Going Down

[ANGELxZER0]

Still warm air filled a grassy opening -though no sun could be seen- at the base of a mountain. Trees could be heard rustling in the distance, the opening was not natural. The normal rules for the air didn't apply. a pure smell lingered in the air, untainted, magical.

a few meters away from the magical barrier Xzia found himself cutting all sorts of plants from his path "Are you sure its around here?" He spoke to himself. following a trail of sparkling blue lights that only his eyes could see.

"I may be a bit off." A feminine voice rung in his head. another soul trapped in his mind.

"Useless." He responded stopping suddenly, putting his arm by his back his hand reached fay into a small pouch pulling out a flask longer than the pouch itself, drinking the water Xzia reached out and put his hand on a nearby tree to rest.

"Strange....its warm." Xzia moved around the tree running his hand along the warm bark, returning his water to his pouch. Soon his whole body was enveloped in the heat as he entered the clearing.

"See, I told you I knew where we were going, no need to thank me." the voice in his head sarcastically nagged. "What do you intend on finding here anyway? This place hasn't been used for years."

"A stone, a rare stone. My only hope of returning." Xzia replied looking around the clearing for anything potently dangerous, he already had to fight through several spiders and goblins to find this place, he could only hope the violence was over, but doubted it was.

[Squ]

“Wait up!”

Teefa’s voice came from the distance, she had fallen a bit behind, and it wasn’t the first time this had happened. Keeping up with Xzia was an ordeal by itself and too often it seemed like he was with his head in the clouds as he marched onward in a brisk pace while Teefa was still resting. “Please don’t wander off while I’m taking a short break”, she pouted after finally having caught up with Xzia, resting her hands on her knees after stopping to catch her breath “I can hardly keep up with you, it makes me think you are in some kind of rush to be somewhere.”

Carrying around her belongings slightly weighed Teefa down. Her staff was there for support, but the long walk made her drag it around, the end leaving a small trail on the ground as she moved. Although Xzia and Teefa had been travelling for a couple of hours since they passed the last settlement, it did seem like they’d been walking for days.

“I think I need to rest again...”

I might apply some changes later.

[ANGELxZER0]

Xzia turned to face Teefa, Closing his eyes then looking directly at her. "My apologies." Xzia still distracted, often peering into the dark cavern in the magical opening.

"We are just so close now, If all goes well I could be home." Xzia stated with enthusiasm before looking at the floor with thoughts of the attack that forced him out.

Xzia felt fine physically, the gems on his bod and clothes contained magical blessings, an ability passed down his race. His clothes were in perfect order, his hair never lost shape even in the harshest of winds and his equipment was light as most was stored in an otherworldly place.

"just leave her here, she is only slowing us down" sung a beautiful and pure voice in his head. The second soul attached to his body to replace the mana lost in his decent to the realm of other races.

"We will leave when you are ready, sister." Xzia said as he offered a smile towards Teefa, in there travels they had spoken much and Xzia felt himself compelled to this human girl and treated her as kin and addressing her in kind.

[Squ]

Giving Xzia a quick nod, Teefa casually dropped herself on the grass. A huff escaped her lips as she landed. After taking of her boots, she slowly stretched her legs, letting her feet slip through the cool and moist grass. She giggled as the blades tickled her toes. Placing her hands behind her for support, Teefa arched her back, relieving her body of its soreness; a brief moan emanated from within her.
“Just a little while longer” Teefa let out the words in one long breath of enjoyment as the sun was touching her face. She smiled at Xzia, eyes closed yet knowing where he was and that he was smiling back at her.

Some time passed and the shrill sound, made by cicadas, resonated all from all around. In the tranquility of her surroundings, Teefa forgot about the world around her for; it was all so peaceful –warm, relaxing and very inviting to spend an entire day of doing absolutely nothing. It was also this kind of tranquility that turned Teefa’s ‘little while longer’ into a ‘whole lot longer’.

Teefa, who was humming in her reverie, was suddenly snapped to her attention as a brief yet polite shrug sounded from Xzia’s throat. Slowly opening then blinking her eyes, Teefa gasped and placed her hand on her lips while staring at her elven friend; embarrassed that she dared to doze off so casually.

“I- I’m so sorry. I didn’t want to—“
She interrupted her sentence with a chuckle when her eyes met Xzia’s; She knew he wouldn’t mind. Besides, he had begun to appreciate the leisurely moments himself. It wasn’t long however before a weird snarling noise drew the attention of the two; It was a weird sound, seemingly coming from many directions. While wondering what it could be Teefa hurriedly put her boots on and rose to Xzia's side.

“What do you think that is?” Teefa asked half whispering as she looked about. Unable to determine where the noises where coming from, the fact remained that they were drawing closer and closer. With one hand firmly around her staff and another clutching Xzia's shirt, she nervously waited for whatever was making the noise to show up; her companion could do nothing but the same.

_

[Scout]

He had been watching the two for a while now, hiding in the trees above. Waiting for the right moment to strike, he kept an eye on Kiro, his wolf spirit, and the targets. Kiro was circling them both growling. Grok took an arrow from his quiver and readied it in his bow, he spotted one of them moving suspiciously and decided to take aim.

The bear emerged from the woods and charged at the two people that Grok had spotted some time ago. Before ether of them had a chance to react the bear stood up on its hind legs and started to take a swipe at them. Seeing his chance Grok fired the arrow without a second thought, the arrow sliced through the air at tremendous speed before going through the bears paw. The bear was thrown to the side, falling onto the paw with the arrow in it. The arrow snapped under the bears weight and as it let out a massive roar of pain Krio saw his opportunity and emerged from the woods and pounced on the bear to deliver the final blow. Grok was still hiding in the trees waiting for the second foe to strike.

Both Grok and Kiro noticed the second foe trying to attack the two strangers from behind. Kiro charged at the two, as they took up a defensive stance ready to strike him the second foe, a wolf, dived over them. Both Kiro and the wolf pounced at each other biting and snapping at the air when they missed. Kiro took a fatal blow to the neck and had to jump back and rest. Seeing that he was in danger, Grok rushed down the tree and began to make his way towards where Kiro was lying. As he got into sight of them both the other wolf began to charge at Kiro, Grok quickly pulled an arrow from his quiver and fired it a bit in front of Kiro. The wolf pounced and just before he landed on Kiro, it was thrown back as the arrow pierced through its stomach. Grok emerged from the trees, attached his bow to the belt on his quiver and drew his dagger. He approached the wolf and thrusted the blade into its chest. He removed the arrow from its stomach and returned it to its quiver after wiping the blood off it. He turned to Kiro, "Come on, back in you go. You need to heal." Kiro dispersed and entered Groks chest. Noticing that he was being watched he turned and faced the two.

Sheathing his dagger, he turned to face the two that he had "saved". At closer inspection he realized they could have handled it themselves. Seeing this he decided to introduce himself. "Hi" he said, not knowing how to introduce himself properly as he had spent most of his life talking to ogres.
He looked at them both, waiting for a reply...

[ANGELxZER0]

Xzia readied himself when attacked by the bear, summoning a blade to his left hand striking a defensive pose, but it was soon over. He heard another snarl behind him and turned to face it but again he was too slow, it was already removed by a mysterious creature.

Not convinced that the mysterious attacker wouldn't turn his attention to them Xzia quickly summoned his second blade and was ready to attack. As the new person entered and the creature vanished Xzia stood, unwilling to return his weapons to the void. For a moment he stared at the strangest of humans, He had studied long on humans and had never once seen one that looked quite like this. He appeared as if he was part beast himself.

"Thank you for your aid though it was not needed, who are you stranger? I have never seen your kind." demanded Xzia, skipping pleasantries and acting higher up than what he assumed was a mere barbarian.

Xzia let his arms slack lightly to hide the fact he was ready for combat, His glare however was everlasting.

"What the hell is that thing? It's hideous, look away I don't want to see it anymore, If I could be sick, I would." The voice in Xzia's head mocked. Being removed from the gem was a blessing, the spirit would have got them in a lot more trouble if everyone could here it. Still, it had its ways to make Xzia's life hell. Like the time he made Teefa walk through a bandit camp, or the spiders nest, even trying to make them go into a cave full of goblins.

