. Sylvanas carefully pealed back the gauze, and blood began to gush out from the wound in her side. "Ah, dammit." she muttered. Quickly, she applied the small can at the wound and pulled the trigger. She hissed slightly as the chilling bio-foam made contact. Quickly, she re-wrapped it with new pads.

_________________
Stufflikehearts - He is a Sith Lord. I love Blood Lord :3
Jeffffey - Blood, you look at the information someone says, look over what really happened, and reply in a way that makes them realize what they were really thinking.
Mythrrinthael - Blood Lord, our local expert in interpretation of The Grim Tales from Down Below!
Fievel - Numerous campaigns and conquests, countless bodies decaying after the abandonment of victorious battlefields. Such is the life of Blood Lord.
Dusk_Imp - Blood Lord is like a celebrity here. Everything he does is pure awesome. ALL HAIL BLOOD LORD
Doctress Who - Why couldn't there be a Blood Lord in every forum? It would make life so much easier.
Snafu's Mercypostle.

Julius Justin Ashton--Gia Panta/Indolentia HQ

Julius pushed off the rest of his hood, watching the interaction between the guard and small creature. He nodded in thanks to the man who walked away, noticing the way everyone who were mere minutes ago had nothing to do started busying themselves. He was amused really, having never met an authoritative figure everyone wanted to avoid. Then again, he had spent the majority of his time in a forest of torture. Authority wasn't something he ever expected to run into, other than the De'larin. He looked down at the talking rat and then bent closer to the creature. He held out his hand.

"Would you mind? I would prefer we spoke at eye level if it's not too much of a bother for you." His expression was sincere and warm, despite the void look. "I am Julius Justin Ashton, these two are my companions, Damien and Bijaksana." Both gatos bowed respectfully returning to curiously watch the rest of the base.

_________________
Perhaps you are asking the wrong questions?

{Crash and Burn}

Faus had begun to spread his legs out as the ship began shaking more wildly with the turbulent nature of the close storm. He looked down to his sword, glad he'd already been holding it down from his palm. When one of the pilots came through the hall to suggest he find a seat, the Undead merely shook his head and shoved his sword downward and back, angling it as it sliced easily into the hard floor under his greaves. "... I suggest you run..." He stated coldly to the guards at his back as they stumbled to keep their footing.

They failed with great excellence when the ship began to crash. The jarring motion and turns sending them flinging about the hallway in wild and violent patterns that had broken most their bones in the first second. Faus, meanwhile, was gripping tightly to the hilt of his sword, staying embedded upon the floor that quickly became the new ceiling. When he felt gravity begin turning once more, he swung and ripped his sword free, sending his entire mass straight toward a wall. His sword sprang to life with an orange glow with nothing but a thought required from Faus. One swing of the flaming aura surrounding the blade and the heated weapon cleaved neatly through the approaching wall. The force of his flying body split the carved opening apart completely as he busted out immediately and began flying down into the forest below.

He landed into a crouch, the ground crumbling and quaking around his powerful form. Dirt and rocks shot up from the shocking force of his landing and the heavy beating the rolling transport ship gave the earth all around. Luckily it was plowing down a clear path through the trees and forest life, giving Faus a clear range to watch and follow after the crashed ship. He once again swung his sword backwards, holding it down from his palm as he calmly walked forward, the fiery aura vanishing from the enchanted Shekoga.

~Moments Later~

A steel-bound hand tore down and gripped upon the nonfunctioning door of the passenger hold where he had left Jace minutes ago. It screamed in metallic agony as Faus tore the slender slab loose from the dented door frame, tossing it aside with the same hand he tore it out with. The Undead lord's deep voice echoed out from his horned, skull helm as he looked in upon Jace's visage. "If you can move, here is the door..." He looked straight down at Jace, remembering that the seats were now lined in midair and going up, leaving nowhere for the man to walk. Faus swung Shekoga downward and stabbed quickly at the vertical floor, doing it again to leave deep holes in a pattern above the sideways seats. He then turned and stepped away to leave Jace to help himself out. The seats covered enough distance to get him close to the door if he climbed, and the fresh holes would finish the distance to the door to get him out.

