Distarius_WhiteRobes

Distephano73@hotmail.com , yo Thanks for the acceptance!

A lone Syrakk made its distinction from the thousands crowding it; drowning it. Standing with little room for movement amongst its brothers in the darkness of night, it alone noticed the phenomenon. Its antennae shot up first, being fully extended and focused. Its thoughts drifted away from the same of its family, turning more towards the shape in the sky. Its head rose, peaking up beyond the rest of the Syrakk, looking outward among the sky. Could the Syrakk tell what it was? It wasn’t likely. Even bugs, however, can sense when something isn’t normal. Whether it was the smell or noise, the dragon and its riders were revealed to the bug. It changed the position of its antennae, trying to distinguish between air and the hulking mass in the air it could not see. A slightly smarter creature would have noticed the waving contours the cloaked dragon and the two passengers on its back created in the clouds, bending them in a physically impossible way. However the Syrakk only continued to search with its lesser senses, trying to determine exactly where the creature was going. Its eyes followed its nose *despite the fact that Syrakks, like other bugs, do not have noses.* It turned its head to the east, losing most of its vision to the random movement of the other Syrakk around him. It ignored them. As its senses continued to follow the giant lizard, its eyes fell upon cliffs to the east. They were very hilly, now black given the incredible amount of Syrakk atop them. The syrakk let out a short series of clicks to itself; an act that would shortly lead the bug’s independent thought to be discovered. As the Syrakk questioned and clicked at the flying creature, several others around it began to take notice. They too erected their antennae, searching for what their fellow insect was babbling about. Their small heads began to randomly look up, attempting to see the dragon as the first had done. None succeeded, but all noticed. The wave of thought continued to spread almost in a perfect circular fashion, expanding outward among the Syrakk. As the first one concluded what he was looking at, a sharp series of clicks sounded from his mouth, signaling to the others that he had discovered what it was. The tip off had been the micro changes in air density (relatively complex…but simple for a bug to detect). They proved that wings were flapping, shaking the air about. Other Syrakk clicked as well, to confirm the discovery. A sharp pain filled the mind of the first Syrakk. A pain it could not control, but a pain that was anything but natural. Screeching and shaking wildly, the insect crashed to the ground, being tortured from a source miles away. The pain drilled the bug’s consciousness, separating the creature from its independent thinking. Memories were purged, and subconscious gained hold. The other bugs turned and cocked their head at him, wondering what the Syrakk’s problem was. They too soon felt the pain of their brother, also letting out their signature screeches. Many crashed to the ground; several stood to attempt to gain control over the familiar but constantly clouded memory of pain. Once they had forgotten what they had seen and been returned to a hive mind, the bugs were relieved of their torture, shaking off any discomfort. They began to stand back up, their minds empty. The first syrakk went back about his random movement, limited by the thousands of Syrakk crowding; drowning it. Several miles away, a lone figure pleased himself in knowing he had stopped the small independent thought uprising of his soldiers, once again gaining full control over them and their inferior minds. Of course he didn’t know what it was the soldier had been thinking, but for now—he was content. _____________________________________________________________________ “I take it you don’t fly much?” I asked to the knight behind me, clutching on to my now Elven armored shoulders as we sat on the back of my shifter friend. “I don’t trust things that fly,” She commented back, trying to make it look like she wasn’t the least bit worried. I pulled off the most annoying smirk I could muster, and turned back to face where we were headed. “You get used to it.” “I suppose you did?” She asked. “Kind of had to,” I said. “Helps when you’re partners with a shifting dragon.” *Quiet…Both of you* Ryuu interrupted our minds. *They may not see us, but they’re not entirely stupid* I nodded and cooperated. Jareena simply fell silent. The sea of Syrakk below us was growing thinner now, the outskirts of them quite thinner than the bulk, which was to be expected. They seemed not too interested in the caves we were heading to; more concerned with the food in the hold, I imagined. The shifter let out o snort as she began her decent towards the grassy ground, populated by loose and tall plants. Certain spots were crushed with a thud when the dragon placed her feet on the ground, matting into the ground. *We’re here* she said, and gestured her head toward the cave not 10 yards away. “Well, obviously,” I responded, and slid off the dragons back, bracing the impact of the ground with my knees. *Stay quiet* she said again. “What?” I said, and turned back to face the hold and the sea of bugs surrounding it. “They’re all the way over there. There is almost no possible way they could spot us.” “Do not underestimate them,” Jareena said softly, landing on the ground in the same fashion I had. “We don’t yet know enough about them to make such a prediction.” The dragon shifted back into her Elvin form and uncloaked. “She’s right. Don’t antagonize them.” “Fair enough,” I said. “Seems like I should be able to though, I mean they did kill our men and everything—and horses—and…” “Dis,” Ryuu interrupted. “What?” I asked. “Shut up.” I did as I was told, and turned once again to pace along the cave. Our feet sloshed through the thickness of the grass, which extended all the way to the entrance of the cave. Upon first glance, one would not have noticed the engraved marking along the top ridge of the cave. However, as we had three simultaneous glances, it was quite easy. “Hey,” I said, being the first to regard it just before we reached the mouth. I put my hands slightly out to my sides to stop the two walking just behind me. “What’s that?” I looked up quickly to the top of the cave, just on the ridge of it. They did the same, checking to see what it was I was talking about. There, along the edge, was a character; it glistened off and on, certain parts glowing a dull blue more than others. “I—I don’t know,” Ryuu responded looking up at it. “Do either of you know what it means.” I brought my head down and looked back at Jareena, who looked back at me with a shrug. “No,” I responded and looked back up to the writing. “More ancient Greek?” I asked. “The Greeks didn’t use characters,” she said, raising her eyebrow. “I thought you knew that.” “But I mean—could it be something other than a word? Like the heart shape being used to symbolize love or the—well I suppose that’s the only example I have.” “Well I suppose it could be anything,” Jareena responded. “I’m a little more interested into why it’s glowing rather than what it says.” “Magic,” was the answer given by both Ryuu and myself at the same time; a slight echo on my part. “It wouldn’t be too hard,” I added, raising my staff from my side to point it upward toward the marking. “Just takes a little crafty staff waving.” “Okay,” Jareena continued. “Well, since there’s nothing we can really do about it, why don’t we just go ahead and enter the cave?” “Works for me,” I responded, and brought my staff back down to my front, pointing it slightly forward. The glowing increased in the diamond, creating a light in the dull cave as I pushed it along. When the entrance was lit, I took a step forward, landing firmly on a rocky surface. A few loose pieces of gravel were pushed forward, echoing on their way down the incline of the cave. “Watch your step,” I said to the two behind me, and continued on. They stayed close, making sure not to fall too far behind lest they lose sight of the diamond’s light. “It’s steep,” Ryuu commented, looking further, “really steep.” “Oh I wouldn’t worry about that,” I said. “It’s pretty clean, as long as you don’t catch a pile of grav—“ I was interrupted when my left foot landed on a small collection of gravel, rolling my foot forward away from its firm placement. “Dis!” was all Ryuu let out before I slid to the ground, my head thumping a bit. I assume my staff (which I kept in my hand) caught one of their legs because they were both soon falling as well. Once I was in a laying position, I continued to slide down the incline, which was at about a 40 degree angle, as far as I could tell (or at least it appeared at the time.) The gravel didn’t help either, making it almost impossible to catch a firm grip on the ground. Our dull yells and attempts to regain our footing reverberated throughout the rock. I can’t say exactly when I gave up on it, but it was sometime just before the incline faded away. When I had come to a complete stop, I sighed—and then coughed when Ryuu and Jareena rolled right into me harder than I would have thought possible. “Well,” I said, getting up to my feet and dusting off the gravel and dust that was clinging to me, “that was interesting.” “Quite,” Jareena responded, and stumbled to get back to her feet given the bulk of her armor. “Where are we?” “Well,” I said, looking around. “Obviously we’re still in the cave—“. I thrust my staff outward into the opening we had come to, looking around to see if I could spot anything. From the light given by the diamond, I could see the walls to the right and left of me, but couldn’t see too far forward. “Looks okay,” I said. When Ryuu had recovered, we pressed onward, the staff’s light moving along with us. That didn’t prevent us from squinting to check if we could see farther however. The room was fairly empty, I could tell. Stalactites were on the ceiling every so often, but nothing to be concerned with—or so I would have liked to think. “Stop,” Ryuu interrupted. “Hear that?” She asked. Jareena and I both froze, looking around to catch whatever it was she was talking about. We didn’t hear anything at first, but before long the dull rumbling grew loud enough for even the deaf to hear. We turned to face it, along the right wall. I nodded to myself when I realized what was going on. “Well who didn’t see that one coming a mile away?” I asked, watching the stone wall collapse into a six-foot-wide concave. Before the dust was given time to clear, the first Syrakk made his move forward, striding in on his two hind legs and threatening us with his front most. “Great…” Jareena mumbled, and brought her lance forward. “Let’s get rid of them, shall we?” I shrugged, and brought my own weapon forward—its diamond was as bright as day; a nice thing to see after having seen it as dull as a rock just hours before. _______________________________________________________________ K, now we all get to post our own little segments of this brief fight, then we can go forward through the cave some more! Whoo Hoo! Go unlimited and convenient Syrakk fights!