[Scout]

"Im not supprised that you havent seen any of my kind, cause im the only one." He looked at him, he noticed that although he was in a relaxed stance, his blades were still out. He decided to introduce himself while going about his business.

"My name is Grok'Nath Bonesplitter" he said as he drew his dagger again and knelt down next to the bear. He dragged the corpse and placed it so that he could keep an eye on the male. He laid the bear on its back, "I am human, but i was taken in by a tribe of ogres and given this name. That is also why my skin is darkened and i have one red eye." He stabbed the blade into the bears chest, "stupid ogres! they tought they could put some of their blood into me without harm, i became sick for 3 months... it was hell."

The gem on the dagger becan to glow, and then shone brightly as the soul of the bear came spiraling up the blade. It was like a jelly fish: a small blue blob at the top with multicoloured teticle like things trailing behind it. Grok removed the dagger and stood upright. Holding his arms out asif he was being pulled apart, the tattoo on his chest glowed underneath his shirt. The spirit was sucked into it in a spiral. once the spirit had entered him he dropped to the floor, breathing heavily. He noticed the two staring at him and knew there was going to be questions to answer.

[ANGELxZER0]

"What is a strange weapon for a human to possess, such an enchantment on a gem so small." Xzia spoke to himself still with his blades still readied.

"Why does such small game draw you out so such a remote place hunter?" Xzia asked curiously. In a magical glade, many hours from the nearest establishment, so overgrown that clearly few traveled that way.

Xzia was close to his goal, he was close to a Chamber of Portal created by his race. Soon he could get home. Despite his questioning he could hardly care less for the response, all that really mattered was continuing onward. However he did not want to just leave his human companion, especially one he found himself caring for.

It suddenly occurred to him. Since the sudden attack he hadn't heard her voice. breaking his gaze and un-summoning his blades to the endless void Xzia turned and faced his companion. "Sister, are you harmed?" Xzia asked sincerely, placing his hand gently on under her shoulder, resting it on her arm.

[Squ]

sorry it took a while, I've been ill the entire week so I wasn't really capable to spend time behind my system. Anyway, on with the story.

With a bewildered look in her eyes, Teefa had witnessed the unusual events with open mouth. First a bear came crashing to the scene which was, needless to say, scary, but a strange lad appeared at the scene and ended its vicious attacks rather quickly. If that wasn't strange enough, the stranger performed some kind of ritual that looked both brutal and interesting. Snapping to her senses as Xzia adressed her, Teefa scratched the back of her head.

"Uh, yeah... I'm fine, thank you. I don't know what just happened, but I guess we'll be getting an explanation... Right?"

Looking at Xzia and then at the young man that had appeared at the scene, she smiled nervously.

"What was that aura we saw?"

[Scout]

"Actually i was passing through, i was searching for a human encampment, but as i went deeper and deeper into the glade i realized that the encampment i came across was the last one for miles." The last one he came across was abandoned, it looked as if it had been raided and that it had recently happened.

"You two are the only people I have seen for about a month now, I have been traveling, searching for human encampments, but each one I have come across has been ether abandoned or the whole place was littered with bodies." He didn't know who or what had raided them.

"Grok I sense something in the male, something odd, i cant put my paw on it but Im sure he has another soul inside him." Kiro talked to him, he didn't talk often while he was inside Grok.

He turned and looked at the female that appeared to be traveling with the male, "And that aura you saw, that was the bears soul. This dagger allows me to remove it and i can then absorb it to feed Kiro, my wolf spirit." He sighed and looked at the other wolf,
"Its a long story that i don't feel like going into, i don't know you both that well to tell you." He turned so that he could see them both.
"so why don't we start with your names?"

[ANGELxZER0]

Xzia couldn't care less about small talk with with the hunter and the only thing stopping him from slitting his throat and continuing towards the cave was the presence of Teefa.

Xzia turned to face the cave and took 2 steps towards it. "Xzia and this is Teefa. Now if you are done we have somewhere to be." Xzia said coldly caring nothing for the hunter.

"Just leave the dumb looking humans, such silly little creatures don't deserve your time." the spirit inside of him spoke with more hate in her voice than Xzia carried.

Flicking his wrist and extending his fingers wide impatiently, the voice in his head was starting to make sense, that was a scary sign. The soul's given to the young warriors were often long dead warriors sealed to gems against there will to help the next generation learn to use there abilities fully. This often meant they were full of hatred towards everything.

[Squ]

Just before Teefa could reply, Xzia had already answered the young man's question for her. She blinked, wondering why there was such a cold undertone in Xzia's voice.

"It is nice to make your acquaintance, Grok'Nath. Um... you will have to forgive us, we did not expect anyone to show up here, so that is why we were a little on edge, especially my friend here. We have been traveling together for a while now."

Teefa smiled as she turned her head to Xzia. In a way she felt she had to express kind words on behalf of him.

"So, um, what will you be doing now?" she asked Grok'Nath.

[Scout]

He nodded at them both, "nice to meet you."
He stared at xzia, noticing him glaring into the distance past him,he turned his head to try and figure out what he was staring at, but all he could see was a dark cave. He wondered at what would be so important inside the cave.

He paused, at turned back to look at Teefa as she explained their behaviour. He then stoped and looked arround, "Heh, I don't know what I'll be doing now, you two are the only people i have seen in a while now."

He looked at the two again, and then at his surroundings. Xzia was still staring into the cave, so Grok decided to ask Teefa as she seemed to be the nicer of the two and Xzia had earlier looked asif he wanted to kill Grok. "Would it be possible for me to journey with you two?"
He paused again and looked at Xzia, he had not heard the question and was still facinated with the cave. "I have no where else to go and would like some one to talk to rather than just Kiro..."
"HEY, whats wrong with me?" Kiro's voice echoed in his head,
"and im sure you both would like to know more about me as i do you, Xzia doesn't seem to be human and i am interetsed as to why you travel with him Teefa."

He looked arround, he thought that it would be better to travel with someone who has a purpose than wonder through this glade much longer. "So Teefa, may Ijoin you both?"

[Squ]

Listening carefully to the hunter's request, Teefa occasionally glanced at Xzia. This was obviously more his decision than it would be hers. Not seeing any harm in taking another companion along and the fact that the young man had saved them from a vicious animal attack, Teefa nodded but pointed her finger up at the air, giving indication for the young man to hold on just a moment.

"We would not mind some extra company, right?" Teefa looked expectantly at Xzia, hoping he wouldn't mind "maybe he can help each other with the things we're looking for" she added, thinking it would help make the decision a little easier.

[ANGELxZER0]

"I hardly need help getting home now, the room is but meters away...However, what will you do once I get there...He may come, providing you hurry it up!" said Xzia, turning to smile at Teefa.

"Human.." Xzia said in reference to Grok, not willing to remember his name. "...we are looking for an enchanted gem that will teleport me home, I hope you can understand that. Apparently this is a portal chamber created many years ago. We would already be in there if you hadn't interrupted." Xzia would say anything just to get them moving but no matter how annoyed he got, he simply looked to Teefa and was able to bare the strange humans intrusion a moment longer.

[Zetsubou]

Tucking a furry fluffball to her chest, and gripping an old oak with her other arm, a young girl was almost blown away by the storm. The only thing stopping her from being projected into the open and ripped to shreds by the ferocious winds, was her tight grip on a few branches. Tears had come to her eyes already, and she had only been exposed to the rain, wind, thunder and lightening for a few moments. But still, she couldn't give up, so she pushed herself from one the oak to another smaller oak, using her body weight to try and cross the gap unscathed. As the wind whistled through her ears and the force knocking her into the tree bark, she looked down at the furball in her arms. "We're going to die.." It whimpered, hardly heard over the ferocious storm, but the girl frowned and shook her head slightly, and pulled the squirrel closer to her body.

