Desperation --- Roleplay of Pairs

[formerdeathcorps]

Kanth scowled.  Magic aura or not, a hut-dweller wasn't about to catch him, especially one who wore such clunky plates of metal.
"Come on, Moon, let's lose them."  Pounding his feet harder against the earth, Kanth could only smirk as the echoes of their footsteps slowly trailed into nothingness.  Before his attitude could manifest in words however, another crimson flash lit the sky.

A glowing scarlet wolf, as tall as the beech saplings around it, stood only several meters from himself.  The air around him reeked of carrion, but just like the bone snatches he had sealed before, its mere sight was enough to send daggers of fear into his heart.
"Moon, is this..."  Yellow eyes met the boy's brown, but the expression of shock remained the same.  Breaking his stare, the boy then faced his target, furrowed his brow, and raised a fist.  A boulder-sized clod rose silently from the earth, yielding not even the slightest rumble.
"Moon, let's take him by surprise!  You strike his other side!"

As Moon leapt towards the larger wolf, a brown orb broke only inches from his paw, emitting a cloud of dark smoke that obscured both wolves.  Before Kanth could even cry out, the enveloping smoke had enclosed the boy, choking his open mouth.  Kanth's hacking coughs, however, could not expel the acrid vapor, as his eyelids drooped, only to close.


"Wake up."
Despite his eyelids, warm light was flooding into Kanth's pupils.
"Sis?  That you?  I...I..."
"He's come to?  Thank the Savior!"
Kanth forced his eyes open, only for the stinging sunlight to force it half-shut.  Above him stood an two strangers, both dressed in multiple layers with shawls covering their faces.  Pressing his hands against the older woman's outstretched hand, he pulled himself upright, only for him to double over from the pounding pain of his head.
"Are you all right?"
"Moon...is he...where is..."  A low but familiar whine met the boy as the wolf planted his wet his nose against his foot.
"Is he yours?  We found him next to you, howling."
"Yes."  The two women glanced at each other.  "Mama, you don't think he's..."  The older woman shook her head.  "Seems a little too old, but if that wolf is his...he could be another prophet of the Savior.  In any case, the Anisuasor must be notified at once!"

[Dokurider]

"It is time for a break, my brothers and sisters." said the Anisuasor. They stopped on the trail somewhere in the middle of Araguay Woods. The smell of the scorched earth and forest linger even after the cleansing rain. "Feel free to get out of those carts and stretch your legs, however we need some volunteers." The Anisuasor steps out of his cart to address the congregation.

"You see, we left in such a hurry yesterday, we could not secure any food for the chocobos, or ourselves, for that matter. So we need some of our members to scavenge some food. We must give priority to feeding the chocobos as we must meet up with Him before it is too late. Now, if you are going to help look for food, please find yourself a partner or group." The congregations arranged themselves as he spoke.

"These woods are dangerous, home to goblins and bombs and other nasty monsters. If you run into any monster, run here and our bodyguards will try to take care of them. While you are looking, stay close to your partner, and try to stay within speaking distance of the other groups while you forage. When you find all you can carry or when it's been an hour, return here to deposit what you have found and we will divide amongst ourselves. "

"Please do not get lost out here, our time is running short and we may have to leave you behind. You are all very brave for going on this journey and we don't want to lose anyone here because we need each other. So try to take care of yourselves and watch out for each other, okay? That should be everything, any questions?" The congregation remained in attentive silence. "Then good luck, my brothers and sisters. May the Blade protect." And with that, the membership went off in all directions to forage.



The two women that found Kanth continued excitedly. "Come! You must come see The Anisuasor at once. The rest of our congregation is out forging. We had to leave Dorter so quickly, we couldn't prepare food for our journey. Once everyone comes back, you can eat as an honored guest." They began to move towards the trail where the carts lay.

[formerdeathcorps]

Despite his pounding headache, Kanth quickly outpaced his two escorts.  With each step, the morning light poured into his eyes, yielding only a sense of unease.  The saplings that stood so proudly the night before were now just ashen stumps.  The reeds alongside the lake were also charred.  Further inland, rainwater had filled craters large enough to entrap a person.  However, the smell of ash still lingered in the air.
"Moon, do you think...what we saw last night did all this?"
The trailing wolf whined; its head still dejectedly looking away at the trail of burnt grass and moss.
"Yeah...I don't think so either, but...I still think there's a connection."  Kanth paused, only to hear silence.  He continued, "that cloud that knocked us out...do you think..."

"Hey...Mister, you coming with us?  The Anisuasor's this way!"
Kanth turned to see only the girl, many meters behind him, pointing towards a small hill.  Near its top lay a collection of tents.  Despite the charred world around it, green grass blanketed the entire hill.
"I go with animals and the winds.  What's your Anisuasor to all the life of this world?"
"Hmph...and we thought you were a prophet!  You're just some savage who needs to have proper respect for our Lord Prophet!"
"Your 'Lord' is a liar and you a fool for following him.  No human can see the future."  Rubbing his head to dull the incessant pain, Kanth turned and jogged away from the girl.

[Ryqoshay]

   As Mama enters the kitchen to clean the tableware, a sizable yawn escapes Anita's mouth.

   "Advisory: Sleep." Charon says telepathically.

   "Nnnn..." the girl replies, her head nodding slightly. She remembers hearing somewhere that eating turkey makes people sleepy... or was that all poultry, or just overeating in general? She cannot remember. Was that even turkey she just ate? Was it really that bird they saw earlier? Maybe it was the phoenix they ate. That would be a shame, to eat such a pretty bird. But, it was definitely delicious. The meal could have used some sides, though. Maybe some vegetables, like carrots, or broccoli, or bananas. No, wait, bananas are not vegetables, but they are the same shape as the world. She remembers somebody telling her that at some point. There was also something about earthquakes and sheep, and ducks and churches, but... Gravy. That's what the meal needed. Meat is supposed to be smothered in gravy and...