As an old wise man once said... ..."Take a chill pill, child." I ended up talking to certain people til bedtime...OOPS! Oh well, I'm posting right now anyway. But trust me, this thing isn't dead. Congrats to finishing the book! I may not get around to reading it til the weekend, but I will! ...I got lots to do this weekend...planned to FINALLY get the beginnings of BB/Crow posted, which in all actuallity is the first book in my OWN series...which I can't really call my own considering it's about Terry. But I can't just call it MITL because those were not as good as the new ones. Well, I really should have just e-mailed this, instead of rambling on the board like a fool. Alright, be on later! Peace out!

“But you use it?” She asked with all seriousness. “You do USE the magic?” Those words lingered. They lingered through the stay at the cave; they lingered during the fight to save Ryuu’s life; they lingered on the trip to this hold… They lingered still, now pulling my full attention as I sat on the sanctuary. Mixed in among others I did not know, but all of which knew of me. Not one of them commented, however—obviously failing to recognize me by face. Having snuck in while Jareena’s back had been turned, I went quickly to the left side and sat down in one of the many wooden benches. With both the father and Jareena occupied, it hadn’t been too hard to sneak a seat. I sat between two other civilians, one of which had a very peculiar smell. I figured he probably hadn’t had a bath in several days. I shook off the immediate sickness and sat down; looking around to make sure no one was paying any real attention. With silent prayers about, and the quiet interruption of Jareena’s conversation with the Father, I hunched over, letting my hair collapse over my face. I brought my arms up to my chin, and clasped my hands together. My eyes shut and I asked for help, keeping myself as quiet as possible. I asked for more than I should have, I think; a selfish prayer, maybe. I asked for the continued friendship and health of my companion and I first off, something I wasn’t entirely concerned with. However it keeps me from starting off with the self involved stuff. I asked for the safety of the hold, and its inhabitants. Lastly, I asked for forgiveness—forgiveness for my use in magic. I found myself doing that every time I prayed, as of late. In earlier times, I wouldn’t have even acknowledged Him…trusting my own fate to nothing but my own power…and that of the diamond encased in my staff. But as most false things go when you find faith, magic suffered. My connection with magic used to be strong…it used to be a lot easier to do. As of late…ever since ‘it’ happened, I slowly began to lose my power. Limited now only to the power of the staff and whatever chemicals I could pass off as potions, I continue to keep the act up. But my regression in the world of magic stopped there. It stopped when I lost all power but the staff. It was okay by me, the staff could do anything from simple fires to converting a human to pure energy and back. As to why I had stopped regressing, I do not know. Perhaps, throughout all that, the Lord had allowed me to keep my protection…maybe the diamond was His, too. It was a strange theory, but possible. Before closing my prayers, I prayed for Ryuu once again. More than anything for her to one day have a connection with Him…so that my own would not have to stay hidden. So, after I had finished my prayers and closed my conversation (which I skimmed over in this story given its actual complexity), I glanced up to see what the situation. If it were applicable, I would read my own translated copy of the book. I didn’t see Jareena up at the altar anymore. My eyes turned to try and spot her, but it was all too late. She spotted me at least a second or two before I spotted her. She was already pointing at me to leave, obviously not wanting me in a place like this lest I disgrace it. I unclasped my hands as quickly and easily and unnoticeably as possible, standing to face her. I shrugged and she once again gestured for me to leave. I shook off the event, and headed towards the arches leading back to the library. Before I left, I failed in leaving the situation what it was and covered it up as best I could. “I’m supposed to tell you that Ryuu found a way to get us to the cave quicker. We just have to veer a bit to the east.” I turned back to say. “Okay, Fine…” She said. “You should go now.” “Yeah,” I said. “Yeah, I should go.” I turned, and left—not as fulfilled as I would have liked to have been. I passed the arches leading back to the library, deciding to get ready for the night…deciding to prepare for a fight. ----- I visited the people, looked around the hold for anything I might use. I managed to secure a set of Elvin armor from a collector who had brought a lot of stuff from the city. It cost me a few gold pieces, which I had no problem in supplying. Night soon fell; I once again went to the library to meet up with my friend and our new allied knight. They were obviously waiting for me. ------------------------------- Ooc: Yep, pretty short post...just wanted to get some stuff laid out there before we left. Okay then, let's go!

