Re: Grey.

by Guest Sat Jan 30, 2010 5:43 pm

MrSebi was breathing heavily; maybe attacking this guy had been a bad idea... Looking around he could see the area where they had fought. The ground was impaled by dozens of cuts, bayonet’s and sketch weapons. Turning back, he could see his opponent; the strange man seemed to be oblivious that he was fighting. That much was obvious, as he had leaned back against a tree and begun to read a book. MrSebi squeezed the hilt of his blade* so hard his hand began to bleed, he was near death and he had to escape. Standing there, he surveyed the strange man; a giant at over two meters in height, wearing a long grey coat and with messy blond hair. The man looked calm; MrSebi could not comprehend why…

He felt a sharp pain in his stomach and doubled over. Looking down, he saw that he had been cut deeply near the Cardia*. He felt a coldness washed over him;it was simple, he was going into shock.
Darkness overcame him and as he fell to the ground he saw the man get up and walk towards him.

-Looks like this is the end, MrSebi mused as he blacked out.

Anderson got up and walked towards the young man lying on the ground. The young fool had attacked him on the road and forced him to fight, that was most irritating. Still the boy looked ragged, tired and delirious;-Clearly hallucinating thought Anderson.

Sighing, he pulled the boy over his shoulder and began to walk; there had to be a settlement in the area that should be able to take care of this fool. With any luck, maybe they could tell him why there were two hundred giant birds flying around the area as well.

MrSebi screamed and jerked up, only to be hit by a splitting pain and fall back clutching his stomach. Looking down, he saw that his wound had been bandaged, albeit rather poorly.
‘’Sorry about the poor job I did, I had to rush it so I could get you here in time’’ said a voice.
MrSebi looked to the side and saw the man sitting on a chair; that was also when he realized he was in his room at the base. The man got up, walked up to the bed and looked at MrSebi, ‘’There seems to be a commotion outside, can you walk?’’ he continued. MrSebi nodded and carefully got up, sadly his balance failed him and he fell towards the floor, fortunately the man caught him.
‘’Easy there, we don’t want you to rupture your stomach do we?’’ The man grinned, ‘’by the way, the names Anderson, Father Alexander Anderson*’’

Anderson helped the boy up the stairs and onto the roof. Looking around, he could see that there were already two people there; a man dressed in green with a hood and a female in pink robes.
Staring into the distance, he saw the horizon was slowly becoming obscured by millions of birds.
Anderson frowned; -What in the name of the lord is going on here?

*MrSebi has a sword, I’m still working on its details though, for now imagine he just has a normal katana
** http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardia
***I’ll let you guys guess what this guy does for a living =P
(PS: MrSebi is in his low 20's, Anderson is in his mid 40's, thought I should clear up the whole age thing!)

by Guest Sun Jan 31, 2010 10:22 am

Weena's spirit drifted in the Manaverse, unable to control the direction on which he was heading, or events that were happening on Lore. Slain by his own sword, he was doomed to be taken to the final frontier of the manaverse; the place where all dead spirits go, undiscovered by any manabander in existence. And that's where I'm headed, he thought sadly to himself, I'd only just become an almost-fully fledged manabender, only to be swept away, a pawn in the big picture of things, and as Grey said, a nuisance. Perhaps I am a weakling, unable to do anything useful. And away he was swept...

A few hours later, his peaceful drifting to the afterlife/oblivion* was savagely interrupted when he was yanked off course at high speed. A blinding light immediately filled his eyes, and began growing at high speed. Instinct took over, and he covered his eyes...

***

Slowly opening his eyes, Weena quickly recovered his senses, especially sense of touch, or more accurately, sense of pain. Slowly lifting himself off the ground, he realised by numerous hints that he was no longer in the Manaverse (which would take too long explaining all of them). Lifting his aching body off the ground, he realised that his chest wasn't bleeding, however, he could feel a large scar above his heart. Looking at his surroundings he noticed that he was in an old temple, a plant infestation seemingly glued to all the cracks of the ruins. This is a manabender temple, Weena thought to himself. This must've once been a thriving civilisation, completely destroyed. And... and... I'm one of the few descendants. This place must've detected me and... brought me here. I think I'm supposed to do something, but what?

Seemingly in answer to him, a large beam of swirling colours engulfed him, yet not harming him. Weena was lifted in to the air, the colours dancing around him. Then suddenly they disappeared, and he plummeted to the ground. When he stood up again, his eyes seemed to be flaming blue underneath his hood. Brushing the dust off his pants, he knew what he had to do.

"Let's do this," he said, and he suddenly did what hundreds of generations of manabanders had tried to do - brought his physical body into the Manaverse.

***

A few hours later he had travelled all the way back to the TR stronghold through the manaverse. By now it was already midday, and most TR members were on the stronghold roof, though it seemed appropriate to appear in his room.

Gasping in a breath, Weena noticed that his sword was still stuck in the ground at its point, dried blood all over it. Materialising in the Universe, he slowly stepped up to his blade. Feeling as though he was experiencing what was commonly referred to as a "sword-from-the-stone" moment, he grabbed his sword with both hands and pulled. Blue sparks suddenly engulfed his blade, and for a second it felt red-hot. Shielding his eyes from the light, he felt his sword shake violently, making holding on to it a problem. Then suddenly it stopped, and Weena uncovered his eyes, though had to rub them to believe what he saw.

All the blood had disappeared from it and it looked as shiny as ever, though that was the least of the changes. His golden crossguard had transformed into a golden W of the same basic design, and it was at least ten centimetres longer, yet somehow lighter in his hand. Breathing in, he knew what had happen. He'd bonded with his sword. Though he was unable to speak with it--unlike Kao, who was more of a spiritual manabender--there were still benefits to it. His sword would now only work for him, preventing people like Grey using it against him. It's power also magnified while he was using it, though in other people's hands, it would only work normally. Any other benefits were (currently) unknown to him.

With a new grin on his face, Weena sheathed his blade and ran to the Stronghold roof.

*He actually has no idea what happens to spirits.

by **Juliana** Sun Jan 31, 2010 11:30 am

"There!"

Risa opened her eyes and breathed for the first time in three days. Juli stood up, smiling, to take her apprentice's now-living hand.

"Congratulations, Risa," Juli told the younger girl. "You just resurrected yourself. That's hardly a small thing in and of itself, and for one of us..." Her eyes unfocused slightly. "You're now as fully immortal as you are ever likely to be." Looking straight at Risa again, she helped her niece to stand.

The two girls opened the door and stepped out into the hall. It was almost deserted, except for one white-clad some way down the hall and coming their way. As he approached, they discerned that it was Weena.

"So you're done recharging?" Juli inquired by way of greeting. Risa's resurrection had taken several hours, due to the confluence of the onetime assassin's meticulous nature and the caution of nervous inexperience. Even knowing as little as she did about mana benders, the young healer thought that such a space of time would be sufficient to restore such a person's faculties to a reasonable level.

Weena looked a bit confused for a moment; then his face cleared and he nodded. "I'm done power-charging. Actually, Grey showed up right as I was starting."

Juli frowned. "You met Grey in the manaverse again?"

"No--Grey came into the Stronghold, to kill me."

Both girls gasped. Even with the pointed de-emphasis their family culture placed on death, the import of this was huge. Grey had entered the Regulars' stronghold? Grey had intended to kill Weena? "So what happened?"

Weena's hand drifted towards his own chest in what looked like an unconscious motion. "He stabbed me with my own sword, pulled me out of the manaverse, and told me I was nothing more than a nuisance." He noticed that his hand was pressed to a point on his chest just above his heart, and quickly folded his fingers behind his back. "Then I died."

Risa stepped forward, literally out of Juli's shadow, for the first time since seeing Weena. He jumped, clearly having missed seeing her before that point. "So how'd you come back?" she asked, emphasizing the "you" just slightly.

Weena related the rest of his strange experience. At the conclusion of it, Risa and Juli were both smiling mysteriously. "So you just became immortal," Juli noted conversationally.

"That's right..."

"Same here!" Risa enthused, much to Weena's shock. "Well, I've been immortal for awhile, but now I can live forever on my own!"

Juli smiled indulgently at her apprentice, reduced by the prospect of growing very, very old to acting very, very young. Well, the girl hadn't really ever gotten a true childhood...

"So where is everyone?" Risa wondered.

"The roof," Weena replied immediately. Noticing that both girls were staring at him, he explained, "I figured out where they were, coming in here."

That thus settled, they all proceeded up to the roof.

by Gurpus Mon Feb 01, 2010 1:30 pm

For months I have been asleep. A sleep that I never thought I would wake from. Well it isn't really a sleep, I've been frozen in a cave up in the Northlands for about 5 months now. All I can do is dream. Dream a never ending dream.