   "Reminder: Insufficient."

   Her thoughts are interrupted by her guardian. It is probably right. She usually did not care for the particulars of time keeping, but she knows she had been up all night. The events leading to her finding Mama had not allowed for more than a short nap and she had been quite active ever since. Now, after a good meal and sitting for so long, it was all starting to take its toll. She yawns again.

   "Hey darling, we'll be playing night hide and seek tonight." Mama say, returning. "But be careful, there'll be danger ahead."

   "Yay!" She cheers, perking up a bit. "I hide, you seek!" For a moment, she plans on using her invisibility, but then she remembers her conclusion that Mama could see her either way.

   "Let's head out now." He continues. "We'll reach the perfect spot by nighttime." He smiles his usual smile before holding out a hand.

   Anita happily accepts and the unusual pair exits the house and begins to walk down a mountain path.

   "That's odd." Mama says suddenly, after they have gone a little ways. "Something's wrong." He unsheathes his blade and moves forward with apparent caution.

   The girl cocks her head to the side and blinks. Nothing seems amiss to her. She is with Mama, so how could anything be wrong?

   "Anita, stay behind me." He warns, extending his arms.

   She obeys his command, but cannot help glancing about, seeking the dangers he thinks he is detecting.

[Dokurider]

Clayton woke for the second time today, finding himself on the table in his basement. He sat and looked around in disorientation, unsure of why he was down here. "Afternoon", Mother greeted him, sitting just in front of him. "Mother? What are you doing down here? I told you this place was poisonous." said Clayton. "Oh have you now? I seemed to have forgotten." Clayton picked himself off the table to grab her some anti-gas rags. He didn't think he would ever need them, but he didn't want to forget how to make them. As he moved towards the hidden compartment he had them hidden in, his brain came back online.

At first he was somewhat intimidated at having to confront her after just waking up, but then he remember why he was so angry in the first place. The events that took place not just moments ago replayed in his mind again. He stopped moving and sat down on his table and looked at Mother. He searched his mind for a proper response, but he just finally settled on:

"Why? Why would you do that?" "Its my job." "So, what? Is this going to be a theme with you? I revive them as I kill them?" "Not at all. This is a first to tell you the truth. My only reason for bringing this man back was because of what I saw in him. Trust me, this will not happen again. It is never my intention to bring harm to others, or set them off. I apologize for doing such to you." "And what are going to do with him, now?" "I am, as you could say, brainwashing him." "I bet you expect me to- Excuse me?" "I hope to take the assassin out of him." "That is...Is that something a pacifist should be doing? That seems just as abhorrent as any act of violence." "Manipulation of minds? I think it works fine. If not, I am not a pacifist either way" "Fine then."

Clayton got up from the bench and moved towards the secret compartment containing the anti-gas rags. It was just a sliding panel in the wall, nothing special. He pulled one out and walked over to Mother. Just as he was about to hand it over, he stopped, holding it in place. "Listen to me and listen good." Clayton said ominously. "There will be nothing that gets in my way of defeating the Black Platypus. Nothing. I have one chance at defeating them and it's my only chance at freedom, and that is if they never figure out I'm an illusionist. If they ever figure out that I'm an illusionist, I'm finished." Clayton tried to maintain a matter of fact tone to his voice and a neutral face. He hated showing his emotions to anyone, but his face was betraying him and had begun involuntarily flushing with blood. "I will not forgive anyone that jeopardizes my chance at winning. No more surprises. Do not ever pull a stunt like this ever again. Understood?"

"Good to know." "Good to know?" thought Clayton. He had just bared his heart out to her and- "I have no further intentions of doing such, again." She sounded sincere enough. "Good." He handed over the rag. Clayton's mind changed gears."You reviving him may not have been all bad. If you can actually brainwash him, I can actually get some valuable information out of him." "Sounds good to me. Although if I can not, and I will tell you, you may, dispose of him." "Permanently?" "Yes, permanently."  "Then let's get out of here."Clayton walked up the stairs and out of the basement with Mother following directly behind.

Clayton looked at his enemy, just sleeping on his couch. It was easier to handle the situation if he just thought of it as a capture/interrogation. Clayton moved to whisper in Mother's ear, "So did you finish brainwashing him yet?" "I just told him that the Black Platypus thinks him dead, and traitor. Since he sent his team away, and disappeared when we did." "Then go see if it took." "Not yet, I'm going to wait until hes partly awake" "Well, I'm not going to burn daylight waiting for him to wake. Make damn sure he's 100% under control." "Can do." Clayton walked off towards his bedroom.

There, he went to the mirror and began to apply make up to himself. Some false hair, some wrinkles, some slight changes to the shape of his face and an application of illusion to tie it all together and he had the face of an old man. A change of clothes, a cane and he looked the part. He grabbed a satchel and sprinkled it with a strange powder. He grabbed an empty backpack and slipped some kunai under his clothes for protection. As he did all of this, his body was still aching. It had slowed him down to the pace of an old man, so acting the part of an ailing old man won't be too hard at least. Having everything he needed, he walked out of his room and into the living room.

"Stay here. No one should know you are here, so keep quiet and your heads down." "Where are you off to, child?" "I'm going to pick up some supplies." "At Dorter?" "Yes. I'll be back as soon as possible. Later." He looked out the window to see if anyone was out there. Satisfied, he crept out the door, his body blending into the bush he was going to be hiding by shortly.

[formerdeathcorps]

The headache only seemed to worsen, pulsating pain throughout his body.  Finally, with his head cradled in his arms, Kanth leaned into the nearest oak, panting for breath.
"So dizzy...Moon, you don't think that gas is still in us, do you?  I'm still tasting it."
The wolf, however, remained silent; his face now upright, with his attention boring into the nearest cluster of old-growth trees.
"Eh, Moon, is something's..."