2 Days before Jareena’s Post ______________________________________________________________________ I awoke to the quiet warmth of the cave, still huddled with my knees up to my chin and my hands rested on them. My forehead had a red imprint on it from where I had been resting it on my arms, and there wasn’t any feeling anywhere near that region. My bangs had once again fallen into my eyes, and I wiped them out of the way, deciding at that point that I would cut it much shorter the next chance I was given. It was a rare style…frowned upon. The cave had an extremely large and dark fire brewing… considerably larger than the one I had lit so that Ry… She was next to me, asleep as well. The spot she had occupied in the middle of the cave was empty, save the horse which was still keeping an eye on us. I smiled at it, and it flared its nostrils. I looked over at Ryuu, whose head was resting on my shoulder. The serenity of it was ironic, given the battles raging just miles away. As for our location, the Syrakk threat had almost completely vanished, save seeing a few fly overhead every so often. Given my companion’s comfort, I was limited in movement. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t enjoying the moment, though. My eyes didn’t move off of the shifter until the light from outside the cave flickered on the walls. I turned toward the entrance to see Grison peak his head back through the cave, looking back and forth to check for us. His eyes widened and his mouth dropped when he saw the incredible flames of the fire. I lifted a hand to signal that I was awake, and he walked in. Before he spoke, I raised my index finger over my mouth to signal that he should stay quiet, and then gestured to Ryuu. He nodded. “My mother says we have enough food for five days,” he whispered, getting down to his knees to face me, ending up several inches below me actually. “Five days, huh?” I asked, using my most chipper tone of voice. “Good food?” “Well,” the boy spoke. “There’s only so much we could find in the forest, ya know. But she said she found enough herbs and stuff to make a good stew.” “That’ll be more than fine. Does she need help bringing it all here?” I asked. “No, I tried to help but she told me to just go into the cave.” The boy continued, and trotted on his knees over to my free side; my left side. He turned around and propped himself against the cave wall, bringing his knees up to his chest to match mine. He leaned forward, though, and looked at the sleeping elf. “Who’s she?” He whispered. I turned my head to comply with the kid, as if I didn’t know who he was talking about. “Oh,” I said. “Her name is Kokuryuu. You can call her Ryuu if you want.” “She’s an elf,” He said, obviously not having heard my comments about her earlier. “You’d think so,” I said, and got closer to his ear to make it look like I was telling him a secret. “But she’s really a dragon. She can change her shape, ya know.” “I wish I could do that,” The kid said, his eyes widening again. “That’d be fun.” “It certainly would,” I said. “You can meet her when she wakes up. But for now, we’d better quit talking before we wake her up.” “Okay,” He said, and leaned his head back against the wall. Obviously tired from his walk through the forest, he soon fell asleep as well. Anaya came back through the cave entrance a short while later, wielding an armful of leaves and vegetation I couldn’t make out from my distance. I nodded to her, and tilted my head toward the sleeping child, and then back toward the slumbering shifter. Her face almost instantly became bitter. “Oh don’t even try to come up with an excuse,” she whispered, bringing her folded arms up to exaggerate her situation. “You’re going to help me with this stew, now…” I raised my eyebrows, and prepared myself for whatever injury might be instinctively dealt to me should I wake my companion. I would work it in some other day how elated I was that she had survived. ____________________________________________________________________ 1 Day before Jareena’s post. ____________________________________________________________________ The four of us sat around the cobalt flame in the center of the cave, being fueled by little. Across from me was Grison, contently sipping at his stew through one of the bowls I had constructed from a few leaves. To my left was Ryuu, who did nothing more than stare and sniff her bowl for quite a while. Remaining was Anaya to my right, sipping at her own stew almost as rapidly as her son. I was almost done myself, my stomach finding it difficult to adjust to even the lightest food after so long a fasting. The horse was slurping the rest of the stew in the corner, free of any riding gear. When all were finished, save Ryuu who finally began to give the stew a chance, I mentioned the subject of how long we planned to stay in the cave. “Ryuu, do you think you could fly us to the hold?” I asked, her eyes lifting and catching mine. “Yes,” She said after a few seconds of hesitation. “I could get us there pretty quickly, actually. But once we get there the Syrakks wont waste any time tearing us to pieces.” “But you could get us there fairly quick?” I asked again, calculating how much time we had before the bugs were expected to attack. “Within a few hours’ flight,” She said. “It’s about three and a half days on horseback.” “Wait,” Anaya interrupted. “I’m not going anywhere dangerous. This cave seems more than enough for us to be safe.” “And it probably is,” I said, glancing back over to her. “But I’m not going to sit back and watch a battle I helped create. We have to go,” I said, looking back at Ryuu. The shifter shrugged in response. “But do we have to go,” Anaya asked, gesturing a hand to her son. “No,” I started. “No, I suppose not. The hold is much safer, however. It also houses baths and clothes…a more comfortable place to sleep.” There was quiet consideration for a short period of time, during which I simply looked back and forth among the others around the fire, noticing that Grison was doing the same. “There are more of those bugs outside the hold?” Anaya asked, obviously considering how nice the simplest of luxuries sounded at this point. “Yes, possibly thousands,” I said. “But I believe if Ryuu can fly us close enough…I can get us there without being seen.” “Magic?” Anaya asked. “Yes,” I said, and nodded at her, “Magic; a cloaking spell.” “Dis, I…”Ryuu started. “We can do it,” I restated, trying to convince myself more than anyone else. “We’d make it.” Another quiet consideration fell upon the crowd, but before the evening of the next day Ryuu had shifted into a dragon large enough to carry the entirety of our party, including the horse, through the skies to the hold.

I can’t say I was proud of leaving Anaya and Grison behind in the cave, but if the piece of cloth brought to me was any indication, this horse knew where Ryuu was. I hadn’t seen one like this horse during the battle in the city, but then I had only seen very little of what was so obviously a drawn out and bloody battle toward the mountain. As for the two I left behind, I would go back for them or ensure someone else did. For now, though, I let my friend take priority. The horse paid no attention to the trail, traveling on what it considered the fastest route. I couldn’t complain, we were moving entirely too fast for any twigs or branches to annoy me. Also was the fact that I was leaning so far forward that the horse’s head actually peaked above me and his mane brushed along my face. It was an incredibly smooth ride. We didn’t reach my companion until after an hour’s ride. It was in a small clearing, not much larger than a cabin. Dried and long since dead leaves of red, orange, and brown were strewn about in a random fashion that almost beckoned to be cleaned. In the middle of it all was the shifter, currently in Elven form…bleeding more than one should. She was lying down, her back to my view as the horse came to a stop. I dismounted and jogged the rest of the short distance to the shifter. She was obviously unconscious; anyone stepping this close to a sleeping shifter would have already been pounced upon. When I reached her, I rolled her over onto her back to assess the damage. She wasn’t dead; her body was still warm. Her eyes were shut, which was a much more welcoming sight than a corpse would have been, but her skin was already bruised…a sign that her healing abilities were severely weaker than they should have been. And, of course, there were many open wounds still bleeding. Once again, I was facing dilemma. A medic would easily be found wherever the knight’s were keeping their position, but I didn’t know where that was. I suspected the horse probably did, but I had no way to go about telling him to go there. They would probably be on the move as well, preventing me from being able to catch up with them. So, what options did I have? I could try and come up with a spell to heal her…but there was the nagging fact that magic rarely proved so useful. I shrugged it off and realized my only option. Scooping the elf up into my arms, I paced back over to the horse that was standing, waiting. I climbed on, placing the hurt Ryuu over my lap, and turned the horse back around to the cave. I was really hoping Anaya would know something, because I certainly didn’t. Another ride followed, through which I almost lost my grip on Ryuu three times. Of those three times however, only once had I needed to slow the horse. You try carrying a limp body over your lap on a sprinting horse; it’s harder than it looks. When we reached the cave, Anaya was already standing outside, her son just peaking his head through the edge of it. She looked up at the wounded I carried with me, and nodded. I was glad to see a knife wasn’t the only tool she carried.

I’m going to go ahead and rewind back to night time, because I wanted to post that whole part where that woman and I go back and forth talking about our selves. Just think of it as the third in a series of old dialogue posts…at least we all know every character’s background, though! _____________________________________________________________________- We survived… I had managed against that one final Syrakk with no problem after I had unsheathed the sword hidden within my staff. The rest was fairly easy--running through the burning night of the forest to the nearest cave, lighting the standard fire, and resting against the most comfortable part of a rock wall you could find. I can’t say I was tired, because in all reality I couldn’t sleep. I probably could have used it physically, but my adrenaline had risen far higher than any time I could remember. I did rest, though. After setting the man sized fire I sat against the wall of the cave on the eastern side, facing the woman and her child who were located on the opposite side. You could have fit about four men between us; two from either of us to the fire. Her son, the black haired boy with a bowl cut that reminded me of myself before a certain potion incident, sat curled to her right side in her arm which was reaching all the way around him. He looked more content than either adult, far past any normal sleep, dreaming away at whatever it is children dream. It hadn’t been like that before he fell asleep. Even from here I could notice the dry tears running down his cheeks. His mother was smiling at him with her dark curly hair draping her eyes, just staring. The quiet happiness of the family was enough even to cause a smile on my face, which had been rare most of the evening. I chose not to interrupt such peace. Anyone who could smile so contently in the midst of all the fires and battles just outside the cave deserved to have it go undisturbed. The mother, however, didn’t feel the same way. She shot her head back up to look straight at me across the fire. “Do you have a name?” She asked in a half whisper, the same accent I had heard before surfacing. My eyebrows rose quietly as I blinked at the question. I hadn’t really considered the fact that I didn’t know their names yet. “Oh, yes,” I responded, also quieting to prevent the boy from waking. “Distarius.” “Distarius?” She asked curiously, scrunching her nose. “Never heard of a name like that.” “It was the name I was given,” I said, nodding and looking down at my robes. “Distarius of the White Robes.” “They name wizards after their robes?” She asked. “Correct, although that’s not necessarily given at birth. In my case, I didn’t have the white robe suffix until the age of 15.” I explained. “And you?” “Anaya,” She said. (Ann eye ah), and her eyes once again fell on her sleeping child. “His name is Grison, after his father.” “Nice,” I said. If nothing else, their names certainly proved that I had no idea where they were from. “Thank you,” She said, and nodded. “And yours, also quite nice. Didn’t know what to expect in a wizard’s name; never met one.” “Oh, well if that’s the case,” I smiled. “I’m sorry the first one you met didn’t live up to the rumors.” “Where I come from there aren’t any rumors of your people. They are mentioned, but never explained.” She said. I reached for my staff, which was now once again shielded with the wood I had placed back on it after the Syrakk fight. “That little move I did with the sword hidden in my staff?” I asked. “We’re not technically supposed to do that…ever.” “Oh,” She said. “Yes, so if you could keep that to yourself for now—that would certainly help me out a lot. It’s frowned upon quite a bit if we lose our faith in magic for even a single fight.” “And you don’t have total faith in magic? You don’t believe in it?” She asked. “Do I believe in magic?” I asked, and looked up for a truthful answer, once again leaning my head against the stone wall. “It really doesn’t matter if I believe in it or not; most everyone else does.” “But you use it?” She asked with all seriousness. “You do USE the magic?” “I use the diamond, yes,” I responded, rubbing my hand over the glowing rock lying next to it. “But I’m not always convinced it’s magic…or me for that matter.” “How so?” she asked. “Well, I can recite any spell or incantation in the book, but without the staff by me? I get nothing.” I said. “So obviously there’s something to the diamond, but I’m not sure what.” “Is it the same way for all wizards?” She asked. “No,” I responded. “No…they seem to be able to use magic on demand. I just…I can’t get a full grasp on it.” An extended silence filled the room, interrupted only by the occasional crackle of the fire. “But I do enough to make a good living,” I said, and nodded. “And on that down note, I suggest we get some sleep.” Like I said before, I couldn’t sleep…and didn’t for the rest of the night. The mother and her child found it no problem. ____________________________________________________________________ Yep, I know that was a lot shorter than it should have been…but I’m pressed for time. See ya everybody.