"They say that there is a man frozen in one of these caves."
"That's just a story."
"No, I swear it's true!"
"Hey wait, what's that in that cave?"
"It must be the frozen man."
"Oh my God! It is!"
"Quick cast a fire ball on the ice so we can free him!"
*sizzle*

I suddenely opened my eyes for the first time in 5 months and saw two men infront of me. I didn't know who they were but something told me I shouldn't trust them. I picked up my blunderbuss and shot both of them. They fell to the ground and made a loud echo throughout the cave. I looted their bodies for anything that I could use. After putting on their warm clothes I rushed outside and yelled out,
"IM BACK WORLD! HAHAHAHAHAAHAHA!" and with those words I teleported to the town of Battleon.

by Guest Tue Feb 02, 2010 1:59 pm

Walking slowly and calmly for what seemed to be the first time in his life, Weena followed Juli and Risa up the stairs to the roof, as he never really did know how to get there (not including flying, jumping form tower to tower, teleporting, or castle-climbing). When they got there, most of the TR members seemed to be standing in front of Hunter, who was trying to explain the urgency of the situation, but without much success. Weena decided to stand at the back, however, Juli merely parted the crowd with Risa following eagerly. Hunter and most of the crowd hadn't noticed the new arrivals yet, and Weena realised exactly how disorganised it was (he immediately assumed no Mods nor Vamp were present).

"Guys, listen! Tritocry here and-"
"Why don't you answer our questions first?!"
"Well, I would, if you asked one at a-"
"I thought you killed yourself!"
"Yeah, maybe this is a hoax just like your supposed death."
"No, I'm serious! There's a war coming and-"
"Yeah, and I'm Mary Poppins."

After that, the crowd erupted in to loud jeers and shouts. Weena was about to step in, when he realised Juli basically already had done it.

"QUIET!" Her voice even scared the birds resting on a nearby tower in to fluttering away. Silence fell. "Now if you'd excuse me, Hunter has a few things to say."
"Yeah!" someone in the crowd shouted, "Like why he faked his own death!"
"He didn't," Juli said, walking up next to Hunter, with Risa following soundlessly. "You might recall, I walked into the hall three days ago with his body in my arms and his blood all over my clothes. I assure you, that was no hoax! Hunter DID kill himself, but he did it for a good reason. You see, he's actually hundreds of years old, and been through that experience, ah, 119 times, I think?" She glanced sideways at Hunter, who seemed extremely relieved. "Apparently he needs to sacrifice himself for Yolky to be hatched, revealing a magnificent bird within. They're called Doused Phoenixes, and they bring word of war."
Hunter stepped forward. "Grey's army is mobilising, and we must do all we can to fight back and rescue Charon and Shadow, who our good friend Weena here helped find out for us." Faces turned, and Weena nodded humbly.
Risa took the initiative. "For TR!" she shouted, raising her fist in the air. The crowd bellowed the same.

by **Shadow** Wed Feb 03, 2010 11:07 am

All Shadow could do was think. During the many days he was under the control of Grey's Anima spell, he had nearly thought himself to the brink of insanity. But the thing the pondered most was why he was 'frozen' in the first place. I'm hardly powerful at all, why does he want me?

After what he assumed to be a few days later, Shadow felt his entire body loosen. He was free of Grey's spell, at last. He got up and turned around, only to see Charon still frozen. Then with a shimmer, Grey appeared in front of him.

"Why am I here? Why do you want us?!" Shadow yelled.
"You are in a somewhat high position in TR, right?" Grey asked calmly.
"Yes, but why does that even matter?"
"I have been watching your pitiful clan, and I believe they are plotting against me. I am sending you to infiltrate their fortress and stop their plans, then they will have no chance against my approaching army!"

Shadow was horrified. I need to warn them! Then he shot at Grey with a blast of dark magic, only to have him swat it away like it was a fly. Shadow knew defeating him would be impossible, so he ran. He ran as fast as he could go. Suddenly he was stopped, and he found himself in a familiar state - under an Anima spell. He then felt an odd sensation in his head. Shadow began to lose consciousness, and his sense of reality started to fade. Eventually, all signs of life had been drained from him. With an evil laugh, Grey sent his new zombified minion to wreck havoc on TR.

by Gurpus Wed Feb 03, 2010 6:58 pm

This town is pathetic. If I had my powers still, I could crash it with a flick of my wrist. But sadly, thanks to being frozen for 5 months, I cant. I heard while I was having a drink in the Inn, that there is a stronghold belonging to a large clan. I this is the so called “TR clan” that my master was talking about then I need to find it right away. To make sure it is I’ll ask the lady to the table on my left.
“Excuse me miss.”
“Yes?”
“Is it true that there is a stronghold belonging to a large clan call “TR clan”?”
“Yes there is. Why did you want to know?”
“Oh, just looking for someone.”
“Well good look finding that person.”
“Thank you miss.”

Hehehe. If I can return to Grey with TR clan leaders head, he will just have to make me a commander of his army once again.
As I stood up and walked towards the Inn door, the inn keeper yelled out:
“OI, ARE YOU GOING TO PAY FOR THAT DRINK?!”
“Hahahaha.”
“What’s so funny?”
“Oh I’ll pay for that drink all right but it may be the last time you see the inside of your inn.” And with that last word, I drew up my Blunderbuss and shot the inn keeper between the eyes. Women screamed in horror, and some men stood up a drew there blades and began to charge at me. I simple laughed and teleported behind them. Before they could turn around, I shot them all in the back and stepped outside the inn silently.
“My work here is done.” And so, I teleported myself towards TR stronghold leaving behind in the town a blood filled inn.

*ZAP* *SLAM* “Sometimes I really hate teleporting.” I looked around and there was no stronghold in sight, so I started to walk north. After about 30 minutes I thought that I was in the middle of no where when suddenly, just as I reached the top of a hill I saw lights coming from a stronghold and people yelling out “FOR TR!!”
It looks like I came at a bad time.

by Guest Fri Feb 05, 2010 2:02 pm

As the cheer for TR rose from the crowd, Weena picked his opportunity to slowly walk away. His day had been rough, and he needed some sleep. Trotting down the marble stairs, his senses suddenly went off. It was a strange undescribable sensation. His head seemed to give him coordinates to a place where the danger was in relation to the area around him, to only vaguely start trying to give a description. Knowing he had to take action, Weena shifted into the Manaverse. For the fun of it, he created mana flames fly from his feet, giving one the impression that he had rocket boots. And without further ado, he flew straight towards the threat.

Shifting back to the Universe, Weena found himself right in front of the TR stronghold, near the edge of the forest on the west side of the moat. A dark figure stood in front of him, hungrily staring up at the stronghold. Immediately knowing that this was the threat, he leaped to him, his arms around the figure's neck. The moment Weena touched him, he felt the dormant power within him, and knew he had to quell this as soon as he could. The man gasped in surprise, but quickly recovered and threw Weena off him. Whoa, he's strong, thought the only part of Weena that wasn't in battle mode. Rolling backwards, Weena saw him draw his blunderbuss only just in time to bring up a mana shield. Feeling the bullets reflect off the shield, Weena fired a mana blast right at him. The darkly clad man dived to the side, rolling over and ending in a natural stance.

"I didn't expect you to find me that early!" he said, almost laughing, his voice sounding like nails on a chalkboard.
"Who are you and what is your business with our clan?" Weena asked, his breath slowly returning to normal.
"No surprises there, I wouldn't expect anyone to recognise me after being frozen in a block of ice for 5 months!" the man laughed.
"Just give me a straight answer," Weena sighed. This was probably just a wannabe death knight, no problem. Wrong.
"I'm known as Gurpus," the man replied. Weena shuddered, even the name seemed to be a bad omen.
"Well... Gurpus, would you mind if you could refrain from presenting a threat to our clan?" he asked nicely.
"If you give me your leader's head on a platter I might," Gurpus replied almost casually, though Weena could see him shifting ever so slightly into battle stance.
"Over my dead body," Weena replied, lunging at him.

In a whisp of dark smoke, a blade appeared in Gurpus' hand, only to swiftly parry Weena's blow. The next few minutes was filled with a whirring of blades, slicing, dicing, slashing and parrying each other. Having just parried a slice at his throat, Weena jumped and kicked with both feet at Gurpus' chest. Gurpus was sent tumbling to the ground. Not just for effect this time, Weena blasted mana from his feet*, slowly hovering himself to the ground. Gurpus was at his feet, charging towards him. Weena sighed, deciding that he'd had enough fun. He leapt up, did a spin for effect, and coming down, sent a blast of mana hurling at Gurpus. It smacked into him, sending him flying a good few metres, where he lay still.

Sheathing his blade, Weena slowly walked up to Gurpus. He leant over to study his handiwork, only to notice Gurpus' eyelids fluttering. Immediately sensing danger, Weena tried to leap back, only to be rudely halted thanks to the hand grabbing on to his shirt. Staring down in surprise, Weena was blasted back, remanants of dark magic still fluttering around his chest. Flipping around in the air, Weena landed on his feet, only to see Gurpus walking slowly towards him, dark mist surrounding him, and an look of delighted evil on his face.

"Haha, you've returned my powers, fool! I'll now return to Grey, as powerful as ever, ready to serve him to the death. And my first gift to him shall be your demise!" he laughed evilly.
"Oh really now?" Weena asked, trying to stay calm. "For your information, Grey believes me to be dead."
"You'll soon be," Gurpus snarled, and spread his arms wide. Black mist engulfed the whole area of the forest. Trees and plants alike withered, and the butterflies flying nearby dropped to the ground. Quickly sapping energy form the Manaverse, Weena released the mana through his body in the form of a blinding light**, restoring life in his closest surroundings and pushing back as much of Gurpus' mist as possible.

