OOC: Okay, since all of my Dragomir Players seem bored, I'm launching a Dragomir Omake.
This is just to throw stuff out and have fun. So bring on the embarrassing situations!
I'll start.....
IC: It was another clear day in the Omake Forest, Asrana's parents had dissappeared (not that anyone noticed) and Asrana and her body guards were traveling without any real direction.....ah, another day in Omake.....
"So Mike, why DO you use escrema? I would've preffered short swords." Asrana quipped to her overprotective guard.
Mike looked at Asrana and blinked in surprise. "Well that question was a little unexpected"
Mike looked thoughtful for a moment before answering. "Well my Master used Escrema so I picked them up while training with him, and besides I don't like the thought of killing and Escrema are a non-lethal alternative to swords."
Mike smiled at Asrana. "Though the use of swords does interest me."
Asrana smiled, "Oh. We have to use swords, since my clan works as mercenaries, and who wants a mercenary that can't kill quickly and efficiently."
Her smile querked, "I could teach you some of the Tsume Ryu...."
A large grin broke out on Mike's face. "I would love it if you taught me some of your sword style, though I think I would need to use a sword that is at least similar to my Escrema for me to be any good."
"Hmmm.....I might have a pair of short swords I grabbed from a dragon hoard last week..." Asrana turned around on her horse and began to rummage through her packs...
OOC: Omakes are fun. Whatever Kei does isn't gonna be carried over to the actual RPG ^_^
IC: Kei came out of nowhere and glomped the turned-around Asrana from behind.
"Hi Asrana," he whispered in her ear. "Would you teach me stuff too...?"
"Cool swords that once belonged to a dragon!" Mike grinned before Kei came and glomped Asrana.
"Dammit Kei, how is she gonna teach us anything with you hanging off her?"
OOC: Yes, Kwok. This is what it was meant for. Wacky character interaction!
IC: Asrana blushed furiously as she felt Kei's arms enfold her, "Um...Kei, this is EXTREMELY improper. But, sure, I'll teach you the Yurei Ryu."
Unsuccesfully trying to supress the blush she turned back to Mike, "Um...yeah. I picked them out when we were grabbing our shares of the hoard."
Kei sent a nice "BIIIIIIDAAA!!!!!" at Mike while still keeping his arms around Asrana, completely ignoring her blush.
"But this is so nice and comfy..." he made a point to whisper and sigh in Asrana's ear. "It feels so good..."
"So what's the Yurei Ryu about?" he asked, pressing himself even closer to Asrana's back.
"We Killed a Dragon? Cool! To bad I can't remember it..." Mike thought out loud, before looking up at Kei and getting a little Angry.
'Why that....grrr...' Mike thought as he watched Kei snuggle in close to Asrana. 'I'll get him.'
Mike sent a quick but strong burst of psionic energy into Kei's mind, stunning him just long enough to push him off and wrap his own arms comfortably around Asrana.
"The Yurei Ryu is..." Asrana stopped as she felt the flash of psionic power and Kei being pulled away from her.
Then another set of arms wrapped around her and she relaxed again, "I swear you two are going to hurt each other over me." Blushing anew she continued on, "And this isn't any more proper than it was with Kei, Mike."
"Anyway, when I say "we", I mean my parents and my guards."
"Ah, I guess that makes sense then, casue I was sure I've never got in a fight with a dragon before." Mike grinned as he pulled Asrana a closer, holding her snugly to his body.
"So when do you want to start...training?" Mike whispered in her ear.
"Um....Mike, we can't be like this." Asrana said as she ducked out of the embrace and moved a few feet away.
"If a Draconian saw us like that we might have to get married."
"We can start when we break for lunch."
OOC: Lunch break will be whenever Kwok gets online ^_^
Kei growled audibly and jumped towards Mike with a flying kick aimed at his head to kick Mike off Asrana.
"Copycat," he glared at Mike. "I don't care what Asrana says, I'm gonna get you one of these days."
Asrana sighed as she casually flipped Kei over in mid air and dropped him to the ground with a single hand chop.
"Neither of you will be seriously injuring the other. Even if I have to disable you myself."
"C'mon!" Kei whined. "It'll be fun! And great stress relief!"
"Not to mention I'll eliminate a competition..." he thought to himself.
"Ah we won't hurt eachother that bad.." Mike said.
'Well at least phsyically' He thought with an evil grin.
Calen happily went through Mike's and Kei's possesions as the two bickered.
"Junk, junk, more junk... Hmm... Some alcohol, that's a keeper... Yet more junk, couple pieces of gold, even more junk..."
Droping the alcohol in his own backpack and the gold in his pouch he walked off towards the rest of the party...
Asrana just sighed and turned away, "With you two I'll never need children."
Kei latched onto Asrana from behind, throwing his arms around her neck.
"C'mon, A-chan," he said, practically breathing at her neck while completely oblivious to what Calen did. Not that it mattered, since his pack didn't have anything worthwhile. "Don't be that way. Have fun with us! Don't act like royalty all the time! Have fun!"
Mike smiled at Asrana "Its true, though I do think you should smack Kei silly for grabbing you like that, in fact I'll do it for you!"
Asrana smiled, "No thanks, Mike. I can do it myself." And with that Asrana grabbed Kei and shoulder threw him, "NOONE calls me A-chan."
"Anyway, how DO ypu guys have fun? Fun for me and my cousins is sparring....it's also time to stop for lunch." SHe dismounted and walked under a neaby oak to sit, letting her mount browse the undergrowth. She obviously did NOT expect to be argued wiith.
"Ouch!" Kei cried as he landed hard on his back. "Why not? A-chan suits you!"
Scurrying back up to his feet, he practicaly ran over to the nearby oak and sat next to Asrana. "How do we have fun? I dunno. I just do what comes natural to me."
"Because A-chan is a name I'm reserving to be used by my husband, noone else, besides ONE childhood friend, can use it."
"And that's what gets you in trouble so much."
"But that's EXACTLY why I wanna call you A-chan!" he grinned. "And hey, stuff might get me into trouble a lot, but I'm still alive, ain't I?"
"You need to live a little!" he added. "What's a little pain gonna do to you? But you get to have fun!"
"Kei, no. We could never be married, not unless you grew up quite a bit."
"I'll have fun when I'm home with my cousins."
Kei looked hurt. "You mean... you don't like me?" moisture was evident in his eyes as he spoke. "I'll never have a chance?"
Asrana sighed, "No, Kei. I do like you. But you don't have the disposition for being the king of Draconia. If you suddenly matured a great deal and we liked each other THAT much we could marry."
Kei brightened up a little. But quickly looked down again.
"'Mature a great deal'?" he asked. "What do you mean?"
Mike looked at Kei with an odd look. "She means you act like a twelver year old with an odd version of turrets."
"Ans as for fun, well I like to train, spar alot, uh there is some psionic games that I like to play but you need a decent grasp of telekinesis so play them," Mike said while looking back at Asrana with a smile. "Hmmm, other then that I don't know..."
Asrana smiled at Mike, "Now you're talking about fun. But I never learned telekinesis....."
"Kei, you need to act more mature. You're too carefree to ever rule."
Unclipping her chiso-katana from it's back harness, Asrana sighed and leaned her back against the tree.
Kei sighed.
"Why do you all say I'm immature and need to grow up anyway?" he wondered aloud. "It's not like I'm doing anyone any harm..."
OOC: I've been spelling it "chiso-katana" and last night I'm reading the book again and it's "chisa-katana". >_<
IC: Asrana sighed and smiled at Kei, "No, you're not hurting anyone. But, if you ever wanted to marry me you'd have to help rule Draconia. And that requires maturity."
Kei sighed again.
Idly picking a flower out from the ground nearby, he idly plucked the petals away from the flower slowly, one by one.
"'Mature'..." he whispered to himself. "Such an alien concept. Foreign behaviour. I don't want to... but Asrana demands it. What to do..."
He sighed again.
Picking another flower out from near him, he began plucking petals from that too.
"She loves me... she loves me not... she loves me... she loves me not..."
"Kei you just need to think before you do things. Your actions label you as an idiot, but you can't be all that stupid considering you skill in Martial Arts." Mike shook his head and sat down cross-legged near Asrana. "You just need to think about what your going to do before you do it, and lose the little kid act."
Asrana sighed, "I hate to say it, Kei. But Mike's right. You need to think about an action before going through with it." Asrana leaned over to him and gently brushed her lips across his.
Kei blushed as Asrana's lips met his briefly, but then quickly sighed again.
"How much of a chance do I have if I get 'mature'...?" he wondered aloud.
Asrana smiled teasingly, "That depends on Mike, Kaye, and Jon."
Kei grumbled.
"You never want give me any straight answers..." he sighed. "Why is that?"
"Because there are none. Who I marry can not be predicted right now." Asrana explained patiently.
He sighed.
"Fine, fine..." he looked at Asrana wistfully, before quickly shaking it off before anyone can catch it. "So when do we start training?"
Mike shot a big grin at Kei, chuckling softly "Thats more like it! Enough of this whimsical, emotional crap."
"We should start training soon, though I think Kei will need some pictures and a few cookies to keep his interest, I think I remember that happenening in kindergarten." Mike shot a teasing half-smile at Kei to show he was joking.
Asrana sighed once again, "So where do you guys wanna start? I have three styles I can teach. The Tsume, which is a sword and speed specialty but can be adapted to other weapons; the Yurei, which is based on stealth and stealthy killing; and the Akurei, which focuses on plainly destroying your opponent through broken bones, ripped muscles, de-socketed joints, and various other painful and nasty injuries."
OOC: These haven't been fully developed yet....
Kei gave a "teasing" side kick to Mike's stomach for Mike's "teasing half smile.
Turning to Asrana, he nodded.
"I think I'll learn the Akurei..." he said, smiling sadistically, a previously unknown and unseen glint in his eyes.
Mike rolled away from the side kick. "I'd prefer to stick with the Tsume for now, the other styles seem a little...viscious and I already know how to kill in enough ways.."
Mike hopped to he feet and began stretching, moving through a few simple moves to losen his muscles.
Asrana smiled at Mike, "The Tsume is just as bad as the others, only bloodier." Asrana stood with him, detaching her tachi and doing a few of her own stretches. Which happened to pull her chainmail tightly against her body.
"I hope you're ready for some pain, you two. These styles have VERY ungentle teaching practices."
Kei paid no attention to Asrana's... decidedly wonderfully curvaceous body hugging VERY tightly to the form-fitting chainmail (maybe TOO form-fitting...) and proceeded to do his own version of stretching.
Which wasn't really stretching, per se.
Holding both arms out in front of him parallel to his chest, he kept his fists together knuckle-to-knuckle and concentrated his body's energy and channeled them to his fists.
Giving a small "kiai", he bent his knees and bent over slightly to punch the ground below him.
The result was a narrow wave that travelled along the ground for a small distance before dissipating, a small hill left in the soil from his attack.
With a strange glint in his eyes, he whirled around and backfisted the oak tree with a liquid motion, a resounding thud emitting from the trunk.
"Say," Kei turned to Asrana, the glint previously in his eyes gone without a trace. "Think I can learn more than one style? I wanna learn the Akurei and the Tsume. Not gonna bother with the Yurei, since you all know how 'stealthy' I am..."
Asrana narrowed her eyes at the small wave, "Maybe, but learning more than one of the styles can give hints to the Tsukiyuki style. And that is strictly forbiden."
"C'mon!" Kei whined. "What's wrong with learning both the Tsume and the Akurei? I'm leaving the Yurei out so I'm not learning everything. Besides, do you really think I'm smart enough to learn that Tsukiwhatever style just from learning two other ones?"
Mike looked at Kei questionably "Uh, what was with the little Ki wave, and punching the tree? And personally I believe that you could figure out the style given some time"
He turned to Asrana with a smile. "I'm sure I can use the Tsume non-lethally, a slitgh adjustment in some attack angles is all it'll take to make it maim instead of kill."
Asrana sighed, "All three styles have a basis in the Tsukiyuki, learning two of them would definitely give away some of the basic Tsukiyuki techniques."
Asrana smiled at Mike, "Be my guest to try, it'll be interesting to say the least."
"Well then lets get started."
"Nothing," Kei smiled at Danax. "Only me stretching and working out a bit."
"And no I can't!" he protested, shooting a glare at him.
"C'mon!" Kei pleaded to Asrana. "I wanna learn both! Besides, it's just the basics so what can it hurt?"
Mike gave Asrana a questioning look. "You know I think you put a little to much focus on the style and not enough on the practitioner, and besides we will eventually pick up some basics just by watching you use them," Mike shugged as he let out a sigh "Unless the style is jsut a large collaboration of special tecniques.."
Asrana sighed as she spoke to Mike, "The basics are all internal, and the visible ones require knowledge of the basics to comprehend what I'm doing. You wouldn't pick them up by seeing me use them. And if you were learning the Yurei....you might not have the same opinion."
"And no Kei, I won't risk any leakage of the Tukiyuki style. Akurei or Tsume."
Kei grumbled. "Fine, fine, I'll stick with learning the Akurei then..."
He didn't get what was the big deal with all the secrecy with the Tsukiyuki style. The worst thing that close happen would be that he'd have to marry Asrana, and that wasn't even close to being remotely ba-
... oh.
Asrana smiled, "Thanks, Kei-kun."
Mike felt a flash of psionics directed at Kei just as Asrana leaned in and planted her lips on Kei's.
As for Kei, all coherent thought left his mind as he felt Asrana's tender lips on his.
With his object of affection in such close proximity in front of him, or rather, connected with him in such an intimate manner, he could hardly think straight; it took most of his concentration just to stay conscious.
Concentrating as much as he could, he tried to mutter the tender words of affection and love that he so longed to speak.
"Gah..." was all he managed to get out.
Mike scratched the back of head head in confuseion as he looked from Asrana to Kei and then back again.
'I wonder what she did..' He thought to himself, about the psionic flash. 'I don't think she muddled his brain, after all she could do it with a wink, smile and a little extra hip sway...and there is very little brain to muddle with anyway.'
Mike's hand went from the back of his head to his chin as he continued his thoughts of what Asrana did before a genius idea struck him.
"Hey Asrana, what did you do there? I wasn't paying attention and didn't catch what psionic ability you used."
Asrana giggled as she seperated from Kei. "I just used telepathy."
"Aaaah! Telepathy isn't my strong suite at all...I can do a conversation between two people easy enough but anymore then that and I start to have serious troubles." Mike grinned sheepishly.
Asrana smiled at Mike, "Hmmm....maybe we could train each other psionically. I never learned telekinesis, and your telepathy could stand to improve...."
She turned to Kei, "So...Kei.....gonna grow up?"
Kei blinked out of his reverie. He was rather enjoying that little daydream of him being an item with Asrana and her kissing him like that everyday. Oh well.
"Wha...?" Kei replied offhandedly and without thinking, not really knowing what that was about. "Grow up? I'll think about it."
"I can give ya a hand if you need help in...accelerating your maturity advancement." Mike grinned.
"If you meant you want me to mature by laying the smackdown on your ass," Kei grinned. "I'd be happy to help."
"HA! Bring it, any time any place little man!" Mike saide with a big grin on his face as he danced away a little, in a loose fighting stance.
Asrana saw the fight about to happen and decided to take a little action.
Her leg shot out to sweep Mike off his feet as her hands grabbed Kei and flipped him over herself, throwing him down next to Mike.
Kei landed on the ground with a hard thud.
"Ouch..." he tried to shake his head to clear the stars, but only got a sharp pain as a reward for his effort. Deciding that the best course of action would be to just rest.
Slowly opening his previously closed eyes, he found himself looking into Asrana's face, leaning over him.
"I'm seeing an angel... am I dead...?"
Asrana sweatdropped, "Ah....no Kei, it's just me. And I would sincerely hope you could survive a simple throw.
"It's just you? So I AM seeing an angel, " Kei smiled as he sat up. "And don't worry about it. I can survive much more than a simple little throw."
Mike climbed slowly back to his feet. "Alright I guess I deserved that." he said while smiling at Asrana.
Asrana gladly turned to Mike and smiled warmly, "Yeah, you two shouldn't fight."
"But we weren't really going to fight, well all out at least, basically jsut hard sparring." Mike said looking to Kei for agreement. "And we need to to imporive, but I'll be more...considerate of whenwe actually start."
Kei smirked.
"You just mean that we're gonna fight in secret behind Asrana's back, don't you?"
"Yup, preatty much." Mike replied with a grin.
Asrana sighed, looked up at the sky, and lamented, "WHY ME!?"
Kei bolted out of his spot on the ground as Asrana turned towards the sky, and glomped onto her once again.
"Because I-err... WE love you, that's why!" he said, grinning.
Calen's voice could just be heard by the trio.
"That is because they are starved for attention. They have latched onto you as the source for now."
Nothing was heard after that, except the sound of the wind passing through the trees.
OOC: Get back to the actual RPG soon! ^_^
Wraith was suddenly visible standing on a tree branch several feet above the Mike, Kei and Asrana.
"Calen has a point." He commented, dropping lightly to the ground. "Or it could be they enjoy the love/hate relationship they have with each other, and you just happen to be around to witness it..."
OOC: Tell that to Merc, CM
IC: Asrana sighed, "One of you is probably right." She looked at Wraith, "I have a little built up tension, wanna spar?"
Wraith shifted uneasily.
"Alright." He agreed hesitantly, then shot an amused smirk over to Mike and Kei. "They should be occupied with each other for a little bit yet, anyway..."
Asrana smiled warmly at Wraith, "Yeah...hands only or weapons?"
"Hands only, if you don't mind." Wraith commented, untying his sword belt and dropping it to the ground.
"It's easier to keep from getting carried away if I'm not using a sword. Plus, I think my hand to hand could use some work." He added, removing a throwing knife and a few more dangerous looking shiruken along with a seemingly endless variety of smaller throwing knives and darts, and dropping them on the ground.
Asrana followed suit and unclipped her tachi, setting it down next to her. She nodded at his commentary and removed a brace of five shuriken from her left forearm.
"We'll see how your hand abilities are, but no actual contact with killing blows."
Wraith looked uncomfortable.
"Right." He agreed, looking disturbed at the prospect. "I don't think I'd do that...I don't remember sparring all that much though..." He admitted.
"Anyway...How do we start?" he asked, moving away from the small pile of weapons.
Asrana giggled, "You never know."
Asrana stepped away from her own weapons and smiled, "One of us starts by attacking the other." Asrana sank into defensive stance.
Wraith smiled wryly. "Ok, I guess I asked for that..." he mused as he dropped into an offensive stance.
He was still for a long moment, then, in a flash of movement, his leg snapped up, firing a small acorn that had been resting near his boot at Asrana.
Asrana ducked under the acorn, sliding in to sweep Wraith and come back around with a roundhouse.
Wraith leapt high over both attacks, flipping over Asrana's head and lashing out with a spinning backfist as soon as his feet hit the ground.
Asrana smiled and ducked under the backfist. Lashing out with a blindingly fast side-thrust kick to Wraith's ribs
Wraith continued twisting with the motion of the backfist, grunting as the kick grazed his ribs, and snapped an open handed blow at Asrana's extended knee.
Asrana twisted her extended leg and caught the blow by the wrist in the back of her knee. She twisted it around, disabling his hand and forearm, while using it for leverage to bring her other leg up and knee Wraith in the shoulder.
Wraith grinned and took the knee in the shoulder, grimacing slightly with the impact and dropping onto his back in a roll, hauling Asrana who was still holding his arm down on top of him.
Asrana smiled, "Well now...isn't this an interesting situation we're in?" Asrana shifted her knees into slightly less uncomfortable positions, inadvertently rubbing against Wraith.
Wraith went VERY still as Asrana rubbed up against him. All thoughts of continuing his attack went out the window, along with the majority of the self-confidence fighting brought.
"Uhm," He said nervously, "I thought we we sparring, Asrana-dono?"
He coughed uneasily and tried to think of something, ANYTHING else...
Asrana pouted cutely, "I thought I told you to call me Asrana outside of the city. And we're just taking a small break from sparring. Even though we don't need one."
Wraith tried to look nonchalant...or as much as was possible when one was lying on the ground with a...healthy girl straddling one's waist.
He stared with apparent fascination at the surrounding trees, his cheeks going red.
"Uhm...Ok...Asrana." He coughed again. "Um...if we're taking a break wouldn't you want to get up? That can't be comfortable..."
Asrana grinned and leaned back slightly, "Actually, it's quite comfortable." Her voice aslmost purred.
Wraith's head snapped around, fixing Asrana with a wide-eyed stare.
"S-Stop kidding around..." he choked.
Asrana looked at him innocently, "But I'm not."
Wraith tried to respond to that, but couldn't. "..."
Asrana smiled, "Anything wrong?" She idly stretched her arms up into the sky. "Say, um...could you pull your knees up against my back?"