RPG POST: “Wow, I Really Have to Cut Back on the Gore” Setting: Night time in the forest, just off to the side of the trail leading to the hold. A few minutes have past since Distarius had picked up the two civilians who were abandoned by their escort after a slightly shifted form of the Syrakk managed to breathe fire on to the horse and the knight. Along the mountain can be seen the effects of a large scale battle taking place between the Syrakks and the Knights with help from the shifting dragon, Kokuryuu. Distarius now rides along with the two civilians until what can easily be presumed as a Syrakk or two modifies its attack strategy. )()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()( The horse jolted upward at the pain being dealt to its underside from the forest floor. The horse raised on to its hind legs, roaring upward and immediately tossing off the mother companion seated in the rear most of the saddle. I had managed to turn only in time to catch the boy by his black collar however; he almost fell off just to follow his mother. He let out childish cries that I ignored, paying more attention to stabilizing the horse who was continuing to buckle at something invisible to me underneath its large body. The horse never came back down onto its two front shoes. Before it could regain its balance it fell to its right side, too filled with pain to move. We landed with a clap that would have sent even the sturdiest knights fleeing. The boy landed safely, slightly rolling onto his backside to prevent any further troubles. I, however, became stuck beneath the horse’s crying body when both my leg and staff were trapped under it parallel along side each other under the saddle. After a quick yell of pain, I stabilized myself and focused on the boy beside me. “Are you injured,” I ask, breathing heavily as I struggled to pull free my ever twisting leg. “No,” The boy started. “No, I’m okay. My mother?” He said, still sniffling from tears he had been giving throughout the course of the night, and to those which he was still giving. His mother answered by getting up off of the dirty and foliage covered ground she had landed on. She seemed relatively alright as well, save the small twigs scattered about in her hair which had come undone from its tightly coiled bun. She looked around for only a few seconds, at which point she let out a short cry and ran towards her son, picking him up as soon as she was near him. The horse let out another large cry, this one provoking me to assess the situation. Two syrakks were clawing away at the belly of the animal, ripping away flesh and spurting blood onto their small mantis like faces, which were continually opening and closing to bite down on the wounded horse. My eyebrows raised at how quickly they were to us, and the woman yelped and crouched down beside me, sheltered by only the midsection of the horse, pending the Syrakks didn’t get bored with it. “Do something,” She said, looking forward at them. “Get rid of them.” I gave her a bitter look at first and shook it off, trying to calm the situation. “I can’t do that,” I said, “My leg is caught under the saddle.” She looked down to confirm what I said, gaining a look of dread across her already aged face. She looked at her son, and kissed him on the forehead before setting him down next to her. She turned her attention back to my caught leg. Before doing anything, she lifted what folds of the saddle she could, checking for…well, I wasn’t quite sure what she was checking for. She seemed to find what she was looking for just beyond the saddle, along the edge of the horse’s back. “Lie still,” She said and reached down to her own pack along her white gown. Whether I had noticed it before or not, I suddenly realized the woman (whose name I still didn’t know) had just a bit of an accent. I couldn’t place my finger on the dialect, however. As for her command, neither I nor the horse were in any position to argue. The horse had already given up on its life, lying perfectly still as the Syrakks continued to feed on its underside. She pulled out a very sharp and smooth edged dagger out of her pack, bringing it up to her eyes to check for any problems. Finding that it was in good order, she brought it down to the horse and the saddle which was secured by lighted leather bands that were digging in to the horses hide given the weight being brought down on them in this position. Rather than waste time trying to cut the leather straps, she plunged the dagger into the hide of the horse, sticking it around so that it was positioned beneath the straps. She cut upward, even more blood draining onto my pant leg. I didn’t really care at this point, but what would my story be without every possible drop of blood being told about? The sawing motion caused the blade to burst through the skin of the dead horse, where it instantly made contact with the tightened straps. The leather snapped with a pop, instantly relaxing the saddle. My leg suddenly caught a bit more freedom to move, and I frantically wriggled it free. The woman pocketed her dagger once more, the blood getting on whatever else she was keeping in there. She turned back and reached for her child, placing him once more in her arms. I shot back up to my feet as quickly as possible, my own adrenaline pulsing stronger than I would have preferred. My staff, which I had brought to my hands as quickly as possible, was slightly brighter than it had been when I left the city, not nearly enough to keep us completely safe. The Syrakks made a clicking noise while looking up from their meal to spot us. They’re heads jerked back as they did, and they turned to face each other. I presume they were doing it to communicate with one another…but I paid that no attention. Instead I used what magic was left to send a fleeting blast of flame to the bugs, who instantly caught it and cried out in pain. “Run!” I shouted to the mother, who had already turned to keep her child’s vision away from the flaming images. She bolted forward, her legs moving faster than I would have guessed they would. “Where to?” She asked back, turning back and raising her voice. “Just keep running, I’ll think of something,” I said, keeping pace quite nicely now that I didn’t have a draping robe to slow me down. Had we stayed there longer, I would have noticed that the Syrakks had managed to burrow their way through the ground right under the horse, taking it completely by surprise (not something that can easily be done to horses, you know). With that knowledge I probably could have come up with a better plan than running along the forest floor. I put it together when the ground my front foot landed on suddenly rose in elevation to the point where I was knocked backward and fell to the ground. My head landed first, dealing quite the ache. The ground finally gave way to the Syrakk beneath it, which shook the dirt off of its shelled exoskeleton. It let out a high pitched screech and turned to face me, angry that it had not killed with its initial blow. I brought my staff back up to me, checking the diamond for any hint of power left in it. Alas, it was dark, stone colored, and void of any energy for the time being. The Syrakk crouched to pounce, and I considered my options. There are only so many things a person in my situation can do, you know. Knowing that I was out of help from ‘magic’ for the moment, I flipped a hidden switch carved into the top of the staff. The switch was actually embedded in the small amount of wood that covered the diamond. The result of lifting said switch was insurance. Locks let go, and pushed against the staff sides. It may be forbidden, but as far I knew there was no one around to tell on me. The entirety of the wooden staff separated just below the diamond casing, revealing about an inch of metal interior. I reached down to the loosened wood, and stripped it off of the blade it hid. A sheering metallic sound went corresponded, and when it was removed I tossed the wooden casing to the side. The Syrakk wasted no more time. It leapt into the air, screeching and extending its claws. I placed my free hand back on the staff, and pointed it forward. It caught the syrakk in the arm, and it let out another piercing screech. It slid off, tearing through the hard exterior of the beast. It backed off to the side, extending its mandibles in an attempt to threaten me. I got back up to my feet, flipping the staff around in my hand, I suppose more than anything just to show off. When the sword was in a relaxed position, I lunged at the screeching beast.