Faus began looking around at the smoldering heap all around, bodies of various staff members lining the wreckage. Guess I'm walking the rest of the way to the city... He then turned his head as a static noise was filtered into the air. He turned, looking down to see a crushed man holding onhto a hand radio he had been using to try and send a short message.

"Say again, over!" Cried a crackling voice from the speaker at the top of the communication device.

Faus reached out and broke off the man's fingers with several loud snaps, freeing the device to hold it to his helm. "This is Lord Faus, The Krimlo King, member of the Tarot..."

Without giving the Undead a moment to continue, the response was immediate. "Commander Faus, sir!"

Gabriel paused, inwardly musing at the fact he heard a clear snap, knowing the comm officer had just saluted out of instinct despite the lack of visuals. "My transport ship was downed by a Void storm over the Forest of Memories. I will require a new transport for myself and possibly a handful of other survivors. Transport number is," the Undead looked about, not recalling the code number for the wrecked ship, trying to locate a nearby radio manual. He saw one pressed under the corpse of the nearby comm officer who had apparently grabbed the book to try the same thing. Faus stabbed Shekoga into place in the wall under his feet, snapping the corpse in half with the freed hand so as to free the book. The book fell from the floor that was now just another wall, the corpse dangling loose in the air just inches from Faus.

He quickly turned the pages and searched within, finding the number. "Transport ship Alpha-Delta, Charlie-Niner, Zero, Zero, Two-Three." He never enjoyed using the callsigns for each letter, but knew it was helpful to military protocol. Though the exact reason why escaped him at the time.

"Thank you, Sir! A new transport will arrive shortly, weather conditions allowing, Sir!"

Faus cut out the transmission and tossed the radio to bounce across the wall beneath him and fall down through the door to the passenger seats he had last seen Jace.

_________________

~~Jace & MIR~~


Jace awoke with a cold shudder in response to the undead's actions. It had been that dream again. Lately his memories had been coming back to harm him.


Taking out his knife Jace cut the unresponsive seat-belt. Expecting the fall Jace quickly shifted his body to land on his feet, he felt the forrest air penetrate the ship and run over his hair, his hair? Jace felt the top of his head. His helmet was gone. Jace spotted the brocken thing on the ceiling/floor of the ship, it seemed the small device had saved Jace's life (or at least caused him to avoid damage). He holstered his knife and climbed out of the dead ship. Shielding his eyes from the glare Jace overheard what Faus was trying to do.


"We'll need to find a clear LZ. We could use this spot, but there's no guarantee that this dead bird won't explode on us." Jace said, eying the rapidly pooling clear liquid leaking out and away from the ship.


The air was suddenly split by a loud screaming noise. Metal on metal, it sounded like someone was rending their way through. And it was. For no loner did both of them hear it did the sparks appear. In the lower section of the ship a giant wave of sparks cascaded down the side. Pretty soon the blade had pierced the ship's hull. The thing retreated after it had made a cut. Two blades screwed each section and then proceeded to pull it apart. MIR then simply drove through the wrest of the way.


The giant robot seemed unscathed, he was designed to take such beatings in stride. Regular physical damage did hardly anything to the robot designed with tank war-fare in mind.


"Well, that was a nice trip. . ." MIR said to himself as he got to work. As he spoke he was scanning the area with his Sonar and Radar, common protocol for entering a new environment. Jace's gato-ears twitched in response to the low-frequency pings being emitted by MIR. While humans and the like couldn't hear the robot, Jace certainly could, they were especially annoying when Jace had to go to sleep in the field with the big guy.

And Jace may have taken off his helmet, but he still had a HUD of sorts due to his electronic nature. One couldn't tell by looking (surgery and some stitches were all that was needed to mask the electric computer he had in his skull) but Jace was also going over the same information MIR was going over.