"You've got bird guts all over you!  You know how HE is about being clean."
"I don't think we'll need to worry again.  We'll be saved soon."
"You actually believe that?  I wouldn't mind going to heaven, but..."
"It's heresy if you don't."  A short, pudgy man with piercing eyes emerged from the grove.  His left hand firmly gripped a bloodied knife; the other held a greasy knapsack tied to a long branch.

"All right, Moon.  I can smell it.  They've got food in that bag.  I'll take the closer one."  Staring into the narrow clump of earth separating them from the scouts, Kanth smiled as the earth underneath the surface layer slowly shifted towards the grove, carving out a pitfall for the pilgrim.
As the first victim fell with a surprised wail, Kanth whistled for his companion.  And yet, Moon did not budge, yielding only a whine.  "What do you mean, Moon?  You know we can't leave his friend!"  The wolf whined, now louder than before.
The second scout, a lean man with a scowling face, locked his gray eyes against Kanth's brown.  Before Kanth could even raise a fist, he pointed his crossbow to the boy's heart.
"So you're the silly kid who thought you could dig holes, huh?  Well, if you try to dig your way out, I'll shoot you dead.  If vermin like you even knew what's good for you, you'd know not to bait us, for we're protected by the Sav..."  The man crumpled into the charred dirt; against his nape lay a boulder sized clod of hardened soil, flecked with blood.

Kanth wordlessly retrieved the stick and unwound the knapsack.  Placing his right hand into the slimy mess, Kanth withdrew a turkey wing and waved it above Moon's face.  As the wolf jumped for the morsel, Kanth swung his hand away, leaving the wolf to taste only the air.
"Serves you right, Moon.  Because of you, he could of killed us if he talked less, you little pup!"  At those words, Moon leapt yet again at the meat, only to taste his own accumulating saliva.  "There's no point in acting like my sister before people like this!  You saw how crazy he was!  You know she's not going to ever do what we all know is right!"  At those words, Kanth's trembling hands released the wing, which was quickly devoured.  As Moon gobbled up sections of the wing, Kanth chuckled, reached into the slimy mess of a bag, and popped another piece into his mouth.
"Yeah, you're right.  There's no sense arguing over food when we have it all to ourselves, right?"

[Taichii]

PRRRRT~~PLOK PLOK~
the sound of a fart destroys the silence... Suddenly a two yellow chocobos appeared from behind one of the trees... One wore a red saddle and one had an unusual mark below its right eye...
WAARKK~!
The chocobo's eyes widened and screamed.. it ran back behind the tree from where it emerged from...
Taichii sheathed his blade and approached the chocobos... A brief vision played on his mind as he remembers that the three of them used to play always when they were little...
"Hora Hora~! Mikoto~~ Lulu~~" Taichii shouts before he whistled...

One of the chocobo peeked at the side of the tree... Taichii then looked at Anita..
"Darling Anita.. these are mama's friends..." Taichii said as the two chocobos ran towards Taichii and rubbed their soft feathery foreheads against him...

"Okay guys.. guys .. enough hahaha" Taichii said as he patted both the chocobos...

He sat down beside anita and pointed at the chocobo who had a mark below its right eye...
"Anita.. meet Mikoto.... He's a chocobo that never knows when to give up..." Then he pointed towards the chocobo who wore a red saddle... "And that is Lulu.. A very sweet and caring chocobo..."

Taichii yawned a little... and remained sitting on the grass for a while...

"Darling anita~ mama is tired... do you want to rest while on our way to the perfect area for hide and seek?"
Taichii said as he smiles at Anita... He then whistled to the chocobos... The chocobos sat at the grassy area of the mountainpath and lowered their backs...
Taichii rode on Mikoto's back and looked at Anita...
"Go ahead dear.. Lulu is kind.. she won't hurt you" Taichii said as he rubbed Mikotos feathers...

[Dokurider]

ooc: So I don't know who's turn it is, but I'm getting impatient.

Clayton was squatting within hugging distance of his bushes, scanning his neighborhood for watchful eyes and patrols. The atmosphere was dead with silence. It was always difficult to camouflage himself out in the outskirts. The wide open spaces meant he had to compensate for the far away details in the background. People get suspicious when they suddenly see trees and mountains in the distance disappearing. The best approach was to stay as low to the ground as possible, minimizing the amount of background that had to be processed. It wasn't difficult for him anymore, just tedious and slow. It demanded his concentration. He could not let his mind wander, as badly as he needed to think about what happened this morning.

Slowly, yet surely, he made his way downtown. The patrols he observed on the way there were on edge. He could have just assumed a patrol disguise. In fact, he could have conjured up illusionary partners to accompany him, so he wasn't just some lone guard wandering. However, he didn't like the prospect of other guards recognizing him as a stranger, or worse, a friend. Impersonating people he did not know was way too risky.

When he finally made downtown, he immediately inserted himself into the nearest alley. Now that he had plenty of cover to hide behind and had less background to render, he can move faster or relax. By pressing himself into the wall, all he had to do was produce part of a wall and he was hidden. However, he had to choose between thinking and moving faster. He opted to think.

"'Good to know.' The way Mother said it just pisses me off.' Clayton thought to himself as he slowly made his way across the city. "Like I was just being a nuisance. Who does she think she is? She calls me son and child when she can't be much older than I am. Does she think I'm an idiot or something? She doesn't even trust me with the most basic of tasks, like I was a child, or stupid. She doesn't even trust me to do what I do naturally. I'm an illusionist and I've been honing my art for years; I've been surviving on my own for years; I've been trained to fight and kill since I could walk; and all she has to say about that is 'Are you sure?', 'I guess that'll do.', 'I'll just have to defer to you for now.'"

