Bling Bling

[Silence Sei]

They had left Chateau Orlouge three days ago.

Sei Orlouge had traveled with his two daughters from the home of the Orlouge's back to Radasanth. They had to drop off Kyla 'little brother' Xavior back to his biological big brother before they could continue. Their mission was of utmost importance. Kyla had, without thinking about it, taken both the light and shadow trials of the mystic race. Normally, a regular person could wield regular light and regular shadow magic together no problem. However, mystic physiology was a bit different than that of a human.

For one, mystics could never die of old age. Ever. Sure, they could be murdered and still succumb to natural causes for death. However, once a mystic’s age physically hit between 40-50, they stopped aging completely. Also, a mystic's reproductive systems never gave out because of this. It was due to this reason that Armonia Orlouge was able to have six little boys with such a various age range from the oldest to Sei. Third was the most obvious thing about Mystics. While human’s blood ran blue in their veins, but red once exposed to oxygen, a mystic's bloodstream was the exact opposite. Their veins ran red until cut, where the blood was dyed a fine azure hue.

The most important rule of mystics, however, was to never learn both mystic light and mystic shadow magic. The resulting energies from both magic’s would be at constant war with one another, building up to the point that they would cause one's body to implode with magic. Not only was this dangerous to the person who was stupid enough to do it, but the energies that built could be powerful enough to take out a small village once released.

After Sei had returned from a previous engagement to find that Anita and Kyla had both learned light magic, he was appalled. Anita was fine to learn the spells, so long as she had a mystic's dominant blood running through her human veins. Kyla had explained to Sei that she had. Kyla on the other hand had already taken the shadow magic trials, and had just completed the light trials. This was a cause for concern for Sei's whole family. Nobody wanted to see Kyla Orlouge die so soon after discovering her existence.

As a result, Sei's brother Steppenwolf had volunteered to create a present for Kyla. This present was supposedly able to keep the magics that fought within her at bay constantly. Sei knew his brother was capable of creating such an item, as the ring Kyla temporarily had on loan from her 'father' possessed such a feat. It was just a matter of getting to Steppenwolf Orlouge's workshop located in the dead center of the frozen tundra that was Salvar.

Sei had scolded Kyla several times for her ignorance, and Anita a few times for allowing Kyla to take the light trial. However, the time for talk was over. Now the trio was well on their way towards the middle of nowhere workshop. Once they arrived, it would just be a matter of waiting on Steppenwolf to finish what he was doing and continuing on about their business.

Or so Sei hoped. Nothing ever seemed to come out just right when Steppenwolf Orlouge was involved.

[Amber Eyes]

Kyla followed behind Sei doing the sullen child routine the whole way. She had also completely closed off her mind so she wouldn't have to listen to Sei's lectures anymore. Every so often she would look to Anita, and see her face cringe and she knew that Sei must be starting up again. If it was such a well-known fact that you couldn't complete both trials and live, why the heck hadn't anyone thought to share that information with Kyla? The land they traveled was ugly, bare, and freakishly cold. Kyla had stopped making balls of warming light in her hands a few hours ago because Sei kept giving her dirty look, and she was freezing.

"It's really cold out here, and I'm tired!" Kyla complained.

"Better than dead..." Anita joked back.

"Are you seriously not about to freeze where you’re standing?" Kyla stared at her sister confused.

"I had thermal underwear in my backpack, I changed when you stopped to pee. You can never be too prepared dear sister."

Kyla mumbled under her breath, the group may have picked up words like "know-it-all” and 'burn the stupid backpack."

Moments later Steppenwolf Orlouge, who was quickly becoming Kyla's favorite uncle, picked the girl up and carried her in his arms. The body heat a seven foot man produces is right up there with a cozy fireplace and Kyla quickly fell asleep in the man's arms. Yes, with Sei being a grumpy-butt, Steppenwolf was quickly gaining favorite status.

[Silence Sei]

"Aren't you a little old to be carried around like a baby?" Anita asked her sister with a sneer.

"Aren't you a little old to still be carrying a backpack around?" Kyla's reply was swift, and took Anita a second to let the words sink in.