~~Jace/Forrest of Memories~~

Spotting something of interest Jace began walking of the area.
"I'm going to look for an LZ, I'll notify MIR when I find it, he'll stay with you sir. You both also might want to follow soon. That ship is going to explode any second now" Jace said as he entered the forest.

Jace then broke into a jog towards the lake. Jace was half-curious about the thing. He'd never been in the forest, but as he walked he soon found out it really did live up to its name. Past memories bubbled up, displayed on the crystals as he passed them. Jace chose to ignore most of them. Memories were simply memores to Jace, now was not the time to get nostalgic. But now was the time to see something new.


Exiting the line of trees Jace's vision of the lake was suddenly obscured.


A person was sitting on the embankment directly in front of him, facing the lake as he was. Her back was to Jace

"Meeting someone in a place like this?" Jace thought. He stayed silent for a few seconds thinking of something to say.


"H-Hello?" Jace called out to the figure from a distance. This was all pretty new to him and he'd heard plenty of stories about the forest, no need to take any chances now.


~~MIR~~

MIR quietly waited for Faus's next move. It wasn't that MIR was trying to make it seem like he really was a robot (a good prank of his) it was just Faus seemed like more of a robot then MIR did. Everything the man did was all calculated. People like that were simply not that great to talk to.


So MIR would do what he was initially programed to do, follow orders.

_________________

*WHAT I THOUGHT I'D DO WAS PRETEND I WAS ONE OF THOSE DEAF-MUTES*

Chance ~ Gia Panta // Indolentia HQ

The rat looked positively grateful. “Would I mind?” Chance repeated. “I’d be much obliged. I can’t tell you what a pain it is having to look up at everyone all the time. It’s nice to see some people around here have manners.” The furry creature hopped on to Julius’s open hand. “Thank you very much. Nice to meet you, Julius, Damien and Bijaksana.” As he spoke, his whiskers quivered, his nose twitching. “Now, I understand you’d probably like to speak to the Lady Xantara in person, however Xantara is currently busy, and I’m very much capable to speak on her behalf. In fact anything you say to me, Xantara wil be directly informed about. So,” he finished cheerfully, “What can we do for you?”



Mystara Hallow ~ Sorrow Lake, Forest of Memories

A sudden strange noise caught the gato girl’s attention. She could not see anything above the towering crystals, but she heard something falling very fast, and the impact which followed. She felt the whole ground shake beneath her, and the cacophony of the crash which broke the silence of the forest. Mystara whirled around, her grey tabby cat’s ears trying to work out which direction the noise had come from.

What was that? It sounded like it had come from somewhere behind her, somewhere deep within the forest. But after a moment, she shrugged it off. It was nothing to do with her. And she wasn’t going to go back into the forest. Not now she knew what lurked there…

The girl turned head back to the lake, her fur damp and her cheeks still stained with tears. She didn’t even know how she was going to get out of here. The forest frightened her, and watching her memories had become too painful for her. She wasn’t sure she could stand to see another image of Jace, not when she knew he was…

"H-Hello?"

…dead.

Mystara froze, not turning around. She knew that voice. All those years she had heard it, she could never forget it.
It was the voice of her brother.

She slowly turned her head back to look. She didn’t even register the stealth armor . She just stared at Jace. Stared at him like he was a ghost.

“No,” she said, her voice barely above a whisper. “No, this isn’t fair.” Her voice darkened. “I’m not falling for that again!”
In an instant she snatched up the Sword of Asymbolus, standing up. Her bag abandoned on the ground. She was convinced that it was another one of those shadow creatures she was seeing, like the one that had tricked her before. It had to be. She would have thrown one of her explosives at the figure then and there, but there wasn’t enough distance between them, and behind her there was just the lake.

Mystara gripped the sword, no longer scared, but angry. She felt like the forest was tormenting her on purpose. She looked at the figure before her with absolute hate.