"Every single thing I offer to do for her, she cuts down. Why is she so ungrateful about everything? Maybe we just can't get along then? She obviously doesn't think much of my skills or intelligence. She'd clearly be better on her own." The scars left by past words started to hurt again. "I'm not worthless. I'm not pathetic. I'm not weak. I'm not. Everyone's wrong about me. I can do this. I'll show her. I'll show everyone what I can really do. I'll take down the entire Black Platypus by myself. I don't need anyone else. I AM the best. I'll backstab and manipulate and cheat my way right to the top. Like today." Clayton stopped in from of the Dorter Morgue, eyes smiling with evil intent. "Today I manipulate and cheat. Today, heh, I get revenge on those backstabbing dogs."

[Ryqoshay]

   Chocobos?! That's what Mama was worried about? Anita stifles a laugh. She loves the big cuddly birds.

   One gets frightened and retreats, but Mama calls it back with strange words and a whistle.

   "Darling Anita, these are Mama's friends." He explains as the cute, feathered beasts nuzzle him. "Okay guys... guys... enough." He laughs and pushes them off before sitting down beside her. "Anita, meet Mikoto. He's a chocobo that never knows when to give up."

   The girl giggles and pets the bird's head.

   "And that one is Lulu, a very sweet and caring chocobo."

   Anita continues her affectionate attention on the two birds while Mama yawns.

   "Darling Anita," he asks after a moment, "Mama is tired. Do you want to rest while on our way to the perfect place to play hide and seek?"

   She is about to respond verbally, but her own yawn sneaks out instead, perhaps answering better anyway.

   Mama has already mounted and is motioning to the other bird. "Go ahead, dear. Lulu is kind. She won't hurt you."

   Glancing quickly about for possible witnesses, Anita teleports to the back of Lulu instead of using what precious little physical energy she has left to climb on. She and her duplicate yawn in unison before the illusion fades.

   Lulu is warm. Quite warm, in fact. Warm, and comfortable. Sleep will definitely come soon.

   Anita's eyelids sag and for a moment she considers summoning her wings to wrap around herself, per her normal sleeping tradition. Then she remembers that where they are going may be dangerous. Additionally, she is not very well hidden, here on the back of a chocobo, instead of up in a tree or in a cave or any other number of hiding places she has used in the past. There is no telling who may see them in this upcoming journey, so she would prefer not to call too much attention to herself.

   There is, of course, one witness in particular that has seen her as she truly is. As far as Anita is aware, Not-the-Mama managed to escape the bad ninja guys and is alive and well somewhere. Now, as her mind teeters on the brink of the abyss, her thoughts turn momentarily to the strange bounty hunter man that wanted to hurt Mama. He never did answer her question, and she has since made a mental note to ask him again should she ever see him again. He seemed like one who is used to secrets and deception, so perhaps he has kept her secret. That would be the best outcome. If he did tell others, however, it could jeopardize everything. The next time she sees him, she will have to...

   The girl falls forward onto the chocobo, unconscious before her cheek touches the pillowy fluff of feathers at the base of its neck.

   All the while, Charon silently observes, awaiting the proper time to reveal its sentient nature to its charge's newly found 'Mama.'

[Taichii]

As Taichii saw Anita fell asleep.. he patted Mikoto and proceeded to lean and hug his neck...

"Mikoto... Please stop by the huge tree in the middle of bethla and dolbodar tonight..."

The cool breeze of wind and Taichii's fatigue seems to be taking its toll.. Taichii closed his eyes and began to think of what they would do later...

"Dad.. I'll see you again.. I'll save you from them.."

"But what about Anita? She'll get hurt..."

"Hmm.. I think i know what she's capable of... Despite her looks, she is a strong girl.."

"But its only the two of us against a whole army"

"I guess we have to sneak in... and let no one see us"

"But where's dad? I don't know where he is..."

"From what dad told me when i was a kid... Limberry has an underground dungeon behind the castle.. Maybe he's in there!"
"Alright! We'll hug the walls and knock off the guards that will guard the door from behind the castle! Crimson and Finix.. im counting on you later "


Just as he was finished talking with himself... Taichii heard an evil laugh... then it faded... Taichii fell asleep...
The Chocobos head east as they were told..

[DarkShade]

As they all head back, John wondered what happened with Michael. "So Michael, what was wrong?" Michael look at both of them, looked around and then leaned forward a whispered to them, the girl that was was with the guy. I know her." "What!?!" John yelled. "Shhh. Stay quiet and let me finish. I tried to save her right before I got to you."

Mirthean then turned around to them. "I just recently arrived in this district so I am not sure who this person the army is chasing exactly. Care to give me an idea? And who was that girl also? Things seemed to have turned more confusing."

Michael looked at him with the most serious face he ever had and began to answer Mirthean. "Well all I know is the little girl I saved her from this ninja and we ran. Then I fell unconcious, that's it."

John then look at Mirthean and then at Michael and said "Well, let's go and find them." "I know a way to exit the city at night time since their patrols are reduced." They got there stuff and headed out, Michal leading both John and Mirthean.

[Dokurider]

Some time had passed since the Anisuasor sent his people out to look for food. His congregation at least managed to find enough food for a meal and a half. Some of them even managed to kill a few animals. More importantly, they managed to find enough food for the chocobos. As they began to collect and sort the food, two of the orders' members, mother and daughter, approached the Anisuasor.

"You will not believe what just happened to us on the way here!" the mother exclaimed. "This, savage just came up to us in the forest and started blaspheming about the Blade and Scythe!" "He was so rude," her daughter continued, "we helped him find his wolf and even offered to show him to the campsite, and he just walked away!" "After insulting us and our Savior, of course." the mother finished. "It is unfortunate that people hold such closed minded views of the world." said the Anisuasor. "He will regret those words now that our Savior is among us. He can only help those that Answer his call. Such awful timing for skepticism." he shook his head in disapproval. "When Judgment comes, he will look favorably on your kindness in telling him the Good News. Do not give up hope! Now, you said that he had a wolf with him?"