Kei WAS glaring at the two sparring martial artists... until said sparring turned rather... intimate. Silently growling, he stood up, likely unnoticed by Wraith and Asrana, who were rather preoccupied at the moment.
His fists tightened more and more as he stood by and watched, until audible cracks from the knuckles were evident to the nearby Mike. If anybody cared or dared to look at him straight in the eyes, they would see his bloodshot eyes, so red they were almost glowing, as if blood would simply drip out at any moment.
With an almost inhuman growl, he ran a small distance and jumped high up into the air. Sparing a few seconds to glare at Wraith with those same blood-red eyes, he flipped in the air with his right leg extended, and sent his other out in the other direction until he looked as if he was doing splits in mid-air.
Descending in this same position with his right leg slightly lower than the rest of the body, he aimed to land on Wraith's chest with the modified axe kick, his entire bodyweight concentrated on his right heel.
Wraith was numbly raising his knees against Asrana's back when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye.
All expression dropped from his face as he used his free hand to push himself partially upright, a counter attack already in mind...
Asrana narrowed her eyes as she sensed the tensing. She quickly pushed Wraith down into the ground and sprang up on her left foot. Using a standard counter, she flipped Kei into an upward spin and side-thrust kicked him in the groin hard enough to send him flying, then sat down.
All in one movement.
Kei didn't even have time to yell out an "ack" before he was brutally kicked in the groin and sent flying backwards, unconscious from the intense pain even before he landed.
He woke up mere seconds later, sitting up and staring at Wraith and Asrana with blank eyes.
"WRAITH-CHAN!!" he suddenly screamed, then threw his arms around Wraith's neck, or as much as he could with Wraith still lying on his back, and planted his lips on Wraith's.
As Kei jumped for Wraith's neck, Asrana lashed out, heel kicking him in the sternum hard enough to flip him around and smash him into the ground.
Kei slammed into the ground hard, his face into the ground and stayed unmoving for a few seconds.
Seconds later, he lifted his head up and looked at Asrana with blank eyes, then his eyes widened. Hurriedly, he pushed himself back to sitting on his behind and quickly back backpedalled to a tree, his eyes opened wide.
"D-don't hurt me!" he said in a small, kid-like voice as he curled up into a ball with his back to the tree, his voice trembling with fear.
Asrana sighed and quickly cast a double restoration spell on Kei, one for his body and the other for his mind.
She sighed and leaned back against Wraith's legs, drained of quite a bit of energy.
Mike watched the proceedings silently, including the vicious beating of Kei.
"Well, that seemed a little acessive." He stated in a cold voice looking at Asrana. "Looks to me like you need a few lessons in control to go along with all that power."
With that he glanced at Kei to make sure that he was alright and turned on his heel, and walked away.
Finally pulling his mind out of 'What just happened?' mode, Wraith heard Mike addressing Asrana and glared disgustedly at Mike's retreating back.
"Attacking someone lying on the ground is acceptable, but that was excessive?" He muttered. "I'm real popular, aren't I? Maybe taking this job was a mistake. I just can't seem to get along with anyone..."
Asrana sighed, "The Akurei style wasn't meant to be nice. But it's better than the Yurei. You'd rather I have burned his nerves out inside his body? I used the style meant to disable more than kill. And both those moves could've been modified to kill him."
Asrana leaned down, her face hovering over Wraith's, "Wraith, I get along with you. Those two don't really get along with anyone. Especially in this weird Omake Forest."
Wraith blinked up at Asrana as she leaned over him. She was close enough to feel her breath on his face...
He looked away, blushing.
"They seem to get along with each other well enough. They were flirting with each other so much they never got around to sparring..." He said, smirking a little.
Asrana giggled, "Inteesting thought. And why are you blushing?" Asrana leaned back again, gently rubbing hr back up and down on Wraith's knees. It was just relaxing her muscles, Really.
Wraith choked.
"I-I'm not blushing!" He insisted lamely. "What are you doing?" he asked nervously as she massaged her back on his legs.
Asrana smiled brightly, "Yes you are! And I'm relaxing."
Meanwhile, immediately after Asrana casted the double restoration spell...
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Kei screamed suddenly, holding his head in pain. "Something's messing with my head! Someone is! AAAAHHHHH!!! It hurts! It hurts!"
He sank to the ground on his knees, still screaming. "AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!! Stop! Stop doing this to me! Get out of my head!!!!!"
As if crazed, he suddenly bolted to his feet and jumped towards the nearest tree and impacted head-first, then collapsed face-first in the ground and remained unmoving.
Hearing Kei scream Mike immediatly turned back, and ran over to his now uncontious form.
"What the hell happened?" He asked as he brabed kei's head with both his hands and began a psionic assessment of any potential mental damage.
"What the hell did you do to him anyway?" Mike asked, his eyes flaring a brilliant emerald green.
Asrana's eyes seemed to turn to ice as she looked at Mike, "I repaired the damage from his little escapade." Asrana back flipped off of Wraith and walked over to Kei, tapping him on the forhead. Kei slumped down and began to snore.
"When he wakes up he should be fine. And I'll ask my question again, of the four styles I know, only the Akurei and Yurei were applicable in that situation. The Yurei technique would've killed him by burning out his nerves. I used the somewhat brutal but non-lethal methods of the Akurei. Would you have preffered I used the Yurei?" Her voice was like ice and had a razor edge to it.
Mike nodded as he let go of Kei's head, seeing that everything was alright. "Nice work there by the way."
He rolled his eyes as he hears Asrana's statment. "So you trying to tell me that through the four styles that you know that the only moves that you know, the only ones ever taught to you are either fatal or debilitating?"
Mike shook his head and smiled. "I don't see how you can honestly claim that, But I'd love to hear it."
At that point he noticed the figure on the ground behind Asrana, and waved with a friendly grin on his face. "Hi, I'm Mike I don't think we've ever properly met."
Asrana calmly and unblinkingly looked at Mike, "Outside of sparring, all of my styles are meant to be deadly or incapacitating. The only techniques I know that aren't offensive are either stealth based or use my aura as a weapon."
She snorted, "There are a few less painful techniques, but they are much more messy and permanent."
"Riiiight....." Mike said looking at Asrana a little confused. "I can understand that alot of your tecniques are based on killing or maiming, as you said your constantly at a state of war. However knowing nothing but killing or maiming isn't really martial arts, I mean where is the art in that?"
Mike began pacing as he talked, making expressive gestures with his hands. "I prefer to look at it as maiming and killing as an unfortunate side-effect, and it simply dosn't need to be done all the time. Take your offensive against Kei for examply." He continue gesturing towards the sleeping Kei. "You could have simply knocked him out, and with the strength I've felt in your tecniques it would have taken one shot at best, yet you chose not to knock him out, instead you chose to rip him apart, breaking several bone and causing him serious pain. Now either that was a contious decision, as I've already said, or you simply don't know anything non-lethal wich, in my opinion, is not complete martial arts."
Mike sucked in a huge breath when he was done his small tirade, and looked at Asrana with a slighlt appologetic look, and spoke in a very formal tone. "If I've over-stepped my boundaries by stating my opinions Princess, then please just let me know."
Asrana patiently waited through the lecture, her eyes a pair of unblinking icy sapphires, "First, I have never claimed to be a martial artist. War requires brutal efficiency, not art. To take the time to modify one of my techniques to a non-lethal format would have impaired my ability to react to Kei's attack on Wraith. My instincts reacted in kind and used the least lethal or messy technique on Kei. I don't have ingrained knowledge of the non-lethal simply because I'm not a martial artist as I said before.
And no, you've not overstepped your boundaries by expressing an opinion." Her tone remained icy and calm throughout her own little tyrade.
Mike paused in his pacing as he heard Asrana proclaim herself not a martial artist. Having lost a lot of his momentum in the conversation/argument he simply stood there staring at Asrana for a while, his mind racing before he descided on his course of action.
"I see..." Was all he said before letting out a sight and looking around. "Then your not a martial artist, yet I am sure you know how to pull a punch, causeing it to not beak a bone, even if he did a dishonerable act I still don't think he deserved that."
Asrana just looked at him, "All of the other techniques that would've put him out of action involve breaking bones in one or more of the chest, leg, head, neck, back, and pelvis regions. In that situation pulling the blow would have left him in action, not acceptable with his mental stability."
She nodded slightly to him, "That is your opinion. But he attacked a good friend of mine and should have known that I would defend Wraith as quickly as possible."
Mike sighed and shook his head. "Well whatever, I think your wrong, you think I'm wrong lets leave this at that shall we?"
Turning to look at Kei's sleeping form. "What the hell was that anyway?"
Asrana nodded, the ice still not leaving her eyes, "Very well. You are a martial artist and I an assassin or soldier, depending on who you ask."
Asrana looked down at Kei, "I used a mental restoration spell and then psionics to put him to sleep."
"Well, yeah I figured that out, but why did he flip out tht bad? that dosn't seem like him..."
Mike trailed off as he turned his head to Wraith, and scrutinised him closely before looking back at Kei.
"Ah well, I'll ask him later when he wakes up, but for now I would like to go ask Calen a few things." Mike said while sanding and turned to Asrana. "By your leave Princess." He continued formally, while adding a friendly "I'll catch ya later!" to Wraith.
Asrana simply nodded as she turned back to Wraith.
Wraith sat up and waved wordlessly at Mike as he left.
He stared hard at Kei for a few moments, then at Mike's departing back. He then looked up at Asrana.
"I don't get it." He admitted.
Asrana smiled warmly at Wraith, "Neither do I, neitheer do I..."
Wraith smiled up at her, then asked thoughtfully,
"I mean, isn't it a little naive to assume that there's always a gentler solution?" He asked curiously. "Especially for a fighter..."
Asrana nodded, "But he's an idealistic martial artist. That seems to be a predominant opinion among them."
Wraith looked surprised.
"That seems unnecessarily complicated. Not one of them believes the 'shortest distance between two points is a straight line'?"
He paused a moment. "I mean, fighting is all about finding the quickest way to kill or disable your opponent, isn't it?"
"Aside from sparring, I mean." He amended.
Asrana smiled, "I haven't met a martial artist yet that believed that and wasn't shunned by the other martial artists."
She nodded, "For us, the assassins, mercenaries, and soldiers it is. For a martial artist...no. My guess is they gain skill for the purpose of skill. While we gain it as a survival method."
Wraith frowned.
"That seems a little pointless. I mean, not wanting to inflict unnecessary harm is commendable, I guess...but always worrying about it hampers your ability to commit yourself to defeating someone, unless you outclass them totally..."
Asrana nodded, "But since both martial artists in a fight will generally have the same inhibitions, it evens them out to a point."
Wraith gave her a solemn look.
"Which is all well and good if you're fighting in a tournament. But in a random fight in the real world, there's no way to tell a martial artist from someone who has no illusions, or inhibitions..."
"I know, it's why I never cared for the lifestyle. But that might be my upbringing."
Wraith shrugged.
"It seems an impractical philosophy for everday life, in my opinion." he said blandly. He glanced briefly at Kei.
"I wonder. He doesn't seem to show the same restraint Mike does..."
Kei stirred as he remembered what just happened.
Opening his eyes, he sat up and shot an ice-cold stare in Wraith and Asrana's direction before getting up.
"I apologize for my earlier action," he bowed formally, his fists clenched bleach white. "That was uncalled for, and I was punished for it." At the mention of the word "punishment", his eyes gained a fire, but it was quickly doused.
"Now if you'll excuse me, Princess," he continued, his normally cheerful and friendly voice practically dripping with venom. "I'll leave you and your friend alone. I need to go... train."
With that said, he spun on his heels and strode away.
Asrana sighed and leaned against a tree, beginning to massage her forehead, "Some days...some days.... I REALLY wonder why I accepted all this. I think I need a break from all this...yeah. Tell everyone else that if they need to contact me to leave a message at a Jade Assassins' Guildhouse." Asrana gathered up her weapons and teleported away.
Wraith blinked. He stood slowly and gathered his weapons.
"That hypocritical bastard," He muttered to himself, glancing back the way Kei had departed. He was angry, and worse, he wasn't sure why. "He got off too lightly. I should...no. Asrana wouldn't appreciate me making the situation worse. It was probably my fault anyway."
He clipped his sword back to his belt after tucking the throwing knives away. "They were getting along fine before I showed up. I'll apologize to Asrana for causing trouble, then I'll stay in the background," he decided.
With that, he vanished silently into the trees...
Wraith stopped himself, fighting an internal war.
"Screw it. I don't care. I'm gonna have words with the jerk."
With that, he began heading in the direction Kei had gone. Momentarily, the martial artist came into view. Wraith stood in the trees, eyes narrowed.
As soon as he figured out what to say without embarrassing his employer, he'd have it out with Kei.
A maniacal laughter rang out from the martial artist in question, completely unaware of Wraith's prescence.
"Mwahahahahaha..." Kei's voice rumbled in a low laughter as a glint came over his eyes. Cracking his knuckles and rotating any kinks out of his neck, his previously stone-cold feature growing into a wide grin. Spinning on the balls of his foot, he rotated around 180 and punched the tree behind him with a vertical fist, blowing a large circular chunk out of the tree trunk.
Spinning around, he leapt to the side a little and unleashed a backfist at another tree, cutting the medium-sized tree in half. As the trunk began to topple over, he launched an axe kick at the toppling half of the trunk, cutting it in half once again.
As soon as his foot touched down on the ground, he immediately broke into a sprint, then leapt up into a flying kick, his entire body cutting through the tree and exiting out from the other side, where he landed lightly with both feet squared below his shoulders. As the large tree threatened to topple over on him, he sent a fist up at the toppling tree, then allowed himself to fall, pushing a hand into the ground and propelling himself upwards with a kick, kicking the toppling tree several meters away.
Getting back to his feet, he smiled a satisfied, yet strangely sadistic smile.
Seconds later, another maniacal laughter escaped his lips.
Wraith stepped out of the trees, giving the deranged laughing martial artist a hard look.
"I see something more has happened than you led Asrana-dono to believe. " he said curiously.
"So there is more to you than just a clown, I see."
"I didn't lead her to believe anything," Kei spoke in a cold voice without turning around. "She believed whatever she wanted to believe. What do you want?"
Wraith smiled flippantly. "Besides your head impaled on a stick?" he asked glibly.
Kei extended a fist to punch a tree next to him, his punch shaking the entire tree and all its leaves loose.
Turning around to face Wraith, he slipped into a defensive stance.
"Just try it," he growled.
Wraith grinned lazily, unfazed by the attempt to impress or cow him, he wasn't sure which.
"Unfortuantely, our employer wishes you in one piece. So, killing you is out. However, If you'd like to wish you were dead, press the point." he said easily. His lips quirked into a snarling grin. "Please."
Kei threw his arms up into the air and laughed maniacally.
Pivoting on his left foot, he swung his right leg behind his left and sank his knees lower, going into a southpaw stance with power in mind.
"Let's cut the pretenses," he smirked. "You want this just as much as I do, so bring it on."
Wraith didn't move, standing in an apparently casual stance.
"Think you know me that well, do you? Truth is, as far as fighting you goes, I couldn't care less. You aren't worth my time. Your 'skill' is negligible." he said calmly.
"As far as disliking you personally...yes, I'd say so. Still, taking the first shot against someone so handicapped doesn't strike me as fair."
Kei smirked.
"I know what you're trying to do," he said he waved with a flick of his wrist, taunting. "So hit me... if you dare."
"And I knew full well that you could've escaped that attack if you wanted to when I made it," he growled.
"What the hell is going on here?" Mike asked, drawn tot he area by the sounds of trees falling.
He paused and looked from Kei to Wraith and back to
Kei. "Kei, whats up man?"
Kei continued taunting Wraith, ignoring Mike's greeting.
"I guess you can't fight now," he smirked. "Or Mike might tell your pretty little 'employer' about you fighting."
Without waiting for a reply, Kei turned away from Wraith and Mike to walk deeper into the forest.
"Leave me the hell alone."
OOC: And now I'm packing up my computer to move. See you in a few days after I unpack everything ^_^;;
There was a slight whisper next to Kei's ear, followed by a loud thunk on a tree nearby.
A single lock of hair fell to the ground from Kei's head. A little further on, a small throwing knife was buried deeply in a tree trunk.
Wraith's expression was still mocking, but his eyes were cold.
"The point isn't that I could have avoided it. The point is...you made the attack. For no reason whatsoever, you tried to assualt me while my back was turned, metaphorically speaking."
"Add that to the fact you're running away without starting the fight you were asking for...You sniveling coward." He snarled.
"What the fuck is going on?!?!?" Mike almost screamed, annoyed at being ignored.
Mike was about to run after Kei when he heard Wraith's insult. "Now wait just a second. You may think Kei's an asshole, but the last thing I would call him is a coward! Kei, without a single thought of his own safety, attacked a powerful demon. How do I know you would do the same?" Mike pulled in a breath, calming himself. "Sorry about that, but from what I've seen Kei may be a complete asshole to you, but he's no coward."
Mike paused and scratched the back of his head. "Come to think of it, no one has yet to give me an explanation as to why you two seem to know eachother, where did all that bad blood come from?"
Wraith glanced over at Mike.
"Your loyalty does you credit," he commented. "But it's misplaced here. I have my reasons for calling him a coward. He's done nothing to prove otherwise in my presence."
He returned his gaze to Kei. "All I came to do was to express my displeasure that he's upset Asrana-dono. It was his posturing that started this."
"I see, well you two have both said your piece, and hopefully you'll both be able to put this aside in the morning." Mike glanced back towards where kei had gone.
"Maybe I can get his reasons out of him..later though, he's a little to angry right now." Mike looked back at Wraith and walked up to him, extending his hand for a shake.
"We got off a little on the wrong foot, so I guess nows as good a time as any for formal introductions. I'm Mike Martial Artist, with a decent psionic backing. I assume your here to guard Asrana as well?" A friendly, disarming grin spreading over his face.
"I don't think I'll be ready to forgive him until he apologizes to Asrana."
Wraith cautiously took the proffered hand.
"I'm called Wraith." He said simply, a guarded expression on his face. "Yeah...I was hired by her parents to watch out for her."
Mike shook Wraith's hand while bowing slightly. "Well it'll be great to have you as one of the team. So tell me, what are your specialties?" Mike asked while absent mindedly tapping his right foot on the ground.
Wraith gave Mike a cagey look, and relaxed marginally.
"My preference is a sword," he said finally, gesturing to the katana Asrana had given him. "But I'm comfortable with other weapons as well. I'm sort of a generalist."
"Cool! It'll be handy to have another martial artist around...handy get it?" Mike grined as he struck a cheesy pose and pointed at Wraith in a comedic type way.
After a slight pause he dropped his hand and stood straight again, chuckling lightly. "Ok that was cheesy and stupid...so you and Asrana-dono seem to know eachother very well, when and where did you meet?"
OOC: Alright...this started at 5:24 AM (central time) when I was bored...it is now two chapter of Hearts of Healing later and 6:48...and I'm plain disgusted with myself for actually doing this...
Anyway, for those of you that have been wondering what Asrana's been doing...here's a small bit of it...
IC: Asrana materialized miles to the north, just outside Cebos.
She gazed at the capital of her mother's clan, so many years...
She quietly walked to the gate, the guards straightening automatically as the royal family crest emblazoned on her chest became visible. She smiled and nodded to them as she passed through the quickly opened gates. Inside she opened her senses to the realxing sights and smells of the Jade Market.
"It's good to be back..." She thought as she walked down the street, pulling her cloak a little tighter around her to hide the emblem of her family and the hood up to conceal her distinctive hair.
She stepped into a familiar jeweler's shop, a bell over the door ringing. Her soft boots made not a noise as she slipped over to a display case to examine a row of necklaces. An elderly man stepped out from the doorway behind the case.
"And what may I do for you, my Lady?" His voice was worn but gentle.
Asrana glanced up to see the plain but high quality brown pants, the white shirt and the thin leather apron. An amused ring to her voice, "Hello, Farenal. Asrana will do." Her eyes peeked from under her hood, the green flecked sapphires sparkling like the gems Farnal wrought.
A wide grin cracked his face as he bowed formally, "Forgive me, Princess. I did not recognize you."
Asrana smiled, "No need for titles, kinsman. Asrana will do." She lowered the hood of her cloak, the revealed silver and brown hair glinting in the sunlight that streamed throught the fron windows. "I'm guessing you know why I'm here?"
Farenal nodded, "Your letters indicated your bodyguards may at some point create a schism amongst themselves. And you indicated you would come back to your mothers home. So here you are." His voice had lost amusement, now held in a neutral tone.
Asrana nodded a bit sadly, "Yes...I have come back. I'll be rejoining the Assassins' Guild..."