“Stop it,” she told him, her voice shaking with anger. “You’re not my brother.”
She couldn’t stand it any longer. That face. That face that looked just like Jace, and yet in her mind she knew it couldn’t be. Without thinking, she shot forwards, unable to stop herself. Wanting to be rid of the thing that was tormenting her, pretending to be Jace. It couldn’t be him, it could never be him.

“You’re not my brother!” she shouted, rage taking hold of her as she swung the glowing sword in Jace’s direction. She swung it again and again, with every hate-filled word. “My…Brother….Is…DEAD.” She swung it again with as much force as she could, hot angry tears welling up in her eyes.

_________________

Hiryu: Doc's bag is a portal. She's actually from another dimension and when she jumped into it, she ended up at a desk with a browser open on this site. That's how she found it.
We have a Doctor Who thread now. Doctor Who threads are cool.

~~Jace/Forrest of Memories~~




Jace's face screwed up as the girl turned around. The girl from his dreams, only older. A funny feeling entered Jace then, as if meeting someone one had not seen in a long time.


Jace was confused to be sure, he had a vague feeling he knew this girl but he had no idea who or what she was. And here she was saying the EXACT same thing Jace's dream had.



Jace was more angry and bewildered then anything else. Jace flicked his hands, out came the claws most adult Gato's had, combined with the nature of a Parnex these were very deadly (not that he'd by killing the girl)


Judging by the way she swung the sword Jace knew she was a novice in terms of close-quarters combat. Wildly swinging it about his eyes quickly surmised a clear move for him.


Jace through himself at Mystara as she ran at him head on. He caught the arm holding the sword as she swung down at him. As he did so his hand shot up to her throat, applying enough pressure to make her know that his clawed hands could penetrate her delicate windpipe with a squeeze. Pinning down the arm with the sword with his hand


Down the two fell onto the Earth, Jace on Mystara. Jace stared into her eyes, his brow furrowed in annoyance.



"Calm Down will you!" He said down to her. Jace wasn't trying to be mean, but he had dealt with enough difficult people to warrant acting official before being nice.

_________________

*WHAT I THOUGHT I'D DO WAS PRETEND I WAS ONE OF THOSE DEAF-MUTES*

Ishimaru Kaito - Location: Gia Panta, Main Street

Kaito tumbled to the floor, as the lady jumped out of harm's way as he hoped, and rolled a few feet ahead before coming to a stop, lying on the floor in exhaustion.

“Are you alright?” the lady asks with concern as she helps Kaito to his feet.

Kaito groans as he gets up, "Itai... That hurt, but I'm fine... More importantly, are you alright, mademoiselle? I hope-"

Kaito cuts his sentence short as the police officers turned the corner and ran up the alley, approaching the thief and the lady with a thunder of footsteps. As Kaito turns to face the officers, he peers into the hood and examines the lady's face. A pale but radiant face, with a pair of elven ears hiding behind curly brown hair, looks at him as she lightly pulls him to his feet.

"An elf? Always wanted to meet one up close, I guess I have now. If we didn't meet in such circumstances, I wonder if you would let me take you out to dinner," Kaito remarks, "if I actually still had money anyway. Do you mind waiting for a second? Let me deal with these guys."

Kaito walks forward slowly as ten officers begin to surround him. Putting down his backpack and folding up the tattered sleeves of his school uniform, Kaito proclaims with excitement, "Ikuzo!"

The first brave soul approaches Kaito slowly with caution. The man appears to be fairly fit, but still small in comparison to the others. The officer quickly steps in towards Kaito and swings his baton. Kaito lazily dodges and grabs the officer's extended arm before turning his body, pulling downward on the arm at the same time. The officer floats over Kaito's shoulder and is thrown into the ground in one fluid motion. The man gasps in pain when he lands, then turns silent and motionless.

"Man... They sent out the weak guys. This isn't so fun beating up on weaklings. I'll end this quickly so they can avoid the embarassment." Kaito sighs.