Sei had ignored his girls up until this point. Sei didn't mean to keep glancing at Kyla so rudely. It was just that he was still a bit bitter that she had just not thought about it. Common laws of magic dictated that darkness and light were opposing elements. Why didn't the girl think about such a thing before she took the light trial?

"You need to give her a break, Sei," the soft and deep voice of Steppenwolf Orlouge spoke, "she didn't know any better. She left home before she could learn anything about mystics. She just didn't understand what she was getting into." Sei looked to his brother with raised eyebrows. A smile formed around his lips as he thought about how Steppenwolf could always read the youngest Orlouge like a book.

Ever since the two were little, Steppenwolf could convey exactly what Sei wanted to say without the telepath ever saying it. They had a strong bond, being the youngest Orlouge's of their generation. So if Steppenwolf had told his brother to relax, Sei knew that he should let up on his 'little girl'.

"I'm sorry Kyla," Sei said, the girl staying nestled up to the large mystic's arms, "I forget sometimes that you haven't been with me as long as Anita. I am a bit disappointed she didn't explain things to you better while you were taking the trial." Sei shifted his view to his other daughter, the new target of his frustration.

"I told you, I forgot, Papa! I can't remember every little detail about a race I'm not a part of! Help me out here, Uncle Steppenwolf?" Anita looked to her behemoth of an uncle, who merely laughed at the girl. It seemed in this instance, Anita was on her own.

Sei smiled at the sound of his brother's laughter, not realizing that it was becoming accompanied by the sound of cracking ice underfoot...

[Amber Eyes]

She thought she knew what cold was. Steppenwolf's massive form fell through the ice. The freezing water covered the girl for a moment as she lay in his arms. Steppenwolf was quick however and pushed Kyla into the air above his head. When she was able to calm enough to open her eyes, Kyla laughed at the image the foursome made. Sei Orlouge had sprouted his wings, and now held Anita with one hand and Steppenwolf by the afro with the other. Anita's face showed true terror and Kyla made a mental note to give her hell about it later. Steppenwolf began to cry out in pain as Sei pulled his hair in an attempt to get all parties to safety.

"Owowowowowowowowowowowow" The man yelled the entire way to the shore. As Sei set the family members down, the brothers gave each other exasperated looks. "You know I can swim right?" Steppenwolf laughed in a good hearted manner. Anita was mostly dry, saved by Sei before hitting the water. Steppenwolf had been dunked up to his chest, but luckily he was used to the cold temperatures and was for the most part unharmed. The few hairs that Sei had pulled out during the trip to the shore however; were a different story. Kyla shivered in huge waves, the kind of shivers that make your entire body ache. She felt as though she had been hit by a bus, and her breathing was suffering.

'Let's move on guys," she called over her shoulder as the continued their path. This time Kyla wasn't going to be the one who needed rescuing. Her feet were numb as she walked as quickly as possible in the direction of Steppenwolf's workshop.

[Silence Sei]

Sei's brother followed quickly behind Kyla, rubbing his head while he did so. The mute had just reacted when the ice gave way, not having time to grab Steppenwolf’s arm like he did Anita's. Sei felt bad that he hurt Steppenwolf's head on the journey back to solid land, but it was for the greater good. One time going under those icy depths would have been enough to trap the common person for the rest of their short lived life.

Sei and Anita followed Kyla and Steppenwolf as they made their way through the vast whiteness. It hadn't been snowing, so it was easy to see flats of land and hills that stretched on for miles. He could catch hints of wet animal fur every now and then. It seemed as though Steppenwolf still liked to carry around various pelts just in case.

As Sei eyed his brother's gigantic form, he heard several popping sounds coming from the older mystic's cargo pants. It took Steppenwolf a minute to realize the sound as well, and he reached into the pocket of the noises origin. He pulled out a small black bag brightly labeled 'Akashima Fizzy Stones'. Steppenwolf looked to his brother and Anita with a look of disappointment.

"Every time! You go to Akashima and buy some Fizzy Stones, and they always get wet before I get a chance to eat em!" Sei laughed at his brother's affinity for the candy. Steppenwolf spent most of his nights thriving off of sugar rushes and energy drinks. One had to burn the candle at both ends to be as great an inventor as the pink haired man.