Fearlessly moving from one tree to the next, the girl's cheeks now started to bleed from the twigs and leaves whipping her face like razors. "Look.." And as the girl raised her head, she looked through the wisps of pink hair and her eyes focused on an area not affected by the storm. "What The.." But the squirrel sunk its incisors into her arm and as she yelped, it roared at her, "Don't just stand there! Go for it!" Glaring at the creature, the female rushed forward, rain pelting her face like needles under her fair skin.

Bursting through the barrier, windswept and wet, the young Dryad dropped the squirrel awkwardly, whom landed heavily. Shaking itself dry, it turned and brushed the specks of water off it's tail before turning to face the exhausted child. "Zetsubou? You're absolutely insane to go running throu-" But the girl held out a hand, "Shh, Nym." The squirrel scurried up her arm, knowing there was a reason for silencing him, and curled around her neck. She slunk around the three people, then hid behind another oak, but this time a nice leaved healthy one, and peered around the bark. 'A teleportation stone, eh...?

[Scout]

"Yes, yes ok we wil go now then, seeing as how your so impatient" despite the fact that he also wanted to get rid of Xzia, and he quicker they went into the cave the better, although he did enjoy the company.He stepped aside holding his arm out, pointing towards the cave as if to signal them both to lead on. He turned and had one last look arround, seeing nothing out of the ordinary he focused back onto the two who were looking at him, just staring at him.

"what are they looking at.. do i have something on my face?" he thought to himself,
"no they are just wondering why you are holding your arm out like that" kiro mocked him in his head, before they both turned to a tree in the distance, Grok lowered his arm.
"you can sense them too... dont let onto the others, im sure they mean us no harm, and Xzia will probibly start a fight, hes been dieing to since we showed up." Grok turned arround, looked at the two and began to walk towards the cave.

[ANGELxZER0]

All three walked in silance towards the cave, the entrance was pitch black but after a meter in there was an abundance of light. Crytals scattered the walls and illuminated everything in a veriaty of amaizing colours that were hard to describe.

The runes scattered across Xzia's body began to react with the chamber and shine so brightly they could be seen through his white leather clothes.

The hard course rocks quickly became a smooth white glowing wall as they continued on down the narrow passage. Eventualy all three came to a huge chamber, the walls were white and smooth like the corridor had become and there were gems floating above pedistals spread throughout. Strange technolagy littered the room.

Without saying a word Xzia smiled to himself and bagan to walk around the huge circumfrance of the room.

"Soon." He said hapily as he searched around for any sign of life or the thing that would get him home.

[Squ]

"What an interesting looking cave" Teefa said quietly as to not disturb the tranquility inside the cave. Looking in amazement at all the strange gems floating above pedestals, she wondered how no one else seemed to know about this place. Xzia was glowing himself as if he was in harmony with the unseen energies within the room. Although Teefa did not understand why this cave was here, she knew it held great importance to Xzia.

"So, if this place will help you get back home, what will happen once you get there?" Teefa asked, wondering also if the cave had other purposes.

[ANGELxZER0]

Xzia stopped and began to mess about with some strange looking rune technology. "Well, hopefully it will teleport me home, but I have little experience with these things so I could die." Xzia said with great ease, not afraid of death.

Xzia pushed down on the side and as he did more gems rose from a block beside him. He examined the gems intently, studying each one in great detail. "This one!"

He scanned the room one more time and moved to another white runic device. "When I get home however, I guess I will say there. First things first, I've got to get there first." Xzia recited, slamming down on another button. The circular disc in the center began to glow brighter than the rest of the room, Above it 6 stones began to rotate around one larger stone, all different colors.

"Almost ready." Xzia said walking over and marveling at the half open portal. A magical white light appeared above the disc and below the gems, rotating and fluxing.

[Zetsubou]

Zetsubou looked out from behind the oak, and then snuck out from behind it, a frown ruining her pretty features. Sneaking over to the cave, she peered inside, fascinated at first by the jewels in the walls, and followed the three humans making hardly any sound. When they arrived at the large room however, she had to flick her hair out of her eyesight to take in the whole view. The bright blue of her large eyes sparkled similar to the beautiful gems rotating in the air. It all looked so... valuable, and, 'Easy to steal...'
The squirrel looked up at her fair face and nodded, understanding the thin line that curved at one end on her face. Her smirk. The young girl slunk into the room, her wooden bangle on her right wrist hitting the wall quietly as she stayed behind them, obscure form view and near the walls.

[Scout]

Grok hadn't said anything since they entered the cave, he was stunned by the bright glow of the gems. He had seen treasure before, but nothing like this, the most that was brought back from the ogres raids were neclaces, rings and sometimes the odd crown.

When they entered the room he started to wonder arround, looking at everything all of the runic buttons that xzia had pressed, he was looking the other way when the large disk shone in the room but it quickly grabbed his attention. He watched as Xzia continuosly pressed random buttons and the disks glowed and rotated, he thought to himself "Xzia must belong to the race that made this room as he knows what he is doing, ether that or hes just pressing random buttons and is going to get us all killed if he slips up"

He hadn't thought about the being that he had senced outside the cave, he was too distracted to care. He was still thinking about what Kiro had said though, about Xzia having another being inside him, just like Grok has. He began to wonder how it got into him and why Xzia alowed it to stay there, if he wanted it that. He stopped thinking about everything as the disks began to speed up, he could hear the wind circling him, the disks began to glow brighter and slowly moved up and down.

"Are you sure you know what your doing Xzia?" he coulnt hear him, but he knew that he was going to find out soon enough.

[ANGELxZER0]

With a quick grin akin to a mad man Xzia stepped on the glowing white circular pedestal and the gems rotating above it came down to surround him quickening there rotation.

"This is goodbye, maybe." Xzia said as he raised his hand above a stationery gem. Slamming his hand down there was instantly a blinding light that filled the room and engulfed everything.

Looking up to see bright clear blue sky and looking down to see endless waves of pure white clouds. Seeing the familiar sight of his home and the architecture of his people, unfortunately Xzia didn't see what he wanted. Instead he found himself face down on the ground feeling like he had fell 1000 miles and just landed, unable to even open his eyes for a moment never mind stand up. Forcefully he pushed himself up and slowly opened his eyes, in the distance he could see the buildings of his home but the sky above was definitely not blue. His vision quickly came back and he took a closer look at the 'sky,' it was a blue-black like the night sky but it had no stars and it looked solid.

Looking to the ground he saw an orange glow coming from gaps in the floor, one was close by. Walking over and looking down Xzia saw raging magma flowing some distance down, despite the buildings this was definitely not his home.

Breathing in, he felt a cool air that was surprising since he was surrounded by magma though he was some distance away from any buildings the magical effect of his people still reached him. "Where am I?" he asked himself, forgetting about the annoyance inside head.

"We are home" said the beautifully irritating voice in Xzia's head.

"No, my home is on top of a mountain way above the clouds, this is...is.." Xzia didn't know where it was, he had never seen anything like this.

"Underground. This is MY home, "Seb'o'rath.""

"You tricked me! why? Seb was abandoned before i was even born." Xzia asked agitated, hastily looking for a way to teleport back.

"It was taken by the ones that attacked your city, I was hoping you could remove them as one last request." for the first time since Xzia had the soul with him it seemed to show emotion, all the hate that Xzia felt towards it suddenly vanished as it asked him sincerely for a favor.

The sound of dust and stones shifted behind Xzia, he wasn't alone in this dark abandoned city. Quickly turning and summoning his blades to his defense he saw the others that were in the room with him, and a girl he had never seen before, However his attention was focused on Teefa dashing towards her, doping his blades instead of un-summoning them, and kneeling beside her.

"Sister!? are you ok, Sister!?" Xzia asked repeatedly, worried about her greatly. He remembered what he felt like after just coming back from the teleport, his race was used to such vast magical energies but he didnt know how a human would take it. He couldn't care less about the others.

[Zetsubou]

Groaning quietly, Zetsubou felt like she had just ran straight into a wall, or fell into a solid floor.
Oh wait, she had.