Farenal nodded, "I understand, but what caused you to stop by an old uncle's shop? Certainly you have more important business in the rest of the city." His grin was wry, a slight chuckle barely contained.
Asrana's smile brightened, "Cause who can stay away from their favorite uncle?! That and I have a business proposition..."
Farenal chuckled lightly, "Ever the business woman, just like your mother. But come into the back, you are family and my daughter will be happy to finally meet her great and royal cousin."
Asrana's chuckle was a tad subdued, "That's right, I have yet to meet Arial. How are her studies coming?"
Her uncle smiled in paternal pride, "Quite well, she's already passed the initial exams for the Factors' Guild."
Asrana raised an eyebrow, "Expanding the family business, are we?"
He grinned back, "Might as well with five daughters and one already to take over the shop. This way I won't have to deal with any of those Demonian gem merchants...except Dernam for old times sake. Yep, all I'll need then is a gem merchant grandchild..."
Asrana smiled as she quietly walked behind him past a work table.
Her life was getting better already.
Wraith blinked, and frowned marginally. "I'm not exactly a martial artist...Mike." He said quietly.
"We met shortly after her parents hired me," Wraith said, looking away.
"And, with that in mind, You should know that I'll be leaving the group for a bit. Our charge has run off by herself, because of that idiot." Wraith said disgustedly, gesturing in the direction Kei had gone.
"I'm going to track her down. I'll send word when I've found her."
OOC: Here's chapter 2 of Asrana's vacation...
IC: Asrana sighed as she looked inside the old workshop, she'd spent many days as a child playing here. Under the watchful eye of her uncle...
The workrooms of the shop were neat, partially finished pieces set in neat stands. Her eyes drifted over each of them, settling on a pair of gold and black sapphire earrings, ones that matched the pair she now wore.
Farenal followed her gaze, "I was making a set...in case you ever settled down."
Asrana smiled, "Preparation...how Jadanian. Not that I'm innocent. But I am only twenty five. I wasn't born for centuries."
His smile matched hers, "One can always hope for a great niece in faster time then it took to get her mother."
Asrana's giggles were like silvery chimes, "Uncle...you always were more hopeful then the rest of us...but I do like one of my guards..." She stepped up to the stand holding the earrings, "Same set of gems?"
Farenal nodded, "Yep...almost no orders for black sapphires, so it's the from the same two dozen Dernam sold me two score years back. Can't wait for Arial and his daughter to meet...hopefully they can be as good friends as their parents..." He chuckled, "Then Dernam and I could retire down near West Gate without a care in the world."
Asrana nodded as she straightened, her gloved finger hovering mere centimeters from the jewelry. "I'd like to commission a ring, the measurements are here..." A folded piece of parchment flipped fron her sleeve to her hand, Farenal quickly took it. "Single deep blue sapphire in a rose cut, white gold band. It's for a friend."
Farenal's eyes widened as his knowledge of Dragon etiquette came to mind, then he smiled, "Maybe my great niece isn't so far off..."
Asrana smiled mysteriously, "That will have to wait for an answer."
OOC: Until next time....
Wraith turned away from Mike, nodding. "I'll be in touch when I find her."
He disappeared into the trees.
*********
Wraith sighed. He hoped she was feeling better, but he was a little annoyed that she hadn't taken him along. Watching out for her was supposed to be his job.
"Hunting Bounty heads was so much less complicated..." He muttered aloud. As he headed off to where she'd said she could be reached, he admitted to, himself, at least, that this job was more interesting, by far.
Kei barely flinched when the knife whizzed by his head.
"Out of sight, out of mind..." he repeated the mantra over and over again. "Out of sight, out of mind..."
He twitched as flashes of memory invaded him as he finished his fifth "out of mind."
They were laughing at him again. Calling him a "sniveling coward" for not standing up against the other guy. Did they think he didn't want to? Did they think he stepped down because the other guy was "bigger"? But what could he do?
What could he do, when the girl he loved was making out with another guy right in front of his eyes, then told him to go away and never come back to bother them again?
What could he do, when his heart was shattered by the one he loved most?
Tears fell from his eyes as he endured them laughing at him, all mocking him.
A tear fell silently from his eyes as he remembered the hideous, deriding laughter... and the heartbreak.
Mike waved a friendly wave as Wraith dissappeared, and then turned a concerned eye towards where Kei had left to.
'Should I or shouldn't I see whats up, give him some time or not?' Mike thought to himself as he absentmindedly began to walk in the direction Kei had left. 'Aw fuck it.'
Mike slammed his right foot into the ground, rocketing forward in a insanly fast run as he bursted after Kei.
"YO KEI! Where are ya buddy?!?" He yelled as he ripped through the trees.
Kei heard Mike's shout and quickly wiped the tear away from his eyes. What was past was past, and there was nothing he could do about it. Granted, the current situation with Asrana might just turn out to be a repetition of history, but he would not be able to help that, whatever the result maybe.
"Yeah, what do you want?" he snapped, trying to shoot a glare through his formerly teary, bloodshot eyes.
OOC: Wraith's quest! ^^
IC:
Wraith paused his trek toward the Guild house. Faint crimson rays of light were the last signs of the elasped day.
He sighed briefly, but decided to stop for the night. He tossed his small pack into the lower branches of a nearby tree, and the strap snagged a sturdy branch, dangling the pack about ten feet overhead.
Nodding to himself, he withdrew the katana from his belt, and sat with his back to the tree his pack hung on. He propped the katana against his shoulder, and stared at the black sky.
Why was he so worried that she had run off by herself? She'd demonstrated she was MORE than capable of looking after herself...He shook his head.
She was cunning, stubborn, and for some reason, could twist him around her little finger any time she chose, and seemed to know it, too.
He wanted to know why that was, but every time he asked himself that, his mind seemed to shy away from the question.
He leaned back against the tree. Being a bodyguard was HARD. You develop a peculiar fascination for the person entrusted to you.
At least, that was what he told himself as he fell into a light sleep, sitting against the tree, his sword held ready.
After all...why else would I be thinking of her so much? he thought fuzzily as he nodded off. It must be all part of being a bodyguard...
Mike came to a complete stop as he saw Kei, and looked into his eyes.
"Oh shit man, whats wrong?" He asked with concern as he began walking over to him, completely ignoring the attempted glare.
Kei turned away from Mike and tried to blink the last remnants of a tear from his eyes.
"I said leave me the hell alone," he said in as cold a voice as he could muster. "So go away. Go bug Wraith or something."
Mike paused as Kei said that before shaking his head and continuing up to him.
"You know all battle can't be faught alone, and I like to assist my friends in thier battles as much as I can." He said as he came to a stop, several feet from Kei's back.
"I! Said!" Kei yelled as he spun around on his feet and raised his fist to deliver a downwards hook at Mike's face. "Leave! Me! Alone!"
Mike's had just enough time to drop his jaw in surprise as a fist filled his vision. Then he hit the ground hard, hi jaw aching as he immediatly flipped back to his feet, and stood there looking at Kei with a hard expression.
Suddenly Mike's face softened and a smile crept across his face as he began tappin his right foot against the ground. "So thats the way you wanna play it huh."
Mike's smile widened into a grin as he lashed out with a lightning fast double before dancing back a bit.
Kei tilted his head to avoid the double.
"If this is what it'll take for you to leave me alone, fine," he growled.
Moving at his top speed, he rushed at Mike and attempted to deliver a hard punch to Mike's solar plexus.
Mike brought his palm down hard on the punch knocking it off target. His eyes widened as the power that kei put behind his punch hit him.
"It's not about you need to do to get me to leave you alone, its about what you need to do to get this psyco funk you seem to hve developed the boot." He smiled as his eyes intesified in color untill the where a brilliant emerald green.
With his body filled with Psionic energy, he began dancing backwards, circling Kei before launching a hard roundhouse at Kei's head.
OOC: Wraith's Quest Pt II
IC:
Two days later, Wraith walked down the streets of Stathon, headed toward the Jade Assassin's Guild house.
It was time to get started.
He entered, pushing open the door grimly and began looking for someone who could help him. There was no way in hell he was going to take no for an answer.
OOC: The NPCs of Wraith's Quest!
IC: The greean marble floors and walls of the foyer reflected the the soft yellow glow of light orbs hung throughout the octagonal room. On the far side sat a man in the familiar black chainmail, trimmed with the metallic green of the Jade Assassins. He was behind a dark wood desk, looking at some form of reports, behind him was a black wood door, hinged and bound with steel. He didn't even look up as Wraith entered.
OOC: Woohoo! Wraith continues!
IC: Wraith look around, tugging at his jacket, revealing the identical chainmail he wore.
I hope these guys aren't the xenophobic types...
He walked up to the desk. "Excuse me...I'm looking for a guild member..."
The man looked up, his eyes softening as he saw the colors and armor of his own guild. "And which member would that be?"
IC:
Wraith breathed an internal sigh of relief.
Now for the next hurdle.
"Her name is Asrana Dragomir." He responded. "We lost touch in Omake forest, and I'm trying to catch up to her again."
The man blinked once, then twice before speaking, "Crown Princess Asrana Dragomir...unfortunately we have no contact with the princess as of yet."
He shifted in his chair, "You would have to be Wraith...which entitles you to any information we have...but we have none besides her profile."
Wraith blinked in return, slightly disconcerted, and a little alarmed at being able to be identified that quickly.
"I understand...she isn't the type to advertise her every move. " He rubbed his face absently with a hand.
"Do you have a list of her notable associates, or a method of quick contact? I seem to have some inquiries to make...If possible, from the surrounding area as well would be helpful."
The man opened a droor and shuffled theough some papers, finally pulling a few out, "Her associates within the Guild are sparse but very powerful...she tended to be a loner. But she has maintained contact with her uncle, who's true name is hidden, if you talk to him call him Demos. There is of course her mother, who is in the palace last we checked...and there are three of her cousins in the Guild she works with..."
He looked at two remaining sheets of paper, "Hmm..."
Wraith opened his mouth to ask about the locations of the people he'd mentioned, but his last statement made him pause.
He blinked. "What...? Is there a problem?"
He shook his head, "No, no problem...just unsure of her instructions...and how they apply to you."
Wraith double blinked. "Instructions?"
He asked slowly. He had a sudden feeling he was on shaky ground. "What instructions are those?"
"Instructions for if she ever leaves her bodyguards and comes backc to the Guild...hmm....she wouldn't have been teaching you to play a flute, would she?"
Wraith hedged, ducking the question.
"Can you tell me first what the instructions are?" he asked nervously.
He hoped the warning bells going off in his head were wrong. If she was cutting ties completely, he decided immediately that Kei was a dead man if they ever crossed paths again.
The man shook his head, "I can only tell certain people...so I must ask again, was she teaching you to play a flute?"
Wraith sighed, a knot of tension building in his gut.
"Yes, she was."
The man smiled, a mischevious twinkle in his eye, "Then here are your instructions, for her 'Ever Helpful Flute Student'" He chuckled as he handed Wraith the sheet of parchment.
Dear Wraith,
If you're reading this I've left you and the others and you've come to try and find me. If you need me I'll be operating out of Cebos, three days walk to the northeast of Stathon. Ask for me at the guild house there, if I'm not there, report to the Jade Citadel. You'll be assigned quarters until I get back.
Know that none of this is your fault and I hold no animosity towards you.
- Asrana
Wraith released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding.
The knot in his stomach released, leaving an odd warmth in it's wake.
"Thank god," he murmured softly. He then looked up at the grinning man behind the desk.
"I appreciate the help," he said, smiling, though he wasn't sure why. "I'll leave you to your work now."
The man's smile widened, "Anything for my princess. By the way...it's rumored that she loves pink roses this time of year...and that Cebos grows many of them." His smile was suggestive as he went back to his paperwork.
Wraith blushed darkly, snapping a look at the man, who was studiously peering at the paperwork.
"Uhm...Thanks." He mumbled, and left quickly before his face could get redder. Once he left the building, he grinned.
He now had a destination. No time like the present to get moving.
He dashed down the street as rainclouds gathered overhead...
It began to rain only a few hours later, a pouring, drenching rain. There weren't many travelers...one group of mounted Jade Assassins passed him heading towards Cebos. Only an hour before the obscured sun would descend behind the horizon, Wraith saw a roadside inn. It's small windows giving a soft golden light.
Wraith was soaked to the skin.
This was NOT a happy situation, as water had found it's way under his cloak, soaking everything he carried.
Even so, he didn't want to stop. He still had an hour of fairly good light. But, sleeping outside in the torrential downpour was not an attractive option.
He sighed and stomped over to the little inn, trying to shake some water off of his clothes first...
The door creaked as Wraith pushed it openthe boards of the porch shifting and squealing in protest under his feet.
A wave of warm air carressed his face as he stepped in, the door closing behind him. The inside of the inn had only a few people, a group of five Jade Assassins in a corner, two female. One of the women seemed rather familiar...her brown hair and blue eyes seeming very similar to Asrana's...
A man walked out of the back, "May I help you, sir?"
Wraith eyes narrowed briefly as he peered at the woman's face. The resemblace was striking...
He turned to the man who addressed him.
"Ah...yeah. I'm looking for a place to stay tonight. Do you have any available rooms?" he asked, his voice slightly hoarse.
Dammit, I'm NOT getting sick now!
The woman simply returned the gaze, smiling mysteriously before turning back to a male companion, as that man shifted, a lock of pure silver hair could be seen for a moment...
The man nodded, "Yes, we have plenty of rooms available. If you would sit at one of the tables, dinner will be served in but a moment, we will charge your room to your guild." He indicated the tables before the hearth as he spoke.
Wraith nodded and glanced around the room as he sat, suddenly feeling uneasy and on the spot.
The resemblance...and that silver hair...It couldn't be co-incidence. Something was up that he wasn't aware of, and he desperately wanted a shadow or a corner to hide in.
The attention he was getting made him uncomfortable.
They glanced over to him once he sat, a single glance between themselves later the woman gestured for him to sit with them.
Wraith's mouth twisted into a small smile, and he rose, accepting the invitation.
At least now, he could find out why he was so interesting...and possibly what their relationship to Asrana was.
He sat at the table, slowly nodding a wary greeting.
As he sat, the woman smiled and spoke, "Hello Wraith. I believe you've met me briefly and my husband in more extended contact..." The man next to her smiled, the familiar fiery emerald eyes glowing and the silver hair sparkling in the firelight.
Wraith nodded in greeting to the two of them his small smile growing slightly uneasy.
"It's been awhile, Dragomir-dono," he murmured. "I didn't recognize you at first."
He bit his lip. "May I ask how you came to be out here?"
She smiled reasurringly, "Seraya will do. We're here because we're on our way to Cebos...I'm guessing you're going there for Asrana...?" Her eyes danced in hidden mirth as she studied Wraith.
Wraith stiffened slightly, blushing, then nodded.
"Yeah, I am." He smiled weakly. "I apologize for not sticking with her more closely..."
Both parents smiled, "She's hard to keep up with when she's like this...no need to apologize... Though I do have a suggestion once you finally catch her..."
Wraith blinked, and looked at the man and the woman he was sitting with.
"Suggestion?" He asked, raising his cup and taking a sip of the warm drink the innkeeper had brought out...
Seraya dipped her hand into her cloak and came out with a grey velvet box, measuring four by six inches, "Give this to her when you see her...and follow any other suggestions you've been given. But don't look in the box. It's a family secret..." Her smile was mischevious for but a moment before she realxed back into her chair, her eyes glinting slightly.
Wraith blinked. That was NOT what he'd expected.
He accepted the grey box and turned it over in his hand.
"Just give it to her?" he asked curiously, wondering what this had to do with being able to stay close to her daughter. "I guess I can...Why didn't you give this to one of the others, earlier?"
Seraya's smile brightened, "Because we had to wait for the proper situation..."
Folkan smiled, unusual for him.
The inn keeper brought out dinner, a thick stew and dark bread.
"Proper situation?"
Wraith looked sideways at Seraya, and smiled lopsidedly. "You have no intention of explaining that to me, do you?" he asked wryly.
He began his meal, shrugging. "Your daughter does that too. I'll figure it out, I guess..."
Seraya shook her head, "No, I don't have any intention of explaining it."
Folkan chuckled, "You'll get used to it, Wraith...don't worry..."
All of the guards chuckled with their king before everyone dug into their meals.
Wraith smiled good naturedly, although being here was like coming in halfway through a conversation...Eveyone seemed to know something he didn't.
Get used to it...? he wondered. Will the job last that long? And afterward...What happens?
The meal was quiet, a bit of idle chit chat taking place between a few of the guards and Folkan, while Seraya occassionally slipped glances at Wraith.
Once it was over, the guards stood and left, Folkan joining them after briefly kissing his wife.
The inn keeper brought over a bottle of white wine and two fluted crystal goblets.
Seraya smiled to Wraith as the inn keeper poured the wine, "Up for a bit of conversation, Wraith?"
Wraith nodded, having relaxed by now.
"Sure, If you don't mind talking with me..." He scratched his head, embarrasedly. "I'm not very good at...'conversation'. I don't really get the chance to practice much." He smiled.
Seraya chuckled, "Wraith...we both need to know certain things and we are the only ones with the answers..."
Wraith looked confused.
"I'm not sure what you mean, Drago...er, Seraya-san, but I'll tell you whatever I can," he said, shrugging, "What do I need to know?"
Seraya smiled, "First a question... What are your feelings for my daughter?" Her fingers danced over the rim of the goblet.
Wraith flushed, and looked away.
"I'm not...I mean..." he released a long sigh. "I don't know, really. I think about her all the time...Heh. I'm not much of a bodyguard if I can't stay objective..." he confessed.
"She's my friend...but...more." he said slowly. "I like to see her happy. When she's happy, I feel content, if that makes any sense. I'd do whatever I thought would make her happy."
Seraya smiled, "Her own draconian bodyguards aren't objective...they helped raise her. We don't really value objectivity..."
Her smile brightened and became a little more mysterious with the second comment, "It sounds like your feelings go a bit beyond, 'Friends'..."
Wraith colored.
"I really don't know, Seraya-san. I don't have much experience in this area. " He frowned briefly. "At least, that I remember..."
Seraya blinked, "Oh my...you..." She began to giggle, "Oh dear..."
Wraith frowned a little. "I didn't think it was that funny...Is there something I should know, Seraya-san?"
Seraya shook her head, "No...sorry. You'll find out eventually... But, in the meantime, do you have any questions for me? Any questions all?"
Wraith smiled sheepishly. "I dunno...I do, but it's not the kind of questions you can just ask anyone."
"But, um...Does she really like pink...roses..?" he managed to ask, trying to look casually at the ceiling.
Seraya smiled, "Yes, she loves pink roses...one of the few flowers or plants she'll actually grow herself. And feel free to ask ANY questions..." She idly sipped her wine.
"There are things I need to know...but they aren't things I can ask, Seraya-san..." Wraith murmured.
"I don't even really understand why I feel so strongly about your daughter...but, I do. "
He looked up, smiling slightly. "Could you tell me about her? Like when she was younger?"
Seraya nodded with a smile, "When she was younger...Asrana was a fairly carefree child. Until she was ten her joys lay in training and playing with her cousins. She was a quick learner...picked up fighting almost naturally. She especially liked the family forest...a small wood that was kept wild on the citadel grounds. She knew that wood better than I did... Such a happy child for so many years..."
Wraith nodded. "'For so many years'? You make it sound as though something happened to her..."He asked quietly.
Seraya sadly nodded, "Yes...when she was twelve she was in an ambush...her personal bodyguard died. The man was a second father to her...that was when she gained a hunting instinct. She became a predator after that...like the rest of us. Though a few years after that it came in handy when the boys began noticing her at court..."
Wraith winced. "I see...No wonder." He smiled sadly.
"She hasn't had an easy time of it...but she still seems like a happy person" he commented. "Mostly. I'm sorry, I'm babbling. Go on, please."
Seraya smiled, "No bother...after boys started noticing her she found she could be quite a heart breaker...and proceeded to rule the adolescent social setting...at eighteen she began full field trials...and that's the highlights of her life..."
Wraith nodded.
"Heartbreaker...I can believe it..." he murmured. "Why didn't she ever settle down with a boyfriend?"
Seraya's eyes grew distant as she took another sip of the wine, "She did a few times...but was dumped by all but one. Usually because of their pride, she outclassed them in almost everything... The first one didn't care about that...but he was dragged away by the masses of other boys who thought they could have similar success..."
Wraith's eyes narrowed.
"I don't understand people like that," He admitted
Seraya smiled, "Neither do I...after that she steeled herself somewhat. She seems ti have opened up to a few of you...and that means she's willing to be more than just friends. I'm guessing it'll only be a matter of time before she settles with one of you."