Without hesitation, Kaito swiftly approached each officer and threw them to the ground effortlessly, until none were left. The scene was like something out of a movie, a single man surrounded by multiple enemies on the floor, wiped out within a matter of seconds. Kaito unrolled his sleeves and picked up his backpack before turning around to face the lady.

Kaito smiled at her and asked promptly as if nothing happened, "So, now that that's taken care of, thank you for helping me. I must repay you somehow. Might I ask your name so ask to properly thank you?"

Julius Justin Ashton~~Gia Panta//Indolentia HQ

"I would imagine it is difficult to communicate for both parties," he chided lightly, "I would think that there would be more respect for someone of your stature with the Lady, despite your height." Julius stood to his full height, a slight smile upon his lips.

"You are very welcome." He nodded softly, watching his gatos out the corner of his eyes. They were being mature about the rat in his hand but Damien seemed to be eying a couple of the female soldiers walking by. Bijaksana was buried in the book Julius had bought her in the market. He returned to his stoic expression back towards the creature in his hand. The rat was adorable in every sense of the word. Respectful, faintly sarcastic and had a well round sense of humor. Julius had to admit that he was slightly curious as to how the animal was speaking. He felt that it was organic but there was a sense of magic over its entire being.

"It's an honor to make your acquaintance. Since there's an absolute guarantee that Lady Xantara will hear me out...I would like to give the Indolentia my fighting capabilities. If you'll have me."

_________________
Perhaps you are asking the wrong questions?

~+ Gia Panta: GRIM city command+~



*CITY AREA CODE SECTOR: 3468 DISTRICT UNITS PRIORITY*
"We have reports of some of the city officers engaging in a pursuit of a known terrorist. Com-sats from the dropships in the area have identified the target. All units with-in the district are to proceed to the area."


"City Gia Panta Police force, this is Grim HQ over, we're ordering you to stand down, I repeat stand down. Pursuits of terrorists are to be directly inlaid to the Grim corpse, you guys should know better then this. This is a city governed by martial law for a reason. Now stand down immediately."

"Roger that sir, we honestly had no idea our officers we're curr-"

"Well that just shows you how much we really need you guys"

"Y-Yes sir. . ."


As the com was finished the Grim's within the area immediately moved in to the spot of the officers last report. Gia Panta may have been an old city, but that didn't change the fact that it was still governed by martial law.



the city-police force, if you could call it that. Was a sham, a disappointment, non-existent. It was the Grim corpse that handled much of the city security stuff.



Over the radio chatter a few Grims spoke with each other on the matter

"So what's the deal guys?"
"It seems the police found a terrorist and forgot to tell us about it, someone's ass is getting it later. . ."
"Yeah it's that guy, you see him? Yeah, he looks like he's with someone else, must be another terrorist. . .
"Ha ha, you bet."
"Wait, we have a police force?"
"If you can believe it, yea we do"
"Terrorist hunting. . .ha ha ha. . .like a sport right?"
"Quit your yaps, we've got us a dog to catch"
"This is yellow dog 5 over, we are currently performing thermal sweeps and will let you guys know what we find"
"Good thing these alley's are empty, otherwise it'd be a little bit more of a pain to find'em"
"We don't know who were dealing with and what, but whatever he is he's good enough to lay out some the officers "You act like that's a big deal"
Just get the fuck down there"
"These alley's sure are a pain in the ass to navigate, to bad we can't take this babey into one of them. Looks like it'll be you air-boy's battle, at least until you can sweep them out of their little rat-holes."



The Air-ships were the first to arrive. They quickly put a spotlight down on the two as they stood in the alley.

"This is the Gia Panta Grim Division 35 DO NOT MOVE OR WE WILL SHOOT" The copter said to the two on the ground. As they did a group of 3 lasers made their way to them both. In the background a swatch more of incoming ships could be heard.