Gurpus scowled and was about to lunge at Weena when the ground started shaking. Trying to keep their balance, both Weena and Gurpus stared as a deformed figure leapt from the ground, sending a rippling dark blast at Weena. Only just managing to absorb the attack, Weena leapt back. The figure cracked its head up and spread its wings, and only then did Weena realise who it was. Shadow. Gurpus had only realised that the odds were now in his favour and started pacing towards Weena. Weena edged back, his aura slowly fading, his hopes dashed. Well, he absently thought, I'm boned.

Then suddenly Risa appeared from nowhere, both her feet smacking in to Shadow's chest with a great whoof, winding him and temporarily knocking him to the ground. Looking to his left, he realised that Juli was standing next to him (cue this music), Atonement in her hands, and a determined look on her face. Risa leapt back, knives in her hands, ready for battle. Shadow lumbered up, and for a moment both sides stared at each other. Then they all ran in to battle.

* A really good advantage with mana in forest areas is that it isn't like fire, so it doesn't burn anything.
** http://twitpic.com/tyxf8

by **Juliana** Sat Feb 06, 2010 2:34 pm

What on Lore is Shadow DOING?! thought Juli as she parried a would-be deadly strike with his cane. He's supposed to be one of us--isn't he?

She was aware of every detail of her surroundings as she fought in a fluid state of color and whisper and scent and instinct. Every tiny tensing of someone's muscle, every breath that came in flavored slightly with the tang of iron, every whisper of cloth on skin and every whistle of weapon cutting air: she was aware of it, processing it, using it, almost subconsciously. She danced, employing swordplay and spellcraft to try and fend off Shadow and Gurpus at the same time; beside her, Weena fought in much the same way.

Neither of Grey's arguably brainwashed servants knew that Risa had slipped up behind them until she attacked. The girl leaped at Shadow, so silently he clearly was unaware of her until she knocked him flat on his face and pressed a knife to his neck. "You move, you die," she hissed. "See if you can betray us then." Shadow didn't move, so Risa traced patterns over his body with her left hand, laying down glimmering lines of blue magic as she did so. The magic held him fast, so she stood and joined Juli and Weena in trying to subdue or at least repulse Gurpus.

by Guest Sat Feb 06, 2010 3:38 pm

Deflecting a black strike from Gurpus, Weena silently applauded Risa for taking down Shadow without any injuries afflicted to either of them in the process. Gurpus snarled as all three of the TR members turned to face him.

"Aww, come on!" he mocked innocently. "I just came here for your leader!"
"Go back to Grey," Risa hissed, "Tell him Vamp isn't available at the moment."
"In that case," Gurpus' face turned to an evil sneer. "I'll have to settle with you three!"

He flicked his wrist, and six black tunnels of seemingly solid mist hurled themselves at Weena, Juli, and Risa, two for each. Weena threw his fists out in front of him, absorbing both attacks. He stepped back, pivoted anti-clockwise on his left foot quickly, and redirected the combined blows out of his left arm in a quick strike. Juli slashed at the air in front of her with Atonement just as the mist tunnels struck, disintegrating them. Risa, a natural showoff, leapt over hers, grabbed on to a tree branch, and spun on to an upright position, crouching on it. The mist tunnels turned around and went flying back at her, though she just dropped off the tree, leaving the tunnels flying at Gurpus. In a swift slash, he dissipated both Weena's attacks and Risa's redirection. All of this happened in a mere five seconds.

However, Gurpus wasn't out of the woods yet. Leaping through the dissipated black clouds of what were once his attacks, Risa came down on Gurpus like a cat on a mouse, catching him unawares. Only just managing to deflect Risa's strike with his sword, he quickly sent her tumbling with a wave of dark mist. "Boo!" Gurpus twisted around, only to see thin air. Behind him, Weena materialised again, and tapped him on the shoulder, before quickly shifting to the Manaverse. Gurpus turned around, slashing with his sword, only to meet thin air. Quickly materialising behind Gurpus, Weena shouted, "Yoohoo!" before shifting to the Manaverse again. This time Gurpus tripped over his own feet, tumbling to the ground. By then, Juli had helped up Risa and they both rushed over to him, binding him with their powers.

Weena rematerialised, quickly rushing up to Gurpus' figure. Risa and Juli were standing triumphantly over him, though they both still had their weapons unsheathed. Weena leant over Gurpus, staring down in to those cold, ruthless, black eyes.

"That's what happens when you get us to ask the hard way," he huffed.
"Fool!" Gurpus suddenly laughed. "You think you've defeated me? Hahaha, this is merely the beginning. I'll be back..." There was a flash, and Gurpus had disappeared. Juli stood up, sheathed Atonement, and walked over to where Shadow was. Risa sheathed her knives in a swift motion and followed her, with Weena trailing behind.

Looking back at where Gurpus had disappeared from, Weena ran in to Juli. They exchanged an awkward glance, before Weena realised why she'd stopped. Shadow wasn't there.

by KageArashi Sat Feb 06, 2010 4:16 pm

Deep in the forest, hidden away from the prying eyes of the world, lay a simple shrine. A simple wooden shack with a string of talismans running from corner to corner. Inside this shack was a very unique statue, this rock statue was in the same of a humanoid figure meditating. The only differential features that make this statue unique were the cat-like facial features. With the sounds of nature as its only company this statue sat motionless. That was until the torso region of the statute started to crack. Then expand and the compress, almost as if the statue was breathing.

Then with a sharp crack, two yellow eyes glowed ominously over the face of this rock idol. Then with a deafening roar, the statue shattered apart, leaving behind only pieces of rubble and an obscuring grey cloud. Until finally a hand reached from the recesses of the shack and grabbed a hold the door frame. Next it was followed by another hand, then a head and finally a body. With a strong gait, he strode out of into open.

There this figure stood, short black furred skin, a red ninja suit, with a furred red cape, and a panther-like face. With two sharp turns of his neck, he cracked the kinks that built up. Taking a deep breathe, his chest expanding, as a low rumbling was heard. Then followed by a small "mew" sound and a loud yawn.

"Argh, this is the last time I take a nap during a stroll through the forest..." the figure muttered as he places both hands on his back.

"I wonder how long I was asleep this time?" he mused to himself, as he arched his back, pushing with his hands. "Ahhh! That felt good!" he sighed as a series of cracks followed. Until one particular wet popping crack was heard, "AH! ouch! ouch! ouch!" then the sound of a body hitting the ground followed.

"I'm ok." The cat-ninja said hopping to his feet. Taking a look around, he mused "Hmm, this place is pretty peaceful. It's kind of lulling me back to sleep. Yawn."

Then suddenly, this figures ears perked up. The noise of the forest quieted down, as it sensed the disturbance as well.

:crrrrackle-BOOOM:

"What the heck was that!?!" this figure exclaimed as a stray magic spell hit a nearby tree.

:Whoosh:

"Oh hell," he exclaimed as the said tree started to fall in his direction. Diving to the left into a roll, followed by a hand spring, he launched himself at another tree. With the grace and skill blessed upon him, given his feline characteristics. Finding himself upon the highest point, he saw a battle taking place in the distance.

The small shapes whirled in a dance of death, steel, and magic. "They aren't half bad," he commented as he watched from his vintage point, wishing he had a snack to accompany this free entertainment. "Woah, that was close." He stated as the two opposing sides started to get exceedingly close.

'They seem like quite the lively bunch,' he thought as show carried on with explosive displays of magic, then added 'Maybe after their done fighting, I might drop by to play a bit myself.'

A wicked grin crossed his face, exposing his maw full of razor share teeth. With a couple whispered mutterings, a glint appeared in his yellow eyes. Followed by the low rumblings of a raspy chuckle. Crouching down in the tree branch he was standing on, he tensed up. His muscles, like coiled steel, moved under the thin layer of skin, bulging in a display of strength. Then with a leap, he was airborne. Like a black streak, he flashed from tree to tree, twisting and turning around branches as well has through them.

In an amazing display of dexterity, he used the tree branches as poles and slings. Which he literally used to launch himself faster and to turn in an instant. Finally reaching the clearing, still high above the heads of the group below him.

"Awww, they finished up already?" he whined quietly to himself, as he observed the group. Only three remained, looking downtrodden despite their recent victory. "Oh well, they can still provide some sort of entertainment." He stated as he made his choice to play.

Hopping down, he landed on all fours with a light thud, while the trio looking in shocked at their newest attacker. They almost seemed stunned to see this yokai-like being in front of them. With a smirk and a loud roar, the ninja-cat launched himself at the group. Reaching the male first, he left loose with a devastating knee to the chest. Following up with a spinning kick, that launched his two female companions in two different directions.

"Come, entertain me." he muttered under his breathe as he landed back on the ground. As the other three went skidding to a halt.

"You've GOT to be kidding me!" the male snarled angrily as he rose from the ground grabbing his chest. "I AM NOT IN THE MOOD FOR THIS!" he yelled as he started to glow with mana.