Kei seemed to slide weightlessly on the ground as he stepped out of the kick's trajectory and reached his hand out to grab a hold of Mike's leg as it was still in the air. Dropping down to the ground, he spun to execute a low sweep on Mike's remaining leg, then immediately follow up with a knee strike to hit him in the back if he fell.
"It's none of your business, Mike," he almost growled, his voice cold as ice. "How I act is my business and mine alone."
OOC: I'm finally back ^_^;;
Wraith blinked.
"Settle with one...of us." He felt his cheeks heat up. "I...Uhm..."
This is ridiculous...why am I this embarrassed?
Seraya chuckled, "And I see you would not exactly be adverse to such..."
Wraith opened his mouth and closed it a few times, though no sound came out.
"No...I wouldn't. I'd consider myself lucky" he said, finally, as though making a supreme effort. "But, all the same...She has no idea who I really am...hell, I don't. For all we know I could be an enemy, brainwashed to get close to her."
Seraya shook her head, "No, you aren't an enemy. She knows who you are right now...and for her that's all that matters..." She drained the wine from her glass, "Do you have any more questions?"
"How do you know, Seraya-san? Did you find something out?" He asked, then blinked.
"Um...What does Asrana...I mean," He coughed into his hand. "If I tried to...Dammit. Does...does she ever talk about me?"
Seraya smiled, "I managed a psionic sweep of your mind while we were talking, if you were brainwashed to get close to Asrana there'd be an anomolious urge."
Her smile widened, "Some...she likes you. She lieks to talk about what you look like when playing the flute or sleeping...and sword fighting...we mustn't forget the sword fighting..."
Wraith smiled, both pleased and embarrassed at the same time. "No...can't forget that...though most people I've met find that intimidating..."
"Asrana could take you down in a heartbeat with swords. So she likes to watch you while sparring..."
Wraith smirked. "She could take just about anyone out in a heartbeat. "
He considered a moment. "In a way, it's...comforting. I don't have to worry about hurting her."
Seraya nodded, "Many of her bodyguards feel like that too...they can spar with her without holding back." She yawned, "Do you have any more questions? Or shall we retire?"
Wraith sighed.
"Oh, I have DOZENS of questions, Seraya-san, but I doubt you can answer them. And it's late. I'll stop occupying your time..."
Seraya grinned, "Alright then...goodnight Wraith..." She stood up and walked back towards the rooms, not making a sound.
Wraith smiled as Seraya left, and turned to the table, a perplexed but oddly pleased expression on his face. He stood slowly and made his way to his assigned room, glad that his clothes were dry now, at least.
Mike quickly tucked up his supporting leg, and spun in mid air, twisting his other foot out of Kei's grasp. As Mike turned face down towards the ground, he lashed out a foot to propell himself away from Kei, only to catch a rising knee.
Mike went stumbling away as the breath was forced from his lungs. "Damnit Kei, your being retarded! If you really loved Asrana you would be happy that she will find happiness, and NOT turn into this crazy mother-fucker thats standing before me!" He helf yelled as he stood straight again, taking his hand offhis injured stomach.
"Guess that means I'll have to do it the old fasioned way, beat the sence into you, at least you'll be able to relate to that no matter how crazy you've gone." With that Mike once again dropped into a wide lose stance, his hands up in loose fists with tumbs and pinky fingers slighter extended.
OOC: "crazy motherfucker" exists in a world like that? 0_o;;
IC: Kei's expression softened for a moment as Mike mentioned the part about him loving Asrana, but he quickly steeled himself again.
"I don't love her," he said in a low voice. "She can get it on with you or Wraith for all I care."
"But if it's a fight you want..." he smirked, bouncing lightly on his feet and circled Mike using the Ali Shuffle.
Wraith glanced at the bed in his room briefly, shen shook his head. He sat down, his back to the wall, and propped his katana against his shoulder, slumping slightly as he drifted into a fitful sleep...
Mike paused for a second "You don't lover her? But I thought...ah well.." He shooke hs head as a smirk appeared on his face "And your damn rights I wanna fight! How are we martial artists gonna improve if we don't fight?"
With that Mike eyes brightened in color until they were a brilliant emerald green. He could feel the psionic energy racing down his limbs, and his smirk gre intoa grin. "Besides I think we could both use it."
Then Mike was airborn, rocketing at Kei at an insane speed, his right leg tucked in, ready to be lashed out in a brutal side kick.
"What's the point of improving?" Kei looked down. "There's always going to be someone better than you."
"But I never back down from a fight," he smirked.
Breaking out of the Ali Shuffle, he lunged to his right quickly to let Mike whiz harmlessly past him, then delivered a roundhouse at the back of the airborne Mike.
Wraith's eyes snapped open as the first faint rays of sun began to peek over the horizon, reflecting off into the still heavy clouds and sending shimmering spears of red across the sky.
Despite the temptation to simply leap out the window and into the trees to continue his journey, He headed downstairs to the dining room to see if he could purchase a small amount of food to tide hime over on the trip...
Mike spun in the air as he flew past Kei, letting the roundhouse pass harmlessly beneath him, and stuck out a foot, halting his forward movement.
Mike, now firmly on the ground, launched forward firing two quick backhands before dropping down into a heel sweep.
Kei held his arms high in front of his face to block the backhands, but was caught unaware with the heel sweep, his own arms blocking his visions, and slams onto the ground.
"Grr..." he growled as he pushed himself back up with a handspring, executing a mid roundhouse in mid-air before he landed.
Mike barely got his arm in the way as kei literally bounced off the ground, and slammed a foot into his side.
"Well shit, you're really good." Was all Mike said as he quickly lifted his right leg and snapped it out twice in rapid sucession, the first at stomach level, the second at head height. Then he quickly rotated his hips and shoulders into an inverted axe kick.
Kei just smirked without reply.
"What, a snap kick?" he grinned after easily blocking. "You're getting sl-"
He was interrupted by the second snap kick that landed on his temple. Stumbling slightly to the left, his eyes widened as he caught sight of Mike whipping his foot in an inverted axe kick.
Reaching an arm out to block and grab the kick, he increased the stumbling momentum into a full fall, twisting horizontally in the air for a cockscrew takedown.
Mike's jaw dropped as he was propelled up and over Kei, spinning hard into the ground. His breath blasted out of his lungs as his back impacted.
Unable to breath right mike simply shot his left foot straight down at Kei's head and face, hopeing to use the move to both injure Kei and roll away.
Kei grinned as Mike shot his foot out at him.
Locking an arm around Mike's right knee, he reached a hand out to block and then grab onto Mike's left foot, then quickly rolled on the ground, stood up to a squat and spun to almost sit on Mike's behind, pulling the legs back as far as painfully possible.
Mike barely let out a "Oh shit" before he was flipped onto his stomach, and being forcefully bent into a horseshoe...backwards.
He gritted his teeth against the pain as his back and legs were being forced beyond there limit. "Oh no you don't!" He thought as he set as he set his palms into the ground, and began flexing against Kei.
He felt the pressure Kei was applying increase as he began to force his legs straight slowly. He pushed as hard as he could against kei, shaking his head and finally opening his mouth and yelling in exertion as he felt several tearing sensations from his lower body, but he ignored the as he forced his body straight again.
He felt Kei give slightly to Mike's counter preassure as Kei's feet slid along the ground. Then Mike was traight enough to spin his upper body and quickly send a pummel into Kei's back, sending him stumbling away.
Mike slowly, and painfull climbed to his feet, the torn tendons obviously affecting him alot. "So you wanna play it that way do you?" Mike said as he drew a quarter circle in the ground infront of him with his right toe, and began tapping his foot against the ground. "Then come on!"
Kei rolled out of the stumble and spun back towards Mike, then smirked as he noticed Mike's sluggish motion. His plan worked.
Walking to just beyond the quarter circle, he switched to a southpaw stance, dropping his right into a horizontal hook at his waist and the left hand in a loose fist by his chin in a flicker stance. Bobbing up and down on the balls of his feet, he began circling Mike, flickering out lightning-quick jabs at his head.
Mike stood there calmly, doing his best to ignore the pain in his legs, and tapped his right foot against the ground.
Mike simply stood there, tapping, and rotated slightly to keep Kei infront of him, waiting for the first attack. He almost smiled as Kei threw a quick Jab at his head...its was all over.
Mike's foot touched ground and launched towards Kei at insane speeds, hitting the side of Kei's knee before the Jab reached him. Mike then leaned back slightly as his foot danced up and down Kei's body at unbelievable speeds, striking vital, and painfull spots several times each before Kei went flying away.
"No Shadow Kick." Mike whispered as he put his leg down, only to have pain wash over him, originating from his right leg. Mike fell to his ass, clutching his leg, and gritting his teeth in pain. "Ok so that was a really, really bad idea." He thought to himself as he writhed.
Seraya, Folkan, and their three guards sat in the dimly lit common room of the inn, apparently waiting.
As Wraith entered, all stood and Seraya stepped forward, "Since it is a long ways to Cebos and we have spare mounts, we were wondering if you would care to join us, Wraith?"
Wraith blinked in surprise, considering briefly. Horses would cut the traveling time in half...but he couldn't remember if he'd ever ridden before.
He nodded tentatively.
"Uhm...Thank you, yes, that'd help..."
Seraya smiled as her husband chuckled, "No problem, Wraith. I'm sure both you and my daughter are a tad anxious to see each other again..."
Wraith coughed, embarrassedly, blushing.
"Uhm...yeah."
'You enjoy embarrassing me, don't you?' he thought in Seraya's direction.
(No, just teasing you...) Seraya's tone was almost...motherly.
Folkan spoke up once he had stopped chuckling at his wife's game, "Alright...if we start soon we can make it to Cebos before dark...anything remaining that needs to be covered?"
Wraith had no idea how to respond to the gentle tone. He settled for a quick smile, then looked to Folkan as he spoke up.
"Not for me...I travel light."
Kei gave out a loud scream as the multitude of kicks landed on his body, sending him flying back twenty feet and landing hard on his back.
Coughing as he had the wind knocked out of him on landing, he wobbily got back up to his feet, growling.
"That was good," he growled, sounding pained, his eyes almost glazed over. "I'll give you that much."
Crossing his arms in front of his chest, he bent his knees and sunk into a low stance, both feet at shoulder length next to each other.
A low growl of concentration began to emit from his throat as he started to tremble, all his powers channeled into his arms.
"Earth... Shatter!" he cried as he sank one knee down to the floor and punched the ground with both arms, two large crack appearing along the ground and travelled towards Mike's lying form.
Folkan grinned, "Then lets move out..." He and his guards quickly left, Seraya ushering Wraith along and into the stables where the jet black horses were already saddled. The draconians easily mounted and waited for Wraith to before heading off.
Wraith stared at the horse hard...and his eyes went unfocused for a moment.
His eyes stayed that way as he suddenly grabbed the saddle horn, stepped into a stirrup and swung himself
expertly into the saddle, taking up the reigns casually.
"I'm ready"
Folkan smiled and led the way out, taking point as his wife took rear guard.
It was going to be a long ride...
Wraith settled in for a long ride...sighing again at the oddity of knowing how to ride fairly well...despite not being able to remember ever being on a horse.
Many hours later, Seraya pulled up next to Wraith, "Wraith...I have a very serious questiopn for you...and not one you should take lightly."
Wraith smiled uneasily.
"That's rarely a good sign, but I'll do my best, Seraya-san..."
Seraya grinned, "Exactly how long do you intend to be my daughters companion and bodyguard?"
Wraith didn't even blink.
"However long she'll have me for." he replied.
Seraya chuckled, "I have a feeling that will be a very long time...thank you." With that she rode back behind him, noone spoke for the rest of the trip.
Cebos was a walled town with fortress like gates. Gates that were opened as soon as the party was identified.
The inside of the city was relatively quiet except for the occassional tavern or inn common room. In the darkness not much could be seen of the buildings as the party rode to the Citadel. And impressive fortress within high walls and towers of the pecuilar black granite that shone and ye seemed to swallow light.
At the gates they were saluted, grooms calmly taking the mounts. The three guards headed towards the western wing of the fortress. Seraya motioned for Wraith to follow her as she head towards the eastern end.
Wraith silently followed Seraya, carefully observing his surroundings.
He was unsure of himself in the new surroundings, and kept his hand on the hilt of his sword, glancing around cautiously.
Seraya smiled at Wraith, "No need to be paranoid, Wraith. We're just heading to Asrana's quarters..." She opened a door set deep into the walls, the hallway within dimly lit by by torches of blue flame. The floors and walls were all composed of the same black stone as the rest of the castle. Seraya calmly and silently slipped down the passageway, briefly motioning for Wraith to follow her.
Wraith nodded and followed, relaxing his posture, but not removing his hand from his sword.
"As you say..."
She chuckled as she led him through the halls, the black walls occassionally pierced by wooden doors, she reached a crossroads and turned right, eventually leading to a trio of doors. One stood straight ahead, at the end of the hall. The others were on the walls to either side of it.
"Your quarters are through the left hand door. There's an unlocked passage leading to Asrana's rooms, at the moment she's asleep though you may check on her if you want..."
Wraith was unable to prevent yet another blush.
'How does she DO that?'
"Uhm...Thanks," he managed, "For everything, Seraya-san."
Seraya smiled and handed Wraith a key just before she left, "Anything for my daughter..." And with that she dissapeared...
Wraith entered what was to be his quarters, glancing around. A well apointed, if somewhat plain, room. He dropped his small pack on the bed, anong with his sword, and paused.
Well, If she was here, even if she was sleeping, it would be good to see her again, if only for a moment.
He went to the indicated passage, intending simply to look in to see her...
The passage was dimly lit by a single yellow glowing orb, it led straight into Asrana's bedroom.
The room was floored in green marble, bookshelves flanked her large bed. She lay there peacefully, her lower body covered in light blanket, its cream coloring accenting her deep blue nightshirt. Her lips were slightly upturned in a serene smile as her chest rose and fell slightly with each soft breath.
Wraith's breath caught in his throat as he saw her.
A small part of his mind had trouble beliveing she was actually there.
"She's beautiful...I shouldn't be staring like this...I should turn around, go into my own room and never tell her I did this..."
Depite these thoughts...he didn't move an inch
Asrana's smile widened as she whispered, just loud enough for Wraith to hear, "Thank you, Wraith. But not telling me wouldn't work." Her eyes cracked open, the green flecks glinting in the moonlight streaming through several windows.
Wraith twitched. "Why... were you pretending to be asleep? he asked lamely, flushing a brilliant red.
"Practice...and I like feel of being watched by you..." She giggled softly, her hand tracing the hem of her blanket.
Wraith sighed. "You tie my insides up in knots when you talk that way, you know," he chided her,
Asrana smiled, "I know...but I also know you aren't exactly...adverse to feeling as such..."
Wraith grinned sheepishly. "No secrets, huh? Well yeah. I'm happier when I'm arouund you, no question. But also a LOT more confused..."
Asrana smirked, "I don't even have to try to pick that up" She giggled and gestured for him to come closer, indicating a spot right next to her bed.
Wraith stuck out his tongue at her, then stood in the indicated spot and looked curiously at Asrana.
Asrana smiled and reached up, slipping her arms around his neck and lightly kissing him. As she twisted and raised her own body to meet his lips, Wraith discovered the long blue shirt was all she was wearing, her legs from mid-thigh down becoming revealed as the blanket slipped away. She giggled as she seperated from him and fell back into her bed.
Wraith blinked. HARD.
"Uhm....Thanks...?" He stammered, startled.
Asrana giggled, "Go to bed Wraith, I'll see you in the morning..."
"Okay." He said dazedly. Wraith stumbled away, shaking his head. "I just don't understand women..."
Asrana smiled as she stretched in her bed, the steely predawn light brightening her room.
He was finally here...hmmm....
Asrana suddenly had an idea...
Sneaking through the passageway to Wraith's room, Asrana suppressed her giggle as she saw him, still sleeping. Still in the blue silk shirt she had worn last night, she snuck up next to him and firmly planted her lips on his.
Wraith's eyes snapped open, and his arms flailed about for a moment before he realized what was happening.
Momentarily, he relaxed, and enjoyed the rest of the kiss. After they parted for air, Wraith rolled his eyes. "You know...You just about gave me a heart attack..."
Asrana giggled, pulling back from him and sitting on the edge of the bed as she spoke, "Good morning to you too." she idly turned and lay across Wraith, stomach to stomach. That gave him a very good look at her legs as she kicked the air with them absently, "So, how'dya sleep?"
Wraith adjusted himself slightly, using the blanket to hide his...'Morning condition'.
'Watching her legs is doing NOTHING to help, either," He thought ruefully. Without thinking, he responded to he question.
"Not really great, I'm stiff-Imeansore! Sore from sleeping sitting up....!" Wraith's blush was now at critical levels.
Asrana smiled and shifted, rubbing her stomach against his slightly, "Why are you blushing?"
Wraith's eyes nearly jumped out of his head.
"Umm...Because!" He squeaked. A sudden thought crossed his mind. Still blushing, he shot Asrana a suspicious glance.
"You know exactly why, don't you?" he asked.
Asrana giggled and blushed slightly before nodding.
Wraith's blush didn't go away, but he relaxed. "You...Well, did you wake me up to improve my circulation, or did you wanna talk?" he mumbled embarrassedly.
Asrana shrugged, "Both, I...was wondering if you'd meet me for lunch..."
Wraith nodded. "Sure. Where are we going 'till then?" he asked.
She smiled up at him serenely, "Both of us need to report in at the Jade High Assassins' Council. Then I need to catch up with my cousins..."
He wasn't sure why, but as soon as she said the word 'cousins', all the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.
He nodded slowly, carefully hiding his unease. "Right. I guess we better get ready then..."
Asrana giggled and sat up into a seiza position, "Yeah...see ya in a bit..."
She slipped off his bed and walked back through the passage to her room, her hips moving in very interesting ways as she went...
Wraith shook his head quickly, tearing his eyes away from her departure. An old saying popped into his mind as he did: 'I hate to see you go...but I love to watch you leave.'
Wraith sighed. Watching over Princess Asrana was mind boggling at times.
Then he grinned. But, it was NEVER boring, he thought as he got dressed...
Asrana smiled as she dressed in the silk and chainmail she favored. Walking over to her dresser, she pulled out a pair of black sapphire earrings. She looked at the forged gold of the sword weilding dragons, the miniscule black sapphires glinting in the steely light, drawing attention to the single dark stone clutched in the dextrous hind legs. Why was she bringing these out? There wasn't much reason to, at least not yet...
She set them back in their case and sighed, maybe he'd do something so she had reason to wear them...
She donned a single piece of jewelry, the gold and emerald brooch that had signified the unity of her parents' clans with her birth. Something very appropriate for the upcoming meeting.
She finished by attaching her tachi to a belt inside her sash and donning the back harness for her chisa-katana.
She slipped back through the passage and into Wraith's room, standing against the sill of the entry as she watched him.
Wraith, for his part, was already dressed in the worn, tough looking canvas pants, and the chainmail shirt, topped with a dark cloak.
He was in the process of tying his sword to his belt when he looked up and saw Asrana standing in the doorway and flashed her a quick grin.
"Ready to leave?"
Asrana smiled warmly and nodded, walking over to one of the windows in Wraith's room and opening it.
"We'll take the short cut..." And after flashing a smile she idly flipped out the window.
Wraith snorted. "Showoff." He laughed.
"Well...I could use some exercise..." He hopped onto the window sill, took a deep breath...and leaned out, and using gravity to good effect, began sprinting down the wall to the ground.
Ten feet before impact, he pushed off the wall, flipping to land lightly on his feet.
Asrana giggled and playfully roundhoused at Wraith's head once he had landed, "Call me a show off will you?" Her voice almost shimmered, her eyes sparkling slightly.
Wraith smiled, sliding inside her reach, and lifting a hand to gently deflect the mock attack.
"Yep." he grinned, tapping her nose with a finger. "'cause you are. Not that I mind..."
Asrana continued giggling as she slipped around his hand and blurred as her arms slipped around Wraith's neck. Her lips were planted on his almost instantly, her body almost molding against him.
Wraith fell over backwards, Asrana landing on top of him.
He relaxed slightly, and put his hands on her hips as the kiss continued.
His mind told him that it was improper, but he ignored it. He was allowed enjoy it sometimes, wasn't he?
Asrana enjoyed the kiss as it dragged out, slipping her hands down his neck and across his shoulders before she pulled out of it, smiling affectionately as she whispered, "Um...Wraith?"
Wraith stared up at her dumbly, then shook his head, hard, shaking off the glazed look that had settled over his features
"Uhm...What?"
Her voice was nervous, VERY nervous, "Um...how...err...I dunno..." She sighed as she slumped against his chest.
Wraith winced. She usually exuded self-confidence...
"C'mon, what's wrong?" he asked, concerned enough not to be nervous that she was still lying on top of him...