Just as the Anisuasor began to inquire about the wolf, a runner urgently interrupted. "Anisuasor, we think some of our members have been attacked." "What?" "Some of our brothers heard screaming." The Anisuasor took a few moments to decide what to do. "Guardian Johan, gather some men and see what's going on down there." Johan nodded and began to summon some of the more capable members to make a party to investigate. The Anisuasor turned to address his congregation. "My brothers and sisters, cease your gathering immediately and come into the camp. It seems something is lurking out in the woods."

The Guardian and his party began to head towards the source of the screams, led by the runner. They made no effort to conceal their presence as they moved along. They marched forth, armed with crossbows, woodcutter's axes, makeshift flails, knives and hardened fists ready.

[formerdeathcorps]

As sweat beaded against Kanth's brow from the midday sun, Kanth heard a faint but growing roar.  "We're almost there, Moon!  Let's hurry!"
Dropping his empty satchel, Kanth broke into a run, leaping across the burned and cratered meadow.  Compared to the forest, the scathing was near total; there seemed to exist no clump of undamaged grass.  Despite Moon's frequent stops to smell the burned earth, the wolf never lagged behind his disinterested master.

As they ran, the roaring only grew louder until the booming noise was all they heard.  The ground underneath moistened with each step until it was nothing more than mud oozing water.  Ahead, the riverbank was lined with cattails.  Placing his hands into the water, Kanth pulled and plucked the underwater root of the nearest reedy plant.  Chewing the fibrous tuber, Kanth then waded his way into the river until the water came to his chest, all while motioning for the wolf to follow.
Moon, however, continued to sniff around the riverbank.  Careful to avoid the entrapping mud, Moon quickly came before the very center of the waterfall itself.  The wolf let out a low whine, as his eyes were transfixed, seemingly by the running water.

The frolicking boy did not quite notice his companion's explorations, but as Moon continued to stare unflinchingly at the same spot, Kanth's curiosity could no longer be contained.  The boy swam to the base of the falls only to notice that at the very section Kanth stared, a whorl of turbulence was wedged into the waterfall, clearly marking out a faint circle.
"Moon...what do you think's behind there?"  The wolf finally turned towards his companion, only to greet the boy with silence.  "All right then, let's find out!"  Placing a fist to his chest, Kanth watched as a smooth boulder the size of the hole rose from under the water.  The boulder flew straight into the turbulent vortex.  Water bent around the stone, leaving a column of air amongst the waterfall.
Then, just as quickly, a rushing stream of water ejected the stone with a trembling roar, spitting out a temporary jet of water only inches from where Kanth stood.  The airborne stone crashed into pieces against the shore.
"Ugh...wow...Moon, did you see?  There's...something...down there.  Eh?  You're saying you smell people in there?"  Kanth shook his head; what his wolf said was absurd, and yet, his nose had never failed them before.  "All right then Moon...if you say so, let's get them out!"

"Looks like I can't stuff rocks in there.  Hmm...that just means I need to block it with something bigger...a bigger rock?  No, that wouldn't fit..."  As Kanth mused, Moon growled.  The dangerously familiar smell from last night wafted from above the waterfall as two chocobos passed into the wolf's peripheral vision.
"Moon, something up there?  I don't see...anything.  I thought I saw something, but...it was gone the moment I looked up...up...we have to go up.   Arghh!!!"  Throwing his fist into the air, a pebble rose from the river bottom before landing futilely with a splash, many meters from his target.  Pounding his fist into his other palm, the pebble disintegrated into pieces of shrapnel.
"Stupid water, why can't I crush you like rocks?"

[Ryqoshay]

   Something was wrong...

   Grownups always think they are so clever in their efforts to assure children that everything is alright. She knew nothing of military strategy and tactics, or even how to fight for that matter. But, she had known her friends long enough that she knew they were hiding something.

   Normally, she enjoyed these fights immensely. The rush of the wind as his chocobo raced across the battlefield, the clash of weapons, the flash of magicks, the hearty battle cries of the victors, even the horrid screams of the victims were all part of the experience. And it was glorious.

   Of course, above all else, this was when she was truly of use to him. It was because she was with him that he was able to cast his devastating spells. He praised her daily and the soldiers in his command doted on her all the time. They all proclaimed her the keystone of their triumphs.
   
   Everything was right in her world... until now.

   Arrows rained down upon them in a lethal storm and spells of all varieties painted the world in fatal colors. Vines spouted up from the ground to ensnare her friends as if Mother Nature herself had turned on them. She knew, of course, that the arrows were fired from archers, the spells were cast by wizards and the vines were from... those... uhm, gee-oh-manny-guys...

   They were probably outnumbered. But they had been outnumbered before. Why was everyone acting the way they were?

   He shouted to one of his scouts something about the passage supposedly being clear.

   The young man opened his mouth to respond, but before a sound could come out, he was suddenly split cleanly in two as a lancer came down and landed between his halves. The spear wielder looked ready to jump again, but instead met a grim end as dark energies ate her from within.

   He cast again, killing an approaching monkey man. And again, killing another foe she could not see. And again. And again. They came and died in uncountable numbers. This is how it always was. So why was he assuring her it was alright in that particular tone?

   It happened quickly.

   She knew not why, but one moment she was riding behind him on his mount, the next she was tumbling painfully across the ground. She winced as she brought herself to her feet. An unnervingly close flash brought her attention to her side. It had been the reflection off the polished blade of a sword bearing down upon her. Vainly, she held her arms up in defense, but the blade tumbled past her instead.

   One of the knights she knew had run through the opponent with his own sword. The chivalrous man nodded to her before turning his attentions back to the battle at hand.

   Panicking, she quickly scanned the area for the fallen chocobo and rider.

   There he was.

   She ran, crying, to his side. His eyes met hers and there was no question in her mind that he was in incredible pain, but did not want her to know. He told her he was alright, and punctuated the statement with a violent spell that mercilessly claimed the lives of several foes in the immediate area.