The horse continued to prove strong. I had obviously been wrong in my thinking that a big horse meant faster legs, because what I had thought to be half speed actually turned out to be three quarters speed. It had proved more than enough however, as we were easily making our way along the trail. Between the fighting and explosions throughout the woods, there were incredibly peaceful lapses in which the only audible sound was the hooves of the mammal striking the ground of the trail, kicking up dust and shaking the earth. I kept my hold on the reigns, directing the horse to travel forward. While it was probably true that such a horse would easily follow the trail on its own, I rarely found it easy to trust animals to do what I wanted them to. Sometimes though, I do wish I could believe in the animals as much as Jareena did her horse or Ryuu did…well, everything. Had this brown horse been a few shades darker, it probably would have provoked the shifter to go on and on about how her and the horse were soul mates; their fates intertwined; as ‘one’ and all that. To me, however? To me this horse was just an animal. It was a strong, fast, and loyal animal; but still an animal. I hadn’t really spent enough time with Jareena and…her horses name draws a blank to me at the moment, I had only come across it once or twice…but I’m almost certain that she believes she can talk to it as well. My thoughts snapped back to the situation at hand as my face caught a low branch from a tree on the trail. I let out an mmmph and my head was tossed back. The branch snapped and landed in my lap. My hands stayed on the reigns, surprisingly…but my robes once again felt the effects of injury. I brought my head back up to a level position only to spit out quite a large amount of blood from the wound my teeth had dealt my tongue into the air. As you probably know, spitting something while you’re going forward at high speed generally makes it come right back at you. It landed just under my collar, staining one of the remaining white patches. I let go of one of the reigns and checked my forehead and nose for any further injury. Save a headache a bleeding tongue, and a bruised ego, I was okay. I pulled the reigns on the horse to stop it however. I had to let the headache dull down for a minute before I could continue. It was the sharp kind that provoked blurred vision and lack of thought. The horse did as I commanded, stomping when it had come to a halt, and exhaling in the typical choppy horse fashion. I brought my right hand up to my head, using my thumb and middle finger to massage my temples, keeping my eyes shut. While it wasn’t really dulling the pain, it took my mind off the nagging fact that the Syrakks were remaining rather isolated before I had sent the shifter into what I presume to be their lair. This is the part of the story where conscience takes hold. I caught through my bleeding and sharp pained ear the groan of what I assumed a woman or young child. Had it not be accompanied by a second voice which was crying, I probably would have shrugged it off and continued along the trail. As it was, I redirected the horse east and whipped the reigns, getting him to sprint off again. We traveled through many high bushes and low trees before we got to them, through which my robes took on another beating, ripping and tearing, the branches scratching my skin more than I would have liked, or even tolerated in any other circumstance. When I reached the clearing which housed the pair of people I had heard, I gave up on my outermost robe and removed it, throwing it on the ground. It didn’t do much for the color of my wardrobe, but certainly improved my comfort level. Under the robe was a loose fitting white shirt, tied off on the elbows with wrappings that continued down to my wrists. The same was done on my knees down to my feet, above them were fairly loose white pants, tied off with a strong belt made of the same fabric as the wrappings. It was much more tolerable in this warm weather. I would buy another robe some other time. I was growing quite partial to red anyway, having seen how it looked on me throughout most of the evening. The cries I had heard came from a middle aged woman and her child, the child was tucked in between their arms, and they were sitting against a stone in the dark. She was under weight, obviously hungry. She had probably given most of the food she acquired to her son given his rather healthy looking nature. The kid was no older than eight by looking at him. They were only visible due to the fire behind them, which I quickly realized was being fueled by a dead horse and it’s rider. I trotted the horse up to them, and they looked up at me quietly. “Did the bugs do this?” I asked the woman, looking down at her with my dried blood and dirt covered face. “Yes…” She said, struggling to find her voice at first. “They attacked us…after one of the knights had taken us from our home and placed us on the horse’s back.” “So how did it end up on fire?” I asked. “The bugs did it,” She said dreadfully. “They...breathe it.” She lifted her arm and turned it to the front side to reveal the very large and very serious burn wound on it. “That looks pretty bad,” I said. “Is your son okay?” “Yes, he is fine…a little shaken up. He had to see a flaming knight impale a giant bug before crashing onto the ground and dying.” “Sounds fun,” I said. “You two had better come along with me, we’re headed for the vill…” “The village?” She asked, looking up at the sky. “You mean the village where all of those bugs are headed? Why should we go there?” I shrugged at her diligence. “I suppose you shouldn’t,” I said. “In fact it’s starting to look like these woods are the safest place. But I can’t leave you hear on your own. I have to take you with me.” “We will be protected?” She asked. “You know some where we can go in the village?” While in all reality I had no clue what the village on the mountain housed, I was in no place to say anything that would prevent this woman from coming with me. “Yes,” I said. “Yes, I can keep you safe.” The woman nodded, and I lowered a hand to help her up out of her seated position. She kept a hand locked with her son’s to help him up as well, and a look of relief fell upon her previously worried face. “You’d better hand me him,” I said, pointing to her child. I scooted forward on the horse to make room for the two of them on the saddle. When the two were seated and comfortable, we continued back to the trail to find my comrades. Sitting in the front, I managed to take the brunt of the low branches…

I raised my sulfur covered eyebrow at the galloping horse and its rider as they rode away. They disappeared into the darkness several yards later, only occasionally catching the orange light pouring from the fires scattered around the block. The noise of the horse’s shoes clanking against the ground echoed long enough that I forgot to keep listening to it. I looked back down at my robes, which actually had lost their color and their usability. I shed no tears over it however, paying more attention to the sharp pains across my chest and shoulders. The syrakk…they were quite persistent in tearing up their meals before actually biting into them. I considered healing myself, and brought my staff up to my bleeding chest, noticing the diamond’s light dimmer than I had seen it in months (Most of our jobs required less magic, mind you). I frowned and put it back down, finding I might what little magic remained for something more important later. Another horse galloped past me, ignoring the puddle of muddy water it had splashed up onto my hair, face, and clothes. I nearly raised my voice at the party on the saddle, but kept my complaints to myself when I realized the horse carried a soldier of the army ALONG with several civilians from the city. They were heading toward the mountain, stragglers from the main evacuation a few minutes before. I wiped my face of mud with the only remotely clean patch of my robes I could find, not sure if I had done more good than bad. I left my hair be, as it was already quite messy from the splashing in the sewer. I doubted that mud was going to do much to hurt me much more than I already had been. I looked up into the sky, the cloud of bugs finally clearing above my head. The reddish dusk came back into view, not doing much for the light. My environment remained abundantly dark, much to my dismay. Again, I would have used my staff for light had it not been so exhausted of its energy. It would be at least another day before it was shining anywhere close to its usual chipper self. It was only then that I considered my situation and my thoughts drifted back to my shifting counterpart… “Ryuu?” I called out, the sound echoing off the already burning forest only several yards away. I received no response. That either meant she was extremely far away from here…or had died during the struggle. Either way there wasn’t much I could do about it. She was quite capable on her own, I had gathered over the many months. I sighed as a flaming tree branch snapped and landed at my feet and turned back to the city street, which was now littered in the corpses of the dead syrakk. Many of the corpses were on fire, I noticed. Few however flaunted the black flame from the dragon. Most burned with fire’s natural orange and yellow flame, unleashed upon them by yours truly. I assumed the ones that weren’t aflame were impaled through the chest or head with a very large spear, in typical military fashion. I never quite agreed with that; too many creatures liked to get right back up from those types of injuries and get right back to fighting. I finally began to walk along the street in the opposite direction of the trail up the mountain, my water logged shoes sloshing and leaking onto the brown and dusty road. Had I been atop an animal or given the ability to fly, I would have easily followed Jareena up to the impending battle on the mountain. As it was, I would probably show up a little late. I didn’t have to look very hard for a horse that suited my needs. Many soldiers had died during the small fight and left their horses alone. I found a very large and stocky breed pacing along in an empty alleyway several yards from where I had been talking to Faye. It was probably there to avoid the fires on the main road, but the bravery of the horse wasn’t particularly on my mind. More than anything I only required something that was fast. The general rule was that the bigger they came, the faster they were. The saddle was intact, along with the headless body of a soldier that had originally occupied it. I smirked at the fact that the headless body was still holding onto the leather reigns of the horse, and continued to pace toward it, checking for any signs of conflict. There wasn’t much to this simple animal. It seemed to mellow to notice me initially, letting out a snuff and slightly raising its muzzle. I put my hand up to calm it and it let out another snuff, this one evolving into a very low effort neigh. I patted its head, reaching up higher than I thought I could, and walked back along to its side. Sheathing my staff to my belt loop, I once again smiled at the decapitated corpse and pushed him to the side. Gravity took hold and the armored body slid off the horses back, its hands losing hold of the reigns which fell to the animal’s back. The corpse crashed onto the alleyway floor, crashing loudly and falling limp. Blood drained along the ground and the horse’s feet. It raised its front leg to prove its unhappiness, and I rubbed the horse along its side, matting its hair up. Placing my foot in the step hole hanging from the horse’s side, I flung myself onto the animals back. My robes draped over the side, and I grabbed for the reigns along the side. The horse perked back up, turning its head back to confirm that I was the one that had mounted it. I let out a quick clicking sound with my tongue and the roof of my mouth, provoking the horse to start moving. It moved along, slowly at first to get out of the narrow passage the alleyway provided. Once we were onto the main roads, I snapped the reigns and the horse took off towards the mountain trail at what I could assume was probably its half speed, galloping along at an easy pace. It was pretty nice. I hadn’t ridden on the back of a real animal for quite a while. The fact that it didn’t feel it necessary to feel my head with endless babble was…serene. We quickly reached the end of the road, and took to the dirtier, less formed trail through the forest that led to the mountains.