She looked up at him, her eyes showing a vulnerability normally never associated with the outgoing princess, "Um...well...I thought...maybe...wecouldbeacouple?"
Wraith was speechless. He felt strongly about her...Maybe even loved her...but he had no idea she returned those feelings...
"Asrana...I...Um...Yeah," He nodded, blushing.
Asrana giggled, some of her confidence returning, "Thank you...Wraith..." And she planted her lips on his again.
Wraith kissed her back this time, hoping he was doing it right...he had no idea if he was even good at this...
He slid his hands up and down along her waist and hips, semi nervously as they kissed...
Asrana held the kiss only for a few moments before rolling away and into the grass, "Time for the meeting..."
She flipped into a standing position, readjusting her weapons.
Wraith sat up, dazed. "Uhm....Yeah." He slowly stood, and joined Asrana.
Asrana giggled and kissed Wraith lightly before slipping her hand into his and pulling him towards the eastern gate of the citadel and a large semi-independent building of dark green stone...
Wraith blushed. He couldn't remember the last time he'd touched anyone like this...holding her hand felt nice. It was soft...even with the sword callouses...
He shook his head. Time enough to consider this later...
Asrana grinned and nodded to each of the guards at the door of the building before pulling Wraith inside. Each of the half-dozen guards took one look at Asrana's face, one look at Wraith, glanced to their fellows, and then chuckled.
Inside was an octagonal room much like the one Wraith had seen at the guild house in Stathon, only it was slightly bigger and the desk was less cluttered, though the man was a bit older.
He smiled to Asrana, "Here to see the council, your highness?"
Asrana grinned, "Among other things..."
Wraith followed Asrana, blushing at the humor of the guards.
As they eneter the octagonal room, he looked up as Asrana spoke.
'Among other things? That...sounds like something I haven't been told about...'
Asrana smiled to Wraith, (Just a few details I forgot...)
She quickly signed a few sheets of parchemnt placed in front of her by the man before dragging Wraith around the desk and through the door behind it.
Through the door was a passage of green marble identical to the stone of Asrana's bedchamber. It continued for maybe twenty feet before splitting left and right. Asrana paused for a moment to turn back to Wraith, her finger tracing circles on his palm in a nervous pattern.
"Um...the council might ask you a few questions because of...us...just wanted to warn you..."
Wraith blinked. He was completely out of his element here...
"Ah...Ok...What kind of questions?"
Why couldn't he just be out killing someone? That was a LOT easier...
Asrana smiled warmly, her eyes sparkling with affection for her bodyguard, "Questions about your affiliations and intentions concerning me..."
Wraith gulped.
"Hah?...I just went through this with your parents...and now the High council?"
Asrana smiled, "Of course...the Assassins' Guild is where half of my draconian bodyguards come from. So they're a tad protective..."
"Oh...perfect." he managed, sighing. "Just what I need to make me more nervous..."
He shot a glance at Asrana, and stood a little straighter. "Ok...Let's get it over with, then..."
Asrana giggled and kissed Wraith, "They're nowhere near as bad as my father..."
She guided him down the left corridor, into several turn and past many more until they finally reached a large wooden door. Asrana reached down to open the large doors, opening them just enough for her and Wraith to make it through.
Inside was a long table lined by elderly soldiers, each wearing the black and metallic green colors of the guild.
A pair of chairs were set at the end of the table, sitting in one, Asrana gestured to the other for Wraith.
Wraith sat down in the proffered chair, eyeing the older men warily, pulling his cloak out of the way.
Despite Asrana's assurances...father figures were ALL overprotective. He wasn't letting his guard down.
They all smiled mysteriously, the women glancing to Wraith and glancing back to Asrana, smiles of approval and underlying mirth dancing over their faces as the men peered at Wraith for a moment.
The man heading the table cleared his throat, "Ahem...if we are done inspecting the youngsters we may begin this brief session..."
He turned to Wraith and Asrana, smiling as he did so, "Since the point of this council is the safety of the Jadania Family, we'll get straight to the point." He looked seriously at Wraith, "What are your intentions and feelings relevant to the Crown Princess?"
Wraith felt as through he wanted to crawl into a hole. Every instinct he had rebelled at being the center of this much attention.
Still...He stayed where he was, because avoiding the question now would be making everything he felt into a lie.
He set his jaw, and spoke steadily, despite his flaming cheeks.
"I love Asrana-dono," he said calmly. "And, my intentions..." he caught himself, smiled wryly and then started again.
"My intentions are...honorable."
Asrana blushed crimson at the declaration, her hand creeping back into Wraith's and squeezing it.
The man chuckled, "We wouldn't question your honor...we were wondering however...how far do you plan to take this?"
Wraith groaned inwardly, though he was slightly cheered by the feel of Asrana's hand in his.
They were pressing the point...He didn't want to ask her like this. He tried again, pleading with his look for them not to push it.
"I intend to take it as far as Asrana-dono permits," he said quietly, meeting their gazes firmly.
All smiled, some chuckled, "Then we have nothing more to talk about. You have proven your loyalty as a bodyguard, so her safety with you is of no concern...dissmissed."
Asrana stood, her cheeks still flaming but her hand remaining in Wraith's, she silently slipped out of the room before looking at Wraith, her eyes questioning for a moment before she began pulling him back down the path they had used to come in.
Wraith's face held a bemused look. He grinned at Asrana's questioning look, and simply follwed her as she walked out, his hand still firmly in hers.
Asrana swiftly led Wraith out of the building, barely noticing how the man at the front desk began to chuckle upon seeing Asrana's scarlet blush.
The guards outside smiled knowingly and nodded to Wraith.
Asrana stopped inside a grove of trees only a dozen feet from the private entrance to her quarters.
Wraith looked around, suprised, as she stopped.
"What's up?" he asked, concerned.
Asrana smiled and slipped her arms around his neck, resting her head against his chest, "Nothing...just wanted to be alone for a bit..."
Wraith smiled down at her.
"Sounds good to me." He relaxed for a long, silent moment, then spoke up again.
"Tell me," he asked wryly, "Are there any more questioning periods I should look forward to?"
Asrana giggled and snuggled Wraith, "No...my parents did it for the Dragon Guild, and they cover the rest of my bodyguards..."
She idly massaged Wraith's neck muscles, kneading knots out with gentle but firm fingers, "Hmm...."
Wraith nearly jumped out of his skin, but restrained the instinctive reaction. Aside from Asrana's kisses and teasing...he couldn't remember ever being touched, especially skin to skin contact.
It was...nice.
"Asrana...what are you going to do about the others? I did promise them I'd call them when I found you..."
Asrana's expression flickered for a moment, her eyes glinting with a hard light for an instant, "I'll deal with them as I need to...my only worry is Kei..."
Her eyes darkened and narrowed dangerously, a predatory gleam entering them. She looked downright deadly and yet beautiful, like a leopard. "I'm going to release him from draconian service...and anyone else that wants to. What happens afterwards...well, we'll just see."
Wraith nodded calmly. "So, would you rather I not call them, and you deal with it, then?" he asked curiously.
Asrana nodded, the gleam leaving her eyes. "For some, yes. Calen and Nabiki...I wouldn't mind them knowing..." She pursed her lips, "Mike and Kei...I'll handle them..."
She looked back up at him for a moment before gently kissing him, she spoke almost before she pulled away, "Did you really mean it back in the council room?"
Wraith nodded, deciding to send a courier with a sealed message for Nabiki and Calen that afternoon.
He blinked as Asrana spoke again, and smiled. He paused for a long moment, then leaned his forehead down, touching hers.
"I'm not in the habit of saying things I don't mean..." he chided gently.
"And yeah. I meant every word of it."
Asrana smiled, her eyes lighting up with affection as she kissed him again, this time making it last for a few long minutes before she pulled her lips away slowly. "Thank you..."
"My pleasure." He said, before even stopping to think.
Wraith shook his head slightly, a faintly glazed look in his eyes.
"I have this feeling," he said slowly, "That I'm still in bed, and you're going to come in, and wake me up, any minute now..."
Asrana giggled, "That's what my first boyfriend said...and this is definitely not a dream..."
"So...I'm going to go catch up with my cousins...see you in a few hours..." She kissed him a last time and walked out of the grove, spreading her wings as soon as she was clear.
Wraith's first instinct was to follow her. It was the bodyguard in him, however, the word cousins still evoked a tense wariness in him that he couldn't explain.
He sighed, and moved through the trees, headed for town. It was time to find pink roses. He quickly located a florist and stepped inside. He fervently hoped that not EVERYONE in this little city knew him on sight...
The man behind the counter smiled. He was youngish, in his early thirties opr late twenties, and seemed well suited to the flower scented shop. The walls were lined with various flowers, wrapped or in ceramic pots. Low shelves consumed much oif the rest of the space and offered and even more dizzying array of flowers then the walls.
"Good day, are you looking for any particular plant or just browsing?" His voice was a tad high pitched but not squeaky, with an almost musical tone to it.
Wraith looked up. He was immensely pleased that he didn't seem to be big news all over the city. However, the pleasure was short lived, as he was confronted with yet another topic he knew nothing about.
"Um, I'm looking for pink roses, actually," he began tentaitively. Suddenly, a thought struck him. "And, also, a single blue flower."
The man smiled, "Courting a member of the royal family are we? No worries, I always keep pink roses in stock. As for a blue flower..." He walked amongst the shelves, lowering his face to some flowers and barely glancing at others as he inspected.
"Well...hmm..." He peered at Wraith for a moment and then smiled, "I have just the flowers...if you'll wait here a moment?"
Without waiting for a reply, he walked into the back, humming as he went.
Wraith nodded and sighed. Wasn't there any way to keep low key?
He dug idly in his money pouch. he still had about a fair bit of money from before he was hired by the Dragon clan.
'Should be enough for flowers, at least.' he thought idly.
The florist rummaged in the back of his shop, occassionally mmurmuring to himself before he came back out.
In his hands was a well proportioned bouquet, just barely small enough to comfortably hold in one hand behind your back. The roses themselves were a sakura petal pink, all just blooming. But the most drawing was the single blue flower nestled in the middle of the bouquet, a deep royal blue that looked velvety soft. Impossibly enough...it looked like a blue rose.
He grinned reassuringly, "Will this do?"
Wraith double-blinked at the sight of the blue rose.
"Yeah..." He said slowly, a grin forming. "Yeah, that's perfect. How much do I owe ya?"
The man's grin widened, "Eighteen golds."
Wraith nodded and quickly retrieved the money, and paid the man.
I wonder what possessed me to ask for the blue one, he wondered. I'm no florist. and another thing...how am I gonna give these to her, without embarrassing myself? I can barely touch her without blushing...
Taking his purchases, he wandered out of the florists, looking for a market to grab something to eat...
The Jade Market was much louder and livelier and then Wraith had last remembered it, of course the only time he'd been there was the night before when only taverns and inns were open.
Merchants hawked wares of all kinds and sizes around him, a few food vendors sold to the shoppers as they passed.
The streets weren't quite crowded but people were not sparse in any way.
Wraith bit into the apple he'd purchased, glad to get something into his stomach. He actually wanted to go into a tarvern for a full meal, but until he found out exactly where his newfound celebrity extended to, he wouldn't take the chance of accidentally embarrassing Asrana...or his employers.
He headed back to his quarters, whistling tunelessly between bites, and holding the flowers protectively in one hand.
There seemed to be a bit of a bubble around Wraith as he made his way back towards the palace. People would glance at his armor and the move subtley out of his way. If they couldn't they would quickly apologize and move on.
The guards at the entrance of the Jade citadel smiled as they recognized him, letting him in with a simple nod.
Wraith grimaced slightly at the treatment he got in town. however, he'd reached the Jade Citadel, to trying to use the cloak to hide the armour was pointless.
He made his way back to his own quarters, and promptly began searching his pack for a grey felt box...no time like the present, after all.
Just as Wraith's hands fell on the velvety surface of the box in his pack, a gentle knocking could be heard at his door.
Wraith looked up...and released his hold on the box, leaving it concealed inside his pack.
"Come in?"
Funny, was Asrana back already?
The door slowly opened and in stepped a girl who looked somewhat younger than Asrana, maybe fourteen or fifteen. "Um...are you Wraith?" Her voice was the same kind of silvery chime as Seraya and Asrana, seeming to always be laughing.
She had brown hair mixed with gold the same way Asrana's was mixed with silver, her pure sapphire blue eyes almost a mirror of Seraya's.
Wraith blinked. "Yeah. Who're you?" He asked curiously.
She blushed slightly and bowed, "I'm Princess Ariana of the Jade Clan, one of Asrana's cousins. I...just wanted to meet you...Asrana's like a sister to me..."
Wraith grinned, and bowed back.
"It's nice to meet you, Ariana-dono...Hey, wasn't Asrana supposed to be visiting you?"
Ariana giggled, "She visited me in my fathers shop when she got here...she's talking to my sisters and her Dragon Clan cousins now..."
Wraith grinned.
"And you're here to make sure I'm good enough for your big sister?" he asked.
Ariana smiled, "No...I know you are from what she's told me of you...I just wanted to meet you..."
"Really? How come?" He asked, gesturing for her to have a seat. "I can't imagine I'm all that interesting...you probably know more about me than I do."
Ariana giggled, "Listening to Asrana talk about you, you seem quite interesting. And there's nothing like meeting someone in person to get to know them..."
Her eyes roamed around the room, settling on the katana Asrana had given Wraith, she smiled slightly as she saw it.
Wraith smiled wryly.
"What has she said about me? Bear in mind, the good stuff is probably exaggeration..."
He caught her glance at the sword.
"You recognize this, huh?"
She nodded, "It was a sword given to Asrana when she turned sixteen...one of three. She uses the other two."
Ariana smiled, "It has a specific purpose beyond combat...though she likely will want to reveal that purpose to you herself..." Her eyes twinkled mischeviously as she said it.
Wraith gave her a sour grin.
"Naturally. Wouldn't be an ordinary day without someone teasing me with information, then telling me someone else will tell me," he griped good naturedly. "Oh well, I suppose I'll find out later."
"...What kind of stories has she been telling about me?"
Ariana flushed, "Gomen...but she probably really would get angry if I told you..."
She smiled slightly, "Mostly about what it's like to travel with you...and how you fight..."
"Huh? Why would she get angry if you told?" he asked curiously.
He blinked at Ariana. "Traveling, heh...I can imagin-Eh?How I fight? Hm...Why is that interesting? I'm not much compared to you guys..."
Ariana shook her head, "Any more info and you might guess..."
She giggled, "You aren't that bad compared to most of us...just Asrana and her parents. Noone can match up to them except maybe dad..."
"I have a funny feeling if you told, I'd end up regretting I asked, anyway," he said ruefully.
Wraith grinned. "It's nice of you to say so...but I don't even remember how I learned...hmm. Your dad? Who's that?"
Ariana giggled, "Perhaps...perhaps not."
She shrugged at the mention of her father, "Outsiders call him Demos, that was his assassin name when he worked for our Guild. But Asrana calls him Farenal and so does Auntie Seraya..."
"Demos?" Wraith managed to look impressed. "Even I'VE heard of him...So you're his kid, eh?"
Wraith thought a moment, then grinned. "Why don't you tell me some stories about Asrana? You must know a few good ones, eh?"
Ariana giggled, "Yep...one of five..."
She smiled, "I know some...but the times I knew her before she became like our parents is hard to remember..."
Wraith smiled. "Oh well..." he said, sitting down on the bed, moving the bouquet off to the side.
"Hmm...so, what else would you like to know? There isn't much more about me to tell, but you can ask..."
Ariana's smile seemed to silently laugh, and yet her voice seemed deadly serious. "How much you love my cousin. And how long oyu intend to make this last..."
Had anyone else asked that, Wraith would have become annoyed, but for some reason, it didn't bother him that Ariana had asked.
"Well, It's a fair question. Both of them, actually. Unfortunately...the right words don't exist to answer the firt question," he said seriously.
"And, as for the second...I have to keep it a secret." he winked. "...but, I will tell you this...It'll be a long time, if Asrana feels the same way I feel about her."
Ariana smiled and stood up, "Good...that's what I really wanted to know. After seeing her heart broken four times...I won't allow it EVER again." Her eyes were ice cold and deadly as she spoke, the words filled with an iron will.
Her face seemed to soften as she glanced back over him. Flashing a smile, she turned and left, her boots not even whispering on the polished stone as she glided out.
Wraith smirked. "Kids are all the same...well, the good ones are, anyway...I'd have been a little worried if she didn't care..."
With that, he bent down to his back again, and sent his question fingers after the grey box.
Wraith's hand found the boxy easily.
As the final door down the hall closed behind Ariana, the world grew silent except for the quiet sounds of the citadel grounds.
Wraith tucked the box into a concealed pocket in his cloak, frowning.
"I wish I hadn't given my word I wouldn't open it...I REALLY wanna know what this is... No help for it now, I guess..."
Absently, Wraith removed the blue rose from the bouquet...along with one of the pink roses. As he pondered, he began weaving the flexible stems of the two flowers together, not really paying attention to what he was doing.
He glanced outside once he had finished, and noted the position of the sun.
"Hmm...I'd better get going..."
With that, he put the twon interwoven flowers into the bouquet, picked it up, and left his quarters, heading back to the woods to meet Asrana...
Wraith waited in the grove only minutes before Asrana landed behind him silently, slipping her arms around his waist and huggin him, molding her body against his back.
"Hi, Wraith..." Her voice purred into his ear.
He grinned, blushing slightly.
"Hi...have a good time?"
Asrana smiled and kissed his neck, "Very...I haven't seen my cousins since I was unveiled as the Crown Princess... How were you?"
Wraith smirked.
"Just amusing myself around town...and talking to Ariana."
Asrana giggled, "I see...my little cousin likes to meet the people in my life..."
She stepped back and turned him around before huggin him again, resting her head on his hsoulder, "So, where do you want to go?"
Wraith smiled, and pulled the bouquet into view.
"How about to get these some water, first?" he asked. "I'd hate for my first gift for you to die a quick death..."
Asrana giggled and blushed as she took the flowers, cupping them to her face for a brief time. Her hands slipped around Wraith's neck as she kissed him. Pulling out of it after a single moment, she smiled, "How'd you know I love pink roses? And I really want to know where you got this Blue Demoria. They're very rare..."
Wraith opened his mouth to tell her...and then realized that he'd be better off taking a different tack.
"Hi-Mi-Tsu," he grinned. "I'll tell you someday...but for now, Just assume I know everything." he teased.
"Just kidding."
Asrana giggled, "I think I already know where you got the Demoria...only two florists in the city specialize in royal and clan flowers..."
Her arms came off his neck as she looked up to her window, "I'll be back in a minute..." And with that she spread her wings again and took off, unlocking her window seemingly by tracing a finger along it and stepping in.
Moments later she jumped back out, landing only a few feet from Wraith, "Where do you want to go for lunch?"
Wraith shrugged and smiled.
"No preference. As long as it's where you're going, I'll eat anywhere."
Asrana smiled, "Then we'll go to a place that caters to Dragon Clan officers..." She took his hand and led him off the grounds, smiling and nodding to the gate guards as she passed.
They traveled through the streets, the everpresent bubble of respect and fear of the Dragon and Jade Assassin Guilds around them whenever they encountered non-draconians.
She pulled him down a side street and into a black stone building. The inside was spacious and filled with dark wood tables and chairs. Occupying many of those chairs and tables were a number of men and women obviously of either the Dragon or Jade Guilds.
Wraith sighed slightly as he noted that they were still attracting attention.
Shaking his head slightly, he followed her into the black building.
"What do they serve here?" he asked curiously.
Asrana pulled him to a corner table, "We're a high protein society because of all the wars... So mostly meat, stew, occasionally fowl pie...and most normal drinks..."
"Oh, good." Wraith said, stretching a little before he sat. "Stuff like spiced octopus is good once in a while, but it's hard on the stomach..."
He sat, glancing idly at the other people in the building...
Asrana giggled, "Yes...and too rare to really be efficient in procuring it."
The other occupants of the building only made cursory glances over Wraith and Asrana, recognizing their princess and the fact she was in no danger.
Asrana waved a serving girl over, "I'll have my usual..." Her eyes flicked to Wraith.
Wraith shrugged. "Spiced Beef stew, I guess," he supplied. "...and fruit juice, please?"
He sighed in relief as no one gave them more than a second look.
"Being Famous isn't all it's cracked up to be," he commented idly.
Asrana smiled as the server nodded and left, "They simply don't care. They know you're not a danger to me in any way, so until something happens...they don't consider you their business."
"So...anything you want to talk about?" Her eyes seemed to dance in the light.
Wraith grinned. "You know I'm a terrible conversationalist...But i do have a question...Ariana mentioned that there was something unique about the katana you gave me...What is it?"