   His breath was ragged as he handed her his weapon, ensuring her it would protect her. She continued to protest as his eyes slowly closed. He did not respond again.

   Why doesn't he respond?! He promised he would always be there for her! He loved her like all parents love their children! He promised he would always protect her and care for her!

   Always...

   "Mama!" Anita cries, jolting awake.

[Taichii]

"Mama!"
Taichii was startled and he quickly woke up as he heard anita's scream... he halted the chocobos and disembarked from mikoto... The chocobos now sat and started to feed on grass...
Taichii ran quickly towards Lulu and hugged anita...
"what's the matter dear, bad dream?" Taichii asked as he wiped tears away from anita...
"Don't worry.. I won't let anyone hurt you anita... Mama will always be your knight and shining armor" Taichii said as he smiled and chuckled a bit..
Taichii got a wooden cup and water from Lulu's sack...  "Here .. drink some water anita" Taichii said as he brushed Anita's hair...
He then turned around and looked up... "It's getting dark.. it seems we may be delayed a bit.."
Taichii started to whistle as he walked towards mikoto... As he rode the eye marked chocobo, he tilted his head into anita's direction..
"It seems we won't be able to play hide and seek tonight dear anita... Even with Mikoto and Lulu to double our pace, it seems we could reach that place tomorrow night... In the mean time.. We're going to eat dinner once we get around Bethla Garisson... My dad told me a secret path along the trees beside the right wall"

As Taichii looked forward.. he continues to whistle... The Chocobos stood up and started to move again as the sun starts to wane into the darkness..

OOC : Here's what Taichii's whistling...

spoiler: The Wind Sings A Journey

[Dokurider]

The Guardian and his posse arrived where the screams had originated from. Their march had slowed to cautious sweep. The foliage hiding death and the smell of blood in the air put them all on their toes. As they moved forward, they can hear the sounds of a struggling man. "Hello? Anyone out there?" Johan called out reluctantly. "It's me, help me! I'm buried! Over here!" he started yelling. The posse relaxed as they followed the sound of his voice.



"We were coming back after we bagged a turkey when I fell into a pit all of a sudden. Next thing you know, I can't move." Everyone was back at the camp, eating the only meal of the day and the man was telling his story to worried audience. "The ground, it just, surrounded me and just packed me in. I couldn't move my arms or nothin'. I couldn't even breathe. I didn't know what was going on. Jim was sayin' somethin' to someone. I think he had him in his sights. I couldn't tell because I couldn't move my head to get a good look. And before I knew it, Jim dropped dead."

"I thought, was hoping, that he just got knocked out cold. But even I could tell something nasty happened to him. I finally managed to crane my head back some and got a small look at him. I only got to see his back, but he had black wavy hair and looked like he was wearin' geomancer clothes or something. But what I really saw was that wolf he had with him. I was afraid that beastie was going to come and gnaw on my head. I really was afraid something was gonna come and kill me until everyone showed up."

"Excuse me?" said the mother from earlier. "Did you say he had black hair? And had a wolf with him? That sounds like that savage that harassed us by the lake, doesn't it, honey?" "Yes it certain does. He even even wearing this ratty linen cloth." her daughter confirmed. "Only a savage would kill a man over food." "We can't let this go." "We gotta strike back!" "Nobody attacks the Blade and Scythe and gets away from it." "Yeah!"

Just the mere action of the Anisuasor standing up suddenly washed the crowd over in silence. "First, Jim was a good man. It is an unbelievable tragic that he died before he got to see our Savior. To see our Savior, that is the purpose of our pilgrimage, our mission, our destiny. Unfortunately, that means we cannot deliver justice for Jim's death."

"Not now." he quickly added. "But once we reach the savior, he will take great anger in the death of one of his children. In fact, he will take great vengeance in the suffering of his chosen ones. His Great Scythe will cut down the those sinners that have grown so tall with arrogance and so fat on our blood and sweat. His Great Wolf will rip out the throats of those that prey on sheep. And his Flames will consume those that burn us at the stake. It will be a great day of reckoning, my brothers and sisters. And he will start with that savage of a geomancer."

"And let me tell you about those geomancers. They are wild, disgusting wretches. They are the scum of the earth. They are traitors of mankind. Loving nature over their brothers. They would sooner slaughter a village then hurt one of their precious trees. Not a cent of morality among them. Loving nature, LOVING animals. Let's not kid ourselves on what the purpose of that wolf is for. They are just as bad as Glabados and those back stabbing poisoning cockroaches. Well, they'll dirty the world no more. Today is their reckoning. Their days of sin and hedonism are numbered. They will scream in eternity as the flames of the Great Phoenix burns them forever. In fact, he has already smited at least a dozen of those cockroaches back in Dorter. The end is nearing for them, my brothers and sisters, and when it does, our new lives will begin!"

"So, my brothers and sisters. As heinous as the murder of one of our own members is, we simply cannot stop now. We are simply needed for a much higher purpose with a much higher stake at hand. But rest assured, he will get what is coming to him. Nothing escapes the Scythe as it cuts down the wicked. We must move on. After we are finished eating, we will hold a service for Jim's sacrifice. Then, we continue on to find our Savior. Eat well, my brother and sisters, and may the Blade protect."

[Ryqoshay]

   Anita's heart is racing as she glances frantically about, looking for...

   There he is.

   Mama is awakened by her outcry and turns towards her with a concerned expression. He signals the chocobos to stop as she touches a trembling hand to her cheek. It is damp. Had she been crying in her sleep?

   It had been that dream again. Like water forcing its way through a damaged dam, other similar memories begin to flood her mind. But Mama is right there!

   In fact, he runs to her and embraces her warmly. He smells like blood and sweat, probably from when he made all those bad ninja mans go away. It is a good smell, a comforting scent.