A small squeak emitted from under her body, and she felt fur rub against her chest, causing a strange sensation which she found uncomfortable. Holding back tears of pain, she raised her hand to her nose and wiped away the small dribble of blood.
"Will you please get off me?!" Another squeak sounded, and she gently lifted herself up, just enough of a gap between her body and the rock floor for the squirrel to crawl out. Then she slumped back down onto her stomach, unable to bring herself to move. "Where are all the jewels?"
The squirrel folded it's arms, and stamped its furry foot in her face, "You're in an underground area, where you've never been before after some weird teleportation, AND YOU'RE ASKING WHERE THE JEWELS ARE?!"
Zetsubou raised a pink eyebrow and mumbled, "Shut up. I needed those gems...", then Nym turned away, "I'm not listening! No! I'm not looking at you! You disgust me!"

[Scout]

He had tried to exit the room when Xzia stepped onto the pedestal, as he reached the entrance we was blinded by a geat white light. Continuing to walk, he suddenly fell as the weight of his raised foot became immense. His body was pulled forwards, still blinded he wasn't able to figure what had happened, and before he could, BANG, he smashed his head of a hard surface in front of him. He stumbled backwards and fell over something on the floor, as he landed his vision came back in a flash, all he could see before him was a solid blue-black jagged wall.

He looked around, stunned by what he was now faced by, the ground below him was cracked and a strange orange glow was emanating from them, the air was cool and in the distance he could see what appeared to be the others. He knew then that Xzia had messed up and had sent not only them all, but to the wrong place. He wanted an explanation, he got up but only made it a few steps forward before he began to pass out and fell to the floor, he had obviously forgot about hitting his head off the wall. His vision started to go blurry but he could just make out a small person near him and what appeared to be a small animal. He could work it out, trying to do so, he passed out fully.

[Squ]

Not sure exactly what had happened, Teefa got up from the cold hard surface of the ground she had fallen on. Luckily, she did not fall hard, but still sufficient enough to end up with a bit of a sore bottom. Xzia had extended his hand to support her. Feeling disoriented, Teefa whipped her head around while wondering where she was. This surely was a strange and unusual place; it was nothing like she had ever seen before. It was dark and gloomy and seemed neither welcome nor inviting.

“Oh my goodness, are you okay?” Teefa crouched down next to Grok’nath as he appeared to have lost his consciousness. Carefully placing her hand on his forehead, she began to channel her energies in order to recover him. As Teefa let her powers do their work, she saw something moving in the corner of her eye; turning her head she noticed a small child sitting on the ground next to the group.

“Oh, hello there. Are you from this place?” Teefa asked while giving the unusual looking child a warm smile.

[Zetsubou]

Looking up suprised, the little girl sat up quickly and she flinched, "Uh.." Her large blue eyes darted around for somewhere to go. 'I don't even know this place! What am I thinking? I'll have to stay here, with this lot.'
Changing the subject, she looked down at Grok'nath on the floor, and asked politely, "Is he going to be okay? He kinda, fell over me." But the look on Teefa's face showed she couldn't get away with changing this subject.
Turning back she grabbed her squirrel companion by his tail and dragged him close to her, whilst he squeaked hysterically. "Well, um, no, I'm not from here. I got brought here by... him." Then she pointed at Xzia and slightly glared towards him.

She stood up shakily, brushing off her green garments whilst Nym scurried up her arm to sit on her shoulder. "But, I wasn't in that cave to steal anything! No, really!" Then Nym rolled his beady eyes and whispered, "Gave it away now, haven't you?"
Zetsubou blushed silently, before looking back up at Teefa with a sweet smile, blood trickling from her nose to her chin which she hadn't bothered to wipe. "I mean, I'm from the woodland surrounding the area in which the cave was. I.. live in those woods, and I was curious."

The squirrel grinned under his fur and whispered in her pointy ear, "That should of worked. Congratulations."

[Squ]

“Oh, I see. I guess I didn’t notice you were around before we entered this cave” Teefa responded “Are you a friend of Grok’Nath?” Still gently pressing her hand against Grok’Nath’s forehead, she noticed a sense of weariness as she channeled her energies. “Don’t worry, he will be okay” she said reassuringly.

Teefa turned her head to Xzia, looking at him with questioning eyes. What had happened? Why was everyone here? How to get back home? With all the strange events that had been taking place, those were the things she wanted to know.

After completing the healing technique, Teefa rose from her crouched position. Grok’Nath would wake any moment if everything was done right. After standing up, she slowly walked up to the little girl with the squirrel. Slowly she gently wiped the blood from the girl’s face.

“So, tell me, what is your name little one?”

[Scout]

He woke up slowly, the pain from the blow had gone. Not getting up he looked arround. He could see Teefa not to far away talking to someone. He knew then that she had healed him and that the person he saw before he passed out wasn't a hallucination. Still not atempting to stand he rested his head on the floor and stared at the blue-black roof, it looked just like the sky. He remained there for a while, not moving, he didn't doubt Teefa's healing ability, he just thought that he should'nt move for a while and he didn't want to disturb the conversation she was having.

Although he did want to know where Xzia had gone, after all he was still anoyed that he had dragged everyone down into this hell with him. But still, his body refused to move. So, giving in, he rested there until his body would allow him to move and give Xzia what he deserved

[Zetsubou]

The little girl blinked as she wiped away the blood and mumbled, "Thank you..." then looked over at Nym. The squirrel leant forward and sniffed Teefa cautiously, then nodded at the Dryad on which he was sitting. "My name is Zetsubou Birii, and this is Nym." When saying 'Nym' she pointed at the squirrel with her thumb, who bowed in Teefa's presence. Zetsubou continued, "He's a bit of loudmouth, so ignore him when you need to." and the squirrel stopped halfway through his bow and straightened up with a glare at the little girl who replied quickly to the furry creature, "She just had to be warned!"

Whilst Nym got into a hissy fit again, Zetsubou shrugged, brushing her pink hair out of her face before asking, "And, who is Grok'Nath? I know no-one of that name." Then she looked at the cracked hardened magma floor, "Actually, I don't know anybody.."
Then she added happily, "You seem nice, unlike, these two.." As she spat 'these two' she motioned to Grok'Nath and Xzia. Well, one had fallen over her, and the other had sent her to somewhere scary, both hurting her in the process of these acts. How was she meant to feel?

[ANGELxZER0]

Xzia felt rather ignored but felt he needed to apologize. Standing up after Teefa he walked over to Grok's head and bent over so they could see eye to eye. "There called walls, you should try to avoid them." Xzia said sarcastically with a grin, he wasn't used to being around people so tried to set a good mood with a joke though uncertain if it would work. "Though...it is my fault your here, and I'm sorry, it will be explained in time, just for now please forgive me."

Leaving grok to laze about on his back, Xzia moved cautiously towards the two girls. Teefa was yet to say a word to Xzia that made him uncomfortable and feeling like he had done something severely wrong. "I..." he interrupted there conversation "I'm sorry, both of you. I didn't mean for that too happen.." Xzia continued to explain hesitantly. "I was tricked by the second spirit that dwells in me. None of you should have been drawn in and least of all you..." Xzia looked towards Zetsubou with sincerity in his face, he really was sorry. He felt useless being outsmarted, betrayed and tricked by something without a body. "...you had nothing to do with this, I'm sorry."

Xzia's sensitive ears had heard the conversation between Teefa and Zetsubou and the lies Zetsubou had been telling. "However, I do know where we are and I do know away back, not only that but you will be able to see even bigger and brilliant gems than that one. Ok?" Xzia said with a smile trying to make up for his mistakes and put on a false face.

Knowing where he was filled him with hope and despair because though the city was famous amongst his people for its advanced rune technology and amazing minerals un-earthed. The city was wiped out in a single night and no one knows why apart from that was the same night that the void appeared and probably still remained.

[Zetsubou]

Zetsubou looked up at Xzia, her eyes sparkling mischieviously. Even Nym looked up and raised a furry brown eyebrow. "Bigger jewels...?" The little girl asked fascinated, her face locked in an awestruck expression. She couldn't even imagine bigger gems, and in her mind bigger gems were the size of a boulder! The squirrel's beady eyes glistened like the jewels themselves as he too imagined giant treasures.
"Well, can you take me back, when I have the jewels then?" She asked eagerly then shook her head, "I mean, I'm Zetsubou!" Nym was now mumbling under his breath about everything he could buy, until the little girl pushed him off her shouder roughly.