"Weena! Calm Down!" one of his companions cried as she rose to her own feet, simultaneously drawing her own weapons out. "He's got us at the disadvantage." she continued

"Risa, Weena, are you both okay?" their third companion called rising slowly, watching the crouched figure that attacked them.

The figure on the other hand smirked, then vanished from sight leaving behind a small whirl of dust.

"Oh crap," Risa said in awe, as her eyes widen, "This is not good!" she exclaimed.

"Regroup! Juli! Weena!" she cried.

"What the heck was that!" Weena exclaimed furiously the got into a group formation.

"He...he looked familiar." Juliana stated as they stood back to back, their eyes peeled for their mysterious attacker.

The Ninja on the other hand looked vaguely amused from his hiding spot, with a smile he launched himself on the offensive once again. This was his territory, they're his prey. Landing front of them, he took up a stance this time. Empty handed, with his hands up in reminiscent of a boxer. He charged forward, not giving the group adequate time to react. The previous fight had really worn them down, their strength, stamina, and reaction time was down.

This time he attacked the one known as Risa first, parrying her initial lunge-thrust, he grabbed her hand and yanked her forward. Then with a spin of his body and quick twist of his wrist, he sent her flying with her own momentum. With that same motion he lashed out with a back spinning kick, that knocked the air out of Weena as well as the spell he had on his lips. Then a quick shuffle of his feet, Juliana found a clawed hand inches from her face.

"Che, this is rather pathetic." He said as he eyed the trio with a bit of disappointment.

Juliana on the other hand was froze, it all happened too fast for her to really catch in her tired state. This person took them down such and easy and fast manner, it was near mind-boggling. She just couldn't react in time, neither could the others, judging from their fallen figures.

"No fun at all." The Yokai ninja said, has he leapt back watching her frozen form.

"Kage? KageArashi?" she whispered as the unbidden image zoomed to the forefront of her mind. She finally remembered where she'd seen this person before. The Master Ninjat, KageArashi. This person was a documented member of the TR Clan, but he disappeared awhile ago.

"Eh? How'd you know my name?" KageArashi stated curiously, as he scratched his head.

"You! You're in the TR Archives! Where did you disappear to?" Juliana stated, in somewhat relief.

"You mean this guys in our clan?" Weena asked in shock, which completely over shadowed his anger.

"Eh? TR, yeah I'm with them. As for disappearing, did the others for get to mention my habit of napping?" Kage said.

"Napping?" Risa deadpanned as she sat up.

"A-yup! It was such a wonderful nap too!" Kage cheerfully exuberated.

"If you're in our clan, WHY'D YOU ATTACK US!" Weena yelled, hopping to his feet

"Hmm, I supposed I was bored and fighting is always fun!" Kage stated happily again.

"But lets save that for later, give me a run down on what's happened far?" Kage asked seriously.

by Guest Sun Feb 07, 2010 11:29 am

The crackle of the leaves beneath his feet, Sticky kept a fast tread through the forest, running towards the voices he heard. Even with an enormous burden of doubt, he still believed he could find his lost clan. Dead memories of past Cons and good times replayed constantly with each step Sticky made toward the voices.

"I'll run for years if I have to!" he declared proudly in the empty forest.

"No you won't... You're my slave now,"

"Damn it, get out of my head!" Sticky cried in a flustered manner.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk... You know I can't do that," the demon said. "You're my host body. I'll be tormenting you until you die, then I'll move on to the next host. Simple enough."

A burst of light ignited, and Sticky lost complete control over his body and mind.

"Yes master," Sticky said with no soul, emotion, or trace of human quality.

"Mehehe... Perfect," the demon murmered in Sticky's mind.

Sticky still existed, lost in the deep dark depths of his very own mind. In complete darkness, he slowly walked through his very own thoughts, glaring at past events that were burried beneath happiness and deep affection. A large image faintly appeared infront of him.

"M-Mother...?" Sticky whispered.

"Mm... I think some coffee would benefit this evening," his mother proclaimed with a hidden sense of dissapointment in her voice.

The young Edward Roberts woke at the sound in the floor, finding any excuse to bother his mother with pointless questions. He made large steps up the steep, cheaply installed staircase to the entrance of the kitchen. Edward peered from behind the wooden ledge of the staircase, the dark brown liquid pouring into the thick, glass cup.

"Mommy, can I have some coffee?" he questioned with a nervous, yet curious tone.

"No, coffee is for big grown-ups," the mother replied.

The glass windows burst with force, and following the sudden interuption, two bullet shots pierced directly through Edward's mother's heart and shoulder.

The memory began to blurr, and Sticky burned with anger.

"I'll get you... I'll get you...," he declared.

by **Icey** Mon Feb 08, 2010 7:31 am

Icey breath could feel his ice upon his face as he walked down the ranks of Grey's legions.

"General Ice, I hope you are making the necessary preparations for the war with the cursed TR," snapped Manius, one of the other generals in Grey's army set to conquer.

"Aye, I am," replied Ice in his usual, cold, emotionless manner. And will a jerk of his shoulder he walked off.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Later that night in his chamber, his mind raced rapidly, trying to contact TR. Even though he was a respected general in Grey's army, he had a very different agenda, one not to Grey's liking. His real mission, be a spy to gain information on Grey and his scheme. Just barely he managed to send a hawk with information on Grey's Battle formations when....it happened...again.

A dark pulse raged through him, and a vine of dark energy crept up his face controlling him, turning what wanted victory for TR, into only a obsession for destruction, this was the curse that Grey had put on him.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was a cold souless night, Ice was moving to meet with Shadow and Vamp to report some strange occurences with Grey, on his way out of Grey's stronghold, Ice was stopped by none other than Grey himself.
"What is your business so late at night General Ice?"

"I am merely here to do a check to see if all guards are doing their duty sir"

"Oh really now...hehe...well let's see what your mind has to say," laughed Grey in a laugh that could send even Ice's body shivering.

With one finger placed upon his forehead, a sharp pain surged through Ice, like an earthquake.

"Hehe I see how it is Ice, normally I would destroy one such as you, but you're too valuable...I know exactly how to deal with you. Hahahahaha."

Grey incited some ancient words and Ice's mind went into the abyss and came out with a curse, a demon curse like no other. Everytime he thinks of helping TR, his the demon part of him takes over.

This curse that binds him to Grey, can it be undone? It is Ice's only hope of helping the Clan he loves.

by **Hunter Reckoning** Thu Feb 11, 2010 4:22 am

Hunter was on the roof, getting the birds ready for war. All of the birds had saddles now, and automatic crossbows on the back so 2 people could ride. He fed all of them then went back to his closet. He looked through his chest for a moment before finding what he needed. An outfit much like his own, only red with gold trim. and then he found a crimson hood to go with his outfit. After putting it on, he picked up Yolky, and dropped an egg on his head. As the egg poured down, it quickly dried a shiny before releasing another layer of fluid. Yolky was not covered in armor. Hunter went to the group of people that had no armor, and dropped an egg on each of their head. They became covered in armor too. When Hunter went back to the roof he dropped an armor egg on each bird except for Tritocry, whos feathers were already indestructible. Hunter dug around in his pocket for a while until he found couple of ballista* eggs. He dropped them around the top of the castle, from which they grew huge crossbows. They were ready for an invasion.

*Ballistas are of course huge crossbows

by Guest Thu Feb 11, 2010 11:42 am

Walking back to the TR Stronghold, Weena could hear the clap of thunder in the distance. Birds squawked loudly, and Weena knew that they'd fly off in the opposite direction if it wasn't for Hunter's degree of control over them. To his right, Juli and Kage were catching up on lost days, chatting happily. Risa gracefully walked alongside, still wary of Kage. Weena looked upwards to see all the TR members rushing to set up the stronghold defences. I wish I could help, but I have a feeling I'm needed elsewhere, he thought to himself. Giving a quick two fingered salute to the kitty ninja and the two Called Warriors, Weena shifted to the manaverse, appearing in his room a few seconds later.

He sighed and unsheathed his blade, carefully propping it up against the wall. Already half asleep, he pulled down his hood* before heavily falling on to his bed with a whoof. In a second, he was fast asleep.

***

An extremely loud clap of thunder brought Weena to his senses. He jerked suddenly, rolling off his bed, ending face first on the floor. Rubbing the sleep from his eyes and bringing his hood back over his face, Weena stood up, just as a bolt of lightning struck somewhere nearby, the thunder even more frightening. As his ears adjusted, he realised it was pouring rain outside. Rushing towards his window, he saw the severity of the storm. Winds seemed to be blowing at a hundred miles an hour, lightning was crackling everywhere, and the rain was so thick that Weena couldn't see any further than five metres ahead of him. This is bad, he thought to himself. Unless Hunter's phoenixes have some weather control power, which I seriously doubt. The whole storm just lost almost every single advantage they brought us. In fact, how long have I been asleep? Grabbing his blade, Weena rushed to the roof of the stronghold as fast as he could, only just to realise why his skull had been itching. Only now did he realise how much trouble they were in. Gasping in terror, he realised that the stronghold was surrounded by hundreds of thousands of Grey's emotionless servants.

"Well," he announced ot no one in particular, even though he couldn't be heard over the storm and teh TR members bustling around him, "We're boned."