   "What's the matter dear, bad dream?" He asks, wiping some of the tears away.

   She tries to respond, but only a wordless whine and a sniffle come out.

   "Don't worry, I won't let anyone hurt you, Anita." He continues his consoling. "Mama will always be your knight in shining armor." She could hear the smile in his voice before he laughed lightly.

   Like magical mental mortar, his kindness quickly quashes the threatening torrent. Suddenly, everything is fine again.

   After releasing the hug, Mama fetches something from a sack hanging off Lulu. "Here," he says, offering a filled cup to her, "drink some water, Anita." He seems to like saying her name a lot, but that is fine, she likes it.

   "Thank you." The girl replies politely as he begins to brush her hair. She cannot remember the last time someone, other than herself of course, brushed her hair. What a glorious sensation!

   "It's getting dark." He says after a little while. "It seems we may be delayed a bit." He explains, before heading back towards his own mount. Along the way, he begins to whistle a tune she has never heard before. During a reasonable break in the melody, he turns to her and says, "It seems we won't be able to play hide and seek tonight, dear Anita. Even with Mikoto and Lulu to double our pace, it seems we could reach that place tomorrow night. In the meantime, we're going to eat dinner once we get around Bethla Garisson. My dad told me a secret path along the trees beside the right wall."

   Bethla Garisson? Has she been there before? It sounds vaguely familiar for some reason...

   Anita wonders about their destination for a moment as Mama resumes his melody. She yawns. However much sleep she just got was apparently not enough. The big birds seem to know where they are going, so it should not matter if she resumes her nap. Laying back down, she offers a small prayer to St. Ajora that it is dreamless.

[Dokurider]

The Dorter Mortuary. It was a fairly nondescript building. If you walked past it, you would have never known what it contained. Unlike how the rest of the city is teeming with the city patrols, the morgue only has a disinterested guard stationed out in front. The morgue is usually more guarded than this to prevent the criminal element from tampering with evidence, but last night's events has all the guards working overtime keeping the city on lockdown until the madness and panic settles. Keeping the peace takes priority over guarding the dead. 

Clayton continued to observe the building from inside an alleyway. He had set an illusion at the mouth and directly behind himself to ensure all anyone would see looking down this alley was emptiness. He noted that a patrol would come by for a check up and occasionally to rotate him with one of their members. After the patrol left again, Clayton decided to make his move. He was already familiar with the morgue's layout. He had been assigned many times to sneak in and tamper with bodies. Lacking it's usual security, sneaking in has never been easier.

After the patrol left, Clayon decided to make his move. He went back into the alley, around the back of the building and to the street. At all times, his back never left the wall. Keeping a low visible profile is important. The less area you present, the less of yourself that has to be covered up. Clayton could be right out in the middle of the street and still be perfectly unseeable, but it was an unnecessary risk.

After he rounded the building down the street, he ended up on a building to the side of the morgue. Approaching the morgue from the side, he was already behind the guard. Clayton looked in the window to see if anyone was inside. Only dead men were inside. With that, Clayton placed an illusion in front of the door to make it look closed. Combined with silencing the movement of the door, he entered the mortuary undetected.

Once inside, the morgue makes no attempt to disguise it's true nature. Immediately, Clayton was greeting with rows of tables, each with a corpse on it. The air was thick with the must and taste of the generations of dead bodies that have came and gone through. As Clayton walked through the aisles of corpses, he started to become apprehensive. Not because of the bodies themselves. He has produced and handled enough bodies and gore to not be unnerved by the dead anymore even before he became an assassin. No, he was worried that he would encounter one of former victims. He hated being reminded that after the kill, there is still a dead body. Today was not his day, as Clayton's eyes met one of his former marks.

He was a well off merchant, and his wife had grown bored of him and wanted her part of the will now. It was easy to make it look like an accident. As he opened the door to his basement to investigate a sound he hear, Clayton was right behind him. He had a rug that he was making invisible. With a quick tug, the merchant went tumbling down the stairs.

It was getting harder and harder these days to fake an accidental death. So many people "fall down stairs" these days, the police have actually developed theories on how people actually fall down them. They can tell if someone actually fell down them and if they were pushed, mostly by the distance they end up landing. It's not entirely foolproof, but it's enough to shake things up. So Clayton and everyone else had to start getting creative. This method was indistinguishable from an accident.

Clayton went down the stairs to see if his target was dead. When he got to the bottom of the stairs, he could see that the merchant was barely alive. He had really taken an nasty fall; he had broken his neck, yet still clung to life. All he could do was watch as Clayton knelt down in front of him and grabbed his head. With a few expert twists of his head, Clayton had snapped the spinal cord completely.

ooc: to be continued

[Dokurider]

His eyes were closed, but he still had the same look of agony and terror had when Clayton broke his neck. Clayton looked away, he was done thinking about it. He can't regret what he has done not now and not ever, because he's going to be doing it over and over again. In fact, he probably just got started. "Enough of that." he mentally scolded himself. "You didn't break in here to cry crocodile bitch tears over killing people. You have no moral ground to mourn on. You murdered them for cold hard cash which you plan on using to save yourself; no amount of pity will change that." With that, his regret was banished and he turned his attention to why he broke in.

He swept his eyes over the rows of corpses, but wasn't seeing any of the Black Platypus. Was it possible they could have actually survived an encounter with Taichii? If he himself survived a fight with that boy, maybe they could have? As began to realize coming here was a mistake, he finally spotted one. In the far back, lay a single ninja.

Clayton snuck over and immediately began to look over the body. His attention was fixed to the hole in his chest. Peering inside, he noticed his heart was missing. What did the coroner take out his heart for? He looked around the worktable the ninja was located by and saw his deformed heart on the bench. Clayton took a closer look at the heart. The arteries that still dangled from the heart looked like they were ripped and snapped, not the clean cut of a scalpel at all. Looking back at the hole in the chest, he realize that the man had his heart ripped out.