"Anyways, we got about three more miles. Then we'll get into some warmer clothes and you guys can spend the night. Just as long as our new fearless leader doesn't lead us over a lake like the previous one did." Steppenwolf's eyes went to Sei once more as he referred to the previous head of the group. The large man was quickly pointing Kyla in all sorts of directions to try and get to the hut where he resided.

Luckily, Kyla was so busy leading the way; she never even saw the snowball thrown by Anita at the back of her head.

[Amber Eyes]

Kyla was now officially freezing. Every muscle in her body ached and she just wanted to put on some dry clothes. Every so often her footing would slip on the snowy ground, and Steppenwolf's directions were pretty bad. She was lost in thoughts of anywhere but here when she felt something hit the back of her head. She turned around a bit too quickly and fell flat on her face. She righted herself in time to see Anita making a second snowball.

"I will kill you." Kyla screamed as she charged at her sister. She ran as fast as she could behind the other girl and used her light magic to create a tennis ball of light. She threw it at her 'sister' and used the distraction to get herself a bit of snow. The girls threw snowballs back and forth for a bit until they were both so out of breathe they could no longer stand. They collapsed to the ground.

"Ever made a snow angel?" Anita asked.

"I've never even seen snow until today."

"In that case, what's the difference in a male and a female snowman?" Anita grinned.

"That will be quite enough of that!" Steppenwolf stepped in before Anita could finish the joke, giving her a stern glance. "Better get a move-on."

The girls pulled themselves to their feet, casting each other devious grins as they did so. Each picked up a ball of wet snow, and they counted to three silently. 1....2....3!

"SNOWBALLS!" Anita screamed

Kyla threw her snowball at Steppenwolf at the same moment Anita's flew towards Sei. Each girl ran to tackle their target. As Kyla wrestled with the behemoth that was Steppenwolf Orlouge, she screamed. "Why did I have to get the GIANT?" She looked over her shoulder to see how her sister was managing.

[Silence Sei]

Sei had a monkey on his back. Or maybe that was just his daughter. Anita had trounced upon her father's back with all the ferocity of a lioness. The mute fell straight into the snow as a result of the teenager’s antics. When the mystic lifted his head from the snow, he realized that all his eyes could see was white. The mute's entire face had been covered with nature's ice powder. Taking a hand and wiping the snow away, Sei looked over to his brother.

Steppenwolf had been hit by Kyla's snowball. The blow did not reach the intended target of the mystic's face however. Kyla had overestimated her arm strength and as a result, there was now a white ball of slush slowly melting into Steppenwolf's pink afro. This brought a smile across Sei's lips as Anita slammed the mute's head back into the snow playfully.

"Take that, spoilsports!" Anita joyfully cheered, laughing as her sister tried to handle her giant uncle.

In truth, Kyla was fairing decently considering the size disadvantage. She was scooping up snow in her hand and leaping towards her uncle as she threw more of her slushee ammunition. Steppenwolf tried to bob and weave out of her range, but would be pelted occasionally by the assault. Steppenwolf quickly leaned down and scooped a snowball up himself. Given the behemoth man's gigantic hands, however, his snowball resembled more of a snowman's head as he heaved it at Kyla.

The girl yelped and ducked under the giant snowball. Unfortunately for Anita, Kyla had wrested her way directly in front of her 'sister'. As a result, Anita was taken down by Steppenwolf's snow boulder. This freed Sei up to get onto his feet and grab a handful of snow in the process. As Kyla remained distracted with her uncle, Sei sneaked up behind the young girl. Grabbing the back of the girl's jacket and the white tank top underneath it, Sei threw the unformed snow down the girl's back with a smile.

The resulting squeal that came from Kyla had all three other parties laughing. "You're all a bunch of dirty rotten jerks!" Kyla said as she danced around a bit. Sei had thought that the teen would be able to take such cold, having already been so wet from the lake. The show she was now putting on for them, however, was more than enough for the mystic to be thankful that Kyla's body still had some heat.

Kyla opened the back of her shirt to get the remaining snow out as Anita joined the trio once more. "That was fun!" Anita giggled. Steppenwolf simply smiled and nodded his agreement as he now took the lead. Kyla was probably weary from the fight, and it made sense for the one who actually lived here to show the group to his home.