Asrana flushed and seemed to fidget, "Well...I'm supposed to give it to...my...sort of a lifetime bodyguard, among other things..."
Wraith blinked. "Oh. Well, that's alright then...unless I'm going to be fired soon," he said, smiling to show he was teasing.
He blinked. "Wait...'among other things'?"
Asrana blushed, "It kind of implys an attachment beyond a normal objective guardianship..."
Now Wraith began to flush, but smiled at her.
"I see..." he began, then stopped. "You...you gave this to me quite a while ago..."
Asrana nodded, "I liked you very early on..."
Wraith smiled...though there was now a distinctly goofy quality to it.
"I wish I'd known then...I wouldn't have tried to be so distant all the time." he admitted. He grinned impishly. "Well, Maybe it's time to give you something, then," he decided.
As he spoke, one hand moved to the concealed pounch in his cloak, drawing out the box Asrana's parents had given him.
Asrana's eyes followed the box, looking VERY curious. "What is it?"
Wraith decided that 'I have no idea, your parents gave it to me to give to you' would kill the atmosphere.
He handed it to her. "It is...for you. Open it up and look." he smiled.
Asrana blushed slightly, "Thank you, Wraith..."
Once she opened the box, her eyes widened to the size of dinner plates.
She shook her head to get control of herself and reached into the box and pulled out a pair of silver hair combs, each one studded along the upper edge with sapphires and emeralds.
She slipped them into her hair above her ears, pulling the normally free flowing brown and silver tresses away from her ears.
Next she pulled out a pair of earrings, each one a perfectly made golden dragon with emerald eyes, glittering star rubies clutched in its claws. Placing them in her ears, the function of the combs became apparent: to allow the earrings to be fully displayed.
Lastly, her left hand dipped into the box in a ritualistic arc. Coming out, the second finger from her index was adorned with a ring of twisted gold and a blue gem.
Her eyes almost sparkled as she looked at Wraith, a definite blush coloring her cheeks.
The rest of the room took major notice of what was going on. Hastily turning away as Asrana's hand came up from the box.
It took all of Wraith's self control not to gape. He was, unable to smother his own blush, however.
They entrusted me with this...? he was startled, extremely so. Seraya-san...
"Kirei..." He blurted, then covered with, "uhm...Wow...You make them look good..." he managed...
Mike looked up and gasped as the crack raced towards him.
He quickly kicked off with his right foot and rolled out of the way. He lay there for a second looking in surprise at the large crack before his eyes went back to Kei, and he started to stand up again.
Kei smirked as he caught Mike gaping at the large crack in the ground, leaving himself wide open. Lunging into the air at Mike, he thrusted his right knee at Mike's face, then quickly snapped the leg out to kick at the side of Mike's face, and landed on the ground with a low left leg sweep.
Mike barely threw his arm up in time to block the kick, the force of which driving his arm into his head an puching him stumbling tot he side.
Mike was in the air and hit the ground hard, and was immediatly rolling, and spinning to his feet, as the sweep caught him completly unaware.
Asrana leaned over the table to gently kiss Wraith, "Thank you...and I know where you got these..."
A blush still suffused her cheeks as she settled back into her seat. Her smile seemed more inviting and a bit more affectionate, her predatory nature seemingly lowered for him.
Wraith grinned. "You're welcome," he told her quietly. "But you really don't need to thank me...the look on your face was more than enough."
"And I wasn't kidding. You DO make them look good."
And, suddenly...a turning point was reached. The wary tenseness that Wraith carried himself with relaxed.
The unspoken message was unmistakable. Only with her would he let down his guard...
Asrana blushed, her face showing relief as the server showed up with two mugs. They thumped down and were followed by two plain bowls and a loaf of bread.
Asrana smiled and tore off a chunk of bread, her eyes drifting back to Wraith every so often.
Kei jumped back a little to give safe distance between himself and Mike. Hoping up slightly, he switched into a low southpaw stance with both arms extended in palms pointed towards Mike. Thumbing his nose with his right thumb, he hopped up and began to bounce lightly on the balls of his foot.
"I'm gonna block your shadow kick this time," he said confidently. "Just watch me."
OOC: You should recognize who Kei is impersonating, Danax ^_^
Mike smiled as Kei fell into his stance, and made his declaration.
"Its never been done one hundred percent before, but your welcome to try." Mike said as he drew a quarter circle infront of him with his left foot, and slammed his toe into the ground.
"Any time you ready." Mike grinned through the pain of supporting his weight on his torn right leg.
OOC: Kwok you ass ^_^
Wraith smiled at Asrana, and, following her lead, began to eat his stew.
Momentarily, he noticed Asrana's glances.
"Uhm...am I doing something wrong?" he asked, blushing a little under her scrutiny.
Kei's expression sobered as he stopped bouncing and stood with his feet shoulder length apart, still in the southpaw stance, his entire concentration on Mike's legs.
With a few flicks of his wrist, he taunted Mike, challenging him to start the attack.
OOC: Kei's imitating Kwok? O_o
Asrana giggled, "No, I just want to look at you..." She went back to eating with a smile, her movements efficient, if a little nervous.
Wraith blushed bright red at that.
"Um...thanks." he murmured, smiling a little. He continued eating, although now he too paused occaisionally to watch her eat.
"Fair's fair," he said, still blushing. "Although I personally think I got the better deal..."
Asrana giggled and blushed, "Thank you, Wraith-kun..."
Wraith noted the change in address...but said nothing, just smiled as he continued to eat.
He glanced around for a moment, noting the studious avoidance, but obvious interest of the people at the surrounding tables.
"Hmm...We're attracting attention...The soldiers are pretty protective of you..." he said, smiling lopsidedly.
Asrana nodded, "Around half of them here are family...members of the Dragon Guild and Clan. The Jades...most are family. The rest just very loyal. And since both those Guilds are indoctrinated to guard the Jade Dragon Alliance, they see me as part of their mission. It's so sweet." She smiled affectionately, her sapphire eyes no longer seeming to have an icay wall behind them, instead appearing like a pair of bottomless sapphires, small and brilliant emeralds suspended in their depths.
Wraith nodded. "Loyalty that is bound up in affection...or love, is stronger than the kind that's solely honor based..." he said slowly, looking into her eyes, suddenly feeling as though he never wanted to look away.
Asrana's smile widened, her eyes dancing mischeviously. "I know..." Finishing her stew, she stretched, displaying a great number of curves.
Wraith bit his lip to keep from gawking openly at what Asrana's chainmail hinted at...
And still watched her with great interest.
Asrana blushed as she felt Wraith's eyes on her, relaxing back from her taut position after a few moments.
Her fingers briefly touched the combs in seeming wonder before the passed down to brush the earrings. Her right hand traced its way down her left arm to the ring, momentarily touching it as her eyes wandered to his and she spoke.
"So, what do we do now?"
Wraith smiled ruefully. "I have no idea."
"If you have something to do this afternoon, I'll follow you. If not...well...we can amuse ourselves for an afternoon somehow, can't we?"
Asrana blushed crimson at a few of the thoughts entering her mind, "We could go back to the citadel..."
Wraith blinked, and shrugged innocently, smiling.
"I guess that's fine. What did you have in mind?" he asked curiously.
Asrana giggled and leaned across the table, brushing his lips with her own, "Hmm....patience, dearest. You'll just have to wait yand see..."
Wraith smiled wryly.
"No one ever gives me a straight answer anymore," he sighed. "Oh well, I-" he trailed off, suddenly realizing something.
"Dearest?" He asked, blushing.
Asrana giggled, "You'll get a straight answer when we're not in public..."
She smiled mysteriously, "Well...you'd rather I call you something else...anata?"
Wraith continued blushing. "Uhm...whatever you want." he murmured.
"When we're...not in public...?"
Asrana blushed and smiled, "I don't think the general populace should hear what I'm going to say from their Crown Princess..." She gracefully stood, seeming to uncoil from the chair.
Wraith shrugged and stood as well.
He smiled fondly at Asrana. "I wish I knew what you're talking about...Hmm...Koiishi?" he said, trying out the way the endearment sounded.
Asrana's blush remained a faint crimson taint on her cheeks, taking Wraith's hand, she walked out into the streets, smiling to the owner as she passed him.
"You'll find out once we get back..."
She quickly changed the subject, "Do you have any questions about Cebos or anything else?"
Wraith smiled, blushing a little as he marveled at how soft her hands were.
"Is this the capitol? It seems central for the armies, and it's the biggest city I've seen yet..."
Asrana smiled as she pulled Wraith through the crowd towards the citadel, "Not for the nation...Cebos is the Jade Clan capital...so it deals with a lot of interplanar merchants."
Wraith looked down at his chainmail, visible under his fluttering cloak.
"So that's why they all seem to know me, then, I guess? It's the uniform..."
Asrana nodded, "Yep...this is the home city of the Jade Assassins' Guild..."
She idly waved to a lone assassin, her hand flickering in a number of complicated gestures. "I should probably get you a Dragon Clan pin...just to show you're mine." She blushed and giggled a little mischeviously, her eyes glinting softly.
Wraith smiled. "You don't need a pin for that," he assured her softly. "I think I've been yours since we first met...Oh man, I'm getting sappy. Sorry." he blushed.
"Heh...a pin? Are you proposing?" he asked, teasingly.
Asrana blushed and looked at him curiously, "Just making sure the rest of society knows you're mine, anata..."
She smiled, "And thank you..." She briefly kissed him, drawing chuckles from a pair of Dragon Guild soldiers that were inspecting a blade from a traveling merchant.
Wraith smiled again. "Well whatever..." he trailed off as she kissed him. After the separated, he smiled dazedly. "Thank YOU." he murmured quietly.
Asrana giggled, her eyes roaming the market like a panther's as they passed through the final stretch of it and into the district favored by the Dragon and Jade Clans for houses.
Many of them nodded respectfully as they recognized the princess, smiling to Wraith.
Wraith fidgeted slightly, returning the smiles akwardly.
"How can you stand so mant people watching you all the time?" he whispered to her.
Asrana smiled as they approached the citadel gates and purred into his ear, "I grew up with the eyes of my family on me...as long as I know it's them I'm fine..."
She signaled the gate guard with a single flick of her wrist and walked through, almost visibly relaxing as she entered her home.
Wraith followed, looking carefully around. He hadn't taken the time to do so yet, and casually admired Asrana's home, and anaylzed it at the same time, his eyes going slightly unfocused...
The grounds were carefully maintained to look like they were not. Groves of trees were common, composed of sakura, oak, and even the occasional pine or maple.
Asrana strolled down a well worn path, her soft boots completely silent on the hard earth.
She slipped into a particularly large grove, pushing through bushes and onto the beginning of a sun dappled trail.
The trail isolated them from the rest of the compound, not revealing any of the black stone buildings through the thick canopy. Asrana sighed contentedly, her face and body calm.
Wraith smiled, his gaze turned upward, watching the snatches of sky through the overhanging branches. "You must come out here a lot," he commented, flashing her a quick smile.
Asrana returned the expression, her eyes affectionate, "Yeah...though I spend more time in the family wood on the other side of the East Wing...much larger and you can't see the buildings from the clearings..."
She came to the end of the trail and pushed a few bushes out of the way, coming out only yards from the door to the East Wing just below her quarters.
Wraith blinked in mild surprise, looking up at the building, an suddenly recognizing the surroundings.
"Oh. Hmm...I'll have to go out there," he responded, following her.
Asrana smiled mysteriously as she walked through the door and up a flight of stairs, "Yes..."
Passing through a number of heavy and locked doors, the pair finally arrived in Asrana's bedroom.
Still smiling, Asrana playfully pushed Wraith in the direction of the passage between their rooms, "Someone's coming with something for you and I need to change... I suggest you also remove the armor..."
A short laugh later her hands were already at the clasp on the back of her neck, beginning to remove her chainmail despite Wraith's presence.
Blushing, Wraith moved through the passage into his own room.
He quickly doffed his armor, dropping it on the bed. He stretched and suddenly blinked. "Something for me?"
A muted giggle could be heard from Asrana's room as Wraith left.
A polite knocking on the door echoed through Wraith's quarters.
Wraith glanced down at the cloth pants and shirt he wore under his armour.
"I guess that's decent...Come in?"
The outer door clicked open and in moments a servant walked in, though he didn't wuite seem like a servant, more of a manager, she carried three bundles wrapped in paper, "Hi, I'm Princess Asrana's Seneschal...these are Dragon Clan clothes for you, your highness." Her smile was just as mysterious as Asrana's, golden hair held in a pnytail and green eyes glinting.
She was lean but well muscled, the model of a fast sword user. Her dark green fatigues only hinted at the body beneath, loose and concealing yet not impeding movement.
Wraith nodded. "Thank you-Wait, 'Your Highness'? Are you sure these are for me?" he asked.
The woman nodded, "Half of Asrana's bodyguards saw you propose in that resturaunt. They sent word to me privately and I arranged for Dragon Clan outfitting... Oh, congratulations."
Wraith immediately stifled his surprised reaction.
I proposed?...Of course! The combs? Earrings? RING??? I am SUCH an idiot...Seraya-san...this isn't FAIR!
Hold on...is it really so bad? You've been thinking about doing this for a long time...And you got through it without being nervous at all....it's a little sooner than you thought, but are you all that upset?
No. No, I'm not.
He smiled finally, accepting the package. "Thank you," he acknowledged wryly.
The woman bowed and smiled, "We'll be seeing a lot of each other in the future...my name is Sefeya." She turned to leave, but stopped just inside the door, "And take good care of my princess..." With that, she left even more silently then Ariana had, not even the doors making noises.
Through the passage, Asrana's voice echoed, "Wraith, could you come here?" Her voice seemed a little nervous, but still held in control.
Wraith was blinking at the sudden departure, when he heard Asrana call for him.
"Hm? Sure." he called back, and ducked into the passage...
Wraith couldn't see anyone as he exited the passage into Asrana's room.
But a moment later he certainly felt her arms slip around his stomach and her body press against his back. The material of her sleeves (as that was all he could see) were made of a soft diaphanous material, shrouding her in a light green mist of fabric.
Her lips pressed against his neck for a moment before sliding up to his ear, "Anata wa suki dai yo..."
OOC: Fall to the pointless Japanese! ^_^;;;
Wraith's breath seemed to catch in his chest as Asrana's soft warmth pressed against his back.
His pulse hammered in his ears as he felt a nuclear level blush emerge.
"K-kimi wa suki dai yo..." he murmured huskily in reply.
Asrana nuzzled his neck, the occassional touch of metal against his neck indicating the combs were still in place, though she had removed her earrings. "Thank you..."
Her hands wandered over his stomach, occassionally slipping back to his ribs and massaging the muscles there. The constant movement of her arms caused other parts of her to move as well, many of them already pressing against Wraith's back.
"So...what do you want to do for the rest of the day?"
Wraith shivered, though he wasn't cold in the least.
"I...dunno. What do you want to do?"
Asrana giggled, "I have a few ideas...though several possibilities exist..."
Wraith blinked. He started to turn, causing Asrana to shift against him in...interesting ways. He stopped turning, blushing fiercely.
"Several...?"
Asrana smiled and kissed him just under his jaw, "Well...there are several things to discuss...and a few other activities..."
Wraith blushed, wondering why he was feeling light-headed. His hands slipped down to her waist, without conscious thought.
"Discuss? Like what?"
Asrana smiled affectionately, "The wedding...training...telling my parents..."
Wraith nodded, trying to concentrate...as best he could with a beautiful woman holding onto him. "What do we need to discuss about them?" he asked curiously.
"Well...unless you have any preferences I can take care of the wedding with my cousins. But training...I need to train you in the rest of my family's styles. And we need to tell my parents we're getting married." She blushed and began to massage Wraith's back, her hands kneading the tight muscles.
Wraith grinned ruefully, shivering slightly under Asrana's touch.
"I think your mother already knows," he commented. "And as for the wedding...I wouldn't know the the difference between any of them. Just let me know when, and if you're going to be there, and I'll show up." he assured her. On instinct, he leaned down and kissed the tip of her nose.
"And training can begin anytime." he finished.
Asrana giggled and blushed, "Okay...then maybe you want to start on the more...physical activities?"
Wraith blinked. He was still processing the conversation, and didn't catch Asrana's meaning.
"Physical activities...?"
Asrana sweatdropped, then gained an evil little smile. Sweeping Wraith's legs, she pushed him down onto her bed and went with him, sliding her legs up his side.
"This...anata..." Her voice purred, a hot whisper in his ear.
Wraith looked up at her, wide-eyed, as a stuggle seemed to take place behind his eyes.
Finally, his eyes cleared. "Oh." he murmured quietly, matching her actions by running his hands along her sides. "I see..."
Asrana smiled and leaned down, her entire body moving in various ways against Wraith...
FADE TO BLACK BECAUSE WE ARE NOT GOING TO DO A LIME OR LEMON SCENE ON A PUBLIC FORUM
OOC: We RETURN from AIM!!
IC: Asrana slipped out of Wraith's embrace, sliding off of her bed in one fluid movement.
She was utterly silent as she walked across the room to her bath and stepped through the darkly stained doorway.
Slipping into the bath itself was an almost silent activity, the only sound a slight whisper of water sliding against her body.
Taking a long while to saok and wash herself, she stood, once more quietly, the sounds of dripping quickly muted by a towel.
Silently gliding back into her room, she pulled out a set of her fatigues and began slipping into her clothes.
Once dressed in her the familiar black and silver shirt, loose pants, and sash, she dropped into stretching. Wincing as a few muscles hurt for the first time, she pulled out of stretches, sighing as her eyes turned back to her fiance.
Wraith, for the first time she had ever seen, was in a deep sleep.
He rolled over slightly, tossing the blanket partway off himself, a bemused expression on his sleeping face...
Asrana giggled as she saw Wraith's face.
She'd have to wake him up in a bit, but might as well let him rest.
Moving a ways from the bed, she began running through some of the tricks he'd taught her. Most didn't work against her targets, but they might ocme in handy later.
Wraith stirred slightly, his eyes slitting open. He watched Asrana for a long moment...wondering idly how she managed to make kata look like dancing...
Asrana grinned as she felt Wraith's eyes on her, taking a minute to finish the kata, she turned back to him, "I know you're awake, dear."
Her eyes were closed.
Wraith sat up, rubbing his eyes. "Figures. I'm the only one in the city who has no secrets." he mock groaned, yawning.
"Well, I guess I can live with that." he smiled sleepily at Asrana.
Asrana giggled, "Go take a bath, the water replenishes itself every hal-hour. Then we can get you dressed for meeting with my parents."
Wraith nodded. "'kay...What are we meeting them for?" he mumbled, walking over to the bath.
Asrana smiled, "To tell them about...us. And to just talk before we go to dinner..."
Wraith nodded blearily, and entered the bath.
After some time, he came out, a towel around his waist, looking slightly more awake. He looked around, but his clothes from before were nowhere in evidence.
"Where'd my pants go?"
Asrana giggled, "Under the bed, but for a formal dinner you should wear the clothing from Sefeya."
Wraith blinked. "I didn't even get a chance to look at the stuff she brought...but I thought Armor was the fromal wear of choice?"
Asrana smiled, "Depends on the occassion. For a family gathering like this...fatigues or armor on prefference."
Wraith nodded. "Ok. I'll go get changed then," he said, turning toward the passage and his room, where he'd left the clothing.
Mikewatched Kei beckon him to attack and knew that something fishey was up. 'Ah well, best defence is a good offence.' He thought to himself as he mentally prepared himself for his attack.
A split second later Mike rocketed towards kei his left leg in a blur as it snapped out multiple times at Kei's vital points, not quite as fast or as strong as his right leg but still very impressive.
OOC: I was calling you a bastard...and I am not sure who Kei is impersonating....maybe Mike for all I know, and sorry about the delay just got back from Long beach camping trip, and then the Molson Indy heh ^_^
Asrana smiled and belted on her tachi, leaving the back harness and chisa-katana in its rack.
She smiled as she put slipped the combs back in place before putting the earrings on.
It was going to be an interesting night....
The group of armed draconians flew over the forest, their eyes searching for what they wanted.
Weapons flashed in the sunlight, blood red armor gleaming.
Black wings stretched for the first time in hundreds of years. Racing from their smashed mountain abodes of old, their minds rested on their last defeat.
Death reigned where they passed.
Cera had risen; they promised that the Jade Dragon would fall...
Ariel drifted out of Stathon, her mind wandering as she looked for her cousin and her companions.
Asrana was the only one who would willingly read the old texts and understand them...
OOC: Bruce Lee! Kei was impersonating Bruce Lee, you dolt! ^_^
And damn you! I wanna watch the Molson Indy live! >_<
IC: Kei quickly sobered up as Mike rocketed towards him. Bringing both hands into a vertical position in front of his body to protect the most vital points that are in the middle of the body, he pivoted both forearms at the elbows to block the rest of the hits.