The hatch bounced against it’s will on the roof top as I pushed it open. I reached back down to my side and grabbed my staff, noticing the diamond on top already fading from hard work. I pushed it out of my mind, and tossed the staff up to the roof, where it clanked against the wood several times before resting. Having done that, I grabbed onto the ledges of the roof hatch and pulled myself the rest of the way up to the top of the small building. The building? I had found that using the simplest of techniques; running. After I had been pulled out of the sewer by the Dragon’s tail, she had told me to run through what ever means she had deemed appropriate at the time. So I turned and did so, only to find that the street we had come up through was rather baron. There were only one or two buildings on either side, all of which were rather run down. The one that especially caught my eye was a faded cabin…or what might have originally been a cabin. There was a very faded sign along the top that read “Shop”. I estimated it had fallen through after this side of the city had been deserted. As I reached the door, I could hear Kokoryuu’s feet stumbling about, obviously having trouble with the hoards of bugs climbing out of the sewer behind us. I pushed the door open, and started jogging to the back of the room, where it was customary to keep the roof hatch. Conveniently as ever, it was there…and ready for me to climb its ladder. But now? Now I was on the roof itself, looking off of it to the fight on the street. There were at least six of the bugs flying…yes, they were flying…through the air, and several actually attached to the dragon. I paced up to the ledge of the building, crouching to stay hidden, causing my robes to pick up whatever filth lay along it. It worked however…I was not spotted. I proceeded to lay down in a sniper’s position and raised my staff to my side, the diamond facing outward. Taking shelter in this position on the roof was technically unnecessary. The magic of the staff itself would have been enough to guide whatever projectile I decided to use to my designated target. But there was something about being able to do it in such a stealthy manner…almost fun. I closed one eye and matched my site with a bug flying through the air. Before I could take my shot however, the bug was caught in the Jaws of the dragon, who proceeded to chew it and spit it out, where it crashed onto the concrete below as a gooey clump of legs and blood. I couldn’t help but smile. My sights fell onto another bug, this one heading outward from the pack. Once again the dragon got in the way, this time catching it with her tail, which sent it into pieces. The dragon let out a screech at it…or…no, that wasn’t a triumphant screech. My eyes once again fell on the dragon, this time noticing the two bugs attached to her midsection, clawing and biting away at her scales. I once again took aim, calling on whatever higher power was available to aid me with my accuracy. Concentration put forth a wave of fire. A wave that caught Ryuu’s side and set the two bugs ablaze. They held on with their scrawny legs for several seconds before finally giving up, and crashing onto the road below. Ryuu turned to face her wounded skin, and looked up to spot me as I waved from my position. She pushed her head forward, and her eyes squinted. “You’re welcome,” I whispered, which was more than enough for the Dragon to hear it. She once again pushed her head forward and raised her front left claw up to the air as well. *As much as you’d like to think I have nothing better to do but thank you, you must really look up* She said to me through thought, and it echoed through my head. I rolled onto my backside to see another bug plunging toward me at an incredible velocity. Its mandibles were agape and it’s wing span extraordinary. Almost without thought, I raised my staff up into the air and called upon it to release another wave of fire. It caught the bug, and sent in tumbling down still…only now he was on fire. My eyes widened and I rolled out of the way to the other edge of the roof, where two seconds later I heard the bug crash into the surface. It shook me a bit, but I was un harmed. *Good work, you almost managed to do it without any property damage this time* Ryuu taunted through my mind once again, and I gave her a thumbs up from my laying position. She let out another screech, and I rolled back onto my eyes to check the problem. Two more bugs had landed on her neck, and were proceeding to do what the last batch had did. I cursed and scooted forward to the edge once more, bringing my ever trusty staff back up. With a different approach, due to the lack of magic remaining the staff presently, I called forth a single ray of concentrated light, to pierce the bugs and send them to an instant grave. Ryuu’s neck was swerving from pain however, an off shot would probably wound her quite badly. “Ryuu…” I whispered. “Don’t move.” I didn’t get a response through my mind this time, rather with my eyes. The dragon stopped moving, smart enough to stop when she had put the bugs back in my view. I closed my eyes and released the beam of light, with went forward and pierced both bugs in their midsections. They instantly gave up their struggle and fell to the hard surface below them, dead before they reached it. Ryuu’s neck perked up, draining blood onto the street below. A few more bugs were making their way up through the hole in the sewer.

"I suppose we should probably follow it," I said, looking down into the hole. "What?" Ryuu asked, shifting back to human and looking back at me. "Are you serious." "Well, Yeah." I said. "We've gotta follow the bug. Maybe kill it before it tells its brethren that we killed the other ones. "Uh...but that hole leads to a sewer," She said. "Yeah...and," I started. "Aren't you worried about your robes?" She asked. "They're already coated in blood stains. I doubt sewer water is going to make them any less attractive." Ryuu quirked a brow, and I smiled at her. Afterward, I crouched down to the ground and reguarded the hole. "Looks like it's about a ten foot drop. Leads straight into a sewer vien." "Great," She said. "You go first." "No problem," I said, and held up my staff. "Here. Hold this." She took my staff and I looked back down at the hole in the ground, scooting my feet forward over the edge. "You shouldn't have any trouble getting down after me, should you?" I asked, stalling my jump. "No," She said. "...I'll be right behind you. Now go." She waved me forward with the backside of her hand. I turned back to the hole and pushed off, dropping down into the dark sewer below. I landed with a splash, the colored water at the bottom coming up to the calves of my boots, and staning my robes once more. "Ack!" I said, looking up after catching a wiff of the surroundings. "Smells worse than dragon dung...no offense." "None taken," She said. "Here." She dropped my staff, and I almost failed to catch it. Having secured it in my grip, I made sure to hold it above the water level. I sloshed forward through the sewer, the glowing gem at the top of my staff growing brighter to illuminate the tunnel. "Okay, you come down now." I shouted. "Okay, Hold on..." She responded, this time through mind talk. I could hear her shifting above the floor. A bird...a small one...a hummingbird, lowered into the sewer and flew up to me. "The sewer water looks icky," She said through mind talk, and landed on my shoulder. "Mind if I just hitch a ride?" "Not at all," I responded. "Just don't sing..." MINUTES LATER We watched as the bug crawled through a burrowed hole in the side of the sewer wall. "Well, that's good," She said. "Doubt you can fit through there, huh?" She asked. "Nope. Looks like you're going alone from here. Be careful." I responded. The small bird reguarded me and lept off of my shoulders, flapping its tiny wings at an incredible eighty miles per hour. She rose to the top of the sewer at first, and then dove to the bottom. The bird flew through the burrowed hole, and I waited. I waited for several minutes before anything happened. At which point, the bird flew back through the hole, and shifted back into a human form. "We've gotta go now," She said, and turned to start running. "What?" I asked. "What for?" I turned back as the wall started shaking. The bricks around the burrowed hole started to come loose, chipping here and there. The wall gave, and an uncountable hoard of the creatures stomped through it. I reguarded them for only a second, and turned back to run after Ryuu. She was several yards ahead of me.