"Hey Steppenwolf, what did one snowman say to the other?"

"I don't know Sei, what?"

Sei inhaled deeply through his nostrils as he delivered the punch line. "Ah, smell's like carrots."

The fight did allow for Sei to lighten up. Maybe Kyla would be grateful for that

[Amber Eyes]

Kyla walked on through the snow. It covered the tops of her boots, and made it difficult to raise her feet with each step. The sun was beginning to set, and the orange glow bounced off the snow creating an eerie half-light.

"Almost home," she heard Steppenwolf speak behind her.

Kyla took in the landscape as they walked. Sparse forest surrounded the area, the treetops appearing to be glowing due to the sunlight bouncing off their wet leaves. The snow had begun to fall in very slight spells, and the fresh powder was much easier to walk on than the slush they'd trudged through earlier today. Not a sound could be heard within the forest, and Kyla wondered what animals could inhabit such a place. Her question was quickly answered as a large dog began to run towards the group. It barked fiercely as it ran, becoming more intimidating with each step. By the time the animal reached the group, Kyla realized it stood as high as her chest on all fours. she immediately created a sword to defend herself, but was much too slow. The beast jumped on the girl, burying her in a snow drift at least two feet high.

"Oh get off her, will ya?" Steppenwolf cried happily. "Kyla, I see you've met Pepper."

[Silence Sei]

"When did you get a dog?" Sei asked his brother, arching an eyebrow as he did so. Steppenwolf merely laughed and looked to his brother. "It gets lonely out here in Salvar, Sei. It does a man good to have some companionship, even if it is just a dog. Pepper! I said off, now!"

The dog still didn't obey, prompting the giant of a man to stomp his foot. "Sergeant Pepper Lonely Hearts Club Band Orlouge! I said get off of Kyla!" After being called his full name, the giant sized Salvarian Husky obeyed, leaping off of the girl to go sniff Anita and Sei. The latter looked to Steppenwolf with both eyebrows arched in response to the ridiculous name. The long title just had Anita laughing as she petted her uncles familiar.

"You are the definition of 'Too much time on my hands'." Sei and Steppenwolf both grinned at one another. Though his brother was always over eccentric and had a flair for slapstick theatrics, Sei could easily see why everybody warmed up to Steppenwolf the most. Sei was intimidating because of his title, and the other Orlouges were feared for their power. Yet, Steppenwolf, for all of his massive size, was completely and utterly a gentle giant. Pepper finally jumped towards his master after being satisfied with Anita's attention.

The man caught the dog and spun him around, causing a whimper from the canine. Steppenwolf laughed and set his dog down, causing the beast to stumble from dizziness. Apparently Pepper was still not used to somebody actually managing to hold a monster size such as his. Sei wanted to ask his brother why the dog was so huge, but Steppenwolf quickly rushed the group into his workshop, answering Sei's curiosity as he did so. Sei hadn't even realized they had still been walking through the snow amidst his talks, and yet they were at the average-sized hut already.

"All mystics, daughters, and mutated dogs get in here now!" Pepper quickly led the pack, followed by Kyla, Anita and then Sei.

"Welcome to my workshop!"

[Amber Eyes]

"That is not a dog! It's a freakin monster!" Kyla screeched as she pulled herself from the snow. "I'm not saying you need a Pomeranian or anything, but come on!" She took a moment to wipe the powder from her clothing before continuing. "You're already thirty feet tall, what are we compensating for here?" Kyla looked to Steppenwolf, who was no where to be found. She quickly glanced around, realizing she'd been left.

"Oh just great! Now the dog took my spot! What more could a girl ask for?" She trudged the last few yards to the hut, and entered the door. "Oh, I'm fine! Thanks for asking!" She called sarcastically as she entered the small room. The moment the warmth of the hut entrapped her she instantly forgot her anger. It felt like a blanket fresh from the sunlight being carefully placed over her entire body.

She made her way to a large comfy-looking arm chair, and took a seat. The chair immediately began to massage her back, and a glass of orange juice and a bag of animal crackers popped up from the arm rest. "That's it Sei, I'm moving in with uncle Steppenwolf!" Pepper made his way to the girl’s side and put his giant head in her lap. "Yeah, yeah, i guess your okay too you giant mutt," she said joyfully as she gave him a cracker.