She looked back at Teefa, then at Xzia, then back and forth between the two, then asked blushing, "You two a couple?" She didn't really want an answer to that question. She dreaded the answer 'yes' and even the squeaking squirrel could see the sorrow filling her eyes as she awaited an answer.

[Scout]

He would have punched him in the face, if his body still wasnt frozen up. He watched as he went over to the other two and listened to what he had to say. "The soul inside him tricked him down here? well, ill just have to do something about that," he said to himself. He began to get up, very slowly, his body felt very heavy, as if it was being pulled down. Eventually he stood up, stretched and shook off the various bits of rubble that was on him. He then turned to Xzia and drew his dagger.

He walked towards him, clenching the dagger tightly. He tapped him on the shoulder, Xzia turned to face him and so did the others. "I'm going to enjoy this.." He plunged the dagger into Xzia's chest, The gem began to shine, two slouls emmerged from his chest, one blue and one a mixture of orrange and red. Assuming that Xzia followed the normal colour of souls that he had extracted before he returned the blue one to his body. Xzia felt to the floor with an almighty crash.

The other soul was still floating arround, he needed to find a place to put it and quick before it entered him. He didnt want something that tricked Xzia inside him, seeing a gem on Xzias arm that looked slighly cracked, he forced the soul into it, hoping that the crack wouldnt allow it to escape. He turned to Teefa and Zetsubou, both of them were horrified and confused as to what he just did.

"Teefa!" He shouted, she instantly snapped out of it and looked up at him,
"your going to need to heal him, and I would say you do it quickly before he dies" He stared at her, wating for her to move.

"come on... times running out for him..."

[ANGELxZER0]

The dagger plunged though his chest, exiting the other side, His white blood covered Zetsubou. as he gasped all the runes on his body turned black loosing all power. Falling to his knees, he punched the ground breaking 2 of his knuckles as well as the stab wound.

His eyes narrowed and he stopped breathing, Grok could have chose somewhere better to stab but no, right in the center of his chest.

As the soul entered the gem if flashed brightly once then dispersed, the gem would have to be repaired before anything could happen and now it had another crack. Reaching out to grab Grok. Xzia's body stopped moving on the ground as he continued to loose blood.

[Zetsubou]

As the blood hit her, Nym darted under her olive green cloth skirt as Zetsubou's face showed nothing but a blank expression. Then she felt it, she felt it rise in her lungs. There was no need to hold it back...
"THIS IS SO DISGUSTING!"

Nym put his hands over his furry ears as she screamed words that were incomprehensible, but most coud be described as words she shouldn't even know for her age. Jumping up she cringed as she wiped the blood off, as for some reason it became stickier than normal blood, attaching to her hand like spider webs. It was a bit like the pus from wounds, but that was understandable as his blood was higher with white bloods cells than red ones causing the change of colour, and density. "This is gross, I am not enjoying this! Heal him, Teefa, so I can actually hit him!"

[Squ]

The shock from seeing Xzia being stabbed slowly dissipated as Teefa realized she had to act fast in order to save her friend’s life. Despite the confusion, she quickly placed both of her hands on Xzia’s chest and closed her eyes. Focusing her mind, Teefa's body experienced a sensation that was similar to that of falling from great heights; it was unlike anything that she had ever felt before. Trying hard to ignore that what she felt, she concentrated on Xzia’s life force; It was fading away.

“Xzia! Hang in there!” Gritting her teeth, Teefa desperately tried to channel her energies, but she was not very experienced with wounds of this severity. Why did Grok’Nath do what he did? And why after doing so did he ask Teefa to heal Xzia? What was going on? It all didn’t make any sense at all, and neither did it matter at this point; her friend was dying and she was the only one that could do something about it.

It was intense. Teefa wanted to cry out if she could, but she had to stay concentrated. Pouring in waves of energy, she felt that her body was growing weaker. Slowly, yet surely, Xzia’s wound began to heal. “Just a little bit... more” Teefa said under her breath. Her arms began to shake and her head began to lower between her shoulders “just a little...”

The bleeding had stopped, and the deep stab wound was now replaced by a small scar. Teefa had successfully healed Xzia. Grok’Nat, Zetsubou and a half-wary Xzia all looked at her as she stood up from the ground. “I’m glad—“she said in a daze before collapsing to the ground.

Teefa!

[Scout]

"I guess i shouldn't have stabbed him so hard" he looked at the scar and then at Teefa, she had passed out from the healing, he then looked at the shock that was still on Zetsubou's face, she was horrified to begin with that he had stabbed Xzia, but now he had caused Teefa to colapse aswell, his first impression wasn't going well, not on the girls anyway.

Only Xzia and Grok knew what he had done and why, athough Xzia will be mad that he stabbed him, hard, right in the center of his chest, he will appreciate what Grok had done.... eventually.

[Zetsubou]

Turning quickly, Zetsubou forgot all about the horrible sticky goo that was Xzia's blood, and was now concentrating on Teefa. "Teefa?" She asked quietly, Nym scurrying out from under her skirt to run over to the human's face. Then he jumped onto her chest and pressed his ear against it, "She's still breathing, and her heart is still beating. I think she'll be okay, Zetsu." The little girl nodded and shuffled over to near her upper half, raising it gently onto her lap, her right arm supporting her head - so when she awoke she close see there was someone there, and the other holding her onto her knees to stop her from falling onto the charred floor. She didn't trust the other two, especially the big ugly one, and Teefa was the only person that she could relate to. She was almost mother-like... "Please be okay, Teefa."

Nym scurried off of her chest and ran over to Xzia, poked him to see if he moved, then kicked his arm. "Nope, still unconcious." Then looked up at Grok'nath and smirked, "Not a good start is it? You've really upset Zetsubou, and she's a strong kid, you know. So, you just stay here and make sure Xzia wakes up, so you can feel his fury afterwards. Don't worry though, I'll be getting a kick out of it." Then he grinned, little sharp incisors poking out from between his furry lips then darted back to Zetsubou to check on Teefa.

[Scout]

It was funny, Grok had never been ordered arround by a squrriel before, but it was right, he had made a bad start. But what could he do, they wouldn't belive anything he said untill Xzia had awoken to explain things. He sat down next to Xzia, looked at Teefa, and then began to pick up small stones from the floor and drop them down the cracks, listening to them drop into the magma, occasionally one would sizzle. He did this to occupy himself, there was nothing he or Zetsubou could do untill the other 2 awakened.

Remebering why he had stabbed Xzia in the first place, Grok began to think up his own sarcastic remark to say to him when he awoke, although it was hard to think up a sarcastic way of saying 'I just stabbed you', but he was still going to try, and failing that he would just simply say 'I just stabbed you' and smile, just to try and Infuriate him.

[ANGELxZER0]

Xzia's breath all came back at once and his eyes opened wide, the runes on his body began to glow and fluctuate like crazy, never staying the same brightness. The first thing he saw was a smiling Grok. Xzia didn't take the time to think about why he stabbed him, all he could think about was that Grok was trying to kill them all, stabbing someone clean in the chest without warning.

Xzia's eyes were filled with chaos rage, leaving only his pupils to be see. Without warning Xzia decided to return the favor of a surprise attack. His left hand shot out and grabbed Grok's neck, pushing all his body weight forward Xzia forced Grok to back off where Xzia continued to push into his neck slamming it into the ground. Though he was physically weak it was enough with the surprise to overpower him.

Summoning a blade to his free right hand Xzia moved the blade close to Grok and took the time to look around, Seeing Teefa on the ground only filled him with more rage. He barely fought the rage to kill him as instead he wanted answers.

"Why?" He asked simply with his eyes closed, slowly opening his grip with his left hand tightened.
"What have you done to her!" Xzia shouted at the top of his foice when he was but a few feet away from Grok's face.