* No pic for you! D:< *Cough*Atriaxhair*Cough* Actually there's an interesting/boring story behind that. But I'm too lazy to tell. e.e

by Gurpus Thu Feb 11, 2010 5:51 pm

The rain was hitting hard now. Gurpus stood on a hill, over looking where the war between Grey and TR was going to take place. Weena will die in this war. No one will be able to survive my dark mana super blast. Not even Weena and his mana powers will be able to stop it. Gurpus began to wonder if he should confront Grey before the battle begins and convince him to allow Gurpus to join his army once again, even after what Gurpus had done to get himself frozen. I know I have a small chance to join Grey’s army again, but still, it would be great to have the feeling of killing those under the command of a great leader. If he doesn’t allow me to join his army, well then, I guess Grey and I will be having a little fight. Hahahaha.

The rain was really starting to come down now. Gurpus was drenched it water from head to toe. He began to wonder if this war was going to ever start, when suddenly out of no where a group of birds looking ready for battle flew past with TR members on their backs.

Gurpus laughed to himself and began to charge a dark mana blast towards the direction the birds had come from. Hehehe, you die today TR!

by Guest Fri Feb 12, 2010 4:42 am

After Weena had alerted Hunter about the emotionless servants, many of the braver TR members had hopped on to their allocated Doused Phoenix and somehow flew out against the wind, disappearing from his limited sight. He was about to leap down and help them when suddenly the air around him began heating up rapidly. Oh no, he thought to himself in the split second he had left, I guess I might as well test a theory to save everyone. Attempting to calm himself, he leapt up, just as the lightning struck.

The whole stronghold was lit up for a second as the lightning struck, engulfing Weena. He felt the electricity pass through his body, carefully directing it around and making sure it avoided all of his vital organs. The power still surging through his body, Weena dropped back to the roof. Just before the power overwhelmed him, Weena directed the lightning back in to the sky.

Hitting the clouds, it expanded in a spectacular wep of light, jumping between clouds and illuminating the sky for a few seconds. Most of the TR members used this to truly see Grey's army for the first time, whereas others just gasped at it. As one of the many who used to to get a quick check on the battlefield, Weena truly saw how much trouble they were in. The emotionless servants were coming endlessly from all directions, lumbering out of the lake one by one, weaving in and out of the forest trees, without end. Just as the lightning web dissappeared, Weena noticed a familiar face out of the corner of his eye. It was Gurpus, with an all-too-familiar evil snicker on his face.

Weena spun round to face in Gurpus' direction as vision range returned to five metres. Crouching, me reched in to the manavers and felt Gurpus' power, only to realise that he had to act quickly. He stood up and begain running, just as Gurpus launched his dark blast. Life seemed to run in slow motion as Weena jumped up to meet the beam, while drawing his hand back to quickly charge his own attack. He then pushed his arm forward and did something he never knew he could even do.

A beam of intense blue and white light blasted form his hand, as though he'd opened a portal from the manaverse straight to the universe, and directed the pure power of it right out at Gurpus. Time shifted back to normal, and in a split second his attack had both engulfed Gurpus' and blasted him back, not to mention temporily illuminating the battlefield. Weena hit the ground and leapt off the stronghold roof towards where Gurpus was. This time, he thought, You're going down, for good.*

* Epic battle is epic.

by Malkoir Fri Feb 12, 2010 10:09 am

Malk was sitting on his ship, the Harmonia, on his way back from Skullpunch Island. He had gone out in search of treasures and a cursed blade (Isn't everything there cursed?) and had come back successfull, and hadn't lost any of his men. He was approacing SwordCove, when he looked upon the TR fortress. Black clouds swirled around it. He made out the images of birds flying and a man in a white suit. Weena. Definently. Then he saw Weena jump as a large bolt of lightning appeared to strike the fortress. In that brief moment he saw an advancing army and numerous TR members fightining on birds.

"Vaar. Get me a carrier pidgeon. ASAP."
Vaar was Malk's first mate and blood brother. Vaar had necrotic powers, but he had an untapped potential. He could only do minor spells except when he got.. angry.

Malk wrote a note to Shadow to attatch to his pidgeon.

Dear Shadow and TR members,
I am nearing SwordCove with 30 men, armed and ready to fight. Please let me know if you are in need of assistance, please write back and send me an attack strategy.
Keep in touch,
Malkoir.

"Okay Vaar, send it off."
Vaar attached the letter, and tossed the bird in the air.

"Allright men, as you see, the TR fortress is under seige. Many of us have friends in there. We will flank the enemy and attack. Sharpen your blades and load your pistols, because when we land, we begin our march. Jeff, Al, stay with the ship. The rest of you, be ready. Vaar, its time to warm of you necrotic powers."

"But bro I..I.."

Forget about that incident on Skullpunch Vaar, you did the best you could. Now prepare yourself."

As Malk stared down the fortress, he saw blast of light and shadow back and forth. He hoped he'd make it in time.

by **Hunter Reckoning** Fri Feb 12, 2010 11:30 am

Hunter was having a sensory overload. With the lightning, and the rain, and the screeching, and the marching, he just couldn't take it. He picked up a knapsack of different eggs, then ran straight through the rain and jumped on Tritocry's back. "BIRDS!" Hunter yelled above the lightning. He was yelling to the smaller birds that people couldn't ride. "CHARGE!" At that moment, the hundreds of thousands of birds flew into the air, all following Hunter on his golden doused phoenix. He directed all of the birds with simple hand movements. He pointed his egg beater straight down, meaning he wanted all of them to claw the minions. They all flew down at once and took out a huge wave of them. Hunter tapped Tritocry, who flew straight down, then quickly came back up, his sharp metal feathers cutting off the heads of countless soldiers. Hunter quickly remembered the bag of eggs. He reached in and took out a few of the more powerful eggs. He first took out a handful of HenGrenEggs* and dropped them on the soldiers, causing a massive fireball. He then grabbed a hand full of Atlantic Eggs**, and Freeze eggs. He dropped the Atlantic eggs first, causing huge slashes of water, then he dropped the Freeze eggs, causing them to freeze. He pointed to the huge ice block with his eggbeater, and the huge flock of birds hit it with such strength that it shattered into larger ice spikes, which impaled a few more soldiers. When Hunter flew up, thinking they were actually winning, he looked, and saw yet even more soldiers coming. It almost seemed as though there were endless soldiers. Hunter took out another egg. This one a Swarm egg***. Before he dropped one of his rarest eggs he whispered a few words into it. "Kill the emotionless soldiers...." When the egg shook in reply, Hunter dropped the egg, which released a huge swarm of flying bugs, which started eating the soldiers to skeletons. The bugs soon deteriorated, and more soldiers took their place. Hunter continued throwing egg after egg, but it was barely denting Grey's forces. Hunter started getting very angry. He looked back at the fortress, through the rain****, and saw his friend, Juli casting spell after spell at the soldiers. Hunter thought of all his friends that might die, and all of his friends that HAD died, and all of his friends that are corrupted. Hunter, of course not thinking, jumped off Tritocry, and moved the knapsack in front of him. While he was falling the hundreds of feet, he wondered. Was this the final act of Hunter Reckoning? The hidden called warrior? The all powerful egglo-. Hunter of course thought too long. When he hit the ground, it caused a massive explosion of power. Every single one of his eggs had exploded at once. Hunter flew into the air, his body being eaten by The Swarm, spikes stuck in his skin, 3rd degree burns covering his body, frostbite in the places he wasn't burnt, his goggles crushed in, his suit torn to shreds. His hood thrown back, his hair singed, his hair soaking wet, and frozen. His eyes were bleeding, his ears were bleeding, and blood was pouring out of his mouth. Hunter opened his eyes, blood clouding his vision, and realized something. Yolky isn't supposed to die yet, and that means Hunter isn't supposed to die yet. Hunter smiled, with a few teeth missing, and the ones that aren't, covered in blood. He then hit the roof of TR, causing it to crack violently, and heard something crack. Juliana looked over, and saw Hunter bleeding out all over the roof. She ran to his side and asked a rather obvious question. "HUNTER! Are you alright?!" Hunter looked at Juli, his head now in her lap. "Well...." He started. "I think there might be one little bone in my right pinky toe that isn't broken...."

*THEY GO BOOM!
**THEY GO SPLASH!
***THEY GO BUZZ!
****Those goggles aren't JUST for looks you know >.>

by Guest Fri Feb 12, 2010 12:39 pm

Confronting the hordes of enemies Seppy stood firm.
Even then he could feel the power emanating from the polearm he wielded.
The rain pelted down making the ground muddy and slippery.
"I cannot walk!" he cried.
Just then a brilliant idea came to him, like sand compress and dries when you step on it maybe if he hit the ground hard enough it would be dry enough so he could walk.
He lifted Abaddon's terror high above his head, used his legs as springs and soared into the air, turning in mid air he pointed the polearm directly at the ground and fell towards the mush directly beneath him.
He hit the ground with an almighty thud but he had misjudged the power of the height he had risen to.
The ground cracked as the polearm sank into the ground.
A crack appeared around Seppy, shaped like a perfect circle, before giving way. Seppy fell into the deep dark black abyss with a look of complete surprise on his face as he fell.

by KageArashi Fri Feb 12, 2010 11:22 pm

Kage looked around with a sweatdrop and wondered out loud "How come I have no one to fight?" His ears flattened against his head as he whined. Watching everyone else have their own rivals to duke it out with. Crossing his arms childishly, he said "Fine!" pouting as he started to walk away. Pulling a pack of pocky out of nowhere, he munched as he walked. His head towards the ground, and withdrawn into his own little world.