[Silence Sei]

The hut was in complete disarray. The sheer fact that Kyla managed to find her way through the empty pizza boxes and candy bar wrappers to get to the arm chair amazed the mute. So she can navigate without tripping if it suits her purposes Sei thought with a little smile on his face. He then turned his gaze to the rest of Steppenwolf's workshop. Comic books lined the walls, and there were even a few on his blue sofa, as well as one on the arm of the brown leather chair Kyla was occupying.

The smell of the area was clean, lemon-scented as it were. This was probably due to the ceiling fan above them having several aerosol cans spraying out in sporadic bursts all around the house. The livol walls had been painted vibrant colors, with each of the four walls being a completely different look. Behind the mute was a cascade of pink, ahead of him a large drape of sky blue, to the east was an explosion of yellow and to his west was a sheet of white. It took Pepper slightly bumping into the white wall to reveal that it was not a wall, but a giant window.

Apparently on sunny days, you could see out to the whole of Salvar from Steppenwolf's workshop, as few and far between as sunny days were.

The floor and several work benches were lined with the same empty food containers Sei had seen earlier. Steppenwolf seemed to live off of Salvar pizza, Salvar noodles, Salvar rice, and Salvar candy. Sei looked over towards his brother to find the giant of a man with a small device resembling a blow torch. He was quickly laying the flame into something, sparks flying directly into the elder Orlouges face. Sei was grateful for the green welder’s mask Steppenwolf had put on during the telepaths investigation. Their parents already had a mute child, they did not need a blind one too.

Anita had been busy playing with Pepper against the window when something caught her eye. It was humanoid in shape, but wearing boxing gloves on each hand, as well as a jester hat on his head. Its eyes were closed, and it had pale white skin on its lanky arms that resembled Anita's own ghost like appearance. A pair of black shorts showed off the pasty, clean shaven legs, and just out of the jester hat a few strands of brown and pink hair leaked out.

"What the heck is this?" Anita asked to nobody in particular, "Hey Kyla, get over here!" Sei and Steppenwolf were too busy with their 'work' to pay attention to the girls. It was the perfect time to cause some mischief, intentional or not.

[Amber Eyes]

Kyla heard Anita's request, and reluctanly obeyed. "This had better be something good." Kyla climbed over the strewn items and reached the clearing where Anita stood with little trouble. "Now what are you....ooofff" Kyla, now on clear carpet tripped over her own feet. As she fell her arm hit something hard, and the doll Anita was staring at began to make noises. The human-sized doll began to twirl it's arm backwards over and over again before beginning to move in Kyla's direction. The girl scrambled to her feet.

"Sei!" Kyla yelled slightly worried, a glance in his direction showed he clearly wasn't paying attention.

"Uh, Sei!" She said a little louder, this time the mute glanced up, but from his vantage point the doll was hidden from sight.

"Goshdarnit Sei this freakin things going to kill me!" Kyla screamed with all her might as the doll's arm stoped winding, with one quick move it threw a punch at her.

[Silence Sei]

Steppenwolf's massive hand came down to block the boxing glove inches before it connected with Kyla's face. "That was close," Steppenwolf mumbled, "if he had continued that spin for a few more seconds, he would've actually broken something in my hand." The giant man looked at his palm and then back to the doll. The jester seemed to be twirling his arm again for another assault. Steppenwolf sighed and looked to Kyla.

"Kill code Aquarius Leo Anchillies." Steppenwolf spoke nonchalantly. After the words had been spoken, the doll seemed to power down, slumping over as if someone had just punched it in the stomach. The giant man continued looking at Kyla with a big grin on his face, offering his hand to her and helping her up. "I see you girl's met Wind-Up. Why does my makeshift family seem to be so drawn towards you Kyla?"