[Scout]

Not what he had expected, he thought Xzia to be too weak to be able to push him to the ground and keep him there, especially after he had just been healed. Xzias grip tightened in Groks silence so he tried to explain, he thought that Xzia would have understood.

"The soul... inside you... i took it out... and put... it into... the gem" He stared into Xzia's rage filled eyes, "then... i told.. Teefa... to heal.. you..... She passed... out... when you... were healed...."

He was running out of breath, Xzia hadnt loosened his grip and Groks airwaves were almost closed. He had to do something before he was strangled to death. Testing Xzia's stregnth, he grabbed his arm with the blade drawn and threw him off,ripping some of Xzia's sleve off in teh process. Xzia's blade however, was too close to his face when he threw him and gashed accross his face, it was only a shallow wound but it was still pouring with blood. He sat upright and began to choke as the air rushed back into his lungs. He leant over and coughed hard, he felt like he was about to throw up his lungs. The blood from the cut dripped onto the floor, it began to form a stream leading into the cracks.

Coughing one final time he looked at Xzia. "I thought that you would have knew what i had done, you saw me take the spirit out of the bear with my dagger and i thought you had seen the soul entering the gem. I only did it as pay back, for dragging us all down here with you, and when yu explained about the soul to the other two, well i just had to take up the oppertunity to stab you. Unfortunatly i stabbed you too hard and Teefa had to use all her energy to heal you. She will be fine in a while."

The blood was still pouring from his face, he grabbed the bit of sleeve he had ripped off and pushed it against the wound, applying pressure to help the blood clot. "That blade of yours is sharp! and this is going to leave a scar, suppose its only fair seeing as though i left you one." He smirked and looked over at Teefa, he didnt want to make her heal his wound after what he had put her through.

[ANGELxZER0]

Xzia still wasn't totally convinced, he wouldn't be until he heard that Teefa was OK. Xzia's sleeve began to repair itself thanks to one of his enchanted gems, breathing heavily on his hands and knees after being thrown off of Grok. Lifting his left hand off the ground he summoned his other blade and placed it down so one of the blades was pointing towards Grok.

"you could have stabbed anywhere apart from my chest." Xzia said with a psychotic smile, He was beginning to calm down, he noticed he no longer had the annoying voice in his head. Looking down as his left arm he saw the gem had a slight glow to it.

Looking like he was calm Xzia quickly ran his right blade along the top of his left causing sparks to gather and blast towards Grok as a minor electrical current. Still not fully recovered he was unable to produce anything that could do some real damage.

Color began to return to his eyes as the chaos inside him began to become more stable. After Xzia's attack he un-summoned his blades and shifted towards Teefa Kneeling beside her "she had best be ok."

[Zetsubou]

Zetsubou looked up at Xzia who had come near her. She shuffled backwards, pulling Teefa gently with her. Holding her protectively, she glowered at Xzia silently, and Nym crawled over her limp body to sit with his furry little arms folded. "Get back, you." She hissed, her blue eyes filled with rage and fear. He had brought her here, he had made Teefa faint and now she was lying in her arms. It was all his fault.

"Don't come near until she has awoken." She growled and Nym arose, standing similar an angry cat, his back raised and mouth open to hiss. Which was strange to see coming from a squirrel. "She has already come to trust Teefa." He spat, as he scurried closer to Xzia, "And not you two. So just back off, for a while. She's shook up."

The look on Xzia's face seemed dissapproving so the squirrel sighed, "You can come take care of Teefa when she wakes up. Zetsubou just doesn't trust her unconcious body with you."

[Squ]

“You... stabbed... apart... chest...”

A voice? Who’s there?

“Don’t ... near until... awoken...”

Another voice? I wonder whose it is.

Slowly opening her eyes, Teefa found herself lying on the ground; her head was being supported in a young girl’s lap. Blinking a few times, trying to adjust her eyes to the surroundings, the image of several people surrounding her began to form. Teefa had no idea where she was, nor did she recognize any of the individuals around her.

Not sure what to think of the situation, Teefa kept remained still, trying to remember how she came to lie on the ground in the first place. Switching her eyes to each person, she began to feel uncomfortable; who were these people? Had they found her, laying unconsciously on the ground? And what was this place? It didn’t look like any place she recognized. What was going on?

Moving upright, Teefa held her hand against her head. She felt weak and dizzy. Had something terrible happened to her? She was unable to recall any events prior to her current situation. She figured it would be best just to ask.

“Where am I?”

[ANGELxZER0]

A smile came to Xzia's face as he heard her ask a question. Traveling with Teefa for a while, he had to have been the most relived. Moving closer despite Zetsubou's dis-trust he placed his hand on Teefa's

"We are in a place called Seb'o'rath, An old abandoned city of my people, but I will get you out of here, I will get everyone out of here. Never mind that for now, are you ok, sister?" He asked with full sincerity.

There was something strange going on in this place, He suddenly swapped from full aggression to worry. 'It has to do with the city being abandoned' Xzia thought to himself, If he still had the other spirit in his mind he could get some answers.

The rocks began to change color, they slowly became a nice pale blue. The whole chamber was enchanted, though underground the new shade on the walls made it appear like it was outside, The walls shifter with the light of the ground above. Everything could be seen more clearly, the city in the distance had tall white spires with gems floating next to them, unlike Xzia's home, these were dull and motionless, even the buildings themselves didn't seem as bright. A clear path lead to the city, out from there surroundings, a destroyed room much like the one they had come from.

This wasn't good, There would be another portal chamber but it was probably destroyed like this one. 'Damn, what can I do, I guess the only thing I can hope for is that the other one isn't destroyed. Otherwise....The only other option is to make my own portal, but that's almost impossible for someone at my level, I don't have that kind of power.' Xzia reluctently discussed in his head, trying to think of any way out.

[Squ]

As Xzia stepped forward to express his relief to Teefa, she looked at him quizzically; she did not recognize the pale elven man standing before her but, by the way he addressed her, he sure seemed to know who she was. It was rather awkward. Have I lost my memory? Teefa began to wonder. I recall something like this happening to me before.

Not understanding how things came to be the way they were, Teefa figured it would be best to handle the situation carefully. She nodded at Xzia, letting him know that she was okay. She stood up, brushed off her clothes and turned to the young girl that had supported her head. “Thank you for taking care of me” she said to Zetsubou in a soft and gentle voice, an awkward smile on her lips. Teefa wasn’t sure if she appeared natural to the others; after all, she had no recollection of who they were.

Inclined to ask everyone’s name, Teefa decided it would be best to approach things carefully. Although everyone seemed to be nice and concerned about her well-being, she didn’t want to say -or do- anything that might compromise her safety, especially in her current state. She might have lost her memory, but she did know to be careful with revealing her identity to 'strangers'.

“Um... I’m still a little dizzy and disoriented from what had happened to me... so ah, if I act a little out of the ordinary, you will know why that is” Teefa explained, hoping it would serve as a valid excuse in the event she would be asked a question she could not answer. An unsettling feeling rushed through her body. It wasn’t exactly like she was lying, but withholding the truth was an act of deception nonetheless; something Teefa didn’t like.

I just hope I will be able to remember everything again quickly...

[Scout]

The bolt of electricity that Xzia had fired was aimed prety badly, Grok had time to move his had that was covering his wound and allowing it to only manage to scrape past his face, but even that was enough to contact all of his facial muscles and at the same time, burn the wound and seal it. Grok placed his head in his palms in agony as his face tightened up, it lasted for a few secconds but it was a pain like none he had ever experienced.

When he removed his hands he looked towards the other three, Teefa had awoke and appeared to be still feeling rough from the healing. Grok knew that he had to apologise to her, he didnt think about how much it would affect her when he stabbed Xzia. He stood up and walked towards Teefa, the squirrel immediatly began to watch him as he approaced. He leant over and offered his hand out to Teefa, "Sorry about that, I didnt mean to stab him that hard and i didnt know that the healing would drain so much of your energy that you would pass out." As he waas saying this his eyes darted back and forth between Teefa and the squirrel who was still glaring at him, it was obvious that it didnt like Grok and didnt trust him near any of them.