This wasn't the first time he's seen hearts removed from their owners. Back in the clan, he and his class observed some of his clan experts removing a heart from an enemy. But he was dead when they did that. This guy didn't seem to have died in any other way. Could that boy have literally ripped his heart out, still beating? "That, should that even be possible?" he thought. The thought of someone actually doing pulling that off astounded him. "Perhaps it was some kind of magic? Because there is no way he could have actually pulled it out with just his bare hands. The heart would just be a big mess if that happened."

As he was rationalizing what he was looking at, a thought occurred to him. "Where's the rest of the squad? Could it have only been only this one that Taichii killed?" As he looked around for his comrades, he noticed the thieves that accompanied the execution squad last night. He couldn't help but be pleased at this turn of karma. As he started to pass his attention to finding who else from last night's ambush was here, Clayton's eyes bolted towards the thief's neck. On his neck was a pair of perfectly spaced punctures. It was all coming together now. The boy's freakish speed, strength and ability. Taichii was a vampire.

Clayton body went as pale as the blood drained thief laying in front of him. Things were starting to come together. "That boy was a vampire and I made an enemy out of him. I really screwed up this time. Why did I have to be so stupid that day?" he bemoaned himself. But not everything made sense. "But even for a vampire, what that boy was doing was beyond what I've ever heard of a vampire doing. Vampires don't fight outright like that and they certainly don't summons wolves the size of trees or giant burning phoenixes to kill one man. Wait, fire? Could he burn-?"

Looking towards the heart again, he focused on a bunch of pots nearby on the workbench. He didn't think they were particularly interesting until just now. "Hmm. They look like what you'd store cremation ashes in. That inferno that boy made was quite intense. Could he have-?" He opened one of the jars and looked inside. There were ashes, but was it who he thinks they are? He looked around for the coroner's report, which was eventually found on the coroner's desk.

Clayton briefly skimmed through it, most of it confirmed what he had just saw. He finally got to the part that explained the ashes. They were scattered all over the alley where the fight had occurred. They couldn't tell whose ashes were whose. They even thought Clayton himself was among the cremated. A small break for him for once. It'll give him some time to breath while they still think he's dead. "Ripping out hearts, instant cremations, not even the templars of the church or the highest royal mages wield this kind of power easily. Who is this kid? Does he even work for anyone? How screwed am I?"

Once again, he had caught himself panicking. "Relax, the kid now has a lot more to worry about than some little ninja that screwed him over once. He already had Limberry after him and ninjas as a whole don't take too kindly to having their fallen obliterated, and now he's going to have the church after him as well. I'm safe as long as I don't run into him again. Just stay downwind of the hunting party."

Clayton eyes twinkled with glee. "In fact, this can all work to my advantage. It doesn't seem that boy understands stealth or subtlety, judging by the reaction the guards and the city. What Taichii did to these bodies, is unforgivable to the ninja, to the Black Platypus. I bet they'll be too busy seeking revenge on that boy to bother with me. While he acts as a giant lightning rod, I can put my plans into action. This could be the best break ever and I can't waste it. But first, the task at hand."

Clayton headed to the evidence room in the basement. It was locked. He got out his lockpicks. He wasn't that good at lockpicking. It took him a while to get high end locks like this one open, but he had all the time he could needed. After a few teeth grindingly, needling-a-thread-tedious hour-like minutes, he finally got the lock open. Relieved his suffering was over, he went in and searched the aisles for his target. Order by date entered, he quickly found what he was looking for: the ninja's clothes. He gave them a quick wiff. They smelled just right. Perfect. Being satisfied at it's condition, he stuffed it into his bag and left the evidence room exactly as he left it sans the clothes.

He left no traces of his infiltration, not even a greasy smudge from his fingers thanks to his gloves. He peeked outside and saw the guard looking disinterested as ever. Repeating the method he came in, he muffled the doors and set up a portrait of the doors in front of the doors and crept out. Out the door and around the side of the block and into an alley and he was free. His plan was all coming together now. Now it was time for the next phase. He started towards the ghetto, where he knew his former employers liked to prowl.

[Taichii]

The sky is dark... the night is being filled with chirps of crickets along the bushes...
Along the road towards bethla garisson, two chocobos run forward with two individuals lying on their back...
Mikoto warks and stops as soon as they reached over a hill that could visualize the whole bethla garisson wall....
Taichii was startled ... He kept staring at the dark starry sky above...

"Pretty...."

Taichii raises his hand and opens his palms towards the sky..
Mikoto and Lulu Warks again..

"Alright guys... i get it i get it haha...."

Taichii then sits up and told mikoto and lulu to go near the east bushes...
As they reached the bushes which were blocked by trees and thick shell leaves, Taichii disembarked from Mikoto..
He looked at Anita...

"Good.. She's Still sleeping.. i don't wanna disturb her sleep..I have to do this quietly.."

Taichii then gets his scythe from Mikoto's sidepack..
He assumes a stance and aims at the hard shell leaves between the two arced trees...

"This might look like a dead end on the outside.. but..."

Taichii swings his scythe sideways then turns around and repeated this two times which formed an X at the center of the huge, hard shell leaf surface..... He then jumped towards the center which tore the hard leaf shell and ended up at the other side of the passage..

".. it's really hollow on the inside.."

Taichii stands up.. with a "(--,)" face and style... He then slashes the shells from the inside.. The inside shells are soft.. after slashing the edges.. Taichii kicked off the shell leaves and went outside... He then whistled and Rode Mikoto...
The sound of the few blows to the hard leaves somewhat stopped the crickets from chirping...
The cold wind started to blow and the night is getting deeper....
Taichii, Anita, Lulu and Mikoto proceeded to enter the passage and move forward.... As Taichii looked back at the entrance... The hard shell leaves slowly... grow back...