Steppenwolf and Anita both laughed as the girl huffed in frustration a bit. "It's not funny! I could have been killed!" Kyla shouted in anger at her family. Steppenwolf stopped laughing for a moment and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small ankle bracelet from the pocket of his green cargo pants. He tossed it to the girl as if it were a spare coin to a homeless person. "Enjoy your version of your father's ring. It has the same enchantment that Sei's emei piercer does. The only difference is yours negates the light and shadow magics fighting within your body entirely. As such, you never have to worry about imploding ever again. Of course, that's only if you never take off the bracelet for the rest of your life. Don't worry though, I adjusted it to where the bracelet will stretch if you grow a bit bigger and get, you know...." Steppenwolf paused for a moment, trying to be delicate with the next word. When he realized he couldn't be tactful about it, he just outright said it. "....cankles."

Sei was now smiling, deciding it better to sit in then background and watch the scene unfold. Steppenwolf had finished his work only a few minutes before Kyla activated the robot. The mute had watched with stern eyes as his brother jumped to his 'daughters' rescue with a fierce speed. "Well, if there's not anything else, Steppenwolf, I think we should go..."

"Oh no you don't, 'Silence' Sei Orlouge! You're staying the night here, and I'm taking you guys back tomorrow. Nothing's going to get these girls in the middle of the night while you're being the brooding hero!" Steppenwolf reached upwards and grabbed a glass of orange juice that a mechanical arm was handing him. He then passed the glass over to Kyla as he continued to eye his brother. Sei knew he was not going to win this argument.

"Fine...."

[Amber Eyes]

Kyla made herself comfortable in her temporary bed. Anita slept a few feet away, snoring softly in her matching twin bed.

"Hey Anita," Kyla whispered quietly. Her 'sister' merely stretched a bit before falling quickly asleep again.

"Anita," Kyla said a little louder this time. Anita rolled over to her other side mumbling something about her 'tainted love' before again drifting off to sleep.

Kyla formed a ball of light magic in her hand and sent it flying at her 'sister's' face. She closed her eyes tightly and listened to the sound of impact. Anita let out a small gasp and Kyla heard her sit up in bed.

"Are you awake Anita?" Kyla spoke softly, hoping her sister wouldn't know what had woken her.

"I am now!" Anita said with more than a hint of irritation in her tone.

"I'm going back to Drantrak tonight."

"What did Papa say when you told him?" Anita sat up in bed, interested now.

"I didn't."

"Kyla you can't just run off like that, Papa..."

"You don't understand. You've had a home for a long time now Anita. I'm not used to all this family stuff, and I want to get to know my dad. I appreciate everything Sei has done for me but he said it himself, my father is the most powerful of all the siblings."

"You've never even had a proper conversation with the man Kyla, he has a hard time even looking at you."

"That's why I have to do this. Please tell Sei I love him." Kyla dressed quietly, and picked up her already packed bags. "I love you too Anita."

Kyla left the room knowing full well it would take Anita less than five minutes to make up her mind to tell Sei what Kyla was doing. Kyla only hoped he would understand.

[Silence Sei]

Kyla carefully snuck her way through the trash piles and other things that could wake everyone up. She made it to the door in no time, sighing a breath of relief that she hadn't fallen flat on her face in the journey. When the girl opened the door, however, she came face to face with Steppenwolf Orlouge, a stupid grin painted across the hunched over giant’s face.

"Going somewhere, Kylana?" Steppenwolf asked, standing back upright. Pepper was beside the large mystic, asleep at his feet. It was obvious that the two of them had been waiting a bit for Kyla. Steppenwolf adjusted his jaw, realizing how much it hurt to keep on a cheesy grin such as his for so long. The shocked girl began to stammer out a reaction to her uncle.

"B-But how?!" Kyla said, almost in a demanding way.

"My father, my real father, is an orc. Out of all of us, I'm the one who knows what you're going through the most. Confusion for not understanding why he didn't try harder to find you. Doubt, wondering if he just forgot about you at some point. Anger, you're mad at something but you don't know what. Guilt, you don't want to leave your true family, but you just have to know." Steppenwolf raised a finger on his left hand with each feeling, the index finger of his right hand pressing against each newly pointed digit. "How am I doing so far? Pretty accurate?"

Kyla sheepishly nodded. Steppenwolf smiled a little bit and placed one of his large hands on her head. "Go Kyla. Anita's going to have a time getting to Sei for a couple of minutes anyways. Should give you plenty of time to get out of here before then. I should warn you though, you might not like everything you find out about your true lineage. I know I didn't." Steppenwolf kind of stared off into the distance at the last few words, recalling what had happened the day he met his biological father.