The helicopter quickly made snapshots of each of the two's faces. The one known as Kaito was quickly identified, but the other was a bit of a hardcase. Her picture would end up making the entire hierarchy rounds. It would be pretty hard to see who and what she was. But give it a few weeks, the Empire could find out anything if it had the time. One thing was for certain, she was an elf, and therefore was immediately put down on the Empire's Terrorist wanted list. There were little to no elf's who weren't involved with the Indolentia, that was just the way it went. So Her profile was then made.

_________________

*WHAT I THOUGHT I'D DO WAS PRETEND I WAS ONE OF THOSE DEAF-MUTES*

501st Command Center.

The Lieutenant, the very one that the Lord Commander had finished talking to, looked up at the screen as she touched the COM set close to her ear. She was listening on the Grim Corps airwaves, when the interesting little development occurred. Right now it was displayed on one of the many screens that filled the nearly empty Command Center. Only herself and three tech officers where present at the moment. There was just no need for a full center at the moment.

"Do we have any units in the area?" she asked one of the tech officers next to her.

"Not really. There is a Black Ops team to the west, and..." he paused for a minute as he listened to a report. "Sylvanas' squad has been picked up and reinforced by another. They are on their way back with a few wounded, I could reroute them if you want."

"Ships?"

"Two ships. One attack ship, and a new Gunship."

"How bad are the wounded?"

"Not too bad."

"Well then... not yet. Don't direct them over there but put them on stand by. Have them fly in a two klick flight pattern around the area."

"Yes, ma'am... Echo 122-9, divert your course to Section Alpha-Charlie Three. Mark to stand by."

501st Recovery Team.

A armored man with the red lines of a Sargent, reached up and gripped the over head handle bar as the ship suddenly lurched to the left.

"Is something wrong?" he asked to the gunner.

"Nah. Command just wants use to fly by another "terrorist" problem."

_________________
Stufflikehearts - He is a Sith Lord. I love Blood Lord :3
Jeffffey - Blood, you look at the information someone says, look over what really happened, and reply in a way that makes them realize what they were really thinking.
Mythrrinthael - Blood Lord, our local expert in interpretation of The Grim Tales from Down Below!
Fievel - Numerous campaigns and conquests, countless bodies decaying after the abandonment of victorious battlefields. Such is the life of Blood Lord.
Dusk_Imp - Blood Lord is like a celebrity here. Everything he does is pure awesome. ALL HAIL BLOOD LORD
Doctress Who - Why couldn't there be a Blood Lord in every forum? It would make life so much easier.
Snafu's Mercypostle.

{Forest of Memories, Big Bad Wolf Prowls}

Faus had gestured MIR to come along, beginning to walk and head out of the ship through the same way he had gotten back in to begin with; A large hole was in the side of the ship, and the looks of the edges hinted that the entire shape had been cut smoothly open by something sharp. And the mild sight of small bubbles and smooth waves of the edges showed that extreme heat had been added into the mixture to hasten the process.

The Undead hopped out and looked back, checking if MIR was functionally capable of the same actions. After seeing he could move around properly, Faus began walking a little ways ahead of the machine.

Then he saw Jace and his run-in with a local with a sword. Time to see if the boy can care for himself... Gabriel walked close enough to see and hear anything the two might bring up during their scuffle. The word 'brother' was mentioned quite a bit by the girl. And then the similarities became all too obvious.

... 'Forest of Memories,' indeed... Faus thought to himself, Shekoga in his right hand. Watching their faces, you could see that they have a genetic link... And the way she went wild with that sword, it... The Undead Lord paused a moment as his attention was stolen rather viciously by the elegant blade in the young feline girl's hands. A calm sensation was exuded into the air, giving the soothing feel of water. But something deeper and more enraged tugged at Gabriel's senses. He'd dealt with gifted items and weapons before.

But this sort of power was a rarity that didn't occur very often.

Fays began walking forward toward the two, eyes carefully observing the situation.

_________________