[Zetsubou]

Zetsubou nodded at the human and grinned, "No problem, Teefa!" Then stood up herself, and walked over to her, grabbing her skirt like a child hiding behind their mother. The squirrel darted in front of her, eyeing Grok'Nath up and down. "Um, are you okay, Teefa?" The little girl looked up at her, "It's me, Zetsubou..." Then she looked over at Xzia, and gulped.

"Xz-Xzia?" She asked hesitantly, unsure whether to speak to him or not, as she still didn't trust him at all. Her big eyes were full of worry, so she hoped he'd understand why she was speaking to him. "Has the healing made her forget?" Wow, she was a quick one. She made have been brought up in the forest but she wasn't stupid, she still had common sense!

[ANGELxZER0]

(Seriously, 5 pages and hardly any movement. So a bit of a fast forward here just to get things going if you want anything changed just Pm me or something.)

"Hm? What do you mean Zetsoubou?" Asked Xzia promptly in confusion.

Looking around at the newly lit surroundings, he wasn't really paying attention to her. Though Xzia's mind was sharper then the rest of them, livening in his city he had never encountered a lot of things and most of them couldn't really be explained in a book, like amnesia. Walking over to the now so plainly obvious path, Xzia took one last look at there surroundings. The portal pad was smashed, most of the gems had lost there power and there was no way the machines were still working.

"We have no choice but to go into the city." He mumbled to himself. He picked up a few things, gems and a few spare parts and despite there big size vanished when he put them in his small bag attached to his belt. Walking closer to the group but still on the path Xzia scanned the small group with his piercing eyes but as he got to Teefa he gave a gracious smile?

"Are you ok to walk, Sister? standing here wont get us anywhere." Xzia said in a very jolly tone for him, attempting to lighten the mood.

-----------------

With a simple nod from Teefa the four set down the white path on th dark rocks towards the city, Zetsoubou clung to Teefa determined to not let anyone close.

The city was surrounded by a ruined wall, but it had been broken from the inside, Finding a quick way in through the broken wall wasn't a difficult task. Entering the city was more than anyone expected, It was in complete ruins, Every gem had lost its glow and the once white floor had become as black as the endless void.

---------------

"What...happened?" Xzia asked pointlessly, the only one that would know was sealed in a broken gem and there wasn't any around to replace it. Xzia skulked slowly into a crossroads where he could see the endless city reach out in all directions.

His face dropped and he seemed to be frozen in time staring down the street to the sight of hundreds of dead bodies, The only thing that stopped him from passing out was that they hadn't decomposed. Layers of them with various weapons impaled in them and marks from strange magic. nothing could truly describe the horrific site.

'Don't come over, please don't come over' thought Xzia to himself, it was all he could do at the time, his body wouldn't move from the shock, He had even stopped breathing.

[Squ]

A horrible sight to behold, dead bodies. Not quite something one would like to see. That what Teefa saw was like a signature to this dark and sinister place. She dared not question what had happened here, instead she stepped forward and towards Xzia who seemed struck by the sight of the onslaught. No one spoke. Whether this was because of the fear of whoever -or whatever- did this was still around or because of the hundreds of corpses decorating the floor was hard to determine, even for themselves.

All those people...

Teefa first glanced at Xzia, then again at the bodies. She figured that these were the people that the pale elven man belonged to. She felt sorry for him and realized it had to come as a shock to him to find everything in this state. She didn't know what to say and she didn't know what to do. It was like she was had entered someone's bad dream. "This is terrible" was all that she could say, not exactly sure if she was heard.

[Zetsubou]

"I'm scared..." A quite mumble came from behind Teefa, as Zetsubou peeked out. She had never seen death before. She never really understood it. And to see all these, brutally murdered by something, scared her young mind. Nym of course, wasn't that scared as he scurried in front of them, before squeaking back. "They're... quite recent..."
Zetsubou suddenly felt like brick hit her stomach as she heard those words, her hand shooting up to her mouth as her head felt light.

'Recent...? Nym... Must be wrong... Right?'

Feeling nausiated, she looked around nervously, looking for anything moving, absolutely anything. There was nothing. This town.. city even... was totally abandoned. She wanted the fresh air again. She wanted the lush green trees of her forest. She wanted jostling happy people in town buying and higgling prices.
But this place didn't have any of that. No wind, no plant life, no people, no welcome.

Just dead.

[ANGELxZER0]

The whole surrounding area seemed to get darker, This seemed normal, after all the rock had changed from black into sky blue, it wouldent be strange to do the reverse but this was the kind of darkness that made you check under your bed, in the closet and sleep with the light on. decending slowly on the group Xzias body began to come under his control again, but only slightly, he began to mave his head and look around more as the purple blackishnuss fell on them.

"What is this?" Xzia asked retoricly as he looked into the scene paralell to the one before it, everything was the same but....more sinister, some things in the distance were no longer visible and you had the feeling that you were in a city full with people but only the loudest silence imaginable clould be heard.

"This isn't...." Xzia started but before he could even breath to get the next word out there were Black creatures surrounding them. Pure black as if looking into an endless void, they had a human shape but if they were, they defenetly wearnt anymore. They had claws and long ears, the only feature that stood out was the glowing purple eyes. They seemed to flicker in and out of existance. each sight of them was different as if caught in a black strobe light.

Each stareing at the group there mouths opening to show bright white inch long teeth covered in a purple goo that seemed to burn away at anything.

"Damn it." Xzia simply said raising his arms and throwing them back down, his blades appearing in each hand in a flurry of white sparks. his brow tensed and he stared seriously at the one infront of him as he edged closer to Teefa. There were only 3 but they appeard so suddenly. Xzia, Teefa and Zetsubou stood in a small cluster, Grok still to catch up.

Dashing towards Xzia one of the creatures seemed to jump between the left and right, even Xzia's keen perception couldent keep his eyes on him. crouching infront of him and lifting his arms in a huge sweep, dragging its claws up his chest up his neck and pulling off of his face. No blood was spilled but 6 black lines clearly showed where he was struck, they seemed to burn like fire and they felt like it too. Though he had a burning sensation the marks didnt hurt like you would expect from claws being dragged up your body.

Xzia lowered his head and looked at the ground, though his clothes were governed by a magic gem, it wasnt strong enough to repair shits damage, with ease he ripped off the rags with his hand still between the handle and the guard. Xzia couldent help but feel agressive in this place, especily now the shadows dawned on them. Not careing for anyone else due to the subliminal force Xzia charged towards his foe trying his hardest to keep his eyes on him.

'chi-CHING!'

Xzia had thrust down with one blade that was stoped but two eager clawed hands, thought he blinked in and out of existance he was still clearly there. Sweeping his other arm around Xzias blade went through with almost no resistance like nothing was there....Xzia thought this was impossible, He made connections very quickly but he just couldent figure this one out.

He let out a low growl as the creature infront of him burnd away makeing him feel empty and cold, the scars on his body seemed to be expanding but only through his veins, slowly corrupting his whole body.

(feel free to use these creatures as you wish, just a note, don't let them hit you)

[Scout]

He had been looking at the bodies for long enough, examining them, searching for a cause of death. Nothing... no visible wounds, just the odd black markings here and there. He thought nothing of it and began to catch up to the others who had tried to get away from the death. He picked up the pace and then stopped dead, Xzia and the others were in trouble he could see dark human forms attacking Xzia and several others surrounding Teefa and Zetsubou. Acting quickly he summoned Kiro and ordered him to attack as the both ran towards the others.

Kiro lunged with an open jaw at one of the creatures who now no longer looked human shaped as they had huge claw-like hands and were completely black. The creature turned and slashed right through Kiro. Dispursing into the air and reforming as 3 bluey purple streaks Kiro returned to Groks body. He knew close range combat wasnt going to work so decided on a ranged attack. He shot 3 arrows in succession at the creatures surrounding Teefa and Zetsubou. Direct Hit! the 3 creatures dispursed into the air in a purply black haze. But it wasnt over, more creatures then appeared infront of the two girls,focused on Grok. They were more interested in a fight than an easy kill. Grok now has his work cut out for himself. He peered past the 5 and saw Xzia fighting more of the creatures.