"Why, what did you find?" Kyla asked, genuinely curious as to Steppenwolf's plight.

"Story for another day, I'm afraid. Remember, Sei can fly, if you don't get out of here, and quick, he's going to catch up with you in no time. I'm going to distract him for as long as I can, but the rest is up to you." Kyla once again nodded at Steppenwolf's words. The girl's arms wrapped around her gigantic relative and squeezed with all of her might. Steppenwolf brought one arm down and began to embrace the girl as well. Without another word shared between the two, Kyla took off, and Steppenwolf kneeled down, patting Pepper on the head to rouse the dog from his slumber.

"Let's go in boy, we did what we had to do." The groggy beast sluggishly made its way onto all fours, and seemed to stumble in the house. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were a heavier sleeper than Anita!" Steppenwolf laughed as he closed the door to the workshop behind them.

[Amber Eyes]

Kyla knew her way to the next mystic town, it was all a trick of the shadows. Cheteau dranktrak showed up wherever the shadows lie. Within a few hours Kyla reached a dark wall. This was her first visit to her hometown since she had passed the shadow trials and it supprised her that weilding shadow magic made it much easier to see the wall that led into town. She quickly entered and ran with all her might towards home. Kyla wasn't sure what she expected once she reached the house, it looked the same as she remembered from when she was a little girl. Kyla looked into the window of her father's bedroom. There he lay, sleeping heavily and snoring lightly. There was the man who was supposed to protect her, to teach her. There was the man who was supposed to love her more than anything and make her laugh. The most powerful of the Orlouges, Kyla's nearest kin.

She couldn't make herself go to the door. No, if Niche wanted to see her he would have come to her. If he didn't want to be that man, she wouldn't force him. He was doing okay, he slept with no nightmares. Her questions would only anger him, and his answers would probably anger her. Kyla Orlouge had made it this far without him, and he didn't seem to have any need for her.
She turned away from her 'home' and walked to the edge of town. She exited the wall and sat in the snow.

Kyla understood now that Niche Orlouge may be her blood, but the man who would show up to save her was the closest thing she would ever have to a father.

[Silence Sei]

Sei had awakened to the smell of sugar cured Salvar ham and bacon. There were probably some Salvar sausage patties on Steppenwolf's stove as well. How the elder Orlouge loved his breakfast meats. The telepath dragged himself out of bed and made his way through the messy halls into Steppenwolf's kitchen. There, the mute's older brother was juggling several eggs in his hands, cracking them upon a pan, and then juggling the shells right into the trash.

Sei watched the last shell fall into the trash, Steppenwolf slinging the excess yolk off of his fingers like it were some sort of mucus. The orange hair Mystic approached one of his brother's work benches, sitting down and looking at the carefree giant.

"You're in a good mood this morning." Sei noted the obvious, knowing that his sibling used to not be such a morning person.

"Getting a dog will do that to ya," Steppenwolf said, grabbing a piece of ham with two fingers and slinging it towards the floor. Before Sei's eyes could follow the flying meat, a brown blur that he could only have assumed to be Pepper came and made the food disappear. Steppenwolf let out a hearty laugh at the event. "I swear it's like I have my own living vacuum cleaner sometimes."

Sei nodded with a smile, hearing the banging and probable bruising of Anita as she stumbled out of bed. It figured that the only time the younger Orlouge 'daughter' would wake up was when there was food almost on the table. Sei turned to greet his child, finding her pink t-shirt and pink butterfly pajamas staggeringly cute. Sei would one day unravel the mystery of that backpack.

Anita scratched her mussed up hair, keeping one groggy eye searching the area. "Where's Kyla?" the Dragon's Daughter asked as she moved from scratching her head to scratching her stomach.

"Is she not still in bed?" Sei asked his little girl, who shook her groggy head. The mute then turned to Steppenwolf, who flashed a cheesy grin. "Alright guys, it's a good thing I cooked such a big breakfast, it's a long story. See, what had happened was...."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sei had completely not thought about flying to where Kyla may be. His mind was too wrapped up in her safety. His feet crunched heavily in the snow as he looked for the girl. Niche and Sei both loved Kyla with all of their hearts, but Niche could only see everything he had lost when he looked into her eyes. Sei could see hope and a fresh start for a troubled youth with a horrible past.