"Che, there on extra bad guy around to play with. What happen to the-"

:Bump:

His muttered musings got cut incredibly short as he bumped into something. "Hey watch where you...'re....goin'?" he trailed as he noticed what he bumped into.

He bumped into a stoic grey man, decked out completely in grey armor, with a grey motif standing out. Then right next to this grey man, stood another grey man in the same grey armor. In fact, as far as the eye can see, it was a sea of grey.

"Well, talking about this guy being a bit of a narcissistic person..." Kage's mouth shot off before he could actually thinking about what he said. "...wait a tick! 1, 2, 3, PI!"

Suddenly hyper, like a little girl that was given a double shot of expresso, that was nearly thickened into a syrup by massive quantities of sugar, after being told she was going to be taken to the magical fairy lands that are filled with unicorns and other absurdly and sickeningly cute magical animals where she was told that she was actually a princess there and had magical powers.

Clapping his hands and jumping up and down, Kage giggled insanely. Suddenly, he stopped and pointed to the grey guard he bumped into "You!"

In which the grey guard pointed to himself as if questioning Kage.

"Yes! You! I am going to kick you in the balls because you had the misfortune of running into me on a bad day!"

Then in a brief stint of completely and utter stoicism, the guard just noncommittally shrugged and went back to doing what ever he was originally doing. That was before the full implications of the sentence full hit him, and boy, did it hit him.

"WHAT!" the servant yelled breaking his grey demeanor, before he got hit. All of a sudden, it struck, the wind was knocked out of him and an incredibly amount of pain shot through his body. Falling to the ground clutching himself, he cried pitifully.

Kage, on the other hand, stood there with his leg outstretched and a grin of most sadistic and vile proportions stretching across his face. The other servants who saw the grin and what happened, shuddered as they winced in pain for they fallen and crying brethren. Taking another glance at the people who had the audacity to attack one of their own, they tried to edge away from the crazy ninja-cat-person-thing. He was clearly out of his flipping mind?!? Really who in their right mind assaults an ARMY!

“You know, you guys have to be pretty darn unlucky to run into me right now.” Kage stated bringing his leg down, as he started to glow with a dark aura. “Having being the first ones to really catch me right after some particularly bad issues that have popped up…” Kage continued, “And at this point, I will now use your bodies to vent my pent up issues.”

Tilting his head from side to side, and cracking his knuckles at the same time, Kage stated, “And now prepare yourselves.” With that being said, Kage went crazy. Literally appearing in front of the nearest guard, he threw an uppercut. Combined with the momentum generated, the man was struck so had he went flying into another servant. Spinning around, he swerved out of the way of a downward sword slash that would have cleaved him into. Grabbing that assailant, he used that servant as a shield to a spear thrust. Dropping the newly dubbed dead person, he ducked under a horizontal swing. Rising up, he raked his claw across a servant’s chest. His razor sharp claw cleaving through the armor like a hot knife through butter.

Twisting and contorting himself as he dodged blows, he used his enemies on swords and bodies to block for him. Narrowly dodging one thrust, he grabbed the wrist of his assailant. With a quick jerk., Kage broke the wrist and flipped the guard into a wall of approaching blades. Letting loose a stunning roar, he crouched down, grabbing two discarded swords off the ground. He grinned, exposing his sharp pointy teeth.

Then he suddenly disappeared in a thin wisp of thin grey smoke. Then the bodies started to drop, a thin line drawn across their throats. The guards in a panic started to look for their hidden assassin, this person was raking through their lines like a fire through dry wood.

Kage on the other hand was barely moving, he just swayed in and out of the ranks cloaked by wisps of smoke. He took a couple dozen down, rarely a dent in their forces. From the start, they already lost. The crowded him, with their armor, blocking movement and taking up space. Letting only a maximum of 10 to surround him at once, with the rear guards pushing forward to get a strike at him. Enclosed in tight quarters, the ended up at the disadvantage. He just needed to be the pivotal point of their attacks. Just a small nudge or a dodge and they were striking their allies.

Grabbing a handful of knives from the guards he killed, he hurled them randomly into the air. Striking and killing guards randomly, inciting a frenzy of panic of trying to hit an attacker that wasn’t there. With the aid of his speed and ninja arts, he sowed chaos among this portion of the grey servants. The blood of his enemies splashed through out the ranks, making the guards strike out at any random red blur that they believed to be him. Ducking back out of the ranks and into the near by forest, he scaled a tree to observe his work.

With a smirk, he watch the lower ranks descend into a chaos that the higher ranks failed to quell. Tossing the sword he commandeered back into the crowd, one spearing one of the higher ranks of the grey servants.

“For an emotionless bunch, they seemed to be in quite a frenzy.” Kage mused as he rested a bit, recovering the lost energy he expended.

With a quick hand seal, he summoned his backpack of various goodies. Reaching in to pull out a box of strawberry pocky and his Archane Longbow. Munching on a couple sticks of pocky, he ignited the bow with a slow steady stream of the ambient mana. Taking a stance and a deep breath, he drew back the dull glowing blue string. A black and crimson red bolt of mana forming between his fingers, he let loose a bolt, striking another higher rank. He did this again, and again, and again.

Lowering his bow, he took a glance at the chaos filled field. With a grim smile, he nodded at his work. The majority of the higher ups in that section have been eliminated. Leaving the lower ranks to fighting each other in a stew of chaos. That was the problem of having so many grunts in close spaces, as soon as the smallest thing goes wrong, everything collapses.

Kage then stowed his bow away, and with drew a couple dozen cherry bombs. Hurling them into the chaotic field, he turned away and started to hope through the trees back to the TRHQ. Leaving behind his symphony of death and explosions behind.

“Hmm…I’m hunger, nothing like slaying a couple things to work up an appetite.” Kage said as he disappeared into the shadowed forest, his hunger for blood been slated, and now his hunger for food just beginning.

by Kaotic Sun Feb 14, 2010 4:28 am

/ /: The forest of Savangrer

Seeming all hope lost, of even returning to the present, Kao went to klasthitate* in the to-be-called Klysthe forest.

~^_^^~

After about 2 hours, Kao opened his eyes, and blinked them back into focus.
He saw a little rustle in the bushes, and automatically jumped, hand on EoM.
A old man emerged, he had dark green hair, tied back in a ponytail, his was well tanned, with plenty of wrinkles which gave the man friendly looking features.
His suit was dark green and ripped in places, with black fire singes in numerous places.
His eyes were a sparkling greeny blue, showing Kao that he still had plenty of life left in him.
The old man advanced closer to Kao, a smile grew on his face, and he held his hand up high,
“I have been waiting for you” his voice was warm, and Kao relaxed, as if he was comforted by this seemingly friendly visitor, but Kao still stood still, his face kept emotionless, and he just looked the old man in the eyes, although his hand had dropped from EoM.
“What brings you to this sacred forest?” The old man asked, sounding as if he already knew the answer.
“My home was burned and I lost everything I had” replied Kao, keeping the story close to his chest, the old man just nodded.
“You act as if you already know this” Kao replied
“Or maybe I know you”
“Do you know me?” Kao said in a surprised voice.
“I should hope I do, you are Kaotic, am I right?” said in a sort of mocking tone
“How do you know me? I don’t know you!” Kao was starting to sound puzzled
“Then you’ve got nothing to worry about” chortled the old man.
“but I am worried” Kao retorted, spitting his words a bit too rudely, but the old man hardly noticed.
“Then knock me down”
“I won’t knock you down”
“why not?”
“Because you're a old man!” Kao said startled.
“Then you should have no problem” he said calmly.
Kao stared at this old man, everything about him seemed odd, his suit, his hair, his eyes, yet there was something familiar about him
“I don’t pick fights with old men” Kao said eyeing him.
The old man picked up a small stone, and threw it at Kao “what if old men pick fights with you?”
“I won’t, what are you saying that you know me? I don’t believe you”
The old man stopped, and smiled, a wide smile.
“Oh no? Then why do I know that you are parentless, that you cried your way to a path, where a friendly clan leader took you in, by the name of Vamparagon, and you were raised as one of their own, and this clan grew big, where you took up a commanding spot, this clan your new life, and you hid this story, trying to forget even the truth from this forest.”
Kao stared at him speechless, and allowed a surprised look onto his face.
“Such a lot I don’t know about you, huh” the old man smiled looking at Kao.
“Who told you that? Who have you been talking to? Who are you?”
“just a nosy old man”
“Have you been spying on me?” Kao questioned.
“Maybe I have”
“Why?”
The old man looked coolly into Kao’s eyes “Maybe you should teach me a lesson” he said “Maybe you should knock me down”
“I’m not going to knock you down!” Kao’s voice became agitated, this was becoming absurd
“Then I shall knock you down” The old man straightened up, as if he had been hunching, his wrinkles vaguely disappearing, he dropped his current stones he had picked up, looked into straight into Kaotic’s eyes, and nodded his head.
In a split second, Kao’s eyes widened, a sudden energy filled his mind, not his body.
It felt familiar, like the power of Klysthe was running through his body yet again. And then he felt another weird sensation, like his mind wanted to do else, and so it did, and he fell.
“Down he goes!” The old man laughed
Kaotic
pulled himself off, and dusted off his cloak, he tried to take a deep breath, but that is not easy when your winded “How did you..?” Kaotic took a quick breath, unable to finish his question, but the old man seemed to know
“The power of will; Kly**” he breathed, now looking a bit more serious “and I will teach you”