"Hey Xzia!" He shouted, Xzia responded but didnt look back, he was still fighting "Lets make a bet for fun, the one to kill the most of these things wins" At that moment one of the creatures lunged at Grok, he dived to the side and dodged the attack, he pulled out another arrow and readied it. "We'll decide on a prize later yeah?"

[ANGELxZER0]

Xzia had no intrest in talking and he was already up in the kills anyway, he sent a wave of electricity ripping through 4 creatures with one strike. This was far too easy, they died with a single tap and they didn't hurt when they struck you. What were they?

Xzia seemingly danced amoungst a small group, his moves were like well planned out coriography that he had practiced for years, his blades ripped though the strange foes, the black fire stramed off his blades as stained with blood. Another 5, simple work but this was nothing as to what was comeing.

Bringing a heavy strike down the blade was stopped....Looking down Xzia peered at a new foe across from him, a black skinned humanoid stood stareing black with glowing purple eyes, it was in armour and had purple marking similar to Xzias own but, sharper. It had claws formed by black fire with the ocasional flare of purple, they were longer and definetly more solid than the last opponents. The flames ripped through Xzias chest at 3 points forming a triangle in his chest with Groks scar in the center. Unlike before this did hurt but like before it didnt cause a wound.

More black markings caused the darkness in his veins to spread faster, Jumping back Xzia fell to his knees and droped both blades. another 2 of the new creatures walked towards the group.

A flashing claw came down towards Zetsubou and stopped right infront of her eyes, it turned around and jumped towards a courpse on the floor vanishing in black flames as the body slowly shifted on the floor sitting up slowly. Dolls, zombies, whatever you want to call them, its just wrong. More of these things came behind Grok moveing slowly.

Xzia knelt down holding his chest in unbeliveable pain. being stabbed in the heart the lungs and the heart and living was something no one should have to go through. To his surprise the pain quickly faded, a light came from his chest with his left hand resting on it. The gem spaked to life and engulfed his forearm and hand in a blue energy. had he possible gone mad? His hand moved on its own, spreading and extending all of its didgets, A large gem apeared floating above it as xzia stared in awe not noticing the slowly advanceing foes.

All his energy was being drained into the gem this only caused the darkness in him to spread faster with no magical resistance. A light surrounded him and try as he might he coulden't move.

[Tainted Bushido]

Overall: This had a good start, despite the slow continuance. The one thing I think hurts threads is the need for an epic story. While yes, there is a need to have an overarching story, even the more dull threads can be livened up to be fitting quests. However, that’s not a knock on you guys, just a helpful hint that dramatics are not the only way to tell a story. I had a feeling this was to be a breakthrough for Angel Zero’s character Xzia. While the effort was there, I feel in the end it fell apart due to lack of cohesion. More on that later…

…onto the judging!

STORY

Continuity ~ 4/10. I had a feeling that this was more than a typical thread, that there had been something culminating to this point. Xzia was trying to get home, and he had even braved many trials, and was tricked by the spirit that resided in him. Squ was the person lucky enough to make the journey at his side. The other two, seemed to be inserting themselves into the story, and it was definitely through differing means.

Setting ~ 3/10. This hurt you guys, I got little to know feel for the area. The forest was used, and only really as camouflage. I can understand how hard when you want action to keep a thread moving to actually keep up with it. I totally get it. I’m merely asking to be aware of surroundings. Looking for subtle ways of incorporating setting? Characters may lean against certain pieces or hell even look up through the forest canopy.

Pacing ~ 2/10. I will agree, that pacing was certainly lacking. It was quite obvious this was a point of frustration for Angel Zero who commented on five pages without any plot advancement. There are two ways of fixing this guys, the first is constant PM conversations with the thread leader. Whose story is being written, and what is expected of the characters? These important questions need to be answered by the quest Lead before he begins his next post. If a round goes to waste, it’s everyone’s fault. If five rounds go to waste, then and only then is it the quest lead’s fault. I’m not trying to be harsh, but perhaps taking a more forceful hand in the direction things had gone would have helped. Give prompts for their posts, things to react to and what not.

CHARACTER

Dialogue ~ 3/10. The dialogue was a bit flat at times. I know writing dialogue can be the bane of writing careers but the Dialogue is a tool. Its external monologue that can hint to other characters what’s going on internally. This was used to a certain extent, however, the problem then became, that rather than being a mirror of the internal arguments or frustration, it became a window. Its one thing to say it, it is however, quite another thing to think it. If you’re angry you may reveal that to people you know, but would you intimate as much to a stranger on the street?

Action ~ 2/10. There was plenty of actions going on, and a few that are very very close to power gaming. One example was the wolf spirit Kiro. I had this problem once, where I thought I could be clever in a writing tournament by having another character make the observations I knew my character could not. The idea was by having a tactical genius near me I could be as tactically efficient as possible, and not get docked on strategy. Well, let me tell you, it didn’t work, because my opponent had adopted unorthodox tactics. I however didn’t catch on and I played as intended, and got docked heavily for metagaming. It can be tempting to make use of knowledge you as the player knows in character. This is only natural, I mean you know it, why can’t your character? That’s the trap of Metagaming, and one that you need to figure out the answer to yourself on where to draw the line. Also, the bunnying (forcing other characters actions) was not announced as fair game. For future reference, you need someone else’s permission to affect their character directly. If I don’t see an okay for either player, I’ll assume it was unsolicited.

Persona ~ 3/10. Characters were present. Characters did actions; I had nothing to base it off of. I couldn’t tell if the irritation at Scout from Angel was in character or more out of character shock and rage. Because of this, I could not figure out if this was at all in character. Perhaps going into character thoughts and emotions more could clarify things much more. I’m not saying you need to write like I do (I’m kinda guilty of too much internalization, not enough externalization), but some internalization beyond immediate problem solving would be nice. Teefa I did however get an innocent vibe from you, and Zetsubo gave me a definite greedy streak, with the incredulous sidekick squirrel, who never ceased to make me chuckle.

WRITING STYLE

Technique ~ 3/10. There was a few writing techniques attempted, but for the most part it was strait forward prose. Adding in the occasional simile of metaphor, perhaps using a more flowing prose could help. A few tips on this would be to avoid using the same word in the same paragraph more than twice. The only reason for the second use should be necessity. Good ways of doing this is describing the character, if he has a moniker that too can fit. Examples for say Zetsubo, the girl, the druid, the dryad, the sneak, the fae, ect. Same with Grok.

Mechanics ~ 3/10. One thing I wish to say right out of hand, Scout and Angel Zero, I might suggest you use a spell checker, spellcheck.com is a good place if you are missing a program like Microsoft Word. In terms of spelling you weren’t bad, in fact many words were spelled correctly, which leads me to the other part, grammar. Even Zetsubo was guilty of a few grammatical faux pas. I won’t go into gritty detail, but I will say that the first step to solving the underlying mechanical issues is to take care of the glaring obvious ones straight out. If you wish for a more detailed idea of what you did wrong, or tips on how to improve feel free to PM me, and I’ll go over what you can do to improve for you.

Clarity ~ 6/10. For all that writing, it was clear what was going on. I knew where characters were and what had occurred. You guys certainly were trying, and I got that.

MISCELLANEOUS

Wild Card ~ 10/10. I hate that the rubric was harsh to you, don’t give up, hell my first quest scored a 34 and I kept it to cringe at. Nothing helps inspire you to greater heights than a past failure. While this is a past failure, it is only because you could not finish what had started. Take a page from Alfred, Bruce Wayne’s ever witty friend and butler, “Why do we fall Mr. Wayne? So we can pick ourselves back up and keep trying.”

TOTAL ~ 39/100.

ANGELxZERO gets 305 EXP and 200 GP

Squ gets 305 EXP and 200 GP

Scout gets 305 EXP and 200 GP

Zetsubo gets 305 EXP and 200 GP

Any EXP rewards given are based off of the quest equation. Any questions regarding what was said can be addressed to me via PM or AIM SethDahlios.

[Witchblade]

EXP and GP added!