I stepped back immediately as shards of the wood from the broken floor crashed on my robes. The creatures...four from what I could see, wasted no time in their hunt. When the floor had burst, one drunk had fallen, his leg caught in the hole. He was the first. Two of the bugs went straight for him, tearing into his flesh...ripping it clear off of the bone. As Ryuu and I were in the back of the room, we were given the extra few seconds to react. With the two other creatures chomping down on the feet of men, dropping them to the ground in their drunken stupor, we froze for several seconds. It wasn't until the third...or maybe fourth...person in the room had been cut down that we fought back. I shot a look over to Ryuu, who climbed up onto the mantle of the fire place. I turned and jumped down onto the ground, pointing my staff, ready to defend with any spell that suited the situation. Behind me I could hear Ryuu shifting...I had no time to look back and see what she was doing, however. Would I have noticed the legless drunk crawling toward me, the problem would have been much more easily solved. He decided, rather than tugging on my robes, to tug on my staff to get my attention. I lost my grip on it, looking down to see it fall next to the long haired, bleeding man. Before I could bend down to pick it back up, another one of those bugs crawled onto the drunk's back, and bit into his neck. It pulled its head up, ripping out the man's spinal column. Blood stained my robes, and got into my eye. I shot back, my hand instantly trying to wipe it away. During the struggle, my staff was either kicked or pushed or...somehow moved away. When I was able to see again, the bug had already gone to work on the upper body of the old drunk. I checked for my spear, failing to spot it. The bug looked up at me. "Oh...uh-oh," Was all I let out before it pounced on me. I put my arms up in front of me to shield myself. The weight of the six legged creature was enough to send us both to the ground. We hit with a thud, the wood almost snapping due to the already over abundant trauma it had faced. Our Limbs locked, the over sized mantis's mandibles slammed open in shut, attempting to cut into my face and end my life as quickly as possible. I moved my head to the left, avoiding what was way too close of a bite. I brought my leg up and kicked the underside of the creature. It let out a squeal and arched its head back. I used the opportunity to free a hand and deal the bug a right hook. Its neck almost snapped, and it weakened...I punched it again, and it fell off of my robes. I got back up to my knees before the bug was back in its full force. It let out a squeaky click and rushed me. I ducked, and pushed my head forward. The result was a sort of tackle, the bug flipping over my back. It landed on its own back side, and I looked around for anything to defend myself with. My hand landed on a wooden shard from the broken floor. I failed to realize what it was at first, but picked it up with my fist, which received instant splinters. I brought it up to my side as the bug turned to pounce again. When it did, I lifted the shard and plunged it just below the insects head. Its left mandible sliced my left hand, and my own blood drained onto my robe sleeve. The bug let out another screech, and failed to effectively stop me. It stopped moving several seconds later. I let out a sigh and pushed the corpse to the side. I stood up, and looked around the chaos for my staff. I wondered how Ryuu was fairing...

I propped my staff against the edge of the table, making sure it wouldn't fall a few seconds later. "Well...Well first I'd like to uh..th..thank both of you for coming so soon," The lord mayor started. "We were...were hoping that pay day limit would bring you." "You made your point," I said. The servant who was now at the table filled a mug and set it next to me. I looked up and waved a thank you to him. He nodded and continued his job. "We..We had to to...to bring you faster. We weren't sure when the next incident would be?" "Incident?" I asked, and took a drink. "I thought this was just a simple Syrakk extermination job. The Lord Mayor nodded, presenting his double chin as he brought his head down. He managed, however, to explain himself. "It...still is," He said, putting a hand forward. "It's just that what you're getting rid of..is...well it's quite a bit bigger than you had originally thought." "What do you mean?" I asked, leaning back in my chair and crossing my arms. "How much bigger?" "We're not for sure," He said, his forehead starting to glow a bit in the light...due to the fine layer of sweat appearing on it. "Several of our people have run into them...they scour about in the caves up north. Neither our animal handlers nor our Soldiers have had any luck. Several have come back...well...not alive." "Really?" I asked, becoming more interested. "They stay in the caves?" "Mostly," he said. "But of course, if they stayed there all the time then we wouldn't have a problem. Lately, they seem to have gotten into the sewers...and into homes...shops...anywhere with irrigation." "And they...do what exactly?" I asked. "Like I said, witnesses are rare. The bodies we have found, though...clearly nothing to hold back. They're usually torn up, almost no skin...or muscular tissue for that matter." "Eaten?" I asked. "That's what it looks like," He responded. "But when we actually try to track them...chase them down...they have a tendency to just disappear." "Oh," I said. "Great..." I shrugged and looked down at my drink as I picked it up. I looked over at Ryuu, who I could tell by watching her eyes, was agreeing with the plan I had assembled in my head. The lord mayor attempted to keep eye contact, ultimately failing. "I don't know," I started. "We don't usually deal with things that pose such a problem." I scooted my chair back, as if about to stand. "Of course..." He started. "If you clean this up...you'll be more than paid twice your standard fee." I stopped scooting, and looked back over at Ryuu, who nodded. "Thrice," I said. "No less." "very well..." The lord mayor said. "Just get rid of them...before more people are killed." I smiled and took another drink. "No Problem," I said. "We'll head up to the caves tonight." *LATER* Ryuu and I walked down the stairs, side by side. She was slightly ahead of me, pacing steadily. This usually suggested her mind was elsewhere, distracted. "What do you think?" I asked, waiting for her to talk. "You stayed pretty silent in the Chamber..." "What?" She asked, and looked back. "Oh, um...just thinking." "The job?" I asked. "Yeah," she said, reaching the bottom of the stairs. "I don't like that they disappear..." She said. "Any ideas?" I asked, my own feet reaching the base floor. "I don't know," She said. "It's not unheard of that shifting can be done at a level that strong...to shift into air." "Have you ever done it?" I asked. She simply shot me a look, and continued walking. I raised a brow, and continued to follow. "So what does the city have to offer us before the sun goes down?" I asked.

"That's quite a city," I said, looking around, keeping one eye almost constantly fixed on the stone statue. "It's just another human attempt at dominancy," Ryuu retorted. "What they lack in giant wings and fire breath they more than make up with structural integrity," I pointed out. We came across two guards standing side by side beside the walk way. Their blades were held up together, forming an X in the air between them. I nearly laughed at the Cleche of it...Ryuu failed to stifle hers. I turned and gave her a sharp look. "What?" She asked. "They're actually aloud to use those, you know! It might be best not to mock them." I advised. "Lighten up," She said. "We're expected." The gate to the castle lowered. It wasn't usual that we were so easily aloud in places of authority, But she was right...we WERE expected. If all went well, we'd be back here by sundown to pick up our payment. "This place is...questionable," Ryuu commented. She wasn't far off. The walls were dark and moldy. The lights were rare, and the people standing among the corridors were grimy, shaggy, and all around filthy. "It's this way," I said, pointing ahead across the main entry to a stone staircase that curved around along a spiral.