The snow was already melting due to Sei's body giving off so much heat. He could feel the cloth of the blue pajamas sticking to his pale shins as he searched. The chill was disconcerting, but nothing the Hero of Radasanth could not handle. He had traveled to the hottest depths of hell to save Kyla. There was no way the coldest parts of Salvar were going to stop him.

It took almost an hour to get to where he needed to be. He had run non-stop in order to find Kyla. The girl was sitting down in the snow, seemingly very distraught. What had Niche told her? Excited by the fruits of his labor, Sei forgot about the fact that his lungs felt as if they would soon explode, and ran to Kyla.

"I'm so....so.....glad I found you.....Kyla..." The venture had weakened the Mystic's mind as well as his body, and by the time he was within five feet of the girl, he collapsed into the white ground that was the Salvar dirt. Steppenwolf and Anita would be here shortly, but Sei had found Kyla, and she was safe.

Everything else was second priority....

[Amber Eyes]

Kyla grinned as she heard Sei call to her, it dissapeared moments later as she saw Sei fall to the ground. She crawled to him in the cold snow, and placed her head on his chest. The steady thumping of his heart calmed her, and she lay his head on her lap to wait for help. Steppenwolf knew where she was headed, if Sei didn't wake soon surely Steppenwolf would come to the rescue.

"I made a huge mistake Sei. I left you to look for my father. I don't know when I'm going to learn that you signed up for that job. I'm so sorry you had to come to the rescue again." Kyla's eyes filled with tears, "Sometimes I forget how lucky I am to have you in my life. I love you, and I promise I'll be better from here on out. I mean it Sei, I'll try not to cause any trouble. If you don't want me anymore becaue of all the trouble I cause I'll understand."

Kyla held the mystic's hands in her own in an attempt to give him warmth. She pushed all of the light energy she could muster into his body. She only hoped it would be enough warmth to help him hold on. "I'll never forgive myself if something happens to you Sei, please hold on."

[Silence Sei]

Although Kyla's warmth was welcomed, it was not completely needed. Sei's body heat was doing a fine enough job at keeping the Mystic okay for the time being. Though he wasn't fully conscious yet, Sei could feel the snow around his body becoming a pool of water below him, making his clothes soggy. He could hear his brother and daughter in the distance, a humming sound growing closer and closer as Anita rambled in a panic.

Sei would then slip into sleep. He was satisfied knowing Kyla was safe, and that his own rescuers had come...

The mute awoke in his own bed at the Tomb, rubbing his eyes a bit as he got out of bed. At his side were three chairs, filled by Anita, Kyla, and Steppenwolf respectively. The difference in the chair sizes reminded Sei of the story of the three bears, which brought a smile to his lips. It must have been late, because all three Orlouges were passed on in various positions over their chairs. Kyla had been the only one smart enough to get a recliner.

Sei leaned over to Kyla, a hand brushing over the cheek of the teen. The girl snuggled further into the cushions of her chair, and wrapped her rather large comforter around herself. "Don't ever scare me like that again..." Sei said before leaning back to bed. He closed his eyes and tried to get some sleep. He had his family, a group of people dedicated to his cause, and a big home to keep them all over.

All the riches in the world couldn't stop what was really important from shining through. Love was the true bling bling.

[Revenant]

Condensed rubric requested with light commentary.

STORY: 12 –Things like the snowball fight and the cracking ice felt like they were just added to bulk up the post count.

CHARACTER: 13

WRITING STYLE: 12 – I was confused about the anklet that Steppenwolf forged and the extent of how it limited Kyla’s magic. Does it just negate the implosion effect of her knowing both or does it limit her magical capabilities in some way?

WILD CARD: 3

TOTAL: 40

Silence Sei receives 1861 exp and 120 gp.
Amber Eyes receives 988 exp and 110 gp.

Spoils:
Amber Eyes received her requested spoil of a high quality anklet which allows her to survive knowing both Light and Shadow magic.

[Taskmienster]

Exp and GP added.