He couldn't block all the kicks though, they were too fast to block them all. He managed to block all the most critical and painful areas, but several of them still went through.
"Grr..." Kei growled, gritting his teeth through the pain as he continued to block. "Bastard..."
Watching Mike's movements carefully as he blocked, he caught the timing of Mike's kick, and grabbed his leg during one of the kicks. Still holding onto Mike's leg, Kei spun on the balls of his feet, he lashed out at the back of Mike's head with a crescent kick.
[Edit: At least I THINK it's a crescent kick. I keep getting kick names mixed up ^_^;;]
OOC: That was my first guess, though I am not sure what "southpaw" stance is so it threw me off. And the kick sounds more like a hook-kick then crescnt kick...besides crescent kicks have no hitting power while hook kicks DO.
IC: Mike grit his teeth as his foot connected with hard forearm rather then soft vitals most of the time. 'This bastard is actually blocking it!' He thought to himself as he began to pour all the energy he could into his leg, when suddenly an iron hard grip wrapped around his calf.
'Oh fuck.' He thought as he felt the kick coming and began to lean forward to let it pass by over head, but he wasn't fast enough...not even close.
Pain exploded in the back og Mikes head as Kei's foot connected solidly, snapping his head forward and sending his body with it, his vision swam as he faught uncontiousness.
Wraith re-entered Asrana's room, tugging idly at the fatigues. They appeared to fit fine, but he looked uncomfortable in the crisp new clothes...
OOC: I THINK southpaw is the stance with the right hand in front... I think ^_^;;
Kick name changed! ^_^
IC: Kei grinned as his hook kick connected with the back of Mike's head.
Hopping up into the air, he raised a knee to meet Mike's descending midsection. Shifting his body in the air, he tried to slam a double-fist into the back of Mike's head, hoping to knock him unconscious with the force of his attack added by the downward momentum of his falling.
OOC: Sounds good to me heh..
IC: Mike folded around Kei's knee, the breath blasting from his lungs, and before he had time to suck in another breath Kei's fist hammered the back of his head, sending his face into the ground hard, and into uncontiousness.
Kei grinned evilly and kicked Mike's limp body off to a side beside a tree.
"I told you to stay awa-"
He didn't have time to finish the sentence before a tsunami of pain washed over his body, and he sank a knee onto the ground, gritting his teeth.
"Bastard..." he growled at the unconscious form of Mike. "That hurt..."
Asrana smiled as she watched Wraith tug at the clothing, "I know those fit...I took the measurements myself. So what's wrong?"
She idly stretched once more, her hands clasped and raised high above her head.
Wraith shrugged, smiling uncomfortably. "Never had brand new clothes before. It feels weird..." he explained.
Ariel hovered above Kei, watching him.
It looked like one of Asrana's bodyguards...might as well find out.
She began to slowly descend, keeping her eyes locked on his head, she knew her eyes were the only way to distinguish her from Asrana. And she'd heard a few stories about some of her bodyguards...
Asrana smiled, "Get used to it...you'll have to get used to a lot of things."
"Oh, I know." He agreed, with a wry grin. "Like being called your highness?"
"Having a title will be odd...I didn't even really think about it..."
Asrana smiled, "Yes...though that might change. To Sefeya you have no rank beyond your engagement to me. If you learned all of our styles...you'd have a Dragon rank in her mind. Which takes precedence over all others. To my face she'll call me 'Captain' because I'm a Dragon Guard Captain."
The red armored and black winged creatures descended on a village. Met by the soldiers, they charged silver blades stained with crimson blood as they ripped through the guards and turned to the village itself.
The forest echoed with the screams of a hundred deaths. Innocent's blood ran for only minutes until the flame took it, destroying the place in a pillar of fire.
And none anywhere else in the kingdom knew what things had once again descended upon them.
Wraith considered this thoughtfully. "Well, There's something ELSE to think about," he mused. "Hmm...I have a funny feeling there's a lot I should know...fairly soon..."
She smiled, "Ask any questions you want, we have a bit before we're needed. I take a lot of this on instinct..."
Wraith tapped his chin thoughfully. "Well...What are some spectacular protocol errors than I might make, and should know about?" He asked.
She grinned, "Nit much in the way of protocols beyond courtesy. You already know about the things like scabbard tapping. But this IS a giant family of soldiers, assassins, and mercenaries."
"True. I'm just wondering. I've never spent too long around...wealthy? people before. I don't want to embarrass myself, or you."
Asrana smiled, "Very wealthy, but we spend more time in the field then at court. That doesn't build any major etiquette skills..."
Wraith grinned. "Fair enough. Is there anything you think I should know? I don't know what questions to ask..."
Asrana grinned, "That's a problem...most of it is instinct for me..."
Wraith smirked. "I'll just follow your lead, then. It'll be good practice for us." He laughed.
Asrana grinned, "Alright. Read to go?"
She checked her tachi one last time and made sure the combs were secure in her hair.
Wraith tucked the katana into his obi, nodding. "Ready." he assured her. "You sure these's nothing else I should know?"
Kei almost growled as he noticed the very familiar feminine form descending from above. Opening his mouth to snap at who he thought was Asrana, he quickly shut his hole when he looked into Ariel's eyes. They were almost magnetic... as if telling him to stare into those beautiful eyes, and never look away...
He mentally smacked himself out of his reverie.
Must not think about that... he thought. I've already had enough with Asrana...
"What do you want?" he resorted to saying, trying to make his voice as emotionless as he could.
Mike pulled hyimself out of la-la land just intime to hear Kei's question.
"The name of the demon that hit me." he grumbled as he rubbed the bck of his head with his right hand. "I have the worst headache ever"
Mike looked over at Kei and followed his gaze intot he sky, and startled slightly. "Yo Asrana, back already?"
Ariel's jade green eyes flashed, turning a cold stare on Mike. "I'm not Asrana... I'm her cousin, Ariel. And I'm looking for my cousin."
Mike threw his hands up in a apologetic move. "Sorry sorry, you just look a lot like her is all, and Asrana dissappeared frm here just before Kei and I began our fight." Mike pulled himself to his feet and began stretching out his muscles lightly..
Kei gritted his teeth and got back up to his feet to kick Mike in the face again. "I'm the one that hit you, you dolt."
"So you're Asrana's cousin?" he asked, turning towards Ariel. "I knew there was something different about you. How come you guys look so much alike? And can't you just track her down with telepathy or something? She sure liked reading my thoughts enough..."
Mike shot out an arm and hardblocked Kei's kick.
"Aw come on, would you please drop the 'I'm heartbroken so I'm gonna act all hard' act its getting annoying, and she probably likes reading your mind cause its a good vacation place, real empty with nothing to bother you."
Her eyes turned to Kei, "Because I don't know telepathy." She shrugged, "We just look like each other. We're both Jade Dragon clan mixes...it just worked like that."
She muttered darkly, "Didn't stop those bastards from teasing us about it..."
Kei glared hard at Mike. "You want me to kick your ass again don't you?"
"Anyway," he said, turning towards Ariel again. "Nice to meet you, I guess. So who's teasing you about not knowing telepathy?"
Ariel smiled slightly, "Noone teased me over telepathy. Asrana and I were teased as children for being the near twins."
She landed, her silver wings retracting into her back and through her armor.
Kei waved a hand in front of himself in a gesture of dismissal. "You're both more beautiful than nine-tenths of the world's population, so who cares?"
His eyes widened as he realized what he just said.
"Umm..." he uttered, trying to change the subject to a less embarrassing one for him. "So why're you looking for Asrana?"
Ariel blushed, "Well...because I found a book in Old Draconian and she's the only person who will read it...her parents hate reading it and she's the only other person that can..."
"Really?" Kei asked, curious. "What book is it? How come her parents hate reading it?"
Mike looked at Kei in surprise, shocked at how quickly his attitude turned around.
'He see's someone who only looks like Asrana and he's all doe-eyed over her to...shallow guy.' He thought as he simply stood there listening to the conversation.
Ariel shook her head, "I don't know the book's title...I can only identify the language it was written in. And her parents don't like reading it because they had to read some very nasty prophecies in that language. And they won't share them with anyone." She fell into a sitting position, oddly graceful and fluid in her movements.
"Probably something about their demise or their kingdom's demise or something," Kei nodded his head confidently, as if sure that he had hit it on the nail. "If there's nasty prophecies? Why're you trying to read it?"
"You know, considering that none of us know where Asrana is, maybe it would be better to find some type of sage to translate the book, I'm sure there is one in Dracol, the capitol..." Mike said as he sat down and flared his eyes a brilliant green as he slowly began to heal the damage done to his right leg.
She shook her head, "I don't know what's in this book. And I'm sure there is NOT someone in Dracol who can read it. Only the direct royal family and senior members of the extended family know Old Draconian. And currently the only person senior enough in the extended family is Demos, and he won't read these books either."
She growled, "Damnit...I need to find Asrana..." Her tachi blurred as it left its sheath, slicing cleanly through a tree.
She quickly began to jog away.
Mike looked at the tree sadly "Well that was a useless waste of movement, and what did the poor tree ever do to her?"
Turning his gaze over to Kei a slight smile broke out on his face. "So, should we go after her or not?"
Kei smirked. "Guess she thought the tree looked at her in the wrong way or something."
He stood motionless in his spot for a moment, debating with himself whether he should follow Ariel or not.
He sighed. He wasn't particularly interested in seeing Asrana again so soon, which would probably happen if he followed Ariel... but for some odd reason, he was kind of worried about her. With the state of mind that she seemed to be in, there was no telling what she might get herself into.
"Alright," he sighed an audible sigh, and quickly jogged after Ariel. "Let's go..."
Asrana smiled to Wraith, "Nothing that I can think of." She held out an arm, "Ready to go then?"
"hey mn wait up!" Mike called as he tried to jog after Kei, and ended up doing this wierd hobbling cross between a jog and a limp. "My muscle in my right leg is all torn to shit, can ya give me a hand?"
Wraith grinned, a little nervously.
"Sure." he nodded, taking her arm. As they left together, he began muttering under his breath.
"Just treat it like an assignment...no reason to be this nervous..."
"Run by yourself," Kei continued to jog ahead without looking back or slowing down. "It's not the first time you've had pain after a fight and it won't be the last. Stop being a sissy and take it like a man. You think _I'm_ much better off than you are?"
Ariel rolled her eyes at the voices behind and blurred before appearing beside Mike, "You two are nuts...no wonder Asrana said she got a LOT of healing practice..." She idly ran a finger up Mike's leg before he could say anything, re-knitting the muscle.
She turned to Kei once she was done, "And what in particular is wrong with your body?"
Kei almost jumped as Ariel suddenly appeared beside Mike. He didn't even sense her move. This could be trouble if they ever had to fight...
He smirked inwardsly as an idea occured to him.
"Oh," he slid his hands upwards from his midsection towards his chest as he slinked towards Ariel, whispering huskily. "I hurt ALL OVER... can you fix it for me?" By the time Kei got to "me", he was almost directly whispering in Ariel's ear.
Messing with people was always a favorite passtime of his.
Ariel smirked, she may not be a telepath, but she was good at reading people.
She smiled sultrily and ran her spread fingers over his chest, her eyes a pair of flaming emeralds looking at him. Kei could feel the dusting of chi that must've been her senses flow over and around him, "Do you do this with a ll the girls you meet?"
"Nah..." Kei gently ran a hand over Ariel's cheeks as he started to walk around her, stopping when he was directly behind her.
"Just you..." he continued, practically breathing hot hair onto Ariel's neck. "Because you're... you."
Ariel barked out a harsh laugh, "So you're lying to me because I'm me?"
She tapped him on the chest, a single finger that blurred as it moved and sent him staggering a few steps. "Nice try. But you'll have to do better than that to snare a Jade." She winked at him before turning, "You two can come along with if you want. I will find my cousin."
Mike tested the healing job by snapping a few quick kicks into the air ans Kei and Ariel went about there teasing.
"Weel I would like to find Asrana as well, after all we ARE her body guards, as needless as it maybe, and you seem like a decent and interesting enough person so we might as well acompany each other. Oh and thanks alot for the healing, it would have been very annoying for a few days." Mike said to Ariel with a friendly grin.
Asrana smiled to her fiance as they walked through the black marble halls of the citadel. "Nervous, dear?"
She nodded to a few of the black and silver armored guards that lined the hallways.
Ariel smiled mysteriously, "Hardly a decent person by martial artist's standards..."
Wraith nodded, smiling in a strained fashion.
"Very." he agreed. "Being eaten alive by wild animals would be less nerve wracking than this..."
He glanced at each of the guards as they passed, not knowing them well enough to nod...but he met their eyes anyway...as a kind of acknowledgement...
Asrana giggled in a subdued manner, "Just relax...it's a casual family dinner with some close dignitaries..."
Each guard smiled to Wraith, a few even informally nodding.
Wraith sweatdropped, pulling his attention away from the nodding back to the guards for a moment.
"Casual dinner....with dignitaries." he stared. "That's a contradictory statement if i've ever heard one."
He sighed. "A country bumpkin rubs elbows with royalty. If there's a way to screw up, I'll find it..."
Asrana smiled, "Depends on the dignitaries. Almost every ambassador we have is an officer. And remember, we're not royalty per se, we act more like mercenaries."
Kei frowned after he was sent staggering a few steps, the pain from being hit by the two shadow kicks resurfacing more evidently than ever. That... was a miserable flop.
"I didn't lie..." he said softly. "I never lie to girls."
He shrugged. "Ah well. So where do you think Asrana is?"
"I know exactly what your talking about, and I honestly don't see anything wrong with following a much harsher warriors code, its just not for me." Mike smiled at her with a small wink.
"Oh and could you please heal Kei? I hit him with one of my strongest moves, twice, and he hasn't realized that he's supposed to fall down after that." Mike looked over to Kei and let out a friendly chuckle.
Ariel smiled to Kei, "Mayhaps I misunderstood you. Anyway, Asrana is likely in Dracol, Demonia, or Cebos. Those are her retreats."
Ariel smirked at Mike, "Then I see you've had a 'chat' with Asrana." She glanced at Kei and shrugged, "I'll heal him if he wants me to."
"It hurts like hell, but it's nothing new," Kei shrugged. "I don't know how your healing power works, and I don't wanna drain you or something."
Wraith smiled at Asrana. "I know, I know...just remember...The highest ranking people I've ever dealt with until now were underworld bosses...this is a bit different..."
Mike looked at Kei and scratched the back of his head. "You know its not really supposed to hurt, its supposed to maim and perhaps kill..." Mike put his hand down and shrugged. "Your to tough for you own good."
"Anyway," Mike continued, turning to Ariel. "We should be off, after Asrana teleported away, Wraith went running off, that-a-way I think." Mike said pointing in the general direction of Wraith's Departure. "So what ever of those cities is nearest is probably where they are."
Ariel smiled, "Healing spells aren't draining." She tapped Kei's chest, lightly this time, though her movements still blurred.
The mix of chi and magic energy slipped into Kei, beginning to repair his injuries.
Ariel looked where Mike pointed, "That would be the direction of Stathon...she won't be there. She probably told Wraith to contact her through the Jade Assassins' Guild since he's a member of it, and the nearest guild house is in Stathon. Knowing her she's left instructions for the bodyguards she would care to have with her. If they ever ask the right people and answer the right questions."
"No," Kei smirked at Mike. "You're just a sissy, that's why. Especially the second time with the torn leg."
He almost went into defensive movements when he saw Ariel moving to tap him on the chest again, but decided to trust her this once, then soon felt a wave of chi flow into his body, healing the damage he suffered from the fight with Mike.
"Thanks," he smiled at her. "So what now? Where do we go then?"
Asrana smiled at Wraith, "I know, that's why Sefeya arranged this to be a family and trusted allies dinner. And my uncle Demos is a bit of an underworld boss..."
She stopped them in front of a guarded pair of steel-bound wood doors. Her eyes flicked across each of the guards, smiling slightly as they nodded to her and opened the doors. Through them was a long hall, two rows of long empty tables running on each side of a long blue carpet, terminating before a table that almost spanned the width of the room, allowing two yards on each side for passage.
Behind that table sat a number of people. At the center were Folkan and Seraya, smiling in black and silver that matched the younger couple's. To their right sat a man with dark brown hair like Seraya's and the same deep sapphire eyes. He wore the customary black with metallic green of the Jade clan, flashing a grin to Asrana before turning back to the woman next to him. She smiled knowingly, her black tresses framing jade eyes filled with suppressed mirth. She wore the same as the man beside her, only on her collar, a pair of embroidered blue lightning bolts stood prominent. Two places on Seraya's left were open, the rest of the table taken up by various Jade or Dragon soldiers by their colors and a few men dressed in various utilitarian but fancy outfits of various colors. All were shadowed in the presence of the four people at the middle of the table, attention being drawn from them to the imposing figures there.
Wraith tensed, looking around warily...and then sent his attention to the center table.
After a moment of examination, he leaned closer to Asrana. "Your uncle Demos?" he asked softly.
Asrana nodded, "And his wife, Caelena. She's from the Demonia family." Asrana gently stepped forward, presuming Wraith would follow as she made her way to the front table, a slight smile on her lips and flicker in her eyes.
Everyone at the table stood, the ambassadors bowed, the officers nodded, and her family simply smiled as Asrana came around the table.
Folkan stepped forward to embrace his daughter, "Well, it appears my child has finally grown to be a woman." He grinned, "At least now I won't have to worry at night about you breaking any more hearts." Quickly getting out of reach of his mildly annoyed daughter, Folkan chuckled with Demos, becoming silent as Caelena glanced towards them.
Wraith stood behind Asrana, watching her interact with her family with a mixture of amusement and embarrassment.
He smiled faintly, wondering who...or where his own family was...
Seraya smiled knowingly and congratulated her daughter as Demos stepped around them to talk to Wraith.
His gaze was suspicious, "So, you're the young upstart assassin to grab my nieces eye..." He suddenly cracked a grin and chuckled, holding out his hand, "Sorry, I know the kind of impression Folkan leaves about being overprotective. I'm her uncle, Demos, though you may call me Farenal if you like. You're almost in the family anyway." His grin was disarming, that of a man that laughs at much, if only to survive.
Wraith nodded, smiling slightly to Demos...no, Farenal.
"Wraith," he answered shaking the proffered hand. "Thank you, sir-er, Farenal." he shifted slightly. He opened his mouth to speak, then shut it, looking embarrassed and uncertain.
"I hope you'll excuse my ineptness...I don't have much experience socializing..." he apologized.
Farenal pulled Wraith into a tight bear hug, dropping out of it almost as quickly, "Neither am I 'cept around my nieces and daughters."
Caelena stepped forward, tapping her husband's shoulder, "Calm Folkan down...I think he's in several forms of shock..."
She smiled to Wraith as Farenal headed back towards his brother-in-law, her eyes flashed, "Welcome to the family. If you need any help adjusting to them...ask me. The Jade and Dragon Clans are fairly similar...I adjusted from the Demon Clan..."
Wraith blinked as he was let out of the bear hug, slightly startled.
He smiled at Caelena, still not entirely relaxed, but less nervous and wary than when he'd entered.
"Thank you...I'll take you up on that...as soon as I can figure out what questions to ask..."
Ariel smiled and shrugged, "I'm going back to Stathon to see if I can tack Wraith. If we can find him we'll likely find Asrana."
Caelena smiled, her eyes were those of a hunter. "Of course you can always ask your fiancee." She shrugged, "We will talk more when we next meet...probably at your wedding."
She silently drifted back to be replaced by Asrana, "So, you met my aunt and uncle?" She sat down in the seat closest to her parents, on her mother's left.
"They usually stay away from the public eye..."
Wraith gave Asrana a sidelong glance as he sat beside her.
"Why's that?" He asked curiously. "They seem ordinary enough...is it the underworld connections you mentioned?"
Kei frowned as he heard Ariel mention Wraith. He wasn't particularly interested in seeing him again. Quite the opposite in fact. He'd be happy to never come across said man's path ever again, and it showed in his face.
"Whatever," his voice suddenly grew cold and gained a distant-but-professional edge to it, and his attitude changed with it. "Let's go find Asrana. It's still my duty to protect her."
Asrana smiled, "Yeah, Farenal and Caelena are the leaders of the Jade Assassins' and Demon Hunters' Guilds... Both of which are very good at shadow work."
"You'll probably be asked to go through Hunter training. Lots of wilderness tracking and geurilla warfare..."
Asrana idly sipped from a crystal goblet that was placed in front of them, then filled with a golden liquid.
Wraith shrugged, nodding.
"That sounds fine...I can always use new skills, and I might be able to get a better handle on what I already know...Why would they ask?" he inquired curiously.