I raised my eyebrow at the shifter several paces ahead. While still TECHNICALLY millions of years older than me, she still managed to pull off the personality of annoying eighteen year old whenever she wanted to. I rolled the map back up on its scrolls as evenly as possible, and tucked it back into my robes. Grabbing my staff, which had been tucked neatly under my arm, I picked up my speed to catch up. "Welcome Back," The old dragon torted. "Yes, that's all well and good," I responded, hiding any irritance in my voice. "About the gold..." "What about it?" Ryuu asked, turning back to face me. "We have three days," I started. "If we don't get the job done in three days...we'll lose 10 percent a day until we finish." "What?!" Ryuu asked sharply, her eyes glinting red. "It's not that large a problem," I said. "I just figured you might want to know." The shifter's tail suddenly materialized, and it rose to smack me in the back of the skull. I buckled forward. "Of course I'd want to know!" She said. "I'd have wanted to know BEFORE we left." "I apologize," I said, as sympathetic as I could. "As I said...it's not that big a problem. What job have we EVER done that has taken us three days?" "The elf job in Merakesh..." She started. "That one doesn't count. You were ill." I nodded. "You could have finished it yourself, you know. It wasn't nessecary to stay in the cabin and 'treat' me the entire time..." She said. "Eh, that's what you claim, anyway," I responded. She sent me another glare, and continued walking, starting to pull ahead. "And...if you'll remember, we did eventually get full pay on that one AND a bonus. So don't even start to complain." "Yeah...but that was just a simple search and rescue. This job is very close to being called war," She retorted. "Extermination is a more usable term," I responded. "The syrakks aren't exactly the most formidable of foes. We should have no problem ridding Crystlin of them." "Eh, that's what you claim, anyway," She said sarcastically, and we turned onto the road leading into the city.

Thanks for the booze, everybody! Sure does make a guy feel welcome! If other boards are any indication, there are always plenty of colorful characters to go around! Usually they're all pretty cool! But uh, Yeah...as soon as I get my application accepted *assuming it does...hopefully* I'm definately going to start an RPG. Can't wait. Should be pretty fun! And Yes, Ryuu...Yes it was. Terrible place for me to be Peace out, everybody Distarius takes a drink of the logger... and faints a few seconds later

Yeah, I'm good... Us fifteen year olds have that whole public life thing to take care of, anyway

Told ya we underground RPGers were good at it

Eh, that's probably true.... But you should see some of the other boards I've been to...They'll tear you to PEICES if you're not exactly like them...which means, for the most part, you have be an overly depressed teen who hates everybody! So, I'm glad this place is a little more chipper!

Yey! I get to be the new guy around town. Hope I get to know most of you in the coming days...or weeks depending how many of you there are! I represent Northern Indiana, a state not commonly known for RPGing, but we who do it underground are really quite good at it. Anyway, just sayin Hi! And if any of you need to take out some anger on someone, feel free to verbally abuse me...I don't have a problem with it. G'Bye for now! -Dis

Look, I think it's obvious what this is about, so...let's just get this over with. RPG POST: Distarius of the White Robes: Four hours... Four hours was all it took for things to become as grim as they did... I suppose you'd probably like to know why, wouldn't you? Well, to answer that, you have to know another character. There's a certain flameshifter...I call her Ryuu...She brought me into this. Don't get me wrong, I could have just as easily walked away from her proposition as I could have accepted it. But I did accept it, more than anything else because I was bored. That combined with the false hope that maybe someday I could finally win her over. Either way we were trailing the northern mountains within the evening's end. The task before me was to escort the shifting dragon through the trails...coated in a very powerful poisonous plant, Akkamere. Relatively harmless to man, this plant released a fine dust into its surroundings. The dust, when inhaled by non human specie, would cut off air flow and suffocate the being in a matter of minutes. And of course, with a mage's magic by her side, Ryuu would be fine. So naturally I was the first person she came to. In her most agreeable form, she came to my quiet retreat in Crystlin and explained to me her story and situation. Like I said before, I barely hesitated before agreeing to come along. However, situations can (and usually do whenever the two of us are paired together) always go awry. I hadn't previously been told that there were a pack of magically mutated wolves at the top of this mountain...I would have liked to have been privy to this information before the fact. The trail (obviously created by a total genius) burrowed straight by a cave. While most likely not occupied at the time the trail was created, that certainly wasn't the case now. Four of the wild beasts had found it nessecary to confront us. I hadn't initially noticed them, but Ryuu (who was several paces behind me) was very consciouss of absolutely EVERYTHING around her...always. "Distarius," She whispered, and stopped in her tracks. I turned my head to ask her 'what' but my eyes fell upon the wolves instead. I stopped just as quickly as she had. "Big wolves..." I said, and brought my staff to my side. "Are they shifters?" "I don't know," She responded. "Could be..." I turned and gave her a look. Ryuu was supposed to be very knowledgable on these things. She simply shrugged her shoulders. "Well, should I shoot them?" I asked, gesturing with my staff. The gold diamond on top glowing more than before. "It might be better just to keep walking. If we leave, they might leave us alone." She said. The front most animal let out a bark that sent the shifter back a few feet. It then paced forward quickly, trying to either push us out or chase us down. I failed to take the time to figure it out. "Too late," I said, and thrusted my staff forward. Lighting shot out of the tip, impacting against the large mammal. It's head jerked back, letting out a cry. The other three wolves started wailing, screaming at me with wild instincts. Before them, the first animal fell to the ground incapacitated. I turned and saw Ryuu, who was now even farther away. I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her closer to me. "Stay Close," I said. "The range of the staffs magic can only keep you protected from the dust so well. Stay within five paces. And don't shift into anything too big." She nodded her head and I turned back to the cave. The three remaining animals were surveying their fallen leader, sniffing parts of him. I turned back to the trail, checking our options. "Ryuu..." I whispered. "When I say so, we're running. Alright?" I asked. "Okay," She responded. "Just let me know." One of the wolves sniffing the underside of the incapacitated leader stopped sniffing. Rather it opened its jaws and took a bite of the larger wolf's leg. Blood spurted out, and Ryuu and I both winced. The other two wolves wasted no time in repeating the action, tearing into respective parts of the leader. "Alright...Now maybe." I said and turned to run. Ryuu followed, shifting into a horse to gain better speed. We had made it several feet before the other three wolves perked up, following us with their eyes. The one frontmost let out a cry, and all three got to their feet, sprinting after us. "Ryuu," I said, the panther pulling ahead of me. "They're catching up." The horse slowed down, almost to a dead stop. I wasted no time, volting up with my staff to land on the shifters back. I almost lost only protection when she sped back up, but managed to pull it up to my lap, where it rested with ease. The wolves behind us continued to gain ground. The mountains' trail started to slope down. We were headed downhill now, approximately 4000 feet up. "Go faster," I started. The wolves' sprint had now almost switched to a gallop, matching speed with the horse and then some. *I'm going as fast as I can,* She said through mind talk. *Won't they just stop chasing us after a while?* I turned my head once again to see how much ground they had gained. The front most was no more than 10 paces off now. "Not when it's this easy," I said. "Are you sure you can't just shift into something that flies?" I shouted. *Not till we get off the mountain,* She responded. I shook off her intrusion of my mind and once again started to turn my head and... The shifter let out a howl. I looked down to see the frontmost wolf's jaws clamped down on Ryuu's hind leg. We slowed instantly, the wolf shaking wildly at the flesh it had just secured. I grabbed for my staff, and aimed it down at the wolf, firing a bolt of lightening straight for it. It shot back, shaking its head and letting out another high pitched cry. I kept the bolt steady as we left it behind, waiting until it was down on the ground before stopping. It landed with a crash unheard by me, but probably heard by the Shifter, who was now limping on her hind leg, but still keeping fair pace. I kept looking back, watching as the two remaining wolves stopped at their fellow comrade, and started sniffing it. I let out a sigh and turned forward, facing the trail that Ryuu was persistant on finishing. I patted her shoulder, confirming that she had done a good job. "It's okay..." I started. "We're done. They're not chasing us anymore." Her pace slowed. While we had nearly met ourselves in a fight for our lives, that situation had gone relatively easy. Much worse could have come from it, and the goal had been met. We eventually made our way to the bottom of the mountain, looking on to the one ahead of it. We wouldn't worry about the next mountain until the next day, however. For now, I dressed her wounds and set a fire. Night fell over with a quiet serenity that cooled our frustrations of the day. ------------------------------------------ Well, okay. I typed that from beginning to end in one draft. I know that doesn't say much...but I was actually RPG'd out from other boards at the time. If this Application is unsatisfactory, I guess I'll just have to try again... ...And Hi everybody! -Dis