~^_^^~

Kaotic adopted the practiced combat stance, the Tranquil Alert: feet apart, flat on the ground, arms lose at side, head erect, balanced and steady. Kao softened his gaze so he would notice even the tiniest movement.
I’m sure to get him this time, he’s won all the other times
Kaotic heard the old man take a breath, and knew he was going to speak his first command
“Pay Respect!***”
Kao knelt on one knee, and bowed his head for a second, then jumped into the attack position called Hammer and Nail: two fingers of his right hand are the nail, they lay beside his waist, his arm straight, and the power tingling inside, which the old man calls kly, is his weapon, the Hammer.
The throat, he always attacks the throat first
It was the old man’s usual move, but he was so fast and strong, that knowing it coming is not enough.
Kaotic’s mind now moved smoothly and rapidly, unlike his old quick decisions.
When the old man gave his second command, the combat would begin.
It would last for one, two or three strokes – no more, the old man had teached him not to make lengthy bouts.
Both of the fighters had at their disposal, a single devastating blow, the blow in which his Kly was concentrated, like the force of a great river funnelled into a narrow jet.
If this win-all or lose-all blow was struck too soon, the fight was lost, timing is everything.
Kaotic’s mind wandered about his teachers attacks.
Don’t think. Never think.
React into action.
Meet your plan like a stranger.
Surprise yourself.
So much training
“Know everything, than forget everything” The old man had said.
A wind swept through the dark forest, like daring to make a move, it rustled Kao’s hair. The dark forest almost seemed silent, as if waiting for the battle to commence.
“Engage” the old man said.
The teacher struck first, for the throat, as Kao had guessed.
Kao swayed back, out-reaching the striking hand, and stabbed at the crook of the attacking arm, but only playing the riposte****.
If his teacher went for the kill now, Kao knew it would break him.
No time to hesitate.
On he flowed, pouring his Kly into his about-to-be launched strike, begging the old man to make his throw now, at the bait moment, when he seemed so vulnerable, on the second strike, which had always been the old man’s strike of choice.
But not today. With dismay Kaotic realised he had committed, and the old man had not.
His timing was out, in his frustration, Kao lost perfect concentration, and felt the Kly spreading from the two speeding fingers over his right hand and up his arm, dissipating his force.
his blow powered through, Hammer on Nail, and caught the old man’s right shoulder, rocking him back, but not enough to break him.
At once, Kaotic seemed to suck back what Kly was left and locked himself to the ground, but even as he did so, the teacher struck, the heel of his hand to Kaotic’s brow: the kill-blow.
Not all his power was in this strike of course, Kao was not killed.
But he was broken.
He fell as he must, crippled by pure force and shame.
“withdraw.” The old man called the command as if nothing of any significance had happened.
Kao knelt on one knee, and bowed his head a little more shakily, and stood up, lapping up the air.
The old man now proceeded with the analysis “what did you do wrong?”
“I committed to soon.” said Kao.
“Could you have done otherwise?”
“yes” Kao replied, “I could’ve waited. But I knew his opponent had the longer reach. My decision to attempt a first strike win was sound.”
“Therefore predictable.”
“Yes teacher”
The old man nodded, “now go rest, I have much to teach you.”

~^_^^~

“Another Kly lesson.” the old man laughed with a smile.
Hmpf
though Kao, these lesson’s were particularly annoying, but he still wanted to know this old man’s name
“who exactly are you?” Kao asked, starting it off.
“Do you mean, when am I.?”
“I don’t understand.”
“Time changes everything, doesn't it? You say, who am I? That may seem a simple question to you, but I’m one person when I get up in the morning, a bad tempered, disagreeable sort of person. When I’ve finished my breakfast, I’m a little more on the quiet side. Then again, should meet me after a good dinner and a brandy or two, you’ll make a friend for life. And that’s in a single day. Now consider myself when young, or middle aged, or – “
“Please stop.” Cried Kao, waving one hand infront of his face.
“I only mean to make the point.” Said the old man cheerily “that I am different at times.”
“All I mean is, what is your name?”
“My name now, you mean?”
“Yes.” sighed Kao
“I believe they call me Jango.”
“Jango?!” Kao was about to say this was a word he and his friend had made up. But apparently it wasn’t. It must’ve been a word tucked in his memory somewhere.
“Now” said Jango “why don’t you try again to knock me down? Only this time harder.”
“I don’t think I can.” Said Kao.
“Just not strong enough, eh?”
“I may not be.”
“Funny thing strength” said Jango “ Not like a rock at all. Much more like Water. It can be here, and then – slosh, slosh – it can be there. You can drink it in, and you can leak it out.”
Kao was watching the Jango’s twinkly green eyes as he spoke, and suddenly understood.
“Alright” Kao said “one more time”
They faced eachother in the combat stance. This time Kao didn’t try to overpower
the old man. Instead he held him with his eyes, and drank him in.
He felt the old man struggle, but did not release him.
There was nothing his opponent could do, if he used his power to strike him, he would just be delivering more of himself to Kao’s control.
“Enough.” The old man grasped.
Kao let him go.
Every Blow I strike, makes me stronger
“My oh my, that was unpleasant.” Said Jango, sitting himself down.
“I’m sorry.” Said Kao.
“No need to be sorry, I had to make sure, and now I’m sure.”
“Sure of what?”
“Grey.” The old man said the sentence in a way that made Kao shiver.
“You are ready for him, but he has one more secret that could kill you.”
“What is this?” Kao’s eyes widened a bit.
“You must find that for yourself. But one more thing before you go. Look into my eyes”
Kao looked directly into Jango’s eyes, for a second he felt nothing, but when he looked harder, shock hit him, he almost fell over*****.
Jango nodded. “You must be going now.”
“But… but, so many questions”
“Too late, if I keep you much longer, the worst will happen”
Kao nodded.
Jango led him out of the Klysthe forest, and opened a teletrail portal.
Kao leaped through the portal without a second glance at Jango.

~^_^^

Kaotic landed in the grassy floor of the Klysthe forest, back in the present again. It was raining hard, and the ground was wet and muddy, thunder was going off, but Kao had one thing set in his mind
Grey.

*A practiced meditation using calm Klysthe powers
** You’ll find out you nosy old man
*** If you fight in the Klysthe forest, you must pay respect to the damage you may cause
****The retort
*****Hmm suspense > : D

by Guest Sun Feb 14, 2010 10:44 am

Rain continued pelting down by the truckload, with the wind whipping it in all sorts of unusual directions. The morning sun was covered by grey storm clouds, stretching to all horizons. Lightning cracked through the air, incinerating trees at random. The battle raged on, though Grey's army eventually began gaining the upper hand. As each wave was annihilated, two waves seemed to take their place, until eventually a single member was separated and eventually overwhelmed. Things seemed grim for TR.

***

Sparks flashed as the air around Weena and Gurpus was tempoarily displaced due to a particularly powerful blast of dark magic. Weena leapt up to a tree and swung around a particularly thick branch, a hot blue beam shooting from his feet on the return journey. A sphere of blackness emanated from Gurpus, negating the strike. He only just managed to straighten up and apparate his sword when Weena came down on him with his own sword. Their blades met, sparks flying in all directions as their blades criss-crossed, locked to each other. Gurpus slid back a metre or two from the initial impact, before reinforcing his strength. Dark magic rippled from him and he began forcing Weena back. In a split second, Weena had reached in to the Manaverse and brought through all mana necessary to create an equally powerful aura, if not slightly stronger. He pushed back, and sparks began to fly. Gurpus scowled and tried to put more in to his aura, ever so slowly pushing forward. Their swords began pulsing red and blue, the former being Gurpus's blade, and the latter Weena's. Electricity crackled in the air, the light coming from both Weena and Gurpus increasing steadily, until Weena sensed that the heat in the air was rising rapidly. Kicking off the ground, he flipped backwards in to the air, surprising Gurpus. He spent no time with smooth landings, and immediately hit the ground, unclenched his jaw, and clapped his hands to his ears. Gurpus stumbled forward, and fell flat on his face. He looked up, surprised at the position Weena was in. Then the realisation struck him. Literally.

The lightning came crashing down like a lead elephant to the ground. Even with his hands clapped to his ears, Weena could hear the shockwave like twenty gongs being hit simultaneously. The ground shook, and the mere shockwave of the hit rolled Weena back a few metres. Gurpus, however, was blasted in to the air, leaving a smoking trail behind him. Weena waited for a few seconds for the initial shock to pass by before standing up. He began to start walking to the massive crater the lightning had left when there was an explosion next to him.