He glanced at the goblet, idly wondering what the liquid was...
Asrana smiled, "You might need it in any wars. No one matches Demon Hunters in the forest... And they don't know if you'd want the training."
She giggled once she saw him look at the goblet, "Wine from Demonia. They're the only producers of white wine in the kingdom."
OOC: I am NOT in a good mood right now
IC: Just as Kei said 'Duty' a pulse of dark chi blasts slammed into him, blasting his body through several trees.
Another, wider, pulse sent the trees around Mike crashing down ontop of him. Trapping him within a prison of huge logs.
Ariel's reflexes and sheer speed were all that saveed her from dying then and there. Blood seeped from the light cut across her arm.
The blur stopped
OOC: So you're taking it out on Kei? Poor Kei ^_^
IC: Kei didn't even have time to scream before the dark blasts slammed into his body, sending him through tree after tree.
As soon as he landed on the ground with a loud, resounding thud, his body shook and he coughed out a mouthful of blood.
Trying to sit up as best he could, he looked into the direction of the attacks through his starred, dazed eyes.
Mike barely had time to open his mouth as the trees came crashing down on him. His eyes flared green as he prepared to try to divert the trees at the same time as erecting a inertial barrier around himself but wasn't fast enough.
He was slammed around, and completly pinned except for his right arm and his head, which ended up in a air pocket between logs.
Mike let out a yell of pain as he tensed every muscle in his body to fight the crushing weight of the logs.
'Damn this sucks.' He thought as he tried to psionicly push some logs off him.
OOC: This was going to happen sometime...
IC: The man stood there, gazing at Ariel, a heavy curved blade in his hands. Midnight black hair framed a pair of flaming crimson eyes, staring at Ariel in blazing fury. He obviously a draconian, blue-black wings pierceing blood red plate armor.
Ariel's eyes narrowed, then widened in horror, "But...you're all dead..."
The warrior grinned ferally, "That's what the Dragon thought, didn't you?" A dark chuckle grated in his throat, like rusty chains rolling over each other, "And you...you half-breed of a Jade Dragon..." He snarled and blurred forward, met by Ariel in flash of blades as her tachi whispered out of it's sheath with a steely slither to meet the other blade. The swords struck and reversed with so much force vacuums appeared, firing in all directions as a field of death appeared around them.
The logs twisted under the pressure of Mike's mind, beginning to seperate before several near the top were sliced in half, coming back down under the assault of the vacuum blades of the duel.
Kei was in the middle of getting back up to his feet when a vacuum blade sped its way towards his chest. Doing a hasty bridge, he bent backwards to avoid the vacuum blade, but collapses onto the ground, still weak from his injury, and coughed out another mouthful of blood.
Rolling onto the ground to relative safety, he pushed himself up to his feet and stood by to watch. As tempted as he was to give his attacker a piece of his mind, even he knew that he was sorely outclassed by both parties in the fight.
Choosing what he thought would be a safe spot from the fight, he observed the fighters' actions and techniques, occasionally taking glances at the trapped Mike.
Mike looked up at the falling logs in surprise. "Oh Shit." he muttered as he watch them for a fraction of a second before his surprise turned to anger.
His eyes intesified in thier color untill they looked unnaturally green as Mike quickly built up a large compressed ball of Telekinetic energy. Looking back up at the logs he smiled as he released it.
As soon as it was released it burst, a wave of force pushing all the falling wood to the side, completely missing Mike.
Mike quickly pulled his legs out of thier pinned position, and Jumped away, just as the area around where he was collapsed.
In air Mike had to quickly foce himself into a flat spin, a pair of vaccume blades wizzing dangerously close to him.
"What the fuck whas that?" Mike asked, landing near Kei, and turning to the battle.
Ariel and the warrior continued their duel in blurs and flashes. Only truly becoming visible when their blades met for single instants, the images to fade into so much nothingness.
The air distortions continued to fly as they fought, sometimes dodging the after-affects of their own clashes. Around them all, the forest began to fall to the blades, crashing with the rips and cracks of wood stressed t beyond its limits.
Kei didn't answer Mike's question, and continued keeping his eyes on the fight. Both of them were CLEARLY outclassed, and he knew it, and that there's nothing that the both of them could do.
"You know what?" he spoke up as the forest began to crumple. "This sucks. Let's go."
Without waiting for a confirmation from Mike, he began to walk off, dodging the occasional vacuum blade that came into his path.
"She's supposed to be Asrana's equal? She's creating vacuum blades without even trying!" Mike simple shook his head in awe as he watched the fight for a few more seconds. "Remind me again why were 'guarding' Asrana if this is her equal?"
"Hey, wait-up!" Mike called as he jogged after Kei, hopping over and dodging the vaccum blades that came near.
"Man I feel like I just started training after watching those two go at it." He said when he caught up with his friend.
"You can train all you want," Kei replied bitterly as he kept on walking. "But you'll never get as good as a draconian."
"Trust me on this," he continued, his voice practically dripping with acid. "I've had experience in this."
Mike chuckled at Kei. "Come on man, you are only a hair better then me, and I know that I haven't plateau'd yet, so You couldn't have either."
Mike glanced back at th area the fight was going on. "Still that does seem stupid its so powerful." He commented with a shrug and a grin.
"Still kinda makes you wanna train dosn't it?"
"It's more than stupid," Kei answered, his voice chokefull of sarcasm. "It's called ridiculously powerful. Anymore powerful and they can wipe out the planet with the snap of their fingers."
"And no," he added. "I don't. What's the point of training and becoming so good when enemies pop out of nowhere and threatens your life every so often?"
"You just answered your own question, if you don't train then tose enemies do a lot more then jsut threaten!" Mike said with a friendly grin.
"But I think your right about some of those Draconians, I can't even imagine accidentaly creating something like a Vaccum blade from just your normal fighting."
Wraith shrugged. "Well, I guess that's true...but I meant more along the lines of why would they ask me? I know that I have a long ways to go...Heck, everyone at this table could take me in a fight."
He looked curiously at the wine. "Is the alcohol content geared for your species?" he asked warily.
Asrana smiled, "It's easier when learned earlier. Mother and Father had trouble learning it when Aunt Caelena married Uncle Farenal because they'd already trained heavily in the skills of being Jade Dragons. If you start now while you're still training as a Jade Dragon it'll be easier."
She giggled, "No, that's saved for birthdays, sometimes weddings, Field Trial returns, things like that."
Wraith considered. "Sounds like fun. I look forward to it."
He smiled wryly. "I'll remember to avoid the refreshment at those events. Can I try some, then...?" he asked.
Asrana smiled and gestured to his glass, "Go ahead...my father will be making the announcements in a moment. Just sit and relax, we aren't supposed to do anything but nod and smile."
Folkan whispered to his wife as the couple talked.
Wraith sighed as he picked up his goblet. He took a sip and glanced at Asrana.
"I really miss being anonymous," he commented. "Every danger signal my body can give is on alert when I'm near the center of attention like this..."
"No, Mike," Kei sighed exasperatedly. "Ever heard of the phrase 'The bigger they are, the harder they fall'? The better you are, the more people will be after you."
"And it's not the creating vacuum blades that irks me," he explained. "It's how they USE the power."
OOC: I wasn't planning on doing this until post 630 or so...But Kwok you just gave such a lovely opening!
IC: "And how exactly is that, weakling?" A dark voice echoed through the trees behind them.
"And who are you to judge us? You are not even a warrior. Simply a 'martial artist' as your kind calls yourselves." The sneer was audible in his voice.
OOC: *The GM smiles mysteriously*
Kei pretended to take no notice of the "weakling" comment.
"Anyone has the right to judge anyone," he replied coldly. "You learn the way of fighting, and you answer to everyone, whether you're a so-called warrior or a martial artist."
OOC: You didn't even turn around to look at him o_0
IC: The man chuckled, still behind Kei's back, "No. You answer only to those that can make you answer with this path. Whether it is a single master or an army, one does not have to answer to those weaker than oneself."
"The very concept is a pathetic dream dreamed by weakling martial artists."
OOC: FEEL THE LOVE!
"No, you hvae to answer, wether you realise it or not." Mike said as he turned around to look at the speaker. "Even the lowliest insect of a pauper will judge you, and you answer that with your actions."
Mike smiled a sad smile. "You seem to put to much distinction between martial artists and warriors. Kinda like one of those head-fucked people who put everything into thier 'style'." Mike sighed as he continued. "Just because we don't kill unless its necissary does not mean we are weak, nor does reckles killing make you strong. Hopefully you'll be able to see that someday, you'd be the stronger for it."
The man stood alone in a slight widening of the path, tall and proud in blood red armor, golden hair framing black eyes and an angular face. In one hand he held a long and thick blade, slightly curved.
"Would it matter is someone tries to judge me? The only ones that matter are those that can make their judgment stick. The rest...are simply fools for believing they could judge. I do not answer to the judgements of any besides those that can make me answer."
His chuckling was low and dark, "As usual...a poor martial artist not realizing there is so much more to be gained from a fight to the death."
He snickered, "Stronger...it would only weaken my advancement. My enemies knowing I would not kill them, they would not fight like they're cornered. I grow stronger by NOT following that idiocy." His body had begun to glow black, mixed with occassional flickers of dark red.
"Whatever man, its your loss to view the world so narrowly." Mike said, his eyes turning from a flat green to a brilliant emerald green as he fortified his body. "What exatly are you here for anyway? I assume its not to exchange recipies, or perhaps ask our opinion on your fashion sence."
Mike smiled, amused, as he looked at the armor the figure was wearing. "And if we are weak why are you bothering to talk to us, oh great warrior?" Mike said the last bit with his voice dripping with sarcasm.
'Man I think Kei's wearing off on me.' Mike thought as he waited for the figures reply.
Kei remained undaunted by the human firework.
"You're the fool for believing in that," he said in a monotone voice. "Whatever you do, you WILL be judged. And sooner or later, someone is going to come and collect. You may think they can't, but they will."
"Fighting to the death only trains you in lethal techniques," he continued. "Anyone can maim and kill. But martial artists approach it as an art form. There's only so much that you who call yourselves "warriors" can achieve. Approached as an art form, a martial artist's potential is limitless because art is only limited by the imagination. "Warriors" are limited by their narrow ways."
Asrana smiled and patted Wraith's forearm comfortingly, "After the wedding it'll go back to anonymity for the most part."
She sighed, smiling, "Noone thinks you're the princess without a large group of guards unless they already know you..."
The unknown man grinned, "I never said NOONE could judge me..." And without warning he blurred, appearing behind Kei and sending him flying with a snap kick before ducking towards Mike, sword moving at insane speeds in a slash.
Ariel grunted as the Cera's blade caught her in a slight slash across he ribs. She growled as she lashed out, barely managing to slash his arm.
It accomplished her goal though, staggering back into a defensive position, he gave Ariel the room to begin moving, putting some distance between them and movingf into the less damaged parts of Omake Forest.
"TSUKI KYU ARASHI!!" Ariel yelled the battle cry before releasing a storm of small silver chi blasts behind her. Making her opponent dodge and weave to avoid being hit.
He had finally had enough of this disgusting Jade Dragon! She would die! Flaring the black aura he had kept under control, he dived through the few chi blasts Ariel managed, his sword blurring towards her amongst the trees...
Wraith nodded. "I know...I don't want to sound like I'm complaining, either. It's just...it feels like I should be avoiding scrutiny. Like my life depends on it."
He put his hand on top of hers, and squeezed it slightly, saying nothing more.
Ariel blurred with her own skill. Running from tree to tree in a reflexive evasion, her enemy following closely, blade flashing in bright arcs of death. A single mistake could mean death...
Both smirked as Ariel jumped straight for a huge trunk. She landed softly, her feet barely whispering on the bark as she turned, her tachi raising in defense as her wings folded into her back.
He smirked, the bitch was his! His slash was fast and powerful, an overhead blow that would crash through any defense.
Ariel smiled and kicked off the tree, diving under his legs and redirecting his blade with skill born of bloody experience against hundreds of opponents.
She spun behind his back, her sword blurring as it threw vacuum blades at near point blank.
He swore. That bitch! She would pay... He spun as she did, stopping just as her blade began blurring, the vacuum blades nearly upon him before he could see them...
Asrana smiled, remaining silent as her father rose.
He coughed to gain everyone's attention before addressing the table, "The reason for this dinner was to celebrate the betrothal of my daughter, Crown Princess Asrana, to Lieutenant Wraith of the Jade Assassins' Guild." He held up his glass, "A toast! To the future of my daughter and her consort!"
An amused cheer went up from the rest of the table, glasses raised in honor of the couple.
Asrana simply smiled and blushed, bowing her head in thanks, but staying seated as it died down.
"Bitch!" He blurred up, struggling to keep away from the deadly blades that shredded the tree beneath him.
Ariel's eyes almost glowed in anger and her sheer will to kill him. Only one would walk away from this. Jade Dragon and Cera did NOT let each other survive.
She snarled and continued the barrage, her heart, her mind, her body, her soul pouring into her attacks. A vicious angel of death as she continued her assault on the retreating Cera.
Wraith looked up curiously as the toast was made. He scanned the room, only to look at Folkan in surprise as his rank was mentioned.
"Man...I think they must enjoy my reactions when they startle me," Wraith muttered, once the shock wore off, and he had commenced blushing. He glanced over at Asrana and smiled slightly.
Publicity is a small price for what I've been given,
he thought, somewhat dazedly. I could have bad luck for the rest of my life, and I'd STILL consider myself the luckiest man alive...
Asrana giggled, "That's my parents for you."
She blushed and waited for the servants to bring the meal in. "I hope you don't mind a lot of meat, dear."
Wraith laughed a little, and nodded. "Yep. I'm used to it...I only eat meat anyway...because I can't cook anything else..."
Kei was sent flying away from the mysterious figure and Mike by the powerful snap kick. Flipping backwards in the air, he managed land on his feet, knees bent deeply in a semi-crouch for balance, catching glimpses of Ariel's fight out of the corner of his eyes as he landed.
Ariel's fight seemed to be escalating into dangerous proportions, while Mike's is just starting. But Ariel can handle herself better while Mike is weaker in power...
He stood there, motionless, as he was torn between going to help Ariel or Mike.
Asrana smiled, "Good. We aren't carnivorous, but meat is very important for protein."
The servants placed several trays on the table, three or four trays of each dish placed so they were accessible by all at the long table.
The primary food seemed to be a pair of meat dishes. Both consisted of long strips of what looked like beef smothered in a sauce. One was covered in a white gravy that smelled slightly of mint, the other smothered in a brown sauce, a heavily spiced scent waffing off it.
Each one of the dishes was served with a large loaf of bread, amongst the rest of the dishes there were many other kinds of meat prepared almost any way imaginable, along with a wide variety of fruit.
Wraith hesitated a moment then began to serve himself. He hoped this wasn't a mistake, but Asrana had said there wasn't much to know.
Scooping out a large portion of the meat with brown sauce, Wraith quickly filled the rest of the plate with small sausages and fruits...
Mike didn't waste any time, as soon as kei was launched forward, his eyes blazed green as his right hand formed itself into a blade. Sliding his right foot forward he used his psionically charged blade, reinforced with his left hand as a support, to parry the slash as his right foot came off the ground in a full speed No Shadow kick.
Mike opened his mouth and yelled as he poured everything he had into the kick, hopeing he caught his oponent off balance enough.
Asrana smiled and served herself only a small amount of the brown sauce covered meat, a much larger portion of the white covered and quite a bit of various fruits, all along with a rather large chunk of bread.
She rose an eyebrow but stayed silent as Wraith didn't take any bread, her smile becoming slightly amused as she began to efficiently eat.
Wraith glanced at Asrana, looking curiously at the amount of bread she took as he took a bite...and instantly regretted it. The spiced meat overwhelmed his tastebuds, and he bit down on his lip to quell the phsical reaction. His cheeks instantly flushed hotly.
After a long moment, He chewed slowly, reminding himself of all his lessons on self control. First impressions were important, and he was going to be related to these people. He didn't want them to think he was weak...even if he was a human.
Aside from the flushed cheeks, he gave no other outward signs of his discomfort save for his rather wooden expression.
He did, however, reach for a LARGE piece of bread...
Asrana's giggles echoed inside his mind, (Sorry, burkha's VERY spicy. The general practice is to eat it with the bread.) She smiled and continued eating in an efficient pattern. White gravy covered meat, fruit, burkha, and then bread.
Wraith's answering thoughts were wry. 'I'd noticed. Thanks for the warning.'
He flashed her a quick smile to take the sting out of the jibe.
He continued with his burkha, intermingling the spicy meat with bread and the sweeter fruits to relive the spicyness.
Asrana blushed and continued her pattern, occassionally exchanging words with her mother.
It was only a few silent minutes before the Dragon officer next to Wraith spoke up, offering a hand.
"Name's Faeril, Captain of the third Dragon Guard. I'd like to get to know you a bit tonight, Wraith. We'll need to work together in the future." He was a clean shaven man, dark brown hair cut so as to stay out of his eyes but not severely short. The tunic and trousers were obviously not his field wear, but still cut for combat. The trademark tachi of Dragon soldiers hung at his waist, the hilt of a longknife sticking out of the top of his visible boot.
The stranger's one-handed blow impacted heavily on the psionic blade, flexing it back with the sheer strength behind it. His left hand blurred, blocking most of the kicks, the few that penetrated his defense being absorbed with a grunt and barest of winces. He patiently bided his time for even the briefest lag in-between kicks, jumping back a step and lashing out once he found one, meeting Mike's sole straight on with a chi charged fist.
Mike could feel the energy of the atack surging through and around his leg, not so much injuring him as throwing him back.
Ariel snarled as she sprung after her opponent, a silver corona of chi flaring around her fist as it blurred towards it's target, disappearing to normal human eyes. There was a miniscule moment of eery stillness as her opponent jumped out of the way and her fist ripped into the trunk of the massive tree, the timed explosion of chi going off inside it, ripping it apart in hail of splinters that cut Ariel lightly, her aura already flared to take the impacts.
The Cera winced as splinters flew, piercing his body and preventing him from making a downward slash at his hated enemy, the impure one.
Ariel spun as the splinters flew, her sword ripping an arc towards the Cera, the distortion of a vacuum blade speeding for him...
Wraith nodded, accepting the hand and shaking it firmly as he looked Faeril over carefully.
He answered warily. "Sure. Though I doubt there's much I can add to what you probably already know..."
The man grinned, "I actually don't know much about you. They keep information the Princess' bodyguards rather tightly underwraps." He shrugged, "You're not only her personal bodyguard, but her fiance. So I really don't know much beyond a generalized synopsi of your abilities from your Jade profile." He chuckled easily.
Asrana for her part had paused in her eating and silently watched them interact, her eyes glinting slightly and an unreadable smile on her lips.
Wraith grinned wryly. Faeril was friendly, and had a fairly relaxing manner, so he tried to be likewise.
"Then you know almost as much as I do," he observed in a self depriciating manner. "...But, I'll do my best to fill in any gaps in what you need to know..."
Mike was slightly surprised as he was thrown back, out of his attack. Putting himself into a flat spin, he stuck a foot out and caught the ground, landing lighty into his fighting stance.
Mike shifted his Psionic blade to his forarm, exposing his fist once again, and created another one along his left forarm.
"You know, I have no fucking clue who you are and you attack me, wich pisses me off. But I am seriously tired of fuck-jobs insulting Martial Artist, and our views!" Mike yelled tightly focused anger evident in his voice, and blazing green eyes. "And its about fucking time I showed you that we are far from weak!"
With that Mike bursted towards the figure, intent on proving his worth.
OOC: For nostalgia and boredom, with love ^_^;;;
/me boggles at the number of further inconsistencies to be present with the revised Dragomir design @_@
IC: Faeril chuckled softly, "Well, I'd be interested to know how you and the princess found your way to this...situation."
OOC: *Laughs* This is game all it's own, now...
IC:
Wraith scratched the back of his head nervously, and glanced over at Asrana, smiling faintly.
"It's, um...kind of a long story. " He admitted. "I really don't know how to explain it. I kind of got lucky, I guess. Though she tells me she had this in mind from the first..."
Asrana blushed, glancing down embarrassedly. "Er...not quite that long, dear...though I wish I'd started sooner now..."
Faeril smirked, bowing his head to Wraith and Asrana. "Then I would wish you bot well..."
Wraith glanced over at Asrana and smiled faintly at the blush...and coughed as she added the last bit.
Starting to blush himself, he returned Faeril's bow.
"Thank you, sir."
Wraith turned back to his meal, carefully regulating the amount of spicy sauce he ate, compared with the bread and fruit.
He smiled faintly at Asrana. "Are there any further surprises?" he half wondered, half asked his fiancee.