He rolled in the opposite direction, coming up with his sword at the ready, only to deflect a mini-lightning bolt that came from somewhere to his top-left. He sent a blue energy beam in that direction before quickly taking cover behind a tree. A sudden maniacal laughter echoed all around Weena, sending shivers up his spine. "Thanks for the powers, Weena! They'll assist in your destruction. Hahahahaha!" Growling, Weena knew it was Gurpus. That guy seems to get even more powerful every time he takes a strong hit. First time, my mana blast restored his powers. Now, it seems he can control electrical currents, he thought to himself. I've got to figure out how to create the opposite effect. But first, let's fight fire, of in this case elecrticity, with fire.

Weena leapt up as high as he could, blasting blue energy from his feet in order to get maximum lift. Even through all the rain, he would be able to be spotted from miles away, thanks to the blue flashing lights. He was now the highest point below the crowds, and charged up with energy thanks to the mana blasting from his feet. The air suddenly warmed up, earlier than Weena expected, though it was enough time to prepare for the strike. The lightning hit him, and with his arms out, Weena absorbed the strike. The electricity spasmed his muscles a little bit, but soon he had them under control. He was about to dive down to confront Gurpus when out of nowhere, another lightning bolt hit him, and another, followed by what seemed like a hundred. He frantically tried to absorb them, but the raw power of it seemed to overload his system. His energy falted, and Weena began falling to the ground.

With the wind rippling in his face, he seemed to fall as fast as the rain, making it seem like he was in a zero-gravity environment, if it wasn't for the ground speeding towards him. It gave him time to think, as he still had a long way to go. And with a shocking realisation, it hit him like a hammer to the face. Grey summoned this storm. This war, it's not a war at all, it's more of a puppet show. We were all set up! This musn'tve been the war the Doused Phoenixes had predicted, but Grey must've found out and taken his chance. But that means... this is only a distraction! I've got to warn everybody! But first, this army needs to be taken care of.

Something within Weena unlocked at that very moment, and he surged with power. Though it cannot last, I'll do whatever I can to help end this "charade." And with that, he flipped around, and flew up to the sky. Sucking in a breath, he felt the power flow through him. It felt amazing, the power coursing through his body, his full power tempoarily unlocked by Grey's attempt to take him down. Remembering the words of a friend from earlier in his life, A single ArchMage in a war can turn the tide completely, Weena both wondered if he was really an ArchMage and what these powers can do. Sucking in a final breath, Weena threw his hands out in front of him, directing his newfound energy out.

Pure blue plasma shot from his hands down to the vast forest in which Grey's army was endlessly advancing. Somehow none of the flora was burned by the blinding light, yet it completely incinerated the emotionless servants. There was a flash of electricity and Weena noticed Gurpus blasting himself from the ground towards him. Spinning in the air, he kicked around, sending a massive wave of energy down below. Gurpus was helplessly swept up in it, like a two year old in a wave. After being sure that Gurpus was out of the picture, he turned towards the TR stronghold, where the rest of TR was fighting hopelessly against the never-ending waves.

"Hang on, guys," Weena muttered, firing a blinding bolt of plasma at the sky. For a second, nothing happened, until the clouds suddenly rippled, glowing gold as the enegry wave hit them. The goldness expanded in to the distance, and a second later, lightning struck in almost everwhere at once, like pillars from heaven. None of the bolts hit any trees, TR members, or the Stronghold, each landing a direct hit on large groups of Grey's minions.* The light faded, and it began raining again. Exhaling, Weena realised that sounds of battle could no longer be heard. He felt relieved for a second, then quickly realised that he'd just cursed them**. Hearing a loud cracking sound, he spun around, to his utmost horror. Perhaps this is not a charade, he thought to himself as he realised that they were in a lot of trouble.

A giant emotionless minion was rising from the ground, 100 metres tall and only in a crouching-ish position. It reared up to full hight, before giving a large loud rawr, fifty times louder than any thunder***. Weena even had to bring forth a mana shiel to prevent his eardrums from popping. Many surviving normal emotionless servants lumbered along with it, as it took an earthshaking step towards the TR Stronghold, followed by another, eventually settling to a groundshaking lumber. I've got to stop this thing, fast, Weena thought to himself.

He directed a mana blast right at it, expanding as it moved. The white-hot (well, blue-hot) beam engulfed the giant for a few seconds. For a moment, Weena thought he'd stopped it, until it continued walking forward, as though his beam was a mere squirt of water. Well, he thought to himself, We're boned.****

* Epic powers are epic
** Bad luck superstition. :o
*** WAR BOSS TIEM!
**** Repeditive much?

(I'm gonna stop rushing after this guy get's take out, yeah I admit I have been. Anyway, to ease the sting, there's still 30% of the army left for you all to own, so own away. And yeah, I'll stop godmodding. *makes an oath*)

by **Charon** Sun Feb 14, 2010 3:33 pm

The storm above the battlefield seemed to slightly part over the roof of the TR Fortress. A slender figure dived from the hole just as it was closing back up. Everyone on the roof watched him as he fell, face-first, towards them. At the last possible chance, he flipped his body upright and hit the roof, hard. He rose from his crouching position on his raised part of the roof that towered over the TR members. The ripped TR banner fluttered in the storm directly behind his silhouette. His eyes glowed white with a tint of blue. He stood in a power stance overlooking the sea of Cold Soldiers. As he turned to gaze upon TR, lightning struck, almost as if on cue, illuminating the dark figure. He was wearing a type of dark grey vest that covered his torso and left arm. The deadly mechanical right arm that was connected to his body gleamed brightly in the sudden flash. He had a scar underneath his right eye, and his snow white hair covered his left. His light grey boots were covered partially by two metal frames, and his dark pants were complemented by his custom belt. "Greetings, TR," he said. "Is there anything I may do to assist you?"

"First of all," Flawsie said, stepping forward from the mass of gaping clanmembers, "who are you?"

"They call me Kaien. And if Charon hasn't already told you, I have quite a flair for the dramatic." He flashed a grin and proceeded to leap up to a high spire of the fortress. He lifted his mechanical arm into the air in front of him and began to control the storm, sending streaks of lightning across the sky, painting the dark air with white light. It crashed into platoon after platoon of the emotionless grey warriors, searing them and sending them flying in all directions. "Well?" his voice boomed over the thunder, "aren't you going to help me?"

The awestruck clanmembers shook themselves and returned to the task at hand. Kaien sent one more bolt hurtling down upon the army and then jumped high into the air and plummeted down the side of the fortress. He began to run down the side of the wall and literally hit the grond running straight into the heart of enemy lines. He took the first Cold Soldier by the face with his right hand. The sky blue gem that was set into his palm glowed furiously as a shock erupted from it directly into the grey man. As he started to hack away at the oncoming threats with his long, golden claws, he couldn't help but smile.

by KageArashi Mon Feb 15, 2010 8:09 am

"Really?" A voice from above drew their attention. "I mean seriously, what the heck!"

Stuck to the ceiling was KageArashi, hanging upside down with a cloth full of food. Munching on a turdraken leg, he continued, "I mean, I set an army to kill itself. And then you guys all go 'RAWR I AM UBER! HEAR ME PWN YOU NOOBS'."

"Why -munch- is it -chomp- that you -chew- guys always -yummy- came -nom- AFTER I -swallow- try -nibble- take care of -vacuum noise- problem!" He ranted quickly devouring all his food.

Flawsie on the other hand deadpanned, thinking this was so like Kage.

"You have that ungodly Mage-dude-person*! Talk about overkill. He's just like PWN YOUR FACE with his mana. The you have that other Deus Ex Machina, the one who tried pulling of an impression of me with golden claws." Kage hopped down after he polished off the remaining food.

"Seriously, I take a short nap-" He started to pick his teeth with a pointy piece of bone.

"Dude, a short nap? You were gone for months?!" Flaw interrupted,

"-and i find this place nearly over run and in shambles?" Kage carried on like he wasn't even interrupted.

"Kids these days, all the flair for dramatics," Kage woefully muttered, "What happened tot he good old days with strategy and cunning."

Flaw on the other hand just facepalmed, and waited for Kage to finish. Once he get started, there's no stopping him.

"Geeze, this seems like the fairytail some kids randomly threw together." Kage stated unaware of the fourth wall he was breaking.

Shrugging, he turned around to face Flaw, who was still epically faceplaming. Raising one eye brow, he questioned, "So dude, what's up? Long time no see, eh?"

"Really Kitty? Now? In the amidst a huge battle?" Flaw stressing each word, as if trying to explain it to a three year old.

"Yeah man, I mean i did my part." Kage jerked his thumb in a direction behind him, indicating to the still self-destruction army.

Flaw, on the other hand, just froze. The only motion that indicated he was alive and not a statue was the twitch in his left eye. Raising his hands in a lost wringing motion, he started to growl.

"GAH!" He threw his hands up and stalked toward the battlefield, muttering angrily. He needed to vent, and those soldiers just volunteered to help.

"What's his problem?" Kage wondered scratching his head.

* Win?

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